Day 7: Tuscany wine tour/San Gimignano
What a perfect day today was! We met with the tour at the National Library at 8:30, and it was a group of 8. Ilaria (Hillary) took us (she’s the business partner of the woman Rebecca, who runs the tours) and she was really exceptional. Someone on the tour had gone yesterday to the Montepulciano one that I was originally scheduled on and said that overall this was better. We drove through the countryside past Siena and arrived at 10 am for our chocolate tasting. Yes, 9:30 am. Oh, what the hell! We tried a white chocolate with hazelnuts, a light chocolate called ‘latte’, then dark chocolates in 50%, 70% and 99%. Last we had a candied orange peel in dark chocolate. All were great, and surprisingly I really enjoyed the orange peel (I’ve never liked orange and chocolate.) Unfortunately it wouldn’t hold up well in the heat, so I left with none. So sad.
We then headed for our first wine tour at around 10 am. A bit early, but hey, we were all troopers. The vineyard was gorgeous! They have been a family business since 1970, when it was started by the current owner’s grandfather. They went biodynamic in 1987. Organic is when no chemicals are used, but biodynamic goes a step further and does not use any extra intervention, including even water. They are very careful of the weather conditions and totally reliant on them. It was really interesting and Helena, the wife and owner with her husband, gave us quite an interesting lesson. The timing was pefect as well, as they were going to harvest their whites tomorrow, 20 days earlier than normal due to the hot and dry weather conditions this summer. The vineyard covered 7 hectares, so it is quite small.
The house was gorgeous as well, and we were ‘greeted’ by a sleeping Pico, the dog. He was in the path and dead out until he realized he could get belly rubs, and lots of belly rubs. He just laid there though and never followed our tour! The views from the hill that the vineyard is on was also beautiful. There are many shells in the soil, indicating that the area was once under the sea. The house is called by a beautiful italian name (which escapes me) but means House of Dove. They used doves previously for communication, and apparently, it was also served up for special occasions! They also have many fruit trees planted for variety, and it’s believed to be good for the soil. Helena is clearly passionate about her work and the vineyard, and has a very holistic view of nature and the contribution. Oh, the winery is called Columbaia.
She walked us through the fields, then past a lovely herb garden with basil, sage and rosemary scenting the area before taking us through the supply and processing area. They produce 2 barrels a year of the red, storing it for two years, which makes 7,000 bottles. They make 1,050 bottles of the white. During the fermentation process they add nothing, so all the fermentation is purely natural. Someone actually asked if they stomp grapes (like in the ‘I Love Lucy’ episode) and Helena looked a bit horrified. She explained that fermentation begins inside the grape, so it’s not necessary. We walked through the storage and filtration areas and then to a room just a little lower than ground level where the wine is stored, then had machines for bottling, corking and labeling. They do this twice a year. Only Helena and her husband work there, but during the harvest they do hire a few extra people. This room was incredibly cool, both as it was low in the ground but also because there were plants growing on the roof. She said it also keeps the air pure in the building. Pruning is done purely by hand with shears, and they carry bags of the grapes and stems for processing.
This small winery sells to Japan, England, France, Germany and some in NYC. A small amount in Italy as well, and they work with very small producers and distributers. She took email addresses for interested people to send a list of distributors. Then the wine tasting began, and I enjoyed some of the best wines I’ve ever had. And I do so enjoy wine! There were three reds, and she gave us really large pours. The first was a 2007 Vino Rosso Toscano from the first harvest (Vigna Nuova). The smell was nicely fruity and the wine was delicious. A semi-heavy red with legs, but very very smooth and delicious. The second wine was my favorite (and I had to buy a bottle!) It was a 2005 Chianto Colli Senesi, DOCG, which is 80+% sangiovese. It was very smooth, full bodied, fruity and flowery smelling. She said the flowery smell was because they had snow the winter before, so the summer was beautiful with lots of flowers. The wine was very complex and good. The last was a 2003 Chanti Colli Senesi Riserva, also sangiovese. It was very good, but had a tartness to it that I didn’t enjoy as much as the 2005. We enjoyed the wines in a shaded area under a tree and had a great conversation. Helena shared that she only does organized tours with the group we were with.
We left to go to a lunch place called Il Castagnolino, which was also gorgeous with lovely views overlooking olive trees and sloping hills. There were two dogs there, and one actually purred when she got belly rubs! The other, Sara, loved fetch, so several of us played with her a bit. This farm is known for their olive oil and saffron, and they showcased both beautifully with our lunch. We had a white vernaccia which was pretty good (for a white!) called La Marronaia. They served a plate of appetizers with a small eggplant, tomato and mozzerella, two toasts with pesto and tomato, and white beans, a crepe with onions, and saffron rolls. The main course was an absolutely amazing fresh raviolli filled with ricotta, covered in pecorino, saffron and some olive oil. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve tasted. The views were exceptional and the meal memorable. We then had saffron ice cream with small local berries, followed by espresso. Perfect! Sara’s interest in fetching a half-eaten bright orange ball would have put Sonnie, my retriever, to shame, but sadly we had to leave for our last tasting.
This place was the Manizzi Winery in San Gimignano, which really paled in comparison. We had a lot of tastings, and after a while it was too much! Four whites, a rose, and three reds. I liked one of the whites fairly well and the reds were all ok, but had pungency I didn’t really care for. The woman was very nice but not as warm and enthusiastic and really didn’t educate us much about the winery or the wines. We also didn’t tour the grounds (which by the end of the tasting, was quite ok!!) The winery covered 18 hectares, so was much larger in comparison.
We then went to San Gimignano, which was much more beautiful than I expected. We unfortunately only had 45 minutes, so we quickly toured. Kim bought a couple of pictures and a hard carved corkscrew/foil knife for her husband. We walked around with Rhonda from Calgary and Kim from Santa Monica, both of which were really fun. We did trade emails. Kim wants to move to Italy, and I expect we’ll keep in touch. The town was very quaint and nice.
We headed back and the car was very quiet! We said goodbye to Kim, and walked towards our hotel, then dropped Rhonda as well. We shopped a bit, and Kim bought a green amber bracelet and earrings that she saw a couple of days ago and wanted. We then went to a place for dinner recommended by our hotel and had a very good meal. We got grilled vegetables and salami, italian salad, the tomato and bean soup (fagioli) and a margharita pizza with ham and artichoke hearts. A couple from Toronto sat next to us, so we talked to them a bit. They were two more days in Florence then headed to the Turino mountains then Venice, so we gave them some suggestions. We then walked a little bit and headed back to our hotel to pack and relax a bit. We head to the train tomorrow to go back to Venice for another day. We’re staying in a different part of town called Cannaregio in the northern part of Venice, and I’m looking forward to exploring it. It will be nice to be a bit off the main tourist path!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day 6: Florencia
Day 6: Florence
We met up with Nada and took a bus up to the lovely hill town of Siena this morning. It took a little over an hour winding through the hills of tuscany. We walked to Il Campo and enjoyed a café overlooking the central square. It was the perfect place for people-watching, and after quite a few days non-stop now, we needed a slow day. We saw many people enjoying a breakfast gelato (and before you ask, no, we weren’t one of them!) and then walked around and took pictures a bit. We walked through the town, taking in the seven different flag indicating the neighborhoods of Siena. We walked to the Duomo, which was very ornate and truly stunning and then found a place in our travel guide recommended for lunch as a true reprentation of Siena cuisine, and enjoyed by the locals called Trattoria Papei. Our waiter was quite flirty and when we said we were from the US and Canada, he chimed in that he LOVED Canada.
We got some tomatoes, a bruschetta dish with tomato, a mushroom, a meat of some kind (boar?) and pate tapenades, with tuscan meats (prochiutto and salame), and three pasta dishes to try with fresh-made pastas. One had tomatoes and onions and was very flavorful, one had pepper and butter which was so-so, and the third had wild boar and was very good. We walked around a bit more then took the bus back. A woman named Maria spoke with us a bit on the bus (Nada and me, while Kimmie slept.) She spoke a little bit of English (which she seemed embarrased about, but was STILL much better than my Italian!) Had been to the US once or twice, and she was very friendly. Nada left us to walk around a bit before leaving for Milan, and we were sorry to see her go. Kim left to shop and I had hit a wall and was really exhausted (I didn’t sleep again last night) and went back to the room for a much-needed and wonderful nap! I awoke to the sound of church bells and we headed out for dinner at a place my friend Colleen recommended from her trip a couple of years ago called Il Latini.
The restaurant was a 10 minute walk and was really wonderful! You’re ushered in by an effusive waiter into several large rooms with hanging proschiotto hanging above from the ceiling. We were seated in the middle of two other couples, one living in hong Kong (from Taiwan), and the other from holland (near Brussels.) Both were wonderful and of course kim and I had no problem getting the conversation started! The couple from Hong Kong are actually going to Japan over Christmas, so we traded information. In case we go to Japan, we’ll meet up with them. The other couple were quite charming and adorable, and were headed to the Tuscany countryside for a few days. We have their information too—it’s always wonderful to know people from around the world! Joyce spoke Dutch, English, and French, and Andre Dutch, English, Spanish and German. It was easy as all spoke English, and Kim and Hsing and her husband spoke some chinese too.
Dinner was very good. Chianti wine, with a bread salad, proschiotto and good crusty italian bread with cantaloupe (which I don’t really care for, but it was sweet and wonderful with the ham!) We had a toasted bread tapenade with a topping of maybe olive and some kind of meat (similar to what we had for lunch and it looked like pate but wasn’t). We then had the primi course and I had gnocchi with tomatoes and pesto which was incredible, and Kim’s bean and lentil soup was surprisingly delicious. The secondi was potatoes with a grilled meat dish. We got beef which was surprisingly rare, and lamb, which was a bit dry but flavorful. The hong kong couple got double beef and the pieces were so huge it was hilarous! They ate much of one only! Then for desert we both got chocolate cake which wasn’t like we expected but good. Looked more like a thin boston crème pie tart of sorts. Then they brought the tuscan cookies (like the almond biscotti type cookies we had in Siena) with a sweet wine, which wasn’t as light and sweet as in Siena and had quite a kick! You dipped the cookies in it.. too strong to drink but I enjoyed dunking the cookies. The meal was expensive, but for the ambiance, food and wonderful company, I thought it was worth it.
Tomorrow we head out to our wine tour in San Gimignano, which should be a nice fairly slow day for us. I’m looking forward to it, as this tour guide was also recommended by my friend colleen who raved about her. This city is such an interesting contrast of people: the ultra-hip and those who are not! There are women wearing spiked heels walking on cobblestones (we watched one get a heel stuck in the middle of the road today!) The men seem to wear rather brightly colored pants—yellow, kelly green, rust, and red. It’s funny to see women in heels and skirts riding bikes and motorbikes as well!
Goodnight! Early morning tomorrow.
Sam
We met up with Nada and took a bus up to the lovely hill town of Siena this morning. It took a little over an hour winding through the hills of tuscany. We walked to Il Campo and enjoyed a café overlooking the central square. It was the perfect place for people-watching, and after quite a few days non-stop now, we needed a slow day. We saw many people enjoying a breakfast gelato (and before you ask, no, we weren’t one of them!) and then walked around and took pictures a bit. We walked through the town, taking in the seven different flag indicating the neighborhoods of Siena. We walked to the Duomo, which was very ornate and truly stunning and then found a place in our travel guide recommended for lunch as a true reprentation of Siena cuisine, and enjoyed by the locals called Trattoria Papei. Our waiter was quite flirty and when we said we were from the US and Canada, he chimed in that he LOVED Canada.
We got some tomatoes, a bruschetta dish with tomato, a mushroom, a meat of some kind (boar?) and pate tapenades, with tuscan meats (prochiutto and salame), and three pasta dishes to try with fresh-made pastas. One had tomatoes and onions and was very flavorful, one had pepper and butter which was so-so, and the third had wild boar and was very good. We walked around a bit more then took the bus back. A woman named Maria spoke with us a bit on the bus (Nada and me, while Kimmie slept.) She spoke a little bit of English (which she seemed embarrased about, but was STILL much better than my Italian!) Had been to the US once or twice, and she was very friendly. Nada left us to walk around a bit before leaving for Milan, and we were sorry to see her go. Kim left to shop and I had hit a wall and was really exhausted (I didn’t sleep again last night) and went back to the room for a much-needed and wonderful nap! I awoke to the sound of church bells and we headed out for dinner at a place my friend Colleen recommended from her trip a couple of years ago called Il Latini.
The restaurant was a 10 minute walk and was really wonderful! You’re ushered in by an effusive waiter into several large rooms with hanging proschiotto hanging above from the ceiling. We were seated in the middle of two other couples, one living in hong Kong (from Taiwan), and the other from holland (near Brussels.) Both were wonderful and of course kim and I had no problem getting the conversation started! The couple from Hong Kong are actually going to Japan over Christmas, so we traded information. In case we go to Japan, we’ll meet up with them. The other couple were quite charming and adorable, and were headed to the Tuscany countryside for a few days. We have their information too—it’s always wonderful to know people from around the world! Joyce spoke Dutch, English, and French, and Andre Dutch, English, Spanish and German. It was easy as all spoke English, and Kim and Hsing and her husband spoke some chinese too.
Dinner was very good. Chianti wine, with a bread salad, proschiotto and good crusty italian bread with cantaloupe (which I don’t really care for, but it was sweet and wonderful with the ham!) We had a toasted bread tapenade with a topping of maybe olive and some kind of meat (similar to what we had for lunch and it looked like pate but wasn’t). We then had the primi course and I had gnocchi with tomatoes and pesto which was incredible, and Kim’s bean and lentil soup was surprisingly delicious. The secondi was potatoes with a grilled meat dish. We got beef which was surprisingly rare, and lamb, which was a bit dry but flavorful. The hong kong couple got double beef and the pieces were so huge it was hilarous! They ate much of one only! Then for desert we both got chocolate cake which wasn’t like we expected but good. Looked more like a thin boston crème pie tart of sorts. Then they brought the tuscan cookies (like the almond biscotti type cookies we had in Siena) with a sweet wine, which wasn’t as light and sweet as in Siena and had quite a kick! You dipped the cookies in it.. too strong to drink but I enjoyed dunking the cookies. The meal was expensive, but for the ambiance, food and wonderful company, I thought it was worth it.
Tomorrow we head out to our wine tour in San Gimignano, which should be a nice fairly slow day for us. I’m looking forward to it, as this tour guide was also recommended by my friend colleen who raved about her. This city is such an interesting contrast of people: the ultra-hip and those who are not! There are women wearing spiked heels walking on cobblestones (we watched one get a heel stuck in the middle of the road today!) The men seem to wear rather brightly colored pants—yellow, kelly green, rust, and red. It’s funny to see women in heels and skirts riding bikes and motorbikes as well!
Goodnight! Early morning tomorrow.
Sam
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Day five (?) Florence and Pisa
Day 5 (?) Florence
I went to sleep pretty late last night but was wide awake at 7! We did get to move rooms yesterday and are so much happier! The room does have two beds and is a bit bigger than the last. And we do have an internet connection (the wireless is down, however, we have a cord so we can still get it.) We had breakfast then headed to the Duomo to climb the dome. All 469 steps! It wasn’t too bad though it was pretty hot and humid even early today, but was well worth it. We got 2/3 the way up to see the frescoes inside the dome. Then climbed the rest of the way to the top where you could walk around outside to enjoy really beautiful views of Florence. It was a little hazy but we could see everything. We enjoyed it for a bit, especially when there was a small breeze, then headed down. Barb, you would have been so proud! I only got a bit unnerved at one point (and took a picture so you could see how steep it was). Worse than that stairway in Peru, however, walls on either side so there wasn’t a thousand foot drop! Ok, I panicked a bit, but shielded my eyes from the view and made my way down. After the inside viewing, the walk was easy and very windy. Kim kept getting dizzy but we both made it down intact!
We headed over to the centro mercado (central market) and walked among the stalls of leather goods, pashminas, souveniers, etc. We then went into the mercado where the food merchants were. We got an excellent salami and cheese panini (we can’t seem to get enough of them!) and I got mine with sundried tomatoes. Yum! We then bought some pasta and sun dried tomatoes for gifts for people. Then ended up picking up three more for the trip to Pisa. Oh, and we ran into her at the Duomo on the way to her bike tour! We plan to take the 4:30 train to Pisa, and she’s supposed to text me.. hopefully it will go through! I got a bottle of brunello in the mercado for when I return home to the US. I found the bag that my friend Sandy asked me to get for her sister finally, then we made our way back to the room to cool off and enjoy a little air conditioning. It’s quite hot and humid today!
We then walked over to the Santa Croce church across town (which in actuality is less than a 15 minute walk from our perfectly placed hotel only two blocks from the Duomo!) Beautiful place and we toured it for a bit. We then walked through the Piazza Vecchio, enjoyed catalina crème gelatos (crème brule) before heading back to the mercado. I bought a beautiful shawl as well as a pashmina, and Kim is still searching for a leather bag. We then stopped in an Osteria for a break and some vino rosso then headed back to the room to cool off, pick up our paninis, and head to the train station.
We picked up our tickets in the train station, though, found a kiosk that only took cash and it ate 10 euros! We got out round trip tickets and got a text from Nada that she was on her way. We found the train and let her know where it was as the station has around 15 trains, and she made it with moments to spare! We were pretty packed in and in a car with no air conditioning, but once we started moving it was good enough. She had a great bike ride through some of the Chianti region and the pictures looked beautiful.
We arrived to Pisa a little over an hour later, bought bus tickets and went to the tower. What a gorgeous area! All of the typical souvenier stands nearby, but the duomo and cathedral were gorgeous and surrounded by an ancient looking wall. The tower was incredibly cool to see too! We had found out that they do allow tours now and we were able to get tickets. We walked around a bit, took the obligatory tourist photos, ate our panini, checked our bag and made our way up. The marble was very worn with deep wearing in the center of the steps. The walk up wasn’t too bad for the most part, and there is a landing 2/3 the way up for us to walk around. Then we walked up again to another area, and the views were beautiful of the city and cathedral. Unfortunately the gate was pretty low and we were walking on stairs that went around the area, so I was a bit unnerved by the heights! I hope someday I get over it. :o) This area had lots of bells and room to walk around. The last climb was short to the top (200ish steps in all.) We took lots of pictures then made our way down. It was slippery going on the way down due to the worn marble!!
We found the bus and made our way back to the train then to Florence. What a fun day! It was nice and cool after we did the climb and on the way home. We found the bus stop for tomorrow’s trip to Siena then headed back to the hotel for some sleep. Getting up early tomorrow to catch the bus as it’s around a one hour drive. Nada will be coming with us but she’s heading up to Milan tomorrow. She’ll do a half day in Siena, catch a few more sights in Florence then head out. Kim and I are winging it and will see if we want to stay in Siena a bit longer. We have dinner reservations at a place my friend Colleen recommended, which she said was excellent. It’s family style I believe, with big tables, so should be a really fun time meeting people.
Good night!!
Sam
I went to sleep pretty late last night but was wide awake at 7! We did get to move rooms yesterday and are so much happier! The room does have two beds and is a bit bigger than the last. And we do have an internet connection (the wireless is down, however, we have a cord so we can still get it.) We had breakfast then headed to the Duomo to climb the dome. All 469 steps! It wasn’t too bad though it was pretty hot and humid even early today, but was well worth it. We got 2/3 the way up to see the frescoes inside the dome. Then climbed the rest of the way to the top where you could walk around outside to enjoy really beautiful views of Florence. It was a little hazy but we could see everything. We enjoyed it for a bit, especially when there was a small breeze, then headed down. Barb, you would have been so proud! I only got a bit unnerved at one point (and took a picture so you could see how steep it was). Worse than that stairway in Peru, however, walls on either side so there wasn’t a thousand foot drop! Ok, I panicked a bit, but shielded my eyes from the view and made my way down. After the inside viewing, the walk was easy and very windy. Kim kept getting dizzy but we both made it down intact!
We headed over to the centro mercado (central market) and walked among the stalls of leather goods, pashminas, souveniers, etc. We then went into the mercado where the food merchants were. We got an excellent salami and cheese panini (we can’t seem to get enough of them!) and I got mine with sundried tomatoes. Yum! We then bought some pasta and sun dried tomatoes for gifts for people. Then ended up picking up three more for the trip to Pisa. Oh, and we ran into her at the Duomo on the way to her bike tour! We plan to take the 4:30 train to Pisa, and she’s supposed to text me.. hopefully it will go through! I got a bottle of brunello in the mercado for when I return home to the US. I found the bag that my friend Sandy asked me to get for her sister finally, then we made our way back to the room to cool off and enjoy a little air conditioning. It’s quite hot and humid today!
We then walked over to the Santa Croce church across town (which in actuality is less than a 15 minute walk from our perfectly placed hotel only two blocks from the Duomo!) Beautiful place and we toured it for a bit. We then walked through the Piazza Vecchio, enjoyed catalina crème gelatos (crème brule) before heading back to the mercado. I bought a beautiful shawl as well as a pashmina, and Kim is still searching for a leather bag. We then stopped in an Osteria for a break and some vino rosso then headed back to the room to cool off, pick up our paninis, and head to the train station.
We picked up our tickets in the train station, though, found a kiosk that only took cash and it ate 10 euros! We got out round trip tickets and got a text from Nada that she was on her way. We found the train and let her know where it was as the station has around 15 trains, and she made it with moments to spare! We were pretty packed in and in a car with no air conditioning, but once we started moving it was good enough. She had a great bike ride through some of the Chianti region and the pictures looked beautiful.
We arrived to Pisa a little over an hour later, bought bus tickets and went to the tower. What a gorgeous area! All of the typical souvenier stands nearby, but the duomo and cathedral were gorgeous and surrounded by an ancient looking wall. The tower was incredibly cool to see too! We had found out that they do allow tours now and we were able to get tickets. We walked around a bit, took the obligatory tourist photos, ate our panini, checked our bag and made our way up. The marble was very worn with deep wearing in the center of the steps. The walk up wasn’t too bad for the most part, and there is a landing 2/3 the way up for us to walk around. Then we walked up again to another area, and the views were beautiful of the city and cathedral. Unfortunately the gate was pretty low and we were walking on stairs that went around the area, so I was a bit unnerved by the heights! I hope someday I get over it. :o) This area had lots of bells and room to walk around. The last climb was short to the top (200ish steps in all.) We took lots of pictures then made our way down. It was slippery going on the way down due to the worn marble!!
We found the bus and made our way back to the train then to Florence. What a fun day! It was nice and cool after we did the climb and on the way home. We found the bus stop for tomorrow’s trip to Siena then headed back to the hotel for some sleep. Getting up early tomorrow to catch the bus as it’s around a one hour drive. Nada will be coming with us but she’s heading up to Milan tomorrow. She’ll do a half day in Siena, catch a few more sights in Florence then head out. Kim and I are winging it and will see if we want to stay in Siena a bit longer. We have dinner reservations at a place my friend Colleen recommended, which she said was excellent. It’s family style I believe, with big tables, so should be a really fun time meeting people.
Good night!!
Sam
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Day four: Florence
What a beautiful city this is!! It was a nice cool morning and we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel before heading out on our tour. I usually don’t do tours, but after my wonderful tour experience in the Vatican Museum, I was easily talked into a walking tour of Florence, The Uffizi and Accademia. I’m so glad we did as the guides were fabulous! We started off around 5 minutes from the hotel with Freya from Australia. She was rather perky and lots of fun. We started the tour in Republic Square, where Italy offically became a republic. It was torn down (orinally was the Jewish Ghetto, and a marketplace, but was demolished to accommodate a ‘grand area’ when Florence was the capital of italy. Florence was the birthplace of the renaissance, in part because of the wealth in the region. Florentines made their money on making clocks and banking and were among the wealthiest of areas in Europe in the early 1300s. They were not royalty, but very wealthy merchants and as a result, rose to power.
We were told about the Santa Maria Novella Church façade which was a really interesting example of “advertising” from back in the day. The painting on the side actually says that “I xxx paid for this in 1417” (I of course, forget the person’s name!) We saw an interesting building that had three levels, but the windows on each level were different sizes! It showed the lack of planning during the early Renaissance period.
In the 1400s for several hundred years the Medici family ruled Florence, and the representation of them is everywhere. Their coat of arms is on many buildings. We saw a church from the same period next to a building where Dante wrote ‘The Divine Comedy” and there’s a relief of him above the door. The church was quite interesting and we spent a lot of time there. It was built in the 1200s as a church on the bottom floor, and the upper floor was for grain storage. The building was deemed to not be attractive enough for the church, so the leadership of the time set a contest for the 20 trade guilds to each take 20 years to design a sculpture niche. Several were pointed out, and one in particular from Donatello which had an oversized head because it was going to be higher up on the building and the location would make it look smaller than actual. Apparently it was not approved of initially until it was placed in the location, and then it did look appropriate. Freya, the guide, explained that the Renaissance was the ‘rebirth of Man” and humanism, and they integrated math with art to make things look more realistic and in proportion. She pointed out various things throughout the city that actually showed the learning of the artists at the time.
Another amusing building was the Palazzo Strossi, the ‘archnemesis’ of the Medici. Their building had beautiful stone walls, but in actuality they were a veneer. The family owned the building next door, so only three walls have the veneer—the fourth, next to their other building, was hidden and therefore not covered with the better looking stone! It’s now exposed so you can see the difference. Freya also told us that there are wine bars that are so small in Florence that people need to buy their drink, and drink it on the street. The cultural significance is that the wealthy families would bring in food and wine from their country estates, and if there was extra that the family couldn’t eat, they would sell it on the street. It’s apparently a very Florentine thing to do!
We went to a beautiful church (the name escapes me, unfortunately) that had several types of architecture in it. Frescoes were done on many walls, which was done in Florence and not venice due to the climate. It’s a very difficult technique because the paint is imbedded in the freshly laid plaster. It lasts a long time, but took a long time to do. She told us an interesting story about Salonbeni Bartollini, who was the head of a fabric family. HE heard a big shipment was coming in, and decided to take advantage of the situation. He threw a big party, got all of his friends and competitors drunk, spiked their drinks with opium. As a result, the Bertollini family was the only one to greet the boats at the docks, and they amassed a fortune as a result. The funniest part was that they changed their family crest to include poppies!
We then walked over the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge. It was at the narrowest part of the river, and was the only crossing until 1300. The bridges were always wood but in 1333 this bridge was built of stone due to the frequent floods. All of the bridges to Florence were bombed in WWII except for this bridge, however, instead the buildings on both sides of the bridge were bombed to hold the advance of the Allies. Only gold is sold on the bridge for the last 500 years. The Medici family bought the Pitti Palace in Oltrarno, or “across the arno” river. The butchers used to clean their meats, etc. by the river, and the Medici didn’t want to walk past that to cross the river. So they had a private corridor built above the bridge so they wouldn’t have to walk with the commons! It leads across the river to the Uffizi, which was their office space. They actually tore out the front of many of the homes along the river to build the corridor!!
We walked to the town square near the uffizi, and I gave away the ticket I had purchased for the Uffizi since the tour included a ticket. I made someone quite happy and he thanked me profusely! I had to laugh because I thought it only had my email address which is sam.. so I figured it would be fine. He looked at the ticket and said “my name is Samantha”? Oops. He didn’t think it would matter nor did I, as I’m sure if it’s a prepaid ticket they won’t check ID. We saw some amazing statues of Perseus holding Medusa’s head, Neptune, etc. and the original spot where the David was installed before it was moved to the Accademia Museum. David represents the overthrow of the Medici.. we learned about the family member who was a monk who came into power. He’s behind the story of the “bonfire of the vanities’ where in an attempt to go back to the more religious lifestyle, he pushed people to burn all artistic things in the square. Four years later, he became the fuel on the bonfire, and a plaque marks the spot where the ‘mad monk’ was killed. This was the political center of Florence a little over 500 years ago.
We saw a semi-circle building which is the only one in existence now. It was built on a roman structure, of a roman bath. It’s now a 4 star hotel! It’s called a straw tower, because a women’s prison was occupying it, where the women laid on straw. Then we continued on to the duomo, which was the largest cathedral in the 1300s and larger that St. Peters in Rome. It’s green and white marble and moorish in design, reminding me of Cordoba a bit. It was the largest dome in the modern world, modeled after the Pantheon. It was a beautiful inside as well, and we were awash with a sea of turquoise wraps (like the pink wraps in the San Marco Bascilica, which we swore were tablecloths very similar to a restaurant we ate in! Here they were light blue.) Women had to have their shoulders covered, but they were less stringent on showing knees and feet. How funny. There was a beautiful little building (little being in perspective!) across the way from the Duomo in the same granite, which is the bapstry. In ancient times, you couldn’t enter a church unless you were baptised. So it was right across the street so you could be baptised, and then enter the church. The dome is symbolic of heaven to continue the theme. The dome was built in the 1420s by Romaneski, who was a mathematician. The picture in the top is a fresco, and the dome was reinforced much like a wine barrel is with lateral and vertical reinforcements on the inside of the dome between two walls (essentially walls, anyways.) You can see some of the vertical support structures on the outside, but none inside.
Following that tour we went to get lunch at a place Freya recommended. We had the best paninis that we’ve had. The bread was toasted and crunchy and thick, and the insides fabulous. Both were cheese, ad one had parmiagano, tartufo and salsa (fresh tomatoes and truffles) and the other pecorino, pesto, tapenade and memodori secchio (cheese, olive tapenade and pesto.) Yum!! We then made our way to the Uffizi for that tour. We saw some major works of art including Boticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ and ‘La Primavera’, along with interesting stories about the model in both being Amerigo Vespucci’s sister. 3 DaVincis (of 20 total) including the ‘Adoration of the Magi’, ‘Baptism of Christ’ and another. The Uffizi has the only easel painting by Michelangelo, who saw himself as a sculptor and only painted the Sistine Chapel because the pope at the time demanded it. This painting that he did was largely for the commission, but apparently it was rather scandalous back in the day. He was asked to paint a religious painting, which he did. However, there were nudes in the back. Apparently it was ok to paint religious works, or nudes, but not both. Well, he claimed to have painted a portrait of John the Baptist in it, and that the nudes in the background were actually awaiting baptism, so it was deemed to be ok!
The Rafael room had several works, including one of the Popes whom he was friends with (Pope Leo, Giovanni de Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent.) Rafael apparently had pretty strong connections! The ‘Venus of Urbino’ by Tiziano Vecellio was also there. I wasn’t familiar with the name, but the painting is certainly recognizable and is a nude of a young woman reclining on a rumpled bed. It was apparently quite scandalous in the day due to the pose, the red bed under the white sheet the red roses in her hand (all very symbolic) and the ‘look in her eye.’ It was believed to be a portrait of the young wife of the person who commissioned the painting (who were 12 and 40+ respectively.) The guide ended with a comment about ending a tour in a wonderful museum with historic porn. :o)
We then went to Accademia to see the David, and saw some wonderful partially completed marble sculptures done by Michelangelo that I thought were quite amazing. It was as if they were trying to escape from the marble! The guide told us Michelangelo had said that he carved directly into the stone to let the image out, which many of his contemporaries did wax and bronze or plaster molds. The David was commissions to be atop one of the smaller domes on the Duomo, but was moved to the ‘town hall’ piazza when it was completed. It was moved to the museum in the late 1900s due to deterioration.
There was an interesting music instrument display that we walked through quickly, but we were tired from walking all day and a bit ‘museumed out’ so decided to leave. During the day we were talking with a great gal named Nada who was traveling along, and we invited her for dinner. We had planned to do a pizzeria, but instead went to a place the guide recommended to her for drinks and snacky foods. She lives in Canada but is from Lebanon. We had such a great time talking with her that we’ll meet up with her tomorrow night (planned Pisa and will either do it in the late afternoon after she does a bike tour, or will meet her for dinner.) She will probably come with us on Thursday for our day trip to Siena. I do love foreign travel as you meet such wonderful people, and Kim is just as outgoing as I am!
Well, I’m pooped from the day and all this typing, so I’m signing off! We may do Pisa during the day, or else we’ll do some of the local touring in Florence..we’ll see how we feel when we get up. We’ve been pretty nonstop since arriving in Venice so we could use a slower day to really feel the city.
Sam
We were told about the Santa Maria Novella Church façade which was a really interesting example of “advertising” from back in the day. The painting on the side actually says that “I xxx paid for this in 1417” (I of course, forget the person’s name!) We saw an interesting building that had three levels, but the windows on each level were different sizes! It showed the lack of planning during the early Renaissance period.
In the 1400s for several hundred years the Medici family ruled Florence, and the representation of them is everywhere. Their coat of arms is on many buildings. We saw a church from the same period next to a building where Dante wrote ‘The Divine Comedy” and there’s a relief of him above the door. The church was quite interesting and we spent a lot of time there. It was built in the 1200s as a church on the bottom floor, and the upper floor was for grain storage. The building was deemed to not be attractive enough for the church, so the leadership of the time set a contest for the 20 trade guilds to each take 20 years to design a sculpture niche. Several were pointed out, and one in particular from Donatello which had an oversized head because it was going to be higher up on the building and the location would make it look smaller than actual. Apparently it was not approved of initially until it was placed in the location, and then it did look appropriate. Freya, the guide, explained that the Renaissance was the ‘rebirth of Man” and humanism, and they integrated math with art to make things look more realistic and in proportion. She pointed out various things throughout the city that actually showed the learning of the artists at the time.
Another amusing building was the Palazzo Strossi, the ‘archnemesis’ of the Medici. Their building had beautiful stone walls, but in actuality they were a veneer. The family owned the building next door, so only three walls have the veneer—the fourth, next to their other building, was hidden and therefore not covered with the better looking stone! It’s now exposed so you can see the difference. Freya also told us that there are wine bars that are so small in Florence that people need to buy their drink, and drink it on the street. The cultural significance is that the wealthy families would bring in food and wine from their country estates, and if there was extra that the family couldn’t eat, they would sell it on the street. It’s apparently a very Florentine thing to do!
We went to a beautiful church (the name escapes me, unfortunately) that had several types of architecture in it. Frescoes were done on many walls, which was done in Florence and not venice due to the climate. It’s a very difficult technique because the paint is imbedded in the freshly laid plaster. It lasts a long time, but took a long time to do. She told us an interesting story about Salonbeni Bartollini, who was the head of a fabric family. HE heard a big shipment was coming in, and decided to take advantage of the situation. He threw a big party, got all of his friends and competitors drunk, spiked their drinks with opium. As a result, the Bertollini family was the only one to greet the boats at the docks, and they amassed a fortune as a result. The funniest part was that they changed their family crest to include poppies!
We then walked over the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge. It was at the narrowest part of the river, and was the only crossing until 1300. The bridges were always wood but in 1333 this bridge was built of stone due to the frequent floods. All of the bridges to Florence were bombed in WWII except for this bridge, however, instead the buildings on both sides of the bridge were bombed to hold the advance of the Allies. Only gold is sold on the bridge for the last 500 years. The Medici family bought the Pitti Palace in Oltrarno, or “across the arno” river. The butchers used to clean their meats, etc. by the river, and the Medici didn’t want to walk past that to cross the river. So they had a private corridor built above the bridge so they wouldn’t have to walk with the commons! It leads across the river to the Uffizi, which was their office space. They actually tore out the front of many of the homes along the river to build the corridor!!
We walked to the town square near the uffizi, and I gave away the ticket I had purchased for the Uffizi since the tour included a ticket. I made someone quite happy and he thanked me profusely! I had to laugh because I thought it only had my email address which is sam.. so I figured it would be fine. He looked at the ticket and said “my name is Samantha”? Oops. He didn’t think it would matter nor did I, as I’m sure if it’s a prepaid ticket they won’t check ID. We saw some amazing statues of Perseus holding Medusa’s head, Neptune, etc. and the original spot where the David was installed before it was moved to the Accademia Museum. David represents the overthrow of the Medici.. we learned about the family member who was a monk who came into power. He’s behind the story of the “bonfire of the vanities’ where in an attempt to go back to the more religious lifestyle, he pushed people to burn all artistic things in the square. Four years later, he became the fuel on the bonfire, and a plaque marks the spot where the ‘mad monk’ was killed. This was the political center of Florence a little over 500 years ago.
We saw a semi-circle building which is the only one in existence now. It was built on a roman structure, of a roman bath. It’s now a 4 star hotel! It’s called a straw tower, because a women’s prison was occupying it, where the women laid on straw. Then we continued on to the duomo, which was the largest cathedral in the 1300s and larger that St. Peters in Rome. It’s green and white marble and moorish in design, reminding me of Cordoba a bit. It was the largest dome in the modern world, modeled after the Pantheon. It was a beautiful inside as well, and we were awash with a sea of turquoise wraps (like the pink wraps in the San Marco Bascilica, which we swore were tablecloths very similar to a restaurant we ate in! Here they were light blue.) Women had to have their shoulders covered, but they were less stringent on showing knees and feet. How funny. There was a beautiful little building (little being in perspective!) across the way from the Duomo in the same granite, which is the bapstry. In ancient times, you couldn’t enter a church unless you were baptised. So it was right across the street so you could be baptised, and then enter the church. The dome is symbolic of heaven to continue the theme. The dome was built in the 1420s by Romaneski, who was a mathematician. The picture in the top is a fresco, and the dome was reinforced much like a wine barrel is with lateral and vertical reinforcements on the inside of the dome between two walls (essentially walls, anyways.) You can see some of the vertical support structures on the outside, but none inside.
Following that tour we went to get lunch at a place Freya recommended. We had the best paninis that we’ve had. The bread was toasted and crunchy and thick, and the insides fabulous. Both were cheese, ad one had parmiagano, tartufo and salsa (fresh tomatoes and truffles) and the other pecorino, pesto, tapenade and memodori secchio (cheese, olive tapenade and pesto.) Yum!! We then made our way to the Uffizi for that tour. We saw some major works of art including Boticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ and ‘La Primavera’, along with interesting stories about the model in both being Amerigo Vespucci’s sister. 3 DaVincis (of 20 total) including the ‘Adoration of the Magi’, ‘Baptism of Christ’ and another. The Uffizi has the only easel painting by Michelangelo, who saw himself as a sculptor and only painted the Sistine Chapel because the pope at the time demanded it. This painting that he did was largely for the commission, but apparently it was rather scandalous back in the day. He was asked to paint a religious painting, which he did. However, there were nudes in the back. Apparently it was ok to paint religious works, or nudes, but not both. Well, he claimed to have painted a portrait of John the Baptist in it, and that the nudes in the background were actually awaiting baptism, so it was deemed to be ok!
The Rafael room had several works, including one of the Popes whom he was friends with (Pope Leo, Giovanni de Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent.) Rafael apparently had pretty strong connections! The ‘Venus of Urbino’ by Tiziano Vecellio was also there. I wasn’t familiar with the name, but the painting is certainly recognizable and is a nude of a young woman reclining on a rumpled bed. It was apparently quite scandalous in the day due to the pose, the red bed under the white sheet the red roses in her hand (all very symbolic) and the ‘look in her eye.’ It was believed to be a portrait of the young wife of the person who commissioned the painting (who were 12 and 40+ respectively.) The guide ended with a comment about ending a tour in a wonderful museum with historic porn. :o)
We then went to Accademia to see the David, and saw some wonderful partially completed marble sculptures done by Michelangelo that I thought were quite amazing. It was as if they were trying to escape from the marble! The guide told us Michelangelo had said that he carved directly into the stone to let the image out, which many of his contemporaries did wax and bronze or plaster molds. The David was commissions to be atop one of the smaller domes on the Duomo, but was moved to the ‘town hall’ piazza when it was completed. It was moved to the museum in the late 1900s due to deterioration.
There was an interesting music instrument display that we walked through quickly, but we were tired from walking all day and a bit ‘museumed out’ so decided to leave. During the day we were talking with a great gal named Nada who was traveling along, and we invited her for dinner. We had planned to do a pizzeria, but instead went to a place the guide recommended to her for drinks and snacky foods. She lives in Canada but is from Lebanon. We had such a great time talking with her that we’ll meet up with her tomorrow night (planned Pisa and will either do it in the late afternoon after she does a bike tour, or will meet her for dinner.) She will probably come with us on Thursday for our day trip to Siena. I do love foreign travel as you meet such wonderful people, and Kim is just as outgoing as I am!
Well, I’m pooped from the day and all this typing, so I’m signing off! We may do Pisa during the day, or else we’ll do some of the local touring in Florence..we’ll see how we feel when we get up. We’ve been pretty nonstop since arriving in Venice so we could use a slower day to really feel the city.
Sam
Monday, August 31, 2009
Giorno Tres: Venezia a Firenzia
Giorno Tres: Venezia a Fierenze
Day three began with an earlier start, enjoying a lovely breakfast in the hotel and a crisp morning. Oh it was beautiful! Sunny an warm with a nice cool breeze. We headed to the Rialto Mercado (market) to check it out and were greeted with the lovely sweet smell of fresh produce. The fish market is closed on Mondays, so it was just the produce market. They had some gorgeous foods all sweet and brightly colored. We wandered a bit then found our way back easy enough. The signs are quite funny. Some are actual signs in a bright yellow with an oddly curved arrow indicating the way. Others are either paper signs, or spray painted on the wall! It’s quite funny. Then sometimes they guide the way, and others they sit and wait to see if you might be able to figure it out!! There may be great signage, then you hit a dead end and no clue where to go! After the first day and a half or so, we (I should say, Kim) seemed to get the gist of things and we made our way around pretty well. We headed back towards Piazza San Marco and the line at the Basilica wasn’t too bad so we got into it. According to the ‘church and sights opening guide’ the basilica wasn’t supposed to open until 10:30. So much for getting the most current listing! Here was the first place that suggested appropriate attire, and I got some rather pointed hand gestures as I was putting a shirt on over my sleeveless shirt. I was also conveniently covering the strap to my bag, as I wasn’t sure if I would be allowed in with it, but despite our best intentions, we just couldn’t find the bag check which was at a nearly closed church (was not an active church, but was still used for a bag check.) We got in and saw a sea of pink wraps, which we later suspected were actually tablecloths that we found at many of the local restaurants, which women used to cover their shoulders. I’ll hold my sarcasm, given that I don’t know everyone who may read this very well, but I found it to be a rather interesting thing that people had to have shoulders covered. No one appeared to be turned away due to salacious knees showing though we didn’t see any of the amazing skirts while in line (we saw two women wearing skirts that we simply couldn’t figure how it stayed down to cover their backsides!) Interesting contrast, but I digress..
The church was MAGNIFICENT and what I most enjoyed was the tons of mosaic all around. There was an amazing and intricate pattern on the floor of different colored stone and mosaics, and some of the most ornate and detailed mosaics, many with gold leaf, on the walls. We toured the little museum which had more mosaics and tapestries and the ‘Wall of Gold’ which was really beautiful. It was a really large panel of gold depicting scenes with these huge gemstones gleaming everywhere. One wall in the church had an amazing pattern from the stones that made it, which was in a square/diamond pattern and incredible consistent. It was quite stunning.
It was such a nice cool day and we walked around a bit more. We stopped in the post office to get stamps for post cards, then wandered back into the maze of San Marco to stop back to find a jewelry store that a friend of mine told me about. We had somehow passed it on the way to our hotel on the first day, but wanted to drop the bags and never could find it again. Today was no different! The people watching in Venice is quite amazing too and varies widely between the ultra-fashionable, to the rather scary fashion statements like bright kelly green or hot pink pants. It was good going.
We stopped back at the hotel to check out, and the man who checked us in who was quite cranky was ultra-friendly. He was all talkative, asking about our time in Venice and even gave us kisses when we left! I speculated that perhaps Monday was the day that he started drinking before noon! We headed out for lunch and found a lovely pizzeria on a side alley and got an amazing meal of Caprese salad (tomoatoes, fresh buffalo mozzerella, and basil) and a pizza with tomatoes, ricotta and mozzerella with basil. The pizza was just perfection, nice and creamy and crisp and both were really enjoyable. We then got our bags and made our way to the vaporetti (boat) to take a tour of the grand canal on the way to the train station. It was really beautiful and we took lots of pictures. We got to the train station with plenty of time and debated checking our bag, but decided it would be more work than it was worth. So we enjoyed two blended fruit drinks and chatted for a bit. The train ride was fine and we napped a little bit, only little because there was a child sitting near us with an ear-piercing shriek that was just wonderful!! The ride was beautiful through the hills of Tuscany and we found our hotel pretty easily. It’s in the shadow of the duomo and in a perfect location. The room is a bit of a disappointment, but the location can’t be beat. I once again goofed on the type of room, so let’s just say Kimmie and I will be a bit, um, cozy until tomorrow when they can change our room! The guy in check in was very nice, poured us some wine an gave us restaurant recommendations.
We walked a bit and went briefly to Otrarno, or ‘across the Arno’ river. We saw the bridge Ponte Vecchio, which looked like it had houses built on the sides, though the street level was all stores, and saw the side of Piti palace. We had a nice dinner at a place recommended of fresh pasta with mushrooms, carpacchio which was really great. I had a crème catalan which was like a lemony crème brule, and Kim had chocolate panna cotta (I know, I didn’t have chocolate, if you can believe it!!) We snuck a gelato in earlier too, but hey, we haven’t had much dairy so it’s a good thing.. Oh, and of course we had a nice chianti with dinner! We saw some great people watching as well, including a very interesting man riding a bike that sounded as if it would fall apart any minute! He had a bamboo typed mat tied to his back, as well as an assortment of other things that were rather odd!
Tomorrow we’re actually touring—I know, I know. It’s a walking tour of Florence, then an Uffizi tour (which I wouldn’t ordinarily do, but the Vatican Museum tour was one of the best I’ve seen! I already bought my ticket though, so I’ll give it away to someone.) Also doing a tour of the accademia to see the David. I’m not one for tours, but I think this will give us a great orientation and will enable us to see most of the main sights. Since we’re doing a couple of day trips, our time may be a little limited.
Bueno Sera!
Sam
Day three began with an earlier start, enjoying a lovely breakfast in the hotel and a crisp morning. Oh it was beautiful! Sunny an warm with a nice cool breeze. We headed to the Rialto Mercado (market) to check it out and were greeted with the lovely sweet smell of fresh produce. The fish market is closed on Mondays, so it was just the produce market. They had some gorgeous foods all sweet and brightly colored. We wandered a bit then found our way back easy enough. The signs are quite funny. Some are actual signs in a bright yellow with an oddly curved arrow indicating the way. Others are either paper signs, or spray painted on the wall! It’s quite funny. Then sometimes they guide the way, and others they sit and wait to see if you might be able to figure it out!! There may be great signage, then you hit a dead end and no clue where to go! After the first day and a half or so, we (I should say, Kim) seemed to get the gist of things and we made our way around pretty well. We headed back towards Piazza San Marco and the line at the Basilica wasn’t too bad so we got into it. According to the ‘church and sights opening guide’ the basilica wasn’t supposed to open until 10:30. So much for getting the most current listing! Here was the first place that suggested appropriate attire, and I got some rather pointed hand gestures as I was putting a shirt on over my sleeveless shirt. I was also conveniently covering the strap to my bag, as I wasn’t sure if I would be allowed in with it, but despite our best intentions, we just couldn’t find the bag check which was at a nearly closed church (was not an active church, but was still used for a bag check.) We got in and saw a sea of pink wraps, which we later suspected were actually tablecloths that we found at many of the local restaurants, which women used to cover their shoulders. I’ll hold my sarcasm, given that I don’t know everyone who may read this very well, but I found it to be a rather interesting thing that people had to have shoulders covered. No one appeared to be turned away due to salacious knees showing though we didn’t see any of the amazing skirts while in line (we saw two women wearing skirts that we simply couldn’t figure how it stayed down to cover their backsides!) Interesting contrast, but I digress..
The church was MAGNIFICENT and what I most enjoyed was the tons of mosaic all around. There was an amazing and intricate pattern on the floor of different colored stone and mosaics, and some of the most ornate and detailed mosaics, many with gold leaf, on the walls. We toured the little museum which had more mosaics and tapestries and the ‘Wall of Gold’ which was really beautiful. It was a really large panel of gold depicting scenes with these huge gemstones gleaming everywhere. One wall in the church had an amazing pattern from the stones that made it, which was in a square/diamond pattern and incredible consistent. It was quite stunning.
It was such a nice cool day and we walked around a bit more. We stopped in the post office to get stamps for post cards, then wandered back into the maze of San Marco to stop back to find a jewelry store that a friend of mine told me about. We had somehow passed it on the way to our hotel on the first day, but wanted to drop the bags and never could find it again. Today was no different! The people watching in Venice is quite amazing too and varies widely between the ultra-fashionable, to the rather scary fashion statements like bright kelly green or hot pink pants. It was good going.
We stopped back at the hotel to check out, and the man who checked us in who was quite cranky was ultra-friendly. He was all talkative, asking about our time in Venice and even gave us kisses when we left! I speculated that perhaps Monday was the day that he started drinking before noon! We headed out for lunch and found a lovely pizzeria on a side alley and got an amazing meal of Caprese salad (tomoatoes, fresh buffalo mozzerella, and basil) and a pizza with tomatoes, ricotta and mozzerella with basil. The pizza was just perfection, nice and creamy and crisp and both were really enjoyable. We then got our bags and made our way to the vaporetti (boat) to take a tour of the grand canal on the way to the train station. It was really beautiful and we took lots of pictures. We got to the train station with plenty of time and debated checking our bag, but decided it would be more work than it was worth. So we enjoyed two blended fruit drinks and chatted for a bit. The train ride was fine and we napped a little bit, only little because there was a child sitting near us with an ear-piercing shriek that was just wonderful!! The ride was beautiful through the hills of Tuscany and we found our hotel pretty easily. It’s in the shadow of the duomo and in a perfect location. The room is a bit of a disappointment, but the location can’t be beat. I once again goofed on the type of room, so let’s just say Kimmie and I will be a bit, um, cozy until tomorrow when they can change our room! The guy in check in was very nice, poured us some wine an gave us restaurant recommendations.
We walked a bit and went briefly to Otrarno, or ‘across the Arno’ river. We saw the bridge Ponte Vecchio, which looked like it had houses built on the sides, though the street level was all stores, and saw the side of Piti palace. We had a nice dinner at a place recommended of fresh pasta with mushrooms, carpacchio which was really great. I had a crème catalan which was like a lemony crème brule, and Kim had chocolate panna cotta (I know, I didn’t have chocolate, if you can believe it!!) We snuck a gelato in earlier too, but hey, we haven’t had much dairy so it’s a good thing.. Oh, and of course we had a nice chianti with dinner! We saw some great people watching as well, including a very interesting man riding a bike that sounded as if it would fall apart any minute! He had a bamboo typed mat tied to his back, as well as an assortment of other things that were rather odd!
Tomorrow we’re actually touring—I know, I know. It’s a walking tour of Florence, then an Uffizi tour (which I wouldn’t ordinarily do, but the Vatican Museum tour was one of the best I’ve seen! I already bought my ticket though, so I’ll give it away to someone.) Also doing a tour of the accademia to see the David. I’m not one for tours, but I think this will give us a great orientation and will enable us to see most of the main sights. Since we’re doing a couple of day trips, our time may be a little limited.
Bueno Sera!
Sam
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Giorno Due: Venezia
Giorno Due: Venice
We awoke to the beautiful sound of the San Marco Basilica bells calling the faithful, surprised that we slept so late. I usually am up with the light, around 6 or so, but I was up from 2-5 for some reason, and we slept in until 9! We missed the hotel breakfast by the time we headed out and caught a macchiato or two at the café a few doors down, as well as a croissant which was filled with apple. The weather was magnificent—nice and crisp with a light breeze and full sun and it was just wonderful. It’s a great location to people watch, and we got some great views! Our favorite was a woman who was wearing a flowy and loose brightly satin colored dress. Did I mention the light breeze? Well, I’ll confess that we got a few good laughs waiting to see if she was wearing anything underneath! She ended up walking down the road and turning as another gust of wind caught her dress, and we saw several feet of the dress flowing behind the corner she just turned down! Thankfully never did answer our question!
We walked towards the Piazza San Marco again amazed by the volume of pigeons in such a relatively small area. It was especially amazing that people would feed them by hand and encourage them to land on them! We headed towards the Correr Museo to get tickets that would allow us into the Basilica Museo and Palazzo Ducale, or Doge’s Palace. We toured the Correr Museo just because then headed over to the Palazzo Ducale. We noticed the campanile (bell tower) had a short line, so up we went to take in the views. They were magnificent! We were blessed with the bells ringing when we were up there, and were almost able to hear once we made it down! The views were really amazing and it was well worth going up. The elevator was a little bit of a disappointment, but I was a bit sore from the flight and the 8+ hours of walking yesterday so it was ok!
The Palazzo Ducale is a similar concept to the Tower of London. It housed the government from 1150-1450 as well as a prison. The prisoners arrived by water, so the last sight of freedom they had was the “Bridge of Sighs”. The palace was impressive and rather large. We were hungry so we grabbed a snack- Kim got foccachia which was actually a pizza crust with melted cheese, greens of some kind and fresh tomatoes. I got a prosciotto cotta y formaggio panini and a prosecco. We decided to hit the travel office to get tickets to Florence for tomorrow then headed out to see some churches. Yes, I am obsessed with them. We headed in the direction that we THOUGHT would get us to the Rialto bridge.. and walked, and walked, and walked. Lost again! Somehow we got so turned around we managed to walk a good half hour out of our way into a whole different neighbood in Venice called Castello. We saw the Armory/military building before we realized!
We finally made it to the Rialto bridge and crossed over. The neighborhood was very quaint and we enjoyed wandering. We found the San Polo Church, which was closed, and continued on until we saw the Frari Church. We walked around and toured the Scuolla San Rocco, Scuolla Church and Frari church. All were beautiful in different ways and styles. The Frari Church was brown brick on the outside and the most ornate and largest inside. The Scuolla had the most beautiful paintings, but it was very dark. It’s funny because our guide books as well as friends warned us about dress code in churches: no exposed knees or shoulders. So we both wore capris, had closed toes shoes in our bag, and Kim had a short sleeved shirt but I brought a cardigan with me. Never did we get questioned, though, of course if we hadn’t brought the accessories, I’m sure it would have happened!! We then headed towards the area that my friend Sandy told me about with an interesting chocolate and hazelnut ice cream, but I had left the paper in the room unfortunately and wasn’t sure I had the right place. And we had just eaten and weren’t very hungry, so we wandered around and came upon a beautiful park called Giardino Papadopoli near the grand canal. We exited and walked along the canal which was gorgeous. We found a store with some beautiful Murano glass, which Venice is known for. We both found things that we liked, but the place is near the hotel that we are staying at on our last night in town so we’ll head back most likely. Across the canal is the bus station and the train terminal, so we know where we’re going tomorrow to take the train to Florence.
We continued walking through the Santa Croche neighborhood, which was beautiful and quaint. We found a nice little campo and sat down for a drink and to rest our feet. We had done a ton of walking today, from 10 until around 10 tonight!! It was great for people watching and there were some really cute dogs walking around. Not many dogs, but those that I’ve seen all have nice collars and most don’t walk on leashes. There was a big fat cat sitting in the courtyard too, much to a dismayed dog’s view!
We continued walking, heading towards Rialto. We came upon a quaint little restaurant with a menu all in italian and thought “perfect!” What a wonderful meal! We had a mixed seafood dish, some salami and cheese, and two pasta dishes of tagiatelli with clams and a red sauce, and spaghetti and shrimp with olive oil. Both had fresh made pasta, and accompanied by a nice red wine, it was the perfect meal. We of course had to end it with gelato. Hey, we saw people eating it at breakfast time so we’re not going to feel badly. We do need the dairy anyways!!
We made our way back which seemed much more simple for some reason! Made our way over the Rialto bridge, and headed back to the hotel, wandering through the narrow alleyways and taking in the sights. We found our hotel with little issue. It’s so funny what a maze the narrow alleyways are here sometimes! Almost like someone picks up the city, and moves it on us!! And then it goes right back to where it was. Strange.
We plan to get up and out to see a few more things tomorrow before our train just before 3. I’ve really loved Venice, and I’m glad that I will have another partial day here to explore when we get back from Florence. It’s funny as the city isn’t so large, but it seems to take forever to get anywhere. Possibly because we keep getting lost!! The map is useful for orientation, however, not very good to determine exactly where you are. Roads that appear straight dead end, and you end up hopelessly lost! But we’ve figured out way for the most part! We’ll be staying in Cannaregio when we get back, not far from the train in the northern section of Venice. Looking forward to exploring a new part of the city that’s a bit off of the beaten tourist path. Also looking forward to hearing the beautiful bells in the morning when we are waking up! We have the window open and we’re taking in the wonderful breeze. It’s just gorgeous here!
Arrevederci!
Sam
We awoke to the beautiful sound of the San Marco Basilica bells calling the faithful, surprised that we slept so late. I usually am up with the light, around 6 or so, but I was up from 2-5 for some reason, and we slept in until 9! We missed the hotel breakfast by the time we headed out and caught a macchiato or two at the café a few doors down, as well as a croissant which was filled with apple. The weather was magnificent—nice and crisp with a light breeze and full sun and it was just wonderful. It’s a great location to people watch, and we got some great views! Our favorite was a woman who was wearing a flowy and loose brightly satin colored dress. Did I mention the light breeze? Well, I’ll confess that we got a few good laughs waiting to see if she was wearing anything underneath! She ended up walking down the road and turning as another gust of wind caught her dress, and we saw several feet of the dress flowing behind the corner she just turned down! Thankfully never did answer our question!
We walked towards the Piazza San Marco again amazed by the volume of pigeons in such a relatively small area. It was especially amazing that people would feed them by hand and encourage them to land on them! We headed towards the Correr Museo to get tickets that would allow us into the Basilica Museo and Palazzo Ducale, or Doge’s Palace. We toured the Correr Museo just because then headed over to the Palazzo Ducale. We noticed the campanile (bell tower) had a short line, so up we went to take in the views. They were magnificent! We were blessed with the bells ringing when we were up there, and were almost able to hear once we made it down! The views were really amazing and it was well worth going up. The elevator was a little bit of a disappointment, but I was a bit sore from the flight and the 8+ hours of walking yesterday so it was ok!
The Palazzo Ducale is a similar concept to the Tower of London. It housed the government from 1150-1450 as well as a prison. The prisoners arrived by water, so the last sight of freedom they had was the “Bridge of Sighs”. The palace was impressive and rather large. We were hungry so we grabbed a snack- Kim got foccachia which was actually a pizza crust with melted cheese, greens of some kind and fresh tomatoes. I got a prosciotto cotta y formaggio panini and a prosecco. We decided to hit the travel office to get tickets to Florence for tomorrow then headed out to see some churches. Yes, I am obsessed with them. We headed in the direction that we THOUGHT would get us to the Rialto bridge.. and walked, and walked, and walked. Lost again! Somehow we got so turned around we managed to walk a good half hour out of our way into a whole different neighbood in Venice called Castello. We saw the Armory/military building before we realized!
We finally made it to the Rialto bridge and crossed over. The neighborhood was very quaint and we enjoyed wandering. We found the San Polo Church, which was closed, and continued on until we saw the Frari Church. We walked around and toured the Scuolla San Rocco, Scuolla Church and Frari church. All were beautiful in different ways and styles. The Frari Church was brown brick on the outside and the most ornate and largest inside. The Scuolla had the most beautiful paintings, but it was very dark. It’s funny because our guide books as well as friends warned us about dress code in churches: no exposed knees or shoulders. So we both wore capris, had closed toes shoes in our bag, and Kim had a short sleeved shirt but I brought a cardigan with me. Never did we get questioned, though, of course if we hadn’t brought the accessories, I’m sure it would have happened!! We then headed towards the area that my friend Sandy told me about with an interesting chocolate and hazelnut ice cream, but I had left the paper in the room unfortunately and wasn’t sure I had the right place. And we had just eaten and weren’t very hungry, so we wandered around and came upon a beautiful park called Giardino Papadopoli near the grand canal. We exited and walked along the canal which was gorgeous. We found a store with some beautiful Murano glass, which Venice is known for. We both found things that we liked, but the place is near the hotel that we are staying at on our last night in town so we’ll head back most likely. Across the canal is the bus station and the train terminal, so we know where we’re going tomorrow to take the train to Florence.
We continued walking through the Santa Croche neighborhood, which was beautiful and quaint. We found a nice little campo and sat down for a drink and to rest our feet. We had done a ton of walking today, from 10 until around 10 tonight!! It was great for people watching and there were some really cute dogs walking around. Not many dogs, but those that I’ve seen all have nice collars and most don’t walk on leashes. There was a big fat cat sitting in the courtyard too, much to a dismayed dog’s view!
We continued walking, heading towards Rialto. We came upon a quaint little restaurant with a menu all in italian and thought “perfect!” What a wonderful meal! We had a mixed seafood dish, some salami and cheese, and two pasta dishes of tagiatelli with clams and a red sauce, and spaghetti and shrimp with olive oil. Both had fresh made pasta, and accompanied by a nice red wine, it was the perfect meal. We of course had to end it with gelato. Hey, we saw people eating it at breakfast time so we’re not going to feel badly. We do need the dairy anyways!!
We made our way back which seemed much more simple for some reason! Made our way over the Rialto bridge, and headed back to the hotel, wandering through the narrow alleyways and taking in the sights. We found our hotel with little issue. It’s so funny what a maze the narrow alleyways are here sometimes! Almost like someone picks up the city, and moves it on us!! And then it goes right back to where it was. Strange.
We plan to get up and out to see a few more things tomorrow before our train just before 3. I’ve really loved Venice, and I’m glad that I will have another partial day here to explore when we get back from Florence. It’s funny as the city isn’t so large, but it seems to take forever to get anywhere. Possibly because we keep getting lost!! The map is useful for orientation, however, not very good to determine exactly where you are. Roads that appear straight dead end, and you end up hopelessly lost! But we’ve figured out way for the most part! We’ll be staying in Cannaregio when we get back, not far from the train in the northern section of Venice. Looking forward to exploring a new part of the city that’s a bit off of the beaten tourist path. Also looking forward to hearing the beautiful bells in the morning when we are waking up! We have the window open and we’re taking in the wonderful breeze. It’s just gorgeous here!
Arrevederci!
Sam
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Day 1 in Venezia
Buon Giorno da Venizia! I’m so very excited to be here, and it’s gorgeous!!! The flight was mostly uneventful and though we were delayed about an hour leaving Philly but we did make up the time and somehow made it into Venice 10 minutes early. I was quite impressed with my 27 lb bag, though Kim actually packed a carry on! Wow. Sat next to two nice and normal people on the flights, and surprisingly managed to get a little bit of sleep on the way here.. maybe a few hours with a two hour straight shot. Kim slept a bit too, so we were tired, but revved up on adrenaline and ready to go! Amazingly, my bag was not the last bag off the plane, or even close, and it was smooth sailing to the vaporetti.
There’s no way to arrive in Venice except by water, so we did just that. The Vaporetti had several stops, in Murano, where the famous venitian glass is made, Lido, where a guy that we were talking with from LA who was working the three week venice film festival was headed to. The water was choppy from the storm in and gave the docks quite a smack upon arrival! The jolt only served to ensure we stayed well awake, and we headed off into the sea of people at Piazza San Marco to find out hotel.
Kim suggested to stop at the tourist office to get directions. Well, I usually will walk for hours before doing so, but it seemed like a really smart idea so we did. Or so you’d think. We got a map (again, seemed smart at the time!) and headed in the right direction. 10 minutes of walking through the crowded piazza, up and down stairs over the bridges spanning the smaller canals and no hotel. We stop and ask for directions again… and again.. and again. Oh yes, our first experience in Venice, like that of SO many other people, was of getting completely lost in the maze of Venice. We finally realized that we trekked well past our destination, backtracked and did eventually make it in. Whew!
Checked in and our room would be ready in one hour, so we decided to head out for lunch. But not before I decided to “clear up “ the room confusion. I had originally booked a single, and when Kim made plans to join, I booked a double. Well, when I checked in they said they had a twin. So I explained that I requested a double room. Ok, so we head out to lunch. We got two paninis which were great and loaded up on water as it’s very hot and humid, and wandered a bit to get our bearings. Went back to the room and apparently a double is one bed. Whoops! Well, the hotel staff was quite open and accepting of our request, but it wasn’t exactly the right one! :o) Cleared that up (the right time, this time!!) washed up and changed, and headed out again. We of course had to try some gelato (when in Rome, right? Or Venice anyways.) Yum. Of course.
We decided to head to Dusoduro and the Peggy Guggenheim museum. On the way we heard a rumble of thunder followed by another. “nah, it won’t happen” I said. It was a gorgeous and quaint walk through a quiet neighborhood to find the museum. It’s funny, as there’s a lot of hand-written signs in strange random places here. So, don’t look for street names, just keep an eye out for a small hand written sign! Then you come to a dead end, and … no sign! Guess your way and hope you see another, and maybe you will. If not, backtrack as you likely went the wrong way and voila! It’s a riot. The walk was nice though, again going over small canals and the grand canal on the Accademia Bridge. The museum was formerly the private residence of Peggy Guggenheim, american heiress. She had not one but three picassos, which was impressive. Also had several Pollocks. The museum was neat as it showed pictures of her posing in her house (back when it was her house) so you had the perspective of this artwork she had in her private residence. The art wasn’t really our taste, but by the time we got the museum it started POURING so we were glad for the cover. There was a special exhibit too which was avante garde ultra modern junkyard—not sure how to describe it but it was kind of interesting actually!
We ventured out in the rain and got rather soaked. I was regretting not having my flip flops (they were part of the ‘I need to lighten my bag’ mission, and missed packing several other things. As a matter of fact, Kim and I have been laughing about it. I think I win the ‘prize’ if there were one, of things forgotten. Worst of all was my battery charger and spare for my camera (resting quietly in the outlet being recharged as we speak!!) Drat. I also forgot my license, or more accurately, grabbed my AAA card instead. Mother, before you start squawking, I mean, providing your supportive opinion, I will say that as reminiscent of New Orleans as this is, I DID manage to remember my passport, which is far more important. Thankfully we didn’t plan on driving!!!! As we were walking we saw probably 25 gondolas covered and sitting in one of the waterways. The rain died down as we were there, so the gondoliers all started walking onto their boats, uncovering them, and readying them to take out people. It was really funny to see all the guys with their striped shirts balancing on the boats!
Oh, one thing I did forget to mention is the fires. So, a few weeks before I went to Costa Rica in February, I found out that there was a pretty major earthquake, right in the region we were going. Being ever responsible, I decided it made sense to NOT see what is going on in Venice and Florence. After all, why find that kind of thing out? Well, get to the airport and the super friendly (bastard) guy who checked me in pipes in “hey, did you hear about the fires just outside of Venice?” I won’t document my reply…
We walked around for a couple of hours dodging into stores when the rain got heaviest, ogling the Murano glass that’s to be seen everywhere. We came upon the Rialto bridge and checked it out, then headed off to find a trattoria for some dinner. We found a cute little place after a bit of wandering, and had a surprisingly good dinner. Kim had porcini pizza and I had fresh made tagiatelli pasta. Yum. We had some barbera wine then headed back to our hotel.. which we didn’t realize was maybe a few doors down! We had no idea we were so close.
We got to the room all set to send our messages, but unfortunately the wireless connection isn’t working in the room. At least we have Kim’s little netbook that we can write this up in the room and run downstairs to send (I hope.. guess we’ll find out in a minute!) We’re both exhausted and it’s been a long day. Getting to bed early so we can get up early to head out to see the town. We decided what we’ll do tomorrow.. but you need to wait until then to read all about it!!
Venice is really beautiful. Narrow and windy streets, and as was suggested to me before I came here, maps are largely irrelevant here. They're good for direction and perspective, but that's mostly it! Following a map led us well out of our way, and to several dead ends. The city is very quaint and it's a lot of fun to wander down the narrow alleyways to see what new adventures are lurking just ahead! I'm looking forward to exploring further tomorrow!
Arrivederce!
Sam
There’s no way to arrive in Venice except by water, so we did just that. The Vaporetti had several stops, in Murano, where the famous venitian glass is made, Lido, where a guy that we were talking with from LA who was working the three week venice film festival was headed to. The water was choppy from the storm in and gave the docks quite a smack upon arrival! The jolt only served to ensure we stayed well awake, and we headed off into the sea of people at Piazza San Marco to find out hotel.
Kim suggested to stop at the tourist office to get directions. Well, I usually will walk for hours before doing so, but it seemed like a really smart idea so we did. Or so you’d think. We got a map (again, seemed smart at the time!) and headed in the right direction. 10 minutes of walking through the crowded piazza, up and down stairs over the bridges spanning the smaller canals and no hotel. We stop and ask for directions again… and again.. and again. Oh yes, our first experience in Venice, like that of SO many other people, was of getting completely lost in the maze of Venice. We finally realized that we trekked well past our destination, backtracked and did eventually make it in. Whew!
Checked in and our room would be ready in one hour, so we decided to head out for lunch. But not before I decided to “clear up “ the room confusion. I had originally booked a single, and when Kim made plans to join, I booked a double. Well, when I checked in they said they had a twin. So I explained that I requested a double room. Ok, so we head out to lunch. We got two paninis which were great and loaded up on water as it’s very hot and humid, and wandered a bit to get our bearings. Went back to the room and apparently a double is one bed. Whoops! Well, the hotel staff was quite open and accepting of our request, but it wasn’t exactly the right one! :o) Cleared that up (the right time, this time!!) washed up and changed, and headed out again. We of course had to try some gelato (when in Rome, right? Or Venice anyways.) Yum. Of course.
We decided to head to Dusoduro and the Peggy Guggenheim museum. On the way we heard a rumble of thunder followed by another. “nah, it won’t happen” I said. It was a gorgeous and quaint walk through a quiet neighborhood to find the museum. It’s funny, as there’s a lot of hand-written signs in strange random places here. So, don’t look for street names, just keep an eye out for a small hand written sign! Then you come to a dead end, and … no sign! Guess your way and hope you see another, and maybe you will. If not, backtrack as you likely went the wrong way and voila! It’s a riot. The walk was nice though, again going over small canals and the grand canal on the Accademia Bridge. The museum was formerly the private residence of Peggy Guggenheim, american heiress. She had not one but three picassos, which was impressive. Also had several Pollocks. The museum was neat as it showed pictures of her posing in her house (back when it was her house) so you had the perspective of this artwork she had in her private residence. The art wasn’t really our taste, but by the time we got the museum it started POURING so we were glad for the cover. There was a special exhibit too which was avante garde ultra modern junkyard—not sure how to describe it but it was kind of interesting actually!
We ventured out in the rain and got rather soaked. I was regretting not having my flip flops (they were part of the ‘I need to lighten my bag’ mission, and missed packing several other things. As a matter of fact, Kim and I have been laughing about it. I think I win the ‘prize’ if there were one, of things forgotten. Worst of all was my battery charger and spare for my camera (resting quietly in the outlet being recharged as we speak!!) Drat. I also forgot my license, or more accurately, grabbed my AAA card instead. Mother, before you start squawking, I mean, providing your supportive opinion, I will say that as reminiscent of New Orleans as this is, I DID manage to remember my passport, which is far more important. Thankfully we didn’t plan on driving!!!! As we were walking we saw probably 25 gondolas covered and sitting in one of the waterways. The rain died down as we were there, so the gondoliers all started walking onto their boats, uncovering them, and readying them to take out people. It was really funny to see all the guys with their striped shirts balancing on the boats!
Oh, one thing I did forget to mention is the fires. So, a few weeks before I went to Costa Rica in February, I found out that there was a pretty major earthquake, right in the region we were going. Being ever responsible, I decided it made sense to NOT see what is going on in Venice and Florence. After all, why find that kind of thing out? Well, get to the airport and the super friendly (bastard) guy who checked me in pipes in “hey, did you hear about the fires just outside of Venice?” I won’t document my reply…
We walked around for a couple of hours dodging into stores when the rain got heaviest, ogling the Murano glass that’s to be seen everywhere. We came upon the Rialto bridge and checked it out, then headed off to find a trattoria for some dinner. We found a cute little place after a bit of wandering, and had a surprisingly good dinner. Kim had porcini pizza and I had fresh made tagiatelli pasta. Yum. We had some barbera wine then headed back to our hotel.. which we didn’t realize was maybe a few doors down! We had no idea we were so close.
We got to the room all set to send our messages, but unfortunately the wireless connection isn’t working in the room. At least we have Kim’s little netbook that we can write this up in the room and run downstairs to send (I hope.. guess we’ll find out in a minute!) We’re both exhausted and it’s been a long day. Getting to bed early so we can get up early to head out to see the town. We decided what we’ll do tomorrow.. but you need to wait until then to read all about it!!
Venice is really beautiful. Narrow and windy streets, and as was suggested to me before I came here, maps are largely irrelevant here. They're good for direction and perspective, but that's mostly it! Following a map led us well out of our way, and to several dead ends. The city is very quaint and it's a lot of fun to wander down the narrow alleyways to see what new adventures are lurking just ahead! I'm looking forward to exploring further tomorrow!
Arrivederce!
Sam
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