Here's the bets on the baby's birthday :) The expected date is 14/1/2010, but doesn't even rank! 16/1/2010 looks like it's the favourite.
Dad 11/1/2010
Mum 14/1/2010
Hayley 9/1/2010
Rhys 9/1/2010
Ruth 12/1/2010
Ant 6/1/2010
Trav 18/1/2010
Josh 16/1/2010
Julie 15/1/2010
Rach 16/1/2010
Clancy 16/1/2010
Mark 15/1/2010
Ishi 8/1/2010
Trista 12/1/2010
John 10/1/2010
Brent 16/1/2010
Comment your bets!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wile E. Coyote
We've pretty much come to the end of our trip and we're both ready to come home now. Don't get me wrong - Italy has been great and we're still looking for somewhere affordable to live here, but I'm missing everything back home now - Ollie, the public toilets that aren't too bad, friends and family, oh and the language of the Gods... "English". It's like a game at the start trying to work out what people are actually saying, kinda like charades (Italians are quite good at it, I think it comes naturally), but especially late at night, it starts getting really tough and exhausting.
On with the show. Here's a couple of my favourite things from Rome. All the buildings are pretty spectacular, but there's one that has statues on the top of it of chariots that is visible from all over Rome. Definitely in my top 10 favourite buildings. You can only just see one of the statues in the top left.
[caption id="attachment_61" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Favourite Rome building"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_60" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="nice firm statue"]
[/caption]
While we were in staying in Rome, we took a day trip to Pompeii. The trip took us a couple of hours by bus and worked out really well. The way it worked was that they left us to explore Pompeii at our own leisure for about 5 hours or so. So, we had lunch first and got some tickets into the PompeiiPark. The tickets included a map, but there was a bit of scam going on where they had somehow run out of the free maps, but somehow had maps enough to sell with books at the bookshop. Once we had bought into the scam, we were on our way with a not-free book and our free map :) Pompeii is so much larger than I expected - we only saw a small section of the city.
[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pompeii Ticket"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_64" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Ruth walking outside Pompeii"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_62" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pompeii - caught napping"]
[/caption]
After Rome we slowed down a bit for Tuscany. Ant and I went out photographering where I snapped this pretty sweet photo of a sunflower and his buddies. They're literally everywhere. That's also a house on a hill. I think Ant may have copied me with a couple of photo ideas but he's still learning so it's good for him to get the experience ;)
[caption id="attachment_59" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="sunflowers"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_73" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Tuscani"]
[/caption]
In Tuscani, we also checked out heaps of the towns nearby, including Siena, where the Palio di Siena happens. That's the crazy horse race around a piazza in Siena. We were actually there on the day of the race and could have stuck around to watch the race but we were told (and also saw) that it gets a bit crazy and packed and it's better to just watch it on the tv! So we walked around the circuit, checked out the place and went home. There were areas of the town which had heaps of flags displayed which we were told were the districts of the horses that were racing. They also do the "throw the flag" thing as seen in one of my favourite films (not really) "Under the Tuscan sun".
[caption id="attachment_66" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Siena - you can see the blue flags in the background"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_75" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Siena - flags"]
[/caption]
The place we stayed at in Tuscani was awesome. Here's a bit of a taste of "Marco's palace", which was actually called something like "The horse place".. it sounds better in Italian though.
We all left Tuscani with a tear in our eyes (I had been cutting onions, it was nothing to do with the sorrow of leaving Marco's palace) and drove to Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra means 5 earths or something like that, but basically there's these 5 towns on the coast that are pretty sweet. We had been told that the road was pretty rough getting there so when Nat (the GPS) told us to take a mountain goat path, we obliged, but eventually got stuck and had to back it up! The actual road there was just pretty normal so I don't know what they were going on about! Anyway, we ended up getting there safely and did some exploring. I wasn't heaps impressed with the beaches - they have private sections of the beach for each hotel and barely anyone swims, they pretty much all sunbake! I think we're really spoiled in Perth, we've got some really good beaches.
We headed off in the morning from Cinque Terra to Ruth's grandma's (nonna's) place in Cuipano (I think that's how it's spelt) where we were staying for the next couple of days. We went around quite a bit with Aunty Patricia (zia) and Uncle Fiorenzo (zio fio) which was really good fun. They took us up a mountain about 2km high and got some cheese, checked out some towns and some tunnels dug in WWII by the Italians. Good times :) I only have a video of the roads up there..
While we were still staying at nonna's, Kate messaged to say she was in Venice and that her uncle and aunty couldn't meet her there as planned so we went for a day trip up to Venice! It was good seeing someone from Perth even if she is crazy :) She was making notes about the wonderful time she was having with her uncle and aunty (who weren't there), what they were eatings, their feelings, etc.. clearly crazy :) We were joined by a Mr Coyote (aptly named due to the story he told of his dog being mauled by a Coyote which apparently do exist!) who had met Kate the night before and cruised around Venice with him. Apparently he fell in love with Kate later but that's another story! :)
Lastly, we checked out Lago di Garda (Lake something) and went up a huge mountain there too. Heaps more to say about Lago di Garda, but most of the photos are on the other camera which I can't find the cable for. The lake is pretty big and has mountains most of the way around it. Here's a bit of the boatride back to where we had parked.
On with the show. Here's a couple of my favourite things from Rome. All the buildings are pretty spectacular, but there's one that has statues on the top of it of chariots that is visible from all over Rome. Definitely in my top 10 favourite buildings. You can only just see one of the statues in the top left.
[caption id="attachment_61" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Favourite Rome building"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_60" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="nice firm statue"]
[/caption]While we were in staying in Rome, we took a day trip to Pompeii. The trip took us a couple of hours by bus and worked out really well. The way it worked was that they left us to explore Pompeii at our own leisure for about 5 hours or so. So, we had lunch first and got some tickets into the PompeiiPark. The tickets included a map, but there was a bit of scam going on where they had somehow run out of the free maps, but somehow had maps enough to sell with books at the bookshop. Once we had bought into the scam, we were on our way with a not-free book and our free map :) Pompeii is so much larger than I expected - we only saw a small section of the city.
[caption id="attachment_65" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pompeii Ticket"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_64" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Ruth walking outside Pompeii"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_62" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Pompeii - caught napping"]
[/caption]After Rome we slowed down a bit for Tuscany. Ant and I went out photographering where I snapped this pretty sweet photo of a sunflower and his buddies. They're literally everywhere. That's also a house on a hill. I think Ant may have copied me with a couple of photo ideas but he's still learning so it's good for him to get the experience ;)
[caption id="attachment_59" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="sunflowers"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_73" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Tuscani"]
[/caption]In Tuscani, we also checked out heaps of the towns nearby, including Siena, where the Palio di Siena happens. That's the crazy horse race around a piazza in Siena. We were actually there on the day of the race and could have stuck around to watch the race but we were told (and also saw) that it gets a bit crazy and packed and it's better to just watch it on the tv! So we walked around the circuit, checked out the place and went home. There were areas of the town which had heaps of flags displayed which we were told were the districts of the horses that were racing. They also do the "throw the flag" thing as seen in one of my favourite films (not really) "Under the Tuscan sun".
[caption id="attachment_66" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Siena - you can see the blue flags in the background"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_75" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Siena - flags"]
[/caption]The place we stayed at in Tuscani was awesome. Here's a bit of a taste of "Marco's palace", which was actually called something like "The horse place".. it sounds better in Italian though.
We all left Tuscani with a tear in our eyes (I had been cutting onions, it was nothing to do with the sorrow of leaving Marco's palace) and drove to Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra means 5 earths or something like that, but basically there's these 5 towns on the coast that are pretty sweet. We had been told that the road was pretty rough getting there so when Nat (the GPS) told us to take a mountain goat path, we obliged, but eventually got stuck and had to back it up! The actual road there was just pretty normal so I don't know what they were going on about! Anyway, we ended up getting there safely and did some exploring. I wasn't heaps impressed with the beaches - they have private sections of the beach for each hotel and barely anyone swims, they pretty much all sunbake! I think we're really spoiled in Perth, we've got some really good beaches.
We headed off in the morning from Cinque Terra to Ruth's grandma's (nonna's) place in Cuipano (I think that's how it's spelt) where we were staying for the next couple of days. We went around quite a bit with Aunty Patricia (zia) and Uncle Fiorenzo (zio fio) which was really good fun. They took us up a mountain about 2km high and got some cheese, checked out some towns and some tunnels dug in WWII by the Italians. Good times :) I only have a video of the roads up there..
While we were still staying at nonna's, Kate messaged to say she was in Venice and that her uncle and aunty couldn't meet her there as planned so we went for a day trip up to Venice! It was good seeing someone from Perth even if she is crazy :) She was making notes about the wonderful time she was having with her uncle and aunty (who weren't there), what they were eatings, their feelings, etc.. clearly crazy :) We were joined by a Mr Coyote (aptly named due to the story he told of his dog being mauled by a Coyote which apparently do exist!) who had met Kate the night before and cruised around Venice with him. Apparently he fell in love with Kate later but that's another story! :)
Lastly, we checked out Lago di Garda (Lake something) and went up a huge mountain there too. Heaps more to say about Lago di Garda, but most of the photos are on the other camera which I can't find the cable for. The lake is pretty big and has mountains most of the way around it. Here's a bit of the boatride back to where we had parked.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Quick post
[caption id="attachment_51" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Contemplating"]
[/caption]
I was just relaxing in our Tuscan villa near Cortona when I realised that this was the perfect time to head outside, go down into the internet zone (similar to the "danger zone") and talk about my feelings.
It's 9.20pm currently, the temperature is very pleasing and I am sitting in the alfresco area where we have our breakfast. From here, I have an amazing view of Cortona, which is a town situated near the top of a hill and is probably now in my top 5 Italian towns list.
We went to the vatican last Sunday as it was free and the catholic church already has enough money. Here's a couple of videos around the area..
There was also a great park in the middle of Rome that kinda reminds me of King's park, although King's park is actually a lot nicer I would say. Near one of the sides of the park, lo and behold our eyes were met with our beloved Mark of the west, perfectly sculptured. They must have heard about his excellent drawing skills and mad figurine collection and erected an homage to him.
[caption id="attachment_53" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Mark (most glory included)"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_54" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Mark (most glory included)"]
[/caption]
We've really been enjoying Cortona too. The first night we were there, they had a concert kind of thing that started well, but we ended up leaving for lack of entertainment :( Here's a bit of a taste of it.
[/caption]I was just relaxing in our Tuscan villa near Cortona when I realised that this was the perfect time to head outside, go down into the internet zone (similar to the "danger zone") and talk about my feelings.
It's 9.20pm currently, the temperature is very pleasing and I am sitting in the alfresco area where we have our breakfast. From here, I have an amazing view of Cortona, which is a town situated near the top of a hill and is probably now in my top 5 Italian towns list.
We went to the vatican last Sunday as it was free and the catholic church already has enough money. Here's a couple of videos around the area..
St Peter's Basilica
Some old dude in a window
There was also a great park in the middle of Rome that kinda reminds me of King's park, although King's park is actually a lot nicer I would say. Near one of the sides of the park, lo and behold our eyes were met with our beloved Mark of the west, perfectly sculptured. They must have heard about his excellent drawing skills and mad figurine collection and erected an homage to him.
[caption id="attachment_53" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Mark (most glory included)"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_54" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Mark (most glory included)"]
[/caption]We've really been enjoying Cortona too. The first night we were there, they had a concert kind of thing that started well, but we ended up leaving for lack of entertainment :( Here's a bit of a taste of it.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Day trip
We took the train from Termini about half an hour out of Rome to Frascati to spend the day with Andrea and Valentina. The train passes some huge Roman brick structures with continuing archways and a flat top which we were told were the ancient aqueducts used to carry water. It’s kinda funny that they’re just sitting there as the train goes past and not in some museum. Australia should so go to war with Italy and bring some history back. Failing that, we could just nicely ask for some that they don’t use anymore :)
Anyway, we endured the economy class carriage with dirty seats, graffiti’d windows, smelly carriage and young beggars with three brothers that can’t find work and were met at Frascati station by Andrea and Valentina with two cars.
[caption id="attachment_31" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="In Frascati"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_37" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Mansion in Frascati"]
[/caption]
We had a quick walk around town, then on to where Andrea wanted to take us for lunch, but alas the place was closed. We walked a bit more, got some free meat from a butcher and found an awesome cantina down some stairs for lunch. They had heaps of hot food displayed and you pick and choose what you want from that and pay for what you eat. We had these tomatoes stuffed with rice and a pasta salad. All the food was really tasty and fresh. I get the feeling that Italians are kinda picky about food and that’s what you get at the authentic places – good food. We chose the cantina as the place for Ruth to share the news with Andrea and Vale (“…we’ve got some news…”) and that’s just what she did :)
[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignright" width="150" caption="fragoline con panna"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_34" align="alignright" width="150" caption="View of the lake from Nemi"]
[/caption]
After lunch we drove to a little town nearby called Nemi. It was probably the coolest place I’ve been so far (ever!). It was a fairytale village on the top of a hill overlooking a glistening lake. Birds flew around and created a very peaceful atmosphere. We took a short walk around town and stopped at a café that specialised in all things Fragoline. The town is quite high up and the view was amazing from the café. We got some fragoline con panna (mini strawberries with cream) and chillaxed for a good while.
[caption id="attachment_40" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Cathedral in Acaccia"]
[/caption]
After a bit more exploring in Nemi and checking out the house prices (which were actually quite affordable), we went on to another town nearby named something like Acaccia. We parked on a bridge which was actually another Roman aqueduct except even bigger than the ones we saw on the train. The Romans were so impressive to build such huge structures that have lasted for so long. We checked out the local cathedral there, walked a bit and got some ice-cream. I have come to realise there is a 3 point “Italian town” checklist – food, something catholic (eg a cathedral) and heaps of walking (check, check, check).
[caption id="attachment_35" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Pope's summer residence"]
[/caption]
To finish off the day, we drove to the next town. We made a booking for a restaurant at 8 (nothing opens before then much to Ruth’s dismay) and started killing some time (it was probably only 6.30pm by this stage). The town had another lake and we walked about half way around this one (check - walking), tested some of the local foods along the way (fried olives in batter) (check - food), and had a rest on an old pier. From the lake you can see the Pope’s summer residence (check – something catholic). The lakes are actually craters caused by something I wasn’t quite listening to, but probably dinosaurs or aliens or maybe an old volcano Ruth has advised. We walked back around the lake and had dinner just with “Il Gladiatore” (The Gladiator) showing in the background. I’m pretty sure I also saw Lily Allen but I don’t remember her being able to speak Italian nor looking slightly different to the real Lily Allen.
Overall, we all had a great time today.
Anyway, we endured the economy class carriage with dirty seats, graffiti’d windows, smelly carriage and young beggars with three brothers that can’t find work and were met at Frascati station by Andrea and Valentina with two cars.
[caption id="attachment_31" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="In Frascati"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_37" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Mansion in Frascati"]
[/caption]We had a quick walk around town, then on to where Andrea wanted to take us for lunch, but alas the place was closed. We walked a bit more, got some free meat from a butcher and found an awesome cantina down some stairs for lunch. They had heaps of hot food displayed and you pick and choose what you want from that and pay for what you eat. We had these tomatoes stuffed with rice and a pasta salad. All the food was really tasty and fresh. I get the feeling that Italians are kinda picky about food and that’s what you get at the authentic places – good food. We chose the cantina as the place for Ruth to share the news with Andrea and Vale (“…we’ve got some news…”) and that’s just what she did :)
[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignright" width="150" caption="fragoline con panna"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_34" align="alignright" width="150" caption="View of the lake from Nemi"]
[/caption]After lunch we drove to a little town nearby called Nemi. It was probably the coolest place I’ve been so far (ever!). It was a fairytale village on the top of a hill overlooking a glistening lake. Birds flew around and created a very peaceful atmosphere. We took a short walk around town and stopped at a café that specialised in all things Fragoline. The town is quite high up and the view was amazing from the café. We got some fragoline con panna (mini strawberries with cream) and chillaxed for a good while.
[caption id="attachment_40" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Cathedral in Acaccia"]
[/caption]After a bit more exploring in Nemi and checking out the house prices (which were actually quite affordable), we went on to another town nearby named something like Acaccia. We parked on a bridge which was actually another Roman aqueduct except even bigger than the ones we saw on the train. The Romans were so impressive to build such huge structures that have lasted for so long. We checked out the local cathedral there, walked a bit and got some ice-cream. I have come to realise there is a 3 point “Italian town” checklist – food, something catholic (eg a cathedral) and heaps of walking (check, check, check).
[caption id="attachment_35" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Pope's summer residence"]
[/caption]To finish off the day, we drove to the next town. We made a booking for a restaurant at 8 (nothing opens before then much to Ruth’s dismay) and started killing some time (it was probably only 6.30pm by this stage). The town had another lake and we walked about half way around this one (check - walking), tested some of the local foods along the way (fried olives in batter) (check - food), and had a rest on an old pier. From the lake you can see the Pope’s summer residence (check – something catholic). The lakes are actually craters caused by something I wasn’t quite listening to, but probably dinosaurs or aliens or maybe an old volcano Ruth has advised. We walked back around the lake and had dinner just with “Il Gladiatore” (The Gladiator) showing in the background. I’m pretty sure I also saw Lily Allen but I don’t remember her being able to speak Italian nor looking slightly different to the real Lily Allen.
Overall, we all had a great time today.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
When in Rome...eat gelato
Ciao, Rufus writing to you from Rome!!
[caption id="attachment_15" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Ant in front of graffiti'd metro"]
[/caption]
Today we caught the metro to The Colosseum, please see pictures & videos as they are more interesting than what i have to say!
[caption id="attachment_17" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Inside"]
[/caption]
But, it was cool, we had a guided tour through these phones, (please see photo), they were kinda boring so i only half listened...oh and before we went in some gladiators grabbed Hayley and threatened to behead her...so we took some photos....and then we had to pay 10 euros, gipped!
After Colosseum we went for a long walk through palatine hill, which at points stands 40 meters above the roman forum, it was high and pretty cool
By now, it was 130 and we were all starving, esp me :) so we finally decided on a place that lots of Italians were eating at, we all had pasta and it was soooo good, Anthony had carbonara, i had penne arrabiata, Hayley had pasta too and Trav had a really yummy one with bacon bits, oh it was so good i cant explain it, very tasty
After our tummys were happy we went to get gelato from a place recommended by "when in Rome..." and trip advisor, it was the best gelato, it took me back to being a little kid, i had a GRANDE gelato of limona amalfa, very nice but not heavy, then i had another one...because i can! Mint...yuuummmm, Trav had gelato Baci, and said to the man serving, grazie per tutti i baci! which i thought was funny but i dont think the man was listening ): its fun ordering in italian, gives you a satisfaction when u nail it, yes!
[caption id="attachment_26" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Outside Pantheon"]
[/caption]
Checked out the Panthon, see photos, then we caught a taxi back to the bee hive, where we are staying, and like Hayley's dad has said, get in, and just close your eyes.....they really are crazy drivers! of course Ant and Trav loved it and Trav would say something silly like, "nice move" everytime our taxi would jump infront of 3 cars, or squeeze through a bus and another car with literally just inches between them....yeah that was scary, but it was all good in the end because i asked the guy, "Tu sai dove se una belissima pizza?" do u know where we can get a beautiful pizza? and he was more than happy to help us out, he was actualy very nice, shame about his driving, but he gave us a map and said "Tutti gli italiani mangiano qui, non vai ai parti turisty" "All the italians go here, dont go to the touristy places"
So....after 10euros between us and a nice nap, we made our way to MezzaLuna, we almost didnt find it, until we asked some locals, and realized it was just nearby, we arrive, and yes just 10 min after we sit, lots of Italians arrive and the place is loud! :)
We met the waiter, and found out he has 9 Zii & Zie in Perth! He also thinks Australia is better but i told him he was delussional :) Hehe, jj
[caption id="attachment_20" align="alignright" width="150" caption="ohhh yeah"]
[/caption]
So, i had pizza marghetita e buffala, which is literally just tomato sauce and buffalo-mozzarella cheese, for only 8euros! and it was the most amazing pizza i have ever had! The base was so thin but lovely cooked, the sauce has that real tomato flavour, and the cheese very creamy and stringy :)We all enjoyed it and decided to move to Italy and live on that street.There is a pic of the pizza to make u all jealous :)
Write to u soon....i hope someone is reading this and im not just talking to myself... :)
Ci vediamo!
[caption id="attachment_15" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Ant in front of graffiti'd metro"]
[/caption]Today we caught the metro to The Colosseum, please see pictures & videos as they are more interesting than what i have to say!
[caption id="attachment_17" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Inside"]
[/caption]But, it was cool, we had a guided tour through these phones, (please see photo), they were kinda boring so i only half listened...oh and before we went in some gladiators grabbed Hayley and threatened to behead her...so we took some photos....and then we had to pay 10 euros, gipped!
After Colosseum we went for a long walk through palatine hill, which at points stands 40 meters above the roman forum, it was high and pretty cool
By now, it was 130 and we were all starving, esp me :) so we finally decided on a place that lots of Italians were eating at, we all had pasta and it was soooo good, Anthony had carbonara, i had penne arrabiata, Hayley had pasta too and Trav had a really yummy one with bacon bits, oh it was so good i cant explain it, very tasty
After our tummys were happy we went to get gelato from a place recommended by "when in Rome..." and trip advisor, it was the best gelato, it took me back to being a little kid, i had a GRANDE gelato of limona amalfa, very nice but not heavy, then i had another one...because i can! Mint...yuuummmm, Trav had gelato Baci, and said to the man serving, grazie per tutti i baci! which i thought was funny but i dont think the man was listening ): its fun ordering in italian, gives you a satisfaction when u nail it, yes!
[caption id="attachment_26" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Outside Pantheon"]
[/caption]Checked out the Panthon, see photos, then we caught a taxi back to the bee hive, where we are staying, and like Hayley's dad has said, get in, and just close your eyes.....they really are crazy drivers! of course Ant and Trav loved it and Trav would say something silly like, "nice move" everytime our taxi would jump infront of 3 cars, or squeeze through a bus and another car with literally just inches between them....yeah that was scary, but it was all good in the end because i asked the guy, "Tu sai dove se una belissima pizza?" do u know where we can get a beautiful pizza? and he was more than happy to help us out, he was actualy very nice, shame about his driving, but he gave us a map and said "Tutti gli italiani mangiano qui, non vai ai parti turisty" "All the italians go here, dont go to the touristy places"
So....after 10euros between us and a nice nap, we made our way to MezzaLuna, we almost didnt find it, until we asked some locals, and realized it was just nearby, we arrive, and yes just 10 min after we sit, lots of Italians arrive and the place is loud! :)
We met the waiter, and found out he has 9 Zii & Zie in Perth! He also thinks Australia is better but i told him he was delussional :) Hehe, jj
[caption id="attachment_20" align="alignright" width="150" caption="ohhh yeah"]
[/caption]So, i had pizza marghetita e buffala, which is literally just tomato sauce and buffalo-mozzarella cheese, for only 8euros! and it was the most amazing pizza i have ever had! The base was so thin but lovely cooked, the sauce has that real tomato flavour, and the cheese very creamy and stringy :)We all enjoyed it and decided to move to Italy and live on that street.There is a pic of the pizza to make u all jealous :)
Write to u soon....i hope someone is reading this and im not just talking to myself... :)
Ci vediamo!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
roma - giorno uno
Dubai
Rewinding a day, our trip started with a quick stop-over stay in Dubai which is apparently located in the United States of Arabia or "USA" (quoted: Carrie-pedia 2009). It's quite a strange place - imagine picking the hottest and most desolate area in Australia, filling it with Arabs and building a big glamorous city. Sounds like Perth you say? Nay, there are a couple more oddities - people dress up in the heat (I think that's more an all year round thing), they have air conditioned bus stands and our taxi driver had two wives (one Arabian and one Pakistani).
We had plenty of daylight when we got there so we decided to have a guided tour by our dual-wived taxi driver who I will name Mohamed for ease (Praise be unto him). The joy ride took us around most of Dubai, past a couple of palaces which were quite extraordinary in themselves, covering huge areas. We also checked out the tallest building in the world, the hotel that has that crazy tennis court up high and the new and old gold markets. We were also encouraged to look for another wife by our taxi driver (we'd probably only be able to get an Arab or New Zealander on our wages), but both Ant and I declined the offer after little thought. All very interesting, but we were all pleased to get back in the hotel and rest up for the next flight.
Italy
With a little further ado, let me introduce our travelling companions. Firstly there is me and my wife Ruth (chi e incinta). The other couple joining us are Anthony (Ant, Curry, Candypants) and Hayley (mastermind of the trip). I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Hayley and thousands of helpers spent millions of hours organising the trip down to the nanosecond :)
Now without further ado, day one of Italy. We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The road we drove was pretty much the first road I had taken that leads to Rome (I don't know where that expression comes from!). The second half of the trip took us past some pretty grande momuments! I wasn't particularly intersted in seeing the touristy side Rome per se but I was absolutely taken by the grandness of some of these buildings and junk and am now really excited to explore everything! The colosseum was so much bigger than I thought it would be. We're going to take a better look at it tomorrow.
Once we had rested a bit, we took a stroll down to check a couple of the sights out. Pretty much everywhere you go in Rome, you are confronted with old things - old people asking for money, oh and beautiful old buildlings with awesome artwork or nudey men in front. We checked out Travy's fountain (there must have been a really cool Travy before me that they named it after, although I really only answer to "Trav" or "Travis" please people!) where we spotted Sylar dressed up as a Polizei (films just aren't making money these days - arrrrr they?). Then we went and checked out some Spanish (and otherwise) stairs. Both places were heavily tousisted, but it was still amazing going to see them. You get a glimpse into how wealthy the Roman empire was. It would have been amazing to see it in all its glory, but alas, that would require a time machine which is yet to be invented.
Pictures coming tomorrow.
Rewinding a day, our trip started with a quick stop-over stay in Dubai which is apparently located in the United States of Arabia or "USA" (quoted: Carrie-pedia 2009). It's quite a strange place - imagine picking the hottest and most desolate area in Australia, filling it with Arabs and building a big glamorous city. Sounds like Perth you say? Nay, there are a couple more oddities - people dress up in the heat (I think that's more an all year round thing), they have air conditioned bus stands and our taxi driver had two wives (one Arabian and one Pakistani).
We had plenty of daylight when we got there so we decided to have a guided tour by our dual-wived taxi driver who I will name Mohamed for ease (Praise be unto him). The joy ride took us around most of Dubai, past a couple of palaces which were quite extraordinary in themselves, covering huge areas. We also checked out the tallest building in the world, the hotel that has that crazy tennis court up high and the new and old gold markets. We were also encouraged to look for another wife by our taxi driver (we'd probably only be able to get an Arab or New Zealander on our wages), but both Ant and I declined the offer after little thought. All very interesting, but we were all pleased to get back in the hotel and rest up for the next flight.
Italy
With a little further ado, let me introduce our travelling companions. Firstly there is me and my wife Ruth (chi e incinta). The other couple joining us are Anthony (Ant, Curry, Candypants) and Hayley (mastermind of the trip). I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Hayley and thousands of helpers spent millions of hours organising the trip down to the nanosecond :)
Now without further ado, day one of Italy. We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The road we drove was pretty much the first road I had taken that leads to Rome (I don't know where that expression comes from!). The second half of the trip took us past some pretty grande momuments! I wasn't particularly intersted in seeing the touristy side Rome per se but I was absolutely taken by the grandness of some of these buildings and junk and am now really excited to explore everything! The colosseum was so much bigger than I thought it would be. We're going to take a better look at it tomorrow.
Once we had rested a bit, we took a stroll down to check a couple of the sights out. Pretty much everywhere you go in Rome, you are confronted with old things - old people asking for money, oh and beautiful old buildlings with awesome artwork or nudey men in front. We checked out Travy's fountain (there must have been a really cool Travy before me that they named it after, although I really only answer to "Trav" or "Travis" please people!) where we spotted Sylar dressed up as a Polizei (films just aren't making money these days - arrrrr they?). Then we went and checked out some Spanish (and otherwise) stairs. Both places were heavily tousisted, but it was still amazing going to see them. You get a glimpse into how wealthy the Roman empire was. It would have been amazing to see it in all its glory, but alas, that would require a time machine which is yet to be invented.
Pictures coming tomorrow.
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