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The girls are having a down day today, and since they are both asleep I thought I should fill you in on what we've been up to. I know they've been a little slack with their posts, especially with photos.
We are currently bunked down in a village about 20kms east of Florence at a place called 'Camping Village Il Poggetto'. It's very picturesque with olive groves and grape vines dotting the country-side - the perfect place for a naturist like me to feel at home. The girls are having an afternoon nap after their 2 young room-mates from the previous 2 nights got drunk on wine and kept them awake til all hours. They are also contending with some very noisy locals in the restaurant above the dorm at what we think is a Confirmation lunch.
Anyway, what a drama the last few days have been. The trip from Interlaken to Lugano via Lucerne (Switzerland) was through some spectacular scenery. Lugano was a town hugging the hillside of a lake - very Italian in feel and in language, even though we were still in Switzerland.
It rained all the way through Italy on the way to Venice. At the
border town of Chiasso the train was stopped for about 15 minutes while the police/border security boarded the train to randomly check passports. I pretended I was asleep so they wouldn't bother me. Changing trains at Milan was also an experience, as 1st class was almost booked out. I managed to find a seat but the girls had to sit down the back of the carriage on their bags. I tried to keep them a seat but it filledup too quickly. Again pretending to be asleep was a good ploy as no-one asked me to move. Had abit of a hairy moment when the guard came through checking tickets, but she told me she had checked Teresa and Sel's earlier and they had said that I was included on theirs - phew!
It was raining for our stop in Verona but we traipsed into town to Casa di Guilietta, or Juilet's House with the statue and balcony. The walls of the entry were full of love graffiti and love notes stuck on by chewing gum. We also got to see an old Roman amphitheatre in the middle of the old town which is still used as an opera house. It
is apparently in better condition than the one in Rome but much smaller - still very impressive.
Venice was beautiful, though it was raining when we arrived. We didn't have any acommodation booked but were approached by a man who said he had cheap rooms only 5 minutes from the station, so we took up the offer. Turned out it was a hotel recommended in the guide book, and there was an internet cafe, laundry and eateries just around the corner. After a sleep-in the next morning we set off to discover Venice. We got 'lost' in the streets and alleys and stumbled onto the Rialto Bridge full of expensive-looking shops and tourists, and then headed to Piazza San Marco - also full of tourist as well as pidgeons. The Basilica was very big and very impressive, though we decided not to go in, but to go up to the top of the bell-tower instead to get a birds-eye view of Venice and the Grand Canal. We had a quick look at the Bridge od Sighs before having some gelati and wandering off to lose ouselves again in the streets.
No matter where you go in Venice you'll stumble across
a big or little church, a restaurant, a gelati bar, or a piazza containing all these as well as a souvenir stand. The main streets contained fresh fruit/vege/fish markets as well as hawkers selling knock-offs of handbags, belts and sunglasses. There were also lots of gondoliers in their read and white and black and white striped shirts calling out 'gondola, gondola' to attract the tourists. We waited until late afternoon to take a gondola ride and it was well worth the 80 euros we spent on it. Our gondolier was very knowledgable and made the trip interesting and relaxing, answering all Teresa's questions.
It was raining yet again the follwing day when we headed to FLorence and the girls discovered a problem with the zoom on the camera, and it currently not working.
Yesterday when we went into town to sightsee, one of the main priorities was to buy a new camera. We debated whether to buy disposables for the rest of the trip but decided that it would be cheaper to buy a new camera. While the girls were busy looking for somewhere to get gelati at Pontevecchio, I decided I'd had enough of their whinging about not having
a camera and all the beautiful photos they'd missed and found a little camera shop not far from the bridge. The sales assistant was very helpful and sold me a Panasonic Lumix and memory card for 250 euros. Wait til the girls see the credit card. They were so excited at what I had done they didn't ask me how much it cost - sshhh.
They then made me follwo them through all the places they had been already, including the Duomo, and a few new ones to take photos. It turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon, so it was probably good that we didn't take photos in the morning when it was raining.
Oh! I forgot to tell you that we have met some very friendly people around the place including the gelati guy near Pontevecchio who paid out on Teresa for using French instead of Italian. He tauhts us how to say the amount of our purchase in Italian but we have all forgotten already. And Teresa has been trying her hadn at ordering from the restaurant here at the park using Italian rather than English, and the waitress has been helpful, while also having abit of a giggle.
I'm looking forward to the next few days in Rome seeing some very old historical sites and the weather is meant to be clearing. I also hope it's sunny for when we get to the Greek Islands - I can't wait to go sunbaking. I hear they have some great (naturist) beaches!
Ciao until next time,
Chester-nova (that's what they call me here - I think it's a take on Casanova, which I think is great)
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Paul F
non-member comment
Teresa kept awake poor thing. ha ha
Hi Chester, cannot believe Teresa complaining about Teresa and Sel cannot believe Teresa complaining about room mates getting on the Grog and keeping her awake. Teresa the three a clock in the morning Party Animal! She must be getting old. Chester try and get some Bundy and you will see Teresa in her true light- the original Bundy Girl. Clive, Robert and many others remember the party days, when she used to keep others awake. Enjoy the rest of the trip and party till you drop. Paul