Misty main sqaure in Bologna

Market in Modena

Olive grove on the Gargano Penisular

Vieste on the penisular

Castel del Monte

Castel del Monte

Looking up from inside the castle

Last Week in Italy

Next morning we drove a little south to see Castel del Monte. This unique castle was build by Emperor Fredrick in the shape of an octagon. It served no defensive purpose but seems to have been a purely aesthetic building. It has been heavily restored and was very interesting to look inside where there were several art exhibitions.

We dropped down to the coast at Trani and then headed north. We followed the coast through large groves of olive trees to the Gargano Peninsular. This is a forested area surrounded by cliffs and sandy coves that juts out into the Adriatic Sea. We stayed the night at Vieste on tip and completed the drive around the edge on the next day. The forest had beautiful beech trees and the white cliffs formed a scenic backdrop to the many beaches.

We had wanted to visit Bologna for some time so we stopped off on our way back north. Despite the cold and fog we liked the city – it has a well preserved core that is mainly restricted to public transport and bicycles. There are many interesting buildings and some very good food and coffee. We had some delicious hand made pasta for dinner and the next morning started our day with one of the best coffees I have had in Italy at Café Aroma. Our next stop was Modena – a town that is just off the highway back towards Milan. It is famous for being the home of Ferrari and balsamic vinegar but also has some interesting buildings. The cathedral in particular was excellent – one of the most interesting buildings I have seen in Italy. We stopped for the night in Pavia, just south of Milan. Pavia only seems to have a few restaurants – one was booked out and everyone else was trying to get into the remaining pizzeria. We joined the queue and after a 90 minute wait we finally got a table. The next morning we drove into Milan, dropped Ged at the train station and cleared our storage unit.

I was a bit sad to leave Milan – at times the pollution and traffic got to me but overall it was a great experience to live there. There was so much life and character on the streets you really felt part of the city. With few tourists and plenty of industry it felt a very purposeful city that has a distinctive style from the rest of Italy. It helped a lot that everyone was very friendly to us despite the size of the town and our dodgy Italian.

I’m leaving with a great appreciation of Italy and Italians. They have a love of the finer things in life (food, wine, friends, family and style) while still getting other lower priority things done eventually. In the international newspapers a few months ago they were running a story about how China’s GDP will overtake Italy’s next year. The business journalists were spinning this as evidence of Italy’s failing economy. For me it was news that a country that makes sure to start the day with good coffee, then has a nice wine with a great cooked lunch and then meets friends and family for a long dinner has the same GDP as China. Perhaps Italy is falling behind but I know which country I would rather work in.

Empty streets in Pompeii

Temple at Paestum

Naples street

Rare quiet moment in Naples

No fear - wrong side of the road on the wet cobbles of Sorrento

Frosty morning looking out from Montepulciano

Heading South

We had been hoping to get down to Southern Italy at some stage during our stay. There wasn’t a lot of snow forecast so we decided to head down for a week after leaving our flat in Milan. Ged came down on the train to join us and we headed off around lunch on Saturday. We drove through to Tuscany and spent the night at the delightful hill town of Montepulciano. We stayed in a hotel with a very effusive owner who when talking about heating and showers understands something very different to me by the word “warm”.

It is a well preserved town that is still very much in use by locals. It was quiet on Sunday morning and we enjoyed a walk around the old town as it slowly came to life. It also had a beautiful coffee shop that had been open since the 1800’s. We drove further south again and got to Sorrento (just south of Naples) before sunset. It took us a few goes but we eventually found a nice hotel that had a view of the ocean and was near the main street.

Next morning on our second attempt we caught a ferry to Naples. We had misread the timetable so missed the first boat but in the end we had enough time in the city. It is a very lively and vibrant place – full of people, crazy parking and good food. We wandered around some of the main areas and had lunch at a fantastic pizza place called Da Michele that is reputed to be one of the best in Italy. The restaurant was very small and simple but the pizza was exceptional. We spent the afternoon in the very cold Archaeological Museum. They had many artifacts from Pompeii and some great sculpture from the Farnese Collection (a pope who had a fine eye for art). By nightfall we were exhausted so came back to Sorrento for dinner.

Next day we caught the train up to Pompeii and looked around the ruins. It was a very interesting place but I think it would be good it they returned some of mosaics and frescos (most of these have been moved wholesale into the museum in Naples). The body casts are a powerful reminder of how life in the town suddenly stopped. That afternoon we drove down south from Sorrento along the scenic Amalfi coastline.

We stayed a little to the south in Agropoli so that we could see the ruins at Paestum. This was another Roman ruin but in contrast to Pompeii there are three incredible temples still standing. It was a fantastic spot and we looked around for several hours. We then crossed up through the central spine of Italy via some great mountain scenery (getting very lost along the way and only being saved by the GPS and laptop). We dropped down to the plain on the west coast and stayed the night in Venosa. This was very pleasant stay – our hotel was a restored family palace and we had an excellent meal at a local restaurant.

Looking down a run at Arabba in the central Dolomites

Our car after another cold night outside

Ronda Massif from Arrabba

Small town near Kronplatz

Skiing at Schlick 2000 in Austria

Skiing in the Dolomites

From Venice we headed north through the heart of the Dolomites. On a clear sunny day with plenty of snow it was a very spectacular drive. We arrived in Villabassa just on sunset and got the keys for our flat for the week. As we got out of the car it was -20C! We looked around the town that night and looked apprehensively at the gear they were selling for cold weather. There was even “socks” to put on over your ski boots to keep your feet warm!

Fortunately the next day was much warmer and Kath and I set off over the Brenner Pass into Austria. As we crossed the border the road was very snowy and it was slow going down the far side. And getting into the ski resort we made it up a steep hill by the skin of our teeth. We have chains but no one really uses them here – it just isn’t practical to drive 100km in chains so people use winter tyres or just make do like us. It certainly livens up the driving!

We met Brendan, Emma and some of their friends for a very enjoyable days skiing. We had clear blue skies, 15cm of fresh snow and some nice off piste areas to ski. We retired back to their hotel and enjoyed a hearty New Years Eve dinner with Shawn and the rest of the group. It was hard to drag ourselves away but at 9pm we got back in the car and headed back over the pass back to Italy. It was snowing on the Italian side of the pass this time making it a long drive home.

Next day we skied at Kronplatz and enjoyed the snow that fell all day. We then had a rest day and after that spent a very crowded day skiing at Arabba. We decided the quieter northern resorts were better and so spent our last day skiing at Sesten just down the road from where we were staying. It has some nice steep black runs giving our legs a good workout. All week Kath’s parents did sections of the 250km of cross country trails in the valley. On the Friday we started the drive back to Milan airport early having been scared by the slow drive to Venice last week. This time everything went well and we dropped them off in plenty of time and took the chance to load them up with about 10kgs of things from the mountain of stuff we are trying to get home to Australia.

Last view of the Grand Canal from the Lagoon

Doges palace and St Marks from the Lagoon

Grand Canal

Sunnier weather on the Grand Canal

Punting through a back canal

Snow clouds over the Lagoon

Gondolas float waiting for summer in the Grand Lagoon

The autostrada stops in the snow

Venice

Kath’s parents arrived after Boxing Day and the next day we headed across to Venice. Overnight it had started snowing and it was still falling heavily as we left town. Once on the freeway we were moving well until soon after Bergamo. As the snow continued to fall the traffic slowed until we ground to a halt. It took us over 5 hours of occasional movement before we could see what the problem was. In the meantime we kept the motor running with the heater cranked and read while watching the snow build up. The cause of the problem was a slight hill – there was so much snow that it was hard to keep moving on the hills and on this slightly longer rise the trucks were struggling to climb up. One had slid off into the crash barriers and another was stuck blocking two lanes. Other trucks were lining up to try the climb but they only were going one at a time. At this point we booted it around the queue and made it up the hill around the trucks. There didn’t seem much point waiting as the snow continued to fall.

Once moving we continued on a very, very slippery road with very little traffic. There were no tight turns and it was just a case of being very smooth and keeping momentum. Gradually the snow lessened and we made it to Mestre (on the coast near Venice) for by 10pm. This made it 240km in 9 hours…

The next day we caught the bus over to Venice and looked around for the day. The first sight of the canals is quite amazing – someone has filled the roads up with water and replaced the cars with boats. There is also a wealth of architecturally significant buildings and plenty of history. It is a fascinating place but even on a freezing cold day in winter there were a lot of tourists about. The Doges Palace was cold but had some amazing paintings – particularly the ones depicting sea battles from the period when Venice was a major sea power.

The next day we had planned to head directly north to where we were skiing but the day had dawned bright and clear. So we organized a late checkout and jumped on the bus back to Venice. It was a different town on a sunny day – the water sparkled and the marble buildings contrasted sharply with the blue sky. Too soon we caught the bus back to Mestre and started the drive north to the Dolomites.

The most important vehicle in rural Italy - the three wheel ute...

Siena's square and town hall

Last minute Christmass shopping in San Gimignano

San Gimignano alleyway

Our car (the silver one) tucks in against the caste wall in a Tuscan hill town

Sunset on Manarola

Enjoying lunch in one of the towns

Cinque Terre and Christmas in Siena

We took a couple of days off before Christmas and headed south to the coast. We stayed in Levanto just north of the famous Cinque Terre – a series of five towns set along a spectacular coastline. The five of us (Ged and two of his friends from Canada came along) settled into a nice garden apartment and took day trips to the towns. First day we did some walking between two of the main five towns and the second day we caught the train north to some of the lesser known areas. The scenery was spectacular and the temperatures just warm enough to be comfortable outside. The food in the area was good – especially the local Genoan pesto. It was a very bright green and excellent on in soups, pastas and even on toast at home! The locals were all very friendly and a highlight was helping put up the decorations in Bonassola just north of Levanto.

Next we headed off separately for Siena – the Canadians headed via Pisa while Ged, Kath and I took some backroads through Tuscany. We past through some great landscapes and dropped in on several small towns which often had defensive walls or castles remaining. We arrived in Siena late in the afternoon with just enough light to find our hotel. We had a quick break then headed out to check out the town on Christmas Eve. There were plenty of people in the streets and shops and we joined the crowds. Siena is a very well preserved town and has a great feel to it. Being not too large and filled with locals rather than tourists makes it more approachable than Florence. Also the main square is the prettiest I have seen in Europe – a fan shaped bowl slopes down to a fantastic town hall complete with spire.

The town was quiet the next day on Christmas morning and we had a quick stroll around before Kath and I headed back home to Milan. We had to clean the flat ready for moving out in a few days so we wanted to get a head start. The trip home was quick – only slowed by the usual fog between Florence and Bologona. Fog in tunnels always seems somehow worse and was a slow trip over the pass. Once back in the flat we opened all our presents from home and had a nice bottle of wine from Tuscany with our dinner..

Bath's Roman Baths

Bath

The Circus in Bath

Wedding party in the courtyard of Magdalen College

Looking over the countryside near my Aunt and Uncle's house

Bath Cathedral

Thick cloud turns the French side of the Alps into a polar landscape

England

A good friend of Kath’s from Uni was getting married in Oxford so we flew over for a long weekend. We picked up a rental car at Gatwick and drove west across to my Aunt and Uncle’s house in Gloucestershire. It is a very beautiful area of the English countryside. Tiny villages dot the rolling hills and the occasional manor hides behind dry stone walls (including those of Prince Charles and Princess Anne). We arrived just in time for a snack before heading out for a delightful dinner in an old country pub. It was so old that the doorframe came up to my chin – obviously the average height of the patrons has changed over the years. Next morning we headed across country to Oxford and headed to the wedding after dropping off our rental car.

The ceremony was held in the beautiful old chapel of Magdalene College (where the couple had met) followed by a reception in the Randolph Hotel. The Randolph apparently has a good name but served up the worst main dish I have ever been given. Risotto is not a complicated dish but was well beyond the capabilities of the kitchen staff that night. I really liked the town of Oxford – the students and bicycles give it a very relaxed feel and the old buildings and the river provide a picturesque backdrop.

Next day we endured a series of crossed wires and miscommunications that proved that five people should never try to do anything without a clear plan decided beforehand. The result was that Pete, Kath and I ended up in Bath for the night. Pete’s friend Jacko came and joined us for a look around the town and the Roman baths. Next day Kath and I caught a train back to London and after enduring a brief trip on the Underground (I can never understand how anyone can put up with the crowds on a daily basis) met up with Dave and Gosia at their house in Clapham. We caught up over a quite meal and few beers before enjoying a relatively early night. Next day we left early for our flight back Milan – arriving late afternoon to warmer weather than London.

Views in the Italian Alps near Passo Tonale

Looking back from Kronplatz to the valley we stayed in

More valley views

Italians style skiing - you get a nap mid afternoon you need it...

Dolomites Skiing

Several parts of Europe received new snow during the week and we were keen to get on the slopes again before Christmas. We checked out the available resorts and the northern Italians ones seemed to have the best snow. So we headed up past Trento and Bolzano to Kronplatz which is just south of the Austrian border in the Dolomites near Brunico (Bruneck). We stayed in a beautiful little village surrounded by snow covered fields – it was just a cluster of houses around a square with only two restaurants and one ski hire shop. We caught a free bus up to the slopes on Saturday morning and were soon enjoying a sunny day’s skiing. The slopes suited our early season form – nice and wide with nothing too steep. We did a few runs on some blacks and even found a section of untracked snow that was good for a handful of turns.

Kath came down with another cold over the weekend so we opted for a leisurely drive back through the Alps rather than ski on Sunday. The weather was clear again and we had great views all the way back.

Armani furniture

Cheese counter at Peck's

Our street

Via Spidari

View from our window

Real Snow in Milan

We had vague plans to ski this weekend but we didn’t end up making it out of Milan. A sore back and a large snow fall in Milan combined to keep us from the slopes. So we did some shopping including a visit to our favourite shop in Milan. Peck’s is a huge delicatessen that has been open since 1847. It features a wine store downstairs, a coffee shop upstairs and a large deli on the main level. The deli has a bakery, patisserie, fruit and veg and a fantastic cheese section.

We also took a walk through the golden quadrangle – the area of luxury goods shops near the centre of Milan. The Armani store is more amenable to browsing than the others and includes furniture, bicycles, a café and restaurant as well as some clothes.