Italy: Day 8, Part 1

Hello Venice!!!

Well, not actually Venice, but we are going to Venice today. Our hotel was not actually in Venice, but in a close-by small city. Know what that meant? No street noise, no bright lights, no drunken revelers or delivery trucks. It was like a quiet paradise.

I think I left out the best part. I mean, parts.

 

 Know what that is? A shower.  A real-life, fully enclosed, shower.  No drain in the middle of the floor. No flimsy curtain. Completely self-contained and completely amazing. Again, there were the two types of toilets, but I didn't care about that at all. I was thrilled with the real shower. 

And then, 

 

Know what that is? A bed. A queen-sized bed. Not two twin beds pushed together, but a real bed. A big bed. With feather pillows.

Oh, and there was air-conditioning!!!! I know, we might have been in Heaven.  And then, we went to sleep and woke up to eat breakfast. With scrambled eggs and (Canadian) bacon. And fruit. And cheese.  Amazing. Best breakfast all trip, hands down.

Because we weren't staying in Venice, we had to hop on the train to get into the city. Here I am, looking cool.

Once we made it to Venice, we had to get on a boat to get to the other side of the city where the gotta-see sights were located. We didn't really care about touring the Jewish neighborhoods.

From the train station, we had to walk to meet our boat.

Our pond-hopper boat to Venice

Seems like the Port of Venice should have a little more demure sign. I mean, it ain't that fancy.

We did want to see St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) and the Rialto Markets so we skipped out on the group (not included in the trip price) tour and ventured out on our own, with the occasional Rick Steves supplement.

The above picture is the clock tower in St. Mark's Square that is connected with St. Mark's basilica. See FB for pictures of the basilica. The blue circular section is not ringed with numbers, but with zodiac signs. That ball in the middle of it shows the position of the moon. Just above that circle, is the hour and minute - again, in blue. You can see an X and the numbers "25." It was 10:25 a.m. when that picture was taken, or there abouts. The minute hand only changes every five minutes. I know, Roman numerals in Italy, who would have thought it?  Further up is the winged lion which is the symbol of Venice. At the tip top is the bell. On either side of the bell are human-shaped robots that bang their metal hammers on the bell to toll the time. I believe, but don't remember the source, that the first death by robot happened up there when an inattentive worker was knocked off balance by the swinging of one of the robots' arms. I can't cite my source though, so it may be false.

The Square is marked by huge pillars with the winged lions on them. It seems that Venice wanted all the ships at sea to be able to pick out Venice from the string of islands on Italy's coast.

After we saw what we wanted to see in St. Mark's Square, we headed out towards the Rialto Market. There were tons of old signs pointing the way. I wish I would have taken some pictures of them. It was like a scavenger hunt, you never knew where the signs would be.  Along the way, we were almost killed by several delivery men. There are no cars allowed in the city so goods and food had to be boated in and then trucked by hand through the city (read that as "little narrow alleyways filled with people). The delivery men would use hand trucks and loud, annoyed shouts to announce his presence. I didn't care for that at all, but it was fun to see their frustration.

And, of course, we got to see gondolas and their drivers with the cute little hats. We thought about taking a gondola ride, but when Matt inquired as to the cost and was informed that it would be about $137 bucks, we opted to skip the gondola for the twenty dollar public waterbus that we would have to use later in the day. I wasn't disappointed and don't really think Matt was either. We had lots of time on the water that day and those gondoliers looked rather shady.

Eventually, we made our way to the Rialto Market. Oh my goodness. Words cannot describe the produce we saw. Here's just a sampling of pictures:

The strawberries especially looked divine. I am a major strawberry lover, but Matt is not. I mentioned how I wanted them several times, but he, the bearer of the euros, never got my hints (until later that day).

After the produce market, we hit up the fish market. Again, pictures:

The market had every kind of seafood imaginable. There was a fishy smell, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it would become after the seafood was taken away and the heat of the day came. We got to experience that later.

Seeing all that beautiful food was making us hungry. Matt wanted to go to a little place that he had read about before we left the good ol' U.S. of A. I don't recall the name, but after an hour of searching, we finally found it. The menu was written in Italian and just outside the door. We quickly learned that they were very proud of their food and didn't take credit cards. We didn't want to have to get more euros and had already spent a fair portion of our budget for the trip. I talked Matt out of eating there and we headed back out to the streets to look for cheaper fare. We came to a McDonalds. I asked if we could eat there. Matt said no. I burst into tears in the middle of the street with dozens of small schoolchildren watching me cry. You would have thought that he just told me that my dog died. You see, I was hungry/poor/sad/angry.  I wanted to spend three euros on strawberries, but I couldn't have them. I wanted to eat, but didn't want to spend money. I wanted to do something I wanted to do, and not just everything that Matt wanted to do. Eventually, Matt realized that all he would have to do to appease me was to agree to have lunch at McDonalds. (To this day, he still knows that I can be won over with McDonalds french fries) He shuffled me inside, suggested I make use of the water closet, and bought me a Big Mac. I love that man.

After getting over my hunger-induced outburst, we went back to the market and bought some strawberries. Then, we caught the waterbus to Murano. But I'll tell you all about that tomorrow.

Italy: Day 7, Part 2

Two households, both alike in dignity, 
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, 
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. 


Romeo and Julient, Act 1, Prologue

Go on, admit it. You just swooned a little bit. I get it, I did it too. I'll let you in on a little secret though. Come close so I can whisper it. I don't like Romeo and Juliet. What? I know, I'm ashamed. But seriously, I just think they were stupid, senseless, selfish children. I'm not going to rant about it or even get up on my soap box. I just had to tell you. Can we still be friends?

Anyway.

We left Pisa about 11 or 12ish and headed to an outlet mall (I know, an outlet mall in Italy. I may have pinched myself.) in San Barbarino (or something like that). Matt and I perused the stores but didn't really see anything that we couldn't live without. I don't think I even took any pictures. But we did it, so I had to tell you about it.

Wait. I'm lying. We did find something we couldn't live without. Chocolate. Included in the outlet mall was  a Lindt outlet. We spent about 15 euros on chocolate. Me, feeling guilty? Nope.

And then we got on the bus and drove to Verona which is several hours away from San B. We got to the city about 4:30 or 5 and had about an hour or two to browse before we were to meet back up for dinner. But first, we got a quick walking tour from our group guide.

Oh, another walled city. Shocker.

First thing we noticed when we got to the city center: a colosseum. The colosseum is still being used as an ampitheatre today. I know, how amazing would it be to see a show there. Gladiators aren't the main attraction anymore. When we were there, we saw posters for a Madonna concert and of course, Romeo and Juliet. Jealous. Side note: Verona seems to be most famous for Romeo and Juliet, but The Taming of the Shrew was also set in Verona along with another one that has Verona in the name, but I can't remember it.
 

Look, you can see outdoor lighting has been added.

After the arena, we went to the House of Juliet or Casa di Giulietta.  Ever seen that movie, Letters to Juliet? Well, the scene of Juliet's balcony is just like in real life, expect for the millions of people vying for photo-ops in about 100 square feet and there's no actual wall to stick letters into. There is a wall full of graffiti, but no real wall with little holes for the letters. That's not real. The movie was based on a book about the letters that broken-hearted teenage girls send to Juliet, but they actually come in the mail. There's just no place to leave an actual letter.

Juliet's balcony

When we entered the courtyard of Juliet's house, there was a little boy up on that balcony. I hope I wasn't the only one who thought that was just wrong. Little boys do not belong on Juliet's balcony.

Juliet

And here's a statue of little fourteen-year old Juliet. You can see that certain portions of her are um, worn. Supposedly, if you rub Juliet's chest, you will have good fortune. I think, in America, rubbing a 14-year old girl's chest will just get your picture in the paper every time you move.  Actually, to get a picture of Juliet without her being groped, I persuaded our Australian mate to get in line to touch her and hesitate a bit so I'd have time to her a shot of her. Please note, I said "a shot of her" not "a shot at her." I don't want my picture in the paper.

After leaving Juliet's courtyard, we headed to explore on streets of marble. Yep, the main streets of Verona are at least topped with marble. Look:

I tried to walk on the edges of the street so as to not wear down the marble.

My face looks puffy.

The standard "drink" in Verona is famous all over Italy, but I'd never heard of it. It's called a spritz. It's bright orange from some Italian liqueur called Aperol, but also has sparkling white wine, and a little seltzer water. It's typically served with olives and chips.

After getting a little refreshment, we hit the streets to find an ATM. We were going to in Venice the next day and knew that we would need euros to pay for transportation. However, we could only find two ATMs. Normally, one would be sufficient, but there is a particular bank that didn't care for our silly American debit card. Both of those ATMs were from that bank. We were pretty close to despairing. We had about decided to just go to dinner with the group which was already paid for and worry about money once we got to Venice but on our walk to the restaurant, we saw a Barclay's! We were saved! Matt ran in and got some euros and we went to dinner all relaxed because we weren't broke in Italy.

For dinner, I don't have pictures. However, I can tell you that we had a cheese plate for antipasto, gnocci for first, chicken with potatoes for second, and ice cream for dessert. It was good, but still, I was ready for an American breakfast.

After dinner, we headed back to our bus. We drove to the outskirts of the city and then pulled over. It seemed our trusty traveling conveyance busted a belt. We sat on the side of the road for a couple of hours before our driver could take apart the engine and duct tape it back together. We finally made it to Venice about 1 in the morning. But you'll have to wait and hear about that tomorrow. Yep, tomorrow. I'm about tired of only writing about Italy.  Day 7 has three parts though...

Italy: Day 7, Part 1

We got up early to eat another bready breakfast and board the bus. I was sad to leave Florence because I really, really liked the city. However, I was excited about Pisa, an American breakfast, Verona, an American breakfast, sailing, an American breakfast, and Venice.  Plus, I was kind of ready to go home. I know, I should have forgotten about my queen size bed and clean clothes and just enjoyed the experience. I hate to admit it, but I missed America. I was incredibly torn about this once in a lifetime trip and my homesickness. Plus, I felt like we were hemorrhaging money. We had to pay for most of our meals with Euros instead of a credit card and every time we took out more Euros from the ATM, we got charged a fee. The fee wasn't awful, but I hated it. Plus, I didn't want a bunch of Euros when the trip was over. The exchange fee from dollars to Euros or vice versa is ridiculous - even at our friendly bank that gave us an international credit card (Thanks Mrs. Susan!).  The smallest Euro bill is 5 Euros. That's about 7 bucks. I couldn't keep seven dollars out of our bank account and in a drawer somewhere because we overdrew on Euros.  I mostly kept it to myself. Until Venice, but that's a couple more days away.

Anyway, on to Pisa!

We drove for a couple of hours from Florence into Pisa. Pisa is not exactly on the way to Venice, neither is Verona. The tour went out of way several hours so we could have a day of seeing two pretty neat sights. I was okay with it. So were my blistered feet.

When we got to Pisa, we had to park about a mile away and then walk into the walled city. Along the way, I got to see one of my favorite Italian sights:

 

Poppies! They are beautiful. And grew everywhere. Fields and fields of them. I tried to take pictures from the bus, but they didn't come out very well. I hope I remember those fields forever. 

After entering the great wall, we went to the restroom. For free. At McDonalds!!!! And you know what my sweet husband did? He bought me a euro burger and some fries. The drink he got for us to share even had ice in it. Not much, but there was some. That was the first ice we had seen in a week.  It made me feel better and a little less homesick.

The outdoor terrace at Mickey D's.

And then, we turned the corner and saw this: 

 That is it. All there is of Pisa. That's the whole city, right there.

I'm lying. The city was actually pretty big - I think there's even a such thing as the University of Pisa. But seriously, the famous thing about Pisa is the Leaning Tower. And there it is. The Tower is actually the bell tower to go along with that church that's in front of it.

Like in all other Italian cities, we could have climbed to the top for a nominal fee. But let's get real, if it's already leaning, I don't want to be the one that tips it over by going to the top. We chose not to climb. Instead, we became the average American tourist and tried to push it back straight.

 

 And then my sweet husband decided that he'd try to push it over. The bully. 

See, here's that wall I was telling you about: 

It goes all the way around the city. I guess those Italians were worried about invaders and had to protect all their cities.

And finally, one last shot of the Leaning Tower with no goofy tourist poses. I believe it leans because it wasn't built on solid ground. I could be wrong though, I didn't really pay that much attention. I was enjoying by burger from McDonalds too much.

Italy: Day 6, Part 2

 So far, Florence was my favorite city. It had lots of history, beauty, and steps. I loved it. For our last night in Florence, we wanted to make it special. After the Uffizi, we took a stroll down the Ponte Vecchio which is a closed-in bridge over the Arno River which is right behind the Uffizi. As the Uffizi used to be the Medici family's private museum, you better believe that it had a prime location on the river.

Ponte Vecchio is another example of Italians using all the space they could. The bridge is actually lined with jewelry shops with about 50 feet in the middle of unobstructed views of the river. Originally, the shops on the bridge were butchers. I'm glad that I didn't have to experience the meat markets in my quest for scenery.  The bridge is also known as the Golden Bridge because of those jewelry shops. Indeed, there was a lot of gold in those windows.

Along the Arno River, outside the Uffizi

The view from PV.

 The water ain't pretty, but look at that view. As you can tell, Matt is a pro at taking pictures of us. We had very few non-self portraits.  Side note: I have learned to use the timer on my camera since we have come back from Italy, but I don't think I would have used it much on the trip. I have a very enviable camera. It's black and shiny. It could have been stolen.

We did some window shopping and just enjoyed being in Florence. We headed back to our hotel to clean up for dinner and stopped at a wine shop just a few doors down from our hotel. We picked up a bottle of wine and had the hotel clerk uncork it for us. It's Italy, everyone drinks wine. All the time. After all, it's about the same price as water and in some cases, cheaper.

For dinner, we went to Ristorante Paoli. Their menu had some English, but not a lot. Luckily, our waitstaff was patient and spoke English fairly well. (J, I think you'll like this meal better.)

For starters, we split an artichoke salad. It was COVERED in parm reg. And delicious. I ate most of it. That's my pudgy hand in the picture.

Then we split an amazing gnocchi dish. It was like gnocci in a cream sauce. You know how much I like cream sauces.

 And then Matt ordered meat. Because he's a man. In fact, he ordered a baby deer. Veal. He thought it was delish. I don't care for veal, but it wasn't bad. The little slice of grapefruit and the peas were my favorite part. Oh how I miss produce.

 After dinner, it was still relatively early, so we went strolling again. Florence is really romantic. Matt wanted to go back to the Vecchio so we did. The jewelry shops were all closed. They don't just take the jewelry into the vault at night, the whole shop becomes a vault. Check out that security system. No iron bars and security cameras for the jewelry shops in Florence.

   

 And then, the bridge view. It's the same viewpoint as the above picture. You can't see the murky water. It's it romantic? I kept asking Matt if he was going to propose. He didn't think it was funny.

After he assured me that he was done proposing, we hit the city streets. Nothing was open, but the lights were on so we got to window shop. We even got to visit the Orsanmichele church. Well, the outside of it anyway. All around the building there are huge niches with very ornate statues in them.   There are 14 statues - each donated by a different guild or group. The one below, Christ and Doubting Thomas was completed in 1483. At least, the original was completed then. We didn't see the original, it's inside the church. Now, all the outside statues are reproductions.

 Know what was open that late at night? A grocery store! It was the first one we had seen, so naturally, we went in and looked around. That was a lot of fun. I wish we had found it earlier.

Florence was magical, but at the end of the day I was tired and ready for our next adventure. And the "American" breakfast that our guide had promised us in Venice. But first, we're going to Pisa and Verona!

Next up, a little leaning and a little piece of America.

Italy: Day 6, Part 1

Finally, our first full day in Florence. After getting a warm, but good night's sleep, we were set for a day of adventure. A full day of adventure, I might add.

We started the day with breakfast - dense bread, cheese, hams, juice cocktail, nutella. Italians just don't know how to do breakfast. Or fruits and vegetables. (Spoiler: wait until VENICE!) Oh well.

About 8, we joined part of our group and went to a local leather shop for a leather-shaping demonstration and a little leather buying. I really wanted a little Florentine box, but a 3 inch by 4 inch by 1 inch box was about 60 bucks. I may be married to a doctor, but we ain't rolling in the euros. In the end, we ended up getting a leather bound journal for Matt's dad and a little gold charm of the Florence coat of arms - a beautiful fleur de lis.

About 9, we met up with the whole group for a "walking" tour of Florence. We actually just sat outside the Uffizi Museum while our local guide talked about Florence. About 9:30, Matt and I decided that we'd heard about enough and struck out on our own. We walked around a bit seeing the city until about 11. At that point, we stopped at a deli counter and ordered a couple paninis and walked back to our hotel to freshen up.

I changed my shoes. As I mentioned in my earlier post, it rained a lot while we were in Florence and my go-to black satin flats were still soaking wet. Plus, I had blisters like nobody's business. I didn't take a picture of them. I'm a nice person like that. Luckily, my dear sister let me borrow her toms. I'm not a Toms kind of girl, but I was especially glad that they covered my blisters instead of rubbing them.

Thanks Marla!

And then. We climbed. Wait, that's not true. I should say, and then. We waited in line.

Amusing ourselves. And eating gelato.

Oh but wait. Tara, you haven't told us WHAT you climbed.  I know, the suspense is killing you.

We climbed THE DUOMO. What?  We climbed the dome of the Florence Cathedral. More specially, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. Remember how I told you in San G. that a big thing to do in these Italian cities is to go to the highest point? Well, Florence is no different. The highest point in Florence is the top of the Florence Cathedral. To get to the top of the dome, there's an elevator.

The Cathedral by night.

I'm lying. The only elevator I saw in Florence was inside Zara. Instead, there are stairs. Four hundred sixty-three stairs. To get to the top. And then, shockingly, 463 stairs to get back down. We knew this, yet we waited in line for an hour.  Until we saw this:

And then we waited about another hour. We had an appointment at 2:45 to go through the Uffizi, so we knew that we'd have to book it.  The time to get up, look around, and get back down is estimated at about an hour. Plus, we still had to make the walk back to the museum. At about 1:45, we finally got to start our ascent.

As you can see, we were pretty excited. Not sweating yet, but excited. And my cardigan was still on. We were in a church after all and my offensive shoulders had to be covered.  You better believe I took that cardigan off when no one was looking.

On our path to the top, we got to see several statues and vignettes. [Look, I used a fancy decorating term!]

 

More stunning than the statues, I mean, I feel like I've seen a million statues by this point, were the paintings and frescos in the cathedral itself. Don't tell security that we stopped to look.  Because of our devious ways, you get to see some of what we saw too! 

 

This is the fresco lining the dome. It was finished in 1579. Seriously.

Here are some close-ups.

And then, about twenty minutes later, we made it to the top.  Look:

Makes you want to hop on a plane to Florence, doesn't it? I know, me too. Especially considering the current state of my inbox.

After we enjoyed the breeze from the top of the world for a few minutes, we started the trek back down. Then we skirted off to the Uffizi and fought the millions of other tourists inside. Pictures weren't allowed inside the museum. I'm sure you can google to find some of the things we saw.  Matt got in trouble for standing too close to a painting. I pretended that we weren't together.

By that point, it was about 6:00. We did other things, but you'll have to wait to read about them in the next post. Which may or may not be published before I turn 80.