The Middle

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Day 41 to 45 (09/08 to 12/08) So I now have a theory, every place on earth that is just like heaven starts with the letter A, Australia, Annecy and Amalfi Coast and luckily I was able to spend 4 days in the latter. The bus ride to get to Amalfi was incredible but you really put your life in the hands of the bus driver. The road hugs the coastline, with many a sheer drop right into the ocean and so many blind corners and roads between buildings that are only wide enough for one car, but that doesn't stop the driver from driving as though he was on a highway! I'm not sure that you could stay in a hotel along the coast that didn't have an incredible view and my little hotel didn't disappoint, looking right over the pier and out to the ocean in Amalfi, somewhere I could definitely wake up to each morning. There is plenty to see and do along the coast, but I was starting with something a little different. I was lucky enough to do a cooking class, Mamma Agata Hidden Treasure. Now this day will definitely be making it into the top 5 for the entire trip. The class is held in the home of Mamma Agata high in the hills of Ravello, over looking the town of Marmorata. We were welcomed by Agata's daughter Chiara and taken onto their terrace, which has the most incredible view of the coastline, for some lemon cake (a speciality of Agata) and coffee. There was just 7 of us in the class and really the kitchen could not cater for much more. Throughout the day we learnt how to make Eggplant Parmagana, lemon chicken (probably the dish of the day), Zucchini fritters, sausage and red capsicum pasta, farmers spaghetti (which had olives, tomatoes and capers in it) and Zeppole for dessert (even though we were all so full from everything else we couldn't help having 2 or 3 of these they were so good). The produce for everything we made can directly from the garden just below the home, and the tomato sauce (not the Heinz variety), olive oil, wine and lemoncello were all made on the property. The food was simple, but it was authentic Italian food. We were certainly in good company as well, with stars like Pierce Brosnon and Woody Harelsen attending the class and Agata cooking for people like Fred Astire, Jacqueline Kennedy and Humphrey Bogart when she was young. Agata is the one who did most of the cooking while Chiara explained to us exactly what she was doing, as she couldn't speak English, although I have a feeling she could understand what we were saying. If you ever make it to the area, and trust me you should, make sure you do this class. I couldn't stay in the area and not take a trip out to Pompeii. I opted to go on a guided tour rather than do it by myself and glad I did as the guide was excellent, giving us a lot of details not only information about the disaster itself but also on what life was like before hand in the area. One thing I didn't realise was the town was not ruined by lava flow but ash and the people died from the toxic gases. As the site is so big (15000 people lived in Pompeii before the disaster) our guide chose some of the main, most interesting areas to show us including the theatre (which they have restored and use today), the main square, the main street for shops, one of the largest private houses, the baths and a brothel (funniest part of the tour, if you got lost and wanted to know where the brothel was, just look for the Penis shaped carvings in the street stones to show you the way, it was rude to ask someone after all). The tour also included a trip to Mount Vesuvius. The walk to the top took about 30 minutes (on a dirt and loose gravel path) and the view from the top was amazing, looking out over Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Capri and into the crater (which luckily had no activity going on the day we were there). I also took a ferry trip to the other big town on the coast, Positano, which again is a beautiful little town. Arriving at the beach the town snakes it way up the cliff faces, with little alley ways through shops, homes and hotels and you then have an incredible view when you reach the top.

Day 46 & 47 (13/08 & 14/08) Took me back to Florence as I had organised another cooking class (this time pizza and gelato) and a bike tour through Tuscany. First the cooking class, I think I spoiled myself with Mamma Agata because this one didn't quite live up, but it was still good. We were shown how best to prepare the dough and which toppings work well together and then prepared our own pizza's. For the gelato we just had a demonstration because there really isn't too much to making gelato, but of course got to sample it at the end! The bike tour was great, we were driven about 20 mins from the centre of town out to campsite to set off from there. We rode about 30 km over the day right through the Chianti region (wine region of Tuscany where Chianti wine comes from) so past a lot of vines and also olive trees (for olive oil). We stopped at one of the vineyards for lunch and a had a tour of where they make and bottle the wine. Of course you can't visit a winery without sampling the wines, they made 3 types of wine and starting with their cheapest, most produced wine which was incredible you could only imagine what their most expensive tasted liked (Matt - you would have been in heaven!).

Day 48 & 49 (15/08 & 16/08) Next stop Siena for Il Palio, which is a horse race that happens every year, with 2 races, one in July and the other in August. This race really can not be compared to any other horse race I have ever seen, it is madness. It is actually a week long festival of trail races, performances, banquets and the actual race. The race occurs in the main square of the old town, Piazza de Campo, where dirt is laid over the cobbles and there is grand stand seating around the outer of the track and standing room in the middle. There are 10 horses in the race and they each represent a different constrada (district) of Siena. The only rule to the race is that a jockey can't pull on the reins of another horse, but basically anything else goes. Also if a jockey was to fall off their horse in the race, the horse can continue to race and therefore eligible to win. On the evening I arrived there was a trail race and since it was a trial I wasn't expecting anything that big, I quickly learned the people of Siena take this race very seriously. By the time the trial started the grand stands and the standing room area were full. For the trial race itself there were really only 2 horses that seemed to be racing the others seemed to be taking it easy. After the trial race each constrada holds it own banquet within the streets of the old town (not quite sure who attends but there were huge long tables set up, for a couple hundred people at each of the banquets). Race day was a different story altogether. Everything I had read said to get a spot of the barriers, which meant getting their early for waiting for the race. I got their about 1 (the race was at 7) and all the spots on the barriers had been taken so I had a spot one row behind and then waited (in the sun and it was about 35 degrees). Around 5 the performances began, there was an exhibition race by the military, there was a marching band, followed by a performance by each constrada, which was started by a flag 'dance' (can't think of a better word to use) which was performed by 2 of the men to the beat of a drum. The dance was followed by a procession of men from the constrada dress in costumes (yes men in tights and some wearing full on knight armor) and also the horse that will be racing. This basically went for about 2 hours and then it is time for the race to start. The horses enter the track to a roar from the crowd and make their way to the start line. At this point the crowd in ssshh'd, and everyone obliges for the order of the horses at the start line to be read out. So when I say start line this is actually 2 ropes, 1 in front of the horses and 1 behind, there are no barriers or anything to keep the horses in place or from moving around. The horses as well are really quite wild, they are very twitchy and seemed hard to control by the jockeys and trainers. So because of this it takes 3 attempts to get the horses at the start line ready to race. The race is not started but a signal or noise, 9 horses are between the ropes and the 10th horse in behind them and will charge past them, when he chooses and this is the start of the race (by the sighs from the crowd this is not the best position to have). The race is 3 laps around the track so lasts for about 90 seconds. Unfortunately being on the barriers actually wasn't the best position after all. As you could imagine that as soon as the race started everyone wanted to get a better view so pushed forward towards the barriers so I wasn't able to turn around to see what was happening on the other side, but did see the horses charge past at lightening speed. After the first lap there was only 4 horses left with jockeys on them. On the second corner, which is a sharp downhill turn (and notoriously dangerous that the building on the corner is covered with cushioning for the race) one horse went down and took 5 others out with it, but the horses got up and continued racing without their jockeys. The race was won by Valdimontone constrada and then the real madness started, everyone in the grand stands and the standing area from that constrada jumped onto the track and start running around singing and crying, I saw more than one grown man sobbing and hugging each other. They climb one of the grand stands to claim the flag for the Palio, the jockey is hoisted onto the shoulders of men and they walk around the track singing and crying. It honestly like nothing else I have ever seen, the people of Siena are incredibly passionate about this race. Here is a link from You Tube for the race, if you wanted to check out what its like

As for Siena itself I didn't get to see a huge amount of it, but from what I did see of the old town it is a really lovely place. The old town is walled and all the streets are cobbled and have beautiful bug stone building within it.

Day 50 to 54 (17/08 to 21/08) my final stop in Italy takes me too La Spezia and the Cinque Terre (five lands). La Spezia itself is a port/naval town and provides access the the 5 small coastal towns that make up Cinque Terre. The towns are connected by a train or a hiking trail (with the exception of the trail between 2 of the towns currently because of floods and land slides in October 2011 destroyed parts of it). I started with walking the track between Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza, 4km and 2 hours. With this track you start off at the coast line and walk inland, up the mountain, and when I say up I mean up what felt like a million stairs, but not proper stairs, stairs made out of rocks so they are all uneven and surrounded by dirt and gravel. You basically walk alongside land people own and grown lemons, olives and grape vines and every so often you walk back out to the coast or have a view of the ocean so it kind of makes it worth it. I'm not sure out of walking up the stairs or back down them which was harder but the entry into Vernazza was simply beautiful. What is great about the area is each of the towns are all very different, Monterosso al Mare is definitely the beachyist of all 5, there is actually sand and the typical rows of beach chairs and unbreallas from the private beaches and then loads of people squeeze into the public beach areas on either side. Vernazza caters more for boats, there is a small section of sand but there are a lot of boats docked here. The town of Corniglia is actually high up in the hills, which I didn't actually realise until I climbed the 384 stairs (luckily these were proper concrete stairs) to the top (how do I know how many stairs there are, there is a sign at the top which congratulates you for climbing them, I think if they had the sign at the bottom no one would walk up them). The first town in the area is Riomaggiore. The town encloses the small opening to the water, where again a lot of boats dock, but people still swim here, they just set up shop on the rocks for the day. The walkway between Riomaggiore and Manatola follows the coastline the entire way around (this walk is a very flat and easy 30 mins) and is actually called the Lovers Walk (I think just because the view is so stunning). Manarola is actually a lot like Riomaggiore, no sand only concrete and rocks for the beach and the town surrounds the entry to the water. One thing all the towns have in common is the houses and shops are all painted different bright colours, it really sets the whole place off.

I actually can't believe my time in Italy is over, it is true what they say time really does fly when you are having fun. Here is my top 5 for Italy.

1 Mamma Agata's Hidden Treasure - there were 3 things that made this made great, great food, great people, great location.

2 Amalfi Coast - I could have just sat on the beach here and done nothing else. The scenery is spectacular, the lifestyle is very laid back and the people are incredibly friendly.

3 Tuscan bike ride - I loved being able to get out of the busyness of Florence and see Tuscany from a different perspective. The food and wine weren't bad either!

4 Venice - I think because Venice was not what I expected made me enjoy it as much as I did. A lovely place where I really enjoyed my time.

5 Travelling by train - bit of a strange one but it's been great travelling to each new place by train, being able to sit back and relax and take in all the new and different scenery as I went from one place to the next.

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