Venice

Our next stop was Venice, where the weather was slightly improved but Shyla was sick so we had a quiet day in the campsite followed by one day in Venice. It was a Shane not to stay longer, but it was fantastic that we were abl to see it at all. 

We left the campsite early in the morning to get to Venice before the crowds, we then had a quiet coffee and croissant in a cafe by a canal.

Shyla still wasn't feeling great so we took it quietly for the morning. 

The sun was just properly rising in the sky as we took in our first look at Venice. 

We ogled over delicious looking deserts even though it was far too early to think of eating them.

We spent some time meandering the streets and enjoying the masks, some crappy Chinese imports, others handmade and painted in Venice. The price was reflective of this. 

The creepier they were, the cooler they were in my opinion. 

We then tried to get lost on the waterways but kept accidentally wandering into main squares, it was frustrating but also very pretty. 

Occasionally we found a narrow alley to wander down, rewarding us with silent waterways, sinking buildings and tucked away parks. 

the water was lapping into this door, and you could see the bottom floor had been completely abandoned. It was same what eerie and sad, thinking of the water slowly reclaiming the city until it's completely gone. 

We stumbled across this tiny artists studio that was closed but through the window we could see the beautiful wooden carvings he has on display, it's ridiculous that the wrinkles in the bag are all constructed when it looks so real. 

 

These steam punk masks were my favourite. 

Grom! Feeling sick and full after pizza and Icecream we meandered to the centre, busy but beautiful. 

I attempted to look like a flying creature at da vinces excibition.

My favourite statue. 

Little canals and bridges. 

Ridiculous priced ugly shoes at some fancy shop. How can they be so expensive?! What's the point!!

The beautiful astronomical clock. 

The highlight of Saint marks square. 

Too sunny for a good photo!! 

Gondolas!!

Our last canal before we left Venice. 

Chianti

Travelling further into the chianti region, the countryside was even more beautiful. We found a road that took us straight through many of the picturesque villages so we followed that. We happened across the first one on a market day, it was spilling out from the streets and there were no parks at all in the car park, so we parked illegally and ran through the market, picking up fresh fruit as we did so. There were also lovely cheese and salami stalls but we didn't really have the time to stop as we were worried about the car.

We then came across a little medieval pathway and decided we just had to explore a little bit so we ended up sprinting down near deserted medieval streets, it was glorious.

The little green shutters decorating the old buildings were very picturesque. There were also old wine barrels full of flowers to compete the picture. 

We went further down the old tunnels which I found very exciting. 

We then had to run back to the car and continue on before we were towed or fined. 

A mysterious underground stair in the next town also had us stopping to explore. 

This was the last town we went to as the weather was starting to get very bad making the already narrow country roads even harder to drive. 

After wistfully staring at this sign: 

And looking at the strange hanging vegetables that were heavily reminiscent of toad from Mario kart:

We left for hopefully warmer weather. 

Italy again and Tuscany at last-Monteriggioni

The ferry back from Greece was even more awful than last time. First our car was searched by the Greek army (for what we were quite sure) and then when we got inside the ferry we were forbidden to sleep on the floor and told to do so we would have to go outside on the deck all night. Not wanting to be freezing and covered in spray all night (we had nothing warm as on the way over we had no problem with sleeping on the floor) we finally managed to find a back staircase landing to sleep on near the crew entrance, the only problem being it was boiling hot. It led to an awful night of heat and glaring lights, not something I want to repeat in a hurry.

Once in italy however things improved as we decide to go through Tuscany on our way up to Venice. We were hoping it wouldn't rain this time and while these hopes were dashed, we did have a lovely time. 

The view as we drove.

We decided to focus on the region of chianti this time, and it was a brilliant idea. We stumbled across the town of Monteriggioni and even a nearby campsite called Luxor that was nearby. Here is a photo of the road that led to the secluded but surprisingly popular campsite in the forest. 

The town was a tiny fortified village, we came in just as the sun was setting and it was beautiful. 

The entire village was a no driving zone so no cars spoiled the post card perfect place. 

The little church in the main square, easily the biggest and main building in the village. 

We had to race back so as not to bad driving the tiny dark and winding roads at night and also to get back to the campsite before they closed their gates. It was so difficult with the town beckoning, bathed in golden light so it looked like something out of storybook that couldn't possibly be real. 

Meteora

From Athens we made the long drive to meteora, and wow was it worth it! The rocks are so large they look like something out of a movie set that couldn't possibly be real. 

We decided to stay 2 nights so as to see everything, the first we spent in the larger village down from the rocks called kalampaca, the second in an even smaller, and more beautiful village, kastraki. 

On the way up to our first monastery, a family of German tourists asked us to take their picture and then returned the favour. 

The roads up to the monasteries were winding and scenic, we took turns driving it. We first went to the monastery of Valaam which was very beautiful. 

It was a beautiful day which made wandering around very pleasant. The scenery was just utterly jaw-dropping. 

My favourite thing was this room, where a winch system was used with a rope net to bring up people from the ground. Terrifying stuff. 

Turning the still movable winch system was great fun.

View from up top.

We then drove on to see a second monastery in the afternoon as we were set on seeing at least 2. For the second one we decided to go to the most secluded one, although the name escapes me at the moment I enjoyed it even more.

 Due to the steep climb, there were only one or two tourists dotted about the whole place, and it had a tranquil air and sense of peace the first one had lacked.

Another winch system. Also one of my rare photos of Shyla as usually she insists I take them on her camera. Thankfully I have a few though! 

The main hall inside.

We also discovered these interesting little rooms, where it felt like we had taken Alice's potion that makes her grow too large for the room. I wondered at their purpose, as now days they, like all open to the public areas, were quite empty. 

There was some beautiful iconography on the walls, and in this monastery (although I could not take photos) the little church was beautiful, quiet and empty. 

The outside was my favourite however, with beautiful flowers, cobbled paths, crumbling walls and monumental landscape.

As always, I finish my post with shameless photos of myself