Kraak caravanersai

сентября - октября 2023

Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland Читать далее

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32дней
349фотографий
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Подписаться Календарь Поделиться Корзина

Дата по возрастанию

Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 21 сент. 2023 г., 20:12
- ☁️ 26 °C
- Высота: 42 м
- Италия Lazio Pigna Roma Pallatina Tempio della Concordia 41.892867, 12.48379241°53’34” N 12°29’2” E
День 20
Rome: city of seat-less toilets
21 сентября 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
Bumpy start to arrival with the Ryanair plane loudly crashing onto the runway. No one battered an eyelid so must be the usual. Actually we couldn't bat an eyelid as we were leaning down and our eyelids crashed also into the seat in front. We did think we saw some young fella board with the passengers dressed as a pilot.

The eternal city with it's ruins and riches; saints and sinners at our feet at 5pm and who would be staying at our hotel but the bride and groom themselves, our newlyweds Lach and Jess. The gifted champagne and whiskey flowed and the stories talked over each other as we frenetically relayed them.

Dinner was a fantastico affair of crusty bread, wine, pasta and oxen tails and the tablecloth would have needed to be chucked. Messy these pasta dishes!

Toilets - why remove every seat? Who has the hamstring-dang strength after walking all day? Felt like Magnums backpackers in Airlie Beach. 😩

And then we walked... Seriously been questioning why cobblestones? What started as a cute, quaint path style has turned into a treacherous, rock hopping affair with blisters to match.

And we walked... We walked up roman roads and down underground colosseums pits and museums and totally exhausted ourselves cramming into our mouths the heart of Roma.

Pantheon was huge and a lot of testaments (and testes) to those that shaped the city, multiple statues included 🫣

Colosseum was next. Eric managed a 'Are you not entertained" on the arena floor and then was entertained the whole way home by my whinging about my feet.

Very sad that the Melbourne storm were not able to crush the Panthers as we followed the score. Was too far to walk to one of the many Irish pubs and our friend super Simon to watch the game. Glad we didn't waste the unblistered part of my feet in doing so. We came across super Simon after exiting the Colosseum and finding the first pizza shop overcrowded and hot. Nothing quite so special as seeing the cool, dark, restorative interior of an Irish pub when you're tired, thirsty and hungry. Pints went down in gladiator shaming time.

More to follow after beer and burgers and of course.. potatoesЧитать далее
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Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 22 сент. 2023 г., 10:08
- ☁️ 26 °C
- Высота: 64 м
- Италия Lazio Roma Capitale Sallustiano Galleria Borghese 41.914083, 12.49203641°54’51” N 12°29’31” E
День 21
Forum & Villa Borghese
22 сентября 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
Kind of expecting to see half of Italy as a quarry such is the extent of stone monstrosities.

Very thankful to Rick Steeve for his free podcasts allowing us to do our own free tour of forum.

FRIDAY

We said bon voyage to the honeymooners today before Eric and kids set out to see the wealthiest museum, art gallery and safe harbouring for ... the Vatican and I went to find the other Van Gogh in the city.

The 80,000 steps we took yesterday have had an impact on my poor feet and I limped 10m before hailing a cab. Nightmare driver yelling and remonstrating at noone in particular and then cursing all in our path.

Villa Borghese my destination was sold out for the day so after checking my maps I limped to the National Gallery which I have to say for the size of the magnificent structure had very few paintings . Maybe Eric and the kids were seeing all the 'procured' art instead. Vincent and Cezanne didn't fail me though and even a Pollock to shock.Читать далее
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Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 23 сент. 2023 г., 09:56
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Высота: 292 м
- Италия Umbria Orvieto Fossatello Decugnano dei Barbi 42.723814, 12.21380642°43’26” N 12°12’50” E
День 22
Under a Tuscan Sun and Valium Haze
23 сентября 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Oscar Wilde - Ravenna

"Where flower and fruit to purple radiance blow,
And like bright lamps the fabled apples glow.
Full Spring it was—and by rich flowering vines,
Dark olive-groves and noble forest-pines,
I rode at will; the moist glad air was sweet,
The white road rang beneath my horse’s feet,
And musing on Ravenna’s ancient name,
I watched the day till, marked with wounds of flame,
The turquoise sky to burnished gold was turned."

Okay so maybe we tasted a few honeyed wines and pushed our nostrils deep into the scented bushels but Tuscany certainly surpassed on all accounts.

Driving to Tuscany.... in a manual left drive sardine can certainly didn't surpass anything. We scraped through medieval horse lanes, swerving to avoid "senza traffico" zones, performing 10 point turns in dead end lanes and white knuckled we wove up and down the oldest, steepest city centre in abject silence and horror, the stone walls just inches from our white Munst-like faces. The valium was reached for and calm was briefly restored.

Our 15th century bnb was reached. Ghosts from old and war torn spirits could not be reasoned with and Eric was moved to sleep on 'that' side of the bed.

San Gimignano has slept in a time warp since 1348 when the black plague took most of the town, and then shocked awake by Operation Axis that rubbled all but 7 towers.

Now the streets throng with busloaded tourists and glamour filled shops and long queues for the worlds best and world record gelato.

I'm hoping I can make use of at least one of the 1,000 quintessential photos taken for some artworks.Читать далее
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Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 24 сент. 2023 г., 11:10
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Высота: 324 м
- Италия Toscana Gambassi Terme Sant'Agostino 43.539113, 10.95407543°32’21” N 10°57’15” E
День 23
Pilgrims Progressed
24 сентября 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Sun-screened, shod and hatted our two pilgrims (minus colosseum-blistered Rhonda) set off earlyish as the church bells pealed 11am on the Via Francgenzio. The plan was to follow in the hire car and meet for wine and cheese along the way.

With most venues closed after summer and being Sunday a mad dash was made to find vituals in the stone village of Gambassi Terme. After an hour of patchy internet and getting lost we finally found where the whole village was lunching, purchasing local goats cheeses, salamis, prosciutto, fresh pané and olives.

Using our combined google map locations we bumped down dirt roads and, wouldn't you know it, landed at the best winery in the region 😇🥳

Our parched pilgrims probably should have watered first but accepted the situation with equinimity and entered the tasting with gusto. And what a taste there was Gorgeous Bianco's, Chianti's, stickies and even the Grappa was brought out to Eric's delight.

With the use of Google translate and lots of arm waving we made new friends and discovered Casaneuvas winery had been in the family since the 1100s and they were really good at parting tasters with their money. Lots of spent euros later we picnicked and prattled and were treated to espresso by our new friends/business partners 🤑😲

The pilgrimage over we bumped over to our medieval castle like accommodation for a chilly swim and prosecco in the gardens, then wearing our travelling best we dined at the swanky onsite trattoria on boar lasagne, truffle ravioli and tasty pici. Was too excellent to photograph and too slopey due to the old flooring.

Tomorrow we head on a highway full of lunatic drivers to Milano.

Ciao Ciao!!Читать далее
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Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 25 сент. 2023 г., 09:09
- ☀️ 15 °C
- Высота: 150 м
- Италия Lombardia Milano Bruzzano 45.533178, 9.17108545°31’59” N 9°10’16” E
День 24–25
Milan without the gloss
25 сентября 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
We were late leaving our medieval palace as busy stuffing our faces with delicious pastries. OMG!!! Still warm from the oven 🤪

First big mistakes made by me. Eric did a marvellous job negotiating the crazy drivers and Autobahn speeds. I lost my money card at the lunch stop probably as was throwing a tantie 😒 but did not realize till much later. (I emailed cafe and they found it and chopped it up for me) 😱

Mistake 2: It must have been a late night when I booked our accom in Milan. My recollection was 2 minutes walk from the Central train station in the city but instead found ourselves 25 minutes out in a very strange, dodgy area in a big black coloured hotel. Next door were a huge dilapidated ghetto style building that didn't appear very old. 😩

Decided was safest to stay in our rooms and play 500 (card game) and drink our purchased wine. Bit of a scuffle ensued a few times with bickering over levels of poured wine and kitty hogging.

Dinner was just plain weird.

So no stomping on bull testicle in Milan square, no window gazing at flashy things, no Milanese food 😥

Early to bed as early start as need to travel back into city to catch train into the mountains.Читать далее
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Have loved reading about your adventures. Enjoy the last leg of the trip! [Reenie Doyle]
27.09.2023ОтветитьПереводить
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Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 26 сент. 2023 г., 15:54
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Высота: 404 м
- Швейцария Canton de Vaud Saint-Saphorin (Lavaux)Saint Saphorin St-Saphorin 46.473541, 6.79601346°28’25” N 6°47’46” E
День 25–27
St Saphorin, Switzerland
26 сентября 2023 г., Швейцария ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Lovely Saint-Saphorin nestles between the lake and the vineyards. It boasts charming alleys and a Gothic church, which was built around 1530.

The history of Saint-Saphorin goes back to Roman times. The village possesses a boundary marker whose inscription dates back to 47 A.D. In those days, Saint-Saphorin was often called Glerula.

We swam in the very cold Lake Genéva, Bill making use of the diving board.

The villa boasts a very grand German piano and a library of old sheet music and Rach soothed us with some Beethoven. We the spent 3 hours staring out at the view and gorging ourselves on Swiss cheese which unfortunately led to a very small dinner affair with the chilled local wine left unopened and Rach and Rhonda needing to lie down.

Bill had to be brought in to close the 1.5m large timber shutters to allow a sleep-in. Such a large windowed villa that dates back to 1400's. No spirits made themselves know to my profound relief.

Wine tasting tomorrow.

Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the area in Roman times, the present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monks planted the vines.Читать далее
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Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 28 сент. 2023 г., 09:28
- ☁️ 12 °C
- Высота: 1 400 м
- Швейцария Canton de Fribourg Bas-Intyamon Ciernedon d'Amont La Forcla 46.579217, 7.13121346°34’45” N 7°7’52” E
День 27
Glorious death by Swiss dairy
28 сентября 2023 г., Швейцария ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
After a bit of a late night playing prince and pauper with our new addition, Rach's Swiss exchange schoolmate, 'Swiss' we left in a sleek big black SCOTT work van to scale the heights of the alps and smell the Edelweiss. Gruyére our destination where we savoured the cheese and over-caffineated on the laden trays of Callier chocolate slabs and truffles we were obliged to sample. Then we scaled Gruyére castle and village as well as Jaun pass and back down the mountain at break neck speeds.

Dinner was a very cheery, cheesy affair with the 5 flatmates and 2 x families white wine added as much to the fondue as to our glasses. We kept mum of any lactose intolerances. The Aussie fondue 🫕 pot thickened and filled with bread and apple due to our total lack of skill. We were teased of punishments that would have been imposed had we been seriously fonduing.

The Swiss excel in their hospitality and generosity and we slept warm and snug for another day of adventure 😱Читать далее
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Путешественник Kraak caravanersai
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- 28 сент. 2023 г., 11:37
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Высота: 813 м
- Швейцария Canton de Fribourg Gruyères 46.583682, 7.0815946°35’1” N 7°4’54” E
День 27
Wildflowers Jounal
28 сентября 2023 г., Швейцария ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Beautiful flowers I will name when time.
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- 28 сент. 2023 г., 14:57
- ⛅ 24 °C
- Высота: 521 м
- Франция Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Besain 46.783363, 5.78328646°47’0” N 5°46’60” E
День 27
Jura Photos
28 сентября 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
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- 29 сент. 2023 г., 08:44
- ☀️ 12 °C
- Высота: 646 м
- Швейцария Kanton Graubünden Trin Digg 46.815893, 9.35636446°48’57” N 9°21’23” E
День 28
Caves , Castles and Kasse
29 сентября 2023 г., Швейцария ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
We are staying in a lovely huge apartment in Bern with 5 generous flatmates but it does not seem cramped.

Away in the big black van for more adventures we went and drove to the border with France to see an engineering milling feat which was well received by my 3. From a warm sunny day outside the temp dropped to maybe 10 degrees: 30 metres into the belly of the earth. We learnt that the medieval Swiss ate 850gms of bread a day and not much else 😵

Then we peered over the edge of Swiss Grand Canyon - very deep Ruinaulta and marveled at the stone walls.

Friday night saw us boarding an impossibly cramped train full of Friborg ice hockey fanatics as we sardined to the big stadium for some violence on ice. The drums, dancing and chanting were loud but intoxicating and we joined in as best we could wishing we could transport such a crowd for the upcoming NRL final.

We begged respite for Sunday and lazily slept in. Then went to view the city of Bern, but didn't get far past an Irish Pub where we sessioned with 3 x Brisbanites and ruminated about where to watch the Broncos win on Sunday, sports bars all with afternoon opens. The publican was approached and said he would open early if we had 20 people. A very lame attempt was made to collar Swiss passes by with no success and we accepted our destiny of watching on Eric's ipad and made our unsteady way home up very steep hills 😅.

If we didn't think it possible to eat more cheese we were wrong with on our arrival home a 'Raclette' party was in swing. The last round was Schnapps-covered and very nice but I could only watch having pulled out of the serving way earlier and had to lay on the couch to stop the cheese and gherkins coming out my ears.

In a cheese fog we slept fitfully interrupted by stomach rumblings, visions of running Broncs and thoughts of packing for the long flight home.Читать далее
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