Hello everyone. You have probably realized that sadly, we haven't figured out how to post photos on this blog with the iPad. We will update it at some time, but are not going to stress about it. We are too busy enjoying our vacation!
We left Venice a few days ago and got into a rented car. It feels like forever ago that I drove anywhere, let alone Italy! We avoided the autostrada and drove mostly on secondary low speed roads. It's a lot more scenic and a lot less stressful!
We stopped at San Paulo looking for our friend Lori's family's bar. I think we found it, but it appeared to be closed on Thursdays. We definitely were in the right town, because there was a giant Canadian flag hanging out of a window - we're sure it was for us. :-) Mark did call out "Noi siamo Canadese!" but nobody poked their head out. Oh well, maybe we'll get back there on our return trip to Venice on Thursday.
Our destination was the ancient town of Aquileia. It was a very important city in it's heyday in Roman times, although now is mostly fueled by tourism. With good reason, it has some key sites to visit. I thought the most impressive was the Basilica and the bell tower. The floor of the basilica is a giant mosaic that has been beautifully restored (for the Pope's recent visit) and which predates the medieval church by 600 years. There is a raised glass walkway around the perimeter so that you can clearly see the beautiful work. We chose to take a tour so that we could get a better understanding of the story behind the pictures represented.
The clock tower provided a good look out for some photos of the surrounding countryside. And of course, there was another mosaic at the base of it. Just over 100 steps up, and I was totally winded. I am not looking forward to my exercise regimen when I get home! My heart rate hasn't been that high since I arrived.
We had dinner in the seaside town of Grado. It's the White Rock of this area, full of little cafes and restaurants, and shops selling blow up beach toys, gelato, tacky shirts, sunglasses and sunscreen. But everyone (EVERYONE) is super tanned here. The stores still sell SPF 6 !
After dinner we were headed back to the car, but stopped when we heard classical music coming out of one of the churches in the historical center. We went in and enjoyed the end of a free classical music concert - there were 4 violins, a cello, a clarinet, a flute, a bass and timpani. The acoustics in the church were amazing, let alone the ancient decoration and ambiance! After one last stop for our daily gelato, we headed back to the car and back to Aquilea to the hotel.
We are now in Nimis, the home town of our friend Piero's family. Mark started his vacation cycling from Austria to Venice with him, and we are now staying at a very nice b&b about a block from the family house where Piero is staying with his wife and kids. Normally we visit them in Kelowna, but it's a whole different side of Italy that we get to see with them now. Friuli Venezia Giulia with a local guide - it's great!
We've been to Cividale to the medieval festival, hung out in the homes of relatives, been to Nona's house to see the muffa on the salami that is curing in the cellar, drank wine, ate cheese, and written on the wall of a frasca, ate dinner at a local restaurant overlooking the beautiful valley, ate at another local restaurant with a hand written menu, made fig jam with free figs from nona's tree, and gone for early morning walks through the forest and countryside. We also visited the nearby city of Udine to check out the Saturday market. Today we are headed to Trieste and beyond. Can't wait to see what adventure await......
We left Venice a few days ago and got into a rented car. It feels like forever ago that I drove anywhere, let alone Italy! We avoided the autostrada and drove mostly on secondary low speed roads. It's a lot more scenic and a lot less stressful!
We stopped at San Paulo looking for our friend Lori's family's bar. I think we found it, but it appeared to be closed on Thursdays. We definitely were in the right town, because there was a giant Canadian flag hanging out of a window - we're sure it was for us. :-) Mark did call out "Noi siamo Canadese!" but nobody poked their head out. Oh well, maybe we'll get back there on our return trip to Venice on Thursday.
Our destination was the ancient town of Aquileia. It was a very important city in it's heyday in Roman times, although now is mostly fueled by tourism. With good reason, it has some key sites to visit. I thought the most impressive was the Basilica and the bell tower. The floor of the basilica is a giant mosaic that has been beautifully restored (for the Pope's recent visit) and which predates the medieval church by 600 years. There is a raised glass walkway around the perimeter so that you can clearly see the beautiful work. We chose to take a tour so that we could get a better understanding of the story behind the pictures represented.
The clock tower provided a good look out for some photos of the surrounding countryside. And of course, there was another mosaic at the base of it. Just over 100 steps up, and I was totally winded. I am not looking forward to my exercise regimen when I get home! My heart rate hasn't been that high since I arrived.
We had dinner in the seaside town of Grado. It's the White Rock of this area, full of little cafes and restaurants, and shops selling blow up beach toys, gelato, tacky shirts, sunglasses and sunscreen. But everyone (EVERYONE) is super tanned here. The stores still sell SPF 6 !
After dinner we were headed back to the car, but stopped when we heard classical music coming out of one of the churches in the historical center. We went in and enjoyed the end of a free classical music concert - there were 4 violins, a cello, a clarinet, a flute, a bass and timpani. The acoustics in the church were amazing, let alone the ancient decoration and ambiance! After one last stop for our daily gelato, we headed back to the car and back to Aquilea to the hotel.
We are now in Nimis, the home town of our friend Piero's family. Mark started his vacation cycling from Austria to Venice with him, and we are now staying at a very nice b&b about a block from the family house where Piero is staying with his wife and kids. Normally we visit them in Kelowna, but it's a whole different side of Italy that we get to see with them now. Friuli Venezia Giulia with a local guide - it's great!
We've been to Cividale to the medieval festival, hung out in the homes of relatives, been to Nona's house to see the muffa on the salami that is curing in the cellar, drank wine, ate cheese, and written on the wall of a frasca, ate dinner at a local restaurant overlooking the beautiful valley, ate at another local restaurant with a hand written menu, made fig jam with free figs from nona's tree, and gone for early morning walks through the forest and countryside. We also visited the nearby city of Udine to check out the Saturday market. Today we are headed to Trieste and beyond. Can't wait to see what adventure await......
Of course being me, I had to cross reference Aquilea to see if it was where the earthquakes have been but that is L'Aquila.
ReplyDeleteBy scribbling on a wall, are you telling us that all those frescoes are fakes?!
And of course it all sounds so yummy!