Yesterday evening, the air was still and warm, whilst we enjoyed a glass of wine, and planned our onward journey. As the sun faded, the sky was smudged with warm swathes of lilac. Through the power of the internet, we kept in touch with family at home, and especially smiled, at the video of our youngest grandson, who is now crawling. Oh dear, parents, now things get serious, don't forget the stair gate!
This morning we were up early, as our plan was to leave Rome by 4 pm, so we would avoid the worst of the traffic.
We returned to the nearby tourist office, arriving just before they opened. The young lady there, wrote down the number of the bus we would need, and which metro line and station we required for our visit to the Vatican City. Armed with this information, we purchased four metrobus tickets from her. Each ticket offers unlimited travel for a continuous 100 minutes, the clock starts ticking, as soon as you board the bus. So six euros later, we stand nervously at the nearby bus stop. But no need for nerves, 35 minutes later, we were walking out Ottaviano metro station, right near the Vatican City.
The time 10.30 am, and the crowds were already forming. As we walked the streets, we were irritatingly, pestered by the tour guides, but we have to limit our spending, as we must be able to fill Marge up with fuel, to continue our trip. For us, just the experience of seeing all these wonderful places is enough.
The innocents abroad.
How surreal and awesome, did it seem, to be stood in St. Peter's Square? All round, there was something to see. Don't forget to look up, down that side road, turn around, and what a view!
The architecture was impressive, the bright limestone of the columns magnificent. Who'd have thought, John and Angela Hampton would be here? After our manic experience in the centre of Rome, despite the people, and traffic, it all seemed a little calmer here, why would that be? But the dangers of crossing the road were evident. At one zebra crossing, there was a large pool of dried blood near the kerb. Let's hope the pedestrian who leapt, before they looked, is alright.
Having eaten our breakfast earlier than normal, we were ready for lunch at 12.30. We'd hoped to be able to buy two more delicious deli sandwiches like, yesterday, but to no avail. So, we returned to a small cafe, we'd passed serving kebabs and pizza. The man, seeing us interested, offered us a sample of, pizza each.
Clever move, we were in the door before you could say pizza. But it was worthwhile, and after a vegetarian and caprese, we left full and satisfied, well done young man on your sales technique.
Our journey back across to the other side of the river, was straight forward. The metro was a lot busier than this morning, but the modern, light, open trains, did not make us feel claustrophobic, despite the hoards of passengers. At one station, a nun boarded. John, forever the gentleman, gave his seat up to her. She seemed both suprised and grateful.
A few shots of Rome before we say arrivederci
We arrived back at Marge at around 2.30 pm, and, after sorting ourselves out, left Rome around 3 pm. It was with mixed feelings that we left. We would not miss the traffic, noise, chaos, sirens, but would miss the atmosphere, the architecture, the history, and the thrill. We are overall glad we passed by this way, and will be forever grateful to the lady in the tourist office, for making our trip to the Vatican City so effortless. So, goodbye, Rome, we will now leave you, to all those millions of visitors, who will follow in our footsteps.
Not having driven Marge for a couple of days, we decided to drive to an aire less than two hours away, just south of Rome. Despite being on a main road, the condition of the road was diabolical, it made the ones in England seem perfect. In the unlikely event you are reading this, Italian minister for roads, please could you do something about them. We bet the road surface outside your house is perfect! On the way to the aire, we passed some 'ladies, offering afternoon delight'. One of them, was wearing a skirt that barely covered her lunch! Another, had heels on her stiletto boots, that must have been eight inches high, probably to be able to see into a lorry drivers window! Still, they gave us some amusement, and we wondered where do they buy their outfits! The answer, well just google it!
Tonight we are staying at the aire, adjacent to the car park of, the Italian, Agricultural and Military museum, at Piana della Orme. A strange mixture from ploughs to Cold Starfighter! With a lot of noisy peacocks thrown in for good measure.
So it's, 'a night at the museum'. The aire is set amongst the trees, there is another English van here, but the couple don't seem very friendly. We think there may be a little bit of snobbery, between owners of coach-built vans, and van conversions, (apologies to our friends Andrew and Trudy).
It is now just after 9.00, and the sun has gone down. We are tired from our few days in Rome, but also exhilarated, from having been there. Checking the weather forecast, it looks like it is going to become a lot hotter, as we head towards Naples.
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