Happy Halloween! This holiday is also celebrated in Italy, and the folks here practice their own uniquely Tuscan brand of silliness. Checkout time is 11:00, so we packed and left our bags at the hotel to spend a couple of hours walking around prior to our 13:30 departure to Rome - we spend the night at a hotel there and fly back home tomorrow.

We spent some time at the Duomo (literally, Cathedral) viewing the beautiful tinted marble exterior design and the many, many works of statuary and carved wood adorning hundreds of surfaces, niches, and doors. The Duomo is devoted to the Virgin Mary, but in addition to glorifying the Divine Mother there are works depicting many of the other Saints, and of scenes representing human works and lifeways that comprise the Tuscan culture. The day had dawned clear and cool, and once again the streets and piazzi thronged with locals and tourists. Ulitimately, we took a taxi to the Firenze Termini and embarked on a Eurostar express to Rome. The trip only took 1-½ hours, versus our 3-½ hour crawl through the Tuscan countryside on our earlier journey up from Rome on the local train. Take your pick depending on your needs.

We stayed at the Hotel Cristoforo Colombo just inside the Roman ring road (beltway, if you like) surrounding the city and lying about halfway to Fiumicino Airport from city center. By the way, the hotel is a great bargain, with lushly appointed rooms and a free Continental breakfast of Dyonisian proportions, that can be booked on the Travelocity web site. It is located a pleasant (at least this time of year) 15-minute walk from the nearest Metro station, not too inconvenient for further peregrinations.

We went on into town and got off at the stop at the Spanish Steps, which were PACKED with embodied souls sitting on the steps. Climbing the 150 or so steps to the top of the hill, we walked down the street and stumbled into a Trattoria where we had our last Italian meal (at the source, that is), returned to the hotel, and crashed. Tomorrow, it's up at 07:00 to make our 11:30 departure at the airport.

I am actually writing this just after we arrived back home, so I'll close by saying that the flight was routine and surprisingly pleasant, largely due to the outstanding entertainment system aboard the Airbus A330 aircraft. I watched 3 movies (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; I, Robot; and Shrek 2) as well as several TV episodes, and the time went quickly. I had an aisle seat and so could stretch out to a considerable extent.

We got back to the homestead about 16:30, where our doggies greeted us with delirious joy. Our vacation was fantastic - haven't had so much fun since our scuba diving trip to the Caribbean last winter - but as Dorothy so famously said, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home...". I only was able to click my sneaker heels together, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Arrivaderci Roma e Firenze!