Murano and Burano Islands

Narrow street on Murano

Today is Sunday and a good day for a boat ride. Our hotel has an arrangement with the oldest glass manufacturer on Murano Island for free rides there for guests. We trailed around through rooms and rooms of animal statues, drinking glasses, ornamental plates and chandeliers. We were tempted by one piece but $1600 seemed a steep price. Instead at a couple of other establishments



we bought a wedding gift for Cait and Ty and a light shade for the yet-to-be-built cabin on Saturna.

In Sorrento we also got some tile numbers to mark the cabin address on East Point Road. Guess we really will have to build this place now, if just to house these items.



In the square on Burano

We hopped on a water bus to Burano for lunch.  It is famous for lacemaking but all we got was some small satin shoes for Alajandro to wear to the wedding.

Press in book making shop

Tonight we have tickets to a Vivaldi concert performed in 18th Century costume at Scuola Grande di San Teodoro concert hall.
We chose tonight for an outing because tomorrow we will have to be in bed early for our wake-up call at 4:30 am on Tuesday. We have opted for the  $150 taxi ride to the airport rather than the public transport which is much earlier (!). We thought we'd rather use our money for this rather than for a $120 gondola ride to nowhere particular.

Although we have really enjoyed our time in Italy, we have been away almost a month and we are ready to come home. We have seen a lot of the country and had a varied experience of Italian life. Thanks for your interest in reading this blog. I especially enjoyed your comments.

From the first concert...

to our final destination.

Venice - last port of call

Travelling from Ravenna to Venice you have to go through Bologna so there we were again dealing with the three tier train station. This time there was some sort of escalator problem that had resulted in a giant pedestrian traffic jam on one of the levels. Eventually we made it through in one piece and on to the correct train with the aplomb of seasoned train travellers. This will be our last encounter with Trenitalia though, as we fly out of Venice.



View from our hotel

View from our hotel

We are staying in Hotel Bruno in the heart of Venice.  This is handy to all the sights and it has given Laurie practice for his Junior Orienteering badge. He doggedly scours the map, prepares a route and we wander around with the rest of the tourists trying to figure the crazy maze of narrow streets and pedestrian bridges.



St Mark's Cathedral

Shop for Michelle - calligraphy pens
and leather covered notebooks

Searching the Savio River

We liked Ravenna the first time we were here. It is an ancient town but there are good restaurants and shopping, a vehicle-free centre, more Italians than tourists and plenty of dogs to keep us amused.

The reason we returned though was for Laurie to go to the site where his father, Ivor, was "Mentioned In Dispatches" for his bravery being the first one to drive guns across on a raft on the swollen Savio River. He was resupplying Canadian troops forward in formerly German-held territory. This was the battle that earned Smokey Smith of the Seaforth Highlanders out of New Westminster his Victoria Cross   .

We rented a car from a local company and set off in the direction of Cesena. Laurie had done his research and knew that the actual crossing site was at a very small village called Martorano. It was lucky that I happened to see it named on a sign board as we drove because it was not on the map and the GPS did not register it.

We found a way down toward the river, walked along a cycling route on the top of a dyke and peered around. Of course the level of water now is much lower than it was on October 22,1944.  There had been torrential rain all day then - so much water that what could be forded in the morning was impassible in the afternoon.



We had lunch in Cesena and saw a bit of this old Roman fortress town.  We wanted to go to the Canadian War Cemetery here but the local tourist office staff were obviously walkers not drivers.  Their direction would have taken us down a one way the wrong way (mind you that wouldn't have been the first time that day!). We abandoned the search as the streets are a maze of irregular connection and changing names.  We made it back to Ravenna in one piece and spent the rest of the afternoon noshing on ice cream and strolling about.

Across the country

We started our epic journey about 8:30 am with the rumble of luggage wheels on cobblestones bouncing off the  Monterosso close passageways. The plan had been to take the train to Pisa and spend a few hours looking at the leaning tower and having lunch. Laurie decided that he didn't care much about Pisa so we headed on to the next station on our way, Florence. With a small penalty we were able to change our train times so we were off to Bologna on an earlier train. Bologna is a modern three-level train station but it has very confusing signage and the annoyance of local con men who buzzed around like wasps at a salmon BBQ. They wanted to help you with your luggage, to validate your ticket, anything to then ask for money for the service. Thankfully we found a uniformed Trenitalia employee who looked at the posted scheduled pronounced a route then checked it on his hand-held computer and changed his mind. I didn't say anything but the con guys seemed to have this info all in their heads. They are so prolific at this station likely because it is the midway of several routes between the big tourist draws Florence and Venice.


Ferrara was our penultimate destination and finally we made it to Ravenna about 5:00 pm. We had a B&B booked a short walk from the train station. Unfortunately there was no-one home at the nor did they return for 45 minutes.  We decided to return to the NH Hotel where we stayed on our visit with the choir. (Laurie informed Booking.com of the problem.) We walked into town for dinner - Laurie had pig knuckle and I had Guinea hen - yum. Strolling back afterwards we happened upon a free concert in the square. An eight member band called Bandanre were playing the sort of music you would hear at the folk festival. We stood for almost an hour listening.

Cinque Terre

What a lovely place!  We arrived yesterday afternoon by train at Monterosso al Mare, which is at the northern end of Cinque Terre. We are staying in a Manuel's Guest House 154 steps above the street level in the old town. In the distance you can hear the trains whizzing by, the church bell summoning people to prayer, and the pounding of the surf but thankfully not much of the tourists.




Joyce and Tony Jackson from New Westminster told us about this place originally; they had been staying a few days before us. We got together for dinner last night and we'll meet again in Venice (thanks to having the same travel agent).

Monterosso from the trail

It was a perfect day for a hike today - not too warm, cloudy with a breeze off the ocean. We got an early start, as recommended in Rick Steve's book. The hike was reminiscent of the Grouse Grind only longer and much more scenic. There is a small cost but they really want you to experience some of the wonder of terraced farming as olive groves and vineyards hug the mountain on either side.







All different sorts of Europeans trudged by us and most people exchanged encouragements. Monterosso to Vernazza is the steepest and longest section of the hike along the coast trail. We did it in 90 minutes or so. After a cold drink we continued on to Corniglia for another 85 minutes where we had a well-earned Napoli pizza (love those anchovies!), salad, and, of course, beer. The other two towns, Manarola and Riomaggiore are not accessible via the trail since the 2011 flood and landslide. They are a very short distance from the part of the trail that we completed so we felt we had a good exposure to the whole experience. We took the local train back to Monterossa and collapsed in our room for the rest of the afternoon.


Vernazza

Feral cat accommodation on trail



Feral cats on trail

trail marker

One of many along trail



Corniglia

 

Scenic platform at Corniglia station





Selfie at lunch

Roma in Roma with Fernet Branca

Yesterday, Saturday, was a holiday in Italy (we never found out what for). It didn't have much effect on us as it  was our travel day up the coast from Sorrento to Aprilia. Again we had trouble finding the bed and breakfast using the GPS but using common sense we finally were successful.We had booked a room for a night at a farm in the countryside about 45 minutes from Rome. I was drawn to the animals in the on-line ad. It turned out to be a kind of farm-stay. There were two young families there with us. The people running it had been farming a long time, although it wasn't a huge operation - there were ten cows, two pigs, chickens and five dogs. They gave us a good recommendation for lunch and provided a good five course supper as well as breakfast.

 At 9:30 am we dropped our rented car off,  all safe and sound, at the Avis garage in Rome. They had driven us back to the rental office at the station when for the second time on this trip it started to absolutely bucket down rain. We were booked at the same hotel as our last visit and we thought we had a better idea of the way on foot. Again, with few road signs and no help it was confusing. There we were once more dragging our cases, while shouldering backpacks and purses (yes, Laurie got a "murse"). We made a dismal and obvious sight drudging around umbrella salesmen and up and down the curb and around giant puddles. Suddenly I stopped at a corner and hear Laurie shout, "I don't have my wallet!".  He was surrounded by Roma women with "babies" soliciting him for money.  I went back with all my luggage and whipped the blanket off the biggest "baby" ( it was a baby) and yelled at them (annoyed mother-voice) for having stolen the wallet. In the general turmoil another women comes whirling into the fray, dipsy-doodles around and then I spy the wallet laying at Laurie's feet on the street. He grabs it and the women whirl away!

Fortunately we were not far from the hotel.  We were able to store our bags until our room was ready. We headed off for a walk around Rome, less burdened and  more chastened. A coffee seemed in order to recover from the victimizing incident. Sitting inside at a table enjoying my cappuccino, I spy a bottle of the Italian liqueur Fernet Branca.  I am reading a funny book about an English man living in Italy called Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson. I had never heard of this drink so I thought it was as good a time as any to try it. The colour is brown and the taste is like Listerine mixed with motor oil. Not yum.

Undeterred we headed off on foot to see the sights in this city (dammit). We found the Trevi Fountain (under renovation), the Spanish Steps and the walk along the Tiber river. Unfortunately in Rome you can't spit in any direction without hitting a ruin, a marble statue, a significant church or a gallery. After a while it all becomes a blur, I am sure this is what Fernet Branca was invented to address.

Pooped in Pompei

This is the most exhausted that I have been this entire trip. Yesterday we did laundry at the 'Wash and Dry' then lazed around the pool at the hotel reading our books and knitting. The fellow loungers were British and Italian families primarily - picture a fat old man floating in the pool with a pink pool noodle stuck under his arms and skinny brown kids racing each other and splashing my e-book with their efforts. We went to a fancy fish restaurant for dinner where they came around with a cart displaying the day's catch. It was an old establishment on the harbor front; this area has been used as a movie locale. They drove us back to our hotel up the ridiculous windy road to the harbor.

We thought we were rested for today's visit to Pompei. We got the 8:50 am train thinking it was better to be walking around in the sun in the cooler part of the day. Unfortunately all the tours from cruise ships also have this idea so it was very crowded and there was lines to get into small areas. The temperature was about 34 degrees. It took until 2:00 pm to see everything, although the actual guided tour was only two hours.

At the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, 1:00 pm Aug 24, 79 AD, there were 20,000 people living in Pompei. It had been a thriving commercial and trading centre for probably four centuries. The town was two kilometres from the sea and fifteen kilometres from Mount Vesuvius. The mountain was not known to be a volcano. Only about seven thousand people escaped the toxic ash by running toward the sea. The rest died an agonizing suffocation death in their houses over three days. In the end there was a seven metre accumulation of ash that collapsed the roofs and the sea had been moved to fifteen kilometres from the town from the debris deposit.



Plaster cast of victim

Most that has survived, not surprisingly are the theatres, amphitheatres, grand houses and the gymnasium. All organic materials such as the wood that held up the ceilings, bodies etc. decomposed because ash does not act like molten lava (that preserves). Pompei was accidently discovered in 1599, excavations began in 1748. They are on going today.


Most that has survived, not surprisingly are the theatres, amphitheatres, gymnasium and grand houses. There had been twenty-five bakers and twenty brothels. 




'Cool' room in house - ahhh

Phallic shaped sign to indicate way to brothels

Bakery with mill stone in front



The gymnasium and bath houses had been two levels



Walls and floors had been two levels
 to insulate for heat or coolness