Italia… the good, the bad, and the beautiful.

The plane set down in Pisa airport, and Kristin and I looked out upon a gorgeous morning in the west of Italy. With our lives on our backs like turtles, I had a sudden reminder of how hot things got when you are carrying a lot of gear. While only the morning, it was already hot (by Ireland standards), and I was outfitted in my ‘check-in luggage reducing attire’ – heavy jeans and shoes with a jacket. The words on the signs were foreign yet somehow familiar. It took me nearly an hour to remember how things were in Italy. I had never stepped foot in the province of Toscana (Tuscany) before, but I was already impressed. We found our way to the B&B, missing our stop and walking back, then waited half an hour till the owner arrived to let us in. If there have been two consistent things in Italia since our arrival, it has been 1) getting out at incorrect bus stops; and 2) day after day of beautiful, hot, rain-free weather.
Pisa. A small name. Almost cute. Famous because of a certain building that wanted to look a bit different. A ghost-town during the midday hours, then bustling with life once siesta time is over. The town itself is not outstanding, but quaint..ish. The centre of the town is dominated by a few structures of massive importance: there is the large Chiesa di Santa Caterina (Cathedral), with a nice Baptistry, and of course the Leaning Tower. The tower makes its presence noticeable from far away. Originally designed for the purpose of a bell tower… it had just four tiers when the ground under one side of it (combined with other elemental and design factors) started to give-way. The tower simply started to sink. They supported it, and built on new tiers at two different times. Each time, trying to correct for the permanent lean it would have by making one side slightly longer, and one side slightly shorter. Have a good look at the photos and you will see it curve almost upwards on the top tiers. Also here’s a photo of things you can do with tower - some trick photography. We also managed to borrow the tandem cycle of the B&B owner and cycle through the streets of Pisa like lunatics (Erin and Paul would be proud!). Great fun, but I recommend that you make sure that both people are pedalling equally… We took a trip out to the Marine di Pisa… we were expecting sand, and got slabs of rock. Further around the coast looked to be tons of sand, we were just to lazy to find it. It didn’t stop us from catching a few rays though… and a few ice-creams too.













Next stop Firenze (Florence). Only a short 45 minute train journey away, we arrived and journeyed to Piazza de’ Pitti, not realising that our B&B was immediately outside the Pitti Palace. It houses an immense garden, and has four museums which contain many valuable pieces of art from famous artists (apparently). We did not have time (or the money) to please our eyes with the glorious interiors of any the magnificent buildings, churches or museums of Firenze – as we had to get straight into the goal of finding accommodation. This city (like Roma) is (and I quote from the Lonely planet) “unfairly over-blessed with art, culture and history”. Yes it is. Everywhere you walk, you find yourself face-to-face with another intricately detailed, ornate and flamboyant, structure of abundant history. On our random wanderings, we have encountered an unfathomable number of these buildings… and we suffered upon Firenze a great insult by rarely entering them. There will be time to savour and enjoy these treasures when we have visitors, and hopefully more cash! After seeing San Pietro’s Basilica in Rome I thought my eyes could never again feast on such immense beauty. While the interior of that mighty cathedral still takes the cake… the exterior to Firenze’s Duomo takes your breath away. The tiered pink, white and green marble cathedral has an intriguing history, with names such as Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Vasari, Brunelleschi, Andrea Pisano and more, all contributing to this banquet of splendour. When Michelangelo himself went to work on St Peter’s Basilica, he said “I go to build a greater dome, but not a fairer one”. At last, our first priority is now complete - we have found accommodation in a great part of Firenze. Our local area has many of the things we need – at Italian prices, not at tourist prices. A short trip by bus to the centre of town and there we can find the things mentioned earlier plus Cinema’s (even have screenings in English), but of course anything in the centre costs a pretty penny more than where we live. Down the road from us are two outstanding Pizzerias, one of which, create it right in front of you… from dough to piping-hot from the large pizza furnace. One difficulty I still have is the menu. I still manage to order things on my Pizza that I didn’t even know existed. Living with us in our apartment is Dimetri (a Greek), and Jackomo (an Italian)... they both seem really nice. Here are some photos of our bedroom, kitchen and small terrace. I suffered a horrible tragedy the other day. My pair of jandals (flip-flops for you foreigners) that had come with me from NZ after winning them at a volleyball tournament – broke. They had travelled to nearly every country I have been to, and we have been through a lot together… . Well such is the tale with travelling, you have to say goodbye to many people and things that you love. Some differences: Small buses – designed to specifically weave through the narrow streets. Three prices at café’s – Takeaway, standing at the counter, taking a table. The noise of the ambulances – ‘weird’ what more can I say? Scooters – mentioned in earlier blogs, there is a large number here too. Fashion – big sunglasses are a must over here if you are to have a chance to blend in with the crowd (still unlikely however). Most people from teenagers to elderly are dressed very well, and wearing way too many clothes in hot weather! To this day, it has not rained since Kristin and I have arrived. So here is the tale so far. Much will follow… the wine flows freely, the sun shines and there is a hint of expectation in the air. -Marty

Edinburgh and the sad goodbye...

It was on my last weekend in Ireland when I said goodbye to many great friends from Ireland. We celebrated in a pub owned by a Kiwi, and there was a good turn-out of people – probably there to at last celebrate the fact that I was finally leaving their green shores. It was a mix of emotions on the night, and even frustration crept in when most of our group had made it into the night club and a few of us (including me) were unable to enter. After a disappointed beer elsewhere, and a persisted effort to return and get in, were could finally enter. After the night was over I returned home, and I was sad… sad because unlike saying goodbye in New Zealand (where I knew I would see everyone again at some stage), this time there would people who I would probably never see again. I was in quiet contemplation for a while afterwards. After that there was a busy few days getting packed and tying up loose ends before Kristin and I headed off to Edinburgh.
My mind over the last was largely focused with getting organised for Italy and all the preparation for that had just about seen Kristin and I forget that we were headed to a lively Edinburgh packed full of rich history – and a chance to see my wonderful friend Sharon again! Sharon and Wendy kindly welcomed us into their small (but very central) apartment, which was incredibly handy for seeing the sights of the fair city. We walked the Royal Mile; climbed (King) Arthur’s Seat – a hill overlooking Edinburgh; had a look at the Holyrood Palace; Various churches and cathedrals; The old town; Princess Street; the Gardens, of course the impressive Edinburgh Castle, the Elephant Cafe where Harry Potter was written, and much more. The first day was fantastic… at last the cold of winter had disappeared and was replaced with a beautiful blue sky and warm sun touching porcelain-white skins. Kristin and I had a good climb up Arthur’s seat in perfect climbing footwear –Jandals (Rick will testify that these are not ideal in surfaces that are wet, too dry, are flat or have a slope, are made of marble or rock, surfaces that crumble, or when you have to move fast). Sharon managed the climb twice to find us - due to no credit on her mobile!
The second day was equally impressive, but totally different… a heavy fog settled in and around Edinburgh, giving the whole city a creepy and very Scottish feel. The Edinburgh Castle surrounded in fog was like something from a dream, looking out into an impenetrable whiteness that our audio guide to the castle said we were lucky to experience. We were actually lucky to experience anything at all on the second day as we were locked ‘into’ the apartment, which required us to shout out into the street for willing volunteers to enter the apartment and unlock our door! That night Sharon and Wendy took us to a good feed at a local restaurant, and we had to say a quick goodbye and jumped onto the bus (with a very grumpy bus-driver) to Glasgow. It was in the airport there where we spent the night on the floor, to catch a very early plane to Pisa.







As always, any time around Sharon makes me miss the other two partners in crime: Beck and Rick. Well I can only hope that maybe we will unite again in the near future… who knows, maybe even under a Tuscan sun?
-Marty

Rain, Crazy Moroccon's & Future Stuff

Hard to follow Marty's fantastic eastern adventures, but I shall try.
On the Pommy side of the English channel I have been up to many an adventure myself since my last blog. Trips such as Amsterdam, Germany, Spain and Morocco and even small tripsaround the English isle all come to mind.

Most recent was the Melissa and my effort to the supposedly sunny Spain and Morocco. Being fully aware that Marty has written a blog before me on the same country I will try not to repeat to much of his encounter in mine.. Although in such a random place such as Morocco, I think it would be hard to talk to two people who had a similar experience.

After sloggin away at our English school for the last couple of months, Melissa and I thought we quite deserved our upcoming trip to the sun drenched lands of near equator, Spain and Moroc. Unfortunately Spain let us down BIG time. It was hard to get a real feel for the beautiful city of

Barcelona. I had heard so many great reports about its uniqueness, unrivalled carnival summer atmosphere, blah blah blah blah blah blaahhhhh. FOR ME IT RAINED!!! It rained so much, that our solitary warm sweatshirts that we had belatedly decided to bring a long, almost got holes in them from such over use. To compound matters, my undying optimism that it would soon turn into the goldern paradise I had been promised, prevented us dishing out a measley 5 euro for an umbrella... Eventually Melissa saw sense and purchased a bright orange umbrella that gave us a sort of fluresent reflective glow reminding our fellow depressed tourists what the town should actually look like.

Spain also conspired to unsettle our travel plans a little. It seemed the Spainish had all decided to test out its train network for the first week of April. I hoped they all liked it, because we certainly didn't get much of a ride. A word for the wise, when traveling in Spain, perhaps prebook some travel.... A million and one hours in the bus later, (I like to exagerate when it comes to bus travel...I hate buses, If you were 1.93m tall you would no what I mean.) we arrived at various destinations including Valencia, Grenada, and Algeciras. Granada was definitely the highlight, but it was cool to get a quick peak at the America's cup village and Team NZ HQ (and boat) in Valencia.
Grenada is a fab little town if you ever get the chance to go see it. It was essentially the first and the last place the African armies (the Moors) occupied. It has an amazing legacy in the Alhrambla left behind. The Alhrambla is said to be the finest piece of Islamic Moorish architecture in the World. Melissa and I didn't manage to get inside (tickets were booked up to a month in advance, not the weeks that we tried), but we did see it from across the valley in the old quarter of the city.

Morocco is something else.. I would describe it as intense. It is difficult in someways to look past the poverty. With tourists there for one time only visits, and the money they offer in such demand, many hard sell pushy tactics are used. Similar to Bali I suspect. When confronted with the urge to buy something, always more than half the the price stated!! Every one is a potential sales person as well. People in the street may ask you if you want help to find a hotel, but they are surely enough always in it for the commission, this is subsequently added on to your price. As you can tell, I probably didn't get completely over the superficial sort of things completely. Its definitely very smelly, dirty, polluted and intense. Its also very lively, unique and beautiful in many ways. I found it hard not to wonder if there was a better way. Seeing rubbish just piled over banks into rivers made you realise that there is hardly enough money at times to feed people let alone develop basic infrastucture.

We traveled to Marakesh, Essouira, and Fes. Marakesh is the tourist capital of the country, extremely keen to sell you everything they can make or bake. Essouira is much more laid back, and has a beachy feel that is very very cool. Fes is the older more religiously conservative city with bags of history and 14th century streets to get lost in. The craft of the people in these cities was amazing. We saw leather making, silk and carpet weaving, and wood turning to dazzling standards. Truely impressive amounts of time and effort goes into a hand woven carpet! Some can take up to 5 months for one person to make, with over 450 ooo notes per sq metre!

Morroc is definatly an interesting place for woman to visit. In some places like Fes, it is very intriguing for the locals to see a 'Western' woman. Fes prides itself in its religious conservatism, in my mind this seems to clash with its often in your face rudeness in which locals will look Western Woman up and down learingly. It can be a very uncomfortably experience to walk down the road even in conservative western clothing in Moroc.
Overall though, it was a great place to see, it has soooo much to offer for a tourist in terms of sights, sounds, and experiences.

Next on the travel agenda for Melissa and I is Galway, Amsterdam, Italy (to see Marty!), Paris(to see Melissa's Parents) Niece and maybe Italy again!
Then of course its off to Japan! If you don't already know, Melissa and I are off to Japan in August to take up Jobs at the British School in Tokyo. Crazly I will be Teaching yr 1-3 (5-7yrs olds) P.E!!!!! Can't wait to make the little blighters run..just jokes.

Love to all, see you at Christmas

Rick and Melissa