Interrailing 2017 - Part Tre - Milan & Lake Garda!

We took the slow (think 'cheap') train from Napoli to Roma which took three times as long but it's a nice ride and it's free with the interrail pass. Then we took the fast train to Milano. This train took a few hours but it saved us about 12 or something ridiculous. With the interrail tickets, it's 10 euros a booking on high speed trains, regardless of the distance. IMHO well worth the supplement to save a long long day of more trains... the drop down TV screens show the speed... it's crazy fast. When you are on them, the farmland is so big too, that you don't get a sense of the speed! It's only actually when you are doing maximum on the motorway in your own car and the train just zooms past you that you go... shiiiit! 

Looking cool boys! 

We were supposed to stay in a hostel near San Siro. The metro system in Milan is amazing by the way.. it's so efficient, easy to use! We had zero problems getting around. When we arrived at San Siro (home of AC Milan) there were these huge photos on the wall... they couldn't resist joining in! 

Caden's idea... 

We had a bit of a problem with the hostel which said they didn't take children. This was a low point of our travels, it was late, we were knackered after travelling up from Naples since 8am, it was an unfamiliar suburb of Milan and I suddenly felt unsafe when we were refused our room. I had to get online to booking.com immediately and I managed to find a more pricey but still cheap, hotel room in central Milan. So we got the train back, I was trying to be cheery but I was scared and tired and I wanted to get us out of it. The kids are used to it by now, they have seen me deal with other situations on the hop like this, they just get on with it. 

We got the (fantastic) metro back into Milan. We got pizza and chips and found the hotel room and we flopped.... 

The next day we had to go back to the hostel because I had left my beloved Tilly hat there (frustration!!). So instead of having a day in Central Milan we went with the flow and went back to San Siro Station. In the daylight, we realised there was an enormous park and playground, so the kids took advantage of course! 

Since we were there, we decided to check out the word famous football stadium, it wasn't on 'the plan' but why not! It was a really impressive building! 

We checked out the store (pricey!) 

and discovered that you could see right into the stadium through the windows in the store.. bonus! That was pretty cool! It's umm..  big! Awesome to see, even though I am not a football fan! 

This is more metro-ing... The trains are driverless so you can get right to the front and see the bendy tunnels... that was pretty ace! They pretended to be drivers! 

Then we vegged in the evening, building up strength for the big rock climbing day at Lake Garda in the morning... I couldn't resist taking this photo of my gorgeous Milesy, enthralled in his movie! My heart swells! I read recently that someone's kid said to them 'Namaste' and told her that it means I see God in you. She wrote that she sees God in her children right back. I can relate because I see God in mine... 

NEMO Science Museum, Amsterdam. Interrailing 2016

We absolutely loved this museum. It is world class, the show was amazing, the interactive exhibits were amazing.. it kept the boys busy and interested for hours and we didn't get round it all. I hope I can take them back as children. The best science museum I have taken them to hands down! The photos speak for themselves.... 

This was a 'chain reaction' experiment. Showing cause and effect. It was spectacular, fun, noisy and interesting. There were loads of school groups as you would expect and though we do now speak a little Dutch, the description by the science team explaining what was happening was also in English. 

I especially love this experiment... showing how you complete the electrical circuit! 

Caden 7  reading the descriptions to Miles 5 

Isn't this just awesome! 

Then there was the roof! With terraces, incredible views over the Dam and water fun! Yaay! 

Our boatel was just outside this museum! 

The inevitable scrapbooking followed in the little cafe area on the boatel.

It was a really good day out! 

They drank chocomelk.. When in Holland... :) (Thanks Desiree ;) )

And the city is so exciting at night, so many lights and new experiences but we were tired... 

Caden read this and told Miles it was the Sheep Farts Museum... 

Interrailing 2017 - Part duo - Vatican City, Pompeii and Vesuvius

We stopped at the Vatican city in Rome. Caden kept calling it the FATican city... with the emphasis on FAT. 

It was suggested to us by my Aunty Barbara that it would be fun to post a postcard from the Vatican city with their own stamps, to ourselves. So we did! He wrote, 'To me, from me'. 

Cuteness overload! The concentration on Miles' face and the 'this is so easy, I am now bored' expression on Caden's. 

 

They were over the moon to spend this time with Paul (their Dad). Paul and I have put a lot of effort into making a nice friendship after divorce so that we can give the kids a family still and make family memories with them. It is so worth the effort. I often tell them that they are very lucky to have this as lots of people aren't able to be friends with their exes.... I am proud of Paul and glad I had it in me too, that we can make little holidays like this work for them. It takes courage and kindness. 

We stopped off for Chinese for lunch, Caden ordered squid... he was expecting calamari... ummmm

followed by more of the world's best ice cream. 

 We then all got the train from Rome to Naples and got on the Circumbvesuviana (dump of a train) to Pompeii!

There was Vesuvius. 

And we made it to Pompeii... we stayed at Boscoreale, quite close to Pompeii. It is good if you can get a handle on the train timetable. I don't recommend walking even though it's 30 minutes, especially with kids, there was hardly any pavement and the environment was scary; dogs on chains and a moody feel to the neighbourhood. Pompeii was fabulous though! Really incredible. The artefacts, the majesty, the wonder... 

 Walking around, you really can imagine that this was once a beautiful, rich and thriving city. Full of people. The infrastrucure, the workmanship... it really is a masterpiece!

All under the shadow of the sleeping monster....

We found out that you can get the public bus up Vesuvius quite cheaply, there is one an hour if I remember right. You have to get the bus right outside the Pompeii gates in Pompeii centre. It's worth checking it out on Trip Advisor. Don't go into any of the fake tourist offices... one woman basically lied to my face and said they were the only people with tickets and that I had to buy from her blah de blah blah. They were a 'tourism office' directly opposite the actual public bus stop. Anyway, I clocked the scam, we walked out of the fake office and then got the bus up. Funnily enough at the top there were some Romanian dudes who had fallen for the scam, paid like three times the fee we had and their return coach hadn't turned up so they actually got our public bus back, poor chaps! It pays to do your research before you go! 

We got to the top of the sleeping beast... Vesuvi-Oh! There was a little suphuric smell at the top, it's almost too high to see anything in detail below. The sea curves around the land and mountains  with the cities of Pompeii and Naples at the edge of the sea. It's spectacular. 

Caden with his beanie boo Whiskers... behind him is The bay of Naples.

Behind us here is the Amalfi Coast. 

I took the following photo and put a filter over it. It reminds me of a poem which I love, by Percy Bysshe Shelley... 

Ozymandius.. 

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”