Arriving in Rome

Driving into Rome, we are absolutely astonished and blown away by the gigantic old roman buildings. We had no idea they would be right in the city centre and so close to each other. The actual centre of the city consists of ruins of the old roman Forum, the Colosseum and a smaller forum across the street.

While these amazing sites are a major distraction, we continue on to our next challenge… can we find a spot to park our van? If we don’t find one, our other option is to park outside of the city and catch the train in each day. This would add to our costs and travel time, so after a few more wrong turns we have settled for a spot next to a park: Villa Borghese. We are pretty sure you are not allowed to park here but there are no signs saying so. We decide to risk it.

Sperlonga, Italy

Getting out of Naples is a relief. We make our way up north towards Rome with the intention of finding a nice campsite along the way to recharge our batteries, fill up water and relax for a couple of days.

Spending the first night on a public car park in Sperlonga, Logan is trying to snatch power from a socket underground but the connections don’t fit. He is being caught by some curious Italians; they stop right next to him and just stare but don’t say anything. They stared before, when we had dinner too. They all stare. All the time. It’s very intimidating.

The next morning we drive into Nord-Sud Camp here in Sperlonga, a nice place. We are located only meters from the beach and while Logan follows his urge of running up mountains, I’m taking care of blogging.

Once he’s back we are going for a lovely stroll on the beach and I’m going for my first swim in the Mediterranean Sea since 2009. It’s very refreshing since the water temperature is still somewhere under 20 degrees but it’s fun!

   

Other than that Sperlonga is a pretty dead town at this time of the year. There are not many people here yet but the camping prices have increased from about 10-15 Euros (North and East Italy) to 28-36 Euros (West).

Naples, city of chaos

 

Traffic noise, sirens and beeping horns have accompanied our sleep. The heat in the morning is responsible for a quick breakfast as our van is turning into an oven. Getting the bicycles down, Logan wants to pump up his back tire a little more but instead of pumping air in, it’s coming out. Finally it is completely flat and we can’t ride into town anymore. This is really great timing as it’s not only very hot today but we are about an hours walk away from the city centre.

“Okay we are walking!” I say. Logan gives me a surprised look but then we start walking. I feel like jumping into the dirty sea, that’s how hot it is. An hour later we are in the city centre, gazing at a shopping centre from the inside and various sights throughout the city. It is here where we first have Italian ice cream and now we’re hooked! Nowhere in the world will you get ice cream with SUCH a delicious taste! If fruit flavour, nut, panna cotta, yoghurt, alcoholic ice cream, ANYthing you could wish for: You’ll find it in Italy! And oh so creamy!

Anyway, we pick up a tourist map and make sure we’ve seen the most important sights and streets but soon come to our end. The heat is unbearable and my feet hurt because my shoes have rubbed off the skin between my toes. Ouch. We decide on catching a bus back: What an experience! We find ourselves jammed in with other passengers, sweat, smell, heat, traffic jam, no movement! This is worse than walking! We’re getting off again. A few hundred meters later we are getting onto the same bus again… and… miss our station. Instead we are going through a loooong tunnel. Logan wants to walk back, but I can see another bus coming in the opposite direction so we hop back on. Finally we only need to walk another 400 meters and we are back at our Globetrotter home.

Climbing Vesuvius and Busking in Naples

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano about 9km east of Naples and a short distance to the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland that has erupted within the last hundred years. Climbing a volcano that has destroyed and buried the Roman cities Pompeii and Herculaneum AD79 is very special but the fact that Vesuvius is also rated one of the most dangerous volcanos in the world, makes it a little more exciting.

 
Vesuvius has erupted many times since AD79, the last time being in 1944. On occasion, eruptions from Vesuvius have been so large that the whole of Southern Europe has been blanketed by ash; in 472 and 1631 Vesuvian ash fell on Constantinople (Istanul), over 1,200km away. Today there are more than 3,000,000 people living nearby, which makes it the most densely populated volcanic region in the world. The volcano is being monitored by the Osservatorio Vesuvio in Naples and the government’s evacuation plan assumes between two weeks and 20 days’ notice of an eruption. The evacuation of 600,000 people by trains, ferries, cars and buses is planned to take about seven days.

So after paying 5 Euros for parking and an additional 8 Euros per person entrance to the Volcano, we are allowed to start our walk and even receive a walking stick – borrowed of course.
While we are walking up the volcano as one of the first 30 visitors, we look down on the many bus loads full of people arriving. Hundreds of people are lining up at the ticket office during the day, large groups following us.

 

 

The views from the volcano down to Naples and the bay are spectacular. Also the view into the crater is fascinating. Even though Vesuvius is not currently erupting, we see steam rising up from the inside. A group of students from America is lined up at the rim and shouting into the crater. The sound travels around the inner wall and comes back to us in a circular movement seconds later. This is so cool, we have to try it ourselves. It even works when you call out into the crater on your own, but as loud as you can! You are allowed to walk around the top for about ¾ of the rim but then have to walk the same way back. There is even a small coffee shop and tourist shops up the top.

 

Click on the following picture and you’ll be able to move it around with the cursor to get a 360 degree view!

Adventurous as we are, we climb up some volcanic rock and look even deeper into the crater. People at the bottom stop, stare and point. But they always stare, so not sure what their reason is this time.

It is then time for us to move on to Naples.
I was told Naples is the real Italy. Not as touristy as Rome, it is supposed to be a nice Italian city.

In REALITY Naples is a hectic and crazy city with an accumulation of Italian freakazoids without driving skills. Somehow we are trying to find a car park in the congested and loud city but soon realise we need to get out of here. A man on a scooter tries to sell us an iPhone while driving. Even though we shake our heads he keeps harassing us, driving in front of us, turning backwards, then next to us, then again in front of us. We almost hit him accidently; what’s the matter with these Italians? Window washers catapult themselves at our campervan at traffic lights and mopeds outright cut in front of us. Beeping horns everywhere and constantly! Getting out of this chaos is difficult and very stressful, so stressful I ask Logan to please stop on the side of the road and figure out where we can go to escape this craziness. Eventually we make it to the marina at the outskirts of Naples. Still loud and hectic, we decide this is as far as we can go and still be able to ride into Naples via bicycle tomorrow. Since it’s a busy Saturday night, I convince Logan to go busking for the first time in his life. Along the esplanade we see many people busking, selling roses, mimicking and so on. Logan sets himself up across a restaurant and I can feel the eyes on us. It must be strange for people to see a white person with blonde dreadlocks busking on the street.

The African ‘fellas’ all come and say “hello”, “rastafari” or “Bob Marley”. They love him. It’s so funny to watch. During the first 5 minutes, Logan gets about 5 Euros, then it slows down for the next 55 minutes. In the end we walk back to our Campervan with 8 Euros and a laugh about the new experience.

Amalfi Coast and Pompeii

Today’s plan is to drive to Pompeii and have a look at the ancient ruins destroyed by the Vesuvius volcano 79AD.

We think it’s best to drive along the popular Amalfi coast. Especially dad kept saying, you gotta have a look at the Amalfi coast, it’s supposed to be spectacular with the high cliffs dropping into the sea.

Spectectular? Oh yes! But we didn’t really know, that the road along the coast would be carved into the cliff going up and down and being particularly bendy! The cliffs are partly hanging over the narrow road adding to the danger of damaging our Globetrotter van. At a roadwork traffic light, a man jumps out of his car, informing us that Campervans are not allowed along the Amalfi Coast. I could hardly believe this but google confirms his statement: No mobile homes or caravans allowed between April and September. Only between 23:00-06:00 are they allowed to pass through. Basically that is in the dark and since we have made it half way through, we have no choice but to keep going.

The views are amazing but the hectic and dangerous drive is even more thrilling! About 5km before Positano we are being stopped by a traffic controller. She tells us that we can’t go through Positano as there are road works and we’re too big to fit through. We couldn’t believe it! Instead of going all the way back, she said we could also go through Agerola and head inland from there. I’m not exactly sure what she was thinking or if we took a wrong turn towards Agerola but we suddenly find ourselves on a very steep, windy, narrow and bumpy road that was obviously not made for vehicles such as ours!

Trying to make it up the steep cliff, our Globetrotter is at its limit nearly stalling. We have to squeeze through between a car and a wall and eventually have to discover that we cannot make the last bit due to the road turning into a gravel track.

  

Back down the same steep track, we find another turn off with the streets gradually becoming wider and easier to navigate through, until finally we make it back onto a main road.

 

Finally getting to Pompeii, we only have the afternoon to have a look at the ruins but think it should be enough time.

Upon paying an entrance fee of 11Euros each and buying a guidebook, we enter the world of Pompeii. We are absolutely stunned and amazed by the size and atmosphere.

Pompeii is a town that was buried in 79AD by the Vesuvius volcano and first ruins were only discovered in 1592 while the first excavations didn’t begin until 1748 and are ongoing.

We then lost ourselves in a different world, set way back in the past. Not only did the Pompeians have an Amphitheatre, in which gladiators fought wild animals and occasionally each other, they also had gyms, community baths, temples, basilicas (churches), forums, two theatres, a market place, potteries, bakeries, taverns, vineyards, gardens and more.

 

 

We are stunned. And suddenly it is 7:30pm and we hardly see another person in Pompeii. We rush back to the entrance, getting slightly lost and having to jump a wall. We made it before they closed the gates and get back to our campervan.

You can easily spend a whole day in Pompeii and if you really want to get into it, a week wouldn’t be long enough. It is an amazing place to see and feel.

 

We decide that we want to climb the Vesuvius crater tomorrow so already make our way to the still active Volcano and spend the night at a car park next to a little take-away place from which we get two slices of pizza before going to bed.

Driving East to West through Southern Italy

Having explored the centre and east coast of Italy, we decide it’s time to now head over west, towards Naples (Napoli). We don’t leave until about 3pm but then cut across through the beautiful green centre of Southern Italy.

Only about 4 hours later we get to see the Mediterranean Sea. We also notice a much higher population, mixed in with a lot more tourists and probably a higher criminality rate. We’re not quite sure as to where to park the van over night, so try to get away from Salerno and the coastline a few kilometres where so many dark shadows seem to walk around in the late evening.
We quickly get into higher terrain and get lost in some very small hilltop villages with small streets, often one-way, and find ourselves driving backwards for many 100metres because we got to a dead end road and there was no way we could have turned around. After a few of these unfortunate wrong-turns, we find a place to park behind some living-apartments. Quite hidden, we feel safe to fall asleep and recover from the adventurous driving manoevres towards the end.

Locorotondo and the Trulli of Alberobello

Logan read about Locorotondo being one of the most picturesque towns in Southern Italy, so we were curious about this. On the way I did some more research and stumbled over a place called Alberobello said to have cone shaped houses, only a couple of kilometres from Locorotondo.

First we explore the lovely little town of Locorotondo and stroll through the small alleyways gazing at the pretty white houses. The view from the top of the town is fantastic and we get to see some of the cone shaped houses from here. They are called Trulli.

 

 

 

       

        

On the way to Alberobello these Trulli seem to get more and more. First of all we are following the camper sign to find a place to park and stay the night. Up on the hill we find a nice spot to camp and then ride down with the bicycles to the town district with the Trulli.

It’s the first time we see tourists in a while! There are actually a lot of Italian holidayers. And then I catch a glimpse of an old lady sitting outside of her Trullo.

 

The cone shaped dome is actually of oriental origin introduced into Puglia by tribes from Asia Minor. The word “Trullo” derives from the Greek word “tholos”, which refers to a circular dome-shaped construction. On the highest part of the face of the cone, very ancient Pagan and Christian symbols were painted in white chalk. Symbols with magic and proprietary powers, all pointing in the directon of the first deity: the sun.

 

The roundish head of the pinnacles is meant to represent the link with the solar sphere and it is more noticeable in older trulli.

Originally some people used to put drawings of the horoscopes of the people who lived in the house on the house itself so as to bring good luck. The pagan symbols represented animals and human motifs connected with superstition and used to be put on the cones for protection. Finally ornamental symbols had only a decorative role and alluded to persons or particular situations.

In 1926, the Monti Quarter, St. Anthony’s Church was built, according to the traditional local trullo building technique.

We walk down the labyrinth-like alleyways and get a lot of footage of the cute little houses.

I couldn’t resist but buy a small 1Euro Trullo for myself which is now attached to our camera bag. We are also offered some home made chocolate liquor and cookies, gosh are they tasty!!!

Back at the campsite we enjoy a nice warm shower, do some laundry and actually wash the van from the outside. It was about time!

Ancient European Forests and the Art of finding Petrol Stations in Italy

We just woke up to the sound of birds and the wind blowing through the trees… and a big bull (!) standing in front of our van.

The forest is inviting us for a pleasant stroll, or in Logan’s terms: a power hike into the woods. I discover many unique ancient trees, beautiful flowers in yellow, purple and white and also red berries. I’m taking my time to film and gaze at everything while Logan is impatiently waiting 50 meters in front of me.

After an hours walk, we decide to backtrack where we came from, as we have no idea where the path will be leading us. Back on the road, we are heading south towards Bari and then Monopoli. Finding a petrol station in Italy is not easy! If you assume that petrol stations are on the highway: Not in Italy! Every so often you will find a sign saying: 350m petrol station. You ask yourself: 350m TO the petrol station or to the exit to the petrol station. The next exit, maybe 200m from the sign, hasn’t got any other sign. Can’t be this exit then, right? And then you see it from the distance. Well exit missed. Surely we can take the next exit and drive back? No, that’s not possible because you can get off the highway but not back on. Meanwhile you waste the last drops of your petrol. Half an hour later we finally find a petrol station and are being waved right back out of it. “Closed” even though the sign says: “open”. A few hundred meters later we finally find an open petrol station and fill up our thirsty Globetrotter. Just before Monopoli we find a nice spot with a cliff down to the sea and an inlet. After Logan went for a run, he jumped into the refreshing (freezing!) cold water. Unfortunately we have run out of water and also need to do our dishes in the sea. That made for a salty aftertaste. Oh well.

Manfredonia and Gargano NP

 

We are getting our push bikes ready to discover Manfredonia today. First we are riding along the (polluted – for Australian standards) beach and then head into the city. The cliffs in the background look interesting to us and we are planning on driving up there after some sightseeing in Manfred.

 

Most of the city’s buildings are white and joint to each other with balconies. The streets are small but since it’s Sunday, everyone is out on the streets and walking into the cathedral.

 

We are riding back to our van and then make our way to the Gargano National Park (the home of Gargamel – I’m kidding!). To get there we have to drive very high up over the

cliff and mountains on which Monte Sant’ Angelo is situated. The views are impressive but we keep going further inland, into the National Park, where we find ourselves a beautiful little spot in the ancient forest, covered with a green canopy.

Italy’s Spur – Pischici and Manfredonia

Another shower experience! This time it’s different, so I feel like sharing this fun story once again! The shower at Azzurro Lido needs tokens to work. My first mission is to find the owner. Equipped with a towel and my toiletry bag, I search for Mr. Azzurro Lido all over the campsite, including the house, when all of the sudden the alarm goes off. I’m sure that at least now he’ll turn up somewhere. But he doesn’t! I then see some smoke trailing behind an old caravan and find him and his wife cooking a BBQ. His wife is getting a token out of the house and exchanges it with me for 2Euros. I assume that the time is limited, so I get undressed first, before inserting the token. Then I pop in the token and quickly get my hair wet under the still cold water (don’t want to waste time). All of the sudden the water gets boiling hot and there is no way of changing the temperature as there is no tab. I step aside from the water and quickly get shampoo in my hair and over my body. The boiling hot water burns my feet and I force myself to at least quickly rinse the foam out of my hair. The moment I step under the water, the water flow stops! WHAT IS THAT? A 30 SECOND SHOWER??? I’m full of shampoo foam everywhere, including my eyes! Half blind I reach outside, hoping the token may have come out – no luck! My eyes burn and I’m so frustrated, a few tears are flowing. I paid 2 Euros for this shower and would have been better off washing myself with a hose! Well all the frustration doesn’t help, so I walk over to the tab which is for cleaning your feet and squeeze underneath to rinse the shampoo out of my hair and then splash it over me, to rinse myself too. Lucky there is only a few people on the beach, quite far away, not knowing I’m half naked and blind.

When I tell Logan about my lovely experience, he is laughing. He had the same experience yesterday but he was given two tokens for 2 Euros and he didn’t wash his hair.

All batteries charged up we leave Azzurro Lido and drive through Pischici. The very steep and tight streets make it hard not to damage our Globetrotter. At times, I have to get out and guide Logan through between cars and walls, only having 1-2cm on each side!!! At one point we realise all our fresh water is running out of the pipe. Just out of nothing! Oh no! What did we damage now?? We find out, it’s only a valve that needed to be turned back and everything was closed again. Phew!

We soon keep going and choose to stop along the coast at a few lookouts. The dramatic cliffs and small coves are picture-perfect!

  

  

  

The road leads us to Manfredonia. The architecture shows signs of Greek influences, probably because the city was settled by the Greeks in ancient times. We only drive through once and then go grocery shopping in a nice shopping centre, before finding ourselves a car park next to a small takeaway bar.

Logan got motivated and is having a bottle of vodka tonight and soon is feeling social again, talking to some strange characters at the take-away bar next to our van. “Oh no”, I’m thinking. I hear him talking about our travels and I really hope the person he is talking to, and the two dodgy looking Italians behind him, are good people, since we are planning on staying the night and next day here and I wouldn’t appreciate any visitors or people stealing things from our van.