To the Peak District

Today it was time to leave London. With our packing complete, we took a last Tube ride and stroll near where we were staying. Then it was a dash across to Euston Statin to avoid the rain and to catch a train to Birmingham International Airport. Here we went and picked up our Hire Car for the next 10 days...a Fiat 500X.

Once settled into the car, it was off along the lesser roads into the Peak District. We are staying in a village called Tideswell which is located right in the centre.

Wandering London in the Rain

Our last day in London was going to be a wet one. With no particular plans for the day, we decided to go for a wander using the GPS as a guide...chasing out Virtual geocaches. Virtual caches are an old form of cache where there is physical cache to find but instead it is some sort of destination...usually quite interesting.

So off we went and along the way we came across Australia House, the Twinings tea shop and a pub built in 1549 making it the second oldest pub in London...where we had some lunch.

After lunch we made our way to St Pauls Cathedral and jumped on a bus to escape a downpour. At that time the traffic was so bad, it was actually quicker walking...and a lot wetter. Once the rain stopped we got off the bus and continued our wandering...to the Monument, across London Bridge, along the Thames and back across Tower Bridge.

By now it was rather late and we were rather tired so it was back on a couple of buses for a slow crawl in the evening peak period traffic back to our hotel.

Greenwich

The last time we were in London we visited Cutty Sark and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. On that visit we found the National Maritime Museum but with other plans for the day, we decided that "it would keep for another day". With a forecast of rain for much of the day today, we decided that today would finally be that "other day".

We took the Tube and DLR to Greenwich and arrived in the middle of a downpour. Doing our best to keep dry, we made our way to the Museum where we spent the next few hours learning much about England's maritime history. 

By mid afternoon the rain had cleared so we spent the rest of our time wandering around Greenwich. We finished our day by walking under the Thames. Yes, there is a 100 year old pedestrian tunnel under the Thames...so we walked through because you could. 

Happy Birthday Liz

They do Queen's Birthday a bit differently here in England...it is on a Saturday, they don't have a public holiday and they actually celebrate it. The big event for the day is the Trouping of the Colours. We knew we had missed the Queen going the event but despite that it was still bedlam on Pall Mall and around the Palace. 

Clearly everyone was waiting to see the Queen going back home...but as we had no idea of the timetable, there was no point hanging around. We set of towards Hyde Park and made our way up to Speakers Corner. Here while sitting on the grass having a little lunch, we caught the tail end of the RAF fly past over Buckingham Palace. 

With lunch and the birthday celebrations over, we headed into Oxford Street on the shops so Anita could buy some new shoes. By the time we had done that it had started raining so it was a bus back to our hotel...and a visit to the local laundromat. 

Hello London...We're Back!

We boarded our mid-morning and took of for London. Our route took us over the Swiss Alps which were a marvellous sight. Two hours after leaving Venice we were landing at London's "country" airport. I say country because after we had landed we did a U-turn on the runway and used the runway to taxi back to the terminal building...just like the planes do at country airports in Australia...not something I would have ever expected for London. 

After clearing Immigration and collecting our bags we set off using the Docklands Light Rail and then the Tube to get to our hotel in Euston. Later in the day we went for s walk to Regents Park. 

When we left the park we found ourselves In Baker Street...221b to be precise. Anita knocked on the door but no one was home  

Arrivederci Italy

We are sitting in the Marco Polo Lounge at Venice Airport waiting for our flight to England. For something different, we will be flying into London City Airport instead of the more usual Heathrow or Gatwick. Also for something different, we traveled out to the airport by shared water taxi. It was very quick and very comfortable...it was just a bit unfortunate that we had to be up just as early as if we were using the public boats.

Our time in Italy has been great...and rather exhausting. We are rather looking forward to London as a chance to have a bit of a rest. 

Getting around Italy by train worked out OK but it wasn't as easy as in France. Italian trains are not as "wheelchair friendly" and so they are not as luggage friendly. 

Although Milan isn't big as a tourist destination, it is certainly worth a stopover if you are passing through. Vareena on Lake Como was a really great place to have a bit of a relaxing time...not that we really did. Florence and Venice were both fantastic places to visit even though they were rather crazy with tourists...they are both big enough to cope. 

The only disappointment was Cinque Terre...spoiled but its reputation as a group of quiet, sleepy little villages hidden away from the world. With cruise ships now dumping thousands of people a day into the region, it is no longer quiet and sleepy and certainly not hidden away any more.  

A Wet Day in Venice

No, we didn't fall into a canal...and no, we didn't have an Acqua Alta...it just rained for most of the day. After a bit of a slow start, we finally got out and went around the corner to visit the Palazzo Ducale...Doge's Palace. The centre of government of the Venetian Republic, the palace dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. To put a context on the size of the palace, its largest room...which also happens to b the largest room anywhere in Europe...is about the same size as our entire property in Eltham.

After lunch we went out for a stroll down towards the eastern end of Venice and found ourselves in among ordinary Venetian homes, broad thoroughfares and big public gardens...not the sort of thing you expect to find in Venice...and something missed by most tourists. While we were out it started to rain again so we retreated to our apartment. 

Although the rain didn't ease up, we ventured out again late in the afternoon. This time we headed west across the famed Ponte di Rialto...Rialto Bridge...and into some of the older parts of Venice with narrow alleys, lots of canals, lots of little bridges...and less tourists.

Messing About in Boats - Venetian Style

Today we combined cruising around the Venice Lagoon in Vaporetti...water buses...with some museum visits. First up, we took a "bus" around the main island of Venice before heading off north across the lagoon to the island of Murano. Here we got off at the first stop and wandered down the main "street". Our eventual destination was the Museo del Vetro...a museum dedicated to the history of Venetian glass making. Although not a big museum, it was full of fascinating pieces of Venetian glass...unlike most of the nearby glass shops which were full of tourist trinkets.

After lunch it was off to the dock for the next boat...this time a much longer trip to Burano and the Museo del Merletto...a museum dedicated to the history of lace making in the region. Housed in 1870s artisan school, this small museum had some wonderful examples of the craft...and a couple of wonderful old lace makers working away.

With storm clouds brewing, it was on to our final boat for the day...back to San Marco via the mainland towns of Treporti, Punta Sabbioni and Lido. We did think about getting off at Lido but it was looking more and more like rain and by now, we were rather tired.

The Pictures are coming...

The Internet in Florence turned out to be very slow a lot of the time...and not much use for uploading Blog photos. Things are better here in Venice so the pictures are coming. So far I have added the pictures for our time in Cinque Terre. Florence will follow tomorrow hopefully...

A Day In and Around Piazza San Marco

After a leisurely breakfast we walked a mere 200 metres from our apartment to Piazza San Marco...St Mark's Square...where we had a booking for a guided tour through the Torre dell'Orologio. Our guide was a wonderfully funny Venetian who spoke at "a million miles per hour". Following our tour we walked to the other end of the square to visit the Museo Correr which houses a collection of Venetian artworks & antiquities dating back to the 13th century.  

After lunch we stretched ourselves and wandered a whole 400 metres away from St Mark's Square to find the Scala Contarini del Bovolo which is a rather amazing spiral staircase...and virtual geocache. After tat we made our way back to teh square for a our pre-booked visit to the Basilica di San Marco...Saint Mark's Basilica...which turned out to be no where near as busy as we had expected.

Silver Arrow to Venice

This morning we were feeling a bit "museumed out" so we spent our last morning in Florence wandering around just enjoying the sights and chasing a few geocaches. Around lunchtime we collected our cases from our hotel and headed off to Florence's main station to catch a Frecciargento...Silver Arrow...to Venice.

The Frecciargento is the Italian version of a very fast train. Where available it runs at high speed on dedicated tracks like we did between Florence and Bolonga...and spent about 95% of the time in tunnels. The rest of the time it runs as a fast "tilt train" on ordinary lines as we did the rest of the way to Venice.

On arrival in Venice, we caught a Water Bus down the Grand Canal to St Marks Square where we are staying.

"Free Sunday" in Florence

In Italy, access to most public museums and monuments is free on the first Sunday of each month. When you add the de facto "long weekend", we were expecting it to be rather crazy with the crowds in Florence. Our plan for the day was to visit the Museo del Giardino di Boboli...otherwise known as the Boboli Gardens...on the basis that there are a big open space and the crowds wouldn't be too bad.

The day promised to be fine and sunny so after breakfast we set off for the gardens...which are part of the Palazzo Pitti (or Pitti Palace). We arrived at the palace and were surprised to discover that the expected queues were non-existent. This was too good an opportunity to pass up so we collected our free tickets and went in. We spent the morning wandering through the amazing palace with all of its ancient art works. While we were there we also looked through the costume museum and the "modern art" gallery...where "modern" was anything completed in the 18th and 19th centuries.

After a light lunch, we then wandered through the Boboli Gardens on what was now becoming a rather warm afternoon. A little footsore and tired, we left the gardens and made our way back to our hotel for a rest before dinner.

The Duomo and the Uffizi Gallery

Having climbed too many stairs in the past few weeks, we decided that we would pass up going up the to of the Duomo...the Florence Cathedral...even though the views are said to be great. Instead this morning we settled for a visit inside the cathedral followed by a stroll around the city.

For the afternoon, we had a pre-booked visit to the Ufffizi Gallery...said to be the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere. We ended up spending at least two and half hours wandering through the gallery enjoying the art...and getting overtaken by the bus groups on "express visits".

 

The Rain Returns to Cinque Terre....and we leave

After a glorious day yesterday, the rain returned overnight with vengeance. It poured down most of the night and was still pouring down in the morning. For us it was time to leave Cinque Terre...not because of the rain though...it was always planned that today we would move on to Florence.

So after breakfast, we were all packed up and ready for a 10 minute dash through the pouring rain to the station...all the taxis were booked out. When we got there, it was bedlam. The Intercity train heading south was a popular one for us tourists heading on. We managed to take shelter on the part of the platform that is in the railway tunnel...until it was announced that First Class was at the front of the train today...at the other end of the platform!

The train arrived and we all piled on...dripping wet. We were in a compartment for six again but this time there was only four of us altogether so we could spread out. We eventually departed about 10 minutes late for Pias...it took a long while to get everyone on the train. At Pisa we changed to another train to Florence...this time Second Class only. We had missed our connection but it was less than a half hour wait and we were speeding across the Italian countryside at up to 150 km/h.

We arrived in Florence to find it warm and dry. A ten minute walk soon had us in our hotel unpacking and drying out. Our cases hadn't done too badly considering who heavy the rain was...but a bit of water did get in. After sorting ourselves out and a bit of a rest, we ventured out for a walk around Florence.

Republic Day

Today was a Public Holiday in Italy to celebrate becoming a Republic in 1946...and the sun was shining!

Expecting the boats still not to be operating due to the rough seas, we set off this morning to do what we didn't do yesterday...visit the other Cinque Terre towns by train. However as we walked to the station we noticed a board out for the boats and the next departure was soon. A quick change of plans we thought, and we were off to catch a boat...but there was one problem. The seas were still quite rough and the boats were not calling in the Cinque Terre other than at Monterosso...they would be bypassing all the towns and calling at Portovenere...a town further south.

We had been told that Portovenere was worth visiting but other than by boat, you needed to catch a bus from La Spezia to get there. Needing to make a quick decision, we chose the boat as we would get to see Cinque Terre from the water and visit Portovenere as well. As it turned out, it was a good choice. Even though it was too rough to dock at each town, we were taken in close up to each harbour so we got to see the towns from the water. 

It was a lovely sunny day in Portovenere and we enjoyed wandering around.  It was very busy as you would expect for a Public Holiday...but it seemed to be mostly locals from La Spezia and other independent tourists like ourselves. Our wanderings took us to a couple of churches, the Grotta Di Byron and to the Castello Doria on the top of the hill overlooking the town.

When we set out we had been undecided about whether to return by boat or catch the bus into La Spezia so we could return by train and visit some of the Cinque Terre towns along the way. As it turned out, we had spent most of the day in Portovenere so we quietly took a boat straight back to Monterosso to end our visit to the Cinque Terre.