Firenze

Florence, the center of Tuscany and Renaissance art in Italy

We arrived yesterday, spent a while wandering the city and met up with Brooke and Tash for drinks before dinner, funnily enough at an Irish pub. Had dinner at a REAL Italian place just round the corner and we all had pizzas! Not quite the benchmark that was set in Vienna but very close (I am still on the lookout for a Bolegnase pizza again).

Today we headed out to the Uffizi gallery, which is apparently one of the best gallerys in all of Europe. We really only went because the host at the B&B we are staying at booked us tickets. The gallery itself was ok, but nothing really special - especially after the Vatican museum. ALL the paintings were Renaissance style and period and it was frankly quite boring. I can't believe we paid so much, and the lines are so big. In reality you either need to be a huge Renaissance art lover, or pay bucketloads for a guided tour or audio guide to really appreciate what you are seeing. Jeni and I left disappointed.

Taking a quiet one this afternoon, but we might go see the real Michelangelo's David this afternoon (and another museum entrance fee). Apparently it is more inspiring than the replica we saw in the street this morning, but I will let you know if we go see it.

Roma

We have left Venice behind for the history and more of Rome!

We are staying in a little B&B about 5 minutes walk from the main train station here in Rome. The lady that runs the B&B is called Monica and she comes round 3 times a day... and makes the best percolated coffee I have ever had.

We arrived yesterday, then proceeded to spend 2 hours talking to Monica, and then an Australian couple from Sydney about their travelling experiences, stories and tips about Rome. We met up with Brooke and Tash last night too for Brooke's birthday. Had a huge serving of Italian pasta round the corner and topped it off with Gelati from the 'oldest icecream factory in Rome' - established in 1880! Was good gelati too!

Today we saw all the odd sights around Rome, including Trevi fountain, the river and all the squares, statues and churches along our way around. We estimated we walked 10-15km today. It was also terrible weather today. Raining all morning and most of the afternoon and reached 16 degrees at about 3pm (saw a temperature display on the way home) - no wonder we all got so hot walking around in our jackets.

Tomorrow we will take on Vatican city and then ancient Rome the following day (if we survive the crazy drivers around this town).

Ciao!

Venezia

We have now done the 'beautiful' city of Venice

I say done because like most things in Venice, internet was ridiculously priced and we didn't want to spent €8 per hour for a blog update.

So, what did we think of Venice? Well, the smelly canals from the moment we arrived wasn't great, either was the way overpriced and slow public transport. But that aside Venice is still a very beautiful city with the canals, wide array of building and architecture and maze-like streets.

Jeni and I spent most of our one day in Venice just walking the streets with no purpose in mind except to explore the city. It was nice not to have to deal with traffic, but the local Italians and tourists alike could be just as annoying stopping in groups to look in the shop windows in the tiny streets. In the afternoon we went over to Lido to see the Italian version of beaches and their summer resorts that were reminiscent of those I saw in Malaysia in 2005.

Now, food. After getting some awesome food in Germany and Austria we were looking forward to some real Italian. Sadly we didn't find it in Venice. While the bakerys and cafes sold fantastic cakes, pastries and pizza during the day, our attempts for a good cheap dinner were fruitless.

The first night we had dinner with Brooke and Tash at a place run by some japanese girls - big mistake. While the chinese they had cooked themselves looked great, the risotto Jeni ordered was just rice mixed with sauce and the penne and pizzas were swimming in oil.

The next night Jeni and I ducked into a small trendy cafe. The prices were right and the food wasn't too bad but we got slugged with the service charge and tourist price for my beer.

Now an upside, the coffee here in good and cheap. After Dad asked about the coffee on the phone yesterday, I realised that I hadn't had one yet. The next cafe we saw had great coffee (rivaling anything from Brisbane) for only €1.50.

We also learnt a bit about the city too. It is sinking into the mud flats it was built on at a rate of almost 7cm per decade. We also found out that San Marco square is flooded 200 days a year. Lucky for us the tides didn't rise that high while we were there. However, there was a low cloud of fog and/or pollution over the city the whole time.

We are on the train now heading to Rome where we will see the sights and hopefully get some great food (and maybe the perfect Margarita pizza).

The Alps

We are currently on a train speeding from Munich to Verona Italy.

The Alps are extremely beautiful and rise up all around you as you meander thru on the train.

All the mountains should be covered in snow, but apparently they are having a very warm winter over here and only some of the mountains have snow caps. About an hour ago we passed thru a little Austrian village that was covered in snow. Was very pretty and kind of a shame that we haven't had snow ourselves yet.

The weather so far has been pretty good, not much colder than a normal winter back home. This will be great for Italy, but we are hoping a cold change will come when we head back north thru the Swiss Alps.

At the moment we are passing thru northern Italy and vast expanses of vineyards. Bordering the vineyards the the huge cliff faces of the mountains around us. Wish I could upload photos from my phone.