European Travel 2018

Karen and I fly to Sydney at 3:30pm for a connection to Doha.  Thanks to Jean and George who drove us to the airport in Brisbane.

The new Qantas lounge is very well designed, with a variety of areas to sit, relax or even write up your blog.

   

  

        

Fly to Doha at 9:25pm fromSydney in my favourite plane: QATAR A380 aircraft. Karen and I boarded the Qatar A 380 aircraft without any problems.

Our seats were either side of an aisle which gave both of us a chance to sleep without disturbing each other.

The A 380 is a two story aircraft- business and first class on the top level. No set times to eat- you

order from a menu when you want to. The bar lounge opens 20 minutes after takeoff.

   

    

We then fly from Doha to Amsterdam in a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Even though it was a long flight (21 hours) we were able to rest.

An aerial view of Doah as we leave for Amsterdam

   

This was the amazing view of the mountains as we flew over Iran.

We arrived safely in Amsterdam on time on Sunday after a long, tiring flight but experiencing fantastic service from Qatar airline staff. After a hot (23 degrees) 25min walk to our hotel (which is near Rembrantplein) we explored the neighbourhood which is within easy walking distance to many of the galleries and museums we planned to visit. By 7pm we were asleep and woke at 8am on Monday.

    

The front of our hotel and 50 meters from Rembrandtplein where there is a stone stature of Rembrandt and a collection of “The Night Watch” bronze figures.

   The Eden Hotel where we stayed (with the yellow flag)

Monday - min temp 11 - max temp 11degrees. Yes it WAS cold. We had an extremely busy first full day in Amsterdam visiting the Stedelijk Museum (permanent home of the National Museum of Modern Art) Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum - yes David, we did all three in one day. We admired the many polite, attentive, engaged, fit, lean young children and teenagers visiting the galleries with their teachers. There was a beautiful painting of white asparagus in the Rijksmuseum and your glorious still life works came to mind, John.

     

    

    


The Rijksmuseum museum where hangs ‘The Night Watch’ and Vermeer’s ‘the Milk Maid’.

At 5 pm we visited the Leidseplein area so Karen could see where Peter, Tim and DAVID had stayed in 2007. We then caught our first tram to the Central Station area and enjoyed a Canal Cruise at 7pm  to learn some of the history of Amsterdam from a great perspective. It was still light at 8.30 pm when we had dinner.

        

Roberta- please note - activity for Monday - 12.4 kms, 18,285 steps, 10 flights of stairs climbed.

Tuesday - raining, windy, cold then sunny - 12 degrees. Visited Rembrandthuis the actual house where Rembrandt lived.  We had a great talk & demonstration of how he would have mixed his pigments which we thought you would love, David.

     

On to the Hermitage to see an incredible collection of Dutch Masters.

       

We are off to Ede Wageningen tomorrow to visit the Kroller - Muller Museum and back to Utrecht to see where David studied in 2006. On Thursday we leave for Paris. We think the train we booked is not affected by the widespread strike in Paris.

On our second last day in Amsterdam we travelled by train to Ede-Wageningen, about two hours from Amsterdam, and then to the Kröller-Müller Museum which has a comprehensive collection of Van Gogh's artworks, as well as other artworks from around that time. We were overwhelmed with the collection.

    




   

We then travelled back to Utrecht. This is where David studied for six months. The Train station is in the middle of a shopping center, but when you leave that area you find yourself on the old area of the city. It's a university city, a bit like Oxford.

      

While in Amsterdam I developed the phrase "Death by pushbike". The chances of being hit by a tram, car or van are minimal. But it is highly likely that you will be hit by a bike ridden by a seventy old person, travelling at about 60 Kmh. That said, we absolutely love the city of Amsterdam. Everybody is responsible on the road, and "NO BLOODY YELLOW LINES!" Everyone has been polite and friendly.

Torino, Milano and home!

Back in Torino proper at the Bologna Hotel adjacent to Torino Porta Nouva the central railway station. We arrived at about 1:00 pm, checked into the hotel and off for a light lunch and exploring the three piazzas north of the station. We ended up at the Palazzo Reale and the Duomo or Cattedrale di San Giovanni and a "view" of the 'Shroud of Turin'. The walk up and back to the hotel was through the porticoes (beautifully stone covered footpaths) that stretch for eighteen kilometers through out the city. A stop for a light lunch and on our way back, another smooth coffee. We were back in the streets at 7:30 pm, when the restaurants reopen, for another delightful Italian meal followed by two delicious local chocolates each. Julie, the coffee and chocolate are something ,only in Italy and there is nothing as delicious. Not sure how we will cope back in Brisbane.
The first of November is a holiday in Italy: All Saints Day if you are Catholic and Halloween if you are Catholic. We had a slow start and it took us about an hour to find the correct bus stop to take us to the Museo dell' Automobile and the old Fiat factory building. After waiting a considerable amount of time we decided to get a taxi.
A large building with hundreds of exhibits including the first Fiat ever made , a full history of the Lancia, many Formula l cars and prototypes. While in the museo we were also able to study the fashions of periods in which the cars were made. Karen's brothers would have really enjoyed the museum being racing car enthusiasts since the sixties. Tim would love the Italian styling of the cars. We walked to the old Fiat factory, which is now a shopping centre with a cinema, however we were unable to go onto the rooftop test track which was used in the film "The Italian Job" starring Michael Caine but did see the spiral section where the Minis were chased by the police.
Back into our hotel area and a gelati -before a rest before the restaurants open again for dinner.
We walked up to the Piazza San Carlo to Caffe San Carlo Ristorante for dinner. Inside the ristorante was like the inside of a palace. We had a beautiful meal. Karen had Risottino in Salda di porri e taleggio and I had Gnocchetti noci e salvia in crema di gorgonzola, and we both had some local dry vino bianca. When it came to dolci the waiter stated that "tonight I am the menu" Karen replied with"delizioso" to my amazement.
In the home of the Slow Food Movement, it is fitting that "Salone del Gusto" is being held in Torino at present. It is being attended by chefs and food producers from around the world and celebrates the very best quality regional food.
We started our last full day in Torino with a walk along Corso Vittorto Emanuele II to the Galleria Art Moderna. As well as the permanent collection there was a special exhibition of Carlo Mollino, architect, artist, designer, racing car driver an so on. Ross you would have been facinated by his chair and furniture designs.
We called into the hotel to drop off some chocolates and discovered that one of my cousins had delivered a gift for us. A very large book about Torino written entirely in Italian.
A light lunch at the Baratti & Milano Caffe, established in 1858, with a very ornate interior. After walking day after day, once you sit down and relax it becomes difficult to get going again especially after food and a drink.
The Museo Egizio was our next stop to look at a wonderful collection of Egyptian antiquities. Next to this museum is Galleria Sabauda with hundreds of Renaissance paintings. I have never seen so many Italian, Dutch, French and German 14th and 16th Century works in one place.
Dinner at Brek, Torino's answer to Sizzler. CNN world news, the only english television channel in Italy, to catch up with the latest weather for the trip to Malino in the morning.
The train trip to Malino was very fast, we were on a new express train travelling at 300 KMH and in a section with a young American couple and their son. We will spend two nights in Milan and then home.

Cinque Terra

A change of plans. We have decided to go down to Cinque Terre on the coast for two nights and then come back to Torino.

Sunday Morning, another large continental brekfast, then off to the station to catch a train first to Genova and then to Monterosso, the largest of the five small hillside, ocean villages that form Cinque Terre. We changed trains at Sestri Levante for a short ride to Monterosso.

Cinque Terre (five lands) is truly one of the highlghts of our trip. This world heritage area comprises of five very small towns tucked away in a series of little inlets at the very end of the eastern side of the Ligurian Riviera. Famous for white wine and anchovies, both of which I have sampled.

We stayed in Monterosso at the Amici Hotel and spent the rest of the time exploring Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore by boat, walking and train. There are no or few cars. The boat trip from Monterorro to Riomaggiore was absolutely wonderful. A large group of Italians around us were singing most of the time. And Riomaggiore, a delightful little town with the main via winding up a hillside. This is where I want to live. Si!.

After a twenty-minute walk to Manarola it was time for lobster spaghetti and a glass of local vino. Manarola is smaller than Riomaggiore but with its own special character with fishing boats lining the streets. It was time to catch a local train to Corniglia, (the walking track was being repaired) gelati and a cappuccino. This town sits on top of rocky headland. A beautiful view after you walk up the 350 stairs from the station. Karen was excited about the exercise.

Another local train rlde, this time to Vernazza. Their is an arduous hour and a half walk, however without seista time, the train was more appealing. Vernazza is.yet another beautiful fishing village. Lots of small fishing boats, windows with shutters on ocher and terra-cotta buildings with daily washing hanging out to dry. Then we headed back to Monterosso.
The restaurants don't open until about 7:00 pm so it's a good time for a rest before another meal of fresh seafood. Tomorrow we go to Torino for three nights then on to Malino.

San Mauro 2

It's Saturday morning, we have just finished another large continental brekfast, and Karen has decided to go back to the big soft, warm, king-size bed on this chilly morning. Too much of a good thing.
Once we did get going it was a walk down to coffee/chocolarto cafe for due cappuccini and 100% coco chocolates made by an award winning 'Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani' on the premises. Most Italians of all ages order expresso coffee and stand at the counter to drink the coffee in about fifteen seconds, then leave. On this occasion they were replaced by other coffee drinkers from a long queue.
On most occasions we sat at a table as this was always a good time to catch up with postcard writing, to only a few, as well as reading more about the area.
Another seista and then we were picked up by Eraldo to meet some other members of the family. We then drove up to see the Basilica di Superga which is the burial place of many Italian royals and has a long complex history dating back to about 14th Century. On the way up the mountain we stopped to have a look a the house where my great-grandparents lived and where my grandfather and his two sisters were born.
The evening meal at my Great-Aunt's house in San Mauro was with three other second cousins, and comprised of six courses of authentic Piedmonte specialities together with two local wines. Very little english was spoken with lots and lots of hand gestures. We had a delightful evening which took me back to my younger days and the large extended family meals.

More Pics of Malino

Milano Pics

Milano & San Mauro

MILANO
We arrived in Milan tied but excited for our last holiday adventure, in Italy. After two trains and a one kilometre walk down some back narrow streets we found our hotel. The hotel is just off Corso Buenos Aires, one of the main local shopping streets near the Centrale Stazione. We walked up and down exploring part of the corso, bought a few snaks then went back to the hotel to catch on about fourteen hours sleep. A beautiful breakfast then off to the Duomo. This is the largest Gothic cathedral in Italy and made out of marble. It sits at one end of the very large Piazza Duomo that seemed to be the meeting place for many of the citizens of Milano. We had a look through this overwhelming building that took five hundred years to finish. A lift to the rooftop, which is also made of marble, gave us a 360o view of smogy Milano. When back in the piazza Karen insisted on a photograph with the Carbinenari, the exquisitely dressed and groomed police. A walk around the area, 'window' shoping in most of the shops including the original Prada. We then had a short train trip to see the 'Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortuantly when we got to Santa Maria delle Grazie we were informed that we needed to make a reservation two months in advance. This was a real disappointment, however we now have a reason to come back to Malino. We went back to Piazza Duomo and had a meal of authentic Milanese pasta, wine and the best coffee of the trip so far. Adjacent to the Duomo is a large brand name fashion store. A large crowd out the front with photographers drew our attention. We followed the crowd into the store and I ended up on the second floor balcony with the press photographers and security shooting pictures of Elizabeth Hurley, the 'face' of Estee Lauder. The day was not all a disappointment. An early night to catch an early train to Torino and San Mauro in the morning.

SAN MAURO
An early breakfast to catch the 9:30 train for a two hour journey to Torino, and a taxi to San Mauro where my grandparents were born. The B&B is on a hillside 500 meters from the town piazza. Our usual practice is to have a walk around the neighborhood and San Mauro was no exception. We walked down by the river Po and some lunch at a small cafe. After a light lunch of lasagne, risotto, wine and another perfect coffee we walked to the cimitero to look over the tomb stones for names of deceased releatives. We found several Fenoglio, Giachino and Vichetti/o names, but only one known relative. A great-aunt, Margherita Fenoglio my grandfather's sister. This was a very strange feeling for me.

We went back to the town for dinner, more than a few locally made 100% coco-butter chocolates, and then had another early night.

On the second day in San Mauro, after large continental brekfast we walked down to the town to discover a market in the piazza. There was fresh food, cloathing, flowers and other bits and pieces. A full range of cheeses, meats, pasta, seafood, fruit and vetegables were on offer to these tourist who could only purchase some fruit and of course some lady's cloathing - as you do. No one could speak English, however the language of lady's fashion is universal.

A local coffee (Lavazza) and a stroll across the old bridge over the river Po, finished the morning at about 1:00 pm. Back at the B&B we had a siesta, as all the shops were closed from 12:30 to 3:30 for everyone else in the town to do the same.

We decided not have dinner until we met with Eraldo at 7:00 pm, my second cousin who I have never met. After Eraldo picked us up we went to new local restaurant and ate authentic Piemonte food, drank wine and talked for about three hours. Karen and I filled in the English gaps and Eraldo filled in the Italian gaps. It was an exciting time for me.

Milano

We arrived in Milan tied but excited for our last holiday adventure, in Italy. After two trains and a one kilometre walk down some back narrow streets we found our hotel. The hotel is just off Corso Buenos Aires, one of the main local shopping streets near the Centrale Stazione. We walked up and down exploring part of the corso, bought a few snaks then went back to the hotel to catch on about fourteen hours sleep.
A beautiful breakfast then off to the Duomo. This is the largest Gothic cathedral in Italy and made out of marble. It sits at one end of the very large Piazza Duomo that seemed to be the meeting place for many of the citizens of Milano. We had a look through this overwhelming building that took five hundred years to finish. A lift to the rooftop, which is also made of marble, gave us a 360o view of smogy Milano. When back in the piazza Karen insisted on a photograph with the Carbinenari, the exquisitely dressed and groomed police. A walk around the area, 'window' shoping in most of the shops including the original Prada.
We then had a short train trip to see the 'Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortuantly when we got to Santa Maria delle Grazie we were informed that we needed to make a reservation two months in advance. This was a real disappointment, however we now have a reason to come back to Malino. We went back to Piazza Duomo and had a meal of authentic Milanese pasta, wine and the best coffee of the trip so far. Adjacent to the Duomo is a large brand name fashion store. A large crowd out the front with photographers drew our attention. We followed the crowd into the store and I ended up on the second floor balcony with the press photographers and security shooting pictures of Elizabeth Hurley, the 'face' of Estee Lauder. The day was not all a disappointment.
An early night to catch an early train to Torino and San Mauro in the morning.

The Last Days in NEW YORK

Our forth day started with a walk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art just down the street from our apartment. The feature exhibition was Cezanne to Picasso. A wonderful exhibition about how Vollard exhibited the works of Cezanne, Gaugan, Degas, Bonard & Picasso. Some of the gems, Leigh & Julie, by Cezanne included 'The Basket of Apples' - 1893, 'Still Life: Milk Pitcher and Fruit on Table' - 1890 and 'The Cardplayers' - 1895. Their was also much, much more for art lovers.
The Frick Collection, which was a real hightlight for me the last time in New York, was once again a delightful experience for me and also for Karen. It's a small private collection but with incrediably significant artworks, including 'Sir Thomas More' by Hans Holbein.
After walking for about six kilometers during the day, incuding a short walk through Central Park, we crashed for an hour before The Color Purple on Broadway. This musical was more than what we expected. An all black cast and the voices superb.
Today, Friday, we woke up about 10:30 had breakfast and then ventdred off to the newly renovated MoMA. Once again the art experience was overwhelming. A break for lunch at the gallery was a chance to rest and prepare for another couple hours in MoMA.
We then stopped off at the Aussie Tuck Shop Cyber Cafe to do some internet banking, paying bills and updating the travel blog.
Saturday morning was a time to walk down 5th Avenue from 59th to 53rd street. The Plaza Hotel, Tiffanys, morning tea at the Trump Tower building, Saks, and a wonderful view of New York on a clear sunny day from the top of the Rockerfeller Building, the 'Top of the Rock' 70 stories above the city.
We had a light lunch and then off to Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre. We enjoyed the show, however I believe I could have helped the show with some fresh 'artistic direction'.
Sunday, our second last day in New York, was the time to explore Greenwich Village and the Soho, but not before Karen's coffee at Starbucks.
A underground ride down to Canal St. on the Green Line brought us out at the bottom Soho. 11:00 am is a good time to arrive at Soho because in this civilised area the shops open between 11:00 & 1200 am. Karen found a beautiful scarf and I found the main Apple shop in New York/Soho. Good to see everything on offer from Apple in one shop, including ongoing demonstrations in a theatrette.
We then walked through Greenwich Village to have a late lunch before a train back to Central Station and coffee. We arrived back at the apartment by 4:00 pm, an early night for the flight to Milan tomorrow. We left JFK airport on Monday at 6:00 pm for London and then Milan.