Post 1 of 3. There were a lot of pictures...
So here is my first post from the lovely country of Italy. This one contains all the text and a few pictures. I hope you enjoy.
Hello everybody! So it's been less than 10 days but so I've seen so much stuff in this small amount of time that it's going to take at least three posts to fit all the pictures in. To recap: I saved up thousands of dollars to go to Europe. I am now in Europe. Read on for details!
Ok, so Tim, Dave and I left Sydney on Thursday and arrived in Kuala Lumpur. The landing was a little bumpy but it was a pretty smooth flight for all, considering I have a fear of flying. After a four hour stopover there (plane was delayed by two hours) we spent the next 13 hours stuck in the back of a plane that sounded like it would fall apart at any second.
We hit turbulence at least every 20 minutes, thus I spent the first 4 hours of the flight hyperventilating. My attempts to sleep were constantly interrupted when we hit spots of turbulence at least every 20 minutes, causing me to hold my armrests in a deadly vice like grip and continualy mutter to myself "I'm too young to die!". After four hours of this I think my mind just caved in and decided that if I was going to die on the flight, I might as well die comfortably and well rested. I am now cured of my fear of flying, all thanks to Malaysian Airlines.
We arrived at Rome airport and were driven to our hotel. Italy has beautiful countrysides and mountains, but you appreciate it a lot more by train than by car. The first thing I noticed once we approached Rome was the traffic. People were driving about 150kms on the highway, and pretty much everyone owned either a small car, or a moped. So my Hyundai Excel would have fit in perfectly. In Rome, everyone parks where ever they possibly can. Anywhere is fair game, as long as there is a gap small enough for your car to fit into. Many times I saw people park their cars by scraping along walls, similar to my parking style.
Rome is an amazing city with so much history and culture that it blows your mind away. Some might say too much history, as pretty much everywhere you go you'll see something that is hundreds, if not thousands of years old. You will also see many cops or "Carabinieri" carrying around machine guns. Crazy!
Random Fact 1: If you are wanting a coffee, do not just order a "Latte". Over here a latte is just plain milk. I discovered this the hard way when I first ordered one. The lady looked at me funny and asked if I wanted chocolate with it, or if I wanted it hot or cold. I thought she was crazy so I thankfully declined and said "No no, no extras, just a hot latte". I got a cup of steaming milk. It tasted great though!
Saturday was spent at the Colosseum and the remnants of the Forums. We decided to do the tour, which was led by an old italian lady who spent most of the tour telling us how the Romans "stoled" all the marble in the Middle Ages. She could not stress this point enough and felt the need to say it at least twice every 5 minutes.
Random Fact 2: Back in the day, Romans would have 6 hours long feasts where they would eat, throw up, eat, throw up, etc, and then wash their clothes in their own urine! Yummy!
Saturday night we went out to a place called "Campo di fiori", which would be comparable to the Italian Forum in Leichardt, except full of pubs. I introduced myself to a group of american girls by going to sit down at their table and falling off my chair onto the floor, causing the entire pub to laugh at me. Dave threw up an hour later and we went home.
Sunday was spent hungover watching CNN. I bought some bread and prosciutto and we had sandwiches.
Monday we went to Vatican City, which is apparently it's own country according to Dave. They have their own postal service, so I'm inclined to believe him... Anyhow, it is an amazing place, beautifully constructed with simply colossal. St. Peters is huge, and the contains amazing statues with intricate details carved into them. It's very hard to describe, as words don't really do it justice. It is simply awe inspiring once you walk inside.
Random Fact 3: The Vatican Museum, which contains the Sistine Chapel, closes at 12.20 every day throughout November. But they neglect to tell you this in all the guide books, so when you arrive there at 12.30, you are screwed and have to end up going the next day.
Monday night was spent waiting for a pub crawl that we had gotten a leaflet for at the Colosseum. Unfortunately only 5 people arrived, including us, so it was cancelled. Fortunately they provided free beer while we waited, and I chatted with one of the organisers, an Irish fellow named Jeff to pass the time. Since the pub crawl was not happening, and Jeff was irish, we decided to go drinking back at the Camp di fiori, and we found a quaint little pub which offered us 1 Euro shots. After 6 shots and three beers, we headed home at 2am.
Tuesday was spent very hungover at the Vatican Museum. It was the most amazing place I had seen at that point. The paintings, carvings and rugs there are jaw dropping. The Sistine Chapel itself is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. That Michelangelo is a freaking genius!
Random Fact 4: Pizza in Italy is awesome. It is all homemade and all very minimal, which makes it taste even better. The best pizzas are the ones in the quiet little italian restaurants. Don't go to the restaurants with big neon signs. The pizzas there are still good, but they aren't as good and they also charge double.
Wednesday was spent at Pompeii. Pompeii is one of the, if not the most amazing place I have ever been to in my life. It is by far the highlight of my trip so far. I wish we could have spent more time there, as a day is not nearly enough. The ruins of Pompeii are incredibly well preserved. The buildings are amazing, as is the ampitheatre. I led us the wrong way through some bushes and we ended up in a closed off part of the city, which was great because we got to see a lot more. Pompeii was not crowded at all, unlike the tourist sites at Rome. There couldn't have been more than 50 people there the whole day, which made the experience a hundred times better and more intimate; It's very quiet and you don't get all the noise of tourists. I can't really describe the city; the pictures speak for themselves. There is also an abundance of stray dogs there, but most are cute so it's ok.
I'm in Florence now, which we arrived in yesterday. My sister arrived last night and is staying here with us until we leave. We spent today visiting the Duomo of Florence, otherwise known as the Cathedral. The climb to the top of the dome is very tiring, but after 414 steps, the pay off is huge. The view from the top of the Duomo is freaking amazing.
Florence is a much more beautiful city than Rome, but the trade off is that it does not have as much historical sites. Still, I have enjoyed the city of Florence more than Rome so far, because it's just a nice place to walk. I'm missing home but I have this lovely city to distract me
Anyhow that's all for now, I'll probably write again from Salzburg or Vienna. Stay tuned kiddos.
Nicky T