Don't worry, this isn't another tale of us getting lost or having a mishap, I was just trying to think of something mildly amusing.
After a long day of trains, trains and trains we alighted in Verona in the late afternoon and found our B&B located in a handy part of the town near the Roman Arena. On the way to the hotel we walked past the Arena and through the main shopping streets of the town so had a rough idea of its layout. We were in need of food and our B&B host gave us a great recommendation - a place just a couple of blocks away called Tabia. It was a northern Italy, Alps-style place with hearty, northern food to match. We haven't eaten at restaurants much yet on the trip, so this might have contributed to how much we enjoyed the meal, or it might just have been that good, but we really loved the food, and our waiter was very friendly and helpful despite our terrible Italian. We enjoyed a carafe of local Veneto sparkling wine with some crudités (fancy!) with dips, then I had a wild boar tagliatelle and Simon had spinach ravioli.
The next day we set off for some exploring, starting with "Juliet's" house. Of course Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona and some enterprising person (or tourist board) designated a particular house as Juliet's, probably because of the nice Juliet balcony looking over a courtyard, that now contains a bronze statue of the lady herself. Never mind that Juliet wasn't actually real, people flock in there to visit the house, and rub poor Juliet's right breast for luck. They also leave love graffiti on the wall, and as a newly engaged couple, Simon and I might have made a little note on a particular wall to remember our visit! I was disappointed to discover Hollywood lied to us again, as I could find no evidence of any "letters to Juliet" in the walls, as shown in the Amanda Seyfried romantic comedy of the same name.
We also found the main square, which was stunning. So many beautiful buildings of different eras, building materials, colours and states of repair - it probably should have looked disjointed, but it really added to the atmosphere, and it was lovely enough to even minimise the impact of all the tourist stalls and shops. We passed under the huge gate halfway up the square that has a whale's jawbone hanging from it. Local legend is that the bone will fall on the first just person to pass under the gate - looks like that wasn't either of us! We spent some time wandering the streets and lanes and looking at the amazing architecture and houses - on some houses you could see where centuries of frescos, paint and plasterwork had peeled back, revealing the original medieval bricks underneath. By that point it was heating up so we made a gelato stop - having by far the best gelato of the trip to date, chocolate orange flavour, with real pieces of candied orange. So creamy and chocolatey, really good! We ate this overlooking the Adige River, which was running very high and fast due to all the rain and flooding in Austria and northern Italy in previous weeks.
We then headed back to rest and get dressed up for our night at the opera, the main reason for our trip to Verona. First was a celebratory engagement dinner. Although the service was a bit stiff (and I don't think we impressed the sommelier with our request for wine, which basically amounted to "your finest but cheapest") the food was really good - we started with prosciutto and polenta with gorgonzola to share, then Simon had suckling pig and I had beef cheek. It was all very rich food but tasty!
We then went to the opera and were a bit worried Simon's shorts (even though they were his "smart" shorts) would be rejected, as we'd read that sometimes the ushers were strict on the dress code, but needn't have worried, there were plenty of other tourists in sneakers there. We saw La Traviata, and downloaded the libretto beforehand so we knew what was happening, which helped. When I was reading the libretto it sounded a bit like the plot of Moulin Rouge, and a bit of internet research showed that the film was loosely based on this opera - who knew? (Probably people more cultured than me) The singing was wonderful which was lucky as we were so far back that we couldn't see much. I must admit by the end of nearly three hours I was losing focus slightly, but it was a great experience, and the setting in the Roman Arena is magical as the dusk creeps in and stars come out over the stage. All in all a wonderful day in Verona! Next stop, Florence.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Cinque Terre
It turns out that our decision of Genoa hotel wasn't quite as crazy as initially thought. It was actually close to our departure station the next morning! We made our way onto the train headed for our next destination; Riomaggiore. The southern most village of the Cinque Terre, it also serves as the start of National Parks walk. The train pulled in and we fought our way through the crowds to get to our accommodation for the next couple of days. A simple yet brand new place situated on the main street high above street level (up a couple of rather steep flights of stairs; which is apparently enough to turn some people off staying there again if Booking.com reviews are to be believed!).
They weren't all that bad and we checked in, dumped our bags and set off in search of what would become, unbelievably, our first swim of this trip so far. A beautiful bay just past the harbour was the place. Beautifully clear waters, fantastic scene looking back from the water, albeit a rather stony coastline. An attempt at sunbathing was uncomfortable at best but enjoyable nonetheless!
More than satisfied with our quick dip in the sea, we were getting hungry and wandered past all of the lovely looking restaurants and decided on take away pizza and a fish cone (an assortment of deep fried fish pieces in a paper cone) on our roof terrace with town and (partial) sea view and a couple of rather refreshing beers (thank you Mr Moretti!). Not content with dinner and views (and my slight ulterior motives!) we set off for a wander back down to the harbour for a delicious gelato and perched ourselves on a secluded rock and took in the stunning night time vista. Little did either of us know at the time that this was to be a particular spot and time that neither of us would ever forget.
The time had come! I had been carrying something around long enough in my bag, trying to keep it safe from prying eyes. Okay, enough of the slightly cryptic references now as we all know what happened next. I proposed - and fortunately Clair said yes! (for more details best to speak with Clair!). I must admit it was up there as one of the most nerve-racking moments! But of course I knew she would say yes, right?! We continued to sit out and chat away into the small hours until tiredness (emotional and physical) finally took hold, also knowing full well we had an action-packed next day planned.
We woke all sprightly and ready to tackle the walk. We already knew that the official path from Riomaggiore to Manarola was closed so we hopped on a train the one stop and took the detoured route on the way to Corniglia. Little did we know that this 'scenic' route would be extremely scenic but also physically rather challenging and extended our route by a good few kilometres. The rise and falls in upwards of 30 degrees heat was enough to almost finish us off before we even made it to the first stop. Weaving through the hills the route continued up and down, stopping off in a slightly inland town by the name of *STOP TOWN*. A quick water top up and we were off again with Corniglia in sight where we would pick up the official National Parks path again.
The walk continued and we strolled onward through Corniglia and Vernazza, stopping for a while at the harbour in the latter to catch our breath and a bite before tackling the final stretch. With fatigue beginning to set in with Monterosso in sight, every bend promised the end but then yet another hill! We finally made it! A little over 6 hours, 14 km walked, many metres climbed and descended, plenty of pints of sweat lost, 9 litres of water drunk, two bananas and two sandwiches eaten and a whole load of unforgettable sights locked in. This will definitely be the first place I call upon whenever I need to leave my mind and recall an idyllic scene.
Words can't really describe how picturesque the Cinque Terre really are. The sweeping hills, the quaintness of the perched villages, winding streets and NO cars, well virtually none, all contribute to creating this most amazing place. I will now also hold the Cinque Terre in my heart as the most special place and memory of my life. We hauled our tired and aching bodies back on the train and retired with a family size take away pizza and a couple of Morettis back on the roof terrace. A fantastic couple of days and I think we both came away with plenty of fond memories along with a great desire to return.
They weren't all that bad and we checked in, dumped our bags and set off in search of what would become, unbelievably, our first swim of this trip so far. A beautiful bay just past the harbour was the place. Beautifully clear waters, fantastic scene looking back from the water, albeit a rather stony coastline. An attempt at sunbathing was uncomfortable at best but enjoyable nonetheless!
More than satisfied with our quick dip in the sea, we were getting hungry and wandered past all of the lovely looking restaurants and decided on take away pizza and a fish cone (an assortment of deep fried fish pieces in a paper cone) on our roof terrace with town and (partial) sea view and a couple of rather refreshing beers (thank you Mr Moretti!). Not content with dinner and views (and my slight ulterior motives!) we set off for a wander back down to the harbour for a delicious gelato and perched ourselves on a secluded rock and took in the stunning night time vista. Little did either of us know at the time that this was to be a particular spot and time that neither of us would ever forget.
The time had come! I had been carrying something around long enough in my bag, trying to keep it safe from prying eyes. Okay, enough of the slightly cryptic references now as we all know what happened next. I proposed - and fortunately Clair said yes! (for more details best to speak with Clair!). I must admit it was up there as one of the most nerve-racking moments! But of course I knew she would say yes, right?! We continued to sit out and chat away into the small hours until tiredness (emotional and physical) finally took hold, also knowing full well we had an action-packed next day planned.
We woke all sprightly and ready to tackle the walk. We already knew that the official path from Riomaggiore to Manarola was closed so we hopped on a train the one stop and took the detoured route on the way to Corniglia. Little did we know that this 'scenic' route would be extremely scenic but also physically rather challenging and extended our route by a good few kilometres. The rise and falls in upwards of 30 degrees heat was enough to almost finish us off before we even made it to the first stop. Weaving through the hills the route continued up and down, stopping off in a slightly inland town by the name of *STOP TOWN*. A quick water top up and we were off again with Corniglia in sight where we would pick up the official National Parks path again.
The walk continued and we strolled onward through Corniglia and Vernazza, stopping for a while at the harbour in the latter to catch our breath and a bite before tackling the final stretch. With fatigue beginning to set in with Monterosso in sight, every bend promised the end but then yet another hill! We finally made it! A little over 6 hours, 14 km walked, many metres climbed and descended, plenty of pints of sweat lost, 9 litres of water drunk, two bananas and two sandwiches eaten and a whole load of unforgettable sights locked in. This will definitely be the first place I call upon whenever I need to leave my mind and recall an idyllic scene.
Words can't really describe how picturesque the Cinque Terre really are. The sweeping hills, the quaintness of the perched villages, winding streets and NO cars, well virtually none, all contribute to creating this most amazing place. I will now also hold the Cinque Terre in my heart as the most special place and memory of my life. We hauled our tired and aching bodies back on the train and retired with a family size take away pizza and a couple of Morettis back on the roof terrace. A fantastic couple of days and I think we both came away with plenty of fond memories along with a great desire to return.
Ciao Italia!
It was time for us to leave France and take the train to our next country, Italy. Our first stop was really an overnight to break up the trip to the Cinque Terre - Genoa.
I'd been once before briefly and although it seemed a pleasant place I wasn't overly impressed, so I was hoping to get something more from it this time. And Simon just wanted to satisfy his pasta craving that had been steadily growing for the past few days! Unfortunately we didn't get off to a good start - usually we have been good at booking places close to train stations and transport so we didn't have to carry the bags too far. However we'd managed to book this hotel on the complete other side of town, so after a 40-minute walk in the blazing sun we weren't feeling that charitable towards the city.
But after a freshen up we headed out without 14 kilos on our backs and enjoyed eating some eggplant/aubergine focaccia and checking out the lovely black-and-white stone striped cathedral and the narrow winding streets of the old town. The port area sounded promising, but was a bit disappointing - apart from an aquarium there wasn't too much there and no shade to protect from the sun. Genoa was a very important town historically, trading with the world and rivalling the Venetian empire in terms of economic and maritime power. I thought they could have made more of this with some information or displays down at the port but there wasn't much. In terms of sights, there are several old palaces that belonged to the city nobility that Lonely Planet assured us were worth going to, but most were closed or we judged them to be over-priced for what they were (we could be wrong, we'll never know!)
After fruitlessly following old-town signs promising restaurant districts that never materialised, we settled for dinner at a touristy place at the port, that did actually serve up some decent pasta, and retired, feeling that Genoa must have something to offer, but we'd apparently managed to miss it!
I'd been once before briefly and although it seemed a pleasant place I wasn't overly impressed, so I was hoping to get something more from it this time. And Simon just wanted to satisfy his pasta craving that had been steadily growing for the past few days! Unfortunately we didn't get off to a good start - usually we have been good at booking places close to train stations and transport so we didn't have to carry the bags too far. However we'd managed to book this hotel on the complete other side of town, so after a 40-minute walk in the blazing sun we weren't feeling that charitable towards the city.
But after a freshen up we headed out without 14 kilos on our backs and enjoyed eating some eggplant/aubergine focaccia and checking out the lovely black-and-white stone striped cathedral and the narrow winding streets of the old town. The port area sounded promising, but was a bit disappointing - apart from an aquarium there wasn't too much there and no shade to protect from the sun. Genoa was a very important town historically, trading with the world and rivalling the Venetian empire in terms of economic and maritime power. I thought they could have made more of this with some information or displays down at the port but there wasn't much. In terms of sights, there are several old palaces that belonged to the city nobility that Lonely Planet assured us were worth going to, but most were closed or we judged them to be over-priced for what they were (we could be wrong, we'll never know!)
After fruitlessly following old-town signs promising restaurant districts that never materialised, we settled for dinner at a touristy place at the port, that did actually serve up some decent pasta, and retired, feeling that Genoa must have something to offer, but we'd apparently managed to miss it!
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