Saturday 22 August

Again up very early but this time off on a 13 hour tour out of Rome through the region of Umbria and specifically to the villages of Orvieto and Assisi. The coach also drove for a little while through the Tuscan region.

Our tour guide this time was a woman and her name was Mara and the driver's name was Christian. We drove through the reasonably quiet streets to start with as it was very early and went. On to the motorway. We quickly got into the countryside which was quite green and in parts looked like the countryside in New Zealand. There were about 18 of us on the bus but we were the only people from New Zealand. There were a number of Australians, Americans, English and also some people from Lebanon and Argentina. Mara could speak very well in English and also Spanish for those from Argentina.

Our first part of the drive was probably around one and a half hours and then we arrived in the village. Of Orvieto. To get to the village which was up the top of a very high hill we had to go in a cable car and then travel in one of the local buses.

14th century church with the outside under renovation

Market day in Orvieto

Orvieto is well known for it's wonderful ceramics

Typical street in the town of Orvieto.

We had a good look around the town which I really loved. There was a Saturday morning market happening and some of the local people were selling their produce. We went inside the cathedral 

which although it was being rebuilt on the outside was beautiful on the inside. We also looked at the shops with ceramics in them. I bought a few little things there. 

Then it was time to get back on the bus again and off we went. This time it was off to get lunch at a lovely homestead with a vineyard attached. The people there made wine that they sold and also had some little cabins that people could stay in. The nearest town to the homestead was called Maffa.

We had a beautiful lunch of bruschetta, pasta, thinly sliced beef and fruit. We then had a wander around the grounds before we got back on the bus again.

These pictures are from our lunch venue.

After saying thank you to our hosts we were off again. This time to the town of Assisi where St Francis of Assisi lived and died. There are two beautiful churches in the area dedicated to him. The town also celebrates the life of a second Saint - Saint Clara and there is also another church dedicated to her with her tomb inside. Again we travelled high up into the hills and came to the town with it's beautiful views of the stunning countryside below. 

Friday 21 August

Another busy day today as we decided to go for a little walk this morning to a couple of shops we thought were close to us. That was not the case and we ended up walking back to the area where the Pantheon is and also lots of other areas that we have seen and a few that we have not. I think we got a bit lost.
However along the way we did have some fun experiences and I met some more new friends also.

Do you know who they are?

In the afternoon we went on another tour. This time it was called the Imperial Rome tour and took us firstly by coach and then lots of walking again. Our guide's name was Giorgio and he was so knowledgable like all of the other guides that we have met. We went first to the Roman forum where the ancient Romans used to hold all their meetings and then to the Circus Maximus where the chariot races used to be held in ancient times. The next place that we visited was the church of St Peter's in Chains where the chains that shackled St. Peter when he was imprisoned are displayed. At this church we could also admire the statue of Moses that was created by the artist Michaelangelo. He was such a talented artist and there are works of his displayed all over Rome

The chains of St Peter.

The last part of our visit was to the Colosseum. We really could not leave Rome without going inside this amazing building even though I do not like what has happened there in the past. It is an amazing architectural form and the architects of this building have used arches all through it. These have 

enabled the building to withstand the test of time although a part of the building was destroyed in an earthquake many centuries ago. Also over time some people pillaged and robbed the Colosseum

 of many of the beautiful statues and some of the valuable building materials.

The Colesseum

Thursday 20 August

Yesterday the day started with pouring rain which I have not really seen at all while we have been travelling although I know that London did have this on the day we were at Stonehenge. We spent the morning with me working in the hotel and then went for a walk to the Spanish Steps. By the time we had started walking the weather had cleared up and it had become very hot. Although we needed to be very quick with our walk we certainly covered a large distance.

We returned back to the hotel in time for a pick up by the tour company that was taking us to visit the Vatican City which included the Sistene Chapel. Our tour guide's name was Antonio and he proved to be a very good tour guide who shared a great deal of his knowledge with us.

We began by entering the Vatican City and looking at the museums inside. They are incredible. Antonio found a shady place to tell us about some of the things that we would see especially when we went into the Sisten Chapel. He need to explain these things to us as you are not allowed to talk in the chapel out of respect. He said that if you did speak you could actually be arrested by the guards. He also daid that he had been arrested four times for speaking in the chapel.

After Antonio had explained some of the interesting information about the Vatican we were able to view the gardens from the top of the building. They are very extensive and look beautifully well kept.  Some very good gardeners work at these gardens. The Vatican is actually the home of the Pope although the current Pope, Pope Francis does not always live there. There are a couple of different times during the week where you can actually go to the Vatican and hear the Papal Speech from Pope.

Papal guard

One of the many statues in the Vatican City.

The dome of St Peters from the rooftop of the museum.

Approaching the Vatican City

The Vatican City Gardens

Tuesday 18 Rome

When we landed in Rome we were picked up by a taxi and taken to our hotel. The  Hotel Quirinale which is in the old part of Rome in the Via Nationalle. Amazing old buildings surround us and of course we want to know the stories behind them.
First we went for a walk towards the Trevi fountain which was being repaired so we could not see all of its beauty but certainly could imagine it. I met these people while I was there.

Roman gladiators

My friend Pinnochio

It was very hot and we were quite tired from the travelling so an early night on the Monday so we could be up and ready to go this morning on the Hop On Hop Off bus. 

So many sights to see in a day of travelling by bus, walking and stopping to sit down and rest 

occasionally. Although there were lots of people looking at the same wonderful sights it did not really seem crowded at all. What amazes me is the age of the buildings and the fact that we are travelling the roads built by Romans so many hundreds of years ago indeed we are looking at sights built thousands of years ago. 

St Peters Church at the Vatican

The River Tiber

The fountains in Rome are beautiful

The Colleseum

I hope that you like these pictures. It is interesting to find out more about the places that I went to. I will give some more information when I have the time but in the meantime people can google to know more if they wish.

Today ( Wednesday) we will be visiting the Vatican City and the Sistene chapel. The day has started off with rain which is something that we have not really experienced on the trip so far.

 

Tuesday 18 August

Buon giorno
Here I am now in Rome. Have had a lovely few days in London and visited Kensington Palace for afternoon tea. What beautiful gardens they have around the palace and it is amazing to think that Prince William and his wife the Duchess of. Cambridge and their two children sometimes live in one of the apartments at the palace. It really is like being in their backyard when you wander around the. gardens. We also visited a great Science Museum as well which was very interactive. There were heaps of children there with their parents also.

Jo-Ann and I at the Science Museum

               

Hands-on

                                                                       Science Museum activities

 Kensington Palace Gardens 

Princess Diana Memorial Children's Playground

flying in to land in Rome

Friday 14 August

Well we have had two busy days back in London. On Wednesday we walked to Canary Wharf  and spent the day looking around and doing a little shopping. My feet were quite tired by the end of the day but it was all good.
On Thursday we got up really early and made our way to the Victoria Coach station which is in tow. We had to catch a bus then go on the underground train to get there. When we got there it was packed with people and we found gate 16 which was where our coach was going from. The coach arrived - it was a beautiful and very comfortable big double decker bus. We sat up on the top level of the. Bus and off we went.

Our visits were to Windsor Castle which is one of the residences of the Queen, to Bath which is the little town where the Roman Baths are and then go Stonehenge where the circle of stones are. It was an 11 hour trip in total.

Windsor Castle was the first stop. It is enormous and only one of the homes that the Queen owns.
Our guide's name was Frank and he was fabulous. He was very knowledgable about all the places we visited and he had a great sense of humour. Our driver was Rob and he was very quiet but that is fine because his job was to drive us there safely.

Just a small part of the castle

The tall part at the front with the tower is where the Queen stays when she is in residence.

 

Another view of the castle

Then off again, this time to Bath to see the Roman Baths that were made many hundreds of years ago by lots and lots of people. This would have been such hard work but they were certainly well used by the people who went there. There were hot springs, cold plunge baths and the central pools. Areas for women and areas for men. It was also a place for great conversations.

The Central Pool

A statue

A flowing spring 

Then we left the lovely town of Bath. I would have liked to stay there longer and definitely would like to go back there some day. Off we went in the coach for another hours drive to Stonehenge. Stonehenge was built in several stages about 5,000 years ago as a simple earthwork enclosure where prehistoric people buried their dead. The stone circle was erected in the centre around 2,500 BC. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the area but it is also thought that some people may have come to the place in the hope that they will be healed of injuries or sickness. There are also mounds of earth in the area called barrows which are also burial sites for important people. There are two types of stones there- the larger sarsens and the smaller ones are bluestones.