We felt rather guilty planning a 4 day stay in Rome when we had so much to do to get Sea Cloud ready for our 2016 adventures. It was worth a little guilt,  Rome was fabulous – a great time to forget about the rush of the past few months. Our 8 months back in Australia flew. Life was very busy preparing the house for rent, finding tenants and moving to the island, spending time with friends and family. We have a big year planned on Sea Cloud, as we hope to explore Croatia, the western med and then cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean at the end of the year.

We settled into our small hotel near the Piazza Campo de Fiori and headed off in the lovely spring weather to explore Rome.

The hotel is in a great location, within walking distance of the main sites and only a few blocks from the Piazza Navona and Pantheon.

The only real crowd we saw was at the Trevi Fountain… April is a great time to be travelling.

The last time we had visited the the Forum was in 1998 when a then 9 year old Andrew had surprised us by being so enthralled this ancient site.

The Palatine Hill with ruins of old palaces and roman baths has wonderful views over Rome.

The Capitoline Museum had been renovated and expanded since our last visit, with new areas to display the museum’s many treasures.

Michelangelo’s Marcus Aurelius

A real find was the cafe and terrace of the museum – inexpensive with great views of Rome.Trastevere, across the bridge was a great find. It is a lively area, with lots of interesting small streets and plenty of restaurants.

The rather grand church Santa Maria in Trastevere has the most beautiful mosaic floor.

Our third day in Rome was described by Ian as our baroque and Bernini day. Santa Maria della Vittoria with Bernini’s beautiful Ecstasy of St Theresa was our favourite.

A visit to Rome can’t really be complete without a visit to the Vatican. We managed to coincide our visit with Sunday mass with the Pope.

From the Vatican we walked through the small streets and parks high above the banks of the Tiber. Obviously a popular spot for locals out on their sunday stroll enjoying the beautiful views over Rome.

We stumbled across Palazzo Corsini, a beautiful building, the site of a great collection of art.

Back to the Piazza Campo de Fiori’s daily market for some specialty provisions to take on Sea Cloud.