Vienna, Austria

Date: 19th Jan

Vienna was just an overnight stop unfortunately. We only had a few hours for walking around the city until the Orchestra. The orchestra was good, a smaller affair, and played classical musical with a light hearted bend. I enjoyed using my "formal wear" bag, just a jacket, shirt and shoes. It takes up a huge volume of space in my pack, and not an insignificant weight, but it's nice to have something dressy to wear.

The city of Vienna was beautiful, with a huge number of beautiful and historic buildings. 

I hope to return to Vienna for another couple of days later in my trip.

Salzburg

I dont recall too much of Salzburg. I hit my head on leaving Venice, and it knocked me around a bit. It was a non fun recovery from that concussion. I'm ok now, so don't panic, but regrettably I didn't get much of a chance to see Salzburg. I did however hear a lot about Mozart.

People tell me it was very nice though, and upon asking some of my travelling companions they described Salzburg as a beautiful and quaint town. The older part of Salzburg was really nice and you could spend a couple of days exploring it.

(I'm really fine, don't worry about it)

Next in the high paced agenda - Venice

I picked this tour because it seemed a slower pace than others, giving more time in each city. Whilst this is true, it's still exhausting. Each city gets far too little time, most I could easily spend a week in - though that might make the tour a touch longer.

Today was Venice, the city of love. With so many beautiful cities visited, each one has to compete with some tough competition. If you only did Venice, you would not be disappointed. The city itself is very famous for having been built on the water, but what's not apparent from various movies, TV shows, books, etc, is that it's not a big city. When you think about it, I guess it's a pretty obvious fact - despite being built on the water, there's only so much usable space, and the original purpose for the watery foundations have long since become irrelevant. Firstly it was actually built on a series of small island in a shallow body of water, linked together with the construction we recognise today. The original intention of the location is it made Venice very difficult for the barbarians to attack.

I enjoyed Venice, but I'm not sure I'd put it on my must visit list. It's fame precedes it, but with that, it's difficult for it to exceed expectations.

Hey Pisa isn't the only place with a leaning tower. Same reason too - inadequate foundations. Though I think Venice has a better excuse.

Flávio, our guide, has a winged lion called Cimba. Here is Cimba's dad - the winged lion statue in Venice. It does look like parental love there.

Civitas Vacticano (Vatican City)

Date: 14th Jan

Note: this entry was published almost a week after writing it.

Today we visited the Musei Vaticani, the Vatican museums, located in the smallest nation in the world. It was again time for a criminally quick run-through what you could spend an entire day doing, and many more if Catholic history is of interest.

The above is only one example of beautifully painted and sculpted ceilings that, in my potentially controversial opinion, rival the chapel.

The Sistine chapel, which is well known for its beautiful ceiling, I found underwhelming. The amazing aspect is the story of its painting, which most people know. The frescos themselves, while quite beautiful, aren't unique in their beauty. The chapel is of no significant note architecturly, so in my opinion it only retains its importance through the frescoes, the story behind who and how they were painted, and it's own self sustaining reputation.

St Peters on the other hand was an amazing cathedral, spectacular architecture and sadly overshadowed in fame by the Sistine chapel.

As one enters St Peters the massive size is almost overwhelming.

I think those who visit appreciate St Peters once they see it.

One fire station i really wish i could have visited!