Villaggio Marinello, Oliveri/Marinello (ACSI2009-1525) N38.13221 E15.05457
It occurs to me that I have not mentioned the weather for a few days, indeed in my ramblings, I think I have only mentioned the weather when it has been raining. Well, that is more or less it, if I have not mentioned it, it is because it is warm and sunny!, and so it is today.
We program the satnav for our next site in Sicily, and given what we have been told about the state of the roads south of here, and the fact that the motorway is toll free to the Sicily ferry, we elect to take the motorway. We soon find out why it is free, most of it has not yet been built, there are a few kilometres of sweeping viaducts, and long dual carriageway tunnels, but at least 80% of it is a contraflow!
We arrive at the end of the motorway, or should I say contraflow, and make our way to the ferry. It runs regularly every 20 minutes or so, so there is no pre-booking, just turn up buy a ticket (65Euro return, a bit steep), and go. We are first met by a small army of touts trying to sell us advice on which ticket to buy etc etc. We ignore the touts, and Kathleen buys the ticket at the official ticket office. Still a bit worrying, she pays with a credit card, but no pin number is requested and no signature, and no receipt is given, we are entering the land of the mafia, we hope all will be well.
As I said earlier, the day started warm and sunny, well it is still warm, but now it is blowing a gale, we can see across to Sicily, Kathleen decides that the ferries crossing too and fro look very small, and the waves very large!
We join the queue to board, and have our first taste of Sicilian driving. It is the standard ferry queuing system with several lanes and you are allocated a lane depending on your length, height etc. It is clear that everyone in the queue will get onboard, the queue is not long, but an idiot (Sicilian) driver (with mobile phone glued to his ear of course) in a black Mercedes, insists on trying to queue jump and push in between us and the bus we are following. I move over and push force him to move nearer the edge of the quay. Kathleen is not happy about this, after all he may be a godfather, so I relent and allow him.
Despite Kathleen’s misgivings about the small size of the ferry, the strength of the wind and the large size of the waves, we arrive safely in Messina. After more jockeying for position and queue jumping we make our way out of the dock area and into the madness of the Messina traffic.
We join the motorway, at the edge of town, and we are on our way. But not for long, at the next exit we are flagged down by a police patrol and told the motorway is closed to everything except cars due to the strength of the wind (at least we think that is what he said), not to worry (yet), that sat nav quickly recalculates our route excluding the motorway. But now we pass through a series of suburbs and small towns to the west of Messina. The traffic is very busy. On several occasions emergency vehicles (fire engines, ambulances etc) come screaming up behind us, with blue lights flashing and sirens blaring. We dutifully pull over and let them pass. Big mistake, once having pulled over, the other traffic will not let you back in to the flow. We (or I) quickly learn that here, what you do is ignore the sirens and just keep going.
Eventually we come to a section of road which is clearly not finished yet, our satnav clearly thinks it is finished and instructs us straight ahead into an obvious construction site. Avoiding that calamity, we follow a diversion sign, then of course there are no more signs. We come to a very narrow section (2.2m, according to the sign), the van is 2.2m wide. There is no where to turn around and reversing out is impossible, so with sweat on my brow, and Kathleen shouting “you will never get through there” (instead of watching the mirror on her side), I went for it. She was almost right, I got through, but with a black scuff mark down her side of the van.
We arrive at the site. It is not good, it does not appear to be fully open, and heavy rain has been added to the howling gale. The one plus is that it does have wifi. We duly buy an hours worth, but after about 15minutes it packs in, the signal probably cannot make it through the wall of wind blown rain!
The weather plus the incident of my attempting to drive through a 2.2m gap, makes for a suitably fraught evening, least said soonest mended. Welcome to Sicily.
Wednesday 27 May 2009
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Saturday April 25th 2009 - Sunday April 26th 2009
International Camping Village, Praia a Mare (ACSI2009-1546) N39.88190 E15.78548
We have the usual decision to take at this time of week, is the present site suitable for a trip to church on Sunday either on foot or on a bicycle. For this site that is definitely a negative, you have to either negotiate the steep switch back road for about 2 kilometres as it climbs up to the town, or if you are feeling really fit you can walk up the (what seems like) several hundred steps to the town. How do they comply with disabled access legislation here?
So we decide to head south, so that we can be settled in place at somewhere suitable on Sunday. We key in the coordinates to the satnav, and tell it to avoid motorways. We want to do the scenic route. We do not know it yet, but this is a major mistake.
The trusty satnav takes us along the Amalfi coast as expected, towards Positano. As we had expected it is spectacular and very beautiful. Kathleen has cramp in her hands from gripping onto her seat as we climb and then drop down, all of the time negotiating hairpin after hairpin bend. We notice that the road is quite busy, and there are many cars and large busses parked in laybys as we approach Positano. We check the trusty diary and find it is a National holiday today their version of Independence day or some such. On the edge of Positano there is a Policeman who waves us down and tells us something in Italian, which we of course do not understand. We repeatedly tell him (in English) that we are going to Amalfi. He is not having it and he will not let us proceed. Instead he directs us onto a side road (we now think he intention was for us to turn around and retrace our steps, but this was not clear at the time).
The side road is narrow, but it is signposted Amalfi. So we soldier on up the hill, and up and up, the road gets even narrower. We begin to think we are making a big mistake (well, I am thinking it, Kathleen has been telling me forcefully what a big mistake it is for the past 4 or 5 kilometers). Eventually we come to a fork in the road, no signposts, silence from the satnav. Do we go right, or do we go left? Fortunately there are two Italian chaps passing the time of day by the road side (goodness knows were they have come from we appear to be in the middle of nowhere and part way up a very steep hill). Fortunately one of them speaks enough English to understand when we tell him we are trying to get to Amalfi. He tells us we need the left fork, but, and this is a big but, there is no point in proceeding since the road ahead has collapsed and there is no way we will able to pass in something 6metres long and 3metres high. We have to turn around.
Fortunately at this point, the road widens slightly. Kathleen hops out to watch the back (she says, I think she just did not want to in the cab as I drove forward towards the chasm). I swung the van around and drove towards the drop, at this point some other vehicle had clearly gone through the stone barrier, and all there was between me a a drop of several hundred feet was some red and white checked tape. The helpful Italian, beckoned me forward (it is OK for him, he is not in the cab!), still further and further, eventually I chicken out, and opt to reverse until I hear the cry of STOP from Kathleen, Forwards toward the drop again, and so we execute a three (or maybe five or six) point turn, Kathleen jumps back into the cab and with a cheery wave we retrace our steps, this time down the hill.
We arrive back at the “main” road along the coast, the policeman is still there and still refuses to let us pass. There is nothing for it but to return towards Naples and join the motorway. We have now spent about 2.5 hours driving up and down the Amalfi coast. The boss is not amused, I decide that silence the wisest option.
We rejoin the motorway. Initially there is a toll, but it is only 2Euro or so (more of this later). We now speed south making up for lost time (as I constantly reminded. All goes smoothly until we reach the point where we must leave the motorway and begin heading for the coast again. The road at this point is in good condition, but is twists its way across some high hills (most of Italy, I am beginning to realise is mountains) and overtaking is not really an option. We can see the road snaking ahead as it climbs and drops. There is a Campervan visible way ahead. We steadily gain on him and soon find it is an ancient arthritic Italian job. There is no chance of us overtaking him on the twists and climbs of this road. Steadily the queue of cars behind us builds up, although the odd suicidal Alpha driver goes for it and overtakes both of us with zero visibility ahead, most opt to stay alive. The crawling Italian shows no sign of pulling over to allow us to pass, so for the next 50kilometres of so, I pull over, and allow the cars behind to pass, so at least they have to overtake only one campervan. Eventually he turns off, oh joy. We do not know it at this point, but we will see the Italian van again soon.
We arrive at our selected campsite (La Mantinera 1547), it looks very posh, our hopes are raised. But, despite the opening date given in the ACSI book, it is closed. All is not lost, there is another site (1546) only a kilometre along the road, it is actually nearer to the town (and the church), so it may be better anyway we tell ourselves.
We drive along there, infront of us, waiting to check-in is the arthritic Italian van!, how did he get here ahead of us?, he obviously knew a shortcut not known to our satnav.
We settle in, there are some good points. The facilities are excellent, with lost of hot water (an unexpected luxury we have discovered in Italy, they must use cold showers as a form of birth control I think). It gets better, it is an easy cycle to the town and there is a church. Now the negative, there is a railway line next to the site with highspeed trains passing regularly, the good news is they stop about 10:00pm.
As usual almost everyone there is Dutch or German, but we soon notice another English van, George and Anne who are (or were) planning to go to Sicily. They have made it as far south as Gallipoli, but at that point have decided they are running out of time, and must start heading north again, hence we find them here.
From them we learn were the ferry leaves from, how much it will cost, that the motorway is free all the way to the ferry terminal (we find out why later), and they kindly loan us their “Sicily Book” with the understanding we will post it to them on our return.
We venture out to explore on our bikes. There is a fine promenade complete with cycle track which runs for several kilometres along the coast. But this is a strange place, clearly at some point there has been a decision to built a resort here, and indeed whole sections have been built, such as the promenade, but at the same time many developments (houses, hotels etc) are unfinished, and clearly work on them has been abandoned for several years.
As we cycle along, we spot a church, on the hill side. It would be of course. We cycle towards it. Eventually the climb becomes so steep, that the road gives way to steps. We park the bikes, and climb the steps. At the top is an amazing church come grotto built into the hillside. It is clearly in use, but it turns out only on special occasions and there is no service there tomorrow (Sunday). We return to our bikes and cycle into town, where we find the somewhat anonymous but functioning modern church. There is no notice board advertising mass times, but a helpful Italian lady converses with in sign language to convey that mass is at 11:00am the next day.
We have the usual decision to take at this time of week, is the present site suitable for a trip to church on Sunday either on foot or on a bicycle. For this site that is definitely a negative, you have to either negotiate the steep switch back road for about 2 kilometres as it climbs up to the town, or if you are feeling really fit you can walk up the (what seems like) several hundred steps to the town. How do they comply with disabled access legislation here?
So we decide to head south, so that we can be settled in place at somewhere suitable on Sunday. We key in the coordinates to the satnav, and tell it to avoid motorways. We want to do the scenic route. We do not know it yet, but this is a major mistake.
The trusty satnav takes us along the Amalfi coast as expected, towards Positano. As we had expected it is spectacular and very beautiful. Kathleen has cramp in her hands from gripping onto her seat as we climb and then drop down, all of the time negotiating hairpin after hairpin bend. We notice that the road is quite busy, and there are many cars and large busses parked in laybys as we approach Positano. We check the trusty diary and find it is a National holiday today their version of Independence day or some such. On the edge of Positano there is a Policeman who waves us down and tells us something in Italian, which we of course do not understand. We repeatedly tell him (in English) that we are going to Amalfi. He is not having it and he will not let us proceed. Instead he directs us onto a side road (we now think he intention was for us to turn around and retrace our steps, but this was not clear at the time).
The side road is narrow, but it is signposted Amalfi. So we soldier on up the hill, and up and up, the road gets even narrower. We begin to think we are making a big mistake (well, I am thinking it, Kathleen has been telling me forcefully what a big mistake it is for the past 4 or 5 kilometers). Eventually we come to a fork in the road, no signposts, silence from the satnav. Do we go right, or do we go left? Fortunately there are two Italian chaps passing the time of day by the road side (goodness knows were they have come from we appear to be in the middle of nowhere and part way up a very steep hill). Fortunately one of them speaks enough English to understand when we tell him we are trying to get to Amalfi. He tells us we need the left fork, but, and this is a big but, there is no point in proceeding since the road ahead has collapsed and there is no way we will able to pass in something 6metres long and 3metres high. We have to turn around.
Fortunately at this point, the road widens slightly. Kathleen hops out to watch the back (she says, I think she just did not want to in the cab as I drove forward towards the chasm). I swung the van around and drove towards the drop, at this point some other vehicle had clearly gone through the stone barrier, and all there was between me a a drop of several hundred feet was some red and white checked tape. The helpful Italian, beckoned me forward (it is OK for him, he is not in the cab!), still further and further, eventually I chicken out, and opt to reverse until I hear the cry of STOP from Kathleen, Forwards toward the drop again, and so we execute a three (or maybe five or six) point turn, Kathleen jumps back into the cab and with a cheery wave we retrace our steps, this time down the hill.
We arrive back at the “main” road along the coast, the policeman is still there and still refuses to let us pass. There is nothing for it but to return towards Naples and join the motorway. We have now spent about 2.5 hours driving up and down the Amalfi coast. The boss is not amused, I decide that silence the wisest option.
We rejoin the motorway. Initially there is a toll, but it is only 2Euro or so (more of this later). We now speed south making up for lost time (as I constantly reminded. All goes smoothly until we reach the point where we must leave the motorway and begin heading for the coast again. The road at this point is in good condition, but is twists its way across some high hills (most of Italy, I am beginning to realise is mountains) and overtaking is not really an option. We can see the road snaking ahead as it climbs and drops. There is a Campervan visible way ahead. We steadily gain on him and soon find it is an ancient arthritic Italian job. There is no chance of us overtaking him on the twists and climbs of this road. Steadily the queue of cars behind us builds up, although the odd suicidal Alpha driver goes for it and overtakes both of us with zero visibility ahead, most opt to stay alive. The crawling Italian shows no sign of pulling over to allow us to pass, so for the next 50kilometres of so, I pull over, and allow the cars behind to pass, so at least they have to overtake only one campervan. Eventually he turns off, oh joy. We do not know it at this point, but we will see the Italian van again soon.
We arrive at our selected campsite (La Mantinera 1547), it looks very posh, our hopes are raised. But, despite the opening date given in the ACSI book, it is closed. All is not lost, there is another site (1546) only a kilometre along the road, it is actually nearer to the town (and the church), so it may be better anyway we tell ourselves.
We drive along there, infront of us, waiting to check-in is the arthritic Italian van!, how did he get here ahead of us?, he obviously knew a shortcut not known to our satnav.
We settle in, there are some good points. The facilities are excellent, with lost of hot water (an unexpected luxury we have discovered in Italy, they must use cold showers as a form of birth control I think). It gets better, it is an easy cycle to the town and there is a church. Now the negative, there is a railway line next to the site with highspeed trains passing regularly, the good news is they stop about 10:00pm.
As usual almost everyone there is Dutch or German, but we soon notice another English van, George and Anne who are (or were) planning to go to Sicily. They have made it as far south as Gallipoli, but at that point have decided they are running out of time, and must start heading north again, hence we find them here.
From them we learn were the ferry leaves from, how much it will cost, that the motorway is free all the way to the ferry terminal (we find out why later), and they kindly loan us their “Sicily Book” with the understanding we will post it to them on our return.
We venture out to explore on our bikes. There is a fine promenade complete with cycle track which runs for several kilometres along the coast. But this is a strange place, clearly at some point there has been a decision to built a resort here, and indeed whole sections have been built, such as the promenade, but at the same time many developments (houses, hotels etc) are unfinished, and clearly work on them has been abandoned for several years.
As we cycle along, we spot a church, on the hill side. It would be of course. We cycle towards it. Eventually the climb becomes so steep, that the road gives way to steps. We park the bikes, and climb the steps. At the top is an amazing church come grotto built into the hillside. It is clearly in use, but it turns out only on special occasions and there is no service there tomorrow (Sunday). We return to our bikes and cycle into town, where we find the somewhat anonymous but functioning modern church. There is no notice board advertising mass times, but a helpful Italian lady converses with in sign language to convey that mass is at 11:00am the next day.
Thursday April 23rd 2009 - Friday April 24th 2009
Selano Spiaggia, Vico Equense (ACSI2009-1597) N40.66002 E14.42028
We have had our fill of the city for now, so today we set off heading south again, destination the Sorrento area and the Amalfi coast.
On our way south through France we did pass the time of day with several fellow Campervan/Caravan owners, who when we said we were headed for Sicily, muttered about the state of the roads. We were somewhat puzzled by this, since we had previously been as far South as Florence (by car), and Venice with the campervan. On these trips we had found the roads to be good, indeed the motorways were so well surfaced as to be billiard table like.
As we headed south of Rome we began to see what people were talking about. We did not know it as this stage, but this was only the beginning. First the simple things, road signs lack any distance information and road numbering information, plus the small detail that as we have found since entering Italy, they flout the EU standards on road signs, they have motorways signposted in green and all other roads in blue, unlike every other country in the EU, so arguments between the satnav and Kathleen increased dramatically. Then the potholes, even on major roads it was not uncommon to have to reduce speed to 30mph to avoid having everything shaken loose and flying about the van.
As we reach Naples, the roads get even worse, some sections are made of paving stone sized cobles (in the style the Romans made roads I think, from seeing Pompei later) and they are far from flat, so it is like driving across a ploughed field. Although it is only shortly after midday, the sky darkens and a massive thunderstorm erupts. As we join the “Ring road” to skirt Naples, we are met with a river of water running down the slip road off the major road (don’t they have drains here?). Once on the ring road, which is mostly reduced to single file traffic by road works, we are unfortunate enough to get behind a Tata pickup truck, driven by the only Italian who wants to travel at 20mph. Eventually I see a chance to overtake (it is a no overtaking zone, but by now I have entered the spirit of things and I am ignoring such details), as I begin to overtake, oncoming cars flash frantically, they are warning me there is a “Carbenari” up ahead, so I pull back in an crawl along at 20mph. The rain stops as quickly as it began, and we get a magnificent view of Vesuvius, cloud still clinging to its summit as we leave Naples and head for our site on the peninusular beside Salerno. As we approach the coast, we see the shape of things to come on this section of coast, the road is narrow, and twists along a ledge on a cliff, occasionally plunging into a tunnel, the views are spectacular, with villages perched precariously on the steep edge, and the blue of the sea 50 to 100 feet below, usually but not always with a crash barrier between us and it. Several times I am forcefully told to watch the road and not the view, as Kathleen’s anxiety level increases.
Eventually we come to yet another 90 degree bend and plunge into a tunnel which emerges about a kilometre later in Vico Equense. Following the sat nav instructions we edge around an impossibly tight bend and begin to descend a narrow twisting road to the actual shoreline. Although we have doubts that this tiny road can lead us anywhere except a dead end the trusty Tomtom brings us to the entrance of the campsite. We are met by the English speaking owner, who directs us to a pitch and gives us the low down on where everything is. He is very pleasant and helpful, but I think in an earlier life he must have been a school teacher, since he speaks to us throughout as if we were 5 year olds.
The site is small, there is so little flat ground here, it is hard to imagine why they use any of for a campsite!, but everything works and it clean. Most of the other Vans and Caravans are German, one brave soul is even towing a “Smart Car” behind him. But next to us is a Spanish registered van, the owners however are English, having moved to Spain some 30 years ago, they travel the rest of Europe in a Campervan when the fancy takes them, since they are both very sprightly 70 year olds, it is not doing them any harm.
The next day we decide to visit Sorrento, first we catch a bus in the village by the sea. This in itself is an experience, there appears to be no timetable, the chap in the bar next to the bus stop assures us the bus will come, just have another drink. Patience is not a virtue with one of us. The bus eventually arrives and takes us along the impossibly narrow and twisty road with much honking of the horn (but little slowing down) at each blind hairpin bend, and deposits us at the Railway station in Vico Equense. We buy our tickets and try to figure out which of the platforms we need. Some guesswork from the announcements takes us to platform two where (in time) a train for Sorrento arrives. We duly arrive, and spend a few hours exploring this attractive little place, before we retire to a pavement café to watch the world go by. Then we return to the railway station and make our way back to Vico Equense. We decide against waiting for the bus to take us down the hill (there is no bar to wait in), so we walk, not so bad going downhill, and the views are spectacular.
We have had our fill of the city for now, so today we set off heading south again, destination the Sorrento area and the Amalfi coast.
On our way south through France we did pass the time of day with several fellow Campervan/Caravan owners, who when we said we were headed for Sicily, muttered about the state of the roads. We were somewhat puzzled by this, since we had previously been as far South as Florence (by car), and Venice with the campervan. On these trips we had found the roads to be good, indeed the motorways were so well surfaced as to be billiard table like.
As we headed south of Rome we began to see what people were talking about. We did not know it as this stage, but this was only the beginning. First the simple things, road signs lack any distance information and road numbering information, plus the small detail that as we have found since entering Italy, they flout the EU standards on road signs, they have motorways signposted in green and all other roads in blue, unlike every other country in the EU, so arguments between the satnav and Kathleen increased dramatically. Then the potholes, even on major roads it was not uncommon to have to reduce speed to 30mph to avoid having everything shaken loose and flying about the van.
As we reach Naples, the roads get even worse, some sections are made of paving stone sized cobles (in the style the Romans made roads I think, from seeing Pompei later) and they are far from flat, so it is like driving across a ploughed field. Although it is only shortly after midday, the sky darkens and a massive thunderstorm erupts. As we join the “Ring road” to skirt Naples, we are met with a river of water running down the slip road off the major road (don’t they have drains here?). Once on the ring road, which is mostly reduced to single file traffic by road works, we are unfortunate enough to get behind a Tata pickup truck, driven by the only Italian who wants to travel at 20mph. Eventually I see a chance to overtake (it is a no overtaking zone, but by now I have entered the spirit of things and I am ignoring such details), as I begin to overtake, oncoming cars flash frantically, they are warning me there is a “Carbenari” up ahead, so I pull back in an crawl along at 20mph. The rain stops as quickly as it began, and we get a magnificent view of Vesuvius, cloud still clinging to its summit as we leave Naples and head for our site on the peninusular beside Salerno. As we approach the coast, we see the shape of things to come on this section of coast, the road is narrow, and twists along a ledge on a cliff, occasionally plunging into a tunnel, the views are spectacular, with villages perched precariously on the steep edge, and the blue of the sea 50 to 100 feet below, usually but not always with a crash barrier between us and it. Several times I am forcefully told to watch the road and not the view, as Kathleen’s anxiety level increases.
Eventually we come to yet another 90 degree bend and plunge into a tunnel which emerges about a kilometre later in Vico Equense. Following the sat nav instructions we edge around an impossibly tight bend and begin to descend a narrow twisting road to the actual shoreline. Although we have doubts that this tiny road can lead us anywhere except a dead end the trusty Tomtom brings us to the entrance of the campsite. We are met by the English speaking owner, who directs us to a pitch and gives us the low down on where everything is. He is very pleasant and helpful, but I think in an earlier life he must have been a school teacher, since he speaks to us throughout as if we were 5 year olds.
The site is small, there is so little flat ground here, it is hard to imagine why they use any of for a campsite!, but everything works and it clean. Most of the other Vans and Caravans are German, one brave soul is even towing a “Smart Car” behind him. But next to us is a Spanish registered van, the owners however are English, having moved to Spain some 30 years ago, they travel the rest of Europe in a Campervan when the fancy takes them, since they are both very sprightly 70 year olds, it is not doing them any harm.
The next day we decide to visit Sorrento, first we catch a bus in the village by the sea. This in itself is an experience, there appears to be no timetable, the chap in the bar next to the bus stop assures us the bus will come, just have another drink. Patience is not a virtue with one of us. The bus eventually arrives and takes us along the impossibly narrow and twisty road with much honking of the horn (but little slowing down) at each blind hairpin bend, and deposits us at the Railway station in Vico Equense. We buy our tickets and try to figure out which of the platforms we need. Some guesswork from the announcements takes us to platform two where (in time) a train for Sorrento arrives. We duly arrive, and spend a few hours exploring this attractive little place, before we retire to a pavement café to watch the world go by. Then we return to the railway station and make our way back to Vico Equense. We decide against waiting for the bus to take us down the hill (there is no bar to wait in), so we walk, not so bad going downhill, and the views are spectacular.
Monday 25 May 2009
Monday April 20th 2009 - Wednesday April 22nd 2009
Happy Village and Camping, Rome (ACSI2009-1560) N42.00342 E12.45313
Who thinks up these names?, this place is not only called Happy Village, but it also has a Happy bus to take you to the railway station so you can get the train into Rome.
The site has very good facilities including wifi connection. It is a bit cramped, but that is the norm we have found at the sites which are primarily used by people who want access to a major city.
The site is actually at a place called Prima Porta (a sort of Italian Jarrow), effectively a suburb of Rome. As I said above, there is a mini bus to take you to the station to get the train. It is a bit of a white knuckle drive, a bit like formula 1 in a Ford Transit mini bus, with stray traffic crossing the track randomly without signals. We arrive at the station in one piece and buy our day ticket for 4Euro each, this will take us to Rome and back, allow unlimited us of the metro in Rome for the day, and unlimited us of the bus/tram in Rome for the day (not a bad deal).
First we walk from the railway station to Vatican City, not too bad a walk (about 20 minutes). We do St Peters etc, it is very hot and very busy, but impressive in a sort of impress with power sort of way, rather than the quiet and dignified ambience of Assisi, plus the top man has not put in an appearance for us, rather disappointing when we have come all of this way and Kathleen at least is a fully paid up member.
Next we head off for the Colliseaum etc. The original plan is to get the metro, but no blame apportioned, the plan is not followed.
This is a big mistake, it is quite a distance and very hot. Tempers are frayed. Eventually we stop for lunch and have a passable pizza and a drop of red wine, tempers (temporarily cool). When we pay the bill, we find the is a 6Euro “cover” charge on top of the cost of the food and wine, apparently this is “normal” in Rome. Tempers warm again.
Eventually, we find the Colliseam, along with various enormous statues etc. It is all on a huge scale, and amazingly well preserved. It is hard to imagine that over 2000 years ago, without any mechanisation people good build on this scale, and of course that most of it would still be (more or less) standing 2000 years later. We get our dose of culture, and head for the metro station (which is conveniently right opposite the Colliseaum, how thoughtful of those Romans, best not to say too much about that).
We use the metro to travel to the Trevi Fountain, the last of “must see” tourist attractions for the day. It is indeed an amazing site, a massive fountain with numerous larger than life statues in white marble, the down side is it is very crowded.
Just time for a quick ice cream, and then back on the metro to the railway station.
Who thinks up these names?, this place is not only called Happy Village, but it also has a Happy bus to take you to the railway station so you can get the train into Rome.
The site has very good facilities including wifi connection. It is a bit cramped, but that is the norm we have found at the sites which are primarily used by people who want access to a major city.
The site is actually at a place called Prima Porta (a sort of Italian Jarrow), effectively a suburb of Rome. As I said above, there is a mini bus to take you to the station to get the train. It is a bit of a white knuckle drive, a bit like formula 1 in a Ford Transit mini bus, with stray traffic crossing the track randomly without signals. We arrive at the station in one piece and buy our day ticket for 4Euro each, this will take us to Rome and back, allow unlimited us of the metro in Rome for the day, and unlimited us of the bus/tram in Rome for the day (not a bad deal).
First we walk from the railway station to Vatican City, not too bad a walk (about 20 minutes). We do St Peters etc, it is very hot and very busy, but impressive in a sort of impress with power sort of way, rather than the quiet and dignified ambience of Assisi, plus the top man has not put in an appearance for us, rather disappointing when we have come all of this way and Kathleen at least is a fully paid up member.
Next we head off for the Colliseaum etc. The original plan is to get the metro, but no blame apportioned, the plan is not followed.
This is a big mistake, it is quite a distance and very hot. Tempers are frayed. Eventually we stop for lunch and have a passable pizza and a drop of red wine, tempers (temporarily cool). When we pay the bill, we find the is a 6Euro “cover” charge on top of the cost of the food and wine, apparently this is “normal” in Rome. Tempers warm again.
Eventually, we find the Colliseam, along with various enormous statues etc. It is all on a huge scale, and amazingly well preserved. It is hard to imagine that over 2000 years ago, without any mechanisation people good build on this scale, and of course that most of it would still be (more or less) standing 2000 years later. We get our dose of culture, and head for the metro station (which is conveniently right opposite the Colliseaum, how thoughtful of those Romans, best not to say too much about that).
We use the metro to travel to the Trevi Fountain, the last of “must see” tourist attractions for the day. It is indeed an amazing site, a massive fountain with numerous larger than life statues in white marble, the down side is it is very crowded.
Just time for a quick ice cream, and then back on the metro to the railway station.
Friday April 17th 2009 - Sunday April 19th 2009
Camping Village Assisi (ACSI2009-1438) N43.07582 E12.57336
Although the site is good, and the area looks like good cycling country (ie nice and flat), we decide given the weather to push on South and see if we can get an improvement. So we head for Assisi, which Kathleen is keen to visit for the religious content if nothing else.
We arrive in sunshine, hurrah. Site is good, and runs a mini bus to Assisi. It is in cycling or walking distance, but it is a hill town and the hill is quite steep.
So we do both of course, first we walk most of the way there along a very pleasant path by a stream. The next day we get the bikes off the bike rack for the first time this trip and cycle to Assisi along a pleasant and quiet road. Finally we take the mini bus from the site and spend the day exploring Assisi. It is a beautiful place, obviously a bit touristy given its fame, but still pleasant and for the most part quiet. We stay until Sunday, so Kathleen can attend mass (at St Maria Maddaliena), and then on Monday, we will be off again, still south, this time to Rome (we are maxing out on Culture).
Although the site is good, and the area looks like good cycling country (ie nice and flat), we decide given the weather to push on South and see if we can get an improvement. So we head for Assisi, which Kathleen is keen to visit for the religious content if nothing else.
We arrive in sunshine, hurrah. Site is good, and runs a mini bus to Assisi. It is in cycling or walking distance, but it is a hill town and the hill is quite steep.
So we do both of course, first we walk most of the way there along a very pleasant path by a stream. The next day we get the bikes off the bike rack for the first time this trip and cycle to Assisi along a pleasant and quiet road. Finally we take the mini bus from the site and spend the day exploring Assisi. It is a beautiful place, obviously a bit touristy given its fame, but still pleasant and for the most part quiet. We stay until Sunday, so Kathleen can attend mass (at St Maria Maddaliena), and then on Monday, we will be off again, still south, this time to Rome (we are maxing out on Culture).
Thursday April 16th 2009
Italia, Torre del Lago Puccini (ACSI2009-1586) N43.82905 E 10.27062
Today we actually enter Italy, so we are really on our way to Sicily. We have to pass by some busy areas, so contrary to our usual practice, we take the motorway. It is quite an amazing ride, here the mountains sweep right down to the coast and the motorway swoops along at some height from the coast, into tunnel after tunnel and over viaduct after viaduct. It sure is a major feat of engineering. But ultimately after you have seen numerous tunnels, and sweeping viaducts supported on spindly concrete legs as they sweep over steep sided valleys, it all becomes a bit boring. Eventually we arrive at Torre del Lago Puccini, and get ourselves settled in. The weather however is not on our side. We really should not have gloated about the weather to Bryan & Joan, it was not a good idea. Now we have torrential rain, the upside is that the site is good and it is not cold!
Today we actually enter Italy, so we are really on our way to Sicily. We have to pass by some busy areas, so contrary to our usual practice, we take the motorway. It is quite an amazing ride, here the mountains sweep right down to the coast and the motorway swoops along at some height from the coast, into tunnel after tunnel and over viaduct after viaduct. It sure is a major feat of engineering. But ultimately after you have seen numerous tunnels, and sweeping viaducts supported on spindly concrete legs as they sweep over steep sided valleys, it all becomes a bit boring. Eventually we arrive at Torre del Lago Puccini, and get ourselves settled in. The weather however is not on our side. We really should not have gloated about the weather to Bryan & Joan, it was not a good idea. Now we have torrential rain, the upside is that the site is good and it is not cold!
Thursday April 9th 2009 to Wednesday April 15th 2009
Le Pont d’Argens, St Aygulf near Frejus (ACSI2009-1293) N43.40884 E 6.72511
We return to an old faithful.
Probably not the best site in the area in terms of tidiness and modernity of facilities, but everything works and it is clean. But on the plus side there is a traffic free cycle track (once you have diced with death to cross the road at the site entrance. There is a big supermarket about five minutes away on a bicycle, and more importantly there is a church in St Aygulf because tomorrow is Good Friday and a visit to church will be a must for Kathleen. Another plus, if this is your thing, the beach can be reached via a gate at the rear of the site and part of the beach is for nudists. Don’t get too excited, all I have ever seen there is old men exposing their wrinkles.
We return to an old faithful.
Probably not the best site in the area in terms of tidiness and modernity of facilities, but everything works and it is clean. But on the plus side there is a traffic free cycle track (once you have diced with death to cross the road at the site entrance. There is a big supermarket about five minutes away on a bicycle, and more importantly there is a church in St Aygulf because tomorrow is Good Friday and a visit to church will be a must for Kathleen. Another plus, if this is your thing, the beach can be reached via a gate at the rear of the site and part of the beach is for nudists. Don’t get too excited, all I have ever seen there is old men exposing their wrinkles.
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