Voyage- the final frontier

From last year's trip to Spain, I found the library! Hooray. Too bad I can't read in Italian.

I met up Chad and we metro-ed to the Castellano Sforzeco. A 14th Century fortress with a museum holding a treasure. We missed out on David, Botticelli but we saw the Last Pieta by Michelangelo. Free too! This building didn't even get a mention in the Frommers, what the heck? Tour books are for the birds. Stick with me, I will get you to the best places.

The Milan metro rocks. 3E for a 24hour ticket. Just about everything you need is connected to the metro. Just be careful, the buzzer doesn't give much warning for the doors closing. And when those door close, they are violent. Metro was clean, no graffiti and I even saw a cleaning person on the moving train.

The Duomo of Milan, with its intricate marble facade. The piazza was cleared out later when the rain hit. Can't have all the days with beautiful weather. The sunglass salesmen quickly switched to umbrellas. The Duomo's facade was finally finished when the little guy, Napoleon, ordered it so. I think they did a pretty good job.

Didn't do any shopping but this Gallerie was spectacular. Prada and Chanel had storefronts but the old adage of "If you have to ask, you don't want to know." held true. Had a spectacular night in Milan. Had to get up early to get the train to Venice. Ah, Venice. Come on, any Indiana Jones fans in the house?

Buying the train tickets was a breeze. I walked right up on Thursday and got the Friday departure. The guy seemed to laugh when I asked to buy the Sunday return. No worries, buy it when you get to Venice. It really was that easy.

It was on the train to Venice, I had my aha moment. Venice with Chad? Who would have ever thought that would happen. I doubt we would have ever made there without this opportunity. Piazza San Marco with no pigeons. It does exist! The drying rack came in handy for this photo. We stole several pictures inside the church and museum. Figured it was only fair since that is how the body of St. Mark got to be here. He was stolen from his grave in Alexandria around the 9th century to be placed here. Can't feel too bad about the stealing, it must be the Venetian thing to do. Beware of these cafes lining the piazza. A cappuccino could cost you 15E since they add cover for the orchestra cost. Lovely touch but you can have a gelato standing in the middle for less than 2E.

I found one and only one gondolier wearing the hat. He was an older guy so he was the traditional type. No, we didn't pay for the ride. Chad is not that romantic and I am that cheap. I thought about doing the traversing gondola. You use them to cross the Grand Canal when not near any of the three bridges that span the canal for a set fee of something cheap. It is hard work to work the gondola down the canals for 40 minutes but 100E could be spent on better memories for us.

We had a blast in Venice. Got lost, walked over numerous bridges, saw incredible churches and rode the heck out of the vaporetto (water bus). That is the way to do it, the tickets are costly so make the day spent out on the water. We went out to Murano, home of the glass makers and got plenty of souvenirs. We went to Lido to catch a preview glimpse of the Adriatic Sea. Rode several times up and back on the Grand Canal. Our hotel was steps away from a stop so this helped immensely. Tickets are pricey but it is a multi-man operation. With a bus, you just have the driver. With a water bus, you have a driver who has to have some mad boating skills and the guy to help with embarking and disembarking passengers. Plus the boat itself and fuel. It is the way to see to the city, area and other islands in the lagoon. Well worth the cost.

Speaking of our stop, we dined out there on our last night. My necessary travel equipment always includes a bottle opener so the wine was flowing. A couple of rosemary focaccia bread sandwiches, wine, and dessert rounded out our budget meal. When the sun went down, Chad got some amazing free hand photos. I will have to post those with a disclaimer at a later date.

We had to visit the grocery store, our typical stop in foreign countries. Paris sells the same brand of mozzarella so I think we are nickel. We brought back 5 bottles of various wines from the regions we visited.

We had to leave Venice early Sunday to ensure we made the connection to the airport to get the flight back to Paris. I had read that Venice first thing in the morning is a thing to experience. And they were right. Silent with just a few people shuffling around. A couple garbage collectors were the only boats out. Our hotel was only one bridge away from the train station so not much heavy lifting or thought required that early in the morning. Without the crowds of tourists, our walk time was easily cut in half. Amazingly quiet.

Italy was just as I imagined. Fantastic food, lovely people (the Italian tourists who make my life crazy in Paris were not around), amazing history and spectacular views. The cups of coffee are tiny, the spoon doesn't even get wet so always order the cappuccino. Always find the cassa to order from then take the receipt to get your sandwich, cappuccino, gelato. Get ready to stand for your coffee. Bidet users rejoice! I found them everywhere but the train and the Venice hotel. We did see a few Ferraris on the road, one on the autostrada. I even managed a "teethsuck" from one guy in Bologna which is the Italian way of saying "how you doing?" I didn't fall for it but Chad got a good laugh. Italian hotels have large bath towels. Chad didn't even notice, all he misses with the shaved look. By the time we got on the plane, I was ready for my own bed, sheets and my own large towels. I would love a cheap and tasty cappuccino though!

We are going to return as previously posted to visit the Cinque Terre by foot, train to Rome and might even stop in to see the Pope. I figure he saw me in Paris, I could go check on him in his town.

Next trip is next week to the USA. Madame da Silva gets her Junior time. She had an english speaking friend and told Chad that she loves to come up and check on him. He is such a lover and curls right up in your lap. We are blessed with all these travel experiences, a loving cat and a cat-loving gardienne.