Italy

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Venice
5 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C
Learnt something new about Venice on the walking tour. Venice is shaped like a fish from an aerial view and is made up of 118 islands joined by over 40 bridges. Every island has three key things. A church, a well and a campo which is a tiny area for the people to meet and engage socially. So consequently, Venice has 120 churches on this tiny lagoon. No cars are allowed past the train station. So to get around you either walk, ferry, private water taxi or by gondola which is the most expensive mode of all.Baca lagi
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Verona
8 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
It is a public holiday today as it is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Verona is full of markets and tourist. Poor Ruby got nudged really hard on our walking tour as I think they were trying to get her camera or handbag, but as the handbag was secure on her shoulders, the camera came crashing onto the hard cobbled stones. The camera screen broke off from the camera and camera was badly damaged and irreparable. This happened at Piazza Erbe.
We walked over 5km looking for a camera shop but couldn't find one suitable. We finally gave up and decided to try tomorrow morning.Tired and dejected, we met the girls back at where we had been invited to the night before for a Veronese dialect jam session that was also the birthday party of the singer in the band.
That was a great evening. The band comprised of a violin, piano, base, guitar and a singer. They played Veronese folk songs and sang in the old dialect. When they finished, the birthday boy even presented us one of their CD.
We were able to get a new camera the next morning before our train to Siena.Baca lagi
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Siena
9 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Siena is a very beautiful and ancient city. We are staying in the attic of a 15th century old building. We were hungry when we arrived. Fortunately, good friends of ours brought us instant laksa that had travelled from Singapore to Perth then onto Italy. Yummy warming and comfort food!!!
It was cold and windy when we arrived with temperatures dipping down to -5*.
We were quite awe struck to find old mediaeval streets all culminating onto Piazza del Campo.
It is probably the biggest Campo we have come across yet.Baca lagi
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We were on a Choo Choo
10 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C
That was on Sunday, and this post is late. I will claim a medical certificate as I'm nursing a cold. Although it does not slow me during the day, I'm rather unmotivated once back at the apartment. Also, planning for after Rome needed to be done. We are going south to Matera, where the ancient cave dwellings are still occupied, and Naples.

Back to Sunday, and our Choo Choo ride.

It was a chilly minus 5 deg C when we walked through the misty, early morning medieval streets of Siena. The town was yet to wake, the streets were quiet. Emersed in the old grey buildings and cobbled streets of the Middle Ages, we were reminded of modernity only with the tiny garbage trucks, smaller than an average Australian ute, and the 3 sets of escalators that took us from Siena town atop a hill to the train station at the bottom. Led by the stream of smoke that rose from the train tracks, we hurried to catch the train. It was a turn of the century old steam train (literally manufactured in 1900) that would take us through picturesque Val D'Orca to San Quirico d Orcia, a little Tuscan hilltop village with its annual olive festival.

Riding on an original steam train has a charm and thrill that is just indescribable. To be greeted by a 3 men brass band and be surrounded by wildly gesticulating, loud Italians who were all just as excited added to the atmosphere. We saw the engineer manually attach the carriages to the locomotive, then oil and check all the bits that needed oiling and checking. Then it was the actual chug - - chug - - chug - -chug out of the station, slow accelerating chug- chug- chug to chugachugachuga as we passed through the rolling Tuscan countryside. Magical!

And the 3 men brass band were in the train. Going from carriage to carriage, they played Christmas carols and songs we could recognise and sing to in English. We just giggled all journey, stopping only to "ohhhh" wide-eyed at the scenery.

San Quirico de Orcia is just the sweetest little medieval hamlet atop a hill surrounded by the gorgeous Tuscan countryside. The towns people were so welcoming and friendly. Whatever we wanted and wherever we were, they would somehow find someone who spoke a little broken English to help interprete. We saw a flag throwing competition called by the town prier. We ate skewers of barbecued meat, panini rolls with suckling pig, and all sorts of sausages and stuffed meats. We even managed a tour of a micro beer brewery, with an interpreter borrowed from the escargot stand, used their bathroom and had a taste of Tuscan beer. Of course, we tasted lots of olive oil on pieces of bread as big as my palm. Everyone wanted us to taste everything in their range. We were very very well fed. It was altogether a totally
Italian experience. What I found most hilarious was that hardly any one spoke a word of English, but all through the festive town, the Christmas carols blaring through loudspeakers, were all in English.

After 4 hours in town and walking a tiny part of the pilgrim trail outside town, we were chuga-chugged to various stages of sleepiness and sleep on the journey back to Siena.Baca lagi
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Siena
11 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Siena, is a city in central Italy’s Tuscany region, it is surrounded by medieval brick buildings.

The fan-shaped central square, Piazza del Campo, is the site of the Palazzo Pubblico, the Gothic town hall, and Torre del Mangia, a slender 14th-century tower with sweeping views from its distinctive white crown.

We went on our own guided walking tour through the city of Siena and the little quant alley ways.

We looked at shop windows of small little boutique shops , we also love looking inside some churches which we came across on our travels.Baca lagi
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Siena
13 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
More photos of the Duomo and the surroundings
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Siena
13 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
Today we must have been hungry, cold and dateless tourists. Here are the reasons.

We went to the locals market this morning that sold mainly clothes and homeware but also some food. We quickly walked through the clothes and homeware to find the food. The food was mostly fruits and vegetables and fish but there were a few stalls that sold hot food. Hot whole chicken, Pork shanks and various deep fried goods. We bought fruits and vegetables for dinner and got given free lemon and parsley. Then we got breakfast. We were given extra meat in our delicious Suckling Pig roll and got many free tastings. The store holder handed us an Italian calendar saying it was a souvenir. We must have needed dates for 2018. A whole calendar full of dates.

We found a sock lady at the market selling socks designed with bugs, cows, pigs and many other interesting designs. We bought 6 pairs of fun socks and got given 4 free frightfully ugly yellow socks - “[pointing to four of us] uni, dos, tres, quattro, [1,2,3,4] present!”. We were freezing but didn’t think we showed it enough to be given free socks and I thought 5 layers rugged me up enough. Apparently not.

Later that morning we stumbled upon another food market for the celebration of Santa Lucia. It was like the Sideshow alley lolly vans at the Perth royal show but Italian. Filled with Italian sweets from nougat to fudges to cakes to lollies. As we made our way through the markets, we got handed free tasters from almost every store.

So, super full and almost rolling from all the free food, we made our way to the Duomo (Siena Cathedral) art galleries for a quiet afternoon.

After Swee and I finished at the galleries, we proceeded on an accidental 4km walk around Siena. Accidental because we just kept getting lost through the beautiful side streets and alleys that Siena has to offer.Baca lagi
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Lucca
15 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Lucca is a quaint walled ancient city that has been walled 3 times and proud of the fact that their wall is still intact for all 4km. The first by the Romans in 180BC, then in mediaeval times 1081AD and lastly in 1500AD by Borghi/ Renaissance to protect the settlements.
We are staying in the "anfiteatro" where in ancient times gladiators fought.
Last night, we had a lovely meal that Sweeleng bought from Da Pasquale. The food was exquisite and free flow of water and bread with no cover charge or service charge. A rare gem. The restaurant only serves what is in season and only what the owner can source from the market that day. Pictures of food will no doubt be featured in this blog.
The first thing we did in Lucca this morning was to walk off last night's dinner, the entire length of the wall before lunch. After 4km, Awesomes were starving again, that is after sustenance was had on the wall. Today was mainly an orientating around Lucca and sightseeing day.
As we couldn't find a guide, Ruby did the research and I did the navigating around the sights. These self guided tours are proving to be quite successful both in Siena and now in Lucca with the help of google maps of course!!Baca lagi
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Lucca
15 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
More pictures of Lucca
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Bagni di Lucca / Bennabio
16 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
What a Wonderful Day

We must be either totally mad or absolutely greedy. We woke at 7am today to get ready to make our way to a lunch booked for 12 -12.30. The journey entailed a 40 minute train ride from Lucca to Bagni Di Lucca station, and then a 5km hike uphill to Benabbio, lunching at Locando Il Cavallino Bianco. The weather forecasted storm.

We got to the station named Bagni Di Lucca, and realised that we were actually at the town Fornoli, 4km from actual Bagni Di Lucca, enroute to Benabbio. Well, if we were to walk 5km, what is another 4 km more, especially with lunch at the end. And we had over 3 hours to make the hike, so we could go at a leisurely pace. In high spirits, we set out looking for the tourist information but a coffee stop was priority. We turned our seasoned travelers, intrepid trekkers noses up at the coffee places along the "main highway", which was a narrow one and a half lane road lined with trees of some leafless sort. We found a little cafe across a footbridge full of old men. A typical village morning coffee stop for locals. Our type of place. The owner spoke excellent English, coffee was good, pastries melted in our mouths, the bathroom was clean, and we were invited to sit down at no extra charge. We even had entertainment watching an old lady feed coins into a colourful poker machine. (It's a little mountain village. We take our entertainment when we can.) I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but in Italy, the price of coffee doubles or more once a seat is taken. We have our coffee and pastry standing at the bar, and will not even stand anywhere near a table. We were invited to sit, and so were pleasantly surprised to pay only €1 per coffee and pastry. The day was starting to look good despite dark clouds gathering and descending. We took instructions to get to the tourist information, and resumed our walk. It was lovely walking by the river, looking at clouds move across the mountain tops and enjoying being in the country. We love little villages, the landscape, the pace, the clean air, the lovely people... We love it all.

We got to Bagni Di Lucca. Followed the "i" signs to the tourist information, and got to a board with a map. We decided that it must mean the office was close by. So we walked on. "Ohhh, there's a Christmas fair", and we walked. Opps. We're out of the town. No tourist information office. Either the tourist information referred to by the many signs must have been the board, or it was shut in this off peak winter season.

Onwards we walked. Out of town, the road started to climb. Oh. I forgot to mention that we were walking on the road. There were no tracks that we could see, and of course no footpaths, so we walked single file along the narrow roads whilst admiring the view, and the quaint little houses. All this time, we had varying degrees of drizzle. As the road climbed, so did the precipitation. Blessed be those who developed waterproof fibres and clothes for they have kept many well and dry. May they inherit the kingdom of whatever god they pray to, and plenty of well deserved riches of this world. The rain started to get torrential, and we walked on. With just 1.8km to go, a white car stopped in front of us and reversed. A kindly man stopped to offer us a lift. He did not mind that we were wet, and our boots were muddy. We piled into his car, as relieved to get out of the rain as we were to not climb any more. He shook his head and gesticulated wildly when we told him we caught the train from Lucca then walked from Fornoli. He dropped us right in front of the restaurant and it was not till later that I realised I never saw his face although I thanked him with a big "grazie miele" and shook his hand from the backseat before I got out of his car. He is my faceless angel in black padded jacket.

As we were early for the restaurant, we decided to explore Benabbio and it's gorgeous stone alleyways. Whilst I was taking some photos, an elderly lady carrying a pail of firewood and potatoes emerged from an ancient stone shed. I smiled, said "boun giorno" (good day), and offered to help her carry her pail. Before I knew it, she shooed me and her pail uphill whilst she disappeared downhill. We waited with her pail, and then I started to wonder if she thought she was robbed or thought I wanted her firewood and potatoes. I pictured the old lady cold and hungry. Oh dear. All the other 3 not-so-awesomes could do was laugh at me. I took pail in search of old lady when she emerged with an empty plant pot. We again mimed that we'd carry the pail for her, and she pointed the way. It took both Swee and Grace to carry her pail about 250m through slippery cobbled lanes. Country old ladies are really tough. Always be nice to them.

Lunch was certainly worth the journey. We got more shaking of the head and wild gesticulating scoldings from the owner, Alessandro, when we told him we walked from Fornoli. There was no menu for this restaurant. It was an oral menu of 4 pastas for Primi Piatti (first course), and 4 meats for Secondi (second course). Alessandro, starting his sentences with "Attenzione", explained it all in detail with his limited English, aided by lots of mimes and gestures. It was hilarious. Every time he said "Attenzione", I wanted to giggle. We ordered all 4 pastas and 3 mains. We skipped the beef. The vino (wine) which came in a half litre jug was from his friend, and the olive oil was made by Claudio the chef. Both were sublime and better than most we've had in Italy. I love little village restaurants. After pastas, we wondered how we could face the mains. Not only did we face it, we finished it, with bread to mop up every bit of sauce.

Alessandro asked if we wanted dessert, and I all to enthusiastically said, "of course". There was chocolate and pear tart, almond cake, and apple cake. He suggested that he makes a plate with all 3 for us to share. It sounded like a wonderful idea until we saw the serve. The serve of the 3 cakes made up a whole cake. The girls decided to sing me happy birthday very loudly, and I pretended to blow out candles. We were in a vino and food induced merry mood. The table next to us, a couple from Cinque Terre, who we chatted with periodically through lunch gave me kisses before they departed the restaurant. I love being in the country. Shortly after, the chef appears with a carafe of Vin Santo (sweet sherry tasting desert wine) and 4 pieces of typical chestnut cake of the region, a present from the Cinque Terre couple. Just what we needed. More alcohol and more food. It would have been rude to not partake of such a gift, so we did. We were consoling ourselves with the 9km walk down-mountain to work off the enormous lunch when Alessandro appeared and insisted that we not walk to the train station. He gesticulated that we'd break his heart, and he'd drive us instead. We were so full, we thought he could kick us down the mountain. After all, the train station was at the bottom. We'd just have to avoid rolling into the river.

Intoxicated and overfull, we boarded the train and immediately fell fast asleep waking just in time to get off at our stop in Lucca.

What a wonderful lunch. What wonderful people. What a wonderful day.Baca lagi
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Benabbio
16 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C
A dedication to the meal
PengembaraHappy Birthday Ruby.!! May you be well happy and peacefulwith love and metta
19/12/17Balas
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What a day, what an adventure!
17 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
A rock. A big rock. A mountain. A big mountain. A big rock at the top of a big mountain. A harness, carabiners, helmet, iron rods, iron ropes and a mountaineering guide. This all adds up to a morning of via ferrata. Via ferrata is a protected climbing route along a rock or cliff face with iron cables running along the route and attached to the rock or cliff every few metres to aid the climbing process and to limit but not stop falls.
At 9am, Simone (and as we discovered, was pronounced with an ‘a’ at the end was male not female), picked us up from Lucca and he drove for 45 mins to meet his colleague before we ascended by car up the mountain. Stopping half way up the mountain, he pointed out the rock face that we will be via ferratering on. Really not needing to know how high up it was or how scary it looked, i continued psyching myself up for the adventure ahead. We soon arrived at the parking spot and proceeded to get geared up. The 2 guides, Swee and I made a 15 minute hike down part of the mountain. The path was extremely steep and slippery as well as being sprawled with rocks which patterned and coloured my behind. Fortunately the path was aided by ropes along the way for us to not go rolling down the mountain and into the valley. Reaching the rock that we were to traverse and ascend, the guide said that this climb we were about to do was the hardest via ferrata in all of Tuscany! So we began. Some moves I made whilst traversing that rock was unimaginable. Being safely connected to the iron cable allowed us to safely undertake some dramatic positions and stretch ourselves to the limit in order to cross the rock. There was a shorter ropes carabiner that you could attach to the iron cable rather than the 1/2m ropes carabiner. It was used for resting so that you would not fall 1/2m but rather stay in your position with your arms free for a rest. My guide told me at one point to use that carabiner and have a rest but he actually meant, attach yourself and use it to swing down the steel cable and miss the tricky section of the rock. That was fun and very unexpected.
The track across the rock was challenging, scary and nerve wracking but was an amazing experience and adventure with breathtaking views. I could not imagine anything more difficult than that climb so I am glad that was the hardest. We were so happy and proud of ourselves to have completed that adventure. We were also tired, our muscles were sore and our hearts were beating fast pumped with adrenaline. We still had caving to do. Back up the hill, back to the car, gear off, and we started our journey to the cave.
I never believed that under ground caves have water , that you can wade through and waterfalls inside a cave that you can climb up with gushing water right beside you. After about half an hour trying to get wetsuits on and waterproof boots like we where going to dive the Ningaloo reef, we had an amazing half an hour trek up the mountain and across a stream to enter the opening of the cave.

What an experience, wading knee deep through water and crawling through small crevices. After squeezing, squishing and ambling through the cave, we got to a 2m waterfall inside the cave. Our tour guide said we have to climb the waterfall . It was not a dry waterfall, but a waterfall with gushing water . My legs went jelly. We were connected to a harness and a rope so we used our rock climbing skills and climbed up the waterfall.
We made it to the top with a breathtaking experience of stalactites, many cold wades through the water, many squeezes through small crevices and many, many splashes into the water.
What a day. What an adventure.Baca lagi
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Happy Birthday Ruby
19 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Day 1 in Florence.
We arrived in Florence on Monday at 1230pm and Sweeleng jumped straight in with the organisation of a walking tour at 2pm. This was to orientate ourselves to Florence (Firenze), which also means flower.
The guide for the walking tour was so good. She was both passionate and informative about the city. As she was also a freelance architect living and trained in Florence, she was able to highlight perspectives and architectural aspects of the buildings unique to Florence. She covered the northern aspect of Florence and told us she does the southern aspects in the morning tour, which Sweeleng quickly also signed us up for on Friday.

Day 2 in Florence.
Marks a very special day in history. Ruby turned 50 with her friends and family. The 4 of us met her friends, her beautiful naked friends, at the Uffizi Museum.
The afternoon was shared with Michaelangelo at the Piazza Michaelangelo and the evening with a couple of delightful Gregorian chanting, 95 year old and another centurian monk. They were Benedictine monks at the San Miniato al Monte church who were attempting to sing silent night before the start of Mass. We even stayed for the full service. The full company of cloistered monks joined the 2 old folks for Vespers after Mass.
We finished off the great day with a typical Tuscan trattoria dinner. Ruby declared a very happy birthday.Baca lagi
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Florence continued
21 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
Day 3 in Florence

I was so awestruck at the Galleria Academia when I saw Michaelangelo's David. At the Uffizi, Ruby declared that one must always check the buns when meeting a naked 3D friend, aka sculpture. Some buns are just not properly baked nor formed. I am happy to report that David has a perfect set of buns. Just perfect in every way.

Day 4 in Florence

Saw the Duomo. Magnificent on the outside, austere on the inside. We did not pay to go in the baptistries, and dome because the place was crawling with selfie Asians and rowdy school groups.
As we were leaving the Duomo, Kai noticed a split in Ruby's boot. Fortunately we found a cobbler to mend it. He not only mended her boot but also proposed to marry her as well. Ruby took her boots and fled.
We had appetivo at the Westin Excelsior rooftop bar. Appettivo is a pre dinner drink with some finger foods. Some places, like the Westin, have a buffet appettivo. Charges vary. Some places charge another €2 for the buffet appettivo after a drink (can be non-alcoholic) is ordered. Other places offer free non buffet appettivo with an alcoholic drink. Westin's price was €21 for a drink and the buffet appettivo. So us poor travellers ordered one cocktail, stayed the full 2 hours, and had dinner overlooking the lights of Florence where no building can be higher than the top of the Duomo.Baca lagi
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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ASSISI
24 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Merry Christmas from Assisi, everyone. Whenever Italians hear we are spending Christmas in Assisi, their eyes glaze over, their tone changes as they exclaim and extol the beauty of Assisi. So it was with high expectations that I came to Assisi, and she has surpassed everyone of them.

Assisi is my favorite place in Italy so far. It's the prettiest little medieval village perched atop a hill. It's like time has stood still in the streets and buildings. The stone buildings wind around little streets, alleyways and stairs. Pilgrims and tourists walk around with monks and nuns. In Assisi, one is either walking uphill or downhill, ascending stairs or descending stairs. Each turn reveals another jaw dropping sight. Assisi isn’t just home to UNESCO World Heritage sites, it IS a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apart from its physical beauty, and despite the festive mood of Christmas, there is an atmosphere and aura of sublime serenity. Even the Chinese tourists here seem quieter and less rambunctious. It's all just wonderful. And of course, it's only befitting that a place like this will only have churches with free entry.

Grace and I attended Christmas Eve vespers sung by the cloistered Carmalite nuns from behind a screen on the side of the altar at Chiesa (church) Santa Chiara. All 4 of us will soon be attending the 11pm Christmas Eve Canto (chanting or sung) at the Basilica of St Francis which is just 400m from our apartment.

BUON NATALE , MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Awesome Foursome. We wish you all the magic, wide smiles, generosity of heart, love and great cheer. Have a wonderful season, and we'll be lighting a candle for all of you in church tonight.Baca lagi
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Buon Natale from Assisi
25 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ 🌙 4 °C
Merry Christmas !!!!

Christmas in Assisi is just amazing!! In the spirit of the occasion, we had a Christmas tree made by Kai.

A tiny bit of trivia: San Franceso started the first nativity scene in 1224 called here as a Presepe. There are lots of Presepes on display here, in homes, on sidewalks, on doors and life sized ones that fill up an entire living space or sprawled in gardens and courtyards.

We did a Christmas hike up to Chiesa Eremo della Carceri where San Francesco had a hermitage. Didn't get to light a candle last night as there were too many people at the Basilica so we lit a candle at the hermitage instead for all family and friends in mind.

Ascended 1500m, approximately 4 km in 2 hours and descended in 36 min. Ruby hiked to nearly 3000m and I am happy to report that her lungs were ok. We climbed a equivalent of 130 floors. Total of 7.59km.
We arrived at the most tranquil and serene retreat.

As we were back in Assisi, lo and behold we had monk carollers with Father Christmonks singing and dancing to Italian hymns and other carols.

Finally the awesome foursome were all given a special present when we bought socks from a market in Siena. So we had to wear our present on Christmas day, hence the yellow socks.Baca lagi
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Precepes
25 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ 🌙 5 °C
Just some photos of the different sorts of nativity scenes around the places we've visited.
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Umbria by Bike
26 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
I am half reclined on the sofa in our apartment groaning from the biggest food coma, gastronomic overload, ever. It's 6.47pm now, and no, we did not have an early dinner. The food coma is from lunch and breakfast, with a 3 hour 25km bike ride between both feasts.

This morning started with an early 8am pick up by Francesco, of "Umbria by Bike", for a bike tour. All I understood was that it would include a breakfast and lunch cooked by his mum. Francesco took us to his apartment at the bottom of the hill from Assisi where his mum and dad were waiting for us with breakfast. Within 5 minutes of stepping into the apartment, we felt part of the family as we all sat for breakfast. The breakfast included various breads including traditional Umbrian bread (torta al testo), cold meats, various homemade jams, various biscuits, and typical Umbrian pastry called rocciata, filled with fresh fruit and raisins. We had no idea how we were expected to cycle after all we ate, and then mama and papa plied us with even more. I felt like a bear ready for hibernation through a 4 month winter, as Francesco fitted us with helmets and adjusted bicycles to fit. I must say that the bicycles we had were super comfortable, top of the range sort, so I was motivated to try out my fancy bike. We weaved for a short while through the little town before we got rural. The setting was everything like one sees in pictures, photos and movies. The road was flat, the bike was comfortable, the scenery was amazing, so it was easy to just place one foot after another down and pedal. We stopped to feed the donkey and a sheep, and I took photos. Francesco stopped periodically to explain rural life, and I took photos.

We returned the bicycles to the apartment, and Francesco drove us to lunch at the farm situated on the slopes of Monte Subasio, where Assisi is located, and where we trekked up yesterday. He was going to show us the olive farm after lunch.

Mama and papa were again waiting, and mama shooed us upstairs for lunch as soon as we arrived. "Eat first, look around later" was a priority I understood, except that I was still full from breakfast, despite the bike ride. Lunch was not just a feast. It was an epic. The open fireplace right in the dining room was such a bonus. Lunch was over 6 courses. There were 2 courses of pasta and 2 courses of meat. Everything was homemade, from pastas to sauces to pate to olive oil and wine; everything was grown on their farm, even the chicken, except the veal. We felt embraced by the warmth, hospitality and love that flowed so easily from the family. It was an incredible experience that touched each one of us.

After lunch, we had to hurry down to the farm which included 600 olive trees before it got dark. We saw the chickens (sorry I ate your friend, but she was so yummy), goats, and even a enormous pig that was only 12 months old. We had a tutorial about wine and olive oil making. Everything is just simply pressed, barrelled, then stored. So simple, so healthy, so traditional, so lovely, and I can attest, so very very yummy. Francesco has a full time job. The bike tours and farm is just what he does on his days off. They are an amazingly hard working family.

We came away with jams and fresh bread, eggs that were still warm, and persimmons that we will eat tomorrow. What will stay with us will be the experience of open hearted warmth and hospitality from an incredible family.Baca lagi
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Bike part 2.
26 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
More pictures from our bike tour and feast.
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Orvieto
30 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C
2 nights in Orvieto and so much to do. Orvieto is a small city perched on a rock cliff in Umbria absolutely stunning .

Kai and I went to the tourist information and found out we can purchase a tourist card for 17 Euro to visit the main sites. Visitors usually use this pass over 2 days. I personally think Kai and I did pretty well doing it in 1 day.

After planning our route we were on our way. First stop, the Duomo. The Duomo is a large 14th Century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the assumption of the Virgin Mary.

After the Duomo we met Mum and Grace for a guided tour of Orvieto Underground. An amazing experience I learnt that every house and apartment in Orvieto has an underground passage . Back in the days the pigeons used to fly underground into the holes in the walls for shelter and people captured them for food and survival.

Next stop moving along we were on a tight schedule. Down the hill, Kai and I go to our next destination, Pozzo Della Cava. Wow the best nativity scene in the world. We saw life size modelled donkeys that moved and other moving figures that made it all seem real. It was like a miniature village underground.

We stopped off for a quick lunch of sandwiches and paella, delicious.

Then Kai and I decided that we knew exactly where to go following the map and it was very easy. We actually got ourselves very lost. We went in a huge circle and ended up back to where we were for lunch. Kai in her loud voice announced she gives up.
A young man heard her and came up and asked whether we need help. He guided us in the right direction.

After a very scenic walk down to bottom of the cliff we visited the tombs from ancient times not knowing we could actually go inside the tombs it was like a gigantic playground. Climbing in and out of the tombs and pretending to be zombies scaring each other to death (lucky there were tombs close by), we decided it was a highlight of the trip. What a memorable experience.

Last stop for today, St Patrick’s Well. Orvieto was the Town where the Catholic monks and nuns took refuge from the siege in Florence. So, this well was built for the water supply needed for the many people who fled to Orvieto. 248 steps inside used to have the donkeys travelling up and down to transport the water into the Town.
Another great day, new things learnt, great experiences and more adventures fulfilled.Baca lagi
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Monti, Rome
31 Disember 2017, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Rome is always fantasised and romanticised in movies, books and poetry. When people think of places like Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, people imagine couples sitting peacefully in a warm embrace, people tossing coins for eternal love and to find love at the Trevi Fountain and finding their one true love at the bottom of the Spanish steps. Well, I can tell you now, forget all those dreams and wonderful ideas. It is not true! No loving couples, definitely no peace and absolutely no finding anyone at the Spanish steps. People pushing and shoving everywhere. Crowds of people taking selfies and photos everywhere and no peace at all. You have beggers, people selling you selfie sticks and souvenirs and horse and carriage owners asking for €200 for a 40 minute ride. Going through this hustle and bustle, all we could think of was this isn't peak season, this is low season, this isn't a lot of people. This was confirmed by our guide later in the day who announced, 'look, so many empty spots on the Spanish steps, not many people here now'. All 4 of us failed to see what he was describing. We just saw crowds, and immediately wanted to retreat and take refuge back in Assisi. We thought, not until we have seen the coloseum.

On New Years Eve, we joined our tour for the Colosseum and the Roman Ruins. Our first look at the colosseum was breathtaking. Maybe because there were no people around, yet. The colosseum now has a brick and travertine facade, but was originally just travertine on the facade, the facade had been damaged due to a devastating earthquake, and part of the outer ring has been destroyed. Still, just seeing it still standing and in such good condition after so many years is just extraordinary. Our tour guide lead us through the colosseum entrance and we were soon standing in the main arena. Having had watched the movie Gladiator a few nights prior to this visit, we were able to imagine it full of spectators who were watching all the gory games occuring right where we stood. Having always loved archeology, old buildings and Roman times, I was in heaven admiring this phenomenal architecture that stood before me. Words cannot describe it well enough so I'll leave that to the pictures with a strong suggestion to visit just the colosseum and it's surroundings and then flee Rome as soon as possible. With the tour, we were able to see the underground of the Colosseum. Where the slaves, animals and Gladiators were held before they went out for their fatal battle. Having not been restored much, other than one part to show us how the lift (from 2000 years ago worked) and reinforcement, it gave us a really good idea of how terrible the conditions were. How damp, cramped and unhygienic the area would be.

We soon sadly left the colosseum but there was a beautiful surprise around the corner. It was the Ruins at the surroundings of the coloseum from 2000 years ago. The guide pointed out the Ruins of a palace and pointed out bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, Roman baths and entertainment areas as well as churches, monasteries and other smaller entertainment centres like the colosseum. Like, Circus Maximus where chariot races were held.

I could stay amongst the Ruins all day but we were all needing some food after imagining all the luxurious banquets the emperor's enjoyed in their palaces. I will be tossing a coin in the Trevi Founrain to come back to Rome to see the Ruins again but on second thought, it is a memory I will have forever and do not need to come back to battle the crowds again. After that, we saw many churches that are scattered around Rome, with its stunning art. We found a supermarket and got supplies for our New Year feast. At midnight, we welcomed in the New Year with a glass of Lambrusco and watched an amazing firework display from our apartment's private terrace. Happy New Year to all and many well wishes for the New Year.Baca lagi
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Rome, her Churches and Vatican
2 Januari 2018, Vatican City ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
We had a very Holy New Year. Spent the entire day visiting churches and ending the day listening to Christmas arias in a church. The Basilicas are truly amazing. At St Ignatius church, a dome was painted instead of using bricks and mortar because she could not handle the weight of such a structure. The perspectives are so good, it looks virtually 3D.
InBasilica Santa Maria del Minerva, the mosaic work was so intricate and amazing.

The catholic church is full of contradictions. The earlier popes commission's artworks by famous artist like Raphael, Michaelangelo, and Leonardo Da Vinci, but the later popes became offended by the nudity. They then made a decree that the privates be covered with shroud or fig leaf. To me this is a terrible damage to priceless art.
At the Sistine chapel, the fresco are highly sensitive to vibrations so much so that the guide tells us to be silent for the entire time in the chapel, only to have the security announcing over the PA system saying, "Silezio, silence, no photo,no video." That must be the good vibrations.

This does not take away the massive scale and splendor of St Peter's Basilica and the massive square. Crowds made the visit less enjoyable.
The Borghese gallery on the other hand is very well organised. They limit the number of visitors and give a limited 2 hours to see there gallery. You won't get to all the exhibits but because of how well laid out the exhibits are you get a real good gist of the works. The gallery mainly houses Bernini's sculptures, paintings and ancient Roman works. Absolutely stunning gallery.
Because of the limited numbers, it is really hard to get tickets for it. The girls missed our as there were only 2 tickets left for the time we were in Rome.Baca lagi
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Bari
4 Januari 2018, Itali ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Bari
In a word, Bari for us was all about food. The girls commented that all we did was eat in the 24hrs. There was very fresh seafood, fine Barisene food, fantastic sgagliozze aka polenta chips and the best gelato so far.

Our waiter from dinner proudly declared that he learnt to speak such good English from Netflix.

In the medieval laneway, ladies would sell their homemade pastas and biscuits from their front doors. They would sit in their homes with the front doors open, a table set outside displaying their produce. They would shout their conversations to each other, as their hands busied with rolling and shaping orriechiete, 1.5 cm ear shaped pastas.

In the evening, we finally saw a live nativity scene complete with dancing fluttering baby angels in front of a church just around the corner from our apatment. The locals were so welcoming of us, we were offered hot chocolate (we declined), and homemade biscuits, which we were obliged to accept. A man was most insistant that we walk amongst the scene which to our embarrassment, we did and got into everybody's way. It was such a happy and warm atmosphere that no one minded. Even when the crowd spilled into the street and blocked the flow of traffic, not a horn or impatient shout was heard.

However, the next morning, Bari became the only place where we were told to leave a church (not the nativity church). We are still not sure why.

Lastly in Bari, it took us only 2 hrs to see all the sights. Sum total of 2 Basilicas and 1 castle.

The most important and significant find at the Basilica Santa Nicola, was that Ruby's patron saint is Saint Nicholas, aka Santa Claus. Very apt as He personifies Christmas and he is also the Saint of persons without certain undergarments. She was here to venerate her patron saint's remains in this Basilica. This Basilica is used both by the Orthodox and the Catholics.Baca lagi
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Some observations of Italy
5 Januari 2018, Itali ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Italian Time

On many walking tours, the guides would tell us to keep to Swiss time, not Italian time, when meeting back after a break. Clocks are rare in Italy. It is not unusual to find train stations without a time keeping mechanism of any sort. If you do find a clock, it is not usually working, and if it is ticking along, it does not necessarily tell the correct time. Are the lack of clocks the reason for Italian time, or are Italians so casual with time that they do not even attempt to time keep by having clocks that tell the correct time?

Toilets

We have been told by many walking tour guides to not use public toilets. Just go into any cafe, invest €1, get a cup of espresso or macchiato, and use their toilets. Good advice. The toilets are usually clean, and there's even toilet paper. What is optional though, is a toilet seat. You sit directly on the cold pedestal.

There's a sink to wash your hands, and even a soap dispenser with soap. No cake of gunky cake of soap. Italians might be late, but they'll come with clean hands. The one thing I had to get used to is that often, males and females share the same sink. The cubicles are marked male or female, but the sinks are common. So, you have to get fully appropriate before leaving your cubicle. No fumbling with zip or arranging the many winter layers at your betweens as you're leaving the cubicle. It is when your hand are in the most embarrassing place that you will find a man washing his hands and looking straight at you from the mirror in front of him

Don't worry if you don't see a contraption to manipulate to get water out of the tap at the sink. It is often a pedal on the floor that you step on to get water out to wash your hands with. Sometimes, you have to pump the pedal with your feet. Step on the pedal gently, as the water pressure varies. I am sure that waiters have a good laugh at spotting the tourist who emerges from the toilets with wet hair, face and top.

Smoking is rampant

Lots of people smoke. Lots of parents smoke whilst pushing a pram, holding the hand of their child, even whilst carrying their baby. Fortunately, smoking is not allowed inside eating places, but if the streets have people, it will have cigarette smoke. Waiters in front of restaurants tout for business whilst puffing smoke into the faces of potential customers. Train passengers go for a quick puff just outside the train doors whilst the train stops momentarily at stations, then walk through the train reeking of smoke.

Dogs

Smoking might not be allowed in restaurants, but dogs are. They are allowed everywhere. In restaurants, in churches, on trains, in supermarkets and even at the butcher. We saw two big Alsatians in rather posh restaurant in Varenna, Cinque Terre. Most dogs are well behaved and quiet, but there was one who got a bit excited at the butcher. For the number of dogs, streets of Italy were mostly clean except for Milan and Bari, and we witnessed dog walkers picking up after their dogs in Assisi and Florence. Rome had surpassingly clean streets, however it took 3 days to totally clean up after New Years Eve.Baca lagi
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Matera
7 Januari 2018, Itali ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Magical Matera

None of us want to write this post for Matera as not one of us can think of words to string together to give an idea of what is Matera. Words escaped us when we walked out of our accommodation, turned left for 8 steps, and were faced with old Matera rising before us. We gasped, we exclaimed, and we sighed. It was like being transported back to biblical times. Indeed, Matera has been continuously occupied by humans for over 9000 years, making it the second oldest, after another in Jordan. Looking around us, it is no wonder that Matera was used in the set of many films like Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ and the latest Wonder Woman movie. We had a look at the scenes from those films, and that is exactly as we see Matera.

I am referring to the sassi, literally meaning stones, the old district of Matera that is a series of caves carved into one side of a deep gorge. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, these caves have been adapted, redug, extended and built over, through millennia. After the Middle Ages, they were only used for animals, olive oil press and storage. It was lived in again by impoverished peasants who were forced out of their land by a failed feudal system. Living conditions were so deplorable as families of up to 11 lived together with livestock in a small damp airless cave room. In the 1950s, infant mortality on the Sassi was over 44%. Carlo Levi described it as the Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy. Embarrassed by publicity of this plight, the Italian government relocated the population of the sassi in the 1950s. Abandoned, the sassi then fell into greater disrepair. It is now in the process of being restored and revived, even gentrified, especially after being named cultural capital of Europe for 2019.

It was Epiphany yesterday, and the centre of the new town was thronging with tourists from other Italy. Some made their way to the sassi, but kept mainly to the few landmark Rupestrian churches and cave museums. We tried to explore further into Sassi Caveoso, the older uninhabited sassi, but much is inaccessible or blocked off.

Standing at the many lookouts, is to stare at time, past, present and future, all at once. One can see across the gorge to Parco Murgia and it's many ancient caves. It is what the sassi would have started as all those 9000 years ago. On our side of the gorge, there is still much evidence of the old squalid caves before the government evacuation, and the promise of what will be a thriving tourist centre, especially after 2019. We can even see a building crane, most out of place amidst this ancient scene. Abandoned dingy caves neighbour renovated ones of glitzy restaurants, bed and breakfast accommodations, and souvenir shops. We will be so happy for Matera to prosper after it's tough history, and feel extremely privileged to experience it as it is now, the undiscovered gem that is magical Matera.Baca lagi
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