MADRID: Welcome to Spain

Spain, for a very long time has been one of the places I most wanted to visit. After our contiki tour ended in London we flew to Madrid to spend a couple of nights. Here we stayed in our very first hostel called Albergue Juvenil Madrid located on Calle Mejia Lequerica. The staff were exceptionally friendly and were able to recommend a range of different things for us to see and do during our stay.

Shortly after our check-in we headed out to Parque del Retiro. This park was absolutely beautiful. It features a large lake with paddle boats, beautifully kept gardens and statues in every corner.

From here we walked to Calle Cava Baja which is an alley that features a range of tapas bars. We popped into Casa Curro Taberna for some sangria and olives and later across the street to Txakolina for a range of tapas and of course some more sangria! We ordered a 'la bomba' which was a fried ball of potato in gravy, salmon and spinach rolls and a couple other tapas to share. 

Even though we were full we couldn't pass on Madrid's oldest chocolateria for some dessert. We ordered churros and hot chocolate to share for only a few euros at Chocolateria San Gines and they were amazing! After a whole lot of walking and getting ourselves lost in the streets we found Puerta del Sol which is central madrid. It was a Sunday night and it was bustling with people. The atmosphere was really cool!

Our hostel recommended us to the Madride Free Walking Tours for our second day which is run by volunteers. We were met by a lovely Russian named Anastasia at our hostel who guided us back to Puerta del Sol to meet our french tour guide Fany as well as people from other hostels. Here we met future friends and fellow Australians Amy and Justin. Fany was a quirky tour guide who was full of information and enthusiasm. She talked to us about the history of Madrid through a guided tour of amazing buildings and statues. We also stopped for lunch in Il Museo del Jamon. This bar specialises in ham (or 'Jamon') where you can get a sandwich for as little as one euro! I grabbed a ham and cheese croissant and it didn't disappoint! 

Our next stop was Plaza Mayor which was one of my favourites. During my time in Europe I had a thing for the piazzas and central plazas. They are places where the locals and tourists come together and they are often filled with cool cafes, restaurants and sometimes entertainment acts. 

Fany had also told us about Madrona shots so we ventured back to El Madrono restaurant after the tour in the area of La Latina with Amy and Justin. It is a sweet liquor that comes from the Madrono tree (which is symbolic of Madrid) in an edible chocolate covered cup. Absolutely knackered (and still hungry) we went to frozen yoghurt bar Ilaollao which hit the right spot. I wasn't a big souvenir shopper until we hit Spain. One of the most memorable things I bought was an apron in the shape of a spanish dress. I had never seen anything like it!

Later that day we headed out to dinner at Parilla de Maria (just off of Puerta del Sol) before our pubcrawl as part of Madride tours, with the friends we had met earlier that day. We had a super friendly waitress and the food was amazing. She had even got rid of child beggars/thieves as soon as they approached us by whacking them with a menu! We had a Jamon platter for starters followed by the best seafood paella i've ever tasted, and of course ... more Sangria. 

Later on we met our pubcrawl friends including Fany by the tree and bear statue in Puerta del Sol. Additional people joined the group who were very friendly. The pubcrawl included a guided tour to five different clubs/bars in Madrid. You spent a good hour at each place, welcomed by a shot at the door. The first two bars were a lot of fun with lots of dancing to cool spanish music as well as the odd american tune. The third place we visited was Joy Eslava which is a big club in Madrid. The music was more american than spanish but it was a great time and I definitely would love to visit it again on one of it's busier nights! It was a memorable night and a great way to say goodbye to Madrid!

Via Porzia 
xx

Contiki

To begin our European adventure we decided to undertake a 21 day European Vista contiki tour. We thought this would be the best possible way to get a feel for being in another country by being in a group. We met our contiki crew three weeks ago in London at the Royal National Hotel. Everyone seemed pretty friendly so it was a great start.

We met the next day to board the coach. Still nervous but eager to make a few friends. The first day I sat next to a girl named Nicole. Funny as hell and a real vibrant character. We headed to the Port of Douvre to the Ferry where we went across to France. Here we met another two girls called Janelle and Rosie (or Rosina). These meetings marked the very beginning of the formation we called the ´wolf-pack´.

After a day in Paris, it was clear that the five of us (including my travel friend Alana) were becoming closer. The event of Janelle getting stuck in the metro tram doors definitely made us better friends. 

On our tour we were lucky enough to fit in many places. These included Paris, Lucerne (Switzerland), French Riviera, Florence, Rome, Venice, Austrian Tyrol, Munich, Vienna, Prague, Rhine Valley and Amsterdam.

Over this time we made many more friends beyond our family wolf-pack. We even added an extra four to our wolf-pack including always witty Bobby (who we called Roberto), Ethan (who was forever playing his music) and Rachel and Ben (a loveable and funny husband and wife). The time went unbelievably quickly and there was just not enough time or energy for me to keep up my blog. Each of these places were unique in their own way and memories were made in every place. 

Twenty-one days was a perfect amount of time to see a lot of things in every stop. My favourite places would have to be Paris, Nice and Venice. The bike ride in Munich and the white water rafting in Tyrol were my most favourite of the activities we did. Although it was difficult to say goodbye to our contiki crew, we are excited to meet up with our good friends Janelle and Rosie in the greek islands. We made two new Australian friends in Madrid yesterday called Amy and Justin who will also be in te greek islands at the same time! Coincidence I think so!

At this moment we are chilling out in our hotel room in Barcelona on La Rambla. This is the place (apart from Molfetta) that I have been looking forward to the most. Can't wait! Even better we just found out our good friends Janelle and Rosie are in town tomorrow as well as our new friends we met in Madrid yesterday Amy and Justin! I see good things ahead for Barcelona!

Via Porzia

Xxx

Venezia

Venice is a really unique city. It's main square San Marco Piazza is beautiful. There is the San Marco Church and lavish espresso bars and expensive jewellery stores bordering the piazza. Off comes little alley ways which we couldn't wait to wander.

 My main aim of Venice was to find my mum a unique Venetian mask. She has been collecting them as long as I can remember. She has one from each of my siblings. After a while the stores all started to look the same. We ran into a corner store with walls covered from top to bottom in beautiful masks. Two young women were running the store and they were really friendly. It was called 'Venice Art Di Myshketa Artur'. I spotted a beautiful cream coloured mask with gold trimming framed with jolly bells and I knew straight away that mum would love it. It was about 180 euro but it was worth it. I have a month of travel still so it would have been impossible to carry it around with me so the girls shipped it off for me for an extra 50 euro. They seemed very professional so fingers crossed it gets home!

After lots of walking we headed to lunch near the main canal at Bar Ristorante Omnibus. For a good 20 euro we had three courses including pasta napolitana, fried fish, french fries and watermelon. We were so full! A good 20 euro well spent.

The next aim of Venice was to feed some pigeons. If you're not a fan of birds I suggest don't come to Venice because they swoop A LOT. We bought some seeds from a professional photographer and stood in the midst of a whole lot of pigeons. We stuck our hands out and they started flying towards us. In between each 'smile!' there were many squeals but the experience was fantastic and I would probably do it again!

Even though we were full we couldn't pass on Gelati. We bought tiramisu Gelati from a gelateria in the main piazza and it was damn good! 

The very last aim of Venice was to ride a gondola of course. We got the group together and Alana and I scored the lover's seat! The views were stunning and the weather was perfect. Claudio our gondoliero weaved us through the city. Another 'happy moment'. 

After the gondola ride we met for dinner at Ristorante trovatore. This was a contiki optional. After eating so much at lunch it was impossible to keep up with the almost 10 course meal. Much like our Nice experience the restaurant had  little atmosphere and again was tucked away within the city. 

We caught a boat back to the mainland and the short cruise made up for a disappointing dinner with its views of the Venice port.

Venice is without a doubt one of those places I have to visit again. 

Via Porzia

Xx

Pisa & Florence

On the way to Florence we stopped by Pisa to visit the famous leaning tower of Pisa. I never imagined it to be in such a small (almost deserted) town. We got our iconic shot and we were back on our way. One thing I really noticed about Italy is there are many beggers and black market sellers who basically put the product in your face. The market sellers aren't shy of inappropriate remarks either. Tad annoying.

We got to our Florence hotel and this was the first taste of a 'real' Italian hotel. After dragging my suitcase up a flight of stairs it wasn't too pleasing to see the smallest shower I have ever seen in my life. Drop the soap and you're screwed.

The Florence lookout was amazing. The town itself isn't too clean unlike London and Paris but the view of the city from above makes up for it.

At our tuscan dinner we were welcomed with a Campari and sat down in a room where mist constantly sprayed with the fans to cool us down. The amount of food was ridiculous.... just like home. We had antipasti to begin with including a range of small bruschetta. For the first course we had pasta napolitana and lasagna. For second we had beef with baby spinach with rock salt and potatoes. Hello carbs! All of this washed down with a big ass bottle of wine paired with a sing-along to volare with the restaurant's in-house entertainer. No doubt there were lots of cute Italian waiters so of course I sneaked in a photo! 

After dinner we headed out to Space discoteca electronica! It had two levels. The bottom level was karaoke style so I found the top level was more my style. The only disappointing thing about the place was that it was full of other contiki groups. We experienced this back in Sully's in Paris. Nevertheless our contiki group is a lot of fun when we head out so it was a good time. The Italian bars have an interesting drink system. They hand you a drink card which gets stamped at the bar and you have to pay before you leave and you receive a pass out. It makes the bar a lot more efficient but if you lose your card you have to cough up a nice 50 euro. We got home about 2 and headed down the street where an italian lady was serving hotdogs. We sat in the lobby and I skyped my parents. It was good to see their faces as well as my little friend Siena. 

The next say we got up early to begin our tour of Florence. First we went to a leather shop. I learnt two ways to tell if leather is fake. The first the lining of leather is suade which is difficult to replicate and if you can't see the lining, if you rub the leather together and there is friction this means there is suade inside the lining. 

I bought an orange pandora leather bracelet with a prayer (ave maria) written on it in small detail to add to my italian arm swag. Florence is also popular for their nomination bracelets. Growing up in an italian family back home I still have mine from when I was about 12. 

I stopped into a espresso bar to grab a water and a small svogliatelle for a snack. We met our italian tour guide who took us around the piazzas, teaching us about all the statues and buildings that surrounded them. You could wander around the piazzas endlessly because there is something cool and interesting around every corner whether it be a cute jewellery store, espresso or pizza bar or some sort of building or statue with its own story to tell.

After a long day walking around in the hot sun we headed back on the coach to head to Rome!

Via Porzia

Xx

Paris

Paris is awesome. The first night we went to the Eiffel Tower and it was incredibly busy. It really is massive and beautiful. A lot of men were going around selling roses. As we were leaving one bolted towards me handing me a rose. Alana continued to scream "don't take it!!" But the man insisted that someone had bought it for me. Turned out a Parisian guy bought me a rose. Very sweet. But he was probably 15.

As we drove away the tower lit up with millions of fairy lights. This was probably one of my first 'happy moments' in Europe.

The next day we had a full day in Paris and it was a big one! We went back to the tower to climb it. The view of Paris was beautiful. The streets and buildings are laid out in perfect symmetry. We then decided to attempt the metro. You have to be really careful because the doors open and close really fast. Our friend Janelle was the last to hop at the stop and found herself wedged between the tram doors. We all started to freak out and I grabbed her as hard as I could (risking amputation of my right arm). We finally pulled her back in and the tram took off throwing the five of us into each other. Probably the scariest thing to happen but definitely one of the funniest! 

We reached the arc de triumph and wandered down the champ elysee for a bit of shopping. The Tour de France was finishing up so there were a lot of tourists around. We did an incredible amount of walking down this massive strip.

For lunch we headed down a small alley and grabbed a baguette and sat on the curb. I had one with tomato, lettuce and Brie cheese. Yum! We walked further until we reached the Notre Dame. The size of it as well as the detail on the building were incredible.

Tired of walking we decided to take a bike taxi all the way to the love lock bridge. Probably the best idea we made. The love lock bridge was packed with locks. I wrote de Cesare on mine because my wish was made for my family. Before heading back to the hotel we stopped for Nutella crepes. I had one with banana and it was so good!

We went to the moulin rouge that night. The dinner was not too crash hot and the dancing was ok. The costumes were outstanding but I felt myself fading a little towards the end.

We went to O'Sullivan's Pub next door after the show and it was the first time we went out as a group. It was a really fun night and it brought us closer together. We ran into another contiki group who were just finishing up their tour. 

It was a long day and a long night but it was an unforgettable day!

Via Porzia

Xx

Rome Part 2

Last night instead of going out for dinner a group of us decided to grab some pizza from down the street and hang out together in one of our hotel rooms. We ordered 7 pizzas which came in 1 metre boxes for only 10 euro each, some champagne and beer and we sat around chatting and sharing a few laughs. 

We have established a bit of a wolf pack as some may call it. Back in Firenze the original five girls (Alana, Rosie, Nicole, Janelle and myself) bought purple friendship bracelets. It was my first attempt at bargaining in Italian and it was a success. I managed to put the sentence "posso avere cinque bracaleti uguali per dieci euro" (can we please have 5 of the same bracelets for 10 euros) together saving us about 2.50 euro.Two boys on the contiki got jealous so we bought them matching Firenze blue bracelets in the piazza the next day. 

Today we got up early (a common ritual of contiki) and headed towards the Vatican City. Something to take note of is that the Church is very strict on dress code. Shoulders need to be covered and clothing needs to come to your knees. I wish I would have known this sooner so I purchased a scarf resulting in me resembling a little Italian Nonna. I am one of the few shorties in the contiki group so I had the image down-packed. The Vatican is awe-inspiring. Every corner is filled with a statue, tapestry or religious painting. One statue caught my eye. It was the only bronze statue in the Vatican which was interesting because most were melted down in order to make weapons back in the Roman times. The Sistene Chapel was amazing also. The work of Michelangelo on the ceiling and behind the alter were fantastic. In the painting behind the altar he included a self portrait of himself in the skin held by one of the men featured in the painting. Unfortunately we couldn't take photos here but the memory will definitely stay with me. We entered the Saint Peters Basilica which was absolutely massive. The altar itself was a real centrepiece and surrounding it were many more statues and religious paintings. I love everything about this church and it is a great reminder of my faith. 

After our tour we went to a souvenir shop and I bought little murano bracelets. My sister bought me one last time she visited and I loved it so much I just had to grab another. I bought her one too because whatever I tend to have she wants to borrow! And of course a few more for some other special girls! We quickly headed to lunch down at a little pizza bar called 'Alice'. I had a piece of mozzarella and zucchini and one with potato. I won't lie Italian pizza is the best pizza. I've had more pizza in a week than I have probably had in the last year or two. The pizza will definitely become part of my post-holiday depression. 

One thing I won't miss is the crazy Italian drivers. Indicating is out of the question here; rear ending and constant cutting others off is all the rage. I won't forget the amount of beggars and gypsies too. In our first day of Rome we came across a gypsy lady who had a good sense of humour. Our friend bobby was with us and she continued to shout at him "mi amoreeee ho visto!!!" (My love I see you!) Followed by "fa caldo!" Lifting her skirt up and laughing very loud and witch like! Funniest thing in the world. 

Back on the coach and off we go to the city of Venezia! I promised to grab my mum a Venetian mask because she likes to collect them. I'm sure ill find room in my bag stuffed with half a kilo of Pinocchio.

Ciao for now!

Via Porzia

When in Rome

So I have been on contiki for just over a week now and it has been insanely busy. We have seen so much in so little time! We started in London, followed by Paris, Switzerland and Nice, France.

Last night we arrived in the capital of Italy, Roma! We settled into our hotel (which so far has been the best.. including a shower bigger than a 30x30cm square and aircon!). We did a night wander around the roman piazzas running into famous architecture such as the Fontana di Trevi and the Pantheon. Both breathtakingly big and beautiful! I made my wishes by throwing a euro into the Trevi. Hope they come true!

Today, we did the imperial tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. I think the first time I heard about this Roman amphitheatre was in year 1 reception Italian class. It was absolutely unreal! It is very easy to picture the gladiators back in their day when you step into this place! Parts of the colosseum have been restored in brick which makes it easy to distinguish between the brick and original limestone.

Note to self. Do not wear havianas in the Colosseum! Today one of them broke on the uneven floors! My contiki friend  Bobby (who we gave the name Roberto!) fixed it temporarily with my bobby pin! When this solution failed another contiki friend Ethan piggy-backed me towards the metro with our group. Nicole used a lighter to melt the bottom plug and this lasted me until I found a cheap pair in one of the many souvinear shops that line the streets. One thing about contiki is you make friends really quickly. They all look out for you and always make sure you don't get left behind :)

After the colosseum we visited the Roman Forum. Very little was left of the buildings and it was interesting to see Ceasar's grave. The ruins are amazing to see and they are a great reminder of the roman times.

After our tour we went to the Royal Art Cafe Restaurant. It had great views not limited to the colosseum ;) I ordered Ricotta Ravioli in a Truffle Cream Sauce. Ahhh-mazing. I now have an obsession with this sauce previously unknown to me before Europe! 

 

After lunch we trekked through the heat towards the Spanish Steps. Not as big as I imagined them to be but nevertheless beautiful. 

After being up all day we headed back to the piazza and revisited a fantastic gelateria called San Crispino. They sell gelato made from all natural flavours. Zabaione and Nocciola (hazelnut) were to die. 

After contiki ends we head back to Rome for two days and I couldn't be happier knowing Rome isn't over for me yet. 

Time for a quick nap and off we go to dinner to eat more Italian food (as if we haven't overloaded already!) Arrivaderci!

Via Porzia

Xx