Torino to Aosta

We arrive at our hotel with time to relax and refresh prior to our rural degustation at the farm. Before our wonderful dinner we take a tour of the farm, we enjoy time with goats, chooks,geese, shetland ponies,cows and horses. All the food and drinks are made on the farm or locally. What a meal!

Friday morning and we have an early start and we are off to Turin to take our place in the queue to see the Holy Shroud. We are struck by the atmosphere in the cathedral and feel fortunate to see the Shroud, it is on display so rarely. Our local guide, Roberta then takes us on a great walking tour of the city, it is fantastic - so much to see and enjoy, beatiful squares and buildings.

Our aim in the afternoon is to visit the birthplace of St Anselm at Aosta.

We arrive late in the afternoon and are blown away with this lovely little town and the historic Cathedral.What a joy to be able to say our prayers in the crypt of this very special place.

A group photo outside the Cathedral and then stroll down the main street, lots of happy people are mingling and strolling also. After a short trip back to the hotel we freshen up for our farewell dinner in Italy and say our goodbyes to Claudia and Mattau (our guide and driver). This all takes place in our lovely hotel not far from the Castle, another historic site visited by some of the group.

Tomorrow we are off to France.

Genoa - Aosta

Today is destined to be a fairly long drive with one major stop at the city of Genoa, home of Christopher Columbus and the maritime capital of Italy.

We arrive at the port city late in the morning and make a hasty dash for the cathedral of St Lorenza (Laurence). We need to make the most of our time in the cathedral because the doors are shut for siesta at noon. It is beautiful but very different building because of its unique striped facade, not dissimilar to Sienna. The interior of the building is superb, highly decorated in the sanctuary and various chapels. Frescoes adorn the walls and ceilings and there are marble pillars and floors reflecting Italy's great marble resources which are quarried not far away at Carrera. 

We have time to quickly explore some of the architecture of the streets and alleys close to the cathedral and the local shops. We are soon rolling again heading north to our destination in the Aosta valley stopping for a well earned lunch break. This was delayed because we struck a hail storm and consequential traffic jam due to a road accident on the icy freeway.

Soon our journey takes us into brand new territory with soaring mountains and lush valleys the architecture of the tiny towns along the way is changing dramatically. Stone buildings and shingled and slate roofs are replacing the ochre and terra cotta of the seaside towns where we started our journey today. Claudia is keen to tell us about the castles and fortifications along the way. She also teaches us some basic Italian gesturing for good measure.

We arrive at Fenis and our lovely chalet accommodation for the next two nights and find we have a lovely view of the castle - Il Castello Di Fenis - and look forward to our dinner tonight which we are told will be at a local farm just a few minutes walk from the hotel..

Cinque Terre

We enjoy a slower start to the day and with options before us most of the group decide to go with Claudia to the seaside village of Monteroso one of the five 'lands' of the Cinque Terre. Unfortunately the weather is too rough for us to travel by ferry so our driver takes us to La Spezia where we catch the local train. The platform is crowded with tourists and sets the tone for our travel during the day - battling large crowds on the trains.

Claudia our wonderful Italian Tour Guide at Monterosso

Monteroso is the biggest of the five towns and there is plenty to discover. We enjoy a light lunch and a stroll, taking lots of photographs. The weather is warm enough for holidaymakers to be seen sunbaking on the gravel beaches. There is a lot of discussion about what to do next. Most decide to board the train mid afternoon and head south to the village of Vernazza. 

The spectacular village of Vernazza

This is even prettier but smaller.  It has a small harbour surrounded by colourful buildings built up the face of the cliffs. Paul heads to the top of the village to do some of his extraordinary photography. Others sit under an umbrella and enjoy liquid refreshment while Ray pulls out the watercolours and does a quick painting. Steve Smith gets the gold star today as he arrives having walked the distance from Monteroso on foot.  All that heat training in Dubai has obviously paid off.

Steve Smith and the village of Manarola perched on the cliffs

Our final rendezvous is further down the line at Manarola. This is again a small village - Claudia leads us to the top of the cliffs to watch the waves crashing in. Then we amble through the shops to the tiny little harbour where boats are launched via a large steel pole with ropes. It is too rough and small in that harbour for boats to stay at anchor.

Finishing our dinner at the Trattoria

Dinner has been arranged at La Spezia at a Trattoria, again an abundance of food and wine. We particularly enjoy the pesto penne entree. It was a big meal and by the end there is a coach load of tired pilgrims ready to hit their beds back at Hotel.

One last look at the great view from the Hotel Della Baia

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.