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!

A week in the Mediterranean

We arrived in Valetta, Malta, at 11:30pm on Friday night. After a manic taxi ride across the 12mile x 17mile island, we arrived at the Bayview Hotel.

Day 1: Saturday morning started with a bus ride, full of crazy Spaniards, into the city. We had a walk around the mesmerising streets and alleys before stopping for gelato, our first of many, which we devoured by the msin square watching a water fountain show. We then stopped in St. Johns Co-Cathedral, built by the Knights of St. John in the 1560s. The whole floor is made up of tomb stones of coloured inlaid marble. Simply AMAZING. Then we went to the Upper Barrakka Gardens to watch the Saluting Battery, a deafening blast from a restored canon at 12pm. Next stop was the War Memorial where we saw the plaque for Clifton Lawrence Hughes, my Great Grandfather, who went missing in action over the Mediterranean in 1944. We then walked around the north side of the peninsula, past the forts, bastions and curtains, up to Fort St. Elmo before going to get some lunch at 'Malta's best pizza shop'. Yum. After that we went on a tour in the house of a Maltese noble family. I learnt a lot about maltese history and culture. We also got to see the WW2 bomb shelters 100ft underground! Then we caught the ferry home for a well deserved rest.

Day 2: After some miscommunication, we arrived at the dock for Hera Cruises, where a giant, luxury yacht awaited us. We sailed around the east and north sides of the Island to the Blue Lagoon. When we arrived, we hopped off and explored the little outcrop and found a little swimming hole where we took a dip before heading back to the yacht for a delish buffet lunch. After that we lazed around and read, I jumped off the boat a few times and went for one last swim before we headed home. That night, the sunburnt red tomato that I was, found a little restaurant where we had the most amazing meal, Rabbit (the national dish) and octopus pasta followed by a pear and ricotta cheesecake. Wow.

Day 3: The next morning was eventful for all the wrong reasons. We were waiting out front for the 6:15am taxi we had booked, and waiting, and waiting. I went inside and they said that he was running late, but we didn't have anytime to spare, so they got one of the kitchen staff up out of bed to drive us in his own car, baby seat and all. We got on to the ferry with not a moment to spare, and sailed off in the direction of Sicily. We docked at the small fishing town of Pozzallo and then caught the train to Siracusa. When we arrived at Siracusa, we realised that we didn't know how to get to our B&B and the lone taxi was without a driver. A really nice Italian man, with a giant belly, who spoke a little English, tried to find the cab driver for us, asking around in the pubs and things, but to no avail. He offered to drive us there himself, but we managed to get in contact with Sabrina, the B&B owner who came to pick us up. She drove us to Giugiulena, where she showed us our room and gave us a little orientation to Siracusa. Our room was on the bottom floor, the Mediterranean was right outside our door, simply beautiful. We spent the afternoon looking at the Catacombs, there are over 10 000 tombs, and it was where the first Christian community met outside of Israel in 39AD. Then we walked around and through the archaeological site before making our way back home. For dinner we went to a gorgeous restaurant up the hill where we had a divine pizza (Quattro Stagioni) and Pasta (Tonno al Gnocci)

Day 4: I started my day with a swim in the sea. Bliss. After breakfast we went over to the island of Ortiga for our Segway tour! Valario took us through all the winding lanes, to the Piazza Archimede, Fonte Aretusa, Duomo, Apollo's Temple and the Maniace. It was definitely an experience to remember. We spent the afternoon ransacking my mum's suitcase and making expensive international phone calls to try and find her lost credit card and drivers licence. We had a late dinner at a spaghetti restaurant on Ortiga.

Day 5: Our time in Siracusa was up. In the morning we caught the train to Messina and made a mad dash from the station to the ferry. On the ferry we met Daniela, a lovely Italian lady who told us all about the Eolian Islands. Other then that, the ride was frickin boring. When we arrived, we made our way to our accommodation at Baia Portinenti. After we checked in, we went down the main street for some takeaway. I had some Fagottini and Aracini, Yum yum yum. We had a bit of an explore before stopping for dinner at a pizzaria, followed by gelati. I had two WEIRD flavours: Lipari - which had hazelnuts and glace cherries; and Zaguba - Orange, caramel and bits. Weird, but good.

Day 6: We had a leisurely morning wandering around and eating granitas. We bought a picnic lunch for the supermarket: salamis, rolls, cheese, baked ricotta, salad...Mmm. We met the boat at Marina Corta to begin our voyage to Stromboli. First stop was at Panarea. We sailed through the bluest bay before stopping at the town where we had our picnic on the rocks. After some relaxing and reading, we took a wander around the island. Panarea is very exclusive, but very beautiful.

We hopped back on the boat and headed on to Stromboli. We sailed around the Strombolicchio before heading to the village. We went for a swim at the black sand beaches. It was so so so nice and calm. Absolutely amazing. The water was so warm too. Once we had dried off, sunbaking and reading, we found a beautiful restaurant up the hill to have dinner - aubergine pasta and squid spaghetti. So good. We hoped back on the boat and watched the sunset before hanging for some Stromboli eruption action. Unfortunately we only got to see 3, but still I saw a volcano erupt, which is pretty cool I think.

Day 7: Mum was not feeling well this morning, so I headed off solo. First I bought our ferry tickets and then had a wander around in the blistering sun. I strolled down orange tree lined streets and under fruiting fig trees before heading back to the B&B. Mum and I went out to find some lunch, ending up at the takeaway joint again with some divine 1.50 pizza slices. Then we went up to Lipari Castle, a site which has been occupied since neolithic times, through the greeks, romans, normans and spaniards. That night we had stuffed squid for dinner, a Eolian specialty.

Day 8: We were up at the crack of dawn to get ready for the 6:45 ferry to Reggio Calabria. After a relatively uneventful ferry ride, we had a far more interesting trip to the airport. We couldn't find anyone between the port and the bus station who spoke english, so after some enthusiastic charades and mum's fragmented Italian, we got the message across that we needed to go to the airport. The bus driver said, what we thought, was yes. We drove all through Reggio Calabria. After about 30 minutes, we were back where we started! The bus driver reassured us (we thought) that he was on his way, and after he took his 15 minute break, reading the paper, we set off again. In another 20 minutes or so, he pulled up at the airport. Yipee! And he didn't even charge us. What a champion. Then began the wait of all waits, for our plane to Venice. I perused the single shop in the airport before boredom overcame me. We got to Venice, finally, I whipped out the map, and we set off to our next accommodation. We found the Laguna, and a nice message left from the owners. After we settled in to our room, we set off again to find a concert to go to that night. We stumbled upon Vivaldi's 4 seasons. Jackpot. We got some dinner at a little cafe, the cheapest we could find in the ridiculously overpriced Venician market before heading off the the most mind blowingly amazing concert I have seen in a while. The ensemble, music, presentation, venue, everything, was perfection. On the way back, we got some gelati which we ate on the Rialto bridge, before hitting the hay.

Day 9: We started our last day at Mass, in San Cassiano. The nuns, dressed in white, lead the singing. There were even nuns on guitars! The church was beautiful as well. So ornate. The language of the readings and sermon was mesmerising too. After that, we marked our last day in this amazing country with a big shopping spree. Zigzagging through the streets finding the best bargins, the perfect necklace, the right coloured bag, presents, jewellery... After 6 hours straight, we were exhausted! We had some lunch sitting on the grand canal, watching the boats float by. Then I caught the ferry over the St. Georgio Maggiore, a setting from Vikram Seth's book, An Equal Music, and I saw some inspiring art and photography displays over there too, while mum took a well deserved coffee break. We met up again and did the final shopping rounds before going back to the hotel to get our bags and head home.

I could recount the... eventful trip back home... with almost every airport error obstructing our journey.. but I would rather not.

All in all, an AMAZING week. I cannot WAIT to go back there in August! Yippeeeeeeee.