Viva Italia

The final stretch of what was an AMAZING summer break. I zigzagged my way from Venice across to the west coast and the Cinque Terra, before heading south through Pisa and Florence and down to Rome.

Day 26: Today we travelled by train from Bled to Venice, arriving at 2. This time, in the company of Tomi's large German ground manager, we went into the old city. We began winding our way to San. Marco's when I got a message from Federica Falagiarda, my cue to run excitedly back to the train station. We had a happy reunion, but apparently my jumping and exclaiming was embarrasing for her. We went and got some gelato and iced coffee before going to see Constitution Bridge. After that, we went to San. Marco's Basillica, but it was closed, so instead we went to Hard Rock Cafe so Federica to get her obligatory T-shirt. From there we wandered through the city to meet up with the group for our goodbye dinner. After a good feed, we all did our goodbyes, took lots of photos, exchanged e-mails and laughed a lot.What an absolute champion

Day 27: This morning, Federica and I met up for breakfast before moseying in to the city. Our first stop was San Marco's Basillica, seeing as it was closed the day before. We waited in a looooooong queue, and dodged all the puddles of water left over from high tide. Inside is even more elaborate than the outside. I stood and watched the service for a while. For the next few hours, I dragged Federica around to every leather bag shop in Venice until I could find the one I wanted.  We caught the ferry over to the Lido.Just cruising on the ferry Yay, beach! No, wind! I jumped in the water for a dip but we left quite soon because the wind was just unbearable. We found a little cafe where we had some lunch. We ferried back to the main island and walked back towards the train station via a lovely large boulevard to go to the hotel. On the way, we stopped to get a big slice of pizza and Federica got a granita, which she spilt all over herself! Haha.

We went back and I met my new Intrepid group. Everyone was super nice and most of us were from Australia too. That night we went for dinner at a little local restaurant where I got a yummy pizza before seeing Federica off at the station.

Day 28: Today I had a quiet morning, before going down to breakfast where I bumped into Rebecca. We had similar plans, we set off together. First stop was Murano. We went and saw some glass being blown, and strolled for hours through the shops. We moved on to Burano. By 1pm we were engulfed in the multicoloured beauty of the houses. We walked around and grabbed a snack before settling down in the park to read for a while. Rebecca went back into Venice, but I stayed on the park bench, working on my tan. Eventually I decided to head back to the main island to meet up with the girls for dinner. After some yummy pesto I walked to the train station to meet up with Kat my new group leader, Heather, Lisa and Frank, gelato in hand. We went to a little bar and had spritz's - a local favourite, before calling it a night.

Day 29: Today was a travelling day. 4 trains and 6 hours later, we were in Monta Rosa on the Cinque Terra. It is SO BEAUTIFUL! The water is the bluest blue and the smell reminds me of Eden at christmas time. First stop, the beach! After a lot of swimmimg and sun baking, I walked to the other end of town and got a chocolate gelato. After a shower, I went to dinner with the group. We were right on the water front and I treated my tastebuds to the most amazing gnocchetti with salmon followed by a tiramisu I shared with Frank : ) Yum yum yum yum yum.@[524260199:2048:Frank] and I share a yummy dessert

Day 30: Today we walked the Cinque Terra. Starting at 9am in Reggiomaggiore. We explored the town and I walked up to the castle before we regrouped and walked along the Lovers Walk to Manarola. It was very picturesque and all of the lover locks were a real spectacle. In Manarola I found a chair and read and ended up falling to sleep. The next walk was closed, so I caught the train to Corniglia. When I got there, I had an espresso at the bar. I met up with Heather, Lisa and Janie who I walked with to Vernazza. Janie and I ended up walking in front of everyone and we had a really good deep and meaningful. It was really hard, but I was glad I did it. In Vernazza Janie and I separated while I grabbed a foccacia for lunch. After that, I found a big flat rock to sunbake on for hours and hours and hours, occasionally taking a dip. I did the last walk back to Monta Rosa and met up with the other for our picnic on the beach! It was just so perfect. The sun setting with yummy food and wine and friends. After the picnic Janie, Heather, Lisa and I got our gelato hit for the day.

Day 31: Today we travelled from the Cinque Terra to Florence via Pisa. We caught the train to Pisa and made a beeline for the "field of wonders". The Leaning Tower is so cool!Oh no! Its falling! We went way overboard with the tourist shots. I took alook around the market stalls in the neighbouring streets before going to the restaurant for lunch. From there we went to the train station to catch our train to Firenze! I am sharing a room with Lisa, Heather and Janie. Once we had settled in, we went for our orientation walk with Kat in the UNESCO protected city center. We walked through the old city wall, over the Ponte Veccio, through the Uffizi gallery and to the Plazza Della Signoria. There we saw a hilarious street performer. He pulled a gag on me and looked up my skirt!

From there we went up to Via de Calzaioli to Piazza Duomo - wow wow wow wow wow wow. It really is amazing. We also saw the gold doors of the baptistry which took 40 years to complete apparently. We left Kat here and headed to the leather markets to get a feel for the prices and stock. We made some 'friends'. One shop owner even came up to me and started kissing my neck! Ergh! At 7:30 we headed back to meet up with the group for dinner. I had Riboletta, traditional Florencian vegetable stew. After dinner we all walked home.

Day 32: This was our day to conquer Florence. Heather, Lisa, Janie and I started early, destination: Galleria Accademia. We arrived before the crowds and saw Michelangelo's David. We even got a few sneaky pictures : ) From there we went and got coffee before venturing back to the leather markets, with our haggling faces on. We came back with lots of good bargins too! Regardless, it still left a gaping hole in my bank account. Then we went to meet up with the non existent walking tour, which was dissappointing. So instead I went to the Medici Chapel and church; Nuovo Market; Republic Square; The Duomo; and the Paghazza Tower. I met up with the girls again at 1:30 for some lunch. We went to the Market Hall to eat with the locals, which was fun. From there we went to Can Croce, the burial place of Gallileo and Michelangelo. Heather and Lisa went back to the hostel while Janie and I got gelato and waffles. I slowly made my way from there to the group meeting point via Ponte Vecchio. Kat lead us up the Piazza Michelangelo where we had the most exquisite picnic as we watched the sunset over the city. It was perfect. That night when we all got back, Jani, Heather, Lisa and I were in fits of giggles because we were all just so exhausted from out massive day.

Me and the Colosseum go way back

Day 33: Bring on Rome! We arrived after lunch and immediately set out on our orientation walk. Our first experience with Roman Gypsies was pretty interesting. They were adament that the ticket machines were theirs. When Lisa tried to push past one of them she shouted this at her "Stop that you crazy lady, I'm pregnant!" Hahaha. Kat took us to all the main sights: the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Piazza Mignanelli, Palazzo Baberini and a whole pile more. We stopped at Kat's all time favourite gelato place. I got ginger and cinammon, and liquorice flavour. Loopy. We stopped for a recharge at the Ducati Cafe, where Kat and Lisa left us, because LIsa wasn't feeling well. We continued our walk to the Collesseum, passing through Piazza Valencia, the Roman Forum and the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument (which looks like a giant wedding cake). From here things started to go down hill. When we got back, I found Lisa in tears to be told that our room had been broken into. They had smashed the balcony door. Miraculously, they hadn't taken anything from my bag, only rummaged through it a bit. Lisa, Heather and Janie on the other hand, weren't so lucky, losing macbookpro's, ipods, iphones, passports, cameras, money... Absolutely insane. So our night consisted of a lot of back and forth between the police station and the hotel, and lots of takeaway pizza.

I could have danced all night!

Day 34: My last day in Rome, Italy and Europe! What an adventure it has been! Frank and I met up at 8, to get into the Vatican before the crowds. After some confused wandering around, we found the queue for the Vatican Museum, and about 40 minutes later we were in! Which apparently, is very good time. We split up and arranged a meeting time. So I took it all in, ending up at the Sistine Chapel. It really is quite amazing. And it was so special to be there before the real crowds arrived. I went back there about an hour later and it was chaos. After that, Frank and I tried to use the sneaky entrance to get to St. Peter Basillica, but only I got through, so we lost eachother. I had a good look around the Basillica though before heading back. Coincidently, I bumped into Janie, Heather and Lisa at a cafe where I was getting some lunch. After that we caught the bus to the airport so fly home.

Italy really is a fantastic country. Although, I think if I see another carbohydrate in the next week, I might scream! It was the best end I could imagine to the mose amazing month in Europe. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my travels!