European Vacation

As nice as my trip to Venice was, I haven't been enjoying the lasting effects from the hostel- not only were the mosquitos eating me alive in Venice, but to make matters worse the hostel had fleas! Argh! Yuk! I should have known that it was too good to be true as the hostel seemed quite nice and clean but I realised on my last day (sadly not before!) that I had bites on my arms and legs that didn't look like mosquito bites. So, after some research via google (as I had no idea what they looked like) it is confirmed that they are flea bites. While you may laugh at reading this, I was not amused! So, after my little research I made a trip to the laundry to wash everything. So, I'm hoping that'll be the end of that! (There hasn't been any new ones though as I'm typing this it feels like they're still around! But I'm sure I'm just being paranoid now!)

After that disgusting exprience there was only one thing left to do when I got to Milan- splurge on a hotel for a couple of nights! Yet, as I found out, it really hasn't been that much of a splurge. I'm only paying 5 euro's extra a night than most of the places I've been staying in and I get a three star hotel with my own double bed, and ensuite, and TV. It also comes with breakfast! Granted, it's about a 10 minute tube ride from the city but you don't hear me complaining. I ended up buying a bottle of wine and some crackers at the supermarket last night, sat in my double bed, flicked through the 40 TV channels and had a great time! Although MTV was the only channel I could understand, I did enjoy trying to read the American actors' lips in the movies or watching the infommercials in Italian.

All the guidebooks say that Milan is meant to be the glitzy city of Italy, with lots of money. While the money might be correct, apart from a few buildings I didn't really see the glitzy side of it! Though, that might have something to do with the fact that half the city has shut down as they've all taken their summer holidays.

Probably the most exciting thing I've done in the city was have a look at the cathedral which, while pretty dim and boring on the inside, is probably the coolest cathedral that I've visited (and I've seen quite a few churches and cathedrals on this trip!). What makes it cool is the fact that you can actually walk around on the roof of the cathedral! It's probably the most fun I've ever had in a church (even if I was on top of it at the time!)

This shot shows the side of the cathedral as they are doing restoration work at the front and you can't actually see anything.

This shot is on the roof of the cathedral- lots of fun to walk around on!

The cathedral took nealy 600 years to complete with the facade being made up of a huge number of statutes, spires and pillars. When you walk around the roof you can clearly see all the work that went into completing it...

...they certainly don't build them like this anymore...

The actual city is a little dreary looking from the roof, though taking shots through the spires does make it look a little more interesting...

The square in front of the cathedral is quite nice, but you have the same problem as in Venice- pigeons! Only here you're also harrassed by guys trying to sell you corn to feed the stupid things.

On the right of the cathedral is a huge shopping arcade which makes the QVB look like a Walmart!

Unfortunately I did not spend much time in there as if I would have bought anything in the designer shops it would have meant swimming back to Oz!. So, instead in the afternoon I had a look at Castello Sforzesco which was also quite nice, though I didn't actually go inside.

The inside of the castle is meant to house different museums showing furniture, artifacts and sculptures. After Rome, Florence and Venice, I really couldn't face walking around another museum looking at paintings or statutes, especially as I'm going to Greece next and going to be doing more of the same there! So, instead I enjoyed the beautiful sunshine by lying in the park outside the castle! I know, it's a hard life but someone has to live it!

Today I took a day trip to Lake Como which took about an hour to get to by train.

The area around the lake is beautiful, even if the water looks a little dirty up close!

When you take a wander around you can also see how the other half live! There are numerous castles and grand estates all beautifully maintained. George Clooney owns a house on the lake and Versace have their family tomb somewhere around the lake also. I didn't visit as I thought he might think it was a bit rude just to drop by unannounced (George that is, I don't think Versace would have been bothered)

I did however take a cable cart up to the top of one of the mountains which was lots of fun. It takes about 7 minutes and you get stunning views of the surrounding area...

And just so you guys know that I'm still looking after myself, here is moi in front of the lake...

Next I will be reporting from Greece as I'm flying to Athens tomorrow morning! So now I'm going back to my hotel, with some wine and dinner to watch more of those Italien infommercials! It's not at all surprising that crap is still crap, no matter what language it's being sold in!...and they don't even throw in a free set of steak knives! I thought that was mandatory for these kind of things??

It's no secret why people visit Pisa, in fact, Pisa is known for not much else than that leaning tower. But it still is rather amusing when you first walk out onto the square where the tower is and actually see lean, and not only that, but see how much it actually leans!

Apparently, so my guide book tells me, it started leaning even before it was finished. In fact, only three of the towers seven tiers were completed before it started leaning. They found out that the reason it leans is because there are remnants of an ancient village under one side of it, which means that side of it hasn't been able to sink as much as the other. I didn't bother climing it, although you can in organised groups of 30 people at a time. If the majority of the group is overweight then its only 20(...ok so I may have made that part up). If the 15 euro they were charging for the experience wasn't enough to discourage me, the 3.5 hour wait sure did!

But the leaning tower isn't the only thing drawing the tourists to the square. There is also a Baptistry and Cathedral- both of which lean (I'm not making that up!)

Apart from the beautifully manicured lawn which surrounds the buildings (which you aren't allowed to walk on without fear of security guards using their whistle's to scare you off), the rest of the square is taken up by countless market stalls selling every imaginable kitch to do with the tower. I did take a liking to one particular replica, about 1 metre high, on a rotating base so that when you plugged the tower into electricity it not only had flashing lights but also turned! It was a steal I thought at only 1100 euro's(!!), but I figured it wouldn't fit into my backpack, so sadly it had to say no.

I also stayed overnight in Bologna which houses Europe's oldest University. Given that it's Summer holiday's here in Europe at the moment, the city was actually dead when I visited- a nice change from the loads of tourists in both Rome and Florence.

Nevertheless, it's a beautiful red city. No joke, most of the buildings in the city centre are different shades of red and orange (I fitted right in with my pink sides at the time. By the way, these are no longer pink but a blue black instead after I died my hair black to get rid of it)

I also found another interesting surprise when I visited the city- Italy has been selling itself short! Not only does it have the leaning tower of Pisa, Bologna has a leaning tower also. Granted it's not as pretty as the one in Pisa, but it certainly does lean also!

And so I arrived in Venice. I think in a previous blog I made a comment about how confusing it was to find your way around Amsterdam with all its canals. Well, Amsterdam has nothing on Venice!! I think every visitor to Venice should be given a palm pilot with GPS Navigation and the hostel or hotel already programmed in! (A new business venture maybe?) At least Amsterdam's canal's have some kind of structure and order about them- Venice just has confusion! The hostel I stayed at said that it was about a 3 minute walk away from the train station...it took me a heck of a lot longer (after speaking to others at the hostel I wasn't the only one though!)

It is a beautiful city though regardless. You end up putting your map away and just enjoy walking through the streets with their boutique stores, cross a hundred and one bridges and try to take it all in. Of course, this makes it all the more interesting when you finally want to go home and have absolutely no idea where you are or where you need to go!

I have been to Venice once before when I was young. My two best memories of that trip include the fact that there was torrential rain when we visited (and to make matters worse we were camping at the time), and that when we tried to find our way back to the ferry, we kept getting lost and ending up at the Rialto Bridge. Well it also rained when I was in Venice (though not as heavily), and the irony was that, at first, I couldn't actually find the Rialto Bridge.

This visit was also the first time I actually saw inside the Basilica di San Marco which is located in Piazza San Marco. The Piazza is probably just as equally famous for the Basilica as it is for the hundreds (if not thousands) of pigeons that call it their home. This has to do with the fact that there are countless stalls selling corn for 1 euro a bag with which thousands of tourists each day feed them. Personally, I would have been much more pleased had they been selling pellet guns or rat poison for the flying vermin that they are- but sadly I was in the minority with those views! So instead I quickly made my way through the Piazza, all the while feeling like an extra in Alfred Hitchcocks The Birds.

I've also taken a day trip to Verona. Verona's has the beautiful Roman amphitheatre which dates from the 1st century and is the world's third largest.

But, Verona is mainly associated with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Apparently the city did actually house two feuding families on which Shakespeare based his tragedy. I did visit Juliet's house and saw Juliet's balcony- though while it may have been romantic in Shakespeare's time, it certainly wasn't in today's!

As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome, what it doesn't say is that you'll end up inevitably getting lost when you finally arrive as every street corner seems to have a Piazza commemorating some ancient god or ruler, or even worse- run over by a car or scooter. I still haven't figured out whether the road rules as I know them are different here, or whether they're just ignored. For example, the rule on zebra crossings, ie the section in the road, clearly marked, intended to provide a safe crossing zone for pedestrians. In Paris it seemed they didn't actually know what the strips on the road meant and continued driving with total ignorance. In Rome it seems they are simply considered graffiti on the road to make it easier to spot the tourist as they are trying to cross the road! Rome also has some zebra crossings which are painted yellow but cars still don't seem to stop at them regardless (the real question you'll be asking yourself though is whether they're still called zebra crossings or actually tiger crossings given their yellow nature! The short answer is I haven't the faintest!)

Well my remaining time in Rome was spent doing lots and lots of sightseeing, as you would expect. I found the Pantheon much more inspiring than the Colosseum. The height of the dome is amazing and none of my pictures will do it justice.

You can't actually see it in the picture, but the top of the dome isn't enclosed so the centre of the floor in the Pantheon has holes to drain off the water in the rain- just in case you wanted to know!

I also saw the Trevi Fountain, granted it was from a distance as you can't actually get that close given all the people swarming around it- but beautiful nevertheless.

Yesterday morning I saw St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum, including the Sistine Chapel before heading to Florence. I made sure I was suitably attired for the experience as you can't wear mini skirts or singlets inside. There was never any danger of me being in breach of the former, but my singlet the other day caused concern at another church I had visited. Granted my italien isn't the best, but I think the sign at the entrance said something about sending the Pope's heart into a flutter.

St Peter's was amazing with it's size and beauty. It's doesn't actually feel like a religious place though given all the tour groups inside and the number of flashes going off every second, enough to send even non epileptics into fits!

Call me a hypocrite, but here's one from me of inside St Peter's

The Vatican Museum was interesting. You can see where all those chuch offerings go when you walk around hall after hall of beautiful paintings, statues, fresco's etc. And just when you think that the Sistine Chapel can't be that amazing, given all the amazing rooms you've walked through to get there, you're immediately proven wrong when you actually step inside. The colours and details are beautiful and after staring at the ceiling for about 10 minutes until your neck starts to cramp you begin to appreciate the pain that went into creating it. If it wasn't for the fact that you are hearded into it like cattle, filled to the rafters it would be a much more moving experience- but memorable nevertheless!

And so I arrived in Florence last night, not at the train station I had wanted to arrive at (and thought I was arriving at) but after a short trip later I had arrived and all I needed to do was find my hostel. So, the question is whether anyone has heard of the location of a hotel/hostel changing after you've made your booking. Sounds ludicrous I know but exactly what they did to me! Luckily I checked my email before leaving Rome to see an urgent email saying that it was no longer at the advertised location but instead at a different one (a better one apparently!) Well, I can't say what the old location looked like, but the new one certainly is great. I think the hostel is actually using university accommodation which is empty during the summer. The place I'm staying in is actually a 2-bedroom apartment which was probably only completed 6 months ago. A nice surprise I must say (and the location is still good, so no complaints from my part!)

I spent today looking around the city. I haven't yet downloaded any photos but will try to do so in the next couple of days. It's a beautiful city but again, the crowds get very annoying, very quickly. I was speaking to a canadian girl I am sharing the dorm (Apartment!!) with last night about the fact that all the locations in Italy are so packed with tourists, but mentioned that I couldn't actually complain- being a tourist and all! She explained that we were travellers and thus different to all 'those' tourists. I'm not sure where the distinction lies and didn't bother asking for an explanation...though I wonder if I can get a business card stating that?

Like in Rome, some of the sights in Florence lose some of their beauty because of the fact that if you're not having your feet trampled on by someone stepping backwards to take that all important panoramic photo, you are harassed by people trying to sell you genuine imitations of everything from Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabanna etc, to those asking you for spare change (though it is commendable how beggars in Europe can ask for money in at least 2 different languages)

I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to brave the lines to see the statute of David tomorrow (which are normally about 2 hours long) or whether I'm going to take the train to Pisa. Either way, I'll be reporting back soon!

It's fair to say that after four Pride events, two of them in the last week, I've got more pride than I know what to do with! Soho Pride last Sunday was fun and basically involved a whole day of drinking in the sun and standing in line to use the port-a-loo. Though most of the talk seemed to be about Brighton Pride being held the next weekend and I was told by everyone that this was the pride of England's Pride's. So, I figured the only way to prepare for such an event was to go to the hairdresser!

And yes Dad it's the same on the other side, and I know you don't like it, and no don't worry, it will not be like that for long...I was thinking of blue next!

But I must say I was impressed with Brighton, while the photos don't do justice for the sheer size of the event, it felt a little like a mix between Fair Day, Easter Show and the Fete at the end of the movie Grease- with a lot more drag queens struggling to keep their make-up on in temperatures which must have reached the high 30's!

Luckily we all made sure we were consuming plenty of liquids which of course came in the form of either beer or spirits. In fact, the one time I was asked to carry a bottle of water for a friend, I didn't realise until it had completely emptied in my bag that she had not put the lid on properly. Sadly, my mobile did not survive the swim but has been laid to rest and already replaced.

And so I arrived in Rome last night. A little later than first planned as I missed the check-in deadline for my flight out of London. What annoyed me more was the fact that I missed it only by about 5 minutes which wouldn't have happened had the express train actually known that it was meant to be an express train and not crawl for most of the way and stop in the middle of no where for 10 minutes!!! But I'm over it now and well, it was always destined to happen- there's no chance I could have travelled around Europe for 6 months without at least missing some mode of transport!

The Hostel I'm staying in is a little interesting. Location wise it's great, facilities wise it leaves a lot to be desired. I did find this sign in my room rather amusing though!

I will also take a photo of the lift that they have- lets just say I had to reverse into it with my backpack on as there is absolutely no room to move!

Apart from that I've done lots of sightseeing today. The amount of history in this city is overwhelming and while at the beginning I was trying to understand what every ruin signified and when and by whom it was constructed, that soon became very tiresome so for the sake of this blog let me just say that the following pictures are from nice sights in Rome- otherwise I have to get my guidebook out again to figure out what exactly they are!

The following picture is looking out towards the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill which was the ancient Roman commercial, political and religious centre. The patch of grass in front of it is Circus Maximus where they used to have the horse races like in the movie Ben Hur (nothing much left to see these days though!)

This picture shows the Tiber River which flows through Rome and is actually really, really dirty.

When you look at this picture you can see the Colosseum in the background.

And more pictures of the Colosseum...

And this structure holds the tomb for the unknown soldier

It was a beautiful day today in Rome, and quite warm in the sun, but as the photo shows it rained for about half an hour after lunch!

Last but not least, while this picture holds absolutely no historical significance, I just think it's amusing that they have all this little buses driving around in the city- and who say's size matters!