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  • Gabrielle Ingram

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    From the back window in our bedroom
    I only hit my head half a dozen times or so. Slow learner...Leaning out the front living room window and the street below (Rue D'Orsel)

    Living in Paris

    7 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    My friend Helen reminded me that when I came back from Paris in 1991 that I said I didn't enjoy it much becuase it was so dirty. Well, that is no longer the case and Paris is immaculately clean. One of the interesting things about staying in an AirBnB is that you get to experience the real living (well close to) of a local. Our apartment was on the 3rd floor, windy steps, no lift, in a narrow street, so the echo of the sounds in the street at night is one of the charms of the place. What we also noticed was the sounds of the rubbish being collected every night! Our street was in the district where the tissus (fabrics) were sold, so there was also the sounds of the vendors placing their rolls of material away each night.

    Our AirBnB itself was on two levels and quite spacious. The sloping ceilings were a bit of a hazard to the head - ancient residents of Paris must have all been quite short!    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    This would never be allowed in Oz
    Craig in CarcassonneThe approach to Cité de CarcassonneFinn doing his homework, on a really fast train!The road guitar got a workout in the AirBnB at CarcassonneWalking around the ramparts of the medieval city at CarcassonneCassoulet and bierThe entrance to the Cité de CarcassonneMe and my boy

    Paris to Carcassonne

    8 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    That was a bit of an adventure. The freak show was on the move, twaddling through the streets of Paris with our luggage to the Anvers Metro station, changed lines a few stops along, then meandered over to the regional line, waited two hours for our train to come, caught the train to Narbonne (lovely relaxing part of the journey) and then we jumped on the train from Narbonne to Carcassonne where the train people decided that oversubscribing the number of passengers was a jolly good idea so we were squeezed into a train with way too many people, their luggage and their bikes. The only thing missing from the scene was a chicken or two flapping around (here Craig and I think back to our journey to Taveuni with Neal and Kerry-Anne). Poor Kate was once again at the correct height to smell the underarms and bums of obese smokers ;-)

    Luckily, our AirBnB was less than a 5 minute walk from the train station where we were met by our host. After dumping the luggage we set of for the 25 minute walk to the medieval Cité de Carcassonne.

    This place was spectacular. It has a 2,500 year history, but by the 1850s had fallen into disrepair and was decreed to be demolished. Thankfully the locals strongly opposed the idea and there was a campaign to restore it. Since then it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and with good reason. We were able to freely walk along the ramparts. This sort of thing continually amazes us, whereas in Australia all the area would be regulated to death in terms of heights where railings would be in place. Here, there are huge drops and you walk freely through the place.

    The streets inside are cobbled and winding with little shops. There were a lots of tourist shops, which many of the reviews I read were quite disparaging about. I don't necessarily think they detracted from the place at all and gave it a bit of a market town bustle and appeal.

    After circumnavigating, we found a restaurant in the main square and we all elected to have cassoulet - a local dish which is a casserole containing a pork sausage, a duck leg and white beans which in essence forms a thick gravy. We also had a very LARGE bier (500mls), the boys had more than one. As a result, it was necessary to walk the last bit of getting home very fast in order to prevent bladder explosion.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    The 1st Mate has been allowed to wear the Captain's hat for a short while ;-)
    Risotto for dinner on the first nightFinn on the canal (it looks like it is not rainy but that is an illusion)The Ingram Family on the Canal du MidiThe travel guitar on the Canal du Midi, FranceMy beloved navigating our boatPegged out for our first nightFirst lock done and dusted

    Boating on the Canal du Midi

    9 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    We spent the day mildly experiencing what it would be like to be homeless in inclement weather. We had to leave our accommodation by 10am but couldn't check into our canal boat until 3pm, but it was raining in Carcassonne, which made everything all that much more difficult.

    So, we spent some time hanging out in the train station, a bit of grocery shopping, lunch under a tree by the canal, a very prolonged coffee in a shop, and then a bit of loitering at the canal boat place and we managed to get on the boat without getting wet!

    We had a few hours changeover with the boat where we got some navigation instruction from Alex (who was quite hopeless at driving boats, so not sure that we learnt much!), but which gave us a chance to work out we didn't have towels or toilet paper - the necessities of life... so we could rent some towels and buy some loo paper, and we were set.

    I had to purchase a Captain's hat for the husband so that he could pretend he really was in charge of the boat!

    And then we were off. Only a short km or two down the road and we hit our first lock. All was good though and I think we didn't do too badly navigating in and out of the lock. We are spending this entire journey "locking down" which is infinitely easier than going upstream from what I can tell.

    We pegged off on the bank a little white later and I made a risotto au jambon et aux champignons for dîner - yummy! (Sounds so much more exotic en Francais!)    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Finn is doing a great job manning the ropes and jumping onto to the bank
    Into the lockGlen and Jeff on the CanalComing into one of the villagesMe and my boyInside the lock, waiting for it to lowerA double lock

    Our first full day on the Canal

    10 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    More of the same really, locking, cruising, stopping and exploring, pegging off to sleep the night. Glen and Jeff made sausages and mashed potato for dinner with a yummy salad. We were followed by the crazy French man who drives his boat like a bull in a china shop - either totally full thrust forward or totally full thrust backward... as a result, he is spending a lot of time running into the lock gates, the other boats in the locks, the banks either side leading in or out of the lock. We are all quite surprised their boat is still afloat really!

    The other phenomena is that it is REALLY WINDY! And rained intermittently. Quite annoying really because the sun is not really an overwhelming factor of our day, and it interrupting my preconceived vision of cruising along the canal with a glass of vino in hand.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Going through a bridge
    Craig entering the lockA very lovely bottle... And the wine tasted good too!Through the bridgeHompsFinn driving the boat2A crowded lockDraining the lockMy boyOne of three water bombing planes fighting the bush fire

    Our second full day on the Canal

    11 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    More of the same, but we did pull up in Homps for a few hours into the marina to fill the boat with water, empty the rubbish, charge the boat and electronic devices and find a supermarche in order to stock up for lunch and dinner.

    One of the lock-keepers fancied himself as a bit of a sculptor, and as we went through the lock, one of his sculptures was a wooden crocodile.

    We don't have a great deal of cooking implements, and Craig and my turn to cook, so we bought some chorizo and long chipolata sausages, potatoes and tomatoes and we are making the Jamie Oliver oven baked dish. Craig has added some moules instead of anchovies (which is what I use at home when I make this dinner).

    A bit of excitement today as it has been really windy and there were a number of fires in the hilly country to our left as we travelled along the lock. In the afternoon there were a number of planes dumping water on the fire which was located in what seemed to be Narbonne National Park. We saw the flames on the ridge of the mountain.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Malpas Tunnel
    Fonserranes LocksThe "bumper boats", as referred to by the locals, are in the lockThis was probably the deepest of the locks we went through, pretty impressive!Loving brother and sister...And one of the dozen or so photos to try and get the previous photo...Kate did some artwork on her tabletOne of the quirky places we saw along the way, many of them looked abandoned in some wayAhhh, the serenityNight time activities. A local drop and a game or two

    All the other days on the Canal

    15 settembre 2017, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    What a lovely way to spend the week. We had two days of motoring with no locks (so there we were - the Lockless Monsters), and then yesterday we were up early to get in the queue for the Fonserannes Locks - a series of 9 locks, only 7 in use - that staircase down (or up) the Canal du Midi. A 17th century feat of engineering it is described as. It was pretty amazing.

    The day before we had a 160m long tunnel (Malpas Tunnel), yesterday just after Fonserannes was the beautiful aqueduct, which you can only see the beauty of if you aren't actually on it, so our photos look like a square bit of canal as opposed to the lovely arches you see if you are either side of the structure.

    We have generally had a routine of motoring along, pulling in to a village to get lunch/dinner provisions, keep motoring, moor on the banks of the canal for the night, sit around admiring the view/keeping out of the wind depending on the day, dinner and bed. We have managed fairly well to fall into the European habit of going to bed latish and sleeping through til about 8.30am,

    Today we head for Agde and will berth there for the night prior to disembarking out boat tomorrow morning and hiring a car to head to the Riviera.

    There are lots of ducks on the canal, so we have taken to calling them "aquaducks".

    Unfortunately, the sun has buggered off again, so it is overcast and windy and chilly. The forecast for the Riviera district is sunny with tops of 23 degrees, which will be a welcome relief. Will have to see if that's too cold for a dip in the Mediterranean?

    The beautiful plane trees which line large parts of the Canal du Midi have been struck by canker and so intermittently large swathes of them have been felled. It is incurable and a real shame as they are beautiful trees, especially as they hang over the Canal. There is a reforestation program in place to replace them with 6 other species of trees. Canker has been spread by people tying their boats to the trucks which has damaged the tree and introduced the infection. Insanely, we will saw a number of boats (owned by locals!) with their boats tied up to the trees. By 2015, over 15,000 plane trees had been cut down due to the disease - it must have looked pretty spectacular when the entire canal was lined by these trees!    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    This place is too cute!
    Le Michelangelo - the open air restaurantThis is our street - la Rue FontaineOur restaurant before the sun set completely

    Agde to le Bar-Sur-Loup

    16 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    A travel day today... We left our boat, Craig ordered a taxi, in a mixture of French and English, and it actually turned up and could fit all 6 of us in along with all our luggage! A bit of waiting around in Le Cap d'Agde until it was time to pick up the hire cars and we were off.

    The drive to le Bar-Sur-Loup took just over 4 hours, mostly on toll roads (otherwise you can add another 2 hours to the journey time), so it was relatively calm. French people have no idea how to drive straight, in their own lane, or indicate. Quite frightening at times!

    The village of le Bar-Sur-Loup is in the mountainous hinterlands about 60 minutes from Nice. It is quaint! Streets are skinny, our car is parked in a public car park somewhere up the hill from where we are staying, but we have lovely views of the valley formed by the Loup River.

    We wandered down the road and had dinner at a bistro with views across said valley, on a terrace where the pergola was dripping with grapes on a vine. Pretty awesome!    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Views from the kitchen door (where Craig is standing in the previous photo)
    View from the lower terrace garden (where the pool is) up to the houseOur loungeAwesome kitchen with equally awesome viewsThe back of our houseTrès bonLe Rue de Fontaine, our streetThe village washing area in days gone by... in our streetA great view for a wine (and a great wine too!)Dinner with the fire going

    Le Bar-sur-Loup AirBnB jackpot

    17 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    OK, we have hit the jackpot with this AirBnB. There is only one thing on the list I would change about this place and that is the name on the Title Deed! We all want to move in and live here forever.

    I made dinner tonight, just so I could revel in the fabulously appointed kitchen. The kids want to swim but it was too cold by the time we got home from today's adventures. It got a bit chilly, so Craig stoked the wood fire.

    The pieces of art, the lighting, the decor - everything is très bon. There is a lot to be said for excessive amounts of cutlery, beautiful wine glasses, sharp knives, great cooking pots, lovely towels, lots of ambient lighting and a glowing fire, washed down with a local drop of rosé. I'm in love!    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    The Loup as it is in Pont-de-Loup
    The goat track beside the gorgeWe enjoyed a blue sky today!A little grotto alongside the trackMonkey boy and monkey girlBeautiful coloured water and crystal clearWhere we crossed - it doesn't look much, but the temperature was unbearable!One for Mia - the towel was usefulOn our way back

    Gorge de Loup

    17 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We embarked on a little adventure today, leaving our lovely accommodation. We were headed for Pont-du-Loup to start with, which should have only been 10 minutes away, but somehow I accidentally added an additional stop to the journey which meant we left Le Bar-sur-Loup, did a windy loop for about 15 minutes on a narrow road only fit for a bicycle with some of the signs showing a 25% incline, only to end back up in Le Bar-sur-Loup before I realised. The kids thought it was great. I was issued strict instructions by the husband to never do that to him again.

    So, now we were on the road to Pont-du-Loup, looking for the turn-off to Gorge de Loup. We have discovered that signage is not a French forte. After a few terse words that saw us turning around on a stretch of road not fit for carriage for vehicles, we parked in Pont-du-Loup, wandered into the village and accidentally found ourselves on a path that followed the stream up through the gorge. It was magical.

    We followed that to its natural conclusion (ie: someone had set up a sign that said "private property", which meant we could go no further). Rather than go back the way we came, we decided a river crossing was in order. Hmmm. Brain freeze after eating a Big Blue Meanie Slurpee from 7/11 does not even come close to describing what happened to our feet from putting them in the Icelandic waters of this stream. Poor Kate, who is smaller than all of us, had a higher proportion of her body in the water so took some time to recover from the cold. But, we did all Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans proud - we had our towel with us, so could at least dry our feet before putting our shoes back on! [To quote: A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.]

    It was a pleasant few hours in the gorge. What is strikingly different over here is that these sorts of wonders are free from "nanny state" intervention. No guard rails, no signs dictating where you can and can't go (other than enterprising locals staking their claim on the land), no over-manicuring of the paths. It is quite refreshing, although even the kids are pointing out the non-compliant stair treads!    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    The destroyed section of the viaduct
    The best lolly shop ever1Building in the foreground is the local school. What a location for school!

    Le Pont-sur-Loup

    17 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    After getting back from our journey into the Gorge, we stopped at a shop in Le Pont-sur-Loup called Florian Confiserie which made the most delicious and unusual confectionery. The place had been swarming with a bus load of tourists as we left for our walk along the Gorge, but on the way back it was empty, so we went inside, prompted by the kids having found out that it was a "lolly shop".

    But this was not any ordinary lolly shop. This place was full of delicious and exceptional quality yummy stuff. The lady had all sorts of things she was pulling out from behind the counter for us to try. Of note were their candied citrus peel which you just can't get enough of. There was also chocolate covered citrus peel, jams and jellies of unusual varieties. Despite the outrageous expense, we bought a jar of candied whole clementines, which the sales lady said was great with vanilla glace (ice-cream). We obliged and bought some ice cream on the way home - wholeheartedly agree on her recommended accompaniment!    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    View from the village, Mediterranean in the distance, we walked to the viaduct
    Love these streetsLooks wide in the pic, but actually quite narrow lanewaysStanding on the viaduct looking back up to Tourettes-sur-LoupLunch under a tree - Craig with his Opinel knife

    Tourrettes-sur-Loup

    17 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    I kid you not, Craig said he had a genuine stammer as we entered the car park in this place. It is a medieval village, well renowned for its arts and crafts such as weaving, painting, pottery jewellery and sculpture. Quite simply, this was so incredibly gorgeous and quaint and authentic that it was hard not to believe that a movie set had been created in all its perfection and put there for you to walk through. The fact that people can and do live in this type of village almost defies logic and of course, you have to wonder "where do they shop? where do they work? does driving a car here drive them insane?". The place is breathtaking.

    We parked in a square, bought a couple of baguettes and wandered through the narrow winding streets to find somewhere to eat. This led us to the panorama which gave an incredible view across the viaduct which were originally built in the early 1900s to provide train access to what was otherwise an isolated area, and out to the Mediterranean.

    We had lunch under a tree and then walked down the goat track (not knowing where it was going to take us) until we actually ended up on the viaduct looking back up to the village! Back up in the village, dating from the 16th century, we wandered a bit more through the tiny streets, had a peak in an art gallery or two, before buying some groceries and heading back home.

    A fabulous day out! Off to Nice and Monte Carlo tomorrow...    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Promenade d'Anglais - cold and overcast
    Nutella crepe for lunchSugar and butter crepe for lunchNice

    Nice was nice-ish

    18 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Nice was nice, but certainly not my favourite place in this part of the world. This may in part be due to the hideous weather that came along today. A bit of a chill in the air, cloudy so not blue sky and intermittent drops of rain. A bit annoying really! Because Nice isn't really a tourist location to be enjoyed in inclement weather, it was a bit of a dampener on proceedings. As a result, we also decided to ditch the idea of going to Monaco. The hills are definitely more our thing than the waterfront locations.

    Our AirBnB coffee table has the Rick Steves guide to the French Riviera. We took his advice and decided to avoid the exorbitant fees and hassle of parking in the centre of Nice and parked at a nearby tram station. That all went pretty smoothly. We wandered around the markets in Vielle Ville, which based on the pricing of their wares (which were mostly pretty good), they cater for a more affluent clientele. It started to spit so we took refuge and had a leisurely lunch on the waterfront - the kids enjoyed crepes, Glen and I had homemade gnocchi, Craig had mostly salad. After lunch, a walk along the Promenade was required to appease lunch guilt.

    Notable things on the Promenade... Craig got a call from an old school friend via Facebook Messenger, so I thought I might as well ring my sister.

    I am being good tonight and going straight for the wine to avoid the bier ;-)    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Views down the hill from Gourdon
    Kate playing with yet another catLove the inside of these shopsA sloping uneven floor and low ceilings in this shopThe waterfalls of Saut du LoupThe waterfalls of Saut du LoupKing of the worldViews down the gorge to Pont-du-Loup

    Gourdon and waterfalls

    19 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We found ourselves on the long and winding road to Gourdon today, which is more up in the hills than le Bar-sur-Loup. 'Twas a wee bit hazy looking out to the sea, but pretty spectacular views nevertheless. There were lots of lovely little artisanal shops in Gourdon, and similar to many of the other places we have visited recently, the shops themselves are irregular inside, with stone walls, uneven floors, low ceilings and tiny little off-shoot rooms.

    The kids have been enchanted by the various lolly shops we have come across in these places so today I relented and allowed them to buy a "strawberry" which was one big ball of tasty-looking sugar concoction!

    After leaving Gourdon, we took the roundabout route to Vence, which took us further up into the gorge, did a switchback to come down the other side, stopping at the waterfalls. In a "this would never happen in Australia" type of arrangement, a business had set up shop at the side of the road, built a stone house and restaurant, put a turnstile in which cost €1 per person to go through the turnstile to look at a natural phenomena. We obliged. There was no evidence of this being a state-run enterprise, so I can only assume that it is perfectly OK to hijack local beauty for your own profit. Similar to many beaches here I guess? It was spectacular, of course.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Cheese, baguette and sausage on Chris's cheese board
    More medieval streets in VenceMore medieval streets in VenceMore medieval streets in VenceMore medieval streets in VenceStopping for lunch in the Square

    Medieval Vence

    19 settembre 2017, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    After leaving the waterfalls, we drove into Vence, which at its core has a medieval village, probably the most used for everyday life of all the ones we have visited so far. This also had lots of restaurants in obscure spots. The kids were mesmerised by the cats - there are a lot of cats in France - so a lot of mesmerising going on!

    There are a few hairy bits on the drive home, which prompted Finn and Kate to start singing the "Dumb ways to die" song. We added some of our own verses which included "driving on French Riviera roads for no good reason", "overtaking at speed when you can't see what's coming" and various iterations thereof.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Well at least three of us will be coming back again!
    What this looks like without all the touristsUs at TreviJostling for positionThe remains of Hadrian's TempleInside the PantheonBeautiful ceilingOutside the Pantheon

    Roma - Trevi Fountain and Pantheon

    21 settembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    A very big walking day today, so our feet were feeling the effect of all the uneven stone and the distances covered by the time we got home. But, still not a complaint from the children!

    Our original AirBnB was cancelled last week and we have ended up in a newly renovated apartment near the Termini - so new that we think we are the first guests to ever use it. We are connecting the water to the washing machine and the dishwasher in order to use them, opening the manuals to work out how to use the brand new appliances etc. It is a great location so lots of walking has been occurring as a result.

    We started our day with a visit the Trevi Fountain. Apparently, every other visitor to Rome had exactly the same idea. Nanny bought the kids their first Italian gelati – delicious!

    Craig had banned all sightseeing of the interior of the "fake Pantheon" in Paris, but this one was open slather, being the real one and all that, and free, unlike the fake Pantheon which was charging for entry. On the way, we stumbled across the façade (remaining columns) of Hadrian’s Temple on the way, which is now tastefully attached to the side of a bank. A good chunk of the crowd who were at the Trevi Fountain had also moved on to the Pantheon (Roma is VERY busy but in a fun way). The Pantheon was just incredible and so well preserved. As it was a bright sunny day, the sun was shining through an almost perfect circle on the interior of the dome.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Obligatory photo on the Spanish Steps
    And from the top...Great views of the rooftops of RomeRooftops1A brief stop for lunch in the Borghese GardensPiazza NavonaDinner at a trattoriaFinn forget his jumper. Looks great in my skarf!Before the parmesan police said "No! No good" to my request.

    Spanish Steps + Piazza Navona

    21 settembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After leaving the Pantheon, we meandered through the shopping streets of Rome en route to the Spanish Steps. A Gold Lotto wish then popped into my head: Shopping trip to Rome with an unlimited budget and someone to carry all the bags! Piazza di Spagna mustn’t be terrorist proof yet, as there were a lot of military vehicles and personnel blocking the entry points onto the Piazza in lieu of bollards. An obligatory sit on the steps, which we then walked up to be rewarded with fabulous views over the rooftops of Rome including the dome of St Peter’s Basilica.

    Lunch was had in a café in the Borghese Gardens, after which we strolled back home for a quick rest. For the rest of the afternoon, we spent the time in the Fora Romano, Palatino and Colosseo. The queue for the tickets moved slowly and the security line for the Colosseum was ridiculously long, so we opted to do the Forum first. Good decision as it turned out – by the time we got to the Colosseum we basically walked right in.

    We then meandered to the Piazza Navona for the evening meal and found a little restaurant just off the main square. We opted to start with “happy hour” which included a plate of antipasto. Dinner was quite rustic pasta dishes (to the point where when I asked the owner/waiter for parmesan to go with my risotto I received a “no, no good” and he walked away!). I feel like I have had my own version of the soup nazi: "No parmesan for you!".    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore

    Fora Romano & Palatino

    21 settembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    The scale of this place is remarkable. We had a book provided by Glen which showed us what it looks like now and then you can lift the flap to see what it looked like then. Helpful to provide some context to the structures.

    Almost overshadowing the ancient ruins was the ridiculous poses being pulled by men and women alike as they took photos of themselves or each other - puffed up chests with tensed muscles to define the pecs for the guys, and hair pulled back round artfully to one side, trout pout and all other manner of strange body contortions for the girls. Pretty hilarious actually.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Kate found a vast expanse of green and decided to frolic. The others joined in.
    Jeff extending the olive branch to GlenCraig followed suitA very small part of the parklandThe kids collected mushrooms for Poppy. Fettucini al funghi for dinner tonight?The yellow restaurant for lunchKatiekoozle sketching the restaurant windowThe walls of Rome cityThe walls of Rome city

    Catacombs of Saint Sebastian

    22 settembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today we headed outside of the city walls of Rome to the Parco Regionale Appia Antica. After successfully navigating the bus we needed to get out there, I stupidly got us off the bus a little too early. I can therefore report that despite being one of the earliest Roman roads, the Appian Way (or Via Appia Antica) is still used to the fullest and was VERY busy and somewhat hairy walking along the edge of the road on a very narrow stretch which is walled on both sides and barely wide enough for two vehicles, let alone pedestrians. Eeek.

    Anyway, we did eventually make it to the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian in one piece, had a very informative guided tour of the Catacombs where there were just the six of us + one other lady. Afterwards, we then wandered through a very small part of the parkland (it is over 3,400 hectares) which is scattered with Roman ruins.

    Despite not being able to speak Italian, Glen and I had a lovely conversation with an elderly gentleman out doing his daily exercise in the past. We managed to deduce he was originally French, so spoke French, Italian and very little English, but we somehow managed to piece together a conversation.

    Unfortunately we couldn't see the large aqueduct as it was at the opposite end of the park, but decided we may as well walk back to Rome which took about an hour and a half. But, we were able to walk through the city walls.    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    Grotto and fountain commissioned by one of the Popes
    The Italian Garden looking across to St Peter's BasilicaThe Italian GardenPop Francis commissioned these two statues from an Argentinian artist using recycled materialsThe apartment George Bush (Snr) stayed in, but apart from that, the brickwork was greatThe back side of the BasilicaFabulous mosaics, and cute turtles

    Vatican Gardens

    23 settembre 2017, Città del Vaticano ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Today, we continued our mastery of the Roman public transport system and took the Metro to Vatican City. I had booked us in on a tour of the Vatican Gardens, because we could then skip the queues to the Museums + we also got access to the little door at the back right of the Sistene Chapel which gave us access straight into the Basilica (and when we saw that queue, were glad of the opportunity to do so). Do you get the idea that queues are an issue?

    The gardens were lovely but that is to be expected when there are 50 full-time gardeners employed to tend them. There were great views of the dome of the Basilica as you walked through the gardens. They are closed to tourists in the afternoon so that they can be used by the Pope and other residents of Vatican City in the afternoons. On the grounds is the apartment of the former pope, who apparently was in residence when we were there (something to do with windows being open etc).    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore

    St Peter's Basilica + Cupola

    23 settembre 2017, Città del Vaticano ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    The organ was playing in the Basilica during our visit as some visiting clergy were partaking of Mass. The Basilica is awe-inspiring in its scale. A number of colleagues at work had suggested we do the walk up to the Cupola, which we did. Luckily there is a lift to the first level which gives a close up view of the internal ceiling and mosaics of the dome, and then after a lot of twisting and turning on the barely-wide-enough stairs, you pop out at the very top of the dome with 360 degree views of Rome which included a great view over St Peter's Square.Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore
    The dreary sights you have to put up with when you duck out to buy a few groceries for dinner
    Another vision en route to buying the groceriesThe deli guy earnestly cutting the most expensive prosciutto we are ever likely to eat at €150/kgAnd this was the easy window to work out what to buy!This is a smile of terror at what we are trying to achieveThe antipasto fare

    Antipasto for dinner

    23 settembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Because we can't possibly have walked enough today, Craig and I decided to find a delicatessen and buy some various antipasto ingredients for dinner tonight. Google Maps gave us an option which was a 3km round trip, which seemed reasonable for some authentic Roman fare. So off we set. Unfortunately, Erzinio Food has not lodged the correct opening details with Google Maps! Our other option was Roscioli which turned out to be a 4.2km round trip.

    Finding ourselves in a stuffed-to-the-hilt deli where everything was in Italian was only slightly daunting ;-) We walked away with fresh pesto, whole baby caramelised onions, artichoke hearts and more than what we asked for of the €150/kg prosciutto. It took him a good 20 minutes to cut the prosciutto by hand, so it was a bit of a masterpiece.

    Roscioli also had a forno (bakery) a little further down the lane, so we bought some crusty bread there from an equally stuffed-to-the-hilt-with-bread-and-people shop, and some cheese and salami and grapes from yet another shop, and our hunter-gatherer duties were done.

    A meal fit for a king, only topped by gelati from the shop downstairs (dangerous to live close to too many gelati shops!) I feel slightly vindicated by the additional 4.2km walk we squeezed in on top of all the other walking we did today.

    On the topic of lots of walking, and tangentially related... the kids are somewhat enamoured by the bidet and keep asking us if we have used it yet. After the extra walking this afternoon, I think the perfect use would be to fill it up with some warm water, add a splash of Radox, sit back on the loo next to it and soothe the sore feet!    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore

    Getting to Pompei

    24 settembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Up early for the train from Termini to Tiburtina, transfer to the bus station and on the bus. This was a sentence written without much turmoil. On the day however, everything was pretty easy until we got to the bus station, only to be met with chaos. It was bound to happen since I am sure I had only uttered the day before that the train and bus network in France and Italy had worked like clockwork, down to the minute just about. We arrived at the bus station at least an hour ahead of schedule, where there was absolutely no indication of what to do next. A line of angry people were lined up at the "ticket office" (although perhaps they were not angry, just speaking in dramatic Italian). One guy did dare to queue jump, at which time there was a bit of anger directed at him - that much can be deduced without the need to understand the language.

    It would appear the board which told you which platform you had to go to was broken, and with only one girl working the counter (despite another man standing around behind her doing what looked like "nothing"), she didn't really care to help people. To be fair, she may have just been sick of being yelled at about the broken billboard despite it only being 7.30am.

    So the only way to know which bus you had to get on, was to stand around, wait for one of your bus company's buses to pull in, rush to the bay to see if that was yours, and bravo if it was. So, that is exactly what we did. Bit of a trial run for tomorrow because we are going to be back here to catch the same bus company to Siena.

    The bus journey was great and we drove past Vesuvius and through Naples. That was an eye-opener! Imagine scouting for a post-apocalyptic movie location - do yourself a favour and go to Naples - will save heaps of time! Graffiti, overgrown, run-down, neglected, slums, rubbish everywhere, mafia-controlled, barely habitable...    Leggi altro

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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeViaggiatore

    Pompei

    24 settembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    For a world-famous archaeological site, there was little by way of signage or information about how to actually get into the place if you arrive by bus. Even Google maps seemed strangely silent and eventually misleading on the matter. We did eventually find our way to the main gate, after stopping in a great restaurant for the best valued pizza.

    Pompei itself was gigantic and we had a bit of fun trying to interpret the maps with minimal information provided that didn't match up with most of the signage. The kids enjoyed themselves, and it was quite different to what I expected.    Leggi altro

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