Rome!

It's more than a week since I returned home to South Africa, but here on the blog I still have a whole lot to catch you up on. This holiday just kept on getting better, and trust me, after starting with my first ever romance writing conference, that took some doing.

My oldest and dearest friend (not in age, but in terms of the fact that we've been friends since nursery school) and I made a whirlwind visit to Rome. Yes, the Rome in Italy. That city of dashing romantic heroes, ancient ruins, balmy sunshine and ... crowds and crowds of tourists. Even at midnight the Trevi Fountain was surrounded by hundreds of happy sight-seers.

Rome might be titled the Eternal City, but for me it will forever be the City of Fountains.

We dutifully marvelled at the Pantheon, tramped through the Forum and the Colisseum, window-shopped along the Via dei Condotti, climbed the Spanish Steps, and ate the most mouth-watering pizzas on the Piazza Navona. All in the sweltering heat. But I drew the line at standing in the baking sun for three hours to enter the Vatican, so I only got as close as the vast square in front of St Peters Basilica.

The most precious moments, though, were those we found in the most unexpected places. We dipped our feet in the icy water of a fountain in the Villa Borghese, the Roman version of Hyde Park. We discovered a pool side bar on the River Tiber and stopped for drinks and shade.

And we laughed ourselves silly over these Monty Python-esque statues in the Villa Borghese.

At midnight we sipped coffees in a tiny restaurant close to Trevi, then I joined the throng to throw in my coin and ensure that one day I'll return to Rome.