Florence panorama

Italy - To Firenze

Leaving Bologna after our brief recce, we headed south on a road to rival the autoroute blanche, as you progress the valleys become deeper and the road winds its way from tunnel to bridge. The highway is narrow and heavy with traffic, being peak holiday season and all, although nothing to complain about, besides the excitement is building, Florence awaits. It is one of those places I guess you have to visit, and if you do so, do yourself a favour, buy a tent and a mattress and make use of the superb Camping Michelangelo. The camp site is shaded by olive trees and sits up on the hill overlooking Florence. I can’t believe any hotel in Florence could have a better location. As with most camping in Italy, the facilities were excellent, far exceeding expectations.

View from the camp site, through the olive trees















Everyone goes for the art no doubt, and jeez, it is everyone that goes. My least favourite pastime of jostling with tourists had to be endured to take in some of the wonders that lie in Florence. I am not so sure that one does ever take it in though. I still feel it to be a little surreal to have stood in front of David for example. It’s just not what you expect to do, that’s the stuff of coffee table books. We took on the Americans and Japanese in the art of gallery visiting. Highlights: the Uffizi, Academia and the Palais Pitti, not to mention the Duomo, Santa Crocce, bridges and of course the frivolous; yummy ice cream and granita. It was incredibly hot though, not quite touristing weather, that did get us down a bit. Florence cannot be done in a day, and it was a pleasure to spend the extra night under our olive tree and stroll into town the next morning.















Ponte Vecchio from as seen from the Uffizi (below).















For me, the beauty of the art was rivalled by marvelling at the period and circumstance in which it was created. Something that is difficult to describe and I think it’s a personal thing, go see for yourself. In the galleries however, some rooms were closed and some were sharing an attendant to keep the unevolved amongst us at bay. The natural light seemed to be left to the discretion of the staff member who may or may not wish to catch a tan that day, and the humidity and air conditioning were at best random. I’m no expert, but I thought these things important in preserving art. It all seemed to have that lack of funding feeling about it. Something has to be done about this. You can’t have treasures like that in your country and not look after them properly. Focus! Sell Modena and use the cash, hmm probably won’t get enough though…








































Two Daves, neither the real thing, photos of the real thing are not allowed and those taken from the waist with a new camera and the wrong setting don't turn out so lekker ;)















A normalish plain 'house' sporting some very Tuscan colours.















A not so normal, not so plain church with beautiful marble work.

From here, south and then to the coast.

Italy - Milano to Bologna

It wasn’t long before we realised that the Dutch are a little like aeroplanes. You see, after 11 September, many axii of evil ago, when all the planes were grounded they actually found parking space to be a problem. Well, after Italy, I am sure that if all the Dutch actually went home there wouldn’t be enough room for them. Maybe it was our camping approach that led us to encounter the more adventurous.

Needless to say we didn’t meet any Nederlanders in Milan as this was our only brush with the three star hotel. Cool city, but the hotel leaves no memories. After the lakes, it was also the first of many a Duomo. A spectacular cathedral; well worth getting a pigeon’s eye view from the ramparts. We were already starting to get into the ice cream thing, Milan marks the priciest sorbet I have ever had, together with a killer lemon soda. You just have to have respect for the carabinieri, they know about the good things in life; Alfas. Perhaps more thieves get away when something goes haywire, but the cops look happy to be cruising the streets.

The stain glass inside Milan's cathedral.

















True petrol heads giving directions















Pedestrian boulevard looking down to the castle.















Pigeon eye view

I can’t say Milan strikes me as a city I have to go back to, but it was kind to us.

So off south-eastish, Parma, and onto Bologna. Parma is small and quaint, obviously lunch had to be ham and melon, also some marvellous mozzarella. Italy was showing our stomachs a great time. From Parma we visited Torrechiara, a picturesque castle just outside the city, and then onto Modena. From Torrechiara we got our first taste of the rolling hills and beautiful countryside that would make up much of the rest of the trip.





















Batistere in Parma, clad in the beautiful pink marble of the region.





















Pedestrian street in Parma.











Torrechiara from afar.















View from Torrechiara.

Modena, hmm Modena. The best thing to have come out of Modena are fast cars and vinegar. Otherwise it is a hole! This was low point of the trip, thankfully a fleeting one as we camped in a mozzi infested dump on the outskirts of town (better than the other option slap bang in the highway), and then hit the road to Bologna. Unless you are visiting a Lamborghini or Ferrari spot, take the ring road.

Bologna surprised, perhaps like food flavoured by hunger, Bologna was just beautiful after Modena. To be fair though I think it would even be enjoyed if approach from Florence in the south. Great architecture, cultural treasures and a classy atmosphere make this city with its arched gallery pavements very special. Back in the old days every family seemed to have built themselves a tower. Not many still exist, but in Bologna two stand side by side. Bravely we took on the tall one, 500 steps later, neither vertigo nor my great physical shape helping, we were rewarded by a 360 degree view of the red stone and distant hills that make up this gem of a city. Going to Italy? Go to Bologna!





















One is used to the mannetjie piss fountain all over but this is a first for me... Mermaids in the Neptune fountain in Bologna.





















Amazing marquetry in a church in Bologna, many panels behind the choir.





















Cathedral in Bologna, unfinished façade, half clad in decorative pink marble and and bare up top... much like the mermaid.





















The arched pavements that seemed characteristic of Bologna. Perfect in rain and sun... why don't we all have them???





















The twin towers of Bologna.















A lousy photo, but an idea of the stairs clinging to the walls... jelly knees.















View over the red roofs of Bologna.

Next stop Tuscany...

Italy - the lakes

Yesterday, on the way to work, my finger tips where a little bit chilly for the first time in a long time, a good time to think back to the magnificent summer holidays and give a bit more details of each of the spots, as I promised. Our trip started with a drive from the Jura to the lakes in the north of Italy. Four or so hours of really beautiful scenery, first with the cool autoroute blanche down to Geneva, bridges coming out of tunnels all the way along, you never seem to be at ground level, you're either in it or way above it, I dig it! This followed by beautiful mountains, the Mont Blanc tunnel, arriving in Italy, and heading down the charming looking Aosta valley. Not too schabby.

View of Mont Blanc, peak on left, 4808 m, the highest in Europe. The Alps are different feeling to the Himalayas and Andes. Something about the very green forested slopes and the rugged light grey peaks I guess. Great to be with the mountains, albeit briefly.















Just before the tunnel into Italy, this glacial looking ice clinging to the side of the Alps. Beautiful greeny blues.

The Aosta valley seems to need some exploring, many castles along the way, would be interesting to know a little more of the area's history.















Baveno on Lago Maggiore, our first night stop. Delving into my experience of ruggedness, I obviously sounded convincing about camping. Although this is a different breed, it is the find a spot in the warren to dump your tent kind. Amazing the full timers that pitch up for a month stint with fridges, satellite dishes, in fact all the mod-cons... all this so they can sit outside their caravan and stare at their neighbours 3 metres away for a month... hmmm. This said the camping facilities are very good, and in retrospect I would rather do camping that stay in hotels that are 2 to 3 times the price. So night one, on the side of the lake, quite pleasant!

Day two we headed across to Lago Como, after heading around the south of Maggiore and up th eeast side, the west shore of Maggiore is lovely, old and established, well worth a visit. The east shore ,however, is a bit of a waste of time, skip it!

Como is newer, more developed, yet quainter... far more trendy. I think the old folk, that always have, go to Maggiore. The richer, younger, fashion concious probably do Como for holidays.
Steeper shores leave beautiful villages flinching to stay out the water. The drive around is spectacular.





























Domaso, north west shore of Como, we struggled to find a spot for the tent, but finally did. That night I worried about my decision to buy the cheapest two man chateau as the heavens opened up and the wind rearranged all the windsurfers around the camp site. I tent survived perfectly, surprisingly we stayed dry, a far cry from the old days of scout camps. Domaso is also home to the best tiramisu on earth. No, I mean it. I generally think tiramisu is right up there with tofu as the worlds most overated 'foods', but the little family restaurant under the arch pavement in Domaso, now that's a different story!















All round the northern point and down the east side. A road trip well worth doing, and spending more time. Each village seems to have a character.

The lakes are beautiful, could have spent ages there, especially Como. Off to Milano...

Bourgogne II

You can almost smell the countryside...















































Hope your weekend is sunkissed.

Bourgogne

No it's not a French van der Westhuizen, it's walking off the overindulgence that is a weekend in the Bourgogne; too much great food and wine. Not quite the same as being in the city huh?

Fresh air wishes for you.

Running to chill

Seems to be a lot of action lately to just hang out. What with having friends visit and the mammoth roadtrip of Italy, a lot of energy goes into relaxing. It has been great though, wouldn't change a thing! Most of France will be doing there last running around this weekend as they return to life after chilling. France seems to be very attached to its holiday; Paris is practically a morgue over August. The other day on the radio they mentioned that Sarkozy was returning that day from his holiday, more evidence that absolutely nothing works during holiday time. Seems bizarre to me that even the President complies to national holiday guidelines. Well I'm glad Paris will be waking up. All the little privately owed shops along our street will be open again (yes, their doors have just been shut for the last 2 or 3 weeks, no "we'll be back on ...", "on holiday until...", nada, just closed). Quaintness restored. As for the president he can now show off his post holiday tan.... and with the lousy weather around, we will soon find out if really does go to the tanning salon.

Wishing you a happy return to work.

Ciao Bella

Been a while, been holidaying. What a wonderful trip, lots to tell. Fear not, will ease it to you over a few entries with the pics. In summary it was a little bit of lots of things, as we cruised the north of Italy and Tuscany.

Lake Como


The lakes up north,












Milan cathedral


churches, lots of them,












Bologna


all the terracotta,












San Giminiano


olive trees and little villages,

















San Giminiano



towers, short ones, fat ones, little ones, skinny ones,












Siena


incredible artwork,












near Pisa


and the seaside,

















Cinqueterre

and of course the magic food and ice cream.

A whirlwind tour, but after some retrospect and time to let it sink in, I come away with one reflection; it is absolutely impossible to whisper in Italian! I thought Americans were loud, what a noisy nation, and they can't stop.

Will shortly post some more details of some of the attractions and beautiful cities we were lucky enough to be able to see.

Looking forward to Paris waking up shortly after the holiday exodus.

Hope you have been wowed the last little while.

Paris Lights

It has been a week of lights, the theme for our photo of the week. Apart from the red, white and blue to best represent the French contribution to the site (the weekly photo), here are some other lights that were spotted.

The French National day, 14 July, is celebrated in a big way with gazillions of people on Champ de Mars, this year a music concert preceded the fireworks show.

Really beautiful, choreographed to music from the movies. You can see more photos at my Flickr site.

Some other man made lights have made an appearance in Paris, you can spot them a mile away by their bright white LED on the front.

No aliens haven't landed, it's Velib'. The individual public transport that has hit Paris. Bike parks like this are spread out all over Paris, apparently, they claim every 300 metres, so you just check it out here and dump it where you land up, very cool! So, Sunday, everyone was out getting the wind in their hair, seems like lots of fun was had on Velib', although it could be quite a puzzle... it seems like the stations are quite well stocked with bikes, so finding that free spot at your destination could be like solving solitaire...

And perhaps still the best light of all has nothing to do with man, as could be seen from your very own Velib' while crossing Pont des Arts at about 10pm on Sunday evening.

Hope you get to see some beautiful light this week.