Over the last two days we have
been spending time in the city of Florence. Throughout our short stay we
visited the Murano glass factory, tombs
of Galileo and Michelangelo and visited Signoria Square which held a gallery of
Renaissance sculpture. We also visited the Statue of David which was very
impressive as well as the Leaning Tower of Pisa which looked much smaller in
real life, (according to me anyway).
We also spent one afternoon in
the rustic hillside town of San Gimignano which was stunning and very
picturess. The town is Tuscany’s most famous town and is considered the
medieval Manhattan of Italy based on it towers that stand over the city. We all
fell in love with the town as it looked like the “typical Italy” you see on all
the travel brouchers not to mention the rich history associated with the city.
New years eve was quite
interesting to say the least. We began the night once again on the dodgem cars with some people from the tour one of which is a 70 Year Old who is obsessed with them haha. We then all went out to dinner which resulted
in us been locked in a local restaurant while a local drunk belted the windows
of the venue until the Carribinieri arrived. We then experienced New Years Italian style,
or as I put it, the yearly occasion when Italians can blow up homemade explosives
on the street rather than an organised firework show.
Overall I was quite happy to
leave Italy behind. I don’t want to generalise but the people that I have personally
encounted in shops and in the street have been very rude. The majority of the
people on our tour agree. For instance almost every shop you go into the shopkeeper
is on the phone and you’re lucky for them to even glance at you when you walk
in. I encountered a shopkeeper the other day who was on the phone and when I
went to purchased an item that required packaging she continued to talk on the
phone whilst throwing the item as well as the packaging into a bag, not even
being bothered to place the item in the box. This is really disappointing and I
really hope the smaller towns are not like this.
Gabriel
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| Johno! |
OMG, you guys look fantastic. The cool air of the northern hemisphere must certainly agree with you all. In fact, you all look like you've gained some weight (heehee).
ReplyDeleteBy the time you read this blog, you will probably be with family in Torino (no Beatles there Bruno!).
We're all well here. It's been very hot and sticky, wish I were there! Tomorrow it's expected to reach 36 degrees, typical Queensland weather.
Moscow is well (he now has a new name!) Nick, do you like it? Seriously, when you guys get back, you will have to buy Moscow a friend because he's going to be very lonely with just you guys.
Time to go ... love to all and missing you all very much. Keep safe (and only 20+ sleeps to go).
The Valentis (except Tess who is currently gracing Toronto with her presence).
Woof Woof ... Moscow.