30/05/10 - Rome - Italy

We headed to Naples but again took the wrong turn and became hopelessly lost in the city. People ride bikes with dad on front, baby in the middle and mum on the back all with no helmets. Cars will easily pull out in front just as pedestrians walk out in front. There are no line markings, roads are atroscious and two-ways become one-ways as people drive in any lane. Everyone honks and parks where they wish. Naples is a dirty, manic city which we did not like. Being lost I needed some time out and allow the sat-nav to get her act together so we stopped for coffee. We ended up in tiny narrow streets that led to nowhere and was impossible to turn around in. I became very frustrated as we were lost and going nowhere whilst I still continue to battle with a left hand manual. It took 3 hours and 15 mins to find our way out of the mayhem. We did want to visit Pompeii but after the chaos decided to continue to Rome. On the way I banged mirrors with another car who I thought was pulling over but came back into my lane. After an exchange of no communication as we did not speak either ones langauge I produced a handshake as a piece of universal language and we were on our way. This is the first time we did not have accomodation booked and it was 7.30pm and I was getting concerned. The freeway, about twenty odd klms from Rome was bumper to bumper traffic so so luckily we found a hotel we could takerefuge in for the night. Tomorrow we will continue to head down the road to Rome.