What Happens on Tour......

ITALY! In my last blog I was hoping it lived up to the romanticism and it hasn't failed me yet! OMG! Italy is amazing!

Monday we took the bus journey to Florence….stopping on the way @ Pisa to check out the Leaning tower of Pisa. It always seemed so much bigger than what it is in real life. I found it fairly hilarious. It's like the Italians most Epic fail but it is still a celebrated monument. We got lots of cheesy tourist photos and got out of there before the gypsies did our heads in. If one more person said "Hello Lady Gaga", I would have snapped! Between that and the Eiffel tower I had had enough. 

We arrived at Florence. I certainly loved Florence with it's history, architecture, markets, leather and quaint streets and shops! Florence is just little so the walking tour we did in just an hour and a half. We saw the Duomo built by a collegue of Michaelangelo. When Michaelangelo was commissioned to build the Duomo in the Vatican he refused to build one bigger or more beautiful than the one in Florence in respect to his friend. We saw  renaissance architecture and the modern patch up jobs done as a result of the destruction of world war II….Hitler decided to save the only one Bridge in Florence (the Ponte Vecchio) because he liked it so much but bombed all the buildings and surrounding entrances around it so the allies had no way to cross.

There was a lot of awesome galleries and museums in Florence but we didn't have long and I opted to sit outside for lunch and walk around soaking up the ambience of Italy and gelato!! :) Not to mention the night before was Karaoke and a late one at that so we needed some down time! I will be back though. Florence is up there on my "must do again list". The statue of David was in one of the those galleries but seeing the exact replica in one of the piazzas was good enough for me…at least I could take photos of that one!

The next day we were off to Rome, stopping on the way to Orvietta which is a little village on the top of a dormant volcano. It has a HUGE Duomo and is an official Papal residence. The highlight for me was not the Duomo however, but the street leading down to the bottom which consisted of every Italian deli delight you could possibly imagine. The region around Orvietta is famous for wild boar. So we got a wild boar sandwich and strolled merrily down to the bottom enjoying the sunshine and all the quaint little shops and side streets!

ROME!!! We got to Rome and hit a walking tour straight away. Unfortunately we only got the Spanish steps and it began to hail…yep hail…from beautiful blue skies to stinging ice and pouring rain. Some of the brave decided to just go with it. The Spanish Steps had cleared of every living soul so it was a perfect photo opp. Unfortunately for me I was already sick so there was no way I was getting saturated and continuing the tour. So Sarah and I lost the group and opted to go for Italian food instead. When in Rome! :) We made our way back began our nightly celebrations with Dinner and a TOGA party! We all got to dress up in white sheets and dance like the Romans did. Well I'm not sure the Romans busted out any RnB moves back in the day but we put a modern spin on it! It was great fun. A few randoms from the hostel joined us. I'm not sure how the romans did it though cause every five minutes we had to adjust the togas to actually stay on.

The next day was Vatican City and the Cistine Chapel. It was a whirlwind tour but very informative and we had a great tour guide. She had heaps of little tid bits about the Vatican and the history is just amazing. We touched ancient Egyptian artefacts that were 2500 years old. The girls and I then headed out to a late lunch in a restaurant just outside the vatican and I got sternly told off for being to loud! We are in Italy….how does that work? Haha! We then decided to take our own little walking tour to the Colosseum and check out the ruins along the way! It truly is amazing to stand in a place so rich in history and so old knowing that the Romans once packed that amphitheatre and people fought to the death with each other and lions! That is so cool!

We lost a couple of the girls and phone problems prevailed so a couple of us headed home for the afternoon to rest up and meet the others. Exhaustion was setting in. After days and days of walking and taking in information and late nights and high carb foods and being sick and lack of nutrients we were all getting TIRED!! But it was our last night together so we pushed through…opted to have dinner in house and had one last night with all the crew. We said goodbye to our girl Kasha…the token American on board and there was tears! It's so hard this travelling thing…you get to know people so well and live with them for a time and then have to say goodbye - everywhere you go! It really is hard! But I suppose there is facebook….oh wait….apparently facebook is banned in China. I am trying to figure out a survival tactic! Haha! A few people have told me there is a way around it so I will have to get my techie friends onto it! :)

This morning meant the end of the tour. The rest of the crew continued on through Eastern Europe (although they get to do Verona and Venice which I am very jealous about) and a couple of us are hanging out in Italy until Sunday. We are off to Naples (the home of Italy's best pizza) and then I catch 5 FLIGHTS to get to Beijing! WOW! I am going to be wrecked!

Although, I did get word that I have been placed in Cang Zhou which is 3 hours south of Beijing! I am so stoked about that as I didn't really want to get stuck in Beijing. Cang Zhou will be a bit better in terms of lifestyle, cheap to live, not as crazy and not as polluted. It's a little scary right now but I know in a months time I will be like "pfff, what was I even worried about". I have two months to settle in and then Uni begins again! Ahhhh!!

So looking forward to getting travelling again but some routine will be nice for now!

Love to you all!

HJ xx