Arrivederci Roma!

We have had 4 fabulous days in Rome. The sheer grandeur, history and influence of this city have been awe-inspiring. We have seen the main antiquities but have had to walk by so many more spectacular sights than we can count. Places like the Trevi Fountain (picture attached) and the Spanish Steps were fun to visit but super crowded. Yesterday, we took the Hop On and Off bus around the city where we learned lots of fascinating historical details about Rome.

Weather has been superb, wine cheap and more than drinkable, food delicious and gelato to die for.

Julie wishfully window shopped at Prada, Gucci, Dior, Jimmy Choo, Bulgari etc.

Today, we head to the tranquility of the Tuscan countryside and anticipate doing some hiking. We've rented a car and will drive to Sienna and Volterra, and go to a vineyard.

All for now! Off to the train station.

By the way, we haven't killed each other yet and think we'll still be speaking by the time we return home!

Laura, Julie, Rhonda and Nat

Rome - After Glitch #2

Hi all.

Yesterday, we hopped on the "fast" train to Rome in Florence which was supposed to take 1 1/2 hrs. But...... a train ahead of us "broke" so we were delayed by an extra 5 hours! The upside was that we were highly entertained by our Italian seatmates and a Brit. Upon arriving, because we were so late, we took a taxi to the apartment instead of a bus. The ride was absolutely wild and all of us had our feet pressing on imaginary brakes at one time or another. Our driver assured us he was the best driver in Rome. We arrived safely to find that we are located in a cool area full of restaurants, bars, students and a gazillion other tourists. Another bummer was that Laura's friend Steffi took ill and wasn't able to join us here. She is missed.

Much of today was spent at the Vatican. There are many words to describe it and yet none at the same time. It is overwhelming. Everything is done in such a grand scale it boggles the mind. We have lots of pictures but will only attach a couple from today. We took a break from Vatican City and went for a very nice, authentic italian lunch. We filled ourselves with pasta, pizza, wine, beer and of course...gelato.

Tomorrow we will be heading to ancient Rome and we had a quick peek at it from the taxi, on the way to our apartment. Although our vision was a little blurred because we were going so fast, it is breathtaking. We will have lots more pictures to post!

FYI, you will notice that we are not posting any pictures today with any of us in them. These pictures were taken by Julie and I guess that we are not worthy enough to compete with Raphael and Michaelangelo. She has only one thing on her mind...

We are all doing great, and continuing to keep up with our steps. Although we are tired by the end of the day, it is great to be able to talk about our daily adventures and discuss our "favourite part of the day". We may, or may not share this list with you at the end of our trip.

Thanks for all of the comments. It is fun to share our excitement with you.
Take care
Ciao for now.

"The" Girls

Florence ...Culture Beyond Imagination

Hey People
We have survived our second full day in Florence, and have the blisters to prove it.
It was quite a culture shock, arriving from the peaceful, tranquility of Venice, to the hustle and bustle streets of Florence. (Our first gypsy sighting) We were going to walk (with our luggage) to the apartment, but after a few near misses, we thought not. We took a cab.
We have seen The "David", the tombs of Michealangelo, Galileo, Dante and Machievelli. For those not familiar with these names, time to brush up on your history. We have seen more art than we can absorb and have logged more than 20 000 steps per day. Yes, my butt is very sore!! Laura has managed to drag us around to the markets long enough for her to do most, but not all of her shopping.
Yesterday we climbed 463 steps to the top of the Duomo to witness a spectacular view of Florence. So far, we have been cooking our own meals (except for one of us...guess who) Tonight, we are heading out for our first real Italian dinner, however, we have been able to familiarize ourselves with lots of fine, Italian wine. Florence is also special to us, as it was our first but certainly not last, taste of real gelato...and loving it!
We have especially enjoyed our Happy Hours (24 hours of the day) and our Night Caps.
We are posting a couple of pictures...a view from the Duomo taken towards Santa Croce & the area we are staying, a picture of the Duomo taken today from the Boboli Gardens and a picture of us in the Piazza della Signoria.
Tomorrow we head to Rome where Steffi (friend Laura met in South Africa) will join us. We will post again soon.

Rhonda & the girls.

p.s. Special thanks to Dave & Teresa for the card and gift it tasted GREAT!!!
Donnie thanks for the treats...but we need more.

Ciao folks...we have arrived!

We arrived after 18hrs. in transit to a glorious day in Venice. We took the vaporeto (water taxi) from the airport to our apartment where we dropped our bags and headed to the market for some groceries and wine. Got 3 litres for 6euros siphoned from a big jug into a plastic bottle nothing but the best for us EFACE gals.
Needless to say we all slept well.

The main attraction for today was a walk to some of the main sites including the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco. By the way, we weren't the only people visiting these attractions. It was PACKED! We needed a kick start to the day (no coffee in the apartment...but does anybody know what Orzoro is?) The alternative was an enjoyable caffe americano, cappucino & velvety smooth hot chocolate at an outdoor café. The weather was cooler than anticipated today but we haven't been rained on, so all is well.

Venice is awesome, historic, romantic, picturesque and post card perfect. You be the judge. (Above picture taken by Julie)

It's now 9pm as we sit at the internet café on our way for a night cap or gelato...hell we're on vacation we may do both.

Tomorrow we go to Murano hopefully to see local artisans blowing glass. After this far too brief taste of Venice we continue on to Florence.

Arrivederci from all of us.

Final Night Before Departure

So, the time has actually arrived. Hard to believe that we first started talking about this last Feb. Then, we started to count down the days at 160! I still have to pack, do last minute stuff at home, and make myself pretty. Tomorrow, I'm putting in most of a full day at work and then leaving straight for the airport. I think once I'm on the plane, I'll be able to relax. We're being met in Venice by the owner of the apartment we've rented and then we'll hit the town, stock up on groceries and probably fall into bed. Until Italy!
Laura

3 more "dodos" to go

You know Julie's excited when....it's 6:00am and I'm wide awake, posting my first entry on our blog. (if you know me, that's a rare occasion...I'm soooooooo not a morning person) Although there are only 3 more days to go, it hasn't really sunk in that I - Julie, will be in Europe THIS WEEK END. WOW!!!!!...that sounds so cool! Visiting Europe has been a lifelong dream of mine and standing at the edge of the realization of that dream feels pretty amazing. The great thing is that I get to enjoy it with 3 fabulous ladies whom destiny has brought together.
Wonderful adventures await...no doubt.

Jewels