Going to Pompeii

Wow so much has happened since I last wrote but you can get the gist of what we’ve been up to in the photo gallery. We’re off to Sorrento, Pompeii and Capri for the next three days so I will properly update when I get back! Mum has also updated her blog.

Last night we saw Jupiter with four of its moons via the telescope they have here. And fireflies! They are so bright.

When we get back I’ll be looking out for pipistrelle. Small insect eating bats which apparently you can see flying over the pool at dusk searching for dinner! Ciao for now!

Photos

Ciao!

Just a quick note to let you know that the photos are now online!!! Both UK and Italian images. So please visit the photo gallery (link to your left) and check them out. It is more fun if you have broadband!

Today we are exploring Umbria with our guide - the German Michael - and our just arrived cousins, Terri and John. This will culminate in Amelia at an organ recital! Such fun.

Roma

Hello again. Today a welcome break from being a tourist. Just existing in this haven is enough. Plus of course I need to get you up to date. :)

So yesterday, Mum, Dad, the kids and I took a train to Rome to see a few sights. We caught the Eurostar into Rome which wasn’t in fact quicker than the regular train but left earlier. And we got these tickets (E9 each) which worked all day on all trains, metro and buses.

When we got to Rome we took the metro to the Vatican and walked to St Peter’s. It’s the big church with the dome. When you get there you realise what an understatement that is. You can fit 60,000 people inside AT THE SAME TIME. Mind you, I reckon it would be a bit of a squash. It took 10 architects to complete the building as they all kept dying and the design changed as they succeeded each other. A bit of controversy too. Some wanted the Christian cross shape while others including Michelangelo wanted the equal armed cross. (Da Vinci Code readers will recognise this as a symbol of balance between masculine and feminine) I don’t think Michelangelo was trying to invoke the sacred feminine power over the Vatican - he just wanted people to appreciate his dome - which he never saw completed. By the time the project was finished it was back to the long cross and I think the church were happy with the extra space.

While we were faffing around taking photos, we came across a free tour of St Peters run by an American girl. She takes free tours and then you can book her for specific tours of the museums. If you go to Rome you can meet up with Jennifer at the taxi-stand in front of St Peter’s Square at 9.30am Mon, Tues, Thurs and Friday. It is through her that the info I’ve been spouting as if I have done my research!

Anyway then we went into the cathedral. It is on a scale that has to be seen to be appreciate it. Extraordinary. Over the top. Wow. If you were in any doubt of the Catholic Church’s power this would change your mind - as I suspect it is supposed to.

There are waxworks of dead popes all around the walls. Michelangelo’s Pietro is behind glass. The paintings have all been replaced by mozaic replicas which look amazing. No piece of glass bigger than a bitten down little finger fingernail.

I could go on but suffice to say there will be photos online eventually. We even saw a church service with some VERY OLD ALMOST DEAD cardinals. Impressive but we didn’t stay for it - just the procession. There was a long line to view the dead Papi.

But we needed lunch. So we left the Vatican and headed back to Rome where we ate a mediocre and vastly overpriced lunch.

Then it was on to the Pantheon. At first we travelled along the main streets. And busy, dirty, hot streets they were to. Then we worked out that we could get to the Pantheon by taking the smaller side streets. Recommended. What a difference! Around a corner and wham. There is the Pantheon. More than 2000 years old it still stands majestically in the piazza. The columns are huge. And inside the cupola - bigger than that at St Peter’s is open at the top. The rain comes in apparently and there are five drainage holes to take the rain away.

The Pantheon was converted into a church and I can’t help but feel it has been desecrated through that action. The churchy bits look too small, too insignificant, too out-of-place. It is a great pity and I think Roma should give some thought to restoring the Pantheon to what it might have looked like when it was built. With Jupitar, Neptune, Minerva and all the other gods looking down.

It is actually a giant astronomical device telling the time of the year. The solstices and all that jazz. Stonehenge with style perhaps?

Anyway after the Pantheon and a gelati which is very good here by the way, we wandered off to find Dippity’s one request - the Trevy Fountain. She wanted to throw some coins in the fountain. Well after a while we found it. Once again it was tucked away, Rome has grown up around it. But what a joy. It was hot yeah, like around 30-32 degrees so seeing the aqua blue waters despite the crowds was heavenly. We went down right to the edge and tested the water. Cold. Obviously heavily chlorinated it was so clean. Dippity threw in her coins and made her wish and we all had a welcome break.

We’ve decided we don’t make very good tourists because we were completely tired out by then and looking forward to the trip home.

The metro was packed. Completely packed. We couldn’t even get on the train the first time. You thought Tokyo was busy - this was busier. And the trains were grotty. Covered in graffiti and hot. All in all not a pleasant experience. And we’re not talking peak hour. The main station was a joy after that and we rested while we waited for the train to Orte… and bought European Monopoli. Just for fun.

So that was Rome. This is the house we are staying in:

Some other news before I close. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law, are expecting another baby in October. Congratulations!! And thanks for all your comments - I love to read them! Sis - don’t worry about sending the skirt… I can wait til you get here… :)

Ensconsed

Ah Italy! Bella bella bella! It is gorgeous here. Firstly the house we are staying in is amazing. Views looking over a valley, beautifully appointed and not too far from anywhere it seems. It has taken us a few days to get organised on the computer front but thanks to the connections of the landscape gardener come tourism adviser, Michael, we have finally got connected. After everyone has had their fix I’ll get back on and sort out some photos - so come back soon.

Simply speaking - I want to live here.

We had a great meal in Ealing with Richard, Jane, Max and Nuala. Max and Nuala visited us on their honeymoon and now have two little girls, Kiera (6) and Sasha (3) who are very sweet. Jane somehow magicked up an Indian feast and we loved catching up with all the news.

In the early hours of the morning we stole away to the airport to catch our flight to Rome. Rory warned me that I would be responsible for organising train tickets when we arrived so I spent some of the flight searching through the phrase book for some helpful words. We arrived and I managed to get us tickets to Rome - I also didn’t count my change and got shorted E10 which was a pain but I learned my lesson! Then in Rome we caught a train to Orte. A bit trickier this time but we got there! It is so much fun speaking Italian! Understanding the replies is a bit of a challenge but I love it.

We got to Orte and had some fun trying to work out how to dial international to dad’s mobile. For the record just put 00 then the country code ie 61. That required a conversation in Italian with the guard - very amusing but eventually successful - and dad picked us up in the people mover he hired.

When we arrived at the house we were overwhelmed. I had seen the house in photos but the reality is much more impressive. Our little family pod has an entire wing! Mum and Dad are upstairs and when Cath and Georges arrive they will be in the other wing. Some holiday home. And beautifully appointed. I am sitting in the study looking out over the valley with a huge Voigt painting opposite. Stunning.

The first day we stayed close to home. Enjoying the ambience and the food - unbelievable!! Rory and I took a brief trip to Verni to try and sort out the internet - I did manage eventually to find an internet laundrette (brilliant idea eh) but not the information I needed. We also had fun in an enormous iperstore - big supermarket - where I asked someone in Italian if I could by some cream…. so exciting when they understand you! In Italy you need to wear a little plastic glove (provided) to choose your vegetables and fruit. Then you weigh it and get a little sticker with a bar code on it to take up to the front till. Yes - we had to go back and do it! Fun though.

Rory had to drive in peak hour traffic which was interesting. Road rules in Italy appear to be a concept. The gardener Michael advises “Just look straight ahead and do whatever you need to with a firm expression - never look back!” Whatever… red lights don’t seem to be very effective and if you stop sometimes you get beeped at by the other drivers. We always stop though just in case.

Yesterday we went to Siena. The buildings in old Siena are all about 4-5 stories tall and quite oppressive. The only green space seems to be through the gaps of the buildings where, if you sneak through you find vistas of green Tuscan countryside rolling away below you. Most towns seem to be built on the tops of hills which I understand was to get away from the swampy ground full of disease and mosquitos. They are so picturesque.

I will write more of the places we visit as captions under the photos when I eventually put them up but I must write of the Duomo or Cathedral in Siena. The outside was amazing - so ornate - but inside was incredible. Completely over the top. Every surface be it wall floor or ceiling was decorated - and decorated lavishly. I got in trouble for having a singlet top on (so warm here) but my brother Mike lent me his jumper and I avoided the little paper capes that they have as emergency garments.

Today we went for a walk to the little town we are staying near - Penna in Teverina. Not the prettiest of towns I must admit but it was fun having coffee in the main square and buying bread in Italian. I think I would be good at Italian if I stayed here for a few months… Then Michael (the gardener - not the brother) took us into Amelia to get the computer sorted.

Amelia is amazing. Older than Rome there are gates to the old city more than 2000 years old. We found a little cheese shop with a great range of cheese and stepped inside a little chapel - well it had a lot of ornate statues on the wall - where the mothers of the town were displaying some children’s artwork. We had an animated conversation with them in which neither of us understood too much and they now think that dad is a farmer. Well I guess he is of a sort.

Anyway I’ll get back on soon to upload some photos but I must get off and allow the rest of the family their fix. Ciao tutte.

FA Cup or blogging?

Yes you win! I am in Ealing. It is raining outside which it has been all day although - what’s that? A patch of blue?! Ah no clouded over… sigh. The FA Cup is on. Arsenal v Man United (I think). We are staying with R&J who came over to our wedding all those years ago.

They now have two boys, with (yes you guessed it) the reddest hair you’ve ever seen. Our kids have been playing nicely and I now have a few minutes to talk with you and update you on our travels.

Now last we spoke we were in Bath. After the email session we went to the Roman Baths - a 2000 year old bathing complex unearthed in the heart of Bath itself. It is a fantastic relic with very funny guides and it was a thrill to run my hand through the warm (46C) waters from the spring that fills the bath. They also have a great audio tour which fills you in on many of the features.

For me one of the highlights was realising that Minerva - the Roman goddess the baths is named after (along with Sulis the Celtic goddess), is in fact the Roman version of Pallas Athena. I was home! I love Bath. The Georgian buildings, the atmosphere. It’s all good.

They are building and have been for some time, a new spa, using the hot waters of the spring but sadly, although the opened the building two years ago, it is yet to be in operation. Problems beset them. First I believe it was the open air swimming pool at the top which was so defiled by defecating pigeons that it failed public health standards. It will be great when it is finally finished. Price tag = £40 Million.

Anyway after Bath we headed back to London and arriving a bit early we headed to the Natural History Museum for a little look around. Lots of very big dinosaur exhibits is my main impression of that. We had a quick look through the V&A too but were a bit hungry and tired by that stage.

We then headed to Highbury to catch up with our old neighbours and friends. K was there to greet us (and direct us by phone). They live in a small house near a big park and even have an allotment! The first people I know with an allotment. Apparently M waited 9 years for someone to die or get divorced so he could plant a few veg… bless.

Anyway we had a lovely dinner and several too many wines and camped out in their spare room which was fantastic of them. It can’t have been easy with all of us there! The line of the night came from Georgia. Groover said that we should do a house exchange one day… to which she quipped “Yeah, forever!”. G would like to move back to Australia!

Next morning we walked the kids to school - that is L & G, E was staying home, and on the way back I took a photo of the front of the house that was in Four Weddings and a Funeral - you know the end scene in the rain - which is just around the corner. Felt like a real tourist but it had to be done.

We then caught the tube into central London and managed to walk to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard - along with a thousand other people. They came in, played a few toons and stomped about a bit and then stomped off as they do everyday. Amazing.

We were a bit tired by then so Groover decided we ought to experience a ride in a London Cab, which took us back to the station and back to Highbury.

It was very gritty in London and Dippity and I spent a lot of time trying to dislodge bits of soot which seem to find our eyes magnetic - as I’m sure you have (hehe).

Then it was time to move the car to our next lodging at Tower Bridge. Well that was an experience driving in London Traffic. Groover had prepaid the conjestion tax - nightmare - so we drove right through the centre (it works by the way) - to the Tower of London and we found our self contained apartment overlooking the Thames - well the muddy bottom of the Thames.

It had a washing machine - bliss - and I soon stripped the kids and started washing. I guess I hadn’t expected the weather to be quite so rainy - the kids only have a couple of cold weather outfits. I don’t know what I was thinking. This is England you know!

Groover’s sister joined us a bit later on and we all trooped out to see the London Dungeon…

Groover by some miracle managed to get us in free - don’t ask me how - unfortunately we were with a group of screaming giggling Czech Republicans who needed translations but it was a lot of fun. Especially memorable was D being signalled out in the Courtroom and tried for being a witch - she had been found dancing naked on the common begging evil spirits for a man apparently - this caused a great deal of hilarity among our party. Well Groover and I doubled up in laughter, D only managed a wry smile…

Then Dtook the kids off for a meal and an early night and Groover and I went out for a night on our own. Well to about half eight - we were knackered! We found a restaurant though that served grey squirril on the menu! Grey squirril - wouldn’t that be akin to eating rat?

Anyway D had settled in with a bottle of wine so we stayed up chatting til it was finished - Groover having gone off to bed at 9!

Next day we got organised and headed off for the Tower of London having left the car at the apartment which was great. The Tower was huge - far bigger than I remember but I think I did the same bits as last time - nearly 20 years before. I must go back one day and AVOID the crown jewels and the white tower. We went on a walking tour with a Yeoman Warder to start with and he was a treasure - very funny. Especially at the end when after exhorting us all to turn off our mobile phones as we entered the chapel - his went off!! Very funny.

It was the day after the anniversary of Anne Boleyn’s execution and there were fresh flowers in the chapel and on the tower green where she died.

It was all too much for the kids though and after a couple of hours they had had enough. We left to catch a tube to Westminster then for the London Eye. Big queue. Expensive tickets. Impressive view. Luckily the weather had cleared and we could see to the horizon.

By the time we got back to the car it was five o’clock and we started for Ealing. Two hours later in Friday night peak hour traffic we got to R & Js where we had a lovely dinner and sleep. But we have done enough sightseeing for now. Tonight dinner with friends and possibly cards…. :)

A final thought and a little joke to share with you thanks to Radio 4.

The thought is that if you are planning a trip to London check out wotif.com and tripadviser.com, they have been invaluable at scoring us fantastic (and discounted) accommodation. We managed to get the Tower Bridge apartment at a third of its normal rate.

And this is the joke: Why did Chris de Burgh cross the road? To get to the middle. (the middle of the road - geddit!)

When next we meet I will be in sunny Italy - well hopefully sunny…. ciao!

Nettles

Ha we arrived and thanks to being COMPLETELY exhausted by the delays in Singapore slept really well in the back of the plane and so arrived in Heathrow relatively fresh.

It was a beautiful day and we spent it wandering around Groover’s old haunts. Saw every house he lived in and his schools. Went for walks in Burnham Beeches - a favourite with the kids and experienced nettles.

Well I have never seen a nettle so I was quite keen to see some. My only experience with nettles is the Christopher Robin poem where the Little Black Hen offers to brush her wing across the nettle place on his knee.

So Groover found us some nettles and I brushed my hand across the leaves. OUCH! They REALLY HURT. I was so shocked. It was like a brush with an electric fence. Groover showed me how to rub the sting with dock leaves and the sting lessened. Anyway after that it was a big game with the kids who both ended up stung by nettles before the day was out.

We stayed at the Christopher Wren Hotel on the bridge at Windsor and walked around the castle. It was a charming hotel, brilliant location.

The next day we went to Oxford - beautiful buildings and Dippity went to the loo at the Bodlian Library (not open to the public but who could resist those pleading eyes). Then we went to Henley which was beautiful and incidentally had the best playground - we all had a go on the flying fox… or two or three.

That night Groover went “out with the boys” and didn’t have anything to eat and so was a bit worse for wear the next morning. We got organised early though and after a shaky start made it onto the M4 toward Bath.

On the way we stopped at Ludgershall Castle - a ruined hunting lodge - the kids loved the chance to run around like mad things - and then Stonehenge.

It has really changed since last I went there. You can’t get within 20m of the stones but instead you get a fantastic audio commentary describing them and pointing out significant bits. It meant you got a lot more out of the experience. The kids enjoyed squashing pennies and we all trooped back into the car to head to Bath.

We stayed in the Paradise Hotel, a small 11 room hotel near the city centre - absolutely charming. Groover found it on TripAdviser.com and we can’t recommend this website highly enough.

We left the hotel almost immediately and caught a tour bus to orient ourselves - very funny commentary. Then dinner and back to the hotel to sleep. All of us in the same room! Breakfast was ample and delicious and we’re back in the city centre now downloading photos and getting ready to tour the Roman Baths… perhaps I can even convince the family to go with me to the Jane Austen museum… sigh.

Still at Changi

It is 2.15am and we are still at Changi. oh yes we boarded on time - around 11.30 for a 11.55 take-off but the Auxillery Power Unit failed and so we barely moved two feet before the power went out. We waited in the plane for an hour while they trialled various things and the cabin got warmer and warmer.

Now we are back in the waiting lounge and the sign outside says 3.00 take-off. Yeah maybe.

Sigh. And things were going so well. More waiting lessons to be learned!

Changi Airport

Well here we are in Singapore at Changi Airport where they have free internet access. So with a couple of hours to kill and nothing inspiring me in the shops I thought I’d report in.

The flight to Singers was fine. We were on an Airbus A330-300 International Configuration (thanks Hugo) which means we sat two by two up near the windows. Cosy but reasonably comfortable. Dippity discovered that going to the toilet could be a form of entertainment and I think went about 8 times, including during landing. This from the girl who once wet herself ON ME (aged 3) because she was too scared to go to the loo!

Is that called progress?

Anyway the lack of sleep is catching up with me and even Wilber Smith or the huge number of movies and online games available on our individual screens is distracting me. The long haul to come!

By the way - the intellectual challenge - Groover v Me - the Qantas magazine quiz. I’m sure you will want to know the results. 18:19 I have the biggest brain!

Car Park

Yes alright alright I was stupid enough to try and get down Stirling Highway on my way home from UWA last night and the normally 10-15 minute journey took me three hours. THREE HOURS! It was so conjested I couldn’t believe it. But it was an experience.

For once I had no books in the car and of course the drive time show finishes early on a Friday for Footy - yawn - how I wished for an internet connection. Three hours. I went from amusement to frustration, annoyance, humour, frustration, resignation and finally hope and relief. How lucky we are normally that there is no traffic to speak of in Perth. This is what happened. This is what happened next.

Do you think this is what DFAT was warning us about?? :)

Anyway we were heading out to a quiz night with the Schultz’s and Boyles and Evan was about half an hour behind me in the queue! We eventually got there and joined in after the second round. Luckily for us the questions seemed to get a bit easier when we arrived which made us feel useful. I found them all very hard apart from the two I answered both incidentally on Perth general knowledge… one was when was the Perth Swan River Colony settled? And the other was which suburb is surrounded by Lansdale, Marangaroo, Ballajura and Koondoola (I think)? Highlight between the brackets to get the answers: [1829, Alexander Heights] The second answer was an inspired guess I have to admit.

It was great fun and we came away with loot! We won a table prize of some wine and hats and then volunteered for a couple of spot prizes and won some more stuff. I’m sure that football shaped water bottle will be very useful.

Earlier in the day I caught up with a friend from St George’s days - DV. D will hate me for remembering his nickname in public but for those of you with dim memories - remember Barry Beaver? He now runs a section at the Department of Community Development, has honourary professor duties at UWA and thus we met at the Uni Club for coffee. Now married with two little girls he seems to be doing very well. We had a good laugh and it was great to see him again. [Hi D]

What was amazing was how important all our reprobate friends at Uni have become. Fancy lawyers, corporate highflyers, captains of industry. Remember Doey? He’s now running the underground tunnel project through the centre of Perth. How did that happen?? :) Dammit - knew I should have done law or engineering…

Anyway we’re off today. I can’t sleep. Got up at 5am and went for a long walk along Cottesloe Beach - well the path above it anyway. So much is running through my head. Things I haven’t done. People I haven’t talked to and should have. Will the house survive? Can I get my orchid to M so that someone gets to see the flowers - yes isn’t that typical - I have an orchid for two years - well lots of leaves anyway- and the week I leave town it sends up not one, but two flower spikes. Huh.

Dippity is awake early too. Very excited. This is her first trip north of the equator - properly north. Singapore at 1 degree north doesn’t really count. But first we have minkey to go to! And I must organise some cash…

Towel Day

Is on 25th May, 2005. Yes it’s in memory of Douglas Adams and I know you will recall that he wrote Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - the book - as opposed to the recently released film for which he gets some credits and which I quite enjoyed - especially the whale and Slartibartfast and the bit on the Vogon planet about ideas and the opening song. Sorry it has taken me so long to review the film. What can I say? Life got in the way. This guy was more prompt and he has actually gone out in public with his towel - and I’m not talking to the beach.

I had my hair cut today and was faced with the dilemma of whether to talk to the hairdresser or not. Well usually you have no choice but they must get sick of the small talk and I just couldn’t get the necessary enthusiasm required to ask them what they were up to at the weekend or whether they had seen any good films lately. I asked Rory about this and he never talks to his hairdressers. Mind you they take a maximum of 6 seconds to do his hair and half of that is faffing about trying to make him feel like he’s getting value for money…

Anyway I had a guy cut my hair today and he didn’t do the small talk thing. So then we had a long silence during which I wondered whether or not to interrupt him. After all I do want him to concentrate on the vagaries of my hair don’t I. After a while - quite a long while - I asked him what he found satisfying about his job.

He said he liked the challenge of lots of clients and trying to fit them into a busy day. He also said that he hated saying he was a hairdresser because people invariably ask him if he cuts hair at home and he hates it when they ask (he always says no - even to family). So that was interesting. Next time you meet a hairdresser socially don’t ask them!

Then he found out we were going to Italy and had lots of advice about pickpockets - apparently gangs of about 6 girls are common - they distract you while one of them gets your valuables and they are quite brazen. Never give directions as that is how they often suck in punters… they spread out a map and while you’re doing your best they pick your pockets out of sight under the map. Sneaky.

He also recommended a leather section of Florence near the fish market. Neat.

So I guess the small talk was worth it after all. Oh and my hair looks good too.

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