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June 16th 2008

Published: June 16th 2008

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Rob and Wendy

Zurich to Genoa (Italy)

Are we are on the right train?

2nd June. We left our Hotel for the station, and were able to collect Rob’s lost mobile phone at 8:30 am. Wonderful news!! We have been very lucky indeed. Wendy is now in charge of small items, just in case the phone falls out of the pocket again.
Our trip to Genoa was ok, and we arrived later that afternoon. We took a stroll that evening, and at once felt very unsafe with narrow streets and what appeared to be a fairly low socio-economic area with young shady people hanging about. We then tried to remember why we were staying in that town. To be fair, the area we were walking was not the greatest, so perhaps other areas were better. We were staying in Genoa as it is much cheaper than staying at Sainte Margarita, or Porta fino. My sister Maureen had suggested this, as these places are a definite visit.

3rd June. We caught the train to Sainte Margarita, wow!! Well worth the trip, and I (Wendy) was able to buy a 3 piece linen summer outfit from a little boutique shop near the station… Lovely indeed! We then had to catch a bus to Porta fino.

Zurich to Genoa (Italy)

Scenery on route (Switzerland)

This was just gorgeous also; we enjoyed a lovely walk around the area and bought the obvious “T” shirt.

4th June. We left Genoa for La Spezia, found our hotel, and walked around, noticing that most of the shops were closed. It was 2:30pm. Found out that the main shops close at 12:30pm and re open at 3:30pm, then stay open till late at night. We took a trip that evening to Porta Venere, this was a lovely sea side little town, with a beautiful old church right up on the bluff.

On arrival back in La Spezia,we took a walk to see if we could find the wharf area, and then had dinner in a Piazza on the way back to our hotel. We then called Dee for her birthday, as it was early morning at home.

5th June. We woke to rain this morning, but decided we would still take the chance that we could do the walk at the Cinque Terre. The train took us to Riomaggiore, and found that we could walk from there to Manorola, but the next walk was closed due to the earlier rain. We did walk up

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Sainte Margarita (near Genoa)

and around the bluff, but as it was blocked, we went back, caught the train to Corniglia, and then did one of the difficult walks from Corniglia to Vernazza. These villages are quite amazing as they are built on very steep slopes with little narrow roads, which some are shared with pedestrians and others are very narrow and for pedestrians only. By this time it was quite late and threatening rain again, so we took the train to the last village of Monterosso. This was by far the best village, so we enjoyed a light dinner there, and took our train back to La Spezia. We admit that after the walk, (there were 342 steps in just one area alone!!) we felt our age, just a little!! Very sore feet, some of the walk was very difficult, and of course slippery after the rain. In some areas there is very little room to pass with people walking the other way, so you needed to hug the cliff side at times!!

6th June. We left La Spezia for Pisa for one night. We had trouble locating our accommodation in Pisa, as we found that it was actually out of

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Porto Fino near Sainte Margarita

the city of Pisa at Saint Giuliano Terme, which is on the way to Lucca. This was our fault, as we had asked Jo, our travel agent to book this hotel, where as she had booked all our hotels near to the station, so we have learnt a lesson there. However, the hotel was lovely, and we were able to catch a bus into Pisa for 4 Euros, so we went to see the tower and its surrounding buildings that evening. We took a tour through the tower, walking up to the top. Boy, it is the strangest feeling walking up inside the tower, due to its distinct lean, and it sure does lean!! After all the walking at the Cinque Terre, we felt it going up the steps inside the tower, but you have to do the walk, so you can see what its like… We also went into the Battistero, which is a dome shaped building, with an extremely high ceiling. While there, there was a tour being conducted, and one of the staff created a noise up into the ceiling, which then echoed around the building, and while that sound was in the building, he then created

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Porto Fino near Sainte Margarita

another sound on top of the first sound. All this created a very eerie combined sound indeed. We also had time to visit the Duemo, which is a HUGE church beside the tower.

7th June. We left Pisa for Florence today. Our accommodation was very nice and very close to the station thankfully, as our cases where getting very heavy to tow.
We slept that afternoon, wonder why?? It was raining when we woke, so had a walk and found some very beautiful old buildings, and then had a lovely dinner near our hotel.

8th June. We were able to get onto a tour through the Galleria dell-Accademia, which houses lots of beautiful paintings, statues, and of course David, by Michelangelo, and his other works of art. The tour cost 60 Euros, and it saved us a lot of time, as the que for the standard entry was very long, and we had little time and so much to see. After that tour we found the market near by and treated ourselves to a leather coat each. We took quite a while as I (Wendy) tried on a lot, before settling for the ones we bought.

Porto Fino

Castlemaine XXXX all over the world

Very pleased with our (expensive) purchases, but we are not likely to do this again!!
We then visited the Uffizi, a Museum that houses Venus of Urbino, and of course many other works of Italian Renaissance works of art. Then we went on to the Ponte Vecchio, which are a group of old shops, (mainly goldsmiths,) on an ancient bridge. The amount of people in this area was amazing, a huge tourist area. We then walked up a very steep hill to the Forte di Belvedere at the top, to see the views of the city. It started to rain as we were negotiating the walk down the hill, and by this time we were stuffed…

9th June. We left Florence for Venice this morning, taking the train for 2 hours 40 minutes. As we were arriving into Venice, we saw the change in landscape, and as we left the station, we were confronted with huge water ferries, lots of water Taxi’s and of course boats going up and down the Grand Canal, just as the cars and busses would do, if there were roads instead of canal. Now, I know we knew this before we arrived, but

Porto Venere near La Spezia

Old ruins on a bluff beside church

it is of course a bit different when you actually see it. The whole area is a maze of people, lots of tourists of course and Gondola’s, waiting for you to spend 80 to 120 Euro or more for a half hour ride. (Depending on the time of day).

We had an extremely long ride to our hotel, which is right near Piazza San Marco one of the busiest tourist spots in Venice. Our hotel, we found, eventually, and we think we are very lucky, as it is a genuine boutique hotel, with lovely features, quiet, and very comfortable. That afternoon we just walked all around to find our “feet” and see just where we were. There are tourist shops selling Venetian glass, tee shirts, other bits and pieces, just everywhere you walk. Also, Piazza San Marco has hundreds of pidgins; some are just too friendly… There are tourist menu’s at most eateries, meaning a cheaper price for a set 3 course menu. We have had some of these meals, and some are good value, as they include a wine.

10th June. This day, we decided to visit the Island of Murano, which is where the glass

Cinque Terre near La Spezia

Street in Manorola

blowing occurs. We had bought a 72 hour travel pass,(cheapest way to travel) so we wanted to use that before it was out of time. This Island is of course is supposed to be where you “should” buy your exquisite glass to send home, and we did buy some small things, but not what the Italians would of course like you to buy!! The things they sell are just beautiful, but of course fragile, so we said no!

In the evening we spent some time in the Piazza San Marco as there are several musician groups around the Piazza (it is a very large Piazza). These groups are all made up of very talented musicians playing mainly operatic music but some more modern and even Waltzing Matilda. One can sit down and have a drink or meal and listen to the music or just stand and listen for free. We sat down to enjoy a couple of fairly expensive drinks and then when we got the bill we discovered an additional charge of 12 euro for the musicians and then on top of that a tip was requested!!

11th June. This day we visited another Island, called

Cinque Terre near La Spezia

Manorola from the walking track

Lido. It is once again an Island away from the main Island. This Island is like a barrier to all other Islands, and has a very long beach facing the ocean. The beach is quite lovely, but as we have found in Italy, a lot of beaches here are private, and you are not allowed on them at all. Our hotel has a hut on a private beach at one end of the Island, and we were given permission to use it. We did this and went for a swim. It was about 30 C so we enjoyed the swim; however I (Wendy) was scared of the little crabs in the water, so didn’t stay there too long. Our hut, where we could get changed also had deck chairs and a bed to lay on at the front of the hut which faced the beach (many didn’t). The public beach up the other end of the Island, was very nice also, but quite crowded. The distance between was a bus ride for 20 minutes.

That evening we had booked an Opera Concerto, in a venue near to our hotel. It cost a meagre 25 euro each, had 4 string

Cinque Terre near La Spezia

Nearly there

musicians and 1 pianist, with a male tenor and female soprano. It was magnificent, and we hope to be able to purchase the CD.
Venice had a thunder storm that night, which did drop the temperature down a little.

12th June. Today we left to visit Piazzale Roma, which is up the other end of the Grand Canal, and took about 45 minutes by ferry. This is just past the railway station, and near where the cruise ships dock. We then visited the Ponte Di Rialto bridge (three arch bridge?), which consists of a huge stone arch bridge, with shops right across it, all built out of stone and built in the 16th century. That evening we had organized to attend another performance, this one included all you can eat/drink, with food and wine from the local area. The show was a comical look at the history of Venice, with sound and light included in the production. It was excellent, see some photos included in the blog.

13th June. Today we woke to more rain, however it did clear up later on. We went and visited the church of San Marco and the palace attached to

Cinque Terre near La Spezia

Made it â“ the start of Corniglia to Vernazza 342 steps later

the church. The opulence shown in this Doges palace allows you to realise just how much wealth was around in Venice during this time. We took a long walk to the opposite end of the Island to see what it is like for the locals. This area actually has trees, gardens and flowers, none of which can be found in the tourist (older) parts of Venice, however there are a few hanging baskets in the older areas. That evening we had a delightful meal at a small restaurant, overlooking the water where the private yachts are moored.
Wendy then did a little souvenir shopping!! You could actually buy lots and lots of Murano glass and other things, but the case is getting quite heavy now, so we have to be sensible.

14th June. This was our last day, and it was raining very heavy. We did some shopping for Rob, and then prepared to leave this beautiful city.

Additional photos below

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