Venice. Where to start? It is beautiful, no doubt about that. The canals were fascinating, the gondolas were cool, I loved the stripey men (and one woman) and the glass and masks were funky. But can anyone say REPETITION?? Not that I'm complaining of course, it was everything I dreamed it would be, but you wouldn't need to go back twice. My favourite thing was getting to buy a copy of 'The Merchant of Venice' in Venice! How many people can say they've done that? Haha. And then it was New Years. We went to an Aussie Pub just out side of Venice and watched the countdown in the town square. Such an experience! The Italians brought their own firecrackers and so it was kind of like the Battle of the Somme (I have now come ... read more

Ahhh the trek to Pompeii. It was epic. That is all. Some people said I couldn't do it alone, others called me mad. Do I listen? Do I ever? Of course I bloody didn't... and so I trekked it solo from Rome to Napoli(Naples) on the Eurostar. Then caught the local train to Pompeii. I really enjoyed the time to myself and being able to remind myself that I can actually travel alone. I've done it before, nothing has changed. The scenery was just magnificent on the way down through the mountain ranges. I got to have a quick browse around Napoli Centrale before hopping on the local to Pompeii. This train ride took me right past Mt Vesuvius so I got a good look at the rock before the ruins. Jared had pre-warned me that ... read more

For the first time this trip (please excuse any spelling mistakes, the keyboard is crazy here) I've been dumbstruck by a site; The Colloseum. Wow. We spent the entire day wandering the ruins of Ancient Rome: including the Roman Forum; the Pantheon; the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. It is astounding the think of the thousands of years these ruins have been laying about for, all that the city has been through: revolutions, change in rule, great wars... for them to still be standing is pretty damn remarkable really. We also chillaxed at the Trevi Fountain, wandered the back streets of Roma centrale, had coffee in a cute little Piazza and ate in a pizzeria that dated back a century. I was in constant awe of everthing I saw today and am so excited for what is ... read more

After an epic 15 hour flight from Sydney, I landed safe and sound in Dubai. The ENTIRE 15 hours was in darkness and squashed between two lovely ladies. I spent the time watching crappy movies such as "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" and "Avatar" and now feel thoroughly filmed out. I did get to watch the end of Band of Brothers and even watched the first four episodes of Dexter! Youàd be so proud of me Elyse!! Next trip is 6 hours to Rome and then the real fun begins xx Lex... read more

In full prep now for our Europe trip! Hoping I've not forgotten anything and that I'm packing warm enough (my worst fear is being cold!!!!). Starting to get pretty excited. I'm also keeno for our trip to Port Macquarie, a week Of beach and surfing before braving the winter cold of Europe! I'll do my best to NOT get sunburnt to a crisp before leaving this time :p Anyway, one and a half weeks to go! See you at the airport xx... read more