Spud's first holiday!! Italy

A few years ago, I (and Robbie) got sucked into getting a time share.  Yes, I know, I know.  But we use have used it the 2 years we had a week coming to us, so is not horrible.  But I digress.  So, we had to use a week this year, so we decided before we got pregnant to take a big. proper, French holiday.  (You get 5 weeks holiday with any full time contract here, I get 2+ with my part time contract)  So we had a trip planned to go stay at a friend's place in Croatia, visit with a friend and his family in Turkey and then finish with selecting a timeshare somewhere in the Mediterranean.  We didn't have many options by the time we went to book, so we found a place in southern Italy, that was convenient (by ferry) to where we would be staying in Croatia.   Then I got pregnant.  Robbie had a moment of rationality, and thought enough to save his holiday time to add onto the 2 weeks paternity leave he gets.  So, our trip went from weeks to 10 days.  I know, cry me  river, but disappointment is disappointment.  So, I called it our Babymoon, and decided to make the best of it, as it is still a holiday!

Fastforward to September.  We pack our bags and head off to Rome.  Back to the land of my ancestors.   I didn't do much research, so we just played it by ear.  I had a map and comfy shoes.  What more do you need?!

We land and make our way to the hotel.  Its quaint and quiet and breakfast is included (Annie booked it for us)  So we get up and head down to our free breakfast.  Well, let's just say that each country has a different idea of what breakfast should be.  Italy has an....... eclectic idea.  It was a big spread, if nothing else.  We had a choice of pasteries (most of them stuffed with cream or nutella), lunch meat and cheese, sliced bread to toast, yogurt, rolls, muesli (not the crusty kind, the kind like raw oatmeal) corn flake-ish cereal, fresh fruit, pineapple juice and bloodorange juice.   There were a few other bits and bobs that I didn't eat.  We left stuffed, if not satisfied (bc of course I was expecting eggs and bacon and the usual American deliciousness)

Off we head into town, to be good, old tourists.  First stop, the Colosseum.  We get there and see a small line and figured it didn't look so bad, let's do it.  When we get to the head of that line, the guard ushers us into the reserved lane, seeing as how I'm stuffed. :) Thank god for that, as the line on the inside was forever long!  Spud coming through to save the day!!  We snapped some phoy=tos, and headed off to our next stop, the Forum.

  Just across the way from the Colosseum is the Forum.  It was absolutely massive! To be fair, it was more than just the Forum, it was a huge site with dozens of buildings and sites.  We spent a large part of the morning exploring in there.  It was pretty cool to be somewhere so ancient. I realized at this point that sunscreen would have been a good idea, but it was nice to be in the sun, so I figued I'd muddle through.  We were starting to get hungry and found our way out of there.  Our next destination was going to be the Vatican, and in between the Forum and there was the place I was most looking forward to, the cat sanctuary!!

To me, that was the highlight of Rome.  The Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary is a site of ancient temples form before Cesar, that is now home to hundreds of cats.  They are taken in, spayed and neutered, and, in some cases, nursed back to health.  Then they are released in the ruins and are free to wander around and make it their home.  The ruins are recessed and not open to the public.  But you can visit the sanctuary and play with the cats and see how the whole operation works.  You can also buy cat related gifts, all proceeds going to the site, which is run by volunteers.  We chose to buy something and give a donation.  It was a beautiful place that I would love to call home!!

After spending a good bit of time with the cats of Rome, we found a tiny little restaurant, tucked away, and packed with locals.  We fueled up and headed for the Vatican.  An interesting thing about Rome is that you can not go thirsty.  There are free drinking water fountains EVERYWHERE!  Inside the ruins, on the side of buildings, everywhere.  Which was good, because it was hot.  

At the St Peter's Basilica, we hit a small road block.  I was dressed for the weather, which was hot, and not for the Church, which has a dress code.  So my tank top and skirt weren't going to cut it.  After looking at souvenirs and sending off postcards, all done on premises, I spied another tourist buy scarves to wrap around herself.  So I followed suit and bought 2 scarves to cover my shoulders and legs.  We breezed right in.  It was breathtaking and we spent time looking around.  By the time we were done, the Sistene Chapel was closed, so we headed to the hotel to freshen up and head off to dinner  

The next day we picked up our rental car and headed south for the coast.  We learned a few things on the road:

1. on every road there is a special Italian lane, which exists between the other existing lanes on the road, much like platform 9 3/4 in Harry Potter.  

2. turn signals are an optional feature on Italian cars, and they must be expensive, because no one opted for them

3. the speed limits are mere suggestions, so pay them no mind.  If it is 130KPH, which you only know because your GPS tells you (signs must be expensive too), it is not uncommon for someone to pass you as if you were standing still

4. if they are not busy speeding past you at 160+ KPH, they are in the opposite lane doing 80kph, so when you move to let the Alfa Romeo on your ass pass you, you have to then slam on your brake sto avoid ending up in the passenger seat of the Fiat in the slow lane.

5. lighting roads at night isn't a necessity, even in the mountains on windy roads in the pitch black. Its not like there are any road works coming up that you have no forewarning about, while dealing with all the above mentioned items

To sum up, do not drive in Italy, ever

Our first stop was in an ancient town called Maters.  In this town, thousands of years ago, the people carved their dwellings out of the side of mountains.  People still ust these dwellings today, after some updating, of course.  I found us a hotel in these dwellings and it was amazing.  Its hard to say whether it was more gorgeous at night or in the early morning sunrise.  

Next stop, Metaponto, to our "resort" holiday.  Once we finally found it, due to the horrific lack of signage, we were a little wary.  It looked as if it was a great place to stay, in 1985.  It wasn't the worst place on the world, but once again, disappointment is disappointment.  If you have seen photos of a resort, you want a resort.  We got an outdated, sad place in an economically depressed region of Italy.  There was no town to speak of, and what little there was looked deserted and abandoned.  There were real estate projects stopped mid build.  Roads that lead no where.  No real restaurants or shops to speak of.  Just sad.  There are more trees growing olives and limes and grape vines than humans.  The beach was mainly private secyions belonging to the other "resorts" and campsites (most of which were closed)  in the area, sprinkled with sections of public beaches, which were not maintained, but had nice sand.  The water was gorgeous and calm.  It was apparently jellyfish season there as well, but the good thing is the water is crystal clear and the jellyfish have a dark purple ring around them, so you can spot them.  

Back at the apartment, we had a kitchen, living/dining room and 2 bedrooms. We had a TV with about 800 channels, all but 2 were in Italian.  The other 2 were a French news channel and a resort run channel that showed movies 2 times a day, most in English.  If you were lucky enough to flip to that channel at the right time, we could hear Enlgish and enjoy the TV.  Otherwise, we watched the 24 hour poker channel.  

Now, I don't want you to think it was all bad. There was a nice pool, which we had to pay extra for and then buy bathing to wear to be allowed in it.  There was internet, but you were allowed 10 hours for the week and had to sit outside the office in the wifi spot.  There was a little shop, which was open 3 hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening.  There was a bus to the beach, also included in the extra fee, which ran 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon.  And the was a restaurant, which was not expensive, but you get what you pay for.  We spent a lot of quality time together, as 97% of the other guests were Italian.  It was a great place for kids, as there were many things catering to them.  So I would go there with a family, but seeing as how I'm a self contained family as for now, it wasn't meant for a couple on holiday.  

We were lucky to have a car and went exploring.  We found Taranto, 45 minutes away.  Which was a big town.  We spent an afternoon, early evening there.  We visited a mall and some other shopping canters.  We used the excuse of grocery shopping, but we were really trying to fight off the boredom.  We spent a day in Bari, which is where my father's side of the family is from.  It was a big city surrounding a tiny medieval center.  We spent a day getting lost in the little tiny streets.  We visited Santa Claus' Church, well, St Nicholas, but yes, they are one in the same.  My scarves came in handy again! 

The upside is we ate VERY. very well. Thank god I was pregnant!!  I could eat all I wanted and not worry about looking fat.  We cooked a lot, so it wasn't a very expensive trip.  We spent every day on the beach and got great tans.  Robbie called it lying on the ground, but we had a great time.  There were loads of shells, some of them occupied by hermit crabs.  We laughed a lot, especially when we tried to get into the shower in our apartment.  We relaxed, whether we wanted to or not.  We realized that relaxing vacations are not our thing, so we know better for next to to do more research.  Here are some highlights form the south:

Trying to get into the shower:

Spud at the beach

Robbie in Bari

So after our week was up, we jumped into the car at 4am and got the hell out of dodge!  We went back to Rome for another full day.  We spent the day wandering around the city, eating everything we saw.  We visited the Trevi fountain, Piazza Navona and went back to the cat sanctuary, and every nook and cranny in between.  

All in all, we had a great time, Spud included.  The food was amazing, the people were kind (not on the road) and the weather was gorgeous.  And most importantly, it was a holiday where we got to spend some quality together, because i Know I'll  be kisssing that goodbye in February!  :)