Oldies On Tour

Up early, again!, but with purpose, we were off to Rome. Our last breakfast, much the same as before, nice but repetartive due I suspect to the few guests staying; still nice never the same. Naturally it ws raining when we packed the car, still, paid and gone in reasonable time.

We had decided to stop en route and visit the monastery at Monti Cassino, the one on top af a mountain 520 meters above sea level which was destroyed during the war By allied bombing and heavy artillery.This place was so stratragic to the Germans, their defensive “Gustav line” created Accross Italy to defend Southern Europe that the Germans defended it at all costs and by the end  there were a total of 55,000 Allied

and 20,000 casualties. The battle for Monti Cassino lasted from 17th January to 18th May and as The terrain approaching the monastery is so steep in all directions that much of the fighting was hand to hand.  There are a number of military cemeteries in the area.

The good news is that this magnificent  Monastery has been fully restored in all its glory and was well worth the time out to visit.

This site started out as a pagan place of worship in the 5th century by the Volsci, people living in this area until the Romans defeted them in 312BC and rebuilt it as a “Temple to Appollo” until a monk name do Benadict, later to be Saint Benadict, arrived.   He destroyed the pagan alter, introduced Christianity and turned the existing building into  a Christian place of worship, and then started the construction process of the earliest Monastery.

Throughout history the Monastry as had to endure attacks and sackings, examples are; the Lombards in 580 AD, the Saracens in 884 AD and Napolean’s troops in 1799, not to mention 1944: additionally they had to content with an earthquake in 1349.   One has to admire the Catholic Churce determination in this place!!!

The inside visit was fairly short, much of the building is closed to the public but the Brasilica was open.  The moment you stepped into this very large space your mouth just dropped, talk about a wow factor, well multiply this by ten and you have an idea.   The Mosaics and wealth inside, Frescos on the walls, on the ceiling not to mention the paintings, magnificent! as the Americans would say, “Awsome”.

We wondered around but there was so much to take in but we only had a short time, this meant unfortunately, we couldn’t take it all in.  I would highly recommend a visit to anybody who is passing by someday.

Back on the road after a quick coffee and heading into Rome.  Ezmerelda (Tom Tom) did her staff though one or two instructions were a little slow coming over as several

junctions were so close and traffic was moving quickly, we were driving faster than she spoke, still well done Ezmerelda, we arrived.  Parked outside on a fairly busy road, took our bags, booked into our room then headed out to deliver the car to a pre booked car park about 2 KM away.   Ouch, the Rome drivers seemed madder than the ones in Naples, and they were lunatics!

Tom Tom got us to the Street, half way down this one way street of course, but couldn’t find the car park.  To make matters worse, this street was alongside the main railway station, so taxis, cars, trams,buses and military vehicles all around, well you can imagine the tempriture in the car.  Not only was it chaos but we couldn’t find anybody to ask!  So we veventually pulled into the station taxi rank and asked a taxi driver only to be told it was the other end of the street we had been in, so back into fighting traffic, circumnavigating the station, again, and eventually we found the car park, HORRAY!!!!! Of course it was the other end of the street we arrived at half way down.

Parked up and thought we would walk the 2 kms back to the hotel, using Tom Tom in walking mode.   Tom Tom had different ideas he/she kept changing her mind as to which direction to go.  Anyway after much heated discussion, again, we got back to the hotel having walked about 5 kms.

Time to eat so found a nice looking Restaurant next door, not too far to walk!  Whilst wnjoying our Pasta, looking out of the window, it was raining and there was a fellow standing outside selling Umbrellas.  Now I remembered to bring my brolly out of the car when parking, but unfortunately I managed to loose it somewhere whilst fighting ToM Tom, so I was in the market after all rain was forecast for much of our time here    in Rome.  Asking the price through the window he said €20, I naturally laughed and said I would give him €5, he said no; anyway negotiatings went on through the course of our meal: he was very persistent and I was adamant, my offer was my only offer.  Anyway as we left the restaurant with a Five Euro note in my hand, he agreed so I now had a brand new brolly.

back to our hotel room and to bed, a bid day tomorrow, come on England

We woke to a very miserable day, wet grey and dull, thought for one moment we were in the Uk.
We had some breakfast, and checked at reservations to see if the ferry was running, which it is, also the weather is slowly improving, so we decided to go.

We travelled to Sorrento, such a lovely place, and parked the car by the ferry €20 for the day, not bad, had a one hour wait for next ferry, so went for a coffee. The seas looked more settled today, but once we were onboard, we realised it was not true! It was a very rough ride, nearly lost my stomach a couple of times, one of the crew, was delivering plastic bags, and many of them were filled, fortunately I managed to avoid all that. Even Geoff admitted it was rough!

We wondered down the pontoon, the port was very pretty, but when we got to the end, we wondered what else there was around, we popped into the “tourist office” and then had another coffee €9 plus another €9 for two jam tarts, obviously this Island is expensive!

Having asked the man in the shop where to go, we caught the local bus, this was like a roll a coaster, the roads are very narrow, and cars coming the other way, only just managed to pass.

We reached the Capital, called Capri, and walked around, the views are truly amazing,

and the little narrow streets meandered all around, I loved walking around and looking in all the shops, although lots were closed because it is out of season, the place had a buzz to it, and we could imagine what it would be like when busy. Personally I think it was a better time to come. We finally ended back in the square and stopped for a couple of glasses of vino, €10 euros a glass, Geoff nearly fell of his chair when he got the €40 bill, but the wine was lovely and they gave us bits with it!
When we were wondering around the narrow streets we wondered how deliveries were made, and dustbins emptied, we then saw a delivery man.
Back on the bus, down the hill again, and then five minutes before the boat leaves, so Geoff went ahead, to make sure we made it. The trip was far better on the way back, the sea had calmed a lot during the day, thank goodness, so we enjoyed the journey, and for the first time Versuvias was clear

We were going to get a meal where we had had coffee in the morning, as we liked the menu, but when we got there everything was shut, so we headed into Sorrento, parked the car, and found another restaurant, and enjoyed the pasta.

Heading back to the hotel for a quiet night, and pack our bags ready for the off tomorrow.

As we said yesterday we need an early start as we want to have a full day on the Isle of Capri so the alarm went off at 0730, showered and down to breakfast before 0830 and then things started to slow up.  We seemed to get bogged down in the Hotel organising some laundry and when we did get away Ezmerelda (Tom Tom) had a few funny moments and we ended half way up a mountain and after asking a local we had to turn around and find another way, the motorway!!!  At the end of the motorway we

followed the coast road, twisting and turning, beautiful scenery but cold, cloudy and windy with white horses on the sea: Through a 5 KM tunnel eventually arriving in Sorrento.  An interesting, twisty narrow road down to the harbour, parked in an empty car park and rushing as Christine had spotted a ferry waiting at the quayside.  Whilst Christine went

to “you know where”, I went to buy 2 return tickets only to be told all ferrys cancelled today due to bad weather and rough seas, what????   in the Mediterranean, whats going on??????  Oh dear what a waste so drove back into the town, parked again, had a coffee then walked around the town.

 

Sorrento was a pretty town with quaint narrow

streets and nooks and crannies with surprising sights though the mains street was littered with confetti, must have been a wedding yesterday.

OK: so we decided to visit Herculaneum, in Ercolano as I needed to understand the difference and perhaps understand why I wasn’t so keen on Pompei.

 

After another 40 KM drive, retracing our steps we arrived at the ancient

city of Herculaneum, parked up and went in.  The first and most striking thing one sees is how small it is compared to Pompei however, they have only uncovered 25% of the site.  Most of the outstanding 75% is under he modern town so apart from digging tunnels, there is not much more than can be

The history of this ancient city has Greek origins and it was not ’till 89 BC that it became Roman after the enevatable defeat in a battle.

Just like Pompei, Herculaneum was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and being closer to the mountain was buried up to 50 – 60 Ft. Unlike Pompei excavations started in the early 1700 , but they have been spasmodic, but to me as a casual observer being smaller and compact makes it more

attractive to visit.  Yesterday I couldn’t put my finger on why I was disappointed, I now know why; it was the sheer size and spread of the interesting things I went to see.  To do it properly one would need a week, that way you could cover the whole site systematically. Still I did enjoy Herculaneum, though Christine was very disappointed.  On her last visit there were many artifacts, furnished areas depicting

how things were, and a number of preserved bodies; they have all gone to Naples Archaeological Museaum, this was also true of the items from Pompei.  If we had sufficient time we would have to visit that Museum, but that’s for the future.

We were back in the car by mid afternoon and wanting some lunch: could we find anywhere? No we couldn’t, we drove through Ercolano, Torre del Greco and Leopardi, nothing except pot holed, narrow, cobblestone roads shaking the fillings out of our teeth, not to mention knocking the car’s suspension to pieces.  No wonder my

floor pan fell out yesterday, the local roads are deplorable, they make the UK ones look perfect!!!  Add to the bad roads Crazy drivers and sucidal scooter riders and you have a disaster waiting to happen, I don’t think I will too unhappy to drive elsewhere!

We eventually ended at a restaurant we were aware of outside the entrance to the Pompei site, oh well, we were too hungry to be proud

so enjoyed a pasta and salad dishes washed down with local “Vino Russo”. This restaurant is in a one way, narrow street and 2 minutes after leaving Christine said she had left her bag behind; oh dear, how do we get back!!  Tom Tom got us back to the main town, we then had to find our way back to the entrance. About 30 minutes later we arrived, Christine jumped out and 5 minutes later, she came back starting to say it was not there and she would have to cancel all her cards when suddenly she found it, in the front foot well just where she puts her feet, aaaaaggggg!!!!!  Still it was an enjoyable meal.

Back to the hotel and tomorrow we will ring ahead to find out if the ferrys are running, if so we will head off to Sorrento, and sail over to the Isle of Capri, if not, who knows!!!!

Following an excellent night’s sleep in this first class hotel, one of those

hotels one can only allord out of season, we enjoyed a good breakfast in their dining room at the top of the building with commanding views of their gardens and Naples Bay.

Today was to be our day visiting the ancient

city of Pompie, so immediately after breakfast ewe were on our way, about 7 Km’s to travel though we did need fuel as we were driving on fumes.  Wow isn’t fuel expensive in Italy even after the fall of the crude oil prices.  Anyway, we found a car park, parked and entered into the old city, but when we asked for the

self guide audio sets, we were told we were at the wrong entrance but never mind you can walk over to the other entrance and collect them there.  About 25 minutes later we were queueing for 2 sets on the opposite    side of the ancient city.  Armed with the guides we set off.

At this point I must add, when we got into the car we noticed something hanging down under the engine, after inspection it turned out to be the floor pan under the engine compartment, nothing very serious but none the less needs putting back otherwise it would probably get caught and ripped off damaging something else, so we must attend to it later.

The guide started by giving us the background and history of Pompei both before the Romans arrived, and after they had conquered the area up until the last major eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD when Pompei was destroyed, though interestingly, Pompei did suffer from a previous eruption in 62 AD.  The city was still being rebuilt when the total destruction took place in 79 AD.

The total site is estimated to cover around 170 acres and though much has been excavated,

there is more to do.  In its its heyday Pompei was home to around 15,000 people though how many actually died seems to be unsure but in one 24 hour period the whole place was completely covered, up to 20ft deep in lava and ash and this remained so for around 1,500 though in 1599 there was an initial discovery but it was not until 1748 when a Spanish Engineer, Rocque Joaquín de Alcubierre re discovered the city and it has been under exacerbation ever since.

Christine had been to Pompei many years ago, but this was my first time.  Pompei has been on my list of “things I must do” for ever and now I have

done it but I must say I was a little disappointed, it was not how I expected it though I can’t actually quantify what I was expecting and to make things a little difficult, the audio guide numbering system left a lot to be required.  The map supplied and where the actual numbers were shown on it didn’t always match up so we crisis crossed further wearing ourselves out.  At one stage I thought it

was just me but we also spoke to others suffering the same fate.  It was as if the audio was written some time ago when various buildings used to be fully open.

Having spent around 4 gruelling hours walking around we were knackered but we did have a very good idea of what Pompei has to offer.  Perhaps we will find time to visit the “other” unfortunate city, Herculaneum, (or as it is called in Italy, Ercolano) also destroyed by Vesuvius.

After returning the audio sets we walked back to collect the car, stopping for a well deserved glass of “Vino”. Whilst enjoying this glass I got onto the web to find where the nearest Mercedes garage was as I needed to get

the bit hanging down fixed back up again.

the nearest dealer was 1/2 an hour away, so off we went.  We arrived where the Mercedes dealer should have been only to find it was now a Toyota Dealer, so in I went to ask where the Merc dealer had moved to in my non existent Italian but with my broken Spanish, the

fellow’s broken English and a few French words thrown in for good measure, he told me where i would be looked after. The place he sent me was the same building but at the back and gave me a the name of the person who would help me.   We found this chap, no broken English this time, but I showed him the problem.  He took the car and 5 minutes later the car was back and fixed but the best bit of news was, he didn’t charge us; too much paperwork probably for a one off small job.

Back to the Hotel for shower etc, then down to dinner, well the bar!!!!  We   checked where we were eating (on the way to the bar) and the restaurant was empty oops, another drink.

The meal was excellent, in fact Christine said, probably under influence, it was the best steak she had ever had!!!

Back to the room as we have to get up early, we are going to catch the ferry to the Isle of Capri.