So Close to home...

Brief run down...

 

• Trip ended in Rome how it started in Prague... Worlds craziest Taxi Driver! I'm all for getting there but 160km/h weaving through freeway traffic was a little much...
• Longest check in every... We got to the airport 2 hours before our flight and only just made it to the gate in time for boarding... (the one open security gate didn't help either)
• Long and completely full flight, I managed to sleep through most of it though... crying baby and all.
• Found a Gloria Jeans Coffee clone in the Airport to get some caffine fix (after about 5 espressos a day for the last 5 weeks)
• We did a bit of a splurge and got massages and showers at the airport... I now feel fantastic... Best money spent in an airport.... EVER
• Still almost 2 hours to go before we fly, but we've just lost our free interent...

Arivaderci Roma

It's only 2 hours until we head off to the airport to fly home... Hard to believe that it's over already!

 

Today after a trip to the Crypt Balbi Museum and seeing some archeology of the various levels of Rome built on top of one another we worked hard on some souvenir shopping... The museum was very cool, one of the most amazing things was the decline of the brickwork after the end of the Roman empire and the number of centuries that it took to return to some decent bricks. 

 

We went very hard on the shopping, so hard in fact that we've had to buy a new suitcase, which could fit all of our other stuff in combined. The shopping was good, even though we managed a trip to the Ferrari store I left the Ferrari Segway there.

 

With 2 hours to go we're struggling with what to do, so we've fallen back on the internet.

 

We've got a little over 20 hours of flying and some 30 hours of travel time to go so it's going to be a bit of a slog before we get home... At least all the gadgets are charged!

Rome - The Vatican and our last full day.

Today we braved the Vatican with the plan to see St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum. After taking the long way to the Vatican we ended up at the end of the line... with a long wait ahead.

The line looked huge but we're prepared ourselves for a wait. With a bit of luck we stumbled across (for want of a better word) guide sprukers who pointed us to a tour and quick way into the Basilica. As our wait was at least 2 hours we figured it couldn't be too bad and jumped on board. It turned out to be a fantastic way to see the whole Vatican with just the right amount of info. Our guide was a Canadian (from Toronto, but he didn't know your Roman or at least not enough to give me a discount).

As promised the got us in fairly quickly to the museum and to the Sistine Chapel again with good information and straight into the Basilica.

The Sistine Chapel was amazing, even though it wasn't as big as I remember. No photos (which is to be expected) even thought there were enough people flashing away. The cleaning effort has restored the colours of the ceiling beautifully and it's incredible to think it was the first fresco done by Michelangelo

The tour guide was great and I'd recommend anyone else looking him up if you're in Rome and looking at the Vatican. It turns out he's starting his own world wide guiding service which should turn out ok given the professionalism and attentiveness today.

We toured the Basilica and the crypts before heading up to the Dome to get an amazing view over the Vatican City. A huge number of steps so we chickened out and took the lift part of the way.

It was a huge day at the Vatican, with over 6 hours in the Vatican complex alone. Still we ventured on and headed to the Castella St Angelo for some views over the city at sunset.

After being disappointed last night trying to get to Il Chianti, we made a reservation for tonight.When we turned up it was still busy and we had to wait for a table but it was worth it and a great last dinner in Rome.

Tonight is our last night in Rome and we fly home tomorrow afternoon. It's been a fantastic holiday and I can't believe it's coming to a close, but part of me will be glad to see home...

Pompeii...

Ness has been updating our journey so I'm doing Pompeii itself.

First of all it must have been a Roman archeologists greatest dream to find Pompeii, so much of it is still intact that it's the best insight into the daily of the Romans.

The thing that fascinated me the most was the amount of decoration that adorned every house. It seemed as though every wall was covered in frescos and the floors with great mosaics.

It was also very cold today and the snow on the volcano looked fantastic.

Vanessa's favourite thing was the pedestrian crossings over the Roman roads (again complete with chariot groves)

Even with the long travel, it was a great day and seeing an almost complete Roman city after all the ruins was just fantastic.

Tomorrow we're off to the Vatican in our last full day in Italy!

Trains and buses

 

Today we travelled to Pompei to see the excavations. Cameron will be giving you an update on the site, whereas I will be giving you a critical evaluation of the Eurostar service. For free, I will provide the abstract of an artical comparing the tourist buses we have caught in different cities.

 

(Anyone suggesting that I am lacking intellectual stimulation will be ritually flayed before being defenestrated).

 

Eurostar

Because I am hopeless in the mornings, we ended up on the more expensive Eurostar service to Napoli. This wasn't an issue, but it was a slightly higher expense. However, this was the best train I have ever been on. Firstly, it didn't stop between Rome and Napoli. Secondly, it went fast. Third, it was empty, and for a full hour and a half Cameron and I enjoyed the silence we didn't realise we had been missing since arriving in Roma.

 

Then we transfered to the Circumvestuviana, to get to the Pompei site. Their trains were not nice. Neither were their platforms. But they did get us to the site which was all they needed to do.

 

Our return trip presented us with the choice between two first class train options; one we would have had to fun for, and the other being another Eurostar journey. Again, we enjoyed the quiet, peaceful trip as night fell. So warm, so pleasant. I understand why trains can be considered the royalty of travel. I look forward to longer trips on the Eurostar when I return to Italy.

 

A critcal evaluation of tourist bus services: An Australian perspective from the shoulder season.

 

This short piece evaluates three tourist bus services: the Barcelona Bus Touristic; the Rome Sightseeing Bus and the Rome Archeobus. All three services were used within a 6 week period of 2007. The three services are rated on ease of ticket purchase, frequency of services, quality of audio commentery and route coverage.

 

The services were selected because of their popularity, and the inclusion of two services from the same city allows within-study triangulation. In addition, two services of the same franchise (the Barcelona and Rome Sightseeing Bus) were investigated and will be contrasted. Limitations in the study include the low number of bus services sampled, and that all services are offered in the Western European region. Despite these constraints, the author believes they lay a solid foundation for future research into tourist bus services.

 

The study concludes that the quality of the bus service relies in part on its level of patronage, but also relies heavily on the operator's willingness to continue to innovate in service delivery. Overall, the Barcelona service is the clear winner of the three options, as both Rome options have serious limitations in the quality of audio delivery and frequency of services.

 

 

 

 

 

Rome (only 3 more sleeps until we leave)

First of all a Big Happy Birthday to my Gran who is 80 today!

 

Today we headed out to see some of the harder to get to (further out) ruins of Ancient Rome.

 

It wasn't our best day for travel with a fair bit of time sitting around waiting for busses but still a good day in the end.

 

Our first stop was to one of the longest sections of aquaduct in the city.

The Aquaducts

They stretch for (almost) ever and is completely amazing to think they were built around two thousand years ago. The other, slightly unexpected, sight was some sheep hearders. We spotted them moving a heard along the aquaduct but didn't really expect them to bring them down the road ( and neither did Vanessa) ...

After some lunch, I convinced Vanessa to ride the Appian Way. Not the smoothest of surfaces, the oldest cobble stones aren't exactly flat after 2000 years but it certainly was straight... Probably the most amazing fact was Vanessa agreeing to yet another bike ride though.

 

It's hard to believe we've only got another 3 nights here. We're having a quiet night in tonight as it's getting quite cold here and we both almost froze while we were looking for a place to eat.

 

Tomorrow we're going to catch the train to Naples and see Pompei!

 

 

 

Dinner and a show

Last night we picked our dinner locale mostly on the fact I was freezing. I was so cold I was cranky and this place had stuff that Cameron could eat, so we went there. It turned out to be very nice, and the food was excellent, and courtesy of some British tourists, came with a show as well.

 

This family obviously had put no limits on their 18 year old ish daughter ever. I can safely say this, because over the course of dinner she

• played pyro with the table candles (no big deal, I know, but read on)
• started playing with the hot wax (again, read on)
• and then proceeded to coat her father's eyebrow with the previously mentioned hot wax.

Yes, that's right. In the middle of an extremely busy restaurant, she put so much wax on her father's eyebrow that he couldnt open his eye properly. Then the mother used her steak knife to get it off, as the daughter (and mother) laughed hysterically and loudly. Towards the end of this, the waiter bought their food out and also got them some additional napkins.

 

Cameron and I agree that this was one of the strangest things we have ever seen.

A cold and windy day in Roma

Only 4 sleeps to go and we will be heading home via Korea again. It seems like a lifetime, yet it isn't really. It's the amount of time we had in Venice, or Florence. Still theres lots to be done, seen, and promised for the next trip. At the very least, it looks like tomorrow will be the Appian Way and Catacombs, Monday Pompei and Tuesday the Vatican. Wednesday will be a wrap up of whatever we haven't yet done, and then a drive to the airport.

 

Today we got up and it was cold. The wind is bitey and the temperature low. I wore my gloves and Cameron wore his jumper (still in single figures of wear). Cameron mocked the gloves, challenging me to find someone else on the street also wearing gloves. Needless to say, I won. This was another DS moment for Cameron, after his calls such as,

• We haven't seen many hotted up cars here (cue Ferrari's)
• I haven't seen many Rav 4's here (we parked next to one in Orvieto, and have seen at least 2 each day since).

This morning we went to the Pantheon, which was excellent. Because it was consecrated as a church, it wasn't sacked like the Colosseum. However originally it was dedicated to all the Gods of Roma, and that's how I think I will remember it rather than as a Christian place of worship. Apparently it is really cool in the rain, but despite his earlier DS moments Cameron didn't make the heavens open.

 

Afterwards we found a supermarket and tried another range of GF foods for Cameron - cheese rice chips, nicer than they sound. Not nicer than chocolate.

 

Then we went to a Jesuit Church, Il Gesu. Gold, gold and gold, incredibly ornate and over the top. Finally we headed to the Capitoline Hill museums to have a look around. They were excellent, but after 4 hours of solid museum with only a pizza and salad to break things up, we were officially over-museumed. So we headed for the shops to get all the culture out of our heads.

 

Tonight we shopped Via Cavour - the first real shopping we have done since we left Australia. Cameron somehow managed to leave the ipod player made to look like lego behind, and I got 4 pairs of fabulous stockings. We also got sock and jocks - Iàm sick of of washing so we got new stuff. For not much more than a load of washing would cost. We also bought books for the homeward trip and Cameron got a new DS game, having finished the last in Spain. I am yet to finish picross despite my phenomenal efforts on the books.

 

I am finding it hard to buy souvenirs to bring home. Partly I suspect because my shopping instincts are blunted (seems impossible, I know!!!) but also because finding something that is a) not too tacky and b) unavailable in Australia is taking a while. We will keep trying, obviously.

 

Now, we are heading out to find food. I'm not sure where from, or what, this we will discover after we leave here. Finding food in a city the size of Rome when you need to know what you are eating is difficult. We may head to an enoteca down the road and watch some sport with our wine, or we may have a sit down affair. Who knows??

 

See you all soon. If you have any last minute requests from Rome, make sure they get to us soon!!

Vanessa

 

 

 

 

 

Rome Day 2

Another big day in Rome today. We picked up some bus tickets in the morning and toured around the major Monuments before doing some serious exploration of the ruins (not just the free ones) and the Colosseum.

 

The ruins are just enormous, I don't think it would be possible to take them all in even if you spent a month here. Almost every section of the city has some form of ruins in it. We did our best with taking in as much of the ruins before a short museum trip and lunch.

 

We found a great place to eat right around the corner from the Colosseum called Cafe Cafe. It was cheap and the food was great (just like a good cafe in Brisbane). 

 

 

The colessem is something that is hard to describe. The size and precise construction are just amazing for something built so long ago.

 

Another fantastic day in Rome, after all the little towns we thought it would be hard to come back to another big city but it's hard not to be excited by all the history here.

 

After my little complain yesterday though I did get a new shirt, although it did also get a little present from a bird on our trips today... Ironically the first time in 5 and a half weeks and it was a new shirt.... :)

 

Also last night we went for a bit of a wander after dinner and ended back at the Trevi Fountain and fell for our first street seller. We've been passing off rose sellers (among others) for the last five weeks but this guy managed to scam us... Still, we scammed back, only 1 Euro for the two roses... could have been worse.

Europe '07 - Roma (the last leg)

Today we landed in Rome on the last leg of our trip (and only 6 nights before we head Oz-ward again).

Yesterday was a crazy day in Orvieto where we managed to take in all but 2 of the major attractions in the day. We still fitted in some shopping time as well. I ran out of time after the photos to put more of a post up so the photos will have to tell the story.

We had a lazy morning in Orvieto before treking with our backpacks to the Funicular and off to the train. Once in Rome we decided to walk the 1.5 (ish) km to our hotel which seemed to go by pretty quickly. Our hotel is pretty central to most of the tourist attractions so after a quick lunch we headed out and took a quick look over the closest attractions.

As you can probably tell I've discovered the panorama mode on my camera phone which is working out ok. The batteries on my normal camera went flat today so the phone got a work out. Our hotel is (literally) next door to internet so we will hopefully be able to keep the blogging going until we leave Rome.

Today was just an overview of the attractions, you could spend days just in Rome (even just in the ruins of the old city alone). In the next few days we're going to hit Rome hard and then head to Pompei. We've got 7 days here so we'll try and make the most of it. The ruins of the city were fantastic, I was completely amazed by the structures that are still standing the size is just unbelievable.

It's hard to believe it's the last leg of our holiday. It's been such a fantastic holiday it's a very sad to see the end in sight, although we will be glad to be home in some ways (it will be nice not to choose only from 4 outfits)

This is everything we've been living on

Talk again soon!

Europe 2007 - More Photos!

Now we're in Orvieto I've finally had enough time (thanks to Vanessa's blogging) to get the rest of our photos up.

Europe 2007 By Camera Phone

Today we're off to explore the rest of Orvieto and maybe fit in a bit of shopping. There is a good sounding underground here which we'll be checking out once everything opens!
Time to head off for another coffee!

Latest update from Umbria

From Vanessa, so sans links

 

Cortona

On the transit from Tuscany to Umbria we went to Cortona, a pretty town just inside umbria. It was pretty, it was also steep. Because we are masocists we climbed to the very top to visit the Rocca and view the valley. It was very worthwhile (admittidly in part because we could use the bathrooms), and was until Assissi the coolest Rocca we had visited.

 

After Cortona we arrived at our accommodation without hassle, apart from the small stress of driving Millie up a dirt road. Still, she made it without incident and the place we were staying was FABULOUS.

 

Narni and Perugia

We went to Narni to see the underground, where there are a series of rooms used by the Inquisition. The tour was in Italian only, although we did get an english guide sheet, and took a long time if you didnàt speak the language. Still the cell where the inquisition held its prisioners was the highlight and was amazing. The rooms were all bricked up and only discovered in 1979, despite there being a church from around 1200 attached. The cell itself is covered in graffitti, and was very cool. We couldnàt take pictures but have the brochure that shows what it looked like. Interestingly, we did the tour with 10 or so bikies who were on a weekend ride or similar. Talk about extremes.

 

After NArni we went to Perugia. As previously mentioned, Eurochoc is on. Lonely Planet describes the festival as the most over hyped festival in Europe, and recommends avoiding the town when Eurochoc is on. So we went.

 

It was like Ekka for chocolate, but bigger. The historic centre was jammed full of suger happy people grabbing at hot drinks and bags full of chocolate. I would go as far as to say it was overwhelming. I even muttered, I donàt need free chocolate right now - thats how crazy it was.

 

Of course, we did buy some (its gone now sadly) and it was good. I also had hot chocolate with whipped cream ... so jummy.

 

Assissi

Yesterday we went to Assissi. It was lots of fun, mostly because of the Rocca and the hour or two we spent exploring it. Firstly, of course, we went to the San Fransico and did the tourist thing, including seeing assissi's burial place. It was interesting, but a little unsettling - for example, our audio guides pimped the gift shop. Didn't seem to fit with the overall message.

 

The Rocca on the other hand was excellent. When we were there it was mostly deserted, which made exploring lots of fun. It's still in pretty good shape, so you can roam nearly all the rooms, and most of the towers. The coolest tower was the polygon tower, which had amazing views over the valley. However, we did also enjoy the staircases that went to little arrow windows, and that went to bricked up dead ends. So much fun!

 

 

Oh my god, that's the Duomo

Or, driving in Italy, the pointy end.

 

Before I start this story, let me say that Cameron has done a fabulous job of driving here. We haven't gotten lost, hit anything/one, and only had 1 oh-my-goodness-that-person-is-overtaking-now incident, which was not his fault at all. Today, however, we reached new heights in how close you can get to a tourist attraction in a walled city.

 

In Pisa, on Day One with Millie, we managed to drive down the street directly parallel with the Piazza, and park in the closest car park to the tower available. This I termed Douglas-Savage driving, since I would have been content with wider streets, fewer pedestrians and cheaper parking. None the less, it was very convenient and it was still a great job by Cam.

 

Today we drove to Orvieto. In some ways the town is unusual, because you can park within the city walls (normally it's park outside and walk / transport in). So we set the Nokia to navigate it to our hotel. Which it did, although we took a wrong turn (GPS confusion), and decided to follow the parking signs (I hear you say, sensible).

 

So we are driving down narrow, cobblestoned streets that are edged with stone houses. In one particular point, the street narrows further and becomes one way (thankfully our way). After 100 m or so, it widens out again - and all I could say was, Oh my god, that's the Duomo. Because the street we drove down opened out just in front of the piazza where the Duomo is. Literally, we could have driven upto the front doors. It was in itself a Douglas-Savage moment - I even asked if we could get a little closer. So then we parked in the car park NEXT to the Piazza and Duomo. Of course!! I have made cameron take a picture, of course.

 

Sadly, Millie has now gone to her next customer, so there can be no more of these stories, but part of me is grateful. Emerging from a dark, medieval cobblestone street to be greeted by a colourful Catherdral is a shock that probably doesnàt need to be topped.

 

Vanessa

Tuscany (Siena, Grosetto, Rosetto, Pienza, Montalcino, San Antimo)

Today we're leaving the Siena area and our wonderful stay just outside of Siena in Casa Delle Fonte. A quick summary on our visits in Tuscany so far;

Siena
Largest of the towns close to our stay. A walled city with a huge Piazza where the famous 'Il Il Palio' is held every year. We managed to arrive though for the final few kilometers of a bike race in the city. Really nice city which we've been back to a few times for lunch.
We also climbed to the top of the Cathedral for a great view around the City
Grosetto
Another walled city, which we unforunately visited when everything was shut.

Rosetto
The sight of an archaeological dig on a Tuscan and Roman city. The sight was amazing with most of the roads (complete with cart wheel grooves), the amphitheatre and the wall (which still stands over 5m high in places)

Montalcino
A gorgeous little town famous for their wine making. Most of the wines we've been drinking have been Della Casa and have been better than a lot of the bottles we've had back home. They have a great Fort on entrance to the city. Found a fantastic place for lunch called Ristorante L'Asseo (which we picked mainly because they had Kartel Ghost chairs) and had the most fantastic mushroom risotto, we also ate too much and couldn't fit in dinner.

San Antimo
The oldest church in Tuscany which is now inhabited by an order of monks famous for their Gregorian Chant. A beautifully simple church in the middle of no where (an my favourite place so far in Tuscany)

Pienza
Was our last stop yesterday which is a town of 2000 people. You can stand in the central piazza and see almost the entire town if you spin around. It was the Pope's summer residence at one stage and we had a tour around the Palazzo. It was the Tour Nazi though and probably our most ripped off experience so far. The town was great though with visits to streets like Via Della'more and Via Della Bacio.

Today we're off to Perugia where Vanessa has managed to book us during their Chocolate Festival even without knowing.

This leg of the Italy trip has been by far the best!

(PS Ben and Mandy we're still making Cat Face Jokes)

Driving in Italia

Bongornio!

As the designated passenger, it is my duty to report on the general driving and road conditions in Italy.

 

Firstly, Cameron is doing a great job of driving. We picked up the car from Florence Airport (fantastic tip Sue) a few days ago. It is a little embarrasing to admit that we have the smallest auto you can get, but Millie the Micra - all 1.2 automatic litres of her - is doing a great job of  ferrying us around. She's not fast but she is economic. She's also not of high quality build, but luckily she's only ours for another week or so.

 

Within an hour of taking the wheel Cameron had adopted a range of Italian driving traits. These include:

• neglecting to indicate,
• "creating" lanes on roundabouts; and
• setting the speed limit via a combination of multipliers and the cars around him.

We are yet to fully master overtaking while in an "overtaking prohibited" zone, and alas, Millie is not keen on doing the 130 k + limits on autostrada. But apart from that, I have to say that driving here is remarkably stress free. People let you into lanes if you need to be there - without you needing to indicate - and overall, as long as you don't stay in the left lane they are happy to overtake (see previous comment about overtaking in prohibited zones). There is no road rage; perhaps that is saved for the football??

 

There are some crazy, crazy cars here though. A couple of the Fiats are beyond belief (honestly, no one could be seen in them unless the car was free!). Within minutes of Cameron saying that there weren't too many "hotted up" cars, we saw 3 Porsches and a Ferrari. I have to say that I wouldn't drive a Ferrari in Italy ... every car here has dents, and they are going to be expensive to get fixed. We did get overtaken by a Hummer the other day though ... and we saw one today negotiating Siena. I say negotiating, because the roads are shared with pedestrians, and the buildings are kind of close ...

 

Over the next week we will do some more driving, and I will let you know how  Cameron goes. If we get back, and he has forgotten how to indicate, it will not be my fault ...

 

Vanessa

Europe 2007 - Pisa and Lucca (and a Car)

Yesterday we picked up our hire car and did our first driving in Italy. With the trusty GPS in hand we managed to get on track fairly quickly and without too much stress.

We headed off to Pisa to see the Tower and the Baptistry.

We know it's touristy and it's be done so many times but we took the holding up the tower photos (made us laugh!). Vanessa also double dared me to make singing noises (even with the 'Silence Signs' everywhere) in the Baptistry because of it's design as a musical instrument.

After that we thought we take a bit more of a drive and head to Lucca. There is a beautifully preserved Tuscan wall that runs a bit over 3.5kms round the outside of the old city. I managed to convince Ness to take a bike ride around the town! I have photographic evidence.

We had a fantastic time riding the city in the afternoon light. Took a few loops around the city, and Vanessa managed (a. not to fall off) and beat me in a race. I'm blaming my two flat tires and not knowing there was a race but still, I came second.

We didn't time the drive home terribly well, hitting peak hour on the way home but it wasn't too bad. We did have to do a bit of circling in the city to find our car park that was located on a round about that didn't go the whole way around.

Last night we were a bit tired from all the driving so we decided to go next door (literally) for dinner. A great little place called Mamma Toscanas, great food and really cheap.

Today is our last day in Florence and we're heading to Sienna for the next few days.

More photos up too

Europe 2007 - Florence and "David"

Ciao Again,

 

Today we queued up (again) with our reserve tickets to see Daivd. Today we were at the front of the line and witnessed first hand the

Patron: "I've got reserved tickets"

Door Person: "Go to the end of this queue"

P: "But I've paid extra to gety in"

D."P: "Yes at the end of this queue, the shorter one"

P (to another patron): "Have you got reserved tickets"

A.P: "Yes... I've been here for 30 mins"

It was a continued procession... Fortunately being at the front of the line we made a few jokes with the Door Person and got in before our reserved time (rather than a lot after it)

 

The Academia is a purpose built gallery for the David statue and it does show Michealangelo's work of brilliantly. In the presense of the statue you can't help but just stand there and marvel at it. It is by far the artistic highlight of our trip.

 

We also spent quite a few hours touring the Pitti Palace, the artworks there and the gardens. They weren't as well curated as they could have been and were a bit of a let down after the Academia.

 

After the disappointment of the Wallabies, we managed to catch the French get up over the All Blacks and I thought the Fiji might have kept up the upset weekend over South Africa but it wasn't to be.

 

Tomorrow I'll be heading off on my first driving in Italy when we head to Pisa!

 

Also I've added some more photos (finally)

 

Talk to you soon...

 

 

The Uffizi

Bonasera from Firenze.

 

Today we went to the Uffizi. Even with reservations, it took an hour to get in. Still, it was a massive collection of art from the Medici family. By the end I was tired, and could take no more culture. No more! We wandered the streets of Florence instead, and came upon an Okoberfest food thingy, where we had lunch. Very tasty, although I didn't think I would be eating german in Florence.

 

This afternoon we went to the Duomo, which was interesting - it's so different from the outside to the inside. The lines to climb the dome were a little long, so we are going to try and do that another time.

 

The strange thing about our hotel here is that we have a TV, and yesterday afternoon turned it on. Italian television is ordinary. There are many game shows, dodgy italian soaps and much American TV dubbed in Italian. I think we were a little travel weary yesterday, because we watched Pimp My Ride, and found it funny.

 

We (well, Cameron) managed to watch the Wallabies be beaten this afternoon. I fell asleep - there was no commentry on the channel we were watching and it really wasn't that interesting to me.

 

This evening we have shopped - I am looking for a bag but so far am failing. Of course, there are lots of shoes I could buy but am so far resisting. At least until Rome :)

 

Tomorrow we head to the Academia to see David, and will probably also get some Medici palaces under our belt. We also plan to hit Pisa while we are here, although that may have to wait until Monday.

 

Until the next Internet cafe !

 

Vanessa (and Cameron)

 

Europe 2007 - Florence

Ciao,

 

We made it to Florence today very sad to have left the Cinque Terre so early. We're getting quite good at public transport here. I used the self service terminal and everything!

 

Talk to you soon! 

Cinque Terre

Ciao - Vanessa today.

 

Firstly, I need to point our that I am recovering from a head cold, without the assistance of cold and flu drugs. It's not something I'd recommend. Still, I wasn't in the mood to try that much italian last night.

 

Today we have walked 75% (50% of them twice) of the coastal tracks of the Cinque Terre. It was great fun, and we really enjoyed it. Overall, I have to say that if you have a cold, then having one here is bearable. There are 4 tracks - two easy and two hard. We did two easy and one hard before we needed lunch; after lunch, we decided that the final track will have to wait for next time. Instead, we caught the train to the last town, Monterossa, and had ice cream.

 

On the way up to Cornigela, we discovered the most stairs that we've had to do in one go - 382. There's a congratulations sign at the top. There's also an ambulance. I have to say taht I was surprised at some of the people attempting the harder tracks - its was challenging for us, and fitness and age is on our side.

 

I had anchovies for lunch - not the horrible tinned type, the fresh, caught that day type. They were very good. Cameron had meat, and minestrone soup, which were also nice. The litre of wine we drank at lunch probably didn't help our walking either.

 

Tomorrow we head off to Firenze, to enjoy the art and everything that is there. Cameron is getting better with my preferred levels of detail ... we don't have train reservations yet and he isn't even worried!!

 

Vanessa

Europe 2007 - Cinque Terre

Ciao from the Cinque Terre, (And the halfway point of the trip... hard to believe it's here already... See Roman I told you I'd be back before you knew it)

Not much more to report from yesterday (most of the day has been train travel), Last night we set out for a few bits and pieces from the local shops and settled back for some wine, cheese and local meat products. It was by far one of the cheapest and also one of the tastiest dinners we've had.

We had a very early start today with an 8am train off the island, then ist was a long day with another 8:50 train to Florence followed by a 11:37 Train to La Spazzia followed by a short break for something to eat and getting some money out then with another 4pm train to the Cinque Terre and a LONG walk up the hill. Itàs all worth it though because the view from our apartment is fantastic out over the sea.

Ness has come down with a bit of a cold so she's having a rest in the room and I've got the internet duties.

Tomorrow we're hiking through the 5 towns which is about 7 hours so I think she'll need the sleep.

Europe 2007 - Books of the trip

Vanessa here.

 

While Cameron is busy blogging all the cultural stuff, I thought I would update you all on my reading.

 

Book: Affluenza

Read: Before getting to Korea

Genre: Social commentry

Summary: Argues that Australia is in the grip of Affluenza, always wanting bigger, better and more without reflection on what it has.

Thoughts and Recommendation: Thought-provoking, but somewhat "preachy" ending. Parts feel right, especially when describing the way the middle class has adopted the "aussie battler" tag without justification. 

Score: 3 / 5 Gothic churches

 

Book: Catherine de Medici

Read: Korea / Spain 

Genre: Historical Non-Fiction

Summary: The life of Catherine de Medici. Surprise Suprise.

Thoughts and Recommendation: Badly written and poorly edited. Vast tracts of text and detail scattered as if at random, destroying an interesting story.

Score: 1.5 / 5 Prague cobblestones

 

Book: JPod

Read: Spain

Genre: Geek Lit

Summary: It's too hard to describe - the story focuses on Ethan, a member of JPod, and a year or two in his cubical life.

Thoughts and Recommendation: Only if you consider yourself a member of geek culture. If not, steer clear. If you do, understand that this book is not very good.

Score: 1 / 5 cranky waitstaff

 

Book: The secret life of bees

Read: Plane to Venice

Genre: Spiritual / chic lit

Summary: Set during the 1960s in American, at the heigh of the civil rights movement, the main character is a girl whose mother died at 4 leaving her to be raised by her at time abusive father. Girl runs away after springing her black "adopted" mother / friend from jail.  

Thoughts and Recommendation: It came as part of a 3 pack of books I got in Seville. Well written but signposted. I don't like this genre, and only read the book because a) it was mine now and b) it was there, and nothing else was.

Score: 1 / 5 skanky internet cafes

 

Currently reading: Consider Phebos?, a space opera.

 

Vanessa

Europe 2007 - Last day in Venice

Our view from Venice

It's a bit of a sad day today it's our last day in Venice.

Last night was fantastic (I seem to be saying that a lot lately) we wondered down to the Grand Canal last night and found ourselves a gondola ride for the night. It was the highlight of our (at least my) trip so far. Our Gondolier was a 4th generation Gondonlier (it is his last year his son is to take over the business next year making it 5 generations) and gave us some great history tips on the canals as we floated past. Tip 1 - turns our we're staying only a few doors down from Casanova's Apartment. In a good coincidence we actually travelled down the canal that passed our house on the trip. It was the best way to see Venice, even at night. It's the mid point of our trip tomorrow and I think it will be hard to top for me... although I'm going to try.

Last night was our first ordering mishap where I managed to order something that was crumbed (still I had a first course though). The atmosphere of the place was pretty good though, with a great pianist playing for the night, so it wasn't all bad in the end.

Today we spent ferrying and exploring the outer islands. They islands were much more pieceful than Venice itself and we just relaxed and strolled the streets for the day. Burano (the lace island) is quite an unusual place with all the buildings painted in different colours.

Last of all I managed to get a photo our of our room up today of the sunrise. It will be hard to leave tomorrow, not only for the fact that we're leaving at 7:30am and will be on a train for most of the day...

PS. Yes... C(raig) you do win...

Europe 2007 - Venice Day 3

Today was another great day of Venice.

 

We spent the whole day wandering from church to church taking in all the Art works. St Mark's Basilica is by far the most impressive of them all, mainly due to almost the entire place being glit. The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute was also an impressive sight especially with all the works by Titan.

 

We had a great lunch at the Pier Dicken's Pub, Vanessa put the stand out plate with the stuffed olives for entree. We continued the wonder taking in most of the major churches in the city and finishing with the Doge's Palace. The most impressive collection of paintings lining the walls and ceilings I've ever seen. The palace itself is an impressive structure but the art work is breath-taking.

 

We've both settled in for a little rest before we head out for the night (last night we toured the streets taking a few night shots before hunting for some food). We've been walking for about 8 hours today and our feet are starting to hurt just a little.

Tonight we're going to try one of the local (same street) eateries so there isn't too much foot work.

 

Tomorrow we're going to explore some of the islands and check out the glass.

Ciao from Venice.

We managed to get our way from Spain to Venice without to much trouble even though it was car->bus->bus->plane->plane->walk->ferry->walk.

 

We saw Ben off at the airport for his after his very brief day in Spain. We did managed to get him past some sites and travel from one meal to the other. We ended up at the restaurant under the bull ring in Antequera for dinner which was fantastic (although it did top out at our most expensive meal of the Spain Trip, but worth it!). Most of us struggled to get to finish our meals as we'd pretty much gone straight for churros straight from lunch and then to dinner.

The goodbyes at the airport were a bit hard (after Ben's been living with us for almost the last 6 months) with tears (from both of us) but we've planned to see him again next year in Italy.

 

On our way to Venice we only managed to get a tiny bit lost on the way to the hotel. Negotiation of a ferry went smoothly but we were slightly put wrong by the restorations going on in the side street to our hotel but after a quick check of the map we made it back on track. There was a little bit of Italian and pointing to get our reservations all sorted but we were in! It was a long day we left at 9:30pm from Antequerra bus station and arrived at our hotel at about 9pm.

 

Today we spent the day wandering the streets and waterways. It's a gorgeous city! It's amazing site to see with with buildings stepping into the lagoon. We wandered down to San Marco Square and found a cafe for some lunch, I managed to find something that I could eat after passing endless bakeries. The food was fantastic and the coffee even better.

 

After a ride up and down the Grand Canal we returned to our hotel where we've swapped to a room overlooking the Grand Canal. Tonight we're off to explore more of the city by night and maybe a Gondola ride.

 

Tomorrow we're off to see some more of the museums and churches (we only managed a visit inside the Peggy Guggenheim Museum today)

 

(PS. I miss the interent from Antequerra... it's 4Euro for 30 Mins here... I don't think I spent that for all the internet we used in Spain)