Florence

Here are a few photos of my time in Florence....

Lining up for Gelato at Grom...reportedly the best Gelato!!!...It was pretty good...but then again, I don't think I had a bad gelato in Italy

Views of the Ponte Vecchio at night

View of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo

Another lovely view from Piazza Michelangelo

A wonderful fabric shop

and shoes....would definitely NOT want to try walking in these

Orvieto

One of the highlights of my trip to Europe was to spend 6 days on an artistic interlude in a town called Orvieto.  Orvieto is situated on a rock made of Tufa (volcanic rock)...it was the most beautiful place to spend a chunk of time. 

The beautiful Duomo

The view from my window

Detail of the Duomo

One of my favourite views

Local market produce

Wine tasting at Palazzone Winery

Views back to Orvieto from the winery

the beautiful pool at the winery (which is also a magnificent B & B) 



Colosseum

One of my favourite places in Rome was the Colosseum and the surrounding area.....to see it in "real life" was incredible....

and my other favourite place was the Pantheon....I just love the dome of this amazing building

More Rome

On my second day in Rome, I visited the Vatican Museums and St Peters Basilica....I was amazed by the incredible artworks completed so so long ago....painting by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel was stunning....though I did find the crowds a bit overwhelming....I don't generally cope very well with lots of people...the photo above is just one photo showing some of the crowds!!!
Below: an internal garden area of the Vatican..

I seemed to develop a facination/obsession with taking photos of ceilings, floors, alley ways and doors whilst in Europe

Let the photos begin....

Now that I have my computer back and raring to go, I am going to post photos on this blog and also my main blog for you to have a look at....first stop (after Hong Kong)...Rome, Italy...and my very first glimpse of the Colosseum on my second day....the first day I just spent orientating myself (or should I say getting lost!)...I bought one of those hop on hop off bus tickets which gives you a great overview of  some of the main sights around any given city...

Passing by St Peter's Basilica...

Be back with more photos soon

Home and an update

Well,
I arrived safely back in Australia last Saturday night (late). It was lovely to be home and to catch up with my family and friends. I had an absolute ball in Europe and will DEFINITELY visit there again...there is still so much more I need to see!

I returned to work on Wednesday and it is nice to know that I only have a short week. Then the weekend and then i have next Tuesday off as it is a public holiday here in Australia....all for the occasion of a horse race! But do you hear me complaining? Not on your life!

I had hope to upload some photos from my trip, but sadly my computer decided to crash on Sunday....and it has been getting repaired since then...but I pick it up tomorrow...so hopefully I will get to pop some photos on my blog over the weekend...so stay tuned.

Thanks to all of my cousins in Germany for making my week there one to remember....it was wonderful to meet so many cousins and get to know them better...I truly felt the blessing of spending time in Germany...and a very special thank you to Rita and Alberto...who were very generous to let me stay in their home....they hold an extra special place in my heart! I hope to continue contact with some of my cousins...though I will see how I go with that as I am not the best at keeping in contact with people....but I am certainly going to make an effort.

Well, hope to show you some photos over the weekend.

Till then!

Auf Wiedersehn Deutschland.....hello home!

Yesterday was my final full day in Germany and full it certainly was...two of my cousins and their respective wife & husband drove me to Rothenburg ob Der Tauber about 2 hours drive from Frankfurt. It is a sweet village with lots of old houses and most well know for it's Christmas markets and huge Christmas chop and museum...sadly I only managed a short amount of time in the Christmas shop....and didn't see the museum. But we still had a lovely day and it was nice to spend time with a couple of other cousins. To finish off, we then returned to place the Family adventure all began with a farewell dinner where again, there were over 20 people. I must admit, by then end of the night I was completely exhausted and feeling a bit unable to talk much....so today I head to the airport where I catch a 2pm flight to Hong Kong and then on to Melbourne where I arrive Saturday night...am so looking forward to seeing all of my family and friends and sleeping in my own bed.
Hope you have enjoyed reading my travel adventures! Thanks for persevering Lisa

Over the next couple of weeks I will be putting some of my photos for your enjoyment!!!