In September 2012 my Fiancee and I planned to celebrate our birthdays with an incredible two week holiday in Italy and Germany.

Our first stop was the Italian capital. We only spent two full days in Rome but managed to squeeze a lot of sites into that time.

Our first day took us to the Vatican where we spent hours wandering through the museums and standing in awe of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. I had visited Rome and the Vatican before but didn’t have time to visit the museums, so it was incredible to see the art in the museums and particularly the Sistine Chapel on this trip.

Leaving St. Peter’s we were blessed with beautifully warm Tuscan afternoon sunshine – creating a spectacular silhouette of the basilica.

We spent the evening dining in Trastevere where, much to our relief, the throngs of tour groups were replaced by a lot more locals.

On our second day we explored Ancient Rome, starting with breakfast at the Spanish Steps and Ice Cream in Piazza Navona. The afternoon brought on a trip to the Colosseum. On my previous visit I only saw it from the outside so, once again, it was great to explore the iconic ruin in more depth. The late afternoon was spent wandering up Palatine Hill and through the Roman Forum before venturing into the Capitoline Museums.

After another incredible meal of pizza and pasta we made our way to the famous Trevi Fountain. Sadly a lot of the building was covered for restoration work, but the key statues were visible and the fountain still looked spectacular at night.

Exhausted from all the sightseeing we returned to our beds for our final night in Rome before an early start travelling across Italy to our second destination, the picturesque Cinque Terre.