Chunnel

How was your crossing? How was Paris & how is London? Berthine

Rugby Masters

on the topic of Masters & Rugby, (not sure what MVP means though :)
but glad that Keith Simento takes it out every time :) ) Tim was it a
bit like this?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehudFbI7NvM
:)
Berthine

jean -Luc

hello Warren - I sent you an email yesterday to the other email address you gave us - No response so I am not sure if you have managed to read it or not but it relates to tomorrow and Jean - Luc
Regards
Howard
Sent from my iPad

Rome

It was surprising how much better Rome was than Athens. At the time I thought that Athens was an amazing city because it was so different to Auckland, but Rome was just so much cleaner and the buildings were still intact. All the buildings were made of a cream brownish brick which looked so awesome if your looking down a street. The roads in Rome are different to Auckland's - they are made of small square cobblestones rather than asphalt. There are also a lot of one way streets so a lot of the time you don't even have to remember that the cars drive on the other side of the road.

On the first night in Rome we went to see the colosseum, Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps. It was amazing to actually see them in person after seeing so many photos of them before the trip. The Trevi fountain was definitely one of my favourite things we've seen in Rome. Over the next few days we saw a lot of churches which were all similar in some ways but each one was unique. My favorites were probably St. Peter's basilica, the Sistine chapel and St. John Lateran. They were all really impressive as a lot of them had magnificent gold decorations all over the ceilings and some had huge paintings and sculptures everywhere. 

Seeing the Roman Forum was definitely a highlight. I got to see the arch I built in third form for my Latin project which was really cool. Like some of the places we visited in Athens, the forum was a place where it was easy to really appreciate the history of it. That afternoon, I finally dragged Mr Buckingham out on a run which was actually a really cool experience even though we were both a bit tired. We ran past the colosseum and the Circus Maximus and then back along the Tiber. It was amazing to see everything again a second time - I've found that running is a great way to see a city.

The food in Rome has been really good. Besides breakfast, most of what I had to eat has been pizza and nectarines. The pizza is fantastic here, there is no way to describe it other than the best pizza I've  ever eaten. I have also tried lasagne and some spaghetti carbonara which were amazing as well.

We went to two ancient cities during our time based in Rome which were both better than the ones we saw in Greece. In Ostia, everything was made of brick and broken down quite a lot so it was mostly just the thick brick walls of old houses that were still standing. It was a really cool place to just run around and climb or jump over walls. Pompeii was by far the most amazing ancient city we've been to. It was surprising how well preserved everything was, it was possibly in the best condition out of all the other ancient cities. It was a bit sad to think of the people who died there, especially because it was so easy to visualise it as an actual populated city. 

Our time in Rome has been absolutely incredible, but now we have said goodbye and are on the train to Florence.

Andy Stewart 

We are currently on the train to Venice, so I suppose this is pretty much goodbye to Italy for now. It's been awesome here and I will miss it. First we stopped in Rome, which has some of the greatest aspects of human history but more importantly marked the start of my gelato experience. Much time has been spent in both Rome and Florence finding the place which has the biggest scoops for the lowest price and there has not been a day without it.

On a more serious note, the sights we've seen since I last posted have been spectacular, in particular the four major basilicas, and especially St. Peter's, if only because of its sheer size and magnificence. Pompeii, Pisa, and Portica Ostia were all awesome locations as well (I found my 3rd form mosaic) and it is great to see all the places I only half-remember from when I was five. After Rome and the sheer density of monuments and galleries and churches, Florence, despite having no small number of sights itself, was almost a bit of a respite. Looking forward to Venice and then Beaucaire, but I'm sure that I will remember Italy the best.

A topic that hasn't been mentioned as much as it should have, is how great Mr Simento is. Sorry, I mean Sir Simento. Wait, no, I of  course mean Saint Simento. He has been an inspiration to the whole group with his life skills and demeanour. This has of course lead to Saint Simento winning the teacher's MVP competition everyday. He has showed his MVP-ness throughout the whole tour so far. (Paid for by the 'Ben Skeen for Kieth Simento as MVP' foundation)

 

George (with the appraisal by Tim)

Thoughts from places

Venice was definitely the place I had been looking forward to the most as the trip has been going along and it both exceeded my expectations and didn't live up to them in different parts. The first thing that took me by surprise was how filthy the water was, and I realised how silly my  hope to jump in a canal to escape from the heat was. The second was the size and frequency of the canals, of which I had thought would be as numerous as our roads and much bigger, but I really liked the flow of the city nonetheless, with canals combining with little paths through the layers built upon layers of housing, to create a sprawling maze that was lovely to wander through. 

I've decided if I ever become a rich multimillionaire Venice is the place I'm going to go, buy myself one of the mansions across the grand canal and host masquerade parties all night long. And a super yacht. Can't forget that. But seriously, the opulence of some people in Venice was jaw dropping, and it was mirrored in the prices in the shops. Highest price for an individual item was a $100000 gold necklace, but I thought it was a bit outside my price range sorry mum. Even their church screamed wealth, with almost the entire roof covered in gold mosaic because the architects had too much that they didn't know what to do with it.

Atm we are enjoying the lovely weather of beaucaire while swimming as much as we can and are leaving for Paris tomorrow. 

-Hamish 

Florence and Venice 

Florence was a really cool city. It was sort of like Rome, but felt a lot smaller and a newer. All the buildings are in the same medieval style which looked amazing from the viewpoint we went to in fiesole. One of the highlights of Florence is definitely il duomo because it is such an impressive building and Brunelleschi's dome is absolutely incredible. I also really liked seeing the leaning tower of Pisa, and doing that silly pose in front of it. The gelato in Pisa was probably the best I've had so far, so a few of us ended up getting a second cone.

There were a lot of stalls selling things made out of leather along some of the streets where we could exercise our amazing bartering skills. I got €3 off a wallet, but the best deal was when four of us bought bags and the guy eventually gave up and went down to our price. Another fantastic bartering win was in Venice were Tim and I both bought something for €2.99 and I was really stubborn about getting my 1 cent change. The lady at the stall gave us 5 cents change, and told us she hated New Zealanders. The problem on how to split the 5 cents between the two of us.

Venice was definitely one of my favourite places on the trip so far. I really liked that there were no cars at all and all the canals looked so cool. The best part was probably the view from the Rialto bridge down the main canal or the "bus" ride through the main canal back to the ferrovia. Venice was just as I expected it to be, lots of canals everywhere with buildings right on the water's edge.

Beaucaire as been like a holiday in a holiday. We've had late starts to the day and are always back at the hotel by 5 for a swim (or run). We hardly have to do any walking at all anymore because we drive everywhere in the vans. By the way, Mr Skeen is the most responsible driver I've ever seen.  The dinners have been really cool so far. We've had snails on two occasions: the first in garlic butter and the second in a stew. 

-Andy

Delicate delicacies

The food on this trip has never really driven us out of our comfort zone, until now. 

In Greece the food consisted mostly of breads and salads, with the odd kebab; not really much different from home, although the variety of breads available is certainly a lot larger than Baker's Delight's. In Rome, it's not really hard to guess that it was the classic pizza and pasta, with many of us having pizza at least once a day. Florence was surprising in that it wasn't so typically Italian, many of us had kebabs or salads. Venice was much the same.

And then we hit France. The first night was fairly mediocre, with steak and salad, but that was all to change on the following nights. The next night the cutlery laid out consisted of a weird contraption, which we thought could only be for snails, to which John firmly stated, "If they serve snail, I'm getting up and walking out of the country." Clearly, he was not exactly in his comfort zone. The inevitable dish was brought out, and after some psyching up, we actually found it to be quite tasty. 

The following night we had snail again (following the thunderstorm, I'm sure no one has mentioned it yet!). This time they were significantly larger, but although flavoured differently, were still amazing. For the penultimate dinner, we were met with a supposedly exquisite selection of seafood which was certainly unexpected for many. As a leaving treat, they baked us a sort of pavlova log, which had cream on the outside, and icecream in the middle.

It certainly has been adventure!

Fred

So Far So Good

After coming from my two favourite places so far, Florence and Venice , we head our way to southern France, Beaucaire.

On the first night in Beaucaire we see the running of the bulls at the annual festival. It was a mind blowing experience. A few of us were up and close to the bulls whilst they ran full speed right next to us. On the second morning of Beaucaire, we head to the famous bridge, the Pont du Gard. After looking at the famous bridge from a series of angles we finally get to swim in the river. On the second to last night, we go back into town to experience the end of the festival. It is tradition to hold an annual fireworks show. To be honest, I was not looking forward to it, but my opinions changed halfway through. They were the best fireworks I have seen. 

We have experienced new cultural delicacies, such as snails and hare. Each night we have had a different assortment of foods; such as, bull, snails, a weird seafood platter and the occasional quail. 

Beaucaire definitely trumps Rome and Greece, and is also up there on my top 3 list. 

See you soon, 

Darcy

Appreciate It

Beaucaire has by far been my highlight of the trip. It was much more than I saw it to be. On the first night we saw the running of the bulls through the streets of Beaucaire, and then ate Bull for dinner.

The second day of Beaucaire bought the elaborate Pont du Gard to our attention where we went swimming in the river and jumped off rock faces before the Police told us very kindly to get down. 

Dinners each night have been an excitement. We have had snails twice now, one being garlicky the other being tomatoey, and an assortment of of meats, fish and poultry. Including quail, 2 year old bull and squid. 

I have used the pool at every opportunity given and worked up a nice tan, apart from the large areas of my body which is burnt. Some of my fellow tourers have got a nice burn, including Hamish, who's whole body seems burnt, however burn and tan are the same thing. 

Daniel

A Story About Fish

The rooms at Beaucaire are a nice change to those on the train, the weather has been delightful, apart from the huge thunderstorm on Sunday. 

The running of the bulls on Friday was awesome and a bit of an adrenaline rush.

Although Beaucaire is small, it certainly has some serious landmarks, the Pont du Gard on Saturday was incredible, and the water was amazing. Popped some fat mangeres until the popo arrived.

It will be a sad sight to see Beaucaire go, it is definitely my favourite alongside Florence.

Goodbye for now,

Mitchell.

Merci

As expected the south of France is quite stunning, after hearing many a story and seeing many a picture of vast countryside the real thing does not disappoint. Rather similar to New Zealand really with the long country roads and the green environment. Tucked away here are places like the Pont Du Gard, an early Roman aqueduct asserting it's magnificence across the river Gard with huge columns curving to support the weight of the water way atop it. No doubt it is the second most brilliant part of this tour so far. First goes to St. Peter's basilica and the five euros well spent to climb the five hundred odd stairs to get to the top of the dome and gaze out in every direction from the Vatican all across Italy. 

But back to France.. We leave for Paris which will be amazing but this well needed relaxation time in Beaucaire will certainly be missed. For those who might understand our frustrations otherwise, many frisbees have been thrown, as in, free time is equivalent to a mixture of lay out practice into the pool, sky box and throws. We are warming up to once again take the title in the current indoor league. The fête of Beaucaire has also been taking place during our stay including a bull run and an immense firework display. We may or may not have almost been trampled by the hundred bulls. 

Moving back into a hostel is going to be hard after living in the luxury of 3/4 to a room with your on toilet which is separate to the shower/sink. Also to miss will be the huge and reliable not super, but hypermarket and of course the dinner. Digesting at the moment in my stomach is ice cream and meringue cake. It is currently eleven thirteen and I should probably start packing...

Au Revoir

Tristan.

Goodbye to Beaucaire

This morning we end our relaxing stay in southern France and head for the French capital. Days here have been rather empty compared to the packed days in Greece and Italy. Since breakfast has been at 8:30, we can enjoy relative sleep-ins. Getting back to the hotel around 5:00, many jump into the pool to cool off after a hot day.

Something which has been quite interesting here is the three course restaurant dinners. On our first night dessert was simply a packaged ice cream cone. We have had snails twice. The plate of seafood on Monday night we had was disappointing due to the lack of flavours. Tuesday's dinner was much better with pasta and dessert, a Norwegian omelette, being very tasty. One of the best things for me about dinners has been having fresh greens for the first time since leaving New Zealand.

I am looking forward greatly to Paris. Days will become busier which may be a good thing as I miss these sorts of days and Paris is a whole new city to experience.

Dillan

The story so far

So we're hitting the road to Paris, and we've done and seen some awesome stuff. We saw lots of churches in Rome, some of us bought blades in Florence, climbed a building to find a shortcut in Venice and ate a lot of snails in Beaucaire. With 9 nights left to go, and the tour winding to a close, it weird to think how long we've been on this thing, and how much stuff we've done. Two and a half weeks ago we were being ordered to hate and ignore gypsies, and watching a junkie spas out in Athens. London and Paris to go, bring on the berets and skinheads. 

Haven't blogged in awhile but we are off to Paris tomorrow from Avignon via a four hour train ride. Beaucaire has been the most relaxed place we've stayed in, especially because the masters hired vans to drive us around in. The temperatures here are similar to previous places but there is noticeably more wind which is pleasant. The largest, loudest and brightest thunder storm I have ever seen occurred last night. It was totally awesome. The pool is super awesome here as well.

Luke

Venice and our Epic Adventures across Southern France

Last day in Beaucaire and we're all forced to blog so here's mine.
Venice was a spectacular place; so many canals and on a lovely day, it makes the experience a lot better. We were split up in groups and told to find the Rialto Bridge. Some of us got sidetracked and went to buy souvenirs instead.
The 'Most Expensive Item in the Square' game was pretty fun. Luke eventually won that with a 100.000,00€ gold necklace. On the way off the boat we managed to lose the nut of the wheelchair again, but some Good Samaritan found one in a construction site nearby which was the exactly perfect size for the chair. Bless his Soul.
The train to Dijon wasn't as cramped as I thought it would be. We ended up playing Shnaps (a game where you guess which famous person is stuck to your forehead). Apparently we transited through Schweiz which was nice.
We had a lovely morning walk in Dijon (because we can) and finally got a French pain au chocolat.
The town of Beaucaire seemed to be really clean, in stark contrast to Naples.
Our hotel is even better, since they actually served us snails (which didn't taste bad at all).
The dinner, in the past few days, were really awesome and they served up a few specialities from the region.
We found out that there was a fair in Beaucaire so later the first evening we walked along the French roads to Champs des Foires and checked out the fair. It involved many people trying to grab onto the tails of bulls which were running past. Yesterday, we went to see the fireworks after dinner and they were much better than anything I've seen in NZ (and it was difficult trying to hold up an iPod for 13 minutes…)
A couple of highlights on the minivan trips was the tale of Tim's chair, the fact that we got lost in Avignon, the wait in Arles we endured before everyone else miraculously found us at the amphitheatre jumping up and down between a few cars. Others include Mr Skeen's and Mr Simento's vans blasting music, and pretty much everyone was sleeping on the way back from a certain place.
One day we had a massive thunderstorm and everyone was talking about it. That was probably the first time the Weather Channel was ever correct up to 1 hour.
We went to the Pont du Gard and had a great swim in the river. Some of us got told off for jumping from the cliff face into the river. Others were trowing stones and seeing how far it would bounce. Others didn't participate in any of the festivities of the river.
Nîmes was a pretty nice town, much like Beaucaire.
I especially liked the castles of Beaucaire and Tarascon. It seemed weird that the two towns both had mythical monsters from the same river. Maybe they're friends I don't know. The two towns are just 1km away from each other, this denoted on road signs 'Beaucaire - Tarascon'.
Carrefour was absolutely brilliant. So many bargains; I could literally spend the whole day trying to find and get the best deal. I mean, how could you turn down a Smart Cover for 10€?!
Today's excursion to Orange (no not the fruit there are too many) involved Henry and Mr B singing down near the orchestra pit and people clapping for them (because we wanted to observe the 'acoustics' of a Roman theatre).
Free time was from 2:45pm onwards, the earliest so far in the trip. Leisure activities included spectating table tennis matches, playing table tennis, cannonballing into the pool, amongst other more sophisticated activities such as diary writing and reading The Great Gatsby in French.

A bientôt

Jason Xu

Photos #2

P.S. Irish hops are awesome.

Clickity Clack, Clackity Click

After a very fast-paced Rome, Florence and Venice, and an interesting train ride, here we are in Beaucaire. Spending three hours in the cool pool in the 33 degree heat is very nice indeed, although I miss the action-packed days of Rome and Florence.

Rather than fill this space with text, how about I fill it with things that tell 1000 words?

(This could be a dud post, as the photos may not upload, but fingers crossed!)

Fred

Matt Wylie update

Matt

I know you are extremely busy. Perhaps you could just fill out this quick survey. Please tick where appropriate

1.       I am alive……..(go to Question2)      I am Dead…….(end of survey)

2.       I am washing ………                                 I am not washing………

3.       I am eating heaps…….                          I am not eating ………..

4.       I am having a great time…….              I am bored……….

5.       I am missing home………                      I have a home??..........

6.       I have enough money…….                   Send more money ………

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Blogging at Gunpoint

So we finally made it to the south of France. It's hot here. It's hot everywhere, but that's okay, the masses of sun burn have made some pretty masterpiece-esque singlet tans, cough cough Lewis. We've basically spent the entire time screeching through France in minivans driven by a crazy person, an MVP/saint and a Latin Teacher. Needless to say we've only mounted the kerb about 3 or 4 times. Karate-oke should be an Olympic sport, we'd get gold every time. 

Italy etc was cool. Aside from watching the hilarity that is the rowers buying weapon after weapon following their Arabic gown purchases, the whole place is just really really cool. Lots of great food, even though we hear a "I got ripped" story almost every day. 

Life is pretty good here, it's almost a shame we only have another two weeks or so here. I could do with a few more garlic snails and more sun time I think. 

Henry, Chris, Lewis and John

Money makes the world go round

During the course of our travels we have been entertained by the many different attempts used by people to get money.

Some have played music, sung or danced in order that they may earn some dough. Others have dressed up in funny costumes or done weird things to attract tourists' money. One guy was dresses in a full gold-coloured sheet thingy with an Egyptian mask. Another was somehow levitating in the air, sitting with legs crossed, holding only onto a pole. These are the more interesting types.

Another group is the people walking around without a true stall trying to sell junk. Rose sellers try to earn sympathy by claiming the money is for their baby and point to the lump around their stomach which is probably just some form of padding (Bucko said that they are professionals and would do this) In our first night in Rome, wherever we went, we were met by people shining green lasers on the ground and on faraway buildings. These are interesting the first few times but become extremely annoying. Cold water and postcards are also sold by people. On one occasion, in the Vatican queue, some of us made fun of these people. Hamish pointed out that the guy only showed 15 postcards when he was selling 20. To the guy saying "water for one euro" Chris said "I give you water, you give me euro." Those things which you throw against the groud and they reform again (such as that thrown by Finn Lloyd on the first tour onto the roof of the hostel in Rome (and is still there)) are also sold by people looking depressed as they constantly throw them down repeatedly.

The last group is the people just plain begging. These were more common in Rome. Some have disabilities or deformities and try to earn sympathy for this.  Others wait outside main tourist sites, like some of the churches, or train stations and hold their hat or cup up.

In New Zealand I have seen buskers but none of the other types mentioned above. I know beggars are present due to the discussion about them in the media before we left. I do feel sorry for some of them and it is sad to see the extreme opulence in churches and then someone outside begging. 

Enough of depressing talk, now we are in Beaucaire enjoying the sun and the pool and plenty of relaxation time.

Dillan

Thunder and Lightning very, very Frightening

Some people might be saying where are Tim’s blogs? Why is he not communicating with us? Well I’ll tell you why, this administration is corrupt beyond measure. The pompous bureaucrats sitting at the back of the train, playing meaningless games, are unwilling to step up to their duty and admit to their faults. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt though, it was probably just an accident with no malicious intent and my previous entries may surface eventually.

Anyway Rome was hard to describe; stunning is too easy, ancient is too meaningless, pensive is too Lewis. I believe the best way to describe Rome is through its drain covers which have the letters SPQR meaning in Latin, the Roman Senate and People. It can be hard to comprehend for some people just what that means, especially what it means to me. To have a city integrated with buildings of ancient legends is just the greatest thing I would want. Rome is magical in most ways and has charmed me like most other cities have not.

If I had just one opportunity to see something again in Rome, I would go see the Sistine Chapel again. Words can’t explain what I felt when I entered and saw the unbelievable art covering the wall and roof. In a way it was like having a Baroque style church except instead of statues there is just masterpieces of art everywhere I looked. It was the single greatest piece of art I have ever seen.

Just to finish I’ll tell you about a more surreal moment that happened to me yesterday. So we were at Pompeii and in an attempt to save time, Mr Skeen and I left early to try get to the train on time. Unfortunately there were no signs pointing the way to the train station so we took a wrong turn. Thence the surreal moment ensued where I had Mr Ben Skeen, International Rugby Referee and teacher, pushing me at full speed through an Italian town, in a wheelchair, on the opposite side of the world from my home, people looking at us and going along the side of the road as if we were a car, but all I know is that I appreciate it.

Tim Meyer-Smith

p.s. There was thunder while we were at the Vatican

These are my top 10 favourite places so far:

1.       Sistine Chapel

2.       Trevi Fountain

3.       Delphi

4.       Santa Maria della Vittoria

4.       St John Lateran

6.       Pantheon

7.       Saint Paul’s without Walls

8.       St Peter’s Basilica

9.       Raphael Rooms

10.   Forum Romanum

 

Afterthoughts, before thoughts, and inbetweenthoughts

Your brilliant blogs have me really reminiscing of that time long ago when I, as a young boy, went on a Western Heritage Tour.

I do wonder how you managed to survive the heinous heat which would have evilly encapsulated you along the stop-start train that is Mr Buckinghams Roman Church Tour.
Our tour surely struggled to commendably cope, our barraged brains eventually gave up even consciously complaining about the tyrannical temperature.

I'm not sure if any of you made the (brilliant) decision of climbing up Il Duomo (Tim I do understand if your participation is lacking in this particular activity), but if you did, I would like to express that I successfully took photos for EIGHT random different persons/parties (and might I add, with their cameras as well as their consent) ((the latter is debatable)) once at the top.

Ok well continue to have a brilliant time. Or begin to, if you haven't been already. Breaking out the old 175g might help with this.

P.S.
Tim and Tristan, if you somehow neglect so see the Lion King show in London while having the opportunity, DO NOT BOTHER COMING HOME.

P.P.S.
If you are on the Tour, reading this blog and know that Tim and Tristan have not seen this message, please tell them to.

P.P.P.S
Dftba


Regards,
Loosh

J. Chaffey Blog 3

Today we leave Rome and head to Florence and as soon as we arrive we get straight to it and jump on a train to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and pose like every other tourist. We spent a long time Rome compared to the other cities we will see. However, Rome definitely deserved all the time we spent in it and there was never a dull moment from walking around the Colosseum to gazing upwards at the work of Michelangelo in St Peter’s Basilica. Thankfully Rome is in much better condition than Greece and there are fewer stray dogs and not as much rubbish or graffiti and the trains are so much better than anything like home. Yesterday we saw Pompeii and that was mind blowing because I had read and heard so much about it that it was fascinating to see it for once in real life, even if the plaster casts of the dead bodies were rather depressing. A similar place to Pompeii was Ostia which was an old town that was situated on the mouth of the Tiber and we ended up playing “accumulative” tiggy which made the ruins that much more fun to explore as you were frantically searching for a spot to hide or trying to evade our fellow players.  On Friday we walked to the Vatican and spent the day exploring the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica, what made the day that much more interesting is that we were free to explore by ourselves by about 2 30 which meant we got to explore St Peter’s in our own time. Because  of this luxury a few of us decided to pay the 5 euros to walk to the top of the dome and look down upon the people within and then look out over the whole of Rome. The night was topped off by finding a cheap and tasty restaurant whose chef looked like he could have been from the mob and so we nick-named him Fat Tony, his pasta was simply to die for. Just like Greece I don’t think I could ever live here but I would like to return to see it all again but I certainty would not be able to do it at the pace we have, to do what we have done in a mere 6 days is nothing short of a miracle with a few close calls on timing. Just before I go I must admit being able to use a washing machine to do all my washing at once was so good and for only 2 euros to wash and dry (we split it between 4 of us) it made everything smell nice and meant I had more time to explore Rome and so was 2 euros well spent!

 

Missing Blogs

ROWERS (except Matt) 2

We have arrived in Rome and the ladies of the city are swooning. We were ripped off at dinner tonight by some New Zealand hating waiter #thehaters.  He promised to be our friends forever and even greeted us with “sup bros “ and “cheers mates”.   We went to the Coloseum today and got nice and sweaty and took heaps of selfies. There was heaps as gold on the ceiling of the churches and the ceilings paintings vexed us to the days with their Soodo-falling  illusions. Ananas juice is top stuff #seeyousoon

The Rowers (except Matt) and Lewis and Sood.

 

Your Train Itinerary

You guys will pass through Bologna today on the way to Venice and then at night you by train in your couchettes you will cross The Alps. No need for elephants any more these days! I am curious what the exact itinerary is for your train journey tru the Alps from Milano to Dijon (famous for it's mustard). Berthine.

Italy (up to now)

Italy has been amazing, much better than Greece I think (no offence).
Rome is a wonderful town, though it does seem very old but I guess that's consistent with other European towns.
Once when a group of us went back to the hostel via the metro from the Vatican, Qinhao managed to squeeze past a (hot) girl and the expression on her face after he had done so was absolutely priceless.
Florence is even better than Rome, as it's cleaner (probably because there are fewer people and because it's Florence). Il Duomo and the cathedral was absolutely amazing and one could spend literally hours looking at the superficial decorations.
Sienna yesterday was awesome too. One could get a massive slice of pizza (about 5/7 of an NZ pizza) for 3€ and it tasted really nice.
There are gelato places everywhere; it's amazing. We've all spent so much on it I'm the past few days.
Hopefully Venice will be absolutely wonderful and "WE SHALL APPRECIATE IT" – Mr Skeen

Couldn't be stuffed writing this in French, but wait till Beaucaire.

Xu


Felix tibi dies!

We are in Florence. It is my favourite place so far. The Uffizi was awesome but the religious paintings are becoming tiresome. The still life and portraits are my favourite. Churches here don't even compare to Rome. Also found some pretty decent shops here. Off to Venice and over-night train tomorrow. 

Luke

Roma lingers

Yes Fred I can imagine about Roma, it has a very special relaxed warm sensual quality to it with some very friendly and warm people and beautiful huge marble statues and food and all the history right there things from the 1st century still standing in the midst of everyday life. I can thoroughly feel what you mean! I bet your sister feels the same about being there, imagine her she can keep
coming back and back. Watch some movies with Marcello Mastroianni in like La Dolce Vita that is set in Roma, it encapsulates some of the feeling.

Firenze

Is everything still 'peperduur' there? (Use google translate to translate 'peperduur' from Nederlands aka Dutch to 'pepper-expensive as pepper') When you'll come to Venice you can find out why and when Dutch people took on this expression to denote something very expensive.
How much for a gelato?

'a mum' (guess which one :) haha)

Backlog

22 July 

Leaving Rome, I'm really quite sad to be leaving, I was beginning to grow quite fond of the city. Last night, seeing as it was the last night, we splashed out at a restaurant and it was very quaint to be sitting outside in the cool Roman air (for once) eating our three course meal. As they say, good things never last forever, so off we are to Florence, on another adventure! It will hard to beat Rome, it had such character.

On another note, we've had two days of thunder!

From a tired Fred, bye!

Internet Access Resumes

On the way out of Rome. Man this place is different from NZ, there's just so much history hiding behind every building and side street. The roads themselves have been the roads of kings and ones and artists and architects of the highest grade. It's really just phenomenal. The food here's obviously awesome and the whole place is just intact and beautiful, unlike most of Greece which is just a shadow of what it obviously once was. It's just crazy coming from somewhere like Auckland and seeing this massive juxtaposition. It's really pretty awesome. And seeing as we only almost managed to get into one altercation with drunk Italian skinhead teenagers, I'm calling this one a success. Hopefully Florence is half as cool as this place has been. 

Henry L

Missing boys?

Dear Mr Crosby

Thank you for your instructions on the search for your missing son, James. After concluding our initial investigation, we agree there may be some possibility he has been separated from the touring group. We have scoured the tour blog but there has been no posting, nor mention of his name in any of the other boys’ postings. In fact, of the 24 boys on tour, we have only been able to positively identify 15, plus “rowers” (of a number undetermined). This raises the possibility that the tour group may have split into two, supported by the notable absence of any group photos, whereas on the previous tour there were many. Of the Masters, there is mention of “Bucko” and “Skeen”, but no mention of Mr Simento, who we understand was the one nominated to remain behind to search for lost boys. Our best appraisal is the missing boys (and poor Mr Simento) are likely lost in Athens, but could still be in Dubai as we noted a suspicious reference in one blog to boys “getting in touch with their Arabic side”. While you’ve expressed a wish to cancel James’ money card, we recommend you resist this course of the action, at least for the moment as any withdrawal may give a clue to the boys’ whereabouts. In the meantime we await your further instructions.

Yours faithfully

Miss Singh – Private Investigator

 

P.S. Please find attached our invoice for services rendered to date. We apologise it’s more than our original quote, but unexpectedly we had to engage the services of a French translator.

Martin Crosby
T. +64 9 630 1550 M. +64 21 757 014 E. martin @crosbybusiness.co.nz

 

 

A blockage with the blogs?

We hope Tim didn't spin out descending the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

Wylie post

Hi Matt

I assume that the trip is going really well. I have assumed that because I have not heard a single thing from you . No blog.  No contact. No request for money. Nothing.

Hopefully you are taking in some culture. You could certainly do with some.  Make sure you wash occasionally and shave your moustache. Drink lots of water and be careful  crossing the road.

We just had 4 days skiing at Treble Cone and now your sister is much faster than you.

 

Martin Wylie

General Manager

Fyran Boats Ltd

11 Reg Savory Place

East Tamaki

Auckland NZ

Ph 0064 9 2731700

MOB 0064 21 376450

 

Dillan Gosha Blog

Magna Urbs Roma - Dillan Gosha

Now we are in Rome, the part of our trip which I have been looking forward to the most.  The city is much different to Athens and seems a bit nicer than Athens. I particularly like the roads and footpaths. The roads are made from black bricks rather than just flat black tar in NZ. SPQR (Senatus PopulusQue Romanus - the Senate and the Roman people)  can be seen many times on covers in the footpaths. However, this does seem a bit depressing as it seems that when you step on them, you are stepping on the once great Roman republic and empire, symbolising its downfall.

While in Rome, many churches have been seen. All have been magnificent inside, something which the outside does not always indicate. The roof of Il Gesu was incredible and actually looked like people were falling from the sky. The Vatican was also incredible. Photos were not allowed in the Sistine Chapel so we could not take any of Michelangelo's amazing work on the ceiling. St. Peter's Basilica was enormous inside and spectacular to see. After paying €5.00, I climbed up the dome for some great views down into the church and then even higher for some views across the city.

Mentioning churches rises another point. Some of the Greek and Roman buildings we have seen have been ruined by their conversion into churches as I would much rather see them intact in their original state. The Parthenon was converted into a church, then a mosque. Supposedly the sculptures on the temple were torn down because they were symbols of the Pagan religion. The gates of the Pantheon in Rome (which originally came from Corinth) were melted down and refashioned by Bernini into a sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica. The Pantheon itself was converted into a church. I wish that people had respected other religions more and built their own churches rather than modifying the Greek and Roman temples.

So far I have been sufficiently whelmed by Rome. I was underwhelmed by the Circus Maximus, which is now only a piece of grass with stones, bearing no sign of its use as a racetrack by the Ancient Romans other than its shape.  I was overwhelmed by the amount of tourists at the Trevi fountain, the Vatican and the Coliseum. Bucko said that the time spent in queue at the Vatican was longer with the first group even though we were there for what seemed like ages. Also overwhelming was the colossal Coliseum itself. Again I wish it was complete and not destroyed by quarrying.

Food in Rome has been great. I have managed to have pizza for every lunch and dinner except one. The lemon sorbet gelato I had was really really really nice. There are some weird things they put on pizzas which I have never seen before such as potato. Despite the previous run of sunny weather, it actually rained while we were in the Vatican and there was some impressively loud thunder.

Only two more days in Rome, although one is spent in Naples and  Pompeii. Feet are sore from walking around everywhere. For now the Legio Grammatica marches on to its next adventure.

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Do you guys have photos?

Thanks for keeping us up to date with your blogs. We are thinking of you every day and excited that you are all experiencing new  and interesting cultures, cities and history. We are with Sam in NYC running to an itinerary heavily influenced by his Europe trip with Mr Buckingham 4 years ago!! ie. the need for speed - and making sure we see as much as we possibly can :) Keeping enjoying  the fantastic sights, sounds, tastes & new knowledge. Love Mum & Dad

Having been on this amazing adventure through the artistic and archeological exploits of European culture, I'm more than certain that most of you will have no time to read this. But if you do, make sure you stop and go out and experience everything you can. You're on a once in a lifetime journey so go out there and wander the streets without a map or a plan. Because you're bound to just walk around a corner and stumble upon something incredible. 

Love, Sam 

Ps. Once you reach Beaucaire you will go mental with all the down time. So try and keep occupied. Patrick and I built a fort in our hotel room and played spotlight.  I guess you could try that.

From Mum: definitely get a map!!!!! xoxo

Enjoy the Italian food

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No we don't miss you at all! Less worries & drama with sickness, talkback etc. hahaha have fun woz & co loving the peace & quiet here ;)
Do enjoy the food in Roma with the beautiful herbs and do try the spaghetti vongole and I would love to be there for the trip to 'manicomio' Napoli to enjoy some real pizza Napoletana!!!

a mum

your french Jason

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Hi Jason,

Your French does not always tie in and since you wanted to know here goes:
Je crois que le fait qu'il faut boire plein d'eau sur le vol. means: I think the fact that you drink plenty of water on the flight.??

Berthine

Ripped Off

16^th July

I am writing this as we pull out from the Statione Ancona on the four hour train ride to Rome. The rowers are playing "Ruse" – a variation on Cheat – and 500, which they must be quite good at by now. The sun is bearing down thirty-degree heat on the beach-goers, wandering the beaches littered with umbrellas.

We have been resting for the last twenty-four hours on the cruise ship the crazy Europeans call a ferry. The pool was well used by many, and it was amazing to collapse on the chairs in the lounge. I'm sure the bar staff in the lounge was sick of the card games and shouts of disbelief as John and Rahul dazzled us with their card tricks. The cabins were surprisingly small, and as such it was quite a challenge to get things in and out of our suitcases. On the flipside, they were quite luxurious and the bathrooms were nicer than those at the "Hotel Economy" where we had just stayed.

Something we have collectively learnt during this trip is to never take anything for granted in Europe. An example of this is during dinner-hunting a few nights ago, we were met with a deal we could not refuse – a 3€ "Gyros", a kebab with sour cream, meat, and sauce. We found it was a cracker deal when we saw it had been decreased from the list price of 9€. First off they tried to convince us to pay for a more expensive meal, promising us free drinks if we spent more. This ruse did not faze some members of our group, and this quote from Rahul springs to mind: "You can't con an Indian." While we were bartering, they subtly brought out bottles of water, tricking us into thinking they were free. Later on, as Henry was settling the bill we found out that they were in fact 3€ each! It was a lesson well learnt; we sparred with them, and they won.

Another example of this was during the ferry ride; we wanted to try out some of the food on the ferry (which turned out to be quite lacklustre). The list price for a pork rib at the buffet was 8,40€, but Henry ended up paying 14,20€, after being smashed for the chips and bread he had chosen to get in addition which he was convinced were complimentary.

I would have mentioned all the amazing statues, temples, and other things, but there has just been so much, and I would probably put a shame on the history of the places with my poor knowledge. I will say that the very large marble and bronze statues have impressed me the most, with their intricate details of the drapery and of the body. The Parthenon was also quite impressive, it is literally jaw-droppingly impressive, both in scale and architectural beauty.

Now the view out the window has changed to steep hills, with the occasional tunnel, and I finish this blog post. 

Hope you're not missing your children too much yet!

Fred

Food

The record of Mercer iii

To those whiling away their time with less important matters...

Choosing which of the many Europian waiters to follow, while scavenging for a 3 euro meal, on the graffitied back streets of a foreign town is the hardest part of hunting for some Kai. Whether the decision to succumb to their persistent nagging comes across because of a herbal smell coming from deep within their gloomy taverns, the fact that you're simply too tired to walk any further or you like the look of the Italian chick standing outside, the result is always the same. A solid and master chef standard dish. After spending a little more than you'd hoped you move next door and scoop up an ice cream maybe later even feel like you've bargained for a touristy nick nack which you have no use for.

The nicest feeling however is the free reign one has over the super market raking up a sweet lunch. Pizza being the most favoured amongst the bradas since arriving time in Rome can be bought for 1-2 euros for 2 massive slices. Also popular are juice cartons, peaches, chips etc.

A quick update for mommy xoxo:everything fine I know your missing me however this is only one way.

Tristan.

Chaffey Number 2

So far so great, it’s incredibly hot here and the food is great here in Rome! I must admit though I am missing home and all the creature comforts but this place is amazing and we have done a consider amount more walking than I am used too but we have seen some many beautiful and amazing things here so far. What I have noticed here in Rome so far is the immense wealth the Church had in its time, the churches here are simply astounding and there is never an empty spot on the walls to be found. Pizza has been the diet of choice lately and I can’t say that I don’t enjoy it and some of the fruit here is extremely cheap considered to back home.

Washing would have been a problem but we managed to find a washing machine and dryer at the hostel here for only $4 euros for each and split between four it really wasn’t that bad! My hopes of growing out a little bit of a beard while on this trip were quickly dashed by the masters as I have to shave at least every 2 days, a thing I would never dream of back home. Today we saw the Colosseum and that was amazing to see after all those postcards and pictures today and also the pantheon was pretty amazing the detail that goes into the marble statues is astounding and almost lifelike. However the best church was the Il Jesu had paintings on the roof that literally looked as if people were falling down onto us, Mr Skeen says it is the third best in Rome. The highlight today was the Roman forum on the palatine hill which still relatively stands somehow and symbolizes how great the Roman architectures were!

P.S missing everyone back home and love the emails from back home!

 

Athens by Jason Xu (and good luck with this one...)

Le vol, Athènes et les environs de Grèce (et le ferry)

Je commence mon article disant que c'était bien jusqu'ici. Nous sommes fatigués mais on a beaucoup d'énergie de continuer.
Je crois que le fait qu'il faut boire plein d'eau sur le vol. Dubaï a nous donné une indication qu'il fera très chaud en Grèce. J'avais un Big Mac à poulet à l'aéroport. On était trop fatigué après les vols. De pire si on n'avait pas beaucoup de sommeil. Quoi qu'il arrive, il faut qu'on continue.
Athènes, à mon avis, une ville avec plein de patrimoine mais les jeunes de nos jours à la 'détruit'. Il y a beaucoup de graffiti; certains sont, ironiquement, presque les pièces d'art mais la plupart ne sont pas agréable. La plupart des maisons est blanche et alors on peut voir, sans concentrer, les arbres verts, les maisons blanches et les rues grises.
Le jour avant hier, Dillan Gosha a été enlevé d'une boutique parce qu'il a dit qu'il n'achètera rien, et je le trouve amusant.
La Place Monastiraiki avait plein de touristes et était très intéressante. Il y a des gens qui a essayer de nous vendre des choses et quelques gens qui vient de Morocco. Malheureusement Fred a vu quelqu'un qui a volé quelque chose dans une poche d'un touriste. L'autre Jason et moi avons rencontré une couple australienne sur la place hier mais nous avons raté voyant une personne qui semble d'être sur l'influence de drogue.
Les soirs on était fatigué mais on retourne à l'hôtel les trois jours à environs dix heures et demi du soir. (Mais hier était environ 21h30)
Je l'écris sur le chemin à Patras et je voudrais aller en Italie maintenant après quelque jours en Grèce. Il faisait beau tous les jours jusqu'ici avec pas beaucoup de nuages alors on doit trouver l'ombre d'un arbre pour maintenir le homéostasie et de réduire le taux de transpiration.
Quelques choses à noter: le prix de sans plomb est environ 1,70€ mais le prix d'une bouteille d'eau minérale était 0,25€ pour 1,5 litres. Et le premier jour beaucoup a acheté la même bouteille à l'hôtel pour 1€… évidemment il faut qu'on paie attention aux prix en Europe. L'eau de la méditerranée est vraiment bleue, peut-être plus bleu qu'à Auckland. Le pollution d'air (ou la poussière) est vraiment pire qu'en Auckland. Le paysage est composé des montagnes couvertes avec des arbres largement rond, des pylônes, des usines abandonnées, des églises byzantines, les maisons blanches et, bien sûr, le graffiti sur le mur partout en Athènes. Ce n'est pas si prévalent à Corinth et je crois, Patras. (Edite: non le problème est pire qu'en Athènes) Aussi les voitures plus lentes sont conduites près de la bord de la rue, particulièrement sur les autoroutes. La plupart des magasins est fermée le dimanche et ça m'énervais hier. On voit que Grèce a investi plein d'argent à l'énergie renouvelable, avec de turbines de vent et des panneaux solaires partout. On a porté des lunettes de soleil toujours parce que la lumière ici est trop intense.
Après être arrivé à Patras, nous embarquons sur un bateau qui s'appelle Superfast XII. C'était luxurieux, avec quelque restaurants et il semble très propre. Nous avions des cabines qui a de la place pour quatre. La plupart de temps j'écrivais dans mon cahier et voyais les autres jouant aux cartes (y compris Batoque et 500). Le bateau s'est arrivé à environs 13h30 et nous embarquons dans un train pour la Rome. Ancona semble un petit peu plus moderne mais, pareil à Athènes, elle a aussi un problème de graffiti. (certains sont pire qu'Athènes incroyablement)

J'espère qu'on a des bons vacances, n'importe où on soit, n'importe qui. J'avais beaucoup à dire, mais soit que je ne pourrais pas écrire en français, ou je les ai oublié.

Xu (évidemment)
S'il y a des fautes, m'informez s'il vous plaît. :)


Felix tibi dies!

Lots of fun reading the blog

Thanks everyone!

 

It is great to read through your updates especially when it is so cold and dark here and we are stuck indoors working.  I can just visualise you all exploring and interacting with the people you come across.

 

Pleased you are enjoying yourselves and look forward to the next instalments.

 

Sheryl

Wow - wonderful postings guys

Thanks so much for the postings (and google translate) - glad you are
having an awesome time.

It is 38 degrees at the moment here in Auckland.... Fahrenheit!

Here's a tip: if anyone throws a baby at you, do what Quade Cooper would
do and throw it straight back at them!

Keep the great updates coming.
cheers
Rory

Hotel for the stay in Roma

Transit

Hi all. Currently on the train to Rome from Ancona, watching the picturesque Italian countryside roll by. The bus and train rides have been remarkably pleasant just sitting in our comfy seats, talking, resting, watching and playing lots and lots of cards. Despite Tristan’s and my utter destruction at the hands of the teachers playing 500, our enthusiasm for it hasn’t waned and it’s what we’ve been playing mostly, combined with bartoque, scum, cheat, and even some Race for the Galaxy you’ll be happy to know Dad :D.

I’m talking about small pointless things like cards not for lack of other substance, but on the contrary for too much else to talk about. All the art and sculptures we have seen recently have been amazing of course, although I still struggle to comprehend how long ago they were made. I’ve particularly liked these small figurines of animals and people made from clay that every household seemed to have some of, as they seemed like some of the useless things I’d like to collect and they were all beautifully crafted. The temples and ruins have been amazing, although a lot of imagination is needed to see what they would have looked like in their prime. My favourite has been the theatre at Delphi, as it was an outside theatre with the stage backing onto the valley, so the audience watching would always have this absolutely amazing view down the hillside to look at when the performances got too boring.

My biggest penny drop moment would have to be during our trip to the Acropolis museum, when I realised the Elgin marbles that Mr Buckingham kept going on about were not some very expensive marbles of the kind that a child would play with, but in fact the priceless statues that Lord Elgin pillaged from the Acropolis. Learn something new everyday J.

That’s all for now.

­­­-Hamish

 

Iter in Graecia – Dillan Gosha

After over 20 hours of flying, we touched down in Athens in the afternoon.  On our journey to our hotel many things became apparent.  The weather was much hotter than in New Zealand.  There were a large number of people on motorbikes, often two or three to one bike.   Graffiti was EVERYWHERE, in both English and Greek and some was quite artistic. Our lungs were assaulted by the people smoking in the street, much more than there is in New Zealand. Our night walk was up to Mount Lycevettos (or something like that) from where we enjoyed spectacular panoramic views across the whole of the city of Athens.

On the next day, we journeyed to Mt Parnassus, the location of Delphi.  This ancient archaeological site was home to the Pythia (the great Oracle of Delphi), and the Pythian games, with a theatre and a stadium.  We also went through the museum there, seeing the omphalos (the stone which marked the centre of the world), the charioteer and many other ancient artefacts. The next day of our journey started in the National Archaeological Museum, where Bucko told us to find the replica Athena Parthenos but then deliberately avoided it on his tour around. Many photos were taken here of the wonderfully detailed sculptures and statues.  In the heat, we ascended the Acropolis, taking in the massive Parthenon, which I wish was still complete – it would be amazing.  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos in the Acropolis Museum which had an attempted reconstruction of the artwork on the Parthenon, although most of it was copies from the British Museum.

Our last day in Greece was spent at the sites of ancient Corinth where there was a small museum and Mycenae, with some cool photos taken in the tombs and a dark underground passage.  From there we set out for Patras to board the ferry to Italy, although when I think of ferry I think of the small vessels which are used to go to Rangitoto and Waiheke islands and the ferry was much larger and quite fancy. We are currently on the train from Ancona to Rome and I can't wait till we arrive. PIZZA! The trip into Greece, for me, has been a whelming experience and I have learnt many things: some shopkeepers are quite pushy and may kick you out of their shop if you resist their attempts to sell you their stuff; cheese bought in the morning will melt in the hot sun at Delphi (but still tastes okay); the water sold at hotels is a rip-off – they charge 1.00 euro for one bottle where supermarkets charge 1.50 euro for six bottles of the same size; wearing cotton is not a good idea in the hot sun.  Despite the less pleasant things in Greece, such as the countless numbers of people selling, busking or just begging in order to get some money, the stray dogs walking around (I feel sorry for the poor creatures) and the smoking, I have enjoyed myself.  There is some characteristic which I can't put into words that makes Greece an attractive place to spend three days, possibly because it is different to what I am used to in Auckland.  Anywho, now the Legio Grammatica marches on to Rome. (by train)

 

Update (from back in time)

Athens - no resting on your laurels here

Athens looks a bit run down and shabby compared to Auckland, but it is definitely an amazing city. I think the reason I have found Athens so great is because it is so different to Auckland. It is probably not somewhere I would want to live, but it has been awesome to experience the culture for a few days. One thing we've found is that there is a lot of graffiti. It's mostly fine when it's on the streets, but yesterday we saw some on a university building which was really disappointing to see. There are also a lot more motorbikes, which seem to refuse to stop anywhere.

The temples and sights we have seen so far have been amazing. Delphi has possibly been the highlight of the trip so for me, but the acropolis and the national archaeological museum were amazing as well. The view from the top of Mt Lykevittos was incredible, we could see the whole of Athens below us. Particularly in Delphi and the ancient cities of Corinth and Mycenae which we saw today, I've been wishing that I could see everything back about 2500 years ago before anything was destroyed - but it is still spectacular all the same. It is really great having Mr Buckingham as our "tour guide" because he can tell us so much about the history. When you're seeing all these things in person, you can't help but become really interested in the history behind them.

We haven't had too much trouble with gypsies and beggars so far but we did see some in Monasteraiki square where we had dinner every night. We saw a beggar last night who was putting up an act of being really inebriated, which we found really funny to see. Another guy also tried to sell some of us an iPhone 5 at lunch yesterday and showed us only the box. We tried bartering and said we'd take it for €1 - no iPhones were bought that day.

Right now, we are on the bus and we've got the 24 hour ferry trip to Ancona tonight and tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to getting to Rome.

Stewie