Cornwall

First, a London snippet I forgot to mention: While Bronnie and I were wandering around Hyde Park Corner we noticed that there were an awful lot of police vehicles parked all over the place. A bit later, as we crossed into Knightsbridge, we saw the police themselves - dozens of them hanging around in various places. So, I asked one of them what was going on. She gave me just a simple two word answer: Libyan Embassy. Sure enough, there was the Libyan flag on one of the buildings. Directly across the road were a few tents and the rebel Libyan flag. Nothing seemed to be happening though.

Anyway.... I spent the last week in Cornwall, the south-west corner of England. The pointy bit. Beautiful part of the country too. I stayed in Carlyon Bay, just out of St Austell on the south coast, and reasonably central for the whole county. The sun was out for the whole week and it even got quite warm, up to the low 20sC. Haha, the locals were all wilting.
The south coast of Cornwall is on the English Channel, the north coast is on the Atlantic Ocean.
I visited a few places but it'd take a lot longer than a week to investigate all that Cornwall has to offer. St Austell is just a town but there are some lovely coves and beaches scattered along its coast. Charlestown is a cute harbour and village just around the corner. There were a couple of tall ships being worked on and there's also a shipwreck and diving museum. There's some interesting stuff in there: relics from the Titanic and the Mary Rose as well as hundreds of other objects from the many, many ships that have foundered off the Cornish coast over the centuries. It's certainly not a forgiving coastline!
Penzance and St Ives are two towns I remember from my childhood. I'm not sure if we went to both places (they're not that far apart) but I remember the wind and the ice cream. Both are still there. I tried ice cream in a few places and it varies a lot. The "made on the premises" stuff is by far the best.
Not far from Penzance is St Michael's Mount: an old abbey on a hill that is now separated from the mainland by the sea.



Centuries ago it was apparently a few miles inland, or so the story goes. It ties in with the legend of the lost land of Lyonesse, which was supposed to have been in these parts until it sank beneath the sea.
At low tide you can walk to the Mount, either across the sand or along the manmade causeway. At high tide you'd have to go by boat. I walked across the sand and up through the small harbour at the bottom of the island. The tide was starting to come in as I left so I had to take the causeway back.
Further on from Penzance is Land's End: the most westerly point of the UK mainland. It's where the Channel and the Atlantic meet.





Right at the edge is The First and Last House - a cafe/pub/refreshment place. It was closed. (In the nearby village is the original First and Last House, a proper pub.) Further up is a bigger complex with pub, restaurant, souvenir shops and kids' theme park. Kind of spoils the beauty of the coastline.
A mile or so off Land's End are the Longships; a collection of rocks with a small lighthouse. Because it was so hazy my pics didn't really turn out though. 28 miles further out are the Isles of Scilly. Apparently you can see them on a clear day.

The Lizard Peninsula is another picturesque area. Lizard Point is the UK mainland's most southerly point. Much of the peninsula's coastline is now National Trust property and the emphasis is on conservation of the area.



Kynance Cove, the next cove along, is an example of the Trust's work as the original cafe complex on the cliff has been demolished and moved down to the cove itself. Consequently, the views along the cliffs are unspoiled.



Mullion Cove, on the western coast of the peninsula, is a little fishing harbour.



It's also maintained by the National Trust and they've had to spend several hundred thousand pounds keeping the harbour walls intact. The sea can get pretty wild.

The main places I visited on the north coast are St Ives and Tintagel.
There's a roundabout as you enter the St Ives area and you can go left or right to get to the town according to the signs. To the left it says "St Ives (Day visits)"; to the right it says "St Ives (Ignore your satnav)". That's really what the sign says. Go left! The town is a maze of narrow, one way streets and dead ends that spread up the steep hills from the coast. The harbour/beach area is very busy though: a mecca for tourists. The sun was out so the beach was busy.



Tintagel is a lovely little town. Its claim to fame is, of course, the ruins of the castle up on the cliff. It's supposed to have been King Arthur's castle. There's not much of it left now.
The coastline is really picturesque though.



Apart from the more touristy places, Cornwall is awash with tiny fishing villages and harbours along the coast and farming villages inland. I really only touched the surface while I was there.
I was amused by the names of some of the places though: Gweek, Shortlanesend, Mousehole, Inwardleigh; just a few examples. The highland areas around Bodmin are moorland, not unlike Yorkshire and parts of Ireland. I saw some wild ponies up there but stupidly didn't stop to take a photo. Many of the inland place names begin with Tre, which translates from Cornish as "farm". Tresillian sticks in my mind as it has one of the best looking pubs I've ever seen:



Traditionally, Cornwall has more in common with Brittany and the Celtic lands than with the rest of England. I saw quite a few Celtic crosses, the first since Ireland. The Cornish flag, black with a white cross, was also common. I think there's a fair amount of support for an independent Cornwall in the county. I'm not sure that's an economically viable option though. There used to be a lot of tin and china clay mining but now there's not much of either. There are a few quarries still and lots of fishing. I think the main earner now though is tourism.

Anyway...I had a lovely week down there. The weather was great and the scenery even better. Another place I'd love to go back to.

Later....



PS. On the way back north I stopped at the Ironbridge in Coakbrookdale, Telford in Shropshire. The world's oldest iron bridge, built 1777-79. I went for a little 40 minute cruise along the Severn River, Britain's longest river. A nice break in the journey.

London

Whirlwind two days in London with my friend Bronnie from home.
I drove down on Monday: 3 hours from Liverpool to London, then another hour to drive the 10 miles through London to the hotel, right near the BBC. Madness. I'd booked a room in the same hotel Bronnie was in so we didn't have to waste any time meeting up. Fun couple of days.
Basically we hopped on and off the double-decker tour bus and wandered around being tourists. Bronnie got so excited when we saw Big Ben I thought she was going to fall out of the bus! Big Ben is the name of the 13 ton bell by the way, not the tower itself; that's St Stephen's something or other.
We wandered through Covent Garden, Soho (some nice guitar shops there!!), Knightsbridge, Chinatown, the West End, Piccadilly Circus (which is basically a roundabout), up and down Regent St, Oxford St, Carnaby St, etc.
Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster (though not inside), Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park Corner, Harrods and Harvey Nichols, a Thames cruise up to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.
We had to do the Ab Fab thing and have a champagne in Harvey Nics. The doorman (yes, they have doormen) held the door open for us and I said "Hi, I'm Patsy and this is my friend Eddie." He had no clue what I was on about. None at all. How sad. Anyway... 30 pounds for the 2 glasses of house champers. We didn't stay for a second glass. It was cool to sit there in the rooftop cafe, sip champers and chat away.



London is better than I was expecting. It's noisy and crowded but not in an unpleasant kind of way. I'll definitely go back, stay a bit longer and investigate some of the treasures more thoroughly.

Yesterday morning I dragged Bronnie over to the Kensington/Holland Park area.... Melbury Road in particular. Number 29. Jimmy Page's house. I took my stalker photos :) Nice house!! I laughed at the brick holding the gate open. Sadly there was no sign of Jimmy.



Then I dropped Bronnie off at Buckingham Palace and headed out of town via the Albert memorial in Kensington Gardens; directly opposite the Royal Albert Hall. I've got lots of London pics but have yet to upload them. Coming soon to a Flickr near you.

Currently in Bournemouth on my way to Cornwall for a few days. Hoping desperately that the weather improves again.

Later...

Venice

Venice, a photo by jsarcadia on Flickr.

Italia

So finally my Italian adventure is at an end. I think I've seen a fair bit of the country: Rome, Pompei, Amalfi Coast, Perugia, Pisa, Florence, Ravenna and, of course, Venice. I've passed through many other places but those are the main places I explored to some degree.
I'm not sure yet what I think of Italy as a whole - the whole experience will take some time to digest I think.
The overwhelming impression I have is one of shabbiness. But then, Italy has been around for a very long time so I suppose it's a bit unrealistic to expect it to be pristine. However, looking beyond the surface is so much more rewarding. The history, culture, art.... the art!.... it just goes on. I think the only thing I haven't seen that I really would have liked to is da Vinci's Last Supper. It's in a convent in Milan (I think it's Milan) and you need to book for your 15 minute viewing at least 6 months in advance. Needless to say I'm not that organised. Nevermind, I've seen enough incredible things to keep me satisfied.
Geographically, Italy is far more mountainous than I expected. Even now, at the end of March, many of the alpine areas are still covered in snow. Driving from here to there and then on to wherever has been an integral part of the trip. There aren't many empty spaces and towns are very close together - though I suspect that's typical of everywhere other than Australia and North America. Driving through the mountains is nerve wracking at times but the views are spectacular. Times like that I wished someone else was driving and I could just look, and take photos.
From a history point of view I'd have to say that Rome was the highlight. The remains of the Forum, the Colosseum - I was just continually in awe at seeing these things I've rabbited on about for years and years. Coming out of the dungeon that is the metro to be confronted by the Colosseum, right there in front of me: something I'll never forget.
Apart from the history, Rome is a place I could do without. It's noisy, crowded and not at all relaxed. The traffic is nightmarish and pedestrians really do have to have to have their wits about them, 1000%. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy my time there, I did. There's just so much to see, you can't help but be enthralled.
The Vatican City, geographically in Rome but politically independent, has to be seen to be believed. St Peter's I only saw from the outside. I probably should have done the tour inside but it didn't happen. I missed the Pieta as a result. The Vatican museum is unbelievable. So much wealth and artworks from start to finish. Some of it was so over the top. Nonetheless, a marvellous collection. Of course, the highlight there is the Sistine Chapel. No words can adequately describe that ceiling. A true marvel.
Pompei was probably the shabbiest city I visited. But again, the history made it all good. The ruined city is fascinating to wander through. Ancient Rome as it really was. It was a really good feeling to stand in the same spot as Pink Floyd too (the amphitheatre).
The Amalfi Coast is so picturesque - real postcard stuff. Driving it is a bit stressful but the views are wonderful.
Perugia has faded in my memory a bit. I remember I liked being there and the old town centre was great to wander through, but nothing is standing out in my memory as "must see this" material. Mind you, I'm sure that when I look back over the photos I'll be jolted back there in a flash.
Pisa was perhaps the disappointment of the adventure. The cathedral, baptistry and Leaning Tower were as magnificent as expected but the town itself didn't endear itself to me. Get there, see the tower, leave - that'd be my advice.
Florence. Florence has the art. Florence has David. The Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi, the statues everywhere. I saw so many wonderful works of art in Venice - da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, etc. It's just a fantastic place to wander and look and soak it all in. At the time I thought Florence was my favourite place to be. It has David after all.
Ravenna was a pleasant surprise. I stopped there just because it was convenient but I'm glad I did. The Byzantine mosaics in the churches there are a real treasure. They're rated as the best in Western Europe and it's easy to see why. Magnificent detail and colours.
I originally booked for 5 days in Venice but ended up staying for 9. Magic. It's the most expensive place I've been to but, jeez, it was worth it. No traffic, leisurely pace, the canals, the boats, the gondola, the architecture, the food, etc etc. I cried when I had to leave. Of all the places in Italy, in fact in Europe that I've seen to date, Venice is the jewel. I don't know what it is: the history's not as good as Rome's, the art is not as good as in Florence (or Paris for that matter). It's the ambience I think. It's just a lovely place to wander, sit, catch a waterbus across the lagoon or along the Grand Canal and look. It's almost impossible to get anywhere in Venice in a hurry and I think that's what I loved the most.
The last two days have been mostly driving: Venice, down the Adriatic coast to Senigallia, near Ancona and then further down the coast a bit more, then turn right and head across the country to Rome. Using the motorway (autostrada) it takes about 2 hours to get from one side of Italy to the other - east-west, that is. Tonight I'm in Fiumicino, a couple of miles from the airport.

Italy is expensive, particularly Venice, if you stick to the tourist haunts. In St Mark's Square you can pay 10, or more, euros for a coffee (I paid 16 for a glass of ordinary white wine!), yet not too far away, down a few streets, across a few canals, you can get the same coffee for 1 or 2 euro. And a whole bottle of vino for 12. It pays to look around. Many places will charge up to 5 euros (cover charge) just to let you sit down, even if you're just having a coffee.
Petrol is around 1.50 euro a litre - it's cost me about 200 to keep the Fiat going and I think that's a lot given I didn't drive at all in Rome, Florence and Venice.
The hotels have all been pretty good but they often have hidden charges. In Rome I was charged 10 euro a night just to have the car parked there, in Florence it was 15 a night. The hotel on the Lido wanted to charge me 5 euro an hour for wifi access and that's just outrageous. In that regard, the Astoria in Pompei was, by far, the best hotel: cheap rates, free wifi, free parking, home cooked food, friendly people (even though they spoke not a word of English), and within walking distance of the ruins. Can't go wrong.
Lido, by the way, is Italian for beach. So, Lido di Venice is, in fact, Venice Beach.

I'm sure I have more to say but whatever it was has deserted me now. I should go to bed anyway as I have a 9.30 flight to catch in the morning and a car to return before that.....

Later...

Overheard...

Outside St Mark's, Venice: "So, the Sistine Chapel is in here, right?"

Venice continued....

Venice is definitely the highlight of this Italian adventure. I've extended my stay here by three days because I just wasn't ready to leave. I liked Rome because of the history, I liked Florence because of the art and culture, but I wouldn't choose to live in either place. Venice is completely different. It's Italian and yet it's not. It runs at a different pace. I suppose it's the lack of traffic (and it's resulting noise). Although, there is traffic on the Lido but it's still not the same - no constant honking of horns, no pushing and shoving to get to the front. It's that lack of aggression that makes the difference I think.
One thing I've noticed about Venice is the lack of cats. There are dogs everywhere, on leashes usually, but I haven't seen a single cat. I can't believe there aren't any - though they don't generally like water, so maybe that keeps them away.
Edit: Haha, saw some cats yesterday on Burano.
I'm not sure what the "road" rules are on the water but everyone seems to know where to go, who has right of way, etc. It's quite peaceful out on the water, watching the world slip slowly by.

If you are visiting Venice then it's worth buying a bus pass: 33 euros for 72 hours, 50 euros for a week. Much much cheaper than paying 6.50 for a single trip. Going to Burano, for example, without a pass, would cost 39 euros, there and back. 3 buses there, three back. You'd be mad not to get a pass which gives you unlimited travel for the duration of the ticket.

Touristy stuff:
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is interesting. Her house, right on the Grand Canal, has been converted into a gallery to display the art she'd collected over the years. Most of it is early 20th century work: Picasso, Dali, Klee, Kandinsky, Ernst, etc. Not really my cup of tea but interesting to look at. Picasso's 'The Poet' kept drawing my eye, as did pieces by Yves Tanguy who I'd never heard of before. There's a Jackson Pollock there too - absolute rubbish if you ask me.
There's an olive tree in the sculpture garden, a gift from Yoko Ono. The Wish Tree. Sweet.
On one of my jaunts in to San Marco I discovered that the bell tower has a lift. Woohoo, up I went! Magnificent views over Venice in all directions.



St Mark's Basilica is also worth a visit. Its many domes (4, I think) are decorated with mosaic in the Byzantine style. The overwhelming impression is of gold. Because the backgrounds of these mosaics are just gold they're not as interesting as the ones in Ravenna with their detailed landscape backgrounds. Impressive in their own way though.

The central area of Venice is dominated by the Grand Canal. It's a busy thoroughfare with a constant stream of vaporetto (waterbuses), taxis, working boats, private boats and gondolas. There are four bridges that cross the canal, the Rialto being the oldest and most famous.



Like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the Rialto bridge is lined with shops. They're enclosed within the bridge though, rather than hanging off the sides! There's also a market in the area to one side of the bridge - fruit, veg and fish. Great seafood in this town!
People go to San Marco square to take pics, see the palace and basilica, etc., but the Rialto area is where Venice really happens. Until the 19th century, this bridge was the only way across the canal on foot. Hence it became the centre of most activity - the market, shops, restaurants, etc. It's probably the most constantly crowded part of Venice.

There are over a hundred islands that make up "Venice". The Lido, where I stayed, is one. Murano and Burano are two others I visited. Murano is the home of specialist glass factories and is full of shops selling glassware. I'm not a fan of coloured glass, never have been. It always looks a bit tacky to me - though I did see some lovely chalcedony glassware in the museum and "milk" glass, which looks almost like porcelain. Lots of people must like it though as the shops seemed to be doing good trade. It's not cheap either!
Still, it's a lovely place to wander around.



Burano is a tiny island about an hour and a half from Venice central. It specialises in the manufacture of lace. The main street is lined either side with restaurants and lace shops.
The most striking thing about Burano though, is the houses. They're all painted in bright colours: red, pink, yellow, blue, green, purple. It's exceptionally pretty.



I spent a lot of time just wandering through Venice. I'd catch the bus to San Marco or the Rialto and take off in a random direction. It's impossible to get lost as eventually all streets lead back to the canal. The streets are narrow and there are endless canals and bridges to cross. It's quite enchanting really. There are plaques everywhere to show where famous people have stayed or lived: Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Byron, are some I saw. It's easy to see how such people would have been inspired by the place.
Away from the canal you see more of ordinary Venetian life: people sitting outside cafes in the afternoon, kids playing football in the small communal squares, people just going about their business.



Venice is a wonderful place and I'd love to stay longer.

Venice day 3

Today started off at Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, or Salute as it's known here. It's a huge church across the canal from San Marco. The outside is extremely ornate with statues and carvings all over. the inside is more sedate - some large paintings on the walls but otherwise quite restrained.



As far as Italian churches go, that is.

From there I headed for the Peggy Guggenheim gallery. It's on the same side of the canal and is supposed to have a good collection of works by Picasso, Dali, etc. Except it's closed on Tuesdays. As soon as I got there I remembered I'd read that earlier.
No matter...onwards and upwards as they say.
Next stop was the Accademia - lots of artworks by Tintoretto, Tiepolo and other Venetians. Some nice stuff. The difference about Venetian artists is that they often paint about Venice. Makes a refreshing change from the endless Madonnas, Magi and the rest. Not that they don't appear, but it's not all about them.

After the gallery it was time for lunch: spinach gnocchi in a tasty pesto sauce with the added spectacle of a couple of wandering buskers.



I suspect these guys go from restaurant to restaurant, play the same couple of songs each time and make a fortune. Good luck to them, they were fun.
Another guy, not far away, was playing My Way on his accordion. I heard him before I saw him and slung him a couple of euro too.
See, I don't mind giving away a few bucks to people who do something for it, like the buskers. Unlike the woman who was begging outside that first church I went to - as I walked past she grabbed me by the arm, shook her cup at me and yelled in my face. Sorry, but no chance lady. Especially not outside a church that's got more money than you could poke a stick at.

But anyway...
After lunch I wandered and wandered through the streets, over bridges and canals. Spent a small fortune on silk scarves. Took some nice pics of reflections in the canals.



At one stage I was headed down a street and a man coming the other way stopped me, 'cos I clearly looked like a tourist with no idea where I was, and he kindly told me I was headed for a dead end. He led me back to where I could find my way to the Grand Canal again and off he went. Nice.
So eventually I made it back to a bustop and caught the bus back to the Lido. Just in time to catch a cool sunset.



Later...