Venezia

Hey all, 

Despite what I said in the last blog, it was another mad rush for Radicchio at the end of the week, (and although we were behind) after working solidly over the weekend we're done. Time for some R&R. 

3 days of doing nothing woop woop. 

Monday was a good day to veg out and do a lot of nothing - I managed to catch up on two episodes of The Walking Dead in  between washing clothes, drying clothes, eating and trying to get tickets for things on Tuesday.

The day finally came where Giusi headed off to Roma for a TV appearance and I headed to Venice for the day. YIPPEE!!! Google had been telling me all week long there would be sunshine (finally) and as I descended the stairs to fill my belly with some hearty grub before the two hour train journey Michele says to me "Ho visto il tempo?" 

Naturally I answered "No" I had definitely not seen the blizzard that was swirling around outside - uh-oh! By 7.30 I was on the train at Ponte Nelle di Alpi-Polpet and the snow had begun to lay...Deep Joy.

Brutto Tempo per un viaggio a Venezia :/

Thankfully, the closer I got to venice, the warmer and sunnier it became - crisis averted - and by 9.30 I was standing in front of Santa Lucia train station, sun shining down and ready to explore. I went to buy a map and a ticket for the vaporetta - €20 fizzled away already. 

(Image reused from first blog because I accidentally deleted the new one)

On the steps of Venezia Santa Lucia train station.

Having just bought a map, I did the sensible thing and chose not to open it until I really needed it! Naturally, I just started walkingl; walking with the intention of finding some bread to go with my lunch and the location fo the Ponte di Rialto. After about 15 minutes of dandering (occasionally going up a dead end) I managed to find my way to the Mercato di Rialto which is a string of indoor and outdoor market areas filled with all sorts of fresh fish, meat, fruit and veg. yum yum!

FISH!

MORE FISH!

MORE FI- wait...no just fruit.

I almost relapsed after encountering the Radicchio here haha!

Herbage

Not exactly cheap to shop here, even though it's a market.

This is pasta for tourists and is on every street - a waste of money.

After barging my way past several locals (barging is normal here and not considered rude) along with a load of mildly disgruntled and overly enthusiastic americans, a cornucopia of people from the orient (ALL with beautiful L-lenses, I might add)and some Germans with very stern faces I had successfully made my way to the Ponte di Rialto - WIN! 

I've got to be honest: The bridge is beautiful, the tourists are bearable but the worst part is the shops that sell the same old shite on every corner and now at the apex of this icon of Venice. Not to mention you're guaranteed to see a homeless person on *EVERY* bridge. Why does the venetian government allow this? bleh. 

Damn those tourists!

Me, atop the Ponte di Rialto.

My next destination was the Piazza San Marco, which according to my deep albeit vague knowledge of venice was somewhere to the front-right of the other side of the bridge along with a few bashes of the X-button while holding the Right Shoulder button... (this knowledge comes from Assassin's Creed 2). This is indeed 100% geographically accurate. Unfortunately for me, the network of bridges and several closures made this near impossible, and to make matters worse I came across one of those disgustingly sweet bridges adorned with "love-locks"...pretty sure this is just romantic littering. 

Doesn't this just make you want to puke...BLURGH

Another 20 minutes passed. As I bumped into yet another church, I made the decision to look at the map because regardless of the fact that I had solid bearings at the Rialto bridge, I was now completely lost. As I was fumbling around trying to open the maps packaging I came across the main gate to L'Arsenale, so away the map went and out came the camera. 

Oh it's me again...

For the first shot (which was near perfect if I do say so myself) someone decided to stop directly in the middle and I was unable to get the right light and framing again - I may upload said photo to facebook at some point so that you all know why I was so annoyed. Either way,  I now had my bearings again and knew that if I followed the path by the side of the canal and turned right I'd be on the main causaway towards Piazza San Marco. RESULT. 

Campanile di San Marco

Generic shot of gondolas

Il palazzo Ducale - The Doge's palace.

SUCCESS! I'd made it to my next destination still unaided by a map - turns out venice is stupidly small. It was also stupidly full of tourists (why do they always feel the need to come out on the same days as me? bastards!) I'd tried for the last few days to get last minute tickets for the Secret Itineraries tour of the Doge's palace which lets you go into all of the secret rooms - unfortunately this is incredibly limited and needs to be booked in advance. Next time I should be able to get in so keep your eyes peeled for another Venice blog around June time. 

 I began to make my way around the square but due to residual flooding and tourists not investing in decent foot attire, everywhere was blocked by raised walk ways blocking my passage. So again, that'll have to wait for summer. After having a look at the Basillica, Campanile and the outside of the Doge's palace it was time for a change of scenery. Lunchtime was fast approaching so thought it best to escape the pressures of inner city life and hop on a vaporetto to the nearby island of Murano, famous for its glass ware. 

 
















I boarded the 4.1 to Murano and it took about 45 mins to get there. I'd not managed to find a free toilet since getting off of the train so top priority was to find a loo regardless of whether it charged an extortionate amount or not. Within 30 seconds of getting off of the boat I spotted a sign for WC though it cost €1.50 - needs must. What a relief. 

Many of the photos from Murano are...well they're pretty crap because I'd changed the settings on my camera to make the most of people blowing glass and just as I'd got the settings right it was time for lunch - sod's law. I headed outside and carried on snapping away at life, while trying to find a bakery. There were lots of images of glass shops and the canals but they all came out over exposed and blurry - sorry guys. The image of the church is the only one that survived from Murano - At least i'd managed to see some glass blowing even if you haven't. SORRY! *maybe* in June. 

After asking some locals I'd learnt there was one bakery near the centre of the island but I'd have to be quick if I wanted bread... thankfully the bakery caters for tourists and they were happy to serve me a nice olive bread to go with my Prosciutto crudo, formaggio, chocolate chip muffin and orange kindly given to me by Michele in the morning. Also bought a cheap bottle of plonk to go with it and settled down in front of the church pictured above.

 

As much as I wanted to wait around to take a few more pictures, I had other places to go and see so it was back on the vaporetto to where I started at the train station. Jumping off, slightly inebriated at this point, I headed in what I thought was the direction of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari but I infact ended up near the University of Venice. I should have probably started to use the map at this point but no, no, no - I didn't need a map. It wasn't all bad, I saw some snazzy graffiti ...

I finally sat down, and pulled out the map...I'd completely bypassed where I was meant to be going just by crossing one silly little bridge. Che un imbecille!

On the way I met this guy, he's holding some fresh caught leeches.

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

 As I emerged from one of the many back alleys in the vicinity I was greeted by the great campanile of this cathedral and a good old downpour of rain - time to find somewhere to go inside methinks. Instead of going into the church, I found a museum full of working models of Leonardo Da Vinci's machines - unfortunately you couldn't touch them which was a bit pants but here's some pictures. 

Where am I?

One of the earliest life preservation kits for people at sea.

An emergency bridge that can be constructed without string and teh more weight you put on the stronger it becomes.

A large scale model of one of the earliest ball bearing designs (to be used with Leonardo's helicopter)

Leonardo's design of an "Ideal" City.

It worked out to be quite expensive and not entirely worth the money but at least it was warm and dry. As I emerged the rain had ceased and I could carry on wandering around. By this point I'd seen pretty much everything I had wanted to but was gutted when I found out that the day before had been the festival of the patron saint of the city (St. Mark) 

...Bollocks. A day too late.

I headed back to the station to check train times for going back home as the trains aren't exactly reliable. I had an hour or so to kill until my train was ready to go so I walked in the only direction I hadn't been and, once I'd finished barging my way through tourists I came into a completely  residential area full of normal people...locals. I got a couple of dirty looks but for the most part it was so much nicer than the other parts of the city. 

On the way I saw a couple of newlyweds going for a gondola ride...

BANG TIDY!

Another strange thing happened; throughout the day I'd constantly been walking past the public water fountains and then when I wanted to find one I couldn't. Half an hour later and I managed to find one! woo. 

Then it was back to the trainstation for a boss battle with TrenItalia. I know you're all poised, on the edge of your seats just waiting to know how much of a shit time I had - well I'll tell you...

Santa Lucia station (from the other side this time!)

I'll tell you after this piece of light humour because well...I'm still quite juvenile:-

Did you see what I saw?

 So the direct train to Ponte Nelle di Alpi-Polpet was cancelled, and so instead I got the next one. This train happened to break down at a place called Conegliano so it was an hour and a half of waiting around in the freezing cold. The train after THIS was direct to Belluno but was delayed by a further half an hour...I wasn't having much luck. I bought a coffee and bummed a cigarette off of a local because I had nothing better to do. Finally the train arrived after having stood around in the freezing cold for over two hours. GOOD TIMES

I'd fallen asleep and woke up just as we were pulling out of Ponte Nelle di Alpi-Polpet, where I was meant to ring Michele and tell him to leave the house to come and pick me up. This didn't work out so well because Michele thought I wanted to be picked up from there and not Belluno. Another 20 mins in the freezing cold at Belluno station and Michele rang wondering where I was. We laughed and he apologised (so did I) for the confusion and he just said "oh dio, sorry - Arrivo!" (oh god, sorry, I'm coming). 

It was now pouring with rain but the warmth of the car was bliss. When I got in Michele kindly made some tea and we talked about my adventures and the state of Venice. Somehow we ended up having a very deep conversation about Leonardo da Vinci and how he was born too soon and had he been born today, would have been the equivalent of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. I renamed this alternate version "Leonardo Jobs".

Wednesday was another quiet day of doing nothing. I layed in and then watched some more shows that I've been missing out on - I'm now up to date with The Walking Dead - looking forward to the season finale AND up to date with Top Gear. All is right with the world. 

Thursday was pretty standard - we started to clear another bed of old strawberries ready for more peas. The hard part isn't the strawberry plants, but the Dandelions whose roots go stupidly deep. Giusi left early, while myself and Michele discussed the tax system, medicine, food, cancer and a lot of other things incredibly thoroughly despite our lack of knowledge in each others language. Good times. 

That's all for now, I'll give you an update after easter weekend! Hope you all eat enough to make yourselves sick. 

  For those of you that don’t know or have just stumbled upon this blog, my name is Luke and I’ve recently sold almost everything I own and moved out to Italy to experience a bit of La Dolce Vita (should probably try and avoid those sorts of clichés) through an organisation called WorldWide Oppurtunities on Organic Farms – more commonly known as WWOOF. It was set up in 1971 by a couple of people  from England who wanted to escape the stresses of inner city life and get back to basics with farming organically and away from the general hustle and bustle. Their friends heard what they were doing and wanted to join in and it sort of spiralled out of control from there. It’s now a global organisation promoting low impact living and each country has a specific website. You pick a country, pay a membership fee (about £25/€30/$30-40) and you get access to a list with hundreds of farms. You contact them directly and tell them why you want to volunteer on their farm.  In exchange for working on a farm or small holding for 6-8 hours a day, you get to meet wonderful people, gain experience regarding organic farming techniques, eat delicious food and have a bed/caravan/ tent for the night.
 

Padua, Snow and Noms

Hey all, 

Today I'll fill you in on what's been happening regarding the trip to Padua, the weather, some food AND a little jolly today (Wednesday - it's now Saturday but the jolly was on Wednesday) to get some more yummy noms. I apologise for not sticking to my promise of getting another update to you sooner but we've been trying to finish the Radicchio (it's going to the same place as before) - as i write this we are now 2 days from the end. 

I say two days because Giusi has been asked to go on TV in Roma on tuesday, so while she goes on a jolly down there with a few of her friends to represent the region I'm gonna head to Venice. Fingers crossed it's not flooded by rain or anything else. 

So Sunday was a long day but lots of fun was had by all! We were all headed to Padua for Sara's first Gymnastics Gala and to have a dander around the city. Despite living reasonably close proximity Giusi has never visited the city. 

After everyone had been showered and cleaned, camera batteries charged, hair done and a quick lunch we hopped in the car. About 40 miles into the trip we had to turn around because we didn't have Sara's outfit - OOPS! There's always something. 

The team from Belluno

Sara did really well especially for her first time in front of a large audience. Her team won medals for being the fastest and most colourful. Their coaches also get them all little cups that were dated. By the time the competition had finished it was about 4pm - we were losing light so made a rapid exit for Padua. 

Giulia congratulating Sara

Someone is very happy with herself.

It had only taken us 15 minutes to get into central Padua which was great besides the relentless rain slapping us in the face as we got out of the car. There were echoes from the kids of "Ho Fame! HO FAME!" (I'm hungry) so we were on a mission to find food as well as be tourists. Padua isn't that big, probably a bit bigger than Leicester and like Leicester, it's a university town, housing the second oldest university in Italy that was founded in 1222. It's also home to the worlds olded Botanical Garden which was created in 1545! Bonkers. 

There's also the Scorvegni Chapel, famously smothered in fresco's by Giotto but seeing as it was Sunday it was closed and to make matters worse - you have to book in advance! I've heard that for an extortionate amount of money you are made to watch a video for 15 minutes and then only have another 15 minutes to enjoy the frescos. My advice: Find High res images on Google if you want to actually look at the art.

Unfortunately the pictures are few and far between because of the heavy down pour so these four will have to do.

Monestero di Santa Giustina and behind, The cathedral of Santa Giustina.

Piazze Prato delle Valle

Dante, why so serious?

Padua has a lot to see, but it was sunday, it was raining and nearing dinner time so it wasn't exactly ideal. I may try and have another visit later in the year - any takers? We managed to find a quaint little bakery and got some flavoured focaccia then made our way back to the car. We'd taken Giusi's car which doesn't have a radio but thankfully I'd brought my laptop (to photoshop my current facebook cover photo - it had power lines criss-crossing everwhere!) and had enough battery to play the complete Best of R.E.M. album. Everyone in the back had conked out and were gone all the way home. I spent much of the journey home writing the previous entry of the blog and photoshopping.

SNOW!

That night we had just under a foot of snow and there was more to come - super happy fun times! The snow plows were out in full force - two passed the window in the space of an hour and traffic was flowing freely. (I seem to recall explaining the law about winter tires in the last entry, so I won't repeat myself). Thankfully it's not like England where the country comes to a halt, though I've been told that in the south of Italy things are worse than in England. 

A snow plow had been round only 10 minutes before and we had another inch or so of snow.

ROAD BLOCK!

The bus made it on time to pick up Sara for playschool, while Michele took Giulia in the Land Rover. Giusi and Lucky (along with myself) headed to the farm, and after clearing the broken branches from the road, we made it. There's not much farming to be done when everything is under a foot of snow. We attempted to salvage as much of the Radicchio that was outside as possible and move it into the main tunnel where it can be kept warm. After about 40 minutes of moving everything we gave up and decided to play. 

Lucky loves the snow - he's like Scrooge McDuck swimming through the money in his vault!

We were playing fetch with snow balls for Lucky to find - watching him try and find a snowball that's dispersed amongst more snow is hilarious to say the least. The rest of the day was pretty much free and that evening we had some good hearty grub filled with all the carby and sugary goodness you need when it's this cold.

Standard Salad of radicchio, lots of cheese, lots of bread, lots of olive oil.

Potatoes with a potato, egg and cheese tart - why not!

And for dessert:

Baked apples!

CREAM CAKES AND PASTRIES!

The following morning half of the snow had already melted. We were running very behind though because Giusi had to make a lot of calls and wait around for a delivery. 

Eventually the guy came and we got to the farm by 10am. The day itself was uneventful - just more Radicchio but the end is in sight so that's certainly a good feeling. In the evening Giusi's friends Isa and Eugenio came round for dinner. They own an Agriturismo up in the mountains in Valmorel called I  Boschi del Castagno - it's a bed and breakfast that also let's guests help out on the farm. They also host WWOOFers like myself.

Eugenio and Isabella

The next day it was straight to work peeling pumpkin seeds ready to be planted - but good news: child labour is still alive and kicking in this house MWAHAHAHA!

Oh you've finished eating? now get to work minion!

 Giulia had a small falling out with Giusi over homework and as  a result she wasn't going to get any lunch. When she came home there was more of a ruckus and after an hour or so she'd calmed down. I went outside with Lucky so Giusi could have a private chat with her about how important it is to focus in school.

After half an hour of belly rubs you'd have a face like that too.

That afternoon Isabella came round to take us all on a trip to get some oranges, olives, artichokes and €50 worth of  Organic Parmigiana Reggiano.

Olives, Wine, Artichokes, Rice, Biscotti, Formaggio - MMMMM

Mauro

Giusi is always on the phone!

Oranges, artichokes, lemons, Romanesco

€50 worth of Organic Parmesan - half of it is already gone.

 

The next few days will be filled with Radicchio but thankfully it's the last. Speak to you all soon! Here are some castles we drew when it was raining - they look pretty goddamn awesome if you ask me - what do you think? 

Add caption

  For those of you that don’t know or have just stumbled upon this blog, my name is Luke and I’ve recently sold almost everything I own and moved out to Italy to experience a bit of La Dolce Vita (should probably try and avoid those sorts of clichés) through an organisation called WorldWide Oppurtunities on Organic Farms – more commonly known as WWOOF. It was set up in 1971 by a couple of people  from England who wanted to escape the stresses of inner city life and get back to basics with farming organically and away from the general hustle and bustle. Their friends heard what they were doing and wanted to join in and it sort of spiralled out of control from there. It’s now a global organisation promoting low impact living and each country has a specific website. You pick a country, pay a membership fee (about £25/€30/$30-40) and you get access to a list with hundreds of farms. You contact them directly and tell them why you want to volunteer on their farm.  In exchange for working on a farm or small holding for 6-8 hours a day, you get to meet wonderful people, gain experience regarding organic farming techniques, eat delicious food and have a bed/caravan/ tent for the night.