Saying Goodbye in Venice

Sadly we have to leave the Dolomites today but the good news is that we will be in Venice for a very short visit.

We said goodbye to our bus driver then boarded two water taxis to take us to our hotel.  From there we walked to our lunch spot on Campo San Polo. All the squares in Venice are named Campo except Piazza San Marco.  It’s the only one that can be called a Piazza.

Following lunch we walked to the Museum Fondazione Civici di Venezia which has the best collection of 17th century artwork housed in CA Rezzonico (CA stands for house).  We found the room decor, ceilings painted in fresco and massive chandeliers to be of more interest than the paintings.  

The last hour of the day was spent exploring the Grand Canal and many of the side canals in a luxurious water taxi.

Numerous toasts, sharing memories of the past ten days and over indulging in the Italian cuisine closed out our day and our trip.  We made new friends and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Northern Italy.  Now it’s time to go home.

The Mountains Are Visible

The sun is shining, the sky is clear and the mountains are showing off their majestic peaks!

Our first climb was at the top of a gondola near the village on Monte Lussari. This is a cute spot for tourists and skiers for lunch, or a  bed or shopping spot before heading down the mountain.  We walked to the peak to get a magnificent view of the surrounding mountain peaks.

A short drive took us to Lake Fusine, a park with two lakes nestled in a valley of meadows and forests.  It’s a popular destination for hiking, swimming, picnics and fun.  Again we enjoyed the the towering peaks surrounding us and a nice walk along the two lakes.

Lunch was at German restaurant in Slovenia then we had the afternoon to rest, swim, shop or pack for the last day of our trip.

Villach and Landskron Castle

Again the rain has changed some of the plans for the day.  It was only about a 30 minute drive into Villach (pronounced Veel - lack) and since it was too wet to hike we had a coffee then visited the City Museum.  It was interesting but just a stop gap to kill time until the rain let up - finally!

Villach is at the south end of Ossiach See (lake).  A pretty waterfall feeds into the lake and was a short but nice hike up to see it.  

We then drove up as close as we could to Landskron Castle where we ate in a very nice restaurant with the ambiance of olden days.  We finally got some exercise on the hike down from the castle.

Upon our return to Tarvisio we walked thru town checking out shops and restaurants before walking back up to the hotel.  The sky is clearing and the sun is showing off the mountains peaks!

Go With the Flow

The deluge of rain continued most of the night and by this morning it had washed out the main highway between Kobarid, Slovenia and Tarvisio, Italy.  A change of plans added a couple of extra hours driving time but what else could we do on a rainy day?

The route took us further into Slovenia with a stop in Soriska, a ski town, up to the 4000 foot pass through the Triglav National Park and down into the town of Bled.  The way was very curvy and at times on very narrow roads.  Several times our driver had to back up to allow a large truck or a fast car to pass by. Milan is a wonderful driver and we felt completely safe in his hands.  Unfortunately the views of the mountain peaks were obscured all day by clouds.

Bled is a tourist destination.  The lake is beautiful and has an island with a white church and is surrounded by high mountains and tall cliffs.  It’s a really pretty setting.

We were going to try to hike after lunch but the rain continued to prevent that activity.  We arrived in Tarvisio mid afternoon with a lull in the storm so John and I quickly unpacked and walked into town, turning around about half way in and getting back to the hotel just as rain started again.

Cividale and Kobarid

Cividale (pronounced chee-vee-dah-lay) is in Italy near the Slovenia border in a region called Friuli. It’s a Roman city once ruled by a descendant of Julius Caesar.

Just inside the old city wall is a stone bridge across the Natsione River called The Devil’s Bridge, built in 1441.  Legend has it that in order to complete the stone bridge, which was taking a very long time and had many problems, the city made a pact with the devil.  The Devil said that he would finish the bridge but only if the devil would win the soul of the first creature to cross it, assuming it would be a person.  The city leaders thought to cheat the devil and sent an animal across first.  There is some discussion as to whether it was a cat or a pig but either way the devil got the animal’s soul.  To this day animal squeals are heard in the middle of the night.

The original bridge was destroyed to prevent soldiers from crossing it during WWI but it was finally rebuilt in 1980.  

We stepped inside the Duomo di Cividale briefly before visiting the Monestera di Santa Mariana in Vello and the Temple of Longobard. The Scandinavians settled here in 568 and built the Temple.  The word Longobard comes from Long Beard.  This is another legend. The women were left to defend the city.  The matriarch got a spiritual message that they need to look like men.  So they pulled their long hair around to the front of their face and tied it to look like a beard.  They saved the city without any bloodshed.  They had ‘long beards’.

The interior of the monastery has walls covered with faded frescoes that they are trying to restore to the original pictures.  They are using digital models, following the style and colors from that era and using their imagination to bring the frescoes back to life.

Before the deluge of rain in the afternoon we hiked up to Slap Kozjak, a tall and beautiful waterfall.  Along the way we passed more bunkers carved into the mountainside from WWI.

We also visited the WWI Museum and learned about the Austro-Hungary push to take over Italy and the devastation of that war.

Just as we wanted to leave the museum the rain finally fell in huge deluges.  We got soaked running back and had to turn around and do it again because I dropped my glasses along the way.  We found them but came in soaked through and through despite raincoats.

On the whole a good day except for that last run!

High Vineyards Trail

Very few words can describe the beauty of our hike today through hills of white and red grapes, forests and valleys and views of Italy and Slovenia that are just breathtaking. 7 miles.

Lunch was a picnic affair that had more food than the nightly dinners!  

Then we had a wine tasting at the castle followed by a tour of the cellar/bunker.  During WWI this bunker was accessed by a tunnel just outside of the home.  Today they have refurbished it and it is used for special occasions. The barrels are empty as that part of their wine production was moved to a larger location.  The bottles in here are part of the owner’s library of wines and goes back over 11 years.

Ancient Aquileia

To start this day we hiked from village to village on the Gemina (gee-me-nah) Trail.  It is an old gravel road that connects several small towns that we enjoyed walking thru along the way and at one point we were only 400 meters (.25 miles) from the Slovenia border. One rest stop was at a small country church named St. Ulderich and probably dates back to 1500’s.  There was a small cemetery behind the church.

The trail ended at Aquileia (ay-quee-lay-uh) which at one time was the 3rd largest city after Rome in 181 BC.  Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a port city and is considered the hub of early Christianity. The town was sacked by Attila the Hun in 452 AD and the survivors of that rampage walked up the coast and into the marshes to escape the Hun.  These people eventually built Venice.

What was left behind was a large and stunning basilica. In the 2nd or 3rd century the floor was laid out in mosaics that tell the biblical stories, a second layer and larger building was built over the first in the 5th century, again with mosaic floors. The third and final building was constructed with a bell tower and separate baptistery in 1000 AD.

A lot of the mosaics were of animals and fish.  The fish and animals represent the people that Christ called to him.  One picture shows Jonah being fed to the sea monster and another shows him being spit out and sailing to shore.  Another picture shows Jesus surround by animals who represent all the people he has called.  A mosaic of a turtle and a rooster is a story of evil (the turtle that lives underground) fighting the rooster (he rises with the sun).  Good wins over bad or Christ wins over the devil.  The crypt was under a raised alter and was used to keep relics.

Surrounding the basilica are Roman ruins of homes, the forum and the seaport for the very large city.

Castello di Spessa is home for two nights.  Not only does is look like a castle but our rooms are like ones for a Queen.  The area around the castle is full of vineyards and a beautiful golf course. A statue of Casanova greeted us since he stayed here at one time and is reported to have said it was very boring as there were no women!

Duino Castle

Today’s hike took us along the Ranier Rilke path to the Duino Castle.  Rilke began writing his Duino Elegies in 1917, poems about the rugged coastline and the castle.

Duino Castle was first built at the beginning of 1300’s but the oldest part was already standing as a watchtower from the 200’s.  The old castle on a nearby  point was built in 1000 AD. The castle has a bunker that was used during WWI to spot German submarines and after being occupied by the Allies in WWII the whole place had to be restored.  We walked through the public parts of the castle learning about the history of the area and the people who lived here.  The family who owns the castle still lives in the private quarters.  Other buildings on the grounds houses a University for high school seniors.

I don’t usually talk about our meals in this blog but I have to mention the lunch we had.  The appetizer plate was grilled and fried prawns, langostinos, baby shrimp, fresh fish, sardines, squid and octopus.  And that was just the appetizer!!  This was followed by seafood risotto, then more fish, then a salad and a huge dessert!  And if you can believe it, we dined again that night on grilled beef, ribs, pork, and chicken!  And we thought we were going to lose weight while hiking!!