First day of Biking

Relaxed morning wandering. Looking for leg bands to fasten the bottom of my pants. I forgot to bring the ones I had. 

Met the tour leaders at noon and found they had reversed the bike sizes for me and Dave. So we rode temporary bikes today and tomorrow they will have the right size and type for each of us. 

Waiting in the hotel lobby after lunch. Pre-biking meeting was at 1:30pm. 

The first few km were through the city. Traffic was a little daunting. But there are so many bikers. Italians seem unfazed by the close proximity of speeding cars and bikes. 

A stop along the way to admire the view. 

We biked about 16 miles and arrived at our luxurious Hotel Corte Valier. (Cortevalier.com). Very modern on the shore of Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy. 

We have two hours to shower and change and meet for coctails at 7. Then dinner at 8pm. 

Just enough time for Dave to charge all our gadgets!!!

More after dinner... Maybe....

Padua to see the Giottos

I had always wanted to see the Giotto frescos in the tiny Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. His work represents the turning point in art history from the flat symbolic expression of the Gothic era to the more reality based art of the renaissance. 

Cameras were strictly forbidden. So the above was from the book I bought. 

We had to make reservations on line the day before for a 15 minute slot. 

It took Giotto 200 working days over two years to complete the whole chapel interior. Although small, there is so much tiny archictectural detail that he painted that I am amazed it did not take longer!

They only allow 25 people into the chapel at a time. They are very concerned with keeping the air pure to protect the art. 

On our way to the chapel

While we waited for our time slot we visited the famous fruit market where we snacked on sheep cheese and delicious figs which Dave washed in a fountain. 

After the Giottos we walked to the other end of town and toured the Basillica of St Anthony.

Dave snuck a photo of the really gaudy interior of the basillica. 

Had some aperitif and snacks at a side walk Cafe then caught the train back to Verona. Another VBT couple: David and Barbara from MA. 

Saw some amazing mushrooms growing on a post in the river. 

Light dinner on the Piazza Bra people watching. That's the arena in the background. 

To Padova

Another interruption from Austine's beleaguered muse...

Took the 2 hour "40 minute train ride" to Paduva to see the famous frescoes.

 But we have to wait an hour for our reservation to have a whole 15 minutes to see what took 200 days to create.  Killing time at a lovely farmers market.  

Every time we come to Italy I am struck by the amazingly beautiful design-- both modern and ancient. We have a lot to learn from the Italians about preserving heritage and designing beautiful objects.  I think the only major US company to "get it" is Apple.  

Had a nice stroll in a park.  Giving me great ideas about re-doing our yard.  Anybody want to make some frescoes in Las Vegas?

Off to lunch... Ciao.  Back to you in the studio.

Guest Blog: from Dave

Hi Everybody.  We are gradually getting acclimated to the time shift.  That's what happens when you jump to WARPspeed.

We are enjoying Verona immensely!  So much for my diet.  We start cycling on Tuesday.  30 - 50 km per day!   Glad i've been going to the gym.

Stopped in on a massive mushroom show today. Mycology seems to be the in thing in Verona this week. Must be in season. 

We are really enjoying our third bicycle trip in Italy -- this time with two friends to see Italy through fresh eyes.  Tomorrow, off to Padua by train to see the Giotto frescoes.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

d

Sunday

Our first full day in Verona! Bob and Deb were up at one am walking the city and were the first at breakfast at 7am when we met up with them. 

Beautiful breakfast buffet with fruit, bread, eggs, meats, yogurt and cheese. We lingered long over multiple cups of caffee americano!

Bread and croissants

Meat and cheese. 

First stop was the Arena. Older than the one in Rome! Still in use. 

Next stop was a mushroom show in a museum. 

Tried to see a show of Paolo Veronese in the art museum, but lines were impossibly long and not moving so we skipped it. 

We headed instead to the  Castelvecchio and its museum. 

View of the river from the Castelvecchio. Verona sits in a crook of the Adige river.

Listening to the audio tour. 

Lunch at a little sidewalk cafe. Deb and I ordered what everyone seemed to be drinking. We were told it was called something like: Spritzaperto (?). A classic italian aperatif! Refreshing, just the tiniest bit bitter. Just the right amount of alcohol!

Resting back in the room before heading out for more sightseeing and an early dinner.....

After a short Nap- A tour of the city!

We took about two hours to shower, change and take a short nap. We met the VBT guide , Katia in the hotel lounge. Two other couples from the VBT group joined us. Katia gave us an overview of the city and then took us on a walking tour. 

The arena is the center piece of Verona. It is older than the Roman coliseum and in better shape. Tonight was a big pop concert. 

This tiny rooftop garden apartment is right across from the arena and Katia told os it belongs to Leonardo di Caprio who paid 4 million euros for it!!

One of the biggest attractions in Verona is the fictional Juliette's house and balcony. 

It was an possibly crowded tiny courtyard

I am fally asleep. More tomorrow. 

Arrived in Verona!

After some really scary moments of thinking we would miss connections or have flights canceled, we actually made it to Verona on time! Dave and I feel surprizingly alert. We actually got some sleep on the plane. Our room was not ready yet, so we walked across the street to a caffee and had much needed coffee and a snack. 

Dave actually got to lie down on 3 seats during our transatlantic leg. 

On the bus from airport to Hotel Giberti. We look a lot livllier than we felt!

Erika, I love the back pack!

Waiting for our coffee. 

On our way!

At the airport with our travel mates Robert and Deb Kessler. 

Back Pack

Practicing Sketching

I have gotten out of the habit of sketching. So I am making a concerted effort to do more in preparation for the trip. 

On Saturdayband Sunday. I went to local coffee shops and drew people. 

Beautiful Morning Ride

These posts are mostly to practice so I will know how to do it in Italy :-)

Preparing

 I have been biking several days a week for the past 3 or 4 months. Early mornings are beautiful. Cara and I biked all the way to the district last weekend!

And Dave has lost a lot of weight in preparation for our trip.