So….we left Bari and headed across Italy to the west coast, with a small town called Paestum in the sat nav. It was highway all the way to make up our miles but still through some picturesque countryside with towns perched high on the hills. We knew we could only be in Italy when we passed lorry after lorry transporting tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of tomatoes all over Europe. Deane commented ‘I feel sorry for the ones at the bottom’ but felt OK when Will and I reassured him that they were only tomatoes.
Along the way Papa Dean-ee (the Italian version of our driver) had one of his many encounters with drivers who can’t stand to be overtaken by a motorhome. A Bulgarian van got quite uptight when we whizzed by (yes…we do whizz sometimes), immediately getting just in front again, only to be ‘whizzed’ by again by the mad Britisher. Uncle Bulgaria again strived (and succeeded this time) to overtake us and stay ahead of us. We have had many similar games along the way – most recently with a crazy catfood truck in the tunnels on the Genoa coastline. Cheers us up enormously on the boring drives! Incidentally, and quite beside the point – our best convoy to date is 19 cars. Can anyone beat that?
Bang on time, we headed down the coast to Paestum where apparently there were some Greek ruins worth seeing (just to show our ignorance, again, we had never heard of them of course). After driving the rather grotty coast road (with ladies on their chairs again), we arrived in town to an AMAZING sight. Ruins they may be but this incredible archaeological site boasts three incredibly intact Greek temples from the 6th century BC. Dedicated to Hera, Poseidon and Athena, these Doric temples sit within a 25 hectare complex consisting of the main elements of the ancient town, including the forum and an amphitheatre as well as street after street of houses and shops. Apparently the site was discovered by a civil engineer whilst building a road. Somewhat bizarrely, he continued with his job and built the road through the site but later had time to ponder his lack of wisdom whilst in prison for the act. See what you get for being a jobs worth!
It was wonderful to walk these ancient streets imagining life all those years ago, and when we returned to town in the evening, the temples were all lit up – what a sight. Of all the historical sites we have seen on this journey – this remains one of my firm favourites (I had to say my favourites as the boys took exception to our, claiming other sites to be theirs)!
Our camp that night was an agri-tourist site (or agro-tourist as Will calls them) set among the olive trees. While Deane and I enjoyed some local ham, cheese and wine from the farm shop, Will wandered over to see the two miniature horses in the stable yard, only to receive a close up lesson in the birds and the bees (and anatomy) of the horse world. To say he was surprised would be an understatement, and he giggled about it for days!
From Paestum we headed to the Amalfi Coast. As you are not permitted to take campervans on the southern coast road (the Amalfi side) we headed along the northern side of the peninsula to Sorrento. It is easy to see why this area is so famous and so popular – it is both dramatic and beautiful with towering cliffs dropping away to the azure blue sea, houses clinging like limpets and steep stairways snaking their way to the water below. It is also incredibly busy and driving was not an easy task, with cars, scooters and pedestrians coming at us from all angles. Deane did a marvellous job weaving us through this melee!
After a day wandering in Sorrento, we headed out to Capri. So much has been written about this island that rises sharply out of the crystalline sea, with its high cliffs brooding over the valley running across the middle. The houses and roads grip the sheer rocks, looking like they might slip off at any given moment (and it felt the same to us as we travelled them by tiny bus and convertible taxi.)
On route to mad Capri (with me decidedly nauseous on choppy seas), we stopped at the rather bonkers Grotto Azzurra. You board a tiny row boat, pay for your ticket at the floating box office, lie flat on your back on the floor and then the boatman hauls the boat through a literal mousehole in the seemingly impenetrable rock by means of a chain. Once inside, the cavern opens before you and you are suddenly inside the island. The colour of the water that is simply astounding….it’s like a milky Ceylonese sapphire has been liquefied and lit from below. It is incredible and really quite surreal. In a wonderfully Italian manner our boatman sung to us about love as we marveled in the diversity of nature. Super!
So what about Capri itself….busy….claustrophobic …expensive….but somehow incredibly captivating. It is literally an island built on cliffs, with gorgeous villas tucked into teeny rocky enclaves, designer shops hogging the limelight on the small cobbled streets and everything recreated in miniature to fit the small streets. We caught the (small) bus up to the town of Capri, ate a picnic lunch on a hotel wall people watching before taking the perilous cliff hugging trip to Anacapri. The bus drivers awareness of both the 1,000m drop and the other vehicles was impressive, if slightly pantie dampening. We threw the baby out with the bathwater to get back to the boat, hiring a convertible taxi back down the cliff roads to Marina Piccola where we cooled off on a beach with standing room only!!!
The trip back involved sailing through a massive natural stone arch where tradition has it that you kiss the one you love as you pass through. Never ones to miss an opportunity, Deane and I puckered up and had a smooch as we headed into the arch much to the amusement of the other passengers who all cheered, while the captain sounded his horn and Will preserved the moment on camera. Quite made me blush.
From Sorrento we headed to Pompeii. Goodness – from one landmark to another huh? We had a camperstop in mind but when we pulled up it was literally a bus and truck parking lot so we drove 100m back down the road and secured a modest but adequate pitch in a site opposite the gates to Pompeii. This will do we thought!
Pompeii lies under the ever brooding eye of Vesuvius – it is a thriving city even today – but very much in the shadow of a monster. It’s hard to describe ancient Pompeii and probably not what we expected. It was (is) a city, so is mammoth and in 32° sunshine, the three hours we spent wandering the streets was simply exhausting! The streets are largely intact, as are the main baths, theatres and some houses, but it did feel a little like too much of Pompeii has been removed to museums. Whilst in the house of the tragic poet we were somewhat surprised to find this undiscovered inscription on the wall in a corner….
I am a young poet from Pompeii
I am having a very bad day
Whilst writing this ditty, ash is covering my city
And I don’t know what else to…..
Of course it was in Latin but we have google translated it….amazing huh??
Unbeknownst to us one of William’s school mates was on holiday in the region so the next day we made our way to Amalfi to meet up. Because of the restrictions on campervans, this involved us driving to the town of Vietra Sul Mare where a friendly local stopped traffic for us so that we could park the van and then catching a bus for an hour along the coast road to Amalfi. What an experience! Firstly there were far more people than space on the bus and as we all crowded forward to board the driver closed the door, with William on the inside and us on the outside. Of course we cheered and tried to run, but William took exception and along with many locals expressed his concern to the driver who opened the door again and let us on. This mad crowded bus then set off along the narrow winding coast road, missing houses, walls and people by inches, with traffic having to back up on the bends to allow the bus through (with the driver exclaiming and gesticulating the whole way) . We discovered the Italian version of parking sensors during several of these manoeuvres – simply back up until you hit something – be that a wall or a bank. No wonder the cars are so battered!
We eventually got to Amalfi and met up with Maria, Ian and Anna. Together we took a pleasant stroll through town and visited Cattedrale di Sant’Andrea, a rather delightful 9th century cathedral with a super set of sixty two steps leading up to it, and most amazing of all – the remains of the first apostle Saint Andrew (the fisher of men) which were brought from Constantinople in the 13th centrury. William and Anna gossiped the whole way around, with Anna updating Will on all the news from Cheam and St Dunstan’s. After a pizza lunch (where Anna finally showed us how to do loom bands – a craze we had missed completely but are now slightly belatedly in the midst of), Maria and Ian took the kids to the beach for a swim while Deane and I had an extremely rare hour to ourselves. We caught a bus up to Villa Rufolo in Rovello – high above Amalfi. Gorgeous views of the coast from this sweet mountain village! Thanks Maria and Ian. Unfortunately with the bus trip back to the van and our need to find a camp for the night, we had to leave as soon as we got back down from Ravello – but it really was a pleasant day and William thoroughly enjoyed spending time with an old school friend.
We drove away from the coast, with Rome as our next major stop! Bring it on Italy!
The Winding Road 