Spring.....

……….each year in England, we see why Spring has inspired poets, storytellers and musicians through the ages. Just when you are beginning to think winter will never end, the colourful riot bursts forth.
We have 4 gardeners and they plant bulbs in their spare time, so our estate has spring bulbs popping up in every conceivable space and yesterday I picked armfuls of daffodils for our cottage. But the sides of the road are where it’s at! How did the incredible profusion of flowers come to be there? Bulbs are a bit big for birds to randomly sow……………
The Cotswolds are full of old quarries that have become lakes as the water table has risen. We walked around one this afternoon and were struck by the connectedness that Brits have with their animals and the indigenous fauna, including fish. Fishermen spend hours in this country fishing, but the thing that is hard to comprehend, coming from a ‘huntin…shootin…. fishin and eatin’ dynasty, is “what is the thing about spending hours fishing, just to throw it back immediately?” We got talking to one of these young guys (and there were at least three or four of them in their own possie around the lake) and he camps at the lake most weekends and through the week if he can. He catches a fish (perhaps the same one!)…., checks it for any injuries, applies ointment if needed, then throws it back! The kit enabling all this to take place is impressive and I daresay expensive……..methinks it could lead to some very decent sort of ‘fishermen tales’………xxxxx

A race against time……

……..in the last few days we have finally worked out the transport system and have been using it as an easy way to get around (much easier than “da passeggio” – walking). It is very cheap, you buy a ticket from a newsstand for 1€, validate it on the bus or metro and then you have 75 minutes travel. The trick is, if you are a tourista, managing to get to where you want to be in the allocated time can be rather challenging………we love it….it makes us feel like we are in the “Great Race”.
We decided to visit the catacombs; this entailed a bus, the metro and a bus…..no probs, except it was off our maps of Rome. On the last leg we met a really lovely young Kiwi woman who has been living here for 20 months. We talked and talked all the way to the catacombs where we got off having promised to keep in touch ………..The thing was we had forgotten to lay our trail of crumbs and on the return trip to Rome didn’t recognise any of the landmarks. But we kept our cool, even managing to guide a young German couple to the Metro………..
Tomorrow evening we fly out and so there is a race against time to cram in as much “dolce vita” as possible in 24hours………………wish you were here, it would make it perfecto………xxxxxxx

When in Rome........

……….having knocked off all the major tourista attractions, we decided to just wander and soak up the ambience (of which there is plenty). I think we have started to develop a more ‘seasoned look’ as beggers and street vendors no longer hassle us (except for the odd leather jacket scam trickster!). AND we have even been asked for directions on several occasions – which is most amusing – what is even more amusing is that Rod has been able to oblige!!!!!
This trip we finally remembered to bring the compass Sarah gave us and it has been brilliant. We can highly recommend using a compass…..’cause it’s STILL different on this side of the world!
We have a rule which goes like this……only eat in places where the locals eat…...and only eat in restaurants that have a lot of people eating there. Today we decided we couldn’t leave Rome without eating pizza. We found a very ‘local’ pizzaria run by a family, packed with Romans……we proceeded to order pizza and the very ancient owner became most indignant……..his response went something like this …….”no, no, no, not for lunch………..you eat pizza for dinner…..!!!!!” We looked puzzled and he scowled and said “I’ll bring you something”……….he ended up being ‘our new best friend’……we ate pasta (of course!), drank the house red and his wife came out of the kitchen and brought me the most divine crème caramel I have ever tasted. None of us spoke the others language, BUT the thing we can confirm is “when in Rome”……………….xxx

Day Two……..

…….Nothing prepared us for Rome……it is a large modern city that is in effect a 3,000-year-old museum. Around every corner you find ancient monuments, art treasures and timeless architecture. Nothing, it appears has been “knocked down and rebuilt”. Ancient columns, watchtowers and porticoes survive, enhancing modern ‘add ons’. Truly a testament to superb design and recycling.
The cobble streets are very narrow with no footpaths and one tends to forget that you are sharing the street with cars and scooters………..definately a no stilleto zone!!
Thank-goodness we are here for 8 days, but even so we are only scratching the surface of this rich, breathtaking, mind blowing phenomenon……wish you were here…..xxxxxx

Roma…..

……………….bella….bella……bella!!!!! We arrived in Rome late at night and after a very convoluted taxi ride from the “termini” reached our apartment on the edge of the Vatican City, quiet, with a lovely little terrace and view of St Peter’s. Terrazzo floors, tiled bathroom, bidet…..all very Italian!
Before breakfast we walked along the Tiber and got “befriended” by a very well dressed man in a late model car who was “very famous” in the fashion industry….would you believe his wife was a New Zealander!!!!!.............It wasn’t too long before he tried to reel us in with the old ‘Italian Leather Jacket’ scam……he likes us so much he wants to give us a leather jacket each….left over samples from next years fashion shows………..gift…gift…gift…BUT if we could just help him with some money for petrol. It was very funny because we knew someone who had been scammed in Auckland……..
Vatican City….what can you say……..we decided to ‘buy’ a tour to avoid queuing for 2 hours…we ended up “waiting” at least two hours for the tour to start, but the cool thing was we met another Kiwi couple from the UK so spent the time talking 19 to the dozen with them and hanging out with them all day. It’s great to be with people you ‘know’ and we will catch up with them back in the UK.
Vatican City….Sistine Chapel….the Pieta……spectacular works of art that remind one of the power and wealth of the Church……..the experience takes a lot of processing and we’re certainly not there yet.
Back out into it today to experience another dose of ‘overload’…………golly I wish you were here……………xxxxxxx