Italy Part Two

Naples was quite interesting since we were there during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. There were bonfires on the beach in our town of Castellamarre and a parade that woke us up in the early hours of the morning. We went to Pompeii to walk through the ruins and saw several of the bodies that had been preserved by the lava. We also saw the Colosseum where Pink Floyd had done some recording. Downtown Naples was packed full of people and there were Madonnas everywhere. There were stores selling Christmas decorations and we went into a few churches that were decorated with gold and silver. The Amalfi Coast had amazing views but the bus ride was perilous. At the end of the ride we arrived in Salerno where we saw many different kinds of Christmas light displays.

We met the Shepherds in Rome and had a great time with them. We visited the Colosseum, the Forum, St Peter's, the Mouth of Truth, and Trevi Fountain together. It was great to just be with other people for a change and I had fun playing with Ryanne and Colby. One morning Mom, Dad, and the Shepherds went to an audience with the Pope while I stayed and babysat Ryanne and Colby. We even had a "Christmas Dinner" with them (two small chickens and some potatoes) and got each other a few small gifts (they had to fit in the suitcases). I will never forget Rome and it will be even more special because we got to spend it with our friends.

The Other Half of Yugoslavia

I like this place! The landscape is beautiful, the weather is great, and the people are very helpful. We stayed in many wonderful Airbnb's and met many kind and friendly hosts. Dubrovnik, what an amazing city! Thank you Mom for have your tooth trouble so we could stay longer. The old city was very cool to walk through with all its windy backstreets filled with cats, cats, cats. The other bit of magic was walking the old city walls. The views were amazing and we even met some fellow Canadians. Mostar was cloudy when we were there but it still looked cool with its fortress climbing up the mountain. The town also had some narrow back streets and plenty of shops but it was great just to look up at the massive fortress.

Split was great because we lived just outside a palace. Then we went to see the Krka Falls which I really enjoyed because they had it set up so that you could walk on these wooden bridges right over the rivers and the falls. There were so many different pools and ledges as well as a mill.

After visiting Zadar we went to see some more waterfalls at Plitvice Lakes and found ourselves back in 'Canada' with all the snow. We went for a hike to see the famous waterfalls that have several levels. Sadly, it was foggy so we couldn't see all the falls but we did see some other amazing stuff like a cave that had bats living in it. There was a really neat town called Rastoke nearby that had been built over a series of small waterfalls and had several small wooden bridges crisscrossing the falls.

We stayed in a pretty city called Rovinj and saw a Colosseum in Pula. My favourite place in all our time in the Balkans was on our way back to Ljubljana when we stopped to see a castle inside a cave. The Predjama Castle was cold and drafty because it was open to the caves behind it. My favourite part was the armoury because I could wear some of the helmets. I enjoyed visiting this region and I would like to come back some day when it's warmer so I can go swimming in the beautiful blue Adriatic.