Advertisement
Published: July 30th 2006
Edit Blog Post
A - I apologise now to those of you who love Italy, as this is not likely to be the most complimentary blog. And mostly that isn't Italy's fault. I've been here before, and came away with such fond memories. I think it's more to do with how we are at the moment. The best way to describe us is fatigued and irritable. We've been travelling now for almost eight weeks, and we have seen plenty of churches, amazing art, incredible castles and palaces. So we're finding it hard to summon up the interest to see more. We've eaten loads of great food (and quite a lot of average food too), but are missing basics from home. And we haven't really had much opportunity to simply do nothing without the (self imposed) pressure to see and do stuff. Hence the fatigue. And Italy is not a place to visit while fatigued. We've also been through several weeks of high temperatures. Neither of us can remember the last time we were cold, let alone a comfortable temperature. Hence the irritability. And yes, we do know that we were the idiots who chose to come through Europe in the height of summer. But
that thought isn't cooling me (or this moan) down.
Having said all that, Italy can be hard work if you are staying in the major centres (which travelling by train sort of forces you to do). This seems to be the destination of choice for all European bound Americans, and a lot of other tourists. Which means all the major sites are really crowded. Not only has it been hot here, but i reckon we've had about 700% humidity in Rome. Making us damp and irritable. It seems that we've also arrived during a centuries overdue cleaning/restoring of most of Italy's art and historic treasures. Almost without exception, every place we've visited has had some form of scaffolding erected around it. And if not scaffolding then a stage for some outdoor event. Obviously we don't begrudge the Italians the need to look after their monuments and have concerts But why all of them and why now?? It's not fair (strop frown stomp feet). And why can't they fix the footpaths and roads at the same time? We've both come very near to breaking various limbs as a result of falling into potholes in the pavements. This is made doubly
dangerous by the risk of falling into the road and being at the mercy of the Italian drivers, who tend to speed towards pedestrian crossings, rather than stop. And to top it all off, it's expensive here. And dirty.
So now that I've got all that off my chest, I want to reassure those of you who care about our mental health that we are hoping to have some serious downtime in Croatia. We've heard some good reports about Hvar, an island off the coast with great beaches, and so we intend to head there once we've checked out Dubrovnik. So fingers crossed, the next time you hear from us, we'll be in better frames of mind.
Florence
D - Florence captures your heart through the hordes of tourists, the heat and the grime. The glorious Duomo (Cathederal) in white, red and green marble with it's incredible bascilica and Giotto's gorgeous campanile (tower) can't fail to stop you in your tracks and make you really look. Impossibly long queues for the Uffizi Museum (home of important Renaissance works of art), meant we didn't go in. But we did go, via the Goldsmiths bridge (Pont
Vecchio, a bridge with shops on it. Honest!) to the relatively deserted Palazzo Pitti; A huge palace, not quite on the scale of Versaille, but with more lavishly decorated rooms and recognisable works of art. In between rain and thunder in the afternoons, we ate some great food, I'm surprised to find myself regularly eating the olives as they arrive (although it's not often I'll eat the black ones), and the pasta carbonara's are to die for. I was also introduced to cantucci and vin santo, hard almond biscuits that you dip into a glass of sweet desert wine. Yum Yum Yum!
Rome
D- Abbie has pretty much summed up everything I was going to say about Italy in the opening rant, although the sights in Rome are incomparable. At the Pantheon, I was lost for words. Not for long though, I think I uttered a few expletives upon seeing a branch of McDonalds on the opposite side of the Piazza. I've just got back from a visit to the Vatican & St. Peters Basilica (which required a 5.30am start to be near the front of the queue!), I can say that they were well worth the visit.
I wanted so much to love the Colosseum, but the stage being erected for a Madonna concert in front of it kind of pissed on my parade. I'm sure if you were to ask me what I thought of Rome in 6 months time I'll be gushing. But not yet.
On the food front, no sheep-heads to disect, an average bowl of pasta on one night, but a wonderful plate of antipasti (mixed samples of various dishes), eaten while having a great conversation with Koren & Jonas, a Swedish couple from Germany another night. Also, Gelato (ice cream). No Mr. Whippy here, just oodles of iced creamy flavours, ask Abbie about the Almangnac flavour. Thanks Caro for reminding us about San Crispino, by the Trevi fountain.
A quick mention to the group of kiwi's from Waikato in the Mashed Transit, having travelled from
Dundee to Italy via Spain, Portugal & France, next stop Greece. One of our original plans was to buy a beaten up old camper van to do this trip. Here were guys living the dream...
Where to next
On 31 July we arrive in Dubrovnik in Croatia. The plan is to
stay here 2 nights, then 1 day in Korcula and possibly 3 to relax on the beach in Hvar. Then a train from Split overnight to Ljubjiana in Slovenia... xxxxxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0284s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
steph in Bath
non-member comment
strop in Italy
Have some gelato and cool down, then please go to the Vatican and say three hail mary's and one our father! love and hugs xx