Italy, a summary

So incase anyone hasnt noticed...we havent blogged much recently. I managed to break our brand new laptop...and now have to wait to get home to fix it, so the blogs are scarce. Anyway. It is time for an update...

We have been in Italy still since last update. Today is our last day here. From Firenze where i left off, we headed to Assisi. (I'm actually posting this some week later...)

Assisi is a stunningly beautiful town set on a hill with tiny streets zig zagging their way up the mountain. It is small and packed with character and has a very stunning (and free) church. Where the remains of St Frances are held. We got our true backpacker on here, as the station was a 3km hike from where we stayed,and was in the dirt and fields we went.

From there we went to the eternal city of Rome. Rome is utterly breathtaking. Its surprisingly small and walkable, but there's so much to see. I could write forever on Rome. Its a very welcoming city and we enjoyed every moment we had there. Around every corner theres a mammoth monument or ruins, just hangin out. It was what you expect in grandeur, and so much more. I think the big cities all have that feel. London, New York, Paris and Rome all give you a sense you're somewhere special.

Our next stop was the frenzied Napoli, the Scooters are piled high with anything up to 4 people, and road rules are completely obsolete. We stopped for a pizza, of course as it is the home of pizza & must say, although they are very basic, were delicious! We also made a day trip to Pompeii whilst in Napoli, and Ben very much enjoyed the amphitheatre from the Pink Floyd DVD.

From Napoli, was train ride up to Venezia. We stayed at a campsite 30min or so away, but got to spend 2 days just roaming the streets. Oddly enough it was mor beautiful on the day it was raining, as the water was a crystal blue in th smaller streets. It was also interesting as the rain had raised the water levels, and even St Marks Square was half under water! The Cathedral was unfortunately being worked on at the time, so we didnt quite get the full picture, but still an absolutely stunning square of architecture.

From Venezia it was 2 days in Bologna. Very pretty uni town and the home of....you guessed it bolognaise sauce & lasagne. We decided to splurge and head out for lunch, and ate ourselves silly. The food was amazing though and oddle enough the lasagne reminded me of the one nan bonanni used to make. Made me wonder if Pa had trained her in his Italian ways.

Then it was to Como, which is simply stunning. From the moment we arrived we were relaxed. We prety much just spent the 2 days walking through the old town, around the lake, and enjoying the views. Found an english bookstore so spent an afternoon reading, and another eating gelati watching the sunset. Como is definately one to remember.

Next and last Italy stop is Milan. The main drawcards here are Da Vinci's "Last Supper" which we didnt make it to and the mammoth Gothic Duomo. We were going to head town to the last supper, but read that it was notoriously difficult to get into and we only had the 1 day so we headed down to the main square instead. We were there the day before the Champions League final & as Inter Milan ( I think...) has made it they were getting ready to party. Big screens were set up & we had seen the images of only a few days before when they won to get in and knew what the square would look like very shortly. Whether they won or lost, I don't think it would have been th place for me. That night we met some English Lads ( Southampton specifically - which they don't blame us for missing) and had a few beverages before we caught our very early train to Berlin the next morning.

Italy as a whole was a place we both absolutely loved, and we feel like we have only just scratched the surface of what we want to do there. The food was incredible, we understood parts of the language, and the scenery along the journey was amazing.

I'll try and catch up the rest!
Love xxx