Blogs from Lazio, Italy, Europe - page 5

Hit the pavement 10am...to see the most prestigious ranked Papal Basilica in Rome (even over St Peter's). And we were not disappointed. Obviously dedicated to St John the Baptist. As the Cathedral of the Pope as Bishop to Rome.. it ranks highest. Found our way through the Roman City Walls to S. Giovanni. Huge & moderately ornate compared to St Peter's. So many Masters of the Arts were commissioned by the Basilicas & Churches to paint frescos, mosaic, sculpture...so they were able to produce some magnificent pieces at no cost to themselves...hence they became so good at their own skills. There was demand for art in aiming to be prestigious as weatlthy families commissioned artists to adorn their churches & palaces. So the beginnings of the Renaissance. A walk onto Santa Croce in Guresaleme 325, a ... read more

Gabby has extricated herself from the road works of Salerno and headed north in search of some cooler weather. Leaving was slightly easier than getting into Salerno . We soon hit the motorway entering tunnel after tunnel . Eventually finding ourselves in Tuscania . We had little idea where we wanted to end up. Somehow the holiday has turned into a drift from place to place heading in the general direction of home. We have three weeks to kill and have a few Tuscan hill towns pencilled in but nothing beyond that . Unusually for us we have no plan. We parked up you guessed it - next to the cemetary on a rather dilapidated but perfectly functional aire . It had seen better days . REasonable spaces , reasonably quiet just outside of time. At ... read more

Where in the world is our girl Gabby parked? High up above the town of Cassino. Parked up on a spot reserved for camping cars in the abbey car park. Impressive the abbey is too. You can see it from the motorway high up on its hill. It commands the area. So how did we get here? Through a very busy and poorly sign posted town . That is how. We passed stalls where the stallholders were selling fruit and vegetables. We climbed narrow buttock clenching roads with twistbacks and very passing places. Stomach churning at times as the town fell further and further away into the distance far below. It was a long way up. A long drive for Glenn who prayed nothing came the other way. The drop to our one side was jaw ... read more

Dear all. Some friends who are expert travellers have queried my luggage load on this trip and yes, I know 23 kilos is too huge and I usually do carry less. However, on this holiday we are away for nearly 7 weeks, in shoulder season. We are travelling from hot and sunny Greek Islands early September to cold nights in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia mid October so the temperature range we need to dress for ranges from 38 degrees to 5 degrees over the course of the trip (bbrrrr...I need a jacket and jumper just thinking about that). In addition to that, we just finished our 11 night cruise with no option to wash except for very expensive small bags of washing done by the cruise line (add in AUD conversion rate) so we needed day ... read more

We have had a wonderful day in Rome today after venturing to Pisa yesterday. It was super sad disbanding the "Fab Four" after meeting up for dinner tonight near the Spanish Steps. We have become firm friends in just a short time. We'll see you again, Deb and Jacquie, before you know it!!! Thanks for the great times and wonderful memories. xxxx Here are some photos to go along with my earlier blog post. Enjoy!!... read more