Roma

Having been to nearly everywhere else in Italy we finally managed to get to Rome. Not sure why it has taken us so long, this has been Mr. Specials number one destination to visit for a long time, but I've been blocking :D Now finally his dream came true (his next dream is Greece :D ).

We went on the shoulder season, end of March and it was perfect timing! The weather was warm (not hot, I hate hot) and the crowds weren't that bad... Trevi fountain was still packed even on a rainy day but that's expected. Oh and the traffic!!!! Mamma Mia! The first day we were petrified and ran across the road following other people. By the end of our trip we were the ones paving the way for newbie tourists.

Our hotel was conveniently located near the train station and we could walk everywhere. On the first day we did get a bit lost but it was a blessing in disguise because we were looking for a church but found this huge square with fountains and a church instead.

Walking down the streets we suddenly saw a mob of people all looking up in the trees and then we heard some sort of birds making noises up in the trees. There were little parrots there, about 3 in each tree.

We nearly did not go into this museum as we're not really the museum type people but so glad we did because it had a ruined backyard :D

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Just a fun street scene

Even on a rainy day the streets of centre Rome are so quaint and enjoyable to walk through

Can you believe we went for lunch just around the corner from the Trevi Fountain and it was actually good pasta :D Aaaaand not too expensive either :D We had a lunch menu: a bruschetta starter (have started doing that at home since then as well), pasta (Carbonara and spinach and ricotta Tortellini) and a desert for 13? euros.

Piazza Navona was empty on a rainy day! The only other people there at the time were mostly hustlers... :D Trying to sell all the phone accessory crap, umbrellas, trick you with the bracelets, roses etc etc etc. They do have a lot of hasslers on the streets.

Finally we got tired of being soaking wet and looked for inside things to do and found a gem! Galleria Doria Pamphilij - that is also referenced as a mini Versailles due to it's very own hall of mirrors.

The second day we reserved for the Colosseum. We had bought tickets in advance but were prepared to wait for hours in the queue as all guides tell you. It was a mayhem outside of it. "Do you need a ticket?" "Visiting today?" "Cheapest tickets here" and so on and on and on and on. Shhhhh.... already have them need to just find the entrance. There was a bit of a queue but it moved so fast and we were in in no time :)

With the Colosseum ticket you can also enter the Roman Forum which is a huge park right next to it full of more ruins. There are 2 entrances, first the obvious one just opposite where there is a HUGE queue and the other one about 5 min down the street with no queue :D Lucky we weren't too bothered getting in there to waste our time in the first queue and thought we'd just walk past (you can see most of the inside from the outside as well) and stumbled upon the other entrance. And yes although we were starving by this time still went in, because FREE :D

The last day we reserved for the Vatican City. But before we got into that there is a big fortress that needed exploring: Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo.

Then the Vatican City where again you have people offering you tickets to get in everywhere (it's free!). They say it's skip the line and the line is hours long but.... pay about a 100 euro for 2 people for something that is free... ummmmm... not really thanks though... So we ventures out to see where exactly this free queue is and is there any point in joining or not... Yes it was huge and yes it was not really moving at all. As we are not museum people anyway we went back to the St Peter's Square and after a lot of thought and a chat with an American man who said he got teary in the Basilica, we as well decided to join the queue at about 3pm. Didn't seem that big and we only ended up waiting for an hour. And lol we got in a lot quicker than the couple right in front of us :D The very last stage of the queue is split into 2, they chose the closest one whereas we went to the furthest one and ended up getting through the security gates a lot quicker :D

Inside the first place we went to was the top! - you have to pay a little extra for the lift but it's totally worth it, although they say the stairs look ahmazing... but we were on a time crunch and already tired :D No rugrets :D

There was a shop and toilets on the roof of the Basilica, just like a little village :D So cool.

Spanish steps without the flower arrangements are not as impressive as with them.

Our flight was on the afternoon which gave us plenty of time to grab lunch one last time in Rome and we found the BEST place just around the corner from our hotel! The servers were so sincerely nice, water was free, furthermore you could fill your own jug from their "fountain" and they offered us a limoncello on the house! And yes obviously the food was amazing! Wish we'd have found it sooner so we could've gone there every day :D Ristorante Nerone! Oh man now I want to go back just to that restaurant :D

Ttyl ;)

Jazzz...

Kicked out

Even before I actually moved here and was only just looking at accommodation in my soon to be home I was amazed at how close to the seafront the houses are! And a lot of them are student accommodation. Now I think it was more expensive to live on the seafront and that's why I didn't opt for it for my first year here (#poorlife)  but I do remember watching a video tour of one of the rooms and the view was ahmazing!

Now for a few brief days my dream had come true, 6 years later. 

Funny story actually...

Came home from work one day and Mr. Special said he had had a phone call from some guy asking if they could arrange a viewing of our flat to insulate it and add proper heaters for free, all he had to do is prove that he does live here. I thought it was a scam... What the hell? First of all why is this not coming through our letting agent??? Some scheme to make sure all flats are compliant to a new legislation forced soon. Again where is our letting agent? Are they aware of this? What the hell? You're just letting some random guy come check out our flat, give him your identification and proof of address? That's just asking for trouble?

Ok the next day our letting agent confirmed they are aware of the scheme and it is legit and they want us to go ahead with it. The free scheme can only be used by residents, not letting agents and that's why they contacted us directly. Still fishy though... the letting agent could've at least given us a heads up! And it was all happening so fast! Yeap we'll come do your flat next week! What already? Most of the block was to be done on the same day. Ok.... Do we need to move anything? No, they'll work around the furniture! What? They'll insulate inside around the furniture? Doesn't really make sense but ok if you said don't move anything we won't. They were only supposed to be there one day.

Big mistake... OBVIOUSLY there was dust EVERYWHERE! 

And no, they weren't even half done on the first day! Sooooooooooooo DamDamDam. Come home from work that day and can't even sit down in my own home... By 4pm it was clear we can't possibly stay here for the night... Thanks for the freaking heads up! Pfffft "No need to move anything at all" How about move ourselves out of the flat!?! The letting agency booked us (5 flats?) rooms in a hotel. In a hotel on the seafront! One of the fanciest hotels in town! :) Oh Yah not bad at all... Unlucky though that I had to work and couldn't enjoy that view all day long :( I looooove bay windows. Especially on the seafront!

We ended up staying for 2 nights. Didn't really want to go back to be honest.

The carpets were dusty, there was dust everywhere. If only we had been told about the scale of the job I would've packed everything or covered everything at least. The carpets were meant to be professionally cleaned but we are still waiting (obviously not with the dust, we cleaned it ourselves). And we are still waiting for the heaters to be put in as well. Rumour has it that it's a BIG job as the meters are downstairs so they have to do some rewiring and possibly rip the carpets up... Could do with new carpets actually :D I hope they let us know this time so we an move all valuables away from dust damage!

Oooh a bit of drama as well: upstairs flat is apparently nearly inhabitable and the workmen nearly refused to carry out any work in there before it got cleaned. There is a huge person living there, who doesn't work and only plays on his playstation days on end... Frequenting the shop every day to basically buy crap... big multibags of crisps, KFC etc, not proper food and as they now realised is not the cleanest person in the world by far. So they called our usual handyman to clean the flat :D He was sulky AF! Saying that he could've done the insulation job and done a better job as well instead of being a cleaner! :D

Ttyl ;)
Jazzz...

B-day

As usual a small post about what happened on the day I was born...

This year I spent it in Rome! A post will follow eventually about the trip - unless I forget everything about it :( My memory honestly is shocking and yes I should do these posts while the event is still fresh in my mind not months later... but oh well, I take what I can get :D

So what was in the news?

The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is happening soon and on my birthday they announced what cake they had chosen for their big day. 

The best city to live in based on quality of living has been chosen and it is: Vienna!!!! 

Closer to home and sadder news, a mother left her toddler in the car while popping to the office and the car rolled into a river! 

Brexit is still in negotiation

And that's about it...

Welsh Mountain Zoo

A weekend sometime long long ago we wanted to go the the Welsh Mountain Zoo and since it's a couple of hours drive from us we stayed over in Betws-y-coed. A charming tiny town or village? Heavily dependent on tourism. Nice cafes though! Perfect for a little stop on your drive through Wales. 

The minute we got out of the car in the zoo and I saw the setting: a cafe in a round building on top of the mountain, green grass field surrounding it, I knew I’d been here before. It just looked so familiar. Mr special said no way. I think the mountain zoo in Toulon? Just looks so similar.

Unfortunately we didn’t see any tigers. There was an enclosure but it was closed off.

Best part was when they let the penguins “loose” for their feeding time. They waddled up and down the grass field. And then the sea lion show started. They introduced them one by one (5 all together) and each went to the water to perform a trick - jumping high up to touch the hanging balls. I did make videos and boomerangs but unfortunately can't post them here :(

All in all a very small zoo - more of a rescue centre? but you do get a little closer to the animals than normally I think. 

Ttyl ;)

Jazzz...