Italy…..and most of Europe….is truly timeless! It just amazes me that after all these years so many of the same hotels, restaurants and cafes still exist, most with the same owners and menus! Over the years somethings have changed of course (usually prices!) but in reality almost 20 years later, and many trips since our first, I can still rely on some favorite spots being around.
Arrived in Treviso/Venice on time at 8:15. We were lucky…..our luggage was just about the first off. Got in line to buy the bus and vaporetto tickets (5E each for the bus and vaporetto). Did briefly think about a taxi but would have cost over 50E.
Was about an hour bus ride to Piazzale Roma. Pouring rain when we arrived in Venice, then the thunder and lightening started. In between mini downpours we found the #1 vaporetto stop, stamped the tickets, and off we went down the Grand Canal. Just spectacular, storm and all! Everything is lit up…..the lights reflecting on the canal made it all magical. Under the Rialto Bridge then on to our Sant’ Angelo stop and we were off in search of our home for a few days….we hoped!! Lucky for us the storm had quickly passed and only a few spits of rain by then.
Followed the directions, which were great. Fingers crossed that Mrs. Coletti had shown up and Blake and Susan were in the apartment, Palazzo Benzoni, otherwise who knew where we’d be staying! But honestly I was so happy to be in beautiful Venice it didn’t matter, we would have figured something out. S and B were here, hooray!
What an incredible place! On sort of the first floor. It’s quite large and rather “shabby-chic”. A bit of dust but otherwise clean. One bathroom, which was between the two bedrooms. Smallish kitchen but good enough, dining room and a lovely living room with some beautiful antique pieces, two tall glass doors on to the tiny Juliet balconies……right on the Grand Canal. The view is terrific, up and down the canal, the Rialto Bridge all lit up and the gondolas were quickly back out after the storm. We have a small pier and gondolas tied up right out front. Great location!!
A couple glasses of wine. Got the story from S and B about Mrs. C finally showing up……all turned out OK thank goodness!
Long day…..hard to believe it was only one day!!
Three hours ago I was missing Paris, now I can’t wait until tomorrow to see Venice!
Sat Aug 26
Up at the crack of dawn today. Clear and warm already. Sunrise was absolutely spectacular….all the buildings take on this golden/orange hue. It glows! I just don’t know how else to describe it. It just truly glows! Ken said it’s almost surreal, like a movie set…..you know it’s real but……..
Enjoyed coffee on the teeny little balcony watching the city wake up. Everything happens on the canal. Water taxis, boats loaded with laundry for hotels, watched them unload furniture across the canal at one of the waterline entrances, waved to the people on the vaporettos, watched the gondoliers making their way to wherever they start their day.
Off to the Rialto Market. About a 10 minute walk just over the bridge. We were a tad bit anxious to get going this morning and arrived nice and early…..so early (8:30) that nothing was open yet except for a couple of verdure stands. Produce was still arriving!
Found a great little place down an alley, four cappuccino and four chocolate brioche 6.75E !! Wandered around, found an ATM and did a bit of window shopping until everything started to open. It was really nice since not too many people around yet. Rialto Bridge was almost empty too at that time. Watched all the boats/barges arriving with the produce and fish. By 9:30 it was packed. The fish market wasn’t even all set up yet but bought some fresh mussels and scampi for appetizers, got olive oil and balsamico, wonderful parmigiano reggiano, fresh pasta, bread and the freshest veg I’ve seen in a long time. The lettuce had to have been just picked this morning….still full of dirt. Found a great macelleria with salumi and hams hanging all over…..picked up some seasoned pork sausage to go in the pasta for dinner. I am so happy that this market was all I was expecting and more. We love to cook so looking forward to enjoying all the goodies we bought today.
Dropped everything back at the apartment and took the vaporetto to St Marks Square…..a nice little tour of the canal along the way.
St. Marks Basilica and the Doges Palace are beautiful but unfortunately the lines were miles long to get in. Maybe next time or if we had another day or two but for now would rather spend time exploring the streets/alleys than standing in line. The square was great to wander around. All the cafes were just getting ready for lunch. Luckily it wasn’t very crowded. Some great pics but everything is so big, it just doesn’t fit in pictures. Blake and Susan went off in one direction and us in another. Ken and I wandered around the San Marco and Castello area for a bit. Found a great little place for lunch, Al Verde (I think?) Pizza, a panini and two glasses of wine 15E…..was delicious.
Put the map away after lunch and just wandered. Many beautiful churches, often with some sort of free concert going on. Lots of great little shops. Many selling masks that were gorgeous…..bought mini Christmas ornaments ones. Murano blown glass is big here too…..bought a pretty bead bracelet. Loved the canals….just nothing else like them. Enjoyed watching all the people having their gondola rides. We decided to not do one, might be sorry later but just seemed really expensive and I think probably more fun watching them than being on them. Found Harry’s Bar …..no seats!! So just headed back to St. Marks for a glass on wine before heading back to the apartment. A very expensive glass of wine!!! But was worth it just to take everything in. All the cafes have entertainment of some sort…..ours was a piano player. Quite enjoyed it and got a real kick when he started playing “Silver Bells”!! It’s August?? Maybe translates to something else in Italian?
Back around 5 so had time to go out and sit on the little dock with my book and a glass of wine before dinner. Such a beautiful day and such a great location….didn’t get too much of my book read as there is just too much going on on the canal. I was quite flattered when a guy pulled up in his boat and asked if I’d like to go for a ride……he was terribly cute!
Blake and I started working on the mussels. Just steamed them with some white wine, olive oil, garlic, fresh tomatoes and basil. Threw the scampi in the last couple of minutes. They were sooooo good! Just melted in your mouth. Used all our bread to soak up the liquid in the bottom of the pan. Did the fresh pasta with the pork and a bunch of fresh veg and tons of the parmigiano. All so good! And we got to enjoy all the entertainment the canal has to offer to go with our dinner!
Out after dinner for gelato. Just around the corner in Campo Sant Angelo. Our first gelato of the trip……was very good. A lady playing the harp in the campo was the icing on the cake for the day. The acoustics are incredible. I’m sure she was really good but honestly it wouldn’t have mattered one way or the other, it was just one of those moments that you’ll remember forever.
Sat on our little balcony and watched the gondolas and listened to the opera singers and accordion players going by. I really could have sat there all night! We saw lots of weddings tonight. What a neat way to get married. They dress up their gondolas with fresh flowers, the gondoliers in either black or white tuxes…..
All in all, a rather good day I’d say!
Sun Aug 27
Just another beautiful glowing sunrise! Spectacular thunder and lightening last night. Wind blew open our balcony doors……thought for sure the ancient glass had shattered……now I know why they have the wooden outside shutters! Got up to close the doors and watched for a bit. It was raining so hard you couldn’t see across the canal……lots of waves, almost whitecaps.
Not quite so busy on the canal this morning. No delivery barges just water taxis and vaporettos. People wave at us when they go by!
Finally got ourselves away from the balcony and headed back to Rialto to hit that cafe from yesterday, but it wasn’t open. Spent the morning exploring San Polo…..loved it there. A very “lived in” area…..lots of kids and cats! Ended up in a campo with a magnificent old church. Mass was in progress so we didn’t go in. Looked very medieval…..sort of unfinished.
Went for lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria and Wine Bar Riva del Vin…..just because! Probably not the best place but can’t beat the view right on the canal. Had two personal size pizzas that could easily have fed six people, a couple glasses of wine and cafe lattes 32E. Food was good and the price not too bad.
Blake and Susan went to stock up for dinner and Ken and I explored Cannaregio. Many wonderful little shops selling beautiful masks and Murano glass. Found an art shop and picked up an unframed black and white/sepia etching to add to our collection. Lots of great entertainment in many of the campos. Great acoustics. Worked our way to St. Marks again for a last drink under the leoni! Not cheap but so worth it to sit for a bit and enjoy people watching. People would put bird food on their arms and heads, then scream like crazy when the pigeons came flying in from every direction to land on them!
Back to the apartment to enjoy a glass or two on our little princess balconies. Chicken, asparagus and delicious porcini mushroom risotto and salad for dinner. I think we did a pretty good job on the risotto!! Lots of excitement on the canal tonight…..a parade! Boats decorated and people in costume…..at least 50+ boats. Not sure if this was for the film festival or the regatta storico. Each boat had a different flag on it, some had musicians. Just lots of fun!
After dinner tonight to Camp San Stephano for gelato. A cello player. Very good.
Packed up tonight. Sorry to leave in the morning. Three nights, with really only two days to explore, is not enough but we did get our sampling and know that it is somewhere to definitely come back to.
Mon Aug 28
Up at the crack of dawn to get in every last minute of Venice and the Grand Canal. Made coffee and sat out on the balcony for as long as we possibly could. Back to being busy on a Monday morning.
Caught the vaporetto back to Piazzale Rome and picked up our rental car from Europcar. Within half an hour we had all the papers signed and the car was waiting for us. They did NOT ask for our international drivers licenses that everything suggested we get……oh well.
A quick look over the car, checked that everything worked, where was reverse etc. and on our way on to the autostrada for the first time. Took only minutes before our first booboo…..went thru the telepass lane at the toll booth. Quickly took the first exit and explained our error to the attendent. He charged us .80. Turned around and right back on the autostrada again getting our ticket using the right lane this time.
Our destination is Rubiera. Had read much about Arnaldo’s. The plan is to stay 2 nights at the albergo and tour around the area in search of balsamico, parma ham and wine. Stopped at an autogrille for coffee, dolci and car snacks. Very impressive!! Nothing at all like our rest stops. Fresh coffee, pastries, hot food etc. and pretty much a whole grocery store…..and wine of course!
Passed Bologna and Modena…..maybe tomorrow our drivers said. They’re just getting their bearings driving here and didn’t want any unnecessary stops….ah sigh. Experienced our first roundabout getting off the highway……managed it quite well.
Ruberia is a bit bigger than we thought……very much a working town as were most of the ones we passed along the way. Not the most scenic route for sure. Checked in to the albergo called Arnaldo Hotel Aquila D’oro (upgraded to a suite for an extra 10E). Had made the dinner reservation for Clinica Gastronomica Arnaldo when I’d booked the room……confirmed that and off to explore this town.
A great little bar next door. Family that runs it had three beautiful little girls that helped serve us. Susan ordered vodka and tonic con limoni……they didn’t quite understand what she was asking for so told her to come in and take her pick of what she wanted. A huge fridge filled with every kind of booze you could think of!! Got that all sorted out and our drinks served. We were the only ones there so chatted with them as best we could, making good use of my pocket dictionary! Lots of laughs.
Moved on around the block passing some great little shops and veggie and meat markets extraordinaire! Ken bought a pair of sandals in a little shoe store. The man didn’t speak any English but we managed with our very poor Italian. He wanted to know where we were from……he got out a map and got us to find Vancouver. He was quite excited…..he has cugini that live there. There was another customer who spoke some English and asked if we were visiting someone because they don’t get too many tourists staying in Rubiera. Explained that we’d heard about Arnaldo’s and wanted to try it and explore the area hoping to find some vendita diretta places for balsamico, ham etc. She went and got her husband and between them and the owner wrote down a couple of places that they thought we could find some. The directions are a bit sketchie but we’ll see how we do with them tomorrow. I think she was saying that most people put their products in the local Co-op, which is along the highway and if we don’t find any, that would be a good place to get some. Unbelievable friendly and fun to chat with.
Found a wine bar just around the corner. Nice young guy who asked it we’d like to sample some. Yes!!! Lambrusco please. Had read about it being the local wine. It was great. Another glass came out with a couple of bottles…..10E for a rather generous bit of wine tasting!. It’s a natural sparkling red wine. He told us that it was like pop for them……when he was a kid his mother would give him a glass, watered down a bit, with his dinner! Fun.
Back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Was really looking forward to this after reading all the rave reviews. Met S & B down on the atrium/patio for drinks before dinner. Res for 8. Franca, the owner showed us to our table, brought out the menu (!!), introduced us to our waitress and explained how it all worked. Our waitress spoke 6 or 7 languages fluently!! Arnaldo’s has the biggest wine list I’ve ever seen….it’s at least an inch thick and must have hundreds of different wines on it. We picked a white and a red. Both were excellent. You pick your antipasti from the trolley…..as many as you want. There were meats, spinach pie, salad etc. Would have been more than happy with that for dinner. Then comes the pasta if you order it…..they make it right at your table. Ken and Blake had the pasta bolognese. By 9 the place was packed…..very glad we’d made the res in advance…..people waiting outside. The secondo trolley came along….meat, pork done a half dozen different ways, duck, chicken and goodness knows what else. All that you want with wonderful roasted potatoes. Then came the dessert trolley…..argh. I had the zabaglione and poached pear. Ken had a couple of different cakes….have no idea where he put it all. Our bill for four came to 212E, definitely on the high side but was all really good and a fun place. Way more food than one should normally consume at a meal!!
Stuffed to the gills and still nice and warm so off we went on a bit of a passagiata. After we sat in the bar and chatted with people that had come from Modena and Bologna just for dinner. Met a lovely businessman (buying sand for tiles!) from Turkey….gave us his card and said to look him up if we ever get there.
Great day!
Tues Aug 29
Up early for our day of touring around Emilia Romagna. Beautiful, warm and sunny. Enjoyed watching the local people from our little balcony. Everyone, young and old, riding bikes. Many with groceries in their baskets. Our deck overlooks sort of an alley with houses/apartments. Lots of people sitting outside their doors. Just about everyone passing (walking or on bikes) stops to chat for a bit then manages to go a few more doors down and the whole process is repeated.
Breakfast in the restaurant (included with hotel). Tons of stuff, yogurt and fruit, cereal, dolci and a numbers of different fruit tarts or tortes and very good regular drip coffee. Asked about an internet cafe, but the only one is at the library, which wasn’t open, so they said I could use their computer at the desk! Needed to confirm our reservation for the Locanda in Riomaggiore.
We did a lot of driving to no where today!! Have mastered the roundabouts though…..if you miss your exit go around again. All the direction signs seem to be in the middle of them so even with 4 of us in the car sometimes you just can’t read them fast enough. The countryside around here is just beautiful!!
Many, many dead ends today…..tried to follow directions from the people in the shoe store yesterday but many of those places were not open or didn’t exist at all. Lots of signs with arrows pointing this way and that way for venditta diretta but nothing that we could see. We did find a winery that had tasting (free) and sold many varieties of Lambrusco. We bought 2 red and S & B bought two white. Most expensive was 3.20E. They have what look like gas pumps along one wall……you bring in your own bottle or huge jugs and fill them. Kind of fun.
Back to Rubiera for a late lunch at a nice little cafe. Wandered a bit, said hi and waved to some people we’d chatted with yesterday….”you’re still here”!!! I think we’re a bit of a novelty as not many, if any tourists actually stay here. A bit of a snooze for Ken before dinner. I read on the little deck and enjoyed watching all the people visiting on the street below.
Dinner tonight was at the Oceania Restaurant. Kind of looked like a Chinese place from the outside but definitely Italian all the way. The food and service was excellent. Our waiter had worked in Vanc and Whistler a few years ago…..very nice chatting with him. He loved it and wants to go back some day. Told him about not finding any balsamico today so he brought out a bottle that he called “black gold”. Incredibly thick and syrupy and so sweet…..I can see why people put it on ice cream! We just added a couple drops to the olive oil to dip our bread in and he came along and added more……we were afraid to use too much! For antipasti we ordered some of the local ham and cheese and “scamorza”, which is fried cheese…..absolutely delicious. Between us all we had cheese and spinach ravioli, pizza with mushrooms and parma ham, pasta in creamy tomato sauce, a couple of bottles of wine…..no dessert! Spent at least 3 hours in there. Our total bill was 50E…..and no charge for the bread and balsamico! (no website but this restaurant is still in business today as I am posting this).
Well, we didn’t get to see all the things we’d wanted and certainly not Modeno or Bologna but I guess we can only do so much with a limited amount of time. Was great to stay here away from all the touristy stuff.
Tomorrow we’re off to Cinque Terre!
Wed Aug 30
Another gorgeous day! Up not too early this morning. Headed down for breakfast around 9. Chatted with Franca, what a wonderful lady! Met her daughter. The hotel and restaurant have been in the family for years and they really enjoy it. They love meeting people from all over.
Our drive should have only taken a couple of hours so we dawdled around and packed up. Stopped at the local Cooperative and bought some balsamico…not the black gold unfortunately. Thought we’d take the scenic route (62?) and stop in Parma for lunch but missed it completely. Ended up back on the autostrada. Again not terribly scenic, lots of industry along the highway. Found another autogrille, this one even more elaborate than the last one!! Quite the variety of panini….had a bit of a picnic just sitting outside…..not really any other areas to stop along the way.
Arrived in La Spezia with no problem. Signage for Cinque Terre was really good there. Had read that La Spezia was a naval base town and not terribly nice but driving thru it it looked quite lovely in some places. Lots of parks, tree lined streets etc. The road to Riomaggiore was quite something!!! We knew that so were prepared for the twisty, windy narrow roads. Its was quite spectacular really. Views are incredible in both directions once you got way up. La Spezia and the sea way down one side and around the next curve, a beautiful valley with little hamlets scattered about.
Directions from Enrico at Locanda del Sole were excellent. Drive took around 3 hours. Found it without any problems at all. Luckily it has it’s own little gated/fenced parking area so we didn’t have to drag our bags down the hill. Actually Enrico carried them all up the stairs to our rooms while we were filling in the registration. Simple but clean rooms and a wee peek-a-boo view from the patio.
Got organized and took a walk down the hill for our first real look at the Med. Riomaggiore is just like it is in pictures, only better! The buildings are all built one on top of the other, helter skelter, some leaning, brightly painted….and laundry. It’s incredibly picturesque.
It’s quite the hill to go down….way down. No cars, other than a bit of local traffic and police/emergency vehicles can go down. Tons of little shops along the way. Enrico recommended Trattoria La Lanterna for dinner so we stopped and made a reservation for 7PM (no website but still around in 2024!) Stopped at the little bar on the cliff, La Conchiglia, above where the ferry comes in. Great views of the harbour and Riomaggiore’s rugged coastline. A glass or two of prosecco and snack to tie us over. Got info on the ferry schedules and weather for tomorrow…..sounding a bit iffy. If too rough, no ferry.
Took forever to get back up the hill. There are stairs along the side but I’m not sure if it’s any easier using them. Some neat little alleys, which we quickly found out usually lead to someone’s doorway. Amazing to see all the older folks going up and down with bags of groceries in both hands…..lots of stamina and good leg muscles! Chatted with a man who told us that slowly but surely the younger people are coming back or staying now that many are able to work from home so long commutes aren’t necessary. Good too know. Otherwise they rely solely on tourists and that being seasonal can be difficult for them thru the winter months. Everyone is lovely and very friendly…..not nearly as crowded as we thought it was going to be. Picked up some snacks and limoncino!
Ken had a snooze before dinner, I sat on the patio and read, sipping the limoncino (Ligurian version of limoncello!) Used all our ice…..it’s pretty harsh if it’s not ice cold (understatement…quite wicked really!!). Enrico graciously supplied more ice right out of his own freezer. Added some tonic to my second glass which made it a bit more palatable….kind of a lemon drop martini.
Dinner was excellent! Beautiful view of sunset, which was spectacular. Not a cloud in the sky. Their menu was pretty much all seafood. I had a delicious mixed seafood pasta, Ken had arrabiatta with seafood. Prices were very reasonable, all the pastas were around 9-10E. S and B thought it was all a little too spicy! Walked off dinner going down and back up the hill. Stopped at Bar Centrale for a drink.
Tues Aug 31
Beautiful, sunny and turned very hot today!
First ferry at 8, so up early. Had a great breakfast (included). Was a bit chilly and breezy to have it on the terrace……too bad because the view all around was beautiful.. Terraced hillsides and the sun shining out over the water. No sun here though….not up over the mountain that early.
All ready to go around 9. Down to the bottom of the hill to see if the boats were running. They were…hooray! S and B decided they’d take the train instead so the plan was to meet where the boat docked in Monterosso. Their train trip would take about 15 minutes and our boat trip about 45 so would meet at 10:30.
The boat trip was fantastic! The views along the way are great, seeing all the towns from the water. Stopped at Manarola and Vernazza. I can understand why the boats don’t run in rough seas. They pull up to a pier, of sorts, loosely tie up and fold out the gang plank onto the pier/rocks. The boat is bobbing and the plank twisting/turning the entire time so you have to hang on for dear life when getting on or off. Monterosso has a proper pier and docking facilities. Was definitely worth it to see the Cinque Terre from a whole different perspective!
Arrived just after 10 and no sign of S and B. It was market day so pretty busy. I stayed in the main square and a clear view of people coming and going from the pier and the train station while Ken went to search for them. Waited around for another half hour or so and decided we couldn’t wait any longer.
Off we went. The trail from Monterosso to Vernazza is quite spectacular. You climb and climb, up trails and in some places stairs, or sort of stairs! Through vineyards on terraces, sometimes no more than five or six feet wide clinging to the hillsides. It was unbelievably beautiful. It was also quite grueling in some places. I thought we were in pretty good shape but those stairs(ish) were killers. I’m not sure which was worse though…..going up or coming down!
Finally reached Vernazza just in time for lunch. It is a really cute town. Lots of shops and restaurants. We bought some tacky Cinque Terre matching tee shirts….fun but so not like us! Had lunch at Baja Saracena (permanently closed…..new place now called Ristorante Luca). Beer and pizza, both were excellent. The owner was showing everyone his picture with Rick Steves. He’d been here last week and enjoyed his lunch a lot. Had another beer because it was really hot and it just hit the spot. Great spot to just sit and watch the boats coming and going.
It was hard to get up and get going again. Wandered around the town a bit more and then up the main street to get back on the trail…..but somehow ended up at the train station! Decided since our lunch took longer than expected we’d train to Corniglia. Finished the trail from there. Trail was pretty flat and easy walking from there….paved for a good part of it. Passed some old local guys having a bit of party, playing music, dancing and singing. Fun! Also walked thru a tunnel that had all the walls painted by local artists.
I thought we did pretty good really. It turned out to be very hot this afternoon, hardly any breeze and not a lot of shade along the way…..was very glad we had lots of water.
Back in Riomaggiore by 6. Stopped and picked up a couple bottles of local wine. We had decided this morning that we’d just do a picnic dinner on our patio. B and S were picking everything up…..or since we hadn’t seen them hoped there were!
Back up the hill to the hotel and found them sitting having a glass of wine. Apparently they couldn’t figure out where the boat came in so they just started walking…..didn’t bother telling them that we’d spent a good half hour or more looking for them……oh well!
Cleaned up and had a great dinner. Salami, cheese, some delicious antipasto, olives and a loaf of the best bread ever. Lots of wine too!
Walked down the hill to Bar Centrale for gelato….very good. Planned our drive into Florence tomorrow. I think this might be a little scary since we actually have to drive right into the city. The hotel has valet parking so we just have to make it that far!
All in all a terrific day. The Cinque Terre is everything that we thought it was going to be. The towns are just beautiful, each one just a little different from the other and the weather was fantastic.
Next………Florence tomorrow to start our week long visit to Tuscany!
My Travel Journals 