- Initially quaint but after a while the police and ambulance sirens become really annoying
- The hotel room may be soundproof but you can still hear, through the ceiling, wheelie luggage going back and forth at midnight
- Not all Murano glass is genuine. The clue is in the name – Maranoh, Muranoe, Meranoe (seen ‘em all).
- “Made in Venise” is either fake or the manufacturer can’t spell
- If you don’t know what the gelato flavour is and there is no English translation, get lemon. There’s not much they can do to a lemon gelato.
- I am astonished at the rudeness of some people.
- In what rule book does it say “it is perfectly acceptable to suddenly stop in the middle of a narrow footpath, take a call on your mobile, speak loudly so EVERYONE can hear how popular and amusing you are and wave your arms around so no one can get past you”.
- Levels of annoying-ness:
- 1. Americans – they’re everywhere, very loud, pushy, opinionated (“why can’t they speak American?”) and they complain about things where there is no solution (“you booked the Rustic Suite, sir, with original fittings, for the Authentic Experience. There’s not much I can do about the low ceilings and a jacuzzi is out of the question.”)
- 2. Germans: not many of them here but those who are can be very annoying with their stupid sense of humour (will point and laugh convulsively at plaster models of David’s bum or willy, especially if it’s been painted fluro) and their enormous feet which seem always to be splayed outwards causing a tripping hazard.
- 3. English: complain about everything from food (I don’t like pizza) to crowds (why are there so many people) to drivers (I wish they’d learn to drive on the correct side of the road) to gelato (is there a Mr Whippy around here)
- Aussies: includes me. Take photos of everything (I do), says g’day to everyone (me not so), wears shorts, singlets and thongs all the time (me no), sees the All You Can Eat sign at the pasta restaurant as a competition sport (me definitely no)
- General annoying-ness
- Anyone who wants their photo taken in front of classic art
- Anyone who has their photo taken in front of a statue where they hold the same pose as the statue
- Anyone (especially you, irritating Vietnamese man) who stands in front of David effectively blocking the view for everyone else so they can have a lengthy FaceTime call with friends back home.
- Tour Guides (see previous post about THAT woman)
- Children (ok not really. I just put that in.)
Author: mellobear
Observations
…will be added to
In no particular order
- I’m not a fashion conscious person but today I saw a 20something girl wearing a bright yellow silk evening gown and knee height motorbike boots. Even I know that’s not done
- Don’t fall for old ladies begging on the streets. Today I walked past one (she’d been there for a while) and she was rattling her cup and sign (I live on the streets and I have nothing). Her sign was angled so you couldn’t see her iPhone 16.
- A lot if men living in or visiting Florence have the WORST dye jobs
- Orange suede shoes, no socks and ankle grazing pants don’t really look that great
- Packing tape is not the best way to repair a push bike
- A man bun is for the young and fit. It is not designed to be put on top of your head (old dude seen today) to cover your bald area.
- A violin, a guitar and a base playing “O sole mio” is not an invitation to perform your personal ballet, tall thin American woman wearing shortie shorts, camisole top, straw hat and HUGE sunglasses. If it were I would have demonstrated my kata. And, I would have done it better…without a warm up.
- Florence has the happiest dogs
Florence
Pitti Palace or Pitti about the ceilings
I shouldn’t be so rude. The ceilings were amazing, each one more amazing than the last however I’m not really a fancy ceiling person. Yes, there is a pattern here – plain and possibly dull but never boring.
Perhaps the ceilings were the precursor to the mirrored ceilings of the 1970s (not that I’ve ever HAD a mirrored ceiling, you understand). Anyway, they are ornate and ostentatious and fresco painters from 3 centuries contributed to the decor of the public rooms and living quarters.
Despite not really liking them I kept taking photos of them and really appreciated the skill and workmanship that went into their creation.
I could go on but I won’t. Best to leave the table wanting more, as Dad used to say.
Speaking of Dad, here he is or a very good likeness. It’s a bit blurry because the painting was difficult to get to.
We first went into the rooms containing Modern Art and, I have to admit, I was expecting an Italian version of Campbell’s soup tins or maybe a banana on the wall but I was pleasantly surprised to see art from the 19th century and early 20th century. Not a soup tin in sight.
Even a favourite artist of mine, John Singer Sergeant, featured although not prominently. This painting (“Reconnoitring”) was tucked into a corner and easy to miss which is surprising as he was born in Florence in 1856 and produced many watercolours of the Boboli Gardens which are adjacent to the palace. None of these watercolours were on display….sigh…..
Next was the Museum of Costume and Fashion. Somehow we ended up in a small room with low lighting which, to me, was possibly the most fascinating of all. The photo above is the burial outfit belonging to Garzia de Medici, 7th son of Cosimo de Medici and Eleanor di Toledo who were the Duke and Duchess of Florence at that time. Garzia contracted malaria and died in 1562 or did he… some stories claim he accidentally stabbed his brother and Cosimo then killed him. His body was buried beneath the Basilica de San Lorenzo and was exhumed, along with his brother (the stabbing victim🤷🏻♀️) and his parents, in 1948. Isn’t it amazing that his clothing survived and in such fantastic condition, as can be seen by the above photo. His parent’s burial clothes were not so lucky. Apparently the people who exhumed the bodies in 1948 were not that interested in the garments, possibly the only remaining royal outfits from the 16th century. I tried to find out where they were stored but all I could find out was that the Costume and Fashion Gallery received them as a bundle of rags in 1983. They are the finest remaining examples of Italian royal 16th century dress, all thanks to the many years of tireless work by the textile conservators.
This next bit is about the costumes and fashion from the 18th century to today so if you don’t like looking at dresses, scroll down.
By now we were fairly tired but we really wanted to see the Royal Apartments so we went to the lift to get to the upper floor. An “incident” occurred and I was not in any way responsible.
A tour guide (hereafter referred to as THAT woman) pushed in front of Glenys and threw her arm out, barring our way, saying “scusi, scusi….Italian words, Italian words…” then something about one of her party was late and so we couldn’t get on the lift as it only held 6 people and we would have made it 7.
“I’m disabled” cried Glenys, waving her stick around.
“Tough shit “ I said, “we were here first”.
Plenty of walking stick waving, harsh glares and stupid twat statements erupted in the lift foyer.
Security man arrived and realised it was THAT woman (I could tell he’d dealt with her before). He wedged himself between the old lady waving stick + annoyed lady with the Go Ahead And Make Me face and THAT woman to ensure no blood was spilled.
THAT woman and her group got on the lift before us (power of numbers won).
Glenys said “you could get on that lift and I’ll get the next one”
At this stage I still thought they were Italian and I proclaimed, loudly, in English, “I’m not getting on the lift with THAT woman!”
They all laughed.
It was an American tour group with an Italian guide.
We arrived at the Royal Apartments and were taken through by a lovely member of staff. Unfortunately THAT woman didn’t go through at the same time. I say unfortunately as I was planning multiple photo bombing situations.
We probably should have viewed the Royal Apartments on another day as the excessive lavishness and all over GOLD look was doing my head in.
However, it was an interesting day. We were happy to get back to the hotel for an early night.
Tomorrow is rest day.
C
Florence
Saturday 24th May
Today we went to the Uffizi Gallery. I was so awestruck that I forgot to take many pictures.
Artwork I’d studied in school was there “in person” and it was amazing to see.
I didn’t realise the gallery was so huge!
I’m not a big fan of religious art but I’m happy I’ve been able to see it.
Nothing untoward happened so I’ll just post some photos here so you get a feel for it, assuming you’ve never been.
Just about every room had ornate, over the top decorated ceilings and I did find that, after a while, they were a distraction.
The first ceiling we saw was this one and I was “wow!”
By the 10th ornate ceiling I was a bit “oh, another ornate ceiling”. Don’t get me wrong, I think they are amazing and a credit to those who designed them and created them however, the opulence was too much especially when you’re used to pale grey walls and Tasmanian oak furniture. Some may call this bland but I like it.
As much as I liked the art I was a tad overwhelmed but I was fascinated by the journey along Vasario’s Corridor which joins the Uffizi with the Pitti Palace.
Giorgio Vasari, a celebrated architect, built the corridor in 1564 for the Grand Duke Francesco I de Medici to allow him to journey from the Pitti Palace, where he lived, to his offices in the Uffizi. Nice.
The Medici family initially made their money from banking. They were widely respected for supporting the arts but their popularity was a mixed bag. Their increased power, wealth and ambition led to resentment and exile, on more than one occasion. The construction of the Vasario Corridor was not just for ease of travel to and from work but it also offered protection from unruly crowds who probably liked to voice their displeasure.
In about 2016 the corridor was renovated to upgrade things to modern standards and at this time all the paintings were removed and relocated to the Uffizi Gallery. Visitors still get to see the paintings, just not where they were. Apparently they were removed because the authorities feared losing them due to fire.
Our Uffizi day began at 9.30am and we staggered back to the hotel at 5pm.
We spent an hour wandering the streets looking for a mini mart so we could stock up on water (you get charged 5 euro per small bottle in the hotel), regular milk (so over UHT) and tissues. Off again tonight in the opposite direction as Glenys feels there is a mini mart “over that way”. I trust her direction nose, it’s been right every time so far.
We stopped for a pizza (13 euro for pizza and a drink) which was ok but the oldie who was looking after the cash register charged me a service fee. Her son argued with her (an argument is the same in any language) but she wasn’t going to be swayed so I paid the service fee. It wasn’t much but the sign read “13euro pizza + drink, no service fee”.
An early night for me but Glenys watched a Miss Marple episode, dubbed in Italian.
Tomorrow we go to the Pitti Palace.
See you!
C
Onto Florence
Friday 23rd May
Naturally there was a nation wide train strike on Friday so we had to change our train and hope to make it to Florence in time for our Golf Cart tour.
It is amazing how many people won’t help others however, I managed to get the luggage onto the train and we set off for Florence.
It was an uneventful journey and we arrived only a few minutes late.
We joined the many other travellers in the Taxi line and I was in a little world of my own when Glenys called out “This one’s ours”. It was a Mickey and Mini Mouse taxi driven by a very strange lady.
We got in and I sat on a rubber chicken.
Turns out Caterina, the driver, donates most of her takings to children’s cancer research. She was dressed like an I don’t really know how to describe it. Anyway, she claimed she had just been to the hospital to visit some sick children and that’s why she was wearing her “outfit” but I think she normally dresses like this.
We settled in and she threw a ukulele over the seat and said “here, play the ukulele…”
I’ll just stick to the farting rubber chicken, thanks, and we drove off to the very loud sounds of Andrea Bocelli.
Our first adventure was a Eco Golf Cart tour of the city. Below is a picture of what we thought we were getting.
Didn’t get a picture of the actual vehicle but it had engine trouble and was looking a little worse for wear. Our driver was the highly entertaining Mr Francisco (complete with long flowing locks and a terrific sense of humour).
We drove around for 90 mins and had a fabulous time. Every time the cart did a bit of engine grinding Mr F talked louder to try and drown out the “I’m about to break down” sounds.
Made it back ok and had a little wander around before returning to our hotel.
Found a laundrette which was just as well because we were running out of clean clothes and the hotel were going to charge 3 euro per sock for washing. Ok, I exaggerate, it was 3 euro for a pair of socks but ONE sock sounded so much more dramatic.
Tomorrow we go to the Uffizi Gallery.
C
Venice, the beginning
Tuesday 20th May
Ok, I have to admit that I am struggling to remember exactly what we did on Tuesday 20th May so I’ll post some photos and hope inspiration gets me so I can add some words…
I remember this one. White seems to be the go to colour and I almost missed this remarkable lady as she shimmied past. I’ve never seen a pair of pants made out of fringe before.
As an aside, glittery jeans are quite popular here. I won’t be getting any but I have seen quite a few women wearing them.
It’s not very clear but I noticed this old chap as he watched the world go by.
A final pic to show the bend in the walls.
I’m up to date now so next post is Friday, our arrival in Florence
C
Venice, the middle
Wednesday 21st May, 2025
Going backwards still…
Today we left the ship and spent the day in Venice. Leaving the ship was quite a palava with little to no communication from the ship people and faced with having to negotiate our way from the drop off point to the hotel which was near the railway station. Seemed easy…
We walked the length of the drop off point (1km but felt like 5), dragging our bags behind us. Found a vaporetto and just hoped we were going to end up in the right spot. We did.
The hotel. Possibly needs its own chapter however, I’ll condense things a bit.
It is a converted convent (or monastery, not sure which) so I was primed for accommodation “cells” and, I have to say, I wasn’t far off. We were taken to the lift and given a brief tour of the lower floors. The public toilet was under the pulpit (not kidding), the walls were covered in crimson coloured flock material and our room had a chandelier.
The beds (possibly medieval) were comfortable-ish and the bathroom had gold tiles and mould to maintain its rustic charm (or maybe mould because, you know, Venice)
We had a look around and found our way outside which was pleasant. A few nice plants which, on closer inspection, proved to be imitation. The lawn was a lush, brilliant green but when the house maid started vacuuming it we realised it too was imitation.
Another vaporetto ride took us to St Mark’s square as we had booked to see a performance of Vivaldi’s Four seasons in the church of Santa Maria della Pieta, just along from the Doges Palace. Built between 1745 and 1760 it is a “jewel of Venetian architecture” although the facade was not completed until 1906.
I am reliably informed (thank you, Google) that the church is commonly referred to as Vivaldi’s church. He worked there for almost 40 years as a priest, teacher and composer. I think he was Scottish. He was called the Red Priest due to his red hair and he could play the bagpipes (I made that bit up. No idea if he could play the bagpipes but the abandoned and orphaned girls, who lived at the institution of the same name, were taught many instruments including the bagpipes so it goes to reason. Also, the church was built from 1745, an auspicious date in the Scottish calendar.)
The concert was wonderful but I have never sat on more uncomfortable pews in my life! Seats in Italy seem to be very short in depth or extremely deep so I am either perching precariously on the edge with a lot of sphincter clenching to stay in place or else I am sitting like a toddler, unable to bend my knees.
8pm came and went and I was thinking TG! I can unclench and leave but oh no, the audience insisted on lengthy applause and so the orchestra returned 6 times (count it, 6!!) to do encore after encore.
Following the concert Venice revealed its wonderful and subtle evening light.
It was a lovely end to a slightly stressful day.
Next post is on yesterday, Tuesday 20th May.
C
Venice, the end
Thursday 22nd May
My apologies for the delay in updates but it’s been busy and stressful since we visited Split. I have decided to do these days back to front as I can remember things out of sequence (it’s a skill).
Today we saw Venice from the Accademia side which was very pleasant and quieter than yesterday.
We have caught the vaporetto a few times and, luckily I have Glenys taking control of which one to catch or else, I fear, we may end up in Trieste.
The cost of the vaporetto is iniquitous! $40 for one stop and one way. We purchased a day ticket (yesterday) which was $50 each for unlimited vaporetto travel. Naturally I left them behind so we had to walk a really long way to get back to the hotel. Sorry, I’m going back and forth a bit but stay with me.
So today…
The Accademia side is very arty with lots of art students marching around with their portfolios. Pity they didn’t have their work on display. I would have loved to see it.
I waited for this little group to move on but they were set in their conversation so I took the photo. Glad I did as they were still there, in the same position, when we returned an hour later
Glenys thinks this piece of construction art represented Pergatory but I thought it was the storyboard for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. See following image.
This was a fascinating little shop. It had pigment powder in this display box at the window and I’m almost sure I read that this shop has been around for centuries and still has some original glass jars of lapis lazuli pigment powder used by many of the great artists of the renaissance. Could be wrong of course, it’s happened before but it is a nice story, nonetheless.
I was very tempted by these seals and pens but it would mean I’d have to return to letter writing and save Australia Post single handed.
Next door to this great shop was another amazing shop. The owner created wood block designs of all things Venice and she printed these designs on everything you could imagine from calendars to cards to mouse pads and posters, little boxes and note pads. I bought a t shirt because I don’t have enough. It is a great design featuring books and cats. I’m not a cat person but we saw so many (not many in Venice, I’ll grant you) that I thought it was a nice reminder.
I also thought a nice calendar for 2026 would be good and this guy was on every pop up calendar shop. The shop owners tried to convince me that he was a young priest helping his church by posing for a calendar.
My image of a priest is the above and, I have to say, a calendar featuring this chap is more believable.
I also saw the first priest on another calendar for Gondaliere so I think he was either selling himself to the Gondaliere Association to get more $$$ for his church or he was a male model. I think this is more likely the case.
I’m in Italy so I thought I’d keep an eye on fashion (you know important this is to me). Followed this chap as I was fascinated by his outfit. It looked to be made out of polyester (though probably silk) and it had zips on legs and sleeves so he could alter his look when he felt like it.
Found our way back to the hotel and just about to go for a quick meal before I repack my bag again.
Next post will be for yesterday. Keep up, I’ll be home soon and all will be back to normal.
C
Dubrovnik and the Game of Thrones legacy continues.
Sunday 18th May
We were greeted with this lovely scene when we arrived in Dubrovnik at 6.30am
I don’t remember this bridge from our last trip, 10 years ago
The port is a long way from the Old Town of Dubrovnik so we took a shuttle. Seems everyone was visiting Dubrovnik but then, it was Sunday.
Most of you would know that Game of Thrones (a show I never watched and never will watch) was filmed in the Old Town of Dubrovnik, amongst other locations, from 2011 to 2019. It has been called one of the most acclaimed progammes (or programs, if you’re American) of all time. This would explain why I haven’t watched it. The only reason I eventually watched Star Wars was because Harrison Ford was in it and one of my little students insisted on wearing his Darth Vader outfit to class so I had to research that.
So 6 years after the last baddie was smote and goodness prevailed (my understanding of the final scene) the GOT legacy is as strong as it was in 2011 (this may not be grammatically correct but it sounded good so I’ve left it as is).
The Dubrovnik Old Town is awash with GOT memorabilia. Every second store has “genuine” GOT items for sale, all claiming to be “official Game of Thrones merchandise”. Every other shop is a cafe or restaurant.
Souvenir shops have expanded their wares to include cat embellished products AND fish embellished products.
The town square is now full of people, cafes and today, a market. 10 years ago we were able to wander around the main town square but not today.
We did see a woman wearing white, posing for her personal photographer and her assistant who tried to keep gawkers away. I managed to get a photo. Maybe the woman was an ‘influencer’. Who knows. Anyway, she was all very pouty and look at me and there was a lot of hair swishing and more pouty looks.
There was another girl with absolutely MASSIVE lips who went into a shop I was loitering in front of. I was so taken aback that I didn’t have time to grab the camera so you’ll have to trust me – they were huge.
About this shop I was loitering in front of. This, it turned out, was a mistake as Glenys found a lovely little outfit of matching shorts and top. No way was I going to even consider it, being a jeans and t-shirt kind of person, however, I took a photo so you can see what I am up against.
Lots of looking around but unfortunately so many people that I couldn’t get a clear shot of any of the buildings.
I thought I’d finish this post with a clever little quote from Game of Thrones but I couldn’t decide.
We’re off now for Split (or else I’m feeling woozy and the port is disappearing…)
C
Kotor, Montenegro
Saturday 17th May
I’m a day behind with my travel blog because we spent so much time in Kotor and I was pooped yesterday afternoon.
I hope I remember it all.
First, I forgot to mention that the guide in Corfu didn’t explain how to get from the bus to the ship and I joined a line (it’s what you do when you’re tired), thinking it was the correct one. Luckily Glenys noticed the small sign and saved me from a Fast Ferry trip to Albania. That would have been interesting.
As I’ve been here once before I know the journey to the port was really lovely so I got up early to see it. The water was calm and the air still. Sadly we were following another ship so we had its (her?) wake to deal with. 10 years ago, my last visit, things were very peaceful, with great areas of nothingness. Now, 10 years on, things have changed. Clusters of house dot the hills and there was a vast concrete block like structure that we decided was an hotel. There was another concrete block that we thought might have been a manufacturing plant. Prime position on the shore with brilliant views. I mean, why not?
We signed up for another free tour, figuring eventually we’d get a good one. Sadly this one wasn’t it. I won’t go into detail but our guide told us all about the many restaurants, cafes and wine bars that Kotor boasted. After a while I turned off the head set and shortly after that Glenys and I melted into the town square and did our own tour.
I had noticed these man made structures along the bay but I had to Google it because the guide was busy telling us what wine went with what food so didn’t explain anything about them.
I discovered that the tunnels were built during WW2 and housed submarines. You can visit them but the boat and speed boat tours don’t like to go there as they aren’t that interesting. 🙄
Mind you, the speed boat tours zipped around the bay each playing their own un-cha music so I appreciate that the average age of the speed boat operators was under 21 and I guess their interest in history and WW2 wasn’t high.
I loved this bench at the entrance to Kotor Old Town but I wasn’t game to try and sit on it as I would’ve needed a ladder.
The following pictures are from the old town Kotor
The following are a few pics at the port
Kotor was one of our favourite spots to visit. The town is very clean and, although there were 4 large cruise ships in port, the afternoon was quiet and easy to get around.
I have noticed the most popular souvenir is something with a cat on it. They are everywhere! Real cats and images of cats. Shame I don’t like cats…
We’ve been wanting to try the “famed” afternoon tea on the ship so we arrived at the afternoon tea cafe (not its real name) expecting fanfare, trumpets and streamers. Didn’t get that but did get a nice cup of tea. The platter of scones, cakes and sandwiches that everyone was raving about was a bit “snoup” as my Granny would have said. Scone (singular), a teaspoon of jam and a teaspoon of cream, a cucumber sandwich (slice of bread with cucumber so not really a sandwich in the accepted sense), a sandwich with some weird brown cheese (made the mistake of having that before. Won’t do it again) and a lime green macaroon (pistachio or broccoli flavour, not sure which but didn’t want to try). Anyway, the afternoon tea gave us the opportunity to continue with our Weirdo Watching activities which is always entertaining. I faced where they came from and Glenys faced where they went so we got a front and back view and compared notes later that evening.
Forgot to mention the laundry incident of yesterday afternoon. I wrote a little story entitled “My Beautiful Laundrette or, a laundry sheet shared is a laundry sheet lost” but it was a bit long so I didn’t post it. Here’s an excerpt….
I was having a whale of a time in the laundrette when a grumpy American woman (most of them on this ship seem grumpy) came in and harrumphed because all the dryers were being used.
“I need a dryerrrrrrr (they really pronounce their ‘r’s). Ma clothes are all wet (rising inflection on final word so it sounds like a question)”
Never one to refuse a challenge I said “are they?” referring to the, obvious, question about the state of her clothes.
I received a glare in reply.
Finally a dryer became available and she bundled her wet clothes (yes, they were wet) into the dryer but then spent rather a long time trying to work out how to get the dryer working. It was apparent that she had never had to do such manual labour. I offered to help
“you just push this button to start it”.
“But whhhhaaayyyyyyyyy?” she wailed.
What does one say to that? The dryer needs electricity to work?
Another laundrette attendee helped and they had a lengthy discussion about the benefits of a long drying period with a lower heat over a shorter drying period with a higher heat. I got involved with some very helpful, I thought, comments about polyester instead of cotton but I received further glares.
Grumpy, complaining lady finally decided that shorter drying cycle on cool temp (ain’t never gonna work, lady) was her choice and, as she left she gave me yet another glare and an over the top thank you to the other lady who had helped/not helped. I even received a very angry glare and a sniff when she got to the door and couldn’t open it. I helped, of course.
The end to this story is I was left in the laundrette with no witnesses so I changed the drying temperature and the length of cycle on her dryer. I hope she wasn’t drying anything that might shrink…
Word to the wise, don’t mess with the little people.
Tomorrow is Dubrovnik. Let’s hope it hasn’t changed much from my last visit.
C
Rhudimentary 