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Published: March 19th 2008
Hello all and welcome to another exciting entry of our adventures in Europa. Last any of you heard we had toured the southern provinces of France and the kingdom of Monte Carlo. Our parade through Provence was narrated by the lovely Amy Quinton unfortunately the details of our Italian escapade shall be described by yours truly, Bramley C. Dams. Ha! Last you read we had experienced the exquisite expenses of the French Riviera, our next stop was another ocean front riviera this time on the tongue of that great boot called Italia!
The train rolled out of Nice at a leisurely pace, not a "Grande Vitesse", and headed boldly for the border seperating France and Italy. Our destination on this day was the national Italian parkland known as the "Cinque Terre", aptly named as the park is comprised of five, yes five, lovely cliff side fishing villages. When leaving France we had booked tickets to the lovely industrial center of Ventimiglia, not because we were drawn to this trainyard of a town but because Ventimiglia is the only Italian town France rail names as a destination on the western Italian border. Luckily we were able to speak to the ticket
agent in our native tongue and he quickly told us that we must first go through Genoa in order to catch a train to our final destination of Riomaggiore. After a lengthy day of travel and a two hour delay we finally arrived in the beautiful fishing village that would be our home for three days of relaxation. However, the directions we received from the owner were less than perfect and we looked for a telephone in order to call and speak to her again. Of course none of the phones accepted coins as a form of payment so we ambushed a local barman polishing glasses. It turned out this handsome Italian spoke perfect English, lent us a phone no questions asked and even offered to speak to the hotelier as our lack of a grasp on the local language was rather apparent. After a short wait we were led to a beautiful apartment overlooking the main street complete with all the essentials. After a wonderful nights sleep we awoke refreshed and full of severe neck pain, well I did anyway, and were forced to spend a relaxing day preparing fresh local Italian gnocchi's and pastas in our kitchen. The
next day we tackled the less than grueling but thoroughly spectacular cliff side hike. The climb along the cliffs began with the trail named lovers lane, we stopped a number of times to take in marvelous Mediterranean views before the second town appeared some thirty minutes down the trail. The next leg of the journey wound along the cliff face down towards a rocky beach and culminated in a vertical climb up innumerable large stone steps. We passed legions of lizards along this stretch of the journey and felt the strong sun they soaked up all day long. Down through fields sculpted over centuries by Italian farmhands we trod with bees buzzing and goats braying until we reached another miraculous Mediterranean beach side fishing village. Here we stopped for pizza, foccacia and refreshing gelatos, our first in Italy. As the day was growing old we hopped a train to the next village, cheating I know, but we had to do as much of the trail as we could. Here we found another beach side town and strolled through the sand until our train back to Riomaggiore arrived to take us home. The Cinque Terre is a beautiful park and worth
a visit for anyone who may, someday, find themselves in Italy.
We left Riomaggiore with a delightful day of travel ahead of us; a brief stop-over in Pisa then on to the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, the fine city of Florence. Pisa, although brief, was well worth the stop. The tower is a tremendous feat and a sight not to be missed. We treated ourselves to cheap souvenirs and a late lunch before reembarking for our final destination, Florence. We arrived in the city beloved by all Florentines late one afternoon looking for a cheap place to stay. Luckily "Central Beds", just a short walk from the Duomo, provided just such a place. We would soon learn that everything in Florence lies just a short walk from Brunelleschi's amazing adventure in architecture. Our first night was spent over pizza, pasta and beer with our roommates, Landon; a recent grad from the mid-western US, and a lovely Aussie med-student from Adelaide. We stayed up late drinking and relating the customs and cultures of our own countries as well as those of the places we had had the chance to visit. Conversation and beer flowed freely and we touched on
many an interesting topic with these two and it saddened us that they would be departing Florence shortly. The sights of Florence are many though and we filled our first day with the elegance of Michelangelo's David, the dominating Duomo cathedral and the posh Ponte Vecchio. Florence is small in size and very walkable, every corner seems to conceal another museum or magnificent mansion. The crowds of Florence can be daunting and intimidating but we braved the tourists and strolled the ancient art of the Uffizi museum until we had our fill of religious paintings done by the many masters of Florence. We had the pleasure of a pea filled foccacia sandwich that afternoon, and though the recommendation seemed a little suspect it turned out to be one of the most delicious sandwiches I have ever tasted, and I have eaten many a sandwich friends. Seriously. Peas. Thanks Kristen. Our final day we ate out at a lovely Florentine restaurant, again by recommendation, and enjoyed a delicious three course Italian meal, our treat to ourselves. We were well rested and well fed by the time we boarded the train for the center of the classical world, Rome.
We arrived
at the massive Termini train station in Rome and walked the short distance to our hostel. Diner and internet were included in the price as well as the advice of two young Brazilians due to leave Rome the next day but full of advice on what to see. One young lad, Leo by name, even gave us a metro pass good for another day as well as a helpful guidebook. We had to leave the hostel though because they had no rooms available the next day, this turned out to be a godsend as we booked a place farther from the station, but near a metro that turned out to be a gem. Upon our arrival our host offered us a free breakfast and cappuccino then quickly explained how best to see the entire city in only a few days, all this while our room was cleaned and prepared. Our first stop in Rome was the famous coliseum. With barely a five minute wait in line we were stunned to see the worlds most famous stadium up close and walk the length and breadth of it, eavesdropping on guided tours to fill in the blanks left by the signposts and
learn fun facts like "the coliseum had a floor of sand, our word Arena comes from this as Arena means sand in Latin". Good stuff eh? Our coliseum ticket also included a visit to the nearby ruins. We wandered this vast space of ruins and rubble as we headed to the glory of the Vatican. We visited the extensive near endless museum of art and sculpture before arriving at the most amazing piece of art I have seen to date, the Sistine Chapel. Amidst the loud "Shhhhhh's" and screams of "NO PHOTO" uttered by a dozen security guards we gaped at Michelangelo's masterpiece, and yes, I did sneak a few photos. Our final day in Rome began by returning to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, a marvel. We climbed the enormous dome (all 572 steps) and saw all of Rome spread before us. The day also took us to the packed "place-to-be" called the Spanish steps and onward to the tremendous Trevi fountain at dusk. We saw the open dome of the Parthenon under the night sky and returned home satisfied that we had seen Rome though there was so so much more to see in that city of
cities. Next morning we boarded the train from Rome amidst the masses of modern traffic thinking blissfully of the quiet canals of Venice...
Its Amy now taking over to tell you about our Venetian adventures.
Its hard to describe Venice to someone who hasn't been. Its a totally surreal experience to walk out of the train station and into a world steeped with history and a completely unique landscape. We phoned our room hotelier and were told to get on boat number one. I was excited as I have inherited my father and grandfather's love of boats. My excitment dwindled when we found out the one trip was going to cost us the equivalent of ten dollars each. The guy at the ticket booth told us it was only a ten minute walk through the windy streets, so we tightened our hip belts and set out. We met Mr. Franca at the decided upon meeting place in front of the St. Stae cathedral and he took us to our place. It was a lovely room and we were pleased. Mr. Franca continued to explain everything we needed to know about the room and the city entirely in Italian.
Some how we got the gist of what he said and appreciated all of his help. Communication is easy if you use the smile and nod technique. The next day we bought our vaporetto pass and were ready for a week on the water. The vaporettos are the Venetian equivalent of a public bus. The passes were expensive but we got a deal for being under 26 yrs and they were well worth it. We had unlimited boat rides for the next 4 days! We were tempted by a few gondoliers but we were able to avoid a ride in the traditional boat. We decided, considering it was going to cost over a 100 dollars and it was under 10 degrees celsius, that we would save the gondola ride for another visit. The weather was terrible, cold and rainy, but it didn't deter us from taking a day trip out to Murano to watch the famous glass blowers. We checked out a few glass boutiques, of which there are hundreds, and headed back to the warmth of our place. We stayed at another hotel the forth and fifth nights that had a private balcony over looking a canal. During the
week we included a visit to St. Marks square, the one famous for its pigeons, St. Marks Cathedral, and took a tour of the Doge's Palace to get a sense of the great wealth of the Venice gone by. Our week was full of walks through the narrow streets, getting lost all the time, but always finding our way home eventually. We made plans for a ferry to Greece and sadly left the romantic canals of Venice.
We miss everyone back home but are enjoying Greece (which we will report on shortly) and are coming to the realization that we don't have much time left so are using everyday to the fullest.
Bram and Amy
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zoe
non-member comment
feels like we are there
Amazing trip!! Your descriptions make us feel like we are travelling too. thanks for the trip and all the best in sun and fun love mom