Tuesday 23rd April 2024

 Tuesday 23^rd April

SHE SAID:

Geoff the chef joined most of the rest of the group for the cooking class today; I didn’t join in. He seemed to enjoy it & they ate the fruits of their labour for lunch. I wasn’t game to join them, having not helped out, plus two large meals a day is too much for me.

I went for a short, wet walk around the grounds & along the road, but gave up as the rain got heavier. Back in the room I got most of the photos sorted till yesterday.

Geoff returned with a taster of the biscotti he’d help make.

We had dinner in the restaurant alone, with the rest of the group wanting to eat at 8pm, too late for us.

HE SAID:

The cooking this morning was interesting, though having everything pre-prepared and then led by a chef was not a real-world situation. We all contributed some labour, with pasta, focaccia, soup, and biscotti made. We ate it for lunch, and it was much tastier than last night's chicken and spuds. The weather was atrocious, so being inside was best.

Monday 22nd April 2024

Monday 22^nd April

SHE SAID:

Siena was today’s main destination; an old medieval walled city, which I think would have been pretty spectacular if we had seen it before Assisi! As it turned out I wasn’t overly impressed but that might have been because it was raining, windy & bloody cold!

Our accommodation for the next 2 nights is the Villa Pitiana, an imposing old place standing on a hill overlooking the tiny village of Donnini. It is supposedly a 4-star hotel, but I think it is “dreaming”. Of course, it is hard to make a high standard place out of a very old building, adding modern conveniences like power, water & heating. I guess you’d call it quaint! Once we’d figured out the heating, it was better, & of course not windy or wet inside either!

Dinner was included tonight, but rather plain I thought, with no choice!

Views from Perugia 

A very cold me in Siena!

Siena's main piazza del Campo

Tuscany Countryside

Italian Orchid (type not yet ID'ed)

HE SAID:

Still not feeling right we headed to Tuscany, to stay at a very old place with 1000 years of history, but with buildings only about 600 years old. The views from our room were excellent, but, as a hotel, it was rather poor. Oh well, I guess we can compromise when we are in such ancient places. 

Our wanderings around Siena were interrupted by rain, and it was very cold all day; many locals are saying how unusually unseasonal this cold weather is. After lunch we tried to all meet early at the nominated rendezvous point to get out of the freezing weather but, as usual, some people missed the message, so we ended up waiting around in the cold, then walking from the main square to the bus in the pouring rain.

Sunday 21st April 2024

 Sunday 21^st April

SHE SAID:

Geoff said he slept OK & was determined to head off on the tour today. He took things easy, & gamely got through the day.

Our first spot was at a tiny village which is apparently the centre of Italy: Reiti. The main spot of the day was the beautiful city of Assisi, which has a huge basilica & lovely stone houses & streets.

We were there for an extra hour when 2 of the tour guests managed to get lost. Lori, our guide was rushing around trying to find them, so we had to sit & wait until eventually she did find them. We have no idea what happened to them!

We arrived in Perugia an hour later than planned, so the walk around the city was offered at 7.30pm, in the fading light. We decided to do our own thing; the hotel is close to the centre, so we headed in there & found some dinner, which we decided to have back at the hotel in the quaint old library.

The "bellybutton" of Italy - Reiti

Driving through Umbria

Assisi

Hotel Fortuna - Perugia

HE SAID:

I was rather delicate all day, but tried to enjoy what I could, and to have a bit to eat and plenty of fluids. My main concern was that I'd be sick in the bus, but managed OK. Breakfast was a dry bread roll, lunch a small bowl of soup, and dinner a small serve of pizza and tasty spaghetti carbonara from a small restaurant down a little alley. The sights and activity of the day kept me distracted, which was good.

Saturday 20th April 2024

 Saturday 20^th April

SHE SAID:

We moved accommodation this morning, dumping our luggage at the Back Roads Tour hotel. We couldn’t check straight in but storing the luggage there was great.

Today’s adventure took us to the Piazza del Popolo & the Villa Borghese Park. Both areas were close together & new for us. The piazza had a very loud busker playing in it, so we didn’t linger there long.

The park was nice & surprisingly quiet; we walked & sat, then walked some more & sat again. It was a more chilled out tourist event here! We managed a VERY daggy, totally un-Italian lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, just because we happened to be passing it at the right time! It’s been years since we were in one, too!

We walked back to the hotel & were able to check in a little early. I was happy to have a quiet afternoon, trying to catch up on the photos. Today’s walking efforts were slightly less than yesterday but still 7.6km.

We met up with our Back Roads Coach Tour people at 6pm today. There are 16 of us on the tour. Lori, our guide, was giving us a briefing of the trip & then we were going to a nearby restaurant for dinner, but Geoff suddenly came down with Vertigo, so bailed on dinner & went to bed.

Piazza del Popolo

Villa Borghese Park

Flora & Fauna in the Park

Hard Rock Cafe - Roma
Beasties 

Old city wall & villas on the walk

Guardian Hotel rooftop bar
&
views to the snow covered hills

HE SAID:

When the vertigo hits it is really awful. I started feeling poorly just sitting and listening to the tour leader talk. As soon as she finished we bolted for our room, getting there just in time before I was sick. After that was a write-off. I have no idea what triggered it, but I was very concerned that we may have to miss our long-planned tour of Italy!

Friday 19th April 2024

 Friday 19^th April

SHE SAID:

We did the Hop on Hop off bus around Rome today. I knew the areas I wanted to go, as I was here in the late 1980’s & remembered some of the spots that my friend Sue & I went to. Back then we hired bikes! Yes, me on a bike, cycling in Rome; I can’t quite believe I did that. No way would I do it today, though.

The crowds & traffic are mad now, & it isn’t even peak season!

As we usually do, we did the complete bus circuit so we could decide where to get off & walk around. Our walking location was from Piazza Venezia, on to the Pantheon, then lunch at a tiny pizzeria in a side street away from the “madding crowds”. Onwards for Piazza Navona, then the Trevi Fountain, & finally the Spanish Steps. There were about a 100 plus stops along this route for other piazzas, fountains, old churches, buildings etc, too numerous to mention (and of course I don’t know the names of most of them!).

Our walk ended with a cuppa & Tiramisu before we caught the bus back to Termini & our accommodation. We did half the kms of yesterday, but still felt knackered on our return to the apartment.

Piazza Venezia
The Ugly Building

Pantheon



Pizzeria for lunch



His religious clothes & theirs!
A tree lined street!
Another Church
Circus Maximus (Roman chariot racing circuit)

Trevi Fountain
Spanish Steps

HE SAID:

Another full day of exploring Rome. Around every corner is some ancient thing, and all are interesting in their own way. The crowds were just crazy, with so many people crammed in everywhere. Coming here in summer would be horrible, with even more people, and all them being hot and sweaty!

Our little lunch spot gave us a nice break, and the pizza was very enjoyable.

Thursday 18th April 2024

 Thursday 18^th April

SHE SAID:

It was a huge day, which started at 6.15am when we woke up.

We walked to the Colosseum, a ½ hour 2.2km walk, had a 3-hour guided tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill & the Roman Forum. Then we caught the Metro to the Vatican, grabbed some lunch & a seat on some steps whilst we waited for tour number 2 to begin.

More queuing despite having a tour booked to enter the Vatican Museum, & a very crowded walk through here, then the Sistine Chapel. We took the private walkway to St Peter’s Square & happened across the changing of the Swiss Guard at the exit. We were left to our own devices for the final tourist event, the Basilica of St Peter.

Getting away from the tourist traps we found a “bar” for a cuppa & ice cream before catching the Metro back to the apartment. We were totally shattered; I clocked up 21,115 steps today, which is 14.36km!

Colosseum

Constantine's Arch
View from Palatine Hill over the Roman Forum

Water garden on Palatine Hill
Roman Forum

Vatican Museum

St Peter's Square & the Swiss Guards

A clash of "religions"!
Fountain in St Peter's Square

Tiber River
& St Angelo's Castle

Rose-ringed Parakeet (native to Italy & 
living in the Colosseum)
Tiny coffee & huge tea!

HE SAID:

We expected a big day today and that is what we got. It was good to experience both walking around Rome and also catching the Metro. I have read so many warnings about pick-pockets, especially on the trains and at tourist places, that I am keeping a very close guard of our valuables. So far, so good. Anyway, the sights were grand! It is quite amazing to be in such old, and so famous, places. The events that have transpired here...

There were many thousands of people swarming all over the Coloseum and grounds this morning, with even more thronging the Vatican in the afternoon. It is a licence to print money!

All around any tourist area we passed have been many dodgy looking sellers of everything from trinkets to tours, water to whiskey, shirts, umbrellas, power banks, you name it. I find it really off-putting. There are also police and military, statics and patrols, at many places. I don't know if this is usual or because of a current threat situation. 

Wednesday 17th April 2024

Wednesday 17^th April

SHE SAID:

It was a 5.30am start for us this morning with our flight to Rome leaving at 9.25am. Mum kindly drove us to Horsham station for the Gatwick Airport train.

The flight was 2 ½ hours, the coach from Rome airport took about 50mins, & then it was a 15-minute walk to the Residenza Termini accommodation. 

Julia greeted us & showed us to the apartment on the 4th floor. A nice fairly recently renovated place, with all the basics we need, though apparently things like salt, pepper, tea & coffee aren't allowed to be provided anymore!

We had a wander to the local supermarket then around the area a bit. Of course, I managed to take a few photos. It was nice just wandering, not knowing what you will find.

As we are both still recovering from colds, we had dinner in & an early night.

Leaving Gatwick & England
English Channel wind farm

Clear skies as we crossed the French Alps, 
a lovely sight

Heading for & arriving into Italy

Around our apartment

An Australian hotel & church?

The ugly British Embassy
Geoff outside the apartment

This plastic Citroen is the same length
as the motorbikes!

HE SAID:

We were up early and got to Gatwick Airport. Our budget airline, Vueling, was having problems with their self-serve kiosks so we had a long wait in a queue to drop our bags. Our breakfast at Pret, in the departures area, was also not smooth, as they seemed to be disorganised, expensive, crowded, with plain food. Oh well. But wait... On arriving at Rome Airport it was almost as if the authorities were not expecting any planes that day, as they seemed surprised when a few plane-loads of passengers needed to be processed, but half the passport reading machines were closed, meaning long delays, and then there were just 2 officers blindly whacking stamps into hundreds of passports after we'd already had our passports checked by the machines. They didn't even look at photos! I have no idea why this bit was necessary, but it slowed everything down even more.

Luckily, we managed to find our coach service easily, and only had a very short wait before being whisked into the centre of Rome. After that it was a short-ish walk to our accommodation, which was very nice. Our unit is in an area near embassies, as well as the central train station. We walked past some1800 year old Roman baths along the way. Amazing!