Day 31, 26th May
Woke in the night, again thinking we were on the bus in the pitch black feeling claustrophobic as I couldn’t see. Must have looked funny actually – I put one foot on the ground trying to work out what was under me!!
Another blue sky day today, spoke to the people who run the Borgo and they said the weather has been the temp. they usually experience in July at the peak of summer. All I know is I think we have been very lucky!
We had packed last night, so were ready to go, had a breakfast of very hard French stick (the bread is SO hard in Italy) and left over ham and tomato, it would be funny trying to eat it with false teeth! Then we were invited to go into the castle (Castelli) by the elderly owners. What a place! The ceiling had frescoes painted on it and they were about 30 feet high. The fireplace was something else again – it reached from the floor to the ceiling and occupied a whole wall, with green painted tiles. They had bought the Borgo 40 years ago, the castle is only a century old but the hamlet where we all stay was built in the 1600’s. The owner converted them from the grainary etc to apartments over time.
We said goodbye and drove to Arezzo, about 45 mins and dropped off the ugly rental that has served us well! The diesel for the whole week only cost us €35.
Got a taxi to the stazione and had some lunch then sat on platform three for 1 ½ hours in the shade and people watched. The train to Rome was half an hour late which almost caused a calamity – the train came in on the Roma platform at the exact correct time, so we got on it as did a couple from Adelaide. They got on in the 1st carriage as they had first class tickets. We went down to 2nd class, the normal one in carriage 5 and, as we had just got out suitcases on the conductor came along luckily and questioned our destination. Guess what? We were on the wrong train as ours was going to be late and another had come for another destination.
We were SO lucky it was just before the train left. The Australian couple weren’t as lucky I think, as we told the conductor they were in the first carriage thinking they were going to Rome, but he just shrugged his shoulders as the train was pulling out!! Don’t know what happened to them, Graeme walked up the platform to see if they had got off but no.
Got the correct train and the trip was only about 1 hr 50mins, it was fine but the compartments of 6 only had space for 3 suitcases, so 2 of ours were out in the aisle like everyone else’s. Had to keep moving them for the wally who continuously pushed a wide food cart up and down. If he couldn’t get passed the suitcases he would just shove the cart at them until he scraped passed?!
It was strange that every time we went through a tunnel- which was often, you got awful pain in your ears like when you dive too fast with scuba diving.
Arrived in Rome – what a dump at the Termini – graffiti everywhere and everything is covered in black soot/dirt. Lots and lots of people but we had no problems finding the hotel.
I had purposely booked one just down from the station and it only took us 1 min or so to walk with our cases which was good. We were very wary of pickpockets and the groups we have heard hang around there hassling tourists. Lots of teenagers hanging around but lots of police too.
Apparently you don’t want to wander around there at night as the prostitutes and lowlife come out after dark.
We dropped our bags then went out for a walk around, it was hot and sticky here with grey sky. Quite a change from clean, green and sunny Tuscany. We learned quickly to follow the locals when crossing the roads in Rome – saw a group of Japanese tourists who all put their hands in the air and waved all the way across the road- funny! The cobbled roads are really ancient here as I have heard. We see there are lots of shops in town, something we haven’t seen since England and prices look ok.
Stopped at Mc Donald’s for a cold drink and a burger. We don’t eat it at home so aren’t very up on the prices, but $33 for 3 ‘coka lights’ and 3 fillet of fish burgers is up there in comparison to NZ I think?! But boy were they good.
Wandered back to the hotel and rested for a couple of hours then out for dinner just down the road. A very popular restaurant that we noticed the Italians use, so must be good. In Italy you order your main which is just the meat, then buy your veges separately – these always consist of a plate of fried potatoes only!! No greens in sight . In France they give you bread and don’t charge you for it , but in Italy you get it if you want it or not and you are charged €1 each.
Next we had the most delicious desserts, Graeme’s was of course chocolate but with a twist. It was chocolate and chili –true!! He thought it was yummy but Danni was very glad she had changed her mind and got cheesecake.
A very enjoyable meal. Out onto the street and we found the stall vendors were setting up on the sidewalk. Danni loved some pretty bracelets for her friends and the guy said they were €5 each. Too expensive I told him, €3 each. No. Told him I would buy three for €7.50. He accepted that, looking not too happy, but I got the feeling I could have got them for €6 !!! Next time I will drive a harder bargain!
Back to our room and Graeme and I watched Officer and a Gentleman in Italian – puts an interesting slant on it!!
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