Month: December 2012

Today is an early start as there is much to see and do, and about 250km of freeway travel to our next 2 day stay at Stresa.

Our direction is east of Florence to the coast where we find a totally different landscape.  The Italian Riviera sweeps along the Mediterranean from France to Tuscany.  On the southern end of the Riviera, the coast fans out with a dramatic flourish into one of the most astonishing regions in Italy, the almost inaccessible heights of Cinque Terre, which stretches along the western coast from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. You can reach them by sea, or by train on a line that cuts through the mountains, emerging briefly into the open air at the stations.  The steep cliffs are draped with vineyards that go right down to the sea.  Almost all of the houses and accommodation is ‘hanging’ onto the side of the cliffs.  The region has been declared National Heritage under UNESCO.

Arriving at the town of Manarola, we walk down a steep pathway and along the 1km Lover’s Path.  It’s interesting that lovers have attached padlocks to the wire protection screens signifying that their love will last forever – the key has been thrown into the ocean.  We make our way down to the wharf at Riomaggiore to board a boat that takes us to Monterosso.  The view of the villages along the rugged, but spectacular, coastline is awesome.  Our lunch is at a little café in Monterosso; I choose a simple meal of fries and grilled vegetables, keeping away from the traditional ‘flour and water’ bake, while others have mussels and other seafood in pasta.

After a short walk, we board a train to Levanto, just the one stop, and a distance of 5 minutes.  The train is noticeably quiet and smooth.  36 get on and 36 get off.

Our coach meets us here and we have a long transfer section through the Italian Riviera and on to Stresa.  We must have gone through 60 tunnels in 2 hours, anything from 200 meters to 2000 meters.

Arriving at Stresa, there are lots of ‘Ooohhhs, and Aaahhhs’ as Lake Maggiore comes into view.  The hotel is just a block from the little quaint village.  The meal has been booked for 7:40pm and some of us don’t have our suitcases, so we make our way to this ‘upmarket’ dining room in ‘travel’ clothes, some a little embarrassed as we feel misfits in such a ‘toffee’ hotel.

One of the singles has had a few things go wrong for her: she had to find her own way from Rome Airport to the hotel, and her suitcase has been delivered to the wrong room on two different occasions, and she is not one of those sorts of people who ‘just let it flow’ and patiently waits.  Oh well, things don’t always go right for some people.

Thank you, to all those who have sent us comments along the way.  We are enjoying what you too could have been a part of.

Today, we find ourselves in the delightful region of Tuscany.  As we have stayed overnight at a Winery, the scenery is just what you always dreamt that Italy is; blue skies, neat farmland that is green as far as the eye can see.  The bus takes us to the small walled village of San Gimignano nearby.  You can only walk into the village, as the streets are so narrow, there is no way the coach could maneuver around the corners.

Brick-paved in a herringbone pattern, Piazza della Cisterna is the first of two adjoining squares forming the city’s central region.  13th century towers border the squares.  Just a dozen remain of the original 70.  The town’s tallest surviving tower is 54 m high.

We climb the tallest tower up many stairs to view Tuscany in full view.  The green farmland goes on forever to the rolling hills in the distance.  This morning is a great morning to do this as the air is clear and the sun is warming.  There are many quaint shops here too.  The region, including Florence, is known for good Italian leather ware.  Lyn buys a brilliant blue handbag and an orange hand purse and a purple coin purse.  I pick up a wallet that has 21 spots for cards.  All for very good prices – we believe.  It is not good, looking for something you have recently purchased, as it just could be cheaper.  While in the leather shop, a girl started hugging Lyn.  It turns out that she is from Silvan and goes to Curves gym at Wandin where Lyn went for a while – and she and her husband, didn’t book at the world’s greatest travel agency.

There has been an interesting sculptor in town, an Englishman.  His statutes are of himself in the nude, and Lyn goes to welcome him into the village.  There are quite a number of these statues around and it takes her quite a while – lol.

We move on to a farm to have lunch.  It is famous for wine making and olive oil.  Everything is grown organically and the family of owners are very proud of their products – good wine and olive oil.

After lunch, we make our way to Florence, just 40 km up the highway.  Before we can enter the city center, we need to buy a permit for the bus to take us there; a ritual it seems.  The authorities will not issue permits until the foreigners have actually arrived in the area – no internet pre-bookings allowed.  It costs 150 Euros just to take us in and pick us up in two days time.

We arrive at The Helvetia & Bristol Hotel just two blocks from the main city square.  The rest of the afternoon and evening is free time so Lyn and I take a walk around the ‘up-market’ shops to look for a smart leather coat.  If we don’t like anything in the shop, I say to the shopkeeper, “We are looking for a bright pink coat”, and they understand why we are leaving.

The city square looks like a good place to have a bite to eat and we find a café looking out onto the square and we are ‘front’ row’ table.  There is a jazz trio playing just across from us and we purchase a CD to use in the DVD we make on our return home.  This is so relaxing – why isn’t every day on tour like this?

It looks like tonight is an early night and we are in bed by 9:30pm after doing the laundry.

Today we leave ‘the best ocean view’ one could ever have.  Although the rooms are tiny, the experience of living ‘on the edge of a cliff’ gives us a new meaning.  After breakfast, we head back towards Rome via Naples.  The scenery is absolutely stunning.  There is no sign of  a drought; every thing is green.  We travel through olive groves, lemon orchards, and into wineries, all is lush and at full speed of growth.

Although we travel around 250km, time is well spent viewing the rolling hills and attractive landscape on our way to Tuscany.  Often, a village is noticed on top of a hill, and has to be included in the camera.  The highway is not overloaded, but constant with many lorries and coaches.  We stop for comfort along the way, and have lunch at a highway eating-house; short staffed but very efficient.

We divert to Siena, a very quaint village on a hill.  The parking point for the coach is teaming with other coaches from around Europe.  We have taxis waiting to transfer us through the narrow cobble stoned streets, into the cathedral square.  Here is a marvellous cathedral, Duome.  The mosaics on the floor and walls are just ‘different’.  There is a library of old sheet music, which has been preserved and is not allowed to be breathed on in case the music is affected.  The painting and mosaics on the walls of the library are in very fine detail.

We then take a stroll through the cobbled streets, past exquisite shops of great color and style.  The leather shops have some magnificent colored bags and cases in them.  We make it to a large ‘square’.

This is the point where the city’s three hills meet.  The curved and sloping Piazza del Campo takes the form of a scallop shell.  This was where the Romans built their forum.  It is the stage of the world-famous Palio, the major event in Tuscany’s calendar. The Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race that is held twice each year, on July 2 and August 16.  Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen city wards. The Palio held on July 2 is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, who has a church in Siena. The Palio held on August 16 is named Palio dell’Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.

A magnificent pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.

The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. It is not uncommon for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is not unusual to see unmounted horses finishing the race without their jockeys.

We are given 50 minutes free time and Lyn makes the most of the clothing shops – 4 pieces in one shop.  The shopkeeper is very happy.  I notice a cake shop next door and for 1 Euro, I am able to enjoy a chocolate éclair filled with liquid chocolate, mmmmmmmm.  Lyn only saw the last mouth full going in.

We arrive at San Gimignano and find our delightful accommodation at a Tuscany winery.  The bus has three shots at reversing up the hill to the entrance to the accommodation. The evening meal entree is spaghetti  – how do so many people enjoy this ‘stuff’?  We are here just the one night before venturing on to Florence tomorrow.

After a quick early breakfast, we board a smaller bus for an exciting transfer to a wharf for a Jetfoil ride to the Isle of Capri.  The streets around Sorrento are so narrow with sharp turns that give the passengers a thrill or two.  Lots of wooows and aaaaahs.

No visitor to Capri should miss the boat trip to the famous Blue Grotto – and judging from the crowds, none of them do.  The inexorable battering of the waves hollowed out this cave in pre-historic times, and since it was rediscovered by August Kopisch, in 1826. it has brought fame to the island.  The sea rises well above the half-way mark inside the cave, and the entrance is so low that only small boats can pass through, and then only in summer, provided that the sea is calm.  When the sun shines outside, the cave is filled with an extraordinary flickering cobalt-blue light.  Emperor Tiberius had a nuptial chamber carved out of the rock.  This is some experience indeed.  All who came to the cave, enjoyed the experience.  We take the boat back to the port and after a 30-minute wait in a line, we take a 10-minute cable car ride up the mountain to the town square at the top, then a 10-minute walk down the other side to our restaurant for lunch.  We have three courses: salad, ravioli, and chocolate cake.  The water is included.  I have since found out that many of the others in the group enjoyed taking photos of me – asleep at the table (someone had placed an empty wine bottle near me).

Pasta is a common food here – like French fries.  You don’t see a lot of burger shops at all.  A Burger King or a McDonalds here and there, just the one Subway and no KFCs .  Why do I mention all the take-aways, you ask?  There are so many pizza and pasta shops around, you start to feel like having a non-Italian meal.

Each street café has someone on the street enticing you in for a cappuccino or pasta or even free cover charge to sit in the dinning area.

After a walk back up the hill, we are given a 1-hour walking tour around the Capri Township on the top of the hill.  It seems most Italians live in multi-story apartments.  We walk into an area of villas that have fantastic gardens with views to kill.   Many of the villas have been turned into hotels.  A villa is a freestanding house like we know it in Australia.  There are so many spots to take postcard photos of this delightful island.

The shop windows are ‘out of the box’ with great clothing colors.  I ‘test’ out one shop that has a very smart light blue jacket in the window – 1200 Euro.  “I don’t think I will be buying it”, I said.  But it did look great.

We board the cable car at 3:15 and catch the 3:55pm Jetfoil back to Sorrento.  Tonight is a free night where some walk/bus to the township of Sorrento and others enjoy the ocean view from the restaurant at the hotel.

Our first of many early starts happens this morning with suitcases to be outside our rooms by 6:15am.  Breakfast at 7am and departure at 7:45am for Sorrento.

Peak hour is evident as we leave Rome southbound.

The true Italian countryside is not far out of Rome – green hills and farmland.  There are fields of solar panels supplying electricity to the villages along the way.  Although the bus looks slick, as we travel, there is a whine in the motor and the suspension is not the ‘air foam’ that you can experience in some coaches.

Our trip to Sorrento is only 4 hours total including 30 minutes comfort stop – 50cents a pee.

I forgot to mention in yesterdays post that Mr Pope did not come to the front door to greet the pilgrims from Australia.  Perhaps we needed to be more conspicuous – Harry forgot to bring his lime green mankini.

We arrive at Pompeii to notice that the size of the cobblestones has grown enormously, great big bricks.  How the ‘slaves’ of the day worked with them in forming the road, no one knows, but the council hasn’t had to upgrade the road surface for 500 years or more.  Pompeii is a very busy town and this is the off-season.  They say during June to August, tourist sites in Italy are very much overcrowded.

After lunch at a local café, we commence a guided tour through the ruins of the old Pompeii; well kept because of the many tourists that visit each year.  Our local tour guide has a great Italian accent and her ‘comea toa thisa streeta’ is rather fascinating.  We see two amphitheaters that had great sound qualities without an electrical power point in sight.  Each house has been carefully excavated and a story revealed. There is a line of bakers, each with stone ovens to show generations in the future how to cook a real Italian pizza.

We are taken into the ‘red light’ area and into a brothel.  There are well-painted erotica on the walls, perhaps to act as a menu for the customers to choose which experience they would like, as most of them didn’t know the local language.  The gym, with steam rooms and massage facilities, shows evidence of constant use.  (I wonder if they had iPods to listen to as they exercised?)

Following the tour, we bus to our accommodation for the next two nights.  I had jokingly mentioned to our tour guide that I would like an ocean view for lunch not knowing that the view from our accommodation in Sorrento is going to give us a magnificent ocean view of the Bay of Naples.  Our motel is ‘hanging’ on the edge of a cliff with the absolute perfect view – for two days.  Wow, only film stars and heads of state get this view, but we are experiencing it because we are travelling with Scenic Tours.

Our dinner for the evening is at a restaurant run by a family for three generations; it too sits on the edge of a cliff with a magnificent view and a beautiful sunset over the Isle of Capri.

Today commences with a dull overcast sky with rain.  Not a good look but not as bad as yesterday.

After breakfast, we board our bus, which is to be our mobile home for the next 2 weeks.  It is well done out both inside and out.  The title on the side of the bus is ‘Pleasure on Wheels’.  There is a caricature of a shapely woman on the back door, which even our Tour Director had not noticed.  Inside, the roof is bright pink and the chairs have dashes of the same pink.  Rather classy indeed – especially when it is full of retired, or close to retired, folks from down under.

We make our way to St Peters Square.  While getting off the bus, my video camera drops on the sidewalk – sh……ucks is heard!  Just a broken ring that holds the wide-angle lens on is slightly damaged but can still do its job.  Man, I was so thankful.  And then when fitting the lens at one point, a passer by knocks my arm and the wide-angle lens drops to the ground.  Thankfully, no further damage.

The line of people into St Peters museum is probably over 1km.  We take the fast lane as we have a set booking time.  We go through security and purchase tickets at 15 Euros (a group discount) normal entrance fee is 17 Euros.  There are an average of 22,000 visitors per day.  That’s over $120 mil per year.  A tidy sum indeed – and no taxes either.  We head towards a scale model of the entire Vatican representing 44ha or 108 acres.  The area we are visiting is only a small portion of this immense display of wealth and hypocrisy when you think that the money collected could be spent on so many poorer groups of people in the world.  Magnificent sculptors, intricate tapestries and the many works of Michelangelo line the, what feels like, 1 km of display in the one hallway.

We enter the Sistine Chapel, said to be a Holy Place.  It is a private chapel of popes and the site of the secret conclaves at which cardinals elect new popes.  From 1508 to 1512, Michelangelo painted the ceiling with the saga of humanity from the Creation to the Flood, the largest work ever accomplished by a single artist.  Twenty-three years later, he painted the Last Judgment on the Sistine’s alter wall.

From here we enter the magnificent St Peter’s Basilica, consecrated in 1626.  It is the largest church of any kind or religion, in the world.  The church spreads over more than 1.5 ha.  Amid the basilica’s breath-taking array of gold, mosaic, marble and guilded stucco, the supreme masterpiece is Michelangelo’s Pieta, a superb marble statue of the Virgin cradling the body of Christ.

After a counter-lunch, we bus to the Colloseo.  This is the fourth time I have visited the site and it is true that the best time to be here is 5:30am, when no one else is around.  However, large crowds visit this site each day, although not as many as St Peters.  We enter the stadium where history tells that the gladiators had a wonderful time filling in the day by killing people and exotic beasts from around the world.  70,000 people would attend these ceremonies.  It took 8 years of manual labor to build this intricate arena, 3 giant walls thick and many entrances.  The people would be there all day to witness this gladiator sport.

We bus back to our Hotel, and after a short rest, we are taken to Piazza Navona where we have our welcome dinner in a sidewalk restaurant.  The sidewalks are lined with artists selling or painting their works.

I wake early, 4:00am, and decide to get the blog for yesterday ready for uploading.  At 5:30 I quickly dress and catch a cab to the Colosseo to get early morning light effects on this great building of history.  The cab driver is asleep as I tap on his window.  However, it doesn’t take long for him to wake.  He straight away gets into ‘Roman Chariot speed’ as we make way towards the Colosseo down cobble stoned laneways touching 80kph at times.  The best early morning ride one could ever wish for.

The sun is still not taking effect on the Colosseo, and with no one around, I get some great video; the spotlights make for an even better picture experience.  I slowly walk back towards the Hotel Westin, hoping for a McDonalds to be open for an early morning tea – they don’t open until 10:00 am.

Breakfast is another great meal similar to yesterday.  Today’s program is free time until 3:00pm where we meet our Tour Director for Italy, Rosemary.  Rosemary is English but has lived in Italy for many years.  She helps us with important information like, “Don’t order a coffee without asking for American Coffee”.  Italian coffee is full on heavy stuff.  To eat or drink at the counter is much cheaper than taking a seat for the event.  Our hearing pieces, which will be the source of all history and information during our walking tours, is checked and ready to go.

At 4:30pm, we venture out on our first city walking tour, with umbrellas up as it is raining and continues to do so throughout the tour, which lasts to 7:00pm.  Our first stop is the Piazza Di Spagna or, Spanish Steps.  At the top of the stairs is a major French church in Rome.  Many tourists hang out at the fountain at the foot of the steps – oh, I forgot to count the many steps.  We wander through the maze of little streets and find the Trevi Fountain, occupying almost the entire square in which it stands.  This is where Neptune takes center stage.  If you want to be sure of returning to Rome, turn your back and toss a coin over your shoulder into the basin of water.

Still venturing through the narrow streets, we make our way to the Pantheon.  This was reconstructed 2,000 years ago after a disastrous fire.  Its majestic dome, with a diameter of 43 meters, identical to its height, is a triumph of architectural harmony.  There is a 9m opening in the dome for light to come into the church below.

The streets are busy even though it is Sunday afternoon and it is raining; tourists, we can tell, are a plenty.  We make our way to Piazza Navona where there is a large square with yes, another fountain taking centerstage. Of course, there is a story to this fountain like there is to all others.  This fountain is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers; Nile Ganges, Ia Plata, and the Danube.  These rivers are in the four major continents of the world.  From here, we make our way to our bus, which takes us back to Hotel Westin.

It is suggested by Rosemary, to take a meal in the not so up market restaurant region, so we take a 10 minute stroll and find a nice little café in some back street which turns out quite acceptable food.

Sorry for the quality of pictures in today’s post, but due to the constant rain, we decided to just use the iPhone cameras.  I have reduced them in size and so if you copy and paste them, you will not experience good quality.  If any of you wish to see pictures of your relatives ‘on site’, please leave a comment at the foot of this post and we will include something in the next post.  Normally, Lyn takes the pictures on her Sony DSLR a55 with a Tamron 18-270mm zoom lens.  We had nearly 400 hits to the site on Sunday – very good!

I wake early, 4:00am, and decide to get the blog for yesterday ready for uploading.  At 5:30 I quickly dress and catch a cab to the Colosseo to get early morning light effects on this great building of history.  The cab driver is asleep as I tap on his window.  However, it doesn’t take long for him to wake.  He straight away gets into ‘Roman Chariot speed’ as we make way towards the Colosseo down cobble stoned laneways touching 80kph at times.  The best early morning ride one could ever wish for.

The sun is still not taking effect on the Colosseo, and with no one around, I get some great video; the spotlights make for an even better picture experience.  I slowly walk back towards the Hotel Westin, hoping for a McDonalds to be open for an early morning tea – they don’t open until 10:00 am.

Breakfast is another great meal similar to yesterday.  Today’s program is free time until 3:00pm where we meet our Tour Director for Italy, Rosemary.  Rosemary is English but has lived in Italy for many years.  She helps us with important information like, “Don’t order a coffee without asking for American Coffee”.  Italian coffee is full on heavy stuff.  To eat or drink at the counter is much cheaper than taking a seat for the event.  Our hearing pieces, which will be the source of all history and information during our walking tours, is checked and ready to go.

At 4:30pm, we venture out on our first city walking tour, with umbrellas up as it is raining and continues to do so throughout the tour, which lasts to 7:00pm.  Our first stop is the Piazza Di Spagna or, Spanish Steps.  At the top of the stairs is a major French church in Rome.  Many tourists hang out at the fountain at the foot of the steps – oh, I forgot to count the many steps.  We wander through the maze of little streets and find the Trevi Fountain, occupying almost the entire square in which it stands.  This is where Neptune takes center stage.  If you want to be sure of returning to Rome, turn your back and toss a coin over your shoulder into the basin of water.

Still venturing through the narrow streets, we make our way to the Pantheon.  This was reconstructed 2,000 years ago after a disastrous fire.  Its majestic dome, with a diameter of 43 meters, identical to its height, is a triumph of architectural harmony.  There is a 9m opening in the dome for light to come into the church below.

The streets are busy even though it is Sunday afternoon and it is raining; tourists, we can tell, are a plenty.  We make our way to Piazza Navona where there is a large square with yes, another fountain taking centerstage. Of course, there is a story to this fountain like there is to all others.  This fountain is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers; Nile Ganges, Ia Plata, and the Danube.  These rivers are in the four major continents of the world.  From here, we make our way to our bus, which takes us back to Hotel Westin.

It is suggested by Rosemary, to take a meal in the not so up market restaurant region, so we take a 10 minute stroll and find a nice little café in some back street which turns out quite acceptable food.

Sorry for the quality of pictures in today’s post, but due to the constant rain, we decided to just use the iPhone cameras.  I have reduced them in size and so if you copy and paste them, you will not experience good quality.  If any of you wish to see pictures of your relatives ‘on site’, please leave a comment at the foot of this post and we will include something in the next post.  Normally, Lyn takes the pictures on her Sony DSLR a55 with a Tamron 18-270mm zoom lens.  We had nearly 400 hits to the site on Sunday – very good!

Our Grand Tour of Italy and Mediterranean Cruise has begun.  We have 12 fellow travellers with us.  All but one has been on one or many of our previous group tours.

It is a drain on one’s body in an aircraft for 8 hours and 13 hours at a time.  And so we were all looking forward to a good bed to give us the best of sleeps.  Italian time is 8 hours behind Australia.

The trip over was uneventful with meals at weird times and just a little turbulence at various times during the flight.  We all managed a little sleep but not enough of course.

We arrived at Rome airport about 30 minutes late but our departure from the airport was held up due to the major major modifications going on.  At least our bags were through by the time we were ready to collect them.  The flight over was reasonably smooth with only a few sharp aircraft movements during the trip.

Our transfer from the airport was in 2 Mercedes vans.  The airport is about 40 minutes from the city but it didn’t take long at all. We were sitting on 110kph and many others were overtaking us at speed.  A fast but safe trip!   Our driver did his best to speak English – it was far better than our Italian, of course.  We drove by many of Rome’s landmarks including the magnificent Colosseo (Italian).  There were so many people (tourists) there.  The Vatican is the biggest attraction here and we will see it a little later on.

When we registered at the Hotel Westin, it was around 10:30am.  We could not get into our rooms until after 12 midday and so we just ‘sat around’ waiting.  I think we may have a bit of that in the next couple of days until the ‘real’ tour starts.

Lyn and the others, had a lunch in a street-side café, but I was more interested in getting into the room and having a sleep.  Yesterday, it was a beautiful sunny blue-sky day and the video of the Porta Pinciana, came out rather striking.  I had trouble with the video camera at first (it had not deleted all the video from Vietnam) so I had to do a complete wipe of the disc and start a second time.  At least it is functioning OK now and should give us some good shots.

After a very heavy sleep, I was able to drag myself out to an evening meal of pizza and Caesars salad with a very chocolaty hot chocolate.  We made it back to bed by 9:15pm

I got up at 5:30 this morning to do some early morning video of the Porta Pinciana, which is a part of the ‘city wall’.  The early morning light made for some more interesting video than during the day.

What we have seen of Rome so far is more interesting than Paris.  The streets near us are lined with eateries with great looking pasta for sale – not!  I hate pasta.  No, the pizza was Ok last night.  The clothing shops are very up-market and probably very expensive, although one dress that Lyn ‘browsed’ at was 713 euro.