And in the end

24 September

Full moon means high tide. And high tide in Venice means a rather wet San Marco.

Our last morning in Venice, and some last minute shopping had to be done. I had been carefully remembering where the shops were that I wanted to get the stuff I was still looking for. Venice got the better of me. In a desperate attempt to find what I was looking for, I ended up on San Marco square. And even worst - on the canal side of the square. Which meant I had to cross it. Except that, in places, the water was ankle deep.

We had been wondering about what we thought were tables stacked around the square. I learnt what the answer was the hard way. Walkways to enable the crowds to cross a flooded square. Except that the ratio of tourist feet to number of walkways just somehow wasn't calculated correctly. But we are pleased that we experienced this.

And finally, weird as it may sound, we left for the airport - by boat. And in order to make the hours that lie ahead a little more tolerable, we tried to classify things a bit. And so, reflecting on our three weeks of amazing experiences, we tried to draw up some Best Of and Worst Of lists:

Most Frustrating:

• Getting into Verona
• Getting out of Bassano del Grappa

Autostops (petrol stations) on the Autostrada's have shops that sell detailed maps of the areas. It's a good idea to ensure you have a good detailed map before you get there.

Most Confusing:

• Traffic signs, especially at traffic circles.

A more detailed map or GPS would probably have helped with this too, but as confusing and frustrating as it could get, it was often quite fun to try and figure it all out.

Biggest Mystery:

• San Marco's Lion - In Venice, you often see four versions of this lion, with varying configurations of teeth, from fangs to human-like teeth, to no teeth at all. Why??

Funniest Experience:

• Watching the old man in Burano pacing up and down the 'main street' the entire afternoon.

If you miss watching the real people in Italy, you don't see Italy. You could easily get engrossed in art and history, and enirely forget about realities of everyday life.

Worst Experience:

• Airports - in Venice we stood in the check-in queue for two hours. 
• Crowds in Venice - it just gets crazy - we found going to a smaller island like Burano was a lot more relaxing during the day time.

Accommodation - Best Location:

• Rome - Hotel Mentecitorio was 5 minutes walk from the Trevi Fountain as well as the Spanish Steps and the good designer shopping streets.
• Venice - Ca'Zora was also about 5 minutes from both San Marco and Rialto. That's if you manage to follow the correct route.

Accommodation - Best Views

• Lake Maggiore - La Sorgente had a really good view over the lake and two of its most beatiful islands
• Pezzo (Ponte di Legno) - Yuri B&B had the most exquisite view over the valley nestled between the huge mountains.
• Verona - Agriturismo San Mattia has beautiful views over the old city centre of Verona.  
• Corniglia - Camere Orietta has stunning sea views from the little terrace on the roof.

Most of the others also had good views in some form.

Accommodation - Best host

• Yuri ( Yuri B&B) was by far the most friendly, helpful and jovial of them all!
• Francesca (http://www.lasorgente.biz/) was equally friendly and extremely helpful.

Best meal:

• La Cantinetta, Barolo - we had the tasting menu, allowing us to sample every starter. It was undescribably exquisite
• Marina Piccola, Manarola - Niel had the best fish here
• La Sorgente had the best breakfast by far, with homemade bread and fruit pastries.
• Hotel Wildner's Restaurant, Venice - Even though it felt a bit like cheating, Niel had the best steak with exquisite pepper sauce here.

Where could we have spent more time?

• Verona - it's a beautiful city. One day was just not enough.
• Piemonte - the region with the best wine and most beautiful little towns and beautiful landscapes.

Where could we have spent less time?

• Merano - the landscapes were beautiful, but the fact that this area is largely German, just did not fit with an Italian trip.

Most Exciting Experience

• Monte Bianco - taking the cable car up to the top, standing on fresh snow, surrounded by mountains and glaciers was just awesome
• Passo delle Stelvio & Passo Gavia - the most awesome driving experience you could possibly have.

Best Experience:

• Italy.