Venice Day 2 – Thursday 11th April 2024

By 1 commentVenice

What a city! What a place! 

Venice is a city like nothing else we have ever experienced!  It is made up of about 120 islands, most of which are connected by about 450 bridges.  There are no cars in this area, and the roads are what we would refer to as alley ways or walk ways.

Everything happens using boats – from rubbish collection to moving house, from commuting to the fire brigade, from police to builders with wheel barrows on boats, you name it, it happens on the water!

We started off having breakfast here, and then set out to San Marco Square – we went to see Doge’s palace which was interesting with lots of gold everywhere.  How one can sleep with ceilings like this baffles me.  I prefer my good old white ceiling!  We walked through the prison section and across the bridge of sighs.  The bridge got its name as the prisoners knew when they crossed this bridge and looked out at the lagoon, it would be the last time they would see the lagoon as they were either never going to get out of prison alive or they were going to be executed.

Walking through Venice is a maze – if you imagine walking down narrow alleys with buildings of a few stories high on both sides of you – left, then right, over a bridge, then 2nd left, then 3rd right and so it goes, then you will get an idea of Venice.  William walks with his phone directing us from either Google Maps.

We went to see the Scala Contarini del Bovolo which is a spiral staircase.  Very interesting – all made of marble. We climbed up the steps and had some great views of Vencie from there.

From there we set off to find the narrowest street in Venice.  Oh my word – narrow it is.  William’s shoulders were too wide for some parts where there are external pipes!  A very different version of a road!

Having walked so much, we felt that we had earned an ice cream – sadly it was a very exciting ice cream, but anyhow!

We then walked down some “roads” that we hadn’t seen before – and found a supermarket.  We had found a Spar earlier – same logo as at home.  I bought a hoodie – and bartered with the guy and saved 5 Euro.  We headed back to our hotel to put our feet up and bought a Calzone Pizza (folded over pizza) for lunch.

After a short snooze for me, and a rest for Wiilliam, we headed off again as we had booked a Grand Canal Cruise.  This was so informative, and lovely to see everything from the water.  The Grand Canal is an inverted s shape.  There were only 7 of us on the cruise excluding the guide and skipper.  There are only 4 bridges along the Grand Canal, but for one day of the year they put a 5th bridge across as there is a festival thanking God for health – marking the end of an epidemic.

One cannot visit Venice without having a gondola ride!  There were 4 of us on the ride – a younger couple from France and ourselves.  It was lovely – the gondoliers no longer sing – we passed a few gondolas where there was a musician on board, which was quite festive.  It is quite an art maneuvering the gondolas in the narrow canals – particularly when there are 3 or sometimes 4 abreast!  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

We then treated ourselves to a drink on San Marco’s square looking out across the lagoon and watching the people.  The weather was about 23 degrees with no wind.  It was lovely!

Having already walked about 20km today at this point we headed back to our hotel to rest our weary limbs and start getting organised for an early departure tomorrow.

The last thing we wanted to do in Venice was see Venice by night, as last night the weather was awful and there was nothing to see.  So, weary limbs and all, off we set again to see Venice by night.  Well, it did not disappoint us.  It was lovely to see San Marco’s square by night as well as the canals, and packed restaurants.  Amazing how many restaurants they are, and most were buzzing.  By this point, William’s blisters were eina, and I had no energy left so we wandered home very slowly, collecting a take away for supper on our way.

We ate, and William watched the scores of his Liverpool march – which did not make him too happy, and I did some work before crashing!

Venice is a beautiful, unique city!

Venice Day 1  – Wednesday 10th April

By 1 commentVenice

We left Florence in the pouring rain early this morning and arrived in a Grey Venice at 9.34.

We found our way to our hotel, and the lady offered us a room upgrade for a small fee which included breakfast,  which we accepted. She also said that we could check in immediately instead of leaving our luggage as we had planned to do. Our room has a view of a canal.

We had a small issue on the train as we should have activated our travel on the App. The fine for not having done this is 50Euro. Anyhow the lady showed William what to do, and didn’t fine us. We said Gracia a good few times!  The joke is that we traveled by train on Sunday, and had our tickets checked and nobody said anything!

Venice is a beautiful city – so different to anything we have ever seen.

We found our way to San Marks Square, and got tickets at 11.28 for the 11.30 boat trip to 3 islands Murano, Torchelli and Burano.  The next trip was 30 min later, so saved us waiting!

In Venice the public transport is on the waterways.

We even saw the ambulance – siren blaring – heading off on the water. We also saw the fire engine – but it was parked.

In the centre of Venice there are no cars. In the main canals there are beacons to direct the traffic. Apparently there are 70,000 beacons in the water.  They have different speed limits depending on where they are.

Anyhow, back to our boat trip…..the first stop was Murano, which is famous for its glass making. We watched a glass making and blowing demonstration- very similar to the one we saw at Ngwenya Glass in Swaziland. Very interesting. We then walked around the island on our own before returning to our boat. Our second stop was Torchelli. Sadly, the Grey weather was now drizzle and cold. We walked around the island- went into the Cathedral and a few shops and then returned to our bus.  We personally didn’t think that Torchello was great!

Our last stop was Burano – this island is known for its brightly coloured houses – the Bo-Kaap of Italy – and lace making by hand. Very pretty things – and very expensive!!!

By this stage it was raining and a cold wind was blowing.  The boat brought us back to the station which is close to where we are staying.

William was impressed with the bus drivers in Florence as they maneuver busses into tiny roads. Some routes have dinky busses as the big busses can’t fit.  The dinky busses are like the big busses – just squashed….ie shorter. He was also impressed with the skipper today who maneuvered this big boat down some canals.

We went out for a meal this evening- I had Spaghetti Carbonara and William had a Carbonara Pizza – his pizza came with an egg in the middle, as did a lot of the pizzas.

Tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be better with no rain…..let’s hope!

We didn’t take too many pics today due to the weather.

Florence – Pisa – Tuscany (Tuesday 8th April)

By 1 commentFlorence

We started quite early today and caught a tram (a bit like our Gautrain) to the airport to collect our rental car.  The place opened at 8.00, so we were there just before – well the people did not pitch!  We were starting to get a little irate when a man came over and told us that where we were waiting was only for drop offs….. we had to go inside a different building.  So off we went – and there was life!  We got our Citroen C3, 4 door, and off we went – William driving a manual left hand drive for the first time – we had automatics in the US – and me navigating.  The traffic was very heavy due to a broken down truck.  (There are no verges on the highways here, so you cannot pull off should you breakdown.  There are pull offs every so often, but in our case the truck couldn’t get to one.)

We go to Pisa at 10.00 – we had booked to climb the tower at 10.30.  It is so strange to think that it was constructed in 117AD and has been leaning ever since.  (There was a reconstruction in about 2000 as they were concerned it was going to fall.

We started our assent at 10.30 – 219 steps to the first point and about another 40 to the top.  William with a knee that’s giving some issues on steps, and me with an eina hip flex muscle.  But we made it – and were we glad that we did!  It was one of the strangest things we have ever done – everything slopes including the steps.  Your body tries to balance you all the time.  A very strange feeling!  The views were great – we realised that Pisa is a big town/city (not sure which).  Coming down was easier than we thought it would be.  We then visited the Cathedral, collected our backpack – you have to leave them in lockers – and walked back to our car. 

A chap stopped us on the way – he asked if we were from the US.  We said no.  Oh, the UK – again we said no.  Oh, Australia. Again no was our answer.  He then said we must be from the US, so we put him out of his misery and told him we were from SA.  He then told us he was from Kenya – when you are this far from home, anyone on the African continent is a mere neighbour!

We stopped at a bakery and bought 2 pizza slices which ended up being our lunch and supper.  The only snag was they were cold!  Now, as some of you know, I eat cold pizza, but William does not.  Oh well, there is a first time for everything when you are hungry!  (We warmed the leftovers for supper when we returned to our apartment.)

From Pisa we set off through the Tuscany area to San Gimignano, an Italian hill town in Tuscany, southwest of Florence. Encircled by 13th-century walls.  It is a Unesco World Heritage Site.  I will leave you to read up on the history if you are interested.  It was very interesting walking around the area. And the views of the Tuscany landscape were spectacular.  We finished off by buying an ice cream – which was delicious – William had pineapple and dark chocolate and I had chocolate and lemon, which was very lemony!

Having climbed and climbed in our little car all the way to San Gimignano, we then went down and down and down.  There are traffic circles everywhere in the Tuscany region, so if William had a fear of driving circles the other way around, he should have overcome his fears by now!

We then stopped at Monteriggioni Castle – far less commercialised and not nearly as many tourists.  Very interesting – we were able to wall along the top of the castle wall (well next to it) and see how thick it was.  William knows both these castles from his Assassin Creed games that he plays, so he was in his element!

The Tuscany region is as beautiful as the pictures you see – parts reminded us of the Garden Route and parts of the hills in Kwa Zulu Natal. 

William then drove us back to Firenze as it is called here – with me crocheting and navigating!

For those of you who have driven left hand drive vehicles, William walked to the wrong side twice.  I informed him that I don’t have an IDP and therefore can’t drive.  Not that I would be so keen to drive on the wrong side of the road anyway!

Having returned our vehicle we caught the tram back to the city centre and a bus to where our apartment.

After sorting out laundry that wasn’t drying – luckily we had seen a laundromat around the corner, so used their dryer – we took a last walk in Florence – and bought an ice cream!  (You can never eat too much ice cream!)  We then packed and climbed into bed.

Having driven a lot of the day, we still managed to walk 15.69 km and in total climbed 30 floors!  Not bad!!

We leave Florence for Venice early tomorrow morning by train.

Florence Day 1

By 1 commentFlorence

We started our day with breakfast at a coffee shop – we thought that we were getting a takeaway, but somehow the Italian/English got lost and we were given our breakfast on plates…… I haven’t yet had a croissant or pastry that isn’t sweet. I had a cheese croissant – a sweet one!

We went to the Duomo – the oldest and biggest church in Florence. We bought our tickets and then joined the queue to enter the church. It took a while! It is a beautiful church with the Duomo being the dome. We also went to the Duomo gallery. Sadly, we don’t see the beauty of sculptures…..and after 3 floors of them we were sculptured out!!! I understand that art speaks to people, well I am not one of those people.  Numbers speak to me!

From there we went to see the Statue of David.  Apparently the ‘real’ one is indoors and this is a replica. The proper one was not open today, so can’t tell you what the differences are!

As with Rome, Florence is also very busy! We walked around – went to the Palazzo Vecchio and then across the famous Vecchio Bridge- a bridge with High Streets shops across it. Clearly it is the place to be – preferably dressed to the nines!

We headed back to our apartment and put our feet up…..

A little later we walked to one of the Palazzos (squares) and had something to drinks and watched people. So interesting and entertaining!

We then caught a bus to Palazzo Michelangelo. We thought that the bus took us here, with just a short walk…..a short walk it was with an incline like you won’t believe We walked through the famous rose garden  We had heard that you get the best views from here, well that is true! There were people everywhere- live music and a wannabe entertainer (I sincerely hope that he has a day job, coz he may starve otherwise!).

It was very festive and we sat there until after dark, and then walked down to the city again.

Florence was buzzing so we walked around, got some supper and headed home.

Rome Day 2

By 1 commentRome

Rome Day 2

Again, we both slept like the dead!

We checked out of our hotel and caught a bus to the first visit of the day – The Pantheon.  It opened at 09.00 – we joined the queue at 8.30 and got in at 9.00.  Chatted to a lovely Canadian couple in the queue.  They have at least 6 months of snow, and winter goes down to -50 degrees.  A warm winter’s day is -20!  Rather them than me!

The Pantheon was spectacular – and to think that it was built in about 125AD!  A Mass was starting about an hour later, but how one could worship in that noise – I am not sure.  Perhaps they would be able to get the crowds to quieten down….

We then walked to the Castel Sant’Angelo.  The queue was LONG but moved quite quickly.  It was interesting to see the castle. It was originally built to be an imperial mausoleum, but it served to be a portion of the city wall and also as a fortress for some time. Later it was converted into a prison and also a place of refuge. We climbed MANY steps, but the view from the top was amazing!

I have to stop converting, but when 2 bottles of Coke Zero cost nearly R 300 – it is hard!

We then went to see the remains of a stadium, which is now underground.  Not great at all.  The numbers for the audio we were given, were at the wrong exhibits.

We found a bus to take us to Capitoline Hill as I had read that the views of Rome from here are amazing.  Up the stairs we went – yes these old toppies are hoofing it! – and the view of Rome was fantastic!

The weather has been hot – about 25 degrees each day, and clear.

We then caught a bus to the Rome National Museum – we wanted to see the ancient baths, but it was pretty run down.

We then had lunch and sat down for a while.  We needed it!

Before boarding our train to Florence – which is where I am typing this – we caught another metro to see the Spanish steps and Trevi Fountain by day.  The crowds were massive, but it was interesting to see how different they look in the daylight.  Our final bus trip in Rome was to take us back to our hotel to collect our luggage.

Everything I read about Rome said that there would be crowds everywhere, all the time!  How true this was.  Every train and bus was jammed packed full – and you are packed in like sardines.

There have been many occasions when we looked at each other and said: “when in Rome, do as the Romans do!”  A saying that we often use, but somehow it felt more real now.

William has become a whizz kid at navigating our way around with various apps.

Bye bye Rome – we have enjoyed being here, but will probably never see you again!

The scenery from the train is beautiful and green.  A number of long tunnels.  We are travelling at more than 200km.

We arrived in Florence just after 18.00.  And then we started walking to our apartment.  We walked and walked and walked.  The roads are very narrow – and the pavements are even more narrow.  We could not walk on most of the pavements with our suitcase next to us, let alone walking side by side.  Some roads are so narrow that when a car came we had to stand on the tiny pavement with our suitcases next to us until they had passed.  There were no cars parked on either side.

Anyhow, we eventually got here – the apartment is basic, but fine.  The only issue was that that I could not find the washing machine.  I did find it – eventually – in a cupboard under the window!

Tomorrow we are going to walk around Florence……

Rome Day 1

By 1 commentRome

We woke up to our alarm at 7.15. We were both still asleep!

We had an 8.40 timeslot at the Colosseum so needed to get going. We grabbed a croissant for breakfast and headed for a train. And guess what…..I got us onto the wrong train going in the wrong direction! Oops! So again, we had to hop off and catch a train back and get the correct train. Again, so pleased that we had unlimited travel. So, we arrived at the Colosseum at the last minute, but we were there.  It looks very different by day.

We enjoyed walking around it. To think that it is just over 2000 years old is mind boggling. In fact it is 2100 years old.

Understanding how the animals used to come out, where the dead bodies were taken out and that the base was sand, to absorb the blood and sweat was interesting to say the least!

Pictures of the Colosseum don’t do justice to it’s size.

There were a lot more people around when we came out of the Colosseum. We crossed over the road to the Roma Forum and Palatine Hill. We walked around here for about 2 hours. Very interesting and again, huge! Towards the end of the morning, the crowds were getting bigger by the minute!  I would hate to think of what it will be like tomorrow as there is free entrance on the first Sunday of the month!

We bought a Gelato (yes, another one) and caught a bus back to our hotel.

After grabbing a quite bite to eat, we headed off for the Vatican City by bus.

We walked to see St Peters Basilica and St Peters Square. The queue was too long to enter the Basilica, as we had a booked timeslot for Vatican City.

Vatican City was a great experience. We are becoming cultural connoisseurs fast!  The art was beautiful, particularly the ceilings.  You walk looking up all the time.  We were disappointed with the Sistine Chapel, as we were herded through like cattle, and told to be quiet as it is a sacred place.  However the staff yelled all the time, sending us through at the rate of knots. We were also told no photos, but William and I had already each taken 1. Oh well….sorry…..

It is unbelievable how many people visit Rome daily!

We then went back to St Paul’s but it was closed.  Off to the metro we went, and caught the correct metro back to Termini.  We ordered some pasta for supper which was lovely and then headed ‘home”.  We have walked 20.96 kms and we are buggered!  Our feet and backs are reminding us that we are in our fifties!

Until tomorrow!

Cape Town to Rome

By 1 commentRome

Thursday and Friday – Cape Town to Rome

We left CT on Thursday and arrived in Dubai at about 6.30 Dubai time on Friday morning.  The airport is huge!!!!!

We walked and walked and walked – and we didn’t leave our terminal!

We sat on the plane in Dubai for 3 hours waiting for passenger from connecting flights.  Even the staff thought it was bizarre!  So we only arrived in Rome at 15.50.  Our luggage was about the last to come out – a little stressful!

We found the bus which we had booked quite easily and headed into Rome.  Our hotel is very central – across the street from the Roma Termini – main train station.

After a shower and freshen up, most people would have climbed into bed, but not the Travelling Taylors – we ventured out to see Rome.  We bought ourselves 48 hour public transport tickets – which can be used on all trains, busses and trams – and decided we would go looking for the Trevi Fountain.  Well….. we got onto the wrong train line and so had to hop off at the next station and catch a train back, and then start again – this time on the correct line.   Just as well we had unlimited travel!

We found the Trevi Fountain – along with a million others, then bought a Gelato – there is an ice cream shop on every corner and one in between too.  From there, eating our ice creams we walked to the Spanish Steps.  Fortunately we had finished our ice creams as you are not allowed to eat on the steps!  We climbed all the way up – and had a great view from there. 

As if this was not enough for 1 evening, I persuaded William to take the train back to Termini (main station) and hop on the other line (the one we had gone on earlier in error) to see the Colosseum by night. The man is a saint, but he agreed that seeing the Colosseum by night was worth it.  All I can say is wow, wow and wow!  The size is mind boggling – you will see little me standing there. 

By now, our batteries were flat, so we headed back, picking up a pizza slice for supper.  I thought that I had a Hawaiin Pizza Slice – but the pineapple turned out to be ….. potato.  It tasted as weird as it sounds!

When we got into bed, we crashed! 

Last Day in San Fransico

By San Francisco

We spent our last morning in SF meandering around the shops, taking in the views at Pier 39 (waterfront) and shopping up a storm! A pigeon pooped on me – I know it’s supposed to mean good luck, but today of all days I would gladly have done without the good luck!

My covid test result came through early this morning,  but William’s didn’t.  I eventually called them,  and a very helpful call centre attendant said that he would contact the lab and get back to us, and amazingly did!  We got William’s results. That saved us $250 each!!!!

We then took a tram all the way up Market Street as we had some time on our hands. When the tram came to the end of the tracks, we hopped off and hopped on one going back down Market Street. We saw a part of San Francisco we hadn’t seen.

After a quick bite to eat we headed back to our hotel to claim our luggage from storage, and head for the Bart (train/subway) with our 3 large suitcases, backpacks and packet of goodies to go to the airport.

It’s time for the groot trek home!

San Francisco

By San Francisco

This morning we embarked on a bus trip to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, after having been to a covid testing station and doing our own covid tests!  We are a little concerned as they now tell us our results could take 36 hours which is cutting it very fine! We do have the option of having a test done at the airport but at a massive cost! 

The busses didn’t stop where the app said they would, and helpful people sent us to the wrong bus stations. However, we eventually managed to hop onto the correct bus and got to the Bridge.

We walked across the bridge and back. 1.7 miles each way. It was lovely and warm. The only issue was the noise, as you have 6 lines of traffic right next to you. It was unbelievable! The thick cables are nearly 1m in diameter and the “thin” cables neither of us could get a single hand around.

However, the views were stunning.  And seeing Alcatraz from the Bridge and looking at San Francisco was great. The weather was kind to us as apparently this city is known for fog.

Our energy levels are definitely less than they were at the beginning of our trip. I guess the adrenalin has run out! We have only walked 15 km today and we feel dead!

Public transport here is very expensive compared to the other cities. We have spent double the amount on travel here in 24 hours than we did in NY for 5 days!

We start our groot trek back home tomorrow night our time.  Early hours if Sat morning your time). 10 hours from San to London, a 3 hour layover and then 11.5 hours to CT. But we gain 10 hours. Our internal clocks are going to be very confused!