Very organised this morning for our move...we even made a toastie for our lunch pack. Tram to Termini & then a train to Napoli 3.5 hours. Quite a full load. Then another train to Castellammare di Stabia. Picturesque journey through horticulture fields...mostly olives and the trees are shaped just like ours...or the other way round...must be doing something right. (They are planted quite alot closer together too). We were a bit lost to start with until we came across an elderly gentleman who walked us to our door....the beginings of a very friendly place. Our host lives in the same building..our apartment is quite large so it will be great for the next two weeks. We watched a documentary a few months ago that was about ship building which just so happened to be in Castellammare ... read more

It was 6am Sat & we decided to make a go of venturing the tram into Roma Centrale...what a good idea that was. Suggest this move if you ever want some quiet in Roma (??) With good photo opportunities we headed to the Colloseum...it was an easy stroll around & it looked splendid in it's morning sunrise. All the noise just dies away. We moved along the walk above Apian Way, they have just erected some recently discovered columns made from pink aswan granite that comes from Egypt. So history details are still being uncovered. Another excavation site has exposed some marble flooring of large circles & half circles in fantastic condition. I will try & find out although the excavation is not complete so the details won't be either. As they are digging deeper amongst ... read more

Bonjourno Roma....arrived 8.40am due to 100mile an hour tail wind over the Atlantic. Huge queue through customs control...glad we didn't have any hold luggage & just our carryon bags. Straight outside to find the Terravision bus (prebooked online) which got us to Termini Stazione & we walked to our favourite Tabacchi shop to collect maps & local transport tickets. Onto the no.5 Tram that took us to Mirti. Not quite sure how long it would take we asked a lady on the Tram who we are sure in the end got off with us at our stop to help us when in fact she was to get off a couple of stops ago! This is what I love about the Italians. We found our apartment no problem & met Leonardo who spoke very good English with ... read more

LA! via Sydney..... landing just after an early morning breakfast. A little sleep for one & none for the other. Hotel shuttle direct from airport to our Hotel proved easy. We all think the heavy haze over LA is due to the Calfornia fires in Burbank. It turned out to be a warm day but not as hot as the previous few days. Alice & Drew came into LA early, all the way from Tulare (4 1/2 hours due to a couple of accidents) to meet up with us. They arrived about 10 mins after us to the Hotel. It was so great to see them & they are both looking good. We drove to Venice Beach a particularly wide & fine sandy beach with long promenades and palm trees and shops and people strolling, skateboarding, ... read more

Just got the lawns done in time....it's 35 degrees in LA!... read more