Deadly serious

Here is the man, and my namesake, that connects all these cousins, here with my brother, Dan.

Katarina met up with four of her cousins, all girls, and we visited Narni for Katarina's first proper ice-cream in Italy, so far it's been sorbet. Despite the language barrier they communicated well and it's fun to see Katarina enjoying herself as I did more than 20 years ago. I too met my own cousins and it's somewhat strange to see everyone older but so few of the years in between.

We visited a nearby town where bodies that had been buried over hundreds of years had been preserved like mummies by a rare fungus. The bodies were on display in glass cabinets with their contorted faces and, for those where it is obvious, their marks of death, including hanging, stabbing and the plague. We couldn't take any photos so here's a view from another nearby town, but I've forgotten which one because the spectacular views are visible from everywhere.

A loud thunderstorm rained heavily all night and only cleared by the morning leaving enough cloud to take the edge off the sun. On our trip to the nearby towns we stopped off at this rock wall used for climbing. It wasn't in use but anyway Katarina didn't have the right shoes to get far up the rock.

This lake feeds the waters of Cascata delle Marmore. There are beautiful views across the lake but Katarina occupied herself with stone skimming (across the water), if that's what it's called, and building a small sand castle, until the sun set and the temperature dropped a little.

Our first trip out is to the local waterfall, Cascata delle Marmore, originally formed by the Romans to drain the local waters of disease and eventually carved into its modern form over the centuries. It's now the largest artificial waterfall in the world and the largest of any in Europe. Tourist paths across the falls provided a pleasant cool spray against the warm humid weather. At 6pm they turn off the falls and redirect the water back into the powerstation.

After a short train journey we are met by my cousin, Carlo, and his daughter, Lisa Jane. In Italian style we are immediately treated to my favourite Tuscan bread and Katarina's favourites: pasta and then sausages. It also makes a change to eat local food and not what's flown halfway round the world.

We paid the small extra and had a first class ticket to Terni. Felt quite bad seeing all the other passengers escorted off to second class, although we only got bigger seats (and a half empty carriage) as the air conditioning was hopeless. Of course, it was no surprise that despite the train being scheduled to leave platform 2 it was a Harry Potter style hidden platform beyond platform 2 and only accessible from platform 1. We joined all the confused Italians who were also at a loss, even though I had been warned it was poorly signposted.

It's goodby to Rome. Overall I was pleasantly surprised how welcoming Rome was despite the street vendors, bad tempered shop owners and some dodgy food. I think we've both come to like the way the traffic works, although not sure I'd want to live like that. Weather's been good and thanks to shade, hats, rest and sun lotion we didn't suffer too much for it, although Katarina did have to dig quite deep to complete all the walking. Hotel in Rome was very well located by the station and much better surroundings than the one in Naples. Also Rome seems so small and easy to get around despite the tiny Metro. However, I think, although the hotel was very good and friendly, the Naples hotel was a class higher. Also Naples had a superior breakfast buffet with everything you can imagine. At this hotel in Rome their centrepiece was a three-tiered stack of mostly chocolate filled pastries. We had one each morning and were already full. There's only so much chocolate even Kat...

Although we did pass here on Monday it was too late to get in. The Pantheon made a fitting end to our tour of Rome. There's always more to see but in the end we did get to all the sites I'd hoped for. The Pantheon also made a cool place to rest while Katarina caught up with some game playing on her DS. Considering all the reports of heat waves we've been very lucky with the weather. It's been hot but by no means oppressive. The shade has always been cool enough and there's been plenty of it especially thanks to the abundance of churches. Having now been in Italy for six days we've also become accustomed to the rules of pedestrian travel. There are no pedestrian lights here, you just push your way out to the traffic and cars stop. Sometimes it's a miracle there aren't bodies strewn across the streets.

It had to be done but with so many people crowding in the space and police blowing their whistles every time someone so much as put their hand in the water it was too hectic and actually hotter because of the crowd. We refrained from the tradition coin throwing.

This was our first stop after the Vatican. Katarina had a sudden burst of energy so we ran up the Spanish Steps (well, some of them). The view was rewarding at the top and the church offered some well-timed shade. The fountain was also a good chance to refill our water bottles. Better than 5 euros a bottle from the street vendors. As we were leaving a dodgy man tried to force some roses on to Katarina in the piazza and signalled they were free. Since he was offering them we walked off with them. Then he followed and asked for some money. I gave him back the flowers. He got angry and even held on to Katarina's hand. For a moment I was wary we were susceptible to pickpockets so left fast and checked our bags. All was okay.

This beautiful staircase by the exit to the Vatican museum made for a novel finish to our speedy visit. We spent much less time here than we did the colosseum, but it had to be done. It was Katarina in the end that was inspired to visit here after seeing a postcard of the Sistene Chapel. By the time we left it was midday but oddly enough it was no hotter than 9am when we were queueing to get in but even then it was uncomfortable to stand in the heat. I wouldn't say it's a heat wave here but it's definitely hot.

We only got to see a tiny part of the museum and it's easy to get lost in these long corridors. I think we just appreciated the ample seating (without need to buy anything). The cafe wasn't anything special but at least it wasn't an overpriced street vendor and it was air conditioned.

I gave in to the pressures of tourism and we went first thing to the Vatican to get sight of the Sistine Chapel. I had great reservations but it fitted in with the schedule. A talkative Spaniard at the hotel desk gave us some useful direction that proved useless and taking us in the wrong direction once we got there. As many times before we had to go back on ourselves to reach the Vatican Museum and to the long queue. Frustratingly we had to pay entrance to the whole museum as a chapel-only ticket didn't exist. We made our way slowly through the museum path following the signs and eventually through the Raphael rooms. I must admit I wasn't very impressed by a lot of these frescos and they were more like paint-by-numbers. However when we eventually got to see the ceiling of the chapel, not necessarily the walls, we could see why they've received so much attention, they leap off the ceiling, significantly more alive than the dull works we saw on the approach. The ultimate hyp...

We finished off in the Palatino hobbling between the ruins. This bunch of rubble was in the Emperor's palace. The building was much more impressive and slightly confusing in scale - they made everything so big. We may have missed some spots in the end but we desperately needed to sit down somewhere cool. We had some pizza and pasta before making our way back to the hotel on foot through some parks, sorbet in hand, feeling much revived.

Sign posting around here is appalling. If you're lucky enough to find a signpost it's tiny, half a kilometre away and in microfiche. We took a wrong turn for the forum entrance and ended by by some basilica. We sat in the shade to rest and watched all the other tourists make the same mistake and look lost. A bunch of Italian kids also seemed to take pleasure in laughing at the confused tourists. We eventually got in and once again it's both impressive and sad what we have left. I read that some eastern emperor in the sixth century removed all the iron supports for all these monuments to make weapons for war. When a tremor next hit Rome it was then that all the buildings and monuments fell. They were eventually scavenged for church building. We took another three hours and had to shelter frequently from the sun. The temperature in the shade was fine but the sun was tiring. Thankfully there were plenty of fountains to fill our bottles. Katarina did well even if the pace was...

We got lunch at a local pizzeria before returning for the forum. Katarina had a nice enough pizza and I got a pannini with chicken except the chicken looked like spam. I had to complain so in my horrendous Italian I mentioned that chicken is supposed to be white not the pinkish brown muck that I was given. The waiter seemed sure that fried chicken turns brown. My Italian wasn't good enough to defend my argument so we ate, paid up and left behind a grumpy waiter.

Found a load of unsent emails. This was from another day...The train from Naples was a bit manic, not just because Naples is like that, chaotic and frenetic, but because a group of passengers without reservations had decided to occupy our cabin. But they were polite enough and eventually left after some more passengers with reservations hurled abuse at them. The weather remained kind and cool so the journey was very comfortable. We (I) got a little lost from the station to the hotel in Rome because I never realised just how close it was. We've been very lucky. Room was okay even if we had to have lunch while waiting. Hotel isn't as good as the one in Naples, but the area around is at least a modern European city with bin collections. With time still plenty we took a train to the Vatican. The Cistine Chapel has all the queues so we had to skip that and pay our grudging respect to the big Catholic cheese alongside speechless tourists struck dumb by their religiosity. What's...

Found a load of unsent emails. This was from another day...It seems to be a pattern around here. Pompeii is covered in dust and so is Vesuvius. Wouldn't be so bad if strong winds didn't stir up little whirlwinds that drenched us in dust. It took ages yesterday to clear off the dust and the same today. Here Katarina is emptying her shoes.

Okay, so navigating wasn't perfect. Rome is always smaller than you expect. We ended up walking twice as far as we needed, but it still wasn't far. The heat picked up early and was a drain so, after the queues, we took three hours to see the colosseum as we spent more time hiding in the shade. Nice to see they've added some exhibitions to the first floor so it wasn't just a ruin, albeit the best ruin.

After my appalling performance as navigator Katarina is at the helm today and so far has succeeded without fault at threading our way through the back streets to the Colloseum. I've been relegated to passenger.

After starting out in Naples it was a long day. We did well to capture some big sites although too late to get into the Pantheon. However we were just late enough to get the start of the evening entertainments in Piazza Navona to a gentle breeze. Navigating our bus ride home was a little more stressful but Katarina did extremely well considering how far we walked today. Off to the Colloseum tomorrow.

Katarina: Italian sorbet has vivid and precise flavours. We had lemon, melon, raspberry and pineapple and they were all finger licking good.

Katarina: a lovely walk around the port next to Vesuvius when a sudden downfall of heavy rain comes bucketing down on us. We were wet.

Katarina: Apart from legs aching, I love Italy especially the rewarding view of Vesuvius here from the bay of Naples.

Finally we reached the top of Vesuvius and peered into the huge crater mouth. Hard to believe the massive hole 100s metres across contained the rock that was hurled across this region 2000 years ago. The final 200m ascent on foot was slippery and dusty and well trodden by the 100s ahead of us and behind us. We were given bamboo canes to help us on our way.

We survived the cliff-ended hairpins with the driver weaving between coaches and mopeds and reached the final ascent on foot to the crater. It was a hard slog in the midday sun but some clouds gave a little shade. All the way up these slippery 200m you get a permanent panorama of the bay of Naples.

We're in a tiny tinny minibus winding and rattling our way up the side of the volcano. No seat belts! But what a place to go, eh?

Katarina: I think the hotel is great . You can eat breakfast on the roof and the view is fab!!!! I love Italy (apart from the heat, although we have been lucky)

Breakfast on the terrace with a view of Vesuvius. It's 9am and the sun is already baking but the prediction is a 'cooler' day. Our target is the volcano today and maybe even the crater. Let's hope the Gods don't choose today to take their vengeance on the Gomorrah that is Naples.

I set the alarm for 6am so we could get to Pompeii before the heat. In the end we were a little delayed by the enormous buffet breakfast on offer, including mountains of pain au chocolat that Katarina rapidly excavated. When we left for the train at 8.30 it was already hot but bearable. The train was packed and knackered but cheap and arrived without too much fuss. Inside Pompeii we were fortunate the sun was obscured by cloud and water was available from taps plumbed into the original fountains. The whole site is overwhelming and disorientating. The city is huge and, considering its age, in amazing condition with frescos on many walls still clearly visible in full colour. It's difficult to know where to go because there's so much to see and also because the sign posting is atrocious. We spent 8 hours searching for our target destinations and the very uneven cobbled streets were hard work. My favourite site was the House of the Tragic Poet, I think, which had a mosaic flo...

It's later than planned after 3 hours of plane delay, thanks to thunderstorms, but here we are sitting in a family restaurant having ordered the obligatory pasta. Despite the late hour it's a hot sticky sauna and I'm a little scared of what heat tomorrow's daylight will bring. Katarina : Naples is fun but traffic mad, all I can hear is motorbikes and cars. However, beautifiul although there is only litter and the smell of petrol.

At long last a plane has landed at our gate. Let's hope they can get the passengers off quickly so we can get to Naples before it's dark. It's a free for all now at the gate.

Just testing my phone-twitter-blog-photo-post thingy ready for two weeks of roasting Italian summer. Only idiot tourists go to Italy this time of year, or parents with school kids.