Rapid Transit

Well, planning (and shopping) for the next trip took precedence over blogging the last one, and now I’m at the airport waiting to board the first flight of the trip. So, before starting to write about my new expedition, I thought I’d put up a quick summary of the final stops on the last one. Didn’t want to leave it with the disappointment that was Trieste. The next stop, Ferrara, was indeed a marked improvement. I stayed in the same friendly B&B as when I visited in 2004, but this time I explored Ferrara itself as well as using it as a base for a day trip to admire Ravenna’s stunning mosaics. I had seen the castle and cathedral in 2004, but added a few worthwhile museums and a stroll along the city walls. The B&B sent me to some good restaurants and a food fair was in progress in one of the squares. Add in Ravenna, and I left for Venice in good spirits.

Ferrara’s cathedral

      

Unfortunately, I will remember my visit to Venice mostly for the horrible weather. Drenching rain and high winds can spoil any city, but especially one where you have to get around on foot. I spent the worst days enjoying the architecture biennale, but that still required a few dashes from building to building. I was staying in a B&B way out in Sant’Elena, which was a very good value, but would have been more fun in better weather. On one of the better days I took a look at the Lido, but was definitely not impressed. Unless you have kids who insist on a beach even in Venice. I’d give it a miss. Rather than spending an entire day on trains I flew to France for my first visit to Aix-en-Provence. As with Trieste, this experiment was not a success, although I liked it more than Trieste. It didn’t help that my otherwise admirable AirBnB room was up 78 steps! My bad for not paying sufficient attention to the passing mention of the 4th etage (American fifth floor) in the description. I wasn’t especially impressed with the museums or the market or the restaurants, but I did find it interesting to watch the stalls being built for the Christmas market.  

 

As usual, Nice raised my spirits. Instead of my usual budget hotel on the Rue de France, I rented an apartment a block further west, and mostly ate in (on previous visits I had thought many of Nice’s restaurants overpriced). I did pay my usual visit to my favorite creperie. My feet had recovered enough that I was able to walk round Cap Ferat, where the views were as good as I remembered.

  

From France I flew to Lisbon, and finally made it to Evora, by bus. I had been meaning to visit Evora for some time, but always found so much to do in Lisbon that I never made it, so this time I went straight from the airport to the bus station. I had a very comfortable B&B in Evora, with admirable staff, one of whom was my guide on a wine tasting tour. (I can whole heartedly recommend the Dona Maria winery.)  The Remains of the Roman temple weren’t worth the trip, as I had suspected, but I enjoyed a couple of museums.

View from my room in Evora

 

While I was in Lisbon I made my usual trip out to Belem, and enjoyed the Monastery as much as usual, although it does look like it will soon need cleaning again. I took another look at the Coach Museum too, which still hasn’t moved to its new quarters. Back in Lisbon proper I watched Nutcracker performed by a Russian ballet troupe, visited a very good house museum I hadn’t seen before, and ate delicious chicken at the dirt cheap Bom Jardin round the corner from my usual budget hotel.

Belem’s Tower on the Tagus estuary

  I finished the trip in England, perhaps not the best place to be in December, but the weather was better than it had been in Trieste and Venice. I stayed with my elder sister for a few nights. We visited a stately home beautifully decorated for Christmas, and in contrast spent a day at Bletchley Park, which I found fascinating.    I finished the trip in London, staying, as usual, on Gower Street. I had pre-booked for the wedding dress exhibition at the V&A, and it didn’t disappoint. I paid a second visit to the Geffrye, where the rooms were decorated for Christmas as they would have been in their respective time periods, and a first visit to The Wallace Collection, where I met my niece for lunch in the lovely courtyard restaurant. It is my niece’s wedding at the end of August that is taking me back to Europe this year.