17th May

Yesterday we spent an enjoyable but quite tiring day in Firenze (Florence) which is quite a lovely city with wonderful architecture where ever you look. 

Facade of the Duomo cathedrale

Detail one of the many statues on the Battistero di San Giovanni

Ponte Vecchia, Duomo, Basilica Santa Maria Novell, Palazzo Vecchio, we visited them all and others as part of a guided walking tour. We then had lunch in a grand old hotel, The Borghese Palace hotel which was thoroughly enjoyable starting with lasagne then pork in a rich sauce with small roasted potatoes followed by desert. All this accompanied by a bottle of wine and one of water per table of four.

Sue at the Ponte Vecchia

Ponte Vecchia from the other side

 

 

 

Stairs down from our lunch stop at the Borghese Palace Hotel

Our afternoon was free to wander the streets exploring further. Sue was disappointed she could find no Florentine biscuits anywhere.

15th May 2015 Now we are in Florence

Today we arrived at our next campsite near Florence (Firenze) after a drive of about 180 miles. Our weather has turned a little cooler today but yesterday in Venice was a scorcher.

Doges Palace and the Campanile from our boat

Sue enjoying her gondola ride

Our Gondolier in the Grand Canal Venice

Our coach took us into Venice, or at least the outskirts near the railway station from where we had a boat transport us to near the Piazza San Marco. We were given a guided tour around some of Venice then we could wander around on our own and get totally lost. This we managed without too much difficulty but did arrive back on time for our Gondola trip around some of the lesser canals ending up on the Grand Canal, quite an experience and a bargain at just 20euros each. We followed this later with a boat trip around some of the outer islands of Venice. We now feel that we know Venice a lot better.

Laazise Castle through the trees

While we were staying at Desenzano we had a full day out visiting towns around the lake by coach and boat. Our coach took us to Lazise where we boarded the ferry that took us to Malcesine via many towns along the way. Our coach then picked us up and took us to Sirmione where we explored the town before being taken back to the site. Somehow we managed to time our visit here with the running of the Mille Miglia (1000 mile) event so there were plenty of glorious cars to enjoy.

Lovely Alfa Romeo at Sirmione ready for the Mille Miglia

Food while we were at the Desenzano site was amazing. Our first night we had a get together meal of five courses plus wine and coffee. We started with melon with ham which was a lovely combination especially as it was accompanied with some slices of mixed pizzas. This was followed by pasta in a green pesto sauce. Next course was pasta with ham in a lovely creamy sauce, delicious. Main course was veal with small roast potatoes. Dessert was fresh fruit salad with ice cream. This was all accompanied by a half litre carafe of wine of your choice and coffee to finish with.

On our last night we enjoyed another multi course meal that started with brochette slices followed by penne pasta in a cheese sauce and a delicious lasagne. Trout fillet was our choice for the main course with chips.  Dessert was a lovely tiramisu. Again wine and coffee to accompany.