Assisi

This Italian town’s fame stems from it being the birth place of St Francis….but it is so much more than that; simply put, Assisi is stunning.

Driving to Assisi involved the usual “Why won’t the Sat Nav let me type in the address…..” but ‘Oh Well’ eventually (after driving up the narrowest of roads – and I mean narrow) we got there.

We spent the next three nights at a convent run by an order a Franciscan  nuns and it was fantastic. Upon arrival we learned that between all of the Nuns, they spoke 5 languages…..English wasn’t one of them. But between the hugging (it was really cold) and the hand gestures, we were just fine. When one of the sisters took me to the room and showed me the view, I knew the entire stay was going to be a ‘magic moment’ in our trip.

The view from our room…the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi

The stay in the convent was amazing – so different to any motel stay of B&B that we’ve been to in the past. It was quiet, had a curfew (10.30pm) and we had to ‘buzz at the gate’ to get entry but there was always a happy ‘buongiorno’ from a nun from the third floor window as we entered the gate.

The Basilica itself was beautiful – so much so, that Ian attended mass with me in the ‘Inferior’ chapel (the huge place of worship on the lower floor). When asked what he thought of the service, the response of….’I didn’t understand a word of it’ came as no surprise….!

Seeing monks, priests and Nuns walking up the narrow streets with their back packs and laptops was the norm but so too were the colourful sites within the walls of Assisi.

It is not just a town of beauty but also a town with a history.

I think that tourist in the black vest is taking on ‘Stalker’ status

Assisi never ceased to surprise us….the story behind this castle was fascinating.

After two glasses of wine at this establishment (the equivalent to four glasses in Australia) we just had to Facetime Kate and Brad (the rest of you were asleep) to share the beauty of Umbria.

Is Assisi a tourist town? Well, to some extent, yes – you can buy rosary beads on every corner. However, Assisi has a warmth about it that just….is. Perhaps it’s the history, perhaps it’s the people – to be honest, we’re not sure what it is….but Assisi has an ‘X’ factor that places it at the top of our Italian travel list.

Next stop…..San Gimignano.

 

 

Cortona

Cortona was another, for want of a better word, ‘one-nighter’ that we had seriously considered bypassing but I have to admit, this city/town perched high on a hillside was better than expected. Its narrow cobble stone lanes lined with medieval buildings certainly did well if we measured according to the  ‘wow’ factor.

The stairs at Mahers Lane were good training when it came to navigating the ‘ups and downs’ of Cortona.

The weather didn’t work for us – it was cold and wet but that wasn’t going to stop us from seeing the town.

The low temperatures were wonderful for keeping other tourists away……..

Except for the ‘Pink Raincoat Tourist’….can’t seem to lose that one.

The morning brought some interesting sites…..

Not something you’d expect to see in down town Tweed Heads……

Now that got my attention……

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Three teams competed in a crossbow tournament that was truly amazing to see. I began watching from the end closest to the target but once I saw the force that the steel tipped arrows hit their mark, I moved……very quickly! Having said that, each was fired with such accuracy, I don’t think I had much to worry about.

Sharing a tip or two?

Ready……

Aim…..

Fire…..
Look carefully – you’ll be surprised at what you may see.

Next stop, Assisi…………….

 

 

 

Ravenna

Looking at our travel plans, our one night stand…I mean stay, at Ravenna appeared to simply be one of convenience …….and in some ways, so it was – just the right number of hours driving after leaving Venice and added to this, the B&B was lovely.

So that’s Ravenna, done and dusted? Not by a long shot; Ian had done his homework well and knew that travellers had come from far and wide to check out the churches of this relatively small Italian town……well to be more specific, the mosaics within the churches.

Now I’ve seen a lot of chapels, churches, basilicas in Italy and Ian has photographed just as many (even if some were a tad illegal) but the following pics speak for themselves and to really appreciate the beauty and skill that went into creating these mosaics, simply enlarge the photo.

The tiles catch the light in such a way that the mosaics appear to have a light of their own.

The first thing that caught our attention is the colour that has been maintained in this 7 to 8 hundred year old mosaic…..

but the beauty is in the detail.

Another example of the tiles catching the light……

But the close-up reveals the
beauty of the work and the talent of the artist who created it.

Ravenna may have been a one night stop……..but it was worth it.

Venice

Venizia…..where to start I really don’t know. In spite of all that we’d seen and heard about Venice, it still took us by surprise. The city has many faces with such character, history and beauty making it truly unique.

The first thing that left us wide eyed were the canals……there are so many of them, big small and everything in between. It’s just like our network of roads.

The Grand Canal is the main thoroughfare of Venice.

A smaller canal…….

Then, not surprisingly, was the history. The main event in terms of attractions is the Basilica of  San Marco which is huge and opulent as most basilicas are. One of the things about the basilica is the mosaics that adorn the ceilings. Being mosaics, there is a ‘glassy’ surface that picks up the light with a spectacular affect. Added to that is the gold (and I mean gold) in the mosaics that give it an extra ‘wow’ factor. Taking photos is strictly forbidden so I’m struggling to explain the following pics………

The Basilica is an awesome sight that dominates the piazza of San Marco

A ‘legal’ pic taken at the entrance of the basilica.

A not so legal pic from within the basilica…..me thinks Ian is in deep trouble with God….!!

But the history of venice is so much more than the Basilica………

The ‘Bridge of Sighs’; Lord Byron had such a way with words.

The Rialto bridge spans the Grand Canal and was completed in 1591 – believe me I was thinking of its age when I saw hundreds upon hundreds of tourist standing on it…..all at the same time! (I see that tourist has ditched the pink raincoat)

Piazza San Marco with the ‘Saint Mark’s Campanile. It collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt…….I decided not to line up for a ticket to the top – I thought the view was just dandy from street level.

The Piazza early evening…..

The Piazza later in the evening…..

Another Basilica….. Santa Maria della Salute

The Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. For over a thousand years, Benedictine monks have made this island their home. We didn’t actually go there, but I thought the pic was too good to leave out of the blog. That and ‘my attraction to ‘Benedictine’

Aside from the history is the culture – I mean what is Venice without…..

Lanes……..

and alleys.

Foot bridges and…….

Caffes,

and sunsets.

And of course……..

floating down a canal in a Gondola.

But there is so much of Venice that is not seen in standard tourist pics as they exist on the periphery of the tourist heart of Venice…..and it is on this periphery that I think the soul of Venice actually survives…..

beautiful parkland…..

silent streets at sunrise……..

Early morning deliveries well before tourists have stirred for breakfast…..

and the still waters of a canal anticipating the wave of tourists whose dreams, by day’s end, will become a reality.

 

 

Bergamo

Bergamo

After such a pleasant flight into Singapore, we were lulled into thinking that the flight from Singapore to Milan would be fine…….won’t bother with the details but suffice to say that the rather odd lad who was sitting next to me and managed to use half of my seat while he slept (with a jumper over his head) made things a little awkward.

Anyway, after 15 hours, we arrived in a cold and wet Milan and headed for Bergamo, a medieval town about 2 hours away. By this stage, we hadn’t slept for 26 hours, so driving down the autobahn in a left hand drive car was a tad stressful. Once off the autobahn, we then followed the Sat Nav blindly through the narrowest of streets (Kate and Brad’s ‘Spain Story’ often came to mind) as we entered the historic walled city – but once there, we knew that Bergama wasn’t going to disappoint.

First thing we saw as we entered the Italian gem, Bergamo.

Followed by this awesome sight of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.

This town is stunning and seems to be a bit of a tourist secret. We could easily have spent 3 days here exploring the centuries old buildings, strolling through beautiful shops, eating delicious Italian food and drinking their fine wine. A bonus to all of this is where we stayed. It was a two room suite that was so ‘Italian’ and the girl who greeted us was just lovely….Really made us feel very welcome. The downside though was how cold it was as there was no heating and it was about 8 degrees outside but as our lack of sleep was taking its toll, we enjoyed a ‘Nana Nap’ before braving the cold to see more of Bergamo.

While the streets were cold and wet, they were wonderfully tourist free – well except for the one in the pink rain coat…….

It wasn’t just the beauty of the Basilica but the ‘feel’ of it that left you with that ‘Wow’ feeling when I left

The Piazza Vecchia is surrounded by wonderful cafes and wine bars and while it may look a little empty (8 degrees c tends to clear the crowds) we could well imagine how lively it must be with blue skies and warm temperatures. That pink coated tourist seems to be following us….!

I had my first hot chocolate in, of all places, in one of the many wine bars on the Piazza, only to discover that in Italy, hot chocolate is more or less just that – chocolate that has been melted. I’ve not had one since as I think it could be dangerously addictive.

The next day a blue sky let us see more of what Bergamo has to offer………..

Look closely….’there’s snow on them there hills’.

You could be forgiven for thinking this was a scene from a fairy tale……..

Next stop……Venicci.

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore

This trip started well; plane two thirds empty and a flight attendant who was an absolute hoot meant we had room to move and no one dropping their seats back into our faces. Not often I complete a 7 – 8 hour flight and feel as good on landing as I did when taking off.

As soon as we walked out of Changi Airport and hit the wall of heat and humidity, we knew that we really were on holidays. Singapore was everything that we expected but with the occasional surprise thrown in, like the taxi driver first taking us to the wrong hotel, (Ian realised the mistake after the bags had landed in the lobby) and then when we eventually got to the right place, he informs us that he doesn’t take visa, and of course, the only cards that we possess are – you guessed it….visa. Ian had suggested when we were at the airport to get some cash, but no says I, we’ll be right. I wasn’t quite thinking that as I was counting through the 5 and 10 cent coins to scratch together the cab fare from the little bit of cash we had left from the last trip.

We stayed in a place about 5 minutes walk from the centre Chinatown which worked brilliantly when it came to eating and drinking, particularly once we discovered the Maxwell Rd Hawkers centre that the locals use. Between that and the Tiger beer, I (Meg) was in heaven. That first beer signalled to me the start of our adventure – or more to the point, our time away from school! And that Hawker centre really came in handy when we had an unexpected early start to Friday morning.

Yes we can confirm – the Tiger was ice cold!!!

Just after 6.00am I could hear the far off ringing of my alarm…..I raced down the stairs (we were in a split level room) grabbed the iPad and was awake enough to realise the ringing was actually the hotel’s fire alarm. Spent the next 30 seconds trying to smell smoke then realised that with doors slamming from outside perhaps it would be wise to move…..quickly; well relatively quickly. Ian was up and dressed within 2 minutes. I was pretty quick but decided to grab passports, money, credit cards, camera and iPad……and clean my teeth. You can’t leave ‘the house’ with morning breath!!  So as I sat in the gutter outside the hotel (with my fresh breath) and watched the firemen do what firemen do, Ian took photos and then went to the hawker centre to buy some very yummy sweet breads for our breakfast.

Meg keeping the pidgins company

The arrival of the fire engine added a little drama to the start of our day.

We saw some beautiful things for the first time in Singapore, like the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple – just stunning and added to that, we’ve never actually been in a temple where worship was taking place.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

We also spent time with Darren and Susan Bird and together checked out the Gardens by the Bay and Bukit Chando. I know we’ve been to both before, but I’d go again. We also checked out a small island just across from Changi to enjoy a cold beer – Tiger of course.

Bum Boat to island – the pic doesn’t do it justice…..it was much more scary than it looks.

I soon discovered that Singapore has midges too….that chased us for a bit of a feed.

 

Meg and Budha – hard to tell who’s who!

They certainly know how to build impressive buildings in Singapore.

It was so hot and humid but the gardens are so green and peaceful.

Time for a snooze – the concrete chair was quite comfy.

Gardens By The Bay – so unusual, almost odd but at the same time very, very awesome.

Broken Head

Great Weekend camping at Broken Head, just south of the very busy Byron Bay. Unlike Byron Bay, Broken Head remains blissfully uncrowded with the camping site an easy short walk from the beach.