Category: Holiday

We spent the morning wandering around Venice getting our bearings (ha) and working out where our tour was leaving in the afternoon from over near San Marco. The crowds are thick and people just keep stoping and walking backwards without looking where they are going.

The queues for the Basilica and tower at San Marco are as long (if not longer) than what we saw in Paris for Louvre and Eiffel tower. The square was also full of hawkers trying to sell selfie sticks to everyone – including those with “real” camera’s around our necks.

Found our statue of “man on horse back” for tour, so caught the vaporetto back to Rialto Mercator station to have lunch and freshen up. Wandered around for a bit to find something we wanted to eat and settled on some pizza slices from a place just around the corner. Nerida and Dana had ham and pineapple, and I had ham and mushroom. Really thick base – more like foccacia, but really good.

Back to the apartment to freshen up and have some fruit we brought on way back – then off for tour.

A short walk fro statue to our boat then a 20 minute trip to Murano and the glass factory. We watched a demonstration of making a glass decanter / jug, then a horse. the master doing the work was amazing with how quick we worked teh galss into shape.

Into the gallery / showroom for a good look, really amazing works. The guide who talked us through the glass blowing stuck with us for a while showing us various things as I think he worked out that Nerida was going to spend. However he wandered off just at the wrong moment and we hooked up with a new guide who noticed my tee shirt (shave the whales one) and we started chatting and he worked out we were Australian and he is planning a trip to Australia next year – and we just clicked talking. He was then really pleased when we picked a rmapant horse piece with amazing colouring in it – just don’t ask how much even with the tour discount applied. Nerida also picked up a beautiful pendant that happened to be in a similar style.

Back onto the boat and off to Burano – not overly interested in the lace (any of us) but the houses are amazing – each being a different colour. After a wander around back to the boat for the trip back.

Dropped the bags back then out for dinner, picking a small restaurant just down a lane from us. Really nice food – I had grilled cuttlefish, and Dana (yet another) pizza. For “house” wine in a carafe it was pretty damn good and light, just perfect for the weather.

Another wander and grabbed some ice creames for desert – well frozen yogurt for Dana, gelato for me and ice cream for Nerida to be precise. Back home and another game of Fusbol and Dana and I beat Nerida.

 

No problems with Italian trains in getting to Venice. A four and a half hour train ride across the north of Italy went pretty smoothly, barring me nearly missing it leaving early grabbing some snacks. Nerida was about to have kittens.

Train was pretty empty at the start, but filled up a bit at Milan, including a group of five young kids off on a school camp (?) who ended sitting beside us 🙁 . They were on the train for the next couple of hours through to the second last stop.

We actually had our tickets checked (twice) on the train – but still no gates or anything at the stations themselves.

Arriving at Vencie itself and it was pretty chaotic trying to find our way through. Got tickets for the water bus system and found our wharf – fighting off the porter who wanted to take my bag. One short boat ride later and we met Rosa at the Rialto Mercator wharf and she walked us (twisting and turning) to the apartment. A small issue in that the previous guests had broken the espresso machine, but Rosa rang her husband to bring a spare one over straight away when we said we were coffee drinkers.

The place is lovely – looks like it was fully renovated sometime in the last couple of years – new floors, doors – everything. We are on the first floor, and ground floor is just an entry foyer with our Fusbol table.

A quick settle in and shower – then out for a wander and dinner. Stopped at one of the resturants on the Grand Canal just below the Rialto Bridge and had pasta of different types. Dana had spaghetti with meat sauce, I had spaghetti with clams and Nerida gnocchi with quatro fromagio. We also had desset to celebrate eating out for dinner for the first time. Nerida and Dana shared wicked looking chocolate icecream and I had tiramisu.

We then wandered the streets to walk off dinner and got thoroughly lost. Eventually found our way back as dusk settled in and the street lights started coming on.

One game of Fusbol later – victory to me over a team of two 😉 and time to turn in for the night. Tomorrow we have a free morning, then off to Murano and Burano islands in the afternoon on a tour. Expect to be much poorer this evening 🙁 .

Have decided that we will take a quiet relax for a couple of hours in Turin and not go for a short wander as I think we are all a bit exhausted after wandering through Provence in the heat the last week.

We have a 1pm train and don’t have to check out till noon, with a ~1km walk straight down the road to the station for the train to Venice.  In theory we could catch the tram down 1 stop – but kind of seems pointless as we’d then also have to work out where to get a ticket from as quick online checks says you can;t purchase on them.

 

A day of travelling from Avignon to Turin via Lyon by trains.

The morning was spent having a last wander aroud Avignon for a last time and doing some shopping. Lunch was at a Tunisian resturant in the main square – which almost seemed like home cooking while on holidays as it is style Nerida likes to cook with. Was damn good food.

Then the hunt for a petrol station to fill the car before returning it. Avignon station was busy with lots of people and bags transiting like us – though damn warm as it was meant to be 36 in Avignon on Saturday. Train got in on time and we had to hump our bags upstairs as it was a double decker train. Seemed a bit odd that there were no barriers / ticket checks at Avignon and none again on the train, nor at Lyon when we got off. A big difference to the gate mentallity at home.

Unfortunately our connecting train at Lyon was delayed by 30 minutes, so we had a longer wait than desired. Apparently the train had technical issues before leaving Paris – and I think it still wasn’t well during the trip as we stopped for longer than expected at a couple of stops and seemed to be on a go slow at times. We lost anothert 15/20 minutes by the time we hit Turin.

Going through the Alp’s was spectacular – and it would be good to come spend more time here on a future holiday.

A “short” 500m walk from train station to our hotel (not worth a taxi really) and we have been “upgraded”  to dual rooms – so Dana can have silence from our snoring 😉 . We ordered a pizza and fruit in for a very late dinner, then off to bed.

 

A day of mostly driving to go up (and back down) Mont Ventoux, the tallest mountain in Provence at 1911m high. It is white topped all year round, but in summer it is the exposed and crumbled limestone and not snow.
From base to summit it is only about 16km for a rise of 1800m, and the car struggled with the 10 – 15 % gradient most of the way up, but not as much and the many cyclists we passed on their way up.
Just below the top there was a weather radome, and the very top looked like a radio mast.
It was insanely busy at the top as there was a bike race coming up the other side of the mountain, as well as the all the usual tourist traffic of cars and busses.
There were stalls at the top selling boiled lollies and jellies – which looked amazing, as well as souvenirs and of all things cheese.
While watching the last of the push bikes trickle in and the riders wandering all over the place, a motorcyclist tried to make it round the tight rising corner only to stall and have his bike fall on him. Many people got to him and the bike quickly before I could give the camera to Nerida and cross the road. He was straight up and bending the handle bars back into shape, so all looked good.
Down the other side of the mountain and stopped in Bedoin for a leg stretch as my brake foot was getting sore.
We returned to Vacluase for a late lunch and wander before home for our last night in Provence.
Saturday morning we will spend wandering around Avignon again before returning the car and a 2pm train to Lyon then to Turin.