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Megan’s journey starts by air, in the Roman town
of Aosta, an ideal location for observing
the spectacular and historic valley of Val Da
Oasta. In Ivrea she experiences the strangest
and  most ancient carnival celebrations in Italy.
A three
day battle using oranges for ammunition to commemorate
the 12th century revolt against the tyrannical Count
Rinari, who had his wicked way with all new brides,
until a feisty miller’s daughter named Violetta
beheaded him.
Up to 100,000 contestants bombard the
nobility represented in the carts paraded in the square.
Teams are selected from the neighbourhoods in which
they live, so rivalry is fierce!
On to Alba to discover the secrets
of one of the world’s rarest gourmet delicacies,
truffles, the fungal equivalent of gold. Setting off
with a pack off trained dogs, she joins the hunt. Next stop is cosmopolitan capital Milan,
she takes in the Duomo, which is the
world’s largest statue adorned Gothic cathedral,
and see the magnificent view of the alps. The cathedral
contains one of Italy’s most prized holy relics,
the Santo Quioto, a nail from the crucifix
of Christ which is shown to the public just one day
each year.
Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world and
it seems like people here are impossibly stylish, in Quatrolatero Duoro - the Golden Square
even the police uniform is made by Armani. Failing to get a ticket for the world famous opera house La Scala, Megan visits the burial ground
of opera comopser Giuseppi Verdi where you can actually
hear his music still filtering down.
It’s a short train journey to the magnificent Medieval
towns of Parma, Modena, Mantua and
Verona. She samples the local Parma ham and
Parmesan cheese, a staple part of the local diet for
700 years and learns how to make Parmesan traditional
in copper vats. In Modenello, home
to the Ferrari dynasty she visits a Ferrari museum. In the lakeside city of Monteva she visits the Gonzagas palace of its
most famed historic family and she experiences some
of Italy’s greatest art works.
From Monteva it’s a half hour train journey to Verona, the city of love nested on
the banks of the curling Audeje river.
She visits the balcony of Shakespeare’s Juliet
and meets the woman who responds to the fictious Juliet’s
many letters with advice on love for women. From Verona, Megan takes the train up to the Tyrolean
mountain of Bolanzo, and catches a
bus to the swanky ski resort of Portina del
Fetso, where she feels out of place without
the regulation fur coat! She visits the Dolomites, some of the
most spectacular mountains in the world whose 60 million
year old corals reate their worn view and razor sharp
peaks.
It’s a 3-hour train journey to Megan’s
final destination, Venice the city
of lust,which is the only city with rivers for roads
in which a township has sprung from its muddy islands.
She party’s at its strange historic carnival which
dates back to 1094 and is moulded for a traditional
carnival mask
To conclude her journey’s in Northern Italy, she
visits St Marks Square and the
Basilica church which housed the body of St
Mark 1,200 years ago. |
