Jun 21, 2006 - the $64,000 question

Ciao. Today has been a very mixed day; but I am now back in my favourite city in the world, so everything seems right with the world again. The temperature at 10.30am when I arrived back in Naples was 31oc, and it continued rising. Now I'm not a hot weather person at the best of times (my ideal travel destination would probably be somewhere like Alaska), but when I got on to the local train to Rome and discovered that the air conditioning wasn't working I feared the worst. Of course because the train had air conditioning all the windows...

Jun 21, 2006 - When in Rome

Do as the Romans do! I've been waiting this whole trip to use the expression that has been made more popular recently by Will Farrell in "Anchorman". So, we've done a lot in our two days here so far. I probably should have split it up into two days. But, you'll just get all the info right here. Our night train here was pretty uneventful. We slept the whole way and the train was two hours late, so we got a lot of sleep. We found our hostel after a while of searching, then went out to see Ancient Rome. Of course, our first stop was the The...

Jun 20, 2006 - Roma

I arrived in Rome on the night of the 18th and had the honour of wandering around the train station here on my own with my backpack getting lost because the hostel was impossible to find. Now some of you may not know the stories, but I was told enough of them to be jumpy. Like this one girl who was pushed down and had her purse cut away from her. The nice thing is that if someone did try to steal my bag they wouldnt be able to get too far. First thing I did when I got here was went to sleep, I am sick again, it sucks. I went out yesterday...

Jun 19, 2006 - Rome

So back to the big city, thoughts of the movie Gladiator, and mythology classes come flashing back as we walked through the old roman forum. The Coluseeum was so impressive you could just imagine it in its glory. The sound of the city traffic almost sounded like the fans cheering. We spent the secong day walking aroung inside the Vatican museum, the Sistine chapel was of course amazing, but there was so much other stuff, that we spent the good part of the day there. We knew we kinda cut Italy short, and we definatly want to come back to...

Jun 18, 2006 - Southern Italy--Rome

We are in Rome!! We spent most of the day in Florence yesterday...I am in love with Florence by the way. We waited in line for an hour and a half for the Uffizie and gave up because the line was moving way too slow. So we did a little more shopping and ate some of the best nutella geletto ever...and it better be for 8 euro! We got on the slow train because it was free and spent almost 4 hours on the train again. The italian countryside is just amazingly beautiful. I spent most of the trip looking out the window. There are grapes growing...

Jun 7, 2006 - Leaving Texas & In Rome

Started my journey by departing Austin, TX around noon on Wednesday, June 7th. After 3 different flights, I arrived in Rome around 3pm on Thursday, June 8th. Flights were thankfully uneventful. Our hotel was just a quick 10 min from the train station. Met up with Jennifer Purcell at the room. We took a nap and then headed out for dinner. Walked down the Spanish Steps to the restaurant. Nothing spectacular, but outside and filling. An obnoxious American was eating behind us. If I was annoyed, then I can only imagine how the natives felt....

Jun 6, 2006 - Roma, Italy

June 6th We arrived in Rome and hiked to our B&B for the next 2 nights. We were warmly greeted by our host, Lavina who graciously told us all about Rome and more! From our room window you could see the walls of the Vatican. So, we walked up to them and into Saint Peter's square, the Basicilla and later the Vatican Museum (the Sistine Chapel). So much to take in for a day, but all very grand in size and beauty. Peter is craving a good ol' American hamburger, so we are off to find the Hard Rock Cafè Roma tonight. June 7th In case you were...

Jun 3, 2006 - En-route to Italy!!

We depart Hong Kong at midnight after a long wait around at the airport as we checked out of our hotel at 2.00pm......The flight was absolutely full (who in their right mind flies out of Hong Kong at midnight to go to Rome???) Arrived in Rome at 6.30am and then caught a train to Termini Station in the centre of Rome. We then caught a train to Padova which is in the north of Italy (about an hour from Venice) & then changed to a local service to Bassano. We finally arrived in Bassano at 6.00pm after nearly 18 hours of travelling. Steve's...

Jun 3, 2006 - When in Rome

Now a connoisseur of the euro train system, I hopped aboard a old train headed to Rome on June 1st. The three hours pass by quickly when you get lost, staring the ever changing scenery that the Tuscan countryside has to offer. I was exhausted from this endless party Ive been doing, and had to take a breather for my first day in Rome. The only sign for the hostel I stayed at was a small 10 size font thing that read "Hotel Sandy" on the door of a hidden building. I took a wrong turn looking for the damn thing and ended up in front of the...

Jun 1, 2006 - Rome, Italy

The first thing we noticed about Rome is the crazy subway station below the train station. Hundreds of people cramming on and off the metro. It was not easy with massive backpacks on. And apparently this place is notorious for pickpockets so the entire time you're turning around, freaking out because the old gypsy lady looked at you and probably has her hand in your backpack and you can't even tell. We just ran into some people we met in Switzerland here in Greece and they lost like every important document or card they had on them the day...

Jun 1, 2006 - Updated with more photos - Rome

j&k arrived in Rome just after lunch, and off we went for a guided tour of the Coliseum. Our guide Francesca, was wonderful. She explained how to identify the reconstructed parts, so we knew what was really old. The Coliseum was built 1800 years ago, and it is still standing, despite earthquakes, wars, being pillaged for iron and marble, and pollution. Then off to the Forum for a walk thru history. Amazing! Dinner was family style in a restaurant with no menu. We ate what they were cooking. 5 or 6 antipasto dishes (olives, proscuitto,...

May 29, 2006 - Bread and Cheese!!!

Were do I begin. We almost missed our damn train into Milan. We had 30 minutes to get across the city we made it with 20 seconds to spare. It was insane, very long story. I broke a bottle of vino in the train station trying to make our train, it was quite interesting to say the least, then a bird took a nice dump on my hand as I was loading onto the train. We took a night train to Milan and then jumped another 4 hours to Rome. We decided to for-go florence and spend a little more time in Rome. It has been a nightmare of a day, but we...