203-207: Into Sicily

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Clunegapyears

203 – Monday 9th November 2015: From one Beach to Another

We said farewell to our Austrian neighbours and set off with the intention of getting fairly close to the port for Sicily. We mostly used the motorway as we wanted to make good progress, having lingered an extra day in Praia de Mare.

Given that it gets dark at 5.00, we headed off for the coast at about 4.00. The Parking app guided us to a small marina in Lido di Palmi. There was water (which we used) but no other services. We may have been able to stay there but there was a large heavy gate and we don’t like the thought of being shut in … and the marina seemed to be in constant use, so potentially noisy. A few hundred meters further on and the road stopped … and so did we. We had passed a good few higgledy houses on the left, winter closed restaurants on the right with one remaining bar open …. all the local men seemed to be outside. Boys playing football. The beach was filthy … it looked like all the summer’s rubbish had not made it to a bin. But the sea was calm, fishing boasts darted back and forth and we were treated to another lovely sunset. The closed up restaurant nearest us had kindly left a toilet unlocked … so guess where our toilet contents went!

Our Pitch

204 – Tuesday 10th November 2015 – And into Sicily

In the morning, we passed the same men by the bar or mending nets. Quite a few young lads obviously had not made it to the school bus, preferring to help dad. The women pushed old stroller style push chairs with a trays of fish to the roadside and sold from there. Cars and vans came, negotiated and bought. As we left two women waved swordfish at us … but we did stop and I bought two fish, despite the seller trying to load me with about 5! If I had known how cheap it was, I might have bought that swordfish … only EUR2 for whatI think are two decent sized sea bass. I gutted them outside the motorhome and being so fresh … no smell at all. But real life. Unchanged since 1920s?

The ferry to Sicily is an experience. We stopped to buy the tickets before going the queue to board and a chap helpfully (in German) translated my motorhome and a three month open return request to the attendant … and then in a very charming way, asked for EUR5 for his help. We laughed that I was poor, but gave him the shrapnel out of my wallet …. he got the price of a small coffee. The ferries do not seem to run to a timetable, but ply back and forth as quickly as they can. It is organised chaos! Lots of staff, fairly unidentifiable as no high vis, waving cars, busses and trucks on in all and conflicting directions, even before the boat was emptied of the arriving traffic. Both boarding and disembarking saw 3/4 lanes merge (and I use the word ‘merge’ loosely) into fewer lanes.

Simultaneous on and off and the ferry runs around as fast as it can.

We elected to use the motorway to get close to Cefalu, near where K’s Aged Ps have rented for week one. Interesting … very over grown: sometimes on both sides making the hard shoulder unusable and the two active carriageways effective 1.5! And frequently down to one lane with countless road works, although little evidence of the works. A lot of tunnels, but pretty much hugged the coast.

We managed to avoid driving through the really narrow streets of Cefalu, thank goodness as Chardonnay would have been much the worse off – on all panels, as a couple of locals beeped at as and told us to turn around. Back up over the town and onto the sea front and we are installed in a Parking. To make life easier we will stay here 7 nights and negotiated a small discount. Supermarket nearby and easy walking distance to the old town. We joined the locals and a few tourists in the early evening perambulations and found the BEST ice cream vendor. K’s mission: partake every day!

205 – Wednesday 11th November 2015: Chuffing Cefalu

We ran along the beach front … just over two miles … good, but need to find a longer route.

The Aged P’s drove down to us and parked nose to nose with Chardonnay. We all needed an easy day so wandered the old town of Cefalu. It is actually pronounced Chefaloo, not Sefaloo or Kefaloo.

We lunched in front of the Duomo – very indifferent (nasty) food but wonderful location. Had an ice cream (day 2 mission accomplished) and investigated the train station. Supper for 4 in Chardonnay.

Beach and the old fishermen houses hugging the waterfront.

Food dropped from above the balcony … the cats knew where to sit!

The almost matching towers and Roca behind make the cathedral an impressive sight, filling the Piazza. Unfortunately the cloisters were undergoing work (we could actually hear work going on :)) and there was a barrier to prevent close inspection of the apse mosaics and marble work.

I'm not overseen on marzipan, but these are art works.

I’m not overkeen on marzipan, but these are art works.

The town laundry, fed by mountain water and then out to sea. It only came out of use in the 1980’s. With so many bays (you can’t see them all, it must have been a hub of chatter, news and gossip. Tempted to bring our our laundry down.

206 – Thursday 12th November 2015 – Marsarla … Town and Wine and Battling Sat Navs

The Aged P’s were due at 9.30 … guess what they were 20 mins early …. fortunately we had expected them to be a bit early and were just about ready.

We took the motorway along and down to Marsala. The hire car Sat Nav was programmed in German, and Mutt named her Gudren, after her childhood pen friend. However, just to be sure of the route, Mutt put Jane (brought from home) on too … it was like an England / Germany needle football match. Who would get in first with a direction? Did they agree? Jane was less gushing with instructions, and on the nose until on a motorway she did not know about … so I reckon we will have to call it a draw!

The plan was to enjoy some wine tastings and have a light lunch. We only half accomplished this as it was over 3 hours drive … we should have checked this out first … poor Dad …. he could have driven from home to Scotland in the time. With Sicily being an island, we sort of forgot that it is one third of the size of Ireland … distances are not exactly down the road.

Duomo: Thomas a Becket on the left of the window. But what made me chuckle was the naughty cherubs who are playing on the roof!

Not sure what was on the menu!? One of the letters?

Nearly lunchtime so a quick walk and then TripAdvisor to find a restaurant ‘around me’ …. excellent. Good English and a great meal. The wine was a Grillo, which we will try to buy in the supermarket. But the starter …. two sorts of mozarella, one with fried ham/ bacon and the other stuffed with a sort of cream and anchovies …. this would have done us …. fabulous. Mains and then we finished with a glass of … Marsala and the biscotti to dunk in it. No more tastings as all the entoteca were on their long lunch … J and I will probably go back.

We really liked Marsala once we got away from the children beggars in the the carpark and into the marble streets of the old town. Peaceful and attractive and no traffic, as in Cefalu, where you are constantly leaping into doorways to avoid the locals’ cars and mopeds.

My mission of an ice cream daily … no chance … too tired to walk into town …. and we’d been sat in the car for over 6 hours … how does that work?

207 – Friday 13th November: Pulsing Palermo

We met the Aged P’s at the station. Knowing they would be early, we planned to be 10 mins early …. they were there before us (of course!) and had already bought the tickets.

Palermo is bustling and alive. Architecture is a mix of Norman, Arab, Spanish, Italian etc. Some fabulous squares and a port.

Arab influence.

The Fountain of Shame: so called as all the nudes offended the local church goers. But it had wonderful marble animals around the base.

Some of the nudes … whoops, they forgot to remove their clothes!

Mum giggling when the chap in an e cigarette shop demonstrated smoke coming out of every orifice … sadly I was not quick enough to catch her as she fell apart. I should add that J was buying, not anyone else.

Amazing fig tree roots in the centre of one of the main squares.

The wrought iron fencing was really unusual: a clutch of birds and arrows and spears on the uprights.

Pukka fishing boats as well as leisure craft

The Duomo was a real mix of architecture and more interesting on the outside …

… the Arab influence

Another TripAdvisor lunch stop. And this was AMAZING! It was a small place in a back street, and initially we were the only diners. The host Michele had a great patter … little English but with lots of gesticulations and emphasis on each dish being a ‘Michele invention’ …. yes we would have the EUR20 lunch ….

We all agreed it was the BEST (as in tastiest) Italian food we’ve had and we had a floor show from Michele to accompany it … from trying to explain that his wife Iolanda did no work (and in true pantomime style as sided with her) to explain he would cry if he had to throw our left overs away … we have a massive doggy bag!

Our very memorable meal

It was a very slow walk back to the station … K and J via the Arab market to buy some of the ingredients for a long slow lunch tomorrow at the Aged P’s apartment … we plan an easy day, but good food – again!

Mission failure day 2: no ice cream … no room!

201-202: Paestum and Sunday Rest

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Clunegapyears

201 – Saturday 7th November 2015: Paestum – Not all Greek

A few pics from yesterday …

Possibly the largest back pack – ever

Sunset over the pitch we had to flit from

Drink in the local bar before supper …. note leather armchairs and a real fire … we could be at Rothbury!

One of the Greek Temples c. BC 450

We had a really peaceful night amongst the olive groves.

A short drive to the Paestum parking we had left as our EUR5 ticket was still valid. We drove around the parking and successfully retrieved one of J’s crocs, that he had left in our scramble to implement our evacuation plan. Lucky, eh?

It feels like we have done a lot of archaeological sites in the last week, but Paestum has three Greek temples as well as Roman excavations. The temples are often in Italy tourist advertising and predate the Roman. BC450 ish … so amazing to be walking around structures that were built and used nearly 2,500 years ago. In places you can still see the architectural details.

Roman: a double stone roof

The Greek temples were just huge

You can just make out J bottom left, which gives some idea of scale.

Architectural detail.

We lunched in the car park and set off, heading south. Across a peninsular and then along the coast road. The first part was pretty grim … ugly and tatty summer tourist bars and campsites, only inhabited by about 30 prostitutes and the passing (or not passing) traffic. Soon it was mostly stunning: stacks and smarter villages clinging to the rocks, bays and beaches.

We missed our intended pitch as we looked for a supermarket … comedic moment when K asked two parked Carabinari and a local chap for directions and they all spoke at once and tried to out do each other in helpfulness! We then missed a turning and ended up climbing 5km up a mountain in the dark … Brad the Sat Nav wanted us to turn around …. no chance in an 8m van and on hairpin bends! A the top we finally found somewhere to turn and headed for a nearer parking K found.

These things are meant to be …. beachside and fantastic! Our lovely Austrian neighbours came for a couple of days and are still here 8 days later! They warned us about the noise from a nightclub not far away so we followed them to another carpark overnight and then we moved back in the morning.

202 – Sunday 8th November 2015: Praia di Mare – A Day of Rest and Remembrance

We both ran in the sun along the front … J 5km with some speed 🙂 We wandered down the beach to look at the sea and both had a simultaneous thought … let’s stay all day and move on tomorrow.

We have had a lovely day …

we swam
K transcribed lots of free parkings in Sicily from a book loaned by our Austrian neighbours
we read
a little walk in the other direction
J took pix of the sun set
…. and we just sat in the sun and grinned at each other.

Black sand

We are the far left van … you can see how busy it is … NOT!

View from our waterside pitch

Sadly we have been watching a hillside fire … it does not seem to have eaten any of the houses.

198-200: The Hidden Napoli…

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Clunegapyears

198 – Wednesday 4th October 2015: Bank Foxtrotuncle, Duomo and Underground

Train into Napoli and as cash funds were low, the first stop was an ATM. With all the warnings of pick pockets, K sensibly held her bag in front of her….. and waited for the cash …. and waited for the cash …. said to J ‘This is taking a long time’ and ….. the machine asked for the next customer. No cash! The bag had obscured the very low exit for the money. Once we had negotiated the airlock door with guard to the bank, we attempted to explain what I had done. Some language difficulties until K offered French or German …. it then became and excellent conversation in French – understood by both sides! Oops … come back tomorrow when the bank has done its reconciliation. A telephone to the bank back home and they said to see if the Naples bank could sort it first too. Bugger as we meant to move south tomorrow. Ho Hum.

Naples is the home of the pizza, so we had to have one …. The Margeritta is named after a queen. So huge that we shared one… really fresh ingredients.

The Duomo is nothing special: rather sombre and the interior is very C18 looking, however it did have a lot of relics. Do I have a fascination with ancient body parts?

The Saint’s bits!

Wall to wall cupboards … More bits of goodness knows who

We then wandered through the iconic narrow tall streets with all the washing, street traders and traffic: moving and parked. It is buzzing. Real life. J loved it too, as it reminded him of his time living in Amman, Jordan.

Courtyards behind large gates – now flats and offices

Grocery delivery being winched up

Lots of deep fried fast food vendors. The chap did a nice pose for me 🙂

J had ordered this whilst I was in the UK thinking it was a fishcake… nope …. deep fried macaroni cheese with a bit o’ ham. Had to buy one to see what he was talking about … actually yummy

At San Lorenzo Church we paid to go underground to see a Roman market. After Pompei and Herculaneum, it was a bit of a poor offering. However, it does server as a reminder that it doesn’t matter where you dig around here, you will first find Roman remains and then a bit deeper – Greek.

This is the San Lorenzo underground market street, with butcher, baker, candlestick maker and …. a tax office!

Napoli (J here without toilet jokes this time…) has a street called “Christmas Alley” – you folk from Brizzle will know all about the Christmas Steps – not quite the same though – but a tenuous ‘James’ sort of link… This street as the photos show – is a child’s playground – everything from miniature Santas to grottos to realistic apartment blocks made to scale from timber (nothing to do with Christmas !) – we later saw a large model (to scale) apartment building made from – what’s Italy famous for ? Answers on a thin base please – PASTA !!! It’s called colloquially – an ‘apastrament’ building ! You lot will believe anything… The principal Napolitean superstitious instrument is – a gherkin (red chilli)… You need to have one handy at all times – mainly to protect you from the traffic. One can do lots of things with a gherkin – nose picking, ear wax picking, flossing…. I need to get back on script or else a gorgeous ex-teacher will give me a detention – yippee… !

This Christmas grotto was not made from pasta, or pizza dough (though we did see one that was). Mostly resin. Lots of of footballer and nativity figurines and … Kate, Wills and baby!

Fat dogs … sleep on … shelves!

The narrow back streets of Napoli really energised us – all life is there – we will definitely be back.

199 – Thursday 5th October 2015: Above and Over Ground in Napoli

Quick visit to the charming gentlemen in the bank … yes, Madame was right. K quickly quipped that she is always right … the money will be credited to the bank account by Monday.

On Thursday, we decided to join a free guided walking tour – we have enjoyed these tours in many major cities – a tip at the end is always welcomed. Our guide was Rafaella, highly articulate and witty – a true Napolitean gentleman. We were joined by a young couple from Bulgaria who had flown into Napoli the previous night for a short visit – really nice people – their English was perfect. Rafaella reminded us that Napoli was variously ruled by the Greeks, Romans, French, Spanish and Austro Hungarians… Small wonder they area truly diverse people. From the start point at the Castello Nuova to the amazing Spanish Quarter, we appreciated again the cosmopolitan nature of this marvellous city. As K has noted, this took me back 30 years to downtown Amman – Stephen, Simon, Sarah and Sinead will well remember – actually, from our April 2015 journey, downtown Amman has not changed – thankfully. Whole families out on the streets, talking, singing – is there anything more important than families ? No.

Mosaics at the Toledo metro station in the Spanish quarter.

Lunch in the Spanish quarter. Expresso was complimentary and J loved his pasta dish

Meeting point for the tour – Castello Nuevo – typical of Napoli … wonderful architecture …. but so much covered with scaffolding and surrounded by cars.

Castel nuevo main gate … a fresco showing the Spanish court

After Unification a gallery very similar to the Vittorio Emmanuelle gallery we saw recently in Milan was built to attempt to reconcile the disputing factions in the South. nothing like the buzz or crowds of Milan. And note the covered scaffolding on the right … endemic!

Cock and Bull! J with his star sign.

A main and large square … great architecture but again deserted bar a few military vehicles.

Ex voto shrine, washing and grafitti … this IS Naples.

Street scene ... moped, blokes chewing the fat and a craftsman.

Street scene … washing, moped, blokes chewing the fat and a craftsman.

Abandoned car. Despite our tour guide saying that there are few accidents given the crazy driving and parking, we saw a number of scrapped and dented cars. Great place to learn to drive!?

Looking up through the washing to St Elmo castle.

Tripe. All kinds of tripe.

St Jesu church, originally a private palace. Odd inscriptions on each stone have recently been found to contain a tune.

Entrance to one of the gated courtyards. Dragons either side had large mouths for the snuffing out the light beacons ... caught another chap just hanging around!

Entrance to one of the gated courtyards. Dragons either side had large mouths for the snuffing out the light beacons … with another chap just hanging around!

Football mad.

On a recommendation from Rafaella, we took the Funiculari railway to the top of the town and Castello St Elmo – staggering views over greater Napoli – K’s photos do it justice.

Steps back down to the Metro (parts of the Metro are still being built – Euro 1 per single journey – great value indeed) – stopped at an expensive Carrefour – and caught the Circumvesuvia train back to our beautiful soft cuddly van – can a 28 foot 4 tonne van be cuddly ? Yes – even after 14,000 miles in 6+ months ! In 10 days, we have become quite familiar with the Napolitean transport system.

200 – Friday 6th October 2015:

A beautiful sunlit day greeted us and spurred on by this light from the skies, we ran. (Actually, K spurred me out from under a perfectly warm duvet to get my arse into gear – she is a kind lady – I won’t mention the words ‘boot camp’ – otherwise my rear end might be conferred with the Order of the Boot – actually, I might prefer the Order of the Garter… ?

I ran 4 km at an acceptable pace. K ran 5.25 km – her longest run ever – at a good speed. This is the lady who started ‘norking/running’ 3 months ago – she now encourages me to run – I thought I was the ‘runner’ – changed times – well done my lady.

A jobs morning as check out was not till 2.00 … K’s grey hairs covered over…. J was so expert he now has this job for life! Hand washing, hoovering and both showered. K

We set SatNav Brad for Paestum, a Greek city dating from 700 BC – before the Romans. Seriously BC. We expected a scenic seaside route south – sadly, we got prostitute avenue. We mentioned this before – 25 at least ladies at the roadside over 20 kilometres – sad – but no judgement.

We had identified a ‘parking’ area for the night but upon arrival, decided it was a bit lonely. Our second choice was a large parking area – part tarmac part grass – near the Greek ruins. We stretched our legs for an hour – and repaired to a local cafe for a glass of Vino Bianco. The staff arranged us in leather armchairs in front of a real log fire – it could have been a ‘Rothbury’ fire – K’s home. Refreshed, we returned to our van.

I was playing with my camera – trying to set it on monochrome only and having succeeded, I decided to photograph some night star scenes. I set foot outside and saw a car entering the field. An alarm bell triggered and we went into a well practiced protocol. Anytime we use a ‘parking’ site, we park facing the exit, remove the Krooklock from the steering and leave the van ready in case of a swift drive out. The car I had spotted was doing circles around the field and we activated our evac plan. K drove and I stayed in the rear. We drove to the original choice – an olive grove in a farm – with another van parked nearby – the site looked better on a second viewing. At no time were we in any danger, but all motorhomes have these sensible evac plans. This was only the second time in 6+ months that we used it.

Tomorrow – to to the Greek ruins, following a Greek run – time to dive under my/our duvet and hide….

190-194: Two Stories

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Clunegapyears

190 – Tuesday 27th October 2015: Driving Day

J up very early for a call of nature and then nature called to him. He captured some super shots of the sunrise.

K pilates’d and left her Pilates mat drying at the camperstop …. Grrr! Very happy on this site, which was more like a campsite due to the facilities and the views. Only EUR30 for 2 nights and the lift to and from the town.

Drove for a good stint to the campsite in Pompei. Traffic around Naples / Pompei is like Jordan, where we were at the start of April. Mad. Cars and bikes all leaping out without indicating, but beeping their horns as if this gives them a God given priority over other road users. Decision made: Whilst in the area, we will walk and use public transport! We are on Spartacus Campsite and it is virtually opposite the Pompei ruins, 400m from a Carrefour (more expensive than other super markets we have used, but not unexpected due to the touristy area) and 400m in the other direction from the Circumvesuvia Train station which runs between Naples and Sorrento. Ideal.

191 – Wednesday 28th October 2015: Parting of Ways and Mega Munchkin Hugs

An early start. Train and then airport bus for K’s flight home to see her Munchkin and Aged P’s.

K’ Story: Easy flight and train to North Camp where I was met by Munchkin. Maddy passed her test two weeks ago and she picked me up in Beryl (minty Fiat 500). As I alighted from the train, there she was with her keys in her hand …. all grown up!

Having tried on a multitude of clothes eBay parcels which had arrived, Munchkin and I went shopping. I am the one in dire need of clothes, as I have now lost 7 stone folks! … yes, I am delighted), but Maddy still managed to come out with PJs, a jumper and wooly socks … how do they do it?

Maddy and I walked around the corner for an indifferent supper… food, not the company! Fine weather.

J’s Tale: J returned to Chardonnay, having mis-navigated without K’s sense of direction and did some chores (you really don’t need to know about chemical toilets in detail). Had a walk in the afternoon. It was raining.

192 – Thursday 29th October 2015: Artefacts

K’ Story: K ran along the Basingstoke canal in the early morning sun …

And then battled through the traffic to collect Martha and Tabitha. Can you guess our destination … a belated birthday excursion for Munchkin.

Yep, the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I was not sure I would enjoy it, but it was truly brilliant. So Interesting. It is the studios where the 7 films were made. The artefacts (sets, props and costumes) are so detailed with masses of work involved. There is excellent information on how the films outside the actors is crafted … there are some VERY clever people involved. And yes, we tried Butterbeer. Just a shame that the traffic in the S of England is so shite. Nice to drive my car though. After 6 months of driving on the right, Maddy only had to check me once and going around roundabouts felt contrary to turn to the left.

J’s Tale: J visited the Archilogical museum in Naples. It is the top visitor attraction for Naples, but some of was a bit lost as he had not yet visited Pompei, which is whence many of the artefacts came from. Also expensive at EUR13 and no concessions. It was still raining!

193 – Friday 30th October 2015: Chores, shopping and a birthday

K’s Story: Finally raining here too, so no run. Maddy had a motorway lesson recently but this was her first motorway drive … M3 to Southampton. A good hour each way and she did really well, other than a few ‘trust issues’ with gear 5…. yes you can get it out of 5, honest. Oh, and a little bit of stress from the driver whilst we were still on my parent’s drive as I’d done the wrong thing and said … nothing!

Southampton – my last Apple 121 … really worthwhile and more shopping. Even a couple of Christmas presents! Lunch was an interesting experience: is wanting to be waiter served too much to ask? After several walk outs due to long waits, we ended up in Gregs bakery: M demolished a sausage roll and managed to drip donut jam into a shopping bag and I had yummy Heinz tomato soup …. sooo good.

In the evening we celebrated Grump’s birthday … really good to see Clare, Chris, Niecey, Louis and even Zozo! Most excellent nosh and Macedonia wine, which the Aged P’s brought back from a recent trip in their suitcase.

After the meal, I caught a train to Gatwick and slept at a Travel Lodge as my flight on Saturday was very early.

I loved being with Maddy and my family, but it was all very busy. Tried to pack too many jobs into a short space of time. Ho hum!

J’s Tale: Time to catch up …. chores. Cleaned Chardonnay and treated himself to a local pizza. Still raining!

194 – Saturday 31st October 2015

7.05 flight back to Naples. J met me in the centre and we came back to Chardonnay to dispose of my heavy bag … I’d managed to bring back nearly all of my eBay purchases. A mega nanny nap and slept too long so I felt rotten on awaking. We wandered into Pompei town proper … nothing to remark about it as nothing remarkable. Fantastic trip seeing Maddy and family, but good to be back home.

A fast food outlet dedicated to … the toasted sandwich!

195-197: Romans, Coast and a Volcano

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Clunegapyears

195 – Sunday 1st November 2015: Pompei

A postscript – about our infrequent motorway trips (saving the toll fees). I (J here) noticed young ladies sitting on the hard shoulders dressed in black with short skirts – some even brought their own chairs! K explained that these ladies belong to the oldest profession in the world… Not for us to judge – but as long as they are healthy and don’t pay a huge part of their income to pimps – who is going to throw the first stone at them?

Pompei… Now after spending 9 years in Jordan, I have a natural ‘brand’ loyalty to Jerash – having been there dozens of times – the 4 S’s will well remember…. Pompei is vast! It is hugely impressive and a true wonder of the ancient world. Unfortunately, the individual set numbers are not synchronised with the site maps. But on the last Sunday of the month it was free entry! We enjoyed it and learned a lot – definitely well worth a visit though ! The photos speak for themselves…

Today’s Tour Guide, equipped with map, audio guide, splitter and 2 x headphones … saved EUR5 for second audio guide 🙂

In the baths: It seems to take many Hercules to holdup the roof!

Vesuvius in the background.

In the brothel, the working girls had stone single (!) beds, must be something to do with permitted positions?!? They were paid the equivalent of two medium glasses of wine and all of it went to the pimp.

House of the Mysteries, by far the best preserved wall paintings in Pompei

In the brothel, images depicting sexual positions … suggestions for clients?

196 – Monday 2nd November 2015: Train, Bus and Boat along the Amalfi Coast

My navigational skills are legendary – the Ordinance Survey Office might give me a junior job in the Latrine Department! Toilet jokes anyone? Thomas O’Reilly as a young tot (yes, he was a tot once!) – announced to his family and a posh dinner party (Amelia only did posh dinners – she even invited me!) – “Ma – I’m going to do me wees !!!” Sorry, Thomas!

OK – we got off at the wrong train station en route to Sorrento – I blame a certain young lady close to my heart… The bruises will heal, the doctors told me – amazing what a well aimed handbag can do to your ears! Thanks, K! (K here: I was otherwise engaged and texting or I would have clocked it was not Sorrento proper! And no handbag – it was a ruck sack!) Nothing daunted, we caught the next train to the real Sorrento.

Oops, alighted at the wrong Sorrento!

From Sorrento to Positano there was standing room only on the bus, So we sat … on the mid exit steps. Consequently we had a limited view of the coast line.

A bus ride to Positano. Walked downhill in the general direction of Positano Road – or was it the Vico Road? I just received my P45 from the Ordnance Survey Office – now I can join Fianna Fail! Positano came into view – and guess what? – a coffee stop! What an amazing view to die for… We phoned my big sister – and described the view…

We got off the bus above Positano and walked down. Glorious views. Glorious sun. Glorious happy.

Perhaps when we can no longer walk or cycle, we could tow one of these. 14 year old boys are allowed to drive them here. Few do – not cool.

A superb view down to Positano from our coffee break stop. Amelia – we spoke to you from here as we basked in the heat of the sun.

Just the best!

The buildings literally cling to the rocky coastline

Finally made it to the town – lunch on the beach (K kindly didn’t publish the photo of me showing my rather large belly!

Yep, he got his toes wet. Said it was warm.

Tired from his paddling, having a rest after lunch.

Having an ice-cream and watching these two boys play with nothing but bits of wood and stones

Father and son fishing

Met a lovely young Canadian couple for a chat. Spontaneous decision – boat to Amalfi – no buses – and the Frigate Hogwash set sail – on an azure ocean. Did youze know – the Irish Navy is unique – all the sailors get to home for their tea every night ! Barked, sorry disembarked (a sort of discrete doggie bark!) Glass of vino rosso – it’s a real posh place – we thought about buying a corner of someone’s back garden – but we will stay with Chardonnay…. 1.5 hours bus trip back to Sorrent – dark now and 30 minute train to Pompei Scavi – our home station…. Zzzzzzs…

Typical view of the Amalfi Coast from a boat

Pugwash ahoy. We were trying to remember the name of the program with master Bates and Seaman Stain and it has just come to me. My Master and Commander - at sea!

Pugwash ahoy. We were trying to remember the name of the program with Master Bates and Seaman Stains and it has just come to me. My Master and Commander – at sea!

Nanook of the North. Thank you Maddy for the cast off gillet … I am now wearing my daughter’s hand me downs!

Arriving at Amalfi

197 – Tuesday 3rd November 2015: Vesuvius and Herculaneum

We ran 4 kms at dawn – well, dawn-ish – K pushing me not just out of bed – but all the way along our sprint! Now sprinting is a relative term – we sprint in a respectable Olympic-esque conversational speed…

Which of you has climbed up to an almost live volcano? Boiling lava at 300 degrees Centigrade – or is that Lemonade ? Well, we perambulated around a volcano that last boiled a kettle in 1944 – we did see some steam… Indiana Jones – eat your hat! It’s impressive and must be seen – but 1.5 hours is quite enough.

Great view of Naples -huge – although misty.

At the top.

Expensive way to see a big rocky hole (EUR20 each for bus and entry to the park), but you can just see some steam / smoke on the right.

Herculaneum – smaller than it’s big sister Pompei by a factor of 50? Compact, petite – spectacularly well preserved – having lain under 16 metres of mud for 1700 years – try putting your average semi under 50 feet of mud – and then dig it out by hand after a couple of Millennium! It is amazing – we both agree we preferred it to Pompei – absolutely no disrespect to Pompei at all…

K comment: The eruption was 79AD and many of the buildings were built 1or 2 BC …. just amazing to walk around towns over 2000 years ago. So many artefacts were removed when excavation begun in 1748. Many are in museums all over the world, especially Naples … shame… as it would be quite something to see some of what they found where they found it.

So many buildings have the upper stories and bright wall paintings

The streets really feel lived in

One of the female rooms in the baths. Wonderful mosaics intact.

Detailing survived. A cornice at the top of a door.

Covered by glass, this is a wooden ironing press in a laundry shop.

Herculaneum was by the sea, 400 metres of volcanic action moved the coast line. in 1982, lots of bodies were excavated from what was the beach and placed in arches that were the boat wharves. People had tried to escape the eruption by entering the sea.

Incredible mosaics, with a shell border.

It was customary to buy lunch from a fast food outlet … eat there or takeaway! There were lots of the eateries and food and drink were served from these huge terracotta pots.

Afternoon saw us nicely fatigued – I napped and the gorgeous K kindly agreed to do the supermarket shopping in our local Carrefoure – a sort of superKat!

Napoli is on the horizon for tomorrow – we may see dawn again – what’s with this early bird routine? How many worms can we have for breakfast, dammit Janet! Hands up those who have surreptitiously attended the Rocky Horror Show ? I went dressed as an elderly Ordnance Survey Trolly Dolly – you can see lots of excitement from inside a tea trolly!

Zsssssss…(again…)

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels