Venice, Italy

And so for the last stop of my trip to Venice. Nearly as many canals as Birmingham apparently ;)  Certainly they are more obvious here, and a key part of the attraction of coming here.  However, because of the way the city has built up you are much more likely to see them when crossing over a bridge than you are to walk beside one, as a lot of the time buildings are at the canal's edge.  Whilst the main Grand Canal is the most famous, there are hundreds of smaller canals about meaning that going over bridges is a regular occurrence!

To get a sense of the city I first went up the tower in St Mark’s Square.  This took a bit of queuing, partly due to demand but partly as the only way up and down was one lift.  This meant that even at the top there was a big queue for the lift (indeed when I reached the top the queue went almost all the way round the viewing platform, with more people queuing than looking!)  Going up there did help to get a sense of Venice as an “island nation” – some of which were reachable by bridge and others only by boat.   

I had read somewhere that at St Mark's Cathedral had huge queues of many hours for a 10 minute visit.  Fortunately it wasn’t quite like that.  Whilst there was a queue to get in, it did move fairly quickly.  This is just as well as many people got caught out by the “no rucksacks” rule, which was strictly enforced (if you were male anyway, females seem to get away with a lot more!).  Inside it was very impressive, but a slightly odd set-up.  Whilst there was no charge to actually get into the cathedral, there were at least three separate areas that were charged for once you were inside (altar, treasury and museum/balcony).  The other limit was that the place you had to leave your rucksacks had a one hour limit on how long you could leave them there, so there wasn’t time to see everything even if you wanted to pay the money! 

With the main highlight being the cathedral itself you could easily just see that, but I decided to visit the museum whilst I was there.  From the museum you also get a view down onto the church, and also access to the balcony on the front which gives views over St Mark’s Square and the surrounding area.  There was also more to see in the museum than I expected, showing both artefacts and history of the development of the cathedral.

I had considered visiting the Palazzo Ducale next, but the only way in which you could visit it was with a combination ticket for other museums in St Mark's Square or across Venice.  It didn't look too bad in value (considering that Venice itself is more expensive than anywhere else I had been) but I didn't want to spend my whole time in St Mark's Square so I passed on it and went off walking.  I made my way through the side streets, visiting churches where I came across them.  There were two that I found with displays of old musical instruments in time which was interesting (I think they had something to do with each other and were partially there to sell tickets for concerts).  I also saw the offices of the Venice Biennale, which had a small display within it.  There are lots of other art galleries that you can visit in Venice, but the more modern ones that I went past were closed on a Tuesday (which is an unusual day to pick) so this was as close as I got!

The evening had threatened thunderstorms, but fortunately they did not come.  I therefore was able to take a water bus along the Grand Canal at sunset, which was a great thing to so.  having walked to the first stop on the route I had a seat right at the front which meant I got a good view of the buildings and bridges that we passed (actually there are relatively few bridges that cross the canal).  It certainly gave a different view of the city (and was a lot less expensive than a trip on a gondola).  I also seemed to be the expert on using the ticket machine, having to give guidance to two separate couples on them (despite using them for the first time myself).

The next morning I did some more walking around the city, seeing a market of fresh fish and fruit and more interesting side streets.

To leave Venice I had decided to take a water bus to the airport as (a) it was quicker and (b) how often do you get to take a boat to the airport???  However I had this fear at the back of my mind that the boat could be full, and they weren't that frequent (only one every half hour).  Therefore, I planned to take a slightly earlier one and, of the two stops (on different routes) that were closest to my hire (each about 10 minutes walk away) I decided to take the one in the direction of the bus station, just in case...

The fact I am writing this means that my fear came true.  Whilst the half dozen people waiting in front of me in the queue got on, I (and the people behind me) did not.  Even being a single person didn't help!  The boat crew didn't seem to care less!  I therefore had the choice of waiting half an hour, at what time the whole thing could happen again, or a brisk walk to the bus station where I thought I had time to catch the bus (which couldn't really take 75 minutes, could it??).  I decided to take what I thought was the certainly equivalent of the bus.  Turns out that rather than being a direct route to the airport it was a stopping bus that did go round the houses somewhat...  However in the end it took nowhere near 75 minutes, closer to 20 all told, and I arrived at the airport maybe slightly quicker than I would have done if I had gone by boat, including the impact of the walk! 

Verona, Italy

For my next stop I took another train ride over to Verona – under an hour on a non-stop train. 

There appears to be a trend in Verona to have “combination” museums with two things that are not necessarily connected.  So, you have the modern art museum and viewing tower in one package, the historic art and the old castle in another, and “Juliet’s tomb” and the fresco museum in another!

With a tower and a modern art museum in the same place this was obviously one of the first places that I visited.  The Torre dei Lamberti viewing tower had a lift that got you over half way up, but you still had some steps to climb, particularly to the higher of the two viewing levels.  As ever it was good to look out over the town, particularly as it was a sunny day.  It is also very odd to see snow-capped mountains so close when it is hot and sunny!

The "modern" art was mainly pre 1950, but included some interesting pieces of the town.  There was also a chapel painted very decoratively at the end of the galleries that you could also see.  There was a wedding about to take place in the chapel so it closed to the public soon after I saw it.  The bride and groom (and wedding guests) then had to walk through the gallery to access it for the wedding!

Whilst the is a visitor card for Verona which you can get for 24 or 48 hours (which didn't seem too bad in value compared to the cost of individual entry) the first Sunday of months outside summer give you access to a number of museums and other sites for €1 per visit.  Purely by coincidence that was the day that I was in Verona so I made good use of this.

One of the key places that I visited was the Roman amphitheatre in the centre of the city.  This is still in use today for operas and other shows, but is also open for visitors to look round.  Whilst there are some modern seats installed (at least there were when I visited - I think they are not there permanently) you can also have access to the Roman steps where people would have sat for thousands of years (with surprisingly little concern for health and safety).  The amphitheatre itself once had another outer ring of arches, but they were mainly dismantled back in time to build other buildings in the town so there are only a few left.  As one of only 4 in Italy this intact it was good to see.

There is also another Roman theatre site in Verona, but unfortunately it was closed when I was there.  Above it is another set of viewing terraces giving a different view of the town (this time in the rain!)

The Castleveccio is an impressive medieval edifice by the river (and old bridge crossing it).  You can explore a number of parts of it, and it also contains a sizeable museum, primarily dedicated to art but also with weaponry and other artefacts from the time.  For even older items the Lapidary museum had ancient Greek and Roman items, including the tablets of a will which set out the family memorials to be built and maintained, and how any surviving relatives would get an income!

Obviously Verona is linked to Shakespeare and a number of his plays, in particular Romeo and Juliet.  You can see "Juliet's house" (which was packed with people in the courtyard) and "Juliet's tomb".  Both of these have some link to the real people behind the story, but are not genuine venues (the balcony on Juliet's house is a more modern invention!). 

A more modern museum in Verona was the radio museum.  This had a fascinating collection of old radios in it, particularly from the 1930s and 1980s which were very different!  It is a bit of a hidden museum as for most of the time I was there I was the only person in it. 

You have to pay to get in the key churches in Verona, either individually, part of the Verona card, or a combined ticket just for the churches (which is what I took).  The most impressive was the San Fermo church but each had different points of interest. 

One odd thing about my time in Verona was buying some stamps to send postcards home.  I went to a Post Office, to make sure I got the right stamps (lots of markets sold stamps for a so called "guaranteed" delivery which by reports was nothing of the sort).  However the act of buying stamps appeared to cause great concern in the Post Office.  Someone actually had to go out to the back of the Post Office and look around to come back with the folder of stamps to actually sell me some!  Obviously a rare event!

Twin TV

I have made comment on here many times about the local TV, in particular the different ways in which English programmes are treated.  In Italy, one new departure was finding two versions of the same channel on the TV guide.  The reason for this was that when US acquisitions were shown, one channel would play then out in the original English, whilst the other played them out dubbed into Italian!  Unfortunately there were only a couple of channels I found like this, but for the English-speaking traveller it was quite useful!

(There is probably some link to this and the TV I found in Malta which switched between Italian and English depending on the programme that was on)

Bologna, Italy

As I mentioned, my first base in Italy was Bologna.  This is a well connected town at the centre of Italy's rail network (and with its own airport), historic city walls and old buildings.

One of the first places I visited was the Torre degli Asinelli.  Here there are actually a pair of leaning towers, only one of which (the taller one) you can go up.  You can only go up by steps so you get some exercise on the way!  From the top you get some good views across the city (and down onto the next tower!)

The city itself is very pretty, with old squares and rambling streets.  There was a big market in town, and an old university.

As ever in Italian towns and cities there are many churches to go and visit.  One of the most interesting is San Luca on the outskirts of the city with a very interesting way to go and visit it.  It effectively has a covered walkway - a portico - which takes you all the way from the gate in the old city walls to the church, over a distance of 3km.  At first this takes you alongside buildings and shops, but eventually it becomes a stand alone structure of its own, taking you up the hill with a combination of steps and slopes, weaving its way around the road. Whilst the church at the top is probably not worth the effort getting there, the route itself makes it an interesting journey.

Whilst there are historic art museums in Bologna, the one I was looking to visit was the modern art museum MAMbo.  The museum had some interesting pieces and some very officious guards who insisted you went round in a certain order (despite the big group of schoolchildren blocking the way!)

There were a number of museums also linked to the University.  Of these the most curious was the Palazzo Poggi.  This had an odd collection which ranged from scientific artefacts, art, model ships, maps and models of the human body with certain layers of skin and muscle removed and different ways babies can he wrong position for birth (enough to put you off having children).  I also visited various other university museums covering geology (lots of rocks), anthropology, animals (stuffed), evolution and other odd things, as well as the botanic gardens.

Florence, Italy

For my latest trip I am travelling north through Italy from Bologna to Venice via Verona.  However, for my first full day there I took the train south for a day trip to Florence.

Getting there was impressively easy.  Bologna is at the centre of Italy’s train network, and there was a high speed line that got you there in 35 minutes.  This rate was achieved (a) by being non-stop between the two points and (b) by mainly being in tunnels!  The majority of the line was in tunnels through the hills, and what wasn’t, was on bridges.  This meant that there wasn’t much of a view, but it was a flat line that got you there quickly.  In standard class there were comfortable seats with plenty of leg room too – a far cry from British trains!

Arriving in Florence my first aim was to get to the Uffizi Gallery.  I knew there would be queues here to get in and so there was.  It took over an hour of waiting to get in – the queue was only moved in “chunks”, so after half an hour I was relatively near the front, but it took another half hour until we were let in!  It was, though, worth the wait.  Whilst I am not necessarily the greatest fan of renaissance art and the suchlike there is no doubting the quality of the pieces and artists that are there, and there were also many more pieces than I expected to see.  What is more interesting through is the gallery itself, primarily set out with rooms off two long corridors which make for an impressive setting. 

From the Uffizi I walked through Florence to the site of the main Cathedral, the Duomo.  This is simply a stunning building, covered in coloured marble tiles that give a beautiful effect.  Whilst visiting the main cathedral is free, you can purchase a ticket which enables you to visit many other associated buildings.  This includes two viewpoints – the tower and the top of the dome itself.  The tower has a number of floors as you make your way up the stairs, so you see the view slowly reveal itself to you.  Going up the dome you get to see both the inside of the dome (getting a closer look at the detailed painting on it, and outside out at the view (which is slightly higher than the tower).  However, to get up there you first have to queue for quite a while (whereas I didn’t have to at the tower).  I think this is partially because the access doesn’t lead to a high throughput of people.  In particular towards the top, stairs get steep and there is only one limited access to get to and from the external viewing platform.  Therefore queues can easily build up!  (What they need is a traffic-light system such as is used in the Belem Tower in Lisbon).  It is worth persevering for the views though which are impressive. 

Also included in the ticket was the opportunity to visit the Baptistery of St John next to the cathedral, the remains of previous building situated under it and also a museum which has recently been redone.  This included many relics from the building and a reconstruction of a previous façade to the Cathedral.  I also had time in Florence to walk about and see a number of the different sites including the Ponte Vecchio (shop-lined bridge), a number of churches, statues and picturesque streets.