Genoa 25th-27th September. Arrived in to Genoa in the afternoon, after driving through the picturesque coastal hills of north-western Italy. We checked in on board Saudade, for a three night stay. The boys were up early to watch the AFL grandfinal live. After that our tour guides (Polly and Mike) took us to Rapallo, where we got a ferry to the beautiful village of Portofino. A drink in the piazza and then a stroll along the road took us to a small bay for a dip. We then had lunch at a beach bar, before heading back to the ferry. The [View Full Entry]

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Lake Garda 24th September. We spent a night at Le Terraze near Verona. It was next to Lake Garda, which is a huge lake close to the freeway. You couldn't even see the other side of the lake. It looked like the ocean. The hotel had a great pool and a good breakfast included. We could see the lake from our room. Before we left, we went down to the lake for a swim. The water was a good temperature. There were lots of skimming pebbles near the lake, so we had a competition. Lake Garda was a cool place to [View Full Entry]

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Venice 22nd-23th September. Things to do and see in Venice: Head up the main canal in a vaporreti for your first glimpse of Venice life. Stay in the heart of Venice at Hotel Rio. Catch up with friends from half a world away (in our case the Wilkies- Fi, Al, Georgie and Lizzie). Walk the lovely back streets of Venice and window shop along the way. Visit Piazza San Marco at nighttime and listen to the musicians at work. Get some pizza and sit on the steps of a bridge to enjoy. Walk into the remarkable Basilica Di San Marco. Cross [View Full Entry]

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Pisa/Florence We started our car trip from Volterra to Pisa. When we arrived there we went to find the Leaning Tower of Pisa! but it took almost half a hour to find it. I was so surprised, I thought it would it so much bigger! Jarah and I pretended to hold up the tower. After that we headed to Florence, which is in Tuscany. We checked in at our hotel called Hotel Royal and then wandered the streets of Florence to find some food. We found a super market and bought some food. Over the next two days we had a [View Full Entry]

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Siena/Volterra 19th Sept We drove three hours north into the beautiful Tuscan countryside. Our first stop was Siena. What a picturesque town, with winding narrow streets and a lovely sloping piazza in the centre. Matt even stopped off for a hair cut at a local Italian hairdresser, who spoke no english at all. We then headed deeper into the countryside, to stay at the small town of Volterra. We didn't spot any vampires, but lots of locals at the pizzeria and bar. Our room at La Forsteria was good value. [View Full Entry]

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Roma 16th-19th September. After a terrible night on the car ferry, we arrived in Ostia Antica to check ou the ruined port city. It was really cooooooool to see how they used to live. The we checked in to Country Club Castle Fusano. We were not happy with our donger. In the afternoon we went to the beach and then had a great pasta dinner at the campground. The next day we got a train and a subway into Rome. It took about an hour. When we walked up the steps of the subway the Colosseum was right in front [View Full Entry]

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After a comfortable night on the car ferry, we arrived at Porto Torres in Sardinia. We drove for two hours to reach the North-West town of Olbia. Just north of the town was Camping Cugnana, where we were staying in an on site cabin. The kids were impressed with the pool and headed straight there for a swim. At 5pm we drove 20minutes along the coast to Porto Cervo, where Polly and Mike were based for the Rolex Maxi Cup sailing regatta with the owner. We checked out the very impressive boat and were taken to the crews beach party. [View Full Entry]

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An early flight from Girona to Palma started the day. We arrived at 9.10am and were met by Brendan, who had come to pick us up. He took us on the terry tourist route back to his apartment near Porto Adriano. Karina was there to greet us and after a swim in the pool we went to pick up Georgia from school. Brendan had organised one of his mates boats for the day, so we headed around the magnificent coastline to a picturesque bay. We all went swimming off the boat and spent the afternoon eating and relaxing at the [View Full Entry]

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We drove for 6 hours and arrived in the centre of Barcelona at Hostal HMB. Once again our trusty laptop "googled" our way there by directions online. That evening we walked down to Las Rambles and checked out the street performers and the local scene. We spotted a couple of Gaudi's famous buildings along the way. We ate paella at a traditional Barcelona bar in Barri Gotic and soaked up the atmosphere. The next morning we hit the streets early to visit La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's masterpiece. It is amazing to see the thought processes that have gone into the [View Full Entry]

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Drove an hour south to the town of Ericeira, just 40km North of Lisbon. Lots of headlands and cliff faces with right hand point breaks. Checked out the coastline and then went to our accommodation, Beach Tour Ericeira. A really nice two bedroom apartment with pools and ocean glimpses. Spent the next days at the beach (water getting chiily), eating the local produce and drinking local wine and beer. One day we headed into Lisbon and went to the Castle of St. George and their version of Scitech. Indiya and Jarah really enjoyed the Science Centre. On our last day [View Full Entry]

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