Hmm .... how to classify the last couple of days in Hong Kong. Well .... we've immersed ourselves (ok, small underestimate ... more accurately described as drowned!) in Hong Kong's culture ... of SHOPPING.
We have done a little of the other side of culture too i.e. we went up to The Peak. A tram ride that goes up on a 45o angle. Bobbie voiced a few concerns about the safety thereof but it was the family behind us that left us in amazement. The father turns to his son and says "Alfie, now what do you think would happen if the brakes failed and we started going backwards" ... poor Alfie was perhaps all of 7 yrs old and Bobbie said he had a look of horror on his face. Way to go Dad .... I turned round and commented that it was the sort of comment we were just discussing that should NOT be vocalised. Sheesh, keep it in your own head buddy. The view was somewhat lacking ... very cloudy day and as far as the eye could see .... we could see cloud. Perfect hazy white fluffiness. Took photos regardless. Went for a delicious but unnecessary lunch at Bubba Gump's while there ... which was amusing when Bobbie asked whether I had ever noticed that when someone drinks from a beer glass you can sometimes see their teeth through the bottom and then proceeded to show me. I burst out laughing and she laugh/sprayed beer back into her glass frothing it up. I could not look at her without that silent hysterical laugh that brings tears to your eyes. Forrest was in the house.
After lunch we went for a fish pedicure ... the little Garra Rufa fish suck away all the dead skin on your feet. Was soooo funny. I was the first to put my feet in and it was like happy hour for the fish. Had just about every single little sucking mouth on my feet and it was crazy. Not ticklish, but it did feel like they were nibbling to start with (so many little mouths at once). Once Bobbie put her feet in a few flocked over to her. Squeals and shrieks emanated from us. Trying to take photos was tricky as we were laughing so hard.
We booked a river cruise for the Symphony of Lights .... 40 high rise buildings participate in a light show set to music (and very well executed). However, we tried to squeeze in dinner at the 2 Star Michelin Restaurant in the hotel and then on advice catch the subway. Mistake. We did not make it, despite running and shoving others aside. We were both very disappointed and it was hard to concentrate on the light show. Caught the taxi back to the hotel which took 10 minutes ... the subway had taken 30 (with combined walking). Damn! So off to the Ladies Markets we went in the hope of drowning our sorrows in a bit of retail therapy. The therapist was very good. Returned to the hotel to assess the damage. We are concerned our bags have an eating disorder. They keep getting stuffed to the brim and spilling over. It's disturbing.
Dinner at Ming Court was great. We definately ordered way too much food but it was fantastic. I ordered drunken prawns which was a really crazy dish. We had seen them walk out and place the prawns (all still alive) on the central serving table. They poured in some chinese wine vineagar and quickly placed the lid back on. Because the container was glass we could see the prawns flipping, twisting and splashing about. It was a complete rave in that pot! One of the waitresses was so nice and explained it to us, she said that we had to wait until the prawns were so drunk they weren't moving (legless?) ... then they were dropped into boiling water. They tasted sooooo good. Bobbie filmed the performance on her iphone. At some point I will definately be posting that.
We've tried all modes of public transport ... the underground is amazing and spotless. The buses cheap, but less than spotless and the taxis .. well, taxi drivers all over the world obviously have to have the ability to weave in and out of traffic causing maximum possible heart failure to their passengers .. as a required skill.
Crossing the road is like being a tiny little fish that just floats along with the current. Serious amounts of people here. Seriously out of our depth. That song from Sesame Street is constantly playing in our heads "One of these things is not like the others".
Have now locked myself in the hotel room to prevent any further transgressions against airline safety with their concern for excess baggage. Hoping I look pitiful enough at the airport to slide through. I wonder just how many pairs of shoes and outfits I can actually wear?
Monday, July 18, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Hong Kong is going to kill us ....
Friday, July 15
Arrived into Hong Kong very early in the morning and by the time we got to the gorgeous Langham Place Hotel (gasp) we were both feeling quite bleary eyed ... especially Bobbie. They were very accommodating and by 11am we had a room. Bobbie may have kissed the concierge, receptionist and porter ... had she the energy to do so. Up in the room, Bobbie jumped into bed and was ready for la la land by about 11.30am. I grabbed the computer and searched for a nearby laundry, bundled up our dirty stuff and went for a walk. Finally after walking past second hand electronic stores, local meat market stalls which looked suspect, I found the Yun Wah Laundry. So for roughly $3, they washed, dried and folded our clothes within 2 hours! Love it. Wondering if I can take them home with me.
By the time I had finished picking up the laundry, I was feeling dizzy with the jet lag as well so set the alarm and crashed for a couple of hours. It was a good refresher so we checked with the concierge where we could go to eat. Went to the Lie Garden Restaurant a few blocks away ... probably a little more expensive than we expected (about $90 for the two of us) but it was really tasty! We weren't quite up to braving the Pig Pancreas or Duck Tongue just yet ... we did order the Baby Duck ... all the baby ducks went out one day and never came back. ♫quack ♫ quack ♫ quack ♫ quack. ♫
As we wandered back to our hotel, we stumbled onto the Ladies Markets. Uh Oh. Bobbie started glazing over. She was frothing at the mouth I'm sure. It was a losing battle. I think we got to the 4th stall on the left and there were bags. How much? $499 (Hong Kong Dollars). Nup, we start to walk away ... ok ok ... how much you think. I said $200 (equates to roughly $24). She wasn't so keen for us to walk away and kept coming down from $350. She knew I was the one with the money and the most resolve. Bobbie needs to work on her game face. That look of longing won't do her any favours when it comes to bargaining! Went to walk away and she offered $150 ($18) ... oh, ok. I'm sure if we tried walking again she may have brought it down even further.
I'm now really concerned for Bobbie's welfare. Moaning as we pass stalls by is probably not a good sign. The drooling is a dead giveaway as well.
Pray now for our bags ... they may not take the extra load.
Arrived into Hong Kong very early in the morning and by the time we got to the gorgeous Langham Place Hotel (gasp) we were both feeling quite bleary eyed ... especially Bobbie. They were very accommodating and by 11am we had a room. Bobbie may have kissed the concierge, receptionist and porter ... had she the energy to do so. Up in the room, Bobbie jumped into bed and was ready for la la land by about 11.30am. I grabbed the computer and searched for a nearby laundry, bundled up our dirty stuff and went for a walk. Finally after walking past second hand electronic stores, local meat market stalls which looked suspect, I found the Yun Wah Laundry. So for roughly $3, they washed, dried and folded our clothes within 2 hours! Love it. Wondering if I can take them home with me.
By the time I had finished picking up the laundry, I was feeling dizzy with the jet lag as well so set the alarm and crashed for a couple of hours. It was a good refresher so we checked with the concierge where we could go to eat. Went to the Lie Garden Restaurant a few blocks away ... probably a little more expensive than we expected (about $90 for the two of us) but it was really tasty! We weren't quite up to braving the Pig Pancreas or Duck Tongue just yet ... we did order the Baby Duck ... all the baby ducks went out one day and never came back. ♫quack ♫ quack ♫ quack ♫ quack. ♫
As we wandered back to our hotel, we stumbled onto the Ladies Markets. Uh Oh. Bobbie started glazing over. She was frothing at the mouth I'm sure. It was a losing battle. I think we got to the 4th stall on the left and there were bags. How much? $499 (Hong Kong Dollars). Nup, we start to walk away ... ok ok ... how much you think. I said $200 (equates to roughly $24). She wasn't so keen for us to walk away and kept coming down from $350. She knew I was the one with the money and the most resolve. Bobbie needs to work on her game face. That look of longing won't do her any favours when it comes to bargaining! Went to walk away and she offered $150 ($18) ... oh, ok. I'm sure if we tried walking again she may have brought it down even further.
I'm now really concerned for Bobbie's welfare. Moaning as we pass stalls by is probably not a good sign. The drooling is a dead giveaway as well.
Pray now for our bags ... they may not take the extra load.
What day is it?
OK so our last (holiday) day in Italy was spent as such: Bobbie made her way to the cliff top pool and proceeded to cook herself. By the time I got back from a walk down to the city (Sorrento), she had a belly a lovely shade of pink ... which then increased in intensity to a fiery red ... minus her belly button. Her belly button was white. On. Off. On. Off. It looked like a great button to press.
I also stripped down to my togs and jumped into the pool - ahhhhh, it was so nice. Sunning myself under the shade of an olive tree on the cliff top with Mt Vesuvius in the background heat haze. Fabulous.
Boarded to bus that would take us back to Pompeii ... where we get on another bus to return us to Rome. When we got to Pompei Roulf, Elisha, Bobbie & I were a touch thirsty. We had 15 minutes so it was off to the bar next door. They eventually came to find the wayward Australians ... and we were last on the bus. Bobbie boarded with her beer in hand and was sent to the naughty corner seat right down the back! As the journey went on Bobbie had started talking to some lovely Australian girls, also on the back row. Eventually we realised that the whole back 3 rows were Aussies, apart from the emo kid sitting next to me who literally did NOT move the whole entire journey. At one point, Roulf asked me if he was alive. I was afraid to test it. Figured he must have been since his head nodded sleepily down at one stage. Anyway, back to the Aussies ...... we were laughing and comparing holiday stories and basically being a little more vocal than anyone else on the bus. Hey, it was a 3 hour bus ride. An Indian lady sitting about 3 rows in front of me actually turned around and told (not asked) us all to be quiet. It really wasn't a good idea to do that. We weren't yelling ... just having a good time. It didn't work let's just say. There was a lull for a short while (it had been a long day for those who had been to Pompei) but it soon started again ... but this time we had some singers in our midst. There were some great harmonies coming from the back of the bus ... including Abba's Mamma Mia!
The 3 hour bus ride was over all too soon and we were back in Rome. A sad farewell to our new friends Roulf & Elisha ... and the rest of the misfit Aussies in the bus. Only the one night in Rome as we caught the train to Rome's airport for our flight to Milan and then onward to Hong Kong.
Thank goodness we broke the journey home in Hong Kong because jet lag is tightening her grip on our sand filled eyes ... but will not prevail because Bobbie has tasted the fruits of shopping already in Hong Kong. Watch out luggage.
I also stripped down to my togs and jumped into the pool - ahhhhh, it was so nice. Sunning myself under the shade of an olive tree on the cliff top with Mt Vesuvius in the background heat haze. Fabulous.
Boarded to bus that would take us back to Pompeii ... where we get on another bus to return us to Rome. When we got to Pompei Roulf, Elisha, Bobbie & I were a touch thirsty. We had 15 minutes so it was off to the bar next door. They eventually came to find the wayward Australians ... and we were last on the bus. Bobbie boarded with her beer in hand and was sent to the naughty corner seat right down the back! As the journey went on Bobbie had started talking to some lovely Australian girls, also on the back row. Eventually we realised that the whole back 3 rows were Aussies, apart from the emo kid sitting next to me who literally did NOT move the whole entire journey. At one point, Roulf asked me if he was alive. I was afraid to test it. Figured he must have been since his head nodded sleepily down at one stage. Anyway, back to the Aussies ...... we were laughing and comparing holiday stories and basically being a little more vocal than anyone else on the bus. Hey, it was a 3 hour bus ride. An Indian lady sitting about 3 rows in front of me actually turned around and told (not asked) us all to be quiet. It really wasn't a good idea to do that. We weren't yelling ... just having a good time. It didn't work let's just say. There was a lull for a short while (it had been a long day for those who had been to Pompei) but it soon started again ... but this time we had some singers in our midst. There were some great harmonies coming from the back of the bus ... including Abba's Mamma Mia!
The 3 hour bus ride was over all too soon and we were back in Rome. A sad farewell to our new friends Roulf & Elisha ... and the rest of the misfit Aussies in the bus. Only the one night in Rome as we caught the train to Rome's airport for our flight to Milan and then onward to Hong Kong.
Thank goodness we broke the journey home in Hong Kong because jet lag is tightening her grip on our sand filled eyes ... but will not prevail because Bobbie has tasted the fruits of shopping already in Hong Kong. Watch out luggage.
Betty is in the House
Tuesday, 12 July
Today we had our excursion to the Isle of Capri ... we boarded our little minibus and once at the meeting point met our Tour Guide. Her name was Irene. She was roughly in her 70s. Before we made our way to the dock she explained on the bus that the Blue Grotto at Capri was open but we could be waiting quite a while to enter it if we did not beat the Japanese boat there first. She told us (deadpan) that we would need to run faster than them off the ferry boat because they always ran! That just reduced the 4 Australians in the bus to hysterics. So there Bobbie & I, Roulf & Elisha were shrieking with laughter. We were already primed for mischief as Irene's face from the top lip up did not move and Roulf declared that she must have had Botox... in excess. We stood in line for the ferry making quite a racket laughing and coming up with a code name for Irene ... when Roulf mentioned that she reminded him of a Thunderbird puppet ... hilarity ensued and her new name was born B.T. (Botox Thunderbird) .... which developed into Betty.
Betty was actually lovely. We were good little tourists and obeyed Betty's every command.
We visited a cameo factory which was fabulous - one of the masters was sitting there carving a beautiful muse into the seashell. Then of course we are 'invited' into the showroom where you can make a purchase. I had thought of buying one for someone special who loves cameos but the prices were ridiculous ... but then the really good ones were ridiculously amazing. The ones I could afford were obviously by students and I didn't like them.
Onto the ferry where we waited at the exit, ready to run. Gathered up our Lebanese & Argentinian tour companions when it was time to disembark and the 9 of us beat the Japanese!! Betty was very happy with us. Just quietly I'm pretty sure she thought the Australians had partaken of a little too much morning beverages (coffee/champagne). Off the ferry, onto the motorboat and zipped away to the Blue Grotto. We really only waited about 30-45mins for our turn to transfer, 4 at a time, into the little row boats. The entrance to the cave is very low and poor Rolph had not only his wife but me lying over him as well. The rowers butt was extremely close to my face ... awkward. Inside it's stunning .... the sunlight reflects off the white sand and turns the water an irridescent blue that glimmers and sparkles against the cave wall. Apparently the Romans use to come here and bath. It was so hot and the water looked sooo good, it was highly tempting to just 'fall' out of the boat. Alas, no such luck there was a 2000 Euro fine for such folly.
Had lunch at a restaurant up at the highest village on the island - Anacapri which was owned by Betty's son. Everybody ordered Spaghetti Bolognese ... expecting some meat. When it came, it was difficult to find it amongst the tomato sauce (not that I'm complaining because it was delicious). I did find a 3mm piece right in the last mouthful though. We then had a bit of free time so Bobbie & I took the funicular up to the highest point on the island. It was a little .. um ... scary for me on the way up. The 'safety' features of our single person chairlift was a mental bar that sat across your lap ... with no latch. I looked at the ground in a couple of places and said to myself 'if I fall here, it's ok ... I'll just break a leg' .... in another 'if I fall here ... I'm dead'. Oh cheery thought. Good news, I didn't fall and the view was indescribable. Photos will never do it justice. Simply breaktaking. Ate my delicious strawberry, chocolate & lemon flavoured gelato at the top overlooking the Bay of Naples. Back onto the chairlift and the ride down was not nearly as nerve racking. The view was spectacular. Well worth the random 'I'm going to die' thoughts.
A visit to a parquetry factory/showroom was included in the visit as well and again .. while the craftsmanship was impressive ... the bank balance would not have allowed for such impressiveness to be exported home to Australia. In fact, we decided that you really needed a house built around some of the lovely pieces of furniture.
Onto the bus to go back to our wonderful hotel it was. We were talking to Betty on the way back and she said that if she had a group like us everyday it would be wonderful. She had really enjoyed being with us. Our group was lovely and we had a wonderful day. We were however extremely hot and sweaty and even though the hotel pool 'closed' at 6.00pm, you've never seen three women run so fast to get into a pool. Stupid grins of contentment were plastered on our faces as we lowered our body temperatures.
We joined Roulf & Elisha for dinner (partly because we were hoping to avoid another date request but mostly because they were great company!) and we were by far the noisest table there ... we were also the last table there :) Our waiters particularly enjoyed us and were playing along and having fun as well. One particular waiter was really fun and was quite obviously enjoying the atmosphere we had going in our little corner.
*sigh* Another great day on the Amalfi Coast.
Today we had our excursion to the Isle of Capri ... we boarded our little minibus and once at the meeting point met our Tour Guide. Her name was Irene. She was roughly in her 70s. Before we made our way to the dock she explained on the bus that the Blue Grotto at Capri was open but we could be waiting quite a while to enter it if we did not beat the Japanese boat there first. She told us (deadpan) that we would need to run faster than them off the ferry boat because they always ran! That just reduced the 4 Australians in the bus to hysterics. So there Bobbie & I, Roulf & Elisha were shrieking with laughter. We were already primed for mischief as Irene's face from the top lip up did not move and Roulf declared that she must have had Botox... in excess. We stood in line for the ferry making quite a racket laughing and coming up with a code name for Irene ... when Roulf mentioned that she reminded him of a Thunderbird puppet ... hilarity ensued and her new name was born B.T. (Botox Thunderbird) .... which developed into Betty.
Betty was actually lovely. We were good little tourists and obeyed Betty's every command.
We visited a cameo factory which was fabulous - one of the masters was sitting there carving a beautiful muse into the seashell. Then of course we are 'invited' into the showroom where you can make a purchase. I had thought of buying one for someone special who loves cameos but the prices were ridiculous ... but then the really good ones were ridiculously amazing. The ones I could afford were obviously by students and I didn't like them.
Onto the ferry where we waited at the exit, ready to run. Gathered up our Lebanese & Argentinian tour companions when it was time to disembark and the 9 of us beat the Japanese!! Betty was very happy with us. Just quietly I'm pretty sure she thought the Australians had partaken of a little too much morning beverages (coffee/champagne). Off the ferry, onto the motorboat and zipped away to the Blue Grotto. We really only waited about 30-45mins for our turn to transfer, 4 at a time, into the little row boats. The entrance to the cave is very low and poor Rolph had not only his wife but me lying over him as well. The rowers butt was extremely close to my face ... awkward. Inside it's stunning .... the sunlight reflects off the white sand and turns the water an irridescent blue that glimmers and sparkles against the cave wall. Apparently the Romans use to come here and bath. It was so hot and the water looked sooo good, it was highly tempting to just 'fall' out of the boat. Alas, no such luck there was a 2000 Euro fine for such folly.
Had lunch at a restaurant up at the highest village on the island - Anacapri which was owned by Betty's son. Everybody ordered Spaghetti Bolognese ... expecting some meat. When it came, it was difficult to find it amongst the tomato sauce (not that I'm complaining because it was delicious). I did find a 3mm piece right in the last mouthful though. We then had a bit of free time so Bobbie & I took the funicular up to the highest point on the island. It was a little .. um ... scary for me on the way up. The 'safety' features of our single person chairlift was a mental bar that sat across your lap ... with no latch. I looked at the ground in a couple of places and said to myself 'if I fall here, it's ok ... I'll just break a leg' .... in another 'if I fall here ... I'm dead'. Oh cheery thought. Good news, I didn't fall and the view was indescribable. Photos will never do it justice. Simply breaktaking. Ate my delicious strawberry, chocolate & lemon flavoured gelato at the top overlooking the Bay of Naples. Back onto the chairlift and the ride down was not nearly as nerve racking. The view was spectacular. Well worth the random 'I'm going to die' thoughts.
A visit to a parquetry factory/showroom was included in the visit as well and again .. while the craftsmanship was impressive ... the bank balance would not have allowed for such impressiveness to be exported home to Australia. In fact, we decided that you really needed a house built around some of the lovely pieces of furniture.
Onto the bus to go back to our wonderful hotel it was. We were talking to Betty on the way back and she said that if she had a group like us everyday it would be wonderful. She had really enjoyed being with us. Our group was lovely and we had a wonderful day. We were however extremely hot and sweaty and even though the hotel pool 'closed' at 6.00pm, you've never seen three women run so fast to get into a pool. Stupid grins of contentment were plastered on our faces as we lowered our body temperatures.
We joined Roulf & Elisha for dinner (partly because we were hoping to avoid another date request but mostly because they were great company!) and we were by far the noisest table there ... we were also the last table there :) Our waiters particularly enjoyed us and were playing along and having fun as well. One particular waiter was really fun and was quite obviously enjoying the atmosphere we had going in our little corner.
*sigh* Another great day on the Amalfi Coast.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
We're just one of the flock!
Monday, July 11
OK ... so before we left Australia we signed up for an organised tour ... this is my FIRST ever organised tour - I've also freelanced my travel plans. We were picked up in Rome early morning and luckily for us/me ... we discovered that you can buy pocket expressos! Think of the size of a tomato sauce squeezer sachet and swap the contents for a chocolatey expresso ... complete with a miniature straw!
When it was my turn to go into the bathroom to get ready I noticed there was a pocket expressor (empty) packet in the shower ... can anyone say 'desperate'??? Had a laugh with Bobbie about that.
Onto the transfer bus and then onto the tour bus for our trip to Southern Italy. It's a 3 day tour and we get to visit some great places. Today we made our way to Naples & Pompeii initially. After about 1.5 hours we stopped for a 'pee pee break' as our tour director called it. We had been given strict instructions to make our way to the toilets first and then go to the refreshment bar so that we could be the first bus out and subsequently the first bus arriving in Pompeii. Like good little sheep we baaaaaed and turn right to the toilets and afterwards grab our refreshments. Back on the bus for roughly another hour and we arrived in Naples where we had a very brief introduction to some of the main sites of Naples. My second time in Naples and I can't say I like it any better. Still looks like an industrial worksite to me. Interestingly, back in 2002 roughly they were excavating to create an underground station and found a Roman Museum ... scratch that station for the underground huh?
Next was Pompeii. HOWEVER ... before going into the ruins, we were taken to a Cameo factory and saw one of the Masters carving a gorgeous cameo into a shell. A walk through the sales room was of course next and while I would LOVE to have bought a decent cameo ... it was WAY out of my price range!
The next 2 hours we walked around the ruins of Pompeii. Along the lava cobbled roads we walked and ducked into any available shade at designated information spots. It was as always immensely interesting but so different to how I remember it. I guess it has been quite a while since I was last here. The remaining bodies are now viewed through jail-like cells, along with original columns, tables, jars, platters etc. Even a dog was caught in the ash fall out. Speaking of dogs .... there were quite a few live ones hogging all the shade too. Smart though - they knew that the ruins that still have marble are the coolest. We saw the Roman baths with the various cold and steam rooms. The steam room thankfully was cool and I found myself lying against a nearly 2000 year old column syphoning it's coolness into my skin. We also saw a brothel. I saw one in Pompeii's ruins last time I was here and it certainly wasn't this one. This one was decorated with frescos ... and I think I leave that up to your imagination. Let's just say they left nothing to the imagination. It was great to see again ... and to see different things than I had before.
Last stop for the day was Sorrento. OH WOW. Not sure that the view can actually be googled! A few hair-raising turns on the mountain edge as we came into the city and we were delivered to our hotel. OH WOW ... the hotel. OH WOW. It's right on the corner of one of the cliff faces. We can stand on our balcony and see the whole city of Sorrento below us ... the Bay of Naples gapes wide in front and then we have Mt Vesuvius right across the bay. S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G. There's 5 pools with a cascading water feature (haven't seen that part yet as the pool closed just as we rocked up!). And dinner in the restaurant was brilliant. I think Bobbie & I were having way too much fun laughing at each other ... but hey, the rest of the patrons were kinda staid. We finished dinner and were off to meet another Australian couple in the Piano Bar and as we were leaving one of the waiters asked 'where are you going'. Tried to explain we were meeting friends but there was obviously a communication gap. I finally clicked to what was happening when he gestured towards another waiter and said 'drinks at the square' ... I looked at Bobbie and said 'Date!' ... Ooooohhhhh Capeesh! Not tonight ... "tomorrow?" ... um, let's see how we feel after tomorrow says Bobbie. Hmmm ... thinking we need to cement a date with our Australian couple for dinner tomorrow night before we get propositioned again.
OK ... so before we left Australia we signed up for an organised tour ... this is my FIRST ever organised tour - I've also freelanced my travel plans. We were picked up in Rome early morning and luckily for us/me ... we discovered that you can buy pocket expressos! Think of the size of a tomato sauce squeezer sachet and swap the contents for a chocolatey expresso ... complete with a miniature straw!
When it was my turn to go into the bathroom to get ready I noticed there was a pocket expressor (empty) packet in the shower ... can anyone say 'desperate'??? Had a laugh with Bobbie about that.
Onto the transfer bus and then onto the tour bus for our trip to Southern Italy. It's a 3 day tour and we get to visit some great places. Today we made our way to Naples & Pompeii initially. After about 1.5 hours we stopped for a 'pee pee break' as our tour director called it. We had been given strict instructions to make our way to the toilets first and then go to the refreshment bar so that we could be the first bus out and subsequently the first bus arriving in Pompeii. Like good little sheep we baaaaaed and turn right to the toilets and afterwards grab our refreshments. Back on the bus for roughly another hour and we arrived in Naples where we had a very brief introduction to some of the main sites of Naples. My second time in Naples and I can't say I like it any better. Still looks like an industrial worksite to me. Interestingly, back in 2002 roughly they were excavating to create an underground station and found a Roman Museum ... scratch that station for the underground huh?
Next was Pompeii. HOWEVER ... before going into the ruins, we were taken to a Cameo factory and saw one of the Masters carving a gorgeous cameo into a shell. A walk through the sales room was of course next and while I would LOVE to have bought a decent cameo ... it was WAY out of my price range!
The next 2 hours we walked around the ruins of Pompeii. Along the lava cobbled roads we walked and ducked into any available shade at designated information spots. It was as always immensely interesting but so different to how I remember it. I guess it has been quite a while since I was last here. The remaining bodies are now viewed through jail-like cells, along with original columns, tables, jars, platters etc. Even a dog was caught in the ash fall out. Speaking of dogs .... there were quite a few live ones hogging all the shade too. Smart though - they knew that the ruins that still have marble are the coolest. We saw the Roman baths with the various cold and steam rooms. The steam room thankfully was cool and I found myself lying against a nearly 2000 year old column syphoning it's coolness into my skin. We also saw a brothel. I saw one in Pompeii's ruins last time I was here and it certainly wasn't this one. This one was decorated with frescos ... and I think I leave that up to your imagination. Let's just say they left nothing to the imagination. It was great to see again ... and to see different things than I had before.
Last stop for the day was Sorrento. OH WOW. Not sure that the view can actually be googled! A few hair-raising turns on the mountain edge as we came into the city and we were delivered to our hotel. OH WOW ... the hotel. OH WOW. It's right on the corner of one of the cliff faces. We can stand on our balcony and see the whole city of Sorrento below us ... the Bay of Naples gapes wide in front and then we have Mt Vesuvius right across the bay. S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G. There's 5 pools with a cascading water feature (haven't seen that part yet as the pool closed just as we rocked up!). And dinner in the restaurant was brilliant. I think Bobbie & I were having way too much fun laughing at each other ... but hey, the rest of the patrons were kinda staid. We finished dinner and were off to meet another Australian couple in the Piano Bar and as we were leaving one of the waiters asked 'where are you going'. Tried to explain we were meeting friends but there was obviously a communication gap. I finally clicked to what was happening when he gestured towards another waiter and said 'drinks at the square' ... I looked at Bobbie and said 'Date!' ... Ooooohhhhh Capeesh! Not tonight ... "tomorrow?" ... um, let's see how we feel after tomorrow says Bobbie. Hmmm ... thinking we need to cement a date with our Australian couple for dinner tomorrow night before we get propositioned again.
Laundry Day
Sunday 10 July
Today was our last day in Venice *sniffle* and as we were running short on clean clothes I pack up the bag and left Bobbie sleeping while I found 1 of just 3 public laundries in Venice! I had the opening time mixed up so on my second trip back I just sat down and waited for it to open.
A neatly dressed Italian man walked past and paused looking at me (I probably looked a right state as I hadn't even brushed my hair!). He started speaking to me so I said I didn't speak Italian. It did not deter him. He was obviously not in any great hurry as he continued talking to me for the next 25 minutes ... Language barrier notwithstanding!
After I tried to gesture and pronounce that the laundry was not open yet, He went through the finer points of pronunciation differences between English & Italian. He explained the similarities with other latin based languages but made sure I understood it was hard for Italians to pronounce some English words. We discussed how long I was staying in Venice and where else I had been on my holiday. I apparently should have gone to the main square before doing the laundry because there are no crowds and I could get a very fine photo. He was very excited to find out I was Australian and asked how long the flight was. He found it amusing that I am married with three children and I had left them all at home to go on holiday with my sister (who also had 3 children). He was impressed I had been married for 17 years and proudly announces that his parents had been married for 50 (and it is a time for celebrating such an achievement).
All this time I'm wondering why the laundry hasn't opened on time. There was someone else there waiting and when 7:45am came along he pushed on the door and it swung open.
I stood up to start the washing but my buddy wasn't quite finished .... He continued talking and then introduced himself (and I just can't remember his name - something like Renaldo) and when I said my name was Lisa, he got all excited. He started singing ... But could only remember the first couple of lines "Lisa with the blue eyes!". Apparently it's not such an old song but somewhat modern. It sounded a little Dean Martin-ish. He finally said ciao and was on his way.
I returned later to the laundry to collect our gear and was then met by a sweet little old lady who so started babbling to me in Italian. She got the idea I was struggling with comprehension and switched to English. She was a Venetian who had spent 50 years in the US and the last 25 in Venice! She chatted away and told me how she had been looking for a laundry, told me about her brother in Rome and kept reminding me she was 78. When I left, she walked alongside me and continued chatting - I think it must have been a while since she spoke English because she was really enjoying the chat.
The rest of our day was just a case of ticking off walking over the Rialto Bridge and picking up some more gifts (Venice has given the wallet a beating!)
As we had to catch the fast train back to Rome, we popped into a pizzeria for a refuelling stop. One of our waiters was pretty amusing ... Walking by us ... Announcing that Australia was beautiful, that we were beautiful! At one stage Bobbie was hamming it up with him as he walked past with someone's meal bringing it dangerously close to Bobbie as a taunt only to have her make snapping actions for it much to his amusement. As we left he shook our hands and then decided better of it. He took our hands again and double cheek kissed us. Italian kiss count up to 4 I think!!
.... And I've just realised I didn't have a gelati today. WOE IS ME!!
Today was our last day in Venice *sniffle* and as we were running short on clean clothes I pack up the bag and left Bobbie sleeping while I found 1 of just 3 public laundries in Venice! I had the opening time mixed up so on my second trip back I just sat down and waited for it to open.
A neatly dressed Italian man walked past and paused looking at me (I probably looked a right state as I hadn't even brushed my hair!). He started speaking to me so I said I didn't speak Italian. It did not deter him. He was obviously not in any great hurry as he continued talking to me for the next 25 minutes ... Language barrier notwithstanding!
After I tried to gesture and pronounce that the laundry was not open yet, He went through the finer points of pronunciation differences between English & Italian. He explained the similarities with other latin based languages but made sure I understood it was hard for Italians to pronounce some English words. We discussed how long I was staying in Venice and where else I had been on my holiday. I apparently should have gone to the main square before doing the laundry because there are no crowds and I could get a very fine photo. He was very excited to find out I was Australian and asked how long the flight was. He found it amusing that I am married with three children and I had left them all at home to go on holiday with my sister (who also had 3 children). He was impressed I had been married for 17 years and proudly announces that his parents had been married for 50 (and it is a time for celebrating such an achievement).
All this time I'm wondering why the laundry hasn't opened on time. There was someone else there waiting and when 7:45am came along he pushed on the door and it swung open.
I stood up to start the washing but my buddy wasn't quite finished .... He continued talking and then introduced himself (and I just can't remember his name - something like Renaldo) and when I said my name was Lisa, he got all excited. He started singing ... But could only remember the first couple of lines "Lisa with the blue eyes!". Apparently it's not such an old song but somewhat modern. It sounded a little Dean Martin-ish. He finally said ciao and was on his way.
I returned later to the laundry to collect our gear and was then met by a sweet little old lady who so started babbling to me in Italian. She got the idea I was struggling with comprehension and switched to English. She was a Venetian who had spent 50 years in the US and the last 25 in Venice! She chatted away and told me how she had been looking for a laundry, told me about her brother in Rome and kept reminding me she was 78. When I left, she walked alongside me and continued chatting - I think it must have been a while since she spoke English because she was really enjoying the chat.
The rest of our day was just a case of ticking off walking over the Rialto Bridge and picking up some more gifts (Venice has given the wallet a beating!)
As we had to catch the fast train back to Rome, we popped into a pizzeria for a refuelling stop. One of our waiters was pretty amusing ... Walking by us ... Announcing that Australia was beautiful, that we were beautiful! At one stage Bobbie was hamming it up with him as he walked past with someone's meal bringing it dangerously close to Bobbie as a taunt only to have her make snapping actions for it much to his amusement. As we left he shook our hands and then decided better of it. He took our hands again and double cheek kissed us. Italian kiss count up to 4 I think!!
.... And I've just realised I didn't have a gelati today. WOE IS ME!!
I'm feeling kneaded!!
Saturday, 9 July
Today was my birthday and I get to enjoy it in my favorite city in the world .... Venice! We jumped on a Vaporetto and went to Murano - in ancient times his was where the Venetian Glass Artists would create their work. Not really being sure which point on the Island to hop off we just went with the crowd - it was very sheep-like! We were directed to one of the glass factories and were able to see some of the techniques used in glass blowing. Afterwards Bobbie & I broke from the herd and just wandered through the backstreets and eventually followed signs to the main canal. It was nice just walkin through 'suburbia'. Merrily going through many many glass stores shopping up a storm with gifts
(hoping people like glass!). You have to be careful though - if it's too cheap it's more than likely imported from China .... and if I wanted Venetian glass from China - I would go to China. With a smattering of Italian and English we discovered that authentic Murano glass is sometimes stamped (not always though because some two tone colours would shatter). So we're shopping smart!
Thoroughly enjoyed the excursion but we had to be back on the main island before too long as Bobbie had organised a birthday present for me - a full body massage. A little daunting because I remember my sisters' full body massage experience in Thailand a few years ago (eep).
Ok so we made it in time (finding an address in Venice is challenging to say the least) and I was led to my room. The lady handed me a little packet and mumbled something in Italian that I thought ended with 'sleep'. Bobbie had made it very clear I was to RELAX & ENJOY so I figured it might be an eye mask. It wasn't. I pulled it out of the packet and thought to myself 'this is one damn big eye mask ... And see through too'. Ok so guess no.1 was incorrect. Then I thought maybe it's to cover my meager chest ... But I couldn't see how on earth I was to put those two elastic little bands around me. Oh dear, nothing for it but to ask. So I call out in Italian to ask what to do. She fiddles with it for a second and it dawns on me .... It's a paper g-string! Ok so you're
more than likely laughing now - I do know about paper g-strings but this was one hell of a huge thing. *groan* I put the damn thing on (the right way of course!) and lie face down ready for my massage. It was a very relaxing massage, though she could have spent the entire hour on my feet (bliss)! I obviously relaxed a little too much a couple of time because I heard myself make that contented little snort/snore sound in the back of my throat! Oops
After a while she tapped my hand to get me to flip over ... Thought process was like this "it's ok, pretend like you go full frontal with paper g-strings on all the time!". "keep a straight face". "Geez I hope I'm looking relaxed" When she got to my stomach, I almost giggled ... Not because I'm extremely ticklish but she was moving her hand across my expanding belly like it was a lump of dough and I was being kneaded in order to make bread buns. Straight face, straight face! And THEN ... she massaged my chest and that was probably the weirdest thing I have ever experienced! I thought she was trying to make profiteroles (cause that's about how much dough she had to work with!)
Ok so now I was all slicked up with massage oil and when I related the experience to Bobbie I thought she was going to pee herself - she just had visions of me trying to put that damn paper g-string on my eyes like and eye-mask. I will point out here I did no such thing - I'm not as Cabbage as I am green-looking!
Met up with my friend Rhonda from church who also happens to be in Venice. It was a very hot sticky day so a quick respite in the hotel room was needed. We crossed the closest bridge and wandered around looking for somewhere to eat. Found an open-air restaurant and ate way too much and waddles back to the hotel. We had a lot of laughs especially when taking our selfies! Earlier in the day Bobbie bought me a Sacher Torte at the chocolatier next door o our hotel (it was a SIGN) and we celebrated my birthday with Rhonda & Bobbie singing Happy Birthday to me .... And a somewhat disturbing running man dance was performed! We had no knife to hand so used the plastic cup to cut the cake. It was DELICIOUS!
All in all a great birthday!
Today was my birthday and I get to enjoy it in my favorite city in the world .... Venice! We jumped on a Vaporetto and went to Murano - in ancient times his was where the Venetian Glass Artists would create their work. Not really being sure which point on the Island to hop off we just went with the crowd - it was very sheep-like! We were directed to one of the glass factories and were able to see some of the techniques used in glass blowing. Afterwards Bobbie & I broke from the herd and just wandered through the backstreets and eventually followed signs to the main canal. It was nice just walkin through 'suburbia'. Merrily going through many many glass stores shopping up a storm with gifts
(hoping people like glass!). You have to be careful though - if it's too cheap it's more than likely imported from China .... and if I wanted Venetian glass from China - I would go to China. With a smattering of Italian and English we discovered that authentic Murano glass is sometimes stamped (not always though because some two tone colours would shatter). So we're shopping smart!
Thoroughly enjoyed the excursion but we had to be back on the main island before too long as Bobbie had organised a birthday present for me - a full body massage. A little daunting because I remember my sisters' full body massage experience in Thailand a few years ago (eep).
Ok so we made it in time (finding an address in Venice is challenging to say the least) and I was led to my room. The lady handed me a little packet and mumbled something in Italian that I thought ended with 'sleep'. Bobbie had made it very clear I was to RELAX & ENJOY so I figured it might be an eye mask. It wasn't. I pulled it out of the packet and thought to myself 'this is one damn big eye mask ... And see through too'. Ok so guess no.1 was incorrect. Then I thought maybe it's to cover my meager chest ... But I couldn't see how on earth I was to put those two elastic little bands around me. Oh dear, nothing for it but to ask. So I call out in Italian to ask what to do. She fiddles with it for a second and it dawns on me .... It's a paper g-string! Ok so you're
more than likely laughing now - I do know about paper g-strings but this was one hell of a huge thing. *groan* I put the damn thing on (the right way of course!) and lie face down ready for my massage. It was a very relaxing massage, though she could have spent the entire hour on my feet (bliss)! I obviously relaxed a little too much a couple of time because I heard myself make that contented little snort/snore sound in the back of my throat! Oops
After a while she tapped my hand to get me to flip over ... Thought process was like this "it's ok, pretend like you go full frontal with paper g-strings on all the time!". "keep a straight face". "Geez I hope I'm looking relaxed" When she got to my stomach, I almost giggled ... Not because I'm extremely ticklish but she was moving her hand across my expanding belly like it was a lump of dough and I was being kneaded in order to make bread buns. Straight face, straight face! And THEN ... she massaged my chest and that was probably the weirdest thing I have ever experienced! I thought she was trying to make profiteroles (cause that's about how much dough she had to work with!)
Ok so now I was all slicked up with massage oil and when I related the experience to Bobbie I thought she was going to pee herself - she just had visions of me trying to put that damn paper g-string on my eyes like and eye-mask. I will point out here I did no such thing - I'm not as Cabbage as I am green-looking!
Met up with my friend Rhonda from church who also happens to be in Venice. It was a very hot sticky day so a quick respite in the hotel room was needed. We crossed the closest bridge and wandered around looking for somewhere to eat. Found an open-air restaurant and ate way too much and waddles back to the hotel. We had a lot of laughs especially when taking our selfies! Earlier in the day Bobbie bought me a Sacher Torte at the chocolatier next door o our hotel (it was a SIGN) and we celebrated my birthday with Rhonda & Bobbie singing Happy Birthday to me .... And a somewhat disturbing running man dance was performed! We had no knife to hand so used the plastic cup to cut the cake. It was DELICIOUS!
All in all a great birthday!
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