Pizza, Gelato and Sun...what more could someone ask for?

11 days ago yours truly hopped on a plane in Paris (well 2 hours north of Paris in one of Ryanairs "well" located airports, but thats another story) and flew to Pisa. And while Pisa conjures up images of a certain tower that everyone likes to take "strongman" photos of, I personally decided to skip it. C'est la vie (does that saying fit there lol?)

So I hopped on a train to Florence (or Firenze as the I-ties like to say) since I apparently missed my bus by ohhhhh 2 seconds (but again, another story). Once in Florence I got down to business quickly. Day one consisted of a trip to the Duomo, which aside from La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, is the most unique cathedral I have ever seen. Soon after I grabbed my first slice of REAL Italian pizza (ok not including the fast food pizza I had at the Pisa station). Well, you pay for this pizza by the pound and apparently my pizza's pounds came out to 9 euros! Ouch! On a side note it was a pretty damn good slice of pizza, but probably not worth 9 euros.

On my second day in Florence I did some more sightseeing with Josh and Phoebe, a couple of roommates I had at the hostel. We saw Machievelli's statue, the Ponte Vecchio, where gold is as abudant as water, and Michaelangelo's David. Ok, I lied, I saw the copy of Michaelangelo's David, I couldn't afford to see the real thing.....but you could imagine what itd be like...ah ah ahhhhhh (inside Chris Farley joke).

So after a day of sightseeing I met up with a few friends of Josh and his cuz. Apparently they met some people studying Italian in Italy (who wouldve thunk it?) and we proceeded to begin a night of drinking with the whole of the European Union present. It was quite the spectacle.

After our international extravaganza, my four nights in Florence were up. Just like that. My next stop was Cinque Terre, or for you english folk back home, the five lands. Cinque Terre is quite the place, with gorgeous cliffside towns and crops all overlooking the Med Sea. I was staying in a little town named Biassa, just outside Cinque Terre, where no one other than the people at the hostel spoke english. I loved listening to the Italian men arguing in their native language at night while I was overlooking La Spezia from our mountain view. Magnifico!

On my first day in Cinque Terre I did the hike of the five towns with a group of Californians. The hike took about five hours and all I did was pour sweat in the beating sun. Who needs shorts huh (Note to self:don't leave shorts in Manchester next time!) ?!?! It was worth it though, and I got some great views of the Italiano coast.

For my next two days in Cinque Terre I just chilled out with some of the people at the hostel, went to the beach, and ate at my favourite pizzeria where I listened to the locals argue. I don't know what they were debating but it was beautiful. Never mind that the old men were probably yelling obscenities at each other, and I didnt understand a word, but it was lovely lol.

After a chilled out time in Cinque Terre I was headed for the big city. Thats right, the mother of them all, the eternal city, Rome. I have always wanted to visit Rome, its one of those cities that seeps history, no matter where you walk within its walls. And you all know how much I like history.

On my first day I headed straight for the Colosseum, cause as they say, when in Rome........and a ginormous line up. So after waiting in line for about an hour I finally saw the place that Russell Crowe made famous.........dont worry, its a joke, its a joke, Gladiator's ok. My impression of it all? It was nice.......its kind of just a shell of its former self, you really have to have a good imagination to picture what it used to look like. It was the same story for the Palatino, the former home of many of Rome's leaders. I saw a lot of rocks and rubble, and a bunch of statues. It was tough to imagine what it looked like. If I had one wish on that day it would be to go back in time and see what both looked like in their glory. Wheres Michael J Fox when you need him?

On my next day in Rome I went to the home of Catholicism, and once the most powerful place in Europe, Vatican City. Now this place ladies and gents, for those who have not been, was quite remarkable. I have seen a lot of churches and palaces in Europe during my time here, and Versaille was pretty amazing, but St. Peters blew the competition away. I have never seen a place where ever corner you turn your jaw drops.

While there I also saw the tombs of the popes, specifically a bunch of dead popes Id never heard of, and our last Pope, John Paul II, who not surprisingly had a great number of Catholics paying their respects. Finally I checked out the Vatican Museums and a little place called the Sistine Chapel. Whatever, no big deal. Apparently Michaelangelo didnt paint the ceiling while lying down, but rather with his neck tilted to the side, which gave him permanent damage to that area seeing as it took him like 1 bazillion years to paint, or something like that. Well, not so great for him, but great for us. Cause while I was in there, staring at Adam straining to touch fingers with God, I looked around and saw about FIVE THOUSAND people all straining their necks to see the same thing. Im surprised they dont have a hospital directly outside the chapel lol. But seriously folks, well worth it, and again, quite breathtaking.

So here I am now, about to fly from Rome to Athens, hoping that I will have enough money to finish the back end of my trip through the Greek isles to Turkey since Rome completely broke the bank. Hopefully in Greece giros doesnt cost 9 euros.....yeesh.

So adios, ciao, all that good stuff and y'all come back real soon ya hear!