Sep 2008

I left Michaela's to visit Gaby who mum in Sydney the weekend before, she lives in Freiburg in southern Germany, very close to the French and the Swiss border. I had a lovely time with her and her 2 daughters and husband. They have an art studio and her husband teaches painting, I enjoyed being in the studio and seeing all their wonderful paintings, it was incredible. Freiburg is quite a small city but incredibly beautiful, I have to say I could definitely see myself living there!!! The house was about half an hour out of the city in the famous Black Forest or Schwarzwald as its known in German. I had apples picked fresh from their trees.........so delicious! and went swimming in an ice cold river, very refreshing! They were so welcoming and it was really nice to be a part of a family, the children were gorgeous. Next stop Switzerland, a brief but great experience. I stayed with relatives in a little town about an hour from Zurich, more delicious fresh apples, a cheese fondue, raspberry picking, my own cute little house with kitchen, bathroom and all! I had 1 hour in Zurich before my train to Venice so I visited the cathedral with stained glass windows by the artist Marc Chagall, they were beautiful! The train trip was supposed to be from 1pm till 7.30 pm but I didn't arrive in Venice till 10!!! An interruption to the rtack meant everyone on the train was piled into buses for about an hour with our luggage on our laps, it was pouring with rain and there was no real indication when we got off the bus which train to get on, and everyone I asked didn't seem to know. I eventually decided to get on the train for Milan then change for one to Venice. Unfortunately that train didn't leave for about 45 minutes. A few hours down the way was the Italian border................stopped again for about an hour this time passport checks and luggage checks for some people, luckily not me, I so wasn't in the mood! So I arrived in Venice EVENTUALLY, tried to enjoy the beautiful lights across the water as I made the water bus trip to the Island of Giudecca, found the hostel and crashed into bed. Next morning I walked out of the hostel............the view was amazing!!! right in front of the water. ok 10 minutes left on my internet. loved Venice, I visited the Island of Murano where the famous venetian glass is made, had a look in St Marks Basilica, which is amazing, there is so much gold the whole ceiling is full of mosaics, predominantly gold, its sparkles! I loved the waterbuses, I bought a 24 hour ticket to go on as many as I wanted. I'll have to show you all my photos when I get home! Now I'm in Florence, yesterday I visited Cinque Terre, the most beautiful coastline I've ever seen and gorgeous little villages nestled into the cliffs. an extremely long walk up and down so many stairs but all worth the effort! Some brochure said it was 9km, some said 12 but it was absolutely beautiful, my camera got a major workout! I've visited the Ufizzi gallery and seen Boticelli's birth of venus and allegory of spring, bothe amazing paintings! today I'll queue for the Duomo Cathedral and maybe go to an opera in a church. Tomorrow its off to Assisi for 3 nights, can't wait. Have to go now but thanks so much for all the emails flooding in, I love it!!! I'll be home in 3 weeks to show all my photos and tell even more stories, lots of love Clare!!! xox xox