Josh relished in giving us a title for this Blog!
We had a quiet day on the 24th. Caleb, Daniel and I (Karen) spent all day at ‘home’, with the boys playing with their new gladiator toys and me reading kid’s books (that is all I have left to read!). Tim and Josh spent the afternoon visiting the Catacombs of Rome which Josh particularly wanted to see. Apparently the Catacombs were probably not used to hide Christians as we had originally thought, and they also no longer held any bones as these were all taken away once Christianity was made the official religion under Constantine. Despite these drawbacks, Josh and Tim had an interesting time wandering around.
We caught the very early morning bus on a tour to Pompeii and Naples. A tour guide took us around Pompeii which was most helpful as he was able to explain lots of things to us that we would not otherwise have known. Once again there was a major lack of signage or explanation in the ruins. Tim and I were amazed that precious 2000 year old frescoes were left exposed out in the sun and rain, some with a tiny tin sheet as a little roof over the top which was not the best look. We were allowed to wander around the ruins at will, touching any frescos we wanted. The well known plaster casts of people and dog were I think the ones we had seen before in the Melbourne museum in a visiting exhibition. I have to say that they left much more of an impression then, as they were shown with beautiful lighting and displays. In Pompeii, we saw them behind wire in a shed with nothing to protect most of them. Despite how much more could have been done, the ruins themselves are incredible to see. The whole area is immense and covers 16 acres. It is impossible to see the whole area in one day, and we only saw a small portion of it. I loved the wagon wheel ruts that were clearly visible in the road surface. The city walls built around Pompeii have all been excavated out, and our guide explained that they had been built upon larva. The people at the time had not known that they were building on old larva flows as they did not know that volcanoes existed. There is still a large portion of land that is not excavated yet, and has been deliberately left for ‘protection’ as our guide explained. We were dismayed to later see this area covered with rubbish.
Our guide lead us through the ruins and out an obscure exit into a souvenir shop where he proceeded to tempt us to spend up big. As this shop and the subsequent restaurant that he lead us to for lunch were both off the beaten path, we had to wonder how much of the good areas of Pompeii we had seen and how much he had lead us through in order to get his commission at the shops. Perhaps I am being a bit cynical. I would find it really frustrating to be in a tour for a long time I think! We walked out of the restaurant when we could not get a waiter to show us a menu or price list (lunch was not included in the tour price), and we got our own lunch on a ten minute walk down the road. We were not quite so satisfied with ourselves however on the way back, as we had been forced to pay $15 for about 5 slices of bread on top of our restaurant meal. In Italy, you are presented with an unordered basket of bread in restaurants, which you sometimes pay for and sometimes don’t. I think in this case they had decided that we did not pay enough for lunch! It was some of the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life however, which is fitting since we were so close to Naples where pizza was invented.
After our Pompeii experience, the bus took us on a ‘panaromic tour’ of Naples. This meant that we drove around looking at things from the bus. I am sorry to say that we were less than impressed with Naples. It had some magnificent buildings in it and lots of potential, but everywhere we looked there was neglect, graffiti, and rubbish all over the streets. They whole place had a seedy feel, as did Pompeii. Apparently it is a very poor area. We arrived home from our trip at about 8:30, thoroughly exhausted but very glad to have chosen to see Pompeii in this stress free fashion.
The Vatican was spectacular. We visited the Vatican Museums early in the day. The paintings by Raphael in particular were incredible, all over the ceilings and the walls. Finally we reached the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo, with the creation and stories from the Bible on the ceiling and the Last Judgment on the wall. I found it all indescribably beautiful. Even Tim enjoyed it. We made the boys (who were less impressed – Josh kept asking why it was considered by most art critics to be the greatest work of art ever in the world) sit with us and admire it for a good half hour. There were masses of people, and Tim was nearly removed from the building as he had not seen the ‘no camera’ signs and was busy snapping away. The guard forced him to delete the pictures.
After the Vatican Museums we toured St Peter’s Basilica. It is a huge church, apparently taking up six acres of the Vatican’s 100. St Peter was martyred here upside down on a cross, and his bones are ‘almost certainly, maybe’ (according to our guide guru Rick Steves) buried here underneath the church. It is the second biggest church in the world, and certainly the grandest. It has a huge and beautiful dome that towers above. All around the church there were details in the design to make it appear smaller so it was more ‘intimate’ for its worshippers (as if anything that size could feel intimate!). The effect is that it looks big, but you do not really realise how big it actually is until you get outside the building. On the side as you enter the building sits Michelangelo’s Pieta behind glass. Michelangelo also designed the dome in the building. I found it hard to believe that we were actually seeing his statue and architectural work in front of us.
Our little hikers were all tired out after a mere two things were crossed off our list, so we headed home for a swim after a quick photo with one of the Swiss guards.
Today we were again up and away early, keen to do the rest of Rome and beat the queues at the Collesseum. We could not believe the thing when we rose up from the Metro station to see it. The boys were in awe of the building, and we had to drag Caleb through all the gladiators standing outside, trying to have their picture taken with him. After quite a long wait we ventured inside. It was amazing to see all the tunnels underneath the floor. After the initial impression however, the boys were more thrilled with their purchase of some gladiator soldiers from the gift shop! I was a bit disappointed that there were no museums inside to show gladiator costumes or artifacts from the games. I felt that we all could have learnt a lot from some re-enactments or showing how the tunnels and trapdoors worked. There was so much scope for more; but as Tim said, the organizers really did not have to do anything to promote the Collesseum with people clambering to get in all day.
After the Collesseum our little crew were exhausted again in the heat (it was extremely humid as well as hot today) and we hopped on our ‘hop on hop off’ bus tour. This took us on a trip around Rome, pointing out the famous sights. You get on or off where you want to go, but we just stayed the whole circuit, gradually recovering and enjoying the view. It was such a good thing to do that Tim and I have decided it will definitely be our first strategy when visiting other major cities. Although it can be expensive, it is too tiring to walk around for the kids. After finally hopping off and getting some lunch and the boys a haircut, we made our way to see the Pantheon. Another spectacular marvel that had a domed roof – this one open to let the sun in (and the rain!). Raphael the artist was buried there, as well as a few important leaders. It was beautifully symmetrical in design. On to Trevi fountain which was most impressive, and finally the Spanish Steps (less impressive). The whole city of Rome is filled with marvels; huge buildings, fountains and statues at every turn; 2500 year old obelisks from Egypt; and quieter and no less interesting narrow little backstreets. It is awesome to see, but at the same time grimy, chaotic and frustrating. There are masses of people here, all seeing the same things we are it seems! We squeezed ourselves into a public bus for the ride home, and were relieved to get back to our campsite. Tomorrow will be quieter as we all need a rest!
"That's a very impressive sword you've got there!"
Daniel overcome with excitement while exploring the streets of Rome
In front of St. Peter's
We set world record time this morning and had breakfasted, showered, packed up the van, dumped our waste water and filled up the tank again by a dazzling 8:28am. Tim and I thought that given how busy our last campsite was, Rome was bound to be busier and the earlier we got there the better. After a painless, easy drive we arrived at Camping Roma. It is a much nicer place than we were expecting from the write up in our camping book (“do not venture outside the site on foot at night” did not seem like the ideal camping spot to take our children!), although nothing could possibly beat our last campsite. It has two small pools and lots of greenery, plus offers tours to Pompeii which Tim and I were wanting. Free wifi that actually works from our campervan is a big bonus! Unfortunately, many other Aussies are here having drinking parties, and we were advised to stay away from them if we wanted peace and quiet. After a nice swim and game of soccer, the boys have retired for the night and Tim and I are planning our time in Rome. On to the Vatican tomorrow. We missed the Pope’s special audience today which he runs once a week, but I am sure that he didn’t miss us! I still remember him in a little red cap from my last visit.
Well, here we are still at the world’s best campsite (unless you like peace and quiet!). We are finding it difficult to drag the kids away from here. The campsite organises excursions for you to places like Siena but I can’t convince Tim, Caleb or Daniel that it would be a good idea to do anything! They have all had enough of sightseeing for the moment, and we are taking a bit of a breather in this fabulous place. You really don’t need to go anywhere. We have had a medieval knight and archer parade through our campground (Caleb was almost in it he walked so closely next to a man holding a battleaxe), and Caleb and I watched an arching tournament from a village nearby where the parade marched to. We have watched two free movies from a restaurant up the mountain via the train. The movies had to compete with the spectacular view over the rolling Tuscan hills at dusk! Tim got his haircut at the campsite today, and we all had a ‘farewell gelati’ at the gelati shop this evening. It has been a lovely relaxing few days, but if we are to see any more of Europe we need to start moving again! We head to Rome tomorrow early as we fear there will be little camping spots available.
We took a bus trip to Florence yesterday that was organized by the campsite. Karen and I very much enjoyed being on an air conditioned bus and letting someone else do all the driving and thinking about where we were going! It did not cost us much more than going by public transport from here, and miles easier. There was no tour – just drop us off and pick us up in the afternoon which suited us well.
Karen had a big list of things to do, so we set off at a brisk pace. The first thing to see was the Florence Cathedral, known as the Duomo. We had our doubts about how good it was going to be, and whether it would live up to the guide book’s claim that it was third on the list of Italy’s top three (after the Colloseum and the Leaning Tower). It did live up to our expectations as the enormous structure is made out of marble. We climbed the 400+ steps to the top and got within arms reach of the fresco painted in the largest dome. It was worth the climb and the view from the top on the outside was fantastic.
Next stop after the Duomo was the Uffuzzi gallery. We’d pre-booked tickets with a scheduled entry time which helped us reduce the queuing time. The extra Euros were worth the expense given the size of the monster general admission queue. The Uffuzzi was interesting with lots of world-renowned paintings in it but it didn’t quite hit the mark for us; perhaps given our French and London gallery experiences?
From the Uffizzi we ate lunch and spent a good 45 minutes trying to catch our breath and recover from the heat. We planned to make a made dash to the Academia gallery in the afternoon before the 5:15 bus home. The kids didn’t have the energy for it and it was a reasonable distance from where we were so we decided to give it a miss. Apparently the only thing of note (according to Karen) is the statue of David which we saw a replica of in one of the main piazzas. Completely sapped of any energy we dragged ourselves to the famous Florence bridge to have a look and then we opted for a gelati.
From there we went to another church where Galileo and DaVinci were buried. Josh and Karen went in and Caleb, Daniel and I stayed outside in the shade. Both boys fell asleep on my lap as we were sprawled out on the pavement in the shade. We received many laughs from other tourists because of two young boys asleep on their ‘sylvester’ on the pavement. One found it so amusing that they even took a photograph of us. From the church we dragged ourselves back to the station via a number of interesting streets and shops. We arrived early and decided to replenish our liquids in McDonalds and take advantage of the free toilets. It was an exhausting day and we opted for a meal out at one of the park’s restaurants. We collapsed into bed early thoroughly worn out from our day. Florence was a great place to visit and it has similarities to Paris. One day was probably enough for me but I’m sure Karen could have spent more time there.
Today we spent the day by the pool after home school. I went from a swim and to the gym in the morning and the kids spent 5 hours at the pool which they love. Karen and Josh are up watching Invictus on the big screen while the other two are fast asleep.
This morning felt a bit flat as we were back to just the 5 of us again. We set out to explore the Roman ships being restored in a Pisa museum (only open Fridays and Saturdays) that have been dug up recently out of the former Pisa harbor. After much exploration and frustration the museum could not be found. The maps we had only showed a vague reference to its location and a lack of any quality signs didn’t help. We walked the streets for almost an hour trying to find these illusive boats but without success; much to Caleb’s disappointment. Our morning pretty much summed up our Pisa experience. It is a city that has so much history outside of the leaning tower, but doesn’t quite deliver on its full potential. The sites are poorly sign posted, the information available is limited and sometimes inconsistent and what you expect to find isn’t quite what you might get. Perhaps they suffer from too much rich heritage to consider things like Galileo’s achievements or Roman remains important. My report card for Pisa reads something like “shows much potential but could try harder”.
After a visit to CarreFour to replenish our stocks we headed for Florence. Having assessed the numerous camp site options on the way we elected for the one recommended to us (via blog) by a family who have been traveling through Europe for a few years. The camp site is about 30km from Florence and a similar distance from Sienna so it should be a good base to explore some of the better parts of Tuscany. As we pulled up to register a tractor train towing multiple trailers full of swimwear-clad patrons heading off to the pool drove by. This should have been an indication as to what was to come. This is a camp site like none other and we’ve never seen anything quite like it. It is simply amazing and breathtaking when you consider the size, scope and services available. It has 900 pitches, 4 pools, waterslides, rapid rides, tennis courts, restaurants (I counted 5 today), soccer pitches, shops, gym, tour office, kids program and just about anything else you could imagine. The place is so large that you need the tractor train to transport you from one pool to the other. It’s definitely not for the camper wanting a quant little Tuscan farm camp site. It is however built on an old winery and farm with much of its history still visible. We are surrounded by farms and Tuscan hills so it does have some charm to it if you ignore the thousands of people here and the noise of families having a great time.
We are parked in Dutch street as I (Tim) liked to call it. The street is full of mostly Dutch people and we’re wondering if there is anyone left in the Netherlands. We’ve seen so many Dutch travelers on our trip that there can’t be many people left at home. The Dutch definitely love their camping; perhaps almost as much as Australians.
We spent all afternoon at the pool until 7PM riding the rapids and playing in the pool. The kids had an amazing time and anything else after this will seem a little bland. They will love this place even if it’s not quite what Karen and I had in mind when we planned our Tuscan getaway. We’re here for 4 nights and we’ve organized a bus trip to Florence tomorrow.
Yesterday saw Tim and I load up the campervan again from the various items we had deposited in the apartment. It is amazing how much stuff you can collect in just a few days! The boys stayed with Ian and Sue aiming to catch the fast train to Pisa and meet us there. Tim and I had a peaceful and hassle-free drive to Pisa, arriving and setting up our camp before the others had even left Levanto! Our campsite is neat and tidy, has a good pool (a must for us in this weather), a fair amount of shade and clean bathrooms (an important point!). We were soon re-united with Ian and Sue and after a swim tackled Pisa.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (or Pizza as Caleb likes to call it!) was amazing. I remembered the stairs so clearly from when I climbed it when I was 8 years old as if it were yesterday. Tim, Josh and I climbed right up to the top to survey the view, while Ian and Sue followed in another group. Unfortunately children under 8 years cannot climb, so Caleb and Daniel were not allowed to come. They were almost soothed by an icecream however! It was a surreal experience to climb up the inside, and quite dizzying. It seems incredible that such a substantial structure (or not so substantial as it turned out!) was built for the sole purpose of ringing the bells to tell people to come to church. The tower started leaning while it was being built, and to try to rectify the fault the builders gradually tried to angle the structure more upright. There have been substantial renovations since, and even when we were there the tower had scaffolding around one level. Only 40 people are allowed up at one time. While up the top of the tower, we were not allowed to shout to people below. It made us wonder if they merely did not want us to be loud, or that the tower was in more serious trouble than we thought with sound waves threatening its stability! We returned to our campsite in the early evening and fell into bed.
Today we ventured back to the Tower and viewed the buildings that surrounded it. After some research on the web I had discovered that Galileo was born in Pisa, and the buildings around the Tower housed some of his experiments and documents. The Baptistry was first on the list, where Galileo was baptized. There were supposed to be some documents about this in the building but we were unable to find any. Nevertheless it was an interesting building. The security person gave a demonstration of the acoustics of the building by singing a few notes. The acoustics were such that it sounded like a number of people were singing, and it was hauntingly beautiful.
Next on the list was the Duomo or cathedral. This had some relics of saints in it, including a visible skull which the boys were suitably impressed by. The beautifully carved marble alter held somewhat less appeal! This building was where Galileo had noticed how swinging rods holding candles swung at different speeds depending on their length. From there observations, he came up with the pendulum. We went into the Cemetary building to view the actual lamp Galileo used for his experiments. At least, we think it was the lamp – it was not exactly labeled. Finally, we toured one of the museums there as the information I had said that Galileo’s experimental equipment could be found there. Unfortunately, this information was incorrect and there was nothing there much of interest for the kids. Josh and Tim later rode to where the tour guide suggested we might find the equipment, however it was a derelict building with nothing open so they returned disappointed.
After a tiring morning of sightseeing, we headed back to the campervan for a bit of schooling and the whole afternoon in the pool. The boys had a ball with a water volleyball set (using it for a variety of purposes!), a waterslide, and icecreams. We had our last dinner with Ian and Sue at the camping site’s restaurant, then unfortunately needed to say goodbye so they could catch their plane back to London. We will certainly miss them! It has been a wonderful week, and we are really thankful that they could make the tricky excursion to meet up with us.
Today was a relaxing day. We caught the train to Vernazza and hit the beach. Josh described his time yesterday at Vernazza as the best day of his life, building sandcastles in the blackish sand, jumping into deep water and exploring caves. We had a lovely day filled with playing on the sand, swimming and yet more pizza and foccacia. The afternoon saw us back at our home town at the toy shop for some boys with euros burning their pockets, followed by gelati. We are gradually getting used to the rest time in the middle of the day in Italy where almost all the shops close from 12-3 or sometimes even 4:30. Our sights are now set on Pisa. Ian and Sue will have 3 extra passengers on their trip back to Pisa by the fast train. They will stay 2 more nights with us in a caravan park.
The last 2 days we have spent walking the Cinque Terre track. The boys have done brilliantly with barely a complaint, and the only skinned knee in sight was mine! Yesterday we set off at the crack of dawn (the crack of dawn getting later for us as the holiday continues) and caught the early train to Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore is the furthest town from us. After walking around the charming old town we began on the track. Caleb was our tour guide with his new ‘Cinque Terre Italia’ cap on (having left the last hat on a train somewhere the day before). He made a great guide, encouraging the group to stick together and doing a head count every now and then. I supplied him with tidbits of information on the towns via my Rick Steves’ guide, and Caleb helpfully relayed these to our group. Along with hundreds of other people (including a lot of Australians) we trecked from Riomaggiore to Manarola, up the 382 steps to Corniglia where we enjoyed some more pizza and foccacia followed by gelati for lunch, then on to Vernazza. The scenery was nothing short of spectacular. We walked high above the sea along narrow mountain tracks, and the Medeterranean sparkled below us with the most amazing blue colour. It was so clear that rocks on the sea floor were visible from high above. Each village had a slightly different character, but all were lovely. We wound our way through the olive trees and grape vines that the region is famous for. Every usable bit of land was utilized for something. Tim and I decided that there could be a lot more that we could do with Donvale. It wasn’t a steep block at all by comparison!
Even though it was only 6 km, the track was quite steep and rocky in parts and it was extremely hot. By the time we reached Vernazza the kids (and the adults) were exhausted. We jumped on the train and headed back to our accommodation at Levanto. Today we walked the rest of the track from Vernazza to Montorosso which is the final town. This was a harder section than the other tracks and the boys coped very well. Josh trained back to Vernazza to hit the beach with grandma and grandpa, while the younger boys and Tim and I decided to call it a day and return to our apartment. What a day! I can see why people name the Cinque Terre region walking track as one of the best in the world.
Ian and Sue joined us on the 9th of July in a little town called Levanto. The town lies north of the Cinque Terre region. The Cinque Terre region is a series of 5 towns built in medieval times along the rugged coast. They are linked by train, ferry and walking tracks but have very limited car access. Ian and Sue had a bit of trouble getting to us with a train strike from Pisa, but after a wild taxi ride (with speeds reaching over 150 kph awhile the driver was watching a DVD) they eventually joined us. It is great to see them after over a month away. We are staying together in a lovely 3 bedroom apartment. Our campervan meanwhile is feeling lonely and parked nearby. It is wonderful to have unhindered showers again and frequent use of the washing machine! We ate out at a great little restaurant in town after sampling the local beach (the boys were disappointed by the lack of sand once again. I think they are slowly realising that Australia has some of the best beaches in the world).
Levanto is a very nice town, and much more like the Italy Tim and I had thought we would see. There are lots of interesting specialty shops and good things to eat. This morning we caught the train to the closest of the Cinque Terre towns, Monterosso. Monterosso is the best beach town and the most touristy. We spent a great morning on the beach, swimming in beautiful turquoise waters and doing some kayaking which the boys loved. Thankfully, on this typical highly regimented private beach, Ian hired two sun lounges and umbrella so that we could take turns in getting out of the heat. Sue and I scoured the town in search of some lunch, and we found ourselves in the most delightful series of narrow laneways with quaint little shops and restaurants. We found a great little foccacia and pizza shop that sold products by weight. The proscuitto and mozzarella pizza that I ate later was without a doubt the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life. All for a grand total of 2 euro! Amazing food. Caleb particularly is loving the pizza here. He has decided that Italy is definitely his favourite country! We headed back to Levanto by train early afternoon as it was again very hot here – at least 34 degrees today I think. The plan is to arise early tomorrow (should not be a problem as the boys woke at 5am this morning!) and catch the early train to the last town, Riomaggiore or as Ian calls it, Rigamortis. From there we plan to walk along the cliffs as far as the boys can manage, and catch the train or ferry home. It should be a great day!
