Venice, Verona and Milan

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Our first interesting stop in Italy was at the fortress town of Palmanova, a nine pointed star shaped fortress. While its larger design can only be seen from an aerial view, the huge fortifications and moats are pretty impressive from the ground. We arrived during the middle of a marathon, so after we walked into the centre of town, we mingled with the runners and walkers following the trails around the fortifications. Our next stop was a beach day at Bibione beach on the Mediterranean Sea. Riley got the chance to play in the sand with his cars and build sand castles. We all walked out to the end of the pier for lunch. We left in the early afternoon which allowed us to arrive in Venice early. We got one of the last parking spots in their outdoor parking lot. Very lucky! Then we had to hoof it with all our bags to the Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia (train station) and catch a ferry to the Rialto Bridge and weave through the winding streets to find our hotel near the Scuola Grande di San Marco. Once we had got rid of all our bags, it was easier to navigate and find our way to St. Mark's Square and Saint Mark's Basilica. We took photos in the fading light. We had a glimpse of the Bridge of Sighs then headed back to our hotel via the Grand Canal.

The next day, we took the ferry to Murano Island, famous for its glass blowing. We passed the walled island cemetery, Cimitero di San Michele in Isola, on the way. We visited the Church of Santa Maria e San Donato and the Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli. We ended up at the Faro di Murano tower to get the ferry back. We ranged all over Venice that afternoon including the Basilica di Santa maria della Salute, the Venetian Arsenal, and so many canals and bridges that we lost count. The next morning, we managed to squeeze in a gondola ride before we headed out of town to Verona.

Verona is the fabled setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. There are so many tourist spots to visit like Juliet’s tomb, Romeo’s house and Juliet’s balcony (where you could barely squeeze through the crowds for a photo at Juliet’s statue). There are also plenty of other places to see like the Roman amphitheatre, the Roman theatre, Ponte Pietra, Castelvecchio Bridge and Castle, Torre dei Lamberti and the remains of the Roman city walls. We got lunch from a food festival in Piazza Bra and sat on the Town Hall steps to eat. A couple more hours’ drive and we arrived in Milan in time for dinner and restful evening. Milan was slightly disappointing as the weather was rainy and one of the main attractions, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Summer was a bit of a tourist scam. If you didn’t know to book weeks ahead (for a specific day and time, hah), then you were forced to pay between 50 and 100 Euros for a tour. This was my second time in Milan and the second time I had missed my chance to see this piece of art. So we filled in our day by walking around in the rain, visiting the Duomo di Milano, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli Park and Sforzesco Castle. I learned that there was free entry to the castle museums at 4pm so I came back later when Riley was napping. I picked up some food in Chinatown then headed over to the Conchetta district to see the remains of the canals that used to join Milan to the rest of Europe.

We had one more stop in Italy at Lake Como the next day on the way back up to Switzerland. There was just time for a quick walk around town and onto the lake breakwater. We saw the Tempio Voltiano, Monument of Alessandro Volta and the Cathedral of Como. We were really excited to visit the town of Bellinzona that has three castles to see. We parked and took the elevator up to Castelgrande. We could access the walls and main gate. This castle had a unique buttress called the Murata that extended over a kilometre and right through the town. Riley really enjoyed running down the long buttress. I found a tunnel that went under the buttress so came out ahead or Riley and Ann to surprise them. Riley insisted that he go through the tunnel on the way back. Ann and Riley stopped for a quick lunch in the town square while I scouted out the path to Castello di Montebello. I found the path up the castle to be really cool, winding between the houses and gardens with views across town. I made it back just as they started eating and joined Riley for a chess game using giant pieces. Thanks to my scouting, we found we could drive up to the next two castles and save a hike for Riley. We could walk the castle walls at the Castello di Montebello and the impressive central keep. We took a long winding road up to Osteria Castello where we could climb the tower and look out over the whole valley. Now it was time to head back to Zurich. When we first arrived on our trip, we had explored near the train station at District 1. This time we headed to the lake front near Altstadt (old town). We visited the Geiserbrunnen statue, Bauschanzli island, Kirche Fraumünster, then crossed over the River Limmat to Grossmünster Cathedral. We followed Munstergrasse through the restaurant district and had a great local meal at Raclette Factory (fried cheese). I walked up to Lindenhof and checked out all the locals sitting on the main wall looking out over the city in the fading light. We visited the Rathaus (town hall) and crossed the Rathausbrucke, through Weinplatz, past St. Peter’s Church and ended up in the neon lights of Paradeplatz. And that wrapped up our trip. We arrived at the airport early, dropped off the car and flew back home via Chicago. A great family trip! I was impressed at the ease of travel through the eastern European nations and am definitely looking forward to visiting Croatia and Hungary again in the future.

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