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Published: February 26th 2010
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Thursday 18th February
(Luscious Lil)
On our way to Rome…At last Rome, didn’t actually think we were going to make Rome this trip, however as our Guida Camper let us down again we ended up here. Great campsite easy access from GRA (ring road) and a bus ride to within 300m of the Vatican City. Last time I was in Rome was with Abby for her 21st, and as our plane was greatly delayed we didn’t have time to visit the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel, and I was very disappointed. So I was grateful that we had arrived in Rome, however when we awoke it was pouring and I thought we would not be going. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun shone, we caught the local bus and headed in to Rome. My previous experience had involved queuing for a long time to be told that we would not be able to get in, so I was surprised to find there was no queue, we walked straight in. Was completely blown away by the Sistine Chapel, I then took Alan into Saint Peter’s Basilica and he was completely moderately impressed (his words not mine), and commented
Vatican
Altar in St. Peters Basilica that it was ‘death by marble’….Heathen Scot! But relented a little when we happened on the sarcophagus of the Stuarts and Bonnie Prince Charlie. (Only in that I was interested to see where the wee troublemaker had ended up)
Saturday 20th February
(Luscious Lil)
Left Rome this morning heading for Napoli, tried to take a more scenic route out to the coast and then travel south. But discovered that taking an alternative route leads to what we describe as the Irish syndrome, that is to say that the condition of the roads completely disintegrates, whilst we forgave the Irish, due to their size and economy, you cannot forgive the Italians for the state of their roads. I would like to say that we were travelling on extremely rural roads but no these were what we would class as major trunk roads. Shame on you Italy.
We are currently parked up for the night on a campsite just north of Napoli, on what is a dormant caldera.
Apparently there have been complaints that we are not being specific enough with our directions and some people, Dad, have been unable to find where we are on their atlas, so where
Vatican
Sistine chapel possible we will include GPS (N40˚49’43”, E14˚8’12”) however for your birthday we will be buying you an up to date atlas.
The Volcano Solfatara is famous for its steaming jets of sulphuric vapour at temperatures of 160˚, we were offered a sauna at reception, but declined mainly because sitting in a wooden box placed above a steaming vent in the earth which reeks of rotten eggs (Hydrogen Sulphide Peter?) just didn’t seem that appealing. The fact that we were only camper on the site did not deter us from staying, however the entrance to the campsite nearly did. See photo. Tight!
Our Guida Camper offers us ‘aires’ (free, or cheap camper stops) without GPS, address and instructions in Italian, we have not managed to find an open ‘aire’ from this book yet! Passed a group of ‘Campers’ (Motorhomers) today wild camping on an unmarked spot, however wasn’t far enough down the road for us so we plodded on to the next marked aire, which was shut, the next one had a weight limit (2.5 t) not mentioned on any map, when we pulled up at our third stop we were about to give up as the entrance appeared to
Vatican
Venice painting in the hall of maps narrow, (see photo), however a local guy came out of a bar and said that we would get through if we pulled in our ears (wing mirrors), prompting Alan to get out his tape measure to check. The gap was 2.4m wide and we measure 2.31.
24th Feb. Leaving Solfatara and taking the long way round Napoli as I declined the Satnav suggestion of driving right through the city centre we headed for Pompei. What we had seen of Napoli was not inviting as it’s a very dirty city with rubbish strewn everywhere, partly we were told because of some long running feud between the city cleansing and the Mafia. Add to the rubbish the fact that most buildings were badly defaced with non-artistic spray paint and local transport was similarly disfigured we couldn’t get any enthusiasm for exploring Napoli any further.
We stayed at Camping Spartacus in Pompei which is just 300 metres from the ruined city. It was a pleasant little site with Orange and Lemon trees (easy pickings for the G+T) and has several other Brits who have given us some useful advice for our further travels. The visit to the ruins was really interesting in
Vatican
Hall of Maps ceiling that so much of the town is complete and allows you to get a feel for how life was before Vesuvius erupted in 79A.D. The pyroclastic explosion removed all the roofs and upper floors and obviously did for the local inhabitants, but the main focus of the site is to help inform us what life was really like for them 2000 years ago.
Thursday 25th February
The Amalfi Coast (GPS unavailable)
(Luscious Lil)
Due to the fact that we have walked the hind legs off a donkey over the last ten-twelve days we took yesterday off, and spring cleaned the van. However as today was bright and sunny we took the train to Sorrento with a plan to hire a car and drive around the Amalfi Coast, we had been warned by several people not to try to drive the magic bus due to the torturous winding small roads. On arrival at Sorrento we were not sure if we had all the necessary documents with us so we investigated local transport. Those of you who have already experienced driving the Amalfi Coast or just driving in Italy will probably be holding you head in your hands shaking it
Vatican
Sistine chapel from side to side muttering ‘oh no! Two hours on a bus around impossible hairpins, down roads only wide enough for a moped, and in the hands of an Italian bus driver, they must be mad.’ However I believe that using public transport when it is offered, cheap and frequent is the way to do it. Alan on the other hand will have a completely opposite opinion. Those of you who know him well will be thinking Alan gets sea sick at the sight of the sea… He can not travel down a perfectly straight road unless he is in the front of the car or driving… And to think of him sitting somewhere on a fast moving, hot, smelly and noisy bus….well it does not compute. And there were times when I glanced across at him that he looked positively green. But we made it, the trip was fantastic, the scenery was stunning, the experience of the drive was incredible. The only way to do it! Alan having had a few beers when we got back to the ‘magic bus’ has recovered and was heard to utter that he felt it was worth it.
Should anyone be reading this
Sistine chapel
Last judgement painting and thinking of taking the drive themselves, don’t…
We are heading off to Sicily now and should be there by the beginning of March. The weather has warmed up and is now +15 as a minimum during the day and really pleasant in the sun. (Sorry Dunning, we hear you have a foot or more of snow!)
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Grant
non-member comment
GPS coords
Positioning coordinates in decimal as well as conventional deg:min:sec IF YOU PLEASE :D Sistine chapel looks much brighter inside than when we were there. They must have had the blinds open that day. All I remember is dimness and muted weeping from the pilgrims. Alan - ever tried travel sickness pills ? If you can't get hold of them, cannabis works just as well =D If using the latter, don't take immediately prior to travel. Give it half an hour or so. So much to tell you about the fish, but don't want to interrupt your flow... Missing you :(