...So Venice was amazing, probably the hi-light of Italy so far, but everything else has been so amazing too. After Venice, I spent two days in "Art heaven"- Florence. I loved checking out the museums and palaces and piazzas full of the most amazing painting and sculptures I've yet seen. I snuck a picture of the statue of David, but obviously wasn't sneaky enough because the guard did a bee-line straight to me and told me not to take any more photos. I also got some free, really great Opera, with a full symphony orchestra, in the Pitti palace courtyard, as they were rehearsing for a performance that night.
I took an overnight train from Florence, all the way down to the bottom of Sicily, to Syracuse. The other five women in my compartment were so lovely, none of them spoke any English, but were so overly helpful with arranging my bags and sheets and helping with my bed and tickets, that I was exhausted being so thankful. In fact that's what I found of all the people down south. They were incredibly friendly and genuine and helpful. On the way back from Syracuse, another guy helped me sew on patches on my pack after noticing I was having no luck with my blunt needle. He spoke no English either. Anyway, I loved walking around the shoreline of Syracuse and had a great pasta at a resaurant on the water. And I also checked out the Greek ruins at Syracuse, really old and really interesting. It's so exciting to be in a place that has been the centre of legends and major historical moments. All of Italy is like that.
From Syracuse, I left for the Aeolian Islands, just north of Sicily and spent four days there, staying on the main island of Lipari. I loved being on the water and I had scored a really nicely priced hotel at ratestogo.com (I think they should pay me for the plug!) with the most amazing view, on a cliff, overlooking the water. With a pool, a bar and a double bed, O the luxury after hostels!!! Only the shower didn't work the first night, it just 'dribbled', which was devestating after being out on the beach and in the sun all day.
I took some day trips to the local islands- to Volcano (yes it is a volcano!), with its thermal mud and hot springs, and met up with a nice German couple and had lunch with them. Also went to Panarea and Stromboli. Panarea has some amazing coves and beaches and really, really blue water, and Stromboli is an active volcano that billows smoke and drops ash constantly, and is supposed to have lava flows, but none while I was there. My last day on Lipari, I really wanted to hire a Vespa to take around the island, but even though you officially just need a drivers license to hire one, when I told them I hadn't ridden one before, they gave me back my money and license and politely told me to get lost! So I was pretty miffed! So instead, I tried to hire a little zodiac- a rubber dinghy with some horse power, but these guys didn't hire out zodiacs, only proper speed boats. So they handed me the keys to this (little) speed boat I took around the island for the day. It was one awesome day!! I dropped anchor and some really nice coves and went for a swim and read my book and stopped of at a jetty on the other side of the island for a gelato and got myself pretty burnt, but it was worth it!
I caught another overnight train to Naples, where I am now. I'm in a fantastic hostel with some great people, free internet and a good dvd playing in the background. I've checked out Pompeii, which lived up to the hype for me. It is an amazingly preserved city for its age, and so spooky. It is the ultimate ghost-town, incredibly rich and powerful for its time, then stopped dead in its tracks by Vesuvius' eruption in 79AD.
Today I caught a hydrofoil to Capri, did a quick walk around, got another hydrofoil to Sorrento, did another quick walk around, and then a very scenic bus to Postiano, another quick walk around and on another hydrofoil back to Naples. Any of these places I could easily spend weeks in, they are beautiful resort towns with amazing views, just a bit over-touristed for me right now. Postiano, on the Almafi coast, is one of the prettiest towns I've seen with some of the most amazing coastline I've ever seen.
So if you've managed to stay with me all the way down to here, you've done remarkably well! I'm off to Rome tomorrow, I think.
