The best preserved Greek ruins outside of Greece are located in Agrigento on the south coast of Sicily in what is referred to as the”Valley of the Temples”; and for just another pile of stones, all 12 monuments are very impressive. Our favourite part of Sicily however was along the north coast east of Palermo to Patti. Such a beautiful coastline with great little welcoming villages (with the exception of Cefalu where we received our first and very “bogus” $50 parking ticket) all along the drive. We left Sicily and made-up some time by driving the major autobahn through a series of mega tunnel systems until we reached Pompei. We were blown away with Pompei. The sheer size of the site and the outstanding condition it’s in is really impressive. We took a wild tour bus ride to the top of Mount Vesuvius and had a wonderful view from its crater of the coastline and surprisingly populated valley below. We took a day trip by train to the beautiful little tourist town of Sorrento just 45 minutes down the coast. Sorry to say Peter and Jane that the Garden restaurant was closed on this day and we missed a great opportunity to share your calamari experience. Leaving Pompei we again opted for the quick autobahn run towards Rome and soon pulled into our very handy and well-appointed campsite only a 20 minute transit trip from the main city centre. Rome is amazing and we have seen so much in such a short period of time. The Coliseum, the Forum, Vatican City with the breathtaking St. Peter’s at its heart and countless other ruins and monuments that make this city one of the most impressive so far. We have walked countless miles all over Rome and our only tiring experience so far, is all the pizza and pasta that we’ve been eating. Last night however, we managed to track down a great and rare Chinese restaurant to help balance the culinary experience. A few more days to enjoy ancient Rome and then quickly off towards Florence as we’re beginning to feel the presence of fall in the air and the reality of a ticking clock.

Road Ramble: ” And yet another natural disaster in Pompei”

We had a perfect camping spot at the Sparticus Campground. It was privately nestled between beautiful fruit bearing shade trees and we could hardly believe our luck. We extended the awning, set up the lawn chairs and settled in for a few days stay. The next day we were up and out the door to visit the Pompei ruins just across the street and it was dark when we got home but we did notice an abundance of ants in and around the motorhome. We would check this out in more detail in the morning with better light. We got out of bed the next morning to discover that we had been completely inundated with tiny harmless looking little ants. All over, inside and out! Black streams of ants marching on a multitude of highways crisscrossing our motorhome and finding their way into places I would consider impossible, like a sealed beam headlight. But the worst was the thousands that had found their way inside the motorhome… just telling this story I’m already starting to scratch again. To make a long story shorter, we quickly changed spaces and spent the rest of the entire day going head-to-head with these 3mm beasts and for a while it was touch and go as to which team was going to win. But with the added advantage of chemistry on our side, we did finally prevail and despite the intermittent twitch in my left eye and the new webbing between my toes, there doesn’t seem to be any apparent neurological damage to me or Margot. But just in case; Bert, can you please book us a space in your calendar for sometime next spring? Washing and cleaning up the motorhome after this battle was a real big job but, with or without the ants, it probably was due. I do think the campground owners were really glad to see us go however because as they continued to assign new people into that dreadful spot, I would walk over and give the trusting travellers fair warning which would then cause some unwanted administrative shifting commotion. The upside of this was we quickly made some new campground friends. Now, as we search campgrounds for a new camping spot, not only do we look for shade, good drainage and close to amenities, we also check for tiny little black ants.