Day 72 Frustration, films and food

Most of the details of our long trip have gone incredibly well and apart from three or four small hick-ups we have had very little frustration. However we made a late decision two days before we left home to backtrack after leaving Nice (France) and attend a concert back in Milan (Italy). We booked and paid for the tickets and accommodation online through a company in the UK hoping that it would all work out okay.

On the morning of Day 72 we received an email from the hotel in Milan, answering our request to confirm our booking, in which they said that they had no record of our reservation. After repeated unsuccessful calls to the UK we began to wonder if the whole internet purchase was a scam. We were continually given the run around from one department to another- until finally we were assured that our booking was definitely secure in the Milan hotel. So we called the hotel again but once more they said there was no booking. More phone calls - threats of Scotland Yard - “the supervisor is not available” – promises – calls not returned – and a growing fear that in our haste, when purchasing the tickets, we had been conned. Then just before noon the UK company returned our calls and gave us a reference number for the booking in Milan. Once again we called the Milan hotel with the reference number, but yet again they said that they had nothing with our name or reference. Suddenly another lady came on the line speaking perfect English; “Yes Mr Quadrio, we have your booking and yes the tickets are waiting for you here”. We were delighted but not sure what had actually happened– did the UK company finally get its act together and make a last minute booking or is this just another example of Italian ‘organization’. We were not sure, but none the less we tried to rescue the rest of the day and belatedly headed out at about 1pm to explore some more of the French Riviera.

Lunch in a wonderful medieval village called Antibes was an omelette for Wendy and a duck salad for Richard…very French! After our frustrating morning the lunch at 3pm in a tiny backstreet restaurant seemed to help us overcome all of our woes.

Finally the day ended at the Grand Auditorium, which is the venue for the famous Cannes Film Festival and also the Carlton Hotel which features in another of our favourite Meg Ryan movies, French Kiss. We visited the sights and enjoyed a great swim at the beach, this time with sand, but alas, still no waves.

The French Riviera to be honest, is much more beautiful than we had imagined, but also more ordinary. There is evidence of the glitz and glamour but also evidence of many people living out their ordinary lives.

On the tram back to our hostel we saw a sign on a little shop advertising ‘Socca’. We immediately jumped off the tram and made our way to the shop and ordered two plates of this dish, which is a speciality of the city of Nice. We had tried it the day before and loved it. It is basically a big pancake made only with chickpeas, olive oil and water. It is cooked on a huge tray in a very hot oven and eaten with your fingers. It was a wonderfully unique way to end a day, which had begun with frustration, centred on films and ended with fabulous food.

Day 71 Nice beach shame about the rocks

After spending many a long day visiting historic ruins and art galleries it was exciting to be heading for the beach. The day began with breakfast at our hostel and a chat with a fellow middle-aged backpacker from Germany who was feeling a “bit out of it” in our pleasant but ‘young and hip’ hostel. We thought the mixed shared bathrooms were a challenge, but this lady was understandably struggling in a mixed dorm. We enjoyed a great breakfast with a choice of 10 varieties of cereals and warm home cooked bread. We then caught the tram down the hill and made our way to the beach.

By 10am in the morning it was already 30 degrees and we were ready for a swim before the crowds arrived. The water was a gorgeous Mediterranean blue colour because… (yes, we needed to pinch ourselves) we were swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. The water was cool but definitely refreshing. The water seemed to have a higher concentration of salt to our Pacific Ocean and we enjoyed floating, chatting and just enjoying a very memorable swim.

All that said there were a few things that were very different to our beaches at home:

1. There was no sand and the rocky walk from the “beach” to the water was rather painful, as was walking around in the water. No wonder everyone enjoys floating on their backs.
2. As in every other place in Europe many of the people on the beach (and quite a few in the water) were smoking. ‘Quit for Life’ needs to run a campaign or two in Europe!
3. For some unknown reason people (particularly the oldies) got changed on the beach. Some do an amazing modest shuffle with a towel but others don’t bother – it’s all out there!
4. Large areas of the beach are reserved for the hotels or are commercial areas where you can hire your deck chair, umbrella and towel and be provided with a strip of carpet to avoid the rocky walk to the beach. All the umbrellas are arranged in neat rows, which gives a very ordered appearance to the beach area.
5. And of course, the water is absolutely flat with no waves at all.

But all that said we really enjoyed our morning swim at Nice beach.

The rest of the day was filled up with the normal stuff of a lazy day at the beach. A stroll around the headland. A wander through a wonderful French antiques market where Wendy could not resist buying a little old milk jug that probably came out of a café somewhere. Then lunch at a local café in the old town, a look around the quaint little shops and then home about 4pm for a siesta.

All in all, a nice Nice day, which ended in a way we never would have imagined or contemplated before this trip. After we cooked our dinner at our hostel we made a late decision, which culminated in a tram ride to town and a 30-minute train ride to the Principality of Monaco. We walked from the station down to the port area and saw some of the largest private yachts in the world. We climbed the hill and found an outdoor café where we shared a huge berry ice cream sundae and watched the rich and glamorous arrive in their very fancy cars and make their way into the famous Monte Carlo Casino.

To be honest a playground for the rich is not really our scene but it was great fun to go to a different country for dessert.

Day 70 Italian Pizza on route to France

After a wonderful 6 days in Rome we departed on Day 70 for Nice, on the French Riviera. This was to involve two long train journeys. Our first leg, on yet another fairly ordinary Italian train, allowed us to view the beautiful Italian coast all the way to the port city of Genoa.

Genoa is of interest to us for several reasons one being that we had been told that one of the main streets carries the name via Quadrio Corso. Upon arrival, we placed our big packs in the luggage storage area at the train station and headed off to spend three hours exploring Genoa before we needed to catch another train to Nice. After exploring the harbour we stopped for some lunch at an attractive seaside restaurant as the temperature once again climbed to at least 35 degrees. It was very hot!

It is worth a comment here, about Italian pizza. We had expected that pizza in Italy might be better than at home but we were surprised at how much better and how different it was. There are a number of features that make Italian pizza better than any pizza we have ever eaten anywhere in the world:

1. All pizzas are the same size and designed for one person to eat.

2. All pizzas are cooked on the bricks in wood-fired ovens without the use of pizza trays. This means that they are less oily and they all have a wonderful smoky taste.

3. All pizzas have very little cheese and tomato paste compared to the ones we eat at home. Also they usually only have one or two toppings- sometimes with tomato but not always. The common ‘pizza topper’ type herb used in Australia is absent.

4. All bases are the same, neither ‘thin and crispy’ nor ‘thick and chewy’. In Italy they are all thin, crusty, chewy and delicious. In fact the base is really a meal in itself

5. All pizzas are served whole, they do not cut the pizza into slices but deliver it to the table with a knife and fork for you to cut yourself.

Genoa’s pizzas were as good as any that we had tasted anywhere else in Italy!

Once back on the very full train we hugged the coastline as we passed through, first the Italian Riviera before arriving at the French Riviera. We were amazed to see rocky outcrops on which people were relaxing and sunbaking just as we enjoy doing on our sandy Australian beaches. We continued along this stunning Mediterranean coastline before arriving at Nice at about 8pm. After about 14 hours of travelling our journey was not over yet. We then had a 15 minute tram ride and at the end of that we were picked up by a van from the hostel which is located on top of a very steep hill.

We chose this particular hostel because it sounded interesting … it was once a monastery, but also because it was described in the guidebooks as being ‘One of the best in Europe’. It is an interesting place but our room with double bunks really looks like a monk’s cell – it is tiny.

We have exchanged “grazie” for “merci” and we can now look forward to exploring the beautiful French Riviera.

Day 69 Roman Internet

After a busy five days in Rome our final one was planned to be a bit quieter. The highlight was spending a few hours with our niece Amy and her boyfriend Graham who were in the middle of a 30-day bus tour and just happened to be in the same city as us at the same time. With the temperature climbing to about 35 degrees they enjoyed a cold coke, home cooked pasta and rockmelon, which we had bought at the markets. After they returned to their hotel we turned our attention to sending some blogs before we departed Rome.

We thought we might share a little of the challenge that sending this blog has been. In many of the hostels where we have stayed Wi Fi has been a feature. In some of the budget hotels we have also had access. But in many places we have needed to be more creative. In Bolivia, Burger King helped us out. In Copenhagen we enjoyed free Wi Fi at the city library and at a local pub ( as long as we bought a drink). In Bellagio, Italy, Richard sat in the street and tapped into a pay-by-the-hour network. But Rome was more of a challenge.

We tried a considerable number of options, but nothing worked. Finally in desperation we put on our best clothes (clean jeans and a clean shirt) and caught the metro to the flash, international hotel district of Rome. It was a treat to see this district, but our aim was cyber-connection, not tourism.

Firstly we searched for wireless signal on the street with no success. Then we entered a couple of hotel lobbies sitting confidently in the foyer but we discovered the net was for guests only and required passwords, no pay-by-the-hour network here. We even tried outside the US embassy, but that failed too. Eventually we found a park with a sign – Wi Fi Zone…bingo! But after many repeated attempts it seemed that you could only use it if you had an Italian mobile phone number.

After a couple of hours of trying, two metro trips and an eight kilometre walk we gave up in despair and headed back to our apartment. On the way home we unexpectedly came across the exquisite 19th century Piazza della Repubbica. As we enjoyed this wonderful place we noticed a McDonald’s on the other side of the square.

Now we need to confess that we have not bought one meal at this American fast food giant since leaving home but we thought we would just check to see if they had Wi Fi. After about 20 minutes of trying, which included us registering and having them send us a text message with the password to our mobile ( via Australia) we were finally (after about 2 hours of trying) able to send our blogs.

Relieved we decided to head home only to find that the metro was closed for the night. So on foot we headed for home. Embarrassingly just around the corner from our apartment we walked past another McDonald’s which, had we tried there in the first place could have saved us a lot of time, trouble, embarrassment and foot leather.

We have laughed a lot on this trip and most often it has been at our own expense.

Day 68 Some days are diamonds...

On a trip that has now lasted for over 2 months most days have met and far exceeded our expectations, yet there have been some days when things didn’t quite go according to plan. Day 68 was one of those days.

Using Rome as our base our plan was simple; to visit the bustling city of Naples (Napoli) about 200 kms south of Rome. Naples comes with an interesting reputation including being noisy, smelly, rife with pickpockets and controlled by the Mafia. However it is also the town that invented pizza and Neapolitan ice cream so our stomachs were anticipating enjoying the day.

At 7.23 am we boarded a fast train from Rome which arrived on time at 8.52am. We had originally planned to explore Naples and, if we had time later, to visit the historic sight of Pompeii; a city trapped in time when Mt Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 and buried the city under 6 metres of volcanic ash. Because it was already hot and we had arrived early we changed our plans and instead caught the local train, to Pompeii at about 9.30am. We figured that we could visit the site quickly, before it got too hot, and then return for our day in Naples.

Our first problem occurred at the entrance to the site at Pompeii. A sign on the locked gate informed us that the area was closed until 10.30am because of a stop work meeting. As we appreciate a worker’s right to protest, we simply waited with the growing crowd and read our books in patient expectation. By 10.45am the crowd of several hundred people was beginning to get agitated. After a lot of shouting and gate rattling by the more vocal members of the crowd, the word came that the gates would now open at 11.40am (maybe). We could see our morning slipping away so we decided to abandon Pompeii and head back to Naples. As we were leaving a couple of other backpackers asked us if we would like to join them on a visit to Mt Vesuvius itself. Without any thorough investigation into the details of the trip we decided to catch a bus at 11.30am up to the mountain.

The bus took about 40 minutes and arrived at the mountain at about 12.10pm and we immediately began our ascent. It was now over 35 degrees and as we climbed up a steep path, which was literally covered with volcanic rocks and ash, our feet slipped and slid backwards and each step was quite a struggle. By about 1.30pm we reached the edge of the crater- now plugged since its last eruption in 1945. The view of Naples, the sea and the tiny Pompeii below was panoramic if somewhat hazy and visiting a live volcano was certainly a unique experience despite the unpleasant conditions. We descended the hot, dusty and slippery track and caught the bus back to town at about 2pm. Then for some Italian reason the bus took a different route back to Pompeii, and took nearly twice as long which meant that we didn’t get back until about 3.20pm.

It was now too late to enjoy the site of Pompeii so we decided to return to Plan A and head for Naples. However we had just missed a local train so we did not finally make it back to Naples until about 4.20pm.

After leaving the station, at 4.25pm feeling hot, dusty and dry we took one look at the huge urban sprawl of Naples and decided it was just too hard (plus we knew our train options for returning to Rome were running out). As we decided to head back to Rome we noticed that the station was becoming a riot of agitated people because all the fast trains were massively delayed (we guessed another strike).

At 4.38pm we were pleased to catch a slower regional train back to Rome despite having had very little food and of course no pizza or Neapolitan ice cream. However this train was much slower than we had planned…not sure why but lets say that Italians don’t seem to run the most efficient or clean trains in Europe… and we didn’t get back to Rome until about 8.30pm. The last straw came when we were almost crushed by the crowds trying to get on this very late train, as we tried to get off.

All in all it was not the day we had planned but as they say, “Some days are diamonds- and some days are…volcanic rocks!”

Day 67 The Power and the Glory

On day 67 we arrived by metro at the Vatican City, to visit what is really the head office of the Roman Catholic Church. After seeing outposts in the most remote parts of the world like Peru and Bolivia it was interesting to arrive at the seat of papal power.

On arrival we found ourselves in the line to visit the ‘cupola’, which allowed us to climb up into the dome of St Peter’s Basilica, which met our expectations as being the finest dome in Christendom. This huge dome is a mosaic masterpiece. After appreciating this grand artwork we then continued to climb up some very narrow, steep stairs until we arrived on the cupola at the top of the dome. The view looking down on St Peter’s Square was both impressive and familiar as we have previously seen pictures of it many times. After enjoying the 360 degree view we descended into the Basilica to walk its interior and to gaze upon classic art works such as Michelangelo’s ‘Pietra’ statue which is even more beautiful and emotive than we could ever have imagined.

We then undertook a hot and lengthy walk around the corner to visit the Vatican museums and of course the Sistine Chapel. By this stage we were quite exhausted, yet again the temperature had soared well into the 30s. We had expected a short walk but before entering we were ushered through the huge papal palace, which is full of the most incredible artwork collected by popes throughout the centuries; paintings, sculptures, embroidered rugs, tapestries and floor mosaics. After room after room of masterpieces we finally arrived at Michelangelo’s great masterpiece the Sistine Chapel. Although it was crowded with people and angry guards yelling “No photo!” and “Be quiet!” (this was ironic as they were the ones making a lot of the noise) the Sistine Chapel eclipsed all that we had previously seen. We found a seat along the edge of the room and stared, opened mouthed at the ceiling for at least 30 minutes; amazed at the size, the colour, the symmetry, the imagery and the way the whole fresco seemed to be both three dimensional and alive. We were overwhelmed by the beauty and timeless nature of such an extraordinary artwork.

Although we were thoroughly impressed by all that we had seen at the Vatican we are also left with nagging doubts. The medieval theology of ‘indulgences’ (i.e. paying for the salvation of yourself and your family, both past and present) provided much of the cash for the artistic treasure house that we had seen today. In the end it was the poor people of Europe who had paid for all of this, because of a wrong theology based on expediency rather than truth. The whole place reeked of power and one impression was hard to ignore – that the church demands its temporal place in the world of kings as an equal player. Having said that, the crowds (including us) still queue to see such splendour and wealth but in some way it is challenging to reconcile all this with the Gentle Nazarene and the faith of humble fishermen.

The Vatican represents the enigma of the church and its founder. Its strength may yet be its weakness and its weakness may yet be its strength.

Day 66 ( afternoon) Fresh fruit and Spanish Steps

Some one once said that Italy is as old as it is new and as beautiful as it is ugly. This is a good description of the city of Rome. Later on Day 66 we explore the old and the modern city beginning with one of Rome’s finest ancient buildings, the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a huge round Roman temple to which was added a more modern 16th century, open dome. This completed the building’s transformation from sun worship to worship of the Son. From the outside the building is old and imposing – from the inside it is beautiful and engaging.

After leaving the Pantheon we spent the rest of the day purposefully wandering past many, many fountains and through the beautiful piazzas that are unique to this intriguing city. With our three-day metro ticket we were free to come and go. We continue to enjoy the flexibility of a good public transport system and the opportunity to walk and explore at our own pace.

Probably our favourite piazza in the whole of Rome is Campo de Fiori, which is primarily dedicated to a fantastic fruit and flower market. The market is a living oasis of bright colours and wonderful aromas. In one stall we discovered one of the secrets to Italian cooking. It was a stall dedicated to the spices which make up the pasta sauces of Italy which are loved by people all over the world; bolognese, amitracia, napoleon, carbonara etc. Nearby we watched with quiet wonder as two old men chatted as they sat next to their vegetable stall and stripped beans. In this piazza we loosened the restraints on our tight budget and bought cherries, rockmelon, pears and glace fruit. Despite the lack of a common language, we didn’t have any trouble explaining what we wanted and the vendor’s delight of a sale was matched by our joy of purchase.

At one end of the piazza was a fountain that for a couple of minutes became a canine swimming pool. Locals and visitors alike were amused when a small poodle ran confidently up to the beautiful fountain and jumped in for a quick swim. In a minute he was finished, he jumped down, shook himself and trotted away happily. At 35 degrees creativity was needed to survive the heat.

Just around the corner from the piazza we found a patisserie where we bought biscotti, and delicious almond cookies. We spent the princely sum of $6 and feasted like kings.

Later in the day we visited the famous Spanish Steps. These steps were a gift given to the city by the French but so named because they are near the Spanish Embassy. Like the Trevi Fountain, the steps are a landmark, where people of all ages gather to meet, chat and sun themselves on their wide expanse. As we spend time exploring Rome its mysteries and hidden charm reveal themselves to us at every turn.

Day 66 (morning) Rome wasn't built in a day

Probably Ancient Rome’s most famous building is the Colosseum. Entering this huge old stadium today was in some small way like entering into the life and excess of the Roman Empire.

For a building that we had seen so often in pictures there were many surprises in real life. Firstly it is huge. Historians guess that the stadium held between 60,000 and 80,000 people and the dimensions reminded us of Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.

Like modern stadiums the best seats in the Colosseum were for the politicians (the senators) and the business elite. Mid ranking people enjoyed the middle and the plebs literally got the wooden bleaches at the top. Yet to have been in this stadium it its heyday must have been quite a spectacle. Unlike today the price of seats in the Colosseum was outrageously cheap as events were normally staged for free, funded by politicians and emperors keen to satisfy the masses and in so doing further their own careers.

The sport too was a little more colourful than your average football match. Gladiators would fight not just for victory and a trophy, but literally to the death.

With the help of audio guides we learnt about the hunts and animal slaughter, which also took place. We learnt that bulls, bears and hippos and even alligators were bought into the Colosseum. At times thousands of animals were put to death for a weekends ‘entertainment’.

Finally, we were confronted by a cross, which is a reminder that the strange Jewish sect called Christians were also part of the ‘entertainment’ in this bloody theatre. Ironically it was after the decline of the mighty Empire that this once maligned minority (the Christians) took a centre stage in the history of Rome.

The Colosseum reveals some of the many layers of history in Rome’s colourful and complicated past.

Day 65 Rome and ruins

In many parts of Europe and the UK we have been impressed to come across glimpses or reminders of the once great Roman Empire. To be in Rome is another thing altogether. Rome is a modern noisy bustling contemporary city but the shadow of its former glory haunts a visitor at every turn.

On a rainy and muggy day we visited the historic remains of the showpiece of the Roman Republic the Palentino and the Roman Forum. To walk around the significant remains of Rome’s glory days is a huge visual reminder that all empires rise and fall. To think that in it’s hey day Rome boasted a population of 2 million only to see this drop to 20,000 reminds us of that old phrase; “ how the mighty have fallen”. One can only imagine what that sort of population decline did for property values! We passed the ruins of a round monument, which in its day was considered the centre of Rome. As Rome was considered the centre of the world this round edifice was therefore considered to be the centre of the world. Now it is just a harmless humble ruin and again we are reminded that “One era’s peacock, is another era’s feather duster”.

Today the ruins seem overrun not just by tourists but by something we struggle with, the ubiquitous tour guide. Everywhere we go in Rome we are offered a guided tour and told not only will we be entertained and educated but we will not have to stand in line for three hours. We try to avoid these guides and find them and their groups often a little hard to stomach. However we have discovered a tactic that seems to work.

Sometimes we stand close to a monument or ruin that a guide is describing to a group. We stare innocently at the ruin taking in just about as much commentary as we can cope with and our feet can stand. Then we move on while the poor sheep-like groups wait for their shepherd guides to move them on- often holding their trademark extended portable umbrellas in the air. By which time we are at the next highlight and listening to the commentary of the guide in front – and after hearing their wisdom we move on to the next group. The young might call this ‘guide surfing’.

In the after noon we visited the impressive Trevi Fountain made especially famous by the movies Roman Holiday and La Dolce Vita. No amount of tactics could save us from the touristic crush that greeted us at the very beautiful fountain. We decided to return to the fountain at another time in the hope that we might get within 30 metres of it. After all you can’t visit the Trevi Fountain without throwing a coin over your left shoulder…it’s one of the reasons to come to Rome. Isn’t it?

Rome is not the simplest of cities to understand or engage with. We are glad we chose to stay here for 6 days and look forward to unlocking more of Rome’s glorious past and fascinating present.

Day 64 When in Rome

When you think about it, there are many sayings that mention Rome. Probably the most famous is the saying “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” We were excited about getting to Rome and consistent with our trip’s philosophy we were keen, to not only see the sights, but experience a bit of what it is like to actually live in Rome. With quite a bit of research and planning we found and booked an apartment to rent. It was advertised as being in walking distance from the station and also to the major sights. Compared to hotels, the price was very reasonable and we were quite excited about staying in ‘Walter’s Studio’.

When we arrived there were a couple of surprises. Firstly we buzzed the doorbell and were ushered into the building by Walter himself. It seems that this 60 year old man, who lives alone in his studio apartment, is letting out his place for the first time – and he seems more nervous than us. Nonetheless he shows us around his place and then heads off for 6 days to his country retreat.

The second surprise was that when we went for a stroll around the neighbourhood later in the day we found that this part of Rome is not quite what we expected. It seemed that there was more Indian and Pakistani being spoken around us than Italian, and curry seemed to be more common than pizza. The streets are lined with cheap jewellery and sunglasses shops and we have a building supply store next door. Still this is modern Rome and, like most modern cities, it has a diverse ethnic mix.

Finally after unpacking we visited the local supermarket, which again was a real treat. Local pasta, cheese, coppa, ice cream, bread and baked pork filled our trolley. On the way back to our place we saw a sign outside a street side ristorante that really made us laugh–“Turistic Menu”. We are much happier when in Rome to do as the Romans do (rather than the Touristico’s).

Day 63 Art that continues to speak

Going to church has been difficult in Europe, as we have not found many English-speaking congregations. However, every time we visit a city or checked out an art gallery in Europe we are surrounded by Jesus, the Madonna, the Apostles and an ancient faith being proclaimed by long dead artists. Our last full day in Florence was a chance to wade into Florence’s deep well of artistic treasure.

We began the day at the Baptistry, a chapel attached the main cathedral. This building with its huge dome was built to remind the locals of the significance of baptism, a rite celebrating that in Christ they had passed from death to life. With artistic and gilded brilliance the interior, especially the dome and the exterior doors of the chapel tell story after story from the old book. Later we visited the main cathedral with its famous dome, which of course is even grander and more majestic.

Later in the morning we visited the Medici Chapels, the burial place of the famous Medici family who ruled Florence for many generations and were responsible for collecting much of Florence’s fine artistic treasure. Here we meet for the first time the artistic brilliance of Michelangelo with his huge marble sculptures, ‘Dusk’ and ‘Dawn’, and ‘Night’ and ‘Day’. We are not art experts by any means and to be honest we sometimes find the medieval religious art, which is so prevalent in these parts, rather overwhelming. However standing in front of these marble masterpieces was a moving experience

After lunch it was back to complete our day of art history. At Galleria del ‘Academia we were again exposed to hundreds of years of Florence’s artistic masterpieces but Michelangelo’s ‘David’ seems to be in another league. Arguably the most famous sculpture in the world and the reason many people come to Florence ‘David’ up close was magnificent. Two other artists had begun work on this particular block of marble only to give up as the marble was too flawed and too difficult to work on. We marvelled at a masterpiece created from a block of stone that was twice rejected by others.

Finally we ended the day at Galleria del Uffizi the largest gallery in Florence with over 2000 pieces on display. Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ and ‘Allegory of Spring’ as well as Michelangelo’s ‘Holy Family’ completed a day where even we could appreciate the mystery and brilliance of art and its ability to continue to speak powerfully through the centuries.

Day 62 Salami from Siena

Florence is famous for many things. For hundreds of years Florence has been a centre for leather goods and there is no shortage of markets, hawkers, back street shops and exclusive boutiques. We spent a lazy morning checking out the streets and the shops. We discovered a huge bookshop more wonderful and uniquely Italian than Borders with thankfully a large ‘Inglese’ section.

After a late lunch we decided to head out on the train to Siena for the afternoon. We arrived and found a bus into the old town centre, which is dominated by narrow streets and beautiful old buildings. We meandered through the streets without a map constantly being drawn down the hill. At one point we caught a glimpse of warm sunlight at the end of a darkish alley, we walked towards it and as we stepped out of the alley we found ourselves in the most appealing piazza in all of Italy. Not magnificent because of the over the top buildings, although they were lovely… but because of the wonderful warm and welcoming atmosphere of the place. We noticed that people were sitting on the pavement looking up at the clock tower seemingly waiting for something to happen. We too sat down and waited and enjoyed an afternoon tea of water and biscuits from our bag. We then noticed that many people were lying back on the warm pavement still looking up at the tower. So of course we too lay back on the pavement soaking up the sun and enjoying a view that has not changed for centuries. Nothing actually eventuated and we realised that lying on the ancient sloped square was a reward in itself. Later we read from a guidebook that the slope, the square and the sun has drawn locals and visitors to do the same thing for over 500 years. It is hard to comprehend a very different atmosphere in this same square when once a year it also hosts an annual horse race called The Palio. This famous, bizarre and reckless horse race has only one rule; you can’t pull on the reins of other horses.

On our way back to the station we passed a deli with a hogs head mounted on the door. No words can describe the smells of cheese, meats, olives and the rest that make up this wonderful shop. We purchased salami and cheese thinking it would make a nice breakfast for the next day.

We caught the train about 7.30pm from Siena and arrived back at Florence about 10pm. On our way home we found a risterante filled with locals and at about 10.30pm we shared a tasty pasta carbonara and a pizza with cheese and proscieutto.

We feel like we are ‘going native’ under the Tuscan sun!

Day 61- When reality exceeds expectation

When we arrived in Florence it is fair to say we had great expectations. After a 15 minute walk through the main part of Florence our first surprise was our hotel, the Hotel Dali. This small boutique and budget hotel really is a one off. Set just a few blocks back from the main square this ten room hotel took up just one floor of a seven storey residential building in old Florence. Our host Marcus was friendly and though the room was very basic it was nice and clean. We quickly settled into the heart of Florence and it took little time for Florence to settle into our hearts.

As is our custom we spent the first afternoon in Florence walking and getting acquainted with the layout of the city. Our first discovery was the famous Ponte Vecchio. The ancient bridge crosses the river and was originally lined with butcher shops until the all powerful Medici family had them replaced with goldsmiths in the 14th century and they still exist today as very classy jewellery shops. Still the commerce and tourists could not spoil the view through the arches, which framed the view to the hills of Tuscany like a Florentine artist’s masterpiece. After a stroll across the river we headed up a long staircase and found ourselves in Piazzale Michelangelo, which contains a huge copy of the statue of David. The view was sublime. But a friend in Sydney (thanks Juli) had told us to head further up the hill to the carpark of a church, we actually went further and arrived at the beautiful Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte where the view was even more wonderful. Florence’s famous skyline with the huge dome of the Cathedral, set against the setting sun provided us with an unforgettable view.

Disappointingly after this perfect afternoon something happened to us for the first (and we hope only) time on the trip, we got horribly lost. We seemed to walk around in circles for hours (it was probably only one hour) trying to find a gate through the old walls surrounding the city. We eventually found the gate and the way to our hotel. We headed out for dinner around 9.30pm – which is still early in Italy. Pasta and gnocchi completed a wonderful introduction to a city where reality exceeds expectation.

Day 60 Venice- a one off

Venice is just a 90-minute train trip from Verona and we approached it with mixed anticipation. Some had advised us that Venice was the most unique and romantic city we would ever visit. Some insisted that we should not miss the special opportunity of a gondola ride. Others had warned us that it is a sad, smelly, sinking city that is dying under the weight of the tourist throng. We were also warned that everyone gets lost in Venice. We arrived in Venice not at all sure what to expect.
Firstly Venice is strange and yet wonderful. Built on a series of islands, by a peace-loving group of people who fled persecution, Venice is one of those great accidents of history. It seemed unreal to see a city where the roads are canals and boats dominate rather than cars. We walked through narrow lanes and alleyways and over numerous bridges for about 45 minutes, as we headed from the station to St Marks Square. In spite of the poor signage we didn’t get lost and enjoyed walking past markets, shops and people just going about their daily business. However arriving at St Marks and the famous square of the same name was an assault to our senses as it was packed with thousands of noisy, camera clicking, tour group following tourists. We escaped almost immediately onto a local ferry and headed out of town to visit some of the other islands. Later in the day we returned and enjoyed a long walk through ‘suburban’ Venice where we could see how the locals coped with everyday issues like drying the clothes and kids playgrounds where there is no grass, just pavers and aerial space. Later in the afternoon we again confronted the slightly less crowded tourist centre and checked out the amazing old church and square.

We ended our day with another ferry ride this time we travelled the entire length of the Grand Canal passing gondolas, taxis, private launches and garbage barges. We passed on a gondola ride not because we are cheapskates, but for us it felt a bit too much like a theme park ride.

So… is Venice the perfect romantic destination or just a very old version of a horrible modern phenomenon- a canal development? Well we experienced both. We came away enriched by the visit and yet glad to be returning to dry land and less tourists in Verona.

Day 59 Where for art thou

After leaving Geneva our plan was quite simple, to head east to the unique and exotic city of Venice. However there was a problem. After quite a bit of research we decided that staying in Venice was simply not going to fit our budget. So we decided to find somewhere close by and just do a day trip to Venice by train. After quite a bit more research and the consideration of two or three possible candidates we settled on Verona as our alternative venue to Venice, the legendary city that inspired Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette.

Upon arrival we discovered that Verona was a great choice. Armed with our Verona Card, the best value three day pass we have come across in any city, we were ready for free transport and free entry into many of the sites and places of interest in this old Roman town. To begin with we visited the first century arena, second only in size to the Colosseum. Our only disappointment in visiting this extraordinary site was that we realised that we had arrived two weeks too early for the Opera Season, which has been staged in this restored ancient venue for over 80 years.

We then visited the home and balcony of Juliette, where Romeo called out to his beloved, “What light from yonder window breaks….” – you know the rest! We left the crowds outside Juliette’s house taking ‘that picture’ in front of her statue touching an intimate part of her body in the vain hope of finding a new lover. This was yet another one of those bizarre tourist myth’s, that seem to exist in every city. After a lovely quiet meander through some exquisite streets and piazzas, we continued our tradition of climbing the highest peak, and decided to tackle an ancient 85 metre bell tower but this time with the aid of a new feature…a lift. We love the perspective gained by looking down on a city as we try to understand its character and geography.

Later in the afternoon we visited the building next door to where we were staying. Castlevecchio is a castle that had once housed princes in the 4th century and had been used and remodelled through the centuries until Napoleon used it as an army barracks. Sadly the Nazis blew up its original stone bridge as they withdrew in 1945. Verona’s layers of history were revealed in the history of this castle, which is now used as an art gallery. At twilight we walked across the restored bridge to visit more Roman forts and ruins

We felt the need to apologise to Verona for only visiting because we couldn’t afford Venice. We were actually very glad that we had not missed this ancient town known as ‘Little Rome’.

Day 58 Cash Management

On a trip that allows us to visit or pass through 15 countries – often multiple times, we are very fortunate that so many countries have adopted the EU’s common currency the Euro. Despite this, so far we have had to deal with the following currencies: Peruvian Solas, Bolivian Bolivianos, US Dollars, UK Pounds, Danish Krona, EU Euros, Polish Zloty, Czech Crowns, back to Euros, Swiss Francs and back to Euros. Before our trip ends we will again use UK pounds, then Hong Kong Dollars before finally reverting back to our colourful and plastic Aussie Dollars.

On our first day in Lima, Peru we experienced the moneychangers on the streets, with their huge wads of cash. In Europe the moneychangers have offices with glass grills but the system of commissions leaves the tourist much the poorer if you ever have to convert money. So the currency plan of this trip is simple, get out as much cash from ATMs in a certain currency as we think we will need and try really hard not to underestimate (or we have to get more out) or overestimate and then have to convert money at the end of our stay and in the process lose a packet. Keeping on top of exchange rates and coins (they all look alike) is also a challenge.

Our system has worked quite well until we noticed the ridiculous lengths we have stooped to as we left Geneva, Switzerland on Day 58 bound for Verona, Italy. We judged our Swiss francs quite well and there was just enough left over to buy some lunch (a couple of frankfurts encased in a croissant – let’s call it a Swiss sausage roll). That left us with only a few coins. We were pleased when we saw a Toblerone for Sfr2.50 (our favourite Swiss chocolate) on the shelf so we dived into our remaining change thinking that it would just about exhaust our Swiss coins (all notes had already gone) and we would leave with yummy chocolate and no coins. Perfect!

Well almost. After frantically searching through all our pockets we had only Sfr 2.45 in coins. We were so disappointed that we walked up and down through the railway station (as we had 30 minutes to kill) looking for a 5-cent (at least we think they are cents) Swiss piece on the ground. Two middle-aged, middle-class educated back packers walking up and down in a railway station looking on the ground for 5 cents must have been quite a sight. After a while we realised exactly what we were doing. We had plenty of money in the bank - we could have got more out- but that would have messed up the system. Sadly we never found 5c but we did buy a smaller Toblerone for Sfr 1.45, which of course left us with one franc left over.

Later in the day we arrived at Verona ready to resume travels in Italy – thank goodness we are back to Euros!

Day 57 A Mountain top experience

When you think of Switzerland you immediately think of mountains…the type of mountains we just don’t have in Australia…tall, rugged, snow capped mountains. So it was the mountains that we were keen to explore during our stay in Switzerland. We had read that you can actually take a train from Interlaken to the top of one of Europe’s highest mountains so on day 57 we set out to find out if that was true.

Many things conspired against this happening. Firstly due to the Euro 2008 football we had real trouble getting accommodation anywhere in Switzerland, which is why we ended up in Geneva, a city which is right on the western border with France. Secondly we knew it was pointless to go to all the effort of getting there if bad weather (which is quite common) meant little or no visibility.

In spite of this we set out from our base in Geneva at about 6.50 am and travelled half way across the country to arrive at Interlaken at about 9.30am. Fortunately we were able to buy tickets and head straight up into the Alps. Even more fortunately the sun shone brightly. After a short train ride through the kind of valley you imagined Heidi living in we changed to a narrow-gauge cog train. A cog train is so named because the track is so steep that a cog system works almost like an extra wheel to keep the train from sliding backwards down the track. After another hour long, slow, uphill journey we passed the tree line and changed to a third train (actually our 5th for the day), which ascended the last part of the trip mostly through a tunnel directly up inside the mountain…hard to believe but absolutely true! We arrived at Jungfrau, 3600metres above sea level, at the highest railway station in Europe. At various places along the tunnel we stopped and were able to take photos from viewing points that had been blasted into the side of the mountain where we were able to look out on a world of snow and ice.

At the top after enduring a fascinating and freezing ice cave we entered the multi-level restaurant, bar and tourist centre. This was a bit of a maze and it took us a while to find our way outside and on to a snowy slope on top of the mountain. It was cold but the sun shone brightly and the glare was extreme. A festive atmosphere in which people of all ages were frolicking in the snow was made even better when it actually began to snow.

Later we found another outdoor area where people enjoyed rides, a small ski slope, a flying fox, toboggan and helicopter rides. We noticed a trail of people walking up a slope to another hut and decided to follow them, but after about 40 minutes of trudging though snow in what began to feel like high temperatures (it was only 4 degrees but it felt like 35) we gave up and headed back for a very overdue lunch. By this time it was nearly 3.00pm

We began out descent at about 3.45pm and after another 5 train changes we arrived back at Geneva at about 9pm. Another huge, huge day made possible by our wonderful Eurail pass. We had enjoyed great weather and a natural world more beautiful than any human design.

By the way you may not know that there has been a third member of the Born to Run 2008 travelling team. Paddington Bear has been travelling with us and making regular reports back to Wendy’s Year 1 class. We have snapped him at various places and emailed his photo and report back to school. Would you believe it…on top of Jungfrau our Paddington met up with another Paddington on a very similar trip – he was pretty excited and had a great time playing in the snow with his new found friend!

Day 56 Calvin, C of E and Chicken

Geneva really is a beautiful city. What’s more on a sleepy Sunday morning after the excitement of the commencement of Euro 2008 we found the city to be very quiet and peaceful. We began our day with a visit to the local Anglican (English Speaking) church. After being outsiders peering in, on some of the most enormous and magnificent cathedrals around the world, it was nice to sit in a normal service and to just be part of the congregation. The people seemed friendly and warm and the curate in charge reminded us a little of the Vicar of Dibley

Geneva is famous for many things but for some the city remains synonymous with one name – John Calvin. Calvin the pastor, academic, theologian and statesman was in many ways the intellectual heart and mind of the reformation. It was Calvin who mentored John Knox who then went on to take the reformed faith to Scotland. So, for a Presbyterian Minister, a visit to Geneva had to include a visit to the old town of Geneva, which is dominated by the church where Calvin preached. Not surprisingly it was an impressive, if not very plain, building. The reformation museum next door was less impressive from the outside, as you could stand if front of a life sized John Calvin cardboard cut-out and place your face in the gap to have the “ This is me looking like John Calvin” photo. Yuk!

To be honest the most interesting part of the visit was climbing the 19th century bell tower to see and hear an incredible Carillon and look out over Geneva’s cityscape and beautiful lake. We have discovered that in most places climbing the tower, or whatever happens to be the highest point, is always worth the view.

With advice from the net (Where to eat in Geneva?) we were back in the old town for dinner at a French Café/Restaurant. We read that the fried chicken was good. What was unusual was the fact that they only had one dish on the menu – half a fried chicken and potato wedges. We confounded the waitress a little when we broke tradition and instead of ordering two fried chickens and wedges – we ordered one and salad. We discovered that when a restaurant has a dish that is so good, you probably only need one dish on the menu. We might add that it was packed with students and other fellow lovers of budget food.

We ended the day with a long twilight stroll around the lake, past roller bladders, bike riders, tourists, local families out enjoying an after dinner walk, boats, the famous Jet d’Eau (which shoots the water an incredible 140m into the air), private Swiss banks and flashy restaurants.

The Church of England, Calvin and fried chicken made for a very pleasant Sunday in Geneva.

Day 55 Which country are we in?

One of our plans for this trip was to sometimes avoid the quickest way to our destination and to occasionally choose the slower ‘scenic’ route. After experiencing lots of difficulties last week with our well-planned train connections, this week we decided to try a new tactic … little planning but high hopes. Armed only with a map, a Eurail pass and a tentative plan A, (B, C and D were there for back up) we realised before we had even started that this was going to be a day with a degree of difficulty of 9.9.

We began at 6.30 am with a brisk 1.5 km walk to the ferry which may not sound very far, but when you are carrying 13-15 kg on your back and a few more in your daypack it’s quite far enough. The ferry arrived in Como at 7.27am and we knew it would be tight to get the 7.43am train from the station, which was still another 1 km walk mostly up hill from the ferry wharf. We proudly, if not rather exhaustedly, arrived with about 3 minutes to spare only to realise that the train was late and did not actually come until 8.03am.

We left Como (Italy) at 8.03am and arrived at Bellinzona (Switzerland) at 9.00am where we changed trains and left Bellinzona at 9.09am to arrive at Locarno at 9.40am. At Locarno we had an hour or so to kill so we sat beside the exquisite Lake Maggiore. At 10.50am we stepped onto a narrow gauge scenic train known as the F.A.R.T. train (we are not sure why). After chatting with an 86 year old ex WW2 German soldier who tried to convince us to retire as early as possible (who could argue) three small train carriages then took us over the mountains and back into Italy arriving at Domodossola at 12.35pm. We again changed platforms and headed off on an Intercity train via Brigg (Switzerland) arriving in Speiz at 2pm. Again we changed to the other side of the platform and at 2.09pm caught a regional train to Zweisimmen, arriving at 2.56pm. Once again we changed platforms and at 3.05pm we boarded another narrow gauge train known as the Golden Pass, which continued to take us over the Swiss/Italian Alps. We passed by beautiful green hills, pine forests and brown timber chalets which all had the same green shutters, window boxes with geraniums and lacy curtains – wow we were in the Swiss Alps! We passed by humble villages and an exclusive winter ski resort called Gstaad where Liz Taylor and David Niven both own chalets. After an incredible picture postcard descent winding down about 2000 metres we arrived at 5.16pm at the glorious town of Montreux on Lake Geneva . From there we changed to catch the Intercity Express, which departed at 5.19pm and arrived at Geneva at 6.30pm. From there it was (thankfully) just a short walk to our hotel.

Our journey took almost exactly 12 hours door-to-door and included 7 trains, 6 changes, 1 ferry, and 2 long walks with packs. After starting in Italy, then going to Switzerland then back to Italy and then finally back to Switzerland we arrived in Geneva (a city greatly influenced by its next door neighbour, France). At the station we noticed that we were surrounded by hundreds of colourful and noisy football fans, who did not look or sound Swiss, Italian or French. After some confusion wondering what country we were in we soon discovered that the second match of Euro 2008 was scheduled for that night at 8.30pm in Geneva. The teams involve were Turkey and Portugal. You can’t help loving Europe!

Day 54 From James Bond to Maxwell Smart

Our last day in Como was really a holiday. Can life get much richer than breakfast in bed in your own studio apartment as you look out on one of the world’s most beautiful lakes? We had just about run out of food so midmorning we meandered down to the local shops in the neighbouring village of Laglio.

On the way we again passed the house (or should we say campus) that we suspected belonged to George Clooney. As we got there we were thrilled to see a car about to leave and what happened next could have been from a James Bond movie. Firstly the chain in front of the outer gate fell to the ground and into a cavity. Then the outer steel gate with spikes on the top slowly tracked right across a path to reveal matching inner steel spiked gates. Then the inner gates swung inwards and out came a car. We watched as the car came forward… but unfortunately the occupant was not George. After the car left, the gates closed in reverse order; firstly the inner gate swung shut, then the outer gate tracked left and finally the chain that had dropped into a cavity sprung up, taut once again in front of the two matching gates. This time it reminded us of Maxwell Smart.

After all this one thing still troubled us; were we really sure this was George Clooney’s house? We had seen it on the Internet but doubts remained in our minds. We walked on past the gates where we noticed some mail, a package, had been stuffed into another part of the fence. If we had not personally experienced the Italian postal service we might have doubted that mail would be left just stuffed into the fence, but sure enough there it was. We know it’s embarrassing but we looked! The parcel was a couple of CDs mailed from the States. And there upside down, was the clearly scrawled name: George Clooney. (if you don’t believe us click on the photo on Day 52– then either stand on your head or turn your laptop upside down- see!)

Our day and time in Como ended with some more exploring of local villages, a quick trip to Como where Richard had a haircut (actually that story is worthy of another blog) and we returned for dinner at our local risterante.

The ravioli and gnocchi were sensational. The polenta was ordinary and the local fish from the lake was worse than any tinned sardine. Nothing however could spoil our wonderful week at Curate Urio, Como ( just next door to Laglio, where… did we mention it? …George Clooney lives!)

Day 53 Walking back

In about 1913, a young Italian man called Guerinno left his small farming village of Tovo, near the railway town of Tirano, in a deep valley, which led up into the Italian Alps. When he set out he began the adventure of his life. That adventure included a trip to Australia, serving with the Australians at the western front in WW1, trying to discover gold in California, returning to Italy to find a wife, to be married and to have a daughter, then eventually returning to Australia to become a miner in Broken Hill. Later he would bring his wife and daughter to Australia, and then have an Australian born son. Sadly Guerinno died in an accident at an early age on his orchard in Eastwood, NSW. The son, known as John, who died in 2006, was Richard’s father. So Tovo was always going to be a place we wanted to explore on Borntorun 2008.

On the day that we decided to go we had the worst weather in terms of rain since our trip began. The journey took about 4.5 hours; a ferry to Como, a train to Milan, another train to Tirano and finally a local bus to the small village of Tovo di St Agata. What we discovered was very special! The town as we expected, was very small. We enjoyed a cappuccino at the only café. There was a pub, a school and not much else. The houses were quaint, well loved and seemed to be rich in history. Many were surrounded by magnificent vegetable gardens. The church stood at the centre of the village (interestingly with a poster on the door advertising Sydney’s World Catholic Youth Day Celebrations). The valley, though hidden by clouds, was picturesque. Village after village climbed up the valley each with a church and belltower at the centre. We loved standing on a hill outside the village and listening to the bells ring out, down the valley, at midday. The river, fed by the snowmelt from the Alps flowed swiftly and powerfully through the valley where grapes and apples grew like weeds.

As the rain tumbled down we found a newish looking public noticeboard, which displayed a map of local walks and bike rides. We saw that there was a public walkway from Tovo back to Tirano, we guessed the distance to be about 8kms. Despite the persistent downpour we looked at each other and said, “Let’s do it!”.
We found the beginning of the track quite easily and after enjoying a wide asphalt path for a couple of kilometres we came to a road barricade, which we realised, meant that the track was not finished. Unperturbed we followed a foot worn track around the roadblock, which led us along the very edge of the raging mountain stream. After crossing a bridge, the track got narrower and narrower until the track was barely wide enough for a goat. All of a sudden our greatest fears were realised when the track literally came to a dead end – the river! We backtracked a little – found a different path and continued on past a huge and impressive dam to finally arrive at the township of Tirano. We were sure that we had walked more than 8 kms, and even though the whole journey had been in the pouring rain our Gortex jackets had kept out upper bodies dry. We arrived at the station just in time to catch the train home.

We wondered how Geurinno had travelled from Tovo to Tirano when he left on the train bound for Genova at the beginning of last century. In the period before buses maybe he too had walked along a track beside the river from his village. Years later, before he was married, his son John had visited Tovo as well. Maybe he also had walked the path his father had trod.

When you spend your life explaining a weird sounding surname like Quadrio it was comforting to see the name in print on signs around the area as if it was as normal as Smith or Jones.

Day 52 Failing the Jim Roger's test

To keep our backpacks as light as possible we had planned to mail a few things home from time to time - books we had finished, things we had bought, clothes we were not wearing etc. Jim Rogers in his second travel book, Adventure Capitalist comments that a good test to see if a countries systems are in good shape is to mail a parcel home. If this is a simple process then maybe it is a well-run efficient country. If it’s difficult it could be a bad sign. Now to be honest some weeks ago we sent home a parcel from New York and that was more than a little complicated. But nothing could have prepared us for the process involved in sending home a 2.5kg parcel from Como, Italy.

The day before we had stopped at the post office to buy two padded envelopes. We thought that it would be a simple transaction but after 10 minutes we worked out which of 4 different tickets to get from the machine, to put us in the correct queue, and we then waited another 10 minutes for our turn to buy them. When our time arrived we paid the lady who went to another counter on the other side of the room (with our 3 Euro) opened another drawer and put the money in there – it was all a bit odd.

So on Day 52 we arrived back at the post office prepared to actually send our parcels. After getting a ticket we waited about 15 minutes to be served. During this time we filled our two very difficult customs forms, which we guessed would go on the parcels. Then the fun really began. It seemed that sending things back to Australia was not going to be easy. Three post office workers, including one we guessed was the boss started an animated conversation in Italian with lots of hand movements.

The first problem was that the form needed an Italian ID number – which we did not have. More animated discussion followed and the decision was finally made to fill out an alternative longer and more complicated form. They then decided that we would be better off sending one rather than two packages- so we had to go to another counter to buy a box (which was so large we could have sent home half of our belongings). This was getting out of hand!

Once again they changed their minds and the boss lady started filling out the first form for us – with mutual difficulties because of language. Then they decided that they needed to see our passports (which were back at our accommodation). We suggested a driver’s license, which they photocopied but decided it was not good enough. Finally Richard found a photocopy of our passports in his wallet, which they photocopied, and on to which they wrote all of the details from the complicated form.

Things went from bad to worse when they observed that the sender’s phone number on the form was RQ’s mobile number and that was definitely not good enough. “Hotel Number – Hotel Number” we understood in broken Ital-English. “No Hotel – apartment – no number”. More confusion and lots more hand waving. Finally they agreed to put the phone number of the post office on the form. Then they became confused about the identity of the person we were sending the parcel to – a Miss Hannah Quadrio ( our 19 year old daughter at home) . Richard thrilled them with his pathetic Italian by saying “Bambino”. This sent them into another panic as they thought we were sending the parcel to a child. With the help of the three postal workers we settled on some version of “ Adulti”

Finally we got close to the end of the process when the next shock came - the price, 50 euro ($80 AUD). At this point it would have been cheaper to burn the excess gear and replace it when we got home. But more trouble was coming. They only accepted cash and we only had 45 Euro on us. More shouting followed (later we discovered an ATM ten metres away) which resulted in another search of the wallet and the finding of a stray 10 Euro note. (Thank God!) But it was not over yet… they began shouting again and yet another form was produced this time asking for a declaration of the value of the goods.

After nearly 80 minutes someone finally shouted “Finito”. We walked out of the post office mentally exhausted and considerably poorer with little hope that we would ever see the parcel again. Then two other customers came running out of the post office towards us waving hands and saying something in Italian that led us to believe we needed to go back.

We had forgotten our receipt!

Day 51 The things people grad hold of

Milan is about an hour from Como and is regarded as the finance capital of Italy and indeed the fashion capital of the world. With a reputation like that we decided it was worth a visit. After a 35 minute ferry ride up Lake Como, a 45 minute intercity train trip and then a 6 minute local train ride we arrived at the Piazza del Duomo in the centre of Milan. We spent the day looking at the sights and checking out the shops.

Sadly we missed out on seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper, as you had to book well in advance or pay an outrageous tour fee to see the great masterpiece. We did however visit the famous Duomo Cathedral. This building is the largest gothic cathedral in Europe. It was started in 1386 and took over 600 years to build. It has 135 spires, 155 gargoyles and 3400 statues. It was, to say the least, impressive. To be honest we are not the greatest fans of this sort of building but one of the doors on the outside caused us the greatest interest.

The front doors which are probably 10 metres wide and 15 metres high are decorated with a huge bronze sculpture This beautiful sculpture vividly portrays story after story from the life and passion of Jesus. It was not surprising that tourists would want to pose in front of the door, as they pose in front of everything else in Europe. However what really surprised us was that most tourists wanted to pose while actually holding part the sculpture. It was as if they were grabbing hold of God and saying “Look Mum here I am holding onto the God statue at the church!” In fact the part that most people held was a different colour from the rest of the sculpture as the constant rubbing of thousands of hands had polished the bronze to a shiny finish. What was really odd, was the part of the sculpture that the crowds grabbed was a picture of Jesus being viciously whipped by a Roman guard.
It seemed to us that it was an obvious metaphor of all that goes wrong in the world. So easily we grab the crass, the cheap, the foolish or the popular often completely unaware that we have unwittingly grabbed hold of the ‘evil one’s’ leg.

Day 50 Skipping stones like George

On Day 50 we headed north up the lake on a local ferry to the famous tourist town of Belaggio. On the 90 minute scenic journey we passed many beautiful villages and a number of completely over the top mansions. One of the grandest was the new holiday home of Richard Branson where he is rumoured to have spent 16 million Euro. We wondered which of these huge mansions belonged to Lake Como’s most famous resident George Clooney. We arrived in Belaggio and to be honest were a little disappointed by what we firstly encountered. Unlike the part of the lake where we are staying, where the locals nonchalantly fish off a local wall, Bellagio is a tourist Mecca filled with international hotels and tourist shops. Again we realised that the tourist hubs have less appeal to us than the sounds and smells of local communities.

We climbed up over the hill, away from the crowds and discovered a charming little boat ramp between two high walls that gave us our own private access to the lake. Richard followed his regular custom of trying to regain his youth by skipping stones across the glassy surface of the lake.

Later in the day, after checking emails, we discovered that George’s house is nowhere near the tourist haven of Bellagio but is actually in the village of Laglio, which is next door to Curate Urio and just a hundred metres from where we are staying. We had passed this house on several occasions during our late afternoon walks and had wondered about its tight security, high walls, dense peripheral vegetation, steel gates and electronic monitoring. Ironically fortune and fame seems to deliver less freedom than we are experiencing as budget backpackers who have to do their washing every night in the bathroom basin.

And you will never guess what we also saw on a website - a picture of George Clooney also skipping stones on the lake.

Day 49 A holiday on an adventure

If you browse the travel section at a bookshop you will discover the phrase ‘adventure holidays’. Normally this is a term that is confined to the sort of travel you can have in your twenties which often includes activities like white water rafting and bungy jumping. However we are of the view that travelling for all the ages can be full of adventure. A few years ago some good friends of ours, made a suggestion to us that we would describe not as an adventure holiday, but as a holiday on an adventure. Let us explain.

Whilst travelling for 13 weeks the routine of packing up and moving every few days can become exhausting, so we had the idea to have a ‘holiday’ during our long adventure. This week we are staying in a studio apartment overlooking Lake Como in Northern Italy where we will, to some extent, relax and take it easy. However the reality often doesn’t match the theory, and even on a restful holiday we will no doubt have lots of adventures, but the idea of having ‘our own place’ for a whole week is quite enticing.

So on Day 49, the first day of our ‘holiday’, we enjoyed a sleep-in as we began to absorb the sights, sounds and feel of this beautiful place. It is almost impossible to describe the gentle sound of the water lapping at the edge of the lake just below our window, or the coolness of the light breeze as it drifts in through the open French doors or the melodious sound of the church bells as they ring out from one village to another across the lake. The lake made famous by many James Bond movies is much quieter and more peaceful than we had imagined.

Later in the morning we walked down the road for about 1.5 km to a wharf where we boarded our chauffeured launch for the week (known better as the local ferry) and headed for the township of Como to buy some supplies. Shopping in non-English speaking countries continues to be an interesting challenge. We bought some gnocchi in a local shop and nearly ended up with 4 kilos instead of 400 grams. We bought wonderful local ham, fresh ravioli, cheese, cold sliced roast beef and our favourite, fresh parmisan cheese. After the usual search we eventually found ‘normal’ fresh milk and healthy muesli. After spending about 40 Euros on supplies we were just about set up for the whole week. We may not even