Hi all,
We had hoped to do both Rome and Naples/Pompeii during our four days in the area. However, creeping travel fatigue and the long day spent at the Circus Maximus left us too wiped out to do anything the next day. We decided to take an organized tour around the city's major monuments the day after that just so that we could let someone else do the hard work. Naples and Pompeii will have to wait for another trip.
At the Trevi Fountain
Jennifer lending our tour guide a helping hand
The Roman Forum
This morning I decided to take JCW MCS for a drive around the city to re-visit some of the spots we saw the day before.
I managed to get JCW MCS in some interesting locations in Rome.
One Lap of Rome
At the Vatican
6 comments:
Not being a religious person I wasn't that interested in visiting the Vatican but my wife and daughter insisted. It was beyond belief. What an amazing experience, one I will never forget.
We found this wonderful restaurant a few blocks away that made the best pizza I have ever had. I think it was called La Grotto. My daughter spent 6 years in Roma so we had our own tour guide. We did a lot of walking.
So, Robert, ya got more stuff in that MINI than I have ever seen on a MINI. 2 GPS, shift indicator and so on.
It seems you were early enough in the AM to miss the herds of Motorini's and other motorists that plague the city. Almost a Claude Lelouch's drive through Paris epic.
Any close calls, motoring wise, on your journey so far?
rb,
Yes, my car is a complete JCW catalog car. In addition I upgraded with the John Cooper Motorsport 225 High Performance Derivative Kit (new manifold, intermediate CAT pipe, new supercharger, LSD, Cooper flywheel). The car is a true "Cooper" car. The non-Cooper mods are a 19mm rear anti-sway bar by H&R Motorsport and BMP/Pro MINI gauge pod for the Nav system. Lower down on the blog there is a section about my John Cooper Motorsport upgrades.
I'm pretty comfortable with driving in Italy having done it in the past.
I've been driving in the populated areas early in the morning so that I can get access to places that are normally off limits to cars and not have to deal with traffic jams.
No real close calls... just a few clueless lane changers that were easily avoided. Hope things stay that way! We're moving on to Austria and Germany so turn signal indicating and lane discipline should be the norm again... I do miss the French road discipline.
When I drove in Italy, 4 years ago I was stuck with a MultiPla rental vehicle. Uglier than an Aztek. Wow that's an amazing amount of aftermarket stuff. If I had the money I'd probably do the same. NIce.
We only did the Thaly's (SP?), bullet train, in France so what is the difference in french driving? Athens and Santorini were the scariest places I've ever motored in. Santorini only because of the cab ride from the dock to the top of the caldera is kinda freaky.
The French tend to be a little more conscientous about road discipline and giving way to faster traffic.
In Italy the turn signal indicator is rarely used and many have the mentality that giving way is tantamount to showing weakness.
I was behind a stock Cooper and the (male) driver refused to give way even though I could easily outpower him... his car was struggling in the fast lane but he refused to yield for quite a while. He also refused to yield quickly to a 911 that came up on him very fast.
Also, drivers tend to straddle the middle of the lane so as not to be totally left or right.
Yes, Athens in particular would be a daunting place to drive.
The Multipla is definitely an acquired taste...
It is pretty room though if my recollection isn't failing me.
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