Monday, April 12, 2010

Day 10 Drive to Rome

We had an early start (lots of driving again), and were out of the camp grounds by 7.30 am. Richard had woken up with a cold, so wasn’t feeling too hot, but managed to drive the first short leg to San Gimiginano (sp?) – a medieval walled village up on a hill top. We got into a spot of bother by squeezing the camper (literally) into a park only for cars, but unfortunately got moved on as soon as the engine stopped. That meant we had to squeeze out again, and go about 2km away to camper van parking. From there we had to get a bus back up the hill. The village was amazing, with little shops all along, and castle like walls and towers on the outside. I managed to find some easter eggs that hang on an easter egg tree (branch), like we had seen all through Germany, but had been unable to find in the shops. Sarah’s eagle eye spotted them in one of the little village shops for me. Hayden was very taken with a roman helmet (very authentic looking full sized replica), but at 200 Euro, he decided against it. I think though that he will end up with something like this or a sword or dagger by the end of the trip. Richard managed to find a couple of caches, so we were all happy.


We caught the bus back to our camper parking. The bus was a mini sized one, and soon we saw why! It hurtled up the hill through the walled village, not slowing for anyone in its path (who were pressed against the walls to keep safe). We all held on tight and enjoyed the ride.

Richard was feeling pretty awful by this time, so I drove the rest of the way to Rome (about 4 hours), but had to stop and have a little rest myself about half way. This time the GPS correctly routed us onto the ringroad around Rome (rather than through the centre) – I was unsure whether Richard was too sick to drive because he had a cold, or because he didn’t want to drive the camper in Rome, after Florence! Luckily for me, the camp ground was easy to find (only a few km from Rome’s centre), and it is a lovely camp ground, with excellent facilities AND FREE WIRELESS INTERNET! So I am busy writing the last few days of my diary so I can catch up with my blog posts.