Ciao from the Roman Princess

Well, Rome is completely different, full on organised chaos! People and cars everywhere. How I miss the other places on my trip! It's not bad, just so different to what I have become used to on the rest of my trip. Arrived Saturday at 11.30am. Was allowed to check in before the usual check in time of 12.30 so I was lucky. The trip up from Positano was immensely different to the trip down. Much more relaxing letting a local drive, we got a private car transfer from Positano to Naples, seriously the ONLY way to do it, the roads are twisting and terrifying with sheer cliffs one both sides, only one side is straight down to the sea 500m below! I'm used to winding roads in NZ but these are ridiculous. It cost €120 but was shared between 4 of us, it also cut our treavel time down from 2.5 hours to 1! AND they carried my suitcase from the villa to the train station (my darling Warren carried it down the villa stairs to the street! As well as up when we arrived in Positano, if I needed any testament to his friendship that was it - 30kg worth). I could have cried upon leaving Positano, would have if I'd been alone and not scared of being laughed at! Got the high speed train from Naples (filthy, grotty city! No wonder they have high speed trains out of it!) to Rome, which took an hour and cost €43. Rome is not a clean city either but that is due to its age and not the rubbish problem like Naples has. So Rome. We dumped our bags at our respective hotels on Saturday and met back up and explored the Pantheon, certainly deserves its reputation as one of the most amazing buildings in Rome, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, as well as many many other monuments and obelisks and statues. Bored? Turn a corner and there is another piazza and historic building. We met back up with Wendy and Steve for their last dinner before they headed b ck to Singapore and NZ. Rome is amazing and my hotel is around the corner from the Colosseum. I see it twice a day! It humbles me, it is in far better condition than I am considering its age! Warren, Deb and I had an 'innocent abroad' experience at ten Colosseum on Sunday. We joined a tour outside the Colosseum, €25 gave us 'group entrance' (no queuing), a guided tour of the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Our Guides weren't the best and certainly were not employed by the Colosseum itself. I would have to say that their knowledge was limited, our first guide was quite good with stories though. While we were there Warren managed to get us booked onto a tour of the dungeons and third level, you can only per-book for this but they had cancellations! We just had to get us back into the colosseum without paying again as the group tour we had joined didn't give us entry tickets. Once again Warren got us sorted. We had to cut our tour of the Palatine Hill short and misse d the Roman Forum altogether in order to get back in time for our second tour of the colosseum. It all came together and it was the most amazing tour I've been on! Our guide this time was employed by the colosseum and is an Art Historian. She was incredible and her knowledge enabled us to let our imaginations run wild. I saw those elephants and lions etc. Poor things! Don't worry Jackie, I'll never let those hunters get you!! After this we decided we had had enough history. But somehow we came across this beautiful memorial to the first king which is a war museum. So once again we are enthral led. By history! Out for dinner then back to our respective hotels after saying goodbye to Warren and Deb who flew home today. Today I rebelled and got up at 9.30, woke at 8 but read, heaven. I walked miles, past the colosseum, to campo de fiori, a lovely piazza where I shopped and had 2 glasses of wine while my feet rested and I could use their toilet. While i sat there, the market stsll holders shut down their stands, a cleaning machine came and took away all the rubbish, the piazza is pristine again! Out of nowhere a man comes and starts playing his guitar, the showers stopped and the sun came out, one of life's magic moments. From there I found the Piazza Navona which is the most beautiful I have found. The fountains are well worth seeing. The Piazza is surrounded by different coloured buildings which used to be mansions, I hope they still are so I can dream about living in one one day. I walked for miles and miles today. I'm now sitting in an Irish Pub as it is just down from my hotel and has WIFI. My hotel is full of Americans and their loudness gets to me which is why I'm sitting in a pub where the music is blaring!! Actually Rome is full of Americans full stop, I think they outnumber the Romans! I have to share my toilet experiences with you all. They are a puzzle in themselves! Each and every one is different! In the toilet itself, to flush you will have to either, push a pad on the wall, a button ont the cistern, a foot pedal, or pull a button way up on the cistern above (problem for kids or short people). Once I've done what I need to it takes me a good 10 seconds to find out what I need to do next! And then there is the matter of washing my hands. To get water out of the tap, you either need to just place your hands under the spout, or push a foot pedal or push a button the the tap etc etc. Jules and I had a system where whoever went to the toilet first would the tell the other what was required to save time!! It's now 9.11! Time I went and found a real Italian place for dinner! Oops just ordered a second wine while I finish this! Tomorrow I am going back to do the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. I might do the hop on/hop off bus but as I have covered so much of the city on foot I'm not sure it will be worth it, I'll see how I feel in the afternoon. Wednesday I have managed to get on to a guided Tour at the Vatican at 3pm. Obviously they haven't read my records yet. If you see on TV that the Vatican is closed due to a wounding of a tourist you will know who it will be. Looks like I'm going home with Euros. Well had better save some as I think I will be over my 30kg that Emirates allows me!! I have bought a leather bag in Cortona (and don't forget the house!), a leather jacket in Florence and now leather boots in Rome. I sound like I'm a contender for Mr Grey's shades! Oh what fun I've had shopping here and there in the last 6 weeks. Haven't found a new collar for Jackie so I will keep looking. Ha ha, you can tell I'm on my own with no one to talk to, this has to be the longest addition yet! Thanks to those who leave me messages, it's nice to know someone is reading the ramblings! Ciao! Xx

The Birthday Dinner in Piegaro, Umbria

Dinner on our terrace, Polsitano

Fornillo Beach, Positano

Our villa in Umbria

View from my bedroom, Positano

PS. Ciao is used to say Hi! as well as goodbye!

Ciao from the Positano Princess

OK this is getting ridiculous. I can't keep saying that each place just gets better and better but I'm sorry, I have to, as it's true! My sister, Robin, calls Positano 'The Italian Jewel'! I can't agree more. I'm selling the house in Tuscany and I'm buying a villa here. Do they have capital gains tax in Italy? Hell, who cares? I'm on a rock platform, carved out of the cliff bottom. It's covered in sun loungers and umbrellas. We travelled here by boat from Positano, free of charge as we are kidnapped, of course we pay for the sunloungers and drinks and food, we are a captive bottomless purse! I've moved out of the sun to the sail covered area to write my blog. Music is playing, I'm drinking a beer, the people beside me are eating their divine smelling pizza, the waiters are keeping everyone happy, the kids are jumping off the rock into the sea. Can life get any better? Going by my adventures so far, I have to say yes! What will it be? During this entire trip I have only one negative to report so far! And you will never guess but it is Capri! the Blue Grotto was closed due to bad water. I wanted to see Villa Jovis, where Tiberius ruled his empire from (and where people who were out of favour with him were thrown 354m from the cliff to the sea, nice chap really!). After climbing 2.2km up steps to Capri Town we then found out at we had to walk another hour to get to the villa. It was way too hot to attempt that! And there was no other way to get there. What's wrong with this place? They don't tell you until you have spent €35 and an hour to get to the island that the Grotto is closed, and that you have to walk miles to see anything! AND there aren't even beaches to appease us. Having said all this, I had a great day as I was with Warren, Deb and Ali. How can I NOT have a great day? My friend Ali, has joined us here from England. Yep, she is still the crazy gutsy girl I remember and love. I haven't seen her since 1991! We have had such a lot to talk about. It's so funny how the years just melt away. The friendship and love is just the same. Thank God for Facebook which has allowed me to find some long lost friends. Warren drove us from Piegaro, Umbria to Positano. He did so well! The Italian drivers are scary to say the least! Zip in and out (on the wrong side of the road of course!) at a minimum of 20kms over the speed limit while they talk with their hands and text at the same time!! Deb and I were navigators, with written instructions from the Satnav that Julie and I had hired for our car in Umbria. Everything perfect until we somehow ended up in Salerno, south of Naples! We had completely gone miles past our off ramp. Someone had removed the sign for the turnoff to Sorrento!! We had to turn around and get ourselves back onto the autostrada. In Salerno, we stopped at a service station to ask directions. The man tried to explain but he just didn't have enough Inglese to explain it clearly. A man in the car that the petrol man was filling ( they still have personal service here, magic!) said he would show us, and that we were to follow him. How kind people are!! My sisters gave me €300 to spend on my trip for my birthday. I finally found something to spend it on this morning on the way down to the beach and boat to come here. Amazingly, we took a different path down and came across a gorgeous jewellery shop. I spent my birthday money on a ring, large, bold and definitely a statement!! Thank you my lovely sisters! Funny how fate steps in. 2 of my sisters and brother came to Positano last year and loved it, which gave me the idea to come here. How appropriate that I find something here to buy. Now whenever I wear the ring I will say, my sisters bought this for me in Positano, and I will have all the memories to go with it!! Positano is built into a steep cliff. The winding roads terrify me and I have to cover my eyes whenever we travel the roads. It's not as steep as I imagined it was going to be from our villa, a good thing my imagination runs away, our villa is about 12- 15 minutes walk from the beach so not too bad and going back up we can shop which gives our lungs and legs a bit of a rest. The beach is stones and pebbles so not very 'nice' by Australian standards. Maybe this difference makes it special though? The water is very clear and warm, a joy to swim in. It's 4.08pm, time I had lunch, load pics on here, another beer and swim before we head back to town by boat. Hope all is well with you all. Arrivederci xx

Umbria and Lago Trasimeno

Ciao from Umbria, Italy

Its been a week since I last blogged! Too busy living the Umbrian life and getting the most out of the lovely villa and area. It has been a magic week with Julie, my cousin Wendy and Steve, Warren and Deb. Each time Julie and I leave a place and go elsewhere it's a new adventure which just seems to get better and better. No wonder I watched 'Under the Tuscan Sun' that many times before I left. I was getting myself prepared for buying property here and living here evermore. I wonder how Jackie will like flying? The dogs all have very big smiles here so I'm sure she will like it. It's rolling hills as far as the eye can see. A lot have been cut for hay so we have a patchwork quilt effect everywhere, brown, green and sunflowers everywhere. Dotted with occasional houses and cypress trees. In the week we have been here we have not seen one farm animal, neither sheep nor cow. Goodness knows what they do with all the hay? We spent a day in Cortona, another in Florence and another in Siena. Florence is lovely but I really did prefer the smaller hilltop towns of Cortona and Siena. Got a lovely leather jacket in Florence and a gorgeous bag in Cortona (after I purchased my new home). The weather is hot, the pool is amazing and a welcome start or finish to each day. We had a lazy day at home today. The furtherest we travelled was 5kms to buy our wine, 50 metres to the local restaurant for our lunch which was so good we are going back there for dinner! It's now 8.23pm so dinner will likely be about 9pm as the Prosecco wine has been opened and is being consumed while we check out everyone's photos and swap stories. This has been one of the best weeks of my life. My darling friend and travel buddy extraordinaire left today to fly back to NZ. We haven't spent this much time together since about 1984. What an amazing trip together we have had. Thanks Jules, again in 2 years? So sad to see you go. We drive down to Positano tomorrow. My suitcase is now ridiculously heavy and the expander zip is being used. Thank goodness we have a car to get to Sorrento and don't have to train it. We are going to get a taxi from Sorrento to Positano (approx €60) to save having to lug our cases on the bus. I'll try and blog a bit more often in Positano but can't guarantee it as my friend Ali is coming and I haven't seen her in 21 years!! So many stories, drinks and games of backgammon to play. Xx

Porto, Portugal

Wow wee this is the business! What an amazing old city, so beautiful with its colourful houses and massive stone churches hugging both banks of the river Douro. Narrow winding streets up and down with the family washing hanging between the buildings. Everyone's business in open view. Better hang your pretty underwear inside else everyone knows what you got up to last night! We are staying in a twin room at the Magnolia Hostel, 4 floors up, no lift!! Lucky I have grey hair cos the lovely young man saw me as a dear old lady and carried my extremely heavy suitcase up for me. Will he carry it down for me at 4am tomorrow? Ha ha, don't think I could be so lucky!! We have walked the city centre, both sides of the river, got the hop on hop off bus round the entire major city and outskirts, cruised the river, seen the 6 bridges from all angles, visited cathedrals and lesser churches, drunk espresso on the riverside and everywhere else, eaten Pastis de Nata whenever possible (egg custard in a filo pastry case, simply the most delicious pastry I've ever eaten and I don't like sweet things usually!!). The population here is much older than elsewhere so many old men are seen sitting in the Placa (square) arguing and talking bull at the top of their voices. All while their women are at the 'local laundry' handwashing sheets and towels in massive stone tubs. Whilst so traditional in many ways,the flip side is the graffiti everywhere. No wall is sacred! We leave here tomorrow. We are looking forward to a decent bed. We have moved our mattresses to the floor to try and be more comfortable, hasn't worked but at least the beds do not express displeasure (squeak) every time we turn over!! We went looking for a place I had been told to go to to have a glass of port while we watch the sun set. We walked up lanes so narrow and had to squeeze our bodies against the stone walls to let buses pass, terrifying. All cobblestones so our feet were protesting a lot! Finally gave up and walked down the other side through paths that had lost their cobbles, little more than goat tracks really. What fun we have when we get lost! Found a place down the bottom to have my white port (determined that we'd earnt it) and rested our poor feet! Our free bus was in bed so we dipped into our budget and got a taxi home, €8. He told us the place we'd been looking for closed in January! At least now Jules believes that I wasn't sending us on a wild goose chase! (even if we were on the wrong side of the river, sssssh). Caught up with Tricia and Graham our first 2 nights in Porto before they ventured to Lisbon. How nice to have quality time with them. Darren, Annette and Craig, they send you their love. Hopefully have WIFI in Umbria and will blog a bit more often if time permits. Hope you are all well.xx

Tricia and me in Lagos

My dear friend from Perth, who now lives in Edinburgh!

Praia da Luz photo

About 6pm

Praia da Luz

Wow, I sure do love this place! We swam in the Atlantic yesterday! Laid on the beautiful beach and then went to the water's edge! Stood there for 10 minutes trying to get our courage up to dive in. I did, and lost my breath for at least 15 minutes! I could feel all my fat cells and blood cells solidifying in the cold! Braved another dive and then laughed my head off as Jules tried to do the same! It took her another few minutes but we were both wet with the Atlantic ocean at the end, and thank God we could get out then! Will leave the swimming to the pool or Mediterranean from now on!! Totally loved seeing my friend Tricia and her partner Graham here for a couple of days. We will meet them again in Porto for 2 nights which, though I don't want to leave Luz on Tuesday, I am really looking forward to. Tricia, Jules and I went to Lagos on Friday. What a lovely old town. Narrow streets and old whitewashed buildings. I would like to have more time there but I could say that about everywhere we have been. I think I need to travel for 20 years to see everything I want. We are going back to our favourite restaurant tonight, which happens to be Indian. The most amazing Indian food I have had in a very long time, if ever! I went in to book and he greeted me like a long lost friend! Good people skills. We have had an influx of UK holiday makers and lets say I am glad we are leaving on Tuesday. It's blowing a gale and I'm sitting in my favourite beach Internet café, wine this time not beer, my newly washed hair is turning to dreds! We have been very lazy, lying on the beach or beside the pool. Eating bread ham and cheese (blue in my case) tomato for breakfast, salad for lunch and then out for dinner. As it was Tricia's last night yesterday so we went to an African restaurant. Very expensive!! €35 pp for 2 courses and copious amounts of wine. Not much by Perth standards definitely but we are used to paying €16 max each! I guess I will have to order another glass of house red for €2 before we need to leave for dinner! We are walking to Burgau tomorrow morning. We think it's only 4kms but I suspect that's as the crow flies!! As my lovely friend Tricia says, 'Catcha'!