|
Day 13 - Biot to Venice via Verona
 |
 |
We had another
long drive crossing Italy but it was very scenic through the SE coast of France and
through bridges and tunnels of mountainous Northern Italy. Another Contiki
bus paralleling our tour got stranded in one tunnel and our driver stopped
and got them going. |
|
Ben, Mike, Me, Brandon, Ben & JT with Juliet in Verona
|
Brandon, Larissa, Jessie, Emily and Laura at the Fusina Bar in Venice
|
|
Before leaving France, we had a long visit to a perfumery, Fragonards.
I asked if there was a tour of the Kronenbourg brewery as well but it wasn't
on the itinerary. We had an hour rest in Verona where the
attractions were a Roman amphitheatre (still being used but not enough time
to visit) and Juliet's balcony. There was a statue of Juliet in the
courtyard and it was supposed to be lucky to touch her right boob. It was
tradition to leave love notes in the
courtyard but the walls were
covered with gum used to stick the notes to the wall. It seemed to be just a
big tourist trap. The campsite in Venice was nice with mobile trailers for
cabins but small shower/toilet blocks. There was both a restaurant and bar
and there were probably five Contiki groups staying at the same time since every tour stopped in Venice.
The mosquitos were nasty but I was prepared since I packed repellent. It was a party
night at the campsite with some outdoor karaoke. Specialty of
the bar was an Attitude Adjuster with four shots of alcohol topped with a peach
cooler. The bar's website is
www.fusinabar.com Our group was there May 24th and 25th if you're looking
for photos. I've linked to one above of our group. |
Day 14 - Venice (Venize)
|
It was culture week in Italy so most museums and historic sites were free.
We took the ferry to Venice in the morning. The ferry dock was right
across from the campsite and it took us right beside St. Mark's Square.
After a glass blowing and lace making demo, we had free time
to get lost. |
 |
 |
|
Deanna & Me by the gondola stop
|
Kate shopping for masks
|
|
Venice was our first encounter with Africans selling fake Louis Vuitton and
Prada handbags. They were everywhere and fairly mobile in case the
cops came by. In Venice, I found the best pizza place in Italy, thin
crust, crispy, large slice and only 1.50€. To find this place, walk
west at the southeast corner of St Mark's Square opposite the church
following the signs to Galleria Accademia. It's one or two streets
past the square and to the right. For others, it was their first
experience with Italian gelato. We spent the day strolling the streets
and had our optional gondola ride in the afternoon. I didn't get into
St.Mark's Church (free) since I was wearing shorts. Most Italian
churches have a dress code with no bare shoulders or knees. In the
evening, it was dinner at the campsite and another night of partying though
I packed it in early to try to recover from my lingering cold. |
Day 15 - Venice to Florence via Pisa
 |
We left Venice on our way to Pisa to
see some famous tower. Pisa was full of African souvenir sellers (this
time the product was mini leaning towers, postcards and handbags) and lots of tourists.
It wasn't as packed as I expected since it probably wasn't peak tourist
season. Pisa has the standard church layout with a separate church, bell tower
and baptistery. You can actually climb up the tower but you need
to book in advance since they limit the number of people inside at one time. From Pisa, we
arrived at the campsite in the afternoon. We had five people sharing a
fairly new trailer with our own bathroom with a shower and a living area.
Except for the three people in one small bedroom, we were in luxury.
After dinner, the bus took us down to the the Red Garter bar. With
live karaoke and drinks, we were partying all the way back to the campsite on the bus
singing songs from Grease. Inside the bar, there were a bunch of Italian guys
dressed as sailors. Since Florence didn't have a port, most of the
guys were skeptical but a few girls noticed they had plastic swords. |
|
In front of the leaning tower. Looks pretty straight in this picture.
|
Day 16 - Florence (Firenze)
|
We
had a free guided tour starting at Piazza della Signoria with it's many statues
and this was also the location where David originally stood (there's a
replica there now). The tour passed the Uffizi gallery, Ponte Vecchio bridge and over to
the Duomo cathedral, bell tower and baptistery. After a visit to a leather shop, we had free
time. We headed off to Galleria Accademia to see the real David. It was
great because there was no charge (culture week), no bigs crowds, and no lineup
to get in. |
 |
 |
|
Florence from the Duomo cupola
|
David in the Academia
|
|
I then broke off from the group and headed off to climb to the cupola of the Duomo
cathedral (6€). I had a closer look at the paintings inside the dome
and had a view of the city from the top of the dome.
The bell tower could be climbed as well but it wasn't as high.
I then headed over to Pitti Palace (free - culture week) for a quick look before
meeting up with the group to head back to camp to get ready for the evening.
Florence was also filled with African souvenir sellers. This time, they
were selling art and handbags. Since it was illegal, they'd always be on
the watch for cops and would move to new locations frequently. At night, we had an optional Tuscan dinner and an optional outing at Space Electronic
nightclub. The girls had been warned previously about the Italian guys in
the club.
They were very aggressive and annoying. We had pre-arranged a safety signal
for the girls. After a fun night, we all left as a group back to camp. |
Day 17 - Rome (Roma)
 |
 |
Florence
to Rome was our shortest trip so that gave us a good day and a half in Rome.
We were warned repeatedly about pickpockets and heard a story of a girl on
another tour having her wallet stolen from her pack on the metro. Since
coaches were not allowed in the city, Contiki supplied us with two all-day metro
passes. The bus dropped us off at the train station and we metroed to the
Colosseum. |
|
April, Narelle & Me at Trevi Fountain
|
At the Colosseum
|
|
Again, we lucked out with free entry because of culture week.
Next was an optional guided tour of the Roman Forum ruins and then we had a
walking tour of Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona where
we arranged our own dinner. There was a modern statue guy there versus
the old school types. We had to be wary of extra charges at
restaurants because they could charge you extra for eating outside, bread,
or just sitting down. After a great pasta dinner and gelato for
dessert, we caught the metro back to the campsite from the Spanish Steps.
Everyone was a little disappointed with the campsite in Rome, especially
coming from Florence. The showers were cold and the food wasn't the
best but the bar and pizzaria were nice. |
Day 18 - Rome/Vatican
|
Since
it was the last Sunday of the month, the Vatican museum was free so we lucked
out on admission once again.
This time, I was prepared with proper Italian church dress and no shorts.
The line had snaked around several blocks to St. Peters Square and it took us an
hour and a half to get inside. Luckily, we had left earlier because the line
got even longer. However, there was mass at noon and there was virtually
no lineup around that time because the Pope would be performing a bit of the
service. Inside the Vatican museum were vast collections of art
including statues, tapestries, paintings and
of course, the Sistine Chapel. It was pretty amazing and difficult to keep
quiet inside the chapel though attendants would frequently hush the crowd. |
 |
|
St. Peters Square from the Basilica cupola
|
|
In the afternoon, we paid 4€ to climb to the top of the
dome of St. Peter's Basilica. It was 1€ more to take a lift part of the
way up but I climbed the whole thing. Inside St. Peter's (free - Italian
church dress) was pretty interesting with lots of statues and paintings. I may have missed Michaelangelo's Pieta inside since I rushed
through after coming down from the dome. We had a scheduled bus pickup at
the train station and it was also the last night for a few girls in the group
whose last stop was going to be Rome. |
Day 19 - Rome to Brindisi via Pompeii
 |
 |
From Rome it was off to Pompeii for a guided tour of the preserved city.
I was surprised by the size of Pompeii, we only had time to see a very small
portion of it on our optional guided tour. |
|
Pompeii street
|
Paintings in the brothel. Guess you could order by picture if you
didn't speak Latin.
|
|
We waited probably half an hour to get into the brothel to see the erotic
art on the walls (during ancient times, the wait was probably longer).
Some interesting information the tour guide provided us included the stones
on the roads used to restrict chariots on certain streets, the phalice markings in the road which
provided directions to the brothels, the lead pipes in the ground carrying water and
buildings that
were the bakeries and bars.
Back on the road, we arrived at Brindisi and said bye to our bus and bus driver as we were heading to
Greece by overnight ferry. |
|