Spaghetti Bolognese

On Tuesday 12 June (Which happned to also be Niki's 27th Bday!!) we headed to Bologna... as you probably guess from it's name that's where spaghetti bolognese was 'invented'. (Not that we had any!) We went and saw yet another Basilica. They are truly amazing buildings but i think I'm all Basillica'd out now! Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take pics inside. We found Bologna's 'leaning' tower and went up a 97m tower next to it, narrow as winding wooden stiars the whole way up... bit freaky!! Right at the top you have amazing views ...well we did for a few mins before it started pouring with rain, on our way back down we could see the lightening bolts! We decided to sit down and have a drink to wait out the rain and weren't really sure what else to do in Bologna...if in doubt have a drink! That evening we went out to dinner in a proper restaurant. Some of the food was nice but portions were small (which doesn't work for us BIG eaters!) so it was kind of disappointing for the cost of €45 (even though I know I shouldn't be converting it back to NZ dollars it's hard not to...$90NZD for dinner & 1 glass of wine!)

So a crazy memorable bday for Niki being in Italy ... but a shame it wasn't one of the better days we've had...can't control the weather I guess!

Padua & Venice

We arrived in Padua from Verona late afternoon. Found a cheap hotel in the directory which was only 10 mins walk from the station and even though only a one star was nice and clean. Wandered around the streets and came across the Basilica di St Antonio (Padua's Patron Saint - every Italian city seems to have one!). Basilica's are massive, impressive church things; you usually have to have covered shoulders and knees. We were fortunate enough to see part of a church service which added to the experience. It got to be a tad boring though as it was all in italian ... and the guy was mumbly and monotone so I'm not sure if you would understand him anyway! Heard the choir sing which was lovely. Next morning we took the train to Venice and spent the day (11am-8pm) there. It cost €13 for a day pass on the ferries, quite expensive compared to other public transport we've come across but you don't really have a choice...no other way to get around in venice. The view were pretty cool from the ferry anyway and we got to see quite alot, plus it was a good way to 'rest' our legs while still seeing alot of Venice from the water...well when Hayley wasn't falling asleep anyway...cars, trains, ferries, I can't help myself! We saw the Basilica of St Marco which was pretty amazing, saw the Doge's Palace and Museum as well. The thing I remember most from that museum was a chastity belt on display...metal prongs sticking out everywhere - ouch! What a horrible time to live in.

It's very touristy there (of course) people selling stuff everywhere, lots of cool buskers (musicians, 'statues' etc) but also beggars harrassing you, I'm getting better at ignoring them! We didn't go for a ride in a gondola as they apparently cost €70! no way, we felt we'd seen enough of the canals. Venice was pretty cool but to be honest I wouldn't have wanted to stay there any longer!

Verona Verona Verona

Verona was amazing!! Beautiful, plenty to see, very touristy, gorgeous weather. A vast improvement on Turin. We stayed in a hostel for 2 nights - single sex dorms, bunk beds! A bit of an experience. Girls' facilities were great, Niki wasn't so lucky, having 1 large open shower room with a 10sec push button to make the shower work! Breakfast was included in the price (€16ea) but that consisted of endless bread rolls, butter, jam and 'bowls' of coffee, tea, hot choc which were made in those metal serving dishies that you see in a buffet setting - the 1st morning we thought it woud have hot food in them...but sadly disappointed. you ladle the desired hot drink into your bowl! kind of like a giant latte i guess. Apparently this isn't a normal italian thing though. Either way we're over bread!

Paid €8 for a 'Verona Card' whch gave 'free' entry to 14 sites... we saw 6 i think. The Arena (3rd largest in world), Juliet's house (as in Romeo & Juliet!) I got a picture of me standing on THE balcony!, church, museum, castle, tower... these attractions cost €2-4 ea so the card was a bargain! We were out from 9-7pm and were knackered! then shared a bottle of wine (€2!) in the gorgeous hostel garden and went out for dinner.

We have taken lots of pics, but i still haven't figured out how to do a online photo gallery...and I keep forgetting to bring the camera cable to internet places! So yeah sorry no pics yet guys.

We arrived in Padua at lunchtime, not far from Venice, and have spent the afternoon wandering in the hot hot sun. I'm getting major tan lines on my feet from my sandals (which by the way even though they are UGLY are coming in very handy ...well except my feet stink at the end of the day!)

We will do a day trip to Venice tomorrow which should be great. Apparently it's the most expensive city in Italy and we heard the hostel was fully booked so decided to come here instead. On Tuesday (Niki's Bday!) we will travel to Bologna and then after that to Genoa (YAY beach!), Tuscany, Piza, Rome etc etc. Will update again soon. Hope you are all well... we have only been gone under 2 weeks but it feels ages! Ciao

1st stop Italy - TURIN 7 June

We landed at Turin, Italy last night (6/6/7) (Turin was where the 2006 Winter Olympics were held). Our plane was 40mins late, which added a lil stress as we were arriving late at night and had to be at hotel by midnight! Our flights only cost us £0.01 + £5 ea for luggage check so really we can't complain! =) Anyway we had troubles finding the bus and trains had finished for the night but luckily we came across another couple so we shared taxi to town and got to hotel at 11.55pm. Hotel is lovely, fancier than we imagined! Lovely to have shower (shower at Lee-Ann's is currently broken so have been having baths!) It was raining when we arrived last night and was still raining this morning... just our luck since all I had packed were summer clothes. we braved it anyway as we only plan to spend 1 day in Turin. It poured down for most of the morning but cleared up beautifully mid-afternoon...let's hope the weather stays this way for our trip.

Italy so far is quite beautiful, very different from any other country we've been. We found it quite hard to communicate though which has been frustrating and even though we have the Lonely Planet Phrase Book/Dictionary it surprisingly takes more balls than we thought to actually approach someone. Tourism staff seem to be annoyed that we don't speak Italian, which scares us and we then fumble what we had planned to say. In saying that though we came across a lovely cafe worker at lunchtime who was very friendly. And I tried out an Italian phrase (where to eat cheap) on one of the hoteliers, and he understood and showed us around the corner for dinner. so YAY that helped the confidence. We had pasta for dinner...at an Irish Pub! it wasn't the best...but I guess we should aim for an Italian cafe if we want to eat good italian food!

Driving is shocking here. Cars parked all over the place. People going through red lights, tooting at each other. There are pedestrian crossings everywhere but I don't think they use then the same as home. plus we need to remember to look both ways cos who knows where the traffic is coming from. Roads are quite narrow, the 'alley' our hotel is down seems like a cobbled walk way - yet it's a road.

Went to a cinema museum today, quite alot of cool stuff to see. and wandered the streets. found a small supermarket...they sell all booze in it!! only €10 for a bottle jager!

anyways will post again soon with exciting Italy adventures I hope. Tomorrow we're travelling somewhere else. At this stage to Genoa a beachside place...

Greetings from the Queen

We are here! Flights were swet as, had awesom seats by exit so plenty of leg room! Got fed every few hours it seemed. Go AIR NZ!!! :) LA stop over was sweet as as was UK customs...soo cruisey the lot of them! London is great, having an awesome time already. Weather has been perfect, hot & sunny, light until 9.30pm. Staying with Lee-Ann, so awesome to catch up with her and meet Spence. Brixton's not half as scarey as some people told us it would be! Lots of Jamaicans which is a bit of a novelty for us. love the accents! The Tube is fantastic, so easy. Already seen the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace (even got to see the Queen waving from car!!!), Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square etc etc...everything is so close together and easily accessible. We haven't hardly had to spend money yet either, plenty to see for free. um um what else to say! i've only got a couple of mins remaining on internet so will go. we're off to italy on Wednesday night so will fill u in from there. Take care