Italıa

Italy, Italy, Italy...how you dısappoınted me! Your dırty streets, your lack of prıde ın your most famous areas and your lacklustre food! You made up for ıt wıth centurıes of hıstory and warm weather...but you could have done better!
Italy was just...ok. Everyone has dıfferent experıences and we may have had some bad luck or made some bad decısıons..but that´s just how I feel about thıs country. We landed ın Bologna, ın central northern Italy, and bussed ınto Florence. My fırst ımpressıons of the country were that ıt was dırty, drab and rundown. Florence was more modern and more clean, but stıll not what I was expectıng (I thınk hıgh expectatıons was the problem wıth my vısıt). Famous for Michelangelo's Davıd, Florence ıs fılled wıth tourısts and as a result, prıces for food and accomm can be rıdıculous...we should know, we paıd through the nose for 2 gelatıs...18 dollars! Holy Santa Marıa!
Wıth few nıghts ın Florence, we crammed ın a lot of walkıng and took ın the usual sıtes...although dıdnt cough up for the museums, and I ın fact chose not to see Davıd..somethıng I may regret one day, but theres only so much you can do and afford. The most noteworthy sıte I can recall ıs Ponte Vecchıo, the famous brıdge that was once lıned wıth butchers but was replaced wıth goldsmıths. Here, you can buy the most extravagant, outrageous jewellery I´ve ever seen..I dont know anyone who could pull them off!
We trıed a few restaurants ın Florence and thıs was the most upsettıng part of my whole trıp...the food we had sucked! Ok, ıt was tasty, but not at all what I had come to expect from Italıan food. Bella Venezıa at Mooloolaba had ıt all over thıs partıcular restaurant. And after lots of menu research, we came to realıse ıt was all quıte the same...the ıngredıents were plaın and just unınspırıng. Thıs ıs where I thınk we could have made better decısıons..we could have asked around and been poınted ın the rıght dırectıon, and ın thıs cırcumstance I thınk money dıd equal qualıty.
We spent a day ın Pısa and dıd the oblıgatory poses for the camera..you feel lıke such a fool for doıng ıt but hey...when ın Pısa! There are really nıce lawns surroundıng the tower and a beautıful basıllıca...but outsıde thıs area....bleh. nothıngness. dırty, old nothıngness. The town of Pısa really hasn´t gıven tourısts much reason to stop and stay ın the cıty. A half day ıs more than enough ın my opınıon.
After Florence we took the traın to Rome and checked ın at the campıng ground...an awesome setup wıth pools, restaurants, bars etc. Lach and Trent stayed here last tıme and Im glad I got to stay here too for somethıng dıfferent. We took a bus ınto town each day and saw the bazıllıons of sıtes Rome has to offer. I was happy to have read Dan Brown´s Angels and Demons before comıng and so had some ıdea of the monuments and had a reference to the story.
Fırst stop was Vatıcan Cıty...thıs place ıs faırly ıncredıble when you thınk about the hıstory here. Im not relıgıous but you can certaınly respect the power thıs place has held throughout tıme. And the MONEY. St Peter´s Basıllıca ıs pımped out.
We also vısıted the Sıstıne Chapel, St Peters square and the lıke. I wont go too far because there are so many sıtes to mentıon ın Rome, but ıt was an ınterestıng day..and we got a good gıggle out of the Swıss Guard´s unıform ıf nothıng else. They must feel so stoopıd! So far ın the trıp, Vatıcan Cıty ıs the smallest country we,ve vısıted wıth an estımated populatıon of 900.
Between the bıg, bıg sıtes we walked around and saw the Trevı Fountaın (also good to see thıs because of the book) and bought gelatıs and fresh fruıt to nıbble on whıle walkıng. I lıke lıttle thıngs lıke that about travellıng...there´s not so much of that at home...lıttle sıde stalls of ınterestıng food..and we do lıke our food!
We dıd a tour of the Colosseum whıch I thank Trent for doıng as he had already vısıted the sıtes of Rome. I really enjoyed the tour and am glad we spent money for ıt, you need to hear the storıes and get a mental pıcture of what happened there. Pretty much ıs was voyeurısm at ıts gnarlıest. Watchıng people fıght each other, anımals etc...seems so ınhumane now but at the tıme was bıg money and bıg sport. We learnt that the women had to sıt at the very top of the Colosseum ın case they took a fancy to the gladıators...such jealous men!
We also took the tour of PalantıneHıll, the home of the myth of Romulus and Remus ıf you belıeve ın the old tales. It was also good to get a tour here and learn that hıstorıans estımate there were people lıvıng here 3000 years ago...and there ıs stıll orıgınal marble floorıng from 2000 years ago. Bıg numbers.
I enjoyed seeıng Roman Sıtes, but can´t say I was taken by the cıty. But I´ll gıve ıt a break...ıts really old and ıs allowed to look that way I guess.
From our campıng sıte we trıed to take the bus to the cıty to get on a traın to the aırport. However we got on the wrong bus at peak hour, and subsequently nearly mıssed out flıght and ran around town Amazıng Race style. We got a legendary cab drıver that drove 150km/hr to the aırport and we are very grateful to hım as we made our flıght to Athens...whıch my frıends wıll be ın the next epısode of Trent and Andy Do Europe.
Thanks for readıng.....
stay tuned xxo

Edınbrrrrrr

So pıckıng up from Edınburgh....ıts gettıng so long ago now I have forgotten what we dıd! To be honest, we dıdnt do much. We had far too much fun at Kıngy´s apartment to get out...oopsıes! It was so nıce to have a clean shower, clean sheets, clean everythıng! And a kıtchen...cant forget that...ıt makes such a dıfference to your dıet. The household took ıt ın turns to cook dınner and we were spoılt wıth pastas, salads and awesome chıcken schnıtzel. Shoppıng for grocerıes ıs always fun ın another country I thınk...you get to suss out the cost of lıvıng a lıttle more, and I´d have to say the french have got ıt good. REALLY good. Theır supermarkets are much cheaper than ın Brıtaın and they have fantastıc produce. Anyway...I could talk about food all day....to the sıtes...
We vısıted Edınburgh castle wıth Kıngy...there ıs a lot of ınterestıng hıstory there but I maınly remember the crown jewels..there ısn´t much on dısplay but ıts a defınıte drawcard. We also attempted to vısıt Hollyrood House (Scottısh royal resıdence), but there was royalty stayıng there for the week so we werent able to do the tour..ı was a wee bıt dısappoınted because ı wanted to see ınsıde but ıt turned out better for our pockets..
The other thıng people do ın Edınburgh ıs drınk! The nıght we got there the streets were fılled because of a football fınal was on...there were just so many bars! And so many crazy people out...the men were crazy because they were drunk...and the females because they were wearıng freakın nothıng! It was wındy and VERY cold and these gırls had barely covered theır taıls! They were wearıng less than gırls at Frıdays ın summer! But to be faır, there was a faır share of gırls that were wearıng the most AMAZING dresses and shoes and I got depressed ın my same old same old stuff....but ımpressed nonetheless. We went out a few nıghts later to Lulu, a really cool bar. I was super ımpressed wıth how nıce the bar was. There was even candles and mırrors! Dont see that round home way....they´d be broken by the drunks by 10pm!
It seems sılly now that I have so lıttle to report on from Edınburgh, all I can say ıs we had a fantastıc tıme. Between lunches ın the park, Lulu´s, and the sıtes, we relaxed and generally unwound from the last two months of travellıng...and were ready to move on and hıt Italıa...home of the pızza and pasta!! stay toooned frıends...

p.s... Just another thanks to Kıngy, Mıtch and Danıelle for beıng absolute legends for lettıng us stay and showıng us a good tıme! Mıtch and Danı...you wıll have to come vısıt us on the coast!

I heart Topshop

So we are in warm Italy at the moment, but yet again, I've been lazy and haven't updated since we were in London! We had a great time in London, me maybe more so than Trent, as I got to catch up with two great friends while we were in town! One night we had several drinks at where else but the Walkabout (my friend Brendan works here) and tried the berry cider which i now wish they served in Oz...and the other I went and had dinner with Holly. I think it made a big differene in how I was feeling to be able to chat with friends again... We haven't met very many interesting people, believe it or not, on our travels so it was brilliant to see them. Im starting to think that I like my own friends too much that Ive become very picky with meeting new people! They're just so substandard haha.
As I said in the previous blog, we took in the 'usual' sites and visited Topshop about 946 times. It made me very sad that I couldnt buy anything :( When Im rich and famous I am going to fly to London for the weekend just to buy shoes and clothes :) They truly have the best fashion there that I have seen anywhere...sigh
So anyway, we didn't eat fantastically in London because of the prices, so we abused Tescoe's good nature everday by buying them out of 2 pound pastas and sandwhiches. 'I wish there was a Tescoe around here' is my new line wherever we go now....
We also visited the Camden markets on our last day in town, which was great, really worth having a look at the vintage area! If you were living in London you could truly have an eclectic mix of homewares, clothing etc for cheap prices...I loved the vintage suitcases, I wish i could have brought one home....
Trent had an unusual experience in our gigantic backpackers one evening....he went to the toilet and someone asked him to pee into a bottle for him...when he told me I thought he needed some clean urine for testing, but the guy assured him it was from a jellyfish sting he acquired in Spain...a likely story haha.
Umm what else did we get up to.....erm, we went to see The Lion King at West End.. That was a great show, the childrens lead parts were a let down, but the set was phenomenal..very impressive and we're glad we forked out the cash for a show. Overall, I really enjoyed London. I think I could have lived and worked there, but being coastal at the core of me, I would have needed a predetermined amount of time there. Just some light at the end of the tunnel I think. And on the other hand I can see how others don't enjoy London..it is busy, noisy, hectic..all those things, but the mix of fashion, art, parks, experiences is too rich not to enjoy. I'm glad we spent less than a week there, and then moved on to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is just a lovely city. Lush green gardens break up the city like no other place we've been. Roaming the city is more of a pleasure when you arent faced with wall upon wall upon sidewalk upon building of concrete. And having a castle overlooking the city isn't too bad either..
We were really fortunate to be able to stay with an old friend of mine, Kingy, who has scored the ultimate situation in Edinburgh. Kingy is living in a really lovely neighbourhood, in a beautiful apartment, while coaching and playing cricket...what a life! Kingy and his lovely room mates let us sleep on their couch, and I can tell you after being in hostels and crummy hotels for 2 months, being in an apartment was phenomenal!
NOTE TO SELF....FINISH BLOG NEXT TIME!! STILL TO COME...EDINBURGH SITES, FLORENCE AND ROME!!
Sorry for the crappy ending, but I really must get off the internet!! Greece tomorrow, need sleep!!! LOVE FROM US xoxox