Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Driving day! Up early & check out. Sandy's turn to now get out of Sorrento the way we came in. So much traffic. It's stop and go, slowly, all the way through the little towns. Thank goodness she is a good driver. I get to look around this time. The view is hazy -- cloudy but not raining ....... yet. Fortunately it rained only slightly once we got on A-1. Vesuvius is more clouded over the top than it has been, and the cliffs have eerie shadows. The navigation on my cell phone is working today and we pretty much breeze to the Chiampino Airport outside of Rome. It didn't take long to find the Auto Europa place, turn in the car (no problem, even though it was a day late and another dropoff point), and take the shuttle to the front of the airport where we got a taxi to our hotel. Well, almost to our hotel. It's on a little side alley, so she left us off and pointed. We did feel a little abandoned, but not for long. The Hotel Due Torri is a nice little hotel on a supposedly quiet (except for the loudmouth dog and his owner) street in the Pantheon district. We found it quickly, rattled our suitcases over the square cobblestoned street and checked in. Up one flight -- not too bad. Elevator if necessary, air conditioning, small but nice room with refrigerator, TV (haven't put one on since we got to Italy!), and a small but nice shower.
We HAD to get something to eat, so we went to nearby Obiko at the suggestion of the woman at the hotel desk. Wonderful and huge salad, bread, and pasta. After a short siesta back at the hotel, we ventured out again. Our map reading prowess proved shaky again as we found our way first to the Pantheon, then Trevi fountain. I was blown away by the size of the Pantheon. I expected big, but this is HUGE! How did the Romans build such a huge dome?? Interesting to see the two rectangular cutouts done by Brunelleshi (by special permission) to discover the materials used so he could build the dome for the Florence cathedral. Ginny says we have to go back and see Rafael's tomb. We will, gladly.
Trevi fountain is a must see, but not when we did! We hit it right at "stroll time" for all the Italians and all the tourists. It was SO crowded! We did manage to get pictures and to admire it and that's all we needed to do. A fellow peddling polaroid pictures of people in front of the fountain took a picture of us with Sandy's camera, then was disgusted when we wouldn't buy one of his pictures.
Speaking of which, there are quite a few people sitting on the steps of buildings with cups for handouts. In Florence we saw several crippled people walking the streets with cups. Then you have the musicians. The ones in Venice who just wouldn't go away while I was on the phone with Ginny. Street corner violinists and accordion players. A couple of musicians on the Ercolano train playing, then passing a cup. A cellist playing Bach in front of the Pantheon.
Off to the Piazza Navona with it's Egyptian obelisk and beautiful fountain. And, of course, its church and all the ones we popped into along the way. Even the most humble of them are works of art.
We've covered enough territory today. After some fruit, cheese, left over lunch, and wine, we are off to read, write, relax, and sleep. We're in ROME!
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Sunday & Monday, September 15 & 16, 2013
I neglected to mention that our room is DOWN 4 flights of stairs! We are supposed to move after tonight, but we have decided to stay only 3 nights in Sorrento and go to Rome earlier so we have 5 nights in Rome. The hotel in Rome had availability. We'll just stay in the room we are in here for two more nights and I'll count stairs like G-ma.
Today was Herculaneum day -- or, rather (as an Italian man corrected me) Er-co-lano. We walked DOWN the mountain for the 20 or 25 minutes to the train station after all the buses passed us up while we were standing at the bus stop by our hotel. No one told us until later that we were supposed to hail them! Getting the train ticket & getting on the train was easy enough and we arrived in Erculano about 50 minutes later after about 10 stops. We sat across from a young couple in their 20's from Australia who were backpacking across Europe, starting in Singapore actually, for 10 months. We had a nice chat until they got off at Pompeii. We've met a lot of Australians and English on this trip.
Yes, now a 20 minute walk DOWN to "Scavi Ercolano" and another 5 to the ticket booth, all the while looking down on the relatively compact area of excavated ruins. I'm glad we chose this and not Pompeii. Later, after talking to people who had done both, everyone seemed to prefer Herculaneum. It was pretty incredible. No, we didn't see dead people. They were all taken to the archeological museum in Naples. We did see bones, but not a close view. But we saw houses, frescoes, and some beautiful marble and mosaics. Amazing that there is so much known about what all this is and I can't imagine how painstaking it must have been an still is to excavate all this. We saw a loaf of bread and timbers and walked through people's homes -- creepy and rather irreverent to me. The most poignant of all was looking from the ruins, up through the poor city of Erculano, with apartment building after apartments building filled with people, and up to Mount Vesuvius, thinking about where these people would go if it ever erupted again?
We got dinner on the way back in Sorrento before we hoofed it again back up the mountain to the hotel, stopping to get wine and lemoncello, our staples. Sandy's pedometer says we walked almost 6 miles today! Yes, I can feel every one of those miles tonight!
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Monday
We're tired. We slept late. There was a thunder shower last night -- rather neat. I woke up seeing the lightning in the distance over the mountain. We were sleeping soundly with a fan and the French windows (like French doors) opened up. No bugs. The air was cool and wonderful and smelled of rain. Ah...zzzz. The hand towels are linen towels but the bath towels are terry cloth (last hotel they were linen too). We have had soap and shampoo all along but no wash cloths. Sandy brought two. All the bathrooms had hair dryers, but I had a hard time drying my hair with the last one -- puny. Fortunately I brought one that works directly on this current. Our bathroom is pretty big in Sorrento so we did laundry last night in the tub which has a shower removable shower head in it about knee height. The floors of all the hotel rooms have been tile -- no rugs. So much marble in Italy. No such thing as wall to wall carpeting.
Today we just took it easy, walking downtown after a lazy morning to stroll the old part of town, have some gelato, and look in the shops. Lemons, lemons, lemons. Lemons and olives and mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes. Yum. Amazing how much time you can waste when you work at it! What a lovely day. Nice breeze, sunny, not too hot -- no sweater yet except maybe at night. Nice to take time to do much of nothing. Did I mention the incredible view on our mountain walks? The Tyrrhenian Sea way below us and Mt.Vesuvius framed right there in the distance but not far. The little fishing area where we had dinner last night WAY down there. We opted not to take the bus down the other side of the Amalfi coast even though it's supposed to be gorgeous. We have plenty of gorgeous right here. Tomorrow is a driving day & we expect it to be rather stressful. We've decided to leave our little car at the smaller Ciampino airport in Rome and take a taxi to our hotel. Sandy gets to drive us OUT of Sorrento to Rome since I did the long drive IN a few days ago. We are turning in early tonight, of course after our lemoncello (just for me now -- Sandy's tired of it and has gone back to wine).
I neglected to mention that our room is DOWN 4 flights of stairs! We are supposed to move after tonight, but we have decided to stay only 3 nights in Sorrento and go to Rome earlier so we have 5 nights in Rome. The hotel in Rome had availability. We'll just stay in the room we are in here for two more nights and I'll count stairs like G-ma.
Today was Herculaneum day -- or, rather (as an Italian man corrected me) Er-co-lano. We walked DOWN the mountain for the 20 or 25 minutes to the train station after all the buses passed us up while we were standing at the bus stop by our hotel. No one told us until later that we were supposed to hail them! Getting the train ticket & getting on the train was easy enough and we arrived in Erculano about 50 minutes later after about 10 stops. We sat across from a young couple in their 20's from Australia who were backpacking across Europe, starting in Singapore actually, for 10 months. We had a nice chat until they got off at Pompeii. We've met a lot of Australians and English on this trip.
Yes, now a 20 minute walk DOWN to "Scavi Ercolano" and another 5 to the ticket booth, all the while looking down on the relatively compact area of excavated ruins. I'm glad we chose this and not Pompeii. Later, after talking to people who had done both, everyone seemed to prefer Herculaneum. It was pretty incredible. No, we didn't see dead people. They were all taken to the archeological museum in Naples. We did see bones, but not a close view. But we saw houses, frescoes, and some beautiful marble and mosaics. Amazing that there is so much known about what all this is and I can't imagine how painstaking it must have been an still is to excavate all this. We saw a loaf of bread and timbers and walked through people's homes -- creepy and rather irreverent to me. The most poignant of all was looking from the ruins, up through the poor city of Erculano, with apartment building after apartments building filled with people, and up to Mount Vesuvius, thinking about where these people would go if it ever erupted again?
We got dinner on the way back in Sorrento before we hoofed it again back up the mountain to the hotel, stopping to get wine and lemoncello, our staples. Sandy's pedometer says we walked almost 6 miles today! Yes, I can feel every one of those miles tonight!
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Monday
We're tired. We slept late. There was a thunder shower last night -- rather neat. I woke up seeing the lightning in the distance over the mountain. We were sleeping soundly with a fan and the French windows (like French doors) opened up. No bugs. The air was cool and wonderful and smelled of rain. Ah...zzzz. The hand towels are linen towels but the bath towels are terry cloth (last hotel they were linen too). We have had soap and shampoo all along but no wash cloths. Sandy brought two. All the bathrooms had hair dryers, but I had a hard time drying my hair with the last one -- puny. Fortunately I brought one that works directly on this current. Our bathroom is pretty big in Sorrento so we did laundry last night in the tub which has a shower removable shower head in it about knee height. The floors of all the hotel rooms have been tile -- no rugs. So much marble in Italy. No such thing as wall to wall carpeting.
Today we just took it easy, walking downtown after a lazy morning to stroll the old part of town, have some gelato, and look in the shops. Lemons, lemons, lemons. Lemons and olives and mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes. Yum. Amazing how much time you can waste when you work at it! What a lovely day. Nice breeze, sunny, not too hot -- no sweater yet except maybe at night. Nice to take time to do much of nothing. Did I mention the incredible view on our mountain walks? The Tyrrhenian Sea way below us and Mt.Vesuvius framed right there in the distance but not far. The little fishing area where we had dinner last night WAY down there. We opted not to take the bus down the other side of the Amalfi coast even though it's supposed to be gorgeous. We have plenty of gorgeous right here. Tomorrow is a driving day & we expect it to be rather stressful. We've decided to leave our little car at the smaller Ciampino airport in Rome and take a taxi to our hotel. Sandy gets to drive us OUT of Sorrento to Rome since I did the long drive IN a few days ago. We are turning in early tonight, of course after our lemoncello (just for me now -- Sandy's tired of it and has gone back to wine).
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Today we had a long drive through Umbria, past Rome and southwest to Sorrento on the Amalfi coast. It was my turn to drive. We've split the driving very nicely -- especially for me! Sandy has (by pure chance) driven every time it has rained! But I drove today and what a drive it was! The navigation quit working so we just had to follow signs. That in itself is a challenge here! Sometimes there is a sign and sometimes not. You have to know the next town you are aiming for, not necessarily your destination. Roads are very narrow, there's A LOT of traffic through small towns once you get off the freeway A-1, and the drivers are crazy, doing everything you are taught not to do in the U.S. They ride right on your tail so no one can squeeze in, they pass on curves, they pass you on the right if they can and feel they need to, they never signal, and there are thousands (it seems) of motorcycles who weave in and out, every side and between the two lanes of traffic. If you are the least bit timid driving, DON'T drive in Italy. On the freeway, they will pass you on the left (you HAVE to stay right except to pass), then come back in immediately in front of you, a half a car length. Or you may have the one who straddles the two lanes for a mile or so. The freeways are bumpy but good. Many tolls. It's very expensive to take these roads. There are frequent rest areas for gas and food (the food by the way is great, even in these places). But in the toilette, expect to squat to pee (also in many other public places, like restaurants and museums). No toilet seats for the women! Unlike China though, there is toilet paper.
We arrived in Sorrento but had a hard time finding the hotel. We had to turn around, a feat in itself on that road with no places to turn around (turn in a short drive and BACK OUT into the road -- ACK! We finally arrived about 4:00, tired and hungry. We asked if there was a place close by to eat. The woman at the hotel said "a 10-minte walk downtown". Now, downtown there means DOWNtown. Then UPtown. No energy. But, she said, we have a place here you can get a sandwich. Just go over there (she pointed) and take the elevator down to -2 (we've run into a lot of elevators with -1,-2,-3 levels under the main level) and follow the path. We did. Down the elevator, down the path, down the stairs, down the path, down the stairs, down more stairs, and DOWN the path to the small pebble beach. After good tomato and mozzarella sandwiches, it was back UP all of that. Needless to say we got back and took a nap!
Later we decided to look in Rick Steve's for a dinner-by-the-sea recommendation. After another directional challenge and another parking challenge we walked to a picturesque little area of restaurants. Before we could figure out what direction to go in, this woman, in front of her little restaurant, starting talking to us in English -- "ah, Rick Steven, fuck Rick Steven (she said that, not me)! Throw book in sea. He getta money from all these restaurants -- they pay him to be in book, then people like us don't getta business. We have best food. You know Sophia Loren (not personally)? She eat at this restaurant -- look at picture. I make good dinner for you." We got a table by the sea and tried out her food which turned out to be just fine, except for the Classico wine (white) which was VERY bland. I was served a whole fish. It was delicious, but I haven't filleted a fish in a long time. I have to say I did it quite well and enjoyed the meal and the scenery. Afterwards we strolled down to the restaurant Rick Steve's recommended which turned out to be much too expensive for us, so we were glad we made that decision. There were cats all over the area. They would sit right next to your table waiting for a dropped scrap. And I guess Sophia ate at most of the restaurants there! We found out she did film 3 movies there, most notably "Scandal in Sorrento".
So far, so good. No accidents, no squashed cars or people. Weather has been great all the way, except when Sandy drove.
Today we had a long drive through Umbria, past Rome and southwest to Sorrento on the Amalfi coast. It was my turn to drive. We've split the driving very nicely -- especially for me! Sandy has (by pure chance) driven every time it has rained! But I drove today and what a drive it was! The navigation quit working so we just had to follow signs. That in itself is a challenge here! Sometimes there is a sign and sometimes not. You have to know the next town you are aiming for, not necessarily your destination. Roads are very narrow, there's A LOT of traffic through small towns once you get off the freeway A-1, and the drivers are crazy, doing everything you are taught not to do in the U.S. They ride right on your tail so no one can squeeze in, they pass on curves, they pass you on the right if they can and feel they need to, they never signal, and there are thousands (it seems) of motorcycles who weave in and out, every side and between the two lanes of traffic. If you are the least bit timid driving, DON'T drive in Italy. On the freeway, they will pass you on the left (you HAVE to stay right except to pass), then come back in immediately in front of you, a half a car length. Or you may have the one who straddles the two lanes for a mile or so. The freeways are bumpy but good. Many tolls. It's very expensive to take these roads. There are frequent rest areas for gas and food (the food by the way is great, even in these places). But in the toilette, expect to squat to pee (also in many other public places, like restaurants and museums). No toilet seats for the women! Unlike China though, there is toilet paper.
We arrived in Sorrento but had a hard time finding the hotel. We had to turn around, a feat in itself on that road with no places to turn around (turn in a short drive and BACK OUT into the road -- ACK! We finally arrived about 4:00, tired and hungry. We asked if there was a place close by to eat. The woman at the hotel said "a 10-minte walk downtown". Now, downtown there means DOWNtown. Then UPtown. No energy. But, she said, we have a place here you can get a sandwich. Just go over there (she pointed) and take the elevator down to -2 (we've run into a lot of elevators with -1,-2,-3 levels under the main level) and follow the path. We did. Down the elevator, down the path, down the stairs, down the path, down the stairs, down more stairs, and DOWN the path to the small pebble beach. After good tomato and mozzarella sandwiches, it was back UP all of that. Needless to say we got back and took a nap!
Later we decided to look in Rick Steve's for a dinner-by-the-sea recommendation. After another directional challenge and another parking challenge we walked to a picturesque little area of restaurants. Before we could figure out what direction to go in, this woman, in front of her little restaurant, starting talking to us in English -- "ah, Rick Steven, fuck Rick Steven (she said that, not me)! Throw book in sea. He getta money from all these restaurants -- they pay him to be in book, then people like us don't getta business. We have best food. You know Sophia Loren (not personally)? She eat at this restaurant -- look at picture. I make good dinner for you." We got a table by the sea and tried out her food which turned out to be just fine, except for the Classico wine (white) which was VERY bland. I was served a whole fish. It was delicious, but I haven't filleted a fish in a long time. I have to say I did it quite well and enjoyed the meal and the scenery. Afterwards we strolled down to the restaurant Rick Steve's recommended which turned out to be much too expensive for us, so we were glad we made that decision. There were cats all over the area. They would sit right next to your table waiting for a dropped scrap. And I guess Sophia ate at most of the restaurants there! We found out she did film 3 movies there, most notably "Scandal in Sorrento".
So far, so good. No accidents, no squashed cars or people. Weather has been great all the way, except when Sandy drove.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Thursday & Friday, September 12 & 13
Today our destination is Orvieto in Umbria. We had a wonderful ride through the Tuscany "hills" with the fertile farmlands, mostly tilled up now, the vineyards, and glimpses of castles and walled cities at the tops of the hills. We drove up, up, up to the walled city of Montalcino. The views going up were stunning. There are just certain places you can park outside an old city and you have to walk into the city. Parking here was a challenge. We found one of those spots where you just pick up the car and set it in the space! VERY hairy! Lucky AGAIN that we have this little Smart car! Montalcino is famous for its Brunello wine but we didn't get any -- we just looked and tasted. Yum. We had lunch and watched some kids next to us rolling cigarettes. We later saw that on a train too -- must be cheaper/better than bought cigarettes? The town was small but lovely and not terribly busy -- a nice change from our days in Florence.
Down the mountain and south to Umbria (we finally saw some sheep) and Orvieto. Our navigation tried to take us directly to the hotel, but we got terribly lost driving in little streets/alleys that we probably weren't supposed to be in! Sandy was driving and had a few choice short words. We finally gave up and parked outside town & walked up the main street to our hotel, Hotel Corso. Later we were told we could drive to the door to deliver and get luggage, then park in an underground area, coming up by elevator to the old city near the hotel. We found the hotel to be in a perfect location, just a short 10 minute (that's short in Italy I've found -- and that doesn't include hills and steps) walk to the Duomo (which is usually the center of town). The town wasn't so terribly busy. We strolled up to the Duomo (also striped) and had a late lunch/dinner -- wonderful food and great beer, Amacord bionda, in the shadows of the Duomo and the cool fresh air.
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Friday we took a day off and just relaxed. Orvieto was a great place to do it. We got up for breakfast (horrible coffee this time though, but great fruit) and wandered through the streets looking in all the small shops. It's fun to talk to the proprietors along the way. Most of them are very willing to talk and many ask where we are from and want to talk about their "aunt in Chicago who moved to Florida", their trip to Miami to see the "real, TV America", their trip to LA & the Grand Canyon. Then there are some people in the streets of the bigger cities, selling things, peddling, or trying to get you into restaurants, who sneer at Americans -- but that isn't the norm. Most people are very nice and helpful. Americans don't know what to do with people who come into their "space" to beg or try to sell something and often are awkward & not decent to these people. There is a way to say "no" without being ugly. Back to Orvieto -- easy day. We went into the duomo which was really quite beautif'ul. The frescos by Luca Signorelli and Fra Angelico inspired Michelango's Last Judgement.
Dinner again by the Duomo -- quiet, lovely, beautiful weather. Nice "day off".
Today our destination is Orvieto in Umbria. We had a wonderful ride through the Tuscany "hills" with the fertile farmlands, mostly tilled up now, the vineyards, and glimpses of castles and walled cities at the tops of the hills. We drove up, up, up to the walled city of Montalcino. The views going up were stunning. There are just certain places you can park outside an old city and you have to walk into the city. Parking here was a challenge. We found one of those spots where you just pick up the car and set it in the space! VERY hairy! Lucky AGAIN that we have this little Smart car! Montalcino is famous for its Brunello wine but we didn't get any -- we just looked and tasted. Yum. We had lunch and watched some kids next to us rolling cigarettes. We later saw that on a train too -- must be cheaper/better than bought cigarettes? The town was small but lovely and not terribly busy -- a nice change from our days in Florence.
Down the mountain and south to Umbria (we finally saw some sheep) and Orvieto. Our navigation tried to take us directly to the hotel, but we got terribly lost driving in little streets/alleys that we probably weren't supposed to be in! Sandy was driving and had a few choice short words. We finally gave up and parked outside town & walked up the main street to our hotel, Hotel Corso. Later we were told we could drive to the door to deliver and get luggage, then park in an underground area, coming up by elevator to the old city near the hotel. We found the hotel to be in a perfect location, just a short 10 minute (that's short in Italy I've found -- and that doesn't include hills and steps) walk to the Duomo (which is usually the center of town). The town wasn't so terribly busy. We strolled up to the Duomo (also striped) and had a late lunch/dinner -- wonderful food and great beer, Amacord bionda, in the shadows of the Duomo and the cool fresh air.
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Friday we took a day off and just relaxed. Orvieto was a great place to do it. We got up for breakfast (horrible coffee this time though, but great fruit) and wandered through the streets looking in all the small shops. It's fun to talk to the proprietors along the way. Most of them are very willing to talk and many ask where we are from and want to talk about their "aunt in Chicago who moved to Florida", their trip to Miami to see the "real, TV America", their trip to LA & the Grand Canyon. Then there are some people in the streets of the bigger cities, selling things, peddling, or trying to get you into restaurants, who sneer at Americans -- but that isn't the norm. Most people are very nice and helpful. Americans don't know what to do with people who come into their "space" to beg or try to sell something and often are awkward & not decent to these people. There is a way to say "no" without being ugly. Back to Orvieto -- easy day. We went into the duomo which was really quite beautif'ul. The frescos by Luca Signorelli and Fra Angelico inspired Michelango's Last Judgement.
Dinner again by the Duomo -- quiet, lovely, beautiful weather. Nice "day off".
Tuesday/Wednesday, September 10/11
Florence
Tuesday: Woke up ready to take the bus DOWN the hill (mountain) to Florence. Coffee not so good -- I miss my coffee. Cappucino takes like coffee-flavored milk & espresso is too little of too much! Sandy has started to get 2 expressos with hot water. Don't even order American coffee -- that IS dishwater! It's getting progressively worse as we move south!
But the view is getting better. I'm getting good at driving through the small winding roads to the little town of Fiesole. We parked in a lot next to the Roman ruins of an amphitheater. A view of Florence is spread out in small glimpses as we descend rather quickly in the #7 bus. It took about 20 minutes. Off the bus, into the BUSY city of Florence. It didn't take long not to like the city. We bought a Firenze card at the nearest tourist place--turns out this was a GREAT investment. It got us into most (not all) of the sights and gave us transportation on city buses which we used going back and forth to our hotel. The first day we stumbled around a bit trying to find things (great map readers we THOUGHT we were!). We went into the Academia first. Ginny told me that turning the corner and seeing Michelangelo's David was an incredible experience, but I still wasn't prepared. It really took my breath away! Seeing that made battling the Florence crowds already well worth it. SO BIG! I never realized that the sculptors & painters made all the hands much bigger than the norm. Sandy read it was so they looked proportionate from far away. It's weird up close. But, what a beautiful work of art. Strong but rather feminine face (many of the faces in early art works seem to have what we consider feminine faces and poses), but strong, muscular body and determined expression. We spent quite a while in awe.
Then off to the cathedral. The line was long & we decided to go into the Baptistry instead -- incredible gold doors, but they were only replicas of the ones we later saw in the Duomo museum by Ghiberti (Gates of Paradise). Michelangelo's Pieta was also in the museum. Wow! To see that in person! Then we wandered off trying to find the Medici palace and bumped into the San Lorenzo church which was older than the cathedral and very plain on the outside -- not so on the inside though. Lunch back at the cathedral (still long lines) and off to the Lorenzo Medici palace again, finally realizing it was right next to where we bought the Ferenzi card! How frustrating! We expected the palace to be very lavish. It wasn't, except for a few rooms on the 2nd floor (where all the "living" rooms were). The little Chapel of the Magi was exquisite and what we guessed were the "receiving room" and the "ballroom" were beautifully frescoed and statued. We had the place practically to ourselves, not even a guard of any kind around. The outside was very plain, more like a fortress in the city. The bottom floor where visitors rode in, was surprisingly plain. I'm sure this was one of many Medici palaces....but, still....? Before getting to the Palace, we bumped into the San Lorenzo church and was struck by the plainness of it's architecture compared to everything else. The church was designed by Brunelleschi but was left unfinished by (of course) a Medici because of lack of funds. The inside was gorgeous but the outside was quite ugly!
Back to Fiesole. We picked up food to have back at the hotel so we could have our Prosecco and not have to drive those roads afterwards! Bad enough when sober!
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Wednesday: Up, up, up out of bed and down, down, down the mountain on good old (now) #7 bus. We are pros now! We went straight to the Cathedral, waited in line for 15 minutes before it opened and went right in. Actually, when I first saw the cathedral the day before, I thought it was rather ugly on the outside. Somehow, looking at it at the end of a busy commercial street, it almost looked like a great big cardboard cut-out put up to stop traffic! I know that's weird, but didn't seem real to me. But Ginny said don't miss it, so we didn't. Outside it is striped green and white marble, with pink accents. I didn't expect that! Nobody told me the cathedrals in Italy were zebra-striped! Siena with black and white, Florence with green and white, and (later) Orvieto with dark green (almost black) and white. The Siena one was striped inside too, but this one wasn't. It really was magnificent and huger than huge! The dome was gigantic. When the cathedral was built, it was built with a big hole at the top, awaiting the technology to build a dome! Brunelleschi knew how to do it (he studied the Roman dome of the Pantheon) and gradually, over 14 years, the largest dome since Rome's Pantheon was built. The coolest part though was going underneath the cathedral to the crypt that had excavations from the Romans in the 6th century (and Brunelleschi's tomb).
Next was the Bargello Museum, full of Florentine Renaissance sculptures (I think we didn't get as much out of that as we should have) and off to the Uffizi which I remembered better. Nearby, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, was a replica of Michaelangelo's David, which showed it off more in the setting it was made for, rather than in the constricts of a museum, which made the proportions more understandable. Rick Steve said the "Uffizi is small and in a convenient U-shape so it is easily covered in 2 hours". He neglected to say there were 2 floors of U-shape AND 6 flights of stairs to get to the top before you start. The rewards were many once we got there. Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Allegory of Spring were quite surprising to me. His style was very different on these non-religious paintings -- the colors were very subdued. There was a wonderful view of the Ponte Vecchio from the window. This is a very old bridge (14th or 15th century) on which shops were built, originally a lot of butcher shops so their waste could be thrown in the river. It was cleaned up by the Medici's (of course) and the shops became more elegant. Now (of course) it's tacky tourism but beautiful from afar. There was a painting by a friend of Michelangelo's (I wish I remembered the name of the artist) that looked very different from others of the time -- almost impressionist in its colors and lack of line definition.
OK, A LOT of wonderful art, big hands, blond Jesus', small penises, strong bodies, and feminine faces. It's really much more than I can digest in a day. We limped back to the bus through this dirty and congested city and were very glad we were staying up on the mountain.
Florence
Tuesday: Woke up ready to take the bus DOWN the hill (mountain) to Florence. Coffee not so good -- I miss my coffee. Cappucino takes like coffee-flavored milk & espresso is too little of too much! Sandy has started to get 2 expressos with hot water. Don't even order American coffee -- that IS dishwater! It's getting progressively worse as we move south!
But the view is getting better. I'm getting good at driving through the small winding roads to the little town of Fiesole. We parked in a lot next to the Roman ruins of an amphitheater. A view of Florence is spread out in small glimpses as we descend rather quickly in the #7 bus. It took about 20 minutes. Off the bus, into the BUSY city of Florence. It didn't take long not to like the city. We bought a Firenze card at the nearest tourist place--turns out this was a GREAT investment. It got us into most (not all) of the sights and gave us transportation on city buses which we used going back and forth to our hotel. The first day we stumbled around a bit trying to find things (great map readers we THOUGHT we were!). We went into the Academia first. Ginny told me that turning the corner and seeing Michelangelo's David was an incredible experience, but I still wasn't prepared. It really took my breath away! Seeing that made battling the Florence crowds already well worth it. SO BIG! I never realized that the sculptors & painters made all the hands much bigger than the norm. Sandy read it was so they looked proportionate from far away. It's weird up close. But, what a beautiful work of art. Strong but rather feminine face (many of the faces in early art works seem to have what we consider feminine faces and poses), but strong, muscular body and determined expression. We spent quite a while in awe.
Then off to the cathedral. The line was long & we decided to go into the Baptistry instead -- incredible gold doors, but they were only replicas of the ones we later saw in the Duomo museum by Ghiberti (Gates of Paradise). Michelangelo's Pieta was also in the museum. Wow! To see that in person! Then we wandered off trying to find the Medici palace and bumped into the San Lorenzo church which was older than the cathedral and very plain on the outside -- not so on the inside though. Lunch back at the cathedral (still long lines) and off to the Lorenzo Medici palace again, finally realizing it was right next to where we bought the Ferenzi card! How frustrating! We expected the palace to be very lavish. It wasn't, except for a few rooms on the 2nd floor (where all the "living" rooms were). The little Chapel of the Magi was exquisite and what we guessed were the "receiving room" and the "ballroom" were beautifully frescoed and statued. We had the place practically to ourselves, not even a guard of any kind around. The outside was very plain, more like a fortress in the city. The bottom floor where visitors rode in, was surprisingly plain. I'm sure this was one of many Medici palaces....but, still....? Before getting to the Palace, we bumped into the San Lorenzo church and was struck by the plainness of it's architecture compared to everything else. The church was designed by Brunelleschi but was left unfinished by (of course) a Medici because of lack of funds. The inside was gorgeous but the outside was quite ugly!
Back to Fiesole. We picked up food to have back at the hotel so we could have our Prosecco and not have to drive those roads afterwards! Bad enough when sober!
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Wednesday: Up, up, up out of bed and down, down, down the mountain on good old (now) #7 bus. We are pros now! We went straight to the Cathedral, waited in line for 15 minutes before it opened and went right in. Actually, when I first saw the cathedral the day before, I thought it was rather ugly on the outside. Somehow, looking at it at the end of a busy commercial street, it almost looked like a great big cardboard cut-out put up to stop traffic! I know that's weird, but didn't seem real to me. But Ginny said don't miss it, so we didn't. Outside it is striped green and white marble, with pink accents. I didn't expect that! Nobody told me the cathedrals in Italy were zebra-striped! Siena with black and white, Florence with green and white, and (later) Orvieto with dark green (almost black) and white. The Siena one was striped inside too, but this one wasn't. It really was magnificent and huger than huge! The dome was gigantic. When the cathedral was built, it was built with a big hole at the top, awaiting the technology to build a dome! Brunelleschi knew how to do it (he studied the Roman dome of the Pantheon) and gradually, over 14 years, the largest dome since Rome's Pantheon was built. The coolest part though was going underneath the cathedral to the crypt that had excavations from the Romans in the 6th century (and Brunelleschi's tomb).
Next was the Bargello Museum, full of Florentine Renaissance sculptures (I think we didn't get as much out of that as we should have) and off to the Uffizi which I remembered better. Nearby, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, was a replica of Michaelangelo's David, which showed it off more in the setting it was made for, rather than in the constricts of a museum, which made the proportions more understandable. Rick Steve said the "Uffizi is small and in a convenient U-shape so it is easily covered in 2 hours". He neglected to say there were 2 floors of U-shape AND 6 flights of stairs to get to the top before you start. The rewards were many once we got there. Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Allegory of Spring were quite surprising to me. His style was very different on these non-religious paintings -- the colors were very subdued. There was a wonderful view of the Ponte Vecchio from the window. This is a very old bridge (14th or 15th century) on which shops were built, originally a lot of butcher shops so their waste could be thrown in the river. It was cleaned up by the Medici's (of course) and the shops became more elegant. Now (of course) it's tacky tourism but beautiful from afar. There was a painting by a friend of Michelangelo's (I wish I remembered the name of the artist) that looked very different from others of the time -- almost impressionist in its colors and lack of line definition.
OK, A LOT of wonderful art, big hands, blond Jesus', small penises, strong bodies, and feminine faces. It's really much more than I can digest in a day. We limped back to the bus through this dirty and congested city and were very glad we were staying up on the mountain.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Monday, Sept. 9, 2013
Siena to Fiesole
Cool, crisp air and a fabulous view for miles of Tuscany. What more can you want? Ah, Siena. I forgot to mention that last night, when we arrived hungry at 9:00 or so, the man at the hotel (he was "1/2 English and 1/2 Italian") suggested a restaurant "only a one minute walk from here". It was fabulous -- wine and all -- but it wasn't one minute. It was a very hairy 5 or 6 minutes with no sidewalk and a road just wide enough for two cars -- buildings on either side -- at night. OK, fabulous, melt-in-your-mouth dinner, and a wide-awake walk back to the hotel.
After a lovely breakfast (again)--room and breakfast for 55 Euros each-- we walked uphill for 15 minutes, through the gates, and into the center of Siena. (Yes, there was a lot of the color sienna, but with only one "n".) Walking through narrow streets to the Campo, we were surprised they allowed so many vehicles in the old town. Buses stopped just inside the gates, but taxis and motorcycles were allowed and we were constantly having to watch so as not to get run over (at least we felt that way). We stopped in a lovely little shop selling hand painted Tuscan ceramics and talked to Max (Masimo) for a while. We had to go up steep steps to get to the Campo, a HUGE piazza, actually round rather than square. The Campo was originally outside the city walls, but the city expanded to include it and the walls were moved. Now, every summer, there is some kind of horse race in the Campo. I can't imagine hoofs on that beautiful brick! Vendors sell all kinds of schlock all around the Campo and people lie down on the slightly sloped sides to rest in the sun. Interesting that if you want a snack, you go to a coffee bar (throughout our whole trip so far) and either stand up or possibly sit at tables inside or outside, but you can't sit and eat in the piazzas. You have to walk and eat (but people don't do that). There are often public benches around the piazzas, but often they won't let you sit on the cathedral steps. If you go to a restaurante, you get a fancier meal with a cover charge and 10% tip already added.
Surprise! A short walk to the duomo (main cathedral with dome, bapistry, and bell tower in the center of the old town) revealed a black and white striped marble church, inside and out! That really surprised me and I thought it was beautiful.
Disclaimer: I took some pictures with my camera and then the battery ran out of juice. Of course, I forgot to bring the charger, so I'm using my cell phone. Those pictures I can name, but the camera ones I haven't learned how to name yet, so I'll do the best I can with those.
Sandy and I both loved Siena and would have liked to stay there longer, but we were worn out and headed back the way we came, stopping in again to see Max. He spoke very good English and had visited (of all places) Arkansas and Memphis, giving lectures on stained glass making. He and his brother are artisans who work mostly on commission and on bigger projects. They had a couple of small things in the shop. Ginny, I liked what you did better! Theirs was commercial, for the shop only I guess. He said they are the ONLY stained glass artists left in Siena. They studied with the masters of the craft and have tried to keep it going in Siena when everyone else was leaving for Germany where their art was more appreciated. They almost did that too, but his brother is 63 and ready to retire so they decided to give it a go some more in their home town and open a shop with some internet business. He was lamenting the fact that Italy is not appreciating its artists and everything is done for money's sake. Sound familiar? (Of course, Italy is in quite a bind monetarily now and its hard on everyone, like in the USA.).
We were tired of walking (especially me) uphill, downhill, up steps, down steps.....I am starting to do what Mama Respess did -- count steps to get myself going, especially on all the stairs! I haven't let it stop me yet, but we did decide to take a taxi (very cheap) down the hill to the hotel. Down is harder than up for me. Sandy is very patient and I think I'm keeping up with her OK in spite of the fact my knee hurts me a lot. There's too much to see and do, so I take ibuprophen and suck it up.
Off to Fiesole and another entirely different experience. I'm driving today. The drive through Tuscany was lovely. The drive through Florence at rush hour was not so pleasant, but we got through OK, thanks to the navigation system. That 100mb of data I bought was well worth it -- again! Oh, yes, and how! Up, up, up, wind around, turn, up, wind around, gorgeous view of all of Florence from way up on the mountain! Whoops, wrong turn! Can't go back -- no place to turn around. Road is just big enough for 1-1/2 cars. Another car coming -- what to do? -- think thin, pull over into the slight bulge in the road, wait for the other car and pray he doesn't hit us. Whew! This is fun! I love it and it's beautiful. We found our way through the winding road of the town of Fiesole. IF there is a sidewalk, it's about 1-1/2 feet wide at most. People come right out of their doors onto the road! There are mirrors around the corners to let you know a car is careening toward you. They drive fast here. I don't mind the little cars, but the trucks........! All pretty small too fortunately.
Hotel Dei Bosconi is past the town about 2 miles. We have a room facing the pool with a beautiful view of the Tuscan hillsides for about 65 Euros a night each of our three nights here. We are sleeping with the window open again -- ah, nice and cool. A good change from the sweating I've been doing lately. Love the mattress here too -- it's like the one we had in Cremona. Maybe like a Temperpedic, but not hot. Firm but not stiff -- good sleeping -- ah..........I'll have to look i n t o i t.....zzzz.
Siena to Fiesole
Cool, crisp air and a fabulous view for miles of Tuscany. What more can you want? Ah, Siena. I forgot to mention that last night, when we arrived hungry at 9:00 or so, the man at the hotel (he was "1/2 English and 1/2 Italian") suggested a restaurant "only a one minute walk from here". It was fabulous -- wine and all -- but it wasn't one minute. It was a very hairy 5 or 6 minutes with no sidewalk and a road just wide enough for two cars -- buildings on either side -- at night. OK, fabulous, melt-in-your-mouth dinner, and a wide-awake walk back to the hotel.
After a lovely breakfast (again)--room and breakfast for 55 Euros each-- we walked uphill for 15 minutes, through the gates, and into the center of Siena. (Yes, there was a lot of the color sienna, but with only one "n".) Walking through narrow streets to the Campo, we were surprised they allowed so many vehicles in the old town. Buses stopped just inside the gates, but taxis and motorcycles were allowed and we were constantly having to watch so as not to get run over (at least we felt that way). We stopped in a lovely little shop selling hand painted Tuscan ceramics and talked to Max (Masimo) for a while. We had to go up steep steps to get to the Campo, a HUGE piazza, actually round rather than square. The Campo was originally outside the city walls, but the city expanded to include it and the walls were moved. Now, every summer, there is some kind of horse race in the Campo. I can't imagine hoofs on that beautiful brick! Vendors sell all kinds of schlock all around the Campo and people lie down on the slightly sloped sides to rest in the sun. Interesting that if you want a snack, you go to a coffee bar (throughout our whole trip so far) and either stand up or possibly sit at tables inside or outside, but you can't sit and eat in the piazzas. You have to walk and eat (but people don't do that). There are often public benches around the piazzas, but often they won't let you sit on the cathedral steps. If you go to a restaurante, you get a fancier meal with a cover charge and 10% tip already added.
Surprise! A short walk to the duomo (main cathedral with dome, bapistry, and bell tower in the center of the old town) revealed a black and white striped marble church, inside and out! That really surprised me and I thought it was beautiful.
Disclaimer: I took some pictures with my camera and then the battery ran out of juice. Of course, I forgot to bring the charger, so I'm using my cell phone. Those pictures I can name, but the camera ones I haven't learned how to name yet, so I'll do the best I can with those.
Sandy and I both loved Siena and would have liked to stay there longer, but we were worn out and headed back the way we came, stopping in again to see Max. He spoke very good English and had visited (of all places) Arkansas and Memphis, giving lectures on stained glass making. He and his brother are artisans who work mostly on commission and on bigger projects. They had a couple of small things in the shop. Ginny, I liked what you did better! Theirs was commercial, for the shop only I guess. He said they are the ONLY stained glass artists left in Siena. They studied with the masters of the craft and have tried to keep it going in Siena when everyone else was leaving for Germany where their art was more appreciated. They almost did that too, but his brother is 63 and ready to retire so they decided to give it a go some more in their home town and open a shop with some internet business. He was lamenting the fact that Italy is not appreciating its artists and everything is done for money's sake. Sound familiar? (Of course, Italy is in quite a bind monetarily now and its hard on everyone, like in the USA.).
We were tired of walking (especially me) uphill, downhill, up steps, down steps.....I am starting to do what Mama Respess did -- count steps to get myself going, especially on all the stairs! I haven't let it stop me yet, but we did decide to take a taxi (very cheap) down the hill to the hotel. Down is harder than up for me. Sandy is very patient and I think I'm keeping up with her OK in spite of the fact my knee hurts me a lot. There's too much to see and do, so I take ibuprophen and suck it up.
Off to Fiesole and another entirely different experience. I'm driving today. The drive through Tuscany was lovely. The drive through Florence at rush hour was not so pleasant, but we got through OK, thanks to the navigation system. That 100mb of data I bought was well worth it -- again! Oh, yes, and how! Up, up, up, wind around, turn, up, wind around, gorgeous view of all of Florence from way up on the mountain! Whoops, wrong turn! Can't go back -- no place to turn around. Road is just big enough for 1-1/2 cars. Another car coming -- what to do? -- think thin, pull over into the slight bulge in the road, wait for the other car and pray he doesn't hit us. Whew! This is fun! I love it and it's beautiful. We found our way through the winding road of the town of Fiesole. IF there is a sidewalk, it's about 1-1/2 feet wide at most. People come right out of their doors onto the road! There are mirrors around the corners to let you know a car is careening toward you. They drive fast here. I don't mind the little cars, but the trucks........! All pretty small too fortunately.
Hotel Dei Bosconi is past the town about 2 miles. We have a room facing the pool with a beautiful view of the Tuscan hillsides for about 65 Euros a night each of our three nights here. We are sleeping with the window open again -- ah, nice and cool. A good change from the sweating I've been doing lately. Love the mattress here too -- it's like the one we had in Cremona. Maybe like a Temperpedic, but not hot. Firm but not stiff -- good sleeping -- ah..........I'll have to look i n t o i t.....zzzz.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013
Parma, Lucca, Pisa, Siena
Off we went in the morning, rather sad to leave Cremona. With the help of Verizon we drove to Parma, in hopes of seeing something of Paganini. No such luck. There was some kind of marathon going on and almost all the streets except for the main thoroughfares were blocked off. We only saw interesting street names like Donnezetti Street and Puccini Street. No Paganini! Can't win them all. Anyway, this was going to be our busiest day so we marched on. On to Lucca, the birth home of Puccini. After a gelato and the toillete we walked through the city walls, across a big moat (no water now) and into the city -- a very old and charming city. Like most of these cities, only special vehicles are allowed so there is a lot of walking to be done, in Puccini's footsteps. We visited his birth home and saw much memorabilia, including original Ricordi scores of many of his works with his editing marks and a lot of his original hard written scores. We didn't see his grave, but that's OK. I'd rather think of him in living form!
It was just before dusk when we found a parking space close to Pisa and walked to the entrance to that walled city. We turned the corner and........gasp! I had NO IDEA it was all so enormous. There it was, spread out in front of us. A huge and gorgeous cathedral, a baptistery, and, of course, the leaning bell tower! It was really beautiful -- much more so than I expected. We were both VERY glad we got to see it in person so it's not just an icon for us any more. The tower won't fall over now. 10 tons of earth were taken out in 2000-2002 to stabilize it. But it started leaning as soon as it was built in 1173 when they got to the 3rd tier. They tried to fix it but it just got worse, so I guess they just said "the hell with it" and finished it anyway! It has slowly been leaning more ever since, until the final fix in 2002.
Our long day (the only one for this trip) ended with Sandy driving at night to Siena. Thankfully we went right to our hotel with our navigation. We were really tired, but glad we did what we did. The Hotel Porta Romana was up in the Tuscan hills - no air conditioning, but a lovely breeze. We were awakened in the night by a thunder shower, but went right back to sleep knowing we would be waking up in Siena.
Parma, Lucca, Pisa, Siena
Off we went in the morning, rather sad to leave Cremona. With the help of Verizon we drove to Parma, in hopes of seeing something of Paganini. No such luck. There was some kind of marathon going on and almost all the streets except for the main thoroughfares were blocked off. We only saw interesting street names like Donnezetti Street and Puccini Street. No Paganini! Can't win them all. Anyway, this was going to be our busiest day so we marched on. On to Lucca, the birth home of Puccini. After a gelato and the toillete we walked through the city walls, across a big moat (no water now) and into the city -- a very old and charming city. Like most of these cities, only special vehicles are allowed so there is a lot of walking to be done, in Puccini's footsteps. We visited his birth home and saw much memorabilia, including original Ricordi scores of many of his works with his editing marks and a lot of his original hard written scores. We didn't see his grave, but that's OK. I'd rather think of him in living form!
It was just before dusk when we found a parking space close to Pisa and walked to the entrance to that walled city. We turned the corner and........gasp! I had NO IDEA it was all so enormous. There it was, spread out in front of us. A huge and gorgeous cathedral, a baptistery, and, of course, the leaning bell tower! It was really beautiful -- much more so than I expected. We were both VERY glad we got to see it in person so it's not just an icon for us any more. The tower won't fall over now. 10 tons of earth were taken out in 2000-2002 to stabilize it. But it started leaning as soon as it was built in 1173 when they got to the 3rd tier. They tried to fix it but it just got worse, so I guess they just said "the hell with it" and finished it anyway! It has slowly been leaning more ever since, until the final fix in 2002.
Our long day (the only one for this trip) ended with Sandy driving at night to Siena. Thankfully we went right to our hotel with our navigation. We were really tired, but glad we did what we did. The Hotel Porta Romana was up in the Tuscan hills - no air conditioning, but a lovely breeze. We were awakened in the night by a thunder shower, but went right back to sleep knowing we would be waking up in Siena.
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