Well, here we are at the beginning. This blog is planned to be a document of our trip to Italy and the United Kingdom in May/June of 2012. There were four intrepid travellers, me (John), Tricia, Christine and Michael.
The plan is that each post will document a day. Hopefully I won't miss any, although that's always possible as it is based on my memory, my photo's and Tricia's daily trip diary. My memory is the scary bit. I plan to drop in the odd photo from my collection, supplemented by some of Michael's. Who knows what else might happen.
Monday, 14 May 2012 - The journey begins
The journey begins. At 4:45 a.m - I'm not at my best at that time, but excitement keeps me awake.
Tricias's Diary:
Tricias's Diary:
Left Te Horo at 4-45 am by shuttle (nice man). Had breakfast at WLG airport Berry yoghurt. Weather warm and rain clearing.Arrived at the airport in plenty of time - that happens when you leave at that hour of the morning. Easy check-in and simple flight to AKL. Brisk walk to International and grab our Singapore Airlines flight to Rome via Singapore. Changi Airport at Singapore was it's busy but efficient normal self while we waited for our flight on to Roma. Flights were good - it's a good airline - even though as budget passengers we were way down the back.
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| M, T, C at WLG airport, fresh as daisies |
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| J, T, C, M in Changi Airport, nice man took our photo (and didn't steal the camera). |
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
After flying half way around the world, twenty something hours sitting in planes, and quite a few hours in airports, here we are in Rome (Roma for those of us who wish we spoke Italian). We arrived around 8 a.m. and got through the airport and found a taxi. Turns out the driver - who spoke almost no English - was an All Black fan. He was wearing an All Black shirt which he showed us after figuring out we were Kiwis. I don't think we got a discount. So we arrive at our 'hotel' - it only had about 3 rooms, so hotel is a bit grand, but it was in the heart of the old city and quaint, especially the plumbing.
After freshening up we packed our jet lag away and hit the streets. The plan was to walk around and check the route for the next morning and our, already booked, Vatican tour. So off we went. We walked for hours. We had dinner at McDonalds (what a terrible admission - tiredness is the only excuse) it was just 50 metres down the street. Mike crashed so the three of us went for a further walk accidentally going up the Spanish Steps and taking in the first of many old religious buildings we did on this trip. Fantastic.
Tricia wrote in her diary:
Day One - DONE!
After freshening up we packed our jet lag away and hit the streets. The plan was to walk around and check the route for the next morning and our, already booked, Vatican tour. So off we went. We walked for hours. We had dinner at McDonalds (what a terrible admission - tiredness is the only excuse) it was just 50 metres down the street. Mike crashed so the three of us went for a further walk accidentally going up the Spanish Steps and taking in the first of many old religious buildings we did on this trip. Fantastic.
Tricia wrote in her diary:
Good plane trip on both routes. Arrived at Eva's Rooms, via Dei Due Macelli,31 at 10 am. Nice room. Not too much jet lag. Today we walked Vaticani, Piazza Navona, Ponte Sant'Angelo, Castel Sant'Angelo, Palazzo di Giustizia, Trinita dei Monte, Villa MediciWe also did the Trevi Fountain, some famous statues, and kilometres of streets. Also our first slice of Pizza and the first of many Cafe Lattes.
Day One - DONE!
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| 3 tourists amongst the tourists. Setting off from our rooms. |
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| Trevi Fountain - lucky we were outside the main tourist season! |
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| Spanish Steps leading up to Trinita dei Monte |
Wednesday, 16 May 2012 - the Pope episode
This was our one full day in Rome and we had decided to do the Vatican. We had pre-booked a tour. Turned out that many companies didn't do tours on Wednesday - presumably because that is the day that the Pope comes out for his Blessing. Anyway we found one that did - and they included the Pope's blessing in the tour. So we got blessed. None of us are of the Catholic persuasion but we do have three Christians in the group - well balanced by me - a card carrying Atheist. I felt a little guilty looking around at all of the people who had probably travelled here especially for this ceremony and here was I right at the front (great tour guide) just because it was Wednesday and I was in Rome. Anyway - I was proud of my picture:
Tricia's diary says:
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| Yep - that's the Pope |
Great tour of Vatican City. Watched Pope's Blessing. Tour of Vatican City, Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica.Amazing collection of art works on display - quite mind-blowing. The Sistine Chapel is almost Surreal in it's decoration. St Peter's Basilica is huge and beautiful. I loved Michelangelo's Pieta, my picture doesn't display the emotion. But it's a reminder.
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| Pieta |
Walking back, munching great pizza from a neat shop we stumbled on, we accidentally navigated our way to the Pantheon. So we looked at that as well. The Roman civilisation was quite amazing.
Had a so-so meal at a cafe type place near the hotel - we were hungry and tired so we didn't venture far. Still even average food in Italy is OK.
Thusday, 17 May 2012 - South to Cassino
Well actually it was south to Atina. You have probably heard of Cassino (Battle of Monte Cassino in WWII), but Atina, probably not. We had a mission to visit Cassino because Mike's dad had been in that battle. Atina just happened to be a few kilometres away and had a cheap 'villa' that I had booked (165 Euros for the four of us for three nights).
This was also the day that we picked up our rental car and due to the extra costs involved I was the only designated driver. This could be the stuff of nightmares - driving in Italy, wrong side of the road, unfamiliar territory and car, untested maps in my Tom Tom. What could possibly go wrong? We picked up the car (Hertz Ford C-Max) from the Rome Railway Station. So my first practice run was in the middle of Rome. Apart from Tom Tom cutting out for a minute (never did that again - must have been interference from buildings) we made it relatively easy. Onto the Autostrada, that was easy everyone on the same side of the road. I soon learned that the fast lane meant FAST. Pulling into that lane to pass a slower vehicle (not many of those in Italy) required a lot of study in the mirror to look for anything in that lane. If you could see something in the distance it was too close.
Anyway we had a good trip and found the service centres actually served really excellent food, although a little pricey. We made it to Atina a little later than planned but the owner had kindly waited for us (a nice ex-Yorkshireman). House was great and he even supplied us with bread, prosciutto and wine - and in Italy that is a feast. Excellent location in the old village - great views. Atina itself is charming and we looked to be the only tourists in town. Had a long walk around just soaking it all in.
I was glad to get there in one piece though. Although the final 50 metres to our villa was fun and a taste of the very narrow streets in these old villages.
Tricia said in her diary:
This was also the day that we picked up our rental car and due to the extra costs involved I was the only designated driver. This could be the stuff of nightmares - driving in Italy, wrong side of the road, unfamiliar territory and car, untested maps in my Tom Tom. What could possibly go wrong? We picked up the car (Hertz Ford C-Max) from the Rome Railway Station. So my first practice run was in the middle of Rome. Apart from Tom Tom cutting out for a minute (never did that again - must have been interference from buildings) we made it relatively easy. Onto the Autostrada, that was easy everyone on the same side of the road. I soon learned that the fast lane meant FAST. Pulling into that lane to pass a slower vehicle (not many of those in Italy) required a lot of study in the mirror to look for anything in that lane. If you could see something in the distance it was too close.
Anyway we had a good trip and found the service centres actually served really excellent food, although a little pricey. We made it to Atina a little later than planned but the owner had kindly waited for us (a nice ex-Yorkshireman). House was great and he even supplied us with bread, prosciutto and wine - and in Italy that is a feast. Excellent location in the old village - great views. Atina itself is charming and we looked to be the only tourists in town. Had a long walk around just soaking it all in.
I was glad to get there in one piece though. Although the final 50 metres to our villa was fun and a taste of the very narrow streets in these old villages.
Tricia said in her diary:
Left Rome today. Picked up car, a bit scary driving thru Rome. Arrived at Atina, nice place. Went walking.
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| The dreaded C-Max and the view from the villa car park in Atina (same view from in the villa) |
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| Colourful street in old Atina |
Friday, 18 May 2012 - Monte Cassino
The reason for our visit here was to remember the battle(s) that took place here in early 1944. Mike's father had been part of the New Zealand contingent who were heavily involved. We first visited the Abbey of Monte Cassino. It's at the top of a very large hill. The road leading up to it was very steep and windy - and dotted with tour buses that need all of the road on some of the corners. We made it to the car park. The Abbey is stunning and it's hard to believe that it was virtually destroyed during the action that took place. You can find out more about the battles on the web, including this article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino
I 'borrowed' this picture to give some idea of the destruction, followed by a picture from inside as we saw it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino
I 'borrowed' this picture to give some idea of the destruction, followed by a picture from inside as we saw it.
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| Monte Cassino in ruins |
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| Now so beautiful After visiting the Abbey - so beautiful and serene - we went looking for the Commonwealth War Graves. We found an ordinary cemetery (whoops), luckily one of the visitors there pointed us in the right direction and we eventually found it. The cemetery was immaculate and beautifully tended. It was very moving. We eventually found the New Zealand area - a lot of graves. |
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| Gravestones with the Abbey on the hill. Tricia's diary says: Cold weather, very cold morning, lovely warm day. Went to the Abbey of Monte Cassino. We went to the Sacrario Militare. Commonwealth - NZ, Englad, Canada, India Quite a sombre day in some ways, but we were all very glad we came. It's a shame Mike's father, and his fellow soldiers, never saw this area in the way we got to see it. |
Saturday, 19 May 2012 - Gelati a Sperlonga
For a change of scene from yesterdays abbeys and cemeteries we decided to have a day at the beach.
None of us had seen the Mediterranean, and this might be our only chance. We had a choice of two beaches, so we decided to do both of them. So, the four of us, and Tom Tom, set off for Gaeta. We found it, and walked around the waterfront, not too spectacular. Did some shopping in a deli for bread and salami etc for lunch, practising our Italian and keeping the locals amused. Skilfully navigated around the coast to the actual beach and wandered on. I think these beaches are all reserved, but as it was early in the season none of the 'concessions' were open so we just parked ourselves on the beach. Had lunch, frolicked in the sea and (some of us) admired the girls in bikinis.
None of us are beach addicts so we decided to be reckless and head off a few kms to view the next beach at Sperlonga. Apparently the Roman Emperor Tiberius had a holiday home there, although we didn't find it. Still we did find the beach and a Gelataria where we all sampled the products. Looked a nicer - and more expensive - beach than the one at Gaeta.
We then set off back to Atina and did some more walking. We had booked a meal at a Restaurant (Il Vicolo) for that night (our last here). The restaurant, like the food stores in this town, was almost invisible. There were, apparently, at least two restaurants in the old part of Atina and Mike and I had walked around everywhere at least twice before we found this one. The sign was about 6 inches square, on the door, down some steps. I spotted a credit card sign (smaller) which gave us the clue. See the picture, although I am obscuring the aforementioned signage. We had booked in at 7 pm - when they opened. So we rock up to the door at 7:01 and it's all locked, although we can see people in the kitchen. After a few minutes a nice lady let us in and said we must be travelling on English time! Lesson learned. Anyway the food was great and not too expensive, although the service was slow. Although no written menus tested their English and out Italian to the limit. It was a great end to our trip south.
Tricia's diary says:
None of us had seen the Mediterranean, and this might be our only chance. We had a choice of two beaches, so we decided to do both of them. So, the four of us, and Tom Tom, set off for Gaeta. We found it, and walked around the waterfront, not too spectacular. Did some shopping in a deli for bread and salami etc for lunch, practising our Italian and keeping the locals amused. Skilfully navigated around the coast to the actual beach and wandered on. I think these beaches are all reserved, but as it was early in the season none of the 'concessions' were open so we just parked ourselves on the beach. Had lunch, frolicked in the sea and (some of us) admired the girls in bikinis.
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| Gaeta. Who forgot their bikinis then? |
None of us are beach addicts so we decided to be reckless and head off a few kms to view the next beach at Sperlonga. Apparently the Roman Emperor Tiberius had a holiday home there, although we didn't find it. Still we did find the beach and a Gelataria where we all sampled the products. Looked a nicer - and more expensive - beach than the one at Gaeta.
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| Sperlonga - looked too expensive to get on the beach here. |
We then set off back to Atina and did some more walking. We had booked a meal at a Restaurant (Il Vicolo) for that night (our last here). The restaurant, like the food stores in this town, was almost invisible. There were, apparently, at least two restaurants in the old part of Atina and Mike and I had walked around everywhere at least twice before we found this one. The sign was about 6 inches square, on the door, down some steps. I spotted a credit card sign (smaller) which gave us the clue. See the picture, although I am obscuring the aforementioned signage. We had booked in at 7 pm - when they opened. So we rock up to the door at 7:01 and it's all locked, although we can see people in the kitchen. After a few minutes a nice lady let us in and said we must be travelling on English time! Lesson learned. Anyway the food was great and not too expensive, although the service was slow. Although no written menus tested their English and out Italian to the limit. It was a great end to our trip south.
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| Arriving at Il Vicolo on English time |
Tricia's diary says:
Lovely day, drove to Gaeta and Sperlonga on Med Coast. Had lunch on the beach. Going out for dinner. Great meal.
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