TravelStream™ news feed for member giulianat on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/giulianat en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:03:50 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/giulianat/1/1223050140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/giulianat/1/1223050140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/giulianat/1/1223050140/tpod.html Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:03:50 -0400 Giuliana's Giant Leap Overseas

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Annapurna Region, Himalayan Region, Nepal

This entry is VERY overdue. But I've decided to tell the story through the pictures. So have a look!
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Kathmandu, Nepal

And so it was time to go off on my 'side trip' to Nepal. Dad dropped me off at the airport at Bari and I took an aeroplane to Athens were I stayed for 14 hours and went into the city while I was waiting to see the Acropolis. Very nice, but my heart wasn't into sightseeing because I was so scared of what I was getting myself into going far away from anyone I knew to find I don't know what. Anyway, after Athens and my last taste of Europe for the next few months, I jetted off to the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu. I arrived at 7pm and applied for a visa at the airport which took awhile to process. I had prebooked the first night in a hotel with a pickup but the aeroplane had arrived late and by the time I walked out of the airport it was 3 hours later than I said I'd arrived so I didn't expect anyone to be there waiting for me. I purchased a taxi to take me into the city, but then as I walked out I saw hoards of Nepalis waiting for freshly arrived tourists - they were ready to extract as much money as possible from everyone and knew that most new arrivals had no idea what to expect. I was one of them (fortunately not anymore!). Luckily amongst these hoards I saw a sign with my name on it and was releived for about 10 seconds until I realised that I had to get into an old van with 3 men who were taking me to the hotel. It took a great deal of trust on my part and furthermore there was a guy at the airport who asked me for money because he had shown me to the taxi so I gave him 4 euros to get rid of him (an absolute fortune for them as I realised later, but hey they're only trying to make a living and if someones dumb enough to give away money like that so be it).

When we arrived at the hotel I was told that it was full and that I'd have to stay in another hotel (unfortunately not an upgrade) but a mega downgrade. The room was filthy, the toilet didn't work and it was all incredibly depressing. My first night was spent awake until about 2am when I finally managed to sleep, but before I fell asleep all I could imagine is that I wanted to take the next plane back to Italy and why on earth had I chosen to go to Nepal, above all on my own everything was intensified as I felt completely alone in the world.

Fortunately the next day the sun was out and everything seemed brighter and sunnier, and then everything fell into place when I arrived at the very nice hotel which I was staying at for the first few nights of my 2 week tour to the Annapurna Basecamp. The first person I met was Victoria, a German woman the same age as me who lives in Sweden. I was so happy to meet her and be sharing a room with her and we continued to share a room through the whole tour and I couldn't have had a better companion. Then I met the rest of the group - all in all there were 3 Australians, a Swiss, a German, a Frenchman, an American, and an Irish. What a fantastic group we made! We all clicked and got along really well, and the first few days we spent seeing the sights around Kathmandu before heading off to Pokhara (the next biggest city in Nepal) and trekking for 11 days to the Annapurna Base Camp.
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Nicolosi, Sicily, Italy

Mt Etna, which I'm sure you've heard of was one of the sites that I most wanted to visit in Italy. Strictly speaking you're not meant to climb Etna without a guide, but I was with Dad, and well rules that don't seem to serve a purpose are considered as recommendations for him so off we went. Etna is 3300m high and we took a cabin lift halfway up before climbing to a height of about 3100m. It was like walking it was like walking in a lunar landscape or a black desert. The climb was quite difficult because it was like climbing a giant sand dune but wow it was worth it for the views! You can see all the towns below as well as the sea. Dad had visited Etna recently and told me about how he'd gone to a fumarole (where poisonous gas escapes from the earth). I was terrified of going near it because I figured it must be hollow under the ground where the steam and gas comes out and I was scared of falling through the earth into some boiling hot pit of lava. Yes I know it's rather dramatic but I really was scared! Anyway, for some stupid reason I trust Dad so we walked up to this fumarole (off the path that you're meant to stick to). It was fantastic! The air at 3100m is freezing and standing in steaming vapour is just wonderful to warm the bones again. On the way up we also overturned many rocks and were surprised to find that there are heaps of little red lady birds living on Etna. What they eat I don't know because there are no plants anywhere - just another curiosity of nature. On the way back down we passed a crater, and Dad decided he wanted to go into the middle despite the sides of the crater being sharp and slippery rocks and scree and you could easily fall straight into the hole at the centre. I said as much, but couldn't persuade him otherwise. So I watched uneasily as he climbed down into the crater. Everything was going fine and I was taking pictures of Dad in the crater, when he slipped and fell. I think my heart nearly stopped as I was terrified he'd fall into the crater. But he came out relatively unscathed, with some nasty scratches and a bit of blood. He said to me go on say 'I told you so' but I just laughed. I suppose he got me back for the time I was on the scooter and nearly shot off the side of a cliff haha!
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Taormina, Sicily, Italy

Entering Sicily land of half my family. Lucky didn't study in Taormina. Impatience to try first almond granita.
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Ragusa, Sicily, Italy

So after an enjoyable journey South through Italy we finally arrived at our destination point - Sicily. Above all Floridia, the small town where my father was born and where many of my relatives still live (or atleast live nearby). It was great being able to meet some of the relatives in Sicily and speak with them in Italian without too much difficulty. Everyone was so genuinely happy to see us, and welcomed us into their home with incredible and absolutely fantastic meals they had prepared. I ate sooooo much! We spent about 10 days in Floridia and while it was wonderful meeting everyone I was exhausted by the end of it, so many new faces of relatives that I knew I had but had never met before. Of course we spent most of the time getting to know each other and I learnt alot about my family and got to see many photos that I'd never seen before. It's one thing to know that you have family in another place, but to meet them was for me like something completely unreal. Very strange but something that I am very grateful for. Some days Dad and I headed off to see some of the sites like the archaeological park which was back breakingly dug out by thousands of slaves, and we saw the Sicilian coastline, and ate almond granitas with brioche which is a local specialty of Floridia and has to be one of the best things I've ever tasted. After eating all the wonderful meals that my relatives prepared, and enoying all the local specialties of the area where my Dad's family came from, I can say without reservation that it is the best food in the world - even though I know you're not meant to say these things because every nation's culinary traditions are so different. But hey, I'm saying it anyway!
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Tropea, Calabria, Italy

Tropea is a seaside town that is not really on the international tourist circuit. However it is a tourist hot spot for Italians. Gianluca recommended that we go there so Dad and I stopped there on the way down to Sicily. It was absolutely incredible! The water was crystal clear blue, the beaches covered in soft white sand and there was a rock shelf that you could jump off into the water. Furthermore the weather was just perfest for swimming. What an amazing place! Also fortunately it isn't one of the places in Italy taken over by tourists so the town is very down to earth and not full of all these flashy hotels and restaurants like we found on Capri. While we were driving along one day we saw a sign saying this way to the site where Jesus appeared in 1932 and again at later times. Of course we were curious to see this place as it was all very matter of fact. So up we went, and found a beautiful site overlooking the country and sea with an open air church and two fenced in squares stating the exact dates when Jesus appeared there. Very unusual and for me very strange and rather funny - I can't imagine ever seeing a sign like that in Australia that's for sure!
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Capri, Campania, Italy

Dad and I decided to spend a night at Capri because I've always wanted to see the blue cave there. Much like the one in Croatia. We enjoyed the place so much that we decided to stay another night. The first day we went swimming off a rocky shore which was just beautiful, but like I said to Dad I'm always afraid in the water when I can't see the bottom and I'm scared of what creatures are lurking beneath. Of course there's nothing dangerous in these waters, no currents, no deadly animals, nothing to be afraid of but coming from Australia where the ocean is something to be respected I still had this feeling of uneasiness that I couldn't quite shake off. But in the end when I see a beautiful place to go swimming I always have to get into the water because I love it so much! The water was a clear deep blue and warm - incredibly inviting! So Dad and I jumped off the rocks into the sea a few times and swam about before reascending the steep windy path back up to our accommodation.

So at Capri we did many, many things. We went to visit the Villa Tiberius which was constructed in the first century common era, and the Leap of Tiberius. Villa Tiberius is set on a rocky outcrop that is surrounded by high cliffs. The Leap of Tiberius is where as legend has it, the Emperor Tiberius used to 'dispose' people he didn't like. Dad being the eternal lover of adrenaline decided he wanted to stand in the Leap of Tiberius which is like a box in a theatre. You're not meant to go there but Dad as usual sweet talked his way into it and before I knew it he was standing on the rim of the Leap of Tiberius taking photos while balanced on the edge of a VERY high cliff. I must admit it made me nervous - I took a few photos of this too and Dad took a few of me there, I'll load them up soon but I'm sure they're already on his blog 'everardt' which is also on travelpod if you want to have a look.

We also visited the villa of San Michele, who was a writer and I read the story that he wrote about living there and it was a really unusual but enjoyable and humorous book. Dad hired a scooter one day and we went to visit the Blue Cave which was beautiful but unfortuantely way too touristy. Then I decided that I wanted to have a go on the scooter despite never having driven one in my life and only having ridden on one twice in my life. What happened? It probably wasn't the best idea to decide to have your first go on a scooter on steep windy roads - so you can probably imagine what happened. After Dad showed me the accelerator and breaks I shot off up a hill about 30 metres and then decided that I better turn around. As I was turning around I felt the weight of the scooter and thought it was going to tip over so I sped up the accelerator to take some of the weight off but couldn't turn fast enough and shot off towards the edge of the road where there was a 5 metre cliff. I really thought I was going to die shooting off the edge of this cliff. Fortunately I remembered the break just in time and I braked and tipped over into some grass and bushes about 10cm before I was about to go over the edge. Dad was below and saw everything. I can't imagine what he must have thought. And there was a group of people below at the bottom of the cliff that looked up at me with questioning and incredulous looks But you know what the first the thing I did was? I started laughing! So anyway, I've promised Mum I won't try anything like that again and when I do learn to ride a scooter - which I will do very soon I'll make sure I learn on flat straight road to begin with!
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Pompei, Campania, Italy

After seeing Gargano it was now time to see one of the places that I remember always hearing and learning about at school - Seeing Pompeii. I can tell you it was nothing like I expected. For some reason I had it in my mind that it would be like an underground town that had been dug out and you enter it like into a cave, with underground streets and you would see the people and animals and life frozen in their final terrifying moments of life. But it wasn't anything like that. The town is out in the open and you only get to see two bodies (I know it's strange that I wanted to see the bodies, but really in the end who isn't curious to see the expressions and final positions of those just about to die?). Anyway the two bodies were kept in glass cases and I was fascinated by them. The other things that remained were many houses and tiny streets that were just gorgeous. It was like a ghost town. Seeing ancient and very intricate mosaics was also something that I enjoyed alot. Also working out with Dad the purpose of the various buildings and courtyards that we saw. Without the story it's not very interesting so a great part of the experience was understanding how these people lived and fortunately with my Dad who knows alot about history I was able to ask many questions and understand the story much better than if I'd been by myself. So I've put in some pictures. I have more which I will add later, but unfortunately the internet cafe that I'm at doesn't have a DVD drive so I can't load them up now. The other pictures that I've taken are of a castle at Caserta that is absolutely enormous! It took us a good few hours to walk through the gardens, but it was a peaceful and relaxing experience.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/giulianat/1/1220459520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/giulianat/1/1220459520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/giulianat/1/1220459520/tpod.html Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:17:39 -0500 Giuliana's Giant Leap Overseas

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Gargano Peninsula, Puglia, Italy

After working everyday in the pub for a month I was starting to look a bit white and pasty - you know how it is work all night and sleep all day - so it was time to go and get out into the sun again! Dad and I headed off on a month long trip to Sicily together a few days after I finished working at the pub. Dad's bought a car in Italy so we got to travel in absolute luxury and stop where we wanted and when we wanted which is just great when you're touring. Our first stop was at a peninsula called Gargano where we drove (yes I drove too!) through winding roads through some beautiful forests and then stopped at a small town. From there we took a boat cruise one day which took us to heaps of small caves along the peninsula coastline. The caves weren't that much to look at but it was nice relaxing out in the sun on the sea after spending so much time indoors. Dad showed me some of his high fashion pieces when he wrapped a t-shirt around his head to keep the sun off - fantastic! Would you beleive they also have a shell museum there. I've always loved looking at and collecting shells - I developed this interest from collecting sea shells with my aunty Jan on the beach at Sorrento (Australian one) and loved to copy her collages of seashells which are just amazing! Anyway, thanks Jan - and now I can tell you I've seen a place where they love shells just as much as we do! They had collections of shells from all over the world, and come of them were just so intricate and unusual, it's a wonder how they ever evolved to be so beautiful. I wanted to pick up the whole place and bring it home with me but of course excess baggage is always a problem when you're travelling :-)

Travelling with dad was also fantastic because we always went out and ate well, and also drank well - we chared wine everyday usually at dinner or lunch. Being near the sea at this point we ate some really nice seafood and dad helped me better understand my wine preferences - I'm learning slowly but am definitely developing an appreciation of the different trypes of wine available. I must admit I much prefer the Italian chardonnay that I tried than any of the ones I've tried in Australia which I think (though I don't know not having tried it) all taste like cat's pee. Ok where was I? Oh yes, enjoying myself alot!
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Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Ok so just when everyone else was getting ready to go away for holidays I was starting to work in a pub. I was lucky enough to have found a job through Gianluca's girlfriend Manuela at a Pub where she also works. I worked there everyday in the evenings for a month behind the bar (despite having no experience in bar work - but hey this is Italy!). I'd already been tutoring the owner's son in English once a week for a few months so I was familiar with them and they are very kind and friendly people.

Anyway, Gianluca and Manuela had gone back down to Matera on holidays so I was "home alone" for the first week of working and unbelievably nervous! The first day I must admit went pretty badly as I felt like there was no way I could remember all the orders (and being in Italian too!) that came through and actually remember how to make them properly. Imagine having someone saying "cinque birre medie, un bicchiere di vino rosso, due te a la pesca, due coke, e un bellini" and trying to remember that and make them all while other similar orders were coming in all at the same time. Anyway my stomach was in knots and I felt like I was going to be ill, but I persevered and after a few days I actually began to really enjoy myself and working with the people there. I must admit I was very sad, but also excited to be leaving (going to Sicily with my dad and all!). A fantastic experience all round.
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