Under the Tuscan sun

You know you are in Italy when you can smell cigar smoke on the train platform and in the streets, there are more Vespa’s than bicycles in Amsterdam, there is a church or gellateria on every corner and the restaurant menu doesn’t have beer on it, only wine!

We arrived in Florence on Saturday afternoon after a much easier trip than we expected from Hopfgarten. It was a lovely sunny day and so warm when standing in the sun. After checking in we had enough time to walk around the city centre before the sun went down. The city was packed with tourists and locals and had such a summer feeling in the last rays of light. On our walking tour we passed the Galleria dell’ Academia with a replica of Michelangelo’s David and other statues outside in the piazza, the Galleria de Uffizi with statues of famous Florentine’s on the pillars, the Piazza dell’ Signoria with Neptune’s fountain, the Ponte Vechio and of course the Duomo and baptistery with the golden doors or Gate of Paradise. We also tried traditional gelato and loved it! Florence is one of Bron’s favourite European cities and she is glad that she got to share it with Justin. After 5 years of jabbering on about how beautiful and romantic Florence is, he can finally see what she is talking about!

Sunday we woke up to rain and decided to spend the day doing the museum thing. After a two hour wait in the queue we finally made it into the Uffizi. Justin really enjoyed it but Bron is still undecided whether it was worth the two hour wait. The paintings and sculptures were good but Bron enjoyed the few Rembrandt’s that they had more! We accidentally skipped the rooms with the drawings and I have a feeling we missed something good there.

Feeling a bit museumed-out we wandered around the street markets. So much shopping so little time! The leather and wool goods for sale are just beautiful and not that expensive for the real deal. Not being able to carry much more than what we already have with us, we stuck to a scarf each, sheep skin gloves for Bron and a Venetian mask. Bron has decided that she is coming back for a shopping holiday! lol.

We still had some time in hand and because there was no queue we went into the Galleria dell’ Academia. A much smaller museum but home to the original David by Michelangelo. Wow! What an impressive statue! The statue is 5.2 m and the features and proportions are just amazing. If you are in Florence and have time for just one museum go to the Academia and see the original David!

On Monday we started with a walk up the 463 stairs to the top of the Dome of the Duomo. The paintings on the ceiling of the Dome are impressive; the figures seem so real and some look like they are coming right out of the ceiling. More stairs to the top of the Cupola for views over the city, except the Duomo of course. A bit of a hectic climb but definitely worth it!

After the Dome we made our way to Piazza Michelangelo for views of the River Arno and the whole city. Wow, really impressive. You can see from the hills, to the Ponte Vechio, to the Duomo, to the Santa Croce and to the hills on the other side. Really impressive. We supported a local artist and bought an original water colour of views from the Piazza (not like our printed one from Prague…). There is also another copy of Michelangelo’s David in the piazza. They really love the statue here! They call it ‘David Fever’, which I think we caught!

We walked up the hill a little bit to the Chiesa di San Maniato al Monte and Cimitero dell Porte Sante which is a fortress type place with a church and highly decorated cemetery. We made our way back past the Sante Croce and via a Gellateria. Our last stop for the day was the Duomo itself. We went into the Duomo but not the baptistery, the view of the Gate of Paradise was enough for us.

Having covered everything we wanted to see in Florence, we headed to Siena for the day on Tuesday. Typical Spring day it was overcast and drizzling! In Siena we mostly did our own walking tour of the city. We did however go into the Duomo. A very different cathedral to most others. The pillars on the inside are white painted with blue stripes and the ceiling including the dome is painted blue with golden stars. Another different aspect of this church is the floor. The marble floor has pictures and stories from the Bible rather than just a pattern. Most of the floor is covered with cardboard to prevent wear from the feet of so many tourists.

The walls however are more traditional with Christian paintings and sculptures and there is an impressive bronze of St John the Baptist by Donatello. Another interesting thing is they include the symbol of Siena, a she wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, in the church which we though was weird since it is legend and mythology.

We passed many other churches in Siena and saw the main piazza, Piazza del Campo, where the Palio is held each year. Check out one of the Daniel Craig James Bond movies for scenes of the Palio. Basically a bare back horse race around the piazza but very competitive with lots of local rivalry. We also saw the Palazzo Pubblico which is the town hall with an impressive bell tower.

We really enjoyed walking around the narrow winding streets of Siena with very typical Tuscan houses. We loved the washing lines with colourful laundry hanging outside, not too much laundry out though due to the rain. Siena is very hilly so at the top of one hill you have good views of another. There is also an old city wall and fortress which we explored as well. It is not as well preserved as the Festung in Salzburg where it is a museum you can go inside but you can still walk around the top and people were running and walking their dogs. After a long day of walking it was time to head back to Florence to pack our bags and get ready to move on.

We have enjoyed some really good typically Italian meals in Florence. If you are in the area try the restaurants 4 Leoni and La Lampara. It’s amazing what a difference just using fresh pasta makes. Not sure we will be able to go back to the pre-made stuff! Just watch out for the pasta with tripe that is on most menus. And of course you have to try the gelato! Looking forward to more good food in Rome!

Today, we arrived in Rome on the slow train (~4 hrs) where we will be for 4 nights. More rain today, hoping it clears up soon! Apart from the cold we have actually had pretty good weather since we have been in Europe and can’t complain too much. Shell & Bron had more rain during their two weeks in summer than we have had in 2 months in winter! Looking forward to Spring though. Can notice the days are getting longer and some trees have blossoms already. Come on summer come on! Sorry for those in the Southern hemisphere, it means that your winter is on its way but you still have some good days left.

From Rome we fly to Barcelona on Sunday where we will be for 4 nights. We really didn’t want to fly but to get out of Rome on a train was going to be quite expensive so we decided it would be better just to fly. After Barcelona the plan is to move onto Madrid, Lisbon and finally Paris before heading back to Rotterdam sometime at the end of the month (aiming for 25 or 26 March or so). Feeling sad that the end of our 3 months of travels is in sight but guess we still have 4 weeks left and many good things to look forward to in Rotterdam.

Hope everyone at home is well! Sterkte for Argus and Oceans training! Let us know how it is going, we would love to hear from you.

Until next time, ciao ciao!

x

Views of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo 

View of the Ponte Vechio from Piazza Michelangelo 

The Duomo

Front view of the Duomo

Gate of Paradise 

Inside the Duomo

Replica of David at Piazza Michelangelo

Replica of David outside the Academia

View from the top of the Dome

At the top of the Dome

View of the Sante Croce from the top of the Dome

Typical Tuscan houses

Vespa's!

Sante Croce

Gelato! 

Duomo in Siena

Streets in Siena

Piazza dell' Campo

Inside the Duomo in Siena

Laundry in Siena

Ploughing, carving and stacking

There is one word to describe this week. Epic. Epic mountains, epic snow, epic skiing, epic speed, epic wipe outs, epic food, epic people and epic tiredness! All in all it was a good week and we really enjoyed ourselves. For what was supposed to be a relaxing week and a break from moving on every 3 days it was been pretty hard work and very tiring!

Austria and the Tirol region is a place of epic scenery. The mountains and countryside are just spectacular. Whether covered in snow or with the green grass peeking out, it is really awesome. There are real fir trees (think Christmas trees) everywhere and with a dusting of snow everything is transformed into a winter wonderland. From the top station, Hohe Salve 1829 m above sea level, you have a 360°C view over all the mountains and covered in snow it is just breath taking.

Austria has been warmer than we expected, definitely warmer than Prague or Germany, but up the mountain it is epically cold! Wednesday was -15°C at the top station and Thursday about -8°C. Once you start skiing and moving around you warm up but your face is in the wind and it is cold! Covering your nose and mouth is a must. After seeing us wrapped up in the pics on the blog people often ask us if it really is that cold and necessary to wear so many layers and the answer is YES!!

We stayed at the Contiki house, Haus Schöneck, in Hopfgarten and the skiing area is called Ski Welt. There are 280 km of groomed ski slopes and 70 refreshment stops, although we didn’t get through all 280 km! The refreshment stops create such a cool vibe on the mountain. There is always music playing, sometimes live, and people take a time out and just chill for a bit. It’s very vibey! We mostly hung out at the one at Middle Station (1178 m above sea level) and at Rundell’s in Hopfgarten. There are a lot of tourists here for the skiing; mostly English, Australians and the Dutch.

Our week of skiing started on Sunday with our first lesson. We learnt quite a lot but the lessons were really slow and I can see why Julian and Riley ditched them after day one! We tried the steeper beginner slope and felt comfortable so decided to try the mountain on day 2. We took a few tumbles but it went ok. On day 3 we joined up with another group with an instructor on the mountain but we were a bit slow for them and did our own thing after learning a few tricks. Our lessons ended on Day 3 but we were doing ok to go on our own after that. Both of us were moving well but Bron worked out that she doesn’t like skiing and doesn’t think it’s a sport she can get into. Our gear might be branded with ‘no fear’, but that is definitely not how she felt! It’s pretty scary standing at the top of a (steep!) slope and thinking the only I am going to get down here is to ski down. Justin on the other hand was very confident, has really enjoyed it and is aiming to be back next season!

Skiing is a totally different lifestyle. It looks very glamorous and good skiers make it look so easy. Even 5 year old children are on the slopes! It’s crazy. They are so confident and fearless. On the beginner slope are children who have just learnt to walk on ski’s and doing well. It’s definitely something that people grow up with here; it’s just a normal winter sport. We discovered why skiers look so laid back and swagger when they walk, it’s the ski boots! They are not very comfortable to walk in; you can’t help but swagger in them! Skiing is hard work though and really good exercise. We were so tired at the end of each day and stiff in lots of places!

Sunday morning was clear and warm during our first lesson but it clouded over and was snowing by the evening. It snowed for 2 days until Tuesday evening, epic! The snow wasn’t very deep, but for us Africans who haven’t seen so much snow before it was magic! A real winter wonderland with everything covered in snow. It hadn’t snowed here for 3 weeks and the slopes were very icy and not great for skiing. After fresh snow though it was totally different. We found it much easier on the fresh ‘powder’. The slopes are graded or groomed at the end of every day and become quite icy by the next day. If there is snow overnight the slopes are ok the next day but if not they stay pretty icy which didn’t do anything for Bron’s confidence.

Skiers also have their own language which we had to work out and learn. Snow ploughing is a skier’s best friend as this is how you stop and turn. Basically make a V with your ski’s, toes together in the front, and lean forward a little; sometimes easier said than done! Carving is making tracks in the fresh snow. Sometimes the snow is so badly carved you have to stick to the tracks and turn where everyone else has, not always good for a beginner. This is also when the ice under the thin layer of snow sticks through. Stacking is falling; we had some epic stacks! Snow is called powder, very odd. On piste is sticking to the groomed slopes and off piste is making your own way down the mountain. FYI: travel insurance does not cover off piste skiing! Gondola’s and chair lifts are a type of ski lift up the mountain. Generally you can go up and down with a gondola (ski’s off) but going down with a chair lift is more tricky (ski’s on and no proper place to get back on once you are off). It’s really pretty seeing the mountains close up and watching the snow twinkle in the morning sun while on your way up the ski lift. And of course blue, red and black runs. Blue runs are for beginners and black for the super confident! Think the difference is mainly in the steepness of the slope.

Justin and Bron learnt to ski while Michelle and Graham learnt to snow board. Along the way there were some epic wipe outs! Bron was wearing the epic wipe out badge for the first 3 days with 3 classic falls until Michelle took it over on Day 3. When it’s you falling you don’t remember much because it happens so fast but I, and the rest of the dining room, was told many times what it looked like. Bron’s first classic fall was characterised by going head first over a pile of snow into the orange barrier at the end of the steeper beginner slope while leaving her skis and poles behind! The second classic fall was on our first blue run where all Justin saw was Bron disappearing over a hill followed by a puff of snow. Bron’s head and shoulder were pretty sore after that one. No one saw Michelle’s classic stack but she landed hard on her tail bone (aka coccyx) which unfortunately resulted in her not being able to get back on her board after that. Fortunately, nothing was broken and the next day she was moving around much better and even joined us up at middle station to soak up the atmosphere.

If you have a need for epic speed, head down to the Olympic bob sled track in Innsbruck. This was one of the Contiki optional extra activities for the week and really good fun. Five people to a bob sled with a driver as the sixth person and you race through 1.2 km of track in 45 seconds reaching speeds of 120 km per hour!! Yeah man! (You have to say it with a Jamaican accent.)

Friday was our last full day in Hopfgarten and due to the icy conditions on the mountain and Bron and Shell being out of the action, we decided to jump onto the coach and head to Salzburg for the day. It was a beautiful clear sunny day but pretty cold with lots of snow still lying around. We only had 4 hours to explore Salzburg which isn’t a lot of time but we still managed to do a few things. The first stop was the fortress, Festung Hohensalzburg, on the hill. The fortress has a 900 year history and it was very interesting walking around. It must have been freezing cold living there! Next we wandered into the Dom or church where Mozart was baptised, very pretty inside. We wandered around the historical part of the city and saw the palace and gardens where scenes from The Sound of Music were filmed. And of course we tried Mozart Kugeln! Time for a quick coffee and famous Sacher Torte before jumping back on the coach for our last night at Haus Schöneck.

We enjoyed the Contiki accommodation and hospitality this past week. The food was epic! We really ate well but worked it off on the slopes ;~) Seems like you need an interesting nick name to work for Contiki. Ones we came across this week included Muffin, Milo and Speedy. We might be getting a bit old for hectic partying every night that people expect on a Contiki tour but it was a good option for a hassle-free first skiing trip. It was really convenient to have all our accommodation, ski passes, gear hire, lessons, food etc organised for us for the week, all we had to do was arrive. Special thanks to Muffin, Hugh, Julie and the cooks for a good week! 

Saturday morning saw Michelle and Graham on the 4:30 am coach headed for London while Justin and Bron caught the 8:45 am train to Verona. Here we caught a connecting train to Bologna and then to Florence. What a long day! But as always the train rides were great. Passing through the Alps covered in snow was simply magic. Once in Italy, the slopes were covered in grape vines which must be so pretty in summer when they are in leaf. We will be in Florence for 4 nights before heading to Rome for 4 nights. Nothing booked after Rome but the plan is to head to Switzerland and then onto Spain so watch this space.

Hope you are all well and had a good week. Sterkte to those of you who are training for the Argus and Two Oceans! Have a good weekend!

x

Contiki coaches covered in snow! 

All geared up for the first day

Map of the Ski Welt area

Scenes and views from the top station, Hohe Salve

Heading down a black run from Hohe Salve, yikes! 

Slalom ski race

View from Hohe Salve

Watering hole at Middle Station

Gondola!

View of Salzburg from the Festung

View of the Festung

House where Mozart was born

Salzburg

Giant chocolate pretzel

War exhibit in the Festung

Horses and carriage driver waiting for tourists

After a six hour train trip we arrived in Munich on Tuesday where we spent three nights. On Wednesday we started exploring with a trip to the Munich Residenz where the Electors, or rulers, of Bavaria and the Bavarian Kings lived right up until 1918 until it became a museum open to the public. The Residenz is huge with many rooms and great halls. It was wonderful to walk around and imagine what it was like to live as a king of Bavaria. The whole palace is very opulent and decadently furnished, clearly no expense was spared. Two interesting rooms of the Residenz are the Antiquarium and the Portrait Gallery. The Antiquarium was built to house the royal antiquities which mostly seemed to be a collection of marble busts. Later a fire place was installed and the room was converted into a dining hall where the public could come watch the king dine on special occasions. The Portrait Gallery is a long room with a Wittelsbach family tree and portraits of all the family members. Apparently it gave weight to their claim to the throne.

The German National Treasury is also housed at the Residenz. Here you can see varies pieces of treasure including the crowns of Bavarian electors and kings and other jewels. There were also many religious pieces and relics of saints, very interesting. We also saw the Cuvilliés theatre which was designed in the Rococo style and is still in use today.

After the Residenz we made our way to Marienplatz where you will find the Rathaus (town hall) and Glockenspiel and enjoy views of the Frauenkirche. We wandered around and enjoyed the atmosphere of the city. Bron enjoyed coming back to Munich and seeing what had and hadn’t changed since she was last there; Marienplatz still looks much the same!

Thursday morning we headed back to Marienplatz for the 11 o’clock chiming of the Glockenspiel. Bells ring for 15 minutes while figures dance around. Not super amazing but pretty cool and something you have to do when you are in Munich! Thereafter, we made our way to Schloss Nymphenberg, one of the opulent palaces of King Ludwig I. Not as many rooms were open for viewing as the Residenz (90 rooms open to the public) but from the 10 we did see, it is obvious that the standard of living in this palace was also very luxurious. The garden is absolutely massive with waterways and many pleasure houses along the way. The palace was built as a summer residence and leisurely summer living seemed to be the order of the day.

With only two days for sightseeing that is all we managed to get in but we enjoyed being in the city and it was nice to see some palaces and not just art galleries and churches. Munich was still pretty cold but a bit warmer than Prague, anywhere is warmer than Prague in winter!! We really enjoyed the traditional Bavarian cuisine and tried out three different beer halls (or brauhaus). Our first night we tried Augustiner Keller followed by Hofbrauhaus on Wednesday and finally Weisses Brauhaus on Thursday. Each one is slightly different but the food and atmosphere at all of them was great. Hofbrauhaus is more touristy with few locals but they have a live oompah band which gets everyone jiving in their seat and is really fun. Having said that though, if you are a local you can lock away your own stein and then use it in the brauhaus when you visit. Augustiner and Weisses had more locals in them but no live music. Weisses offers old traditional Bavarian meals such as ‘skirt’, which is basically the diaphragm of an animal, for the adventurous! Justin had Weiss or wheat beer at each brauhaus and voted Weisses as the best. Something quite different to home is that people share tables in restaurants. So if it is a table that seats 8 you can quite easily be 4 different groups sharing. Also, people are allowed to bring their dogs into the beer halls provided they stay under the table.

Friday we were back on the train heading for Innsbruck for one night. As always we really enjoyed the train trip. This was the first time we saw any mountains, the landscape has been pretty flat so far, and they were covered in snow! Very impressive! We caught the regional train (3hrs) rather than a speed train (2hrs, not too much difference) and passed some lakes and beautiful old Bavarian towns. We passed Garmisch-Partenkirchen where the ski world cup is currently on and we saw our first ski slopes!

After arriving in Innsbruck we had a few hours to wander around before it got dark. We saw the Golden Roof in the Marktplatz which was commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I. Bron’s treat was visiting the Swarovski crystal shop! She was a bit disappointed that the main shop was under reconstruction and only a smaller collection was available in the info centre. Shopping there was still fun though =) It definitely feels warmer in Austria than Germany or Czech! Which is contradictory since this is where all the snow is, hm.

This morning we took a train from Innsbruck to Wörgl where we were met by the Contiki crew for our week of skiing! Today has been a relaxed day. We checked in, wandered around the town of Hopfgarten, got our ski’s and boots and did admin like laundry (yes, when you are travelling for 2 months you have to make time to do laundry!). Later on we will get the lo-down on our week here and then tomorrow we will hit the slopes for our first ski lesson and some skiing! Shell and Graham are due to arrive soon from a 24 hour bus trip from London. They are going to sleep well tonight!

We have booked the next leg of our trip. Next Saturday we head to Florence for 4 nights and then Rome for 4 nights. Nothing booked after that but the plan is to head to Switzerland, Spain, maybe Portugal, definitely Paris and then probably home to Rotterdam. Internet here is more expensive than the previous places we stayed at so we won’t be online as much this week. But we love hearing from everyone so please keep mailing us and leaving comments on the blog! We are up to 1000 hits now, yay!

Hope you are well and enjoying the summer sun! Have a good weekend!

x

Blogging on the train. Can you see the snow? 

The answer to all our travel needs!  

Outside the Residenz in Munich 

The Antiquarium

The great hall 

Chapel 

Portrait Gallery

Anthony Hopkins? 

Cuvillies Theatre 

Glockenspiel

Hofbrauhaus Ommpah band!

Schloss Nympenburg

Innsbruck