Travel- Florence

I'm Day #1- 24th December 2014

- 3 hour train ride

- Markets

- P'uome church

Day #2- 25th December 2014 (CHRISTMAS)

Christmas was quite strange. We didn't do the whole present giving thing that w would usually do in Sydney and tried to embrace our time in Florence instead of dwelling on missing our loved ones.

- Brioche and coffee in a cafe

- 1 hour walk to the other side of Florence to Gabs apartment

- Christmas lunch with Gabby, Patrick, Steve and Dani (our neighbors from Sydney who were doing air BNB and offered their cost apartment for Christmas lunch

- A walk in the main centre

Day #3- 26th December 2014

- The morning was spent in the laundromat

- Long walk and getting lost

- Met an old little Italian man

Day #4- 27th December 2014

- Ufizzi gallery

- Italian fine dining

Day #5- 28th December 2014

- 2 hour train ride to Pisa

Day #6- 29th December 2014

- 2 hour train trip to Sienna

Next stop- Venice

Elena, x

Travel- Rome

I absolutely loved Rome. I love the food and the culture and it's historic significance.

Day #1- 20th December 2014

- Shopping

- Exploring and finding our bearings

Day #2- 21st December 2014

- Colloseum w/ historic audio tour

- Spanish steps

- Art markets

- The Roman Forum

- Capitoline hill

Day #3- 22nd December 2014

- St. Peter's church

- The Vatican

Day #4- 23rd December 2014

- Walk around town

- Clothing markets

- Local markets

- Unkown church

Next stop- Florence.

Elena, x

The Glory of Foreign Travel

As far as I'm concerned, the glory of foreign travel comes from the ability to loose yourself in a foreign culture. I can't think of anything that excites me more than being completely and utterly oblivious. It's the same feeling you got when you were five years old... Everything excites you. You can't read anything. Only a rudimentary sense of how things work, how the world works, how people work. Your whole life, your whole existence, it becomes a guessing game. It becomes a series of interesting guesses.

And I'm not against looking at the huge icons of each country, I've been doin that and it's unexplainable. I think that it's great to take a squizz once but then to take it into your own hands, take a unique route and explore. I'm not too fond of ticking things off the list and collecting half hearted, semi treasure that will be placed in empty draws in dusty rooms. I want to learn more about my world than the newspapers accommodate and travel to bring what little I can, in my ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the world whose riches are differently disposed. Rather I want to explore a country and become part of it. I want to discover the small coffee shops in Italy and France and Switzerland. I want to walk through the Italian hills and get lost talking to unique people with a unique story. I want to meet people like me and people different to me, the people I can like all the same. I want to take pictures of people and places and things. To see things through new eyes. Most of all, I want to look at a map and remember  how I was transformed by the places I've been and the things I've seen.

I'll tell you what sparked this... This week we went in a walk and got so lost... For about 10km. A little Italian man saw my mum taking a photo and saw the little Australian flag in her fitness first backpack and stated "are you Australian? I love Australians!". We walked and talked. Dad and I got engulfed in a philosophical conversation. 

The first sentence he said was as he pointed to the nearby monestary was "I don't think I understand this whole religion thing. I believe in something else",  "poetry, art, love" I said and he chuckled and ecstatically said "yes, yes, poetry. I think poetry and nature". We went on to talk about the Italian government and I explained the parliament in Australia at the moment. At age 73 years old he had the dreeam of travelling to Australia with his wife. He said he had always desired to see the architecture in Sydney (he is an architect) and liked the "beautiful Australian women". This has to be one of the most lovely experiences since being in Europe and I would like to eventually, have many more.

TATA for now, Elena. 

Xx

Travel- Switzerland

Switzerland... Renowned for its soaring prices, gorgeous landscapes and cold weather.

It is an incredible country that I really enjoyed. We probably spent too much time here just because we didn't ski or tobogan or do any of those activities that you're supposed to do in the snow and so we did lack in things to do. 

So here is a little itinerary of each day, something that I do everyday in my journal just so I remember what I actually got upto when I don't have time to write a full on entry.

Day #1- 12th December 2014 (*Lucerne)

- Train ride to Lucerne- 8 hours

- Getting to know the city

Day #2- 13th December 2014 (*Lucerne)

- 'Alone time' in Starbucks- eating, writing and reading.

- Walk along the river

- Christmas markets

Day #3- 14th December 2014 (*Interlarken)

- Train to Interlarken- 2 hours

- Train trip to Grindewald

- Read

Day #4- 15th December 2014 (Interlarken)

- Juangfrau- mountain 4000m above sea level

Day #5-16th December 2014 (*Interlarken to Zermatt)

- Train ride- 2 hours

- Explored town

Day #6- 17th December 2014 (*Zermatt)

- Wifi and 'me' day

- Lunch in a bakery

- Some exploration

Day #7- 18th December 2014 (*Zermatt to St. Moritz

- Glacier express- 8 hour train ride through the Swiss alps

(@soopgie on instagram)

Day #8- 19th December 2014 (St. Moritz to Rome)

- Train ride(s)- 22 hours

- Bernina express through Swiss Alps and Italian landscape