Hi everyone
To be honest its a pretty big miracel that anyone in our party of 4 (ana, Tienen and tim) made it to Venice given how unbelievably wasted we were to begin with the night before. We went to a place called fish pub on fri night where there were 5 shots for 5 euro and given it was Tim's birthday and we had had only cake and wine for dinner it didnt take long for the night to get completely crazy...but all well that ends well and we were actually able to stagger onto a train at 9:27am the next morning
But given everyones state it wasnt suprising that we found much comfort in just sitting on the ferries cruising along the grand canal. so much easier to do that then anything else. And although the weather was somber it atleast kept the hords of tourists at bay. Plus being the freak that i am i quite sometimes enoy the omenous weather (though i must admit that we have been gettting random wet and gloomy weather for italy in summer).
Anyway, we walked to San Marcoàs basilica. and i hate that i say this everytime i go to a new city but it was unbeliveably beautiful and might be a favorite! Venice was a point where the east and west met so the church has reminance of eastern vibe. And all the ceiling has gold mosaics which was stolen from Constantenopel! St markàs tomb was there and we climbed the basilicca for the view. But its a shame that we didnt go into the palace but there is always next time cos i am so going back to venice!
We made our way around the city and then headed back to our camp site. me and ana decided that perhaps our livers deserved a chill out session. so we sat around and chatted and somehow it got to 1:30 am when tienen came stumbling in quite drunk and tim...who knows when time got back. im impressed with people who get back on that horse so fast. i always feel like the world is against me and like scum of the earth needing only sleep and cuddles and greasy food
The next day we went to Murano island and saw some actually glass blowing. its amazing and i have never seen it from that close. i was v impressed. apparently the island was created for glass making because the glass factories kept catching fire and they didnt want venice to be catching on fire! And then we went shopping...good times!
After that we had lunch by the canal and then trained our way home. If i went again to venice i would love to see the lace making, go inside the palace and go for a gondola ride which i am saving to do with a special someone....
We left at a ridiculously early hour of 6am for our train and went straight to the Collesum ( I am quite proud of my light weight packing - its definately the lightest compared to the other girls and Mel was horrified wen i told her that i woudl take only one set of pants for the 3 days - she is firm believer that you need a matching outfit for each day :S) Its pretty amazing to be walkind down a regular highway and then bang out of nowhere °Collusum° ...and its pretty bizarre to think that its been there for over 2000 years! we went inside and had a look arounnd and got a tour. Learnt so much that i didnt know. its so strange to think that the place i was standing was a stadium where thousands of people died for the entertainment of others. Strange morality these romans had but in ways they were so developed and maybe they were just more raw and earthy then we are ...or we pretend we are...
Then we went to the Roman forums and this was my favorite place in rome. Its so amazign because we saw the remains of the oldest temple in Rome (dedicated to the dark gods of war in honour of the military) and the temple of the Vestal Virgins ( this is where 6 girls of nobel family kept the flame of Vestal alive. And they were choosen b-w the age of 6 and 10 and although they had high status and prestig if they were found to be not virgins they were burried alive and wipped if the flame died. after 30 years of service they were let out but most did not marry - such a great little piece of history. makes you ponder ponder away). I would love to go back there because i feel like i missed things...i prob didnt but it just a feeling you get from rome. Then we went to the paletine and it was sweltering hot, sweaty and the map made no sense so it wasnt the best exp (i gues people dont talk about this part of their holiday - wen its hot and humid and stressful and boring - they just like to tell you abotu the best parts and definately not the logistics!)
Then we met up with the other girls (mel and gen came in late cos they have arleady been to rome) and we saw Trevi fountain and spanish steps and bloody oath it was crowded!! couldnt belive ti was like that in May cant imagine wat it will be like in july! From there we went to the Pantheon - its been there for so long and Gen used to do architecture so she was explaining how there is not mortar in teh foundation - it just stays up due to the mathematical genius!! Thats pretty amazing. it used to be a pagan temple and then suddenly in 600 Ad they diecided it was going to be christian. Majority rules i guess. The beauty of rome is you can be walking and you turn a corner and bang there is an amazing monument!!
The next day we decided not to brave the crowds for the Vatican musuem cos it was the last sunday of the month so the vatican musuem was free ...so lines were 3 hours long. we went straught to here the popes service (thats right i have tiny photo of the popes head out of the balcony) and then we went underground to see the late popes tomb. people had left notes near it. It was really sweet and sad. After that we climbed to the capola 530 steps baby! (now we know where all that gilati is going) it was a pretty crazy climb cos the stairs are narrow and the walls curve in. We saw people passing out half way. pretty scary stuff! But when you make it up their its worth it. you can see the whole vatican city and its crazy to think its actually a city of its own! But again the huge number of tourists really detracts from it a little. We then went insde St peters and the ceiling mosaics are unreal. you would never pick that they were mosaincs they look like paintings! But perhaps the most beautiful thing in there is Michael Angelos Paete - the sculpture of Mary and Jesus after his crusification. The expression on both of their faces is magical and profound. I cant belive he was only 23 when he did it
After this we went to the amazzing gellati place but i think i have spoken enough about it...suffice to say i still think about it with a little tingle!!
I didnt end up getting to Pompei cos of logistic difficulties the next day so i had a bit more time to explore and i came across the Villa Borguess and Piazza popello ...all very amaxing. and then out of nowhere there was a massive down poar and i was at the Fountain di Triton and fountain di quattre and i was so excited!! I guess being in melbourne you dont really see massive down poars so i had to soak it up literally! but then my cotton pants were drenched al through and the 2 euro umbrella i had bought broke so i decided it was a sign to head back to my lovely sexy apartment in Florence!
Thats all fokes
love
Oendrila
I have to back track a little because i have been naughty and not really updated you guys on whats been happeneing in my hemisphere
Not last weekened but the one before me and the gals (my hosemates) left class, got on a bus to Sienna (i make this sound easy breasy but it really involved some mad and confused runing around and some rather pathetic pronouciation of italian). But thats the beauty of the Prato program you can just leave class and head on over to the tuscan country side!
Sienna was beautiful. Everywhere you looked there was scenery like you wouldnt believe and you just wanted to keep taking photos! And shop! THe shops were so cute and to be really honest we were rather bad because between taking photos and stopping at pretty shops we kinda only went inside one tourist place - a church. but it was a pretty funky church cos it had the relics (actual human head and thumb) of St Catherina! I dont know what the politically correct thing to say might be but it was creepy and cool! Later at night we had Gillatie and sat at one of the most beautiful piazza the world has probably seen
The next day we headed of to San Giminianco. Its another little town with a town hall tower that we climbed. The stairs were pretty scary and we took some amazing shots. its really hard to capture on camera the beauty of places like that. We also went to the ruins and took some more photos and scampered back to Sienna for some shopping. very bad - but i would like to take this moment to say that i didnt do any actual shopping i was there for moral support!! This was followed by more gillatie and piazza (square) chilling!
THe next day we went to Assisi and it had the most beautiful church i have ever seen. The Church held the remains of St Augustine and it was elumniated with candles that gave it a haunting yet serence feel.I felt i could be there forever - assisi is like that - people do go there for spiritual reasons and i for one am not surprised. I watched a sunset over the hills and it was so lonely and beautiful all at the same time. After that we trecked up to the hill top castle at night and it was the highlight of my trip so far: as far as the eye could see there was little towns below twinkling and shinning with night lights. and then out of no where there was fireworks but we were actually seeing the fireworks from higher up so it was about looking down onto fireworks! I have never had that perceptiuon. it was amazing and so so cute! Then we found a person sized hole in the castle walls and before anyone could really think about what we should do i jumped in and then the other gals had to follow. it was so funny cos we being lil law nerds on the inside were in hysterics about °illegality and trespassing° and terrified that the police/guards were going to come and release the hounds on us. I guess its hard to describe moments like that but so far Assisi is the only place i would really defiantely love to come back to sometime in my life in Italy.
Tuscany is so beautiful. if you like things to be manageable and you like things to be quaint and your scenery to be brethtaking! you cannot cannot miss Tuscany
Oendrila
well i would like to start my update on perhaps the MOST amazing weekend of this trip but since i only got 4 mins to class i might leave it. but speaking of class i must admit that its pertty alright classes...i am being taught by deans and ex-judgees and crazy italian professors. and the class sizes are so small that its a real honor to be learning and getting this opportunity so i must say that its pretty damn awesome...yes the nerd in me has been set loose!!
more updates on tuscan village tour soon!
well i would like to start my update on perhaps the MOST amazing weekend of this trip but since i only got 4 mins to class i might leave it. but speaking of class i must admit that its pertty alright classes...i am being taught by deans and ex-judgees and crazy italian professors. and the class sizes are so small that its a real honor to be learning and getting this opportunity so i must say that its pretty damn awesome...yes the nerd in me has been set loose!!
more updates on tuscan village tour soon!
Hi everyone
realised i had forgotten to tell you all about my weekend in milano!
It was pretty good. The duomo there is probably the nicest one i have ever seen. I walked around the fashion district, saw the first ever prada store and generally felt like a bit of a hick. but also there was some pretty ugly bags and wat not for an enormous amount of money!! i ran into a transexual portrageus man who wanted to read my hand (creepy yet funny). and then i went to the Bicare (an art gallery) and lastly the castle. pretty big day!
The next day i went to Bergamo. This gorgeous little town that has an ancient vienese area perched on top of a hill and then down the bottom it is like your everday modern city. It was ok in the old area but i think at first i was really dissapointed because it was meant to have one of the nicest ancient city squares but i have been somewhat spoilt by prague, budapest and the like. but after a while i just happened to walk into one of the most stunning views of my life. you could see rolling hill tops and little housses scatered across the plains. very amazing and i came away feeling like life was quite grand! Then i ran into a creepy old man ( a story for another day ) and was thankful to make it back to my hostel.
I think all up it was a nice weekend but at the same time it was a bit lonely cos i had to do it all by myself. I am much more looking foward to this weekend where we are going to Seinna (on purpose this time!), San giminiano, and Assisi. yep we are covering that all in one long weekend!! but it should be all right cos they are tiny little cute towns on hills. But the most exciting part is that all us girls are going together. I think its quite lucky cos the 4 of us girls are getting along like a house on fire and we all just clicked (knock on wood). Everyone here that is studying is so nice and helpful that its making the expereince that much more awesome!
anyway, i miss you all and am looking forward to showing you photos...maybe i should learn how to load them up...maybe
love you
O
well here i am living in florence ...and its certainly different to the last 2 weeks. for starters i have had to go back to uni. damn it! and i have a billion pages to read - seriously i have no idea how one person is meant to get through that much reading...maybe thats the idea you are meant to share the work load. i got quite depressed in my room when i woke up the other morning thinking about how much work i had to do. so i read only for a bit then walked around Florence and remembered why i had decided to leave everything i know...its beautiful! i am in love with the buildings, the dumo, the cathedreal, the archways, the windy lanes, the shops and the leather bags and shoes! I got lost and found the most beautiful churches. people say you get °churced out° in italy but i havent yet experience that!
today we got on the wrong train and went 1/2 way to sienna - to a place caleld montoloppa (wold mountain) and had to make it back to class. we only got here in the last 5 mins of a 3 hour class! it was ridiculous. but it was pretty funny too
Thanks darren for the post - but i meant that they have a copy of the last supper in my room but your right there is heaps and heaps of amazing art. David is lieterally around the corner from us but the lines are so massive! bt yes soon i will motivate myself to go down their and wait. im sure i wont leave flroence without seeing it
take care all of you and hope to ehar from you all soon. being back to semi normal life makes me miss you guys a lot!
love o
ps: i have learning to be self sufficent. had to come home from class at 10pm and cook my own food. dont know how you kids do it!!
hi everyone
lets finish the end:
Amsterdamn
ok all of you are going to think im wrong and broken when i say this but amsterdam was my favorite place on the tour. and no it wasnt because of the sex and drugs (although that was perhaps a small part of it :P) its just an amazing place with something for everyone
saw quite bizarre and hilarious things at the sex show. people actually had sex right in front of me(makes sense with that name huh?) but it was def not a turn on. but damn do they make it look easy to bend like playdo! anyway, i dont think i would go again but i felt it was my duty to go and see it as first timer in amsterdam. and no ash i didnt take photos - punishment for you not coming to amsterdam - no in all seriousness they break cameras if you try to take photos.
we went down big mama ally which i think is sufficent and ample description on what there is to offer! we did some drugs but i gotta say the pot there is very mild! didnt feel much so decided not to keep wasting money.my mates wallet got nicked so had to do a bit of running around with that.
but the day was much nicer. i biked around amsterdam and it was the most beautiful feling with the wind if my face, the sun bathing me, the feel of the smooth track below me. its hard to imagine a more serene exp. then i checked out the van gough museum and the rijsk museum (it has rembrandt and vermeer paintings) i was so excited cos i studied them in HS...i actually did happy dance! but all together it was awesome and then we partied a bit as the end of the tour
we went to brussels the nxt day for lunch but since im not a massive choc fan it really didnt do it for me. fiona a gal on tour licked her plate (a bit gross actually)
after that we said good bye to the tour in London and went to our very nice little appartment in London. we hadnt realsied it was an apartment so we were pleasently surprised esp cos we were the only inhabitants. we met some nice americans and we went out for a few drinks with them. HEAPS of fun!! the next day we wondered the sites of london
- buckingham palace: saw a parade!! i belive they call it chaning of the guards
- we saw west minister abby-big ben
- tregalfure sq
- picadiilly: a bit of a let down really
- tower of london and tower bridge (the famous one cos the real london bridge is a little shit house and the tower of london is actually a castle. go figure)
could i live in london? that was the big question and the reason i forced shoba to stay there for 2 days. hell yes! there is so muh to do. so many galleries, museums, theater, opera and just stuff hapening that it boggòed my mind. cant wait to go there!!
after that i came to Florence and so far its just been about becoming aquainted with the whole place. getting it together. our apartment is gorgeous. all the furniture is antique italian, and the paintings are all very famous ones such as Devinci last supper! tres cool!! starting uni tomorrow so looking forward to that too (yes im a nerd) but will keep you guys posted. thanks to everyone that posted
Pinku: cant wait to have a massive pow wow with you. i got a sim here so if you get a calling card yuou can call me and i def want to know what going on with you. glad to know you are happy and missing you here
alv: def keep us posted on when you are cming down. cant wait to atch up. will def atleast see you in londonm
lefty; i like it. i like it a lot. anyway, yes poo to you for not taking holidays and poo to pwc. but cant wait for thailand.
take care all of you
much love
o
and yes i love it!! I cant believe there is such wonder in the world. i am reallz reallz looking forward to traveeling more in this part and perhaps even more to actuallz living here. but i will back track a little
NB: cos im using a european kezboard - all the Z are a Y and vice versa. sorrz!
Krakow (pronounced Karakov) in Polland
Legend has it that this town got its name from a man named Krak. he killed the mean dragon that lived under the castle and ate chidlren and animals and so in honour he was allowed to name the castle and he choose to call it krakow. its a verz fairztale kind of little town that used to be the capital of old polland.
it has a beautiful and amaying square in the middle of the grounds where something is ALWAYs happening. we saw a parade, jugglers, a memorial, and perhaps most excitinglz 9 polish zoung breakdancers! its so awesome. i havent seen anything so vibrant and dinamic. we climbed the old town hall, (a billion stairs), we met some street performers who had met the pope. we went to the top of the castle and found an amaxing little church. and dont even get me started on the food. its like heaven. to anzone who comes here zou have to trz; perogie and zurek. verz verz yummy! i think the best thing about krakow is just its vibe. its so jollz and fun and so quaint. i cant describe it. its just a great citz!
Aushwitz in Polland
this i think is one of those must dos on people - ``what to do in life' lists. i dont know if zou have one but i do and im verz happz to be able to cross this of. its a reallz tripy place to go. you can go to where the barrakcs were and you see pictures of all of those victims who didnt survive and how long they managed to survive. to be honst zou feel sorrz for those who lasted anz decent period of time becaue it was hell there. people were just crammed in,. given 5 min toilet breaks for an entire barrak (1000 of people) in an entire daz! people were treated less than animal. zou saw the ``jail within the jail' that is - that is where people were suffocated, starved to death or where thez were forced to stand in a 90cm by 90cm space for 5 people after working all daz as punisment and as examples of what could happen to those who disobezed. it was just a nightmare.
all of their things were stolen of them and there is a fraction of it displazed in the camp and there is just mounds and mounds of it! the most dreadful thing for me was the prosthetic legs, crutches, braces of the disable people which was taken of them as soon as thez arrived (because thez would be killed immediatelz as thez were incapable of work) and used for german soliders. nothing was wasted. even their hair was shaved and sold to make materials. it makes zou want to be sick
we saw inside the gas chambers and it was a horrible sensation konwing that not long ago thousands of people died in this area. and lastly we had the freedom to walk out of the gates and it was such an eery moment to feel how easz that was for me and how it was never possible for them, never,. perhaps the most haunting thing for me is one line from the tour guide `zou are not in a museum - this is a cemetry and you walk upon the graves of millions'. its frightening what we humans can do...
Prague in Chezch Republic
wow - it is no wonder that this is the place that inspired Mouzart. my first view of it was in the night and for that i will always be thankful. So beautiful. zou climb up the charles bridege and the whole citz just glows. everz part of it is lit with tinz lights and its a citz of heaven almost. zou can go the square where there is a giant clock that has been there from the medievil times and has not broken down since. (the artist was blinded after the work was completed so that he wouldnt be able to replicate the work) and across zou can see the Thine church which is made like a castle from the medievil period. the actual castle is gorgeous in all its splendour and glorrz! we went to a dali exhibition and it seems fritting as this citz is made for love, art and the bohemian spirit.
everzthing about this town was spectacular - especiallz the number of tourists! i would love to come here again but i cant think of a time when it would be quite cos i definatelz cant do it when it is this busz ever again. its suffocating
Berlin in Germanz
this is perhaps the first citz in mz travels that i would not call beautiful. its stark, its confronting and its real. it has amaying historz, strength and character that is perhpas unrivalled. Germanz as we know it was onlz unitied in 1870 and alreadz it has experience 2 world wars and 1 cold war. and the scars remain. even upon the buidings themselves which have large bullet wounds. and monuments and statues with pieces missing´- living historz i guess.
todaz we went on a walk where we saw the old natzi buildings´- or atleast the ones that have been bombed or torn down. we saw where hitlers bunker was. we saw where the gestapo buildings were. the holecaust memorial. and the parliament after its been renovated to its old glorrz.
Berlin does monuments better than anz other citz. we saw the momument against facism and millitarism - it was a verz touching monument of a mother with a dieing grown son in her arms. it envokes a lot of szmpathz. i gues its hard to think of millions of people dieing but when zou consider it as 1 plus 1 plus 1....it becomes harrowing. we saw the monument to where all the books were burnt by the natzi partz that didnt fit in with their propoganda and there was an awesome quote ; when zou burn books zou will surelz burn people. which was said in 1820. quite prophetic reallz.
inside the hollacust memorial we saw the diarz entried, postcards and pictures of those who died in the concentration camps. its quite confronting but i think its best to look such things in teh face. because when zou ignore them zou run the risk of it all happening again.
we saw where the berlin wall used to stand which has now been turned into a murial. where people from around the world come and paint pictures. its prettz amaaxing - i actuallz bought a piece of the wall. couldnt resist reallz. its mz lil piece of historz.
tomorrow is the last lefg of the tour; amsterdamn! bring it on!!
please post guys so that i feel more loved
oendrila
Hi guys
so here i am in Europe. i really cant believe im here!
Well our tour started with Budapest. we had to make our way from the airport which was an adventure all on its own because budapest has these weird subway tunnels to cross main roads and it is perhaps the most disorintating thing in the world. you go in hoping to simply go straight to the other side but there is no such choice...you gotta make a right or left and then you come out and you cant work out where the hell you are - this is perhaps made worse by the fact that im spatially challenged!
But its beautiful here - the street we are in is cobbled with lamp posts well lit and buildings that are so beautiful that they take your breath away. We spent yesterday exploring the city. as soon as we got up we headed out - had the cutest little bruchetta sandwiches - and climbed the gellet hill from where you get a spectaculur view of the city. we didnt know where to look - everywhere/everything was so beautiful. we then went to the national museuem and there was so much history. this country is so rich in culture/literature/art and history its just awesome
After that we checekd out our local market and then met up with the rest of our tour group. mostly aussies, except one korean guy and we had the Most MASSSIVE meal you can imagine!! it was literally bought to us in a saucepan and i think we did well to get through even 1/2 of it. pretty buggered after that as im still suffering from jet lag
Day 2: today we went to the st christian bastian (church) and its so gorgeous. i have never seen such a beautiful church and inside is the hand of king stephen who died in 1943! it's fisted up - like he died fighting. pretty awesome and slightly creepy. then we tried to make our way to the gallery but the map lied (like wtf - how can a tourist map lie!) but we ended up at the opera house. its beautiful cos we could here the opera rehersing! and now we are of to the labrynth (a maze) and then for wine tasting followed by a night walk through the castle district! its been awesome so far (in case you couldnt tell)
Tomorrow we go to austwitch (i spelt that terribly wrong) but i think its going to be very sobering but probably unforgetable moment
anyway guys - my phone has stuffed up and i have no reception here :( but hopefully it will work in poland. hope you are all well!
much love
Oendrila
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