The Reader's Digest Version: Italy-France-Croatia

Okay this has to be quick, it seems that as I travel more I get less and less time to update on what's been happening. But here is a quick rundown of everything I did between Cinque Terre and getting to Greece.

-Hired car to drive from Florence (where I went to 'The Mall' and bought an expensive handbag, no it wasn't Gucci)
-Drove to Nice where I saw Monaco, the home of Grace Kelly
-Went scuba diving in Nice which was absolutely amazing
-Visited the eagle's nest style village of Eze which was just shrouded the whole time in clouds so much so that you thought you had left the human realm entirely
-Drove 11 hours from Nice to Naples to visit Pompeii where I took a picture with Caecilius' house (yes of Caecilius est pater fame, and if you don't know what I'm talking about you obviously never learnt Latin)
-Spent time in Dubrovnik, pretty but not so exciting
-Spent time in Korcula which was like Dubrovnik but far more amazing, we went sea kayaking and found perfect little coves and swam (sort of) in crystal clear waters...
-Took a boat back to Pescara where we spent another day lounging on the beach before taking the plane out to Greece

Okay I realise that that was super hurried but at least everyone knows I'm still alive now :p
I'll write more later.

The Floating City of Venice

Venice is a beautiful canal city. And when I say beautiful, I really, really mean beautiful.

Now of course it's super touristy but it doesn't really detract from how enchanting the city truly is. To get to Venice (which is actually an island made up of over 100 mini islands) you take the train across the bridge and the train seems to sit so low in the water that you imagine the water to be almost lapping at the tracks. The sea stretches out as far as the eye can see and the surface is dotted with miniature islands as well as windsurfers and kite boarders. Then you get your first glimpse of the creamy red and pink buildings of Venice old town and it really feels like you're arriving somewhere enchanted.

If you ever head to Venice make sure you get up really early in the morning just as the sun is rising. There is not a tourist in sight at this hour - the only movement is the moored boats bobbing up and down in the water and the only sound is the morning chorus sung by the birds. If you're lucky you'll smell the bakers abaking and if you have a keen nose you can follow it all the way to a little hole in the wall cafe where the croissants are just layers of melt in your mouth pastry enclosing a warm heart of marmalade...

Savour if because when Venice comes alive at about 9:30am the tourists outnumber the pigeons (which, believe me, is no small feat) and all the souvenir stores open their doors allowing the beautiful coloured handicrafts (papier mache masks, gorgeous Venetian glasses) to spill out into the narrow alleyways. That's the wonderful thing about Venice, even though you're bound to get lost going from point A to point B walking doesn't feel like a chore because you take so many shopping detours to admire the gorgeous stores.

Oh and I want to mention that I did take a gondola in Venice! And I didn't pay a small fortune for it! Instead of bobbing up and down getting motion sick and having to pay 70 euros for that misery I took a 'traghetto' to cross the Grand Canal in Venice which provided 5 minutes of gondola pleasure for only 50 cents per person! I'm mighty proud of myself. :p

But at the end of the day it's so sad to leave Venice... as those pinky old town buildings faded into the distance I couldn't help thinking that I'd left something truly magic behind. But, as I always say, it provides the perfect excuse to return soon! :p