Wednesday, 26 February 2020

Mondy, 17th Febuary 2020

Monday, 17th Febuary 2020

We leave the Hotel Rooservelt, Litomerice this morning after we have had the hotel buffet breakfast. It seemed that we were the only people down for breakfast, and we were offered a cooked breakfast if we so choose, so we did. 
We are headed for Veinna today, back into Austria. This is a trip of 4 hrs and 10 mins, or 401 kms, but we are making a detour to the Bohemia Crystal factory, and from Litomerice to Podebrady, is 110.8 kms and a time of 1hr and 10 mins. I have deicided that I will do the driving today. So we set the navigationa system to our desired destination and off we go. An hour or so later, we find ourselves at the destination point, and it is a rather insignificant  surroundings. We are in the industrial part of the town, but we do see the Bohemia crystal symbol, so we park the car, and go and further explore the area. 
Yes we are in the right area, and we follow the signs after we ask a security guard, of which he tells us where we need to go in perfect Czech. We find the entrance to the crystal shop, all be it very unofficial, we both are wondering if we are in the right place, but the signs tell us enter, and we do. Inside what is known as the cash and carry store, we find displays of Crystal on shelves, and we enquire about the tour of the factory. We are told it is possible, and that we will have to wait until the guide comes back, as she is on another tour at the moment. So we wait, and look about the crystal that is displayed. I have to use my phone to convert the cost of the crystal from the CZK to AUD, and from what I have worked out, it is some what, correction very cheap to buy from here. Although we have the issue of getting something back to Australia, it still seems cheap. We do make a purchase of two candlesticks and a ring holder. After a wait of about 40 mins, the guide comes back into the shop, with her group that she has just given the tour to, and comes over to us and discusses with us what we require. The tour takes about 45 mins, and as we have waited 40 mins already, we decide that we won't do the tour, as we have a good few hours of driving ahead of us.  
We now set our navigational system to Veinna, our next stop a distance of 307 kms and 3 hrs and 32 mins not withstanding any stops. We do find a place to have lunch, and the food was excellent, and we are on our way again. We stop yet again, to put some fuel in the car before we leave Czechia, as it is a bit cheaper here. 
We find our accommodation, without any hassels and check in is simple.
After a bit of a rest Bob does some research into what eating places are around us, and there is a Chinese resturant not far away, so we go there for tea. It was a smoregas board and was very nice.
Day is done.

Tuesday, 18th Feburary 2020

Wow, what a great day we have had exploring Vienna.
After we had some breakfast, we drove into the heart of Vienna and parked the car, so that we could get the Big Bus hop on hop off tour.
We headed towards the Veinna Opera, as that is where the first stop is for the buses and this is to be our starting point for our day of exploring. We purchase tickets, and go upstairs, and thankfully this bus has a glass roof, as the day is a bit cool and windy.
We get under way with the bus, and after a while, we are blown away with justhow large the buidings are here. The palaces go on for blocks, and not connected to the same block, there are roads in between. It is an amazing city.  We ride this bus for a few stops then we get off, as we want to take the river cruise on the Danube River. We get to the river, and hop on board the boat, and watch the river banks and builldings go by. The River banks are painted by graffitti artists, with the understanding that they can use the river walls, but don't graffiti other parts of the city, and it seems to work well. There are some great pics on this wall.
Vienna has given the world some wonderful and famous people, Sigmund Freud, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Hyden, Woldgang Mozart, Johann Strauss l, ll, lll to name a few. There have also been nine Nobel prize winners in the past that have come from Vienna, Karl Landsteiner for distinguishing the main blood groups. Vienna is knows as the city of music, and it is no doubt about that when so many great composers have come from there. Vienna also has the purest water for the city. It comes straight from the mountains to the city via pipes, but there is no pumps to run the water. It goes straight into the homes, and on its way down from the mountain, it has enough force to run some hydro plants aswell.
After our cruise, find our next bus route, and take in the spectacle that is about. Vienna has had its fair share of war in the past, and the city had a Ferris wheel, that was the tallest in the world from 1920 to 1985. During the second world war, the ferris wheel was destroyed, it originally had 30 gondolas on it, but when it was repaired it only ended up wit 15.
We get off at a stop that is close to where we have to get the night tour, and on our way have some dinner, as we have time to fill. On the night tour, it covers most of what we saw through the day, but it was lovely seeing the city at night, and we had a live guide, who was very entertaining.
I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Vienna, and would love to spend more time here, there is so much to see.
We go back to the car and head back to our place and the day is done. 

Wednesdy, 19th Feburary 2020

Today we leave Vienna, Austra  and head off to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. This is a distance of  of 384 kms or 4 hrs.  We share the driving, and we stop for fuel for both car and us.
We get to the border crossing and there is no fan fare apart from the little signs announcing that you are now in Czechia republic. Our hotel has given one of us a bit of a work out as to how we are going to get there, as there is no cars allowed in the old part of town, and so we are unsure of what the procedure is. We arrive in Ljubljana, and try to find a parking place for the car, in what we thought was close to the hotel, according to the nav assistanc, Karen. Unforturtately, the place she is trying to get us to is closed off to cars, and as I am driving, I become a bit flustered by this, as trying to find car parks in the area is proving a little difficult. We go down a street, and I have to make a U turn, and almost hit a boy on a skate board, and it is then that I pull up and take some time out. Bob makes a phone call to the hotel to find out what is the best option for parking for us. Bob is also told that they will organise someone to come and pick us up at the parking place. (Bonus.) We are given the name of the parking center, and head for that via the nav assistance of Karen. We eventually get to the required place without any more near misses, and take the essentials out of the car for the time that we are going to be there. Just as we are climbing up the stairs and gathering our bearings, we see a electric vehicle heading to the area, and he spots us and comes over to gather us and our luggage. Getting to the hotel seems to be a long and round about way, but we are delivered to the right place, just 20 meters away.
We check into the hotel, and the staff are very nice, and we are told we have  a complementry drink to have at our leisure. This is a very nice hotel, in the middle of the old part of the town, and after awhile, we go out to explore the city.
Ljubljana, has a population of 279 631, and it is nice to wonder about the streets with no cars or scooters or push bikes just the sound of people. There are lots of boutique shops and arty shops, and we find a market, that is almost finished for the day, so we get some fruit, further on and we stop to watch a woman embroider some towels with her machine, but not using any thing other than her eye. Nothing is stenciled on, she just does it freehand. There is a little river that runs through the town, and it has numerous bridges crossing it. One place has three bridges and was designed that way by the architect a long time ago. There is a man playing the piano accordian, and they are an amazing of musical instrument. I watch him for a while, while Bob is about taking pictures. We wander on, and go into a touristy shop, and they have items that have pictures of The Kiss by Klimt along with other essential tourist things. We make a purchase, and head back to the room for a bit of a rest. We head back down to have our complementy drink with the thought that we would find a place to have something to eat afterwards, but as we get our drinks the waiter brings us a menu, and we decide to eat in the hotel resturant.
So ends another day of our travels. 

Thursday, 20th February 2020

Check out at the hotel is not until midday, so we have decided to have breakfast, then go and see the castle that is here via the funicular up the hill. We are a little early when we got to the funicular but we wait and then others start to gather. We get our tickets and go up to explore the Castle. The Castle is being used for a number of things, there is a cafe, and a resturant, and a couple of other shops. It is good that it is being utilized, but I think it takes a bit away from the castle. It is a caslte, but not like a castle we are used to.  It was once a medieval fortress, constructed in the 11th century, and the audio guides tell of the history of it, and there is part of it that is virtual.  We finish our visit and head back down in the funicular, and decide we might get some more fruit from the markets, and I also buy a skirt and a top, that I hope I will get to wear on the cruise next week.
We check out, and the electric vehicle is sent for, for us to go back to our car, and it is a wonderful service that is provided. There is no charge, as the city pays for the service, and it is there mainly for tourists and the elderly to get about. This way keeping cars out of the main city area. 
From Ljubjlana Slovenia, to Padova, Italy is a distance of 267 kms and 3 hours.
We arrive at our destination, and wait for a short while , while the hosts wife comes and greets us. She takes us to our lodgings for the next three nights, and our lodgings are very nice. We ask some questions about what is the best way to get to Venice, and she suggests taking the  tram to the train station, and then the train into Venice and share a pat with their dog.
We take luggage inside, and after sometime we go and find a shopping centre to get some food essentials, and the one we selected was closing down, but we got enough to suit our needs and then we head back to the accommodation, and call it a day. Drivnig in Italy is a bit crazy in this city, as you have to watch for not only cars, but people on pushbikes, and pedistrians, just stepping out.

Friday, 21st Feburary 2020

Venice, Italy.
Today we are going to expore Venice. We first decide to take the tram to the train station which is around a 10 min trip, and then the train into Venice, which is a 30 min trip,  which is what was discussed with our hosts wife yesterday. We take the walk to the tram station, which is only a couple of blocks away, and on the way, a man who was walking behind us, overtakes us and wishes us a good stay in Padova.
We find the same man waiting at the tram station, and Bob asks him a couple of questions about how to get tickets for the tram, and he gives us a booklet of tickets for it. He then tells us where our stop will be to get off at, which makes it a little easier for us. The Tram is very busy, and there is only standing room, and with each stop, some people get off, and just as many seem to get on. So after locating our stop, we get off, and head to the train station. Now we have to buy the train tickets and we find a staff member who helps us obtain the required tickets, via the ticket machine, and she looks up which platfom we need. We thank her, and we have a 30 min wait, so a coffee is bought and we fill in the time, until it is departure time.
On board the train, we find seats, and watch the world slip by through the train window, until we get to Venice, where we again disembark and walk off the platform and here we are in Venice. Canals just meters from the train station,  with Gondolas and water taxies and boats taking freight of all sorts along the canal.
We walk along the water for a bit, taking it all in. The Grand buildings, and the people that are here. We are all getting our bearings and working out where to go from here.
We decide to cross over one of the many bridges and explore the canals of Venice. We follow the crowd for a while, and then we take the walk less travelled, and watch the gondolas and boats carrying their freight and people around. As we are walking we notice that one of the boats have a paino on board, and we watch for a while, to see how it is going to be unloaded, but it takes a bit of time, so we move on. There are so many little shops every where, selling all things, and many are selling Murano glass ware. Also it is Carnevale time here in Venice, and all sorts of masks are being sold, and sort. The further we go into the heart of the city, the more people we see are all dressed up in costume and finery. It is a wonderful experience, as many are dressed in period costume, and a great deal of effort seems to have been taken. Both men and women are walking with the period clothing, and the wigs on men, and bustles on the women. A wonderful spectale.
We keep walkng through the maze of canals and over bridges, not having any real idea of where we are headed, and it is great.
We stop to admire some glass ware in one of the many shops and I read a sign, about how this shop does not sell glass ware from china, and those who do kill the Murano glass ware industry. So we go inside to look at more, and we walk away with a momento of Venice.
The Carnival of Venice, is a festival that ends with the celebration of Lent and is world famous for its elobrate masks. There is competion for the most beautiful mask, and the celebrations started back in the year 1162m as a result of a victory against the patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrico di Treven. It was however outlawed in 1797, and the use of masks became forbidden.
The carnival returned in 1979 when the Italian government, decided to bring back the history and culture of Venice.
We walk onto St Mark's square, and the Saint Mark Basilica, and are gobsmacked by the sheer size of the buildings and area. It is quite something that Venice is built on 118 islands all interlinking via canals and bridges. Once in Venice, there are no scooters or bikes about, just foot traffic. It is quiet save for the movement of people and the odd boat motor in the canal. 
After we have had something to eat, we start to head back to the Railway station, but thanks for my just walking about, we are quite some distance away, and the nav guidence tells us that we need to take a boat to get to where we want to be, and that's exactly what we do, Although not sure how to get tickets, we go onboard when the right boat comes and get off where we need to. The boat is very full, with people coming and going and a few dressed in costume.
We make it to the train station, and ask a staff member which platform we need to be on to get back to our place, and we are informed and head to it. Five minutes later we are on the train, and it takes off. Then when we get back to the place we started from, we hop off and wait for the tram to come and it comes with out to mch waiting, and again it is very full, almost over full. We get off at the right stop, and walk back to our lodgings.
It has been another great day, and I am so glad we went when it was Carnival time.   

Saturday, 22nd February 2020

Today is a rest day,
We do head out for a little while, after talking with our host, about shoes for Bob, and he has given us a suggestion of where we might find some shoes that could fit Bob, as his sneaker soles have worn out almost.
We find the said shop, and it is a huge shop of mainly shoes off all sorts, but alas none that are suitable for Bobs large feet.

Sunday, 23rd February 2020

Today we leave  Padova and head off for Florence. This is a trip of  288 kms or 3 hrs and 50 mins, with a be couple of detours and the first one is to Lamborgini Museum, in Modena. Here we find some very nice cars, and a couple of concept cars. We spend about an hour here, and then we go on to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, which is not to very far away. On the way to going there we past by the Masserati car factory aswell but it was closed.
When we get to Ferrari there are many buildings that are assioated with them, and the factory is here also. We get to the main entrance, and take a couple of pics, but decide not to go into the museum, but we do wander through the gift shop. And that is about all we can afford to do. I find a cap, that is priced at a mere 45 Euro, and figure it can stay there for that money, as it works out to be almost $75.
Again we make our way towards Florence, and find our accommodation and a park. Our host said that it would be easy to find a park, but it seems that there must be something on, as there is not much parking about. But we find one and all is good. Our accommodation is on the 5th floor and our host is there to greet us and show us about the place and answers the questions we have.  

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