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Back In The Boots

May - June 2019
England - Italy - France Read more
  • 52footprints
  • 7countries
  • 44days
  • 332photos
  • 0videos
  • 35.6kkilometers
  • 33.9kkilometers
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  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    1
    11
    Day 19

    In Transit

    May 22, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The boots have done their duty and now they get some down time. After 10 walking days, 208 kilometres, many beers earned and quite a few redeemed, they're packed in the suitcase and are ready to switch continents.

    We fly out of Bristol Airport tomorrow and we've booked accommodation at Winford for tonight, very handy to get to the airport in the morning. Our only plan for today is a leisurely pootle in that general direction (approximately 150km) with at least one final cream tea on the way.

    Here's a few pics from our day.    Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    112
    Day 20

     La Serenissima

    May 23, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We had a slow, lazy start this morning before dropping off the hire car and getting through flight check-in and bag drop at Bristol Airport. After rummaging in our backpacks and pockets to collect our remaining UK currency we were very pleased to find there was enough left for food and wine before short flight to Italy. Before long our feet were stepping onto the tarmac at Venice Airport.

    Rather than take the waterbus to the city and tackle luggage on public transport, we had arranged for a private water taxi to pick us up ... essentially a man in a boat, we're used to that from the river crossings on our long walk. The boat was much larger and much more expensive than our little ferries but oh, what a way to get to Venice. Ripping across the lagoon at maximum allowable speed, slashing through the wake of other boats, whizzing past the public ferries ... it was just a little James Bond. All that was missing was two cargo ships, a villain and a gorgeous Bond-girl.

    Our apartment is right on the Grand Canal and we were met at the taxi pontoon by a representative from the holiday rental agency. She explained how everything worked but neither of us were really listening ... we were distracted by what we could see out the window.

    Once she left we headed to the closest mercato to get essential supplies ... crusty bread, proscuitto, cheese, olives, wine, etc. And then we wandered out to explore the deserted city. The tourists had left for the day and we had the city to ourselves.    Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    11
    Day 21

    Adoriamo Venezia

    May 24, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Good morning Venice, you're looking lovely this morning.

    It was a perfect day for wandering around, avoiding the areas with the most tourists, getting totally lost in the maze of alleys and canals, sitting outside at a cafe for a long lunch, watching the world go by and just enjoying being in Venice .... so that's what we did 😀Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    11
    Day 22

    Lemmonds On Tour

    May 25, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    The hiking Lemmeys and the holidaying Hammonds have joined forces in Venice to become Lemmonds On Tour. The alternative was Hammeys but that option didn't get many votes.

    After a boisterous meeting in Piazza San Marco we immediately got to down to the serious business of drinking coffee and swapping travel tales, followed by the even more serious business of eating lunch at a cafe on a picturesque canal. An leisurely stroll around the Cannaregio district, including the historic Jewish ghetto area, burned off a few of the lunch calories but we topped up with gelati.

    And before we knew it, it was time for dinner. Yay, more food 😀    Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    1
    11
    Day 23

    Wandering With Intent

    May 26, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today we decided what things we wanted to see, found them on the map, drew a big circle around them and then set off (after a lazy breakfast) to find them in the real world. We did quite well and didn't get lost too often, which was quite an achievement given the big circles we drew on the map covered most of the details which would have helped with navigation.

    A couple of churches, lovely squares, interesting architecture, a squillion canals and many scoops of gelati ... we covered a lot of ground and saw most all our circled places. We'll get to the rest tomorrow.    Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    1
    Day 24

    Our Last Day In Venice

    May 27, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Ma Nature had a big say in today's plans ... she rained on our morning so we had some quality 'inside' time. The rain stopped in the early afternoon allowing for 'outside' time and we were able to tick off the remaining items circled on our map.

    The weather was a little grey and dreary with a few showers while we were out but not enough to slow us down. We leave Venice tomorrow and we were on a mission to experience as much of this wonderful city as possible.    Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    Day 25

    Arrivederci Venezia

    May 28, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Goodbye Venice. It's been fun but there are more adventures to have ... just not today.

    Today was a 'transit' day. Check out of the apartment, catch a vaporetto (water bus) to the train station and then a couple of hours hurtling across the Italian countryside.

    Destination: Bolzano, gateway to the Dolomites mountain range in the Italian Alps.    Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    Day 26

    Gateway To The Dolomites

    May 29, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Bolzano is a fascinating contradiction ... an Italian city with a German accent and an Austrian flair. For centuries Bolzano was a place of trade on the coach route between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the town is a melting pot of cultures.

    Place names and sights around the town are written in both Italian and German but we didn't hear very much spoken Italian as we explored the medieval centre. The cafes and restaurants predominantly offer one cuisine or the other but some appeared to offer pasta, pizza, alpine cheese and dark seeded bread.

    Bolzano's most famous resident Ötzi the Iceman (circa 3300 BC) lives in one of the museums ... we didn't visit him. The weather was good and spending the afternoon inside had no appeal.

    Instead we squeezed Grumpy Toe back into a shoe and walked the long way to Castel Roncolo, aka Schloss Runkelstein. We were rewarded with great views and a stop at the local brewery on our way back.    Read more

  • TravelerBack In The Boots
    11
    Day 27

    Through The Gateway

    May 30, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We're going to put "conquer a mountain" on the Bucket List simply so we can cross it off after today's efforts. It wasn't the biggest mountain and we had some help but our feet were on the top of it so we're claiming it as ours.

    Help Pt 1 was getting from Bolzano to Soprabolzano on the Renon plateau. This was easily achieved via a 12 minute spectacularly scenic ride in a cable car ... technically it's a gondola ropeway but regardless of what it's called, it's a very civilised way to gain 950m elevation. Grumpy Toe was grateful.

    Help Pt 2 was an equally spectacular scenic trundle on the historic narrow-gauge railway which runs across the Renon plateau to Collalbo.

    Help Pt 3 was a local bus to Tre Vie, which is a busy ski area in winter but in summer it's a hiking paradise. It was standing room only on the bus. Grumpy Toe was very happy for the winding ride which gained us another 400m elevation.

    From Tre Vie there was an option for Help Pt 4 ... another cable car which would deposit us closer to the top, leaving only a final few hundred metres to walk. Grumpy Toe was tempted but we decided to walk up from Tre Vie. We were the only ones who didn't get off the bus and join the queue for the cable car.

    A couple of hours later, after 6km of uphill all the way, we were eating our packed lunch on Corno del Renon with 360 degree views ... we've nominated it for Best Lunch Spot So Far. The weather was clear, the visibility was amazing but it was a little cold ... we trudged through some small patches of snow and ice to get our view and the breeze sent chilled air our way.

    After drinking in the view and taking lots of photos which don't do it justice, we walked back down the other side of the mountain through pine forests and mountain pastures. It was a slightly longer walk (8km downhill all the way) but the scenery was just as spectacular as on the way up. The trail continued all the way down to the Renon plateau, or even further to Bolzano in the valley a long way below us but Grumpy Toe had morphed into Angry Toe after such a long descent. We arrived at the Tre Vie bus stop and reversed the transport process to get back down to Bolzano.    Read more

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