Italy - 2 to 27 September 2007 (1st visit GR2 & 3)

Hi Folks or as the Italians would say ' Buongiorno' .

Well, we survived Africa and are safe and sound in Italy, a place of myth, history, artistic achievement, romantic imagery and all manner of clichés. We arrived in Palermo, Italy and as mentioned earlier, not without incident. But, how could leaving Africa be easy, and strangely enough, we already find ourselves missing 'Her'. After a three wait for immigration clearance on board, we flew through customs and entered Europe, without it costing us a cent - no insurance was needed as well.

We arrived at the Port of Palermo in the late afternoon and without maps and GPS to assist, found our way to our first European campsite in a town called Sferracavallo in Sicily. The realities of being in Europe soon hit home - organised, pricy and with plenty of rules!! That evening we celebrated our arrival with some traditional cuisine Pizza, Pasta and Red Wine. What an excellent introduction to our Italian experience.

We spent most of the following day driving east across Sicily towards Messina and were unfortunate not to have caught a glimpse of Mt Etna on the east coast, a mountain that dominates the Sicilian landscape. One hour and another ferry trip later, we found ourselves on mainland Italy, at Calabria, immediately heading north to Naples. But, as is customary for us, Globeriders, we spent our first night in the parking lot of a hotel en-route, south of Salermo. Driving north to Naples, we were absolutely astounded by the number of tunnels, and not just straight normal ones, but ones with curves and forks - boy, ' there are enough tunnels for Italy here -. Jade and Dane lost count after 90 and there were more, many many more!!!

Our first point of interest, Pompeii, is a gem. Buried under a layer of burning fragments of pumice stone during the devastating eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 79, Pompeii provides a truly fascinating insight into the lives of ancient Romans. The vast ruins include impressive temples, a forum, one of the largest known Roman amphitheatres and streets lined with shops and luxurious homes. A morning well spent.

That afternoon, we spent three hours driving along the Amalfi coastline. This 50km stretch, is a coastline and landscape of inspiring natural beauty. There were, however, many hair-raising moments as the roads are narrow with many sharp corners and steep inclines, with the size of our vans not helping much. Italians were literally ' living on the edge ', with many homes and businesses been built on the cliff's edge.

We were fortunate to get a glimpse of the setting sun over Pompeii, with our return to our base camp, which happened to be a mere 100m from the Pompeii ruins.

The next day was spent wandering the streets of Naples. Naples is positioned on the Bay of Naples and is overshadowed by Mt Vesuvius; it happens to be one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. We wandered the streets like real tourists - camera on shoulder, daypacks on back and children in hand, visiting the Duoma, Castle Nuova, Piazza del Plebiscito and the Chiesa di Santa Chiara - to mention but a few of the sights!!! We realised that day that Africa was about driving and weight loss and that Europe would be about walking - our exercises have now started.

The following day found us on the autostrade, heading for Rome, where a phenomenal concentration of history, legend and monuments coexist in chaotic harmony. Having learnt our lessons in Naples (driving in cities is a problem), we opted to stay in a town 30km from Rome, called Bracchiano (where Tom Cruise and Kate Holmes tied the knot), and camped alongside lake - The next four days saw us hopping onto a very efficient public transport system, visiting ROME.

It would take us years to explore every corner of Rome and thus we opted to cover most of the important monuments at a frantic pace. These included:

And then, there is the Vatican City with St Peter's Basilica and Square as well as the Vatican Museums. We were blown away at the absolute grandeur and power of it all. St Peter's Basilica is the most famous church in the Christian world and stands on the site where St Peter was buried. The cavernous interior contains numerous treasures, including Michelangelo's Pieta. The Vatican museums contain an incredible collection of art and treasures, including the all inspiring Sistine Chapel - a must see!!!

Our last day in Rome was spent visiting the SA embassy, and we once again received a very warm welcome from the Counsellor, Rebecca Mampane, Tracy Minnie (Attaché: Counsular & Administration) and First Political Secretary, Mr. Z Silangwe. They were all eager, willing and able to provide us with assistance and thus managed to arrange an audience with the Secretary- General of the Italian Football Association, the current Football World Cup holders. This was definitely a highlight of our stay in Rome, especially for Eddie.

Next, we experienced the beauty of Florence, but not before spending a night under a bridge while driving on the autostrade towards a city that Italy has sold itself on for centuries. We were fortunate to find a campsite on a hill that overlooked Florence, being just a 10 -15 minute walk away. As we arrived early that day, we opted to enjoy the sites that afternoon. Our first was Ponte Vecchio, a bridge lined with gold and silversmiths' shops and the only bridge in Florence that survived Nazi bombing in WW11. Next were the Duomo (with its nougat facade and skyline-dominating dome), the Campanile and the Battistero. The sheer size and the amount of detail that went into these structures were once again, all inspiring - how did they do it? While exploring the streets and mingling with the locals, we caught a glimpse of Michelangelo's David (in all his glory) through an open door of the Galleria dell'Accademia, lucky to miss the lengthy queue. We spent sunset on the steps of Piazzale Michelangelo for unparalleled views of Florence. By this time we were exhausted and opted for an early night. We were fortunate to meet a very jovial couple from Bristol, Graham and Matilda. Great laughs all round - we hope to meet up again during our stay in the UK.

The next day we bid farewell to GR1 who opted to explore the idyllic coastline of Croatia and the rest of the group headed to Pisa. No city in Italy can lay claim to as beautiful a construction cock-up as Pisa. Its leaning tower is a 'must-see sight'. We spent the afternoon enjoying the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles), one of the most beautiful squares in the world. Here we marvelled the Cathedral, the Battistero and the Leaning Tower, with a beautiful sunset as a backdrop.

Our next city was our highlight of Italy. Venice was extraordinary. In no other city is fantasy and reality so artfully combined and as we discovered, the secret to its beauty was to walk through the narrow alleys and cross quaint bridges that traverse the maze of canals. The waterways provide the only means of transport in Venice, not even bicycles are allowed in the town. The Piazza & Basilica di San Marco's dreamlike; ' can this be real ' quality left us gob-smacked. This Piazza won our first prize, for the best all rounder. Here, we gazed upon a piazza that is enclosed by the basilica and the elegant arcades of the Procuratie Vecchie and Procuratie Nuove, while being serenaded with classical music by the many musicians of the outdoor restaurants. Excellent, excellent!!! We managed to squeeze in a visit to the Morano glass factory as well and even enjoyed a down pour of rain, not to mention breakfast at Burger King.

The road to Milan was a long one. We opted to stay off the autostrade, as the toll gates were becoming a tad expensive! It took us a full day to reach our campsite, not to mention the 2 hours spent on the motorway around Milan, as a result of peak hour traffic and not taking the right turnoffs. Milan is all about money, looks and shopping - not a place for the Globeriders Cape2cape team. Milan was also our pick-up point for the Continental sponsored Conti-Trac tyres. We thus spent a lot of time at our campsite and 'partied' with a Kiwi couple, Michael and Melissa, we met while in Florence. Some partying more than others and suffered the consequences. We only spent one afternoon doing the touristy thing, visiting the Duomo, the city's unique landmark, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele 11, the Scala, the world's most famous opera house, currently closed for a makeover and the Sforzesco Castle Scala.

Despatch of the Conti-tracs was delayed in SA and to kill time until their arrival, we decided to head south. We left Milan re-vitalised and in high spirits - we were off to Genoa and the Ligurian Coast AND we were able to source City Navigator V8 & 9 of Europe from South Africa (quite stressful unlocking the maps though). We were lucky to have a friend of the family living in Milan, Sean Martin, who agreed to have the software delivered to his home. Thanks Sean, you've been a great help. Now, we knew where we were at all times, however, the roads here can be tricky (say no more!!).

They say that Genoa is aristocratic, seedy, grandiose and dingy, however, our experience was that of frustration and stress with a little bit of irritation, as most of our time here was spent navigating through horrendous traffic with complicated motorways and side streets, but fortunately this was a short-lived one. We headed straight for the spectacular Ligurian Coast and enjoyed scenic drives through the towns of Chiavari, Nervi, Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure. Days seem to merge with each other and before long our stay here was over. We received confirmation that our Conti tyres would be in Milan in five days time, so we opted to pop into France and Andora and just maybe we could even be so lucky as to watch a live Rugby World Cup game. Our stay in Italy, for now, was over and we were heading for the French Riviera…Monaco, Nice and Cannes; not to mention the smallest country in the world, Andorra.

Arrivederci (Goodbye)

GRC2C 2&3

Italy - 3 to 5 October 2007 (2nd visit GR2 and GR3)

After our visit to the French Riviera, we were now ready to head back to Milan, Italy to finally collect our Conti tyres and also to meet up with GR1, who spent time in Croatia. Kids and adults alike were thrilled to see each other again - it seemed as if we were apart for ages. We managed to collect the tyres from the customs' office at Malpensa Airport the next day, but not before spending the entire day convincing the officials that we were not to pay import taxes on these items and then replacing all the rims and tyres on the three vehicles. A man a car. We arrived back at camp after five that afternoon, to the delight of the ladies as all vehicles were already fitted with their tyres. Our evening together was spent discussing our respective routes and with what seemed like a blink of an eye, and with the arrival of the morning sun, we were once again off to France and then Spain, while GR1 was to spend some time in Milan.