Ciao from Italy and I need to start with the same warning that I posted last time for the France entry i.e. if you are not having a fun time back home and you are not after some escapism then save this entry for another time.
So along with Felicity, we kicked off our Italian adventure in the tourist bombarded Venice before spending some time in Florence and greater Tuscany, then down to Rome before some chill time in Sorrento/Amalfi Coast and then ending in the gritty dump that is Naples. As you will read and see, Italy for us was a land of contrasts - some extreme beauty mixed in with some really not so great spots...
WHAT WE DID:
- Ate a lot of pizza and gelati, especially in Venice where they were surprisingly at their cheapest and tastiest.
- Saw a stack of cathedrals and surrounding piazzas most notably St Marks in Venice, Santa Maria in Florence and St Pauls in Vatican City.
- Watched several stunning Tuscan sunsets overlooking Florence from the Michaelangelo Piazza.
- Took a cycling day tour into the Tuscan countryside visiting a working Tuscan castle (built in the 1100s) in the Chianti region complete with wine and olive oil tasting.
- Navigated the terribly designed and graffiti ravaged Rome subway system.
- Visited the awesome ancient Roman sights including the Colosseum, Forum, Constantine Arch, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and a whole bunch of other ruins that surprisingly
almost get mundane after a while
- Visited Vatican City and checked out the main piazza, St Peter's Balilica, the Vatican museum as well as the Sistine Chapel, made impressive by Michaelangelo's stunning decor.
- Stayed for several days in the beautiful coastal town of Sorrento where we took several day trips via the stunning yet hazardous Amalfi Coast roads to Positano (arguably the most picturesque single location that we have seen so far), Ravello and Amalfi itself.
- Spent a day at the unbelievable preserved Roman city of Pompeii and its arch-nemesis volcano, Mount Vesuvius. Buried in volcanic ash this major city is so well preserved in parts that it is impossible to believe that it is 2000 years old. You can visit the local Colosseum, cafes, auditorium (that still gets used for concerts), houses, temples, baths and the biggest brothel in town complete with concrete beds and frescoes above the doors that act as a detailed "menu" for the visit...
- Visited the most trashy city on our trip so far - Naples, the home of pizza. This city has significant piles of rubbish everywhere, is badly polluted, has crazy scooters all over the place (including the pavement), graffiti on everything including their national monuments, the buildings and roads are crumbling there are illegal peddlers everywhere and to top it all off, a rat ran over our feet on a main street...great pizza though!
OUR RANDOM THOUGHTS:
* Whilst Italian design might look pretty it is totally impractical - the signage is awful, train timetable signs are out of sync and the roads/pavements aren't constructed for two directions...
* Italians sure like to argue at any opportunity. One hotelier had the audacity to argue with us about our broken air-conditioner - as an Aussie who hates humidity I think I know a thing or two about how air-conditioning is supposed to feel.
* The roads in Italy are absolutely perilous. We were surprised that the life expectancy here isn't 17 i.e. when kids get their licenses. I think the only reason this is not the case is that every vehicle is either a scooter or a 20kg Smart Car.
* Shops in Italy are pretty predictable - a typical high street goes a little something like this: shoe shop, bag shop, gelati stand, pizza/pasta restaurant, bag shop, shoe shop, bag shop, gelati stand, bag shop, pizza/pasta restaurant, bag shop, gelati stand, shoe store etc etc
* If I ever hear the song Volare again I will check myself into an institution.
* Seeing such old and layered historical sites, one wonders as to which level archeologists consider to be the most important - Evan can you help us out with this one?
* It's sobering to think that the homes that we saw in ancient Pompeii would have been significantly more advanced i.e. flushing toilets, running water than our homestay in 2010 Peru.
So along with Felicity, we kicked off our Italian adventure in the tourist bombarded Venice before spending some time in Florence and greater Tuscany, then down to Rome before some chill time in Sorrento/Amalfi Coast and then ending in the gritty dump that is Naples. As you will read and see, Italy for us was a land of contrasts - some extreme beauty mixed in with some really not so great spots...
WHAT WE DID:
- Explored the most photogenic water world that is Venice, dodging the tourist hordes whilst wondering the canal lined streets complete with plenty of amazing masquerade shops (i.e 
Positano
. for the famed Venetian Carnavale).- Ate a lot of pizza and gelati, especially in Venice where they were surprisingly at their cheapest and tastiest.
- Saw a stack of cathedrals and surrounding piazzas most notably St Marks in Venice, Santa Maria in Florence and St Pauls in Vatican City.
- Watched several stunning Tuscan sunsets overlooking Florence from the Michaelangelo Piazza.
- Took a cycling day tour into the Tuscan countryside visiting a working Tuscan castle (built in the 1100s) in the Chianti region complete with wine and olive oil tasting.
- Navigated the terribly designed and graffiti ravaged Rome subway system.
- Visited the awesome ancient Roman sights including the Colosseum, Forum, Constantine Arch, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and a whole bunch of other ruins that surprisingly
Venice
.- Visited Vatican City and checked out the main piazza, St Peter's Balilica, the Vatican museum as well as the Sistine Chapel, made impressive by Michaelangelo's stunning decor.
- Stayed for several days in the beautiful coastal town of Sorrento where we took several day trips via the stunning yet hazardous Amalfi Coast roads to Positano (arguably the most picturesque single location that we have seen so far), Ravello and Amalfi itself.
- Spent a day at the unbelievable preserved Roman city of Pompeii and its arch-nemesis volcano, Mount Vesuvius. Buried in volcanic ash this major city is so well preserved in parts that it is impossible to believe that it is 2000 years old. You can visit the local Colosseum, cafes, auditorium (that still gets used for concerts), houses, temples, baths and the biggest brothel in town complete with concrete beds and frescoes above the doors that act as a detailed "menu" for the visit...
- Swam in crystal clear water grottos in the Tyrrhenian sea off the Amalfi coast 
Florence
.- Visited the most trashy city on our trip so far - Naples, the home of pizza. This city has significant piles of rubbish everywhere, is badly polluted, has crazy scooters all over the place (including the pavement), graffiti on everything including their national monuments, the buildings and roads are crumbling there are illegal peddlers everywhere and to top it all off, a rat ran over our feet on a main street...great pizza though!
OUR RANDOM THOUGHTS:
* Whilst Italian design might look pretty it is totally impractical - the signage is awful, train timetable signs are out of sync and the roads/pavements aren't constructed for two directions...
* Italians sure like to argue at any opportunity. One hotelier had the audacity to argue with us about our broken air-conditioner - as an Aussie who hates humidity I think I know a thing or two about how air-conditioning is supposed to feel.
Venice
* The roads in Italy are absolutely perilous. We were surprised that the life expectancy here isn't 17 i.e. when kids get their licenses. I think the only reason this is not the case is that every vehicle is either a scooter or a 20kg Smart Car.
* Shops in Italy are pretty predictable - a typical high street goes a little something like this: shoe shop, bag shop, gelati stand, pizza/pasta restaurant, bag shop, shoe shop, bag shop, gelati stand, bag shop, pizza/pasta restaurant, bag shop, gelati stand, shoe store etc etc
* If I ever hear the song Volare again I will check myself into an institution.
* Seeing such old and layered historical sites, one wonders as to which level archeologists consider to be the most important - Evan can you help us out with this one?
* It's sobering to think that the homes that we saw in ancient Pompeii would have been significantly more advanced i.e. flushing toilets, running water than our homestay in 2010 Peru.
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