Well here we are on the 21st of July so basically a week has gone by and as usual the holiday is disappearing before our eyes. We have been very busy the past week with a pool party, a teenage romp in Rome, swimming in the Tyrrhenian Sea, inspecting ancient Roman plumbing, walking on the Appia Antica, Venice, Church of bones, and Pompeii.
I think I will start in a lesson about how things are done here in Italy or for some it might be a lesson in how things don't get done here in Italy.
First off everyone here smokes and I do mean everyone. Adults, teenagers, kids, toddlers, babies, even the statues. I saw a 2 year old in a stroller the other day flash up a cancer stick! Obviously I exaggerate but not by much. The problem is you are walking around all these fantastic places and there are cigarette butts everywhere. It really plants a negative impression on the tourist industry, but wait this is Italy no one cares what the tourists think. Just to clarify I don't think it is just Italy I get that impression from the tourists from all the European Union countries. Oh and all of them smoke to. So when you see comedians making fun of the French as chain smokers with fashion you can apply that to just about everyone over here.
Also if you want to get anywhere or see anything you basically have to be rude and demanding. If you sit back and try to be polite Canadians forget it you'll get run over!!! Elbows up and charge ahead....
The other thing you need to know is don't pay the price you see for tourist stuff. There is always a deal to be had. Clothes are cheap, booze is cheap, food is about the same as at home, gas is expensive and so are vehicles. But you have to remember nothing works here very well. For instance they have speed cameras on the major roads but if you get a ticket and don't pay it there doesn't appear to be any consequences.
That brings me to driving. All cars here are dented and scratched to some degree. The only time the police are called is for serious accidents. If you get a dent or scratch on your vehicle no one makes an insurance claim as they would laugh at you. So insurance rates here are fairly low despite the bad driving. Motorcyclists are purely suicidal and therefore there are tons of fatalities here and yet no one changes their driving habits!!
On to better stuff about Italy..................................
Last Saturday Kaelyn went into Rome with Ann's daughter to spend and evening being a teenager in Rome. Well she learned that the kids here are for the most part the same as kids in Canada that hang out, have their groups, listen to the same kind of music, and are for the most part spoiled. Betty and I went to a private party with Ann at a private villa with a large pool and live band. Most people there work for the UN so it is like a large EX PAT gathering.
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| The Aqueduct |
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| Appia Antica |
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On Sunday we went to the beach and swam for a few hours as it was stinking hot. So far since we have been here the temp has not dipped below 32 during the day and it doesn't cool off much at night. The humidity is also hard to get used to. In the evening we went to the aqueduct park which is the ancient water flumes the Romans built to transport the water from the mountains to Rome. Positively ingenious how they engineered these hge arched structures within millimeters to have a gradual slope all the way. There were I believe 12 originally and only parts of them remain standing. Afterwards we went to Appia Antica which means ancient road. This road was built for the Roman army and was made as direct and straight as possible for the soldiers to march to places a s quickly as possible. You can only drive on it if you live on the road. The ruts from the chariot wheels can still be seen in the rock.
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| The Grand Canal Venice |
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| San Marco Piazza |
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| Gondola ride |
Monday morning we headed to Venice by the fast train (about 250KM/hr). One thing I will say the train system in Italy is pretty good and runs on time for the most part. It takes a little bit of getting used to but all the travel we did on the train went without a hitch. Venice is certainly a place that one should see once in their lives but like any other famous tourist attraction it has become a victim of its own popularity. In a nutshell, overcrowded, over priced, over rated. Now having said that I still recommend going but the people can ruin your first impression it makes Disney Land look like a Sunday picnic!! Be careful where you eat and shop because Venice is basically all shops......handbags, jewellery, shoes, and masks as the prices vary a lot depending on where you are. Kaelyn's main goal was to get a mask in Venice which she did 3 in fact. Betty also got mask fever and got 2 or 3 I lost count after a while. What I'm trying to say here is if you are a guy be prepared to walk for hours and shop if you are with women. By the 3rd day my patience was running a little thin but I managed to keep it together. We went on a Gondola ride (not cheap) but you can't visit Venice without one of those. A must see is the Rialto which is one of the main bridges over the Grand Canal and San Marco Piazza which has the Cathedral. All in all very cool place a must see but 2-3 days is plenty.
On Thursday we went into Rome to the Church of bones. In short it is a church of the Capucchin monks from the 16th century. Over time an artist who remains unknown to this day created art work in the crypts at the church using the bones of over 4000 monks. It was one of the most unusual sights I have ever seen. Walls, ceiling, and floors decorated with these bones and several Capucchin Monks in there brown robes set on display. Kind of creepy but spell binding at the same time. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures so we got some postcards instead. If you want to check it out here is a link
www.cappucciniviaveneto.it
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| Mt Vesuvius |
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| The amphitheater |
Yesterday we went to Pompeii and so far it was one of my favorite places to see. The ruin sight is huge covering over 66 hectares. About 44 of it has been excavated. If you ever get a chance to go and see it it is well worth it. My advise is wear good comfortable walking shoes, lots of water, and give yourself at least 4 hours to look around. You can get guided tours which we did. Make sure to bargain for a price as they will try to get you to pay 110 to 120 Euro for a tour. Also watch for the guides that are not part of the ruins. They will be inside and will offer tours for cheaper but may not give you accurate information about the sight. The ruins are fantastic with Mt Vesuvius in the back ground. We toured the courts, the public market, fish market, the brothel, bakery, cemetery, amphitheater, and various other buildings. We also saw an amazing tiled inlay on the floor of a wealthy home at the time of Alexander the Great. The tile work was incredible with pristine detail. We also saw other floors that were excavated which showed the Swastika in the floor. As it turns out the swastika is an ancient Indian symbol which represented, integrity, honesty, prosperity and good fortune, but these swastika's at Pompeii were laid out opposite to the swastika's we know today symbolizing Nazi Germany. Interesting to note that the ancient swastika symbolized the exact opposite that Nazi Germany became known for. That's my history lesson for today.
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| Victim of the eruption |
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Today we are relaxing and tomorrow we are going to another ancient ruin near where Ann lives. Monday is the Vatican and Tuesday we will be organizing ourselves for the trip home.
