Sorrento to Scicily

Buona notte,

You guys had an up and down day today. 

THE FIRST SET OF UPS
Up early for a ride from the hotel in Sorrento to the porto to catch the ferry to Napoli.  You were a bit anxious about Napoli after your experience on the train ride from there to Sorrento. Pick-pockets etc.  So you opted for a ferry ride that turned out to be an excellent choice. Only a few euros more but what a view from the bay leaving Sorrento and entering the city of Napoli that sits under Mt Vesuvius - magnifico!!!  Cafē and then you decided on a tram ride from the porto to the stationzione treno only 1 euro and 20 cents, taxi's were charging 20 euro!!!  Then the treno ride to Scicily.  You booked with the hotel reception online yesterday.  So getting onto the treno was no problem.
THE FIRST DOWN
The seats you booked were occupied by another family.  So you sat in the carriage hallway on seats that pullout from the wall.  Comfortable enough but a bit of a squeeze when people walk by.
THE SECOND DOWN

The conductor came for your tickets and you then realised that the hotel receptionist had bought you tickets for tomoorw and NOT today.  To avoid being thrown off the treno at the next stop you needed to buy new tickets at twice the price of the online tickets.  This was negotiated through a very helpful young Italian woman whom you gratefully rewarded with some chocolates bought for that someone special, it was her. It was no major drama just a bit dissapointing. That's life, move on. You'll get reeimbursed for the first set of tickets at the bargain online price tomorrow.

THE SECOND SET OF UPS
After another hour or so, seats in one of the 6 seat cabins became free and you took them along with these two guys, 1 from Poland and 1 from Sheffield in England.  Had a blast with them over the next 4 or 5 hours and polished off a bottle of Gin in the cabin - a criminal offence in Italy!!!  The treno ride to Scicily travels straight onto the ferry between the mainland and Scicily (30mins by ferry). Went up on deck to check the scenery and then back on the treno for the final 30 mins from Messina to Acicreale. 

Arrived at an empty stationzione treno in Acicreale at 9.30pm. And while you were trying to workout how to get to the hotel, a car drives up alongside and a woman rolls down the window and asks if we need any help (in Italian).  She offers a ride and her husband follows just behind in his car to help out as well because her car is too small.  Against all the advice you split up and get in the two cars and hope for the best.  MAFIA? MURDERERS? MUGGERS? ............  No! Two beautiful people who were willing to help.  They drove you the 2 or 3 kms through the city to your hotel and refused to take anything offered them in return except for Italian hugs and kisses.  Your very warm welcome to Acicreale and travel experience here has just begun.  Time for bed, you're stuffed!!!

The seats pull out from the wall.  Italian travel can be unpredictable and sometimes a ticket for a train ride doesn't gurantee a seat, even if it says you have one.  Your seat may be occupied and you need to sit in the hallway until it comes free.  This is a 2nd class carriage, the hallway is 3rd class or lower!!! 

Below: From left Gareth from Sheffield, Casper from Poland, Rosy from Pluto and Frances from cheapsville with the paper cup.

    

These are polizia boxes and are all over the place in Roma.  Down almost every dark alleyway and Polizia are there 24/7 making sure all is well.  A great feeling of safety not that this was ever an issue in Roma.

You guys fell in love with this guy.  He drugged you to do it.  Those are complimentary Limonchiller shots, sorrento is famous for them.  The consumate hots, he lured you into the shop, ploughed you with free shots, and had a few himself and you came out with 4 bottles, 3 packets of shot filled chocolates, glowing red cheeks and had your first hug and kiss from an Italian playboy. Lotsa fun!!!

This horse is about to get married!!!

A wedding we came across.

Game Over.  She wins.

Now hows that for parking!!!

Ciao for now bloggers.

Day 2 Sorrento the City of Cats

Salve,

You're having a great time fellow tourists.  Yesterday you went in 3 different directions.  Sorrento township, Marina Grande and the pub.  It was super hot yesterday and the very first time we truly experienced the siesta.  From a busy tourist town to quiet almost desserted streets with just a few tourists braving the heat wandering around looking for an open shop.  Restuarants do stay open but generally they don't expect too many customers.

I've been spedning mornings going down to the marina for swim at the small beach there.  The beach is crowded with beach stretchers that cost 6 euros for 6 hours.  There is no cost to go on the beach or swim, but at many places there is a cost.  I met an 80 year old while swimming who goes down every day.  He fought in the war 1944 and has a fondness for Kiwis.  He became a teacher of Italian after the war and began giving me lessons while we floated about in the sea with Mt Vesuvius as our backdrop.  We met again today to continue our\my lessons.  So you guys had a great time at beach and learned more about the language and the people.

Rosy and  Frances hit the town and did pizza for lunch.  They had a few problems finding the bus station, the right bus, the right stop and getting Rosy's new travel bag from under the coach when they arrived at the motel, in heavy traffic on a tight road.  Italian bus drivers are not that helpful to tourists. They drive buses and that's it !!!    

I had to have a beer during the afternoon and walked down to the city to find a pub.  Had a couple of beers and watched some cricket on tv England v Sri Lanka 1-day game.  That's the first English speaking TV we've experienced since arriving in Italy.

Dinner at the hotel restaurant last night.  Beautiful sword fish, great wine and complimentary lemon chiller shots to complete a lovely meal, outside dining on the hill overlooking the bay.  You guys had a wonderful time with us.  We must confess to being a little tipsy when we walked to our apartment.  A great sleep was had.  P.S. I think we've crossed the threshold of our travelling companionship and etitiquet.  It seems that farting openly is now acceptable practice.  And so is snoring............ not me the girls!!!

Pics for today

Rosy gets Pinochio excited, just look at those eyes!

The girls are doing it tough this morning.  Our area of the motel has only a few guests and the pool area is generally always empty.  You guys are behind me taking the photo.  You're enjoying a very hot morning and magnificent views of the bay.  Its too hot to do much else until it cools down later in the early evening.

This is the walkway down to the city.  The level part of the walkway.  Cars and  motorbikes go both ways and its a popular walkway.  It's about 2 kms long with sharp corners a sure recipe for disaster.  But this is Italy and somewhere it all works out fine??? It's AMORE!!!

 

The walk to marina grande.  Two way traffice again???

Keeping up with the diary at the metro in roma.

This restaurant has a water sprinkling system that sprays over the guests to keep them cool. 

Ciao mi amico.  (not the 'chow' that Rosy uses)

Sorrento

Buon pomeriggio blog followers,

I HAVE ALTERED THE PERMISSION STATUS TO ALLOW COMMENTS.  SORRY FOR THAT!!!  A BIT NEW AT THIS GAME.  HOPEFULLY IT SHOULD WORK NOW.

Yesterday we left Roma in pouring rain.  And I mean RAIN!!!  Cobblestone streets turned into rivers.  A good time to travel elsewhere.  I feel for the tourists who booked tours on that day.  Ugly with a caiptal UG!!!

The Roma metro is a not safe for tourists watch your bags and trust no-one.  Naples was 10 times worse.  Italy hasnt worked out its travel system.  Trains are super crowded and pick pockets run rife.  Its just how it is, so you have to deal with it.  Every city has them and thankfully we havent had any problems post Rosys experience on day 1.  The people we have met are super friendly and I could have adopted 10 mothers and fathers so far.  Lovely people and so sincere.  Its tearful leaving them after only a few minutes, the words are hard to find.

We arrived in Sorrento around mid-day.  A beautiful seaside city under Mt Vesuvius and across the bay from Capri (the island of celebrities, the rich and famous so were where we should be !!!) .............. No, not amongst them, but looking at them from a distance.  I will pop over to have a beer with some them tomorrow, their shout!!! We scored an awesome villa on the hill above overlooking Sorrento and the bay. Its 35 today and after a walk down to the Marina Grande for a swim and climb back up the hill this morning, I need my body temperature to cool before the next adventure.  That may be a visit to Pompei this afternoon.  Its just a short train ride (20mins) from here.

Rosy and Frances have gone to town to checkout the sites and maybe some shopping. 

Our accommodation is PRIMO!!! (NZ slang not Italian).  We have this amazing spa bath come shower that has 20 different gadgets dials.  This morning I was playing with all the gadgetry.  When I finished I could nt work out how to empty the bath.  Despite push and pulling every combination of buttons, just couldnt get the water out.  Rosy called the motel attendant and she arrived with a plumber and tools.  5 seconds later she reached in and pulled the pug out of the plug hole.  WE ALL HAD A GOOD LAUGH!!!   My excuse - it didnt look like a plug - just another accessory.  Durrrr!!!

We hope you are all well at home.  I pray for our NZ family everyday.  There are magnificent churches everywhere.  Noho ora mai koutou katoa.

Ciao,  here are some pics from last night.

Marina grande village below the city centre of Sorrento.  The beach is only 100 metres long and has black sand.  We ate at a restaurant to the left of this picture.  Beautiful. 

Last night around 7pm Mt Vesusvius in the background.  The island of Capri is 20 minutes by Hydro-foil to Frances left.

The bay and Sorrento below us.  It takes 10 minutes to walk down to the city along a narrow winding road that has motorbikes and cars going both ways.  The road is lined by walls and a few times we almost had to breathe in to let them pass us.  They still travel at breakneck speed. OMG!!! ( I secretly want to have a go on a scooter but havent worked out the road rules yet)

Overlooking the Marina Grande where we had a lovely kai of fresh fish.  The small bay is crowded with fishing boats and locals were tending to their nets.  The city centre is 10 minutes walk up the hill to the left and only few tourists come dwon to this fishing village area.  The locals are friendly.  We dined on the beach front at a restaurant the owners were proud to say Sophia Loren visited 7 years ago.  They made sure we came inside to see the photos.  Our motel is on top of the hill behind and a huge climb home!!!

Ciao for now.  Got tourist things to do.   

Last full day in Roma

Buona sera bloggers, (I haven't worked the finer details of the masculine and femine way of saying things)

A sweltering hot day in Rome officially 30degs but much hotter than that. 

Not many pics today as we went our separate ways, Frances shopping, Rosy banking, me chasing up items for promises I made to preists at home and our little church at Kauwhata. 

When we did meet up the two girls had gone to do banking stuff together and ........... yep you guessed it, they made a mess of the exercise.  They swipped their card to get into the secure space where the ASTM machine is located. Then they couldn't work out the Italian that appeared on the ATM and almost lost their card trying. THEN they couldn't get out of the ATM space, while others watched and waited for them to work it out. OMG!!!  By the way they walked for ages from our hotel to find a bank ATM.  Eljon to the rescue.  We crossed the road from our hotel walked into the bank OPPOSITE the hotel and withdrew cash and were back in the hotel 2 minutes later.  Yep!!! I'm travelling with ????????????!!!

The food has been a little disappointing, difficult to find a good salad.  Pizzeria's have great pizza and pasta but their salads SUCK!!!Desperately needed some greens today and finally found a place not too far from the hotel.  I'm loving walking around the city and carrying a water bottle that you're able to refill at fountains throughout the city.  It comes out fresh, ice-cold and crystal clear (a repeat - I know).  Sooo good though.

We're off to Sorrento via Naples by bullet train tomorrow.  It's about 500kms but takes only 1 hour.  We managed to secure somewhere to stay despite the peak season.  Looking forward to getting to the coast and swimming in the Medeterrainian (sp) .  Watch this space.

Pics for today.

Breakfast at the hotel awesome food a great way to start the day.

Italina post.  Arrive take a number and wait for the lotto.  When your number comes up you've got 5 seconds to reach your counter before they switch to the next person waiting.

I just love those socks. 

Second window fro the right is the Pope's residence with his office directly below.  I'm told he was there yesterday and doesn't leave for his otherb residence until next month.  He missed out on seeing us. 

Roma day 3 its just gets better and better

Buona sera blog followers,

It's 8.45pm and I'm done for today.  Walking that is!!!  St Peter's Basillica again and every piazza between there and our motel i.e. 1000 of them!!!

Had a great day, got sunburned, met soem good people and practiced my Italian again.  We managed to get another night here in our hotel which has saved us the headache of arranging some travel for at least one more day. 

Hoping not to bore you guys with the blog.  Here's some more Pics.  You're with us wherever we go guys.  Enjoy your travels throughout Roma and Italy.  You're doing well.

Hey guys how's this.  In Roma they have bike parking that you pay for.  The secures your bike to a stand for as long as you've paid.  I couldn't work out how much, but I think it's around 1 euro an hour.

The Longest hongi I've ever had.  I'm sure one of us has been telling lies!!!

This piatzza was brilliant.  Awesome fountains and sculptures, an excellent market where artists were selling their works (we bought four paintings between us) and surrounded by wonderful cafe's and restaurants.  This is Sunday when things were meant to be quiet!!!  It's after 9pm now and the piatzza has over 3000 people enjoying the street entertainers, cafe's and artworks.  It's SUPER ALIVE!!!

St Peter's square on a Sunday.  10,000+ people but still comfortable and enjoyable. No problem with queues and crowds.  The Pope has left the building!!! He's away for July and some of August, staying at a retreat he uses at this time of the year, where it's cooler.  (I want one of those!!!)

The Panthenon, built in 25-27 BC . Amazing structure and a true marvel of engineering and construction for it's time.  The dome inside is mind-blowing as are the paintings and sculptures.  Surreal!!!

The tomb of the unknown soldier.  These guys stand guard 24/7 in the searing heat!!!

Ciao for now. 

More from day 2 Roma

Buon agionata, (not sure if I've got that right)

Here's a few more pics from our day in Roma.  It's Sunday now around 7.00am and Rosy and Frances are having breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  A great start to the day, all part of the hotel cost.  Well worth it.  Our Hotel is very central to everything and we're soooo lucky.  We can walk to everything in only a few minutes 20 at most.

Today we're off to St Peter's square for another look around the Vatican and hopefully to see the Pope, on the famous balcony, deliver his Sunday message to the people. 

We're considering staying another night in Roma, as there's soooo much we haven't seen and Rosy still has to sort a few things out at her bank following the loss of her wallet.  I'm also picking up some stuff for St Mary's church back in Palmy.  The shop was closed yesterday and Sunday is a very quiet day in Roma, much like when the city sleeps for siesta between 1 - 4 pm every day.

Stay warm you guys back home.  It's another 30+degs forecast for today.

This is the fountain in the square (piazza) outside the Panthenon. 

I recognise the likeness of someone from Palmy, do you know who?

The guards at the Vatican, guarding ???

One other thing.  The public fountains all over the city have drinkable water.  So strange to see people filling water bottles from public fountains.  The water is from natural springs beneath the city.  We've tried it also.  Beautifully cold and crystal clean.  The Vatican fountain was especially nice.

Roma

Buon Giorno,

Day two in rome was another early start.  We got to bed around 2am and needed to be up around 6am for a 7am tour pickup.  We were ready and waiting at 6.55am still waiting at 7.30am and finally picked up at 7.45am.  Then transported to a bus where we waited, and waited, and waited some more.  At 8.10am the bus started our journey to THE VATICAN only 20 minutes walk from our hotel?!! OMG!!!

The tour was the best way to go, BECAUSE when we finally arrived they raced us ahead of the 1000's queuing to buy tickets.

Our guide at the vatican was great and she explained everything well, despite the crowds and overcrowding in some places.  Her colleague I nicked named 'EYEBROWS' because they were always twitching.  Eyebrows was a nice guy and rescued Frances and I when we got lost from our tour with our Italian/English guide.  He was taking the Spanish tour but recognised the two of us and welcomed us onto his tour, so we got an exclusive English version along the way.

We've just returned from a horse drawn carriage ride home from the Spanish steps, one of the many scenic sites Rome has to offer. It's now 1.00am and the we're still in t-shirts.  The city is alive!!! Very well behaved and the people are just very happy and fun to be around.

The Vatican was mindblowing.  Too much to absorb in one visit.  St Peter's Basillica was awesome.  Somehow I managed to get into the Italian midday mass at the main altar and ended up in the front row.  An awesome experience praying with Romans in Italian and receiving communion from the Cardinals.  We held hands during the parts of the mass and offered peace to another in Italian as part of the mass.  It was truly a wonderful experience and one I will treasure forever.

My Italian night classes are paying off an I am very confident and capable in almost every situation.  LOVING IT TOO!

Here's some pics of what we've been up to.
Ciao for now.

Time out during a 30deg day and after walking 100kms.

Trevi fountain at midnight.  The tikanga is to throw a coin over your left shoulder and into the fountain.  A sign of good luck and that one day you will return to Roma. 

We did a bus tour for 20 euros to get a good look around the city.  This the open roof top level of the bus.  Frances and Rosy are in the front row!!

This guy was great to watch.  All style and composure, a true ARTIST!!!  The traffic is 7-8-9-10 wide and there are no rules except that you do your best to stay alive.  The traffic is at the ON YOUR MARKS stage.  WOW I was just waiting to see what happens when he signals GO!  ........... Nothing!! But I still don't know how!!!

 A magnificient hallway in the Vatican, just after we lost our tour guide and Rosy.

 Rosy at the fountain in front of the panthenon.  Built in 25-27 BC. OMG!!!

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Lunch Italian styles.

  An Egyptian god (The Vatican).  God of ??????????????????? Fertitilty! Of course!

 Ciao Baby.