"Buongiorno! I love Italy! Bellisimo!!! " a Italy Travel Page by SydneyGal

I was in Italy for 3 weeks in June 2001. During my travels in Italy, I visited the following places:

- Venice
- Cinque Terre
- Florence
- San Gimignano
- Siena
- Rome
- Positano
- Amalfi
- Capri (stunning - that is Capri in the picture above, its really like that!)
- Pompeii

It was a busy, but absolutely brilliant trip!

Below you can read the emails which I sent to my family and friends whilst in Italy. It should give you an interesting insight into what I got up to during my travels.

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Ciao everyone from Florence! ... we just arrived here today, after 3 days in Cinque Terre and 3 days in Venice.

Italy is just as fantastic as I hoped... I love this place, the food, the people, the wine, the culture, the architecture, etc, etc!! This place rocks!!

Venice was really beautiful, and Fiona and I met up with a sweet Mexican girl and another girl from the US and had a great time there, yaking cruises down the Grande Canal and visiting the amazing Bacilica San Marco which was truly breathtaking. Also hung out in Piazza San Marco one night and listened to classical music groups who played
outside cafes for everyone to hear. A great atmosphere, very romantic.

Cinque Terre has been the highlight for me so far. Cinque Terre are 5 small fishing villages based on cliff faces, with magnificent views of the ocean and massive cliffs. Very colourful and a village type of atmosphere, it was almost surreal. During the days we would take hikes from one town to the next which was really beautiful, or had swims in at the beaches there ...and at night we sampled the delicious seafood and local wine and olives ... I was in heaven!! If you ever make a trip to Italy, you must go to Cinque Terre!!

Fiona and I arrived in Florence this morning after a 5am rise. Today we explored the town and I could not resist from buying the perfect souvenior from Florence - a leather jacket, very nice! In one leather store we went in to browse, the man tried to sell Fiona a leather jacket by telling her that she had "super boobs" and me some leather pants by telling me I had a "super bum" ... needless to say he didnt make the sale with us...

Prior to Italy, Fiona and I visited Vienna and Salzburg. In Salzburg we were staying in a mad hostel and didnt get around to seeing any of the sights for the first day - except for the inside of the hostel bar! we met some really nice people in the hostel, had a lot of fun.

In Salzburg, Fiona and I took a trip through the countryside of Austria as part of the Sound of Music Tour, and the hills were more than alive when Fiona got up in front of the whole bus and sang "Eidlweiss"

after we had both sampled some of the Austrian beer! Atually, the tour was a lot of fun and we got to see a lot of the beuatiful Austrian countryside and visited a few small Austrian village towns. In Vienna we managed to go to the Vienna Boys chior, which was great too!

Anyway hope you are all well... take care

Ciao Arriverderchi!

Love Natasha

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Buongiorno from Buono (delicious) Rome!!

Well the past week has been a lot of fun and I am having a great time. Since leaving Florence, Fiona and I stayed in a little town in Tuscany called San Gimignano, in an attempt to avoid the swarms of tourists experienced in Florence. This ended up being a great decision, as in the place we were staying, we met 2 English girls, and so began a crazy roadtrip adventure !! We hired a car for a day and criused thru the hills of Tuscany together. (Most who are farmiliar with my driving skills will be happy to know that I did not drive the car, so luckily did not have to brave any of the crazy Italian drivers about!! ... or is that vice versa????!!!) Anyway, we all had a brilliant day, as we
visited a few little local italian villages and drove around the hills of tuscany and tried a few wineries as well. This is where I had my first taste of Grappa, apparently a spirit popular with the Italians,
but I dont understand why because it tasted more to me like metho! We also managed to stop in a little Italian town and ate pasta lunch in a restaurant overlooking the hills of Tuscany, really beautiful bella! The day ended up taking longer than we though as we got a little but lost and ended up on the freeway to Florence! This is where poor Fiona
encountered trying to merge on an Italian freeway, with 2 semi traliers, and about 5 cars vying for the same spot on the first lane of the freeway!! We were all your typical screaming bunch of tourist girls in this situation, but survived OK and we are all in one piece. Anyway that day has been one of the highlights of the trip as we had a lot of laughs with our 2 new brit galfriends. (hi Lorna and Hannah!)

We also visited the town of Siena which was really lovely and had a very cool Piazza, where we ended up hanging in for most of the day, eating gelatos in a balcony overlooking the piazza, and also scoffing wine and pasta in a restaurant in the piazza. bene!

We are currently in Rome, and are leaving here in about an hour for Positano. Rome has been great, I love it!! We are lucky enough to be here just as Rome has won the Italian Soccer championships, so there have been people hanging out of their cars and bikes, waving flags in the street and out of their cars, people screaming, cheering, blowing horns and singing in the streets. A very fun and crazy atmosphere!

Our first day here, we visted Trevi Fountain where a threw a few coins in over my shoulder, one so that I would return to Rome, the other a wish! We also saw lots of cool Piazzas, hung out on the Spanish steps for a while, and went to a place which had lovely views over Rome. Also walked past the Roman Forum and Colusseum by night.

Yesterday, we went to the Vatican museum and saw the Sistine Chapel. Fiona and I lined up in the most massive queue I have ever encountered, it must have gone for the equivalent of 4 to 5 blocks, about 8 people thick! Luckily it moved pretty quickly.

Afterwards went to St Peters Basilica, and climbed to the top of the Dome to get a bit of Rome panorama (Fiona and I are really into Domes if you havent noticed!). Luckily for us, there was a lift halfway up, along with the 300 or so stairs in addition. Why are there so many many many many many many many many many stairs in Europe!?!?!?!

Yesterday, we also went to Piazza Navona, which was really lovely. We stayed there for quite a few hours, eating pizza, and sipping on beer and iced coffee. I will be back in Rome in about a week for a few days, and I will be going back there, fur sure!

Next stop, Positano, Capri, Pompeii ... stay tuned!
I hope you are all well. Whats happening back home? love to hear from
u.

Love lots, Tash

xx
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Hola Amigos!

I am now in madrid. I just arrived a few hours ago from the airport. First impressions? Madrid is not that nice, just a
big city. but I hear night is when it really comes alive here so I will just have to standby and hopefully readjust my impression. I had my taste of tapas in this bar which was so crowded! I had some shellfish which were very strange looking (like mussels but very long and skinny shaped shells, and a bit slimy) and a bit dodgy! I am usually pretty
adventurous with food but I started eating and could not stomach it. I am finding that it is a lot harder to communicate here than in Italy, as not many people speak English. I try to speak in very bad Spanish but when they talk back to me I have major problemos!! ah well, I will work it out.

Since I last wrote, I spent 6 days in Positano on the Amalfi Coast. I stayed in a hostel which was really social, and so beautiful, it had a massive terrace balcony with views over the ocean and Positano. Also it was brand new and very clean (wow they actually have clean hostels!?!) and the owner was this funny Italian woman who called me Natashona (translation: ´big natasha´! I only found this out last night, arrrh, and I didnt think all the pizza and gelato was having an effect hmmm!!). Anyway, Fiona and I met some really nice people there, there was a group of about 8 of us who hung out together. Mainly spent my time in Positano lying on lounges on the beach and sunning
ourselves, or eating! The food in Postiano was absolutely amazing.

One of the days, I took a boat trip from Positano to Capri and visited the Blue Grotto, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. For those who dont know, the Blue Grotto is basically a water cave, and inside it is very dark, except for the water which was a glowing blue colour, and lights up the cave a little. I hopped into a rowboat with Danny and James, 2 guys from my hostel. There are about 20 rowboats going in there at once, and all the rowers sing Italian songs at the top of their lungs, which echoes off the ceiling of the cave, great acoustics! James was a film maker and was fliming with this big video camera, so he asked the rowboat man to stay in the cave a little longer, ... so at one point, we were the only ones in the cave! Amazing stuff.

Also took a daytrip to Pompeii, an entire town of Roman ruins, including houses, public baths, theatres, churches, everything. It was amazing how huge it was and also how well it had been preserved, considering it is over 2000 years old. We spent a day there, but it was possible to go another day too because there was so much there.

After Positano, Fiona and I said our goodbyes after 4 weeks together (Fi I hope youre having fun in Greece!)

I returned to Rome on my own, just for 3 nights. Since I had visited most of the tourist attractions when Fiona and I were in Rome the week before, this time around, I just took my time to explore the streets and enjoy the nightlife. Also went to the Roman Forum and Colusseum. (and the shops and market stores!).

On my first night there, I walked to Piazza Navona and Campo Di Fiori, both great places for people watching and soaking in the Roman atmosphere. I was entertained by scores of entertainment artists busking on the street, who were all so talented. On the 2nd night I went to the Trastevre area, sort of like a Glebe inside Rome. I had the most amazing meal there in a buzzing restaurant packed with crazy Italians! Afterwards I cruised the streets around the area, which had night markets on. I couldnt believe how busy it was for a Monday night!

I love Roma!

Tomorrow Lizzie and Kate come to Madrid! Yay!!!! The next day we are
going to San Sebastian and will use that as a base to visit Pamplona
for San Fermin, the bull run!

Anyway, thats about it for now... Hope you are all well. Hope to hear
from you soon.
Buones noches!
Natasha