Happy New Year!!! Looking back over 2010...

Hello/Ciao everyone!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well 2010 was a very exciting and busy one for us. 

We started 2010 with Iain having a split lip from some random guy who punched Iain in the mouth in our front yard, not a very good start to 2010.

My cousin Marie turned 25 in February.

We celebrated Easter at my Aunty Anthi's house, it was a huge family affair (Mum and Dad were in Kazahkstan).

Mum and Dad returned from a 1 year mission trip in Kazahkstan.

My cousin Kat celebrated her 30th at the Versace buffet on the Gold Coast.

Iain, Levi, Phoenix and I set off on our 3 month adventure from the Gold Coast Airport. 

A few days after we arrived in Florence, Josh and Holly welcomed baby Eli to the family. 

While my family were in Paris we heard that my sister had her 2nd  child a little girl.  Pepper is my parents first granddaughter.

We spent a week at the Cinque Terre in the sun, then came back to cool weather in Florence and a bit of rain.

I got to go to a dinner with some expat women in Florence and met Kimberly.  It was great meeting someone I had chatted to on the internet.  We were invited to Kimberly house for dinner and enjoyed wonderful crostini and pizza with her husband and 2 sons.

In our last week in Italy we spent 5 days with Paola (the owner of the flat we stayed in at Florence) and Sergio in Albugnano near Asti.  We visited the Alps and saw snow on the top of the mountains.  It was very cold in the Northern part of Italy in October.

When we left Florence it was very hard and we miss it everyday. 

London welcomed us with 24C and sunshine, the next day it was 12C and windy with a little rain.  We enjoyed London so much we would love to go back and spend a bit more time there and discover other areas of the UK.

After almost missing our connecting flight from London to Kuala Lumpur we arrived back in Australia to cool weather.  It has been raining ever since and only now in late December do we have warm weather.

We celebrated my cousin Andreas 30th birthday in November at the Fox.

For Christmas we headed to Rockhampton in the floods and rain to celebrate with Iain's family.

Now many towns in Queensland are flooded and many people have been evacuated from their houses.

We enjoyed a BBQ and games on the Wii with family for New Years Eve.

Our family at the Duomo in Florence-October 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all and I hope the new year brings joy and happiness.  Please keep safe and healthy.



Arezzo Antique Market

The Arezzo Antique Market is on every 1st weekend of the month. It is very, very big! If you have ever been to the Vintage Markets in Paris, this one puts them to shame. The difference is that you see the beautiful churches and architecture as you view the wonderful antiques and walk up towards the highest point of the town of Arezzo.

EUROCHOCOLATE...for lovers of chocolate!

Here is an event that I will sadly miss. It is in Perugia, Italy. Check out the link for event dates and times and information. Looks delicious! Eurochocolate

The people I have met in Florence

This morning I decided I would introduce you to a few of the people I have met here in Florence.
We have only now been meeting face to face, due to the fact that we arrived in Florence at holiday time and everyone goes away from the city.
The first person I met was Kimberly online through http://www.firenzemoms4moms.net/ . I was asking for information on what to do with the kids while in Florence and also information on life in Florence, because as you all know I want to move to Italy for at 1 year to experience life and culture somewhere else. Kimberly is from the USA and has been living in Italy for 7 years. I met Kimberly face to face the other night at a Moms Mingle dinner at a lovely restaurant on the Arno River http://www.lungarno23.it/. We have since arranged a dinner at Kimberlys house with her husband and 2 sons (the boys are excited to have other boys to play with). We are looking forward to seeing someone else's house in Florence in the San Frediano area.
The second person I met also online was Paola from http://www.florencetour.com/ . Paola is born and bred Italian and runs a tour company with her husband in Florence. I recommend using her tour company for more intimate tours of Florence (Paola has vans for tours and takes small groups). We also met face to face at the Moms Mingle dinner. We met eachother the next afternoon at the park near to both our houses, for our children to have a play. Allegra (Paolas 4 year old daughter) was afraid of the boys, she is so cute. Iain and I had a wonderful conversation with Paola about living in Florence and what our possible work options could be. Paola was very informative and very helpful.
And of course we met our neighbours that live in the top apartment in our building, Massimo, Annalisa, Irini(13 year old daughter) and Andrea(11 year old son). We have spent a little bit of time with them here in Florence and in Paris also. The day we met we found out we were all going to be in Paris at the same time, so we all spent the day at the Menagerie (zoo). On Saturday night we had the pleasure of having a dinner party at Massimo and Annalisa's with some of their friends. It was fun and we got to answer many questions about Australia and try to use as much Italian as we could (the friends did not speak English). We had wonderful pasta and a beautiful ragu that Massimo spent 3 hours cooking. It was an excellent experience, we really enjoyed it.
I also met Gabriella at the Moms Mingle, she runs a Bed and Breakfast in the centre of the Florence http://www.firenze-bedandbreakfast.it/ called Il Bargello. I have been told that it is a beautiful building with fantastic views from the terrace over the Duomo and the city.
We have met many people on our long holiday in Italy, some from Italy, UK, USA, France, Spain and of course Australians too.
Now we only have 2 1/2 weeks left here, we are heading to Asti next week to spend some time with our landlady Paola in her house with her husband Sergio. They are planning to take us to the mountains nearby. Paola has been collecting coats and shoes for us to wear in the mountains from her friends and family so that we don't have to purchase anything.

Budget tips for Rome

1. If you can handle the heat (33 degrees C) go to Rome in August when it is holiday time for Italians, there are less people and all of the sights are still open. Take it from me the heat is not that bad especially when you can go out in the morning, have siesta during the hottest part of the day, then go out again in the evening.
2. If you are staying more than 3 nights look for a central apartment. This way you can cook some of your meals and save on take out and restaurant meals.
3. Carry a bottle with you, you can fill it up with cold natural spring water at many fountains and taps around the city.
4. Don’t buy food / gelati / drinks from cafes, bars on the main streets or in front of places of interest, go one street back and find everything cheaper. Even better buy cold drinks at the supermarket, there are many SPARS scattered around the city.
5. If you see a church that is open go inside and take photo’s(if allowed) this is FREE. They are all amazing and ornate.
6. Buy bus tickets at the Tabaccheri , these look like newsagencies with a sign out front with a big T on it. They are everywhere.
7. Musei Vatican: line up before 830am, buy a ticket for entrance 15 euro, then go in and purchase an AUDIOGUIDE (map and headset) 7 euros. It will cost at least 40 euro for an English speaking guide and it will take at least 3.5 hours to go through with the guide. With the audio guide you can go at your own pace and when you see something that interests you press the number into the headset and it gives you the information. (more info on this in the blog). St Peter’s Basilica is FREE, the tombs below are also FREE. Do not be conned by people outside the Vatican walls selling inclusive tickets and skip the line tickets.
8. During Summer there are stalls and restaurants set up along the River Tevere between the Ponte Garibaldi and Ponte Palatino. I recommend going for a walk along the river at least once, its FREE too.
9. There are FREE walking tours around Rome, take advantage of this. They are ENGLISH only and take about 1.5 - 2 hours. www.romefreetour.com
10. There are many FREE sights to see in Rome. For example you can see the outside of the Colosseum and walk all the way around it to take photo’s. Unless you really want to know the ins and outs of the Colosseum don’t worry about paying for the entrance. There are many ruins around the city for great photo’s too. (I will make a list of the FREE places of interest).

Some tours are good every now and then

Rome day 3 - Tour to Pompeii
Day 3 started with a 45 minute walk to the tour office at 630. This was not fun and google maps can be very deceiving. Anyway we made it to the tourbus with 5 minutes to spare.
Our tour guide was Russian who spoke four languages: Russian, English, Italian and Spanish. The tour was done in English, Spanish and Russian. This can be a little annoying especially for the 2nd and 3rd group who hear about many places after we have passed them already. We travelled from Rome near the Termini through the suburbs and into the countryside, then over the boarder into Campania where Naples is the capital city.
Campania is beautiful, they grow a lot of citrus trees and grapes for wine. I think the State of Campania is very like Queensland (except with more water).
When we arrive in Naples we find it to be very old yet scattered with very modern buildings. In the “new” city centre there are many skyscrapers for business. We drive down to the Bay of Naples where the beach is pretty much great big squared off boulders of Limestone. People are lying on top of these with towels very close to the main road. The water is quite nice but there is a lot of rubbish floating in there and the smog from the city ruins the views out to the islands close by. It is a shame really because I was really looking forward to visiting Naples and going to the beach.
We picked up a male tour guide from Naples an elderly man who spoke Italian, Spanish and English. His English was not so good and I switched off for him and concentrated on the views from the bus. He explained that we were passing Mt Vesuvius and that before it erupted and destroyed Pompeii it had only 1 peak now it has 2. Anyway we had the male tour guide until we reached ’new’ Pompeii and had lunch.
Lunch was 3 courses, we enjoyed a 1st course of either pasta with tomato or soup, 2nd course of Pork, potatoes and mixed greens and 3rd course was Rockmelon. All of it was great and very tasty. I was glad not to have pizza.:-)
After our lunch we hopped on the bus a short way to the Pompeii ruins. We got another male tour guide Franco who is 84 years old and fit as a fiddle. Franco said he loves showing people Pompeii and will do it until he cannot do it anymore. He spoke very good English and was very likeable and entertaining. The boys (Levi and Phoenix) loved walking with Franco and hearing his jokes and information about Pompeii.
I definitely recommend a tour to Pompeii through Greenline Tours in Rome just to get to have Franco show you around Pompeii.
The Pompeii ruins were fantastic especially if you are good with a camera. The ruins give you so many opportunities to be creative with your photos. Even I am getting better with the camera and trying different angles. As you will see in the photos from Pompeii as I had the privilege of having the camera all day. Yay!
All in all the tour took from 730 to 2030 and the bus dropped us off near to our apartment.

In Rome you will never go thirsty

Rome day 2
We decided to take to the streets and alleyways through Piazza Navona, past the Pantheon, walk through all the tourist at Trevi fountain and made our way to the Spanish Steps.
Piazza Navona is beautiful, it is surrounded by a Palace (now the Brasil embassy or something like that) and other amazing buildings. In the centre there are 3 fountains made from white marble that are just spectacular, I think this piazza would have to be one of my favourites. Also the little cafes on the way to the Piazza Navona from our apartment are just gorgeous and not expensive at all 1.50 euro for cappuccino. We enjoy sitting and having a coffee at the quaint cafes. Unlike in Tuscan cafes we have not had to pay to sit at a table here in Rome. And we have stayed away from the cafes in the tourist squares they are at least 100% dearer than ones in the next street. All you need in Rome is a good map with all the Street names.
The Pantheon is under construction at the moment with quite a bit of scaffolding around the front of it. The Piazza in front of it has a pretty fountain and some nice restaurants and cafes. We walked down one of the streets past a lollypop and gelati shop the boys were treated with a large lollypop each for behaving themselves in the morning. There were lollypops in the shape of feet, ice creams, faces, some had paintings of buildings and the pope on them. The shop was full of American tourists buying ice cream.
After the lollypop shop we headed towards the Trevi Fountain, we found a galleria that we could go through with air conditioning to get to the fountain behind it. This was lovely after walking in the sun for quite a while.
The Trevi (fontana di Trevi) has always been one of the places I have wanted to see for myself. It is spectacular and large. Made out of the white marble used for many of the monuments here in Italy it is also somewhere that people discover for the first time that the water spouting out is from a natural spring and very cold. You will see people in the corner of the fountain filling up water bottles with the cool spring water and drinking from the spouts (using their hands). We decided to pour the water out from our bottles and fill them up too, nice and cool and refreshing, tastes good too. We soon found out that the water from the tap in the apartment was the same. Even the toilet cisterns have condensation on them from the cold water.
There are fountains and taps available all over the city for free use.
We found many people going in the same direction as us towards the Spanish Steps and decided that we would just follow them. When we arrived at the steps we found that there were many people there, but not for the steps for the water fountain in front. They were lapping up the cold water like it was going to disappear. Back to the steps , well they lead up to a church and from the church there is a wonderful view over Rome. There were some African merchants trying to sell handbags on the steps but they were the only ones I have seen in the 5 days we have been in Rome. There are also Indian merchants selling roses and paper umbrellas and fans. I am glad I am used to being in the heat of Queensland.
After the Spanish Steps we headed to McDonalds for lunch the boys loved it and it was cheaper than in Florence. McDonalds is a great place to use the toilets.
After McDonalds we decided to walk to the Colosseum and join the queue outside. It took about 30 minutes and the tickets cost 12 euros each (only EU children under 18 are free). So keep that in mind if you are planning a trip to Europe and you are able to get EU passports through family members before you leave. There are also free days for EU citizens.
Our walk through the colosseum was interesting and we ran out of camera battery. The work that went into the colosseum was amazing and well worth visiting.
We went into the Palatino on our way back to the apartment as it was part of the Colosseum ticket. The Palatino is a large garden with many ruins in it. We only explored a quarter of it and were a bit too tired to go an further so we headed back to the apartment.
After 6 hours of walking in the heat we went back to the apartment and cooked pasta and made salad for dinner. We also went to bed quite early. We were totally worn out and needed rest for the our Pompeii (they spell it with only 1 I here) tour the next day.

When in Rome…cross the road as fast as you can!

Day 1
We love Rome.
When we first arrived in Termini station we were a little wary of what we had been told and read about gypsies, but after a few hours of not seeing any at all we relaxed a little.
We hopped in a taxi from termini to Campo de Fiori, it took about 10 minutes. From the taxi we saw so many monuments and fountains that we wanted to go back and see straightaway. We were so excited about Rome (Iain and I, boys are a bit over it now).
We went out and found a Spar to buy groceries. We forgot that we didn’t have an oven and bought frozen pizzas… oh well they worked out fine on the cook top.
Crossing the roads here in Rome is scarier than in Florence even on zebra crossings, you walk a couple of steps and then wait for the car to go in front of you, then another couple of steps and the scooter zooms past you, after 3 or 4 vehicles try to run you over thank God you made it to the other side.
Iain and I wandered down the street to the piazza and found an American Pub “the Drunken Ship” it was happy hour so we decided to have a beer and a glass of house wine. Surprisingly the wine was not to bad and I quite enjoyed it (the wine here is a lot stronger in alcohol than at home). We walked about 15 mins from the apartment (we didn’t want to be too far from the boys) to the ruins where the sterilised, fed cats live :-). Then past there to the Monument for Vittorio Emmanuelle and the Palatino ruins beyond that. They all look fantastic at twilight. You can see some of these photo’s under the Rome tab.

Chianti Tour

We decided to pay for a tour to the Chianti region instead of trying to find our way around ourselves. I think that for touring a winery we would need a car to get to one in the first place. It cost about 150euro for the 4 of us, we were willing to pay for this to have a tour guide and to spend some time with other tourists. The tour started at 2pm and ended at 7pm.

We first met a couple of Australian girls from Melbourne with Italian parents, they said they have been speaking English everywhere and becoming very slack with their Italian. It was fun talking with the girls (especially for me).

At the winery we sat a table with 3 Canadians, a couple from Winnipeg and a guy from Montreal they didn’t know each other came from the same country.

The boys went outside while we did some wine tasting and met a little French girl (Leeza), her Father and Mother translated for them, she was so cute. Levi and Leeza tickled each other with peacock feathers for ages.

There was an older couple from Perth who had been living in Chicago USA for the last 8 years (slight accent) they were very excited to meet with other Aussies here. They told us they have been a bit disappointed with the Italian food here. ( I will write something on food later for all you foodies).
Then I met a guy from Texas while waiting for the boys outside the bathroom, it is always hilarious when they ask you about where you live and they have absolutely no idea ( a little frustrating too ). It is particularly funny when the boys get all chatty about the animals we have in Australia especially the sharks… “you swim with sharks!?! Oh!!!” ROFL (roll on floor laughing).

The winery was beautiful and green and luscious, Quercato winery is about 500 years old and has been owned by the current family since late 1800s. They grow 2 types of grapes; giovanese(Italian) and cabernet(French) and they also grow olives for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Chianti only produce red wines and they have rules for them: Top shelf must have 80% giovanese grapes in it, it actually didn’t taste too bad for a red wine, very smooth and tasted quite grapey.

The olive oil also has rules: the extra virgin olive oil is the best it must have olives that have been pressed within 20hours of being picked. The virgin olive oil is up to 24 hours and the other oils they said they would only use for the cars J. They basically said that if it isn’t Extra Virgin Olive Oil then don’t use it.

All bottles of Chianti wine have a picture of a black rooster on the bottle, there is a legend behind this picture:
There was a war going on between Florence and Siena over who owned the Chianti region between the two cities. They decided to have a race for the land. The idea was for each city to send out a knight to race towards the other city, where they met up that would be the boundary line. Each knight would have to wait for the cock to crow then race out. Well the Florentines did not feed their rooster the night before and he woke up very early and gave the Florentine knight a very good head start, He almost claimed the entire Chianti region. ( The Florentines say that the black rooster is a sign of “cleverness” for them, for the Sienans it is a sign of the Florentines having an unfair advantage).
Just a little story telling for you, they do not know if the legend is true or not but it can cause fights still between the cities.

After the winery we drove on very windy roads ( I was feeling it blah) to Greve in Chianti and beautiful little romantic town, with gorgeous little streets. We only had 50 minutes to roam around, so I went to the markets for inspiration when I arrive back home. Of course we were the last ones back on the bus.

We arrived back in Florence at 7pm a little tired. I just love that it is still daylight at that time. I love daylight savings.

Galleria Ferrari- Modena and Maranello

This Tuesday we went to Galleria Ferrari (it is Iain’s day)
We went from Florence to Modena by train (one train) then we were supposed to get 2 buses from Modena train station to Maranello and walk to Galleria Ferrari, but we saw some taxi’s out front of the Train station and decided to take the easy route this time ;-).
Maranello is a pretty little town where Mr Ferrari built his company and there memorabilia of Ferrari and Enzo all over town. You will see the photo’s to back this up. Anyway of course there is a Ferrari museum to visit if you are an avid fan of the sports car. Ferrari is Iain’s dream car so today was very exciting for him. We went to the museum and purchased family tickets 9 euros each, not too bad. The museum is not very large but if you love the car there are many displays of the real thing and the race cars too. There is also a trophy room with all the trophies and helmets on display. They even have a display cabinet with all the colours of paint and leather you can get for your very own Ferrari. I must admit it was not very interesting for me, but to see that Iain was so excited about it was good. It did not take very long to go through the museum, and we left with a souvenir for Iain.
When we walked outside I could see a car rental place and all these people sitting with tickets in their hands (Iain had not noticed), so I went inside the shop to see how much it cost to go for a ride in a Ferrari, well to my surprise you didn’t just go for a ride you actually got to drive one. I knew Iain had always wanted to do this so I casually went back out and said you can do it (the cheap one) go inside and fill out the forms. I don’t think he knew exactly what I was talking about but a few seconds later he had his wallet out and was filling the form for a 10 minute drive in a Ferrari F430 coupe (60 euros). We had to wait a couple of hours for the drive so we sat and took photos of the other Ferrari’s for rent: California, Scuderia, Spider and some other ones that I can’t remember…(embarrassed).
So at 115pm Iain got up a bit nervous because this was his first time driving a Ferrari and also his first time driving on the right hand side of the road (what a way to do it). He told the owner of the car and he was not worried, so Iain hopped in and I took photos and a video as proof that he had actually done it. Yay! Off he went down the road with a low roar for what was supposed to be 10 minutes. I ran down the drive way to wait for his return to take photos and another video, 10, 12, 13 minutes passed, I began to worry that Iain had kidnapped the owner and taken off with the car (LOL). In the meantime a stretched dark green British mini had driven past me (to tell you the truth I was more impressed by that J sorry!!!)
15 minutes passed and I could here the Ferrari coming up the street in front of me, I zoomed the camera to get a close up shot, then pressed record button, this was a bad idea because then I could not zoom back so I got a video of rosso red passing by. Forgive me, I am trying to learn how to use the camera quickly.
Iain turned off the car and told me there was a video to buy too so we went in and purchased it.
We then had to walk to the bus station which was not far but we had already missed the train we wanted to catch. We got to the bus station and decided we were too tired to bother and got another taxi back to Modena.
To make a long story short we ended up having to catch 3 trains back to Florence, one from Modena to Bologna, the Bologna to Prato (took us an hour to work out where the platform was), then Prato to Florence, let’s just say it was a very long day, and leave it at that.
AT LEAST IAIN GOT TO FULFILL A LIFETIME DREAM!!!

10 August - VENICE

Ok so currently, right now, this very minute I am sitting on a train with my wonderful husband and 2 lovely children on our way to Venice (Venezia).

The train is not exactly the most comfortable but we have 4 seats together and we are only travelling 2 hours on this particular train. There are all sorts of travellers on the train with us, a family from India, some Italian Military dudes, a group of French women (who by the way are not all skinny) and some young adult types in the seat behind Iain.

The trains in Italy (the fast ones) travel mostly through tunnels which is ok if you travel through the night, but very boring during the day. The normal trains travel above ground and you can enjoy the countryside rolling by very quickly, it is soooooo pretty.

The boys are not paying any attention they are playing their nintendo dsi's , at least they are quiet. And I so love that I can blog while in transit, thanks to internet keys.

We arrived at Venice at lunch time. We walked a far way to find the agency that keeps the keys for the apartment. Then we walked back to where we came from to catch a ferry to the Rialto bridge, we were met there by Sabrina a shop owner that greets people and takes them to the nearby apartments for the leasers. We turn the corner past Golden Point (swimwear), walk past Max Mara and turn left at Rolex, then turn right at Calle dei Calice and walk through the hole in the wall, open the gate behind the restaurant and climb 4 flights of narrow stairs (only half have handrails) to reach our apartment on the top floor (huff n puff). Bye, bye Sabrina, thanks for showing us the way.But the apartment is good, we are up 4 floors (hell stair climb) good views over the top of buildings and churches. From the living area if you stick half your body out the window and turn to the left you can see a canal.

It looks as though the Venice council has been cleaning up the city quite alot over the last few years. The canals look cleanish and they don't smell as much as the Gold Coast, the allyways are clean and lovely. There are no rubbish bins(wheelie bins) in Venice, you put your rubbish in a plastic bag every night and put it outside your door, and magically in the morning it is gone. Fantastico!

We eat lunch and venture out to San Marco (St Marks Basilica)…follow the yellow metal signs stuck on the sides of buildings up high with arrows pointing in every direction you could possibly go to get to your destination. We weave through crowds and stop in at Murano (glass) and Burano (lace) shops and check out the prices (lucky we came at SALDI time). Finally we reach San Marco (really only 10 mins) and what a sight, it is so beautiful even with all the people milling around. The kids are still with us too, haven’t lost them yet :-).

The square is big surrounded by restaurants, cafes, shops and gelateria. I found the first café in built in Italy after the Turkish men introduced coffee to the Italians. (It is quite a funny story the history of coffee in Italy, lets just say that they didn’t want coffee at first because they thought it made you “gay”. )
Anyway back to my blog, we went into an art gallery in the square that is all glass items, tried to stay calm with the boys in there.

After exploring the square we walked around to the Adriatic Sea and follow the path through markets to a gorgeous bridge (there are many) and took many photos of boats, gondolas, people, churches, islands and more boats for Iain (if it isn’t cars it’s boats).

We turned around and headed back to the square where I got to go into the Doges Palace and see all the wonderful art and architecture all by myself in peace with no whinging children saying they are bored. Only thing is Iain had to miss out too.

After viewing St Mark's Square we all headed back to the apartment and heated up some frozen meals the we brought with us from Florence (good way of saving money).

The boys wanted to watch a movie on the computer after dinner, so we locked them in the apartment with a mobile phone (in case of emergency) and Iain and I went out for a short walk near the apartment(didn't want to go to far). We found some buildings that were leaning quite alot, unfortunately we didn't have the camera with us to take any pictures of it.

We came back to the apartment with pastries and the boys were still up watching the movie and Levi was so proud that he got to be the 'man' of the house for a little while.

Day 2 of Venice, we decided to use the boat tickets we purchased the first day and went to Lido to check out the beach. The ride to the Island was great and very relaxing also saw some amazing sites, like the botanical gardens and the war memorial. Lido is very pretty and it has cars on it, we walked to the other side of the island in 10 minutes and the boys ran to the water, we decided to give them 30 minutes. They were in there for 20 minutes and came out with stings from a jellyfish (not quite as bad as a bluebottle for us Aussies). So the boys have now swam in the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic Sea now. One day they will realise just how lucky they are.

We left Lido and went to Santa Maria di Saluti , a very beautiful church that you just can’t miss if you are on the Grand Canal. It was of course closed for Siesta when we arrived so we went into the Art Gallery next door (modern) this Iain and I paid for (15euro each) the kids were free. We soon discovered that we had to preview each room before deciding whether or not to let the boys see it (for instance a room full of little skeletons and disfigured people figurines at war… called F’ing Hell) Not Good!!! Ratings people!!! Ever heard of them!?! So as you probably guessed the boys had their eyes shut for most of it. Some parts were quite interesting like different cities made in coloured glass and somebodies idea of history through magazine advertisements. Back to the church, it was FREE and beautiful and we could take photos without the flash, just gorgeous. The area surrounding the church was lovely too, very pretty buildings and bridges over the canals.

After the art gallery and church we headed back along the Grand Canal to the Rialto Bridge and back to our apartment for lunch/afternoon tea and dinner.

The boys did not want to go up the Bell Tower in fear of having to climb many stairs, I too was a bit apprehensive. So again Iain and I locked the boys in the apartment and went to the Bell Tower in St Mark’s Square and low and behold there was a lift to the top (WOW!). I was so excited! We went up there and the views were spectacular especially at 830pm with all the lights. We spent about half and hour there taking photos and enjoying each others company child free. We did not leave the boys too long, we did however get a little lost on our way back to the apartment and had to use a map to get back. ;-) Perfectly natural to get lost in Venice.

Day 3 Our last day in Venice, We woke early and went to St Mark’s Basilica, I lined up for 45 minutes waiting for it to open and the boys went souvenir shopping (as we only had a few hours left in Venice). And boy did we blow a bit of cash on souvenirs there…hehe. Oh well it was mostly for friends and family.

St Mark’s Basilica (built in 1094) was wonderful and FREE the tour takes about 10 minutes and there are NO photo’s allowed so I purchased some postcards to show what it looks like inside. Also I like to buy something or leave a small donation if it is a FREE church.

After the church we walk back to the apartment, grab our belongings and head to the boat to take us to the train station. The boat ride is always nice and the scene is spectacular. The train station is like all other train stations, we wait around an hour before it is time to board and find out what platform we leave from. On the train we end up sharing a compartment with 2 Italians who do not speak a word of English, they slept most of the journey, so did we. 3 hours after leaving Venice we arrive back (home) in Florence.

in 2 weeks we will be in KL

I can't believe we will be in Kuala Lumpur in exactly 2 weeks. How the time has flown, it will probably go just as fast while we are on holiday and we will be back just as fast as we left. Hopefully it won't be too fast!
I have been given $$$ by many people to buy bits and pieces from different markets we may go to. I am excited to bring back some lovely fabrics, buttons and maybe even a doctors bag for a special someone. Just remember if you give me some money and the items are too heavy for my luggage I will use some of the money to post the item to you. So think about how much you want to hand over. :-)... if I can't spend money on myself at least I will have fun shopping for everyone else.
Iain wants to buy a Ferrarri cap for himself (he may buy one as a pressie for someone else), the boys want to see Pompeii and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For some reason Levi really wants to go to Spain (He may have seen a doco or something on fox). I would love to be able to take him but we will see how the budget goes.
Speaking of budgets, when this trip is over and we actually do it on our budget I may start up a new blog on how to travel overseas (particularly in Europe) with kids on a small budget.
I think that sort of blog could really open some eyes and some people who believe they can't do it might see a glimmer of hope and give it a go. Just be BRAVE!!!

6 weeks and 2 days til take off.

So as many of you know the Hardy family is going to live in Florence for 3 months.
But did I tell you that on our way to Florence we will spend 1 night at the gorgeous Jawadene Resort in KL Malaysia and also 3 nights in London. 
We will have to revisit Jawadene one day for a week if it is nice because it will only cost us $60 for the night.
As for visiting London again, we will have to rethink our budget, although we are staying on a golf course near Gatwick Airport for only $350 for the 3 nights.  We will have to travel back and forth to the city by train and hopefully get a cheap family train pass.
Well I have been a bit slack lately teaching the boys the Italian that I know, so will definitely have to get back into that quickly.  Daily lessons me thinks.
I have had the pleasure of chatting to the owner of the apartment we are staying in, She would like me to cook and Australian meal for her one day... Can we get frozen meat pies over there??  Just kidding.
And get this, she told me she was not a good cook when I asked her to return the favour with an Italian meal...hahahahaha.
Another new bit of information is that I have reserved a nice small apartment for us in Paris near the Moulin Rouge and Montmarte, hopefully we will be able to park the rental car there or somewhere close by.  I have been told that parking in Paris is hard.  But we decided we would take a day driving from Florence to Paris to see the sights zoom by.  The Europeans think we are crazy driving that distance in one day, but I keep explaining that we do long drives like that all of the time here in Australia. The drive will be about 11 hours, so like driving from Brisbane to Sydney (Easy).
When the apartment is booked in Paris I will post its location and some photos for you all to enjoy.

7 weeks now... looking for places in Paris and car hire.

The weeks are flying and we are getting ready for our adventure.
I have been getting in contact with many apartment owners in Paris, especially the Montemarte district as it is a bit cheaper than the other areas. 
I am really looking forward to the drive from Florence to Paris, we may stop in at Monaco because Iain would love to see the Ferrarris or we could go through Switzerland, we will decide at the time.
Did you know that in Europe if you want to hire a car you can get a manual Ford Fiesta for around 300euros ($500) per week , if you are like me and would like an automatic the same car is 800euros.  Well I don't know about you but I think I will just let Iain do the driving in the manual.  I am not willing to pay almost 3 times the amount for renting a car.
Anyway more on this tomorrow.

8 weeks and counting...

We are getting closer and closer to our departure date.
The kids are getting so excited ( about missing school for 3 months, but they will be doing literacy and maths while away).
Iain is feeling a little anxious about leaving his job and going away for 3 months and not having a job when we return. But he is also very excited about not working for a while and having a rest. I am confident that he will find a better job when we return or be able to slip back into his current position.
I on the other hand am a little worried about my business Curiouser & Curiouser while I am away. I have an advertisement coming out in the next Peppermint magazine (with thanks to Ethikl.com.au) that should generate business for me. I will be taking orders and posting them out until the end of June. Then any orders made from then will not me posted until the end of October 2010. I will be making an Announcement on all of my websites about this.
However, I am excited about sourcing lots of fabrics, lace, buttons and other interesting bibs and bobs for the business (and for my crafty friends). So it is technically a "working holiday" too. ;-)

Our home in Florence

This is our home while we are in Florence!

OMG!! only 10 1/2 weeks until we are in Florence!!!

Only 10 1/2 weeks to go. Althought we are only going for 3 months now, we still have a lot to organise. 3 months is a long time to be in a different city. Thank God for all the wonderful friends I have made on facebook who live in Florence. I look forward to meeting you face to face. Especially Kimberley and Vale!!! Our kids will have fun together. I look forward to going to the markets both food and antique. I hope I can find some fantastic vintage fabrics and buttons. I am so lucky to have a wonderful husband who loves shopping as much as I do (even when we dont buy anything). He will be carrying many bags I assure you and so will the boys, I may even carry a few myself :-).

Florence is only 3 months away.

We are getting closer and closer to the departure date for our 3 months holiday in Florence. And so looking forward to it. We are very excited to meet all the people we have chatted with online face - to- face. It is going to be so much fun.
I watched La Dolce Vita today in black and white and in Italian with english subtitles. Very strange movie actually, it was not at all what I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong it was a good movie and kept me entertained, but not as lovely as I had hoped. I still haven't seen the end though the dvd stopped playing and I couldn't get it going again. Maybe I will change my mind when I see the ending.???

A place to stay under the tuscan sun

Well over the weekend we may have found a place to stay in the centre of Florence for the wonderful price of 750euros per month. It is a 2/3 bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms and fully furnished. For all you Aussies this equates to approx. $285 per week.
I am just waiting on my italian friend to let me know what she thinks of it and the landlady. If all is good then I am booking it. I do not want to miss out on such a great apartment.
If you persist you will find people in Italy who would rather have a long term renter than a short term holiday rent.
When I have secured it I will post some photos.

Searching for rentals in Italy is hard

As we are staying in Firenze for 3 months we have decided to rent an apartment near the city. Doing things this way is alot cheaper than staying in hotels. You can rent a 2 bedroom apartment for around 600-1200 euros per month (+utilities) depending on how close to the city it is and what you want in a place to stay. You need to check that the apartment is fully furnished, because if it isn't fully furnished you could turn up to an apartment that is empty, literally without even a kitchen sink. When Italians move they move everything with them including fixtures if they own them.
We are looking at spending about 700-900euros per month on rent and utilities, so we will stay approx. 20mins from the centre of town and utilise the public transport system. As we have never set foot in Italy we plan to explore the area we will be living in and really developing a relationship with the people in it. Because if I do get my Euro passport before we leave and manage to pick up enough work to live on we will be staying in the area for at least 12 months and really living in Italy.
We will hire a car if needed to take short trips on weekends to visit touristi places like Venice, The Cinque Terre, Rome, Chianti, Pompeii etc... otherwise we will use the train or bus.
Our children Levi (9) and Phoenix (7) are starting to really look forward to our adventure. They keep asking if they can see this or that while we are in Italy and if they can make new friends there. We just reassure them that whatever happens we will be there to help them learn the language and meet lots of children before they start at a local school. We don't want them to get anxious or worried about communicating with other children. I have made many friends over the net in expat groups and on facebook that speak english and have children they can play with.
Anyway... back to rentals in Italy, I suggest getting contact with as many real estate agents as possible, letting them know exactly what you need and your exact budget. If you see a property that is slightly over your budget do not be afraid to ask the real estate agent to see if they can negotiate the price down. Tell them you can pay cash each month for the rent (cash works wonders everywhere).
Remember if you are only going for a few months talk to them about the contract and let them know your plans. Many ads for rentals state that they want you to sign a contract for 4 years, this can always be negotiated too. Don't be afraid to ask them questions and give them a detailed account of what you want and need and what you need to be close to if you won't have a car.
I say to contact real estate agents, because you are taking a gamble contacting private owners. Especially on the net and via email. Never hand over any money until you have had a look at the property in the flesh and seen what you are getting. If you are unable to do this (as we are) contact the local expat community and ask if one of their members lives in the area and if they are willing to go check it all out for you. If everything is good and you really want it then send the deposit as soon as possible so you don't lose it to a holiday let (this is what happened to us, very disappointing). But we live and we learn, at least we hadn't sent any money yet. Also many of these holiday houses are fake and can be an ad set up by someone who doesn't even live in the country, they will have beautiful pictures and will ask you to send a deposit and then tell you they need more deposit or the first months rent up front in order for you to secure the property. Then you turn up and there is no house for you and you have no where to stay, this would be very hard especially if that was part of a very strict budget.
It is much safer to go through the real estate agents, you may pay a little more, but you can be more assured that you have something to go to when you arrive.
I will keep you updated on our rental search and add any other information as I come across it.
www.casa.it is a good real estate search website, it is in Italian but google translate can give you quite a good translation, you can also sign up for emails from them.