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Week 3 – Lake Bolsena to Sperlonga
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On leaving Lake Bolsena we headed to Rome to a campsite called Camping Flaminio just north of the centre. The information on this site looked impressive, and even off peak the standard rate was over 30€ a night. Fortunately they accept pre-pay Camping Cheques which are supposed to cost 14€ - though I paid £10 off someone from the Internet – so we got a bargain. The site is superb, very clean (we even saw someone clean a lamp post!) with facilities that I’ve not seen anything come close. Well worth staying. The first day was chore day, a few loads of washing, cleaning and other chores.
We met a Canadian couple (Dawn & Ryan) in their late 20’s
who
are touring Europe for 2 years and working whenever they run out of money.
They’ve bought an old ’84 VW camper and have been living in it touring for over
a year! They seem to be having a superb time and have had loads of adventures
and encounters and going to places we’d not dare to do. All without the aid of
satnav, GPS, POI’s, or even camping guides – just Lonely Planet guides! A lovely
couple who we shared a few beers with before they headed back north to the UK to
sell the van to pay for tickets back to Canada! Now we get emails from people
saying we give them inspiration to get out and do it – but really, these guys
know how to do it and wish we met them years ago!
The
following day we started with a short 6 mile run along the Tiber then headed
into the city on the tram using tickets given to us by Dawn & Ryan and met some
friends from home who were having a city break. As it was their last day they
knew the layout well and guided us to a load of sights. After a beer in the sun
followed by some good local food (Pizza and Pasta obviously!) and a good catch
up we went back on the train not knowing how to get the thing to stop at the
request stop. Fortunately it stopped on its own!
For the next day we cycled into the city which was around a 7 mile ride to
leave the bikes near the Vatican. Riding in Rome is “interesting” to say the
least – even the cycle
paths
are a challenge! We made it, and spend the day touring more sights, and entering
the Colosseum and other sites (Saint Peters Square; Pantheon; Tomb of unknown
soldier; Trevi Fountain; etc). We’ll leave the details for the guide books!
Needless to say after walking miles and cycling back we are knackered!
We decided Saturday would be a simple day of rest in Rome, and simply enjoy
the sun, read, relax, and look at the map for the next stage of the adventure.
The next morning, we did a 16 mile run along the Tiber right into the centre of
Rome. Quite a run at a better pace than normal, and after a shower we went to
visit Tivoli. Most of Tivoli appeared to be chaos and tatty, but as we were
knackered we settled in their free aire and visited Villa d’Este with an old
villa and superb gardens.
Lots
of steps in the gardens which we didn’t really need, but the gardens are full of
loads of really old and majorly impressive fountains and water features. Well
worth a visit. The quiet aire turned into a hugely busy car park in the morning
so we escaped and went to Lake Albano to enjoy the views and rest some more. The
town (Castel Gandolfo) provided motorhome parking (10€ per day) which was rather
cheeky as cars were charged 5€ a day. So we instead found a free wild camping
spot with a lovely view over the lake and relaxed to books and music. After a
beautiful start to the day we drove up to the centre of Castel Gandolfo and used
their free camper service to empty waste and top up tanks and enjoy the lovely
old streets.
Setting a scenic route south to Naples we came to a 2.8m height restriction
on a railway bridge. Our guestimates for the van are 2.8m high taking into
account the TV aerial etc – so this was going to be close! Knowing I normally
err on the side of caution I wasn’t worried enough not to try, but we did go
under very slowly with me poking my head out of the roof vents. Lets just say
we’ll not attempt anything below 2.8m!!!!
The scenic route was slow going due to lorries but in return we were given
some lovely scenery. We decided to stop for lunch and we spotted a sign for the
beach and turned off to what appeared a private drive. It wasn’t and opened out
into a lovely car park with little trees next to the beach. A 2.1m height
restriction (but not enforced) – and 3 other campervans tucked in. We decided to
have lunch and explore this random place of Sperlonga which turned out to be a
lovely small town which is being tarted up for the summer, and a stunning little
beach. Deciding to stay here for the night we spent the afternoon with the kite
on the beach with an ice-cream in town. A great end to week 3 of this tour –
though I guess week 4 will start with an early morning beach run...