The Scroop's European Holiday: Rome

We can't believe this is our last full day of our holiday. We don't want to go home but we have to. This morning we wander around Rome similar to yesterday, just taking in the sights and the smells. It is a great morning just walking around grabbing a coffee, grabbing some biscuits and walking through the markets. We have been forced to relax a little bit in Rome because we are all so tired from 6 weeks of running around. After we have wandered a bit we decide to take the walk up to Villa Borghese to check out the gardens with the thought of grabbing some lunch and just relaxing for a while there. The walk takes us through the shopping district of Rome and up past the Spanish Steps which was fun. Once we get to the Villa Borghese gardens we get a taste of the rubbish Rome again. The gardens, if you can call them that, are awful. The greenest thing in these gardens is the pond. Trying to find a bench seat to sit on that isn't broken is a task. One of the bench seats by the pond is housing a homeless person and the gardens are infested with weeds and mosquito’s. So much for lunch in the park! We decide not to hang around and start the walk back toward our apartment. The kids are really struggling, they are so tired and Kris and I are doing it tough too with the extra Michelin around our waists. We wander back through another section of the shopping district and the place is packed. I think being the weekend everyone has come out to shop. The shopping district is fantastic with so many of the major brands represented. We grab some lunch on the way through and I grab some beers and some wine for Kris. We get back to the apartment and have our lunch and a few drinks on the terrace. Our apartment in Rome is awesome and having the terrace has been fantastic. Being able to come back and relax on the terrace with a few drinks in the arvo has been a real treat. At around 4pm, Riccardo, the agent, drops around to give us our deposit back and he is a really nice bloke. After that we head out for another wander through the shops and markets before coming home and getting ready for dinner. We head down to our favourite restaurant, That's Amore and we are greeted by the regular staff. They all know us by name now and we feel like we have become part of their family over the past 4 nights. This restaurant serves the most amazing food and the service is the best we have ever experienced anywhere. We have a great night and it's sad to leave with everyone saying goodbye and shaking our hands. We take the short stroll down the road to Valentino's for our regular gelato. Again, Valentino greets us like family and high fives the kids like he has done every night. We order our gelato and Valentino pops around the front to pose for a photo with the kids. We continue our nightly stroll down to the Trevi fountain while eating our gelato and take in this magnificent fountain one last time. The Trevi fountain is always packed at night which takes a bit of the shine off because tourists can be pushy and inconsiderate but we enjoy it the best we can for our last night. We head back to the apartment completely dejected and depression is setting in with the thought of being on a plane heading for home tomorrow. It was great to finish the holiday in what we would all agree was our favourite restaurant of the holiday and then with a gelato from our favourite ice cream man. It's now time to pack and get ready to leave.