We had a good 3hour drive back to Roccamandolfi from Alberobello via the lovely historic town of Monopoli and the seaside town of Polignano al Mare. We saw thousands of acres of olive trees again from there to Roccamandolfi where we were greeted with torrential rain again.
We met Giulia and Liberato for dinner at a nice little pizzeria in town and luckily the next morning was fine and sunny.
We took a picnic up to the “campitello di Rocca” and while we were having our lunch two shepherds and their four dogs brought a large flock of sheep and a smaller flock of goats to graze. It was funny to see them all around the campervan and the dogs were very interested in us.
We came back to Joe’s house where I cooked a chicken dish and caponata for dinner and we left early the next morning to take the camper back to my cousin’s place and we then caught the train to Rome.
At the main train station the girls caught a taxi (15mins) to the lovely “Nik Nik” B and B and we caught the metro to the Australian Embassy where I picked up my new passport.
That evening we stopped by a bar and had an aperitive and then walked up to the “Taverna Latina” a couple of streets away where we had a delicious meal.
Francoise and I set off for Castel Sant’Angelo and caught the underground to the main station. There we attempted to get a bus but nothing was happening and we eventually found out that there was a demonstration and that the bus was departing from another point so we walked further on and got a bus after a few minutes.
When we got to Castel Sant’Angelo there was a sign on the door – “closed until 12.30 because of a union meeting” so we waited over 1/2 hour and were the first in the door.
From there we wanted to catch a bus back to the central station but again there was a demonstration and we waited about an hour for the bus. It was getting late so we caught a taxi from the central station to our B and B, showered and then all set off
again by taxi back to the central station where we met up with my cousin Julius (who had arrived in Rome the previous day from Australia to do some gigs in Italy) and we farewelled our camper buddies Helen and Francoise (who were flying back to Australia).
We went to my aunt’s place with Julius for dinner and then headed back to our B and B for some rest before taking the train the next morning back to Sezze and our camper.
We left Villa San Giovanni on the mainland and continued around the southern end of the boot and stopped at Arduro where we spent the night at an Agriturismo place in the coutryside where we were the only guests. They didn’t even charge us for the electricity for the van only the room for the two girls. It was after 8pm when we got there and nowhere to have dinner so fired up the gas and made a pasta dish.
We took off about 10 o’clock for a long drive up through Calabria via the beautiful hilltop town of Gerace and the hilltop town of Ursini from where our friend Jeana comes to the province of Basilicata and a great little “Agritourismo” campsite and lodging in the countryside at San Marco at another Agritourismo site which was beautifully situated in a large pine forest and lovely grounds. They gave us a wonderful three course meal with wine and coffee for 20 euros each.
The countryside of Calabria was covered with olive groves and large plantations of citrus trees.
In the morning of the 22nd June we left to go to the village of Matera where Mel Gibson filmed his movie “The Passion”. As with most towns it is divided into the “new town” and the “historic centre”. The buildings in the old town are made of limestone and a lot of natural rock constitutes a lot of the structures which do look spectacular.
The next morning we headed for Lecce in Puglia, a lovely city with a beautiful baroque church and very beautiful buildings with a Norman fort built in the 1500 and is the most complete castle in Puglia. A Roman amphitheatre dominates the main square of the historic town.
We had a hard time finding appropriate accommodation for all of us and we ended up in a pine forest about 8kms from the city in a camping retreat place called “Namaste”. The only Indian thing about it was the Indian from the Punjab who ran the camping ground. The bungalow accommodation was very basic but that is all we could find. I cooked up another pasta dish and we were the only people in the
place.
We went back into the city of Lecce the next morning and as it was Helen’s birthday on the 23rd we stopped at a wonderful cake shop and bought some tasty delights for the evening and had a look around the old centre of town. The buildings were all very well kept and the city was very clean.
We headed out then to Alberobello where we found a lovely little “Trullo” house for the girls in which to stay and we found a wonderful camping ground with very helpful staff about 3kms from town.
The “Trulli” are cone shaped houses dotted throughout the town and well into the countryside.
They are very picturesque and make for a wonderful cityscape.
We had a meal in a very small trattoria and the camping ground dropped us off and picked us up for the grand sum of 1 euro per person. It was no problem for them even though we didn’t finish dinner until 11pm. The restaurants don’t open until 8pm with most Italians arriving about 9-9.30pm for their meal.
We got the transport in again the next day and bumbled about the many small quaint shops in town and bought a few souvenirs. Maurice and I then walked the 3kms back to the camping ground to collect our washing and relax. The very knowledgeable and delightful girl at the reception desk who does a lot of guiding around the archaeological sites in various provinces dropped us into town
again at the time we wanted and we went to an excellent restaurant called “casa nova”.
The food and service were second to none and it was located down some steep stairs in a large
cave like series of rooms.
After breakfast on the 25th June we left Alberobello (meaning beautiful tree) and headed for the lovely towns of Monopoli and the seaside town of Polignano a Mare before our last stop for a couple of days at Roccamandolfi to regroup before heading to Rome again.
We arrived in Acrireale (about 10minutes by train north of Catania) and stayed for two nights from the 17th June at “La Timpa” camping ground which was more like a 5star property. We were high up on the
mountain with a spectacular view over the sea and with a lift down to the volcanic beach below where we swam.
It was an idyllic spot with tables and chairs below many gum trees. We saw the fishermen coming and going to the nearby harbour and the boats at night shining their lights on the water to catch squid.
As soon as we got there we took the lift down to the water and had a swim, although the water temperature was pretty cold. The camping ground provided many lie-lows and we just relaxed
for the afternoon and in the evening we walked down the hill to the town and had a nice seafood meal. The only drawback of walking down the hill is having to walk back up after a meal.
The next morning after breakfast overlooking the sea we decided to stay another night and went again by lift down to the sea for a swim and sunbake.
A taxi picked us up in the early afternoon and took us the 15minutes to the train station at Acrireale to catch the train into Catania. It was quite warm (30degrees) and we walked around the town before
taking a 35minute ride in a motorised little train around the city to see the sights. When we got off we went to see the “Duomo” and then walked back up the hill to the former very opulent Benedictine monastery which was now used as a university. It was a beautiful place to have a university with long high corridors and lovely garden aspects.
We had to try a lemon granita (a specialty of Catania) which was very refreshing as we walked around.
We had a coffee and snack on the way to the station where on the way we bought delicious peaches and cherries for next to nothing.
We all ate a pizza at the lovely restaurant within the camping ground and called it a night.
On the 19th June we drove about 1 1/2 hours to restaurant “Belladonna” on the way up to Mt Etna.
The brothers Belladonna have the local IGA supermarket in Wembley and Vince one of the owners had recommended to Helen that if we went to Etna we should call in and have the mushrooms at his family’s restaurant. When we arrived early for lunch before 12 o’clock the family (an uncle and cousins of the family in Perth) welcomed us like long lost cousins. They proceeded to ply us with every different kind of mushroom cooked in 7 different ways for an entree! and more porcini mushrooms done with pappardelle pasta. Needless to say we were so full by the time we leftand were worried about any sort of climbing of Etna. The restaurant was covered in ash 3 years ago and they told us that it needs to be cleaned away as soon as possible or it sets rock hard. The clean up cost them over 6000euros! They have luckily been spared from further eruptions as ash from eruptions up to three weeks ago have because of wind direction fallen on the other side of the volcano. There are many signs on the road advising drivers to be careful of falling ash and stones.
From the restaurant we drove the other 10kms to the parking area and caught the cable car further up Etna. We then were ushered into 4wds for a bumpy ride to 3000metres and the closest point to the main crater.
Etna had been erupting for up to 20days prior but there was only steam coming from the main crater and several smaller craters about which we were not unhappy.
Francoise and I did the 40minute walk around a couple of craters formed by the 2002 eruption. It was interesting to see that with the latest eruptions the lava dust covered the winter snow and the ice has remained and is dripping as it slowly melts.
The lava which had flowed into the sea and rivers were just amazing in their formations.
Some of the land just south of the craters looked like the Australian bush. In all of Sicily and in Italy in general there are a lot of Eucalypt groves.
The variety of oleander shrubs, standards and hedges in every colour as well as the masses of
bouganvillea were beautiful and one display was better than the next and we found them especially on the south and east coast of Sicily and into Calabria and Basilicata.
We caught the cable car back to the rifugio and continued down the mountain to travel to our next stop of Taormina. We travelled to just north to the camping site at St Alession Siculo which was right on the sea.
On the 20th we parked and went up in a cable car to the historic hillside village of Taormina which is one of the most touristic towns in Sicily. The “teatro Greco” and town are beautiful as are the views from the village however it is overrun by tourists so we didn’t spend a lot of time there.
We continued on to Messina and the ferry in the late afternoon and luckily caught a ferry which left immediately and only took 20minutes for the crossing back to Villa San Giovanni on the mainland in Calabria. We all have indellible memories of beautiful Sicily.
It was a coolish morning when we left San Vito Lo Capo on the 11th June for Trapani. This side of the island is made up of beautiful seaside areas, very high mountain villages, the ancient Greek city of Akragas now Agrigento and a very high and vast plain around Ragusa and the lovely port city of Pozzallo.
In Trapani we visited the salt museum on the coast right beside the salt flats. From Trapani to Marsala and around the inland western part of the island were many hundreds of acres of grapevines, tens of thousands of hot houses and fields full of hay bales.
We made our way to the city of Agrigento where several wonderful archaeological sites were dotted around the hills with well preserved Greek temples. Someone said that these were more impressive than the Parthenon in Greece (and much cleaner). We all spent the night in another well set up camping site where the girls stayed in a cabin directly behind us.
We spent a couple of hours the next morning wandering around the sites before driving down to the beach to have lunch in the van.
After lunch we made our way through olive and lemon groves and wound our way up a very high mountain to the old village of Ragusa and then onto a surprisingly vast and high plateau with a large modern town and a semi industrial area.
There were many marble works with enormous blocks in their yards. Leaving the town we travelled through rugged mountains with more olive groves as far as the eye could see.
We were making for the city of Syracuse but the time to travel to various places in Sicily is often underestimated by “Tammy the Tom Tom” our navigator. Even taking the fastest route sometimes is not fast because the speed limits around towns drop to 50 and 30kms an hour so a short distance can take quite a lot longer than anticipated. Added to that Italian drivers either have a death wish or otherwise some of the very old drivers around their villages creep along in their ancient Panda cars. It makes for a very interesting driving experience with many intakes of breath. as few drivers indicate when they are going to turn and pull out in front of you at a second’s notice.
Maurice has done extremely well even in the narrowest of streets in which we have found ourselves. Only once was it a bit hairy where both side mirrors touched the buildings on either side of the street but no damage was done.
In Cefalu we drove down into the old part of the city before many people started indicating (well waving their hands in the air)that we could not go any further. An extremely helpful policeman helped hold traffic all along the street while Maurice backed the van a long way out of the village. The policeman had a book in his hand and we were certain we would get a fine but after we thanked him profusely he just waved us on. On another occassion in Avola I got out and asked directions to the camping village of a man who had just walked out of a coffee bar. He proceeded to drive in front of us all the way to the camping ground. Most people have been very helpful with directions and advice of where to park or eat.
Parking is another wonder. Double parking is quite common and sometimes people park on a crosswalk or a few feet away from the kerb at any angle that they choose.
The ticket we bought for parking in Agrigento was designed by a civil servant. It was like a lottery scratchy. We had to scratch out the month, date, hour and minutes according to the amount we had paid. Each ticket was worth 60cents and so we had to buy 3 tickets and scratch everything on each one.
Unbelievable!
We spent the night at a wonderful camping village at Avola. Whenever we check in we ask where we can eat good local food. This can take some time as the very helpful staff go into great detail of what we should eat and then proceed to tell me what the ingredients are and how each dish is cooked. To this end we have had some wonderful meals. Fish and Seafood is very popular and because the sea is never very far away it is a natural choice. There is a lot of swordfish as well as most seafood which is very tasty.
It takes a bit of time to get used to the shopping and working hours in Italy. Ninety nine percent of shops open from 9-1pm and close then until 4.30 or 5pm and stay open until 9pm. There is the odd gelateria selling ice cream or coffee bars which stay open otherwise each town appears totally deserted between 1-5pm.
So many factories have closed and it is common and sad to see large empty factories or abandoned buildings.
Near Palermo I spoke to a man who told me that there were seven factories employing hundreds of people in the area where we were staying and in the last couple of years there is now only one in operation.
After our stay in Avola we travelled up on the 13th June to Syracuse a beautiful and clean city. Most of the villages/cities other than in and around Palermo were rubbish free and very clean.
Syracuse consists of a part of the city on the mainland and three bridges connect it to the island of Ortygia which is part of Syracuse.
The four of us took a 50 minute boat trip around the island which was very relaxing and then we walked around Ortygia before going back to the city on the mainland and walking to the ruins of the Teatro Greco and a fascinating former large cave which had been planted with all kinds of palms and trees.
Three of us ventured down to the catacombs of San Giovanni. There was only the maze of empty graves (over 10,000) scattered over 10,000 sq metres. It was very cool underground and a fascinating place to visit. It had been a cistern carrying water centuries ago before being used as catacombes.
All the bones were removed to a modern cemetery before the 2nd world war and it was used as a refuge from the bombings during the second world war.
We ended up that day at Pozzallo a lovely seaside village and port for various places including Malta. We had a nice meal in town before farewelling Helen and Francoise who were going on the catamaran the next morning to Malta which was a trip of only an hour and a half from Pozzallo.
Maurice and I stayed in a nice little camping site right on a lovely sand beach and left the van and walked the couple of kilometres into town. We shopped for a few things and generally relaxed. It was a good break for Maurice who was driving most days and for me navigating and checking the navigator with the map book.
Maurice and I spent three days in Pozzallo a lovely seaside port and we were the only non Italians at the Camping site. Some of the Italians them looked as though they had moved in for good with BBQs fancy annexes with curtains, dogs (two per bay allowed) and every convenience.
The bread van and a separate van selling fresh ricotta, various cheeses and salamis came by every day as well as the man selling vegetables and watermelons.
I have cooked a few meals and was surprised at how one can cook quite successfully with two little burners and a small grill. On the Saturday it seemed that every little hobby farmer came into town with melons and all sorts of fruit and vegetables loaded in their small cars. They just stopped wherever they wanted to in the narrow streets and locals would come down and buy their wares.
As well as the local produce there are two enormous supermarket chains and several smaller ones. We bought some supplies from a little shop selling a variety of food. There were several small boxes stacked up of sweets near the till and I saw a chilli on the front of the box and was about to buy some to try until I read the small print. They were condoms. I didn’t expect to see them in a delicatessen selling meat, cheese and vegetables!
We had a relaxing Saturday with a walk along the beach which was about 50metres from our van, a quick swim (it was a bit cool getting into the sea) and doing house (van) chores like getting the washing done at a laundry where the clothes were washed, dried, folded and put into three bags all for 8euros.
We found an excellent bar with a garden overlooking the sea so that every morning we walked there to have our coffee.
In the evening we walked the length of the town and found a great seafood restaurant called “La Piscina”. I had fresh pasta with small prawns in a pistachio sauce and Maurice had a seafood risotto. Pistachio nuts are widely used in Sicily with everything from Salamis, cheeses, bread and cakes and they are also used in many sauces.
The town is gearing up for a festival next week and on Sunday a flotilla took a statue of John the Baptist out of the port and along the seafront where hundreds of people (including us) had gathered to see this.
Everyone comes out in the evening to parade up and down the huge promenade along the seawall. It is people watching at it’s best and Maurice believes that a lot of people don’t have mirrors at home by the way some of them dress.
We spent our first night in Sicily at Marinello/Oliveri camping site where there were few other people staying there. It was the first day that we wore short sleeves and it was fairly warm which was a pleasant change from the last two months. Maurice and I had a wonderful Sicilian pizza at the camping ground. Most of the
campsites here have restaurants/bars, swimming pools and good facilities.
Our ACSI camping card that we bought over the internet via England gets us into many campsites for 12-16euros a night inclusive of electricity.
Our second day was a bit overcast but not cold as we made our way across the north coast to a place called “Finale” which means
“The end”. A strange name we thought for a most beautiful little village high above the sea. The campsite here was wonderful and
we walked into the little village and had pizza for the second night in a row. This was also excellent. In the village they have a unique way of collecting rubbish from the inhabitants. Some leave their rubbish bags nightly on the streets and others dangle the bags on ropes and the rubbish men go along and take the bags off the ropes that have been lowered from appartments above. We also saw the local bread van stop and throw a loaf of bread up to a woman on a first floor appartment. A novel way of delivery!
On Friday we made our way further along the stunning coast road to St Ambrogio another lovely village high up in the
mountains where we eventually (with help from the locals) found “Giulio” whom Helen had read about in the paper in W.A.
He has a goat farm and makes goat’s ricotta and other goat cheeses. He told us that he makes everything after milking the goats in the morning so we decided to stay another night in Finale and return in the morning. On our way back we stopped in at Cefalu where we tried our first Sicilian ricotta Cannoli.
In the evening we were recommended to the best fish restaurant in town where we had delicious fish/calamari and prawn platters and fried radicchio.
We set off for the mountains behind San Ambrogio and after a trek down a dirt track found Guilio who was milking many of his 200 goats while his brother sheared with hand shears the ten sheep that they keep. It was very interesting to see how the goats step up to him to be milked in turn. He then showed us how he stirred the milk with some water and rennet (about 70litres) and made a thing called “Tumo” which is quite firm and delicious but no salt has been added or cooked so it is not cheese. He then added heated the milk and some water to just the right temperature and made goat ricotta. This was very mild and even I liked it who doesn’t normally like goat’s cheese.
He does all this in a very primitive shed although he meticulously cleans everything 2-3 times with boiling water.
We spent 5hours watching the whole process and eating some of the finished product with bread and red wine. A good morning’s work.
After paying for some cheese and giving him a donation for the very entertaining morning we made our way to “Isola delle Femmine” just north of Palermo.
I cooked my first pasta meal made with delicious local red onions, garlic, fresh beans,artichoke hearts,tomato passata and the fresh goat’s “tumo” washed down with local wine.
We moved on to just north of Palermo to an area called “Isola delle Femmine” where security was tight at the camping place for which we were grateful. There were a lot more people holidaying in the area and a lot of African people wandering around. There was also a lot of rubbish in and near the beach. Rubbish removal in the Naples area and also near and in Palermo doesn’t seem to be very regular service.
As there was practically no public transport into Palermo on a Sunday
and most things were closed we opted to go (after a recommendation from our nice camping office lady) to the mountain village of “Monreale” half an hour away which was a beautiful village with the most amazing church covered inside by mosaics and with a beautiful cloister. The squares around the church were surrounded by local markets and lovely shops.
In every city and town in Italy Electronic cigarettes are all the rage and there are numerous shops selling them. They say that they are healthier for the smoker but they still contain nicotine but not a lot of the chemicals associated with “normal” cigarettes.
We had a fantastic view from there all over Palermo and to the sea.
I asked a local walking a dog where was a good place to eat and he
didn’t disappoint. The Taverna del Pavone was an excellent choice and we tried several Sicilian dishes like Pasta with Sardines, raisins and pinenuts and fried Cacciacavallo fried cheese.
We returned to the campsite and had a snack, did the washing and dropped the girls back to where they were staying.
The fresh fruit and vegetables we have bought have been so flavoursome especially the tomatoes,cherries, peaches and nectarines.
An early start to Palermo on the train saw us in the city by 9.30am. The extremely helpful lady from the campsite gave us directions to the city with train tickets and highlighted on a map the most interesting parts of the city which was extremely helpful.
We went first to the ancient Norman Fort which was very interesting and then we walked along one of the main streets “Victor Emmanuelle II” and visited the amazing cathedral and then to the markets and the old markets of “Vucciria” which were a fascinating insight into the old city. Unfortunately a lot of it is fairly derelict and covered with graffiti but it was still interesting to see. We made a few purchases at the markets and made our way to the main station at the end of the day. We did stop for lunch in a narrow alleyway where there were a lot of locals queueing for food and we had a great selection of Sicilan specialties including Couscous with seafood, fried cheese and wonderful eggplant wrapped around mashed pumpkin and spices.
We made our way back on the train to “Isola delle Femmine” and immediately set off for Capo San Vito” a wonderful African like village on the coast about 40minutes from Palermo.
The inland mountains once we left Palermo were full of orchards of citrus and olives and made for a very pretty landscape. We took the very winding road up to the old village of Erice where we had a spectacular view of the surrounding lands down to the sea.
The mountains around there were very rugged and the houses in the village of San Vito lo Capo had in the main, flat roofs. Compared to Palermo it was so clean and had a very safe feeling about it.
The campsite in which we stayed was excellent with two large swimminng pools, tennis courts, entertainment (if you wanted it) and an excellent bar and restaurant.
We found as we travelled around the winding mountain roads each new seascape or landscape was more spectacular than the last and we could see how even all the Italians we have spoken to have said that Sicily is a most beautiful island.
The fruit and vegetables from roadside stalls and local markets were so flavoursome and fresh.
We thought that the weather would have cracked and it would be nice and warm when we arrived in Rome but that was not to be. Here we were at the beginning of June and still in Jeans,jumpers and jackets.
We spent a lovely week (too much food of course)with my cousins in Sezze and when it was not raining we ventured out for a bit of fresh air and a glimpse of the sun before the rain started again! We happened to be in Sezze for the baptism of one of my cousin’s grandchildren and it was a priviledge to be there for the very lavish affair. We were first invited to the parent’s house for a breakfast which consisted of sandwiches, biscuits, cakes, coffee and cool drinks. This was followed by the baptism ceremony at the end of a church service and then 70 relatives and friends were invited to an 8 course meal at a well known local restaurant in the hills above the town. There were no speeches by it was something like a wedding with a top table, toasts and cake cutting. After the meal was finished,coffee and liquores were served, every family was photographed with the baby and then the bonbonieri” (gifts with a few sugared almonds) were given out to each departing family and in turn they gave their envelope containing their present (money) to the parents.
We decided that we really needed a walk so a few of us went down to the coast at Sabaudia for a long stroll before retiring back to another cousin’s house for pizza! Maurice and I just flatly refused to eat any and were allowed to just have a drink for once.
We set off for Rome on the train on the 28th of May leaving the campervan at my cousin’s house.
We didn’t want to take it into Rome for security reasons and also lack of parking in the city.
We stayed in Nik Nik B and B which is really a typical Rome appartment (very clean, neat and comfortable with all mod cons)and just metres away from a wonderful natural parkland called “Valle della Caffarella”. It is wonderful to be able to go out of the appartment and into this vast area where there are some ancient houses and catacombes. It is also just down the road from where my Aunt and her husband live and is only 10-15minutes
away from the main train station. At 75euros a night with breakfast at the bar opposite it is good value for the middle of Rome.
We were there for my uncle’s 80th birthday although he looks many years younger.
We went for a stroll in the evening to buy a bottle of whisky and in the shop met up with Frank a Belgian man who has lived in Rome for 20years. He invited us back to his house for a drink. He has the most amazing three storey house smack bang in the middle of several large appartment buildings. He has renovated it over the years himself and has created a real oasis with very interesting features in the house. Rooms hidden behind bookshelves and a wonderful rooftop terrace.
He lectures at many European universities on design trends incorporating ancient design with the modern. He was an interesting person to talk to and it was just sheer chance that we met up with him.
We went into the station the following day to meet up with Helen and Francoise who had arrived from Perth in the late afternoon. We went out for an early dinner as they were pretty tired but most of the restaurants do not open until 7-7.30pm with most diners coming in after 8.30pm. We did find a lovely local trattoria/pizzeria which served tasty food.
Sightseeing was the order for the next day. The weather looked a bit threatening which turned into pouring rain as we got to the local market. We sheltered there and the girls had to buy rain jackets. When it stopped raining we caught the metro to the Spanish Steps and walked to the top to get a good view of part of the city. From there we set off on foot to the Trevi fountain which was teeming with tourists and on to Piazza Navona which is one of my favourite piazzas in Rome.
We went to a great little restaurant “Da Ottavio” around the corner from Piazza Navona to which we had been with our friends Keven and Marilyn last year and on another occasion by ourselves. We shopped on the way there and on the way back to the metro and got some good bargains.
Another good thing about Rome is that in a small area you can find very expensive shops and many reasonably priced ones.
Unemployment in Italy is rife and many factories, supermarkets and small shops have closed down leaving many breadwinners without jobs.
Unemployment benefits are paid for six months and then they are on their own. Just in my family three male cousins are are now without jobs and their wives are employed in bakeries or shops at a rates of 3 and 5euros an hour.
There also seem to be just as many strikes as in the 70’s. In the week we were in Rome there was a train strike for the day and in Naples the following week the buses and trains were at a standstill.
Helen was not feeling too well the next day so we went off to San Giovanni hospital for her to have a check up. That was a real insight into the hospital system in Italy!
It would have made for a good comedy sketch. We were there for about 5hours and it was fascinating. As usual you couldn’t tell who was the tea lady, nurse, doctor or surgeon apart from a couple of the young nurses who had white aprons and head veils like something from the fifties and sixties. Some of the men (staff) were chatting up the women (staff)and most had a cellphone in their hand at all times. As we passed the many patients in beds along the corridors they also were using their cellphones. When we did get to see the nurse and the doctor they were constantly being interrupted by other staff wandering in and out and having a chat.
All was well and we went across the road to see the very ornate church of San Giovanni in Laterano after a nice meal in a very traditional trattoria.
We walked down to the Colloseum and along the street which was being prepared for the military parade the following day for the Italian national day on the 2nd June. We followed the Roman Forum along to the monument to Victor Emmanuel II and to the palace where Mussolini from the balcony used to speak to the people. A 15euro taxi ride took our weary selves back to the appartment were we had an early night. The following morning we caught a taxi back to the main station and then a train back to Sezze where we were collected by a couple of my cousins.
They took us up the hill to Sezze where we walked around the old town and to the vast local Saturday market.
Some of my cousins outdid themselves by giving us a 5 course lunch with many local specialties which included artichokes, eggplant,homemade sausages and delicious strawberries.
They kindly took us back to our cousin’s house on the plain below Sezze for the night and the girls stayed in a farmstay.
Maurice and I dropped the girls off to the train to Naples the next morning and we continued on to Roccamandolfi for two nights to sort out our Winter/Summer clothes and get ready for our trip to Sicily.
We arrived in the afternoon and took the campervan further up the mountain to a beautiful spot where we had been the year before.
It was cool but sunny but as the evening wore on it became very cold. It happened to be the feast day of San Liberato in the village and there were many lovely coloured lights and a bandstand erected in the square. A mass was held followed by a procession and then the band played from about 9pm. We met up with Giulia and Liberato a lovely couple who we had met the previous year and we went back to their house for a while before going to a new Pizzeria in town which was opened by one of their friends.
It was cooked in a woodfired oven and was the best pizza we had tasted. It was lovely of them to take us there and buy us dinner.
We went up to the square to listen to the band but we left before they had finished because we were so cold.
We slept in our campervan for security and were woken at midnight by lovely fireworks. We were parked at the top of the village so had a wonderful view of them.
On Monday morning we got the key for the house from Joe’s kind aunt and we spent the day organizing Winter/Summer clothes and sorting out the van.
Friends who we met last year and who have a house a little further down the steps very kindly allowed us to use their washing machine (the only real drawback in the camper is not having laundry facilities)
After a brief amount of sun in the morning the clouds came in low over the mountains and it rained for the rest of the day and it got very cold. We had an early night and set off the next morning to pick the girls up in Caserta (about 50minutes from Naples). Joe’s aunt of course plied us with food with the thought that we might starve so we had meatballs and sausages in sauce, a loaf of bread, cheese and some biscuits. We picked up the girls and headed for west central Calabria for the night at a lovely campsite right on the beach with all amenities.
The next morning we set off for Sicily with the ferry at Villa San Giovanni.
The ferry return trip cost the four of us and the camper 96euros.