I shouldn't have boasted yesterday about how well I slept; last night I slept only one hour, from 5.00 a.m. until my alarm went off at 6.00. I just tossed, and tossed, and - actually I did get up and try to toss off too (that's an English colloquial expression whose meaning I'll let you guess).

So it was with heavy, dragging feet that I limped along Marchmont Street looking for a cab at 6.30 this morning, my flight bag on my back, one heavy bag hung from my shoulder, and my suitcase trailing obediently behind me on its leash.

Less than an hour later, I was attempting to check in at Virgin Express in Heathrow Airport. It was then that I learned one crucial piece of information that apparently "all Europeans know" - there's a 20 kilo maximum to checked luggage across Europe, and mine weighed in at over 50! I was sent over to explain myself to the shift supervisor for Virgin. I was left with a choice between stowing half my luggage in an expensive storage locker for the duration of my trip to Italy, or paying hundreds of dollars excess baggage. I must have looked particularly pathetic, since the supervisor, dear girl, took pity on me and let me board the luggage scot free, muttering something about it being her last shift before her holiday. Of course, I'll probably have to pay the hundreds of dollars coming back, unless I can pull off my pathetic look again.

It was a long day of travel considering the distance. That's because super cheap Virgin Express has their hub in Brussels, so I had an hour and a half's wait in that smoke-filled airport in the middle of the trip. But by three, I was sitting in the back of a cab going something like 95 mph towards downtown Rome, being driven by a very handsome, sexy Italian guy in his late thirties. Greater Rome is as ugly as most big cities, but as you penetrate the inner, older Rome, suddenly there are ruins, magnificent churches and monuments no matter which direction you look.

My hotel lived up to its description - small, quaint, efficient, great location. I was completely exhausted, and badly in need of a siesta, so after a shower, I switched on the air-conditioning, installed my ear-plugs, and curled up in bed.

I woke up at six, and lay in bed a while, absorbing the sounds - mostly just those of the swallows screaming over the tops of the nearby hotels and apartment buildings. I was still very tired, but had enough energy to pull myself together, wear something suitably chicque (it is Italy after all!), and head out to wander around for a while, before finding a spot for dinner.

The hotel is very near Piazza Navona, one of Italy's classic open spaces. It's closed to traffic, and full of tourists, street performers, cafes, and a variety of fountains. It's a great place to sit around and just look at pretty boys - yes, I'd already had confirmed my expectations - I LOVE Italian men!

Piazza Navona

Leading off from the Piazza in all directions are narrow streets lined with restaurants, most of which spill their tables out onto the sidewalks, leaving pedestrians, cars and the ubiquitous mopeds to compete for the remaining real estate.

One of the streets leading off the Piazza

Dusk was settling in almost infinitessimally slowly, and the domes of the churches, and the ceremonial columns were gradually fading into the night sky.

While I ate dinner at a sidewalk restaurant reccommended by Frommers for its salads (but still no chicken-caesar!), I couldn't take my eyes off one of the waiters: he was just gorgeous. I was trying to think of a way of taking his photograph without attracting attention. I found an excuse when an extremely diffident, apologetic old man in a ratty sports coat pulled a sheaf of music paper from his pocket and began to moan, almost inaudibly, "La Vie en Rose" to the oblivious diners. I framed both the smiling waiter and the old man in the lens, but my Kodak has a half-second delay before taking the shot, and all I got was the waiter's bum! I show the pic, however, as a testament to my efforts :)

Cute waiter - his bum, anyway, and funny old man singing "La Vie en Rose"

Oi veh, time to go home and hopefully get a great night's sleep.