Dia Ventitre y Ventiquattro Taking a Drive and Finding a Slice of Heaven

We wake to heavy rain. The lake we thought would be so relaxing to spend a couple of days beside is so shrouded in fog we can’t see it. We decide to pack and meander. Too bad, I am sure this is a lovely place and I bet the lake just hops as a summer tourist destination from Rome.

We head toward Rome, 120 or so kilometres southwest of us. There is more lush countryside, like the Tuscany areas we have seen, and then the terrain begins to change, to lose its extreme hilliness and flatten more as if to accommodate the industry that begins to surround Rome. As the landscape changes, so does the weather. The clouds go from actively raining to just threatening. We are hoping to find the ring road and stay out of the traffic of Rome proper and it kind of amazes us that we are able to do this. Dennis watches for kamikaze drivers who will pass under any conditions and I look for road signs and try to divine directions when town names are omitted from the maps or signposts. Together we are a whole brain! We could show them a thing or two on The Amazing Race!

As we move south of Rome, the geography really begins to alter and the sun makes an appearance. The lush farms are still there, but uncultivated terrain is becoming drier. We see more cactuses than roses and poppies now. Hills give way to flat land, almost like a delta. As we move further, we realize that the route we have chosen to get to the Mediterranean north of Naples, is along the Appian Way. For the first part of the drive, the road twists and turns, then about 60 kilometres from the coast it becomes dead straight, with very large and very old, pine trees on both sides that have been hard pruned to allow only a broad canopy to create shade. Along the west side, a canal parallels the road, no doubt to move goods inland by barge, likely pulled by slaves from the banks of the canal. Ingenious, but I wouldn’t want to have been a slave.  

Driving to the coast, south of Rome on the Appian way.

 All signs of rain are gone and the sun is at its brightest as we reach the sea. We pass one lovely town at the coast called Terracina and drive along the edge of the green blue Mediterranean. Dennis has seen a speck on the map that caught his eye and we head for Gaeta on a point of land tickling the sea. When we hit it, we stop for gelato and a visit to Expedia on the iPad. We find a vacancy at the Hotel Serapo facing the Gulf of Serapo and with big grins on our face we are now sitting on the balcony of our room, listening to the waves of the ocean lap on our beach and we are thinking about maybe hunkering down for a couple of days of sun, sand, surf and relaxation. We’ll decide tomorrow, but it sure is a beautiful place to think about all we have seen and done so far in this enchanting country.

The roadside foliage changes from wild poppies to
cacti as we meet the Mediterranean. 

 As it turns out, we decide to stay for another day, thinking a day by the sea in the sun will be lovely. We head out for dinner and experience friendly people, good, but not great food, with a surly finish. Too bad. We are back too late to walk on our beach that is locked off, even from hotel guests. I have to say I love the attitude in Mexico where the beach by the sea belongs to everyone. The hotels can only have so much and certainly can’t chain it all up!

Oh well, lovely wine in the room and watching a thunder and lightening storm ends another day of travel and adventure – new sights and experiences.

Day two on the beach at Gaeta begins with a shower, that becomes a downpour, that continues in various “flows” all day. We accomplish a trip to a laundromat and a lot of reading and relaxing. It would have been a great day to upload all the pictures, but the wifi here is so slow that it would be painful (took 10 minutes for each daily pic in the blog!)

It’s suppertime and the rain has finally stopped. Time to walk to a place nearby that has a variety of smaller bites. Perfect for a day of little activity.

Tomorrow we will move back to Terracina and begin our leisurely trip back to Fumicino for Friday night.