My trip to Italy

[Enrica]

Well , I am back from my 3 week stint in Italy and Switzerland. I must say, I had a terrific time.

The flight from Perth was soooooooooo long, my 2 boys (15 and 14 ) coped well , it took us a total of 26 hours to get from Perth via Singapore, Zurich and into Milan.

My cousins that I grew up with In RSA were waiting for us, they live in Lake districts of Northern Italy, near Como. They live in a town called Varese which is call the town of lakes and gardens. It is just to beautiful. They have a fantastic " Villa" with a huge garden which is unusual by Italian Standards.

I arrived with 1 suit case just for them of South African Goodies. Custard, jelley , crunchies, marshmallows, ppeppermint crisp, caramel and thanks to the Magood , biltong and boerewors. I was not sure if they would let me in with the "meat" but no one stopped me, there were no forms to fill out. So great.

We froze the boerewors , and had a "braai" when my DH arrived 2 weeks later. So we stayed there for 4 days and then flew to Rome cheap as chips on Easy Jet. 3 One way tickets cost me $150.00 , I could not catch a train for that price.

On arrival in Rome we caught the train into town, and I got lost , my youngest son was besides himself and just wanted to go back to my cousins. He did not like the look of Rome ( from the railway station every city looks aweful) but somehow the Italians are just bad. Anyway, we eventually got to out apartment, right in the old city across the road from the Tiber river, within walking distance of all the major sights. The apartment had a beautiful Terrazzo , with a lovely view over the city. My youngest , was still sulking at this stage. I suggested we go and get some dinner, and he decided that he want to go to "piazza" were the 4th Cardinal nearly died in Angles and Demons...........I had to rack my brain but eventually we got to the Piazza Navona and its was beautiful at night. All the street artists and the was an absolute feel of Italian magic in the air. My only regret was that my Dh was not there to share it with us, but hey maybe another time. It was absolutly magical at night, we just wandered the streets and were caught up in the magid that is Rome.

Eventually , we had dinner at Campo dei Fiori, it was expensive, but we just had to do it. We met a few Aussies and had a long chat to a French couple.

My youngest eventually conceeded that Rome is magical, " Its like a dream Mom". So it is my son.

The next few days , we did the whole tourist thing, and had dinner with an exchange students family that stayed over at my house 3 years ago. Her father is the Gm of Toyota in Rome, all I can say about their apartment and their hospitality is WOW.

I caught up with a friend that I last saw 33 years ago. You can not imagine what an unreal feeling that is , we last saw each other when we were young kids at 17, and now we are both mature women. It was amazing. Cinzia , my friend works for the Libary of Antiqueties, she organised for my boys to do a tour of the tunnels at night from Castle Sant Angelo to Vatican City and we managed to see 2 of Michaelangelos works "La Pieta" and Moses.

On my last night in Rome I caught up with my cousins son for a drink, and met his girlfriend. He is studying medicine at Rome University.

The highlight for me of my trip, was the climb up the "cuppola" of St Peters. Something everyone has to do at least once, but be warned it is physically very tough.

Next it was off to Venice, we took the Eurostar train , cost a small fortune , but in 3 1/2 hours we were in Venice. venice was packed packed as I have never seen before. VENICE FILM FESTIVAL. And no girls , I did not see George Clooney, but I did look for him. I had not booekd accommodation, as I could not find accommdoation before leaving. So I tried my luck , found a little man at the station, he jumped the ques for us on the " tragetto" across to Ponte Rialto, where his son was waiting to escort us to hotel. Paid a fortune for 2 rooms , nice clean palce close to Ponte Rialto and St Marks Square.

In general, we enjoyed Venice, but I must say they could drown all the Venitians, they are just to rude for words . The food and everything is very expensive, but I expected that , but some friendliness when you are ripping people off would not be amiss. We spent 2 nights in venice, 2 of us got as sick as dogs, and it was off to Verona.

My boys were not amused, they were not really interested in seeing the birth place of the story of Romeo and Juliet. We spent 2 day sightseeing .I had never been to Verona before. The food was excellent , and the sights beautiful, the hills sourrounding Verona are amazing. I would go back there again I think. I must say, that Verona is really a beautiful city. Probably one of the most beautiful cities in Italy.

Then it was back to varese to my cousins to then meet my husband on Monday. Over the weekend , my cousins took us into Switerland just over the border to a Chocolate factory. naturally, this was really up my boys street.. Yummy chocolates , and at a resonable price.

My husband eventually arrived and we then headed off to Turin, my father is from near Turin, in a village at the foot of the West Alpes. I caught up with family that I had not seen in 20 years. My kids got to meet there great aunty and uncles. They had a chance to visit the house that my father was brought up in ( its 800 years old) and still in the family. Its just amazing the amount of history that there is in my own family.......my kids were old enough for it to make an impression. It was rather difficult for my husband and kids as they dont speak Italian , and my cousin and her husband dont speak English.

My cousins and I had some business to take care of ( which to 3 days) to sort out, my cousins husband, took my husband and the kids sightseeing. Somehow they managed to communicate. Go for them. It was great to catch up with my family, and to explore the region which my father was born in. It is quiet beautiful, and unspoilt . There are some amazing ski areas it is close to Sestriere , where the last Olympic Games were held.

There are some beautiful lakes in the area, and the most amazing castle and Forts and Ancient Roman Ruins. We enjoyed this portion of our trip as well.

Once again I can only comment on how hospitibale we found everyone.

The following week , we return to Milan and varese and spent our last few days with my cousins. We had a real South African Braai with Boerewors and Streak and Potatoe Salad and baked Potatoes , melktert etc ., My cousins just thought it was amazing. the best part was that the weather really held up for us.

Then off to Zurich for 3 days, we had some business to sort out there. True to Swiss efficiency, we could have sort everything out in a day and 1/2 . Zurich was really expensive...................you cant spend to much time there. You need some serious money to visit.

Compared to Italy , which I found relatively cheap, well food ect is defintely cheaper than Perth, Zurich on the other hand WOW is all I can say.

My kids learnt a little about La Dolce Vita, and Italian Culture, so the trip was a definite success. They can be proud of the Italian Roots , especially when they see all the acient history that their forefathers were responsible for. Daniel, my youngest, learnt to enjoy a Cappucino and Brioche( Croissant) for Breakfast.......real Italian Style.

I decided I love family etc, but I dont think that I could live in Italy. There are just to many people , and the traffic is crazy, people drive like maniacs, but they know how to live. I love visiting Italy, and Love going back every few years.

If you have never been before its a defintely destination to put on your list.

Ciao for Now

Enrica

[mom of 3]

Sounds like you had a whale of a time!!!

Joanne

[Dreams]

Wow, interesting. 800 year old house! Have you got some photo's which you can share with us?

[EricaC]

Hi Enrica

Yes, I agree, your trip sounds so amazing.......please show us some pics!

So glad you all had a terrific time, I am sure a well needed break!

Erica

[Enrica]

I have over 2000 photos, rather difficult to add them all. I am not so clued up on how to share all these things.

But check my facebook out as most of the nice ones have been added .

Regards

Enrica Swanepoel

[KathyW]

Oh Enrica, what a wonderful holiday!!! I'm glad you enjoyed it, you all deserved it.

Glad you are home though, still waiting for my call...........

I will definately check the photo's out on FB.

See you soon....

Cheers

Kathy

[Enrica]

Hi kathy

I left a message on your mobile about 2 1/2 weeks ago!!!!

Love

Enrica

[Jill]

Hi Enrica,

Wow your holiday sounds fantastic, I will go on facebook now, and see if I can add you as a friend, then check out your pics.

Thanks for sharing, just dying to get over there for a holiday, sounds so awesome.

Jill

[Michele R]

Hello Enrica,

Wow, sounds like you had such an amazing holiday! Wish you could have squeezed me into your suitcase and taken me with!

I did my honours degree in Classics (ancient Roman and Greek history) but I've never been to Italy or Greece, so it's definitely on my to do list. Hubby and I wanted to go to Italy for our honeymoon, but instead decided we'll use the money for him to go back to varsity...we're now hoping to go for a month or so in the future.

Thanks for sharing your holiday with us!

[Eva]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time...

Lucky you!!

[Riekie]

Enrica, it sounds wonderful! We'll be backpacking Europe for 6 weeks this December & January and you got me excited allover again and I can't wait! Thanks for sharing that!

PS: In almost every guide we've read and every Internet site on Europe there were warnings about pickpockets, scammers etc - is it really that bad? Any travel tips or areas to avoid?

[Enrica]

Enrica, it sounds wonderful! We'll be backpacking Europe for 6 weeks this December & January and you got me excited allover again and I can't wait! Thanks for sharing that!

PS: In almost every guide we've read and every Internet site on Europe there were warnings about pickpockets, scammers etc - is it really that bad? Any travel tips or areas to avoid?

Hi Riekie,

Lucky you, I am sure you are going to have a really grand time.

The pick pockets are bad, but I think you must be sensible where ever you go. If you have those old fashioned bum bags for your documents. use it. ( the bum Bags are coming back into fashion.)

If you are travelling by train and have not purchased a Eurail pass, try and avoid the Eurostar train as they are very expensive. rather travel on the normal trains, the fares are at least 40% cheaper. Remember to validate your tickets in the machine , fine is EUR50.00 for unvalidated tickets.

Remember when having a coffee in a bar in Italy , it is cheaper to have your coffee standing at the bar counter as opposed to sitting- they can basically charge what ever they want so beware.

Other than that , be aware that a lot of places are closed in Dec and Jan , the summer holiday places like Sorrento, Amalfi, most of the greek Island and the Turkish Rivera. You will find the same on the South of France and Spain - al lot of the places will be closed.

You have not specified where you are going, so this is really just generalised, if you tell me where you are going , I can perhaps be a bit more specific.

Regards

Enrica

[Riekie]

Hi Enrica, thanks for that!

We are going to do all our travelling by train and will get a Eurail pass before we go. We're travelling Koln (for Christmas!) then Amsterdam, Prague, Wien, Salzburg, Italy (At this stage not sure exactly where in Italy, but the furthest we'll be going South is Rome - and we want to visit Sienna and a few of the smaller little hilltop villages rather than the bigger cities), then Switzerland (Also not sure exactly where, but we want to include the Glacier Express, maybe Lucerne...), then Munich & Area (Neuschwanstein, Dachau, Rottenburg...), then France (Loire Valley, Poitiers, Paris) then Eurostar to London for 3 days before flying back.

At this stage we are still planning and apart from the flights and 1st 2 nights accommodation being booked, we're still getting a plan together. Also not sure of the order - we may travel Amsterdam, Munich, Switzerland and Italy before we go back up via Austria & Prague and across to Paris...

We realise it will be winter but I've spent some time in Munich during winter a few years ago and wanted the family to experience a white Christmas in Europe. We'll go back again in a few years in Summer because I think it would be like visiting two different worlds! (I don't know what it is with me and snow as we also visited Canada in the heart of winter and -30 degrees! It was absolutely beautiful!) Anyway, I'm going off track here...

We are considering taking a few overnight trains with sleepers and have read it not to be safe as pickpockets would steal your wallet from under your head! I know we should not believe everything we hear (in that case wild elephants would be roaming the streets of Pretoria!) but I'm a bit cautious about that now.

We're not booking anything ahead (with the exception of the Eurostar ticket which I believe is cheaper with the railpass and booked well in advance - speaking of which, I better book those tickets!!) When we travel, we like to see all the touristy things - and get it over with - and then take the road less travelled for a true experience. If you could suggest any hidden gems we should not miss, I'm totally open for persuasion! Sorry for hogging your thread! Maybe you can tell us all a bit more about your travels and I'll silently take notes as you go!