Naples / Herculanem / Pompeii

Naples gave the world pizzas, and after that we can't say much else.  The city is covered in rubbish all over the streets, it is obviously the poor relation in Italy. A person we met said that the mafia had the contract for the rubbish collection??? They obviously forgot the part about doing what they are paid to do. Aside from the filthy streets, we had some really lovely food here.
I also managed to buy a pair of D & G and a pair of Gucci sunglasses for just 9 euros!  A bit like the genuine fake adidas gear in Asia...

Visited Herculaneum (Erculano) and Pompeii, both similar, but Pompeii is a much larger site. It is amazing how intact, and the scale of the structures they have uncovered over the years. The work is still going on at the sites.

We are currently writing this at a B&B in Candela, half way across to Bari where we will catch the ferry to Dubrovnik. About to have a weeks break before launching into our Eastern European odyssey. We both need to just put our (tired) feet up.

Rome

We were both feeling a bit 'touristed out' when we hit Rome. This wasn't helped by our booking.com directions to the hotel sending us on a long wild goose chase that resulted in us walking probably about 3 kms with our bags. We ended up catching a taxi and finding it that way!
Next morning we bought an all day metro pass and spent the day hopping on and off at various spots we wanted to see.  We couldn't be bothered queueing for ages and paying lots of entry fees, so we did a cheap version of Rome. We have also been spoilt by already seeing lots of roman ruins during our travels so far, without the crowds and high entry costs.
We took a few pics to show we had been there - Colosseum, Vatican Trevi Fountain etc, just had to forgo actually seeing the Cistine Chapel.

We did discover a really neat church hidden behind a partial ancient frontage, inside was amazing. These sort of accidental discoveries are often more rewarding than seeing what we expect to see in the 'must see' tourist hot spots.

Florence Day 2/3

The unimaginable happened, we signed on for an organised day trip that was taking in a few things we wanted to do.  We were intending to hire a car, but opted to be driven instead.  Looking at the roads around the area I suspect we may have had a few navigation challenges doing a self-drive. We saw:
San Gimignano, a well preserved medieval town. We read about it in 'The Road Less Travelled' book but it is definitely well ensconced in the tourist trail...
Next we drove through the Chianti Region and to a winery for a light lunch and wine tasting.  Beautiful wines which we could have shipped back to NZ for a mere 35 euros a bottle! Saved our money.
Siena was next. Another town with lots of history. An important stop on the trade and pilgrimage route to Rome.  Black Plague wiped out 75% of the town's populaion in 1348. It also hosts a horse race, the 'Palio' around the central piazza once a year. They put sand down over the cobble stones.  Very intensely fought race between the 9 districts of Siena.
Last stop was Monteriggiano, a well preserved fort used by Siena in the wars between Florence and Siena and because it was well positioned /defended it suffered little damage. 45 families still live within  its walls.
By the time we got through all the o  the bus, off the bus routines we decided that may be  our last organised tour...  A long day.

Next morning went to see Michaelangelo's David, pretty impressive standing next to it. Then on the train to Rome.

Pisa and Florence Day 1

Did a two stage trip from La Spezia to Pisa to Florence.

Pisa was of course full of tourists, but it was worth a walk across town from the station.  Did the cheesy 'holding up the tower' photo, (my gymnastic balancing skills aren't what they used to be! Quite tricky balancing on that pole!) wandered into the cathedral, then headed back to the train station.

Florence is one big city of amazing buildings / architecture. We wandered to the cathedral square and through the main cathedral, tried to visit Uffizi Museum but discovered it shut on Mondays!  Carried on to  Ponte Vecchio. This was a special moment for me as my Dad was in the same spot about 70 years ago and he told us how he bought 2 beautiful mosaic brooches, one for his mother and one for his fiancee, which my sister and I now have. The mosaic brooches on display today are still the same style and designs as ours.
I decided that I wanted to climb up the dome of the Cathedral - 463 steps - Dave chose not to join me. Amazing views over the city as a reward. Pretty hard yakka climbing up.
On the way home also discovered Accademia Museum (Statue of David) closed....

Italy - La Spezia - Cinque Terre

Travelled by train to La Spezia which is just below the Cinque Terre World Heritage area. A good place to hop onto a boat or train to explore the area. We actually went to an area just outside of the CT. on our first day, Porto Venere, caught a boat so we got to approach the village from the sea.  Very like the other fishing villages that fall within the CT.  It is amazing how they just build up the cliffs, and also produce great wine and olive oil scratched out of the little soil that clings onto the hillsides. We did the 5 villages in the CT the next day using a rail pass, luckily, as the boats couldn't sail due to the rough seas which had come up. All the villages were quaint in their own ways but our favourite was Manarola. Tried the local specialty wine - Sciacchetria , a lovely sweet and thick desert wine only produced in the Cinque Terre area, and also a locally produced red, not sure if they were meant to be drunk while eating grilled octopus, but hey, we enjoyed all of it.

French Riviera

Stayed in Menton, a 1 euro bus ride away from Monaco, it was vaguely affordable that way...
Took a day trip over to Monaco today and wandered up to the palace and the cathedral where Grace Kelly is buried.  Also tried our luck at the Monte Carlo Casino and managed to come out 20 Euro ahead. Covered the 11 euro cost of 2 coffees! (They weren't  great coffees either). Came back to Menton for lovely dinner on the beach at dusk.

Arles, France

We seem to be on an art trail! We chose Arles, as it looked like a good stopping point as we made our way across towards Italy.  Of course it turns out to be where Van Gogh had  quite a productive period, and also spent some time in the sanitorium.  We visited the sanitorium garden that he painted and it is still almost the same as in his painting.
There were also some pretty impressive roman and medieval ruins there too. I guess with the history of the countries we are travelling through, there is bound to be a lot of this to see. (By the way, Ben Hur rode his chariots around here - Arles)

Narbonne -France again

Happened across this town by accident. Turned out it had a bit of history to it. Cathedral dated from 1200's,  some amazing old tapestries hanging there, and there were odd remnants of Roman occupation around.  Came across the local cemetery, the family crypts were quite spectacular (don't usually go round photographing graves, but hadn't  seen this many before) There was a nice feel to the town, lovely market, and our apartment was a treat. Nice to be able to cook a couple of meals for ourselves. 2 days spent here.

Figueres - birthplace of Dali

Not bad for two non-artistic types, 2 famous artists in 2 days!
Our reason for stopping in Figueres was to see this museum.  Some absolutely amazing works, and you were able to take photos. Also found a lovely tapas place.  Did some nice strolling as it was a small town.
Unfortunately I seem to have picked up a sore throat and Dave a cold,  2 months on the road, need a rest.

Back to Spain- Barcelona

Flew Paris to Barcelona, one big city into another. Slipped into sightseeing mode and set off walking and metro around the city. Discovered their fabulous market - see photos.  Also visited the Picasso Museum, couldn't take photos inside, and Gaudi' famous Sagrada Familia, an amazing cathedral started in 1887, and still has another 30-80 yrs construction to go. Some odd touches like baskets of fruit on the walls. Did lots of walking and looking forward to some smaller towns.
It was a good drying day, saw some unusual washing hung out!

Paris!

Arrived in Paris 4th April. Still trying to contact the marathon group at their apartment. Fortunately we made a separate booking as we wouldn't have fitted in theirs. Finally managed to catch up the next morning. Really nice to see some familiar faces. Chris, Kerry and Janine were full of their stories from England, Scotland and Wales. Runners went to register and Dave and I went off exploring. Went into Notre Dame and then generally wandered around.

Breakfast 5km and Marathon Day

The reason for our detour to Paris, pre-marathon fun (?) run/walk the day before, then Chris and Kerry running the Paris Marathon.  The city really turns it on with lots of fanfare and music, groups of drummers encouraging people all round the course.  Someone forgot to tell all the others in the 5km event  that it wasn't just a run! We had our walking sandals on and had to break into the odd bit of jogging to stay in sight. Still the roads were closed off and it was a bit of fun.
Afterwards went sightseeing in the afternoon, then picked up Janine for sightseeing at night, walked kilometres and left marathoners to sleep.
During marathon we walked miles again sightseeing, saw the girls at 25km then at the finish. Finished our day with a trip to Montmatre, then a celebratory dinner with the runners and farewells as we head off back to Spain.