Portugal

We are currently recovering from the 'traumas of travel' with Janet in Lisbon, enjoying homely comforts such as home-cooked meals, lots of fruit and vegetables, freshly laundered clothes, and luxurious sleeping and bathroom arrangements!

We were very excited to have Cherry join us in Lisbon for a long weekend, and enjoyed having someone else sight-seeing with us after being on our own for so long. One day we went to Sintra - a lovely town with a Moorish castle crowning the hillside and several royal palaces. This is apparently where the royalty took their vacations and is particularly pleasant because of the lush foliage. We also went on a day trip to Óbidos - a walled village with charming white-washed walls accented with azure blue and golden yellow. After exploring the streets we sampled a local cherry flavoured liquor presented in a chocolate 'cup'.

In Lisbon itself we have explored the Castelo de São Jorge on the hill, the monastery and Torre (tower) of Belém, and the Commerce Square where royalty and ambassadors used to arrive at the city from the river. Reuben and Cherry also sampled a Portugese meal called a Francesinha. This, as Janet accurately described it, is a 'heartattack on a plate': steak, ham, and sausage sandwiched in a big bun with melted cheese poured over the top and topped by a fried egg. mm mmmmm.

It is a strange feeling to be nearing the end of our trip: we are both so looking forward to returning home, but feel sad that our much anticipated travels have nearly come to an end. Travelling is so exciting and gains you access to the most amazing places and experiences, but also comes at a cost to your personal comfort which can become quite hard after weeks on end. It will be with mixed emotions therefore that we start our journey homeward soon.


View of one of the royal palaces at Sintra - note the cool oversized chimneys for the kitchens!


Óbidos.

Southern Spain

Getting out of Barcelona proved harder than expected, and we ended up staying one night (two days) longer than intended, and taking the night train to Seville. This was an experience - one tiny cabin for two (cigarette smoke filtering through the air-conditioning all night) with skinny bunk beds and the rhythm of the train through the night to put you to sleep / keep you awake (depending on if you are Reuben or Katie). It did get us to Seville however, meant our gear was safe, and allowed us to spend the day at the beach in Barcelona instead of on a train for 8 hours. We managed to book in to a reasonably fancy hotel for a cheap rate, which was very soothing to the senses - we have realised how much we rely on creature comforts to keep our spirits up!

Unfortunately we hit rainy weather in Seville, and didn´t see much sunshine at all. This felt slightly ironic, since everything seemed to suggest that this is normally a very sunny city! We battled through though (at the expense of our highlighter green umbrella from a hocker in Rome) and managed to see quite a bit of Seville: the Cathedral (apparently the largest in Europe), the famous Seville bull-ring, the Torre del Oro, the University, and Plaza España. Some strong impressions of Seville are: orange trees, whitewashed buildings, colourful tiles, and lots of tapas bars with huge quantities of cured legs of ham hanging behind the bar.

The train ride from Seville to Granada consisted of three hours of olive trees, literally. We visited Granada chiefly to see the Alhambra, but were also pleasantly surprised by an impromptu visit inside the Granada Cathedral - one of the most aesthetically pleasing we have seen in our travels. The Alhambra also proved to be as impressive as claimed. A complex of elaborate Moorish palaces, fortresses and private villas, you gain a strong impression of the power and prestige the Moors once held in this area. Surfaces (walls, columns, ceilings) are covered in exquisite carvings and tiles, and water features and gardens are thoughtfully created to impress upon your senses: the play of light and reflection on the water, the gurgle of water cascading down channels, the smell of roses, and the cool shade of trees and colonades.

We intend to spend tomorrow afternoon in Córdoba, where the Mezquita is reported to be worth visiting (might update this blog with details/photos later). We will then catch the train to Madrid and then another night train (yippee!!!) to Lisbon, Portugal. We are excited that Cherry (Katie´s sister) is joining us for the weekend, and then not long till we start our journey homeward (which we are also excited about!).


View of the Seville Cathedral from La Giralda. One of the tiled bays in the Plaza España (green umbrella featured). Also note the wet pants.


Rows of olives on train trip from Seville to Granada.


Alhambra water feature (Generalife). An example of the carving in the Casas Reales.

Inside the Mezquita in Córdoba

Bar·th·elona

Barcelona is a vibrant city with lots of appeal. The spanish seem to have quite a sense of style, and everything is presented with thought for the aesthetic, so that restaurants and cafes are often quite ´funky´ and have great atmosphere. The food is also fabulous, and we have been really enjoying eating out here. The spanish also have a much healthier appreciation for chocolate than some other countries we have visited, and we have been enjoying chocolate cake, chocolate muffins, chocolate donuts and... you get the idea.

We had a slightly unnerving experience arriving in Spain: as the train progressed from Avignon, our carriage gradually emptied of people till we were the only ones left. The train kept stopping at ever more remote villages as the day began to draw to a close (helped along by a 1 hour delay from an ´accident´ further up the track) and we were very aware that we no-speeka-da-lingo. You can imagine the potential dire situations we invented during our 8 hours of travel, but our fears were allayed when we arrived in Barcelona, and we realised we would not die on the side of a lonely spanish road...

We have really enjoyed the Gaudi everywhere: the (incomplete) Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, La Pedrara, and Casa Batlló, for example. We have also visted the Picasso museum (featuring a lot of his early works), Villa Olympica (down by the waterfront), the Parc Montjuïc (lots of lovely gardens with great views of the city), and various churches (Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona Cathedral and others), and have walked the Rambla. We even purchased ingredients at the ´Mercat de la Boqueria´ for a good old kiwi roast back at the hostel - our first real home-cooked dinner in about a month!


A Barcelonian drink that tastes like fruity punch (but with a kick). Presentation typical!


At the Market - everything arranged beautifully.


At the Park Güell.

Time Out

We were feeling a little exhausted of sight-seeing and in need of a break so decided to chill out a bit in the Cinque Terre. We really enjoyed the natural beauty of the area and spent quite a bit of time soaking up the sun on the beach. We also spent a day walking the Cinque Terre walk (between the 5 villages) although piked on the last leg and had a swim at the beach instead!

Making our way towards Spain proved a little trickier than we had anticipated with the train system, so we ended up changing our plans slightly - stopping in Nice for a night (South France) and then a night in Avignon. After a month of pasta, pizza, and panini we were quite excited by the wider (and fresher) variety of food available in France.

With these days of 'time out' and travel we now feel refreshed and excited to be exploring Barcelona!


Riomaggiore - the town that we stayed in (Cinque Terre)


Reuben jumping from a rock at Monterosso beach


View on the walk

Southern Italy

We've had an amazing time in Southern Italy - it has a different feel to the rest of Italy: olive groves, vineyards, clay/volcanic ground, lemon trees, bouganvillia, lots of seaside towns attached precariously to steep cliff-faces, and everything looks slightly bleached from long days in the sun. The southerners seem a little more relaxed and friendly, although everything is a bit more rundown (we were very glad we took recommendations to not stay in Naples - it looked very hectic and dirty from the glimpses we saw from the train/train station).

We explored Positano one day - where the steep hillside leading down to the beach is cluttered with buildings painted in pastel shades with small alleyways and narrow cobbled streets winding down through lots of shops and restaurants. We are still enjoying warm weather, although have been told it's normally raining and cold in the south at this time of year (we are a little wary of what their version of 'cold' is though since every day we have had in the 20s)...

We also spent a day at Pompeii - amazing to explore such an extensive site that shows how people lived. We couldn't help but compare it to Ostia (where we spent our last day in Rome) which was much less crowded and just as fascinating, although different again. It was cool to see things like marble bench tops with circular holes cut out for pots of food in the taverns, and a built-in wardrobe in a bedroom with slots for shelves. It was also a reality check to see wallpaintings created 2000 years ago still intact, including graffiti and caricatures of locals...

Our last day was spent on the island of Capri, which was such a great experience. It has a really holiday island feel to it, and slightly greek in look with many whitewashed buildings and curved rooftops contrasting with the azure blue sea. We climbed to the top of the hill on the Capri end of the island to explore the ruins of Villa Jovis (where the emperor Tiberius spent the last two years of his rule before his death). From here we saw amazing views of the bay of Naples, with Naples sprawled out at one end, the Pensinsula of Sorrento at the other, and Vesuvius sitting somewhere in the middle.

P.S. we managed to see St Peters on our last morning in Rome before catching the train south, and no queues which is always a bonus! We had a slightly hectic departure from Rome however, as the metro and bus people were on strike all day (and it was not possible to book any taxis in the city as they were being used non-stop, although we managed to flag one down after about 20 minutes walking towards the train station...)

P.P.S. Thanks for those who have sent emails to us - we are feeling a bit lonely out here so appreciate all your news!!!!


Views from the Island of Capri


Katie stepping on stones to cross the road at Pompeii (designed so you don't stand in the you-know-what)...


Lunch with a fabulous view of Positano (seen in the background). Positano.

Roma

Allora, we were a little nervous about spending another week in a big city but you can't help but get excited about being in Rome once you're here! It blows your mind to think of how much history there is around - you'll sit down for a rest and realise you're resting on the remains of some ancient roman column or monument! You're talking 2000+ years of history!! It's particularly exciting for Katie to see all the things she has studied as part of her classics degree...

Our week has included trips to the Roman Forum; the Colosseum; the Pantheon; the Baths of Caracalla and Diocletian; the Ara Pacis; the Castel Sant'Angelo; the Spanish Steps; Piazza Novella (with Bernini's fountain of the four rivers); Trajan's column, markets and forum; the Vatican (including the Sistene Chapel); the Trevi Fountain; the Palatine Hill; Popolo Piazza and churches; and shopping on a Saturday night with all the Italians along Via del Corso. For relaxing we spent a day at the beach at Lido which was fabulous!

It has been pretty hot most days, and we have taken to relaxing during the heat of the day before venturing out in the evenings again. All the Italians are very brown, but they seem to dress as though it's not hot at all - while all the tourists are stripped to as few clothes as possible, all the Italians are wearing long pants and shirts and shoes - we feel a little obvious in our tevas and shorts...

We have had some pretty funny buying experiences - they manage to turn very logical systems into what seems like chaos, although everyone ends up with what they want in the end. For example, buying olives or meat from the deli involves competing with the donnas who like to order mounds and mounds of freshly-sliced prosciutto etc at a time.

We are planning on going to Ostia (the ancient port of Rome) tomorrow and will try to avoid the queue to St Peters by going early one morning before we leave Rome. Next stop: Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast.

PS. We would love to hear any news from home so if you've got a minute send us a quick email!!!


Reuben in front of the Castel Sant'Angelo


The ocula in the Pantheon and a view of the Roman forum


Roman building facade and Reuben in front of the Trevi Fountain


At the baths of Caracalla - this place was enormous!


Inside the Colosseum

Florence

The camping ground in Florence was great - situated in an olive grove overlooking the city, and we enjoyed glasses of wine and cheese and olives, sitting on the balcony watching the sun go down over the city most evenings.

However, with the (un)healthy population of mosquitos (by then end of 7 nights there wasn't much skin left unbitten - and that's using repellent!), an unnerving incident with a scorpion crawling over Reuben's pillow on our first night, and the usual inconveniences of communal showering and toiletries we are now rather enjoying the relative luxury of our hotel room, with ensuite and king-size bed, in Rome!!

Florence is the Renaissance-mecca and there was lots to see and do during our week there, although there was also time for relaxing and enjoying the mediterranean sunshine. We really enjoyed the Uffizi galleries (the first thing we have really had to queue for, arriving there at about 8am and still having to queue for 1 and 1/4 hours) but it was free so that's a bonus! It is really well laid out, with a clear development of the Renaissance style, starting with Giotto and Duccio and friends, leading through Botticelli (our personal favourite), Raphael, da Vinci, and ending with some dramatic mannerist sculptures and paintings (eg Madonna with the long neck).

Another really great experience was hearing gregorian chant in the church just above the camping ground late one afternoon. We had read that there was a church on the hill above florence where you could hear gregorian chant at vespers (one of the few places left in Italy apparently). We weren't quite sure which church, and also didn't really know when vespers was (apart from the vague idea that it was either 3-ish or 5-ish after reading Umberto Ecco's Name of the Rose) but managed to arrive at the right church just as they were beginning... It was quite special because the church is decorated inside with amazing marble, late afternoon sun streamed through the clearstorey windows, and with the echo of the priest's voices in this kind of atmosphere, it created quite an experience.

We also climbed the Duomo for a panoramic view of the city, took a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano, and had a look in a number of the churches with Renaissance treasures (eg Santa Maria Novella). As kiwis we are always searching out GREEN gardens and trees etc, so we also paid €8 each to go into Boboli and Bardini Gardens.


Walking in the Bardini Gardens with a view of the city behind. Florence sunhat.


View of San Gimignano from the Grande Torre.


Ponte Vecchio.


View of the city from the camping ground and of the five star accommodation.


View of the city from the Duomo.

Two kiwis camping in Florence

There were so many americans and australians in Florence that we thought we better take photographic evidence that there were at least two kiwis camping in Florence: