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Posts tagged ‘Italy’

Apr 24

Venice

You have to love Venice, there isn’t another city like it.

The best way to explore Venice is to wander aimlessly through the narrow alleys getting lost, so this is where you don’t want Don with you, as he needs to have a map, a purpose and know where he is at all times!  Around every corner is another old bridge across a canal, framing the perfect photo. Katrina wins on the photo front; she can snap with the best of them (we all know who they are)!

We stayed at the Istituto San Giuseppe, which is a convent (mum will be happy).  It was another great find on Monasterystays.com, reasonably priced, right in Venice and not far from Saint Marks Square.  Now the CPI (cappuccino price index) in Venice is high, it’s a captive market and they know it.  St Marks Square tops the CPI index at €9!!  Our best price is €2.50, away from the square, and drinking our coffee standing up, rather than sitting down, which costs €4.50.

We spent a few hours visiting Murano, the island famous for it’s glass. It is a little less crowded and the canals a little wider.  On the way across, we see a large gondola with 10 or more oarsmen all dressed in blue; it’s a funeral procession and a stunning sight to watch as they power across the canal. In the evenings the tourist crowds thin and the sunlight dances across the water, highlighting the buildings. The Ponte Rialto provides a beautiful view up and down the grand canal.  The northern side of the bridge is less popular and we find a great spot to watch the sun go down across the city.

The Venice highlight has to be our Gondola ride. Our Gondalier is a character, who is happy to chat (whine) about the political state of Venice and Italy. He is buying up property in China and planning the retire there (clearly he is doing alright out of the gondola business)!  Our trip through the canals is in the early afternoon and the sunlight provides yet another great photo opportunity!

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Apr 22

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Verona

It’s Easter Monday, which is a good day for travelling, as the weather isn’t great and most places are closed outside of the tourist hubs.  We are meeting Katrina in Verona (she will be travelling with us for about 6 weeks) and we are looking forward to catching up with news from home and spending time with a good friend.

When travelling, there are two important economic instruments you pay careful attention to: 1) the CPI: Cappuccino Price Index and 2) the WCC: Wine Consumption Cost.  Both are significant indicators to where you will eat and drink and in general, how long you will stay in a location. Our first stop on the way to Verona for a coffee is Parma.  The price for two coffees and two croissants is €5, about 1/2 the price of what we paid in Cinque Terre!

We are staying in monastery in Verona, the Istituto Don Busco. We have no idea what it will be like, but it’s well located and has parking (parking is a big bonus in these old towns).  We arrive earlier than expected and given that check in is anytime after 3.30pm, we find a Osteria near by and order an antipasta plate to share. Unfortunately our order is lost in translation and we get one each!  Oh well, we have free wi-fi, so it’s a chance to catch up with the world.

The Monastery is looking deserted until we find an elderly gentleman who speaks no English, but with lots of sign language and basic italian, he works out who we are and what to do.  The Monastery is simple, but it has all that we need.  Actually the bed was very comfortable and once the hot water arrives (5min or so after you turn the tap on), the shower is great. As you can see we place great emphasis on the basic comforts of a good bed and a hot shower.

The main square around the arena is buzzing with a food and wine festival. There are lots of wonderful things to sample, including some of the local wine.  Dinner is a plate of pasta and a bottle of red sitting in the town square. Our time in Verona is spent exploring the old city. The Roman arena is the central feature for the town. It’s incredible how advanced the Romans were, with the engineering details in something dating back to 100 AD being remarkable.

Verona is also the home of Romeo and Juliette,  tourists flock in droves to the small courtyard where you can view Juliette’ s balcony.  Forgetting the fact that the story is fictional, the city picked a suitable site, then erected the balcony in 1936 – that’s tourism at its best!

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Apr 21

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Cinque Terre

The Heart of Cinque Terre  is right on the walking trail and it really is spectacular.  The accommodation is rustic and basic, but we loved it (once I got the shower hot).  It’s a 2km walk downhill to either Corniglia or Vernazza, which sounds easy, but that means walking 2km back up as well!

Our first day is beautiful and sunny, but the good weather is not meant to last the weekend, so we get out and make the most of it. We trek into Vernazza for some lunch and then decide to keep going to Monterosso.

This next part is a lengthy and arduous climb up and around the cliff side on a narrow and rocky path. Dramatic views unfurl along the way, which makes you forget the strenuous effort it is at times.

The final decent into Monterosso is a welcome relief.   We train it back to Corniglia but our weary legs are not looking forward to the climb home.

Don has a brilliant idea (he occasionally does), which is to take the bus up to San Bernadino (a town above Prevo), resulting in a down hill hike! That night we sleep soundly, physically exhausted, the same feeling you have when you’ve been skiing all day.

The rain arrived through the night and it lasts most of the next day. We finally decide to risk the weather around 3pm and take the trail (carefully) down to Corniglia and then catch the train to Riomaggiore.

Each town is spectacular in its own right and each with its own character.  Kellie and I stayed here 16 years ago and it is still as I remember it – I’m pretty sure I can even pick out the place we stayed.

We have an early dinner and return to Corniglia and call on Pierpaolo to collect us. It’s not worth risking the trail at dusk (OK, that’s the excuse we came up with).

The weather clears up for our last day and we trek down to Venazza for breakfast, take the train the Manarola, which we agree is our favourite town. It’s a bit less touristico (slightly) and set in a narrow gap between the steep hills.

After lunch we decide to make our way back to Corniglia.  It’s a 2 hour hike, with the first 1/2 hr being straight up, long and unforgiving steps of stone (the regular trail which follows the coast line and is relatively flat, is closed due to rock slides), so our only option is straight-up via the town of Volastra

With great satisfaction in our achievement we make it to the top, the views back to Manarola and Riomaggiore are spectacular.

The next part of the trail winds through the terraced vineyards on the side of the hills. At times the trail is so narrow that people are holding the vine stakes for security.  We descend into Corniglia and treat ourselves to a gelato.

It’s an hour wait for the next bus to San Bernadino and having conquered the trail from Monterosso we decide to complete the last bit and trek up to Prevo. In comparison to what we had done earlier in the day, it’s a breeze.

We are the only guests that night and we relax by watching the sunset, but we don’t last long, before hitting the sack, once again totally exhausted.

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