Istanbul

Big post coming up!

Just before I get into my day in Turkey, I want to share with you a picture of the people whom I spent Christmas with in Rome. Eddie, the guy on the right in the picture, send this to me just a few days ago. Sorry it's not very big.

Good memories.

Now, I got in to my hotel quite late last night after a day of travelling so was pretty tired, but was up early this morning as I had a very full day of sight-seeing in Istanbul. I was picked up from my hotel at around 8 where myself and an Indian family were taken to the main tourist area of Istanbul.

I actually don't know where to begin to explain what we saw – it is far too remarkable to describe in a blog post! I'll try to paint the picture. First of all, Istanbul is full of cats. And the cats aren't like the ones in Egypt, where I went a few years ago, where they are thin and full of wounds. No, these cats are well looked after so they lord around the place, preening their glossy coats in front of the tourists. The only thing stopping me from being a crazy old cat lady is the fact I am not old, so I was so, so, so tempted to sit in the middle of the cats and pat them all. Kind of sad, I agree!

Istanbul is also full of road works and renovations – I asked my tour guide about it and he said that every winter the city is full of work to make it better for the spring and summer, when thousands of tourists descend on the city. Indeed, I saw many gardeners and maintenance people throughout the day planting bulbs and fixing things.

I must admit here that I had imagined that Istanbul would be something like Cairo, with its crazy traffic and piles of rubble on the street and being constantly hassled to buy things. But I couldn't have been further from the truth. For starters, even with all the work going on, Istanbul is kept very clean. The gardens are meticulously cared for and to be honest, this city was far cleaner than most of the places I went to in Europe. Also, traffic is relatively calm – it's a welcome change after being in Italy, where I think because of keeping me alive as a pedestrian for 3 weeks my guardian angel is now ready to retire :)

Also, I feel far safer in Istanbul than I thought I would. In fact, again I feel safer here than I did in many European cities, particularly after nightfall. I went out to get dinner this evening and have not been treated so well by people on the street. I'm not talking about people being nice to me because they want me to buy things or eat at their restaurants, but I mean the men here make way for the women, people don't push you around and when I had to ask for directions, I had not been spoken to so courteously for many weeks.

So, it's pretty obvious that I am really impressed with this city. And I haven't even got to its history yet. Let's just say that when I get back home, all the books on Byzantine history be missing from my uni library. Istanbul, or Constantinople as it was called when it was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century AD, has seen at least three distinct periods in history – the Byzantine times of the Eastern Roman Empire, The Ottoman Empire of the Middle Ages and the Republic of Turkey, founded by Ataturk in the 1920s.

So, this morning we started off by looking at some monuments that were brought to Istanbul in the times of Constantine, like obelisks from Egypt and monuments from Greece. What was interesting about these, apart from them being fascinating in their own right, was that they show how much lower the ground level was in Constantine's day. Today Istanbul is about 3 metres higher than it was back then, due to earthquakes that flattened many buildings and new foundations being laid on top.

We continued on into the Blue Mosque, which is certainly the largest mosque in Turkey and one of the largest in the world. From the outside, it kind of looks like a castle with its six minarets, from where the Imam calls the people to prayer. It looks very regal. On the inside the decorations are absolutely stunning – in Islam no icons are allowed either of Allah nor Muhammad so this is one of the reasons that the writing style of Arabic in mosques became so decorative – so it would become like a picture. Everything is symmetrical and floral – just beautiful.

The Blue Mosque functions as a mosque for Muslims today, so there were people there praying when we went in. Of course we had to remove our shoes and I had brought a scarf with me so I could cover my head.

From here we crossed the park and went to the building I was most looking forward to seeing – the Haghia Sophia (or Saint Sophia). This was built by the Roman Emperor Justinian in the 6^th century AD and was the centre for the Christian Roman Empire when it was completed. In 1453, when Constantinople was conquered by Mehmet, he turned it into a mosque and covered much of the Christian iconography and replaced it with Islamic writing. Nowadays it is a museum.

My first reaction when going in was to be awestruck by the Byzantine style mosaic decorations on the roof. The Venetians totally ripped off the Byzantine style with San Marco in Venice!! The mosaics are beautiful – and 1500 years old. Simply breathtaking.

My second reaction was a bit of a pang in my chest, to be honest. I run the risk of becoming politically incorrect here, but I want to be honest – to see the mosaics of various Christian saints and angels covered up, or the faces painted out and then giant paintings of Islamic calligraphy with the names of the Islamic Ottoman emperors placed over them, stirred a feeling of deep sadness in me. I will say no more than that I simply cannot view these actions of Mehmet and the successive Ottoman leaders with historical objectivity – my own identity is too much a part of what they attempted to destroy.

We spent quite a bit of time here. It was actually kind of funny because the Indian family I was with didn't know much about Christianity and were asking our tour guide who, bless him, not being Christian didn't know much either so I became a bit of a mini tour guide for a time. Not that I minded – I'm a microphone hog from way back.

After the Saint Sophia we went to the Topkapi Palace, which was where the Ottoman Sultans lived. This is an amazing complex. It's remarkably well preserved and still maintains all its beauty. One of the most amazing parts we saw where the jewels and precious objects of the Ottoman empire. If you've been reading for a while you'll know how much I love these kinds of things, so when we saw the famous Spoonmaker diamond, the largest diamond in the world, our tour guide laughed at my excitement. This diamond is 85 carats and is the size of a pear – I challenge anyone to look at this thing and not get excited!

We then stopped at a local art school that was founded about 500 years ago and still has lessons in traditional Turkish arts – calligraphy, mosaicking and such. They have a room there where we ate the most delicious lunch of Turkish delicacies. It was here we also had a great conversation about Turkey and its bid to become part of the European Union. I've heard a lot of Europeans' views on this on my trip – the vast majority don't want Turkey to be a part. And judging from the tour guide today, there are definitely Turks who don't like the Europeans' attitude, so there's a powder keg waiting for a spark. We also talked lots about Australia – I love my country more than ever and love to answer questions about it, but I swear if one more person remarks how humbling and unusual it must be for an Australian to be around beautiful and older (thus therefore better) cultures, I may not be so courteous in my response.

This afternoon we went to the Turkish and Ottoman Fine Arts museum where we saw beautiful Turkish carpets up to 800 years old. This museum is also known for its collection of richly decorated Korans too. So I think I saw over 200 of them in about an hour.

By this time I was feeling a little tired but was a bit skeptical when our tour guide suggested we take a break for a 'presentation' of 15 minutes and a drink before continuing. Never, never believe that there is anything such as a mere 'presentation' on these tours. Sure enough, we were shown to a luxury carpet factory where for the next hour the guys there tried to sell carpets to the Indian family in our group. They didn't bother with me – I certainly didn't look like I had $5,000 to spend on a rug. So I sat back and watched the scene unfold before me. It reminded me of that time in Egypt with the guys with the spices – my family will remember this!

As I predicted, we left with nothing but the tea they had provided us with in our bellies and a disappointed seller :) We then made our way to the Grand Bazaar, where there are over 3000 stalls of various beautiful things. We didn't have much time here but I actually have a free day tomorrow so I am going to go back to have a proper look. I can foresee that my purse may not like me for this!

So, all in all a jam-packed and fun day today, along with a huge dose of history. Tomorrow should be more relaxed – I'll go back to the bazaar for a little while and then tomorrow night I have an overnight bus to Urgup, for the next stage of this Turkish adventure!

Here's some pics.

The Blue Mosque

Inside the square of the Blue Mosque

 The roof inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Saint Sophia

The view from the back of the Saint Sophia

Lunch time.

 The Palace with its gardens

I was in transit for most of yesterday – I caught a flight from Milan in the morning and had a stop over of a few hours in London Heathrow waiting for my flight to Istanbul. I must say it was a great feeling to be back in a English speaking country – even if it was only for a few hours! I'd missed being able to understand what the heck is going on :) And I can sit down when having my coffee – I don't have to skull it at the bar! Small pleasures :P

I really enjoyed my time in Milan – it certainly has more of a business feel to it than any other place in Italy I have been. Even in Rome, it did not feel like a city in the sense where people go to work because of all the reminders of its ancient past as well as there being the Vatican. So yes, while there are many banks in Milan and even more shops (the latter which I tried to avoid as much as possible) I found Milan to be interesting and in certain areas, quite pretty.

For me the highlight was being able to see friends I have made in the past few years from Italy. For those who don't know, I am part of a Catholic movement called Communion and Liberation (the name always gives the wrong idea to Anglo Saxon minds - we are not Communists nor Libertarians!) which originated in Italy about 60 years ago. I joined this movement in high school and we are a very small group in Australia, especially when compared to the size of the movement in Italy today.

Apart from the benefits of understanding my own life and faith better, my experience of the movement has given me the chance to meet many wonderful people, particularly from Italy. So it was very special to me to be able to come overseas, thousands of kilometres from home and see friends, who have been very kind and welcoming to me.

My second night in Milan I caught up with friends who I made in Sydney during World Youth Day and have been charged with finding them jobs in Australia so they can come back :) And my last night in Milan I went to a meeting with the leader of the movement today – Fr Carron. The talk was obviously all in Italian, but my friend translated it for me so I was able to understand some points that I can think further on in the next few weeks. After the meeting, I met Fr Carron very briefly. It always strikes me when seeing Italian priests, in how affectionate they are. Certainly in Australia, the idea of a priest being physically affectionate with people, especially teenagers, is frown upon. But, as in Sydney when I watched the Italian priests with the teens, last night with Fr Carron it struck me how much they behave like actual fathers to people. It's heartening to see, although I don't think such behaviour in Australia would ever be seen in that way without some real shifting of our mind-set.

But, for all my friends back in Australia from the movement, I have it from Fr Carron's mouth – he will come to Australia. When, where, how – I have no idea. But he said he'd come!

Now I'm in Turkey. I arrived late last night and spent the day in Istabul today, which was no less than breathtaking and deserves its own post so check out the next post, dear reader!

I got to Milan yesterday afternoon - the city put on a lovely show of grey skies and constant rain to welcome me. My bag is now very heavy with the culmination of souveniers and gifts so it's not much fun to carry around with me when trying to read a map and make my way to each hostel. Right now everything fits, but there's not much room and I have been dumping some clothes I don't need or really care to keep along the way. I could send some things home but am worried about the cost of posting it. I'll have to investigate this if it gets much heavier though!

After getting to the hostel and dumping everything, I ventured out to see what the city had to offer. From my hotel it's around a 45 minute walk to the Duomo (or else you can take the train) but I wanted to see the city so walked in the rain that really wouldn't let up. It's funny becuase whenever I told people I had met along the way that I was going to Italy, they always told me to not bother with Milan. "It's boring", they said. "Just a city of banks and high end shopping".

I can imagine the squeals of protest from all my Italian friends back home, most of whom come from Milan, at this! Rest assured guys, I don't think it is boring at all. I certainly can smell and feel the pollution around me, I will say that, but it's not boring!!

I met up with a friend (as I had mentioned before) in the early evening and he took me on a little tour around the Duomo area. Then he, his girlfriend and another Italian guy and I had dinner together, which was really nice. Dinner with Italians is always a lively affair :)

The four of us - Giovanni with his customary beer :)

This morning I returned to the Duomo area to have a look properly - unlike many churches in Italy, it is not of Renaissance or Romanesque design but much more like the Cathedrals in France and Germany. Needless to say it is very impressive. And very beautiful inside - the stained glass windows of the saints bathe the Cathedral in soft light. Towards the back of the Cathedral is where the tomb of St Charles Borromeo and you can see his body there.

I also did some more exploring of the Piazza Duomo and the various buildings around it. They are all very beautiful and again impressive!

The entrance to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, next to the Duomo.

 The Piazza Duomo, with the statue of Vittorio Emanuele II (the first king of Italy)

I forgot to mention that when I was back in Melb a friend worked out a few routes for me to discover Milan, which have been so helpful - cheers Seba :) I followed the red tour which led me along Via Dante, up to the Castello Sforzesco.

Here I spent a few hours in the castle making my way through the rooms the various artefacts and museums it houses. Then afterwards I kept going on my tour and went through the Parco Sempione, kind of like a botanical garden, where I saw the Triennale and the Arco Della Pace.

All in all, a very enjoyable day. I had to return early to my hostel to do some preparation for my trip to Turkey in the next few days. But I am again meeting up with friends for dinner tonight - these ones I made in Sydney in 2008 for World Youth Day.

Venice in Pictures

Ok, as I promised here are some shots of Venice!

        

Below is the Rialto Bridge, choc full of shops.

 Below is one of the many facades and buildings that aren't really a part of anything but remain there.

 The Basilica of San Marco - unfortunately it has the scaffolding on it but you get the idea of how amazing it is

A tiny example of the roof of the Basilica - this was in the entrance where photos were allowed.

The Doge's Palace in San Marco Square

Inside the courtyard of the Palace is this gem

The view looking out to the bay from San Marco's Square

Venice

Apologies for no posts for the past few days - I had no access to internet while in Venice. However, I am now in Milan and will post the entries I had written about my days in Venice. Here they are!

Friday 7 January 2011

I was sad to leave Florence this morning; it is such a beautiful town and I really enjoyed myself there. Yesterday, after a phone call home to my family in the morning (during which I was informed that my Grandparents read this blog – I shall watch what I say now!), I went to the Uffizi Museum. If anyone ever goes to Florence and wants to go here (which all the guides recommend) I say definitely book ahead for tickets. The line took about 2 hours to get through, and it was the tourist off season. So mum and dad, if you go later on this year, make a reservation for tickets!!

I don't have any photos to share of the museum – there was strict control of cameras and I wasn't even allowed to take in bottled water. The works inside were impressive, though I was actually somewhat surprised after the amount of hype every guide I had read, as well as what everyone I had met in Florence had told me. They had all said I simply had to go and it was the most important museum in Italy. I don't know, perhaps I was expecting a bit more then? For starters this place certainly gets many of its visitors in because of the two paintings of Botticelli – the Birth of Venus and Spring. They were indeed beautiful and perhaps my favourite non Christian paintings there, but worth the wait of 2 hours? I'm not sure.

I don't want to bag out the museum – it definitely has some beautiful works and the museum itself is again beautiful. I think the problem is I have been forever changed by the National Gallery in London – now that, my friends, is a gallery worth paying to get into and waiting in a line, neither of which I had to do.

Moving on, I arrived in Venice by train a little before midday and the weather didn't really do much to welcome me. There was a fog on the canals that made it look quite gothic, and in fact as I was walking back and the light had gone it was more Jack the Ripperish actually! I spent the afternoon exploring – my hotel here is about a 40 min walk from the most famous section of Venice – San Marco Square, so will all my pottering around In various stores and admiring the views along the way, I didn't actually make it there!

Such pottering is definitely the way to discover Venice I think – it's like a little maze, with corners turning onto the canals and I can't help but marvel that such huge stone buildings are still afloat after all this time. There are so many Masquerade shops and Murano glass shops – the works are beautiful, but pricey. Which reminds me, Mum you asked me to check out Il Papiro to see if we are being ripped off in Melbourne. Well actually I say we are doing better than here in Italy, with the conversion rate! Their products seem to be universally expensive.

I did buy something beautiful today – there are a lot of the old fashioned style portraits that can be made from Ivory (though not any more) and they are on the coral background. Like this -

There were quite a few in the shops I saw and I have always loved these and wanted to get pendant of one, but they are really expensive in Australia The experience of buying one today was lovely – I chose the perfect place completely by accident. The store I chose was actually a family run business, with the present shop keeper having kept up her grandfather's work in this art form. She showed me some of the various works her family have created that are in museums throughout the world. I know what you're thinking, she could have easily been a phoney. But I don't think so, she showed me photos from when she was in Australia and the UK last year giving talks at universities about her work. She told me with great pride that one of her grandfather's best customers was Ernest Hemmingway. By this time I was feeling sure if I bought something it would be of great quality, but feeling nervous about the price!

However, we we had a look at quite a few and she was great – I told her my modest budget and she brought out some really stunning pieces in different styles and settings. 20 minutes later I walked out of the store with a beautiful, handmade pendant by her grandfather that is around 80 years old. It is so beautiful and the lady at the store made a big deal about how young I am to have such elegant taste as a fine lady. I have to say that after just having come from eating a canned tuna on a park bench for lunch this felt a bit of a stretch but I was happy to accept such a compliment!

Saturday 8 January 2011

Today, being a Saturday, Venice was brimming with people out shopping and sight-seeing, so I took one of the back routes to San Marco, away from the main tourist route. This way I was able to see some of the places where Venetians live. I'd love to know what a typical house looks like inside, for on the outside basically none of the houses stand alone, but are kind of continuous blocks of housing – more apartment-like I suppose. They look very quaint on the outside though, with window boxes of flowers and their terracotta colours. There seems to be a church on every corner and, I don't know how to explain it, but what looks like the remains of buildings a few hundred years old, abandoned and decaying.

I was trying to think of a word to describe my impression of Venice and the best I could come up with was gothic. There is a lot of gothic architecture around, however I think the fact that I have come here in Winter has much to do with me forming this impression. For starters, Venice is the only place I have been in Europe in which Winter does not seem to agree with it. The fog, which I noted as soon as I got off the train, loses its mysterious nature very quickly and then becomes tiresome. It swirls around the canals so that it can be hard to get a good glimpse of their beauty. I am surprised that I managed to get photos that look clear! And most of all, the fog gives the impression of abandonment. For once you step off the well beaten tourist tracks, the place becomes so quiet and I felt like I was walking through a ghost town. With only the pigeons and the burbling of the water around you, I suppose some may call it majestic perhaps but to me it feels like the town is lonely. One day I will come back to Venice when it is warm and see what it is like then, but I felt a bit sorry for all the beautiful ruins around me.

I made it to San Marco, after much dragging my feet past some of the shops that have the most stunning paper and feather quills (I really was born in the wrong century!). Immediately I could see why this would be the main tourist area – the Basilica of San Marco is vast and imposing with the tall bell towers around it and the Palace cornering this piazza off. There is a pier of sorts, where lots of gondolas are docked and I think you must be able to look out to the sea or something, however I couldn't see beyond about 70 metres because of the fog. I imagine in Summer it is beautiful. There were pigeons everywhere here, hoping for a scrap of food, except I saw a sign that said that eating food in public was forbidden in this piazza (!) so the pigeons weren't getting much.

When you go inside the Basilica, it is immediately obvious that the Venetians were inspired by Byzantine architecture. Remember how the roof of the Baptistery in Florence was covered in mosaic and I was harping on about how beautiful it was? Well times that by 20 and you have the roof of the Basilica. It is absolutely amazing, I can't explain how stunning it is. It was actually bit hard to see it because there are basically no windows and very little lighting, but all the same it was so impressive. The high altar carries the relics of St Mark the Evangelist (whose body was taken by the Venetians from Alexandria in dubious circumstances).

Next to the Basilica was the Doge's Palace. The Doge, in Medieval times when Venice was its own state, was the leader of the state, though he actually did not do very much in its day to day running. I bought a ticket and saw the apartments where he would have lived, the ministerial areas where the various courts were held, the armoury and the prison underground. The apartments were relatively small, though very opulent. But the ministerial areas were wow, so over the top with tapestries and paintings and the rooms were huge!! Absolutely amazing.

Seeing the armoury was really cool – some of the swords were so big I have no idea how the knights could lift them let alone fight with them. There was also a really good collection of cannons and guns – I had to laugh when I saw some of the pistols. I mean these things were ornaments more than effective weaponry – their aim was so unreliable and they are so intricately engraved and embossed. You'd be better off hitting someone with it than firing it. It always makes me laugh in movies like The Patriot where Mel Gibson has one of these guns and he can aim at a guy 100 metres away while on horseback and it gets him right in the head or chest. But then, he's Mel Gibson, so he can do anything.

The prison was quite spooky – it was freezing down here and you could still see the graffiti in Italian on the walls from Medieval times. I wonder how many a poor man suffered there.

One thing I learned today was that Venice's symbol of the lion comes from St Mark, whose symbol is also a lion. The reason this particular saint was chosen to be the state's patron saint was because he was one of the Twelve Apostles, so he had direct contact with Christ, however he was not associated with the Vatican in Rome, the way St Peter was. So this was Venice making the statement of being separate to the powers in Rome – I found this to be quite interesting.

Sunday 9 January 2011

This morning I was woken by one of many choruses of church bells ones hears when in Venice. It was certainly a much nice sound than the sounds of the previous evening – a loud bunch of drunk American tourists decided to camp outside the hotel last night, talking loudly then throwing up. Not so very nice.

This morning I made my way back to San Marco's Basilica for Sunday mass. It surprised me when I got in there, to see it fairly empty. The Basilica is closed to tourist during mass times, though I noticed a fair few people in the aisles reading tourist books and looking around, so I don't think they were there for mass. I know that Italy is a nominally a Catholic country, though my Italian friends have told me that numbers at church are always declining, but I was surprised that Sunday mass at the Cathedral should have so few people, even if this is the case.

This time all the lights were on inside the Basilica so I could see the roof in all its splendour. After the service I stayed back and had a good look – there is so much detail and symbolism in them. One could easily study the Basilica for years to learn about all its history and reasons behind the architecture.

It was even more foggy and damp today and really quite unpleasant to be outside, so I found a coffee shop that didn't charge you to sit down (a rare thing I have found so far in Italy!) and sat there and watched the world go buy while enjoying my cup of Joe. It got even more dark and foggy so I walked back to the hotel and curled up reading my new novel I picked up in Rome, Dumas' The Three Musketeers. It's quite good so far, though it makes me realise how much the Disney rendition of it, which I loved as a kid, completely butchered it!

Tomorrow morning I leave by train for Milan – I should arrive in the early afternoon. In the evening I am catching up with an Italian friend who was studying in Melbourne in early 2010 so I am looking forward to that!

I have lots of photos of Venice but the bandwidth on the wi-fi at this new hotel doesn't seem to like them, so I will try to put some up again soon.

Yesterday I received a bit of a shock when I went downstairs to the reception of this hostel. I think I mentioned before that this hostel is run by two brothers. Well, I only met one of them when I checked in and this morning when I went downstairs the other one was there. What made me do a double take was the fact that they look exactly alike except one has crazy long hair and the other has short hair, so for a few dumb seconds I thought that the guy had magically grown all that hair overnight. Then it dawned on me that it was the other brother – I thought afterwards that it was like the two policemen in Hot Fuzz who are bothers and sit at the front desk of the police station; one is totally unkempt and the other very smart. This is the famous “Nobody tells me nuthin'” scene that my brothers and I quote to each other.

Anyway, yesterday was a busy day. The thing about Florence is there are so many museums it can be hard to chose what to go to when you have limited time. I chose to go the Bargello museum in the morning because it houses some amazing collections of Renaissance sculpture but it was also used as a torture barracks in medieval times, so it looks rather imposing and I could easily imagine it would have been feared when in operation.

The collections here were pretty amazing – and inside the building itself it was so easy to imagine this place in the medieval times with its knaves and stone walls. No photos allowed unfortunately so I can't show you what it was like, but take my word for it – it was pretty cool.

I then made my way down to Santa Croce, a beautiful Renaissance style church that is as famous for its beauty as for the fame of the people who have their tombs there. Inside there are the magnificent tombs of Michaelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and an honorary one for Dante (who is buried elsewhere). There are many others also and the floor is uneven because the stone slabs have bodies underneath them and the floor is carved with their likeness. This actually reminded me once when I was younger I remember my Dad telling me about old churches that bury people in the floors and walls and the next time we were at mass in our 40 year old church I wondered where all the people were in the walls there. It's things like that that make me realise how old and amazing these places are in Europe – they have such a history behind them that Australia just doesn't because of its relative youth.

Santa Croce from the front

Tomb of Michaelangelo

Galileo's tomb

The architecture inside

Kind of hard to see, but this part of the tunic that St Francis of Assis wore

The cloisters surrounding the church are quite beautiful – I just love walking through them in the silence and all you can hear are your own footsteps. It's the closest I will ever get to the experience of a monk!

Towards the end of the day I went inside the Baptistery that is right next to the big Duomo. Unlike the Duomo's inner simplicity, the Baptistery has absolutely stunning mosaics on its domed roof and around some of the windows. I still have a sore next from sitting down for nearly an hour looking up at it. The mosaics tell of various Biblical stories and towards the Altar there is a depiction of the Last Judgement. It was just absolutely beautiful and it was amazing to sit there thinking, this is the place that Dante came to and loved and said how much it inspired him. I sat there wondering if I would ever produce anything of a fraction of the magnificence of Dante's Divine Comedy - it's hardly likely!

Today was a bit more sedate. I went to the Uffizi Gallery this morning but there was already a huge line, so I will have to go back tomorrow and be there before it opens (around 8am) to avoid waiting in line for ages. So, I kept moving on and went to the Pitti Palace and its surrounding gardens. This was one of the best things I have done so far – the Palace itself has the most amazing frescos painted on the walls but what I enjoyed the most were the gardens outside. I'm feeling a little nostalgic for greenery at the moment – it's mainly stonework I've seen for these past weeks. But if anyone is ever in Florence, I highly recommend the Boboli and Bardini Gardens – it's a little bit of Tuscan countryside in Florence. And the views! Even on a cold, cloudy day like today it was stunning and I was in bliss walking through the fruit trees and grape vines.

I spent quite a lot of time there today just basking in the serenity (much better than Bonny Doon!) so that when I went to Santo Spirito afterwards, it was closed for the day. No matter, I kept on moving and went over the Vecchio Bridge which is from Renaissance times. It was packed full of

a) tourists and b) jewellery stores with the most beautiful pieces. I just can't help being attracted to sparkly things so you can imagine I had to look in every single window :) God help my future husband!

Some of the funnier things I saw today include a crazy cat woman in one of the gardens, who was feeding a group of healthy looking cats. I adore cats more than I love sparkly thing so it was difficult for me not to join the crazy lady in cuddling the cats. Another sight that made me laugh though I had to hide it was in a cafe, where this little girl was drinking a very rich cup of hot chocolate and when she had finished had a moustache from the chocolate to rival any man in Movember (for those not familiar, in Australia in November some men grow a moustache and raise money for various causes) as well as black teeth when she smiled at her mother. Her mother certainly saw the funny side of it so if they saw me giggling hopefully they weren't offended!

The Perils of Hostels and Piazzas of Florence

I think we have a winner for most annoying room-mate in a hostel so far on this trip. The Peruvian girl I mentioned earlier has taken that honour, resoundly beating all other competition. Apart from the night terrors, she has a habit of getting up really early every morning and deciding that this is the best time to tip out everything from her luggage and re-pack her bags, throwing around the place so there's a nice bam! every 30 seconds and the constant rustling of plastic and paper bags. All the while she sings and speaks Spanish to herself so we have a lovely little running commentary for this show. Yesterday her camera broke so we had to endure hours late into the night of her trying to fix the damn thing and banging it against the wall every few minutes to see if this would work. I gotta tell you, it was with quite a bit of pleasure that I left that hostle this morning!

I made it to Florence today without any hassle - my train ticket didn't allow me to get a seat so I had to stand for the trip but it was less than 2 hours so all was fine. My hostel is actually better than the hotel in Rome - it's this little quaint hotel run by 2 brothers and I don't know, there's something lovely to me about opening up the window shutters like a door rather than the window being opened vertically. Very Tuscan or something - in any case I feel like I'm really in Italy!

The brilliant thing (one of many actually) about Florence is it's so small that everything is within walking distance. So this afternoon I managed to see quite a bit of the town, including the main square with the great Duomo. It's interesting seeing the Renaissance style architecture becuase after the splendid opulence of the churches in the Vatican, they seem quite plain. Of course they're not at all, but I'm not used to seeing bare walls! The outside of the Duomo is by far my favourite exterior to a church.

Here are some pics - the sunlight this afternoon and blue skies made it stunning.

And inside -

I walked to the top of the bell tower right next to it and from there got an amazing view of Florence - here are some of the views.

I also went to the church of St Lorenzo, which originally consecrated by Saint Ambrose in the 4th century AD - the crypt underneath here had some amazing relics of the saints - there was a thumb that kind of freaked me out but at the same time was amazing.

Later on I found myself at one of the leather markets - it was so hard not to buy lots of things. I didn't think I was a huge fan of leather but when it came to the leather bound books - such a temptation!

One of the guys who runs the hostel sat down with me and worked out number to walking routes to see everything so I am looking forward to exploring some more tomorrow. It certainly is nice not to have to take the Metro :)