X'ian

Random Highlights Our chance meeting a couple in a somewhat deserted street looking for a place to watch the final world cup game was great as we would not have seen the game otherwise. Ended up going to their hotel room to watch it along with another stray Japanese guy.

Terracotta soldiers – amazing but surprisingly we were a little underwhelmed. I think it’s because you know what you are going to see before hand and there are so many photos of it that we have already seen. Having said that it was incredible and if you thought about the time they were built and the vastness of it all it is amazing.

We luckily chanced on a couple of drumming performances and also a whip and juggling one. They were very cool – colour and vibrancy in an otherwise drab setting.

The market places and street food scene was worth the time. It was good to wander through market areas without being hassled to buy things. At some places we even had to call the sellers to us!

Overall a very grey city with gray buildings and sky. Pretty enough once it was a bit darker as the lights bring colour and warmth to the city. There were lots of trees and gardens. The gardened areas were consisted of beautifully arranged plants providing some colour – they were all still in their black polythene planter bags so very moveable.

Riva and around

Our final resting place before returning home. The signs were not auspicious, with a strike on all transport (trains, buses, ferries) which meant we had to overnight at the southern end of Lake Garda. However, we made it fine the next day and have had a great stay.


Riva is a bit cooler and sits in an amazing setting at the head of the lake, pretty much surrounded by huge mountains. The town is a mix of medieval streets, an old tower, some roman ruins but also a lot of buildings constructed when the Austro-Hungarian aristocrats made Riva one of their places of choice during the summer. So, lots of grand old buildings, a lovely waterfront and so on.







The idea was that we would rest up here b4 returning home, but we’ve been pretty active: some big walks along the lake cliffs (stunning!) and other spots around the lake and up the valleys (waterfall trip photo); a day trip on the ferry to a medieval town called Malcesine with its windy streets and great castle; and (best of all) a day trip up to the Dolomites.




Riva seems to be a bit of a magnet for sporty types – LOTS of mountain bikers in tight pants (naff!), serious walkers with their sticks (also naff!) and, lots of watersports – windsurfers, yachties and so so. Also lots of families here doing their thing. It all gives the place a bit of energy and a nice vibe to be had.













Dolomites
On a bus and up we go. Dolomites simply stunning, worth coming to Italy just for this. Huge, huge mountains but also very distinctively different from rest of European (and NZ) alps. The crowning glory was arriving at the Pordoi pass and then getting on a cable car up to 3000 metres for a 360 view. Photos don’t do it justice, but you get the idea. (Can you see the road in the green distance of the photo? - 27 switch-back corners to get there!)













This part of Italy is very heavily influenced by Austria – it’s German speaking and quite resistant to ‘Italianisation’. Everything here was very different – houses, food, sensibilities etc. Lovely.


And, in the End…
You’ll have noticed that our blog is remarkably free of gratuitious comment and pronounciations about national characteristics. However, now that we are at the end of the trip, here are our thoughts:

Italians seem to know how to enjoy life; friendly, good-humoured, touchy-feely, with very positive responses to our pathetic attempts to speak Italian. Life is lived on the streets, people know how to live in cities rather than trying to escape them to the suburbs.

However, there is also poverty here – both real and imagined. It is very common to be eating at a restaurant and be approached for money; there are always people in the towns with a hat or tin on the ground begging. The edges of cities (not where tourists usually go, but occasionally you see) are often full of graffiti-laden apartment blocks where the quality of life is nothing special. We are very aware of our privileged lifestyle in terms of having the money and time to travel. Sometimes we find ourselves walking through parts of places which haven’t been tarted up for tourist dollars, and the view is much less attractive and much more real for it.

Also as a couple, it can often be easy just to keep your own company. Conversations with Italians about life have generally been few and far between. [We especially enjoyed talking with Andrea in Trieste, Ruth and Vera in Sam Gimignano, our hosts and the restaurant dude in Novacco, an old man in Moena, Sandra our Dolomites tour guide and Anna our Plitvice Lakes guide and, of course, various travelling companions who you intersect with for brief moments]. There are big political and cultural divisions in the country (Berluscuoni, the Prime Minister, polarizes people hugely) but in a way it all seems to not matter too much and life seems to go on as always. People here must have an incredible sense of the past and how it shapes their present – we do wonder if sometimes it makes it hard to do things differently.

Yes, we’ve been in a bubble as travelers, but it’s been superb! It has been SO easy to get around here – very efficient transport (when not on strike), easy to understand signage. Accommodation has been excellent. No tragedies there either.

The price of food and alcohol is disgraceful. Wine is ridiculously cheap, restaurant food is ridiculously expensive. In the end, it all balances out, and we’ve eaten and drunk pretty well. There’s generally been an immediate understanding of Mary’s dietary needs.

And, and, and, we’ve had a really positive reaction to being from New Zealand. Several people have said to us – “Aah, our favourite country, can we swap passports!” Hehe…

This is an amazing country for things to see and do. Huge regional variations and very much a regional mentality as well. Anywhere we have been there has been a lot of see and do and it has been easy to see and do it. For attractions per square kilometer we doubt there is another place like it on the planet (although if you live in Europe and are used to this kind of stuff, you might have another opinion). This has been a fantastic holiday – we both agree, our best ever!

Next posting will be a series of top 3s:
Crazy Moments
Best buildings
Best places to go to
Best activities
Biggest surprises
Best irritations
Most memorable meals

Venice

What a feats (or was it feast) for the eyes! Incredible place, like the whole place is a living museum (cliché, yes, but true). Easy to get lost, and lots of fun as well. After 3 days here we’re starting to get an idea of how to get around.

The whole place feels like some great jigsaw of churches, bridges, palaces and canals (Mary, as our map-reader and guide took us on a couple of detours but nothing that couldn’t be rectified!) Of course, all the above loaded with peoples.



We timed our arrival for the huge and prestigious biennale art festival and have visited quite a few of them, including NZ’s (a big red grand piano with maori carvings all over it and two other black pianos with humungus black bulls sitting on them – pretty cool, actually. Artist is Michael Parekowhai). Photo shows another (I think Ukrainian artist’s) installation inside a church. We were impressed! (this photo doesn't do it justice!)




St Mark’s Square, Doges Palace, numerous churches, palaces, museums and piazzas have been visited and duly committed to memory (many have been visited more than once, usually by accident) and we leave pretty tired out, but that was kind of the idea. For David, this has been one of the most unique places on the trip.



Tomorrow we leave for our final destination – Riva del Garda, where we stay for a week, mixing up some serious walking with (hopefully) lots of rest.

Novacco

Birmingham back to Italy after 5 days – this time in a village with a population of 16! We stayed for 4 days in a house built around 1300 (photo) – a millers house. Restored, thankfully, and full of the owners STUFF. Very, very slow, lazy days spent reading, as well as some hard out days cycling to places such as Aquilea (photo) with its church and amazing mosaics and Palmanova with its 8-sided town plan and walls etc. we’re not the world’s greatest cyclists, but if we wanted to eat we had to ride, as they say (well, they do now).

Birmingham

Back to Italy briefly (Trieste photo) and from there a flight to Birmingham for a blind conference. Managed a canal tour (in preparation for Venice) and some superb Indian curries (much missed on this trip). The potato cart reminded us of some person we knows idea of making money from one herself.




The conference was more of a trade fair, so plenty of opportunity to look at and try out some of the adaptive technology around –some that I had never heard of. Loved a little Braille notetaker, basically a mini laptop that Braille users would use and ¼ of the size of a laptop. Met a number of people too who were suppliers of the equipment. We enjoyed socializing with English speaking people again for a couple of nights.



We had a game of table tennis while we were there (not us in the pic), as there was a push activity thing on and something like 500 table-tennis tables (my figure could be well out!)with bats and balls all over the place so that people could just have a hit - so we did!! World champs for us next year!!

Cres

Biggest island in Croatia but no people. Well, hardly any. Except the hordes who come for the stony nudie beaches and the yachties for the crystal water etc. The town itself was super-cute: coloured buildings and a sheltered inner harbour/wharf, lots of restaurants etc.




Did a lot of walking out of the town and around the harbour, admiring the stone walls and olive groves, and the peace and quiet, fresh sea air and clear blue sky. Managed to sample the odd vino, salami etc. On the last day a real treat – Cres Island specialty of free-range lamb, cooked with rosemary and garlic, said to have a very special flavor. Sadly, flavor lost due to texture, which resembled new boots. Leather ones. Sigh…




We’re there to see Kim, who is in another village (Beli) an hour away on hill (photo) where she is rescuing a rare species of (non-human) vulture. We spent a day there waiting for the birds to feed, which they decided to do in privacy ¼ an hour after we had left (5 hours after the food had been put out for them. However we did go with Kim to monitor some young griffons on the cliffs near the eco centre where she was working and saw one in its natural habitat.

















One of the highlights was a concert in a (nearly) deserted village called Lubenice in the evening – brass band with soprano (go figure!). Was good, and opened the Cres summer festival (photo).

Plitvice lakes

Well we did one of those things we said we weren’t going to do, however it was the only way we were going to see these amazing lakes – so off on a tour we went. Only 8 people in the group so that was OK – couldn’t have done one of those big bus loads!






The lakes were beautiful, bit like being back in NZ nature only these were like a whole lot of special scenes in one area. The guide was good and took us to some great viewing areas and into some caves – good old limestone- and on the less busy tracks though that wasn’t that always possible. Loved the waterfalls (big and small), greenery and colours of the different lakes. All in all a wonderful day despite being with a tour group.

Zadar, Croatia

We liked this place. We had a few quieter days here, a quieter place even in the old city which is where the tourists go. Just wandered around and took it all in. Heaps of coffee and bar places along the streets of all sizes – Mary decided the small round tables indicated drinks sold only and not food.



The stones in the streets were noticeably shiny as if polished. We checked out the ruins and a couple of the churches but took it pretty slow.





It was nice to be near the sea and the sea organ was amazing. We sat and watched the sun go down listening to the sea organ one night, while some kids danced to the sounds.

Ancona

No one really goes here unless they’re going somewhere else – this is one of the main places to cross over to Greece and Croatia which is (duh) why we’re here. However, we had a few hours to kill, so walked up to the top of the hill with the duomo, roman amphitheatre (couldn’t find it) and some nice buildings and whatnot. Picnic tea of peppers, chicken, tomato, onion, chickpeas and some peach tea which we’ve taken a liking to.






Then on to the [big] boat on an overnight crossing to Zadar. We feel pretty confident we’ve got the supplies we need – a bottle of red, a bottle of sambuca and a popeload of chocolate. Found some lounge chairs to stretch out in, managed a bit of sleep but arrived exhausted (and safe) in Zadar – watch out Croatia, you have 2 kiwis more than you had the day before! (unless, of course, some kiwis popped out while we were arriving, which is quite possible of course).

Q: “What is a popeload?”
A: ALL YOU NEED.

Ravenna

And so, on to Ravenna and its astoundingly amzing mosaics. We had to change trains 3 times to get there, but boy was it worth it. A serious wow factor – photo shows Basilica de San Vitale and we were both blown away by the building and the mosaics inside - so different to anything else we’ve seen. David’s been to Istanbul with similar byzantine-style mosaics and reckons these were better. Sancta Sophia in Istanbul was also modeled after this building too, making [as they said] this church the first Christian church of significance ever.




OK, that’s it for Ravenna. One night stand but good time was had by all.

Train travel in Italy superb – fast, efficient, clean, on time and with windows. Amzing.

Pisa

Did a day trip to Pisa – we can report that the tower is still leaning but it seems to be something of a shrine for the mentally ill. Lots of people making strange gestures with their hands (see photo).



Mary’s wide-angled lens on her camera managed to straighten the tower completely, bless it! (see photo). Mary reports that the tower itself was underwhelming. David disagrees, viewing it as a small but perfectly formed piece of Romanesque architecture completely at home with its historical, spatial and cultural context. [But then, he is typing this…] BUT…Mary say the church was stunning and the whole setting of the field of miracles (grass) was pretty fine as well. Amzing, actual.












Please note the designer label 'cover-ups' for those tourists wearing indecent clothing such as strappy or singlet tops and short shorts or skirts.

Lucca

Lucca, ah Lucca, everyone’s favourite Italian town. But not ours. But we still liked it. A lot. A real favourite actually, perhaps our favourite Italian town so far – small, quiet and yet really nice Italian spaces.

Lovely town. Best part was the walls, which were around 4km and circled the town. Wide ramparts meant lots of room to walk, cycle and whatnot. They also had 18 heart-shaped protuberances with trees and big grassy areas (unusual in the places we have been to), perfect for picnics with sangiovese wine, prosciutto and melon salads, watching the sun go down over cathedral towers overlooking tuscan tiled roofs, drinking local cheeses and salami and playing games with peppers and bread. hard to beat, yes?




We stayed at a b+b right next to the old roman amphitheatre, which had been converted in medieval times into a piazza and houses. The walls could still be seen thru the plaster and window boxes. Very nice. Also some lovely churches, especially the facades, rich in detail and with lots of columns and niches and whatnot.





















The piece de resistance was the Torre de Guinigi which we climbed on the last evening. With a big viewing platform complete with trees on top, we had superb views of the whole town and its valley. AmZing (new word).

We had 3 really restful, lovely days here and would definitely go back again. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t have anything really spectacular but which has a really nice vibe, lots of things to do and see and which is just a little out of the way. They have a summer festival in one of the piazzas here which i doubt would seat more than 1000 people - very intimate. and yet the list of people coming is amazing: Elton John, Ben Harper, Joe Cocker and BB King, Arcade Fire, Jamiroquai, Liza Minelli and many more. we're going, huh, how didn't we know about this!!!

Travellers footnote: sometimes you seem to see people again and again without trying. We meet and spoke with a couple from Christchurch (don’t talk about the quakes) at the station one day, and then we saw them about 3 more times in different towns on our way to Croatia (but they were going in an opposite direction – go figure!).