This is the second time since getting back from Canada in 2009 that Bruce has added a couple of weeks to the July holiday and we have taken an extended European holiday. This time we decided to go to Italy, hoping that eating out at restaurants would be easier.
We went straight to Rome, where we booked a hotel just around the corner from the Colosseum. As usual, a requirement was a pool and ours overlooked the Colosseum from the rooftop. As you can see, Liam now towers over Rosie. The look on his face was his current look, you will see it often in the photos.
We flew into Rome on June 21st and the next day we had to get ourselves organised for our special event, going to see the Rolling Stones at Circo Massimo in Rome. We walked to the concert in the afternoon to get in early enough to get a reasonable seat, or at least that was the idea. It was a long process of going through several security areas until we finally got in. It was packed so we found a spot back from the stage and set ourselves up for the long wait. John Mayer was one of the pre-acts and he was ok. Unfortunately it was nearly midnight before the Stones finally came onto the stage. Liam was really tired and cranky by then, and Rosie was just tired. The first track wasn’t that good, so we left. The people who were outside at the time were ecstatic to be given our reentry tickets.
Bruce looked up the local restaurants on the internet and came up with this really good cafe just around the corner from the Colosseum so the next day we took a tour of a few of the usual attractions and then went for lunch. The reviews of Luca Cafe said the food was great but the service could be rude. We were still looking at the menu while in the queue and when the waitress asked if we wished to share a table with someone else, we thought about it too long. She just went to the next people and ignored us.
The next time she asked we said yes and sat down at a long table with some other people. The food was great and the waitress sat down with us latter and had a chat when things quietened down. She was lovely and we went back a couple of days later.
Obviously, we went to the Vatican and looked at a few ruins. Liam wasn’t that impressed but so long as we got him a chocolate shake and a pizza then he kept up with us. Liam decided to do a “Diavola Pizza” tour of Italy and was going to order one in each town he visited. The rest of the time he had a Margarita Pizza. Anything that kept him happy and didn’t cost us a fortune was good by us.
After Rome, we travelled south to Sorrento and stayed in an apartment near the train station. For this trip, we decided that we would catch trains everywhere, so all our accomodation had to be within walking distance to the train if possible.
I bought Liam the T-Shirt at the last Mathematics conference I went to. It was a big hit and he wore it all over Italy. We really enjoyed Sorrento, catching the train everywhere and finding lots of nice views and great food. We even got the occasional smile out of Liam.
We caught the train to Pompeii for a day trip and joined the thousands of tourists looking around this historical site. Bruce has been there before, but Liam and Rosie found it fascinating and we enjoyed the trip.
Lots of great beach sites around Sorrento and Bruce could always find a restaurant that served pizza, pasta and wine. Everyone was happy.
After Sorrento we caught the train to Florence and stayed in really nice airbnb a short walk from the station but also very close to the market square.
Our little BNB in Florence had a lovely little courtyard area and had a nice view over the tops of other building of Florence.
We loved the bathroom window, our own little Mona Lisa moment.
We did the usual sites of Florence, including the Statue of David. After a very pleasant few days, we caught the train to the Cinque Terre, which goes through the town of Pisa, where you swap trains. Like most people, we got off the train and went for a walk around the town.
Our final destination was the small town of Riomaggiore on the Cinque Terre. It was a beautiful hillside village leading down to the Mediterranean. We walked out of the railway tunnel and up a couple of hills and then got to our beautiful little apartment overlooking the small harbour. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer place to stay for a few days.
One of our activities we had booked was a bread making class. Bruce found it online and didn’t know much about it. We caught the train the small town nearby and walked along looking for where our class was to be held. It turned out to be a small pizza shop and we were the only clients.
Mario was fantastic. He taught us how to make pizza doughs and then went through all the uses of this dough. When we were just starting he had to quickly make this 1 meter diameter pizza for a customer, who was coming in to get just a few slices, but it had to be ready for him. Mario showed us how to make this and then we tasted a bit of it. The dough he used was some of the stuff we made.
We made deep fried bread, foccacio bread and pizzas. We obviously tasted everything we made.
At the end of the lesson, we then got to sit down to a three course meal of pasta and wine, which we didn’t expect. We had to decline since we had already eaten so much. Bruce did join Mario for a wine and dessert.
Fantastic experience and very unexpected.
While staying at Riomaggiore, we went swimming and Rosie found the beach pebbles (rocks) very difficult to walk on. She really struggled to get both into and out of the water.
The water was warm and the swim pleasant but sitting on the rocks didn’t much for us.
On another day we caught the bus to Positano, another seaside village. The bus trip was an experience in itself, Rosie always thought we were going to fall off the side of the cliffs.
The bus dropped us off at the top of the town and we had to walk down to the village centre. It was all very pleasant but we preferred our town more.
We were able to catch the ferry from Positano all the way back to our little apartment. It dropped us off just around the corner from our unit and we only had to walk about 100m to get home.
From Riomaggiore, we caught the train to Milan
Apart from the usual tourist sites, we did a Pasta cooking class in Milan and again found this a great experience that really engaged Liam. After the lesson the whole group sat down for a four course meal consisting of what we created along with several other dishes.
While in Milan, we took the opportunity to take the train to Saint Moritz in Switzerland. The train trip is very exciting, winding its way up the mountains with great views over little villages nestled in the mountains.
We all enjoyed the trip and the various scenery we got to see. Once at the top, the town was a bit boring and over touristy, but it was still worth it.
You catch the bus back down the mountain and Bruce was glad he wasn’t driving. The hairpin turns often required the bus to do a three, four or five point turn, while at all times you had banked up traffic behind and in front of us.
After Milan, we caught the train to Verona. This town just appealed to Bruce and we were not disappointed. Our accomodation overlooked the river and a castle. We could hear music coming up from the castle, so Rosie and Bruce went walking and found an outdoor concert taking place. It was wonderful
The next day we walked into the town centre and saw the Verona Arena, which is a Roman amphitheater in Verona, Italy, that is the third-largest surviving amphitheater in Europe. Bruce looked it up while we were having lunch and found out that the best way to experience it was to go to an opera, which were on several nights a week. Bruce immediately booked us to go see the opera “Turandot” that night. Only after as we waited for lunch did he read that you shouldn’t book too early since the weather can change quickly.
When we arrived, it was pouring with rain and we sat there with ponchos on, watching them lift the scenery in from outside the arena, using huge cranes. They kept setting up in the rain and around 9pm they told the crowd that the doppler radar predicted the rain to stop in 30 minutes. At 9:30pm the production began and got to see a wonderful performance. The most famous song from this opera is Nessun Dorma, and it was beautiful to hear in this atmosphere.
After a couple of nights in Verona we went on to Venice. We had a lot of trouble finding our accommodation in Venice but when we finally did, it was very nice. We were right on a canal and weaved all through the streets of Venice every time we wanted to see anything.
Liam was a bit bored by now and tended to just want to rest in the room while Mum and Dad did a bit of adventuring. After our first walk around, we came home to find Liam quite excited. He had been resting in his bed, looking out the window when a gondola went past at his head height, not your normal site for a boy from Margaret River.
While in Venice, we took the Vaporetto to Murano Island, where they make glass sculptures and ornaments, we then went to Burano Island where they have lots of really cute cottages in bright colours.
After Venice, we caught the train back to Rome, where we stayed at the hotel next to the airport. We were only there for two nights and were going to leave early in the morning so thought this would be a good place.
Rosie and Bruce caught the airport bus into Rome during our day stay and took another look around before having lunch at Luca’s one last time. It was a great way to end a very enjoyable holiday, but most probably our last big trip with Liam since he is now getting bored travelling around with his parents. His loss.
