...venice...

Days 80-83 ... Venice

Well it's very different from everywhere else we've been. We were only there for four days and so much happened!  We watched a man blowing glass, had a ride in a gondola, went to Burano to see the brightly coloured houses, walked to the Rialto bridge and survived a vicious thunder storm. 

When it happened we were having dinner and the sky was clear, then it suddenly changed and the wind getting stronger blowed over an umbrella. At this point Jack was in tears:(. The thing he was most scared about was not paying the bill! 

The coloured houses were cool and I took about 100 photos! And the gondola ride was just fabulous. We got to see all the buildings from a different angle and our gondolier was singing funny songs and giving us information about the city.  All round pretty great............ 

But I DON'T want to go home. ( maybe I do )

Lily

In Venice in our hotel the washing line was outside the window.  When Daddy was hanging out his undies he accidentally dropped them out the window onto the street.

Yesterday we went on a gondola ride.  It was lots of fun.  We saw lots of other gondolas too.  

I liked all the boats in Venice and all the canals and the bridges.  When the police boat went past it made the water very wavy.

We caught a ferry to the glass island.  We saw a demonstration of making glass. They put a long stick in the fire and then blow and twist the glass into shapes.  

Jack

It may be a city that is sinking, that floods weekly in Winter and Autumn and occasionally smells but wow Venice is beautiful.
Whether you are catching the water bus, riding a gondola ( more expensive than first class travel per km) or getting lost walking the canals it is captivating .
What surprised me was that Lily and Grace wanted to shop...and shop....and shop! Al tried to stop them!
Jack was just worried about a big flood and traffic rules on the grand canal.
We leave Italy tomorrow and Jack said he would come back to Italy as they eat pasta. 
Hoping that Richie Porte is in front of Tour when we get to Gerardmer and Germany does not win the World Cup (Al picked them to win a month ago)....They are bit like Collingwood!
The journey home has started.

David

On Monday we caught a ferry to Murano.  Murano is a famous glass making town (nearly every shop is full of glass).  In the back of on of one of the shop someone was doing a glass blowing demonstration.  It was really interesting to watch............. first he got a blob of melted glass on the end of a long metal tube and blew into it and started to shape it in the end it turned out to be a vase... he also made a horse.  

Later we caught another ferry to Burano a town near Murano ...all the  houses and shops were different colours.......it was beautiful.

On Tuesday we got to go on a  gondola ride.  The boat ride was really fun. The paddler is called a gondolier...our boat was called Serena after the gondolier's wife.

Grace

... a holiday within a holiday ...

Days 68- 71 ... at the villa, near San Gimignano ...

Photos

1, 2 and 3  Bellavista villa 

4, 5 and 6.  San Gimignano home of many towers and amazing gelati

7.  Obligatory tower shots

8.  Those sunflowers

We are staying in a villa made of rocks.  The villa has a pool.  One of the days after we were swimming I pushed Daddy back in the pool with his towel on. It was very funny.  His towel was soaking wet.  In San Gimignano we climbed a tower.  It had big bells at the top.  It was really hot.  After the tower one of the other towers rang their bells - I was glad it wasn't our tower.

Jack

We are staying at a villa with three apartments. The villa has a pool that we spent a lot of time in. One of those times when we spent ages playing and swimming Grace and I had gone up to the house so we didn't see it but Jack pushed Daddy in the water with his towel in. Apparently it was payback for throwing him in the water. 

In San Gimignano we climbed a tall tower. At the top you had to be careful if you were tall so you didn't bump your head. Later one of the bells in one of the towers rang - Jack said he was glad it wasn't our tower. 

On Tuesday we went to Pisa!! The leaning tower of Pisa is amazing!! We didn't get to climb up it but we spent a lot of time taking photos of us three holding it up. Years ago Daddy took a photo of Mummy with her legs up in the air holding the tower. But no one is allowed on the grass anymore so we made do with holding it up. A detour through Lucca, and driving back home we found sunflowers. The next day we did basically nothing. The dinner was amazing in Volterra. We all shared a platter with all sorts of things on it then I had soup with pasta. It was delicious.

Lily

Watch out Tasmanian roads! I may have picked up some cavalier Italian road skills ... driving at a speed limit double what the signs say, passing on blind corners, overuse of the horn and entering an intersection and then looking left and right.
Al's fingernails are warn out and I just ignore the screaming, abuse and horns (from the backseat).
Great to be in one spot for 2 weeks with a great pool (except when 5 year old pushes you in!)
I am also going to miss the 'walled town' when back in Tasmania with more great examples in Tuscany... San Gimignano, Volterra and Lucca.
Except...what are the Italians (and French) up to when they stop you from walking and sitting  on their grass???
What is grass for if it is not to walk on or lie on when tired? It also prevents 'silly' feet shots of Leaning Tower of Pisa!

David

We are staying in a villa in Tuscany.  There are two other families here. We've had lots of swims....the pool is really nice.  On the first night we drove into Certaldo for dinner .... we went to a pirate pizza place...I had ragu with my pasta...it was delicious.  On Sunday we spent the whole day in the pool.  Daddy made us eggs for lunch.  They were really nice.  At dinner I didn't feel very well because I'd swallowed too much pool water.  I didn't eat much dinner and I didn't have an icecream (at the best gelati place in the world!!!!!).

On Monday we went back to San Gimignano...we went back to the best gelati shop!  It was our reward for climbing the tower.  Later we went to a museum that had a photo exhibition on - by Elliot Erwitt - the photos were really interesting.  

The next day we went to Pisa.  It was really, really hot.  We walked to the leaning tower.  It wasn't as tall as I thought it would be.  Next to it were 2 churches.  Mummy took photos of us "holding" up the tower.  

On the way home we had a detour through Lucca.  Of course we had to have an icecream on the way back to the car.  I was doing a Jack and had lemon.  We bought some fresh pasta for dinner ... 3 types...gnocchi, ravioli and tortellini.  I had the ravioli with spinach and ricotta...it was delicious.

Yesterday we stayed home all day...in the afternoon Lily, mummy and I had a swim.  Lily and I were doing backflips.  That night we drove to Volterra for dinner...we had a shared entree of bruschetta, ham, salami and cheese.  For main course Jack and I had ravioli with meat sauce...we love Italy!

Grace

No vampires in Volterra ... but we have found fields of sunflowers, blue skies, World Cup winning gelati and more amazing food.  Jack says he is sick of "walking round the world" and wants to go home but the rest of us are still having too much fun.  

... Roma ...

Days 63-65 Roma

Photos

1.  Pantheon (my favourite building ever)

2.  Spiral staircase at the Vatican

3.  Gladiator Jack

4.  Espresso (must have been after 11am)

5.  Piazza Navona (spot the gelati spoons!!)

6.  Fresh cherries- campo Di Fiori

7.  St Peter's Square

8.  Colosseum

The hotel had a bus to take us to the train station.  It was always busy on the trains.  The trip to Rome only took 20 minutes.  I liked to count the stops.  When we arrived at the station we didn't have to walk far to the Spanish Steps. Lily counted 136 but the book said 138. 

We also saw the Pantheon that has a hole in the roof. The only light in the whole building came through the hole.  If the rain came through the hole there were tiny holes in the floor to drain the water.  

Jack

Rome is the place for street sellers. Seriously no matter where you walk someone is asking you to buy their stuff or to give them money. We are staying near the edge of Rome at a nice hotel called Piccolo Borgo and apart from the creaking water tank waking most of us up it was actually quite nice. The hotel had a pool and we didn't get to use it much because of the thunder storms. We took the hotels shuttle to the metro then caught a train to Rome. We saw the Spanish steps and according to the Rome book there were 138 but I only got 136. One man dressed up as a gladiator had mummy take a photo of him pretending to chop jacks head off. She took several photos with all of us and it ended up costing ten euros but we only gave him four. We moved on to the Trevi fountain with only one downfall. The fountain was under construction and had no water in it at all:(  It was a busy day for us, the steps, fountain, building with a hole in the roof and the colosseum all in one day. The colosseum was really nice to look at. It was cool how bits of it were falling down. The building with the hole in the roof was cool too.  We took lots of photos. We went to the Vatican museum on Thursday the ceilings were great except it was hot and all I wanted to do was hop in the pool. St. Peter's looked cool from the outside but I wish we could have gone inside. Although I didn't really want to wait in the long lines. I bought a bag at a stall at the markets on Friday so now I can carry my own stuff around. We finally got to have a swim on the last day and it was nice. The place we are staying at now has the same sort of pool.

Lily 

On Wednesday we caught the metro to Spagna (one of the train stations).  Then we walked to the Spanish steps.  While going up Lily and I counted all the steps there were 136.  Half way up I mis-counted.  After we got a photo whith a man dressed up as a gladiator. He wanted Mum to give him ten euros (she only gave him four).  We walked to the trevi fountain. It was covered up with scaffolding so we didn't throw a coin in.  So we walked to the pantheon.  It has a big hole in the in the roof.  When it rains the water gets soaked up because there are little holes in the floor.  

On Thursday we went to the Vatican Museum........ it was really big.  The ceiling had pattens on it ......... they were really detailed.  At the end Dad bought a puzzle of one of the paintings in the Museum.  That night we sat In pub and watched the World Cup Australia vs Holland.  Holland Won :( :( :( :(.  

Last day in Roma:

Today we had one last look around.  Lily and I both bought a bag. Then we went home and had a swim 

Grace :-)

When planning our Europe trip I tried to talk Alison out of going to Rome. It added to our driving distances and and I had no strong memories of my previous  visit.

I lost this battle and I am glad I did. Spanish Steps, Vatican, the Colosseum and Travestere were all highlights.
And Australia v Holland in a Roman bar with some very anxious Dutch supporters.
Continue to love the Italian drivers who ignore lines on roads; as long as you are heading in the right direction it is all okay.
No commitment from my family who chose gelato over a 3 hour queue to enter St Peters!

Rome is still crazy beautiful. It's crumbling but majestic.  It's loud, fast and furious. It's smelly and dirty (the anti-smoking lobby have got a mammoth task here).  The drivers are insane ... as are the pedestrians (crossing even a small road has sorely tested Jack's "wait for the green man" approach).  It's full of surprises, style and sellers - some with charm, others brash  or even outright rude.  It's manic and fun. I'm glad we came back. I'm even glad we didn't make it up St Peters this time....it's another reason to return.

A

...la dolce vita ...

Day 58 ... France --> Italy

Photos

1,2 and 3.  Private and public beaches at Monterosso

4 and 5.  Amazing gelato

6 and 7.  Closely followed by the best meal of the trip so far

8.  Tunnel driving

On Thursday we packed up our bags and said goodbye to Uzès. Because we weren't booked in to Italy till the next day we stayed at Frejus which is in France. The next day we left France for Italy. Going through millions of tunnels I don't think Grace was very happy because of what she was reading with. Mum managed to get a photo of the car lights in the tunnel. We are staying at a nice apartment on top of a restaurant. We had a lemonade down at the restaurant while Mum and Dad learnt about the walking tracks and things like that. For dinner we went to a restaurant recommended by a man sitting down at it. A lovely dinner of pesto gnocchi and seafood risotto(Jack had bolognese) we are all in heaven. 

That same day before dinner we went down to the beach to have a swim. The water was lovely for a hot day and Jack, Grace and I spent ages collecting stones. Despite Dad saying we could only take ten I managed to sneak one extra in. 

Lily 

Yesterday we drove from France to Italy. There were over a hundred tunnels.

We went to the beach and had a swim. In the water there was a small boat that had a slide on it. You climbed up some stairs and then slid down the slide into water.
After we had a swim me, Grace and Lily looked for interesting rocks.
Jack

Spain was intriguing. I loved France but I LOVE Italy more. 
The food, the people, the gelato .
I did not like the drive into Monterosso al Mare, the first of The Cinque Terre towns. It made the drive across the Pyrenees a breeze. One lane roads, sections of roads that had been washed away in 2011 floods exposing steep cliffs,and mad Italian drivers. I will never get Al to drive now!
We drove 300km from Frejus (near Cannes) to Cinque Terre and conservatively 10% of trip was underground (the great Europe tunnels). In the section from Monaco to Genoa there are 110 tunnels!
Have not inspired the kids to walk the trek between the 5 towns YET. They just want to swim in warm Mediterranean waters and eat ice cream!
Guess what Jack had for dinner last night?
David

On Thursday we packed our big red bags and off we drove heading for ITALY.  We stayed in Frejus which is near the border of France and Italy.  When we got the hotel we walked down to the pool.  I was the first to get in.  Lily and I were doing forward and backward flips off daddy's knees.  After we were doing forward flips off the edge................... it was really fun.  For dinner we went to Mc Donalds (Jack was really happy because he loves Mc Donald's). 

Yesterday we drove to Italy.  I was reading the sixth harry potter book on daddy's kindle but when we went though all the tunnels I couldn't read because I didn't have a light (I wish the tunnels weren't there).  After we finally arrived in Italy we walked down to the beach. When we got on the sand we realised the sand was really hot so we had to run down to the water.  After our swim Lily, Jack  and I started collecting little rocks.

Grace

Mad, fast French drivers have been replaced by completely insane Italian ones.  We were overtaken by approximately 62395 cars, 2439 caravans, 3111 large, looming lorries, more motorbikes and vespas and even (on a down hill stretch) a bike.  AND I had my eyes shut on the down hill goat tracks they call mountain roads....I'm never driving here!

Grace and I were both racing the dark tunnels to finish The Half Blood Prince (me with tears streaming down my face).  

The rewards for arriving in Monterosso are high though...a gorgeous apartment in the old part of town, the BEST seafood risotto ever, amazing gelato and those views!!  La dolce vita indeed.

A