On the way to Florence we stopped off in Lucca where we got mixed up with an enormous comics convention. Very surreal to wander the streets of a beautiful Tuscan town surrounded by Italian teenagers (as well as a worrying number of seemingly normal adults) dressed as their favourite characters - predominantly ninjas!Spent two nights in Florence. One of our main reasons to visit was to show Emilia Botticelli's Primavera in the Uffizzi Gallery. She was suitably impressed, and somewhat embarrassed when Daddy was told off for taking pictures. We had a close shave with the Criminal underworld when a statue attempted to make off with Emilia's nose. We thought that he intended to hold it for ransom in order to extract another Euro from us; but Emilia kept her wits about her and darted before the nose was snatched.
We hit San Gimignano and Siena on our way through Southern Tuscany. In Siena we hung out in the Piazza del Campo where the Ladies enjoyed yet another gelato while being entertained by a group of grapa fuelled men reenacting the il Palio horserace.
Beautiful drive through Umbria stopping off in Assisi, another wonderful town, before arriving in Rome. Had an action packed day taking in as many sights as possible, including the Vatican and the awe-inspiring Sistine Chapel, as well as the awe-inspiring crowds just to get in to see the Chapel! We did have the added bonus of sharing our visit to see Michelangelo's work with Stephen Hawking who was getting a not-so private viewing with one of the museum curators, and a dozen or so of Benedict's finest Swiss guards. And Daddy got told off for taking pictures again, along with just about everyone in the Chapel!
Pompeii beckoned for some more Roman ruins. Emilia was particularly fascinated by the casts and was full of questions. It is astounding how much she is taking in, and wonderful to think that she will have her own memories of this trip. Abigail will just have to rely on the pictures and believe us that she really went to all these places.
Although the rain continued to follow us and looked to completely eradicate our views of the Amalfi Coast, it cleared just as we began our descent onto the coast road and we were treated to some spectacular scenery. It was on this drive that we also realised that our time in Italy was rapidly dwindling. On discovering that there was a ferry from Salerno to Sicily, we decided to make a break for the islands and leave the south of Italy for another visit.
Very easy crossing, shared with one other car and some of the best-dressed truck drivers we've ever seen, before being unleashed into the insanity that is Sicilian driving. Spent a night in Taormina, followed by a day on the beach, before driving through the barren, almost lunar in places, interior of the island to hit the south coast. We spent a delightful day lounging on the beach at Siculiana Marina, and visiting some very impressive Greek ruins at Agrigento. Abigail has added sand to the ever growing list of solids to which she is being introduced.
On our final morning we decided, on a whim, to see if our previous day's sand castle was still standing. This resulted in the front end of our Punto becoming firmly embedded in the sand. After several attempts at digging it out by hand, resulting in further embedding, a delightful old Sicilian couple appeared in a battered old Land Rover. Alfredo, without a word, dug around in the back, pulled out a cable, and while Maria entertained the Ladies, proceeded to extract us from our dilemna. Random Act of Kindness Number One. After a long drive, and a somewhat frenzied car drop-off/transfer to Sicilian public transport in Ragusa, we were unceremoniously deposited in Pozallo's main square, several miles from the port. Within minutes of asking a local for directions, and/or a taxi rank, we found ourselves in a convoy of Audis driven by a band of stylish Sicilian youth, us in one and our bags in another, being whisked to the ferry terminal. Random Act of Kindness Number Two. Not bad for one day. 
And so it was with heavy hearts and an extra couple of pounds around the waist that we left Italy. This was of course tempered by the fact that we would soon be back in Malta. 
