After breakfast we head off again to Venice where we have a stop at Murano Island. We are able to watch a Master Glass Blower create a vase and a horse, then off to the gift shop to make some purchases. We are then transported by water taxi back to St Mark's Square for a tour of St Mark's Basilica. It has an amazing ceiling covered and the walls are covered in 24 carat gold mosaic tiles depicting the life of God. After lunch we have free time and I head off to negotiate a Gondola ride. The tour offered a ride of 220 euro for 6 people. I tried a few early and they were just as expensive and I decided to walk away. I was then approached by one and we agreed on 120 euro for 50 mins for the six of us and off we went. The gondolier was great, he explained how each licence is handed down through the generations and there are over 400 licences. We drifted past Casanova's and Vivaldi's houses and some of the houses were over 700 years old. After our ride it was time for the girls to go shopping!! We eventually head back to our hotel around 5 pm and have beer o'clock. Venice was amazing and we all had a guuuud day!
Day 8 Friday
We leave Venice today to head back to Rome. It is a long road trip but we travel through the Chianti area, renowned for its wines. We stop for lunch in Montepulciano. It is a charming little town in Tuscany high on a hill with a lovely square where we have lunch. After lunch we head to a winery, Antico Colle. Our tour group is made up of Australians, Canadians and Spaniards. The Spainiards are getting out of hand pushing in and queue jumping and monopolising Stefano's time. It is time we took a stand and we made sure there was no more pushing in!!
We tasted two wines, a 2007 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot, and a 2006 100% Sangiovese as well as cheese and olive oil. The 2006 was the smoother of the two and we bought two bottles to have during our train ride to Naples. We then head off to Rome arriving at our hotel around 7 pm to be greeted by Basil at the front desk. We head off for dinner and the area is now quite lively compared to last Sunday. We pick a restaurant and we are told w must have the lasagna!
Overall, the tour was great. Stefano our guide was helpful, knowledgeable and funny. Travelling through the countryside of Umbria, Tuscanny, Sienna, Florence and Venice was great. The rolling hills, towns perched on hill tops, and magnificent Basilicas, Cathedrals and Town Squares.
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Lunch in Montelpulciano was a highlight, sitting in the grande piazza with a local cat. Good food and good coffee.
Heading back to the bus down the steep road into the walled town, the view over the valley with its vineyards was breathtaking.
We asserted ourselves at the cellar door and actually got to taste the wine properly and nibble on the cheese and olives!
Buying wine for our train ride to Naples was a brilliant idea.
Back to Hotel George and Basil in Rome.
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