Rome to Arezzo, Italy

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Wednesday, 30-May-12 Rome to Arezzo

We left Rome for the last time this afternoon, and caught the “inter-city” train to Arezzo, about 2 ½ hours journey north of Rome.

Although we loved the history and sights of the magical city of Rome, we were far from impressed with the most unpleasant odour of the town.<span> It seems that everyone smokes, and anywhere they like – even near restaurants, and IN the al-fresco dining areas.<span> The city is littered with millions upon millions of cigarette butts.<span> The ground around the Termini railway station was a carpet of them!<span> Even the exhaust fumes from the cars and scooters were not noticeable because of the smell of cigarettes.

We booked our train ticket online, copied the file to a USB memory key, and printed it out on the hotel’s reception computer – after a bit of confusion about what I wanted to do, the fellow on the desk just pointed to me and the computer and indicated that I could do it – he didn’t know how!

The journey north was quite pleasant.<span> We passed through some fertile looking country.<span> The ancient monasteries (assumption) and castles on hilltops were spectacular.<span> I’m sure the beauty of living in such lovely places is taken for granted by the locals, and their way of life is not an easy one for the farmers.

We’ve been away 10 days now and we’re enjoying it very much.

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