Italy 2019 Como

COMO

Leaving Switzerland we travelled by train to Como....a great, comfortable and fast journey. We had booked accommodation in Como so long ago we couldn't remember what it was like.....we were very pleasantly surprised.
The owner, Mirco, met us at Como train station amongst hugs, Italian kisses and loud welcomes which instantly made us feel so welcome. Jumping into his car our first foray into the Old Town of Como ensued and, all joking aside, it was slightly hair-raising. Generally the streets are pedestrian only and you need to be a resident to get a permit to enter by car.....the streets are extremely narrow with sharp corners!!!.

It is always a gamble when booking accommodation on line but we were not disappointed....the apartment was amazing.

Situated in an old monastery, accessed through a very small, low door, it had been coverted to a loft apartment with absolutely everything we needed. Mirco made sure we were settled in making special time to explain and map out different activities to do during our stay. The apartment was situated close to restaurants....local and upmarket....close to the main Old Town Piazzas and close to the Lake.....perfect!!!!

There was also a huge market on Saturday morning  

Our first job in Como was a long awaited reunion with our sister-in-law's sister who has lived and taught in Como for many years and arranged to meet us in the Piazza Mazzini. "How will we recognise Marilyn in the crowded Piazza Mazzini?" says Gary. "Never fret" I say, "it is impossible not to know her instantly". I really didn't know how true my words were.

Arriving on time and looking at the sheer splendour of the Piazza, there was my sister-in-law standing on the corner......but wait....no.....this was her sister!!! Her every movement, voice, giggle, stance, hand gesture....exactly the same. "Understand now?" I said to Gary who, to this day, just cannot get over the exact similarities.
It was lovely meeting up with Marilyn and eventually her gorgeous daughter Goia too. We shared wine and pizza and good coversation; we strolled through beautiful gardens.....only to come up against locked gates.....Goia jumping over a relatively high wall (she has long legs thank goodness) to reach her car to rescue us.....Marilyn "breaking through" a gated bridge to effect our escape....(breaking through=sliding a wooden bar across...nothing major). We shared stories of lost love, retirement and future contentment.....it was very special.
Thankyou Marilyn for helping to make our stay in Como even more special....we look forward to catching up again in the future.
Como old town is such a beautiful place, small enough to get to know it quite intimately, so we quickly found our special place to have a sunset cocktail or a cold, cooling beer, a good local lasagne or pizza in a small, narrow backstreet. We certainly felt
very much at home.

However, coming to Como there are two things you have to do:
1. Take the Funicular to Brunate for the evening, explore the beautifully  ool church there and watch the sun set over the lake from the restaurant Bellavista.

2. Take a boat on the lake for a day. We chose to cruise past Villa Del Balbianello - where part of Casino Royal a James Bond Movie was shot -

hop off at Cadenabbia for Villa Carlotta and an amazing waterfront lunch - hop back on again to Bellagio where Lake Como splits and forks with an amazing 360 view of both forks of the lake

 - hop back on again to Varenna and finally to Menagglio....sweet, colourful townships we enjoyed exploring.

 Back on board again and it was a slow ride back to Como (we were on a "slow" boat) made enjoyable by chatting to a lovely American couple...she an artist and both avid photographers.... and stopping to pick up and put down passengers in other smaller pretty lakeside townships. Somewhere along the journey we passed George Clooney's get away mansion but we were none the wiser and nobody got excited at any stage so it was hard to know which grand place it was.....sadly!!
The hop on hop off ferries in Como are  amazing....their timetables a little less so!!!

The all day boat ride was our last day in Como and our short stay came to an end far too quickly..... but it was time to move on to Perugia in Umbria the next day. Three pre booked train rides would get us there and Mirco was taking us back to Como station so what could possibly happen to definitely make this journey our next "adventure"!!!!

Switzerland 2019

The main purpose of our trip to Switzerland and in fact the basis of this whole current trip, was THE WEDDING!!! One we had been hoping might happen for a few years now but never dared to dream. Yes, the wedding of Marcus (Gary's Swiss son) and Livia.
Flying into Zurich we were met by Flo, another one of Gary's Swiss sons, enthusiastically waving a welcome notice brandishing a huge kiwi.
So much had been arranged but first we needed to meet Veronica, Flo's partner who we had heard so much about, and also their little boy Giosuè....so very cute and good.

Catching up over drinks and a beautiful pasta late lunch (Veronica  is Italian) it was on to Marcus and Livia's place for more drinks and dinner and to meet their little boy Elijah...also very cute and very good.

It is so nice to see Flo and Marcus, their partners and children all getting on so well together after so long.
The next day was Markus's birthday and two days later the wedding so there was a lot of celebrating done with family and friends over a period of a few days. Both Markus and Livia have amazing parents and siblings who welcome us from the heart each time we visit.
The wedding was spectacular and at the most stunning of places too where horses are bred, looked after, trained and stabled. The bride and groom looked beautiful...the whole ceremony taking place in a huge marquee overlooking the horse jumping ring. We understood not one word of the ceremony and what was happening but that only added to the intrigue. Every part of the whole day was truly memorable.....as was breakfast the next morning. These amazing experiences are all over far too soon but we were very fortunate to meet up again with a lot of people we had spent time with on previous visits. LIVIA YOU LOOKED ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS TOO XXX💖

MR-MRS BURRI        25TH MAY 2019

A day trip to Stein am Rhein with Flo, Veronica and Giosue and a day of mini golf with Markus, Livia, Flo, Veronica and the two children was quality time we were able to spend with these people who are very special to us. Eating lots and drinking plenty also came into this, obviously, and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately this was where we had to say goodbye to the new Mr and Mrs Burri and Elijah as they were off to spend their honeymoon in Croatia. Let me tell you it was a very tearful goodbye.

One last couple we needed to meet up with though before we travelled back to Zurich for a couple of days R and R was a couple we met in Spain a few years ago and who live on Lake Lucerne....Sabrina and, yes another, Markus. We were very fortunate to be able to have lunch with them both, plus Flo, Veronica and Giosuè, in Affoltern am Albis, eating traditional Swiss Cordon Bleu and drinking beautiful wine, before they sped away into the mountains in Terence, their campervan, to do a spot of trout fishing....a combined love of theirs.

We were very grateful to Flo and Veronica for all the chauferring they did on our behalf - and the patience of Giosuè. One final surprise was to come though - to meet Flo's parents. Such a truly beautiful, humble couple who welcomed us into their home where more eating and drinking took place and lots of talking - well gesticulating mainly. So, if you think eating and drinking was a common theme during the past 7 days you would not be far wrong!!!!

Last goodbyes to Veronica, Giosuè and Flo as they dropped us off at our Easy hotel in the red light district of Zurich where we stayed comfortably for 2 nights......absolutely hate goodbyes. The hotel was actually great - well positioned to the train station for our next adventure and within walking distance to Zurich Old Town where we would lunch and view the City with one last old friend Jenni.

Thankyou Jenni for taking time out from your busy schedule to spend time with us and good luck with the half marathon.

Next stop Como....just a short Italian train ride away.

Vancouver 2019

It is just over 3 weeks since we left NZ heading for Vancouver and for the first time I am writing our blog on my cell phone. This has come about by our decision to try to travel lighter which almost, but didn't quite, work....we are still towing our good old Kathmandu bags behind us albeit only half the weight.
The flight to  Vancouver...13hours....from Auckland was long and arduous but we got to our pre booked 'Home and Away' accommodation as planned and on time.
Dropping us off the taxi driver drew our attention to a huge notice on the door (think now he must have known what it was) and believing the notice was possibly instructions for us we said all was ok....at this point he seemed reluctant to drive away which did have us wondering!!
Dragging our bags up the front steps what were we faced with? A huge eviction notice, dated the day of our arrival, to the tenants of the property who were subletting their rented house without the landlord's  permission....and we were part of the problem!!!
We were aware our host was not going to be there when we arrived, she had left a key, so we let ourselves in and made ourselves comfortable. We were booked to stay 4 nights, all prepaid, so we just hoped all would be well. The accommodation was really lovely and comfortable (apart from  the continuously blocking toilet that is) but, needless to say, the notice disappeared from the door the following day and we never saw or heard from our host family during our stay whatsoever.
Vancouver we enjoyed greatly....it is an easy City to commute to....is fresh, green and clean and appears to have the health and welfare of its inhabitants foremost in its mind....well the governing bodies do anyway.
It didn't take us too long to sort out the bus system (Gary is a great compass) and getting around daily seemed extremely easy. We often were given free bus rides by the drivers, rather than being concerned about how they were going to charge us which is definitely not the norm, and we explored Vancouver City well.
The hop on hop off bus is a must, the little taxi boats on the river too and of course Granville Island. Gas town with its charming steam clock was very interesting too with so much history....fires, pubs and people!!
And look!!!! This is new....PICTURES!!!

A full day is needed at Capilano Park a heritage site that you can access by taking a free bus from Canada Place. It is very busy but also very famous for it's suspension bridge, cliff walk and treetops walk. Oh..and Owls, plenty of gorgeous

Owls. We did all the exciting stuff here and got a certificate as proof!!!!!

                       

       
Obviously the Winter Olympics held in Vancouver in 2010 is something the City is very proud of and a lot remains of it happening here. The Olympic Flame is still fired up once in a while but each time it is at a cost of thousands of Canadian dollars. The Olympian athletes villages are now used as dwellings and sculptures commemorating the occasion are everywhere.

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We happened to stumble across one done by my very favourite artist of all time.....Salvadore Dahli.

A day trip to Whistler marked the end of our stay. What a delightful village full of vibrant young people still being able to hit the snow in late May. It was very cold for us....Vancouver City having turned on amazing weather.....but we hit the slopes as well albeit in the cable car. The views were breathtaking....the cable car trip long.....we were cold but happy to be right there....Gary claiming his gold medal for audacity.

Many years ago my youngest son came to Whistler with all his college friends for a snowboarding/working holiday staying in Creekside and all working in Joey Changs chinese restaurant. Joey's has since closed but it seemed strange realising I was walking in his footsteps many years later!!

A WORD OF WARNING IF VISITING VANCOUVER. 

Stay away from Chinatown...the hop on hop off bus stops there....it is a HEARTBREAKER!!!

The pavements are lined with drug addicts and the homeless. For whatever reason they choose or fall into this life they are still someone's child, brother, sister, mother or father. It is not a pleasant sight to see so many broken people. ..some their only form of comfort or maybe responsibility, a potted plant among their few grimey possessions.  

WHILST THE POT PLANT LIVES.....SO DO I??

GOODNIGHT

Next stop Switzerland