In the late afternoon, we went across to the Ducal Palace where we paid the 13 euros entry fee and had a wonderful time exploring all the artwork filled rooms, looking at the maps and oversized globes, the small suits of amour and then the piece de resistance – the Ponte Dei Sospiri. One of my favorite things is looking out from inside the Bridge of Sighs, at all the other tourists, looking in.
(Journaling: It’s always eerie standing inside the Bridge of Sighs. I am looking out at all the tourists gathered on the little bridge outside.)
Then we went downstairs to the cafe. A very peaceful half hour was then spent sipping cappuccini in the Ducal Palace café, watching the gondole gliding rhythmically by. Alessandro had a sundae.
(Journaling: Alessandro and I had looked through the Ducal Palace and walked over the Bridge of Sighs.)
Later we walked over to Campo Manin and ate dinner there, our Campo San Provolo restaurant being closed on Thursdays.
Those who tell you that it's perilous, death defying even - need to chill out. The Amalfi Coast road is one of the slowest we have driven along in Italy, it's quite wide, and the guard rails are quite decent. There are places to pull over and take pictures every few minutes. And the views are... well, the views are...
Gelato versus ice cream - I've eaten a lot of gelato in Italy and my 4th batch of ice cream, in which I doubled the fruit mixture (using the new Krups from The Good Guys) is just like gelato. So far I have made peach, cherry, chocolate and now the raspberry.
I am blending recipes and my secret ingredient is a third of a cup of sour cream. The alternative to that is a cup of buttermilk, which Alessandro just got me from Coles, so my next batch (raspberry and blackberry) will use that. The secret with fruit ice creams is to make sure there is enough sugar in it. Think of the difference between the tastes of gelato and yoghurt. They are two different things.
I am using one egg and beating it up then adding the cream and other ingredients and heating it for a minute while stirring. Then take it off the heat and refrigerate for a day. I'm preparing the fruit mixture (pureed with Giancarlo's bamix that I found under the kitchen sink) with the sugar and lemon juice and refrigerating that for a day too. The ice cream maker lives in the bottom of the freezer. It holds one litre of mixture and takes about 20 minutes to make.
I've bought new op shopped little dishes and I need to get an ice cream scooper - as all my spoons are getting bent!
One of my favorite stretches of road, is the one that runs past beautiful Bramasole. Standing there, looking up at the apricot colored villa, then looking across the blackberry thickets to the grey mists of olive groves and the distant Umbrian hills, is a poetic moment.
A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you are a tough person. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham)is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!
Idea taken from the treasure chest of DSP designer, Marcee Dugar. I just want to know if the sun is over the yard arm yet?
Kathy from Persnickety Tutu sure got it right when she said: "We can always find ways to get away, even in the place we live. I highly recommend being a tourist in your own town..."
When it's Floriade time in Canberra, the tourist numbers swell like the spring buds on the trees. Tens of thousands of bulbs of all types and colors are planted in Commonwealth Park on the lake each year for everyone to enjoy. All the locals turn out to see flower display as well as interstate and sometimes overseas visitors.
I always go if I'm in town, but sometimes Italy calls...
An annual outing all the years my children were growing up, was to the Floriade flower festival. It is a wonder to see every September, in Commonwealth Park, in the City, next to Lake Burley Griffin.
Gran means love - my boys will always have memories of strolling through the flowers, tip toeing through the tulips, with their gran.
This is Pyewacket - she is our wild child. Pyewacket is an Old Style Siamese - a back to the basics breed, not the oriental siamese that has become widespread in the past fifty years. As there is only one breeder in Australia who specialises in this old fashioned style of siamese, Pyewacket had to come up on a plane from country Victoria.
She dances to her own drum. She plays tea party in the middle of the night with the tiny vegetable shaped teapots. We think every little thing she does is magic.
She plays a great game of pool with Australian representative player Alessandro. There's nothing sedate about little Pye and nothing has changed since I wrote A Day in Life of Pyewacket, published in her blog, topcatrules, over a year ago.
Pyewacket is different from our other cats - she is our very own wild child.
The Rick Steves phenomenon: Is he an asset or someone to avoid? Alessandra Federici of Il Girasole in Cortona once very wisely said,
"What I find strange is that almost all of the ones that complain about how touristy places have become, are themselves tourists."
Before I stayed in the Aberdeen Hotel in Rome for a few nights and found several of his guide books on a coffee table in the lounge, I'd never heard of Rick Steves. Apparently he is thought to be responsible for an influx of visitors to certain areas in Italy. The Cinque Terre and San Gimignano to be precise. I'm wondering what the shop owners, hotel keepers and restaurant owners think? Not to mention the workers in the tourism industry. Are they upset or are they pleased by the extra visitors?
We are all so diverse in the ways in which we travel. There are those who dart like dragonflies from place to place while others practice slow travel by staying in one location for a longer time in order to get more out of the experience. Some are 'foodies' and patronise the restaurants, others prefer a trattoria or pizzeria. We may spluge on a four star hotel, or maybe we stay in convent accommodation. There are guided tours groups and independent travelers.
The way we travel and who guides us in the end, be it Rick Steves or our own independent spirit - is ultimately up to us. And as I often say - whenever the crowds start to overwhelm, there are lots of alternative possibilities to explore. There are numerous side streets, day trips, a myriad of museums and glorious little art galleries to explore.
Just a thought, but there are lots other of beautiful places in Italy that the tourists like to visit. I wonder if peope are blaming him for this as well:
I filmed this in October last year at the start of my way too brief, eight night stay in Venice. This was at 7.30 in the morning. Walking through San Marco before the majority of the visitors are up and about is a glorious way to start your day.
And I just discovered a wonderful report on Venice on Trekcapri's website. Great photos and beautiful writing.
Lilly asked what I was going to do with my pics - initially I just did them to put onto the three main blogs I run - this one, and the two cat ones. But now, since May, I have published ten blurb.com photo books. Three for me, one for a colleague and the rest for my rellies.
Click on the digital scrapbook pictures to make them larger
A gentle reminder
I don't get back in again a second time to your blog comments, to see if you have replied back to me. So please reply to me on here. :) I'm really sorry, there just aren't enough hours in my day!
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