Katrina, Paul & Oscar joined us for a holiday in August & we ran them ragged, covering hundreds of miles along the Italian coastline, as well as visiting Pompeii & Rome. |
The last letter ended at the end of July with Mike and I absolutely shattered having managed a whole day site seeing in Rome at the height of summer. After that he had to return to the UK for a week to get some business bits sorted out. While he was away I researched all the surrounding areas for other places to visit, including maps and distances. The day after he returned we set off straight away in the direction of some volcanic lakes North of Rome of which there are 3. We decided to go to the lake furthest north, Lake Bolsena. The road we arrived on was set higher than the lake and we had fantastic views from above. We were concerned that we would be unable to get right next to it and that once there it may not be so lovely close up. We were not disappointed as it was absolutely beautiful. We found a sosta easily literally right next to the lake in an olive grove. It was run by a tiny, elderly Italian man who appeared to live in a shack in the centre of the olive grove. It was so quaint; every evening he would come round and collect the fee followed by his cat and her kitten.
As well as the freshwater lake, Bolsena had an historical medieval old town and good quality shops, bars and restaurants. The lake was about 10 minutes walk from the old town and had its own selection of bars and restaurants by the water which weren’t tacky or touristy at all. The old town was divided into two parts; the lower had the majority of shops, restaurants and church. The upper part had a castle and a couple of bars, a wine shop and the Italian equivalent of a newsagent (Tabacchi). We were delighted that the hilltop part of town was still lived in and we even got a snap of a resident (in the background of the picture below). The church had witnessed a miracle in 1263 when the host bled ‘real’ blood onto the marble altar during Holy Communion. This had been preserved in a case for us to see. Underneath the church were catacombs dating back to the 4th and 5th centuries AD which were used by the early Christians. We went down there and had a look, it was just us and a whole maze of corridors with the empty tombs stacked on top of each other stretching into the darkness. It was quite unnerving enough without the inevitable accompaniment of Mike and his horror movie sound effects.
At the end of our week in Bolsena we headed back to Rome to meet Paul, Katrina and their 7 year old son Oscar for their summer holidays. We had hatched a plan one evening in the winter for them to come and stay with us to have the whole ‘experience’. We couldn’t have the whole trip unplanned as we were coming into holiday high season and they had certain places they wanted to visit.
After leaving the airport we drove to a sosta I had researched at nearby Castel Gandolfo-the location of the Pope’s summer residence. We didn’t see the Pope or his pad as we drove straight to a parking space with about 6 other motor homes for the night-well our guests did want the life as we lived it and eating spaghetti Bolognese on a tarmac car park is just the kind of thing that we do.
We wanted a seaside resort to chill out for a few days. We needed to get south for Pompeii but had to avoid Sorrento and the Amalfi coast as they would be heaving. We settled on a resort called Sapri, South of Naples. We had been going for about an hour when a middle aged Italian man overtook us, pulled in directly in front and hit our front bumper. Our first accident! A whole host of authorities turned up including motorway patrolmen, a rescue service and the police. It took about an hour and a half to clear up the paperwork and we were off again on our way. Sapri took a lot longer to get to than the route planner had led me to believe and our poor guests were roasting in the back of the van. But everyone, although quiet stayed good natured. We arrived at about 5.30 and after about 40 minutes of searching for a suitable parking space we decided to park in a car park next to the sea. There was the inevitable sign saying no camping allowed but there were other motor homes there so we decided to stop. We got changed and went out for a beer and something to eat. Sapri looked quite run down and poor and this was reflected in the prices in the restaurants. This made a nice change as we have found Italy generally to be expensive and not just in the touristy places. Food, fuel, campsites, eating out have all been the same or more costly than the UK. But luckily not commercialised in any way. Anyway, we had a delicious meal in a pizzeria and left at around 11pm. Sapri was transformed, literally buzzing with life and had a great atmosphere. The main street had been cordoned off and there were hundreds of parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren promenading along the front. There were swings and slides and a couple of fairground rides. We stayed for about half an hour taking it all in and then retired for the night.
We all slept well and set off quite early as we had promised Oscar we would get him to a beach as a top priority. We drove along the coast and were greeted with depressing site of the refugee camp style of campsite, which none of us liked the look of. After about half an hour we arrived in a pleasant looking resort called Palinuro. We found a Sosta in an olive grove but there was no shower block, and we wanted to have a few days of permanency, which included a shower block and the chance for Paul to pitch their tent. We headed towards the town and were approached by a policewoman who instructed us to pull over. We were instructed in very broken English that we had driven into a restricted area and that as we had gone straight past the sign we would be fined. I had seen the sign but hadn’t fully understood it so hadn’t said anything. Anyway, Mike charmed his way past the policewoman and we were allowed to drive through and she put away her fines book. She even recommended a campsite. The streets were dreadfully narrow but we squeezed through and it looked like a really nice place. The recommended campsite looked awful, we pulled into another one on the coast road but it was full. Poor Mike had a terrible time getting out of that one as he had to turn around in a space with a foot spare each end and a large solid tree overhead. We eventually got out unscathed and continued along the coast road. We stopped at the next campsite that had spaces and fortunately it was brand new and had all the amenities. We were treated like celebrities (minor ones!) and I think we must have been their first, largest, British motor home. They even took photographs of us after Mike had parked. The other campers also treated us like visiting dignitaries. It was really nice! The only downside was the music in the campsite bar which played the same 3 terrible pop songs over and over again. They had a kids club every evening and one evening a drumming concert. Oscar made friends with some Italian children, who were very handy with their water pistols (?!)
We ended up staying 3 days and then moved on to do a bit of site seeing. It had been a lifelong ambition of Paul’s to see Pompeii, so this was to be our next destination. We had a bit of a struggle getting there as we had to go through a couple of medieval villages on the coast before getting onto the main roads and autostrada. One of the villages had such narrow streets that it had traffic lights each end. It was all extremely busy as it was 16th August, factory shutdown in Italy and the start of their traditional 2 week summer holiday. Not really the sort of day to be driving around and wanting to get anywhere. We all thoroughly enjoyed Pompeii and stayed about 3 ½ hours in total. We left Pompeii at about 6.30. Luckily the traffic had died down and we had no hold ups. We arrived in Bolsena at about 9.30 and headed straight into town for a meal. What a long day! We enjoyed 3 nights in Bolsena as we knew it would be a perfect spot for a family holiday. We discreetly pitched the tent as well.
Our guests were flying out of Rome on 21st August and they wanted a full days sightseeing in Rome before they left. On the night of the 19th we drove back to the campsite we had stayed in before as it had good transport links into the city. We got up early and got the courtesy bus from the campsite then the train into Rome. We then went our separate directions as Paul, Katrina and Oscar wanted to see the Coliseum, which we had already seen.
Mike and I headed off to Saint Peters Square in the Vatican. We then walked around St Peters itself, up to the top of the dome for amazing views of the interior from above and of the city from the outside. We were completely taken aback by the sheer opulence of it all.
We then walked to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, again, truly magnificent. After lunch we went to the Jesuit church to admire the paintings and lapis lazuli altar, it was shut so we walked up to the Trevi fountain. We were feeling extremely weary by now. Rome is extremely hot and stuffy in August and our feet were certainly letting us know all about it! Whether it was our tiredness or not, we were rather disappointed in the Trevi fountain. I think it was probably because it was in such a tiny square and it was so packed with tourists you could hardly get near it. We then plodded back to the Gesu church; well worth the effort. We thought the painted ceiling was more impressive than the Sistine Chapel! Partly because it wasn’t too crowded and because the figures seemed to come out at you, like a 3D picture. Amazing.
We then walked back up the Via Corso and met the gang. Our intention had been to stay out for supper but all of us were truly exhausted so we decided to head back to the campsite, a short 40 minutes away.
We arrived in the railway station and noticed a sign that could only mean that the train had been cancelled due to technical difficulties. After few low class jokes aimed at Paul who works for Anglia Railways we started to look for a bar in order to refresh ourselves for the wait. A young girl nearby helpfully informed us that the train was cancelled as there had been a fire on the track, so not cancelled but shut indefinitely! Undaunted Mike and I led the way to the tram stop as this had been our way of getting back before when we had missed the last train. It was obviously incredibly crowded as there was no train, but not as crowded as the bus! You would have struggled to get a shoe horn in-between the bodies. Mike was wedged up against a diminutive, well endowed thirty something. There were more sorrys, scusis and pardon me's than in a tennis match. She even managed to reach into her bag for a portable fan for Mike who looked as though he was going to melt (from the heat!)
After what seemed like an eternity we were finally back at the campsite, Oscar and Katrina for a swim and the rest of us sipping those cool beers.
As well as the freshwater lake, Bolsena had an historical medieval old town and good quality shops, bars and restaurants. The lake was about 10 minutes walk from the old town and had its own selection of bars and restaurants by the water which weren’t tacky or touristy at all. The old town was divided into two parts; the lower had the majority of shops, restaurants and church. The upper part had a castle and a couple of bars, a wine shop and the Italian equivalent of a newsagent (Tabacchi). We were delighted that the hilltop part of town was still lived in and we even got a snap of a resident (in the background of the picture below). The church had witnessed a miracle in 1263 when the host bled ‘real’ blood onto the marble altar during Holy Communion. This had been preserved in a case for us to see. Underneath the church were catacombs dating back to the 4th and 5th centuries AD which were used by the early Christians. We went down there and had a look, it was just us and a whole maze of corridors with the empty tombs stacked on top of each other stretching into the darkness. It was quite unnerving enough without the inevitable accompaniment of Mike and his horror movie sound effects.
At the end of our week in Bolsena we headed back to Rome to meet Paul, Katrina and their 7 year old son Oscar for their summer holidays. We had hatched a plan one evening in the winter for them to come and stay with us to have the whole ‘experience’. We couldn’t have the whole trip unplanned as we were coming into holiday high season and they had certain places they wanted to visit.
After leaving the airport we drove to a sosta I had researched at nearby Castel Gandolfo-the location of the Pope’s summer residence. We didn’t see the Pope or his pad as we drove straight to a parking space with about 6 other motor homes for the night-well our guests did want the life as we lived it and eating spaghetti Bolognese on a tarmac car park is just the kind of thing that we do.
We wanted a seaside resort to chill out for a few days. We needed to get south for Pompeii but had to avoid Sorrento and the Amalfi coast as they would be heaving. We settled on a resort called Sapri, South of Naples. We had been going for about an hour when a middle aged Italian man overtook us, pulled in directly in front and hit our front bumper. Our first accident! A whole host of authorities turned up including motorway patrolmen, a rescue service and the police. It took about an hour and a half to clear up the paperwork and we were off again on our way. Sapri took a lot longer to get to than the route planner had led me to believe and our poor guests were roasting in the back of the van. But everyone, although quiet stayed good natured. We arrived at about 5.30 and after about 40 minutes of searching for a suitable parking space we decided to park in a car park next to the sea. There was the inevitable sign saying no camping allowed but there were other motor homes there so we decided to stop. We got changed and went out for a beer and something to eat. Sapri looked quite run down and poor and this was reflected in the prices in the restaurants. This made a nice change as we have found Italy generally to be expensive and not just in the touristy places. Food, fuel, campsites, eating out have all been the same or more costly than the UK. But luckily not commercialised in any way. Anyway, we had a delicious meal in a pizzeria and left at around 11pm. Sapri was transformed, literally buzzing with life and had a great atmosphere. The main street had been cordoned off and there were hundreds of parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren promenading along the front. There were swings and slides and a couple of fairground rides. We stayed for about half an hour taking it all in and then retired for the night.
We all slept well and set off quite early as we had promised Oscar we would get him to a beach as a top priority. We drove along the coast and were greeted with depressing site of the refugee camp style of campsite, which none of us liked the look of. After about half an hour we arrived in a pleasant looking resort called Palinuro. We found a Sosta in an olive grove but there was no shower block, and we wanted to have a few days of permanency, which included a shower block and the chance for Paul to pitch their tent. We headed towards the town and were approached by a policewoman who instructed us to pull over. We were instructed in very broken English that we had driven into a restricted area and that as we had gone straight past the sign we would be fined. I had seen the sign but hadn’t fully understood it so hadn’t said anything. Anyway, Mike charmed his way past the policewoman and we were allowed to drive through and she put away her fines book. She even recommended a campsite. The streets were dreadfully narrow but we squeezed through and it looked like a really nice place. The recommended campsite looked awful, we pulled into another one on the coast road but it was full. Poor Mike had a terrible time getting out of that one as he had to turn around in a space with a foot spare each end and a large solid tree overhead. We eventually got out unscathed and continued along the coast road. We stopped at the next campsite that had spaces and fortunately it was brand new and had all the amenities. We were treated like celebrities (minor ones!) and I think we must have been their first, largest, British motor home. They even took photographs of us after Mike had parked. The other campers also treated us like visiting dignitaries. It was really nice! The only downside was the music in the campsite bar which played the same 3 terrible pop songs over and over again. They had a kids club every evening and one evening a drumming concert. Oscar made friends with some Italian children, who were very handy with their water pistols (?!)
We ended up staying 3 days and then moved on to do a bit of site seeing. It had been a lifelong ambition of Paul’s to see Pompeii, so this was to be our next destination. We had a bit of a struggle getting there as we had to go through a couple of medieval villages on the coast before getting onto the main roads and autostrada. One of the villages had such narrow streets that it had traffic lights each end. It was all extremely busy as it was 16th August, factory shutdown in Italy and the start of their traditional 2 week summer holiday. Not really the sort of day to be driving around and wanting to get anywhere. We all thoroughly enjoyed Pompeii and stayed about 3 ½ hours in total. We left Pompeii at about 6.30. Luckily the traffic had died down and we had no hold ups. We arrived in Bolsena at about 9.30 and headed straight into town for a meal. What a long day! We enjoyed 3 nights in Bolsena as we knew it would be a perfect spot for a family holiday. We discreetly pitched the tent as well.
Our guests were flying out of Rome on 21st August and they wanted a full days sightseeing in Rome before they left. On the night of the 19th we drove back to the campsite we had stayed in before as it had good transport links into the city. We got up early and got the courtesy bus from the campsite then the train into Rome. We then went our separate directions as Paul, Katrina and Oscar wanted to see the Coliseum, which we had already seen.
Mike and I headed off to Saint Peters Square in the Vatican. We then walked around St Peters itself, up to the top of the dome for amazing views of the interior from above and of the city from the outside. We were completely taken aback by the sheer opulence of it all.
We then walked to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, again, truly magnificent. After lunch we went to the Jesuit church to admire the paintings and lapis lazuli altar, it was shut so we walked up to the Trevi fountain. We were feeling extremely weary by now. Rome is extremely hot and stuffy in August and our feet were certainly letting us know all about it! Whether it was our tiredness or not, we were rather disappointed in the Trevi fountain. I think it was probably because it was in such a tiny square and it was so packed with tourists you could hardly get near it. We then plodded back to the Gesu church; well worth the effort. We thought the painted ceiling was more impressive than the Sistine Chapel! Partly because it wasn’t too crowded and because the figures seemed to come out at you, like a 3D picture. Amazing.
We then walked back up the Via Corso and met the gang. Our intention had been to stay out for supper but all of us were truly exhausted so we decided to head back to the campsite, a short 40 minutes away.
We arrived in the railway station and noticed a sign that could only mean that the train had been cancelled due to technical difficulties. After few low class jokes aimed at Paul who works for Anglia Railways we started to look for a bar in order to refresh ourselves for the wait. A young girl nearby helpfully informed us that the train was cancelled as there had been a fire on the track, so not cancelled but shut indefinitely! Undaunted Mike and I led the way to the tram stop as this had been our way of getting back before when we had missed the last train. It was obviously incredibly crowded as there was no train, but not as crowded as the bus! You would have struggled to get a shoe horn in-between the bodies. Mike was wedged up against a diminutive, well endowed thirty something. There were more sorrys, scusis and pardon me's than in a tennis match. She even managed to reach into her bag for a portable fan for Mike who looked as though he was going to melt (from the heat!)
After what seemed like an eternity we were finally back at the campsite, Oscar and Katrina for a swim and the rest of us sipping those cool beers.
