And my second
Messina 29/07/2017
Messina, Sicily was our second port of call. However, took a trip up to Taormina as there's more to do there then round the Messina area. The coach right was spectacular- the views were something else, with beautiful landscape and azure sea. Mount Etna was even visible, giving a chain smoker a run for their money.
Though I loved observing the scenery I'm pretty sure I napped for a good portion of the coach journey. Whoops. The spectacular views weren't restricted to the coach ride- once we arrived I the town we found we actually had a birds eye view- absolutely phenomenal!
The area we went to had lots of shops and cute cobble stoned streets. It felt very Italian. I also have to note, the locals were all so stunning looking, I felt like such a potato there! We, fortunately, managed to try some gelato, pizza and cannoli. I would have been pretty upset if I had missed out on trying those in Italy. Out trip was a brief one, sadly, but it was definitely not one I'll forget. I think it was my favourite? the views really one me over.
Venice 31/07/2017
Next up was Venice, which I was really looking forward to as I'd been wanting to visit it for a while now. While it had been pretty hot in the previous two places we'd visited, this is where we really felt the true potency of the heat. We had another tour booked, which kicked off with a motor boat ride round the water canals, looking at the sights from the boat. I must say, it was pretty damn cool to be able to cruise around in a boat and see all the lovely views.
We stopped off at a glass factory where we witnessed some glass being blown, as well as being given a chance to look around the shop. There were many pretty, ornate objects in the shop. Unfortunately my student budget didn't quite stretch enough for me to be able to purchase something. We were then transported, via the motorboat, to the main area (I'm pretty certain that's not what it's called but the name has totally escaped me. Actually, I tell a lie, I never had the name in the first place.) Anyway, it's the area where one can take a gondola ride, which is precisely why we were there. This sure was the most exciting part of the trip for me- I'd always wanted to take a gondola ride! We were presented with the challenge of dealing with following the guides through hoards of people in temperatures that I'm fairly certain rivalled with that of hell to get to the... gondola station? Again, not sure what to call it but this seems fitting to me. There really is recurrent theme of me not knowing the names of things in this post haha. It was super worth the struggle though! If you ever in Venice a gondola ride is a must. Frankly, it would be sacrilege to go and not experience one! Anyway, once that had disappointingly ended we headed back (through the crowds and the heat once again) to the motor boat to be transported back to the ship.
Cagliari 04/08/2017
Our penultimate destination was Cagliari in Sardinia. Honestly, there's not an awful lot to say as we didn't do an awful lot here. There wasn't an awful lot to do, plus it was a pretty short stop- the ship departed at 3pm. I've been to Sardinia before and the area we went to at that time was gorgeous, so I was throughly disappointed with this stop. I was honestly expecting white sandy beaches with crystal blue seas and donkey rides like my first trip but, sadly, there was nothing so exciting round here. We ended up spending time wandering round shops. The one plus is that we found a lovely jewellery shop with a good sale on so I managed to get some cute rings. That's about it though.
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| Look at how beautiful the sky is here! I don't think I've ever seen such a rich, deep, sapphire sky :o All my photos taken here are this stunning, vibrant shade of blue! |
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| A view from the motor boat. Please excuse the smudgy glass |
We stopped off at a glass factory where we witnessed some glass being blown, as well as being given a chance to look around the shop. There were many pretty, ornate objects in the shop. Unfortunately my student budget didn't quite stretch enough for me to be able to purchase something. We were then transported, via the motorboat, to the main area (I'm pretty certain that's not what it's called but the name has totally escaped me. Actually, I tell a lie, I never had the name in the first place.) Anyway, it's the area where one can take a gondola ride, which is precisely why we were there. This sure was the most exciting part of the trip for me- I'd always wanted to take a gondola ride! We were presented with the challenge of dealing with following the guides through hoards of people in temperatures that I'm fairly certain rivalled with that of hell to get to the... gondola station? Again, not sure what to call it but this seems fitting to me. There really is recurrent theme of me not knowing the names of things in this post haha. It was super worth the struggle though! If you ever in Venice a gondola ride is a must. Frankly, it would be sacrilege to go and not experience one! Anyway, once that had disappointingly ended we headed back (through the crowds and the heat once again) to the motor boat to be transported back to the ship.
Our penultimate destination was Cagliari in Sardinia. Honestly, there's not an awful lot to say as we didn't do an awful lot here. There wasn't an awful lot to do, plus it was a pretty short stop- the ship departed at 3pm. I've been to Sardinia before and the area we went to at that time was gorgeous, so I was throughly disappointed with this stop. I was honestly expecting white sandy beaches with crystal blue seas and donkey rides like my first trip but, sadly, there was nothing so exciting round here. We ended up spending time wandering round shops. The one plus is that we found a lovely jewellery shop with a good sale on so I managed to get some cute rings. That's about it though.
Such wonderful places. I enjoyed reading about them especially venice. Its a dream land. Great shots too. I thouroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThank you guys! It was so fun writing about them :) I'm glad the photos have come out nicely too, the views really were stunning so I wanted to do them justice!
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