180 – 181: Mesola, Po Delta and Lunch(es)!

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Clunegapyears

180 – Saturday 17th October 2015: Mesola and Spontaneous Lunch

K did a speed walk to the retail fish market and came back with a monkfish tail for EUR4.50 (if you like monkfish and know what it costs at home – bargain!), salmon and calemari. Never cooked squid … but feeling adventurous – just a little, and did not fancy the sea urchins and crustaceans on display, many of which were still waggling limbs at me! Also picked up some veggies. Total spend for really fresh produce £14 and fish and veg for soups and fish dinners for 3 days. And fun to go shopping compared to a supermarket BUT if I am going to lug shopping, I need a trolley … have a yen for one of those wheeled shoppers … if only where to keep it were not the issue!

Monkfish tail and squid 🙂

We needed LPG, diesel and motorhome services … all satisfied by the time we arrived at Mesola. No real plans to stay here, but water and waste facilities and FREE electricity. As we arrived we spoke to a Belgian couple …. a market in town. At the market we spoke to a local who recommended a restaurant …. does the fat dog slide on lino???

Really fab local food and only EUR10 for a bottle of local red. K’s mushroom, bacon and potato cake with gorgonzola and cream was AMAZING! Just one of those moments that you seize.

Mesola Castle

These castle out building housed shops and our rather excellent restaurant.

Later in the afternoon, we wandered back to the town, well more of a village, to see the castle. Served as a hunting lodge for Este Duchy and had numerous owners, including Popes. The bit of interesting history is that the Province of Ferrara (Duchy of Este) wanted to set up in competition with Venice and use the natural harbour just down the road. Venice did not care for this plan, so diverted the river Po and silted up the whole of the Po estuary. The area is now a nature reserve. The castle was not really very interesting other than it had the largest stag antlers we have ever seen.

Our pitch next to the Mesola Football stadium

181 – Sunday 18th October 2015: Po Delta and Enforced Lunch!

Being so incredibly flat here we set off planning to see all sort on the bikes. Missed a turn and rode a little further than intended. Scenery pretty similar for much of the ride … fields and waterways – not very interesting unless you are into ornithology, so few pics. One bit was through a double gated (could only open door 2 when door 1 was shut) nature reserve, and we wondered what NATURE it might contain that it had to be so carefully protected … boar, wolves??? Coffee stop at Goro. Spent a little time trying to find somewhere inexpensive for lunch at the Lido do Volano … the one Michelin Star Fish restaurant was rather pricey!! Had to have lunch out as we had run out of bread for J’s sarneys and K, running around the town in the morning, had not been able to find a baker / shop open. Lovely cheese ravioli in a salmon cream, washed down with a half litre carafe …. the wine was only EUR4!!!

Only one … carafe!

The beach at Lido di Voltano … a row of fishermen and the Adriatic around here is dead flat. The Lido is a rather shabby resort, not helped by the grey weather, but still a hot spot for the Italians … there were about 20 motorhomes all parked up.

Thank you again Stephen for the rugby score updates … do we HAVE TO support France now? J says Argentina counts as more European!

Continued our bike ride to the Abbazia di Pomposa: really old monastery, again with frescos. Claim to fame, it that they ‘welcomed’ (whatever welcomed means – did they just say hi and send him on his way again?!) the monk who created the musical 7 note score.

Abbey di Pomposa … frescos and mosaics

Strange how the Campanile increases the number of windows as it goes up.

A less interesting ride back on the main road in the rain. 33 miles completed. We are seeing a lot of semi derelict buildings on our Italian journey. Heating on and see no reason to move from our free pitch.

178 -179: City and Coast – Paudua and Chioggia

Posted on October 17, 2015 by Clunegapyears

178 – Thursday 15th October 2015 – Padua … to be or not to be, but not in Elsinore?

We woke and thought are we a bit citied out. Change of plan … need to see water and less buildings so headed for the sea …. Drove for a bit and passed so close to Padua, a small change of plan again … into Padua we went. We had picked Kerstin up from here in August and the little we had seen looked interesting and she had bequeathed us some bumpf.

We refrained from paying the EUR13 to get into the Byzantine mosaics … seems you had to book way in advance and be decontaminated for 15 mins for a 15 min viewing …. our lack of showering since Milan might have left us in the decontamination unit for a bit longer than 15 mins!!!

However, it is a good place to visit …. Basillica San Antonia, patron saint, was free, yay, and a whole complex of church, cloisters and museum (thankfully shut or we might have felt obliged to enter!). The relics of various saints were are bit perturbing … we could even see a set of teeth. You, dear reader, are lucky … no internal photos allowed!

Padua: Modern door on a rebuilt church – rather refreshing that they did not try, as so many others have, to recreate what was there before.

Palle de Valle, just by where we parked and possibly Padua's most striking area

Prato della Valle, just by where we parked and possibly Padua’s most striking area.

Fab view looking back at the church near the parking .. so many statues.

No statue … living and breathing!

Into the main city proper and the Chuch of San Antonio on the right

So few people look up – usually worth it

An illegal photo taken inside the Church of San Antonio ... the sculptures around the shrine were skillful

An illegal photo taken inside the Church of San Antonio … the sculptures around the shrine were skilful.

The cloisters

Spot J’s unexpected audience – he is on map reading and tour planning today duties .. J that is, not the pigeon!

Lovely architecture throughout the city.

Old horse ties have found a new use

Our picnic lunch view. A student city so lots of bikes.

On the side of the ‘erb market

Drove onto Chioggia, part of the same complex of lagoons on the Adriatic Sea as Venice, and one of the main fishing ports of Italy. Eventually we returned to a parking we had previously spurned. But only after a stop to find an alternative Parking when a lady reversed her mini into our bike rack … fortunately no damage to us other than a slightly wobbly bike rung stand, compared to her shattered rear window; we returned to the Parking we had spurned. Night passed fine with a minor exception taken to the local busses running their engines from 5.00 am before departing and more inconsiderate rain hammering our roof…

179 – Friday 16th October 2015 – Chioggia

K ran solo as J still nursing remnants of a cold, and spotted laundrette and post office – both required!

Leisurely start; think we are a bit citied out and exhausted after Milan, Verona, Soave, Vicenze and Padua …. Chioggia is essentially still a locals town. We chatted to our German and Belgian neighbours, to some Canadian ladies and an Irish chap, who spotted J’s Irish Rugby cap. All relaxed and friendly. We cleaned Chardonnay and took two bags of laundry f(or a walk) to the laundrette. Got bored watching the machines spin so vacated to a nearby bar for a shared rather pleasant red. Earlier we had received some sad news … our friend Andrea had suffered a massive heart attack and died, so raised a glass to her. She was fit and not even retirement age … again another.

Subsequent walk up to the end of the spit and walk back along one of the side streets – carrying bags of now clean laundry! Lovely town. Having paid for 24 hrs, we are going to use it and stay put till tomorrow. We all need a down day sometimes.

Pix speak for themselves …

Not sure the Vespa would cope with the Ikea laundry bag … certainly not image wise!

More real than Venice … lots of washing out.

Neither of us had seen this before … posters on lots of walls to commemorate the dead.

Fishing is the main industry here; one Italy’s major fish trading hubs … but still local fishermen … work clothes drying

A proper haberdashers shop … when I used to dressmaker, I had to go to London to get anything like the choice of buttons.

Sunset over the boats and nets on our walk home – a perfect end.

175-177: Verona, Soave and Vicenza and WELL DONE MADDY :)

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Clunegapyears

175 – Monday 12th October: Milan’d Out and head for another city … Verona

Packed up and left our 5 night Milan stop .. fully serviced: grey waste and toilet emptied and fresh water on board … we get veryexcited to be be in this ‘we can stay anywhere’ state.

A variation on a rolling stone gathers no moss … a touring motorhome gathers no leaves … time to move!

J had developed a head cold, so was under medication so K drove to Verona. Long lunchtime stop at a village on Lake Guarda we had passed last on our bikes! We had cycled through it on our way to Sirmione and this visit was pure chance .. we had deviated from the main road in search of a supermarket! Sally the Sat Nav then showed us the blue line to show where we had driven as we left Lago di Garda … a bit surreal to be retracing our steps (or tyres) on our European trip.

We parked up in a proper sosta – all services and a barrier. Many thanks to the Germans who helped us enter through the barrier. At EUR10 / 24 hours and only 10 mins walk into the city … we’re happy.

We parked up and wandered through the gap in the old town wall to the centre. TIC shut, but time to have a quick glass (medicinal for J!) before returning for supper.

176 -Tuesday 13th October: Verona Proper

We purchased the Verona card from the TIC: EUR18 and it was worth it. K’s costs for all would have been EUR35.50. It gained us entry to all the main sites … even Juliette’s Balcony, which we would not have otherwise paid to see.

Kerstin – this one is for you … every town seems to have one!

The Roman Arena

Built in the first century, it predates the Colleseum in Rome. It has been in near constant use and they were dismantling the seating and stage from the Operatic Summer season. This is where K ran to in the morning … and it had stopped raining when I started …. and was most definitely raining on the return. One idiot umbrella seller offered me a brolly – as if I could run with it! Officially I am no longer a fair weather runner!

The Church of St Fermo

Fermo and Rustico were commemorated by this church, and their remains moved here. The Franciscans built TWO churches; one on top of the other. The lower to keep the remains and the upper for religious services. The walls of both churches were covered with 13 and 14 century frescos. The Upper Church had the most amazing wooden ship’s keel ceiling with small images of over 400 saints.

It was here K received the phone call… not used to receiving calls, I had omitted putting my phone on silent and there was comedic fumbling to the bottom of the rucksack to silence the call. The reason for the call from K’s daughter … she had just passed her driving test, which means that Beryl the mint green Fiat 500 can emerge from the garage. North Camp Taxis may now go out of business!

The GOOD NEWS … outside the Church!

Church of St Anatasia

Italian Gothic, 14 and 15th century largest in Verona. A huge painted height with more frescos; the most important of which is Pisanello’s St George and the Princess, or what is left of it. We also liked the hunchback supporting the holy water stoop. Lunch stop outside.

Piazza Erbe

Named after the herbs that used to be sold here. Still markets stalls and restaurants. Attractive architecture around.

Juliet’s Balcony

Actually an old coaching inn, but a whole industry. The original story was written not by Marlowe (aka Shakespeare), but by Luigi da Porto of Vicenza. People stick messages to loved ones on the wall with used chewing gum (YUK) … something the authorities are trying to stop, but not completely successfully … graffiti also rules! We would not have paid to go in, but since it was included with our Verona Card and we then had to have a pic on the balcony.

Supposed to help you find your love if you stroke the breast … of course J and I had no need!

I have watched a Vanessa Redgrave film called ‘Letters to Juliet’ …. and was surprised to find this …

Desks for writing replies inside … it must be true.

The Cathedral Complex

Cathedral, Bishop’s Residence, cloisters, baptistry and old mosaics and excavations. Less interesting than the two previous churches which both had something different. Most memorable is the font carved in 1200 from one piece of stone.

Wine stop to raise a glass to Maddy.

Castelvecchio

Very impressive from the outside but really disappointing on the inside. It was the home to the powerful Scalgeri family, but nothing about them or the castle inside …. all art … more ancient statues and Madonnas! And then modern art next to some pieces with airy fairy leaps of connection to the old. Rubbish. Could climb some of the walls, which is the only reason it is worth going in.

Proud cow!

What I thought of the gallery .... the leaflet talked about 'unnatural anatomical tension' interrelation to this and Christ on the cross. Bah!

What I thought of the gallery …. if you look closely! The leaflet talked about ‘unnatural anatomical tension’ in relation to this and Christ on the cross. Bah!

Not art, but a long drop toilet, but on a theme!

Another Madonna!!!

San Zeno Maggiore Church

We only had 15 mins here as it was closing time … it houses the shrine of Verona;s patron saint. Another wooden ship’s keep nave ceiling. More frescos and cloisters …. we missed the crypt and the doors.

177 – Wednesday 14th October 2015 – Suave in Soave and Vet (German accent) in Vincenza

Kept awake a LOT last night by heavy rain. It is loud enough anyway when it hits the plastic roof and then when under trees, the droplets seem to coagulate into conker size!

No run … perhaps I am a fair weather runner after all? Brekkie and services and we set off for Vicenza, apparently much over looked as tourists head for Milan and Venice, and a stop at Soave on the way.

Saove is visible from the main road and motorway as the castle is perched in a small hill. It is good to be out of the flat plains of Lombardy and into rolling hills of Vento. We found a motorhome parking which would have been good value at EUR5 for 24 hours, but since we only wanted a few hours and the town was pretty much shut, there was plenty of free parking. Shops – shut. Castle – shut. Could have had lunch as few restaurants open but sarnies for J and homemade tomato and lentil soup waiting for us back at Chez Chardonnay.

Walked up, but on their 3 hour lunch break!

Good to see hills again

Yep – shut!

Vines now devoid of grapes, looking down to Soave

Less than an hour onto Vincenza. Parked in a sosta with only Italian motorhomes; last night was 90% German. Not sure how many are inhabited compared to long stay parked. Raining on and off, and a good 15 mins walk into town.

High drama – almost! J could (J here) have been arrested as a dangerous vagrant… Unsure of the correct way to the old town – I emerged from behind some rubbish bins (unfortunately, as it happened) to ask a nice señora for directions – she promptly dived into her Fiat 500 and fled the scene !!! I sniffed my armpits, checked that I had cleaned my teeth – all in order… Our deduction was that as I appeared to be hiding behind the bins – she assumed I was a tramp asking for money or about to snatch her bag!!! Fortunately, the Polizia Locale were not called and I may have a new reputation….a dodgy bloke. Mi Scusi, Signora – mea maxima culpa – molto flagrante! I then asked another Signora – in my almost fluent Italiano – ” Dove il centro di Vicenza ?” She assumed I was an Italian Signore – ” al primo a senestra, Signore ” – wow! Azure Lingua, Sarah! Molto bene, tutti!!!

(K back again) Wandered around and it is attractive; worth a day out from one of the other major cities. All the architecture is pretty much done by Palladino and his disciple; lots of columns.

The TIC lady told us we could get the bus back using are motorhome parking ticket as it entitles us to two bus trips … GRR, we left it hidden in Chardonnay, so a wet walk back. Will look for this another time.

We were too late to gain entry, but this is the entrance to the oldest indoor theatre in Europe 1580… apparently Palladio used a stone semi-circle for the seats and painted the sky on the ceiling.

172 – 174: Monumentale Milan Marco, Verdi and Porta Loo

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Clunegapyears

172 – Friday 9th October 2015: We will call it – Verdi and Portaloo…!!

By James …

Signore Verdi was a huge operatic and political force in Milano – and Signore Portaluppi was an outstanding architect – in Milano !

Walking tour with Marco our sparky Milanese guide – perfecto ambulare – lots of sights – and the world famous La Scala Opera House – Verdi, Rossini, Toscanini all made their debuts here – Nebucco, the chorus of the Hebrew Slaves – my first operatic love………

I (J) will not say how the local coat of arms features 3 testicles… dicky x 3 does not do justice – tricky dicky?

Testes is the translation of part of the family name … look at the shield on the left.

Part of Milan’s coat of arms … a viper eating the man that Visconti defeated .. he got the keep the coat of arms. Alfa Romeo use it in their logo

Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Ossa. Every wall of the chapel is lined with bones.

Skulls look like childrens, but people so much smaller then. Other bone decorated chapels exist .. should we seek them out?

How to get a new mattress delivered to your apartment!

The old market place. It had a fun corner, well two corners, where you could whisper to each other. If a merchant could not repay his debts, his assets were seized and then his trading desk was publicly smashed … broken bench = banca rotta. This word has been adopted in many languages.

Controversial 2010 sculpture by Italy’s most famous living artist, Maurizio Cattelan. Interestingly placed just outside the Stock Exchange!!!

This apse is actually only 90cm deep. The trompe d’ceil from the back of the church is really effective. Amazing what you can do when short of space.

Villa Necce is a 1930s Art Deco masterpiece – completed in 1935 under Fascist rule – unlimited budget for the architects – the only other place I have seen such luxurious inlaid wood was the Talitha G (Sarah) super yacht ! Coffee and off to Metro M1 and bus 72 (long wait) back to Chardonnay for a K supper cooked in her new pressure cooker – best invention since sliced testicles – whoops sliced bread ! Sorry Marco !

The house had lots of innovative firsts: the pool was heated, so it was placed ostentatiously outdide the dining room window. The dining room walls were cream goat skin panels … I kid you not!

Walnut burr veneer comes from the burrs and is usually very thin … this was the most expensive part of the house … real burr panels

173 -Saturday 10th October 2015: Monumentale Milan

By K

Bus and Metro in .. we have become adept at the Public Transport now and purchase our all day ticket for EUR4.5 the day before.

At the bus stop …. mossie itch cream applications:

First stop the Duomo Piazza where they were raising funds for feeding Africa.

Then onto the Poldo-Pezzoli Gallery. A private collector whose collections should still be intact fully were it not for the building’s near obliteration in 1943. We are sure what we saw was special. Old pictures up showing how the rooms looked in P-P’s day … these were actually more interesting than most of the exhibits … are we Philistine? Perhaps little was to our taste?

Before 1943 …

… now. Think we are entitled to be disappointed.

K did like this a lot … the widow commissioned this when P-P died to depict grief.

Metro up to the main train station. We particularly wanted to see this as it is another Fascist era build … very imposing height, columns and huge entrance … all designed to make people feel like ants.

Pirelli Tower: a law had to be rescinded so that it could be built higher than the Cathedral. A model of the cathedral’s Madonna is on top, but not visible.

New M5 tube line onto Monumentale Cemetery. Marco the guide of yesterday had recommended it. We often walk in cemeteries, but had never seen anything on the scale of this one – vast and so opulent. Officially opened in 1866 to replace many smaller cemeteries, it has since then been filled with a wide range of contemporary and classical Italian sculptures, such well as Greek Temples and elaborate obelisks designed by renowned Italian artists.

The Last Supper

The Disciples faces were all different and so real

Several massive long corridors of grave filing cabinets.

the effect of the monuments is like mini sky scrapers

A montage of some of the headstones. The money that has been spent here …

The main entrance is through the large Famedio, a massive Hall of Fame-like Neo-Medieval style building that contains the tombs of some of the city’s and the country’s most honored citizens, including that of novelist Alessandro Manzoni – on all school reading lists as he wrote the first novel in what is now Italian back in 1820 and then spent the rest of his life revising it.

174 – Sunday 11th October 2015: Milan … Leonardo, La Scala and Duomo

By K

We both wanted to see the Cathedral, K’s choice was the Science and technology Museum and J’s was La Scala. Huge crowds in the main Piazza and La Scala shut for a long lunch, so we headed for the Science Museum. En route we were battling against the flow of the crowds and K had to stand still and shut her eyes … Maddy – I so know where you are coming from!

Science and Technology Museum: Largest in Italy, housed in an old monastery so the building is interesting and opened in 1953 to showcase Leonardo da Vinci. The main section is about his drawings which have been recreated as models.

The museum also has sections about metals, jewellery, solar system, trains, planes and boats etc. A really excellent museum … except NO CAFE! Just some vending machines and poor signage .. it took us about 15 mins to find bag lockers.

Tour Guide for the day … museum route planning!

Gas pipelines across Italy … fairly clear where the industrial wealth is situated!

A HUGE train. check out the size of the wheels alone!

My own stoker!!!!

Quirky shape

A train put onto ships!

Did you know Eros is made from an old aluminium tin can?

We got through museum and Duomo security with this whopper … the KNIFE. Still munching our way through the 6 kg of apples we bought.

We did not pre-book to see da Vinci’s Last Supper and it would have been expensive for a timed 15 min viewing .. and as he did not paint onto wet plater fresco style, it degraded in his lifetime. It has been much restored and purists argue there is little left of HIM. This is a fan’s copy – next best thing!

Da Vinci drawing and model to show how man could self propel to fly.

He had a very curious mind. As well as pulling apart every existing technology, he dissected a lot of animals (and humans – dead) to work out how the body operated.

He moved around Italy a bit and seemed to be an expert on war mechanisms. This is a speed ramming boat.

La Scala: there is museum attached, but we whizzed through – just wanted to see the auditorium really.

The bar area, but no drinks served at present.

Many boxes. Originally used for meals and gambling … pretty small.

The auditorium. It was destroyed during WW2, but well documented, so was restored as it had been. Acoustics are apparently phenomenal.

Pizza and Wine Break on the Duomo Piazza: People watching whilst listening to a busker who had brought his own piano :).

As we sat the light changed the colour of the stone

The Duomo

Quick tour of the museum – lots of statues … not sure if these are the originals or copies. Fortunately the cathedral owns the quarry so can replace and repair.

No architectural drawings and it took about 400 years to build. They followed the plan of this wooden model: no glue or nails.

Then up onto the roof. I had been up a long time ago and remembered this as the high light of that short trip. But this time, we paid extra and caught the lift!

Such detailing up so high – the architect must have intended people to view from the rooftops.

Looking down to what was the royal palace and now houses the Duomo Museum.

Some odd modern sculptures right up top! The Duomo has been described as ‘Dripping Up’ .. so many spires. Something like 3,600 statues! The gold on the right is the main spire with the Madonna.

A closer Madonna. Apparently a lot of Milanese, both boys and girls, are called Marie.

A view down towards the entrance of the posh mall.

The main entrance

Hope he does not stay still too long … he may become a statue!

The attention to detail was just amazing!

Back on the ground … the main entrance door. Two small marks on the door from war shrapnel … amazingly spared.

Stroke the leg for luck … both in J’s case!

We were too late to go inside … but hey, it will have to be another place we come back to!

166 – 171: Lakes Good and Bad, Milan and 6 Month Milestone

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Clunegapyears

166 – Saturday 3rd October 2015 -K to Brescia

K ran the furthest yet … 5 km… felt good. More laundry and then an early lunch. Cycled to the train station and travelled the 24 mins to Brescia. Very uninspiring near the station: drunks and druggies! However, the main part of the city is inspiring. I had seen that there were two museums up at the castle … quite a steep walk up and I should have counted the steps! Unfortunately the museum I wanted about the unification of Italy was closed and the armaments museum had little interest for me. The photographic temporary exhibition about the 1904 was quite interesting, given that Milan is hosting the world fair 2015.

A proper cobbler – he glued and stitched my walking shoe …. EUR2!!!

Back down the hill, I bumbled around the squares, which all became alive about 3 p.m. … lots of exhibitions about sustainability, selling books, cookery demos and giving away seedings. Buzzing. Attractive architecture. Highlight was the Basilica as it was also a church with a crypt and mosaics – a spiritual place. Not too touristy and worth a visit.

James returned from Dublin via taxi, which the campsite manager had kindly booked … it would not have been possible to get the van back into the campsite after about 9.30 and it saved K trying to park up at the airport when airport carparks are not designed for 8m vans.

167 – Sunday 4th October 2015: Rest and Cycling in the Rain

A late start. After lunch, the rain seemed to have cleared so we cycled past Iseo town and onto the peat bogs …. fine until we lost the route. We decided to cycle onto the next largish town for ice creams and coffee, but the heavens opened – a serious deluge. We watched the stair rods and lightening from the shelter of a tree for about an hour. Once it eased off we about faced and headed back to Iseo. By this time the sun was out, so we stopped off and ate the planned ice cream.

Watery view from our Iseo ice cream stop in Iseo

And then check out the most amazing sun set from the campsite

Received a pic message from our Bristol neighbours, Kay and Stephen … they had a super duper caravan and the pic is of an amazing motorhome. Apparently the caravan ‘morphed’!!!! They claim our ability to move on easily is partly to blame for the transition. We are so delighted to see the birth of Phoebe. Sort out the dog passports and please join us, very latest, end March / early April in N France. Grinning from ear to ear for you.

Phoebe – can’t wait to see her.

J sporting his Ireland cap. Could not mange to watch the game as all fee paying channels. TY Stephen for text updates. A wonderful win… K will now HAVE to support Ireland, although so long as an European team wins…

Our pitch – could not be any closer to the water.

View from the campsite over the lake

168 – Monday 5th October 2015: Boat to Monte d’Iseo and Circular Cycle Wine Tour

We cycled to Iseo port and caught the ferry to the 1) European 2) largest 3) inhabited 4) lake island … quite a lot of criteria here to reduce the competition in this category. We helped out some fellow Brits who knew they were catching a ferry but not where to and how to get back again! We are just so organised … some of the time!

Once on the island we turned right on the 9.5 km bike route around the island perimeter. No cars, just the odd moped and three wheeler car and paths good. Until, K suggested we detour from the shore path inland a bit to see a Medieval village …. the path became cobbles and it was VERY steep uphill. For a loooong way. At one point we considered turning back to the nice level shore path …but that would have been defeatist and surely we must be at the top soon….. NOT!

As soon as we passed though the Medieval village … more of a cluster of houses all on top of each other, we finally descended and found a cafe for a couple of glasses of wine and a snack. Did I omit to mention, we’d had several glasses already … seemed wise the break the trip up and contribute to the local economy!

Another stop for the mandatory gelato. Phone call from Maddy about why she may like to read History at Uni … Horrible Histories seems a good starting point, but what do I know about personal statements?!?

Time for another glass before we caught the return ferry.

Part of the long push up

Glass Number 1

Glass Number 2 – forgot glass 3 pic

We ate at the campsite restaurant. The lake is known for its Perch, which I had with a lemon sauce …. yummy. J went for his usual – Wiener Schnitzel and chips (seems to have replaced scampi and chips in Euroland) and could not manage a Tiramasu after … shock / horror! I managed cheese … all of it and there was a lot! But cheese and ice-cream go into that other stomach. And the campsite manger sent through a complimentary Limoncello – had to buy a bottle the next day – developed a taste for it! He was also roasting chestnuts over a fire pit for the campers … a really excellent site. The washrooms seemed to be constantly being cleaned.

I managed the lot! May have been some dairy induced snoring that night!

169 – Tuesday 6th October 2015: Come on Como

We left our lovely lakeside pitch and headed towards lake Como. The lake is actually in 3 parts, like a person with two running legs. Imagine and upside down Y. Lecco is at the bottom of the right hand leg and Como off the tip of the one on the left. Bellagio is in the crotch where these two legs of the lakes meet. The guide book says that Bellagio is the prettiest town on Lago di Como, so this was our via point with the intention of driving after down the other leg to Como. However, by the time we had shopped … twice (K looking for a pressure cooker … Lyn, who we met in Idryia and then Piran in Slovenia, cooked lots in one … so I wanted one!) … time had marched on.

By the time we arrived in Bellagio it was knocking on the door of 4pm. All the car parks, again like Lake Garda, are not motorhome friendly. We managed to find a free parking by the cemetery which was a bit of a walk into the town, but not suitable for overnighting in. We asked in the TIC and the young girl said it was OK to overnight in the main carparks after 8.00 pm until 8.00 am. Our plan was to stay up at the cemetery and then move at 8.00. Does anyone know the French for cemetery … we were with 4 French motorhomes at one point, in a non friendly motorhome car park, and I could only describe a cemetery as a ‘champs des morts’ … but they understood! We relaxed and watched the world go by over a coffee and an ice-cream. We then relaxed some more and did the 1 hour walking tour around the town and managed (just) not to buy a very expensive, but beautiful green Italian handbag that I need like a hole in the head.

Best laid plans awry again … we had the collywobbles (what a wonderful old word that is) about staying in a non friendly motorhome carpark with no other vans. It was a long drive the Plan A, Plan B and Plan C that K had identified in Como and it was now starting to get dark! Oops! One of the Italian apps described a motorhome parking up the hill between the legs and only 30 mins. Bollocks on two counts. It was a frigging mountain with the tightest hairpins we have done on this trip and it was now dark! And it took the best part of 45 mins. And we could not find it in the pitch black. So we parked off the road and made sure all the blinds were shut fast so we did not alert people to our whereabouts by sending out light sabres. Being now 9.00, we dined only on the leek, potato and blue cheese soup that had been in the slow cooker all day – lunch planned for tomorrow!

We also agreed, again, that not having a Plan A -C within reach is not on and that we need to possibly get up earlier!!! Gulp.

170 – Wednesday 7th October: Narrow Misses, Ferry and onto Milan

K woken in the night to the sound of Alpine cow bells … VERY close. I stuck my head out of the bathroom window to be greeted by a very relaxed flock of sheep only about 1.5 metres from me … it was so still and quiet I could even hear them ripping at the grass. Don’t they sleep?

We set the alarm … our new found and probably short lived new early rising discipline! Discovered that we were next to a helipad … yep, so remote up this mountain it would be a necessity. J took on the challenge of the hairpin descent … at least I had had the benefit of on-coming headlights going up last night. In theory, I should have been able to enjoy the lake views … but it was seriously steep and the hairpins were very tight. Not relaxing.

The next stage of the trip back along the lake to Bellagio was, if anything, even less relaxing! Narrow roads with on-coming traffic and a resurfacing vehicle that decided to reverse suddenly – missing us by millimetres. J managed a polite ‘Oh No’ … my reaction was unprintable.

We arrived at Bellagio and J queued in Chard whilst I went to buy the ticket, having read about a supplement if you buy on the ferry. J was been ushered on board whilst I was still waiting for the card machine to connect with the UK via Mars, Venus and Pluto .. thought I was going to have to do an Indiana Jones style leap across gaping water to catch up!

The west shore of the lake is supposed to be the more attractive …. the plan (can you tell this one went awry too!) was to leisurely meander down to Como, and spend the night there. HOWEVER, the roads around Como are NOT designed for traffic … of any kind. And again, we could not find anywhere to park. So we kept going to Como … drove in and drove out! Large and not inviting.

Top tip: if you want to visit Lake Como – arrive at a main town and go everywhere by boat. Max two days, as although pretty, all the villages look the same! What was good to see was some of the fantastic waterside villas that I remember from my childhood – all pink and yellow.

We found a huge supermarket complex which delivered:

K bought a pressure cooker
J had a MacDonalds …. even if a slight comms issue and he needed up with a Happy Meal 🙂
We managed to ring Camping Milano to see if they had a space to take us … no need to book – just turn up.

We arrived at Camping Milano mid afternoon and got ourselves set up. We then caught the bus and Metro into the centre. Coming up from the Metro to the Duomo Piazza is quite something. The architecture of the cathedral alone is special, but then add in the Vittorio Emmanulle mall … wow factor. We eventually found the Expo ticket office and bought our consecutive day 2 day tickets…. so pleased J is a senior again …. EUR57 versus EUR42! Then found the TIC and picked up info for when we come to the do the city properly.

Vittorio Emanuelle Mall – after the First King after Unification in 1861 and this was completed in 1867.

And inside it – largest glass work after Crystal Place World Expo. Glass lit originally and had little wind up ‘mouse’ that trundled on a track around the top … the first ear knocked the top off the gas pipes and the second ear was the incendiary. Must have been quite a sight.

Old trams everywhere: some had wooden panelling – we will have a ride.

Expo Gate: where we purchased the tickets … statue and church behind

The cathedral – mellow evening light making it look golden. The quarry belongs to the Duomo so no other building has this stone. It is rippled with blue, grey and pink, so takes on a different colour in different lights.

Rounded off our quick visit with a glass before the return … and home cooked perch with a compot made in the new pressure cooker 🙂

171 – Thursday 8th October 2015: Expo Exposed

We caught the campsite shuttle to the Milan Expo – theme of food sustainability and feeding the world. A LOT, and I mean seriously a lot of people, and so many school groups, all arriving at the same time.

Herded.

We had googled the best bits and had a shortlist of country stands that we really wanted to visit.

So we started with UK – they do this kind of thing well – a bee hive with a live feed to a bee hive. Given we visited an amazing bee museum in Slovenia and K listened to a Farming Today broadcast about the importance of bees and pollination … this exhibit gave very little info, but it was sensory with a wild flower meadow and the bee sounds.

Ireland was next … best bits … a thunderstorm audio and giving kids a soft cuddly toy of a cow. If you knew nothing about Ireland you would think it rained all the time and all the landscape is covered with cows!

So it rains all the time?!

We don’t do well in queues, so the only other country we visited was Czech republic – no queue and it was evident why! UAE had a 3 hour queue. Korea 2 hour etc etc. One spends this long at the airport to fly to these countries, not to spend 5-10 mins seeing a stand! We got into some of the smaller countries, such as some of the African nations who were part of the Legumes section, but that was it. We still managed to spend 5 hours walking it … It is truly vast! And so busy! People kept pouring in.

Wine to help us with the crowds!

We have decided not to use our day 2 tickets … our time will be better spent exploring Milan for an extra day.

Milestone – 6 months

We have reached the 6 month travelling mark …

3rd April: Vacated our house in Bristol

4th April: Flew to Jordan for a 11 days driving trip

We cannot tell you how pleased we are to still be loving this. The time has just flown by. We do not miss TV (even the rugby or Strictly, which has just started), washing machines etc. Just people.

We are just so incredibly lucky and we know it.

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

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