It’s evening in Rome. It’s cool up here on the hotel’s breezeway, but it was hot today when we were out during our tourista stuff and walking my socks off at the Coliseum and the Forum. I am feeling my age. Grandpa is feeling his age. We’re sitting here watching the kids as they filter back into the hotel. (The hotel has an elevator. It holds two people. If the doors aren’t properly closed the elevator doesn’t go anywhere.) It will be a challenge getting all of us and our luggage downstairs and on the bus by 8 AM.

The youngest grandkids are asleep. Their mommies are doing the packing for tomorrow’s early morning bus departure. This is the first bus day on the tour.

Kids and the older grandkids are filtering in. Some of the older girls have had fish pedicures. (No. I did not. Will not!) They’ve walked for miles and miles with their dad.

Today we celebrated Uncle Alan’s birthday on the patio at Harry’s Bar. The food was great but the most interesting part happened when two Smart Cars sandwiched a Mercedes S550. It wasn’t a good result for any of the aforesaid vehicles.

Tuscany in the morning. I said it was cool in Rome in the evening. It’s really cool in the morning here. We had breakfast on a lovely patio surrounded by flowers and gardens. Today, I’m taking a day off from touring to finish some editorial work while the younger generation is doing their bit in Florence. I believe I’m speaking for all of us when I say we’re having a great time. This blog is little more than a brief travelogue. I trust you’ll forgive me for that, but really, this is supposed to be a vacation, and it is.