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Published: November 23rd 2006
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Pantheon
Night shot of the Pantheon I'm a few days behind so I've a lot to cover here. I'm curently in 'sunny' Salzburg in Austria having spent most of the yesterday on the train from Venice. It´s been a bit of a grueller as I´ve had to catch 3 trains to get here. The views through the alps were amazing though so it made it worth while.
The last few days in Rome were spot on, mainly due to the sweet weather there. We checked into the BellaRoma hostel for the last couple of days as it was near the Vatican so made an excellent base. The only problem was it was so far out from our last stay, it wasn´t even on the bleading map!! Apart from that, no quarrels, the only other people in our dorm were a French couple, no funny business went on though so I managed to get a decent nights kip there.
After queing the breath of Rome to get into the Vatican Museum, I knew it was going to be a wee bit packed, and it was. Hardly had chance to stare at a masterpiece when someone would barge in from behind like a bull in a China
Vatican
Pope´s gaff shop. Still, the paintings and sculptures there were pretty impressive. They had all the Turtles work from Leonardo to Michaelangelo (nice one favva) although Splinters work wasn´t there which was a bit disappointing. After the musuem we mostly plodded around St Peters square and took some good shots of the Vatican itself when the sun dropped.
In the evening we always eat at a restaurant directly opposite the Pantheon, not quite sure of the name. Id recommend it to anyone going to Rome as the food is good, cheap and the service is 2nd to none. The Panteon as the setting aint half bad either!
After Rome we ventured north upto Venice and checked into the Hotel Villa Dori. For 15 sheets you can´t get better than this place, by far the best stay so far. As we were on the mainland we had to get the hotels "shuttle" service to Venice itself. We were chauffered by an Italian Mafioso lookalike in a people carrier which wasn´t half bad. He took the racing line all the way there instead of sticking to the lanes which made for a speedy drive. Venice is a weird old place. Waterways instead
Vatican
Pillars around St Peters Square of roads, the police crusing in their little boats, more beggers which drive you nuts. Still it was well worth the visit. We did the classic boat tour up the Grand Canal (no queer jokes!) which gave a good view of the place. The main attraction there is San Marco Square which always seems to be layered in pigeons or gutter birds as I call them. It´s like Trafalger square, you can´t get away from them. To make matters worse, they have people selling bird seed to entice the tourists in and they buy it by the shed load! We made it a daily routine to walk through and try and clip a few up the arse with our boots, quite funny watching them scamper away.
Also on the square is the Basilica and Tower which were well worth the few euro´s to have a look around. It´s funny because every time I seem to head up a tower, the bleading thing starting chiming just as I´m admiring the view. Must be some kind of curse on me! The one thing I would say about Venice is that it smells a bit, particularly down the small allies, I guess
St Angelo's Castle
St Angelo' Castle at night that was to be expected though. A good place we visited a few times is called the Cafe Blue. You can an amaretto there for 2.50 euro and ít´s not the same piddly shot you get back home. It must be getting on for a quadruple! It´s the only thing I´ve been supping for the past few days.
We arrived in Salzburg yesterday evening and spent most of the evening in the hostel bar watching the Chelski game with a few cheeky ales. Don´t think they really turned up to be honest although Michael Ballsack....sorry Ballack, should have netted that close ranger. Hopefully going to catch the Spurs game tonight. We've spent today wandering around the town centre and getting some fantastic views of the aps from the fortress which sits on the top of the hill overlooking the city. Tomorrow were heading for Vienna which is another 3 hours on the train. When I worked down London, 1hr 30 seemed like ages. It's pissball now, 4 hours is the new benchmark!
Auf Wiedersehen
JP
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Pat
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Amaretto
Good lad! knew you'd finally approve of the brown stuff!! sounds like you're having a good time mate. make sure you get ter supermarkets for cheap beer if you cant afford a night on the piss. Me and nick got battered every night for 5 euro each! good photos, keep em coming