Day
one was the battle of public transport! I flew into Rome Fiumicino Airport, and
after a failed attempt at trying to find the bus that went to the city centre I
headed for the train station instead. I managed to navigate my way through the confusing
ticket selling machine and found the platform that said ‘Termini’ (the main
station in the city centre that I was heading for). I got on the train and sat
back to enjoy the journey into Rome. After a while I realized that I no longer recognized
any of the station names on my map… and after a quick check on the GPS program
on my phone, realized that I had bypassed the city centre and was now heading
out of Rome! I got off at the next stop and caught the train back towards the
city centre. Three trains later I was back where I was hoping to be! After this
I had to catch a bus, which I did with no dramas. I found the campsite, settled
in and went on a search for food, as I hadn’t eaten for around 5 hours. I
unearthed a vending machine in the laundry and settled for that until later. After
some munchies I settled in for a well deserved nap (I was running on around 3
hours sleep at this point). I had dinner at the campsite restaurant, which was
an acceptable but unimpressive pizza, made much better by a couple of glasses
of wine! One of my favourite things about Italy is that even the house wines
are always pretty tasty! I spent the rest of the night planning the following
days re-discovery of Rome. I was aiming for my favourite places from my last
visit, as well as trying to discover some new ones.
The next day I was on a mission to rediscover Rome. And rediscover it I did! I
started off the day at the Vatican Museum, I mainly wanted to see the Sistine
Chapel again. It was definitely worth the entry fee, I love walking through the
amazing opulent surrounds of the halls of the Vatican. It is chock full of
artwork from history, including giant wall tapestries that are hundreds of
years old. I was going to go into St Peter’s Basillica, but I decided it wasn’t
worth the hour long cue to get in, as I had already been inside before and had
also climbed to the top of the Cupola on a previous visit. I walked across the
river and found the Piazza Navona, home of the Fontana dei Quottro (Fountain of
Four Rivers). After that I continued across to the Pantheon, which was
unfortunately closed by the time I got there as today was a public holiday.
Much to my delight I managed to find my favourite restaurant from my previous
visit, and enjoyed a scrumptious plate of four cheeses gnocchi and a nice cold
crisp white wine. After resting my feet during lunch I continued my trek east
to the Trevi Fountain, which was absolutely packed with people! I couldn’t get
close enough to throw a coin in, but I’m sure I’ll return to Rome again anyway.
I sat down for a little while in the shade and watched the people throng around
the fountain. After this I headed to the closes metro station to try and find
the San Callisto Catacombs, which are the largest in Rome. I got off at the
appropriate metro station and realized my map didn’t cover this part of town,
and neither did my offline GPS program on my phone… I was on my own! Ofcourse
there was no one around to ask directions, so I started walking down what I
thought was the right road. I saw a bus stop which fortunately had a map of the
local area inside, which very considerately informed me that “you are here” and
at lease confirmed I was walking down the correct street. It also marked the
catacombs, which was very handy. So I took a photo of the map and kept walking,
checking my progress at each bus stop I came to. I kept walking… and walking…
and walking some more! Then it started raining, gently at first but soon rather
heavily! Thankfully I’d had the foresight to pack my umbrella. Eventually after
almost an hour of walking I found the catacombs, and it was definitely worth
it! They were used until the 4th Century, and a huge amount of
Catholics were buried here (I can’t remember the exact figure), including 6
popes. There are four levels of crisscrossing underground passages that cover
around 20 km, although we were only allowed down to the second level with our
guide. We had a guided tour by a volunteer Phillipino priest, and it was quite
awe enspiring to see the engineering achievements of people 2 thousand years
ago! After my visit I headed back to the metro station (I took the bus this
time, now that I knew which ones to catch!) While I was waiting for the bus I
watched a lady do the worst reverse park ever, in the tiniest car I have ever
seen! It took a good 10 minutes and she hit both the car behind and infront of
here. And it was a horrible park in the end! I got another pizza from the
restaurant for dinner as I was too tired to find anywhere else.
Day
three was the start of my tour down to Southern Italy. We met our tour guide
John and boarded the busabout bus to begin our drive down to Pompeii. We drove
past Naples, and had a great view of Mount Vesuvius overlooking the city. On
arriving at Pompeii we were taken on a two hour walking tour of the ruins,
which took us through the day to day life of the people who lived there, and
what evidence we can see today. We were shown
the original ‘pedestrian crossing’, three stones which allowed people to walk
across the street without walking through the sewage. We saw the town squares,
the shops, the residences and some ancient tiles that have remained to today.
One house had a tile mosaic of a dog bearing the inscription for ‘Beware of the
Dog!”. There were plaster moulds on display of the people as they tried to flee
the volcanic ash falling all around them. They made these by pumping plaster into
the gaps they found in the volcanic rock, which were left after the people had
decayed. It was very interesting but sad at the same time. It is amazing how
well preserved the city is. One of the most interesting places was the brothel,
it had pictures on the wall of the menu – the services which the patrons would
choose from. Around the area were three dimensional phallis’ on the walls and
ground that would point the way to the brothels! Apparently it was quite a
trade back in the day. After our tour we enjoyed pizza from the home of pizza –
Naples. It was everything I was hoping for from a Naples pizza – fresh, saucy
and cheesy! We then headed further south to Sorrento, which was to be our home
for the next two days. After checking into the campsite we caught the bus down
to the town and enjoyed a tasty dinner of pasta and more pizza, followed by
tiramisu for dessert and ofcourse, some local wine. We were then taken to a
local cocktail bar for some tasty cocktails before heading back to camp to
sleep.
Saturday
was quite possibly my favourite day in Italy. We caught a boat over to the
Island of Capri for the day. On the ride over we enjoyed the amazing views on
the bright sunny day that we were blessed with, and stopped at the Blue Grotto
once we got to the Island. The Blue Grotto has a tiny entrance that only just
fits a boat the size of a large canoe, and all the passengers have to lie down
to fit through! The smaller boats row out to the large tourist boats to collect
four passengers at a time to take in. Technically you are not allowed to swim
in the Blue Grotto, but we were given the tip by our tour guide that if you tip
the boatman inside the cave, he will let you swim for a little bit. We took
this advice on board and were able to swim for a couple of minutes inside, it
was a pretty cool experience! The Blue Grotto is a fairly sizable cave that has
a small entrance, but the amazingly beautiful blue light filters through under
the water from outside, and the water is so very clear. It was just beautiful!
After we had all been inside we landed in Capri, and caught a convertible taxi
with a group to the top town of Ana Capri. From Ana Capri we went up the chairlift to the
top of Monte Solaro, the highest point on the Island. We were rewarded with
absolutely stunning views of the Island and the harbor full of boats. After
finding a nice shady spot we enjoyed a picnic of panini’s overlooking the
island. We had a bit of fun taking photos (including some silly one’s) before
heading back down the chairlift, and caught a bus down to Capri. Our tour guide
had given us some suggestions for good gelato shops, so we walked down to the coast
via one of those, and I enjoyed some very tasty melon gelato. The path down the
beach had some pretty stunning views of the blue water and surrounding area.
Once we got to the bottom we chilled on the beach for a little while and went
swimming. I couldn’t get over how clear the water was!! Unfortunately the time
came for us to board our boat once more, and we relaxed as we headed back
towards the mainland. Most of the tour decided to have dinner at the campsite
restaurant, and I had some tasty gnocchi with tomato and parmesan, followed by
pannacotta. Yum! I also enjoyed some more wine, and we all partook in
Lemoncello shots, the drink of the region. After our Lemoncello, Tour Guide
John suggested a side adventure to those who were game… this involved a short
walk to a moon pool that he had been told about by a local. By the light of our
mobile phones we found the moon pool but intelligently decided against swimming
in it at night! Instead we headed back to the campsite for a late night swim.
The
following day was a little dreary as it was overcast and there were some rain
showers predicted. We departed the campsite early as we were driving the Amalfi
coast road, and wanted to beat the other tourist buses! We started at a local
fruit stand for breakfast, and I had some tasty strawberries and possible the
best pistachio nuts of my life! We continued along the road, enjoying the views
as we twisted and turned our way along the coast. At Amalfi we had a long stop
to do a bit of sightseeing, and wandered through the shops trying to avoid the
rain. I had a very tasty pastry for morning tea and enjoyed the views in this
little coastal town. Back on the bus, we continued on our trek, blasting Pavarotti
as we drove the twisting road to Ravello. At Ravello we stopped for lunch, and
on John’s recommendation we headed to a small Panini shop where they make your
sandwhich as you wait, cutting the cheese and meat fresh in front of you. I was
pretty impressed with the result, it was the best Panini I had in Italy! We ate
in the town square overlooking the terraced wineries on the neighbouring hills,
and were even treated to a wedding party coming out of the town church! There
were also fireworks going off on one of the hills, but we weren’t sure what
they were for. After our brief stop in Ravello we boarded the bus once more to
begin the trip back to Rome. I had dinner once again at the campsite restaurant
with some of the friends I had made on the tour. I had the pasta this time,
which was better than the pizzas!
I had one more day left before departing Italy, and I headed into Rome again
with two friends from my tour. We went to the Crypt of the Capuchin Monks
first, in which they have made artworks out of the many bones that were in
their previous crypt before they moved location. It is a mixture of creepy and
cool, and was somewhere I had remembered from my last trip to Europe (I thought
it was in Spain though… my mistake!). We had been given another suggestion for
a good gelato shop by our tour guide, and we made a beeline for this… and it
definitely lived up to its reputation! I can without a doubt say that it was
the best gelato I have EVER tasted. I had a mixture of Honey and Pear, and it
was a delectable delight. It was called San Cristo, and was near the Barberini
Metro Stop. Definitely worth a trip! It didn’t open until 11 though, so we sat
by the Trevi Fountain to pass the time. After gelato we found somewhere for
lunch and I enjoyed another margarita pizza. At this point we parted ways, as
the girls had to go back and pack for their flight. I continued on to the
pantheon as I wanted to go inside again, I love the effect of the daylight
streaming in through the hole in the roof! I walked south past the roman forum
and colosseum, and round to the church with the Mouth of Truth (Chiesa di Santa
Maria in Cosmedin). Legend has it that if you put your right hand into its
mouth and tell a lie then it will cut off your hand! I still have all my limbs,
so obviously no lies! After checking out the church I headed back to the metro
for the trip across town for one last trip to the Vatican. I went into St
Peters Basilica and walked around in awe of its sheer size. It’s the largest
church in the world, and it makes you feel like an ant as you walk its length.
Photos really don’t do its size justice. At this point my feet felt like they
were about to fall off, so I headed back to the campsite to get my things
together for my flight. I had booked an airport transfer through the campsite
this time – no wrong trains for me! Traffic got a little heavy on the highway,
so the driver took us on a back road through the countryside, we passed green fields
and rolled hay which was very scenic! Once I was at the airport I enjoyed my
last Italian Panini for dinner before waiting for my flight back to London
town. My flight was delayed an hour (although no one actually told us what was
happening in this time, very annoying and the crowds were getting a little
frustrated!). By the time I got back to my house it was 3am… I very gratefully
fell into bed!
Italy
is definitely one of my favourite countries in the world. And the food count? 4
pizzas, 3 pastas, 3 paninis and 3 flavours of gelato in 5 days. I will
definitely be returning to this amazing country in the future! It has great
food, stunning sights and interesting ruins… who wouldn’t want to come back??!!
