La Dolce Vita

There is a fine line between what fashion is and what plain weird is. This line is some what blurred for a young Kiwi lad from the sticks when wandering around Milan the "world's fashion capital" in board shorts and jandals. Never have I had so many disgusted looks in my life, and those who have watched my London video know that I have worn some dumb things in public.

So Milan is a big city, with confusing bus systems and an impressive Duomo (that’s a church Levi you uncultured thug I have even added a picture for you!!) and the best Panini of my life and a lots of expensive clothes.

From Milan it was a short day trip to Lake Como for a bit of outdoor action. Having climbed the hill behind the town to reach the light house at the top I was pretty disappointed to find that it was so hazy I could barely see the town let alone the Swiss Alps as you are meant to. However thanks to the photo board on top of the hill I can show you what it was meant to look like, minus the words suspended in the sky.

From Milan it was a short train ride to Florence...... my future home. I love this place. While wandering around town I bumped into the Canadian girls, Laura, Lauren and Kristen from Madrid. Feeling sorry for me, as I had left my money at home, I was spotted a fiver and it was off for lunch. As with everywhere I go it was a public holiday and the restaurant we wanted to go was closed. I noticed a sorry looking traveller crouching over a lonely planet in the gutter. I asked him if he was lost but it turned out he was looking for the same place as us. Quick snap he was dragged off to the next available eatery by the girls and me. Arnaud was from Paris and had been travelling around Europe for a couple of months. I liked him right away as he could understand me and my Kiwi drawl and so after a lunch of Pizza and rather large beers we were off to explore Florence.

Now my ability to drink was matched equally by Arnuad's ability to sight see, after lunch the cheeky bugger (who was spotting me the entire entrance fee due to my wallet sitting on my bed) had me running up 400 odd steps to check out the view from the Duomo tower. No problem, a few more pints will crack him I thought, so after getting stuck in to a happy hour down some back ally I was left open mouthed catching flies as he suggested we check out some church just around the corner. He then had the nerve to put a guide book under my nose and forced me to learn stuff. However the Kiwi had one more trick up his sleeve "Hey Arnuad, why don’t you come back to the camp site and Ill give you the money that I owe you …plus it’s a nice spot for a bottle of wine on the terrace" A few hours later I cracked a sadistic little grin as I handed him a bus ticket and he wobbled his way towards the bus stop to get home. (Kiwi 1 Frenchy 0)

The next day I met up with Arnuad at Mario's, the restaurant we had both planned to go to for lunch. This place is open from 12 till 3pm and as I walked in I was lucky to get a seat. After choosing cheap but very tasty pasta from a menu on the wall we walked out to be greeted by a huge queue and a waiter taking names.

So our game of cat and mouse continued for the next few days as I tried to drag him into pubs and he drags me in to museums and churches. All jokes aside though, the statue of me (Michelangelo’s David) was amazing and the last judgment on the Duomo dome was very good even if it is said to be terrible as far as renaissance art goes.

I got to do a day trip to the leaning tower of Pisa, and well what do you know …. it is really leaning …. although I thought the 15 Euro to go to the top was just a bit too steep.

Finally what trip would be complete with out my three Swedish friends and their camping kitchen? My final night was spent with Arnuad, Ulrika, Rayen, Elisabeth and Ian , who we met in Valencia and we bumped into the girls at the train station. As usual the girls whipped up a quick pasta and few bottles of wine were consumed and a fun night was had in an olive grove under the stars in Florence. 6am saw Dave stumbling out of his tent to catch a 7am train to Rome to catch up with Karolina.