I woke up at 7 (early bird catches the worm!) and got myself packed for the journey home. I checked out of the hostel, and made my way to the bus stop outside the train station. Just as I was walking up, the bus pulled away early. Brilliant start. I asked the bloke in the hi-vis vest when the next bus would be, apparently only 5 minutes. 40 minutes later the next bus rolled up. Lying twat.
I got my bags checked in and headed for the departure lounge, thankfully the passport control boy didn't laugh at my photo in which I look like an al-qaeda terrorist. I bought my dad some duty free fags, and headed for the queue which had formed at the gate, even though we weren't boarding yet.
I got on the plane, and big-manned my way to an extra leg room seat. Get in! A family came along and sat next to me, and I think they strategically placed their teenage lad next to me. He was infuriating. He didn't sit still for the entire flight, and I got no sleep because of it. I hate flying Ryanair. I tried blocking him out with Glee, but it only worked to a certain extent.
3 hours later, and I was back in chilly Scotland! The hoody I bought in Prague came in handy. 4 flights landed at the same time, so getting through passport control took forever, and then I was free to pick up my bags and go and meet mother for the drive home. Mince and tatties for tea tonight!
All in all I have had a great time travelling for a month, and writing this blog has helped cement the many memories I have. Thanks to all my avid readers, see you all soon no doubt. Take care of yourself, and each other!
Friday, 19 August 2011
Day Twenty Five - Sister Blister
Woke up around half 9 and went downstairs for some free breakfast. It was fairly rubbish, but still it was free. With all the walking we had done yesterday, I had developed two blisters, one on the ball of each foot, which had left me looking like a ridiculous fool when I tried to walk. I decided to do some DIY doctoring, and burst them both with scissors, and chucked some plasters over them. This at least allowed me to look normal whilst walking, I was still in some serious pain. A chemist would be needed.
We decided that Pett would get the laundry he needed done, and while that was being done we would go to an internet cafe so I could do the online check in for my flight the next day, before we thought about going out on the sight seeing jaunt for the day. I got to the internet cafe, started the online check in, and then found out I needed my passport which was in my room. I had to walk all the way back to get it. Gutted.
Once we had done the necessary, we had some lunch before setting out (no, not another kebab). We set out towards termini station, to get the metro down to the colloseum. On the way, we found a chemist, and I got some weird gel sticky things for my blisters. This alleviated some of the pain, but this was the best I could get, so I just decided to walk through the pain.
First stop for the day: the colloseum! We joined the queue to buy our tickets and get in (some wee man guide told us it would take 45-50 minutes, nearer 25 you douchebag!). I got in for a discounted rate as I had my provisional on me, proving I was from the EU and under 25. Pett did not. 1-0 me.
We wandered about the colloseum for ages, it is incredibly impressive. Not much else happened, bar seeing a guy with his bird, who we thought must be part of some sort of sock cult. Why else would you wear socks with sandals?
We took a seat on a stone outside the colloseum to prepare for a walk around the forum. At this time we deliberated on whether we should go back to the Trevi fountain to chuck the coins in correctly, seeing as my feet were destroyed. Pett suggested letting the coins decide. I should mention at this point that coins hate me, and always make me do things I dont want to. Needless to say we tossed the coin and it told us to go to the Trevi fountain. Cheers again coins.
When I went to get up, my entire left leg appeared to be dead. I was really suffering today, such terrible timing on my last day as well. I took a time out and did some stretches to get it going again, I must have looked like a bit of a pervert but I didn't care, most italians look like perverts anyway.
We walked for a while to the entrance of the forum. As I had been here before, I let Pett take a look around himself while i preserved myself for the walk through town coming up. He enjoyed it.
We made the trek to the Trevi fountain for our last sight of the day, and chucked our coins in correctly this time, right hand over the left shoulder. Looks like we'll both be coming back!
One the way from the fountain back to the hostel, we were looking in some cheesy souvenir shops, when I came across the sign i'd been looking for since I got here, a ciao bella sign! Maybe the coins have forgiven me, and sent me this way because they knew I would come across the sign? Or maybe I was just ridiculously lucky? Who knows, I certainly don't care, I got my sign!
When we got back to the hostel I was going to go for a shower but the selfish canadian cow in my room was in there for 45 minutes so I cut my losses and went downstairs to sit in the bar for the night. We had a great night of conversation mostly centering on sport, and we said our goodbyes as I would be up earlier in the morning to go for my flight. It was emotional, but I got through it ok. I went to my bed, but couldn't get to sleep as the aforementioned canadian bint was now sitting whining to her pal about someone not picking her up from the airport or something. I was very close to kicking off until she eventually shut up. My last full day was ended, journey home tomorrow morning!
We decided that Pett would get the laundry he needed done, and while that was being done we would go to an internet cafe so I could do the online check in for my flight the next day, before we thought about going out on the sight seeing jaunt for the day. I got to the internet cafe, started the online check in, and then found out I needed my passport which was in my room. I had to walk all the way back to get it. Gutted.
Once we had done the necessary, we had some lunch before setting out (no, not another kebab). We set out towards termini station, to get the metro down to the colloseum. On the way, we found a chemist, and I got some weird gel sticky things for my blisters. This alleviated some of the pain, but this was the best I could get, so I just decided to walk through the pain.
First stop for the day: the colloseum! We joined the queue to buy our tickets and get in (some wee man guide told us it would take 45-50 minutes, nearer 25 you douchebag!). I got in for a discounted rate as I had my provisional on me, proving I was from the EU and under 25. Pett did not. 1-0 me.
We wandered about the colloseum for ages, it is incredibly impressive. Not much else happened, bar seeing a guy with his bird, who we thought must be part of some sort of sock cult. Why else would you wear socks with sandals?
We took a seat on a stone outside the colloseum to prepare for a walk around the forum. At this time we deliberated on whether we should go back to the Trevi fountain to chuck the coins in correctly, seeing as my feet were destroyed. Pett suggested letting the coins decide. I should mention at this point that coins hate me, and always make me do things I dont want to. Needless to say we tossed the coin and it told us to go to the Trevi fountain. Cheers again coins.
When I went to get up, my entire left leg appeared to be dead. I was really suffering today, such terrible timing on my last day as well. I took a time out and did some stretches to get it going again, I must have looked like a bit of a pervert but I didn't care, most italians look like perverts anyway.
We walked for a while to the entrance of the forum. As I had been here before, I let Pett take a look around himself while i preserved myself for the walk through town coming up. He enjoyed it.
We made the trek to the Trevi fountain for our last sight of the day, and chucked our coins in correctly this time, right hand over the left shoulder. Looks like we'll both be coming back!
One the way from the fountain back to the hostel, we were looking in some cheesy souvenir shops, when I came across the sign i'd been looking for since I got here, a ciao bella sign! Maybe the coins have forgiven me, and sent me this way because they knew I would come across the sign? Or maybe I was just ridiculously lucky? Who knows, I certainly don't care, I got my sign!
When we got back to the hostel I was going to go for a shower but the selfish canadian cow in my room was in there for 45 minutes so I cut my losses and went downstairs to sit in the bar for the night. We had a great night of conversation mostly centering on sport, and we said our goodbyes as I would be up earlier in the morning to go for my flight. It was emotional, but I got through it ok. I went to my bed, but couldn't get to sleep as the aforementioned canadian bint was now sitting whining to her pal about someone not picking her up from the airport or something. I was very close to kicking off until she eventually shut up. My last full day was ended, journey home tomorrow morning!
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Day Twenty Four - When In Rome
Woke up earlier than usual at 9, as we had to get the train to Rome today! Got all our stuff packed, and set out on the road. After a ten minute walk, we arrived at the train station, and as our train did not have a platform assigned yet I went outside for a fag. Some gypsy tramp sat down next to where I was standing with her dog and started talking to herself. I paid no attention, and then she went mental hurling racist insults in italian at people as they walked past. Classy.
Florence - Rome
After a while our train was given a platform, so we fired on. Someone was sitting in one of our seats, so Pett just sat in the seat opposite rather than causing a mutli-lingual slagging match. There were a lot of tunnels on the journey, so there wasn't much scenery to see. I decided to use this time to write yesterdays blog, in anticipation of getting an internet connection when we arrived at the hostel, to upload it. The train was only an hour and a half, so it wasn't long before we were in Rome.
When we got out of the station, I knew vaguely where I was going as I'd been to this hostel before with best bud Rory Penman, so we fired to the hostel to get checked in. We were a bit early to get our room keys etc, so we dumped our bags in the luggage room and set off to explore Rome. As Napoleon said, "an army marches on it's stomach", so we decided to get a kebab for lunch before we went anywhere.
With our bellies full, our first destination for the day was the spanish steps. As we walked we seemed to become part of an incredibly annoying american family, so we decided to cross the road to get away from them. We came upon the spanish steps from behind (steady now) so got to see the full spectacle from above. Very nice.
Our next stop for the day, was the Trevi Fountain. We wandered through some back streets, and finally found it. It was absolutely heaving with tourists, so we didn't spend too long there, just enough time to snap some pics and throw some coins in the water, to ensure our return to Rome. Unfortunately I forgot about throwing them over your shoulder, so we will probably have to go back and do it right.
Next stop: Pantheon! Again we wandered through some small streets until we found the Pantheon - the oldest church in Rome. We had a look inside, and it was quite grand. The oculus in the roof is awesome though, and makes the place very unique.
Again we were on the move, this time to Piazza Navona. More winding wee back streets, and again we found it no bother. We had a wander around the Piazza, checking out all of the artwork, and finally settled down for a wee seat in the shade, right beside Bernini's famous Fountain of the Four Rivers (of Angels and Demons fame). the fountain is pretty awesome, with four staues representing the four great rivers of the world (at that time) and an egyptian obelisk in the middle. Smashing.
We had some more time, so decided to walk to the Vatican and get that done, to give us more time tomorrow. We headed for the bridge of angels, and crossed to the Castel Sant'Angelo. This was originally built as the emperor Augustus' tomb and is a pretty impressive building. After this, we walked towards St Peter's Square in the Vatican. The square itself is mighty impressive, but St Peter's Basilica is quite incredible.
We stopped to fill our water bottles from a water fountain next to the square (I was worried it may burn my insides as I'm a non-believer, but it was actually quite tasty) and decided to head for the metro to get back to the hostel. Before heading back into the hostel, we stopped for a coffee at the place across the road. The boy in charge seemed to be raging when he found out we didn't want any food. Sucks to be him. He made us wait for ages though for the coffee, to the point where I was almost ready to bolt. Twat.
We got back into the hostel and checked into our rooms, and decided to go for a Chinese for tea. On the way into the town, we were stopped by the Carabinieri (who acted more like the Gestapo) who asked to see our papers. What? Why would I carry my passport around with me, in a country which has a notoriously bad reputation for thieving off tourists? He accepted my drivers licence, and some boy wrote down loads of details from it. Weirdos.
We walked for ages trying to find the Chinese restaurant I had been to before, but couldnt find it. We walked so far we actually found the Colloseum, so headed back up the hill towards the station. We were so hungry, we decided to just go in the first Chinese we saw. The food was ok, but not a patch on the one I was in last time. When we were finished we walked back towards the hostel, and passed the restaurant we had been looking for. Oops.
When we got back to the hostel we headed for the bar, and watched the footy on the telly. At one point, some boy decided he didnt want to watch the footy, and turned it over to some spanish soft core porn. The place was a bit shocked at what was occurring, and before long the big man from the reception desk had had enough of this and put the footy back on.
I retired to bed earlier than usual, as I was knackered from the long walk we had done today. Only a few sights left to see tomorrow, on the last full day of my travels!
Florence - Rome
After a while our train was given a platform, so we fired on. Someone was sitting in one of our seats, so Pett just sat in the seat opposite rather than causing a mutli-lingual slagging match. There were a lot of tunnels on the journey, so there wasn't much scenery to see. I decided to use this time to write yesterdays blog, in anticipation of getting an internet connection when we arrived at the hostel, to upload it. The train was only an hour and a half, so it wasn't long before we were in Rome.
When we got out of the station, I knew vaguely where I was going as I'd been to this hostel before with best bud Rory Penman, so we fired to the hostel to get checked in. We were a bit early to get our room keys etc, so we dumped our bags in the luggage room and set off to explore Rome. As Napoleon said, "an army marches on it's stomach", so we decided to get a kebab for lunch before we went anywhere.
With our bellies full, our first destination for the day was the spanish steps. As we walked we seemed to become part of an incredibly annoying american family, so we decided to cross the road to get away from them. We came upon the spanish steps from behind (steady now) so got to see the full spectacle from above. Very nice.
Our next stop for the day, was the Trevi Fountain. We wandered through some back streets, and finally found it. It was absolutely heaving with tourists, so we didn't spend too long there, just enough time to snap some pics and throw some coins in the water, to ensure our return to Rome. Unfortunately I forgot about throwing them over your shoulder, so we will probably have to go back and do it right.
Next stop: Pantheon! Again we wandered through some small streets until we found the Pantheon - the oldest church in Rome. We had a look inside, and it was quite grand. The oculus in the roof is awesome though, and makes the place very unique.
Again we were on the move, this time to Piazza Navona. More winding wee back streets, and again we found it no bother. We had a wander around the Piazza, checking out all of the artwork, and finally settled down for a wee seat in the shade, right beside Bernini's famous Fountain of the Four Rivers (of Angels and Demons fame). the fountain is pretty awesome, with four staues representing the four great rivers of the world (at that time) and an egyptian obelisk in the middle. Smashing.
We had some more time, so decided to walk to the Vatican and get that done, to give us more time tomorrow. We headed for the bridge of angels, and crossed to the Castel Sant'Angelo. This was originally built as the emperor Augustus' tomb and is a pretty impressive building. After this, we walked towards St Peter's Square in the Vatican. The square itself is mighty impressive, but St Peter's Basilica is quite incredible.
We stopped to fill our water bottles from a water fountain next to the square (I was worried it may burn my insides as I'm a non-believer, but it was actually quite tasty) and decided to head for the metro to get back to the hostel. Before heading back into the hostel, we stopped for a coffee at the place across the road. The boy in charge seemed to be raging when he found out we didn't want any food. Sucks to be him. He made us wait for ages though for the coffee, to the point where I was almost ready to bolt. Twat.
We got back into the hostel and checked into our rooms, and decided to go for a Chinese for tea. On the way into the town, we were stopped by the Carabinieri (who acted more like the Gestapo) who asked to see our papers. What? Why would I carry my passport around with me, in a country which has a notoriously bad reputation for thieving off tourists? He accepted my drivers licence, and some boy wrote down loads of details from it. Weirdos.
We walked for ages trying to find the Chinese restaurant I had been to before, but couldnt find it. We walked so far we actually found the Colloseum, so headed back up the hill towards the station. We were so hungry, we decided to just go in the first Chinese we saw. The food was ok, but not a patch on the one I was in last time. When we were finished we walked back towards the hostel, and passed the restaurant we had been looking for. Oops.
When we got back to the hostel we headed for the bar, and watched the footy on the telly. At one point, some boy decided he didnt want to watch the footy, and turned it over to some spanish soft core porn. The place was a bit shocked at what was occurring, and before long the big man from the reception desk had had enough of this and put the footy back on.
I retired to bed earlier than usual, as I was knackered from the long walk we had done today. Only a few sights left to see tomorrow, on the last full day of my travels!
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Day Twenty Three - The Florentine Stamp Fiasco
Another day, another 10am wake up to meet Pett! He chucked his stuff in my room again as it was too early to check back into the hostel, and we began our morning ritual of me blogging and him checking the guide book to see what there was to do for the day. We also wrote some postcards to friends and family, and took them with us to find stamps (more on this later).
We decided on going to see Santa Maria Novella church and going up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which should take us the best part of the day. I hadn't eaten yet (Pett had a feast of a breakfast at his hostel, no free food here though) so we went to a wee cafe for some grub before setting out properly.
Santa Maria Novella was the birthplace of the renaissance, so naturally I wanted to go and see it. It was quite a large church, and some of the paintings on the wall were spectacular. They clearly pushed the boat out when they built this place. As we walked round we noticed a wee room in the church, which had been turned into a shop. I somehow don't think the original designer had planned this to be a shop, shameless money grabbing on the go.
After a good walk around the church we decided to go outside and have a bottle of water in the sunshine, at the piazza out the front. When we got outside we were accosted by some lovely wee bellas, who wanted us to sign a thing against drugs. I told them I already did it in Milan (which I didn't) and got away scott free. Their patter was pretty poor, asking us where our kilts were and if we knew William Wallace. Aye darling big Willie is my uncle, I'll tell him you were asking for him. Do the hounders in the street in Scotland do this to Italian tourists? "Oh say hi to the Pope and Leonardo da Vinci for me when you get back mate". I somehow doubt it.
We then headed through the throngs of people in the town (the amount of tourists here is huge) to get to the other side of the river, and make our way towards Piazzale Michelangelo. When we got to the bottom of the hill and saw all the steps I near died, it was the Prague castle all over again. We slogged up the steps, and when we made it to the top I was completely gubbed. The views from the Piazzale were incredible, and definitely made the ridiculous climb worth while. The city really is beautiful, especially in the baking sun.
Next stop: buying stamps for the postcards. This turned out to be an absolute nightmare. We had been told by a couple of people you could buy stamps from fag shops, so we tried at least a half a dozen of them, and none of them gave us stamps. One of the shops had stamps, but only if you bought your postcards from him! What a dobber. Eventually we found the post office, but the stamp window only stays open until 12:30, I mean why would anyone want to buy stamps after midday? That would be ludicrous!
We took a number for the main queue and got in line. It took ages, Italian people don't seem to bother about folk waiting behind them, they'll just leisurely go about their business. The excitement reached fever pitch when we only had one more number to go, and then it was our turn! Yass!
With the postcards posted, we headed back to the hostel for another swim and a sauna. The pool yet again was freezing. When we went in for a sauna the place was full of Aussie lads, and one American boy who kept throwing water onto the coals, it got so hot I could barely breathe so had to leave and jump back in the pool.
We dried off, and headed up to the roof terrace for a lovely cold fanta (Pett had fizzy water, disgusting). We made plans for what we wanted to eat tonight, and the consensus was clear, kebab it is. We walked for a wee while and found a kebab shop, and had a tasty feed.
We retired to the roof terrace for the night, and got on the beers! We met the Aussie boys from the sauna, two of which were sound as a pound, and the other was a complete douchebag. The boy spoke with this fake accent to sound like he smoked 40 a day, probably to impress the chicks. He also had a rosary round his neck, which he wore to look cool. This was ok though, as half his family were Catholic and the other half Christian, so he could get away with it. Aye mate, because Christianity and Catholicism are two completely different religions, Catholicism isn't a denomination of Christianity at all. You total wank.
After they left, we were chatting amongst ourselves for a while, when an American girl interrupted to ask what language we were speaking. Haha! We all had a chuckle when we revealed we were talking English, and got to talking to her. She was from Baltimore! We LOVE The Wire! Apparently she had only seen a couple of episodes. Criminal! How can you come from Bmore and not have watched all of The Wire?
We spent the night chatting (the brazillian boy from our room joined us) and drank more beers. When the rooftop shut, we headed downstairs and joined a megagroup of travellers drinking. What's that I hear? Some birds with Scottish accents? Get in there!
We spoke to them for while, two of them were on a placement with uni in Sicily, and told us about a Scottish band they had seen at a gig there. They were called The Fire and I! Classic bants ensued when it turned out I knew who they were. Small world!
More chat was banded around (one of the birds was dying for a lorne sausage roll and some Irn Bru, I feel your pain darling) and by two o clock we were steaming, so retired to bed as we had to be up earlier for the train in the morning. A cracking day overall, Roma tomorrow!
We decided on going to see Santa Maria Novella church and going up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which should take us the best part of the day. I hadn't eaten yet (Pett had a feast of a breakfast at his hostel, no free food here though) so we went to a wee cafe for some grub before setting out properly.
Santa Maria Novella was the birthplace of the renaissance, so naturally I wanted to go and see it. It was quite a large church, and some of the paintings on the wall were spectacular. They clearly pushed the boat out when they built this place. As we walked round we noticed a wee room in the church, which had been turned into a shop. I somehow don't think the original designer had planned this to be a shop, shameless money grabbing on the go.
After a good walk around the church we decided to go outside and have a bottle of water in the sunshine, at the piazza out the front. When we got outside we were accosted by some lovely wee bellas, who wanted us to sign a thing against drugs. I told them I already did it in Milan (which I didn't) and got away scott free. Their patter was pretty poor, asking us where our kilts were and if we knew William Wallace. Aye darling big Willie is my uncle, I'll tell him you were asking for him. Do the hounders in the street in Scotland do this to Italian tourists? "Oh say hi to the Pope and Leonardo da Vinci for me when you get back mate". I somehow doubt it.
We then headed through the throngs of people in the town (the amount of tourists here is huge) to get to the other side of the river, and make our way towards Piazzale Michelangelo. When we got to the bottom of the hill and saw all the steps I near died, it was the Prague castle all over again. We slogged up the steps, and when we made it to the top I was completely gubbed. The views from the Piazzale were incredible, and definitely made the ridiculous climb worth while. The city really is beautiful, especially in the baking sun.
Next stop: buying stamps for the postcards. This turned out to be an absolute nightmare. We had been told by a couple of people you could buy stamps from fag shops, so we tried at least a half a dozen of them, and none of them gave us stamps. One of the shops had stamps, but only if you bought your postcards from him! What a dobber. Eventually we found the post office, but the stamp window only stays open until 12:30, I mean why would anyone want to buy stamps after midday? That would be ludicrous!
We took a number for the main queue and got in line. It took ages, Italian people don't seem to bother about folk waiting behind them, they'll just leisurely go about their business. The excitement reached fever pitch when we only had one more number to go, and then it was our turn! Yass!
With the postcards posted, we headed back to the hostel for another swim and a sauna. The pool yet again was freezing. When we went in for a sauna the place was full of Aussie lads, and one American boy who kept throwing water onto the coals, it got so hot I could barely breathe so had to leave and jump back in the pool.
We dried off, and headed up to the roof terrace for a lovely cold fanta (Pett had fizzy water, disgusting). We made plans for what we wanted to eat tonight, and the consensus was clear, kebab it is. We walked for a wee while and found a kebab shop, and had a tasty feed.
We retired to the roof terrace for the night, and got on the beers! We met the Aussie boys from the sauna, two of which were sound as a pound, and the other was a complete douchebag. The boy spoke with this fake accent to sound like he smoked 40 a day, probably to impress the chicks. He also had a rosary round his neck, which he wore to look cool. This was ok though, as half his family were Catholic and the other half Christian, so he could get away with it. Aye mate, because Christianity and Catholicism are two completely different religions, Catholicism isn't a denomination of Christianity at all. You total wank.
After they left, we were chatting amongst ourselves for a while, when an American girl interrupted to ask what language we were speaking. Haha! We all had a chuckle when we revealed we were talking English, and got to talking to her. She was from Baltimore! We LOVE The Wire! Apparently she had only seen a couple of episodes. Criminal! How can you come from Bmore and not have watched all of The Wire?
We spent the night chatting (the brazillian boy from our room joined us) and drank more beers. When the rooftop shut, we headed downstairs and joined a megagroup of travellers drinking. What's that I hear? Some birds with Scottish accents? Get in there!
We spoke to them for while, two of them were on a placement with uni in Sicily, and told us about a Scottish band they had seen at a gig there. They were called The Fire and I! Classic bants ensued when it turned out I knew who they were. Small world!
More chat was banded around (one of the birds was dying for a lorne sausage roll and some Irn Bru, I feel your pain darling) and by two o clock we were steaming, so retired to bed as we had to be up earlier for the train in the morning. A cracking day overall, Roma tomorrow!
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Day Twenty Two - Where Dem Bellas At
Again, woke up and Pett met me at my room at 10 (a recurring theme). There was a bit of a kerfuffle as Pett couldn't get booked in at this hostel for all 3 nights, so he had to check out of here and into another hostel, and will have to do the reverse tomorrow. So he dumped his bags in my room for easiness, and we headed downstairs to blog and look for things to do in Florence.
We decided to take a wander through the town, and see what took our fancy. First stop was the supermarket to get some breakfast goods, and we had a picnic in the park. The pigeons were annoying but we didn't feed them so they weren't too bothered about us, result.
After breakfast we wandered towards the Duomo (yes, there's one here too), otherwise known as Santa Maria Delle Fiori. This duomo had been built in the renaissance style, and is the largest freestanding masonry dome in the world. I preferred this one to the one in Milan as I love the renaissance, whereas Pett preferred the one in Milan built in the gothic style as it was all built in one colour of marble, and the carvings were excellent. A difference of opinion, but both valid points.
We found a museum at the back of the duomo, and decided to head in to have a look. The contents of the museum were quite poor, but there were some cool machines Brunelleschi invented himself in order to build the duomo, which were pretty cool.
After that, we decided to walk down towards the river. When we got there, we found a wee gelate shop and had some sitting on a wall by the river. The ice cream was brilliant, much better than Mackies.
We decided upon a plan of attack for our wanderings in the afternoon, we made a figure of 8 around the bridges to maximise efficiency in our viewing time. The middle bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, was quite similar to the Rialto in Venice (but not as cool) in that it had shops all the way over it. Before long we had finished our figure of 8, and the afternoon was drawing on so we decided to head back to the hostel.
On the way back we came across a Swatch shop, so decided to have a wee look. I ended up buying myself a Swatch watch! Lovely.
When we got back to the hostel there was only one thing to do, get down for a wee swim and sauna! The water was absolutely freezing, but wasn't too bad once you were in. After a short swim, it was sauna time! Some of the people who had been in there the day before were there again, namely a bird from Canada and one from USA. We had a wee bit of chat (the yank was a bit of a weirdo, the Canadian was ridiculously full of herself) and then they left to go for another swim. I decided to go for an endurance sauna, while Pett took the sensible option of jumping in the pool to cool down then coming back in. After about 30-40 minutes I was starting to feel light headed, so had to leave and jump in the pool to cool down. I did some lengths then we headed, feeling invigorated and ready for the evenings festivities.
We decided to go for something to eat, and then down to the river to watch the sunset over the Arno (I know, very romantic). We got food, and even bought some beers to drink whilst taking in the view. The sunset was impressive, and I got some good photos of the changing colour of the sky. A couple next to us were posing for photos too, and the guys pose was hilarious. Absolutely no emotion in his face, hands at his side. They'll be great to show the family how much fun he was having!
After that we decided to do something a bit less bromantic, and watched the wet t-shirt competition back at the hostel! There was a massive bunch of rowdy Australian birds there so there were plenty of takers. Unfortunately they all kept their bras on. Have they never seen a wet t-shirt competition before? That was a bit of a let down. The best bit was when a chant went up for "RJ" to join in, who turned out to be a lad! He got soaked and looked like he was a top lad.
At this point the Aussie weirdo axe murderer from yesterday showed up and plonked himself down at the table, after filming the whole competition on his video camera. What a beast. He chatted a lot of rubbish to us all night, including more insights as to why Italy was "overrated". How can an entire country be overrated? The guy was clearly a freak so we decided to try and ignore him and just say peep show and the office quotes all night, which was infinitely more fun.
After the bar closed we decided to hit the sack, and Pett walked back to his hostel. Another day down, getting close to the big finale in Rome now!
We decided to take a wander through the town, and see what took our fancy. First stop was the supermarket to get some breakfast goods, and we had a picnic in the park. The pigeons were annoying but we didn't feed them so they weren't too bothered about us, result.
After breakfast we wandered towards the Duomo (yes, there's one here too), otherwise known as Santa Maria Delle Fiori. This duomo had been built in the renaissance style, and is the largest freestanding masonry dome in the world. I preferred this one to the one in Milan as I love the renaissance, whereas Pett preferred the one in Milan built in the gothic style as it was all built in one colour of marble, and the carvings were excellent. A difference of opinion, but both valid points.
We found a museum at the back of the duomo, and decided to head in to have a look. The contents of the museum were quite poor, but there were some cool machines Brunelleschi invented himself in order to build the duomo, which were pretty cool.
After that, we decided to walk down towards the river. When we got there, we found a wee gelate shop and had some sitting on a wall by the river. The ice cream was brilliant, much better than Mackies.
We decided upon a plan of attack for our wanderings in the afternoon, we made a figure of 8 around the bridges to maximise efficiency in our viewing time. The middle bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, was quite similar to the Rialto in Venice (but not as cool) in that it had shops all the way over it. Before long we had finished our figure of 8, and the afternoon was drawing on so we decided to head back to the hostel.
On the way back we came across a Swatch shop, so decided to have a wee look. I ended up buying myself a Swatch watch! Lovely.
When we got back to the hostel there was only one thing to do, get down for a wee swim and sauna! The water was absolutely freezing, but wasn't too bad once you were in. After a short swim, it was sauna time! Some of the people who had been in there the day before were there again, namely a bird from Canada and one from USA. We had a wee bit of chat (the yank was a bit of a weirdo, the Canadian was ridiculously full of herself) and then they left to go for another swim. I decided to go for an endurance sauna, while Pett took the sensible option of jumping in the pool to cool down then coming back in. After about 30-40 minutes I was starting to feel light headed, so had to leave and jump in the pool to cool down. I did some lengths then we headed, feeling invigorated and ready for the evenings festivities.
We decided to go for something to eat, and then down to the river to watch the sunset over the Arno (I know, very romantic). We got food, and even bought some beers to drink whilst taking in the view. The sunset was impressive, and I got some good photos of the changing colour of the sky. A couple next to us were posing for photos too, and the guys pose was hilarious. Absolutely no emotion in his face, hands at his side. They'll be great to show the family how much fun he was having!
After that we decided to do something a bit less bromantic, and watched the wet t-shirt competition back at the hostel! There was a massive bunch of rowdy Australian birds there so there were plenty of takers. Unfortunately they all kept their bras on. Have they never seen a wet t-shirt competition before? That was a bit of a let down. The best bit was when a chant went up for "RJ" to join in, who turned out to be a lad! He got soaked and looked like he was a top lad.
At this point the Aussie weirdo axe murderer from yesterday showed up and plonked himself down at the table, after filming the whole competition on his video camera. What a beast. He chatted a lot of rubbish to us all night, including more insights as to why Italy was "overrated". How can an entire country be overrated? The guy was clearly a freak so we decided to try and ignore him and just say peep show and the office quotes all night, which was infinitely more fun.
After the bar closed we decided to hit the sack, and Pett walked back to his hostel. Another day down, getting close to the big finale in Rome now!
Monday, 15 August 2011
Day Twenty One - Spaghetti Doesn't Turn Me On
Got up and met Pett again at 10, to check out and get on the road again. Made it to the station with plenty of time to spare, and got on our train to Florence!
Milan - Florence
Our seat reservations looked like they were together but actually weren't. Cheers woman at the counter who gave us them. I was sat at a table of four with a mother and her two children. The little one was a complete radge. He would be playing quite happily with his toys one minute and then throwing them about the train the next, which his mother seemed to find hilarious. Seriously woman, learn how to control your child. Thankfully for him he didn't hit me with one of them, if he did I was going to seriously kick off. I tried to ignore them by listening to glee. The train was less than 2 hours so it wasn't too bad all in all.
We decided to reserve our train to Rome whilst we were at the station, so queued up for a while and got it done. Then we fired to the hostel, the directions were pretty easy to follow this time as it was just a straight street to walk up. It was absolutely roasting, must have been 35 easy. We checked in, again to separate rooms. My room wasn't ready, so we went out for something to eat.
By the time we got back the room was ready, so we dumped our stuff and I went downstairs to write my blogs, whilst Pett read the guide book. At this point a weirdo Australian bloke from my room swagged over and started talking to us. Some of the stuff he came out with was golden. Apparently he can't wait to get out of Italy as he doesn't like Italian food. He likes lasagne but spaghetti "doesn't turn him on". Classy. And he also thinks Italy is really expensive compared to other places in Europe (which is a nonsense, Italy is basically the same as the rest of the eurozone countries). We asked him for an example and he came up with Czech Rep. Yes because they don't use the euro you total arse of a man. After we shot him down he left fairly sharpish.
When I finished my blogging, we decided to make good use of the facilities on offer at the hostel, a pool, Turkish bath and sauna. Nice. We went for a swim which was absolutely freezing, then jumped in the sauna. We sat in there for ages and got chatting to a couple of English birds, one from Newcastle and the other from London, who had not long started their travels.
After a while the heat was getting too much, so we left to get changed to find something to eat. The pizzas in the hotel looked pretty good so we had one each. They were pretty big, and mine was drenched in olive oil so I couldn't finish the whole thing. I was going to tell the chef to cut down on the oil but decided against it.
I then had to do some laundry, so we decided just to chill on the rooftop terrace bar while my stuff was being washed, and we ran into the English birds again and invited them for some drinks and light hearted conversation. They had been out in Milan last night (turns out we were on the same train to Florence, what are the odds!) and had been horribly hungover all day, so they decided not to drink but came up for some chat anyway. We however had no such qualms about drinking and got stuck into some lovely cold beers.
Nearer midnight the girls retired to bed and we kept drinking. The rooftop bar was shut so we went downstairs to the basement bar, where the beer was €2, compared to €3 on the roof! Bumped!
Before long we were both quite tired so headed for bed, but my adventures were not over yet. I got myself nice and comfy, when some Aussie prick started on the Aussie weirdo from before of I don't like Italy fame. A massive scrap ensued, before they were pulled apart by the pricks mates. I've no idea what the guy was doing there anyway, he wasn't sleeping in our dorm. It was incredibly funny to watch but I did feel a bit sorry for the bloke. My night ended up with him telling me he had been travelling for 30 years and never seen anything like that, and that "some people are complete cunts eh mate?". Another golden quote, cheers for that wee man.
Milan - Florence
Our seat reservations looked like they were together but actually weren't. Cheers woman at the counter who gave us them. I was sat at a table of four with a mother and her two children. The little one was a complete radge. He would be playing quite happily with his toys one minute and then throwing them about the train the next, which his mother seemed to find hilarious. Seriously woman, learn how to control your child. Thankfully for him he didn't hit me with one of them, if he did I was going to seriously kick off. I tried to ignore them by listening to glee. The train was less than 2 hours so it wasn't too bad all in all.
We decided to reserve our train to Rome whilst we were at the station, so queued up for a while and got it done. Then we fired to the hostel, the directions were pretty easy to follow this time as it was just a straight street to walk up. It was absolutely roasting, must have been 35 easy. We checked in, again to separate rooms. My room wasn't ready, so we went out for something to eat.
By the time we got back the room was ready, so we dumped our stuff and I went downstairs to write my blogs, whilst Pett read the guide book. At this point a weirdo Australian bloke from my room swagged over and started talking to us. Some of the stuff he came out with was golden. Apparently he can't wait to get out of Italy as he doesn't like Italian food. He likes lasagne but spaghetti "doesn't turn him on". Classy. And he also thinks Italy is really expensive compared to other places in Europe (which is a nonsense, Italy is basically the same as the rest of the eurozone countries). We asked him for an example and he came up with Czech Rep. Yes because they don't use the euro you total arse of a man. After we shot him down he left fairly sharpish.
When I finished my blogging, we decided to make good use of the facilities on offer at the hostel, a pool, Turkish bath and sauna. Nice. We went for a swim which was absolutely freezing, then jumped in the sauna. We sat in there for ages and got chatting to a couple of English birds, one from Newcastle and the other from London, who had not long started their travels.
After a while the heat was getting too much, so we left to get changed to find something to eat. The pizzas in the hotel looked pretty good so we had one each. They were pretty big, and mine was drenched in olive oil so I couldn't finish the whole thing. I was going to tell the chef to cut down on the oil but decided against it.
I then had to do some laundry, so we decided just to chill on the rooftop terrace bar while my stuff was being washed, and we ran into the English birds again and invited them for some drinks and light hearted conversation. They had been out in Milan last night (turns out we were on the same train to Florence, what are the odds!) and had been horribly hungover all day, so they decided not to drink but came up for some chat anyway. We however had no such qualms about drinking and got stuck into some lovely cold beers.
Nearer midnight the girls retired to bed and we kept drinking. The rooftop bar was shut so we went downstairs to the basement bar, where the beer was €2, compared to €3 on the roof! Bumped!
Before long we were both quite tired so headed for bed, but my adventures were not over yet. I got myself nice and comfy, when some Aussie prick started on the Aussie weirdo from before of I don't like Italy fame. A massive scrap ensued, before they were pulled apart by the pricks mates. I've no idea what the guy was doing there anyway, he wasn't sleeping in our dorm. It was incredibly funny to watch but I did feel a bit sorry for the bloke. My night ended up with him telling me he had been travelling for 30 years and never seen anything like that, and that "some people are complete cunts eh mate?". Another golden quote, cheers for that wee man.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Day Twenty - Inter Rude Boy
I woke up and met Pett at the reception at 10. We decided to go to the supermarket and get some stuff for breakfast. We had a breakfast of champions, and decided what we were going to do. We thought we would be sensible and get our reservations for the train tomorrow to Florence, so headed for central station. We also wanted to go to the duomo, so had to dress conservatively wearing jeans and t shirt in the boiling heat. More on this later.
After waiting in a queue for a while, we finally got some seats reserved and got on our way to the duomo. No queue here! Which was strange because when I passed yesterday the place was heaving. No complaints though, we fired in and had a wander about the church. After looking about for a while, we found the ticket machine for getting up to the roof in the lift. It also included entry into two of the bits of the duomo which were restricted, so we had a look about them first.
The first bit was an archaeological dig underneath the square in front of the duomo, which had uncovered an old baptissery which had been built over. It was pretty cool, but quite small so after wandering about for a wee bit we went to check out site number two. This one was the treasury, which just had some gold crosses etc in it. It was garbage. That was a total waste of time, so we headed for the elevator to get to the roof.
The views from the roof were stunning, and seeing the spires up close shows how much work must have gone into this building. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not at all fond of heights (a bit of an understatement), and by the time we got right up to the top after walking up some stairs I was shitting myself. It wasn't flat to walk on either as it was the slanted sides of the roof, which made it even worse. After a bit of walking around I couldn't take much more so we headed back down.
We had a drink in the duomo square again, then headed for the San Siro! We jumped on the metro to the closest station, which didn't seem that far away on the map. I'm not sure if it was the heat, but it took ages to walk to the stadium. And speaking of the heat, the jeans situation was now starting to deteriorate. I had some chafe occurring at the top of my thigh, and it was now impairing my walking skills. There was some pretty funny graffiti along the Walls on the way to the stadium though, and the Inter Rude Boy slogan kept appearing all over the place, quality banter!
We eventually made it to the stadium, and started the tour. Wow this stadium is impressive. The dressing rooms were quite funny, as they had been decorated in the style of their respective owners. The inter one was quite bare, just benches and all about team unity. Then we saw the AC Milan one, which was all flat screens and comfy seats, built in the image of top shagger Silvio Berlusconi!
After the tour we took in the museum and the shop, which were both pretty rubbish. It was getting towards tea time so we decided to head back to the hostel. The chafe was now horrific. I could feel my jeans tearing into my leg. This was not good. It seemed to take hours to walk back to the metro stop. When we eventually got there the seat on the train was like heaven.
It took us a wee while on the metro to get home, and we stopped off at the supermarket to get some supplies for tea as we would not be going out again that night, due to the chafe and tiredness. We sat in the hostel eating and chatting the night away, and retired for an early-ish night to get up for the train tomorrow morning. When I got back to the room however, I ended up chatting to a couple of English boys sharing my dorm, who decided to disagree with everything I said about Milan. Douchebags. I ended up just ignoring them and going to sleep, Florence tomorrow!
After waiting in a queue for a while, we finally got some seats reserved and got on our way to the duomo. No queue here! Which was strange because when I passed yesterday the place was heaving. No complaints though, we fired in and had a wander about the church. After looking about for a while, we found the ticket machine for getting up to the roof in the lift. It also included entry into two of the bits of the duomo which were restricted, so we had a look about them first.
The first bit was an archaeological dig underneath the square in front of the duomo, which had uncovered an old baptissery which had been built over. It was pretty cool, but quite small so after wandering about for a wee bit we went to check out site number two. This one was the treasury, which just had some gold crosses etc in it. It was garbage. That was a total waste of time, so we headed for the elevator to get to the roof.
The views from the roof were stunning, and seeing the spires up close shows how much work must have gone into this building. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not at all fond of heights (a bit of an understatement), and by the time we got right up to the top after walking up some stairs I was shitting myself. It wasn't flat to walk on either as it was the slanted sides of the roof, which made it even worse. After a bit of walking around I couldn't take much more so we headed back down.
We had a drink in the duomo square again, then headed for the San Siro! We jumped on the metro to the closest station, which didn't seem that far away on the map. I'm not sure if it was the heat, but it took ages to walk to the stadium. And speaking of the heat, the jeans situation was now starting to deteriorate. I had some chafe occurring at the top of my thigh, and it was now impairing my walking skills. There was some pretty funny graffiti along the Walls on the way to the stadium though, and the Inter Rude Boy slogan kept appearing all over the place, quality banter!
We eventually made it to the stadium, and started the tour. Wow this stadium is impressive. The dressing rooms were quite funny, as they had been decorated in the style of their respective owners. The inter one was quite bare, just benches and all about team unity. Then we saw the AC Milan one, which was all flat screens and comfy seats, built in the image of top shagger Silvio Berlusconi!
After the tour we took in the museum and the shop, which were both pretty rubbish. It was getting towards tea time so we decided to head back to the hostel. The chafe was now horrific. I could feel my jeans tearing into my leg. This was not good. It seemed to take hours to walk back to the metro stop. When we eventually got there the seat on the train was like heaven.
It took us a wee while on the metro to get home, and we stopped off at the supermarket to get some supplies for tea as we would not be going out again that night, due to the chafe and tiredness. We sat in the hostel eating and chatting the night away, and retired for an early-ish night to get up for the train tomorrow morning. When I got back to the room however, I ended up chatting to a couple of English boys sharing my dorm, who decided to disagree with everything I said about Milan. Douchebags. I ended up just ignoring them and going to sleep, Florence tomorrow!
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