A: Thursday: We had a message this morning from Marthese and Elias to say their train trip to Switzerland last night was trouble-free and they had received a warm welcome from Wiebke and her parents, Connie and Matthias, and it was snowing. Yeah! Today Mick and Beth and I took a trip (45 minutes on the train) to Mantova- Mantua- which is a pretty little place on the shores of three lakes; Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo and Lago Inferiore. The poet Virgil was bor...

M: One of the reasons we have chosen Verona as a base - aside from its own charms - is its proximity to so many other fascinating places, and Venice is right at the top of the list. Anne and I were last in Venice in 1985. On that occasion we camped in a site on the mainland which had advertised a ferry from the site, but as we were in the off season, we ended up catching local buses on the two or three days we spent there. Let's just say it was a far cry from t...

M: We had been in something of a quandary about Boxing Day - Santo Stefano here. It is a public holiday, but just precisely what that meant was not clear in terms of openings and closings. We took a gamble on going to Padova, just on an hour in the train. As it turned out most shops and all museums were closed, but there were cafes and restaurants and churches open, and many of the sights were the city itself. Beth even got a soy cappuccino! The major objecti...

M: Christmas Eve - a time for getting in supplies and sightseeing for us. We had made use of the clear weather to get an overview of the sights from the outside during the first few days. Today delivered the promised cloud, with the added bonus of rain - so we decided to do the "insides" of those with the greatest appeal. About 0930 we walked the 200 metres to the Arena and started with the international exhibition of presepi - which was mounted under the aren...

A: Luisa Zecchinato's cooking class was the main occupation of the day. I had pre- booked this some time ago and the girls and Mick and I were all keen to go. Luisa has been running cooking classes for some time and spends time each year in Boston where she stays with friends and cooks for them. Her English is perfect, having lived in the USA as well. The taxi driver had a little difficulty finding her place- "Cooking at the Villa" as it is out of town but in...