Last day of lessons

Today was the last day the kids had language lessons. They were sent on a treasure hunt to various locations to speak in Italian and practice their map reading skills. From all accounts they thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

We had a quick lunch on the go because we needed to get to the Uffizi Gallery by about 1pm. We lined up for about 15 mins and got in about 1.20 or so. The Uffizi Gallery has thousands of pieces of artwork and sculptures included some from Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Giotto. The more famous paintings are: "Primavera" & "The Birth of Venus" (Botticelli), "The Annunciation" (da Vinci) and "Ognissanti" (Madonna, by Giotto). Unfortunately, no photos are allowed except for the view of the Ponte Vecchio from the gallery's second floor.

We were all done and dusted by about 2.15. Our next priority was to rest the legs as the kids were quite tired. Tawny brought along her flute and school uniform to play in the Piazza della Signoria. We sat and rested whilst Tawny and Carmina to returned to the hotel.

When they got back, Tawny set herself up in front of the Palazzo Vecchio and the Fountain of Neptune. She played one song but one of the carabinieri (police) interrupted her during the second as no unauthorized music is allowed to be played! Luckily they didn't issue a fine!!

The kids and I set off to the markets whilst Carmina took Tawny back to the hotel to change. We met up again at the markets where the kids bought a few more things. Once they had enough we returned to the hotel and are now resting before dinner and another big day tomorrow! I'm taking the boys, Chelsea and Sierra to the Ferrari museum whilst the others go shopping!

David and panoramic view of Florence

The kids had their second last language lesson this morning. It sounds like they're learning a bit which is great! We stopped for lunch right near the school and the kids had a chance to relax a bit after their 3 hour lesson!

After lunch, we went into the Galleria dell' Academia to see the Statue of David. Inside there are lots of famous artists' work but the main attractions are the music museum and David. No photos are allowed so the kids will need to describe their own thoughts and feelings to you when they can!

We then left the gallery and caught the bus to the station. Our aim was to get to Piazza del Michelangelo where we could get a few panoramic photos of Florence. When we arrived, there was a Ferrari California that caught our eye. They were offering test drives for 110 Euro for 10 minutes or 250 for half an hour. I was very tempted but manage to resist!! Below are a few photos I took but the weather was overcast and it rained whilst we were there.

A bus trip back to the station and another back to near the gallery allowed us to pop into a small shop with Ferrari memorabilia. The kids loved it, buying things like calendars, scale model cars and pencil cases. We then walked back to the hotel and are now resting before going out to dinner.

Tomorrow will be the last lesson for the kids and then we have tickets to the Uffizi Gallery after lunch. From then on it will be shopping and relaxing before a busy few days in Venice.

Pisa

Today was the day for our trip to Pisa after the kids had their 9am-12 language lessons. We set off from Florence Termini around 1pm after the kids had a quick panino on the go. We were booked in for a 3.30pm climb of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

When we arrived we noticed a line to queue up for the climb so jumped in at the end of it. We got to the front of the line about 3.40 and the guy in charge said we were late for our booking. Being Australian, you usually line up for things and don't just walk to the front of the line to go in. Anyway, we were lucky enough that they were going to let us in but not as a whole group unfortunately. They made us go up in groups of 5 with one teacher at a time. In the end it didn't matter because they could've quite easily said no.

The view from the top was amazing although it was a bit overcast. The kids were keen to take plenty of photos trying to hold up the tower etc. Some very interesting initiative shown, including "photo bombing" of other groups' photos and their peers. I had a laugh with the kids as well taking a one finger approach (see below). Our stay in Pisa was fairly lengthy, around 3.5-4 hours and well worth it from the looks of some of the kids photos.

We then had a brisk walk back to the train station to catch the 5.54 train to Florence so we could get to dinner by 7. The train was 5 mins late plus stopped at every station so we didn't arrive in Florence until after 7! Half of the group met a lady from Melbourne, Claire, and we asked her to join us for dinner. We ate at the same restaurant as the first night, Baroncelli, and had pasta in a meat sauce with trifle for dessert. The kids and I felt like a gelato so we got one on the walk home.

The kids were in their rooms to write their journals and lights out by about 10pm. Tomorrow is another big day with lessons in the morning, Galleria of academia to see the Statue of David and piazza del Michelangelo to see the full panoramic view of Florence from the mountain. The kids will get a chance to do a bit of shipping on the last few days here and I might take the boys (and whoever else wants to come) to the Ferrari factory in Maranello on Sunday!

Florence

Today was the kids first day of language lessons at the Galileo Institute. The weather was warm around 25 degrees bit cloudy. We had a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages and the usual cold meats and cheeses. They also put on a few desserts like cakes and doughnuts! After brekky we walked for about 15-20 mins to the institute.

From 9am to 12pm the kids had lessons. After the lessons we had lunch at the local restaurant. With a quick stop at the pharmacy, we returned to the institute to meet our walking tour guide Rafaelo. Our tour was planned to be from 2pm-4pm. As all knowledgable guides do, he went into plenty of detail, some facts that would've gone straight over the kids head but very informative. We visited il Duomo, the Piazza Antica, the Old Palace and the Piazza della Signoria. The tour finished just after 4.30.

A few kids bought gelato again! Then it was time to rest and write in their journals before getting ready for dinner. Tomorrow they're back at school for 3 hours and in the afternoon we're heading to Pisa!!

Day Four

Today was a nice and warm day around 23 degrees. We had brekky and checked out by 8am, heading to Termini to catch the train to Florence. We got there with plenty of time to spare as our train wasn't until 9.15.

We hopped onboard, heading to our seats but struggled to fit in all of the suitcases. It was a mad rush to get all the luggage between the seats or above them. We got there eventually as the train was on the move.

The first task for the kids as we left Rome was a quiz. There were some difficult questions and those who listened to Carmina's little remarks the past few days would've done quite well! The rest of the 1.5 hour trip went fairly quickly and soon enough we were getting off at Florence.

We arrived in Florence with no coach driver in sight! Carmina rang them and they told us where we might find him. We walked one way but figured out it was completely the opposite way but eventually found him. He explained how one company has a deal with Florence Termini and can pick up passengers at the main exit but everyone else has to park at the furtherest possible exit.

It was no big deal at that stage, a short bus trip to our hotel and a "300m walk". Well obviously Italians aren't very good at estimating because our "300m walk" took us a good 30mins and was more like 3000 metres!! They'd be no good at exaggerating the size of the fish they caught.

Another problem lie in the fact that the street our hotel was on had been numbered in colours and numbers. For example, we were looking for 22 Nero (black) but we walked past 22 Red, 22 White, 22 green and 22 blue before finally some old fella showed us where 22 Nero was (in between 16 red and 24 blue!!) strange but true.

We checked in and freshened up then set off to find some lunch. Cafe Bellini was our choice and most, if not all, had pizza. Again, as you'd expect, very tasty and we finished it off with a gelato.

The rest of the afternoon was for the kids to relax a bit and rest up before a busy few days ahead. Tomorrow they'll start their 3 days of language school and have a Historical walking tour of Florence. The next day we'll be going to Pisa after lunch for a 1/2 day trip.

Below are a few photos from today.

Day Three

Well day three (actually day four as day 1 was lost in the air) was another busy one! We set off just after 8 to Termini to catch the metro to The Vatican. Our first challenge was to get on the metro as it was already packed like sardines. Luckily, the trains run every minute in peak hour because it took us four trains to get on and even then only half made it on. We prepared ourselves for this and I stayed with half the group whilst the rest were with Carmina. We met again at Cipro station and walked towards the Vatican Museum.

There were people everywhere and lines for everything but again we had pre-ordered tickets so didn't have to wait too long. Inside the Vatican Museum it was like we were going through customs with all the security checks. Once through all that we proceeded up towards areas like the Gregoriano Profano Museum, Chiaramonti Museum and of course the Sistine Chapel! Some amazing artwork and plenty of photos but none in the chapel as it isn't allowed (neither is talking or any clothing that doesn't cover shoulders and knees).

From there a few kids bought souvenirs and then we proceeded into St Peter's Basilica. Another amazing feat of expansive architecture and hundreds of paintings on the ceiling. We stayed for a hour or so until our stomachs were telling us it was time for lunch. After leaving the basilica we had a quick walk around St Peter's Square and took plenty more photos. We left the Vatican and headed back to the metro to have lunch on the Spanish Steps!

Carmina's cousins had been in touch earlier on mentioning that they would like to meet up at lunch time and bring some of their own bocconcini for the kids to try. They did just that and brought along some fresh bread and Italian sausage also. It was so tasty I couldn't stop eating until I was about to burst. The kids enjoyed it but were more excited about the fact of trying Macca Ds in Italy. This was another experience, a huge restaurant with self service machines where you could order and pay like you do for some of the larger supermarkets in Perth. The kids then got their take out and ate Macca Ds on the Spanish Steps.

After lunch, we headed back to Termini and did a bit of shopping for essential items and killed some time whilst we waited for our booking at the Roman Forum and Colosseum. Upon arrival at the Roman Forum, we realised our booking was for 5.30pm and both close at 6.15. Luckily, the let us do a tour of the Colosseum when we got their and didn't need to rush both in the 45 min time slot. Again, an amazing building and so much history. The sheer size of this bundling gets me every time and photos just don't do it justice. The Roman Forum is very similar except very little remains of it so its hard to imagine what it was like exactly.

Once we had enough, we caught the metro back to Termini and walked over to our restaurant for dinner. We were served lasagna, caponata (red capsicum, celery, eggplant, zucchini, carrot, potato and onions in a minestrone type sauce) and pannacotta with berries for dessert. We walked back to the hotel and most of us will sleep like a log tonight.

Tomorrow we're getting up around 7am to get the train to Florence.

Speak to you all then,
Carl

Day Two - Pompeii

Today began in a bit of a rush with us having to be on the coach to Pompeii by 7am. Luckily the hotel opened up the breakfast selection earlier than usual so the kids could grab a quick bite to eat and then we were on our way.

The weather looked gloomy and the rain fell fairly heavily earlier on this morning but things cleared up as we got out of Rome and closer to Napoli. Pompeii is approximately 2.5 hours south of Rome but by bus it always takes a little longer. Traffic was slow in some areas and we also made a pit stop for some snack foods around 9.30am. We arrived in Pompeii around 10.30am but unfortunately our guided tour was booked in for 11.30. A few kids bought some wet weather gear as they didn't bring umbrellas ect and we sat under cover for a half hour or so. Carmina tried to sort out a tour guide for a bit earlier because the bus driver was going to pick us up at 1pm to get us back to Rome by 4.30pm.

Our tour started just after 11am and Vincenzo was our guide. He began with a brief overview of what happened in 79AD when Mt Vesuvius erupted. We then walked through the various areas of Pompeii; seeing places where Gladiators used to train, the grand auditorium where performers like Pink Floyd and U2 have done shows but previous to that singers and entertainers in the early 100s, various fountains, baths, cobble stone roads and finally to the main square or 'piazza' with some fantastic views of Mt Vesuvius and the rest of Pompeii.

The kids couldn't resist buying some souvenirs before we went and had lunch across the road at a place called "Vesuvius". We were served italian bread, hot chips, pizza margarita, sort drinks and choc chip icecream for 13 euros. The pizza was claimed to be "the best that I've ever had" by Kaitlin and indeed it was tasty.

We all took lots of photos and I've added a few below.

Tomorrow we are finishing our tour of Rome travelling to the Vatican, Castel di Saint Angelo, Spanish Steps, Roman Forum and last but not least the Colosseum.

Speak to you all 'domani' (tomorrow),
Carl

 The Appenine Mountains as we drove along the autostrada

 Pompeii: the area where gladiators used to train

 Our guide Vincenzo and the kids all rugged up near the cobble stone road.

 One of the areas with baths and lockers.

View of Mt Vesuvius from the main square of Pompeii.