Rome Travel Journal
| This trip started in Rome. Then we went on to Naples. |
> The trip to Rome
30-04-2010 We changed our original plan to go to France last night, as we saw the weather forcasts on the internet. We now decided to travel to Italy, where we'd first love to explore the Siena area for a couple of days. When we spend the night in Mulhouse, after a day on the German Autobahn, we consult a weather site once more. Forecasts now show cold and rainy weather for the next few days in Siena, completely different from what they said yesterday. We change plans again and will drive even further south to Rome tomorrow.
01-05-2010 We now hit the gas pedal and in Tuscany we see the first tentative sunrays pierce through the clouds. As we approach Rome the weather gets nicer and when arriving at Seven Hills Camping Village it's just lovely. 
We pitch our tent on a beautiful green and spacious field, surrounded by tall trees with many birds. It's still very peaceful here, this early in the season, even though some Dutch people mob near the toilet block.
> Day 1 Rome
02-05-2010 Last night we've heard there's a shuttle bus to the trainstation with connections to the city every 30 minutes, starting at eight a.m. and making it superfluous for visitors to first find a Rome Car Rental. Of course we're still Peter and Yvonne, meaning we're in one of the first shuttles. Within five minutes we're at the platform, waiting for the train to the center of Rome.
Within one hour we're now at Piazza del Popolo, a wonderful square surrounded by beautiful buildings. First we were a bit disappointed that we now have to miss the St. Tropez gendarmes because of the bad weather, but here in Rome they have their very own gendarmes walking around. The moment someone dares to sit down and pose for a photo on one of the gargoyle lions in the middle of the square, a police officer comes down with his shrill whistle.
We stroll among large, old buildings to the Trevi Fountain, where crowds of tourists jostle on the tiny square in front of the fountain. From here we walk to the Pantheon, another huge building on a tiny square, seeming even smaller through the giant construction. We're impressed by the dimensions of the former church and the looks of it all.We move on to the Forum Romanum, where we get a first impression of antique Rome and continue to the Colosseum. Unfortunately the sky turns dark when we arrive and we decide to visit the interior another day. By subway and train we get back to the campsite, where we prepare and eat our diner under the canopy, as it started raining a bit.
> Day 2 Rome
03-05-2010 After a rainy night it's now another lovely day and we decide to climb the dome of Saint Peter. As we're at Saint Peter's square there's just a funeral procession arriving, with some very specially dressed Christians. It appears to be the funeral of a cardinal and the service, held in the front part of the church, makes it only possible to visit half of the interior of the giant basilica.That's why we soon start climbing the stairs of the dome, from where we have a magnificent view over Saint Peter's Square and the Tiber river and Castel Sant Angelo behind.
As we're back down we walk to this last building, but unfortunately the museum inside is closed today. We cross the bridge and buy some nice food for lunch, which we eat at Piazza Navona. For quite some time we're enjoying the spring sunshine and our Italian bread, right next to one of the most beautiful fountains of the square.
As we continue walking we notice that the over 500 steps of Saint Peter were quite tiring and we decide to only visit the Spanish steps, before returning to the campsite.
> Day 3 Rome
04-05-2010 As we wake up it's raining, so first we return to Saint Peter's Church, where we now take a closer look at the interior. There's another service going on, but today visitors can still get all the way to the front and we're impressed by the length of the building. When we're near one of the loudspeakers we look surprised at each other: we know that language. The service happens to be in Dutch.As we're back outside again it's still raining and we return to the museum in Castel Sant Angelo. It's an interesting building, with giant and ancient walls, even more obvious from the inside than from the outside. Unfortunately the museum itself is a little disappointing.
Crossing the bridge in front of the castle we walk to the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva: a very pretty church, especially on the inside. The ceiling for example has been painted in blue and the light from the windows at the side of the altar is beautiful. As we come out again the sun is suddenly shining and we make a walk through the narrow streets in this neighborhood, we pass the city's Synagoge and cross another bridge, to the island in the Tiber.
Now we're suddenly at Piazza Bocca Verità, where we visit the church with the same name. This church has a very special Medieval lie detector: a stone face, where people should put their hands in the stone mouth. Liars would then be bitten their hands off. Both this church and the Circus Maximus at the backside are a bit of a disillusion to us and we return to our tent with tired legs.
> Day 4 Rome
05-05-2010 Under an overcast sky we return to the Colosseum, where we enjoy the temporary exhibition of gladiators through the ages is very interesting. We don't find the structure itself so special, as large parts have been restored in an ugly way.We cross the road to the Forum Romanum and the Palatine, where we visit the house of August for example, while the sun suddenly reappears. It's surprising how the weather can change in just a couple of minutes here, to see how a gloomy day can suddenly change when the sky turns clear blue.
Before we return to the campsite we go for a quick visit to Piazza di Campidoglio, which is called the most beautiful square in the world by many, but we think this is just because Michelangelo has designed it.
> On to Napels
06-05-2010 At night there's a huge thunderstorm and we're a bit worried about the tall trees surrounding us. We're relieved as it stops quite suddenly and in the morning our tent quickly dries. That's good, because we want to travel further South today, to Naples.
We just put all our stuff in the car and we're folding the tent, when it starts pouring again. Slightly crumpled we put it all in the car and drive to the South, where the sun welcomes us immediately.
Around noon we arrive in Sorrento, a village just South of Naples. The campsite where we stop has vistas over Mount Vesuvius and we find us a nice spot among olive trees. Lemons and oranges are growing everywhere, but when we pick one to try our mouths crook immediately. How sour these things are. Wat zijn die dingen zuur. No wonder there are still so many hanging in the trees and nobody tries to secretly steal them.
> More Info
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