First of all, I've been trying to post about Vienna, which was fabulous, but it won't let me which is annoying. But now we are in Krakow and its excellent too, and even colder than Budapest!
So really I'm just testing to see if I can post at all or if everything has gone pear-shaped...
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| On the train near the Hungary-Croatia border stop. Sometimes trains are boring... |
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| Happy food! |
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| It begins... |
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| Double glove, it's that cold. |
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| Buda castle complex, super views |
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| More super snowy views |
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| Us, obviously, in the snow |
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| They call it chimney cake, I call it delicious |
Well Zagreb turned out to be quite the fun city, we liked it a lot. For a start it was sunny when we got there and it looked sparkling and clean, second it was very cheap and third they have a pretty wacky sense of humour. We're not seeing any more of Croatia on this trip (unless we can sneak back for some summer action) cos we are keen to get up to Budapest (on our way there now by train - just got over the border onto Hungary) and probably then further east, but we certainly liked what we saw.
Perhaps the best thing was the museums, especially the Museum of Broken Relationships. It's a collection of objects and stories that people have donated that represent the end of some relationship, perhaps through a break up, death or political disillusionment. It was quite profound in a way, and certainly more immediate and meaningful than the usual museum stuff. Some stories were funny, some very sad, some weird, others quite happy and optimistic, in a now-I'm-single-and-that's-good kind of way.
At the Art and Craft museum, which was basically your normal paintings, furniture, statues type deal, they had clearly become very bored with it all. So they added props to give you a better feel for what the object's original purpose was, or how the object would be used in the modern world.... Hilarity ensued.
It was only some of the objects that had been given the treatment, and you often had to look carefully to see what was going on. Shit it was funny. In the antique ceramic doll collection there was a mass produced in China doll, perhaps a commentary on how we've regressed artistically...?
This was the best one below - ashtray, radio going, half eaten sandwich - on a French 17th century table.
Spot the differences... A far more fun way of looking at paintings.
So yeah, those Croatians are a pretty funny lot. The beer was a bit average, and the food not as good as Slovenia, but they had some cool stuff. And our room was super nice too. Now it's 5 days in Budapest which will be awesome. We've just finished our talking book murder mystery which was excellent, and I'm trying learn some Hungarian. It's going to take a while I suspect, some of the train station names are about 20 letters long.
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| The dragon on the dragon bridge |
After all the issues of trying to find a way out of Venice to Slovenia it was in reality remarkably easy. I say this because we usually have to research the transport we are going to take quite solidly as there are so many transport routes that are no longer running. This was a particular problem in Greece and it seems Eastern Europe, as many transport businesses have shut up shop due to the economic downturn. Our research had given us a few options but in the end we just went to Venice station and caught a train to Trieste and then a bus to Ljubljana. We then did then manage to get a bit lost and some very nice people tried to help us but really we were so far off course that helping us would almost be impossible. We finally found our home for three nights and were immediately offered coffees and some delicious cake. is everybody so friendly here? Our little room is quite good except it is full of stinky smell nice things that give me asthma( I have bagged them all up and hidden them outside the room now.
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| Next time you are in ljubiljana eat here |
On our first night we went out to a great restaurant called six I can't write it in Slovenian because we don't have their letters on our key boards. Wow the food was fantastic I had goulash and polenta and Paul had sausages and sauerkraut and potatoes. beer, wine and a fantastic desert of what looked like brownie almost all made out of chocolate with plums in it followed by a gratis spiced plum aperitif which was so delicious.
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| Beautiful lake Bled |
We took the train out to a place called Radovljica the next day to meet my friend Petra. Then she drove us to lake Bled and we walked around it. Everything was so beautiful, a still clear lake surrounded by snow capped mountains just poking out of the clouds. Castles and churches sitting quietly under the mist. Although it was raining our walk was lovely and was followed by a local delicacy. A vanilla slice on steroids. We then went to Petras house and spent the afternoon being very well looked after by Petras parents. So much delicious food and drink. It was very nice to be in a warm comfortable home for a change, just talking and watching the skiing on TV.
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| Greetings from me... |
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| And Goodbye Petra from me. |
Today we went out for breakfast It is Mother's Day here so it was quite busy. Cake is quite good for breakfast as Paul found out. Then we walked up to the castle. Then off to the museums - natural and history. We saw a woolly mammoth skeleton and a whale skeleton that the Slovenians are very proud of. And they should be because their coast line in only about 45 klms long and the chance of a dead fin whale washing up there has to be close to winning tattslotto. It is time to go and to try to find some food which might be interesting as most places seem to be shut....
Yes everything was shut except for the Scottish restaurant! But we found a super market and got 1 can of sausages and sauerkraut and one of sausages and beans- haha we might need to put the stinky things back in the room tonight. We plan to leave for Zagreb in the morning...
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| Spooky castle |
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| Ice skating, don't try this at home |
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| Ljubljana in the rain |
It is just a bit over a full month since we left home and it is quite amazing how much we have seen, but it is nearly time for us to say goodbye to Italy. For me the last month has been like every art history class I ever took put into a large glass jar and shaken. I have been totally awestruck at the volume and the beauty of the work we have seen. I thought I had seen it all in previous weeks but even more was to come in Venice (more about that later).
So we took the morning train from Florence to Venice - it really is so easy catching the trains here. We only take the second class ones and so far our good experiences have outweighed the bad. There are things to learn like get there early enough to get a seat and if the it says the train leaves from an "extension" that means a long walk up the platform, almost to the next station. Take food and drink and be prepared with a good book. Don't get the inside windows as the trains coming the other way will frighten the life out of you, and pop your ears while going through tunnels at high speed. Enough about trains.
Venice. What can I say. It is beautiful, poetic, magical. Possibly disgusting in summer but I think we have seen some great days, 1 sunny 1 raining 1 foggy, each day was so different but interesting. Sadly Venice is shrinking in population and it seems the tourists out number the residents. In saying that our experience here has not been one of long lines and terrible waiting times. Queues are short and generally prices seem to be reasonable. We have stuck to our salads at night and home made sandwiches during the day which has been a great way of knowing what we are going to eat and also saving money. We have also eaten locally and the food has been quite good.
When we first arrived we wound our way to our B&B and were so happy to find that it was right beside the Grand Canal (yes the river that runs through the middle), our room doesn't have a view but since we generally get home after dark it doesn't matter too much. There is a bar underneath that play good music that we can listen to which we always thought looked interesting but didn't go into until our last day.
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| The view from our doorstep |
Day one looking around and eating pasta
Day 2 on this day it was very warm and sunny so we decided to go for a good walk and wandered through the streets until we found St Marks square. Yes it is big and some great buildings. The clock with the Roman numerals is really fun. But the best bit of this day was going into St Marks and seeing all the mind blowing mosaic work and the tesselations on the floor. The gold alter piece in the back was sooooooo intricate. We just kept on walking around and around being amazed and then on the way out we decided to pay to go upstairs and see the four horses that the Venetians had knocked of from the Turks at the same time that they brought St Mark back in the pork Barrel. Well! If you are ever in Venice make sure you spend the €5 to see this because it really is the most fantastic place to view the Basilica and the mosaic work and the Square and the roof tops and the clock and it is all just too amazing for words.
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| Mosaic. All mosaic. |
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| Ditto. Tiny squares. |
Day 3 raining so green jacket. Venice is beautiful in the rain. You just need to watch out for the umbrella's they can be very pokey in the small alley ways. Lots of puddles and drips every where. We went into Mestre by train today to see how to catch bus to Ljubljana- that took quite a while but I think we have worked it out now. Then we came back and had a bit of a rest- we are both getting a bit tired at times it we don' t eat carefully enough. Then we decided to go to the Academy of Venice. There are a few Venitian painters that are quite good..... That is what we had heard anyway! I was a bit oh yeah? We have seen the best. OH! Was I wrong. It was unbelievable. I still can't believe we spent 3 hours in the gallery looking and looking not just oh yes another Tintoreto or Bellini but come and have a look at this on one and did you see the work on that one... We were like two arty fatty religious buffs working out all of the Saints and who's work belonged to who. We are getting quite good at recognising the symbols for all they people now. Veronese is a new hero and a painter called Sebatiano Luciani. And Tintoretto - so huge and dark. This was a highlight I won't forget too quickly.
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| Some poor bloke had to guard this all day., standing one metre behind it. |
Day 4 we bought a 24 hour Tavel card and just kept on taking one water bus after another. We went to Murano which was fun to walk around. The glass work was a bit ho hum but the islands were interesting and the glass workers were interesting. We went right around Venice on another bus and then out to Lido to the beach which was grey and disgusting -it might be better in summer. It was raining so maybe we weren't seeing it at its best. Then we came back and took another water taxi up the grand canal to home. Arrived back and found the bar below has happy hour - pasta buffet and a wine or beer for €5 which was great as it is a beautiful very, very old building. The pasta and wine were great Venice is great and we have had a wonderful time.
My two cents, by Paul: I agree with all that, and...
What I have found fascinating here is how it all works. Like ambulance and police boats, post and deliveries by water, cranes operating from the back of boats, bridges with ramps for trolleys to go over, different layers of bricks in the walls to restrict the water soaking up the bricks, draing whole sections of canal to repair walls, ferries and water taxis and rubbish barges and all sorts of boats everywhere. It's really cool. And they got the original wooden piles that they built all the 'land' on from forests in Slovenia because it was special wood that doesn't rot for like 1000 years. How did they do that? How did they get them so deep in the marsh and all level and then built on and !!! How do they do this stuff?!??!!
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| They say the sewerage goes straight into the canals... |
Beer update - I have had 22 different beers so far, the most recent, 'Gasthaus', costing 70 cents for 660ml from the supermarket being really quite drinkable, even verging on good, in a simple lager sort of way.
p.s. evidently an 'annal'' is a chronological record of one year. Well I reckon it nearly rhymes with canal so it works for me.
Right, done some photo transferring.
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| The Duomo, it's quite big |
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| Another Pieta of Mike's |
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| Michelangelo's tomb |
We went and found the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, among others, in a large bit fairly dull church. We thought it was a pretty average place for some of the most spectacular and brilliant people ever. If I were Michelangelo I'd feel a bit miffed.
We've been enjoying the local customs, such as coffee standing up at the bar. It's a bit confusing at first because you pay elsewhere, then go to the bar and give them your receipt. It means the coffee person only has to make coffee, no other distractions. It's a bit messy at times when there is a lot of people. But all in all the coffee is good, which is not surprising, but we've only really had one or two excellent coffees. It's cheap as though, and I like the fact that an espresso is cheaper than the other ones. Cos that drives me made at home, paying just as much for less stuff.
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| Yours truly, imbibing the local drop |
After the slight disappointment of the church we went to the Galileo museum and that was ACE! They had heaps of original devices that scientists of the day had made; compasses, clocks, astronomical things, measuring doodahs, microscopes, chemistry sets, body wax models, glass thermometers and so many cool things. The long thing below is what Galileo used to show that the distance an object falls is proportional to the time it travels, squared. I think. Or is it the other way around? I'm on holidays, and so is my brain. But the way it works is that a ball rolls from the top and rings the bells at regular time intervals even though they are further and further apart. Pretty neat we thought.
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| Science is cool, and made of wood |
So that was an excellent finish to our (quite tiring) journey around Florence.
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| Spiced ale on the left, Saison on the right. |
We wrapped up our week in Rome with a last wander around the city, seeing a few of the sights that had passed us by. The highlights were a shop specialising in smoked fish and smoked fish sandwiches, and beer bar. The fish shop was just delicious to look at, smell and eat. It had at least 7 types of fish available - salmon done a few ways, halibut, and other stuff. It just looked so fresh and colourful, and our sandwiches were great. Then the beer bar - my previous comment about Italian brewing being in its infancy was just plain wrong. The beer we had (a Saison and a spiced ale) was excellent, about as good as it gets. They had about 10 Italian beers on tap and a bottled selection that was as exciting as I've seen. So big thumbs up for Italian beer.
We loved Rome - it's big, it has loads and loads to see, the sense of history is incredible and what with the Pope business going on it felt very much the centre of things.
Then it was off to Florence. We decided to stay in a hostel rather than a hotel to see if we could save some money, and it's been fine but not actually any cheaper once you factor in breakfast for two, not having a fridge to store food in and it being difficult to wash clothes. So I think it's a case of good try, not happening again. Nice to meet people though and have new people to talk to from other countries.
Florence was the home of Michelangelo before he went to Rome and of the rich dudes during the renaissance. So they have some pretty good stuff. Like this guy...
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| Yup, it's the real thing. |
It's simply perfection. You run out of words to describe the art you see, and obviously some is better than others. But David is as good as it gets. Perfection. There's a quote from Vasari, who wrote about renaissance art at the time, that says once you have seen Michelangelo's David there is no point seeing any other sculpture. And he's right, it all looked a bit average after that.
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| Shutters on the Ponte Vecchio |
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| So cheesy, and so rich and soupy |
For me Florence is a bit like some (seriously) major highlights in a few museums, but it lacks atmosphere. After the constant visual treats of Rome and the vibrancy of Naples it's a bit sterile if you ask me. But there is one thing it has that Naples and Rome didn't have - the Osteria Spirita Santos, our new favourite restaurant. It was our best meal in the last month of travelling. I had gnocchi and a beef stew, Jo had vegetable soup and a traditional rabbit dish and they were all gorgeous. Add some bread and a glass of wine and we had a super long lunch. God it was good.
Along other cool things we have seen here are these crazy guys:
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| Dr Seuss does Italian art |
We think they're carved out of ivory. The detail and the fineness of the carving is superb, and they look cool as. Pretty easy to break too... no ball games please.
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| Florence, beautiful. |
Tomorrow it's off to Venice which we are so looking forward to. Then things get a little hazier, the plan is still evolving, but it's looking like Slovenia next anyway. Ciao for now!
It is very sore feet time now, each day we return to our beds at about half 6 after a very long day walking. There seems to be a lot of stairs everywhere. I don't know how people managed to cover vast distances in the old days, possibly in wooden shoes as well. All that lifting and climbing and horse carts it would have been crazy. It is interesting that Paul preferred Rome to Florence. I didn't for me Rome was big and quite austere whereas Florence and Naples more heart and soul. I have possibly enjoyed Florence more, possibly that is because I had studied many of the works at art school and it was so fantastic to see the works up close.
Rome: at least 50 churches, St. Peter's, Sistine chapel, the Forum,The colosseum, Spanish steps, the tomb of the lost soldier....
Florence: The Duomo, the Uffitzi, Bargello, the Synagogue, the pont de Vecchio, Petti palace, only about 5 churches here as most of them are very dark and not as interesting as the ones in Rome, Giotto's bell tower, the Duomo museum... where we both came to an abrupt halt and almost at the same time said. "I have had enough" We had hit the wall. It was pretty funny because we just had to sit down and wait until we had enough energy to walk out ... Finally all the art and looking and knowledge had beaten us down - for a bit.
One of the best things we saw today was the Gallilao exhibition which has some really interesting things in it. We'll put pictures on tomorrow once they're all loaded. Bring on Venice!
