Last day in London

Up and off after a great sleep.  Managed to fall upon the changing of the guard while we were on our way to the NZ War Memorial, which we saw last time and wanted to revisit.  As we walked up the rise we were the only ones there, it is like no other memorial – with huge battens, like waratahs and lovely designs and inscriptions in the black steel.  Hard to get a good photos because of the color and of the sun’s location.  Visited Harrods, as you do and found that this is the fortnight of their once a year sale – crazy busy and of course, had to make a purchase or two, with our last remaining card!

Left there lighter in pocket which is the case over here.  Found a great little pub for lunch and Ross enjoyed the bangers and mash:  salad and fish fingers for me – but not like we know fish fingers, these were little portions of delicious fish, lightly coated….English food has defintately improved since 4 years ago or maybe we have become more cunning at ordering.

Booked to see “Million Dollar Quartet” for 8pm after walking to Southbank and checking out what was on at the Globe Theatre and finding it was Doctor Fautus – not our thing.  Million Dollar Quartet was story of the one night, back on 4.12.1956 that Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash got together, with then Manager , Sam Phillips and had one amazing “jam” session.  The music was amazing and all done in a studio type setting.  Loved all the songs and by the end of the evening everyone was up dancing and clapping… a great last night in London which we will remember.

Opposite Buckingham Palace!  beautiful

NZ War Memorial

Unwittingly Lightened the Load from Naples to Rome

So we are EVEN – left my wallet on the train, when getting off the train from Naples to Rome. Unfortunately the train was quick to load up again and leave the station so what is done is done.  Que sera sera.  What will be, will be.  Luckily the English Pounds were in my handbag separately and we had been using up our Euros so only the other Loaded for travel card to be cancelled, and we are now experts at this!

Good flight from Rome to London with no hiccups and the Heathrow Express is pretty tidy and amazingly fast with free Wifi….they have got it all going on.  

Found our accommodation so close to Paddington it is awesome.  Good nights sleep – it has been a long travel day….last day of sightseeing in London tomorrow,  

POMPEII

What can I say!?  POMPEII – It was a privilege to be able to visit this amazing archeological site.  The presence of Mount Vesuvius right there in the background stands in eerie silence. 

Visiting Pompeii was nothing like I thought it would be – we paid for our audio machines and ticket to get in and then for the most part were allowed to wander around the whole city, with the exception of renovation sites.  The audio gave us specific information on what life would have been like, how buildings were laid out and graphic recreation of the period around earthquakes and subsequent eruption.

The outstanding buildings, some like the public baths, still with color and more or less as complete structures are impressive.  Others as ruins still told a striking story 

A closed off building contained row upon row of the artifacts found, everyday items as well as the plaster casts of several bodies, including a dog in a contorted position, said to be straining on his lead to get away from the impending danger, the pregnant woman lying on her front, protecting her unborn child, the figure of a man crouched shielding his eyes from the ash:  at this point I felt like an intruder, looking at the final moments in the lives of these individuals who had no chance of survival. 

Outside the enormous arena in excellent condition and alongside the amphitheatre we sat in the shade and had some fruit and drink, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the fact that there weren’t many people about so photos were able to be taken of the abandon streets and points of interest without dodging the crowds.

The crypts lining the street to the main entrance were particularly  interesting and the stories around individual families.  The vineyards and gardens added life and color throughout the city.  Before we knew it hours had passed and the crowds had poured in, so we made our way back to Sorrento for our last evening in Italy in awe.

SantAgata - La Tore

Now inland, high up with no cell or internet coverage it is very peaceful and after to settling in to our amazing quarters on an organic working farm we popped into town where Orlondo’s Café had caught our eye: with tiles pictures of a smoking cat, on the wall and as we ventured further  to the outdoor dining area, we found a statue of said cat – with a smoke in it’s mouth "In memory of Alfredo and his cat".  The owner was very friendly and told us it was his grandfather’s cat, back in 1907 who did smoke and now the cat (and bar) were now “legend”.  He gave Ross and walking map of the area and 2 postcards for me of the said Smoking Cat!  We enjoyed his company and the refreshing lemon gelato, watching the local men play cards out the back in the shade: a different game to what we play for sure!

At dinner we enjoyed the company of a lady from Quebec who thought NZ was part of Australia – as you can imagine that didn’t go down too well!  Anyhow, she was very interesting and well travelled and had been doing a similar trek to us, but on her on relying on her GPS – sadly there is no coverage of GPS, cell phones or internet high in the mountains, so she got lost one day ending up with a 10 hour walking day: in this heat that would be exhausting.  Our hosts were amazing with their spread of organic homegrown and homecooked food.

After a substantial breakfast of homemade goodies: bread, butter and jams, and pots of tea, we set off on our last day of tramping through little villages most of the way to Sorrento.   Again the instructions were a little tricky, with little deviations, half turns and the route markers changing color several times – all makes a very interesting day.  In Massa Lubrense we managed to miss a turn and circumnavigate the town, ending up where we started and snuck back through the narrow alley ways, hoping the locals weren’t watching!  Again another day of magnificent views and past many homes with orchards loaded with cherries, apricots, walnuts and peaches.  Rows and rows of olive trees with the netting underneath them, neatly tied, waiting for the fruit to grow and ripen.  Lots of church services in homes as well as churches, today being Sunday so we heard lots of music and chiming bells along the way.  Some of the time the map led us into the narrowest alley ways, sharing the path with private homes and feeling like we were intruding in their space, but no one seemed to mind.  We had the company of several lots of friendly dogs today as well.   As we neared Sorrento, we had magic views of Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and Capri as well as the coast line with the many boats and ferries on the water.

Motel Astoria is where we will be for the next two nights and it is very comfortable with a pool and bar, very central again to the main piazza.  A bonus too, having tea and coffee making facilities in our room.  But finding a supermarket open was another matter, being Sunday and right in the middle of siesta time.  Fortunately it opened at 5pm. 

Passwords!

Using Wifi whenever we can, we have come across passwords ranging from 123456789 to this beauty: a412aaf040042497d056792e28!

Walking inland from Positano to La Tore, Sant Agata

Although we stayed in the heart of Postiano, today we over slept, with the shutters, windows and more shutters it seemed about 6am when really the clock showed 8.30am.  Fortunately the bus to Colli de Fontanelle wasn’t leaving until 10am, so plenty of time to have a delicious buffet breakfast and get organized for our walk inland to La Tore, near Sant Agata.    We had read about “the crush of the buses “ and thought it referred to  the amount of people on the buses, the later the day got, but NO, No, no.no – the CRUSH of the buses referred to the number of buses coming up and down the mountain – yesterday we had the bus twice doing a three point turn to get around a corner and today we had buses inching past barely making it through – I think everyone on the bus was breathing in, trying to take up less room….of course all this is on the side of a cliff.  Then the crush seemed to pass and our driver, having the right of way going up hill, tooting the whole to warn those around the corner that we were “coming through”!  I was very glad to get off the bus at Colli De Fontanelle – we were the only ones alighting….so set off on our own.

The walk had magnificent views of the coast, and the headed inland.  At one point while having a drink spot a helicopter  flew over what seemed to be the same altitude, so we had a birds eye view.   At times it was like tramping in NZ, same flowers, brush and weeds, lots of little lizards, and then we came across the skin of a snake….well, a few skins of a few snakes – not so like NZ after all, and of course the heat is a constant reminder of where we are!

Concentration was needed the whole way so we didn’t miss the signs.  Some of the written instructions included –   “then head inland down steps in a terrace wall immediately after a hen house, the navigation become a little tricky here” .  (No shit Sherlock!!)  or “Head towards a lone house with a red roof”  (They ALL have red roofs!)  OR   “At the bend take the left fork past a yellow house, to some old stone gate posts with a rusty letter box, walk through past the outbuildings, under vines, past the chicken runs”!    So you see  it is a constant  lesson in cooperation and comprehension to get from point A to point B each day without a divorce!

We stopped for our lunch in Torca under the shade of lovely big trees, up here  off the beaten track there are very few tourists and lots of locals sitting under the shade, passing the time, listening to their radios and possibly wondering what these crazy visitors were doing wandering around in the heat of the day!   We chatted to a local senor  who spoke reasonable English –way better than our Italian, and  he was very informative and interested in where we had been and were going.  He gave us some local insight to how tough things are and guaranteed us that if we travelled to Scilly, they would welcome us with open arms….we told him, maybe next trip!   

A short walk after lunch and we were in Sant Agata and found a bar, under the shade cloth, had drinks and played cards and watched the locals come and go.   A short walk found our accommodation which is a local organic farm with amazing accommodation, very spacious separate pension out among the vineyard:  we are told dinner is at 8pm alfresco….fantastico!

Positano

After two very relaxing and interesting days in Amalfi, we travelled by bus - yes, on those hair raising roads again, up to Agerola to start our walk.  After a shaking start finding the trail from the town square, abit like a scavenger hut, with some other English speaking trampers, we set off.  Ahead of the rest, we came across a group of religious people, a mixture of teenagers and a couple of priests, complete with guitar, chanting, praying and singing as they went.  At this time too we had a couple of locals on mules passing us on the high trail, greeting us with their friendly bonjourno.  The track was a mixture of dusty trail and stone steps, chiseled out of the cliffs years ago.  We had amazing postcard views and again my little camera photos doesn't do justice.   We followed the trail of the Sentiero deghi Dei, known as the Path of the Gods,  which follows the coast 500m above sea level, rugged and isolated, but so spectacular.

Somewhere we missed a turning, easy to do with the obscure signage, but could see where we were heading, so instead of going through the village of Montepertuso we descended 1700 steep steps from Nocelle to the outskirts of Positano.  From there we followed the narrow winding road for 2kms, sharing it again with buses, cars, scooters and one or two keen cyclists.  It was amazing walking down into Positano, overlooking the beach, lots of big beautiful boats offshore and the houses on the cliffs keeping watch over all the goings on.  Our luggage had arrived safely and beat us to the Hotel in Positano and was waiting in our very luxurious room overlooking the town and with sea view.  Lovely little balcony where we enjoyed our own antipasto dinner as the sun set over the massive hills surrounding the village.  Wonderful day, we could get used to this life.....

Ravello

today we caught the local bus up to Ravello.  Up 100s of metres from sea level so amazing views, albeit quite hazy at times.  Found the magnificent gardens for 6 euro and wandered around there for about an hour, of course in my head landscaping our section at home - Ross just shakes his head.
the coast reminds us alot of Santorini, but with way more water and money.  It is far greener and seems to produce alot of the local fruit and vege which is sold in the wee shops off the square.  Lots of ceramics, with lemon patterns,  available and of course the infamous cameo and coral.
we treked down from Ravello, mostly on steps, down, down into the village of la traino and then shared the road with the local traffic of buses, cars and motorbikes - even through a 90 metre tunnel - this would never happen at home without guard rails, safety jackets and hard hats!
Had a swim just down from our pension and cooled off after a energetic morning in the heat - must be atleast 30degrees...

Amalfi Adventure

Checked out and travelled by train down the coast to Sorrento.  The crowds at the train station were horrendous and with packs and daypacks, we were shunted through onto the train - amongst all the commotion - you guessed it!  Ross's wallet got lifted, he realised the minute the train doors closed - we were shoulder to shoulder until most got off at Pompeii.  We carried on - trying to phone the bank while going in and out of service - no fun I can assure you.   A couple of stops later we had cancelled the credit card and we out of service to cancel the Loaded for Travel card, so just had to hope that the scumbag only wanted the cash...During the second half of the journey on hopped the most delightful father and son team, playing the drums and piano accordian...busking by train - it was great - Ross didn;t feel the love and also had no change to give them, but they were fantastico and I scraped up some coins - fortunately I have been the main cash carrier!

Arrived to the wonderful village of Amalfi after a life threatening bus ride for an hour - the bus was overtaking cars which he thought were going too slow!  Our accomodation at a local centrally located Pension is very quaint and comfortable.

Not so nice in Naples - Napoli

A bit of a shock to the system arriving in Naples!  Though we had been warned that it was a dirty city, nothing prepared us for the smell of the massive piles of rubbish, right in the streets, around the historic monuments - just everywhere.  So sad to see the history deteriorating and without the maintenance and respect that we have seen in all the other places visited. 

The narrow streets, the crazy traffic, cars all dented and parked randomly, rotting rubbish and tents and stalls, row after row of imported cheap goods for sale put you on alert while walking through....the despair is obvious and we could be mistaken for being in a 3rd world country.   Our Hotel is just off the main street and only a short walk to the railway station which we are using tomorrow to make our way to Amalfi.  The Hotel is quite grand in the big scheme of things, airconditioned, lovely brass and marbled staircase, very spacious room, a working lift and computers (in Italy the computers are always "down" and so their manual system kicks in along with cash).  Little English is spoken here, many of the restaurants look dodgy and dirty.  We stopped at a pizzeria for late lunch and  as we were being seated the waiter  quickly whipped away the menu from the table and bought out two in a plastic sleeve...when we compared them to the table next to us, everything on ours was dearer.  We settled on sharing a pizza from another menu and left them to their over priced pasta. 

We walked to the port area as part of our exploration of the city and where ordered out of the port area by an official, blowing his big whistle...oops.  We also happened on a demonstration in the street, with plenty of police and protesters: we are still not sure what the theme was, but at first hoped that the rubbish trucks were just on strike, but later we learned the rubbish collection has been a problem for 17 years!
It may be an early start for us to move on, Napoli has not captured our hearts....not sure what Dean Martin was on about!

We see on the BBC news an emperor pengiun has turned up near Wellington, even we don't get that lost!

Roma

Lovely to be back in Rome - the crowds, heat, traffic, food - it is all insane!

Vatican:  From the floors to the ceilings the whole experience was a breathtaking spectacular.  We took a tour of the Vatican today, avoiding the queues which can be up to 4+ hours, which put us off last time.  The museums within are amazing – I particularly enjoyed the colour and attention to detail in the Museum of Tapestries.  We had lots of information given to us outside in the area containing the copies of works in the Sistene Chapel, learning that it wasn’t built to be a chapel or church, but built as a fortress.  The Chapel was the final part of our tour, where the guide left us, as they are not allowed to speak within the chapel, so imagine or horror when we went in, the entire floor was covered with people and many of them taking photos and videos, which they had clearer asked and reminded to respect the works and not use cameras.  There were no quiet moments to be had, with or without the guide speaking.  We left through the door in which the Pope uses, which is also used by tour groups, and on the way out saw the roped off entrance the Pope uses also. 

An amazing few hours spent within the enormous walls of The Vatican and we were both pleased to have done the tour….Needs to be seen to be believed - Any photos I have taken will not do it justice but some I have tried to show the comparison of size .  31 degrees today - Ciao

Arrived in Roma!

Have arrived in Rome 25 degrees last night...awesome.  Checked into our motel and went to a nearby restaurant for dinner at 10pm....place was buzzing and we had a seat on the kerbside  under a pergola - lovely.  Interesting company on either side of us, so a very enjoyable night with an English lady who lives in Munich with her two children and on our other side 4 young women on their OE from Toronto.  They had been to some of the places we visited last time and we off to Florence, then Amsterdam.  Two had visited NZ as youngsters, so lost to talk about.  Next to them sat two chaps, dressed in white tees, white shorts and matching white glasses - one with a bright pink sculputured hair do - what sights!  It turns out that they are stylists for Top Model.  We took photos of the girls with them, who by this were discussing and comparing jewellery and fashion with them!  Lots of laughs....Weird for us finishing a meal at midnight - but when in Rome......
My phone has been our of action since telecom upgrade on 11th so we are only receiving texts on +447527964186 which is the borrowed UK phone Ross is using.

stuff that happens as we happen along....

There's always random things that happen on the way and usually things like concerts or events which you just miss out on by a day or two.

• On the flight from Brussels to Dublin in the Cara Aer Lingus in flight magazine I read about the SPWC - Street Performance World Championships, taking on a world record attempt in the Where's Wally World Records taking place throughout Ireland and as we were wandering down Dublin's O'Connell Street there they were - the Where's Wally look alikes handing out leaflets, on every street corner.  I read later they had broken the world record!
• Another world record attempt was in the making also when were in Dublin Temple Bar area, with Dave Browne a resident musician attempting to play for over 101 consecutive hours of music - over four days on stage and the public were encouraged to 'pop' into the Temple Bar Pub and cheer him on.  When we passed about one hour into it, the pub was chocka block and going off, so we left them to it and made our way to Gogartys.
• Finding our last night of accommodation north of Dublin proved more difficult than we first thought - there's so many villages - no problem - but we didn't factor in Take That were making their comeback performance in Dublin on that very night!  Accommodation at a premium and thankfully we had a hire car, as we saw the lines and lines of potential concert goers - mainly women, in the Belfast Central Railway Station.

Donore to Dublin Airport via Drogheda

Woke to sunshine - cool wind, but SUNSHINE and BLUE SKY...great stuff!  Drove from Donore to the larger town of Drogheda, just down the road.  Sunday morning at 9.30am and not much happening.  Pretty in parts, along the river, but lots of warehouse and shops to let.  All over Ireland we have heard how tough things are with the recession.  The lady at the B&B said she used to be frantic all year, but for the past year things had been tough.  Needless to say she looked after us well and was thankful for the business supplied by the pub when they overbooked.

Drogheda was also a walled city in years gone by and there were the remains - front and back wall of an old abbey, right in the middle of town.  Lovely "Shafts of Light" momument and I wonder if this was erected for the millenium?  Maybe. 

Father's Day over this side of the world and with Ross headed to Rome and Les on his way back to London then Singapore, they blokes are having a good time.

Ross had his last Traditional Irish breakfast at the B&B and enjoyed that.   Waiting at Dublin airport now where the internet is free for the month of June - awesome for me to be able to kill the time.  Nearly finished my book, Roddy Doyle's latest "BullFighting" and have the playing cards at the ready, so plenty to do. 

After dropping back the hire car, which served us well - a brand new diesel skoda, we were shuttled to the airport where we said our goodbyes to the Marshalls as they are leaving from Terminal 1 and us from #2.  Lovely to be leaving Dublin in the sunshine: lots of memories of good company, food and service, not to mention the sights and sounds of Ireland and a USB full of photos!