We hired a Fiat 500 (Cinque Cento in Italian) to drive all over Italy and most importantly visit my mums side of the family in L’Aqila.

To get back to Jo Jo’s from the Airport after we picked up the car we decided to drive back through Rome City. Now remember they drive on the wrong side of the road in Italy and also the steering wheel is on the other side of the car so Merv had to figure it all whilst driving through the busy city.

He actually did really well except for the part where he accidentally followed the bus lane only and ended up stuck between two buses at a two sided bus stop. (Imagine a car, like Mr Beans stuck between two huge buses) Funny Moment!

After a couple days back at Jo Jo’s we decided take the drive from Bracciano to Sora the beautiful mountainous region of Italy 2 hours South East of Rome to meet some of mum’s family.

We had the pleasure of being able to stay at my mum’s cousins house. I met Toni (same name as mine) when I was younger and remember her very well so it was great to see her and her husband Vince and daughter Jessica.

After settling in to our amazing room and having a bite to eat Toni took us out for a drive to get Ice-cream to a town not far away called Isola Di Liri. It was a small, quaint little town that had a really pretty waterfall coming out of a Villa on a hill.

Merv managed to get some really great shots and the Icecream was as usual in Italy, amazing.