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Published: November 13th 2010
Italian Adventures
So, as part of the series of what I have deemed 'backblogging' (cause I am blogging about stuff that happen a while back) it seems necessary to write about Italy - our first adventure away from London.
Emma's work told her she
had to take 10 days holiday before the new tax year (April in the UK for those not in the know). So, as hard as it was to force ourselves to make time for a holiday, we somehow managed. She quizzed the Flight Centre folk for the best deal so we could see the places we wanted to in the amount of time we had. We ended up planning for about three days in each of Rome, Florence and Venice.
Rome & Pompeii (Roma e Pompei): We flew out of London from Gatwick Airport with British Air. We got to the airport and went to check in and the man said, "First class has already been seated." Which was fine with us, why should we care what they do. But when we got onto the plane, we realised why he had told us - we were in first class; up the front of
the plane with an extra seat between us and a curtain dividing us from those low-lives in economy! Not a bad flight from what I remember, but the getting the plane off the ground was the hard part. I clearly remember the words "this plane is broken" coming from the pilot while we were sitting on the tarmac waiting. Thankfully we just had to wait around a bit longer and change planes. We got nice food and free drinks all the way there - a whole two hours.
We landed in Rome quite late if I remember rightly and caught a taxi to our hotel (
HotelMariano ) near the Roma Termini (big train station). Had a sleep and woke up nice and refreshed! Our first day in Rome we decided we wold venture further afield and have a look at Pompeii. So we got our biglietti (tickets) and caught the train to Naples from where we had to catch the local trains onto Scavi di Pompei (which apparently translates to 'Pompeii' according to Google Translate - and lets face it Google knows all!). The local trains were quite dirty and very vandalised, as was the locales we were traveling through. We met an American lady and her two daughters on the train who were also on their way to Pompeii but were a little confused - together we figured it out and made the way (part of which involved her yelling, as only Americans can, across platforms to ask people where to go!).
Pompeii is incredible. When you learn about it at school you never quite understand how massive it is - it wasn't some small town, it was a bustling metropolis with bazillions of streets and heaps of different buildings and whatnot to look at. We bought a guide book so that we could do a self-guided tour and set off. I don't think we covered it all because it was so big, but the amount of infrastructure that they had and that has been restored is amazing. Mosaics and statues have been fixed up to look lovely and there is many a stone door way to wander through and see what is inside (to be fair, usually not much seems it was all destroyed). My personal favourite part was the big fenced-off storage area where they had shelves of preserved dead people and heaps of
pots/vases/urns. Emma says her favourite part of Pompeii was "Just seeing everything" - profound.
We travelled back to Rome via trains again, much easier this time though cause we knew how! Probably went out for dinner, where we were pleased to see that wine is cheaper than Coke!
The next two days in Rome were spent utilising the hop-on hop-off buses (or archeobus) so we could see all the sites that we had heard about for so long. We went to the Vatican and climbed to the top of St Peter's Basilica (320
after taking the elevator, which we did not take!) and marvelled at the awesome views from the top and looked into the Pope's back yard. When we got back down we realised that there were thousands of people crowding around the Piazza San Pietro. Presumably they weren't there to see two Australian tourists gawking at ancient architecture, so we assumed something was up. Which it was (or he was I should say) - Pope Benedict was up in his window waving away at the crowds. Personally, I think it could have been any old man in a white cap, but let's assume it was the
real Pope. We trundled on and saw the Trevi Fountain, where we ate gelati (mine was yuck cause it was a horrible flavour). After much hopping on and off we saw more fountains, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps (where we spotted out American friends from Pompeii), a gigantic monument to Victor Emanuelle II which includes a monument to the unknown soldier, the Colosseum, the Palatine (lots of ruins), Circus Maximus, and lots of statues to various Roman rulers.
Florence & Pisa, (Firenze e Pisa): From Rome we caught the train to Florence. What amazed us straight away was how very different the two cities are. Rome was so ancient and archeological, whereas Florence, while obviously still ancient, seemed more artistic and less big-city. Again on our first day we decided to go out of town and caught the train again to Pisa. I have to say Pisa was a bit of a let down. It is pretty much a big university town which happens to have a tall cylindrical building that is sinking. Clearly the uni doesn't do engineering. I also had not realised that the Tower of Pisa and its nearby buildings (Baptistry of San Giovanni and
stuff) are all UNESCO World Heritage listed. We ate panna cotta and headed back to Florence.
The next days were spent wandering Florence and taking millions of photos. We did a guided tour, which was excellent, and learnt a lot of stuff about the city, its history and the buildings in it. The main focal point in Florence is the green and white Duomo (Cathedral) in the centre of the city. It is an enormous structure with a massive domed ceiling which has quite a comical history (far too much for me to type though). On our last day in Florence we went up to the Boboli Gardens where you can look out over the city with all its orange roofs/rooves. Spectacular! And a great way to leave the city! Unfortunately we didn't bother to line up to see any art works like the Venus de Milo and statue of David.
Venice (Venezia): We trained it, again, from Florence to Venice where we stayed on the mainland (cause that is a lot cheaper) in a new hotel (
FeelInn ). We traveled every day by bus to Venice and explored the waterways and laughed at the fact that they have a fire truck that is a boat! Not a wheel in sight.
We had coffee and desert in St Mark's Square (incredibly expensive, but according to Lonely Planet something that must be done) and watched people walk by. We climbed St Mark's Basilica, saw the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) which was mostly covered because the buildings surrounding it were being renovated, crossed the Rialto Bridge and visited some islands in the area. One island was Murano, famous for glass blowing, where we bought a pink bowl, and another was Burano, which has brightly coloured houses great for taking photos!
While we were in Venice Emma had her birthday, which was quite different to any birthday she had ever had before!
We loved (almost) every moment of the trip. When people ask us our favourite city I say: "It is too hard to choose because each city was so incredibly different from the last. I liked Rome for its history, Florence for its culture and laid-back lifestyle, and Venice because it is different to anything I have seen before." Emma says: "I can't really say because they are all different." Looks like we
agree and will just have to go again...maybe Tuscany this time though...
Paul
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Tina
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Florence
It is a pity you missed out on seeing the statue of David. That was a highlight of our trip to Europe. I guess it gives you an excuse to go back again. Can't wait for your next instalment.