Fabulous Florence

In May 2011 I visited Florence with my Mum, spending four days in the glorious city. For those of you that are yet to travel to Florence, you have lots to look forward to; for those that have already visited it, prepare to reminisce. 

The view from our hotel roof

We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Scaletta, and were greeted by friendly staff and a stunning rooftop view over the city and the Boboli Gardens nearby.  The hotel was also conveniently located an easy five minute stroll from the glorious Ponte Vecchio, famous for its gold and silver jewellery shops.

The much-celebrated Ponte Vecchio

As soon as I dumped my suitcase I was well and truly ready to explore the city, so I left Mum (who has having some quiet time) and did a little reconnaissance, seeing some fantastic things along the way.

I happened to stumble across these guys, who were created amazing artworks using chalk, on the pavements outside the shops along one of the many walkways. The next day I saw another couple doing the same thing in another area of the city. 

After finding my way around I headed back to the hotel and Mum and I went off to find a nice place for dinner. We settled on a really traditional (and less touristy) looking place a few minutes from our hotel, with a great Maitre D' who you can see below with a tray of freshly picked 'funghi' (or mushrooms) which were the feature of their special, a Risotto Al Funghi. 

The lovely Maitre D' who served us on two nights

In true Italian style I opted for a delicious vegetable pizza while Mum chose the risotto. Both meals were great and the portions were huge. We were also served hot freshly-baked olive bread with olive oil and balsamic.

Freshly made olive bread

And why stop when you're onto a good thing? We liked this restaurant so much that on our last night in Florence we came back to enjoy the Caprese salad, which is a simple but delicious tomato, mozzarella and basil salad.

Enjoying our Italian meal

Once we'd finished our meal we decided to walk it off with a meander along the Ponte Vecchio and a stroll along the banks of the Arno river.

The view of the Ponte Vecchio at sunset

The Arno river

The next morning we made it our challenge to climb to the top of the Duomo for a spectacular view over the city. This is the outside of the Duomo - how impressive!

Duomo

 If you have claustrophobia I probably wouldn't recommend going to the top; I don't get claustrophobic too often but I felt a bit trapped walking up the narrow corridors that wind around the outside of the Duomo. But it was well worth it... And here is the view from the top.

The view of Florence from the Duomo

And after a big climb we were ready for some sustenance. We decided to visit the San Lorenzo markets where we found a huge selection of meats (lots of prosciutto), cheeses, pastas, biscotti, fruits and vegetables. We bought a mild cheese, some delicious straberries, some chocolate and almond biscotti and some prosciutto and found a nice area with some benches where we enjoyed our market produce.

Our wonderful deli-hand who gave us the best prosciutto

And then it was time to shop. Florence is renowned for its leather goods, so we couldn't pass up an opportunity to see the best leather in the world. After several hours we returned to the hotel with a handbag, a pair of shoes, a belt and two pairs of leather gloves, and a glint of concern about how we might fit everything into our suitcases.

The San Lorenzo markets

On our final day in Florence we visited the beautiful Boboli Gardens and the Porcelain museum.
These gardens are absolutely stunning, serene, and at the top of the gardens there is an amazing view into rural Tuscany.

The porcelain museum inside the Boboli Gardens

Included in our ticket to the gardens was entry to the Costume Gallery, which is located inside the Pitti Palace. The exhibition displayed garments from the 16th to the 20th century by well-known designers.

For me, Florence is one of those magical cities you don't expect to find in reality. It is charming, cultured and enchanting. Particularly given that I was able to experience this wonderful city with my beautiful Mum beside me, it will always be one of my favourite cities in Europe. 

Postcard from Ios

We are now more than half way through our trip, having visited four countries thus far. Right now we are in Bol, an island off Split in Croatia. It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful ere. In order to do justice to our experiences I shall start at the beginning and tell you about our first port of call: the lovely island of Ios in Greece.

After our first night spent "sleeping" in Athens Airport - only to be woken by a very scary Greek woman yelling for us to get off her chairs- we caught a 4:30am bus to Piraeus Port and then a ferry to Ios. We were really lucky with the hostel we had booked- it had a spectacular pool area and we had a nice room with lots of air-con and an en-suite. We spent our first day visiting the Myloportas beach which was really pretty. For dinner a standout meal of the trip so far was devoured. It was a stuffed eggplant with cheese, zucchini and all sorts of yummy veggies. So good! I should mention that our dinner was also enjoyed by a tiny cat that wouldn't leave our table. He meowed persistently until we gave in and treated him to some bread (and tatziki).

The next day I woke up early and went for a run to explore the area a bit more. I found a gorgeous white church and further on a secluded beach. When I returned from my run we ate at was to become our signature breaky over the we trip: greek yoghurt with honey and banana. It's odd just how much better the honey and Greek yoghurt tastes in its homeland, but trust me, its amazing. After breaky we took a boat to a beautiful island which is called Manganari. The boat-trip was made all the more amusing by a group of girls that felt it would be a good idea to do a photo shoot of themselves as we were traveling. They pouted and swished their hair as everyone looked on quite bewildered.

When we arrived at the beach I was blown away by the turquoise water and the masses of beach umbrellas which were in hot demand (pardon the pun). We made a new friend who asked if he could share our umbrella. Not feeling like we could turn the pale young Canadian boy away from the shade, he proceeded to lie with us for the rest of the day. At 5pm when the boat cane to collect us and take us home we all jumped back on the boat only to be pleasantly surprised by a stop off for a touch of 'jumping off the side of the two story boat into deep crystal clear water'-ing. It was truly magical and I had an amazing time facing a few fears and finally jumping in with a splash. And when it was time to go the boat honked it's horn three times and everyone frantically paddled back to the boat, fearful of being left behind.

In the evening we had a gyros dinner (a Greek kebab) and then played cards while drinking €3 glasses of sangria until around midnight. We then realized we would have to hurry and luckily caught the last bus into town were we were to see what the nightlife of Ios had to offer. Too much it turned out for one night of partying. We hopped of the bus at the stop where everyone else got off and then looked around unsure of our next step. Where exactly would we find a place to drink? Everyone was drinking outside in a courtyard area so we - like lemmings- just followed everyone else. Only this was fortuitously a grand idea because who were we to bump into but a frien from the year above at school back home in Sydney, who happened to know all the bes places for us to bar-hop to. We had loads of fun getting free shots and dancing while drinking cocktails. It was also cool that each bar had differently themed music; one place had heavy metal, another had an acoustic singer taking requests (he played Little Lion Man for us!).

By 3.30am we were becoming somewhat aware of our pending 10am ferry and so sadly we called it a night. We could have happily enjoyed a few more nights in Ios though! Making our way through the cobbled streets back to our hostel we reflected on the fun (and sweaty) night we had had and on how excited we were for the continuation of our trip... Next stop: Santorini.

Spring Sun and Stately Homes

Stourhead Gardens

Sorry for the prolonged silence ... sometimes when blogging you lose the desire to write and, for me, I have experienced that over the past month.

All that aside, I finished my ski season on the 27th April and from there, Janine, Paul and I all traveled back via countless trains and the Eurostar to Wimbledon, where I stayed overnight. I then made the journey to Reading and have since been staying with my grandparents.

I was lucky enough to visit several amazing places during my stay here in the UK, a highlight of which was The Vyne in Basingstoke; a National Trust stately home and it's stunningly green gardens. My Auntie and Uncle took me there for the day and we packed a picnic and soaked up the beautifully warm Spring sun on the lawns, before touring the house. What is special about it is that it features architectural styles from many periods, including Tudor and Adam.

Inside The Vyne

The Vyne and the lake

The Servants' Bells

On the subject of stately homes, I had a three-day visit down to Devon (to visit our family - who spoiled us rotten), Somerset and Bath. During my time with my lovely friend Claire - who did a Gap Year to Australia and lived with me at my boarding school - we went to Stourhead, another National Trust house.

Stourhead is made famous by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 movie features Stourhead's gardens, and one of the temples in the gardens, The Apollo Temple. The gardens were teeming with blooming flowers, particularly rhododendrons. Ducks floated along happily on the lake and it was one of the most picturesque scenes I think I've ever seen. Funnily, when you're in that kind of setting, you lose concept of time - it could easily have been the 19th century and I doubt things would have looked much different at all.

Claire and I enjoying our lake walk

As seen in Pride and Prejudice

Such lush greenery

It is so bizarre going from the white, snowy, alpine landscapes to such vividly coloured flowers and greenery. I've enjoyed having some time to rest, re-group and detox - I have hardly touched any alcohol (only one glass of champagne I believe) since I finished the season.

Since my Mum arrived we have been enjoying each other's company and yesterday took a huge day-trip into London, doing things like visiting the British Museum and seeing Wicked The Musical. I hope to blog about that really soon.

The big backpacking adventure starts on Monday so I have lots of packing to do between now and then, but excitement is certainly starting to build.

Ski Camp (After)

I promised I would write about ski camp upon return and, because I have been back for at least three weeks, it seems timely to pen my experiences.

To recap, I travelled with year's nine and ten at the school where I work, alongside several staff members and two gap students. We had lots and lots of fun over the five days, with one of the highlights of the trip being snow shoeing. This consisted of fitting tennis racket-esque covers over our shoes and trecking with stocks up snow covered mountains. This was so very rewarding as, at the peak of the mountain, there were the most spectacular views over to adjacent mountain peaks dusted in snow.

Another highlight of the trip was watching the year 10 students put a menu plan together on $200, which had to provide people with a three-course meal, as well as catering for breakfast the next morning. The students not only had to source their ingredients, but to cook for the group also. They did an amazing job, choosing a simple menu of garlic bread as entree, pizza for main, and ice cream with toppings for dessert. The next morning pancakes were on the menu, and the kids were really proud of themselves for accomplishing what they saw to be a rather challenging task. It was also lots of fun getting up at 4.30am with the kids to watch the soccer, and all sitting in a refurbished train carriage, snuggled in our doonas and pjs, cheering on the Aussies!

While the snow wasn't the best, it was still good to have a ski and I skied predominantly with the male teachers on the trip - we were fond of High Noon (because it was the most challenging piste with sufficient snow) but were also fond of coffees at the top of the mountain! The skiing part of the trip really made me excited for my ski season at the end of the year!

A very long drive home at the end of the trip meant that most of the kids had naps, and the teachers joined them in dozing away the six or so hours back to Bathurst. After three stops at McDonalds along the way (either for toilet stops or for food), we finally made it home and it took several days to catch up on the lost sleep from 6am-11pm days jam-packed full of abseiling, rock climbing, orienteering, skiing, snow shoeing and cooking.

I am to leave Scots in late August and I'm grateful to have been able to part with fond memories of skiing and traveling with the students and teachers.

Hunter Escape

Today I was talking with a friend and she proposed that, together with two guy friends, we go away for a weekend to the Hunter Valley. I couldn't say YES fast enough. I love weekends away, particularly in a place as beautiful as the Hunter Valley.

Where else would you want to be in the middle of winter but tasting wine in picturesque vineyards daily, then returning to a crackling log fire and amazing food in the evening? Not to mention the possibility of time to unwind and to get away from the rush of daily life. To relax in your PJs with good company and good vino. It sounds like the perfect way to spend a weekend!

I am also lucky enough to be going away on a ski trip with Year Nine and Year Ten from the school where I live/ work. We will be doing activities including skiing, cross-country skiing, abseiling, BMX riding, orienteering as well as camping IN THE SNOW. But, fortunately, that is only for one night. I went last year and literally froze. I couldn't sleep the entire night we camped out, but hopefully I'll be better prepared this time around.

At the moment I live for travel. I am so excited about the French ski season I'll be doing at the end of this year, and love love love planning the destinations I'll visit after I finish the season: Italy, France, Spain, Greece, England, Holland... the list continues. I have a feeling that perhaps after thirteen years of schooling and then an extra three years of university, I am well and truly over working and need a break before work begins, bills are to be paid and houses are to be saved-up for.

Photo courtesy of: http://lodging.uptake.com/blog/files/2009/01/wine-glasses-fireplace-inn-above-tide.jpg

Please Uni... Hurry up so my life can start again?

The past month has been spent trying, perhaps in vain, to productively pass my days when I'm not on duty in the Galloway boarding house. You see, without Uni and living in a relatively small country city, there are limits to the array of activities available at little to no cost.

I've been frequenting my gym (generally daily), and that has taken up a good hour each day, but the Scots resos have managed to come up with many other relatively enjoyable activities to pass the time. We have had Noodle Box at the top of Mt Panorama, overlooking the gorgeous view of Bathurst and beyond. Tuesday night trivia at the Kings has been a good source of entertainment, as has the Ox's trivia on a Wednesday night. We've taken our new resos late night swimming in our pool with a bottle of Chardonnay we won at trivia, and we have had plenty of movie nights and random drinking nights playing games like Never Ever, Roxanne, Kings etc. Emiley (a friend and also a resident) and I have been on a roadtrip to Blayney, where we drank Coke's in the local pub, and sang our hearts out to and from Blayney.

It has been an interesting experience welcoming in new residents to our school. Many have just finished school, and have only just begun university, and consequently we have felt somewhat responsible for ensuring they come home safely after their O-Week parties, and are enjoying themselves sufficiently. Last night we went to Dag Night, having sourced our outfits from Bathurst's Op-Shops. This in itself was a thoroughly enjoyable experience - sampling the many 1980s dress suits and the beautiful floral floor length dresses available. We pre-drank at my friends' house - Toph and Tyson ensured we had lots of fun in providing us with drinking Jenga. It was really nice to pre-drink at a house down-town rather than being either on-campus or at the school. That freedom was certainly appreciated and was very refreshing. All the friends we were with then danced together through the night and even took our new male resident, Dan, under their wing, teaching him how to dance and attempting to get him as drunk as they possibly could with Never Ever.

We loved dancing to Jelly Bean Jam, who played both new and old music and played instruments as well as singing fabulously. It was a bizarre experience to be with all those new faces of the freshers because they just seemed so much younger than us. Which, to be fair, is an accurate observation as they are at least three years younger than us. It was scary to think that some of the first year students are actually my brother's age. Emily and I vowed we wouldn't frequent unibar much any more - we just feel too old - and might choose instead to make the Wednesday night Pool Club our regular social activity.

Here are some of the photos from our past few weeks waiting for uni to commence.

Amsterdam

At the end of 2008 my family and I went traveling for six weeks around Europe. It was a holiday of a lifetime - something I will always remember. But why was it so special? Well for one, I know that, with me at 20 years old, my brother at 17 years old, and my sister at nine years old, there are only few holidays left for us to enjoy all together. Before we know it, we'll be overseas, working, simply don't want to go on family holidays anymore, or maybe Mum and Dad will limit their trips to taking Olivia only.

Regardless, I feel the need to share with you the main locations we visited:

• Amsterdam
• London
• Chamonix
• Aosta
• Geneva

One of my favourite places that we visited was Amsterdam. It is unlike any other place I've ever been to, full of a vibrant buzz and the people are just so friendly. I also have family in Amsterdam and it was great to get to visit them and to visit their houses.

While in Amsterdam, we went on a 20km bike ride out to the countryside, passing windmills and canals - such a special experience. We also traveled to Leidseplein - I loved it there - my brother and sister both went ice skating, and we sat next to people enjoying glasses of wine and chatting, all rugged up as it snowed prettily around us. The transport in Amsterdam was a cinch - easy to get around on trams and bicycles.

We did do the expected- by visiting the Red Light District - and I found it utterly fascinating. It wasn't as bad as I imagined it might be. Mind you, when we went it was only about 10.30pm (so there weren't too many drunkards around), and the girls didn't appear to be drugged out of their minds, as I thought they might be. In fact, many of them looked like they really took care of themselves and had nice outfits... still, the journalist in me wanted to find out how they'd made it into that industry? Did they enjoy it?

We visited Anne Frank's house, which I found very interesting and worthwhile, and it was fascinating to see how she and her family had lived during their time in hiding.

But if you want to know what I loved the most, it was easy for me to choose. I loved riding my bike past all the little houses, side-by-side with their curtains wide open. Families were sitting around pianos, kids were doing puzzles together, a woman was patting her dog, a man typed at his laptop - it was a very private insight into the lives of the average Amsterdam-ers. Because we rode our bikes on the ferries over into suburbia, we were able to access these suburban roads and therefore gained a great perspective on life in Amsterdam for the locals. The charming notion of revealing your inner life to others by keeping your house open to the outside is special and, certainly in my suburb in Sydney, does not happen. Everybody keeps their doors shut and their shutters closed - but not in Amsterdam.

Here are some photos from my time in Amsterdam.