Rome and the Almalfi Coast

I thought I was going to have at least a week between finishing at Johnson Matthey and starting harvest so Kelley and I booked flights in and out of Rome. As it turned out, I could have worked right through but it was a great opportunity to see some more of Italy.

I had enjoyed Venice when we went there and this trip confirmed my opinion that Italy was one of the best countries I had visited.

Rome was amazing with all its old sights and Vatican City. Our time in Rome did not start well as I badly stubbed my toe on the first morning but it didn't slow us down too much. We ticked off the main sights in Rome, the one I enjoyed the least was the Sistine Chapel because of the huge queues and the crowds, it just wasn't worth the effort.

Soome highlights of Rome:

Trevi Fountain



Pantheon



Collesseum



The huge St Peter's Cathedral



St Peter's Square



Statue's overlooking St Peter's Square



The Map room on the way to the Sistene Chapel, which took hours.....



Nuns hanging around St Peter's Square, well, where else would you expect them to be...



Getting cool with a Ferrari in the Ferrari shop



One of the many Squares or Piazzas




It was super hot the whole time, 35 degrees plus, and our train to and from Naples and then on to Sorrento had little and no air conditioning respectively.

Sorrento is the start of the Almalfi Coast and we based ourselves there for the remaining days, tenting on a dry dusty ledge on a side of a cliff near the sea. We filled on our time with day trips:

- Pompeii to see the ruins. we were hoping to walk up Mt Vesuvius but it was far too hot.

Ruins with Vesuvius in the background



A well preserved body



More ruins....



Half dead dog (these were everywhere) in one of the more well preserved houses



- Hiring a scooter and driving down the Almalfi Coast. This was the best day, weaving along the narrow, windy road, stopping off to cool down in the sea (we saw Kyle Mills at Almalfi) or to fill up the scooter with 6 euro of fuel.

Scootering in our trendy yellow helmets



469 steps down to this beach, worth it though



Umbrellas for hire



Crazy Italians drilling out a rock face above the road



- Hydrofoil to Capri and swimming in the clear blue sea which was like a warm bath.

Stunning Capri



Of course we ate more than our fair share of pizza and gelato - another big plus about Italy...

The trip back was a bit of a nightmare, over 12 hours of travelling and arriving home at about 3am. I had to get up and repack to be ready to meet Bevan and go down to the farm.