Italy

After an early rise we said goodbye to our yacht and the glamour of Monaco City, and took the public elevators up the hill to the train station. Within 20 minutes we had travelled through 3 countries (Monaco, France, and into Italy)! Immediately we were surrounded by Italian language, welcoming locals, and great coffee! 12 hours later after various delays and broken down trains… we arrived in Bologna! Here we had our first Couchsurfing guest experience with Jat, an Italian of Indian birth, now a psychologist in Bologna. Despite our exhaustion we took a bus into town for a night time tour and a beer, arriving home after midnight. Jat was a lovely guy and knowledgeable about the city. The next morning we decided to walk along the Portico of San Luca, a covered walkway that led up to the top of the hills outside Bologna. It was quite hard work in 35°c heat, and we arrived at the top rather sweaty, to enjoy beautiful views over the city and hills. We then walked back to Bologna for lunch at an Italian restaurant, where we had a tasty Risotto and a traditional version of Bolognese (Tagliatelle al Ragù, which originates in Bologna). We then went to see the old University and library, which is the oldest Western University still in operation (with Oxford as the second!). After a gelato and coffee, we headed back to Jat's house to cool down and have a relaxing evening. 

We took a train from Bologna up to Lake Garda to relax by the lake for a couple of days. After an unexpectedly long day travelling a very short distance, we met for a drink with Gale (a friend of Sam’s from Reaction Engines) who just happened to be holidaying and visiting family in the region! Gale introduced us to a local soft drink called Cedrata - delicious and refreshing! We then had excellent pasta and wine at a local restaurant before narrowly catching the last bus back to Sirmione. The following day we headed out on a walk to the peak of the Sirmione peninsula, around 1 hour away, along the edge of the lake. The lake was stunning, with aqua blue waters surrounded by mountainous shores. As we walked, the day's heat appeared and so did all the other tourists, spoiling an otherwise lovely stroll. At the head of the peninsula we treacherously slid over the flat rocks spanning around 40 metres to take a swim. The water was refreshing, a pure delight. On our walk back we stopped for lunch at a pizza restaurant with fantastic views of the lake. After a siesta, we rented a paddle board and relaxed on the water. A romantic dinner of pasta and Aperol Spritz with further views of the sunset over the lake topped off a relaxing day. 

We woke early the next morning to travel to Venice, where we planned to meet our friends Sheila and Lucy and travel together for a week. Sadly their night train got cancelled, and they had a terrible journey trying to make it to Venice with many changes and delays. We explored Venice without them for the morning, and enjoyed the canals, boats and bridges that span the beautiful city. We found a cute gelato shop and a local bar where we had a drink and some more cicchetti for lunch. We then went back to our apartment for a little siesta. Lucy and Sheila joined us at 8pm (12 hours later than planned!) and we cooked a stir fry and caught up before getting an early night. The next morning we decided to wake up early to watch the sunrise. Venice was beautiful in the morning light, with hardly anyone else around. We walked into the centre and saw Saint Mark’s plaza and the Doge’s palace while it was still quiet. We then decided to take a water bus to some islands surrounding Venice. First we explored Murano, famous for handmade glass, and enjoyed browsing the glass shops. We then went to Burano, famous for colourful houses and lace, and had pizza for lunch overlooking the rainbow houses and canals. We then went to Lido, found a (rather busy!) beach and went swimming in the warm sea. Refreshed from our swim, we took the boat back to Venice, and explored the city some more - browsing mask shops, eating gelato and having cicchetti in a cute tavern. We headed home for an early night, in preparation for travel to Slovenia the next day!