When last I wrote, I was in (and around) the coast and Islands of Naples, enjoying the sun and seas. After Naples I headed over to Rome, where I spent a day there sightseeing Rome on a hop-on hop-off bus, and generally getting a (very exciting) feel for the city. But instead of staying in Rome, I went away to a little medieval town called Gubbio, which was having their annual Ceri Race- an old religious festival in hommage to their patron saint, St Ubaldo. In essence, it's three statues of saints on big, heavy wooden platforms raced around the town and up a hill to the church overlooking the town. Of course, St Ubaldo always wins!! There are festivities all day and everybody is decked out in their medieval colours, cheering on the saints. It was a lot of fun and great to see a colourful local tradition.
After my day in Gubbio, I headed back to Rome and did all the normal sight seeing, the Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, the Collosseum, Trevi Fountain, Vatican city all very exciting and amazing to see. But I missed the Sistene chapel and Vatican museums because they were closed. I was disappointed, but did throw my coin into the Trevi Fountain, so will have to be back in Rome one day!! The hilight of Rome for me was probably the hidden treasures in it. I love that you can walk into a relatively small and unassuming church and find a Bellini or Raphael or turn a corner and find ridiculously old Roman remains of some sort or another. The history of Rome is so interesting and it's one of the things that you just can't get in Australia- thousands of years worth of world-influencing history.
So it was hard to leave Italy with so much un-done!! I felt like I hadn't even scratched the surface, but at the same time was exhausted from seeing and experiencing so much! I caught a late night plane to Glasgow, stayed a night near the airport, and had George, the driver come and pick me up first thing in the morning. I'm now working for a Scottish family I met in France with two children- Ross (6) and Mark (15 months). The family is lovely and there are always people around to talk to who also work for the family. I am treated very well and feel quite settled and I get along well with the kids- they are fantastic.
