Welcome back. A lot has happened over the last week and a bit so I apologise in advance if this instalment is a bit long - if it is, just look at the pictures!
Friday 11th June
On Vicky’s recommendation we are off to Greve and Montefioralle today for some local small town sightseeing. After all the tacky tourist souvenir shops and stalls in the large cities it was lovely to browse through the quality locally made arts and crafts, including beautiful examples of turned wood, pottery and linen, in the shops lining the main square in Greve. The square was immaculately maintained with colourful hanging baskets adorning many of the shop fronts.
We are in the heartland of the Chianti wine region and one fantastic find in Greve was Consorizio del Marchio Storic – a massive wine tasting cellar. It is a great tasting facility with over 150 wines on taste all through electronically controlled dispensers. Each wine station has 16 wines from a particular local region and one station had the “Supertuscans”. Once you have bought a prepaid electronic card (we chose the maximum €25 of course) you simply insert the card into the dispenser, put your glass under the spout of the chosen wine and press the button. The value on the card is automatically reduced by the value of the wine tasted. The tastings ranged from 80 cents to €8.40 and yes we tried both ends of the spectrum! The €8.40 sample was a 2005 Marchesi Antinori Solaia which retails for €180 ($260) a bottle. Very nice but I’m not sure that it was 10 times as nice as the €18 wines. What all of the tastings did though was reinforce how good and reasonably priced Aussie wines are.
One curious wine was a Pinot Nero which had a horrendous bouquet but was quite pleasant to drink. Liz was our sommelier for the experience, controlling the card and pouring. The odours must have had an effect on her as one of the photos below would indicate!
In addition to wines there were a dozen or so local olive oils available for sampling (for free it you had a wine card). The range of tastes and strengths was huge and even Liz got into this tasting.
With lunchtime fast approaching we moved on to the quaint hilltop town of Montefioralle above Greve. Walking through the immaculate narrow streets we stumbled on a doorway leading down a flight of steps to a tiny Trattoria perched on the hillside overlooking olive groves and vineyards to enjoy a lovely local lunch.
There was time for a quick trip back to Greve to pick up the souvenirs we decided on over lunch, including some embroidered linen. The tiny lady in the shop who did the embroidery spoke no English (she managed to explain that her daughter is usually there to do all the talking) but had many newspaper cuttings on the wall confirming her notoriety (as an embroider!)
Tonight we are packing in readiness for our journey to Verona tomorrow where we stay for one night before moving on to Venice. We have, not surprisingly, brought far more clothes than needed! As we can’t park in Venice, we will be leaving the car at a remote carpark and then catching public transport into central Venice – three large suitcases is therefore not a good option. Consequently we are consolidating all the clothes needed by each of us over the next 5 days into one suitcase and leaving the other two in the car.
Just as it was sad to leave Rome, it will be a wrench to leave Casaveccia. It has been a very comfortable base and our host Vicky has been so kind. In addition to the niceties such as replacing fresh roses in the house every few days, she has lent us her laptop each day for internet use and has been happy for my dad to call on her landline to avoid the prohibitive mobile costs. Although Vicky mentioned that just before our arrival the weather had been awful, our only memory of Tuscany will be of sunny days with blue skies and temperatures ranging from high 20’s to low 30’s!
Dreading the thought of leaving I decide to ask Vicky if she has anyone coming tomorrow as I could give Verona a miss for another day here. Unfortunately there is a Chilean family arriving which is just as well as I am sure Verona will offer us some unique travel experience.
Saturday 12th June
After a leisurely breakfast finishing off as many things in the fridge as possible we get a chance to have one last chat with Vicky under the sangiovese vine covered pergola. We hear more about her family, her education in Kenya in her early teens (hence the excellent English) where her father was working for a petroleum company, her past as a TWA air hostess (before they became flight attendants) in the glamour days when a flight from Rome to Hong Kong meant several days away with nights in lovely hotels, and more about the annual motor home trips she, Alessandro and Baffo now take to Morocco each year. Most of their rentals now come through word of mouth and she loves having Australians (bet she says that to every nationality – only joking Vicky if you’re reading this!) To anyone who is considering a holiday to Tuscany we would certainly recommend Cassaveccia.
All the formalities finalised, it is time to bid farewell to Vicky, Alessandro and Baffo (who was chasing lizards under plant pots) and hit the road in the direction of Verona.
The drive to Verona was straightforward and took less than 3 hours to reach our destination of Hotel Borghetti on the northern outskirts of town. After checking in to our very basic room we headed straight into town on another beautiful afternoon. After finding that the parking ticket machines didn’t want to read my credit card and unfortunately not being prepared with coins we had to drive around to find another parking station. As luck would have it there was a free parking space on the street just before the parking station – bonus!
A short walk from the car and we were crossing Ponte Scagliero and heading along Via Roma towards the centre of town. The town centre is dominated by a Roman arena. Although it is on a much smaller scale than the Colosseo in Rome, it is actively used to stage theatrical events.
One of Verona’s greatest claims to fame is being the setting for the warring families in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Not missing out on an opportunity to cash in on the story (even Baz Lurhman has had a go) there is a small courtyard in Verona with the “original” balcony from which Juliet was looking for Romeo! It certainly is a quaint balcony and as you can see still attracts attractive maidens looking for eligible bachelors – hopefully without such tragic endings. The balcony is perhaps the least interesting aspect of the courtyard however. There is a passage from the main street to the courtyard about 10m long with walls completely covered in handwritten notes from lovers to Juliet (bet she never envisaged becoming and agony aunt) seeking romantic advice. I’m not sure whether she has the best credentials, but thousands of people are willing to give it a go in search of their one true love. The second unexpected feature is a bronze statue of Juliet which tourists line up to have their photo taken with – nothing strange there. However the tradition is for the person being photographed to be holding Juliet’s right breast! Needless to say the poor girl’s breast is looking somewhat worn and shiny. And it seemed that there were more women than men keen to get their hands on Juliet, including a bus load of Japanese ladies – weird. I was pleased to see Liz keep her hands to herself.
No Italian city visit would be complete without checking out the Duomo (even for a heathen like me, Christine). Verona’s Duomo di Santa Maria Matricolare was no less spectacular than many others we have seen, with beautiful frescos and statues. When we walked in though there was something unusual – beautiful classical organ and violin music filled the massive building. The acoustics were absolutely stunning so I sat on a pew for a while with my eyes closed soaking up the atmosphere and thinking it surprising that other churches didn’t play classical music. It wasn’t until a piece suddenly stopped that I realised it was live and not a recording. Liz and I found the musicians, the organist and a sole violinist, near an altar. The violinist invited us to join them to listen as they practiced (we think for an upcoming wedding). The acoustics were so good that the one, unamplified, violin was able to fill the church with a rich, warm sound. Our impromptu, private concert was certainly a highlight.
Dinner was at the hotel, followed by some World Cup soccer on the tiny TV in the bedroom. Kath was horrified when I said I wondered what the “young horse” on the menu would taste like. Needless to say I didn’t get to find out but did have a very nice rare fillet steak in red wine sauce.
Kath has done a great job of planning the holiday so far and everything has pretty much happened without a hitch. One thing that we however hadn’t really resolved was what to do with the car and luggage on arrival at Venice. Remember I mentioned that it is not possible to drive a car in Venice and parking on the island is limited and very expensive and then transport would be needed from the parking station to our apartment which is on the southern-most side of Venice. Hence I was on the net whilst watching the soccer in search of parking stations on the Venice mainland – nothing like a bit of last minute planning! And it wasn’t going well until I stumbled across the ferry port of Fusina just when I was beginning to feel decidedly uncomfortable about the whole thing. Fusina promised a port south of Venice with a large parking station and hourly ferries to the island. What’s more, the ferry only goes to one jetty in Venice, Zattere, which happens to be 100m from our apartment! Could this all be too good to be true? We’ll find out tomorrow, but I hope it isn’t as the backup plan is decidedly shaky!
Sunday 13th June
After breakfast we set off for Fusina. I’m pleased when Jane says she knows where we’re going and it’ll only take about 1 ½ hours. So far so good. Everything was going fine until we hit major roadworks a few kilometres from Fusina which resulted in the route that Jane wanted to take being blocked off. She was adamant that was the way she wanted to go though and it wasn’t until we drove back to the autoroute that she agreed to try a completely different route. Before we knew it we were passing through a barren wasteland sprinkled with a few industrial sites on our way to the port. I’m pleased to report that it wasn’t too good to be true. We easily found a parking space, bought return ferry tickets to Zattere, walked 100m from the car park to the dock, waited 10 minutes, boarded the ferry, had a pleasant 20 minute boat ride to Venice, disembarked, turned right, walked 100m and into the hotel through which we’d booked the apartment! Touch wood that the car is still there when we go back to Fusina in a few days!
Anyway we’re safely in Venice, a little early for our room but just in time for lunch. What better way to start our Venetian adventure than lunch at the hotel’s restaurant on a pontoon floating on the sparkling Canale della Giudecca – with a nice bottle of Italian sparking?
After lunch we settle into our apartment (Viola) which is in a little residential street behind the hotel. Entering through a nondescript door in a tired looking building we walk up a marble staircase to a lovely modern apartment. It’s not huge but has charm and everything we could want – large bedroom, lounge/dining room with foldaway bed for Liz, kitchen and bathroom. Whilst not attached to the hotel we can still use their facilities such as the dining room for breakfast and the wifi internet in the lobby. Bags safely stashed, it is time to hit the streets. Map in hand we head off for one of the most well known landmarks, the Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s square) with its famous Basilica. The weather forecast is for storms but the sun is still shining as we leave.
A few things become immediately apparent about Venice:
• the lack of trucks, cars, motor scooters or bicycles is disconcerting at first when you have been used to traffic all your life,
• the city is a maze of narrow streets, canals and bridges which all start to look the same after a while,
• I will never, ever again see so much glassware or so many masks in my life,
• there really are a lot of gondolas here (does anyone remember the Monty Python travelogue on Venice!) and Liz is already on my back about how she desperately wants to go for a gondola ride,
• for an island city with no parks there are lots of dogs – they are mainly toy to medium in size but occasionally we see something of labrador size (Liz is keeping a tally and after 2 ½ days she has counted 124)
One major benefit of the lack of cars is that my battered and bruised arm will have chance to recover. All trip we have been playing “spotto” with yellow cars being the target. Spot a yellow car first, say “spotto” and then punch the other person. I can’t believe how many Italians drive yellow cars! As there are so many scooters we agreed that they would be just “spot” and a lighter punch. Needless to say Liz is fast on the spotting and harder on the punching than me or Kath. Thank goodness that gondolas are black and not yellow!
Before long we have found our way over the bridge at l’Accademia and wound our way through the narrow streets until we suddenly emerge into the massive square at Piazza san Marco – just as the clouds begin to threaten. In front of us is the tall Campanile (bell tower). As you know now there is nothing the Scotts like more than the challenge of a few steps, so that is where we head. What a disappointment then when the only option to get to the top is by lift! We go up anyway to get a panoramic view of Venice and find our bearings. We are also treated to the sound of the bells, only this time there in no Pisa like warning message and the bells are 10 times as loud! It is almost as though the bells are a sign to the heavens to open up as no sooner have they finished striking than the rain begins to fall and it is clearly time to leave the exposed bell tower. By the time we reach ground level it is pouring and by the time we have raced across the square to the shelter of the covered mall around the square it is hailing! I have never seen mobile souvenir stalls move so quickly and the small orchestras which play to the open air diners outside restaurants either side of the Piazza have retreated to play as smaller ensembles inside the restaurants. It is a boon for the many shops that line the Piazza selling a myriad of Murano glassware – there is nowhere else for the tourists to go. We are not yet at the buying stage but those of you know of my passion for making guitars would not be surprised that I had my eye on a glass guitar – mine to be had for the bargain price of €16,000!
The storm quickly subsided but it seemed as though the drizzle was set in so we headed home picking up a takeaway pizza on the way with plans to watch the Australia v Germany World Cup game on TV. Great in theory but the best laid plans sometimes fail, especially when the game is only available on pay to view TV! Fortunately we had seen a local bar advertising the game so Kath gave me a leave pass to go and watch the game and have a couple of beers. Hmmm...4-0 and I was sitting next to a German couple! Needless to say there was not much lively banter happening. Still I was there supporting our boys.
Monday 14th June
This morning we decided to see Venetian life from the water and so took the ferry from L’Accademia to Ca d’Ore, passing under the Rialto Bridge on the way. There may be no hustle and bustle of street traffic but the waterways are certainly crowded. It seems a more civilised form of transport though with no horns (unlike Rome!). But where are the ambulances and fire engines? The waterways are shared by water taxis, ferries, delivery boats, gondolas and private boats and to the uninitiated there do not seem to be many canal rules as boats are going everywhere. The other boats in town are the massive cruise liners that dock at Bacino della Marittima. Whilst they can’t navigate the relatively narrow Canal Grande (the main canal through the centre of Venice) their size draws the attention of crowds when they sail down Canale della Guidecca past Isola di S. Giorgio Maggiore. As the photo I took from St Mark’s bell tower shows it looks as though the liners could swallow the island whole!
Back to today, after disembarking at Ca d’Ore we walk back to Rialto Bridge which is swarming with tourists who are leaning over the sides taking pictures of the passing gondolas below or are cramming into the shops on the inside of the bridge – a smaller Ponte Veccio.
The next destination is a walk through the San Polo district to the Santa Maria del Frari church. I’m afraid Liz and I decided it was one church too many so whilst Kath went in, Liz and I found a table at a pizzeria in the adjoining square for lunch. Kath reported back after half an hour to say it was impressive inside and showed us postcards of some of the art and sculptures. For some reason the Venetian churches don’t allow photography which I find disappointing and they charge an admission fee. I can understand no flash photography but I can only assume the complete ban on photography is to boost postcard sales.
Time to head back to Zattere and our apartment for a rest - the long, unplanned way. As mentioned earlier, the place is a maze of narrow streets and bridges and because the city is so flat it is not possible to see reference points in the distance. The only saving grace is that Venice is not huge and you know that at some stage you are likely to bump into the Canal Grande. Venice is full of buskers, usually guitarists and/or piano accordion players. All very good, but much of a muchness. So today it was fascinating to see a man playing classical music on wine glasses. It sounds very kitch but it was in fact mesmerising as he played classics like Swan Lake. Liz spent ages watching him and even videoed a couple of songs (no wonder her memory card needs clearing regularly). As much as it was good to watch, I wasn’t inspired enough to buy the CD to play as background music when friends come over for dinner or to listen to in the car!
Back at Viola it was afternoon nap time for Kath and time for me to download photos onto the PC before heading off for dinner via Piazza San Marco. Kath suggested seeing Piazza San Marco at night because it is lit up and the orchestras are playing to the diners. Unfortunately it was too early for the lights but we were able to get some nice twilight photos and enjoy a leisurely walk in the pleasant evening breeze. As with most cities there is some restoration work under way and Basilica San Marco is receiving its fair share of attention at present with the obligatory scaffolding and hoardings. Unlike everywhere else in Italy, where we have seen the hoardings disguised with massive fabric screens to look like the building being renovated behind, in Venice it is an advertising opportunity, even on a religious landmark area such as Piazza San Marco. Unfortunately this meant only being able to see a small section of the Bridge of Sighs. The biggest advertising hoarding on a restoration was L’Accademie which was adorned with a building sized ad for Burberry with Emma Watson (Hermoine) wearing a couple of nice jackets – I bet she never imagined that she would be modelling Burberry and be plastered all over Venice when she turned up for the first day of shooting Harry Potter!
Leaving the square we chanced upon restaurant Osteria Oliva Nera and the hospitable hosts Dino (the husband) and his wife Isabelle (the boss). Dino took time to explain everything on the menu, even drawing pictures on the brown paper placemats. Isabelle was all for the women being in control so was very pleased to see Kath in charge of wine selection and happily conferred with her on an appropriate selection. Kath and I both chose local dishes on Dino’s recommendation. My entree combined salt cod mousse and sardines and my main was liver Venetian style (cooked in onions and served with spinach on a bed of polenta – again mum you would have loved it). Liz chose from the “adult” menu and kind of enjoyed her entree and main. She however lover her Panna Cotta desert. The lovely bottle of red suggested by the “boss” accompanied our meals beautifully and the evening was finished with a Limoncella/gelato drink prepared by Dino. In comparison to the rocket fuel of Positano this creation was a perfectly refreshing palate cleanser. Liz walked away with a signed placemat dessert menu artwork and a photo with Dino. Several hundreds of dollars later we left full of scrumptious local food and wines after a fun family dinner with plenty of theatre provided by Dino and Isabelle – well worth every cent.
The walk home back through Piazza San Marco provided the next experience of the night that none of us had expected. Firstly it was now dark enough for the lights to provide a beautiful atmosphere but more amazingly, as the tide was rising, water was bubbling up through the stormwater drains in the square – the same drains that took this afternoon’s rain out to sea! It was quite an amazing sight to witness several ponds appear before our eyes in this massive square as the water level in the Bacino di San Marco rose higher than the lower levels of the square. Apparently the square has flooded in the past with water deep enough for gondolas to sail through!
Back home just before midnight we all crashed into bed for a much needed good night’s sleep.
Tuesday 15th June
Our last full day in Venice. Ask Liz what we have yet to tick off the must do list and the answer is “a gondola ride”! The weather has turned decidedly dull and drizzle is threatening as we head into town late morning. Liz advised that based on the weather forecast we should do the gondola ride asap and launched into “pester mode” every time we saw a gondola – which was every 30 seconds. With the skies greying we decided that she had a point and it may be now or never so we bit the bullet and hired our gondolier “Bond – as in James Bond” for a 45 minute ride through the narrow canals to the Canal Grande, under the Rialto Bridge and back. Bond has 27 years experience behind him and it shows as he effortlessly steers us through narrow canals and the traffic on the Grande Canale. The silent progress along the secondary canals under the small bridges was very tranquil and every now and then we felt like stars having to smile for the tourists on the bridges who were taking our photo. The contrast with the “peak hour traffic” on the Grande Canale around the Rialto Bridge was quite stark as we jostled for clean water with the ferries and commercial boats. There was something quite regal about being “chauffeured” in our elegant gondola and we all agreed that it was a great thing to have done. It only sprinkled a couple of times during the voyage but soon after the rain set in for the day – well done Liz, you were right!
A quick review of Travel Advisor had suggested a small glass-making workshop in San Croce as an interesting experience. As we had decided not to visit Murano, the island renowned for its glassware, we agreed that the walk to see Artigianto d’Arte di Vianello Mauro. It was well worth the search as Liz and I watched in fascination as Vianello made Liz a small glass dolphin.
The rest of the day was consumed visiting a plethora of small souvenir shops. I don’t think I have mentioned yet my girls’ addiction to Pandora beads for their bracelets. Italy has turned out to be a veritable goldmine for new charms, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Colosseo to a gazillion varieties of Murano glass charms! It is nigh on impossible to walk past a shop without going in for a “Pandora fix”. Kath and I have had our eye out for a special artwork to remind ourselves of the holiday. Five years ago we bought a beautiful oil painting in Honfleur to remind us of our trip to France and we still enjoy looking at it on a daily basis in our sunroom. The obvious choice from Venice was a unique Murano glass creation. We had seen a potential piece near the Rialto Bridge yesterday so decided to return to see if we still “loved” it – and we did. Kath walked away whilst I haggled as she hates it when I start the Monty Python haggling process. A few hundred euros of worthwhile haggling later Antonio and I agree on a price, inclusive of shipping to Australia, which we’re both happy with, shake hands and fill out the paperwork. She may not be a haggler, but Kath never complains about the savings!
By now it was late afternoon and time to head back to the apartment to freshen up before dinner at a small nearby pizzeria. The girls went to bed pretty much straight away whilst I tried to catch up on 3 days worth of diary entries! At 1am I decided to call it quits as I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me to Lake Como tomorrow.
Wednesday 16th June
Another farewell day as we move on to Varenna on Lake Como today. The plan is to catch the 12.30pm ferry back to Fusina to collect the car so we can be in Varenna no later than 6pm. An early rise and breakfast and we are ready for some last minute souvenir hunting after checking out and leaving our bags in the hotel lobby. Guess what, Liz found another glass bead for her Pandora bracelet! The danger of looking for souvenirs for others is that you will see something you like yourself – even though you have already chosen your special memento. That something happened to be a glass “love note” sculpture that Kath fell in love with and before we knew it we were walking out of St Mark’s square with another few kilos of glass!
Running out of time and searching for a couple of last minute gifts Kath decided to leave Liz and I in one shop whilst she walked down the street to look in a couple of other shops. Ten minutes later and no sign of her, my mobile phone rang – Kath was lost – well not exactly lost as she knew where she was, just not where we were! A short discussion of landmarks and a couple of minutes later we were reunited and on our way back to collect the bags from the hotel.
The rain continued to steadily fall as we sheltered in an alleyway waiting for the ferry to arrive. At 12.30pm we were on board and heading back to Fusina. The carpark that was practically full when we left the car there on Saturday was now almost deserted and hence it was with a sigh of relief that our car was visible from afar.
With the bags checked and safely secured we woke up Jane and asked her to lead the way to Varenna. The journey was not particularly pleasant as for much of the time the rain was pelting down. Also Jane took us down a route where there were more roadworks – admittedly not her fault but she didn’t win brownie points when we were sitting completely stationery in a traffic jam on a 130km/hr road and she chirpily pipped up with the comment “your estimated time of arrival is 5.15pm and you are still on the fastest route” – no we weren’t Jane! A further delay caused by a car accident wasn’t her fault either but it wasn’t surprising given the weather conditions.
Driving along the narrow roads that hug Lake Como from Lecco to Varenna, the mountains on the other side of the lake look very imposing, even through the gloom and scattered clouds. Many sections of the roads wind through long tunnels, some completely enclosed and others with arches providing light and glimpses of scenery on the lake side. We finally wound our way down a narrow cobbled drive and into the carpark of Hotel du Lac in Varenna just before 6pm. We received a very friendly welcome and the pleasant surprise that someone had just cancelled (not surprised with the weather) and therefore we had been upgraded to their room which has a large balcony overlooking the lake. Even with the poor weather, the setting sun provided a beautiful view from our balcony with layers of light and cloud masking the distant hills.
After unpacking we walked up to the town square for dinner and then came back to the room to watch the Uruguay v South Africa soccer game and an episode of Glee before bed.
Thursday 17th June
We woke to the sound of steady drizzle – I don’t think we are going to see a sunny Lake Como. After a nice breakfast we unfurled the umbrellas and walked through Varenna and down to the ferry before following the coastal walk back to the hotel. Liz and I came back to the room and I updated the diary and Liz played on her DSi whilst Kath went for a walk to “Italy’s shortest river” which starts from a hole in the mountain just above the neighbouring village of Fiumelatte. The water gushes down the mountain and is travelling so fast it creates a white foam as it hits Lake Como.
The thought of her walking up the hill is too much for me so I had a little nap after a couple of pages of the diary. On her return though we decide to head back out to explore more of the village. Along the way there were several small shops to browse through, including a watercolour artist who was giving a young teenage girl a lesson which was interesting to watch. Kath found a clothes shop with some lovely clothes but unfortunately the things she liked were not in her size (they were all too big of course).
Speaking of sizes, I am certainly showing the signs of enjoying the local fare. In fact today Liz was poking me in the stomach (in response to some smart comment I had made) when suddenly out of the blue and much to Kath’s amusement she blurted out “Dad’s packing on the pounds”. Hmmm...that reminds me it’s time for lunch! Another hot chocolate and pizza perhaps.
After lunch the weather unexpectedly took a turn for the better so we decided to take a punt (pardon the pun) on a ferry trip to Bellagio. The 25 minute trip via Menaggio was very peaceful and the panoramic views of the mountains with small, colourful (mostly light yellow) villages on the waterline are spectacular – especially bathed in sunlight.
Bellagio was not quite what I had expected. It is a very classy town with beautiful shops lining the cobbled streets that lead up steeply from the shore. In my mind though I had expected a large, deep promenade between the shore and the hotels that line the front. In fact there is only a relatively narrow road separating them. Kath and Liz (and me of course) had a ball criss-crossing the narrow streets from one fashion boutique to the next. It was in one of these boutiques that Kath did eventually find a really nice dress that looked great, but now it was the price tag that was too big.
After a few hours of browsing it was time to head back to the ferry and the return trip to Varenna. We may go back over the next few days as we probably didn’t do it justice but we also have to fit in a day trip to Tirano and there are other lakeside towns such as Tremezzo and Menaggio.
Tirano is the home town of Kath’s great grandparents and is about a 1 ½ hour train trip north from Varenna heading towards the Swiss border. The weather forecast for the rest of the week is pretty poor (although they got this afternoon wrong – and I only thought it was only Australian forecasters who got it wrong) so we have decided that tomorrow is as good a day as any to go. The idea is to catch the 9.30am train so we will need to be up fairly early, to get ready and have breakfast before we leave, as the station is a 20 minute walk from the hotel.
Dinner is an excellent pizza for me, pasta for Liz and chicken for Kath at the same Trattoria we went to last night. France lost 2-0 and we’re down to the penultimate episode of Glee!
Friday 18th June
Everything went to plan this morning. We bought our train tickets from a local bar/tobacconist/paper shop before heading up to the train station. The train was on time and although it looked pretty trashed on the outside, the 2nd class carriages were perfectly fine for our short journey. The scenery on the trip was largely green mountainsides with terraced gardens – it can’t be the easiest land to farm. Fortunately too, the weather has turned out to be fine so our wet weather gear we added to the backpack is not required.
A slight twist in the trip happened just outside Sondrio when the attendant walked through the carriage to say that the train was terminating and we would catch a bus the rest of the way. Fair enough but when we got off at Sondrio it was not clear where the bus would be. We followed a group of fellow Tirano bound passengers to the nearby bus depot but the drivers there sent us back to the other side of the train station where there were no busses. One of the other ladies went into the ticket office to find out what was happening. I was therefore in prime position to watch 5 minutes of hand waving and raised voices from the passenger and reciprocal raised voices and “what do you expect me to do about it” shoulder shrugs from the man behind the safety of the glass. The upshot was a 1 ½ hour wait for the next train which apparently was going all the way through to Tirano. Any thought we may have had about carrying on from Tirano on the scenic railway to St Moritz was effectively quashed. And for any of you travelling this way, Sondrio doesn’t have much to offer for a 1 ½ hour layover.
Still it’s a holiday and 1 ½ hours is not the end of the world when we finally reach Tirano. First impressions aren’t too crash hot though as we exit the station towards the main road and are overwhelmed by the traffic and noise of a commercial town. Not the quaint town I was expecting although to be true I didn’t know what to expect – it just wasn’t this. Nevertheless we ventured on in search of somewhere for lunch away from the noise. Perhaps by good luck we chose to head right and crossed the river (Adda, I think) that flows rapidly through a man made channel splitting the town. On the other side it was as though we had stepped back in time to a more traditional lifestyle and architecture. We found an outside table at a restaurant with friendly staff – including a really tall young waiter who was trying to practice his English on us. His English wasn’t great but was still better than my Italian. The menus in Italy have often been in Italian, English, French and German. At this place the northern location meant that it was Italian and German. Some of the menu items had a Swiss/Germanic lean to them – in fact Kath and I both had Wiener Schnitzel.
After lunch we wandered through the old part of town and stumbled across a very small church that was unassuming on the outside but beautiful inside with stained glass windows and frescos on the ceilings. There also seemed to be a theme of Mary with daggers in her heart – very dramatic. Only a short distance away was another, much larger church in which 6 ladies were giving the place a thorough clean. Amongst many beautiful frescos, stained glass windows and statues we saw the stations of the cross, one of them being Veronica wiping Jesus’ face, and took a photo for Kath’s mum.
Liz was beginning to fade by now so she and I headed back to the train station to have a rest whilst Kath continued on to the main cathedral. She reported back that it too was very impressive but that mass was in progress so she didn’t take any photos inside.
The train trip back was uneventful, except for the drunk Italian who asked to borrow a pen and then proceeded to put it in his mouth whilst searching for some paper. After having well and truly slobbered over it he handed it back to Kath with a “grazie” and a smile.
On the walk back from the station we picked up some laundry – everything except the undies. For some reason the laundry refuses to wash “intimates” – must have had some bad experiences??
After our big lunch, a takeaway Panini was enough for Liz and I for dinner – Kath must have started a diet and declined. After dinner I brought the diary up to date. As you can see below the conditions I have within which to work are almost unbearable! I’m thinking of making the deck my permanent office. Kath and Liz went for a short stroll in the beautiful twilight and had a gelato (the diet’s over before it starts).
No fixed plans for tomorrow so hopefully a sleep in opportunity!
Buono sera.
one of the teachers said it was unfair for you to send these reports back to people not on holidays!
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