Thursday, January 3, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
29th December
Hadrian's Villa and the Villa D'Este in Trivoli
This was our other organised tour with bus and guide, we went to the travel firm to get on the bus which was just the other side of the train station, so not too far at all.
To call it Hadrian's Villa was an understatement, Emperor Hadrian's living and entertaining complex doesn't have the same ring but is a much more accurate description. The estate was extensive with tunnels joining the various areas on the different levels for the slaves to wandered through doing their daily tasks. Loads of baths, gardens to wander, water features, it took two hours just to see the best bits the tour guide was pointing out for us.
Lunch was a 45 minute break in Tivoli where we found a sandwich shop and sat in there. From the town centre we walked for a couple of minutes to reach the Villa D'Este which was built, but not finished by a man with aspirations to be Pope. He tried 5 times and just didn't make it. The house was the unfinished part in that not all the friezes were complete, the gardens however were amazing, a different fountain at every turn including one that played music, all working through water pressure.
This was our other organised tour with bus and guide, we went to the travel firm to get on the bus which was just the other side of the train station, so not too far at all.
To call it Hadrian's Villa was an understatement, Emperor Hadrian's living and entertaining complex doesn't have the same ring but is a much more accurate description. The estate was extensive with tunnels joining the various areas on the different levels for the slaves to wandered through doing their daily tasks. Loads of baths, gardens to wander, water features, it took two hours just to see the best bits the tour guide was pointing out for us.
Lunch was a 45 minute break in Tivoli where we found a sandwich shop and sat in there. From the town centre we walked for a couple of minutes to reach the Villa D'Este which was built, but not finished by a man with aspirations to be Pope. He tried 5 times and just didn't make it. The house was the unfinished part in that not all the friezes were complete, the gardens however were amazing, a different fountain at every turn including one that played music, all working through water pressure.
28th December
Today we had tickets for the Vatican museum and decided to get there via the Metro as the hotel is 2 minutes from the train station. Buying the tickets was more of a challenge than we expected as they were available from the newspaper stand and not the ticket machine, but a couple of friendly Italians pointed us in the right direction and we made it to the meeting place on some steps opposite the Vatican in plenty of time to meet the tour guide. The queue for normal people was maybe 2 to 3 hours long but I had purchased 'skip the queue' tickets to get us in, it still took 20 minutes to get in, there were security checks like you get in airports as you change country, before you could get through to the exhibits. Once through we wandered for two hours before making a break for the exit through the Sisteen Chapel. People had packed in to look at the paintings which seemed to be the highlight of the visit, mine was finding a map with St. Helena marked on it!
By now we wanted lunch, so a convenient Chineese filled the gap then round the corner to St. Peter's square and the Basilica. There was a queue here as well and as the Basilica is free we decided to move on after a few camera shots. We carried on to see the Castel Sant Angelo, where we wandered round the outside and then onto the metro and off again at Spagna to see the Trinita del Monti, the famous set of stairs that was crowded with sightseers. Back onto the metro to take a look at the Fontana Di Trevi, a well photographed fountain. Then back to the hotel to sleep before dinner and TV!
By now we wanted lunch, so a convenient Chineese filled the gap then round the corner to St. Peter's square and the Basilica. There was a queue here as well and as the Basilica is free we decided to move on after a few camera shots. We carried on to see the Castel Sant Angelo, where we wandered round the outside and then onto the metro and off again at Spagna to see the Trinita del Monti, the famous set of stairs that was crowded with sightseers. Back onto the metro to take a look at the Fontana Di Trevi, a well photographed fountain. Then back to the hotel to sleep before dinner and TV!
Travel to Rome
Another early start as the water taxi was collecting us at 8:05 and we were out of bed a little late. It was a foggy day and I did wonder if our flight would be on time, but the fog made no difference to flight times or the wait at the airport and we arrived in Rome at 12:20. Finding the travel agent in T3 proved a challenge but by 1:30 we were on our way to the Hotel Genova. This was a 4 star hotel and was fairly well situated for what we wanted to do. The first thing was a trip to Piazza Navoa for the Christmas Fair. About a mile from the hotel and lots of pompous marble buildings along the way ( and a Spar!) and I was there. Half the stalls were the usual junk you find at any fair but the rest contained items to be used in Nativity scenes. They started with the basic diamadre and then nativity figures and then other people and animals, I bought a basket of mushrooms the size of a 50p and a watering can with a snowman face on the side to hang on the Christmas tree. Then back to the hotel to collect Maddison for dinner.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Boxing Day
Today we had a lay in in, emerging for breakfast at a reasonable 9am after which Maddison went back to the room to rest, her feet are sore after all the walking yesterday, she probably had on the wrong type of socks! Geoff and I wandered off to find some presents to take back with us. Vein aims seem to work to the same times as Egyptians so there were more shops open on the way back than on the way there.
The afternoon was taken up with a boat trip to the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello the iPad pictures for which seem to appear on yesterday's blog! I must be feeling a bit confused. Anyway, Murano is famous for its glass so we visited a glass factory and saw a man blowing a vase and making a horse, which took him all of 5 minutes. Maddison was quite taken with the horse so we bought one and then wandered down the street to look in the other shops. Torcello used to have 25,000 people living there and now there are 10, so we looked at the old church.
Burano is a fishing village where they have to keep the houses the traditional colours, they also make lace there so we were shown into a shop where a lady was demonstrating needlepoint lace making. It can take up to 9 ladies to make one item as they each specialise in one particular stitch. So many beautiful things . . . . .
Then back to Venice to eat and sleep.
The afternoon was taken up with a boat trip to the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello the iPad pictures for which seem to appear on yesterday's blog! I must be feeling a bit confused. Anyway, Murano is famous for its glass so we visited a glass factory and saw a man blowing a vase and making a horse, which took him all of 5 minutes. Maddison was quite taken with the horse so we bought one and then wandered down the street to look in the other shops. Torcello used to have 25,000 people living there and now there are 10, so we looked at the old church.
Burano is a fishing village where they have to keep the houses the traditional colours, they also make lace there so we were shown into a shop where a lady was demonstrating needlepoint lace making. It can take up to 9 ladies to make one item as they each specialise in one particular stitch. So many beautiful things . . . . .
Then back to Venice to eat and sleep.
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