My first week working for a living again

Welll .. not a helluva lot to update except the weather is turning to crap.. Only to be expected seeing it is November I guess but only 10 degrees outside today.. or this morning it was its 12 now.. and has been raining for a few days. I ventured out this morning.. the bus went a different way to what I thought.. but there were shops there.. although I wanted a Supermarket.

Working has been fun.. I am actually starting to enjoy teaching but still have trouble with all the tenses and putting labels on things like infinitives, the perfect continuous and imperatives etc .. but getting there slowly. I am teaching an elementary level student next week which will be good as he wont be able to ask me too many difficult questions!

I have ditched my crappy 5 euro jacket and bought myself a beautiful knee length coat.. and the bonus is its Pierre Cardin! And not that expensive either. I feel a million dollars in it.

I have been venturing out looking for Shopping Malls. They are all miles out of the City and you get the metro to one of the last stops or the last stop and then get a bus. It was great fun.. sort of.. Although getting off at Aningnina (the last stop on Metro A) was not the best. I was going up the escalators and I felt someone behind me trying to open the zip on my bag. It gave me a helluva fright. It is the first time since I have been away that anything like that has happened to me.. although Coraleen having her purse stolen at the Internet in in Valancia was pretty bad. It made me think twice.. in saying that I never had my credit card or any documents on me... and I dont carry money on me. He would only have got a notepad and pen as everything else is in the inside pockets. Anyway the Mall wasnt that good and not a lot of shops although there was a huge Ikea.

Ikea over here is like a Warehouse and Placemakers Megastore all rolled into one!! Its is ginormous.. and took me ages to find my way out through the cashier. The queues were akin to Foodtown Greenlane on Xmas eve.. and they are always like that.. about 20 in ech queue, all the cashiers open.. and just chaotic... but thats Italy for you.I

I start my Italian lessons on Monday.. so pretty busy as I have heaps of teaching hours. I am in Italian class from 9am till 1pm and then most afternoons I have three hours teaching and 4 nights out of 5 I am teaching until about 7 or 8. so Things are finally coming together. All I have to do is find a decent place to live.. but I guess that may have to wait until after Xmas.

I do need to change my living accommodation.. its ok.. BUT and there is always a but.. I dont think I am cut out for flat sharing with two 20 somethings... and of course the place isnt the best. I did go and have a look at one place on Friday.. 5 storeys high.. no elevator AND no better than the place I am in now.

And thats about it from me for this week.. no pictures as I have been too busy working.

End of CELTA

Erica and Anna, two of my classmates on the CELTA course

and Nicola, another classmate who came to Rome for the course but lives up near Bologna..

and below Nicola and I pretending to be 'the best' on the last day...

Elizabeth, one of the teachers.. this time not in Halloweeen costume
and Lavinia on the right and Becky, another teach, this time also not in Halloween costume..
Roberta.. one of the students we taught.. she doesnt look any worse for the trials of our teaching
Rachel... another colleague on the course

and below.. Nicola and I went out shopping and visiting the sights on the Saturday after the course had finished

and another one while out 'shopping'... the sun was there but it was bloody cold.

Well its finally over and now time to find a job. It seems.. at this stage jobs arent too difficult to come by.. wait for the next instalment to see if this is true.

It is definitely getting colder now, not freezing yet but about 12 during the day and its been raining. I couldnt be without my eleectric blanket although I have been told I am a wimp as there is no need for electric blankets in Rome as it doesn't get that cold!! Try telling that to me who has an electric blanket on from Easter through until al ost Christmas in Auckland!! Anyway I bought myself a very cheap one.. and it works just fine.

Looking for work in Rome.

Finding Work!!
I decided it was about time I started earning some money again. Traveling around Europe having a great time does not bring in the money and with the cost of living in Rome (apparently its 99.7% of the cost of living in London) is astronomical and wages are generally low. For someone who doesn’t speak Italian job opportunities are limited to, basically, teaching English. The majority of schools who are looking for teachers want CELTA qualified people.. and that’s where moi comes in. However Italy is infamous for its short term ‘contracts’ offering teachers a few hours a week at very low rates even for those who are CELTA qualified. Moreover the teachers do not teach in the school but give ‘private’ lessons in people’s homes or places of business.

I scoured the Wanted in Rome magazine (the magazine for ex pats living in Rome) and applied for half a dozen jobs. There always seem to be a lot of vacancies and I have discovered the reason why. Most of the schools employ teachers for a few hours a week and when those teachers have some experience they grab the first permanent position that comes along usually moving to another school. It does make you ask the question, why do Employers not learn and hold on to good staff? But that’s a political minefield and one I am not qualified to enter.

At this stage I have a job at twelve euros an hour working 6 hours a week over two evenings. I start on Monday 5th and the teaching is outside the school. HELLO!! With my rent costing 500 euros a month I do realize I could be destitute before Christmas!

I have three interviews lined up over the next 10 days (my course doesn’t finish until the 8th) and from what I can gather they are reputable schools, although being told by my prospective employer to text him from the front door to be let in does leave me wondering…J

From what I can gather teaching Business English is the most lucrative and the hardest to get into as most of the new teachers with CELTA are young and don’t have the experience I have. One point for us experienced oldies!! Anyway.. time will tell and in the meantime I am just working on getting through the last four days of my course in one piece and of sound mind.

The CELTA course.. and the teachers

Becky in Halloween costume for Kids Party.

.. and Margaret..
and Elizabeth...

My course? Mmmm.. I guess I have to say right now it’s great!! But that’s because I have a four day holiday. Wednesday was Halloween and being a school, on Wednesday evening say scores of children arrived in their costumes and terrorized the school! Of course, for those of you who know me well will realize that is a total exaggeration and the kids were having a wonderful time eating and drinking fabulous concoctions of witches brew, skeleton cakes and making pumpkins and wands. The teachers dressed up for the occasion, as you can see, yes they really are our teachers!! November the 1st is All Saints Day so its like Good Friday at home and everything is closed; and schools (a chance at some sanity for us CELTA students) close on the Friday making it a 4 day weekend. Meanwhile in the real world ...

Since 10 October when I started my 4 week foray into studying again I have not only forgotten to eat but haven’t had any time for sleeping even.

School starts at 9am and goes through until 5pm with an hour for lunch. Every second morning we teach, (yes real live Italian students learning English) and that started on Day 2. Each lesson is either 40 or 60 minutes long for which we must write a lesson plan, copy or design activities and type them all. Lesson plans take about 4 – 5 hours to prepare as every detail must be included and the activities have to be photocopied for the students. On top of that workload we have an assignment each week of about 1,000 words. If our assignment isn’t up to ‘standard’ we are asked to re-submit it.. of course by that time the next assignment is almost due and we have another two lessons to prepare for. I guess you all get the gist of this by now!

And if you don’t think that is stressful enough consider this: There are 6 students on our course and another 12 on the part time course (who are at school Tuesday and Thursday only) only one of us has the internet and a printer at home as most are in similar situations to me and from outside Rome and in temporary accommodation for the duration of the course. Facilities at the school are meager to say the least. There is one computer which will take a memory stick AND a printer, a second computer has a printer but no usb port for a memory stick; these two computers are available from 8.15 until 7.30pm at night. There are a further two computers in the ‘library’ which is open 5 – 7.30 4 nights a week and Saturday mornings; all four of these pc’s have email facility BUT NO MICROSOFT!! Yep, we bring our information in on our memory stick and can’t even amend it.. only print it. And the congestion on Tuesdays and Thursdays!! .

A day in the life of Vicki goes something like this… wake about 7, check my work from the night before is on my memory stick and all my books are in bag, walk to school (that’s a good point – it’s only a 2 minute walk) dropping off the rubbish on the way (no such thing as a rubbish bin here it’s Wheelie Bins at the end of the street!!). Arrive at school at 8.15 in the hope of getting to the computer first and print out my lesson plan and copious copies of the handouts for activities. Change pc’s to let the next person print out her stuff and open emails… enjoy emails from home and reply if time permits. I am in class all day until 5 o’clock, then to use the library to find materials for next lesson and/or assignment, photocopy relevant information (you can only borrow one book at a time) .. walk home in the dark. I work on laptop until the outline of the lesson comes together, whip up a salad or boil some soup, make lunch for the next day, have a shower and back to the laptop. Around midnight I may just have finished.. although to be working at 1am is not uncommon.

Am I a looser or what??? When I am the last person in the school at night and the first person to arrive in the morning I think so!! I had to re-submit my first assignment, which was grammar, so for two days I didn’t get to bed until almost 2am!! If only someone had told be the ‘infinitive’ is the base form of a verb and a past participle is the past tense of the verb. Why do linguists think up such fancy names for basic things? I thought this course would teach grammar but it only just touches on it, the main aim of the course is to teach one HOW to teach.

The UPSIDE of this? Yes there is one.. truly I kid you not! The other 5 girls/women in the class are fantastic company and I am so busy I don’t have time to get lonely! There are two Americans, one girl from London and two Italians and ALL of them speak Italian to some degree.

Half way through my CELTA and a lovely diversion for the weekend!!

Ken getting ready to get on the train for his 10 hour journey through to Nice! The end of a fantastic few days.

Communist Rally... yes it was the communist one!!
At the top of my street... no traffic whatsoever for about three hours.. and I was carrying two heavy supermarke bags down the hill!! I was not impressed
and still more coming down the hill... they went in waves.. looked as though their was perhaps some law or whatever which meant they had to let so many go and then another lot.. not sure but there were 1 or 2 minute breaks betwen the waves and the whole front line were in a row.

Yes, believe it not I am more than half way through the CELTA course and it's extremely difficult. In fact, I am not doing very well at all. The other 5 girls are nice and friendly which makes things bearable.. but the workload is horrendous. I am at school every morning at 8.15 (when it opens) to print my lesson plan and activities I have planned.. or for some other work which still needs doing, lessons start at 9 and go through until 5 .. and then its more work, either on asignments or lesson plans. Yes we teach real Italian students who are learning English. We are taught how to explain everything in English as we can't use Italian (not that Iknow any anyway!!) and then its tutorials and that night there is working on the next assignmetn (one a week) as well as lesson plans. Lesson Plans are detailed.. almost every word you are going to say for the hour lesson. I rarely turn the light off before 1am and allthat time is spent working on school work. I will get to see Rome AFTER the course has finished.

Last weekend there was a huge political rally through the streets of Rome. Actually there was one the week before also but I didn't have my camera on me. This time I got some shots.. coming down my street.. or the main street my little private road goes on to.. Merulana is the name of the main street down from Termini.. and there were literally thousands of people, big trucks with music machines on the back (bloody loud too) and people following with flags, flaggons of wine.. you name it.. they seemed to be having a good time. And we have two days off this week.. a public holiday on Thursday and an extra day on Friday.. so 4 whole days to work on stuff for school lol!!! Then to complicate matters further for myself Ken was in Rome for a few days.. and I had a great time.. going out for meals, walking around looking at shops and generally having a relaxing time. Not that I am complaining.. it was absolutely fantastic to have someone here I could talk to about the real world.. and we went out to a nightclub where one of the girls at schools plays in a band (when she isn't spending 100 hours a week studying!!) Unfortunately for me I tried to have a few drinks.. not a good look. I hadnt drunk anything for so long and hadnt been eating and was dog tired.. I will leave the rest to your imagination!! And Ken was not at all impressed.. I think if we had been in Auckland he would have disowned me! No more g and t's with 80% alcohol!! That was Thursday through until this morning.. so now I have to get my A into G and catch up on a Assignment due Wednesday and a lesson plan on conjuctions.. at least its only conjunctions 'cause those adverbial clauses, infinites and present continuous tenses really do my head in!!

The weather changed last weekend and it was abnormally cold.. read freezing for me after two summers in a row!! I had to buy myself a pair of trackies for pj's and a warm thick jacket for Euro 5. It isn't the type of jacket I would wear at home but at five euros.. it will do me.. especially as its warm. And yesterday while I was out shopping I saw an electric blanket for fifteen euros.. so that will be my next purchase. However, luckily for me the cold snap has passed and its actually warm and sunny.. and has been for the past 4 or 5 days!! Things are looking up.

First Week in Rome.. it aint all bad!!

My room... as small as it is.. bed, table and little else!!
The garden out the back.. we have a door to get out through the kitchen but arent allowed into the garden downstairs as it isn't hours.. but nice to look at as you can see.
And the viw from MY window.. more apartments.. well it is Rome you know and there are millions of people living in such a small space.. it's always crowded!!
Me at the forum...
And another one of me at th Forum.. first weekend with Erica.. was nice to have someone to see the sights with.

I must confess I am slowly getting the hang of study again. Whenever I get lonely or homesick I think how hard it would be to put the hours into this course if I was at home in New Zealand. School officially starts at 9 but I am usually there at 8 to use the computers to print out my lesson for the day. Teaching (yes we teach real live students already) and lectures go through until 5pm but I need to stay until the school closes at 7.30 to get information for lessons etc off the internet.

Then its home to my ‘apartment’ which leaves a bit to be desired but at Euro500 a month it’s almost half the cost of the average ‘nice’ apartment in Central Rome. Writing up lessons, lesson planning, preparing lessons and doing assignments takes me through till about 11.30 (with a quick break for a salad or soup) when I hit the sack.

My apartment is on the first floor of a very old building only 3 minutes walk from the school. I have my own bedroom with a table for study, and eating, a small single bed, a bookcase (which I use for my clothes) and two ornate hutch dresser type affairs. The bathroom and kitchen I share with two other girls, both very nice, both very young and socialites one of whom speaks no English whatsoever. However that is compensated by the fact the other speaks Italian – to varying degrees – and we are all considerate which makes for a pleasant life. Italian kitchens leave a bit to be desired.. no microwave, no toaster, no jug, no dishwasher, an ancient gas cooker and a very ancient washing machine that only works on very hot!! Still… one can’t complain as the apartments I saw advertised in the local Rome magazine in English ranged in cost between Euro1,500 and 3,000 a month!!! I am counting my blessings!

Sunday afternoon I put aside for exploring. Erica, one of my classmates who is from Chicago and I spent three hours wandering around the Colosseum area which includes the Forum, Palentine Hill and the Vittoria Emanuele Monument. She was a fantastic tour guide having studied Roman Classics and Art history. a great way to see Rome without paying a cent. We didn’t venture inside the Colosseum or Palentine Hill or the museums as you had to pay and we were really just generally exploring or was I just being a poor student?

The Forum is amazing.. to think these five acres were once the heart of the Mediterranean world and have been around since the 3rd Century A.D. In fact parts of it were ‘re-constructed’ in the 2nd Century AD!! Imagine that!

The Vittoria Emanuele Monument however, was only built at the beginning of the 20th Century to commemorate the unification of Italy.. yes Italy has only been a unified state for little more than 100 years.. yet another piece of information I learnt today. The tomb of the unknown soldier was guarded, as they all are, by two guards who, I am happy to report were not in the silly garb we saw in Athens but in traditional soldier like uniforms.
History lesson over folks.. but it is amazing to think you can just walk out the front door of your apartment and within three blocks arrive at some of the most amazing historical sites in the world.

And now its back to my Aprtment to study all those bloody horrid tenses and to do some more work on my first assignment which is, as you can guess, all on grammar!! Why didnt I pay more attention at school?

'The' Flight.. and first day in Roma

The trip over here was just terrible.

I arrived at Stanstead at 10am for a 12.45 flight and I only just through boarding at 12.10! My suitcase was heavy, yes I grant you as it was full of books so after standing in the queue for 40 minutes I then had to go and stand in another queue to pay excess luggage.. they only allow you 15kg so I had to pay £82.

I was then allowed back in the front of the queue to put my bag through... only to find they class a laptop as a bag and you are only allowed one carry on bag.. not a handbag and a bag just a bag. So I had to go through the whole proces again.

I was almost in tears and I think the girl knew. I went to the front of the queue, much to the disgust of everyone else and said.. I am sorry but I didnt realise I can't take this laptop on board.. in NZ you are allowed a laptop and I didn't know'... she took pity on me, didn't charge me and labelled it for me.. but no.. it doesnt end there. If I wanted it to go as fragile I had to take it to another queue to go through the scanner.

Still more to come.. I then had to wait another 30 minutes in Security and once through security where you get well and truly frisked BELIEVE IT!! .. unfortunately it was by a woman! I then had to take my shoes off at another line. Yes, everyone has to take their shoes off and walk through another scanner while the shoes go through separately. I guess that's London for you.

After an uneventful flight which was only 2hrs and 5min and the bus from the airport another 45 minutes with me trying to manouvre a 32kg suitcase, laptop and backpack which has now disintegrated! Needless to say when I did finally arrive I didnt venture out and so only started exploring Monday morning.

Rome is warm still, a mild 28 degrees when I arrived yesterday afternoon and the sun is shining brightly this morning althogh I am in jeans.

My digs leave a bit to be desired. It's a room on the first floor of a very old building right in the heart of Rome, that is its a 7 minutes walk to Termini Station which is great as its only 2 minutes to my school which means no money for busses. On the first floor are two other bedrooms with students, a shared kitchen and a shared bathroom. Phillipa, one of the other students came and introduced herself to me last night on her way out. She completed the course a month or so ago and is now teaching!! After talking to her I felt a bit more confident about getting a job teaching as she said it was easy to get a job once you had completed the CELTA course.. so time will tell.

I was feeling very sorry for myself last night.. no TV or Radio or music of any kind... stuck in one room with no groceries etc but this morning everything seems a bit brighter. I guess I will just have to get my shit together, meet other students on the course and start working hard. I start officially on Wednesday... so more news from me at the weekend.

Norwich Whitlingham and The Brick Kiln for Dinner

I had a great last few days in Norwich with Calvin taking me to Whitlingham which is a 5km walk around a man made lake with a 'beach', wild geese etc and really nice and of course a Cafe at the end for that coveted Flat White and chocolate cake.

This 'lake' was actually a big hole a few years back having been a gravel quarry and the gravel dug out for building materials. The council spent money and made it into a lovely picnic, walking and swimming area where, in the summer, the hold Rock Concerts. The stage was huge and it was easy to imagine sitting around the lake having a picnic and a wine or two listening to great music. Roll on summer!! (Was that me who said I would love to feel the cold again after all those 40+ degree days? Surely not!)

In the evening Jenny and Ray took me out with their friends Frank and Eileen to the Brick Kiln for a lovely meal. Honestly I have never seen such a large menu. And we were home just in time to see the end of the NZ v France game!! I will say no more 'cause if you felt as sick as I did there is nothing more to be said.

And then it was a 6.30 wake up call to catch the dreaded Ryan Air flight to Rome!!

Wells Next the Sea Norfolk

The Crown Hotel where we had lunch and it was an amazing lunch with a menu you would be hard pressed to better even at Number 5 or Sails!! And guess what? the Chef is a Kiwi; you had better believe it. He actually has a TV cooking programme over here cooking local fish caught along the North Norfolk Coast, Coastal Kitchen. I have never heard of him so if any of you have please enlighten me. Here is the blurb on their website.

General Manager, Kiwi Master Chef Chris Coubrough ...



And down on the sea front at the other end of the culinary scale is the local Fisherman selling Crabs and Lobster caught that day. Unfortunately for us he had sold out of crabs so we had nothing to take home for dinner.

mmm...couldn't resist this. I have never noticed before but there are loads (a hundred maybe) of these little beach huts at the back of the beach still on the sand which have power.. and they are privately owned for people to get changed and have a cup of tea!! It's true, It's true I tell you!!!

Calvin was saying earlier in the year a few beaches further around the coast one of them sold for £30,000... thats dearer than a parking space in Auckland City!!

And you wouldn't want to be in difficulties out in the water, well at least not until the tide came in!! This is their rescue boat up on dry land with no way of getting anywhere near the wet stuff until a considerable rise in water levels!!

And another great weekend came to an end. We actually walked for about an hour after lunch as we had eaten so much it was divine..I even had to have desert.

Wells is a lovely seaside resort (although the weather left a bit to be desired) a long sweeping beach bordered by pine woodland and a harbour full of small fishing boats and children fishing for crabs and digging for cockles against a backdrop of Georgian houses along the sea front.

And all that not half an hour away Norwich....

Cambridge .. Norfolk

The kind of history we don't have in New Zealand. This is a picture of Kings College Cathedral in Cambridge .. the first stone laid by Henry VI... here's a bit of a blurb

Henry VI was only 19 when he laid the first stone of the 'College roial of Oure Lady and Seynt Nicholas' in Cambridge on Passion Sunday, 1441. At the time this marsh town was still a port so, to make way for his college, Henry exercised a form of compulsory purchase in the centre of medieval Cambridge, levelling houses, shops, lanes and wharves, and even a church between the river and the high street (now King's Parade). It took three years to purchase and clear the land.
A picture taken from the back and the Cambridge River where the famous Oxford Cambridge boat racing takes place. The day we were there we could see lots of Punts on the river but most of them moored.

..the ceiling of the Chapel..itis just amazing

Uncle Calvin with Kings College itself in thebackground.Kings College was one of the first in England to admit women so they have been ahead of their times and Prince Phillip also studied here.

The genealogy of the College.
And a little bit more history.
A full view of the actual college. They are rather pompous and The Porter, who is little more than a butler dressed in extremely pompous garb actually stops you going in (in his oh so perfect BBC English) unless you have membership and it's only members who are allowed to walk on the grass. Now we might be from the Colonies but what a lot of pomp and ceremony that is!!

It was a rather cold Saturday Calvin took me over to Cambridge which is about 1.5hours from Norwich and boy was it busy. The whole Town of Cambridge was absolutely packed there were buskers (a group were playing some great rock sounds) while others were more mellow, and shoppers and just generally lots of people. We spent about an hour and a half looking through the Colleges.. there are several.. Jesus College, Trinity College and I guess they all teach various discilpines but cant confirm that I was overawed at the history of the place.

The Villa in Tuscany

I have tried to get these into some sort of order but not sure how well I succeeded. Above are the guys being grumpy Old Men.. pity they were looking at another camera


Coraleen and Kristine after a few drinks... Sexy night attire Coraleen :-)

Kristine in the 'diving' competition after a few gins..I think she did a bloody good job..I wont show you the others as there is so much water coming from the pool you can't see who they are

Trevor 'relaxing' after a few pitchers of G & T's

Barry and Tevor following the emptying of two bottles of Lemoncello

The first night at the Villa and to Kristine's surprise some home truths came to light via a few well organised posters!! How did you get that picture???

Kristine and Sharon.. Now where am I? says Sharon as she finishes her first bottle of gin after a 25 hour flight
'It's not fair...David didn't have to compete with sausages!!' cries Bruce

The group shot

mmm .. it must be wine o'clock ... again ...

Day out in Florence and Barry decided he would have a gelato.. that was before he realised it was Euro10! That's right folks NZ$20 for an icecream!! but look at the size of it!


Me on the bus tour of Florence with the city in all it's glory in the background

This view is taken from the small Parco della Rimembranza on Via di San Francesco, public gardens with benches, shady trees and a superb panorama. The statue in the park is a 1960s (which I didn't get a picture of) monument to the Carabiniere by the sculptor Marcello Guasti.

and another one of Florence

oops! another one too

Me on the Ponte Vecchio looking down the river and did you know...

Traders first opened for business on the Ponte in the 12th century. Tax exemption allegedly playing a large part in the demand for premisses here. The bridge was monopolised by food stores for centuries until, in the 1500s, Ferdinando I de' Medici had Giorgio Vasari construct a corridor along the top of the bridge. This is now called the Vasariano Corridor and is technically part of the Uffizi Gallery. Although now closed to the public it was on top of the bridge to link the Palazzo Vecchio with his home, the Pitti Palace. The story goes that he could not stand the smell of the butchers emanating from below and promptly expelled all such businesses, along with all the other establishments deemed lower-class, from the bridge.

Forty-one goldsmiths and eight jewellers took their places. Both are still the prominent trades on the walkway today and are well worth a look even if you do not intend to buy. The display windows practically glow from the wealth of gilded produce on show. Watches, necklaces, bracelets, rings, medals and chalices are all on prominent display along the length of the bridge. Other items on sale include precious stones, pure silk neckties, scarves and leather gloves. It looks expensive, and it is, but after all this is top of the range "Made in Firenze" merchandise. The dealers' heritage is acknowledged by the presence of a bust of the city's most renowned goldsmith, Benvenuto Cellini, who counted painter, sculptor and solider amongst his other vocations. The railings that surround the monument have long been used for a local romantic tradition that involves clamping a padlock to a rail and throwing the key into the river, symbolising an eternal bond. These mass lockings have not enamoured the local authorities, however, and anyone caught affixing something to the bridge is now saddled with a 50 Euro fine!

Even more spectacular than the storefronts are the views of the river Arno, which of course, can be enjoyed for free. The next bridge downriver, the Ponte di Santa Trinita, is worth a good look from both afar and in person. Designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati (supposedly working from sketches by Michelangelo) in 1567, it was destroyed by the retreating German army in 1944, and meticulously reconstructed after the war. Its corners are surmounted by four statues which were recreated from parts retrieved from the riverbed. Each figure was sculpted by a separate master of the Florentine school to commemorate the marriage of Cosimo II and Maria Maddalena of Austria in 1608.Interestingly, the only bridge of the four in Florence at the time, German forces did not raze during World War II was the Ponte Vecchio. Allegedly this was because of an express order by Hitler. This surprising act of clemency means that the bridge is now not only the oldest segmental arch bridge extant in Florence, but also in Europe.

Pisa day out .. see no hands.. actually didn't quite line it up right.. you try it, it ain't as easy as everyone makes it look

Barry up in the cloisters in the Church at Pisa

Me outside the Church at Pisa

another pic I couldn't resist. Most people have pushchairs for children but the Italians have gone one better and this little number was called a DoggyCart

Barry and Rauly by the belltower at the small village of Bracciano near the Villa. You can see the pully for the bells in the background.. boy was that tempting!!


Another one of the villages nearby.. Castelnuova... although not quite so small ... with the castle all lit up in the background..

This sign caught my eye..as they do! In the middle of the carpark about 50 feet above the river! OMG!! if the water rises this much I would hate to be here when they hydraulics went wrong.

Another one of those nights.. a meal and a few drinks and I get a kiss from a local lad. Note the sign in the background.. it was a fun night




oops .. out of sequence again.. Bracciano village in the sunshine

The view of our villa from Bracciano.. its out of focus as it was actually miles away across the valley

A view down over the valley from the villa early morning.. we were so high the clouds were below us although some of that is smoke from the village of Gallicano below

and a view of the sunset from the Villa and like most sunset pictures the camera doesnt do it justice





The cycling day in Lucca. Sharon and Trevor in front of the Church with trees growing out of its steeple


Barry and Rauly taking a breather


Kristine and Wendy.. is that shops over there I can see says Wendy? the compulsive shopper!!

Rauly and Wilson on the city walls

Just relaxing waiting for the others to catch up!!