Europe 2022 - 2023 Blog no 4 (03 Jan 2023 to 14 Jan 2023)

 Tuesday 3^rd January 2023

We have to move on today so up and finished packing before heading to the pharmacy next to the tram stop to get some throat stuff for Les. Left Zurich at about 10:00 heading to Thun via Bern. Nothing overly spectacular on this part of the trip. Arrived in Thun and after storing our luggage had a wander around part of the old town area and adopted our latest family member “Franc” (from Swiss Franc) – a teddy bear dressed as a reindeer. Not sure what the Kids will think as Franc is twice their size! 

They take security to extremes in Thun

Franc, our new family member

We stopped at the Rialto Italian Restaurant for lunch. Joy had the gnocchi and Les had grilled chicken and vegies. Very nice meals but as with anything in Switzerland, expensive. 

After lunch we headed back to the station, collected our bags from the locker and caught the train to Zermatt with a change at Visp. From Visp to Zermatt we are on a cog railway part of the way. The train to Visp was running a few minutes late and we had to move from platform 3 to 7 – we had to almost run to make the connection. With Les being crook this was a real struggle and affected him badly. Took a quarter of an hour or so to recover. We settled down for the ride up the mountains and starting to get more snow scenery again. Very spectacular. 

St Nicholas Station on the way to Zermatt

Arrived in Zermatt just after 4:00 and Joy popped into the supermarket for some milk and treats. We then lined up for the free bus that runs around the town. When it arrived it stopped at the wrong end of the stopping area se we had to push our way through people just to get to it. The bus had lots of skiers with their skis and we were only just able to fit on the bus. Got off the bus and a couple of hundred metre downhill walk to the accommodation. Settled in and had a cuppa!! Quiet evening with apricot jam on bread for tea.

USB Power device plugged into Europe Adapter, plugged into Swiss adapter!!

Wednesday 4^th Jan 2023

Woke to a beautiful day weatherwise with the plan to ride the Gornergrat Railway to the top of the mountain with views over the Matterhorn and much more, BUT Les is really crook this morning with very sore throat and having trouble swallowing. Found a doctor about 400 metres away. Joy rang and we were able to get a 10:30 appointment. Interesting experience compared to a doctor’s visit in Australia. First, we were able to get an appointment so quickly, second, no one else in the waiting room. The doctor asked the normal questions, did blood pressure check, etc. After the examination said that Les had an inflamed throat and arranged for his assistant to do a blood test which they did there and then, including the result. Result, Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. Got 2 prescriptions. The bill came to just under 100 CHF (about $180 AUD) but that included the blood test and testing, etc so we were pleasantly surprised as we were expecting higher. Went into town and got the prescriptions filled. 

Matterhorn from Zermatt. Perfect weather!

Decided to take the train to the top of the mountain. It is a 30 minute ride up with spectacular scenery. When we got to the top at about 3,080 metres Joy decided to get out and wander and catch the next train back down. The view from up the top is even more spectacular. There were lots of skiers, both downhill and cross-country, and also people walking with snow shoes. But there were also lots of people just there for the view.  Joy had to be careful wandering around, though, as with the snow all trodden on and frozen into ice it was very slippery. There is a café/restaurant up there so you could get a cuppa or a meal and sit and enjoy the scenery. Joy didn’t do that, though, as even though it was sunny, it was COLD.

Gornergrat with Matterhorn in background.

Train leaving Gornergrat

Frozen Waterfalls

Les had stayed on the train and came back down straight away as the altitude is making him worse. Once back down below 2,500/2,000 metres he improved a bit. Zermatt is about 1,600. After Joy got back down, we had a cheese fondue for lunch – tick off another item from the list. It was Les’ first fondue and he was not overly impressed even though it did have bacon in it. 

Cheese and Bacon Fondue

As we were already ½ way back to our accommodation and most of the route is relatively flat we walked back home. Quiet afternoon with Les resting for most of it. Joy did some diary. Apricot jam on bread for dinner again tonight.

 

Thursday 5^th Jan 2023

Another day on the move as we head from Zermatt to Chur on the Glacier Express. Up early as we have to be at the railway station for an 8:52 am train and we need to be at the bus stop to get the bus to the station. To make sure we made it on time we caught the 7:30 bus that got us to the station at about 7:50. 

Waiting for the 7:50 am bus.
The sun rise is after 8:00 and then still has to get over the mountains.

The bus driver was not very happy when we tried to get the suitcases on the bus as he wanted them in the storage area in the back of the bus where the floor is about 5 feet off the ground. After much grumpy shouting in German, and us not knowing what he wanted us to do, he got out and put them in himself, but we had to get them out ourselves at the station. When we arrived at the station the plan was to buy something for our lunch but Joy could only find fruit at the supermarket as we are getting a bit sick of cheese roll/pretzel, etc.

Boarded the Glacier Express and it is fancy, but like many trains in Europe does not have enough space to store all the suitcases. Since we were first on though, we found a spot. We also noticed that about ¾ of the 1^st class tables had been set for the lunch with proper plates, cutlery, etc We think we will be a bit out of place eating our fruit!! We took our seats which are two aisle seats, one forward and one backwards. As the train filled, the passengers that have the window seats arrive and take their seats. They are a couple and she is from North America and he is from Guatemala but they live in Warsaw. They said they only reserved the seats in the recent past as they only recently decided to do the trip. We booked 89 days out and could not get window seats!! (You can only reserve seats 90 days in advance). They were nice enough people but after about ½ hour the ticket inspector came around and checked tickets and found they only had 2^nd class tickets so they had to pay the difference to stay in 1^st class. We had also decided at this stage to buy our lunch on the train so we ordered pumpkin and chestnut soup and a little pineapple charlotte dessert. A short time later the ticket inspector was back and said to us that as the carriage was different to the one on the web that did the reservation it meant there was an extra row of seats at the front of the carriage and would we like to move to there where we had windows seats on the side with only window seats. Naturally we jumped at the opportunity.

Glacier Express once we had moved seats

Pumpkin and Chestnut Soup. Surprisingly large serve. Yummy!

Little Pineapple Charlotte for Dessert.

Glacier Express

The carriage in front of us was the “Excellence class” where after you buy your 1^st class ticket you have to pay an extra 470 Swiss Franc each. That is about $800 AUD. You do get 5 course meal, champagne, etc! We had our ticket covered by the Euro pass and paid 39 Swiss Franc (75 AUD) but had to pay for our food and drinks which cost us about 100 AUD and we had plenty to eat. The soup was a large dish and very nice with the fresh bread they served. The dessert was small but sufficient and very nice. The coffees Joy had were a bit small (that seems to be the norm) but were still nice.

The trip is a wonderful trip and plenty of scenery although some was in cloud/fog. As they have not had as much snow as normal it was not the picture postcard winter wonderland we expected but still very good. Near the end of our part of the trip we passed through river canyons with “hoodoo” type formations. 

Hoodoo formations, Glacier Express

Arrived in Chur in the mid afternoon and headed to our accommodation. Just doing a hotel stay since it is only one night. Settled in and then headed out for a walk and cuppa. After that head back and Les had a rest. Joy went out later to get some bread and yoghurt for tea. She found some VERY tasty fresh bread! Decided to have a cuppa with tea, but could only do that after going to reception to ask for an electric jug and some mugs as they aren’t provided in the room. Quiet night.

Our accommodation was in an old hotel in the old part of town but has been renovated inside with modern stuff such as some sparkling tiles but the one we could not understand was the bathroom door. It is frosted glass but above it there are 2 LED light fittings and they cycle through various colours. Completely out of place in such an old building.

 

Friday 6^th Jan 2023

Another reasonably early day (remembering the sun does not come up until about 8:00 am). We had breakfast in the breakfast room with Joy having cereal, croissant and coffee (from machine). Les had cereal and a small serve of bacon and eggs which were lukewarm. Decided not to have a glass of the sparkling wine that was available, although other guests had some. We then headed to the station with the weather being clear and cold.

After a wait on the platform, we boarded the Bernina Express after fighting to get on the train. They have run out of luggage room so Les had his suitcase next to his seat and Joy’s ended up in the next carriage. The carriage was only ¾ full. We had booked the single seats side of the train with one forward and one backwards. Joy is OK with the backward facing. We start climbing into the Alps and the scenery is SPECTACULAR!! The train is not the same standard as the Glacier Express but it also only cost us 40 Swiss Francs (about $75 AUD) to reserve seats as the ticket was again covered by the Eurail pass. They do come around taking orders for coffee and some snacks. We ordered coffee (no cappuccino), cup of hot water (for Les to have his Lemon tea) and a packet of Engadiner Totenbeinli (Engadin hazelnut fingers). Small but very nice treats. The coffee/water comes in a cardboard cup. 

Morning Tea on Bernina Express

We kept climbing and there is lots of snow to be seen. When we got to the top of the pass at Alp Grum we were given 15 minutes to get off the train and have a look at the view. Wow, what a view. Just had to be extremely careful as the ground was covered in ice!! Even the train manager nearly took a tumble as he was getting off the train. 

Next we headed down and the views are still spectacular. [Have had a look on Google Maps and it is possible to follow the train route on the maps. As an example go to RhätischeBahn AG - Google Maps and check out the scenery but spin the view around to look backwards and you can see they appear to have strapped a person to a racing seat that is strapped to the front of a flatbed train carriage. What a wild ride that would have been!!]. As we were heading down the mountains, they came giving out free presents (not sure if this was only for 1^st class). We got a small train carriage full of Lindt heart chocolates (they normally sell on the train at 9.50 Swiss francs)

Metal Carriage with Lindt Hearts

and a herb tea drink that normally sells for 4.50 Swiss franc, so we got 28 Swiss francs worth and the seat reservation was only 40 Swiss franc! The service was very warm and friendly. 

Arrived in Tirano, Italy just before 1:00 pm. A few of the passengers were booked to go back to Chur that afternoon on the same train so they were making a day trip of it!

After we dragged our bags to the hotel and booked in we went to the café next door for lunch. Les had a ham and cheese focaccia and lemon soft drink and Joy had speck and brie panini and a beer (although her first selection was a zero alcohol so she quickly changed that when the bar lady pointed it out!). Back to the room for a rest and then we did some walking around town, but Joy got us lost (not necessarily a bad thing) and we just ended up wandering until she got us back on the correct path. Tirano old town is really old and lots of narrow pathways winding in and out of buildings, etc.

We had dinner as part of the accommodation package and had (at 8:00 pm as that is the earliest they serve dinner!!) Risotto Valtellinese (risotto with air dried beef), Taroz (potato, green beans, onion, garlic and butter) with local Salsicetta (sausage) [Les wasn’t very keen on the sausage] and dessert of Bisciola (fruit cake style) and Cupeta (honey, dissolved sugar and diced almonds.). Dessert was wonderful. The meal was all typical foods of the region. We forgot to take our cameras so no photos.

Back to the room and had to stay up for a few hours to let dinner settle.

 

Saturday 7^th Jan 2023

Another day to move on but first breakfast as it is also included in the package. Joy had croissant with jam, yoghurt, orange juice and cappuccino (very good and hot!). Les had cereal, yoghurt, orange juice and biscuits.

Dragged our bags back to the station for an 11:08 train to Varenna, which is on Lake Como. This is a local train and you can tell! The windows were dirty so the photos will not be very good for this part of the trip.

Arrived in Varenna at about 12:30 and our host Giorgio was at the railway station waiting for us. Took us on a quick tour of town and where things are and then back to the villa to settled in. Headed to the station to catch a train to the previous town to do some grocery shopping but we missed the train so had lunch in the railway café. Nice meal. Train to Bellano and did the shopping and then a 30 minute wait to get the train back and walk home. Afternoon tea and relax. Les did the first load of washing for about a week.

View from accommodation

View from Accommodation

Tea was meatballs, vegies and wedges and cake and yoghurt for dessert.

 

Sunday 8^th Jan 2023

This was our day of rest and we picked a good one as it rained today. We spent the day doing washing, blog, diary, knitting (Joy) and watching it rain which it did for most of the day and well into the night. Tea was spaghetti with meatballs.

 

Monday 9^th Jan 2023

We woke to a beautiful sunny day after the rain of yesterday so decided to take a ferry ride. We had a choice of a trip to Menaggio or Bellagio. We opted for Bellagio as the return trip times suited us better. It was 15 minutes each way and cost us about 18 euro (30 AUD). Bellagio is similar to Varenna in that it is built on the side of the hill so most walks require you to climb stairs. We did a quick walk around but most shops were shut as it is off season. Many are closed until March! We then decided we had had enough of looking at closed shops so caught the next ferry back to Varenna. Bellagio has many more shops and is more a tourist town than Varenna. 

Amazing where they grow trees!!

Our Accommodation was 2nd floor middle windows just behind the mast of the yacht!

When we got back we walked back along the road to try to find a shop open to buy stuff for lunch and some milk. Couldn’t find anything open. In fact could only find 1 café/shop and it did not have what we wanted so we had biscuits, cheese and tomato for lunch.

After lunch we decided to do the walk to Castello di Vezio. Walked along the waterfront to the beginning of the walk and then it was uphill all the way! It took us about 45 minutes to climb to the top (we knew the castle was closed but hoped for a good view). Les was really struggling in some parts and needed regular stops. When we got there we discovered there weren’t any good views of the castle area as it’s blocked off, and there weren’t any good views down over Varenna or the lake, so after having a rest at the top for 10 minutes we headed back down which took about 20/25 minutes and then walked along the waterfront back to the apartment for a well earned cuppa!

All we saw of the Castle after the long climb!

Tea tonight was chicken & spinach schnitzel with wedges and vegies.

 

Tuesday 10^th Jan 2023

Another day to move on but as the train did not leave until about 10:30 it was a fairly easy morning.  Overnight the wind came up and it was very windy this morning. We had packed most of the stuff the night before so after breakfast we did some cleaning up and final packing before leaving the accommodation at about 9:45 am. We had to carry our suitcases over the cobblestones sections until we got to the concrete block part of the waterfront walk. It was much easier then until we hit the steep road part to the station but slow and steady we made it. 

A bit windy at the train station!

Tried walking the length of the train but got too hard with the suitcases so managed to find 2 seats in 2^nd class and plonked ourselves down. We only had a 1 hour trip so not too bad. Arrived in Milan with a plan to put suitcases in storage and then have a quick walk around and lunch and back for a 1:10 pm train to Florence. By the time we got out of the station and put the luggage in storage it was already after 12:00 pm so we looked for a café. Found one just near the luggage storage place but it didn’t look like it did sandwiches, etc. We were standing out the front of the café weighting up our options when an old lady at the table called Joy over and after a discussion it was decided that the café was the best option and that they did very good, cheap pasta meals. So we gave it a try. We shared a cheese/green bean (?) pasta and a vegetable pasta and both were very good. Extremely tasty and came with bread, oil and parmesan cheese. Les had a pineapple juice and Joy had an expresso which cost 1.10 euros (less than 2 AUD)! The whole meal cost less than $20 AUD! Thank you to that lovely little old lady.

A worry when they serve a steak knife with pasta! But beautiful meal.

After lunch we picked up our luggage and headed back to the railway station. We have booked seats between Milan and Florence as seat reservations are mandatory.

Not being snobs but 1^st class in much nicer, although it was a different train and company so 2^nd class may have been fine. During the trip they delivered free drinks and biscuits. The biscuits had chocolate in them so Joy had to eat them all!! The scenery was good with the part Milan to Bologna being open farm land, town, businesses and snow-capped mountains in the distance. Between Bologna and Florence not sure what the view was as about 95% was in underground tunnels!!! The train was a high speed train and we saw it reach 299 kph. 

They also have a camera fitted to the back of the train so you can sometimes see where you have been. Don’t know if they use the same camera when the train is going the opposite direction and can watch where you are going.

Arrived in Florence at about 3:10 and walked to accommodation and had a 10 minute wait to be let in. Nice apartment in an old part of Florence (just up the street from the Medici Chapel, on one of the streets with all the leather goods stalls) but the downside is that there is no elevator and the stairs are really steep.

Did the grocery shopping and stopped at the bakery next to our accommodation for an afternoon treat. The bakery has a reputation as having very good stuff and they are right.

 

Wednesday 11^th Jan 2023

Up early today as the tour leaves at 7:45, we have to be there 20 minutes beforehand, and it is a 15 min walk to the meeting point. We are off to Siena, Chianti, San Gimignano and Pisa. A 12 hour tour! After meeting at the required spot we all piled on the coach with Martha (tour leader) and Boris (driver). It is a dual language tour being English and Spanish. Martha can speak 4½ languages. We get the details in English and then in Spanish. We knew we were in for an interesting tour when the two ladies in front had their seats reclined before we even left the coach parking area!! After about 2 hours we reached Siena and went as a group to the centre of Siena. We were then free to wander as we wanted or could follow the tour leader for a short time to the main square. We opted to wander. We found the main square (well actually more semi-circle), 

where the famous horse race occurs, then wandered some of the back streets. Very interesting and some curious places to park cars! We found a nice little café where we had some m/tea and then headed back to the meeting spot via a few more back streets. Joy’s expert sense of navigation had us very close to the meeting spot without following Google Maps!

Back to the coach and the seats in front still in the layback position! But we did not have a long trip until we arrived at Il Ciliegio Winery for a typical Tuscan Lunch. Meat and cheese followed by pasta and then biscotti for dessert. 

When we had gotten off the coach Les had put the front seats back in the upright position so we will see how we go. Well only took about 2 minutes for the seat to go back and this time the woman had her hand over her head and draped on the back of the seat. No consideration for anyone else. Next stop was San Gimignano where we had free time to explore the town which is perched on top of a hill and is very old ie 700 to 800 years old. 

View from San Gimignano

No, Joy only had 1 of them!!

View of part of San Gimignano

View from San Gimignano

We did have time to get some gelato from Caffetteria Gelateria dell'Olmo “The Best ice Cream in the World”. Well it was very good. Very creamy!! When we got back to the coach we waited until everyone boarded and selected some seats where there was no one on front of us! Much better. Next stop was Pisa. The car park for the Battistero di San Giovanni, Cattedrale di Pisa and Leaning Tower of Pisa is about 800 metres from the actual buildings and involved walking the streets. As we arrived in the car park the coach gets swamped by people trying to sell umbrellas, etc. When we arrived at the site there are lots of stalls selling lots of (mostly) tacky souvenirs. As it is now about 4:30 most of the crowds have disappeared but it is also drizzly light rain but not enough to need an umbrella. Didn’t go into any of the buildings as we didn’t really have time, and they cost and they close at 5:00. Also the climb of the leaning tower takes about 30 minutes up and back. 

Limoncello

We had a late a/tea at McCafe just next to the buildings (on the outer side of the fortress walls).  In Italy you often have to pay to use the toilets from 50 cents to 1 euro. You accept that when there is someone there keeping them clean, etc but McDonalds toilet was dirty and taps that did not work. Also normally if you have bought something the toilets are free but not here. Back to the coach after the last 2 stragglers were located in the café. By now it was dark so a long coach ride back to Florence in the dark. Back in Florence at about 7:15 and home just after 7:40. 

So many flavours, so few nights!

Very tired after such a long day. Watched some America Got Talent on Youtube on the TV!

 

Thursday 12^th Jan 2023

Another early start as this tour meeting place is the Main Railway Station at 7:30 so had to be there by 7:15. After making sure everyone was there, we walked as a group to the coach parking area (not sure why we did not just meet there). It looks more like a 18-35 tour group as there were only about 5 of us over 35! We also had what looked like an “influencer” who had a tripod for her mobile photo and was taking glamour selfies. We also had a young couple doing lots of the glamour type shots but they would take ages and blocked other people from getting their scenery shots! We were lucky and got the seats behind the tour leaders and had a view straight out the front of the coach!

An ancient Aqueduct was in the way of a highway.
so they just cut out the section where the road went!!

First stop was La Spezia where we swap from coach to train. We have been warned that we need to be at meeting places during the day at the correct time as we are using trains to get between town and if you miss one it is an hour to the next train and if you miss the last train of the day you are stuck for the night! La Spezia has a deep harbour and was a prime military and industrial town and so in WWII it was extensively bombed by the allies. About 90% of the historic centre developed between 1100 and 1600 was destroyed by the bombing.

The first stop on the train was Manarola (which is actually the second town along the coast). It takes between 3 and 10 minutes to get between each town in Cinque Terre by train or about 45 to 60 minutes via road. Not hard to see why they use the train. Free time to explore the city and harbour. Most of the towns only have 1 main road so difficult to get lost.  We had morning tea in a little café near the waterfront called Bar La Plancia. 

Manarola

After Manarola we jump on the train and head to Corniglia where we have the option of the 400 odd steps or a small coach. We decided to do the stairs as we were told they are fairly low steps and wide spaces between the stairs. They were right but it was still a hard slog. 

Steps to Corniglia

Surprisingly Les was not the last one up the stairs! We did stop quite a few times and took photos and caught our breath. We then all headed to a restaurant for lunch of seafood plate (calamari, squid, stuffed sardine), then pasta with pesto, potato and green beans. Nice but pasta was only just warm. 

We then did a quick wander through town before meeting the group again. This was where we split with just over half opting for the 1 hour steep walk to the next village. We opted to catch the train which gave us more time in the next village of Vernazza. 

Vernazza from Fortress Lookout

The Influencer!!

Walked to the fortress overlooking the town for photos (another steep walk and Les is starting to slow down more) and back. We had passed the Gelateria Vernazza shop and there was a line so thought we would get some on the way back. When we went back the line was queued out the door but only took about 5 minutes to get served so not too bad. Good gelato but not as good as the previous day. By now we can see that several of the younger passengers have had a few wines, etc and are very chatty. Next stop was Monterosso al Mare, which actually has a beach! 

A couple of girls decided to go in for a swim. Crazy – so crazy that the local builders stopped work to take photos! This town has a couple of castles – one at each end of the town. One of those castles has a HUGE statue in front of it that was partially demolished when the workmen demolishing the original building got their instructions confused. The other castle has a gun turret down below it from WWII, which just looks weird.

It was from here we were to catch a boat back to Riomaggiore however the sea was too rough. They do not have jetties, etc and the only way to load and unload the passengers is via a plank from the front of the boat to the flat rocks! While we were checking out the harbour we saw a group of people get caught by a big wave coming in – they managed to run back to the flat section but they were soaked! 

Sunset at Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore

So back on the train to Riomaggiore which is one of the most photographed villages in the world. Some sunset photos and on the train back to La Spezia for final snacks, toilet break before the 2 hour coach trip home. Arrive back at about 8:15. The young ones must have slept on the way home as they were very quiet! No staying power!!

All the villages in Cinque Terra are really pretty, but all different. Definitely worth the visit.

Home at about 8:30.

 

Friday 13^th Jan 2023

Had an easy morning with Joy going to the local wool shop to buy some wool. It is sock wool and cheaper with more variety than at home. Les did diary, reviews, etc. After lunch we headed out for a bit of a walking tour of Florence which included Giotto's Bell Tower,

 Loggia of the new Market and Loggia of the little pig, Old Bridge Ponte Vecchio, 

Boboli Gardens and a statue of David (not the real one), Basilica of the Holy Cross, Neptune Fountain and Basilica di San Lorenzo. The walk up to the statute of David was very steep, partly because there was work happening on the gate into the gardens so we couldn’t go the way we had planned, but we came down an easier way.

Florence

Back home just after dark and chicken/spinach with vegies.

 

Saturday 14^th Jan 2023

Another relaxing morning although we move on today. We left the accommodation at about 10:00 to catch a train to Naples at 10:59. Again we have booked seats so no problems. The Business (1^st) class is almost empty. In Business class you get free drink and snack – again chocolate biscuits so Joy had to eat Les’. The trip from Florence to Naples takes about 3 hours including a 20 minute stop at Rome, although we did not need to change trains.

As we arrived in Naples about 50 minutes before check in time we stopped and had afternoon tea at McCafe with a coffee, banana milkshake, and a muffin each. Then headed to accommodation where our host was waiting for us. We have a set of stairs to get to the lift and another after the lift as we are on the top floor, 4^th floor. The lift is also the old style where you open the outer door and then open the inner doors walk in, close the outer door and close the inner doors and then press the button. When the host took us in he went up with the luggage while we waited. and then went up after him, and after we got the lift working. It is a bit tricky to get the doors just right. Have view of Mt Vesuvius. Modern accommodation in an old building. Settled in and then, like normal, headed off for the grocery shopping. The supermarket is only 1 min down the road. You have to weigh the vegies and bread rolls and put a price tag on them yourself, but we could never get them to work and had to get help each time!!

Mt Vesuvius (right) from Accommodation

View from Accommodation

Spaghetti Bolognese for tea.