Dont overlook Menaggio

 When deciding where to stay on Lake Como, many people look at Bellagio and Varenna, and on both occasions we have stayed on Lake Como ,Varenna was the first place I looked. Likewise when planning for our trip earlier this year, I started looking at Varenna, however on neither occasion did we actually end up staying there. The first trip we stayed in Como itself which is a really interesting place to stay with a lot to see in terms of sightseeing, and numerous hotel, and restaurant options. The trouble with Como, though if you are wanting to visit other towns on the lake, is the distance and time involved in travelling up and down.  Lake Como looks deceptively small on a map, but it is NOT small at at all - it is very long and it can take up to 4 hours to travel from Como in the south up to the top of the lake. It can take 2 hours or more by ferry to get from Como to Bellagio, Varenna or Menaggio in the middle of the lake.  Even when going by bus it can take well over an hour to get from the mid lake villages to Como.

This time, as we were looking for a 3 bedroom apartment for our group of 5, preferably with at least 2 bathrooms, it quickly because obvious that there was going to be very little that would be available within our budget. 
I easily found a great lake front apartment in the village of Menaggio, on the Western side of the lake , directly across from Bellagio . While the village doesnt have the visual appeal of either Varenna or Bellagio, behind the slight grittiness, there is a lot to love. 

Firstly it is quite a bit cheaper than the 2 more touristic mid lake options, while having lots of accommodation options from low priced to ultra luxury hotels . There are a variety of restaurants and some supermarkets, which are lacking in the other 2 villages.  A direct bus to Como makes road travel easy to other western lake villages too and we used this service twice along with the ferry 

Our apartment was called Menaggio Fronte Lago. I booked it through booking.com and it was exactly as advertised  You can find it here 

As you can see from the layout above, the location couldn't be better. Literally lake front, with private beach access ( however the weather and available time weren't conducive to beach time on this visit.)

The apartment was very spacious, with each bedroom having its own ensuite bathroom for real convenience when travelling with a group 

Journalling on the page above reads : 

Our first accomodation was Menaggio Fronte Lago, a name that very well described the apartment, which was lake front on the third floor of a probably 18th century building with 54 very worn stone stairs to reach it. It was nicely decorated and had everything we could want, including the best views of Lake Como.

On arrival I was relieved that I had chosen Menaggio as our base. What I hadn't foreseen was the huge increase in travel since covid which had such a huge effect on the small villages on the lake. While Varenna was busy, a lot more so than our visit in 2015, Bellagio was packed to such a degree that it was not remotely pleasant to be there at all. It was actually a relief at the end of the day to return to the more peaceful village of Menaggio where we never had trouble getting a table in a restaurant for breakfast or in the evening for dinner or to the local wine bar, Enoteca Re Di Quadri which became a quick favourite with its excellent snacks provided free with each round of drinks.

The frequent mid lake ferry timetable with a less than 20 minute traverse,makes it so easy to visit both Varenna and Bellagio so there is literally no downside to making Mennagio your base on Lake Como

Cruise Research begins

It's no secret to those who know me that my joy of travel starts well before I actually leave the house. It could sometimes be said I almost enjoy the planning and research around a trip as much as the trip itself .

While I say this I also do love to leave some aspects to chance, but for the most part my planning has served us well and really maximised the experiences we can fit into the short time we are away. 

I use an app called Wanderlog to assist with travel planning. I've tried several and this seens the best of the lot.

When it comes to a more structured trip like a cruise, much of the normal planning has already been taken care of. Things like route, accommodation and most meals require much less research ( only the few days either side of the cruise. )

It's for this reason I chose the itinerary and the cruise line for our next trip carefully. 

We are taking out 15 day cruise on the Oceania Insignia. 

A very small ship by current standards, it only carries 670 passengers. The small size means it can dock in ports the larger ships can not get to, mostly closer to the sights for that area. 

A look at the itinerary gives a good insight into this

if you look carefully you will see that two of the ports visited actually aren't even on the coast. Look at Seville on the a map and you will see it's 60km inland up the Guadalquivir River. Most cruise ships have to dock on the coast in Cadiz or similar and bus their passengers into Seville but the Oceania Insignia is able to sail up the river and dock right in the middle of town. 

Moreover it overnights there, allowing us to experience the city at night as well as during the day. 

Later in the cruise, the ship sails down the Garonne River and docks (and overnights) right in the centre of Bordeaux as well .

Being close to the action so to speak also plays to my love of research. It means we are less in need of ships excursions to access the sights in those towns. 

Not that I have anything major against excursions per se. In fact a good tour guide can really make a huge positive difference to a trip. Sadly though the opposite can also be the case . I've experienced my share of excellent tours and probably an equal amount of poorly run tours. 

Our fare included $1650 credit to be used on excursions. That seems like a lot but on first sight Oceanias excursions seemed to be astronomically expensive. I wasn't going to waste that credit though so I waded my way through them and initially chose 3 and that would use up all the credits+ another $124 each . My first pick was an excursion from the Port of Motril to Granada and the Alhambra. Sadly though it was already sold out . Because it requires transport from the port to another town it is would be better to do with an organised tour so I quickly booked a semi private excursion with a third party company (Spain Day Tours) . At 90€ it was a bit cheaper than the ships excursion and will be a smaller group so  plus plus. 

So I still needed 3 more to use the credit . 

I looked carefully and in the small print saw that if I booked a minimum of 7 excursions they all would reduce in price by 25% . 

To choose them I researched the opposite way round, looking for places I felt I didn't need an excursion . Alicante, Seville, Lisbon,Porto and St Malo all seem doable on our own, leaving me lots of opportunity to research . In addition we will spend 3 nights in Barcelona before the cruise, a couple of nights in London near the airport, and a few nights in Dubai to break up the homeward flight. 

Plenty of research to fill that need! 

In a later post I'll go through some of the quite interesting excursions I actually have signed up for 

A Long Weekend in Napier

It's been a while since we were down in the Hawkes Bay. Our last trip was just after highway reopened after the devastation caused by the floods in February. Work is ongoing on the road in. There are lots of roadworks and one way sections but progress is being made. 

Having said that, in the Esk Valley reminders are everywhere still. Piles of dried mud and empty, destroyed homes and businesses still stands as testament to the viscious  power of nature. 

Brookfields Winery has only just reopened and I was more than happy to support them with the purchase of some of my favourite wines at excellent prices. 

Bud burst has occurred too despite that vines being under water in February .

A better sort of testament to mother natures power. 

The Brookfields tasting experience in the barrel room is great. Very casual yet full of information and such a big variety to try and the restaurant offerings were very generous and tasty and amongst my purchases included a newly bottled 2023 Pinot Gris. Amazing that despite the devastation they were still able to produce something from the vintage. It was good too.. I'm not generally a Pinot Gris fan so it has to be a good one for me to buy some. 

Our next vineyard stop was at Askerne to pick up some of their Spritzy Fleurty Rosé in the hope that Rosé drinking weather finally arrives. 

The rest of the weekend was primarily spent with family but we did have a lovely dinner at the Central Fire station restaurant which had a slow cooked theme for Sunday . We shared a delicious lamb shoulder with some good Hawkes Bay Syrah.

i loved the little carrafe the wine was served in. 

Till next time Napier!! We will be back for the Art Deco Festival in February 

A Long Pause

Yes its been a very very long time between posts. 

I started this blog just before we took our first cruise Europe in 2015 and then life got in the way, and then I completely forgot it!- Social media posts seemed the easiest way to share our travels but recently Ive had an urge to write more than would be appropriate for a Facebook post and definitely more than could ever be said in an Instagram post.

 Last week I saw a meme on Facebook and it reminded me about this blog that Id started long ago - and really looking back at my past posts they aren't really what Id like to achieve now .

Of course now we are completely between trips- but are we?? That 2015 trip was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip but what it did was renew our previous joy of travel and just made us want to travel more. 

And travel we have. We've been back to Europe three times since 2015 despite being stuck within New Zealand due to Covid restrictions that lasted nearly 3 years. 

We made good use of those three years though, travelling when we could extensively throughout New Zealand in both the North and the South Islands allowing us to remember that the scenery here at home is hard to beat .

In 2017 we took a road trip to Italy and the UK, and then in 2019, a River Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, and just this year a month long road trip in France. This trip was originally planned for 2020 but for obvious reasons had to be cancelled. I took the opportunity to add a little bit to the original itinerary and in May this year we flew to Milan and spent 5 days on Lake Como , taking a side trip to tick off a bucket list item - The Bernina Express from Tirano to St Moritz, before continuing to France.

On returning, initially the jetlag was so bad we decided not to go anywhere far next year, but within weeks we saw the light and now we are booked on a 15 night cruise on the Oceania Insignia leaving from Barcelona and ending in Southhampton in June next year . More details on that to come.

So for now - posts here will recall past trips,  discuss the planning for next year, and cover any local trips we might make (In fact we have one starting tomorrow) in the mean time.

Arriving in Venice

Venice from the Lido Deck

Passing St Marks Square

Venice from the ship

After Athens we had a sea day. I attended a culinary demonstration followed by a tour of the galley in the morning, and a wine tasting in that afternoon.  We indulged in lobster abd beef Wellington for our second formal dinner.  I spent the rest of the day lazing on deck reading a book abd generally enjoying the last bit of pampering on the ship.
Around 11.30am we started our approach to Venice.  It had been pouring with rain but the Gods were watching and just as we approached the guidecca canal the sun peeked out.
Sailing in to Venice on sa cruise liner has to rate as one of the top experiences of my life. A birds eye view over the tiled rooves gives a great perspective.
Music played in the background on the ship and made me quite emotional

ST Marks mosaics

We caught the ship's shuttle boat from the port to St Mark's Square which was a mass of humanity.  There would be no chance to get into St Marks that day so we decided to explore the area.  We made our way to the Rialto Bridge. It started to spit so we sat down at a restaurant by the canal for Lunch.  No sooner had we sat than the heavens opened! It didn't just rain.. It poured and poured with violent thunder and lightning.  In the end we were pretty drenched so decided to go back to the ship for dinner.  We thought about going back after dinner but we needed to pack our bags so we spent the evening on the ship.
The next morning was time for disembarking. It was sad to leave. Cruising certainly spoils you for independent travel!!

Athens

Athens I'm afraid is a sad and depressing city. It's economic state is very much in evidence everywhere you look.  It is dirty and crowded, run down and full of graffiti.  With 69% youth unemployment it's not surprising.  There are streets full of abandoned cars for sale from those unable to pay for them.  The average rent us 200E a month but the average wage is only  500 ( if you can get work)
Our tour, once we had made our way through the hectic traffic took us to the Acropolis which we climbed in 35c heat with thousands of others. 
The impressiveness of the ruins were somewhat tempered by the disorganised chaos with the throngs of people, but impressive still it was. 

After a couple of hours on the Acropolis viewing the ruins we ate lunch in the Plaka,  a busy shopping area where we ate at a Greek taverna and wandered the streets window shopping for a while before heading back to the tranquillity of the ship.  Athens was the first city on this trip I don't feel the need to return to..

Ephesus

Prayer wall at house of Virgin Mary

Prayer wall at house of Virgin Mary

We docked at 1pm at Kusadasi. A great port as the dock is adjacent to the downtown area.
We had booked a small group tour to Ephesus.  Once again no adjectives describe adequately this place.
Our tour started with a visit to a reconstructed house proported to be that of the Virgin Mary. There is circumstantial evidence that it could be true. Certainly many believe as can be seen by the wall of prayers which was interesting to see.

Our next stop was the ancient town of Ephesus.  John the Apostle lived and wrote here.  Only 10% of this town has been excavated to date and the ruins I think are more impressive then Pompeii.
I could have spent hours wandering here. The weather was threatening and loud thunder along with massive lightening bolts added to the atmosphere. You could feel the history hovering around you.

In particular the excavation of a series of terraced houses was most interesting.  These houses has internal plumbing, sewerage and underfloor and in wall central heating.  By piping hot water through terracotta pipes the houses could be heated.
Frescoes adorned the walls and mosaics the floors.  excavation is still ongoing funded by an Austrian corporation. Turkey welcomes archaeologists from all over the world to assist with restoring abs excavation of their history.

Probably the most impressive structure is the facade of the Library of Celcus.  This was the third largest library in the ancient world holding 120000 papyrus scrolls.
The site also contained a large auditorium.

After a stop at the ruins of the temple of Artemis, and a carpet weaving demonstration we had time for a few minutes of fun shopping in Kusadasi..  This place definitely warrants another visit.