Scubophilus Thistler

And now for the rest of the journey! Since we were flying both in and out of Milan, we felt no need to rush through it when we first arrived. After settling in, we did however get a chance to explore the city. What better way then seeing the mighty Duomo (Cathedral), just as the dusk light was fading away. It was a building of such epic proportions, and we spent hours wandering inside and out.

It was a busy night in town, and we were surrounded by hundreds of tourists and locals as we browsed (with no intention of purchasing) the countless posh stores around town. It felt like a really business-orientated city, but we were still quite keen to get back the at the end of the trip. That was it for now though, because in the morning we were off to Venice.

Ashleigh and I had such high expectations for Venice, and I’m happy to say that they were surpassed. Not a sign of the dreadful smell I’d been warned about, nor was it as packed with tourists as I’d expected. I think both of these can be attributed to the time we went- early Spring meant that we avoided the heat and high-season of Summer. That’s not to say I’d avoid it then, because there’s still so much to see year round.

While we arrived to a  bit of rain on a dreadful day, it soon cleared up and by the next day we were enjoying the crystal clear water from the ferries around the canals. For the first time since leaving home I felt that great desire to jump in the water - something that England’s beaches sadly weren’t capable of. We tried to get our monies worth of the numerous ferries around Venice, since we had to pay such an exorbitant amount for a 3 day pass (that was never inspected).

We visited St. Marks Basilica, Doges Palace and the Palazzo, taking breaks for huge pizza slices and gelato. We wandered around the canals quite a bit on the first full day there, but headed off by boat to the nearby islands for a trip on our second. We visited Murano, which is famous for its glass exports and watched a demonstration of it all happening. Then it was on to Burano, which was full of the characteristic colourful Venetian houses. Quite a sight seeing them all lined up together. While in Venice we stayed on Lido Island. it was a bit further than some other accommodation, but was also good for getting away from the hustle and bustle of the main islands. In summer thousands flock to Lido for the beach, the remnants of which could be seen as the was an endless line of empty beach huts.

On our way from Venice to Rome, we stopped in a small town called Ferarra. This quiet town had been suggested by my Italian flatmate, and on arrival it felt pretty authentic. We spent the afternoon wandering the small cobbled streets and crashed out our newly-renovated hostel for the night. The next morning we continued on our way to Rome. We packed so much into the three days there, so I’ll just cover a few things.

We stayed walking distance from the main sights, and managed to see a couple of them by both day and night. Soon after arriving we stopped off at Trevi Fountain, which was packed with tourists every time we went but quite a sight. The Colosseum was a fantastic sight, and it felt amazing walking around such a monument of history. We visited again over the next few days, once at night and the other to actually go inside. Was interesting seeing just how much had been preserved, but we skipped the audio tour and the lack of signage meant we didn’t know what we were looking at a lot of the time.

On our second day we went to Vatican City. We took in a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, the shear scale of which blew us away. It’s officially the most amazing building I’ve ever been inside, and it’s definitely worthwhile spending a bit of time exploring. The afternoon was spent in the Vatican Museum, which was quite interesting, but felt like a huge build up for the Sistine Chapel. Once we finally made it inside it felt all worthwhile, being so close to one of the world’s greatest masterpieces.

The next day was packed full of Roman history. Firstly a tour of the Colosseum, then Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Gave a unique perspective into Roman life and it was amazing to see just how much had been preserved in such a busy city. After our time in Rome there was only one city left for us to visit - Florence.

With 4 nights in Florence, we had plenty of time to see the city and make a couple of day trips to the surrounding areas. We started with what was meant to be a short walk but eventually took us to a fake statue of David. It happened to be green, strangely, but had fantastic views overlooking Florence. We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of the city, browsing (not shopping) at the expensive shops along the Ponte Vecchio bridge. It seems now we’ve been to quite a few of the worlds shop lined bridges now.

The next day we took a trip to Sienna and San Gimignano. San Gimignano was my personal favourite, like a medieval city stranded in the rolling hills of the Tuscan landscape. Old towers are amongst the city’s buildings, looking like a ancient high-rise skyline from a distance. Not a huge lot too do, but plenty of gripping scenery to take in.

We made it to Pisa from Florence also, and found ourselves wandering through town eagerly looking for the first glimpse of the leaning tower. We weren’t disappointed, it still has quite a lean on it. There was also a beautiful cathedral and baptistery just behind it, unfortunately ignored by most of the tourists. We still managed some of the classic photos and perused the load of stalls eager to offload their wares on passing tourists. Somehow we managed to avoid the art galleries and museums of Florence, despite the city being packed full of them. We still enjoyed our taste in Tuscany immensely.

Afterwards we had a quick stay in Milan again, in order to make a flight back to London. We took the chance to see a bit more of the city, and found a castle close to the centre that a bunch of cats had made their home, funny stuff. The flight back was fairly quick, and our second time in London lasted the whole of the 30 second walk from St. Pancreas Station to Kings Cross, where we boarded a train to Leeds. Hopefully will see a bit more after the semester concludes.

We arrived back exhausted, but happy with what we’d packed into the few weeks away. The final 3 weeks of uni face us, with exams, more travel and home on the horizon.