Ok so we are in Florence :)

Wow so the wifi has been extremely bad the last couple of places so sorry that we have been out of contact.

Now I have the task of remembering everything that we have done. Rome was intense. We did quite a number of tours and Rome also included the three day tour down to Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii.

Our first day in Rome we decided to do a tour with Romeing Tours down to the christian catacombs and crypts. It was an underground chamber where thousands of Christians have been buried, levels upon levels of burial chambers. Unfortunately that was all we managed to get that done because we got so lost on the public transport system from where our accommodation was. We were a bit out of town so it took a bit of time to work it out.

The next day we left our accommodation on a bus headed for the Amalfi coast. This was our second excursion, The Italian Adventure. The original plan was to go to Pompeii on the first day, go on a guided tour and then head to Sorrento that afternoon where we would stay for two nights, have a day on Isle of Capri and then head back on the last day along the Amalfi coast. Unfortunately there was a massive yacht race on there on Sunday so all the roads would be closed. So the itinerary was reversed. Amalfi coast on the first day was mind blowing. Driving along the winding roads along the cliffs and seeing all the townships built into the side of cliffs all so colourful. I got a little motion sickness from all the winding roads. Luckily we had a local bus driver as the roads became narrow and hairy. Apparently tourist buses can only drive a certain direction on certain days because the roads are so tight. Amalfi the actual town was beautiful, again a lot of winding roads and little alleyways, churches, gelati stores :) we had a quick little boat ride to look along the coast and check out all the celebrity houses.

We then headed to Sorrento for the evening. We stayed in some high walled tents that night. Unfortunately I was rather fluey that day so straight after dinner I went to the shower and then went to bed.

The next day we went on the boat to the Isle of Capri and another township at the top of the island called Ana Capri. Before we got there we passed a cave within the cliff. It is a very small opening but within the actual cave it was huge. This was called the blue grotto. You pay 12 euro to go in. You get into small rowing boats, 4 at a time and then are taken over to a larger boat to pay the money. Then the guide drags you in the very small opening via a chain. When you first get in there it is very dark. When you get to the back of the cave you turn around and look towards the entrance you came in and gasp. The water glows bright electric blue because the light refracts off of the sand on the bottom of the cave. The sign on the outside says strictly no swimming. But with 5 euros in your hand, if you ask the guide whether you can 'fall out of the boat' you can go swimming in there for a minute or so. We couldnt go swimming as we were quite sick as it was. The boat is only in there for about 5 minutes and then we were out and on the boat again. Once we came into the port, we took an open air taxi all the way to the top of Ana Capri and then on a chairlift up into the clouds, quite literally. The very top of the mountain was so high that on some sides all you could see was white. Had some amazing pistachio gelati at the top and then headed back down to Ana Capri. They had a lot of shops there especially sandal shops. Had to resist the urge to buy some sandals there! Then we headed back into Capri for some dinner on the bus which gave me another case of motion sickness. The local drivers drive down the narrow streets like rally drivers. We decided to have lunch in a restaurant with some of the people that we had been walking around with. We made a really good friend with an Italian guy that lives in Melbourne which proved helpful when he stopped Jas from buying a beer in the restaurant for 8 euro!!! From here we walked back down to the beach which is covered in massive river stone looking pebbles. We had a few cocktails and waited for the boat to pick us up.

That night we went into Sorrento (as our camping accomodation was just outside the town) to a look out to watch the sun go down. Ben our guide organised a picnic for us all. After the picnic we headed to a pub for a few drinks and dancing.

The next day we were heading back to Rome with a stop off in Pompeii to look at the ruins. Pompeii is huge and soooo many people around doing tours. I wasn't as impressed with Pompeii as I was with the lost city of Akotiri but it was still great to see. Once we made it back to Rome it was lazing by the pool with drinks.

The next day we tried to get into Rome early to visit the Colosseum to get in a guided tour before we did an all over walking tour with Romeing tours again. The colosseum is amazingly grand. You walk out of the train station and it's just there as you walked out. I nearly had tears in my eyes to see it. I've always wanted to see it and I was finally here. To walk around it and inside it... Words cannot describe it... So of course there was space lost on my camera due to this ;) we visited so many places on the walking tour that I can't remember them all. I will give you the list on the next blog as I am nowhere near our room at the moment.

The next day we had a guided tour of the Vatican museums and then visited the Sistine chapel. Another place you can't describe to someone, you just have to go there. Unfortunately I couldnt really get away with taking pictures in there with my big arse camera. Apparently the Japanese were contracted to come in and clean up the ceiling so only did it if they could have the rights to all of the images so no one can take photos of it.

That night we did a night walking tour to see a few fountains and other piazzas all lit up. Again I will let you know where we went in my next blog. Then after we walked all night we went back to the colosseum to try and get some photos of it lit up. It is even more beautiful at that time of night. Once we got back to our room in Rome and packed ready for our travel day to Florence the next day it was 2am. We hadn't had an early night in a while, which hasn't helped my cold.

So the next day we were on the bus, stopped off and dropped off some people in Siena and then continued to Florence. This has been the first time we haven't booked our accommodation which was a bad move because the Plus Hostel we hoped to stay at in Florence only had one night available for us. Today we had to move to another Plus camping across the other side of Florence. This place unfortunately only has another 2 nights available which is tonight and tomorrow night. Then we will have to try and find something else closer to our pick up point for when we leave at 8 in the morning. Last night we did a short walking tour through the town, went a saw a leather demonstration and then went to dinner at a karaoke restaurant. Ran into our mate Michael who is now on a contiki tour (we seem to be stalking him a bit... Or maybe he is stalking us) had a few drinks with everyone, listened to a bit of karaoke ( ouch) and then headed home. Today after we moved accomodation we went for a short stroll through the town, took some more photos and checked out the little markets. At the moment I am sitting up at the bar in camping grounds using the not so free wifi. But it is working and does have a bit of speed to it so I'm not complaining.

Ok so I really need to get an early night, it is all ready 10pm.

Miss you all, hopefully my next blog won't be too far away :)