Wile E. Coyote

We've pretty much come to the end of our trip and we're both ready to come home now.  Don't get me wrong - Italy has been great and we're still looking for somewhere affordable to live here, but I'm missing everything back home now - Ollie, the public toilets that aren't too bad, friends and family, oh and the language of the Gods... "English".  It's like a game at the start trying to work out what people are actually saying, kinda like charades (Italians are quite good at it, I think it comes naturally), but especially late at night, it starts getting really tough and exhausting.

On with the show.  Here's a couple of my favourite things from Rome.  All the buildings are pretty spectacular, but there's one that has statues on the top of it of chariots that is visible from all over Rome.  Definitely in my top 10 favourite buildings.  You can only just see one of the statues in the top left.

[caption id="attachment_61" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Favourite Rome building"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_60" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="nice firm statue"][/caption]



While we were in staying in Rome, we took a day trip to Pompeii.  The trip took us a couple of hours by bus and worked out really well.  The way it worked was that they left us to explore Pompeii at our own leisure for about 5 hours or so.  So, we had lunch first and got some tickets into the PompeiiPark.  The tickets included a map, but there was a bit of scam going on where they had somehow run out of the free maps, but somehow had maps enough to sell with books at the bookshop.  Once we had bought into the scam, we were on our way with a not-free book and our free map :)  Pompeii is so much larger than I expected - we only saw a small section of the city.

[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pompeii Ticket"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_64" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Ruth walking outside Pompeii"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_62" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pompeii - caught napping"][/caption]



After Rome we slowed down a bit for Tuscany.  Ant and I went out photographering where I snapped this pretty sweet photo of a sunflower and his buddies.  They're literally everywhere.  That's also a house on a hill.  I think Ant may have copied me with a couple of photo ideas but he's still learning so it's good for him to get the experience ;)

[caption id="attachment_59" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="sunflowers"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_73" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Tuscani"][/caption]

In Tuscani, we also checked out heaps of the towns nearby, including Siena, where the Palio di Siena happens.  That's the crazy horse race around a piazza in Siena.  We were actually there on the day of the race and could have stuck around to watch the race but we were told (and also saw) that it gets a bit crazy and packed and it's better to just watch it on the tv!  So we walked around the circuit, checked out the place and went home.  There were areas of the town which had heaps of flags displayed which we were told were the districts of the horses that were racing.  They also do the "throw the flag" thing as seen in one of my favourite films (not really) "Under the Tuscan sun".

[caption id="attachment_66" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Siena - you can see the blue flags in the background"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_75" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Siena - flags"][/caption]





The place we stayed at in Tuscani was awesome.  Here's a bit of a taste of "Marco's palace", which was actually called something like "The horse place".. it sounds better in Italian though.





We all left Tuscani with a tear in our eyes (I had been cutting onions, it was nothing to do with the sorrow of leaving Marco's palace) and drove to Cinque Terra.  Cinque Terra means 5 earths or something like that, but basically there's these 5 towns on the coast that are pretty sweet.  We had been told that the road was pretty rough getting there so when Nat (the GPS) told us to take a mountain goat path, we obliged, but eventually got stuck and had to back it up!  The actual road there was just pretty normal so I don't know what they were going on about!  Anyway, we ended up getting there safely and did some exploring.  I wasn't heaps impressed with the beaches - they have private sections of the beach for each hotel and barely anyone swims, they pretty much all sunbake!  I think we're really spoiled in Perth, we've got some really good beaches.



We headed off in the morning from Cinque Terra to Ruth's grandma's (nonna's) place in Cuipano (I think that's how it's spelt) where we were staying for the next couple of days. We went around quite a bit with Aunty Patricia (zia) and Uncle Fiorenzo (zio fio) which was really good fun. They took us up a mountain about 2km high and got some cheese, checked out some towns and some tunnels dug in WWII by the Italians. Good times :) I only have a video of the roads up there..



While we were still staying at nonna's, Kate messaged to say she was in Venice and that her uncle and aunty couldn't meet her there as planned so we went for a day trip up to Venice!  It was good seeing someone from Perth even if she is crazy :)  She was making notes about the wonderful time she was having with her uncle and aunty (who weren't there), what they were eatings, their feelings, etc.. clearly crazy :)  We were joined by a Mr Coyote (aptly named due to the story he told of his dog being mauled by a Coyote which apparently do exist!) who had met Kate the night before and cruised around Venice with him.  Apparently he fell in love with Kate later but that's another story! :)

Lastly, we checked out Lago di Garda (Lake something) and went up a huge mountain there too.  Heaps more to say about Lago di Garda, but most of the photos are on the other camera which I can't find the cable for.  The lake is pretty big and has mountains most of the way around it.  Here's a bit of the boatride back to where we had parked.

Quick post

[caption id="attachment_51" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Contemplating"][/caption]

I was just relaxing in our Tuscan villa near Cortona when I realised that this was the perfect time to head outside, go down into the internet zone (similar to the "danger zone") and talk about my feelings.

It's 9.20pm currently, the temperature is very pleasing and I am sitting in the alfresco area where we have our breakfast.  From here, I have an amazing view of Cortona, which is a town situated near the top of a hill and is probably now in my top 5 Italian towns list.

We went to the vatican last Sunday as it was free and the catholic church already has enough money.  Here's a couple of videos around the area..

St Peter's Basilica

Some old dude in a window

There was also a great park in the middle of Rome that kinda reminds me of King's park, although King's park is actually a lot nicer I would say.  Near one of the sides of the park, lo and behold our eyes were met with our beloved Mark of the west, perfectly sculptured.  They must have heard about his excellent drawing skills and mad figurine collection and erected an homage to him.

[caption id="attachment_53" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Mark (most glory included)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_54" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Mark (most glory included)"][/caption]

We've really been enjoying Cortona too. The first night we were there, they had a concert kind of thing that started well, but we ended up leaving for lack of entertainment :( Here's a bit of a taste of it.

Day trip

We took the train from Termini about half an hour out of Rome to Frascati to spend the day with Andrea and Valentina.  The train passes some huge Roman brick structures with continuing archways and a flat top which we were told were the ancient aqueducts used to carry water.  It’s kinda funny that they’re just sitting there as the train goes past and not in some museum.  Australia should so go to war with Italy and bring some history back.  Failing that, we could just nicely ask for some that they don’t use anymore :)

Anyway, we endured the economy class carriage with dirty seats, graffiti’d windows, smelly carriage and young beggars with three brothers that can’t find work and were met at Frascati station by Andrea and Valentina with two cars.

[caption id="attachment_31" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="In Frascati"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_37" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Mansion in Frascati"][/caption]

We had a quick walk around town, then on to where Andrea wanted to take us for lunch, but alas the place was closed.  We walked a bit more, got some free meat from a butcher and found an awesome cantina down some stairs for lunch.  They had heaps of hot food displayed and you pick and choose what you want from that and pay for what you eat.  We had these tomatoes stuffed with rice and a pasta salad.  All the food was really tasty and fresh.  I get the feeling that Italians are kinda picky about food and that’s what you get at the authentic places – good food.  We chose the cantina as the place for Ruth to share the news with Andrea and Vale (“…we’ve got some news…”) and that’s just what she did :)





[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignright" width="150" caption="fragoline con panna"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_34" align="alignright" width="150" caption="View of the lake from Nemi"][/caption]

After lunch we drove to a little town nearby called Nemi.  It was probably the coolest place I’ve been so far (ever!).  It was a fairytale village on the top of a hill overlooking a glistening lake.  Birds flew around and created a very peaceful atmosphere.  We took a short walk around town and stopped at a café that specialised in all things Fragoline.  The town is quite high up and the view was  amazing from the café.  We got some fragoline con panna (mini strawberries with cream) and chillaxed for a good while.

[caption id="attachment_40" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Cathedral in Acaccia"][/caption]

After a bit more exploring in Nemi and checking out the house prices (which were actually quite affordable), we went on to another town nearby named something like Acaccia.  We parked on a bridge which was actually another Roman aqueduct except even bigger than the ones we saw on the train.  The Romans were so impressive to build such huge structures that have lasted for so long.  We checked out the local cathedral there, walked a bit and got some ice-cream.  I have come to realise there is a 3 point “Italian town” checklist – food, something catholic (eg a cathedral) and heaps of walking (check, check, check).

[caption id="attachment_35" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Pope's summer residence"][/caption]

To finish off the day, we drove to the next town.  We made a booking for a restaurant at 8 (nothing opens before then much to Ruth’s dismay) and started killing some time (it was probably only 6.30pm by this stage).  The town had another lake and we walked about half way around this one (check - walking), tested some of the local foods along the way (fried olives in batter) (check - food), and had a rest on an old pier.  From the lake you can see the Pope’s summer residence (check – something catholic).  The lakes are actually craters caused by something I wasn’t quite listening to, but probably dinosaurs or aliens or maybe an old volcano Ruth has advised.  We walked back around the lake and had dinner just with “Il Gladiatore” (The Gladiator) showing in the background.  I’m pretty sure I also saw Lily Allen but I don’t remember her being able to speak Italian nor looking slightly different to the real Lily Allen.

Overall, we all had a great time today.