ITALY TRIP

I have so much to blog about and can't seem to stay on top of it.  I've been so anxious to share with you my pictures from the Italy trip.

I absolutely loved the houses and  buildings in Italy. 

  No cars allowed in Venice as all transportation is by water.  The buildings on the waterways are built directly into the water.

 

  

 Observing the daily living of people of Italy-I love it!

Rosanna is from Italy and is in my UN Women's Guild Yoga class.  When she offered to organize a trip and be our tour guide, ten women (representing U.S., Canada, Austria, Lithuania, Indonesia (Bali), Holland, the UK, and Iraq) in our class jumped at it.

Since Rosanna is from Trieste, that is where we spent our nights.  Our hostel was  right on the Mediterranean Sea.  So, for 22 euro each a night we had a very adequate place to rest our weary bodies.

Oh, I forgot to mention we had a sleeper car on the train going and coming.  My friend, Barbara, and I bunked with Irina and Danute from Lithuania.  We were able to communicate fairly well with only a few hitches.  We taught them to say "ya'll", which was hilarious with their Lithuanian accent.  The first day we traipsed across Trieste, a city in the upper northwestern part of Italy, along the coast, that once was part of Austria. Warmer than Vienna, we observed that the flowers and gardens were much further along.  Their vineyards displayed more leaves and the fields teaming with poppies were a sight not to miss.

Our first stop in Trieste was the Castello and Parco di Miramare (an amazing castle right on the coast), the home of Archduke Maximilian of the Hapsburg family and his wife, Charlotte. 



 

                          The Castle-

every room looked out over the sea.

Next was a self-guided audio walking tour.  Barbara, Irina, and I were a team.  We forged up and down cobblestone streets, into ancient churches, and past Roman ruins.  The directions were not so clear at times and we missed a few turns.  With the help of two locals we got back into town in one piece.

 Looking down on the city of Trieste from the

church in Trieste.

Reservations for dinner at Vecchia alla Lira proved to be an excellent choice.  The seafood (straight from the sea that day) pasta was the best I've ever had.  We even had sardines that were amazing.
 

Next day found us boarding a train for a day in Venice.  After arriving, toilette stop was first on the agenda.  We gladly gave up 80 cents in order to use "real" toilets instead of the holes in the floor we had already encountered.

With a day of a lot of walking ahead of us we began our sight-seeing in the Rialto Bridge area where we visited the fish market.  Wow!  I've never seen so many strange looking fish.  The fish that were so scrumptious the previous night just didn't look quite as appealing in the raw.



Pizza in San Marco Square was the choice for lunch.  After all, can't go to Italy and not have pizza at least once!

Next stop was the Cathedral.  The beauty of these old cathedrals is incredible and unbelievable.  We are glad to have these places to be in awe of, but at the same time wondered how they could justify spending so much when many people were in need.

After this we headed for a beautiful park for a much needed "gelato break."   I think I actually like the gelato in Vienna a little more.   We then boarded the vaparetto (taxi boat) for a 40 minute ride back to the train station to head back to Trieste.  After a bit we realized that we had taken the wrong train and we ended up having to fork over 12.75 euro more for going to Trieste the "long" way.




This conductor probably wished he'd called in sick on this day.  There was a lot of yammering about having to pay more money for an extra hour by women who he could not even understand.



Our last morning in Trieste found us doing yoga along the sea.  It was so relaxing and refreshing and there a few of us who just couldn't resist getting our feet wet.  Irina had put her swimsuit on under her exercise clothes so she wins the prize for getting the wettest!




                                                                  

Our last day we rode on a mini bus to Aquileia and Grado, which in my opinion, was the best day.  As Rosanna explained it, Aquileia was the grandmother of Venice.  When Attila the Hun came through and drove everyone away, they went to Grado.  Then when he came through Grado, the people went to Venice.

The mosaic flooring from the 4th century in the Basilica was incredible.  It must be extremely resilient to have endured through the centuries. 

Roman ruins are the predominant sight in Grado and Aquileia  It would not at all surprise me to hear that discovering Roman artifacts in people's personal gardens is not a common occurrence.  Meandering through the streets of Grado was lovely.  There were older people leisurely riding bikes to do their errands.  We had lunch at a nice little outdoor Italian cafe in Grado then headed to the Trieste train station for last minute shopping before boarding the train home.

Hats off to Rosanna for a very well planned trip.  She worked hard to ensure that we had a great time.  

Amazingly enough, with ten women 49 yrs. and older, there was no illness or mishaps.  We all enjoyed each other's company and grew to respect each other even though we were from so many different walks of life.