It's 3G But Not As We Know It

Well the Italian Adventure is over as we are now in Austria.

We left Pompeii and headers across the country to the Adriatic Coast, which in many ways is the forgotten coast of Italy. Our first night's stay was under gum trees on the beach at the coastal village of Manfredonia. Sounds great so far you'd think but wait there's more. The place was full of Manfreds and Kurts and Dieters and Johans. It was Little Germany, even the Italians had forsaken the place and for good reason. It wasn't the foreigners that were the problem it was the locals, for Manfredonia is actually Mosquitodonia. The place was crawling with Mossies and not the regular kind. I'm talking F16 size monsters. The sides of the van were covered in them. We had more bug squat on the windscreen from just driving out of the campground than in a whole days travel anywhere else on our trip.  We left the Manfreds and Mossies behind and headed up the coast.

Our next stop was north of Pescara at a the beautiful little resort town of Giulianova (pronounced Julia-Nova) literally New Julia. That's not to be confused with the fake New Julia in Australia. The Italian one actually lives up to expectations. We stayed at an awesome campground right on the beach - minus Mossies. The beaches here are not a patch on Aussie ones but the sand is clean and the water clear and warm. There is a bike and walking trail that stretches 42 kilometres along the coast. We stayed there almost a week just relaxing and wandering along the coast. We took the train up into the mountains inland to the town Terano but the place was grotty just like most of towns here - building defaced and rubbish everywhere along the roads.

After refreshing our spirits we headed north and ended up in a little campground near Pesaro in a national park - Camping Panorama but it didn't have one. No truth in advertising here in Italy folks. Every picture tells the wrong story. "That's not a Ferrari and how come it got kiddy peddles". The place was notable for the massive thunderstorm at 5 am. The lightning turned night into day, the thunder was deafening and the rain and hail almost totalled our awning. Margie and I were saturated in the dark fixing it so the torrent of rain would run off it. Then to make matters worse the pitch was grass covering clay and we almost got bogged getting out. Time to move on again.

The next place was Cervia just south of Ravenna. Another small resort town on the coast. We only stayed two nights and decided to head straight to Venice as the weather was changing and we were just about over the beach. The town was nice enough if a little over commercialised but the beach was crowded with beach bars and restaurants where you had to buy something to use the beach. And the beach wasn't that great anyway.

Out last stop in Italy was Venice. Just like Paris and Florence we just keep coming back. We love this place. We stayed in an excellent little campground only minutes from Piazza Rome, which is the transport hub and last place you can drive to. It's foot or boat traffic from there on. We wandered through the crooked streets peering into shop windows then sat and sipped cappuccino at little cafés in shaded nooks by the canals. We revisited familiar thoroughfares and also found new routes we had missed last time. Armed with a 12 hour transport pass we took to the water and sailed to Murano island, where most of the Venetian glass is made. The island is beautiful and a lot less crowded than Venice Island. The houses are brightly painted much like Venice used to be, though most of the main island is faded, peeling away or in some parts propped up with scaffolding. If you've seen the Movie Casino Royale you'll get the picture.

The ferry took us on to Burano a smaller island but just as picturesque as Murano. This is the home of lacework and embroidery. We bought a beautiful hand made tablecloth that came with placemats. We didn't buy any glassware this time as everything that took our fancy was so delicate it never would have reached home undamaged. Our round trip took us to Lido next which has a beachfront on the side that faces the bay. We came here in the 70's but we couldn't recognise anything familiar. The beach is pretty average for a place this famous and you just can't get away from the overwhelming feeling of this place being rather shabby. The last leg of our ferry trip took us back to Venice and all the way along the Grand Canal, past St Mark's Square with its splendid cathedral and imposing Doge's Palace, under Rialto Bridge and back to Piazza Rome.

Our journey through Italy was now complete and though we had a great time and visited some of our favourite places along with a short list of new ones the overwhelming impression of present day Italy is one of disappointment. This country had real promise back in the Seventies but it has regressed in so many ways. The roads, the rubbish, the Roma and the ruin are the lasting memories.

It's what Margie calls the Three G's - GRAFITTI, GARBAGE & GIPSIES

Digging for Disappointment

I finished the last post with the optimistic "perhaps there is hope for the Catholic Church yet".

After seeing what Assisi has become I take it back.

The city itself is quite spectacular. It sits on the spur of a mountain overlooking the Umbrian plain below. The Basilica of St Francis loom white and pristine like the prow of a ship marooned on the mountain side. It marks the lower extremity of the city which stretches and meanders up the hillside to the Roman Ruins at its upper limits. It is best seen by climbing to the top of town and wandering back down through endless alleyways and cobbled streets. It is beautifully preserved architecturally and grossly exploited commercially. The place is crawling with the most gaudy and cheap religious icons and paraphernalia, almost all of it made in China. Every second shop is bulging with plastic rosaries, fridge magnets, Francis statuettes, crucifixes and booklets. The others stocked with wine and cheese. And dozens of cafés with over priced coffee and beer.

Francis was a man who rejected everything that Assisi has become. He'd be turning over in his grave.

We left Assisi and headed into the mountains along a winding route that was both spectacular and hair raising. We followed the river as it climbed into the mountains. The road was narrow and broken from the snow thaw and we passed though dozens of small and long tunnels. Our final destination was Norcia, a small mountain town that is famous for producing the best cured pork in Italy (maybe even all of Europe), but Renata might dispute that. Salami, pancetta, prosciutto and anything that took our fancy. Even the pecorino is delicious. With our larder full we headed for the Eternal City - Rome?

The Rome I knew has disappeared. It has been buried beneath an avalanche of detritus both organic and inorganic. I felt like Indiana Jones digging for the riches that were below the surface. You have to scrape away layer upon layer - Gipsy beggars; African hustlers selling the ubiquitous fake sunnies, knockoff handbags and watches; Indian spruikers selling everything from rosaries to tours; endless rows of souvenir shops with every conceivable form of religious iconography spilling onto the sidewalk and wall to wall tourists swarming like ants to queue for hours to get into every popular attraction. Muslims and Hindus selling gullible Christians rosaries and statues made in China and stinking refuse strewn about every corner of the city, this is what Rome has become.

Once you get past this psychological barrier the real Rome is still there but it's not what it used to be. It is almost impossible to get a decent photo of anything. The Trevi Fountain is surrounded by people, you can't get a shot of anything in the Vatican Museum without getting a dozen head in the picture and the only place where you could get great shots you can't because it's strictly forbidden to take photos or movies in the Sistine Chapel. But the entry fee is worth it just to stand there in the centre and let the magnificence of Michelangelo wash over you. Forget the crowds and the restrictions. They are nothing but a distant murmur drowned out by the shear beauty of Buonarroti's masterpiece. It is even more beautiful than I remember.

The rocks in the backyard that go by the name of the Roman Forum are still here but are crumbling into dust with many precious exhibits now inaccessible and propped up by scaffolding. The Palatine hill that overlooks it however has flourished. The trees are tall and shade ancient villas and temples and provide a cool respite from the Mediterranean sun. The gardens are well kept in stark contrast to the rest of the city. From the heights of ruined palaces on the western side of the hill you can see the remains of the Circus Maximus - only the outline of the track remains. Not a brick remains of the stadium and centre columns that once stood here. The Coliseum is just up the Via and is now in better condition than I remember, even though part of the exterior is shrouded in scaffolding. It's there for restoration not for structural support. The interior has been cleaned and the entire upper level has been turned into a museum which catalogues the history of the monument. They have even  assembled part of the origin stadium floor from original drawings.

We were disappointed with most of the rest we saw. If it wasn't covered in scaffolding it was covered in graffiti. The roads are a disgrace and the transport infrastructure is the same as it was 40 years ago and even back then it was ancient. Piazza Navona was swarming with hustlers and only one fountain was working; the fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps was surrounded in plastic and perfume advertising and the building at the top covered in scaffolding; Piazza del Popolo scaffolding and fountains not working; St. Peter's Square covered in barriers and waterless fountains. Thanks to the Eternal City I am eternally grateful that I won't be returning any time soon. No coins in the fountain this time. The Gipsies would only go snorkelling for them after dark.

We said our goodbye to Rome and headed for somewhere far far worse - Naples. This is like going back to Singapore or Shanghai in the 1950s. The only thing that hints that this is the 21st Century are the cars, everything else screams third world slum. The only saving grace is the Archeological Museum of Naples. It stands out like a fragrant rose set upon a pile of manure. This place houses one of the greatest collections of ancient Roman art in the world. The sculptures, the mosaics, the frescos and the minutiae of Roman life is simply breathtaking to behold. Much of it recovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The rest of the city is a total shithole. There isn't a square inch of this place that isn't covered with graffiti or a street that isn't heaped with garbage. There is an overwhelming sense of ugliness and squalor.

We stayed at Pompeii right next to the ruins in a crappy little campground. The irony is we stayed here longer than anywhere we've stayed so far. The ruins are much more extensive than when we were here in 1976. Almost 70% of the city has now been uncovered and over 80 exhibits are able to be viewed but much of the place is closed off either for excavation work or because it is simply too dangerous. What you can see, is enlightening - a window into life in a Roman city 2000 years ago. When you see the majesty of these ancient buildings, many of which have lasted intact for over 2000 years, and the beauty and permanence of medieval cities like Assisi, Volterra and Pienza you are left wondering how could the people who built modern Italy be in any way related philosophically or genetically to their ancestors. The Colosseum will still be standing proud long after modern Italy has crumbled to dust.

It hasn't been all bad though. The trip along the Amalfi coast was spectacular. We decided not to drive it ourselves and took the train and bus instead. From Pompeii we caught the local train to Sorrento where we hopped on the local bus that goes to Amalfi via Positano and the other seaside towns along the way. We sat on the right hand side to get the best views of the coast and the shear drops that mark this route as one of most scenically beautiful and visually frightening stretches of road in the world. Houses that seem to be glued to the shear cliffs are stepped down the hillside ending in a narrow strip of coast forming the main part of town along with the harbour. The road snakes it's way down to the seaside then climbs back up to the heights via twists and turns and tunnels that follow every contour of the land. It is so narrow in places that the buses have to back up so that the ones travelling in the opposite directions can crawl past where the road is just wide enough. I can't believe we drove along this very road back then and remember so little of the experience. We had the most terrifying and wonderful day all in one. One we will not forget this time.

Our last day was spent in Sorrento. We hadn't stopped when we travelled  to Amalfi so we went back to wander around. This is still a beautiful seaside resort town that has managed to keep its charm despite the steady influx of tourists. The narrow streets are full of great shops without the pushy spruiking. The products sell themselves; brightly coloured ceramics; freshly roasted coffee beans; locally made limoncello in a myriad of shapely bottles; original leather goods as well as the usual and unusual souvenirs. We sat and ate pizza in a charming little restaurant along one of the market streets and were happy we decided to come back here. The piazzas shaded and covered in flowers, winding little alleys passing gardens of lemon trees and jasmine, balconies with dizzying views of the transparent sea below and the Isle of Capri in the hazy distance. This is how we remembered Italy so long ago and Sorrento today didn't disappoint, it is the memory we will treasure. Sorrento is as far south that we will go here. We head now across the mountains to the east coast and the Adriatic, then north along this forgotten coast till we finally reach Venice.