Doha

Well, Italian Darryl and Aussie Marg are now in Doha, Qatar and wow - our first impressions are of a brand new city - a far cry from the  old Italy we have enjoyed! I doubt Darryl will be attempting to become a local here as I can't see him wearing sheets and tea towels! However, he did enjoy the complimentary drink on arrival which we were told later was strawberries and yoghurt! (He keeps saying he hates yoghurt!!) 

                 Night time view out our window.

           

Our last couple of days in Venice were pleasant (except it came in very humid and we were pretty hot until a thunderstorm cleared the air Monday night) A swim at the beach was beautiful! Anne went into uni for the last time and Greg Darryl and I pottered around Lido getting organised for our departure. Monday evening we tagged along with Anne and Greg for a farewell dinner with her colleagues - we were fortunate to see how Venetian homes differ from ours when we were invited for pre dinner drinks. I don't think I'd want to swap!

Yesterday was a transit day - after cleaning the flat we caught a car taxi to the waterfront where we caught the airport vaporetto which dropped us off at the airport - quite a different experience! Our flight was only 4.5 hrs so the time went quickly - seeing I watched 3 movies - including Pompeii - all the more relevant seeing we have been to the ruins. 

Doha's brand new 5 star airport is beautiful - but we landed away from the terminal and were bussed in - (most planes seemed to be at the terminal but maybe seeing ours was a small plane we missed out!) We manouvered our way through immigration, got transit visas and were out in no time. It was night time ( Doha is 1 hr ahead of Italy time so we are only 7 hrs behind you now) but we were blown away by the wide roads and massive buildings and building sites.  Our hotel is huge and very luxurious with more staff that guests it seems. All are very helpful and language isn't a problem. When we arrived though, a very loud pre wedding party was underway and that combined with blocked ears from the flight and softly spoken assistants, made checking in quite a challenge but we finally made it to our lovely rooms on the 13th floor!

Breakfast this morning was delightful - so many things to try and now we are going on a city tour. 

We booked a private tour as it wasn't much more than the hop on hop off bus and it was a very good decision. Our driver was actually Syrian and took us to many places and told us tit bits of information. The local Qatar people only make up 15% of the population but they live a very privileged life - no taxes, no utility  bills, half their house paid for, free education - including university and fuel is about 30c/litre!! The labourers are from Pakistan, Nepal, Shri Lanka and we have seen many Africans working at airport and in this hotel. I think one of the most amazing things we saw was a brand new Colosseum!! It's all marble and overlooks the sea and they hold concerts there.

           

After seeing the Roman ruins, it was delightful to see a brand new colosseum! This is built on reclaimed land near the Pearl Qatar which is a man made island for residents and Katara - a cultural village. 

The next amazing thing (well everything is really but I can't bore you with too much detail!) was the Souq - or market place. It looks very old but is only been built a few years ago but using traditional methods. Unfortunately we were there when it was siesta time so tomorrow plan to go back to explore some more. 

           

And the coup de gra has to be the falcons! (Not cars Dennis but the feathered ones!)  Most locals own falcons and the sport is big - so big that they have a Falcon Hospital - dedicated entirely to the birds! It's not the falcon season now so the hospital was quiet but we saw operating tables, dispensaries, waiting rooms with perches for the birds - our man said their medical care is better than for humans! We did see some inside the Souq resting!

         

     

This is the hospital waiting room!! Amazing!!

We also saw the pick of the Arabian racing horses and some camels. 

       

This was our drivers favourite as it's from Syria and very friendly. Each horse was in a beautifully clean stall with their own ceiling fan. 

We saw fishing and tourist boats and so many beautiful buildings - each unique and it seems to be a competition to see who can build the most elaborate building. We think it's also a competition with Dubai but wonder how sustainable it all is if oil runs out! 

 This is a large mosque.        

            

 We came back from our trip hot (it was predicted to be 43 and felt like it!) and hungry so had a bite of lunch and a swim ( lovely pool but it came up windy and unpleasant) Now we are off for happy hour!! 

Tonight is our last night here - we have a late check out as our flight is night time. So this will be my last blog probably. Darryl's a bit over lugging his camera around! 

So look forward to getting home - with all these wonderful memories.

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Last days of Venice

Yesterday we visited the iconic Rialto market and the boys purchased fresh mussels, calamari, salmon and scallops to cook for our dinner - yum yum! With this fine cuisine Darryl needed the expert tuition from Chef Gregorio. This market held, in 16th century buildings has every fresh food imaginable - all types of fish, meat, fruit, veges, pasta, breads - it's very popular with the locals.

         

       

From there we wound our way through the back alleys and found the church of St Lucia - (St Lucy). Here they have the body of St Lucy - who is the patron saint of eye sight I believe - on view in a glass coffin. The church was very ornate and beautiful - more so because of our Lucy!

          

We had a shared lunch of pizza, prosciutto and melon (a lovely combination) in a ristorante right on the grand canal then we separated - Greg & Anne to come home and we visited the cemetery island. We feel pretty confident now navigating around the vapporato timetables and felt quite like locals as we watched tourists who looked very confused! The cemetery was moved to this island under Napoleon's reign as he deemed it unsanitary to bury bodies in Venice itself. It seems like if you have LOTS of money or prestige, your family can be buried in huge mausoleums - because land is precious, after 10 years ordinary bodies are interred and plaques placed on walls. However, if you are rich you get to stay in your grand mausoleum!

          

This morning Darryl and I went for our walk along the beach - which was a hive of activity with tractors grading and raking the sand, people raking up seaweed and people putting out the umbrellas and beach chairs. Greg & Anne noticed when they were first here great piles of sand all along the beach - we think they bring sand in from somewhere as at the waters edge it's quite pebbly and has little shells. The water is quite warm and inviting! Can't believe you are all freezing back home. 

Today we are having a quieter day and we are presently at a cafe which has free wifi as Anne's has run out. We were very spoilt that Anne had us all set up with internet all along our travels. 

We see where Kerang & Murrabit lost but good old Port had a good win. Wish we were there with you Kristian & bet you loved being at Adelaide oval.

Well we want to catch a different bus to explore another part of the island so have to leave off. No more blogs till Doha! 

Love to you all 

Xxxxxxxxx

Brenta River cruise

Another excellent day seeing more of the area around Venice! After seeing those gorgeous old villas the other day, we all thought we'd like to learn more about them. Because we didn't want to spend all day on a cruise, seeing 4 villas, we caught a fast train to Padua - a lovely town about 37 km west of Venice and had a look around there for a bit. Once again we saw beautiful old buildings - the most outstanding one was a 13th century bascillica which had amazing fresco paintings all around the walls and ceiling.

              

              

The ancient city squares were separated by a triple decker Gothic building and under the arches, butcher shops sell all sorts of meat including the local speciality of horse meat!!  And Darryl and Greg are sure Anne and I knew it was market day again!! 

         

 Always worth a  look!

From Padua we caught a local bus to another town on the way to Venice. This is where we were to pick up the cruise! We were in a double length bus which had no rear suspension and the driver kept driving over kerbs! We had a quick lunch then walked to find the boat - which turned out to be more of a hike than we anticipated. 

The cruise was lovely - the boat was very comfortable and we mostly sat up top for better views. The river is a narrow canal and we saw the swing bridges in operation and went through a lock (which was designed by Leonardo de Vinci)  We visited the beautiful villa Foscari which was built to keep the wife almost a prisoner as she was a little promiscuous! Not a bad prison though! 

           

We travelled through rural countryside and saw hay, crops and even dairy cows! You hardly ever see any farm stock as they must keep them in sheds.

        

The river flows into the Venice lagoon and we cruised into Venice from a totally different angle and saw and learned more about the place. 

We ended the day with sunset drinks by the lagoon which was very pleasant.

         

Then because Italy was playing soccer and it was on TV, no shops seemed to be open so we weren't able to buy pasta for our dinner so we improvised. Using what is here - potatoes, onion, garlic, some pork strips and eggs, Darryl and Anne created a frittata! So Darryl added another string to his bow and was very proud of his efforts! We think he may start up an Italian cooking school when we get home! 

 

         

            

Now it's dark and we can go to bed - the days are very long here - daylight about 4.30am and dark about 9.30pm. 

Trust all is well at home and that all sport is successful this weekend. 

Xxxxxxxxxxx from Marg & Darryl

        

   

       

        

Darryl completed!

Its happened! Darryl with a man bag, gold chain, toffy hat, umbrella, and Italian shirt is now an Italian!

          

You won't know him when he gets home! Luckily I am still an ordinary Aussie! 

We had a great day today - the market we had planned to go to wasn't here today so we had a quick change of plans and went to a place called Chioggia - a fishing village south of here and a delightful place. It was quite an exercise to get there - we caught a local bus, which travelled the length of the island of Lido, the bus went on the ferry to the next island Pellestrani then we left the bus and caught a ferry to Chioggia! All this is included in our weekly travel pass which is excellent value. It was a very interesting trip travelling with locals and seeing more of the area.

The found the markets and Greg and Darryl went into a shirt buying frenzy and came away with huge bags and lots of smiles!! I only got a long sleeved cotton shirt so I can cover up and be acceptable in Doha!  No shoulders or knees showing is acceptable dress there! Seeing the temperature is going to be in 40's I think we'll get hiding in our hotel near the pool! 

  

                  

This market went for ages along the street and we didn't even get  to the end of the street. This place wasn't tourist city and we loved it! We strolled from the market place to the beach and had a very interesting afternoon there - watching the beach beauties - we can't believe how uninhibited the Italians and European tourists are and no matter what body shapes they are, all the young girls, young ladies and older ladies wear bikinis!! Makes very interesting people watching! Anne and I thought maybe this could be us?

         

We had a little rest at home then a lovely meal at a local beautiful restaurant! We shouldn't have ordered an entree as we all feel very full!

Last night Anne and I really enjoyed our cultural operetta experience - it was nothing like a usual opera - more like an interactive cabaret evening. We were only part of a small audience - probably 50 people and we saw the performance in a lovely century old palace in some different rooms. First scene was in the drawing room - the performers sang around us in this small room and we felt part of it all. Then we had a complimentary champagne and moved to the next room for the next scene! The last scene was the coup de gra in a beautiful old bedroom with an alcove with amazing decorations! The story was light hearted, they had an English transition in the programme and no matter what , you could enjoy the intimate occasion and the excellent singing! To get there Anne and I had to walk down the narrowest of Venice walkways you could imagine but we didn't feel unsafe at all. We didn't get home till about 11.30 and our lovely Italian men didn't even hear us get in!

Tomorrow we have another full day planned so must get off to bed. The days continue to be warm, sunny and perfect - then we see where Kerangs maximum temp was 10 yesterday!! It will be a change to get home to winter!

We are thinking of the Jarman family tomorrow as they gather to say farewell to Mr Jarman - we offer our sincere condolences to the Jarman family and we are thinking of you.

Till our next blog xxxxxx from Aussie  Marg & Italian Dazza! Xxxxx

      

         

       This lovely fishing village - quiet and tourist free! 

 

The new Darryl.

Well the new Italian Darryl cooks risotto, drinks wine, eats very unusual foods, goes shopping with a trolley and is now the owner of a Ferrari shirt! Not a lamb chop, sausage, any tomato sauce or lawn mower here!!

      

            

Next he'll be wanting to purchase a car like this:

           

This morning Greg took us on a tour of some parts of Venice we haven't seen and the best was a tower where we got a great overview of the city. You can see the tourists around the Doges Palace and Piazza San Marco!  We tried to avoid that area but had to get through there to get to the Ferrari shop.

     

In our little vaporetto we were dwarfed by a new arrival - one arrives and one leaves it seems! 

       

Later we are heading down to the beach to swim in the sea so we can cross off the Adriatic / Mediterranean off our list! Then tonight is the opera!

Trust all is good in Australia 

Xxxxxxxx Marg & Darryl

Education

Well, since we have been in Italy we have experienced culture, history, geography and today education! Greg Darryl and I caught the vaporetto and found the university of Venice where we met Anne then listened to her presentation.

          

     

                        

        

      

Anne spoke very well in clear easy to understand language that we could follow -  she even had lovely photos of Adelaide, Australian icons and even a snap of Rory Sloan! Afterwards some of Anne's colleagues and we 4 went for a beautiful lunch in a little ristorante in an off the beaten track alley - certainly not touristy! It was very pleasant and the typical Venetion meal delicious! It's a privilege to be able to experience traditional Venice from locals. 

We left this secluded spot and walked through the Jewish Ghetto - the history of which is quite sad as is most of their history. We made up for the quiet lunch then by plunging right into tourist city where all the market stalls are! We soon got pretty sick of this! Most surprising was the water lapping up into St Marks bascillica - a common occurance in winter but not now! 

       

        

 

The water was also sneaking up over the edge here where we caught the vaporetto! We suspect the Ferrari shop - which was our destination through all the tourists and markets - could have been affected by water as it was shut with no explanation! Darryl and Greg fancy purchasing a Ferrari shirt so we'll try again tomorrow! 

We arrived home to rest our weary feet and work out what else we want to see in Venice before we leave next Tuesday! We have some pretty full days planned!! 

Darryl was tonight's chef serving up a beautiful seafood risotto made a little unusual by the minestrone soup Greg purchased in the supermarket instead of vegetable stock! It is a little tricky when we can't read Italian!! 

We have the TV on - thinking there may be a soccer game televised but doesn't seem so. It really seems the Italians aren't as sport mad as we thought! It's not much good watching Italian TV when you're Italian language is almost zero!! 

My education continues tomorrow evening when Anne and I are attending the opera "The Barbers of Seville" . Greg and Darryl will escort us in and we'll have a quick dinner before hand then they'll leave us and head home. I'm looking forward to seeing my first ever opera!! 

Our excellent weather has returned and coats jeans and jumpers are back in the cases! 

Hoping you are all well xxxxxxx from Marg & Darryl 

      

This is The Bridge of Sighs - where they used to take prisoners across for execution! 

         

The trip back to Venice

We awoke yesterday to grey skies and cooler weather and I wondered who this chap was in jeans and jumper after 3 weeks of shorts! I even had reason to be pleased to have my rain jacket as it rained quite heavily in the afternoon!

             

We caught the ferry to Como and really enjoyed the 90 minute trip as we continued to be amazed at the grandeur of some of the houses and the immaculately presented gardens. We even saw  George  Clooney's retreat unfortunately he never invited us in! This is his little holiday shack! 

      

Como is a nice place too and we enjoyed strolling around -there was an expo of local produce and how we would have loved to stock up on local wines, cheeses, meats and veges. It rained quite heavily on the return trip but we managed our walk up the hill without getting wet! Our aerobic capacity has improved lately with all the steps and mountain climbing! 

Today we packed up and left Lezzeno - it really was a lovely spot and we were very relaxed and loved it there. We drove around the other side of the lake to Lecco and then headed towards Milan but turned off onto the auto strand to Venice. We had morning tea at Lake Gardiner - not near as pretty as Como but the place was bustling with people as there are lots of fashion seconds outlets plus there was a caravan park there too. 

Then we stopped at Verona and loved it there - most amazing is the Stadium which is a Roman ampetheatre still used today for concerts and operas! We would have loved to have a look inside but it wasn't opening till after lunch and we had to head off. We did have time for a bite of lunch and another ride on one of those tourist trains which gives you a quick overview of the city. This is the city of love and the play Romeo & Juliet was set here and we think this is Juliets balcony! 

         

       

       

This is the stadium - very impressive!

From Verona we had a tour through little towns on Venices outskirts and were surprised to see many huge villas quite derelict - seems a huge waste but maybe indicative of Italy's economic status. 

Once back here on Lido Darryl and I set off to do some grocery shopping with Greg's shopping trolley! 

         

                          

When you have to cart everything 1.2 km away this is the way to go! At 6.30 - 7pm the centre of Lido was buzzing with people walking their dogs, strolling along, having a drink at the local spots or shopping! Quite different lifestyle to ours at home! 

Tomorrow we plan to go into the university and catch Anne's presentation - if we can find her! 

We hope you are all well & till next blog xxxxxxxxxx Marg & Darryl

Lezzeno

We are sitting on our deck, the thunder is rolling around the mountains again and we see some huge flashes of lightning but the storms seem to be be missing us again. Every afternoon this happens and it's pretty awesome - we wonder if it's a daily occurrence or unusual. Our days though have continued to be perfect and excellent holiday weather. It's good to hear we have had rain at home though not sure about the thunderstorm damage in Kerang. 

Here is our car at our place - can you guess which is our rental car?? Darryl and Greg would love it to be the Maserati but that belongs to a chap who drove down from Belgium!! Actually we have seen quite a few very expensive cars here - the more we see around here we realise this is a very affluent part of Italy!! We have the boxy Fiat!! (used to have a clutch!!)

Yesterday we drove to the next village Bellagio which is very picturesque and much more touristy than here (I think we are the only tourists in this village)! After many U turns and lots of back seat driving, we finally found the supermarket which was in the most obscure place!! We got our supplies (shops close between 12 & about 4 so you can't just rock up and expect things to be open) We parked and had a ride on a little tourist train to get an overview of the place then came back here for lunch and a quiet afternoon.

Today we did the ferry bit and it was a great way to get a bit of a perspective on the lake and the villages. We were gob smacked by the many beautiful homes and gardens - if we hadn't come here we would have an impression of Italy that wasn't like this. 

I want to have a flower display like this - we think they are hydrangeas!

         

This lake is huge - 47 Kms long, in the deepest point it is 425metres deep and average depth is 154 metres. Volume is 25k cubed - not sure what that means but it's a lot of water! It must be pretty healthy as the water is clear and we saw many fish just off the shore. We see water skiing,sailing, swimming - just like Lake Charm!! And the narrow windy roads seem to attract lots of motor bikes - I think they are a nightmare and don't enjoy walking along the roads at all!

         

We had our only disappointing meal of our holiday for lunch - not a terrible meal but not wonderful & poor service but tonight cwe will be dining in style here as Anne is cooking a seafood risotto and I am helping! 

Thanks to Anne's techno ability, we were able to see the last of the Port Adelaide match and how close - but no disgrace. We see where Kerang won and Murrabit lost - technology is wonderful isn't it that we are on the other side of the world and can still know what happens at home! 

We have no plans for tomorrow but will decide when the day comes.

This was a beautiful hotel called "Victoria"in one of the little villages!  Must have named it after our lovely state! (Oops your lovely state!) 

Hope everyone is well and I sign off now to cook risotto! 

Lots of love from Marg & Darryl xxxxx

Lake Como

Well after a full day of travel yesterday - 3 different trains - of varying age and comfort - plus a car ride - we are now here at lovely Lake Como.

The rail station at Milan is a very beautiful station but unfortunately we were only there briefly so couldn't explore! The best train was the last one which was going to Switzerland but we were only on this one for 30 mins and missed out on the complimentary drinks! 

             

We picked up the car in Como - which looks to be a lovely place - and Greg did a wonderful job getting us here. Fortunately the traffic was pretty quiet as the road is narrow and passing oncoming traffic can be a bit scary!! We luckily found a spot to park ( there are no footpaths or parking bays) not far from a little supermarket and we grabbed a few essentials (mainly beer & wine!) and found our way here! It's beautiful! 

           

        

This place has been recently renovated with excellent high quality fittings, a wonderful kitchen with every gadget and appliance imaginable and 2 lovely ensuites and comfortable beds. I have been able to use the washing machine without it taking 2 hours or ruining our clothes so we are all up to date with pristine clothes! Anne has also worked out how to make proper coffee! 

In our 16th century apartment in Riomaggiore the shower leaked and floor was not quite level and our bedroom was a pull out sofa in the living room! That's what you get if you want great sea views on the coast!  So this is quite a step up and very luxurious for us! 

We can sit on the balcony and can see the snow capped mountains in the distance ( in Switzerland we think as we aren't far from the border) The lake is huge and today we plan to go on a ferry ride - but think there may be a rail and ferry strike - well it is Friday and we are in Italy!! We'll soon find out!  

This is obviously a more affluent part of the country as many of the houses are much larger, on larger blocks and beautifully maintained. This is the playground for the rich and famous and we can imagine this. Darryl and I went for a walk this morning and wound our way down a pretty little path to the nearest pub and supermarket.  

       

          

This is the narrow road - and we continue to look the wrong way for oncoming traffic so it's especially scary to walk along! 

     

Older houses flank the path as you near the road. 

We are exactly half way through our holiday now and can't believe how fortunate we have been with glorious weather every day - last night there was lots of thunder rolling around the mountains but no rain. However, we think we may be in for a bit of rain in the next few days. 

We are off now to test Greg's driving and check out the next little town. We send our love to everyone and hope everyone is well.

Xxxxxxxx Marg & Darryl

Cinque Terra

We have had two beautiful days here - weather perfect - warm, no wind, blue skies & sea. The tourist season has really started here and the trains and streets are full of people from all nationalities - but everyone is pleasant and willing to chat if you want. Yesterday we caught the ferry and explored a couple of the towns - they are all quite different even though they are all perched up in the cliffs! 

       

We have refined the way to while away the day - cruise to a town, have a look around, find a place to sit and enjoy a coffee, milkshake or beer then hop on the ferry to next town, stroll around and look for a nice menu for lunch. We have had some beautiful meals -  lots of seafood, pasta, risotto and of course pizza - all delicious 

            

Here we are today at Manarola - we were overlooking the bay and enjoyed watching people jumping off high rocks into the sea - reminded us of the jumping rock at Wannangatta! (Can you spot the boy in green bathers?) This seemed to be the best swimming spot and was very popular! 

               

This morning Darryl and I got up early and set off on one of the walks - we caught the train to Vernazza and the plan was to walk back past two towns to meet Greg and Anne for lunch. We enjoyed the walk to the first town and it was so pretty and not too strenuous but quite a few steps! All worth it for the beautiful views.  However once we started on the second leg we firstly had difficulties finding the correct trail then we heard all these conflicting stories from fellow walkers about it being closed. We lost a bit of time here and eventually set off but the stories were correct and it was closed due to a landslide! We knew the section from here is closed but when we bought our pass yesterday we weren't told about this closure! We could have walked 3 hrs inland but decided to catch the train and cheat the last bit! 

          

    

      

Tonight we will enjoy our last night here and watch the sunset like last night - it's a pretty popular thing to take wine and snack down on the rocks to watch sunsets. We just have to look out our window! 

            

Tomorrow we catch a couple of trains, whizz through Milan and pick up the hire car at Como. Then lucky Greg is the nominated driver - the lady said we are 16kms from Como but allow an hour as the roads are narrow and traffic can be heavy!! Greg can't wait!! He also has to remember to drive on the right hand side!! 

We really have enjoyed this little bit of Italy - and our legs are getting used to steps everywhere! 

We are over half way through our month now - this time in 2 weeks we will be in Doha then home - how the weeks fly! 

Hope everyone at home is good xxxxxxxxx from Marg and Darryl