Home!

Yes, we are finally back home. After a long, long drive back to Rome from Venice (approx 8 hours actual driving, plus stops) where most of us slept (not Giuseppe), we went out for a final farewell dinner. Went to a lovely little restaurant with this amazing opera singing couple (very, very loud) and some good food. Who am I kidding, we had amazing food all over Italy, not just in Rome. (And we had good Italian food in every other European country, didn't we Bek?) Sadly, we didn't go back to that first restaurant in Rome (the one with Francesco), like I had hoped we would. :(

^^Giuseppe on the left, moi in the middle, and good old Papa on the right.

It was a little on the teary side as we said goodbye to our new family, especially Papa and Giuseppe. We had hugs all round, and swapped emails with everyone - we have a few offers to come and stay with some of our new friends, which is just so cool. We didn't get an offer to come and stay with Papa, but he said next time we come to Italy we have to do his 15 day tour, which covers Sorrento and Naples (where he lives) as well. We said we will definitely go there. We also got an unexpected hug from Giuseppe! Guess he's not so shy when he's saying ciao to the family. We will definitely miss Italy, and of course Papa - have to send him some photos so he doesn't forget - I wonder how many families he has!

The next morning we had to be up at 4am, and out of the door by 4.30 to catch our flight. As the breakfast room wasn't open that early, Papa had arranged for us to have a breakfast box to take with us to the airport so we didn't go hungry. Awww! All the same, it was a very early start, and we slept all day at Zurich. (No Bek, I can't do those little dot things on top of the u in Zurich, sorry) We went out and had dinner at... you guessed it, an Italian restaurant. We were feeling a little 'homesick', and it was nice to be able to use a little of the Italian language that we picked up.

Not so early the next morning, but it was finally time to head home. We caught an 11.5 hour flight to Singapore, where we rested some more for 4 hours, and then a 7.5 hour flight to Brissy. Yay for finally seeing our parents!!! It's been a long 6 weeks, despite at the same time going very fast. It was so, so awesome. Poor Bek had to go into work this morning, but I slept in til 2.30pm (14.5 hours!!!!) and had a luxurious day of unpacking while having the dog and cat follow me around like bad smells, and me of course following mum around the house too.

As for photos of Papa and Giuseppe - they are coming, I promise, just have to get them downloaded. Hopefully tomorrow night, but may be sometime next week.

Thanks to all our loyal fans - we loved writing this blog and loved that you loved reading it. Can't wait to see you all!

Love,

Bek and Belle