Riding the Trains in Italy

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…..I love travelling by train but I’m not so sure I would buy a rail pass again

Travelling by train can be very relaxing and is less stressful than driving a car throughout Italy. Our travel agent booked first class rail passes for six days for us ahead of time. Our first trip from Venice to Florence in first class was wonderful but half of our trips didn’t even have first class compartments. We probably could have saved a lot of money buying tickets as we needed them.

One of the things we learned about travelling by train is that you have to have your tickets validated at the station and you must fill in the dates you travel on the passes. My husband had been filling in the wrong portion of our passes and one kind conductor handed him a pen and instructed him to fill it in properly. He could have fined us each a 100 euro. On our last trip to Rome our son, his new bride and her parents didn’t know that the tickets that they purchased from a machine in Assisi had to be validated in another machine. Unfortunately the conductor on this train was not so forgiving and charged them. They tried to explain that they didn’t read Italian and no one told them about this extra step when purchasing tickets. He thought he was being generous when he reduced the fine to 33 euro but when my daughter-in-law was not happy with the compromise he became quite angry. In the end they paid the fine but we couldn’t help but think that the money was being pocketed by the conductor.

Sunday Trees – 247

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….I love these Cyprus trees

It’s a tree that I’ve only ever seen in paintings and photos but in Italy and certainly in the outskirts of Florence and in the hills of Assisi they are everywhere. Thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees.

WPC – Morning

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….in Italy, mornings start with a coffee and a sweet

In Florence we found a famous baker from Vienna who made 20 different croissants every morning to serve to his customers. We first discovered his shop late one afternoon, just as they were about to close but they invited us in and made me a special ice coffee. Apparently ice coffee and coffee cream are two things that you don’t normally find in Italy. I didn’t know this but the baker was more than happy to whip up his own version of ice coffee for me. I also tried to order cream for my husband’s Americano and the baker was about to top it with whipped cream but I stopped him. It was then that he explained that coffee cream was a German and Viennese thing and in Italy only milk was used in coffee or served black.

That afternoon we enjoyed our beverages and some of the best pastries we’ve ever tasted. As we were leaving the owners of the cafe encouraged us to come back for breakfast so that we could try some of their special croissants.

A couple of days later we took them up on their offer and stopped for breakfast before heading out to the leather market down the street. Sure enough there were numerous croissants to choose from. I decided on the most unusual looking one. It was completely black because it was made from ash and it was filled with prunes. It was absolutely delicious and complemented my cappuccino. The only downside was that it left black flecks between my teeth that were difficult to remove.

For more ‘morning’ photos check out WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge

Venice Architecture Biennale 2016

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….featuring different aspects of architecture from around the world

One of the must see venues in Venice for my family on our recent trip was to take in some of the Venice Biennale exhibits, mainly the the Victoria and Albert contribution curated by our son.

For those who have never heard of biennales let me explain. A biennale takes place every two years. They are large international art exhibitions dealing with contemporary issues around art, music and architecture and take place all over the world. The Venice Biennale was founded in 1895 and highlighted city marketing, urban regeneration and cultural tourism. This year’s theme is titled REPORTING FROM THE FRONT, and is curated by Alejandro Aravena. The show runs from May to September and the exhibits can be found at the Giardini and the Arsenale.

The exhibit our son curated in agreement with la Biennale di Venizia and the Victoria and Albert Museum out of London, England is titled A World of Fragile Parts and focuses on how the production of copies throughout history and today has aided in the preservation of cultural artefacts.

This exhibit highlights the new technologies that make it possible to fabricate copies of historical artefacts that are ravaged by war, tourism and environmental factors. For more information about the exhibit go here.

Old technology using plaster casts.

New technology using digital scanning and 3D printers.

Unfortunately while we were there our son was not so to prove that we actually went and saw the exhibit we posed in front of the sign for A World of Fragile Parts. Even the baby got involved by pointing out her uncle’s name on the list of credits. A week later Brendan did go back to Venice to give a talk and teach a class on the exhibit.

My only regret is that we didn’t get to see more of the Biennale. Two days in Venice is not enough time.

Traffic Jam in Venice

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…there are no cars in Venice

You can get to Venice by bus, train, boat and car but the only transportation in Venice proper is by water. So how can Venice have a traffic jam you ask? It’s all on the water, in the canals and around the perimeter of the island.

The photo of the gondolas is courtesy of my brother-in-law.

Where to Stay in Venice

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…..hotel, Airbnb or VRBO?

Accommodations in Venice vary from luxury hotels to simple one bedroom Airbnbs.

For our first two days in Venice we opted to stay in a small hotel called Villa Rosa in the district of Cannaregio. It was close to the bus stop and train station and a little less busy than other parts of Venice. We had a small room with a double bed and a twin and a crib. For two nights we figured we could stand each other enough to all sleep in the same room. Admittedly the baby had a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings and ended up sleeping in the twin with her mother both nights.

To get to our room we had to climb up one flight of steps and then down another to get to the back of the hotel where our room was located. In the morning we had breakfast in the hotel where a continental breakfast was served every morning.

The roads (pathways) to and from our hotel were narrow but we never felt unsafe. Literally a few hundred metres from our hotel was the Airbnb that our other daughter and her wife were renting. It was a cute little place with one bedroom, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. Everything was very modern, clean and air conditioned.

My sister and her family were also in Venice at the same time. They arrived one day earlier and stayed on day longer. They rented a place through VRBO that was located within walking distance from us in the same district. It was very large, spacious and beautifully decorated with Indonesian and Asian artefacts. The downsize was that it on the sixth floor and the elevator was broken. Apart from that there were three bedrooms, two modern bathrooms a huge living room, a small walk out and a quirky little kitchen. The views looking over the rooftops of Venice were wonderful. On our first night there we all got together and enjoyed a great Italian meal prepared by my brother-in-law.

My only regret in Venice is that our stay of two days was too short. You need at least four days and if you are staying that long and enjoy cooking and shopping Airbnb or RVBO is the way to go.

Till next time, Ciao!

One Word Photo Challenge – Child

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Jennifer Nicole Wells for this week’s theme Child

Travelling through Italy with our granddaughter was delightful. After Venice we took a train to Florence. Even at nine months she’s very inquisitive and it was fun watching her discover the world around her.

In our apartment in Florence she helped us unpack the groceries.

I Don’t Know How I Managed!

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….getting ready for an overseas trip following the last week of school was insane

As I’ve mentioned many times before teaching in June is insanely busy. The week before leaving for Italy I had the following to do:

• attend a birthday party for a very special friend

I’ve know AB for 40 years. In fact she was my first teaching friend and colleague and she quickly became a member of our family. She was there when all my children were born, she spends every Christmas with us and most birthdays. She attended the weddings of our daughters and held Winnie soon after she was born. We’ve been there for each other, through thick and thin, in good times and bad. Last year she made a big move and the family rallied behind her to help in any way possible. I was thrilled when all my family came out for her birthday, especially since we were all preparing for Italy.

• MC the farewell celebration for the grade 5 students on Monday

• clean the library and attend the staff party on Tuesday

• on Wednesday run the final assembly of the year, with the help of two friends, for the entire school.

• on Thursday attend the last staff meeting of the year and then clean up the library office before the end of the school day

Trying to clean and organize my office was probably the most stressful day of all. Knowing that I only had a few hours to get it done and having to say good-bye to two colleagues who were retiring left me very emotional. At one point I actually had a melt down when friends wished me a great trip and gave me Euros to treat myself in Italy. I think it was all too much. I had put such high expectations on the trip and my husband wasn’t 100% well. I really worried that things would go wrong and that the trip could be one big disaster (luckily it wasn’t).

• Friday became packing day and transporting the birds to my niece’s place

Friday, July 1st was the first day of my holiday and it was Canada Day. That meant that next to nothing was open because it was a national holiday. If anything went wrong today there wasn’t much I could do about it. Well of course something did go wrong. The shoes that I had planned to take to Italy broke and were unwearable. I couldn’t get them fixed in time and I had no other sandals to replace them.

We also got a phone call from a very close friend who was suppose to be on his way to Norway for a very special presentation that he was doing. Well it turned out that when he got to the airport his passport, although not expired, was going to expire in a couple of months and the airlines wouldn’t let him fly. Would we verify to officials that he was who he claimed to be so that he could have a new passport issued to him? Well of course we said yes but we weren’t sure how he would manage that seeing that all government offices were closed.

• Saturday we packed the car and drove to Hamilton to drop off the dog and pick up our daughter and granddaughter and then drove to the airport

I decided to quickly drive to the mall as soon as they open and pick up a new pair of sandals. I was successful and in fact I ended up buying two pairs of shoes that I packed for the trip.

Our friend called and had made arrangements to meet with someone from Immigration Canada and we had to be on call to answer any questions that they might have about him. I quickly asked about his height and weight and the colour of his eyes. Even though we’ve known him for over 25 years we weren’t sure about his eye colour. His hair is dark so we assumed they were probably brown but we were wrong. His eyes are blue.

By the time we left for Hamilton we still hadn’t heard from the immigration people and of course they tried to call us while we were driving. Luckily they tried several times and we did eventually connect and were able to answer all their questions to their satisfaction.

Later that day we all made our flights and our journey to Italy began. Maybe next time I plan a trip to Europe I’ll give myself a week at home before I leave. Stay tuned for our adventures in Venice. Ciao!

Thursday Doors – July 21, 2016

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…..after returning from Italy I have numerous photos of doors to share on Thursday Doors

This first door was shot in Rome behind the Spanish Steps. My son says it’s famous but no one in the group even noticed it as we walked by except me. How could one not see this?

This is Palazzetto Zuccari, also known as Casa dei Mostri (House of the Monsters).

I’m Back and Excited to Share My Journey

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….I’ve finally returned from my trip of a lifetime to Italy

We stepped through our front door on Tuesday evening after being on an airplane for 9 hours, at the baggage carousel for at least an hour and then two hours in a car. We ended up driving to Hamilton first to drop off our daughter and Winnie. We stayed for a bit and had a much needed cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Then we packed up our dog, Frances and headed back to Toronto. By the time we got to bed we had been up for about 21 hours.

Luckily for me I managed to sleep through the night but my husband was up at 4:00 and Winnie was definitely on European time, getting up at 2:00 and 4:00 and then again at 7:00. Not only did she wake up but she stayed awake for an hour or two each time.

When I checked my emails I had over 1000. Needless to say that checking and replying to each one is next to impossible. I apologize in advance to my followers whose emails I had to delete. Even deleting emails takes time and I’m now down to 300. I’m hoping to read most of them.

I’ve managed to upload about half of my photos to my laptop. I’ve asked my family members to send me more shots, especially with ones of me in them. At the family wedding I didn’t have one photo of me in either of my cameras. Luckily my brother-in-law and nephew took lots and they promised to send me some.

So for the next couple of weeks I’ll definitely share some of my adventures and certainly many of my photos from Italy. For now I leave you with a small sampling of my 17 days in Venice, Florence, Bologna, Lucca, Assisi and Rome. Enjoy!