2013!

Is now over…

I must say, that for me much of the year was a struggle, and when the year ended, it felt like a partial failure to me. I had changed my mind many times on what to go back to study, considering everything from science to psychology and even fashion. I’m still not quite sure. I was supposed to go to Europe for four months, but I came home early, missing Croatia and Greece, because of my silly emotional issues. Depression made much of this year hard.

However, I took a turn today and viewed it in a positive light – tried to sweep away the cobwebs that was the depression covering the year, and I realised it was a fun and successful year after all. I managed to tick a fair few things off my ‘list’. I swam with wild seals in Queenscliff, began collecting Alice in Wonderland books and teacups/teapots, baked multiple multi-layered cake (and almost finished a recipe book cover to cover). I managed to almost finish turning my bedroom into an Alice in Wonderland room, stood up on a surf board in the waves of Kuta beach, Bali, rode an elephant while in Bali and patted both a lion and a tiger. I completed the goal of making five items of clothing, and beyond, finding a new passion for sewing. I got to visit the Moulin Rouge and the show inside, visited a few castles in London and Paris, drove in Melbourne city and learnt to whistle (and then forgot how to, again).

I also enjoyed things that weren’t on a list. I have the love of my wonderful friends, family and boyfriend. I got my first dog, and still have my gorgeous cats and rats, and acquired some mice and rabbits. I got to visit England, France, Switzerland and Italy, and totally fell in love with Italy, especially Tuscany.  

I’m already setting up to make this year a wonderful success. Big plans in store for fashion courses, scuba diving courses and photography courses and deciding on travels to Africa, South America, Nepal, Vanuatu, Fiji and then back to Europe at the end of the year to meet up with some friends who will be there, and finish off European exploration in Germany, Netherlands, Spain and possibly Greece!

Deciding on a career can wait another year…

A jacket in November!

Which in Australia is downright pitiful – summer is supposed to be just around the corner! Pick up your game, Melbourne weather.
I tried to counteract the depressing weather with a bright pop of orange. It isn’t enough.

Nasty Naples

18th June: Naples.

The journey to Naples meant a train, which I much prefer to bus. We arrived in Naples, and had to catch a tram down to our hostel. Boarding the tram was chaotic – and I got pick pocketed. Careful little me, who usually has money and cards separate, and tucked down the bottom of a zipped up bag, had everything together and sitting on top from buying the tram ticket before jumping on. So when we reached the hostel I realised that I was missing the wallet, and upon checking my travel cards transaction history, saw that €750 had been withdrawn by someone other then me. I was upset and angry at myself – but once I cancelled the stolen cards, there was not much I could do. Luckily I have a second back up travel money card, and and least it means I’ll get a new drivers license photo – nothing could be worse then the old one.
Other then my misfortune, by this point Kara was feeling very sick, with a suspected UTI, so she was given directions to the hospital, as Eleanor and I were for Pompeii.
As I took my next tram journey back towards the station, I learnt my lesson and clutched my padlocked bag tight – paranoid from this point on about anyone who even looks in its direction. We were to leave to Pompeii from a different station then the one we were previously at, and had to wait nearly an hour after getting there for a train. Which was an interesting experience. It was a dodgy place to be, with three separate fights breaking out in the time we were there. Naples doesn’t seem the safest or friendliest area.
After an hour long wait, and a 45 minute train ride, both in horribly stuffy and hot conditions we reached Pompeii.
Pompeii was incredible, and it was a real shame that Kara missed it. The city was massive – much bigger then we had expected, especially from a city that was so old. It was at least as big as Lucca, a town we had stayed in only a few days previously, and it took hours to walk through and explore the streets and buildings. Despite hearing the historical information from our audio guide it was impossible to comprehend how old the city was – partly because I have no concept of that amount of time, and partly because there were so many similarities to a modern town, that it didn’t seem that it could of been all that long ago.
We returned to Naples to find Kara had been given antibiotics for a UTI, and then set out to find some pizza for dinner – as Naples is supposed to have the best pizza. We were recommended a place, which took us through dark alley ways, that did not seem safe. Every inch, of every wall, lining every street in Naples is covered with graffiti. Urine stains mark the bottoms of walls, every few metres, resulting in a lingering smell and rubbish lines the gutters. The men are sleezy, calling out from both the street and cars, and making us feel very uncomfortable. When we reached our destination, we noticed the huge queue to get inside, and so Kara, who hadn’t eaten since breakfast, suggested we to elsewhere. The pizza elsewhere was nice, but it made me feel very sick. I had to use the restaurant bathroom to purge myself of it before we left for the dodgy walk home again.
Needless to say, we didn’t particularly like Naples, and it wasn’t particularly our lucky day.

When in Rome..

15th – 17th June: Rome.

The trip to Rome required another long bus ride, before arriving in the extremely hot weather of 35 degrees – we well and truly felt the heat of summer from this point. Kara’s boyfriend was meeting her in Rome, so we split ways at the station, agreeing to meet up again for dinner that night. After checking in to our hostel, Eleanor and I set out to explore Rome, and happened to almost immediately stumble across a gay pride parade featuring floats of cross dressers. We continued exploring, but had to make a deliberate point not to wander to any major sights, in knowing that Kara would probably want to visit such places with us. Rome, compared to everywhere else in Italy we had been, was very much a major city. The roads were actually built to accommodate traffic, the buildings seemed much newer and , in my opinion, much uglier, and the area was much busier. All this combined made seeing the older and grander buildings, statues and fountains seem a huge juxtaposition – like they didn’t really belong there. For these reasons, Rome was definitely my least favourite Italian stop off.
Kara and Pontus met us outside our hostel for dinner, and we ate at the place next door. Surprisingly, the food in Rome was pretty good – and we ate at a range of places. Eleanor thinks they have the best pasta in all of Italy, and we all expected it to be mass produced and nowhere near as good. Pontus made a good impression on Eleanor and I – we approve. After diner, we headed across the road to a bar to keep drinking and chatting for a few hours, until Kara and Pontus left at about midnight. When they left Eleanor and I went back into the bar, thinking we would order some more drinks, only to find that the bar was shut. We figured it wasn’t worth staying if the bar was closed and went to leave, on,y to realise that the doors had been locked behind us, and we didn’t know how to get out. After a long, funny search we eventually found an exit, and ditched the party for comfortable beds.

After a very average breakfast, Eleanor and I were due to meet Kara and Pontus out the front, so that Kara could bring her bags up into our room (Pontus was going home, so she was back to staying with us) – but after she had done so she told us she was feeling sick and because all the doctors were shut on Sunday’s, she was going to the hospital. So, sadly, Eleanor and I set off to explore the minor sights alone again. From complaining about weather being too cold, I will now be complaining that the weather is too hot. It was an average top of 35 degrees each day we were in Rome, which was ridiculously hot weather to try and walk in all day. We decided we would go to a park, were we could relax in the shade. We also found a large fountain that people were wading in, so we joined in to attempt to cool down. While we were at the park Kara called us, and we agreed to meet them at the Trevi fountain for lunch – which of course meant we had to walk to the Trevi fountain. On the way we had stopped to take photos – during which we were handed flowers by a street seller. Or he attempted to hand them to us – we knew he would then want us to buy them, so at first we allowed them to fall to the floor rather then taking the from him. He was insistent on us taking them for a photo though, which he agreed to take for us, and asked the guy we had been asking to take it for us to get into the photo also. All making for a very strange photo. Once the photo had been taken we tried to give the flowers back, but he refused to take them and told us we didn’t have to pay – so we walked away, only to have him chase after us asking to pay for them. He wasn’t impressed when we refused and gave them back to him instead, calling us stupid females.
After a long, hot and sweaty walk to the Trevi fountain, we met Kara and Pontus, and enjoyed some lunch with them, before they had to rush off to make Pontus’ train in time. Which left Eleanor and I to admire the Trevi fountain, which was very impressive, and yet again, it didn’t seem to fit in with the street around it. We made the cliche wish, yet all we really wanted was to able to jump into it. From the Trevi fountain we ventured over to the Pantheon, which was far more impressive, in terms of both size and decoration, then we had imagined. And after that we were too hot to be bothered doing much at all – so we sat and talked until we had to head back to the hostel to meet Kara at the time we had specified. We had hugely underestimated the time it would take to walk back though – and struggled through the heat for an hour.
On search for dinner we found a restaurant that was highly rated – so waited 45 minutes for a table, and received free champagne in the meantime for our patience. Luckily, the meal was delicious, which made the wait seem worthwhile.

The plan for day three was to visit the colosseum – which required a colossal amount of effort to walk to in sweltering heat. Despite being told by numerous people to go to another attraction before the colosseum to avoid the queue, we couldn’t remember the names of the other places we could go to get a ticket, so just lined up for the colosseum, which luckily only took about ten minutes. The heat was greatly impeding though – every person there could only stand in the sun for a short time before fighting for the shaded corners. After we had finished touring around we sat down under cover, and stayed there for about an hour, unable to muster the energy to move again.
We finally managed to walk out and across the road to a park, where we ate lunch, before heading back to the hostel for a lazy afternoon and evening.

Photo collage of day one, two and three in Rome!

Siena adventures

12th of June – 14th of June: Siena.

The trip from Florence meant a long walk to the station, on the day that the temperatures started to climb. It was a two hour bus ride that landed us in Siena, having to search for our accommodation again. Eleanor took on responsibility of navigation this time, and must of done a wonderful job, as we found the place fairly quickly.
After goading riding ourselves of our backpacks, we set out looking for lunch – still trusting the handy owl stickers, and enjoyed a delicious meal. Once our stomachs were no longer rumbling, we headed to the main square and bought a ticket to climb the town tower, in order to see the spectacular view of the city from above. We had been told while in Siena there where three must sees – the tower, the fort and the basilica, so we wasted no time ticking off the list. After descending the stairs again we got some gelato – Kara was finally brave enough to try some. (She had been refusing to eat gelato since finding her favourite shop in Lucca in fear that none would taste as good.) Although it wasn’t quite as good, it got her eating gelato again.
Our afternoons are generally filled with naps and wifi use, until dinner time occurs, and this day was no exception. As usual, for dinner we sought out somewhere with trip advisor owls in the window, and as usual the meal was wonderful. That night however, Eleanor had a terrible ordeal with gastro – so maybe her food was not as magnificent.

Unfortunately for Eleanor, Kara and I slept better then we had in ages, so only learnt of her nighttime troubles in the morning, when we were finally able to try and give her something to make it better. The owner of our accommodation had a wonderful breakfast spread of omelette, meats, bread, yogurt and coffee, set out for us, and the other guests whom we dined and chatted with. Once Eleanor was feeling up for it, we set out to tick the other two must do Siena items off our list.
Our first point of interest was the fort – the first attraction we had visited in a while which did not require payment to enter. We wandered the walls amongst the beautiful garden and local joggers, looking down over Siena in the hot summer sun.
After a short lunch stop we continued our journey to find the basilica – which was complicated even with a map in a town designed as a maze to confused invaders, with dead end streets and unpredictable bends in the roads. Once it was found we admired the impressive facade, before browsing the local shops.
Another afternoon, another lazy few hours in the hotel room.
Another evening, another lovely dinner dining out. In fact, I probably had my best pasta so far this evening, with a duck sauce.

Our final day in Siena found us reversing our usual habits, lazing around in the morning, as we had a tour of the surrounding region beginning in the afternoon. The trip took as through the Chianti region, as the guide provided us with background information while we admired the beautiful Tuscan countryside. We had a stop off point in the small town of , which we were given free time to explore after a brief history lesson. Free time obvious meant photo taking and gelato. Disappointingly I made a poor choice of flavours.
Our next point of interest was a winery where we participated in wine tasting. Oil, cheese, salami and balsamic vinegar where also sampled. Frustratingly we were seated alongside a very annoying man, who was Australian – and he was an embarrassment to himself and to Australia. He spent the entire trip stating how much travel he had done, and thus how, apparently, nothing could impress him anymore, talking down about everything. The wines were delicious though.
Once tasting time was over we headed to San Gigormo, where we had a small amount of free time before we would meet for a guided tour. In this free time we found the shop selling the ‘best gelato in the world’ as the owner, and gelato chef, had won the gelato world championship two years in a row. Gelato is serious business in Italy.
With full and queasy stomachs of gelato and wine, we gathered for our guided tour – which was interesting and filled with historical knowledge. Coming from such a young country as Australia, I found it impossible to grasp the age of the town – or that of most European towns and cities – but attempting to was very interesting. We didn’t arrive back in Siena until about 8 o’clock, and then had some giant pieces of pizza for dinner. A slightly unhealthy eating day.

See photo collage day one, two and three!

The catch up crunch

I have been lazy – very lazy. I fell into an emotional rut from about the 9th, for a few days and then it all seemed too daunting a job to go back and catch up. I now see the benefits there would of been in a personal travel journal. However, now that I am spending my days lazing on a beach I figure there should be plenty of spare time to play catch up. These entries will be more brief – partly so I actually catch up, and partly because some details no longer seem important or are forgotten – so I will write them in category of places we have been. Please forgive spelling and grammar errors while I quickly churn everything out. (See photo collages day by day at the bottom)
Without further ado:

9th of June – 11th of June: Florence.
Our transition from Lucca to Florence was simple, a train from station to station, and a taxi from station to accommodation (to avoid us getting lost as usual). We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Il Magnifico, and the guy who owned the place was extremely lovely and friendly, giving us a wonderful induction. Our lunch consisted of feasting on the spread of food, which was supposed to be for the following days breakfast, so we left a little for that purpose too.
It was evening before we left our accommodation in search of some wonderful food, as we headed to a place which had been recommended to us. It was just a small pizzeria restaurant, but we all enjoyed some lovely pasta. On our walk back to the bed and breakfast we came across a bridge which had the sounds of live music ebbing from it (one of Kara’s most sought after things) so we detoured to stop and listen amongst the rest of the gathered crowd. Except most of the crowd were couples enjoying some cuddles – and a few a little more. Lots of PDA in Italy.

On the 10th it was my one year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend. Sadly all we got was a Skype date – sorry boyfriend!
We decided, after a very lazy morning, that we would go and visit the statue of David – which Kara was especially excited about. And especially disappointed to find out, after walking all the way there, that David was closed on Monday’s. We instead spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Florence, exploring the nooks and crannies. When it started to rain, we took refuge in the closest museum – which happened to include the apartment of Eleanora, a fact that Eleanor thought was rather wonderful. Disappointingly though, the tower was closed due to the rain.
Dinner that night, after our first choice was booked out, lead us to a little restaurant with a lovely friendly waiter, who ensured we received a few freebies and had wonderful food. With meals finished, no one felt like going home, so we headed to a wine bar. Unfortunately I was feeling to sick to partake in the drinking, and thus missed out on the drunk fun of the walk home. Although my fun, found in laughing at the antics of the other two, seemed almost as fun.

Tuesday meant we could actually visit the statue of David – after doing our tourist time and waiting in the line. Luckily (mostly so Kara wouldn’t be disappointed) he was incredible. He was bigger then any of us had imagined and wonderfully impressive. Even more so when you consider he was hacked from a slab of stone. After the daily outing, Eleanor and Kara were ready for a siesta – so I stayed in the city and explored the market stalls alone.
Dinner took us to the restaurant we couldn’t get a seat at the previous night, as we had heard it was supposed to be wonderful. It was the first place that provided us with a menu written entirely in Italian, so we had no idea what most of it was. Eleanor and I were brave, and just pointed at random items on the menu – a plan that backfired. I was presented with half a plain roast chicken, with very little meat on it, and Eleanor with a half a roasted bigger bird. I followed up my chicken ordering a pasta dish I could understand – ravioli Bol. A good decision, as it was wonderful pasta and the rest bolgenese I’ve ever eaten.

While in Florence I also made the decision to go home earlier then first planned. I will now be leaving after Venice, rather then continuing through Croatia, Greece and France. Despite this being sad, as I am hesitant to leave (and surprisingly not yet homesick!) it is definitely the right decision at this point in time, and has caused me to feel a lot of relief regarding it. I’ll have to come back to Europe again in the future to pick up where I left off – what a shame!

Last Lucca day

The 8th of June:

I woke at 7, and despite tossing and turning for an hour or two, could not get back to sleep. I gave up, cooked myself some breakfast and went down to the local cafe, to more easily waste time using wifi. By the time my hour was up and I went back into our apartment, Kara and Eleanor were just finishing breakfast. They then wanted some wifi privilege, and so I spent another hour flicking through Facebook feeds.
Opposite the cafe was a torture museum, so with our interest piked to passing by it so many times, we ventured in for a look at what gruesome things they had in store. Obviously, as would be expected, it was disturbing and disgusting, and Kara practically didn’t enjoy her time. Especially when it came to talking of torture for children. It was all very twisted though. More so that half the items stated they were still in use, on this earth, today. It’s hard enough to imagine the humans of history being so malice, let alone it occurring in the present day.
With not much of an appetite, we prepared and consumed another wonderful salad, before setting off for the city gardens. Annoyingly, we had to pay to enter. The gardens themselves were not anything very special, but the pond was beautiful and was filled with gorgeous tortoises, which I just loved.
After lounging on the grass for a while we set off to explore more of the city, before getting ready for a nice dinner. We were sure not to make the mistake of the previous night, but instead ensured we would go somewhere with pictures of owls in the window – the signal of trip advisors tick of approval.

Exploring on two wheels

The 7th of June: 

 

We awoke relaxingly late, and cooked ourselves a gourmet breakfast of scrambled eggs with pesto, tomato and prosciutto. Despite breakfast then being finished, we headed down to the local cafe to take advantage of the free wifi – and coffee. Once satisfied on both accounts, it was time to make something of the day. 

We had decided (although Eleanor and I only reluctantly agreed), to bike ride around the city walls. Neither Eleanor or I have ridden a bike since primary school, and we were, to begin with, just as terrible as we had expected we would be. It would of been humorous to watch, as we wrestled with balance, and struggled to maintain a straight line. And fell off a few times. But after the first ten minutes we slowly got the hang of it, and slowly loosened our painfully tight grip on the handlebars. Of course Kara was a pro from the start, just to make us look even worse. Once I was used to riding, I settled into it and enjoyed it (apart from the uncomfortable seat). It was a relaxing, yet efficient way to see the city – bikes make sense here. If they served a practical function back home, I would probably ride one. But back home it is more practical to drive a car – in the suburbs distances are too large for bikes to be helpful, and the city requires bikes on busy roads with cars, which is stressful for both parties. I’ll just stick to liking bikes in Europe. 

 

 

After our bike riding adventure, we prepared another gourmet meal – this time a salad, after which Eleanor and Kara fell asleep. I wandered out to explore. I ate some gelato from our now favourite shop (delicious!), and browsed through the shops of the main street (I didn’t dare venture far from this street in fear of getting lost.) Just as I reached the end of the street, and planned to turn around, I noticed a book stall – and went to investigate. Sure enough I found an Italian copy of Alice in Wonderland! When I did return to the room, Eleanor and Kara were awake and ready to head out, so we set off browsing city shops again. Kara had finished her book the night before, so was exploring bookstores for English books. I found a few more versions of Alice in Wonderland – one of which I had to have, as its pictures (which are all I can judge the book on without being able to read them, although they would all read the same anyway – how much of a child I feel), where exquisite! A bar was then sought out, for some pre dinner drinks (which, unlike gelato, I was able to skip in the interests of my body hopefully re cooperating a little from its unhappiness with my diet). When it was time for dinner, we stopped at a small road side restaurant – a terrible decision. The food was horrible. It would of been considered horrible Italian food if it had been served at a bistro in Melbourne, let alone in Italy. Although all three of us had different dishes, each was undercooked and of poor flavour. Luckily, we were at least able to deter some potential customers that were contemplating eating there. We all knew that couldn’t be the finish to the night – and so we went and got some delicious gelato for desert, to leave us on a good note. 

Tuscany infatuation begins!

The 6th of June: 

 

We left Cinque Terre to head to the (even warmer) sunshine of Lucca, in Tuscany. It is now officially summer! Our only directions provided for our accommodation was that it was in the main street of the old town, so we assumed this street was easy to find. It wasn’t. Lucca is set out like a giant maze – long winding streets, with numerous side streets branching off, the buildings disorientatingly towering over our heads as a single wall. Needless to say, we once again had no idea where we were, or how to get were we were headed. Another map had to be bought, and directions pointed out. We will have to be organised next time. We eventually found the place, and rang the owner to come and let us in. 

Once our enormous bags, which seem to grow each time they are lugged around, were off our backs, and we were suitably refreshed, we set off into the beautiful maze of streets that is Lucca. Every street is equally as disorientating and beautiful as the last, and pretty old churches seem to pop up at the end of each one. The cobbled streets are narrow and uneven, and the present street lights and stop signs seemed out of place. Streets are not easily navigated by cars, and so many people dart around on bicycles instead. 

As we wandered, we spied a lovely looking garden, with a lovely looking fountain. We found out it was a historical building of some description, and paid the fee to explore the garden and building. It was all very old, grand and beautiful. 

 

 

We had sought out our dinner venue during our afternoon walks, choosing it due to its facade and positive reviews printed in the window. It lived up to them. Especially for desert, the creme brûlée was amazing. Kara had missed desert due to a phone call, so headed off in search of gelato – and we found the best gelato store that we have had all trip. 

Not a happy sailor

The 5th of June

 

Today was not my day. 

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, already feeling grumpy. We had a sailing tour planned, and the weather was supposed to be clear and sunny. But it wasn’t. I spent the first half of the sail rugged up in blankets against the cold wind. Then I started to get sea sick, not too badly, but I kept expecting it to get worse. Which is not making me look forward to Croatia. Just when the sea sickness past, I started getting dreadful chest pains, that lead me stumbling, crying in pain, down to get some neurofen. I fell asleep in attempt to stop the pain. When I woke up we had arrived back at the dock. Unfortunately I did not overly appreciate the beauty of the sail – but Eleanor and Kara certainly did. I’m sure it all sounds much better from their perspective.

 

 

 

Just before I left for this trip, I had come to the conclusion that I am yeast intolerant, but planned to only do something about it when I returned. My symptoms over the last few days have been getting bad though, so I will now go on as low a yeast diet as I manage over here. Which is also supposed to mean no sugar or diary  for the first month of the diet, as sugar feeds the already present yeast. Attempting to avoid carbs, sugar, dairy and alcohol in Italy – this will be interesting. In a very non fun way. At least I’ll look alright in my bikini.

 

Apologies for the very uninteresting, negative post.