4 days in Rome - day1

20^th September

We had pre-booked entry to the Vatican for 10.30am, so we had breakfast at 8am and then caught a bus (98) from outside the hotel into town.  Our room is on the 3^rd floor and the restaurant is on the 4^th floor (aka the roof), but the stairs went onto the roof but there was no access into the restaurant, so we had to use the lift! We had no idea of how the transport system ran or where we needed to get off.  Our first mistake is that you have to buy your ticket before you get on the bus (tickets can be bought in bars and at news-stands).  The journey wasn’t great as the bus was packed as it was rush hour and very hot and sticky.  When we saw the dome of St Peter’s we got off the bus vowing that we would make sure we got a ticket for the return journey.  It was great to get some air after the stuffiness of the bus.

  We had got off the bus at the opposite side of the Vatican to the entrance, so we had a long walk across the entrance to St Peters (which was stunning) and around the walls to the entrance.

There are lots of hawkers around, but to be fair if you said you were not interested they did leave you alone.  

We were about 30mins early for our meeting time, so we decided to get a coffee (and use the loo).  A young man who was touting for tours of the Vatican directed us to a coffee shop (even though he wasn’t going to get anything from us). The coffee was lovely, but the loo was not so nice!

We met the group organisers and got a coloured card in exchange for our booking voucher – we then followed the guide in to the Vatican – bypassing the queue and she then got our tickets and exchanged our coloured cards for entrance tickets.  Then we were left to our own devices.   We paid €26.50 each for this ticket as opposed to the €15 it would cost if we queued for hours – well worth the money.

Inside the Vatican we decided that we really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, so as we had been advised that if it got too busy they would shut the doors we decided to try and go straight there. 

Even the quickest route to the Sistine Chapel takes the visitor through the majority of the rooms and corridors, although we probably spent a lot less time in each section than most people, but we wanted to drink it all in and there was no way we would see everything in detail in the time we had.  There are miles of corridors each of them filled with wonderful paintings, tapestries, sculptures, gold and other objects of art.  Any photographs taken really cannot give a true representation of the wonder of it all. To study each area properly would probably take months!

Each room and corridor revealed more and more wonders – and lots of steps to tone the legs!  When we entered the Sistine Chapel – WOW!  No photos are allowed here and you were supposed to be quiet, but as usual people had other ideas and took flash photos (flash wasn’t even allowed in the rest of the Vatican!) and were quite noisy.  It was so stunning though – I wish we could spend longer in there, but all the seats and steps were occupied by people and it was uncomfortable standing and getting nudged along.

We had lunch in the pizzeria, opting for soft drinks although draught beer was available.  Very reasonable: €12.40 for 2 pizza slices and 2 cokes.  Although the guide books had said there were not many toilets or places to eat, in reality there were.  There is a café in one of the courtyards, a restaurant and the pizzeria, plus there are toilets in several locations – and I never had to queue!  Very clean too.

We left the Vatican, and dodging the hawkers (except for the ones giving away free Coke Zero!) we walked to the river at Ponte Vittorio Emanuelle II and wandered past the Castel Sant ‘Angelo, Plazza del Tribunall and Palazzo de Giustizia (Palace of Justice).

After a rest in the shade we headed back to the bus stop, stopping on the way for an ice cream (and a beer for Mark) in a very insalubrious setting.  We bought bus tickets at a newspaper kiosk and caught the 98 back to the hotel.

We had a rest, a shower and change then down to the bar for a Nastro Azzurro!  We went for a lovely meal at Ristorante da Arturo just 2 minutes walk downhill from the hotel.  We decided that this would be our “nice meal” of the holiday and went for the traditional meal structure – Antipasto (I had Parma Ham with Melon and Mark had preserved meats), Primo (first course – I had seafood pasta and Mark had risotto), Secondo (I had veal and Mark had steak), Contorno (vegetables with the main course – spinach for me and chips for Mark).  We decided we were too full for anything else and after finishing our wine we tried to get the waiter’s attention to get the bill.  Eventually we went in search of someone and the manager/owner was shocked that we had to do that (but probably more shocked that we didn’t just walk out!) and gave us a chocolate ice cream and glasses of limoncello – it would have been rude not to accept!  So effectively we had the Dolce (sweet) and Digestivo (digestives – such as grappa, amaro, limoncello, sambuca and nocino).  The food was delicious and although we probably went for the more expensive options it would have been possible to have a cheaper and smaller meal.  I would definitely go back if we were in the area again.

Back to the hotel and bed.

4 days in Rome - the outward journey

19^th September

Flights:  Glasgow – London Heathrow – Rome (Fiumicino).

All the flights were late due to extra security at Heathrow.  The flight leaving Heathrow left without one passenger whose bag had made it to the plane but they hadn’t – so more delays in locating the bag from the hold and removing it.  When we arrived at Fiumicino we were much later than our due time, then there was a delay in getting the luggage back, so I think our taxi driver from http://www.coopairport.it was worried that we were not turning up.  Because we were now arriving at the hotel well after 11pm I expected the fee to increase by €8 but he only charged €50.

When we were waiting at Heathrow I decided not to have a meal thinking that as we were travelling British Airways there would be a meal on board – the meal was a filled roll with mayonnaise!  So, apart from a packet of Indian snacks on the flight from Glasgow and a couple of Mark’s chips at Heathrow I had not eaten since breakfast at 7am.  So arriving at the hotel I was quite hungry (especially as we had had a few red wines on the plane!).  The hotel’s restaurant was obviously closed at that late hour, but the barman gave us peanuts and his own roti which was most welcome.  Mark had a couple of pints and I had a bottle of water, and then to bed.

Winter 2008-09

A couple of the many birds visiting the garden.





















Bit arty this one!






Hogmanay with my pal Audi - Cheers!

Bodnant Garden and Steam Trains

Last week I went to Wales. My parents had hired a cottage at Beddgelert in Snowdonia and asked if me and Orinoco wanted to join them for a few days. Orinoco was busy with work so I went on my own. It was quite a long drive down from Scotland but the look on Mum's face was worth it.
On Tuesday we decided to go to the NT garden at Bodnant. We started off with a coffee in the pavilion when I persuaded Mum to have a wheelchair so that she would be able to see more of the garden (Mum had a stroke a year ago and finds it difficult to walk on slopes and cannot walk far even on the flat). I am so glad we did. To get to the entrance we had to go down a long sweeping slope under the road, then a very steep path past the gift shops to the entrance. Mum and Dad are both NT members, so I was expecting to pay the entrance fee, but the nice lady said the "pusher" gets in free! The gardens are wonderful but apart from the top level they are anything but level!
There is one part of the garden called "the Dell", we went down a very steep slope with me digging my heels in and clutching onto the handles so Mum wouldnt go flying! Coming up was great fun - Dad reckons it was a 1:3 hill! I pushed Mum and Dad pushed me!

It was an exhausting day but Mum enjoyed it so much.





The next day was a wee bit wet, so we decided to go for a trip on the Ffestiniog railway as at least we could see the scenery and stay dry.

The following day we decided to go on the Welsh Highland Railway. This currently runs from Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu, but next Easter it will run all the way to Porthmadog where the Ffestiniog railway runs from. This runs through Beddgelert and in the morning Dad and I walked up to the station to see how works were progressing.

In Caenarfon we had 2 hours to spend, so we took a gentle walk round the bottom of the castle but the wind was very strong nearly knocking us over. We caught the train back, and I had a Welsh beer on the train back - very nice.
On Friday morning I set off early back to Scotland and got home late afternoon in time to take the junior golf.
A lovely wee break and worth the drive.
Wx

Strulch

What is Strulch?

Strulch ® is a light and easy to use garden mulch made from wheat straw for organic gardening. A patented process is used to ‘preserve’ the straw so that it lasts for up to two years and gives an earthy brown colour.

Strulch has a neutral pH and can be used throughout the garden on borders, raised beds, around cultivated fruit and on vegetable plots.

• Spend less time weeding

Strulch reduces weed growth by up to 95%

• Save water

  Strulch helps retain moisture around plants

• Improve your soil

Strulch enriches soil and its structure

• Use all around the garden

  Strulch is suitable around flowers, shrubs, fruit and vegetables

• Save time and money

  Strulch, the mineralised straw garden mulch, lasts up to two years,spreading the cost, saving water and fertiliser, making your plants grow healthier and stronger and giving you more time to relax.

Well, that is what it says on the tin! Does it do it? I will have to see as this is the first time I have used it. It does smell nice and is easy to use though.
To me the advantage is having something that will improve my soil as well as supressing weeds etc as the main area I have put it needs a lot of nutrients put back in the soil.

Wx

Busy Weekend

WOW what a busy weekend I have had.
Yesterday was our golf club's Ladies Open. I was part of the organising committee, so I tee'd off at 8.30am so that I could enjoy my golf before facing the rest of the day. There was a fair bit of dew on the ground, so we knew that we would not have the advantage that the rest of the field would get later with the ball running on and on. My golf was not exactly the best that I have played, but I did do a stonker of a drive on the "longest drive" hole - just a few yards in front of the green and it remained on the fairway - something unusual for this particular hole! Well, my drive held all day and I won a bottle of bubbly for that. Then on one of our long par 3's I landed my drive just about a yard from the hole and I put it in for a "magic 2" which won me some more dosh!

Luckily we had no hiccups during the day, and the weather was fantastic - very very very sunny and hot.

Today I decided that I needed to spend time in the garden as I had bags and bags of Strulch to put down but I needed to weed and tidy up the beds first. Bed #1 has a dry stone wall around 2 sides and the lawn around the other 2. On the lawn sides I had once put lots and lots of stones to try and keep the weeds down, but this didnt work and looked untidy. I used some of them to build up the bottom part of the wall so that the soil does not overflow onto the pavement. I then turned over the soil and removed lots more weeds. I then mulched with 3 bags of Strulch. Earlier in the year I removed 3 potentillas from the bed and now just want to leave it for a while to renourish the soil.

After lunch I then weeded and de-rocked another bed and Strulch'd it. Last year my neighbours and I felled 2 trees between our houses. We had to leave 6ft stumps as the fence had been built round the trees. Well they were re-growing, so I had to remove all the new growth - hopefully one day the re-growth will stop. I then continued my weeding of another bed and my retaining wall garden.

This was all followed by a body exfoliation, shower and feet up watching the box!

Going to work for a break tomorrow!

Wx

Nice Manager, compost and worms

Well what a difference.

I had to go to the garage yesterday as the car had not had a service book, so when they serviced it (first service) they didnt have anything to stamp. I took the new service book in and the manager got it stamped for me. Then he gave me a luggage cover for when the 3rd row seats are down, and when he put that in for me he noticed I had not got a carpet to cover the luggage space when the seats were down. So he went and got me one. What a nice man, and he did appear very genuine. Restored my faith in car salesmen!

Now to the garden.
I got a new compost bin on Tuesday, I had several of the "dalek" style ones, but they are very difficult to turn the compost in. Then came an offer thru the door for a big one under Waste Aware Scotland. I took them up on the offer and hey presto a few weeks later it was delivered. It took a bit of putting together, but once constructed it fits in well and looks "weathered" and not plasticey at all. I put the contents of 2 of the "daleks" in it, and it isnt even half full! Fabby.



Worms.
I have now sited my wormery on my new decking outside my back door. Warm, but not in full sun so the worms should like it. And I believe they do. They seem to be very active. The other night I noticed a dark stain under the tap at the bottom of the sump. I got a bucket and opened the tap...... and got a bucket full of lovely worm juice to feed my plants on.

No pix today, maybe I will get some for my next blog.

Wx

added piccie of compost bin