On the road again….

Today we are leaving Italy, and I suppose that means I should find another song to hum instead of ‘On days like these’ – any suggestions?

We’re sad to leave the lovely, huge, calm and old-fashioned apartment that we’ve been renting for the week. It’s perfectly placed to pop down to the train station and from there to do day trips to Venice, Padua, Vicenza, and so on. Ross and Chris are off to Padua today, while we sort ourselves out and trek out to Venice airport for this afternoon’s flight to Paris.

Here’s a list!

A random selection of things I like about Italy:

- Going into dark little bars to order coffee and pastries, then sitting out in the sunshine watching the world go by.


- Crumbly old buildings in many colours with wooden shutters:



- Cool marble staircases and halls.

- The people: good-humoured talk and gossip; “And THEN, do you know what happened….” Every day sounds like an extraordinary day.




- Dogs. Dogs on boats and dogs taking themselves for a stroll – when there are no cars, why not?

- Good food, good company, and beautiful places to eat it. (Stay tuned for a Food blog post, coming soon…)


Here’s a photo of James and Ross tucking into a fine lunch….


Now spot the action in the background. (Click it to see a bigger version). Wow, that’s a technique all right.


My, my!

- Gondoliers on their telefonino. (telefonini?)

- Boats of every size and shape. With and without bling (see below).


- Bling. Has anyone else noticed the bling? Sequins on bags, gold shoes, lame’ t-shirts, gold lame shoe laces for your runners, plastic gilded crowns on gondolas, and even – the piece de resistance, a gold lame picnic cool bag.

- Colours and patterns are everywhere: on balconies, on clothes for men and women, on frescoed stucco walls of houses and churches. It’s better than bling, but bling has a morbid fascination for me…

- Birdsong.

- People hanging out of upper shuttered windows, watching other people:

- Gossip, gossip, talk talk talk - doncha' know it makes the world go round?


- People standing in shop doorways watching life on the street.

Ciao for now and we will post in from Paris.

Bev

PS: Yes, we made it to Urbino, thank you for asking, those who did. And it was SPIFFING!