Sunday 31st December 2017

This morning we had showers before leaving the Aire at Latina. We travelled west to the coast at the town of Anzio and continued north along the coast for a while stopping to do a brief supermarket shop on the way. When we got to Lido di Ostia,on the coast directly west of Rome, we took to the motorway as far as Tarquinia. From there we made various abortive attempts to find a nice parking place until we stumbled upon Marina di Pescia Romana. We talked to two Italian women who have the van seen here. They are travelling with their cat. On the left of the picture is a dirt road displaying a 2.3 metre height restriction - too low for either of our vans to pass under.

We took a walk along the beach.

We soon discovered this marvellous wild camping spot which can be accessed down the dirt road which in fact has no low bridge or height barrier. We moved our van down to it.

We told the Italian women about the place and they moved their van down here too. It was the first time that they had ever brought their cat to the seaside and they were a bit apprehensive that it might run off and be lost. There were three other vans here already - two Italian and one German registered.

Here's the view from the sliding door on the side of our van.

Since we arrived yet more camper vans have arrived. Some of the occupants have started this fire on the beach. New Year is bonfire and firework night in most European countries so we're expecting some flashes and bangs in a few hours.

Today we travelled 140 miles (225 Kilometres). We are at N42.36045 E11.50318

Marina di Pescia Romana   Street view

Saturday 30th December 2017

Today we bypassed Naples to the north passing close by the active volcano of Vesuvius, seen here,  which famously obliterated  the Roman city of Pompeii in 79AD. We crossed from Campania into the region of Lazio.

We followed the old Roman road - The Appian Way north towards the city of Rome.

We stopped for the day near to the town of Latina. There is a military museum here as well as this truly weird shop selling mainly old military equipment. Really, really, strange place

.

The Aire here is really brilliant, free of charge, with a really good service point and in a very quiet and pleasant location. Ann befriended this donkey.

Today we travelled  144 miles (232 kilometres). We are at N41.44466 E12.98653

Latina   Street view

Friday 29th December 2017

It was wet and windy in the night at Palinuro however it calmed down in the morning. Note the new snow on the hills!

Ann took a walk along the breakwater. This view is looking back towards our parking place.

We left Palinuro and travelled north passing through some spectacular scenery.

We visited the ancient Greek/ Roman site at Paestrum. This is the Greek Temple of Neptune dating from 450 BC.

Nearby is the Temple of Hera built about 350 BC.

At the far end of the site is the Temple of Athena.

The Romans colonised the site from 273 BC on wards building a large town around the Greek remains including this amphitheatre. 

Over the road is the archaeological museum which contains many amazing finds from the site. A combined ticket for the site and the museum cost 10 euros. 

Greek Cist Burials here often contained murals on their inner walls. This one of a diver is particularly famous - you can buy postcards of it in the gift shop.

This is also from "The Tomb of The Diver".

The site was occupied by people long before the Greeks arrived. The museum displays finds from the old, middle and new stone ages, as well as bronze and iron age exhibits.

From Paestum we travelled north up the coast where we bought diesel and did a supermarket shop. We are parked tonight in a huge deserted car park behind Lidl in Pontecagnano which is a suburb of Salerno.

Today we travelled 73 miles (118 kilometres) We are at N40.63667 E14.89457

Pontecagnano   Street view

Thursday 28th December 2017

It was very windy and wet during the night. This morning big waves were breaking on the shore at Cirella. We set off north up the west coast of Italy crossing over from Calabria into Campania region. The coast road SS18 has spectacular views all along the way. 

We stopped along the way for a cup of tea and to watch the waves.

As we approached the town of Palinuro, our objective for the day, we came through this gorge, its river swollen by the heavy rain.

We stopped for the day at the port in Palinuro. We are in a very sheltered position but the wind is very strong even here. Boats are bobbing around violently in the harbour, waves are breaking over the breakwater and on the cliffs below the town as you can see from this picture taken from our parking place.

Quite a few of the boat owners have been down to the port to check on their boats this afternoon.

Today we travelled 62 miles (100 kilometres). We are at N40.03070 E15.27516

Palinuro    Street view

Wednesday 27th December 2017

Today we continued to travel north up the west coast of Calabria. After stopping off to buy a few groceries we stopped for the day at the Aire at Cirella.

 

It costs 8 euros a night to stay here which is quite reasonable as it includes electricity. There is an English couple from Norfolk staying here. We had a chat and got on quite well until we realised that they were Brexiteers!

There is an island with an old tower on it just off the coast here.

To day we travelled 64 miles (103 kilometres). We are at N39.69089 E15.81525

Cirella   Street view

Tuesday 26th December 2017

Today we continued to travel north up the west coast of Calabria. Litter can be a serious problem at times in these parts.

After taking on LPG along the way we stopped for the day at the village of Gizzeria Lido. We bought some bread and wine in the local shop and went for a walk on the beach.

There are a few small boats based here.

There are also some very nice tidal lagoons - much frequented by anglers - I am myself a former angler and was quite a successful one in my youth however after taking it up again a couple of years ago  I gave up the "sport" after I failed to catch a single fish after many many attempts - the only thing I ever caught was a Tern (a small sea bird) - I must have become the worst fishing person in the world!

There are a few shrines in the village.

Here's another.

And here's yet another.

We got our bikes out and rode up and down the promenade several times. Ann is practising her turns.

As we were sitting in our van with our big side sliding door open watching the sun getting lower and lower over the sea a big Swiss registered camper came and parked in our line of view.  There were any number of other places that they could have parked around here. The occupants, lets call them Mr and Ms Prat for want of knowing their real names, gave us a friendly wave. 

The sunset was still vaguely visible through The Prats vehicle.

As dusk approaches people round here walk up and down the promenade. It's called the Passagio. It has great cultural significance - so great in fact that if you ask a local why they do it all they can tell you is "that's what we do"! If the weather is really foul they drive up and down in their cars instead.

To day we travelled 54 miles (87 kilometres). We are at N38.92739 E16.21568

Gizzeria Lido   Street view

Monday 25th December 2017

As most people will be aware today is a very special day.

When we got up this morning we could see that Mount Etna was doing a lot more than it was doing yesterday.

The wind had dropped and the sea was much calmer than it was when we arrived yesterday.

We set off east - firstly along a heavily built up coast - and then over a high pass from where we could look down to the sea far below.

We descended into the city of Messina and arrived at the ferry terminal where we bought a ticket to cross to Villa San Giovani in Calabria on the Italian mainland - another rip off fare - 55 euros for a 20 minute crossing! Here's the ferry arriving in Messina to pick us up.

We travelled north along the west coast of Calabria - it's a very scenic and challenging road to drive with many steep hairpin bends - sensible people pay to use the motorway!

We stopped for a cup of tea at this viewpoint high above the sea.

We headed for the Aire at the village of Tauriana near Palmi. However when we got there we realised that there would be no views from inside the Aire so we gave it a miss. We found water at the marina in the village and settled for this car park by the sea for the rest of the day and night.

Here's the view from the sliding door on the side of our van.

As the sun got low there were some marvellous views looking back towards Sicily across the Strait of Messina. Here you can see the plume of smoke?/steam?/gas?/ash? being blown westwards from the summit craters of Mount Etna.

Here's a closer view.

Here's an even closer view.

There was a marvellous sunset which this photo unfortunately does not do justice to. The two horizontal lines across the top of the picture are the plumes of whatever coming out of the summit craters of  Mount Etna and being blown to the west. 

After it got dark we had the traditional Richards/Haworth family Christmas Dinner. Very fine indeed and imported to Italy from Lidl in Newton Abbot.

Today we travelled 65 miles (105 kilometres) excluding the distance travelled on the ferry across the Strait of Messina. We are at N38.39625 E15.86366

Tauriana   Street view