Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 1606

Chapter 7 Siena: Into the Tuscan Hills They waved goodbye to Pisa after some cure for Maya’s hangover by means of grapefruit and caught the 11.18am to Siena via Empoli. Pisa had been interesting enough to visit but they both had a feeling that better was to come. At Empoli, the train was delayed for ten minutes as a local football derby had spewed out all the hooligans onto the station, fortunately none of them boarded our intrepid twosome’s train. There seemed very little difference in both appearance and behaviour between Italian football fans and English football fans, the only real notable difference were the hand gestures, though the meanings of them were pretty universal. After the brief delay, the road or rather the railroad to Siena lay ahead. From the train, the Tuscan hills rolled ... read more

Chapter 5 Leaning on a tower Breakfast and left Rome on the 9.46am IC train to Pisa. The train was delayed by 10 minutes,having swapped seats once, they ended up in a compartment with a family (very sweet, well behaved kids and friendly parents). The train took them through Rome’s suburbs, heading north along the Mediterranean, past Cievativiechhia, Cerosetto, Livorno and 3 hours later, they arrived at Pisa Centrale. Maya had been here before and knew a cheap hostel right by the tower, so they headed through the pretty streets, over the bridge and after Martin had changed his shoes, they arrived at the Piazza di Miraculi. First the hostel, Albergo Gronchi (H: a very plain, very decrepit, but very cheap hotel that stays full, with a great view of the Tower. The weak springed beds ... read more

Chapter 2 Get off my boyfriend’s gonads you Roman bastard! It is hard to believe for those who know them, but after a restless night for Martin (a lack of pillows, he needs at least two puffed-up pillows to get a decent sleep), and a great sleep for Maya (Valium induced), they arose at 9.00am for breakfast. A hearty Italian affair with the best cups of coffee, a perfect start! Though judging by the other residents, it seems travelling out of season entails having to share hotels with geriatrics and children. So what was the plan? Head for Santa Maria Maggiore// Roman Forum/ Palatine Hill/Capitoline Hill and see how we get on? Didn’t seem too ambitious, so off they trundled out of the hotel, towards the station. Maya was still a little spaced out but was ... read more

Milan is beautiful and has many other sights but I remember this Gallery for 3 main things: 1. Got a haircut nearby before going in a tiny little hairdresser in a side alley before going but one of the best cuts I've had anywhere. 2. Leanardos "Portrait of a Musician" there is some dispute as to whether it is really a Da Vinci but very intricate small wood panel painting the thing is compared to the "Last Supper" which is on a church wall and a bit faded (the church was bombed in WWII they had to protect it with sandbags plus the paint he used deteriorated quickly), this looks like it was painted yesterday and you can walk right up to it. There are security guards watching of course but compared to the Mona Lisa ... read more

Queria tanto comemorar o Halloween! Fiz um convitinho muito fofo imitando um velho pergaminho enroladinho e fechado com cera. Mas quando entregava o convite percebia uma expressão de terror, mas nao porque era ja um preview da fantasia ou coisa simile, mas porque estava escrito em ingles (este desconhecido)!!!! TA BOM, mas que graça tem um convite de Halloween em italiano?!?! A bobona aqui teve que traduzir a cada um e explicar o que era o Halloween, suas origens, bla bla bla...!!!! Quando souberam da festa, as mães dos meus convidados fizeram uma revolução, incluindo telefonemas desesperados, porque o Papa fez uma declaração da janelinha dizendo que era uma festa "maldita"....pfffffff! Halloween nada mais é que o ano-novo celta que os irlandeses levaram para a América, Antas!!!! Bem, depois de mandar as mães de todos a ... read more