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You will have to excuse these entries being posted in the wrong order, as we stopped in Italy before I arriving in our current destination of the Maldives. I hope you enjoy our tales just the same! I arrived in Venice 2 days after Cristiano on the 27th of April, and Andrea's (Cris' niece) baptism was set for 11am the next day. I was pretty tired, having spent the best part of a day and a half travelling, but it was good to get to the final destination. After disembarking in Venice, I and a few baggageless 'companions' spent a few minutes staring hopefully at the empty luggage carousel, to no avail. With respect to the Italians, whose fault it wasn't, I have to say the process to get them back was very smooth: the contacts at the lost baggage counter were very helpful, and the not so terrible news was that I would receive the bags the following day by courier. I then walked straight out past the chatting customs guards into the arrivals area (customs isn't that tight in Venice) to see Cris, Raffaele, Federica and the reason for us being there: the very cute Andrea waiting for
me on what was a fairly hot spring day. The baptism itself was the next day, so we spent a crazy hour or so shopping for some clothes, and then headed to the church. The service was very simple, some time for photos on the steps of the church afterwards, and then one of the best parts: the long Italian lunch with family and friends. This included a few courses (but could not out-do the famed 15 courses at Raffaele and Federica's wedding in 2005), a beautiful cake to top it off, lots of chatting and swapping stories and in beautiful weather. It's the hottest spring Italy has had for years... what's happening to the world's weather?!
Siena The next day, we packed up the Fiat and were off to Siena. By car, the trip from Venice took 4 hours; a long time to sit still in a car for me. On the way, we stopped for a coffee and pit stop at one of the motorway service complexes. I have never seen anything like it - it was heaving! In NZ, you'd be lucky if you saw 10-15 people waiting to get served. This was more like 150 people.
And don't forget that crazy Italian custom of paying at the register and getting a receipt before you go and get your coffee. It appears that the size of this crowd was just a normal weekend occurence. Back on the road, time seemed to go fast with a combination of Raffaele's driving and jokes, amusing myself by entertaining Andrea and trying to understand what everyone was saying. And before I knew it, we had arrived in Siena. We drove into the tiny streets looking for the hotel, and drove around, and around, and around for a while before a local gave us directions. When we had settled in, we set off for a walk to explore. Siena itself is an amazing town which (here's some history for you) was conquered by Florence nearly 500 years ago. While the Florentines were busy launching the Renaissance, the Sienese got on with life as they knew it. As a result, the main, walled part of Siena still looks much as it did in the Middle Ages. Siena is surrounded by olive groves and the vineyards of Chianti, and is one of the most beautiful cities of Tuscany. It's set on three hills, and
the city is made up of winding alleyways with steep steps, with the meeting point for the city being the Piazza del Campo - the main square in the centre. This is where the "Palio", the annual historic horse-races that take place on 2 July and 16 August each year is held- a battle between the 40-something different houses or clans of the city which Siena is famous for. We were lucky enough to arrive on a celebration week, and so the many houses and flagbearers were out, marching to the beat of their many drummers and supporters. It's quite something! We stayed 2 nights in a very old hotel in one of the highest parts of the city which had old flagstone floors and frescos on the ceiling. From there it was only a short walk to all of the different sights, and restaurants, sights, and restaurants, gelato shops, restaurants... are you getting the drift?! The amount of people that were packed into the main square was incredible - obviously a very popular tourist town and you can see why as it is very pretty. Generally you had to wait in a queue to get a table in a
restaurant at lunchtime - the Italians like to take long, leisurely meals over a bottle of nice wine - I think they have something there! The Duomo is also very impressive, although my camera battery went flat at this point so no photos of this I am afraid.
Day 2: On the wine trail... Obviously being in the Chianti region, we had to go on the hunt for good Chianti. Federica, our fantastic tour planner, had planned out travel routes for us to follow around the countryside to maximise drinking, eating and viewing experiences so it meant that Cristiano and I sat back, relaxed, and worked as hard as we could to do justice to it all. The food is generally region specific, so you find all sorts of little delicacies, both savoury and sweet in different places to tempt your tastebuds. And it all tastes so good! Anyway, on this particular day, the search for the Chianti, we found our quarry at the Castello di
Fonterutoli, which is a beautiful castle/ vineyard which was built in the 13th century by the Mazzei family, who have been running the vineyard for six centuries and are still going strong today. After
Siena celebrations
On special occasions, flag bearers and drummers from the different houses (clans) of Siena come out on display a tour of the castle (including an old roman road which has been left as is for historical purposes) and explanations of their winemaking process , we were taken to the cellar door, where we waded our way through 8 different types of wine produced by the winemakers - which were very nice indeed. To top off the experience, the vineyard's restaurant is located just across the road, so after the tasting, we managed to eat and drink a range of local delicacies over a leisurely couple of hours, and then get back on the road to Venice. Traffic going back was a bit crappy - I have never seen anything like it. All you Aussies and Kiwis would stop complaining about traffic congestion if you saw this! Anyway, after a long journey we arrived back at the Mestre apartment, to be consoled with another fabulous dinner thanks to our hosts Luisa and Franco.
Venice Venice is such an amazing place. For me this was visit number 3, and the city never fails to disappoint. Well, tropical seaside idyll it isn't, however if you imagine how this place was built, the history behind the city and the beauty of the
Fonterutoli
On the wine trail, at the Castello di Fonterutoli.. buildings and fittings, sculpture, art, glass, and boats etc you really get blown away. Although certain parts of Venice now all year round is full of tourists of all nationalities, if you are fortunate enough to have a) someone punt you through the canals on a boat; and b) guide you through all the shortcuts in the city then you see the best of this magical city without having to fight the tourist throng. Cristiano's father Franco teaches the Venetian brand of rowing for one of the two premier clubs in Venice called Querini. While currently in his mid sixties, the man is strong as an ox and one day rowed us around the canals for the best part of 2 hours. It's a great way to see another side of the beauty of the city. Then we wandered, drank espresso, ate some pastries, saw the sights (see pics), visited the Ferrari shop, chatted to some of the locals. And so the days went on. On our last day in Venice, Federica cooked the family a beautiful 3 course meal of local specialities, topped off by one of the greatest creations of the Italians..... gelato. How idyllic I thought to
myself; on all sides of the globe I seem to find people who can cook well - family, flatmates, friends etc. And they say a man thinks only of his stomach... I hope you are all enjoying many happy meals wherever you are... 😊
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Jackie
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Culinary skills?
I must be the one friend on the other side of the globe that you lived with who couldn't cook a fishfinger!! I still cook some of your dishes tho'.....