Rome to Sicily
Wednesday 18th October 67 miles
Well it wasn't too painful a crossing. The steward knocked on the door at 5 o’clock but I'd already woken a little bit before and had got some sleep, although one time I woke feeling like I’d got a great stone in my stomach and decided to take half a pill but it wasn't a rough crossing. So everybody suddenly emerged and it was straight away down to our cars and at 5.30 am all waiting to disembark at Civitavecchia and by 6.35 we were off the boat into the darkness and the not very attractive port. What hit us and straight away was how large this place we’d never heard of was, it seemed like driving through the streets of the City of London and seemed to go on a long way but as soon as we got to the outskirts we pulled into a little lay by right beside the sea, but right beside this road and there we completed our sleep. The huge noticeable difference was the amount of traffic and the noise, but I slept soundly and awoke feeling pretty drugged of course from the travel pill and to hear all the noise and a chainsaw and trains and all sorts. The sea was spread out before us with a clear blue sky and calm calm sea, so we came to and had our breakfast there and travelled on just after 9 30. The road followed the sea for a while and while we weren't going through towns it was actually quite pleasant but soon after we turned inland and I said ‘oh I want to see the sea once more’, so we went down to a beach at Marina di Cerveteri and we knew that we'd be thinking ‘come back Sardinia’. The beach there was a very dark colour almost like garden soil although it did sparkle with some sort of quartzy stuff . It was obviously a fisherman's beach, the sea was beautiful and calm and they'd obviously had really heavy rain there because the car park nearby was very flooded like a lake. We were disconcerted to see the signs saying ‘no motor homes’ along with ‘no camping and caravans’. We had passed a vast vast area of disused and dilapidated greenhouses which were very sad.
Although a little early, after our look at the sea, we had our coffee there sitting on the little wall and enjoying the pleasantly warm sun. We left and then before we knew it we found ourselves in Rome, before we'd had time to stop and buy a map or anything else. An absolute nightmare followed of us driving in this horrendous traffic nowhere to stop, no Peugeot garage which we wanted and no chance of buying a map. We went in ever decreasing circles round and round and round in and out of the city. We saw a sign sign to a hypermarket which we followed it but never did find it. Initially way out of the city we found one called Metro, managed to park and on walking in the woman said you need a card and it was obviously a cash and carry. We returned from that, did several more circuits of not knowing where we were - we'd asked the lady in Metro if there was anywhere we could buy a map - no nowhere there. Following many many more signs and then not finding them we came to another supermarket which we went into but no sign of selling maps. We did manage to buy some rolls for lunch. We’d stopped at several petrol stations but petrol stations there didn't sell maps. We found ourselves right out by the ring road motorway around Rome and back in on the road we'd come in on, stopping whenever we saw a sign of anything that might help and so the nightmare continued - it was 12.45.
Well we did pull into petrol station which only sold doughnuts apart from petrol but Adrian did see a shop over the road and was able to get a map, so we then tried to locate all the Peugeot garages and with usual ‘Bower spirit’ we made our way to the nearest one, which wasn't that simple. They said someone would be back at 2.30 pm. who could speak English and it would be open. By then it was 1.30 and that we could have our lunch there or go off and come back, so we opted to stay there so we could see the person as soon as they arrived to speak English. We'd actually gone in the wrong way to this place, it was off a fast road and a difficult access and the forecourt and a bit at the back was being resurfaced, so all that noise was going on and there was very little room to do anything, but we positioned ourselves there had our lunch. By then some people arrived back one of whom was Claire, an English girl, working there and a long time ensued, the end result was they were going to order a bit from Milan which should be there by Friday lunch time and they would also do the clutch spring - that was the plan. so by then the time was about 3.15 pm.
We made our way with this new found map, back to the campsite we’d passed on the road 'The Aurelia', but of course we were on the other side of the road by then, but Adrian did some Italian type driving and turned off and managed to turn around and get back on again into the campsite. It was looking extremely wet - it appears there had been great storms in the north of Italy which we had I suppose as the rain the hills in Sardinia. We were able to fill the van with water and empty the loo and all those nice things that you can do in campsites, but it did look a bit bedraggled.
After having a cup of tea I decided it would be nice to go down into Rome today and we could purchase bus tickets there at the campsite which we did and set off. There was a bus which goes from outside the campsite down by this busy road, that we'd already got to know so well and that goes to a sort of square in about 10 minutes, right away and from there you could get various buses or the metro so off we set. We just missed a bus so we waited and by the time the bus came there were quite a group of people waiting and we all piled on reminiscent of other cities we'd stayed at and done a similar thing. We were aware of a group of people in front of us speaking English and we got into conversation with them and it turned out they were American from Minnesota and they'd come for six days to Rome. They were staying in a hotel near there - there was a dowdy little woman, her daughter in I would guess her in the 30s with a very pale face, with glasses and blonded hair and a funny little sun hat edged with broderie-anglais and a gentleman that may have been the husband of the older lady or may have been her brother who actually looked just like an ordinary American chap. He was called Timothy and they were wondering what to do as well, having purchased similar tickets, but we were glad to have got into conversation with them. They were quite delightful and they were like something out of American movie.
We all alighted at the square and found our way to the metro and realised that we knew a bit more of the way of getting about than they did. They seemed such delightfully naive Americans and when we went down to the metro they were just amazed to think this was a subway and they'd always wanted to go on a subway and didn't know what it was like! In fact it was pretty awful for me, dreadful, as I hate being underground and it was three escalators down, so I had to be very ‘strong’. A really funny incident that will stick in our minds was waiting to board this metro when three nuns approached us all , there did seem to be a lot of nuns around there, and these were all black or coloured ladies of different ethnic origin and to see the sight of the three Americans and the three nuns looking at the underground map on the wall bobbing up and down trying to see where to go - all six of them is something that will live with me for a long time - quite charming and amusing. Anyway the metro was okay, there were lots and lots of people around and luckily it was reasonably airy on the train so it wasn't too bad for me. The Americans were going to get out before us as they wanted to see the Vatican tonight and we had decided to go on a bit further and just sus out very quickly the masses of things there are to see in Rome. So the Americans got off at their appointed station and said how nice it was to have met us and we got off at our appointed station and came out at Republic Square, with buildings all around us.
Well it wasn't too painful a crossing. The steward knocked on the door at 5 o’clock but I'd already woken a little bit before and had got some sleep, although one time I woke feeling like I’d got a great stone in my stomach and decided to take half a pill but it wasn't a rough crossing. So everybody suddenly emerged and it was straight away down to our cars and at 5.30 am all waiting to disembark at Civitavecchia and by 6.35 we were off the boat into the darkness and the not very attractive port. What hit us and straight away was how large this place we’d never heard of was, it seemed like driving through the streets of the City of London and seemed to go on a long way but as soon as we got to the outskirts we pulled into a little lay by right beside the sea, but right beside this road and there we completed our sleep. The huge noticeable difference was the amount of traffic and the noise, but I slept soundly and awoke feeling pretty drugged of course from the travel pill and to hear all the noise and a chainsaw and trains and all sorts. The sea was spread out before us with a clear blue sky and calm calm sea, so we came to and had our breakfast there and travelled on just after 9 30. The road followed the sea for a while and while we weren't going through towns it was actually quite pleasant but soon after we turned inland and I said ‘oh I want to see the sea once more’, so we went down to a beach at Marina di Cerveteri and we knew that we'd be thinking ‘come back Sardinia’. The beach there was a very dark colour almost like garden soil although it did sparkle with some sort of quartzy stuff . It was obviously a fisherman's beach, the sea was beautiful and calm and they'd obviously had really heavy rain there because the car park nearby was very flooded like a lake. We were disconcerted to see the signs saying ‘no motor homes’ along with ‘no camping and caravans’. We had passed a vast vast area of disused and dilapidated greenhouses which were very sad.
Although a little early, after our look at the sea, we had our coffee there sitting on the little wall and enjoying the pleasantly warm sun. We left and then before we knew it we found ourselves in Rome, before we'd had time to stop and buy a map or anything else. An absolute nightmare followed of us driving in this horrendous traffic nowhere to stop, no Peugeot garage which we wanted and no chance of buying a map. We went in ever decreasing circles round and round and round in and out of the city. We saw a sign sign to a hypermarket which we followed it but never did find it. Initially way out of the city we found one called Metro, managed to park and on walking in the woman said you need a card and it was obviously a cash and carry. We returned from that, did several more circuits of not knowing where we were - we'd asked the lady in Metro if there was anywhere we could buy a map - no nowhere there. Following many many more signs and then not finding them we came to another supermarket which we went into but no sign of selling maps. We did manage to buy some rolls for lunch. We’d stopped at several petrol stations but petrol stations there didn't sell maps. We found ourselves right out by the ring road motorway around Rome and back in on the road we'd come in on, stopping whenever we saw a sign of anything that might help and so the nightmare continued - it was 12.45.
Well we did pull into petrol station which only sold doughnuts apart from petrol but Adrian did see a shop over the road and was able to get a map, so we then tried to locate all the Peugeot garages and with usual ‘Bower spirit’ we made our way to the nearest one, which wasn't that simple. They said someone would be back at 2.30 pm. who could speak English and it would be open. By then it was 1.30 and that we could have our lunch there or go off and come back, so we opted to stay there so we could see the person as soon as they arrived to speak English. We'd actually gone in the wrong way to this place, it was off a fast road and a difficult access and the forecourt and a bit at the back was being resurfaced, so all that noise was going on and there was very little room to do anything, but we positioned ourselves there had our lunch. By then some people arrived back one of whom was Claire, an English girl, working there and a long time ensued, the end result was they were going to order a bit from Milan which should be there by Friday lunch time and they would also do the clutch spring - that was the plan. so by then the time was about 3.15 pm.
We made our way with this new found map, back to the campsite we’d passed on the road 'The Aurelia', but of course we were on the other side of the road by then, but Adrian did some Italian type driving and turned off and managed to turn around and get back on again into the campsite. It was looking extremely wet - it appears there had been great storms in the north of Italy which we had I suppose as the rain the hills in Sardinia. We were able to fill the van with water and empty the loo and all those nice things that you can do in campsites, but it did look a bit bedraggled.
After having a cup of tea I decided it would be nice to go down into Rome today and we could purchase bus tickets there at the campsite which we did and set off. There was a bus which goes from outside the campsite down by this busy road, that we'd already got to know so well and that goes to a sort of square in about 10 minutes, right away and from there you could get various buses or the metro so off we set. We just missed a bus so we waited and by the time the bus came there were quite a group of people waiting and we all piled on reminiscent of other cities we'd stayed at and done a similar thing. We were aware of a group of people in front of us speaking English and we got into conversation with them and it turned out they were American from Minnesota and they'd come for six days to Rome. They were staying in a hotel near there - there was a dowdy little woman, her daughter in I would guess her in the 30s with a very pale face, with glasses and blonded hair and a funny little sun hat edged with broderie-anglais and a gentleman that may have been the husband of the older lady or may have been her brother who actually looked just like an ordinary American chap. He was called Timothy and they were wondering what to do as well, having purchased similar tickets, but we were glad to have got into conversation with them. They were quite delightful and they were like something out of American movie.
We all alighted at the square and found our way to the metro and realised that we knew a bit more of the way of getting about than they did. They seemed such delightfully naive Americans and when we went down to the metro they were just amazed to think this was a subway and they'd always wanted to go on a subway and didn't know what it was like! In fact it was pretty awful for me, dreadful, as I hate being underground and it was three escalators down, so I had to be very ‘strong’. A really funny incident that will stick in our minds was waiting to board this metro when three nuns approached us all , there did seem to be a lot of nuns around there, and these were all black or coloured ladies of different ethnic origin and to see the sight of the three Americans and the three nuns looking at the underground map on the wall bobbing up and down trying to see where to go - all six of them is something that will live with me for a long time - quite charming and amusing. Anyway the metro was okay, there were lots and lots of people around and luckily it was reasonably airy on the train so it wasn't too bad for me. The Americans were going to get out before us as they wanted to see the Vatican tonight and we had decided to go on a bit further and just sus out very quickly the masses of things there are to see in Rome. So the Americans got off at their appointed station and said how nice it was to have met us and we got off at our appointed station and came out at Republic Square, with buildings all around us.
We first tried to get a a little book telling us a bit more about Rome, but without the masses of detail and nothing too big. We had quite a go at that and we ended up with a map which just highlighted 12 things and told you a little bit about them and that will have to suffice for our limited time and what we want to do really, because we were not wanting to spend all that time looking at a load of old things. There were just so so many monuments and churches and other things. Another thing that was there, were lots and lots ambulances and police cars going past!
So what can you say about Rome in a few words, you can't. It was amazing all those old rocks and stones right in the middle of a city, it was like walking down Oxford Street and finding a big building development, but there what you found, was a whole lot of ancient columns and it wasn't once it was lots of times, such an extraordinary sight and lovely to do this with the fading light and then in the dark. We came to the bit which I’d read a little bit about in the book, of ‘getting to the Capital’, which was presumably the name given to the building as well as the area around it. Because Rome is something of so many different ages and times and we weren’t connoisseurs of all this, was just an absolutely superb building, Adrian said a bit like the White House or Buckingham Palace, all white and shining and with white doves flying above it all the time and it was just spectacular with all the old ruins around it, but the thing that made life more than difficult was the traffic which was absolutely horrendous.
So what can you say about Rome in a few words, you can't. It was amazing all those old rocks and stones right in the middle of a city, it was like walking down Oxford Street and finding a big building development, but there what you found, was a whole lot of ancient columns and it wasn't once it was lots of times, such an extraordinary sight and lovely to do this with the fading light and then in the dark. We came to the bit which I’d read a little bit about in the book, of ‘getting to the Capital’, which was presumably the name given to the building as well as the area around it. Because Rome is something of so many different ages and times and we weren’t connoisseurs of all this, was just an absolutely superb building, Adrian said a bit like the White House or Buckingham Palace, all white and shining and with white doves flying above it all the time and it was just spectacular with all the old ruins around it, but the thing that made life more than difficult was the traffic which was absolutely horrendous.
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Republic Square Rome (Rome Tourism 2025)
It could be likened to Bangkok or China and that everyone was going hell for leather, but it all seemed to happen although I suppose by the amount of sirens we heard, it doesn't always happen as what are they doing all the time. We never saw any mishaps and yet people were walking across streets and cars were going like blazes and scooters and things by the thousand and it was horrendous really absolutely horrendous. However it was great to have experienced that and seen lots of aspects of Rome in a couple of hours. I said I’d like to have an ice cream from a store at the side of the road and Adrian thought he'd have a sandwich type of thing with a sort of pitta bread, I wouldn't like to say what it was really - it was very nice but horrendously expensive and that was just from a little street vendor so ‘that'll learn us’. Having done that we did walk up to a bit and look down on the old ruins and that was quite something. We wandered around a bit more saw a few more buildings but there were so many that all you could do was note them as we didn’t intend to go into them in detail.
We then went to catch the two buses back. We got a bus to the square that we'd gone to first, on the way in and it all worked quite well except it just took a very very long time - traffic was slow! We had a nice young coloured chap sitting next to us and we had sat on the back seat as we had got to the bus first and then had to wait a long time for it to leave - the seats in the back were the only place where you could sit alongside each other. This was quite nice because we followed the map on the way back and Adrian pointed out one or two things we were passing - the walls of the Vatican for instance which was good. We alighted at the square - traffic there was absolutely horrendous and then we had to wait for the next bus back and then hope that with the packed buses, as they came, we were able to see where to get off at the campsite, but we did. We went over the footbridge which went over the road and back to the Tiv. I quickly got some spaghetti going and with the chicken from yesterday and the tomato sauces that we were finding good with the olives, made a nice meal. We opened a bottle of wine and that was the end of quite a busy day really.
We then went to catch the two buses back. We got a bus to the square that we'd gone to first, on the way in and it all worked quite well except it just took a very very long time - traffic was slow! We had a nice young coloured chap sitting next to us and we had sat on the back seat as we had got to the bus first and then had to wait a long time for it to leave - the seats in the back were the only place where you could sit alongside each other. This was quite nice because we followed the map on the way back and Adrian pointed out one or two things we were passing - the walls of the Vatican for instance which was good. We alighted at the square - traffic there was absolutely horrendous and then we had to wait for the next bus back and then hope that with the packed buses, as they came, we were able to see where to get off at the campsite, but we did. We went over the footbridge which went over the road and back to the Tiv. I quickly got some spaghetti going and with the chicken from yesterday and the tomato sauces that we were finding good with the olives, made a nice meal. We opened a bottle of wine and that was the end of quite a busy day really.
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Piazza Venezia and the Victor Emmanuel II memorial, Rome (Rome Tourism 2025)
Friday 20th October 41 miles
We spent some time this morning getting ourselves organised, cleaning and showers, etc. before leaving the campsite at Rome to hopefully get the Tiv fixed, before we go in for our final trip into Rome this afternoon. We'd had a text message from Tom last night saying that he'd had his first few days at his new job and things were going well. We arrived at the Peugeot garage and it took a little while to sort things out, Claire came again and translated. Then off we set, taking the tram this time into Rome and this worked much better. The tram was much more comfortable and less crowded, we found out later that they were new trams and they'd had teething troubles but now they were really good.
We spent some time this morning getting ourselves organised, cleaning and showers, etc. before leaving the campsite at Rome to hopefully get the Tiv fixed, before we go in for our final trip into Rome this afternoon. We'd had a text message from Tom last night saying that he'd had his first few days at his new job and things were going well. We arrived at the Peugeot garage and it took a little while to sort things out, Claire came again and translated. Then off we set, taking the tram this time into Rome and this worked much better. The tram was much more comfortable and less crowded, we found out later that they were new trams and they'd had teething troubles but now they were really good.
Thursday 19th October 0 miles
I slept as though it had been a busy day and woke late as it was quite cool down under the trees but looked a good sunny day, so we breakfasted and got ready for a day in Rome. And a very good day in Rome was had. It was a long journey in and we just missed a bus again from the campsite and then we had to stand for that journey. When we got off at the first terminus we managed to find the number 46 bus to the Vatican, which wasn't from the bus station that we were in, but round the corner - it didn't stop at the bus station! We had to find all these things out because there was no one to tell you or help.
I slept as though it had been a busy day and woke late as it was quite cool down under the trees but looked a good sunny day, so we breakfasted and got ready for a day in Rome. And a very good day in Rome was had. It was a long journey in and we just missed a bus again from the campsite and then we had to stand for that journey. When we got off at the first terminus we managed to find the number 46 bus to the Vatican, which wasn't from the bus station that we were in, but round the corner - it didn't stop at the bus station! We had to find all these things out because there was no one to tell you or help.
So having sort of got the whole atmosphere of that, we made our way outside that part of the Vatican and it was blue sky, hot and really nice. We'd taken one or two nibbles to eat, which were helping us during the day. We made our way around to the Sistine Chapel, which was a great long walk around the walls, we couldn't believe how far it was. On the way, we'd seen a place to take the photos in, so I actually got those done, but with a gloss finish, but at a reasonable price. When we got to the Sistine Chapel, it was part of the Vatican Museum, and it was six pounds, Adrian didn't fancy that. So we didn't, instead, we went to an internet cafe, can you believe? We saw several today after that. But it was good to have read some of the messages we hadn't got completely and be able to send some back. So that was a valuable time spent and by then, the photos were done. So we then made our way via the Castle Angelo or Adriano or different names it goes under.
View to St Peters Basilica, Vatican City
St. Peter's Basilica rear view from Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City
Guards at the Vatican City
Statue of St Peter, Vatican City
We'd seen that from the bus last night and across a pedestrian bridge, which was really nice, because the one thing that we so hate in Rome is the noise and the bustle of all the traffic, bustle isn't the right word, it's scary - scooters by the million.
Walking down the Via della Conciliazione towards Castle Angelo Vatican City,
Not long after this, we passed a little shop where we bought a piece of pizza each. It wasn't that brill, but with the things I'd taken it, helped us during the day and we then came to Piazza Navona and I think this must rate as my favourite place of anywhere that we'd seen in Rome today. It was a long, rectangular, (how can you call it a square if it's rectangular, but that's what it was) and no vehicles. There were lots of artists set up all around it, there were cafes on the outside, and there was a girl playing a violin on one side, and some chaps on the other side as we wandered around and there were fountains at either end. There was a wedding and the atmosphere was really lovely and quiet, and beautiful buildings all around, just something else, an absolute haven in all this noise.
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Looking across Ponte St. Angelo to Castle St. Angelo, Rome, Italy (streetview 2021)
From there we made our way to the Pantheon, which is the one Roman building left standing, and absolutely amazing, again, absolutely huge. We wandered around in there - the nice thing is that most of these things you can just wander into. There doesn't seem to be any restriction or guards, although I suppose people were watching us going into the Vatican, into St. Peter's, but nothing that we're aware of and we wandered into various different churches during the day, too many to mention, and they just often weren't even mentioned on the map, but quite something.
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Piazza Navona (our favourite site)
The next place was Fontana de Trevi and that again was lovely. It had water, fountains, lots, lots of people just sitting around of all nationalities and we had the last of the sunshine, whilst we were sitting there, as it was going to go behind the high buildings. One thing that we had enjoyed, was walking down the little back streets and all the different sights you see, and some tiny little back street shops, like doing a bit of sewing or just odd little things, it was just really nice to see that.
Adrian in front of The Pantheon, Rome
The next thing was Trinità dei Monti, we arrived at the top of the steps and ithere was a vast amount of steps and a fountain at the bottom and lots of people sitting around on them with the big church and a big column at the top of them, so really atmospheric and a lovely way to end our day in Rome.
Rosie at the Fontana di Trevi
It was now 5.30 and we thought time to make our way back and this time we were more in luck. We got to the metro and as we'd gone in at the bottom of this huge flight of stairs, we didn't have to go down a long way into the metro. It was a pretty trouble-free journey, the train came along straight away and we got ourselves to Via Boccea [I think Cornelia Metro Station], where we had to catch the bus and that was all pretty trouble-free, so we got back in record time, really, about 40 minutes from beginning to end. When we got off the bus, we went into the big supermarket there, Panorama, and got a few bits and pieces, but by then I was ready for something to eat and we were feeling pretty weary. So we made our way back over the pedestrian bridge across the road and back to the Tiv, where I quickly got a meal going - fish tonight, halibut. We'd bought a Daily Mail - today's actual paper as we hadn't seen the weekly paper here, so we bought today's actual paper, which I sat and read, having done this marathon. We realized that we're very near to the hospital there, which is one reason why we heard so many sirens when we were at the campsite.
Trinita dei Monte, Rome
Todays walk, marked blue, Republic Square to Capitol Hill, Rome
When we got to the Vatican there were just loads and loads of people, when we managed to find our way in there and we thought something must have happened there, because there were lots of seats out in the square in front of St Peter's and they were being collected up, but it did give us somewhere to sit once or twice during our time there. We joined the crowds and made our way into the vast St Peter's which we thought was a bit over the top, the opulence just hit us and I can't say that beauty hit us. We saw the Michelangelo the famous sculpture and we wandered around for quite a long time and then went down into the crypt and saw just so much, but perhaps if we were Catholic it would have meant a lot more than it did to us. We'd gone through the holy door that was obviously special and so it was good to have been there. There were a whole lot of people around who had capes on with a St John's symbol like a St John's ambulance, who also were there so we don't know what they were doing there, some seemed to be English some Australian - all sorts. I also took a photo of the guards there and I took several photos one of a sculpture of St Peter with his keys which was outside the church - if you want to call it that, it was too big to call it a church, there was all so much of it. There were statues of apostles and things all around the top.
Todays walk, marked green, The Vatican to Plaza del Sparga
We went to what was called Argentina Square, there were already some ruins as we got out there and the interesting thing was that there seemed to be a cat sanctuary right next to them - the cats amongst the ruins I thought looked quite nice. We walked into the Plaza de Venezia, with a huge memorial that we'd seen the other night and just buildings all around. We climbed up lots and lots of steps into a big church, part of this big memorial or behind it, you can't tell what's part of what.
Todays walk, marked yellow, Argentina Square to Ponte Garibaldi, Rome
I'd made up a couple of rolls at the campsite and soon after the memorial, we had lunch, sitting amongst all the ruins, which was quite nice. This area was called The Palatino.
Adrian by the side of the huge Victor Emmanuel II Memorial
We attempted text message to Tom. We continued amongst the Palatino ruins, which were quite staggering.
The Colleseum
We asked Claire later if she got used to it and she said, yes, you don't really think about it, but she didn't get used to the chaos of the traffic, so it wasn't just us thinking that. After a nice little wander around seeing just so many different monuments of so many different ages, we found a little place to get an ice cream and we sat in a quiet little back road to have that. Then we got back to the place to catch the tram from and usefully, we were able to get some money from a bank there too, which was another thing we'd wanted to do. We then got the tram back. We'd realised after boarding the tram this morning that we hadn't really taken note of where we'd got on, so what it would look like when we got off again, but anyway, it was okay and a really funny thing was, just as we got to our stop, Adrian looked up and saw the Tiv driving along the road - obviously doing a test drive, so we arrived back at just the right moment. We had to sort out the paperwork, etc and they'd actually changed the brake pads, as well, but they hadn't done the clutch spring, but hopefully the drive shaft now won't give us any more problems. So we paid up and thanked Claire, particularly, for her help in making things run so much more smoothly for us.
Then we had to set off on Friday afternoon in the Rome traffic, but we did pretty brilliantly and we found our route out to the road that we were taking towards the sea. The only thing was, that as we came onto this road, I realised we were going to come onto it going in the wrong direction and couldn't see a way of doing anything else, But lo and behold, this road had two-way traffic on it, although it appeared to be a dual carriageway type road! So when in Rome, we did, we broke through the traffic, which was at a standstill, in a traffic jam as we got onto it and made our way through and going in the right direction.
So we managed to get out of Rome, but a pretty horrific drive for Adrian after that, because there were two parallel roads, each with two-way traffic on it, later a third road, so three roads parallel to each other, each with traffic going in both directions, which was pretty traumatic [and us on the wrong side of the road, for us!], but we survived that. We headed towards the sea and passed the ruins at Ostia, which were being dug up and the road did so many amazing things that I couldn't believe what was happening. Then we ended up in the seaside place of Ostia, which was pretty horrendous, as you might imagine, just huge blocks of flats everywhere. Having just got out of Rome, we didn't want to get into this and we eventually made our way out from that to an area which was called Lido di Ostia, and continued for a long, long way.
As we reached the sea, the sky was the most amazing pink, and the sun was low in the sky, but again, it didn't really make a sunset.
Then we had to set off on Friday afternoon in the Rome traffic, but we did pretty brilliantly and we found our route out to the road that we were taking towards the sea. The only thing was, that as we came onto this road, I realised we were going to come onto it going in the wrong direction and couldn't see a way of doing anything else, But lo and behold, this road had two-way traffic on it, although it appeared to be a dual carriageway type road! So when in Rome, we did, we broke through the traffic, which was at a standstill, in a traffic jam as we got onto it and made our way through and going in the right direction.
So we managed to get out of Rome, but a pretty horrific drive for Adrian after that, because there were two parallel roads, each with two-way traffic on it, later a third road, so three roads parallel to each other, each with traffic going in both directions, which was pretty traumatic [and us on the wrong side of the road, for us!], but we survived that. We headed towards the sea and passed the ruins at Ostia, which were being dug up and the road did so many amazing things that I couldn't believe what was happening. Then we ended up in the seaside place of Ostia, which was pretty horrendous, as you might imagine, just huge blocks of flats everywhere. Having just got out of Rome, we didn't want to get into this and we eventually made our way out from that to an area which was called Lido di Ostia, and continued for a long, long way.
As we reached the sea, the sky was the most amazing pink, and the sun was low in the sky, but again, it didn't really make a sunset.
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Then we walked along the road towards the Coliseum. Adrian bought a couple of t-shirts for him and we bought one for Felix, which would be much too big for him, but I don't think they were very high quality because they didn't cost very much. The Coliseum was a really wonderful atmosphere, there were lots of people everywhere and the size of it just was staggering. We didn't actually go inside, you could pay to go in, but you could see inside quite a lot. I really got the feeling of walking around as one might have done in Roman times. We actually walked right around the outside of it and away from all the razzmatazz of little stalls and the people dressed up as Romans, so you could have your photo taken with them - for some money, of course! It was quieter right around the back and there were some loos there, the only ones we saw today!
View over the Palantino from Capitol Hill Rome (Luca Mangani 2020)
Adrian by the Palatino ruins
We were driving away from Lido now, southwards, but it seemed to go on for such a long time, so there was nothing we could do. It was just parking spaces everywhere, it must be horrendous in the summertime. At the end of that, there was the road, then an area, sort of wild area, and then the sea, but no way could we get into this wild area. So we continued for a great distance until we came to another town and this seemed to go on and on and on and on as it was a row of houses built on the edge of the beach, and then the road, and then more houses. Nowhere could we see anywhere to stop and of course the light was fading now, the sun having gone down. After a considerable amount of time, we did manage to find a little road which went down to the beach, where cars were parked and being pretty desperate for somewhere to stop and being almost dark, we pulled in amongst them at Lorenzo Lido. We then just walked down to and across the lovely sandy beach there, to say hello to the sea again, before nightfall. We opened a bottle of bubbly, this being half way through our trip and had a meal, and then we listened to the first side of part 3, tape, Sardinia and again, before we went to bed, we walked across the beach. It was a clear sky, the stars were shining brightly and lots of evidence of aeroplanes going across, but really peaceful and very lovely.
The sun setting at Lido di Ostia
Continuing
