The Appian Way - A History Lesson

Our last day in Rome was spent outside of the city itself in a place known as Appia Antica or The Appian Way. This road, built from around 312BC, was once of vital importance to the Roman Empire as it connected Rome to its many outlying towns including Naples and Puglia (about 480km away on the Adriatic Coast).Ancient Romans knew how to build things well. The large flat stones used in the original road are still intact and there is evidence of it being used extensively throughout history with wheel ruts carved into its hard stone. The road was used primarily by the military (hello Julius Caesar) but also by merchants and Christians including, historians believe, Jesus Christ and the ApostlePeter. Nowadays Romans and tourists use it primarily for recreational purposes. We had heard about the possibility of hiring bikes to traverse the first 8km of the road and it wasn’t the least bit hard to convince the boys to do it. The hardest part was convincing them that the bikes weren’t in fact mountain bikes and that they had to treat them as such. We had a great time and I highly recommend doing this if you ever find yourselves in Rome. 

Rome - 10 Stats and Facts for First Time Tourists

1. Rome is old - really old. Its been around for about 28 centuries and it’s architecture is testament to the brilliant designers and builders of its time. It’s history is a rather potted one - full of intrigue and nastiness and some very clever people. 

2. 30,000 people file through the Vatican every day during high season (March through November, Easter and Christmas. Each person pays 10 Euro - do the maths on that and you’ve got a tonne of money being made every day for their collection!! 

3. We have walked on average 18,000 steps a day since being here. Some of that includes running to catch buses, missing them, then having to run the streets of Rome to get to our tour on time!! 

4. Toilets are a rare thing here. If you are lucky to find one be prepared to buy something or paying a couple of Euro for the privilege of using the loo. 

5. The average temperature has been a brisk 14 c and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. It’s been a lovely respite from the heat at home and makes dealing with the INSANE crowds much easier. 

6. I recommend NOT coming here in the summer. If the crowds are mad now it makes me shudder to think what they would be like in peak season. 

7. Seagulls are about twice the size as their Australian counterparts (maybe it’s all the pasta and pizza on offer here) and I swear they squark in an Italian dialect. 

8. Hawkers are everywhere and they are very annoying. We must look like tourists because they offer us their wares (in particular selfie sticks and battery chargers) every time we walk past. Seth has rather ingeniously designed his own selfie stick using a stick he found on the ground!! I guess we are in the city that is renowned for brilliant artists and designers of the past and present - perhaps some of it is rubbing off!

9. Rome has marble footpaths!!

10. Collosseo (colosseum) is Italian for long wait. Not really but it could be. We waited in line for about 2 hours just to get into the venue (plus another hour to get our tickets). Next time we’ll just book online and pay the extra 12euro. It was worth it though. The mind boggles at the thought of how this structure was built - it really is a colossus of building. 

Xx N 

Christmas Day in Rome

Azure blue skies and a chilly 7c greeted us when we landed in Rome after close to 24 hours of travel.  Thankfully our wonderful travel agent, Sam had  the foresight to book us a private transfer to our hotel. We are so glad she did. Drivers are crazy - they have to be. This place is a narrow rabbit warren of cobble stone roads and people wanting to get somewhere fast. Watch out crossing the road too. Pedestrian crossings are merely an indication that this might be a safe place to cross. Cars zoom through even if you are already making your way across.  

Parking in Rome is very efficient!!

We have quickly learned that Rome is a place for the bold! It is a place where old meets new, the poor meet the rich and hawkers meet tourists on every corner and everywhere else in between. I lost count how many times we were offered selfie sticks, bracelets, battery chargers and light up balloons on our afternoon walk to the Colloseum. We learnt to be bold in our approach to them (no eye contact. no small talk, an abrupt no to their requests) which is completely at odds with how we usually interact with people. 

We managed in our semi comatose state to experience a taste of what Rome is well known for including Paletine Hill, Roman Forum, the Colleseum and of course a dinner of pasta and pizza. 

And We’re Off...

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” - and a drive to Brisbane via a camera store to pick up a new camera, the hospital to visit Dad and wish him a speedy recovery then GB Orthopaedics Brendale facility to drop off the cruiser and get driven to the airport! (Thanks Brad,Lauren and Mum for being our chauffeurs).

Being Christmas Eve the airport was full of excited travelers and people welcoming others home. Thankfully getting to the airport early meant we are able to avoid being one of the last in line to check in (tip #. 1) and we were able to enjoy a long, relaxed farewell before being processed through customs.  

Tip # 2 (and this is a ripper and one we will be sure to follow up on in future) - if you want to get a good discount on big ticket items (eg cameras or electronics) skip the duty free section at the airport. Before you head off go buy your stuff from a more reasonably priced outlet then when you are at the airport take advantage of the Australian Governments beautiful TRS (tax redemption scheme). If you show your invoice the government will refund you the GST at the airport, straight back onto your bank account - nice one!! 

The first leg of our flight which was to Abu Dhabi was reeeeealllly long at 13.33 hours - but that’s not unexpected when one is traveling halfway around the world (or around 7800 miles). The first leg was uneventful - just a little bit of turbulence here and there.  We tried to get as much sleep as possible which is always hard but as we flew in the dark the whole way we managed to get enough shut eye that we weren’t feeling completely shagged by the time we got to Abu Dhabi. To bide our time we slept, ate food and watched some movies . This leads me to tip # 3. Ifyou are a mother of boys desperate to watch girlie movies I highly recommend booking a ticket on an international flight - it might be expensive and seem rather extravagant but you get to watch movies without fart jokes or fight scenes or murder and mayhem in every scene - on your own - without interruption and you get served good from time to time! 

Although we traveled throughout the night we didn’t get to see Santa on his journeys!! Perhaps he was going the other way. My last tip for you intrepid readers is to plan an overseas holiday at Christmas time - presents done!! No fighting crazy crowds in the lead up looking for that perfect gift!! Travel is the ultimate gift of all.... 

Early Christmas

There is something wonderful about spending Christmas with the ones you love. Memories are made, many laughs are had, bellies are full and our hearts are too. 

I am always so thankful to be able to spend it with this crazy bunch of people who make Christmas so special. This year we got together to celebrate Christmas early as we jet off to Italy on Christmas Eve. 

Xx N 

Italy Bound

Not long now...... But still many things to organise.