london1967 | Entries tagged with italy

After visiting San Marino, we went to the old town of San Leo (San Leo was San Marino's companion but the town is in Italy and not part of the Republic on San Marino).

It's a beautiful old town, in a fantastic location

The castle is considered the most impregnable in Italy due to its position on a sheer cliff

This is where the infamous adventurer/sorcerer/charlatan Cagliostro was imprisoned and died.

The next stop was the two villages of Penna and Billi, which form the town of Pennabilli - one has the ruin of a castle and the other the village itself:

Carpegna is famous for its cured ham but is also a place for 'villeggiatura' in the summer; it has the imposing Palazzo dei Principi

which, together with the Rocca of Sassocorvaro (not far from here), was used in WWII to hide more than 10,000 works of art from Florence, Venice, Milan, etc.

The last stop of the day was the town of Urbania (originally Casteldurante but renamed after a pope when it was part of the papal states)

Here we went to the

where we had a restorative cup of tea and 3 pasticcini each

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Urbino, Italy

We got up early this morning, went to Heathrow and caught a flight to Bologna where we landed at 11:40 am.
Adrian drove us down to Gradara which is one of the first towns in Le Marche across the Emilia-Romagna border.

The castle of Gradara is impressive

and should command a lovely view, but not today since it was pouring with rain when we visited.

(Adrian's inspecting the torture chamber - don't get any ideas, Honey! lol!)

The castle is also the setting of the story of Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, made famous by Dante in the Divina Commedia.

Here's Adrian in the bedroom

or is it the ghost of Paolo trying to flee again through the trap-door?

We had the castle to ourselves, not surprisingly as it's out-of-season. In the summer there would be coachloads of tourists coming for the day from the nearby seaside resorts.

The chapel with a lovely Della Robbia piece

After the visit to the castle, we drove to Urbino. The satnav (or as we call it 'madam') made us drive through some pothole-filled country roads.

We briefly stopped at Ponterotto

A bridge with a flour mill built in the 1500s which was destroyed in 1945, during the war.
The Gothic Line (the last attempt of the Germans to stop the Allies in Italy) ran across the northern part of the Marche and indeed near Gradara castle we spotted an English cemetery with neat rows of white tombstones.

The landscape is very hilly and green, and I'm sure it is wonderful on a sunny day

When we got to Urbino - one of the Italian Renaissance's masterpieces - this was the view that awaited us in our hotel room:

Fog... yes fog! LOL!

Oh well... the weather forecast for the next few days isn't much better, I'm afraid. But we'll try to make the most of it.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Urbino, Italy

My flight to Turin on Friday afternoon took longer than normal.
The plane was in the queue for take-off when the pilot realised that there was a problem with one of the flaps.
So after consulting with the engineers, the plane went back to the gate, but we didn't disembark.

When the fault was finally fixed, there was another delay because two gentlemen decided that they didn't want to fly any longer. So more delay to find their luggage in the hold, and then cabin crew ran a security check of the hand luggage left on the plane to ensure that these 2 passengers didn't leave anything behind.

Finally, the route for the flight was altered: instead of going toward Paris and then Geneva, it was Stuttgart and then Zurich.

Anyway, I got here eventually!

Yesterday it was rainy and there was a 24hr public transport strike so I didn't go anywhere

I only had a little walk outside in the garden and courtyard, but really there isn't much to see at this time of year.

although there are signs of spring

Now it's sunny (the fog has cleared) and this afternoon I'll go to see my friend Franco and his parents

Wishing you all a good Sunday!

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Location: Turin, Italy

I haven't quite finished posting about our adventures in Naples and I don't think I will.
I should write about the disappointing and outrageously expensive cup of tea in the historic Gran Caffè Gambrinus once upon a time frequented by the intelligentsia (including a disgraced Oscar Wilde) or about the fabulous tiled cloisters of Santa Chiara and the very eager guy working in the shop who took customer service to quite a different level, but I'm going to conclude the series of posts about Naples with a few of my favourite photos, that haven't appeared on here yet.

Perhaps not surprisingly Naples was one of the very few places where Adrian at some point didn't exclaim "I want to live here!".
If you can look beyond the ugly (and there's plenty: mindless graffiti, ubiquitous dog poo, general dirtiness, mad traffic), you may enjoy it but it's not a relaxing place, you always have to be alert.
It is certainly worth visiting but if you have never been to Italy, don't go to Naples first or you may never go back! lol

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: London, SE20

On Monday once we got back to Naples from Cuma, and we had a few pastries and caffelatte (Adrian) and hot chocolate (moi) served by a very surly waiter in a cafe'/pasticceria, we went to the Museo Nazionale at around 5 pm (it's open until 7:30 pm).

We both loved it!
It is a real treasure trove of Roman art and it was delightfully empty of visitors - indeed we were the only people in most rooms.
Even the normally crowded 'Gabinetto secreto' was empty apart from a couple of people on their way out.
There were not even many attendants and they all seemed rather busy chatting to each other.

(The 'secret cabinet' houses a collection of erotic findings from Pompeii that were for a long time off-limits to 'normal' visitors because considered obscene. The door to the collection was even walled up at some stage. Even now, under-14's on school trips must have written permission from their parents!)

The ground floor of the museum houses the bulk of the Farnese Collection of statues found during excavations in Rome in the 16th century and belonging to Pope Paolo III and his family (the Farnese).

It's simply fantastic!

On the upstairs levels there are mosaics and frescos from Pompeii and Herculaneum and other sites buried by the ashes of Mount Vesuvius

My camera 'died' in the gabinetto secreto: one cock too many me thinks! lol

So no photos of the fabulous Salone della Meridiana (which was too dark anyway) or the giant 19th-century diorama of Pompeii...

For more pictures, including a couple perhaps not safe for work (although it's art), please see the slideshow.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: London, SE20

On Sunday after visiting first the cemetery and later the Museo of Capodimonte in its namesake park (an amazing collection of art), we travelled to Mergellina station and walked down to the seafront.
There's a lovely view of Naples

and its bay from the harbour

(This is Castel dell'Ovo dominated by mount Vesuvius)

From the harbour we took a bus to the Parco Virgiliano at the top of Posillipo, the beautiful promontory which is 'the' place to live in Naples if you have enough money. The park was quite a walk from the bus stop but it was worth it because the views of the city and of the islands are amazing.

Capri

This is Nisida where apparently Brutus plotted the assassination of Julius Caesar in his villa.

A puddle

and a fearless cat!

Adrian talking to the cat (and being ignored!)

After we got back to Mergellina on the bus and a funicular, we walked all the way back into town on the lungomare

Piazza del Plebiscito and the church of San Francesco da Paola

Oh, how tired we were when we got back to our room!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: London, SE20

This morning we travelled to Cuma (or Cumae in English) to see the ruins of the oldest Greek settlement in western Europe (8th century B.C.) I've always wanted to visit it because of the legend of the sibyl

It wasn't a smooth journey. The Circumflegrea railway

is supposed to stop at Cuma station 4 times a day and the entry to the archeological site should be open to coincide with the train. Well it wasn't - the station is in the middle of nowhere and there was no one there. To cut a long story short we had to walk a long way to the main entrance on the other side of the hill, trying to avoid the large puddles.

By the time we got to the site, we were already exhausted!

Still the sibyl's "grotto" (and dating to the 4th/3rd century BC) was quite impressive to see!

And it doesn't matter that it wasn't really her grotto but a probably a military tunnel!

We then walked up to the acropolis

from where you get a nice view of the coastline,

the island of Ischia

and lake Miseno.

The journey back was almost as eventful.

The bus back to Fusaro was 30 mins late and by the time it arrived, it was raining. In Fusaro we had a look from the shore at the Casino built on the lake for one of the Bourbon kings. Very nice.

The train back to Naples couldn't reach Montesanto due to a demonstration (a group of people had occupied the tracks - I don't what they were protesting against) but we found an alternative.

Back in town we visited a couple of palazzi and later the fantastic National Museum, but this is a subject for another post....

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Napoli, Italy

On Saturday afternoon we visited the Teatro San Carlo on a guided tour

Waiting for the tour to start...

There were only another 2 people plus the guide of course, who was really good. She was informative and full of anecdotes, and fun. And did the tour in English too for Adrian.

The San Carlo is the oldest opera house in Europe, older than La Fenice, La Scala and Covent Garden she said.
And it is really beautiful too.

The ceiling is in fact a huge canvas, that hides a resonance chamber.

This is the royal box with the coat of arms of the Savoy family which replaced the Bourbons' when Italy was unified in 1861.

But the Bourbons' coat of arms is back high over the stage. In the 1980 earthquake, the Savoy coat of arms fell down and they found the old one underneath.

Now it's all red but apparently in the past it was blue - the colour of the royals.
The orchestra pit was raised because of a concert in the evening; the stage is behind that curtain and it is massive, deeper than the stalls!

Chandeliers and mirrors in the foyer

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Napoli, Italy

I haven't 'blogged' about out Saturday in Naples yet: sight-seeing is such an exhausting and time-consuming business! Plus quite a chunk of time is taken by planning what to do the next day (using public transport has its drawbacks).
I am skipping Saturday for the time being and moving on to the first place we visited this morning (and leaving the rest for another time).

We went to the cemetery of Le Fontanelle in the Rione Sanità. The neighbourhood - apparently - is the 'real' working class Naples, and rather rough, I have to say.
And don't expect a pretty cemetery - the entrance is a metal sliding door: it could have been the entrance to someone's backyard.
The cemetery is a set in a former cave of tufa; the cave was abandoned in the 17th century and used for the victims of the bubonic plague first and then for many more epidemics up to the one of cholera in the mid 19th century.

The bones are stacked up and piled up against the walls but what makes this cemetery quite unique is a local superstition/cult that started in the second half of the 19th century.

People used to 'adopt' a skull and look after it, praying for the release of its owner from purgatory, hoping to get something back when the soul reached heaven.
This custom (started by a priest) went on for a long time until the archbishop of Naples forbade it in the 1960s. But it is certainly not extinct, judging from what is left there as offerings.

I have put the pictures behind a cut because well it's really not everyone's cup of tea. I have to confess that we were both quite glad when we left the place. I had cheese at dinner and I do hope that I'm not going to have nightmares! lol!

( Click here for the photos )

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Napoli, Italy

I worked from home this morning and then we caught a flight to Naples (I should say Naples, Italy for my American friends!)

We are staying at Primo Piano a gallery and B&B on the first floor of an old palazzo.

Our hosts Antonio and Massimo are charming and helpful.
And they are artists. This explains the quirky feel of their appartamento. Our room is dedicated to Diane Arbus and one of her photos is staring at us from the shower

Tomorrow morning I guess I'm going to have my very first shower with a naked woman!

After we settled in, we went out for a short walk

and a pizza.... well, when in Naples... LOL!

The pizzeria was one of three on the same block that belong to the same family: the guidebook says that 21 siblings work in the business!

We took in some unusual sights

(Pulcinella!)

before heading back to the B&B.
And now it's time for the first B!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Napoli, Italy

I travelled back to London yesterday and got home just an hour before

london1952!
I am off work till Jan 2nd as this year they decided to close the office between Christmas and New Year's day.

I still have some pictures of Milan(o) to post.

Thanks to the Frecciarossa

I arrived in Milano much earlier than my friends Paola and Francesco, I had some time to wander around.

My first stop was the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio built by St. Ambrose (Ambrogio in Italian) towards the end of the IV century, and rebuilt in the Romanesque style almost 1,000 years ago.

The church houses a priceless Carolingian altar

the snake made by Moses in the desert (or so the legend says - it is in fact Byzantine)

and of course Sant'Ambrogio himself, placed between martyrs and twin brothers San Gervasio and San Protasio (III century).

I then walked

to Porta Ticinese and the church of San Lorenzo, which is framed by some Roman columns

After stopping by the Navigli, I went to Castello Sforzesco where I met my friends.

(forget the Sforzas and the Viscontis - that's Kate Winslet!)

We then walked to the Duomo and the Galleria

and went to see an exhibition at Palazzo Marino (the town hall) opposite La Scala.
The exhibition is about Cupid and Psyche and only has 2 works of art both on loan from the Louvre: Antonio Canova's "Cupid and Psyche Standing" and François Gérard's "Psyche and Cupid".

After a pizza and a long chat, it was time to leave from stazione Centrale.

to travel back to Turin

at 185 mph!

Current Mood: calm

Well Christmas is almost over for another year.
After a large lunch with my parents and my brother, I rang Adrian and talked briefly with him and his mother; then my parents and I went to my aunt's and now I'm waiting for Carlo to pick me up (I'm spending the evening with him and his wife Lucia - parents were not happy about me going out tonight but hey I am 45! lol)

No snow this year, not as cold as at the week-end but grey and misty and melancholic.
Just like the Navigli (canals) in Milan yesterday.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Turin, Italy

Another year, another Christmas away from

london1952 and at my parents'.
I travelled to Italy early on Saturday morning (left home at 4:20 am to catch a 6:55 am flight); I felt a bit under the weather with a swollen throat until really today when against my father's advice ('stay at home, don't go out and catch cold') I went to Milan to meet up with my friend Paola and her husband Francesco.

This morning I got to Torino Porta Nuova railway station rather early

all because when I got up at 6 am, I found my parents already up. Mother had made me a cup of tea, and Father decided that he was going to drive me into town to catch the tram to the station. Sweet of them but quite unnecessary as they are not really spring chicken any longer!

As the Frecciarossa train was at 7:57 am, I had a time for a brisk walk up the deserted Via Roma

to an equally empty Piazza San Carlo

I was a bit disappointed that the Christmas lights in the streets were not on, but well it would be rather wasteful to do otherwise.

I then carried on to Piazza Castello

where there is a giant Advent Calendar

and some very strange knitting on the wrought iron gates of Palazzo Madama

(this of course made me think of

madknits!)

I then hurried back down via Lagrange to the station to catch my train. And an hour later I was in Milan.

And with this unlit and slightly bizarre Christmas lights, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! (also on Adrian's behalf as he's without access to the internet and he didn't manage to post before going 'up north' on Friday).

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Turin, Italy

I'm in Italy visiting my parents.

I should be on a flight back to London right now but it has been cancelled - it's foggy in London and a few flights have been axed. The Turin one always seems to be one of those.

I was so looking forward to being back home with Adrian tonight!

It's been quite a lazy week-end and full of food (no surprise there! lol)

Franco and his father came for lunch yesterday and Mother cooked for the hundreds!

Here's the 5 antipasti

the primo

which preceded the secondo, and the fritto misto alla piemontese (luckily no sweetbreads or frog legs)

and the 2 desserts (as I don't like coffee, my mother made me a tirasimu version with Marsala wine)

This was my only contributions to the meal:

a plate of Baci di Dama made with the hazelnuts that father had picked a few days before. They went down very well indeed with everyone.

I'd normally go into town on a Saturday afternoon but this time I didn't because there wasn't really anything I wanted to see. Of course, now I wish I had because I am almost climbing the walls!
Apart from going out yesterday to visit my friend Egle for an hour or so, and in the afternoon for a short visit at the hospital's where my friend Franco's mother is convalescing, I have been here all the time.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow night I'll be back home with

london1952!
When I tried to rebook the flight on-line, the first available one was on Thursday and felt a bit panicky at the thought of being here until then and missing work. Luckily, when I rang them up they said that they had a seat on tomorrow's flight. Phew!

(Relationships have been a bit strained with my parents since coming out and buying a house together with Adrian - and that was 8 years ago.
They don't want anyone here to know that I'm gay and I have resented them for banning Adrian from their lives. But of course they are my parents and I do care for them. And I know that they love me in their own way. That's why I always feel stifled when I come here to visit and I cannot wait to leave: my better half is not with me! I also feel that somehow I am compromising my integrity and stepping back into the closet.
Sometimes now they ask after Adrian but it's really not enough).

Current Mood: listless
Current Location: Turin, Italy

It's surprising how you can go past something almost every day but you never really see it.
I had that feeling tonight when I returned my bike to the docking point just after the Parliament and I look across the street

I stopped there on the way to Victoria because I decided to go and see 'Casa Italia' which is Italy's Olympic Committee base in London.

They have taken over the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre which in a prime location, just opposite Westminster Abbey.

Here is the flag 'installation' opposite Big Ben

and this globe was outside the Abbey

and this picture doesn't need an explanation!

So, yes back to

The main room in the centre was of course filled with big screens - and as it was Italian TV it showed Italian competitors.
I just got there seconds before this quite easy-on-the-eye boxer won the semi-final

and most of the room erupted in cheers!

On the other two floors there were stands showcasing some Italian companies - there was also a wine tasting session in one of the rooms, but I didn't stay.
I must say that I wasn't particularly impressed - I expected more.
But I got some very good literature about Le Marche, which is where we're booked to go for Easter.
So it wasn't a wasted trip.

And of course now it's home sweet home

with my even sweeter Adrian(o)!

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: London, SE20

Lunch: 5 antipasti, 1 primo, 2 secondi, 3 dolci.

The last dolce was this tray of pasticcini

P1050667

which included this rather sweet (in every sense) pastry

P1050671

which with its accidental eyes was almost begging me not to eat it.

Well what do you think? LOL

P1050646

Current Mood: full
Current Location: Turin, Italy

Here I am in Turin, visiting my parents.

I had planned to go to the Basilica of Superga this afternoon (that's the one on the top of the hill in this picture)

but it is 3 buses and a rack tramway from parents; as I missed the first bus and the tramway is only every hour, I though it best not to go in the end.
Besides, it is warm and muggy and hazy, and one should really go to Superga on a clear day to admire the Alps. Next time, maybe.

I wandered around the city centre, somewhat aimlessly going where the spur of the moment took me.
I started from the old church of San Domenico, probably the only Gothic church left in the city

Don't be fooled by the colourful bunting; the Dominicans wore black on white and were the arm of the Inquisition

Nearby is the Piazza delle Erbe, also known as Piazza Palazzo di Città which is home to the city hall and was the forum in Roman times.

Even here they are reminiscences of killings. The very un-PC statue of Amedeo VI, aka il Conte Verde (because he always used to wear green). The count is depicted slaughtering the Turks in the mini-crusade known as the Savoyard Crusade: he took Gallipoli - one of

london1952's favourite places in Puglia - from them but never made it to the Holy Land and ended up attacking the Bulgarians (sorry

tilia_tomentosa!)

But if you look at him from the right angle, he seems that he's only striking a pose, and a camp one to boot!

My legs took me to Piazza Castello where I wanted to visit the Giardini Reali. Sadly they are still closed for renovation.

The square was taken over by CONI (the Italian Olympic Committee)

promoting the Italian team at London 2012.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! There's no escape from the bloody Olympics, not even abroad!

This is the Galleria Subalpina which was apparently inspired by a bazaar. The result of course is very Torinese

I then stumbled across a small church that was opened for guided tours: the church of Santa Pelagia. It left me quite unimpressed.

I walked down to the river Po

and decided to climb up to the Monte dei Cappuccini, which is the hill topped by a church on the right in the picture above.
(It takes its name from the convent of the Cappuccini friars - and not from the foamy drinks! lol)

I crossed the river on the bridge, although at week-ends there's now an option to 'fly' over it, attached to a rope. Nah, my swimming is not that good! lol

There are good views of the city from the piazzale in front of the church

The plan for tomorrow is a big lunch at my parents, who have invited my oldest friend and his parents. I'm feeling full already.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Turin, Italy

In the morning we went to Ca' Mocenigo di S. Stae, which used to belong to one of the great Venetian families, and which we had visited once before about 10 years ago.
The palazzo houses a collection of costumes and fabrics. At present instead of Venetian dresses from the 18th century, it hosts a temporary exhibition of Edwardian and Art Deco dresses from all around the world.
All of this under the stern stares of a number of doges and other distinguished member of the family.

It was lovely and just the right size (large museums give me museum-itis!)

(Getting lost in Venice is very easy and to make things slightly more complicated, the house numbers are not per street but per sestiere i.e. neighbourhood!)

Adrian (

london1952) really enjoyed his 6th trip to Venice with me (8th, if you count two family day trips in the 60s and 70s).
I think that if he had the chance he would be very happy to become

venice1952 !!
And he would fit in very nicely too. I'm sure that he loves Venice more than many Venetian themselves. The English love being on islands... and the romantic decay.

We had time for a trip on the vaporetto to the Lido taking in usual and unusual sights

After a light lunch with view on the Lido

it was time to get back to the B&B for our luggage and to go to the airport.

Thank you Venezia for another romantic visit.

We'll be back!

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: London, SE20

After an uncertain start, the sun came out and stayed out all day. White fluffy clouds seemed to be parked all around Venice by decree of the Serenissima.

After breakfast, we went to Piazza S. Marco, which was less busy than at the week-end

No matter how many times you've been, it's always a spectacular sight with the palazzi and the cathedral

We had booked a tour of the Torre dell'Orologio

At first we couldn't find the entrance to the tower, then when we did we were puzzled because it was closed. An orefice standing outside his shop told us that we had to go to the museo Correr at the other end of the square.
It was all a bit disorganised but we were in for a very pleasant surprise!

The guide Elena turned out to be a bubbly young woman who made the visit really entertaining and informative.

The tower had been in private hands for over 500 years until 1999, passing from father to son, and was used as a private home! When the last owner died, the son didn't want to be lumbered with it - looking after the clock was almost a life sentence, and the clock was automated.

Here Elena shows us (we were 6 people in the group) the 3 Magi and the angel which still come out 'on procession' twice a year (it used to be every hour until the end of the 18th century).

The view from the top (after emerging from what looked like a submarine's hatch!) was just lovely.

We got up close and personal with the two Moors striking the bells.

They forgot their underwear! (no, not us LOL!)

As there was no-one on the 12 o'clock tour, Elena said that we could wait for the Moors to strike 12 in a terrace just below. They do so, 2 minutes apart. But before that, two smaller hammers strike 132 times the total number of blows for each giant between the hours of 1 and 11.

Anyway, here a short video of on of the Moors in action

We then went back to Museo Correr for a drink

and from there to the B&B via La Salute to leave our jackets as it was hot.

It was high time for yet another ride on the vaporetto up the Canal Grande to piazzale Roma and then along the canale della Giudecca back to San Zaccaria

We had a long walk across 4 sestieri, stopping to take pictures

and to have tea with pasticcini veneziani at this old cafe'

(The white building is the former Scuola di San Marco, which is the entrance to Venice's hospital.)

By the time we got back to the B&B, we were both rather tired.
We had a short rest before catching the vaporetto to S. Stae to La Zucca.
This is a restaurant we always go to when in Venice. And it lived up to our expectations last night too.

Lasagna di zucchine con asparagi e fiori di zucca

Vitello tonnato con patate al limone

Panna cotta con mandorle e miele

Rovesciata di pere e zenzero

It was all really good.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: London, SE20

First stop of the day was the island of S. Giorgio Maggiore (seen here later in the day when the sun had come out).

The island sits opposite St. Mark's square and La Salute.

We had visited the church before but not the former monastery, which houses the Fondazione Cini.
Vittorio Cini - an Italian politician and financier - bought the monastery from the Italian government after the war (it had been used as army barracks since the times of Napoleon), restored it and created a cultural institution.

The monastery has 2 large cloisters designed by Palladio

and now a new topiary maze, the Borges Labyrinth "a reconstruction of the maze that architect Randoll Coate designed in the writer’s honour".

You can see the cloisters and the whole of Venice from the top of the campanile

The church itself is quite lovely too:

A short vaporetto ride and we were in S.Zaccaria, 200 yards or so down from St. Mark's.
As we didn't have anything else planned we just wandered around, ending up first next to the Arsenale and then by the Franciscan church of S. Francesco della Vigna.
There's something to see at every corner!
The church of the Ospedaletto has some funny characters

It was high time for a drink and a snack. We sat outside an old cafe' near San Zanipolo (Venetian 'slang' for Santi Giovanni e Paolo)

where we had a glass of prosecco and a bitter spritz

followed by two large ice-creams!

The statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, known as Coglione (testicle, in vulgar Italian - a term used as an insult too). He was so proud of his name that his coat of arms was made up of 3 pairs of testicles. The legend says that it had a 'spare' one.

The statue is by the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, one of the most magnificent in the city and full of tombs and monuments to the doges.

Oh they did love a nice beard then!

Overwhelmed by all this art and walking, it was time for a rest. And what better way than sitting on a vaporetto going down the Grand Canal, admiring the scenery and the palazzi?

There was even some action, straight out of the BBC series "Venice 24/7"!

Emergency vehicles are the only ones allowed to travel fast in the canals (the waves damage the buildings). As most of the city is built on wood, houses can get destroyed by flames very quickly.

We got off at La Salute and walked down to the tip of the island where the Dogana (Customs House) was

There was a slightly weird statue of a naked boy, holding a frog. And it appeared to be 'invigilated' by an armed security guard!

While we were walking back to the B&B, we saw yet another cruise ship (it's almost non-stop!). It's amazing how big they look when they sail past the ancient city

After dinner, we went to La Pieta', the church of Antonio Vivaldi for a performance of his 'Le quattro stagioni' and some Bach movements, by the Virtuosi Italiani.

A lovely end to a lovely day!

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Venezia, Italy

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From 'La Mole' to Penge

Not always a smooth journey

Entries tagged with italy

Second day in Le Marche

What a lovely view!

At parents'

"See Naples and die!"

Museo Nazionale

A Sunday afternoon in Naples

A trip to Cuma

Teatro San Carlo

A chilling Sunday morning

Una notte a Napoli

Altre foto milanesi

I Navigli

Merry Christmas from Turin!

Because the sun always shines in Italy

Casa Italia

Lunch at parents' with friends

Warm in Turin

Venezia - L'ultimo giorno

Venice - Day 3

Venice - Day 2