Day 26

waiting for the shuttle to take us to Fiumicino Airport

We are going home….

…at least some of us.

Alex F and Jordan are staying on for two more nights in Rome to fly out to Dublin on Tuesday to see relatives of Jordan over there. Matt and Lachlan are also booked in for two extra nights at Tiber village, before they head off to Amsterdam.

Jason and I are off to Switzerland/Germany this morning, where Jason will meet family and I will join my brother for another week.

The rest of the class travel with Paul to Hong Kong, where he will stay over four more nights and the nine students will be back in Sydney on Monady 8:30pm after 26 days of excitement, cultural abundance, sleeping in ****hotels or airport floors, riding a donkey or catching a metro, drinking flower tea or taking a shot of grappa, sweating in humid Hong Kong or sun baking at the beach of Santorini, having to squatt in the toilet or forgetting to take the toilet paper from the dispenser outside, saying bon giorno or merci, looking at master pieces of the Renaissance in the Uffici or souvenirs in the covered markets of Istranbul, having a shover on board of the ferry from Rhodes or enjoying being srcubbed in the Turkish Hamam……..

Every moment is an experience and we had lots of them.

Stefan

Day 25

Our final day

Most of us sleep in and at 11am I see Aerliah off at Roma Termini, the central rail way station, where she catches the shuttle train to Fiumicino Airport for her British Airways flight to London. Most the boys go out to see the Coloseum in the afternoon and get in for free on a Saturday. The others take it easy and relax back at our camp. At 7 pm we all gather for an Italian style dinner in the Tiber Village restaurant to conclude our rich cultural experience. Stefan




Daniel at the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

Coloseum from inside....

.....from outside

class 12 at their fare well dinner at the restaurant

of Tiber village

Day 24

Friday morning - lining up for the Vatican Museum

Musei Vaticani

the inner court yard of the museum

Nobelmen.......

the view from court yard to the Dome of St Peter

The Vatican Museum is big and has

lots of treasures on display

Roman marble bath tub

marble torso




Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's famous

ceiling paiting

on the way to the Sistine Chapel - the room

of painted maps

painting by Rafael

Karla jumping in front of the camera

- modern art exhibition of the Vatican Museum

metal sculpture........

St Peter's Square, after we climbed up to the

top of the Cupola

The seal of Vatican City - our final and 8th country

overlooking Vatikan City from the top of the

Dome of St Peter's Basilica

The Swiss Guards responsible for the security

of the Vatican for the last centuries

meeting point: St Peter's Square

not a streched Hummer but a decorated

Fiat is waiting foor the Newly Wedds - Italian style

fountain at Piazza Navona

souvenir hunting.....

.....shot glasses, coffee mugs, venetian masks........

gelato to keep them going





Trevi Fountain

Piazza Spagna - the Spanish Steps

Rome

For our second last day in Rome Stefan decided that we hadn’t yet done enough walking and another couple hundred more kilometres was needed! Thanks mate.
Another jammed packed day that began with a 9 o’clock departure via the shuttle bus from our camping ground to the train station.Then into the city where we were able to walk to Vatican City which I now know is its own country! Learn something new everyday.
We were a little worried at first seeing the size of the line (roughly about four hours!) but luckily we got to jump that with a trusty group booking.
Once we were past the security checks and bag drops (which truns out are not that secure as ‘someone’ managed to get through with a pocket knife – not mentioning names LACHLAN! ) we explored the galleries and Sistine Chapel or in Mine and Alex’s case – get very very lost and confused – keep forgetting we cant read Italian signs! But with the help of the ridiculously good looking swiss guard (where do they find these guys?) we were back on track.
Finally made our way to the (cupola dome thing??) after a small fee we skimmed a bit of the walk with help from the convenietly located elevator but still tackled another 350 stairs. As usual it all became worth it when we reached the top to discover a 360 degree view of Rome we could even just make out the Colloseum in the distance.
After a short lunch break time to set off again for a fountain/city sightseeing trip.
Spent the afternoon wondering through the city and finally made our way to the beautiful Trevi Fountain , where we all made some wishes and added to the coin colllection.
Just another day like any other (or not :)

Alex f

Day 23

Euro Star train from Florence to Rome...
enjoying a movie.....



or having a nap



The hair salon is open.

" I am not too sure about this!!



chilling at Tiber village 30 km north of the CBD

... or sun bathing....

upgraded cabins with ensuites

Travel day Florence – Rome

Today we start the last leg of our trip, we travel to Rome where we will finish our class trip coming Sunday. The public bus is leaving near the camping village and it is pretty full by the time we get to the central rail way station in Florence. I buy tickets for the Euro Star Train to Rome and without a stop we shoot from Tuscany to Roma Termini. This time our group is spread over two coaches but eventually everybody is in their right seat. At midday we get into Rome. Two different Metros and fourteen stations later, we hop into the shuttle bus from Tiber Village, our Roman camp gound.
At arrival they upgrade us into ensuite cabins which is a very nice surprise.
It is pretty hot and some of us go for a swim in the pool. The boys bought a hair trimmer and I am the first in the line to get a hair cut from Matt. Excellent job, Matt.
6 pm we have our regular class meeting and curfew at 11pm.

Stefan

Day 22

Florence 2nd day
Today we woke up by the sound of Alexandra coughing her guts up!! And the fun started from there. We ended up getting away a little late because some people had a late start. We walked all the way to our first destination expecting the place to have a line out the door, but we only waited an hour to get into Uffizi Museum. It was awesome to see all the different art work, but there was a lot of walking involved.
Afterwards, Paul made us walk around in circles for ages trying to find the Academia, where the huge naked David is inside.
This was the one place that Stefan said there would not be a huge line at the front door….. Surprise, surprise, when we got to the street that the museum was on we just saw the line going off around the corner forever. For the next 3 ¼ hours we sat in the gutter talking to ourselves trying to waist time, but it just went on for ages and by the end of it everyone was ready to leave. By that time the stupid people finally let us in. Aerliah and I sat in the corner hiding from the scary lady that was telling people off for trying to take photos of David, but when ever she would turn around we were trying to snap quick photos. I don’t think I have ever had such a shaky hand.
After that long experince everyone pretty much left and did their own thing. We went and found the maccas that was just around the corner and while we were eating the stupid maccas was playing crazy clubbing music and Finbar got the shits and had to go and sit out side, while me and Noel had some food!
We went to the markets again where we spent more money, but I did get a couple of cool things that I get to take back with me..
After getting back to our campsite we went up the road for dinner. Finbar, Noel and myself found a hamburger stand and five minutes later we turn around and there is Stefan. We enjoyed a nice meal together, and then we went and looked at the beautiful city at night from one of the best views in the city. Later on tonight we have to pack for the second last time on this trip!!! Yay!

Karla



our tent cabins at Florence

on the way to the Uffizi to see Boticelli, Rafael

and other painters

a modern piece of art, and it is actually driving

the Uffizi entrance

Mr Schmidt under cover steals a shot

of Michelangelo's David

inner city of Florence

back at camp

recharging.......herself and the ipod

31/2 hours waiting in a line to see art:

Matt decided to get the pen out and create his own