Venezia

From Mestre we got taken by coach across the causeway to Venice. From there we had a boat waiting to take us around to Piazza San Marco square/piazza where we saw the cathedral, Doges palace and Bell Tower. We went to a glass blowing demonstration where a "master" made a glass animal which was amazing. It was very quick too (I guess it has to since the glass cools quickly). It was just like moulding plastacine but was obviously glowing red hot!

Next was a gondola ride for about 40 minutes down the canals and onto the grand canal. The water can be quite smelly at times but it is nice and relaxing just cruising around the canals.








Back in the Piazza we went up the Bell Tower (luckily with an elevator). Great views over Venice, the mainland and out to sea.




Next was the Doges palace, and across the "Bridge of Sighs" to the prison. The prisoners would be taken across this bridge and see there last glimpse of the outside world before going to prison so they would Sigh.

After all that we had a wander around the shops, walked across the Rialto bridge which has lots of little souvenir type shops, looked at some amazing paintings by locals on the streets and made our way back to Piazzala Roma

Roma to Venezia via Orvieto

On our way to Venice we stopped at a town called Orvieto. It is built on a hill/rock which seems to stand in the middle of a flat plain. We took a funicular up to the town and had a brief walk around. We were in time for the underground caves tour. Under the city there are a huge number of caves which were used over the ages for various purposes. At first wells were dug from the surface for water. Later they dug reservoirs underground to collect rainwater which was much more beneficial. They were constantly worried about being attacked and having outside supplies stopped so plenty of storage was required. Caves were used for mining (this had to be controlled carefully so that the city above didn't collapse) and for workers in industries such as olive pressing. There was limited space above ground so these underground caves provided excellent working areas. We could still see the areas where they would grind and press the olives to get the oil.

In later times the caves near the outside of the hill where used for keeping pigeons. They could fly in and out as they pleased and provided a large supply of food for the people.
Tonight we stayed in Mestre, a town on the mainland near Venice.

Pompeii

Today we had the option of a day trip to Pompeii. Since it was a great opportunity to get to Pompeii we decided to take it.

It was a 3.5 hour bus ride to Pompeii. Mt Vesuvius was covered in cloud (a lot like Mt Ruapehu in NZ). Martin our bus driver explained some Italian culture on the way. Things like the "Pizza Control ????" which dictates what defines a pizza. Apparently if a pizza has pineapple on it (for example) then it is not allowed to be called a pizza but is actually a cake!



We had a local guide for 2 hours showing us around the remains of the city buried in volcanic ash years ago. The main sights were shops, homes, bars and brothels. There are still many mosaics and paintings on these buildings which are in surprisingly good condition. These also help historians determine what buildings were used for (so you can imagine what was drawn on the walls of the brothel). Where people were trapped in the volcanic ash, their bodies decomposed but a cavity was left in the hard rock that formed. Plaster has been poured into the cavities and
plaster casts of bodies seconds before they died are placed around the city. Some people are seen with there hands to their mouths which indicates that they were suffocating (from gas) at the time.



After the tour we had an hour or so to explore for ourselves. We checked out the amphitheatre (where Pink Floyd once recorded a concert) and nearby the small and large theatres. The large theatre was being set up for a rock concert as we walked through it.

Then we had the 3.5 hour bus ride back to Rome, and a good meal at a restaurant near the hotel. There was a gelato shop next door which was really good. Very tempting was the 1 litre container of gelato for Eu10.

Roma

Today was a busy day in Rome as we were trying to cover all the major sights in one day as we wanted to go to Pompeii tomorrow (Eleni's 'Rome in a day' tour).


We started with a visit to the Colosseum first thing (8:30 opening). Having watched Gladiator yesterday on the bus, the Colosseum is a very different sight today. It's a lot more ruined that both of us were expecting it to be, but still an impressive structure, though nothing like it would have been in its time. It seems a shame that so much of it was destroyed and the marble taken to build other structures (like St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City).


We then went on a guided walking tour with our group which included around the Colosseum on the outside, a walk through the Roman Forum and then to the Pantheon. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and told us so much more about the Colloseum in 10 minutes than we learnt actually going inside for an hour. We've learnt a lot of history on this holiday!






The front of the Pantheon.






After grabbing a quick bite of lunch (pizza, sold by weight!), we hopped on a bus to the Vatican City. We entered the Vatican Museum for another dose of art and the Sistine chapel. At first it was great but after a while it became tiring. We were ready for the Sistine Chapel but it just never came. Near the end it was like a maze, ducking between rooms, small doorways, like they were really testing us. Finally we came to the Sistine Chapel which was full of people and a few guards telling people to be quiet and stop taking photos.




One of the halls in the museum.









It was amazing to be surrounded by all the paintings (no photos sorry!). I thought about how long it takes to paint a large room, then multiply that by thousands to think how long it would take to paint a room in this way.

We followed Eleni's advice and took the "group exit" from the Sistine Chapel which takes you straight to St Peter's. The "normal" exit takes you out of the Vatican altogether and you have to walk around to St Peter's Square and go through security checks again to enter the Basilica.

We first went through the basement with tombs under St Peter's. This was interesting on it's own. We then walked around the front entrance and into St Peter's and Wow! What an awesome sight. I no longer cared that they took so much of the Colloseum apart, it was worth it. No question the most amazing and beautiful building we have seen (and will see) on this trip.




Our tired feet couldn't take us any further so we caught a taxi to the Spanish steps to pose in front of prospective fashion designers (that's what models did in the old days). Unfortunately no one approached us :-( Maybe next time? The steps were a bit of a let down (just some boring old steps!). They may hold historical significance but held little attraction for us.

From there we walked to the Trevi Fountain, a large fountain with sculptures of men and horses. Huge crowds of people too, but we managed to get a good view.




After a long tiring day we met up with a couple of friends who had just finished a Contiki Tour and were staying a few nights in Rome. It was great to catch up and share stories with them, and to see familiar faces after being away for a while.

Firenze to Rome via San Gimignano

On the road again today and we started the day with a non-appetising breakfast, the supermarket was closed when we left so we couldn't pick up anything from there.














We stopped at a little town called San Gimignano where we tried some canoli - kind of like brandy snaps - with a hardish tubular pastry with cream in the middle. We also bought some timber utensils made out of olive tree wood from a small shop that sold heaps of wooden products. We wanted to buy everything in the store but for obvious reasons we couldn't!

From SG we headed to a winery for a wine tasting lunch. We learnt the Italian technique of tasting which generally goes as follows:
(For the right handed person, for left handers, do the opposite)
Pick up glass by stem with the left hand, transfer glass to right hand holding the base.
Give the wine a good swirl with the hand covering the top of the glass
Then stick your nose into the glass and take a deep breath.
Finally take a large mouthful and swirl and suck this in your mouth for 10 seconds before swallowing. The swirling process is actually more a case of sucking and blowing motion but this really needs to be demonstrated for its true meaning. Seeing the group of 32 try this at the same time was very amusing.
9 different wines later most of the group were a little happy. They also served a delicious lasagne.

When we finally arrived in Rome, it was time to say goodbye to some of our group (14 people finished their tour here). Later that evening we met the new people joining the tour at this point.
Dinner was fresh pasta which Grace found to be a bit over powering with a lot of olive oil and pesto - a bit too overdressed. Andrew thought it was good :-)

Firenze

We began today by having a group photo on a hill overlooking Florence. Beautiful day except that most of us were trying hard not to squint as we faced the bright sun for the photo.



We then headed into the main square of Florence - Piazza della Signoria - to meet our local guide for a walking tour around the city. In Italy they have registered guides to help the locals keep their jobs rather than losing it to the millions of tour groups which come through with their own guide.






The main square contains several sculptures including a copy of Michaelangelo's David, Perseus and the Rape of the Sabine Woman. The guide took us to the Ponte Vecchio bridge, the duomo and baptistry.
Following the walking tour we had a leather demonstration giving us tips on how to identify real leather and as it turns out smell isn't a sure indicator and neither is attempting to burn it, as real leather will burn. The only real way of telling whether it is real leather is to check for suede on the underside - however as most leather products have a lining, this is pretty much impossible in most cases.



Following the leather demo we checked out the Church of Santa Croce and then grabbed some lunch before heading to the Galleria del Accademia to check out the real Michaelangelo's David. The museum also contained a small gallery of Renaissance paintings and had an exhibition on Firenzo Monaco works. We also looked at the small musical instruments museum. The real David was amazing. They also had a 3D model on the computer where you could view from any angle, zoom in/out and adjust the light source and get realistic shadows. There were also some of Michaelangelo's other sculptures which were never completed.



After the Accademia we went into the Doumo. It is an amazing cathedral and we could see up to the huge dome.





We then did the climb to the top of the dome. The structure of the Duomo consists of two domes one within the other (the inside dome and the roof). As you climb up to the lantern part of the structure, you're climbing in between the two domes.



One also gets views of the amazing paintings on the inside of the dome on the way up. Once at the top there the views were fantastic, giving 360 degrees view of the city of Florence.






From the Duomo we went on a hunt for gelato, while there were plenty of stores around, it was not particularly cheap. We found a couple of girls on the tour in a gelataria and ended up getting some gelato there. As we were feeling quite tired at this stage and still had a bit of time to kill before meeting up for dinner, we just hanged out in the sculpture square with some others.
Dinner was pasta and chicken cachaturia.

Nice to Firenze

On our way out of town we visited the Fragonard Perfumery which makes perfume for a lot of famous brands. We saw some handmade soaps being made and bought some product.

Past Monaco again and off to Italy. There were over 200 tunnels before we reached Tuscany. There are so many tunnels in this part of the world. Sometimes it seems like the build a tunnel just for the sake of it. There is so little ground above the tunnel that cutting away would seem like a much cheaper option.

We stopped in Pisa and caught a public bus into the square of miracles where the leaning tower, baptistry and cathedral are. The tower was too busy to go up, so we just walked around and ate gelato. Tonight we stayed in Prato, just out of Florence. We went with most of the group to dinner at a local restaurant.





The leaning tower










The baptistry with the cathedral in the background.

Nice

We spent most of the morning sleeping in then talking on the phone to home. The hotels don't supply kettles ("it is forbidden") so we had to get hot water from reception to eat our instant noodles.

We walked to the "beach" which was about 30mins and had a brief swim in the Mediterranean. The water is very salty and lots of jelly fish around and the stones on the "beach" are hard on the feet. All in all not that pleasant!
We found an Asian supermarket to stock up on noodles and then found a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner.

Annecy to Nice

Today we drove to Nice on the French Riviera (south coast of France). Nice has the second busiest airport in France, and a lot of private jets are kept there. There is a long stony "beach" with beautiful coloured water.

Tonight we made a trip to Monaco, the principality about 30mins drive from Nice. The road was very windy and perched on cliffs around the coast. In Monaco we walked to the cathedral where the tombs of royal family are, then the royal palace. After dinner we drove around part of the Grand Prix circuit and then to the Monte Carlo casino. Porsches, Aston Martins, Audis and BMW's line the roads around the area. The casino costs ó10 just to enter but was worth it just to see the amazing buliding (and breath in a ton of cigarette smoke). Only a few people gambled as the minimum bets are so high. One couple came out even.



The royal palace in Monaco, home of the Grimaldi's.









Monte Carlo casino

Interlaken to Annecy

This morning we stopped in Bern to check out the Bern bears (Bern - the capital of Switzerland - supposedly famous for it's bears). All we saw was an empty enclosure being cleaned by a man. Just as we left we saw one Bear hunting for food as it was released.






We stopped for lunch in Geneva which seemed like a nice place in the short time we were there. Geneva has a really cool jet of water like a massive fountain. It reaches about 120m in the air above the lake. We strolled around the Medieval part of town and found some lunch.







We then reached Annecy (back in France) which is by a beautiful lake. After checking into the hotel we strolled around the streets and had some famous Cassis (blackcurrant flavour) sorbet (the shop had 56 flavours so it was a difficult choice). We hired a paddle boat to pedal our way around the lake for a while then walked past the shops on the way back. We had a group dinner tonight - a strange quiche-like thing, a nice salmon steak and tiramisu for dessert.



One of the paddle boats on the lake, this one had a slide.

Interlaken - Jungfraujoch!!

We took the optional extra today of the trip up the Jungfraujoch. Jungfrau is one of the largest peaks in the Swiss Alps and the trip up there is quite amazing. Firstly we took a train to another small town. From there we changed to a cog railway which took us further up the mountain. On the way we saw several small villages and lots of cows with bells (apparently cows are treated very well here and all have names). The final train to the top goes through a tunnel in the mountain. There were two stops for viewing however it was too cloudy and we couldn't see much, we were hoping at this stage that things would be clearer once we got to the top. Luckily it did clear and we had amazing views. We went through the ice palace which is a series of ice caves with really cool ice sculptures. There was an outdoor area with (really crappy) skiing and snowboarding, husky rides and a flying fox. We saw a few naked people wearing just a harness so they could get use flying fox for free - not a pleasant sight!

On our way back down we stopped at a town called Lauterbrunnen and took a bus to the Trumelbach falls. These falls are amazing as they make their way through sort of caves in the mountain. The water is either spiralling around the rocks, crashing down into pools or spraying the entire cave with a mist. Definitely the most interesting falls we've seen in a long time.

Back in Interlaken we stocked up on Swiss Chocolate at the supermarket and headed off to dinner with some of group at an italian restaurant.





Grindewald town on the way up the mountain.








One of the cows on the way up the mountain - Chris, this one's for you. Check out the bell!






One of the train stops inside the mountain








Eskimo Andrew & eskimo Grace









One of the many ice sculptures in the ice palace

















View from the top!








The amazing Trummelbach falls

Paris to Interlaken

Today was our first proper day on the coach. It was very comfortable and we made regular stops for toilets and food. Eleni, our tour leader gave us a big chat about "rules" of the tour. Things like 'don't lean on the windows of the coach and leave a layer of lard because someone else will sit there tomorrow and the windows aren't cleaned everyday', and 'if you are sharing your room with someone else, don't walk around naked because I don't want to have to give you the "naked chat"'.

No passport checks as we entered Switzerland. Eleni told us all about buying Swiss watches, Swiss army knives and Swiss chocolate. We arrived in Interlaken which means "between lakes" and is not surprisingly right between two lakes!

Group dinner was "traditional" cheese fondue, followed by chicken then chocolate fondue for dessert. The best part about dinner was the entertaining staff. They had us dancing on the chairs, in a Congo line and blowing a horn.



Grace trying out the cheese fondue - which wasn't very nice btw.








Host of restaurant blowing into this gigantic horn

Paris

Good breakfast this morning, good selection of food from cereals to croissants with ham and cheese.

We began the day with a bus tour of the city, covering a lot of major sights such as Champs Elysee, The Opera House, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Hotel de Invalides, We also got a French history lesson which was interesting - Eleni our guide makes history sound like fun!

After the bus tour, we checked out the Louvre, where we saw the Mona Lisa + lots of Italian and French paintings, the Venus de Milo and the ornate Napolean's Apartments, covering probably only about a tenth of the place (or less).

Then we headed to Notre Dame and had a look inside and outside.

We walked across the river and started looking for a place for dinner, past lots of very tempting creperies. We gave up looking and settled for a pizza place since we figured we could order a pizza off a French menu. After struggling the waitress asked us in very clear English if we would like an English menu. We should have just asked at the start!

The sun was setting as we saw the Arc de Triomphe. We were to tired to go any further so headed back after that.



The Louvre








The Venus de Milo












View of Notre Dame #1













View of Notre Dame #2













Arc de Triomphe