Summer holiday is the
best time for Indian travellers to explore Europe, though the excessive crowd
at times can make a romantic or serene location look like a famous pilgrimage
spot. However, a thermo-sensitive Bengali like me prefers to face the crowd
than the grievous Europe winter; so I decided to pack my bag for Italy and
France this summer for a family holiday.
We, a family of three
including my teenage daughter had our own agenda for the vacation. My affinity
for history, my husband’s love for nature and the young one’s interest in
shopping influenced our selection of destinations to make it a mix-bag holiday.
We were to visit Venice, Florence, Rome, Nice and Paris in the two weeks’
vacation.
Our journey started
on 18th of May morning with Emirates Airlines via Dubai to Milan. We
had few hours break at Dubai that I utilised in reading the materials I carried
to brush up my knowledge in ancient Roman civilisation. My daughter took a
thorough view of the duty free shops, so as to identify the items she wanted to
pick up while returning.
We reached Milan at
local time nine p.m; the immigration was fastest I ever faced. We decided to
take a train to reach our hotel, since it was very close to the Central
Station. The journey was of fifty minutes that passed in seconds while talking
to a Pakistani Gentleman settled in Milan. I have seen very few people as
helpful and friendly as him before; he helped us and several others in getting
tickets from the vending machine (it was complicated and vernacular) and
escorted us to the train.
It started raining,
by the time we reached Central station; but our hotel was just across the road
that saved us from any hassle.
Next day morning our
real journey began with a train to Venice (we had pre booked tickets). The two
and half hours’ journey was thoroughly enjoyable with picturesque view and
comfortable interior.
Venice
We reached Venice
station (Ferrovia) around one o’clock in the afternoon; the first look created
an impression of an ancient city bustling with lively crowd. The architecture
of the station and the neighbouring church fascinated me instantly. On reaching
the water taxi stand we came to know about an on-going boat race on the Grand Canal
that stranded the traffic for next two hours. Someone, suggested a walk to the
hotel which could not be more than twenty minutes (Venice is a small city,
locals prefer walking). A large crowd of tourists were on their way with
baggage that encouraged us to follow suit. We were quite enjoying the walk
(with interesting restaurants and café on both sides of the pavements) until
numerous tiny bridges came on the way. Tackling them with cases to carry wasn’t
really a cake walk; especially with our kind of fitness. Reaching the main
square (Rialto) near the hotel we encountered the real challenge ie; getting
direction from locals who speak only in Italian. I was the only one succeeded
in communicating, obviously with body language. The language I spoke didn’t
matter, so I even tried with Bengali (to my joy) that yielded same result as
English. It took us well over an hour to reach the hotel, Italians are
definitely an optimistic race, I must confess!
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| The Church near the station |
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| One of the many tiny bridges |
We were pleasantly
surprised with the large suite we were allocated in the hotel (Trip Advisor
award winning Resident Corte Grimani) that wiped our fatigue. Our hotel was
adjacent to a canal; all the buildings in Venice faced the canals on one side
and the road to the other. After a short rest we headed for the Piazza San
Marco, a five minutes’ walk (by Indian standard) from the hotel.
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| The boat race |
Piazza (in our term
‘square’) San marco, the main promenade of the city of Venice was surrounded by
San Marco basilica (Church), Clock tower,
Doge’s Palace (House of the elected ruler in Medieval time) and former
guest quarters of the palace now converted in to shops and interesting
restaurants. The cold breeze and roaring of the sea welcomed us at the vast
piazza; the imposing structures and intricate artistry captivated my
imaginative mind. What I liked most about the historical monuments was the fact
that they had not been face lifted in order to attract tourists. They looked
old and there lied the real charm. Evening time was most enjoyable there with
lots of live music played, courtesy to the restaurants and the wonderful coffee
and wine served with delicious food. One needed to sit and enjoy the moment,
the company and the lively gathering.
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| Piazza San Marco |
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| Live music at pavement |
We finished our late
lunch and strolled to the promenade at the sea shore, It was a long stretch
with beautiful statues, imposing heritage buildings, veporettos (bus taxis) and
glimpse of the nearby islands. One could simply spend hours viewing the sea,
the strolling tourists, the hustling in the water transports.
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| San Marco Promenade |
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| View from Promenade |
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| The imposing statue |
We went for a Gondola
ride from there touring the Grand Canal and some other smaller canals. Our
handsome boatman Victorio showed the house of Marcopolo and Casanova at the
bank of the canals. All the houses at the bank with decorated balconies looked dreamy,
straight from the pages of fairy tale books at the soft evening twilight.
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| The Boatman |
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| Grand Canal from Gondola |
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| From gondola |
Next day, we had
leisurely breakfast at an interesting café and headed for Doge’s palace. The
fresco paintings on the ceilings of the palace by famous artists like
Tintorreto, Veronese, Antonio Rusconi e.t.c. were simply breath taking.
Specially, the grandeur of the Chamber of council was awe inspiring; one could simply
visualise that era sitting quietly at a corner there. The paintings depicting
Venice as a beautiful lady in different stories particularly caught my eye.
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| Doge's Palace |
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| The Ceiling decor |
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| Fresco Painting at palace |
The San Marco
Basilica was equally beautiful and serene; the 24 carat gold Altars the
intricate decorations could not be depicted in words.
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| The Church exterior decor |
In the afternoon we
took the Grand Canal tour in Veporetto that highlighted the important historical
buildings at the bank of the Grand Canal (with audio guide).
The evening was spent
at a quiet restaurant at the bank of the Grand Canal accompanied by the soft
glow of candle light, twittering of the canal water and the sparkling wine
(Prosecco).
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| The twilight saga |
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| Rialto Bridge |
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| Venice at Night |
On the third day, we
decided to explore few islands around Venice and started with Murano, famous
for hand blown glass factories. We went to the island in a water taxi arranged
by the hotel and visited one of the glass factories (Veteria Murano Arte). We
watched the wonderful process of making decorated wine glasses by the artists
and the final touch by the master. Glass making run in the family and each
family run separate glass factories; there were some fifteen such factories in
the island. Afterwards we visited the factory showroom of masterpieces, we
bought a small beautiful 24 carat gold plated vase as a memento. It was truly
an enduring experience.
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| Glass blowing |
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| Masterpieces |
W
e strolled around
the residential area of the island with pretty bungalows and lustrous gardens,
away from the tourists. The small island with its simplicity appealed to our urban
mind greatly.
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| Murano Art work |
We took a Veporetto
and went to Burano, a fishing village of forty minutes rides from Murano. The
first thing that struck me about the island was the riot of colours among the
houses; each one was painted with a vibrant one. Probably they reflected the
colourful mind of the villagers too. There were quite some crowd at the jetty
and the market place. We took a round to the rear side of the island and
enjoyed a quiet lunch of Pizza and coke at the sea shore.
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| Colorful Burano |
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| Peaceful fishing village |
The evening was spent
near the Opera house and taking up another quiet fine dining.
Next day morning we
took to strolling near Della Accademia (museum) and the some other squares
before bidding farewell to the city of romance. Venice was not a city to be
seen, one need to feel her true charm. She emerged as an ageless beauty, not a
glossy youngster; one need not be in hurry to appreciate her.
We took a ten minutes
Veporetto ride to reach the train station and started for our next destination
Florence.
We had just one and
half days for Florence, hence, carefully planned our visit to best utilise the
time. On reaching Florence (1&1/2hrs.) in the afternoon, we checked in the
hotel (very close to the station) and immediately started for Pisa in a local
train. It was seventy minutes comfortable ride through the picturesque
countryside. The evening was spent in Pisa with photography and gelato.
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| The tower |
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| Dumo, Basilica, Tower |
Next morning, we had
early breakfast and reached the SITA bus stop (also very close by) to take a
bus for Greve (famous for Chianti wines), in Tuscany region. The one and half
hours bus ride through the beautiful valley of vineyards was like a dream, not
to be awaken from. Once reached, we enjoyed the serene and breath-taking surrounding,
took a stroll around the area trying to capture the moments. In the afternoon,
we went to the ‘Le Cantine di Greve’ (a wine testing bar). With a prepaid card
one could test as many as one hundred and forty varieties of wine from the
taps. It must be a wonderland for wine lovers; at least my husband felt so.
In the late
afternoon, we came back to the city and went to Galleria Della Accademia, where
we had pre-booking for ticket (done through hotel, the previous day). This
historic museum housed the famous Michelangelo sculpture of King David and many
other mesmerising works of masters from Renaissance and before.
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| Greve |
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| Landscape |
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Vineyards
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| Vineyards |
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| Wine tasting bar |
We spent time around
the historical district, enjoying the beauty of Dumo Cathedral, Baptistry,
Dell’opera, Uffizi Gallery and the astounding Palazzo Vecchio with grand
sculptures, including a replica of Michelangelo’s ‘David’.
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| Piazza Dumo |
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| Piazza Vecchio |
Next day morning we
took a train to Rome (two hrs.) that was our destination for three days. We
parked our luggage at the hotel (check in time was in the afternoon) and took a
short walk to the ruins of four temples of Republica era and also the place of
assassination of Julius Cesar in 44 BC. There were also a beautiful fountain
and a church with a pendulum designed by Galileo.
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| The Church and ruins |
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| The Pendulum |
We came back to hotel,
checked in and went to Colosseum in the afternoon. We took Roma pass for 3 days
that allowed us direct entry to Colosseum and Palatine without waiting in the
long queue. We started with Palatine hill, where Romulus killed his twin
brother and founded Rome. The vast ruins of the ancient civilisation, the ancient
Temple, Roman Forum; they all echoed the mysteries of a different time, belief
and thoughts of different people. Who could tell whether I wasn’t one of the
masons putting stones in the temple wall or a commander in the army of Emperor
Constantine fighting for freedom of Rome!
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| Palatine ruins |
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| Palace courtyard |
The Colosseum, built
in in AD 69 – 70 by Emperor Vespasian for entertainment of the nobles as well
as Masses. The massive stadium with underground rooms for Gladiators and levels
of sitting arrangements right from Emperor to commoners were intriguing. Those
who watched the film ‘Gladiator’ could probably visualise the imposing
structure, the platform; where men fought with animals and other fighters to
entertain the blood thirsty audience. There were several collections and
information about the relevant history around the 2nd floor gallery,
along with a BBC documentary running in different languages.
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| Colosseum |
One piece of advice
for my friends planning to visit Rome; Reading material about Roman History and
a pair of best quality walking shoes could be of great use in order to make the
visit successful.
The next day we had a
booking for Vatican Museum at 10 a.m.; we reached by 9.30 and got instant entry
without the hassle of waiting in a long queue. The weather that day was cloudy
and expected to rain, we carried umbrella; though our outing was totally indoor
within the museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. The treasure of
fresco paintings of Michelangelo, Raphael, sculptures of Bernini were all
masterpieces on their own right; my words would fall short to describe the
artistry.
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| Fresco at Vatican Museum |
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| Belvedere |
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| Laocoon |
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| Ceiling decor |
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| Paintings |
St. Peter’s Basilica,
the largest and most spectacular Church of Rome and the holy city epitomised
religious artistry, the solemn atmosphere of the holy shrine radiated message
of love and forgiveness.
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| Ceiling at St. Peter's |
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| St. Peter's square |
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| The main altar |
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| The holy Church |
There was mild rain
on our way back, which we resisted with the help of umbrella and delicious
gelato. After taking considerable rest at the hotel (the excellent Italian
coffee always helped) we hunted for an interesting small restaurant run by a
family of old parents and their middle aged daughter. The food was excellent,
price unbelievably comforting and so was the cordiality of the host.
On our third day in
Rome, we decided to do local sightseeing. Since, we stayed at the historical
locality we took a local bus for few stoppages (that could have been walked
down) to reach the centre of attractions. The bus was so crowded by
over-zealous tourists that one needed to be quite an acrobat to remain in perpendicular
position.
The jewels in the
crown of Rome, Fontana Del Ponta (fountain), Pantheon Church, Elefantino, Minerva
Opera, a French Church, Navona square with three fountains of Neptune (the sea
God), Ignatius Loyola Church and not to forget Trevi fountain were all
magnificent and gorgeous.
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| The Pantheon Church |
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Pantheon Altar
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| Navona Square |
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| Fresco at Ignatius Loyola |
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| Ignatius Loyola |
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| Elefantino |
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| Del Ponta |
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| French Church |
The delicious lunch
at road side café and a quiet dinner at a happening Restaurant helped us to
appreciate Rome better.
Next day we took a
flight to Nice, the famous French Riviera, a small picturesque city with rich
heritage and bounty of nature. The green hills and stunning Mediterranean
collaborated to mesmerise the onlookers. The beautiful promenade, the
interesting shopping square, the cafés all contributed to elevate the mood;
this was a place one would like to go back again.
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| From Hilltop |
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| The sea |
We leisured around,
spent hours viewing the sea; took a little white train from promenade to go up
the Castle hill. We did some shopping too that delighted the young one.
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| The toy Train |
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| The hills |
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| At hilltop |
Our stay at Nice was
for two days and then we took TGV train to Paris. The Railway track ran
parallel to the sea for more than half of our journey, accompanied by the view
of the green valley on the other side. The journey had been definitely one of
our cherished memories.
We reached Paris in
the afternoon and reached hotel via metro (two stops from Gare de Lyon
station), which was very near to Louvre museum and Opera House. This was our
second visit to Paris, last time we went to Paris Disney and skipped Louvre;
that prompted us to visit Paris again. I was doubtful whether Paris would
appear as beautiful as earlier even after my visit to Rome, but I got my answer
the moment the opera house came in view. Paris didn’t fail to enchant me even
for the second time.
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| Pont Alexandra III |
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| Grand Palais |
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| Opera House |
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| Louvre |
The evening we spent
strolling around Grand Palais and Champs de Elysees, enjoying coffee at a café
at the happening roadside. The shopping malls compelled us to do some shopping
too.
Next day we reached
Louvre main entrance just before nine o’clock. The queue was very moderate and
moved fast, we took hardly fifteen minutes to clear security and obtain tickets. The collection of Louvre wouldn’t need my introduction, the masterpieces
of Roman Empire and French Artists enriched the world’s most visited museum.
Contribution of Napoleon Bonaparte in acquiring a large part of the collection
as booty could not be ignored.
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| Wedding feast at cana |
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| Venus de Milo |
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| The crown |
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| Sitting Scribe |
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| Tiara |
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| Napoleon's Apt |
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| Psyche & Cupid |
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| The dying slave |
Few of the many
masterpieces leaving lasting impression in my memory were paintings of Monalisa,
Self-portrait of Durer, the wedding feast at Cana, the Consecration of the
Emperor Napoleon; sculptures of Venus de Milo, horses of Marley, St. Mary Magdalene,
Psyche and Cupid, the dying Slave; Apartment of Napoleon III and collection of
crown jewels.
‘All good things come
to an end’ and so did our remarkable holiday. The moment we reached Mumbai
airport, a sweet feeling of familiarity and warmth touched the heart. We
rejoiced our homecoming as much as we cherished the memory of our holiday.
*******
