Hello
Internet places have been thin on the ground lately so I haven't written for a while. I've managed to find one that is the equivilant of 5 pounds an hour so I'm just gonna write a quick update and then add some pictures and do a better post later.
I'm actually in Switzerland now! Since I last wrote we have spent three amazing days in Rome, seeing lots of amazing old buildings designed by some very famous people. Places we went include the Colosseum, Panatheon (which was AMAZING), The Vatican, Sistene Chapel and much more!
After that it was a 600km slog up to Milan, return the car (which I was quite impressed I didn't crash!), and catch the train up through the Alps into Switzerland! Its an beautiful country but we haven't done much except peddle a peddle boad into the middle of a huge lake and wish we didn't! Will write more and post pics soon!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Pisa and Lucca
After the driving stress of Sienna, I decided to hang up my car keys and we joined a tour group from our campsite on a day out to Pisa and Lucca! On the bus we were told by our guide (who, impressively, could speak all five languages of the members of our tour) that the first stop was Pisa. As with the last ten days, it was a beautiful day (about 35 degrees, almost too hot!), and after fighting our way through people trying to sell us fake Gucci bags we entered the amazing piazza containing the buildings everyone had come to see.
I’ve always wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and it was as impressive as I have always imagined it would be. Built on dodgy ground, it has sunk right into the earth, on one side about two meters and on the other about four – it is actually impressive that it is still standing at all, from looking at it you would think that it would come crashing down any minute!
Next we visited the huge church, with a casket that contained a full body this time – of John the Baptist we think.... Afterwards we visited the Baptistery. We were told that this building is supposed to have amazing acoustic properties and that if we were lucky we might see one of the curators give a demonstration. Well it was out lucky day because as we were walking around a girl got up in the middle of the floor and started singing. Now I don’t know anything about acoustics but it sounded spectacular!
Next it was off to the walled town of Lucca. The place is similar to Sienna but very laid back. We ambled along towards the main piazza, which is an oval in the middle of the town surrounded by houses, where all the main festivities take place. Next we found a tower which I climbed. After a hell of a lot of stairs I poked out the top of the tower to find a load of beautiful little trees and stunning views all over Lucca from about 100m up in the air.
Afterwards we took a walk along the town walls and had some Gelato di Lucca (ice-cream of Lucca), which really hit the spot after a hard days sight seeing!!!
Piazza del Duomo
The Baptistry
The Leaning Tower!
Held up with a bit of help from me
Then I got a bit tired
The huge church
Mosaics on the door of the church
Amazing carvings on the door of the church
The body of John the Baptist is the yellow illuminated body near the bottom of this picture
I’ve always wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and it was as impressive as I have always imagined it would be. Built on dodgy ground, it has sunk right into the earth, on one side about two meters and on the other about four – it is actually impressive that it is still standing at all, from looking at it you would think that it would come crashing down any minute!
Next we visited the huge church, with a casket that contained a full body this time – of John the Baptist we think.... Afterwards we visited the Baptistery. We were told that this building is supposed to have amazing acoustic properties and that if we were lucky we might see one of the curators give a demonstration. Well it was out lucky day because as we were walking around a girl got up in the middle of the floor and started singing. Now I don’t know anything about acoustics but it sounded spectacular!
Next it was off to the walled town of Lucca. The place is similar to Sienna but very laid back. We ambled along towards the main piazza, which is an oval in the middle of the town surrounded by houses, where all the main festivities take place. Next we found a tower which I climbed. After a hell of a lot of stairs I poked out the top of the tower to find a load of beautiful little trees and stunning views all over Lucca from about 100m up in the air.
Afterwards we took a walk along the town walls and had some Gelato di Lucca (ice-cream of Lucca), which really hit the spot after a hard days sight seeing!!!
Piazza del Duomo
The Baptistry
The Leaning Tower!
Held up with a bit of help from me
Then I got a bit tired
The huge church
Mosaics on the door of the church
Amazing carvings on the door of the church
The body of John the Baptist is the yellow illuminated body near the bottom of this picture
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sienna
Sienna is a beautiful city. Surrounded by huge walls, the cobbled centre consists of narrow streets that wind their way towards the main Piazza (square). We wandered along looking for this piazza and ended up stumbling round the corner of a narrow street to find ourselves looking over a huge open oval surrounded by magnificent buildings. At one corner of the square there was a random group of German student on a school trip. Five of them had happened to bring with them their musical instruments and had attracted a large crowd by playing lots of traditional German country music!
Continuing the theme that we seem to be following in every city in Italy, we went to see the main church. It’s easy to take these things for granted, especially after seeing so many amazing churches, but this one was once again spectacular. The main highlights were the beautiful stained glass windows and a multi-coloured library with huge books containing lovely artwork. There was also a box with a hand (and forearm) that had been covered in gold (not sure whose it was)....slightly odd to say the least!
After that we were walking towards the Piazza again and heard what sounded like drumming. When we made it back to the square we were greeted by a full procession of people wearing blue and white stripy leggings and waving blue flags with the emblem of one of the districts of Sienna!!! They marched around drumming as they went and all looked a bit miserable in the 35 degree heat - but put on a great show!
That evening we had organised to go horse riding through the vineyards from our campsite. We decided to leave an hour and three quarters for the hour journey back but when it was time to go back we realised that we didn't have a clue where we were! After power-walking round the city, locating the car, finding that I only had 50 minutes to get back and driving like a madman, we pulled up with a big dust cloud to the ranch. It was a beautiful evening and strolling through the fields and vineyards on our horses Jack and Daniel (along with two other people on Twix and Milkyway!) was a lovely end to the day.
One of the marching blokes
The main Piazza
Looking up at the HUGE clock tower in the main Piazza
The clock tower and its castle
Another little castle right on the street
Typical Tuscan countryside
A small castle in one of the villages we passed through on the way
The streets of Sienna
The front of the parade
The drummers marching along - they didn't look very happy in the 40 degree heat!
The main church of Sienna
Another spectacular painted dome ceiling
The golden hand!!
The roof of the library
One of the gigantic books
The parade having a rest in the shade of a side street
Siennan buildings
The house of some rich person - the views must be amazing!
Me and Sara on Jack and Daniel!
Continuing the theme that we seem to be following in every city in Italy, we went to see the main church. It’s easy to take these things for granted, especially after seeing so many amazing churches, but this one was once again spectacular. The main highlights were the beautiful stained glass windows and a multi-coloured library with huge books containing lovely artwork. There was also a box with a hand (and forearm) that had been covered in gold (not sure whose it was)....slightly odd to say the least!
After that we were walking towards the Piazza again and heard what sounded like drumming. When we made it back to the square we were greeted by a full procession of people wearing blue and white stripy leggings and waving blue flags with the emblem of one of the districts of Sienna!!! They marched around drumming as they went and all looked a bit miserable in the 35 degree heat - but put on a great show!
That evening we had organised to go horse riding through the vineyards from our campsite. We decided to leave an hour and three quarters for the hour journey back but when it was time to go back we realised that we didn't have a clue where we were! After power-walking round the city, locating the car, finding that I only had 50 minutes to get back and driving like a madman, we pulled up with a big dust cloud to the ranch. It was a beautiful evening and strolling through the fields and vineyards on our horses Jack and Daniel (along with two other people on Twix and Milkyway!) was a lovely end to the day.
One of the marching blokes
The main Piazza
Looking up at the HUGE clock tower in the main Piazza
The clock tower and its castle
Another little castle right on the street
Typical Tuscan countryside
A small castle in one of the villages we passed through on the way
The streets of Sienna
The front of the parade
The drummers marching along - they didn't look very happy in the 40 degree heat!
The main church of Sienna
Another spectacular painted dome ceiling
The golden hand!!
The roof of the library
One of the gigantic books
The parade having a rest in the shade of a side street
Siennan buildings
The house of some rich person - the views must be amazing!
Me and Sara on Jack and Daniel!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Florence
The Tuscany region of Italy is said to be one of the most beautiful, with rolling hills, lush green countryside and great wine! So far it has definitely lived up to expectations! The first place we wanted to visit was Florence, home of Michelangelo and others, with its beautiful buildings, art galleries and busy shops. We managed to find a campsite right in the middle of Florence but it was scarily expensive so we decided to stay for one night, see the city and get out to the country sharpish!
Walking into Florence, after taking in the stunning view of the city from Piazza Michelangelo, the first thing you have to do is cross the river. As we made our way down the hill towards the bridge on the horizon we noticed that it had bits sticking out of it which looked like little houses. As we got closer we could see that there were actually buildings built onto the bridge (although they looked like they could fall off the side at any time!) and upon turning the corner to cross the bridge, we found that the buildings were all upmarket jewellery shops (very very very expensive ones too!).
Next we came to Piazza della Signoria which is full of some very impressive statues made from stone and metal. Actually, although they are very impressive, they all seem to involve naked people draped all over each other.....but its OK because its art!
After that we went inside a gigantic church filled with huge paintings, gold ornaments and an extremely impressive painted domed ceiling. There was also a silver box about 5 feet long that looked like it had a very beautiful and detailed pattern on the outside. I moved in for a closer look and was more than slightly surprised when I noticed that there was a full skeleton wearing a crown inside!!! I never did find out who it was (hopefully someone more cultured than me will point out the answer) but it must have been someone important.
The beautiful view of Florence from the Pizza Michelangelo
Michelangelo himself!
A big wall around some of the city
The shops on the bridge!
Looking down the river from the bridge
Some of the statues in Piazza della Signoria
Not quite sure whats going on here....
The dome parts of the church
The front of the church with its amazing sculptures and carvings
One of the doors was covered in gold pictures
The ceiling of the dome part of the church, must have taken a while to paint!
Walking into Florence, after taking in the stunning view of the city from Piazza Michelangelo, the first thing you have to do is cross the river. As we made our way down the hill towards the bridge on the horizon we noticed that it had bits sticking out of it which looked like little houses. As we got closer we could see that there were actually buildings built onto the bridge (although they looked like they could fall off the side at any time!) and upon turning the corner to cross the bridge, we found that the buildings were all upmarket jewellery shops (very very very expensive ones too!).
Next we came to Piazza della Signoria which is full of some very impressive statues made from stone and metal. Actually, although they are very impressive, they all seem to involve naked people draped all over each other.....but its OK because its art!
After that we went inside a gigantic church filled with huge paintings, gold ornaments and an extremely impressive painted domed ceiling. There was also a silver box about 5 feet long that looked like it had a very beautiful and detailed pattern on the outside. I moved in for a closer look and was more than slightly surprised when I noticed that there was a full skeleton wearing a crown inside!!! I never did find out who it was (hopefully someone more cultured than me will point out the answer) but it must have been someone important.
The beautiful view of Florence from the Pizza Michelangelo
Michelangelo himself!
A big wall around some of the city
The shops on the bridge!
Looking down the river from the bridge
Some of the statues in Piazza della Signoria
Not quite sure whats going on here....
The dome parts of the church
The front of the church with its amazing sculptures and carvings
One of the doors was covered in gold pictures
The ceiling of the dome part of the church, must have taken a while to paint!
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