Gary and Karen Lawrence

Last day

boznkaz — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:40:00 GMT

well , it had to happen, to use the old cliche, all good thing s come to an end. Today is our last day in Italy. It is now 6:32pm and we are sitting at Rome Airport waiting for our flight. We had a lovely day in Rome today. We caught the hop on hop off bus and just wandered around our favourite spots, such as piazza Novana and of course Trevi fountain. We wandered in and out of different shops then headed back to the airport. Our flight is 8:25pm so we still have a bit of time to spare. We have checked our luggage in and are sitting at our departure gate with plenty of time to spare. Gary is sipping on a Peroni and I have a cold Italian White wine Orvieto which is quite nice. Not much longer until we start our long journey home. We are not looking forward to the flight but definitely looking forward to seeing you all soon. Hope you have enjoyed be part of our trip with this blog? We have loved keeping you up to date with eveything we have done but now it's time to come home.

At Dubai airport now, waiting for our connecting flight. Not sure how it happened but Gary and I are not sitting together for this next flight! I booked our seats before we left but obviously they have done a reshuffle. Hopefully someone will swap with us and we can sit together. Looking forward to getting home now.

See you all very soon. Love Karen and Gary xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Last day in Venice :(

boznkaz — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Today was our last day in Venice. I am really sad to be leaving here, it is just so beautiful.

Once again we got up early and we went to St Marks square, before the crowds arrived. It was 7:30am and there were hardly any people around. There was a heavy fog over the water and it was so silent. Venice has the ability to go from being completely silent to completely chaotic. However, even once the crowds arrive, you only have to go a few blocks back and it is silent again.

This morning we had a boat cruise organised and we left the main island of Venice at 9:30am. Our first stop was the island, Murano, famous for its glass making factory. We walked into the factory and had a tour and a demonstration. It really is amazing how they make such delicate and colourful pieces. After the demonstration we went into the gift shop. They specialise in all things big and beautiful - the guide actually said 'everything we make is big and expensive'! He was not joking. There were chandeliers that were enormous and large glass sculptures that would weigh 10 - 15kg! Beautiful, but I am not sure where I would put one! They do make some smaller pieces (thank goodness) so I was able to make a few purchases.

We got back on the boat and our next stop was the colourful island Burano. This island is famous for its lace. It certainly was beautiful, so delicate. They showed us a small square of lace that was made from three different stitches, each type of stitch was done by a different woman. The square was only about 15cm square and it had taken 5 days to make! This truly is a lost art. Of courses, it was all beautiful and the credit card came out again! This island is also famous for its brightly coloured houses. It was very pretty.

Our last stop was the island of Torcello. This island has the oldest church in Venice dating back to the 7th century. Torcello is a quiet, green island with much of it as a nature reserve. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Dell'Assunta is still in use today though the bell tower is completly under reconstruction at the moment. We walked around this island for awhile and once again we commented on just how silent it is. There are no engines or noises at all. No cars or bikes, nothing. Just silence. It is going to be hard going back to all the noises again.

On our way back to Venice, it started getting dark. It was only 1:00pm but you could see a storm was coming. Within minutes it was pouring down! The boat was covered so it wasn't a problem. In fact it was nice sitting in the boat looking out onto the water while it rained. It stopped raining about 5 minutes before we got off the boat, perfect timing. We went and had lunch outside our hotel, which was lovely. After lunch we collected our bags and headed to the water taxi, which took us to the train station.

This time the train was on time and we left Venice at 3:25pm. I tried to convince Gary that we should stay here, I am sure you would all come and visit us! I think I have lived a previous life in Italy. I feel so at home here, I love the language, the food, the vino and of course I talk fast and with my hands!! Anyway, Gary said no (he's the rational one) and we are now on our way to Rome for our very last night in Italy. It is one of the high velocity trains. It has the speed up on the monitor and I am too scared to look at it any more. The last time I looked were were doing 283km per hour! We are going so fast my ears keep popping! We have 20 min until we arrive at the Rome terminal. We need to catch another train from the terminal to Fumincino airport where we are staying at the Hilton hotel. Originally we were flying out at 6:30am so I booked a hotel at the airport so we didn't have to worry about traveling so early in the morning. However, when we decided to stay a few extra days, I didn't notice that the flight times were different and now we don't fly our until 8pm. Doesn't matter, we will just get a shuttle bus into Rome tomorrow morning for a last bit of Italian culture.

Not long until we get home now. Looking forward to seeing you all soon xx

Gary's birthday

boznkaz — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 04:34:00 GMT

Today is Gary's birthday! We woke early and after breakfast headed away from St marks square. We had a Venice walking tour booked for 11:10am so we wanted to go in the opposite direction. Our hotel overlooks St Marks bay and we followed the bay around to the left until we came to a wide street. Here we walked to the end, taking in all the sights. We loved all the little side alleys that had washing strung from one side to the other. You don't get much sunlight due to the narrow canals and high walls so I guess this is the only way they can dry their clothes.

We walked past two massive anchors and Gaz posed for a photo. We saw that it was actually a naval museum so thought we would go in for a look. It is called Museo Storico Navale Venezia. It was massive, with naval memorabilia dating back to the 1300's! It was 4 floors of packed naval history. Mark and Ian would have loved it! However, time was pressing on and we headed back past our hotel and on to our meeting spot. Here we meet our guide and donned the tradition lanyard and audio received and ear plugs - yet again we screamed 'tourist'! However this is a fantastic way to see the sights and learn more about the history. We walked for 2 hours learning all about. It was so interesting.

No time to rest though. Once we finished we had to meet at the jetty for our gondola ride. This was beautiful. We went in and along some tiny canals, it was eerily silent. Here we got a different perspective of Venice. From the water you can really appreciate the marvel of the buildings. Our guide told us that they used trees as the building foundations and they petrified them before submerging them. This way they will last for hundreds maybe even thousand more years to come.

After the gondola ride we retraced our walk from this morning. I was keen to find the small square where 27 years ago I had the most amazing gelato. We found it and actually had lunch there before a lemon and lime gelato. It was sensational. I wonder if it will be another 27 years before I have another here? Hope not!

We slowly meandered through the narrow paths and over beautiful little bridges. I have to say it was very romantic! I don't think Gary and I have had this much time alone in 19 years! We have really enjoyed this time away together. No arguments yet! Still have the 22 hour flight home though.

We got back to our hotel around 5 pm. Just before we went inside a huge cruise ship went by. This is something that wasn't here 27 years ago. Now 2 to 4 cruise ships dock in Venice every day bringing in up to 10,000 tourists! personally I don't like it. They dwarf everything around Venice and look so out of context. But, that's progress I guess. You don't have to like it.

It is now 6pm and we are sitting on the roof top terrace of our Hotel, watching the gondolas and water taxis go by. It is dark because of the end of daylight saving and all the lights are twinkling on the bay. The church bells are chiming and I can't think of a nicer place to be. I am sipping on a Chianti and Gary is enjoying a Peroni. This certainly has been a birthday for Gary to remember for ever.

Florence

boznkaz — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 04:24:00 GMT

Posting a day late! We were so tired when we arrived to our hotel I didn't write anything. So here is yesterday activities;
Yet another amazing day. Though it has had a few stressful moments, starting early this morning. Our train was at 8:32am, Pisa to Florence. We got up in plenty of time and left the hotel around 7:30am. It was about a 15 min walk to the station and as it was a beautiful morning and there was no one around we took some photos of the piazza. It was so peaceful at that hour of the morning. But, time got away from us quickly and before we realised it was 8am. We quickly started walking to the station and got there at 8:15am I had pre-booked all train tickets but the one from Pisa to Florence we needed to print and validate our ticket. I tried to do this and it wouldn't work. I went to the customer service who were brilliant and came out to help me. The lady took her time going through everything and I was stressing out as it was now 8:30am. I pointed this out and she said no, it's only 7:30am. Huh? So apparently Italy also has daylight saving and the clocks were turned back last night!!!! Crisis averted, we now had an hour up our sleeves.

We arrived in Florence at 9:40am and left our luggage at the station for the day. I had booked a tour of the Academe gallery at 11:30 and Uffizi at 4:30pm so we had a bit of time to explore before our first tour. We went and had a look around The Duoma or The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore which is the main church of Florence. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style. This is an incredible sight as it takes up almost the entire piazza. It is very extravagant on the outside but surprisingly simple on the inside. It was now time to head to the Galleria Academia were we met our guide.

There were many things to see in this Gallery but of course the main attraction is Michelangelo's 'David'. There is no doubt that Michelangelo was a genius. This sculpture is beautiful. It stands at 17 ft tall and is just perfect. Listening to our guide explain the history of David was so valuable. She pointed out and described features from every angle not missing a single element. It really is breathtaking. The room in which David is located was specifically built for him. It is shaped like a cross, with David at the top section. A huge dome was created above him that lets natural light fall on him from all angles. It really is something spectacular. Walking towards David, you go past some of Michelangelo's unfinished work. You can really I see what he did. Our guide told us that Michelangelo saw the sculpture within the block of marble and carved to release the sculpture. This was really evident in his unfinished work where the sculptures look like they are trying to break free from the marble.

Reluctantly we left Galleria Academia and headed towards a stop for the 'hop on hop off' bus. As we only had a day in Florence we thought this would be the best way to take in as much of the city as possible. The first bus to go past was going in the opposite direction to what was recorded on the map. This confused us a little so we headed to the next stop. Once again the bus was going in the opposite direction and didn't stop. Now I was frustrated. Then I read the little print along the bottom that had the date on it. Guess what? They change direction when daylight saving ends!!! Unfortunately we didn't pick up that map so we decided to head back to the train station to get on a bus there. However, along the way we stopped at the baptistry and Duoma and went inside. We lost track of time and before we knew it we had no time to get a bus so we headed straight to Uffizi gallery.
Here we saw the fabulous work of Botticelli. What I learned here was that I was born 500 years too late! All the women he painted had my figure! Ha ha

From Uffizi we went back to the station, collected our bags and checked the departures schedule. Our 6:15pm train was running 5 min late so we had plenty of time. It then went to 15 min, then 30 min, then 60 min then finally to a 90 min delay!! I went to the service desk to find out what was going on and he said to get on the next train (7:30) it was now 7:25pm! I ran to tell Gaz and we grabbed our bags to get on the train. We had seats booked in first class on the 6:15pm train but of course people where in these seats now. We found two empty seats and hoped for the best. Fortunately no one claimed them so finally, we were on our way to Venice.

We arrive at Venice San Lucia at 9:35pm. From here we caught a water taxi to our hotel, which is located just 100mt from the St Maks square stop. Perfect. We arrived at our hotel at 10:15pm - 15 1/2 hours after getting up! Needless to say we were exhausted. Quick shower and straight to sleep.

Pisa

boznkaz — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 05:55:00 GMT

Today we left Rome:( We have loved exploring Rome, so much history and wonderful things to see and do. I could easily spend another week here. But as they say, all good things must come to an end and we must move on. So this morning we left our very indulgent hotel and headed for the train station. Our train to Pisa was on time and we only had a short wait until we could board. Sharon had already warned us that everyone just rushes on board to get the seats, even if you have seat numbers. We were booked for carriage 1, seats 75 & 76 so we thought let's see how we go. Sure enough we got to our seats and someone was already sitting in the, however they did move as soon as we mentioned they were our seats.

It was a 'Hogwarts' train, that is, we were in a booth of 6 and we had the window seats. I thought I would love to watch the scenery go by, especially as we went through the Tuscany countryside. Ha ha silly me! I forgot these were high speed trains! I started to feel nauseated once the speed got up, so gave up looking out the window and watched a couple of episodes of modern Family on my iPad. I had to be careful not to laugh out loud too much!

We arrived in Pisa at 1:20pm and decide to catch a taxi to our hotel as we had no idea how long it would take to walk. Our taxi driver spoke beautiful English and almost gave us a guided tour! He was very well informed about Australia, he even knew Tony Abbot had just been elected! He then informed us he actually wanted to migrate to Australia a few years ago but he was knocked back. He then told us about how Italy didn't have a strong 'no boats' policy and Italy was taking in up to 300 refuges every day! We had noticed the high volume of Indian and Sudan peddlers selling wares at every tourist spot. I had read that Italy's 18-34 years olds had an unemployment of 29% but the taxi driver claimed it was even higher and only going to get worse. He told us that the tourism in Pisa was dropping off and once that went, there was nothing left for the city.

We pulled up at our Hotel and I have to say the location was brilliant! About 150 mt from the leaning Tower of Pisa but the first thing we saw were heaps of Sudanese peddlers outside our hotel. I really felt sorry for our driver, he could see that Pisa we slowly losing its appeal to tourism. Once we got into our hotel and settled we went for a quick walk. It has been 27 years since I was last here but I noticed that there were LESS people here now. This was the complete opposite to everywhere else we had been where tourism had increased dramatically.

We had booked a walking tour so we met our guide and started our wander around Pisa. We learnt about the history of the baptistery, cathedral and of course the bell tower which became famous for its leaning. We wandered through a few piazzas (squares) but one in particular was memorable. It had a beautiful building in it called the Palazzo Carovana. It was originally built in 1562–1564 by Giorgio Vasari for the headquarters of the Knights of St. Stephen but is now know as the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa as a public higher learning institution. I am loving the fact that we can walk on the streets here in Pisa without risking our lives! The pace is significantly slower than Rome. We then headed back to the Miricoli square where the tower is.

As we walked back towards the square you suddenly stumble across the tower and the cathedral. They just seem to suddenly appear. Having seen so many images of the Leaning Tower you expect it to lean, clue in the name, but it really does lean dramatically. As you walk towards it, it is impossible to stop talking photos.

The Campo dei Miricoli is not only home to the Leaning Tower but also the Cathedral (free to visit inside) and the Battistero which is stunning. It seems to be a perfect circle with every inch covered in detail. The Baptistry of St. John (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni) is a religious building and started construction in 1152, in replacement of an older baptistry, and completed in 1363. It is the second building, in the chronological order, in the Piazza dei Miracoli, near the Duomo di Pisa cathedral and the famous Leaning Tower. Together these three building make a beautiful picture and I can't wait to finally share photos with you.

You can climb the tower again (it was closed between 1990-2001) so we thought we would do it. It is an amazing experience. As you climb the side that it is leaning on, it is relatively easy to climb as gravity almost pushes you up but as you curl around to the upside it is really difficult. However, it doesn't take long to reach the top and once there the views over the city are just breathtaking. Pisa is so much bigger than you expect and is flanked by high mountains around the west. We took lots of photos as it was a beautiful clear day. We then climbed down (much easier than going up). We wandered around the Piazza dei Miricoli for about another hour, just taking in the sights of the three main buildings. We then went off exploring again.

We ended back in the street where our hotel was and we had a perfect view of the tower and cathedral. We stopped for tea at a street side ristorante and watched the sun set over the tower. It was beautiful. Back in our room now, and we leave at 8:30 tomorrow for our day in Florence. Until then keep well xx

Last day Rome

boznkaz — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 05:09:00 GMT

Today was a relatively quiet day, by our previous days standards. Usual early morning (but what do you expect, we were asleep by 9pm). Today we caught the 'hop on hop off' bus. When we got on at 9:10am we had pole position up the top at the front! Sensational views. We had a lovely tour around all the major tourists spots, most of which we had already visited but it was nice not to be walking everywhere! We got off the bus at the Circus Maximus as this was the nearest stop to the Trastevere district where my conference was. However, the bus took longer than anticipated and I was stressing that I wouldn't make it to the university in time so we flagged down a taxi rather than taking the 2km walk. We arrived in plenty of time for me to check in and for both of us to have a coffee in the court yard. Gaz took a couple of photos of me in the courtyard against the American University of Rome sign, this university teaches all it's course in English. I wish they taught nursing because I would definitely apply for a 12 month secondment here! It really is spectacular. The university itself is nothing amazing, it has the usual classroom, auditorium etc but the location is just beautiful and it has the most gorgeous views over Rome.

Anyway, my presentation was at 1pm and it went well. No problems. We stayed for the following presentation than made a quiet exit. We wandered down the hill past a beautiful botanical garden but I was not confident that if we entered we would be able to find our way out as it wasn't on our map! So we stuck to the road. When we got to the Tevere or Tiber River, we crossed over onto the Tiber Island which is one of the two islands in the Tiber River and is believed to have been used as a hospital in 293 BC when there was a great plague in Rome.

Once we crossed the river we headed back towards the bus stop, but first went and had a look at the Teatro di Marcello which is an ancient open-air theatre in Rome believed to be started by Julius Caesar in 17BC and finished after his death by Augustus in 12 BC. At the theatre, locals and visitors alike were able to watch performances of drama and song. Today its has apartments above it and is one of the city's many popular spectacles or tourist sites.

From the Teatro we walked to the back of the Capitol to the Piazza d'Aracoeli where we had a nice lunch and a celebratory wine/beer. The fountain in the Piazza d'Aracoeli is located at the base of the Capitoline Hill and is a major bus terminal. This is where we got back onto the bus. I wanted to go to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore which is the largest Catholic church in Rome dedicated to Mary. But unfortunately it was now peak hour traffic and it was close to 30 degrees so we were both exhausted. So we got off at the stop nearest our Hotel and headed back for a quick siesta.

After about an hours rest we headed out once again. It was now 6:30pm and we are both so tired we can't decided what we want to eat. So instead we find the nearest supermarket where we buy a ready made salad, bread roll, some cheese and a bottle of bubbles and head back to The hotel. Now Gaz is doing sudoku and I am writing my blog! Such an exciting end to the day :) Ciao until tomorrow - Pisa!

colosseum

boznkaz — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 04:29:00 GMT

Buona sera. Good evening all. What a wonderful day we have had today! Usual early morning start with breakfast at 7:15am. We had to re-organise our day because our night tour of the colosseum was cancelled. I was so disappointed about this as this was something I was really looking forward to. Apparently there had been some rain last week and it caused a collapse in one of the tunnels, which meant the night tour were cancelled as this is one of the areas that we were going to. Never mind, we kept positive and hoped we could get another tour on the day. We arrive at the colosseum around 8am and we first had a walk around the entire perimeter. Wow it is just amazing. Once again I don't remember too much about being here in 1986 but today we were blown away by how big it is. Once we had done a full lap we looked for a ticket office. There was a young Canadian girl selling tour tickets so we bought them and waited for our tour guide, Max. There were only 6 others on our tour so it was actually really nice. Max told us all about the history of the colosseum and a little bit about what a 'normal' day consisted of. The colosseum was only used for around 10 days per year for fighting. A typical day was; morning - hunters and animals, followed by prisoners fighting. After lunch they finished up with gladiators fighting each other. Some days they could go through 1000 animals and up to 1000 men! Really barbaric in today's world.

We had some free time to wander around an take in the enormity of the colosseum before or next tour of the Palatine Hill which is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. After leaving the colosseum and before going to the Palatine we took a detour and visited a little known Basilica San Clemente. Until the middle of the 19th century it was thought that the present Basilica of San Clemente was that mentioned in 392 AD by St Jerome who wrote that ‘a church in Rome preserves the memory of St Clement to this day.’ However, in 1857 excavations under the present basilica, uncovered not only the original, fourth-century basilica directly underneath, but also at an even lower level, the remains of a first-century building! It really was a beautiful church and I lit a candle here in memory of Ian.

From San Clemente we moved to The palatine which stands 40 metres above the Forum Romanum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other. The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in the centre of Rome. It was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width, and could accommodate about 300,000 spectators! That's 3 times more than the MCG! After the Circus Maximus we headed to Palitine Hill.

History has shown artefacts that claim Palatine hill to be from 1000BC! So much history. From here we walked down to The Roman Forum which is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome. These building go back to 7th century BC. The size of the columns are just amazing. It was interesting in to hear that while thousands of years ago everything was covered in marble, over the centuries, the marble was removed and most of it ended up at the Vatican! Recycling at its best hundreds of years ago!!

From the forum we slowly started to head back to the hotel. We passed the Capitol and the VITTORIANO and decided to go and have a look. Well, actually I decided and Gary just went along! Lots more steps!!! It was now 3pm and we had been walking since 8am. Anyway, it was worth it. From the outside you could see nearly all of Rome. We got some fantastic panorama views from here (thanks for the camera Emma). We entered back into the Capitol and walked through the museum. The first statue we saw was the beautiful sculpture monument of the winged victory with horses. It was beautiful. We walked up more stairs to the next level. Here you are confronted with a massive sculpture of a horse and many soldiers. I can't remover the name of the soldier. I will need to wait until I get the photos developed to read the name! However, this structure alone is well worth a visit but the entire museum contains an Italian Military history and it's free entry.

It was terrible humid by now. It had been around 28 degrees all day and now a gentle rain was falling. So what do you do when it starts to rain at 4pm in Rome? Why you head for the nearest bar for happy hour of course!! So we sat in the Piazza Barbarini and watched the Romans go by while sipping on Après Spritzer's and Peroni beer. Aaaah what a wonderful way to pass the time. From here we reluctantly headed back to our Hotel. Only one more day in Rome :( Tomorrow is my final presentation so we won't get much sight seeing in tomorrow.

day five Rome

boznkaz — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 07:24:00 GMT

Today was another hectic yet fantastic day. We were up early again and had left our hotel by just after 7:30am. Today we started at the Vatican museum. We had the most amazing tour guide who was so knowledgable, we both really felt we gained so much from our tour. We walked though the many rooms of the museum looking at sculptures, tapestries and art work. All had a history to tell and we learned so much about not only the items but the creators as well. Some of the items were many hundreds or even thousands of years old.
From the museum we went to the Sistine chapel. It was 1986 when I last saw the chapel and it was being restored at that time. It remember it being really dark, and full of scaffolding while they carefully restored the entire ceiling and walls. I was only able to walk down the centre in between the scaffolding, so I really didn't get to see much. Today, however was completely different. The entire restoration is complete and while the chapel is still darker than the museum we could clearly see all of the paintings on the ceiling and walls. It was all so beautiful. Michelangelo was such a talented artist as well as a sculpture.
After leaving the Sistine chapel we went to St. Peter's square and the basilica. We had to line up for nearly an hour to get in because the entire square had been closed from 9 - 12pm for the papal audience. We didn't get to see the Pope because he had already returned to his apartment. Once inside the basilica we were both amazed by the beautiful sculptures and art work. The ceilings and walls were adorned with beautiful paintings and the mosaic on the floor was stunning.
We were hoping to climb the dome of the cathedral but there were just so many people in the square it was impossible to get from one side to another. Our guide told us that up to 100,000 people can attend the papal audiences and I think most where still there, even after the Pope left!
We left St. Peter's square and walked to Castel Saint'Angelo. It was a glorious sunny day (28 degrees) so it was beautiful walking around the buildings. We crossed the Tevere and headed back into Rome. Our next stop was the Piazza Novona. I really liked this piazza, it has a positive feel to it. There were market stalls and the usual sellers but it just had a nice vibe about it. The piazza had two small fountains at each end plus a large one in the middle known as the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or the Fountain of the Four Rivers. It is really beautiful.
We left the Piazza Novona and weaved our way along the narrow roads until we came to another plaza called Piazza di Pietra which has the Templo Adriona the fifteen Corinthian Columns of the Hadrian Temple. This is an amazing structure that was built in the first century!
We then went to the Pantheon. Gary had recently seen a documentary on the Pantheon so he was able to give me a private tour of all he could remember. The Pantheon is considered to be in the best condition of all the ancient buildings in Rome. It was also built in the first century. We sat outside the Pantheon and watched the sunset behind the buildings while enjoying a glass of chianti and peroni. It was perfect until a pigeon pooped on my arm!
We left the pantheon and wandered back past the Trevi fountains again. It is a magical place, where you could just sit and stare at the water for ages. It's very peaceful. But we left and headed back to the hotel. It was now 5:30pm and we had been on the go for 10 hours! We had and hours rest then went back out for tea. Tomorrow we are going to look at the ancient part of Rome including the Forum and the colosseum.

Rome

boznkaz — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 05:59:00 GMT

Wow, has it only been 4 days since we left? We seemed to have packed so much in, and today was no exception. We went our separate ways today. Gaz had wonderful day exploring Rome on the 'hop on hop off' tourist bus. The weather has been perfect and Gaz really enjoyed the double decker bus tour. Today was really about getting our bearings. We had no idea where north or south was and each time we went back to our hotel we went a different way, which led to even more confusion! So finally we have some idea where we are and how we get home!

I went to the conference today. I caught a taxi there because I had no idea where it was from our hotel. Thank goodness too, as it was at least 6 km away! The university is on the other side of the river and all up hill. Gorgeous views over the Vatican, but would have been hard work walking!! I was the only Australian at the conference and there are only 2 other nurses as the conference is a multi academic conference. It has been a wonderful day listening to other academic's research. Today I presented the findings from a small research that a colleague and I did a few years ago on introducing simulated learning into the bachelor of nursing. It was on the management perspective, that is what we did to make it work and how we have modified our original plans to ensure its sustainability.

I caught a taxi back to the Hotel and caught up with Gaz, who had only just returned after his day of sight seeing. We headed out again for our adventures. From our Hotel we went to the Spanish steps. We were lucky to arrive at the top of the steps, so we were able to take photos and then walk DOWN the many stairs to the bottom. Once we reached the bottom, we just headed further south towards the trevi fountains. There were hundreds of people there when we arrived. So different to 27 years ago! I can't get over the volume of people traveling now. Anyway, we both threw in some coins (apparently it means you will return) and then we moved to the back of the crowd where I spotted a gelati shop! yum! I had a lemon/lime and Gaz had a hazelnut. Oh they were yummy!

once we had our gelati, we headed towards the Piazza della repubblica. To do this we had to walk past Quirinal Palace, which is an historic building and the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the highest of the seven hills of Rome. Of course we didn't realise this until after we had walked by and wondered why all the police and guards were there!! From the palace we kept walking and we came across a ristorrante that had comfortable looking outdoor seats. We had been walking now for 3 hours so they looked really good! We stopped and had a Peroni (beer) and après spritzer (Champagne and pomegranate juice). Well, they were delicious so we had another! We only had a few blocks to walk back to our Hotel, thank goodness,

Time for another well earned sleep. Tomorrow is the Vatican City! Looking forward to that. Night all xxxxx

Paris

boznkaz — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 23:45:00 GMT

Sunday 20th October.

We both manged to get a good nights sleep and woke well before our alarm at 5am. We walked from the hotel to the train terminal where we caught a shuttle bus out to Rome airport. We managed to get some wifi and make a quick post on FB and send a few email, which was nice. I had already arranged boarding passes and we only had carry on luggage so we boarded quickly. We had the first row so Gaz could stretch his legs out! The flight from Rome to Paris only take 1:45min and it was smooth - no problems. We landed at Orly Airport at 12:30pm. We needed to catch the airport train to Antony and then change to City. This was our first mistake :( not sure how but we ended out back at the airport!!!! So it was another 20 min on our trip. Not the worst that could happen but annoying. We got off at Chatelet les Maison and had a short walk to our Hotel. We are just of the main rd Rue de Rivioli which runs parallel to the river Seine.

After quickly putting our bags away we started walking. We walked along the Rivioli past the Louvre (it's huge!) and walked through the gardens. Here we crossed the river and walked along the Seine all the way down to the Notre Dame cathedral. They have put a huge viewing platform in front of the cathedral, which has taken away the grandness of it. Not sure if this might just be temporary or if it is to be permanent. The cathedral is beautiful and we hope to get back tomorrow to have look through, but that will depend on time.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast at 6:30am and it was now 4pm! We walked along the smaller alleys and ended out having a pizza directly opposit the Australian Pub! Back to the hotel for a shower and changed into our evening clothes. We were doing an organised tour tonight and walked to our meeting point near the Lourve. We were taken by a double decker bus to the Eiffel Tower. Wow it is huge! when you stand underneath it and look up! it is enormous! We were taken up the elevator to the first level, which is the restaurant. We had a lovely meal overlooking Paris. Once finished, we had some free time to wander around the first level and take photos. We could also walk up the stairs to the next level but as it was cold and I had heels on, we decided against doing that!

From the Eiffel Tower we caught a boat and had a one hour cruise along the Seine. It was beautiful. We sat upstairs and just took all the sights in. The bridges were amazing. Each one was slightly different. Some were made of stone, others brick, metal and even wood. They were all spectacular. From the cruise we caught a bus back to our hotel. Gary is now sleeping and I am making the most of the free wifi. Our phone is still not connecting to the wifi, which is frustrating because we can't get any photos up. I will take the iPad with me tomorrow and get a few photos before we leave.

Tomorrow we start off with a 3 hour guided tour of the Louvre. I am really looking forward to this, but at it is now 12:10am, I am thinking it is time for me to sleep. It has been a long day but thoroughly enjoyable, Xx

Day one

boznkaz — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 03:57:00 GMT

Friday 18th October,

Today we spent almost 22 hours travelling. I thought I would get a big walk in before we left, so I would be tired and sleep on the plan. Kim, Anne and I did a massive 16km walk up through Cherokee (lots of hills). This plan didn't work though:( I wasn't tired and I had terribly sore glutes from walking!!! Massive fail.

We boarded Emirates on the big 380 at 1025pm. We were lucky enough not to have anyone sit next to us so we had 3 seats between us, which meant we could stretch out a bit more. Gaz had been at work all day so he managed to get off to sleep on around 2am but unfortunately I was so uncomfortable in my glutes I just couldn't get off to sleep. The food was great and the service was lovely, no complaints. We landed at Dubai on time at 5:25am, local time. We had 3 hours at the airport and walked nearly the entire time. We managed to get wifi at Maccas so I could update Facebook and we had a good chat with the kids via face time. We boarded at 9:10am and had another 7 hour trip. This time I did get about 2 hours sleep so I felt much better after that. We landed in Rome 15 min late and it took over an hour to clear customs! Two international planes landed close together and they only had 3 booths open so it just took ages to get through.

I had arranged for a car to pick us up so we had a lovely trip in a new back Mercedes from the airport to the Hotel. We had to go along a few back streets as there was a protest going on and there were police everywhere. We got settled into the hotel, had a quick shower then headed out to explore Rome. Everything was shut up so it was very quiet as the police had also cordoned off many streets due to the protest. Not sure what it was all about as the news was in Italian so couldn't getting he gist of it. Something to do with an increase in taxes. It was weird (and a bit disconcerting) seeing armed riot police everywhere. Will try and get photos up tonight too.

We found a nice resteraunt and had antipasto, pizza and pasta platter. Gaz had a peroni beer and I tried an arpre spritzer which was rephreshig but a bit like lucozade! We were back at the hotel by 7pm and Gaz is already asleep! We are leaving for Paris tomorrow at 9:45am so need to be up and out of here by 7am. It's going to be another big day.

good night xxxx

Photos: Who we are

boznkaz — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:17:00 GMT