WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE LIKE A BIG PIZZA PIE....

...then it's time to go to Italy, the Eternal City to be precise. And what better time to go to the epicentre of the Christian world than during the biggest festival on the religious calendar - Easter. We disembarked at Fiumicino at 7:30pm and 2 hours later (don't talk to me about Italian roads and drivers - everyone thinks he's Fangio!) arrived at our hotel, the Panama Garden - if it's good enough for Bridget Bardot to stay there then it's good enough for the LegsyBoys.

We quickly pop down the street for a late dinner and an introduction to gen-ewe-ine Italian cuisine, including bruschetta, pasta and the piece de resistance - prosciutto and mashed potato pizza!!

It's a twenty minute bus ride to Piazza Barberini, a popular stop-off from which everything can easily be reached on foot. (Travel Tip: some may disapprove of this but what the heck. There are numerous bus ticket options - 1 day, 3 day 7 day passes and a single fare valid for 100 minutes which costs 1.50 and must be bought at sidewalk kiosks not on board. As nobody scans their ticket when they get on it's possible to just keep a single ticket and plead tourist ignorance if ever questioned. It saved us over 100 euro which is not to be sneezed at!).

Anyway, I digress....First stop is Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, the home of the Capuchin monks. In the crypt of the monastery are six chapels that define macabre.

They are lined with the skeletons of 3,900 monks, most of whom had died in persecution, in amazingly ornate displays on the walls and ceilings, light fittings, EVERYTHING, that are as creepy as they are fascinating. The junior LegsyBoys wonder what they've let themselves in for!

An original Caravaggio no less - priceless!

A short walk and we arrive at the Piazza Trinità dei Monti dominated by the church built in 1585 and the Sallustiano obelisk.

Of course, it's better known as the high point of the Spanish Steps (although Italians do not refer to the staircase this way) which connect it the Piazza di Spagna by a glorious flight of 137 steps, the widest in Europe and considered one of the most romantic places in Rome (although how one expects any 'action' with thousands of tourists around is anybody's guess!).

The Piazza is where Rome's most glamorous shopping streets meet and is dominated by Bernini's Fontana della Barcaccia built in 1598.

Adjacent to the steps is Keats-Shelley House where the great English poets resided, and close by, under heavy armed guard, is the the Spanish Embassy to The Vatican.

Time for lunch where we spend 30 minutes unsuccessfully trying to decipher the sign in the lavatory. Heaven help the proprietor if The Donald should ever occasion the establishment and see it!

Ten minutes away is the world's largest baroque fountain, the Fontana di Trevi. Completed in 1762, at 26 metres high and 49 metres wide it truly is an impressive sight, a pity it teems with tourists right around the clock (we know this because we returned later in the week and 10:30pm).

Onward we wandered through the streets and alleys discovering curiosities along the way....

In a city of ancient ruins and relics, the Pantheon sits right up the top of the 'wow factor' list. This remarkable temple was finished in 125AD to replace Marcus Agrippa's original structure - the original inscription "Marcus Agrippa son of Lucius, having been consul three times made it" (in Latin of course!) can still be seen above the entrance.

It's the burial place of numerous Italian kings and the artist Raphael. Remarkably, the concave geometric patterned marble floor is the original ancient Roman floor, complete with drainage holes (still essential).

The star feature is the amazing dome and its oculus, the circular opening at the top which lets in natural light - it was never closed (even to this day), hence the need for drainage on the floor. The interior height and diameter of the dome are identical, and the architectural and engineering ingenuity, the sheer precision of a structure nearly 2,000 years old is hard to comprehend.

It's tough work walking around looking at famous sights and there's a need for refreshments, so when in Rome...eat gelato! Aimee was here with her skool last year and knows a fab gelateria close by, and so it's off to Della Palma with its choice of 150 different flavours...decisions decisions!

Just up the street (it seems there's a jaw dropping vista around every corner) we come to the elongated oval-shaped C15th Piazza Navona, one of Rome's most popular public squares and dominated by three stunning fountains.

We make a dash back to the hotel to freshen up and then head to the Roof Garden restaurant at the Hotel Forum for dinner, the same place Dulcinea and I came to on our previous visit 14 years ago.

From our table we watch the sunset behind Piazza Venezia and the Forum spectacularly light up - Liam's particularly excited as it's his first sighting of the Forum and the Colosseum in the distance, the number one items on his 'must see' list.

Roof Garden restaurant in the background

Even the kids approved of the day as we finally retired! It's an early start tomorrow if we're going to have any chance of catching Frank for morning tea.