Sun.30^th.Oct.

Up at 5.45am.  Jan is determined to see a procession we’ve been told is taking place from Castel San Angelo to St. Peters.  Fair enough!!  We miss the train by minutes and waited half an hour for the next.  A walk along the embankment and we arrived at the castle right on 8am.  It was a pleasant experience to walk the streets without crowds of people.  Something we would remind ourselves of later.  A few people were congregating in the piazza, the women, heads covered by white lacy scarves.  A band started to arrive in dribs and drabs and it was clear something was occurring.  We walked up towards St. Peters and drank some coffee, and waited.  Eventually, at about 9 we saw some action.  A man addressed a growing crowd, in Spanish, the band struck up and incense burners were ignited.  They were off, singing a slow march dirge, men in purple robes carrying a platform with a large and heavy looking crucifix.  Those women swinging the incense burners and other pilgrims, not helping the carriers, walked backwards, very slowly.  I know that Jan had expected to see gaudily dressed clerics carrying religious paraphernalia and was a little disappointed, but it helped to pass the time.  We made our way to St. Peters Square where a girl offered us a tour of the Vatican museum, including the Sistene Chapel for €25 each.  After some hesitation we took up her offer, attracted mainly by the promise that we would not have to queue!!  By now there were thousands of people in the square, most of them in the queue.  The guide was brilliant, an American who knew his subject well.  We pushed and shoved our way with the rest of a group about 30 strong to the entrance of the museum, a walk of at least half a mile and just made it inside before it closed at 12.30.  We then were given a detailed explanation of what we would see in the Sistene chapel, prior to going in as silence is demanded inside.  There was then the ordeal of half walking, half running through the crowds in the museum to get to the chapel before it closed.  As we approached the chapel down a staircase, jammed in a crowd four wide and steaming it became clear that there was a similar crowd coming up a staircase from the opposite direction.  Horrendous!!  What a scrum, we pushed and shoved our way into the most beautiful room in the world and all I could think was, “get me out of here” , how sad!!  We fought our way to the back of the room and found a little space where we could view the walls and ceilings in relative comfort and I have to say I now know what all the fuss is about, spectacular artwork and I would hate to have missed it but the whole experience left me disappointed.  It should have been a unique and enjoyable event in my life and I felt a little let down.  It was a relief to escape at the end of the tour and explore the wide open spaces of the cavernous St. Peters Basilica.  Enormous, I’m tempted to say, just another church but even in a country full of churches this one is special.  We stayed maybe 30 minutes but then had to go off in search of gelato and beer.  The whole morning had been an endurance test, I ached from head to foot, I was carrying a rucksack which was not particularly heavy but awkward and Janet, although uncomplaining was clearly suffering too.  Found gelateria and administered ice cream first aid.  Headed for home.  This sightseeing is not for the weak and unfit, there were people in our party in wheelchairs, how their carers coped I don’t know.  An unforgettable experience!!  A word of advice for anyone reading this and planning to stay at Camping Flaminia.  There is what I would guess is a dog kennels nearby and the only thing which has spoiled our stay here is the constant, relentless barking of a large number of dogs, on one night I don’t think Jan slept at all.  Apart from that it’s great.  Monday morning, a lay in and get some housework and washing done.  Maybe venture into town in the afternoon and enjoy Rome by night.  Watch this space.

Mon.31^stOct. Took it easy this morning.  As promised, did some washing and housework.  Put some stuff on facebook and had scrambled eggs for lunch.  Another beautiful day, cloudless sky.  After lunch decided to have an hour’s siesta before setting out for Rome.  Laid down, dogs started barking and two workmen set to work with the noisiest leaf blowers known to man.  Not a chance of a kip!!  Took myself outside and laid in a chair in the sun, trying to ignore the noise.  It will be a relief to get away to somewhere quiet (although I’m not sure such a place exists in Italy).  Took the train into town, walked to Vatican to post cards to get Vatican post mark on them.  Walked back to Via di Corso, Jan’s favourite street, checking out all the jewellers on the way.  Looked for two restaurants recommended in Lonely Planet Guide, both no longer in existence!!  Found a small place with an attractive menu and took a chance.  Fabulous!!  Started with wild boar smoked ham, truffle and pecorino cheese, exquisite!  Next was tagliatelli, with red snapper roe and truffle, delicious with a main course of Rabbit stew for me and Lamb chops for Jan with French fries and spinach.  Accompanied by beer, red wine and fizzy water.  For sweet, tiramasou, coffee and brandy completed a sumptuous and memorable meal.  A great way to see in my birthday.  The bill was horrendous but heh!!  You only live once.  Birthday tomorrow.

                  

Mon.24^th.Oct.

Oh dear!! I cut and pasted the last week's entry onto my blog and it's disappeared from my journal. Now I have to figure out how to restore it or I'll have a big hole where the words should be. Today was a big work day. Started out changing the beds, then had a good sweep and dust. Said goodbye to Hans and Claudia who were heading for more baths at Saturnia. They invited us but there is a limit to my enthusiasm for sharing hot springs with lots of people. Went into Viterbo, found launderette and did washing. ( That is Jan did washing while I sat in cafe with Wifi and did computer stuff.) Good to know that the blog is out there and there are people reading it. Found a parking space and had lunch, toast and some fabulous smoked prosciutto and Gorganzola cheese. (Must be fattening.) Next went off in search of camping shop. As usual fell foul of the pausa and had to wait an hour to replenish toilet fluid, rolls and other stuff. Bought ground sheet for outside the van when on sites, try and keep the grass and mud out of van. Also bought extending brushes for cleaning van and windscreen, should have bought these long ago. Now Jan expects me to clean the van more often!! Next to supermarket for more food. Where does it all go?? Decided to return to Montefiascone and take advantage of free parking, electricity etc. Had splendid dinner of pork chops, assorted veg and mashed potatoes with gravy. If I could have met the pig which provided the tasty chops I'd have shaken his trotter and patted him warmly on the back. Delicious. Clever Jan. Tomoorrow I'm thinking of having a quick look around Viterbo and heading for Rome. Must break away from this sosta, too convenient and cheap.

Tues.25^th.Oct.

That's it then, made the break. Did as we planned, quick look at Viterbo, couple of phone calls and hit the road for Rome. Arrived at a site in Flaminio, about 8 years from the centre. It's got everything, including a German youth brass band who are playing the Vatican tomorrow. They set up this afternoon and rehearsed, giving us a show which we thoroughly enjoyed. We spent the afternoon sitting in the sun and chilling. Tomorrow we begin to examine Rome. Jan's very excited, so am I.

Wed. 26^th.Oct.

Woke up to sound of pouring rain and thunder. Shame, but there's no rush, not going out to spend the day in Rome soaking wet. Bought weekly tickets for the Rome transport system, bus, tram underground and railway. €16 each, that's what I call value. Decided to take the bus into town and have a walk around, too wet to take the open top bus. Arrived at Piazza di Poppolo and immediately saw the Rome we'd been hoping for. Walked along the Via della Corso and saw more churches than you could shake a stick at. Almost as many churches as shops. Jan loves the shops, they're in a class of their own. Took forever to get to the end of Via della Corso, sidetracked by sights on all sides and Trevi Fountain in particular. Spectacular, it's enormous, nothing prepares you for the size of it.

Marched up the Spanish steps then back down again. We took four hours to get from one end to the other and were rewarded with the spectacle of the Palazzo Venezia, and enormous white building which Musselini hijacked to use for his lodgings. Beyond that we could glimpse the Coliseum, place we're looking forward to seeing tomorrow, it was time for a drink. That was a shock too, a beer and a large bottle of water, €14. It was almost worth it for the view of the palazzo and the antics of the drivers negotiating the extremely busy junction, pandemonium!! Never seen anything like it, not even Hyde Park Corner. Home around 6.40 and cottage pie for dinner. Exhausted. Bus tour tomorrow.

Thurs.27^th.Oct.

Took the train into the centre today, earlier, hoping to avoid queues , much more sensible, the buses were packed and the traffic looked dreadful. Straight to the tourist office and bought tickets for the open top tour bus and the archeobus which takes in the archeological sites. They have audio commentaries and help to understand what you are seeing. Fascinating to see all the sites you've seen a hundred times on TV. Janet is like a child in a sweet shop, we went to the roof of the Palazzo Venizia and had a wonderful view of the whole city. We decided to visit the art gallery at the Villa Borghese and were told we had to book!! I phoned and was told there was no availability until next week. Unbelievable, it's highly recommended in the Lonely Planet guide to Italy, but it must be pretty special to be booked up 5 days in advance. After a kebab lunch we took the Archeobus and for an hour touredsome of the finest ancient sites in the world. Must walk some of them tomorrow. Left home at 9.30 this morning, got home at 6. This sightseeing is hard work let me tell you. Sometimes it's only the gelato that keeps us going.

Fri.28^th.Oct.

It's Saturday morning. Got back last night at 7.15 and just about had the energy to eat dinner. Set off at 9.30am for Coliseum. Train to Flaminia, Metro to Termini then another Metro to Coliseum. What a culture shock, even when commuting into London I have not been jammed so tightly into a train, thousands of people with one aim in mind, to get to the Coliseum!! When we arrived it was a pleasant surprise to find that the Roma cards,( €25 each for 3 days and lots of discounts and free admissions ) allowed us to bypass the queue for tickets. €5 each for guided tour and we were in. Just being there was a buzz and we enjoyed the commentary which lasted 45 minutes. The crowds were enormous, we thought we'd come at a quiet time!! The day was perfect, sunshine and 70. History everywhere you look. Although the tour lasted only 45 minutes we spent nearly 4 hours there, drinking our own coffee and eating a picnic. Even then I had to drag Jan out kicking and screaming, she'd have stayed all day. Footsore and a little weary we jumped on the tour bus for a sit down before returning to view the ruins at Palatine Hill. We wanted to hire audio guides and were told that the site closed at 5.30 and we wouldn't have time to hear it all. It was just after 4!! We walked around the sites of Paletine Hill, amazing, the ruins and the park, didn't know where to look next. Shame we couldn't have the commentary. In the museum Jan joined the queue for the toilet, I hung around and she seemed to be taking forever. When I went looking for her she said people kept jumping the queue for the 2 WCs. I stood with her and put a stop to that. Got the train back, again packed like sardines and got home tired but happy. Lots of good pics. Large whisky reward. No gelato today, must have Saturday.

 

Sat.29^th.Oct.

Lovely morning, put the shorts on, first time for days. Sun shining, set off for Castel St. Angelo, got train to Flaminia and walked along the Tiber, passing the Palace of Justice, wow!! Arrived at Castle, fabulous walk along embankment with fair, market and street performers to entertain. Charming. The castle itself was fascinating, built over the tomb of the emperor Hadrian and used by Popes in medieval times as a refuge in times of strife. Some of the wall paintings are spectacular and the view from the terrace alone is worth the entrance money. Lunched on piece of pizza and half an orange, shared with Jan on a bench. We're really living it up. On to the Pantheon, spectacular, in a piazza that was exactly what you expect when you think of Rome, so much going on, two or three restaurants with tables outside, several market stalls, buildings of all colours, shapes and sizes and of course the Pantheon itself. Inside is astonishing, it is the oldest surviving cement dome of it's size in the world, 1^st century AD. It had such an effect on us that Jan needed a gelato to assist her recovery. We took the archeobus after this, dec ided to view the catacombs of San Sebastian. Had a nasty shock when they told us it was €8 and no discount for the Roma Card. Well, who wants to wander around catacombs when the weather is so good?? They're just old graveyards for heavens sake. Got the bus straight back to town and headed for the station. Had to do some shopping and bought two good sized trout for dinner. I cooked them on the barbecue. Delicious. We're both tired out again and have an early start tomorrow at the Vatican. Heaven help me!!

 

Sun.30^th.Oct.

Up at 5.45am. Jan is determined to see a procession we've been told is taking place from Castel San Angelo to St. Peters. Fair enough!! We miss the train by minutes and waited half an hour for the next. A walk along the embankment and we arrived at the castle right on 8am. It was a pleasant experience to walk the streets without crowds of people. Something we would remind ourselves of later. A few people were congregating in the piazza, the women, heads covered by white lacy scarves. A band started to arrive in dribs and drabs and it was clear something was occurring. We walked up towards St. Peters and drank some coffee, and waited. Eventually, at about 9 we saw some action. A man addressed a growing crowd, in Spanish, the band struck up and incense burners were ignited. They were off, singing a slow march dirge, men in purple robes carrying a platform with a large and heavy looking crucifix. Those women swinging the incense burners and other pilgrims, not helping the carriers, walked backwards, very slowly. I know that Jan had expected to see gaudily dressed clerics carrying religious paraphernalia and was a little disappointed, but it helped to pass the time. We made our way to St. Peters Square where a girl offered us a tour of the Vatican museum, including the Sistene Chapel for €25 each. After some hesitation we took up her offer, attracted mainly by the promise that we would not have to queue!! By now there were thousands of people in the square, most of them in the queue. The guide was brilliant, an American who knew his subject well. We pushed and shoved our way with the rest of a group about 30 strong to the entrance of the museum, a walk of at least half a mile and just made it inside before it closed at 12.30. We then were given a detailed explanation of what we would see in the Sistene chapel, prior to going in as silence is demanded inside. There was then the ordeal of half walking, half running through the crowds in the museum to get to the chapel before it closed. As we approached the chapel down a staircase, jammed in a crowd four wide and steaming it became clear that there was a similar crowd coming up a staircase from the opposite direction. Horrendous!! What a scrum, we pushed and shoved our way into the most beautiful room in the world and all I could think was, "get me out of here" , how sad!! We fought our way to the back of the room and found a little space where we could view the walls and ceilings in relative comfort and I have to say I now know what all the fuss is about, spectacular artwork and I would hate to have missed it but the whole experience left me disappointed. It should have been a unique and enjoyable event in my life and I felt a little let down. It was a relief to escape at the end of the tour and explore the wide open spaces of the cavernous St. Peters Basilica. Enormous, I'm tempted to say, just another church but even in a country full of churches this one is special. We stayed maybe 30 minutes but then had to go off in search of gelato and beer. The whole morning had been an endurance test, I ached from head to foot, I was carrying a rucksack which was not particularly heavy but awkward and Janet, although uncomplaining was clearly suffering too. Found gelateria and administered ice cream first aid. Headed for home. This sightseeing is not for the weak and unfit, there were people in our party in wheelchairs, how their carers coped I don't know. An unforgettable experience!! A word of advice for anyone reading this and planning to stay at Camping Flaminia. There is what I would guess is a dog kennels nearby and the only thing which has spoiled our stay here is the constant, relentless barking of a large number of dogs, on one night I don't think Jan slept at all. Apart from that it's great. Monday morning, a lay in and get some housework and washing done. Maybe venture into town in the afternoon and enjoy Rome by night. Watch this space.

Mon.31^stOct. Took it easy this morning. As promised, did some washing and housework. Put some stuff on facebook and had scrambled eggs for lunch. Another beautiful day, cloudless sky. After lunch decided to have an hour's siesta before setting out for Rome. Laid down, dogs started barking and two workmen set to work with the noisiest leaf blowers known to man. Not a chance of a kip!! Took myself outside and laid in a chair in the sun, trying to ignore the noise. It will be a relief to get away to somewhere quiet (although I'm not sure such a place exists in Italy). Took the train into town, walked to Vatican to post cards to get Vatican post mark on them. Walked back to Via di Corso, Jan's favourite street, checking out all the jewellers on the way. Looked for two restaurants recommended in Lonely Planet Guide, both no longer in existence!! Found a small place with an attractive menu and took a chance. Fabulous!! Started with wild boar smoked ham, truffle and pecorino cheese, exquisite! Next was tagliatelli, with red snapper roe and truffle, delicious with a main course of Rabbit stew for me and Lamb chops for Jan with French fries and spinach. Accompanied by beer, red wine and fizzy water. For sweet, tiramasou, coffee and brandy completed a sumptuous and memorable meal. A great way to see in my birthday. The bill was horrendous but heh!! You only live once. Birthday tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon.24^th.Oct.

Oh dear!!  I cut and pasted the last week’s entry onto my blog and it’s disappeared from my journal.  Now I have to figure out how to restore it or I’ll have a big hole where the words should be.  Today was a big work day.  Started out changing the beds, then had a good sweep and dust.  Said goodbye to Hans and Claudia who were heading for more baths at Saturnia.  They invited us but there is a limit to my enthusiasm for sharing hot springs with lots of people.  Went into Viterbo, found launderette and did washing.  ( That is Jan did washing while I sat in cafe with Wifi and did computer stuff.)  Good to know that the blog is out there and there are people reading it.  Found a parking space and had lunch, toast and some fabulous smoked prosciutto and Gorganzola cheese.  (Must be fattening.)  Next went off in search of camping shop.  As usual fell foul of the pausa and had to wait an hour to replenish toilet fluid, rolls and other stuff.  Bought ground sheet for outside the van when on sites, try and keep the grass and mud out of van.  Also bought extending brushes for cleaning van and windscreen, should have bought these long ago.  Now Jan expects me to clean the van more often!!   Next to supermarket for more food.  Where does it all go??  Decided to return to Montefiascone and take advantage of free parking, electricity etc.  Had splendid dinner of pork chops, assorted veg and mashed potatoes with gravy.  If I could have met the pig which provided the tasty chops I’d have shaken his trotter and patted him warmly on the back.  Delicious.  Clever Jan.  Tomoorrow I’m thinking of having a quick look around Viterbo and heading for Rome.  Must break away from this sosta, too convenient and cheap.

Tues.25^th.Oct.

That’s it then, made the break.  Did as we planned, quick look at Viterbo, couple of phone calls and hit the road for Rome.  Arrived at a site in Flaminio, about 8 years from the centre.  It’s got everything, including a German youth brass band who are playing the Vatican tomorrow.  They set up this afternoon and rehearsed, giving us a show which we thoroughly enjoyed.  We spent the afternoon sitting in the sun and chilling.  Tomorrow we begin to examine Rome.  Jan’s very excited, so am I.

Wed. 26^th.Oct.

Woke up to sound of pouring rain and thunder.  Shame,  but there’s no rush, not going out to spend the day in Rome soaking wet. Bought weekly tickets for the Rome transport system, bus, tram underground and railway.  €16 each, that’s what I call value.  Decided to take the bus into town and have a walk around, too wet to take the open top bus.  Arrived at Piazza di Poppolo and immediately saw the Rome we’d been hoping for.  Walked along the Via della Corso and saw more churches than you could shake a stick at.  Almost as many churches as shops.  Jan loves the shops, they’re in a class of their own.  Took forever to get to the end of Via della Corso, sidetracked by sights on all sides and Trevi Fountain in particular.  Spectacular, it’s enormous, nothing prepares you for the size of it.

 Marched up the Spanish steps then back down again.  We took four hours to get from one end to the other and were rewarded with the spectacle of the Palazzo Venezia, and enormous white building which Musselini hijacked to use for his lodgings.  Beyond that we could glimpse the Coliseum, place we’re looking forward to seeing tomorrow, it was time for a drink.  That was a shock too, a beer and a large bottle of water, €14.  It was almost worth it for the view of the palazzo and the antics of the drivers negotiating the extremely busy junction, pandemonium!!  Never seen anything like it, not even Hyde Park Corner.  Home around 6.40 and cottage pie for dinner.  Exhausted.  Bus tour tomorrow.

Thurs.27^th.Oct.

Took the train into the centre today, earlier, hoping to avoid queues , much more sensible, the buses were packed and the traffic looked dreadful.  Straight to the tourist office and bought tickets for the open top tour bus and the archeobus which takes in the archeological sites.  They have audio commentaries and help to understand what you are seeing.  Fascinating to see all the sites you’ve seen a hundred times on TV.  Janet is like a child in a sweet shop, we went to the roof of the Palazzo Venizia and had a wonderful view of the whole city.  We decided to visit the art gallery at the Villa Borghese and were told we had to book!!  I phoned and was told there was no availability until next week.  Unbelievable, it’s highly recommended in the Lonely Planet guide to Italy, but it must be pretty special to be booked up 5 days in advance.  After a kebab lunch we took the Archeobus and for an hour touredsome of the finest ancient sites in the world.  Must walk some of them tomorrow. Left home at 9.30 this morning, got home at 6.  This sightseeing is hard work let me tell you.  Sometimes it’s only the gelato that keeps us going.

Fri.28^th.Oct.

It’s Saturday morning.  Got back last night at 7.15 and just about had the energy to eat dinner.  Set off at 9.30am for Coliseum.  Train to Flaminia, Metro to Termini then another Metro to Coliseum.  What a culture shock, even when commuting into London I have not been jammed so tightly into a train, thousands of people with one aim in mind, to get to the Coliseum!!  When we arrived it was a pleasant surprise to find that the Roma cards,( €25 each for 3 days and lots of discounts and free admissions ) allowed us to bypass the queue for tickets.  €5 each for guided tour and we were in.  Just being there was a buzz and we enjoyed the commentary which lasted  45 minutes.  The crowds were enormous, we thought we’d come at a quiet time!!  The day was perfect, sunshine and 70.  History everywhere you look.  Although the tour lasted only 45 minutes we spent nearly 4 hours there, drinking our own coffee and eating a picnic.  Even then I had to drag Jan out kicking and screaming, she’d have stayed all day.  Footsore and a little weary we jumped on the tour bus for a sit down before returning to view the ruins at Palatine Hill.  We wanted to hire audio guides and were told that the site closed at 5.30 and we wouldn’t have time to hear it all.  It was just after 4!!  We walked around the sites of Paletine Hill, amazing, the ruins and the park, didn’t know where to look next.  Shame we couldn’t have the commentary.  In the museum Jan joined the queue for the toilet, I hung around and she seemed to be taking forever.  When I went looking for her she said people kept jumping the queue for the 2 WCs.  I stood with her and put a stop to that.  Got the train back, again packed like sardines and got home tired but happy.  Lots of good pics.  Large whisky reward.  No gelato today, must have Saturday.  

Sat.29^th.Oct.

Lovely morning, put the shorts on, first time for days.  Sun shining, set off for Castel St. Angelo, got train to Flaminia and walked along the Tiber, passing the Palace of Justice, wow!!  Arrived at Castle, fabulous walk along embankment with fair, market and street performers to entertain.  Charming.  The castle itself was fascinating, built over the tomb of the emperor Hadrian and used by Popes in medieval times as a refuge in times of strife.  Some of the wall paintings are spectacular and the view from the terrace alone is worth the entrance money.  Lunched on piece of pizza and half an orange, shared with Jan on a bench.  We’re really living it up.  On to the Pantheon, spectacular, in a piazza that was exactly what you expect when you think of Rome, so much going on, two or three restaurants with tables outside, several market stalls, buildings of all colours, shapes and sizes and of course the Pantheon itself.  Inside is astonishing, it is the oldest surviving cement dome of it’s size in the world, 1^st century AD.  It had such an effect on us that Jan needed a gelato to assist her recovery.  We took the archeobus after this, dec ided to view the catacombs of San Sebastian.  Had a nasty shock when they told us it was €8 and no discount for the Roma Card.  Well, who wants to wander around catacombs when the weather is so good??  They’re just old graveyards for heavens sake.  Got the bus straight back to town and headed for the station.  Had to do some shopping and bought two good sized trout for dinner.  I cooked them on the barbecue.  Delicious.  We’re both tired out again and have an early start tomorrow at the Vatican.  Heaven help me!!

                 

kevnjansbigadventure

Kevnjan's Big Adventure

Tues.18^th. Oct.

Disappointing day today.  Did some housework before setting off for Todi around 10.30 and were really looking forward to it.  Not a long drive but when we arrived at the sosta the barrier was broken and I had to go to the attendant’s office to get on.  He informed me that for 24 hours the charge was  €15.40.  On further inspection there was no emptying point and the toilets looked as though they had been vandalised by the original Vandals, or the Romans!!  We decided to look elsewhere for parking, not that the attendant could have cared less.  Not surprisingly there wasn’ t a camper van in sight.  We drove around for the best part of an hour and couldn’t find suitable parking.  Nothing in the book or in the satnav.  Had lunch and had one more look around but these people are greedy, no suitable free parking so left town and headed for Orvieto.  So here we are, on a proper sosta with hook ups, showers, and all the facilities, including washing machine and tumble drier.   Nicely situated next to the main railway line with trains thundering by at 150 mph.     €18 per night but too tired to complain.  Arrived around 5.30 so hopefully we’ll get a full day looking around tomorrow.  Choked about Todi though. 

Wed.19^th. Oct.

Woke to heavy rain.  Seemed a perfect time to take a shower so made full use of these expensive facilities.  Took funicular up to the town and walked the last mile up to the cathedral.  Stunning is the word that springs to mind.  It’s right up there with the best, (I’m becoming a bit of an expert).  The art inside is spectacular and the whole experience is very impressive.  We had a pork sandwich and coffee for lunch.  Must say it’s probably the tastiest pork I’ve ever had and the bread was in a class of its own.  Coffee was good too.  The restaurant was authentic Italian and full of atmosphere.  I suppose it came as no surprise that the bill was €17!!  After lunch did the 3 museums which were included in the €5 cathedral entrance tickets.  The museum of modern art was interesting enough with mainly sculptures by Greco.  The archaeological museum impressed with exhibits from Roman times but the art gallery was probably most impressive.  Fabulous paintings and sculptures from as far back as 12^th. century.  You do wonder why they couldn’t think of something other than biblical scenes to paint though!!  There was, in an unlit room, a cape like piece of clothing allegedly with blood stains on it which is claimed to be from the figure of Christ who appeared in an apparition to a local man in 129something.  How do people believe this stuff?   Well worth the visit though.  Hard work all this sight seeing and we had to find a laundrette, lots of washing to do.  Found laundrette on foot and went to get van.  Impossible to find parking close and after driving around for 45 minutes so reluctantly returned to sosta where we stumped up another €18 for the night.  Eventually got the washing done and had dinner about 8.30pm.  Had well earned large whisky or two, back to town for more culture tomorrow.

Thurs. 20^th.Oct.

Back up to Orvieto this morning to do the tour of the caves underneath the town.  Amazing to think that people were digging these tunnels in the 8^th.century BC.  There are hundreds of tunnels under the town, all man made and to see dovecotes and oil processing plants hundreds of years old created by men using small hand tools challenges the imagination.  Had another walk around this really likeable town then reluctantly returned to the van to move on to Montefiascone where there is free sosta with hook-up.  Lovely drive over the mountains and set up on sosta.  Good thing to get here early as it’s very popular.  Set off for walk up to town and got talking to a German couple who are also camped here.  Fascinating talking to them and learned a lot.  Had a drink in a bar and may join them at a sulphur spring tomorrow.  Chicken for dinner.

Fri. 21^st.Oct.

Made decision to join our new friends, Hans and Claudia on a trip to thermal springs outside of Viterbo.  They tell us that there is a place where camper vans are permitted to park and free, no facilities though, except for the pools which are at a constant 55 degrees C.  We did some shopping and took off to find them at the pools.  Not easy with the directions we were given but here we are!!  The pools are fab, slightly sulphurous but Jan swears they make her feel like a new woman.  If you went to a commercial Terme you’d pay a bomb.  Suits me!!  We bought some expensive steak from a butcher in Montefiascone this morning and Jan made me sit out in the cold and barbecue.  Disappointing, tough, unusual for the meat here, flavour was great though.  This is a lovely spot, first time since we arrived in Italy where we have seen complete darkness, not a street light in sight, the sky is clear and we could almost touch the stars.  This is what it’s all about.  No TV.  Sky news is driving us crazy.  They get into one story and won’t leave it.  3 days ago it was Dale Farm, now it’s Libya and the death of Gadaffi.  Must be other stuff going on in the world.  Maybe they should come here and film us in the pool.  More of the same tomorrow.

Sat.22^nd.Oct.

Sat watching red sky change to black at 6.55pm, another perfect sunset!!  Dinner cooking, large whisky in hand, Carly Simon on CD player.  Spent day wasting time, sitting in pool, walking, talking to Hans and his friend Michael who seems to have spent his life travelling Italy in a camper van, and listening to lots of Italians speaking lots of Italian.  Starting to understand a bit of what they’re saying to each other, determined to understand more.   Very relaxing.  First day I can remember when I have spent no money!!  Didn’t miss it.  Signs of gelato withdrawl symptoms creeping  upon Janet.  Texted Eynon last night, got rude reply.  Texted to protest and got ruder reply, give up, once a bus driver always a bus driver.  May do more of same tomorrow!!

Sun.23^rd.Oct.

Well!!  So much for peace and quiet.  Went to bed at ten, all hell broke loose at some time in the next few hours, cars coming and going and loud voices and then disco music.  Apparently, after the local disco turned out the punters decided to continue their fun at the baths.  Nightmare, never heard such a noise, no consideration given to those who were trying to sleep.  There are advantages to having hearing difficulties, managed to sleep through much of it, unlike Jan, who in addition to being kept awake was also suffering  from diahorrea and shivers.  The noise seemed to stop around 4am. and some sleep was had.  In the morning we took the opportunity to catch up on lost sleep and then headed for Montefiascone and electricity.  Slept most of the day and by evening Jan was feeling a bit better.  Had a walk into town and phoned Julie and girls.  Spag bol for dinner and some dreadful film on CBS drama.  This week, heading for Rome.  Today was second day in a row we’ve spent no money.  No doubt we will make up for it in Rome.  Very exciting though.  Must make sure Jan’s 100% for Rome.

Tuesday 23^rd. August.

That's it then. At last the day has come to leave our little bungalow and become homeless wanderers in our camper van. Thought it would never come. Cleared out the last few bits and cleaned the sinks and carpets. Jan's back was bad and she had to see the doctor. Our plans to visit Sean and family and have dinner with them, Neil and Anthony didn't work out so we found a CL near Romsey and settled down for the night. Spaghetti Bol. For dinner.

 

Wednesday 24^th. August.

Woke up to bright warm sunshine. This is the life. Jan's still suffering but not complaining too much. After breakfast had a walk to the village of Awbridge. Nothing there, no shop, no paper. Back to the van and put chairs out. 2 hours lying in the sun. Decadent!!. Drove to Southampton and spent the afternoon at Mayflower Park. Jan slept. Spent the evening dining on Chinese with Arnie. Back to van, parked at Mum's. Good night's sleep.

Thursday, 25^th. August.

Up early, to the General Hospital for Jan's blood test. Round to Arnie's to collect vibrating belt for Jan's back. Into town, little shopping and collected some euros. Now it's getting close. Spent a few hours at mum's resting before setting off for Alan's. This is the start of our journey, 20,860 miles on the clock as we leave Southampton. Arrive at Alans around 5pm and spend pleasant evening dining on lasagne and too much ice cream. Sleep in road outside Alan's. Comfortable if a little noisy.

Friday 26^th. August.

Into Alan's, wish Mackenzie a happy birthday, 7 today. Enjoy a shower in their new bathroom. Luxury!! Nice cup of coffee and it's on our way to Julie's. Bit of shopping at Tesco on the way and lunch of cheese sandwich and sausage roll with Julie and girls. Pitch up at CL at Denton around 3pm and settle for 4 nights. Satellite dish out, TV on in time for Jan to see Deal or No Deal. Home from home. Jan's back showing some improvement. Sausage and mash with onions and baked beans for dinner. Chased the last of the sun up the fields but clouds came along and spoiled it. Relaxed tonight knowing we are not moving off tomorrow.

Sat. 27^th. August.

Good morning, overnight washing dried. Sunshine. Walked over South Heighton to get bus in Denton to Ian's in Brighton. Watched Villa play out dull goalless draw with Wolves. Out to lunch at local pub. 3 pint lunch, delicious. Ian and Michelle announced they're buying a small house for £245,000 to hide SOME of their savings from taxman. Lucky devils. Weather turned cold, more like October than August. Hope France and Italy provide us with some much needed warmth. Got back to van and had to put heater on. Ridiculous!!

Sun. 28^th. August.

Slow start to the day. Match of the day and breakfast (in bed as usual for Jan.) Bright morning but not a bit like summer. Off to Julie's for the day today, Neil's coming down from London, looking forward to that. Sit in the sun in Julie's garden and decide to barbecue as weather is good. Get to Sainsburys to get the food, down comes the rain. Can't wait to cross the channel and find some reliable weather. Is it too much to ask. Sun came out later but not warm, didn't spoil the day though. Back around 6. Fill up with water, fall asleep in front of telly. Tomorrow last full day in England. About time!!

Mon.29^th. August.

Nice morning. Abbi and Hannah are coming to play for our last day in England. Julie arrived with them bang on time at 10 and left us the car. I discovered my wallet was missing. Nightmare, cut a long story short, found it in the van 90 minutes later by which time the sun had gone in for the day. Took the girls to Brighton, left them at the shops and went to the marina and had an hour with the paper and a coffee. Treated them to lunch at Pizza Hut, (very good) and then took them to the fair on the cliffs at Peacehaven. Returned them home at 5.30 and said our goodbyes. No tears, very good. Unfortunately Jan had overdone it and her back and side are bad again. Early night tonight, 5am. Start Tues. Heading for Dover. At last.

Tues 30^th. August.

Uneventful drive to Dover, got put on the 8.10 ferry instead of 8.55. In France by 10.30 local time. This is it then. 20900, mileage on clock as we left Calais. Put Venice in the satnav and did as it told me. Stopped about 1pm and had sausage egg and mash prepared by Jan. Coffee and 2hours kip rounded off a very pleasant lunch. Drove on and stopped at Fleureau to shop in Carrefours. Another 45 minutes and we stopped for the day at an Aire. Salad dinner. Poor old Jan is suffering badly with her back and laying flat. Wish I could help!! Too many miles today, she insisted, I must be more firm with her, this back thing has to be sorted. 21188 on the clock!!

Wed. 31^st. August.

Spent a very noisy night at a aire on the side of the main road. A refrigerated lorry parked up opposite us and had his refrigeration unit running all night. Still managed to sleep on and off until 7.30. Took our time over breakfast and set off around 8.20. Sun shining, lovely day, managed to get some serious mileage in and booked onto a site at Metz, on the banks of the Moselle River. Spent the afternoon sunbathing. A rare treat for an English couple. Looking forward to more of the same over the next few months. 21333 on the clock. Dinner over, washing up done and showered, what luxury!! Walked around the site, very busy. Time to settle down for the evening. Hope for good weather tomorrow.

Thurs. 1^st September.

Bit cloudy this morning. Watched news, England won a 20/20 match, about time. Took time over breakfast, getting the hang of taking our time, why not?? Didn't have to be away from site until 12 so had a stroll around Metz. Fabulous, why do all these French towns and cities seem as though they're dressed in their best clothes all the time, the buildings and surroundings always seem perfect. We could have spent hours wandering around. Found the market, bought calves liver and fresh veg, great value. Hit the road at around 12. Heading for Strasbourg. Didn't fancy too much driving today, satnav threw up free parking in Offenburg, just over the Rhine, into Germany and here we are. They apologised profusely for being unable to supply free hook up!! I like the Germans more already. Maybe on the way home. Calves liver delicious. No hook up – no TV. Heaven. 21465 on clock. Aiming for Switzerland tomorrow.

Fri 2^nd. Sept.

That's it, done Germany!! Walked the 500 metres they said it was to the supermarket this morning. More like a mile and a half. Still we were encouraged to see it was Aldi's something familiar. Not a chance, the stuff they sell in England is totally different. Still managed to buy so much I had to leave Jan in Burger King with a coffee and the shopping and walk back for the van. Our free site was OK but noisy, had a thunderstorm to help out when the traffic went quiet. Flushed with success I located another site on the satnav near Luzern, Weggis. Looked right up our street, in a meadow by lake Luzern no price shown, (another freebie perhaps). No such luck, lovely spot, deep into Switzerland but 26 Swiss Francs for the night. No such thing as a cheap night in Switzerland. They charge you E4.50 each per night visitor tax!! Oh well, bartered them down to E17 and used lots of electricity and hot water. Good value really. Long drive through lovely countryside on quiet roads, satnav determined not to cost us tolls!! Quite right too. 8.30pm. still sitting outside, almost dark but warm. Tans are improving slowly. That's enough for today. Clock says 21611. Italy tomorrow??

Sat. 3^rd. Sept.

What a day. Where to start??

Up at 8 and caught the news. England won 3-0. Good start. Walked the 1K to the lake edge, couldn't resist a swim. Poor Jan was reluctant because it was a bit stoney and she's being careful with her back which is improving daily. Water fab,first swim of the year for me. Long walk up hill back to the van and enjoyed a coffee in bright warm sunshine. (Last night was so warm we had A/C on all night.) Left site around 12 and set satnav for Como. Promised Jan a swim in the lake before dinner. Took the motorway all the way, no tolls, glad they didn't charge me to go through the St. Gotthard tunnel!! 17 Ks. Horrendous, one of the worst driving experiences ever. That's what I thought until we found it impossible to park in Como at 5pm on Saturday afternoon. Went round it about 3 times and I made a decision to follow the road from Como up the lake to find a spot for the night, by the lake so Jan could swim. Nightmare!! Narrow road, barely space for 2 vehicles, impatient Italian drivers and all 50feet above the lake, no swim for Jan. Then the rain started. We spotted a layby, managed to turn around and claimed it. Then the thunderstorm began. Collossal. We sat with our view across the lake and watched the storm while enjoying our salad for dinner. Think we'll stay here the night and strike out for Venice early tomorrow. Storm gone hope for better weather tomorrow. Clock says 21758.

Sun. 4^th. Sept.

Nothing good ever comes easily!! Up early, breakfasted and heading back along nightmare road to Como. Once in Como felt at home, having driven around it so many times on Saturday!! Found payphone, tried phonecard for cheap call to Arnie, didn't work! Used mobile. Arnie happy. Set course for Venice, decided to lash out and use Auto Strada hang the expense, get there quickly as possible. Satnav took us too far south, around Milan, not fun, glad it was Sunday. Decided today was the day when gremlins were going to get in the works, not wrong. How can you get lost on a motorway?? Overshot turn off for campsite, 20Ks before next turn off. Satnav took us back, off the M/way and instructed us to take a non existant turning!! Turned off satnav, looked at map, with help of local natives found campsite at around 6pm. Found a pitch at the water's edge looking directly across the lagoon to Venice, we can see 3 cruise ships and make out the shapes and spires of the city. Tantalising. Hooked up, put on AC, very warm and humid. Put on electric kettle, Electricity went off. Messed around and restored supply. 10 minutes later, gone again. Unable to restore!! No AC tonight. No problem, plenty of 12v power. Over to reception to get online with WiFi. Looking forward to Skyping Smigiels. Three E for card, half hour frustration, no IN connection, smoke coming out of ears, no AC no IN. End of a tough day. Not quite. Jan cooked superb meatballs so we had delicious dinner, pasta in Italy, had to be. To round the day off we sat in the front of the van and watched the mother and father of a thunderstorm raging around the lagoon, rain worse than last night. Tomorrow promises to be better!! Miles on clock, 22008. 1,1(48miles to Venice, tomorrow the van doesn't move.

Monday 5^th.August.

Miles on clock. 22008. No driving today!! OK got the electricity thing sorted, hook up back so got to be more careful, only got about 6amps to play with. Went to reception and complained about Wifi. No sympathy there although the girl said it was OK today, refused to refund lost35 minutes. Italian woman jumped the queue in front of me and had the brass neck to bid me buongiorno!! Got on line, did what was necessary and used up my remaining 25 minutes. By this time it was raining heavily so we did some washing (as you do). A little shopping and all was in place for our picnic lunch for our first trip to Venice. By the time we were ready to set off it had just about stopped raining. Hooray!! Went to purchase 3 day travel cards and discovered they weren't available at reception, made another friend there as she thought I wanted a different type of card and had to cancel them. Serve them right for being so bloody minded over the IN connection. By the time I'd got the tickets from the ferry booking office we'd missed the one o'clock boat and had to wait until 2. Waited years for this, another hour wasn't going to make any difference. Was it worth the wait?? I thought I knew what to expect but nothing prepared us for this. Venice is fabulous. I couldn't believe the sights and sounds, so much activity on the water and on the streets, around every corner a surprise. I took Jan into St. Marks Square and she was not expecting it. The look of amazement on her face was worth a million pounds, I didn't have the camera ready and missed a great opportunity to catch her in a look of total surprise. We decided to get the 5.30 boat back and missed it. Thought we'd take a walk and a drink and get the 6.30 boat, got lost and missed that. Found the dock, found a nearby bar and ordered drinks, litre of beer for me and Gingerina for Jan. Got talking to a German Phsyciatrist and his wife and nearly missed the 7.30 boat. Home for dinner and first glass of wine since Sunday 21^st August. Very nice. Lovely day, do it all again tomorrow. No driving again. A/C on tonight.

Ea11

Tues 6^th. Sept.

Bit of a mixed day today. Had to get up at 4am and retract the awning, there was a gale blowing and a danger that the awning would be damaged. Got the 10 o'clock boat to Venice and discovered that the vaporetti crews were on strike for the day. Charming, spend E48 each on unlimited travel for 3 days and one of them is wiped out by a strike. We did the Academie art gallery and saw some notable works of art, 14^th century stuff by artists totally obsessed and bowed by religious themes. Got better as we went on Carravaggio was terrific. Got fed up with that and walked down to St. Marks Sq. With the intention of taking Jan into the church. Queue a mile long so no joy there. Will try earlier tomorrow. Decided to go home, have a siesta and return in the evening for dinner out. Tried to wash up a few cups, no water coming out of the taps. Water pump on the blink. Change fuse – no good. Go out to dinner anyway. Pay through the nose for mediocre meal of moules, veal and ice cream. When will I learn? Never had a piece of veal yet that I enjoyed. Poor Jan didn't feel well but we made it home. 3 or 4 visits to the loo and she seems to be OK. Still no water pump but AC working better and weather superb. Plans to re-visit Venice on hold tomorrow until we sort out a plan for the water pump. Still, could be worse, the site's OK.

Wed. 7^th. Sept.

Re-visited Venice today, pump can wait!! Jan needed to see St. Marks Basilica so see it she did. I found it sad that the experience wasn't special, like July 4^th. without fireworks. Jan had to rent a piece of cloth to cover her legs,(she was wearing shorts) and cover her shoulders with a towel. What a lot of nonsense. Still provided a bit of harmless amusement for Kev. The church was OK and the art was spectacular but it was a somehow impersonal experience, like being on a conveyor belt. It showed the Catholic church at it's worst. I think Jan was disappointed. Can't wait to get to the Vatican!! Came out of there and paid E8 each to go up the campomile. Good views and photo opportunities. Sun came out and we got Vaporetta to Murano. Watched a man make glass bowl and horse in factory. Very clever. Owner tried to talk us into viewing the really expensive stuff upstairs with a view to buying the real deal. Don't know what made him think I had £2000 + to spend on glass for a camper van!! Not so clever. Back from Murano, cruised up and down the Grand Canal after kebab lunch. Found supermarket, bought food for dinner. Came back to van, did 2 weeks washing at the laundrette and changed the bedding. Too tired to cook, had dinner in resturaunt on site. Great value. Tomorrow got to do internet stuff, pack up to leave and find someone to fix the water pump. The adventure continues.

Thurs 8^th. August.

Day dawned dull, like my mood. Had tea overlooking the water and sized up day ahead. Looked like hard work. While I did internet stuff, Jan sorted out her clothes again and we redistributed stuff around the van. Jan got her bed back. Packed up and put away various belongings ready for departure. A Scottish couple with a lovely van, bigger than ours parked in the newly vacant pitch next to us. The Dutch couple who had vacated had headed to Croatia, Italy too expensive. Scots came over Brenner pass and scared themselves half to death trumping our story about the road east of Como. Left Fusina feeling a little sad. Site was great and Venice was spectacular. Time to fix the water pump and head for the beach. Found Linea 80, the company recommended by the staff at Fusina, after our regular faffing around. Arrived 2pm, shut till 3.30!! Spent E50 in Lidl's next door and used their car park to wait for Linea 80 to open. Single malt Scotch E8.99. Chianti 1.99. Who says Italy's expensive?? Man in Linea 80 declared in broken English, water pump knackered. No-one available to fix it, easy, put new one on myself!! He really doesn't know me. Further questioning revealed that no one could do the job until next week. Water pump E87, took old one off, replaced it with new one. Easy!! Don't know what the fuss was about, Jan thinks I'm wonderful. Must say I'm pretty pleased with myself. Thought we'd book in for the night at site across the road and rest on our laurels but on examination, couldn't fancy it. Looked at map, needed sea, headed for Lido de Jesolo. 55Ks. Arrived at site – Malibu Beach. Brilliant, E26 per night. Parked on pitch, put on swim things, headed for beach, swam in sea. What a treat!! Came back, got set up, Jan cooked pork chops for dinner. Delicious, going nowhere for a few days. Working on tan. Too tired to check on mileage

Fri.9^th. Sept.

Slept better knowing we have running water again and that we are going to have a few days resting. Not much to report. Had breakfast, took our time, set up camp on beach, with two sunbeds and umbrella, waited for someone to come and charge some extortionate amount of euros. Nice surprise, no-one did. Sea was lovely, sun came out and we did what we do best, very little!! Phoned Mum tonight. Jan cooked lovely meal of Italian sausages, mash and a concoction of beans, mushrooms, onions, garlic and tomato sauce. Delicious!! Couple of glasses of E1.99 Chianti, met the neighbours, Mike and Lynn from Chesterfield, they have old style Autostratus. Compared notes on life in camper van then said goodnight. Tired out after tough day. More of the same tomorrow.

Sat.10^th.Sept.

Weather perfect. Breakfast outside, Jan' in bed of course. Sorted out a few things on internet, put some pics on facebook. Day on beach in perfect weather, no charge for beds again, terrific. Lit BBQ tonight and did chicken, courgettes, carrots , potatoes and mushrooms. Delicious. Couple of cheap whiskies and bed.

Sun 11^th. Sept.

More of the same, sunbathing in perfect weather, around 80, nasty shock when charged E11 for sunbeds. Still we got away with it for 2 days so not bad value. Off the beach at 5 and showered. Bit scorched but feels good to get sun on bodies. Sea is so good to swim in, just the right temperature. Went to bar, beer for me, fizzy water for Jan and Skyped Smigiels. Great to talk to them. Tried Anthony, still no IN or landline. Jan spoke briefly on mobile. Home, tired out, salad dinner and early night. Pretty dull stuff but restful and just what we need. Jan's back so much better. Same again tomorrow, weather permitting.

Mon.12^th. Sept.

Decided we needed to do some shopping. Getting short of supplies. Caught bus into main town, Lido di Jesolo. Bus drivers are lunatics, any speed limit must be broken at all costs. Not a bit like I used to drive, our buses were incapable of reaching the speed limit. The town not impressive, like any seaside resort, streets of cafes, amusement arcades and shops for people who want to buy silver charms for charm bracelets!! Jan loves it!! Enormous thunderstorm, poured with rain, good day to shop!! Picked up charm, provisions and enjoyed some coffee. Had a look at the beaches. Rows of sunbeds, all empty due to weather. Smart resort though. Headed back to site, rain stopped, sun out. Decided to lower one end of awning to get rid of accumulation of rainwater, drenched myself, giving Jan great amusement. Lunch and off to beach, hot as hell!! Took air bed, not going to get caught again. Attendants napping, helped ourselves to sunbeds. Beat the system. Got to get some sensible beach beds, can't be doing with this nonsense!! Just typed two sentences that disappeared. Wonder where they went!! 5pm back for shower and cuppa. Jan cooked dinner while I did internet stuff at bar. Now 9.15, knackered. How can doing so little be so tiring? Nothing more to report.

Tues. 13^th. Sept.

Two weeks since leaving Dover!! Seems longer. Today had boiled eggs and baguette from local baker for breakfast. First time in ages we've breakfasted on something other than cereal and banana. A real treat.This healthy lifestyle does have it's disadvantages. Bread was fabulous. Eggs OK too. While out buying bread checked e-mails and bank online. Delighted to find a credit of £135 which means nothing to me!! A mystery, hoping for more like it. After breakfast did some overdue housework, van looking good, must get around to cleaning the outside!! Didn't make the beach until about 11 today. Put in some serious sunbathing and swimming. Finished Hard Girls by Martina Cole. Must be the worst novel ever. Is this woman seriously one of our most popular authors? Difficult to find anything good to say about it. Best part is it's finished. Came off beach around 4.45, too early for Jan but had enough sun. Tans are looking good, must post some pics. Feeling healthy and fit. Went for a long walk along the prom and had drink in beach bar, watched the sun go down. Dinner of spaghetti bol. Couple of cheap whiskies to wash it down. What a life!! Tomorrow may be our last day here, maybe not, who knows. Life's good.

Wed. 14^th. Sept.

Jan planned to get up early and watch sunrise over the sea today but decided it was too misty. I can't believe I've just managed to delete about 15 lines of text. Sometimes I hate this machine!! Made an early start, texted Anthony to see if his phone and broadband were back in action. Answer yes could we Skype with Lucy before school. Rushed over to restaurant and set up webcam etc. No internet connection!! Gave up, spoke to Anthony on phone, arranged Skype for tonight. Weather perfect again, swimming, walking and tanning. Can't remember last time I felt so good. Decided time to move on down the coast tomorrow. Mustn't keep staying on expensive sites, need to try out a few Sosti. That means washing tonight, get up to date before taking off into the unknown. E3.50 for washing machine, same for 20 minutes in drier. Thieves!! Whilst washing doing manage to Skype Anthony and family, good fun but brats in restaurant very noisy. Dinner of dodgy Italian sausage and meaty spare ribs done to death in oven by my co-cook was not memorable but hey, most of Jan's dinners are. Still got whisky left, intend to finish it tonight and have a few days off the booze. Cheers!!

Thurs. 15^th. Sept.

OK. What a difference a day makes. Spent a beautiful morning packing up our belongings ready to set off on our journey southwards, heading for Lido di Spina, a few miles east of Ravenna. Journey uneventful, found large supermarket on the way and topped up essential supplies, meat, veg, fruit etc. Spent E49 but bought plenty. Got back to van and Jan remarked that I'd bought no wine. Back I went, corrected my mistake, couldn't resist. Bottle Merlot, bottle cabernet, E1.50 each. Bought bottle of Scotch for E6.90 and got change out of a tenner. Janet impressed!! Drinking Merlot at the moment, might not have impressed Sugden but suits me. Arrived without incident at Sosta in Lido di Spina, a stones throw from the beach. 4pm. Pitched up van, on with swim trunks and off to the beach. Long way down beach to sea. Very hot, looking forward to swim. Sea filthy, no way we're getting in there, all sorts floating around in it. There were people in but I think they were risking their health. No showers, very disappointing, Jesolo it's not. Still, the site is free for the night and not unpleasant if a bit basic. Get table and chairs out and put kettle on for cuppa. Within minutes we've been bitten alive by mosquitoes. We've had a few bites over the last couple of weeks, expect them this weather but this is awful. Jan's got about 8 on her back and we're both collecting some beauties on arms and legs. Jan takes to kitchen, I light barbecue and spray with anti bite stuff. Stable doors spring to mind. Decide to risk eating outside when attacked by wasps in large numbers. Ate in. So here we are, trapped in van, temperature 78deg. 9pm, no elec. = no AC. Still, it's free init? Moving on to Rimini tomorrow, get away from the swamp. 22164 on clock.

Fri. 16^th. Sept.

Don't want too many nights like that!! Free or not, we had all the windows and skylights open with the flyscreens up, not a breath of breeze blew through the van. Temp. never dropped below 78 all night. Good job we were tired. Couldn't wait to move on, found about 200 dead mosquitos in our waste water bucket – good riddance.Cant ever remember being in a more inhospitable, dirty and upleasant place, (and I've been to Glasgow and Liverpool.) Decided to visit Ravenna on way to Rimini. Spent 3 hours walking it's streets and had lunch of pizza and diet coke at a cafe. Large gelatos for elevenses.Nice place, Ravenna but it's got all its treasures hidden away in churches which want to and their art!! Clever as the artists may have been they showed little imagination and when did you ever see anyone smile in their paintings. Surely people had good days then as well a bad?? So onwards to Rimini. Actually we're in a small place called Bellaria about 6 or 7 miles north of Rimini. We selected a site from our trusty book of Sosti in the hope that it would be cheap and convenient. It turned out to be a proper campsite, near the beach and not cheap. They charge according to the size of the pitch you select, got the van on the smallest we could find. Only joking!! Still, we need to start economising on sites. Problem is, if you want a beach holiday for a while you need to be by the beach. This one is fine, beach clean and goes on for miles. Plenty of electicity, A/C chilling us out tonight. Not as good as site in Jesolo but will do for a couple of days. Weather perfect for beach. Not so many mosquitos here either. Another early night tonight. Missing TV.

Sat.17^th. Sept.

Saw signpost for Coop supermarket and decided to follow it on foot for eggs and other bits. After a mile or so no sign of Coop or other signpost!! Give up, walk around local village, Bellaria, not an egg shop in sight. Supermarket on site has no eggs. Give up. Back to site, inform reception we're staying two more nights and he presents us with a voucher for 2 free sunbeds on beach for rest of our stay. Check out swimming pool, very quiet, stay till lunch time, pool closes 12.30 to 3 for attendant to have lunch. I suppose it gives him an opportunity to stretch his legs as he spends most of his time sitting in the shade. The fabulous sunshine is probably old hat to him. Lunch of Gorgonzola cheese and salad. Feel the need to relax so take up our free sunbeds on the beach, tan needs a little work. Still getting the occasional mosquito bite but old ones clearing up. Bought some candles the other day to chase them away. Can't find them!! How can you lose something in this small space? Suppose they'll turn up when the mosquito season is over. Tried some snorkelling this afternoon, swam out to some rocks but only saw about 3 small fish and a crab, disappointing. Left beach about 5 for early dinner and phone call to Julie and girls before getting the bus to Rimini. Long journey, best part of an hour, not worth it, didn't see much in the dark and came back almost straight away. Try again next week. Got back, tried out E6.99 Scotch. Very drinkable. Best value in Italy, together with the E1.99 wine of course. Jan's back is benefitting from the R&R of the last week or so. Hope it's really mending.

Sun. 18^th. Sept.

Day of rest. Morning at pool, Jan volunteered to get coffee and bring it over, very nice. Miss biscuits with tea and coffee but we're determined not to get fat!!Lunch of egg mayonnaise and ryvita lookalikes. Delicious pear each. Fruit here is reasonable and good quality, better that biscuits!! Paid €7 for 2 hours internet connection. Amazing how different sites treat internet. Spent an hour or 2 at the beach then came back to set up for Skype. Spent 2 hours getting connected, in the end spotted a girl under the slide in childrens' playground on line. Got connected there and carried laptop back to van. Stayed on line but weak signal. Skyped Smigiels, 2 hours early. Skyped Julie, not 100% successful but we communicated and saw the family. Cloudy afternoon, expecting storm. Move off site tomorrow, got to cut costs. If weather good we've spotted a good place in the street just around the corner. What an adventure!!

Mon.19^th.Sept.

If weather good!! Poured with rain all night, left 2 towels on line. Make executive decision to visit San Marino if weather still poor. Good decision. Left site around 10 and headed for supermarket to stock up on essentials. Took forever. Good job San Marino's not far. Arrived at a Sosta at bottom of San Marino, parked up and had lunch. Left van and started to walk up to the town. Discovered not one but two parking lots set aside for camper vans on the way up that would have saved us a mile or more walking. Anyway we made it after about a 40 minute walk. Just what we'd expected, lots of shops selling mainly junk but a charming place with beautiful buildings and a peaceful air about it. Wonderful views. You can see for miles. Treated ourselves to gelato and coffee before getting bus back down the hill. Glad we made the effort to see Europe's 3^rd smallest country. Probably won't be back. Now parked up on free sosta with full stomach and glass of wine listening to classical music and doing my Italian homework. Feel like I'm making a little progress. If I keep this up I should be able to put a few sentences together by the time we get to Rome. It's good to communicate.

Tues. 20^th. Sept.

Strange day. Woke around 7.15am. It rained most of the night and thundered. Poured down until we left sosta at around 9am. Thought we'd find launderette we'd seen on the way up, do washing and stick around San Marino. Changed beds and 2 towels we'd hoped to dry overninght were wetter than when we started. Missed launderette and decided to continue and find something on the coast. Headed for Riccione, satnav took us to expensive site by beach not freebie as it should. Got directions to free site, no more than a car park. Asked a policewoman in Italian for directions to local launderette. Successful. Found it and it was shut until 3^rd Oct. For holidays. Got out of Riccione, didn't like it, had bad experience with tree!! Went to Catolica, found launderette, did washing. Found internet place, checked e-mails, moved money, did Facebook. Found Tabac bought stamps and phone card. Liked Catolica but couldn't find suitable parking for night. Left Catolica, took scary coast road and found layby in national park overlooking sea by village called Casteldimezzo. Enjoying cheap whisky and Cat Stevens. Tomorrow Pesaro. Looking forward to a better, more relaxing day.

Wed. 21^st Sept.

Much better day. Woke early after a good night's sleep. Walked down to Casteldimezzo after breakfast to see if we could get some bread. Only saw one woman and she scuttled into the church. No bread shop. No shops at all, just a large restaurant perched at the top of a hill with view of the sea one side and wonderful countryside the other. Great way to start the day. Back to the van and headed for Pesaro. If you're ever in this part of Italy, take the SS44 road from Cattolica to Pesaro. Windy and in places scary but great views and very little other traffic. A treat not to be missed. Arrived in Pesaro around 10am. and parked in a large car park which the book said was a Sosta, with facilities. Not a place you'd want to spend a night. We left the van and went off in search of the tourist office. Got a map and some good advice. Had a wander around along the very smart sea front and concluded there was nothing to stop us parking in a small street right by the beach. Got the van and set up camp after emptying the toilet into a tank on the car park. Only good thing about it!! Spent an hour or so wandering around the town, bought a baguette and some Brie and Gorgonzola, lunched like kings overlooking the beach. The town of Pesaro is fab. Could walk around it for hours, Jan loved the shops and made me take photo of shoes for the girls. After dinner walked into town and had gelato for dessert.

Thurs. 22^nd Sept.

Not a good night for Jan, street noise kept her awake most of the night. I suggested we watch sun rise at around 7am. It was a little cloudy so we went back to van, had cuppa and breakfast and watched sun rise through the window. Decided to have morning on the beach and leave for Urbino around 3.30pm. Had long walk along beach, lay in the sun for a few hours then had walk around town. All very healthy. After lunch, had pauso (Italian siesta) then set off for Urbino, another must see. Drive up through the country a treat, took a while to find the parking as the one in the book is now a building site!! Tourist office to the rescue. Have discovered that first call in any new place should be the tourist office – indispensible. Barbecued pork and sausage on car park next to sports centre where football match taking place, must have looked like loonies!! Quieter night, Jan slept better. Early start tomorrow.

Fri 23^rd.Sept.

Caught 9 o'clock bus to old town of Urbino. Spectacular walled city in the most attractive brick. Very much the colour of Cotswold stone. It just glows in the sun. The whole place is just so easy on the eye, everywhere you look it exudes class. We bought tickets for the Ducal Palace which houses 3 museums/art galleries. The building dates back as far as the 14^th century but you wouldn't know it. There was so much to see that we rented phone guides for €3 each. A good investment. Spent hours in there, Jan loved it. Did our usual and took our own coffee, saves a fortune. Lashed out on lunch though, doner kebabs, €3.50 and very good. After lunch walked up the steepest street ever and back down looking for jewellers and supermarkets. All shut for pauso. Walked around the cathedral, knocks spots off St. Marks in Venice, spectacular (if you like that sort of thing). Around 3.30 headed for van. Urbino great, don't miss it. Attractive town, classy people. Picked a site out of book for weekend in Fano. Got there around 5 to find it closed. Cruised along seafront and found a camper car park. €7 per night, right on beach, hook up available. No showers or toilets. Decided after 4 nights without facilities to look for campeggio. Drove 10Ks along coast, all shut!! Returned to parking lot. Not exactly what we were looking for but it's late and at least we have hook up. Have to look for better site tomorrow. It's worrying to think that most of these sites are closing already. May be a problem.

Sat.24^th. Sept.

It's been a funny old day. Had a good night, apart from trains thundering by all night. Disturbed Jan, not me. I suppose that is one advantage of what Jan believes is the onset of deafness. Decided over breakfast that we would probably stay for a few days, location is great. Got to work washing van, first time since leaving England. It was filthy. Jan did some cleaning inside and between us had the old girl looking great inside and out in a couple of hours. The toilet tank needed emptying and we discovered another disadvantage with this site – no emptying point. The nearest sosta is a couple of Ks away so we get directions, in Italian of course and get set to drive there. Van reluctant to start. A well meaning Italian neighbour discouraged me from turning the engine again and signalled me to open bonnet. He looked like he knew what he was doing and meant well but after a while it was obvious he knew no more than me!! What's more, he knew no more than me entirely in Italian. An hour later after much incoherent English/Italian conversation I tried the engine again and it started on the button. Another adventure ensued as we went in search of an emptying point on market day in a busy Italian port. Anyway, once it was emptied Jan was able to commence refilling it and normal service was restored. Home, lunch and a couple of well earned hours on the beach. Jan put a casserole in oven, didn't know whether it was beef or lamb. Upon eating we decided it was beef!! Delicious. Phoned mum. Bit the bullet tonight and showered in the van, desperate. Worked well but everything in bathroom got a bit wet. Not ideal, but after 5 days essential. Feels good to be clean all over. Tried to get TV working since arriving. Satellite dish locating satellite but can't get signal to TV. Really getting frustrated, all this expensive equipment and can't get any reception. Got to get on top of it. Sunday tomorrow, hope for a day of rest and sunshine.

Sunday,25^th. Sept.

Well, got a day of rest and sunshine as hoped for. We walked up to the phone and spoke to Abi, Hannah and Steve about 8.45am their time, 9.45 ours. Julie was working. Tried Arnie, I'm guessing he's still on holiday. Had coffee in local bar, spotted free Wifi sign. Made plan to return tonight. Weather perfect, made for beach. Still on gypsy site. (tongue in cheek) this place is great really, €7 per night and we're making friends with the locals. Read manuals on satellite dish and receiver from cover to cover, determined to get something working with it. Ended up with around 400 channels, all in Arabic. Seems impossible to tune into English TV although after re-tuning managed to get BBC radios 1-4. Man who owns site has friend who may be able to help. He's going to ring him tomorrow, fingers crossed. After dinner, (spaghetti again!! Yes that's what I thought!!) we walked back to our bar, ordered coffee and got on line. Checked e-mails, sent e-mail to all contacts and did some Facebook stuff. Jan had gelato. We seem to fill every day so we're tired out by 9pm. Must be doing us good. More of the same tomorrow. I'm thinking of sending this record out to all our contacts, or would it bore them stupid??

Mon. 26^th. Sept.

Another great day. Beautiful sunshine, cool breeze. Walked up to town this morning, had a look around, typical Italian town, full of attractive piazzas and interesting streets and classy looking Italians, most of them on bikes. Never seen so many bikes, everyone rides one, including really elderly people. Very fit people. Those who don't ride bikes have scooters. If Jan's back had been better our scooter would have made our adventures that bit easier. As it is, we're walking miles, which is much better for us and the buses are cheap and easy to use. Coffee and a couple of hours on the beach before lunch. After lunch a couple more hours sunbathing before Jan surprised me with a pot of tea and some biscotti on the beach. This must sound very dull but I have to say it's a pattern that is very comfortable while the weather is good. Another long walk before dinner and a beer in the bar we used last night. They gave us some snacks with our drinks, very nice!! Dinner tonight, chicken and sausage. OK. Knackered now, having listened to news and Just a Minute on radio 4. Thinking that we may have to move on soon. Planning wedding anniversary on Friday in Mascerata in the mountains.

Tues. 27^th Sept.

Had to move van off gypsy site at Fano because toilet needed emptying. Decided to move on, headed down the coast and spotted a site in the book at Loreto. When we arrived we realised it was a sosta with hook ups, showers, etc.b ut not a proper site, charged €15 with hookup and €1 for a shower. Not really what we had in mind, Jan's suffering from beach withdrawl already. May have to alter plans. Not far from Portonovo on the coast which is supposed to be spectacular so may head there tomorrow. Loreto is another of those Italian towns famous for it's church, Basilica della Santa Casa. Impressive to look at and makes good photos. Walked up to see the outside but were improperly dressed for inside, told Jan she could go tomorrow. This morning before leaving Fano we did the tour of jewellery shops to find charms for Jan's bracelet and a gold band to stop her wedding rings falling off. She's lost weight and her fingers have shrunk. No luck with that but stumbled on fish market and bought two fish of indeterminate species and a kilo of prawns. It would have been cheaper to buy a gold ring!! Jan cooked the prawns in garlic butter tonight with rice and salad. I thought we'd never finish them. Luckily I had some good local wine to help them down, Montepulciano de Abruzzo. Bought 6 bottles on special offer at €1.99 a bottle. Fabulous, couldn't find any cheap whisky though, looking out for it. Played with TV and got lots of Arabic channels, no good to me. Going to have to seek professional help. It's 9o'clock and we're shattered again, this life is exhausting. Goodnight.

Wed. 28^th. Sept.

We've had one of those days today!! Started off well enough, put on long trousers and skirt and went for jaunt around the Basilica, around 9am. They were already engaged in a service and we sort of tiptoed around and waited for it to finish. Must have been 50 or 60 worshipping, even that early, they take it very seriously!! A nice enough church, built around a house which had belonged to St. Mary in Nazareth and was flown to Loreto by angels in 1294, via Croatia. Heaven knows why. As usual the art and decoration and fabulous architecture, some dating back to 1300s takes the breath away. Don't think this one is quite good enough to push St. Marks into 3^rd place, Urbino remains top of the table for me. Left Loreto mid morning for Porto Recanati in search of launderette. En route filled up with diesel and LPG. What a good investment the gas conversion was. Filled the bottles which were just about empty for €11.40. A calor gas refill costs around £35. Searched high and low in Porto Recanati, but no trace of launderette we'd been directed to. In the end gave up and headed down the coast. Arrived in Porto Potenza Picena. Located launderette with minimum fuss and got to work. Next job was to find somewhere to park for the night. Dropped on sosta with all the facilities, including hook-ups – free!! Couldn't believe our luck, set up camp and headed to beach for well earned swim. Got back eagerly looking forward to barbecued fish for dinner. As I was getting organised our German neighbour, whom I couldn't help noticing seemed to be packing up, drew my attention to a sign post stating that the sosta had to be empty from 6am on Thursdays for the weekly market. Can you believe it!! What is the point. Hence, here we are, parked in what we thought was a quiet street next to a school. The playground is currently the scene of an epic football game being played by about 12 of the noisiest teenagers ever put on the earth, it's now 9.30pm and no sign of them giving up yet. Not all bad news though, weather perfect, and fish was superb, except it had to be cooked in the oven. Bye for now. Beach tomorrow.

Thurs.29^th. Sept.

Beach today was fabulous, clear blue skies, free sunbeds, sea warm and blue and sand as far as the eye could see in both directions. A breeze kept things just right and all was perfect. A noisy night last night but we were parked on the street. Visited the market before the beach and bought pair of trainers. Would sooner have seen our van parked where the trader was pitched!! Got back on later and discovered that there were no fuses in the hook ups so no electricity, the toilets were locked up and there seems to be no emptying point for the toilet. Disappointing. Still had a good dinner and managed to shower the salt off. Now in what appears to be a gay bar, using their Wifi and electricity as battery went flat last night. Jan dying for wee and the toilet is of the stand up variety which she flatly refuses to use. Must close, more beach tomorrow then up to Macerata for anniversary dinner.

Fri. 30^th.Sept.

Well, here it is, our 30^th. anniversary. Despatched bright and early to get bread and cakes. Back with that and sent out for pasta sauce, (don't ask). Jan cooked special breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancetta and mushroom to go with the fresh bread. Lovely. Did some housework and then off to the beach for a few hours. Back for lunch about 1.30 and prosciutto sandwich and anniversary cream cake. Break camp and head for Macerata up in the hills where we have singled out a special restaurant for dinner. Arrive in Macerata and after great difficulty locate parking area selected from Sosta guide. Awful, just a road with parking on either side, not a site set aside for campers at all. Find parking spot and make tea, try to settle down for an hour's rest. Hopeless, cars tearing past at great speed, stinking hot, litter everywhere. Make snap decision to move on. Find sosta in book at Pollenza, 10 Ks away, figure maybe we'll find a little restaurant in the country on the way and spend the night. Anything will be better than this. Pleasant drive takes us to Pollenza, nothing on way. Had to stop after half a mile, forgotten to close the roof lights in our haste to leave. Find very pleasant sosta and local man directs us to pizzeria/restaurant. Order beer and water and cold beef and sliced vegetables which are served with a hot stone on which to cook them. That was a surprise, having to cook our own food. Still, it was fun, tasty and filling. Followed by tiramisu for Jan and crepe suzette for me, washed down by strong good coffee. Should have had a large grappa to prepare me for the bill. Eating out here will be an occasional thing!! Walking home, saw some bats, they were free, then Jan saw a crane which she mistook for mysterious lines in the sky, UFOs perhaps. It's been that sort of day. Still, all's well that ends well. Suppose we have to look at Macerata tomorrow!!

Sat. 1^st Oct.

Good night's sleep. Wouldn't have got that in Macerata!! Breakfasted on cereal and toast, took care of some overdue housework and eventually set off for Macerata, couldn't put it off any longer. Had a bad feeling about the place. Parked where we had yesterday and took the lift up to the old town. Walked around a bit and felt that it was disappointingly run down and shabby. The Lonely Planet guide recommended it and we felt we should give it a chance. Took a free tour of the Sferisterio, an outdoor music venue with wonderful acoustics. Seems the best the town had to offer. The tour was dull and no effort was made to demonstrate the acoustic qualities of the place. Took some pics but nothing special. I suppose you can't be wowed every time you visit a new place in Italy but it's difficult not to expect it. Thought we'd take a look at the Douro, found it locked!! Decided to make a bolt for the coast and locate a site with some facilities. Not easy finding something open now we're in October. Settled on an Agritourist site at Villa Rosa, Martinsicuro, 30Ks north of Pescara. What a lovely surprise!! No-one else on site, pitches, although small, have canopies over them to provide shade, canvas floor covering, showers, hook up and peace and quiet. May stay a few days, Only downside, no wifi. We'll cope. Arrived here about 6pm. So haven't had time to explore yet. On second glass of wine after dinner and it's 8.10pm. May be early night tonight. Weather still fabulous.

Sun. 2^nd. Oct.

Now this is the sort of day I like. Our new hostess, Rita, an Italian lady of about 60 greets us as we are about to leave for the shop and offers us strong sweet Italian coffee from a flask. We have a five minute conversation in Italian which none of us understands but part the best of friends!! She is not the only friend we've made since arriving. A kitten attached itself to us last night and wouldn't leave us alone. This morning it came back with 3 friends but still left empty handed. Went to shop, enormous shopping mall, bit of a surprise in a small place like this, got what we needed and phoned Arnie, he's back from Majorca with a tale to tell. He's pleased to hear from us. Tried Mum but engaged. Back to van, unload and put away shopping and head for beach. Another pleasant surprise, a friendly bar with cheap coffee and free sunbeds for customers and fabulous sandy beach. Looks like we struck gold here. The weather is perfect again, 75-80, clear blue sky and pleasant breeze. After lunch, whilst enjoying another coffee Jan notices sign in window for wifi. Back around 5, Rita catches us with her flask and introduces us to Francesco, her husband and our host. They show us their farm shop, full of goodies which Jan can't resist. Get an armful of veg for €1.60. They announce that the nightly cost for this fabulous spot is €12. Suits me, may stay a week. After a shower, we go back to the bar, get on line and Skype Smigiels. Try Julie and Anthony but no answer. Must get better organised with Skyping!! Home to dinner of casseroled chicken. Phoned Julie and Anthony, spoke to grandchildren. Can it get better than this. Monday tomorrow. No work!! Love this retirement.

Tues. 3^rd. Oct.

OK here's a question. We went shopping yesterday and got a few bits that we needed. Today Jan said we needed something for dinner, yoghurt, milk and cereal. How did we manage to spend €38? Well, we did buy some steaks and some sausages, and the chicken was on special offer. Oh yes and we found some Scotch, Sailors' Whisky. A new record!! €4.99 a bottle, had to try it. Very drinkable, Jan is demanding that I buy a case. Still, €38 seems a bit steep. We were followed most of the way to the supermarket by the kitten who just won't take a hint. It disappeared about 100 metres before the shop. Jan was worried but we saw no sign of it in the road on the way back. Just finished dinner, barbecued fillet steak and chicken sausages (true). No sign of the kitten, maybe it found a new home. Phoned mum this morning, engaged, turned out Karel was on the phone from Australia. How lucky my mother is to have such devoted children!! Got back from shop at around 10.30am and had to go to beach to make most of this still wonderful weather. Discovered today from a German we met in a bar that a 90cm satellite dish is required in these parts to get a decent signal, someone else said we needed an Italian decoder to pick up English TV. I suppose I'll get to the bottom of it eventually. Can't be too bothered while the weather is so perfect. As the nights grow longer and colder it may become more important. Rita and Francesco came over as I was putting the steaks on the barbecue, offering some of Rita's coffee from the flask. I declined and explained in Italian that we take our coffee without sugar. I offered them some whisky, and wine, both of which they politely declined (maybe they realised it was only €4.99 a bottle.) I felt guilty that they went without our having had some social intercourse. I would be devastated if we've offended them. It's difficult to know with the language differences. Tomorrow will tell.

Tues. 4^th. Oct.

Another fabulous morning. Decided that rather than laze on the beach we'd walk to Martinsicuro for a walk around and a gelato. (It's been a few days and Jan's getting twitchy.) Warmest day for a while, no breeze, discovered it was about 2 miles or so to walk. Took our time, walked alongside the back, fought impulse to get bus. Had lunch and rewarded ourselves with a few hours on the beach and a swim. We deserved it!! For dinner tonight Jan cooked red peppers, stuffed with chicken sausages, cheese and stuff. Served with cauliflower cheese, mushrooms and bread. Fabulous!! Clever Jan. We've been informed that it's going to rain on Friday. May have to put in some serious beach time before then. Nothing more to report, except that my satellite dish is 90cms so back to drawing board.

Wed. 5^th. Oct.

Another visit to the local shop for a few groceries then to the beach. Usual routine, lay a little,swim a little, walk a little. Suddenly it's lunch time, home for lunch. Back to the beach, same old stuff. This weather is so perfect it would be criminal to waste it. So there we are, another day done. We've managed to tune into some Italian TV and watch the news. Manage to understand about one word in ten but the pictures help. Figured out that Foxy Knoxy has been released and a building has collapsed in southern Italy. Lots of politics – even more dull in Italian. It seems that this sustained spell of perfect weather is unusual, maybe we've just been lucky. We'll see tomorrow.

Thurs. 6^th.Oct.

Today was perfect too although there are a few clouds around tonight. We walked up to Santa Rosa today, a small but perfectly formed village, about a mile up the road. Replaced the spray for stopping mosquitoes eating us. Expensive at €10.50 but essential. Had coffee in tabacchi and headed for beach. Another lazy day. Had cake and fruit on the beach and came home about 4.30. Rita and her granddaughter came over with coffee, sense zucchere and biscotti. We were pleased to see her and they spent 30 minutes with us excercising my Italian. We've been here since Saturday and I've just discovered there's a washing machine here so we don't have to chase after a launderette. What a find this place is!! Bought salad and fruit in the farm shop and had mixed meat and salad for dinner. Started with mussels (cozze) found on beach, only half of which opened. Last time we bother, too much like hard work. Both whacked again tonight, Jan got too much sun and she thinks she may have a bit of a cold starting. How can we get so tired doing so little? I suppose when you take into account the amount of walking and swimming we do it's not surprising. I think we're losing weight, seems to suit us. May pursue TV things tomorrow.

Fri. 7^th. Oct.

Did washing and dried it in quick time. Just as well, later on it poured with rain. Went off in search of help with TV things. A really helpful guy at Colonelli spent an hour or more trying to set up decoder but could not tune in English channels. Gave up in the end but bought 4 metre scart lead. Drove back, made beds, played some more with TV and found some obscure channels in English, including Sky News, and some other stuff. Feel like it's the best we'll get. Bought a DVD today, watched it for 2 hours after which it broke up, didn't see ending, got to take back tomorrow and get money back, that should be fun. Weather broke up big time today. Hope better tomorrow.

Sat.8^th. Oct.

Much cooler today but sun shining and pleasant enough. Decided to get bus to Ascoli Piceno. Waited 20 minutes for bus to Martinsicuro, didn't arrive so walked the 2K + and got bus to San Benedetto where we got bus for Ascoli. Enjoyed the trip of about 25 Ks and had a stroll around the town. It's not Urbino but a pleasure on the eye, the buildings and architecture are very special. Had a walk around the cathedral and as with all the churches we've seen the architecture and decoration are spectacular. Gelatto was up to scratch and we enjoyed a pork panino for lunch. Bus back to San Benedetto and on to Martinsecuro. Had to walk home from there. Sore feet tonight. Walked miles today. Quick dinner and on with TV, England knocked out of rugby world cup by France and Wales through. Sad day!! Hope for warmer day tomorrow, could do with a lazy day on the beach before moving on on Monday.

Sun. 9^th. Oct.

Well, we knew it had to happen sooner or later!! The weather has changed with a vengeance. Around 3am. today a thunderstorm broke and went on for hours, rolling around, being noisy and wet. In addition, because we were greedy yesterday there were only 2 biscotti each left for our early morning tea. Also worrying was that Jan woke with a sore throat and rotten cold, it's been threatening for days, good job we have a large supply of paracetemol. Because we thought Jan was cooking pancetta and new laid eggs for breakfast we had bought no bananas for breakfast. The day was turning into a disaster, I had to have sugar on my corn flakes. Left Jan in bed for a couple of hours and worked on our route for next stage of our adventure. Phoned Arnie, using mobile. Too wet and windy to walk to phone box. Whilst talking to Arnie, hailstones began to fall, couldn't hear ourselves speak, the day was not getting better. Another thunderstorm. Around 11am Jan felt well enough to leave her bed and prepare brunch using aforementioned ingredients. Played with TV and watched Sky news. Went for walk early afternoon to our bar on the beach, drank bottle of fizzy water and threatened to go back later to use Wifi. Returned to van just before next rain came and found a film to watch on CBS Drama, another channel we've found by playing with the satellite receiver. Crap film but helped to pass a couple of hours and another thunderstorm. Had to lower sat. dish. Wind up to gale-force and weather getting worse. As I type this another flash of lightening and clap of thunder, here we go again. Jan's just put the electric kettle on at the same time as the electric fire and tripped out the circuit. I think we only have about 5 amps on the hook up. Just got soaked restoring current. It's now 8.20pm. on Sunday night, no Skyping or internet tonight, rain stopped play. Reminds me of when I used to play cricket! Dinner though was fab. The tenderest pork, cooked perfectly served with baked potato, zucchini and tomatoes, with gravy. Life's not half bad. Hopefully tomorrow Jan will feel better and the weather will improve. If not we'll move on on Tuesday.

Mon. 10^th.Oct.

Things calmed down overnight. Jan woke feeling a little better and we decided to move on. Rita and Francesco would not let us leave until we had taken coffee and biscotti with them, (sense zucherre). What hospitable people, they don't have a word of English between them yet they made us feel very welcome. Would recommend a stay here to anyone. Left there and went to our bar by the beach to use wifi and catch up on e-mails and facebook. Nothing of note. A little shopping and we were on our way into the mountains. This may be the last of our Adriatic adventure as we are heading in the direction of Rome now. If the rest of our adventure is as good as the first stage it will be fabulous!! Tonight we are in Camerino, we've left Le Marche behind and are now in Umbria.We are on a sosta overlooking a valley and a range of mountains, the views are superb, the camera can't do them justice. The site is free, the facilities are excellent, hook up is €1 for 4 hours. We walked up to the town tonight to make some phone calls and it is charming. No mention of it in the book but a pleasure to walk around, a university town, so laid back you can't believe. Feel so comfortable walking around it. The buildings and layout just make you want to wander around, it was sunset when we went up there and as darkness fell the charm of the place just increased. Must spend some time there tomorrow. Nothing more to report, except that Jan's cold isn't getting any better.

Tues.11^th. Oct.

It's becoming clear that I am falling in love with Italy. This town, Camerino, is set in perfect surroundings, everywhere you look there are wonderful vistas of mountains and valleys. The sky is a beautiful, cloud free blue, the air is clear and the atmosphere is relaxed, we can walk around narrow, cobbled streets in safety, apart from the lunatics in cars, and even enjoy window shopping in the classy, individual shops. I think I've said it before but there is a certain style about Italy and it's people that I've not experienced anywhere else. There always seems to be time for relaxation, socialising and generally enjoying life. We spent the morning exploring and found some gardens, surrounding a ruined fort, dating back to 14^th century which is now a pizzeria!! The views from the balcony took the breath away. Checked out several churches, suffering a little from too many churches!! Back for lunch of cheese and mixed cold meats. Had siesta, had to run A/C it was so hot. Cup of tea and then back up to town for gelato and beer about 5.30. Another exploratory stroll revealed a narrow alley at the bottom of which opened up another eye watering view of the countryside, totally unexpected. We got back to the van and ate a delicious chicken casserole outside, wood smoke drifting up from the valley below, gazing across at the pink glow over the mountains in semi darkness after sunset. A glass of cheap red wine made the moment complete. Still can't believe how lucky we are. If I could figure out how to play back the movies I've taken on the camera life would be complete.

Wed. 12^th. Oct.

Figured out how to play movies, guess life now complete. Had to download Real Time from Olympus disc. Was deleted last time we cleaned up hard drive. Reluctantly left the comfort and convenience of our excellent free sosta in Camerino and headed for Assisi. As usual, the satnav gave us the runaround looking for site out of the book and we eventually settled for a place about 400 metres away from the Porto Nuovo. No hook ups and basic emptying point and tap, €10 per night. Still it's flat and we have a place for the night, within walking distance of the action. Walked up to tourist office, got map, went to small supermarket, got lunch and salad for dinner, back to van about 1.30. Lunch, a nap and ready to go about 4.30 after cup of tea. Wow!! This place is so easy on the eye. Never ceases to amaze me how much history, original features and character has been retained in these towns over hundreds of years. I keep on about the perfect weather, another beautiful day, temperature in 70s, cloudless skies. It is the light that makes these buildings appear so perfect. Just had to have gelato to celebrate!! Walked from one end of the town to the other and watched the sun setting over the mountains from the balcony adjacent to Chiesa de San Francesco. Words fail me!!

Walked back the way we'd come and enjoyed the sights just as much going back. Back to the van for dinner of salad with sausages and stuff. Back to Assisi tomorrow for more!!

Thurs. 13^th. Oct.

What an adventure this is!! You never quite know what's coming your way living like this. Last night was difficult. We had dinner, a glass of wine and were exhausted. In bed shortly after 9.30. A long night. If the dogs in the olive grove a short distance away were quiet, (not for long) an acorn would fall on the roof of the van with a bang!! We'd made the mistake of parking under a cluster of oak trees. Hardly slept at all. Decided that rather than camp in the middle of Perugia, a large university city, we'd head for sleepy Bastia Umbria which had a sosta with basic facilities. Arrived mid afternoon and took a well earned siesta. Woke about 4pm to the boom boom of disco music nearby. Turned out there is a small fair in a park, just the other side of the car park. Sleepy quiet Bastia Umbria. Don't expect it to go on too late. In between our sleepless night and our rude awakening we've had a lovely day. Got into Assisi early, about nine, found the tourist office at the Duomo de San Francesco, the main attraction and got on the list for a guided tour at noon. That gave us time to take in the other sights, including the fort on top of Rocca Maggiore,which included a tough climb. Worth it though to see Jan's delight at being able to snaffle a little of the wall for Rob's beach!! A church or two later and it was time to have a slice of pizza and some fizzy water before joining the hoards at St. Francesco's tomb. We were taken around by an American guy from Pennsylvania who now lives in Assisi with his wife and has no wish to be anywhere else. He was very informative and I have to say put the whole complex into perspective. Jan loved it. You really need to see these sights in the company of a guide in order to get the best out of them. I've read hundreds of pages of facts to Jan about the places we're visiting but the guides bring them to life. So after walking miles and enjoying the delights of Assisi we rewarded ourselves with a gelato and headed for the van. Bastia Umbria has now gone quiet, 8pm. We looked around the town and shopped earlier, discovered an internet cafe and Skyped Julie. Dinner has been taken and whisky is in the glass. Hope to sleep better tonight. Perugia tomorrow, haven't decided whether to take the bus or the van, see how the night goes.

Fri. 14^th. Oct.

It's the van. After spending a remarkably peaceful night at Bastia Umbria, no dogs barking, no acorns and mercifully, no loud music after around 9pm, we woke around 7.30. Had a shopping trip into town and at long last managed to find not just a ring for Janet but a sun for her charm bracelet. Were also successful in locating potatos, vegetables and oranges in the large market. Decided to take the bull by the horns and strike out for Perugia in the van. After the usual fiasco, trying to find the site with the satnav we dropped on a sosta on the outskirts of the city. The actual site with the facilities is on the upper level, there is a far more pleasant sosta on the lower level which is still under construction. The emptying point and water supply up top are out of the ark. The same facilities on the lower level are non existant!! I spotted one big advantage though. Up one end of the lower site is a hook up facility for the building workers. Had lunch, siesta, and set off for the city. Long way, too far to walk, got half way, jumped on a bus then took escalators to the top. Found tourist information office and got map. The whole place is given over to the annual chocolate festival. Scores of stalls selling, promoting and giving chocolate of all descriptions to large crowds of people. Gave the cathedral a good look over, the art is fabulous, very impressive, unfortunately it's beginning to feel a bit samey. Can't help it, we've seen so many churches since we arrived. We're hoping to go to Nestles chocolate factory tomorrow. The weather has turned cold and windy, I think it's got a lot to do with the altitude. Hope so!! Decided to walk back using the escalators but got a little lost. Long walk. On return, tried out the hook up. Eureka!! Free parking, free electricity. Result. Hope the toilet doesn't need emptying tonight. Beef for dinner tonight. Don't know how Jan consistently produces such excellent food. Her cold seems to have got better.

Sat.15^th. Oct.    

Well, what a shame. When we shut the blinds last night there were maybe 12 or 15 vans parked by us. We were conscious of a lot of movement and voices but weren't prepared for what we found this morning. Must have been 70 to 80 vans on both car parks. It was clear that half of Italy had turned up for the first Saturday of the chocolate festival. We had been looking forward very much to spending a few days in Perugia but didn't want to share it with hoards of people drawn by endless stands and stalls promoting chocolate. Very disappointing but we decided to bale out and head for Lago Tresimano and some peace and tranquillity. We agreed that Nestles factory should get the swerve too as we didn't have an appointment and may have been wasting our time. Half an hour later we pulled onto a sosta which promised free parking with hook up, right on the lakeside. We found two old vans there, one of which looked derelict and permanent and no electricity. Found a campsite along the road but decided the €24 per night they were asking was excessive. Drove on to Borghetto right at the north of the lake and found sosta on the lakeside with hookup. Nice enough spot by a small village and very quiet. It will do for a night or maybe two. Explored the village, no public phone or wifi, although the computer tells me there is!! Maybe we can locate it tomorrow. The weather is still cold, the wind fresh, although the sky is blue and cloudless. I'm thinking that it may be time to head towards Rome a little earlier than planned and then on south in search of warmer weather. I'm sure it will be warmer tomorrow but the locals seem to have their winter clothes on. So does Jan!! Jan made some of her special belly buster burgers tonight and I cooked them on the barbecue, ate them in big crusty rolls with lots of cheese and red onion. Sensational.

Sun.15^th. Oct.

Had the quietest night yet, slept like babies. No dogs, scooters, noisy traffic, fairs or trains. Just the wind. Decided we'd stay another day and did some housework to celebrate. After that felt the urge to drink coffee. The sun was quite warm and if not for the wind the morning would have been hot. Still, pleasant enough to get the chairs out and take coffee al fresco!! Went to walk around a bit, get some excercise and try to locate the wifi hotspot the computer has flagged up. Located it at the bar 50 yards away and got the code to get on line. There is no doubt that wifi can be a blessing and a curse. The signal was weak but just strong enough to keep me interested. Did the mundane stuff like checking e-mails and got set up to Skype. What a nightmare, ended up sitting outside the bar talking to the Smigiels, night drawing in and getting colder, retreated indoors to try Julie and had to go to the bar. Gave up with Anthony in the end and Jan spoke to them on mobile. Thinking we might have to kick Skype into touch and stick to phone, Facebook and e-mails. Don' t even get me started on how I failed to launch my blog!! Another day maybe. We ate in the bar/restaurant with the wifi and had pleasant meal of mixed antipasta and shellfish with pasta. First proper Italian food we've ordered. You can eat it but you wouldn't want to live on it. Tomorrow's another day. Hopefully internet free.