THURSDAY - FLORENCE TO ROME
On Thursday we left Florence and drove to Rome via Orvietto.
Orvietto is a pretty little town on a hillside whose residents seem to be of the older generations and if you're "lucky" enough to find the shop you can get a genuine Pumba Burger (also known as wild boar...). For some reason I wasn´t game enough to try that one...
After Orvietto we caught the train to the Coloseum and proceeded to walk through Rome for a bit of a look see.
FRIDAY - ROME
We backed yesterdays walking tour up by revisiting the sights we wanted to see again or missed the day before. Emma, Alex, Brendan and I visited the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, some Roman ruins and Palatino, ForoRomano, the Coloseum, Circus Maximus (from Ben Hur), the Mouth of Truth, Piazza Novona and St Peters - making a nice big circle around Rome.
All these places each have a special story and charm of their own... Makes walking round all day so worth it!!
Jen - I'm sorry to say but I haven't been snogging random Itallian men altho i must admit they're all rather handsome and very friendly if you're walking through their pick up joints like the Trevi... miss ya honey... love ya!!! MWAH!!
SATURDAY - ROME TO VENICE via Verona
I was looking forward to today as we were going to Venice via Verona and I wasn´t disappointed. Another georgous city!! Of course our first stop here was Juliet´s Balcony and they also have a Coloseum of their own. We then cruised the shops and got yet another Gelati before returning to the bus only to find our Mexican girl was lost in action. Two search parties and 45 minutes later we were on our way to Venice.
At 7pm our driver delived us to our Hotel in Venice where we promptly proceeded to have a rowdy room party and play beer pong til 3am... I know - not the best idea but we had awesome fun despite getting told off the next morning by the hotel and tour guide... Ooops... =)
SUNDAY - VENICE
How cool is this place?... Theres little bridges, gondalas and water everywhere!! So pretty!! After the mandatory gondala ride we were free to do as we pleased and despite feeling a little dodgy from the night before we still managed to catch a boat out to the Murano factory to see a horse get blown... a GLASS one for you dirty minded folks =)
Back into Venice and we visited St Marks Square and Basilica, Academia bridge and the Rialto bridge. Some of us also went to a place called Harry´s Bar which apparently is where Hemmingway used to go. In his time there he invented a drink called the Bellini which is a kinda peach flavoured champagne thing but costs €15 a pop... Approx AUD$30!!! If you´re ever there - dont bother with the drink - it´s not that nice...
There´s plenty of markets all round the Rialto and our mission was to find a Venetian Mask for the masquerade party that night. I got a sparkly red one but I don´t like my chances of getting it home undamaged... Anyways - we caught the water taxi back to the bus station and the bus back to the hotel just in time to get frocked for the ball... Another big night... I think there´s a pattern forming here.... =)
MONDAY - VENICE TO SALZBURG
Up early again to climb aboard the bus for another day of driving... We got into Salzburg at 2pm and while a couple went off on the Sound of Music tour, the rest of us were guided round the city by Robbie. Salzburg is a reasonably small city thats very clean and picturesque.
We wandered through Mirabel Gardens, past Mozart´s birthplace and saw the graves of the Seven Dwarves before heading up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress and going into the Marionette musuem. Every second thing here is all about the Sound of Music - even our hostel has a daily screening...
So far we´re just passed the half way point in our tour and I´ve been having an absolute ball in this part of the world. The tour guides and my fellow passengers are all fantastic folks and I´m so glad I made the decision to do this. Its hard not to fall in love with every place you go to and everyplace has its own uniqueness. Fingers crossed the second half is just as good!!!
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