The evening journey on the ferry boat from Greece to Italy was really smooth, we sat in a corner of one of the bar areas as we could order coffee there and we could also watch most of the Greek truck drivers cheering on their football team in the Euro 2008 tournament.  At about midnight the ferry docked at Corfu to pick up some more passengers and vehicles, and in about 20 minutes we were on our way again.  We moved to one of the other quieter sitting areas, took off our boots and lay down on the carpeted floor for the rest of the evening.  At about 6am they told us to get ready as we would be docking in Italy in about half an hour.  We rode off the ferry and followed the trucks and cars in front of us, expecting to be asked for our passports and bike papers... but nothing, just the port police smiling and pointing us in the right direction and the next thing we knew we were on the highway heading for Bari. The road out of Brandisi was not so impressive as it is a typical port city, but the scenery out of the city slowly became more and more pretty as the farm lands spread as far as the eye could see - we saw more olive trees in the first 50km's than we saw in the whole of Turkey and Greece.  Then came the vineyards, with the old Villa's and barns. We found a camp site in a little town on the east coast called Vatso, at about midday and decided to stop early for the day as we had to do some clothe washing!  The camp site was very well organised especially for kids.  After siesta time - 2pm to 4pm - they announce over loud speakers that there would be games at the pool area, then at 8pm they had some of the camp kids put on a show and sing-a-long for the rest of the holiday makers and at about 9am the next morning they had activities on the beach.  We spoilt ourselves and had a wonderful Italian pasta dinner at the camp site restaurant, man that stuff is good! 

We found the camp sites in Italy rather expensive; we even had to pay extra for a shower which worked on a timer.  Luckily Johan went to shower first so I knew what to expect, but he still had half a body full of soap and the water stopped!  The next morning we headed inland for Rome. We stayed off the highway and went through beautiful mountains and valleys, the road twisted up and down.  Johan decided to brave the traffic in Rome and we headed for the Colosseum and Vatican.  It was hot and there was lots of traffic and people.  We rode around the Colosseum and parked fairly close to it and met this really friendly police man - Pieter (he rides a Vstorm and his friend has a GS) he took some photos of us and a movie, real cool!!  Next we headed for the Vatican, which seemed to be miles away but I think that was because of the many traffic lights and the fact that we did not have a city map....  Johan stopped right in front of St Peter's Square and I jumped off to take the snappy and then we were on our way again to find the camp site at the coast which is 30km out of Rome. 

This camp site was also 20 euro per night but at least you did not have to pay extra for the shower and the bathrooms were nice and clean; and they had wifi.  We spent the next day relaxing, Johan worked on the computer and I washed our biking jackets and pants.  On Sunday we caught the train into Rome and did the tourist thing by walking from one historical site to the next.  We started at the Vatican (unfortunately the Sistine Chapel was closed), but it was still amazing to be at the place where the Apostle Peter was martyred and 1000's of others for their belief in Christianity.  It was also wonderful to see so many of the  historical sites still so much intact compared to some of the other Roman sites we visited along our journey as in Hierapolis and Ephesus. From the Vatican we walked to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, and many others in-between.  As the saying goes - Rome was not built in a day - and there is just no way you can see everything in a day, you need a good couple of days to see it all.  The one thing you notice everywhere in Italy is graffiti, not just in the cities and towns, even on the mountain passes - if there is a piece a wall available along a road or railway line there is graffiti. Even on the trains - the outside is totally covered in graffiti.  Oh and another point for everyone to remember, do not go to a camp site on the weekend, it seems that all the way-lead youth and confused varsity students go to the camp sites around Rome on the weekends.  They set up camp, leave at about 9pm to hit the party spots and return rather loudly at about 3 or 4 in the morning. Besides this noise factor, there were loads of people in the bungalows watching the Euro 2008 football games, the cheering and shouting would go on until 1am...  so we did not get much sleep while in Rome!