Venezia (Venice)
Milan to Venice by train is the plan. For CrossCountry Bob, trains in Europe are generally a pleasant experience. Far better than airports! Sliding through pleasant countryside, comfortable seats, with the Alps off to the left in the distance. Upon reaching Venice, the train traverses a causeway across the lagoon and stops on the edge of Venice. Smooth transition off the train, and greeted by the curious citizen of Venice…
From there, a short walk to the Vaporetto Station, wait a bit and then onto the vaporetto.
People everywhere. Not the crushes of summer, perhaps, but often a close likeness to the inside of a sardine can once on board the vaporetto.
This is not CrossCountry Bob’ s first visit to Venice but he is hopeful of a more rewarding visit that last time when some type of pneumonia hammered him. He still has some lung scarring to prove it.
Well, don’t dwell on the past says CrossCountry Bob. It ain’t coming back. Welcome to Venice today.
Some years ago, the pigeons on the Square outnumbered the humans but now it is an easy win for the humans. Progress. But some things stay the same. The beer that CrossCountry Bob consumed was first rate, as it was eight years ago. After the beer, it was walkabout (oops, water closet visit first)…
Walking makes CrossCountry Bob hungry and eating in Venice is a problem of choice. It’s shoulder season and the restaurants are busy but not usually full. Dinner on night one was, yes, seafood. Very good. And night two was for CrossCountry Bob (sacrilege!) – rack of lamb – it was exquisite!
All famous places have a “must do” and in Venice that is to explore the Grand Canal on the slow boat, otherwise known as Vaporetto route 1. CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie sat outside at the back and enjoyed the passing daily life of Venice. Travelling Dave declared it a highlight.
Now and then it was fun to exit the vaporetto and climb one of the scattered church bell towers to enjoy the views…
And that is a wrap for Venice. Arrivederci!
Next up in norther Italy is Lake Como. And guess what else came to visit Lake Como? Yes, the rain. It must have followed us from Zurich; heavy rain. But there were breaks in the weather to explore a bit and take a few photos.
CrossCountry Bob will say that Lake Como is interesting but not special. It has nothing on the various Okanagan vistas. Needless to say, CrossCountry Bob is not impressed by the fact that George Clooney owns a huge villa on Lake Como (Pause here for CrossCountry Bob on his soapbox: “I am sure that the Clooney villa is so super energy efficient it would make your eyes water with joy; good, ol’ George (I hear) is very, very worried about climate change” – end of CrossCountry soapbox before all readers abandon ship). Now back to regularly scheduled blogging…a Lake Como highlight…
Paintin’ Peggie spotted these –
The rain was heavy as CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie departed Lake Como…
Next stop – Cinque Terre. There are more ways people try to pronounce Cinque Terre than there are beautiful little villages comprising Cinque Terre. Italian is an elegant, flowing language with wonderful cadences that Paintin’ Peggie and CrossCountry Bob loved to listen to, especially the young couples in love. But even the angry arguments (and there were plenty of those) had a rhythm.
The best way around the Cinque Terre is by train.
The Cinque Terre weather gradually became cooperative and the ocean settled, gently lapping the Monterosso beach and the adjacent steep rocky cliffs. Paintin’ Peggie breathed deeply of that ocean air and soaked in the beauty of the place…
One of the features of Cinque Terre is the walking/hiking paths between the villages. CrossCountry Bob eyed those paths with regret. Not so long ago, those paths would be an interesting stroll but the knees now have a veto (knee replacement is high on the priority list). But the Cinque Terre villages themselves were very pleasant to wander about…
And, of course, not hiking the paths does not mean not eating. Night one was a seafood extravagance…
Night two for CrossCountry Bob was homemade pasta with fresh anchovies, garlic and olives (do not confuse wonderful fresh anchovies with those heavily salted things at home that masquerade as anchovies)
Paintin’ Peggie chose the homemade pasta with a seafood bisque coating and CrossCountry Bob forgot to take a picture! But buonisimo (as in superb); and so Cinque Terre goes into the CrossCountry Bob travel catalogue as plunging, steep landscapes, multicoloured buildings and food fit for real Italians – and therefore more than fit for amateur eater CrossCountry Bob.
And with that – Ciao! – time for CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie to hit the road. See you in Florence.