Hereandthereclaire.com

I have been back in the UK for 2 weeks now, it doesn’t take long to get back into the swing of normal life!

It was wonderful coming home to Newquay, going back to the Coffee Shop and catching up with everyone. I’ve even managed to get to a Sprout Spoken Supersonic event, which was fantastic. I’ve seen so many gorgeous places this year it’s easy to forget how absolutely beautiful the place I call home actually is! 

So excited to be home in time to welcome Nikki and Jon’s little bundle of joy to the world. She is definitely Cornish as she is now 3 days late! I’m sure she will arrive precisely when she wants to! 💖

My trip this year was absolutely amazing, I think it was more of an adventure than a holiday. I managed to cover over 30,000 miles!!! Not all of them on foot, although it felt like it at times! 😂More than the distance around the world 😳

I have seen and experienced some unbelievable and unforgettable things.

Singapore is unreal, literally unreal! I loved it but found the conspicuous wealth and capitalist consumption of everything designer a little disconcerting.

New Zealand is a truly magical place. I genuinely could get a job with the New Zealand Tourist  Board as I have nothing negative to say about the place. As a country it is so incredibly diverse, the landscapes, the geology, the natural unspoilt beauty is breathtaking. I feel that seeing the South Island in Winter is the best time, I’m sure it’s gorgeous during other seasons but Winter, with the snow and ice makes it otherworldly.

Some highlights:

The Fullerton Hotel.

The Hakka at Hobbiton!

Wellington: meeting Angela & Brendan. Seeing the All Blacks live! Meeting some All Blacks (🥰🥰)

The Trans Alpine Railway

The Franz Josef Glacier in a Helicopter!

All the Lakes & Rivers, the colours, just wow.

Doubtful Sound & Milford Sound

Earthquake in Queenstown

The YHA’s

Intercity Buses

I could go on, and on! Suffice to say the whole of New Zealand was bloody fabulous.

Spending time with my Gorgeous family in Australia was fantastic. It’s so brilliant for all of us to be together. I get so much pleasure from seeing how well all of my amazing children get on together, the banter, the laughs. I also love to see what a wonderful life Rebecca and Chris have made for themselves in Bunbury, arriving with just a backpack each to 6 years later owning their own beautiful home and making a happy life together. So incredibly proud of them.

Rebecca did an outstanding job of organising our fantastic Road Trip along the Great Ocean Road. It is something to put on your wish list if you’re thinking of visiting Australia.

My time in Italy was wonderful. Thank you Alison Smith & Hayley Black-Knight for sharing the adventure with me, for helping me walk so many miles!

I feel that Rome and Venice are 2 places I could never get tired of visiting. Florence and Verona are fabulous as well but Rome & Venice are extra special, They are a feast for your eyes, your mouth your heart your mind and your very soul.

I will return to Italy, perhaps even next year and possibly explore further north. For such a small country it has a huge amount to see.

Some things I have learnt this year:

I packed way to many clothes! Even though I took less than last year.

I am more capable than I thought.

Youth Hostels can be fabulous.

I love a Wine Tour.

I’m pretty good at organising things.

Check in online to get decent seats!

I love an Aperol Spritz.

Always read your paperwork properly.

I can’t sleep on airplanes.

Rats can be bigger than your average sized Dog 😳

Don’t put Truffle flavoured items in you case.

One hat is sufficient.

Don’t waste money on a 3 day Vaperretto Pass!

Truffle Fries are a delicious invention.

I can be brave.

I have a very good sense of direction, but a map can confuse me!

I’m happy being me.

Thank you to everyone I met on this adventure you helped make it so special.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my blog! I really loved writing it and I especially loved reading your comments.

Next year I think I will stay on this side of the world, possibly traveling through Europe and down to the Greek Islands. Any hints, tips or suggestions will be gratefully received.

Thank you again.

So for the last time this year its Ciao from me.

Claire XXX

😘😍💖💖

I had a very busy day in Stevenage catching up with as many people as I could in the short time I had!

Thank you so much guys for making time to come and see me, it meant a lot. ❤️

I also picked up my car, which started first time, thank you Anne! And thank you Laura from saving it from being towed and destroyed! 😘😘

After doing so much walking on this trip and apart from pain from my arthritis, not having any problems I have managed to hurt my knee on my first day in the UK…..Dooh! 🤦‍♀️

I stayed the night at Tracey’s and Jacques made gorgeous stuffed peppers and tomatoes, delicious, and a yummy Lemon Drizzle Cake! I am taking some home and also some for Grantley.

The weather is absolutely shite today, heavy rain and storms so the drive to Cornwall is going to be fun, not. I shall just take it very slowly.

My drive was going ok until I stopped at the services and when I got back to the car I noticed that one of the wipers was twisted and broken! I managed to figure out the problem and fix it, at this point it wasn’t raining, thank god.

I had a fantastic visit with Grantley in Bristol having almost managed to run him over in the car Park!! 😳😀

He has settled into Uni really well and his accommodation is great, he had even managed to do some proper cooking. He was thrilled to have a delivery of Stuffed tomatoes and lots of Lemon Drizzle Cake, thank you Jacques 😘😘

The sun was still shining when I left Bristol but unfortunately not for long, then the other wiper started playing up, the rubber bit came lose and was flapping around in the air 😳This made for a tense and interesting drive home through heavy rain, trying to get to Newquay before the bloody thing gave up completely, I made, just!

As I had got back in good time I was able to go to Nikki’s amazing Birthing Beads Necklace Party, so thrilled to have been there, it was a wonderful evening full of love and positivity. Nikki looked absolutely gorgeous. The Birthing Bead Necklace is made up of beads and other tokens that are sent from all her family and friends with special messages of love, strength and support and you have this with you when you give birth to hold all of that love and power close to you and your baby. It was really very special.

So I am now back home, starting to sort out my apartment and settle back into Newquay life. I am going to take a few days to have a rest and reflect on what an unbelievable adventure I have had.

Bye for now. 💖💖

 

Today is my last day in Venice and the last day of my Adventure! I am flying back to the UK this evening. 😳

Hayley and I had a fabulous day, after dropping our cases off at the Bus Station left luggage, which was a pretty easy despite the humongous bridge we had to cross dragging a case, back pack and handbag!! 😃after this we went to buy our bus tickets and got a result from someone selling there for only €5 bargin! I also managed to find a place selling my favourite Coffee Creme!!

The weather in Venice wasn’t great, bit drizzly and grey, but it is still beautiful! We spent the day wandering around more areas we hadn’t seen. Stopped to have lunch at a little locals place and had really tasty Carbonara!

I feel like you could spend years walking around Venice and still find new and interesting little alleys and campos/Piazzas.

Despite the rain we managed to spend more than 6hrs walking around!

The Bus to the airport was absolutely packed, locals heading out of the centre back home from work and lots of people like us with cases and backpacks!

The bus stopped at a bus stop just outside of Venice near some bins and I spotted these 2 animals, I thought they were something unusual, like a porcupine/capybara, large marsupial……turns out they were the biggest bloody rats I have ever seen in my entire life!! Huge! Like mutant rats….yuk 😵😵😖

Our flight home was with Ryanair so I wasn’t expecting a pleasant experience, but despite a short delay the whole thing was rather easy and stress free.

Hayley was a star driving home, her journey was a little less stress free, the passport machine doesn’t like her so thought she might be trapped in Stanstead for ever 😀😀

We got back to Stevenage at 12.30, tired and ready for bed.

I am looking forward to catching up with lots beautiful friends and family here in Stevenage tomorrow and then seeing Grantley in Bristol on Tuesday  then back home to Newquay to see the beautiful Mum to be, Nicole, and her gorgeous baby bump! 😍😍My fabulous Coffee on the Corner and all my wonderful Cornish friends.

I will write a final blog post when I’m home and relaxed!

Ciao Bellas 💕💕💕

 

It’s my Birthday!! 😍

I woke up and lay there for a while thinking about things, especially my Clint, it would have been our Wedding Anniversary. I love and miss him everyday, but hope that he would be happy and proud of all of us.

I had a some lovely cards from Hayley and Tracey. We had a relaxed morning then headed out around 10 on the Vaperretto to St Marks Square to visit the Doges Palace.

When we arrived at Sat Marks we walked past the area where the painters set up their stalls and the lovely Artist who painted my gorgeous painting, Saverio De Bello was there again, so I popped over to say Hi, he remembered me and Hayley told him that it was my birthday and he gave me a small original painting as a gift!! How lovely is that. He is such a beautiful man, which is reflected in his gorgeous work. It was a wonderful unexpected surprise.

The Doges Palace was stunning, the rooms were unbelievably lavish and huge! The history is remarkable. The views from the rooms were also amazing.

From here we stopped for a nice rest I had a Aperol Spritz before heading to the Gritti Palace for Lunch. The Gritti Palace is a stunning Hotel on the Grand Canal with an Gorgeous Terrace, views and Cocktails. I had booked a table months ago for my birthday treat!

It was fantastic. The views really are amazing and the food, my first Risotto in Italy was delicious. ( Not as good as Jacques, but lovely) I also had a Birthday Bellini! 😍I really enjoyed sitting there enjoying the views and people watching. There was an older American couple who had a large table front & centre all to themselves, all the staff kept coming over to chat and make sure they were ok. They were drinking the most expensive Champagne and he spoke fluent Italian, he was quite short but very confident, Hayley and I decided that he was a Godfather in the Mafia 😃

After our yummy lunch we jumped on the Vaperretto back to Rialto but jumped off early to explore, we ended up Campo San Angelo, a wonderful place, we sat and had an Aperol and then realised that the church in front of us was about to hold a wedding! OMG I have never seen so many beautiful outfits and people in one place in my life! It was like Venice Fashion show. Everyone young and old looked amazing. We stayed to see the bride, and even managed to stand at the back of the church as the had their kiss! I think we even be in some of the photos 😂😂It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon amongst so much happiness and joy. 💕

From here we walked back to the apartment through areas, streets and Squares we haven’t seen before, enjoying the Saturday night vibe and just soaking up the atmosphere.

When we got back to the apartment it was so lovely to read through and see all of my beautiful Birthday messages, Thank you everyone. 😘😘

All in all a truly wonderful Birthday.

Ciao Bellas. 💖💖💖

 

 

A lovely relaxing start to our day, up and drinking tea chatting, then a Vaperretto to the Galleria De Accademia to see more amazing art. The building itself is beautiful. They had a large exhibition by a German Artist called Georg Baselitz, it wasn’t really my thing, lots big paintings of people but hanging upside down.

After the Galleria we had a walk through Dorsoduro, lots of fab shops and wider canals, which makes the light fall differently. It’s a beautiful area. We stopped at a rather fancy place on the Grand Canal for a coffee, Hayley had a cappuccino and I opted for a hot chocolate, which was pretty much a mug of melted chocolate, thick and totally delicious! From here we visited the stunning Church, Santa Maria Della Salute, which is huge and sits at the beginning of the Grand Canal. The church is gorgeous, the windows inside are made up of a mosaic of clear glass tiles, but when the light is on them they turn pink, blue, green and mauve absolutely gorgeous. I remember being enthralled by this when I visited last time with Laura.

From here we walked to St Marks Square and as the queues were surprisingly short we went into the Basilica. Getting in however, proved to be a tad irritating. Hayley has a really small day pack, like a tiny rucksack, smaller than my handbag, but there are no backpacks allowed (although we saw quite a few inside!) so once we got to the front of the queue we had to go off down a side street and deposit said pack! But once inside all of this was forgotten. It’s stunning, quite dark, but beautiful.

After this we walked back to where I had seen my beautiful painting the day before, my luck was in and the artists son in law was there and so was my painting! The artists name is Savireo De Bello, this is an original work in chalk and charcoal. Very happy. 🥰

We then walked back to Rialto and had a slightly disappointing lunch, it was ok just not the best, but never mind. After this we went back to the apartment for a short rest then headed back out. We wanted to have a walk around the Purple area on the map (purple is Hayley’s Favourite colour!) this area is called San Croce. It was fabulous! A much less touristy area we stopped for an Aperol in Campo San Giacomo  dall’Orio, where there were lots of families and children playing, a local school volleyball ball game was being played. It had a fantastic buzzy, local Friday night vibe! We walked more and stopped at a fab local Osteria and joined the locals on the street for a glass of Prosecco €2.50! It was brilliant.

We ended up back at the Grand Canal by the Train Station as the sun was starting to set, as we walked back through Cannaregio the colours were stunning.

We stopped and had a wonderful meal, Pizza with Mushrooms and Basil for me! Really yummy, some local white wine and a Limoncello, good food and great service and not a bad price. Winning!

As we were nearly home we walked past one of the poshest Spar Supermarkets I’ve ever seen! Marble colonnades and steps, wrought iron gates, marble cherubs above the door! It was unreal!! 😂

Altogether an absolutely fantastic day!! ❤️❤️

Ciao Bellas. 🍾

 

I woke up without a hangover surprisingly, following my fun night with Bill & Mel, but with a few new mossie bites! Buggers.

I decided to jump on a Vaperretto  and head down the Grand Canal to St Marks. It’s a fabulous cheap way to see the Grand Canal. The Vaperretto was pretty busy but it’s such a fantastic ride! So much to see. I actually jumped off before St Marks Square and walked. I stopped in a little church which happens to have one if the only paintings by Reubens in Venice, beautiful. Just before St Marks, near all the hugely expensive designer shops I came across a bit of a Gondola Jam! It was brilliant to watch, all the gondolas and a guy singing opera! Fantastic.

St Marks Square and the Basilica are spectacular. It is such a wonderful space. There was wonderful music being played at one of the Cafes, the sun was shining, the views were fabulous, simply beautiful.

I had a lovely wander and stopped to admire a painting on one of the stalls, the guy setting up who was also the artist called me over, I was then expecting a hard sell, but instead we had a lovely chat about his art, his life in Venice, he talked about the painting that I’d admired and when I said I would think about he took my hand and kissed, no hard sell, no pressure just an artists loving what he does. It was wonderful. My plan is to go back tomorrow and buy the painting.

I jumped back on the Vaperretto and headed back down the Grand Canal, on the way I was standing by the edge, holding onto the side when a very tiny, very old, very smokey lady tottered over muttering and looking at me gesticulating at the place I was holding on to, as she got right up to me she said something about living here, I guessed she wanted to stand in my place and hold on, which is fine, I moved, but she kept throwing my evils and muttering under her breath like some sort of barmy Venetian witch! 😂

I jumped off the Vaperretto at the Rialto Market, a great daily local market selling all sorts but particularly fresh fish and seafood, lots of glorious looking fresh seafood. I love local markets, the hustle & bustle it also puts you in the middle of local life, which is great.  I stopped in a little cafe and grabbed a sandwich and some water, cost €3 👍😀I walked back towards the apartment and called into another free exhibition this one was Art & Design. It was fantastic, the work was superb  very thoughtful, looking at themes such as recycling, energy transfer, feminism even some about Surfing! I chatted to a lovely Mexican art student who was volunteering during her year studying in Venice, she talked through some of the work. Once again the exhibition was housed in a beautiful old Venetian Palazzo, this one overlooking the Grand Canal with amazing views!

In the afternoon I walked back down towards the lagoon, as this is where Hayley will be arriving at! So excited to see her. 😍

I visited more Exhibitions, one about Grenada, which was a combination of art and a film, very good. More beautiful buildings, more stunning views! To be fair everywhere you look in Venice offers a stunning view!

Hayley’s Waterbus arrived at 5.40! So weird to be meeting her in Venice! We dropped her bag off then went out to explore.

We had a lovely meal and Hayley had her first Aperol Spritz! (She liked it!) Then we wandered slowly back to the apartment, listening to all the church bells and enjoying a Gelato. Perfect.

Ciao Bellas 💖💖

 

I was up and raring to go this morning! Looking forward to Venice and the last few days of my adventure! I have been to Venice before but didn’t really get to have a good look round. So this time I plan on seeing and doing everything!

I arrived at the Verona train station with 20mins to spare, my train was at a designated platform and ready to board! Result! I boarded, found somewhere safe for my unwieldy, silly case then spent the next 25mins panicking that i was on the wrong train!! I wasn’t!

The journey was good, the train was packed. You come out of Venice Train Station and you are right on the Grand Canal it’s fabulous. I managed to catch the correct Vaperreto and find my way to the Airbnb, without any problems! Go me.

Alessandro met me at the apartment and it’s fantastic, right in the heart of Venice, Cannaregio but in a really quiet side street. The apartment is so lovely and Alessandro had even bought me a little gift for my birthday!! 😍and lots of goodies for breakfast. Amazing. I can see the fish swimming in the canal from the kitchen window!

I stated exploring straight away and stumbled onto a fantastic Art Display at the European Cultural Centre and as part of the 58th International Venice Art Biennale. The work was stunning and quite thought provoking. The building it was in was also pretty fantastic, The Palazzo Mora. It was free entry, which is brilliant. After this I wandered to Rialto Bridge, which was being renovated last time I was here, it’s a fabulous bridge, but mad busy!

As I was wandering back through Cannaregio towards the lagoon I bumped into a Canadian couple who asked where I got my map, we started chatting and as we were going in the same direction started walking together, Bill and Mell were lovely and here on the start of their holiday. We stopped at a Bar by the lagoon and shared a bottle of wine sitting outside in the wind!! Then shared another inside out of the wind! The wine went to my head pretty quickly as I’d not eaten anything other than some nibbles with the wine! So we headed back into Cannaregio for food and then they walked back with me to my apartment, making sure I got home safely! They are a fabulous couple, lots of fun and great company! It was an unexpected fun first night in Venice!

Ciao Bellas 🍾💖💖

 

I slept really well despite the few bites on my leg giving me Gip!

Today I am determined to see Juliette’s Balcony and aslo to go inside the Amphitheater in Piazza Bra. I have decided against a day trip to Lake Garda, I’m sure it would be beautiful, but I think I want and need a slightly slower day today.

It feels a little cooler today, yesterday was hot and still, today is cooler and there is a little bit of breeze.

I walked to Piazza Bra and went inside the Arena/Amphitheatre it has a long history built originally by ancient Romans it has been utilised for many things over the intervening centuries. Interestingly it has been used both as a centre for the administration of Justice and also as the home and workplace for the cities Prostitutes!! It is also the setting for the Cities Summer Season of Opera. Unfortunately there are no shows while I am here.

Juliette’s Balcony is a little underwhelming, but you can’t come to Verona without a visit! I decided against the obligatory selfie holding Juliette’s left breast (it’s supposed to bring love into your life) I wasn’t sure how to hold a boob and take a selfie at the same time!! 😂

I had a gorgeous lunch I Piazza Erbe, I started with a ‘Hugo’ which came with the usual Olives & Crisps. I sat and enjoyed this for a while them ordered lunch. I had Pesto Pasta, it was really gorgeous, I loved the pasta shapes and it came with a brown bag full of various flavoured warm rolls! One of my nicest meals. The Piazza is a great place to sit, there are market stalls selling a variety of things and lots of locals and tourists milling around. I managed to sit there for 3hrs enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes! 😍

I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon back at the hotel, relaxing in the little patio area and then lying in the cool of my room reading, lovely.

My plan was to go out in the evening and have a light meal, however I ended up having a drink at 2 places which offered a large range of free nibbles, something that is very Italian. The first place was off the main streets and looked like somewhere locals called into after work, the second place was Piazza Bra but had lovely nibbles as well! This then meant I didn’t need to buy dinner, so my 2 drinks and evening meal came to €9.50 Bargin!!

I really think Verona is underrated as a place to visit, I would highly recommended it.

Tomorrow I am on my way to Venice, the last stop on my fantastic Adventure.

Ciao for now Bellas 💖💖

 

I had a good nights sleep after a long and busy day. I didn’t wake up until 8am which is pretty late for me. I went down for breakfast, the first time I’ve had breakfast included! Al would have been disappointed in me as I really didn’t take advantage of the all the lovely things on offer 😳I had a cup of tea and a little almond cake/biscuit I did think about popping some in my bag for later but there were to many people around! I’ll try again tomorrow.

I headed out and went in a different direction, towards the river. I crossed over the river using a fantastic fortified bridge at The Corso Castlevecchio. It was a beautiful walk alongside the river, the only slight problem was this side of the river was in the sun and it was already 31 degrees! The city seems much quieter today after all the crowds and families on Sunday. There is an area up on a huge hill Teatro Romana, it is one of the oldest parts of Verona and also has a Roman Amphitheater. I had decided it was to hot to walk up to the top. But I wanted to look at the ruins and spotted some steps at the side of the Amphitheater, unfortunately I couldn’t go in as it was closed for renovations, I started climbing the stairs which went round in a zig zag, the  views were lovely and it was nice and cool, before I knew it I was halfway up the hill! I decided I might as well go to the top. 3/4s of the way up and getting hotter I glanced across an open space and bugger me if there wasn’t a bloody Funicular that takes you all the way up!! I arrived at the top a bit of a sweaty mess while everyone else looked cool and comfortable. 🤦‍♀️🤯The views of Verona were amazing and definitely worth the sweat! I opted to come down on the Funicular, and I didn’t have to pay, I guess they figure if you walk up you deserve a free ride down. At the bottom I had a well earned Lemon Sorbet and continued with my walk.

I stopped in Piazza Erbe for a nice cold Glass of my new Favourite ‘Hugo’ accompanied by some olives and crisps. 😀I got chatting to a lovely mother and daughter from Ireland who were on their last day in Italy, they highly recommended getting the bus to Lake Garda and also offered some suggestions on good places to eat. It’s one of the things I love about traveling, meeting and having brief but interesting connections with people.

I continued on with my walk and decided to have lunch in Piazza Bra and use the free WiFi to update my blog. (WiFi in the hotel is still not up and running!) I had a nice Pizza, not the best I’ve had but OK but I did manage to get my blog posted and book a train the Venice!

I wandered around the gardens in the Piazza, which I think are there to commemorate the Jews that were taken from Verona during the 2nd World War. The gardens are really cool and tranquil, with a little fountain and lots of locals sitting relaxing. After this I headed back to hotel and, Yeah, the WiFi is working.

My evening was a little odd. I decided walked back into the city, but first had a little mooch by the hotel, a guy who was dressed reasonably well but who looked a little dodgy started walking behind me after a few mins I just turned round and glanced at him, he then went past me and looked like he was entering some apartments. After another 5 mins, he passed me again at a road crossing, then stopped outside of the main square as if he was waiting for someone, I continued through the square and down a Main Street but then suddenly changed my mind and turned around and he was right behind me again!! At this point I was sure he was following me, so I walked quite quickly back through the square and into a cafe and as I entered the cafe I caught a glimpse of him again. I stayed in the cafe for quite a while, after 40mins there was a huge power cut!! And now I’m thinking, great, I’ve got to walk the rest of the way to the hotel in the dark with a weirdo following me! Luckily the power came back on and I left, looking behind me often and making sure I was walking with others, I didn’t see him again, but it did give me a bit of a scare.

I grabbed a yummy goats milk Gelato from the place next to the hotel, lemon sorbet and also a Mediterranean herb one, OMG! Delicious. And then had a pretty early night!

Ciao Bellas ☀️💖

 

Al and I spent our last night in Florence enjoying a fabulous salad from a great salad bar/shop near the apartment. It made a nice change for Al, who is vegan to have a wide selection of food choices! As luck would have it this Cafe was next door to a cute little gelato shop also selling a huge range of vegan options! I had Lime and mint sorbet with a mascarpone ice cream, delicious. Al had a really rich vegan dark chocolate one with Matcha sorbet, which she said was also delicious.

Al needed to be up at 4.45 to get her taxi to the bus station, bus to Bologna, flight home! I also got up with Al at 5 and then caught my taxi at 8 to the train station then my train to Verona. There is nowhere to put your cases on this train except on the overhead storage, so that was a fun time lifting a rather cumbersome, unwieldy 20kg case over passengers heads, most people just watched but the lovely young, glamorous Italian lady in the seat next to mine helped me in the end!

I love a train journey, so I was looking forward to spending a couple of hours watching the Italian countryside go by. I had been on the train for 45 mins and so far that has been virtually all through tunnels! 😳This is not helping keeping me awake!  After Bologna the tunnels ended but by then the countryside had changed, lovely but much flatter, no hilltop towns or castles.

Verona is beautiful! I really had no idea what to expect, in my head it was smaller and darker in reality it’s a good size and feels very bright and airy, this may be because the buildings are not as tall as Florence  and Rome. The pavements are made of light colour Marble, very fancy!

It is extremely busy here today. There is a Festival about Children and Play that has been running over the weekend, called “Festival Internazionale Dei Giochi in Strada” there are lots of families about with lots of different games and activities on in all the Piazzas for the children. It feels like a celebration and festival, such a lovely atmosphere. I walked through the town and if you just move back  1 street from the main parts it’s so quiet. The river is also very pretty a beautiful pale blue colour. I visited a few churches and the Duomo, prices and queues here are so much cheaper and shorter. I did walk past ‘The Balcony’ but it was mobbed so I’ll call in again tomorrow.

My hotel is nice, central and very old with an amazing old wooden door. The only problem is their WiFi is not working. When I spoke to the receptionist about it, she just shrugged and said her computer was ok so,it must be my iPad, when I went on to explain that it wasn’t working on my phone or my kindle I got another shrug. I was a tad irritated! I need the WiFi for this blog, my travel money card, booking trains, checking reservations etc etc. I contemplated moving hotels, but that seems a hassle, plus it would be quite costly. In the end I went back into town first I tried MacDonalds as I know they have free WiFi, but this one needs me to download an app or do it via a social media thing, which I obviously can’t do without WiFi! 😳I eventually found a nice restaurant that had decent free WiFi, they also happened to have the most gorgeous drink called ‘Hugo’  I think it’s Prosecco, some sort of syrup, but not sweet with mint and lemon!! It’s delicious and really refreshing, my new favourite closely followed by another I tried today, a Martini Bianco Spritz!!

What I’ve loved seeing today has been all the couples, old, middle aged, young and the families sitting relaxing over a meal, with drinks just talking and laughing, no mobiles, no tablets just being together.

It would seem that Sunday nights are for getting dressed up, lots of very beautifully dressed people, eating out or perhaps going to the Opera. It made for fantastic people watching.

I think Verona is a fabulous.

Ciao Bellas ❤️❤️