Italy. 28th to the 1st. The final chapter!
28th
Had a lie in and was told that I wouldn’t experience a hangover because of the quality of the wine (it was local wine). To my surprise I felt absolutely fine the following morning. We got up and went to Genova city to do some shopping. I wrote down what I needed on my hand and we set off.
I have a strange cautious love for Genova. Adriano said that he loves Genova because it is a city that is alive and breathing. It is not a tourist hot spot. It’s a very honest place where the locals get down to the day to day business. People are very open and friendly.
The reason I’m cautious is because I felt a bit out of place and it was easy to be a little bit intimidated by the very narrow alleyways which sometimes held beggars and people trying to sell fake merchandise. It’s a place where you sort of need to know where you’re going since it’s not laid out for tourists.
The thing about Genova (and I think, a lot of Italy) is that there aren’t many chain stores. The boutiques are all pretty unique and the staff are actually knowledgeable… Dare I say passionate? While in the UK, many of the clothes shop staff just couldn’t give a crap. Genova is also a hot spot for anarchists, apparently. There are strong anti-Berlusconi feelings around here. Carlo (Maria’s husband) is against Berlusconi and isn’t afraid of saying it.
We went past several market stalls in one of the many courtyards of the city when I spotted one stall selling hand-made bags and belts. They were all unique and made out of different types of fabric. We started a conversation with the stall owner who was very happy to show me the belts. Not in that usual pushy way that many market-sellers tend to adopt (‘YOU BUY THIS YES? YES?’ Ugh,..), but he calmly showed the merchandise and gave me a discount when I decided to go for two of the belts. Fantastically nice person!
Genova doesn’t feel plastic. It’s hard to explain, but I really like it :)
After finishing the shopping, we drove back to the house where I showed Adriano a supermarket bought Tiramisu, to his utter horror :D Muwahaha. He gave me some kudos for being the first person to ever bring a bought tub of tiramisu to their house. We had long conversations about different types of food. It’s very interesting to hear other peoples opinions on it. Italians live for food. They even have their store opening times set after meal times. So food comes before business!
29th
This was the last day spent with Harriet, Adriano and the family, but Adriano was still working most of the day, so me, Tom and Harriet decided to take a trip to a spa in a nearby city for a day of relaxation. In the evening we had dinner together with everyone and said our goodbyes there and then. The reason was because we would have to get up at 4:30 the following morning and the family would still be asleep.
We packed and then went to bed content, full and with muscles a little bit wobbly after the spa trip.
(Possibly the best car in the world)
30th
Up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 to drive down to the train station. It was cold and the regional trains proved to be scary once again. Our booked train to Milan wasn’t showing up on the screen at our platform. This was an issue. We had no idea if it had been cancelled or what was going on. Regional trains also tend to be unmarked, so you simply have to know which train to get on… It’s not tourist friendly, to put it mildly. :P
Harriet was making phonecalls and sending text messages to her friend working in a nearby station who gave us updates on what was going on. Finally after a few chilly nailbiting minutes, our train arrived and we made sure with passengers on board that it was the right one. Turns out the computer system on our platform was just being a bit glitchy. Hrm…
We said our bye bye’s to Harriet and began our travel towards Milan….
… Then to switch train to go to Venice. At this point, I must explain that I feel like tearing my hair out over one thing.
I didn’t take enough photos of the absolutely stunning alleyways in Venice. Luckily google delivers, so if you are curious, just google-image ‘Venice alley’ to get an idea of what it looked like. I’ll try to show you as best as I can with our limited images.
We arrived in Venice and got to our Bed and Breakfast. After a short nap it was time to explore the city! Adriano had told us earlier that we should stick to the main roads to start off, to avoid getting lost. But Venice is a tiny city… How can you possibly get lost?
Oh dear.
Me and Tom walked for hours, seeing both landmarks and tight hidden alleyways, leading us in obscure directions and either dropping us off by the riverside, a dead end, or popping us out on a tourist trail again.
(Tom giving the thumbs-up for a very tacky Gondola, complete with heart shaped seats. Oh god.)
(Ladies getting on a Gondola)
We relied mostly on being able to get back to the train station to find our BnB, but this was the day we found out the hard way that a map was essential to exploring Venice.
After about 4 hours of walking around, seeing mostly mask-shops on the tourist streets (Running joke: ‘Oh, Masks! Omg look MASKS’) and locals going about their daily business in the tucked away corners of the city… Me and Tom went back to our room, exhausted.
We emerged later on that evening to get a pizzeria recommendation from a local. I think at this point I spoke the best Italian I had over the entire trip. Mind you, it was still rubbish, but I could at least make myself understood. So we went to eat dinner and then, with full tummies, we returned to our bed and fell asleep.
31st
The following morning, we woke up to something we had been warned of by our BnB owner. The flooding of the streets. With me and Tom having no waterproof clothing or shoes, we had to improvise before setting out to find a nearby shop selling wellies.
(Flooded downstairs. Well, shiiit.)
We returned to the room after the successful purchase with our boots and legs completely soaked in lovely Venetian water. After this point, our wellies would be on at all times.
(strolling down for some breakfast)
(Locals and tourists going about their daily business)
(Local shops have to pump out the flood water every morning. I admire their perseverance. I think I’d go mad after three days.)
(Police directing pedestrians walking on platforms over the floods)
(sky view of the platforms)
(Me, cold!)
(Impressive landmarks. Also useful if you need to spot where you are)
(Inside the big catholic church with golden mosaics. You weren’t allowed to take photos in the main bit of the church, so you’ll just have to imagine it :P)
Venice as a city, is unbelievable. It literally feels like someone put it there as a prank. An entire city, built on stilts with its streets flooding everyday…
Still. I have fallen in love with this city.
It may be crowded with tourists and it may be selling a lot of cheap tat. Some of the locals may be a bit twitchy and it may be hard to find a decent place to sit down and eat without having to sell an arm and a leg… But it doesn’t matter. It’s not about the shops and it’s not about the food.
(Many of these pictures were taken on a ferry ride around the city)
The architecture and the atmosphere of the alleyways simply leave me inspired and gobsmacked. I told Tom after the first day spent in Venice that I wanted to create a short story set in that city. Just to give me an excuse to draw the architecture and the entire feeling the place gives me. I admit the main character in this story would mostly be window-dressing to give way to the atmosphere of the city and the plot itself would be pretty basic… But I have an urge to paint that place! I wonder how many other arty people have felt the same way? Judging by the many paintings sold in Venice, I think I’m not the first one.
(ferrying past the fish market.)
(And a more regular food market next to it)
(flooded gondola place)
This day was spent again walking around and exploring, later to return to the room with snacks to watch the series called The Wire on my laptop while glancing at the fireworks outside our window. Most relaxing new years ever.
1st
It was time to go home. I left Venice reluctantly, but silently promising myself that I would return at a later date with the sole purpose of drawing and painting the place. This is yet another small project I want to do. Never enough!
Me and Tom began our travels home and found (to our surprise) that everything went smoothly. The trains were on time. The buses were easy to find. The plane departed and touched down in Bristol without any drama. The taxi at the airport was quick to get us home.
We entered our cold house and Tom was quick to turn on the heating and the hot water, but it would take an entire night for the house to warm up again.
… And we were met by a very icky smell in the kitchen. Things had gone off in the fridge.
Ah. It’s good to be back!