Harry's last day has arrived and we need to make sure that he gets the best out of it. By now, everyone is exhausted from the hours spent walking around, every day, so much so that even Harry is hinting at a rest day. That makes me feel a bit better about my aching legs and knees! It's not going to happen though, Harry can rest all he likes when he gets home. Today, we are going to the Vatican City, aching legs or not. Even then, he will be leaving so much undiscovered in Rome and I hope that he will return to finish the job another time.
Sue isn't feeling too good today and bows out, I'm disappointed for her and tell her that we can go the following week, even though I think we both know that we won't. We're a dab hand at this now and get our tickets before heading for the bus stop. Once again at the station, we refuel with another toasted sandwich and coffee before heading for the Metro. This is the only time that there is any slight confusion as to where to get off the train. There is a stop, suitably named 'Vaticano' but I know that we want to get off at the stop after that. I stick to my guns when Harry looks at me quizzically and the Vaticano stop passes us by. Whichever metro stop you get off at, you can almost just follow the crowd, and something amazing will be at the head of it. It's hard to tell when you have arrived in the Vatican city, there is no visible border and I felt a bit cheated. I wanted to be halted by the Papal bodyguard at an elaborate entrance and have my passport demanded. Ideally, this would then be stamped with an official Vatican visa, before we were allowed to pass through. I'd even be prepared to pay 10 euros for such a stamp but, it wasn't to be and we just wandered in, oblivious.
The Vatican as a whole is one of those places that is best viewed from on high, St Peters piazza in particular, the columns are so high that you can be forgiven for not looking up! It's impossible to do the Vatican City justice in one day, there's just so much to investigate but, one day is all we have and we decide that St Peters Basilica is a must. Again, it's free to enter, again that means long queues to do so. The queue is slowed down dramatically by the addition of x-ray equipment and scanners as can be found at all airports. The queue is ten people wide and filters down to one person at a time at the x-ray machine, which in turn leads to a nonsensical push and shove at the end of a two hour queue, during which you are left to bake in the mid-day sun. The relief at getting to the other side is such that we actually have a sit down for ten minutes to get our breath back. You really need to sort those queues out Mr Pope! Tickets are bought once you are through and I decided that I would get more from our visit if I paid extra for the audio guide. I was wrong, I couldn't make head nor tail of it but I suspect that it was just me and I'm sure that many people benefit from having it. Once inside, the sheer scale and magnificence of the Basilica does it's best to erase the memory of the people herding outside, and it's a lot cooler, a definite plus! A couple of hours in the queue, and a couple of hours wandering around the Basilica equals, half a day gone. I feel a bit frustrated that we won't get to visit the Sistine chapel or museum but, time waits for no man. One good thing to come from this frustration is the knowledge that we will come back to Rome in the future, better prepared, a little wiser, and maybe even for a month next time, so much is being left undiscovered.
When we exit, I head straight for the postcards and send a card home to my mum, complete with Papal stamp, posted right there in the Vatican City. She'll like that. Once again we head away feeling like we only managed to scratch the surface. The Metro on our return leg is heaving with people, as indeed the bus will be for the second leg of our trip back. It's been standing room only on both for the last four days and the novelty is fading fast. When we get back to the site, there's just enough time to pack all Harrys gear away, ready for his departure the following morning. The plan is for him to bed down on the floor of the van, not ideal but with the taxi arriving at 8.30am, we don't want to take any chances in not being ready. After Harry is bundled in to the taxi at 8.27 precisely, I instruct the driver to 'make sure he leaves the country!' and get straight back in to bed, where I stay until 11am. Lovely.
How we sold up, quit our jobs and, what we are doing now.
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Friday, 20 May 2016
Venice
After Harry had returned home, we took a day off from sight seeing and had a chat as to what we would do next. The original plan had been to stay on a site near the Amalfi coast and visit said coast by car. By the way, if you read this and you have a caravan or motorhome, forget driving along the Amalfi coast with it, the road is completely closed to all such vehicles, and has been for some time. The police will simply wave you on.
Thursday, 19 May 2016
Piazza Venezia
The day after our visit to the Colosseum, Sue decided to have a rest day, frankly, I didn't blame her and would have had one myself except that the nephew now had only four more days in Italy, before he had to catch his flight back to Manchester.
Anyway, Harry nephew and I left Sue to her book and headed for the bus stop, but not before buying a couple of beers to stash in the fridge, so as to be good and cold on our return!
When we got to the Metro station, we decided to have a cheese and ham toasty, along with a cappuccino at the busy little station cafe, there was no rush, I think the trains were every 15 minutes or so and it gave us a chance to chat about what we were going to do.
Brunch over, we went on to the platform and felt quite smug about our timing, the digital display hanging above the platform showed that the next train was due in two minutes. One uneventful journey later, and we got off at the 'Colosseum' stop, as we had the day before. As we left the station, we still had to stop and pay our respects to the mighty Colosseum before we turned away from it.
We headed in the direction of the winged horsemen. Skirting the Roman Forum on the right, we had no sooner started than we were confronted by more ruins, and archaeological digs, along with bronze statues of Julius Caesar, then there was the huge, 40 metre high, Trajans column with St Peter standing on the top. To our left, the building that is the, Victor Emmanuel Monument, started to unfold, the top of which we had seen from behind, during our walk around the Roman Forum. It was incredible to see it in all of it's glory. I'm not going to recite facts and figures about it here but, suffice is to say that it is on a grand scale and worthy of a visit to Rome, in itself.
Several dozen photos later, we moved in a direction that we hoped would lead to the River Tiber. We had seen on the map that there was an island in the river, suitably named Tiber Island. It's boat shaped. OK, I wasn't impressed. I've seen it described as 'magical' well, maybe like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. By now we were casually wandering past all manner of ancient buildings and remains. We didn't intend to, it's just that it was all getting a tad overwhelming. You could quite honestly spend a full day just on one street in Rome. We were never going to do it justice in 4 days, that was abundantly clear! We left the river to cast it's spell over others and headed along some of the back streets to find a suitable watering hole, before heading back for the station. Another whole day had passed in a blur. We got back just before dark and Sue, bless her, had a hot meal waiting for us. We sat outside and talked about our day, and consumed our well earned, now nicely chilled beer. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day with the Trevi fountain and Pantheon on the cards. I could do with a rest day myself now!
Anyway, Harry nephew and I left Sue to her book and headed for the bus stop, but not before buying a couple of beers to stash in the fridge, so as to be good and cold on our return!
When we got to the Metro station, we decided to have a cheese and ham toasty, along with a cappuccino at the busy little station cafe, there was no rush, I think the trains were every 15 minutes or so and it gave us a chance to chat about what we were going to do.
Brunch over, we went on to the platform and felt quite smug about our timing, the digital display hanging above the platform showed that the next train was due in two minutes. One uneventful journey later, and we got off at the 'Colosseum' stop, as we had the day before. As we left the station, we still had to stop and pay our respects to the mighty Colosseum before we turned away from it.
We headed in the direction of the winged horsemen. Skirting the Roman Forum on the right, we had no sooner started than we were confronted by more ruins, and archaeological digs, along with bronze statues of Julius Caesar, then there was the huge, 40 metre high, Trajans column with St Peter standing on the top. To our left, the building that is the, Victor Emmanuel Monument, started to unfold, the top of which we had seen from behind, during our walk around the Roman Forum. It was incredible to see it in all of it's glory. I'm not going to recite facts and figures about it here but, suffice is to say that it is on a grand scale and worthy of a visit to Rome, in itself.
Several dozen photos later, we moved in a direction that we hoped would lead to the River Tiber. We had seen on the map that there was an island in the river, suitably named Tiber Island. It's boat shaped. OK, I wasn't impressed. I've seen it described as 'magical' well, maybe like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. By now we were casually wandering past all manner of ancient buildings and remains. We didn't intend to, it's just that it was all getting a tad overwhelming. You could quite honestly spend a full day just on one street in Rome. We were never going to do it justice in 4 days, that was abundantly clear! We left the river to cast it's spell over others and headed along some of the back streets to find a suitable watering hole, before heading back for the station. Another whole day had passed in a blur. We got back just before dark and Sue, bless her, had a hot meal waiting for us. We sat outside and talked about our day, and consumed our well earned, now nicely chilled beer. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day with the Trevi fountain and Pantheon on the cards. I could do with a rest day myself now!
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
The Colosseum
When you look at Rome on the map, with it's big ring road, you can be forgiven for wondering how it's going to go for you in a motorhome. The other big question is, 'hop on, hop off' bus, or walking. We'd learned a lesson in Barcelona with the tourist bus. They are OK but in reality, you're better off walking in Barcelona, much better. Would the same apply to Rome, or is it just too big?
We had our sights on an ACSI site that was inside the ring road but for the time we wanted to visit, there was a two week window where the ACSI card, and therefore the discount, didn't apply. We settled on a site with the unfortunate name of 'Camping Fabulous' It had the advantage of not being too far away from the airports, something we had to think about now Harry's' visit drawing to a close.
We chose Camping Fabulous because of the good reviews and the fact that it was 100 metres from the bus stop, that would take us into Rome, well, to the Metro station to be precise. The train would then take us into Rome. I was still unsure as to how all this would work out but, there was only one way to find out!
The pitches at Fabulous are a reasonable size but covered with pine needles, of which I am not a fan. Still, beggars can't be choosers, as they say. The site itself is huge with a couple of outdoor pools, restaurant, supermarket, information centre, and a wonderfully helpful reception where they will load you up with information, sell you bus/metro tickets, even give you a complimentary map of Rome. Things were looking up!
Harry, the Yorkie was very much on the mend and we felt happy to leave him snoozing in the van for half a day, while we all did the tourist thing. The map, provided to us by reception, did a great job of showing us where all the places of interest were in Rome, and even which train line to use to get there.
The bus was great, running every half an hour or so, and would take us to the bus station which was conveniently located next to the metro station. We decided that our first port of call, had to be the Colosseum!
It couldn't have been easier, we got off the bus at the station and walked all of 5 yards into the metro station, and boarded the train. The map shows all the stops on the train line and someone even had the good sense to name the Colosseum stop, 'Colosseum!' Not hard really is it? We got off at the stop and as we exited the station to our delight and surprise, the Colosseum was right there in front of us. No searching for this prize.
As we were doing half a day to begin with, both in consideration of the dog, and to allow us to get a feel for how things were going to be, it was late afternoon when we arrived at the Colosseum. Plenty of people about, but no queue for tickets. Brilliant! We paid our 12 euros each for the ticket, which also included entry into the Roman Forum area.
The Colosseum is breathtaking up close. It seems to look down defiantly at everyone milling around, taking photos. If the walls could talk, I'd be more than happy to listen. Inside was no less grand. The norm seems to be to just stand and look, in silence. Trying to soak in the history of the place and wonder how things were in it's heyday. Then of course there's the taking of pictures, and why not. No sense in not having a visual record of your visit now is there? This was a great start to our stay in Rome.
When we came out, we headed for the Roman Forum but not before stopping to marvel at the Arch of Constantine and taking a few more photos.
The Roman Forum is a bit of a strange one, in the sense that, you just produce your ticket to gain access then you are left to it. If ever a guided tour was called for, this was it but, there didn't appear to be anything on offer. It's a huge area and it's littered with broken columns, buildings and ruins.
In truth, we were content to just wander around, the same as everyone else, and read the occasional information plaque. Before we knew it, it was 7pm and they were not far off closing for the day. I really could have spent hours more in there, just marvelling at everything. We had noticed in the distance, standing tall above the surrounding buildings, the tops of something white that had, what looked like, winged horsemen atop of them. We were out of time for this particular day, it would be dark before we got back to the site as it was but, we were definitely going to have to return to find out what they were.
We had our sights on an ACSI site that was inside the ring road but for the time we wanted to visit, there was a two week window where the ACSI card, and therefore the discount, didn't apply. We settled on a site with the unfortunate name of 'Camping Fabulous' It had the advantage of not being too far away from the airports, something we had to think about now Harry's' visit drawing to a close.
We chose Camping Fabulous because of the good reviews and the fact that it was 100 metres from the bus stop, that would take us into Rome, well, to the Metro station to be precise. The train would then take us into Rome. I was still unsure as to how all this would work out but, there was only one way to find out!
The pitches at Fabulous are a reasonable size but covered with pine needles, of which I am not a fan. Still, beggars can't be choosers, as they say. The site itself is huge with a couple of outdoor pools, restaurant, supermarket, information centre, and a wonderfully helpful reception where they will load you up with information, sell you bus/metro tickets, even give you a complimentary map of Rome. Things were looking up!
Harry, the Yorkie was very much on the mend and we felt happy to leave him snoozing in the van for half a day, while we all did the tourist thing. The map, provided to us by reception, did a great job of showing us where all the places of interest were in Rome, and even which train line to use to get there.
The bus was great, running every half an hour or so, and would take us to the bus station which was conveniently located next to the metro station. We decided that our first port of call, had to be the Colosseum!
It couldn't have been easier, we got off the bus at the station and walked all of 5 yards into the metro station, and boarded the train. The map shows all the stops on the train line and someone even had the good sense to name the Colosseum stop, 'Colosseum!' Not hard really is it? We got off at the stop and as we exited the station to our delight and surprise, the Colosseum was right there in front of us. No searching for this prize.
As we were doing half a day to begin with, both in consideration of the dog, and to allow us to get a feel for how things were going to be, it was late afternoon when we arrived at the Colosseum. Plenty of people about, but no queue for tickets. Brilliant! We paid our 12 euros each for the ticket, which also included entry into the Roman Forum area.
The Colosseum is breathtaking up close. It seems to look down defiantly at everyone milling around, taking photos. If the walls could talk, I'd be more than happy to listen. Inside was no less grand. The norm seems to be to just stand and look, in silence. Trying to soak in the history of the place and wonder how things were in it's heyday. Then of course there's the taking of pictures, and why not. No sense in not having a visual record of your visit now is there? This was a great start to our stay in Rome.
When we came out, we headed for the Roman Forum but not before stopping to marvel at the Arch of Constantine and taking a few more photos.
The Roman Forum is a bit of a strange one, in the sense that, you just produce your ticket to gain access then you are left to it. If ever a guided tour was called for, this was it but, there didn't appear to be anything on offer. It's a huge area and it's littered with broken columns, buildings and ruins.
In truth, we were content to just wander around, the same as everyone else, and read the occasional information plaque. Before we knew it, it was 7pm and they were not far off closing for the day. I really could have spent hours more in there, just marvelling at everything. We had noticed in the distance, standing tall above the surrounding buildings, the tops of something white that had, what looked like, winged horsemen atop of them. We were out of time for this particular day, it would be dark before we got back to the site as it was but, we were definitely going to have to return to find out what they were.
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