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Published: August 8th 2007
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Pisa
Upon arriving in Rome, we caught a four hour train straight up the coast to spend a couple of days in Pisa. Italy being really expensive to travel and stay, we opted to get out our trusty tent and camp, finding a site only 800m from the leaning tower. The tower itself is as impressive as we thought it would be, it is the free standing bell tower of the cathedral Duomo along with other buildings that make up the Campo Dei Miracoli (Field Of Miracles). The surrounding area, however, is full of immigrants getting in your face selling original, fake, Dolce & Gabbana gear and loads of tourists doing the old classic "I'm holding up the tower pic" - quality cheesy stuff.
We scoured half the city looking for a bar that blessed with Sky TV so that we could kick back and catch the FA cup final. Although the game wasn't as interesting as it could have been, we still got a great result and kicked those dirty manks asses. We basically only went up to Pisa to see the tower, and to be honest, there wasn't much else going on there and we were pretty keen
to get back to Rome to explore the sights of the city.
Rome
After making the same train journey in reverse, we got to an awesome camping ground on the outskirts of the city originally named "Camping Roma". We had a pre-made 2 bed tent here which was nicer than camping coz we got to sleep off the ground on comfy mattresses. The facilities were excellent, and because all the bed tents faced each other, it was a great place to meet people. We spent the first night skuling cheap vino (you can get a 5 litre jug for 8 Euros!) and chatted to crew from all over the world.
The morning after the night before, we nursed down our breakfast, jumped onto the Metro, and made our way to the Colosseum. As soon as you get off the tube you can see just how impressive the place is. After a bit of a queue, we got inside, and were shocked by just how big the structure is. It must have taken years to build. Apparently, the design of it was so intricate that every last detail was taken into account: such as the fact that if it
rained, all the water channelled outside, and once it stopped raining, the seats would dry out within half an hour. You can't help getting an eerie feeling though, that this 55,000 seater saw the bloodshed over one million people in the 360 odd years that it was in action. It's like you're standing on their graves. You also can't resist to do your best Russell Crowe impression here!
There were a few fellas outside the Colosseum dressed in full galdiator get-up, one of which seemed to be taking a smoko (did they have tailor-mades back in 80AD) - too funny, couldn't resist getting a pic of him!!! The architecture in the city is absolutely breath-taking.... walking around you still feel like you're in the past with even new buildings possessing the charm and design of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. By far it is one of the prettiest cities we've ever walked around to this date. Loved it!
Vatican City
No trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Vatican to try to get a glimpse of the Pope himself. We did a day trip into the little State which is surrounded by walls and
Swiss Guards, jumped the queue to avoid a 2 hour line-up and entered one of the most holy places in the world. It's strange how they have it all set up though, even though we were in a hurry to see the Sistine Chapel, we were forced to be herded like wild animals through many other rooms within the city walls. All was not lost though, as we got to see many works of art including sculptures* etc. from the likes of Raphael, Perugino, and Botticelli, and got totally emersed in Renaissance era.
Not being allowed to take photos of Michelangelo's work, we turned the flash off and got a couple of cheeky shots in without the guards noticing. Feeling a little out of place because we don't exactly attend church every Sunday, it was crazy to think that we were standing in the same room where the Cardinals meet to elect the new Pope.
* By the way we found out why all of the sculptures have such small.... well how can we say..... errr..... genitalia. Apparently, it is so you are not distracted from the overall beauty of
the rest of the sculptures. You live and
you learn eh?
Sicily
We took an 11 hour overnight train from Rome all the way down to a place called Catania on the east coast of Sicily. Here, it was quickly confirmed as being the city of fashion "donts". Walking around, you feel like you're on the set of Top Gun with almost everyone sporting those old school Raybans - "you can be my wingman any time". Hair fashion leaves a lot to be desired here too - dreadlock rat tails (I kid you not), and bad 80's mullets (ones that are so bad that they actually look like they're choking them) are all the rage, and the speedo count on the beach we are camping at is WAY above average...... How are those things legal?!
Being the month of May, it is just out of the regular tourist season so the beaches weren't crowded; which was awesome because you could easily see the stunning Mt Etna (3350m), Europes largest active volcano. We paid an extortionate 50 scoops each, took a cable car 3 quarters of the way up, and then were driven by massive 4x4 vehicles to a few of the external craters, one of which
is still smoking from it's last eruption in 2002. It's a pretty impressive view of the city from up there, however unfortunately it was cloudy the day we went so me missed the view of Italy and most of the coastline. Not to worry though cause it was definitely all worthwhile.
There are cafes and restaurants a plenty in Catania, and after exploring the crazy markets of the city, which, by the way, sell horse meat and live snails, we sat and enjoyed yummy Sicilian pizza, wine and beer.
All rested up from spending a week by the ocean, and trying to keep our tan topped up nicely, we are now off to explore our next destination city in Europe.
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Keels
non-member comment
wow
Hey guys just got to read your latest blog. Sounds amazing..... So cold back home at the moment. Quietly jealous!! Just wondering if it doesn't work out for Nick and i, could i get set up with one of those sexy Siclian men... oooo yeh!!!! Have fun kids.miss ya keels xoxo