The adventures of the Mel

My thoughts on Croatia

mel_mel — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:59:00 GMT

I'll keep this brief, namely because I've been tapping out the Dubrovnik tale for the past hour and my hands are a little sore.

Croatia was an amazingly beautiful country and I'm sad I only had two weeks to experience it in. It's full of not only natural beauty, but an inherent friendliness in the locals. They don't seem to resent tourists like many countries do - they were always warm and welcoming, eager to practice their English even when my butt-head husband spoke to them in English first. Another thing I really noticed is how safe I felt there. Usually when we travel I have a hand on my bag at all times, in particular when people get close or talk to you....but not here. Nobody was threatening or dodgy; everyone was just going about their daily lives and if they could help you they would. It was absolutely lovely not to be targeted because you're a tourist. Even in Dubrovnik you weren't accosted by people trying to sell you stuff - the only difference was that the people from restaurants would try to convince you to eat there.

Overall it was a great couple of weeks with some actual holiday in there, even if I did have to work through it. I will definitely return to Croatia at some point in the future. I couldn't think of much I didn't like!

Bottom three

3. Number of smokers everywhere

2. Too many people in Dubrovnik

1. Jetlag

Top nine

9. Having a hire car

8. Feeling safe all the time

7. All the stray cats being super friendly and pattable

6. Swimming all the time in the gorgeous coloured water

5. Vegetarian food in Dubrovnik

4. Spending a week on isolated Vis

3. The wonderfully friendly locals

2. The isolated beach on Vis lined by cliffs

1. Plitvice Lakes National Park

Peace out!

Dazzling Dubrovnik

mel_mel — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:08:00 GMT

Yes, I like alliteration. Shut it.

I'm obviously writing this retrospectively (again - why do I do this to myself??) but it's taken me ages to find the time....we kinda hit the ground running. So, where were we??

After getting off the ferry we headed south to Dubrovnik. Three and half hours and two passport checks later (to drive straight to Dubrovnik you have to go through Bosnia) and we were there (though too many windy roads had left me feeling a little worse for wear). We had to park in a public carpark and wait for our 'host' to come and pick us up. Marija arrived five minutes later and walked us up to our apartment. She was lovely and friendly, and very eager to point out her garden to us, though I just wanted to go to bed. I stayed up long enough to discover that she had wireless internet (yay!) and then I went straight to bed. The boys, strangely enough, stayed up and drank.

The next morning Andrew and I headed into the old city, only about a 10 minute walk down a number stairs from our apartment (Cam had already left for the day). We walked in and were slapped with the bustle of tourists, which was a rude awakening from our week on Vis. We lined up to buy a ticket to walk around the old walls, which was beautiful. It took about 45 minutes or so and you had to navigate around people that were walking more slowly than us/stopping to take photos, but it was worth the $15 or so it cost. The walk elicited thoughts of the Great Wall of China, as there were many stairs taking you up and down the stone walls as you circled the city, though Andrew assures me that the similarities are only superficial. The pathway itself was reasonably narrow in some/most places. Generally speaking there is enough room for one person to walk each way, but only in some sections was it wider than this. The entire perimeter of the wall was also peppered with small squares where you could stop for some easier and sometimes prettier photos. Looking in you could see the plethora of orange rooved buildings, mostly new after being shelled in 1991. Looking out you could see the ocean, the new town, and many cliff-lined rocky 'beaches', depending on your position on the wall.

The walk helped me to adjust to the ridiculous number of people floating around the city somewhat - though we found out later that it was a very busy day - three cruise ships had disengorged for the day. Wish I'd known that sooner! We walked around inside the old town, and it is quite a beautiful city - I very much understand the appeal. Despite having been almost destroyed in the shelling of 1991, everything still seems to have the age of a standard European old town. Even the main street's stone were that 'shiny' that comes from countless people traipsing across it. The photos tell a better story than I will now, from a memory a week and half old.

We popped into Europe's oldest pharmacy, which, despite the number of old jars lining the walls floor to ceiling, is still a functioning chemist. We bypassed the Monastery and headed into a photography musuem displaying powerful images of war, from the recent conflicts in Libya, Bahrain, Egypt to older images taken during the fall of Yugoslavia. Some photos were very graphic, which I wasn't quite prepared for, but years of watching trash like CSI allowed me to pretend it wasn't real so that I wouldn't vomit. One particularly powerful photograph was of a bare-chested child solider from somewhere in Africa bearing a large automatic weapon, looking up at the photographer with sad, wide eyes. We spent quite a long time in the museum, looking at the photographs and reading the descriptions of what was happening and where it was from. It's one museum that I will never forget.

After that sobering time we trekked up to just outside the old town to take the cable car up for a panoramic view of the city. I can't say it was my favourite thing, and the attendant had a bit of a chuckle at my white-gripped knuckles on the bar and Andrew's shirt. Once up there we had a bit of a walk around, including in an abandoned building that has not been touched since the shellings - enter at your own risk. Sure Andrew, why ISN'T that a good idea??

Thankfully we didn't stay up there too long, and headed back down to have some lunch. I am thrilled to report that Dubrovnik does vegetarian food VERY well. We had lunch at a vegetarian place that was so good, we went back and had dinner there the next night. After a huge salad and some chickpea 'burgers' (tastes much better than it sounds, believe me) we explored the old town a little more. Not much more to report aside from coming across a camera crew filming something in front of an old church. More exciting was the almost pure white boxer that came trotting across.

Dinner that night was at a place call the Taj Mahal, and it was spectacular. Though definitely not vegetarian, it had a vegetarian section and was one of the best vegetarian meals I've ever had. Also possibly the largest because I ordered three separate plates. Eggplant-wrapped soft cheese (similar to ricotta but with various herbs and spices), grilled skewered vegetables and grilled mushrooms filled with a delicious cream cheese....I went home very full but DAMN it was worth it!!

The next day Andrew and I headed out to an island called Lokrum and had a walk around there. The island honestly didn't have much...but we were totally okay with that. There was a botanical gardens there, and as soon as you enter you felt like you were at home, with the Australian section first up. Gums, wattles, bottlebrushes...awesome. We wandered around for a while but quickly discovered that much of the island was closed off for risk of bushire, so quickly made our way to one of the rocky beaches. We did pass an inland 'sea' (read small lake) were there was a young family splashing about, though it lacked the beautiful turquoise colour that is almost ubiquitous in this country. Upon arriving at the beach we laid out our towels and went for a swim (this time I bought my swimming shoes). Because it is so rocky you can't just wander in - they have installed ladders like you see at pools and from the bottom you have to dive in AWAY from the rocks. It's a little different to what we're used to, for sure. Still, don't have to worry about anything eating you I guess. We lazed around for about 2 hours, and after another quick dip we headed back to catch the ferry to the mainland.

One thing I do love about being surrounded by so many tourists is the plethora of different languages you hear around you. Some are easily identifiable (French, Italian, Spanish, German), others leave you guessing (that's not quite Italian but it's not Croatian....what is that??), which is a fun past-time.

Getting back to the mainland we finally found the bar 'with the most beautiful views', and they're not far wrong. It is perched almost precariously on a cliff face, and you sip on your drink whilst looking out at the beach from the cliffs above, watching swimmers below or boats further out. Not a bad way to spend a sunset.

We headed back to pick Cam up and head out for dinner back to the vegetarian place for dinner, and we weren't disappointed. It was REAL vegetarian food - not just a dish without meat, which is hard to find anywhere let alone in Croatia. Dubrovnik certainly wins my vote for food.

And that, is just about it. We headed back and as usual, the boys stayed up drinking and I went to sleep. We had to be up and ready to go by 9:30 am so that we could check out, collect our car (which was now in a private carpark belonging to the owner of the apartment) and make the drive back up to Split to catch our plane. A great last day, but I didn't exactly want to come home. At least we had a needy, clingy kitten to come home to....

Dubrovnik photos

Hanging out on Vis (warning: long and includes rant)

mel_mel — Wed, 5 Oct 2011 18:52:00 GMT

I’m sitting on the ferry that will take us from Vis back to Split, from where we will drive to Dubrovnik, and I can’t believe that week is over already. Only another three nights till we board a plane, and only another 30 or so hours after that we will be home; probably by the time this goes online it will be even closer.

On one hand I don’t really have much to report – generally speaking our days have gone a little something like:

*Get up and have first breakfast

*Go for a walk and a morning swim

*Come home and have second breakfast

*Go out and drive to a secluded beach

*Lie on beach for a few hours

*Come back home and have a late lunch

*Read a book/do some work/or in the case of the boys, drink lots of wine

*Go out for dinner (and the boys drink more wine)

*Go home to bed (and yet the boys drink still more wine).

Lucky for them the wine is only about $5 a bottle.

The island is just beautiful and I am sad to leave it. In town (Komiža) the almost medieval streets wind their way through the town, towered over by buildings that elicit memories of Venice. The locals are unbelievably friendly and English is widespread, which helps make up for our lousy Croatian. Even the half-stray cats are ridiculously friendly (though mostly searching for food, they are not against a bit of a pat) and are making me miss our little baby back home. I am very glad that she is in good hands, but I can’t wait to cuddle her (whether she likes it or not) when we get home!

I am almost used to pebble beaches now – they have the marvellous advantage of lacking sand. Sure, it’s hard to be graceful on a pebble beach – but you don’t get sand EVERYWHERE, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. We did go to the one sandy beach on the island, which was okay (but nothing on Australian sandy beaches), but when we got home I remembered why I’m not a huge beach person. I dislike sand. In a big way. I enjoyed the walk around the outskirts of the beach much more – it had some stunning views, which I unfortunately only had my phone, so the photos are a bit ‘digital’.

***edit – if you’re only interested in travel stuff, skip this next very long, philosophising paragraph***

One thing that I have been thinking a lot about since embracing the pebble beaches is body image. After spending a week on these beaches, I have come to think that Australians have a very poor sense of body image and what is ‘perfect’. I think that at home people (women in particular) have a very warped view of what bodies should look like and we, very unfortunately, too readily cover ourselves up because we don’t fit an ideal that is often impossible to achieve. One thing that I have discovered over here in Europe is a glorious acceptance of my body. At home I wouldn’t dare go to the beach in a bikini – I feel far too....not perfect, far too old and far too judged. Here....every woman is in a bikini. Many bathe topless. Nobody flaunts, nobody hides...your body just is. It is just wonderful. Now, I know that people like my Dad are shaking their heads and saying ‘See, that’s what we’ve been trying to tell you’; but it’s one thing to be told you don’t look so bad....it’s another entirely to feel it. I wish that we would learn something from this, but I know that sadly that our society is just much too image focused. I know that it will only take a few days for me to get home to be reluctant to get into a bikini again, and this makes me sad. We are our own worst enemies. We are surrounded by media harping on about various aspects of body image; weight loss, weight gain, flattering clothes, poses and even sections dedicated to fashion faux pas’; but until we (and perhaps I should write women) stop caring about these things and stop buying and feeding the media, we will be forever surrounded by it. It is an awful cycle that I don’t know how to break. It’s not enough to just tell your daughter to ignore what she sees around her and that she is beautiful. How do you instil the belief that you are beautiful, and the self-confidence to ignore the tripe around you? I guess it thoroughly relates to how I feel about self-acceptance and individuality. Too often we are told that we should do this or shouldn’t do that <insert long list of society’s expectations here>. You know what? Fuck normal. Fuck different. Everyone just is. I wish that everybody would accept everybody for who they are and keep their god damned judgements to themselves. So what if they’re wearing something that you think is comical? They obviously like it. So what if you wouldn’t let your child do that? That’s obviously a choice the parents have made. So what if you would have done that differently? Their choice, not yours. One of the best lines I’ve read in a very long time is that you’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to dish it out unsolicited (and yes, I appreciate the implicit irony of including that at the end of my own diatribe).

So anyway.....Vis, right? (Sorry about that!) The first day (Thursday) we just strolled around the town and lay down on the town’s pebble beach, and had a bit of a think about what we would do over the next few days. Friday saw our venture to the sandy beach and then a beautiful lunch at a tavern called Golub. The boys ordered a combination of meat and seafood, and I had some lovely grilled vegetables. It’s interesting how they do their vegetables, they are definitely grilled, but they also come dripping in a very light oil – it didn’t give you that heavy feeling that oil often does.

Saturday was probably my favourite day – we drove the car to another isolated place and trekked our way down to the secluded cove below. Now, when I say trekked, I mean we freaking trekked. About a third of the way down I didn’t want to continue anymore, it was steep and there were heaps of loose rocks or slippery rocks and my knees and ankles were not amused. We eventually made it down and were rewarded with a beautiful sight; the beach’s deliciously blue water is towered over by two very tall cliffs. Getting into the water and swimming out between the two cliffs very much consolidated the feeling of ‘I’m on freaking holiday, baby’. Trekking back up the steep trek was much easier, though I have to admit that I got a bit lost at one point because sometimes the path looked like a sheer cliff face.

Later that afternoon Andrew picked me up and cracked my little toe on an open window, which pretty much tore off its nail (it’s hanging by not much), so I unfortunately had a very work-filled Sunday – I couldn’t stand the thought of having to navigate a pebble beach, so the boys went and had some quality time of their own. We did go out to tea at a great restaurant named Babba, which was coincidentally run by the same people that ran the tavern Golub. We tried a dish which we think was Swedes ‘Dalmation’ style. I could tell you that it had basil in it and that it was absolutely delicious....but apart from that I’m not sure.

Monday saw us trek up to a cave called Tito’s cave – I’m a little hazy on the details because they were delivered in Italian, but from what we could gather, it was where the former leader of Yugoslavia hid out for many years. Aside from the interesting snippet of history, it was pretty anti-climactic. We trekked up further and found a church named Duh. That was absolutely my highlight of the day. That, and the view of Komiža from Duh was pretty spectacular. We ate again at Babba (this time taking Cam with us).

Which brings me to today. After checking out and saying goodbye to Tomislav and his wife and Duje (which I was wrong about the pronunciation – it’s more like Doo-yeah), we drove to Vis town and had a bit of an explore. The boys were also keen to explore some random isolated area, which was a nice walk but had a lot of abandoned bunkers that made me feel like I was walking into a horror movie (or the muzzle of a gun held by some crazed drug lord). Needless to say I backed out, much to Andrew’s disappointment (he just said, ‘I thought they were cool...’. Of course you did, moronface). And now, we’re on the ferry making our way back to the mainland.

Apologies for the long post (and the rant). Like I said, on one hand I don’t feel like I’ve got much to report, on the other (which I didn’t get to say) I did have to cover a week and some contemplation. I will hopefully update about Dubrovnik before we leave, but otherwise it will make its way online shortly after we return. I can’t believe we’ve only got another three nights till we leave. Sad face.

Vis photos

Until then, Gadget.

Getting to Vis

mel_mel — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:44:00 GMT

After the long day we had at Plitvice, we were not not looking forward to the day of travel in order to get to Vis. We very casually got ready in the morning, I tried to frantically upload some photos but ended up getting booted out of the accommodations before I had time to order and label them (they are currently ordered....I'll get around to labelling them; there's only so much time I want to spend on my laptop at the moment).

Into the car and off back to Split where we were to catch a car ferry across to the island Vis. On the way we stopped in at two towns, Šibenik and Primošten. Šibenik was a quiet little town that had more to offer than just its beautiful weather, though we didn't do anything aside from walk around the town for an hour. Aside from its prominent cathedral it has a number of monasteries and museums, though the one thing I would have liked to do seemed to be too difficult to find. Although not strictly speaking in Šibenik, just nearby there is the Sokolarski Centre, where they rehabilitate raptors (as in birds, not veloci-; but that would be cool. What a perilous job! *fades away JD style* *chuckle* Better change the locks on those doors. Ahem). Sadly, we didn't have the energy to find it (all reports say it's hard to find).

So instead we moved on to Primošten, a gorgeous little town just south of Šibenik. Interestingly, the guidebook talked about what a beautiful little medieval town Šibenik was but only mentioned Primošten in passing, when we really clicked with the small town which seemed much more medieval than Šibenik. We wandered around the old town of Primošten for a while (not long enough to be honest, but we had to keep an eye on the parking). We kind of skirted around the city and strolled along the waterfront, enjoying the warmth and the many topless bathers that gather on the pebble beaches. Kind of hard to understand as an Australian, but I guess you make do with what you've got.

After our stroll we jumped back into our car and moved back to Split. After purchasing tickets to the car ferry, we popped back up to the little stall(which I think I forgot to mention last time) where we had some of the best gelati I've ever had. I guess Croatia is pretty damn close to Italy. Jumped onto the ferry and sat on the top deck for a while watching the sun set, and then back inside to read until we arrived at Vis.

A short drive to the other end of the island, as we are staying in Komiža rather than Vis town and we were welcomed by our host Tomislav. Turns out the wonderfully Tomislav speaks fluent Italian, which has made this part of the trip infinitely easier. I always underestimate how much Italian I know until I compare it to my Croatian (about 6 words and 2 phrases). The boys understand pretty much everything Tomislav says but it's pretty much left to me to speak, but that's okay. I wasn't expecting to get to practice my Italian in Croatia, but I'm not complaining!!

Tomislav and his wife have a gorgeous little dog called Duje (pronounced Doo-yay) who is very sweet and loves a good pat, though is shy enough to not be the annoying little dog that you pat out of obligation. He brings out the 'Soo cuuuuuute!' in me.

We shuffled in and I essentially went straight to bed whilst the boys (surprise, surprise) went out for a beer. This morning we gave our passports to Tomislav as he explained the island and its sights and also treated us to some very lovely lemonade - real lemonade, made with lemons and sugar. I've actually never had it before; I always thought it was some crazy American thing, and it was fantastic. I was expecting it to pucker up my cheeks but it wasn't sour at all. Win!

Komiža is a gorgeous, quiet little coastal town that sees enough tourists that most people speak very good English (and most menus have an English side) but at this time of year there are very few tourists here, just mostly locals. The one thing that stands out (well, aside from the beautiful aging European buildings that tower over the winding streets that almost elicits thoughts of labyrinths if it weren't for the beaming sun and the heat it throws out) is the large number of half-stray cats everywhere. I say half-stray because with only a couple of exceptions, none are manky and skinny or make you think 'Hell no I'm not patting you'. We presume they are stray because there are so many of them, but they are certainly fed and they are very friendly - they'll walk up to you for a pat and miaow (particularly the plethora of very, very cute kittens). They are cared for, but not looked after. There is one that hangs around here that originally we thought was very cute and friendly but is now starting to get a little demanding. Makes Pixel look not needy at all. Miaow miaow miaow pat me miaow miaow miaow. I was happy to the first 20 times, but now you need to go away and leave us alone. Please. I miss my kitty!!

So anyway, today has consisted of: walking into town to buy breakfast; eating breakfast; strolling around town; going for a swim; patting cats; updating blogs and FB; and soon to be reading. It's a hard-knock life.

Peace out!

Šibenik and Primošten photos.

P.S. Photos from Vis will come with a later update.

The gorgeous Plitvice Lakes National Park

mel_mel — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:47:00 GMT

Hope you’re all enjoying the terrible weather back home. I won’t rub it in by talking about how beautifully sunny and close to 30 degrees it is here. Because I’m a nice, caring person.

I imagine by now many of you have seen my (unordered and unlabelled) photos of Plitvice Lakes National Park, or Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera. We probably should have seen it towards the end of our trip rather than the start, because it was absolutely stunning and is going to be might hard to top. For those of you who don’t know, Plitvice Lakes National Parks boasts a cascade of sixteen lakes littered with waterfalls and brilliant turquoise colours. It’s also the largest national park in the country.

We woke bright and early (one of the benefits of doing it at the start of your trip – you’re still waking around 6 am) and arrived at the gates at the opening time (8 am). We took a not-dodgy-at-all bus-train up to the top lake (Prošćansko) and weaved our way down the cascade, all the way to the bottom eventually. The top sections of the lakes were largely navigated by gorgeous rustic boardwalks, which were a beautiful kind of dilapidated with the unfortunate consequence of being unable to walk and scan the views at the same time. No siree, you had to watch where you put your feet, otherwise you’d end up like a few people we saw along the way – very wet!

The environment changed considerably throughout the park, from lush parkland to reeded ponds to gorgeous moss-littered forests to cliffs peppered with the greens, reds and oranges of evergreen and deciduous trees to more cliffs with tumbling, gushing waterfalls to small, so-turquoise-you-feel-like-you’re-staring-inappropriately lakes to large, breathtaking lakes. All I’ve been able to find on what produces the colours (which range across a large breadth of the blue-green spectrum) is that they have a ‘unique’ mix of minerals and organisms.

As we moved along we frequently ran into signs that pointed to whereabouts we were on the cascade and told us how deep the lake we were walking around was. The day was fairly foggy and then hazy, which meant as the sun got brighter it actually made it harder to see, so unfortunately the pictures pale in comparison to the real thing by more than usual. We continued to traipse downhill, stopping frequently to ogle the different lakes and waterfalls, navigating boardwalks, stairs and dirt tracks long the way.

After a rest at lunch we made our way down to the bottom to the main waterfall, Veliki Slap. It’s apparently the tallest in Croatia at 78 m, although I have to admit that I found features like the small turquoise lakes and the tiny waterfalls cascading over moss-covered rocks more beautiful. Each to their own I guess. Probably didn’t help that the largest concentration of tourists was found at the foot of Veliki Slap. Oh well.

We wandered our way back out of the lakes and took a short ferry across the largest lake in the middle, Kozjak. From there we trundled home through the gorgeous forest that I mentioned in my previous post, which rivalled a few sections in the National Park in my opinion.

We had dinner at our accommodations, and although I’m pretty sick of meat already (what would you like for dinner: meat or fish?) it was actually pretty damn tasty. It’s been hard to find vegetarian food that’s not just potatoes and garden salad – haven’t found any yet. I think I’m going to go crazy. I think that Andrew and Cam are enjoying all the seafood though.

Okay, now I’m hungry.

Plitvice Lakes

Welcome to Hrvatska.

mel_mel — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:31:00 GMT

How is it that I didn't know that Croatia was the name that we give the country? It took me about two hours to realise that Hrvatska is the country's native name. I blame it on my jet-lag, which seems to have hit me hard this time round. Yes, I know, I'm ancient-ly old now, so that is what I should expect. *raspberry*

After what seemed an incredibly long set of flights, we finally arrived in Split at one of the most informal airports I've ever stepped foot in. We walked across the tarmac in a haphazard fashion, not guided by officials but just following the crowd. Into the building 500 m later and wait in line to have your passport stamped, and welcome! Customs?? What are customs??

We jumped into our hire car and started to make our way into Split. We thought we were so damn clever getting a hire car; no need for buses or trains, the ability to carry our luggage easily (and acquire extra along the way)....we thought we were awesome. Until we realised that Split is dominated by one way streets and a set-back with the GPS meant that Cameron (Andrew's mate that we are travelling with) was attempting to navigate with a shoddy tourist map littered with frustrating tourist icons rather than giving an accurate portrayal of roads. Adventure!!!

Needless to say, getting to our accommodation took about three times longer than it should have. The bright side is that we got to see a lot of Split in the process. After checking in, we mosied down on into the old town to check out the small centre that we hadn't seen in the car.

There's not a great deal going on in Split, but that's not a bad thing. The town had quite a chilled vibe to it, although possibly because they're not far from entering the low season. Have I mentioned that I love travelling to Europe in September? Great weather and not as many other tourists.

Anyway, the only place really mentioned in your guidebook is Diocletian's Palace, which is not any one particular building you trot off to see, but rather the old structure that the 'old town' is situated in. Lonely Planet tells me that it consists of 220 buildings and you can find museums, a cathedral, a temple, and galleries amongst the plethora of cafes, bars and shops. Didn't check out anything in particular, just wandered around the mostly narrow, quiet streets (it was a Sunday afternoon). You have to watch your step though; the cobblestone streets have been walked over MANY times and they are quite slippery. Andrew nearly came a cropper a few times, but that's his own fault for wearing thongs. Stupid Andrew. It was a nice break up to the kind of zombie like shuffle that we had going on though. Shuffle....shuffle....shuffle...slap, slap, whoah, slap, slap, slap, slap.....shuffle...shuffle.

The boys decided fairly quickly that it was happy hour, and we settled in at a bar about 100 m from our apartment. I piked fairly quickly and even fell asleep at about 6:30 pm and missed dinner. Slept all the way through to about 6 am this morning, so it was obviously well needed.

We went for another stroll this morning, and stumbled upon the fish market (which we knew existed) and a wonderful fruit and vegie market (which we didn't know existed). Come to think of it, I want a banana.

Mmmmm....tasty, tasty banana.

This afternoon we made our way to Plitvice Lakes National Parks and have settled in nicely to our rooms here. We are staying at an 'Eco-House', though we're not really sure what's so 'eco' about it. Rooms are cute and the buildings are gorgeously Swiss-chalet-y. We went for a stroll down to the park entrance to check out when it opens and all that jazz, and we were blessed with a crunchy gravel path winding through a stunning canopied forest.

I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow when we spend all day at the national park. I daresay I will have more (and prettier photos) afterwards. But for now....rest time. :)

Hope you're all well!

Split photos

The end....sigh.

mel_mel — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:02:00 GMT

Okay, so this is a LITTLE delayed. At least when I write things retrospectively it means I don’t blab on so much. If you breathe a word about me and blabbing and retrospect not making a difference, I will come and smack you down. Well, I might glare at you. Possibly even kick you in the shins with my boots.

So....where were we?? Venice I believe. Well, I probably should have written about it earlier, because I ended up getting sick and hence not seeing much else, not that it worried me too much, being my third visit.

We arrived and found our little B&B about a 15 minute walk from the station. It was pretty cute, albeit with rooms that really danced on the line of quaint and kitschy. And by danced I mean it did the hokey pokey. However, it was conveniently located and the owners were lovely, giving me yet another chance to practice my Italian. Forse devo scrivere questo in italiano...ma non penso che avete capito.

Anyway, we went for a walk around Venice for a couple of hours, buying a map from the information office and promptly stuffing it away and exploring Venice in the best possible way – just wandering around. I did show Tess St. Mark’s square and the Rialto Bridge, but for the most part we just mosied around and enjoyed the ambience. And the relative cool. We did find a wing–ding–a–ling lion that was pretty cool (see photos). We ended up having one of the best dinners that we’d had since been here, so good in fact that we had dinner at the same place on our third night there.

The second day I have nothing to report on because I spent all freaking day sick in bed. Tess did go to Murano and Burano of which I was a little jealous. The third day I spent rather slowly wandering around Venice, so I have not much to report apart from the fact that I found a park! In Venice!! Who woulda thunkit? It was so green and so....not what I think of when I think of Venice. It was kinda cool to see an area that I hadn’t.

So the next day we bundled up and head back to the most amazing B&B in Santa Maria degli Angeli (the town near Assisi), to see Lanfranco and Marcella again. As usual, we were greeted warmly and shown to our room (though this time it was the other side, which unfortunately for Tess lacked the bath that she was looking forward to).

We didn’t get up to much that night (well, Tess enjoyed a bottle of wine and we both enjoyed a lot of chocolate) because the next day we went to Perugia’s Eurochocolate festival. In hindsight feasting on chocolate the night before going to a chocolate festival is probably not the best idea I’ve ever had because by the time we got there I had lost all of my cravings for the stuff. Don’t worry, it didn’t stop me!

It was sensation overload – the dull roar of the crowd peppered with dancey music tracks; the bustle of the crowd as you try to very slowly make your way down the main street littered with chocolate stalls, selling everything from normal chocolate wares and various AMAZING flavours of hot chocolate, to chocolate popcorn, pizza and kebabs (the souvlaki kind, not shish kabob). That’s chocolate pizza and chocolate kebabs, just in case you were confused. If only I was hungry! L

Anyway – back to sensation overload: we’ve done sight, sound and touch. The main sense that I remember is smell – the amazing blanket smell of chocolate in the air. Mmmmm...it was fantastic! We didn’t satisfy our taste until the end – trying to buy chocolate at any stall was a little overwhelming – you had to fight your way through the crowds and then request in Italian and try to hear the response. Lots of pointing and smiling to be had!

After getting some chocolate (which didn’t taste very dissimilar to Lindt, I might add) we headed back to Assisi and went to bed ready for our trip back to Rome the next day. We farewelled Lanfranco and Marcella once again (they were just so wonderful!) and boarded the train for our last 24 hours or so in Italy.

This time we stayed near the Vatican as Tess was going to head to the Vatican museum in the morning. We were very pleasantly surprised with the room – it was quite large, containing a couch, a large round coffee table and even a chess board. We decided that given this we would spend our last night in....style? We went for a walk to the Pantheon and on our way back we grabbed a bottle of wine for Tess (I already had a bottle of wine that I could not open previously due to the lack of a bottle opener. Yes I googled it and saw that it was possible, but the methods were a little noisy for our previous accommodations!). Woohoo! A bottle of wine each and a chess game later and we were quite happy.

Unfortunately for Tess she had to get up very early to go to the Vatican. I had previously said that I would get up and go for a walk, but clearly I reneged on this idea and stayed in bed. And that’s pretty much it folks. We packed up, went for a quick walk, returned for our bags then made our way to the airport for our flights home. It was long and tedious, as all good flights are, with horrid turbulence just in case you wanted to sleep (which I was trying not to, arriving at 10:30 pm at night). I was thrilled that my theory of declaring at customs gets you through quicker was upheld as I got out a good 5 – 10 minutes before Tess. Thank you Genovese pesto. Mmmmmm....pesto.

And now I’m at home with my wonderful boy and my darling kitten, who is growing up so fast! She is still stunning, I believe! And now I get to return to work tomorrow, joy of infinite joys. So, until next time...which I am not sure when this will be as I have to save for a bloody wedding. Sigh.

Peace out!!

Le Cinque Terre revisited

mel_mel — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:56:00 GMT

Go go Gadget blog writer!

Abracadabra?!

Ummm....here’s one I prepared earlier?

Sigh.

You know, one would think that this would be easier considering the number of posts that I have written. Mind you, one might also think that I wouldn’t take as many photos of places that I’ve already seen. One can think a lot of things I suppose <enter philosophical mindset here> <leave philosophical mindset here>.

Le Cinque Terre was amazing, not that I was expecting anything different. We booked into the same hostel I stayed at last time and despite not having the most awesome roommates, it was an enjoyable stay. The woman behind the desk was fantastic – I remembered her from last time. After we arrived I went for a stroll around Levanto and saw more of it than I did last time. Most of my strolling was along the beach, which was lovely. At one end of the beach there was a guy playing with a remote controlled car on the sand, which was being chased and barked at by a somewhat hyperactive little dog; this was amusing for most people on the beach, methinks.

I continued walking along the walking track beside the beach, which stretched through tunnels and went on for a lot longer than I could afford the time. After returning to the hostel we ate at the place across from the hostel, which has changed hands so no longer serves cocktails (fail) and we had to wait 45 minutes for our meal when there were only three other tables being used (double fail). Oh well.

The next day we got up super early to go hike the trail. Last time you may (or most likely, not) remember that I hiked from Levanto to Riomaggiore and got the train back. This time we did it in reverse. On our way to the station we met a long lost relative of Mr. Quacky, which was awesome. He made Mr. Quacky look very big and clean! We boarded the train and ended up in La Spezia because when the train stopped in Riomaggiore our carriage was in a tunnel and instead of listening to my gut response I took Tess’s common sense advice that it wasn’t a stop. Grrr! Well, we got to see La Spezia then. We, uhh, planned it that way.

We got back to Riomaggiore about an hour and a half later (sigh) and began the trek. It was a fantastic sunny day for it and stretching my legs felt great! There were a lot more locks everywhere this time though – well, more than I remember at least. It seemed like a lot of netting and wiring had been put up so that people could lock their love to the passage as there was scant room at the original point.

We strolled from Riomaggiore to Manarola and halfway to Corniglia, as part of the track was closed due to mudslides. We had to take the train from Manarola to Corniglia and then make our way up 382 steps, which I freaking loved but Tess didn’t overly appreciate. My lungs were burning when I got to the top, but I wanted to do it again. Woot! Go cardio!!

From there we continued our way to Vernazza, and it was certainly a lot more ‘hike-y’ than between the first three towns. Along the way we were rewarded with amazing ocean views and the wonderful warm caress of a gentle autumn sun.

At Vernazza we sat down for a great lunch then went and basked in the sun for about an hour. Tessa decided to call it quits after this so I was to go it alone to Monterosso and then on to Levanto. Tess probably made a good choice as the trek was a lot harder in these last legs than at the start. I certainly think it’s better to do it in the direction that I did originally. However, some of the scenery was spectacular! Looking back at Vernazza and then at Monterosso was just beautiful. It probably helped that by this time the sun wasn’t behind the towns so they were more clearly lit.

Whilst in Monterosso I decided to fill up my water bottle at a water fountain (which wasn’t overly easy to find), but as I opened my bottle I dropped the lid down a grate! Oh noes!!!! I stood there in disbelief, knowing that I didn’t have enough money to buy another bottle or to get a train home. NOOOO!! Thankfully the woman who owned the restaurant was sitting outside and had seen me do it, so sold me a bottle of water for 50 euro cents. I freaking love you lady. You are so awesome that we should create a new word to describe you. Fantawesometastic.

So, freshly hydrated, I set off for the last 2.5 hour leg to Levanto. On the way I detoured slightly to get to Punta Mesco which for some reason I don’t remember seeing last time. It was just incredible – literally breathtaking. I could have stayed for hours but there was a guy sitting down sipping his tea and taking in the scene, which is probably good because I would be cutting it close to getting home before it got too dark if I stayed too long.

So after that amazing sight, I continued hiking on to Levanto. This was indeed a hike – my legs ached, my lungs burned and I went up and down and up and down. It was FANTASTIC!! I did get a bit of a fright when I heard a rustle and turned around expecting a lizard but instead saw a snake slithering away. After describing this to a local I bumped into, they explained it was probably a viper. You know, only their most dangerous snake. Whatever. Every rustle after that made me a little edgy!

Finally after about 2 hours or so and passing a few vineyards and lone houses I could see Levanto down below. I made it down and collapsed into a wonderful hot shower. We didn’t even end up going out for tea – we ordered a pizza to go and sat down by the beach and devoured it. Mmmmm...tasty, tasty pizza.

We pretty much went straight to bed (after I charged the lappy) as we were getting up very early the next day to head to Venice, which I will write about when we’ve been here a bit longer. Right now I think I might have a nap.

Ciao!!

Le Cinque Terre photos.

Lovely Lucca

mel_mel — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 23:19:00 GMT

I’m sitting in the B&B in Lucca and not wanting to leave this place. Today is our last day here and then we’re off to Le Cinque Terre. Sure, it’s beautiful and great, but I had forgotten how much I love this place.

Last time Andrew and I only stayed for one night, but it was enough to develop an appreciation for the town. Two years and a swell of tourists later, it still has an amazing relaxing feel to it and is as beautiful as ever.

You may remember (or may not) that Lucca (well, the old city part) is entirely surrounded by stone walls originally designed for defence. These days you can walk the 4 km track on top of the walls and it is a lovely circuit, whether you are strolling, walking, jogging or riding. There are many other people doing the same thing but it doesn’t feel like a tourist activity (even though technically it is). You just walk along the walls and look out at the area above, inward at the old churches and buildings of Lucca or just in front of you at the tree lined path currently covered in crisp crunchy autumn leaves that are perfect for jumping on.

There are also a few parks along the wall that are perfect for lying around in the sun. Mmmm....sun. Did I mention how wonderfully sunny it has been here so far? Ahhhh....

Anyway, the city of Lucca is busier than I remembered. Perhaps I came on a Sunday, because I don’t remember all these shops that have widened Tess’s eyes for the first time. We have had gelati only three times so far, and probably at least another one time today. Probably. It is a bit cooler today, but I doubt that that will stop us. The first one I had was an interesting (but thoroughly enjoyable) flavour – pine nut icecream. I was uncertain if it would work, but Step 3 – Profit! says otherwise.

We have walked around many of the streets here, looked at quite a few churches and old buildings but haven’t really taken the time to admire them. I did only just realise that the Church of San Michele is not the main church – I thought it was. The cathedral of San Martino is the main church. I had never seen it from the front – Andrew and I only saw the side of it. It is not overly dissimilar to San Michele (has a facade that elicits visions of wedding cakes) but has a tower with it as well.

Last night we bumped into an American girl named Stephanie who had come to Italy all by herself, so we invited her out for dinner. She is absolutely lovely but the poor thing had had a long day and was very tired, so we didn’t stay out for long. Dinner was nice, Tess was the stand out winner – her rare beef with mushrooms was delicious. My red pesto pasta was okay, certainly better than the very poor meal we ate the night before. Serves us right for sitting at a restaurant clearly aimed at tourists. Ah well. Win some, lose some.

This morning we went out and walked outside the walls which, cars aside, was beautiful. For the rest of the day I think we will go out for another walk and not do a whole lot – we need to conserve our energy for hiking Le Cinque Terre in a couple of days. Now, where is that gelati store???

Also, I wrote you guys a poem. Kind of. It’s to be sung to a favourite song of mine. If you can’t figure out the song, we probably shouldn’t be friends.

Look at this place, isn’t it neat?

Wouldn’t you think you could stay here a week?

Wouldn’t you think we’re the girls,

The girls who are, so awesome.

Look at this street, treasures untold,

How many wonders can one city hold?

Lookin’ around here you think,

Sure, it’s got everything!

It’s got churches and vistas aplenty,

It’s got vias and cycles galore.

You want trattorias? It’s got 20!*

But who cares? No big deal! You want more?

You wanna be where the people are?

You wanna see, wanna see those stone walls?

Walking along on those (whattya call em? Oh, feet!)

Sitting at home you don’t get too far,

Planes are required for seeing Lucca.

Strolling along down the (what’s that word again) street.

Here where they walk, here where they run,

Here where they stay all day in the sun,

Wandering free, wish you could be, here in Lucca.

What would I give, if I could live within these stone walls.

What would you pay, to spend a day away from home.

Betcha you’d roam, maybe you’d phone, but you don’t miss overcrowded malls.

Bright sunny days, warm beaming rays, a peaceful tone.

I’m happily talking to the locals,

Ask ‘em my questions and get some answers like

Where’s the bank and at which street do I turn?

What else can I learn? Think that I’d love to explore this city some more.

Here in the sun. Isn’t this fun? Here in Lucca.

*(spoken very quickly) Actual town may or may not contain 20 trattorias. Number given as a rough estimate to fit into song pattern only.

Lucca photos

Fabulous Firenze

mel_mel — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 22:49:00 GMT

Okay, so I clearly didn’t post the day after. Ah...what are you gonna do? Currently in Lucca (which I will write about next) and thought I’d better jot down a few thoughts about Firenze before they flitter away <insert witty comment bagging my usual state of mind here>.

I had forgotten how much I do enjoy Firenze. Granted I had a VERY nice introduction to the city when I first came here six years ago (swoon....I mean, I love you Andrew??). I think that staying in that B&B in Siena was a bit detrimental to our mental health though. I’ve heard of many places that are natural ‘healing’ places – places that make you feel good. Well, that B&B was a little bit anti–healing and soul sucking, but I didn’t really want to admit it to myself. But it was okay the moment we left.

The hostel we stayed at in Firenze was excellent – Hostel Sampaoli. It is owned by two brothers who I know speak at least Italian, English, French and Spanish. Damn I envy these Europeans! Anyway, the brothers are absolutely lovely and uber–helpful. Upon our arrival we were given a map and within about three minutes had about 20 things circled on said map. Noice.

The first stop we made was at the Duomo. Whilst I prefer Siena’s Duomo (particularly as the inside is a lot more interesting), the one in Firenze is also very distinctive and enjoyable. We ambled down the main drag and stopped in outside the Uffizi so that Tessa would know where to go the next day. From here we wandered across to Ponte Vecchio and mingled amongst the hoardes of tourists milling around.

[I think I’m going to blame my lack of description on the fact that I’ve blogged about this place already. Yeah, that’s it.]

We then walked along the river for a while, enjoying the afternoon sun and the wonderful view of buildings lining the river against a bright blue backdrop rhythmically punctuated by three–footed lampposts and spattered with white fluffy clouds. Ah....can you feel the serenity? ;) Clearly to add to this wonderful feeling we located a gelati place that came highly recommended and added some luscious ice–cream to our afternoon stroll. Yep, great afternoon!

We went back home briefly and then out again and crossed over the river in an attempt to find some gardens to relax in (because apparently we weren’t relaxed enough!) however they all looked like they were majorly uphill so we decided to hang out instead in the courtyard of Palazzo Pitti. Evening was kicking in so we headed to dinner at a small restaurant recommended to us by the hostel and it was AMAZING! I had a small dish of eggplant in goat’s cheese fondue and my mouth was in awesome. Add to that on the way home we had waffles with nutella....what a great food day! J

The next couple of days I didn’t get up to much – spent a lot of time updating stuff and going for nice long sunny walks along the river. Had two other great dinners, but for some reason in Firenze the waiters are not very quick at getting you your bill. At each place we ended up waiting for a longer time than it actually took us to eat. Now, I hear you say that’s not surprising at the rate you eat Mel, because you’re a damn pig. I resemble that comment and I will hear no more of it. However, Tess eats like a normal person, even slowly, and STILL they took longer. Ah well....time to digest I guess.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed Firenze, it gave me my happy back and also time to relax and feel like I had caught up on a lot of stuff. Next stop: Lucca.

Firenze photos.

I Chianti...

mel_mel — Wed, 6 Oct 2010 20:11:00 GMT

I really need to make more of an attempt to update this blasted thing every day! Currently in Firenze and enjoying what has so far been a very lazy day. Tess is off at the Uffizi gallery and I have been updating photos and all things internet for the past few hours. Figured I’d probably better update the journal seems as how I’m a few days behind.

When I left you last, my dear readers, we had seen Saint Jimmy’s and were having a rest day. Not much to report on that front – went for a walk in the afternoon and saw some great cloud action, but not much else.

The following day we were keen to get into the Chianti region so we got up early (well, reasonably so) and headed into the station to find that of course, the first bus left at 7:30 am (it was then about 9 am) and the next one wasn’t until 1 pm. Of course.

So we filled in the morning by jumping on a bus to Asciano, a tiny place, with not much going on about 30 km SE of Siena. After a bit of a kerfuffle with buying the wrong tickets, we boarded a bus and Tess got to look out at the Le Crete countryside whilst I lay down and tried not to vomit. Stupid back of bumpy bus.

We got off and walked around the town. Like I said, not much going on, but it was interesting to check out a random town for an hour (and see countryside if you’re Tess) rather than walk around Siena or wait at the bus station. Thankfully we were able to catch a train back to Siena, so I too could look out and not feel sorry for myself.

We arrived back at the station and eventually got onto a bus for Radda. We finally got there...and swoon. THIS is what Tess has been talking about. It was absolutely stunning. The town itself is a typical Tuscan town, steep worn cobbled streets lined with shuttered stone houses, peppered with souvenir stores and art galleries. There was a wonderful abundance of brightly coloured flowers everywhere we looked, which helped to cheer up a rather overcast (and raining) day. So annoying that I’m going to come back less tanned than you guys. What’s the damn point of a holiday, really?

We wandered first around the outskirts of the town and were rewarded with amazing views of the countryside that stretched out and beckoned you to stay, stay, stay. Oh, I could have stayed for so long. Stupid day trip. The rolling hills, soaring trees....insert imagery here. We lingered for as long as we could along these gravel paths, interjecting contented silence with contented sighs.

All in all – there is not much to write about for the town. It was beautiful. How many different ways can I say that? It had a lovely relaxed feel about it and we would have loved to have stayed longer, but unfortunately the rain was getting heavier and heavier so we had to head home. No awesome countryside walks for us. L

We made it back to Siena (very sadly) and packed up our gear, watched Pirates of the Caribbean and tried to eat the remainder of our food. The next day (yesterday) we packed up and trundled off to the main bus station where we took a bus to Florence, where we are now. I will post about Florence possibly tomorrow (or the next day) after we’ve done a bit more walking around.

Until then, hope you’re enjoying your wicked stormy weather, and I’ll see you soon! XX

Radda in Chianti photos.

Misty San Gimignano

mel_mel — Wed, 6 Oct 2010 19:25:00 GMT

San Gimignano (Or St. Jimmy’s as we have termed it) is a gorgeous town about 30 km northwest of Siena. It is famous for its towers – Of the original 72 towers built in the middle ages in a ‘mine is bigger/prettier/more manly than yours’ contest by the feuding nobles, 14 or 15 (depending on which book you read) still stand and consequently the town is often described as ‘Medieval Manhattan’. It is one of the most popular day trips in Italy, its population of roughly 7500 usually dwarfed by tourists.

We caught an early morning bus and prepared ourselves for the tourist onslaught when we arrived – and were very pleasantly surprised. There was barely a soul around! This may be because it was still early (we arrived around 9:30 am), or because the weather was ‘less than ideal’. I guess it depends on your perspective though. The town was blanketed in a rich fog which certainly made it difficult to see anything more than 10 metres away, but it gave the town a beautifully mystical sensation that was instantly appealing to the both of us <Insert witty joke about mist/mystical here>.

We wandered around the streets, which although very similar to other Tuscan towns we have visited, had a lovely tranquillity about them that we were not expecting. We thought we’d be fighting our way through tourists and getting impatient with SLR toting douchebags. Not so! We almost had the town to ourselves, at least for the first hour or so.

We ended up wandering into a park and strolled around there for a while, which was lovely and calming. After we had seen essentially the whole town we sat ourselves down on the internet and I finally got to update this freaking blog! Woohoo! An hour later and we ventured out into the town again to find that the mist had cleared and the tourists (thought still not as plentiful as we had envisioned) had arrived. We could now clearly see the towers, and aside from being novel, they weren’t anything spectacular. We almost wanted the fog to come back. Well, apart from the bright blue sky and warm toasty sun, that is. We did some more wandering in the lovely autumn sun and sat outside the local church, watching we first thought was a bride, but soon became apparent that it was a model. Either that or a bridezilla like no bride has been zilla before.

Unfortunately we realised that because it was a Saturday that the last bus out (well, aside from one at 7:30 pm) was at 1:30 pm, so we had to leave St. Jimmy’s well before we were ready. Annoying. On the bright side, we ended up taking a bus on a school route which meant that we toured around the countryside and we got to see parts of the area that wouldn’t have otherwise. Upon our return we decided to go and look at the interior of Siena’s Duomo. We paid €10 for a ticket that encompassed the cathedral, the baptistery, the crypt and the museum, which was pretty good value considering that it costs €6 just to go inside the cathedral.

The interior of the cathedral is similar to its exterior – zebra stripes cover the majority of the gothic church, with a beautiful blue ceiling that evokes a distant memory of the Notre Dame. There is a ‘suggested itinery’ for you to follow so that you get to see all the roped off sections of marbled floor and small rooms. One small room contains large hand painted hymn books from however many centuries ago, which are quite pretty to look at. All in all, the interior is well worth the look as it is quite different to other churches that you see.

After gazing around at the church we headed into the museum. Unfortunately the heathen in me found pretty much everything in the museum pretty darn boring, but the real reason that we went in there was for the panoramic view at the top. We had to wait about 20 minutes (better than the advertised 45) to climb up the vertigo inducing stone spiral staircase and get up to the very top. From here was an amazing view of Siena in its entirety; look down at the people milling about in Il Campo, across over the orange staccato residential mass and then across to the Duomo itself. You only had 20 minutes up there – I thought it would be more than enough time but we didn’t leave much before it! It was quite pleasant up there, aside from being really freaking high up.

Afterwards we went to the crypt (really boring) and then to the baptistery which was not dissimilar to the cathedral in style, but much, much smaller. They were even kind enough to provide mirrors on the seats so that you could look at the ceilings without straining your neck.

From here we popped into the tourist office to collect some timetable information and then we decided that we might walk home. By decided what I actually mean is that the buses had all stopped running because it was a Saturday and we had no other choice. Aaaargh. On the bright side, it was only an hour and a half from the city centre and it was good exercise.

When we finally got home we essentially had dinner and fell into bed. Today is another rest day – a chance to catch up again on postings and will now probably tidy my stuff up. Tomorrow we are hoping to nick into the Chianti region and following that we will head into Florence. Hopefully we will have better access to the internet in Florence. Hopefully.

Until then folks, enjoy!

San Gimignano photos

Marvellous Montalcino

mel_mel — Wed, 6 Oct 2010 19:23:00 GMT

So where was I? Oh yes.....vino. Montalcino is known for its Brunello wine, arguably the best in the world. I was not disappointed. But I’ll get to that shortly.

For some strange reason unknown to anyone rational, we decided to get up at 6:00 am in order to catch an early bus to Montalcino. We arrived at the bus stop around 7:15 am.....to find that we had missed a bus by 10 minutes and that we had to wait until 10:50 am for the next one. And that’s the short version. Use your imagination on finding the correct bus stop, finding the timetable, finding the correct tickets....I like the shorter version better.

With not much else to do we trundled into town for a couple of hours and got to see the place before the crowds awoke, which was a lot nicer than the other day. Il Campo was almost deserted and most streets had at most a handful of people on them, which was absolutely lovely. THIS is the Siena that I remember!

Soon enough it was time to head back to the station and catch the bus about 40 km south to Montalcino – don’t be fooled though; this trip takes about 1.25 hours! Roughly 600 m above sea level and a population (sans tourists) of about 5000, it is a beautiful little town. Tess was particularly keen to get in as she had read that there was a market on Fridays, but unfortunately she was a little disappointed. There was indeed a market, but she was expecting something like a farmer’s market rather than the quasi Trash’n’Treasure in front of us. Sad face.

In some ways Montalcino was a typical Tuscan hilltop town – steep, narrow winding streets lined with shuttered stone buildings, punctuated by piazzas and churches. However, it did have a wonderful slowness about it, which made for a lovely strolling kind of day. We wandered up and down throughout the town and sauntered along the edge of the town where many spectacular views were to be had.

Hunger soon got the better of us so we went shopping for a not too expensive restaurant to have lunch with a wine. There were many to choose from along the main street, some with spectacular views – though these were clearly the ridiculously expensive ones. We chose a little place called Tavola grappola blu, which was fantastic. I ordered a glass of the Brunello wine with my lunch and nicked outside to take a quick phone call. Unfortunately when I returned, I found that I had missed the ‘show’ of them pouring me a glass of Brunello. Ah well. I brought the burgundy liquid to my lips and....ahhhh. So good. I don’t know what year it was – Tess said she thought it was young, like 2009, but if it was wowee I’d like to have some older! It was amazing. Guess that’s why they can charge so much for it. Apparently the town can thank the wine for its affluence though – it was one of the poorest towns in the area in the 1960s and now it is the second richest.

Lunch dragged on for a little while...mostly because I didn’t really want to finish my glass of wine! I probably could have ordered another one, but then I would have wanted to try other varieties and we needed to catch a bus at 2:45 pm. As it turns out the bus we thought we were catching wasn’t actually running that day, but there was a kind lady who helped us out with connecting buses and we eventually got back home.

We were in bed by about 8:30 pm, ready for another big day as we were off to San Gimignano the next day.

Montalcino photos.

Outskirts of Siena

mel_mel — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 18:59:00 GMT

For a rest day, we ended up doing a lot. Okay, maybe not a lot, but a lot for a rest day. I’m tired! How did that happen?? Stupid faux rest day.

Slept in, had eggs, mushies and cado for brekkie – really needed a savoury breakfast. Those crazy Italians and their overwhelming inundation of sugar at every meal, I don’t know.

After lunch we headed out for a walk to check out the countryside in the area, and it was beautiful. The thing I remember most is the dying fields of sunflowers. The first field we encountered was almost entirely dead, a sea of brown stems with a light spattering of faintly yellow stems that were yet to concede their fates. A flock of doves were enjoying the seed feast, although rhythmically perturbed by the passing traffic. It was a really nice day for a walk; the sun was (mostly) out, the blue sky had a few clouds puffing out and the fields were a patchwork of yellow, green and brown. This is better!

The second field of sunflowers didn’t seem quite aware that they were doomed. They were hanging their heads for sure, but were not yet resigned to their impending death. We roamed up and down the rollercoaster hills, focusing at times on trying to breathe without keeling over. I need bigger calves, right? Right? Hello?? I take your silence as an affirmative.

After walking for not quite an hour (we think) we turned around and headed back and I went back to my computer problem – I couldn’t get the USB internet key given to me by the B&B owner to work. I had called Dad/Ryan earlier in the day to solve the problem, but they couldn’t really help me. I had to get some (mostly fruitless) help from the B&B owner, and ended up conversing with him for about half an hour. Good for my Italian practice, bad for my energy levels. I ended up fixing my initial problem (for interests sake my Windows Installer Service was disabled. Don’t ask me why), but now I’m left with another problem. It won’t connect. I’ve even tried their other key, and it won’t let me connect. They connect on other people’s laptops but not mine and I have no idea why. Any ideas? I’m running Windows 7 (only a 32 bit version) which might be the problem. I have pretty much given up. I think it’s a modem problem but I can’t figure it out. But anyway, this is a blog post, right?

I’m now officially up to date with my posts....though with this internet issue it will probably be a week before you read this....aargh! Sorry. I wish I could figure it out. Tomorrow we’re probably off to Montalcino, so I will hopefully write next about vino, vino, vino. Hmmm...speaking of....

Ciao! XXX

Tuscan countryside photos.

Return to Siena

mel_mel — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 18:58:00 GMT

So up bright and early to head into Siena. And when I say bright and early, what I really mean is wake up, roll over and get up when we bloody well feel like it.

We took the bus into the city centre (and got annoyed when we saw that it passed out the front of the supermarket). I couldn’t believe how many people there were. This was not the Siena that I remembered. The Siena I remembered was peaceful and had a lovely tranquillity to it. Not so now. I guess it doesn’t help that I visited six years ago and in the dead of winter. But still!!

There were just so many people that you couldn’t walk at the pace that you wanted, you had to meander along with the crowd. Granted many of these people were locals, but it was frustrating nonetheless. We first made our way to the main square, Piazza del Campo, which was massive. It is trapezoidal in shape and made up of 9 sections (to represent the nine sections of the old Council) and is littered with people sitting, walking and basking in the sun. We decided that basking probably wasn’t such a bad idea and sat down and enjoyed the midday sun. It’s okay – they have ozone.

The main square is (somewhat obviously) the centre of activity for the 55 000 strong city. The focal building of the square is the Palazzo Comunale (or Pubblico); the town hall. Its 102 m bell tower (Torre del Mangia) soars above the piazza, its red–brown facade commanding your sight as it contrasts with the amazing blue-coloured European sky. Centred and directly opposite the Palazzo is Fontana Gaia (the happy fountain), rectangular in shape and its facade actually fake – the original panels are severely weathered and now under protection. Restaurants and enoteche (wine bars) fill the remaining perimeter of the square. We posed for a photo with Octavius and continued to enjoy the sun.

From here we moved onto the gothic Duomo. There were thankfully fewer people crowded around here so we could appreciate the white, green and pink marbled building without feeling overwhelmed. We haven’t gone inside yet – we’re saving that for another couple of days when the entrance fee reduces from 6 euros to 3 euros. The ornate facade is really quite spectacular – it verges on (hell, it jumps into) tacky, but there is something about this building that captivates me. Not in the same sense as the Pantheon by any means, but I appreciate this cathedral more than most others.

Most of the rest of the afternoon we wandered around the city, taking photos of different fountains, knockers, and ooh! Icecream! One gelato store here had the most amazing display – check Tess’s photos for a shot of this. I was too busy drooling! It tasted as good as it looked, too.  On the topic of fountains though Siena is broken up into 17 different parts which each have a different animal as their mascot – from a unicorn to a turtle to a caterpillar. We would have liked to have found each different fountain but we unfortunately only found a couple. It is these 17 different communities that take part in the annual festival Il Palio, where the main square is decked out with sand around its perimeter and a horse race is held. A horse doesn’t even have to have a rider on it to win – they are not out of the contest if their rider falls off, which is a little different.

We had a bit of a sit down for a while, getting tired of the ever present people and pretty much wanting to be home. It is a beautiful city, but the plethora of people really took it away from me this time. We wandered around a bit more, found a public toilet (and a very gracious person allowing me to change some money to use it), bought another book (I need to stop reading so damn quickly) and eventually made our way back home.

I would also like to announce that I made Tess dinner. That’s right, I cooked. Well, if you can call cooking pasta and mixing in sauce cooking. Which I do. So there. After dinner we had some wine, and then some more wine, and then some more....so we had a great time! Well, from what I remember anyway....

Siena photos.

The day which shall not be named

mel_mel — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 18:54:00 GMT

This day sucked. This day sucked like no day has sucked before. Okay, it wasn’t quite that bad, but it definitely takes the title of suckiest day so far.

In the morning we had to farewell Lanfranco and Marcella, and we left with heavy hearts. We are hoping to organise to come and stay with them again at the end of our trip, but this didn’t exactly ease the sadness of the morning. They really made us feel like family and we didn’t want to leave! Pout. It’s lovely when you can bond to people like that in a short amount of time. About the only thing that made the day less crappy is that Octavius was also going to Siena. Hooray!

Anyway, cue crappiness. The bus trip was not very long, but very wind-y. We all know how wonderful that makes you feel. We weren’t too sure exactly which stop to get off at, but I asked the driver and he let us know. Turns out there was a bunch of people on the bus that spoke English and no Italian so I became their unofficial guide for about half an hour. Anway, we knew that we had to catch a bus out to our B&B, but we didn’t quite know where from. I asked the bus driver and he directed me to buses and so our trio plus our temporary gaggle dutifully made our way down to the buses. Down there everybody was trying to get a bus to central Siena, and after a lot of reassuring and pointing at the bus routes (and helping other random people) I got most of the people onto what I hope were the right buses. Not that there was much of an issue – all buses went to the centre of Sienna – just slightly different parts, and if they had a map they would be fine.

We continued to wait and finally our bus arrived – to be told that we wanted the bus going in the OTHER direction, to the outskirts, not the centre, which was up at the station (we were underground). Whilst in hindsight this makes sense and I have no one to blame but myself because I did ask where the buses left for the centre when I was helping everyone else, but at the time (especially considering we had just waited 40 minutes) it was a little frustrating. SIGH!

So off we went, having got everybody else onto their buses, and we went in search of our bus. What didn’t help is that another bus driver told us we needed to be underground. I was going to kill things! Aaaarghhh!! Thankfully I asked at the ticket office (though not before asking a young Italian man with eyes you could drown in – was he useful? Not at all. Was it worth it? Definitely ) and they directed me to the correct place. Yay.

So, we waited another 20 minutes for the bus and we got on. It got us to our destination – the bus driver even pulled over between stops to let us out as close as possible. You rock, lady. We trundled down a very narrow road to get to our apartment, which has turned out to be a bit of a disappointment again. Doesn’t help that we were in a place of awesomeness earlier, but we feel a bit shitty that we’re paying heaps more a night to get less. They’re even charging for the freaking internet. Bastardidos. It’s nice enough, but they charge for all the extras and it’s annoying. It’s also not convenient but not even that isolated. Sigh of frustration.

After Octavius tried to help us get over the frustration, we decided that we would take the ‘short 1.5 km walk’ to the supermarket to stock up for the week. In short:

It was not 1.5 km. More like 4.5 km.
The directions were incorrect.
There were hills.
There was a large section where there were no footpaths – this meant hugging whatever barrier was to the side in order to avoid the cars which SHOULD have been going 50 km/h, but most about 80 – 90 km/h. Apparently they are more like guidelines.

We found one supermarket first which was not the bigger one, but eventually (and after asking about 5 different people) we found our way to the larger supermarket. So, where the directions say ‘turn right’ what they mean is ‘go straight’. Or, just take the freaking bus that stops right outside it. We will be next time.

We gathered lots of food and alcohol to take back with us and started the trundle back home (we hadn’t realised the bus stopped here until the next day when we caught the bus back in). To top off the night in an attempt to avoid being hit by a car that wasn’t moving to the centre of the road, I ended up scraping the side of my knee against something that I’m sure is full of tetanus. It’s a good scrape – I had to cut off the excess skin, scrub out the dirt, soak it in OH MY FREAKING GOD THAT STINGS antiseptic and bandage it up. I even had to change the dressing today and it’s all weepy and yuck. Stupid bloody car. It aches! Waaaah!!!

So...after that we decided that we would take it easy. Frozen pizza and bruschetta minus the bread for dinner, and then to bed. The next day would be better, right??? Siena was calling and we were eager to leave this day behind.

A day trip to Perugia

mel_mel — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 18:52:00 GMT

It has just occurred to me that I haven’t mentioned our new travel buddy! We met him in Rome and as fate would have it, he also turned up in Assisi and has decided to accompany us for what I hope to be the rest of our trip. He may even come home with us, if we’re lucky. His name is Octavius and I can’t tell you how funny he is. He has Tess and me in stitches every day. The photos I put up shortly will show you how gorgeous he is (don’t tell him I told you that). We have nicknamed him Mr. Quacky because a) we think he looks like a duck and b) he quacks from time to time. It’s his cheer-up noise. Kinda reminds me of Dane a little. That’s a bit scary! Any time when we’re feeling a bit down or overwhelmed by the travelling life, he will always interject with a few quacks and have us at smiling at the very least.

So anyway, we caught up with Mr. Quacky later that night (from my last post) and pretty much decided that the next day we would go to Perugia, or that we would at least all go somewhere together. Tess and I are thinking that we might come back to go to Perugia towards the end of our trip because there is a chocolate festival on at that point, and so we thought we might go check out the town before it is inundated with around 1 million people. Talk about crazy!!

Anyway, we all made our way to the train station, but not before seeing the most beautiful (and timid) boxer dog along the way. He wanted to be patted but was so uncertain, the poor thing. We gave him lots of love.

It was about a half hour trip to Perugia...well, it should have been if I had remembered the golden rule about train stations in Italy – not to jump off at the first one that says ‘Perugia’. D’oh! So we ended up on the outskirts of Perugia. The next train was not due for another hour. Sad face. Oh well.......ADVENTURE!!!!! Thankfully there was a bus that took us into the city centre, though we weren’t sure if we would arrive in one piece. It hurtled itself around perilously tight corners and you had to hold on for life even if you were sitting down. At least we got to see a different view of the city – it was quite pretty when you could afford to look out the window.

So...Perugia. It’s quite pretty. Not too dissimilar to Assisi – a hilltop city with steep, winding streets and beautiful old stone buildings ushering you along. There were a stack of people here, though mostly local it seemed. They rush and meander along the main drag, Corso Vannucci, going about their lives in this beautiful old town. The main square, Piazza IV Novembre, is a hub of activity – university students sprawl across the steps of the main cathedral (of San Lorenzo) to the north, gather around the Fontana Maggiore (the great fountain) in the centre and move in and out of Palazzo dei Priori to the south.

One of the first things we noticed about the fountain and the surrounding buildings is the ubiquitous presence of griffins. Well, statues of griffins. It would be cool though, right? Anyway, the griffin is the city’s symbol and is often accompanied by a lion – the symbol for the Guelphs, a faction that existed in the middle ages. We didn’t go inside the cathedral because it was closed when we were there, but one entrance to it was decidedly temple–y; pillars lined the door and it loomed out, beckoning you inside.

On the outside of Palazzo dei Priori is a couple of statues with griffins....um....holding down some cows? It just screamed ‘Things that are doing it fail’ to me. But moving on to the inside – the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria is here, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment because the only art it contained was Jeebus art, and there’s only so much that you can look at before your brain melts. There were a few paintings towards the end that were more ‘modern’ that I didn’t mind so much, but we were very ready to be out of there. Probably didn’t help that we first visited an exhibition they were holding there that was full of art from more recent artists that were not religious. It was a conglomeration of artists and various works – they even had a couple of Dali’s in there.

We made our way down Corso Vanucci and to its end at Giardini Carducci, where we had a nice view of the rest of the city and countryside. We got a few pictures with Octavius and ventured onward. There was supposed to be an English book store somewhere, but when we finally located it, it was closed. Gah! We just wandered around a bit and found a colourful church (the name of which I have no idea) which had a few carvings on the outside, one that was missing a nose, which clearly prompted me to come out with lines like, ‘Nobody knows noses like Sudafed’, ‘I nose what you are doing’, ‘Nose the answer you are getting’ whispered in Tess’s ear as she was trying to take photos. Mwahahaha. Okay, it was really damn funny. The three of us were in stitches. Perhaps it was a situational thing. Shaddup.

There was also a nice green lawn on which the three of us lay down under the sun. Mmmmm.....sun. You will be pleased to know that I won’t be coming home with a tan – it is just not warm enough to be baring that much skin. So, 1 point for you. And may God have mercy on your soul. Soon enough it was time to head back. In what appeared to be good timing, the sun went behind some clouds, so we got up.

We managed to find another bookstore that sold English books along the way, total win. I got a book (which I have already finished, fail) and we moved back to the train station and back to Santa Maria degli Angeli. Here we had to pick up our bus tickets to Siena, which oddly enough we bought in a store that sells pasta, wine and cured meats. Crazy Italians. We got that figured and headed home. The next day we were going to Siena.

Perugia photos.

The amazing Assisi (part two)

mel_mel — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 18:48:00 GMT

Unfortunately the first thing we noticed was the plethora of tourist buses and accompanying tourist swarms. Fortunately the second thing we noticed was that these swarms were heading toward their individual buses and away from the town! Woohoo! Yay for arriving mid afternoon and day trippers.

We headed into the hilltop city via one of its stone arches and slowly made our way up through the steep winding streets of Assisi. I found it a little similar to Venice, though the streets are wider; almost wide enough for a car. And when I say almost wide enough, what I mean is cling to the sides and suck your stomach in when a car goes past. How on earth they navigate through those narrow streets is beyond me. Sure, my spatial skills suck, but that’s kinda ridiculous.

As the streets wind their way up into the centre of town the stone buildings loom over them, punctuated by their shuttered windows and warm archway openings. Many buildings are exploding with tourist wares or advertising food in English, so even when you encountered a quiet street you are sadly reminded that you are in a highly frequented tourist area. But despite this, Assisi is still remarkably beautiful. You don’t feel like the locals resent the tourists like they do in Venice. It might have something to do with Assisi being named the spiritual capital of Italy. The first thing that strikes is the ubiquitous presence of monks, dressed just like you would imagine that they dress. Some of them are dressed in black rather than brown, for a reason that I don’t know. Irrespective, they wander around Assisi (and Santa Maria degli Angeli for that matter), young and old, living and touring. There is also, unsurprisingly, a large presence of a variety of nuns and a smattering of priests. Indeed, the piety around the place – even from ‘normal’ tourists – is quite remarkable.

We worked our way up and up, mostly trying to avoid the crowds. This was not overly successful, as the first place we hit was the central square, Piazza del Comune. Here you can find the Temple of Minerva, sadly converted to a church inside but still eye-grabbingly pillared on the out. Towering over this (haha) the Torre (tower) del Comune. When we entered the piazza there was some kind of performance going on with people dressed in white (complete with white face make up), some on stilts, all under huge umbrellas with cascading lace curtains, and one playing music. Not too sure what they were doing – I don’t think they were busking because after performing for a while they wandered off down a different street.

We continued wandering the streets, continually greeted by amazing landscape views, whether over a ledge, peeking between two buildings or right in front of you. Just incredible. We were also taken by the large number of....I’m not sure what to call them. Metal (presumably iron) hanging bits? You know, the iron sculptures that lamps hang from. I am having a brain melt. Anyway, many of these depict dragons and are quite beautiful.

The first church we hit was the cathedral of San Rufino. In here, apparently St. Francis and St. Clare (two key spiritual figures) were both baptised. Although interesting, I didn’t find the churches anything special and unfortunately since I’m writing this about four days after it happened I am finding it difficult to remember each church separately. I do remember a beautiful set up of candles, but that’s about it I’m afraid. Ooh, they also had confessional boxes and I think it was set up for a wedding the next day.

From here we worked our way to the main cathedral, the Basilica di San Francesco (St. Francis), built around 1230, a few years after the death of St. Francis. You approach the church via a massive courtyard lined by an arched covered walkway to either side. The facade is reasonably spectacular to behold, but, being the damned heathen that I am, it didn’t exactly evoke awe or reverence in me. Inside, like in most of the other churches, no cameras were allowed so I have no photos for you. We were just catching the beginning of mass so we didn’t stay in the lower church for long. We made a quick trip down into the basement where the tomb of St. Francis was, but everybody was busy being very pious and involved, so we made our way back out.

We moved into the upper church which I found more interesting to look at its fresco-lined walls. We sat for a while and then moved on, making our way back out. Part way through it started to rain. Not the nice soothing pitter-patter rain, but OH GOD ITS COMING DOWN rain. We rushed into the nearest church, which happened to be the Basilica di Santa Chiara (St. Clare). We didn’t really get time to admire the pink and white facade as we barrelled in amongst dozens of others seeking refuge from the pouring rain. We walked first into the smaller chapel where we sat down for some time in an attempt to not look like we were escaping from the rain. It helped that I was hit with massive stomach cramps at that point so I looked like I was bent over piously, murmuring and such. Didn’t really help that I let out a reasonably loud ‘Goddammit!’ right behind a nun. Yeah, she got up and moved. I reckon I’ve gotta get points for that or something. Tess could not stop laughing – apparently it was the funniest thing she’d seen all day.

Downstairs you could see garments and instruments used by both St. Francis and St. Clare, as well as read about the life of St. Clare. We did this for long enough that the rain had stopped, and so we moved on out.

From here we made our way down, out of Assisi and back toward Santa Maria degli Angeli and our wonderfully warm hosts, Lanfranco and Marcella. We did stop for dinner at a place that they recommended and it was fantastic. I’m glad I do speak a little Italian because they didn’t speak a word of English and their menus were all in Italian, so we spent some time translating to decide what we wanted. I had an amazing parmagiana (who says it was supposed to be an appetizer? Pfft) and Tess bulked up her iron stores with a mixed grill. After this we pretty much came home and collapsed....to repeat the trip again the next day!

Nothing to report from it though – having seen most of the sights the day before we essentially just strolled around the streets, trying to find different and more secluded areas over the course of a few hours. It was still beautiful, that’s for sure. 15 km or so later, and we were back home to relax again. I had more lengthy conversations with both Lanfranco and Marcella, and although we hadn’t decided that night, Tess and I thought that we might head out and visit somewhere a bit different the next day rather than taking a rest day. Which leads into my next post.

Walking around Umbria photos.

The amazing Assisi (part one)

mel_mel — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 18:45:00 GMT

I’m sitting in the private living/dining area of the beautiful B&B Tess and I have scored for our time here in Assisi. We had no idea that we would have what is essentially an apartment to ourselves. It is half of the downstairs of a three storey house: the downstairs is used as the B&B and the upstairs section is where the owners live. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy staying in family homes?

Our hosts, Lanfranco and Marcella, are especially warm and welcoming. Lanfranco speaks a little English, though most of our conversations tend to be a hybrid when he can’t figure out what to say. Marcella knows a few words but only enough to interject these with a smile. I am loving the opportunity to remember the language and be helped along. Tess is also understanding most of what is going on, but she is yet to feel confident enough to try speaking. Piano, piano (slowly, slowly).

Each morning around eight, Lanfranco and Marcella bustle into our section with a selection of pastries and bread rolls for our breakfast. They chat to us and amongst themselves as they arrange breakfast and the conversations linger on well after we have finished eating. They are so friendly and really make us feel like part of the family. I’m in love and haven’t even gotten to the Assisi part!

The B&B is actually in a smaller town called Santa Maria degli Angeli, which is about 4 km from Assisi and where the train station is located. Lanfranco picked us up from the train station when we arrived then spent about an hour talking to us, telling us and showing us on the map where all the main sites are and provided us with a book on the art and history in the area so that we could ‘study’.

After lounging about for a little while we put on our walking boots and headed toward Assisi. We first found our way into the centre of Santa Maria degli Angeli to gaze up at the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli, for which the area is named, in case you couldn’t tell. The main entrance to the basilica is topped with a golden Mary which radiates unbelievably in the setting sun. Within the basilica is another tiny church; the chapel of the Porziuncola, apparently very important to St. Francis. It is smattered with frescoes inside and out and looks almost comical sitting in the centre of the basilica. Aside from this the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli is a fairly standard cathedral.

Around the side of the cathedral is a long string of fountain jets (26 to be exact) which was apparently commissioned by the Medici family to “quench the thirst of the pilgrims who came to take advantage of the indulgence of pardon”. Awesome. Too bad you can’t actually reach the jets. Yes. I tried. Maybe.....okay, there’s a path I’m not going down. Go down it yourself.

So, off to Assisi we ventured. More like meandered. What should be a 45 minute walk took us 1.5 hours. Ooh! Let’s take a photo of this. Wow! That’s pretty. Look at that! Check this out! This would make a cool shot...stand here. And so on and so forth. The fields that relax out between Santa Maria degli Angeli and Assisi are lined with trees and beautiful red flowers, which equals fun when you have colour accent on your camera. Every so often a beautiful old stone building is nestled amongst the fields, and look amazing juxtaposed with storm clouds. Ahead of us we could see Assisi, stretched out and perched atop a hill. We finally got to the bottom of said massive hill that Assisi is on – whose stupid bloody idea was that?? We slowly trudged up to finally get to the top and be welcomed by the stone walled town of Assisi.

Rome, sweet Rome.

mel_mel — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 14:54:00 GMT

For a trip that has involved so little rushing around, I sure have been slack at keeping you guys informed. Perhaps I just don't want to rub it in your faces. Perhaps!

I'm sitting at my window watching and listening to Rome wake up, the noisy little bugger that she is. The perils of staying at a place near Termini, eh?

So....after I left you my good readers I was mourning the construction works on the Pantheon. Still am, but have visited a couple of new places for me which has helped my grief along. Wednesday afternoon we visited Piazza della Reppublica and the adjacent church, Santa Maria degli Angeli. How is it that I have never been inside this church before? How is it that the Lonely Planet guidebook gives it a single line? It was absolutely stunning - my novel highlight so far. You walk into the church (after pulling your skirt down over your knees) and you enter into a small domed area. You look up at the oculus to be greeted with the vivid blues, purples and yellows that combine to represent the cosmos. Wowee. We could have sat there for hours (well we almost did last night)! You start looking a bit further and all the modern art housed within the church becomes apparent. An angel twisted into an almost skeletal form points the way deeper into the church. You want to go in, but you are taken by - yeah, that's right folks - JESUS ART! These wispy beautiful pieces adorn the walls throughout the church and are (in my opinion anyway) a wonderfully gentle contrast to the ubiquitous Mary and Jesus paintings everywhere.

Further into the church and we realise that there is an exhibition here on Galileo. Indignation over hypocrisy aside, it was freaking awesome! A plethora of information cards littered the church and were aided by a few contraptions to illustrate some concepts. I was 'in heaven'. There was also a meridian line which, as part of the design of the church, has a beam of light move along it at certain solstice times of the year from a dedicated point close to the ceiling. Bar the Pantheon, this is officially now my favourite church.

On the way home we passed another great monstrosity of a church – Santa Maria Maggiore. Looked impressive enough, but didn’t go in.

The following day I took Tessa to the Colosseum and Roman forum. She enjoyed it, though find the audioguide stuff a little dry. I mostly wandered around and basked in the glorious sun. You tan that pasty white skin, baby! Afterwards we headed to the Roman forum, but unfortunately my leg started playing up and Tessa got tired, so we moved on through and went home for our midday rest.

That afternoon we strolled along the river Tevere and went and had a sit in a (or the, not sure) piazza in Isola Tiberina. It was amazingly tranquil and we sat there for about two hours in the afternoon sun, chatting and reflecting on life. Mmmmm....sun. On the way home we decided to stop in at Piazza Navona, and found the area to the west of this to be absolutely delightful! Tall buildings, narrow streets – it felt a little like Spain or even Venice (except the streets were much wider – enough for a parked car and another car – they’re still narrow in my book).

We got to Piazza Navona as the sun was setting, so we sat down and watched the sun go down over the back of an old building, highlighting the Fountain of Four Rivers and the plethora of people (tourists and locals) there that were mingling amongst the adjacent markets. I even swear I saw my old Italian tutor there, but by the time I matched the face she was gone. Bugger!

So, onward to the Pantheon where we ate WAY too much for dinner (stupid Italy), but got to enjoy the face of the Pantheon (construction work included) and I conversed with the waiter – it is slowly coming back. I hear words and am building up my vocabulary every day, thank goodness!

Damn this post is getting long! Sigh.

Yesterday we went to the Vatican and it was lovely to watch the awe in Tessa’s face firstly at beholding St. Peter’s Square, but then also inside the Basilica. It was a bit of an adventure to get there – we hit the walls near the Museum (and the line was already ridiculously long at 8 am) and then kept going to get to the Basilica entrance.....but I’m afraid we went in the wrong direction. So now, we’ve circumnavigated the Vatican City. Woohoo. Adventure! Needless to say we had a bit of a sit down after we arrived.

After our midday rest we headed off to the Crypt of the Capuchins (thanks Dad), a crypt that is lined with the bones of hundreds of monks. It was one of the most remarkable sights I’ve ever seen. Thousands upon thousands of bones, all arranged into ‘pretty’ patterns that adorned the walls and ceilings. You couldn’t help but feel that although the place was said to be holy that it was somewhat sacrilegious. You didn’t know whether to be in awe, be creeped out, or laugh inappropriately. We were tugged at all sides, I tell you. Mind you, it didn’t help that when we got to the part where one wall was covered with skulls and pelvises that my brain went “Wow, that guy’s pretty hip” and neatly followed it up with “I hip, I’m with it, dukka dukka dukka dukka...whoaahhooohh” Thanks brain. I really appreciated that. That’s not inappropriate at all. That said, it was a sight to behold, despite whatever my brain wanted to do with it all. Unfortunately I have no photos as you are not supposed to take any (though that didn’t stop some people). Just imagine a kitsch interior decorator gone to town with every single bone of the bodies of hundreds of people (a few were even children, which was a little disquieting. Mind you, so were the ones that were still in robes that sometimes still had skin on them. Yeah, that was definitely creepy).

And so ends our merry tale thus far, benevolent reader. This morning after we shower and stuff we are off to Assisi, so until we meet again....enjoy the cold! :p

Rome, sweet Rome.