Hi everyone, Well it's been a busy few months since we last updated you on our life in London! We have been really busy getting permanent work (Lisa at T-Mobile and Eric at Transport for London), settling in to our new apartment and enjoying a few local day trips outside London so we planned a short overseas getaway to celebrate my 40th birthday (08/08/08) on the beautiful island of Kefalonia in Greece. Saturday 3rd August - We left London Gatwick for the 3 hour charter flight to Argostoli, Greece. We stayed at a stunning resort in the south of the island [View Full Entry]

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As Lisa is working and I am the "house husband" for another week I have been tasked with writing the update on our new life in London! We arrived in London on the 2nd March after a fantastic three months in Florence. Having had a good break and doing the 'touristy thing' for a while, it was time to face reality and earn some cash again!! Hillary Sewell (ex-Telecom) kindly offered to put us up in her place for a month while we looked for work and accommodation. Lisa managed to get a contract role with T-Mobile within 2 weeks of [View Full Entry]

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Valentines Day in Verona - home of Romeo & Giulietta (Romeo & Juliet). Verona is a beautiful, small Italian city in the Veneto region and is known as "piccolo Roma" (little Rome) due the Roman Arena - a small version of Rome's Colosseo. The lovely old town centre is built around the stunning Arena and the many cafes in Piazza Bra & pedestrian only alleyways filled with great shops! Bolzano & the Alps After 2 days in Verona we took the early train to Bolzano in the Alto Adige region near the Austrian border. As most locals in Bolzano speak both [View Full Entry]

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After counting down the days the girls from NZ (Bridgette, Janelle & Liz) finally arrived into Pisa airport on Sunday 10th February. Eric & I took the train to Pisa to surprise them! It was a whirlwind Florence trip as the girls had only 3 days to experience life in Florence before heading back to London & then home to NZ .... but WOW ..... do they know how to shop!! Some fantastic bargains to be had in the winter sales - stunning Italian leather boots, bags, gloves & jackets were the favourites followed closely by scarves & artwork! Additional luggage [View Full Entry]

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After finishing my language studies at Leonardo da Vinci school in Firenze we embarked on our Italian southern adventure by train & bus to Naples, Pompeii, Matera and Sicily. What we discovered and experienced was more of the incredible history and diversity that is truly Italy. Here's just some of the hundreds of photos we took on this trip ..... enjoy! Pompeii We took the Eurostar train to Naples for one night (and had world famous pizza Margherita at a little "hole in the wall" place for Euro 3.50 for a huge pizza!), then spent the next morning exploring Pompeii. We [View Full Entry]

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On a clear, sunny winter morning in late January we took the bus from Firenze to Siena for the day. Siena is a beautiful, small city (population 52,000) in central Tuscany and is most famous for "Il Palio" - this famous, fast horse race is held very year (2 July & 16 August) & the maginificent, scalloped shaped, sloping Piazza del Campo is transformed into a racetrack with a ring of packed dirt. Even if a horse loses its rider it's still eligible to win! The race attracts crowds of thousands to Siena. Enjoy the photos! [View Full Entry]

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During our time in Florence we have spent every weekend discovering Tuscany. Most Saturday or Sunday mornings we will wander to the train or bus station, look at the Departures board, decide on a day trip destination & away we go! Hope you enjoy the photos of Viareggio and Lucca! Viareggio Carnevale: The tradition of carnevale started at the beginning of the century, and featured floats pulled by oxen; now tractors have taken their place, and the paper mache floats are far more elaborate, some reaching over 50 feet high with a cast of thousands! Tuscans are known for their sharp [View Full Entry]

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On Sunday 13th January 2008 we took the local train from Firenze (Florence) one hour to Pisa to visit the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was a stunning day ..... bright, warm sunshine & clear blue skies (not at all like winter!) Leaning Tower of Pisa - building began in 1173 and the tower began to slip sideways when the 3rd floor storey was completed. Even so, construction continued until completion in 1350!! Recent engineering has corrected the lean by 38cm & the tower was re-opened in 2001 but the 7 storey tower has definitely retained it's famous "lean"! The [View Full Entry]

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On 2nd January 2008 Eric & I took the Eurostar train (2 & 1/2 hrs) to Venezia (Venice) for 2 nights. It was a beautiful, clear winter day when we arrived at midday so after checking in to the basic but clean 2 star Hotel Atlantide near the train station we took a traghetto (ferry) Euro 6 each from the Stazione di Santa Lucia train station & the ferry zig zagged it's way along the Grand Canal docking to pick up/drop off passengers..... I took hundreds of photos! Venice is built on 117 small islands with 150 canals & 409 bridges. [View Full Entry]

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Christmas with the Ferrari family in Capranica (23 - 29 Dec 2007) Eric & I took the train to Rome to spend Christmas with my Italian family at their mountain house in the hills of Capranica (40kms from Rome). Unfortunately I got a bad stomach bug & missed Christmas Eve (traditionally this is the time the Italians eat, drink & give Christmas presents at midnight). Christmas Day was also spent in bed so not a very memorable few days for me (or Eric!). Hence there are not too many photos of my family or the Christmas celebrations either ..... When I [View Full Entry]

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