I never get bored of visiting Italy and seem to pick at it rather than do a comprehensive tour. Wendy had only been once (to the Naples/Pompeii area with me) so when a cheapie 5 day - 2 city package came up to visit Rome and Florence we jumped at the chance. An early morning Ruinair flight took us from Stansted to Ciampino Airport in Rome and a TerraVision bus took us downtown to the Stazione Termini (central train station). From here, we boarded the No 90 bus which took us 6 stops and 15 minutes northwest to the very pleasant Ars Hotel in the residential area of Monte Sacro.

By the time we had checked in and dumped our luggage, the morning had gone. We returned to the Stazione Termini, bought a Roma Pass for 30 Euros (2 free entries and unlimited free public transport travel) and caught a metro 2 stops to the Colosseum. The Roma Pass allowed us to jump past all the queues and it was our first free entry (15 Euros). I have stolen notes I made on my trip to Rome in 2006.

“No matter how dull you find history, you cannot fail to be impressed with the Colosseum "perhaps Rome's most awe-inspiring ancient monument" (Rough Guide). It was started in 72AD by the emperor Vespasian, who was trying to remove the embarrassing legacy of Nero who had built himself a huge palace, the cost of which had taxed the locals beyond their patience. He was murdered in 68AD and the lake beneath the palace was drained. Amazingly, it only took eight years to build the Colosseum which has now stood for 2000 years despite earthquakes, fires, riots, wars and having its stone plundered to build other bits of the city.

Just the shell and the foundations of the edifice survive but it is easy to imagine how it would have looked and what went on there. When it was opened, there were events for a continuous 100 days - men against men, men against animals, animal against animal. 9000 animals (lions, bears, rhinos, elephants) were killed in battles. You can look down on the labyrinth of tunnels that existed beneath the arena floor from where the animals were hoisted up. Looking up and around, there is little evidence of the 60,000 seating capacity or additional 10,000 standing. Wendy thought the Colosseum was one of the most outstanding things she had ever seen.

Our only problem with today was that Sunday was ‘early closing’ on places with admissions and it was dark by about 4.30pm. So when we crossed the road past the Arch of Constantine to enter what is left of the Roman Forum centre of the great ancient Empire in the world, we found it closing and could only walk around the edges peering though railings.

Wendy wanted to see the Trevi Fountain so we caught a metro and then walked to the Fontani di Trevi (1760). It was heaving with tourists all throwing coins over their shoulders in front of a "huge, very Baroque gush of water of statues built onto the backside of a Renaissance palace" (Rough Guide). The tourists were hoping to guarantee their return to Rome. It is a lovely fountain and world famous.

The restaurants looked lovely the back streets with the outdoor tables lit with candles but they came with prices to match. In the end we popped into a family run pizzeria for a cheap pizza and glass of wine getting fussed over by the waitress. A metro took us to the central station and a bus back to the hotel.

Monday November 19th

After a decent all you can eat breakfast at the hotel, we headed for the Vatican museums. A new metro station had been built about 10 minutes walk from the hotel so we used that instead of the bus. The Vatican which was established as a separate sovereign state in 1929 is surrounded by huge walls and the entrances are guarded by the colourful 'Swiss Guards' who look like they stepped out of Renaissance times.

Leaving the nearest metro, we were constantly accosted by touts trying to sell us tours to ‘jump ahead of the queues.” Since the Vatican was one of the few museums open on a Monday, we had arrived within 30 minutes of it opening and were surprised that very few people were queuing to get in. We had beaten the tour groups. I hadn’t been here since 1987 and had forgotten most of it. The Vatican admission charges are separate to the ‘Roma’ ticket.

The Vatican Museums are famous for their collections of Greek and Roman sculpture and were first opened in 1756. Since then the museum complex has grown to become one of the world’s greatest collections of Western art. The Rough Guide called it “quite simply, the largest, richest, most compelling and perhaps most exhausting museum in the world.” It is housed in the papal palace built during the Renaissance with more additions in the 18th century. The complex also houses the Cappella sestina (Sistine Chapel) and the Raphael Rooms, a series of chambers frescoed by Raphael.

We spent about 4 hours there which was enough to get a broad idea of the contents without pouring everything in detail. Some of the highlights were the corridors of classical sculpture, a mummy in the Egyptian collection, various sarcophagi, the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche – 40 panels painted on its walls in the 16th century. Each one depicts a region, island or particular territory of Italy. Some of the ceilings were also superb.

The most well known highlight was the Sistine Chapel built 1475-80. Lying flat on his back on a scaffold, Michelangelo worked on the chapel ceiling for four years (1508-12). Its subject was scenes from the Old Testament from the ‘Creation of Light’ at the altar end to the ‘Drunkenness of Noah’ over the door. The side walls were decorated by a variety of Renaissance painters. Behind the altar is Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgement’ (taking him 7 years it was finished in 1541). It serves as the pope’s official private chapel. Today he wouldn’t have squeezed in for a prayer such were the huge numbers of tourists all gawping and chattering.

The colonnaded piazza of St Peter's Square (Paizza San Pietro) is open to the public but today it was mostly empty apart from pigeons and people lined up to enter the Basilica St Peter with its enormous dome. We ate a packed lunch, fed the birds and rather than queue, I decided to give Wendy a quick tour of some of the other major sites.

Walking down the impressive Via Della Conciliazione we crossed the ornate Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II bridge with its majestic view of the imposing great circular hulk of the Castel Sant Angelo which guards the River Tiber. It was designed and built by the Emperor Hadrian as his own mausoleum and later turned into a fortress by the Catholic popes who also used it as a prison for their enemies.

On a whim, we jumped on a local bus to see where it took us. It ended up taking us back behind the Vatican. Doh! We stayed on and it returned back over the bridge we had crossed and into the ‘Centro Storico’ district. This was familiar territory for me and I suggested we jump off so I could show Wendy a few of the famous sights.

The Piazza Navona is Rome's most famous square. In Roman times, it was a chariot race circuit. There are three impressive fountains that punctuate the square. The most famous is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. We sat and shared a bottle of beer by it. We spotted a ‘free’ exhibition of some of Michelangelo’s sketches he did for the Sistine Chapel. They only let in a handful of people at a time, but there were no queues and we tiptoed around the quiet library.

We came across the Piazza Colonna where the numerous policemen were guarding the Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the prime minister. The Column of Marcus Aurelius which gives the square its name was erected around 180AD to commemorate military victories in Europe.

The Pantheon is the most complete ancient Roman structure in the city and along with the Colosseum, visually the most impressive. Rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 125AD, it has survived whatever 2000 years threw at Rome. The dome with its 9m hole in the centre is still intact and was moulded as one complete piece of concrete/mortar. The hole was deliberate both as an astronomers’ tool and architecturally, it has been discovered, to keep the dome intact ever since. The gild and gold have long gone, but the original marble floors are intact.

It was nice to just wander aimlessly and watch the squares lit up as dusk fell. Eventually we caught a metro to the Spagna stop and walked to the 'Spanish Steps'. These sweep down in a cascade of balustrades and balconies next to the Keats-Shelly Memorial House where the English poet John Keats died in 1821. The Spanish Steps are really famous as a place to hang out. We climbed the steps to the top and entered the 16th Century Trinita dei Monti church and then got the metro back to Repubblica where we saw the lovely spot-lit fountains above the 'Repubblica' metro station and walked back to the Stazione Terminal.

I wanted to take Wendy for a meal. I knew from my previous visit that there were loads of cheap restaurants on the back streets around the station. We choose one that was virtually empty and ordered a litre of house red wine (5 Euros!) and the whole works. While we were eating a smartly dressed busker walked in playing the accordion. No one else in the restaurant gave him the time of day, but we thought it was wonderful and a touch of the ‘real’ Rome.

Tuesday November 20th

It was time to move from Rome to Florence, but the train wasn’t leaving until 10.30am and I knew we had time to squeeze in another sight before we left especially since we had a second ‘free’ admission to use. I hadn’t seen the ‘Terme di Caracella’ a vast bath complex south of the Colosseum so we caught the metro down to the Central Station and two stops onto Manzoni.

There were no signs but a local woman pointed to an entrance gate down the road under an old aqueduct. It turned out to be an entrance right on the edge of the Roman Forum ruins which stretched around the Colosseum. Since Wendy had missed these on Sunday, we spent an hour just poking around. It is difficult to imagine what this area looked like. The Forum contained all the political and religious institutions and was the main market and meeting place in the city. The Via Sacra (main strip) can still be seen running the length of the Forum. This was where the victorious emperors and generals would be paraded to give thanks to the Temple of Jupiter.

The gild and gold has all gone, as have the magnificent mansions and buildings. In 667AD, an emperor had all the metal brackets which held the buildings together removed and melted down to make weapons. After an earthquake, the whole place fell apart and the stones were plundered for other constructions.

Our time in Rome was up for this visit and we headed back to the Central Train station and boarded a plush modern train. We had reserved seats for the two hour journey to Florence. Two other English couples at across from us. No one spoke to each other but everyone knew we were all on the special cheap holiday. We raced through Tuscany which had lost its shine in the overcast weather. One day, I will tour Tuscany properly but today we were headed for Florence which I had visited briefly in 1987 and had virtually no memory of.

Arriving at Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station, it took less than 10 minutes for find our comfortable 4* Embassy Hotel. The other two couples arrived after us, though we never saw them again until the flight home. Checking in quickly with a nice room and a view over tied rooftops, we went out for our first exploration.

Florence (Firenze) is the ‘flowering’ city and its beauty and the beautiful things its people have created over the ages are the reasons why visitors come from all over the world. It is famous above all for its Renaissance art. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, Florence was truly a hot house of art, a magnet attracting artists from all over the rest of Italy. But it was also a city of literature (Dante) and originally a city of merchants and bankers – the city of the Medici – which financed the growth of the visual arts.

The heart of Florence lies on the north bank of the River Arno centred on three magnificent piazzas. Piazza del Duomo the historic religious focus of the city dominated by the twin jewels of the cathedral – Giotto’s campanile and Brunelleschi’s inspired dome rising above the ordered geometry of the green and white marble church. Heading south towards the Arno, the Piazza della Repubblica was the site of the Roman Forum, then the 14th Century Mercado Vecchio, the principal market. The old heart of the city was the Piazza della Signoria outside the Palazzo Vecchio. South of here, the Arno spanned by a series of bridges divides the city in two. The city’s population is around 650,000. The centre is compact and can be walked around easy. The traffic is kept to a minimum. There is only one problem with a 2 day visit. There are 400 palaces, 50 ancient churches and 70 museums to choose from.

We were content to just wander to start with and passing the train station we saw the Santa Maria Novella. Built between 1279-1357it apparently contains some of the most important works of art in Florence (if you are a religious art historian). We decided to pass on the costly entrance fee and turned right down a long street with beautiful colonnaded walkways. To our left was the Piazza della Republica with a Roam-style triumphal arch (built when Florence was Italy’s brief capital between 1865-71. We also passed the Palazzo Strozzi (1536), known for its awesome size. Its exterior is very distinctive due to the huge rusticated masonry blocks and the original Renaissance torch holders, lamps and rings for tethering horses.

The River Arno has been spanned by a bridge since the Romans first settled in 59BC. The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) dates back to 1345 and was one of the few bridges to escape destruction by the retreating German army in WWII. There have always been workshops on the bridge but the butchers, tanners and blacksmiths were evicted in 1593 due to the stench and noise and rebuilt for goldsmiths and jewellers that have been here ever since. The bridge is lined on both sides by shops, some of which have extensions hanging over the water. This was the one sight I remember from my previous visit. The bridge is unique and I have never seen another one like it. It is superb. As we walked across it, illegal Africa immigrant traders quickly gathered up their handbags/wares before a couple of smartly dressed policewomen appeared.

On the other side, we reached the Palazzo Pitti, begun in 1457 originally built for some banker called Pitti who was bankrupted by the Medici family and it became their main residence instead. Subsequently all Florentine rulers lived here. Today the richly decorated rooms exhibit treasures from the Medici collections. It is now a complex of museums and Wendy said she’d like to visit. So we toured the endless Royal apartments which were a sumptuous spread of 18th-19th century magnificence with ornate ceilings and paintings including the biggest collection of Raphael’s work. There was no order to the paintings. They seemed to have been hung wherever there was a space on a wall (a bit like my place!). There were other museums which we glanced at as well as taking in the inner courtyard and the elaborate Boboli Gardens. It was ok, but it is not the best thing that Florence has to offer.

Again, early winter nights were against us and we walked back via the Piazza di Santo Spirito where Brunelleschi’s last church stood. Completed in 1446, its exterior is very simple. We re-crossed the bridge where we saw a beautiful winter orange sunset reflected on the River Arno and made our way to the Duomo for a first glance. The Duomo is really the centre of the city – all roads seem to lead you there. It looked very impressive with the street lamps/spotlights and was still very crowded but we would do the area properly tomorrow. In the evening we had a lovely pizza at a restaurant around the corner from the hotel but the prices had jumped from the night before in Rome.

Wednesday November 21st

It was so nice to be located so close to the centre and after another buffet breakfast, we tackled more of Florence’s wonderful sights. The Duomo (Cathedral) dominates the Florentine skyline with its enormous dome and 600 years have passed since it was begun by Brunelleschi. It was built mostly between 1296 and 1436 and four generations of architects lived out their lives building the cathedral and it was finally finished in 1461. It is still the biggest masonry dome in the world 42m wide and 55m high. The difficulty was how to vault it. Brunelleschi solved the problem by building upwards in ever decreasing rings without scaffolding. An inner shell provides a platform for the timbers that support the outer shell. The cathedral’s Neo Gothic exterior is fantastic with white green and pink Tuscan marble inlaid in patterns laid over the top of the original walls. The interior is positively austere, compared to the flashy outside. Only the south side is really old and the rest is a 19th century reconstruction.

Beside the cathedral its 14th century bell tower, the Campanile was designed by Giotto in 1334. It was completed in 1359, 22 years after his death. At 85m, the Campanile is 6m shorter than the dome. It is also clad in the three marble colours. The Baptistery is a tiny octagonal church built in the 11th century which stands in front of the Duomo. Its three sets of bronze doors depict the life of John the Baptist, the story of Christ and the Old Testament and are world renown. Inside, many famous Florentines, including Dante, were baptised. In the small piazza, these three structures are outstanding and are the biggest draw in Florence.

We walked down to the Piazza della Signoria (1307) which has the impressive castle like Palazzo Vecchio (‘Old Palace’ 1322) which is the Town Hall and still the seat of the city’s government. Shields on the façade symbolize episodes in Florentine history. The square became the place where Florence’s ruling families put on a show of wealth in the forms of statues of themselves or other sculptures. Some are still there.

The Galleria Uffizi was built 1560-80 as a suite of administration offices but it was then used to display the personal art treasures of several generations of the Medici family who commissioned many of them. It is both the oldest gallery in the world and also houses one of the finest art collections in the world including Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Leonardo and Rembrandt.

I had read everywhere that it took hours to get in, but when we turned up, we walked straight in. It seemed half empty. Upstairs, ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were in the wide corridor with its polished wooden floor around the inner side of the horseshoe shaped building. The paintings are hung in a series of rooms off the main corridor in chronological order to show the development of Florentine art from Gothic to Renaissance and beyond. Rather than try and take in everything, we sought out the Top 10 which were Birth of Venus (Botticelli - 1485), The Annunciation (Leonardo ad Vinci - 1475), Holy Family (Michelangelo - 1506), Maesta (Giotto), Bacchus (Caravaggio), Primavera (Botticelli - 1480), Venus of Urbino (Titian - 1538), Madonna of the Long neck (Parmigianino), Battle of San Romano (Uccelo - 1456). The only one we didn’t find was Frederica di Montefeltro and Battista Storza (Piero della Francesca). There was loads of other stuff to look at, but if you aren’t careful, you start to glaze over most of it after a couple of hours. One room I particularly like was the octagonal tribune with its mother of pearl ceiling (1584). We found the Rembrandts somewhere. The downstairs part of the museum was being redesigned to house new collections so we ended up walking through lots of empty rooms with white paint. No matter. It is the upstairs part you really need to see. I was very impressed. Recommended. The Piazza de Santa Croce is a wide attractive rectangle with surrounded by old multi-tiered houses. The magnificent gothic church of Santa Croce 91294) is the home to the tombs of a host of medieval and Renaissance names including Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. Having seen enough church interiors in the last 3 days, we passed on the ambitious admission fee and enjoyed the exterior views and watched daily life in the piazza.

With the time we had left, we explored other side streets, peered through entrances into old courtyards or inside local churches, walked through the street markets, found a ‘One Euro’ shop for our souvenirs (result!), had a delicious waffle and local ice cream and generally just took in the lovely atmosphere. Like Rome, you get the impression that you could spend days here exploring everything. We didn’t see Michelangelo’s statue of David in a museum (a copy?) and I discovered later that AA Milne (Winnie the Pooh author) is buried in Florence. I will have to return again for a second peek when touring Tuscany.

Thursday November 22nd

It was tempting to spend our final day in Florence, but Wendy had never seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa and since we were flying home from Pisa airport, we decided to catch a mid morning train to our third city. This time, we caught a local train but it only took about an hour. From Pisa’s train station, we caught a bus to the main tourist sights called the Campo dei Miracoli.

For much of the Middle Ages, Pisa’s powerful navy ensured its dominance of the western Mediterranean. Trading links with Spain and North Africa in the 12th century brought vast mercantile wealth and formed the basis of a cultural revolution that is still reflected in Pisa’s splendid buildings especially the Duomo, Baptistery and Campanile (Leaning Tower). Pisa’s decline occurred when the River Arno silted up.

Pisa’s world famous Leaning Tower completed in 1350 is just one of the splendid religious buildings that rise from the emerald-green lawns of the ‘Field of Miracles’. Lying to the northwest of the city centre it is partnered by the Duomo begun in 1063, the Baptistery of 1152-1284 and the Camp Santo cemetery begun in 1278.

All the buildings of the Campo dei Miracoli lean because of their shallow foundations and sandy silt subsoil but none tilts so famously as the Torre Pendente – the Leaning Tower. Begun in 1173, the tower began to tip sideways before the third storey was completed. But they kept going anyway. Recent engineering interventions corrected the tilt by 14 inches and it is now reopened.

We spent an enjoyable couple of hours pottering around the complex – doing lots of ‘holding the tower up with our hands, feet etc’ photos from different angles. I had been up the Tower in 1987 when they still let you walk around one of the floors outside. Now you had to book up a specific tour time and you could only climb up inside and peek out. So we didn’t bother. The Leaning Tower is a beautiful marble structure. It is truly unique and a wonderful sight to see.

The Duomo (cathedral) was a huge building. Coloured sandstone, glass and majolica plates decorate the Lombard –style 12th century façade. Its patterned surface includes knots, flowers and animals in inlaid marble. The interior was vast and austere. The Baptistery was closed today and we didn’t bother paying to see the old Camp Santo cemetery behind a vast wall. I was surprised that you could just walk into the whole complex for free but I assume the local traders just want to attract as many people as possible. The Leaning Tower certainly attracted a multitude of mixed nationalities – Japanese, Chinese, American, and English.

With a couple of hours left before we needed to check in, we decided to walk back to the Train Station. We passed down old charismatic streets with colonnades and over the River Arno where there was a statue of Garibaldi who ‘united’ the Italian states in the 19th century. A modern pedestrianised shopping area led us to a Specialist market of local cheeses, meat, pottery and knick-knacks. I found Pisa to be a nice laid back Italian town that happened to have one of the most famous landmarks in the world. It deserved more time and a proper visit. The best thing was that the Pisa Galileo Airport airport was a 10 minute bus ride away.