217 – 219: Staff Lunch and Rain in the Mountains

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Clunegapyears

217 – Monday 23rd November 2015: Staff Lunch

The Aged P’s do a huge amount for us: Personal Assistants – opening post, scanning and emailing docs to us, receiving and collecting parcels, and car care etc. This was their last day so we picked them up and took them for a staff lunch. Don’t you find if you treat your staff right, they stay with you? And we need them to sign up for at least another 5 years!

Seafood – we all wore bibs

My starter – fried limpets. A very different shape to those on the UK coast. Yummy with all the garlic and a hint of chilli.

We have spent two weeks with them and miss them hugely.

218 – Tuesday 24th November 2015: ‘Gorge’-ous

Big runs for us and nothing to do with the toilet! J did 4 miles and I did 5 km … doesn’t that make it sound as if I did more?

We have about a 9 day window before Kerstin joins us from Germany, so we have a window in which to explore a section of Sicily in more detail. The thought was to head for the hills before winter really sets in as it can be a 10C temperature difference from the coast. We knew the forecast was clouds and showers, but since we planned to do a bit of walking … no problem! Huh!

We visited Gole Alcantara. A seriously large visitor attraction, as the roads to it were really good and they obviously catered for hoards of summer tourists and lots of things for young children to do. We started with a short film in English about how the deep and narrow gorge had been formed, cutting through the volcanic basalt that had filled a valley. It was 3d and the narrator – an ant needed stepping on and the butterflies needed swatting so you could see the rock formations! As it is winter (!) and the gorge is prone to flash flooding, we could not get down to the water level, but there was a route around the top, through a botanical garden, with viewing points. The heavens opened and served to make the rocks even blacker. We have seen lots of gorges, but this was seriously different due to the rock formations. Hence so many pix!

Prickly Pear – once the thorns are removed it can be used as a juice and added to booze.

We attempted to overnight on a Fattore Amicale (Italian version of France Passion: farms with free space), but had read on forums that a lot of the farms deny knowledge of ever signing up to the scheme. And so it proved. Never mind … Plan B was brilliant. It was an Agritourism: vineyard, restaurant, rooms, pool, pukka motorhome services, a shower / toilet block and a VIEW. We really did not mind the EUR15 fee.

Our pitch with views, once the clouds lifted a bit.

We had arrived early, so both of us did banking and K some Christmas gift ordering. Lovely phone call with Bron. During the evening we watched the lightening roll around the hills behind cloud formations. We had a fair bit of the storm over us too!

219 – Wednesday 25th November 2015

Heavy rain, so we had a slow and leisurely start. We headed for Randazzo and as the skies cleared we parked up and wandered into the town. We had no sooner alighted from Chardonnay and the heavens opened again (as bad as any Brizzle Drizzle), so we battled to the Duomo (interesting tower as it was predominantly black basalt) and bolted for a cafe … coffee and pizza slices :). As they are not so used to rain here, the water pours down the streets out of gutterings and gaps in walls. So heavy, we aborted and headed back to Chardonnay.

James, would that be a cheeky little pizza slice?

Stashing the beers!

We drove through Bronte (formerly gifted to Horatio Nelson), Adrano and Regelbuto – all in the guide book, but still pretty wet, so no stop offs. At times the clouds did lift a bit and we could see the hill peaks with ruins atop and the rolling patchwork of fields. Destination: Lake Pozzillo Dam – the largest artificial basin in Sicily. Sunshine as we arrived so we had quick and muddy walk along the shore.

Our pitch … in front of a running track … and did we use it? But it started to rain!!!!

It really was very windy and muddy.

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It really was very windy and muddy.

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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….

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…)

187-189: In Search of Saints

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Clunegapyears

187 – Saturday 24th October 2015: Saint Francis of Assisi

by Katherine

The Aree di Sosta for EUR5 had full services, so we stuck the hot water for a shower later on, and went to look at the dog show we had spotted on our morning run. Working dogs, but not hunting dogs. They had to sniff out truffles for their owners. We watched the Junior section and fell in love with the Springer … K has had 3 of these … and this one was particularly cute: only 4 months but he not only sniffed out, but dug up and presented the smelly canisters to his owner! Best in Show!

From the dog show looking back at Gubbio

What’s not to love? James, couldn’t we… ?

Fully serviced, us included (showered that is!), we drove the short way to Assisi. We had a Parking in the Tourist Bus parking at the town at the bottom of the hill on which Assisi is perched … EUR18!!! But it did have proper toilets and water etc. A short walk and a bus up to Assisi. It is similar to Gubbio in that there are lots of narrow streets, steps etc …. but being a Pilgrimage site, LOTS of shops selling religious kitsch and crowded. It is impressive and obviously means a lot to a lot of people.

Basilica of St Francis is comprised of an Upper and Lower Church and the crypt with St Francis’ tomb. Some amazing frescos and relicts from Saints Francis and Clare.

Cathedral: contains the font both St Francis and St Clare were baptised in

The Font

We heard drumming and horns and managed to catch a glimpse of a procession. We caught up with them again outside St Clare Church. As well as swirling and catching their flags they jumped over each other and then lay down to increase the distance the next combatant had to leap … then the drummed, blew their horns and marched off. Lovely.

We’ve seen a number of these and they are very iconic.

188 – Sunday 25th October 2015: Driving day

James took over from here

We left our Assisi Parking at about midday, after a run and laundry, and headed south for a longish drive to St Giovanni Rotondo. (J here, by the way…) My family will remember Padre Pio – a monk of this town – he had the ‘Stigmata’ (signs of Christ’s Crucifixion on his hands and feet). Difficult for folk to believe – but he was canonised a Saint in 2002 – he died in the 1960’s. Deborah’s late Aunt Aideen, who passed away last year, she had a lifelong devotion to Padre Pio and visited St Giovanni every year – a wonderful lively lady…

Stopped to buy wonderful farm produce en route as you can see…

Lots of the ‘older’ farmers parked up with their tractors selling potatoes, onions and garlic. Most of the fields are now ploughed over and some are being planted with next year’s crops.

Total travel time door to door – 8 hours! Big Brad, our new Sat Nav persona, decide to completely ignore the change from Daylight savings in the UK and confused his passengers – late on our journey, he added an hour – just for fun ! Our first time on this trip driving in complete darkness on strange roads. Thankfully, the country roads here are actually excellent. The area sees 8 million pilgrims each year – the second most popular pilgrim site in Italy. Anyway, Brad (shall his surname be Pitt or Brosnan ?) – woke up and delivered us unerringly to a lovely Parking – at 8:00 pm – just in time for a beer….. James – beer? Back to adolescence in Walters bar, Dun Laoghaire….

189 – Monday 26th October 2015 – Padre Pio of San Giovanni Rotondo

Completely refreshed, our Italian Parking hostess taxied us to the centre of St Giovanni – only Euro 6 return – we conversed in a mixture of J’s improving Italian – K’s Francais and Deutsch – a truly trilingual menage…

The main church is naturally all about Padre Pio (the whole town is actually) and J attended part of a Mass and saw Padre Pio’s preserved body on a slab behind the main altar – very emotionally moved because of Aideen…such a nice lady.

We visited all the main ecclesiastical sites and then wandered in search of a bus to the nearby coast, which we failed to achieve. Onto Plan B.

Now those who know us may deduce that we occasionally have a meal out! We turned a corner ‘a destra’ – and found a small restaurant which we initially thought was ‘chiusio’ – once again our reader is reeling with astonishment at my command of Italiano… The photos below don’t fully do justice our repast – a shared starter, two large main courses, a bottle of guess what? – vino collapse rossso/blanco – total cost £36 including tip!!!

Taxied back to our bivouac – gentle zzzs for moi – now blogging and relaxing… Bella Italia et la Dolce Vita !!!

K’s postscript: I do wonder how these saints who practiced and preached abstinence and a simple life would have felt about the massive churches built in their names and the whole industry that has evolved.

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

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