Dibbo's Canadian adventures

The trip of a lifetime started uneventfully when we drove into Toronto to catch the 8:30pm AC 890 flight to Rome, Italy. The flight was typically squashy and uncomfortable. Sitting in one spot for 8 hours not getting any sleep was soon forgotten after arriving at our first motel, a short walk from St Peter's Square. Walking into the square on a sunny Rome afternoon was an unbelievable experience. The photographs show that we were there but it is not possible to describe the feeling you get when you arrive at such an historic international landmark. Needless to say, we spent some time simply standing, sitting and walking in this magical place before heading down the Della Concilliazone (a broad street) to check out some more sights which included Saint Angelo's Castle, bridges over the Tiber River and other views of the Vatican. We met the Globus tour group back at the hotel at 6pm and headed out for an 'Italian style' dinner and a short tour of the city.

Day 2 was great. A local guide showed us around a number of sights starting with the Vatican. After a short wait outside, we walked through magnificent hallways, past the Pope's garden, through the Vatican chambers then into the Sistine Chapel. Once again, an indescribable place with Michelangelo's most famous artworks now fully restored. Then through St Peter's Basilica where Jenny and Alex lined up to touch the foot of St Peter's statue.

Back in the bus, a whip around the city past many ancient landmarks dating back 2,000 years and stopping at the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine. An ear piece was provided to us so that we could listen to our guide providing information about each sight without having to stand around in a group all the time. It was also handy to be with a group as you didn't have to line up in the long lines and the guide did the talking for us. It was very hot on this day but not at all humid so we enjoyed the tour through the Colosseum, the walk to the Arch of Titus and the view over the Roman Forum which had only recently been excavated (in the last 30 years) revealing many ancient ruins. We hopped on the bus again to be dropped off at the Piazza Navona. A short walk around some fabulous Rome streets and we turned the corner to be hit in the visual senses with the Pantheon. Yet another awe inspiring structure with the historical background of this 2,000 year old building explained to us by Marcus, our guide. Walking further found us at the Spanish Steps then on to the Trevi Fountain. Everywhere we walked we were surrounded by historic buildings and sculptures. We also passed a gazillion cafes and street stalls.

Florence, Italy

Heading out of Rome to Florence we went through Tuscany and caught glimpses of colourful villages and farms in a heavily agricultural area. Florence was another spectacular old city with many beautiful residential buildings. We proceeded to the main square in the centre of the city to a leather shop and admired the quality of Italian leather then had time off for lunch before heading on a guided tour of some of the highlights of Florence including the the statue of 'David'. This experience was added to the top of the list as, once again, we were all stunned by the majesty of the sculpture. Florence was a short stay, only the afternoon for looking around, dinner then to the hotel. Next day we traveled to Venice. Along the way, as with each day of travel we stopped at roadside petrol stations similar to those you would find on any major highway in Australia. They have the petrol station and a shop for food and drinks. Believe it or not this is where we found the best coffee. Speaking the only Italian word we knew for coffee (cappuccino) we were given a fabulous coffee rivalling the 'Chili Jam' masterpieces.

Venice, Italy

Venice was our second favourite city to Rome. Although very busy and touristy, the discovery of Venice was fantastic. Old buildings and narrow streets interspersed with canals and gondolas everywhere blasted us from every angle. We were ushered into the usual pressure sales place by our guide. This time a glass blowing demonstration then a display of the shop's goods with mind boggling prices. Needless to say we didn't touch anything for fear we would have to pay if we broke and headed out of the shop to explore Venice. The highlight of the day was the gondola ride. Back to our hotel off the island for dinner then Jenny, Alex and I went back into the city at night for a bit of an adventure. After wading through the Italian language we managed to buy some train tickets and hop on a train that went back across the causeway. Venice was equally fascinating at night as the pictures hopefully show.

St Goddards Pass/Lugarno/Lucerne, Switzerland

Next day we said goodbye to Italy and headed to Switzerland via the pass. We had a choice to go through the quick route via the tunnel or go over the winding pass. The steep and sometimes frightening climb to the top of the pass proved to be great value with some remarkable roads and spectacular views. We drove into Switzerland, stopping for lunch at Lugarno and admired some spectacular Swiss mountain scenery before heading into Lucerne and some wet weather. We liked Lucerne as it was friendly and easy to get around with most of the locals speaking English but it was terribly expensive. We trugged through the rain to take in as many sights as the city could offer including the covered bridge and the fortified old city walls. Alex crashed out in our hotel room for the afternoon and Jenny and I hopped on a local bus to the mall for a look see. Nothing exciting in the mall except some interesting crowd watching.

Paris, France

Another long bus ride to Paris. This enabled us to get a good look at the changing country side of Burgundy. We did miss a lot of the local small town flavour of France by sticking to the highway and shall come back again to take more time going through some interesting towns that we saw from a distance. Still cloudy with the odd splash of drizzly rain when we arrived in Paris but we were all excited to see the city. The hotel was spectacular and located on the Republique Square. This location is in the centre of the city, surrounded by 17th and 18th century buildings and on the Metro line. We had time to check out the local surrounding neighbourhood before getting back onto the bus for a city tour stopping for dinner. We decided on crepes for dinner, the three choices being 3 cheese crepe, ham & cheese crepe, and a chocolate crepe. Can you guess who had which crepe? The dinner location was at the Sacre Ceur Basilica. As it is on a hill you get a good view of the city and the Eiffel Tower. The place was very touristy with lots of typical Parisian stuff to buy, some great restaurants and interesting history. One of the restaurants is where famous painters such as Degas, Cezanne, Lautrec, Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Diaz and Sisley hung out.

After dinner we went on a city lights tour which was great except for the rain which spoilt some of the photos. We got off the bus at the Eiffel Tower though and took some great shots. Next day back on the bus for a city tour and an early stop at the Eiffel Tower this time to climb to the second level. Up close the tower looked spectacular and it was quite scary going up in the lift as we were up very high. The view from the observation deck was fantastic. More sights out of the bus window, getting off for a photo opportunity in front of the Arc de Triomphe before being dropped off in front of the Louvre at 11am. We had the rest of the day to ourselves so started walking to our chosen places which included the Louvre, the River Seine and its bridges, the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Hotel de Invalides where Napoleon is entombed as well as the Champs-Elysees. Once again the rain slowed us down but we got a good look around before jumping on the Metro back to our Hotel. I went out foraging for some local wine and found a little mini-mart 5 minutes away which sold wine for as little as 2 Euro ($AUS3.30) so I lashed out and got a beer as well. Had this back at the hotel with Craig the only other Aussie on the tour.

Next day was departure day. We headed to the fast train to England rail terminal with the tour group before saying good bye and heading on our own to the airport via the Metro.

# posted by Dibbo @ 1:23 am