Positano

Today was an easier day and we slept in a bit and enjoyed the balcony & views.  Thanks to Anne we were able to watch the last quarter of the Port game - Melbourne looked pretty good and we thought we were going to lose!! 

I finally sorted my feet problems (for those unaware I spent much time deliberating over what footwear to bring and spent some $$$ buying sandals - that gave me blisters - even tho I'd worn them in a bit!)  then my thongs made my feet so sore as they have no support. I wore these all day and no blisters, no sore heels & soles!! So Darryl Anne & Greg hope no more whingeing! 

                   

               

Thismorning we went to a little fish shop and purchased some salmon for dinner tonight and went back into the smallest vege shop in the smallest busiest street to get salad ingredients. We bought one lemon from an old man sitting in a doorway - he spoke no English & us no Italian and we aren't familiar with the euro coins, so I suspect we paid a lot for that lemon!!

The Italian households seem to have such small poky kitchens with no toasters or kettles - no tongs, strainers and all those things we take for granted- and in this case only 1 wine glass!  I suspect they dine out a lot - but we enjoy a bit of self catering!

      

 Amalfi must be the poorer cousin of the next town along the coast - Positano. We caught a ferry there and had a very pleasant lunch and afternoon in this beautiful place. 

                             

                 

              

   

We are back here at our apartment now all catching up on our jobs & watching the rain! Anne is working out the Pompeii trip - it's tricky matching train & ferry timetables!  Tonight we are tackling the washing machine and as it's a bit like the London one, we are a bit nervous!!  

This is our building - it's actually one of the smartest here. I recon it would be a challenge to you Josh to design a house that sits in the rocks and for you Kristian to build one! 

           

         

       

   

         

        

Amalfi

Our day began with an early start - Gerard & Susanne left before us to head home and we left a wee bit early as we were ready and just as well!! When we arrived at the vaporetto station, we read a notice saying there was a 24hr strike by ferry drivers and after 9am the services would be spasmodic! It was 10 to 9 and we had to get across to the mainland and catch the train to Naples! We saw a ferry pull up so luckily squashed onto that (with all our luggage) and made it to the mainland where we decided to lash out and catch a water taxi to the station. Turned out to be a good move as he took us on a different route and we enjoyed the ride.

We even had time to relax over a coffee before we caught the train to Naples. It was a fast train with maximum speeds of 249kph but we had stops alng the way so it was still a 5hr trip. The scenery changed along the way and became more mountainous as we got further south. Then around Florence  the Tuscany landscape was very picturesque.

         

          

Once at Naples we changed to another train to Salerno and then caught a bus here to Amalfi. This ride was quite an experience - imagine the Great Ocean Road 3 times as windy and half the width and our bus just tooted his horn to warn oncoming traffic and they stopped so he could cut the corner! We had to hold our breaths as we were sure there would be an accident! 

Then we arrived here at Amalfi and what a beautiful spot! Our apartment is good and we have a rooftop balcony with sea views where we enjoyed our dinner!

          

It's a real tourist spot and the streets were crowded with all kinds of people and the shops selling all kinds of treats - and lots of lemon products as this is the lemon coast! 

We are having a quieter morning tomorrow then will hit the tourist spots which include Pompeii - can't wait to see that! 

So till tomorrow love to all our readers 

Xxxxxxxxx

          

            

       

           

A tour of the islands

Another lovely day today - we took the vaporetto again and this time first stop was Murano noted for the glass works. We watched a chap make a glass horse which was amazing as he was so quick and the result excellent. Then a stroll up the streets was overload of glass ware - how you could select the shop firstly then what to buy?? 

                 

We caught the next vaporetto to the island of Burano and wow this was such a beautiful place and my favourite so far. The buildings are colourful in bright oranges, pink, green, red ... And the effect is lovely.

              

      

This island is famous for its lacework and along the little streets were some beautiful lace scarves, clothes and novelties. All very tempting!! We enjoyed a lovely lunch there then caught the vaporetto back to Lido. We had a round trip today are getting to have an idea of the geography of Venice. We saw where they are working on the 'Moses' scheme designed to keep high tides from Venice.   

And while Greg was being our tour guide, Anne stayed home to do some work and prepare a 3 course Venetian dinner for us - sardines sour, clams & tomato, meat carpaccio, lemon chill, Italian salad and bread rolls - served with spritz and red wine! All very delicious thank you Anne! 

         

Gerard & Susanne leave tomorrow and we have enjoyed so much catching up with them. And we catch the fast train to the Amalfi Coast & start the next bit of our Italian adventure. We have all remarked how lovely the local Italians are - even though they must have tourist overload, they are always polite & friendly and don't push things on you! 

We are surprised to hear that Sydney thrashed Geelong - what a strange game we follow!! 

For all our grand kids, here's a photo of Nanna & Grandad happy in Venice! Xxxxx

              

 Till the next blog, we send our love xxxx

 

  

A first look around Venice

  We are back 'home' after a busy day exploring Venice. We visited the Peggy Guggenhein art collection so are quite cultured now. We saw lots of the main tourist attractions and most impressive was the Basilica San Marco - one of the many beautiful churches - which was amazing with the gold murals and the statues. 

      

        

Every corner you turn you find another little narrow street with all kinds of shops and canals and gondolas waiting to whisk you away. They look so very romantic but we haven't opened the purse for that bit of extravagance yet! 

       

We enjoyed a very expensive drink at Harry's Bar then seemed to walk many steps through narrow lanes and over old stone bridges till we found this special pizza restaurant for Gerard - and he was delighted with his pizza - as was Darryl who could only manage to eat half of his! 

       

   

   

                    

                                  

     

     

 The weather was lovely and mild today but after dinner it was raining so we had a dash in the wet to catch the vaporetto (water taxi) and we were very impressed with Greg's speed! 

We are pretty pleased that we are experiencing no ill effects from the long flights and have immediately switched our body clocks to Italian time! After lots of walking today our feet are a little tired but hope they will recover after a good nights sleep. 

Love to everyone

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Here we are in Venice

After a relatively good flight with no dramas we arrived at Venice and were very happy to see Greg and Anne's happy faces at the airport to greet us. We caught a bus into Venice and then in a water taxi through the grand canal and then across to Lido where they live.

  

                                  This is their apartment block.

Our initial impression of Venice City is how old and beautiful it is, there's quite a Moor architectoral influence and the buildings are shabby. Evidently that's due to the salt damp. And of course the canals with gondolas, taxis and boats of every description zooming around is very unique.

        

    

 This apartment is near the Adriatic Sea (there is a sea view from the balcony if you stand on tip toes!) and last night we wandered down to have a paddle and were amazed to see all these Brighton -like beach boxes all along the beach. 

                                      

       

Anne & Greg's German friends Gerard & Susanne are here too and we had lots of laughs last night as they tried to come to terms with our Aussie slang! So today there is much sight seeing in the agenda for the 6 of us. 

We actually have no jet lag and feel 100% & rearing to go! No doubt there will be so much to report after today it will be difficult to condense it all! 

Hope all is good back in Australia!! 

Cico from us xxxxxxxxxx

Step 2 Doha

Well we are pretty proud of ourselves as we are now waiting at the correct terminal for the next leg to Venice!! They have built a new airport here and we were one of the last flights to fly into the old airport and we depart from the new one. It's pretty chaotic here with flights to all parts of the world and all kinds of nationalities present!  

I even bought a coffee (nice one too) and successfully used my credit card Tim!

The flight was long but I slept more than I usually do - and kids -  I saw Frozen!! Now I know why you all love it so much! I also watched 12 years as a slave (very very moving when you know it's a true story) and the Book Thief - even tho I have just started reading the book I would have preferred to see the movie afterwards but thought I may not get the opportunity!  So no wonder I passed the time easily. The girl sitting next to us was nice and very quiet & unobtrusive!

 And you'll never guess who was on the same flight - Elizabeth Cockcroft & Sue Hornsley ( she was acting principal at Murrabit after me)  Once again - small world! They are off on a cruise. 

Doha looks intereresting - and it will be an experience to explore it a bit on the way home - we have a 3 night stopover here. 

Next stop Venice 

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Step 1. Melbourne airport.

Well we managed to get through all the hoops and now just have to wait till boarding time. Unfortunately we weren't able to con our way into the Qantas Club so we are in a lounge paying for our drinks. Won't be having many at $15.50 a round!!  

We have our fingers crossed that we have remembered all that Tim has told us about how to blog!

Next update Doha airport! Think of us in flight 15hrs ✈️

        

Darryl enjoying his expensive beer and reading about Port Adelaide!! 

xxxxx from Marg & Darryl

The beginning of our Italian adventure!

Thismorning our adventure began with a comfortable train ride to Melbourne where we were picked up by Tim. Tomorrow 11pm we are leaving the country for an epic flight to Venice with a short stopover in Doha. 

If you are interested in following our travels we will be posting regular blogs that you can subscribe to on email or on Facebook. 

Cheers from Darryl & Marg