Chilling out

Literally.

It got down to 8c here last night.  I slept with blankets etc for the first time on the trip.  I think I have become a Sicilian ( Italian version of Queenslander ), when it gets below 20c I freeze up.

To start the day a trip to the lavandaria was planned - exciting holiday fare. My mind wandered back to 5terre where I overheard an american woman talking about walking the trails: not my idea of a vacation ( long nasal drawl ).  As the clothes were whirring I took the opportunity to do some shopping.  The blogger would be proud - I bought some shoes, which increased the cost of the laundry quite considerably.  It had already cost 3 euro more than it should. Second note to self: read the instructions BEFORE putting the money in.

This place has some lovely old hotels right on the foreshore, but I am not staying in any of them as the prices aren't so lovely.  My 1 star hotel does me fine: fast internet, view of the square, very central and nice people.

A leisurely boat trip took me to Villa Taranto - why?  Because that is where the people in front of me in the queue were going and I figured if it was good enough for them...  It turned out to be a masterstroke.  The place has the most magnificent garden.  Quite a botanical garden really as it has species from all over the world.  My favourite was the dahlia maze.  Most of you won't know I come from a long ( at least two ) line of dahlia growers.  My grandfather used to exhibit them, my father grew them and I just admire them.  En mass they look fantastic.  I will let the pictures convey the impact.  The whole garden was just so vibrant with colour. On the return journey I disembarked at Isole Bella as it had what appeared to be an interesting garden attached to the villa, but you had to pay to see the villa to get to see the garden and I couldn't be naffed.  Once off the boat you have to wait for the next one..

Having done my touristic homework ( while waiting for the next boat ), I decided to visit Parco Della Villa Pallavicino, a garden/zoo just outside Stresa. Of course I arrived at 5.30 when the ticket office closed at 5. We had come across the Pallavicino clan down in Genova so I knew their style.  As I ambled back to Stresa I noticed a mini golf layout just below the villa. It looked about as old. Who would have thought the Pallavicinos would have been into mini golf?

In case some of you may have been wondering how Di and I have been getting along at such close quarters for nigh on a month now I can report that she now has the bug I had, so there, we have been getting on just fine.  Some of you may have missed that caring sharing side of my character.  I think I only got a few text messages about technological matters today, so Di must be paying attention?

I like it so much here I am going to stay until Di returns and just wander a bit in the car to some other lakes.  Just chilling!

I just had the nicest meal so far this trip, Il Vicoletto in Stresa. I also had time to play with some photo editing software so the pressure is right on the blogger now!

Travelling north

Well the responsibility for the blog has been handed over to the junior partner.

Rain! What! For the first time since our arrival in Italy we arose to the sound of rain. I guess one shouldn't complain, after all it means Sir Bradley Wiggins will have no chance in the world champs road race judging by his performance in the rain in the giro.

After covering the floor with clothes Di finally made her selection of the essentials for a few days of conferencing. The selection was rather simplified by the fact most of her clothes were dirty after an internet search for a lavandaria and Gloria conspired to leave us in the middle of what appeared to be a housing commission area with no sight of the requested service, in the dark on a Saturday night. No thanks.

A two hour sprint up the autostrada saw our panda snapping at the heels of many French and German adversaries. As with most small animals it was very brave but ultimately left wanting.

Milan malpensa airport was negotiated, and one half of the team despatched after plenty of helpful hints from the other half. Fortunately I didn't have to mortgage the house to get the car out of the airport car park, a sure sign we weren't at home.

As the blogger had taken Gloria mark 2, I moved to mark 3, the single user version. Things were going fine until the rain got serious and I discovered I didn't know how to keep the wipers going. Note to self, listen to the man giving the instructions on handover. Tunnels proved a blessing and ultimately a stop at a toll station gave me time to work out how to use the wipers.

The closer I got to the mountains the heavier the rain fell. Gloria was doing fine while the destination was Stresa, but once I refined the search to my hotel, she decided to take me back into a little town I had already been lost in (my fault, not Glorias surprisingly) I thought the streets in the old cities were narrow but I discovered they were Appian ways compared to some in little towns. As I knew the town was by the lake I gave Gloria the flick and went back where we had been. A phone call to the hotel had me wandering in ever narrower back streets until I asked a local (when in doubt?). The car park for the hotel was for pandas or smaller. Both mirrors turned in and about 5 cm from a wall, with just enough room for a car to pass.

It hasn't stopped raining since i arrived, and sometimes it has poured down. What to do? Motogp on the box. Cycling on the box, what else. Just like a wet Sunday at home. As called Sir Brad wasn't sighted, nor was Cadel. In fairness they must have frozen as it was almost as wet there as here. Two walks around town required the cords and solid shoes and a rain jacket. Oh well at least it has justified some of the clothes, and reignited the appetite: roast veal with veggies and tiramisu with no one to help me!

Di messaged in to say she had arrived and it wasn't raining there, go figure. She took the camera so photos might be scarce for a while. Hopefully the weather will clear so I can see the lake and the mountains sometime soon.

I have learned one thing today: don't always trust Google maps. It isn't very good around here. Roads have the wrong name and places can be off by kilometres.

It appears travelling north here can be just like at home: perfect one day, pissing down the next.

The surprises of travelling

One of the joys of travelling  - and not having a planned detailed itinerary - is that when you wake up in the morning you have no idea what the day will bring. Today was one of those days: the only preparation we'd done was to last night book somewhere to stay in Parma and we had some vague idea about going to the mountains and seeing some castles. Not exactly precise planning!

First we needed transport so we collected a car from the car hire place: a Fiat Panda this time. Not as cute as the Fiat 500 but it does have a bit more space.
Then we headed for the general direction of Parma: chosen not because of the ham, or the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, but because it seemed to be in the middle of an interesting part of the country: the Apennines mountain range.

So we headed off and saw the 'real' Italy as we passed through lots of small towns not on the tourist trail, each with their own Castello (castle/fortress) in various states of repair. We realised we were following the Francigena trail which was originally a religious pilgrimage and is now a walking trail running the length of a long green valley. A few intrepid backpacking walkers with walking poles , floppy hats and shorts (and in the later years of their lives) were spotted, heading off with very determined looks on their faces and walking very fast. We felt exhausted watching them go.

Meanwhile we had stopped to buy tissues and cough lollies: a boring detail I know, but the experience was a challenge in a town where there was limited English and a confusing array of options for buying these items. The pharmacy was impossible to find and the easily available option was a 'nature' health shop which was like the gift section of our chemists, and another shop that did sell tissues and cosmetics and washing powder but also dog food?! A peruse of the local supermarket resulted in purchasing tissues (hooray!) and the ingredients for lunch - salami, cheese, fresh pesto, bread etc. So, minus the cough lollies for Ewan, we set off again.

We stopped to admire an ancient church built with local rock in the early 1300s. Still in remarkable condition and with a many flowered cemetery complete with crematorium and family crypts.

Finally we came to Pontremoli, a small town nestled in a valley with two rivers and towering mountains on either side. We spotted a rock fortress sitting up high overlooking the town, and were determined to actually visit it as we had great trouble working out how to get to some of the ones we had sailed past. After a few circuits trying to find the access point and a carpark we eventually, with the help of GPS Gloria found ourselves parked outside the church at the bottom of the hill.

The most delightful discovery of the day was that there was a rabbit warren of tiny alleyways and houses all built with the local rock in medieval times. The houses have been well looked after over many generations and it was really beautiful. We staggered to the top only to find that the Castle was closed until 3pm, an hour away. The only other people there were a couple from Woodend! So after a chat, back down the hill we went and ate our picnic lunch on the bench outside the church much to the amusement of some of the locals - in particular a couple of nonnas in red cardigans who chatted away, and I'm sure the word tourist was mentioned somewhere. They were probably horrified to see us eating our panini (sandwiches) next to their church!

Much to the horror of Ewan's aching knees we climbed up to the top again ( at least one gelatos worth of exercise I was sure!). Then we realised that this 12th Century fortress castle - the Piagnaro castle - also contained a small museum displaying stele from as far back as the 5-6th Century BC.

I can hear the cogs turning as you try to work out what in the hell a stele is. It's a flat stone carved and shaped in the image of a person and placed upright in the ground. The ones we saw were thought to signify important people, but, as they were created in the late Bronze Age, are very primitive. No photos were allowed so I have no way of showing you but they are particularly delightful because they have a smiling carved face. Many were destroyed by the Christians eventually because they were considered pagan.

As we are such intrepid travellers we chose the mountainous route to Parma, taking twice as long as the A1, but very picturesque. However it did involve  climbing endless narrow mountainous roads zigzagging our way to the top and then a long plateau before slowly climbing down. Despite signs warning us about deer or cows or both (!) we saw neither. We did see lots of chestnut trees with HUGE chestnuts on them just starting to turn golden as it 's autumn.

We finally reached Parma which is a huge commercial town but has a lovely old centre. headed there for dinner and rewarded ourselves with a gelato from a very traditional gelateria suggested by a couple of San Franciscans we met at dinner - delicious end to a fascinating day.

Saturday 28th September: From the sublime to the ridiculous...........

Time to consult the guidebook as, apart from Parma ham ( prosciutto we would call it) and parmesan cheese, we had no idea about Parma. We set off early for the Duomo and Battistero. If you find the oldest Duomo you usually are in the most historical part of town. There were two things notable here. One was that they were built from an unusual pink stone and the other that the dome of the ceiling was painted by Correggio.
I have decided that he is my favourite painter as his people actually portray real emotions and look like real people. After seeing many churches with triptychs and frescoes of people looking stony faced and emotionless his paintings are a joy. He also had a sense of humour: in this dome he had painted a person who looked as if they were going to fall out of the sky and fall into the church!

We saw some more of his paintings in the National Gallery which we visited next  at the Palazzo Della Pilotta. We entered a door marked Teatro Farinese to find a fabulous wooden theatre built in the late 1500s. It was really large and had a proper stage and rows of seat behind arches all constructed from wood. It had been rebuilt post WWII when it was bombed but was really stunning!

Then we went shopping: separately! Ewan is such a dawdler when it comes to shopping I can't stand it. In the end he had more success than I as he replaced his almost dead sandals and - you will be surprised !!!! - he went to a few technology shops to buy a new speaker to attach to his phone in the car. It would be true to say that his purchase of a similar item at the market had resulted in a speaker that played all components of a track EXCEPT for the lead vocals! That one is now going in the bin!

We had a wander around the local park before deciding to go for a drive. But what should we see in the Park but cyclists competing in a Made In Italy cycle race, many of them looking as if they were on a par with the Sunday cycle group ( interpret that in any way you like!!).

We headed off for Reggiano Emilia in the area where the famous Parmagiano Reggiana is made. We had missed all of the cheese making experiences as apparently they occur early in the morning if you want to see the whole process. When we stopped for an espresso we discovered ( or was this the plan all along?!) that we were close to the Ferrari factory and Museum. High on my list of historical sights I can tell you.

As a non petrol head I will leave the description about Ferrari to Ewan.

But I have two things to say about it:

1. Why is it that it costs more to get into this Museum than any of the ancient historical sights and museums we have visited??!!

2. It is possible to overdose on the colour red ( see photos!).

I am off to the UK for the International Association for Youth Mental Health conference in Brighton today for a few days so Ewan has been entrusted with doing the blog as he is heading for the Lakes.

your correspondent signing off for now,

Dianne

The ups and downs of the Cinque Terre

You may have noticed that this blog is a little late: I can only excuse my tardiness based on a plea of exhaustion.

Yesterday we decided to walk some of the trails between the Cinque Terre villages, as that is the point of being there (apart from taking thousands of photos). In days gone by, before a road and railway were installed, the locals had no choice but to walk as the hills are so steep. Originally it was considered a religious pilgrimage to walk  - I have no doubt that there was a lot of praying done as they tried to scale the mountainsides. Now it's a huge tourist attraction and although there were lots of people, from groups of German students to a group of elderly French men, there were also lots of couples and singles of all ages trudging along. Some of the young and foolish were wearing thongs, much to my horror! The Italians were definitely in the minority.

Not to be daunted by other tourists with hiking boots, suntans, walking poles and floppy hats, we set off. First on the train to Monterosso, the village furthest from La Spezia. We decided to go by train and I was keen to sit on the sea side of the carriage so we could enjoy the view. But of course the only way to lay a flat train track is to build tunnels through the mountains that end at the sea, so I had a lovely view of the inside of tunnels all of the way there, except for some glimpses of the sea as we raced through the stations.

We arrived at the station and set off uphill - and I mean up: very steep stairs made of rock and of various heights. Many a stop was had to take photos of the breathtaking views! (And for me to stop puffing like a steam train!). Basically the path from Monterosso to Vernazza and then from Vernazza to Corniglia was either up or down. The paths are narrow in some places and vary from very rocky and rough to very smooth worn rocks ( just as difficult, especially going downhill).

The reward for all of this hard work are beautiful views, from great heights, of the sea and villages precariously perched on the cliffs and mountains as they meet the sea.

We did the two Blue trail paths that are open, as the rest of the tracks are closed because of landslides. There was some evidence of some smaller slips on the trails but they remained open. We passed through lots of vineyards and olive groves on the narrow terraces created out of the rock. Transporting the grapes or olives must be a nightmare.

We came across a young (very fit!) guy building a shed and carrying a bucket of cement on his shoulder up very steep steps. What a job! They do have some little motorised wheelbarrows which cope with some of the slopes, but once you are on the walking trial you have no other options but to walk!

We did both paths in less time than is predicted: but I think those times may have been based on a Nonna pace. We did Monterosso to Vernazza in 1 1/2 hours and then had a break at Vernazza where we bought supplies for a picnic lunch and ate some juicy nectarines to revive us for the next stage.

After doing most of the uphill section headed for Corniglia we stopped in a shady grove for lunch and then trudged on to the village. It's actually situated on the top of huge cliffs and has no sea access as the cliffs are simply too sheer. When we finally made it we rewarded ourselves with huge gelatos and then headed for the train. At this point we assumed that we had completed the hard work but no! To get down to the train station on the sea shore we had to traverse the most zig zagged set of 320 steps that I had ever seen!

We climbed aboard the train and headed back to La Spezia for a shower and a rest. Well that would have been good except Ewan went off to locate the car hire place and I headed for the joys of the Laundromat!

Fortunately for me I didn't have to work out the intricacies of coins, detergent, start buttons, timing etc as there were 3 lots of Australians there (and nobody else!). I received lots of assistance and staggered home an hour later with the warm glow of accomplishment , only to discover that my travel partner had NOT listened to my instructions and consequently some of his dirty clothes had been left behind! @#$%^&*!! Fortunately he appears to have packed more clothes than I, so I don't think there will be any dire consequences.

After a rest we made our way to the local Trattoria and ended up having the most expensive meal. We chose the 'catch of the day' which was a small schnapper ( Dad you would be proud!) and it was beautifully cooked with mushrooms and potatoes. We felt we deserved a dessert so Ewan had fig semifreddo and I had a strawberry mille feiulle. When Ewan mentioned to the waiter that it was a French dessert he said that the countries are so close they share it, and then went off muttering about how the French had stolen the Mona Lisa, so it was OK to steal a dessert!

Finally we collapsed into bed for a very well earned rest!

Thursday 26th September

We had enjoyed La Spezia and the location of the apartment in the middle of the old town, but it was time to move on.

The plan had been to hire a car and go inland but it seems that every hire car in La Spezia was in use because a huge cruise ship had arrived, which they do here 2-3 times each week. Who knew that cruise participants could drive? The only time we have seen them is in large groups moving as one everchanging organism as they focus intently on listening to their headsets and the pearls of wisdom from their tour guide. They seem oblivious to anyone else and if you get caught in the middle of the pack it can be very scary. Dress of choice for the females appears to be wedge heeled shoes, bright colours teamed with white pants and the largest earrings and sunglasses possible.

We were told that occaisionally Disney cruise ships come to port with a huge picture of Mickey Mouse on the side. Not sure what that means, but perhaps you have to sing Disney songs all day, or does Minnie Mouse serve your dinner? I don't know and I have no wish to find out!

Anyway we caught the fast train to Genova and enjoyed a coffee from the Bar on the way - all very civilised. It's a port town of about 110,000 people and has been a thriving and important port at various times in history. Of course Romeo and Juliet were here so that helps it's celebrity status.

We were not sure what to expect but headed off for the UNESCO classified Palazzos that are it's 'must see' attraction. We managed to jump on a trolley bus and, more importantly, to jump off at the right stop (assisted yet again by the blue dot on Google Maps!). The number of enormous stone multistorey buildings we passed on the way was an indication of the wealth of this city over the last few centuries. UNESCO has classified 42 Palaces and we visited only two ( I know you'll be relieved!). They are grouped along the VIa Garibaldi road that overlooks the port, where the wealthy owners earned their cash. From the 16th to the 19th Century they were owned by the Grimaldis, Balbis and Durazzos and lots of other families who over generations intermarried and created even more wealth. As you can see from the photos they are huge and very ornate: there was a lot of competition to demonstrate your wealth so no expense was spared. Whilst some are open to the public and have been restored, many are now used by Banks and Regional government etc.

We visited the Palazzo Reale which was described as a 'mini-Versailles'. And indeed it was: dazzling gold Baroque everything , more frescoes and paintings than you could process, 'trompe loeiul'  everywhere and, just to top it off,  a Hall of Mirrors as well. The work and wealth that had gone into it was truly remarkable, but it was difficult to imagine anyone actually living there. As Ewan commented, you can't imagine a teenager throwing their clothes on the floor here.

We had a slight hiccup when we sat down to admire the fountain in the middle of the courtyard , and then headed off leaving my camera behind. Fortunately I realised after only a few metres, and when I returned a couple of young tourists had picked it up and were waiting for me to collect it. Phew!! I have had that camera almost glued to my hand for weeks: it felt like something had been amputated!

We visited a smaller and more simple (slightly) palazzo - Palazzo Spinola - and eventually found ourselves having a little rest on the fourth floor facing a very impressive Renaissance painting of a victorious guy in black astride a huge white horse with flaring nostrils. Eventually I had to get up and read the information provided: it was a Rubens painting that Mussolini had advised Adolf Hitler to buy. No wonder they both liked it.

Wandering back to the hotel we walked through the most stunning shopping centre I've seen. It is a street that has huge stone ornately carved buildings ( more!) and the shops are in the arched porticos on the ground floor. There was work in progress restoring the mosaic tile floor. Didn't have a lot in common with Northland!

We made another trip to the Pharmacia as Ewan has been spluttering and coughing all day. Again we have some mystery medication which we have never seen before: we have such faith in the Italian health system.

After a nap he is looking better so hopefully he'll be OK.

Off to dinner to sample the local genovese cuisine,

your still healthy traveller,

Dianne

Good news - the tower is still leaning!

We are sitting on the train platform at Lucca having missed the train to La Spezia by a nanosecond. With half an hour to wait here I am again!

The train system here is very efficient and we have perfected the art of buying tickets from the ticket machine, even to the point of giving other tourists instructions. Whilst we make sure that we do validate the tickets before we start the journey, it seems that it is optional and we have never been asked to produce a ticket by an inspector although there seems to be lots of uniformed staff around. I think it is a system based on trust: they trust us to buy a ticket! A bit like home.

Today we are off to the Cinque Terre (or 5Terre as the locals call it). For those who haven't the faintest idea what that is: it's 5 tiny villages perched on the coast that you can walk between - or catch the local train or ferry if you aren't up to walking. We will reserve judgement on which of these modes of transport we will use until we get there!

However yesterday we decided to cross off one of the items on our bucket list (Yes, we are that old!). We caught the train from Lucca to Pisa for a 30 minute trip and joined the thousands of other tourists on a pilgrimage to climb the famous Tower.

Later.............. We suddenly realised we were on the wrong platform and had to make a dash to the right one to get on the train! Anyway back to Pisa..

The Tower still leans on a significant angle and was just as odd as I remember it from 35 years ago. Now there are so many tourists that you are given a time to climb it so 12.15 it was. We lined up and were given a quick explanation about the tower and then we climbed the 260 steps. They are made of marble and very worn, even more so than 35 years ago when last I trod on them, The whole structure is made from local white marble and whilst the outside of the Tower is quite ornate and arched the inside is very austere. The steps have a significant dent in them where thousands of people have trodden over many centuries since 1173, when it was built. Some are on quite an angle so it can make you a bit dizzy especially when the steps are on the angle that the tower is leaning towards.

However we made it to the top and admired the 7 iron bells at the very top, and the great view. It is actually the bell tower for the neighbouring Duomo (church) so after we descended we headed off there to check it out because we hadn't seen a church for a whole day! The size of the Duomo is it's greatest feature as it was the largest cathedral in Europe when construction started in1064. The decor was a bit of a mish mash: some of it totally undecorated and other bits beautifully frescoed and carved. A very modern altar and sculpture seemed totally out of place and have apparently caused some controversy. Along one wall was an altar dedicated to someone ( a cardinal I think - no audio guide so no idea!) and in a golden box at the feet of his statue was his skull and bones.

We also visited the Baptistry next door which was even more austere but had a beautiful carved pulpit with marble lions supporting the columns supporting the actual pulpit.

For me the best part of the whole complex was undoubtedly the Camposanto or Cemetery. After contending with the masses around the Tower when we walked into this building there was hardly a person there and it was cool and green and peaceful. It consists of a quadrangle created by arched cloisters. The marble slabs in the floor are the burial places for many famous and wealthy people over many centuries. Inside ornate sarcophagi arranged along the walls were more celebrities including Galileo. In the heat and chaos of Pisa it was very tranquil.

We decided to have a stroll around more of the town and headed for the Arno River which took us past the University of Pisa which is highly-respected, and apparently has a world-renowned medical school - well that's what the taxi driver in Lucca told us and he's a reliable source I'm sure.

Then it was back to the train and Lucca. For dinner we went to the Osteria right outside our front door, so Ewan had some red wine and a liqueur as it was literally ten cobblestoned steps to our front door.

Tuesday 24th September:

After finally getting on the right train we headed for La Spezia on the coast. On the way Ewan noticed some white mountains in the distance and the next station was called Carrara so we realised it was the source of carrara marble which is used locally and worldwide.

We managed to find the apartment we had booked using the blue dot on Google Maps - where would we be without it? It was perfectly located: 10 minutes away from the docks and the train station. La Spezia is a very pretty town with wide pedestrian boulevards, one of which has orange trees laden with fruit lining the street. After a quick pasta lunch we headed for the docks to catch a ferry along the 5 coastal villages that make up Cinque Terre. For a few hours we sat back, soaked up the sunshine and snapped pictures of this amazing picturesque group of villages. In the end we did only about 15 minutes walking ( to get a gelato) at Monterossa before getting back on the ferry for the return trip.

Ewan's foot is still not 100% so we will catch the train to the furthest village tomorrow and set off from there. As you can see from the photos there will be a lot of up and down to be walked. Some of the villages aren't able to be accessed by walking paths because of rockslides. As the cliffs are so sheer and some of them do look fragile it's not surprising that the paths do get cut off.
The train hugs the shoreline with the help of many tunnels and it's only up from there so we will see how we survive and how far we get tomorrow!