Flooded in Florence

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Well, not really 'flooded' I guess, it's more of a drizzle - the first rain we've had so far so I suppose we can't complain. After our guided tour of the city Emma and I have sought refuge in an internet cafe in an attempt to remain dry until we meet up with our tour manager guy again.

Florence is kinda cool - now we know where the ninja turtles come from (Donatello, Rapael etc). More importantly however, it's EASTER today, and you would not believe the size of the egg we got. Our lovely tour manager and his side kick driver aquired a 3kg which they passed around the bus for us to share. Mmmm, chocolate. Unfortuately for me, it was dark chocolate - but hey, it was a good idea.

We're still in recovery from our day and a bit in Rome - its one of the bigger cities that we have been to, and my / our feet sure feel sore after walking around on those cobblestone streets all day. The most amusing part of Rome definately has to be attempting to get back to the hotel where we were staying (a bit outside of Rome) after going to the stations of the cross at the Colosseum. We had been told that we could just get a cab, and usually that would probably be correct - but when there are thousands of people all looking for a cab at the same time, not many drivers are keen to go all that way for one fare. After loosing our map, attempting to figure out if we could get a bus we eventually did get a cab home (and taking a taxi in Rome is an experience in itself). Of course, we did end up going past the hotel and having to walk for about 20 minutes to get there, but it was easier than trying to explain to the taxi driver where we needed to go....

We've also been to Austria and Venice in the past few days, oh and the Vatican city while we were in Rome. We were not in Austria for long, just long enough for a quick look around the city we stopped in (the name of which eludes both Emma and I at the moment). Venice we spent more time exploring, after a rather prolongued motor boat trip...

We took this huge motor boat, all 50 of us and the guy drove us to St Mark's square. All seemed to be going well, until he tried to park (dock, whatever). After seven or eight (maybe more) attempts and reversing and more attempts, our driver yelled out to two italian guys who had just sucessfully parked their boat (in one attempt) to give him a hand. Fortunately for us they were very helpful, although our driver did manage to squash one of them into a big wooden post. After some time we were finally able to leave the motorboat of death, via a very steep and wobbly plank (which fortunately was also being held by the same helpful guys). I'm sure we all felt much safer in the gondalas! Our gondala driver (gondalier?) even sang for us - in between holding very animated conversations with every other boat driver guys on the canal.

Tonight we are set for a feast - a Tuscan dinner, followed perhaps by a night out in Florence at some space Disco (or, perhaps by a good nap...) Mmmmm, italian food......

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Comments

[anonymous]

Heya Shell! Sounds like an amazing tour so far. Can't believe how fast they cover all the countries - it must feel crazy!!! Guess it's a great start to know the places you want to go back to oneday. That toilet cleaning story was funny, perhaps they have a mistrust of Australians and their ability to hygienically use a toilet. - Trudy