Rome - last entry for the trip

Tomorrow I fly home to take up my real life. On the one hand I am sad my travels have come to an end but on another, more true way, I am looking forward to getting home, enjoying what's left of the summer and seeing my family and friends again. I've missed you all, and I am not "just saying that"!

And I've even missed going to work and using my brain. If I suddenly won the lottery (which I don't play) I don't think I could lead a life of leisure indefinitely. It's true - you need work to make you truly appreciate holidays. Having said that, I don't know how well I will be able to slot back into the working life. I have such a travel brain - I feel unable to concentrate on anything for any length of time. Even writing my blog for more than 15 minutes has me getting up and searching for a diversion!

Before I forget, my final gem of wisdom for the day: apart from the atrocious public transport, we have it pretty good in Australia. Of course there are things we don't have to the same extent that Europe has them – the charm of historical buildings, the endless art galleries, the extensive cultural life, the cheap flights, the purchasing power of the Euro. But I have yet to taste a pizza in Italy that's as good as I can get back home. Our beaches are the best I've seen anywhere. I got a replacement camera from an Australia website cheaper than what I paid for it in Hong Kong. I don't have to live in the middle of a concrete jungle. No one has ever stolen my bag, I've never been pick pocketed, I leave my front door unlocked all the time. And I honestly feel that the food, the weather, the range of activities, the natural environment are hard to beat. I hope that doesn't sound like I am knocking anyone else's lifestyle - there is just nothing like travel to make you appreciate home :)

Oh and here are some pics of Rome:

Colosseum

Palatine Hill

The ancient Roman commercial, political and religious centre.

Fountains and Piazza's of Rome

Trevi Fountain

Piazza del Campidoglio

Piazza Farnese

Piazza Navona

Fontana San Carlo

Pantheon

Built in 27BC! Love the dome.

Castle Saint Angelo

Pisa

Yep, in case anyone was wondering, the tower is still leaning. Isn't it ironic how a man's worst professional mistake become his greatest legacy?

Florence

David was so much bigger, more detailed and more beautiful than I imagined. Whereas the Mona Lisa was just another painting to me, and Venus de Milo was just another statue, David really deserves his rep.



The psychadelic marble facade of the Cathedral, called il Duomo.



The view from the Dome (it was a long climb but it was worth it):



The view from the bell tower:



Fountain of Neptune (1563–1565), at the terminus of a still- functioning Roman aqueduct:





The Palazzo Vecchio, somewhat hysterically decorated:

I LOVE Venice

That pretty much sums it up. As a city, it's is stunningly beautiful and so different to anything I've seen before. The city stretches across 118 small islands along the Adriatic Sea, but it's very easily navigatable by foot. There is no transport apart from the water taxis, and there are hadly any tourists at this time of year, and that just adds to be city's appeal. It really feels at times that you have the city to yourself to explore.

Twilight Venice on our first day:





The heart of the city is Piazza San Marco - which is framed by by the Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Campanile (bell tower). The Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in Venice, and as a result during "high water" surges from the Adriatic, or even heavy rain, it is the first to flood. When we walked around we saw what looked like long tables stacked up on top of each other, and we wondered why. Well, it ended up raining for 2 days in Venice and we found out why: to construct above-ground walkways!

Saint Mark's Basilica is the most famous of the city's 100+ churches and is an stunning example of Byzantine architecture. I loved the gold ceiling, and the multiple domes. Very different to the Gothic Cathedrals dominating Europe.





You can climb up to the dome too:



Horses of Saint Mark were captured in Constantinople during the 4th Crusade in 1204 and carried to Venice as a trophy. They were made in the second century!


Views of Grand Chanal:


There seems to be hundreds of smaller ones:


And if you need transportation...

Paris

Paris was very cold and very expensive! We (my brother and I) flew in on New Years' Eve, but because we booked last minute there wasn't a hotel to be had in central Paris. On the other hand, the hotels near the airport had highly discounted rates, so that's where we ended up staying.

We expected it to be the low season, and it was - except for the week we were there, when all the Europeans had their Christmas holidays. There were enormous qeues everywhere, in fact I have a little song for Paris:

This is a queue that never ends
It goes on and on my friends
Some people, started queing, not knowing what it was
And then continued queing forever just because
This is a queue that never ends....

We spent 2 hours in the queu for the Eiffel Tower alone! I couldn't feel my feet for ages afterwards. But then we got into the Louvre for free, because it was the 1st Sunday of the month so I cant really complain too much.


Eiffel Tower




Louvre

Venus de Milo:



Musée d'orsay

I thought I would share one of the most memorable paintings there:



LOL... no actually these were the standouts:




Basilique du Sacré-Cœur


Moulin Rouge

Yes, we actually paid the 80E for a show at the Moulain Rouge! It was worth it though, because I haven't seen anything like that before and might not again. It was very glitzy, very sparkly, very well produced and there was A LOT of boob.



Champs-Élysées

Place de la Concorde is at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, built on the fomer site of the guillotine. The 3000 year old Egyptian obelisk is Paris' "oldest monument", which was "gifted" to France. It was actually a bit sad seeing it here, because I've been to Egypt and I've seen the Luxor temple where the obelisk truly belongs.



Notre Dame de Paris




Napoleonic Arc de Triomphe



Versailles Palace

Versailles reminded me a lot of the Royal Palaces in Russia. Which is no wonder really, since Russian nobility were used to puchasing the best of European style!








Overall, my impression is that Paris is one of the "must-see" cities of the world, there is so much cultural and historical significance here. I've often had a de-ja-vu feeling when seeing something I've never seen before, simply because its imagine is so iconic and widely disseminated. But did I fall in love with the city, like I did with Barcelona, St Petersburg and Prague? ... no, probably not.