OnNomNom-ness!

With midsummer.. comes strawberries!

With strawberries.. comes cake!

OmNomNom!

So Friday was midsummer, and it was the usual midsummer weather or kinda gloomy with a splash of rain and a hint of sunshine. We spent the day around at the parentals, which of course made Nemo the happiest little man ever. It was a pretty good, relaxing day. Much like the whole weekend actually.. I was SO relaxed, that I completely forgot about the movie we had booked for Sunday evening. At 7:12pm, Emma asked when we were meant to go to the movies.. and my response was 12 minutes ago. Yes, I'm that good. Worst thing is, I set my phone to remind me.. but I missed the remind step! coz I'm THAT good!

We did manage to catch a flick on the Thursday, the X-Men one that we flaked on the week before. It was actually better than I expected.. but a very typical X-Men movie. In my opinion.

The First Week.

So I have been back a week today.. a whole week!

What have I done with this glorious week of being home and in my own surroundings... and bed!? Pretty much nothing.. I have relaxed relaxed relaxed.. ok maybe some of the relaxing was forced coz my back finally gave out.. or well I think it just that I knew I didn't have to push through anymore.. its feeling a little betterer today, which is the main thing.

Emma got really sick as soon as we got home too.. hers, quite possibly a little more self inflicted with the accidental overdose of cough medicine. Which resulted in her throwing up a fair bit and breaking out in some unsightly rash all over her body. Not a fun first few days were had at home I must say, but it did clear up her cough.. mostly.

Nemo.. well, he didn't give me the warmest of welcomes.. which was totally expected really but he seems happy to be home with us.. now. The first day, he was a little "what the frak am I doing here?" and seemed to miss the parentals a little.. luckily it is midsummer this Friday so he will tag along to his second home to see his most favourite people in the world. Also, Nemo has turned into a complete cheesewhore.. the second cheese comes out of the fridge, he is at your feet.. waiting, with big eyes! It's outta control! oh  and adorable too..

EuroDuck has settled in well.. and has enjoyed his days hanging out by the door. He seems to really like the relaxed feel and life here. The meeting with Nemo didn't go as well as hoped but he hopes Nemo will come around to love him one day. I think maybe he needs to try and look less sinister..

What has the weather been like in this first glorious week back home? Grey, rainy and quite frankly plain miserable.. but I'm still SO happy to actually be home. The trip was long, it felt longer than it was but yet strangely did seem to go by pretty swiftly. While I enjoyed the chance to see something new and exciting, ok so some days were less exciting than others but it was all still new, I am stoked to be home seeing all my old things and just being me.. no stress. No ugly rooms.. and this is where I look at you, Italy.. that country seriously needs to step up in that department. At least in Vernazza, we had an epic view from the balcony.. I loved laying in bed looking out the door and seeing nothing but sky and hearing the waves crashing below. My only real wish was that the weather was nicer, so that we could have spent more time out there. Em and I would hang out there for a little bit right before bed, which was always nice.. windy but nice all the same.

We were booked to see the new X-Men flick on the first Thursday back, but with both of us not really fighting 100% fit, we opted to not go.. which is a bummer coz I really wanna see it on the big screen, maybe tomorrow night? We thought about going last night.. but the lazy got the better of us lol We watched the final episodes of United States of Tara instead. Not overly happy with the very final ending but it is what it is, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. It's been cancelled, which came a shock to little ole me.. for once Emma told me something I did not know about TV! I didn't think I would ever see the day.. lol

Now with this trip well and truly behind us, we are getting started on planning our next Boston trip, just this morning we were looking up bike tours! I'm pretty awesome on a bike! I'm no cyclist tho! And there's this eatery in New York that we also wanna check out.. so it looks like its a New York/Boston trip! I've been starting to feel like I do need to spend a few days in New York again, without the rush factor. I know for one tho, the planning process wont take 2 years. I'm never.. NEVER doing that again. Not even when we move back to Aus, I have an end date (month and year.. Aug2013) that I want to be in Aus by.. but that is all the planning I'm doing until a few months before.. at most. 

Bring on the midsummer long weekend! Potatoes and strawberries here I cometh!

Heading Home!

An early start was had and we said our good byes to the Aussies before heading off to 'enjoy' the breakfast on offer at the hotel.. we were going to hang around a bit in the room but it was just pure boring so we figured it would be more fun to just people watch at the airport so off we toddled to catch the train.. the express train too! However, it had to be the slowest train I have ever been on.. it was like pulling teeth.

Once we made it, we made our way to the terminal and stood looking at the board waiting for our counter number to come up.. after a while it did. When went over and set up camp until some stupid lady from another airline said that it was their counter and that we should go and check with information about where the Norwegian counter actually would be.. even though the board said it was meant to be there.. so we headed over to the info desk, they said the same thing as the board so we just took our trolley upstairs and checked out the really boring stores.. we came across maccas, and seeing as I was yet to have maccas on the entire trip, I took my chance! Which gave me a little light entertainment when I got to tell off a douchebag.. I guess I had just had enough of douchebags that this guy kinda copped it for pushing in line.. even though it didn't effect me directly, I just thought it was so rude that the dude who had been standing behind me the entire time I was in line was still standing in line and some other little douchebag had placed his order.. a few words were exchanged and I think I got my point across and the other dude who was actually behind me.. thanked me, I guess for sticking up for him and proving that he was in fact before the douchebag.

We ate and then headed back to the counter, the same counter as before and there was another couple standing in line.. we played some cards on the ground and were all set for the long hall. Time kinda flew and then more and more people came.. then the counter people came and started to set up.. and of course the one line we were in had computer failure! Instead of saying that though, the dude behind the counter was just sitting there reading the newspaper.. which kinda pissed me off. The other counter dude, who had started checking people in decided to let us go in, and then for the first time EVER.. my PR got checked and he questioned what things meant! Even though it makes no sense why he would check those things upon leaving Italy.. surely it should of been something that customs should check when I arrive in Denmark? Not that I have ever had any contact with customs people in Denmark.. which still amazes me.

We were on the plane.. it was hot hot hot and I actually managed to fall asleep before we even took off, not proper asleep but asleep enough to not complain about the heat. The flight was pretty painless in general but its still boring and cramped and then arriving in Copenhagen, it felt like we had to walk 500 miles just to get our luggage! I was grateful that our luggage came out reasonably quickly... maybe that was the point of making us walk so far?

Just one more train and then a quick walk and we would be home sweet home! It was really good to finally be home.. really really good. Emma's parentals were nice enough to have done a little welcome home shopping of a few essentials to tie us over until we could go shopping. Awesomesauce!

A Little Douchebaggery.

Our last sightseeing day of the entire trip started off with a quick subway ride.. you can't go somewhere and not use their public transport! It's part of the fun after all! We arrived at the Colosseum and it was at the moment we were entirely grateful that we had pre-bought our tickets, as the whole process was so streamlined for us, it was so so so simple and all done within minutes as we watched the people who still had to buy tickets standing in long lines. Suckers!

 

If you look closely in the above photo, you will see mine and Emma's shadow.. I'm the one with my arm in the air! Hellooooooo! lol

 

We were in and walking around and I was just waiting for Spartacus to jump out and say hello, sadly he did not show. I did see a lady doing tourist shots with a soft toy.. which is something I would totally do and it sorta kinda made me miss EuroDuck. I enjoyed wandering around and it wasn't long before we headed off to check out the Roman Forum..

and by check out I sorta kinda mean get a little lost.. and my a little lost I mean, they didn't have the best signs to tell you how to get the fuck out! Which was a little bit annoying and funny all rolled into one.. but we made it out and that was the main thing.

It was  time for food again.. Em had yet another little awesome place where you could buy stuff by the weight! So we tried a selection of yumminess.. before heading off and exploring some more. We wandered around for a few hours, stopping by to pick up a coffee granita.. which was so yummo! And also gave me a wicked cold headache.. to Emma's great amusement.. and mine too!

Then we swung past the Spanish steps.. where we saw a really cool lizard which we were too slow to take a photo of, those little suckers are fast man! But we snapped this awesome photo of us..

And then decided to head back to the room to have a shower and rest a little before having to meet up with the Aussies again so that we could go out for a final dinner together.. to our surprise they were already in the room, resting themselves. 

Just before we were about to head off to dinner, Emma had another one of her silly moments and thought it was a good time to lock the keys to the padlocks inside the bag again! That's right folks, Emma is losing her marbles! Doing it just once on a 5 week trip wasn't quite enough that she had to go and do it all over again. Well done I say. This time however, I decided that a better option to get into the bag was to go through the end pocket and cut a slit and get the travel wallet out from there.. which meant we can still use the padlock for the trip home. Now I just have to sew up the hole on the inside of the end pocket, which I'm sure I can do with my awesome skillz. The last time she did it was right before dinner too.. interesting!

Dinner was really quite meh, but we didn't really have much to choose from being that it was aimed at the tourists. All the same shit over and over at each place, so we picked a place that we thought would have a view, being it was a rooftop place.. yeah, it was a slight lie. The funniest bit and also the douchiest bit of the evening was when we put 73 euros down for a 63 euro meal, expecting to get a 10 euro note back.. but instead the ass of a waiter gave back 10 euros in coins. I guess he wanted a tip even though we had already paid for service. I watched him put a note in and then remove it after and exchange it for the coins.. so he was totally being a douche. Douchebaggery at its finest! We headed back to the hotel and up to the bar which was on a real rooftop and ordered a couple of cocktails.. with a girl who was a little out of her depth. All us girls ordered clear drinks and Mike being the manly man he is ordered a pink drink.. 

Which was really really amusing.. and also the grossest of the lot! A really good way to end our time together.. sitting around drinking cocktails while playing asshole.. and as per usual, when playing while drinking I totally ace that game! I wasn't the asshole once! And Emma came in second more often than not!

Cattle Drive!

A painless train ride and we hit Rome running.. dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed off on our way to find food and the Vatican. We left the Aussies at Zara, their most fave place to shop it seems and walked around a little bit until stopping by a random spot to grab a bite to eat. This is where Rome really started to go downhill for me.. we ordered a plate of food by the picture.. and coz it said it had deep fried zucchini flowers.. and we got this plate of mainly deep fried breadage.. which was not even eatable. We tried everything.. as you do.. most was left on the plate however.. and then the waiter had the nerve to come up.. look at the plate and ask "was it good?" Moron, does it look like it was good? Is there not 95% of the food still left ON the plate? So of course I said it wasn't good and it wasn't what we actually ordered.. he assured me it was, again. I asked him as soon as the food came out you see coz it really looked nothing like the picture. He said he would go and ask about the zucchini flowers coz maybe they were 'forgotten'. he never actually came back to say anything. We asked to cancel the pizza and then poop happened.. we left in very bad moods and made our way to the Vatican or well the museum bit first to meet the Aussies.. 

Once in, we started the tour but I was really in no mood to be looking at more statues and stuffs.. 

 and then to be basically treated like cattle.. I mean doesn't my face just say it all?

There was one section where we were basically at a standstill coz of all the bloody tour groups.. they sure know how to get in the way and not bloody move! Rome was really rubbing me the wrong way! We ended up taking a shortcut and not seeing all of the museum and headed straight for the Sistine Chapel.. where we were treated even more like cattle as we passed through. Impressive as it was, it still seemed to lack something.. maybe I just expected more? I dunno. 

We moved on and feeling a little hungry, we thought we would stop by the pizzeria for some holy pizza! But of course.. just to add another nail in the coffin.. the place was closed so we settled for an iced coffee thingo at the cafeteria while resting our paws at the supplied table and chairs. It was well needed.

With our energy levels, semi replenished, we headed off the long way around to actually go into the Vatican. There was a service on so we didn't get to see it all.. but it was quite a moment to hear all the choir boys singing.. to actually witness what the place should be used for rather than just walking through like it was a museum.. was pretty cool. EuroDuck seemed to enjoy it too.

Feeling like we needed a good feed, we started to make our way to a place that Emma had previously looked up, while making our way there, we did what we always do and that's take in our surroundings.. I think that's one of the best parts about exploring. Anyways.. we had a munch on some breadage, drunk some weirdish drinks, all while sitting on the edge of a water fountain.. it was really quite lovely.

We walked a little more and made our way back to the hotel.. actually checked in this time.. the room was.. quite cruddy, especially for the price but it was a roof over the head and a bed to sleep in. Sleep I did, I had quite an early night.. I think possibly the earliest of the entire trip.. it was well needed.

Keens.. not so lost.

Apparently I didn't leave my sandals in Granada.. they were in my pack all along. Bloody typical. That is all.

Fortified!

After a long and restless night, it was finally time to leave the Jersey Shore marathon behind and board a train to Lucca.

As soon as we arrived.. we headed straight for a bike rental place so that we could cycle around the town on the wall.. sounds pretty tricky right? but it wasn't coz well.. the city walls were built rather thick and strong so it was just like a normal road but higher. We got pretty awesome tandem bikes.. not the typical ones where one sits behind the other.. coz that is so not as good as biking around with a shade cover! You know it! I know it! Tom Jones knows it! Anyways.. these are the bikes we hired...

I quickly discovered that I had no horn so I had to make horn sounds.. but mainly we just let the Aussies be in front coz they had the working horn.. every now and then there was the need for turning on the turbo! Which pushed me backwards hard!

FYI: Turbo just meant that I pushed myself back hard and pulled that awesome face. I'm so cool!

We had loads and loads of fun on the bikes.. I usually do as I love to muck around on bikes.. I'm still in shock that Em allowed me to steer! We even managed to take this awesome photo while the bike was moving! Go us!

After all that fun, we took a little stroll around the quaint little town and headed for an eatery.. where we enjoyed a little wine and pasta.. and EuroDuck tried his hardest to steal our breadage!

After checking in properly, Em and I headed off for an even bigger exploration of the town.. coz you know I haven't walked enough the last few days.. weeks.. .. .. the month! While on the walk we took in the surrounding buildings and the laid back nature this town had to offer. It actually felt like the relaxed Sunday it was. I felt very good indeed. We even came across a little man made stream thingo, where we got to watch the little fishies swimming upstream.. some points along the way it was so low that you could hear them flopping about to get past.. and we could even see it in points.. it was very cool and very interesting..

 

We walked a little more and the next thing I knew we had birds attacking us with boulders! Ok.. so not quite, but heaps of birds flew above us, some closer than others and the next thing I knew I was being pelted with little stones and a few of them really hurt and one in particular really really hurt my arm. Little shits! Of course Em got away with not being pelted.. I was just the lucky one.

We did even more walking around, and then all of a sudden the place was all hustle and bustle and people were all over the place so we ended up picking up a few little tarts before heading back to the room for a shower and a rest. Which seemed to bore Em so much that she thought it was a good chance to take some photos of herself.. this is the outcome.. doesn't she look so alive!?

Soon enough it was time for dinner, so we picked up a pizza and headed to the city wall to sit and enjoy it in the evening sun. 

We had a little entertainment from a little white dog and a little 3 legged dog who were playing chase together and then a little later the white dog came over to say hello.. which made me think of Nemo, not that he would play like that coz he is just a grumpy old man but that he would just be there.. 3 sleeps until I see him again.. unless I have naps of course.

Jersey Shore Marathon.

The train trip to Florence didn't quite start the experience off in the best way.. I really wanted to thump the train conductor who proceeded to tell us that we would need to swap seats at the next stop coz they had screwed up with the numbering.. all I wanted to do was get freaken seated somewhere and stay there until I had to get the fuck off.. not fluff around at the stops ffs.. Em and I went into the next carriage, which was a little fun having to walk over the metal piece that joins the train and you could just see the ground whipping by on the sides. It ended up being a good move coz the only people who were actually in that carriage were sleeping and the air con was actually nice and cool.. unlike the previous train trip.. but yeah I wont go into that.

We made it to Florence in one piece and got checked in and then made our way to the city, where we stopped by a little corner cafe for a quick pick me up and then got stuck into the explore factor. I found that I didn't much care for the city in general and it really seemed to lack something.. what something I don't really know but it really isn't on a I wanna see again list.

I decided that the hike the day before wasn't quite nearly hard enough that I had to this time walk up 414 steps.. that is correcto people.. I just keep going up! and that wasn't to mention the extra steps to get up to see over the sides of each main level of the tower.. and also the 5 extra steps I had to walk up again after some douchebag decided that I should be the one to move and not him even tho I was moving first. These things happen in tight situations I guess.. and I have been in much worse situations in the last month.

We walked around some more.. my feet were not happy campers so we decided to go and grab a coffee before having to meet the Aussies again.. and funnily enough in all of Florence, we managed to walk into the same one that they were already sitting in having a cuppa. It also turned out to be THE most expensive coffee we have ever had in our life.. along with a bite sized cannoli. 16 euros got us a coffee and cannoli each. Laughable and shocking all rolled into one.

Then we went and saw the REAL David.. and Em snapped a pic! *gasp* she's a bad girl but I was so so proud! Coz now I have an awesome photo of the REAL David for my blog!

The next day Em and I headed off to do some more looking.. we went up steps yet a-fucking-gain to the view point where I must say the view was pretty stella and I got to drink Duff beer.. Simpsons anyone? I should maybe also mention that it was before 10:30am but I just couldn't pass up the chance to try Duff.. would you be able to do it? Afterwards we pissed off back to the city and walked and walked and walked some more.. I must say I wish I had of worn a step counter for this entire trip, just to see how far I have actually walked.

We stopped by a little hole in the wall called I Due Fratellini, which is where I had not one.. but 2 of their breadage goodness. First up I had goats cheese and salami accompanied by a glass of wine and then coz I was still feeling like I needed to try another one, I had the fresh(raw) sausage and eggplant panino.. and it was so very good that a few hours later, I just had to go back for another.. afterall I wont be coming back to this place ever. Or well maybe I will come back just for the panino! Also while we were standing in line to get the first panino, 2 cast members of the Jersey Shore reality show were standing directly behind us! Which I didn't even notice until after I had totally walked away and stood off to the back to wait for Em.. and saw the video cameras lol. The previous day we saw one of them too.. so that was brought our count up to 3! Then to bring the count up to 6.. when we were back in the evening so that Mike could try the panino I had raved about, we managed to see 3 more! If only I was actually a fan, I would be stoked.. of course I took photos.. coz well it was just pure funny and Florence really hadn't made much of an impact on me so this at least added a little funny to it.. Here's the pics, if you are interested. #ONE #TWO #THREE Of course I tweeted it.. coz well.. what else should I have done? Gotta share the funny right?

Lucca tomorrow.. I can't wait... even though it involves more walking.. but this time on the city walls! Cool as man! How jealous are you right now?

Oh and I forgot to mention.. Em and Mike are little sickly creatures! That will teach them for snogging romantically on the balcony in Vernazza, under the moonlight with the waves crashing below and the sea spray lightly sprinkling upon them AND of course the wind in their hair! Ok.. yeah that didn't happen but they are sick. Much sniffling is done.

Quack.

Face It!

More Freaken Up!

After a very early morning.. 2 hr drive and then many trains and switches we finally make it to Vernazza.. where my first meeting with a local is somewhat rather rude.. if you can't be a nice person then dude don't work in the tourist information center. Eventually we found a payphone to call Cristian from lamarina rooms, to come and meet us and walk us to the humble abode where we shall be parked for 2 nights.

 

As you can see we had a pretty awesome view.. and to get that view we had to walk up.. yes UP the steps of DOOM! I thought that I might just die by the time I got to the top.. but luckily I didn't.. which of course you can tell by the fact that you are reading this.. lucky you right?

We went and checked out the town and view from a few points before heading back to the room to wait for dinner time to roll around.. nothing really opened for dinner until 7pm.

I then, fell asleep on the bed with the door open listening to the crashing waves, it was so soothing and then Mike awoke us to go to dinner. Dinner was at a local place.. nothing all the special, nice food but not somewhere I would pay to eat at again. The waitress undercharged us by 30ish euros.. but being the good bitchez that we are..pointed out her mistake and got 1euro each back for our honesty.. score!

The next day we headed off for breakfast at another local place.. Il Pirata, this time one that Emma had previously looked up and taken note of, and of course it was another win for her belt on finding good places to munch at. We had a big breaky and then decided to go back for dinner so we booked a table.. once again for 7pm.

After breaky it was time to tackle the hike! We started off and I honestly wasn't sure I was going be alive by the end of it with how many STEPS there were to start with.. the trail was narrow in places, slippery in others and really packed with people going each way.. and sometimes extra packed where we would all bottle in the really narrow parts.. going down was nearly as bad as going up. There were a few good funny moments on the first leg of the hike. It took about 3 hours.. when in good dry stable conditions it should only take 2 hours.. and of course we stopped for many photos so that dragged it out a fair bit. Here's one of just a small section of steep steps we had to tackle..

We finally made it to the town, where it we had a well deserved lunch.. pasta, pizza and beer! We are in Italy! Then because we couldn't do the next couple of legs of the hike.. due to it being closed.. not that we were lazy! Honest! We caught the train to the next town.. where there were 382 steps of doom! Mike and I stayed at the bottom while Em and Georg hiked up and got us all a very refreshing froyo. It was DeLish.. so much so I tried to convince them to go back up the 382 steps.. sadly no luck. Next thing we know.. we are on the train and heading to the next town.. coz you know once again the hike part had been closed. Then we got to do the last part of the hike.. which of course was the easiest part and it really was more of a leisurely stroll down the lovers section, which is where I got to actually witness a boy proposing to a girl.. it was all so sweet and gushy.

We got to the final town, had some more cold icy goodness before jumping on the train and heading back home.. with just enough time to have a shower and head off to dinner.. where we had a pretty decent meal.. big meal I might add.. I was mighty stuffed and we even had 2 desserts! Piggies we be.. but you only live once!

Once home, we had a little drink of local wine, hung on the balcony before crashing out listening to the waves once again.. it was just wonderful, in a way it was a shame to leave this place but at the same time there really isn't much to do but eat and drink.

Dali!

With our time coming to an end in Barcelona, we had managed to get out un-pickpocketed! Score! I was quite surprised at just how much Swedish I heard there.. even the sales dude at Camper spoke Swedish to Emma.. or well us. I wonder if he thought I was Swedish too? lol Emma and I put it down to us missing Swedish so that is what our ears prick up on when we hear spoken words.. and that there are a shitload of Swedes there.

Anyways, it was time to hit the road, we checked out nice and early.. that was of course after I gave Emma a heart attack from my alarm on the phone. Actually it was pretty darn funny.. the alarm went off, much louder than expected.. MUCH! and Emma jumps out of bed and kind of scrambles.. nice way to start the day, but in saying that.. it was the good kick up the bum we needed at 6am to get up and get ready to get on the freaken rooooad!

First stop.. 90mins in was at the Dali museum, which just had me walking around going "this dude is bonkers" It was pretty darn neat tho, and a very nice way to break up a long trip.. here's a few pictures that we took from the little outing..

And of course I couldn't resist taking a photo of a Dali piece.. with the Dali lens and film on the hipstamatic iPhone app...  

Next big stop was with Mike's aunt... for dinner. It was pretty wonderful and once again he has some pretty fab family. They stuffed us full of good food and wine.. and cheese! We left with our bellies full and huge smiles on our faces. Also there was a really awesome puppy that slobbered all over Em and I. It was awesome! Man, I can’t wait to see Nemo again.

Final destination was finally reached at around 10pm, which was a bit of a fail on the planning stages as the only reason we booked this particular hotel was because of the infinity pool.. which of course was closed when we arrived and the next day was yet another VERY early start. It seems like a real waste of a good hotel but I guess this is what happens when you book stuff and then make arrangements after the fact. The car then ends its journey and we take trains from now on until we take our final flight home. There's no place like home.. 

And gosh! No wonder we keep running out of water! EuroDuck is sneaking it!