Please check last blog as photos have been added.
Arrived Cassino 12noon but accom agent on break as were all the shops they have from 12.oo till 4.00 off for a sleep in the middle of the day then open 4 till 7 or 8,
Might take that up, do you think schools do it to?
So we walked, lunched and then drove about Cassino, with P giving a running commentary of what happened where, he really knows his stuff, “what tank crashed where..” etc Then went to the Cassino Commonwealth
graveyard, a beautifully kept area but so sad, so many groups of 
young men killed on the same days.
Then to the Thermae but not a hot pools and spa rather cold stream with drinking areas, tasted good but when we went for a paddle (away from the drinking area) it was freezing, you got foot freeze
Then finally time to get keys for the apartment, lots of form filling later and off we went and oh wow it is
wonderful, on Via Monte Cassino the road to the Abbey and at the foot of the 
Mount itself. It is 3 stories and we have half the second floor. Big 
bedroom, lounge, kitchen and bathroom. All marble floors and balconies on three sides. It has views of all Cassino and the valley and mountains all around. WOW himself is in heaven, he can imagine the views the Germans got just by looking out the kitchen.
The land agent is our landlord and lives on the top
floor. He had our name on the intercom on the door ( I am Guidy) 
how cool is that.
Now that it is evening a cool breeze is just blowing but still t shirt and shorts. So we sit here in our shorts, had ricotta and basil pasta for tea, heated up here after big shop for essentials like beer and wine, and write up the adventure so far.
Sabato 4 Agusto
Went for a wander through town exploring where we live, bought a printer for 25 euros ($25) a good Lexmark colour.. so cheap probably leave it behind as excess baggage on plane so expensive.
Made dinner, spinach rice with a mix of 4 types of mushroom, we did not die so must have cooked them alright. Noticed a forest fire over the valley so we watched that while we sat on the balcony eating dinner, ( still smouldering the next day and tonight lit up again)
Then an after dinner walk in the cool of the evening to a roman amphitheatre and tomb that are up the road from us, just like in the movies lots of rows of stone seats. Sadly we got insect bites on our legs, not sure what from.
Domenica 5th Agusto
Dawned sunny and as it is a non P working day we went to the beach drove to Formia, then
along coast to a beach before Grotto di Tiberio. Paid to park the car then paid to hire two deck chairs and a brolly ( worth it though) and settled in for the day.
The beach was sea of brollies and looked amazing , a lot of people but did not feel crowded .
Sunbathed and read and watched the world go by, no matter what shape size or amount of “overhang” all women wear brief bikinis. Then swam it wasn’t too cold and was quite salty so floated about for a while then back to the deck chair and boom. Lunch was rolls
from the local restaurant I got mozzarella and tomato and P got hot chips and sausages in a big bread roll ( not what he expected and a good starch load). About 4.00 we left and drove to the grotto that Tiberius had decorated with huge carved statues and mosaics.
A lovely summer house.
Drove back over an inland road over the hill with amazing views of the coastline and beaches.
Might take that up, do you think schools do it to?
So we walked, lunched and then drove about Cassino, with P giving a running commentary of what happened where, he really knows his stuff, “what tank crashed where..” etc Then went to the Cassino Commonwealth
graveyard, a beautifully kept area but so sad, so many groups of 
young men killed on the same days.Then to the Thermae but not a hot pools and spa rather cold stream with drinking areas, tasted good but when we went for a paddle (away from the drinking area) it was freezing, you got foot freeze
Then finally time to get keys for the apartment, lots of form filling later and off we went and oh wow it is
wonderful, on Via Monte Cassino the road to the Abbey and at the foot of the 
Mount itself. It is 3 stories and we have half the second floor. Big 
bedroom, lounge, kitchen and bathroom. All marble floors and balconies on three sides. It has views of all Cassino and the valley and mountains all around. WOW himself is in heaven, he can imagine the views the Germans got just by looking out the kitchen.The land agent is our landlord and lives on the top
floor. He had our name on the intercom on the door ( I am Guidy) 
how cool is that.Now that it is evening a cool breeze is just blowing but still t shirt and shorts. So we sit here in our shorts, had ricotta and basil pasta for tea, heated up here after big shop for essentials like beer and wine, and write up the adventure so far.
Sabato 4 Agusto
Went for a wander through town exploring where we live, bought a printer for 25 euros ($25) a good Lexmark colour.. so cheap probably leave it behind as excess baggage on plane so expensive.
Made dinner, spinach rice with a mix of 4 types of mushroom, we did not die so must have cooked them alright. Noticed a forest fire over the valley so we watched that while we sat on the balcony eating dinner, ( still smouldering the next day and tonight lit up again)
Then an after dinner walk in the cool of the evening to a roman amphitheatre and tomb that are up the road from us, just like in the movies lots of rows of stone seats. Sadly we got insect bites on our legs, not sure what from.
Domenica 5th Agusto
Dawned sunny and as it is a non P working day we went to the beach drove to Formia, then
along coast to a beach before Grotto di Tiberio. Paid to park the car then paid to hire two deck chairs and a brolly ( worth it though) and settled in for the day.The beach was sea of brollies and looked amazing , a lot of people but did not feel crowded .
Sunbathed and read and watched the world go by, no matter what shape size or amount of “overhang” all women wear brief bikinis. Then swam it wasn’t too cold and was quite salty so floated about for a while then back to the deck chair and boom. Lunch was rolls
from the local restaurant I got mozzarella and tomato and P got hot chips and sausages in a big bread roll ( not what he expected and a good starch load). About 4.00 we left and drove to the grotto that Tiberius had decorated with huge carved statues and mosaics.A lovely summer house.
Drove back over an inland road over the hill with amazing views of the coastline and beaches.
Back to Cassino and at 9.00 we walked up the hill to the Roman Theatre ( amphitheatre) and
settled on our cushions for a performance of Oedipus obviously in Italian but we had expected opera for some reason and it was the play. Was very good ( probably helped that it was only an hour as we did not understand what they were saying. The actor playing the God was fantastic all emotion and movement.Have every hope of publishing this and answering any emails tomorrow, having no internet access at the apartment is a real pain. And the one in town shuts for siesta, church, and just cos he feels like it…
Am really enjoying it here, warm all the time but the big windows with shutters and marble floors in every room keep it cool enough, have taken to wearing my scuffs to stop my legs getting sore on the hard floors. Tomorrow is the first of the P days and we head off to match photos, that is why we are here after all.( He takes 3 days off a week to enjoy Italy i.e. beach, Rome etc)
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