A WEEK IN ITALY- PART TWO

                               PISA AND FLORENCE

We got the train to Pisa and went to see the  Tower of Pisa.  It was a sight to see, with a lot of other tourists trying to get those iconic pictures with it- including us!  It was really funny trying to get the pictures as it was so hard, and we tried so many different poses.  We walked around the grounds but decided not to go inside and walk up as there was a while to wait and I don't think I could have walked those stairs! We went inside a cathedral that was there and it was small but had lovely designs.  As we left to go on the bus back to the station it was quite rainy.

After our look around we traveled by train for about 30 minutes to Florence where we spent most of the day looking around, exploring and shopping.  We went to Museum Ferragamo which was all about the designer and his shoe designs in years.  We went to this other museum called Museo Galileo, which was a really interesting museum about science, life and other facts in that area. We went to the main square looking for the cathedral we came across loads of shops, there was a lindt shop with all types of flavours  to taste that you could ever think off! We came across a gelato  shop and decided to have some as  we hadn't  yet, and Italy can be known for its  gelato. While walking around  eating, we came across the grand cathedral in the middle of the  square, it was so big!  We headed back to the train station and hung a round there till it was time for our train.  We had mini pizzas with hot chocolate while we waited.

Our last trip of the day via train was to Venice.

A WEEK IN ITALY- PART ONE

In October 2015 I went to Italy with my friend Amelia for a week. We started off in Rome for 3 days, then spent one day in Pisa to begin with and than Florence, and than the last 3 days were spent in Venice.

                                                                            ROME

We flew  to Rome  early morning Sunday  so we could  have the whole day to ourselves to explore. We tried to see the Vatican but turns out it is closed on the last Sunday of every month... our luck! So we went to see Piazza Navona which is this really  nice area and by the time we arrived it was early evening.  We  sat by the fountains had a walk around the square before sitting at one of the many restaurants nearby got dessert.  There was street artists nearby, playing music and instruments which was interesting to see.  There were not that many people around so wasn't too busy which made it a nice atmosphere.
   

DESSERT TIME!

On the Monday, we visited the Vatican quite early as we managed to get a tour the day before for a really good price. Our tour guide was so good and informative and I am very happy with we decided to go with one.  The Vatican itself was extraordinary such beautiful architecture, painting and history that goes with it, I could not fault anything.   Straight after we went to the Colosseum using the metro.  As we had a Rome pass which entitled us to free transport for 3 days and 2 free museum entries.  We used the Colosseum as one of our free entries and this also entitled us to go the Roman Forums and Palestine Hill.   It was interesting walking around the Colosseum where it held gladiatorial contests, it was also very strange to think that many years ago people watched these contests where we were now standing.  The Roman Forums were opposite and we had a nice wonder taking our time too look at all the ruins that were left there.  We made it just in time to the Palestine Hill before it closed; there were lovely views of Rome especially as it was getting late, the sun was beginning to set!  In the evening, we visited the Spanish steps and Trevi fountain that were both under construction unfortunately but looked nice from the outside we had some lovely dinner we found in a lovely side street before heading onto a bar for some drinks!

ROMAN FORUMS

PALESTINE HILL VIEWS

COLOSSEUM

LOVED OUR TOUR GUIDE 

BEAUTIFUL PAINTINGS AT THE VATICAN

OUR YUMMY FOOD 

On Tuesday, to begin with we had breakfast outside of the hotel/apartment for a change and then walked to see some of the shops and what fashion was like,  We walked to a park called Villa Borghese which was so big!  We hired this bike/car thing and had a ride round which was so fun and we both had so many laughs!!  It was nice to see the big park at a pace as we would not have seen it if we were on foot.  We walked to a museum nearby and used our second  free entry pass there! It was a cool museum, one we wouldn't have done usually so happy we did it there!

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