A 15-day adventure by John
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  • Day 11

    Udine

    August 7, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and walked to near the railway station to catch the "Flix" bus to Trieste at 9.50 am. We had pre-purchased tickets. The almost 2 hour bus ride from Ljubljana was comfortable. There was wifi on board. We arrived in Trieste shortly before noon. We left our bags at the luggage storage and then changed some money. We bought some baguettes to share on the train for lunch. With a minute to spare we managed to board the train in time to Udine.

    We arrived in Udine 1.5 hours later. From the railway station it is a short walk into the historic centre.

    Udine is a city in northeastern Italy. Although it is a large city it is rarely visited by tourists. Surprising, given its splendid buildings. It was early afternoon. Most of the shops were closed and the streets practically deserted. We walked up to the hilltop Udine Castle which is home to several museums and an art gallery with works by Tiepolo and Caravaggio. From there we enjoyed the views of the city and surrounding mountains. The central Piazza della Libertà has Renaissance buildings, including the pink-and-white-marble Loggia del Lionello and a clock tower. We passed by several churches including the Udine Cathedral which has a baroque exterior.

    It was only to be a quick visit. We headed back to the train station to catch the 3.08 express train back to Trieste.

    From the railway station it was a 10 minute walk to our overnight accommodation. After settling we headed out for supplies including washing powder. Upon our return we loaded up what we thought was the washing machine with our dirty laundry only to discover in fact it was a dryer. Jeed spent over an hour cleaning up the mess and cleaned clothes by hand. Not a happy bunny. After happy hour we went to a nearby restaurant "ristorante pepenero pepebianci". It was a lovely restaurant in a restored 19th century horse stable. Food and wine were superb. The complimentary Prosecco was a nice touch.
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  • Day 12

    Verona

    August 8, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We got up early. I made coffee. However what we thought was milk turned out to be drinking yoghurt. Disgusting. Checked emails and caught up with some work. Fortunately the guys were doing well to hold the fort in my absence. We left the apartment at 11 am and made our way to the railway station. Queued twice to reserve onward tickets. The Italians have a habit of having long chats with the attendants st the counters. Some take ages to do what should be a simple procedure taking 2 minutes. Met some other Aussies in the queue who were catching the same train to Venice. With only 2 minutes to spare we boarded the train.

    We passed through Monfalcone home to Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. It was formed in 1959 and is owned by the Italian state. It is the largest shipbuilder in Europe. Several large cruise ships could be seen under construction.

    We arrived at Verona Porta Vescovo station late afternoon. From there it was a 10 minute walk to our apartment crossing a busy road on route. The apartment was about 2 km from the historic centre in the "Muno" quarter of town. It was very much the poorer area of town. There were a lot of South Asian and Africans around. Nevertheless the apartment was neat and tidy.

    After checking in we ventured out to the nearest supermarket a 1 km walk away to get happy hour supplies. There was a fairly limited choice.

    For the evening meal we ate at Cangrande Restorante and Enoteca in the historic heart of Verona. Another superb meal. The duck confit was particularly good.
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  • Day 13

    Verona

    August 9, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We made a reasonably early start and headed into town - a 30 minute walk away from the apartment. We passed through the Porta Vescovo gate which is the entry through the outer wall of Verona.

    We then crossed the Fiume Adige. The river was flowing very fast due to recent heavy rains in the Alps. From there we walked toward the Piazza Erbe passing next to Casa di Giulietta and Casa di Romeo. There were big crowds there. Nearby is the Torre dei Lamberti which we ascended later in the day from where you get a great view out over the city. Fortunately it has a lift.

    We stopped for coffee and a snack and then made our way to the tourist office where we purchased the "Verona" card which allowed for entry into a number of the historic monuments. With the card in hand we headed to the Anfiteatro Arena. The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona built in the first century. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. That night there would be a performance of Aida.

    After that we stopped for Pizza and beer. After that we visited San Fermo Maggiore - a church built in Romanesque style in central Verona that had both an upper and underground lower church beneath.

    We caught taxi back to the apartment and freshened up.

    Just after 7 pm we were met by work colleagues of Jeed from her time in London 14 years ago at Travel 2 -Laura Perbelini and her English partner Jonathon. They drove us to her parents house in the village of Bovolone about 30 minutes outside of Verona in the country side. Laura's parents who between the 2 of them could barely speak any English were very kind and had prepared a home cooked family meal for us. Before then we had a tour through their pastries shop and factory downstairs from their apartment above. The meal was superb. Before going home we were given a tour of Laura's father personal art gallery. He is a very keen painter and teaches traditional painting in the Byzantine religious style using tempura paints on wood.Laura gave us several beautifully packed samples from their shop before they drove us back to our apartment at midnight. Altogether it was a delightful evening.
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  • Day 14

    Genoa

    August 10, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We checked out of our apartment before 10 am and then walked to the Verona Porta Vescova station. From there it was a 10 minute train ride to the central station Vercona Porta Nuova. We had 2 hours to wait before our train to Genoa transferring in Milan. We had coffee and did some clothes shopping. Shorts were on special.

    We were finally on our way at 12.32pm. The train travelled quite fast. We had a 20 minute change of trains in Milan. We arrived in Genoa at 3.45 pm. The weather was the coolest it had been for the whole trip.

    After catching a taxi to our hotel. Our hotel was well located in the old part of the city close by to all the main sites. After checking in we ventured out to explore the city

    Genoa (Genova) is a port city and the capital of northwest Italy's Liguria region. It's known for its central role in maritime trade over many centuries. In the old town stands the Romanesque Cathedral of San Lorenzo, with its black-and-white-striped facade and frescoed interior. Narrow lanes open onto monumental squares like Piazza de Ferrari, site of an iconic bronze fountain and Teatro Carlo Felice opera house.

    After exploring the very narrow alley ways and back streets we stopped for an aperitif for happy hour. We both had a Spritz at a sidewalk bar. The drink is prepared with prosecco wine, a dash of some bitter liqueur such as Aperol and is commonly drunk in north eastern Italy.

    After that we had dinner at Icuochi. Located in a narrow side alley they specialised in seafood. We had the mixed seafood platter which had oysters and raw fish carpaccio. It was very good value meal set in a nice interior.
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  • Day 15

    Genoa

    August 11, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    After breakfast at the hotel we walked down the hill through the historic centre to the waterfront area. We purchased a pass to the Aquarium. That proved to be a mistake. There were big crowds making it uncomfortable getting around. Touted as one of the best aquariums in the world this one was overall a disappointment.

    Lunch was at McDonalds our first fast food for the trip. There is only so much Italian food you can take. Impressive electronic ordering system which also extended to the toilets which required receipt to enter. Garbage was automatically separated within garbage collector.

    After lunch we visited the biosphere and Antarctic museum which were included within the aquarium pass.

    We then ventured back into town. We visited a shop where we bought truffle products. We got to see and hold real truffles. We then bought another bag to put all of our accumulated stuff in. John had his hair cut. It was amusing translating instructions to the hairdresser.

    We made a booking for dinner at Ristorante Al Giardino Idoratori and returned to the Hotel via Carrefour to get cleaned up.

    We returned to the same bar for Spritz and then to our final dinner for the trip. The sky had been threatening to rain all afternoon. Finally there were just a few drops.

    The next day we would be getting up early and travelling to Milan to catch our flight back to Bangkok Saturday afternoon. Another family holiday over and another 5 kg heavier. All a lot of fun.
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