Pompei

We are both relieved to be back to the site a day schedule, this seeing multiple things in a day like we did in Roma is for the birds. Today we went off to see Pompei and it was quite an experience; we didn't see the whole of Pompei because besides most of it still being buried, it is just too much and we risk information overload.

The Romans were quite an ingenious lot with how they organised the town. Because Pompei was 'frozen' in time 2000 years ago it has been the most revealing about ordinary everyday life during those times.

The sundial is interesting because, unlike now, the duration of an hour varied from day to day as the days grew longer and shorter since there were always twelve hours between sunrise and sunset. So a meeting at the 5th hour after sunrise could happen anywhere between 09:30 and 12:00 in the morning.

We caught Melmann, playing at being a god, surveying Pompei from the position that the gods used to occupy. Pompei froze prior to the christian era so there were temples to Venus, Jupiter and numerous others all over the place.

It was quite hard to capture Pompei as a whole but the houses were quite pleasantly cool and it seemed like quite a prosperous town. I really like the inward looking house based around an internal garden, it makes for a very pleasant and private living space. The roads have flagstones and then stepping stones from corner to corner or across the road so I think that the Romans walked on the pavements and the carts and horses or cows that pulled the carts could make a mess in the street. It must have hummed!

We saw bath houses, bakeries, fast food places (there were 27 of them in Pompei) and even a brothel complete with some suggestions painted above the doors. There were several arenas, one for plays, one for gladiators and one for athletic competitions.

Above is the mill used for grinding corn for the bakery, they were powered by donkeys and the oven looks exactly like a modern pizza oven. There were loads of markets for fish (below), wool, meat, and everythings else but I think the most important thing about pompei is that it wasn't necessary to decipher 2000 years of modifications and buildings to get an idea as to what was what; one just needed to deciper the untainted clues.

Heading back to the campsite we caught the train easily enough but the bus wasn't that regular and we had a two hour wait for the next one so we got back on the train to the next stop and walked the 15 minutes down the hill to the campsite. The campsite itself is quite nice set in an orange orchard but the ablutions are definitely not up to scratch; not even close. Naples seems to suffer from 'south coast rust' and things just don't work here. The buses are late, the trains are late and the pollution is terrible. We're about 15km from Vesuvius and we can barely make out its outline; it would be like just being able to see Table moutain from Blouberg Strand due to the pollution. We are hoping that Croatia will be better from a pollution point of view but I'm not holding out too much hope.

Before we turned in for the night we went and had a drink on the waterfront which was meant to be a single but I think they gave us trebbles because it was really strong. It's quite hot here but in a different way to how it is in Africa. Here as long as one is out of the direct sun it is pleasantly cool.

Roma to Napoli

Today was supposed to be a quiet relaxing day. We only needed to drive about 230km and there was freeway pretty much the whole way. The day did not go as expected.

Since we thought that we had loads of time, we decided to go and see the port town of Ostia Antica which is very close to Roma but at the mouth of the river Tiber. We found it fine but it was closed on mondays and it was a bit early for lunch so we decided to push on and stop somewhere on the side of the road to have something to eat.

Driving south from Ostia there is mile upon mile of restaurants and beach on the one side of the road and parking on the other. This is obviously very popular with the Romans but other than sitting on the beach in the sun, not an option for me, there were no shady areas to be found; so we pressed on. The coast reminded me quite a lot of the vegetation and feel of amanzimtoti but without the multi-storey buildings.

Heading inland we thought that we could use one of the rest areas/picnic spots next to the motorway but there wasn't a single one all the way to Napoli. We could have pulled off at one of the one-stops but again, we would have had to sit in the sun in the car park. Hardly an enticing option. We were actually doing quite well until we arrived in Napoli when we came to a grinding halt because there had been an accident up ahead, it must have been quite serious because the motorway was closed completely in both directions. Chaos ensued and I learnt a lot about Italian drivers under stress and I have to say that they come out pretty well.

One has to remember that, for Italian drivers, road regulations are like a to-do list. I'm sure they get to the end of the day and tick off: done 80km/hr in a 50km/hr zone - tick, overtaken on a white line - tick, into oncoming traffic - tick. In other words they do pretty much what they want but because everyone does it and knows that everyone does it; it mostly works and nobody gets too tense with people doing what are blatantly dangerous or illegal maneuvers. Like overtaking in a tunnel, across the double white line, and into oncoming traffic. South African taxis would be proud!

The one thing Italian drivers don't do a lot of is drive fast. On the freeway the speed limit is 130km/hr and we normally drive at about 100-110km/hr and although we aren't the fastest on the road we are the same or faster than some of the traffic and we haven't yet had someone come past at 160-170km/hr. This apparent regard for the law is misleading because one quieter roads where the speed limit is 50km/hr they regularly do 70-80km/hr.

So arriving in Napoli we spent 2.5hr edging along the last 10km of our journey. Italian drivers are pushy and if you let them they will nose their way ahead or around you but if you don't let them, nobody gets tense, they just accept it and carry on. Big difference from South African drivers who would have a heart attack if people were to drive like this in South Africa. To take a really good example which happened several times today. Imagine heavy oncoming traffic (on our left since we are driving on the right hand side) and a road joining from the right. Since there isn't a gap for the cars joining from the right to get into they will slowly edge forward until our line of traffic is forced to stop, they then force their way into the oncoming traffic at which point we can go again if they weren't being tailgated by another car entering from the right. The cars going our direction have to force their way across this line of cars in order to get going again. Everyone accepts this and there is no tension or hooters or anything. Amazing!

We were stuck on the highway and I absolutely had to have a pee so eventually, after and hour of holding it in, I just had to go next to the motorway. Caron was not amused; because the traffic was barely moving I hadn't pulled over, just jumped out and of course, as I jump out the traffic moves about 50m so everyone behind us overtakes. 34 deg, slightly humid in an ice-cream van without air-conditioning and tempers were getting very thin. We didn't actually have an argument but it was close, very close.

I think that this was unusual even for Napoli because there were people who were clearly just motorists directing traffic. Once we had calmed down and were out of the direct sun it was a bit cooler and I started enjoying the experience since we didn't have to get anywhere in a rush we could just plod along and watch the kamikaze mopeds, some sans helmets, play chicken with each other down the centre of the traffic.

We finally arrived at our camp-site which is inside an orange orchard so we have shade pretty much the whole day which will be great tomorrow. We both took a walk down to the docks about 200m away which are very picturesque with loads of restaurants and bars on waterfront with boats in the harbour. I think we'll have to go to one of the bars tomorrow night!

To really cap Carons day, the ladies showers weren't hot so I had a very grumpy Caron on my hands.

Roma Day 2

We had a surprisingly good night considering the racket that was being made by the modern day neanderthals because I slept with earplugs and Caron somehow has built-in earplugs which she uses to drown out sounds that she doesn't want to hear. Sometimes that may be me so this is a double edged sword. My foot was really sore last night so I took a couple of voltarens and, thankfully, it is more-or-less fine this morning. Trying to walk around Rome for a whole day while having an attack of the gout just wasn't something I was looking forward to.

We were up and at it again early and the first site on the list was the Colosseum where we caught up with Melmann surveying the scene of some of his ancestors demise.

I also managed a photograph of Caron taking a view of the Colosseum and I must say that Caron is being pretty good with regards to posing for photographs. The Colosseum apparently didn't have Christians thrown to the lions there; it may have happened elsewhere but not at the Colosseum as is generally and popularly thought.

The Colosseum is pretty run down but it is still an enormous arena and there is an excellent explanation of some of the history behind it's creators, the Flavian dynasty. The Flavian dynasty started out with Vespasian who, although he established a dictatorship, was a benevolent dictator as was his son Titus who was the next emperor. On the death of Titus his other son, Domitian assumed the role and abused the laws put in place that were used so successfully by Vespasian and Titus and; in the end was assassinated. A bloodthirsty lot those Romans but an interesting argument where efficiency of government eventually lead to abuse of government. I've been reading Umberto Eco's, Turning back the clock which should be mandatory reading in South Africa. Italy, it turns out, is a lot like South Africa in some respects.

Next up was the Palatine which was the hill where the Imperial palaces were built and although there is more ruin than anything else, it was built on such a vast scale that there is still a lot left although I found it a bit dry and less than interesting. We found the Curia which was the precursor to the Roman Forum which we enjoyed principally because it is intact and cool due to it's enormous height. I'm sure that we saw the Roman Forum but there are so many ruins all jumbled up and all with columns in them that it is less than certain exactly what we were seeing.

The Curia is on the right just next to the row of columns and is intact due to it's early conversion to a Christian church which was also the case at the Pantheon which is not to be confused, like I did, with the Parthenon which is in Athens. The Pantheon was originally a temple to the Gods, all of them, and was the find of the day for me. It's hard to believe that this building has been standing for 2000 years!

I think that it would be difficult to build even today and it, even more than the Palatine, is worth a visit. Walking around Rome is like walking in a Museum, just about every corner and every 100m one stumbles on something historically important like we stumbled on Trajan's column which has been standing for 2000 years although I am sure that it has had some restoration work done on it.


We moved on to the Villa Borghese which is a huge park quite close to the middle of Rome which is very peaceful and cool. Rome is quite warm and sunny although the sun here doesn't burn like it does in South Africa. It's just as hot but one doesn't get anywhere near as sunburnt; this is a good thing! I had wanted to go to a gallery but it was by booking only so we moved on to the final visit of the day which was to an Etruscan museum. The Etruscans were a power which preceded the rise of Rome and in many respects Rome, like they did to the greeks, subjugated them but assimilated their culture. I think this was one of the marked things about the Romans, particularly during their rise, was their willingness to assimilate other cultures and gods and to make them their own so clearly, the Romans were an uncultured lot to begin with. Maybe they were primitive Borgs. By assimilating other cultures it meant that those subjugated didn't feel that their culture or gods were being threatened which made them less resistant to subjugation. Just a thought.

The end of a long hot and hard period of our trip and both of us are really looking forward to taking things a whole lot easier from now on. Caron was feeling lazy so we had Pizza at the restaurant at the campsite before I used the Internet cafe. Since the wifi didn't work I copied everything onto a flash drive and then used a desktop pc which is a bit of a pain but at least it worked. The campsite is markedly quieter this evening so we look forward to a good nights kip.

Roma Day 1

I am so happy that we have more than one day in Rome and even the two days that we are here isn't anywhere near enough to even begin scratching the surface of what there is to see in Rome but to be honest, I think that two days is maybe all I can take!

We're feeling a little more sleep deprived because a bunch of American, Australian and British yobs arrived back at 02:00 much the worse for wear and proceeded to wake up the entire campsite. Considerate bunch these first world countries! I wonder if they're in Italy to absorb some culture or to propogate the worst portions of their own culture? Aside from the interruption we didn't sleep too badly and we were in the queue outside St. Peters at about 08:45; Andre had said that we should do it first thing because of the queues. When we arrived the queue was already long at about 75m but it moved quite quickly so I wasn't too perturbed but did wonder if we really did need to have arrived so early. When we came out, the queue stretched almost right around St Peters square, quite unbelievable so yes, one does need to get there really early.

Going into St Peters one immediately sees Michaelangelo's Pieta which is quite stunning even from behind the glass that had to be erected to protect it from vandals.

St Peters is absolutely enormous and to make sure that everyone understands just how much bigger it is, the lengths of other cathedrals are etched into the floor. There is a bronze statue of St Peter which pilgrims file past to touch or kiss his feet and due to the sheer number of pilgrims, the foot has been mostly worn away.

Exiting the church I was amused to see these details on the doors and I couldn't work out if they were representing what happened to christian martyrs or what was going to happen to the unrepentant.

Caron made me take the picture of the Swiss guard, now I ask you, what sort of self respecting military man would undergo basics to dress up like this? Caron's guess is ... you guessed it!

Rome is plagued by tourists as well as tour guides who lead packs of the unwitting and really make a plague of themselves. I thought of stealing one of their swizzle sticks and making a run for it.

We wanted to see the sistine chapel but the only way is to go into the Vatican Museum and join to conveyor belt to culture. It's a little like participating in a 10,000 person snake but it means that you view pretty much everything at a shuffle and it is difficult to stop or go backwards and of course that number of people isn't conducive to contemplation.
Nevertheless, we finally arrived at the Sistine Chappel and although it is very impressive and I'm glad I've seen it; I think that Michaelangelos' sculpture is much better than his painting. But then, who am I to say!
During the centipede dance we did however see some pretty awesome pieces and Caravaggio once again rose to the top and I much prefer him to Raphael whose work somehow feels like a still life while Caravaggio somehow breathes life and passion into his paintings.

From the Vatican Museum we headed off to see the Spanish steps which look like, well, steps. Pretty steps but steps nonetheless!

We walked up the one side and down the otherside and elegant as they may be, they're just steps! While we were coming down a group of actor dressed up as one euro coins formed a line on the one landing but I couldn't work out what it was for so I think that it may just be mad italians.

Last stop of the day was the Trevi fountains which are quite beautiful and has a really light party atmosphere about it with people throwing coins over their shoulders, making wishes and having their photographs taken.
I caught Caron contributing to the collection of coins at the bottom of the fountain before we headed for cover, a little sunburnt and tourist sight weary.

Having successfully navigated the subway and train home we had a quiet supper before I tried to upload a couple of days blogs but the internet wasn't co-operating so no joy. I'll have to look out for an internet cafe tomorrow. The party is in full swing at the pub below us and it sounds like the disco is getting going so we are steeling ourselves for a rough night.

Down to Roma

We didn't have a good night last night because the German next door snored like a steam train so we were a little the worse for wear when we packed up. It had rained a little during the night and decided that, since we were packing, it would rain again. Not anything heavy mind you, just enough to be a nuisance!

Travelling through the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside was very beautiful but the typical Tuscan architecture isn't quite what we have come to think it is in South Africa. The typical Tuscan Villa or farmhouse is rectangular with two floors and a very plain tiled roof. Windows are relatively small and the doorway in the middle of the house and, all in all, is very plain. We did see the odd verandah or patio but they really looked like an afterthought.

We have been feeling a little out-touristed going to all these tickbox destinations and combined with a lack of sleep we decided that 'when in rome, do as the romans do' and tried the modern form of the roman baths.

Chianciano Terme is a modern hot springs and we went for the full treatment! Once inside which is a little pricey at 36EUR each but in-line with what one would pay in South Africa if this existed in South Africa there are about 15 different health 'treatments'.


The first treatment that we came to was a hot and cold alternating shower while you walk on pebbles to massage your feet; very uncomfortable!

I think one of the treatments which we enjoyed most was plain hot springs which had underwater reclining chairs and overhead jets of water that would gently pummel the body. I really wanted to take some photo's but I couldn't get a moment when there wasn't anyone around so you'll just have to accept my description.

As far as sauna's were concerned, there were three types! Hot as in Finland, Humid and an Etruscan that is like the Humid one but with aromatic oils. To complete the sauna there was an ice scrub to cool down along with showers with aromatic oils in them. For the record, Caron skipped the ice scrub! We also had a mud bath which was great fun once Caron had got into the spirit of things.

The three mud fountains have different types of mud to have a different effect on you; personally I'm sceptical but it was great fun slapping the mud on, a bit like having a cultured mud fight. I tried to wrestle Caron but she was slippery like an eel so I didn't get anywhere.

There were a few that we didn't try because they were out of order or we just didn't like the idea but we both enjoyed the music pool where the music is played underwater as well as above so the vibrations really can be felt all the way through one's body. The only choice in music was new-agey classical which isn't my style and I would have preferred some good rock to get the central nervous system going!

I tried listening under water but it sound absolutely terrible; even worse than above the water!

So feeling a little rested and relaxed we continued on our way down to Roma and found what promises to be a really great campsite, we hope.

Out and about in Florence

I was expecting another nightmare experience with the traffic but as it turned out we managed to find a parking garage, a real one, about 1km from where we wanted to be AND it had free parking bays. Free as in available not as in gratis. The first stop was to see Michaelangelo's David which has always been one of my ambitions so this was something of a red letter day for me. It is housed in about as non-descript a museum as can be imagined, in fact it looks just like all the other houses that surround it and just outside it are hawkers selling prints which they have laid out on the roadway.

Although there is only pedestrian traffic in the photo, there are actually cars and trucks going up and down this street and are just expected to negotiate the hawkers; which they miraculously do with inches to spare. Of course putting pictures on the ground just invites people to walk on them which they did with remarkable regularity much to the vendors chagrin but if they want to put their wares on the ground then really, what does one expect.

There were no pictures allowed inside the museum but one goes into a hall with Michaelangelo's 'Quattro Prigioni' which I really liked but as one raises one's head; at the end of the hall, perfectly lit, is David and it really is a sight to take one's breath away. I have to admit that the David reminded me a bit of Rob because his hands and feet appear a little large for the rest of him but he, David, is just awesome to look at. I make no comparison between David and the rest of Rob!

This is the copy that is in the Piazza della Signoria but it looks exactly the same and the renaissance artists certainly weren't shy about anatomical correctness.

I have discovered another sculptor whom I really like; Donatello who has his own David which I really wanted to see but it was on loan to an exhibition in Milan so I lucked out.

We had lunch on the Piazza della Signoria and marvelled at the number of statues that grace the square; 'Perseus' by Cellini and 'The rape of the Sabine woman' by Giambologna were particularly good and after lunch, and being told not to eat where everyone else was eating, we wandered down and over the Ponte Vecchio to the Boboli gardens but they wanted 20EUR just to see the gardens which was just a bit steep so we didn't go in.

On the way back we went down a road with performing artists, both painters and other kinds which I enjoyed.

I really tried to get Caron to sit for a caricaturist but she wouldn't budge an inch. Further down the road there was a cupid mime artist whom I caught posing with three tourists. It's hard to know who are and who aren't tourists because a lot, maybe even the majority of tourists, are italian.

On the way back to the car we stopped at a barber and I had a haircut so I feel like a tennis ball now. Even though the barber couldn't speak any english a 'numero uno' got the desired result and I'm very happy to have short hair again as I was on the verge of having to use a comb.
Next up was an internet cafe where I managed to catch up a couple of days of blogging but I'm still a little bit behind and missing the 24/7 internet connectivity of the apartments.

For supper we decided to splurge and went to an upmarket restaurant in San Gimignano which we chose by luck. The starter I had was sublime, a terrine of ricotta and red and yellow peppers with sweet tomatoes and a basil sauce. It was nothing short of outstanding but unfortunately the second plate didn't keep the standards up. That's one problem with excellence is that, since it is impossible to be excellent all the time, the food that follows an excellent course can seem pedestrian even if it may be really good but just not excellent. The view from the retaurant was awesome as it looked out over the night time tuscan countryside with little dots of light where farmhouses or small towns were. When we came to ordering coffee we had the choice of capucinno or ... capucinno; they had nothing else which is hard to believe so despite the fantastic first course and the view the restaurant gets the thumbs down.

We tried some nighttime photography around San Gimignano before we called the day quits and went to bed ready to move on tomorrow down to Roma!

Parking Woes

Yup, one can't be a woes when it comes to parking here. We had an awesome nights kip and woke up slowly before heading off to Sienna for the day.

Arriving in Sienna there was no, and I mean NO, parking to be found. All the parking garages were full and we drove around for at least an hour looking for parking. Needless to say that I was less than amused so my views on Sienna may be a little tainted. Just a tad! We eventually found a parking only to be told that it was for residents only although I couldn't see any sign but there was an ancient hag leaning out of her window shouting the odds so we moved on. The next parking was for 60 minutes only and I must say that the entire day went past as if it was only 60 minutes. It worried me a little that we might find the car missing or the wheels locked but the Italians, like in so many respects, missed this one.

First stop on what turned out to be a day full of culture, way too much in fact; at least for me anyway. By the end of the day the culture had ripened into gorgonzola gone off but it started off well enough with a light lunch on the Piazza del Campo at the restaurant recommended by Andre which was a very nice meal indeed. I like the way they have a first and a second main course and now I know what a bruschetta is and I'm keen to try making some when I get home. The Piazza is a bit difficult to capture in a photo but this is the view from our table which was nicely shaded luckily for me. I took the photograph below to show all the sun averse sitting, like pigeons, in the shadow of the Torre del Mangia

From the Piazza we went to the Duomo which, you guessed it, is a cathedral but quite unlike any others we have visited. This one looks like a giant made it of liquorice allsorts.

Uncharacteristically, photographs were allowed inside as long as one didn't use a flash or a tripod. Talk about making it as difficult as possible but nothing serves better as a rest than the sign stating 'No flash, no tripod'. I think that the most interesting part of the cathedral was the mini library where we could view musical scores which were richly decorated. I, of course, couldn't read a thing; they may as well have been in Latin but I'm sure the more musically versed would probably appreciate it.

The interior of the church is particularly ornate and beautifully crafted and proportioned in every respect and is worth a visit. Really!
The last part of the Duomo we went to is not specifically part of the Duomo but we had mistakenly purchased tickets which let us into several individual sights so one sort of feels that one should see them because the tickets are pretty pricey; and I'm not one to waste money easily. The last part was a museum with lots of 11 and 12th century religious iconry which thrills me not but it also had a staircase up to a view point which gave a fantastic panoramic view of Sienna. It was interesting that there are actually tilled fields within 500m of the centre of town which I wouldn't have expected.

From the liquorice church we went to ... another church on something of a pilgrimage. Apparently Caron went to St. Catherines and St. Catherine, at least her head and some other odd bits are interred in the church of San Domenico. Seeing her gaunt head, they assure the faithful that it really is her head although I have my doubts, made me realise why dogs are not allowed in churches - period. It's a simple case of economic expediency. While saints are alive they kind of have to be in one place at a time but once they're dead, but not buried, their future value can be significantly increased by dismemberment. The more parts, the more places pilgrims can come to pay their dues and please pardon the pun. So back to the dogs; dogs are a significant danger to the odd thumb and thigh bone lying around and if the dog happens to get hold of them; that's it - no more pilgrims. And no more pilgrims means no more revenue for both the church and those that profit from the pilgrims in other ways.

But before one jumps to the conclusion that I'm anti-catholic, which I guess I am, let it be said that the same applies to the modern equivalent of relics. Things like Michaelangelo's David; anything that will get people to cover vast distances and spend hard earned money on nothing more than the ability to say that one has done the pilgimage. Harsh but true I think, I'll have to dwell on this some more.

That is enough philosopy for now, apologies for the diversion and back to the story; next up was a wine tasting experience which we only found a part of and it is definitely something that would really work in South Africa in the Western Cape. What they have done is to get a collection of all the Italian wines which they display and allow people to choose to taste; it's a bit intimidating choosing from several thousand wines but it looks great.

I managed to get Caron to pose for one more photograph before we went in search of the icecream van and headed off home for supper and a drink. I made myself some crostini with olive tapenade topped with parmesan cheese and washed it down with a local red wine. Pretty damn awesome if I say so myself.


While we were having supper we started a conversation with some Americans who are cycling around Italy 100km at a time. Very interesting and very friendly which makes a bit of change from the, I don't want to insult any one nation, europeans in general although I think it really does help at least being able to converse easily! American is not so different to English after all.

Cinque Terre to San Gimignano

We had a great nights sleep; probably due to the state of exhaustion that we were in after yesterdays exertions. I don't remember 8km of walking without a real backpack being so exhausting although it was really hot.

Woke up bright and early and we were packed and on the road by 09:30, it seems to take us about 20 minutes to setup and take down the campsite which isn't such a long time.

Our first stop, more because it happened to be pretty much directly on our path was Pisa to see the leaning tower. I can confirm that it really is leaning and it looks quite unnatural that it is still in one piece and standing.

We had a bite to eat and some coffee at the cafe across the road and I snapped this of a police officer walking away from me. Now guys, don't you wish that every police officer looked like this?

The cops here walk, cycle or drive around in pairs, one man and one woman which I found to be interesting since that is not how it is done in South Africa.

Dotted around the leaning tower were loads of people having their photographs taken while they act as if they are holding up the tower. If the photographer aligns the camera, the actor and the tower just right it could look quite good. I tried to get Caron to pose but it was a no go.

I'm glad that we had only planned on a whistle stop visit to the leaning tower of pizza because the number of touts and hawkers made it an unpleasant experience. One couldn't walk more than 50m without being asked to buy a fake rolex or sunglasses or something else one just doesn't need and one gets the feeling that one is being cased. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to it than I used to be but I really find it annoying.

Thankful to leave Pisa behind we headed out into tuscany to the town of San Gimignano where we found an awesome camping site which is well treed so we have shade almost the entire day. Pretty wierd to be searching for shade when a couple of weeks ago we were desperate for just a few hours of sunshine.

The Tuscan countryside is, as andre puts it, 'achingly beautiful' and it truly is.


The actual town was founded and is still is, a tourism town. When it was founded it housed and fed pilgrims on their way to Rome and when the pilgrim route changed it's prosperity plummetted which, as it turned out, is part of it's charm because it is extremely well preserved and reminds us a bit of Bellagio but without the lake of course. Without the pollution as well come to think of it. Streets are clean, no touts and very beautiful. Just perfect.


We spent a bit of time wandering around taking photographs before resolving to return after dark to try some nighttime pictures, it should lend itself to some nighttime photography.

Heading back for camp we had a hodge-podge supper because we are trying to finish the half bottle of this and quarter packet of that because our limited packing space is being consumed by various foods which we don't want to throw out but aren't enough, in themselves, to make a meal.

Caron is looking longingly at buying some limoncella which is an alcoholic lemonade type of drink and I am sure that in a couple of days I will be able to report back and give an honest comparison between it and witblitz!

We had a chat with an Austrian cyclist who is touring on his own which must be a lonely way to tour and Caron is convinced that he's gay because when he arrived he was wearing a cerise jersey and that was it; he's gay. I must make a note never to wear cerise! It was a little tricky talking to him due to the language barrier but interesting nonetheless. He was compaining about the water here which is not bad but not great either and he was comparing it with the water in austria that they get from the snowmelt. I know this may sound a little malicious but I got the definite feeling that there was a little bit of Austrian superiority on display there.

Cinque Terre

Wow, what a day! I couldn't weed out any more photographs so please bear with the abundance of photo's.

We had a so, so night due to the damn church bell with it's over eager bell ringer. Most churches simply chime the hour but this eager beaver has to play an entire melody on the hour and then chime the half hour and he does it for all 24 hours of the day. The church happens to be only about 200m away so the bells are loud and clear, particularly at 03:00, so although we slept it was a little interrupted.

We've come to Cinque Terre on a recommendation but without really knowing what it actually is and we were not disappointed at all. Cinque Terre is actually a national park which incorporates 5 seaside villages and walking paths have been constucted between the villages which all sounds pretty pedestrian until one sees the scenery! Think terraced hills covered with olive groves cascading down into an azure sea. Absolutely fantastic!

The walk from Monterosso to Vernazza took us about 2 hours and I managed to get Caron to pose for a photograph. In reality, she was so tired from the climb that she wouldn't move even if I pointed a camera at her, 500 metres straight up from Monterosso using steps - not that the steps were the correct distance apart! then about 2 kms up down and around following the mountains and then down 300 metre via steps and rocks again.......

This shows the town of Vernazza which is just spectacularly photogenic; one feels like one can close one's eyes and just click away.



Not to mention some of Vernazza's inhabitants who were equally photogenic. Close your eyes girls! Boys, you can peek!

We had lunch on the piazza next to the harbour if one could call it that. Caron had a pansotti which is a spinach panzerotti in walnut sauce and I had spaghetti de mare all washed down with a carafe of vino. Great lunch and an even better setting. Vernazza, although it is clearly a tourist town, has managed to prevent itself from becoming a tourist trap thus far.

While waiting for the train we saw lots of posters warning us of robbers on the train stations and in the trains themselves. Nice that they have to warn us rather than that being the default situation.

From Vernazza we took the train because the next section of the walk was reportedly closed for repairs but overshot our destination and ended up in Riomagiorre from where we walked back to Manarolo which turned out to be as spectacular as Vernazza but in a somewhat different way.


Where is the beach to launch the boats you may well ask and it must be pretty impressive to launch because you can either use the gantry to lower your boat down the cliff face into the water or you can use the ramp which is so steep I'm really not sure how they get the boats up.

Our final destination was the town of Corniglia which we didn't enjoy so much because the walk ended in this ...

... and Caron really didn't feel like the 382 steps up into Corniglia for an ice cream (after 2.4 km of walking up, down and round ....) so I was in the dog box for a while until we had descended the same 382 steps to the ferrovia (the iron road). While we were walking towards Corniglia there was a male nudist on the beach below us so Caron also had an opportunity to perv away so now we're even!

What a fantastic day, I would highly recommend this to anyone and particularly if they happen to like a bit of a walk. Walking along the coast amongst the olive groves with the olive nets spread below them and the azure mediterannean on the one side was just magical, the rest of the trip is going to have to be something else to top this.