Once again the early morning was bracing and dark. Leaving home at 5am is not pleasant, least of all because I never usually sleep the night before flying, for fear of oversleeping and missing my flight. I made the exception this time and caught two hours kip before loading up my Jeep and setting off to pick up my two comrades.

Just returned from a wonderful trip to Rome. Having visited many European cities and more worldwide, I was beginning to think that all urban metropoles where pretty much the same, but Rome is different from anywhere I have been before. It’s splendor, magnificance, history and art make it one to remember but you need some strong walking shoes and plenty of time to get around to see it all. Over the coming weeks I will post my musings on the trip, save to say, I took plenty of pictures and will also be posting them on http://organix.stirlyn.co.uk.