Dubai Airport

Flight went well enough. This time round we're in terminal A. Bit confusing as the building looks exactly the same, but the shop layout is different.



Didn't sleep particularly well on the plane, so James and I have found a carpeted area and grabbed some snooze.

Aylesbury, Day 3

Currently sitting on the plane and thought I'd quickly do today's post.

We were up early, and went to go watch Matte jump off a building. He was taking part in a money raising abseil, and got to abseil down the tallest building in Aylesbury. Should have seen the grin on his face afterwards!

We did a brief wander around Aylesbury afterwards. Checked out the Games Workshop store, the comic book store, and stopped for a drink to celebrate Matte's abseil. Maureen, I did grab a group photo of us four for you.





Nice peaceful afternoon at Matte and Suzy's place. We played some tv games, watched YouTube videos, and did the last of our packing. Ordered some pizza in for lunch.

Matte was kind enough to give us a lift to the airport. With all the luggage we had, it was very much appreciated!

Had an easy check-in, then it was just waiting. Hope to catch some snooze on this leg of the trip as I'm tired and not particularly healthy!

Aylesbury, Day 2 (6 Sept)

After finally dragging ourselves out of bed at midday, Matte drove us over to Oxford for some last minute shopping. Picked up some reading. Bought some tea from a fantastic little tea and coffee shop at the Covered Market. Oh, and got a portable hard drive so that we could raid Matte and Suzy's music and movie collection!

Back home Matte and Suzy headed off to the Globe theatre to watch Midsummer Night's Dream, while James and I had a quiet evening and got most of our packing done. Damn we bought a lot of books!

Rome to London (5 Sept)

I met up with our Firenze host, Francesca in the morning to do a photo shoot. She does pole dancing as a hobby, and is very good! We got some good photos of her twirling around traffic signs in front of the Maxxi museum building. It was great seeing her again, and a sad good-bye.

Got our gear packed, and Delina's driver kindly took us to the airport. We were there very early, so had a bit of a wait, but at least no last minute rush.

Our flight to London went smoothly enough, and we got picked up by Matte at the airport. Did dinner out before chilling at the local pub. After the pub kicked us out, we settled in at home with some wine. Conversation, music, and games. Until we realised it was 4:00 in the morning!

Rome, Day 6 ( 4 Sept ) continued.

Can't believe I almost forgot to mention that we visited the Crypt of the Capuchin monks! The museum covers the history of the order, and was very good. And then you get to walk through the crypt which is very unusual, because it's been decorated with the bones of the monks. There's a number of stories of how the practice started, but eventually you would have been buried for a while, and then your bones would have been retrieved and added.

It's beautifully done, and not as macarb as you'd expect.

Rome, Day 6 (4 Sept)

Up early, got a lift to the Vatican with Delina's driver. The square was packed! We only figured out a bit later that it was a Wednesday morning, and the Pope was due to speak. This was great because it meant that while we were moving towards the Vatican museum, most tourists were moving in the other direction! Got in nice and smoothly.





James and I quite liked this bath tub!




One of the areas we enjoyed most was the cartographic hall.



Stopped for refreshments at one of the Vatican coffee bars.








Was lucky enough to watch this restorer at work in the vehicle exhibition, or the Pope's garage as we called it.







Exited after 4 hours, ravenous for lunch. After lunch, over to Castle St. Angelo.



Very interesting, beautiful frescos, and incredible view of Rome from the top!

On our walk home, spotted this gelato shop which boasts 150 different flavours!

Rome, Day 5 (3 Sept)

Made our way to the National Museum. It's actually made up of 4 different buildings, scattered across the city, and we went to the 2 that are close together.

First the main one, coins and currency history, chronologically organised Roman sculpture, frescos, and mosaics.















I very much preferred the Roman sculpture to the Renaissance stuff. It's more dynamic, and looks more human, more realistic to me. Especially the portrait busts, and statues of famous people; much more personality to them. You could actually recognise recognise someone from their statue. The mosaics were also incredible.

Lunched on a bit of lawn we found, dodged the druggies and their dogs, and went to visit the second museum which was located in an old baths complex.



Bunny mosaic for Dina!




In Italy you arn't told to stay off the grass, but to...

Rome, Day 4 (2 Sept)

Another speedy one.

James and I got caught by Monday. Almost nothing is open on a Monday! So we did a nice slow wander from Piazza Barbarini to Campo di Fiore.



Passed a few craft shops, including one with a life-size wooden motorcycle.





Got some gelato at Campo di Fiori before browsing the market. Fresh vegetables, fruit, cheese, and meats. We bought some cheese and cold roast pork for our lunch.



The gelato in Italy is truly something. It's a waste of time to even compare it to ice-cream in South Africa. And the choice in flavours!



Got our first view of the Tiber river, and crossed the bridge into the neighbourhood of Trastevere. Tiny little meandering streets, old, lively.







We visited the Santa Maria di Trastevere church which is very beautiful. It has some skylights so the church is not as dark as some of the others, and the natural light makes it feel very open and welcoming.





True to form, James found us a microbrewery pub. It had 17 taps, so 17 beers, not counting the selection they had in bottles!





After liquid refreshment, we forged on in the heat of the afternoon. We still had a bit of Trastevere to see and there was another microbrewery pub on the far side. Turns out it was truly on the FAR side, and after trudging straight off the tourist map, and down a street that wouldn't have looked out of place in industrial Silverton (you want a scooter? Take your pick!), we found the pub. Correction. We found the CLOSED pub.

So back we go. Found a new bit of Trastevere, and a fantastic little shop that sells brass scientific instruments, compasses, hour glasses (had a proper big one), kaleidoscopes, and other cool stuff. And back to the pub for a beer to strengthen us for our journey back.

Then a quiet evening with Delina, letting our feet recover from the 10 km or so we did that day!

P.S. we had realised as we left the house in the morning, that we had accidently dressed rather alike!

Rome, Day 3 (1 Sept)

I only have half an hour, so think of this as a speed post! Plus, so many of the things I'm going to tell you about are WOW, that I'd probably run out of superlatives.

Up and out, found the bus, and over to Piazza Barbarini, on the cusp of central rome. Lots of interesting "stuffs" on the way.



South until we spot Trajan's column, which also marks Trajan's market.





Then down Via Dei Fori Imperiali, with the Roman Forum on our right.





Until we reached the coloseum. Double wow factor!







From there, up onto the Paltino hill, where the hippodrome is.



There it is, that oval bit at the bottom.



North to the Roman Forum, and out the gate for lunch at the Irish pub. A REAL Irish pub seeing as we watched Gaelic football, complete with Gaelic commentry, while eating our pizza.

Across the Area Sacra, North towards the Pantheon, but first the Santa Maria di Minerva.



Then the Pantheon.







Over to the Trevi fountain where we each tossed in a coin to ensure that we will one day return to Rome.



As we made our way back to Piazza Barbarini, we found Gepetto, working on a Pinochio.



Then we found a toy shop, which is frankly amazing, considering how small it is. Marek, this photo is for you!