Rome, Italy

10th-11th September

From our car park overlooked by the abbey we travelled early along the motorway to get to Rome and chose a camperstop that was on the coast. We arrived to discover that it was no longer open so lunched with a sea view and then trekked back in land. We found another camp site that had been destroyed by a forest fire and at 4pm we finally found the only campsite that was still open - it cost 25 euros a night but gave us a base to catch a bus into the city the next day.

The Rome campsite as the sun sets

We set off to catch the 8.45am bus, crossing a very busy Roman road that was 6 lanes wide and, after working out how to validate our bus tickets, grabbed a seat. We then sat in a traffic jam watching the scooters weave in and out of the traffic for over an hour and eventually alighted at the stop which was also the tube station. We managed to establish what platform we needed and headed for the Vatican to see the Pope!

Huge corridor filled with busts and statues in the Vatican

The Vatican Museum was stunning, elaborate to the point of extroverte and slightly garish at times, but well worth a visit.

 Long corridor filled with hue old maps and one of the many intricately painted ceilings.

We were on a one way route and we managed to lose one another after I followed signs to the Sistine Chapel and he got caught up with a load of snap happy tourists. After about 40 minutes we eventually met up again and decided there was a lot to see so we would press on rather than try to re-cover the tour.

Spiral staircase when leaving the Vatican

Piazza San Petro

We walked to the Piazza San Petro, then along Via della Concilliazione towards Castel San Angelo, to cross the river and see the fountains in Piazza Navona.

 One of the three fountains in Piazza Navona

We had a rest and followed signs to the Pantheon. Which was just absolutely amazing - a dome with an enormous hole (oculus) at the centre through - architectural moment - the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest un-reinforced concrete dome.

 

The Piazza and fountain in front of the Pantheon

 

 It was very hot and some took to sleeping in the back of their horse drawn carriages.

Next was the Trevvi Fountains - which were very impressive although over-subscribed, followed by the Capitoline Hill from which we had an excellent view into the Palletine Excavations. On route we had a distant glimpse of the Colosseum and Trajans Column.

Part of the Trevvi Fountain

 

 View of the Pallatine - looking towards the Colosseum

After another long walk we had travelled around the perimeter of the Pallatine excavations, finding ourselves standing opposite the Colossuem. We thought it'd be rude not to go in, so going against the urge to behave in the style of traditional Italian hospitality, we went in anyway.

The scale of the Colosseum

 

Poser

It was quite late in the day and the sun was beginning to set, casting beautiful shadows across Rome - we will go again!

Bari, Pompeii and Cassino

7th - 9th September

Monday

After departing the ferry - which was another testament to impatience and disorder, we followed TOM's instructions to get to a camper stop site. It was dark, late, very windy and the streets were desserted. We found ourselves in a military zone where all the fences were 10 metres high but trusted TOM as it's usually right. We saw the sign for the camper servicio pulled in (well done TOM), were told it was 15 euros a night and we thought we were ok - that was until we realised we were alone in a storage depot for other people's motorhomes, but it was too late to change our minds!

About 4am we were woken by the security hounds who then barked all around us for the next two hours. We got on the road early after being charged an extra Euro to take on water which was not suitable to drink ( thieving-gypsy was the word I used several times over as I couldn't work out the translation for - you have to be joking!). Even the wasps wouldn't drink the water it smelt so chlorinated.

Ah bless!

We headed for Metaponto on the southern part of Italy's boot and got there in no time. We spent an hour on the beach trying to get the kite to fly and do stunts. The best stunt I pulled was to drown the kite in the sea!


We still had a few hours of sunlight left and so pressed on to the Amalfi coast to try and catch the sunset again. We started off on a dual carriageway but there was a diversion that led us high into the hills and with spectacular views and tight bends that dropped away to the ravines below (a little hairy!). Eventually we got to the coast and saw the sun set however, the site we had chosen was no longer there.

Hills - not so much fun without power steering or a turbo (mobile pic)

We re-planned our route and TOM took us up high again into the hills to a town called Carda de Terrini. The camper stop was a small unmarked car park with one other van parked up and we had travelled down some very narrow and steep streets to get through - we had to stop! We ventured out for a pizza and after 45 minutes of walking stumbled into an authentic takeaway pizza outlet that had a massive wood burning pizza oven, sold cold beer and the most delicious pizzas. We kept the lid of one of the boxes as it had quite a resemblance of us both!

Pizza box lid
The resemblance is uncanny - Suzy, age 4 & Paul, age 4 to present.

Tuesday

We left our car park high in the hills and wound our way back down through the tiny streets with some seriously tricky 8-point turns when we realised on several occasions we were not going to fit. We got to the motorway instead and pressed on towards Pompei.

One of the many streets in Pompei

 

A victim of the disaster preserved by the ash

Vesuvius dominated the sky line and we found an overpriced coach park to stop while we toured the ancient city. We stopped for a cappuccino and chocolate croissant - were appalled by the cleanliness and standard of toilet hygiene for which we believed Italy was accustomed too, and purchased our tickets.

 

Pompei streets, with hillside wildfires burning in the background

Pompei was absolutely amazing. Take a large bottle of water with you and some food as many people were lost in the vast array of streets and uncovered treasures. Fortunately we had a map but this didn't stop us getting slightly overwhelmed by the scale of the place.

A vinyard by the Ampitheatre - the origins of match-day drink-fuelled violence maybe?

Ruins of Pompei with Vesuvius in the background

We headed back to the van and got back on the motorway towards a little town called Cassino that was overlooked by a large abbey. We went to buy supplies and bedded up for the night in the main plaza car park for a well needed rest.

Overnight stop in Cassino

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Growing up with Bosnia regularly on the news, I'd never expected to actually go there one day...

4th September - 6th September

For our last few days in Croatia we wanted to visit Dubrovnik and give ourselves plenty of time to catch the ferry. We drove along the coast through Bosnia - which involved waving our passports at the border - but only to go into Bosnia, not to get back into Croatia. We left as quickly as we had entered.

We drove a long way along the coast and passed high along the coastal road above Dubrovnik, with spectacular views of the ancient city.

Holes from a very big gun

The camp site we chose was set back from the sea and was dominated by a war torn derelict hotel. It was shocking to think about what had gone on in the area such a short time ago that such scars were still visible.

We found a little harbour and walked along the coast around the town that was littered with half standing buildings. What we realised when we caught the ferry to Dubrovnik the next day was that the town we were staying in had been a military stronghold.

The sea was extremely rough - with a storm brewing in the Adriatic. The trip took about half an hour but well worth it.

Views over Dubrovnik's old town

We spent the very hot day initially getting lost amongst the crowded streets.We stumbled across the Ontofrio fountains and found a cathedral adjacent with the most beautiful wall decorations and ceilings. After this we followed the sound of some street music beingplayed on bottles outside the Rector's Palace.
 

 Surprisingly catchy music

We ate our pack up lunch and then went inside where we bought a double ticket for about 10 Euros that gave us entry to the Nautical museum and the Rector's Palace. Paul was told off for holding his camera near an artefact ("no photos") but this did not stop him - he wanted a picture!

The old town was hit hundreds of times during the fighting

By about 2pm we were parched so stopped for a pint of beer each and then set about climbing the city walls. It was baking hot and we were glad we had stopped for the drink beforehand. We had about an hour until the ferry so headed back to the harbour and got the boat back to Mlini port.

Our final night in Croatia was memorable due to high winds and rain. Many people who were in tents opted to sleep in the toilet blocks and large branches were on the ground around us and other vans - fortunately there was no damage.

We had to leave early for our ferry. In fact we left so early that we arrived at the ferry port where the attendants tried to put us on an earlier boat headed for Rijeka despite our protests.

One of the many photos of the coastline taken as we left Croatia

Eventually our boat arrived - the one to Bari! It was an absolute free for all - despite loading of a ferry being a regular occurence no-one seemed to have any controlof the vehicles even though we had all sat in line for three hours. Coaches, lorries and cars ( plus two campervans) were all trying to get on to the boat first! What made it funnier was that we were surrounded by many Italian cars, whose drivers all seemed to know best about being at the front of the queue but couldn't quite manage to get themselves in or out of a space.

Eventually, we made it on to the boat, we then had to get up the stairs. There were two flights of stairs but a coach of ambulant disabled people were being lifted up both of them very slowly and carefully by hand which further hampered the efforts of all to park as the whhelchairs had all been abandoned in the parking bays!

It felt as if we'd taken a step back in time - particularly when it emerged that the toilets on the ship were totally disgusting and not fit for animal use nor that there was enough chairs on the ship for the number of passengers.

Fortunately, we bumped into an English speaking couple who saved us from some of the monotony of the journey. They, like us, managed to inconvenience a whole boat load of people by not getting to their vehicle in time for disembarking at Bari! The horn noises were amazing!

Oh well - sometimes there is a small sense of accomplishment derived from causing the most impatient of people to wait a little longer than they would have normally. We'd probably piss them off again given the chance, if only we hadn't agreed never to use Jadrolinija ferries ever again...

Kamp Boban, Croatia

1st September-3rd September

We drove along the coast along the Makarska Riviera, stopping occasionally to take pictures of the spectacular coastline.
There was a little campsite tucked in on the edge of the sea, with an elevated pitch that meant we got the sea breeze, a bit of shade from the pine trees and were right next to crystal blue waters if we fancied a swim.

Looking out to sea, with view of islands, by the bright moonlight

As we arrived at about 4pm we had a few hours on the beach and a drink at the campsite bar whilst watching the sun go down. We had a BBQ and a small fight with the mosquitos - luckily we came off better having invested in every preventative method and killer we could find - no more sleepless nights trying to find the critter that got us both!

The van next to the sea by night

The next day we went for a walk along the coast to find a flat beach so I could get some tanning done. Mid sentence with Paul - we stumbled upon a nudist beach - I was not prepared for this, coming from a family who throughout the years have travelled fully clothed to a very cold English beach or two! Nonetheless, there was also a family there that were clothed so we put our towels down and made the best of it - I think I spent most of the day in the sea on my lilo and Paul spent his time face down in the sea with his snorkel on.

 Suzy's best night picture so far

We returned to the beach that evening to take some night pictures of the moon and the starts and to finish off a rather nice bottle of Croatian beer!

Trogir, Croatia

 

In the cathedral bell-tower, Paul climbed to the top, Suzy (centred) wussed-out.

29th-31st August

From Camp Dalmatia we travelled on along the coast towards Zadar. We looked for somewhere close by so that we could cycle to Zadar but could not find the small type of site we were after so we stopped to get supplies and purchased an electric oven so we could cook outside more often without the need to use the BBQ.
By the time we had finished shopping and looking for a place to park the van to visit the city it was nearly three pm. We thought we should press on to find a place to stay for the night. We voyaged on past several beautiful towns, with the road taking us inland slightly where we found lots of road side grills with pigs on spit roasts - we have marked this as a place to stop for an evening meal!

The bell tower and town hall clock by the central square in Trogir.

Woken by another thunderstorm and high winds we stayed in and waited for the rain to pass.. well it is Sunday after all.We set about organising our next few weeks of route through southern Italy, and sadly I lost another game of scrabble - beaten by the word 'amorality'. I mean - who swallowed the dictionary!

Fortunately, by the afternoon the sun was out in full force so we embarked upon a walk along the promenade - only about an hour there and back as we had to turn around when we found the nearest naturist beach - mmm a bit of a site for sore eyes and warranted a strong drink when we returned.

I think with this project I will have my work cut out! 

On Monday we caught the 9am water taxi to Trogir. A medieval town with a beautiful marina and very expensive yachts from Jersey, Cayman Islands and other such rich seaward places.
We toured around the outside of the town scouting for a cheap restaurant. I went to the town museum - which was three little rooms with the cathedral art works hung and surveyed under CCTV. ( 10kn entry was pointless if you are not into 14th century art) Stumbling upon the local market we tried the famous burek pastries - one with cheese and ham in it - very filling and one was big enough for the two of us.


The market was well worth a tour given the large amount of local produce and the usual tacky souvenirs. We were getting a little tired and needed a sit down so found a bar and had a beer.
We some how then found our way back to a restaurant called The End. We had a large fish platter dinner - very expensive - very good - should have been a lot less really, but we pushed the boat out and went full hog with an Irish coffee for dessert. We managed to then stagger with very full bellies back to the boat to make our way home.

The large sea food platter we ordered with some killer prawns