Roming

By train to Rome for a short break holiday. We have been tut tutting about the environmental impact of short-haul flights and decided to do something about it. The train journeys were surprisingly easy to arrange - Eurostar to Paris and overnight sleeper to Rome - and the cost very similar to EasyJet prices for half-term. Plus the sense of adventure and opportunity to see countryside and people, rather than clouds and sky out of the window. It worked really well, except that there was a delay going out which resulted in us losing part of our first day in Italy.

Rome was fantastic...highly recommended. People had warned about litter and graffiti but what we found was a clean and vibrant city dripping with history and antiquities. The only real downside was the traffic. The Colosseum is a marvellous, mind-blowing spectacle but not at all enhanced at being (effectively) a massive roundabout for Rome's endless procession of cars taxis and small motor-bikes. And that goes for whole swathes of the city. Time to do some creative thinking and make the historical centre traffic-free. Please?