July 25 – Monday After lunch we decide to go for a drive south to the next town, Conegliano to check out the location of the train station (for our upcoming trip to Venice) and to purchase tickets. We finally locate the station once we come across the “stazione” road signs. One thing about Italy, if the town has a train station, there are always signs giving directions to its location. With tickets bought, and departure times determined, we calculate the travel time from Vittorio Veneto to the station – 25 minutes.
We leave Conegliano and continue south toward Treviso with our destination a little village called Rovare where T and S’s mother was born and lived until she immigrated to Canada when she was about 6 years old. With directions from Navi, we do find the village, our destination, the cemetery where there is a family plot, takes a bit of effort. We parked the van and decided that since the village was so small, it couldn’t be far. T asked directions from a couple of men who didn’t know where it was located, but they called across the street to someone else who provided directions she understood in Italian. (Thank you Rosetta Stone language program). We walked along the roadways and admired this pretty little village
and came across the cemetery and began the search for the family marker. Cemetaries in Italy are different from what we see at home, they are quite a bit more ornate and some of the plots are very large – in some cases, ornate small buildings.
With all of us searching, it doesn’t take long to come across the plot at the rear of the cemetery. On the large marker were the names of T’s grandparents, Pasquale Conzon, Rachelle Merlo, and uncles, Rino Conzon and Mario Conzon. On the marker is also T’s mother’s name in memorial, Rita Conzon.
We spend some time here and explain the significance to the kids. As S and T walk through the cemetery, they also come across names of families who likely had relatives in our hometown of Trail. We also looked through the local church where T and S’s grandparents would have been married, and their mother would have been christened.
It was very nice to come and see where our maternal family began its roots.
We found our way back to Treviso where we walked and drove around. This area has many canals and some of the secondary roads are quite narrow as a result of this.
Around the city there are some wonderful villas and gardens. There are many bike paths that would be cool to explore. We drive back to Vittorio Veneto which is about an hour and have the “ah ha” moment as we are driving down the main road into this city. We see the other large Vittorio Venteo sign Ada had mentioned in the directions she provided for us and now see how easy it is to locate the castle.
July 26 - Tuesday – We are up early this morning – around 6 as we need to leave Castrum Serravalle by 7:15 in order to catch our 7:52 train in Conegliano for our daytrip to Venice. Travelling by train will take just under an hour and bring us right to where we need to go - the Grand Canal. As we near the St. Lucia train station, riding over a causeway to get to the final stop, we catch our first glimpse of the vast amount of water around Venice and how busy the port is. Before leaving the train station, T purchases a map and guidebook for Venice “sights to see”. Unfortunately all the English versions were sold out, so she settles for Italian. The most important thing being the detailed map which shows where all the sights are located along the canal.
Right outside of the train station is the ferry ticket kiosk. We buy 12 hr passes allowing us to have unlimited use to go up and down the canal. As we line up for the water ferry at 9:15, we can see that it’s going to be a busy day as many people are milling about. We quickly get the hang of where to stand in order to get on the ferry. The boats arrive at the floating waiting area, tourists quickly disembark and then its time to load on – with every person for themselves. M breaks way and we follow closely behind to ensure the 6 of us all get on the same launch.
Of course, being summer, the place is swarming with tourists just like us! We quickly see the “magic of Venice” as we begin our journey up the Grand Canal
toward our first stop, San Marco Piazza where the Basillica is located. The canal is a highway with police boats, barges making deliveries, gondolas moored ready for passengers, water taxis and public ferry boats like the one we are on. It’s really enjoyable to watch the hustle and bustle of the waterway while we take in the beauty on the buildings that line the canal. The architecture is beautiful and buildings differ in color, size, usage, and design features, many dating back to between the 14th and 18th centuries. We marvel at the narrow canals branching off from the main and acting as alleyways to go further into the area. We often see arch bridges spanning these narrow waterways – very pretty. The waves lap against the foundations of the buildings and some steps of buildings. We follow our map to see where we are in relation to our first destination the stops the water ferry stops. As we approach San Marco, the crowds increase and the waterway is busier with traffic.
We disembark with many of the other tourists and locate the entrance to the piazza. The place is teeming with people and we call out to the kids to stay close as we try to navigate the crowds.
Long lines have already formed to enter the various venues. M quickly gets in line and T goes ahead to check what’s up, and yes, we are in the right line to get into the Basilica. Entrance is free into this UNESCO site and the line is moving quickly. This church is breathtaking as we enter – mosaic everywhere ceiling, and floors. M goes with the kids while T goes with Sue – this way she can spend more time enjoying the beauty. We will be coming back to Venice in the 2nd week of August, so our aim today is to let Sue see as much/whatever she wants. The line into the Ducal Palace is long, so we decide that Sue should go in and we’ll take the kids for a walk and a shop as they have seen a couple of things in kiosks which interest them. We agree to meet in an hour and off we go for a snack and shop. We’re back in tourist zones - $4 Euro for a cap versus the $1.30 Euro we paid yesterday morning in Vittorio Veneto. We enter a couple of shops. Juliette gets a carnival mask – which are aplenty in the shops. J buys a Christmas ornament in the shape of a Venetian mask and Mathieu buys a satchel similar to one Indiana Jones has in the movies! Once meeting up with Sue and we found a restaurant to get something to eat before doing anymore exploring.
After lunch we decide to head to Murano to see the glass factories. We catch the ferry stopping at a number of places, including the cemetery island, before reaching the island of Murano 40 minutes later. Once we get off the boat, we come across a glass factory in which they are blowing glass. For a small fee we watched and had an explanation and questions answered about the process. All 6 of us were fascinated watching two artisans – likely father and son, blowing glass to create a lamp.
The oven was 1200 degrees and we could feel the heat in the building. We had a great time wandering the showroom admiring the lovely works of art. J picked out a gondola as a reminder of Venice. There were many pieces T liked, however, they likely wouldn’t survive the trip. We spent some time looking into some showrooms with some incredible works of art before returning to San Marco via a direct route taking half the amount of time.
Once back at San Marco, we had entertained the idea of hiring a gondola. T inquired the cost – for 30 minutes for 6 of us, $100 Euro – that’s $145 Can. After a discussion with the children, we decided that it was too costly. So, we decided, that we would forgoe the experience - Next stop is Salute to tour the church, Santa Maria della Salute (Church of Virgin Mary of Good Health), which took 50 years to build in the 17th century. It was commissioned to be thankful to the Virgin Mary of Good Health for Venice surviving the plague.. We spend quite a bit of time admiring the intricate details of the outside with its elaborate scrolls and 125 statues. This high domed church had alabaster marble everywhere, inlaid gold altars, beautiful works of art depicting the Madonna.
The bonus of the afternoon visit hearing the pipe organ fill the church with wonderful music during a scheduled prayer /vespers time. In many large churches, cathedrals we have toured, there is often an area set aside for prayer, which tourists only enter if they wish to pray. A convent is located nearby and a number of nuns entered to pray. Before heading back to the rail station, we decide to explore a few narrow passageways in this quieter area of Venice. It is a delight to wander and admire some artisan shops. We stop to admire a wonderful arched bridge crossing a narrow waterway with the reflection of buildings on the surface of the water.
It was a wonderful time to enjoy the quietness and take a few photos. When we come back to Venice, we plan to explore some of the lesser-visited areas to enjoy the ambience of Venice. We look forward to it.
We are ready to go back, and board a crowded ferry. We notice that as we approach the rail station, the canal is less busier. Once we arrive at the station, we go in search of the rail schedule to find the next train to Cogneliano. We need to wait about 45 minutes so we go in search of a snack to tide us over until dinner. We walked over to the platform listed on the schedule only to find that there is no train. T goes in search of finding someone to help us out as we know there’s something up with the schedule. We’ve come across a few train schedules that list all kinds of times, but there is small print that lists exceptions. T does find a train employee who helps her out and says “oh, that train only runs from September to December” “But of course, T says to herself – we should have known!!!” Anyways, he points out another train which leaves in about 20 minutes so we board it right away. The train quickly fills up, so it’s a good thing we find a seat early. The trip is passed with all of us engaging in conversation with some high school students who are on a cultural program started by Roosevelt to allow them to learn about other cultures. The train is delayed an extra half hour as it stops a few times due to issues with the track. By the time we finally arrive, we are all happy to get out of the train.
Once back at the castle, S and T prepare dinner. Mathieu and J go out to play soccer in the field. While out there, one of Ada’s Jack Terriers gets out of the gate and lunges at J and bites him on the back of his leg. That ends the game and we need to take care of his leg. It’s not a deep bite, but hurtful and bruising nevertheless. Good thing we had rabies shots before we left.
July 27 - Wednesday – We have a slow start today as several of us sleep in after the busy day in Venice. We decide to catch up on laundry. We actually have a dryer – the second one we’ve had use of in Europe. M, T, and Sue walked down into the village and had a wonderful cappuccino and pick up a few groceries to tie us over and we window shop a bit. Sue sees a chocolate shop, she’s interested in checking out. T sees yet another shoe shop with cute sandals beckoning to be checked out.
This afternoon we decide to drive up to Cortina about 1.3 hours from Vittorio Veneto. Cortina is located in the Dolomites and we are looking forward to seeing them. The first third of the drive is on the Autostrada (freeway) and then the remainder is on single lane highway. Not long after the Autostrada ends we begin to climb. We go through a number of towns with some incredible views of the Dolomites. It’s raining and some of the clouds hang. We stop in a village and take picture of some wonderful peaks. Sue wants to go further, and we agree. As we continue north to Cortina, the weather clears and we get an even clearer view of the peaks. It is beautiful to see the lush green valleys dotted with homes. Cortina is “the Aspen” of Italy with expensive real estate and hotels and shops. We do not see where the ski lifts are, but do see where a few runs are. The peaks are jagged and bare, with orange hues.
It was a beautiful sight and we enjoyed seeing the beauty. We can understand why people would like to have a place here. As we drive back we get a sense of how much we have climbed in the drive, as we can clearly see the entire drive back was all downhill. We all notice one bridge as it’s the highest bridge any of us have ever been on, a very long way to the valley below.
July 28 - Thursday – M, T, S and Juliette go for a walk to explore another portion of the walled city of Serravalle. We walk up to the church of the patron saint of Serravalle, San Augustus. We walk up an ornate staircase leading to a cobbled path leading us on a continual climb to the mountaintop. Along the way there were a number of chapels named after saints, with names of noble families from the 1600’s living in Serravalle as well as well as other local families who probably built these chapels. About 40 minutes later, (the girls were slow as it only took M 20 minutes) it was a great view of Vittorio Veneto and towns south from the staircase and the church. We spent time enjoying the church and taking time out to give thanks as well.
We reward ourselves with a cappuccino / ciccolatto caldo and waters at the café in the village which we have come to frequent this week. The girls head off to the check out the shoe store and T buys two pairs of sandals (one will be sent home). As T comments about not having enough shoes to M he happily replies “Just like I can’t don’t have nearly enough wine!” Upon the girls return everyone has lunch. We had planned to play some baseball, but the skies had decided to open up again, so, we hang out for the afternoon enjoying each other’s company as tomorrow we head back to Milan. M does get the chance to complete another game of soccer versus J and Mathieu, they had been all tied up from the day before, and the boys eventually win the match.
July 29 - Friday - We set out to depart from the castello just after 10. We are headed for Verona and then on to Milan. The kids sit in the back and start to watch a movie while the adults sit up front. About an hour and half into the journey, Juliette announces she’s not feeling well, she’s going to be sick and immediately does. M just gets the van pulled over when Mathieu does as well… So, we make an unexpected pit stop, get the kids cleaned up and wrap things up until we can reach a rest stop – we find one about 30 min. later. M cleans the van, everyone gets cleaned up and we’re ready to get back on the road. We rearrange the seating and continue toward Verona, making a quick stop to see the walled town of San Boniface. We stop long enough to take some pictures and then head out to Verona.
When we arrive in Verona, we found the parkade which our landlady from the week before had recommended and set out for the arena.
The arena is within a walled section of Verona – it is the best preserved Roman amphitheatre next to the one in Rome, built in around 100 AD and seats 20000 people. It did survive an earthquake leaving only 4 of its arches intact.
The arena is within a walled section of Verona – it is the best preserved Roman amphitheatre next to the one in Rome, built in around 100 AD and seats 20000 people. It did survive an earthquake leaving only 4 of its arches intact.
We walked around the outside, seeing different stage sets for the operas being performed this summer. We located the entrance gate, waited in line to pay and then entered into this wonderful venue. The seating levels are shades of pink marble from near quarries. This amphitheatre was oval while the Greek ones we’ve seen are a semi-circle. While there, the stage area was being set for the upcoming opera. Of course we had to walk to the highest level. The piazza outside of the arena is wide, busy with tourists, pigeons hanging out, and lined with restaurants serving opera goers and visitors to the arena. We chose one of these to have lunch before further exploration of Verona’s centro. The roads are cobbled, they meander amongst wonderful buildings and some for pedestrians only. It is not really busy with tourists making it very pleasant to walk around.
We walked about and admired some of the buildings and shops, and made our way to the castelvecchio (old castle) part of the walled city.
We walked over the drawbridge once spanned a moat and entered the castle. It had wonderful brick turrets and towers, which protected the bridge, Ponte Scaligeri. We walked over this bridge, peering out of “lookout holes” to admire the view.
This fortress is huge. Like the one in San Boniface, the top of the wall has a scalloped v top standing for the Visconti family a ruling family centuries ago.
We walked over the drawbridge once spanned a moat and entered the castle. It had wonderful brick turrets and towers, which protected the bridge, Ponte Scaligeri. We walked over this bridge, peering out of “lookout holes” to admire the view.
This fortress is huge. Like the one in San Boniface, the top of the wall has a scalloped v top standing for the Visconti family a ruling family centuries ago.
We enjoy the walk through and make our way back to the street and onto the parkade where the van is. This is a town where we certainly could spend more time exploring, but we need to get to our hotel near the Malpensa airport. We still have another 2 hours of driving time. The hotel is fairly easy to find and close to the airport. Our hotel is located in a quiet town, with few restaurants. M checks about restaurants and there is one less than 10 min. walk.
We head out about 8pm and have not trouble finding it. We walk in to find another family run restaurant. Our waiter/host dressed in a pink shirt and tie, is north of 65 yrs. M thinks perhaps even 70. There was another waiter who looked like our waiter, around the same age. He was a wonderful old gent with a gravelly “godfather” voice – which added to the charm of the evening. We were very well treated, the food wonderful, service great, and even after all trying to use our Italian got to have the god Italian bread (versus the tourist bread that was first brought out). We find out that they have been in business for 45 years. It was another great Italian cultural experience for our guests.
July 30 - Saturday – We set the Iphone alarm for 7 am to get Sue up to be ready to leave for Malpensa airport at 8:30. Their flight leaves at 10:40 for London and then onto Calgary, arriving at 3:30 Sat. afternoon. It is very busy at the airport, so we do the Italian double park – give our hugs and kisses goodbye and they go off to check in. We head back to Milan where we will be staying until Aug. 4. It takes us a while to get to our hotel, located in north Milan, as the international airport is about 45 km away.
We arrive at the Novotel hotel and find we can’t check in until noon. So we park the van and go explore the surroundings for a place to have breakfast. We come across a bakery where they also serve cappuccinos and find something for each of us to enjoy. We passed a local street market and walk around a bit. We stopped at a place which sells prepared cooked meats as well as raw and bought some wonderful roasted chicken wings and French fries. We found a park bench in the shade and enjoyed the snack. While walking around, T noticed a hair salon and went into see if they had an opening for J. He would like to get his hair trimmed (hasn’t had it done since we left Canada) and he agreed. While T takes him in to get his cut, M further explores the area and stops at the market and buys some fruit. J enjoys his first experience at a salon, thoroughly enjoying the shampoo experience.
While channel surfing in the hotel room we come across sporting events broadcast in English, from around the world. We marvel at the different sports we have seen here in Europe, some we never see if N. Am. let alone know that they even exist. Today we see beach soccer, played on a much smaller pitch with a ball that bounces. We have seen beach tennis, in-line skate hockey played with a puck (which team Canada won the international tournament held in Italy). We also saw old style roller skate hockey played in a gym with sticks that looked like field hockey and a ball. We saw the world archery championships – proudly we cheered the young Canadian who won the men’s division of a specific bow type. We have seen men’s and women’s water polo matches and international volleyball matches. We followed the daily coverage of each Tour de France stage and watched the world championship of rowing and sculling from Hamburg, Germany. We enjoyed the European track and field championship (and are looking forward to the world championships coming at the end of August), as well as the swimming and diving world championships held in China. We have watched dressage and equestrian events and pro European basketball. We’ve watched all kinds of soccer: Championship League, Italian Serie A, UEFA under 21 and under 17 FIFA world cup soccer championships.
For dinner, we head out in search of the Taormina ristarante recommended by the hairdresser. It takes us about 10 minutes to find this happening place. The place is very busy with locals and the noise level from the patrons is loud. The menu’s extensive and the prices very reasonable. We took a while to figure out what we wanted and we were all delighted with our choices. We’ll likely come back to this one!
July 31 – Sunday - J wants breakfast, so we bring him downstairs to eat at the buffet, and even finds that J eats for free. M and T have no interest in what’s offered there and opt to find a place for a cap. We can take the tram down to the center of Milan where the shopping, museums and tourist sites are. For 3 Euro each M and T can ride the bus, tram, metro unlimited for 24 hours. J gets to ride free. Armed with a map and having checked at the front desk, we can catch the tram about a 5 min. walk from the hotel.
We ask a bus driver where to buy the tram tickets which ends up being right next to the tram line at a bar. We buy the tickets and also order cappuccinos which having taken the first couple of sips – think “oh yah – we’ll be coming here all week” absolutely wonderful.
The tram frequents this stop every 8 minutes. M validates the tickets while J and T find seats. It takes us about 15 minutes to get to the center. Once there, we went down into the metro system. We asked directions from a woman, who led us to where we had to catch the metro in order to get to the science and technology museum.
The museum is a former monastery and also a research facility in conjunction with Univ. of Milan. The museum is full of interesting displays depicting the evolution of various technologies dating back in hundreds of years. . We are in search of the 50 working models of some of Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings. We are pleased to find these models and marvel at the incredible forethought of this legendary genius. We are amazed at this man who did so many incredible things leaving his mark in the world in so many facets, and along the walls are many of his sketches and copies of some of his most important paintings. We know we will not get to see the actual Last Supper, as the viewing times are sold out for weeks, so we enjoy a copy in this museum.
After spending several hours at the museum, finishing off in the aviation section, we walked back toward the center where we would eventually catch our tram back to the hotel. We spent time looking for a restaurant that was open, for lunch, but were unsuccessful, so, we carried on, trying to figure out the map we got from the hotel where there might be somewhere to eat. J had a good idea to head back toward the tram and indeed we found restaurants among pedestrian only shopping streets. Lunch in your typical tourist area was not bad , but not as good as the local family restaurant near our hotel. We looked around a bit and then headed back to the hotel with intentions of returning again on Tuesday.
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