25. Sorrento, and a tour of darkened train stations

We spent an afternoon and evening strolling and having dinner in Sorrento. Had a nice, if very pricey dinner, and then caught the Circumvesuviana back towards Pompei. Dinner wiped out our cash, and for some reason we didn't top up right then, so we had about 10 Euros between us.
Then, on the train, we were preoccpied & missed our stop. Easy! Get out next stop & catch train back. Hmm. 5 platforms. Which one?
Ask at ticket office : "which platform for Pompei?" Platform 4. Good.
Wait 20 mins train arrives. Doesn't say Sorrento on front.
Ask someone
"per pompei?" Si.
It's one station, right?
Train arrives at next station. Name at station bears no resemblance to Pompei. Says
Boscotrecase - which means Three Houses Wood, by the way.

Panic & get off train, realising it is heading up a branch line. Wait another 20 mins on a dreary, dark (now about 9.05) platform to go back to previous station. Get there about 9.30.

Ok. This time we're right. Train arrives. Oops! Again doesn't say Sorrento. Train doors open & I stand there just long enough to study map above opposite door to realise there are TWO pompei stations on different lines. (well 3 really cos there's also the state rail mainline station we first arrived at from Rome)

Then the doors closed. Ok. Got it figured now! These trains from platform 4 go to
the OTHER - 3rd - Pompei stationn, & guess what! We realise from piecing together
info it is 300 m from hotel, not 2k! Bonus!

Two trains bound for Sorrento pass thru on platform 2, & we breezily watch
them pass.

Two other passengers arrive. Two women we had seen in Pompei earlier in the day.
English speakers. From Thirlmere. They have a map of the trains! And atimetable. Except only for Sorrento trains, not this other branch.

We all wait together. After 40 mins we kinda think there might not be another train! Err, one last chance...there is one more to Sorrento - last for the night, at about 10.45. If we miss that one we're up the creek, we with 10Euros - not enough for a taxi fare.

I stroll up other end of platform where I can see some blokes on platform 1, and mustering my best Italian scream into the night air : is there another train to Pompei from this platform?

Hand signals & shouted replies indicate Nup. Ci sono finito for tonight.

Onto platform 2, & last train, then 2 k walk. With dogs. For Pompei turns into a town of strolling dogs after dark. Arrived back at about 11.30pm, instead of 9.30 having had interesting tour of boring, darkened railway stations somewhere between Pompei & Naples.

Below: View towards the bay
Below: Picturesque street
Below: View across the Bay of Naples towards Vesuvius, from the Villa Communale, with the bathing jetties below





Below: the small Villa Communale (public garden)
Below: A picturesque spot for wedding photos.

35. Menton - the old town

Menton is a beautiful town right on the French side of the border with Italy. Its climate is exceptionally mild. It is reputed to be the warmest place on the Côte d'Azur in winter - a subtropical microclimate.

These photos take us on a walk through the old town, starting at the main Place in the lower part. There can be found many cafes, restaurants and shops. The streets then wind upwards until you are rewarded with the most beautiful views over the port, beaches, town and Italy.

For views and tours of Menton every day of the year, visit Jilly's blog: Menton Daily Photo.

Below: In the main square, there are lots of restaurants and cafes, a great place to rest after a walk, or get the energy to set off.

Below: And the location of a terrific restaurant, Le Balico

Below: Another great place for a rest
Below: Oops! Road blocked! Jilly says that work has been going on in the main street through the old town for many months.
Below: The main church of Menton, Eglise Saint-Michel is on the right side of this place, which looks over the port and beach. That's Italy in the distance. In August there is a music festival held in this Place. The mosaic paving depicts the coat of arms of the Grimaldi family (the royal family of Monaco, who once held much more vast territories) Below: A lovely house of the old town
Below: Lots of rooftops
Below: Terracotta rooftops, so typical of the Mediterranean. Australia is another country which adopted terracotta for roofing houses, especially in the early 20th century. Our house in sSydney has Marseilles tiles, shaped differently, but similar colour.
Below: Roofing work underway.

Below: Views of the port and towards Italy
Below: The steeples of two churches in the old town. The taller one is Saint-Michel
Below: The cemetery in the old town is the final resting place of many foreigners who came to Menton for their final years. One famous Permanent Resident is William Webb Ellis, who is credited (probably spuriously) with inventing the game of Rugby.



Below: The cemetery can be seen on the upper level at the right

38. Roquebrune

Roquebrune-Cap Martin is another charming village, between Monaco and Menton. Past visitors and residents in the area have included Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo and Winston Churchill. And now us, thanks to Jilly again.

Le Corbusier the architect drowned off the coast in 1965 and WB Yeats died here in 1939.

As with Gorbio, you can also enjoy Jilly's strolls through the village on Menton Daily Photo.

Below: Before we head up to the medieval hill village, down near the sea is the public pool / open air cinema.

Below: Looking east towards Menton
Below: We arrived in the village in late afternoon, in order to have a walk and then eat in the main square, Place des Deux Frères, at the reataurant, La Grotte, seen under the Xth century castle. The restaurant is carved out of the 'pudding rock'.
Below: Houses, pools and gardens tumbling down the hillside.

Below: Looking west towards Monaco

Below: These young girls busied themselves with their toys, while the young boys played football in the square. Lots of pink!
Below: The sun is getting lower and darkness will soon start to fall over Monaco
Below: Time for dinner. I had a seafood entree and the best pizza I have tasted in a very long time (sorry, Naples!). In fact, it was one of the best meals of the entire trip.

Below: By the time we had finished eating it was dark. Looking up at the illuminated castle
Below: An then fireworks over Monte Carlo. Like Sydney, there are regular fireworks when there are cruise ships in port, or elaborate private functions.

39. Monaco - around and about

I have mixed feelings about tax-haven Monaco (population c.33 000) and Monte Carlo (population c.3 000) . Monte Carlo is one of the five administrative areas comprising Monaco. On the one hand it is a concentration of conspicuous consumption (greed?) and manifest privilege, and on the other it is a beautiful place well worth visiting. Unfortunately our whistle-stop tour meant we didn't have time to linger and discover some of the beautiful gardens for which it is renowned, or look in detail at beautiful belle epoque architecture and the like. One of the things I was looking forward to was swimming in the lovely public pool at the port (see next blog entry) which meant less time for other pursuits. Another "next time" !

For more journeys and views on a daily basis, I recommend you look at Jilly's gorgeous blog, Monte Carlo Daily Photo.

There are real people who live and work in Monaco, so it's not only about glitz and glamour. Those beautiful people don't get their champagne glasses filled and yachts swabbed down by dent of osmosis....real people have to provide those services.

Jilly told us that two years ago the French government lowered bus fares to 1 Euro per journey to encourage the workforce to use public transport in order to lower the number of cars trying to enter the city. It was enormously successsful, so much so that the workers were being crowded out by tourists who were able to take advantage of it.

Most governments of my experience would immediately react by putting restrictions on, and making life difficult again for some of the users; the French administration instead increased the number of bus services to try to cope.

Below: The "walking street" of Monte Carlo, rue Princess Caroline.
Below: The view of the harbour from the shade where we were having lunch
Below: A sculpture near the Monaco Yacht Club at Port Hercule. I'm guessing it's a statue of Hercules...the only inscription is on the plinth, saying "Vax Cartie" . Don't know what that means. There is some fabulous public art in this city, and worth having a look at on Jilly's blog.

Below: The "superyacht" Lady Moura, deemed to be the 11th largest private yacht in the world (2006). It is owned by Nasser Al-Rashid, a multi-millionaire Saudi Arabian businessman. The escutcheon (shield), which you can't see, and the name, which you can, are carved in 24 carat gold. Al-Rashid reportedly paid over $US 100 million for it. Below: More in our price range, the Bateau-Bus will take you across the port for the unstratospheric sum of 1 Euro!



Below: The casino. This is the Prince's door, the private entrance of the Prince of Monaco, sued when the Royal Family attends opera or ballet in the theatre. It is illegal for any citizen of Monaco to enter the casino!
Below: The facade of the main entry of the baroque-style casino. Its architect was Charles Garnier, who was also responsible for the Paris Opera building. Construction began in 1858, and the theatre was added in 1910.

Below: Only the ritziest cars are allowed to park outside the casino. Tourists then take shots of themselves pretending they own them.

Below: This stunning Sky Mirror and fountain in Place du Casino was a gift of to the principality from philanthropist Lily Safra. It is concave, made of highly polished stainless steel, the work or British artist Anish Kapoor. The original one is in Nottingham, and there is one in New York City's Rockefeller Centre.
Below: Why use the public pool when you can have one on your yacht? Bit hard to strecth out for a few laps though.