Sienna and Florence through the lens . . .

The streets of Sienna through the fog - magical.

Chocolate pasta (?)

Looking through the walkway to Sienna's famous Piazza.

Whilst we were there the locals had their huge Christmas farmers market.

The local produce was so fresh.

These pasteries and donuts were to die for. 
We just had to buy and sample a couple of each.

 

The locals were out in full force stocking up for Christmas.

The fog didn't lift all day.
Made for great photos and atmosphere - though freezing cold!

Christmas pizza - only in Italy.

One of Italy's stand up pizza bars.
With piping hot delicious pizza and heating, we could have stayed in here all day.

The back streets are always the best for exploring.

The sun tried to break through and the fog lifted at about 3pm

 

Parking Sienna style.
With parking spots few and far between a lot of people just pulled up wherever
their cars would fit.  many drove these little electric cars - no problems parking these anywhere.

Just a little snipit of the Sienna skyline.

Love this Italian washing line.

An Ape50 3 wheeled car - very popular in Italy.
Italian men aren't as tall as Glenn.

 

Heading off for a days exploring in Florence.
Freezing cold morning - woke to a big frost - thus the hats and scarves.

The view of Florences Duomo from our campsite.
Camping Michaelangelo - the best location we have had yet.

Michaelangelo Piazza, Florence - very early in the morning.

The view from Michaelangelo.

Ponte Vecchio - Florences' famous shopping bridge.

We've never seen a queue outside a Tiffany's store before.
Either a really good sale on or lots of lucky Italian's find little blue boxes under the Christmas tree.

 

The girls check out a local artists works on the streets of Florence.

The Duomo is just an impressive building - as too the buildings surrounding it.

 

As the fog settles in once again.
The girls atop Michaelangelo Piazza late one night.

With not long until Christmas day we enjoyed seeing the locals getting ready.

Ponte Vecchio

Like Rome, Florence's streets ahd beautiful Christmas decorations hanging.
The locals used bikes, dressed to the nine's and were always on the phone.

 

Even the dogs wore designer clothes.
This one was running from person to person looking for some lunch.

Dusk in Florence.

 

Pompei to Roma through the lens . . .

Even the footpaths in Italy are stylish.
Glenn and the girls strolling down the main street of Pompei.

Pasta the Italian way.

A whole supermarket isle was dedicated to pasta.

Walking the now deserted streets of the ruins of the old city of Pompei.
We were amazed at how preserved everything was and how
the new city had been built literally on the other side of the fence from
the old city.  A serene, silent and surreal place to visit.

Looking back towards Mt Versuvius from the walls of the old city.
They still grow vines in the old gardens and produce a nice wine from them.

Inside one of the 'takeaway' lunch bars in the main street.
The people of Pompei didn't pack a lunch, they ate at one of these
snack bars everyday.  When the ashes had settled and rescue teams
came into the ruins they found the days takings
from one of these cafes still sitting on the counter in its box.

Taashi takes in the body of a resident as it was found, quite peacefully
lying as though still asleep.  The girls appreciated and understood
exactly what had happened here.

At the end of a long days exploration of the ruins were came
across this serene pool of water near the church.
It reminded us of a reflection pool (even though it was just a puddle from last nights rain).

 

One of the many streets in Sorrento decorated for Christmas.
This town was magnificant during the day - by night
it was just breathtaking.  See the snow in the distance - brrrr.

The Amalfi Coast.

 

We took the bus along the famous Amalfi Coastal Road.
It is forbidden to drive Motorhomes along it anymore.
Our bus driver took the corners at alarming speeds and had
us gripping our seats on more than one occasion.
Glenn was glad he wasn't driving!

The main square in Amalfi.

Little Blue Fiats are just too cute.

We had our first Italian pizza in a tiny little local spot in Amalfi.
The girls working there smiled at us taking photos - very cheesy
but too good a photo op to miss.

Amalfi Town

The Duomo in Amalfi

 

Catching the train to Rome.

One of Romes main shopping streets in the middle of the day.

Shopping local Roman Style.

The Christmas decorations looked classy even during the day.

Stealing a kiss infront of the Trevi Fountain.

Hot Choclate - done the Italian way.
It's just like drinking hot liquid choclate mousse -
although technically you can't drink it.  You have to
eat it off the spoon.

The wonder of Rome is that the ruins are right in amongst the
new buildings of the city.

Our shadows in The Forum.

A beggar on a street in Rome.
She had her Rosary beads wrapped around her outstretched hand.

 

Beside the colossal Colosseum.

Inside the Pantheon.

One of Romes fairytale back streets.

These trees came to typify Roman boulevards to us.

For some strange reason we hadn't realized that Pinocchio
was Italian (or we had just forgotten) until we stumbled
upon this work shop in a little back street.

The crowds came out to SHOP when the sun came down.
It was a fantastic time to be in Rome amongst all the local
Christmas Shoppers - who far outnumbered we tourists.

The Christmas tree on the Spanish Steps.

Looking back from the Spanish Steps
towards the Christmas shoppers.

Outside the Fendi bag store, with all its Christmas lights twinkling
on a corner street in Rome - it started snowing foam as 'Its beginning to
look a lot like Christmas' blared out of some load speakers hidden
somewhere.  The local kids - and our 2 - had a ball.

More amazing Christmas lights blanketing the city streets.

 

Two Sisters take their lunch break beneath a column in St Peter's Square.

Standing in St Peter's Square in the Vatican.

The famous St Peter's Square Christmas Tree was being erected whilst we were there.

It wasn't hard to see how people strain their necks
trying to take in the Basilica.

The amazing ceilings in the Vatican.

The tapestries proved a real talking point
for the girls once they realised just how gruesome
the scenes were. 

Taashi and Tilly loved running down this famous staircase in the Vatican.

 

 

 

A Snapshot of Italy . . .

It’s really hard to sum up (whilst still doing justice to) the month we spent travelling through Italy.

As a family we sat down to collectively write down our impressions of this fabulous country.

Our favourite foods – the best gelato was in Levanto (especially the Cicolatto Nero & Mandarin), the best pizza was on the boardwalk in Monterosso, the hot chocolate was like hot liquid chocolate mousse, we discovered tiny little donuts pumped full of hazelnut chocolate,  mandarins were in season and so yummy, we had 3 Pantone’s (Italian Christmas ‘bread’ cakes) and saw lots and lots and lots of frozen pizza’s in the supermarkets (?).  Much to the girls horror we also came across horse meat for sale in a supermarket in Pompeii.

Our favourite towns were Florence, Sienna and Venice.  The Christmas lights in Sorrento and Rome were standouts.

The girls were captivated by all the little dogs in their designer winter coats being walked by their fur and sunglass wearing owners.  We chuckled at the designer clothes they deck themselves out in to do a Saturday shop – very Posh according to Tilly.

We’ve found the Italian campers a little bit clicky – we haven’t had as many conversations with them as we have other nationalities.  They tend to keep to and amongst themselves.  In saying that they are the biggest motorhome users we have come across – we counted 300 on the road in one day (granted it was leading up to the New Year).

On appearance there seem to be a lot of moneyed Italians – the cars they drive, the clothes they wear, they all smoke, drink and eat out a lot.  Glenn read somewhere that they tend to live beyond their means.  We have found that overall accommodation, groceries and diesel has been really expensive and made it impossible to stay within our budget – and we were here in winter!

The autostradas are fantastic to drive on and guaranteed to be winter proof and safe.  Especially at this time of the year with all the ice and snow on the roads we haven’t minded paying the tolls.  The other roads are a mixed bag, often  tiny, narrow and very windy.  The further south we drove the bigger the potholes.  One ‘major’ road we drove down looked like a giant lava flow!

The Italian Ambulance/Fire/Police sirens are bonkers and sound like a child’s melodic toy just before the batteries run flat.  We heard a lot of sirens as we town and city hopped our way across the country.

Finally Italian is one of our favourite languages.  It just rolls off the tongue and is so passionately spoken.  Ciao, Bon Journo, Preggo, Gratzi, Buon Natale . . .

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW - our internet connection in Spain just isn't strong enough to cope with downloading them onto the blog.