Collect the car downtown Rome 10:00 and drive north. This was supposed to be simple but it was about noon that we finally got into a car to leave. The one good thing is that we got a French car to return to France as opposed to the Italian car you normally would have so it meant about a 600euro saving.

And then we found that signposting in Italy means one every mile or two and if you have any turns between then a best luck guess is in order. So after not getting lost (we weren't lost yet, we knew we were in Rome driving north just couldn't place ourselves on the map) we made the decision to head north to Pisa via Florence as opposed to north east and up the coast. But hey that is what Google map directions had told us to do anyway.

Eventually onto the Autostrada we learnt first hand how small European cars handle 140kms/hr - very well!!




Early afternoon saw us navigating the streets of Pisa and surprisingly getting a free parking spot less than one hundred metres from the tower. A wander around, a coffee and weak cappuccino (no hot chocolates in summer only winter) and we were off to find a place to stay before sunset.