Pictures and Video are being added.... Please Read

This post is for everyone who is reading about my trip in Italy.

I have posted a few pictures in the more previous blog postings. I am slowly going to add more pictures in the coming days when I get some spare time. My plan is to add a picture or pictures to all my stories when ever I saw something cool or did something stupid along the way, so when you are reading my stories, you will have pictures to look at. I am starting with the more recent pictures or posts so I will finish with my pictures with Rome for all the intelligent people out there.

Also, I have video from various places, if you see a play sign on a picture, that means its a video, you can play it, they vary from time to time with quality of film since it was with my digital camera, also, they vary from time to time with sound, so turn your computer up if its quiet as there are other sound factors when I was filming.

Also, I am not a tv reporter, I run out of things to say rather easily when on film so disregard any repeat sentences or words, get me on film for hockey and I can talk all day long, get me on film asking about a painting or building, i have about 4 words to my vocabulary, you will hear them all and already read them all... they are as follows... Amazing... Beautiful... Incredible...Breathtaking... and Fantastic.... Even the word great comes into play from time to time, mainly because I am having one great incredible time writing this amazing story about how breathtaking my finger nails look while typing on this fantastic laptop screen that is shining on my beautiful face...........hahahhahaha................................ Peace

Venice with Style

So...I am back from my trip and on my laptop, I am uploading or have uploaded the pictures to my computer, I am waiting for my friend Katie to mail me a copy of the pictures from her camera as she has some better shots then me.. Then I will finally put everything together and get an online shutterfly album out to everyone. I will try and cut them down but I know I pulled about 800 pictures and video myself and I was good. Katie went threw 2 memory cards but its all worth it no doubt... but for now, I will throw some random pics in this post just to spice things up but really because I have them now and its easy to upload to my blog.

Right.. so moving on... trained to Venice at 8:18 am

Actually it was late, left around 9 I think, but get this bulls**t, I purchased this rail europe pass which I spent a lot of money on, I just got a 4 day pass which allows you to travel on the trains for 4 days in 2 months, does not matter where you go or if its short or long, you have that entire day to train where ever you want.. sounds great right? Not..... and I would have used a F word in there but I am keeping it PG-13 obviously... So I am probably wrong here but this pass thing did not save me money because the pass only works for the basic trains, so if you need a high speed train to get you somewhere quicker which is up my alley as I will take a 3 hour train ride over a 6 hour train ride any day. Or an over night train or any other special trains, you have to book a reservation plus pay an extra fee, like an extra 20-25 euros... So was buying my eurorail pass worth it, not a chance, well not for me at least...... but I bet it does save money in the long run.

Moving on, so I get to the train station, go to reserve a seat and find out the train is full, but I can still purchase a ticket for 15 euro and stand for 3 hours... Well that sucks... but my friends were heading that way and the following train was leaving a few hours after so I bite the bullet even though I would have liked to grab the skinny train station man and slam him into the bullet proof glass but I did not, hence it was vacation and maintaining calmness... so I pay the balding Italian, extremely not happy that I might be standing for 3 hours but figured I will walk up and down that entire train till I find a seat for sure..

board the train.. 45 minutes later found a seat... Got kicked out of random seats 9 nines, yes I was counting.. I even tried pulling the its my seat routine with the fake train ticket... Shot Down.. did not get me far.... hey, I tried right... so anyways, ended up grabbing a seat, took a nap which was fantastic.. got to Venice..

Walk out of Venice Train station.. check this out.. besides the huge Calvin Klein billboard, was pretty sick to come out of a train station to this view, so far every time I left a train station I saw nothing but buses and cars and bums asking for money, I roll outta this place, I see water, dirty water, but I see water.... pretty chill no doubt..

Walking out Venice Train Station

Sweet.... now I get to write and throw the random pic in from time to time, pretty neat. I think this summer since I will have lots of time on my hands between working out and finding a job for next year, yes.. still currently unemployed but way too early in the signing season to worry about that at the moment.. back to the vacation details...... We get to Venice around noon, have about 8 hours to kill before I train to Milan to stay there for the next 2 nights, figured we could hit the main attractions in Venice in 8 hours and........oh yea, I forgot but you should be with me from my last post..... We and I mean by WE as let me find a picture here.. hold on...... let me upload this bad boy

Ok.. so this is the 4 of us who traveled together to Venice. Starting from the right, thats my boy Frank the jacked football player, Dave the man who fell in love with a Aussie chick, Sick shirt wearing Gondolier guy who just made 60 Euro off us in a half hour ride, Irina the easy going and highly intelligent soon-to-be surgeon, and myself, the Bic Pen Salesman.

Its the only picture we have of the 4 of us traveling that day, or at least the only one on my camera. But I mentioned how I meant up with these guys in the previous posts so no backtracking here, I am already rambling on enough.

We make our way around the streets or actually canals of Venice, no cars in site, no buses around or annoying vespas whizzing buy, only boats my friends. I would love to have a wave runner to whip in and out of these canals, did not see any, wonder if its against the rules? So this place is like a maze, if the 3 of us guys did not have Irina to help us out, we all would have gotten lost. I mean this is wicked easy to get lost, canals run everywhere and hardly any signs, theres these small walkways and canals that go all over the place. I was just following the lead, stopping every now and then along the way to snap a few shots of some cool looking Gondolas. Expensive to ride, but sick and for those who are not reading my language right now, according to Wikipedia, a Gondola is a traditional Venetian sculling boat. Gondolas were for centuries the chief means of transportation within Venice and still have a role in public transport over major canals. The gondola is propelled by an oarsman (the gondolier) who stands facing the bow and pushes, rather than pulls, a single gondola.... anyways.. here take a quick look.

Canal with Gondola's

On some random small bridge keeping it real

This is so much better, I can actually write and show a few pictures of what I am talking about so you get a feel, I should have waited till I had my pictures before I updated my blog, but then I would have had 14 days worth of stuff to write and my memory is the best in the west so its probably better I did what I did, I can always go back and add photos.

Getting back to Venice.. the plan was to head to St Marks Square to check out St Mark's Basilica, the biggest attraction to check in Venice. And once again, they were not lying. This place was awesome, huge, respectively of course. We did not make our way in, long line and we were all exhausted. This is the best photo shot I got, this place was crawling with people. Except for the weird red pole in the middle, could have done without that, but you get the hint. I did not get the entire Cathedral in the mix, I was way too tired to keeping walking backwards, check in my camera if it worked, watch out for pigeons because there must to have been a million flying around and I did not want to get pooped on, plus, I have seen so many cathedrals at this point on my vacation, this picture worked out well.

St Marks Basilica, Venice

After chilling around here for a while, we bounced our way on over to the water where a bunch of boat taxis were chilling and other boats and the goods, got some pretty intense photos shots in, let me check if I got one worth posting.. hold on.. well sorry I am in it again but its my blog so I have a right to be in the pictures, plus its either one with me in it or one with some random Italian dude jumping in my shot, I chose myself because my shirt says Guard on it, and not I am not standing in the water, looks like it though huh? Interesting.

Jeff (For those who does not know what I look like)

By adding pictures it takes me a long time to write this post, actually not at all, but a bit longer but makes it feel a bit more personal now adding a few action shots in, better enjoy all this work I am putting into this...haha.. well we cruised around the area for a bit, just making our way to the famous bridge in Venice, the Rialto Bridge. Now I am going to cheat here now as none of my pictures came out well, I think the sunlight was the main concern, but I stole one from the Internet so you get the idea how cool looking this bridge was to check out and walk across, I mean it is just a bridge, but it was one cool looking bridge.

Rialto Bridge (Not My Photo...oops)

We checked this out, interesting indeed, we were all pretty tired now as its been about 4 hours walking around Venice and it was pretty sunny out so we made our way back to the train station to regroup and relax and talk strategy with how to haggle with the Gondola guys and get the price down a bit. After some chatting and a quick nap by my Canadian buddies on the train bench, hold on... throw them in real quick.. its not always about me ya know...

Frank just woke up, Dave is sleeping, Irina is day dreaming

We make our way back to the streets in search of the Gondola guy who we can haggle, we find a poor soul, quotes us at 100 Euro for a half hour... hells no... find someone else, he started at 80 for 40 minutes, why only 40 minutes? who knows, but we got him down to 60 Euro for the 4 of us and thats pretty cheap, I mean I am not made of money but would have paid whatever to ride a Gondola, not that they are that cool or anything and you go slow as snails, but its the experience and the fact that now after a few heaters I can slur "I rode in a Gondola in Venice".... Tough pick up line maybe......

Gondolier and Myself

View of the Canal from the Gondola

This puts us around 6pm, we grab a bite to eat and make our way to the train station to go our separate ways. The Canadians were on their way to Trieste Italy for the night and making their way over to Slovenia and down to Croatia among other destinations, Irina was training south to Bologna to stay with a friend before taking the night train to Paris for the end of her European traveling experience, and myself was training it west to Milan, my last destination of my Italy trip and I will be venturing alone for the first time, curious to see how it works out.. I am leaving off there, till next time..... Peace....

Some Words of Wisdom From William Aldridge

Billy and Me in Karate Pose..... Had to give him some photo love

OK.. I am not done writing about my travels as I still have to finish my day in Venice and Milan but I was chatting this evening with one of my good buddies from back home, none of then Mister Billy Aldridge...... who is in Iowa at the current moment studying Finance at Iowa's Grad school... so this kid is wicked smart..... and he loves using big words all the time and if you go way back to the beginning of my blog there is a part about Katie and her love for policemen and the mathematical probability formula in which she will fall for yet another policemen in there as well which was done by none other then billy.... so the best part really is the last comment sent via facebook which is why i am posting this, the first 2 sections are just a setting the mood.....


Billy: I can't wait to hang out. It has been far too long. Miss ya pal. Have fun in Italy. If you go to Rome (or if you've not already been) look out upon the seven hills that forever changed the world and feel humble. It is where giants walked...the eternal city that was home to scores of men whose ambitions were greater than this life allowed.

Jeff: sometimes it absolutely amazes me at how intelligent you are... seriously now where is that comment from?.... you completely lost me now..... 7 hills? giants? eternal city? I need casey here to make fun of how smart you are and throw beer cans at you.... and I know you are being sarcastic because I just changed my profile pic which has me and Vatican city in it.


Billy:
I didn't get that from anywhere. I just wrote it. thanks for the compliment, by the way. You seem fond of telling me how smart I am. It is going to give me a big ego.

Rome, called the eternal city, was founded on a series of seven hills. the seven hills that changed the world is just another way of saying that Rome changed the world. the scores of men (a score is just a fancy way of saying 'group of 20..or a lot) were the politicians that ruled each successive generation. guys like Caesar, Gaius Marius, The Gracchi brothers, Scipio Africanus, etc.

I have somewhat of a passion for roman history (as is obvious). I don't know that that necessarily equates to being intelligent. I just enjoy reading about it. Also, reading about their military strategies makes me better at business, I think.

Studying the past gives us an insight into human nature. People feel that we are so different today because we are so much more advanced technologically. But I don't think we are that different at all. Studying the past yields an insight into who we are, but also gives an insight into who we might become. And who we might become is the most important thing we can consider, both intellectually and realistically.

Understanding human nature is so important to the question of who we might become because it brings the idealism we suffer (or perhaps enjoy) back to become grounded in reality. For example, we dream of a free nation in America that is founded for purposes of advancement and the well being of its citizens. But how can we truly understand that nations place in this world if we do not understand how people have a natural inclination to seek power and rule others? Studying Caesar, studying Rome, studying Napoleon allows us to understand the balance that must exist between the idealism of a better society and the lust for power.

Sorry to ramble. I don't get to enjoy these tangent thoughts too often. They make me think about finance here far too much! And I didn't realize that picture was taken in Rome. I have never been there and don't really know what the city looks like. All of my knowledge sadly exists in books.


Jeff: You have way too much time on your hands...haha


I hope he checks this blog, he will love that he made the cut again..

Recuperating in Florence

After being on the go for about 10 days now, everything was finally hitting us. The hundreds of miles we have waked, the thousands of stairs we have climbed, the 3-4 bottles of wine every day, the millions of calories from pizza, pasta and gelato, the early walk up calls and countless late nights turned into early mornings, finally it all caught up with us and we took the day to sleep in. Finally got out of bed around 1 which was the latest we slept in the entire trip. Sad to sleep in that late but it was much needed.


After talking with Irina who did the Cinque Terra hike before she came to Florence we decided that we only needed to get there in the morning to give us the full day to hike so we decided to stay at our Hostel that night. By the way, its called Plus Florence, might be the nicest hostel I ever stayed at. Free Internet which is where I was able to catch up on my Capri blogs, huge rooms and 2 bars which is lovely, one was on the rooftop which allowed for some sun if its nice out, plus reasonable prices so for those inquiring about heading over there, I would check it out.




But anyways, we decided after sleeping in that morning, that we would just veg out in Florence and sit by the deck and soak up some sunlight and chill. We thought about training to Pisa but at that time would be pointless because we would go right through Pisa on the train that takes us to Cinque Terra. The new plan was now to relax for the day, soak up the sunlight and get up really early and train to Pisa, do that for an hour and then get to Cinque Terra and hike which according to Irina would take about 6-8 hours.



So we grabbed some lunch, a donner kebab. I fell in love with those as well, I am not one for condiments on my food but there is some white yogurt sauce thats amazing and left me in a food coma.



Headed back to the hostel to change and head up to the deck for some bake in the sun rays and ran into 2 Canadian fellows in this tiny little elevator and never left their side the rest of the day. Either that or they never left ours since I was still with Katie and Irina at the time..haha.. but these guys were great. Dave and Frank, both around my age and from London Ontario. Its a small world when traveling, ended up talking with them briefly because they had some serious huge backpacks and I was asking how heavy those things were.

Quickly came across me playing hockey for a living and is considered my full time job, I stopped saying I was a garbage man or a Bic pen salesman and just come out and say I play pro hockey. So that got Dave asking about where I played and if we both knew any acquittance's which the first person he asked about was Jeremy Williams who plays for the Marlie's and leafs. Dave used to date back in the day Jeremys girlfriend and just met Willy a few months back so its just a small coincidence. But got us to start chatting and after dropping their bags off and us changing to put some shorts on, we all met on the deck and hung out there the rest of the afternoon chatting it up.

Frank, Dave, Me with Red Bull Vodka Respectively

So Dave the outgoing and talkative one and probably for the first half hour did all the talking of the two guys, actually Frank sat by himself at another table till I went over and told him its ok to join us.... Turns out he is used to Dave meeting new people and always talking it up so he just lets him do his own thing. Frank went to McMasters for football and was a bit quiet at first but loved to chirp Dave every minute he could. We ended up talking to these guys all day long, I usually always have a hard time getting to know guys as its the guy thing ya know, but these they were really chill, pretty funny and easy to hang out with plus they were like 2 brothers who fought with each other all the time and I love to instigate and would provoke some banter here and there of course which provided for some entertainment throughout the day.

Model Pose.... I was trying out Blue Steel

We exchanged sport stories, gave each others grief about being either Canadian or American, told some life stories and the whole nice yards. You will see these guys in some pictures when I send them out so now you know about them. So these guys were on their 2nd week of a 6 week tour of Europe and they tried to get me to go with them for the final 4 weeks which I was so tempted on calling United Airlines and changing my flight again but its been way too long from home and decided I couldn't do that.



The 5 of us all went out to dinner and had another good meal. It was funny hearing them talk about the high prices, small portions of food, the cover charge to sit down at a restaurant, the prices of bread, price of water or any beverage actually, all the things I bore witness too for the last 9 months being in Europe. Was pretty funny to me as its pretty ridiculous how expensive it is.

I can admit... I lost the rubber match in the best of 3 series... Does not happen often though

Katie was not feeling well from the night before of drinking, I think it was more that she was traveling for a month at this point and it finally caught up to her. She made her way to the hostel to sleep and we wanted her to rest so we killed time by walking to the train station to check the times for the trains in the morning. Dave and Frank were making their way to Venice for the day, Irina decided to tag along and after chatting with them, I was recruited to join along myself.

Meant however I would leave Katie a day early and miss out on Cinque Terra and Pisa, but I always wanted and still wanted too go to Venice and now was as good a time as anytime when I liked hanging out with those 3. I heard Cinque Terra was beautiful and worth the visit but its a lot like Capri, and I was already feeling a bit tired and not in the mood for some more hiking. Venice sounded more up my alley.


So after asking Katie if it was ok to leave her a day early who completely understood and was cool with the situation, I decided to change my plans again and make my way to Venice. I felt bad leaving Katie, she was my travel buddy and we were having such a great time traveling together. Plus she was not feeling well and I did not want to leave her while she was sick. She knew from day one I wanted to see Venice and if she has not seen it already would have made the trip with us but she did the Venice thing already 2 years ago. Plus she said that she is was not feeling better she would not do the hike and would stay in Florence and I would just waste a day so she told me to go. I felt bad as I really enjoyed her company and was sad in a way to leave her as we planned that this trip for 2 months and it sadly flew by. But the decision was made and the following morning I awoke at 7am, caught the 8:18 train to Venice.

The sad face is for being tired after our 8 hour hike but she probably pulled this off in preparation to our separation...haha

I was way too tired to even put on a sad face... thats my give me a bed face after hiking for 8 hours

My journey with Katie was over and it was a great time with her. You will all see some awesome photos we took together along with some funny ones as well, she was a really good travel buddy, we never fought or irritated each other or at least from what I know, I mean for all I know she could have hated me....hahaha... but I don't think so. For being strangers before the trip it was pretty cool how it all worked out and getting along with one another, so I am extremely happy I was able to travel with her and pretty sure she feels the same way.

So many pictures together to chose from but this is a pretty good pic of us at the Vatican city

Bike Ride Through Tuscany

Myself with Katie stopping for a water break, check out Florence in the background

We talked all along about renting scooters to check out a city or to scoot around or even renting a bicycle to bomb around a city and decided to do so in Florence. Rome we would have been killed with the crazy drivers. Not a chance in Capri. Florence was the best chance especially with Tuscany near by. However the night before we realized that renting a scooter would be difficult as Katie had her purchase stolen in Rome and inside was her driving license. Yes for all those smart people out there reading we could rent one and share but where is the fun in that. Plus we both are without health insurance at the time so figured renting a motorized vehicle in a foreign country might not be the smartest idea.

Sick Helmet I know, tried taking it home with me, shot down.

So that leaves our last option, renting a bike. We discussed and heard great things about taking a tour through the Tuscany area and checking out some villas and tasting some wine. We only had limited information however and pretty much stumbled upon this pamphlet about this bike place the following morning when checking into our hostel for that night. We were very lucky to have gotten there in time as they were packing and ready to head out for a 20 mile bike ride which included wine tasting and lunch at this little bed and breakfast at a local villa in Tuscany.

Pretty cool peace sign Kate, either that or its the helmet...haha

Now there have been a lot of firsts for me on this trip and I am not one for being a tourist and joining tour groups especially when it involves athletic activities but I figured I would give it a go. It was a small tour group, I was the only male in the group and that's lovely just to start but it was our tour guide, a trainee, katie and myself and these 4 other American college girls who were studying in Florence at the time. At first I was like great..... this is going to take forever being with all girls ya know.... but I had such a great experience and time. My tour guide was really chill, she allowed me to go on my way ahead and do my own thing and where to stop and wait for the group to catch up which was cool.

View from the road, many miles and hills away from the city of Florence

If she would have kept me on a strict lease, I might has snapped but she gave me the the freedom and that was very nice of her because some of the those where very nice but slow at times on the hills. But I cant even describe the views we had throughout this bike ride, I mean it was absolutely beautiful. I wish I owned a house in the country side here.


We started in the city and made our way out of the city and onto some country rodes and just trekked up some serious hills to reach this villa. It was not easy at times though, I haven't rode a bike in weeks and my legs were burning but what a rewarding experience for me as not only was it a great experience but a great workout as well. I trucked up these hills with little problems, I was panting pretty hard though I might say as I am not Lance Armstrong. But I tried to be lance..haha..

VIDEO: Click Play

But we reached the Villa, I forget the name but they had the greatest red wine I ever tasted. Not too sweet or dry but just right. We had a fabulous Italian 3 course lunch which was much needed after burning so many calories off from the bike ride, we relaxed for an hour and then made our way back down the mountain to the city. Going back was not too difficult with little hills along the way and was perfect after feeling full from lunch and bit loopy from the wine. So we left that morning around 930 and got back around 430, was a great day with clear sunny skies and just an amazing life remembering experience.

The villa we had our wine tasting and lunch... fantastic

If I could do it all over again, I would in a heart beat. I might however rent my own bike and do my own thing if I had a map and knew where to go since I kind of was ahead of the group the entire time, but having the tour guide lead the way and being able to stop and taste some local wine an have a good lunch, it was all worth it for sure.

Once again, cool helmet, even cooler with the Duomo, Florence's Cathedral in the background

We get back to the hostel, grab a quick nap and meet up with a friend we met along the way down in Rome who was just getting in Florence. So the new camera I bought have this 3x self timer, you set it up, it does the whole 10 second countdown, takes a picture, waits a second, takes another one, waits another second and takes a 3rd picture on the timer... kind of interesting and Katie and myself always messed around with it, we got some pretty good pictures that way.. but here is trio set with Irina, Katie and myself.

Self Timer Pic #1

Her name is Irina, 26, originally from Romania but moved to new york when she was 16. Put herself through NYU med school and is about to graduate but doing I think a 4 or 6 week Europe tour before going back to graduate and start her first year in residency. So a pretty smart girl if you haven't figured but also extremely nice and easy to get along with. Katie and I met her at our hostel our 3rd night in Rome and we hung out then and then she made her way up to Florence and we happened to have met up once again.

Self timer Picture # 2

We have met some many nice people along the way, its pretty cool staying in hostels and just meeting new people. I was unsure about it at first but so far everything has been great with our places and we were given the chance to meet people from all across the world traveling like ourselves so just that was also another rewarding chapter to add to the book.

Self Timer Pic #3

We get showered up, head out for another Italian meal..haha.. obviously right... but what a great meal, ended up getting all of our wine covered and for free because the waiter messed up one of the meals but we went through a few liters.

Katie is extremely focused in this picture.. must have been the wine talking

Went back to the hostel bar and enjoyed some drinks, met some people ironically from Denmark as well as a bunch of other travelers and had a good night of it. The plan was to wake up early the following day and train to Pisa to check out the leaning tower of Pisa, then make our way over to cinque terra and stay there for the next few nights.


We decided that night after the wine was in us not to get up early but to just relax and make our way to Pisa when we get there as so far its been early wake up calls and always on the go, we needed a day to catch up on sleep. And when that following morning came after the previous night, we definitely were happy we caught up on some sleep.

Day 1 in Florence

After a low key night the previous night and completely crashing out cold on the couch, an early wake up call was called upon. It was going to be a busy day and a lot of miles covered by foot because we got the low down on the city and what to check out and what our best interests would be. Obviously we are in Florence, the city famous for its art history and culture. I have stated earlier that I am not a man of art, not that I hate to look at art or sculptures or any of that but it just does not grab my attention, now sit me in a court yard and let me watch pigeons chase each other around all afternoon and a few beers, I could make it an entertaining afternoon...haha..... good thing katie was the same way and had the same patience or tolerance for things as I did which is why we got along so great with our traveling as of now.

Nice view sitting on a random Sidewalk on the way to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge

So we make our way out of the apartment and head to the Ponte Vecchio bridge on a beautiful morning I might say, sun was out, clouds were non existent and it was just a great day to be a tourist. We got word to make our way to the Piazzale Michelangelo which we were told has the best view of Florence.

VIDEO: Click Play

And they were not lying about the view as well as the hike up to the top of the hill which we heard would be a bit tiresome but we figured we would give it a go. Now if I knew we could have taken a bus, I might have enforced that decision as my legs were still burning from the previous days hiking in Capri.

How Key is this view from the Piazza Michelangelo.... pretty key

But we make our way up hundreds of stairs and steep hills and get to the top and I tell ya, what a view. It was absolutely incredible, you could see the entire city and with it being such a nice day out with no clouds in the sky, it was just a perfect day to take some pictures. And by the way I have a ton of pictures and videos and will get them up and out to everyone once I get back on my laptop... Ok... so moving on, so we chilled around the hill for a while, got some ice cream since we were feeling that we rightfully were entitled to some since we just trucked up this huge hill and got some pictures with a replica of Michelangelo's David in the center of the square.

We then started to hike once again up to the actual top of the hill where the church San Miniato al Monte was located at. I believe it was a church built in the 13th century and thats pretty old if you ask me. So the walk up to it was worth it once we took realized the view and everything, it was such a great experience. The interesting part of the church was there was a cemetery surrounding the Church with tombstones that were above ground, rather interesting. I was able to get a few of them with some pictures of the city which makes for an interesting picture no doubt.

On top of the stairs in front of the church San Miniato al Monte

View of Florence with the above ground tombstones I was talking about

I guess we were running out of normal Poses so we started jumping off the ledge

Katie trying to jump... for a pro basketball player she has little ups..haha

After a few hours walking around the Piazza Michelangelo and the San Miniato al Monte, we decided to make our way down the hill and start to check off some more attractions from the list. From there we made our way over to the famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio. I learned this a few after about the bridge but it was a medieval bridge that was considered to be the first bridge ever built by the Romans. I also learned in katies little Italy guide that it once was occupied only by butchers till some guy came along and did not appreciate the small and prohibited them.. sorry forgot his name.. but now they are all occupied by jewelry merchants and other shops. I was wondering why I saw some many jewelry stores when crossing the bridge, did not think to ask at the time but I tell ya one thing, when I read that book 2 days later, the light bulb went off..haha.. but anyways, the bridge was crazy packed with people, way too many people lingering around, we snapped a few shots and bounced our way out.

Ponte Vecchio Bridge

Quick Photo Shot on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge

Being Goofy on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge with Random Mask...Like who would buy this honestly?

We bounced into some huge piazza which I clearly don't remember the name of at the moment, hey be happy I remembered the name of the church above. But anyways, there were some awesome statues worth of some snaps of my camera.

The referral of the phrase Tea Bag?

We chilled around and took the scenery in and then made our way over to the Duomo, the cathedral church Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, We get over to the Duomo and witness the crazy line to get in, I mean this line was not moving and was down the street, we were not waiting around at all. We got some pictures, figured we had other plans and we would come back before it closes and see if we could sneak our way in.

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore...... Hardly does it any justice, I could not get a better photo, too much stuff in the way plus the sheer size of this monster of a building would force me back at least 100 yards to capture it all on camera

Discouraged about missing out on the Duomo, we made our way over to the the museum Galleria dell'Accademia which was home to Michelangelo's David. The line was not too bad, about a half hour but once we got inside and checked out the original statue, it was all so worth it. Now I already stated and you know I am not a man of sculptures or art but when you are inside the museum and standing next to this statue, it was such an humbling experience. We even sat down and just stared ya know, like taking it all in.

Sorry.. his face is not yellow.. the best picture I could get without getting kicked out

I tried taking a video and pictures, this security guard flags me down and informs me in Italian that no cameras were allowed. I get the hint when she points to the sign on the wall that I just happened to miss. Now you all know me, that was just not going to fly. At this point it was my mission to get a video which concluded to getting kicked out and probably having the police called if I understood Italian but I am now the proud owner of some video footage of the statue. And those wondering, like taking video or pictures does not harm the statue in any way, its all about some copyright issue which is just not cool, I paid money to enter so its all good in the hood ya know...

VIDEO: Click Play

Sneaky Sneaky

After that thrilling event, we checked our watch and figured might as well have another go with the Cathedral and see if we can get ourselves inside and to take a look. The line was still ridiculously long but there was no line to enter to the look out point which offers a high view point of the city. So after another 414 steps to the top, it offered a magnificent view of the city. The only bad thing was the wiring around the top which kind of messes with the pictures. Its not a big deal but would have been cooler if we had actual photo shots of the city without a wire background in it. But what a view, was awesome. You will get a better understanding once I get some pictures up of everything.

VIDEO: Click Play

View the Duomo from the look point across the way... 414 stairs later

Myself and Katie.. ignore the ugly metal wiring

Sick View

Hello there

Katie and the Duomo background

Its getting late in the day and about that time to grab some dinner, it was a great day and we covered pretty much the entire city. We missed out on so many museums and other attractions but we pretty covered what interested us the most in one day. So we make our way back to the apartment to meet up with katies friend ally and her parents. We were all going out to dinner that night at this local restaurant which was awesome I might add. I switched from the carbs and went for some protein and got myself some beef which was everything I was asking for. Then grabbed some gelato, I mean its only a night out in Italy with having some ice cream.

Gelato...... Banana and Strawberry... Now we are talking

We made our way back to the apartment to shower to try and make it out that night on the town. We never went out however, some of Ally's friends came over and we started playing some drinking games and before you knew it, it was too late to make it out to the bars. No biggie, I did not really come on this vacation to party all the time, I mean I like to party but you can party anywhere ya know, maybe that's a sign I am maturing in my old age.

But what a great day we had, I not only caught some great photos shots but also some sunshine only adding to the tan I am acquiring which is quite lovely I might add.

So after 3 days in Capri

View from our B & B in Capri the morning we Left

Its time to get up and bounce to our new destination. We unfortunately did not get a chance to check out the blue grotto which is the best attraction on the island. Sadly a shitty thing for us because the weather or the wind was not in our favor and it was always closed when we wanted to check it out but whatever right, cant judge things on the weather..

That night before our departure of Capri, we decided to map out our plans as it is was our travel day and get everything in order. The plan was to wake up really early around 7am, get a shower and bite to eat and catch a 8am bus down to the ferry. Then catch a 840 am ferry to Sorrento and from there we wanted to train to Pompeii. And then......hahaha...we wanted to check out the city of ruins and have a full afternoon to do so and then catch our 548 pm train from Naples to Florence.

Its a really busy day for us as its a travel day and starting in Capri, stopping in Sorrento and then Pompeii and then Naples with the final destination Florence..... well that all got screwed up from the first thing we tried doing in the morning and turned out to be the first day of travel that was all messed up for us.

First we wake up on time so no problems there, catch our ride down to the bus station which we were on time, but this is where things go wrong. The bus is 15 minutes late which pushed our time to try and catch the ferry. My original plan was to get down to the docks and have some time to check if the blue grotto is open as its such a big deal, well those 15 minutes on the bus which made us late forced us to be running with our backpacks to the ferry to purchase tickets, we quickly pay and jump aboard the ferry as its about to leave and we were the last people to board.

Thats cool we caught the ferry, but as we made our way to the top a few minutes later I look across the docks and all the boats for the blue grotto are being cleaned and opened up which means only one thing.... the blue grotto is open..... so i grab katie, inform her about my findings and decided to make our way off the ferry and eat the 15 euro... once again shitty luck was on our side, as we started down the stairs, we watch them throw the huge red lines back onto the boat which only means one thing.... departure time... we were moving at this point and now stuck on the boat...... damn..... believe me Jeff was in stage 1 of snapping at this point... like all I wanted was to check out this blue grotto, the day its finally open is the day that we are leaving which to add salt to the wound was the best day of weather so far on my vacation

A snap show was building but what can ya do ya know. That always happens when traveling, just when its time to leave, something always comes up. Just makes you wish you could stay longer or have done something different so I kept it calm not to scare Katie. We discussed the possibilities of returning to Capri, eating the 50 euro for trips back and forth just to check it out but decided that it was more of a hassle with our huge backpacks and everything plus we already decided to check out Pompeii so we just ignored the whole blue grotto thing and stuck to our original guns.

We get to Sorrento from Capri, take the bus to the train station to catch the train from sorrento to Pompeii only find out that the public transportation was on strike that day..... Like seriously? on strike? who does that?

Obviously this is first time news to us..... so the bus and trains were on strike, we were stuck in Sorrento which was not on the plans.... its a small little beautiful town so no complaints really but just it was not supposed to be in our deck of cards......Remember the plans were being in Pompeii, then Naples, then Florence, so Jeff is about 2 seconds from stage 2 of snapping... once again, calmly shake it off in respect of Katie and also the fact that its almost at this point a bit funny so I decide to take the 10 second breathing technique.

Trying to find a positive at this point was to find a laundromat and do our laundry which was really important for both of us and wait out the strike...

4 hours later and clean clothes finally, we make out way to the train station, the strike is over and we make out way over to Pompeii, the city that was buried from the eruption of the Volcano Mount Vesuvius back in 79 AD and was recovered in 1748s... So I have my little information booklet handy so I can give some actual true facts to each picture and what each place used to be since you probably will just go threw them and see nothing but rocks or rubble but at least you know what each thing actually meant and its really interesting.

The Forum
Dates back to 2nd cent. BC. Located in the center of the 2 main streets of the city, it was the citys main square and surrounded by all sides, political, religious and business buildings.

So that was pretty cool walking through the city and seeing how much damage was caused from the Volcano plus it was pretty amazing that the entire thing was buried for some 1700 years before accidentally being discovered.. I mean how about that discovery to discover an entire city, pretty amazing.

The Temple of Apollo
The most ancient sanctuary in Pompeii

Small Theater
Thought to have been used for musical performances and peotry readings and built around 80 BC

Great Theater
Built in 2nd cent BC, uses the natural slope of the land to create the 3 teirs, built in a horseshoe shape divided into 3 levels to divide wealth. Could hold around 5000 peeps.

We only had 2 hours since of the strike so we bombed around for the main attractions, I mean its really a bunch of rocks and broken buildings but so its all the same in a way so it might sound boring but walking around and realizing the historical history to it all was interesting.

Amphitheater
Built in 70 BC and one of the oldest and most preserved amphitheaters in existence and held over 20,000 spectators. Was used for gladiator battles... how key?

VIDEO: Click Play

Garden of the Fugitives
Here we have another frozen glimpse of Pompeii's appalling last hours. During excavations of an ancient orchard, casts were obtained in 1961 by pouring plaster into the spaces left by decomposed bodies in what became known as the "Garden of the Fugitives." When the dirt was removed after the plaster had hardened, thirteen adults and children were found huddled together, making futile attempts to shield themselves from the onslaught of volcanic dust, pumice, stone, and ash.

We make it to the train station to catch the train to Naples, get there with some time so whats to do in Naples.. grab a pizza which I highly enjoyed once again. Get the train to Florence and meet up with a buddy we met in Rome who was in Pompeii that afternoon as well and on his way back up to Rome so we chat it up about the experiences we all had the past few days. We quickly stop in Rome, he gets off and we stay on to get to Florence. Finally some much needed sleep and I had an 1 .5 train ride so I was able to rest the eyes for a bit.

Get into Florence around 10 pm, walk around a bit and make our way to the place we were crashing at for the next 2 nights. We were staying with a family friend of Katie's who is studying in Florence. So that's nice having a place to crash and save a buck or two, the euro is kicking the hell out of the US dollar so when traveling for 2 weeks, I will take a night or two in an apartment to save some money for sure.

She had a big apartment shared by 4 other girls and a big couch for me to crash on and with the amount of travel we did that day and lack of sleep from previous nights, that couch felt like a nice cozy bed to me. But we put our stuff down, her parents were actually in town as well visiting and at the apartment so we all went and grabbed some gelato........... Obviously.........the parents went back to their hotel, we walked back to the apartment and its about 1am now so we just decided to chill that night.

We had a full day of plans the following day in Florence with an early wake up call so calling it an somewhat early night was probably the best idea.

We did make to our final destination and it was really not the worst day of travel as I built up, much worse could have happened, it was mainly that we both wanted to check out the blue grotto for 3 days and we missed it with being on a rush that morning all because the bus was late... oh well... just means I have to come back sometime in the future, no complaints there.