Category Archives: Europe Holiday 2013

Our train to Florence left Bolzano mid afternoon and we arrived in Florence to 30*C temps, which was a big change from the low 20s in the Dolomites (similar to the temp difference from Sydney to Jakarta/Central Java – Yah, 2^nd CJ reference).

Our hotel is located about 2 mins walk from the station which is convenient as we caught the train for 3 day trips from Florence to Pisa and the Cinque Terra.

Something we’ve found missing in both our hotel in Florence and Venice is flyscreens, as it would have been nice to have our windows open at night but there are mozzies and no flyscreens… so instead we had to sleep with the AC on and we only had one of those in room units which was extremely noisy. Still some AC is better than no AC.

Whilst in Florence, we visited one of their main churches which had a really interesting outside, created using different coloured marble (the inside was actually very plain compared to the outside, and a bit disappointing, plus Freya wasn’t allowed in cause she was wearing shorts and didn’t want to pay 1.50 euro to buy a disposable plastic sheet to cover herself with). We also climbed the 300+ steps in their bell tower to get this view over Florence –

We tried to visit the museum with the statue of David, but the queue was really long and the entry fee was a bit high, so we instead settled for the copy of the statue located in a park on a hill overlooking the city centre. On our way back we went past their city hall, which looks like a medieval castle and also found a really nice sandwich shop for some lunch.

Our day trip to Pisa was exciting as we got to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which was a lot shorter than I thought, but was also on much more of a lean than I had expected. This lead to some tricky staircase climbing as we ascended the tower, with the staircase going from very sloppy stairs to almost walking on a completely horizontal staircase.

We also took 2 days trips to the Cinque Terra from Florence, which I’ve covered in my next post.

We’re on our way to Rome tomorrow and we’ve decided we need to purchase an additional suitcase just for our souvenirs as both our suitcases and backpacks are completely full and this will be easier and cheaper than trying to navigate the Italian Postal System to send a package home.

We now only have 2 weeks to go, until our flight back home 🙁 It will be nice to get back home as after almost 3 months together, we’re starting to get a bit sick of each other 🙂

Ciao

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Our train from Venice arrived in Bolzano and we were greeted by Donatella, ready to begin our weekend in the Dolomites. On the way to Pozza we stopped by a beautiful blue mountain lake, with snow capped mountains behind, it was very scenic.

Pozza was as I had remembered from my last trip. Last time I was here, they had a green painted square on the ground, which was their village green. This has since been transformed into a mini park/green space which I think is very nice and gives the village a nice central space.

We stayed with Lucia, Stefano and their family in their house which overlooks the village square and has a nice view of the mountains surrounding the village.

On Saturday we visited Val San Nicolo (apparently where my grandpa proposed, although there is some debate on the exact location 🙂 ), as well as taking a quick trip to Passa Pordoi. Here’s what Val San Nicolo looks like –

On Sunday, we attended a small family BBQ (only about 45 people) at Franco’s house in Predazzo (south of Pozza). The weather was beautiful, with a slight breeze. The food was delicious, especially some of the desert (I got a recipe for a very simple slice) and the family were very friendly. We spent most of the time talking to Giulia (one of our cousins), she was practicing her English for an exam she had the following week at University.

Monday, we visited Buffare and Lucia & Stefano’s Refugio – Baita Cuz (A Refugio is a mountain hut/building, which serves refreshments/meals, has toilet facilities and sometimes sleeping accommodation (like Baita Cuz). These huts are used by hikers in summer and skiers/snowboarders in winter). A short walk from the refugio, took us to a panoramic point which looked out over Val San Nicolo –

We then walked up the mountain from Baita Cuz and got this fabulous view over the surrounding valleys –

Unfortunately, we all got very sunburnt on our arms, neck, back and face that day. Later that night we all looked very red, especially Donatella. To be fair, we didn’t actually use any sunscreen :-).

Tomorrow we’re getting the train from Bolzano to Florence to continue our Italian holiday.

Thanks to all the family in Pozza (and Val Di Fassa) for making our stay enjoyable and wonderful (Freya says a special thanks to Alice and Gianluca for fabulous nights on the town 🙂 ). We hope to see you all again soon and come and visit us in Australia sometime.

Grazie mille, Ciao

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After a long train ride from Sorrento (about 7 hours), we arrived in Venice and it was raining 🙁 Luckily it was forecast to be sunny for the rest of our time in Venice.

Our hotel here is in a nice semi-residential area and has a lovely courtyard which is nice to relax in after wandering around Venice all day.

Venice is the way I remembered it, with it’s small narrow streets/alleys sometime leading to dead-ends/canals, lots and lots of bridges and the smell (it’s like a fishy, oceany, sewage smell all mixed together).

We found a really nice takeaway Pizza shop here, which was perfect for lunch (and reasonably priced). Our daily gelato tradition from Sorrento has been continuing here, but still no luck in finding any cannoli other than the Sicilian type (which is a ricotta cheese style filling. Might have to wait until I’m back in Oz for the creamy chocolate fillings….mmmm 🙂  )

One day we took a ferry trip out to the islands of Murano and Burano. Murano as you would know is where the glass factories are located, and we spent a couple of hours looking in shop after shop after shop at hundreds of glass creations, some very expensive and way outside our price range and others much more modest but still equally as beautiful. Afterwards, we took the ferry to Burano, which is a nice residential island famous for it’s lace making skills. It was also the most colourful island we saw (and the cleanest/best maintained island)

We also visited the Rialto Bridge, Grand Canal, many streets, alleyways and bridges and of course St Marks Square –

where we ascended the clock-tower for this view over the islands –

One afternoon we took the ferry to Lido, which is a long island on the edge of the Venecian lagoon that fronts onto the ocean. It’s also the only island in the lagoon which has roads, cars and buses. Lido has a couple of beaches, some of which are accessible to the public, but the water was a bit cloudy when we visited and we hadn’t brought our swimmers, so no swimming here.

This morning when we left Venice to go to Pozza via train, the Venetian Public Transport service was on strike (we had no prior knowledge of this and hadn’t seen any printed signs up advertising this previously). As a consequence, we had to walk 45mins from our hotel to the train station with our bags in the hot sun. Not happy Jan… 🙁

Currently on the train from Venice now, on our way to Pozza for a few days. Looking forwarded to catching up with the relatives and seeing The Dolomites again.

Ciao

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