HAVING FUN IN FLORENCE

For years I've wanted to go to Florence, ever since I saw the movie "Room With A View".  I had a great hotel just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from the Mercato Centrale (central market place) and the Santa Maria del Fiore Church or Duomo. The Duomo has the third longest nave in Christendom. Think of the confidence of the age in which this church was built: The Duomo was built with a big hole in its roof awaiting a dome. This was before the technology to span it with a dome was available. No problema. They knew that someone would soon handle the challenge...and the local architect Filippo Brunelleschi did.

This picture was taken from the Ponte Vecchio (famous bridge with shops on top) over the Arno River.

Statue of Neptune in the Piazza Signora.

Piazza della Repubblica.

Street performer/Opera singer. She sang like an angel.

There's another church named Santa Croce, it sort of looks like the Duomo's little sister. It once was a Franciscan monastery and has a nice quiet feeling with a courtyard full of trees and birds chirping. The inside has clean lines and well spaced art. Also inside are the tombs of Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo Buonarroti and several other well known names. This was my favorite church in Italy because it was quiet, cozy and comfortable. It had a nice peaceful feeling and I sat on a pew for a long time both resting and contemplating life. This is one of my favorite memories.

I had a reservation for the Uffizi Gallery and although I did enjoy the Sandro Botticelli painting "The Birth of Venus" and few others but it was a poorly organized space with one of the worst audio guides I've ever heard.  Being the planner that I am, I also had a reservation for the Accademia to see the famous statues of Michelangelo, specifically David.  But it was closed that day due to strikes. So was the Pitti Palace. There were several strikes on local train lines, museums and cultural centers while I was there. I've seen official reproductions of David in New York and London so it was okay that I didn't get to see the real David.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandro_Botticelli

This is a typical scene all over Italy and France.

Florence is full of art and leather products. I bought some beautiful gray gloves. Florence wasn't as pretty as I thought it would be but if you cross the bridge, Ponte Vecchio, and look at the city from the other side it looks so much better. I had some really fun days in Florence, great gelato and a decent hotel room too.  The gelato was so satisfying and delicious that it filled me up for most of the day.

VITAL VENICE

As I left Milan, I realized that for the rest of my trip my train travel would be without connections and on reserved 1st class coaches. Simply put, travel became a whole lot easier.

It is vital that you visit Venice if you go to Italy. It is a necessary stop. Venice was once the most prosperous sea port in Europe and a powerful trading post. Opulence reigned supreme but now it's in a state of elegant decay. Venice has been a tourist location for over 400 years and will continue to be so. Once you move out of the tourist zone you will find yourself in idyllic Venice that few see. Elegant decay does accurately describe the city but that's part of the charm.

On the train from Milan to Venice I met a Canadian guy and after we chatted a bit he invited me to spend the day with him exploring the city. He plays a video game called Assassin's Creed or something, and he wanted to visit the places in the city that were also in the game. And he spoke Italian. What a treat it was to spend the day with someone and share that experience.

My hotel was near the Scala Contarini del Bovolo or Bovolo Stairs. My room was in a grand old house. The price was reasonable but the room was awful. It was so cold that I could see my breath and as I didn't speak Italian, it was difficult to convey that to my hostess. Finally, I got my point across but she intimated that she couldn't do anything about it.

However, there was one fun thing about my room. Well, it's probably true about any room in Venice - my window peered out onto a popular water-way for gondolas. My first night I heard accordion music, singing and talking. I opened the window and looked down to see gondola after gondola going by. After the riders had passed I would whisper "psst" to the gondolier, they would look up at me and I would wave, they would smile and wave back (or just shake their heads). That was a thrilling moment. I jumped up and down, clapping my hands with delight. After some time I lay down on my bed happy in the thought I would fall asleep listening to singing in Venice... until it dawned on me that this would continue well into the night. And indeed it did.

This the Doge's Palace in Piazza San Marco.

This is a photo of a little church, Saint Maria I think but I don't remember exactly.

My Gondola tour was great and the guide was an American who had been living there for 8 years. I learned a lot about gondolas and their owners, and Venice too of course. We chatted for a while afterwards and I learned that she has lived all over the world working in the travel industry in one form or another. 

Venice is not a quiet town. There aren't any roads so there aren't any cars but it is teaming with boats. Gondolas don't have motors of course but they represent only a fraction of the boats on the water. Most boats have loud motors. Everything has to be brought in by boat so they run from about 6:00am until well into the night. Venice is expensive as well. There really isn't a way to do budget travel here: just plan to spend money and enjoy yourself. You don't need to spend too much time in Venice one day is enough for most people but two days is a fine luxury.

One day as I was leaning on a bridge just daydreaming, a gondola came along, I waved and the gondolier blew me a kiss and said "I love you!".  It was funny.

MAGNIFICENT AND MYSTERIOUS MILAN

Milan was a nice surprise: it had a quiet unexpected beauty. I didn't expect much because every time I mentioned that city people who have been there, they would reply, "eh", indicating that they were not impressed. Okay, it's a big city but some of the sites are among my favorites.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II built in the late 1800's is two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting to form an octagon. This is the posh shopping area in Milan.

SPQR is latin and Wikipedia says it means "The Senate and the Roman People" but my Italian tour guide said that it means "Leave Politics to Rome".

The train station in Milan was impressive and overwhelming. The structure was completed in 1931 and is 656 feet wide and 236 feet high vaulted ceilings and pure marble. Inside there are restaurants, cafes, leather and clothing shops, a great bookstore with a small but decent selection of books in English - for about $20 a paperback - and pickpockets of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milano_Centrale_railway_station


The Duomo has recently been cleaned. Well, it took 18 years and they are still working on the steeple and the roof but now you can see the gray, pink and green marble that had been covered by years of soot, pollution and grime. Zoom in to get a better look. The nice thing about seeing the Duomo all cleaned up is that it allowed me to imagine how beautiful all the other uncleaned churches might look.

The marble on the floor still looks good because they swept & mopped frequently. Some marble is softer than others. In this case the black area of each tile stood up higher than the white and red areas because the black marble is stronger. There were noticably worn spots on each tile in the white and red areas; my foot slid down into the depressions of the uneven marble. It was a strange feeling to know that years and years of use had created these depressions and that many people had walked on this floor long before I had.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Cathedral

I had my first truly Italian meal in Milan, Spaghetti Bolognese. It was mediocre but the dessert was to die for. I never order Tiramisu here at home because I don't like it but in Italy it's ambrosia- you gotta get some!

I had a great tour of the city that only took a few hours. Here I am at the Sforza Castle.

Leonardo da Vinci and The Last Supper -wow! The famous 15th century experimental process mural of The Last Supper is on the dining room hall of the monastery Santa Maria delle Grazie. This is one location that is not crowded at all. Reservations are required or you can sign up for a tour that includes a visit. The reservation list is usually booked one or more months out so planning ahead is necessary. And it is well worth it.

They only allow 25 people in at a time and only for 15 minutes. First you stand in this chamber that de-humidifies you to protect the mural. There are armed guards inside, you are not allowed to take pictures or video, and you are not allowed to speak. It is a church after all. They have benches so you can sit down and actually enjoy the experience. Our tour guide was the only one allowed to speak and she stood at the back of the room and spoke softly. We could hear her clearly and it was a pleasure to listen. This was probably my favorite viewing experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo_da_Vinci)

Milan was full of mystery: little hidden neighborhoods with tree lined squares, local churches, produce stands, shops, men and women sitting on benches talking, playing games and laughing. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was magnificent.

CONFLICTED IN THE CINQUE TERRA

The Cinque Terra (pronounced CHINK-weh TAY-reh), a remote chunk of the Italian Riviera, refers to the 5 small towns - villages really - along the north west coast of Italy. Of the 5 villages I chose Vernazza as my home base. Above each village is a connecting hiking path. As you can imagine, this location is popular as a day trip from a nearby city  or as a one night stop over.

The journey from Nice to Vernazza was a torturous train travel day, tied in first place as a ghastly journey, similar to my journey from Bath to Moreton-In-Marsh in England. Nice to Vernazza required 5 connections. The train from Nice to Ventimilgia provided an astounding scenic views of the French Riviera but after that some of the trains were covered in graffiti and filled with questionable characters. For most of the connections I had first class reservations and they were new coaches, well appointed, with organized spaces. It was a long day and a patchwork of experiences.

Vernazza is a small village with one main street that is "pedestrians only" except for the utility golf-cart-like vehicle. The bright and colorful ancient buildings lean on each other like old friends. Each village is set into the cliffs (except for one) with a water port.

I feel conflicted about this area. Let's start with the positives. No need for me to use words, you can see for yourself from these photographs.

When I first arrived I thought to myself "this is where I would like to go for a honeymoon or some romantic getaway" but within a few hours or so, I changed my mind. It is just way too crowded and loud.

Even if you couldn't hear the train arriving at the station you become acutely aware of the fact, as no less than 50 - 60 German seniors in hiking gear and walking sticks tramp down the one and only main street of Vernazza 4 times an hour. Try as you might to ignore the throngs of tourists it's a difficult and fruitless endeavor. Even on the boat that links the villages, you are packed in like sardines.

These hidden jewels have been discovered. Did I mention that the room costs per night are as high if not higher than staying in a big city like Milan?  I feel conflicted about this area but I will say this: in the looks department - A+.

As a side note: I did see Harrison Ford, or maybe his look-a-like, in Monterosso.

View of Vernazza from the cemetery on the hill above.