Heading east to Venice, north to Como

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After the sprint round the Uffizi we bumbled off to Ostiglia which is the ancestral home of Dean's grandfather, and something of a pilgrimage for him as he was very fond of his grandfather.He had attempted the previous night to ring Ricciardo - a relative who owns a hotel in Ostiglia- in order to book us in and alert him to our impending visit. This he was not able to do due to difficulties with Italian Telecom (he says) - OR Ricciardo's receptionist - he wasn't quite sure which....Anyway, we decided we would give it a go anyway so away we went, turning off the big motorway into the countryside, not quite sure of what we would find.....

Well, it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip (and my, doesn't your Italian improve when no-one around you can speak English....)! We eventually arrived in Ostiglia and by pure chance and only one(!) lap of the town, we stumbled upon Ricciardo's hotel. Dean went inside to book in, and, when Cousin Ricciardo realised who Dean was, he was quite overcome to see him. He immediately rang cousin Lamberto, who then arrived with his wife Milvia (on their bikes) We had never met these people before, nor could we converse with them without lengthy consultations with the Lonely Planet, yet we were made to feel like Family immediately, and we had the most joyous time you could imagine. I managed to tell one of Milvia's "amici lavore" (friends from work), that I loved him the second I met him (-meant to say we loved Italy); and Dean became so frustrated when no-one could understand him that he resorted to talking like Nino Culotta. It was just hilarious. We just hope we can pass on their kindness to someone else one day.

The next morning, after a pitched battle with Ricciardo who would NOT let us pay the bill at our hotel (try doing that in Italian), we set sail for Venice........ along with 50 million other people. Going to Venice on the weekend is apparently NOT a good idea; an even worse idea is to go the day before the Big Gondola Race - however it's good for your budget as you can't squeeze into the shops to buy anything. The other Good Thing was - even though the day was stinking hot, at least it didn't smell....

Our next stop was Brescia. If you're thinking that's a long way from Venice, well it is.... we thought we would be able to stay overnight in Verona. No such luck, they had decided to have some big Film Festival. Okay, we can stay by one of these nice lakes along the way. No luck there either. The Rest of Italy (that wasn't in Venice or verona) had already had the same idea. Brescia was the only place en route to Como where no-one else wanted to stay. This meant a very short trip to Como the next morning. I looked everywhere for George, or any of his hot celebrity mates, but alas.. it was the Same Old Story - should have been here last week.

Then it was Arriverderci Italia and onwards to Switzerland.

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Photos

On Route to Ostiglia
I'm sure we must be on the right track....

Ostiglia
First beer in Cousin Ricciardo's pub.

Ostiglia 2
Cousin Lamberto and Milvia arrive.

Lamberto, Ricciardo, Dean.
"Famiglia"

Ostiglia 3
Where dean's grandfather lived before emigrating to Aus - in that big empty space there.

Ostiglia 4
Dean, Lamberto, milvia and their son David out the front of their house.

Ostiglia 4
Cousin Lamberto (and bikes) heads home.

In the hotel
Part of Cousin Ricciardo's trophy wall.....after having eaten there, we can vouch for him too

Venice
Just the odd person in the Square

Venice
They keep their buildings simple in Venice -

Venice
Gondola ride??? Only if we don't want to eat for the rest of the trip.....

Venice
Down the Grand Canal

Venice
The obligatory lunchtime gelato

Como
Another miracle -a FREE performance involving flag twirling in the town square.

Como
Matt Damon and family were seen here on this very boat landing last week, apparently here to visit mate George

Como
Dean is not really happy...this is our last dinner in Italy.