Day 9

On the advice of some people at the campground we decided to head to the seashore today. We went to the village of Ladispoli. They were having a big artichoke festival this weekend and we wanted to check it out. 

One of the things we really enjoy is seeing how the local people live, what they do, where they eat, etc.

The festival was great. There was a huge market with more delicious food. We tried the artichoke fritters which the locals really seemed to enjoy- we liked the donuts better .

Nicole and Ryan found some €.50 wine which they said was good as well. We also tried some more flavours of gelato, chocolate and banana for me today, and strawberry and chocolate for Nicole.

We spent the afternoon on the beach. We put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea! It was a bit chilly. The sand is really dark, it looks more like our dirt but feels like regular sand. We were in heaven. It was 22 degrees and we were walking around in sun dresses, the locals on the other hand had sweaters and hats on- they thought we were nuts. 

We had a hell of a time getting back to out campsite. They say not to trust the trains in Rome- we experienced that first hand today. Our train for home never showed up. We go on the next one we thought would take us home and we ended up in the middle of Rome- it just never stopped! We went back on the next one and it didn't stop at our station either- went straight to the next stop. We ended up back in the city centre and found a bus to bring us home. What should have taken us 40 minutes ended up taking us almost 4 hours! It was an interesting experience to say the least and I am thankful I am travelling with two people who can find the humor in these things with me.