Until you try...

Well today, the day we went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I decided to purchase a mysteriously branded bottle of brown liquid (presumably fizzy) instead of the safe option of Gatorade/water.
Both turned out to be less than amazing. But it's not all bad - you never know if you never go. I've got to be wiser for the experience, right?

L

Pompeii, Naples and Ostia

Today we went on a day trip to the wonderful town that is Naples. Stepping out of the station we were immediately confronted by a row of street vendors selling the same junk you find from the Moroccans in Rome and Greece. While we were walking to the archaeology museum we were confronted by a terrible smell, reminiscent of a garbage dump. I was truly surprised to find out from Mr Boyce that the smell had gotten better since the last trip. The Naples archaeology museum contained some extremely interesting pieces of art and sculpture as well as a room full of the most hilarious erotic pieces I've ever seen. The one that I found the most amusing was most definitely the flying phallus with a phallus with a phallus tail. From there we left Naples and went off to Pompeii. During the train ride we encountered some local youths who entertained us on the train by playing loud music and smoking. Pompeii was a fairly interesting place and some of the preserved pieces of ancient furniture are quite the sight. Personally I think that our trip to Ostia yesterday was more fun. I attribute this sentiment to the extra freedom we had in Ostia as in Pompeii we were unable to climb over monuments and run around. I would most definitely like to return to either Ostia or Pompeii in the future and explore more.

Kevin He

Will McKenzie - Naples

We headed into Naples today and what a hole that was. It was boiling hot, and the general atmosphere was reminiscent of a dark alley in Auckland town with a drunk homeless man peeing on the side of a building. The Naples Archeology Museum offered a few hours of relief, but we headed out again into the stench and mess to catch a train to Pompeii. I've never appreciated the life we live in NZ more than I did walking through the streets of Naples. New Zealand is heaven compared to cities like this.

Rome blog 28th

Rome Blog 28th

Today we woke up early at 6:15 to catch our train from termini station to Naples. We had a pleasant train ride in carriages of 6 and then arrived. Naples was a complete dump, it was extremely dirty, there were piles of rubbish all over the sidewalks, and graffiti on the walls. There after a 15 minute walk through the crowded dirty streets of Naples, we reached the archaeology museum which was pretty impressive. It contained all sorts of artefacts from Pompeii which were in great condition. There was even a secret room which contained adult stuff from Pompeii. I loved all the complete bronze and marble statues which were fascinating to see in their complete state. We then returned to the train station for a 45 minute ride to Pompeii. Pompeii was a great site with incredibly well preserved buildings. We saw some great theatres, houses and temples. We stayed there for about 3.5 hours before leaving to return to the station. I quite liked Pompeii but I preferred Ostia antica because of the freedom that we had to run around the ruins. After our return to Naples, we took a fast train back to Rome and on the way back to the hostel we had dinner.

Henry Tombleson

Sent from my iPod

My view of Naples - Henry king

In advance sorry for my outburst of emotion.
I felt sorry for Naples today. Naples if you want to know is the most disgusting place I have ever been to. Unlike Athens it's has no acropolis or giant Olympic stadium. I feel sorry for the people because they have nothing it seems like they are trapped and cannot escape. The place is filled with rubbish and cigarette butts and urine and all sorts of crap. Seeing Naples today made me think what the smaller cities in Greece may have looked like if we had been there. I was so relieved when i got on the train knowing i was getting away from this place, and back to the warm cost haven of the hostel. Today made me feel so lucky I live in Auckland have a roof over my head and have people around me who care.

Henry King

Sent from my iPod

Metro Time Machine

Spent a solid morning getting lost-ia in Ostia - was the most amazing time running through ancient toilet complexes.

The supermarket lunches are getting pretty interesting, however, with the common diet evolving into a symbiosis between solid chocolate bars and Pringles, through natural selection.

L

Rome, after Vatican City

morning all,

yesterday was 24 degrees in rome, although we had a few spits of rains as well; the day before we saw 29 degrees (just in one part of town), and coming back from tivoli (hadrian's villa) on the unbelievably crowded italian buses it was 24 degrees, and the heat has made things just a trifle more slow and difficult. today is supposed to bring a little rain, but nothing so far.

we're off to ostia, the port of ancient rome, today, and then to the colosseum and the roman forum, and we'll end with a stroll up the corso to see the buskers, shops, and nightlife, so should be a great day.

yesterday was the vatican museums and st peter's (still breath-takingly magnificent, and they're in the process of cleaning up bernini's colonnade embracing the piazza). the day before was a walk around many of the churches of rome, including il gesù (a real highlight), the pantheon, and some great caravaggio paintings in sta maria del popolo and san luigi dei francesi.

enjoy a few photos...

ciao,
warren b

Fwd: Rome Antics: Finn Lloyd

Begin forwarded message:

From: James Clark <james.a.clark@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: 26 April 2013 10:10:12 PM GMT+02:00
To: "james.a.clark@hotmail.co.uk" <james.a.clark@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: Rome Antics: Finn Lloyd

So this post is dedicated to Finn Lloyd ( pictured below) for his hilarity throughout the trip.

Finn's antics so far:

Athens
- purchased this charming t shirt  in the flea market
- developed a rather acquired taste for cake bars ( not what you'd call a Greek specialty )
- made a name for himself in finding the most disgusting foods in the supermarket and using them as his lunch ( questionable oranges and ham spring to mind)

Travelling from Athens to Greece:

- Finn entertained us immensely by breaking out loudly into song during a relatively quiet bus ride on the way to Patras
- Best of all, Finn successfully downed 23 mini milk cartons on the ferry before the bar staff decided to cut him off

In Rome, the swarms of Moroccan junk hustlers ( which seemed to have followed us from Greece ) were at the mercy of Finn's haggling skills - the purchase of a sticky green pig for 2 cents today was perhaps his best buy...

However, this pig predictably got stuck on the hostel roof as soon as we got back -

Our attempts to get it down left not just the pig stuck up there...

Finn is the kind of guy you need on a trip like this - he always lightens the mood on a long bus ride or at some ruins that require just a little too much imagination to appreciate.

I'll sign off with a video of Finn on the train from Ancona to Rome - hopefully others will post up their best Finn moments and other funny stuff.

Lol
James Clark

Queueueueueueueue

Saw an awesome room with each wall painted to represent each of the 'Humanistic' studies - Theology, Art, Philosophy and Justice.
Was way worth the weight that weighed on me while we waited.

Loosh

Glimpse of Rome - Robbie S

Long time no see lol, today was incredible! Definite highlight was the afternoon venture into St. Peter's. the size was simply indescribable, and it was by no means plain or boring! Like all the other churches we have visited, every possible space is covered with statues, paintings, mosaics and gold - absolutely incredible. I guess the only way to put this brilliance into perspective is via experience, and photos.

On a side note, wishing Dale and Simone a very happy trip to Europe in the next few days, here is a photo of me and your son at St Peters

rome

Will McKenzie

After a well needed relaxing night, we got up even earlier today in order to get to the Vatican as soon as possible to avoid an extremely long wait. When we arrived the line was long, but according to Mr Buckingham it was very short... of course we saw our usual friends, the Moroccans selling ridiculously pointless items and waiting for a sign of rain to pull out their crappy umbrellas. We also met a delightful fellow who doesn't understand that he's not the only one who has been waiting for over an hour to get into the Vatican. Once we had entered the Vatican after a 2 hour wait in line, we ditched our bags in the baggage area and headed on through. Our tour of the Vatican did not disappoint, my favourite feature being the Laocoön Group statue, which I also had written a small speech on for the group. We went through amazingly decorated rooms, which featured the art of people such as Michelangelo and Raphael.

After leaving to have lunch at 2, we headed straight to St Peter's Basilica where we met another incredibly long line, but this time it was very quick to go through. The basilica was massive and incredibly ornate, and included one of it's favourite pope's (John XXIII) whose actual body was preserved and put on display in the basilica...

Now I'm back in the hostel and resting my feet while deciding what Italian cuisine to have tonight for dinner. I'm not going to complain.

Rome - another day in the life of Henry King

By request of mr Buckingham here I am for another blog post. Today was an earlier start as we were off to the Vatican! I headed down to breakfast with my trusty jar of Greek Nutella in hand excited at the prospect at seeing the wonders of the Sistine chapel and others. However that excitement was slightly dulled by the two hour wait to actually get in and being told to wait by an American who believed I was jumping the queue when I was just catching up! Some people are so annoying! But once we got into the Vatican the sights were incredible. The number of statues and paintings all by incredibly famous artists - Bernini Raphael Michaelangelo the list goes on. The highlight for me was the huge last supper tapestry. After having lunch we went to St. Peter's basilica which was absolutely amazing it was the best thing I have seen all trip. It was HUGE. The rest of the day was free time so we went back to the hostel for a rest. In an hour we are going off for dinner.
By the way to mum and dad have a safe flight to London can't wait to see you in two weeks I'm so excited.

Henry king Rome blog

Henry King - when in Rome day 2
After an absolutely exhausting and mind boggling first day in Rome we set off for a second long day. We went through numerous churches all of which blew my mind - the churches here are incredible the attention to detail the sheer size of them and the amount of gold silver and jewellery are ridiculous. The best of all was the Jesuit church. We had lunch in the piazza navona where I had what else but pizza. We visited more churches with the constant on and off cycle of track pants throughout the day. The end of the day saw us see St. John Lateran cathedral the chief Roman Catholic Church which was absolutely enormous! We arrived home early and me james Robbie and will go to a pizza restaurant and get a great discount on gelato. My highlight of the day though was the pantheon especially the dome. All in all a great day looking forward to tomorrow.

And a whole lot of walking

If we accumulated all the photos that everyone on the tour has taken, we could probably feed Africa. Or something.

L

Corinth Canal — Henry King

Corinth Canal — A few of the boys

Corinth Canal — Will McKenzie

Monastiraiki Square in Athens

Lollipops/Chipmunks?!!

Hi all , I hadn’t appreciated the itinerary included a trip to chipmunks/lollipops- you boys look like you still enjoy it!

Glad to see you are having a good time. Keep posting the photos and writing ,we are all enjoying the journey.

Love Louise

Hi from home

Henry, James, Robbie and Alex

You look to be having too good a time you guys! May it continue for the rest of the trip - keep the photos and blog entries coming, we are so enjoying sharing the experience with you.
Love to you all Simone x

Rome — Vittorio Emmanuale Monument

Rome — Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli)

Rome — Colosseum

more lol!

lol!

Joseph Youl

After 23 hours of flying and 6 or 7 hours of waiting in various airports, we finally touched down in Athens. Everyone was pretty tired as they stepped off the plane but upon jumping onto the bus, the exhaustion was forgotten as we caught our first glimpses of Greece and the astonishing amount of churches from the windows. The first thing we went to after sleeping off the bus was the Palace, outside of which were guards with amusing walks and big fluffy pompoms on their boots. After witnessing the guard change we quickly viewed some ruins in the train station then headed to our hotel. Hotel economy was a very “snug” place, with 3 to a room. Once we were all settled in, we went out for a night tour of Athens. The amount of graffiti we saw was astonishing as well as the homeless people who seemed to be sleeping on every corner. After checking out the markets and some churches, we headed up Mt Lykevetis (or however it’s spelled). The view from the top was amazing and the sheer size of the city is something which I will never forget.

The next day after some much needed sleep we woke up early to milo cereal and toast and headed over to Delphi for the day. The long bus ride to Delphi was fantastic as we were able to see the beautiful countryside of Greece, a country I never knew had so many mountains. Once there, we walked up a hill, all the while inspecting ancient ruins. On the bus ride back, most people managed to have a small nap before arriving back in Athens. This sleep turned out to be rather useful as we were then set loose in Syntagma square for a few hours to shop, explore and eat. That night I enjoyed a delicious pork wrap whilst some others headed to the bakery to have filled rolls, which I must say, looked amazing.

On the third day we spent a massive day, catching the train for the first time and walking what seemed like everywhere. We visited several ruins, the names of which I cannot remember. The one thing which stuck out in that day was most certainly the Acropolis. I’ve seen pictures of it before but the size of it still amazed me. Once leaving the Acropolis, we went to the Acropolis museum and finished the day off by finding our way home, all the while checking out market stalls, set up along almost every street. Once back, we were set loose in the square, yet again. As it was out last night in Athens, most people bought themselves some souvenirs, myself included, buying a miniature helmet and archer statue. For dinner people had a variety of food whilst I had kebabs with pita bread and chips.

I’m writing this whilst speeding towards Rome in a train. The past few days have been more amazing than I could have imagined and I’m eagerly awaiting the adventures I am sure to have in Italy. It’s amazing to think that we’re only a sixth of the way through the tour.

GUY HART’S ‘INTO THE HART OF EUROPE’

After a quick and exciting flight that felt like a 5 minute trip I came, I saw and I conquered Athens’ Airport. I hopped into the hart of Athens by bus! Our first stop was the tomb of the unknown soldier who I believed died a long time ago. The most exciting part that really pushed my buttons was the amount of ‘ancient’ graffiti across Athens and the friendly hobos taking naps around every corner.

After a Hart pounding bus ride to Delphi, we made our way through the crowds of Swagger muffins who repeatedly asked my comrade, Joe Brealey, for some wacky tabacky. We were also reminded that the name of our country was NEW ZEALAND (about 100 times to be exact). After a mean feed, I saw some sweet pussycats that were extremely wild and untamed, just like a tiger. We then decided to explore the wondrous antiquities of the Museum, including some statues and a beautiful bronze of a charioteer. I really enjoyed the amount of old stuff.

Fast-forward to tomorrow, we woke up to a fine day with excited and randy dogs, which followed us throughout the city. After the Hart wrenching experience of rabid dogs, we arrived at the Archaeological Museum to see wonders such as the Zeus/Poseidon bronze statue. It was a truly hart stopping experience. After our visit to the Museum, it was time to re-join our rabid canines and venture to the Acropolis. We had to climb many stairs, to reach the tippity top of the Acropolis. We had to barge our way through the crowds of non-English speaking tourists. Once we past through the maximum security checkpoint… Did somebody say group photo? Anyway, we saw the Parthenon which was super duper, especially the Frieze. There were some pretty mean statues of some females holding up the outer part of the temple. After some quick nibbles, we decided to go explore off into the bush and slid under the fences (Indiana Jones style) and gap through some temples.

On the next jammed pack day, we had some hot weather which was a Hart warming experience. We piled onto the bus and headed off to Corinth and Mycenae. At Corinth, we had a stroll through some ruins where St. Paul hung out and saw some radical statues such as Emperor Augustus and his Grandson. We then toodled off to Mycenae to re-enact the battles of the Mycenaeans. After exploring the caves (Batman’s lair) we had to make a hasty retreat as time was short and there was much more to see. We ran through the ruins, to the treasure chambers of the Ancient Mycenaeans which was rather Hart pumping. On our running expedition, Nic had a bit of tumble but quickly recovered thanks to his will power and endurance. It was now time to head to the port and depart on the ferry for Ancona.

After a ruthless night in the Cabins, we arrived at the port of Ancona. We made haste to arrive at the train station and were greeted by a drunk local docal. We were farewelled by our new friend as we took off. I write you now (mummy and daddy) while on the train, heading to Rome. Hugs and kisses to you all xoxoxoxo

Love Guy Hart <3

Henry Tombleson

On the 21^st of April we woke up early and started our wander around the city of Athens. At the start of the day we picked up two dogs that followed us around for an hour. We first visited the National Archaeology Museum in the morning which contained some incredible exhibits. My favourites were the Zeus/Poseidon statue and the Jockey. I was slightly disappointed by the mask of Agamemnon as were some other people, although I was able to appreciate how it was a symbol of power as it was completely made of gold. Then we went to the Acropolis which was incredibly fascinating. The Parthenon was very imposing as it was so large and the ruins of it were captivating. Also the Erechtheon was astonishing especially the pillars which had been carved as women.

Then we went to the Greek Agora which was only ruins. Although it was just ruins there were still some amazing statues around. Also near the Greek Agora was the temple of Hephaestus, which was quite complete, as it had avoided the blast and debris which destroyed most of the Parthenon. It was great to see the primarily complete Doric columns here. Then we went to the Acropolis Museum where my favourite pieces were the representations of the Eastern and Western Pediments of what the Parthenon would have looked like.

While some people then went back to the motel, I went with some others with Mr Buckingham on a wander through more of Athens. Along the way we found where all the Moroccans were, and also many other fascinating markets. We then went to Monastiraiki Square where we went of and scavenged for food. I once again returned to my beloved bakery where I had a great dinner. After looking around for souvenirs, we returned to the motel and crashed for the night.

Ryan Wallath

We finally landed in Athens with 28 hours in transit behind us. ( I am not joking, in every one of our flights there was at least one screaming child, accompanied by a mother who had given up trying to discipline it- I’m sure my mum, if she were there, would have said a few strong words to these mothers). During my first day in Athens, three things struck me. first, the crazy amount of graffiti around the place, covering a wide range of topics- from cereal names, to gang signs, even caricatures of iconic popstars, there is graffiti for everyone! Second, the large numbers of stray dogs around the place, which inevitably remind me of my dog at home, although these dogs here are ridden with disease and fleas, and aren’t toilet trained. Thirdly, the amazing remains of ancient Greek civilisation, dotted around the city, from temples to Gods, Baths, and market places, and how these structures contrast with the modern graffiti ridden city.

I am writing this on a top notch ferry on the way to Italy- Now that i look back on it, There wasn’t a time when we weren’t exploring the city when we were awake. On the first day, with 45 hours without sleep, we climbed Mt. Lykeittos and witnessed an amazing view of the whole of Athens, although a bit hard to see all that this view had to offer, as my eyes refused to remain open for more than 30 seconds. The second day, we went to Delphi, which was the site of the most important oracle back in the time of the Ancient Greeks. There, we saw another amazing view, and witnessed the “ blue haze of Delphi”. After a 2 hour bus ride back to Athens, we trawled through the flea markets and around Monasteraiki square, the hangout of the local youths. This square, not only being filled with Moroccans and pickpockets, also had its fair share of “swaglords” –people with foot high mohawks and flouro sunglasses. On the third scorching day, we trekked up the acropolis- the ‘safe point’ used by the ancient Greeks- and saw amazing ancient temples like the Parthenon. True to the saying “ pics or it didn’t happen”, many pictures were snapped and will be shared.

After a few nights of wandering through the markets getting harassed by local shopowners, of countless stray dogs and one pair showing the group how much they love each other, of walking past a xxx video shop each day near the hotel, and of using a shower less than 1m squared, we are on our way to Italy, the land of spaghetti and meatballs.

P.S. Don’t let the dog run around outside by himself barking at the neighbours. Oh, and the lip balm is a lifesaver.