One month in

(Vicki)
Forgot to say that we are having a fab time and also to appologise for any bad spelling and grammer as the keyboards are different in each country and we have limited time to type (time costs money!).
Rucksacks are working out really well, better than trying to pull a suitcase around especially as the train stations and metros seem to have lots of stairs and broken escalators, they are actually quite comfortable as the weight is better distributed, I am glad we paid extra to get decent quality ones.
Hip holding up well, only had a few bad days, turns out we were very cautious on Rucksack weight and mine is only 13kg and Jasons is 15kg (I think there may be room for a hairdryer!)
Jason is in charge of navigation (as you will know I couldnt find my way out of a paper bag), it is a beautiful partnership - I tell him where we are going and he gets us there, if I were in charge we would still be in Baden-Baden.
Well worth going back to Rome for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, had to queue for 1.5 hrs but met a really nice couple from Fiji also on a RTW trip but in 14 weeks, they kept mentioning they were staying with friends everywhere - turns out they were Jehovah Witnesses, seems like a cheap way of doing it!
Back in Florence we went to the Uffizi Museum and saw Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, also there was a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition which Jason really enjoyed.
Caught the train to Venice for 3 more nights, beautiful place, definitely worth a visit, didnt smell like we had heard but not a great deal to do and it was swarming in the main tourist areas. Spent one afternoon away from it all on a deck with a couple of beers, watching the boats and occasional cruise ship go by whilst the sun set.
Went on a Gondola Ride which was really cool but 80 Euros! (thanks Wendy, you saved the budget from going out of control that day!).
Flight to Barcelona for 3 more nights, did the sights - Las Ramblas, La Sagrada Familia, which was covered in scaffolding as Gaudi didnt finish it so they are to his plans, we thought it was a shame really and they should have left it alone. Saw some more Gaudi and went to the Picasso museum - we are not fans, just dont really get it? We also took a tour of Camp Nou, which was a nice break from all of that educational stuff although Jason would argue that it was a different kind of education! We had an apartment which saved loads of money as we could cook ourselves, recouped some of the overspend in Italy. We both prefered Spain (helps that I can speak the language) but the people are nicer, we found the Italians to be quite frankly up themselves, very image concious and rude (bar about two who were really nice and one was the hotel owner so technically we were paying her).
Next stop Madrid by train (which was more like a plane really with TV and free sweets). Went to the Reina Sofia museum one of three key museums, which also had a major Picasso exhibition, saw La Guernica - still not fans - good job it was free that day!
Went to the Prado museum (also free that day) started to queue up but then I realised that the queue was only if you wanted to see the SPECIAL PICASSO EXHIBITION! which we did not - I knew he was famous but this is getting ridiculous, anyway went into the main museum and saw some Goya, El Greco, Raphael, Rembrant, Rubens etc.
Now for the main event - Managed to get tickets for Real Madrid v Villareal, (courtesy of the tax man) we got seats just below the presidential box in the VIP area, the entrance even had a golden gate, great experience but average match 0-0 but it was the first of the season, really strange thing is that they dont drink beer like in the UK they eat nuts, lots of them and just shell them in their seats and leave the shells on the floor v. bizzare.
The next day we went for a wander around El Retiro (park) and rowed a boat on the pond (well Jason did because I was rubbish). We ended up in Hard Rock Cafe again - the museums were free - and had a juicy steak - seem to be eating out more now than before!!!!
Jason will continue when we can find a UK compatible keyboard as we both agreed it would be too painful to watch him try to type on this one! (we are currently in Marrakesh and the keys are all in different places and some are in Arabic.