We wanted to find David today but sadly he was having a day off (maybe penalty rates were an issue?). 

   
 
   
   
So we walked around Florence and viewed some great buildings and bridges on a clear and sunny day. 
   
   
Church bells ring often in this town, even now at 9pm as we write.

Lunch was in a lovely sun drenched cafe on the river Arno and then back to our place for some R&R. 

We went to a bar which had a lovely atmosphere and then dinner in a restaurant which was a little below average but had a couple of Aussie families eating there. 

Teresa & Scott have caught the dreaded lurgie which Teresa is most disappointed about. Maybe a good night’s sleep may help. 

Now we are awaiting a prearranged call and then planning to track David again tomorrow before heading off to Venice for the next leg of this journey. 

We could not ignore our need for hair care any longer. After our breakfast of croissants and coffee we set out to find a last minute blow dry. We were hopeful despite the fact that it was NYE. Of course it was easy to find and we were successful at the first hairdressers.

  
Also on the cards was finalising the last week of our travels to Croatia. It is very expensive to fly from Vienna or Bratislava to anywhere in Croatia as there are no direct flights and some quoted 20 hour trip just to fly around 300km. So with further research we will catch the train to Zagreb from Vienna and then fly internally to Split. From Split we have booked the ferry across the Adriatic Sea which is quite exciting. This will take us to Ancona on the east coast of Italy where we will then catch a train back to Rome ready for our flight home.

But before then we have Florence, Venice, Ljubljana, Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna to explore.

We caught a fast Trenatalia train to Florence, upgrading to business class and enjoying complimentary prosecco and espresso while playing Uno. 

    
      
We finally met Scott and started on our NYE Adventure. 

The streets were abuzz with people and bright lights and the occasional firecracker. Dinner was in a nice Italian place where Sam, the waiter doted on us.

Our Airbnb accommodation is of a high quality Italian central apartment where  

 We all have our own bedroom(finally!)

  
Our hosts have excelled themselves with the hospitality, providing Nespresso coffee, a fridge full of food and beverages plus a traditional fruit tart (not Michele). 

 Sadly we did not make midnight but we did celebrate with Sydney earlier in the day.

Happy New Year to all!

 Today was our first proper day sight-seeing. We began with breakfast (included with our Spagna Hotel room). This consisted of a selection of croissants, pannaforte, panne tone and washed down with cappucino.
   
   
So began our Roma adventure. We walked for a full working day (20000 steps!). Our stops included: The Spanish Steps and Square
  
    

 The Trevi Fountain (very clean!)

   
 several amazing Basilica (churches) with elaborately painted ceilings and detailed architecture

   
   
The Pantheon

   
    
   
and the Colosseum. 

   
  As we walked around we marvelled at the ancient ruins and humongous buildings with columns and bronze statues. 

  
We visited these amazing places alongside half the population of Europe! Central termini was an experience where we went to buy our tickets for the fast train to Florence tomorrow. 

There are people trying to sell us selfie sticks everywhere but our own personal selfie stick(Scott) will be joining us tomorrow in Fiorenze!

On the way back to Spagna we stopped at a little deli and bought some salami, truffle spread and pecorino to enjoy with some prosecco. 

  
Mauro, our host has been very helpful, as well as being amused by Michele’s lack of ability to use the keys to open the doors in the hotel! 

An evening stroll gave us one last look at the beautiful decorations and lights still left over from Christmas…we may or may not have bought a bottle of Limoncello to complete the experience. 

   
   
A lovely adventure so far but looking forward to tomorrow when we finally see Scott. Buona notte! 

We were very lucky to get a window seat on the second leg of our journey, so we could finally view the landscape we were flying over. Thankfully the clouds disappeared and we were treated to a spectacular vista of the Middle East. As we flew over the brown desert mountains, they gradually became more rugged and snow covered. Just beautiful!

   
   
   
    
  Arrived into Rome and found our driver with the ‘Renneberg’ sign. Thanks Margaret Richmond for the advice about getting a hotel with transfers, recommended to anyone wanting to cut out any hassle and confusion at the airport!

Beautiful sunny day to greet us in Rome and a cheery and cheeky host welcomed us into our accommodation at Spagna Deluxe. Mauro was an air Stewart for 20 years with Al Italia and has made many a trip to Australia so his hospitality is of a high quality and he was able to give us good advice about what to do whilst we are here. 

   
 After a short walk through the beautiful but crowded streets of Rome we stopped for an early dinner at a restaurant called Gusto (recommended by Mauro) where we had a caprese salad 

    
(just a giant ball of buffalo mozzarella surrounded by sliced tomato and no-way-near-enough basil leaves) and a Margherita pizza 
(Nothing to write home about).

   
 Michele is now on a mission to find the best pizza in Italy! (Just an excuse to eat lots of pizza? Yes of course! Hell, let’s throw in a best red wine competition as well! ;D)

It is now 6:40pm and has been dark outside for at least an hour, we are both deriously tired and lagged and trying very hard to at least stay up until 8 before going to sleep. The Presecco that we picked up from the supermarket on the way home is definitely helping. 

   
   
That said, we both can’t wait to sleep horizontally for the first time in 30 hours. The small luxuries that you miss when you are denied of them. Until tomorrow, good night and arrivederci!

Our 15 hour flight to Abu Dhabi was pretty smooth and despite having no window seats and being stuffed into “cattle class” we could not complain about the food or facilities (although up the spiral stairs in first class would have been nice too!).  

  
Now for a couple of hour’s layover before boarding to our final destination (thank goodness the coffee isn’t too bad here). Pizza, pasta, gelato and red wine here we come! 

  
We made a friend at the airport 🙂

After spending two weeks doing everything together it was hard to say goodbye to Amadeusz. We had a lovely time with him and enjoyed seeing parts of our country through fresh eyes. But alas, Europe is calling and we must part ways. One last champas at the airport before boarding. Next stop, Rome. Arrivederci Sydney!! Saluti!

We awoke at the crack of dawn to catch our Polski bus to Wroclaw. Goodbye to our luxury apartment with the mountain views! Our hostess had arranged a taxi for us so it was a short trip to the bus station. There we boarded a two storey Red bus and managed to get the two top front seats with the best view. It was like driving without driving! This bus was also destined to finish at Berlin.

   

Day 7 Zakopane   Edit    

  Edit  

I got up and blogged away this morning until we wandered down town to have breakfast. We found a lovely timber establishment where we indulged in a typical Polish breakfast and hot coffee! It was still snowing and I couldn’t help but reflect on the fact that all this snow created work for so many people……street cleaners, footpath cleaners, driveway clearing, window scraping…..on and on the labour occurred! 

   

   

   

I am finally able to use my Polish passport for this part of the journey from London to Poland and Sweden. It will save a lot of time when re entering the UK.

   

Then a bit of shopping in the Cukiernic or market and then while we were readying for the trip to Zacopane, I looked out the window to see snow flurries. It was a bit of magic! Little did I know how this day would end!

The Spider returned to Europe and did his job of startling Scott!

   

               

  

http://youtu.be/9rOf09Pdq5A

We decided to catch the train instead of a bus to Zakopane as we thought it would be more scenic but I think we chose the pleb option. The train was very slow and basic, has many stops and no catering car in sight! The weather was grey and wet.

   

           

When we reached Zakopane, we were thrilled to see snow and a few flurries again. We caught a taxi to the luxury apartment but couldn’t make contact with the owner. This is one of the set backs of AirBnB because there is not a reception desk as in Hotels. You have to rely on phones to communicate and if your phone is playing up, you need to seek some form of communication. We waited for a bit, there was a very unhelpful woman in one of the apartments, so Scott and I dragged our luggage down to the closest cafe we could find…..about 2 blocks away. 

  

We had a nice coffee and baked Cheesecake and successfully communicated with the shop keepers to use their phone to contact our host. They spoke very little English and it was a challenge to ask to use their phone. Once into the apartment, the magic started…..it started to snow, and snow and snow. The apartment is beautiful but while I write this I am peed off that there is no tea or coffee provided, as should be the case. Again, one for Hotels!

   

        

 

   

   

The wind had died down a little from yesterday and it was a beautiful morning. I had to check out of the Hotel. Even though the rooms were small, I could not fault them in any other way. Service was exceptional, the place was very clean and the staff were very friendly and efficient. I look forward to staying there again after our trip to Poland and Stockholm. It’s called the Z Hotel, Shoreditch. The WiFi is perfect and the TV has all the Sky channels which spoils you for choice. They also provide some toiletries, coffee and tea in the rooms plus a bottle of water. All this for $250 for 2 nights is a bargain in London!