Cambridge

A beautiful day in England, so we headed to Cambridge for the day in our ZipCar, a red mini Cooper.

Such a gorgeous town, we found a picnic lunch and a bottle of cider. Here is Pete "cooling" the cider in the river.



Pete's photo of a duck.

We tried some punting on the river Cam. Pete took a while to get used to the technique, but soon adapted and we became the fastest boat on the river (Pete was getting a bit competitive)

Sarah laid back and enjoyed the sunshine.


Afterwards we went for afternoon tea in the Orchard. Very pretty.

The Copenhagen Marathon

Hi Everyone,

After months of training through the cold London winter, the day finally came for us to head to Copenhagen for the marathon. It was our first visit to Copenhagen - although we didn't have time to see everything, it was great to have a look around before and after the run. Everything centres around the main harbour / canal (below), which is lined with traditional coloured facades.

On race day, we geared up and headed out into the very 'crisp' (read 'freezing') morning weather - it was a very exciting moment! Here is our team of runners.

It might have been very juvenile but we couldn't help but make fun of the marathon "pace setters", eloquently translated into Danish as "Fart Holder"...

Ready... set...

Everything was feeling fine as we started the race...

There was a pretty section through the park, which kept spirits high...

Here is a shot as we crossed the halfway mark... only 21km to go!!

...and finally the finish line - good work team!!

The legs weren't up for to much movement the day after the race, so we took the opportunity to take a canal tour and have a long lunch.

Pete said thanks to the little mermaid for helping us through the race.

Rome

Every time we mentioned that we were heading to Rome, the response was consistent - "You'll love it!". As it turned out, they were right - Rome is a great place: history, people, food and we were pretty lucky with the weather!

We only had three days there and that which was not built in a day can never be fully experienced in three - but we gave it our best shot!

So, in no particular order...

Sarah tried to measure up to the front half of a foot, which remained from what must have been a massive statue in the Palatine Palace (that's where the Emperors lived).


We can't actually remember who this guy is... but we're sure he is really important because his statue was bigger than everyone else's! This was one of the many statues in the Vatican. While we're talking about the Vatican, wow - what a process! Thousands of tourists, lots of long lines and plenty of wheeling and dealing Italians... luckily we made it out alive, with out temper intact.

There was no end of intricate and ornate decoration in the Vatican. This ceiling literally came alive - we're not superstitious but we promise that this ceiling had no artificial lighting!

The front of St Peters, unusually empty...

The Pantheon was a spectacular building. There is a hole in the top of the dome, open to the outside. Here you can see the sun shining in - apparently it is quite spectacular when it rains or snows!

Sarah sitting by a fountain in Piazza Navona (one of the most famous of Rome's many piazzas).

Thanks for the hotel recommendation Jenny and Bruce - due to it's spectacularly central location, we were treated to a 3.5hr marijuana festival / march / protest? on Saturday afternoon! Too bad about that afternoon nap we were planning - I guess it was a good insight into Romes youth??

Colosseum - awesome!

No trip to Italy would be complete without gelato - so we went to a place with over 100 flavours!!

We're not exactly sure why this photo made the cut - but that is one huge piece of buffalo mozzarella!!!!

On Sunday morning we went for a run (still tapering for the Copenhagen marathon next weekend!). When we got into the park, some sort of cotton was falling from the trees - it was like it was snowing, except that it was 25deg and blue sky?? (you can just see the 'flakes' around the sun at the top of the shot)

A few of the locals got lost and couldn't find the bus stop... so they decided to walk - Hail Caesar!

Best lunch was definitely at Trattoria Monti, we went there with Matt and Noeleen (who were in Rome that weekend also by coincidence). The owner was a great guy (he's in the middle, Matt's on the right, and no, that's not his Vespa!)