Verona, Italy
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Verona,
Italy
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Hey all hope this finds you all well, we are fine but nearing the end of our van tour of Europe. The van is giving us no probs at the mo so hoping it will make it all the way now.
This episode begins in Verona, North Italy. You can really tell the difference between north and south Italy both in wealth and people. When we arrived from Croatia into Bari and then Naples we had a bit of a shock, it was not the Italy we imagined rather it was more like Syria with the heat, filth, poverty and incredible population density. However from Rome north we have really enjoyed ourselves indulging in the great food and wine and the cleaner greener landscapes. Also with summer coming to a close the nights are cooler and more bearable yet the day is still hot enough to swim.
So Verona, I had already been but it was great to show Ants, Zeke and Jen around and of course to see my extended Italian family. We parked our vans in a free parking lot close to the Zamporini's house and enjoyed the amenities of the house whilst still sleeping in the vans. Each morning we would be buzzed in to shower and have coffee with Giuliano, Sandro and his girlfriend Margeurite (sorry if I spelt that wrong!) before they went to work and we started our day's sight seeing. Some times we met back at the house for a long lunch (ham, spaghetti/risotto, salad, cheese, bread, proseco, café ) or spent the day in town (gelati, gelati and more gelati!) then another amazing evening meal. We had visits from the Bacarini's and Nina and we went out to the Zambon's for a meal one night. It was great to see everyone and certainly didn't feel like 2 years since my previous visit. Zeke and Jen stayed for 3 nights then we left for a night at Lake Di Garda, after which they headed up to Austria and we returned to Verona. Sandro arranged a couple of wineries for us to visit and the next day Suzy+Astro, Hamish+Katie and Digger+Paula met Ants and I in town and after a quick usher round the arena and Juliet's boob/balcony we drove to our first winery. It was called Farina and is in the famous Valpolicella district of Verona. It is a small family run winery but has the most amazing red wines including the Amarone and our guide spoke really good English and was a lot of fun. We all brought bottles then headed to our second visit to a much larger commercial winery called Valpantena. It didn't have the charm due to the size of operations but was still interesting. The tour was a bit rushed as we overstayed in Farina due to the fun we were having, but we got some tasting in a bought some more wine. That night the others free camped in town while Ants and I returned for our last meal at the Zamporini's which was again massive and fantastic and ran quite late as Giuliano kept bringing out different wines and traditional foods to try. Needless to say the hospitality was second to none and we were sad to leave quite a treat after 3 months in a van. We gave everyone some gifts from NZ and some wine and wiskey and promises to repay the favour when they visit us in NZ then we left for the lake again with the others. Zamporini's - thank you for the hospitality and see you in NZ!
The others had found a campground and a windsurfing school so we hired some wind surfers and took to the lake. It was a lot harder than we thought but just as we were getting the hang of it the wind picked up and we were all drifting away so a rescue boat came and picked up the strays. We were a bit perturbed but they said it was too much stress for only 10 euro ea and a lucky thing too as the wind really got up and waves were crashing on the beaches before long. So we dried off and had a couple of drinks before the wind became too much for that as well and we left the others in the campsite and found a free camp spot for the night.
In the morn the wind had dropped and I went for an extremely refreshing swim, we had slept in sleeping bags that night and not much had changed come the morn ....... Unfortunately summer is on the way out!
They others caught up to us and we headed north towards Munich. We split up on the way as we had different sights to see, we followed Astro and Suzy to one of the crazy King Ludwigs castles on the German/Austria border. The drive from the lake to the castle was one of my favorites of the trip, an amazing mix of Italian vineyards Austrian mountain houses and massive steep mountains with clear rivers and Autumn coloured forests.
We spent a very chilly night high in the mountains and visited the castle and grotto's in the morn very cool place and completely OTT! Then it was north to munich and Oktoberfest.
Will fill you in on the following messy few days soon.
love Cy and Ants
