We decided that with Amber pregnant with our first child it would be good to have one final holiday, at least for many years, as a couple! Not wanting to fly at 7 months pregnant, we thought it would be a good opportunity to take the train from our then new home in High Wycombe to Venice, stopping off in Zürich on the way there, and Turin on the way back.
This flashback photoblog is a selection of our favourite images from the trip. We look forward to being able to take similar adventures with the kids when they're old enough to carry their own bags!
Days 1-3: Travel to Venice via Zürich
Our journey started with the short trip from High Wycombe to London Marylebone, then after taking the tube to St.Pancras, Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord. We then used the Paris underground RER to navigate to Gare de Lyon for our TGV Lyria to Zürich. Luckily our hotel was close to the station after a long day of travelling! We spent the following day exploring Zürich, before continuing our journey on day three to Venice via the scenic Gotthard route and Milan.
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TGV Lyria waiting for departure time at Paris Gare de Lyon.
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The River Limmat quayside in central Zürich.
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The clock tower of St. Peter church in Zürich has the largest tower clock face in Europe.
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You can tell the time when quite some distance away, like here beside the river!
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Someone adding extra stones to a cairn in the parkland by Zürichsee (Lake Zürich).
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The finished product.
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Stepping stones on Pond Zürich.
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Stepping stones on Pond Zürich.
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Heureka Useless Machine scupture at Zürichhorn.
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A trip out on Zürichsee.
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Time to relax and have a beer, non-alcoholic of course for Amber!
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We had a delayed departure from Zürich as our booked train to Milan was cancelled. The excellent Man in Seat 61 had warned about how unreliable the old Fiat ETR 470 transets were so instead of time for a quick explore of Milan we only had time for a pizza instead.
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The famous village and church at Wassen that is passed three times as the train loops through the mountains on the classic Gotthard railway line. The opening of the 57km Gotthard Base Tunnel has now reduced this to a secondary line, but at the time all traffic between Zürich and Milan had to take the scenic route.
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The second train of the day, the Frecciabianca from Milan to Venice.
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Days 4 and 5: Exploring Venice and Lido Island
We spent two days exploring Venice and eating a lot of nice Italian food! We also made the short trip to the beach on Lido Island.
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Our room at the Hotel Ai Mori d'Oriente, in the Jewish ghetto.
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View from the Rialto Bridge.
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Everything has to arrive in Venice by boat!
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One of the many small Venetian canals.
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It was often a tight squeeze with boats and gondulas going in all directions!
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View down the Grand Canal towards St Mark's Basilica.
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Two of the many ornate gondolas waiting their next passengers.
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Venetian Masquerade Masks.
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Amber and bump having a paddle on Lido Beach.
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Lido Beach selfie!
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View from the St Mark's Campanile (Bell Tower).
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A private sunset boat trip organised by the hotel, unfortunately it was too early and we missed sunset!
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St Mark's Basilica from the Grand Canal.
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Fortunately we were able to catch the sunset the following evening.
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We returned to see many of the sights after dark, including St Mark's Basilica.
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Approaching the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canel from the Water Bus.
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Views of the Grand Canel from the Rialto Bridge.
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Views of the Grand Canel from the Rialto Bridge.
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The gondolas keep working throughout the night.
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One of the smaller canals on the walk back to the hotel.
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Day 6: The Islands of Burano, Torcello and Murano
One day and a trio of islands! We made use of the scheduled ferry service to visit the brightly coloured island of Burano, the small island of Tocello and, famed for glassmaking, the island of Murano.
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Our first stop was the brightly coloured island of Burano, 45 minutes by Venetian water bus.
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The government control the colours that can be used and you must gain permision should you wish to make a change to your property!
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Similar the Venice, the canals are the main method of transport for the locals around Burano.
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Enjoying the bright colours.
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Matt colour coordinated!
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We then moved on to the small island of Torcello. The basilica di Santa Maria Assunta is one of the main attractions.
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Ponticello del Diavolo, or Devil's Bridge, crossing the Maggiore Canal and dating from the 15th centuary.
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It's strong enough to take Amber and bump!
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On the water boat returing to Burano, before connection to our final stop of Murano.
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Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon famous for glass making.
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The view from Ponte de Mezo.
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Exploring the island.
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Enjoying a pizza and calzone for dinner. On this trip Amber also discovered Chinotto as a good alcohol free drink, but unfortunately it's very difficult to find in the UK!
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Days 7-9: The journey home via Turin
We broke up the journey home with a couple of nights in Turin, including a last minute decision to watch a Juventus match! Our route from Venice took us via Bologna on the very impressive Trenitalia high speed network to Turin. On leaving Turin it was TGV to Paris, before retracing our route back to High Wycombe.
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Our train from Venice to Bologna, the high speed Frecciargento. From Bologna to Turin we travelled by Frecciarossa, however with both stations underground if wasn't possible to get a good photograph of the second train.
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For our two nights in Turin we stayed at a lovely appartment called Il Gioiellino.
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Heading up to the Basilica of Superga on the Sassi–Superga tramway.
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The tramline uses a rack system due to the step incline.
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Letting the tram take the strain!
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Views of Turin and the River Po from the summit.
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Views of Turin and the River Po from the summit.
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Basilica of Superga.
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Waiting for the tram to arrive for the trip back down to Sassi.
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The historic Fiat Lingotto Factory in Turin has been transformed into a tourist attraction. Cars would have travelled up and down this ramp to the roof top test track.
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Our toy Fiat 500 testing out the track!
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Our final destination was the Juventus Stadium for the match between Juventus and Udinese.
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A slightly lost Canary!
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Juventus dominated the match, eventually winning 2-0 with goals from Tevez and Marchisio. Quite different from football back home, everyone stayed in the stadium well after the final whistle to celebrate the victory!
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The final photo shortly after leaving Turin on the TGV heading to Paris with the Alps in the distance.
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