Holiday Travels – Italy

After leaving Monaco we drove along the coast to Florence, Italy. We actually stayed outside of Florence in a rustic little B&B called Casa Palmira.
Famous for it’s leather, Florence was the destination for one of my sought after items from this trip, a beautiful Italian leather jacket. After hours of browsing the street markets I decided to find a shop front that had great online feedback, Michaelangelos. The owner Michelangelo himself looked after me and I am now the proud owner of a new beautiful buttery red leather jacket.

Casa Palmira B&B in the foot hills of Florence

Tuscan country side

 Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore one of the most stunningly carved churches I’ve ever seen.

The markets were a delight to the senses and also a great place to grab a cheap meal

Michelangelo and my new jacket!

Travelling can be hard work.

After Florence we drove down to Rome. The first thing we noticed driving into Rome was that there were no parking rules, cars appeared to have parked themselves on the curbs and roundabouts. There is no such thing as a lane and people drive anywhere they want, then add Scooters to that mixture. They like to overtake you on the outside when you are exiting a roundabout so watch out.
We stayed at a great little spot called Gli Scipioni, an air-conditioned B&B, only a five minute walk from the Vatican. It was very warm so most days we went out in the morning, came back for a rest  during the hottest part of the day and then ventured out again in the later afternoon. We did two tours while in Rome, the Colosseum and the Vatican, both were fabulous and very informative. My favourite was the Colosseum, all that ancient history is just amazing! Rome is definitely a popular place and it’s pretty much impossible to get a photo of anything without people in your shot. So one morning we got up early before sunrise and caught a cab around to the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. We had the whole place to ourselves which was magic, and not one person in my shots!

The Colosseum

The Roman Forum

Gelato at the Trevi Fountain

A much less crowded Trevi Fountain at 5am

Inside St Peter’s Basilica

Want to drive a Ferrari ? Then head to Push Start in Modena. We took a slight detour on our way up to Venice . Russ drove a 458 Italia, $100 Euros for 10 minutes.

Did you know that Venice is actually made up of 113 individual islands? We only had two days in Venice but it was long enough to see most of the fabulous little lane ways and canals. Russ and I just walked around until we got lost and found ourselves all alone in quiet back streets. I loved it! Away from the crowds we could relax and I could stop to take photos without holding up the flow of tourist traffic. One tip don’t buy anything to eat in San Marco Square, prices are exorbitantly high. Just head down the side streets and you’ll find something a lot more reasonable. Also make sure you check if the restaurants have a cover charge and service fee as this is all payable on top of your bill.

The famous San Marco Square

Love this shot, this is one I took when we got lost in the back streets. Combining HDR this is going to look great up on my wall.

I LOVED this mask and wish I bought it, but I had no idea how to get it home.