Italy

Well it has been a very hectic last few days, and no internet, so sorry for the lack of updates.

We have seen a lot in the last few days, lots of walking! Mom is keeping up quite well though, and she seems to be enjoying things. We had some ok weather in Paris, and saw all the sights, and had a few tasty pasteries, and one good meal, I forgot how expensive Paris was!

Then it was off to Venice, I ran into an old school friend at the Paris airport, small world indeed! Tan also joined us in Venice, so the three of us explored that city, and I must say I enjoyed it more the second time, the weather was nicer, and it's more enjoyable to be there with other people than on your own. Mom and Tan enjoyed some shopping, while I enjoyed the yummy itallian ice cream

Now we are in Rome, the weather has also just been ok, today was a little wet today, but we spent most of the day in the Vatican. Again it is a lot of walking, and here mom and Tan, again enjoyed shopping.

Tomorrow we are off to Greece, it will be a new destination for me, so I am looking forward to that, and hopefully the weather is nice! It has been a while since I have had some really nice weather!

I will be able to upload photos and do another update in Greece, as we will have an apartment with internet there. I am just using a public computer right now with Itallian keyboard, so excuse the puncuation.

Posted by Jason Willock

Well it is hard to believe that I have been in Europe just over six months!!

The last week in Italy has been pretty nice, the weather has been on the cool side, dropping to below 10 at night, I don't really have the clothes for those temperatures, but I managed to survive with my one sweater and light jacket. Spent the weekend in Rome with Tan, our last weekend in Europe together, it was sad leaving, but I am sure we will meet up again!

I then made my way to Florence where I took it pretty easy, mostly because it was too cold and wet, but I saw a few sights, and made a day trip to Pisa to see the leaning tower. I was amazed at how much it is actually leaning, they are working hard to prevent it from toppling over

I am sure I put on some weight in Italy, with all the tasty ice cream, and pasta and pizza I am surprised everyone here is not over weight. Dinners here are huge with two big courses and salad, I usually just have one course and salad, it surprises me how much they eat in one sitting!

Other than that not too much to report, I have been kind of coasting the last couple weeks, and reflecting on the time here in Europe. I met some great people, saw some cool things, ate some great food. Often when I am talking with other travellers they often ask me what my favorite part of Europe has been. It is really hard to answer that, but I really enjoyed Morocco, Stockholm, Prague, Norway, London, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Turkey , Romania, and the south of France. Sitting here typing this now I am so glad I kept this little blog, as I certainly will have to go through it all and read it and check out the photos, as I see so many things, and have a hard time remembering it all!

On that note I am very excited to continue on to Egypt, where the weather will be hot, and I have always been fascinated with Egyptian history!

So if there are no updates for some period of time it is because I am unable to get on the net, but I am sure there will be access during a couple stops in the two week tour!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well Venice is pretty cool. Reminds me somewhat of the Netherlands with all the canals and what not. One big difference is that there are no cars in the main part of the city, everything is done by boats, in the morning boats deliver goods to all the stores and restaurants. DHL and UPS make there deliverys by boat, there are two street signs on all the corners, one for the name of the water road, and the other for the pedestrian road. Certainly is an easy place to get lost in, but if you stroll around long enough, you eventually will find your way out.

The over all feeling of the city is a lot different than Naples and Roam, I think that is to do with all the tourists, only 60,000 people liver here, but over 20milion tourists come each year, that is a huge difference!

The weather today is a little wet and cool, and I think I have strolled through the entire city, so I am just taking it easy today. Italy has to be the worst place for wireless access, I am usting an ancient computer at the hostel. I guess it is illegal to have open wireless here, even in internet cafes, they are required to take a copy of your ID so they know who was on the internet at what time. Seems something that China would do, not Italy.

I have to find a blanket for Egypt I guess, there will be a couple nights on a boat on the Nile where the temperature will be around to 5 degrees, so quite chilly, a big difference than the 40 degrees it is in Cairo today! Probably find one in Rome as I am heading back there tomorrow.

Posted by Jason Willock

Just a quick update from Rome as I am leaving soon for Venice. Rome is a
pretty cool place, lots to see, and I find it great that your turn a corner
and see an ancient aqua duct, or some other old ruin that has been
incorporated into the modern environment.

The Vatican was by far the most craziest tourist place I have been to in
Europe, the line stretched for blocks, and this is supposed to be low
season! It took about 1 hour to get into the Vatican, and then the route to
the Sistine Chapel was so jam packed, I could just imagine it in July with
40 degree heat, it would not be enjoyable! But I was quite impressed with
the Sistine Chapel, the scope of the work, and how vibrant and impressive
the art is was truly amazing. To dedicate so long of your life to create
such work is an impressive feat.

The weather has been pretty nice, it's very hot if your out in the sun, high
20's but in the shade it is a nice comfortable 20 or so, it does get cool at
night, but makes it easier to sleep. The food has been quite good, although I am
getting a bit sick of Pizza for lunch, it is just so easy and cheap though.

Now I am off to Venice for a couple days, and then coming back to Rome for
the weekend with Tan, before making my way to Florence and then Milan where
I will fly to Cairo! I met an Australian girl here in Naples, and then
again here in Rome who is also going to Egypt, but a few weeks after me, we
were both pretty excited about our trips there.

Posted by Jason Willock

Naples, or Napoli as the Italians call it, is not an overly impressive city, kind of dirty, and not to safe at night. So I have been keeping busy during the day, and relaxing at night. Went to Pompeii, I was really impressed by it. It is massive, lots of the buildings look the same though, but there are some really impressively preserved ones with mosaics, and brightly coloured tiles. I can just imagine how bright and vibrant that city would have been before the volcano smothered it. The volcano is still active, and quite an impressive sight to see, I haven't hiked up it yet, not sure if I am going to do that. As today I hiked around Naples which is a very hilly city. Went to the national archaeological museum, again I was pretty impressed with that, some great pieces that were taken from Pompeii were there. And they actually had some great Egyptian pieces, which I was excited to see. As I just booked a 2 week tour of Egypt starting on Oct 25th. So that has got me very pumped up for that.

It is hard to believe that in a couple days will mark 6 months in Europe!! Time has flown by, but it is time to leave this continent and head east. Not sure how far east I will go, as I am coming home for Christmas for a few weeks, so it will depend on flights and what not back home, as I really want to get to Asia as well.

Got to run, heading out with a group of people from the hostel for what is supposed to be the best pizza in Naples, and since they invented the pizza it should be good I hope.

Posted by Jason Willock