| Received 21 May 02: Hi People, Firstly, we know we have been really lax about keeping in contact, but time just flies by, we can't believe we are already over half way through our trip! Last time we emailed we had just been to Monaco, (which is still one of the highlights of our trip so far), and much has been seen since then...... We ended up staying in Antibes for about two weeks; the friendly people, the sunshine, and the heated swimming pool were really hard to leave. On our last day we went to Marineworld, a vast complex of marine life, crazy golf and similar. We were really impressed with the Dolphins and the Orcas, (We had doubts before we went about the "PC"edness of the whole thing but actually the place was very well run, and the exhibits all had plenty of space and seemed well cared for). The Orca show was in a huge porpoise built arena, with the facing wall built out of glass to allow us to see the Killer Whales under water. Amazing! We called Stuart in England before we left to get some advice on the roads crossing into Italy and discovered that the toll roads were the only way to go - and even they would be quite scary though spectacular. Wow, was he right! It took us about 8 hours to drive from Antibes to Pisa, and pretty much the whole route was either long badly lit tunnels or on stilts 2 to 300ft above the ground!! It was probably the hardest drive of the trip so far, with my (Adam) heart pounding and stomach in mouth the whole way. It was just as bad, if not worse for Becky as she had to trust my driving. We finally arrived at the campsite in Pisa about 6pm, and as it was only 500m to the Tower (leaning) we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and check it out. It was fascinating, especially standing right underneath it with the top right above our heads. We then spent about two hours looking for a restaurant not charging tourist prices, (and failed). It was our first meal in Italy, and to be honest we were really confused about the whole eating culture. We both love Italian food, but hadn't got to grips with the whole Antipasti, then first plate, second plate, vegetables separately, then pudding etc.... We also really wanted tomato and Mozzarella salad but nowhere seemed to offer it. Tired and hungry we found a place where they spoke some English, and discovered that the salad we love is called Caprese, and is on practically every menu. (Needless to say we have eaten it nearly every night since, and some lunchtimes!). Next day it rained, and rained and ...... So we didn't leave the campsite. Becky was a little disappointed not to see the tower again in daylight, and not to visit any of the museums detailing the history of the tower. But at least we'd seen it the previous night. We ate at the campsite restaurant, which was okay, and dry! (Yes we had Caprese). The following morning it was dry, and we headed for Firenze (Florence). Had a bit of a scare leaving Pisa as we found ourselves on a bridge with a width restriction about 1cm narrower than the bus! Luckily it was man-made and only waist high and we get wider higher up so we just made it. (There was no way we could have reversed out in heavy traffic anyway so that was a close one). After some really confusing directions from our campsite guide Becky did brilliantly to navigate us to our site with no wrong turns. The site was in the grounds of a youth hostel, which used to be the house of Mussolini�s mistress!! Very grand. We didn't really have much idea what to see in Florence, so all the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet books finally came out of the lockers. In the end we visited Michelangelo's "David" which was awesome, and walked all over the place. We particularly liked "Ponte Vecchio" a bridge across the river Arno, but with houses built onto it with balconies hanging on by the skin of their teeth. It�s a very beautiful city. We stayed a couple of days then headed down to Rome. Rome, what can we say about Rome? The campsite there is called Camping Tiber, and is right alongside the river Tiber. Its a mad, mad place. Its about half and half old fogies and backpackers. There is a great restaurant and bar, with an absolute lunatic from New Zealand (Hayden) running things. Most nights ended between 2am and 5am with much alcohol consumed. (Neither of us drink normally, but Hayden�s �4 cocktails (about �2.50) mixed with atmosphere in the bar went to our heads. Don't worry; we did the sightseeing thing too! We loved the Coliseum, and had to play the "Making of" bits from Gladiator when we got back from there. The problem with Rome is culture overload. After sightseeing for 3 days your brain is exploding, and you really don't want to see another pillar, basilica or queue. Unfortunately, we tried to see the Sistene Chapel on the last day, but it was closed. We were gutted. We knew however that we had thrown our coins in the Trevi Fountain, and would therefore be back in Rome. (Little did we know how soon that would be, that fountain really is magic!) So we headed down towards Napoli (Naples) to meet up with our friends Kate and Alex who were flying out to join us for a week. They wanted to get an idea of what life was like for us..... I think they got the idea. I'm sure Alex won't mind if I use his words to describe the week: "Kate and I have just come back from camping with Adam and Becky, and had a lovely time, visiting Naples, Pompei, the seaside, and Rome. For a couple of nights we set up our tent under the awning of Adam and Beckys bus, and for the rest we stayed in chalets on the campsites. Volcanoes were the theme of our trip, on the first campsite the pool was thermally heated, on the second we stayed inside a mostly extinct crater (well it only smoked a bit). Pompei was of course covered in a volcanic eruption. We were also fortunate in the weather, although the seaside was such nice weather that Kate and I burned a bit. Adam and Becky already have deep tans." We ended up taking them back to Rome with us. Two reasons: one they had also missed out on the Sistine Chapel last time, two, we wanted to show them Camping Tiber. (We are still here by the way, even though Kate and Alex left on Friday morning). We all loved the Chapel, and for me (Adam) it was definitely worth driving back to Rome for. When we first got into the Chapel itself after walking for 30 mins through the museum to get there, we were a little like, its just a big picture. But after a few minutes getting used to it, we were fascinated. The depth and perspective - phew. We just stood and stared, (whilst being jostled by a million tourists!) If there is one thing I can't stand about Rome, its groups of 40+ tourists, with their Umbrella raised Guides, dragging them around from pillar to post. You get about 5 - 8 of these groups competing at any place worth seeing. They are all shouting and pushing, and as soon as the umbrella man starts to walk in a direction, you better not be anywhere near, or you'll get carried along with the tide. (Sorry pet bitch over). Anyway, deep breath...... We have got really close to all the folks working here at the campsite, and every day we stay, its harder still to leave. We plan to head up towards Venice in the next few days, and then cut across into Croatia. If all goes well we'll work our way up through Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungry, Poland and the Czech Republic before heading to Berlin. We'd like to spend a couple of months doing that before starting the western leg back towards Caen. Unfortunately if we do this we'll miss out on Switzerland, Northern Italy, Austria, Southern Germany etc, but we can't fit everything in. Also Eastern Europe will hopefully reduce our living costs dramatically. Sorry to say, I (Adam) still have no idea at all what I will do for work when I get back to England. I think we will tour the UK for a few months, and try to see some of our own little island. Then maybe some contract work for a while. Anyone who has any gossip about what the IT market is doing at the moment would be most welcome to let me know!! Anyway, We feel like we have done a better job of updating you all this time, We really miss all of you, and look forward to meeting up and showing you all of our pictures. (We have 1,300 so far, so you had better all book a few days of work in August for the seminar.....) Only joking. Seriously though, I hope things are going well for you all. Take Care Adam & Becky Received 30 May 02: Hi everyone, Just a quick note to let you all know that we are still in Rome! We loved it here so much that we ended up staying on for a "few days" after Kate and Alex left. After about a week though there was a really windy day (Thursday) and our awning (5.5m long and 3m deep attached to the side of the bus) was flipped over onto the roof. What a disaster!!!! So to cut a long story short, its caput! We couldn't drive or anything, so we called in the insurance company. Now we are awaiting estimates, etc... and hope to get a new one fitted early next week, but hey - this is Italy! So we have spent about 3 weeks at Camping Tiber - most people think we are staff, and we haven't been to bed before 5am the whole time. Still, you only live once. So if you need to contact us, we are checking email pretty much every day. Lets hear what you are all up to!!! Miss you all Adam & Becky |
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