Dowd adventures in Bologna

sabato 28 luglio 2012

Sardinia, Sardegna

Its a wonderful island, and when you arrive you could be somewhere else, not Italy. Its history has been one of changing ownership and control, it is predominantly granite rock outcrops , small hills with some large mountain like forms, and around the coast, the most idyllic clear beaches. Some are rock, stone and others sand, the water is always clear. We saw many gum trees, and it reminded us of Teneriffe, Australia.
We had rented a villa for 14, and Mike and Kate Fraynes family of 4 kids came along with a nanny Anna from Australia, and also Daryl and Alison Henthorn and their daughter Claire. The villa was terrific, as it was on a large plot of land, so the kids could explore and build forts and bases as they call them. There was a hugh outdoor eating area, with fireplace, cooktop/oven/ fridge/ ice maker and seating for 20. Alongside that was the pool area with lounges and day beds. The villa was in a few sections, upstairs were three bedrooms with en-suites, and downstairs 4 bedrooms with en-suites. There was an outside gym, and a contained spa health room.
So there was much to like about the place, but it had its issues. Firstly it was called La Roccia by the agent we rented it through, and the map we were given to get there, as sign posts are not common in Sardinia was detailed, but when we arrived at where we thought the place was, there was a place called Villa Teresa, so we drove around for 30 minutes trying to find where we made a mistake. Mike spent nearly 2 hours driving with screaming kids in the car, finally getting the on site guy to meet them in a near by town. And where was La Roccia, well its called Villa Teresa, but no one bothers telling you that, which as l said to them surely it would help, she said they never had any problems, l can only imagine she has a very long nose.
Anyway, we finally all arrived and all the excitement must have been too much for little Charlie, as he had a shit in the pool, not a hugh one, but enough to scare the crap out of me. So as we all looked into the pool on a 34 degree day, it was decided to get the man to give it a good clean and add a bit of chlorine. I did not swim in it for another day, and no one got sick.
Each day we visited beaches, all very beautiful, some with deck chairs for rent on them, others with a bar and all with travelling sales people flogging, towels, toys, jewellery etc.
We were near Costa Smeralda, on the north east corner, l never actually went to that town, but basically it used to be a swamp area and then an arab came along, saw the wonderful beaches from his boat, and bought up the land and built a new city, and many places around that area felt like that, a bit modern and lifeless, not the Italy we are used to. We did find a lovely town called San Pantaleo, which felt very home like, and has a market in its little piazza over the summer every week.
We did go to porto Rotondo for dinner one night, and saw along the piers the most expensive power boats/ ships from all around the world, with power cables the size of your arm going into them, mostly wankers, and no feeling, and generally the town was a rip off and like Costa Smeralda, no real feeling.
Its never easy with 14 people, but we all seemed to get along very well, doing different things, and occasionally going out as two groups. Daryl was brilliant on the BBQ, and Alison ran the kitchen very well with all the kids in the morning, making them clean their plates and put them in the dishwasher. Anna the nanny was most impressive, as 4 young kids would never be easy. And even with her there, Kate and Mike were always busy, but l feel everyone had a good rest most of the time.
The place like l said had its moments, as the power went out twice, and it was always hard to find Alessandro on site, the wifi barely worked, and often not at all, and the general condition of some of the items was in need of replacement.
The trip ended with a report from the agent (Sardinia Villa Collection) giving me an email of what was damaged or missing, and this is were the holiday was spoilt. Most petty things, towels missing, which one was found later, and the towels were not that great, rubbish left at the end, l presumed that's what the cleaners did, a wifi antenna missing, hence it not working, but they disagreed, and a shower head broke off and hit Anna in the head, but they still want to charge us 50 euro to replace it. And so we fought, and are still fighting on some of the costs, more on principle, but you cant help feel that they do this all the time to fix things that they should have already done.
While we were there we caught up with our good friends Rossella and Marcus and their kids Luca and Sofia who go to school with the boys, Rossella is from Sardinia. There is a strong spanish, Santa Fe feeling in the house designs, they use granite stones all the time, and juniper wood in the design of houses, it is protected and they bleach it and use it like trusses in the roof, or along the gates as posts.
Anyway, the joy continued, as we left on the saturday morning to the airport, l asked Jayne to plug in on the navigator the airport, though l had a good idea where it was, l left enough time to return the hire car, as well as filling it up. We drove off and after 15 minutes the navigator said turn right, but the signs to Olbia said straight on, but the airport is out of the town so l went with the navigator, 15 minutes later as we drove more into the hills , l said to Jayne this is not the way, are you sure you put in the airport. And as usual she said yes, dont blame me, its not my fault, l got her to do it again, this time it told us to drive for another 10 minutes and turn around, back to where we had come. Jayne had somehow pushed in a near by town to where we lived, and we were doing a large circle. So now we are running late, lam driving like an italian, but there where too many tourists driving as well. As l screamed and yelled, watching the time tick by, feeling we were going to miss the flight. The boys stared to feel sick as we drove around the tight mountain roads, Ewan went first, luckily we had a plastic bag in the car, then Hunter, it was a time to share that plastic bag, and the boys are not good sharers with each other, so the back seat got covered in vomit. We drove on, the navigator saying one thing, the street signs saying another,next thing we know we are driving through the town of Olbia, l felt it was like driving through San Francisco, as the car bounced over speed humps and across intersections in the hope to make the flight. We arrived they all piled out and ran in to the desk, 20 minutes till it left. The women very kindly said sorry it closed. So then for the next 45 minutes we went back and forth, on and off the phone, trying to get another flight to Bologna, the next one was in 10 hours and was booked, so we finally got one 2 hours later to Milan. This gave me time at least to clean the back seat and fill the car up with fuel, so not all lost. We then flew to Milan, ran from the baggage area to a bus to central, then ran from the bus into the train station to get a ticket, Jayne and Ewan did that, while Hunter and l took the bags to the waiting train, 3 minutes before it left we got on, and slowly started to smile. Arriving in Bologna around 6 p.m. we got a taxi home. So that day we had a hire car, then plane, bus, train, taxi. Jayne then had a quick shower and jumped in our car and drove with leslie to Tuscany to see Roger her brother sing. All l'll say is that she missed him sing, had a shitty hotel to stay in, got ripped of at a thermal spring, lost a dress, and arrived back in Bologna two days later.
So if we ever go back to Sardinia we will never book through Sardinia Villa Collection, get to the airport hours early, and never ever allow Jayne to plug the address in. The whole mistake, cost another 600 euro

Travels with Michelle Koo

Our friend Michelle Khoo from Melbourne came to stay for a week, and so we set off for a few days down to Umbria. We stayed at Castello di Petroia, near Gubbio, it is an old castle, in which the famous Duke of Umbria was born ( you may know him better by his profile and bent nose in the famous picture by Piero della Francesca. It is set in the hills and is very attractive, more laid back than normal, with the pool a short walk away, surrounded by farmland, very relaxing and better in some cases as the kids don't disturb anyone sleeping in the afternoon. Our first nights dinner concerned us, as the service or lack of, was worrying, there was only one waitress, and she didn't really get it, then the bloke from the front desk turned up, but he only helped us with some water, l went and got the menu's, and finally gave them our order, but it was sometime later the food arrived, and the kids were ratty. The food was terrific, especially the pork fillets. Though we thought maybe best not to eat dinner the next night there, the problem being the castle was a distance from restaurants and down a narrow dirt track. On the way down to the castle we stopped at Gubbio, which is a pretty small town, set up on the hill, lots of pottery, ceramic shops, in fact l don't know how any of them made money, there were so many. We had a walk around the narrow streets, the town is especially well maintained and clean, flowers on the window sills, ideallic.
The next day we awoke had the breakfast which was simple but nice, the castle has the main building which we were in and has the dining areas, there is also a tower which is a single multi level apartment, there is another building next to the main house that also has a few rooms, the whole area is like a mini village, with an outdoor area to sit and read, or have a drink in the afternoon, and they seem to put on art displays in the areas in the castle grounds. I must say that they supply for free a wonderful book of the history of the castle and suggested tours that you can take, l have not come across a place that does it so well. So we left to visit Assisi, and it is a wonderful looking place, famous for Saint Francis. Like Gubbio it is set high up on a hill, but larger, and you tend to park down the bottom end and use elevator lifts to the top. It was very empty and quiet, all the doors and windows closed, a great place to stay for a short time, though the religious followers may be a pain, and we heard many accents. There is the famous Basilica di San Francesco, where thousands of religious people flock to see the tomb and frescoes by Pietro Lorenzetti and Giotto, Cimabue, Martini. I must say this was a true experience for me, these painters works are remarkable. The basilica is quite large as it has three levels, the top housing Giotto's works, the middle section is the shop and open courtyard, and the bottom level has Lorenzetti's works, underneath is Saint Francis's tomb. The front of the basilica has a large green lawn area, which is a welcome sight after so much stone and rock. On the top of Assisi is Rocca Maggiore, the fort and stronghold, and the main piazza has the Basilica di Santa Chiara which has great views over the countryside. We found a great place to eat on the way to the basilica di San Francesco, which had views also over the countryside, well worth looking for these places.
We returned to the castle and decided to have diner again at the restaurant, as we were tired, and decided to get in early and order the boys meals straight away. Well its amazing what a day makes, the service was much better, we were told they had issues with their freezer the day before which had caused some problems, the boys meals arrived, perfect and then they went back to their room to play and sleep. We stayed on, and in the end were having coffee and drinks with the chef, who spoke no english, the waitress left and said not to worry, just leave when we want, it was late but it was fun and great to see another side of the place. The next day after an early swim in the pool, we left and drove towards Urbino.
Urbino like all towns is situated on a hill, and has a large university complex there, including a major art school, on the top, with park grounds around it, terrific position. It is a town with very steep roads, but wonderfully clean. There is the Church of San Giovanni Battista, which the brothers Jacopo and Lorenzo Salimbeni painted some of the greatest frescoes you could see. In there is the tomb of a famous monk who was just a stone throw from being a saint. We had lunch up next to the art school which has the garden and park next to it, and you could actually drive up to it, but we parked in the parking area at the bottom. There is a brilliant art store there, best l have seen in Via Mazzini, 85. This town is a place l could stay at for a short time, l loved the narrow little streets, the views over the surrounding landscape, the art school and the general feeling a university town has. Like Assisi and Gubbio it was strangely quiet, as if all the residents had packed up and gone away. We left finally, tired and drove slowly back to Bologna arriving at 6pm, and sleeping early.
The rest of the time Michelle was here, we spent around the pool at the tennis club or she was walking and enjoying the streets of Bologna. Michelle could not believe how much was happening in Bologna, there was a street party one night, we were invited to the opening of a new ice cream store, which was extremely good, the film festival was on again in Piazza Maggiore and with all this happening, she realized why everyone s body's were as she put it "tally ho" (thin)
I must say having Michelle stay was a breeze, our easiest guest yet. She also bought one of Hunters paintings, a still life he did, his first sale, he now has made more than me in the past six months.

Largo di Garda

We were kindly invited to visit our friends Alberto and Angelica, who's children Pablo and Vali go to school with the boys. We all decided to go and see an opera at Verona on the friday night at the Arena an ancient colosseum that has been turned into a opera stage over the summer. After driving at 130- 140 km an hour, as Angelica wanted to make up for lost time, l was rather nervous trying to keep up l must say. We went first to a great restaurant on the lake called La Darsena, we had a view over the lake, and there were boats moored here, they had come for lunch, it was perfect. After lunch we went back to their holiday house, which is also on the water, had a swim and bake, an aperitivo, the kids loved it , swimming and diving into the lake, it is so picturesque, a great retreat from the heat and hustle and bustle. We left for Verona, a short distance away , they were staying at a lovely hotel and all the kids were staying there with them in a second room, as it worked out better with the baby sitter, we stayed only 15 minutes by foot away, at a simpler hotel, but without the kids. We met at the arena, they had been given 3rd row seats, and we ended up getting the cheap seats, sitting on blocks of stone, which after being in the sun all day, were bloody hot, luckily we were warned and had bought some padded rubber cushions to sit on , others around us had not, they wiggled around trying to find a cool point. It was a terribly hot day and night, and l am thankful we had cheap seats. Down in the arena were the expensive ones, they were fanning themselves at a rapid rate, as there was no wind, for us in the bleeders, we had a small breeze that was like an air conditioner.
The next day we met after breakie and went for a quick walk around the town, we saw Juliet's balcony, from Shakespeare play, which was weird as she did not really exist, but that did not seem to matter the millions who have visited, and for some strange reason leave chewing gum stuck on the walls and gate there, odd, very odd. Verona is very lovely, its main piazza is incredible with the arena there, and a long row of cafes, but it is full of tourists, and you just get the feeling you are being ripped off. What was interesting was seeing the stage sets of all the other operas out the back of the arena, every few days they change over, quite remarkable, you admire the designers and crew who put them together. We then went to have lunch at some friends of theirs who have a holiday house just in the hills around Verona, it was a enclosed estate with about 10 villas or apartments, a shared garden, large pool and tennis court. We had a terrific time under the trees having lunch or in the pool. They were very lovely people, both lawyers.
Later that day we drove slowly back to Bologna.

sabato 9 giugno 2012

Tosacana, Umbria again!

Well you just cant get enough of these places, so we went of again. This time there was a reason, the boys had their first camp down in the forest, in Casentino, Toscana. Unfortunately on the morning they had to go, Hunty woke up feeling sick, and began a 24 hour vomiting, and high temperature period. So only Ewan got on the bus and went off, as the 24 hours finished and Hunty improved from as he put it , "the worst day ever" and asked for sushi, chicken soup, we knew things were on the improve, so we packed the car, rang his teacher and drove down that afternoon. Dropping him off in the camp, which was deep in a forest that was beautiful as the light flickered through the overhang. It reminded me a bit of the black spur out of Healesville, though different foliage. So after finally finding the camp which was well hidden, we left the boys all happy that Hunty had arrived, and headed of to somewhere to stay in the region. After an hour on the ipad searching for "appropriate' accommodation we finally had to make a decision and stayed in a town called Subbiano, outside Arezzo, staying in a tower for the night. Now l have never stayed in a tower before, and not one from the 10 century, but l can say that they built them well. It had windows and light sharding through like out of a Vermeer painting, it was furnished in a period long ago, but best of all, had water pressure that l have not yet experienced in Italy, brilliant. The name of this hotel was Torre Santa Flora, and its risorante Hotel Relais, now l mention the risorante because we had the best risotto, we have ever had anywhere. It is famous we are told for it, and rightly so, the service was brilliant, and very helpful in where and what to do the following day. That and the fact it is only 15 minutes from Arezzo, well worth staying at. So we woke the next morning, and left the tower in search of adventure.
We left and travelled to a small town called Anghiari, a place that on a map, most would not bother about, but Jayne and l both agreed that it was one of the finds of our adventure in Italy, and we definitely return. It is a hill top town, with a wall, a museum (Museo di Palazzo Taglieschi Anghiari) that had some incredible wooden statues and dolls, a 1600 organ, that was traveled around on the back of a mule, and lets face it , that is something. It had a gun collection, as the town became famous for making them , and you have to be impressed with the metal work and the fact they hand made the screw system, and the detail in design. There is some ceramic work that needs to be seen, we had a great guide, and the place practically to ourselves.
Visually it is a pretty town, every little street is a picture, and every place is decorated with flower pots and plants. The town has like so many of these towns a history of being attacked and over run by other warring parties, in this case, near by cities and its inhabitants, luckily now you can just drive on it. I would highly recommend you stay here or near by, as it is quite and not over run by tourists, like Cortona, Siena, Arezzo.
After leaving we headed to where l have been wanting to go for ages, Citta di Castello, not for the city itself, as it was not incredible, but for the two museums dedicated to Alberto Burri. Alberto Burri, l believe was an artist ahead of his time, his early works were very influential to many artists, l felt that Motherwell, and other American abstract artists owe alot to him , along with Brent Harris more recently. I felt also a strange connection to his work and Rover Thomas, though of course, neither would have known of the other. What is remarkable is that the city of Castello provided two buildings, a palazzo for his early work, and a ridiculously massive old tobacco factory for large works he produced from 1974 - 1993. These works are produced on sound , packing board, like pin board, hugh sheets, usually three together, in a design manner, compared to his early works on hessian bags. These are the works that reminded me of Brent Harris's works, though Brents hold their own. This factory is 7500 sqm, which is just so hugh, and what was best, we were the only ones there to see it all, any artist would give their bad arm for a space like this. The palazzo is simply a place of wonder, and the small rooms suit the works, both spaces are perfect. Few places in the world give a place to any single artist, Picasso in Paris, Tapies and Miro in Barcelona and Van Gogh in Amsterdam. So Burri is in high order. He rarely bothered selling his work, only occasionally to pay for things, and so had control over his collection to be displayed like this.
After a great time there, we had our cafe and left to stay the night at Cortona, and that is a truly picturesque drive, through country that is the typical Umbrian or Tuscan landscape. And you can see why it is so beautiful, as there are so many hills bumping from the ground, everyone gets to put a castle or villa somewhere high, with a cypress line of trees leading to them.
We arrived at Villa di Piazzano, built around 1464, originally a hunting villa for Cardinal Silvio Passerini, who was good friend of the Medicis, and a supporter of Vasari, who was born in Arezzo. Later it became a convent for nuns and then a tobacco estate. This villa had a complete renovation and opened in 2004. this is a very special place to stay, and the rooms are superb, the views from the pool or dining area are like the Yarra Valley. The food at the risorante is bloody good, though l prefer Hotel Relais, but thats being fussy. This would be a great place to base yourself and visit the many towns like Cortona, Arezzo, Montepulciano, Perugia, Citta di Castello, Gubbio near by.
Sadly we were only here for a night, the next day we drove 15 minutes to Cortona, another hilltop town, that looks great as you approach it, and the streets are pretty much the same, the only issue l had was it was a complete tourist town. We went to the Etruscan museum, that was well presented, but the one in Bologna is much better in respect to what you can see. We then left to Montepulciano, which again a hilltop town, very pretty, and lots of places to eat, Piazza Grande is the place to go for a cafe, high up and less crowded, as it is like Cortona a tourist haught.
The weather changed, and we left on the long and well driven road to Bologna, arriving with an hour to spare before the boys arrived home on the bus.

martedì 5 giugno 2012

Toscana, Umbria

No doubt, Toscana and Umbria are picture perfect, hard to take a bad photo, everything that you see on the movies or in the catalogues. We decided since the school was closed most of last week, because of the earthquakes that have hit Ferrara and the Bologna area ( we have had a few tremors that we felt, but no real damage to Bologna) we would take a trip south, a long weekend. Good time to travel, not peak, not busy, warm and inexpensive. Jayne did her usual job, and found a great place to stay, Relais dei Magi, neat Citta della Pieve. The town of Citta della Pieve is well worth visiting, and the area is full of places to eat and stay. This place was wonderful, great hosts, great food, huge pool for the kids and a soccer pitch with goals, table tennis, and a treatment room, and not just a running machine in the corner with a fold up massage table, this was the bees knees.
So from there we travelled to Orvieto, which is essential to go to for the food, and the duomo, which is an Italian treasure, it is in such great condition, the outside is what you go for, not so impressive inside, and they charge you to go in, hard to put a sheet over the outside l guess. There are also the caves under the city that are worth seeing, sadly we ran out of time, and the boys were getting restless, though we gained sometime by buying a snow globe of the city. Orvieto is a city sitting proudly on a hill top, the best view of the city is from a distance, where you see the duomo silhouette. You park half way up, and catch an elevator to the top, like Sienna, and others l am told.
As usual, what is a trip without some amusing sites. On the way home we saw a motorcycle driving along the autostrada, with a passenger, who was attempting to light a cigarette, hunching behind the driver , with hands clasped, what an addict, what a goer. We had a great lunch at a tiny out of the way cafe, and the chef and owner was so impressed that Hunter had Baccala, it is a spicy style fish dish, which obviously kids don't have, he then finished some of Ewans gnocchi, and a salad. The owner kept coming out and praising him, and telling everyone how is this kid, l did think of asking him not to charge us for Huntys meal, like when you eat the enormous steak in america and they give it to you for free, but l don't think it would have worked. The only problem with the cafe was that the music speaker outside was playing an out of tune radio, l tried to explain this, but of course something went missing in the translation, and they just change the channel to another out of tune song.
The fact is everywhere we go they are rather impressed with Huntys and Ewans eating , mind you, there we are at the school where they want the kids to eat pasta bianco( plain pasta with some oil and cheese) so l dont think they expect much from kids. Which is odd, as parents they are so fussy and so good at cooking.
So the quakes keep happening, god knows why they decided to close the school for 4 days, even though it got the inspection okay on day 3. As if a quake wont happen on day 5.
Ewan left on camp today for 3 days in Toscana, unfortunately Hunty is sick, and we hope he will be better tomorrow and we will drive him down ( maybe it was something he ate) The boys were going to go an cave exploration, but so many parents complained that they did not want there kids going in caves due to the earthquakes that are occurring hundreds of km north, they cancelled it, you see where l am going dont you.
So hopefully Hunter will be better tomorrow, and Jayne and l will continue to travel south and stay in Toscana near Gubbio, Citta dell Castello, Assisi, Perugia. So look forward to more great photos and stories, ohhh isn't it exciting.