Friday 30th December

Today we did more walking, across the Ponte dell'Accademia, and around to the Church of S.Maria Della Salute - another very beautiful church.
In the afternoon we went for a gondola ride - an organized thing so shared the gondola with four others (a guy from Sydney who now works in software development in London and his partner, and two girls from Brazil). The ride was for about 30 minutes; very peaceful just gliding through the canals. One of the gondoliers going past suddenly broke out with some fairly ordinary singing - definitely not a contender for Italian X Factor.
After that it was more walking and shopping - we have relented to the cold conditions and bought hats. Well actually I bought one hat, and Peter bought three (one in the morning, a different beanie style one after that, and then another one from the store where I bought mine). We decided that if we are to survive the cold of Piazza San Marco at midnight tomorrow night, jackets, scarves and gloves won't be enough, and a hat will be required too.
Just a couple of photos today - Peter with the Bridge of Sighs in the background (so named from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to the prison cells); and a photo taken from our gondola ride of other gondolas.

Thursday 29th December

An early start to the day for a walking tour of Venice, and it just happened to be the coldest day we have had so far. Didn't see the sun all day. Our guide took us around a number of different points of interest on the hour and a half tour, including St Marks Basilica (we did a tour of that later), the church of Saints John and Paul, the hospital, the Rialto Bridge, Marco Polo's home, and a number of other historic buildings and sites. Interestingly, when we were outside the hospital, the funeral boat turned up, presumably to take a body or two to the cemetery. We'd seen the postal service boat, the garbage pick-up boat, lots of boats delivering various goods and freight, police boats, etc, but the funeral services boat was something we hadn't thought about! The tour guide pointed out a small island with a grove of Cyprus trees and that apparently was the local cemetery.
Our next tour was of the Basilica, and that was a truly amazing building. Inside, the ceiling was covered in mosaic art, all in 24k gold. Intricate marble inlays on the floor, exquisite sculpture, it was stunning.
We spent the afternoon discovering new parts of the city, particularly near the Rialto Bridge area. Have booked another tour for tomorrow, taking a gondola ride (a must do in Venice!)
Photos included today are of the Venice hospital, some images of St Marks Basilica, and views from the Rialto Bridge, including us on it!

Wednesday 28 December

Special note - for those family and friends who have the detailed version of our itinerary, please note that the accommodation shown for Florence has now changed. I noticed a couple of days ago that the accommodation voucher included in our documentation didn't match the accommodation listed for Florence in the itinerary (both provided by the travel agent!) A few emails/phone calls later, and Andrew the travel agent has confirmed that the voucher is correct, not the itinerary. So our accommodation in Florence is at the Laurus Hotel - phone +39.055.2381752, fax +39.055.268308, email Laurus@Vivahotels.com. (Michael, can you please let Mum know; thanks).

We've had a very big day today in terms of our contribution to the Italian economy. The day started with a trip by water taxi to the island of Murano - famous for its glass manufacturing. We had a demonstration of glass blowing/crafting and then of course the obligatory stop in the showroom to view the many pieces of art on display. After much discussion and negotiation, we purchased what must surely be the most expensive glass duck in Italy. It's a beautiful piece, so a special memento of our trip.
Having spent a small fortune in their showroom, we were then given a trip to Burano which was another island nearby, on the company speed boat. Burano is famous for its lace-making and is also a fishing village. The homes on the island are painted a variety of bright colors, so look very pretty. From Burano, we took a ferry back to our hotel, but took the slightly longer, more scenic version of the trip, so it was nice to see a bit more of the area.
In the afternoon we walked in the opposite direction to the way we had gone yesterday, and one of the first places we came to was the church of Santa Maria Della Pieta, also know as Vivaldi's church. The exciting news (for me) was that I Virtuosi Italiani are performing Vivaldi's Four Seasons actually there in the church, so we've booked tickets for the New Years Eve performance.
From there we wandered around some of the shops and eventually came to the Omega store. One of the special items I wanted to buy on the trip was a new watch and I found the perfect one today, so that's my birthday present to myself - and given the price of it, birthday present to myself for many, many birthdays to come.
We have booked a couple of tours for tomorrow - a walking tour of Venice in the morning, and a tour of the Basilica in the afternoon.
Photos included today show the glass blowing on Murano, homes on Burano, and Pete "sitting on the dock of the bay" in Venice.

Tuesday 27th December

We are now in Venezia! We left Milano this morning, saying goodbye to our favorite staff members at the Enterprise Hotel, Jessica in the dining room and Anel on reception. We took a taxi to the central station - our taxi driver was a typical Milanese lady, tall, slender, beautiful, and dressed immaculately. Peter of course took the front seat and I was relegated to the back. It did seem quite strange to be being driven on the wrong side of the road, and for the steering wheel to be on the other side. Our driver drove like every other Italian - I think the movie "The Fast and the Furious" was obviously name in their honour. It may not have been quite as scary as a fast lap with Mark Skaife, but I think if Mrs Tander is looking for a female co-driver for next years Bathurst, we've found one!
Arriving at the central station, we bought our first class seats and then waited for the train to Venice. We boarded at 11.35am. The first class seats were great, plenty of room, and good service on board the train. Some lovely a views of the Alps and the countryside on the way. Although it stopped at a few stations, it was a very fast train - the fields and power poles seemed to be going by much more quickly than they do when the Honda heads down the Midlands Highway. We arrived at Venezia St Lucia station just after 2pm, and then got a taxi boat to San Marco - our hotel is right on the Grand Canal, a perfect location and a lovely hotel. Even better, we get a 20% discount when we eat in the hotels restaurant (which we did for dinner tonight). The guy at reception has given us 5 hours free wifi, so that should be more than enough for our six nights here. After checking into our room, we walked around the main piazza and surrounding streets, also getting some info on local tours, so we will organize a few tours tomorrow.
Included are a couple of photos - the required photo of gondolas, and a night time shot of the hotel exterior.
We still can't get over how everyone smokes - I think our clothes reek of smoke now. Peter is very excited at how dogs are allowed to go anywhere - they are taken into restaurants and cafes, there were a couple on our train today (yes, in first class!) and of course on the taxi boat too.

Monday 26th December

Our last full day in Milano and sadly no shopping as all the shops were closed, only cafes and bars open. We spent the morning taking tram rides from one end of the city to the other, then back to the Duomo where we climbed to the top - photos of the views from the top are included. More strolling around the city, with a coffee stop or two, before heading back to the hotel. Tomorrow we head to Venezia by train - not quite sure how we will go with that as although we already have first class tickets, I think they have to be validated and we have to actually book a seat. Anyway I'm sure we will figure it all out tomorrow.

Sunday 25th December - Christmas day

We set the alarm so I could wake up at 3am local time, which would be 1 pm Tasmanian time, to wish everyone a happy Christmas - at least Ryan answered his phone! Eventually caught up with Michael and Mum, and Peter spoke with Keisha, Quade and Marissa, and his Mum, Dad and brother Andrew, so we were able to send Christmas wishes to everyone.
I managed to drag Peter along to church for Christmas Mass, all in Italian of course, but we at least understood when to sit down and stand up.
We then headed down town and spent the rest of the day walking around Parco Sempione, Via Dante, the Piazza Duomo, etc. One of the few museums open today featured two paintings by Georges La Tour, so we stood in line to view those and then continued to wander around the city centre area. We ended up in a bar (as you do) and had a lovely afternoon drinking and chatting with the locals. Sitting next to us for a while were a couple of guys - Guido and Michael - both of whom were bus drivers, but weren't working at the moment; Guido was off on six months sick leave due to a liver problem, but that wasn't stopping him knocking back the Grappa; Michael was born in Melbourne and his mother still lives in Carlton, but has spent most of his life in Milano. After they left, their spots were taken by a Malaysian couple, both lawyers; she spoke very highly of the UTAS Law Faculty, and said she had had friends who had studied at UTAS. The young lady who took our wine orders was lovely, particularly the more she picked on Peter and his attempts to speak Italian, and the fact that he kept eating all the food that she bought out, leaving nothing for me. She told us that she spoke 5 languages - Italian, English, Romanian, Albanian and a little Spanish. Pete told her that he spoke 5 languages too - English, Australian, American and Smithton, plus a little Italian. Several glasses of wine later, we made our way back to the tram stop, and then back to the hotel.
Yesterday at Como and today in Milano have been quite eye-opening - if I put my entire collection of Vogue magazines together, it still wouldn't add up to the amount of Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Armani that's been on show, not to mention the fur coats ... Just amazing. On the negative side, nearly everyone seems to smoke, so i think we've inhaled a fair bit of secondhand smoke over the last few days.
Sadly it appears that the concept of Boxing Day sales hasn't quite taken off in Milano, and most stores will still be closed, but I'm planning on heading out tomorrow to see what bargains might be out there.

Saturday 24th December

We spent our Christmas Eve on a tour to Lake Como. It's been a big day, departing on the bus at 9am, returning to Milano by 6pm, then a walk around the city centre and dinner before returning to the hotel.
Lake Como was quite spectacular - definitely the home of the rich and famous; one of the famous ones includes George Clooney who has three villas at Como, although apparently he wasn't staying at any of them for Christmas - he can't have got my email saying I was visiting. When we first arrived at Como, we had a visit to one of the special villas and then a tour of the city, including the Duomo (cathedral). Next it was a trip on the funicular railway to Brunate, 500 meters straight up above Como. Once we were at the top, there were amazing views of Como, the lake and the Alps - have included some photos of the villa, railway and the view from the top. We then spent a couple of hours wandering around Como, before joining up with the group again for a one hour boat cruise on the Lake.
When we got back to Milano, we headed to the Duomo to check out all the last minute Christmas shopping - have included a photo of the magnificent Christmas tree near the Duomo.
Everything will be closed tomorrow for Christmas Day, and apparently many stores and restaurants will be closed Boxing Day too, so we might have a couple of more leisurely days coming up.
Merry Christmas everyone!!

Friday 23rd December

Another day of shopping today, but a much better effort today in Italy than yesterday in Switzerland. We can only hope that Mario appreciates our efforts in stimulating the Italian economy - I certainly contributed to their foreign currency reserves today.
Another cold but sunny day, so that made trying on clothes a bit of a chore as there were several layers to take on and off. And a bit frustrating that the sizes tended to vary a from one brand to another - in Australia I'm a pretty much a size 8 in nearly any brand but here I've bought things that range from size 36 to 44. We're back at the hotel at the moment having a little drink before deciding where to go for dinner. It's quite amazing - you order a glass of wine, and they also bring your two antipasto platters with olives, semi dried tomatoes, nuts, salami, chips ... Very nice.
The excitement for today was that I ordered lunch all in Italian, and yes, we did get exactly what we wanted!
We have both commented on the stylishness of the Milanese - they dress impeccably always, rich and poor, definitely no tracky dack and ugg boot wearing Collingwood supporters here. Even Pete has taken to wearing his scarf appropriately draped around his neck and the three day growth thing happening, to blend in!
We never cease to be amazed by the drivers - their reverse parking skills are amazing; they park anywhere; the road rules seem to be more guidelines than rules; there might be two lanes, but hey, let's try and squeeze four cars in the space; Vespas can go anywhere they want at any time; blasting the car horn for at least five seconds is mandatory if someone doesn't move immediately the lights change.
There are thousands of motorbikes/Vespas, and lots of people also riding pushbikes (no helmets). Have seen a few Hondas - the type R is a type S here.
We have an all day trip to Lake Como tomorrow - leaves at 9am and returns just after 5pm, so that's how we will spend our Christmas Eve.
It will probably be Christmas Day in Australia by the time we do the next update, so Merry Christmas to all our friends and family - we miss you all very much.

Thursday 22nd December

News for today is that Peter has bought himself a new watch. It has an altimeter, compass, barometer, and apparently can even tell the time! This afternoon we went on a shopping tour into Switzerland. The shopping wasn't that great, although I did manage to pick up one small item at the Emporio Armani store. Hoping that the shopping is better tomorrow. It's about 5 degrees outside at the moment, but feels colder. We've been fortunate so far as although it's been cold, there's been no wind or rain.

Wednesday, 21 December

A good nights sleep last night and we are both feeling much better. As part of our room booking, there's a free buffet breakfast, and what a breakfast it is - all the usual cereals, yoghurt, fresh fruit, breads and pastries, plus plenty of hot food, and (Paul B would love this) an entire table of cakes!
We took the tram downtown and booked some tours for the next few days - we are going shopping in Switzerland tomorrow, then to another shopping centre just outside Milano on Friday, and to Lake Como on Saturday.
From there we walked to Teatro La Scala - there's a picture of me outside, and opposite the theatre is a statue of Leonardo da Vinci.
Then it was coffee time, so we came back through the very exclusive shopping area - Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci - had a coffee at the Gucci store, which of course was twice as expensive as anywhere else. By then I was definitely in need of some retail therapy, and where else could I go but the Ferrari store, so I now have a very nice red Ferrari jacket. Out the front of the store there were two Ferraris and a Lamborghini available for hire - for a couple of hundred euros, you could "live the Ferrari dream" and go for a spin around Milano, but we decided against that and just took a photo of Peter next to the Ferrari instead.
It was very cold today, but still no snow - I guess we will get to see some snow tomorrow when we head to Switzerland.
Our final visit for the day was to the Castello Sforzesco - some seven centuries of history, and now consisting of several themed museums - ancient art, decorative arts, musical instruments, furniture, etc. It was truly amazing, and something you just have to see - I don't think any words could really do justice to not only the castle itself, but also to all the masterpieces and works it holds.
Lots of walking today - we've pretty much been on the go from about 10.30 this morning to 6pm tonight. Back at the hotel now to freshen up before heading out into the cold again for dinner.

Feeding the pigeons outside the Duomo, Milano

Have just bought a new app - looks like this one might work!

We've arrived at last

Buongiorno amici! After some 29 hours of sitting in planes and airports, we finally arrived in Milano this morning, to a chilly -7 degrees. All went well with the flights, it just seemed to take forever to get here. And this is now the third time I've tried to update this blog - I had downloaded the blogpress app and have twice already written about our first day, only to find that the app keeps failing.

We got the bus from the airport, and arrived at the Enterprise Hotel about 9.30 this morning. The staff are very friendly and helpful, and our room is very nice. Free wifi too is a great bonus.

As we were both keen for a decent cup of coffee, the language skills were put into practice straight away, and we managed to order two coffees. Moving from one success to another, the next challenge was to buy two tram tickets from the news booth near our hotel, and find our way to downtown Milan. The main purpose was to go to the Duomo, which is a truly remarkable building. We did the touristy thing as well and fed the pigeons ..the only problem is that I can't upload photos from the iPad direct to the blog site (which is why I had the blogpress app), so at this stage I can't add the photos of us feeding the pigeons, but will hopefully either get blogpress working or will come up with another way to get the photos uploaded.

We had some lunch at a nice cafe on via Dante, and then made our way back to the hotel (I was in charge of the map!) When we got back I realised that I'd left behind the connector for uploading photos from my camera to the iPad, so went for a short walk to the Italian equivalent of Harvey Normans - and typical of that sort of store, they had every gadget you could possibly think of and lots of staff, none of whom were very interested in serving. Anyway I found the connector and cable I needed and made my way to the checkout, having so far had a successful day with my basic Italian language skills - only then to find that I didn't have a clue what it was that the young lady was saying. It seems that my studies of "Italian words and phrases you will need for holidaying and shopping" pre-dated our efforts to save the planet - she was asking me if I wanted a bag for my purchases! Oh well, I nearly made it through day one without having to revert to English!!

The Itinerary

Monday 19 December - Depart Launceston, fly to Melbourne, then via Bangkok to Milan; arrive Milan Tuesday 20 December.

In Milan (for Christmas) until 27 December.

Travel to Venice (for New Year); in Venice from 27 December to 2 January.

Then to Florence (for Jan's birthday); in Florence from 2 January to 10 January.

Next stop Sorrento, from 10 January to 14 January.

Finally, back to Rome, from 14 January to 20 January.

Returning home - leave Rome on 20 January, arrive in Melbourne 21 January; overnight in Melbourne, then back to Launceston on the morning of 22 January.

Hi there
This is the blogspot we've set up so that everyone can share the stories and photos from our trip to Italy. We head off on the 19th December - can't wait!