Update 2 Venice and Verona

August 16 - Tuesday             We are up early to have breakfast by 7:15 so that we can catch the 7:55 bus to Venice.  We arrive at the bus stop with plenty of time which is a good thing as the bus arrives earlier than scheduled.  We get into Venice by 8:20 and buy ferry ticket passes good for unlimited use for the next 12 hours.  We board the water ferry and since this is the first stop for this boat, we are able to get the premium seats, in the front of the bow enjoying unimpeded views.  The canal is still quiet with gondolas under covers and not many delivery boats out either as compared to the last time we were here.  It was very enjoyable to sit back and soak in the sights.

  It promises to be a very warm day as we can feel the temperature rising. 

            We arrive at San Marco piazza at 9:10 and there is a find the line to enter San Marco Basillica

 has already started but it’s shorter than when we were here with Suzanne in July.  T googles and finds that we’ll have to wait until 9:30 for the church to open.  As we stay in line we can see the queue is getting longer and longer.  Time passes fairly quickly and T does a google search on the Basillica while waiting in line.  It’s called a basillica because it has the remains of someone, St. Mark.  His remains were smuggled out of Alexandria under a slab of pork past the Muslim guards.  Once again we enjoy our visit and this time we brought binoculars to have a closer look at the mosaic ceiling. We stay inside St. Mark’s taking in all there is to see for much longer than last visit, the binocs really help to appreciate the detail in the art work! This is by far the most amazing church that Ruby, Sherry and Mark A have ever seen. J and T take a side visit into the “treasure room” for a closer look at some very old religious artifacts - loaded with jewels, silver gilding, and gold. Outside in St. Mark's piazza J gets friendly with the pigeons.

            Armed with the tickets that T bought yesterday, we walk through to begin our tour of the Ducale Palace - another “must see” sight in Venice.  There are well over a hundred people waiting in line to buy tickets (thanks Frommers for the heads up on where to buy tickets ahead of time)! We arm ourselves with audioguides and begin our walking tour of this historic landmark.  The opulence is evident as we walk from the courtyard into the building to tour the themed rooms.

Photos are not allowed in most rooms. Each room is outfitted with wonderful artwork and the ceilings in each are a work of art - in some cases looking like gilded frames - amazing!!  We spent a couple hours going through here - the artwork is   very different than what one would see at home - not just a few pieces in each room - more like having an artist paint the entire room, while a different artist paints the next room perhaps in a different style. J liked the armory section that showed the evolution of the swords, arrows and guns from simple versions to more complex. We also walked along the dungeon corridors crossing over the bridge of sighs twice. The bridge prisoners crossed and had a final glimpse of the outside world and would sigh... before heading into imprisonment and death.  T complied and sighed aloud for all.

            When everyone had enough of the touring it was off to find a quieter spot for lunch.  We found a restaurant with no cover charge, which lots of places do, and had an enjoyable lunch.  It’s another hot day here - in the 30’s, so dining in air-conditioned comfort is welcome.  With lunch done, we head to the water taxi area to catch a boat to Murano so they can see the glass blowing.  The trip out there takes about 40 minutes as we are on a boat that stops many places along the way.

We go to the same spot we had gone the last time and there is a demonstration going on,

however, it’s busier and it’s not as long or complex as we saw - unfortunate for our guests!  Anyways, they enjoy it and then we walk around and shop some.

            M, J and Ruby have had enough of Venice in the heat, but Mark A, Sherry and T have not, so we part ways.  M and Ruby head back to the hotel so J can enjoy the pool - hasn’t been in one for a few weeks.  T and gang head back to near San Marco where the plan is to walk amongst the back alleys in the less travelled/ less busy spots.

We have our trusty map, which comes in handy.  At one point we stopped to look where we were and found that we were nowhere near where we thought we were going!  We had a good laugh at that one.  Sometimes we were the only ones on the street and sometimes we came to complete a dead end and had to retrace our steps.  We did come across an artist selling some watercolors of Venice.  Both T and the Atwaters bought a couple - we had a chat with the artist.

            After nearly 2 hours of wandering, we decide to call it quits and find the nearest water taxi terminal to head down to the train station.  T wants to check out the train schedule for Verona for tomorrow’s adventure and since it is not too busy there, buys the tickets.  We walked from the train station just a short distance and cross the canal to get to Piazza Roma to catch the bus back to the hotel.  Later we all tried to get into a Chinese restaurant but were turned away because it was full, so we had to go back to last night’s spot.  That’s ok as the food is very good.

            August 17 - Wednesday              We are scheduled to catch the train to Verona at 9:10 so meet for breakfast at 7:30 to give us enough time to catch the bus to the train station at 8:20.  Everything goes smoothly and we have plenty of time at the station before our high-speed train arrives.  T opted for this as the Regional train, like a Greyhound bus, stops at many towns along the way, and the trip would have taken over twice as long.  The Atwaters - or at least Mark had wanted to travel on one of the trains we had been talking about, so he was keen. It was a quick 55-minute trip where everyone just sat back and relaxed.  M and Ruby sat with a couple on their honeymoon from Texas, and had a great chat the entire way. He was a pilot and even showed J a video of flying a former MIG 22 that his company has for training.

            The Verona station is not far from where we wanted to take them, so after consulting the local map, we decide to walk to the arena.  A leisure walk takes us through the Porta Nuova - the entrance into this walled city.

The sidewalks are wide and marble tiled.  It is very pleasant to walk along this wide street, with many tall trees - each, we notice, are numbered.  While our guests tour the arena, M, T, J enjoy sitting in the piazza under an awning enjoying some cool lemonata.

When everyone is back together, we head into a lesser-travelled area and find a restaurant for lunch.  M and T choose a couple of local dishes, stuffed zucchini flowers with ricotta cheese and grilled polenta served with salami, bacon and gorgonzola cheese - wonderful!  Even J tried and liked the polenta - as evidenced by the number of times he asked T for bites. 

            After lunch we head along the cobbled streets to the Castello Vecchio (old castle) and enjoy a walk through here and across the bridge to the other side of the river.

  We then spend the rest of our time walking along the streets of the city enjoying the atmosphere.  We made our way back another route to the station.  An older gentleman saw T conferring with her map and told his lady friend to come over and help out.  She confirmed that we were on the right track and off we continued. 

            The trip back to Venice Mestre was a breeze and some had naps while others enjoyed the scenery.  We managed to find the bus stop to get back to the hotel and did not have to wait long in the heat.  Back at the hotel, we kick back for a while before heading out for dinner.  Tonight we decide to find another restaurant.  T gets directions to another eatery in the vicinity.  Good thing we are given two names as the first one we try is closed for summer vacation, when we arrive at the second we find it closed as well. Luckily Mark A and J had spotted another on the way and we find it is just opening, perhaps after vacation....  We arrive as the first guests and the hostess rattles off in Italian that the kitchen is just opening and T thinks she says there are limited food options (but T’s not 100% sure as she didn’t understand everything she heard).  Anyways, we sit outside on the patio, they bring an aperitif on the house - she tells me non-alcoholic for J and some of us enjoy and some pass on the offering.  M, T, J and Ruby all decide on pizzas.  The Atwaters, through T, find out that several of their choices aren’t available, so T asks what can you make?  So, the cook can make spaghetti scogliore - (mixed shellfish).  They agree to try it and it turns out to be wonderful.  Our pizzas are wonderful.  To top off the meal we are offered limoncello that T, M and Mark A accept and enjoy.  It turns out to be a very enjoyable experience in this little local pizzeria! 

            August 18 - Thursday              It’s time to head back to Milan as our guests are flying back to Halifax tomorrow morning.  We suggested leaving Venice with time for a side trip into Milan to see the Duomo.  We check out by 9:30 and with the van packed

we head down the autostrata.  Traffic isn’t too heavy, so it’s smooth going.  We drove to the Taormina Ristorante for lunch (which we had been to before when we stayed in Milano Nord).  Most of us decide to have the menu di giorni - trofie pesto (pasta), baked salmon and vegetables.  J orders salate mista (mixed salad) which totally shocks and pleases M and T - it’s a first for J!!!  Mark A decides to be adventuresome and not ask us what the items he orders even are - he enjoys his first ever Nicoise salad made Milan style. Everyone enjoys a good meal and then we head back to park near the Novotel - tram stop where we went for excellent caps each morning.  The owner tells us that he doesn’t have any tickets left to sell, as August is the busy time, so we decide to drive down into the centre to park near the Duomo. 

            Well, drive down to near the Piazza Duomo is not without incident, of course, there’s a reason why we took the tram down earlier in the month!  We learned that one of the risks of asking Navi to take us to the Duomo is that it will do just that. After a few missed turns, finding ourselves on to pedestrian only streets and having to back up the van to turn around amongst pedestrians adds a little “excitement” to the tour.  The only plus, see a bit more of Milano centro.  T now knows where the shopping districts are which she had read about, but never visited earlier in the month.  

            20 minutes or so later after we set out from the tram stop lot, we manage to find a parking spot.  It will be a bit of a walk to reach the Duomo, but it’s doable.  M, T, and J find a spot to sit in the piazza and have a cool drink (as T forgot to wear longer shorts and her skort was too short for the guards to allow her into the Duomo this time).  Our guests go for a tour as we enjoy watching people within the piazza and believe us - we are entertained. 

            With the tour finished, we head back to the van and head out to Malpensa airport where T reserved rooms at the Sheraton that is attached to the terminal.  Ruby and the Atwaters are due to depart at 7:10 am tomorrow so it makes sense to be right there.  After we are checked in, M returns the van - which served us very well over the month, ferrying guests, luggage and us around the countryside.  Tomorrow AM, we will pick up our Peugeot station wagon, which we have had stored in long term parking for the last month (the lot is only about 5 min from the hotel). 

            Without a car at our disposal, we decide to eat at the hotel restaurant.  We have a wonderful dinner together.  J ordered pasta arribiatta  - which is spicy tomato sauce.  He even eats it that is very surprising to M and T as both of us tasted it and thought “wow, that’s hot!!”  We would certainly understand if he had chosen to not eat it and order something else.  But, he persevered and finished it - although he didn’t want anything else.  He has certainly widened his palette immensely on this trip! 

            August 19 - Friday   Mark A, Sherry and Ruby knocked on the door at 5 am to say goodbye.  After goodbye hugs we went back to bed and slept in until about 8:30 am. We aren’t in a hurry to check out.  We decide to head over to the airport for a quick cap and croissant at a place we have used before and then head back over to pay for the month long parking fee.  M had left the ticket on the dash and it was now VERY faded and we hoped the dispenser could still read it.  Well, guess what, the machine wouldn’t read it.... So, we pushed the call button and received help right away.  The parking attendant who came looked at the ticket and just shook his head.... not a god sign.  He tried to get it read in the kiosk near the ticket dispenser, but no luck.  He told us to wait and he left us to wait about 5 minutes, upon which he returned with a newly printed ticket and we’re able to pay the fee.  Another lesson learned, in long-term parking, don’t put the ticket on the dash, store it within the vehicle OUT of the sunlight.  The lots at the airport were fenced and monitored, so, no need to do the N. AM. thing and leave the ticket on the dash. 

            It feels good to be back in the car as we head over to check out of the hotel.  We all carry down luggage to the car.  M tells T to go check out, only to find that he can’t get the other bag out of the room that he told her to check out of.  So, she has to go back to the desk and ask to be reactivated so she can go back to pick up the last bag left. Another lesson learned today - be sure all bags are out of the room before checking out!  OK, that done, and the car all loaded, we program Navi for our next destination, Bologna. 

            The drive is uneventful in the heat and we arrive about 1:30 after stopping in Parma for a great lunch.  Parma is known for Parmiagiano Reggiano, cheese, so T and J have risotto parmesiana and M has spaghetti scolgiero - (mixed seafood). He made sure he ate all the seafood before putting parmesan cheese on the remaining pasta (although he laughed at the thought of having a second waiter in a different city tell him that you don’t put cheese on fish).  It was a great break from driving on the autostrade that is the main thoroughfare from Milan to the east coast.  The traffic is fairly light and we enjoy the valley that we had travelled through twice on the high-speed train to and from Milan to Naples in April and May.  This area is fairly industrialized and not on the tourist map, so, it’s not busy today.

            Once at the hotel and checked in, M wants to get some computer work done as we’re not with internet access this next coming week and we need to organize a few things for the remaining months before we return home for Christmas.  It is about 35 C out, J heads to the pool, which is busy with other hotel guests.  It is very refreshing in the heat.  J and T enjoy playing some foosball and ping pong in the shade as well.  We decide to hang out at the pool until about 6:30 when we go into clean up and head out for dinner.

            We looked at the hotel menu, but with memory of a mediocre menu in Milan and this Novotel menu looked very similar, we decide to ask for a recommendation for a restaurant in the centre and go in search of it.  It is on a side street within the town centre and it’s seafood themed.  We all enjoy a dish that has seafood in it and then retrace our steps back to the hotel.  Although we did not see the old section in the daylight, we would not call the section of Bologna we saw a beautiful city - it’s industrialized and we could certainly see where the downturn in the economy has had an effect on certain areas.  We came across a number of empty places.

            August 20 - Saturday    We aren’t in a hurry to check out after sleeping in until 9 or so.  We send J down for breakfast at the buffet, because kids until 12 eat free at the Novotel and M and T have no desire to go through a mediocre buffet, much rather just have a cap and croissant later and save 20 Euro ($25CAN).  M wants to do a blog post, so we organize photos with text and get it done by 11:15.  J had gone down for a swim since it was already in the high 20’s outside.  We manage to all get organized and leave the hotel by 11:45.  Our destination, Ravenna, is about an hour away.

            We plug the address into Navi and head out.  After a quick stop for a cap and croissant, we are off to get onto the highway.  We are only on the Autostrata for about 5 min. before we hit traffic.  We read on the above neon highway signs that there is an accident, so we move at a snails pace, for about 30 km.  We choose to use this time to discuss the options left open to us for traveling before our tour of Turkey planned Oct. 12 and after until Nov. 26 when we have to drop our leased vehicle back in Milan.  We had hoped to go to Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. However, through M’s research we have found: that Romania’s roads are not recommended due to poor conditions (he happened on this when he could not find a tour company that had a route through Romania and wondered why); Slovenia requires snow tires by Nov 15 and we don’t have those, nor do we want to buy these; Serbia and Kosovo have high tensions between them (meaning a potential civil war) and in the mountain passes of these countries landmines still exist and guides are strongly recommended - no thanks; and you cannot get from Turkey to Hungary without going through either Serbia or Romania.  As well, since it will be November and this area will be mountainous the road conditions in some of these countries will be an unknown, so we decide to re-think our plan.  Instead, we decide we will go via ferry from Bari, Italy to mainland Greece, and see that area before driving across there to Istanbul in time to catch our tour.  The month after our Turkey tour will be used to explore somewhere else other than the mentioned countries, still to be determined. 

            We arrive in the city of Ravenna and head toward where our accommodation is located.  We find we can’t get into where the location as it is pedestrian only.  We manage to find a parking lot with an attendant who gives us a map of the centro and draws the location of the apartment.  With this in hand, we decide to head toward there and find a parking spot and locate somewhere to have a bite to eat.   We found a small bar where we order a sandwich each and something to drink.  We appreciate the air conditioning as its over 30 and humid outside. 

            After a quick bite to eat, we head off on foot to find the apartment.  We do manage to find the street, and look for the address.  The place with looks like it might have apartments but it doesn’t look right (doesn’t look like the web pictures and no title on the apartment building - Garden villas).  We start to question whether we might be in the right place so head back to the car to check out “ let’s confirm what we have first before asking anyone else.”  Closer look at the sheet - it’s not the city Ravenna, but the province of Ravenna.  The town is Milano Marittima, Ravenna.  Ohh ... the light goes on for us.    We reprogram Navi and find  Milano Marittima is 23 km away from here.  We still have time to find somewhere to buy groceries and meet the guy who is supposed to let us into the apartment for 4pm.   So, off we go, to continue on our journey to find the apartment. 

            The area has some industrialization, but agriculture is big here too.  We’ve seen that they have already begun harvesting the corn - which they let the entire plant go completely dry before taking off the crop.  We see field after field of dried corn plants, also some for sunflower plant fields, waiting to be dealt with.  Of course we also see lots of fruit trees, and wines loaded with fruit. 

            Milano Marittima is located on the Adriatic Coast.  The towns here are full of small hotels - they don’t look like chain hotels. We locate a grocery store to pick up a bunch of supplies for a good part of the week then head over to meet Pietro who was waiting for us in front of the apt building (it’s 4:15).  He is the “custode” of the building and speaks virtually no English.  T gets the low-down on the place, pays the rent and we’re set for the week.  The apt. is not air-conditioned and it’s in the mid 30’s and no breeze, could make for an uncomfortable night.  We are in a condo/apt complex with some great retro decor - gotta love the bright yellow plastic towel, and soap racks in the baths!  Some odd designs - like our main bath window looks right out onto the adjacent apt deck - gonna have to pull the shutters when it’s shower time!

            We unpack the groceries and get things organized for dinner, before sitting on the deck that has a large retractable awning to help shade it and enjoy the well-treed and flowered courtyard.    We eat at 7:30 and it is still in the mid 30’s and we talk about how we have a hard time enjoying the humidity!   Time for bed and we’ve left all the windows, and doors onto the patios wide open to get some breeze night.  It doesn’t cool until the middle of the night when we pull the top sheet over us.

            August 21 - Sunday   We’re slow in getting started for the day - we’re having a “Lazy Day” like the hit “Lazy Song” being played on a regular basis on the radio, which has become a bit of a theme song for us on this adventure.  No problem hearing English on the radio, hearing English on TV a whole other ball game! 

            T does some research on her phone to see what the region is known for and what we might like to check out this week while we are here. We read part of book 10 of the 39 Clues set. Later we decide to go to the beach for the afternoon - its only a couple of blocks from our apt.  We arm ourselves with water, towels, sunscreen, books and head out.  As with anywhere else we’ve seen in Italy, the beach area is covered with beach umbrellas and loungers for rent - as far as the eye could see.  With this intense heat, we definitely want loungers with an umbrella so that we can have some shade while we aren’t in the water. We walked onto Del Pinto Beach club area and rent for 20 Euro - not cheap, but that’s the way it goes.

            We are able to get an umbrella in the 2nd line away from the beach and we can definitely feel the welcomed breeze off the water.  As you move further back up the beach, the heat radiating off of the sand is intense and no breeze. Once we unload our stuff, we head to the water.  The water is really warm and takes no time at all to adjust to.  The water is very shallow in this area, we could easily walk out 200 feet before the water is at shoulder height.  We have a wonderful time enjoying the water, beach and sunshine enjoying about 3 1/2 hours. 

            Back at the apartment we cleanup, cook dinner and eat out on the deck once again.  After another delicious dinner, we head out to explore some of the area and go for a walk along the beach.  The breeze feels wonderful; we see the beach club attendants cleaning up in prep for tomorrow - raking the sand, umbrellas closed for the night, cleaning chairs, sidewalks etc.  The sun is setting as we walk along the hotel-lined beach.  Kind of reminds T of Hawaii or Australia, except there are no high rises here, the highest being about 7 or 8 floors on this beach.  As the sun goes down, we leave the beach and find our way to the street where our apt. is located.  The breeze felt great down by the water, but as we moved away, the heat seemed to build.  We head back to sit on the deck and enjoy some gelato in the plus 33 heat.

Update from eastern Switzerland, Bavarian Germany, and Austria

August 9 - Tuesday - This morning we wake to overcast skies and the temperature in these eastern alps is 12 C.  Not a problem for us as we have clothing for all temperatures and good rain/wind gear.  M is battling his sinus infection and the elevation is bothering him, so he has opted out of exploring the higher ridges.  With the accommodation, we were given bus/train/cablecar passes good for Klosters/Davos area.  This is great news as we can just leave the van parked until it is time to leave on the 11th. This is an added bonus saving us a bunch of Swiss Francs.   Mark and Sherry had gone out walking the night before so they knew where the train and cablecar stations were (across the tracks from each other).  All these cablecars and even the trains skiers use in the winter to get from one area to the next - what a system - very impressive!

              After a hearty breakfast, T, J, Ruby, Mark A and Sherry head out to the train station, a 10 minute walk.  The train to Davos will be leaving at 10:25 from Klosters  at 1191m and will arrive about 25 minutes later in Davos Platz at 1560m. We board the train and find seats - only to find we had boarded in first class as pointed out by the train ticket officer.  Oops T says, we’ll be moving right away. It never occurred to her to check as she thought it was just a regional train with no differentiation in tickets.

            We want to catch the tram up to Schatzalp at an elevation of 1861m .  The tram is not the cog train that Mark A. had been hoping for, but this tram is nevertheless impressive as it takes us steadily upwards to this new elevation. Cool view of the valley as we look back down the hill. There is supposed to be a snowsledge ride up here and Mark wants to check it out and J is definitely with him if everything checks out.  We arrive to find that the place is closed for lunch.  We have found this at other places as well, that they close for lunch even though its high season... never find that in North Am.  That’s ok though as we wanted to go for a walk along some of the trails.  There is an alpine garden up here showing the various species grown here.  There are a number of different geranium species which explains the use of them in so many window boxes of the homes we see in every town.  At home we typically see red geraniums.  Here the colors include red, orange, pink and white.  The color combinations are stunning against the white plaster, or in the window boxes and wood siding. 

            We do wander along a well-marked path and enjoy being within the trees as we are not that far up along the mountainside.  The end of the lunch break for the worker at the sled ride is over, so the boys purchase their tickets and get on the ride.  J’s run is somewhat tamed because of a younger boy who was before him was braking too much and J had to rein in his speed big time as to not rear end the younger fellow.  Uncle Mark came flying down the track - wondering if he could have flown off the track if he hadn’t break on a couple of corners.  J wanted to go again, T agreed to let him have his dose of speed.  He quickly got on before some others who were contemplating going and his second run was very fast - as shown by the “Elvis” wind blown do! 

            We decided to take the tram down as Ruby was getting chilled and it was time to go explore elsewhere.  We walked around Davos Platz doing a little window shopping and trying to find a reasonably priced place to eat lunch.  After checking several places out and deciding that the prices were too steep, approx. $25 CAN per person for lunch, we decided to take the train to the other part of Davos, Davos Dorf to see what we could find.  By this time it was after 2 pm and many places were either closed for summer holidays or they had stopped serving lunch.  This was somewhat frustrating and J didn’t want to have a bun from a bakery.  So, T, J and Mark A went further down the road to search while Sherry and Ruby went to the bakery.  We come across a restaurant inside of the EuroSpar grocery store that actually sells meals at prices more to what we are used to. Cream of Vegetable soup $4.50 CH about $5.50 Can and vs. the $12 CH we encountered the couple of days previous.  We scored!! Mark A went to get Sherry and Ruby and we all enjoyed a bowl of soup.

            After lunch we decided to go back to the apartment and hang. M had enjoyed his day of rest. Although he had walked with us to the train station before we left, and then walked around Klosters

 for awhile, he had gone back to the apartment had a hot bath and great nap before everyone got back (Oh the life!). J and T went out on their own to check out the shops in Klosters.  The number of shops was limited, but we did enjoy the time together.  He’s been eyeing some Swiss army knives, but can’t seem to part with his money on the expense.  “Not sure I would use it enough yet”  Back at the apartment, T prepares dinner and we watch some English TV - a treat - although a bunch of it was about the riots in London which we all thought was a true shame!

August 10 - Wednesday - It rained during the night and we awaken to snow capped peaks surrounding Klosters.  The sky has intermittent clouds so some of the peaks are alight with sunshine showing brilliant white.

This is a treat and T wonders how much we’ll encounter as we explore some of the upper alps above Klosters and Davos.  This morning it is a bit chilly, and we plan to take the cable car from near the train station in Klosters.  M is still suffering from headaches due to his sinus infection, so going at a higher elevation is certainly not going to help out.   He’s decided to spend the morning  resting, and J decides to stay with him, and they will meet us later to catch the train into Davos to explore.

             We make sure that we are equipped for the difference in the elevation with extra layers.  The cable car is jam packed with mountain bikers as well as hikers.  We all manage to find a space to stand and in most cases hold onto a strap or post for the upcoming ride.  We need to take two different cable cars to reach our destination which is at an elevation of 2285m to Gotschmagrat .  It is way up here that we enjoy the  beautiful view of the snowcapped alps as well as see cows grazing in the open meadows.  The dusting of snow on the mountaintops adds definition to the peaks.  It is glorious - making T think - I could spend all day up here soaking in the view. From up here, Davoser See (lake) is visible. There is a couple of inches of snow where we get off and Mark A makes a snowball and tosses it at Sherry and hits bullseye.

 We have a good laugh, take some pictures and wander around looking at the various hiking trails and where they might lead.

             The sun is shining and the snow is melting as we wander around up on the ridge.  People set out on their hikes and we watch the mountain bikers get ready and start off for their downhill ride.  As we were ascending, we could see the walking trails down into the valley below as well as the mountain bike trails that have some serious bumps, turns, ramps.  Looking at the trails, its no wonder so many people come up here with their bikes.  It certainly would be a blast to follow, not sure the body would hold up with all the bumps and turns - definitely not for the faint of heart. 

            We had agreed to meet M and J down at the Kloster train station to head into Davos.  We board the train, T, Mark A and Sherry decide to get off at Davos Dorf, while M, J and Ruby decide to go into Davos Platz to look around, maybe shop and have a bite to eat.

             T, Mark A and S set off to find the cog train, Parsennbahn, up to Weissfluhjoch at 2662m.  Well, we’re not going to get to ride a cog train as this train is electric and runs along a track. It reminds T of a tram - and everyone is standing and it is very smooth.   We travel on a steep incline, through a couple of tunnels and we change mid-mountain to another train. The views are wonderful and as we ascend on the second tram, the mountain scenery changes from green pastures and trees, to bare rock and pebbles.

            Once we reach the top we climb up onto the higher level of the tram station to scan the surroundings and get our bearings.  We watch a helicopter doing lifts of ski lift equipment down the other side of the mountain.  It wastes no time loading and unloading its cargo.  Where we are in the confluence of a number of ski lifts within a few hundred feet of one another each coming at the area from a different direction and elevation.  We were even able to see the top of the cable car station where we had come up this morning from Klosters.  It was fascinating to see how “close” we were to this morning’s trek even though the two towns are 11km apart.

It would have been great to go for a walk, however, the timing wasn’t great - perhaps another time.  Looking at all the lifts and interconnecting runs had T thinking “no wonder people talk about skiing in the Swiss Alps”  it’s definitely different than the resorts we have at home.  The two villages in this area are definitely set up for the tourist/seasonal traffic.  The number of condo buildings is very high and the prices for them run high too! surprise! surprise!  The apartment we are renting is owned by people from Great Britian. This is a great place in the Eastern Alps and somewhere to come back to further explore. 

            Meanwhile Ruby, J and M had been successful in their shopping trip, netting a new shirt for J and some Swiss chocolates for all six of us to enjoy. They had found a lunch spot with good food and reasonable prices, and enjoyed a wonderful walk around Davos Platz finding it to essentially be a series of hotels and condos for the tourists, although some of them certainly looked like they cater to the upscale crowd. Further evidence of this was provided by the upscale shops that cater to only the rich ski crowd.

August 11 - Thursday - Today we’re off to Bavaria Germany to Lenggries (southern Germany) where we will stay at the Sheraton Four Points for two nights.  It’s a sunny day today so the drive through the passes should be great.  We leave Klosters traveling on to Davos and go up the Fleulapass which we had seen from atop of Weissfluhjoch Station the day before.  We climb steadily in this pass taking some windy roads, a couple of switchbacks, tame compared to the ones we had encountered earlier in the week.

We pass the turnoff for St. Moritz, but we won’t be going there this time.  Our route takes us through some narrow valleys which are heavily treed, and then into Austria. As we continue into Austria, the valleys open up and again we see lots of crops. We travel along the highway system bypassing Innsbruck (another famous ski resort town) and then head north into another pass which has Achensee Lake - a large lake with beautiful emerald green color with many sailboats enjoying the wind.  This looks like a busy vacation spot with beaches, loads of bike trails, campgrounds and hotels. We soon cross back into Germany and can definitely see that we have as the road is bordered on one side with a bike path.  The number of bikers along this route is definitely increasing and understandable in this pretty area.  It is not long before we arrive to our hotel. All the staff are dressed in Bavarian attire.  The hotel is on the edge of this small town.  Some of us decide to go for a walk around the village and checkout the lay of the land as for restaurants, coffee shops and a bank as this is the first place our guests need Euros. 

            This is a quaint village, hotels, restaurants and some businesses have wonderful painted murals on the front.  Of course many of the homes have window boxes overflowing with flowers.  This town is wonderfully quiet and we all enjoy the walk.  As we check out the posted menus of the restaurants we notice right away the difference in the cost of meals - at least half the cost as what we paid in Switzerland. 

             We decide to go out for dinner around 7:45.  We decide on trying a local inn whose menu promises Bavarian cuisine.  Of course being in Bavaria, we had to try some of the local beers.  M, T and Mark A each sampled a different kind and none of us were disappointed.  Loads of absolutely wonderful food (and large German sized servings) - schnitzels, panfried breaded fish,  jagerschnitzel, rosti potatoes, etc. Mark A and Sherry ordered this massive platter of grilled meats, veggies and various forms of potatoes - rosti, fried, and fries - they couldn’t finish everything - M helped out some.  A great introduction to this Bavarian town.

August 12 - Friday We agreed to meet for breakfast at 8:30 in the hotel restaurant as breakfast was included in our room cost.  The buffet spread is the most extensive we have seen since leaving N.A. with many things to choose from which is a pleasant surprise. This type of breakfast would easily cost 25$+ per person at home! 

            After a hardy breakfast, we are ready to begin the adventure for the day - to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle located outside of Fassen, Germany.

The trip is supposed to take about 1 1/2 hr. Our drive takes us along secondary routes which go through farmland and treed mountains and hills.  The sun is shining and the drive is very enjoyable seeing new territory, mostly farms and little communities.

  We do get delayed a couple of times, once because Navi wanted to take us onto a roadway that has recently been changed with new construction. We backtrack a couple of times to figure out exactly what route we need to take in order to reach our desired direction.  There’s road construction in another town and with weekend traffic, we are delayed 30 minutes before we get through. 

            Neuschwanstein Castle is where Walt Disney drew his inspiration to build the Magic Kingdom Castle at the entrance to the parks.  According to some of the tourist info its one of the most visited spots in Europe.  As we get near the area, we can see it is a busy spot!  The place in teeming with people, but the parking situation is well handled by attendants who direct us where to park.

We get organized and go in search of buying tickets to visit the castle. Signs say the ticket office is 100m around the corner.  So, we all head in that direction after a stop at the pay WC (water closets aka bathrooms) at 50 cents a person. We round the corner and come face to face with a crowd of people which looks like a line.  T tells J and Ruby to stay at the back and hold the spot and she goes further ahead to see what’s up.  Yup it’ s the line to buy tickets   Oh, we going to be here a while - actually it takes an hour to get through the line.  There are a few souvenir shops which J and Sherry check out while Ruby, Mark A and T hold the spot.  Crowds and waiting in line is not M’s idea of fun, so he gets everyone ice cream and then goes in search of shade, We find out that we have to do a guided tour and the tour of Neuschwanstein Castle is not available until 16:55 and it’s only 1, so we opt to pay for the tour of the smaller castle as well since we have such a long time to wait. (Reminded T a bit of Disneyland securing fast pass times!).

            We walk up to Hohenscwangau Castle

 and look around the gardens and take a few shots  of the area while we wait for our 1:55 English language Tour.  We are led through rooms which are ornate and lavish and hear stories about King Ludwig’s family and his life.  Once we finished that tour, we walked down into the village below to get some lunch as now it was almost 3 PM.  There are many yellow jacket wasps here, which makes eating out on the outside patio a challenge to enjoy.  We quickly eat up and then decide to walk up to the castle.  The brochure says its a 40 minute walk and it’s all uphill.  There are horse-drawn carriages and buses that one can pay to use to get up there, but we decide to walk.  T and J walk ahead of everyone and stop halfway for a rest and then continue until we reach the castle area. Ruby walks with M and she does a great job even though its a hot day.

There are actually 2 castles here, with the other Hohenscwangau Castle which was where King Ludwig II of Bavaria family castle was and where he envisioned the location of the famous castle was to be built. He had it built to honor the famous composer Richard Wagner.  From what we could ascertain from the guide is the King Ludwig was a bit of a wing nut and he died at the early age of 41 having drowned in a lake by Munich and no one really knowing what caused his death.  He had this enormous castle built and it was never completed before his death leaving the 2nd floor unfinished.  As we toured through the castle we toured the first and third floors which are lavishly decorated and the level of detail is mind boggling.  For instance, the king’s bedroom took 14 woodcrafters 4 years to carve all the intricate detail into the woodwork in this his room.  In one salon, the mosaic floor had 2 million pieces of stones.  Another room is totally dedicated to operatic scenes from Wagner’s operas.  The tour of the castle was worth the wait!

            Upon returning to the hotel, we went in search of a place to eat as it was now 8 pm.  The first place we wanted to try was closed for summer vacation. So, we venture on further and find an inn with biergarten style seating outside.  We have a wonderful waitress who speaks English quite well (she told us later that she had spent time in California working one summer and learned in school). She found an English menu in the office of the restaurant for our table.  Once again, we enjoyed more Bavarian beer, marvelous food - no small portions in this place! and some great atmosphere complete with some German women singing while they shared a schnapps after their meal.

August 13 - Saturday            We meet for breakfast at 9:00 for another wonderful breakfast, it is definitely busier at the hotel restaurant today.  The drive from Lenggries to Salzburg, Austria (our next destination) is supposed to take about two hours.  The drive takes us along wide valleys with heavily treed mountains - reminds us of BC  Kootenays somewhat.  We need to travel on the autobahn for quite a ways.  Once we get on the freeway we are engulfed in traffic - really heavy and very slow. We won’t be making this trip in 2 hours.  We wonder what could be the cause of the stop and go traffic only later do we find that it is a holiday weekend in Bavaria.  We are amid wide valleys not really different from home.  As we get closer to Austria, the traffic does finally thin out so we can drive at highway speed.  Finding our accommodation, Pension Herbert (a bed and breakfast inn) is done with ease - actually it’s one of the easiest places we have found in our travels since April.  Usually we do have some kind of “adventure” trying to locate the place!  We are warmly greeted by Herberts’ wife, who shows us to our rooms.  She  gives us the low-down on the area and Herbert continues after he arrives.  Loaded with a map of the area, we go in search of the local restaurant, Holle, which started in business over 200 years ago, for a bite to eat as it is now after 2 pm.  We have a leisure paced lunch, sitting outside under a large canopy and decide to go explore after we have eaten. 

            Armed with the map, all 6 of us begin our walk along the main roadway outside of the Pension toward the center.  It is very warm out today, so we switch sides of the street to walk in the shade.  Ruby’s feet begin to bother her, so, M, J and Ruby decide to head back to the inn.  T, Mark A, Sherry want to continue exploring.  They use the fortress/castle at the top of the hill as a landmark to find the centre on the other side.  The city is bustling with lots of traffic: bike, car, pedestrian, and electric busses.  The architecture of the buildings is wonderful and a treat to look at.  What we do notice is a mixture of modern contemporary design in buildings amongst some older/ Bavarian style. 

            As we near the zentrum,the architecture is traditional and often ornate.  We see arched rooflines above windows and doors. copper roofs, or other metal roofs, elaborate balconies, both metal and concrete.  The church bell towers typically are bulb-shaped or domed.  There are many high bell towers and steeples in this city.  We later learned from Herbert, that this part of Bavaria Austria is mainly Catholic  as well as Bavaria Germany.  It makes for a pretty sky line.  There is also a river running through the city and it is lined with bike and walking paths which makes for a pleasant walk to admire the homes, apartment buildings, inns, and other  buildings showing Salzburg heritage.

            As we wander we see posters that advertise the Salzburg Festival, according to locals, the most famous music festival in the world that has been going on for many many years.  We do notice there are some elegantly dressed couples who likely are going to one of the many performances that take place over this 1 month festival.  We find some pedestrian only streets and they become much narrower, some are old cobbled, some flat stoned, some paved.  As we are walking amid the narrow streets we can hear operatic singing.  We follow the music to a huge platz with a huge stage/screen has been set up and several hundred people are watching the opera, Hansel and Gretl.  We stay for about 10 minutes enjoying the scene as well as the music.  We are right next to the Duomo (cathedrale).  We notice more elegantly dressed people going inside - and T reads there ‘s a concert in there this evening.  We continue to meander and we come across Mozartplatz where there is a large bronze statute of the famous composer who was born in this city.  We use the map to figure out other routes which we could use tomorrow when we walk back to continue our exploration of the city.

August 14 - Sunday We meet for breakfast at 8:30 as agreed upon with Herbert- as he prepares the breakfast for the guests.  Another European breakfast of fruit,  fresh croissants, rolls, a local Austrian bread - moist, brown with various nuts - really good, smoked ham, cheese, jams, pate spreads which our guests enjoy.  Ruby and Sherry are going on a “Sound of Music” tour as this is where the Von Trapp family was from.  They were going to see a number of the places where the film was produced as well as where the family lived. The rest of us were staying behind to go explore Salzburg zentrum.  First, though we need to do some research concerning tickets for Venice St. Mark’s as we would like to avoid the line like we encountered at the castle a couple of days ago.  With this task complete, we walk down the street to a coffee shop/amazing looking pastry shop which M had spotted yesterday, for caps to fortify us for our trek.  We pick a different route this time, having studied the map yesterday on the walk back to the inn. We walk along some tree-lined streets and locate a couple of other short cuts to get down to the centre.  We stop at a church that T and Mark A had seen the day before to take a few pictures, unfortunately like yesterday it was locked up tight, so we weren’t able to catch a glimpse inside.  We spend time walking about the pedestrian only streets of the city checking out the various architectural features of various buildings, and churches.  We also enjoyed walking along the river on the promenade enjoying the beautiful heritage homes, foliage and towers still erect on the surrounding hills.

 There are several fountains within some platzls which are beautiful works of art.  With luck / good timing we find that the Duomo is open and actually mass is being said.  This cathedral is very big and ornate.

There are marble balconies that run along the sides of the Duomo reminding T of opera house balconies.  Again, an amazing site. We came across a quartet playing European instruments like balalaikas and one played the accordion.  Their sound was beautiful and many people stood by listening to their music.  We bought a CD as a momento of Salzburg. 

            It is very warm today, so we found a table in a platzl to sit and enjoy the ambiance and have a cool drink.  Part of the fun is people watching and we having plenty to watch.  T leaves the guys for a bit and finds a shop that has Christmas ornaments as she and J have been collecting one from each country they have been in.  Sometimes it’s a challenge to find one, but so far we’ve collected at least one from each country we have been in. 

            We are to meet Ruby and Sherry at 1:30 by Mozart’s statue in Mozartplatz.  We wait for about for at least 30 min before they show up in the tour van.  They had been delayed in traffic.  We had begun to wonder where we should start looking for them.  In Salzburg zentrum, there were lots of little alleys branching off in various directions making getting lost or confused easy.  We listened to the girls take on the Sound of Music tour while we had lunch. 

            Guest writer Sherry details the tour           

             Ruby and Sherry were picked up by Bruno who was the tour guide for Bob’s Special Tours. He had a 9 passenger van and as they were the first ones he picked up for the tour, they sat in the front seat with him. The other 2 people on the tour were a couple from San Francisco. They learned a lot about the Von Trapp family that had not been brought out in the movie. They were driven to all the locations in Salzburg and area that were used for the filming of the movie.

            The places they saw on the tour were the flower garden where the dwarfs were, the gazebo, the half moon lake, the convent where Maria had come from, the river they had walked along, the church where Maria and the Count were married.

            At the church Sherry was allowed to get out of the van to take pictures of this church with 2 steeples and told they would pick her up at the church. She walked to the church, took the photos, then wondered where they were going to pick her up as there were no places for cars to park. She continued to walk down a side street, did not see the van, so came back to the square where the church was. She still did not see the van so went back down this side street again. No van so came back to the square. Then she spotted Bruno and Ruby. Ruby had been a bit upset when she thought her daughter was lost. They had all been looking for her. Sherry made it clear that she knew exactly where she was, just didn’t know where they were.

            After lunch all six of us went to tour the fortress which was built atop of the hill overlooking the city.

We took a funicular up to begin our tour.  We went in search of the office to rent audioguides to use while we walked through this fortress which was started in the mid 1400’s and was added onto a number of times both enlarging the area which it covered but also augmented its defenses.  Pretty cool to tour this structure which gave us a wonderful view of the valley below.

  Of course, like so many fortresses, eventually were no longer used for defensive purposes as artillery improvements took place.  We decided to walk down into the centre instead of take the funicular down.  It was a steady decline and in some cases quite steep as we passed through various defensive checkpoints\portals.

            T took Ruby back to the hotel via the local bus service while the rest of the gang walked back to the inn taking different routes to explore some of the neighborhoods.  We went back to Holle for dinner which was another enjoyable experience sitting amongst the trees outside of the inn.

           

August 15 - Monday  We meet for breakfast at 9:00 have a great chat with Herbert and then check out of this inn to go on our next journey to Venice.  Our route takes us along the autobahn all the way through to Venice.  While traveling through the Austrian Alps we are hampered from seeing all the wonderful peaks because of rain and low lying cloud.  At times we do get a glimpse.  We travel through a number of tunnels some close to 6 km long going through mountains.  Along the heavily treed hills we see farm houses  with steep lush pasture land, way too steep to do anything else with it.  Through this pass, there are rooflines of homes which remind T of her childhood home.   Once we have left the autobahn to head toward Italy vs. Slovenia, the valley opens up, but the mountains and hills are still heavily treed while there are towns  interspersed along the valley floor.  We also saw some walled fortresses along the way.

            As we are getting ready to leave Austria, nearing the border, we are directed to stop.  We are asked for a toll road sticker - M hands the officer our toll receipt we had paid a ways back.  That was for the tunnel you had gone through the officer informed M.  There apparently are large signs as you enter Austria that you have to get a toll pass at the border crossing.  We didn’t see the sign or even if we did, we likely wouldn’t have known what it said as our German is extremely limited to say the least.  So, he’s told he has to pay a fine of 120 Euro.  M pays the officer and from the looks of all the tourist cars being pulled over, and the number of drivers paying the fine, many people didn’t see the ‘alleged large signs’ fine. Great way to collect a tourist tax.  Oh well, “it won’t break the bank” as J says.

            Once into Italy, we cruise Autostata speed with little traffic.  The rain is no longer a factor and we can see as we get out of the mountains, that the sky is clearing.  The route takes us through densely forested mountains, loads of tunnels and it is not heavily populated. As we get closer toward Udine, the valleys are more populated, farming takes over as the land has flattened, and more cities.   We arrive at our Novotel hotel in Mestre Venezia around 1:45, temperature hovering around 32 C, and check in.  We get info on bus service into Venice and local restaurants before heading off for some lunch.  The nearby restaurant is closing at 2:30 and we arrive at 2:15 and quickly order and all enjoyed sharing pizzas.

            We decide to take the bus down into Venice as we are staying outside of Venice proper.  We want to see if we can get tickets for a the entrance into the Ducale Palace which is much visited thus lineups are long to get in.  We read online we can go to another museum ahead of time to buy tickets and avoid the lineups.  We just miss the first bus by a couple of minutes - it drives away before we are all together.  So, we need to wait 30 min.  The bus ride to Piazza Roma the bus station near the Grand Canal takes about 20 min.  We cross a causeway to our destination and on either side you can see shallow marsh land as well as deeper channels.

             Mark A and T discussed a walking route to get to San Marco piazza to get to Museum Corre to buy the tickets.  The route is plotted and off we go.

 References to the map are frequent and we use signs posted on the corners of some buildings.  It is getting later in the day so many tourists are heading in the opposite direction than we are.  We make our way through narrow alleyways and check out the architecture of some of the places.

 We can certainly see the age of the buildings.  We do manage to find our way to Piazza San Marco and T finds the museum to purchase the tickets for tomorrow’s visit.

             By now it is around 6 pm and the piazza is much quieter than we witnessed when Sue and the kids were here.  We decide to walk around the piazza as we tell our guests that tomorrow it will be much more crowded tomorrow and not nearly as enjoyable.  We decide to take a water ferry back to Piazza Roma to catch the bus back to the hotel.  It’s about 7:30 by the time we get on the bus which is absolutely jam packed reminded T of the C-Train at home after a Flames game - barely enough room to breath!  Makes for an interesting journey especially when people rang the bell and had to exit the bus.  The drivers waste no time at the stops and we saw at least a dozen people miss their stop because some guy was standing in the middle of the exit didn’t move out of the way on time.  They were not happy and the next stop was quite a distance - we felt sorry for them!   We weren’t sure if we were on the right bus, or where it was going to stop near the hotel.  A gentleman heard T talking with Mark A as M was way in the back of the crowded bus, and offered his help.  He seemed concerned for us, but did manage to direct us to get off at the right stop, saying we’d have to walk a bit, That was OK as we were in the right vicinity.   We decide to go back to the same restaurant as we had lunch - instead of the Novotel.