Northern Italy - Venice to Lake Como

Dale: As a result of the previous days festivities we had much further to drive than expected to get to our base for visiting Venice.  So it was a driving day split my by stops for groceries, an Italian outlet shopping mall and a launderette.  It was a nice day weather wise and the hill country we initially drove through was an Italian/Slovene wine region and was very beautiful. I think it may warrant a return visit on another trip for proper exploration.

So from our base at Punta Sabbioni for the next two days we visited Venice, unfortunately the weather turned and proved rather cold especially when exposed to the wind. Immediately upon alighting from our ferry we looked up to see a sign saying 'New Zealand Pavilion' and the Creative New Zealand logo.  It was totally bizarre and unexpected but as it turns out in Venice they hold a Bi-annual international art exhibition event for several months, this was the 55th edition and we had blundered straight to the NZ site.  Which according to the lovely Kiwi Art teacher from Dunedin on the door was in a building where Vivaldi gave violin lessons.  Anyway she gave us the heads up about what was happening and the NZ display was by a chap called Bill Culbert and he does installations involving fluorescent lighting tubes (see pics - I don't know how to explain).  So anyway as a result we now knew what the exhibitions were about and popped into a few more around town over the next 2 days.  The NZ Pavilion was right near San Marco Square which has the major buildings found in many a Venetian painting so we headed on to the tourist info but it was tiny (two attendants, one whose sole job appeared to be telling everyone they needed the other attendant) and was rammed with people so we abandoned our attempt to buy a map from them and bought one from a stall outside. After walking around for a couple of hours we used the water bus and went the length of the Grand Canal. I was wearing the NZ beanie I got from my HDC workmates and it paid dividends as I was stopped by another Kiwi couple a little younger than us on their first day in Venice and we swapped stories.  After lunch we took the water bus to Murano Island the home of the famous glasswares, most of the island was wall to wall glass shops and the more remote parts were not spectacular.  There was one moment of excitement when there was a girl that had actually the same hair colour as a large public coloured glass installation (again see photo).  For here it was off to Burano and I had hoped Torcello but unfortunately there just wasn't enough time.  Burano was a smaller island again and at least 30 minutes by water bus from Venice.  It had a much less grandiose and more homely feel than Venice.  We had a stroll around and both felt it was very pleasant, there were local children playing which is something we hadn't and didn't see anyway else.  Upon arriving back we found we had new neighbours and they turned out to be a very nice German couple, Thomas and Lena and we swapped some beer and chatted with them for some time.

On our second day it was raining in the morning and we thought we would try and do some things inside but when we arrived on Venice we found that everyone else had the same idea and there were large queues, since the rain had actually stopped when we arrived we decided not to queue but to go walking while we could.  Very soon we stumbled across the Ferrari shop (not for cars, Venice only has cars at the parking garage by the bridge) for merchandise and in it they had a Ferrari Michael Schumacer used about 5 years ago when winning the F1 Championship for about the 5th time.  I didn't think much of it at the time but now it's hard to imagine them getting the car in there, you can't swing a cat in the streets of Venice, the delivery guys with dollys have their work cut out especially in the tourist heavy areas.  We saw markets, churches, a small display of old musical instruments, more art exhibitions and some of the less touristy areas and grabbed a water bus that would go out and around Venice so we could see the road and rail bridge that connects the islands to the mainland.  Then we headed back to San Marco but it was too late to try for the Doges Palace so we just went into the Basilica for about 20 minutes, it made us think of the Church on Spilled Blood in St Petersburg but not as nearly as impressive (it is much older though so...).  Funny story (typifies stereotypical Italian complexity), you couldn't take a backpack into the Basilica but the place to check your bag was around the corner and down an alley.  I had to ask these 'San Marco Guardian' girls where it was even though we had looked at the map and were only 50 meters away.  Anyway a good number of people don't see or ignore the signs about this (seeing others in the queue with bags) thinking somehow they'll get special treatment but they are pretty strict at the gate and there is a guy there and it's like he is drafting sheep and the lambs (those with backpacks, about 1 in 6 people) are turned away dazed and confused to check their bags.  Since it wasn't us we took a rather morbid pleasure in seeing it happen, especially to people who had seen the sign but thought they would be special.  After so many months we find it frustrating when to try and follow all these places qwerky annoying rules and usually you see others flaunting them with no recourse.
Then it was back to the van and head off to Padova which took a little longer than hoped and it got dark. We found out the Italians appear not to be convinced on the merits of streetlights or cats eyes as we barreled down a dual carriageway in near total darkness then onto a very busy single carriageway which also included frequent unlit pedestrian crossings and bus stops.  Thanks to the sat nav I also had to do a tricky turning manoeuvre to get out of a street turned into a pedestrian cycleway.

Venice

 NZ Pavilion - one of the art works

 Dukes Palace

 Burano

 Murano - Check out the girl by the sculpture

The next day it was raining hard and since it was Sunday pretty much everything was shut in Albano Therme (just outside Padova) where we were staying, so we pretty much hid out in the van until mid afternoon when we went walking in the rain, it was all pretty unpleasant really but in the end we did find a grocery shop so we could get some milk and a few other bits and pieces.  So the weather the next day was just as bad but we had to get started on Padova. We headed into the Albano Therme Info Centre (we had seen yesterday that they advertised the Padova Card - excellent we thought) to get a 48hr card that we could use for the public transport and entry to museums etc.  However crazy Italian complexity curse struck.  For some reason which was never properly explained the Info centre does not sell the card despite advertising it. The only place in Albano Therme that would was the newsagent across the street but they wouldn't be selling them till the next day (figures).  Transport would have been included with the card, however since we couldn't purchase it we had to fork out for bus tickets so we could go into Padova and buy the card at the Scrovegni Chapel.  Anyway we got into town and headed initially for their info centre but after about 5 minutes of waiting for the only attendant to finish her phonecall, we decided she'd probably be of little help anyway so with some difficulty managed to find the Chapels ticket office and got ourselves the card and made our reservation (you need a reserved time and you pay a compulsory unavoidable 'booking fee' on top).  I'm all ears to anyone in the ticketing industry that can give me a decent explanation on the necessity and logic of the booking fee.   Our first impressions of Padova were also hampered by one of many men (black) who tried to accost us into buying an umbrella for 10 euros (get real! they are 5 in the shops and that's not illegal), a beggar woman approaching us for money in a church and another umbrella salesman urinating in the roman amphitheater ruins.  In Venice, these men (I don't want to be racist, but they were all black) were peddling fake designer handbags, but it seems the rain made them switch tack for the day in Padova.  Unfortunately on Mondays in Padova and I think much of Italy  about 80% of the attractions were closed so we did (all the open things) the Scrovegni Chapel, Baptistry of the Duomo (Cathedral), Botanic Gardens, and a square which is apparently Europes largest before heading back.

Padova - Random Frescoe

 Scrovegni Chapel

 other major buildings

Nicky:  The next day we were able to visit a few museums which were included in our Padova card.  The night before we had made a plan for which order we would visit the museums as they each had different opening times.  Once in Padova we headed to the outdoor market, and remarkably were able to pick up a multi meter for checking the charge of our three batteries in the van.  We were wanting to check the leisure battery charge as it was showing as low when we would use the water pump in the van.  Later with the help of the meter we figured out that our problem was probably due to not getting enough charge from driving and increased electricity use due to the shorter daylight hours. Market done, we headed to the Oratory of St Rocco, which is 16th century and has frescoes on the walls.  We then went to a museum which featured the history of Padova and was housed in  the the wonderful historic 19th century coffee house.  That afternoon we spent time in two museums.  One which featured modern and medieval art such as mosaics, stone pieces and art works, plus a multimedia room about Scrovegni Chapel featuring videos and a display about how frescoes are made.  The second featured furniture, coins, lace and statues.  We caught the 5.30pm bus back to the van, which got so packed the driver stopped picking up passengers.  Our stop was about 25 minutes away, so we assumed it would clear out a bit and weren't worried that we were seated in the back corner of the bus.  This didn't happen and we ended up squeezing past a few disgruntled Italians to make it out of the bus- needs must I suppose!

The following day we headed to Vicenza, and used a pay car park, which had an area for motorhomes and a service point.  We spent a good 2-3 hours walking around the town seeing many UNESCO listed buildings (a lot by Palladio in the 16th century) and took advantage of the sun that came out and had our first gelato!   Mine was a scoop of strawberry and one of coffee, not the best combination, but delicious all the same.

  

Our next Italian city was Verona.  Dale had read that parking can be difficult and expensive there, and we eventually found a park, and paid 1.50 euro an hour.  The city has some impressive features, including the Scaligero bridge, adjacent to a castle complex, and the best preserved Roman Amphitheater.  It was 6 euros each to go in and explore the arena.  The area behind the stage was roped off as they were still setting up for performances, which I can imagine is the case for most of the year!  It is a pretty spectacular sight and the first relatively intact amphitheater we had seen.  We spent our remaining time walking through the city.  The Piazza Erbe had a market selling souvenirs and the Piazza dei Signori featured many beautiful buildings.  There was also some churches thrown in for good measure.

We then drove to Seriate, where we decided we would base ourselves for visiting Milan.  It required driving on our first toll road in Italy (6.90 euro for just under 100km).  We parked in a carpark with a motorhome service point for two nights, and walked 10 minutes to a train station that took us to Milan Central station in a hour, changing trains at Bergamo. The weather improved and the sun came out, which is always nice when you are spending the day walking around a city.  In the morning we focused on the churches of San Bernadino (where they have a skull chapel, that features over 3,000 17th century skulls and other bones) and San Lorenzo (which had lots of information panels inside, even a bit too much for us!)  We made it to Sant' Ambrogio church, but it was shut until 2.30pm, unfortunately we knew that we couldn't see them all, as most in Milan tended to shut between 12 and 3pm during the day.  There were roadworks going on as well, which made it tricky to photograph. We did however wander into the cloister which was rebuilt after WW2. We then headed to Piazza Duomo, which is the main attraction of Milan, with the Duomo, the third largest church in the world, and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, a 4 story shopping arcade, with a steel and glass canopy- very flash.  Needless to say it was window shopping for us, with the likes of Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton inside.  We also went into the Duomo, and followed our guidebook's advice on the top sights inside the Church.  We had seen many tourists doing this in the Basilica in Venice, and this time we took advantage of the fact we had a guidebook for Milan in our possession.  Then it was off to Castle Sforzesco for a steady walk around the park, followed a very brisk 3km walk to catch the once hourly train.  Outside the Castle many men are trying to sell bracelets and flowers, and one was rather aggressive about it. This rather disturbed the ambiance of a pretty location.  We think it has given us a taste of what the Moroccan touts will be like. We hopped on the train to Bergamo, which took 50 minutes, then we had to hurriedly find our connecting train to Seriate which was due to depart in 5 mins.  The hard-copy timetable board said one platform, and the electronic board another, and after 10 minutes of running around, looking at every train and board we could find we realised we had either missed it, or it didn't arrive.  We thought this was a problem, as it had been hourly trains in the morning, however this time there was another departing in about 10 minutes, so we caught that and were back to the van in no time.

We spent the weekend in the Lake Como area.  The drive there was interesting.  We were wanting to stop on the eastern side of the lake, and base ourselves there.  On this side of the lake there is a main road with several tunnels and a lake front road.  For speed and ease we started on the main road expecting to hop over to the lakefront road when necessary. However, due to the lack of GPS signal because of all the tunnels and the lack of exits (two all the way up the lake) we missed our exit and were unable to get off the motorway until it reached the top of the lake.  To make matters worse more GPS dramas we didn't take the exit and got caught on a new motorway headed away from the lake to Sondrio!  We were a little panicked as we drove for about 10 mins with no exits and no signs at all and the GPS didn't know the road.  Sondrio was the only place on our paper map and it was and least 30mins away (and we were low on fuel, we were running it down before Switzerland where it is 30 cents/litre cheaper). So we were mightily relieved when we suddenly out of the blue arrived at a roundabout.  We turned around and headed down the western side of the lake, and found a suitable base in Mellagio, which was a very nice town.  We picked up a pamphlet with walking routes and spent the afternoon admiring churches, villas and the scenery of the lake.
The following morning we woke early and bought day passes for the ferry.  Our first stop was Varenna which was on the other side of the lake, and where we had wanted to stop yesterday before missing the exit.  We walked 30 minutes uphill to Castle Vezio.  It wasn't open yet, but we weren't wanting to pay to see the castle, but rather get some good views of the lake.  The views were obstructed outside the castle but we followed a different path back down, where we were rewarded with some spectacular views of Como.  We concluded by exploring the towns alleys and waterfront path, before getting the 11am ferry to Bellagio.  The day was cold and misty with light drizzle at times, which made walking a good option to keep us warm.  We checked out the arcade of shops in Bellagio, selling expensive wares including 'Como silk' which the area is known for.  The guidebook had mentioned that much of it is made in China, but we saw plenty that advertised it was made in Italy.  Then we had a long walk over to Villa Melzi, and back along the water to the ferry.  Off to Cadenabbia this time to  visit Villa Carlotta.  This was a good option in terms of visiting a Villa, as the gardens are extensive and unusually for this area the inside of the Villa is also open.  We spent a good two hours here.  To return to Menaggio by boat would have required a long wait and as we were on the right side, we decided to walk back.  The bus, according to the timetable, took 5 minutes, so we thought that it would be manageable.  It took us an hour in the end, it was nice to walk along the lake and admire the scenery.  The next morning we left Italy heading north to visit our friend Ines in Switzerland, whom we had also visited in June.