Nowadays so called "escape rooms" are on the wave. At least in my country. But it's hard to understand why if you haven't tried one before. Well today, I had to make up my mind in less than one minutes whether I want to participate in such experience. It came free, so, why not, I thought. I didn't know what to expect. But the basic idea is that you get into a room with a team, get locked there and have to get out. By going through the stuff that is not yours. You start to look at everything with a suspicion: "Is this a clue?", "Maybe, this thing is a clue?". In the end, when it's over, you realize that there is way too much stuff, that is not necessary that can get your lost. And you have only one hour there.
These rooms are themed and called accordingly. The one I went today was called "Mafia". It's hard to distinct whether it's just decorations, or all the tasks a driven in that style. Some really are, some are too far away from real mafioso style. Nevertheless I still had I great time there,
2015-10-29
2015-10-10
Villa Santa Croce mountain
The second and the third day in Villa Santa Croce was more calm compared to the first one.
On the second day - it was raining, rather badly and such weather stayed for the bigger part of the day. Going somewhere without getting wet - was impossible. But we still made it for a short walk to the local mountain and visited potato field of our hosts.
On the second day - it was raining, rather badly and such weather stayed for the bigger part of the day. Going somewhere without getting wet - was impossible. But we still made it for a short walk to the local mountain and visited potato field of our hosts.
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| A short walk to the local mountain peak. Just in time before the big cloud started crying. See the pale gray mountain in the distance? It's Vesuvio. Although it was on my initial plan, this is as closest as I could get to it this time. |
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| Mountain peak - a perfect place for a cemetery. Closest place to the heaven. |
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| And though we used paths, it was no walk in a park. Because I wanted to take pictures, I always stayed behind. Walking and shooting - seemed rather reckless. |
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| According to our hosts, it's not even a village - it's just one street! Impossible to get lost, but hard to get there. |
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| If you die in Italy, everybody gets invited to your funeral with a similar posted, which I happened to see quite a lot during the trip. |
2015-10-08
La Cipresseta
On the same day of visiting Matese mountains our hosts took us to a place called La cipresseta(near Fontegrecca). It's hard to describe what it is, but I will try. Most accurate description would be - a cypress grove with small waterfalls, bridges, benches to sit down. Next to this grove there is a sort of stone house (for me it looks like castle) with a poem engraved onto wall. A poem for cypress queen, unfortunately in Italian
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| A fragment of stone sculpture/installation. These stones are actually installed on a iron wires. |
Matese mountains and lake, Letino Town
Mmm... persimmons, figs picked straight from the trees for breakfast - this is how our first day in Villa Santa Croce started. Finally, we saw how narrow the streets and roads were - if two cars were coming from opposite directions - they would definitely have to slow down, in rare cases - one of them would have to go backwards until there is enough space for two cars to pass by.
This is actually good thing, when you slow down, you have enough time to great with anyone in the other car. And in most cases, in these small villages and towns, there would be someone you already know in the other car. And drivers seem to be polite to each other, they are not in a hurry, they just enjoy the fact that they met somebody on the road, that they already know.
This region of Italy - Campania is famous for mozzarella(real mozzarella di bufala!). So, that very morning we were taken by our hosts to a small mozzarella factory. It is owned by the friends of our hosts. We were given blue caps and aprons and could see the process of making by ourselves. Afterwards we tasted fresh mozzarella. It couldn't be fresher!
After the show and getting some cheese for that day's lunch, our trip continued to Matese mountains. Driving slowly through curvy mountain roads, stopping at small villages, by noon we reached the lake of Matese. The landscape was the meal for our eyes. And we had a pick-nick basket there, enjoyed the warmth of the sun.
After filling our stomachs we set off to Letino town - a place awarded the orange flag - an acknowledgment mark of life quality and sustainable tourism in small towns of Italy. Having local guides pays off - one of us got to sit next to the driver in an Italian Ape and experience the ride through narrow and steep streets.
Then we went to castle, which appeared to be closed, but the views from there were still gorgeous.
Letino town has a bar called "Che Guevara", where the locals meet for the cup of coffee and to discuss the local news.
This is actually good thing, when you slow down, you have enough time to great with anyone in the other car. And in most cases, in these small villages and towns, there would be someone you already know in the other car. And drivers seem to be polite to each other, they are not in a hurry, they just enjoy the fact that they met somebody on the road, that they already know.
This region of Italy - Campania is famous for mozzarella(real mozzarella di bufala!). So, that very morning we were taken by our hosts to a small mozzarella factory. It is owned by the friends of our hosts. We were given blue caps and aprons and could see the process of making by ourselves. Afterwards we tasted fresh mozzarella. It couldn't be fresher!
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| Into Matese mountains! I wouldn't want to drive there. All this beauty is so distracting, I would probably end up of the road. |
After the show and getting some cheese for that day's lunch, our trip continued to Matese mountains. Driving slowly through curvy mountain roads, stopping at small villages, by noon we reached the lake of Matese. The landscape was the meal for our eyes. And we had a pick-nick basket there, enjoyed the warmth of the sun.
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| Matese lake in Matese mountains. Just few weeks before this place was full with migrating birds, or so I was told. |
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| On our way to Letino town we met this shy beauty. Locals call it chucho! |
After filling our stomachs we set off to Letino town - a place awarded the orange flag - an acknowledgment mark of life quality and sustainable tourism in small towns of Italy. Having local guides pays off - one of us got to sit next to the driver in an Italian Ape and experience the ride through narrow and steep streets.
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| Italian Ape. I call it claustrophobomobilis. This one is used for gathering waste and trash from the steep and narrow streets of the town. |
Then we went to castle, which appeared to be closed, but the views from there were still gorgeous.
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| a view from the Letino castle |
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| We came from the wrong side. We actually had to climb this stony hill. |
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| The castle was closed. We tried calling, but nobody answered. One of us knew where the key was kept, but we didn't use it. But this photo is about beautiful mailbox, not about castle doorbell. |
2015-10-03
Arriving at Caserta
On Tuesday, the 29th of September we took the train to Caserta. 3 hours of sitting torture again. But I must admit, we are getting used to them and the time flies by a lot faster. Most of the people sleep, but I for some reason can't get any sleep.
So, After arriving to Caserta train station we were taken to Villa Santa Croce, where my friend's friend lived. It was already late and, yes, dark, we could barely feel that our car was ascending a steep hill. We would see the beauty of the landscape only the next day. It was late, but we were treated a full Italian supper, almost five meals - after eating pasta, some fish-spinach burgers, salad and fruits, we passed on desert - ice cream at 11.30pm was too much. But we had some home made wine. We had our local guides for tomorrow, switching off the alarm clock before going to sleep - was the right thing to do.
So, After arriving to Caserta train station we were taken to Villa Santa Croce, where my friend's friend lived. It was already late and, yes, dark, we could barely feel that our car was ascending a steep hill. We would see the beauty of the landscape only the next day. It was late, but we were treated a full Italian supper, almost five meals - after eating pasta, some fish-spinach burgers, salad and fruits, we passed on desert - ice cream at 11.30pm was too much. But we had some home made wine. We had our local guides for tomorrow, switching off the alarm clock before going to sleep - was the right thing to do.
2015-10-01
In Florence
It's Thursday, and I'm late with my posts. So, much has happened since we left Cinque Terre. So, I'll try to remember as much as possible in this post.
The adventures started before we left the five lands. We missed our train from La Spezia to Pisa. How this happened. In Italy trains are late quite often, but if you are buying tea or coffee before boarding your train, the one who is late will be you.
So, we bought tickets for next train which was an hour later. And for the ride from Pisa to Florence we still could use our regional train ticket. On the other hand, when we arrived to Florence we didn't have too much time before we could head to our accommodation location. First place we went to was tourist information center and we found a Lithuanian girl working there - she gave us not only the tips what is worth to see in Florence in such a short time, but also told us how to get to our place.
We stayed at Clara's place, which we found on airbnb. Clara is a 60 -ish Italian woman or should I say mama. She doesn't speak English very well, but you can still figure things out somehow. She even let us leave our bags the next day, so we wouldn't carry them with ourselves while enjoying last hours in Florence.
The weather in Florence was not too friendly, it was not raining, but the sun was shy and hiding behind the clouds, the wind was strong and unexpected. We ended up walking here and there. It was Monday and most of the museums were not working anyway.
First thing we did - we went to eat - to the market near Piazza del Mercato Centrale - it looks like a huge cantine where you can taste different regional foods from all over Italy. We were just fine with spaghetti and gnocchi and a cannoli for dessert.
Lots of squares in Florence have street musicians playing one or another instrument. We listened to a guitarist from Poland performing Italian songs, a accordionist with a slavic name playing tangos and to the cellist at the Uffizi gallery piazza (he was performing classical music, I think it was the suites of Bach that he was playing). It was my birthday on Monday, so, finally we went to have dinner and drink some wine.
Next morning we decided to explore the other side of the river Arno and see the treasures hidden in the gardens of Boboli and Bardini. Those treasures appeared to be the spectacular panoramas of Florence.
Our train was about to leave right before 6pm, but was late as always. We were going to Caserta and had to switch trains in Rome. with 15 minutes delay and having only 20 minutes to switch the trains - we were not feeling at ease. We ran with our aching feet and heavy backpacks on the backs, and we made it to the train right before it left.
To conclude, Florence is a lot nicer in the evening when all the street merchants are already gone home. And if you add the street music concerts, it makes the city worth visiting. But maybe reserve more than 24 hours for it.
The adventures started before we left the five lands. We missed our train from La Spezia to Pisa. How this happened. In Italy trains are late quite often, but if you are buying tea or coffee before boarding your train, the one who is late will be you.
So, we bought tickets for next train which was an hour later. And for the ride from Pisa to Florence we still could use our regional train ticket. On the other hand, when we arrived to Florence we didn't have too much time before we could head to our accommodation location. First place we went to was tourist information center and we found a Lithuanian girl working there - she gave us not only the tips what is worth to see in Florence in such a short time, but also told us how to get to our place.
We stayed at Clara's place, which we found on airbnb. Clara is a 60 -ish Italian woman or should I say mama. She doesn't speak English very well, but you can still figure things out somehow. She even let us leave our bags the next day, so we wouldn't carry them with ourselves while enjoying last hours in Florence.
The weather in Florence was not too friendly, it was not raining, but the sun was shy and hiding behind the clouds, the wind was strong and unexpected. We ended up walking here and there. It was Monday and most of the museums were not working anyway.
First thing we did - we went to eat - to the market near Piazza del Mercato Centrale - it looks like a huge cantine where you can taste different regional foods from all over Italy. We were just fine with spaghetti and gnocchi and a cannoli for dessert.
Lots of squares in Florence have street musicians playing one or another instrument. We listened to a guitarist from Poland performing Italian songs, a accordionist with a slavic name playing tangos and to the cellist at the Uffizi gallery piazza (he was performing classical music, I think it was the suites of Bach that he was playing). It was my birthday on Monday, so, finally we went to have dinner and drink some wine.
Next morning we decided to explore the other side of the river Arno and see the treasures hidden in the gardens of Boboli and Bardini. Those treasures appeared to be the spectacular panoramas of Florence.
Our train was about to leave right before 6pm, but was late as always. We were going to Caserta and had to switch trains in Rome. with 15 minutes delay and having only 20 minutes to switch the trains - we were not feeling at ease. We ran with our aching feet and heavy backpacks on the backs, and we made it to the train right before it left.
To conclude, Florence is a lot nicer in the evening when all the street merchants are already gone home. And if you add the street music concerts, it makes the city worth visiting. But maybe reserve more than 24 hours for it.
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