Terracina - 5 October 2022

Was a relief to lay down in bed last night! No alarm to wake us up today, slept in until nearly 8am as the blinds were shut and we were in the dark! I know you can’t ‘catch-up’ on sleep - but we tried!

Tintin suffering a bit today - three large blisters on his toes - it’s on the foot he had toe surgery on, so a bit stiffer than the right foot. So, does he pop them, or wait?! Answers please!

Had a chat with the lovely Paolo from the Agricamper site. You really couldn’t ask for more. He gave us so much information about getting tickets into Rome, train timetables etc all by WhatsApp. This morning we bought some of his honey, and I asked about his honey and hazelnut product - he said it was better than Nutella, no oil or fats. He drove off, brought us some to try, which of course we bought - delicious! He gave us some tips for using the trains when we move nearer to Naples. He has a camper too, and gave us hope as he said the roads in Puglia are good! The only negative thing to say is that he has two dogs, which are caged up - bark quite a lot, and he said the male gets agitated - so we didn’t see them properly. Seems to be the way in Italy - have a dog, but put it in a cage all day. Not the way we’re used to treating animals, they’re more part of the family!

We popped down to the Conad supermarket, as it was easy, just to stock up on water and a few basics  - well just what we could carry! Did buy a huge slab of what I thought was focaccia from the ‘bakery’ department for €4 - proceeded to eat it all day - and that’s all so far! Given up being concerned about our appalling diet - it’s a relatively short period of time - and we’ll do better once more in control again when we’re home!

Me driving today. Over 2-1/2 hours in total. It was surprisingly easy to get around and out of Rome on the ring road, then onwards to a place we’d found about 90 minutes away - to service Dave. Again, free to use and no-one there. The last 3.7km straight road was just awful, and we had drive back up it on the way to the next stop. They have every sign on the roadside, watch out for deers (!), warning about loose road edges, bumpy (!) - and speed anywhere from 30km to 90km. Waiting to see if anything fell off Dave! Probably the worst surface for the longest period yet.

Anyway! Drove onto a place by the beach which sounded good on Park4Night - but no - all fenced off. Took a few photos of the beach, didn’t stay - all paid parking - but not for the night.

Found another place 30 minutes away in Terracina.

It’s behind a supermarket, but no one has complained about us parking - yet!

Five minutes walk from the beach! So yesterday afternoon in the middle of Rome, and today on a nearly deserted beach going for a swim! Sea temperature about 22° - must have been warm - Tintin went right up to his bits without complaining and straight in - without wetsuit! Didn’t go in Guernsey without wetsuit all summer!

Was quite ‘swelly’ - thought we were swimming well, but no, strong  tidal flow. On way back Tintin wasn’t making any forward progress! Lovely to be in the sea again. Calmed down the insect bites - although I think I have a fresh batch from today! Maybe our insect repellent is just rubbish - or I’m too tasty and irresistible!

The only UK registration cars we’ve seen the whole time in Italy was when we were at Cortona. As for other motorhomes - hardly any at all - such that when we see one, we wave at them!

We do get some strange looks with our registration of 1895, as everyone has licence plates with numbers and letters.

Had a good chat with our son, Jamie - our grandson is home with a fever, but perking up!

So, all in all - nothing to write about - a chill out day before our next mission of going towards Naples and beyond…