40 Rome Part 3

Sunday13th March

It pissed down with rain all day today but it did at least warm up some. We took the opportunity to be lazy good for nothing bums and sat in all day playing computer games and watching TV.

Monday 14th March

We had to go and get the new speedo/computer for Wallace today so a quick dash to the dealer and it was fitted (by me - it was quicker) in about 30 minutes.

We then set off for the Colosseum.

In Rome parking is pretty liberal. This is where we parked Wallace. On one side os the Colosseum:

Looking the other way is Paletine Hill.Palatine Hill is where Roman mythology says Remus and Romulus were found and grew up. Romulus apparently killed Remus after a row and Romulus gave Rome its name. Either way, it is known that the Romans have lived here for at least 3000 years and this is the original centre part of Rome.

Approaching the Colosseum:

The walls were all the same height when built.

Arch just outside the Colosseum

After dodging the Indian guy that wanted to guide us through a roman antiquity (how does that work ?) we paid our fees and got one of those electronic talky things that give you a narrative depending upon where you are at the time.

The Colosseum was amazing and huge. Not as big as Wembley or Twickenham stadiums but it was initially built 7 years after the birth of Christ and used for 500 years thereafter. I doubt Wembley will still be in use in 500 years time.

After this it fell into disrepair and a large proportion of it was re-used for building materials elsewhere. In around the 18th century the Church took it over and started to repair parts and dig out others.

It was possible to see the underground passages where they stored the "beasts" used in the battles. The sloping bits in the structure were seating areas, now long gone.

Shows where the original stadium floor would have been, over the dungeons.

The dungeons – I like that word. The missing stadium floor was apparently  made of wood.

Shows the average age of a Roman soldier has gone up somewhat. 

Some of the stuff they found buried. Apparently they used to cook their own food whilst in the stadium.

       

From the outside to the inside. Prepare to die you Christian dogs. Apparently there is no evidence that Christians were slaughtered here. Yeah right, look what they did to Jesus.

The film Gladiator was very accurate in its portrayal of the place.

More Palatine Hill

Then we did what we do best, stopped for a beer and a pizza.

We then leapt back on Wallace and rode to the Vatican City. After parking up we walked into this: Numerous bronze portrayals of the crucifixion.  (See, I told you the Romans didn’t like the Christians.) All lined up in the main street leading up to St Peters Square.

Pontius Pilate washing his hands of the problem and condemning Jesus to death.

Jesus being bullied by the Romans.

We all know what this is.

We then walked into St Peters Square, which is actually round but was so big it was difficult to show it in the photos. 

Ray paying his respects

Caught unaware.

See what I mean ?  (Poking her tongue out)

Come past me and I’ll have your head on me spike.

Nee Nah, Nee Nah - It's funny to us OK

We were able to walk into St Peters Basilica for free following an airport style bag check and body scan. It was pretty amazing inside.

Tomorrow we have ticket to see the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums.

39 Rome Part 2

Something we forgot to add for Tuesday 8th,

Karen spotted this and had to snap a photo:

It is not only the Irish Pubs everywhere!

Friday 11th March

I spent a few hours trying to revive the sat/vid unit to no avail so we decided to go and look at new stereo CD players. We were only interested in cheap ones as we only wanted a simple CD and Radio. We found the Italian equivalent of Halfords and ended up buying a Kenwood system for about £80. Karen can even play her iPod through it - anything to make the Lady happy. We drove back along the beach road and found a small bar and sat supping beer in the sun on the beach. First of 2011...yippee.

This is living in March

On the way home we went to get some shopping. We needed washing up liquid but decided not to use this brand...can you guess why.

We were not sure what this used as a base !!!

Saturday 12th March

The morning was spent fitting the new stereo unit. Normally a simple task but unfortunately, the existing unit was wired into Lizzy like an alien with tentacles that went throughout the motorhome. The amount of expensive components and wiring was incredible. It took 3 hours to remove the old unit and about 20 minutes to fit the new one.

In the afternoon, I dug out the pushbikes and we went for a ride. Initially we decided to go along the beach but ended up in the middle of a military area so decided to go into the national park adjacent to our campsite. In the middle was an ancient Roman ruin. A residence called "Villa de Plinio" and includes 3 baths (roman style of course) in various temperatures.

Mosaic on the edge of the "baths" area.

The main coutyard area.

Servants quarters - apparently.

I found this thing wandering around in the grass. It was about 40mm long.

Some sort of stag beetle. I like creepy crawlies.

38 When in Rome...

Sunday 6^th March

Having dug out Lizzy from the snow the previous day the only thing left was to lift the stabilisers, disconnect the electric and drive off. The first two were easy, the last was not.

After about 30 minutes of sand and pushing we finally got Lizzy off the spot she had kept warm for 12 days. We then filled up with very cheap diesel and set off South towards the Mediterranean. The next 20 miles were very scary with narrow mountain roads and some drifted snow to drive on.

Spectacular views

And narrow streets

We drove past Milan and Genoa and finally found our campsite near the sea at about 9pm. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was shut, despite what our guide book said. We drove on and stopped at a motorway service area for the night. As it turns out this was not a bad thing as it was free and allowed us a quick getaway the next day.

Monday 7^th March

Following the usual Ray early start we set off for Rome. This turned out to be an expensive day. I was driving and Karen supplying me with continuous food and drink. I had a bottle of Lucozade with a flip top squirty style lid and when it was finished I asked Karen to fill it with sprite from a normal twist top bottle as it was easier for me to drink from. This she dutifully did and left the bottle on the dash. As we pulled into a toll booth the pressure of the shaking lemonade in the bottle suddenly overcome the squirty lid and let out a jet of sticky lemonade straight into my chest. Unfortunately, the force was so great that it went everywhere else too, even hitting the Kitchen area. We laughed so loud our sides hurt.

We stopped laughing when we realised that it also hit the back of the £2000 Panasonic radio/Sat nav/rear view camera, and killed it. We managed to revive it enough to act as a naff radio/cd player, but the main functions we used it for, i.e. as a reversing camera and as a rear view mirror did not work. Bugger. Fortunately I had previously installed a small one which although crap, did at least work.

All this fuss did not phase Leon. He has been taking tips from Laura

We arrived in the campsite near Rome at about 2pm.  On arrival it was apparent that the campsite had just opened for the year and we were only the second campers on it. It was a nice place with the Med only 100m away but past a fence and a road. The road turned out to be used as a night time race track for the local yobs, but if you can’t take a joke....

 We set up and decided to have a few days rest....Yeah right !

Tuesday 8^th March

Having bought an Italian dongle for our internet connection, we looked up a local Yamaha dealer as Wallace had developed a faulty switch on the speedo. We also looked up camper shops to look at getting a new reversing camera. We set off on Wallace but could not find the camper shop but did find the Yamaha one. The dealer took a quick look at the speedo and sent an e-mail off to Yamaha to see if they would fix it under warranty. Bear in mind that we are in Italy and my speedo is in Miles.

We set the sat nav up and rode into the centre of Old Rome. This city is completely bonkers. About half the vehicles are scooters of all sizes and they drive like tomorrow is Armageddon.

WOW...... Rome is a living museum. It is awesome.

We started out at the central tourist office and purloined a map and some tourist gubbins so the local muggers could identify us. With Wallace duly abandoned with a thousand other abandoned vehicles we set off on foot in search of some food.  We found the most expensive restaurant in the western world and sat down to minute portions and high service charges. 2 Meals and 2 beers. 43 euro, plus 6 euro service charge = 49 euros. 50 tendered (about £43,) no change offered – nice. Anyway it was obvious we were paying for the view. The Fort of Traiano.

The view from our dinner table

The adjacent market area

We then walked further and visited the Fountains of Trevi. Built in 1629 to show off the end of a aqueduct that served Rome with water for 400 years.

Fountains of Trevi

A better view - of the fountain, not the idiot.

Karen eyeing up the local uniforms.

We then moved on towards the Pantheon. On the way I saw this in a shop selling wooden clocks and toys and had to take a picture...sorry

A wooden Harley, some say they are all like that !

But then so did Karen...

No comment

The Pantheon was awesome. Built in 126AD as a temple to all the Gods of ancient Rome, it is now a Christian Church under catholic control. It’s a pity that after nearly 2000 years, they still have not managed to fix the hole in the roof.

Outside view of Pantheon

Just above the top of photo is a big hole in the roof - bloody Italian builders.

One of the Altars. This is a functioning chuch.

By now our legs and bladders were aching so we headed back towards the bike and came across the National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of a unified Italy. Designed in 1885 and finished in 1935, it is often called the typewriter by Romans as they see it as too gaudy for its surroundings. It houses the tomb of the unknown soldier.

National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II

We then jumped back on Wallace and headed back towards Lizzy. On the way home we had to avoid a 70 year old woman on a large  scooter who pulled out on us whilst we were doing about 40. They are all mad but I like them.

Wednesday 9^th march

We had a bit more success looking for camper dealers today. We found a street with about 6 in a row. Unfortunately, none really had what we were looking for. We did not want to spend a fortune on a new all singing and dancing system. We will probably make do till we get back to the UK and can at least speak the language.

We spent about an hour looking for a Chinese for some grub, unfortunately they all seem to open late and we were cold and grumpy so we went home. Despite the weather being glorious, the nights are quite cols and around freezing overnight.

Thursday 10^th March

Had a lazy day today. I fixed a dodgy porch light and tried to fix the outside temperature sensor. In doing so, I shut down the water pump and spent 3 hours trying to fix something that was not originally broke. The thermometer still does not work !

Karen sunbathed and read her book before cooking us a lovely dinner of chops, chips and curry beans.

Yamaha rang and they have already supplied a new set of clocks to the dealer. That’s service.

37 Livigno..Italy

Thursday and Friday were both quiet and on Saturday 12^th

I turned myself very blond with the assistance of the hairdresser and then in the evening had a couple of my friends from probation come around for a little get together in the motor home.  Laura and  Marietta.  Several bottles were sunk, well not by Marietta, and Laura was left to sort out work and was going to try and join us on our skiing break in Livigno.

Sunday 13^th

Trula and Paige came around for Sunday dinner, which is no mean feat in a motor home. I got Paige watching the bird table and trying to spot all the different varieties whilst Ray and Trula went for a walk around the site.  It was a nice family sort of day, albeit cramped.

First signs of spring, Snowdrops

The sign above trulas head says "Nans Garden". Park is Balls Park. Despite going to hertford seveal times we did not know this place existed. It was very pretty.

The rest of the week passed by in a blur as we rushed around trying to get bits and pieces finally sorted for our big off to Italy.

On Thursday the whole Hall clan descended on Mecca Bingo at Harlow and all came out poorer. Poor Trula missed her last number for a full house and when she did call it was declared a false claim.  She didn’t get much stick......

Loser.....Ray, Trula, Naomi, Zoe and Rosie - Karen on camera

Friday 18^th

In all our socialising and running around like headless chickens, we had completely forgotten about the generator still being in Clitheroe, so that was a 450 mile round trip to fetch it back.  We were pretty tired but decided we wanted to see the film Paul, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, it was really funny and probably our last visit to the cinema for a while.  We were still waiting for Laura to confirm whether or not she could make it to Italy, she was working crazy hours to make sure her desk was completely clear and Marietta changed her leave so that she could come.  I spent Saturday running around trying to get her a ski jacket, salopettes and warm jumpers, (which was not easy as it is near the end of the season and dinky clothes were hard to come by), only to hear from Laura that she probably wouldn’t get to go as she had to work on Monday as well as through the nights of the weekend.  Ray decided that we could delay the set off and as luck would have it, it gave Laura time to finish what she had to do.

On Monday 21^st, we took Lizzie to get her MOT and then hot footed it back to Enfield to pick up Laura.  She came out of her house carrying a suit case which was as big as her and probably weighed more, so much for travelling light.  A very good journey along the M25, (honest), and on down to Dover, we caught the six o’clock ferry to Dunkerque and spent the rest of the night asleep in an Aries. (a road stop you can sleep at).

In Ray’s very quiet and unobtrusive way we were all awake really early and started on the road to Livigno.  Laura slept most of Tuesday, so between Ray and I we got quite far down the road.

Wednesday 23^rd.

A very special day in our diary, Ray and I have been married 12 years today, and we spent it driving and arrived in Livigno at about 4pm.  Laura again spent the journey asleep, only waking up for food, fags and to ask which country she was in now.   

Laura enjoying a 700 mile trip

We passed through France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, she missed it all, but the rest seemed to do her the power of good.  In Livigno, Ray got quite excited about the price of petrol, and filled up and took pictures just to gloat a bit.  Livigno is a tax free haven so it makes quite a big bit of difference. 

77p per litre deisel and 88p per litre patrol - luverly

We went out for a meal at the other end of town, a favourite of ours in Livigno which does the best pizza in town. It was a very pleasant way to spend the evening.  This was followed by a stop at another one of our haunts, Galli’s bar, now known as Benny’s, we were the only ones there apart from the DJ who was originally from Edinburgh and played all our favourite music. This used to be a really lively place and was now disappointingly dead. On returning to the motor home, we settled down for the night. Laura and I slept through most of it, but the heater went off, the m/h froze and Ray spent 2 hours trying to warm it through.  The outside temp was minus 20 degrees and the cheap!!!! diesel had frozen, preventing the heating, from working, needless to say he was not a happy bunny.  We got it all working eventually, but the pipes didn’t thaw until 6pm that evening.  Lesson learned.

Thursday

Firstly, was spent with Ray and I shovelling snow to make a skirt around Lizzie and creating a warm space, so that we would not be in that situation again.  Then, with the admin of getting ski passes and equipment for Friday and Saturday, we had a little play on the slopes and had to get Laura smaller salopettes as the ones I had got, nearly drowned her.  Ray was really impressed by her progress on the slopes, I think that was because she listened to him and didn’t talk back, but she seemed to understand the concept of skiing and was showing some good skills.

Friday was our first real day on the slopes and Ray and Laura practised whilst I got my ski legs back.  Laura, although doing quite well, wasn’t as confident as yesterday and decided to sit and enjoy the sun.  Ray and I went up the hill and had a few good runs. The weather was glorious and we ended up having a little drink half way back down the mountain, it’s called a Lamumba, and it makes you ski a lot faster down the hill. 

Brandy and hot chocolate - bliss

We met up with Laura and went to our favourite après ski bar, which was jumping, so we jumped too and sang and Ray introduced Laura to Gluh Vine (mulled wine).

Several Gluh Vines later

Saturday 26^th

This is change-over day for everyone in Livigno, and the slopes were very quiet, again the weather was lovely and Ray and Laura had a few more lessons.  We took Laura up the mountain to a restaurant and to try and get her to go on one of the lovely wide runs that is very gentle, she decided to sit it out and she made her way back down in the Carousel, Ray and I skied back down and Laura handed in her skis and poles, she had only rented them for the two days originally to see if she liked it and would make a decision on Sunday, or hire them on a daily basis if need be.  We were waiting for our friends Debbie and Andy from the Isle of Man to arrive.  They were coming with her children Nick and Kim and Kim’s fiancé, James.  They were due in about 10pm but the snow had started falling and they were a bit later.  We arranged to meet up the next day.

The village is littered with these pretty old wooden houses.

Sunday 27^th

We met up and did a bit of skiing. Nick was doing ski school, Debbie wanted a couple of lessons and James was having a couple of snowboarding lessons.  Kim wasn’t going to be skiing so was out checking all the other activities and the shopping. I was skiing down the baby slope with Debs and got to the bottom, I stopped and turned around to where Debbie was still skiing and promptly fell over and twisted my knee, I couldn’t get my ski off and needed rescuing by Debs. I was quite lucky I could still walk on it and I took it easy for the rest of the evening. We all met up for a drink in the hotel and planned the next couple of days.

Monday 28^th

Another of those wonderful, blue sky, sunny days, when the skiing just flowed. Or not in my case, my knee was still painful so I didn’t ski today. I met Debbie and Andy and Ray at the top of the mountain after Debbie’s lesson, we did lunch and then they skied for a bit and I was joined by Kim, Nick and James.   

James during his second week on a snowboard

Debbie finished early, and the boys skied across the mountain with James so he could play on his snow board. Debs and I went down together in the lift, and unfortunately we came across another ski bar that we hadn’t sampled. There was lots of singing and dancing going on and the DJ stood in an old Citroën 2CV (like an upturned pram) getting sloshed on straight vodka.  

DJ in an upturned pram

Needless to say we phoned the boys and Laura, got them to join us and on with the party, would have been rude not to. Later the DJ lit up a spliff the size of a drain pipe.

A spliff and a half !

Later that evening we were going to Galli’s bar to do a quiz night.  Debbie was shattered and didn’t make it, so we called our team, Debs in bed and we came second, mainly due to Nick and James and won a goldfish bowl of a cocktail to drink.  We saved it for when Debs wasn’t in bed.

Debbie and Andy

The smile says it all

The kids were as usual - entertaining and cute

The rest of the days passed in a very similar fashion, we did quite a bit of skiing and my knee held up, we went back to the pizza place altogether and then back to Galli’s for our goldfish bowl on Wednesday.   

The goldfish bowl !

All the youngsters and Andy went to an adventure park and swung from ropes and cargo nets, and came back exhausted.  Thursday was a very dull day and didn’t stop snowing so we didn’t ski then. (It’s easy to break bones in soft snow.) Kim and Laura had arranged to go on a walk into the mountains to see the wildlife.  It was a 9am start and they both came back at about 1pm looking even more shattered.  Laura had decided not to ski again.  Nick had to do a slalom race as part of his ski school and we watched him do his run, he did very well.   

4th day on skis. He came second. The winner had quite obviously been skiing for a lot longer.

At 5.30 we saw him being presented with a medal for second place and then we had to see the holiday rep to see if she had been able to get Laura on the same flight as the others and a transfer to the airport.  All was good and Laura can now get home.

Friday 4^th

This was our last day skiing, so we were out by 8am and met up with Debs and Andy and headed off to the Mottolino side of the resort.  We had a lot of brilliant, fast runs and the weather was great again.  Apes ski, table dancing and lots of Proseco later, (cava or sparkling wine).

The youngsters are not impressed with the immature adults.

Ray and Andy weren't much better

That night we all had dinner together in Debs hotel. Early start in the morning.

Saturday 5^th

Laura was all packed and we called for a taxi to get us back to Debbie’s hotel for the bus pick up.   

The cab failed to turn up with enough time, so we decided to walk the 500 meters (thats what Ray said, I recon it was a full km) at minus 15 at double time, well I was walking double time to everyone else and still fell behind, I hate morning walks.  However we made it with 20 minutes to spare so you can guess how happy I was.

Ray and I said our goodbyes and then it was back to start the rest of our adventure.  Housework, sorting out the boot of Lizzie and then ready for takeoff on Sunday.

36 More Hertford

Tuesday 1^st February

We were up early to take Lizzie and ourselves to the MOT centre. We had to leave Lizzie with them whilst they did a quick service and then the MOT, so we loaded Leon and ourselves into the Fiesta and tried to while away a few hours until lunch time.  Everyone we know was at work so it was more difficult than we’d thought it would be. It really brought home to me how the motor home has actually become home to us,  after breakfast in a café, we ended up going back to Rye Mead for another walk around. It has a quiet car park where we could leave Leon in the car without him being too frightened by outside noise.  As it turned out, Lizzie was too big for the garage in the end and they couldn’t do the MOT, but they have sorted out another garage that can accommodate her on another date. We have to be there for 7am, which is fun, because we can’t get off the campsite till then.  One of the rules of the campsite, are that no vehicles move in /on the site between 11pm and 7am.

Wednesday was one of those days that escaped before we really got much done, except to say that I had developed a bit of a rash over my arms, head and body, I tried not to panic too much, (actually that’s probably too much information).

Thursday 3^rd

We got a phone call from Trula today, so we took her out to lunch and then in the evening we met up with our ex-neighbour, Peter, it was quiz and curry night at the Rye House, and it was lovely to see Peter and three of his boys,(young men) also turned up. Mark, a school teacher, Ryan who is at University doing a marketing degree and Chris who is trying to get into the Police Service,(we have tried to advise him, only joking, I’m glad I’m this side of it, but I did enjoy my time). Last time we met up, his other son, Neal, who is in the army, was there.  They are all smashing guys, a credit to their parents. Chris left to meet up with friends and the rest of us formed the winning team in the quiz, (apparently there were only three teams in it, but I think we put in a marvellous performance, none the less).  Actually, of the 35 out of 50 questions we got right Karen got about 30 of them. She is one cute smart ass. But she did get to drink the wine that we won so I suppose it was fair.   

Friday 4^th

Unfortunately, not really, still giddy with the success of the quiz night, I agreed to go to The Excel in London for the motor bike show with Ray.  Wallace was a joy even on the London roads.  I hadn’t been on the bike, since Ray brought him/it, back. I loved it.  We watched a show by some of the older generation motor cyclists racing around a circuit, doing various stunts, and cheating, but it was fun and right up my street. I have to admit, there was a couple of riders that were even before my time, (only in so much as the length of time I have been glued to motor cycle racing), but John McGuiness, famous for the Isle Of Man TT, Neal Hodgson, BSB and WSB champion, and Dougie Lampkin, who is another superb stunt rider, we saw him on the IOM and there isn’t anything, that he can’t make a bike do.  The others are no less important and I think Ray remembers them better. I did know of Randy Mamola, mostly because he used to commentate on Euro sport, and now his son is racing.  It does make you feel old.

There were some seriously mad free style riders in the back ground, they do tricks like flying in the air, letting go of the bike and then catching it, and all kinds of other scary moves,  oh, and some skinny  women, in bikinis’, fire eating and gyrating to music. Think they must have got lost on route to a different show!!!!!!! 

Things are looking up.....

All was not lost though, bought a fab motor cycle jacket for Charlie, our grandson, he will have to grow into it.

Nick Sanders  and Austin Vince

The above 2 psychos are Nick Sanders and Austin Vince. Nick has been around the world on his own on a sports bike 7 times. He holds the world record for the fastest man to do it on two wheels but Guiness have stopped recording his exploits for safety reasons - wussys. Austin did a similar trip with some of his mates (twice) and is one of only 5 men who have driven a bike through central Russia. He was the leader of the trip and the normal route accross Central Russia is by train as there are no roads. He is also a maths teacher in Highgate and has now married a woman called Lois Price who does similar riding and is equally psychotic. 
As the picture above was taken, he was asked what he was going to do when he stopped the riding and he said the the audience "I going to make porn movies and Lois is going to be my co-director". The man is completely nuts. He has organised an off road orienteering on motorcycles type competition in the Pyrenees in July. Karen and I have signed up for it !  When we told him we were going 2 up he went mad and said we were bonkers. Kettle/pot/black !!

Saturday 5^th

Spent the day feeling sorry for myself, rash has spread, have been unable to get Doctor’s appointment, kind of worried if it is infectious, might have caused an epidemic in London excel and surrounding area.  Whoops!  Ray went to see Naomi and Rosie, I was a bit worried and didn’t go as Charlie, Naomi’s boy, is only just one year old, didn’t want to pass anything on to them.  However they phoned to see how I was and we are now roped into a night at the Bingo.  Suppose I have to earn our travel expenses somehow.

Sunday 6^th

Stopped feeling sorry for myself, don’t feel unwell, have decided must be allergic to Ray, couldn’t possibly be the cat, spent the day doing the house work and scratching. Probably too much information again, sorry.  

Monday 7th

I went to get the crash bars on Wallace beefed up and the engineer who had put me off twice - since December - put me off again so I managed to find another one to do it on Monday next. Otherwise a quiet day.

Tuesday 8th

Got up early and took Rosie for a driving lesson then came back and chilled out and then dressed up for a meal with an old work colleague of both of us, Sandra (Sandy) Weedon. She is one of the worlds beautiful people but when she worked the street with us she was a force to be reckoned with. She scared the pants out of her younger partners let alone the criminals. She was/is a legend and you could not meet a nicer person.

Karen Ray and Sandy (Sandra)

Wednesday 9th 

I played with the bike all day, making some hanguards for Wallace (or me actually) to stop the cold and rain on long journeys. Karen went to the doctors to get her tennis elbow looked at. He gave her some serious pain killer/anti inflammatory drugs that seemed to work quickly. She was asleep within half an hour and snoring loudly.