Italy 2005 - Chiasso/Switzerland/Tuscany

15th July 2004

Hello again all,

Well this time I write to you all from the lovely Florence. Arrived today after spending the last week hopping between Milan, Chiaso (in Switzerland), Zurich and a place called Forte Di Marmi in the north of Tuscany...quite a busy week actually in terms of where I have been but actually quite relaxing in terms of what I have done.

Last time I left you all I was just about to head to Switzerland to meet my cousins who I had pretty much never met before. Was great fun. I headed to Chiasso last Thursday which is just over the Italian border in Switzerland and was picked up by my cousin Fiore at the station. That was cool although a bit of a test for my Italian as of course he didnt speak any English. We headed to his house for a bite to eat and then we did a bit of sight seeing in his home town of Bellinzona. Visited the Forte there (which is about the only touristy thing to do there) and then explored the town admiring the beauty it has trapped in between the large mountains of southern Switzerland. Was quite stunning actually and nice to visit.

Of course seeing my cousins for the first time was the point of the visit and that was great. Fiore was very hospitable and I met his son Andrea (my second cousin) in the afternoon and he is just an angel. They were all very sweet people. The visit Thursday was of course interrupted by many sms messages from people wanting to make sure all our mates in London were safe after the bombings and thankfully they all are but what a disaster that was on the eve of the G8 which was meant to help eradicate poverty in Africa. Anyway, enough said about all that! I just hope the whole situation can improve.

Thursday night we went to my cousin Rosas house for dinner. She is Fiores sister and a lovely, lovely lady. She cried when I walked in as it was the first time she met me - her Australian cousin from Sydney and that was actually quite sweet. She and her family were just fantastic and made me feel very at home with them. We had a lovely meal Thursday night and lovely conversations despite all being in Italian and a challenge for me. It was actually a bit sad on the Friday saying goodbye to them all when I had to head to Zurich to meet my mate Daniel but that is what you get when you travel I guess!

And Friday night I got to Zurich and was picked up at the station by my Australian mate Daniel and his friend Nadine. Again I had to battle with language difficulties with Nadine only speaking Swiss German but we all communicated just fine as Daniel spoke English of course. We had a few drinks and headed back to her house to change before heading for a night out in Zurich also with Nadines boyfriend Phillip. That was quite fun Friday night and I managed to have a boogie for a few hours before we packed it in around 3am.

The rest of the weekend in Switzerland was spent at Daniels parents house about an hour out of Zurich. I have no idea where it was although not far from Sengalen. Whatever. It was fun as Daniel had a party at his parents house (as they were away) with all his Swiss mates and it was a blast. Lovely food, lots of wine and great people made for an awesome night....pretty much Sunday was recovery and then on Monday we headed for Tuscany.

Had a pretty cool ride from Switzerland to Tuscany in Daniels mums Audi convertible. Very rock star indeed and when we got to Tuscany we arrived at his parents holiday house which was high upon a hill in Pietrasanta overlooking the seaside town of Forte Di Marmi. A hard life. The house itself was a 3 bedroom Tuscany villa set high in the hills. Quite spectacular views actually and Daniels parents were awesome, very welcoming and hospitable. I truly cannot complain about that part of my holiday at all. I actually didn’t do all that much for the 3 days I was there. Pretty much chilled, caught up on my Italian studies in preparation for next weeks Italian school in Rome, ate loads, drank loads of wine and soaked up the atmosphere. Very nice indeed. Today I left their house to head down here to Florence. After a 2 hour pit stop in Pisa to have a look around and take some pictures of that leaning tower I caught the train down here to Florence and have been on the go ever since.

Once here I found myself a cheap hotel and pretty much have spent the afternoon running around Florence checking out the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, Michaelangelos tomb in the Basilica Di Santa Croce and Michaelangelo Piazza enjoying the stunning views of Florence. It is such a beautiful city and even though I was here almost exactly a year ago I am enjoying every moment of this visit. Had to treat myself to a massive Italian dinner tonight. Couldn’t resist.

Tomorrow I am going to catch as many sites as possible before heading to Rome tomorrow night to begin my 10 days there. Have to make the most of tonight though here in Florence so may hit the clubs for a drink and look around.

Anyway, next time I write I will be in Rome and hopefully have some more stories to tell. This time in 2 weeks I will be arriving back in Sydney and have to face the reality of work...in the meantime I am going to make the most of this holiday and keep up the adventures...

Hope you are all well wherever you are. Let me know what you are up to if you have the time.

Ciao for now!

Dave