Andrew and Elizabeth Caldwell's
Travel Page
Act II – Scene II - Vienna to Florence.
Tuesday 25 April (day 5) Vienna (fine 20°C) Up @ 7:00 for our first day not travelling to a new place! Neither the less we still had to get on the bus to travel into Vienna for our sightseeing tour. Drove into the old city then across the Danube to the UNO city (United Nations) which is a new business centre of high rise buildings. Back into the old city and drove around the Ringstrasse (ring road) past the Stadtpark, City Opera House then stopped outside the Maria Theresien Platz. Walked across the road to the Hofberg Palace, the main palace of the Hapsberg family in Vienna. Walked through the palace (outside only), thought the courtyards between buildings, and walked past the Spanish Riding School then to Michaelplatz to see the Roman Ruins. Back through the palace to the bus. Hofberg Palace is huge consisting of over 2000 rooms and built over centuries of the Hapsbergs rule. Everywhere you look there are beautiful buildings, sculptures, statues etc. Photo: "part of Hofberg Palace" Back on the bus and drove past the Parliament and Town Hall then along the Donaukanal (Danube Canal) to Schwedenplatz. Walked from Schwedenplatz to Stephansplatz and St Stephens Cathedral for the end of our tour. We walked to Hohermarkt (fish market) to a local internet café to check and send e-mails, then back to Rotenturmstrasse for lunch at an outdoor café. Photo: "St Stephens Cathedral" After lunch we walked back to
Stephansplatz for a look around the shops and inside the Cathedral.
Very pleasant place. Bought
a ‘laser etched crystal’ of St Stephans,
which is basically a 3d model of the church etched inside a solid block
of glass, for 1050ATS ( Austrian schillings) or about NZ$161/£50.
Liz bought a spiral neckless for 498ATS (NZ$76/£23). Back to the bus in
Schwedenplatz @ 12:45 and drove to Schloss Schonbrunn (Schonbrunn Palace)
(optional trip). Took a tour of
the inside of the Palace (40 of the 1400 rooms) which includes some huge
paintings and tapestries. Very
pretty, if a little over the top
in places, but the enormous
ballroom was very impressive. After
the tour we had time to wander in the gardens which in our 40 minute walk we
saw about 1/10th of the entire garden area.
Stunning place and setting. Photo: "Schloss Schonbrunn, front entrance" Photo: "Schloss Schonbrunn, garden side" Photo: "Schloss Schonbrunn, view of gardens" Photo: "Schloss Schonbrunn, Neptune Fountain and Gloriette (building on hill)" Photo: "Schloss Schonbrunn and gardens" Bus on the bus @ 3:00 and
drove to the Prater (a huge public park between the old city and the Danube)
to have a turn (!) on the giant ferris wheel (60ATS/NZ$10/£3 ea) for a view
over Vienna and the surrounding countryside.
The wheel is a similar (but smaller and older) to the London Eye ferris
wheel and takes about 15 – 20 minutes for complete its circuit, and is about 15 storeys high. Photo: "view at top of Prater Giant Wheel" Back on the bus @ 4:00pm and
back to hotel. Did some quick
hand washing then back into town, by way of the tram and then the underground
(19ATS e/w and took about 30 minutes), for tea.
Walked around then had tea at an outdoor area of a pub (Vienna
Schnitzel (pork) for Liz, Cordon
Bleu Schnitzel (pork) for Andrew, pint
of bier, bottle of mineral wasser
(water) and two coffees = 350 ATS / NZ$53 / £16). Back to the hotel @ 8:00pm. Thursday 26 April (day
6) Vienna (cloudy / drizzly) to Venice, Italy (fine 20°C
and humid) Up @ 6:30am and on the bus @
7:45. Drove from Vienna south
into the hills and then mountains, past Graz, and also into the rain.
Stopped at a roadside café for morning tea then on to another roadside
café for lunch. After lunch we drove further
then stopped at the village of Velden on the shores of the Wothersee which was
very pretty in spite of the heavy rain and thunder! Back on the bus and across the
border into Italy. Short stop to
change money then onwards south out of the Alps and suddenly onto the plains
northwest of Venice. Drove to the
hotel in the district of Marghere (on the mainland) @ 5:00pm. Short rest then back on the
bus for the optional evening dinner. Drove
through the rush hour traffic across the Liberation Bridge which links a
couple of the closest islands to the mainland,
then into a boat to St Marks Square in Venice. Walked across the square through some back streets to Colombo
Restaurant for a 5 course meal (antipasto,
soup, pasta (without meat,
Italians don’t eat pasta with their meat, it always precedes it),
veal, and dessert).
This was all accompanied by a man with a guitar singing Italians songs.
Back on the boat @ 10:30pm then back to hotel @ 11:30pm for bed! Friday 27 April (day 7)
Venice (fine 21°C) Up @ 7:15am.
On the bus @ 8:30 and drove back across Liberation Bridge then onto
boat and into St Marks Square. Onto
a gondola for a 1hr ride along the Grand Canal then through back canals off
the Grand Canal. There are two
honeymoon couples who were accompanied by a singer and piano accordion player
in their gondola. 6 people to a
gondola due to the cost of each one (about NZ$200/hr). Had a few traffic jams
around the canals but eventually arrived back at the wharf. Photo: "Gondola ride with singer (standing in middle of photo)" Walked back to St Marks Square
and were joined by our local guide for a tour of the square and its buildings
and history, and then into St
Marks Basilica (no talking allowed!) The
inside of the basilica is covered with (real) gold mosaics depicting the old
and new testaments, but overall
the inside is a bit gloomy and the whole building is a bit of a mess of
different architectural styles. Our
tour then went to a glass blowing factory for the obligatory demonstration and
sales patter, this ended the guided tour of Venice. Left the tour group and walked
to the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal, which has an impressive collection of
jewellery shops lining the sides of the bridge. Back to St Marks then to “All’angelos” restaurant for
lunch (optional extra) which was ok (more pasta) but nothing special. After lunch walked around the
back streets then back to St Marks Square @ 2:30pm to meet up with tour group
and board the boat to go to Burrano Island.
This island (one of the 170 (?) That make up the city of Venice) is a
small fishing island / village where the houses are painted bright colours.
The journey to the island takes 40 minutes.
Walked along the main street and through the main square to a lace shop
where Liz bought a Venice doily (10000 lire).
The laces are all hand made in the traditional manner. We then along a canal which
runs through the village. Stopped
for a coffee (8000 lire/NZ$8 for two), then
walked back to the square and bought a gelati (icecream,
2000 lire ea) then went and sat on the wharf at the edge of the island.
This island is quiet and very pretty. Left the island @ 5:00pm and
headed back to St Marks Square to pick up rest of tour party then back to the
bus and back to hotel @ 6:45pm. Tea
at the hotel then bed @ 10pm. Our impression of Venice is that it is nice, but VERY crowded in the main areas (both with people and pigeons!) and dirty. The canals smell like the open drains that they probably are and things around St Marks Square are very expensive. We would like to have seen the place before everyone it became over touristed. Overall we thought the main areas were overrated but the outer islands were much more pleasant. Saturday 28 April (day 8) (Andrew’s birthday) Venice (fine) to Rome, Italy (fine 22°C) Up @ 6:15 am, on the bus @ 7:30. Drove south from Marghera, with a quick rendition of Happy Birthday from the bus, along the side of the Venetian Lagoon, past Cesenna to a road side café for morning tea. Carried on into the Appenines to Perugia, a hilltop town near Assisi, for our lunch stop. Took escalators up the hill from our bus stop. The escalators run inside the hill and through the old city fort. Walked down the main street to the main square and had sandwiches that we made from the breakfast buffet. Walked back up the street, bought a gelati and then walked to the town gardens which look out of the Umbrian country side towards Rome. Photo: "view from Perugia over Umbria" Back down the escalator to the
bus then carried on south along the Tiber Valley to Rome.
Arrived at the hotel @ 4:45pm. Instead
of just a hotel room we had a suite, with
a living room, kitchen, balcony and walk in wardrobe! Out again @ 7:15 for our
optional dinner. Drove into Rome,
past the Coliseum at sunset, then
walked to the Trevi Fountain. Lots
of people around the fountain throwing their money in. The fountain is quite
big and fills most of the small square that it is in.
Back on the bus for the drive to our restaurant near the main railway
station. Another 5 course meal
with singing and music (including happy birthday) and Tiramisu birthday cakes
(plus 2 honeymoon cakes and a 54th wedding anniversary cake for our
group). Back to the hotel @ 11pm. Sunday 29 April (day 9)
Rome (fine, humid 25°C) Up @ 6:30am,
on the bus into town @ 7:30am. Parked
near the Vatican City, walked
past the City walls (and the long queue for the Vatican City museum and
Sistine Chapel), past the Swiss
Guards and into St Peters Square. The square is huge and very
impressive. There were quite a
few people pouring into the square as there was a Canonisation Ceremony being
held later in the day. Bought a
phone card, a calendar and a map (35000 lire total) from a shop in the square.
Some of our tour group went to view the catacombs (optional tour) but we left
the square @ 9:00 and walked down to the Tiber River and Castel Sant’
Angelo. Photo: "St Peters Square looking up via della Conciliazione" Made a phone call home to be
told that our e-mail account had been cut off by Paradise.net,
so we decided that we would find the nearest internet café and sort it
out. Asked at the information
centre and were told the nearest one was in via del Corso,
but didn’t open till 10:00am (current time 9:20am).
Walked along the river
then across and found via del Corso and walked along looking for the internet
café (the street numbers run consecutively down one side then up the other, therefore street numbers have the highest and lowest numbers
at one end of the street!, very confusing). Found the café (inside a
museum) but still closed (9:40am) so had a quick morning tea across the road.
At 10:00 we went into the museum and sent the necessary e-mails to
Paradise.net then left (10:30am). We
had to meet the rest of the tour group @ 10:50am back in St Peters Square. Walked (quickly) through the
narrow backstreets heading back towards the River Tiber,
past the Pathenon (time 10:42am), crossed the river (10:46am) and back
up the via della Conciliazione towards St Peters.
The were crowds of people coming the other way so it was hard work,
but we finally made back to meet our group @ 10:52am.
Whilst we stood there catching our breath we realised that the Pope was
giving a speech at the Canonisation Ceremony,
and was on the big screen, which
was very rare. Our group then headed for the
shuttle bus to take us to the Coliseum (the notorius J5). This buses are
designed to get tourist around the city, are free and are therefore VERY
CROWDED. We squeezed on with a group of Koreans, and it’s fair to say that there was no more room on the
bus. During the ½ hour trip the
bus stopped (no one got on or off), the
driver changed, the bus
(apparently) stopped working, then
miraculously started working, and
eventually made it to the Coliseum at 11:30am. Walked under Constantines Arch then along the Triumphant Road (over a piece of the original Roman road) to the Arch of Tito for a view over the Forum. Back down the Triumphant Road to the Coliseum. Entered the Coliseum, walked around the inside, then across a walkway which is at the old floor level, to an area of recreated floor (Trivia: ‘arena’ is Spanish for sand) for a look around the huge, and amazing, structure. Very hot in the middle so headed out of the Coliseum into the shade for a drink. Photo: "Constantines Arch and Coliseum" Walked back to the bus stop
and caught another shuttle bus back to St Peters Square for lunch, then on our
bus back to the hotel @2:30pm of a rest. Left @ 4:15pm for the optional dinner
in the Roman Hills. Drove southeast from Rome to
Castelgandalfo, where the Pope has his summer residence, on the hills over
looking Lake Albano. Very quiet and peaceful. Had a quick walk around (dodging
mothers with babies at a christening) then drove to Frascati which was a bit
busier and noisier. Walked through the main square then to our restaurant. Photo: "Vastelgandalfo and Lake Albano" Pasta etc for dinner then back on the bus and back to the hotel @ 9:00pm. Monday 30 April (day 10) Rome (fine) to Firenze (Florence), Italy (fine 25°C) Up @ 6:30am, bus @ 7:45. Drove into Rome and walked back to the Vatican City. We joined the queue for the Vatican Museum (we got into the shorter and faster moving “tour parties” queue rather than the public queue), and after 15 minutes we went inside (through x-ray machines and guards). Stood in a courtyard and had
an explanation of the Sistine Chapel frescos, then walked through the museum
with its HUGE collection of statues (Greek and Roman), tapestries (one gallery
alone had 20-odd tapestries depicting early maps of Italy, each one about 6
metres x 6 metres!) and other artefacts.
Then walked through a couple of rooms with frescos on the walls and
ceilings, then into the Sistine Chapel itself. Photo: "Vatican City courtyard" The chapel was crowded but
quiet (no talking permitted (except for the guards saying “Shhh”) and no
photography). Very impressive
paintings, but the content of the paintings don’t hold as much significance
for us as they do for the
“believers”. Left the chapel after 15 minutes and walked downstairs and
back out to St Peters Square, then into St Peters Basilica. Huge crowds of
people as it was Monday and most of the Vatican is closed on Sundays. St Peters Basilica is a huge
building and 24 separate altars. It
is a very nice church with lots of tapestries, painting and statues around the
walls, but doesn’t feel “over the top” like some others. Left St Peters
and went to the souvenir shop and bought a post card of the Sistine Chapel,
then had some lunch (stolen bread rolls from breakfast) @ 11:30am. Photo: "inside St Peters Basilica" Regrouped at 12:00 and walked
to the underground bus park where our bus was supposed to be waiting, but
because of the canonisation our bus was in the queue to get into the bus park.
Eventually got on our bus @ 12:30. Drove
out of the Rome via the ring road then north through the pretty hills of
Umbria and Tuscany. Arrived in Florence @ 4:30pm.
Walked to Piazza Santa Croce and visited leather shop for demonstration and
sales pitch. Bought a “Firenze” leather waste paper basket (25000 lire /
NZ$25 / £8). Left the group and
walked east through the narrow old streets to Duomo (the main cathedral) then
back west, stopping to get a gelati and drink (it was very muggy in Florence).
We then walked through the streets to the Arno river, then to an internet café
to check email, then back to meet the group in Piazza St Croce @ 7:00pm. Back to the bus and drove out into the outer suburbs of Florence, about ¾ hr, to our hotel (??) at Signa, for tea @ 8:15 then to bed.
Next installment: Florence to London |
