Our Van Trip - into Italy

Driving into Italy. Very mountainous country, so pretty much the entirety of Italian motorways are a combination of bridges and tunnels only. All smoke and mirrors. At the end we counted we have been through 268 tunnels in 2 weeks. 146 of those were in the first 2 days. The Italians are mad, mad drivers.

How original is this?? It looks like Drew´s holding up the tower!!!

Hang on, maybe we´re not so original after all...

Surely this has to be original.

Peg adds to her collection of souvenir playing cards with a lop-sided set.

We didn´t bother going up the tower, so you´ll have to make do with this.

Now if this isn´t encouraging drink-driving, we don´t know what is. "Drive Beer". Quality. Tasted like a cross between Tooheys Old (Stout for you Poms) and VB (Lager)

Peg doing her hair in the reflection of the window. Ready to hit the town of Pisa.

Peg and the tower.

Peg being bona-fide in Pisa. Just out of shot is a busker who assaulted us with his singing and strumming. When we refused to pay his offensive and unsolicited busking, he told us we mustn´t want to pay for culture. Peg could have gotten fired up about the "commodification of culture" and "staged authenticity" (Loz - you would understand this), but chose to have a glass of wine instead. Much more rewarding and authentic.

Next night, all roads lead to Rome. Peg eating spaghetti bolognaise. When in Rome... All the Italian families around us asked us for the recipe.

Peg refilling our water at the fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps. It was the hottest day ever. Only camels were walking around not in the shade.

Us dunking our feet at the Spanish Steps. The water was amazingly cold.

Drew on the Spanish Steps.

Believe it or not, this photo is straight. The Cupola was the pinnacle of the climb, atop St Peter´s Bascilica. 551 steps of pure hell.

But the view was worth it.

Just catching his breath...

The Pantheon. A bit boring. Luckily only a short walk. A very walkable city, Rome.

Very authentic. Peg eating Gelati at the Trevi Fountain.

Peg making her wish at the fountain. She wished for more shoes.

Drew making his wish. He wished for more Gelati.

The Trevi in its glory. Absolutely amazing.

Drew unlacing for a dunk. The Roman Police are very on the ball and as soon as you get your feet into a fountain you hear the whistle. Refreshing though, and everybody does it.

Peg getting something out of our extremely secure backpack. We had heard too many stories about pickpockets. We came home unscathed, and were only robbed when we bought lunch. Highway robbery those prices...

The Colosseum.

Panini for breakfast in the shadow of St Peter´s Bascilica. Note the Cupola in the distance. The little pointy bit at the top.

The Bascilica from the ground.

Columns surrounding the Bascilica

They are extremely strict on dress regulations. No bare midriffs, shoulders, or people who have recently lost a leg, as per the sign above.

Refilling another bottle at one of the Vatican City´s many drinking fountains. Icy cold, delicious water in every one.

Inside the Vatican Museums, heading for the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel. The Creation of Man. Not meant to take photos of it, so we did.

The ruins of Pompeii. So much is still so intact.

More ruins.

A delicious seafood pasta with wine. We´re all about pasta and wine.

We were told you couldn´t get twisties in the Northern Hemisphere. We found a suitable substitute. "Fonzies"! Nothing to do with Arthur, though.

In the Arch of the boot, or as Peg calls it, the "ticklish part" of the foot, we found our new favourite breakfast. Chocolate Corn Flakes!!! Not sure if they´re in Oz or not.

Peg lapping up the Mediterranean sun in the ticklish spot.

Drew jumping into the Med at Sicily.

Rocked up to the ferry terminal to go back to Italy, and a crazy Italian (they all are) motioned to us to park on the front deck. We were perplexed, but abided, and the van had a ringside seat for the passage back!

Drew giving the ferry driver a hand coming into port back on mainland Italy.

Peg at the creepiest camping site ever. Think "Picnic at Hanging Rock". We were the only people in the ENTIRE campsite, in peak season. Scary. Peg is drinking more of her namesake, "Paulaner" beer. Yummy!

Us drinking Peg´s namesake

Peg and the view. We´re not always drinking!!! We just tend to take photos when we are!

Setting up our van, we found we were near some Kiwis at Giovinnazzo. Graham and Diana. A few bottles of wine and a torrential downpour later we combined food and had a feast for dinner. Our efforts at showing off our cooking hob were thwarted when we ran out of gas and had to cook on the bbq. These guys had their bike shipped from NZ and have been travelling for a few months around Europe.

Peg lapping up more sun at Giovinazzo.

Drew taking in the view from the van. Very relaxing.

Cute little harbour at Giovinazzo.

Cute little street in Giovinnazzo.

Bari harbour, about to depart for Dubrovnik, Croatia on an overnight ferry. We thought it was a good idea at the time. The ferry in the picture is not ours.

After many failed self-photo attempts a nice lady took our photo.