Nick's highlights of Italy

Amazing!


Rare is the opportunity to spend a solid month with ones nearest and dearest, so I'm feeling really lucky. It was the kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience, I guess. Fortunately, we quite like one another and enjoy being together, so that helps.


My highlights were visiting Montecassino and Assisi. Not simply because they are iconic monastic sights, but they are beautiful in themselves and glorious places to go.
Lake Como was perfection - mountains, lakes, pretty villages, friendly people - and would be hard to beat anywhere.


Driving across Europe was rather fun. Drivers are respectful in France, neat and orderly in Switzerland, and mad as snakes in Italy! The country where white lines are nearly guidelines, speed limits are suggestions, and most vehicles seem to have bumps and scratches! They don't so much travel, they kind of pour themselves down the road like good olive oil, following the path of least resistance, speeding along good naturedly. I did all the driving in Italy, so I am relieved to have returned my family in one piece.


So now I'm hankering to return. We didn't waste a minute whilst we were there, and will continue to live the experience.


Thank you to my wonderful family for a great time.


Nick

Jude's Highlights of Italy

I thought Italy was awesome and beautiful.  It had good food but not good drinks, except for the hot milk with cocoa sprinkled on.   The food I liked best was pizza and gnocchi and I ate lots of it.  The puddings looked nice and it mostly was nice.  Italy has the best ice cream in all the countries on earth.  Ice cream is called gelato in the Italian language.

The first house we stayed in was my favourite because it was the nicest.  It was in Verona and we had to go up in a lift or lots of stairs.  My two second favourite houses were in Rome and near Lake Como.  I liked going out in Verona and the to the local supermarket which was called Pam.  In lake Como I liked playing on the beaches and climbing on rocks.  I had fun playing in the dead ruins (Herculaneum) and it was very sunny.  The weather before when we went up the volcano was very misty and rainy and cold.

I might come back to Italy some day because it is awesome and fun.

Jude

Swiss Coke ~ 10 April

Today we drove across Italy, Switzerland and France. I needed to pee at least 4 times and I bought a Swiss coke zero which looks quite cool next my Italian Coke. My brothers owe me 40p between them because for some reason they thought the French flag was either RWB or WRB but of course they were certain it was that way, although I told them that I was pretty sure it was BWR but they didn't believe me. When we got to Switzerland everyone wondered, except me, why the Swiss cars sometimes had CH on them and on the border it said 'welcome to Switzerland CH' and of course even though I said it was the letters that represent their country like GB is Great Britain, it took quite some convincing and a road map to get them to believe me, but hey ho. As it turns out they use CHF, Swiss francs, in Switzerland instead of euros. We had some nice cake and it was delicious. So it's worth noting if you go to Switzerland that they use Swiss francs. 

After that short story shorter we drove to Metz. Found the hotel, walked round. It was a very nice city but surprisingly my Mum didn't suggest that we should buy a holiday house there? We bought some chips from a burger place and after eventually getting what we wanted to get, somehow there was some confusion, we went back to the hotel. But, interestingly the man in the burger doo-dah thought me and my Dad were German. No clue why??? *I do know why* and besides, if we were German I'm sure we'd speak much better French! So after that toe-tickling tale of terror we watched Iron Man the Third. Which made surprising sense even though it was in French. Some people who don't die try and kill Iron Man who then tries and kills them. After this effortlessly exhausting day we decided to turn in for the night.

|_~1 day later~_| 

Oh joy, I have missed out an 'important' part of our journey so I have to write it here. We went on a boat for 10 mins across the lake at the beginning. 

Also I learned loads more useful French in the 20 hours we spent there, and a lot of that was spent sleeping,  than I had at school??? Which is good because they would give me strange looks if I told what colour hair I had and that I sometimes wear jeans because it gets cold in Britain.

~Zach~

Near crushed experience ~ 9th April

Note that nobody was harmed in the events that follow.

As it was our last full day in Italy :( we had to do something extra special; so, we decided to visit the town of Como itself. Como is the capital city of the surrounding areas which therefore had the lake named after it (Lake Como~Lago Di Como). We walked (quickly) to the bus stop and caught a bus to Como. The bus driver could of warned about the scary corners and lumps in the road. Unfortunately it would have been in Italian. After the ride (no-one was sick surprisingly) we started walking towards "the place that is ahead of us" (quoted by our dad). Later we bought takeaway pizzas and ate them in a square by the side of the lake. Later that night, back in Bellagio, we walked to a fancy 'Ristorante' and ate pizza (yes more pizza!)

Reuben 


P.S my next blog post will be a sum up of our (mostly) brilliant holl and will contain a lot of stats including 'how many pizzas eaten' and 'Aprox how many miles of driving'

Snails on red bull: A sincere concoction of the tales of our travels in Varrena ~ April 8th

So once again the duty of this confounded blog has fallen to me. Oh Joy. But anywho, today we caught the ferry across to Varrena, at least that was when we found the right ferry.

When we did board the correct vessel we sailed REASONABLY slowly, like a snail after drinking 3 litres of red bull, across the Lago Di Como. As it turned out we had the whole boat to ourselves, although I do feel it was a missed opportunity because I'm sure there was lots more fun to be had on a pretty empty boat. I'm pretty sure there must of been some freebies somewhere even if it was just sugar, which might even of sped up the snails but it might just make them need the toilet. But yeah, those are just my deeply respected personal opinions. After we disembarked the ghost ship we started to walk round the town and walked through the narrow streets which the guide book specifically implored would be 'a gentle stroll through trafficless streets so you do not have to worry about cars' Well, what can I say, I think it must have been written in the 17th century before cars were invented or something because it was about as true as the earth is flat. Anyways we stopped at a tourist office and found our way to local castella. We were 'reliably' informed that one route would take us through the woods with lots of rocks to climb. Now, I don't know how similar Italian is to English but... I was expecting a nice wood with LOTS of trees and big rocks to climb. But sadly it turns out I was wrong because I was thinking 'Climb rocks, by invitation, through the woods, absolutely' Because normally there just happens to a big rock there because Obelix* put one there in Asterix and the enormously large rocks of Italy. And you climb them because it's fun. So I feeling quite happy and excited about this but as it turns out the person at the tourist was being quite hyperboletic about this. Because the rocks turned out to just be the many thousand stone steps which we had to climb but it wasn't quite as 'fun' as I was expecting. But anyway after that we saw a castle had lunch stopped at a cafe and had drinks and my parents had piadines and we played on a beach a bit later. And yes we did later go down the other route in case we had got a bit confuzzeled (confused and muddled) just to check but no, sadly there were no big rocks. That was basically our day :)

~Zach~

Bellagio

With the car securely locked away in an underground car park, today we set off on foot to explore Bellagio. Whilst we are actually staying in a hamlet 20 minutes walk above the town, it is a lovely walk down cobbled pathways. The town is obviously set up for tourists, but managed to have a quiet, understated atmosphere about it, and a slightly tumble-down feel to it.
A parallel grid of steep roads, impossible for vehicles, make up an area of shops and eateries. We lunched standing up with slices of pizza, and only sat down for drinks later (wine, of course, for the adults - it was after midday!). Hot in the sunshine, and surprisingly chilly in the shade, we wandered happily around for most of the day.
Finding a lakeside spot for the boys to toss stones, and for daddy to have a short nap, the views are impossibly lovely in every direction. Lake, mountains, boats, villas, botanical gardens and vertiginous lanes, I think we have fallen in love with the place!

Nick

Heading North ~ 6th April

We leave the green hills of Umbria and head back up north for Lake Como.  It is a long drive (around 7 hours) but a very beautiful one.  It helps that the sun has returned, although we can see snow on some of the highest mountains in the distance.  Once north of Umbria the landscape changes from magnificent hills to being rather flat, although still beautiful with plenty of green fields and trees. 

Once we reach Milan we can see the snow topped mountains in the distance and look forward to reaching the lake.  Soon the lake is in view and it is rather splendid with the mountains behind.  The drive around the lake is quite hazardous with very narrow lanes which don't look wide enough for two cars!  We reach Bellagio which is North East of Como and our home for the next few days.  We are greeted by the lovely apartment owners who show us around.  The apartment has lakeside views which really are breathtaking.  It is so beautiful here I know I will be sad to leave it and am already planning our next holiday here!

Diane

Return to Spoleto

It's Easter Day, and we managed to mark this with a complete lack of organised religion! I now understand more viscerally why churches ring their bells. They sing their news to those who are outside their walls. All are included.
Anyway, this is what I told myself whilst I was still lying in bed this morning, long after I would have led at least three services had life been normal at the moment.
Instead, family breakfast (and the opening of Italian-style Easter eggs) was followed by a wonder back into Spoleto. Lovely as before, we headed back to the restaurant where we had eaten a couple of days ago. Working on UK eating time, we were the first customers there and were very well looked after by an English-speaking waiter. Truffle bruschetta and home-made pasta, a couple of glasses of the local wine, and a selection of puddings were all it took to satisfy us all (and access to WiFi, which also helped).
We then took another walk around the town, walking uphill to explore the amazing Ponte delle Torri, a 755 ft long and 230 ft high bridge which spans the river Tessino (a disappointing trickle of a river), which was started by the Romans.
Back to the apartment for a spot of cleaning and washing in anticipation of an early-ish start in the morning, and another seven hours of driving.
Nick

And so to Assisi - 4th April

Today was perfect.
One major item on my bucket list was to visit Assisi, and today we did. Having made contact again with an old friend, with the help of Facebook, we met up with the wonderful Patrizia Rollino, first met in Taize in 1992, and last time in Alnmouth in about 1995. Being native, and a many time visitor to the city, Patrizia made a wonderful tour guide of Assisi.
Having prepared the family last night by watching Franco Zepherelli's Brother Sun and Sister Moon, we were ready! We picked Patrizia up at the station, after she had overnighted it from Turin, and shuttled up to nearer the town centre.
In our debrief over a late dinner with the boys, having waved Patrizia off back at the station, we decided that the highlight was the old church of San Damiano, initially restored by Francis, then inhabited by the Poor Clares. Simple - harsh, even - but austerely beautiful, and with an atmosphere that glowed.
The basilica was also lovely, as were the narrow winding streets, and the church of San Ruffino, where a Catholic Scouting group had gathered to sing and fill the place with life.
Phrase of the day came from Patrizia, who always refers to ancient ruins as 'Roman Leftovers'!!
We were also introduced to a kind of sandwich, the name of which I sadly, and stupidly forget, but consists of a warm tortilla wrap, folded up with the hot filling of ones choosing, and puddings called 'Francis Bread' and another one that was like a fruit Stollen.
Il Poverello is heavily commercialized, but Assisi shines through.
Excellent!
Pax et bonum.
Nick

Perugia and Spello ~ 3rd April

Today we head for Perugia in Northern Umbria.  The journey is rather beautiful with luscious green hills all around.  After an hour we reach Perugia which is Umbria's capital.  The City is perched on the hill top and has a wonderful feel to it with its medieval history and being a bustling university town.  The streets lead us to the top of the City where the Dumo stands next to a rather splendid fountain with biblical Old Testament scenes carved out.  The streets are rather quiet and we wander around and take in the views whilst an accordionist busking plays a rather French sounding tune making the walk feel very atmospheric.

We leave Perugia and stop off at a town the guide book describes as 'one of the prettiest towns in Umbria' to check it out.  Again the town is built on a hill and we walk up the steep streets to find the view point.  We see beautiful giant canvases on the streets depicting Easter scenes dotted around the street.  It is a very pretty town with a relaxed feel to it.  We enjoy delicious gelato ( I had fig, very yummy) as we walk and reach the top.  The view is amazing with Assisi in the distance and rolling hills around.  We find a cafe bar and end the day with a glass of wine and think this town is worth another visit one day.

Diane

The Living Waterfall (Mamore Waterfall) ~ 2nd April

We went to a Waterfall there were lots of rocks to climb on and it was fun. We went walking on lots of paths and climbed on trees and stuff. We sat down at a café and I drew a cartoon on a napkin. Then a siren went off and we got really excited. But it was just a warning. Four sirens later the waterfall turned on properly and 10 minutes later it was gushing with water. But I was playing with the ants cos it was fun. Then we walked back to the car and on the way back we got wet by the spray. It was fun.

Jude (mostly writen by Zach)

Splendid Spoleto ~ 1 April

We awake to another glorious day and take in the spectacular views from our Castello apartment.  It really is amazing here and feel glad that we have 7 days here to relax and explore the delights of Umbria.  After a short drive we are in Spoleto and head uphill to see the city.  We wander amongst the streets with no clear notion of where they lead.  It is easy to get lost here amongst these ancient streets, particularly as it is quiet.  We find our way to the Duomo which is impressive in its simplicity (fewer frescoes) and beautiful mosaic tiled floors.

We found a fabulous restaurant and the boys enjoyed pizza (again) whilst watching the Simpsons and the Big Bang in Italian!  Nick and I sampled the local wine (very good) and had a rather good 'vegetarian plate' (impressed to see it on the menu).  Feeling rather relaxed we wander through the streets taking in the local shops on the way.  It really is a pretty place.  Back to our lovely apartment for a glass of wine whilst taking in the spectacular views.  It feels like the perfect end to a good day.

Diane

heading north again - 31st March

Leaving Sorrento was difficult. Not so much because it was so beautiful, which it was, but because it's Italy and my satnav is belligerent, which makes everything just that little bit more challenging! Bloody nightmarish at times. However, I'm still delighted to have all my paintwork and both wing mirrors!


We spent our time on the Naples through road discussing what would happen if the 'most dangerous volcano in the world' actually woke up. Sobering to think, especially as Naples is in its pathway. Jude thought the whole thing would be a wheeze!


On our way to Spoleto we stopped off at the famous monastery of Monte Cassino, the home of Benedictine monasticism. The place sits on top of the most incredible hill, with breathtaking (Jude's favourite description these days) views all round. Incredible art, beautiful church, and divine landscapes. There was even a Botticelli in the museum. What is there not to like? The only thing missing is any information, or even signs of life regarding the present monastic community. Sad.


Arrived safely at our next apartment. Residing in a humble castle on the outskirts of town. Beautiful scenery, and very grateful for being allowed to stay in someone's family holiday home.


No WiFi, though, this week, so now forced to sit in a restaurant, drinking wine, and awaiting the arrival of tiramisu.... just so as I can write this. Such suffering!

Nick