Thursday in Rome

After a quiet day on Wednesday, just hanging around Fondi, we headed into Rome on Thursday.

We took a morning train from Fondi and arrived in Rome, at the very busy train station around 9:00 AM.  We got Metro pass and immediately headed out exploring.  First stop was the Trevi Fountain.

You know the legend - if you throw a coin in the fountain, you assure that you will be back in Rome some day.  30 years ago, I threw a coin in the fountain - it worked.

From there we walked to the top of the Spanish Steps, and of course, walked down them.

Look carefully, you can see the gang at the top of the steps.

Then we went onto the Partheon.

That middle photo is the sun shining in through the whole in the middle of the domed ceiling.  Great effect.  And at the bottom, the gang trying to determine where to go next, to have lunch.

We chose Piazza Navona, with a beautiful large fountain in the middle.

We stopped there for lunch, and then made our way to the Vatican, and the Vatican Museum, including the Sistine Chapel.

After spending a few hours there, we hopped back on the Metro and headed for the Colosseum.

That last photo, with the cross, was quite striking and moving.  This cross was placed here by Pope John Paul II in 2006 in honour of all the Christians that were killed at the Colosseum, for the entertainment of the people of the times.

Finally, after a long but very productive day in Rome, we headed back to Fondi by train for a nice relaxing dinner in town.  All in all a jam packed day, but we managed to get in all the highlights.

Today is Friday, our last full day in Italy.  Reflecting back, it was a very enjoyable and worthwhile trip.  This blog has provided you with the highlights, but there are many, many more photos.  But most importantly, there are many, many memories which I'd be happy to share over a nice glass of Barolo anytime...

See you all back in Canada.

Tuesday in Italy

First off - Happy Birthday to my sister Lyne.  Hope you had a great day - I know I did.

Let me back up to Monday night. After the limoncelo with the owner of the villa, we snapped a few more pictures of the building and the old ruins of the flour mill at the bottom of the cliff.

Then we went out to explore the town and the port.  Very charming touristy village, with lots and lots of lemon themed paraphernalia.  So, of course, on our way to a nice patio for a cold beer, we did some shopping.

Then we found a very nice patio on the coast and sat for a while and watched the sunset.

...sitting right across the water from Mount Vesuvius, by the way.  That's the volcano that buried Pompeii in 79 A.D.

After the sun went down, we went for dinner and walked around town some more.  Very vibrant town that comes alive at night.

The next morning, we headed off to the island of Capri.  It was a 20 minute ferry ride across the sea.  Beautiful sunny day...  that's definitely the norm in this part of the country.

Then we walked around the mountain and found a nice panorama.  Of course, we found lemons along the way.  I had a delicious lemon slushy, which was soooooo sour.

From Capri, we went to Pompeii - excavation of the ruins from the volcano.  It was very moving - you really got a feel for the place as an ancient Roman town.  I felt like walking around in a toga and an olive branch wrapped around my head.  Here's just a few of the shots of the excavated ruins that I captured, including a display of bodies that were caught trying to escape the volcano.

Back in Fondi, Paul and I went out for a nice supper at a local family restaurant.  No menu - only had to choose between fish or meat.  The rest was left up to the chef.  Wonderful - delicious.  Great experience.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Italy

It's been a few days since my last posting - sorry about that, but since we left Lucca, we've been without Internet.  The connection at our villa has not been working, and we haven't gone out of our way to find an Internet cafe.

But now, I'm spending a night in a beautiful 16th century villa in Serento, and they have Internet.  More info on how we got here later in the blog.

But first, we left Lucca on Saturday morning for a 5 hour drive to Fondi - about an hour south of Rome.  Got to the place we are staying in Fondi - and Paul was already there.  It a nice 4 story appartment, right in the heart of Fondi.  Each floor has a kitchenette and bathroom, along with bedrooms, so it's really great for a large group.

Fondi is an old city with a historic centre, that includes a castle, and several churches.  Here is a photo of the castle.

They also have a St-Francis of Assisi church.  Went to mass on Sunday morning, and snapped a few photos:

Padre Pio...

...and of course, St-Francis himself out in the square.

Fondi really comes alive at night, where many people come out to the main square.  There are also open air concerts every night, ranging from disco revival to classical opera.

Another noteworthy point about Fondi - probably everywhere in Italy, but we noticed mainly in Fondi, is that everyone has beautiful shoes.  We sat on a bench in the square just looking at everyone's shoes going by.  I was determined to stay there until I came across at least one pair of old shoes, but I couldn't see any - except on our own feet.  I think I'd better buy new shoes in Fondi.

On Sunday afternoon, we took a drive out to the beach.  The beaches around here are very crowded, especially on a Sunday afternoon, and lined with many, many chairs and umbrellas.  Here are a few shots.

From the beach, some of us headed down the coast to a cute little fishing town called Gaeta.  The road in was narrow and winding, but it did have some hidden treasures.  If you blinked though, you might miss it.

 This was church that we actually drove right by.  I stopped on the side of the road, because Caroline wanted to get some pictures of the ocean.  When she came back in the car, she said "Marc - you'll want to be getting out of the car and checking out that church."  She was correct.

Then we headed down to the water and proceeded to snap a few shots, before going for lunch.

 After lunch, we all headed back to the villa for some wine on our terrace.  Here a nice shot of the Desrochers girls enjoying each other and Italy.

Next day - Monday, Paul, Anne-Marie and I decided to drive down to the Amalfi coast.  We got away around 8:00 AM and drove down to Amalfi.  We wanted to drive the Amalfi Coast, because we heard that it is beautiful, albeit "not for the weak of heart".

We drove all the way down to the southern end of the Amalfi Coast drive, and took the coast back up.  So the first town we ended up in was Amalfi itself.  Do I need to say it was gorgeous...

We parked the car, and got out and walked around a bit.  Then we stopped for lunch, which was probably the best lunch - or even meal - of the trip so far.

 After lunch, we wanted to go see the little town cemetary...  three hundred steps up.

 Got to the top, and the cemetery was closed - on Mondays...  We met a cute little Italian woman up there who explained that to us.  Must have been in her 70s, and does those stairs, up and down, every day.  Didn't see the cemetery, but at least we got some great views from the top.

Leaving Amalfi, we continued on the driving adventure up the coast, through Positano, another beautiful coastal down, and then on to Sorrento.

Plan all along was to stop in Sorrento and spend the night - but we were tired and hot and initially thought to go right home  But we decided to stop at the Tourist Information Bureau to ask about a hotel room for the night.  WOW - did we score.

There happened to be 3 rooms available in a B&B nearby, and the manager / owner would come and get us and let us see the room.  OMG! It was a huge 16th century building, which used to be the Swiss Consulate (I think that's what he said), with very nice rooms at a very reasonable price...  so we jumped at the opportunity.  As soon as we agreed to stay the night, the owner offered us some of this grandmother's homemade limoncello - lemon liqueur...  delicious.  Very welcoming in a very beautiful historic home.

Here's Anne-Marie in her room, as well as a picture of the dog, Pluto.  Very friendly puppy.

More on Sorrento and our side trip later....  we're back in Fondi, safely and the Internet is working now.  So I should be able to blog again later.