Leap Of Faith Travels: Italian Beginnings

Showing posts with label Italian Beginnings. Show all posts

Thursday, 7 July 2016

Italian Beginnings - Travel Review and Advice

Epilogue - Lake Garda, Venice and Verona

Italy

Leap of faith Travel review

When I first told my best friend about this journey and taking a coach he immediately said to me “you should have got a plane there”. Yes that would have been the easier option and be where I had been in a matter of hours. However, as this was my first time travelling alone, I wanted to experience the distance first hand and witness some incredible sights along the way. Although a plane will get you there quickly, a coach will immerse yourself becoming part of the incredible views as you drive by. Yes the coach is a lot slower but I wouldn’t have seen the spectacular sights of the Swiss Alps close up feeling the heat on my back and the sounds of the gentle rivers flowing through the snow topped mountains. I also wouldn’t have experienced Austria and Germany the way I did either. To be honest it was a shame there are less young travellers taking this up especially first time travellers. The system is very straight forward too and everything is done for you; all you need to do is sit back and experience everything along the way appreciating it too. The drivers were incredible and friendly too with a lot of useful information if you got stuck with anything along with a great sense of humour despite having to drive all those miles. That was another thing I appreciated, the fact the drivers were covering all that distance never complaining but only thinking about the passengers. As for the older passengers, it is a great way to relax and let someone else do the driving for you. To me it was an incredible start to my life of travel and I urge a lot of young travellers to do something like this.

I booked my holiday with Dawson and Sanderson and also with National Holidays.

There was a moment I thought I wouldn’t be able to take this trip because my trip was actually meant to be the week beforehand but it got cancelled because there weren’t enough people on the coach for the long trip. However, National holidays along with Dawson and Sanderson were extremely helpful and changed my dates with ease.

As for Hotel Virgilio of Riva Del Garda it was exceptional for the money I paid. It is a family run hotel within easy reach of both the beautiful town of Riva del Garda and the waters of Lake Garda, with stunning views of the mountains above the rooftops. This is one of National holiday’s favourite hotels to use and now it is mine. Another feature that the hotel has is a bicycle museum within its basements which for a cycle enthusiast would be worth a trip to witness all the vintage bikes and other trinkets.

The trouble with travelling alone though is some places and companies will charge a single room supplement but I was willing to pay the slight extra for this trip knowing the benefits I would get out of the journey. So with the coach trip, I got 1 night stay in Metz there and back including breakfast, 4 night stay in 4 star Hotel including breakfast afternoon drinks evening dinner with free drinks along with the excursions to Venice, Malcesine and Garda town all costing me £340 excluding spending money. The trip to Verona was completely free as the drivers gave us an option to stay at Riva Del Garda or a trip to Verona. Also the extra journey through Austria and Germany were on behalf of the drivers to benefit us.

I would like to thank the incredible service provided by National holidays and its staff as well as Dawson and Sanderson for making this possible for me. I would also like to thank the family of Hotel Virgilio for taking great care of us making sure everything ran smoothly. Again I urge young travellers to take up this life of travel using something like this as a starting point for your incredible adventure.

Live life to the fullest

It’s the best way

Live every moment intensely

Because life is too short

And the moment comes when we are going to die

And we’d have wished to do so many things we didn’t

That is why we have to enjoy every moment

One must enjoy life

Try not to acquire so many things

But instead have experiences

Accomplish everything you want to do

No matter the effort it deserves
Life is too short and one must relish it

www.nationalholidays.com
www.holidayco.co.uk
www.hotelvirgilioriva.it
www.bestwestern.co.uk

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Italian Beginnings - Day 7

Valleys heading For Calais

Lake Garda, Venice & Verona Italy

Saturday 22^nd March 2014

One last early rise approached for the last part of the long journey back to Calais and then home. Our last breakfast at Metz had been and gone and we soon set off at 6:45am and then the French landscape heading back to Calais crossed my mind remembering how depressing it was on the way to Metz. However, as we were driving along, it was quite the contrary. Along the way there were some peculiar arts on the roadside which looked very interesting. The art in question were marble looking globes with multicoloured triangles, squares and circles as well which were weirdly fascinating. I think it slightly relieved me of my boredom but still there were no mountains to look at or beautiful blue lakes. I suppose the only thing that was great was how incredible and smooth the French roads were. After a very long and tiring journey through France with a few stops along the way, we finally arrived in Calais. Unfortunately, the ferry was not there to get straight on this time so we had to wait for a period of time. We had to go through customs and show our passports before getting on the boat. I thought I was going to be pulled to one side for being the only young passenger on the coach but they just moved me along not that I had anything to hide. We set off on the ferry waving goodbye to France and a very wonderful journey taken this past week. Once the ferry got moving and out into open sea, the crossing was quite choppy and wobbly but manageable as I held what was in my stomach down. I spent my remaining 100 Euros on the ferry for my family and then sat with quite a few of the passengers having a chat to pass the time. We were then welcomed by the sites of the white cliffs of Dover once more which was still a wonder to see. It was a nice feeling too seeing them knowing what a journey I had taken since watching the white cliffs disappear a week ago with so many stories to tell when I returned home. We were soon frog marched onto the coach and off the ferry heading straight for Woodall where we would return to the feeder coach. The journey there felt a lot quicker which was a great feeling as at this point I just wanted to get home. We arrived at Woodall at night time and then I said goodbye to some amazing people who I may never see again in my life. It was time to leave on the other coach which would take me back home to good old Newcastle. It was starting to get quite late and on the feeder coach back to Newcastle were travellers who went to Rome and Florence so I had a great chat about their holiday experience and mine too. I also had a good talk with a few passengers from the Lake Garda holiday which made the journey back feel a lot quicker. After dropping passengers off in Darlington, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, I was the last one on the coach and then the familiar sights of Newcastle finally arrived and then I caught sight of my grandad and Terry waiting for me. It was a great feeling getting off the coach with my rucksack and hopping into grandad’s car. On the journey back home I told them about how amazing my trip was and what I had been up to and they were happy that I had a great time. The sight of home was finally in front of me with my mother at the door smiling. A very nice welcome back home from my amazing journey I thought as I entered home quite exhausted. I had a great chat with my parents about the incredible time I had and relieved to be home from an immense journey. Later on I finally had a chance to sit down, relax and reflect on my great experience to Lake Garda, Venice and Verona. Also to picture all the memories of leaving England on the ferry to Calais, the absolutely wonderful sites of the snow covered Swiss Alps and of course arriving in the beautiful Italy. Its amazing lakes and cities and of course the infamous Venice still stamped deep in my memory. I had finally been there and it is a memory I shall treasure forever. It was also nice to finally get my first pin in my world map wondering how many more pins I could add in the future of my travels.

National Holidays

Wednesday, 6 July 2016

Italian Beginnings - Day 6

Austrian Mountains

Lake Garda, Venice & Verona Italy

Friday 21^st March 2014

This morning was a very early one as I expected knowing we had a lot of ground to cover in order to get to the overnight stop at Metz again. However, a different journey there awaited me which was actually an amazing surprise for me. Instead of going the same route back, we would head into Austria and then through to Germany and back to France. This made me very excited as I was about to visit two more countries on my journey. I had heard so much about Austria’s landscapes and picturesque mountains so despite me leaving this beautiful country of Italy, I was happy I was going through Austria. As soon as we all got on the bus, we set off waving goodbye to the hotel staff and the beautiful and amazing Italy. It didn’t take as long as I thought to hit the Austrian border and as soon as we got there, I could see what everyone meant by the beauty of the place. It was a magnificent sight to see dare I say it, better than the Swiss Alps. An hour or so into Austria we headed through a place known as fern pass which had the most incredible views. These included large lovely green valleys with steep drops along the roadside and snow topped mountains far in the distance and all the while, the sun was beaming bright to finish off the perfect view of Austria. We also came across cable cars going above and across the road which looked fantastic along with people skiing down the mountain slopes. It was bizarre seeing them ski as there was only a tiny amount of snow left to do such a thing. I thought a lot about coming back here sometime in the future doing skiing or hiking but I was getting too far ahead of myself, although it was passing the time well. Everything was perfect in Austria but when we hit the German border and roads, the land suddenly went flat as we left the mountains of Austria behind us. We then suddenly hit into a long traffic jam, the first time on this journey and then it started to rain. I then realised through Germany that all the cars were Audis, Mercedes, BMW or Porches which were black, grey or white. I thought the irony of it described the weather pretty well too. Despite these depressing moments, there were some good points in Germany such as the sights of the black forest and the infamous Rhine River which was very pretty to see as we made our way to France. It was a shame to see Germany in this way for the first time as I knew that there were a hell of a lot more places in this country with outstanding beauty and culture. After the long trip through Germany, we finally arrived at the Best Western Hotel at Metz again. It felt like de ja vu as I ended up in the exact same room as I did on the way so I knew what to expect when I entered. A while later, I headed straight downstairs after getting changed and into the restaurant with the 2 old passengers I was with in Verona and I ordered goats cheese pie with fish and a fruit cocktail for dessert. We were all talking about the journey from Italy to Metz about how breathtaking Austria looked and the gruelling traffic jam in Germany stating that I knew there were a lot of better things about the place. We also talked about the French waitress that served us that evening looking pretty as she was. This passed the time well as it was time to head off to sleep with the thought that I would be back home to reality the same time tomorrow.

Austrian Mountains

Austrian Countryside

Austrian Mountains

Austrian Countryside

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Italian Beginnings - Day 5

Love Messages At Juliets House

Lake Garda, Venice & Verona Italy

Thursday 20^th March 2014

The last full day had eventually crept upon me which I planned to make the most of in this marvellous country. At 9:30am we set out on our final excursion to the wonderful and infamous Verona to see some amazing sights such as the amphitheatre, Juliet’s balcony, Romeos house and surrounding courtyards with fountains and markets. As we were driving along the Italian countryside with its blistering heat, I couldn’t stop thinking of my trip to Venice yesterday still remembering the sounds, the sights and even the smells. After yet another long journey on the coach, we finally arrived at Verona. As we stopped to get out, the first sight we came across was the city’s large walls which made it look like a fort towering over the city’s perimeter. We then headed to the information centre to grab a map of the area and it was very useful to have just incase I got lost like I did yesterday in Venice. Throughout my time in Verona I spent it with the two old men who sat at my table back at the hotel as they were incredible people to share this experience with. They were great company to have and quite beneficial too as I managed to get a cheaper entry price stating they were my lecturers and I was the student for my first port of call; the amphitheatre. It was a remarkable piece of construction to see on the outside but was amazing as soon as I entered into the centre through the turnstiles. The shear size of the theatre was overwhelming and the layout was fantastic imagining I was about to watch a gladiatorial fight to the death. Instead what I did see were builders and heavy vehicles preparing the stage for a music concert. I decided to head straight to the top of the theatre and after a gruelling climb up the steep steps I couldn’t get over how beautiful the views of Verona’s roof tops which were giving off a strong vibrant orange colour. The next place we went to see was the infamous Juliet’s balcony. I had seen it so many times on TV but it was really interesting actually seeing it for myself. It was quite straight forward to find and the first thing we came across were the thousands of colourful love notes written on the walls. Then I saw the balcony with tourists on it taking pictures. There were also colourful padlocks with people’s initials on them and strangely enough chewing gum scattered all over one side of the wall with love messages on them which was weirdly fascinating. It was beginning to build up with hundreds of tourists so we decided to head to Romeos house. We arrived and there was no way of getting into it but we still admired the beautiful details of the statues and the building itself. After visiting Romeos house we spent quite a bit of time admiring the architecture of the courtyards nearby and they were remarkable because this was the first time I had seen beautifully detailed sculptures and archways. The water features were so picturesque too I fell in love with the place. Yet again we didn’t have much time in Verona which again was a shame so I missed out on the beautiful river views and quiet areas of the city. It was time to head back to the coach and we were surprised when we were told we were going to a winery near Riva Del Garda and have a wine tasting session. I was looking forward to this so I was eager to get there intending on buying a few bottles. A long time had passed and then we arrived to a lone shop at the side of the road overlooking incredible scenes of the Italian vine fields. I entered the large shop as did everyone else and made our way straight to the counter area where a lot of shot glasses were lined up with 5 different wines. I wasted no time trying the 5 types of wine plus lemon liquor which were all very tasty. I wasn’t sure if I was meant to spit it out into a bucket or drink it so instinct told me to drink it. I had bought quite a lot of wine and novelty bottles of liquor afterwards and headed back to the hotel where I would begin to pack my bag so I wouldn’t worry about it in the morning. I headed downstairs and sat down with my fellow passengers as we waited for our last evening dinner to be served. Hungarian goulash was on the menu which was absolutely delicious. We then sat at the bar area and had a good old chat about our holiday experience along with the last night for free drinks. This was definitely another great day out along with a bit of t-shirt tan as a bonus. I went to bed dreading about leaving this beautiful country tomorrow but holding onto the memories dearly.