Deadly serious

We enjoyed our last supper at a local restaurant and a view down across Rimini and the Adriatic coast. Despite an altitude of only 150m the unobscured views here were stunning. This photo doesn't do it justice. The storm cloud filled most of the sky but we still had quite a clear view along the coast. Our journey back in the car, by some miracle, only just skirted the edge of the thundercloud that was flickering continuously with lightning for the whole journey back. Wendy, who is terrified of thunder, and previously had been hiding in the cafes to escape, remained fast asleep and oblivious to it all.

To escape the storm we drove up to the medieval hill top castle of Gardara where Dante set his fictionalisation of the tale of Paolo and Francesca (da Rimini) in his Divine Comedy. It certainly deserved it's label as one of the best preserved castles in Italy and we enjoyed a short tour of some of the rooms including the dungeon with chopping block, frayed rope and chains. We left after being chased by a guard who reminded us photos were not permitted.

We knew it was coming and saw it on the horizon for hours. I even caught sight of it on a satellite photograph but when the storm cloud finally did hit the beach it brought with it a sudden gust that lifted a sand storm across the whole coast. From far away, like some scene in the Sahara, the sand and air could be seen to change colour as the storm approached at speed. Suddenly as people on each beach realised what was happening they, and then we, quickly packed our bags and ran for cover. However we didn't quite make it and found ourselves in the middle of the cloud of sand as the wind blew hard against our faces. Fortunately, we escaped to the car before the rain came down and we were well and truly in the middle of the storm. I think we were just grateful we got the time we did.

Because of the weather, we really didn't expect to get much beach so perhaps didn't bring as much beach gear as we could. Katarina made do with her hands for spades and her clothing for a swimsuit, and didn't do bad either. I even took off my own shoes and socks and ventured into the Adriatic with my bare feet. I think we were all in disbelief that we even achieved this after the two weeks of travelling.

For our last full day in Rimini we decided to visit the beach no matter what the weather even though it was predicted rain and thunderstorms on and off all day. We arrived about 10am and found a free beach that was surprisingly empty. It was of course also Katarina's last full day with Wendy who seemed to love the sand, rolling on her back and digging holes to lie in. It wasn't cold but a strong breeze and plenty of cloud cover kept any of the sun's heat at bay.

From San Marco we decided, to get back in time for the train, we had to take a boat, which wasn't a difficult decision. The queues were very long but by chance we found ourselves the last to get on the boat so stayed behind and then found ourselves first in the queue for the next boat and so grabbed the two front seats and got an unobscured view of Venice all the way back to the station. The seats also provided a desperately needed rest. We put up with the sun to get some stunning photos. The train back to Castelfranco was cool, spacious and comfortable, but, unfortunately, not the train we had purchased a ticket for and so we found ourselves with a large excess to pay the ticket inspector who was happy to lure us on in the first place without warning us there were cheaper trains elsewhere. It was a slightly bitter end to the day but it would take more than this to ruin the splendour of Venice.

At last, San Marco appeared almost out of nowhere. All that wide space without shelter from the sun seemed like torture so we collapsed against a wall in the shade opposite the basilica. After this long walk it seemed almost blasphemy not to take in immediately the full splendour of all these buildings but we were both so exhausted. Eventually we found some energy and walked around the covered arcades to the far corner. From there we crossed the square back towards the bell tower and Katarina shot some photos of the infamous pigeons (that 8 years ago she chased in a frenzy of excitement). It was the middle of the afternoon and the sun was so strong that our cameras were useless against the intense light. I was disappointed to (re)discover that the bell tower had been rebuilt 100 years ago. We had no energy to climb the tower or the basilica so had to satisfy ourselves with a ground level view of this glorious city, which wasn't difficult.

It took us three and a half hours to get to the Rialto Bridge, the classic heart of Venice. The two weeks have taken their toll on our energy and we limped most of the way through the dense throng, trying to avoid the sun and frequently missing the little signs that point the way to San Marco (by the way, Google Maps is useless in Venice, the streets are just too small and crooked). Instead we end up visiting many of the little boutiques that sell jewellery, glass animals and masks of every type imaginable. There must be hundreds of these shops in Venice all filled with almost identical items. The bridge came as a huge relief: we had finally found the Grand Canal.

The walk from Santa Lucia station took us over many bridges and gave us many opportunities to take photographs. It's impossible here to look in any direction and not find a classic romantic image. Except for the profusion of motor boats, the city seems lost in time. We arrived at about 11.30am and already the streets were busy with tourist traffic. We ate a chicken panini in the shade and, like Rome, it's brown chicken not white but it was less of a shock this time.

After postponing our original plan of a visit to Rimini because of a late night and thunder, we venture to Venice by train, although not without some humour after getting off too early. However this train was 2 minutes later so we weren't delayed by much.

Katarina enjoys a hammock at my cousin Alex's while we all spray ourselves with mosquito repellent and turn on the repellent burners, largely in vain although I wonder how many we would have had without these things. And when did Katarina develop such a streak of sarcasm, or more a flood?

The view from the top of the tower at 97m is obviously rewarding and worth the climb and the 3 euros. There are views in every direction, although you have to queue to get to most openings. Amazing to think this was built 900 years ago. I can't imagine what people must have thought back then but you can certainly see how God seemed to come into it.

Wikitravel says 498 but Katarina counted 520 going up and 535 going down. We were tired before we even got here so 500 or so steps was hard work. Every fifth revolution of the staircase there was some sort of floor so each time you think you've reached the top you find another set of stairs. There must have been 5 or more of these floors before we reached the top.

We came to Bologna with nothing but a map and a scan of Wikitravel on my phone. It was more it's imposing, albeit slender, dimensions that brought us to this tower. They are both quite beautiful but the taller is so slim it looks like it could easily topple. Indeed when both are viewed side by side they do not both rise at the same angle. Is one sinking?

For our final morning in Terni we took a walk by the local river. It was a nice slow day that gave us time to relax and not rush before our final train journey to Modena. Our time in Terni has been quite an emotional one meeting up with all these families after so many years. Katarina especially enjoyed meeting all her cousins and so many were girls of a similar age. Clearly, like myself, she was moved by it all. And, of course, a special thanks should go to Carlo, Cristina and Lisa Jane who were great hosts and gave us plenty of space in their home in the 1000 year old hilltop town of Arrone. After an initial rush to find seats we did eventually get a good space on the train to Modena and ample air conditioning made it a pleasant journey despite the length of time.

For our last evening in Terni all the families came together for a big meal at Giancarlo's house. More than twenty of us attended and probably the same number of courses. This might be something that has happened many times over the years, but for me it's been over 20 years since I last attended one of these. Sadly my Italian was not really up to it but it was a worthwhile evening nonetheless. Katarina certainly enjoyed herself more with her cousins and perhaps has made some new friends, albeit more than a thousand miles away. Photographs were difficult to take in the dim outdoor lighting so I thought it would be fitting to include another photo of my grandfather who links all these families together.

We caught one last poignant view of the mountains before the drive back to Terni with Carlo, Mauro, Andrea and myself.

It was a bit of a scramble to pose and take photos once we got to this particular peak. This photo best captured the mood and also oddly enough the sensation of being on top of the world, behind.

We stopped off here for some ice cream, a carafe of wine and some salami. It had the best views so far of Monte Vettore, the most photogenic peak in this region. In fact, between Katarina and me, we must have taken hundreds of photos from this spot alone. But no photo seemed to capture the majesty of this craggy slope.

Paola started a water fight by the water fountain so the girls hid in one of the cars until it cooled down. We soon moved on spending a while at each location, each with their own unique view of the beautiful mountain scenery.

We spent the final day in Umbria with a group trip to Castelluccio in Norcia. It was a clear day and cooler in the mountains. This photo was taken at more than 1500m looking down towards Castelluccio behind. Together with their families we were here with Carlo, Paola and Mauro. These are the same cousins that Katarina saw previously.

I got a rare photo of the two of us on the way back down from the fair, although not the best photo and you can't really appreciate the scenery behind.

Here is Katarina, Lisa Jane, Georgia and Paola in front of a giant lemon that served drinks, still at 1000m.

Apologies but I'm really struggling and now Safari just crashed.

In the afternoon we drove with Lisa Jane, Paola and Georgia to another nearby peak where they had a fun fair and an archery contest. I don't recall the name and unfortunately it's too much hard work to get a Mac to do more than one thing at once otherwise I'd look it up. We missed the archery but instead the girls went trampolining and had a go on a bouncy slide. The peak was at 1000m and much cooler. Amazing to think that this height is greater than England's tallest mountain.

Sometimes a photo can be completely unexpected. (Unfortunately I'm having to use a Mac and a foreign keyboard and with a different blog interface so all could be going wrong).

My phone crashed and had to rebuild it two days ago. Since then my photos have been too big for the blog so waiting to get to a PC to resize.

We've had so many late nights that I've had little chance to catch up here so I'm a little out of date. On Saturday morning Carlo, Lisa Jane, Katarina and I visited the local remains of the ancient Roman town of Carsulae. After visiting Rome and Pompeii it was fascinating to see the same buildings and features like the forum, the senate, the baths and the theatres. Although this site is in a poor state, having been quarried for centuries, some parts, like the rear of the theatre, are almost completely intact apart from the roofs and plaster. It was a hot morning but some cloud gave us shade. However we were all knackered after an hour or so and stumbled back to the hot car.