Lake Garda

We thought we'd join the likes of George Clooney and relax by the shores of Lake Garda for a few days! Lake Garda is the largest of the Italian lakes, it is 52 km long and 19km at its widest. The countryside varies from gentle plains and olive groves in the south to snow capped peaks in the north.

It is also home to GARDALAND... more of this later!!

We've found a great campsite with delux plumbing and a lovely pool with a rooftop spa which is pretty cool. Charlie is very happy as the toilets have seats and toilet paper!! Finally I've been able to do some good runs on the flat which gives my calves a rest from the sometimes ridiculously steep hills.

We have been swimming / playing in the dinghy in the lake and the kids especially like the pebbley beaches (lots of skimming and stone throwing). What is the fascination with gravel??

Yesterday we drove up to the wild northern tip of the lake to Riva del Garda. It was a beautiful drive along the shores of the lake with soaring cliffs and towns clinging to the sides of the mountains (not unlike the Amalfi coast).

We went to the spectacular Grotta Cascata Varone, a waterfall cascading through a narrow canyon and found a playground with a zip-wire which was very popular.

Post Gelati smiles!!

Spectacular gorge at Grotta Cascata Verone

Riva del Garda

Italian Friends

Today we went to Lucca to visit our Italian friends Antoinette, Marco, Mattia, David and Francesco who we met in Sienna. They live on a farm on the outskirts of Lucca with fruit and olive trees, hens and a pool. The kids were in heaven with so many toys to play with and had a ball!

We had a feast for lunch in their garden with pasta,  a BBQ and typical salads from the area.

Lucca is known as the city of 100 towers and is surrounded by 12m high walls. They were built in 1504 to defend Lucca against its arch-enemy Florence. The walls are so wide there's a lovely path on the top for bike-riding / running/ promenading. Historically Lucca was one of the region's most affluent towns because of its silk trade.

We had a terrific day thanks to our friends' wonderful hospitality.

David, Mattia, Alex and Charlie EAT WATERMELON

Outside the walls of Lucca

Puccini was born and lived here

San Michele in Foro 

Torre dei Guinigi (oaks sprouting from the top)

View over Lucca from Torre dei Guinigi

Under the Tuscan Sun!

We've found a very relaxing campsite high in the Tuscan hills amongst the vineyards and olive groves with great views over the valley.

We explored the lovely village of Vinci (birthplace of Leonardo) and they even put a bit of music and a show on for us! The kids had a great time doing some rock'n'roll in the park to 'Dennis and the Jets'. We had probably the best roast chicken and pizza ever.

We went back to Vinci the following day to go to the Leonardo Museum which featured replicas of his models and machines. He really was a genius and hundreds of years ahead of his time. His studies on optics and his anatomical drawings are amazing. He also designed bridges, towns and cities, built cranes and scaffolding to aid construction of the domes on churches, was fascinated by flight and designed a helicopter and built war machines such as steam powered cannons and tanks.

The restaurant at the campsite had been recommended and did a special 'Tuscan Menu'. It was our wedding anniversary and we thought we'd have a treat! I asked what the 'Tuscan Menu' was today and was told 'a surprise'. The gnocci with walnut sauce was delicious, the fungi risotto was fantastic but then I was presented with a plate of pigs stomach!!!!! Mmmmmm....

View of Vinci

Miss Charlie Ward

Poppies

Shapes for Prep D from Charlie

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Today we went to Vinci (in Tuscany) which is where Leonardo da Vinci was born (da Vinci meaning from Vinci). He was a famous painter (he painted the Mona Lisa), scientist and inventor. We went to a museum which had a lot of models of machines he had designed, for example, a diving suit, the bicycle, tanks and a crane. He also did lots of work on 3D shapes.

I am loving all the yummy food in Italy, especially pizza and gelati! I'm missing all my friends in Prep D, it sounds like you're having a lot of fun at school!

Love Charlie

I love pizza!!!!  (and gelati)

A sphere at the top of a church

A hexagon (tile in the Vinci museum)

A cube (model in Vinci museum)

Triangular pyramid

What shape is this?

The main tower on the castle is a rectangular prism.

The trip so far

This is map of the trip so far. We are currently near Florence in Tuscany.

Sienna

We've arrived in Tuscany!! Ready to enjoy life under the Tuscan sun, sample some fine vino and olio (olive oil) and pretend we're in 'Stealing Beauty!'

The landscape is breathtaking, rolling hills with olive groves and vineyards and dotted with hill top villages.
Our first stop is Sienna, famous for it's beautiful shell shaped Piazza del Campo where a bare-back horse race is held twice a year (Palio). The horses race three times round the piazza, there are few rules, with jockeys whipping each other as well as their horses. The race is so fast that riders often fall off and a riderless horse can still win the race! We climbed the 503 steps to the top of the Torre del Mangla, (1340) a skinny bell tower with magnificent views over the city.

Of course there was time for gelati in the piazza then off to examine the Duomo, a spectacular Romanesque-Gothic zebra striped cathedral.

Alex and Charlie made friends with Mattia and David, two Italian boys  at the campsite and had great fun in the pool having water fights.

Alex and Mattia

Torre del Mangla

Piazza del Campo

View over the city from the top of the tower

A she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus whose son Senius founded Sienna

Duoma (1136-1382)

Alex, Charlie and Samantha's impression of Rome

Alex: Colosseum was my number 1 as I like intact Roman ruins. The gardens and fountains at Villa D'Este were cool.

Charlie: The best gelati was at the Spanish steps. I liked dipping my head into the fountains best. The pool, at the campsite was fantastic.

Samantha: I just like gelati and pizza, ANY gelati, preferably someone-else's.

Alex in St Peter's square

Spot the obelisk!

Castel Sant'Angelo

More silly fountain poses

Yet another obelisk in Piazza Navona

Villa D'Este

We went to the Villa D'Este in Tivoli today. It was built in the 16th century by Ippolita d'Este who was made Archbishop of Milan at the age of 10! He was a cardinal at 30 and wanted to be Pope but was thwarted in his ambition so he decided to garden instead!

The fountains and gardens were truly magnificent and had been designed by some of the finest artists and architects of the time putting all that church collection money to good use :)

Charlie at the Rometta fountain which had a scale model of  an ancient Roman boat

Rog being Monty Don on the Avenue of a Hundred Fountains

Spot the difference :)

Fountain of Ovato

The Fountain of Neptune

Harley's in Rome

It's the 110th anniversary of Harley Davidson motorbikes and to commemorate such an occasion there was a huge rally in Rome with an estimated 100,000 bikes attending. We came across some of them being blessed at a special ceremony in St Peter's square. Bikers had riden in from all over Europe and were sporting all the HD garb on their gleaming machines. It was quite a spectacle and contrasted well with St Peter's!

With the Carbineri (police)

St Peter's Basilica

Pantheon Puzzle for Prep D and 3/4C!

Can you believe that the Roman Pantheon has stayed intact for over 2000 years with a hole in the roof? The hole is called the 'oculus' or eye. Pantheon means 'all gods' in Greek, it was originally a Roman temple to all gods and is now a Catholic church. It was designed by Emperor Hadrian and is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome (by the way the Roman' invented concrete).

Try and draw a diagram of the building, (thinking of shapes in our environment) The diameter of the dome roof is exactly the same as its height (43.3m) meaning a sphere with a diameter of 43.3m would fit perfectly inside. The building is essentially a cylinder with a dome roof and the front facade.

Front of the Pantheon (can you spot Alex?)

inside showing the oculus

Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli

Emperor Hadrian assumed power on 2nd Aug 117AD. He was a highly cultured man, appreciated all forms of art and had a special passion for architecture. He rebuilt London in 122AD after the fire and constructed Hadrian's wall. His private villa was constructed between 118-134 AD and occupied a site of 300 hectares of which only 1/5 is still visible today. The villa complimented the surrounding countryside and was of a scale and refinement not previously seen.

We particularly enjoyed the scale of some of the buildings, the fish and turtles in the water features.

Emperor Hadrian
(born in Spain)

The great Baths in the background

The Canopus