taxi bus donkey

The next morning the sun was out, the sky was once again that science fiction uncapturable blue, i had spotted a few places for some photo opprtunities the previous evening and made my way to them before the crowds, the crowds I refer to being the crowds I would later find out don’t actually exist.I walked to the highest point of the town where the fortress walls that were once used as a convenient spot to pour burning oil on attacking hordes have now been converted to a cute little playground for the kiddies and a series of oval paths focusing on a simple piazza complete with a statue the purpose of which i couldnt quite get my head around. (more…)

With the number of anti inflammataries in my system graadually on the decline and the town of Arezzo returning me to an environment I found somewhat appealing I found my spirits once again buoyed.

I had spent some time yesterday afternoon wandering the streets, found a little place for dinner which seemed to have lots of locals in it, fumbled my way through the menu and ordered way too much but was also just as overindulgent on thecompliments i bestowed on .. the cook, the cook’s parents, the people who taught the cook how to cook, the waiter, his apron,.. his shoes, the colour of the walls … and the eggplantiness of the eggplants… yes it was one of those stick a litre of the local red in me and i wont let poor grammar get in the way of me having a good time kind of nights. (more…)

Having licked my wounds clean enough to parade before the public, and attempting to keep an open mind about Firenze really being as good as people say it is… I packed my bags, left my humble lodgings at la Giaconda and headed back to the train station to make my suave departure.

I used the 10 minute walk to Santa Maria Novella to decide on where to go, although I have had a rather organic time table for this trip, I have almost managed to plan at least a few days ahead, this was the first time I was looking to hop towns without having some klind of lodging waiting for me at the other end. No sweat, (more…)

My trip from Bologna to Firenze was reasonably uneventful, aside from the nagging heat, the only point of excitement was on platform 3 in Bologna station where … having managed to secure a patch of shade I sat and watched the other passengers arrive and fumble around like fools just like i did… when suddenly,.. he emerged from the underpass, the last of the great explorers. An American tourist who had obviously spent some time studying old tarzan movies before selecting the appropriate garments to accompany him on his no doubt adventure-packed package tour of Italy.

I don’t think kontiki stop in Bologna, mayhaps he is a scout for future expeditions. Now he wasn’t wearing a pith helmet,.. but if you were thinking along those lines you would have been rather close because i would wager Florence’s coldest beer on the fact that he had forgotten the helmet on a bus somewhere because the outfit was screaming for it. (more…)

The heatwave that has swamped this part of Italy continues unabated, it gets to about 40 on most days but the humidity and the breezelessness of it all make it hard to deal with.

I have managed to do more wandering but as the days passed this has become rather aimless. There has been some interesting indulging in the food and bevvy departments however.The highlights were, a simple gnocci gorgonzola, with walnuts, a single layer of home made gnocci coated with a thick gorgonzola sauce covering 2 thirds of a large plate with a sprinkling of parsley and basil scattering the portion of the plate closest to its consumer, marvellous,.. followed this up with salsicce grilliata, which translats as grilled snags,.. but these were magic, char grilled and hefty. (more…)

The heat wave continues but the desire to feast upon the local food and bevvy is still strong. The other day i wandered into the bizzarely named ”nu lounge bar’ which is right up there with the strange english names for businesses, My other favourite in this category is the ”PIZZA UP!” in Urbania but the winnder has to be Italian mobile phone company called ”WIND” thats wind like the breeze not like the clock, they have large banners around the place which simply say ”avete wind?” translating, without need for massaging into ” do you have wind?”At the nu i dined on carpaccio with carciofi and rucola, its the second time i have had carpacio here and both times its more like a slab of raw meat that gets delivered to you rather than the thin shavings i had become accustomed to in australia, but accompanied by the local oil and cheese it went down an sbolute treat, knocked down a couple of glasses of (gasp) semillon and one of the local semifreddo with chocolate specialties and i was anyones. (more…)

It usually takes around 3 days for the town drunks to start to speak to me. This formula held true in bologna. (more…)

Despite the never ending heatwave I managed to haul my ass around this town several times. Assisting me in this endeavour was several centuries of sensible town planning.

The entire centro storico of bologna is made up of porticoed buildings which allows for plenty of shade and places to sit and also maufactures pleasing breezes which tickle the sweat on your brow and somehow trick you into thinking that 40 degrees C aint so bad after all.

In contrast to this is the town’s main square, piazza maggiore, a slab or concrete big enough to have a footy match in. (more…)

Caught the train from Venice to Bologna on Saturday morning thinking wow what a great little trip to bologna this is going to be… peaceful, i dont even have to put my pack up on the rack, calm, tranquil,.. i can even hear the birds in the trees as we pass them by… and as we approached mestre,.. i could spend a few seconds trying to recognise the strange noise which was getting louder it sounds like… hmm.. i dont know… oh yes i do.

It sounds like about 1,000 soccer fans making the trip to bologna for the last of the serie A games for the season, 1,000 hot and sweaty, smoking, horn blowing fans, most of which chose my carriage from which to abuse the anti smoking policy that the Italian train system had in place.. (more…)

Venice is not the city to head for if you are on your own and the type of person that enjoys the company of members of the opposite sex but is unable to acquire said company at the drop of a gondolier… however, it is a pretty place so for those out there who plan to spend some time here, learn from my finite but poignant wisdom (more…)