Day65
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Here we are!~!
In FLORENCE...the capital of Tuscany, the home of Michangelo's statue of David. The home of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous drawings....the home of Raphael's sculptures and Donatello's artistry...
Sounds like it's the home of the Ninja Turtles hey!!!!!
And honestly. This is where it all initiated too, the Ninja Turtle fad, after the high renaissance artists...
In the words of my author friend Michele Drouart, (who wrote Into the Wadi) "Florence is just my favourite place!! It's so romantic!" i think it really is a place that could be called favourite.
We've only just gotten here (yesterday) and we're about to go to Pisa to see the leaning tower..and we're going to do a cooking course and eat Floritine food, and go see Da Vinci's sketches of the way he incredibly captured human and animal movement, as well as look at his drawings of his inventions...helicoptors, bicycles, optics, parachutes, water screws and......machine guns and tanks...of all things. Genius man he was. And also Greg's great hero...
We'll be off to Umbria too....to see St Francis Basillica....and Giotto's work there ...
But I'll tell you all about our adventures AFTER we've experinced it all...
Some exciting days ahead..and we've decided to stay for 4 or 5 days....there's so much to see and do here..and to just be here...in the home of Da Vinci..ohlala.
Saturday, 5 May 2007
PORTOFINO
Day64
Santa Margherita Ligure Portofino
We went to Portofino today...and it's gorgeous! No wonder Rod Steward has chosen this place to get married to Kelly Lancaster in June...it's SO pretty. Apparently Elizabeth Taylor married Richard Burton here too...ohhh....
And i tell ya....
IT IS PRETTY!
And..the castle that we climbed up to (more climbing!!! Are we getting fitter..YES!) had pictures in it of all the famous people that called Portofino their holiday spot!
The castle Castello Brown was sitting up there on the hill, in all it's glory beckoned us.....so we had to go up. And pay more entrace fees. Italy, already, it seems hits you with higher charges into things....more so than anymore we've been to anyway...!
In the castle there were Pics of Liz Taylor and Eddie Fisher (she didn't just bring Burt here obviously...but then she WAS married 8 times!) gracing the rooms..as did Earnest Hemingway, Walt Disney, John Wayne, Winston Churhhill, Clarke Gable, Prince Rainer and Grace Kelly with kids...and even King Hussein as a boy....far out....pics of all the famous...heaps more too!
Was interesting looking at all the pics....and there was an artist in residence too....Corrado Cohen, who was painting on old maps. Clever. And effective too. We would have bought one if we could carry it or think of a way to post it back...but as it is....finding post offices has been a nightmare.
After Portofino...we went back to Santa Margherita and headed out.....to FLORENCE.........
Gosh. I LOVE ITALY!
The home of my children's ancestors ;-)
Santa Margherita Ligure Portofino
We went to Portofino today...and it's gorgeous! No wonder Rod Steward has chosen this place to get married to Kelly Lancaster in June...it's SO pretty. Apparently Elizabeth Taylor married Richard Burton here too...ohhh....
And i tell ya....
IT IS PRETTY!
And..the castle that we climbed up to (more climbing!!! Are we getting fitter..YES!) had pictures in it of all the famous people that called Portofino their holiday spot!
The castle Castello Brown was sitting up there on the hill, in all it's glory beckoned us.....so we had to go up. And pay more entrace fees. Italy, already, it seems hits you with higher charges into things....more so than anymore we've been to anyway...!
In the castle there were Pics of Liz Taylor and Eddie Fisher (she didn't just bring Burt here obviously...but then she WAS married 8 times!) gracing the rooms..as did Earnest Hemingway, Walt Disney, John Wayne, Winston Churhhill, Clarke Gable, Prince Rainer and Grace Kelly with kids...and even King Hussein as a boy....far out....pics of all the famous...heaps more too!
Was interesting looking at all the pics....and there was an artist in residence too....Corrado Cohen, who was painting on old maps. Clever. And effective too. We would have bought one if we could carry it or think of a way to post it back...but as it is....finding post offices has been a nightmare.
After Portofino...we went back to Santa Margherita and headed out.....to FLORENCE.........
Gosh. I LOVE ITALY!
The home of my children's ancestors ;-)
CINQUE TERRE, ITALY
Day 63
Nuova Riviera
Santa Margherita Ligure e Portofino
After talking to Charles in Barcelona (one of the guys that got mugged in Barcelona that we were talking to at our hostel) we decided to do the Cinque Terre walk!!!
Cinque means five, terre means terraces. This part of Italy is a beautiful mountainour area that has five towns that are terraced with wine growning grapes (and yes, the wine is world known and yes, we tasted it, and yes it is wonderful!)
We caught a train to the first stop Riomaggiore and started our trek. The first part, to the town Manarola was just beautiful. Fantasic views, high, but just so gorgeous..how do i describe it? Breathtaking as we look below......the path is windy and rocky..and we thought, yes we'll do the whole trek. This is ok. We can do it. Foot surviving. (My operated on foot aches still, in the morning but once i start walking, it's great so haven't had a problem, the left foot is still rolling, but no pain, just precarious if i roll close to a cliff face!!!!) Gawd. Cross fingers!
We then found the cliff face was insecure so part of it was closed off. We had to go back..go around the track, and come out around where it was closed. Start again. We were thinking we probably wouldn't be able to do the 12 km walk.
We climbed steps, weaved our way along narrow paths, and climbed down rocks and steps to our next stop, Manarola.
And then weaved our way along to Corniglia. Saw LOTS of cats!! And took pics of them all..and pics of Greg leaning against the rock face wondering why i needed pics of all the pussies..ohh..Italian Cats i said. How could one resist them! And oh......made me think of little Millie and Tizzie....i wondered how they were. Honestly these cats were friendly..i took pics of the cats in the townswe stopped at...on the paths..on the top of cliffs..oh, so CUTE! Should have seen there little faces....
Far cuter than the dogs in France that were sitting at the tables with their mummies and daddies eating dinner...and laying little presents on the pavements that we had to dodge! No kidding..French dogs have the rule.
Italian cats have the rule.
Hehe...
Next stop we were wearing.....so we stopped there at the portside and bought what else but pizza...smothered in pesto!!! And just breathed a while..and decided to catch the train back to Santa Margherita...BUT...the train didn't leave for an hour and a half...and the last leg of the trek took 2 hours....
So we thought, what the heck. We're up for a challenge!!
So we headed off on the last leg, to finsh the Cinque Terre walking challenge. To MOnterosso. It was getting late too....8pm....and we were THE ONLY ONES ON THE TREK at this time of the night.
Madness had struck us surely!
We were even talking of climbing the Himilayas (Greg had done this but was sick when he did it..after a serious bout of amoebic dynsentry so is keen to try it again) and i thought...yes, if i can do this, i can do that. Apparently the Mount Everest trek, even though it's very challenging..it's less exhausting than this trek because you can only do a certain amount of trekking due to the altitudes. I reckon i could tak on the task...
Or climb Mount Kiliminjaro in Africa...or at least cycle through Vietnam!
My foot, to me, is totally cured. It's the first time i have been able to say that in a year. Like i said, it's stiff in the mornings..and the same thing is happening to my left ankle (rolling due to the loose joints) but there's no pain in the left, and the right ankle is great once it gets going. In fact, the more active i am, the better. Gosh...i felt on this Cinque Terre trek i was invincible. Well, almost. Hey...we're OLD now...so we probably won't do the Himilayas...but we can dream can't we!!!!!!
We got back in once piece, and both proud of ourselves. Greg has had the flu (again, he seems to pick these up in the trains!) and so he did really well considering.
What a place..Italy. IT's JUST BEAUTIFUL. This walk...was certainly one of the highlights of beauty....and we didn't even know about it till Charles mentioned it. Fancy that..we could have just gone right past this beautiful coast line oblivious to it's existence.
Cool hey. To find out about new places..on our way.
POROFINO next...
Nuova Riviera
Santa Margherita Ligure e Portofino
After talking to Charles in Barcelona (one of the guys that got mugged in Barcelona that we were talking to at our hostel) we decided to do the Cinque Terre walk!!!
Cinque means five, terre means terraces. This part of Italy is a beautiful mountainour area that has five towns that are terraced with wine growning grapes (and yes, the wine is world known and yes, we tasted it, and yes it is wonderful!)
We caught a train to the first stop Riomaggiore and started our trek. The first part, to the town Manarola was just beautiful. Fantasic views, high, but just so gorgeous..how do i describe it? Breathtaking as we look below......the path is windy and rocky..and we thought, yes we'll do the whole trek. This is ok. We can do it. Foot surviving. (My operated on foot aches still, in the morning but once i start walking, it's great so haven't had a problem, the left foot is still rolling, but no pain, just precarious if i roll close to a cliff face!!!!) Gawd. Cross fingers!
We then found the cliff face was insecure so part of it was closed off. We had to go back..go around the track, and come out around where it was closed. Start again. We were thinking we probably wouldn't be able to do the 12 km walk.
We climbed steps, weaved our way along narrow paths, and climbed down rocks and steps to our next stop, Manarola.
And then weaved our way along to Corniglia. Saw LOTS of cats!! And took pics of them all..and pics of Greg leaning against the rock face wondering why i needed pics of all the pussies..ohh..Italian Cats i said. How could one resist them! And oh......made me think of little Millie and Tizzie....i wondered how they were. Honestly these cats were friendly..i took pics of the cats in the townswe stopped at...on the paths..on the top of cliffs..oh, so CUTE! Should have seen there little faces....
Far cuter than the dogs in France that were sitting at the tables with their mummies and daddies eating dinner...and laying little presents on the pavements that we had to dodge! No kidding..French dogs have the rule.
Italian cats have the rule.
Hehe...
Next stop we were wearing.....so we stopped there at the portside and bought what else but pizza...smothered in pesto!!! And just breathed a while..and decided to catch the train back to Santa Margherita...BUT...the train didn't leave for an hour and a half...and the last leg of the trek took 2 hours....
So we thought, what the heck. We're up for a challenge!!
So we headed off on the last leg, to finsh the Cinque Terre walking challenge. To MOnterosso. It was getting late too....8pm....and we were THE ONLY ONES ON THE TREK at this time of the night.
Madness had struck us surely!
We were even talking of climbing the Himilayas (Greg had done this but was sick when he did it..after a serious bout of amoebic dynsentry so is keen to try it again) and i thought...yes, if i can do this, i can do that. Apparently the Mount Everest trek, even though it's very challenging..it's less exhausting than this trek because you can only do a certain amount of trekking due to the altitudes. I reckon i could tak on the task...
Or climb Mount Kiliminjaro in Africa...or at least cycle through Vietnam!
My foot, to me, is totally cured. It's the first time i have been able to say that in a year. Like i said, it's stiff in the mornings..and the same thing is happening to my left ankle (rolling due to the loose joints) but there's no pain in the left, and the right ankle is great once it gets going. In fact, the more active i am, the better. Gosh...i felt on this Cinque Terre trek i was invincible. Well, almost. Hey...we're OLD now...so we probably won't do the Himilayas...but we can dream can't we!!!!!!
We got back in once piece, and both proud of ourselves. Greg has had the flu (again, he seems to pick these up in the trains!) and so he did really well considering.
What a place..Italy. IT's JUST BEAUTIFUL. This walk...was certainly one of the highlights of beauty....and we didn't even know about it till Charles mentioned it. Fancy that..we could have just gone right past this beautiful coast line oblivious to it's existence.
Cool hey. To find out about new places..on our way.
POROFINO next...
ITALY!!!!! SANTA MARGHERITA
Day 62
Nuova Riviera, Santa Margherita Ligure e Portofino
Trains. The nightmarish part of our travelling...or is it travelling that is the nightmarish part? Anyway, the trains are known in this part of the world to be a little untrustworthy, in that the times...can change, at any time!
Which they did in Nice as we were leaving. There was an hour hold up, which caused us to be delayed at our stopover, Genova, so we ended up being at Santa Margherita 3 hours later than we intended...but 'them the breaks..eh'!
Weird...when..you cross a border..from France to Italy, there's nothing to say you're in another country...which for us Aussies is a bit strange seeing we have such defined boundaries when we go country to country! Anyway...as soon as we realised we were travelling on Italian soils we hip hipped horayed...haha...was so exciting. ITALY! A place i've always wanted to go!!! I decided to push aside the knowledge that Greg has been to Italy, 12 or so times in his life...such a small detail!
We arrived in Santa Margherita i felt so at home. It's a beautiful place! Pretty beyond words....and well, just so italian...advertising for Pizza and lasagna was everywhere...as was for brushetta and other italian breads...yummo, couldn't wait to sample..
And we noticed...all the coloured buildings!!! So pretty!!! So Italian, we thought! Very, very colouful. And sculptured...the streets are perfect....and instead of street sweepers, they have a man picking up leaves one at a time!!!!
BUT! Accomodation first. At the train station there was a list of hotels..we wrote down the one star hotels...because Santa Margherita doesn't have hostels!!!
We head for Anabella's..no one home. Head for Nuova Riveria...one star, and 75 Euro per night. 70 if we stay 2 nights, 65 if we stay 3. We opt for two and decide their talk of 'casha only...and nica rooma...cleana...newa...very gooda!" was ok for us!
And it was beautiful. We couldn't fault it. Everything was nice. So worth the extra money. Usually there's something wrong...crap shower, no shower in room, no shower curtain, no hook for shower holder, twin beds, dirty, or whatever. But nope. This was divine. It had towel warmers, a bidet, a balcony..and all the extras. We were going to have FUN Here!
Went to dinner at the local italian restaurant that i can't think of the name of, ordered dumplings thinking they were meatballs and got pesto pasta of a sort (they looked like worms!) but it was NICE. The next night we went to a fantastic restaurant called Columbo...(was a baroque restaurant opposite the CHristopher Columbus monument that was built in 1904 and was originally a pharmacy and all the furniture was walnut and even the original lollie jars were in the servery..so gorgeous) but anyway, had dinner there..ordered lasagna..got flat pasta with pesto..
What is it with pesto! Have had pizza...and it has pesto sauce on it!! Not that i'm complaining..i love pesto..ordering food in Italy is just like a pizza though, it's full of lots of wonderful and weird things!!
The lady at Nuova was a funny one....i thought of They're a Weird Mob when dealing with her (Nino Culloto) she was so paranoid...'noa...you can'ta leava luggage hera...noa...ohhh noa....!" I was going to leave my book I'd just finished..with her...yet another one of Mauve Binchy's epic's...of 762 pages (read the Circle of Friends last time) 'Firefly Summer' which i'd just finished (about the hotel Patrick O'Neil was building set in Ireland) but decided...no..she might panic about that too!
So! Here we are...Italy! Santa Margherita is so beautiful..hilly, green..and close to the Cinque Terre...
Which i will tell you all about next!!!!!!!!
Nuova Riviera, Santa Margherita Ligure e Portofino
Trains. The nightmarish part of our travelling...or is it travelling that is the nightmarish part? Anyway, the trains are known in this part of the world to be a little untrustworthy, in that the times...can change, at any time!
Which they did in Nice as we were leaving. There was an hour hold up, which caused us to be delayed at our stopover, Genova, so we ended up being at Santa Margherita 3 hours later than we intended...but 'them the breaks..eh'!
Weird...when..you cross a border..from France to Italy, there's nothing to say you're in another country...which for us Aussies is a bit strange seeing we have such defined boundaries when we go country to country! Anyway...as soon as we realised we were travelling on Italian soils we hip hipped horayed...haha...was so exciting. ITALY! A place i've always wanted to go!!! I decided to push aside the knowledge that Greg has been to Italy, 12 or so times in his life...such a small detail!
We arrived in Santa Margherita i felt so at home. It's a beautiful place! Pretty beyond words....and well, just so italian...advertising for Pizza and lasagna was everywhere...as was for brushetta and other italian breads...yummo, couldn't wait to sample..
And we noticed...all the coloured buildings!!! So pretty!!! So Italian, we thought! Very, very colouful. And sculptured...the streets are perfect....and instead of street sweepers, they have a man picking up leaves one at a time!!!!
BUT! Accomodation first. At the train station there was a list of hotels..we wrote down the one star hotels...because Santa Margherita doesn't have hostels!!!
We head for Anabella's..no one home. Head for Nuova Riveria...one star, and 75 Euro per night. 70 if we stay 2 nights, 65 if we stay 3. We opt for two and decide their talk of 'casha only...and nica rooma...cleana...newa...very gooda!" was ok for us!
And it was beautiful. We couldn't fault it. Everything was nice. So worth the extra money. Usually there's something wrong...crap shower, no shower in room, no shower curtain, no hook for shower holder, twin beds, dirty, or whatever. But nope. This was divine. It had towel warmers, a bidet, a balcony..and all the extras. We were going to have FUN Here!
Went to dinner at the local italian restaurant that i can't think of the name of, ordered dumplings thinking they were meatballs and got pesto pasta of a sort (they looked like worms!) but it was NICE. The next night we went to a fantastic restaurant called Columbo...(was a baroque restaurant opposite the CHristopher Columbus monument that was built in 1904 and was originally a pharmacy and all the furniture was walnut and even the original lollie jars were in the servery..so gorgeous) but anyway, had dinner there..ordered lasagna..got flat pasta with pesto..
What is it with pesto! Have had pizza...and it has pesto sauce on it!! Not that i'm complaining..i love pesto..ordering food in Italy is just like a pizza though, it's full of lots of wonderful and weird things!!
The lady at Nuova was a funny one....i thought of They're a Weird Mob when dealing with her (Nino Culloto) she was so paranoid...'noa...you can'ta leava luggage hera...noa...ohhh noa....!" I was going to leave my book I'd just finished..with her...yet another one of Mauve Binchy's epic's...of 762 pages (read the Circle of Friends last time) 'Firefly Summer' which i'd just finished (about the hotel Patrick O'Neil was building set in Ireland) but decided...no..she might panic about that too!
So! Here we are...Italy! Santa Margherita is so beautiful..hilly, green..and close to the Cinque Terre...
Which i will tell you all about next!!!!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
