Italy

Well, where do I start?! I have been in Italy 10 days and I have done so much! I started in Venice, which was so beautiful, and just as romantic as I imagined. Narrow canals cross crossing all over the main island with gondolas gliding down them one after the other, buildings that rise out of the sea, delicious food and wine, I absolutely loved it. My hostel was on Guidecca, just across the  sea from the main island of Venice. It was right on the water and I could look out to San Marco square across the other side, from my room. I spent most of my time exploring with no map, you can never get lost in Venice, you will always end up at a water bus stop that will take you where you need to go, or back to somewhere you recognise. I did go on a Gondola, but it wasn't quite as romantic as I had imagined, with a family of 3 along with another small group squished on board with me... it was still fun though .

After saying goodbye to Venice, I was off to Rome. The history there is mind blowing. There are so many ancient ruins, huge sculpted fountains, and beautiful churches. The Coliseum is so impressive when you go inside, you can just imagine all the brutal fights that happened there, the trap doors that the tigers emerged from, and all the people cheering in the grandstands. I found it all very tiring though, walking around such a big city with so much to see. I did two walking tours which were great and taught me a lot about the history.

There was no time to rest after Rome though, after three nights there, I was off to Florence. Tuscany! It's so beautiful, all the vineyards, and fields of sunflowers. It's just how I imagined it. The first night we got there (the group on my bus) we all did a walking tour around the town, went to a leather demonstration, had a delicious four course dinner with wine, then did karaoke. It was such a fun night. The next day I did a tour of Tuscany. We went to a little village where the movie 'Gladiator' was filmed, visited the small town of Siena, did some wine tasting (YUM!), along with some olive oil, sweet garlic, balsamic vinegar, truffle oil and honey tasting. Then we went to an old Italian man's house for dinner! The food was delicious, and be even made his own Chianti, which was even more delicious. My last day I visited the statue of David by Michelangelo which is really breath-taking up close. All the detail in the veins and that he carved it from one piece of marble. On our departure from Florence, we made a stop at the leaning tower of Pisa, which is much cleaner and nicer than I expected. And surprise surprise, it was on a lean!

I am now in the beautiful Cinque Terre, five small towns on the coast on the way to the south of France. I feel so at home here, out of the city, by the sea. I have tried to hike to as many towns as I can, and I have done some killer hills! It's totally worth it for the amazing views though. All the tall, colourful houses here, cling side by side to the cliffs on the edge of the sea. It is really pretty. The seafood is amazing, and there are many vineyards, I crossed over some on the walking trails, so the wine is also very good and inexpensive. The water is magnificently clear, I could swim in it all day. I am staying in a little town called Manarola, which is probably my favourite of the five because it is small, less touristy and has the best food and clearest water. Four more days of heaven here, then off to Nice!

The main canal in Venice

 

A gondola navigating a corner in the canal

Looking across the sea to where my hostel was

My gondola ride!

Our gondola approaching a bridge

The pantheon in Rome... with the hole in the roof

The roman forum, so many ancient ruins

Our little busabout group outside the Coliseum

Me throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain

The fountain in Piazza Neveau (I think!) 

Inside the Coliseum

Tuscan vineyards!

This photo needs no explanation.

Dinner at Gianni's house

Gianni... who didn't speak a word of English. He liked my name though!

The replica statue of David

Pisa!

Killer steps in the Cinque Terre

Mmmmmm scampi gnocchi in Manarola

More walking, beautiful views

Monterosso

Manarola, my new home... for 6 nights

Sunset at Manarola, from the hostel

London

London has so much to see and do, I don't think it is possible to write down everything I saw! When I first got there I visited Buckingham Palace and had a tour of the state rooms. It was pretty impressive, very grand, as you would expect. I went inside the room where the royal photos were taken after William and Kate's wedding, and where the photos were taken after the Queen's Coronation. The souvenir shop was full of baby George souvenirs. There is so much history in London, it makes me realise how young New Zealand is. I did a hop on hop off bus tour which took me around most of the sights. I went to a play in the west end called 'The Woman in Black' which was really good, and on my last day I took a bus tour out to Stonehenge. It was really interesting to learn about what they believe the history behind these standing stones are, and all the different theories. Every month the Sun shines through a different arch in the stones!

I am now in Italy, doing my busabout tour and am loving it. The weather is nice and hot here, and the food is awesome!

Hundreds of people outside Buckingham Palace

In the gardens in Buckingham Palace

The Air Force Church, with damage from shrapnel from bombing in WWII I believe 

The London Eye, Big Ben and the government buildings at night

Outside Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Wesminster bridge, the government buildings and Big Ben... well Elizabeth Tower.

England and Scotland

I am staying with Rebecca and her lovely family in Suffolk, England. So far I have seen the old Abbey at Bury St Edmunds, had a drink in the nutshell - Britain's smallest pub, been to Felixstone for fish and chips (with peas of course!) at the old pub, played in the penny arcades by the shore, had ice cream at the beach, and we just got back from a road trip to Scotland with the kids. On the road trip we saw Alnwick Castle, where some of Harry Potter was filmed, Bamburgh Castle by the beach in Northumberland, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Castle, I learnt all about Scotch Whiskey at the Scotch Whiskey Experience, pedalled around Loch Lomond on a pedal boat and saw the university and city centre of Glasgow. We Travelled 1002.5 miles by the time we got home to Suffolk.

The old Abbey at Bury St Edmunds

Me at Alnwick Castle

Inside the first door at Alnwick Castle where the enemy would have boiling hot animal fat poured onto them.

Inside Alnwick Castle

Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland

Ads for shows at the Fringe Festival stuck to the phone booths

Crowds for the Fringe Festival

Outside Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

The largest Whiskey collection in the world

Downtown Edinburgh

Dinner in Glasgow at the Butterfly and the Pig on the last night of the road trip

Portugal

I spent three beautiful sunny days in Portugal with Dad's cousin, Toin. I arrived in Porto and rented a car at the airport. After getting used to driving on the other side of the road, driving from the other side of the car, and getting lost a few times, I made it to Toin and Wim's beautiful property right on the edge of the Dão river. They have four friendly dogs who quickly became my new friends. Three rather big dogs and one little one. On my first night Toin made me a traditional Portuguese dish with dried salted cod, called Bacalhau. It was delicious! The fish has to be soaked, then Toin cooked it with potatoes in a béchamel sauce and breadcrumbs on the top. Toin took me into Visio to have a look around and have lunch. We ordered fish, which came out as a whole grilled fish. I get the impression that Portuguese love their fish. Most of my afternoons were spent lazing around the pool, which was quite nice. A bit of a change of pace in comparison to the rest of my trip, racing around Spain. The gardener's Steven and Vanessa kindly took my canoeing down the river. We saw some beautiful wildlife and landscape. The herons were really beautiful. We had to battle a strong headwind to get back, but the pool and bbq that were waiting for us back home made all the hard work worthwhile. On my last day I had to get the car back to the airport early in the day so I took the metro into Porto and took a tour on the hop on hop off bus, which was really good. I saw all the traditional old buildings covered in ceramic tiles, the beaches and the harbour with all the old port boats which were used to transport the port from the cellars in by the harbour. Later that night I flew to Stansted in England and am now staying with Rebecca, who stayed with our family in NZ when I was young. Her three young boys are very entertaining!

Yummy fish for lunch

Me and Toin at lunch

Canoeing down the Dão river

Me in the canoe

Swimming in the pool in the afternoon

Big cuddly doggies!!!

Beautiful tiled buildings in Porto

Beach in Porto

The harbour in Porto

Doris by the port boats

A beautiful old church in Porto