James' in the UK

We caught a couple trains and got to the little villages that make up the Cinque Terre. This area was one that I had seen from a distance in the past and it was on my list of places I wanted to see so I was very happy to finally be there. We had booked accommodation here awhile before Jordan and Caroline so we weren't able to stay in the same village, so they stayed on the train one stop longer. However it was only a 15 minute walk between the 2 villages so it wasn't a problem.

The village we stayed in was Manarola, and after we explored all the villages I decided this was my favourite one. It was set down near the waters edge but also one of the least touristy villages. The geography of the villages was very amazing, perched on cliff faces and more vertical the horizontal. It is an incredible part of the world and so beautiful. The villages are surrounded by terrace vineyards and other agriculture, some terraces so steep that there were ladders or stairs from one row of vines to the next. Apparently the land is now very fragile and gradually dissappearing and are being saved by the terraced farming. I just couldn't stop taking photos of the villages, particularly Manarola.

Once we had found where were staying we went for a walk around the village and around the headland to see the view towards some of the other villages. The afternoon was quite warm and the water looked inviting so we went for a dip off the rocks. The water was very clear and deep but there was a constant swell that kept us swimming all the time to avoid the rocks.

Manarola

We met Jordan and Caroline who had walked over from their village and had a delicious fresh seafood dinner. After dinner we went down to the rocks and sat and watched the sun go down, a very special moment.

Manarola Sunset

We got up the next morning and walked to Riomaggiore where Jordan and Caroline were staying. We checked out the fantastic view from their apartment window, looking straight over the little harbour. Apparently earlier views from this apartment were met with topless sunbathers, but not when we were there. We had a yummy breakfast and a walk around the village and the beach. It was not the kind of beach we were used to, not just rocks but big round rocks. It was then time for Jordan and Caroline to catch their train to their Tuscan Villa (so terrible!) so we caught a train in the other direction to the village at the end of the five, Monterosso al Mare. Our plan was to go to the far end and gradually work our way back for the rest of the day.

Monterosso al Mare was definately the professional sunbathers village, and was the one that was flatter and less cliff like. The whole rocky beach was covered in umbrellas and sun lounges that you could pay to use, and roped of private sections. There was some serious sunbathing going on and lots of leather (some of it topless) on display. The sea was a gorgeous colour, so nice that Adrian was convinced it was dyed. We wandered around the beaches, had some lunch and set of for the next town.

Monterosso al Mare

The information we had said the walk from Monterosso al Mare to the next village - Vernazza - was about 2 hours long and had some difficult walking. Adrian is usually the first one to shy away from a bush walk but he was keen so we set out. We realised part way around that it was actually going to be longer than 2 hours and a bit more challenging than expected. We weren't really dressed for the walk and weren't carrying any water with us. We were getting very hot and sunburnt by the time we got to see the view of Vernazza.

Vernazza

Vernazza was the most touristy village of the five, certainly the one that most non Italians flock to. It was very beautiful with ruins and colourful boats on the tranquil harbour. The harbour and swimming beach were obviously what attracted the tourists and was very nice. As we had got so hot walking we just wanted to swim, and as we didn't have anywhere to put our backpack holding cameras, money and keys, we had to swim one at a time. We walked around the village to help dry off and ate nutella gelati which makes almost any situation better. We thought the best option for getting to the next village was to catch the train.

Corniglia was the only of the villages that is set at the top of the cliff instead of the bottom. For this reason it was the least touristy. It is a nice little traditional village but to be fair by the time we got there we were getting tired and ready to relax for a bit. We had a little wander around and then headed off on the path towards Manarola. As soon as we got there we got a bite to eat, dropped some stuff at our room and went swimming again. Unlike yesterday when it was quite busy, there was now hardly anyone swimming so it was nice and quite. It was also much calmer. We swam until the sun was getting low in the sky, then sat on the rocks and watched the sun go down again. So peaceful and nice.

The last day of our holiday started very early as the trains running on Sundays to Milan airport weren't very frequent. The whole day was really spent on trains, buses and planes and we eventually got home happy and a little more sun kissed than when we left.

Food of choice in the Cinque Terre: The very fresh seafood from the restaurant in Manarola.

After some trouble with trains we eventually got to Turin. The topography of the land between Rome and Turin was interesting, it seemed like we went up into the hills and eventually came to a huge plateau which Milan and Turin was on. But most of the way between Milan and Turin we were looking at snow covered mountains that rose above this plateau. Basically this meant that while we were in Turin and it was 28-30 degrees we could see snow not far away.

We caught one of the local buses but we didn't know where to buy a ticket so we rode it free and vowed to find some tickets later. We found our hotel and room without to much trouble and as we were checking in the guy told us there was a celebration in Turin that night which was something to do with Fiat, a car which is made here. Anyway we were feeling hungry so we went to find something to eat. We headed into a some what cheap and cheerful looking pizza place, thinking that the food may be a bit nasty. Were we wrong! The guy made the pizzas from scratch in front of us (including rolling/stretching the dough) and they were very nice. Caroline and I had a set menu meals and we just randomly chose things off the menu and had absolutely no idea what we were getting. Even when the food came out we didn't know which ones we'd ordered and what was entre, side dish or main dish. We though we'd ordered dessert but that wasn't even a choice on the set menu! The food was absolutely delicious though, loved all of it. We were so full afterwards and very happy with our meal.

After dinner we decided to check out the celebrations, which sounded big but we didn't really know what it was all about. We went to catch a bus but munchkin had decided it was the end of the day already and Jordan and Caroline retired early. Adrian I managed to cram onto a very full bus and got about half way into town before it got to crazy and we jumped off. We realised that the celebrations were obviously very big because the place was packed, Turin was going off. We walking into one of the main piazzas and established that the celebration was the 50th anniversary of the producition of the Fiat 500. We saw a lot of old Fiat 500s but this was the new model one:

Fiat 500

We walked around the streets a bit, got caught up in a parade and got squished in the huge crowds. We wanted to walk down to the river front as there were bars and stuff that are meant to be good, but it was so packed we never got there. We walked around for awhile and realised that as we had no plan to get home, we needed to catch an earlier bus or face a very long walk.

The next day we headed back into town which was quite a different experience minus the huge crowds. Our first stop was a street market to pick up some cheap clothes as Jordan and Caroline were running out of clean ones. The hightlight of the T-Shirts was one that simply said 'Get your hands dirty fat cat'. We really had no idea whether is was some political statement or something less tasteful or just a really bad translation but we got hours of entertainment out of it.

We really liked Turin, the buildings with their courtyards and porticoes (covered walkways) and the palaces and piazzas were very grand and gave the city a great feel. It felt more friendly than Rome and had great open air bars and cafes to while away your time. You could tell alot of the buildings were built in an affluent time so they were luxurious and expensive looking.

Palazzo Madama

We casually strolled around the streets doing some window shopping and having a coffee and hot chocolate. The chocolate was so thick, really only just a liquid. If you left it for more than a few seconds it formed a thick skin. It was a bit to much chocolate to have at once, so while sitting at the cafe, we each got a bannana and drizzled the chocolate over it. Caroline even designed a method for making a hollow trench in the bannana so you could get more choclate without it dripping off. We were all class.

Next we walked around some more, found a Italian version of a kebab/yiros for lunch then went to the Mole Antonelliana. This was a building that we'd read you got get up to the top of and get a view over Turin, however we weren't really prepared for how we got up there. The building was a large domed building (which housed a cinema museum) with a kind of spire out the top. There was a glass elevator that pretty much floated in the middle of the room, just the cables above and below but nothing else, all a bit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Jordan took one look at it and said no way but the rest of us took it on. It was so cool, I loved it. I didn't want it to end. Inside the dome was actually quite groovy looking and it was so cool to look up and see yourself ascending through the room with nothing above or around you - nothing blocking your view. Anyway the 360 degree view from the top was worth it but I couldn't wait to go in the elevator again.

We spend the rest of the afternoon doing more wandering and window shopping and then headed back to our favourite pizza bar for tea. More delicious food. Afterwards we headed back into town to the riverside bars that we couldn't even got to the night before and enjoyed a few drinks in the warm evening.

Snack of choice in Italy: Ringos

We flew into Rome early Saturday morning and started off by finding where we were staying and working out the public transport. The weather was so much hotter than that in Derby so we were feeling it a bit. After getting off the bus a bit late and not really knowing where we were for awhile, we eventually found the building and waited in the garden until the room was cleaned. The hosts were very friendly and even knew some English. The room was very nice and had some kitchen facilities and breakfast left in the room which was useful. The gardens has plum and pear trees bearing fruit which we could pick any time we wanted. The plums were small but very sweet and refreshing.

After changing into some more climate appropriate clothes we caught a tram and had a bit of a look around some of the historic sites of Rome. We knew that Jordan and Caroline would want to see the same stuff so we took it pretty leisurely. We found a mini supermarket near the tram line so we bought some food, beer and wine and went back to our room to enjoy some tea and drinks in the garden.

We got up early the next morning to go into town to meet Jordan and Caroline. It was so good to see them and see that Caroline had a cute little baby bump already. They looked like we had the previous morning, a little tired and in clothes that were way to warm for the weather. We took them back to where we were staying and they had a shower and some food. We expected they might be a bit jetlagged and not want to do much but they were raring to go. We caught the tram into town and started retracing some of our steps from yesterday, walking around the Pantheon, Roman Forum and the Colosseum and taking alot of photos.

At this point we discovered Carolines pregnancy mannerisms. We were quick to learn that we needed to navigate the city and sites via the public toilets, and over the course of the week we learnt to diagnose how Caroline and munchkin were feeling.

Quiet - tired and grumpy but not trying to show grumpiness, needs to sit down and eat soon
Randomly walking into bakeries - needs to eat NOW
Walking quickly - needs to find a toilet soon
Walking with shorter strides - needs to find a toilet really soon
Walking in front of everyone - needs to use a toilet really soon and knows where one is

We tried to look after her and made sure we could get her what she needed. Hopefully we did a good job. Unfortunatley our walking style of site seeing was probably a bit in conflict with sitting and resting.

Anyway, we stopped for lunch at a nice Pizzeria which had a view over the Colosseum. After lunch we did a fair bit of random wandering and saw some of the less touristy parts of Rome. We walking around discovering all sorts of bits and pieces and eventually retired with a refreshing serve of Gelati.

Caroline, Jordan and Adrian eating Gelati

We fnished the day by getting some more supplies for tea and heading home. Jetlag was beginning to take its toll so Jordan and Caroline hit the hay pretty early and Adrian and I drank in the garden again.

We had intended to get up early to avoid some of the queues but some how that didn't happen. So instead we headed into Trevi Fountain, St Peters Square and then Piazza del Popolo, and eventually lined up to go inside the Colosseeum. We really liked all the sites of Rome and we were endlessly facinated by the stuff that we came across. We had fun running around the Colosseeum learning about Jordan aka Eros.

Trevi Fountain

Colosseum

As we felt like we had seen all we were going to see in Rome, on our last full day we decided to take a day trip to Pompeii. I had heard of people going to Pompeii and not being very impressed with it but I was so glad we went, it was so interesting and well worth the visit. We caught a train to Naples, then another to Pompeii so by the time we got there we were ready for lunch. We had packed lunch from home so after eating that we started exploring. It was amazing to see and walk around such a large area (a whole city) that had been preserved so well. We saw colour murals, mosaics and timber in walls that were all still in pretty good repair, amazing for the age of it. We were fascinated by the aspects of ancient life that we could see evidence of, like a main shopping street with shop fronts, election advertising painted on the walls and take away food stalls. We joked about these shops that had counters with several holes in them being curry houses with bain maries for the curries, but it was only later when we read in a book that was actually close to the truth!

We caught trains back home and went out for dinner and some gelati for our last night in Rome.

Snack of choice in Italy: Nutella Gelati