2011 Italy Trip in Summary - just a selection of the e-mails
Dubai stopover:
Next stop Rome
Ciao Roma
Dubai stopover:
I am in the third-grade Emirates lounge ( the one below first or
business and tucked away at the back of the terminal) for my Silver
membership, but it is still very nice with plenty of food - I'm focusing
on the fresh fruit - alcohol if one were so inclined at this stage of a
30-hour travail, and a yummy Arabic lentil soup with croutons - a bit
strange for breakfast here at 7.00am, but fine by my 4.00pm tummy. I had
to walk for what seemed seven miles to get here through the ginormous
terminal, and since we came through the transit gate, no sign of
where everyone else had got their little hand luggage trolleys - I
think it may soon be time to play the old-lady-card and ask for a little
electric golf cart.
Both planes have been jam-packed full but I did manage about 4
hours of sleep plus some cat naps and am feeling quite perky at the
moment. I had a minor panic on the second leg when I woke up and I
thought I had lost my passport, but it turned up in the depths of my
handbag after some embarrassing ferreting around on the gloom of
the floor under my seat. A good lesson to always ALWAYS put it back in
that one zipped pocket of the bag.
Ciao Roma
16 hours of sleep do wonders after a 36 hour trip, and my little
hotel in Rome is a gem - Steve, it probably does qualify as a boutique
hotel. It is in the middle of Trastevere, just across the Tiber which is
a fabulous area of little cobbled streets winding around even smaller
little alleyways, and just around the corner will be a stunningly
beautiful church a thousand years old. There are restaurants in every
second building and lots of teeny shops selling leather goods of all
types - Kath, those flat black knee boots are everywhere! I have been
soooo grateful that the St Heliers library Companion Guide to Rome made
the cut into my suitcase as it is absolutely invaluable - forty pages on
Trastever in comparison to my Lonely Planet's 1 page!! It leads me
around an amazing route of little alleys and steep streets into spots I
would never have found. The poor camera's battery is taking a pounding
as the dimly-lit churches are full of treasures I MUST have shots of.
(Apologies for any typos due to the Italian keyboard...)
I am taking it slowly, and focusing on lots of wandering and mostly
churches - I will do the Vatican Museums as my big gallery visit and
save the rest for Florence. I may visit Ostia tomorrow if the weather is
fine - today has been a gorgeous warm sunny day needing only a light
jacket. My plan is to only double up on St Peters and the Vatican from
previous trips and try to do new things for every other day - there is
certainly plenty to fill that type of itinerary for me.
Off to have a snooze before an Italian-time dinner in one of the dozens of trattoria.
Jet Lag Bonus
A major advantage of jet lag is that one gets moving early, so I have
been covering lots of ground at sparrow-squeak. The weather continues
lovely and blue-sky sunny with crisp mornings and quite warm mid-days
that have me shedding woolly layers.
After a lovely day rambling through Trastevere,s back streets and beautiful churches, I headed yesterday for Ostia Antica, a bit like Pompei, only it was buried to first floor level by Tiber River silt since about 400AD. Quite fascinating but not quite the same evocative feeling that Pompei has of life frozen in an instant, with sleeping dogs frozen in the ash. Many km walked and photos snapped. Just because it was on the rail line, I continued to Lido di Roma - where Romans go for a SUnday swim at the beach. Some interesting lurid hotels, but a rather uninspiring beach, largely walled off to the general populace unless you pay to go through a beach club - only a few public access points - makes one a bit communist-inclined.
Today I was at St Peter,s long before the crowds and spent a wonderful 3 hours listening to my iPod guides and wandering around with nose-in-guidebook. It is a continually amazing place and of course gob-smackingly gorgeous. I caught a very quick Mass at one of the side chapels but the Pope is not in town, so there will not be a big Mass tomorrow to go back for. Instead I will go to Il Gesu, the Jesuit church which is one of my guide books 10-must-sees.
This evening I am off to wander the Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps with the Saturday evening crowd, with a meander down the Via del Corso and longing peeps at the Via Condotti stratospheric prices. TOmorrow I am doing the Pantheon, plus a few mre of the churches nearby, but I am pacing myself so I don,t get cathedralled-out and a Bernini blurs with a Borromini which might be a Bramante-or-whoever. Another Trastevere restaurant will be selected, though I can,t say I have yet found the perfect one, so it is just fun poking around back streets looking in anticipation.
Love to all, and lots of little prayers being said in a huge number of churches, so maybe at least some of them will work.
After a lovely day rambling through Trastevere,s back streets and beautiful churches, I headed yesterday for Ostia Antica, a bit like Pompei, only it was buried to first floor level by Tiber River silt since about 400AD. Quite fascinating but not quite the same evocative feeling that Pompei has of life frozen in an instant, with sleeping dogs frozen in the ash. Many km walked and photos snapped. Just because it was on the rail line, I continued to Lido di Roma - where Romans go for a SUnday swim at the beach. Some interesting lurid hotels, but a rather uninspiring beach, largely walled off to the general populace unless you pay to go through a beach club - only a few public access points - makes one a bit communist-inclined.
Today I was at St Peter,s long before the crowds and spent a wonderful 3 hours listening to my iPod guides and wandering around with nose-in-guidebook. It is a continually amazing place and of course gob-smackingly gorgeous. I caught a very quick Mass at one of the side chapels but the Pope is not in town, so there will not be a big Mass tomorrow to go back for. Instead I will go to Il Gesu, the Jesuit church which is one of my guide books 10-must-sees.
This evening I am off to wander the Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps with the Saturday evening crowd, with a meander down the Via del Corso and longing peeps at the Via Condotti stratospheric prices. TOmorrow I am doing the Pantheon, plus a few mre of the churches nearby, but I am pacing myself so I don,t get cathedralled-out and a Bernini blurs with a Borromini which might be a Bramante-or-whoever. Another Trastevere restaurant will be selected, though I can,t say I have yet found the perfect one, so it is just fun poking around back streets looking in anticipation.
Love to all, and lots of little prayers being said in a huge number of churches, so maybe at least some of them will work.
The St Ignatius Day
A very busy three days doing all sorts of Roman things. I did a ,St
Ignatius Day on Sunday with Mass at Il Gesu church, the home of the
Jesuits in Rome, with the most beautiful decorations that St Ig in St
Heliers has some way to go to catch up with. I returned at 5.30 for the
"big reveal" when to the accompaniment of soaring choral music and
reading from his writings, an enormous painting of St Ignatius slides
down one wall to reveal behind it in a niche a
Lberace-crossed-with-Elton-
I did the Galleria Doria Pamphilj yesterday which is a private collection of the Doria Pamphilj family, with delightful audioguide narrated by the current Prince with impeccable Oxford accent. It is a charming enormous personal collection hung in the original fashion which was to cover every available wall space with paintings, arranged so that their frames look symmetrical and fill in odd corners, so a Rembrandt is tucked in the top right corner because that is where it fits best!! A Lippi with a character in a red cape has tow small pinting below because they have the same red in them!! So much for art curating ........ in the evening I waited with a crowd outside the Prime Minister,s residence for 20 minutes as people muttered ,Il Presidente, , but despite all the grand cars and motor cycle escort it turned out to be not Berlusconi coming out, but the President of Slovenia - who knew they had one????
Today was a marathon of train and bus-hopping to get to Tivoli to see the gardens and the incredible fountains, then on to Hadrian,s Villa which covers a vast amount of ground. Both quite fascinating.
Tomorrow is on the train to Orvieto, then on to Assisi for the next instalment - love to all.....
I have just had my best Italian meal so far, although it was not hugely Italian, actually. The trattoria attached to the hotel gives us a 10% discount so I had to try it. Lovely linen tble cloths and napkins, real fire and smart staff - three courses of a set menu of minestrone (yummy), roast veal and herbed potatoes, and fresh fruit salad with 250ml of good red wine, all for 14E, or about $25. The red wine was interesting in that it had a "crackle" to it, but no obvious bubbles. I must find out if it is a local specialty.
I did the Galleria Doria Pamphilj yesterday which is a private collection of the Doria Pamphilj family, with delightful audioguide narrated by the current Prince with impeccable Oxford accent. It is a charming enormous personal collection hung in the original fashion which was to cover every available wall space with paintings, arranged so that their frames look symmetrical and fill in odd corners, so a Rembrandt is tucked in the top right corner because that is where it fits best!! A Lippi with a character in a red cape has tow small pinting below because they have the same red in them!! So much for art curating ........ in the evening I waited with a crowd outside the Prime Minister,s residence for 20 minutes as people muttered ,Il Presidente, , but despite all the grand cars and motor cycle escort it turned out to be not Berlusconi coming out, but the President of Slovenia - who knew they had one????
Today was a marathon of train and bus-hopping to get to Tivoli to see the gardens and the incredible fountains, then on to Hadrian,s Villa which covers a vast amount of ground. Both quite fascinating.
Tomorrow is on the train to Orvieto, then on to Assisi for the next instalment - love to all.....
Orvieto and Assisi
After 7 days of blue skies and balmy temperatures I have now hit winter
in Assisi and need all of those merinos I packed which had been rather
superfluous. The town is so picture book it almost does not seem real.
The approach up from the station on the plain is so dramatic, with the
basilica and town perched on the hill-top. (I actually did catch my
first taxi, Kath - I did not bother in Rome as the tram ran right from
the station to the door of my hotel)
Steve - I REALLY have found the boutique hotel this time. Check Hotel Pallotta on YouTube for those who have not seen it. It is just off the main square in Assisi and has gorgeous rooms, a little eyrie on the roof with a glassed-in area with couches overlooking the roofs of Assisi down to the plains. Even better, I can take my freshly-made cup of English breakfast tea up there, with a few cookies and cakes (complimentary) to read the big art book of Assisi - provided on free loan - and the free audio-guide tour of Assisi that I can take tomorrow. I am also using the free Internet at the moment - what service!!!! I may never want to leave. The town is very quiet with hardly a tourist to be seen, so I shall have a very restful time. There is so much to see here that my two days will not really be enough, but never mind. I will be so fat from all the free cookies and cakes if I stay here too long.
btw - the art book describes the history of Assisi and the warring factions that competed for it - apparently there were some "intestinal" struggles going on - something lost in translation????
Off to eat before a day of religious fervour tomorrow....
Steve - I REALLY have found the boutique hotel this time. Check Hotel Pallotta on YouTube for those who have not seen it. It is just off the main square in Assisi and has gorgeous rooms, a little eyrie on the roof with a glassed-in area with couches overlooking the roofs of Assisi down to the plains. Even better, I can take my freshly-made cup of English breakfast tea up there, with a few cookies and cakes (complimentary) to read the big art book of Assisi - provided on free loan - and the free audio-guide tour of Assisi that I can take tomorrow. I am also using the free Internet at the moment - what service!!!! I may never want to leave. The town is very quiet with hardly a tourist to be seen, so I shall have a very restful time. There is so much to see here that my two days will not really be enough, but never mind. I will be so fat from all the free cookies and cakes if I stay here too long.
btw - the art book describes the history of Assisi and the warring factions that competed for it - apparently there were some "intestinal" struggles going on - something lost in translation????
Off to eat before a day of religious fervour tomorrow....
I think Assisi is more to my taste than Rome too - the damage to the
upper basilica can be seen, but most of it still remains or has been
repaired after the quake. The book the hotel lent me was wonderful to
use as I wandered around the fabulous frescoes in both the upper and
lower basilicas. I went to mass in the lower church this morning and it
feels much more intimate than the more enormous cathedrals. Had a nice
chat to a Filipino Franciscan who was minding the door for the few
tourists coming through, and told him of the Filipino influence in our
Auckland churches - I think they now send missionaries to us don,t
they???
I have just had my best Italian meal so far, although it was not hugely Italian, actually. The trattoria attached to the hotel gives us a 10% discount so I had to try it. Lovely linen tble cloths and napkins, real fire and smart staff - three courses of a set menu of minestrone (yummy), roast veal and herbed potatoes, and fresh fruit salad with 250ml of good red wine, all for 14E, or about $25. The red wine was interesting in that it had a "crackle" to it, but no obvious bubbles. I must find out if it is a local specialty.
Off for my last dinner - the winter prices are quite attractive in
the restaurants as they try to attract the teeny number of tourists to
their establishments. It is definitely a very quiet time for all the
businesses here as there seem to be no shoppers in any of the places I
look into. I suppose they make up for it during the summer. My last night in Assisi and it certainly is a very special place. I have
had a few very spiritual moments in different places connected with St
Francis and said many prayers for all my loved ones.
Fabulous Firenze
This hotel is quite good - very good situation and quite nice room, but
anything seems pale in comparison to the last one. (The manager has
given me free internet because I look respectable!!). I "did" the Duomo
yesterday with a Mass in English - thank heavens - and am spending today
just walking the city looking at sights from the outside. I am going to
investigate a bus to San Gimignano tomorrow and I have my booked
tickets for the Uffizi and Accademia on Tuesday and Wednesday, then it
is off to the mountains on THursday. The weather has turned nice again after some cold and blustery weather in Assisi so it is great tourist walking weather.
So far I have done little shopping as I do not want extra luggage at this stage - my last-minute packing was rather too heavy and I want to wait until the end of the trip before I start putting much more in the suitcase - a few prayer cards from Assisi don,t count! I will have space in the luggage as I discard my books!! I am ploughing through them as I am giving up on the late Italian dining, and mostly find something to eat about 6-7 then retire to my hotel to plan the next day, then go to bed with a book and my iPod.
Today I had a lovely day taking the bus to San Gimignano, then at the suggestion of the manager here I then took the bus to Siena and I am so thrilled that I did as I almost think their Duomo is the best I have seen. The interior is certainly better than Firenze, and the exterior is a pretty close second. The facade of Orvieto is the best facade, but the sides are quite plain. Siena is also the nicest city with lovely winding cobbled streets - just a fraction nicer than Firenze. So that was a lucky extra trip that I had not planned - quite an easy extra hour on a VERY fast bus - they seem to pass everything on the road!!!
Tomorrow and Wed are the Uffizi\Accademia - I will have to consult my tickets to see which one!!
So far I have done little shopping as I do not want extra luggage at this stage - my last-minute packing was rather too heavy and I want to wait until the end of the trip before I start putting much more in the suitcase - a few prayer cards from Assisi don,t count! I will have space in the luggage as I discard my books!! I am ploughing through them as I am giving up on the late Italian dining, and mostly find something to eat about 6-7 then retire to my hotel to plan the next day, then go to bed with a book and my iPod.
Today I had a lovely day taking the bus to San Gimignano, then at the suggestion of the manager here I then took the bus to Siena and I am so thrilled that I did as I almost think their Duomo is the best I have seen. The interior is certainly better than Firenze, and the exterior is a pretty close second. The facade of Orvieto is the best facade, but the sides are quite plain. Siena is also the nicest city with lovely winding cobbled streets - just a fraction nicer than Firenze. So that was a lucky extra trip that I had not planned - quite an easy extra hour on a VERY fast bus - they seem to pass everything on the road!!!
Tomorrow and Wed are the Uffizi\Accademia - I will have to consult my tickets to see which one!!
Side note from Steve:
One feature of Josephine Ellis's travel writing is that she starts to adopt the local names for places she visits rather than the Anglicised versions. At the moment she is in Firenze, apparently.
This practice normally grates on me (lots of people discovered Sevilla around America's Cup time and Brasil is also a favourite) but I'll let it slide from the old girl.
The skiing here has been just amazing with huge uncrowded slopes. This morning I arrived at one area at 8.35am and I quite literally had the whole place to myself. i made a run down the slopes with not another person to be seen. I then connected to another area, did an 8km run down to the bottom, caught a bus to a third one, then did two 4km runs, then found a favourite 2km run that I did 3 times before lunch then 3 more times afterwards ....... so that has been the story of the none days, with eight of them being bright blue skies, yet the snow stays great ebcause it is cold and crisp and dry!!!
Ho Hum , off tomorrow on the homeward trail via Vigevano .......
One feature of Josephine Ellis's travel writing is that she starts to adopt the local names for places she visits rather than the Anglicised versions. At the moment she is in Firenze, apparently.
This practice normally grates on me (lots of people discovered Sevilla around America's Cup time and Brasil is also a favourite) but I'll let it slide from the old girl.
Strange Happenings in Firenze and Poggibonso ......
Number 1: Waiting for the bus at Poggibonso, a little town on the way to
San Gimignano, I noticed a large black tanker pulled into a building
site next door. As I idly glanced at it, I noticed it was emblazoned
with the name "All Blacks" over the cab, and even a silver fern. Then I
realised that the decal on the side of the cab was some type of Maori
design ........ now what was that doing in a little Italian village????
Number 2: On Sunday, climbing to the top of a hill overlooking the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio with views over FLorence, I was suddenly in the middle of several large Chinese wedding parties with brides arrayed in ginormous frou-frou meringue dresses, millingy people dressed in formal black and white suits but with lots of red flowers and sashes, and photographers everywhere. Apparently there is a town north of Florence which has been completely taken over by Chinese, paying cash for properties, and all the signs in town are now in Chinese, not Italian. They behave politely in general society but murder each other quite regularly - some criminal elements apparently, and the neighbour of this hotel manager (who lives in a village nearby) ended up in jail for getting involved in helping in unsuitable ways. Also, as I saw, brides fly in from China for extravagant weddings with photos of scenic Italy!!!!
All very strange ....................
The Uffizi was wonderful, as expected, and I am off to the Accademia tomorrow to gaze upon the David. So much for my reserved on-line tickets - at the Uffizi this morning the only door there was a line at was the Reservations door - the general entry one had no-one at it!!!!! Obviously mid-winter is not a busy time, despite what the guide books may say about there always be queues of tourists. Another useful money-making venture, as the E6.50 ticket cost me about E18 with reservation and on-line fees!! Generally the tourist thing seems very quiet, with lots of restaurants looking hopefully for customers - perhaps they should not charge E4.50 to sit down with a coffee, and some more tourists might stop by.
Number 2: On Sunday, climbing to the top of a hill overlooking the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio with views over FLorence, I was suddenly in the middle of several large Chinese wedding parties with brides arrayed in ginormous frou-frou meringue dresses, millingy people dressed in formal black and white suits but with lots of red flowers and sashes, and photographers everywhere. Apparently there is a town north of Florence which has been completely taken over by Chinese, paying cash for properties, and all the signs in town are now in Chinese, not Italian. They behave politely in general society but murder each other quite regularly - some criminal elements apparently, and the neighbour of this hotel manager (who lives in a village nearby) ended up in jail for getting involved in helping in unsuitable ways. Also, as I saw, brides fly in from China for extravagant weddings with photos of scenic Italy!!!!
All very strange ....................
The Uffizi was wonderful, as expected, and I am off to the Accademia tomorrow to gaze upon the David. So much for my reserved on-line tickets - at the Uffizi this morning the only door there was a line at was the Reservations door - the general entry one had no-one at it!!!!! Obviously mid-winter is not a busy time, despite what the guide books may say about there always be queues of tourists. Another useful money-making venture, as the E6.50 ticket cost me about E18 with reservation and on-line fees!! Generally the tourist thing seems very quiet, with lots of restaurants looking hopefully for customers - perhaps they should not charge E4.50 to sit down with a coffee, and some more tourists might stop by.
Dratted Pay Internet
back to pay internet, so brevity prevails!!
Am settled in Campitello after a lovely last day at the Accademia gasping at David, and buying a few little hand bags for Julia and me, and have had two days to get my ski legs going on the beautiful dry packed powder snow. It makes one seem like a good skier!! The tour starts tomorrow, so that will be much busier than my two cruisy days.
Love to all and will update with more gorgeous mountain news. - Mum.
Am settled in Campitello after a lovely last day at the Accademia gasping at David, and buying a few little hand bags for Julia and me, and have had two days to get my ski legs going on the beautiful dry packed powder snow. It makes one seem like a good skier!! The tour starts tomorrow, so that will be much busier than my two cruisy days.
Love to all and will update with more gorgeous mountain news. - Mum.
then...
The tour has really got going now and today was a blue-sky day that was
all one could ask for. I skied with a group of 5 plus guide to three
different connected ski areas. A run of 2km between the first two, then a
run of 7km down the mountain to connect with a bus to the third one.
This had a fabulous 4km run that we did 3 times (imagine the West Ridge
Quad on its best day laid end to end several times), plus a few others
thrown in between hot chocolate and pizza, and a "piccolo birra", plus a
free shot of grappa to set us on our way after lunch. My tired little
legs don't want to do too much else tonight!! They could do with some
fresh snow, but it is still pretty good conditions as the air is so cold
and dry, and I can't complain about the three days of bright sunshine
and one day of cloud I have had so far.
I heard "Brooke Fraser" on the Italian pop radio this morning so she
must have some exposure in Europe. But Katy Perry must be raking it in
from Italy as her latest song gets played about once an hour on radio
AND on MTV.
The skiing here has been just amazing with huge uncrowded slopes. This morning I arrived at one area at 8.35am and I quite literally had the whole place to myself. i made a run down the slopes with not another person to be seen. I then connected to another area, did an 8km run down to the bottom, caught a bus to a third one, then did two 4km runs, then found a favourite 2km run that I did 3 times before lunch then 3 more times afterwards ....... so that has been the story of the none days, with eight of them being bright blue skies, yet the snow stays great ebcause it is cold and crisp and dry!!!
Ho Hum , off tomorrow on the homeward trail via Vigevano .......
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