Pisa - 15/06

Mainland Europe - Day 51
Cinque Terre --> Pisa

Pisa, not a whole lot to say really. You go to see the leaning tower and guess what, it really does lean. And it is pretty cool!!

A bit of trivia......there are a bunch of other old buildings around the tower and they all lean too, but all in different directions. Dodgy soil apparently.

We were in Pisa for about 24 hours. About one was spent checking out the tower, the other 23 were spend at the pool or sleeping. It was our last destination in Italy. Next stop Spain, and a 22 hour ferry ride from Pisa to Barcelona. Happy Sailing.

The hunt for our ferry from Italy to Spain epitomised Italy and the Italian people for me. Our ferry was leaving at 23.30, and we gave ourselves an hour and a half to find the port in Livorno. Plenty of time, so we thought. After nearly an hour we actually found three ports, none of which our ship was sailing from. There were signs for passengers terminals all over the place, but they honestly didn't make sense and kept sending us in circles.

We started to get very nervous as the clock was ticking. We ended up on a highway system which had closed roads and roundabouts with blocked exits. Things were not looking good. By sheer luck we stumbled upon a commercial shipping port which turned out to be our terminal.

The Italian guy that checked us in was full of smiles and jokes. He told us that some of the highway system had collapsed due to heavy rain, thus the signs were messed up. He was so charming and fun that the stress of not being able to find the 'bloody place' was all forgotten. Once again, crap signs, confusing roads, but such amazing people that makes it all ok.

Bye bye Italy, I hope I will come back some day !!!

Cinque Terre - 14/06

Mainland Europe - Day 50
Florence --> Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre is one of those well kept secrets. I stumbled upon it on one of the travel websites but we decided early on that it would be to much of a stretch to make it. Then, just when we were checking out of Siena we got chatting to a couple who had just come from there. They had all the maps and info and told us it was unmissable, so we put it on the must see list.

Cinque Terre is comprised of five colourful, seaside villages connected by a cliff walk and a train line. They are old and cute and teaming with Italians. We were there over the weekend and it felt like the cities had emptied to come here.

We spent the day walking and training between the five villages. Each town has its own uniqueness and atmosphere. The terracotta houses seem piled on top of each other, almost falling into the ocean below.

By late afternoon we had made it to the last town, which is the biggest and has two huge beaches. We settled down alongside groups of kids having fun and men in their speedos and cooled down in the refreshing Mediterranean.

Florence - 13/06

Mainland Europe - Day 49
Siena --> Florence

Our stay in Florence was very brief. Which to be honest I was not all that upset about. We had a terrible time trying to find the hotel we had booked and when we finally stumbled across it, we found it certainly wasn't worth the money we were paying.

We also realised that the camp site back in Siena didn't give us Yvonne's passport back. It's so strange, loads of campsites across Europe insist on holding your passport until you checkout. We were always very careful to make sure we got them back, but somehow forgot in Siena. After several phone calls we ended up having some random backpacker who was heading to Florence deliver the passport to us. A bit risky but it worked out ok.

Anyway I think Yvonne and I were both in the wrong frame of mind for Florence. We wondered around and took in the city but neither of us were really feeling it. We only stayed the one night and we were both happy to hit the road early in the next morning. We probably didn't give Florence a real chance, but that said it didn't grab hold of us either.

Siena - 12/06

Mainland Europe - Day 48
Rome --> Siena

Siena brought a welcome relief from the hussle and heat of Rome.

We'd heard about a campsite and after some difficulty we found it. The mercury was soaring so when we slapped our eyes on the gorgeous (and deserted) swimming pool we knew we would be very happy.

The campgrounds have become a bit of a theme in Italy and each time we face the same moral dilemma. Pay $30 euro to pitch a tent for two and deal with heat, mossies and a blow-up mattress. Or pay $40 euro for a cabin with beds, sheets, bathroom and power to plug in our laptop to watch Underbelly!!

Of course the cabin wins..!!

We spent a day and half lounging by the pool, getting through books and working on our tans. By the second afternoon we decided it was time to head into Siena and check it out.

We strolled, took in the atmosphere and then found ourselves in the main square, which isn't really a square. It's more like a circle which slopes towards one side. We plonked ourselves down, the stones were warm and smooth. Hunger was lingering so we picked up some essentials in a local deli. Beers, olives, bread, some cheese and meat. The evening passed as we chased the sun across the non-square and people-watched.

After two days in Siena we were very sad to leave (our swimming pool!!) but we dragged ourselves away and hit the road again the next day. Time to drive through Tuscany, I hope it has nice swimming pools!!)

Rome - 10/06

Mainland Europe - Day 46
Sorrento --> Rome

Rome stands apart from all other cities we have visited.

While other cities boast and promote there specific attractions, whether they are buildings, canals or ancient city walls, Rome doesn't need to try. The city itself is a living breathing museum.

Ancient ruins lie everywhere. Alongside main roads you discover sunken structures; discovered, excavated and just left there. You don't have to get the map out and navigate yourself to the cities landmarks, all you have to do is ramble through the streets. Around every corner you will sumble upon a breathtaking view, building, church or structure of some kind. It seems never ending.

After an afternoon and evening of strolling in awe we decided we should take in the major sites. We did a tour of the Colleseum with an Italian guide. Those Romans were a gruesome bunch! In the first 10 weeks of the Colleseum being open over 5,000 animanls and humans were savaged and killed!! Yikes!!

The following day we did the Vatican City. Gorgous and amazing but all a bit religious for us. The display of wealth and excessiveness was a bit off putting.

Of course being in Italy you expect great food and Rome didn't dissapoint. Yummy pizza they sell by weight and cold beers kept us satisfied.

After two and a half days of sightseeing we are a bit jaded. Some sun and pool action is called for I think.

Naples - 07/06

Mainland Europe - Day 43
Sorrento --> Naples --> Sorrento

Naples, famous for it's pizza, the Mafia and rubbish lined streets. Well we didn't see any gangsters, I don't think, but we certainly ate an amazing pizza and saw loads and loads of rubbish.

I think we hit Naples at exactly the wrong time. We'd had a lazy Sunday morning at our camp site in Sorrento, then took the train into Naples at around 2pm, thinking to grab a late lunch or an early dinner. However, when we arrived everything was shut and the streets were practically deserted. I think that quite a lot of shops and restaurants are simply closed on Sundays, and the ones that do open take 3 or 4 hours off in the afternoon.

Even so Naples was still an interesting place. We walked heaps, saw plenty of beautiful old buildings, loads of graffiti and piles of rubbish. But mostly we were looking for a restaurant and our long awaited Naples pizza. We eventually found what looked like the perfect part of town. Lots of cute little streets and pizzeria signs on every second corner, but alas, everything was still closed. Finally, when we were about to give up we stumbled across a place.

The menu was in Italian and we thought we'd done a great job of ordering until we saw what the table next to us had ordered. Our pizza was good, but theirs looked so much better. So we ordered another of course. It's not like we get the chance to eat pizza at it's birth place all that often. No need to say that the both pizzas were absolutely delicious, but I'm glad we ordered the extra one :)

Pompei - 06/06

Mainland Europe - Day 42
Sorrento --> Pompei --> Sorrento

Well if you like really really old stuff then you'll love Pompei. A quick 30 minute train ride from Sorrento and we were walking down streets that had been paved some 2500 years ago. For about 1700 years Pompei was buried under 20 metres of ash. It's only in the last couple of hundred years that they've been digging it out. They think they've found about 40% so far.

We wanted to have some idea of what we were seeing, so we paid our 15 euro and joined a guided tour. In keeping with what seems to be a trend, our tour guide was a grumpy old bastard. He certainly knew his stuff and he took us to all the main attractions, but you couldn't help but get the impression that he actually hated tourists and he wished he was someplace else.

It was a stinking hot day, so after walking around for nearly 5 hours we were buggered. All the old buildings, pillars and amphitheatres were amazing, but I think was most taken with the roads. You could actually see the groove marks in paved roads where chariots used to drive. And there were even pedestrian crossings made from raised stones so people wouldn't get their feet wet.

Oh .... and I shouldn't forget the ancient brothel that was covered in paintings that depicted different sexual positions. That was pretty memorable too!