Piana delle Orme

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.

Note if you want to use any of the photos for any purpose please do so, but put a link to: https://www.muddymarge.com

Rome (Day 2)

At 9.00 this morning it was 26c. Today was going to be hot, hot, hot! So on with the lycra, and the sunscreen. As we prepared to dice with death once again in the city, a pair of parakeet's flew by Marge, gone as soon as they'd arrived, in a flash of green.

An easier ride into the city centre today, as a German man, parked next to us, advised us on an easier route, to get to the cycleway, which avoided much of the busy road near the aire. Once in the city centre, the cycleways stop, and you're either cycling on the pavement, or the road. Because of some demonstrations, quite a few roads were closed to traffic, but one of them was still O.K. for cycling. As a result of these road closures, in some areas, the traffic was being forced down to one lane from four, resulting in commotion. Car horns sounded incessantly, and sirens from police cars and ambulances were continuous. There is a huge police and military presence in the city, and the Italian lady who booked us onto the aire yesterday, said we must carry our passports at all times, because of spot checks. Trying to concentrate on the circus going on around us, we managed to stop and look at everything of interest, including some beautiful churches, where at one this afternoon, we met a couple from Essex, who were lost.

They'd flown out of Heathrow airport this morning at 2.30 and were staying for four days. Despite their tiredness, like us, the excitement of seeing so many treasures and masterpieces, kept them going.

At lunchtime, we sat near to the Trevi Fountain, and enjoyed a delicious Italian delis sandwich we'd bought early from a small supermarket. After lunch, we made our way along some cobbled back streets to the Pantheon, where one of us couldn't resist a strawberry gelato, well, you would, wouldn't you?

Today, we have also mastered the art of crossing the busy roads of Rome. This morning, there were policemen at the crossings, blowing their whistles in a shrill an authoritative manner, at the vehicle drivers. But this afternoon we were on our own. So we decided to adopt the same principle, the tour guide taught us, when we visited Vietnam. Just walk slowly across, and the traffic will either stop, or drive slowly around you. It worked, no ambulance, with blaring siren required!

It has been a tiring day, but well worth it. The temperature reached 29c this afternoon, and now one of us has a headache and feels a little sick, perhaps the cause, not the sun, but the strawberry gelato. We are very glad that we visited the city in May, as we couldn't imagine how awful the crowds and the traffic, will be in August. Even today, we found it difficult to take photographs, without too many people in them.

A bit photo heavy, but here's a tiny selection of today's shots.

Tomorrow, we would like to visit the Vatican City, so have made some enquiries at the tourist information office, which is just 50 metres down the road from our aire, about using the bus to take us into the city centre, from where will we walk the rest of the way.

Note if you want to use any of the photos for any purpose please do so, but put a link to: https://www.muddymarge.com

Rome (Day 1)

The aire we stayed at last night, reminded us of France's Atlantic coast, with the refreshing, fragrant smell of pine, from the nearby trees filling the air. The occupants of the other vans kept us amused this morning. As we've seen before, one climbed up on the roof of his van, whilst the couple nearly opposite, who had a set of crystal candlesticks with tall cream candles in them on their inside table, went through a meticulous process of folding their duvets.

And all around us there were 'capri pants men' dutifully trekking by to the pooper emptying point.

Next to Marge, John spotted a lizard, looking at the photos (see second photo) he noticed a second one in the shot so went back for another look to find them, fighting over their territory.

A big day for Marge today, driving into Rome. But first, we had to negotiate the pedestrians, whose mobile phones will probably be the death of them, as they step out onto the road in front of you, without looking, step backwards into the road outside a coffee bar and just general stand right on the edge of the road. Just one tight spot today for Marge to squeeze through, due to bad parking, in a narrow street in the town of Civitavecchia.

At the port there, we saw quite a few cruise ships, with coaches waiting to whisk their passengers into Rome. Even though the traffic was heavy, and at one point five lanes wide, Marge kept her cool, and breezed into the city.

Tonight's aire, is behind a garage. It is like an oasis, with lush green grass and trees, you would never think, we were just a mile and a half from the centre, well not until you go through the gate and out on to the road, then mayhem! Driving in Italy is one thing, but cycling! Once we'd timidly pushed our bikes up to the top of the road, and rode them down the hill on the other side, an uncomfortable ride on the cobbled surface, we found the cycleway, then it all became much easier, and enjoyable.

It was late afternoon when we arrived at the Colosseum. As expected, the area was busy with tourists. Whilst being wowed by the structure, we were ever mindful of the pedlars and pick pockets, so we adopted our practice of locking the bikes together, when we stopped to take photographs.

At 6.00 pm, rush hour, we headed back to the van. Seeing how heavy the traffic was, and the near misses, was a little disturbing, but we've cycled in other cities in Europe before, so just went for it! Surprisingly, it wasn't the car drivers to fear, but the scooter riders, they think they're immortal. We are planning to stay in Rome for two or three days. We do not know when we will pass this way again, so we need to see as much as possible. May, is suppose to be one of the better months to visit the city, because there are less visitors, so we'll be out on our bicycles again tomorrow.

Note if you want to use any of the photos for any purpose please do so, but put a link to: https://www.muddymarge.com