Travel ....Repeat...: Italy

Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts

16^TH October –

Today we arrived in Venice Italy.

We cruised into Venice at around 1030 am…. It was spectacular.

We had jostled ourselves a spot on the deck and had a birds eye view of Venice as we cruised in through the narrow canal and into the dock. The buildings were literally…as I was expecting…sitting on water. We could see the bridges..canals and church steeples from every angle.

We jumped off the ship and literally wandered like lost sheep for awhile.. finally we clicked into gear and caught the water ferry to St Marks Square.

The St Marks Basilica was breathtaking both inside and out with all the gold tiling…marble and statues.

This basilica was completed in 1093.

Doges Palace – built in the 14^th century.. was home to the “Doge” aka military Leader. The palace was the seat of power and palace of justice. The bridge of Sighs was built to link it to the prison.

The last Doge abdicated in 1797 during conflicts with France….and then there were no more Doges. The Palace is now one of Venices many museums.

The bridge of Sighs connecting the palace with prison was apparently named because the prisoners walking the covered bridge to prison would sigh as they took their last look at Venice through the windows.

The Gondola ride was worth every euro we spent on it. It was magical… we pushed off from the chaotic crowded street and into the canal… it was only a matter of minutes and we were in a canal away from everything.

It was silent other than the paddle dipping the water and the commentary of all the buildings by our Gondolier was very interesting.. We passed under many bridges including the famous Rialto Bridge…and passed by many other gondolas and water taxis.

I was amazed by the restaurants and Motels with water lapping at their doors…imagine arriving by Gondola to your accommodation with luggage in tow.

The worst part of our day was catching the crowded water ferry back to the train stop so we could get back to the Port and our ship. It was jam packed with commuters and it took what seemed forever to get back.

Tonight was our last night on the Regal Princess… we spent it docked in Venice ..like a floating Motel.

We were going to be very sad disembarking in the morning…but also excited for the next stage of our journey to begin.

9^th October - Naples Italy.

What an amazing morning in Naples…as we sat in our usual spot on the deck for breakfast…all the buildings appeared to be in ochre / white tones… absolutely beautiful.

We caught a ‘dodgy taxi’ too Pompeii … he seemed nice enough… but I don’t think any of us felt entirely confident that we weren't about to be ripped off or charged an exorbitant fee.

It all turned out fine…we got to Pompeii and returned to Naples without incident.

Pompeii was everything I imagined and more.

There is so much uncovered and open for exploration…and yet apparently it’s only the tip of the iceberg.. as 3/4s of the city still remains covered.

Pompeii was buried under a blanket of ash 4 – 6 metres deep when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD.

I did a little reading and discovered that Mount Vesuvius erupted six times in the 18th century, eight times in the 19th century and in 1906, 1929 and 1944…

that seems to be a scary list of frequencies to me…eeek.

(Thats us ...with Mount Vesuvius in the background)

The streets seemed to tell the story of life back in the day...we could see the wheel ruts in the stone from the chariots...and those stepping stone blocks in the distance were used to cross the streets which were often flooded with water and waste,

The collection of relics was sobering... it made it feel so real when we saw the casts of bodies depicting just how their last moments were. There were also huge collections of urns..pots and other bibs and bobs from the day.

The other striking find on our wanders through the streets was these amazing artworks still remarkably intact on some of the walls...I just cant believe they were painted 2000 years ago!

Our afternoon was spent in Naples…with a delicious pizza lunch…of course we had to try pizza in Naples…being the city of its origin.

This was Ian's ....topped with fresh seafood.

We also had an Italian coffee experience… there is no such thing as a take-away cup… takeaway means standing at the counter and drinking your coffee.

They sure know how to make a good brew though.

We just never got tired of the street views...

Everywhere was lively...colorful...and vibrant....

So so different to little old country South Australia where we live.

Street sellers...always street sellers...

Naples we loved you....

another memorable day.

8^th October

Today we were in Rome – Italy

Let me begin by saying…WOAH!!

What a huge day this was.

From the Port of Civitavecchia it was a 90min trip into Rome.

We had pre-booked a transfer that made it nice and quick.

In my journal I wrote

“ The traffic was bonkers and in typical Winen luck its Wednesday ..Popes meeting day…so traffic to the Vatican is cray cray.”

We were in Rome- Italy one minute…and in the Vatican city the next.

It took some time to actually battle our way indoors and into the Musei Vaticani and Capella Sistina but once inside we were gobsmaked.

The artworks and fresco's covered the walls and ceilings.

The Sistine Chapel…home to Michelangelo’s paintings was incredible…it was surreal to think I was standing in the Sistine chapel… and it’s so famous…and I’m in there…far out.

If you are interested at all… there is a very good visual tour (((HERE))) its fast to load and shows just how amazing it is.

Next stop...

Il Convento dei Cappuccini – Capuchin Crypt

This is one of those places that has to be seen to be believed…

the Capuchin crypt is a series of small chapels (six I think) located beneath the Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini church.

The crypt contains the remains of approximately 3700 friars who were buried between 1500 – 1870. The crypt walls are decorated with the remains and partial remains in an artistic fashion. There are walls made of skulls and entire skeletons adorning the walls.

Was it eerie? I didn't feel so at all…I couldn't understand it… or why it was so… but it was fascinating and something I may never see again in my life.

The Colosseum – this took our breath away...(its in big font...because its earned it)

…it was a far grander scale than I imagined…and I marked it as one of the highlights of the trip.

The Colosseum was built in around 70 – 72 AD by Emperor Vespasian of the dynasty dynasty as a gift to the Roman people.

In 80 AD Vespasians son Titus opened the Colosseum with 100 days of games – gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights…9000 animals were killed on opening day.. The Colosseum Amphitheatre held about 50000 people. It is estimated that over the years more than 1 million animals and half a million humans were slaughtered in the games and executions.

Now days parts have been destroyed but it is still so impressive and we could almost ‘feel’ what it would have been like back in the day.

The Roman Forum – once the heart of ancient Rome and nowdays a collection of ruins which we wandered along and enjoyed.

I tried so hard to half close my eyes and imagine life all those years ago.

I stole this from Wiki “the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million sightseers yearly”

We all found it pretty impressive.

We literally walked miles and miles today and it was warm (no..it was HOT)… we were tired..and foot sore...and our legs ached...

We braved our luck… dragged out our best Italian vocabulary and found our way through the train ticketing and onto a train back to Civitavecchia and back onto the ship… what a massive day!!

I did journal “The Colosseum is insane!!!”

Rome was definitely a highlight day.

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Travel ....Repeat...

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Europe - Our trip and our funny little 'thing' with Ambulances...

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Europe 2014 - Venice - Italy

Europe 2014 - Naples Italy

Europe 2014 - Rome

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