San Marino and Venice

Hello everyone

We crossed country through rolling hills and headed north along the eastern coast – a much more relaxed drive compared with further south with wider roads and less erratic driving!

 

We decided to visit San Marino – a tiny republic set high on a hill top with fantastic views over the surrounding area – it covers 24 square miles with a population of just over 30,000. Although it uses the euro currency, it’s not in Europe. From the free car park, a steep walk led us up to the old town which has 3 castles perched atop the hill. There were several small shops selling guns, knives, perfume, leather and designer goods seemingly catering for the noticeable Russian-speaking visitors.

 

From here we continued north to Venice, across the flat terrain of lakes and wetlands – reminiscent of Holland many months ago. We stayed at a campsite at Mestre on the mainland and took the 10 minute bus ride across the causeway to Piazzale Roma where all land transport ceases.

 

Venice is such a beautiful place – around every corner there is a picturesque canal and bridge. The weather was perfect for ambling around – clear blue skies and warm in the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived early in the mornings, so the crowds were bearable around Piazza San Marco, the Basillica and the Ponte di Rialto, but it’s easy to lose the crowds away from the main sights. We spent a couple of days soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the food and sampling a few of the small local bars.

We then travelled towards Trieste. The weather has changed over the last week – it’s much colder (especially at night) with an autumnal feel, but the skies are still clear and sunny. We left Italy early this morning, had breakfast in Slovenia and are now in Croatia on the wedge-shaped Istrian peninsula. We visited the Roman amphitheatre in Pula, and now camped at Rabac overlooking the Kvarner Gulf and enjoying the view.

Will post again next week - love to all

Amalfi coast, Pompei and Vesuvius

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We drove north along the coast to Tropea, and then picked up the motorway to make headway. Some stretches of motorway are built on high concrete stilts to cross the many hills and valleys – the scenery was beautiful with villages and towns built on the hillsides.

 

We stopped at Paestum and the ancient city of Poseidonia to visit the Greek temples – made of local stone rather than marble as in Greece – which were remarkably well preserved. There are 3 temples with The Temple of Hera being larger than the Parthenon in Athens, an amphitheatre and a coliseum-type building partly buried beneath the modern road. Within the museum were finds from nearby tombs with ‘The Diver’ being the most famous. It was fascinating.

 

From here we drove along the Amalfi coast - it’s a white-knuckle’ drive according to our guide books! The road twists and turns, is very narrow in places and is full of Italian drivers who are only half concentrating – they are invariably on their mobiles – whilst overtaking, pulling out in front of us….. – quite like Sicily really! The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful with the small towns clinging to the steep-sided cliffs.

 

 
From here we based ourselves in Pompei. The archaeological site is large and took a day to explore. Only the ground floor of buildings survived the Vesuvius eruption in 79AD, but some have exquisite painted frescoes on the walls, mosaic-tiled floors and mosaic decorations on the walls. It’s amazing how these survived.

From Pompei, we took the train to Herculaneum which was also devastated by the same eruption. Here, the archaeological site is much smaller, with more complete ruins – charred wood of floor joists are visible. Again there are beautiful frescoes, mosaic floor and wall decorations.

 

 

Our trip up Mount Vesuvius was excellent. Part of the journey was by bus, and then 4x4 jeeps through the Vesuvius national park and finally a 20minute walk to the crater. You can walk about half the way around the crater top – steam is visible from the inner wall which is ‘normal volcanic activity’ according to our guide. The views of Naples city and the Bay of Naples were stunning.

 

From here, we’re continuing northwards.

Will post again next week - love to all

Sicily

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We continued along the northern coast of Sicily before heading inland skirting the Monti Nebrodi hills – beautiful winding mountain roads with very little traffic – and headed for Agrigento on the southern coast. Here is the Valley of the Temples – a series of ancient remains from the 5^th century BC set amongst olive and almond trees. Both magnificent, the Temple of Juno is less well preserved than the huge Temple of Concordia which was used as a church in the 6^th Century AD.

 From here, we continued along the coast road towards Siracusa and its old town of Ortigia – a port island joined to the mainland by a causeway. It was here that Archimedes shouted ‘eureka’ after proving his water displacement theory. The cathedral here has the ancient columns of the 5th century BC Temple of Athena incorporated in its outer walls – amazing! We enjoyed just ambling around the old town, people watching and enjoying the hot sunshine.

 

Leaving Siracusa, we headed towards Mount Etna – it’s visible along most of the coastal route north. The steep and winding road led to the southern car park where we stayed overnight with a couple of other campers. The view of Etna smoking and the lava fields are fantastic. We climbed 2 inactive volcanoes and walked around the crater which was amazing, and there was a welcome cool breeze here. Etna lies directly on the 15° longitudinal meridian which is marked by a small monument on the car park. After leaving here, we noticed the van has small yellow stains on the bonnet and over-cab which haven’t washed off – we think its sulphur from the volcanic atmosphere – what a souvenir!

 

From here, we made our way through Taormina – the main holiday resort on Sicily – back to the ferry at Messina. There are some incredibly narrow roads on Sicily which have proved challenging at times; coupled with the typical local driving style, we’re surprised we left with the van unscathed!

Can you really trust your sat nav?

 

Back on the mainland, we’re plotting our route north, and enjoying the continuing hot and sunny weather.
 

Will post again next week - love to all

Southern Italy and Sicily

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We spent a lazy day on the beach at Igoumenista looking out towards Corfu as we waited for our ferry to Brindisi. The overnight crossing was calm, but sleep eluded us, and as dawn broke the skies were grey and it was raining!   

We headed south and stopped off at Gagliano del Capo on the southern tip of the ‘heel’ of Italy, where we caught up on sleep and washing and waited for the rain to stop. It was strange to see the campsite looking flooded and rivers of water flowing past the van, especially as we’ve had so little rain over the summer.

Two days later, the skies began to clear and we took the coastal road west, stopping at Cirò Marina before reaching Reggio di Calabria. The land is much flatter here in southern Italy compared with Greece, but there’s still the familiar sight of olive groves, orange and lime trees, and a huge cactus plant which produces red/orange fruit on the tip of each spike.

 

We then sailed from Villa san Giovanni to Messina on Sicily – a short but expensive ferry trip – where we met the chaos of Sicilian driving. The weather has improved, and we’re back to clear blue skies and temperatures of 25-28°C - blissful.

We’re currently on a camp at Olivetti on the northern coast enjoying the local area whilst deciding what to see and do whilst here on Sicily.

Will post again next week - love to all

Corinth and Athens

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The archaeological site of Ancient Corinth is amazing with the Temple of Apollo being the star attraction. The large site was added to by the Romans prior to being hit by an earthquake –part of the marble Roman road to the ancient port is still intact. At the fortress of Acrocorinth, only part of the curtain wall and gates remain, but the views across the Gulf of Corinth and beyond were beautiful. It was very windy here, but still warm.

We drove the short way to the Corinth Canal. It took 11 years to dig the 4 mile-long channel and at 23m wide, is now only used by smaller ships. There is a car/foot submersible bridge which descends 8m to allow the boats to pass – fascinating! 

 

 

Our next stop was the Temple of Poseidon at Soύnio, high on the summit of the cape. Built in 444BC, only 15 columns of the original 34 remain, and although the marble has yellowed, it was an impressive sight.

 

 

 

 

Athens was excellent with so many sights to see. The highlights were the Acropolis – in particular the huge Parthenon and the Porch of the Caryatids on the Erechtheion. The modern museum displays the marble statues, including sections of the pediments from the Parthenon. We heard a lot of discussion about the Elgin Marbles and their absence from here.

 

The Temple of Olympian Zeus was the largest temple to be built in Greece, although damaged by earthquakes. The Panathenaic Stadium was a favourite – the site hosted ancient games in 330 BC, but was rebuilt with Pentelic marble to stage the modern Olympics in 1896. A tunnel leads from the track to the old changing rooms and now houses a small museum displaying the Olympic cauldron.

 

In the Athens Archaeological museum, we saw the finds from the Mycanean graves visited earlier, including all the intricate and beautiful gold jewellery and funeral pottery. There was also the impressive bronze statue of Poseidon on display.

 

 

We headed west via Delphi towards the western coastline – beautiful scenery with many coves for sunbathing. Its now 26 weeks since we set off on our adventure and have travelled over 14,000 miles. In a couple of days, we plan to sail from Igoumenista to Brindisi – and Italy - our 19th country.

 

Will post again next week - love to all