Travels low cost

Wednesday 25 January 2012

The craftsmanship of Murano and Burano

Upon request, the hotel staff organizes a short excursion to Murano, which is famous all over the world the world for its glasswork. They offer transportation and they accompany you to the glass factory where a man welcomes visitors to explain how to blow glass and how to become a glass master. Of course, when the presentation is over, you have to go to his immense glass store with its sky-high prices. I suggest buying elsewhere: the prices drop by half. Anyway, the visit is very interesting. Afterwards, we walk through Murano; it’s a beautiful day today and we are able to enjoy the island in all its splendor. We buy jewels and Murano glass souvenirs. After a couple of hours we reach the lighthouse to take the ferry, (again 6.50 euro) which leads us to Burano.

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Burano, with its multi-colored houses, its canals and its laces hanging everywhere, turns out to be nice and cozy. Burano is really charming, especially at this time, when there are very few tourists. The colors of the houses really brighten up the landscape, which is already lofty on its own. It almost looks like we are in a fairy tale. In fact, as soon as you land there, you have the impression that you’ve just ended up in the Smurfs’ village or in Alice’s wonderland. Every house looks like a canvas. We must note that the City Hall forbids owners to change the color of their houses’ walls, because the island's economy relies heavily on tourism.
It starts to get late and we take yet another ferry, which takes us back to the island of Venice. The boat leaves us at New Foundation and from there we explore another very nice area of the city, full of shops and channels. On our path, we meet several small motor boats, with parents taking their children home from school; something very different from what we're used to! We stop at the supermarket to buy some groceries: tonight we will have dinner at home because we don’t really feel like going out!

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Tuesday 24 January 2012

Venice, the jewel of Italy

It is amazing how, in Venice, everything, absolutely everything, takes place on the sea. Ambulances with sirens blaring run along the Grand Canal, as well as the police and the fire fighters. The vendors sell their wares, often fruit and vegetables, in boats, taking the advantage of being able to cover more areas of the city during the day. Entrepreneurs do their business using boats as means of transport: I had never seen a move taking place on the sea. Everything is very strange for people like me, who aren’t used to the total lack of cars and motorbikes. Even bicycles are absent in Venice.

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THE JOURNEY (stories and tips)
We are not even 3 hours away from Venice, where we arrive in the early afternoon. I booked the cheaper parking in the area (garage Europe - 50 euros for 4 days) in Mestre, because the municipal car parking in Piazzale Roma in Venice (last stop possible) is very expensive. With the bus line 4L (but even 4 is fine) we arrive at Piazzale Roma, where we take a boat to San Marco. The tobacco shop where we can buy the tickets is closed, so we just ask the driver about the ticket and he says: “If you want, you can get it when you get out”. If you want!!? Ok, when I arrive I ask him about the price of the ticket and he says: “Goodbye lady, I wish you a good day”. Well, certainly I don’t insist ...
Water taxis are the typical means of urban transport in Venice, used by almost everyone. For the residents, the cost is negligible, but for all the others it’s quite expensive: 6.50 euros each way. But there’s the Tourist Ferry that allows you to cross the Grand Canal with just 2 euros. Since our hotel stands half way between Rialto and San Marco, it is serviced by both (Rialto stop and San Marco stop) but for your convenience, I suggest you get off at the first stop, as there’re less bridges to cross. With the bags it’s a little uncomfortable. We obviously go down to San Marco (Vallaresso)!
At a first glance it's a mess; all these narrow and dark streets are confusing, and you can’t even ask for information because everything is a “turn right, turn left, cross the bridge”… and you forget immediately what they have told you. Anyway, we easily reach the Hotel San Luca, where I booked a cottage for 4 days for a total cost of 200 euros. I get things straight: it was a super deal, a 75% discount on the full price because of the low season. Upon our arrival, we have a surprise: the annex is nothing more than a nice apartment detached from the hotel, with 2 large double bedrooms, a bathroom, a lounge and a kitchen. Great! The thought of not having to sleep with my mother and having to deal with her snoring fills me with joy!
We stop only for the necessary time to fix our suitcases, and we’re already at the Rialto Bridge, the oldest, and certainly the most famous, of the four bridges of Venice. Given the close association with the local market nearby, the bridge, once called the Bridge of coins, changed its name and became the Rialto Bridge. Initially built with wood, it was destroyed and collapsed several times over the centuries, until it was rebuilt and made with stone. Today, there are souvenir shops on both of its sides.
We follow the advice of the hotelier and go to one of those restaurants he recommended (actually, I think they must get a percentage on the customers they send there). The Da Gioia restaurant isn’t so bad though, and the price is reasonable: we spend 45 euros as a total for the two of us.
We go for a short walk to digest, to visit the Rialto Bridge in the evening and to take some pictures, and then we go back home because it has gotten really cold. I fall asleep in my bed all alone.

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Venice is beautiful but ..... I would never live there. Yes, it may sound like the usual hearsay, but it’s the simple truth: Venice is beautiful but I would never live there, if anything, for that damned moisture that penetrates you and stick to your bones non-stop. And if like me, you already have some pains, it’s the end cause it’s a constant torture. Everything else is a delight.

We start our day where we had left it the night before: Rialto. Beyond the bridge, you can find the commercial area of Venice, with its daily market of fruits, vegetables and fish. The area is full of shops and souvenir stalls, where, if you look carefully, you can also find some pieces of original Murano glass. We visit all the area coming up to the S. Polo sestriere (that’s how they call neighborhoods here). Here we find stalls selling pork sandwiches, cheeses, hams etc. ... so we decide to stop for lunch and eat on the benches, also because of the beautiful sunny day. Each sandwich costing 5 euros, we take two of them with pork and grilled vegetables, and they are delicious. When we are done with our lunch, we move towards what will be our final destination: the Peggy Guggenheim, the Museum of Contemporary Art, second only to the Guggenheim in New York. But first we cross the Dorsoduro district with all its fields (squares) and its many churches.
When we arrive at the Peggy, we discover that its closing day is Tuesday…what a bitter surprise! I decide that I will not get back here, if it wasn’t for what I see through the shop window: the scratch map travel! That’s a map of the world covered with a gold film that you can scratch away depending on the countries or areas that are visited in the world (like a scratch and win ticket). I have been looking for it for a long time and I can’t miss this opportunity!
Since the museum is closed, we decide to go to the tip of the island, passing through the Salute Church and arriving up at the customs. From here you can enjoy a wide view of the entire basin of San Marco, and you can see the islands of San Giorgio and Giudecca nearby. By now, the sun is going down and we enjoy this sunset with a nice walk through the rafts, the road that runs along the south side of the island. Here there’s the University of Fine Arts of Venice, the rowing club and again many churches.
Now it's time for dinner. Tonight we want to choose the restaurant without any interference and then wander through the streets of San Marco, peering menus (and prices) exposed on the outside. We find cheap and attractive ones but in the end my mother is terribly attracted to Peppino’s restaurant, just behind San Marco. I try to convince her that that’s a restaurant for tourists and that probably the menu that starts from € 12.90, including two dishes plus coffee is a rip off, meaning that you eat like crap. I’ve never been so wrong. I order the spaghetti with squid ink and mixed fried fish. Everything is delicious.
After a short ride in San Marco just to take some pictures, we go home immediately because it’s freezing.

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Keep reading... Keep reading.... My travel story continues in the next post!

Saturday 10 December 2011

Montmartre is the real Paris

The Moulin Rouge, the Pigalle, and the Church of the Sacred Heart are the main attractions of the district of Montmartre, where we spend most of the day. Truly, it is the most beautiful and representative part of Paris, the one I liked the most. The Sacre Coeur is situated on a hill, from which you can see almost the entire city and during the Christmas season it is surrounded by the little wooden houses of the Christmas markets. It is forbidden to take pictures or shoot videos inside the church, but there's only a disconsolate guardian to enforce that rule, and she has to run after everybody, so while she goes to reprimand someone else .... hihihihi

We walk around the neighborhood following a precise route, we discover the place where Modigliani and Picasso used to get drunk and party with some chicks, the "Lapin Agile", a sort of local cabaret. We also discover the old residence of Renoir.

The Church of the Sacred Heart.
2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved

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There’s still some time before it gets dark and following the advice of my friend Romina, we want to go to see the Defense, the business district of Paris whose builders were inspired by the giants of Mahnattan. Actually, we don’t find it very interesting, so just the time to take a couple of pictures and to have a quick ride to yet some other Christmas Markets, and we are back on the Champs Elysees to go up on Arc de Triomphe, as we decided the night before.

The arch’s entrance is located underground, obviously following the pedestrian tunnel that leads to the center of the square. We spend a short time in line and then with 10 euros we go up (by feet) and reach the top of the arc. On the inside, there are a shop, an info point and restrooms. The view from up there’s spectacular: on one side, you can see up to the big Ferris wheel, and on the other side, your sight can extend along the 5-km-avenue that leads to the Defense.

After the scam of a dinner the previous night, we decide to go back to our Moroccan friends who had treated us so well. This time, I taste some kebabs served with mixed vegetables, Sebastiano orders the couscous chicken, which is very delicious. We ask several times for the mint tea of the desert, that they use to serve with a lot of sugar, and that we love so much. Even the bill doesn’t disappoint us at all, as we spend about 26 euros in total (for the two of us). I would like to point out that this restaurant, being Muslim, doesn’t mention wine on the menu, but if you want drink it, you can go to the mini-market next door and buy a bottle that you can bring with you and keep on the table without problem: and the guys even brought us the only two wine glasses that they held in their local! They are definitely one step ahead!

December 11, 2011
Beautiful things come to an end immediately. So we get to the last day of our stay. Our flight is in the late afternoon, so we can use the whole morning to visit the cemetery of Père-Lachaise, where Jim Morrison, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde are buried, along with a considerable number of other famous people. They say that in order to "revive" the image of this cemetery that wasn’t being considered by anyone, they began to bury famous people there.
Pay attention when you exit the metro Père-Lachaise, cause you’ll immediately find a kiosk that sells the maps of the cemetery: it’s not illegal, but be aware that at the entrance of the cemetery, the management provides free maps in different languages! Learn to understand the difference between the number of the tomb’s position and that of "area" in which that is located. I was looking for Oscar Wilde and I stumbled upon the grave of Jim Morrison!
Speaking about Jim, if you're expecting to find a huge space dedicated to him, with many flowers, many people, and much of everything... you'll be amazed. His tomb is located in a quite hidden position (let’s say, in the second row), it’s not very big and it doesn’t stand apart from the ones close to it. So, when he died, he was considered a person like many others. And it sounds right.

The grave of Jim Morrison.
2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved

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Oscar Wilde’s grave, instead, is protected by a large plexiglass box, because some time ago an idiot broke the statue’s intimate parts on the tombstone ... No comment!
After visiting the cemetery, we move quickly to the center to find the Sorbonne. After a quick lunch with a sandwich, we get back to the hotel to collect our luggage.
To get to Charles de Gaulle airport, we take the underground to Gare du Nord, then the RER (French commuter trains) B line that leads straight to our destination. I don’t know if we have done something wrong, but with only 1 euro (an underground ticket) we’re able to arrive at the airport without any problems. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Friday 9 December 2011

Christmas Markets in Paris

Due to the bad weather we decide to take refuge in the most famous big store of France: Galeries La Fayette. We don’t like it at all, so we leave it immediately. We walk through the whole shopping area till we reach Place de la Concorde. We want to visit the famous Christmas markets on the Champs Elysees. To be honest, we find them very expensive and the people in those cute little wooden houses that come one after the other up to the Arc du Triomphe, sell more or less the same things. We only buy the mint of the desert tea, the one that we tasted the night before at the Moroccan restaurant near our hotel.
When we arrive to at the arc du triumphe, we discover that it is possible to get on its top to admire the view, but we think that it would be better to do that in the evening, to enjoy the Christmas lights on the avenue. So we decide to come back later when it’s dark.

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We spend the afternoon visiting the Louvre; a full day wouldn’t be enough to appreciate it all. Once again, I find myself in front of the Mona Lisa, the most admired stamp in the world! So it was nothing new to me to find it so small. I will not dwell on the Louvre museum for too long but I can tell you that, in order to avoid the line of people that crowds around the pyramid, you can directly enter the museum from the subway exit: you follow the signs, get the ticket at the automatic machines (10 euro) and you find yourself right in the vast hall of the museum, where you can find info points, wardrobe, bars, shops, bathrooms, etc...
When we leave the museum is already dark, we dwell taking pictures and then retrace the Champs Elysees in the opposite side this morning to look at the stalls that we were missing. This brings us again to the bow but it's already past 8 pm, we’re destroyed and hungry and we didn’t want to do anything, not even to climb the Arc du Triomphe. So we decide to go back to the hotel and go out to eat at a French restaurant just nearby. The kitchen doesn’t satisfy us fully, tomorrow we’ll return at the Moroccan restaurant.

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Keep reading... Keep reading.... My travel story continues in the next post!

Thursday 8 December 2011

"Immaculate" Paris!

After over 14 years, I’m back in Paris. Even in this occasion, I’m with someone special but different.

Paris never disappoints expectations; it’s always beautiful in every season of the year. I visited it in the summer; now winter is almost here, the Christmas atmosphere makes everything more surreal, the lights, though not abundant (I guess that also French people have to deal with the crisis), are always special, carefully designed.
Paris is expensive throughout the year, especially in December, so you need to be mentally prepared to spend a lot of money; otherwise, you can do just like me: search, search, and search until you find the best deal.
I had been dreaming about going back there for a while, and opportunity makes the thief (275 euro for a Milan–Paris Charles de Gaulle flight departing on Wednesday at 21.10 and coming back on Sunday at 18.05, for 2 people).
Here’s the summary of the 4 intense days of the Immaculate Conception’s long weekend.

Our flight lands at the main Paris airport in the evening, but I don’t understand why the public means of transport that I had previously studied to arrive at the hotel are not working tonight. They provide the passengers with shuttle buses that take them to an Underground stop; from there, we somehow end up on the RER train that takes us to the Gare du Nord. From here it's much easier to find our direction and take the right line to our destination. It’s here, in this station, that for the first and unique time in the whole trip I feel in danger: a black kid on the escalator stares at me and slows down, as if he’s going to wait for me at the top, but he realizes that I have caught him and he resumes his pace to reach his friends ahead. For the rest, we can say that as it happens in all the capitals, the more you move into the suburbs, the more the environment becomes less peaceful.
Our hotel, Timohtel, is located in the district of Charonne. I paid 250 euros for a double room for 4 nights, a fair price if we consider the period of the year, the city, and the proximity to the underground stop (line 2 Avron). Clean and simple, the reception is open 24 hours a day. The trip to downtown takes about 20 minutes.

December 8, 2011
The tour begins with a visit to Notre Dame. Maybe it’s because of the dreary weather, but the monument doesn’t look so amazing and it doesn’t impress us that much. We find out that even here in Paris there’s a facsimile of the Milvian Bridge in Rome with the locks of love ... the world is the same everywhere! The sun peeps out from behind the clouds and we continue our guided tour through the two islands of the city, which are typically Parisian and therefore very beautiful.
We stop to have lunch and then we decide to go to the Louvre but, I don’t know how, we get the wrong train and the wrong line and we magically find ourselves at the stop of ... the Eiffel Tower! Well, let's take advantage of this chance! Before heading to the tower, we take a ride in the area, we visit the Christmas markets of the Trocadero, we take plenty of pictures and then, as the sun sets down, we get in line to climb the tower. We don’t even have to stay in line for too long (about 30 minutes), we pay 13.50 euros to climb the tower through two elevators (9 euros if you take the stairs) and ..... spectacular! The view of the city is really breathtaking, every corner is visible from up here.
On the top of the tower, the wind blows so wildly that, it's hard to take pictures even with the tripod; plus, the people keep pushing me to find the right location for their pictures, and they always end up where I am!
When we go back down, it's already past 8 pm, and we want to wait the stroke of the hour to fully enjoy the Christmas lighting of the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the photos don’t do justice to the beauty of the place.

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