SWITZERLAND 16 September – 17 September 2011 (Bernina Pass, St Moritz)

Salut (Swiss-German)!

We made the drive up the Bernina Pass, which is 2,328m above sea level and in the Swiss-Italian part of this gorgeous country. This whole area was just breathtaking, from the beautifully manicured houses and gardens, to the clear rushing rivers, the flouro green grass and the incredible mountains on every side of us! We also really loved seeing the cows here, who all have bells on them and look so healthy haha! We drove through the highest part of the pass and headed back down towards St Moritz.

St Moritz is Switzerland’s original winter wonderland, it attracts celebrities, royalty and the filthy rich, and we could see why. This was such a lovely little town, with a perfect lake right in the middle and expensive looking cars everywhere haha! We left St Moritz after having a look around and heading down the mountain. We found a little rest area right next a river on the mountain and stayed here the night (we had to ignore the warning sign about freak waves of water from the hydro plant above haha). We had a fire on the rocks next to the river which was lovely too! Switzerland, as little as we have seen, has really been so magnificent  and we would really love to come back one day and see more! We are heading towards Innsbruck, where it should be a little warmer! J

 Bernina Pass

 River where we camped, Bernina Pass

St Moritz
Ciao!
EJnRHE xx

ITALY 15 September – 16 September 2011 (Stilfserjoch Mountain Pass)

After farewelling Venice and unpacking our winter clothes we made the 4 hour drive to the second highest mountain pass in Europe – Stilfserjoch pass. Stilfserjoch pass is 2,757m above sea level and was a spectacular drive. (We have to thank Tom’s dad for suggesting this pass!) Stilfserjoch is in Italy but very close to the Austrian and Swiss borders. We made the massive climb up the mountain with the trusty vans, stopping occassionally to take photos and add layers of clothing. Once we got to the top and easily found a carpark to stay at we went and got a bratwurst and sauerkraut bun from a german vendor which was delicious!! We walked up the pub which was 2,893m and had a mulled wine and enjoyed the sunset over the icy peaks. The next morning we continued down the pass and headed towards Switzerland!

 Mountain Jumping

 Stilfserjoch Pass sign :)

German Sausage Man!

 On the top!

 River near the bottom..

Half way up the mountain!

Just over half way (getting colder!)

 The way up..

 The vans in their little camp

 On the way down

Waterfall

See ya!!

EJnRHE xx

ITALY 12 September - 14 September 2011 (Florence, Venice)

Buongiorno!

We have now seen Florence and Venice!! We spent the night in Florence and managed to see alot of the main sites. Florence was a lovely little city, the most populous town in the Tuscany area and largely known as the Athens of the middle ages. We got lost in the old town and wandered past the statues, museums and ancient churches. We saw a large replica of the Statue of David and the Santa Maria del Fiore, a domed cathedral in the centre of town. We really enjoyed seeing the ancient buildings in Florence and we got a some great pictures of the River Arno which cuts throught the old part of the city.

 Florence from the Lookout..

Santa Maria del Fiore

The Replica of David

The drive from Florence to Venice was very picturesque! We drove over a mountain range and through the gorgeous tuscany area. We are noticing the change in seasons more and more, which the leaves going browner and the afternoons are getting cooler :)

Tuscany


Venice is fantastic!!
We have had such a great time walking through this magical city. Every corner we ventured around was another perfect photo op lol! We walked for hours, enjoying many a slice of pizza and the fabulous Italian coffee. We had a gondola ride through the grand canal and numerous other smaller canals which was great. We were so suprised to see just how high the water comes up the buildings here. We found out that the residents live on the bottom floor in Summer (about 1 metre tide) but they have to move to the higher floors in winter as the tide goes up another 1 metre! We saw sights such as San Marco plaza, Marco Polo's old residence and Casanova's old residence! We could have just strolled around this area for days with its 400 bridges, we would have always seen something new and beautiful :)

 Sant Giova Basilica

 Grand Canal

 San Marco Piazzale

 Saint Mark's Cathedral

 Venetian Masks and Murano Glass (only about 1500 shops sell these items haha)

 Gondola Ride :)

 Monster Pepperoni

Ciao!!
EJnRHE xx

ITALY 7 September - 11 September 2011 (Pisa, Rome)

Boun Giorno!!

We arrived in Pisa and went straight to the main attraction! We got photos doing corny tourist poses with the leaning tower and had our first Italian Gelati :)

Panoramic of the tower and other building..

After staying the night in Pisa, we drove down to Rome. The vans got a good work out in the Italian traffic, enjoying not having lines on the road and no rules in general lol! It was so crazy but we loved being part of it.. After being mislead by our navman, affectionately known as 'Gav,' we found a campsite just outside Rome. This was an awesome campsite with massive toilet facilities, a shady camp and a washing machine with free detergent (our lives have come to revolve around these necessesities haha).

We had three nights here, and each day we caught the 10 minute train into the city. We looked through as many monuments, churches, museums and piazza's as we could and managed to fit in a fair few :) Our favourites were the colluseums (EJ for the gladiators and Rhe for the architectural history) and the Capuchin Crypt where over 4000 monks who died between 1528 and 1870 are buried. There are six chapels in the Capuchin Crypt, and all but one is creatively adorned with bones. We also loved seeing St Peter's Basilica which was just overwhelmingly huge. We had pizza and pasta and delicious coffee while we were here. EJ had his first stein of beer here, of course it was Italian beer (Peroni).

We would love to visit here again, hope you like the pictures!

 Fountain Trevi

 Colloseum :)

Palastine Hill

 Roman Forum

 Pantheon inside..

 Pasta, first night.. Amazing..

 Inside the Colloseum..

 Piazza Venezia

 EJ wet his panties with this one.. Ferrari 430 OMG...

Sant Angelo Castle

Inside St Peter's Basilica

 St Peter's Basilica

 Main Plaza near the train station (symmetrical)

 Lunch - pizza and ravioli (one would die for this ravioli) (what more in the world could one need?)

 Ducatti Devil (EJ only stood and stared at it for 2 hours)

 Fresh water fountain, one of many :) (Freezing cold and drinkable, we saved on bottled water here!)

 “As you are, we once were. As we are, you shall be one day.” (Capuchin Crypt) (Worth a look)

Arrivederci!
EJnRHE xx