Arrivederci Roma, Guten Tag Berlin

Theresa writes
Day 49

We have loved our time in Italy but we were not sad to leave Rome today.  Its very hot here - 36 degrees and full of tourists.  

There are some lovely things to see and do here. But a long hot wait to get into the Colisseum and the Sistene Chapel (even with prebooked tickets) and then a crowded shuffle through the site along with a thousand other people means you feel like you are doing the sites rather than really enjoying them.  The best times we have had here was when we arrived at things early in the morning such as the ruins or St Peters Dome and got to enjoy them in relative peace..

Other highlights have been going out for dinner in the evenings, enjoying the warm weather and good food.  Big cities are great for going out at night as there is always something going on and there is a real buzz about the city.  And of course it is still warm enough that you can wander to your favourite gelataria on your way home.  We have one at each end of our street and, having decided on our local, we have been there for each of our three nights.

We had a leisurely morning today getting packed and then we headed to the airport.  We thought we were going to catch a couple of buses to the airport or a taxi and a train and we weren't sure how long it would take.  In the end we grabbed a taxi the whole way there - slightly more expensive but a lot less hassle.  So we were at the airport about two hours before we needed to be, but the free tablet station and foozball meant the kids were entertained the whole time.

The flight crew on our Airberlin flight were lovely and (surprisingly given these security concious times) the cockpit door was open when we boarded the plane and the kids were allowed to go in and see it and talk to the pilots. They were really friendly and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the visit. 

Oh and the temperature here in Berlin is a much nicer 26 degrees.. Hopefully we will have a bit more enthusiasm for exploring with milder temperatures.