UK Here I come!

I actually had a busy day today. I was up and out of the house by 8:30 this morning. I needed to mail a parcel back to Canada and it needed to be done before I left tomorrow so I went and did that first thing this morning. I then decided to stop for a cappuccino and pastry on my way home. Now this wouldn't normally be note worthy but what happened while I was in there is. It was about 8:45 by this point and I was sitting relaxing eating my breakfast and this guy, dressed in a suit came in and ordered a Vodka! lol at 8:45 in the morning. Now that is dedicated... either that or he really didn't like his job and needed a little pick me up. ;)

I was back at home starting to pack by 9am. I had my windows open still because it was still nice and cool out and a car drove by on the street. usually I can't hear cars driving by and usually don't pay attention but this one I had to listen to as he had his stereo cranked as loud as possibly and he was playing Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden. I actually laughed out loud with that one. Its weird really, I have noticed how "fashion forward" Italians are with their clothing but when it comes to music they are really years behind us. So who cares if we are dorky in our clothes that were hip 3 years ago, at least we have cool tunes! "Rock On Dude!"

Yeah... the gelateria was open finally today. it couldn't have come on a better day. It was unbelievably hot again today.

I actually don't know if anyone responded to yesterdays post or not, but I decided to go ahead with the job even though I am not making a cent. I thought that taking pictures in exchange for cheap trips sounded cool and until I can get a real job then I will take advantage of this one. So I went down to the FlorenceforFun office and booked my first trip. I am going to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany and couldn't be more excited! How fun. 3 nights, 3 days in Germany. I never thought I would go to Germany on my Italian adventure and now look at me? Crazy!

So here is my UK plan for anyone that is interested. I have gotten a few emails asking where all I am going on my trip so I figured I would just jot it down on here. In England - London, Oxford, York, Liverpool. In Scotland - Edinburgh, Laggan, Glasgow. In Ireland - Dublin, Galway, Killarney, Cork, Kilkenny. It sounds fun huh?

Well I really need to get to bed and finish last minute packing. My suitcase is sitting at 14.2kg right now and the most it can be in 15kg. This should be a good thing but I really wanted it to be a max of 12 so I could bring stuff back with me. Wish me luck. Also I need to mention that I won't be blogging until I get back. I am not taking my laptop and when I do have internet access I will be checking emails and such. Please email away though if you want to. I will respond when I can. I can't wait to come home and blog all about my trip. See you in 19 days!

Temp high: 36
Gelato: Yogurt Bosco... oh how I missed you... ;)

What happend to August?

Wow, this month has flown by! Its hard to believe that its already the end of the month. I have spent the last few days cleaning up around my apartment because I was alone and didn't have much else to do. Being alone was good and bad. I found myself talking to myself on more than one occasion (which is probably why I have cats at home) :) It was good because I had the whole place to myself and took advantage of it. I watched all of my movies in my living room (aka the couch in the kitchen) and didn't have to hang out in my bedroom the whole time which was awesome!

I think I am pretty much ready for my trip on Wednesday. I am so looking forward to it, can't wait! I am sooooo excited to be going to 3 new countries that I have never been to and before me coming to Italy never imagined I would ever to get to. I am also a little excited to escape the heat for 3 weeks. Not that I don't love it, don't get me wrong. We have just had weeks and weeks of over 30 degree weather with no rain and hardly ever a breeze to cool it down. From what I have been reading the weather right now in the UK is about the same as what all of you are experiencing back home so I will welcome the rain and 20 degree weather for 19 days. Do you remember my umbrella that I finally bought back in July? Well I finally got to use it the day I went to Siena for the races. I used it to shield my back and head from the sun. lol I'm taking it with me though, no worries.

I had an interesting email today which I am going to share with you. Back about mid July I was looking at different things to do here in Florence and came across a company called FlorenceforFun. My school actually used them occasionally for day/weekend trips. I checked them out online and saw that they were looking for photographers for all of the trips they go on. I decided to email them in hopes that they would be interested in me. Well today (just about a month and a half later) I received and email back from her. She actually sounded really interested. Woo Hoo! Ok, so I will tell you the downfall about the job first off. I don't think it is actually a paid job. lol yup, that's right. From what I understood from her email (and I have already emailed back to clarify) it looks like I would get free (or discounted) trips. All day excursions would be free of charge (most cost 30-50euros) and then for any trip that is longer than one day I would get a 50euro discount on that trip. What would I be doing? Well taking pictures of the locations and the people on all of the trips that I went on. They would then have copies of my pictures and use some for their website, posters and brochures.

So this is my take on this offer that has come up. It sucks if I actually wouldn't get paid, especially if they are using my pictures. However it would be really cool because I could go on a lot of day trips for free and maybe even a few smaller ones for fairly cheap. It would also be cool if I had my pictures published (even if it is just in Florence and really far from home). I think it would be a good opportunity to practice my photo skills in a semi working environment and might even look good on my resume.

So, just because I love posting questions to all of you. What is your take on this? Good or Bad and why?

Cleaning day 1

Well I woke up this morning knowing full well that I have the apartment to myself for 3 whole days. I figured this would be a great opportunity to clean up a little. My apartment is a mess right now. Not just my room (even though I do need to clean it as well), the whole apartment has a nice odor going on right now. We can't open the windows during the day because it is just that hot here so that doesn't help the smell much either.

I have noticed that mostly its just the kitchen that smells but still I haven't actually seen the apartment being cleaned once since I moved in 2 months ago now so I figured I should. So I got up this morning and started by washing dishes. My plan was to wash every dish in this place as I haven't seen soap being used to clean any dishes other than the ones I wash and I have started to hoard my own clean dishes in my room (which I should never have to do). So I figured I would remedy it by washing all of them, plates, pots, glasses, cutlery, you name it, I washed it.

About 2 hours later, I had washed and dried every dish in this place that I thought I would ever come into contact with. :) I was then exhausted and figured I have 2 more days still so I relaxed, watched some tv and just vegged out. :)

I then put on a movie (Under the Tuscan Sun) and gave myself a mini pedicure with the wonderful foot spa salts and lotions that I purchased from Ikea. What don't they have?!? ;)

Tomorrow is floor washing and clean out the fridge day and then Sunday will be cleaning the bathroom day. Fun fun, that's for sure. Things I miss already? A vacuum, Mr. Clean and of course my dishwasher. :)

Temp high: 35ish
Gelato: still none :(

Getting Shit Done!

Wow, you guys are going to be so proud of me. I was up before 9 and was finished breakfast and ready to leave the house by 10:30! I headed out with 2 things in mind. #1 lottery ticket-I'm really trying to win that 149million euros. I think it would really come in handy and if I won then every one of you that reads my blog I would fly you out to visit me for few days each. Wouldn't that be fun? So with that being said, everyone think lucky thoughts. ;) #2-To get my museum pass.

So, I headed out and my first mission was to find a lottery ticket place. I did, without to much trouble. When I got in there though I was about one of 12 other people in this store about the size of my bathroom. lol Some nice person beside filled me in on how to fill out the form. It is called the SuperEnalotto and you have to pick your own numbers (I don't think they have a quick pick). You have to pick 6 numbers and can play the SuperStar (the plus) if you want to. Each selection of 6 numbers was .50cents and the "plus" was an extra .50cents. So I ended up picking 3 sets of numbers and the plus for each. Cross your fingers!

After completely my first mission it wasn't even 12 yet and I new I had tonnes of time today so I figured I would walk down to the Uffizi today instead of trying to take the bus. On the way I passed an internet point. I needed to print out some documents for my UK trip next week so I stopped in and got that mostly done. I have to go back though and print out a couple more but again, I was getting stuff done so I was feeling good.

Made my way down to the Uffizi Gallery and got my card with absolutely no troubles. With this card I now get into pretty much all of the museums in the city as well as I get to avoid all of the lines. How cool is that?!? I decided not to actually go to the museum though and figured I would go another day. Baby steps you know.... I can't rush these things. lol

On my way back home I saw some really cool street vendors again and took a picture of this dude. He looked so real it was really neat.

Later in the day (because I really had to go and get out of the sun at this point) I decided to take a walk. I actually went out with the idea that I was going to walk to the park near my house and write some postcards but I ended up going in the opposite direction. I knew there was a Coop grocery store (yup, same principle as at home) near my house somewhere and I wanted to find it and check it out. Well I did and it was so cool. It was really big. Way bigger than my usual supermarket that I go to however the prices were a bit higher. Basically it is a Superstore vs Coop scenario. You want to go to the coop because you know it is better food and more choices, but Superstore drags you in because of the cheapness of it. So I will definitely go back sometime but probably stick to my Supermarket for the most part. On the way home, I stopped off at a bench and wrote up a postcard. So one lucky reader will be getting a postcard from me very soon. ;)

And the mail keeps coming... Since I have moved into my apartment I have already received 3 postcards (all from the same person) :) and one letter with a picture of a gorgeous little baby inside it. I am loving all the mail and can't wait for more. I am sending out postcards myself to everyone who gave me their address. If I don't have your address in my little book, send it to me and I'll see what I can do. :)

Temp High: 37
Gelato: I tried today, I really did. Only to find out the gelateria by my house that I love is renovating right now until the 25th. Oh well... it wasn't meant to be.

Ahhh the Bus sytem...

Well today I had big plans to get up early and head out to get that Museum pass I keep mentioning. Well I did wake up by 10, had a shower, got dressed and was ready to go before 12. Then I sat here. Watched some tv, played online for awhile and really did absolutely nothing for 4 hours. lol At 4pm I finally thought I better get my butt in gear and get that pass.

I headed out and was at the bus station by 4:30. I caught the first bus I seen that was heading down to the Uffizi Gallery (the museum where they sell the passes). I got on this bus (which sat about 10, maybe 15 people) and we were on our way. Now when I first got on the bus I asked the driver if it went to the Uffizi and he said yes. Ok, great I thought. I had my map though, just in case something went wrong. I was only on the bus for about 10min and I seen the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Across from that was the Uffizi. I didn't think to get off though and just walk across the bridge because the driver specifically said yes to me when I asked if the bus went to the Uffizi. Anyway, needless to say, I rode the bus all over the opposite of Florence. It was nice to see but ended up taking about 1/2 hour. Then we pulled up to this Piazza and the driver stopped, turned off the bus and got off. I then looked behind me and realized that I was the only one on the bus. lol I literally laughed out loud at this point because I new I had screwed up and should have gotten off at the bridge.

Then the other driver who was standing out smoking with my bus driver came on the bus and started talking to me. He asked where I wanted to go. I told him and he told me that I should have gotten off at the bridge (yup, figured that one out already). Then he told me I had to get off of this bus and get on the one that parked right in front of my bus. So I climbed on and my original bus driver got on and we started going again. it was super weird. Why did we change buses? Seemed like no reason to me. Anyway, we headed out and we finally came to the bridge again. I then got off and walked to the Uffizi where I was promptly told that the museum closed at 5pm for ticket sales (it was about 5:45). LOL

So I proceeded to walk back to the station and hit up McD's for supper. They have a new burger in right now called Pollo, Bacon, Cipolla (chicken/bacon/onion). It was super good. I will totally have that one again sometime. So Yummy! someone should tell the McD's back home to cook up one of those bad boys....it would totally sell. :)

Anyway, so tomorrow I will get up at a decent time and actually leave the house before noon. I learned my lesson yet again today. ;) Also, dad was telling me that there is a huge lottery going on in Italy right now that is up to over 149million euros. I'm going to try to get in on that action as well. Isn't it kinda sad though that I learn Italian news from Canada? ;)

Temp high: 37
Gelato: n/a

Two months down, four to go!

Wow, I can't believe that as of today I have been in Italy for 2 months! Its kind of crazy really. So I guess this is where I reflect again on what I have done and what I haven't. What I have coming up and what I have left to accomplish in the next 4 months. Before I go into that though I need to tell you a bit of a funny story about yesterday.

Yesterday morning I finally made it to the grocery store after being without food (I'm not even kidding you) for 4 days. I ate chips and chocolate and drank lots of water. :) I found the best tasting cheese in the entire world I think and I need someone to see if the Bulk Cheese Warehouse in Stoon carries it, or maybe if I am even luckier a local grocery store. Anyway the name is Scamorza. It is a white cheese (but all of them are here). It is shaped in a ball but then has a another smaller ball attached to the the top of it. It kind of resembles a snowman with only 2 balls. LMAO Anyway, if someone can search that out for me that would be so nice. Thanks!

In the afternoon I went to Ikea with the sole purpose of "borrowing" a couple of the paper measuring tapes they have that you take when you are measuring out the furniture before you buy it. Well I needed to measure my suitcase for my trip to the UK next week and I was feeling cheap so I figured I would just use a couple of those measuring tapes instead of buying my own. :D Anyway, while I was there I figured I would stop for a hotdog as I was getting a little hungry. It was called a Swedish hotdog and the picture that I have included shows exactly what it looked like. I don't get it really. The bun was soooo tiny and the dog itself was so long and skinny. Why not get the same size bun? Just something I thought about yesterday and figured I should make note of this tiny/long hotdog situation. lol It did taste pretty good though. :)

Ok, so what have I accomplished in the last month? Well, I finished both my Italian class as well as my photography class. I have travelled down to the South of Italy and the West coast. I learned a lot about the train system in Europe as well as I now know never to take sleeper trains again (unless absolutely necessary). I made many "friends for a day", which I look forward to keeping in contact with. I visited the fashion capital of the world and decided never to go back. I also took in the Palio di Siena which turned out to be a once in a lifetime experience, good and bad. lol

What I have yet to do in Italy that I haven't done in the last two months? Well, I am slightly ashamed to admit this but I have yet to go into a museum. I know I know, I'm going very soon. I just need to get my butt out of my apartment and go and by the museum pass. This week, I promise! I also haven't gone into a bar/club yet. I was a little surprised at this one myself but I guess I just think the thought of going into a bar by myself is kind of weird. Also, the fact that the bars/clubs don't even open until after midnight is just crazy. That's way past my bedtime! (did that just date me?!?) oh well... And the last thing I haven't done yet I wasn't sure if I should mention, even though I am sure those that talk to me on a regular basis already know. I have yet to make an actual friend. You know what I mean, someone who I can call up and go shopping with, or go for coffee or just hang out. I have met so many nice people in my travels but haven't met anyone in Florence that has become anything more than an acquaintance, a passer by. This makes me a little sad as I pride myself in being a people person, easy to make friends with anyone. It also makes for really long lonely nights sometimes. Now I should say here, that I don't want pity from anyone. I am loving my time here it is just in different ways than I originally thought it would be.

So, what do I have coming up for the future? Well first off, I am embarking on my UK journey in a weeks time. I am so excited and will end up being in the UK for 19 days (so the better part of my month 3). Only 9 days later my cousin (and one of my BCFF's) ;) Jeanette, will be coming to visit for 10 days. After that? who knows. I promise by my month 3 post I will have gone into a museum. I also hope to learn a bit more about cooking as I really haven't done anything on that front yet. I am still as bad as I was back home. :{ Oh well. I also hope to know a bit more Italian but with me in English speaking countries for 3 weeks I can't see me practicing any Italian. I also will be going to Rome and Venice in the next few months. And lastly... I would also really like to try to find George Clooney somehow. I have figured out where he lives and how to get there, now I just need to pick a time and hopefully he will be taking a swim or something. ;) Wish me luck!

Temp high: 36
Gelato: n/a

Palio di Siena

Yesterday I headed out in the morning to what I thought was going to be a very eventful day. I had big plans to get to Siena for horse races by 11am and then I would look around the city and see the sights and then closer to supper I would go to the Piazza where the race is held. Sometimes though we don't always get what we want...

The Palio di Siena is one of the biggest events of the year in Italy. It is held twice during the year, once on July 2nd and the final race is held August 16th. This is a major event to Italians and tourists (such as myself). They take 10 horses and race them around a track built in the Piazza. They race around the track 3 times, which in the end takes about 1 minute. Each horse and rider wears clothing that is from the region that they represent for the race. This has been going on for hundreds of years now and more tradition than anything. From what I understand there is no prize won, just bragging rights I guess.

So I was at the train station at 9:15 thinking I was going to catch the 9:40 only to find that I had just missed the previous one and the next wasn't running until 11:15. you would think that even though it was a Sunday and they have fewer trains that they would make a few extra runs because of the race but I guess not. So I got to the train early enough that I was able to get a seat. Many people weren't as lucky and had to either stand or sit in the aisle ways for the 1 1/2 hour trip.

I arrived in Siena at 12:45ish, grabbed a map and a bus ticket and tried to find my way to the bus stop. Ended up getting a little lost, which actually turned out great because I forgot some things at home that I needed and I stumbled across a grocery store. Ok, so for a side note... Since my sunburn incident I have been loading up with sunscreen and have bought 2 bottles since the incident (which means I had 3 in total). Do you think I remembered to pack one for the day? Nope! so I had to buy a 4th bottle of sunscreen. On a happy note though, I now have a 30 and a 50 in a lotion and a 20 and a 25 in a spray so I am set for anything that can happen now. ;)

Found the bus stop by about 1:30 only to be told by some people waiting that they were going straight to the races as they close the entrance at 4 (even though the race didn't start until 7). So I just followed everyone straight to the Piazza. I was there by about 2pm and had a seat on a bench. I thought I was laughing because there were about 4-5thousand people already standing in the center of the race track and I couldn't figure out why my seat wasn't taken yet. Well about 20min later I got kicked out. They were reserved. I also figured out that those seats (just wooden benches) were going for 300euros a seat! lol can you imagine?!? Who would pay for that?

So I new I was going to be locked in the center along with everyone else so I figured I should run to the washroom before I get locked in (there was nothing available in the center). Found a bathroom and had to pay 1 euro to use it. This is the second time now that I have had to pay to pee. Gotta love Europe. They know how to make money. They charge 2-3euros for a bottle of water and then charge you to pee afterwards. :) On the way towards the center though I came across 5 bulls that were just standing in the walk way with guys holding on them like these guys were walking dogs. I actually was a little scared because I had to walk about 2 feet from them and they were huge! I think WAY bigger than our bulls back home. However, no one else was scared as little kids and adults were petting them, it was quite a sight.

Found a spot in the center and ended up next to a couple about my age. He was from Italy and she was living here now teaching English. It was so great to meet them. I stood next to them for about 2 hours and then they closed the gates and the parade started. It was a little after 4 by this point. It was very very hot out and the center had about 5-6 thousand people by this point. There was still lots of room and I still had a fairly decent view of a chunk of the track. Everyone kept saying that the area we were standing was actually a really good spot as you had a great view at race time. So there we stood.

Then all of a sudden the parade finished (a little after 5) and they opened up the gate again. However instead of opening up all of the gates (probably 20 around the whole center) they opened up just one... right in front of us. So for the next hour and half or so I had about 15 thousand people walk by me. Everyone was disgustingly sweaty and I could tell... trust me. When you get that many people in that small of spot there is nowhere for you to go but closer to the one beside you. As well, because I was on the edge of the walking path everyone was being very pushy and I actually got pushed around quite a bit. Luckily though everyone behind held me up as I couldn't move my feet so when I was pushed back the people behind had to push me back straight. It was a little ridiculous. I saw about 3 fights break out which I still wonder why. I mean really, there was nowhere for anywhere to go and everyone was pushing everyone, what good is fighting going to do.

So there I was, gates finally closed up at about 5 to 7, and at least 20,000 people crammed in like sardines. My feet, you can only image were throbbing in pain at this point. I occasionally tilted my head up to the sky to try and get just a smidgen of fresh air. It was so smelly and sweaty in there. Shudder..... They finally brought the horses out and had to line them up properly for the race to actually start. At about 7:30 they had the first false start. 7:50 came the second and by about 8:15 was the third. Just as the third false start was announced over 20,000 people started booing and screaming (what I can imagine was not good things) in Italian. Finally at 8:30 the race started which I think actually lasted less than a minute in the end. I held up my camera (because I hadn't been able to see the track for about 3 hours at that point) and tried to randomly take some pictures. You can actually see the picture below that I managed to get during the race. The one above is just one I took of the crown as we were waiting out the false starts.

So needless to say, I didn't actually see the race. I stood in what can only be called an Italian mosh pit with 20,000 sweaty, stinky, drunk people for over 6 hours and never actually seen any of the actual race. I had many many old men feel me up along the way and there was absolutely nothing I could about it because my feet were stuck in one spot and my arms were up by my face, so that was a extra added bonus. ;) As soon as the race was done, they opened the gate and grabbed onto Andy's (the girl I met) arm and we ran out of there as fast as we could. They offered to drive me to the train station so that I wouldn't miss my train as the last one back to Florence was at 9:15pm and it was about a 45min walk from the piazza to the station.

I managed to find one of the last available seats on the train and thought I was home free. Well again, I shouldn't be so lucky. Beside me sat a girl (I'm guessing about 16) and her boyfriend sat across from her. Well for the first 45min to an hour of the train ride, they groped each other across the seats so that was great. Then, for the last 30min or so I got to hear and see them making out. It was a real treat. :{ I kept my Ipod on and turned up the music as loud as I could and tried to have a cat nap or two just to avoid these two. Got home and the first thing I did before anything else was take a shower. It was well needed.

So all in all it was a very interesting day filled with many firsts again. I never actually seen anything of Siena and now feel I need to go back as I have been told it is a very nice city to see. Would I ever go and see this race again? Not if my life depended on it. lol Am I glad I went? Hell ya! lol Sounds strange I know but it was an experience I will never in my life forget.

Temp high: still high 30's
Gelato: n/a

Yesterday in Milan

Well I used up my last day of my Eurorail pass yesterday going to Milan. I arrived in Milan at about 9:45am and was able to find my way (pretty easily I might add) to the Duomo. I went in and looked around. The art work and stained glass inside was so beautiful. I took some pics but they didn't turn out because of the lighting and I was using my little camera instead of my big one. I also decided to go to the top of the Duomo. It was a really cool view.

I then headed down to a few stores near the Duomo. I found Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and the list went on. I took some pictures of the stores but only went into Gucci as there is always someone at the door that I believe pics and chooses who they let in. Gotta love the rich eh? Anyway, I included this picture to the right as I wanted to show how Italian it can be sometimes. If you look closely, Louis Vuitton is on the left and McDonalds in on the right. lol gotta love europe! They know what matters... fashion and food. ;)

Afterwards I headed to a public Garden that I seen mentioned online as well as in my Italy travel guide. Well I have to be honest, when I got there it already looked like fall as the trees were dying and all of the leaves were falling off. The garden itself was very big and it ended up being very nice but I found myself really tired (as I was up at 5 to catch the train).

I decided to head back to Florence early and was able to catch the 3:30 train instead of hanging out in Milan for another 4 hours.

At the end of the day I would class Milan as big city feel with not much charm. Would I go back? Probably not. Am I glad I went? For sure!

Temp high: high 30's still
Gelato: n/a it was a holiday today and nothing was open.

So much to tell you!

Well this might officially be my biggest post ever! Some might be a bit repetitive of my last two posts so sorry if it is. I'm just going to start at the beginning and tell you all about my week. Maybe this would be a good time to grab a coffee or a muffin or something. ;)

Taormina, Sicily was so nice to see. I mentioned my lovely train ride and have pretty much vowed to never take an overnight train again after my 2 train experiences. After I relaxed for a bit in my hotel room I hit the town to see the sights. I came across the most gorgeous paintings. I headed up to see them and the painter himself was running his store. I actually found one that I wanted to buy. I went in and talked to him about them and he was so nice, spoke a bit of English and because he found out I was from Canada (and he has actually been) he was going to give me a really special price. (better than the American pricing he told me). So, for the low low price of 600 euros, I could take this painting home. Now, to give him some credit, from what I read around the store, I believe he is kinda famous and has had exhibitions showcasing his work all over the world for over 30 years now (I wasn’t kidding, it was the most gorgeous painting I have ever seen). However, we had a nice chat, I thanked him so much for talking with me and I headed on my way. Ah to be able to afford a 600euro painting. Boy though would that have looked great in my living room. I took a picture so I can remember it. :)

I found so many really cool stores along the way and only came out with some pistachios, some pistachio cream liquor (its famous around here I guess) and some earrings made from some lava stone. I also walked to the Greek Theatre. It was started to be built in the 3rd century BC by the Greeks and then the Romans later finished it. They still use it for theatres and shows today. I went back to the hotel then and sat at the pool and had a swim for an hour or so.

I then decided to go out for supper. I was told this one restaurant had swordfish (Sicily is famous for their swordfish) and I really wanted to try it. Well I got there, and had already ordered a drink and the chick tells me they don’t serve swordfish. Ugh! So, 40euros later (wine for 5 euros and pasta and a piece of what tasted like tuna fish for 35 euros), I had my supper and headed back to the hotel. I’ll make sure I double and triple check the menu next time before sitting down. Sigh...

The next day I headed out on my Mount Etna tour (which I think I mentioned briefly). It was a really cool experience. We stopped along the way and we actually went under the ground into a small cave that was formed by the lava. It was damp and little drops of water would fall down on us. Their was only the 3 of us on the tour (me and a couple from England in there 50's) which actually made the excursion much more fun. We stopped at two different winery's along the way and also a Honey place. I tried about 10 different wines, 10 different olive oils and about 20 different honeys in all. I bought 2 different wines, a garlic flavoured olive oil and a small jar of berry flavoured honey.

We could only go about 3/4 of the way up the mountain which was ok. The view was still so beautiful and we stopped a place were we got to get out and walk around, take some pictures, buy some souvenirs, and then we headed back down the mountain.

That evening I was pretty broke from my meal the evening before that I settled on chips and gelato as my supper choice for the evening. lol I was sitting in the main square overlooking the most beautiful view in Taormina and ended up striking a conversation with two girls from England (in their 20's). We talked for a couple of hours and just hung out. They recommended a really cute little pasta place for supper so I ate there the following night. Then I went home to get some sleep.

My last day in Taormina was very relaxing. I packed up my bags but asked for an 7pm checkout (because my train left at 10:30). I headed down to Isola Bella (a really beautiful beach pictured above). I rented a chair and umbrella for the day and just sat and read my book. To be honest I never actually went into the water there though because I had no shoes that could go in the water. Maybe this is a good time to discuss the beaches in Italy.... They have the most beautiful warm water you would ever swim in but the beaches are horrible. They are all rocks, no sand. I wish I was kidding but the rocks are anywhere from pebbles to the size of your fist and this is what you walk on, lay down on and what is in the water when you are trying to walk into it. You definitely need some sort of water shoes in order to go into the water.

That evening I headed out to the train station. I wanted to be almost an hour early just in case and luck be to me the train was delayed until after 12am so I ended up sitting on a bench for over 2.5 hours. I talked with 2 people that were sharing my bench though through broken English/Italian but we managed. :)

Arrived in Sorrento by a train connection in Naples and found my hotel (hostel) that I mentioned in the previous post. Weirdly enough though, I wasn't looking forward to staying there but now that I have done it, I would probably do it again if I was travelling on a very limited budget. There were 7 other girls in the room with me and I felt like I was 12 again at bible camp. :) We talked for a few hours while lying in our bunks and then went to sleep. It was not a bad experience at all. I met some really nice girls and one of them was actually heading to Pomeii on Sunday (which I was planning on doing also). We decided to go together.

Pomeii was interesting. Very cool to see. Some things disturbing about it though. We spent about 3 hours wandering around the ruins. I actually wished we would have done the guide thing as it was only a 2 hour tour and took you to all of the major spots in the town. We ended up back in Sorrento by 4. Had some gelato choc and vanilla and we sat in the piazza across from the gelateria. I tried to shake an orange tree because I really wanted to see if I could try an orange right off the vine. Couldn’t get the oranges to fall though. lol We sat down at the pier for ages. Came back, had shower and we met again for supper. Saw a really pretty sunset over the sea. Decided to hang out down at pier again because there was a concert playing that night. Sal DeVinci was the headliner. Really good actually. I think I might try to find his cd somewhere. They don’t sell them at the concert… weird. The kids were crazy and everywhere. People also makeout wherever they want which is kinda funny, slightly tiring as you are trying to dodge them all the time. lol I seen many cats wandering about. The day was actually filled with so many funny things. Saw a tourist booth in Pompeii that was selling randoms and they had a Canadian flag hanging on the front of there booth. We also seen a marching band back in Sorrento during supper that wasn't very good but it was still fun entertainment. It ended up being some festival of the Madonna that Sunday in Sorrento which is why the marching band was there as well as the concert that night. During supper though, we started to hear a priest talking and it turns out there was a church service going on right in the middle of the pier. Very strange. The choir was singing, everyone was praying and they even had communion. It was all very strange to see in the middle of a very crowded public place. During the concert that night there were also booths set up giving away these gigantic meatballs. lol Seriously. There was one huge meatball (the size of my fist) and they plopped it into a bun. Very comical.

Monday I went to Capri. Bit of gong show getting there. I needed to be at the pier at 9:40. Was rushed a bit but made it there ok. Went to what I thought was the gate only to be told to go back… I hand gone the wrong way. Asked other workers and no one knew where I should be going. Finally found the booth that I need to get ticket at and then had to run (literally) back to the ferry. It was pulling away as about 10 of us were running to jump on. Pretty crazy really. Decided to do a tour when I got to Capri. Tour guide Jerry took about 15 of us (mostly brits) on a really cool tour. There was a really crazy high mountain that you could actually go up to the top of. In order to get up though you needed to go up a one person chair lift. I was scared shitless but the view was so beautiful. It actually took 12 minutes to get up this mountain so you can only imagine how high it was. I just knew though if I didn't go I would have regretted it. I ended meeting 3 ladies (Di, Linda and Megan from England) that were traveling together. We all shared a lunch and they were nice enough to let me hang out with them for the day. They were all so lovely. We decided to go to the beach for a bit before heading back to Sorrento. Di went in but I sat on a big rock with just my feet in the water with the other 2 ladies because I didn’t have my swimsuit (which in England they are called costumes) with me. She finally talked me into coming in clothes and all. I did, jean shorts, tank top, bra and all. We stayed in for almost an hour I think. The water was so nice and just what I needed to cool off. I love the salty taste of it. When I got out, I came as close to being on a nude beach as possible and took off my top to put a different one on that I had brought. No one even blinked an eye at me. Again… weird. I swapped email address with the 3 ladies and hope to keep in touch.

That night I just went out for some supper and then wandered down the main drag. So many street performers out and some of them were really fun to watch. They really put on a show. I heard some music in a building so I checked it out. It turned out to be a fashion show. Models were not very good but it was still cool to see. I only sat for about 20min and then headed back to Hotel Linda (the new place I was staying in).

Tuesday I went on a boat tour of the Almafi coast. Again I ended up sitting next to a couple from England. Is anyone seeing a pattern here?!? lol They were super funny. He was always cracking jokes an she was just a very nice lady to visit with. Our first stop was on the other side of Capri where we got to get off the boat and swim for about 1/2 hour. The boat had a ladder that actually went right into the water which was really super cool and I walked right off it into crazy deep turquoise blue water. It was wonderful! The water was really rough though. Josee (the lady I was hanging with) and I only stayed in for about 15 min and then her husband went in for the rest of the time. I then headed for the showers on board, got cleaned up and then we were on our way around the coast again. the view was so beautiful. There was houses and churches all along the coast and up really high on the mountain. We were trying to figure out how people actually live that way, but it must work for them somehow. We stopped in Almafi for about 2 hours. I had some gelato (which I actually found a piece of broken glass in so that kinda sucked) and just hung out at the pier. We ended up back in Sorrento a little after 5pm. I went home for a shower because I can not stress enough how hot the sun is and how much a person sweats over here. Its kinda gross really. :{

Throughout my week long trip, I accumulated about 2 bags of random gifts and souvenirs. I had so much fun and definitely want to go back one day (maybe even before I leave Italy). I have decided that I think Sorrento is one of my most favorite spots I have ever been to in the whole world. I also met so many nice people from England on my trip. It was weird really. lol Every group that I met (other than the girls in Taormina) were in there 50's/60's and everyone took me under there wings and were very nice to me. The all had children my age and some had grandchildren. I also have noticed that because I was hanging out with English people every day during my holidays, I actually have found that I have already picked up a few english words as well as an accent sometimes. Its really quite funny. I don't even notice I'm doing it until its to late. LOL My favorite word so far is lovely. Everything is so lovely, this trip has been lovely, everyone I met has been lovely, you get the picture. lol

I ended back at home late last night (around 10pm) and talked with mom and dad for awhile on Skype. Today is laundry day and I'm trying to decided where to go tomorrow. :) I still have one more day to use up on my eurorail pass and I don't want it to go to waste, so I think I might make a day trip somewhere. Not sure where yet though.

Also, I put a few extra pictures up on my flicker account if anyone wants to see them. You can get to it by going into my profile and under Contact you will see a My Web Page. Click on that and it should take you directly to my flicker site. I can't wait to show you all of them, but flicker only lets you put on a few every month so I tried to chose some of my most favorite (out of the over a 100 that I took) :)

Temp high: to crazy hot this past week to remember
Gelato: Well I had some pretty much every day but my most memorable would have to be the pistachio gelato I had in Taormina. It was just lovely! ;)

Well, here I am again, back online. It's actually weird not being able to connect to the internet whenever I want. A person really takes this for granted. Anyway, I have so much to say and I know that I will forget (and have forgotten already) so much stuff. When I get home (back to Florence) I will compose a "things I missed telling you" list and hopefully catch everything then. So for now, I will tell you where I have been and what I am planning on doing.

I was supposed to get on the train last night in Toarmina at 10:30pm but the train was late (typical Italian style). Instead it showed up a little bit after 12am. I got into my room which I had specified to have a bottom bed this time, only to find an old lady in one and a girl on the other side who pretended not to understand me when I tried to talk to her. ugh. oh well. I ended up with about 2 hours sleep in total (I am really not liking the overnight trains). Got to Naples this morning at 8am and hd a heck of a time trying to get to Sorrento. Finally some nice lady helped me out and showed me the way. I made it to Sorrento by about 10am and finally found a hotel to stay in for the night. Well I have to be honest, its no hotel... its a hostel! yup, I am sharing a room with 7 other people. fun fun! I do however have a bottom bunk this time so yeah! I had about a 2 hour nap and then headed out on the town.

Sorrento is beautiful! I took a 30min tour of the town which was fun and super funny. This one italian woman also on the tour was singing really really loud the whole time so it was hard to hear the tour guide. Then, the giude figured that he needed to stop for gas, right in the middle of our tour. again... very comical. After that I just walked around for another 5 hours or so, had some really delicious super (grilled chicken and potatoes) and then came back to my room.

Plans for the next few days? Well, tomorrow I am on the move again with my suitcases. I was able to find a single room to rent for 3 nights at a place right across the street for only 30euros a night. :) After I move though, a girl that is in my room tonight and I are heading to Pompei 8sp?) for the day to check out the ruins. Then Monday I am going to Capri for the day and Tuesday I signed up for an all day boat tour of the Almafi Coast which includes 2 stops for a couple of hours each at 2 of the towns along the way. Should be a fun filled few days.

It's been a whirl wind few days

Hi all, this is going to be a short post I think today. I am in Taormina Sicily. I brought me laptop with me but it is being a nice big paper weight in my hotel room as the hotel only has dsl and I have no cord to hook it up. So here I am at an internet point and only have so long. The train ride here was a little crazy. I did not prepare myself for it thats for sure. I was lucky enough to get the top bunk (can't you just here my sarcasm?) lol and could only reach it by a ladder. woke up every time the train slowed down for fear that I was going to roll out of bed. It was hot sometimes and crazy cold other times. i decided to get up around 6am and was glad I did. we were just starting to board the ferry. It was super cool how they did it. They devide up the train into all the cabins. Then they move them on piece by piece until they are all on. it ends up looking like a big jigsaw puzzle. Got a couple of good pics from the deck of the ferry as it was about a 30min ride to the island. ended up in Sicily at 8:30. Got lost finding my hotel and walked in the opposite direction for an hour. :( Finally found my way and was able to check into my hotel early. hit the town and saw some really awesome sights. Had the most expensive supper of my life so far(I'm pretty sure). Spent 40euros on it. :-0 Got eaten buy mosquitos last night and couldn't figure out how to turn the ac on in my room. oy...

Today I ended up sleeping through my alarm. Really, I have no idea how this happens to me, but what can I do? had to meet my mount Etna tour guide at 8:50am and woke around 8:10. rushe dto get ready and still even had 10min to eat breakfast. Had another cappacino(sp?) (my second on this trip so far) and then headed out to meet my guide. I was right no time. The Mount Etna tour was awesome. We saw tonnes of lava rock and had a couple of wine tastings. Bought a couple bottles of wine ( I'm really starting to love this stuff) and a really yummy tasting fruit flavored honey.

I am heading to naples tomorrow night on an overnight train again. Yup, gluten for punishment. however it was take an overnight train for 8 hours of sit in a regular seat for 6 during the day so I figured I would save the hotel cost for another night. i get into Naples at 6:15 on Sat morning and then who knows from there. I was going to go to Bari and Naples but it turns out there is no direct train and it was going to take me over 12 hours to get there during the day and I would have had to switch trains 5 times. So, instead I am skipping it (it wasn't ment to be) and I am heading to naples. Looking forward to it.

Anyway, my time is up. I will hopefully come back online in a few days. Wish me luck!

My Uneventful but Fun Filled Day

Today ended up being a pretty good day. I ended up heading out to pick up a few things around my usual going out time (5pm). I wanted to pick up a magazine for my trip which was definitely a treat as the Cosmo I bought cost 10.10euros. LOL can you believe it? Wow can they jack the prices up on things when they want to.

I finally decided to go and make my purse purchase today. I just couldn't not get it. I thought about it for 5 days and decided that yes, I needed this purse/bag. I am calling it a bag because it is huge, but I so love it! I can't wait to use it. :) After my big purchase I was just in such a good mood and I am not even sure why. Maybe it was because it wasn't overly hot out today. It was overcast and the wind made for a nice breeze, maybe it was my upcoming trip or maybe it was just my new bag. I guess we will never know.

So I decided to keep walking around for a bit and I ended up walking a few streets that I had only been down a few times. I stopped and went into a church because I heard organ music playing. It was small but the art work inside was beautiful and then to hear the organ playing as well...well it was very uplifting.

I guess this is the part where I should tell you all that I have finally started walking with my head up looking ahead of me, instead of watching where I walk (mind you this is still a good idea sometimes). So as I was walking down one of the streets head held high, I was just about to take another step forward and all of a sudden a pigeon came flying out from under my foot. LOL I didn't even notice it there and was about 1 inch from stepping on it. It went crazy on me flapping its wings and yelling at me. I was stunned for a bit and then just started laughing. I'm sure the other people in the street thought I was crazy, laughing to myself but I didn't care, It was funny.

I decided to go into the lush store they have here just to look around and as I walked in one of the sales reps said ciao to me. I said ciao back and continued to wander. He then came up to me and rattled of something in Italian which I can only guess to be Can I help you with something, when I said Oh, I'm sorry, I don't speak Italian. He then gave me a great compliment and said that he was sorry but I looked Italian to him. YEAH! Does that mean I am fitting/blending in? He spoke english a bit though so we talked for a few minutes and then I headed on my way, but I thought that was totally cool.

So, it is already after 2am and I am still not in bed yet. I had every intentions of going to bed kinda early tonight but would you believe that I haven't packed yet for my trip tomorrow? I know...shocking! lol seriously, I don't think my procrastination habits are ever going to change. I always find a different excuse why I can put it off just a little while longer. Anyway, I really should at least clear off my bed (meaning my attempt to pack) and get some sleep. I am soooo excited about my trip tomorrow! I am not sure how much internet service I will have when I am gone but still, email me everyone. I'm taking my laptop with me, just in case. :)

Temp high: I actually have no idea
Gelato: n/a

The Underworld of the Train Station

I got up this morning with the fullest of intentions to go out and buy a few things that I wanted and to get my train ticket to Sicily. I was up by 10 and was ready to go by 1pm (after watching some tv). However, I was super tired so I decided to kill some more time by watching a few more episodes of Friends. You know, I really don't know what I am going to do when I am done watching Friends. I am already on Season 10 (I know, kinda sad huh?) lol oh well.

I headed out about 5 and went straight to the train station to get my ticket. I stood in line for about 40min and was lucky enough to have a guy at the counter that spoke pretty good English. I booked my ticket and wasn't lucky enough to get a direct ticket all the way to Taormino but instead I connect with a different train in Naples. So, I am leaving at 7:30pm on August 4th (Tuesday) and get to Naples around 11:00pm. I then have only 30min to get off the train and get on the new sleeper train that will take me straight to Taormina. On the sleeper train I was able to get a bed so that is good. I leave Naples at 11:30pmish and get into Sicily around 7:30am so I am pretty happy that I have a bed. It is a 4 bed cabin, which means that I will be sharing a room with 3 other women (they are divided for men and woman) and I have about 7 hours to hopefully get some sleep. I did decide to book a hotel room for the 5th and 6th of Aug in Taormina. I am happy about that. I was also looking at booking the train to my other destinations but have decided against it. I think I am going to wing it this time, knowing full well that it is peak season and everything books up. I guess the reason why I don't want to book everything ahead is because I don't really know when I want to leave or go to the next spot. What if I am having a blast in Sicily and don't want to leave on the the 7th? And, if I go to leave and there is no train, well then, I wait and catch the next one... no big deal. :)

After getting my ticket I headed out shopping. I have been eyeing up this one style of purse at the Guess store now for a few days. every day I have walked by and thought, man I have to have this purse! But every day I walk out empty handed. Well today I woke up and decided that yes, I was going to buy the purse. Now I should mention that the purses are all of half price right now, so what was a 120euro purse was now a 60euro purse. How could I go wrong! I walked back into the store today though and again had some doubts. There were two there that I loved parts of each of and they are the same design just different shape. Well I couldn't decide between the two because the one that I was really in love with didn't have a big enough strap that is could even go over my shoulder which would mean that I would have to hang onto this purse all the time by the handles and that just didn't seem right because it was fairly big. Anyway, long story short, I walked out yet again, with no purse. I am still so sad about this though. I loved the look of that purse so much! The sales right now that are going on are so crazy that I can't not look around. I also stopped at this one store and found a really cute pair of red and jean material slip on shoes. Super cute and they were really comfortable and actually pretty cheap witch is always a bonus.

On my way home I decided to take a bit of a detour through the train station. For over 6 weeks now, I have been at the train station every day and every day I see stairs that lead down under the train station so that you don't have to dart through traffic to get to the other side. Well, today because I had all sorts of time, I decided to go down underground to see what was there. Well it was insane! It was like a whole underworld of shops, travel agencies, coffee bars, hair salons and countless other things. I walked around for quite awhile looking at everything. I have to admit though, being under the train station made it feel a bit more seedy but still it was kind of interesting. I am not sure if I will go back down as I have pretty much perfected the art of dodging the buses and traffic above. :) It was pretty cool though to see it.

I wonder what other hidden gems are waiting for me to find them here in Florence?

Temp High: 34
Gelato: n/a but I have to say that as I type this, I am drinking my first glass of Crema di Limoncetta (Lemoncello but in cream form). It's actually pretty good with some ice and a bit of milk to make it just a bit more creamier. Mmmmm