Well I'm not having a lot of success adding pics here and seem to have to add each one as a separate post, so I'm going to give up as it makestoo many entires. If you've lost the diary entries you'll need to go back to "older post"
Chrz everyone. Mistral howling again today but we're off to Avignon anda lavendar farm as well!!
Showing posts with label Olwyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olwyn. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2010
June 15-16 Sat, Sun. St Remy de Provence, Carmague,
The town of St Remy-de-Provence, mid way between Arle and Avignon, is a wonderfully central location from which to explore Provence and the South of France. It's also a town fiercely proud and protective of its Provencal way of life, to the extent of refusing to let any chain store or franchise set up in town, so that all accomodation, dining etc is authentically local! Great move!
We also had St Remy highly recommended as our Provence base because of the great accomodation here at Les Sources owned by Avern and Jeanclaire. Smart, standalone, self contained units with fresh and modern French inspired decor nestle comfortably into manicured leafy grounds. They're well laid out and equipped and our hosts have been very helpful - even washing and drying the mountain of laundry we'd acculmulated over the last week.
Saturday was a "housekeeping" day. Checking and dealing with emails, (great wifi connection here!) bank balances and blog entries, before taking a walk into St Remy to orientate ourselves and check out the supermarket. The town was buzzing with Saturday morning activity - wonderful pastisserries filling the streets with irresistably delicious smells, vege shops brimming with fresh produce from tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, lettuces, radishes etc to fresh dates, figs, cherries and strawberries. The butcher shops are fascinating to visit with fresh slabs and cuts, a fascinating array of value added products from stuffed fresh rabbit, bacon wrapped quail, to iffy looking sausages, while their ready to eat products such as hams, proscuittos, roast pork and even potato and cous cous salads sit right alongside the fresh products. A wedding ceremony was just completing as we walked past the church and it seems that part of the tradition is to load the bridal party into the cars after the ceremony and wend through the crowded streets with horns blasting!
We took on the task of providing for lunch, so went with the French bread stick, cheese and salami idea. Two different bread sticks and then a big mission at the deli with a totally French speaking deli assistant who tried to "explain" the various bries, blues and goudas we asked about. She was so wonderfully happy to try to help and we were very happy with our purchases on consumption!
After lunch Fred and I drove through to Varascon, the nearest train station, to book our seats to Spain. We had the dates and destination written down and the French phrase book at the ready, but the young woman here was very helpful with enough English to make things work, so the job was done very easily. We'd got familiar with a few Italian words and phrases to help us get by in Italy, but of course now we're doing a crash course on trying to get the odd French word or two to roll easily off the tongue (none too easily yet, though I'm good at "bonjour" and "merci" and even "merci beaucoup" and today threw in the occasional "voila".
We decided a BBQ at home would be nice, so off to the Supermarket again for ratatouille veges and NZ lamb chops which were by far the best value meat buy!! Avern's BBQ was a bit of a dead loss, but we got there in the end and it was nice to just be relaxed at home making plans for the next day. The wine selection here is amazing and the prices just riciculously cheap! So many Roses here and we've had a couple of beautiful Cabernet Sauvignons as well as a Voignier which was similar to what we're used to and much enjoyed, a light delicate Sauvignan Blanc and even a ver scrumptious dessert wine.
Today Sunday saw us on the go early heading for Arles in a howling Mistral. This cold, furious wind (named after the poet Frederic Mistral who wrote in the native Provencal Language and won a Nobel Prize) howls across the flat countryside lashing crops of wheat, sunflowers and more, and leaving even the trademark avenues of big old Plane Trees with a windswept lean.
Arles is a really great place to visit. As soon as you arrive, the huge amount of Roman history here is apparent and yet, in comparison to trying to take in history in Rome, the compact scale, great preservation and excellent services for visitors here in Arles (everything from clear road signs to great restoration projects, tourist information and packages) seems to make it so much easier to deal with.We really enjoyed our visit to the partially restored Amphitheatre where, to this day, they hold bull events (not fight to the death). The Roman Theatre is wonderful and once again,currently used for shows! There are also Roman baths and the inspiring St Triophimes Cloister of Arles.
After lunch we headed further South across the delta formed by the mouth of the big, wide Rhone River to Carmague. This is vastly different countryside; still flat, but now often marshy (sometimes rice growing) with a Spanish influence; white horses, cowboys, bull events and a haven for a huge variety of seabisrds including flamingo who winter over here. If we'd stayed till 4.30 we could have watched a bull "fight" but our next destination called.
Drivng North again we entered limestone country with massive outcrops and cliffs towering above plunging valleys. Last on our visit list was Les Baux-de-Provence a tiny perched village centred around the Chateau de Baux thought to date from around the 10th Century. The village is very quaint with delightful shops plus a couple of churches. The smaller church has really lovely painted murals depicting Provencal shepherds looking after their sheep then involved in the Christmas story. But the big ticket item is the Chateau. Once you've paid the eight Euro entrance there is a free audio guide explaining the excellent displays and a fantastic video flying over the towns and countryside of Provence. Views from high up in the chateau are awesome over the valleys below and the breathtaking olive groves, vineyards and orchards. Olive growing in this region is very highly regarded and while France cannot compete with the quantity produced by big olive oil producing countries they work very hard on making a niche in the market with quality.
If anything, the wind velocity increased while we were here making our walk high up in the ruins of the Chateau even more overwhelming by roaring around and beating on the rocks and crumbling walls.
To top the lot, as we drove home we say flamingoes! So what a day of amazing variety which I guess must sum up this extraordinary place.
We also had St Remy highly recommended as our Provence base because of the great accomodation here at Les Sources owned by Avern and Jeanclaire. Smart, standalone, self contained units with fresh and modern French inspired decor nestle comfortably into manicured leafy grounds. They're well laid out and equipped and our hosts have been very helpful - even washing and drying the mountain of laundry we'd acculmulated over the last week.
Saturday was a "housekeeping" day. Checking and dealing with emails, (great wifi connection here!) bank balances and blog entries, before taking a walk into St Remy to orientate ourselves and check out the supermarket. The town was buzzing with Saturday morning activity - wonderful pastisserries filling the streets with irresistably delicious smells, vege shops brimming with fresh produce from tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, lettuces, radishes etc to fresh dates, figs, cherries and strawberries. The butcher shops are fascinating to visit with fresh slabs and cuts, a fascinating array of value added products from stuffed fresh rabbit, bacon wrapped quail, to iffy looking sausages, while their ready to eat products such as hams, proscuittos, roast pork and even potato and cous cous salads sit right alongside the fresh products. A wedding ceremony was just completing as we walked past the church and it seems that part of the tradition is to load the bridal party into the cars after the ceremony and wend through the crowded streets with horns blasting!
We took on the task of providing for lunch, so went with the French bread stick, cheese and salami idea. Two different bread sticks and then a big mission at the deli with a totally French speaking deli assistant who tried to "explain" the various bries, blues and goudas we asked about. She was so wonderfully happy to try to help and we were very happy with our purchases on consumption!
After lunch Fred and I drove through to Varascon, the nearest train station, to book our seats to Spain. We had the dates and destination written down and the French phrase book at the ready, but the young woman here was very helpful with enough English to make things work, so the job was done very easily. We'd got familiar with a few Italian words and phrases to help us get by in Italy, but of course now we're doing a crash course on trying to get the odd French word or two to roll easily off the tongue (none too easily yet, though I'm good at "bonjour" and "merci" and even "merci beaucoup" and today threw in the occasional "voila".
We decided a BBQ at home would be nice, so off to the Supermarket again for ratatouille veges and NZ lamb chops which were by far the best value meat buy!! Avern's BBQ was a bit of a dead loss, but we got there in the end and it was nice to just be relaxed at home making plans for the next day. The wine selection here is amazing and the prices just riciculously cheap! So many Roses here and we've had a couple of beautiful Cabernet Sauvignons as well as a Voignier which was similar to what we're used to and much enjoyed, a light delicate Sauvignan Blanc and even a ver scrumptious dessert wine.
Today Sunday saw us on the go early heading for Arles in a howling Mistral. This cold, furious wind (named after the poet Frederic Mistral who wrote in the native Provencal Language and won a Nobel Prize) howls across the flat countryside lashing crops of wheat, sunflowers and more, and leaving even the trademark avenues of big old Plane Trees with a windswept lean.
Arles is a really great place to visit. As soon as you arrive, the huge amount of Roman history here is apparent and yet, in comparison to trying to take in history in Rome, the compact scale, great preservation and excellent services for visitors here in Arles (everything from clear road signs to great restoration projects, tourist information and packages) seems to make it so much easier to deal with.We really enjoyed our visit to the partially restored Amphitheatre where, to this day, they hold bull events (not fight to the death). The Roman Theatre is wonderful and once again,currently used for shows! There are also Roman baths and the inspiring St Triophimes Cloister of Arles.
After lunch we headed further South across the delta formed by the mouth of the big, wide Rhone River to Carmague. This is vastly different countryside; still flat, but now often marshy (sometimes rice growing) with a Spanish influence; white horses, cowboys, bull events and a haven for a huge variety of seabisrds including flamingo who winter over here. If we'd stayed till 4.30 we could have watched a bull "fight" but our next destination called.
Drivng North again we entered limestone country with massive outcrops and cliffs towering above plunging valleys. Last on our visit list was Les Baux-de-Provence a tiny perched village centred around the Chateau de Baux thought to date from around the 10th Century. The village is very quaint with delightful shops plus a couple of churches. The smaller church has really lovely painted murals depicting Provencal shepherds looking after their sheep then involved in the Christmas story. But the big ticket item is the Chateau. Once you've paid the eight Euro entrance there is a free audio guide explaining the excellent displays and a fantastic video flying over the towns and countryside of Provence. Views from high up in the chateau are awesome over the valleys below and the breathtaking olive groves, vineyards and orchards. Olive growing in this region is very highly regarded and while France cannot compete with the quantity produced by big olive oil producing countries they work very hard on making a niche in the market with quality.
If anything, the wind velocity increased while we were here making our walk high up in the ruins of the Chateau even more overwhelming by roaring around and beating on the rocks and crumbling walls.
To top the lot, as we drove home we say flamingoes! So what a day of amazing variety which I guess must sum up this extraordinary place.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Friday June 18th. Cote'd'Azure to St Remy de Provence
Yeehah!!!!!! Friday 18th June now, good internet connection again so I've just posted all the diary entries I've compiled since last posting!!(Will that keep Mum happy Pauline? :-)
We woke to brilliant blue skies above and an equally brilliant blue Medditterranean Sea and after quickly departing from our rather average hotel popped in to the nearby Supermarket to select goodies for breakfast - our first purchase of the real French croissants and pastries. I'd loved the italian vesion well enough, but try adding a heap more butter and a much greater melt in the mouth texture and Mmmmmm!Especially when eaten on the beachfront in Menton, a gorgeous strip of coast crowded against the sea by towering cliffs and rocky outcrops. The gateway to the French Riviera/ the Cote d'Azure.
The next resort we'd come to would be Monte Carlo/ Monaco the world's leisure capital with skyscrapers, glamorous hotels, apartments and the famed Casino - home to the highest proportion of wealthy residents anywhere in the world. Driving options through here are any of three Corniches / the three Coastal Routes; seafront, middle or high on the motorway. With a long day's travel ahead we chose the middle route which avoided waterfront congestion but still afforded wonderful views down to the Coastal resorts and sparkling sea. We marvelled at the tiny perched village of Eze set in the Jardin Exotique and looked down on the deep water Port of Ville Franche-Sur-Mer before heading down into the big bustling City of Nice beach and on then to the home of festivals, Cannes. Here we found ourselves a park on the waterfront (no mean feat!) and enjoyed our picnic lunch.
From here the bay curves back a half circle to give the most wonderful views back along the the Coast and its seaside resorts before you negotiate the point and suddenly the red rocks and soil of the Massif de la Esteral are crowding in down to the sea again giving spectacular vistas with bold reds and blues of land and sea.
On reaching St Raphael we turned inland, took the A80 and headed at high speed across this rural stretch of Provence till we reached our destination of St Remy de Provence.
Here we have a very pleasant stand alone, self contained unit,in a small "motel" complex set in delightful grounds. Have stocked up with goodies from the nearby supermarket and will be very happy to settle in here for 4 nights and explore the surrounding area - lavendar, lemons, Van Gogh .....
We woke to brilliant blue skies above and an equally brilliant blue Medditterranean Sea and after quickly departing from our rather average hotel popped in to the nearby Supermarket to select goodies for breakfast - our first purchase of the real French croissants and pastries. I'd loved the italian vesion well enough, but try adding a heap more butter and a much greater melt in the mouth texture and Mmmmmm!Especially when eaten on the beachfront in Menton, a gorgeous strip of coast crowded against the sea by towering cliffs and rocky outcrops. The gateway to the French Riviera/ the Cote d'Azure.
The next resort we'd come to would be Monte Carlo/ Monaco the world's leisure capital with skyscrapers, glamorous hotels, apartments and the famed Casino - home to the highest proportion of wealthy residents anywhere in the world. Driving options through here are any of three Corniches / the three Coastal Routes; seafront, middle or high on the motorway. With a long day's travel ahead we chose the middle route which avoided waterfront congestion but still afforded wonderful views down to the Coastal resorts and sparkling sea. We marvelled at the tiny perched village of Eze set in the Jardin Exotique and looked down on the deep water Port of Ville Franche-Sur-Mer before heading down into the big bustling City of Nice beach and on then to the home of festivals, Cannes. Here we found ourselves a park on the waterfront (no mean feat!) and enjoyed our picnic lunch.
From here the bay curves back a half circle to give the most wonderful views back along the the Coast and its seaside resorts before you negotiate the point and suddenly the red rocks and soil of the Massif de la Esteral are crowding in down to the sea again giving spectacular vistas with bold reds and blues of land and sea.
On reaching St Raphael we turned inland, took the A80 and headed at high speed across this rural stretch of Provence till we reached our destination of St Remy de Provence.
Here we have a very pleasant stand alone, self contained unit,in a small "motel" complex set in delightful grounds. Have stocked up with goodies from the nearby supermarket and will be very happy to settle in here for 4 nights and explore the surrounding area - lavendar, lemons, Van Gogh .....
June 12-14 Sat-Mon. Venice!!!
Our last dinner at Radicondoli was at home, with Russell doing a fabulous job on the woodfired BBQ with much support from Fred and Bruce, while the girls found that the oven did great roasties, so with a yummy salad and all the bits and pieces from the fridge it was ample sufficiency. Mary topped the meal off with tasty treats from the local bakery which went very well with the dessert wine.( so many meringue type sweeties here- I know they have a particular name but it just escapes me now)
Saturday morning Jess and Bruce shopped at the bakery for a blow-out brekkie of deliciously sugary donuts, chocolate and custard croissants and apricot pastries. Mmmmmmm a great start for the day.
We were all well organised, so after farewells we were away in good time and for us, a straightforward drive through to Sienna to catch the Regionale Train to Florence. I had some concerns about connecting with our host and finding our accommodation in Venice so we made a phone call and were reassured that she was expecting us and we should phone her on arrival in Venice.
Yeehah; we’d found the right station, the right platform, the right carriage, our accommodation was confirmed, so ticket back in pocket and we were off on our next adventure! But, it would have been good idea to check which Florence station to leap off at and not assume that the first time we saw “Florence” we should leap! But Freddie was on to it, immediately realising we’d made an ooopsie,so we dashed to the information office and were directed to another train which thankfully got us to the station we needed in time for our connection.
Florence to Venice was on the fast train. Wow what a great way to travel just floating along and so fast! I felt I should be making a great effort to study the countryside we were whizzing through but after several very long tunnels the warmth and the motion won and I was asleep.
Then suddenly we were crossing the lagoon from the mainland to the fairytale city of Venice! Following our host’s instructions, from the railway station we hopped aboard the No 1 Vaporetta (the boat “buses” which transport people up and down the Grande Canal) and then jumped off again two stops later. We also bought a 24 hour Vaporetta ticket to use later. We waited a little while for her to meet us as arranged but then realised we could easily find the address which was very close by. Success.
But all did not proceed smoothly. Our accommodation orientation halted abruptly when the lights blew in our bedroom (bedroom = pseudonym for cupboard) and despite her very best efforts she couldn’t get the problem sorted (5.00 Saturday afternoon just too hard to get an electrician in Venice!). Fortunately she and her Mum obviously had good contacts in the hospitality industry and soon came up with an alternative where we were shortly ensconced.
What to do in Venice at 6.00pm Sat night when one has just settled in? What else but grab the travel guide and take a Grand Canal vaporetto ride from whoa to go! This is by far the best way to orientate yourself here and also to soak up the fabulous sights and sounds of the City; the ornate grandeur and beauty of the four and five storey buildings lining the canal, the side canals branching off here and there showing glimpses of narrow cobbled streets, humpbacked bridges (something like 420 throughout the City) and washing on the clotheslines beneath people’s windows. Here and there a dining terrace sits out over the water and down towards St Marco Piazza there is some flat paved area along the Canal, packed with outdoor dining areas from the restaurants crammed here. The many vaporetto ply back and forth between the stops, with immaculate, gorgeous, black, highly decorated gondolas gliding between (prohibitively expensive though well patronised). Our return trip was in the dark with glittering chandeliers lighting the palaces and homes and lights along the canal shimmering on the water and all accompanied by the gentle slop, slop of waves and wake lapping the buildings and bridges.
Sunday morning we woke none too early – probably because our accommodation was as dark and silent as a dungeon. However our dungeon had a hard but big bed, a comparatively large bathroom and a few handy extras like an electric jug. We’d noticed a supermarket the previous night and were stocked with goodies for breakfast and lunch so were soon out heading for the Rialto market and particularly a walk over the beautiful Rialto Bridge. The market struck us as a bit frenetic so we took the next vaporretto down to the Accademia Gallery; what a huge collection of wonderful artworks here!
Our travel guide highly recommended the church of San Sebastian for its artworks too, so we jumped aboard a boat to make our way there. Obviously we got the wrong one but did a wonderfully interesting trip past the Gondola Service Centre, a bunch of super yachts and a couple of cruise , before getting back on track and arriving at Sam Sebastian. We had been warned that Italian opening times sometimes seem to have their own rules and sad to say the church wasn’t open.
Hungry and needing to rest our feet from pavement pounding (or is that cobblestone capering) we hopped aboard again for the Gardens. We really enjoyed this lovely place. Big shady trees, nice lawns, garden seats, jasmine flowering everywhere and so many families enjoying a relaxed Sunday afternoon – the children playing at the playground and the Dad’s asleep on the park benches looking after the buggies!
Just across the water from the Gardens is a small island taken up by an old monastery with its church San Giorgio Maggiore boasting a tall belfry which locals insist offers the best view of Venice. It seemed a great idea to nip over there right now rather than queue and pay much more to go up St Marco’s campanile for a view. We were thrilled with the view from here and scared witless when the bell tolled while we were up there –thank goodness it was just one chime on the half hour, not twelve for 12 o’clock!
From here we made our way to Salute the magnificently ornate Basilica and iconic sight that greats travellers as they enter the Grand Canal. Built in thanks for the end of the plague which wiped out a hug proportion of the Cities population, a million wooden piles were pounded into the marshy ground to support the weight of this fantastic building!
From here we walked back past the Guggenheim Gallery feeling too worn out to visit but did pop into the beautiful Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, a lovely basilica built for the Franciscan Friars. I've been really taken by how so many of these old, old churches which in many way are like museum pieces are so obviously still so used and loved by their congregations with gorgeous floral arrangements of fresh flowers and candles burning.
6.00 o,clock and high time to sit on the sidewalk at a little restaurant with a wine and watch the activity. Best sight was the fisherman dashing into the restaurant to hand deliver 2 very large bags of fresh clams (cockles) and within 2 minute Grandpa from next door arriving in just his pyjama pants to collect his share. Second best was the huge thunder storm with hail, which saw people either drenched or sheltering.
The clams had whett my appetite fo seafood so dinner was a seafood rissotto though unfortunately pretty heavy on the salt which is a trend we've noticed several times here.
Monday 14th was our day to tackle St Marco Piazza, Basilica, Palace and Museum so we headed out early. On arrival the queue was 100 metres plus, so we paid the money and took a guided tour offering. Money well spent! Within 5 minutes we were high above the doors of the Basilica looking out over the buzz of the Piazza to the two huge granite columns of St Mark and St Theodore and watching the bell on the Torre dell'Orologio strike 10.00. For an hour our guide lead us around and reeled off a constant banter fascinating facts and figures. My favourites were about the 2000 year old bronze horses and the fact that the magnificent golden mosaic ceiling of the Basilica was 8500 sq metres and took 800 years to complete - that's a very big jigsaw!!! Also, that the tiled floor used 820 different types of marble!
The adjoining palace, (Dogue's Ducal) was awesome! The gold gilded ceilings of the staircase were breathtaking (in fact ceiling decoration throught the Ducal is mind boggling) and the extensive collection of exhibits in the Museo Civico Correr including weapons, artworks was very interesting.
Overload! Museumed and churched out, so leapt aboard a vaporetto and out to Burano Island where I was keen to look at the exquisite lace work and Fred the quaint and colourful houses.
Late dinner (but dinner is always late in Italy - 8.30 has been our norm but this was 9.30) so with the Italy/Slovakia World Cup Soccer game bringing the streets to a halt we popped into the restaurant nearest to our accomodation and ended up having the best bought meal of our trip to date. I'd been hoping to try a Spaghetti Bolognese in Bologna and here was one on the menu so that was my choice while Fred had Spaghetti Carbonara; both delicious!
Saturday morning Jess and Bruce shopped at the bakery for a blow-out brekkie of deliciously sugary donuts, chocolate and custard croissants and apricot pastries. Mmmmmmm a great start for the day.
We were all well organised, so after farewells we were away in good time and for us, a straightforward drive through to Sienna to catch the Regionale Train to Florence. I had some concerns about connecting with our host and finding our accommodation in Venice so we made a phone call and were reassured that she was expecting us and we should phone her on arrival in Venice.
Yeehah; we’d found the right station, the right platform, the right carriage, our accommodation was confirmed, so ticket back in pocket and we were off on our next adventure! But, it would have been good idea to check which Florence station to leap off at and not assume that the first time we saw “Florence” we should leap! But Freddie was on to it, immediately realising we’d made an ooopsie,so we dashed to the information office and were directed to another train which thankfully got us to the station we needed in time for our connection.
Florence to Venice was on the fast train. Wow what a great way to travel just floating along and so fast! I felt I should be making a great effort to study the countryside we were whizzing through but after several very long tunnels the warmth and the motion won and I was asleep.
Then suddenly we were crossing the lagoon from the mainland to the fairytale city of Venice! Following our host’s instructions, from the railway station we hopped aboard the No 1 Vaporetta (the boat “buses” which transport people up and down the Grande Canal) and then jumped off again two stops later. We also bought a 24 hour Vaporetta ticket to use later. We waited a little while for her to meet us as arranged but then realised we could easily find the address which was very close by. Success.
But all did not proceed smoothly. Our accommodation orientation halted abruptly when the lights blew in our bedroom (bedroom = pseudonym for cupboard) and despite her very best efforts she couldn’t get the problem sorted (5.00 Saturday afternoon just too hard to get an electrician in Venice!). Fortunately she and her Mum obviously had good contacts in the hospitality industry and soon came up with an alternative where we were shortly ensconced.
What to do in Venice at 6.00pm Sat night when one has just settled in? What else but grab the travel guide and take a Grand Canal vaporetto ride from whoa to go! This is by far the best way to orientate yourself here and also to soak up the fabulous sights and sounds of the City; the ornate grandeur and beauty of the four and five storey buildings lining the canal, the side canals branching off here and there showing glimpses of narrow cobbled streets, humpbacked bridges (something like 420 throughout the City) and washing on the clotheslines beneath people’s windows. Here and there a dining terrace sits out over the water and down towards St Marco Piazza there is some flat paved area along the Canal, packed with outdoor dining areas from the restaurants crammed here. The many vaporetto ply back and forth between the stops, with immaculate, gorgeous, black, highly decorated gondolas gliding between (prohibitively expensive though well patronised). Our return trip was in the dark with glittering chandeliers lighting the palaces and homes and lights along the canal shimmering on the water and all accompanied by the gentle slop, slop of waves and wake lapping the buildings and bridges.
Sunday morning we woke none too early – probably because our accommodation was as dark and silent as a dungeon. However our dungeon had a hard but big bed, a comparatively large bathroom and a few handy extras like an electric jug. We’d noticed a supermarket the previous night and were stocked with goodies for breakfast and lunch so were soon out heading for the Rialto market and particularly a walk over the beautiful Rialto Bridge. The market struck us as a bit frenetic so we took the next vaporretto down to the Accademia Gallery; what a huge collection of wonderful artworks here!
Our travel guide highly recommended the church of San Sebastian for its artworks too, so we jumped aboard a boat to make our way there. Obviously we got the wrong one but did a wonderfully interesting trip past the Gondola Service Centre, a bunch of super yachts and a couple of cruise , before getting back on track and arriving at Sam Sebastian. We had been warned that Italian opening times sometimes seem to have their own rules and sad to say the church wasn’t open.
Hungry and needing to rest our feet from pavement pounding (or is that cobblestone capering) we hopped aboard again for the Gardens. We really enjoyed this lovely place. Big shady trees, nice lawns, garden seats, jasmine flowering everywhere and so many families enjoying a relaxed Sunday afternoon – the children playing at the playground and the Dad’s asleep on the park benches looking after the buggies!
Just across the water from the Gardens is a small island taken up by an old monastery with its church San Giorgio Maggiore boasting a tall belfry which locals insist offers the best view of Venice. It seemed a great idea to nip over there right now rather than queue and pay much more to go up St Marco’s campanile for a view. We were thrilled with the view from here and scared witless when the bell tolled while we were up there –thank goodness it was just one chime on the half hour, not twelve for 12 o’clock!
From here we made our way to Salute the magnificently ornate Basilica and iconic sight that greats travellers as they enter the Grand Canal. Built in thanks for the end of the plague which wiped out a hug proportion of the Cities population, a million wooden piles were pounded into the marshy ground to support the weight of this fantastic building!
From here we walked back past the Guggenheim Gallery feeling too worn out to visit but did pop into the beautiful Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, a lovely basilica built for the Franciscan Friars. I've been really taken by how so many of these old, old churches which in many way are like museum pieces are so obviously still so used and loved by their congregations with gorgeous floral arrangements of fresh flowers and candles burning.
6.00 o,clock and high time to sit on the sidewalk at a little restaurant with a wine and watch the activity. Best sight was the fisherman dashing into the restaurant to hand deliver 2 very large bags of fresh clams (cockles) and within 2 minute Grandpa from next door arriving in just his pyjama pants to collect his share. Second best was the huge thunder storm with hail, which saw people either drenched or sheltering.
The clams had whett my appetite fo seafood so dinner was a seafood rissotto though unfortunately pretty heavy on the salt which is a trend we've noticed several times here.
Monday 14th was our day to tackle St Marco Piazza, Basilica, Palace and Museum so we headed out early. On arrival the queue was 100 metres plus, so we paid the money and took a guided tour offering. Money well spent! Within 5 minutes we were high above the doors of the Basilica looking out over the buzz of the Piazza to the two huge granite columns of St Mark and St Theodore and watching the bell on the Torre dell'Orologio strike 10.00. For an hour our guide lead us around and reeled off a constant banter fascinating facts and figures. My favourites were about the 2000 year old bronze horses and the fact that the magnificent golden mosaic ceiling of the Basilica was 8500 sq metres and took 800 years to complete - that's a very big jigsaw!!! Also, that the tiled floor used 820 different types of marble!
The adjoining palace, (Dogue's Ducal) was awesome! The gold gilded ceilings of the staircase were breathtaking (in fact ceiling decoration throught the Ducal is mind boggling) and the extensive collection of exhibits in the Museo Civico Correr including weapons, artworks was very interesting.
Overload! Museumed and churched out, so leapt aboard a vaporetto and out to Burano Island where I was keen to look at the exquisite lace work and Fred the quaint and colourful houses.
Late dinner (but dinner is always late in Italy - 8.30 has been our norm but this was 9.30) so with the Italy/Slovakia World Cup Soccer game bringing the streets to a halt we popped into the restaurant nearest to our accomodation and ended up having the best bought meal of our trip to date. I'd been hoping to try a Spaghetti Bolognese in Bologna and here was one on the menu so that was my choice while Fred had Spaghetti Carbonara; both delicious!
Monday, May 31, 2010
30 ans 31st May
30 May dawned in Nelson as a perfect winter’s day with a cloudless blue sky, fresh snow glistening on the ranges and our first frost of the year. Bags were already packed so it was just a case of last minute lockup, final goodbyes and Executive Limousine’s Mercedes Benz S320 and chauffeur John were ready to whisk us to the airport` then
It seems an appropriate opportunity here and now to pop in an ad for this excellent service which you may at some stage have occasion to use.
For that special occasion or to treat your special person to Executive Class pick-up and delivery anywhere……… phone Executive Limousines.
Auckland was looking gorgeous under clear blue skies and we filled the time prior to checking in at International Departures by reading in the sun. It occurred to me that we’d be unlikely to sit again, on this trip, at an airpost where we could gaze into a totally clear blue sky; no pollution, no clouds and no stack of planes circling.
Our first trip travelling on Emirates airlines the 380 Airbus and both the airline and the craft are just great! Everything from the eyecatching hostess gear to a smooth as butter flight, extra leg space and great service on board including a complimentary flight socks and toothpaste and toothbrush!! Departing Auckland at 6.00 pm the flight to Sydney is just a nice time frame to enjoy dinner and a movie. But boarding again at 10.00 pm NZ time heading for Dubai knowing that we would eventually arrive in Dubai at 5.15 a.m. Dubai time, translated into a 13 hour night which felt a little daunting. However, with Fred on the aisle seat and me in the middle we were lucky enough to have a tiny, pleasant and couteously travel savvy Swiss girl in the window seat. We managed to get some reasonable periods of sleep and Fred churned through a few movies while I listened to some great music.
Dubai 5.10 am was 31 degrees celsius and the sun just rising to give a bold red glow through the thick haze. The terminal with 235 gates was seething and the masses of shops crammed with shoppers buying anything and everything.
Prettypleased to eventually touch down in Rome.Immigration pathetic with 2 staff processing about 500 people but once through baggage and customs a cinch and on the train into the City. Having recieved excellent instructions from our B & B hostess we easily found our way to B&B Smart and were kindly welcomed and shown our more than adequate accomodation. A shower was first up, then a walk in the local vicinity to view Santa Maggiore a renowned basilica then to a beaut little Pizzeria we'd spotted earlier. Yes Emily, these real Italian pizzas are on a different level to what we're used to........... delisio!!!
Home now and crashing into bed! Photos next time I hope Ciao for now
Friday, May 28, 2010
This is us from 5 June
http://www.tv-en.peugeot.com/News/Peugeot-5008-video.html
Much discussion between participating hirers/travellers before clinching the deal for this beauty.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Amazing
A view from space of 24 hours of flights condensed into a couple of minutes.
See the change of day to night round the earth and the flow of traffic from North America overnight to Europe and vice versa.
We're joining this on Sunday!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Olwyn and Freds Calendar Itinerary
I put our itinerary on to a calendar a while back and now and again, as we've finalised plans and bookings for various places, I've popped a bit of information on to the calendar.
Not comprehensive or definitive, but a bit of an overview.
Click to open
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