27 Sept 2008 (these blogs being uploaded from Letojanni -have to do pics later) With our sites set firmly on Naples, we checked out at around 9:30, found the autostrade, and zoomed down. Relatively uneventful, and after passing the Rome turnoff the traffic was light. Naples was interesting - first we made a wrong turn early on while still on the autostrade and ended up going right around the city and approaching it from the southeast. Lucky for us we were looking for the port and there were clear signs to the port. But I understand the remarks about the driving [View Full Entry]

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26 Sept 2008 With a bit more familiarity of Florence, today's trip was much easier. We brought along our "Fun In Florence" books that we'd bought for the kids (and forgot on Sunday). They turned out to be excellent choices. Complete with colouring in sections, information about the places, the books guide you through the main areas of Florence and have activities for the kids to do. First [View Full Entry]

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25 Sept 2008 A quiet day today at the camp for Doug to recover from the excitement of yesterday. Played in the pool, lots of yahtzee and ping-pong. Doug managed some exercise in the gym and the boys found friends to play with after dinner. so a relaxing day all round. I must say that I'm getting a bit tired of looking at ornate churches. A few days ago the boys asked why we went to so many churches, my reply was that in churches you got art, sculpture, history, culture as well as a bit of religion thrown in. Joseph, [View Full Entry]

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24 Sept 2008 And today was my day! Both Kylie's and my tour were booked through expedia. She took the Gucci and Prada Shopping Tour and I took the "Florence Through the Lens" tour. I met my guide Marco at the SS Anunziata square. As it turned out, I was the only one for the morning, so we managed to cover quite a bit of ground. Marco was an excellent guide. He explained various aspects of the city and buildings as we walked around, and gave me pointers on getting the best light and camera settings. We looked into a number [View Full Entry]

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23 Sept 2008 Today was Kylie's day of freedom in Florence, plus a shopping tour. She headed off early, caught the train in, and shopped around for a while. Then caught the "complete disappointment" for an afternoon of driving to two places and seeing nothing interesting. I'll leave Ky to tell you the full story. The boys and I alternated between the heated pool, games room, playground, and a gelati or two. We took a walk along the valley to find out where the horse ranch was, the idea being to have a horse ride later in the week. After some [View Full Entry]

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22 Sept 2008 With all the walking from yesterday, we definitely needed some sitting (driving) time, so today it was off to Pisa, with possible stops at Montecatini Terme, Collodi's Pinocchio Park, Lucca, and maybe Carrara. The Pinocchio park was easy enough to find, again following the helpful blue signs for Collodi and then the brown signs for the park. E72 with combined tickets for the nearby gardens, and we were in the park, around about siesta time so most of the activities were shut. We were one of only three families visiting at the time. I imagine it would have [View Full Entry]

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21 Sept 2008 We decided to skip the hassles of driving and this time took the train in. First we had to work out which platform (binari), and what time, because the normal timetable was only for the weekdays. We hadn't noticed the helpful monitor by the ticket office, so ended up fretting for half an hour hoping there actually would be a train. Well of course there was, so 25 minutes later we were at the train station in Florence and heading for the Arno river. On foot the map distances looked a little daunting, for us walking with the [View Full Entry]

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20 Sept 2008 Today we drove to Figline Valdarno, a little town south of Florence, for our next stay. The trip was uneventful, taking just over 2.5 hours, and we arrived just after noon. The Norcenni Girasole Club is extensive. Our Bungalow is right near 3 restaurants, 3 bars, 3 large swimming pools with slides, the games room, gym, two large shops and a gelateria. So we've been having a bit of fun! The oustide pools are freezing - as FLorence had the rains the same time we did o [View Full Entry]

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19 Sept 2008 With our last day in the area, we decided to have a look a the Castell Estense in Ferrara. After the usual nightmare of finding a park, which in this instance would have been easier with Ferrara's directions for carparks if only they hadn't been full, we walked in to the castle. Complete with a moat, cannon balls, dungeons and a tower to climb it was great for the kids, apart from the (for them anyway) boring bit in the middle where mum and dad were again staring at the ceiling a lot. The painting, frescoes were great [View Full Entry]

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18 Sept 2008 After our not so enthralling visit to Bologna, where we just didn't seem to get the combination right, we were at odds as to what to do today. We didn't want to spend all day at the campground because Ky and I would soon get bored, and the day was not looking amazing, even though it was a little warmer. So shortly after lunch we drove out with the aim of going to Rimini, south of Ravenna, and perhaps stopping at the beach. We took the now familiar roads south past Ravenna, but once reaching the bypass to [View Full Entry]

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