Milan - Portovenere

Our day in Milan starts with a sumptuous breakfast in our hotel. Everyone seems to be getting over jetlag and perhaps the incredible array of delicious food is helping. We are all looking forward to exploring Italy and the day ahead.

Our first stop is at the Castle which was for some time the home of Leonardo Da Vinci. The Castle has an amazing history and the group enjoys meeting our local guide, Valeria, who is full of information and Italian humour.

Then it is a short bus trip to the centre of Milan. We walk past the Teatro alla Scala then into the stunning glass covered Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II built to celebrate the unification of Italy. We emerge from this and can only gasp at the magnificence of the marbelled Duomo and the vibrant Piazza. Inside the Cathedral Valeria explains that the Cathedral is totally made of marble inside and out and took nearly 500 years to construct. Paul Aldred takes the option to walk on the roof deck where there are apparently thousands of sculptures. The rest of us take in the huge expanse, probably close to twice the size of St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne and rising to an internal height of 60 metres. This Baroque style Cathedral is emblazoned with superb stained glass windows.

After a quick lunch we are in the bus and on our way to the seaside passing through the Alps with endless interesting commentary from our guide Claudia and Ray also contribute his notes on the life of St Anselm - an early overview. 

We arrive at our hotel in magnificent sunshine and our hotel by the waterside is a dream with views from most rooms of boats bobbing on the water and Tuscan Ligurian villas across the water and a beautiful church with bells ringing.

Dinner is at a restaurant overlooking Portovenere a few kms away. We have plenty of time to stroll around the village, enjoying the quaint local shops and the interesting local wares and then arrive at the Church on the tip of the peninsula.  No wonder the great poets Byron and Shelley fell in love with and were inspired by the landscape in this village. The return journey to our restaurant takes in the views across the bay and marina  as we 'passegio' along the seaside promenade with its colourful buildings. 

A splendid seaford menu is enjoyed by all and we think we were probably the noisiest group of diners our Italian hosts have ever had but the hospitality is cheerful and generous. We celebrate the end of the meal with a shot of Limoncello to celebrate the 54th Wedding Anniversary of Jim and Jenny tomorrow.

Milano

It  is wonderful to be in Milan after such a long journey great to catch up with all the other members of the pilgrimage!

The main party met Steve Smith on board our flight Dubai to Milan. Steve has been in Dubai for the past 3 days exploring that city in what he described as a brutal heat. Then we reunited with the rest of the group at our Hotel St George in the heart of the Milan.

Robert Heatley and Hume McGrath at Dubai Airport

We met our Italian Tour Guide, Claudia, and driver, Matteo, at the Airport. We seem to be in great hands.  Claudia is vivacious and has lots to talk about. She has organised dinner for the group at a restaurant not too far away. We wonder where we will put any more food having been so well fed by Emirates Airlines on our journey so far.

Its good to know that Helen and Laureen have had a fun day at the International Expo in Milan. Helen deserves a medal for human endurance given that she had done as much travelling as the rest of us, only landing in Milan a few hours ahead of us, and still walked the rest of the day around the huge Expo site.

The group got together just before dinner in a lounge of the Hotel. It was great to be able to introduce new members of the group to each other, including Paul Aldred who has arrived from London by a 22 hour coach ride, which he enjoyed immensely. We look forward to hearing stories from Peter, Judy, Rebecca and Tig about their days spent already in Milan. 

Some of the group outside the Ristorante Galilieo

Preparing for the Tour - at Albert Park

THE WORLD OF ST ANSELM TOUR

This is the fourth tour led by Archdeacon Ray McInnes with Glenys McInnes assisting.

This tour, which commences on Sunday 17th May, will visit sites in Italy, France and the UK exploring the medieval world where St Anselm was born, grew spiritually and theologically, and served God and the early Church.

Pre Tour activity

Here we are on 17th April 2015 at the Vicarage at Albert Park.  The table is set ready for those of the 23 participants, who are able, to attend dinner for the pre-tour briefing and ticketing evening. Audrey Warren of Mission Travel attended to provide participants with information and to answer questions. This encouraged everyone to begin to focus on the preparation and helped to mount the excitement - as did the introductions of the participants to each other - old and new. There are tour participants from previous pilgrimages along with interesting and new travellers joining us.

As the pages of this Blog continue the reader will come to meet all our wonderful travellers and learn of our adventures.