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Italian Adventure Sep 2023Italian Adventure Sep 2023
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Italian Adventure Sep 2023

September - October 2023
Travelling to Italy with a group of friends for 3 weeks, then five days in England to visit Joanna & Asher in Surrey. Read more
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  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 7

    Pompeii

    September 22, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We left the hotel at 9.00am to catch our bus to Pompeii. Our driver, Giuseppe, and our guide, Danielle, accompanied us on our journey. It took about 30 minutes.
    We met our local guide, Vernina, at the gates of the archaeological park of Pompeii and began a tour of the extensive excavations of the old city of Pompeii, which was buried in ash and lava in August AD 79.
    We marvelled and the preserved buildings and streets of this 1st century city, frozen in time by the disaster that befell them.
    After our tour of Pompeii, we returned to our hotel in Naples for a free afternoon.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 7

    Afternoon in Naples

    September 22, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    After arriving back at the hotel, everyone enjoyed some relaxing time and I went for a walk in the old city.
    At 4pm we caught a train and then a fenicular up the hill to the Castel San Elmo which overlooks the whole city of Naples and with a view of Vesuvius and the entire Bay of Naples. The fenicular is a train that travels up a hill but is stepped in the carriages so everyone is on a level platform while the vehicle travels at a steep angle.
    The castle is an amazing medieval fortress which is well worth a visit on its own merits, but the fact of it’s amazing views of Naples means it is a must visit location.
    After returning back to city level, we walked along Spaccanapoli and stopped for dinner and gelato in turn, and then back to the hotel at 10pm to turn in for the night, and to write this blog.
    A great day in Pompeii and Napoli.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 8

    Island of Capri

    September 23, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    After breakfast in our Naples hotel at 7.30am, we boarded our cute 20 seater bus for the short journey to the Naples ferry port. From there we boarded a ferry bound for the island of Capri, despite the ominous clouds and choppy seas. We sat inside the ferry as the rain started to fall and enjoyed the ferry trip across the gulf of Naples to the Marina Grande on the eastern shores of Capri. As we were sitting on the ferry, Rob Crawford was handed a phone by an older man who sent a message using Google Translate as the man could not speak English. The message said, Would you mind speaking a little more quietly. He definitely settled down after that, so it shows he can be more quiet for a sustained period when he tries really hard. Although, it has to be said, that on the ferry from Capri to Sorrento at 4.30pm, Rob got all the passengers to sing Happy Birthday to Steve Carroll whose birthday it is today.
    After arriving in Capri, we caught a little bus up the precarious road to Anacapri, which is the higher of the two villages on the island. We spent some time there but is was pouring with rain so it was not ideal weather for exploring. A beautiful place though, even in the rain.
    We then caught the bus to the township of Capri and spent three hours exploring. It was a lot of fun. It truly is a magestic island. We saw famous three rocks but it was too wet and the waters too rough to go by boat to the grotto.
    Capri is a place we all want to return to on a sunny day.
    The evening was spent in Sorrento having dinner at a restaurant with a view over the Gulf of Naples.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 9

    Amalfi Coast

    September 24, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    After breakfast in the hotel at 8.00am, the bus departed full of excited Australians keen to explore the Amalfi Coast. Danielle, our guide, explained the history of the area as we marveled at the scenery from the bus and at the various stops along the way to take photos. It must be at the top of the list of the most amazing coastal drives in the world. We were blessed with sunny weather today so the coast looked its best.
    We stopped for photos at Positano, but spent most of our time in the township of Amalfi. We all met in the town square, but then went off to do our own thing. Some of us walked up high in the hills behind the town to explore the spectacular countryside and the waterfalls that supply the town with prodigious amounts of water.
    I also went to the single working paper mill and museum still operas with machines used for traditional paper making. If ever someone finds themselves in Amalfi, this museum is highly recommended. I actually got the chance to make paper from cotton distributed on water. Amalfi used to be the best paper manufacturer in the western world, and there were over 20 paper mills in the Main Street of Amalfi, all powered by the river running down the centre of town. Today there is only one paper mill and it operates as a museum as well as keeping the traditional paper making methods alive for visitors.
    I also visited the shipping museum. Amalfi was one of the four maritime powers of Italy, the others being Pisa, Genoa and Venice, and their ships were famous for the products they traded around the world. The museum has a galleon of the kind they moved goods around the Mediterranean during the heights of their maritime power. It was also interesting to see the towers from which they watched for pirates and warned the population from when pirates approached the shoreline.
    After spending the afternoon in Amalfi, which for many included a swim in the Mediterranean, we caught a ferry from Amalfi to Salerno and then the bus back to Sorrento. The views of the Amalfi Coast from the ferry were amazing, particularly with the dark clouds as a backdrop and rain on the seaward horizon.
    On the bus ride home, we watched the sun sink into the Mediterranean in the Bay of Naples, with Vesuvius lit up and golden in the diminishing daylight.
    Upon our return to Sorrento, we briefly stopped into our hotel before heading out for dinner in the township of Sorrento, our last evening in this beautiful town so famous for its coastline, its seafood and plentiful citrus and lemoncello.
    We had dinner at Restaurant Fuoro located on Via Fuoro which was spectacular. I had spaghetti carbonara, which is made with strong pancetta, and a lemon mousse dessert that was shaped like a lemon and had three layers, each as tasty as the next. A tasty way to end the stay in Sorrento. Tomorrow morning we arise early to travel to Siena.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 10

    Sorrento to Siena

    September 25, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After an early breakfast in the Sorrento hotel, we walked to our bus to commence the lengthy journey to Siena, our destination for today. The total trip was about 7 hours plus stops. Several stops were made for various nibbles, at morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, each for about 30 minutes.
    The really interesting stop was made between Naples and Rome, at the monastery of Montecassino, the first order of monks in the history of Christianity, established in this monastery in 529AD by Benedict, who became a saint and whose order is known as the Benedictine Order. The Abbey was originally built in 550ad but it was destroyed at various times by invading armies, the last of which was the allies in WW2 who bombed the building to smithereens in the battle in this place, believing that the Germans had substantial munitions stored in the monastery. The allies won the battle at greatcoat of lives, and after the war, the whole monastery was rebuilt, including the most ornate cathedral imaginable. The graves of St Benedict and his twin sister are still venerated in the crypt below the altar.
    After we had spent a fascinating hour at the abbey, perched as it is at the top of a very high mountain with a view over the whole valley between Naples and Rome, we boarded the bus to continue our journey towards Siena.
    It was 7pm we we arrived at Siena. We spent nearly an hour settling into our hotel and then caught a bit up to the old city of Siena, walked to the famous Piazza del Campo, where there is a famous horse race called the Palio held twice a year, and we chose a restaurant and shared a delicious dinner in the famous piazza in the shadow of the huge tower under the light of the moon. I had the tigniatelli with beef Ragu for dinner.
    Finally, after marveling again at the famous medieval piazza, we walked the 3.5km back to our hotel by 11pm, ready for bed in our Tuscan hotel.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 11

    Under the Tuscan Sun

    September 26, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    After breakfast in the hotel, we set off in the bus on a tour of the Chianti region of Tuscany, on a beautiful sunny Tuscan morning. We stopped first at a quaint town called Grieve, and spent an hour there in the old centre. I met a man, named Francesco, driving a 1965 Vesper through the town who stopped and parked outside a coffee shop that turned out to be the best in town. Francesco was happy to offer me his Vesper for 5000 euros, but I was not keen on trying to fit it into my luggage. He introduced me to his American wife, Jennifer, who had travelled to Greve 30 years ago for uni and had met Francesco on her first day. That was that.
    After Greve, with its coffee and pastries, we boarded the bus for a winery and olive farm named San Stefano, something that the two Steves on the trip made a bit of a fuss about. We were taken on an enjoyable tour of the wine-making and olive oil- making facilities and learned a great deal about their methods, which reflect some of the centuries-old traditions in the Chianti region.
    The tour was followed by a long-table lunch under the shadow of the vines and olive trees, and with breathtaking views of the nearby regions of Chianti. We periodically pinched ourselves to check we were really in the moment.
    It was a very special experience shared with special friends.
    The bus trip back to Siena was over in a quick time, back by 3pm. We then held a unique memorial meeting in the local Tuscan park, sharing emblems and readings.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 11

    Evening in Siena

    September 26, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Today was David and Annabelle’s 31st wedding anniversary, which was very special. David celebrated by joining us in catching the 4.19pm bus into Sienna and leaving Annie behind at the hotel without a room key. I think, judging from Annie’s subtle body language in evidence when she later caught up with Dave in the old city of Siena, was something that might have been better thought through by Dave. However, it must be acknowledged in Dave’s defence, one can’t expect to have everything together after only 31 years of marriage. These things take time.
    We explored the old city of Sienna, and visited the piazza and the Duomo. We also had dinner in a delightful little restaurant in a side alley in the old city.
    Just in case you were wondering, the repeated representations of the wolf and two baby boys on many major city landmarks are a reference to the fact that Sienna was purportedly founded by the son of Remus; the same Remus who was killed by his brother Romulus, the father of Rome.
    Just after dinner, the winning horse in the most recent Palio race was being paraded through the old city, accompanied by drums, banners and Sienese people dressed up in the colours of their contrata, or neighbourhood.
    We caught the bus back to our hotel to ensure we had a reasonable night’s sleep before leaving Siena for Florence tomorrow morning.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 12

    First day in Florence

    September 27, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We left Siena by bus on Wednesday morning, bright and early, bound for Florence, to which we arrived at about 10.30am and checked our bags into our hotel before embarking on an informal walking tour of the city.
    We saw the Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace, then a coffee, the secret Vasali elevated passageway built for the Medicis, the Uffizzi, the Palazzo Vechio, the magnificent cathedral, baptistery, bell tower, and then the St Lorenzo Cathedral, leather market and the Mercato Centrale. The last named place is a food market that is hundreds of years old, and a couple of us who were brave had the Panini Lambredotto, which is a bread roll with lamb’s stomach on it with some chilli and pesto sauce. It is a local delicacy which needs to be tried by everyone. I bought two cans of Coke Zero which offended one local Italian man who scooped up both cans and threw them in the bin, all the while exclaiming loudly that it is not the time and place to drink coke but I should instead drink a glass of wine with my panini. He was very passionate and demonstrative.
    After lunch there was free time for wandering around Florence.
    For dinner we shared a Florentine bostecca, an aged steak which is a specialty of the region, and then a gelato before bedtime. Another amazing day.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 13

    Walking Tour of Florence

    September 28, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    This morning we had breakfast in the hotel, before setting off on a walking tour of Florence with a very informative local guide, a young woman named Irene, who was a bit late due to a small accident with her four year old son before she came. But all was well.
    Irene was very passionate and knowledgeable about the history of Florence which made for a great experience over the three hours we wandered the medieval and renaissance streets with her in the lead, and our radios on tuned to channel 10.
    She told us about the extent of original Roman town in the times of Julius Caesar, the tower homes during the dark ages when it was quite unsafe and also unhygienic to walk the streets. She told us about the emergence of the Medici family who took up banking and transformed the financial system of Italy and Europe. The Medicis became wealthy and influential, even providing four popes during their 300 years of rule, up until the 1730s.
    The Medicis were largely responsible for the renaissance due to their patronage of the geniuses and artists that Florence has become famous for, including Donatello, Brunolesci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Galileo, just to name a few.
    The piazzas of Florence were the places where the bonfires of the vanities took place when a conservative monk named Savonarola ruled the city for about four years and convinced the Florentines to burn all their books, artworks, clothes and other decorations in their homes. When the Medicis again took power, the renaissance continued unabated.
    We walked past the copy of the statue David by Michelangelo, noting it’s anatomical accuracy, and then walked to the street outside the Uffizzi where, in 1993, the Sicilian mafia exploded a car bomb, killing five and injuring more, and letting the Florentine magistrates know that the investigation into the mafia, and the relevant witnesses who were then about to testify, were on borrowed time.
    The tour ended in the main civic square where for five years after unification, Florence operated as the Italian capital until Rome was declared Capital in about 1871.
    The afternoon was free and I visited a luthier shop where a group of three artisans were making violins, violas and guitars. I then went for a walk up to Michelangelo Piazza on the hill that overlooks Florence from the other side of the Arno. A beautiful scenic spot for a panoramic vista of the magical city.
    Dinner was pizza and there was an evening concert in the main city piazza, before gelato and bedtime.    Read more

  • TravelerItalian Adventure Sep 2023
    Day 14

    Porto Venere

    September 29, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    This morning we drove from Florence to La Spezia, dropped our bags at the hotel, walked to the Marina to catch a ferry bound for Porto Venere, on the tip of the peninsula between La Spezia and Cinque Terre. The ferry ride was delightful in the early afternoon sun and we sat upstairs on the open deck to take in the panoramic views, which included a close view of Steven Spielberg’s new 109m long cruise ship that he just bought new for 250 million.
    Porto Venere is a picturesque village on the Mediterranean with an island close to the shore, making a narrow waterway which makes the town even more beautiful.
    We walked through the village and up to the church and castle and marveled at the views.
    We also tasted the delicious local pesto for which the region is famous. In fact, so good did it taste, I bought a jar of pesto to eat with crusty bread later.
    We caught the ferry back to La
    Spezia, settled into the hotel and then went out for dinner to taste the pasta with pesto. Delicious.    Read more

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