We had our last few days on Familia in Turkey at anchor in Deep Bay. Finally the relentless heat moderated slightly, and the weather and the scenery were both superb: a couple more weeks in Turkey suddenly looked like a nice option, but we were committed to plane tickets and the yacht delivery.
We met Ari, our delivery skipper, in Gocek before jumping on a plane for Istanbul. Everyone was very pleased to be off the boat at last, although when we arrived at our hotel the feeling palled somewhat as the realities of a small quad share room sank in: out of the cramped, emotional hothouse frying pan and into the fire? At least the staff had a relaxed attitude to the kids monopolizing the free internet point in the foyer while they worked down their life-threatening computer game-time deficit.
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| Sholto in front of an "elephants foot" column, Blue Mosque. |
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| Cathe covering up for Allah. |
The Oceans 7 Hotel (recommended by Baz) was located in the old town tourist hub, a short walk to the main landmarks: the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar. Our three days were well spent walking to these attractions through the maze of back streets where all the interesting hustle + bustle of the trades in leather + carpets happen. Sadly we didn’t purchase anything despite serious looking, oohing + aahhing. Kooks.
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| The Haga Sophia - the largest structure on Earth from the 6th to the 16th Century |
We then jumped on the plane for Rome. A real 2-bedroom apartment gave us relief from the claustrophobia of the quad share hotel room: nasty things those. What a revelation Rome is: extraordinary architecture stretching back 2500 years, food to die for, actual real coffee, and of course the vino: molto bene.
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| Gladiators at the Collosseum |
Our apartment was in the Piazza Navone district which was in the thick of the old town, a walk away from all the main sights. Rome is serviced by a series of major soulless arterial roads reminiscent of William St, and on arrival in the taxi we were a bit nonplussed with the apartment’s location.
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| Illegal photography in the Sistine Chapel |
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| Supping the waters of the Trevi Fountain |
However, stepping over a couple of dead rats and walking down to the other end of the slightly seedy alley, a whole different world unfolded. Narrow pedestrian streets lined with groovy shops, cafes and restaurants, with stylishly dressed Romans hurrying this way on that, and the odd Vespa or Fiat Bambino beeping to get past. Keep walking and within 5 minutes one or other of the famous piazzas opens up: Navone, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps. Walk a bit further to the west and St Peter’s greets you. To the east the Collosseum beckons. All within 30 minutes walk, except it’s an amble punctuated with gelato, pizza, and much consulting of the guide book to garner the fine detail on whatever amazing building you happen to be standing in front of. So we got around to all the sights on foot, but 4 days was barely a taste which left us wanting more; we all made sure to have a drink from the waters of the Trevi Fountain which is said to ensure your return.
Arrividerci Roma, we shall return.
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| Some nice architecture in the Piazza San Pietro |
Next stop was Naples via the fast train, from where we noodle down to Sorrento for a couple of days. From there a hair-raising bus ride along the cliffs took us to Amalfi to meet the boat and also Dom and Suzie who were joining us for a week. After a rejuvenating gap it was good to be back on board.
Amalfi is the centre of the Amalfi Coast, playground of the rich and famous. After the grace of Rome we found it a bit touristy, although the saving feature is the Littari Mountains which rise majestically from the sea. This area is a well known hiking destination and we took good advantage of the opportunity to stretch our legs. On the Sorrento side of the range the walking was more urban, narrow country lanes leading to little villages with rejuvenating cafes and gelaterias at which we refreshed ourselves before striking out again. A hiking holiday in this area has been penciled into to the book for future reference and we encountered a few people doing this.
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| Dom and Suzie - our first guests |
On the Amalfi side the terrain is more rugged and remote (with the exception of the crowded town environs). Our first walk was to follow a watercourse up the mountains dotted with 5 centuries of deserted paper mills, and then cut across to a little village. Here we hid from our first rain for about 3 months with a spot of lunch in a fab restaurant with striking views of the coast, before the rapid 1000-step descent to meet Dom and Suzie. The rain was a welcome change, but also a reminder that our Mediterranean Summer cannot last forever.
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| Terrace of Infinity, Villa Cimbrone, Ravello |
The next day we took a chance on the weather and while Suze settled on a rest day to beat her flu, the rest of us struck out up the next hill to the picture perfect town of Ravello. We made the mandatory visit to the gardens of Villa Cimbrone before settling down to a fine lunch at Villa Marie, boasting an even more striking view than that of the day before. The view, the food, tuxedoed Italian waiters gesticulating artfully with impeccable manners, the vino, the smug feeling that for once we had actually exercised in advance of the feedfest, all contributed to a perfect afternoon.
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| Braving the torrent from Ravello |
A few worrying signs from the heavens culminated in the unleashing of the most torrential downpour imaginable, naturally when we were 1/3 of the way down the hill with no shelter in sight. Finally we made it back to the boat in the dark and after a warm shower and a few Jameisons even this experience seemed to enhance rather than detract from a great day.
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| 2000 year old frescoe, Pompeii |
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| The original caesarstone - Pompeii |
After Amalfi we headed around the peninsula to Sorrento and a stab at finding somewhere to watch the rugby and check out Pompeii. After a lot of walking and mucking around we located the former in the ubiquitous Irish pub but after drowning sorrows (and a female shopping frenzy until late) Pompeii was relegated to the next day. Pompeii is much bigger than we imagined, an entire Roman city very well preserved beneath the ash for 1800 years, including mosaics, marble benchtops and even frescoes. We finished the day with dinner in the main square of the new town, watching the locals get out and parade about at dusk, a favourite Italian pastime.
Sadly the next day we got some bad news.
