Exploring Italy

First days in Venice

I am sitting here staring out the window of our brilliant little B & B right in the centre of Venice looking out at the Rialto Bridge and down onto the canal with all the world moving around below us. This time, midday-ish, is just nuts you can’t even walk over the bridge it is just wall to wall people but because we are staying so central we can do our exploring early and late and just leave the nutty time for siesta…perfect.

It is so amazing to come back to this beautiful place and to be just as impressed as I was as a young 21-year-old. Today we just walked the streets, seeing amazing vista after amazing vista. Every alley way is incredible and picture postcard lovely and if you are out and about early enough you can miss the crowds. 
We arrived on Wednesday just before Easter and checked into the Magic Rialto guesthouse, which we would highly recommend, every room a view of the canal, full kitchen to use shared bathroom but really clean and a huge room for the three of us – given we have four nights here we can properly unpack and make ourselves at home. Because it is on the canal there is a bit of noise but you can’t have everything and it has modern double glazing so it’s remarkably quiet, especially given all the restaurants and water taxis around us. I could just stay taking pictures out the window the  whole time and be quite content. 

Our first explore, like many other tourists’ was to St Marco square and yep everyone else was there too, we decided to head up the huge tower to get the evening views; being spoilt by yet another sunny day. At the top it was not quite so lovely as a strong and freezing wind was blowing through the bell chamber. We had to stay up to get as much of the sunset as possible, man Venice is way bigger than I remember, it seemed to go on forever.  Cam seems to have an easy knack of wandering the streets and ending up exactly where we need to be (most of the time). Thank goodness as I would be so lost and it just seems like a huge number of non-connecting alleyways.  The sun going down meant the  opportunity to try and get some great night shots. It was so much quieter with everyone not staying on the island now out of the way. It is just spectacular and helped by an incredible big moon that added real drama over the massive historical buildings.

Day two was basically filling in time till Holly arrived – excitement levels for all of us at peak, that was until good old Ryan Air had troubles with their plane and a two-hour delay for Holly. We spent the morning weaving streets and spotting one beautiful square after another, incredible churches, theatres, tight alleyways and all nature of things being transported up and down canals, including one poor guy with his big load of cargo stuck under a bridge. So now we are doing what all good Italians do and are having a siesta while we wait for Holly’s delayed flight. Also time to catch up on blogs and check out the thousands of photos I’ve taken, it will take me months to sort through when we get home.

The other great news for me is that the physiotherapist in Switzerland clearly unstuck something in my back and I am a million times more comfortable – yay!!  

 

Venice with Holly

The time has finally arrived to meet Holly and we are all super excited. The plan is to meet her as she comes off the bus from the airport but as with most things in Europe we totally underestimate just how many buses there are. Two questions to Holly 1) let us know when you are on the causeway -response when Holly arrives “what exactly is a causeway” 2) what colour is your bus – response from Holly “white with writing on it but I am sitting on it how would I know?”  That did narrow it down a little but as the sun dropped and it got darker it was actually Holly that found us – lots of bear hugs and screams later (Cam supplies the hugs but not the screaming!!) we headed off to sort her gear and find a nice we restaurant for dinner. We have been mostly self-catering with my food challenges and a budget that is not endless, this has worked out well. Plus, Cam has discovered a great pizza by the slice and beer place close by that is sustaining him perfectly. So tonight was just about catching up with Holly and her checking out our brilliant accommodation at the Magic Rialto – having just been in Venice with Anna at Christmas it was not all new to her.

The next day was museums and the Doges Palace, um yep, that is what every other person in Venice decided to do too and the queues where huge and unmoving, it is possible I was a little less than patient and may have slightly lost it!! Crowds are not my thing and this was wall to wall people. We took up a tip we read in someone’s blog. You pop across the square to the Museo Correr and buy your ticket there and the one ticket does the museum and the
palace. We got through the museum which was really interesting and had about three different parts to it: a palace residence, archaeology (which suited Holly) and beautiful art work & statues. Afterwards you take your ticket
and practically just walk straight through the ‘got your ticket already’ queue and you are in Doge’s Palace.  We have
not purchased any attractions in advance as we are never quite sure each day what our plan might be. The palace was amazing, with paintings on every wall and ceiling and a huge room that could accommodate 2000 people, also entirely covered in paintings. It’s not a palace in the sense that you see where the Doge (Duke) lived it is more the governmental, courts and prison that you tour around. Yet more wandering around the little side streets and alleys. You could just spend days wandering around the streets of Venice and never get sick of it.  

Cam and I went out for an explore in the evening and came across a hospital which we would have sworn was a church it was so ornate. Outside were all the water ambulances including a water entrance to the emergency
department. We have seen so far the rubbish, police, fire and ambulance boats all go past our accommodation. Venice in the evening is amazing, everyone who is not staying in the city has gone and the reflections on the canals are just amazing and then when we get back to our accommodation you realise you could just sit in our wee room for days and watch the comings and goings it’s the most fascinating city. We did have a plan to get a rental car and head out into the countryside for a day but we can just not bring ourselves to leave Venice.

Our final day we did the 20 euro pass to ride the public water transport anywhere for the whole day. Once again I think most of Venice decided to do the same but at least today we started early and headed out to the Islands. First stop Murano famous for the glass blowing, the craftsmen and their families were sent out to an Island as there was a fear they might set Venice alight (good resilient city planning). We had been warned by some blogs that it was a rip off and not very nice – well they were clearly having a bad day, we stopped at the Faro wharf and went into the first demonstration furnace and watched a ‘master’ creating amazing creatures from the glass. Just amazing and to buy it was really quite cheap like only a few euros and not in the least pushy. The Island itself is like a small version of Venice and just lovely. We also took in a short demonstration of glass blowing for a few euros each, defiantly worth a visit and a toilet stop included in the cost.

Next stop Burano for lace making, we didn’t do any demonstrations here but oh my goodness what an amazing Island all the houses are bright colours and the canals and laneways made for some awesome reflection
photos, actually I have so many photos I don’t know how I am going to organise them all.  We found a fabulous little trattoria in the sun for lunch, I won’t bore you with what we had but suffice to stay it was a good choice. We happily wondered around the Island for the rest of the afternoon before heading back for a short siesta prior to my journey to get a great sunset.  

Relying on blogs and this awesome new app that shows you where the sun will set and rise we headed out on the boat for Lido, our timing could not have been more perfect as I sat on the back of the boat getting the sun setting over Venice and then found a spot on the waterfront at Lido to set up the tripod and capture the most stunning sunset. A local came and stood with me and suggested that I had really lucked out on this one as it was a stunner (I don’t think he meant me!)

We had some more gelato (as you do and it is to die for) and heading back into town capturing the lights along the way, I don’t think my taking a million photos has got too much in the way of the holiday but we dropped Cam at a basilica on the way back so he could have a final explore while we sorted some tea and we all got packed for our departure in the morning.  We have had four days here and could so have spent longer and had amazing sunny weather. Leaving this morning it was misty and foggy and that lent itself to a totally different look to Venice but happy to now be on the train to Levanto via Milan.  I would certainly give Venice a 10 out of 10 – the only downside is the huge crowds but staying on the Island means you can miss this at the beginning and end of the day which is perfect.

 

Walking the 5 villages of the Cinque Terre

It is almost time to leave this fantastic little Italian area, we have loved exploring the villages of the Cinque Terre from our great little AirBnB apartment in Levanto. Levanto is not one of the five villages but is just before it and a really nice little village with train access (and walking access but more on that later) to the villages of the Cinque Terre.  Our first night in Levanto they were celebrating the beginning of the tourist season with a full-on locally put together street parade complete with period costumes, drums and chanting with half the village following along and Easter somehow woven in there as well – very cool to just chance upon.  We had a look ahead at the weather for the next three days and it seemed a fair amount of cloud was on the horizon so we planned our days out pretty carefully to maximise the amazing views and the coming to and from each of the villages.  

Before we left we tried to plan as much of it as possible but often none of it makes sense until you are actually in a place.  It all turned out to be pretty easy. You can get a pass to both walk the tracks and ride any of the trains between the villages for about 12 euro which is great if you are on the tracks for the day (as we were on the second day) but for the first day we just got tickets to and from the villages and it was easy to just get on and off where you like, the trains come through every half hour and are huge big passenger trains. The first few days were over Easter so some big crowds getting on and off at each station but in the middle of summer it must be completely manic.

Anyway the plan on day one was to go to the furthermost station Riomaggiore and work our way back, firstly by walking between Riomaggiore and Manarola. The gentle coastal pathway has been closed due to slips for quite
a while and not due to open until 2018 so it’s up and over the hill we went and when I say up and over the hill boy that is what I mean straight up a bizillion steps a little lookout at the top and then down another bizillion steps and these are steps made for giants so I was slightly worried about my back but nah all good. The view from the top was amazing even with cloud around the hills and the walk actually pretty quick.

Village number two Manarola was one of my favourites, not only due to the amazing places to take photos of it but it was just so pretty, we ended up spending ages here and finding a lovely little café to sit and relax at the top of the hill.  Each village has quaint little alley ways and lots of touristy shops; it’s pretty much how they survive.  Holly and I had decided that the up and down walk was going to do us for today if we wanted to do heaps more tomorrow so we cruised onto the next little town Corniglia on the train and Cam, well Cam ran the track between the two towns as you do! Actually he got some pretty cool photos from the track that did make me also jealous but honestly there is no shortage of amazing pictures everywhere you turn.  Corniglia to be honest while cute was not one of the favourites for me as it wasn’t really set in a harbour the way the rest are – but just as colourful and lovely.  

Day 2 we began with a walk from the first village Monterosso to Vernazza, again a pretty steep walk and a bit longer than yesterday but not any harder. It was not quite as steep – great views again and coming down into Vernazza was magical as you spotted the village from on high. Holly and I were both keen to do the walk from Levanto to Monterosso later in the day so we saved ourselves for that and once again got on the train back to explore some of the villages from yesterday while Cam ran the last trail from Vernazza to Corniglia to complete the 5 villages and four walks. It really is super easy to get around and having had enough of crowds etc. we all came back to Levanto to cruise out for a few hours before hitting the last trail. This is one we had read lots about in different blogs saying it was one of the best walks and allowed a view of all five villages, a bit steep at the beginning then not bad at all – well I would like to add an accurate blog to the walk from Levanto to Moneterosso “don’t do it” no seriously it was the hardest walk yet (confirmed by Cam who had done all the others.) It goes twice as high and was steep all the way up, that is for sure, up and up for three quarters of the track. It’s only the last little bit (steep down) where you are not walking up hill. I do have to say though, arriving at the point (Punta Mesco) and looking out across the 5 villages was pretty specular, I managed one photo before the cloud rolled in, but we hung around a short time and it all cleared again.

Would I recommend it – maybe just walk to the view from the Monterosso side… Having taken us longer than expected the rush was now on for me to get a sunset photo over one of the villages – sadly it didn’t really happen as the train was late, the first time we experienced that but oh well everything can’t go like clockwork. We did though stay in the villages and went to a really nice we restaurant in Manarola and the lights on the sea were just fabulous. So out I went again with tripod and camera quickly while we waited for our meals as the trains back at this time of night are much less frequent and an extra hour and half out in the cool evening was not appealing.

We were all pretty knackered after our efforts today so our final day was much more relaxing wandering around the village of Levanto, a nice walk through a rail trail with heaps of tunnels, writing this blog, snoozing and realising that in New Zealand we can now celebrate our 26^th wedding anniversary, on the pictures is us keeping up our new tradition of a tramp/walk each anniversary and also the tradition of Cam with a huge pack and me with a tiny one!!

If the cloud behaves we might head to one of the villages again this evening but if not, we will leave Levanto very very happy with our Cinque Terre experience.

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