Italia!

So, after our disaster with the south of France, we headed to Italy. En route to Pisa we had a couple of hours in Ventimiglia, a beautiful quiet town on the seafront where we watched surfers and explored the market. 

Leaning Tower of Pisa

We arrived in Pisa at night, and Joe was the first to spot the Tower - it was surreal seeing it with your own eyes! Our hostel was right by the tower which was incredible, although the lack of a kitchen proved difficult. We shared a room with four other people - two of which were very grumpy and only cheered up after having sex - unfortunately for us we walked into the room as they were under the duvet, and it was pretty obvious what they'd been doing. Joe couldn't sleep due to 'snorey girl' - she was SO LOUD. 



During our day in Pisa we just wandered the streets, followed the river, and had a picnic lunch in our hostel. We also did our first hand-wash which was.. interesting. It took about 40 minutes, and nothing smelled particularly clean afterwards. After collecting some free tickets to explore the cathedral, we split up to have a photo competition - whoever could get the most 'leaning tourist' photos in ten minutes won.

Picnic Lunch in Pisa

When packing up to leave the hostel, my bag felt curiously light - and then Joe realised he'd left half my clothes outside drying still! We grabbed them and then got on the train to Rome.

Colosseum

Rome was.. Rome. It was much more 'London-y' than anywhere we'd been so far - a huge city with so many tourists. We stayed in one of the only hostels left and it was rather awful. The beds gave us bites, and it was like sleeping in a hospital ward. Also, there was no kitchen, so we had to eat a lot of microwaved rice. Yet again we had a rubbish experience with Mr & Mrs Faustus in our dorm, who hogged the one bathroom constantly. I must admit that I did get Rage.
We walked to the Spanish Steps where we met Immy & Ryan (two friends from college) who happened to be in Rome at the same time as us! We bought Colosseum passes cheaply and quickly at Palatino Hill, and then explored the Roman ruins. The colosseum was so impressive, and much more intact than I had thought it would be. We sneakily tagged onto a guided tour led by a man who reminded me of Spencer from Criminal Minds. Joe bought tea bags and I bought iced tea to cheer us up for the next two nights at the horrible hostel. 

Inside St Peters Basilica

The next day we got the metro to the Vatican and tried to get in. Unfortunately, the Pope gives his address on Wednesdays, so the place was a crammed madness. After at least two hours, we sardined our way through security and got in. It was worth the wait! Not only did we see the Pope himself (and the Popemobile), the St Peters Basilica was incredible. The Sistine Chapel etc cost 18 euros each to get into, so, being the poor people we are, we didn't do that. 

We wandered more streets, exploring Rome on foot, and then visited the Trevi Fountain, which is beautiful. It's a tradition to throw a coin in over your shoulder, and Joe and I did so, albeit with a 1cent coin each! 

Throwing a coin into Trevi Fountain

Naples was our next stop! In the Lonely Planet guidebook, Naples is described as 'raucous, hell-broth, dirty, loud, anarchic.." And all those things are true. People say you either love or hate Naples - also true. We both agreed that the only reason we'd really go back would be for the pizza. However, by the end of our stay there we had sort of grown attached to the place. There is nowhere quite like it - walking out in front of cars and expecting them to stop, clinging onto your bag because there literally are pickpockets everywhere. We even haggled the price of a bag down without meaning to. And the pizza. Oh, man. So cheap, and so good. We went to a place that had featured on Heston Blumenthal's programme, and it was delicious, and only cost about 15 euros! We also visited Egg Castle, which was really cool! I felt like I was in Fort Boyard.

Mount Vesuvius

We spent a day visiting Pompeii. No one tells you just how much there is to see there! Nothing is very well sign-posted, and there are loads of stray dogs - I really wanted to bring one home with me.

Caught in the rain!

VENICE was next. We stayed in Venice Mestre - outside the main part people think of as 'Venice' in a hotel (!) but still in a dorm- a three-bed dorm?! The best part about being in a hotel was that our beds were made for us, AND the free massive breakfast! Also, it was only a quick and cheap bus journey to get in and out of Venice itself! In Venice, we spent the day wandering the streets, eating ice cream and pizza, and taking lots of photos of canals and bridges. It is a lovely, serene place that you can get utterly lost in.

Beautiful Venice

On our last morning in Venice, we packed up ready to leave, then went down for breakfast. It got to the time when we needed to leave to catch our train, but we were both still munching away. Obviously given the choice between catching our train and eating more food.. we stayed to eat. Luckily we actually made the train anyway!

Things we learnt:
1. People have sex in dorm rooms, even if other people are in said dorm room.
2. If your bag feels unusually light, you've probably forgotten something.
3. Get Colosseum tickets at Palatino Hill to avoid the queues, and bring your passport if you're an EU resident to get a discount.
4. Don't visit the Vatican on a Wednesday.
5. Always take full advantage of the free breakfast.

That concludes Italy - the land of surprisingly polite people, cheap pizza, and an easy train reservation system. In my next post, I'll update on Slovenia and Croatia!

Olympics

The stands at approx. 5am.

Watching the Opening Ceremony

My shack

 So yes, I worked at the Olympic Games 2012! I worked with a catering company at Eton Dorney (the site of the rowing). I stayed with some other Worcester people in uni-esque onsite accommodation. 

James' floury handprints on me and Tash

The people I worked with were completely fantastic. I was put on a pizza unit, which involved making boxes, using tills, and then actually making the pizza's and using the oven. By the end of the week, me and Tash were able to run the whole unit by ourselves, which was pretty awesome!

No, we did not wear our hair-nets.

Snuck off to watch a race

 We had a pretty good view of the rowing from where we were... as long as there were no people around! I am also proud to announce that I was there when Britain won their first Gold medal! (We'll ignore the fact that I was sat at the back of the pizza tent eating a cold margarita with Annie when it happened - we just heard a lot of cheering!) 

View of the lake

View from our pizza marquee

The shifts were a killer. Working from 5am until 5pm most days, with only a ten minute or so break, on your feet constantly... I was asked to stay on and work the second week but I literally couldn't - my body was just SO tired! I'd drag my aching feet back to the shack, then sit in the hallway in my uniform with the other girls, all moaning, and then I'd just about manage to crawl into bed. Sometimes, I even had the energy to shower.

'Guys, I seriously can't walk any further.'

For the first couple of days, I don't think that anyone - not even our manager - had a clue what they were doing. We must have given out refunds totalling hundreds of pounds. We were telling everyone that it would take 10 minutes for their pizza to be freshly made, cooked, sliced and delivered to them. Even when our manager had 50 orders in his hand. Needless to say, this was not a good move. I have never been so stressed as I was then. At some point in the week, we all cried. On the bright side, we were bought a round of drinks by a quite drunk guy - and the drinks there aren't cheap! Sitting on the floor of our pizza unit (we couldn't even face going outside to sit by the lake) drinking beer was a slight pay-off for the job.

And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

Some days were ridiculous, but we learned to laugh about everything. It was either that or cry! I sound so over-dramatic here, but you have no idea. It was crazy. I became a pro at managing the unit, holding the order slips in my mouth whilst making the pizza's with one hand.. We should have been getting the chef's wage! 

Chocolate pizza for a 6am breakfast

One afternoon it rained, and rained, and rained. We had to close the front of the tent just leaving enough room to see one customer. We covered all the plugs and tills with cling-film in an attempt to avoid electrocution. 

I felt awful because I knew there were people out there who would have cared a whole lot more than I did about the actual Olympics part of the job. I know that when I have my own children, I'll like being able to say that I was there, I was a part of it. But I have no idea who any rowers are! To tell the truth, Tom Daley and Jessica Ennis are probably the only Olympians I would recognise. So, when late one afternoon, just before we closed, a man came up and ordered a pizza, I thought nothing of it. There were only a couple of us in there - I think the others had gone home or were restocking the fridges - so me, Tash and Tash took the order, made the pizza, put it in the huge 300 degree oven, took it out, sliced it, boxed it, and handed it to him. He proceeded to pull out a bronze medal. Assuming it was from the merchandise stand next to ours, I nodded, not paying much attention. He was saying something but to be honest I was a bit zoned out. "Yeah, so is it chocolate?" I asked, thinking it was a bit cool, but not too interested. "No, it's a bronze medal." He said, looking confused. "Yeah, a chocolate one." I replied. "No, an actual bronze medal I won earlier." he insisted. I looked, and so it was. I had just served a

Bronze medal Olympian and I didn't even know it. Looking back, I hope he didn't feel sad - he must have been so proud of his medal, and there I was, not bothered because I thought it was chocolate! Oh, the shame..

They made me a leaving pizza!

(Now for the cheesy bit.) I feel I learnt a lot more than just how to make a great pizza whilst I was there. The girls I worked with.. we just weren't the same as each other. If we had been at college, there is no way we would have ended up being friends. But throw us all together into a tough situation, stick us all in the same black clothes - and we were making up pizza-related dance routines by the third day. I learnt that you can't judge people before you know them, put them into boxes based on first sight. We all clicked so well, and I still really miss them now.

On our last night all together, we went back to my shack, and then went out for drinks. It was really really great to spend some time together outside the walls of the pizza tent!

Despite being crazy-tough, I am so glad I took the opportunity and worked at the Olympics.

But I swear, if I hear Chariots of Fire ONE MORE TIME....

The beautiful Team Flump