Bordeaux - I've tasted better

My last stop on my Busabout adventure was in Bordeaux - a French wine region.
It was a very beautiful city, much bigger than I expected




and many... many chateau's in the surrounding region to choose from for wine tasting!

The wine wasn't really anything to shout about but I enjoyed tasting a variety of wines and learned that French wines are noted by the Chateau/Winery in which it was made - not the grape variety.




It was amazing to see the massive Chateau's in which the winemaking family lives.




Leaving Bordeaux also meant leaving a great bunch of friends who I'd met along my travels.
Always travelling on my own.... but never alone!

Espagna = Paella, Sangria and Nudity

After spending a month in Italy.. I was ready to move on to new cultures!

Barcelona - home of Gaudi architecture, was my 1st Spanish city to encounter.
Spent the 1st day doing a bicycle tour through the city dodging Spaniards with their dogs on leashes.
We rode our way past the Cathedral, the city park, the Arc de Triomf, the bull fighting rink, the Sagarda Familia and the beach for lunch and sangria!
Didn't see the infamous Barcelonian who roams the man-made beach sporting nothing but a tattooed speedo on his butt....apparently its illegal to be topless in Barcelona unless you take your pants off too!

Every night in Barcelona was a culinary delight... I ate alot of paella and a variety of tapas and drank lots of sangria!

Walking down La Rambla was definatly an experience... there were more street performers than tourists! And I have never seen such a variety in such little space. Aliens, Zombies, Faries, Trolls, cartoon characters....



By the end of the street I was ready to punch the people trying to sell stupid whistles in the head. As if anyone wants to buy something that makes a sound like a duck mixed with a baby crying.

The markets on La Rambla were amazing... every kind of "food" you could think of and the freshest fruit and vegetables.





The part I loved most about Barcelona was discovering the Gaudi buildings scattered throughout the city.
Gaudi was a Catalan architect whos works had a gothic feel to them.

The Casa Batllo is designed around the concept of the ocean and water. The balconies are shaped to look like skull bones, and the roof tiles looked like scales on a fish. Inside the house there are no straight lines - the walls and cornesses are curved and are patterned like scales and change colour at different angles.




The attic was amazing and felt like I was inside the ribcage of a whale. Glass panelling made it feel like I was actually under water.
It was truely an architectural masterpiece.



Probably Gaudi's most famous work is the Sargarda Familia. The catholic church that was started by Gaudi in 1882 and is still not finished. It is totally funded by donations.




The outside of the church has 2 facades. The nativity facade depicting the birth of christ and the passion facade depicting his death. The amount of detail into the statues are incredible.
The inside of the church was full of construction, stainglass windows half finished, the alter nowhere near completed.



The roof was amazing... sometimes pictures speak louder than words.



It is expected to be completed by 2024.

One of the nights a group of us girls from the hostel made our way to the Magic Fountain.



It was amazing..changing colours and styles with the accompanying music and the MNAC museum lit up in the background.


Madrid was a bit of a let down after the lively city that is Barcelona.
But the company was great, as was the food and the flamenco dancers!!!




Our lunch one day was a bit of a lucky dip... couldnt understand the menu or the waiter! Probably the most enjoyable restaurant experience so far!







I LOVED SAN SEBASTIAN!
Finally found a beach that was even close to those back at home. White fluffy sand and WAVES!
San Sebastian is the surf mecca for Spain.







It was my last stop in Spain and I definatly made the most of it! I soaked up the sun and got my last chance for bronzing my skin, also tried some more paella!



And made some really great friends.

Nonna's lasagne still tastes better!

Onward to continue my travels in Italy, I returned to Florence to complete my immersion in the culture that is Italian renaissance art.



Florence is home to Michelangelo's David - I was awestruck. The size and detail of this statue blew me away.
I lined up for about an hour to get into the Uffizi gallery to see artworks by Botticelli, Michaelangelo, Rafael and Da Vinci.



Made a quick stop in Pisa to do the touristy shot!



One of the most beautiful places in Italy I have visited so far has to be the Cinque Terre in the Italian Riviera - consisting of 5 towns that jutt out along the rugged coastline.
Tourists flock to the Cinque Terre to complete a beautiful scenic walk from the 1st to the 5th old-world charming towns.



Trying to find the hostel I was staying in was a bit of a mission....
I stayed in the 1st town - Riomaggiore. No-one warned me that this town is also the steepest! With my 20kg backpack on I trugged up a steep hill to find the hostel - turns out it was just the office.
Me, along with 8 other people followed the owner to our hostel... 20 MINUTES and 500m ASCENT LATER... we arrive to find out that the key didnt fit in the lock. The very sweaty fat Italian owner made the descent back to the office and arrived about an hour later to let us into the building only to find that he didn't have the key to get inside our room!
So, back down he went.
Lets just say he worked off the pasta he ate for lunch.

The next day I set off for the "scenic walk". Very misleading! It took us 5hrs of zig-zag stairs, climbing over uneven rocks, narrow paths (with real risk of plummeting to certain death if you lost your footing!). It was definatly a mission in the scorching sun.
But the ocean views and winding through olive orchards and vineyards and watching the next town poke out inbetween the track made it all worthwhile.



Swimming in the crystal clear water of the Italian riviera was very refreshing and revived the muscles.



After travelling through Venice, Rome, Naples, Tuscany, Florence and the Italian Riviera I can still say that my Nonna's lasagne is the best!

Getting back to my roots

Finally, I got to meet the family that my Grandparents left behind in Italy and Switzerland in search for a new and very different life in Australia.

First stop was Geneva to meet my Nonna Andrighetto's sisters family. The rain certainly didn't stop Joel from showing us the sights! It was raining so much they even had to turn off the Jet d'Eau that spurts up 140m out of Lake Geneva.




The next few days was spent with some of the Andrighetto's side of the family in Ballaigues in Switzerland. It was summer - but we were still fortunate enough to take a visit into the Alps and see some snow! Taking a ride on the sledge with Mum down the slopes was definatly a highlight! This ride made Zia Merylise change her opinion on Dad.. apparently the devil came out of him on the Diablerets (aptly named mountain - the Devil!!).




After listening to the stories that my Grandparents told me about their childhood and growing up in Italy.. I finally got to live them and visit their hometowns and family.
It was an amazing experience. I was blown away by the fact that all my grandparents brothers and sisters are all so similar to them when they have lived most of their lives apart. And even though I have met only a handful who have come to Australia to visit - they would all give the skin off their backs for me if they could.





I was amazed to see that each of my 4 grandparents houses are still standing. But of course, being roughly 50-60 years since they all left Italy, alot has changed. Nonna Giustina's house has been turned into a restaurant. Nonno Dario's house is renovated and looks like a massive mansion which backs onto the mountains (the stables of his old house is now a part of the new house. His old house looks to be about a 1/4 of the house which is now standing).
Nonno Luigi and Nonna Iole's houses are still owned by their families and still look like what they used to many years ago and are in need of renovation!




Being back there made me wonder why they left such a beautiful family and country behind. But things were tough back then and people have to eat and earn a living.
It was a very emotional departure.. from my Italian family and also from my parents and my Zia Merylise.
But my adventure continues.....!

Be aware of the Morrocini selling fake leather...

Florence is a very small city well known for Renaissance art and leather (even managed to find myself a jacket)!
Most of Florence was bombed during WWII – except for the Ponte Vecchio. It is a cute little bridge that has colourful buildings jutting out over the river and is lined with jewellery stores.



The famous orange tiled roof of the Duomo is gorgeous. The exterior of the church is very intricate and colourful!



I looked through two museums in Florence – the Academia Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery. The Academia holds Michelangelos statue of David. It was very detailed... you could see the veins on his arms and neck. It was also much taller than I expected. You know what they say about the size of a man’s hands... poor David – the rule doesn’t apply to him!



The Uffizi had artworks in there by Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Botticelli. I’m not really into art, but the Birth of Venus by Botticelli is the piece to see... a lady next to me was even crying!

Rome... a living museum full of irony

Rome was everything I expected and more. It was like walking through a living museum. The ancient ruins pop out of nowhere... one minute I was walking past modern buildings, turn a corner and then.. there’s a roman ruin.

I went on a walking tour through Rome that told all the history of the Romans and took us to the major sites, the Circo Massimo where the chariot races were once held, the roman forum which was once the political centre, and the Pantheon. The Pantheon was built as a dedication to the planetary gods in 27BC, today it is a chuch (how ironic) and houses the tombs of famous Italian kings. It is the most preserved of all the roman ruins (and also my favourite). The construction of the dome of the Pantheon is still a mystery to architects today.



I also did a tour of the Colosseum. It was MASSIVE... but only 1/3 of it remains today. It was built on the lake of crazy emperor Nero who used to use 1000 swans to power his boat. The outside of the Colosseum is very dirty – due to pollution from car exhausts. I got to walk through the tunnels where gladiators once walked, and where lions, tigers and yes.. even giraffes were held before being slaughtered in the ring.



The tour continued into the Pallatine Hill where Nero’s palace once stood – equipped with his own sports stadium and chariot rink.

No visit to Rome would be complete without a tour of the Vatican. The Vatican ironically is built on one of the 7 pagan hills that make up Rome. I went into the Vatican museum which is basically the Popes collection of marble statues.
The fresco that Michelangelo painted on the roof of the Sistine chapel was amazing. I cant imagine how his neck would have been after painting that for 6 years... because mine hurt after gazing up after 5mins. It was Michelangelos first ever painting.
And finally... into St Peter’s basilica. It is named after Jesus’ 1st apostle Peter – and his tomb is the centre piece of the church. Was pretty disappointed that St Peters doesn’t have stainglass windows!!



Michelangelos first ever sculpture is housed in the basilica and is of Mary holding dead Jesus. Its behing glass because apparently an Australian a few years ago tried to tackle the sculpture and caused Marys nose to fall off as well as Jesus’ toe!

Can't get enough of the islands...

Mum, Dad, Zia and I caught a 16hr overnight ferry to Sardegna... a small Italian island off the west coast of Italy. Our ferry docked in Caglieri on the south coast. The host of our B&B recommended an amazing seafood restaurant that brought out about 10 dishes for entree and then a whole baked fish with artichokes for our main.
We spent a day at Poetto beach. Finally, a beach with sand!! The water was crystal clear and really cool.



After 3 hours sleep we made our way up to Alghero on the west coast of Sardegna. We walked around for ages with our luggage in tow before we decided to make our way up to Sassari and stayed in a really antique B&B.

Our next stop was Corsica, a French island just north of Sardegna. Our ferry arrived in Bonifacio. It is a very unique town that was built high on top of cliffs and is enclosed within a fortress. The walls surrounding the town are right on the edge of the cliffs which weave in and out of the ocean.



Bonifacio is a holiday spot for the rich and famous...there were dozens of super-yatchs lining the port. It was fun having a stickybeak into the boats and trying to imagine what life would be like for them!




We took a bus ride to Ajaccio on the north coast of Corsica. It was nice walking around the town, but it was quite a sleepy town.
Took another ferry - this time to Nice in France. It was good to be back on mainland Europe with some hustle and bustle. The beach in Nice was exactly as I pictured it – pebbles on the shore with very light blue water that stretched for kilometres. Didn’t stay sunbaking for long, the pebbles were too hard to lie on! Went for a walk through the old town and went to a gelataria that sold tomato and basil icecream!

We did a day trip to Monaco. It was very glitzy – every second car that drove past us was either a Ferrari, Maserati or Rolls Royce! There were even advertisements for private jets in the windows.



Mum, Dad and Zia left me in Nice to continue their travels through Spain and France and I continued my busabout adventures.

Dodging the Cassanovas in Napoli

It was good to continue travelling with Mum, Dad and Zia on the Amalfi coast.
Arrived in Sorrento where our hosts were to pick us up and transfer us to the hotel. We were very surprised to see a matchbox car arrive and a man on a scooter... so “lucky” me got to go on the back of the scooter while Mum, Dad and Zia went in the car with our luggage.

I was very fortunate to get some advice from Bruno our host about being careful of Cassanovas in Naples... unfortunately for him I did take his advice... and didn’t ditch my family to go out for a beer with him!
Zia Merylise was kind enough to keep reminding me that was the reason why we didn’t get our promised croissants in the morning! Naples proved to be the home of Cassanovas... traffic stopped so I could walk across the street and I was given extra scoops of gelati!



All the towns along the coast – Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi are all so beautiful. The towns are built sloping up the cliffs, the beaches are crystal clear and wisteria and bougainvillea climb up all the walls of the buildings. Didn’t get to see the Blue Grotto in Capri due to the rough seas.




We went to the ancient city of Pompaii. The whole city was wiped out by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD. It was much bigger than I expected and it would have been quite elaborate with its columns and frescos painted on the walls. It was very disturbing to see the plaster casts of the people who had died in Pompaii by suffocating from the ash before being covered in the lava from the volcano. Some were kneeling and praying, some trying to crawl away or shield their bodies.

Time to build up the European tan

Met up with my school friend Alison again to start our travels together island hopping through the adriatic sea..
First stop was Split in Croatia and also where we were to begin our Croatian sailing tour!

Our tour departed from Split in Croatia - Alison and I had a room above deck. We were lucky we weren't downstairs with the engine and all the diesel fumes! Our room wasnt much bigger than a shoe box and to survive the week we had a system going so that we could get into bed at night without lying on top of our backpacks.

Out of 31 people on the boat, there were 4 male crewman, our male guide James, 2 other guys who made up the couples on the boat and 24 girls... this was a recipe for disaster from the start considering most of us had to share 2 bathrooms - but we all got along really well (apart from 1 or 2!)

The places we stopped off along the way included Omis, Markarska, Brac, Hvar, Korcula, Mjlet and dubrovnik. They were all really beautiful and each had their own feel to it - but to me they all felt really old world and medieval. Most of the towns had fortresses that we climbed up cliffs to get to.

The best part about the tour was doing absolutely nothing - sunbaking on the deck while sailing through the Adriatic, reading, eating, drinking, sunbaking...sunbaking... and jumping off the boat into the crystal clear water and lazing about on li-lows.. By the end of the week I was definatly relaxed - even to the extent of boredom!

The final dock of our tour was at Dubrovnik. Definatly had sealegs for a couple of days after getting off the boat! Dubrovnik was my favourite place in Croatia - except for the fact that Alison and I had bedbugs crawling all over us (unbeknown to us!!) while we were asleep - our bodies became covered with bites arranged in rows...

To continue our island hopping Alison and I made our way to Greece.

In Athens we did a walking tour that took us to see the temple of Zeus, the ancient Agora and the Acropolis. Climbing the Acropolis hill at midday to see the Parthenon was a bad idea... felt like we were in the desert. But it was amazing to see the massive marble columns towering over us.

We discovered Gyros in Athens - a kebab with pork, tomatoes, tzatziki and hot chips in it..mmm..

Our first Greek island to explore was Paros - my favourite. It was a very Greek island with less tourists than on the other islands.

We were very fortunate to have the most amazing host at our villa who told us about good places to eat traditional food. The waited claimed that the lamb liver on a spit that was wrapped in what was probably lamb skin and marinated in herbs was "TOO GREEK FOR YOU!!" but when in Paros.... it was very tastey.

We hired a 4-wheeler to get around Paros. It was the best way to see the island - and dodge the siesta between 2-6pm when EVERYTHING shuts. Couldnt believe that the town came to life at 10pm and some shops stayed open until 4am!

Next was the party island of Ios.. Alison and I got very sick of doing nothing! We felt very old on this party island...

Santorini was beautiful but the island was very dry (like all the other islands) and no greenery! On Santorini we walked up the volcano - which gave a great view of Santorini and the town of Thira perched high on top of the cliffs. The best part was hiring another 4-wheeler... and like our other bike it was only 50cc.. needless to say that the cars behind us were very frustrated. It was a good way to see the red and black sand beaches on the island.

Met up with Mum, Dad and Zia Merylise which was really nice after not seeing them for 3 months!

Goodbye South America... Hello Europe!

Finally the time came to say goodbye to South America and be in a continent where I could flush toilet paper down the toilet!
Spent a week in Wales with one of my best friends Alison. It was great to see her after 9 months and also catch up on sleep in my OWN ROOM and spread the contents of my backpack all over the place.
Next stop was Paris...spent a week looking at the sights and walking through museums and still feel like I haven't seen the whole city.
Met a girl called Julie who is doing busabout with me and spent a day at Euro Disneyland. It was great fun but it didn't bring back the childhood memories... probably because the good old Disney characters like Snow White and Cinderella have been replaced with Buzz Lightyear and the Incredibles.
My favourite place in Paris was the Palace of Versailles - home to King Louis the 14th and Marie Antionette before the French revolution. It was so luxurious... massive chandeliers and velvet wallpaper, family portraits taking up the whole wall. The gardens were so lush and so big that I hired a bike just so that I could see the whole grounds.
Started my Busabout adventure - a hop on, hop off bus that goes in a loop to the major cities throughout Europe and drops you off at hostels they recommend. My next stop was Munich - home of Octoberfest and the famour beer hall Hofbrauhaus. Tried to drink a steine of beer but had to leave some behind.. must have drank it too slowly and warm beer isn't very tasty!I went for a tour in King Ludwig's castle - the castle that the Walt Disney castle was based on. It was so beautiful, perched on top of a hill with a beautiful view. Unfortunately I couldn't take photos inside, but it was so dark and gothic - the architecture was based on the operas written by Richard Wagner. Suspicious circumstances surrounded the death of King Ludwig in 1886 and the castle was never completed but has been open to the public ever since.
The most disturbing and sickening place I have ever seen is the Dachau concentration camp. It was the first concentration camp established by the Nazi's. It was extremely saddening and made me feel queezy the whole day to think that humanbeings can act in such a way towards others.
A quaint little town in Austria called Innsbruck was my next stop and the sun was starting to shine (finally!). Didn't book any accommodation before I arrived so I was frantically running through the town and got lost before I finally found a hostel to stay in. Innsbruck is in the heart of the Alps, the mountains towered over the town everywhere you turned. I did a 4hr hike up the mountains and it was starting to bring back memories of the Inca trail. The elderly men that organised the free hikes were amazing and super fit. The landscape was beautiful - pine trees, streams flowing, snowcapped mountains.
Randomly ran into a traditional Austrian song and dance show in the main square. Saw lots of knee slapping and listened to some yodelling...
Next stop was Venice. The first day I walked aimlessly through the lanes and over the canals and got lost in the city and ate gelati. Saw Saint Mark's square but there were hardly any of the famous pigeons crowding the square.. apparently they are being poisoned on purpose so that tourists can walk around without stomping on them.
It was so hot in Venice, had to make my way back to the campgrounds outside of Venice where I was staying to make use of the pool.
The next day I went to Murano and Burano.. little islands off Venice. Murano is famous for its glass. If it was my last stop I would have come home with a suitcase full of beautiful glass ornaments. Burano was a cute island with colourful buildings and people trying to sell you their famous lace.
Had my first taste of a European beach at Lido in Venice. Dirty stinky water with no waves and black sand...