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Italy
Entry 13 of 18 | show all | print this entry |
Hi all it's day 72 of our european encounter which finds us arriving in Bari, Italy off the overnight ferry from Dubrovnic. The ferry crossing was smooth but due to a lack of space zeke,mads and I (Bambam and Leila had taken an earlier sailing and were already in Bari, whilst the others were heading south to Albania and Greece) left the girls to share a
small spot they scored inside and we hit the deck....it was a bit damp with the sea spray but managed to get a few hood winks.
Bari was very hot and muggy, which was a sign of things to come, and not very pretty so we skipped town. Bambam, Leila, Zeke and Jen went south on a mission to Sicily and Us, Mads and kim went cross country towards Naples.It was there sadly Mads and kim had to leave us on a fast track back to uk as they had run out of time on their holiday and were catching up with some friends back in Scotland.
In Naples after a couple nights free camping (which were very difficult due to the congestion) Ants and I met up with her sister and justin, compared tans and went to see the ruins of pompeii. Pretty amazing with very graffic scenes depicted on the walls of the brothels and of course some pillars and an amphitheatre. After some lunch we met up with our friend Amy
and all drove to sorrento for the night and went out for dinner. The others were in a hotel while we stayed in a campground for the night, luxury, they had a pool too but had to wear a stupid bathing cap and budgie smugglers so i skipped it.
The next morn we all caught a ferry to the island of capri where we had a swim and a lookround and some lunch before returning to the mainland and droppin our temp guests at the train station to continue their trip around Italy - bye sis!
That night we free camped in a services (good option in these parts as its so conjested by the sea) and in the morn headed down the coast to the temples at Paestum which were huge and very impressive. After a look round Ants and I drove further down the coast and found a great free camp spot right on the sea shore in Pioppi.
The next day was a slow one, lazy day at the beach. We managed to score free internet at the local museum before moving down the coast to a campsite just outside of Sapri then met up with Zeke, Jen, Leila and Bambam the next day. We decided to head into the National Park area Vallo de Diano to check out the canyoning but missed out as they only did it weekends. Ended up in a little town called Felitto where and stayed by a resturaunt next to a river/picnic area which was awesome. We dined at the restaurant and partook in local pasta and wine. Next day the others took off to Paestum and Pompeii while we walked the track up the canyon alongside the river. Found a nice secluded spot for a swim - bloody freezing but beautiful, clear water. Then headed back towards Naples and Bacoli, hoping to spend the night next to lake avernus (supposedly has submerged ruins you can see snorkling there) but that turned into a mission with no camping spots so we ended up at a services instead.
Day 81 and we drove to Formia and spent another lazy day at the beach (ah the serenity) before meeting up with the others at Cassino. Had a few drinkies and a bbq that night, some sore heads in the morning but found a McDonalds to help with the hangovers - they had deep fried brie, oh yeah! We have a great photo of the reconstructed Mont Casino Abbey, the one the yanks bombed in WWII, with the goldern arches in the foreground. Zeke, Jen and ourselves left Bambam and Leila (they having done most of Italy before) and drove to Rome. Stayed at a great campsite - pool, free internet, bar. Into Rome the next day and surprisingly not as much a headache as we thought it would be, pretty easy to navigate around and not too busy. We ended up joining a tour around the Colosseum and Palatine Hill - the Colosseum was amazing, absolutely massive. The boys got picked on by the tour guide and re-enacted a gladiator fight, very entertaining. Took some nice cheesy photos
and then went in search of gelati (Jen's on a Gelati-A-Day tour of Italy) before the tour of Palatine Hill and the roman forum. The area was originally marshland but became the political and religious centre of Rome for a while, before faling into decline but the buildings and temples are still in pretty good nick. Next day we decided to do a hop on hop off bus tour around the city to see the rest of the sights - we jumped off early to visit the Sunday markets (bit like Shebu markets but BIGGER) and to do another gelati mission. Spent the rest of the day on the bus, being lazy and taking lots of photos like good little tourists. We did jump off to see the Pantheon then decided to head back to the campsite soon after that, all toured out. Day 3 and we meet Rachel at Vatican City where she confessed all her sins, there were a lot and it took a while. In reality, we wandered around the musuem for quite a while - a huge, fanastic collection of scupltures and paintings. Funny how many we recognized. It's hard to get across how impressive it is, simply put, if you ever get the chance GO! The Sistine Chapel is really beautiful, we ended up with sore necks staring at the ceiling too long. Poor Michelangelo. On to St Peter's Basilica which we had to had to lend Rach some clothes to cover herself, the hussy. It is absolutely huge inside, massive statues, huge columns,lots
of intricate gold work, marble everywhere. Very OTT but a must see nonetheless.
That afternoon we headed north towards florence and stayed in a services carpark with all the truckers. In the morn we got off the autostrade to see the small hill top town of Orvietto. It has an amazing setting (on a hill funnily enough) with sheer cliffs and a thunder storm brewing behind it. The feature of the town was the massive Duomo contructed out of a striped pattern of black and white rock and intricate fresco with tonnes of gold leaf on its facade. After a spot of morning tea (which meant a beer for the boys - not even lunchtime yet!) we continued towards florence, stopping on the way at another hill top town-San Gimignano-which is famous for its tower houses ammzing views, a tower on a hill what more do you need. We arrived late to florence so camped in a carpark. Next day was florence then Pisa where we stopped for the obligatory cheesy leaning tower photos. Quite a cool place actually, we had been warned that it was far worse - streams of tourists and pickpockets but it was quite relaxing.
Stayed at another services (they are so handy when free camping n Italy can be a bit of a mission) on the way to Cinque Terre, five little fishing villages that are quite famous for being very picturesque, you can do a number of walks that link all the villages - about 11km. We found free parking for the vans in La Spezia and caught a train to the furtherest vilage, Monterosso, to stay the night and do the walk the next day. Turned out accomodation was very hard to find and very expensive but the girls managed to get an apartment room for the 4 of us @ 50 euro ea. Bit of a treat our 2nd night of trip in a real bed! We went out for a very nice dinner including stuffed mussels, ravioli with sea bass, pesto pasta, antipasto plata, ravioli with walnut sauce and some local wine......luxury!
Lucky we ate well because the next morn we hit the trail along the rocky cliffs linking the villages. The first 2 legs were killers, so many damn steps but the views were amazing and the villages very beautiful. The usual days intake of pizza and gelati kept the feet moving but we'd all had it by the 5th village and went for a well earned swim before the train ride back to our vans (all in one piece, yay! We were a bit nervous about leaving them but they were fine).Next morning and its game day so we went hunting for a place to watch the 1st All black game of the RWC and found a very un-irish irish bar but they put the game on for us the sole viewers (bloody heatherns in this part of world it was italy vrs nz even).
Well after watching the AB's disect the locals we hit the road towards Parma and stayed in another services. Parma is famous for its ham and of course parmasan cheese so we indulged ourselves at a local restaurant. Covered all our bases by ordering large platters of assorted meats and cheeses and ravoli, washed down with a local white wine - ahhhh, so good. Off to Maranello, home of Ferrari. Went to the museum which housed ahuge collection of cars, very nice. Oh to be rich.
Well thats all for now ...... we having a great time and eating some amazing food and wine hope you all well
Ciao Cyrus and Ants
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