Umbria

Our next destination was the Umbrian countryside; a region of rolling green hills, valleys and hill top towns.




Marmore waterfall

We made a brief stop here; a fairly impressive waterfall at first site, but somewhat disappointing since its man made and they turn it on and off via a switch! They divert the water to create hydroelectric power. Therefore if you visit at the wrong time you would merely see a dribble!

It starts as this



And ends up as this, where the spray can be felt from about 100 metres away

Spoleto

A charming, medieval town in a beautiful location, Spoleto was lovely to wander around both during the day and evening; quaint shops and cobbled streets gave way to attractive buildings and fantastic views over the Umbrian countryside.

Piazza del Mercato gives a feel of the market town roots and where the local old folk hang out.

The Duomo; the elegant cathedral is approached via a sloping piazza, behind which is the open countryside.

Week 16 – 17th to 23rd September

Assisi

We had a wander around one other hill top town before heading to Assisi. We were in two minds as to whether to visit Assisi actually since we had the feeling it was going to be a tad too commercial but of course, it housing the burial place of St Francis, the Basilica is said to be one of Italy’s great buildings, so we decided to have a look.

It is a nice enough town, but was indeed somewhat spoilt by too many tacky tourist shops and didn’t detain our interest for very long. That said, the Basilica di San Francesco is a fine building and the interior is beautiful, with almost every space covered with beautiful frescoes (we couldn’t take photographs inside though).

And the views were worthwhile.

Rome

Week 15 – 10th to 16th September

Rome

We have both been to Rome before, and loved it and so there was no hesitation that a second visit was in order and we loved it even more this time. Of all the cities we have seen, Rome still seems to have that extra something; the wide open streets, beautiful architecture and the immediate, general ‘feel’ that this is a great place to be. During our travels, we have loved many places but found nowhere that we would choose to live; Rome is a place we could live for a while.

Our campsite was about 20 minutes out of the city by train so easily accessible. We spent a couple of days in the city and a couple of days chilling since the weather was great and the site had a lovely pool.


Piazza de Popola

An impressive entrance to the city with its identical churches and views all the way down the main Via del Corso.




Spanish Steps

A visit to Rome wouldn’t be the same without a sit on the steps to watch the world go by.





Trevi Fountain

And of course one has to join the tourist masses and swing by the Trevi and make a wish.




The Pantheon

The most complete Roman structure in Rome and quite a formidable site. Inside is no less dramatic; its diameter is equal to its height and it has a hole in the centre of the dome enabling the sunlight to illuminate the interior.




The Vatican







The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel

On my first visit to Rome, there was just no way I could endure the queue to get in here, it ran all the way down from the museum to St Peters which is about a 15 minute walk so many hours of queuing; this time we were more fortunate and the queue was short so we gave it a go; in 40 minutes we were in.

Not really ones for museums and, in truth, this is the first of our trip, we figured if we were going to do one this should be it. It didn’t disappoint – how could it with so many willies’ around!? (Only kidding of course)

Andrew is thinking of adopting this hairstyle




Examples of the interior

The tapestries

The famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Campania

Campania

As we drove West the landscape started to improve and we emerged into the region of Campania. In this region we look forward to the delights of the Amalfi coast, Sorrento, Pompeii and Naples.

Pasteum

We make our first stop at Pasteum – a small, almost deserted campsite with a nice stretch of beach. It is so strange here in Italy – once the season finishes at the end of August the place seems to severely ease off, a completely alien idea to us since the weather is still in the high 20’s, low 30’s which is more than hot enough for us!

Pasteum has an interesting history; it was founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC and later in 273 BC colonised by the Romans. In the 9th century, the population was destroyed and buildings deserted due to a combination of Malaria and Saracen raids, the place becoming overrun with thick forest. Not until a road was being built in the 18th century was the site rediscovered and restoration began. Today it is a large site of Roman ruins, much of it unrecognisable but with 3 temples that are apparently amongst the best restored in Europe.

Week 14 – 3rd to 7th September

From Pasteum, the plan was to drive along the Amalfi coast, which we had been much looking forward to; however, after queuing down a narrow street we were turned back. Since the traffic cop didn’t speak much English we assumed (having read it in the guide) that the road must be closed due to landslide or forest fire, which sometimes happens. Having to make a slight change of plan, we decided to head for Sorrento and then take Amalfi from the other direction. We later learnt that motor homes and caravans are not allowed along the Amalfi coast at all, since the road is too narrow and weak.

Vico Equense

We base ourselves at a camp in the small harbour of Vico Equense; from here we can easily get to Pompeii, Naples, Amalfi and Sorrento, plus it has a nice little beach for a few chill out days in between.

Pompeii

Pompeii, which of course was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD (just sixteen years after much of the city was obliterated by a severe earthquake), gives a great insight into ancient Roman life and architecture. The site is huge with much to see and some very well preserved buildings, murals and sites.

Down the main street, it was common that each corner housed a shop where women sold their wares (as modelled by Andrew in the photo) and provided salty snacks to accompany beer and wine; once the men were sufficiently drunk they ventured above the shop to indulge with ‘ladies of the night’ – so not much changes really! Pubs selling salty snacks so you drink more, not men going upstairs at the local.

The local brothel had women from across the Roman Empire who could not speak the language of their punters, so they took to painting a mural above the respective door for which a specific act took place, this way a client could simply point at what he wanted…

For several days before Vesuvius actually erupted, it was spouting smoke and ash and many people were successfully evacuated. However, there were those who did not survive and were asphyxiated by the toxic fumes; the ash then covered them over making a sort of mould within which the bodies then decomposed. When the site was later excavated, archaeologist kept finding these voids and eventually filled them with plaster and then chipped away the exterior, leaving a cast of their bodies, including agonised faces, which provides a harrowing insight into the way in which they died.

Naples

Reading guidebooks etc, this city is large, dirty and a crime infested, lawless place; not exactly enticing, however on the other hand we read this is where lies its charm and most people grow to love the place. Regardless of what we read, it is of course somewhere we have to see for ourselves.

On arrival, our first instinct is that its run down, dirty and uninspiring. After an hour or so of wandering round we start to like it; it is dirty and frantic but indeed it does also have a certain charm. Shops and stalls flank the narrow, cobbled streets, which are busy with people, mopeds and cars and entertaining places to people watch. The moped drivers in particular are completely crazy, right up to each others bumpers, on the pavements or wrong side of the road – anything seems to go so long as they get wherever they are going and fast. Drivers all over Italy have absolutely no patience!

There are some beautiful old buildings, churches and monuments…

We only gave Naples a day but certainly did warm to the place, we agree that if you stayed a while its likely you would grow to love the place.

Sorrento

A holiday town with many British and Americans but a nice place all the same, perched on top of the cliff with quaint cobbled streets

Views of Mount Vesuvius and Naples across the sea

We spent an evening in Sorrento to watch the England – Israel football. However, since it was on the BBC and so difficult for Italian venues to locate the channel, for the first half there was only one little pub showing the game; absolutely crammed inside, the owner found a portable tv which he sellataped on to 2 bar stools stood on top of each other on the pavement outside, so a group of us could watch from the street with him bringing a constant supply of beer – would never be allowed in England and have to admire his initiative

Amalfi

We travelled to Amalfi by boat so got to see the coast, said to be the most beautiful in Italy, from the water.

Positano, a small village along the way with its houses heaped up in a pyramid shape

Amalfi itself was nothing too special, being pretty commercialised, but a short bus trip up the mountain to Ravello revealed a sweet little village with the best views over the Amalfi coast

Italy - Venetia and the East Coast

Week 12 –20th to 26th August


Lido De Jesola


We entered Italy on the East coast so the first place to head was Venice; not feasible to camp in Venice itself we headed for a place called Lido De Jesola and decided to try and save some cash by staying in a camper stop (a free or low charge stopover with basic facilities). It didn’t really have a great feel about it, full of ‘pikeys’ to quote Andrew, though only 200m from the beach but when we wondered down there I think we were both expecting some sweet little cove and where somewhat dismayed to find deckchair and umbrella city spanning a huge stretch of coast…



Behind the beach was a long stretch of road full of bars, restaurants and tacky shops; we were not sure whether we had come to Italy or Benidorm! When in Rome however, so we did venture out that evening for a couple of Bevvies and some ‘entertaining’ music from a one-man band.

Cavallino

We only stayed the night and then moved on a little further down the coast to Cavallino, a long stretch of road with some 29 campsites; thank goodness we are travelling out of season! (Actually, still in August we are officially in season but it seems this year the unpredictable weather has hit of all Europe and quietened things down – that said, even if the Italians don’t think high 20’s is hot enough it suits us just grand!) We paid more for the site but had a decent pitch, a nice pool and bar and about 10m from a much prettier beach – so much so we stayed almost a week! On our last evening, to mark the start of a 2-day gondola-racing regatta, they staged a firework display all the way down the 12 km of beach; loving fireworks at the best of times it was actually a fantastic display and being able to see them go off all the way down the beach at the same time was amazing.




Venice

Our campsite was about half and hour outside of Venice by boat. The weather was beautiful and Venice was fantastic; definitely lives up to its reputation.

The view as we arrived...

Palazza Ducale; great square though they should adopt Ken Livingston’s principle and cull the pigeons, but for some unknown reason, many tourists went wild for them and photographed each other with the flying vermin all over themselves! Yes ok, I have a dislike of pigeons but surely there are better things to photograph in Venice!

The Basilica di San Marco; a truly magnificent building with its Romanesque carvings and mosaics. Unfortunately, even out of season, the queues were too long to for us to wait to go inside since we were only here for the day. We will surely come back to Venice for a long weekend and so will see inside then.

The Canal Grande – the main street; almost 4km long dividing the city in half, where most of the activity happens and where the majority of the most important palaces stand.





The canals and gondolos, which are everywhere…




Venice is a very cool city that we very much enjoyed and it didn’t smell! I guess it may do in the heat of summer – another good reason to visit out of season! It’s a great place to watch the world go by and just fab the way everything happens by boat!

Riccione

Making our way down the coast into the Emilia-Romagna region we made a stop near Rimini; someone had told it was a good place but the guidebooks likened it to Blackpool and Torremolinos. A bit of cheese can be good fun so we gave it a go, though staying a little way further on at Riccione. It was ok, we had a night out and it was a vibrant place though our restaurant of choice was very medioca with the worst service encountered so far!

Week 13 – 27th August to 2nd September

Porto Recanati / Silvi Marina

Nothing else really drew our attention in Emilia-Romagna so we continued down the coast into the Marche region. We were looking for a nice little coastal place to rest up for a few days but the coast here is average at best and, in attempt for a poor region to make money, commercial and built up where possible. We found a small campsite high up in the olive groves with a nice pool and so we stayed here for a few days and just chilled.

Andrew has very much taken to the swimming lark when previously a little unsure which is great…personally, I think its probably because at many pools here you have to wear a swimming cap which he models beautifully…

It was our original intention to travel all the way down the East coast and across the heel and toe of the boot. However, what we have seen so far in Italy (Venice being the exception) has not inspired us – the country clearly has a large divide between rich and poor; the vast majority of what we see is poor, reflected in high rises and desolate, very dirty surroundings (the use of bins doesn’t seem to be popular here), the landscape is flat and dull and anything geared towards tourists is heavily commercialised and tacky. Further reading about the East/South doesn’t enthuse us further and that, coupled with advice that the roads get pretty poor, which whilst not a problem in a car, is likely to be painful in the Lunar, we decide to cut across country to the West coast.