It's Not a City Unless You Can Climb Up Something

Not many people know that Zurich is currently showing the "70 Unseen Works of Picasso"...... unseen by us anyway. What a wonderful exhibition this would have been ... if only the Zurich Kunsthaus had been open on a Monday! It might have been sensible to check this before leaving Bern. Luckily we had clear skies and beautiful views to consol us.

On our last full day in Europe and in our typical holiday fashion, we alighted the train, dumped our stuff at the hotel (Best Western "Montana" - go figure!) and set off to explore Zurich on foot. It is a much more picturesque city than either of us were expecting. Having chosen the worst part of Milan to stop in 5 days previously, we were extremely pleased to see that this big city immediately shows its prettiest side to those arriving by train.

Jen at the "Gates of Hell"
(Rodin)

We started our tour with lunch, once again swayed by the sign - a golden cow - which led us to a tasty and possibly typical Swiss lunch involving spaetzli (not even close to Hubertus') and a super-sugary dessert of deep-fried apple slices covered in sugar, cinamon and vanilla custard. It was divine at the time but Jo didn't even dare look and Jen regretted the sugar high that followed...

Our disappointing visit to the Kunsthaus followed. We did see a few great sculptures outside and circled the building looking sad but no-one would let us in, no matter how hard we scratched at the windows.

To substitute, we climbed the Grossmunster Tower. Once again we got a panoramic view of the city we had been wandering through (doesn't help my navigation though - Jen). The sugar high was of great assistance on the hundreds of steps to the top - lucky the steps were steep, really (didn't help me any - Jo).

We spent the rest of the afternoon investigating the gorgeous streets along the Limmat River and looking out at the Zurichsee. One of us has to confess to a pair of sandals and the other to a pair of shoes - at least Jo's can be worn straight away. We didn't want Zurich to feel left out of our shopping spree. (Is this like buying things just before the shop closes Mum? Actually, there's still 2 hours in the airport tomorrow...)

Coffee break in warm Conditerie

Apparently this is a macchiato in Zurich!?

We decided on an Italian dinner to end our holiday the way it started - pasta, San Pelligrino water and Vasari Italian wine. We stopped before the tiramisu you will be pleased to know. (I was cheated of my dessert spoonful - Jo)

Swan didn't pose, we promise

Flying home tomorrow or will it be the next day by then? Or possibly still today - hate those datelines... Looking forward to seeing everyone when the jetlag recedes.

   xxx J&j

...Then We'll Go to the Mountains!!

What a lovely, bright, sunny fun day!  It took Leah, Isabella and us a train, a bus, a funicular and a cable car to get to the top of the mountain, but wow was it worth it!  We'll spare you the thousand words and just put the pictures in instead...

It was a bit sunny out there... 

One of these things is not like the other ones
(Try with the tune from Sesame Street)



Could be sisters???





Look, an eagle...



Wow - what a beautiful day

Photo by Isabella -
note the perfect composition

If the Mountains Won't Come to Us...

Amazing - we made it through a market without buying anything...at least the first time!  We were in a hurry to make it to the top of the bell tower to see the mountains surrounding Bern before the mist arrived. 



Let sleeping gargolyes lie...



The view was astonishing even though someone had stolen the mountains - luckily they had returned them by the afternoon so we could reassure ourselves that we really were in Bern.  We were proud that we made it up the 254 steps even if we could only sign the book if we were over 70.  We took note of the many gargoyles on the way up (and down). 



Once back on terra firma we wandered back through the market, sampling the food as we went and buying two exotic Arabian biscuits (couldn't truly go through a market without buying ANYthing).  We met Leah for lunch and some more shopping (wow the sales are enticing) - no purchases today, however which is a good thing as we have no more space and things left over.  We dangerously abandoned Leah in H&M (don't worry, she made it out unscathed) and headed down to the river for a refreshing walk along the banks and through the forests.  The bears were asleep as we passed but  we waved anyway (and took pictures, of course).

Hubertus cooked us the most amazing dinner - spaetzle with lentils - his speciality we believe, and it tasted wonderful.  He also beat all three of us at scrabble - how rude!!  He was quite pleased and we don't think we will ever hear the end of it...We had a lovely night.



Time for a Little Smackeral of Something

Eating and shopping have been the theme of the last few days (possibly weeks?).  The activities have been enhanced by the addition of family to make it all the more fun!  We are very happy to have found a kindred spirit in Leah who has the same taste in shopping and the same ridiculous ability to go all day without stopping for anything except food.  Her knack of being distracted by sparkling objects and artistic shop fronts is only rivalled by Jo.

The family took us in on Thursday night and gave us a delicious home-cooked meal - we caught up over colouring-in (Isabella and Jo) and a remote controlled car (Max and Jenny).  We had heaps of fun getting to know the kids again and chatting over the spaghetti with Leah and Hubertus - we particularly enjoyed the plum wine!

Yesterday was a whirlwind of shopping and bears.  Leah was a willing participant in our craziness (or is that instigator - she was certainly an excellent and knowledgable guide to the best bargains).  We did actually make it to the bears before we bought anything - except one small item... see photo. 

The bear made an appearence this time - interrupting his winter nap to yawn at us from the lower path we discovered in touristy fashion. 

We paused in our tour of the shops with a lovely lunch at a tapas bar across from the Rathaus.  Ultimately we finished the day with a bag of loot rivalling Santa Claus -

• two coats (one designated a "cardigan" since the purchaser had declared she had no need for a new coat right at the start...and we had promised to stop her from buying one.  It was tooooo beautiful for us to do that!),
• two rings,
• a postcard holder
• a thermometer (don't ask)
• three postcards
• t-shirt
• pair of ear-rings
• pair of shoes

... we might have to try harder tomorrow!

We finished the day with an Indian dinner with Leah and Hubertus and fell into bed with the happy knowledge of having done our duty in enhancing the economic status of the country.  Must do everything we can to help out...

Out of the Belly of the Fish

Aerial view of Venice
 (not our photo!)

The clouds parted, the sky was blue and ...... it was  time for us to leave Venice for Milan.  But we didn't want to go!  So instead, we sneakily stole some extra time by calling today a "Venice day" and only leaving at the very last minute. Poor rejected Milan.  We used the extra time to admire the city sparkling in the sunlight and visit the Peggy Guggenheim museum which had somehow fallen off our agenda previously.  Once we got started with our bonus time, though, we couldn't stop ourselves.  As well as the previously mentioned itinery we managed to squeeze in another traghetto ride, the view at Customs House, Chiesa Santa Maria Novella, some shopping, re-photographing various bridges and canals - "they look different in the sunshine"... all before lunch.  Even lunch was eaten as we went (thank goodness for spinach and cheese pastries) and we refused to walk straight back to collect our bags - there is always time for one last detour down the picturesque "calles" and over the bridges of Venice.

How could we have ever thought of missing the Guggenheim??  Especially on such a sunny day, the gallery was a refreshing change from all the dark renaissance paintings we had been visiting in various churches throughout the trip.  The light filled rooms were a perfect backdrop for her wonderful collection of modern art.  Some of our favourite artists had work there - Miro, Calder, Picasso, Cornell and Chagall were all represented.  The works were interspersed with photos of Peggy herself showing the rooms as they were when she lived there, with the artworks in situ.  We also enjoyed the sculpture garden a lot.  There was a particularly fun statue out the front of the gallery - there is nothing like modern art meets Venice canal...

...except maybe contemporary art meets Venice canal!  The sculpture in the photo was standing on the extreme end of the top jaw of the "fish" at Customs House.  Stunningly beautiful and gleaming white in the sun (did we mention it was sunny today??),we took many photos, much to the disgust of the guard who was standing nearby for no apparent reason.  Perhaps he was hoping a tourist would tumble into the canal whilst walking backwards to take the perfect shot.  That would liven up his day no end!

One last trip on the vaporetto got us to the train station.  It was really hard to drag ourselves away from Venice - it is so beautiful, but in the end we escaped from the fish's belly and took with us some of the best memories of this trip.

There's Something Fishy about Venice

Fish can be surprisingly fascinating.  If you are prepared to be eyeballed back by someone's dinner, the Rialto Mercato is an enjoyable option for a holiday morning, in an icky kind of way.  We were quite glad it was a before breakfast adventure.  The fruit and vegetable section was less confronting, however. 

We also tried out a unique form of Venetian public transport - the Traghetto.  Shaped like a gondola, this is how people get from one side of the Grand Canal to the other in the absence of a bridge.  We stood up, as the locals do, but our touristico status might have been evident by the fact that we were facing the wrong way when we set off and had to turn around to face the front once the boat was being poled across the canal.



It's kind of cold on the
Grand Canal this time
of year...

 After breakfast we opted for a more straightforward cultural experience with the unmissable San Marco Basillica.  The golden mosiacs glitter down, a Byzantine display of grandure, reminding all who view it of the importance of the Church and the overwhelming might of Venice at the height of its power.  The museum also gave an interesting look at some of the original mosaics close up. Despite being dug up from strange places like underneath altars, the fragments are still bright and glossy and the subtle use of colour formed from tiny pieces of tile is astounding. 

The outside of the building is extraordinary expecially seen up close from the balcony.  The view is also quite nice!!

The outside of the
Bridge of Sighs
...on the top ten photogenic
sights in Venice?

After lunch in an antique filled cafe (the food did not live up to the ambience) we continued our pursuit of things cultural with a visit to the Doge's Palazzo.  Highlights of the trip included the inside of the Bridge of Sighs and prison cells (note these were also the least decorated sections...by a long way!) and the largest painting on canvas known to exist - so they say...We learnt a lot about the politcal structure of Venice when it was the Super Power of its day.  There were no pictures allowed, as usual.

This evening we went to the most fabulous Vivaldi Concert in a Church on the banks of the Grand Canal courtesy of Keren and James (I think I win the prize for stretching my birthday for the longest possible time - Jen).  They played the 4 Seasons and other Baroque pieces - outstanding performances in a truly amazing setting.  We particularly enjoyed the super exhuberant cello player.

We are sneaking a few extra hours in Venice tomorrow (like to stay a few months...) before heading off to Bern via a brief stop in Milan.

From Morandi to Mondrian

A clue about the weather
in Murano...

Venice is all about island hopping and today we hopped over to Murano and Burano.  Murano was in Winter mode - lots of open shops but no real demonstrations of glass blowing.  We did see an artisan in action making a vase and a horse but were rather sad to find out they were just for the demonstration and would crack immediately - the vase blew up as we stood there.  We didn't wait to find out the fate of the horse.  A craftsman was making roses for his shop out of tubes of glass, using his studio inside the shop.  Overall we managed to find quite a number of things that we liked despite the plethora of hideous monstrosities for sale (just being made of murano glass does not make something beautiful).  Hideous monstrostity covers the glass reinterpretations of "The Scream", "Weeping Woman", "The Kiss" and something vaguely Chagallian - we were searching for a baseball bat at this point.  Bringing our purchases home may be a challenge...we are thinking of taking out shares in a bubble-wrap company.

Burano was quite a different experience.  A wonderland of colour - like walking through a giant gelato store or a rainbow or a box of textas ... there are really no words to describe it. 

 

One of the colourful characters
that you see in Burano
(do you think she matches her house?)



The place was almost deserted - not even the Australian tourists we keep tripping over everywhere we go - and we wandered through the coloourful alleyways and along the canals enjoying the visual feast (worried I would never get Jo out of there she loved it so much - Jen).  We tried to decide what colour we would paint our house if we lived there and ended up planing our own street that would be painted in nothing but black and white ( our rebellious sides appeared). 

The boat rides to and from the islands had the ethereal quality that we have come to expect from Venice and we decided it all looked like the best sort of watercolour or the way Morandi would have painted landscapes if he had taken a break from still-lifes.

We ended the day with dinner at a fancy restaurant above a wine bar in the Rialto Mercato, then a cruise down the Grand Canal in the nuimber 1 vaporetto - magic!  What a way to end a day.