Honeymoon Day 37 & 38 (Roma parts 2 & 3)

Struggling to fit in Rome's sights and having missed the Sistine Chapel because it closes at 4pm (we arrived at 16:20) we decided to spend an extra night.


It's been baking hot which makes it hard work wondering the streets.

The main sights of the day included the Pantheon and the Vatican

Both were amazing to see and much larger than expected. We picked a good day as the queues were very small, can't imagine how it must be on a busy day though as it was still packed and full of load American tour groups being 'shhhhhh'd' by guards and the public.

Having missed the Sistine Chapel we decided to head back to the hotel and get ready for our Michelin stared dinner.

All dressed up we arrived to realise we must have made a mistake, this was not a michelin stared place, it was however a highly recommended place (i had called the 2nd choice by accident) Luckily Sarah was feeling overdressed and before we left the hotel changed into a slightly less formal outfit, this was a 'phew' moment.

The place we went to though was brilliant and the staff awesome, the owner assumed we were something to do with Baileys Irish Cream (this is not the first time this has happened on this trip) and we where fussed over hugely.

The food was good too and the bill certainly seemed like a Michelin stared price. Beyond tipsy we headed off for a limonchello before getting a taxi home.

On arrival back and past sensible thought process we could hear live music and decided to find it. It turned out to be a cool looking festival and so all sure of myself, said to Sarah "I'll get us in" and approached the backstage security. 20 Euros later and we where in! all happy and bragging of my abilities we found out that if we'd gone to the front entrance it would have only been 5 euros each. Still, we had fun and got loads of free drinks as we talked to the crew.

Woke up worst for ware and needed to lay in. We only had the sistine chapel to achieve and wrote off any other plans in favour of recovery.

The chapel is an amazing thing to see but you can't take it all in. It is filled with about 500 people and no seats, what you really want is no people and a bed in the middle to help you stare up. Like everyone else we stayed until our necks got sore. You are not allowed photos in the chapel so had to do the best sneaky ones possible.

 Totally shattered 

we headed off to return to recovery mode. The plan was a snack and them a film in the hotel but we didn't even manage to order the film.

Off to Sardina today and back to the tent and outdoor life. 

Honeymoon Day 36 (Roma part1)

Arrived at our hotel in Roma booked through lastminute for a great price. We are a drive from the centre but just like the campsite marketing they have a 'free' shuttle into the centre (this costs only 3euro each way). Anyway it is great to stay in a nice place for two nights in a row.


Excited we headed straight into the centre upon arrival. 

We walked the city for hours and are now knackered. The 'free' shuttle back was full so we got a taxi after an argument with a huge guy who was pushing to get on and crushing small children (English.....of course, I told him i was going to knock him into next week, which if he wasn't so concerned about making it on the bus may have back fired badly). 
Happily he didn't get on and we didn't offer to share our taxi and arrived back before everyone, in plenty of time to enjoy a couple of Aperol Spritz by the pool and download the photos from the day.
We where amazed at the sheer volume of roman sights and ruins, everywhere you turn theres another amazing building or archaeological site.

We slept for hours in air-conditioned double bed heaven and haven't left the hotel yet at midday. 

We are now sat by the pool again planning Sardinia and have also managed to get a booking at a Michelin stared restaurant tonight, so at least a chance to wear the wedding suit and Sarah's special dress/jimmy choos, that so far has remained on the list of useless items we brought. Not as bad as the snow boats but up there with 5 jumpers and the 20ltr water carrier (we gave this away as it was either enough water for a week or Sarah in the passenger seat).

Off to spend another afternoon in Rome with the Vatican among todays delights. It's very hot and so old churches will offer perfect comfort.


 

Honeymoon Day 35

Having spent the night at Marina d Pisa we decided to move on, campsite was a bit shit and full of huge man eating ants, we where sure of a better one further down the coast. 
However we couldn't leave without visiting Pisa centre:

and taking the obligatory silly photos........
Proved to be a great people watching spot as people pose for a variety of leaning photos. 

After a spot of lunch we headed south to break up the journey to Roma and choose a great looking campsite on the beach, newly refurbished and packed with amenities. Based in Piombino. It looked idilic but as we are coming to expected with Italian campsites the marketing is rarely in sync with the reality. The standard line on enquiring about certain advertised amenities is, "we are getting it soon" (at one place this included a swimming pool!!!!!).
Anyway last nights campsite was possibly the oddest yet, paranoia probably got the better of us and we were convinced everyone hated us, this was not a site for a foreigner. We had to take a camper spot to get the car in and we were right next to the bar "great we remarked' suits us down to the ground. Little did we know they where going to put live band on "even better, we remarked"......Then it started, the best way to describe it is 'karaoke without seeing the words'. We were speechless as the signer butchered song after song with a keyboard that played the tunes already installed in its memory. 
The campers though were going nuts for it, young or old it didn't matter the dance floor was packed and if we could only have heard the cheers of applause we could have imaged being at Glastonbury. 
All along this trip we have complained that campsites can get very quite early and we sit a whisper (four nights ago we had a sssssshhhhhh come from a tent at only 11pm). However this night couldn't end soon enough for us but the crowd kept calling for encore after encore and annoyingly the band (or singer and keyboard) obliged even allowing kids to take the mic and although this improved the signing quality it was not great pillow music.
We got up super early (a 7am record for us) and packing down was another record. 


We had Roma awaiting and so got straight on the road on another scorching Italian day. We have arrived in Rome now and are sat by the pool of our 4star hotel while we plan what delights we can indulge in tonight.

Honeymoon day 33 (Chianti) & 34 (Luca)

After Massa we were due to head to Pisa and stay in a campsite in Marina de Pisa but found a last minute deal on a spot of Agritourism in the Greve area of Chianti, which included staying at a farmhouse who produce; Wine, olive oil, saffron as well as many condiments and a wine tour completed by a tasting. This was great news as we probably hadn't drunk enough wine.......

After a spot of lunch in Greve we arrived at the vineyard and were very happy with the views and another chance for a private shower and toilet. They also had a swimming pool, there was just time for a dip before preparing for the tasting.

We found a wine that we loved and they provided a meal using all their produce with some cheeses and meats, Sarah was in heaven as it was numero uno on her list of to do's.

We (Sarah) took some amazing photos of the views from the farmhouse which are uploading now.

After tasting we brought our favourite bottle and sat and watched the sun set over a game of backgammon. We (Sarah) had been complaining about our travel backgammon board (kindly donated by best man Ben) as it is small and we knock the pieces out of place easily, so this was definitely a welcomed board.

The lure of a real bed was too much and so we only had one bottle and hit the hay 

Then it was off to Luca (not before stocking up the food bag with wine and olive oil). Luca whose favourite son is Puccini is a beautiful town built within the old walls with architecture to match our expectations of the great cities in Italy. The greatest thing about it was how quite it was, we parked outside the city walls and hired bikes.

Staying in a room in Chianti gave us a chance to get all the bags out and work out a better system of packing (which is constantly evolving) during this we decided to make a pile of all the items we brought which have proved useless or unnecessary. Top of the list was my Snow boats (there are many silly items with us but what went through my mind when packing those god only knows).

Stayed in Marina de Pisa last night but this campsite is not for us so need to move on. So Pisa centre today once we've worked out where to stay tonight as we head south toward Roma. 

Honeymoon day 31 (Firenze)

Had a hideous journey from Ancona to Florence our first night drive consisting of 3.5hrs in constant road works, we lost count of the lorrys after about 1million and the crazy driving got a  bit stressful when someone flipped their car right in front of us (no one hurt amazingly).
Very ready for bed we found the hotel booked on lastminute.com at the ferry port t it was a gorgeous old building and a smile returned to our faces. After much needed sleep we woke to great delight as we realise that our hotel was smack in the middle of Florence just off the Piazza del Duomo and we set about a whistle stop tour of the main sights.

We ran around all morning trying our best to take in all the sights of the city centre and headed over the river to find a spot for lunch with a great view and to see Michelangelo's David. The place we found did not disappoint as both things were achieved in one. You can just see David in the background.

Not willing to compromise we disregarded the budget (again) and ordered the lobster 

Views of Florence from here were breathtaking and trekking up there means you save queuing for 4 hours to go up the tower for the same view, so you can take in a long lunch.

Florence was a crazy camera day and must have been a record for the amount of photos taken in a day so far.

Having blasted through the sights of Florence it was back in the car as we headed passed Pisa & Luca to a beach area called Massa where we meet up with Armin (our friend from Innsbruck), who was there with Nina.

We cooked up some great fish meals together and spent the day on a pedlo boat and working on Sarah 5 snoozes a day regime. 

We have just said goodbye to them as they head off on a 4 hour journey to Lago di Como and we on a 40minute drive to Pisa, stopping in Luca for lunch. Safe travels Armin & Nina, see you soon.

Honeymoon day 30ish

Waiting for the boat to Italy now. 
Just Italy, Sardinia, Corsica & France to go


Sarah has a new health regime which consists of 5 snoozes a day providing there is a calm sea they boat will offer plenty of opportunity to indulge.

Honeymoon (another day)

We have been trying to arrange diving and white water rafting for our entire stay but there always seems to be obstacles (mainly the Croatian strange planning methods). Having finally sorted a dive place today we may get to go in the morning the obstacle today was wind making visibility rubbish.


So far we have done neither so went to Split ancient town yesterday. The palace walls still exist and surround the old town we spent our entire afternoon within the walls. Before heading to Bravic beach for an evening Pivo. 

Tomorrow we are heading to Italy, taking a ferry from Split to Ancona (approx 4 hours) and then will drive to Florence and stay in a hotel for the night. We will both be sad to leave Croatia as have had an amazing time here and will definitely be back... however at the same time very excited to see Italy.