We left the hotel on the Lido by taxi boat around 8:00am to
meet Michele with the bus over at the main land. As we left there was a large
cruise ship coming into Venice, with hundreds of people standing out on the
decks. It was incredible to watch this magnificent ship come into Venice, with all the taxi boats crazily speeding around it, and it trying to navigate the waters.
They must have had a fantastic view of Venice from the high balconies, with all the canals and soft coloured buildings! Chris explained that unlike many other cities in Europe, Venice still looks very similar to how it did originally! This is because very little has been changed and it has now become very hard to change anything! Thank god! It is such a wonderful island city, with its hundreds of alleyways and bridges, it would be a shame to change it!
They must have had a fantastic view of Venice from the high balconies, with all the canals and soft coloured buildings! Chris explained that unlike many other cities in Europe, Venice still looks very similar to how it did originally! This is because very little has been changed and it has now become very hard to change anything! Thank god! It is such a wonderful island city, with its hundreds of alleyways and bridges, it would be a shame to change it!
We boarded our trusty Trafalgar bus and were off, slightly
later than expected and slightly sad to be leaving this fascinating place, towards Verona. It is believed that is was in Verona
that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (or Juliet and Romeo in Italian) was set.
Verona is a beautiful little town full of boutique shops and gorgeous
buildings. Of course I went and had a look at Juliet’s balcony and the hundreds
of padlocks attached to the gates around the small courtyard below the balcony, just like every other tourist within 20 km.
I also looked along the walls where women had put hundreds of letters to Juliet, just like in the movie “Letters to Juliet”. I was astonished to learn, and see the offices, of the ladies that actually reply to all the letters! All of them! I thought it was absolutely moving that these women reply to all these letters by hand! The courtyard was wall to wall bodies, with people taking pictures, couples kissing and other people just watching the chaos go on around them (that was me). After about 40 minutes in Verona we all got back on the bus and travelled on to our next destination, the stylish city of Milano.
When we arrived in Milano we were greeted by our fabulous
local guide, Martina. Just as Chris described, she was like a mother duck
herding all of us ducklings around this fascinating town for a couple of hours.
She was fantastic, calling on people from the group to play certain characters
in the History of Milano so she could convey the complicated to-ing and fro-ing
of the dukes ruling this city. She was full of knowledge and passion for
Milano. She took us through the castle and the adjoining museum, which included
Michelangelo’s final sculpture! You could actually see the marks where he was chiselling the marble to change it from one sculpture to a new masterpiece. Unfortunately, he died before finishing.
We went to the La Scala (through the torrential rain! It was like QLD in the wet season!)! What an amazing place! The small museum of the La Scala was full of portraits of famous opera singers and composers, and old instruments and scores donated to the museum. We were lucky enough to be able to watch the Italian Ballet Company rehearsing swan lake from some of the tiny boxes. When Milano was under Austrian control, the people of Milano asked the Empress of Austria if they could build this beautiful opera house. She said that they could, but that she would not provide any money to help with the construction. Therefore, the rich families in Milano provided money so that the government could build this theatre, and in return they had their own boxes. These boxes are not like the boxes you get in Australia for the ballet or the football! These were tiny, velvet lined boxes with only enough room for four or five people to stand and watch out of the window. You would not be able to sit and watch the ballet as the window was too high! It must have been very uncomfortable to stand for the entire ballet! Anyway, it was absolutely amazing to stand in this famous theatre and watch the ballet company rehearse! Fantastic!
We went to the La Scala (through the torrential rain! It was like QLD in the wet season!)! What an amazing place! The small museum of the La Scala was full of portraits of famous opera singers and composers, and old instruments and scores donated to the museum. We were lucky enough to be able to watch the Italian Ballet Company rehearsing swan lake from some of the tiny boxes. When Milano was under Austrian control, the people of Milano asked the Empress of Austria if they could build this beautiful opera house. She said that they could, but that she would not provide any money to help with the construction. Therefore, the rich families in Milano provided money so that the government could build this theatre, and in return they had their own boxes. These boxes are not like the boxes you get in Australia for the ballet or the football! These were tiny, velvet lined boxes with only enough room for four or five people to stand and watch out of the window. You would not be able to sit and watch the ballet as the window was too high! It must have been very uncomfortable to stand for the entire ballet! Anyway, it was absolutely amazing to stand in this famous theatre and watch the ballet company rehearse! Fantastic!
We made our way over to the main museum of Milano, still in
the pouring rain! Unfortunately, due to the down poor the museum and galleries
had flooded, and were closed for the rest of the day! So back into the rain we
went, and over to the stunning Galleria. The Galleria is a shopping mall that
is open at all four entrances/exits with very ornate decorations throughout!
Not to mention the fabulous high end shops and cafes! Check out the pictures,
as words just don’t do it justice!
We had about 50 minutes of free time and sat to enjoy a
coffee and tiramisu to avoid the rain in the galleria, while Milano locals
shopped for fashion around us. I have to say, the Italians have got hospitality
service down to a fine art. Not once have I had to wait for water, wine or
anything else, and they are happy to try to cater for everyone, as long as you
ask with a smile.
We met up with the group and got back on the bus and we were
off to our final stop today, Lake Maggiore. It was lovely driving up through
the Italian mountains and then down into the lake district. It was difficult to
get a good picture as we had to go through so many tunnels cut into
the sides of the mountains. Chris our tour director explained that
‘unfortunately’ we had been bumped out of our hotel, because a large group of
doctors had booked in for a conference….. so we had been bumped up to a 5 star hotel
down the road, right on the lake side. It was a very plain building outside,
however when you went inside it was very ornate, with stained glass lights and
brightly coloured carpets. It felt like I had just stepped into a casino! We had a few minutes to freshen up (after a huge day of touring!) and
enjoy our view over the lake. It was stunning (check out the pic!). At about
8pm we went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner with the group. The dining room
also looked out over the lake, providing a fantastic backdrop for dinner. It
was great watching a huge storm roll over the lake, and then the lightning
start. One minute we could see the palace island in the middle of the lake and the lights
from the town on the other side, the next minute you couldn’t see anything. A
very thick layer of fog/cloud had moved across the lake, bringing with it
fierce winds, rain and lightning.
Dinner was lovely, and after a BIG day touring I was ready
for bed, and crashed at about 9:30pm.
Lake Como tomorrow!
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