Venezia to Bolzano, Italy
May 2007
Ciao from Venezia! ...sigh...more sighing...we have eaten, gondola-ed, drunk (rosa vino), walked/ran, ferried our way over, around & through Venice, and it is with a smile and sigh that we must say arrivederci to her.
We had a great day today, touring Murano and the incredible glass making factories, taking a gondola ride, eating spaghetti carbonara the way it should be cooked, and running like crazy people over bridges, around tourists and through back alleys to Termini to catch the shuttle bus home. When we arrived in Venice yesterday we both agreed to forget the map and just walk and discover, and it worked out perfectly. You havent discovered Venice until you have been lost in her laneways.
Tomorrow we are off to Bolzano to meet Otzi (google him, he will blow your mind...tip: he is a cool customer, approximately 5,300 years old). We are staying in a self contained apartment on a farm with vineyard for the next week or so with a family that dont speak any English. So you can be guaranteed there will be lots of laughter and arm waving as Matt walks around with his head in our Italian phrasebook (thanks Ads and Eedz for the phrasebook!).
We plan to relax and soak in the villages, Innsbruck and some castles in Bavaria, as well as cycling the Dolomites and surrounds.
Matt has 2000metres plus mountain passes for us to tackle.
Thinking of you all, will write again soon...
Bolzano is perfetto. This incredibly bike friendly town at the base of the Dolomites is a real treat...cobbled streets with many piazzas and chances for cafe lattes, fresh markets daily and amazing scenery... EVERYONE rides bikes here, old, young, tall, short, high-heels, skirts, dresses, business suit, thongs. There are specially marked cycle ways all around the city. It is also a bilingual town, so we are enjoying the confusion of being surrounded by both languages and not knowing which one to speak to whom...???
Our hosts at "Messnerhof" speak mostly German, and only a tiny bit of Italian (no english). It is times like these I so dearly wish I could sprachen zie Deutsche. They are a young family (2 year old boy and newborn bubba) with Oma & Opa also livnig there. Opa starts his tractor daily at around 7am to tend to his vineyards and surrounding farm. He is the quintessential Opa with faded blue overalls and a warm, friendly, weathered face. Daily he greets us on our way out, and he still cant quite believe we bought our bikes all the way from Australia!!
Matts German is MUCH better than mine (care of spending 3 weeks in an Austrian hospital back in 1995) so we have had bits & pieces of conversation with Opa who loves to hear about what we have planned for the day. With Opa so keen to communicate (and us wanting so dearly to ask him about his farm, life and background) we have purchased a German Lesson book and are doing daily lessons between us to try and bridge the communication gap.
Yesterday we did a 36km cycle in the Dolomites...amazing! 18km of climbing over 2 hours before rugging up with 4 layers of clothing for a frighteningly fast & cold descent back to the car. Tomorrow we plan to double our distance (and the climbing). We also made it to the Museum to visit Otzi...truly amazing how they discovered this 5,300 year old man in the ice. There is a whole floor of the Museum dedicated to his discovery and findings.
Today, we are enjoying a recovery day. This morning we rode into downtown Bolzano from our accomm (15 mins) and have been sauntering the streets, relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere. The weather is beautiful here today, I guess high 20s.
We hope you are all well. As we go on our travels different things remind us of each of you...
Take care, much love, Sah & Matt Bacon
