VERONA

We hired bikes to see Verona. The main sights were Juliets balconey and tomb. It was a very pretty city with a large Arena and market filled piazzas. Pictured is Amanda on Juliets balconey and Warren rubbing Juliets right breast (in hope of a new love!?!)

Milan

Milan was a very pretty city. The cathedral was beautiful with its many spears and sculptures, what we really loved was the shopping!!!. It had the big brands such as Prada and Gucci in beautiful malls and streets and less expensive stores for those converting from AUD!!!. Warren splashed out and bought a jacket for 90 euros and Amanda bought some cheap tops.

VENICE

Venice is the most beautiful city in the world. We crossed almost all of it 400 bridges, from the beautiful Rialto to the smallest. It is a maze of streets (more then made out) and canals and we got happily lost several times. The first night we went to see a concerto preformed in an old beautiful church. We felt very cultured.

St Marks Square was amazing, the church took 2 hours to explore. The ceiling and 5 domes were covered in beautiful gold mosaics and the balconey contained 4 giant bronze horses dated from the second centuary.

The piazza is famous for all the pidgeons - there are millions. If you hold out your hands they fly onto you!!! Its quiet scary r.e. the picture!!

Warren romanced me during a Gondola ride (we talked him down to 60 euro for 30 mins). It was very romantic, the captain pointed out landmarks and whistled soft tunes throughout.

We had beautiful dinners in lovely cafes overlooking the canals and piazzas. The shopping in Venice was amazing with blown glass being a local specialty. We spent hours looking through the stores, finally buying a wine stopper and some earings.

Warren got a haircut by a stylest who mainly deals with tranvestites (I will try to slip you a photo later!!)

SAN GIMIGNANO

San Gimignano is a small town ontop of a hill. The 13 towers of this walled town are beautiful and can be see from miles away. The winding streets and stone buildings give the town a medievil feel. There are many stores to look through selling local wares and souveniers. We bought a pizza cutter and a cheese knife. (both small and light!!) I loved wandering through the streets and having a latte in the main square (pictured) The sun was setting over the hills as we waited for our bus. (It took 2 buses and 3 hours to get back to Florence)

PISA

The only thing to see in Pisa is the leaning tower. So we took a train from Florence and stayed long enough to take some silly photos. It was crazy to see it still standing - there is a very big lean!! Note the brown hair, when in rome...... (I love that I can say that!)

Florence

When we first arived to florence we had some trouble finding the hotel. Then we had had to pay up front for our room. We had no money on us so Warren ran off to find an ATM. Huffing and puffing he returned 20 minuets latter. He had to run across the city because they were all down.

After we rested we set off to have a look at the very famous statue of David housed in the Galleria dell Accademia. We found it to be breathtaking to see the massive statue with our own eyes.

That night we tracked down a night club to go out for a few drinks. Its was a club in the central park of Florence. It was half indoors and half out, containing 4 dance floors. The dress code is modern like 2007 and the music is from the past like 1995. It was crazy but a very fun night.

We climbed the bell tower called the campanile which is located next to the massive Cathedrdal. From there we walked over the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Then to the Piazzale Michelangelo which was on a hill and had an awesome post card view of the city.

The last day we walk through the Galleria Uffizi. Which house some very famious paintings from Da Vinci, Botticelli and many others.

Florence is an awesome place to check out lots of art and meusems.

POMPEII and SIENA

Italy has been a blast. We had a day trip to pompeii. It was amazing to see an entire city preserved under lava and ash. They had swimming pools, cafes, arenas and theaters just like today. The picture is of us standing where the gladiators once fought.

Siena is a pretty medievil town between Rome and Florence. We stayed two nights and love it. It had a large piazza which contained the town hall and bell tower. The duomo (church) was beautiful and contained detailed marble floors and amazing paintings. We also loved the boutique shops. Here is a picture of warren outside the town hall.

Rome

We arrived safe and sound in Rome (warren without a suitcase for 24hrs!!). Rome is a beautiful city with monuments and fountains around every turn. The Colosseo and the Pantheon were our favourites. Warren loved the Fontana di Trevi and the spanish steps. The Vatican musuem was amazing and being in the Sistine Chapel was a moment to remember. The pasta is beautiful but the coffee is too strong for our tastes - the options are strong, very strong or really really strong!!! We are becoming perfect tourists - have only been lost a few times and our Italian is improving. Bye for now A and W