ITALY 10th November - George Clonney says hi

Woke up to a beautifully crisp morning and looked out of our palace into a forest of luscious green pine trees. Not a bad way to start the day. 

Headed to Lake Como under light showers, though by the time we arrived it was definitely crisp and raining on and off. We got onto a boat and did a cruise around some of the lake area. Our tour guide was fun and it was basically an entertainment tonight version of touring. We were told information about this family and that minister who bought houses, brought mistresses, family disputes,  new wealthy, old riches, super stars, the famous, those who think they're famous and become more infamous for lack of reasons to be famous and of course George Clooney. He says hi by the way. 

It had stopped raining by the time the cruise was over and we followed our guide around for another little while. It was a cute area, some nice stories about the development of the town the people's choices and control of the development of the cathedral- the towns people funded a proportion of the cathedral so they even had a pagean statue out the front.

Lunchtime had arrived and we were given instructions ,... Repeatedly .... And how lunch would work.... Repeatedly.... And where the toilets were.... Repeatedly. The 5 of us distanced ourselves quickly and found a nice little cheap restaurant with cute waiters.. Bonus :-). Had a nice lunch though I felt a bit dubious about my pasta and whether it had dairy in it. I guess time would tell. Letizia gave us the option of traveling to Lake Maggiore. Everyone said yes so we drove for a little while longer and watched the lovely lake side hotels (all closed) pass us by. We got off the bus and it was decidedly chilly but the views were spectacular. We were at the stage now where we were into group photos and we were going a bit snappy happy, different photo combinations and permutations, grabbing Salvatore, Letizia anyone basically who was not American lol. It was also nice to be able to take photos without the grey furry thing in every shot.... Thx to Joe who felt it necessary to capture each and every frickin moment on his tiny little frickin camera with his frickin tiny little grey microphone on a stick... You may b picking up that it was slightly annoying. And more to the point what was he doing with the footage... Don't ask what because you will get a long explanation involving words like 'money shot' and 'I'm just the man who captures the magic' ugh vomit !!!! 

We hung around the area for about an hr or so and then headed back to our palace among the pine trees. We were all like crack addicts when we arrived back and grabbed half hour lots of wifi codes. We sat there for about 2 hrs drinking wine, chatting, face booking etc. Letizia came and sat with us and chatted, letting her guard down about some of the more lets say troublesome clients and relaid some hilarious stories about her travel groups in the past, one involving a black cock...lol I'm talking about a rooster....get your mind out of the gutter people. She also told stories of her 12 cats and 4 tortoises ( pronounced toy-tus)

We eventually made it to the restaurant where we were accosted by some of our travelling companions with stories of woe about the restaurant and the ' can you believe that' and ' he waited for THIS long'. Poor Letizia was bombarded with complaints and issues, the poor thing couldn't even finish her own dinner. We on the other hand were served immediately, probably because Letizia had a kind word in the waitress' ear...see it pays to be friends with the tour leader.

Ended the night with a couple of phone calls home and went to bed, until......time did tell. stomach issues galore...i was not happy for the rest of the night...oh well id had a good run until then.

ITALY 9th November - Romeo Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?

So today started off on a bit on the back foot. Still wasn't feeling well. Headed to our retirement village on wheels and headed to Verona. Letizia wasn't very enthusiastic about the place except for the balcony from Romeo and juliet. We got off the bus and walked through the town a little. Took the obligatory photo of the balcony and the statue of Juliet. Then walked to the piazza where we had free time but we had to have or buy lunch as well. We all kind of wanted to do separate things and eat separate things so kind of wandered around aimlessly. I stumbled upon a pretty fancy pants food court with salad options so I thought that was the go. Found the gal group tried to get a coffee but it seemed today was just one of those days where no one could make a decision and time was ticking. We all ended up cutting our loses and separating, though by the time we were due back I was still in a line for salad, was trying hard to communicate no cheese and bread roll please, had lost Sharyn and desperately needed to pee. Bolted bk to the group to find we had lost Georgia and Kerri too. Grrrrrrrr. I had been warned that you have down days during tours and to just batten down and know that the next day would be better.....nothing really bad or even slightly bad had happened but it was just an off day. Eventually found everyone and boarded back on the bus and headed to Milan.

We were met by another local tour guide who took us on a walking tour around Milan, to this amazing galleria ( similar in style to the one we had seen in Naples.... Gee these old things ) through the square to the Dormo. Inside the Dormo were beautiful ornate glass widows, art but a little disturbing were the to,BS of old saints and popes. We got quite a rude shock when we realised the forms lying in the glass tombs were actually once people. Not to be too graphic but their skin was shrivelled, greenish black, sunken.....really quite grotesque. Gerogia was turning a lovely shade of green so we ended up high tailing it pretty quickly out of there. We got caught in a parade for Remembrance Day and just generally watched the going ons around us. It was then we realised that Sharyn and I had signed up for the waking. Tour of Milan....sigh. By this stage I thi k we both would have been quite happy to sit in a piazza drinking much needed coffee, or gelato.

So once again we walked with deeeevices. Our local tour guide was great very knowledgeable. We headed to La scala one of the most famous opera halls in Italy, well known around the world. It was really like transporting bk in time, red plush seats, heavy rich curtains, lavish decorations, balconies set around the whole theatre. You could almost imagine woman dressed in corseted ball gowns, men in tuxedos, opera glasses on sticks, watching famous operas.....however apparently that idea is somewhat wrong lol. In the past the theatre used to b a meeting place where the wealthy got together to chat, organise business deals, eat. They were forced to begrudgingly be quiet when performers entered the stage.... Gee those pesky singers!!! Lol. We followed our guide through the museum attached. She pointed out busts/ paintings of famous singers and actors, many female which was quite unusual at the time, in terms of women being held in high esteem and in the public eye. I basically knew nothing so listening was interesting, in between trying to strip off the numerous layers while trying not to nock over 300 yr old busts. That would have been a big opps!!!

From here we went to the a big castle, cathedral and museum. Not to sound like I'm taking it all for granted but wow another amazing castle, great artefacts but writing this now I can't for the life of me remember who / what the castle commemorated or who/ when it was built. One thing that I do remember was a statue of a lady that would have been placed outside a brothel. It was of a woman giving herself a bikini wax / shave with a massive knife (no epilady bk then)  showing potential customers what she was offering. Imagine posing for that hahaha I remember weird s###. After gng through my photos I also now remember that we saw Michael Angelo's last work... Quite amazing. 

After more clutching of handbags and a suspected spotting of a potential soft handed lad we boarded the bus to our hotel in Varese. We arrived at our hotel which was no word of a lie a palace, complete with high ceilings, chandeliers and massive staircases. We had a group dinner downstairs with everyone. Poor Gail keeps being given basically cheese and tomato for every meal .... Not great with vegetarian options. Other than sitting through numerous public toasts from the other trafalgar group (pretty mundane group..our gp was better!!!) nothing of note to report. 

ITALY 7th November to Venice- I have developed a crush

Once again got up early but didn't mind as much as we were going to Venice!!! I was tentatively excited. For those who know me know I get a bit superstitious and I get excited but with a grain of salt so as not to get disappointed... I know stupid!!! And I do realise that sometimes half the fun is before an event and looking forward to something.  Anywho I digress...we were going to Venice!!!! One of my best friends had gotten engaged there last year so my plan was to meet someone, fall desperately in love and get engaged too...two days a fair time frame...no worries hahahaha. 

So we drove to the mainland and then got on our first water taxi, we said goodbye to the coach and Salvatore as no roads where we were going. Sailing down the grand canal to our hotel was AWESOME. I loved it, seeing all the amazing houses set right on the water. Mansions, houses, hotels, little canals and bridges. I was definitely getting excited (without any tentativeness). This is where for the first time I really felt that this is what Italy was all about. 

We arrived at our hotel, which we had been warned would be small, small , small. I was envisaging the shoe box I had been warned about. I was thinking just a bed, unable to open the door, and have luggage at the same time. However, I was really pleasantly surprised. My room was quaint, cute, old style dressing table and cupboard, small but well equipped bathroom. I loved it!!! Once settled in we did a bit of a room comparison between Sharyn and Gail. Sharyn had a suite by our standards- little attic room with sloped ceiling- it was gorgeous.

We then met down stairs and all boarded water taxis. We travelled along the grand canal. It was fantastic, wind in our hair, watching the magic of Venice pass us by. We were taken through St marks square on the way to our gondola ride. Very touristy but well worth it. Me and 5 of my closest strangers travelled through the canals, small alleyways, watching the houses and buildings above us, peering through people's windows (in a non creepy way I promise). One of the gondolas had a man serenading us. Kind of nice, a bit cheesy. Not sure if i was in the position with a loved one if I could cope with that level of romanticism... In fact I know I couldn't lol. Nevertheless the trip was lots of fun and very worthwhile. I feel like I haven't done it justice, the photos with have to speak for themselves.

We had dinner down stairs in the restaurants attached to the hotel. A bit fancy pants wi waiters dressed in bow ties. That said the illusion was slightly spoiled by one of the waiters being 14 if he was a day...seriously he hadn't even hit puberty. Some people got up and danced, still hasn't broken down my romantic barrier ...you wouldn't find me dancing around!

Went upstairs and pottered about and realised I had achieved my goal!!! Unbeknownst to me while living my day in Venice I had actually totally developed a crush ......a crush on Venice. It was serious. Lol

ITALY 4th November- Rome - Sorrento- beauty too hard to describe and twists and turns down the hill

Up hideously early which I began to realise might be the norm :( and headed to the Vatican, a city in a city (it's actually it's own country) to the museum. Devices in our ears I have to begrudgingly say two things. It was nice being in a tour group that pre ordered tickets and organised a time for us to enter in front of the crowds that were already lined up, and I can (begrudgingly, yes I repeat myself) say it was good getting there early.

We followed our local tour guide Christina from the day before. She was great, good humoured without being cheesy, though I still could do without the 'watch the tricky step' aka crack in the pavement. We were walked through the courtyard with statuses, ruins, gardens, through rooms filled with ornate artefacts, tapestries handwoven over years, sculptures, paintings, frescoes and jewels. We were also given a sneak peak look at a set of stairs previously unopened that was used as the Pope's private stairwell. It's really too hard to even describe the nature of these amazing pieces, I just don't think I'd do them justice. We ended the tour by walking through the Sistine Chapel. It was incredible especially once we had had an explanations about the certain stories and little nuances that Michael Angelo included. 

We bid our tour farewell and got back on the bus. We travelled for quite a while until stopping at a cemetery that commemorated many of soldiers who died during wartimes. By this stage we had been going quite a while since breakfast and there seemed to be no break or food in sight. The troops were getting restless and I was quite concerned that some of the older group participants may laps into diabetic comas lol...but seriously it wasn't planned all that well. About half an hour later we arrived at a truck stop where we were given copious amounts of instructions and a word of warning...that if they throw a cappuccino at you just laugh a they do it to everyone...WTF!!! 

Well the experience wasn't as bad as that but wasn't far off. The staff there certainly didn't look like they got a lot of job satisfaction, nor cared about delivering the right meals to the right customers...one even had a little tantie and stormed off...ahhhh the passion of the Italians lol. Anyway we all got something and stocked up for future bus trips.

We finally arrived in the area of Sorrento where we got on smaller buses to head down to the Amulfi Coast. Our bus driver was cute!! And instead of our usual tour leader Letizia we had Dan give us some info about the area, as he had lived there for a period of time a while ago. He was quite entertaining. We stopped for photos and I was offered a uncovered sugar coated almond by aforementioned cute driver, whilst trying to be polite and decline, he was quite persistent.... I think by accepting the almond I now maybe engaged lol.

After lots of twists and turns down a beautiful coast line we arrived at Positano. It was a gorgeous sea side down, nestled into the coastline of the Amulfi Coast. We had free time so Letizia helped me find a cafe that the Aussie cinque terre team had recommended. I and a few followers traced the streets down to the beach where we found a great cafe. I said hello on behalf of the girls to their favourite waiter and settled in for a drink of lemoncello. Yum! The sun was setting and the lights were slowly coming on in the town. It was lovely definitely a place I could see coming back to.

Returned winding back to Sorrento, hotel johanna and got ready for a group dinner in the hotel. The wine flowed freely as did the conversation with my mate Sharyn and two other Australians, older ladies but lovely and two American ladies who were younger than the other pensioners and good value. Along with friendly service to compensate for earlier in the day, I wet to bed happy and full.

ITALY 3rd November- Rome first day of watch that tricky step....

Ok so I feel remiss not to have elaborated on my WTF moment about my new travel family  forgive  me for some poetic licence to keep you in suspense. 

No word of a lie, last night when I looked around I thought I was probably the youngest by a good 30 years, really truly everyone I saw around was at least 65!!!! Getting on the bus for the first time all I heard around me was 'gee those steps are steep, watch my knees, huff puff' ..... Are you kidding me???????? What's worse is it was all said with heavy American accents. Now please excuse the total stereotypes about Americans also given I had just spent the last 10 days with 8 absolutely amazing fabulous Americas but seriously!!!!!!!! To steal Georgia's line I thought perhaps I'd gotten on the wrong bus heading for a retirement hm! 

Last night we went to dinner and I did sit on a table with a mother daughter from Australia and another lady called Sharyn from Australia, along with two guys and an older American couple. Dinner was ok and I was just hopping that I could at least hang with the Aussies to keep me sane, hopping to god that I got on with them and they were my kind of people. The food was nice and Letizia was careful to ensure I was served only what I could eat. There were lots of instructions and I did go to bed furiously texting anyone who was up relaying the hell I was in, and begging if anyone knew anyone In Italy who I could at least hang  out with during the evenings. I guess what was hard was the stark contrast between this group and my last travelling buddies. Young, friendly, same ideas about holidays, positive outlook..and now this seemed to be entire opposite. Fortunately or unfortunately my expectations were high.

So the next day with a little foreboding I went up to breakfast and got on the bus. It was really early, about 7:40. The early start paid off though as we got to Saint peters cathedral / Vatican well before any of the lines. I guess that was the benefit being in a tour group is that pre bookings could b organised and thus lines could be skipped. It was on the way here that we got our first talking to about soft hands and gypsies. We were told not to worry but.... Suffice it to say we all got off the bus bags positioned at our fronts and gripping them tightly lol. We were also told about seat rotation.... Sorry say that again... Yes we were told that we would b sitting next to whomever we were sitting next to and then rotated around the bus so no one got too attached to their seats or hogged the 'best' seats. Really??? Are we in primary school??? Writing this blog a little later than I had intended,  I totally understand why it was necessary, not so much for the tour guide to be in control and baby us, but more so due to the demographic of the people on the tour. We would be thankful later. Also was thankful that atbthe time of seat rotation deciding i was sitting alone, which meNt two seats to myself on the bus the whole time!!! Score! Also at this time we were given our bright orange devices, as they were called. Little radio, that tuned into a frequency so we could walk along and hear our tour guides.... Can anyone say obvious tourist?

 

We walked into Saint Peters Basilica, it was breathtaking. It was here I began to realise the scope and history of the country I was visiting. It was grand and awesome is the only word I can use to describe it. Now you will have to excuse my lack of intimate knowledge or even understanding of the religious or even historic significance of many if the places I visited. I listened attentively but lack background knowledge. That said I still wholeheartedly appreciated the absolute beauty, history and importance of these places. I respected that what I was seeing, experiencing, touching and walking through were monumentally important in the development of a country, it's people and all that goes with it. Saint Peters Basilica was massive. I walked around trying to absorb where I was. I often like to touch the marble pylons and try to imagine what they had been witness to over the hundreds and hundreds of years. Besides thinking I wanted to get out the hand sanitizer I tried to fathom who else over the years had touched and been apart of this amazing place. 

After this we all went to the 'smile room' aka toilet Letizia liked to call it. This was the first of many times I waited waited waited in line for the loo. You can take the lines out of the attractions but you can't take the women out of the line to the toilet....no matter where we were this became a part of everyday touring life!! This occurred every 2 or so hours...so I have seriously trained my bladder in a bad way! I would have to laugh that as we were walking around our local guide would tell us to watch out for the tricky step... It was a crack in the pavement no lie - seriously ... Traveling with pensioners who could break a hip!!!

I had already begun to team up with Sharyn and then Georgia and her mum Kerri- all Australian. It was nice having a little group of like minded people, same sense of humour who understood the looks of dismay when we heard most of the other tour people complaining. 

From St Peters we went onto the colosseum, not before having a group photo... So cheesy you could spread it on a cracker and I was thinking would I want to remember all of these people?

The Colosseum was spectacular, such a huge structure and so advanced for its time. It was designed with retractable shade and the ability to flood the grounds so ships could sail and compete. So amazing to think stories like gladiator actually occurred here... Yes I realise my references to historical events are a bit suspect lol. Sharyn and I climbed to the top storie and got a wonderful view, even better because most of out tour group couldn't make it up the stairs lol you gotta laugh !!!!

We headed back and had a few hours off to get lunch. Sharyn Georgia Kerri and I headed back to the restaurant we went to the night before which in actually fact was just around the block even though we travelled there by bus the night before. It was a nice lunch and we all chatted easily, it was great to have these gals, certainly would keep me sane. 

After a few hours Sharyn and I opted to do the optional walking tour of Rome's sites. We headed devices in ear to the Trevi Fountain and threw a coin, left hand over right shoulder which apparently makes your wish come true. I think it was one coin to return to Rome, two to find love, three for divorce hahaha, not telling you how many I threw in!

We walked around with our guide for about two more hours and saw all sorts off ancient pylons transported by ship, by slaves, by horses from Egypt. We went to the Pantheon, and various other small churches and sites. Our guide was great and told us little stories along the way. One if which was a famous sculpture was commissioned to do a  work for a wealthy statement who he hated but was forced to do the work anyway. The artist was forced to make create a marble elephant. His big 'screw you' to his employer was to position the elephant with his behind facing his employers house and the elephants tail swishing to one side showing off another part of his anatomy lol

We ended the tour in a big piazza. We went to a recommended restaurant....we were given a yes no list of those in the square. Dinner was nice but everyone else was also there, perhaps next time it would be good to break out a bit. Ended the evening with chocolate and pineapple gelato.... Well when in Rome!!