Well, my Italian holiday was like a movie-come true in real
life!
While January 2012, I visited Peru with my childhood friend
Ana and her husband Scott – this past holiday I went to Italy with my other
childhood friend Michelle, who I’ve known since third-grade.
The last time I was in Italy was in
1992 when I travelled there with my brother and we only visited, so I was
really looking forward to exploring more of Italy.
Our itinerary had the expected
visits to museums and churches but thanks to my amazing travel agent, Kim, we
also had some fun “experiences” that would round out our agenda and make it
truly memorable!
Thurs. Dec. 27, 2012
I arrived in Florence in at 9 a.m.
in the morning after an extremely long flight from Sydney via Hong Kong and
Zurich. What was strange was that upon
landing in Florence, I picked up my baggage and just walked right out of the
airport without any immigration, customs or security. It was such a small airport; in fact it
reminded me of the San Diego Commuter Terminal it was so small and casual.
It was also odd that I got a stamp
in my passport not in Italy, but Zurich where I didn’t even step out of the
airport to visit. I also didn’t realise
that Switzerland didn’t use the Euro as the rest of Europe did, but instead
used the Swiss Franc, when I purchased a coffee and breakfast at the airport.
In any case, since Shell’s flight
didn’t arrive until later that afternoon, I checked my luggage in at the Florence
train station and wandered around Florence on my own. I was surprised to stumbled upon the Il Duomo
Square in my completely meandering wanderings so took a look at the Basilica
and its surrounding area. As I was feeling a big jet lagged, it was all at a
relatively slow pace, coffee at one place, lunch at another, gelato at yet
another place as I ended up at the Ponte Vecchio which is a romantic bridge
with a lot of jewelry stores (would come to be an observed pattern).
At around 2:30/3 p.m. I met Shell
and the private car that would take us to Borgo di Cortefreda Resort where
we’d be staying for the first leg of our trip in the Tuscan region. Upon arrival we explored the area by checking
out a nearby town and then dinner was a
4-course welcome meal that was part of our package.
The meal was amazing and very, very
filling (which was another trend on this trip):
·
Apple spritzer
·
Onion flan
·
Bruschetta with tomato
·
Homemade ravioli
·
Wonderfully tasty steak slices with Classico
Chianti
·
Vin Sante dessert win and almond biscotti
Our room was very quaint, had a
spectacular view and reminded me of Claude Monet’s blue room in Giverny,
France.
Fri. Dec 28, 2012
Our private tour guide Giacomo
picked us up to take us on a full day excursion to three Tuscan cities. In the morning we went to this wonderful
medieval town, called Sienna, which is well known (although neither Shell or I
had heard of it) around the world for this famous horse race called “Il Palio”
which takes place in this scallop shaped, very small plaza called Il Campo in
Sienna.
I absolutely loved this ancient,
walled city which was so charming and wished we could have spent more than the
few hours we had there! The highlight
was Il Campo where on July 2 and Aug. 16 the town hosts a horse race that
involves jockeys riding bareback 3x’s around this very small track
clockwise. These races only last 3
minutes and people watch from either in the square or pay ridiculous amounts of
money to rent one of the apartments in the square.
There are 17 contradas (each has
their own animal banner – like dragon, turtle, she wolf or giraffe – which
strangely are clearly not indigenous to Italy which we found bizarre) and by
lottery 10 contradas are selected to race.
This race is a very big deal;
“their life” in Sienna and everyone is somehow involved in these races. When we viewed the square where these races
take place, it’s no Arlington Racetrack, it’s in fact very small, has sharp
corners and jockies have been known to slip off the horses (remember they ride
bareback) and die.
Video of Sienna
I will share a new learning – the
color “Sienna brown” in the Crayola crayon box is due to the color of stone of
the castle walls of Sienna. Now I’m sure your life is now fuller because of
this new knowledge.
We had coffee and mignon semi
freddo at Alessandro Nannini (Note to Ana and Scott: This is where we got your
wine and biscotti from, hopefully Shell’s sent it along). The husband that owns this place is a famous
former Formula 1 driver who reportedly was in a helicopter accident where his
arm was amputated and his wife/sister is a famous singer. This is also where I learned how it works in
Italy – you order and pay for your coffee, then go to the counter with your
receipt and then drink standing at the bar that I found a very social way to
enjoy my coffee in Italy.
At noon we met Giacomo and in the
video you’ll hear the bells from the Cathedral at the top of the hill. Then off we headed to a small castle
fortress, called Monterriggioni Toscana, where we walked along the battlement
walls and afterwards had a lovely spaghetti Bolognese (one of the best meals)
for lunch. This is where we purchased
some beautiful bracelets and a gorgeous burgundy colored hand-woven jacket for
my Mom.
Then onwards to San Gimignanon
(pronounced San Jimmy-yano) which is an incredibly well preserved medieval
castle that’s famous for its 14 towers (it originally had 72 towers) where the
wealthy resided (status symbol to live high and in protected towers). And much like in medieval times, this town
also had 3 Museums of Torture for
tourists to visit (no, we did not go in to see these).
The Torre Mangia is the tallest
tower and I must admit, Shell and I struggled to figure out which of the many
towers we saw was the tallest. But you’ll see in our photos we did finally
identify Torree Mangia.
As I love to buy artwork from
places I visited, one of my prized pieces came from an artist’s studio down one
of the side streets of San Gimignanon.
Photos from Tuscany
Sat. Dec. 29, 2012
After such a busy day, it was nice
to wake up more leisurely this morning.
We had our Tuscan cooking class at 10:30 a.m. with Alessandro “Alex” who
spoke excellent English from his time as a chef in Cabo San Lucas and
Atlanta. He’s opening a restaurant of
his own “Vin de Vente” so we were lucky to have him as our cooking instructor.
We learned to make:
·
Papa pomodoro with bread (a chunky tomato soup)
·
Cantochini (almond biscotti) – Taken from the
word for “corner” cantucchio
·
Wine reduction for veal shank
·
Ravioli (also linguini and Angelina cappellini)
from long thin, large pieces of dough called “sfoglia” which as you’ll hear in
the video I could never correctly pronounce this word, totally butchered it
Video of Tuscany Cooking (Part 1)
We also did a honey and jam tasting
with pecorino (sheep) cheese which was very yummy and I brought home some of
the jam (and because I was worried about Australian customs, I sent the honey I
purchased home to Mom and Papa).
And we also did a wine tasting and
of course I loved all the wine:
·
Via Cave
·
Carmegano
·
Vin Sante
Really, what could be better than
learning how to cook with a glass of lovely Chianti in your hand!
Photos of Tuscany Cooking
If you check out the video you’ll
see that Shell and I are now quite expert at making our own ravioli from
scratch. However, my tactic of trying to maximize the pasta by trying to make
the ravioli bigger (an extra large moon shaped ravioli) didn’t work out all
that well as it was more pasta than cheese and when we cooked it, it was also
first to float to the top.
Video of Tuscany Cooking (Part 2)
Later in the afternoon, we had
another tour, which had us visiting another small medieval town called Montefioralle
that was a quaint residential community.
Then we visited a piazza in Greve to visit a famous butcher shop called
Falorni and afterwards a winery for a tour and tasting called Casa Emma
Winery.
On the winery tour, I learned that
there are 8 Chianti wine regions and a black rooster emblem calls out that the
wine is from the Florence region we visited.
Also in terms of nomenclature, Chianti Classico is wine that’s 1 year
old and Chianti Classico Reserve is wine that’s 2+ years. All chianti wine must be at least 80%
sangiovesi grapes. The evening was
capped off with a 4-course meal at Scudoria ai Passignano.
Video of Wine Tasting
Sun. Dec. 30, 2012
On our last morning, Shell and I
purchase a half a case of wine to ship home as gifts for our family. In addition to buying several bottles of
Chianti Classico with the black rooster that designates that it came from the
region we visited, I also purchased a bottle of white from San Gimyango which
was very, very good.
We had a 2-hour train ride to
Venice and when we stepped out of the train station we were welcomed by the
most spectacular weather! It was gorgeous and sunny and we loved the hustle and
bustle of life on the Grand Canal. We had a private boat to our hotel and as we
rode along my initial impression was “here’s a city centered on waterways to
get around” and these are major “roads” not like the narrow waterways you
typically see (although there are those as well). Plus, there was a bevvy of activity around
the Grand Canal with many boats of all sizes (speed boats, ferries, boat taxis,
gondolas to very large boats) buzzing around and I don’t know why I was
surprised, but there were also traffic lights on some of the more major
waterways.
Video of our arrival in Venice
Back in June 2012, I’d visited
Shanghai’s “Venice of the East” (see blog here)
the real thing is much, much more impressive, thriving and bustling.
We settled into Hotel Concoria, which is very close
to Saint Mark’s Square, we walked around until it was time for our Serenading
Gondola Ride. To Michelle’s great
relief, the gondolier did not sing, rather we were in a group of 4 other
gondolas and in one of the other gondolas there was a professional singer and
an accordionist. His voice resonated through the small narrow canal ways we
took and it was like listening to Andrea Bocelli.
Video from Gondola Ride
Venice Photos
As we walked along the Grand Canal
we found this Peruvian music group in Venice that reminded us of our best
friend Ana who is Peruvian. Ana and
Scott, here’s a pop quiz for you:
Video Quiz for Ana and Scott: What
is this Peruvian group playing along the Grand Canal in Venice (an odd
juxtaposition)?
The other thing we noticed
throughout our trip was the trend in what we called these “bubble” jackets that
reminded us of the Michelin Man which has tires all around his body. There's a photo in the highlights of photos below – now imagine entire families
wearing “bubble” jackets, yes there were lots of people all over Italy wearing
these jackets.
Dinner was a casual affair (a nice
break from the 4-course meals) where I enjoyed a simple Vongalier clam sauce
with spaghetti.
Mon. Dec. 31, 2012
It was a mad rush at breakfast as I
realized the guide for our PhD Scholar Cultural Tour was not meeting us as the
others have in our hotel, but a bit of ways away. We very quickly walked to Rialto and caught
our first water bus. In a funny coincidence, Luca, our Marine Biologist Tour
Guide, was on the same water-bus as us and had spotted us before we got to our
designated meeting place.
We learned tremendous amounts of
information about how while Venice is sinking and the water levels are rising. For
example, did you know that Venice is an artificially built town? When they
built Venice they installed many wood pillions closely together, then siphoned
out the water. Then they put wood platforms, marble, concrete and limestone
into the building. Interestingly, when they were constructed they deliberately
tilted in the building so as water expanded and seeped into the walls of the
building, it compressed the walls inward vs. outward which would have destroyed
the building.
In 1995, the city of Venice added a
few inches to most building foundations and you can see evidence of this in the
small steps added to the stairs of the bridges around the city (these small
steps reminded me of the Winchester Mystery House, which for entirely different
reasons built these tiny steps).
But the city of Venice knows it
cannot continue to add inches to address this problem as then the ceiling of
the first floor becomes unlivable.
A few months before our visit, I
had read of the Venice floods. And it was interesting to see how many of the
homes have these gates that cover the bottom of the door and seal them off to
prevent flooding their home.
Luca also showed us how brick and
wood foundations of the various homes are rotting and how the salt water,
seepage, moisture and bacteria in the water are weathering the foundations.
What I didn’t realize is that
without the tides, Venice would smell terribly. In fact, the canals are like
sewage pipes for the people of Venice.
There’s a project where they close off the water if the tides are too
high, but this is only done after careful consideration as things start to
smell if that natural tides don’t carry away the sewage.
And that Venice has their version
of rent-controlled apartments and long waiting lists, but these are instead for
places to dock a boat in the city. There are extremely long waiting lists as
families tend to pass these on and thus come up very rarely.
Luca told us that the demographics
of people living in Venice is actually quite old. So the city really
appreciates tourists and using income from tourism to pay for many expensive
repairs to the canal system.
In history, Venice has always been
respectful of personal freedom and where people could enjoy a good life with a
solid merchant and intellectual community.
Galileo lived for a many years in Venice, for example.
Another highlight of this trip was
when Luca took us to a local hangout where we enjoyed a drink and the Italian
version of tapas as this great osteria. I enjoyed many tasty nibbles with
various toppings. Michelle enjoyed a
glass of prosecco or sparkling white wine.
Photos from Scholar Tour
Luca then took us to the Rialto Bridge,
which was much debated when it was built as many did not believe that such a
large bridge made of stone would last.
Because there are hundreds of pillions supporting them and the large
buildings at each end weighing them down, it has lasted many, many years.
We wrapped up the tour in San Paolo
Campo (only San Marco is called a square) where there was an ice skating rink
around a well. Then went shopping in
the San Silvestro area before heading back to the hotel to prepare for New
Year’s Eve.
For New Year’s Eve dinner, Ristorante “da IVO”
was recommended to us and it was spectacular!
We had the best wait staff (our waiter had photos with famous
celebrities he’d served there including George Clooney, Natalie Portman, Sting,
REM’s Michael Stipe, Elton John, Tony Bennett, Clive Owen, Tom Cruise and Katie
Homes and Jude Law) and the food and wine was wonderful. I splurged and got the
wine that the hotel maître d had suggested which was from Sting’s nearby Tuscan
winery called Sister Moon (90 Euro). I had
a lovely fillet of fish with artichoke, champagne on entry, and a salmon and
marinated sea bass entrée.
It’s a good thing it was such an
enjoyable experience as the restaurant was incredibly hard to find, right
before a bridge. We must have passed by the place twice, had to ask 2-3 people for
directions and were about to give up before we finally found it.
Around 10 p.m. we headed to the
Piazza San Marco to stake out our spot for the concert and New Year’s Eve
countdown. Amazingly, it was not very
crowded (so unlike Times Square in NY) and we were able to make it to the very
front near the stage. Luckily the evening was not very cold either!
The theme was “White Mask” so we
both had our gorgeous white Venecian masks to wear. The music they played was very retro and hit
the crowd favorites including Gangnam Style (so funny to see them do this in
Italian), Fame (from the 80’s), Soul Sister from Tina Turner and what Michelle
laughed out loud at when she heard it – the theme song to the 1970s TV show The
Jefferson’s.
After the countdown, there was a
bit of time between the fireworks. Knowing what we know now, we should have
moved along to the waterfront as from San Marco’s Square you could not see the
fireworks. So in a last minute scramble we found a side alley where we could
get a peak at the fireworks.
Video from the New Year’s Eve
Countdown
Even though our hotel was right
next to San Marco, due to traffic flow control, we ended up walking all the way
around and well out of our way to get back to our hotel pressed between quite
crowd of people that seemed to come from out of nowhere.
Photos from New Year’s Eve
Tues. Jan. 1, 2013
We woke up leisurely for breakfast
and decided how we wanted to spend the day as many of the popular sights were
closed. Ultimately we decided to do a day trip via train to Verona where
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette was set.
Video from Verona
On the 1-hour train ride, I worried
that as we later learned Shakespeare had never been to Italy or Verona what we
should expect. As it turned out, Verona
is a highly touristy area with an amphitheater, lots of high-end stores and a
recreation of both Romeo and Juliette’s home. We didn’t make it to Romeo’s home
but we did go to the recreated home of Juliette and onto the balcony where the
famous scene from the book took place and visited the museum of Juliette’s
home.
We had about 4-hours in Verona and
that was plenty of time to walk around this small town.
Photos from Verona
Wed. Jan. 2, 2013
With all the sights re-opened, we
visited San Marco’s Basilica and took the English language tour to this basilica,
which was built in 30 years, but it took 500+ years for all the interior
paintings and art work to be completed.
It has 5 domes and the art work which is spectacular represents the
apostles, the Ascension, birth of Jesus and his Resurrection.
The relics of San Marco (in this
case his remains) were stolen from Constantinople and brought to Venice. At the opening of the Basilica, there was an
“appearance” or miraculous sign of the arm of San Marco which the Venecians say
is a “sign” that in spite of the fact they stole his remains from
Constantinople, it reaffirms San Marco’s wish for his remains (which in the
tour were referred to as “relics”) belong in Venice.
With our special tour, we were
allowed entry into the Baptismal as well as the nave where there’s a beautiful
piece of artwork that on the backside of this panel and is rotated to face
forward towards the congregation only twice a year. It has 4,247 precious gems – both large and
small – and is absolutely stunning. It’s very impressive as it’s entirely in
gold and many different colored gems in the form of religious and royal
figures.
Photos from San Marco
After the tour, we climbed to the
balcony for a spectacular view of San Marco Square where we’d earlier
celebrated New Year’s Eve.
Warned by my Fodor’s Guide Book to
avoid taking a private boat to visit the Murano Glass Factories we went on our
own via public boat. Our first stop was the Glass Museum that told us about the
history of Murano glass and how to recognize true Murano glass (there are many
fakes) with an “M” and a special seal.
Photos from Murano Glass
Looking back, the public boat ride
was very long with many stops along the way so we might have been better off to
take the private boat, go on the glass factory tour and put up with the heavy
handed selling.
Dinner was at the place next door
to where we had dinner our first night of arrival in Venice. I had “meatballs
with ratatouille with peppers and eggplant” which ended up being breaded and
fried meatball so not what I expected.
For our Venecian cultural
experience, we went to an hour Baroque orchestra concert. It was very bold, strong
and lively. One of the violinists played with strong gusto and drama. The concert was held in a historic “Prison’s
Palace” behind the Doge’s palace.
Video from concert
On our way out I saw a sign that
reference that Giacomo Casanova escaped from this prison. In doing a quick search online, it seems Casanova
left the Piombi (prison) on the night between 31 October and 1 November 1756.
Digging up the wooden planks with a makeshift tool he climbed out of his cell
onto the roof and then down into an attic. Crossing the whole palace he reached
the golden
staircase where he was seen by a guard who mistook him for a
politician who’d been locked in and let him out. Legend says he stopped for a
coffee in San Marco Square
before fleeing by sea on a gondola.
Thurs. Jan. 3, 2013
This day was a travel day as we
headed via train to Naples (via Rome) and then a car ride to our hotel in
Positano on the Amalfi Coast. During
our entire trip, we felt safe but there was a short period of uncertainty while
we waited outside the Naples train station for our driver to pull around with
the car. It looked to be a bad area so
we were anxious to get to our hotel – Best
Western Il Pasitea – in Positano.
Dinner that evening was at Il
Fournill where Margarite/the owner was very warm and welcoming. I had a caprese
salad and a steamed whole fish called Sea Bream that was wonderful and light.
Fri. Jan. 4, 2013
We hired a private car driver named
Fabio who took us to Pompei, Amalfi and Ravello. The 8-6 p.m. (10 hour) hire was about 325
Euro total which we felt was a very good deal.
Pompei was a vast city. I couldn’t
help recalling that this time last year I was travelling to Machu Picchu and
there were similarities although we were continents apart.
·
Both had residencies made of stone. Both had ruins in remarkably good condition
considering they were thousands of years old.
·
Pompei was a very large city in its time. The
historic site was huge and many, many times larger than Machu Picchu. We walked
through the streets and I was very surprised as how many homes there were and
how very dense the residential area was.
·
While at Machu Picchu you were impressed by how
you’re on top of a huge, high mountain (and that continues to be what I
remember most – how when I first arrived my view was of the city cloaked by the
clouds we were so high up), in Pompei it is that it’s nestled at the bottom of
Mount Vesuvias that dominates the horizon and of course was the cause of the
devastation of Pompei when it erupted in 79 A.D.
·
We visited the Basilica (#5), Apollo’s Temple
(#4), Foro (#6), Edificio di Eumachia (#8), Edifici Amministra Zione Pubblica
(Government Administration Building) (#7), the Tempo di Giove (#12), Granai di
Foro (#13), Terme del Foro (#15), Casa del Fauno (#17), Casa del Poets Tragia
(#22), Casa della Caccia Antica (#37), Terme Stabiane (#40) and Teatro Grande
(#43) – which basically means we saw the majority of Pompei and did an
incredible amount of walking.
·
We also spelled “Ana” in rocks and twigs in
Pompei because we wished she were here along with her husband Scott.
Video from Pompei (Part 1)
Video from Pompei (Part 2)
We then headed to Amalfi (the city)
where I spent time doing a lemoncello tasting (it’s what Amalfi’s famous for,
it’s the lemon skins marinated in alcohol for 30 days). I purchased my lemoncello from a place that
only uses lemons from Amalfi (plus sugar and water).
Photos from Pompei
Amalfi was a small town that’s very
commercialized with lots of shops. The
“beach” is small and the sand is dark brown so not very nice. Plus there’s a
walkout wall of large “rocks” that are in the shape of ice cubes and jacks to
protect the water-front from erosion. The
city buildings make a beautiful backdrop as they are built in and around the
rocks and they are all painted white, yellow and pink and make a beautiful
patchwork on the side of the mountain.
Photos from Amalfi
Then we had a 15-minute drive to
Ravello where we visited the gardens that host the famous (although until we
visited, we’d never heard of this famous annual concert) Ravello Festival and
other concerts all year round. They
build this special stage that’s perched on the side of the mountain so the
views are fantastic.
Video from Amalfi
I purchased ceramic salad fork and
spoon in the newest pattern of lemons that’s reminiscent of the Amalfi
Coast. I’d love to purchase a whole set
of plates, platters and small tables when I win the lottery.
On the drive back to Positano, we
stopped to enjoy the sunset. While there, I tried a juice of oranges, mikan,
lemon and “ciedro” which was a large, yellow fruit with bumpy skin and you
could eat the whole fruit skin and all.
For dinner we took a recommendation
from the concierge who said it was a “meat and pasta” restaurant at the top of
the hill with “Mama and Papa” traditional home-style meals. Which of course sounded great to both of
us.
We thought we’d be able to walk up
the hill to the restaurant so were surprised when at 6:45 p.m. we got a call
that our private car was here to take us to the restaurant.
It took us about 35 minutes and it
was a very, very long drive to literally the very top of the hill with an
amazing view of the entire Positano horizon. It’s called “Frattoria La Tagliatta” and for 35 Euro
per person we had the most amazing 4-course meal!
It definitely stands out as a
wonderful dining experience. There was no menu, they just served what “Mama and
Papa” were cooking in the kitchen that evening and there was tons of food and
the quality was top notch! We started out with 4 tapas style plates of appetizers
that included 2 eggplant halves marinated, potatoes, prosciutto and cheese and
seasoned peppers. Then it was followed
by pasta –ravioli, fusilli, spaghetti – and then meat dishes - shish kabobs, 2
types of veal, duck and chorizo. Then finally we had 3 types of dessert and
lemoncello to finish the meal. Shell and
I were totally stuffed and very, very surprised that the bill only amounted to
70 Euro total. It was very, very good and incredible value – they could easily
have charged more than double that amount!
Sat. Jan. 5, 2013
While we looked into taking a bus,
given the timing and transfers we elected to instead take a private car service
to Sorrento. There we caught a ferry (20 Euro) to the island of Capri which was
a 30 minute ride. The ferry was large
like the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau, but also took on cars.
When we arrived at the port area,
we took the funicular (like a cable car) up to the main area. Most stores were closed due to the winter
season, this time of year is definitely off-peak for this largely resort
island.
Video from Capri
We went to Carthusia perfumerie on Capri where I
smelled several perfumes before finally settling on Ligea which has the scent
of Mandarin and white roses as a perfume.
My second choice was Fleurs de Capri so I decided to get that in the
bath/shower gel scent for Mom and I.
Photos from Capri
Then we went to the Gardinier of
Augustus which is a beautiful garden with Roman statues and a gorgeous view of
the island, rocks and ocean. I found the
most perfect spot for resting, contemplation and relaxing.
We watched the sun set before
taking the ferry back to Sorrento.
Sun. Jan. 6, 2013
Our driver back to the Naples train
station was Marco and he was very keen to practice his English with us. He is very proud to be Italian and if he
could visit anywhere he’d love to go to Spain.
He was very negative about the French as it was a French footballer that
head butted one of their players in the World Cup Finals in a very
unsportsmanlike action – yet he proudly said the Italians still won. Did I mention that the Italians are quite
passionate about their football (soccer)?
We had first-class tickets on the
train from Naples to Rome but the carriage was totally packed with suitcases in
the aisle (the overhead was very small) so we were cramped and unlike the other
segments we received no welcome beverage service.
When we arrived at Hotel White (near the Trevi Fountain
and Spanish Steps, so very centrally located), we arrived to a very small
room. Our twin beds were very narrow and
compared to all the other hotel rooms we stayed in- this one had only 2
electrical outlets.
We walked to the Spanish Steps and
Piazza del Popolo. The latter is known as the artistic centre of the city with
a park and Villa Borghetti nearby. We
took the train back to the hotel (Flamino to Barberini) and found the public
train station quite easy to use.
Video of Spanish Steps
After dinner near out hotel, we
went to The Trevi Fountain where we met the Australian family from Brisbane
(Dad, Mom and two daughters) that we initially met on the train on Jan. 3 from
Venice to Naples (via Rome, which is where they got off).
Mon. Jan. 7, 2013
Our Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour
was supposed to start at 8:45 a.m., but on arrival to the tour meeting spot we
learned that Pope Benedict had a private celebration in the Sistine Chapel
(included in our 3 hour tour) until noon so they delayed our tour by an
hour. This, as we would later learn, is
because we’d visit the Vatican museum and then the apartments where the famous
paintings were and then need to time our entry after 12 noon into the Sistine
Chapel.
Video from the Vatican Museum
When I visited the Vatican 20 years
ago with my brother Tomu, I remember visiting the Sistine Chapel and St.
Peter’s Square but I don’t remember visiting the Vatican Museum or the
apartments. I suspect we were on a very
abbreviated tour. Raphael’s paintings in
the apartments were very impressive. The lapis blue was dark and very
beautiful. My favorite was the one with
the academics – the center featured Aristotle and Plato, with Michelangelo in
old booths (they were working at the Vatican at the same time but were not
friends).
The Pope’s meeting ran over, so we
were at risk of not visiting the Sistine Chapel. But luckily, it did end.
However, as there’s some strange rule that prevented us from standing and
waiting in line to enter the Sistine Chapel (the guards wanted to keep us
moving on the tour circuit) we literally had to go back to just outside the
Vatican Museum, do the entire Vatican museum tour from the start, go through
all the galleries (both levels) and the long hallway of the “Map Room” and
through all of the Vatican apartments so we would end up back at the entry to
the Sistine Chapel.
So basically, we did the tour
twice! The second time at high-speed, running after a very petite tour guide
with a red flag, darting through crowds trying to keep up with the rest of the
group. There was a Grandfather and his
son on the tour and I felt really badly for the Grandfather who struggled to
keep up.
Photos from Vatican
In comparison to my 20 year-old
memories of the Sistine Chapel, the Michelangelo painting was not as brilliant
in color as I remembered – the blues in particular seemed lighter and not as
bright. Our tour guide did tell us to
take a look at the “dark corner” which is a section that had not been retouched
so you could appreciate the original color and see the difference made by all
the restoration efforts over the years.
I also learned that Michelangelo
put his own image in the Last Judgment painting as the skin of a person from
Hell as well as the image of another man he disliked in the lower right. We also learned that after Michelangelo’s
death another artist was hired to cover the genitals with fig leaves in the
Last Judgment. In re-looking at it, it was clear that it had been painted over.
Ever after that artist was known as “the underwear guy”.
Video of Vatican Apartments
It was totally packed as we went
into the Sistine Chapel and when we exited we went immediately to St. Peter’s
Basilica. We saw Michelangelo’s first
sculpture (when he was in his 20s) and it was impressive, especially
considering his young age.
There was poetic light shining
through the windows of the Basilica. We also went into the Grotto where the sarcophagus
of past Popes is preserved. I notice
that John Paul I was only Pope for 33 days, which is the shortest in papal
history. The Basilica was build on top
of St. Peter’s Tomb that is also in the grotto.
Video inside St. Peter’s
Upon leaving the Basilica we went
to the Vatican’s Post Office to mail postcards (the Vatican is its own country,
smallest in the world with only 1,000 people).
Video from outside St. Peter’s
After our morning at the Vatican we
spent the afternoon at Campo di Fiore (flower and fruit market) that
unfortunately was already closed, so we walked around the shopping area. We selected this area as it was close to
where our Pizza Making Class at Pizza Re was located.
Johnny was the Chef and Sammy the
translator. The dough was already made so we shaped it, put the tomato sauce on
and then our favorite toppings. I put
salami, lots of cheese, black olives and artichokes that is called a
Capricciosa with salami pizza. Michelle
made a Margarita Pizza, which is cheese and basil. The hardest part about making our pizza was
turning our pizza in the 400 degrees Celsius oven.
Video from Pizza Making
Tues. Jan. 8, 2013
Marcus greeted us in character for
our start of Private Gladiator School (around 15 Euro for the cab from our
hotel for this 20 minute ride). Marcus
used to work for the airlines (Italian Airlines), but decided to shift and make
his passion his work and now he works with Gruppo Storico Romano which is a
group that’s well known for its historical reenactments at Circus Maximus on
April 21 (in Celebration of the Birth of Rome).
In the museum we learned about gladiators
and The Legion.
We learned, for example, that
initially gladiators were slaves of rich families. When a wealthy person died
after a period of mourning the family selected slaves to “fight” so one could
be sacrificed to the Gods in exchange for the safe journey to Elysian Fields
(Heaven) for their deceased family member.
After a period of time, gladiators
were men captured from war. As they were
not trusted to be slaves for the rich families they fought against, the world’s
earliest versions of “sports managers” invested in these gladiators by training
them to fight. These gladiators didn’t
have much choice as the only alternative was to rot in prison which was dark
and infested with bugs, rats and disease.
Add to this the Roman’s interest in “new forms of entertainment”. So these captured warriors were invited to
fight with the incentive that if they won a certain number of times they might
win their freedom.
Many gladiators who became famous
in this manner decided to become professional gladiators that much like World
Wide Wrestling today took on “characters” and costumes and unique helms. Note: In Roman times, they were called helms,
not helmets.
After running us through some
training “sessions”, Marcus taught us five offensive and five defensive moves
with these wooden training swords.
1. The
first was a movement was straight in front towards the head. The right leg
moves forward, the left leg/foot turned to the side for strong balance.
2. This
is a striking movement of the right arm out to the right and then swing towards
your opponent’s neck (aim to hit the opponent’s left side of the neck, my
right).
3. This
move involves squatting down very low and swinging the arm to the left and then
make a move to hit the inside of your opponent’s left leg.
4. Cross
the sword arm across the body and go from left to right aiming to hit the right
side of your opponent’s neck.
5. The
final move was a hit to the opponent’s stomach which meant thrusting the right
arm from the centre of my body and forward directly into the gut.
In the defense, the guidance is to
generally hit the on coming sword with my sword at a “cross” angle.
Video from our Gladiator Training
At the end of our training session, Marcus gave as an
Ave – Raise our hand up in greeting
Vale – Step back in thanks and then a certificate of Roman
Citizenship J
I give Marcus and his school big kudos, as Shell and I both
had a wonderful experience sparring with each other practicing our 5 moves both
on the offensive and defensive. It was
also an eye-opening experience trying on helms, holding an authentic gladius
and a shield which are a heck of a lot heavier than I imagined.
Photos from Gladiator School, Pizza Making and More
On our way to our Roman City Tour, Shell and I had an
awfully expensive lunch and a far from superlative basic lunch at the coliseum
train station. Thankfully we found a
great gelato place to make up for it – it was one of the best with Bounty and
After 8 as yummy flavors.
Then at 2 p.m. we met Patricia for our 3 hour ancient Rome
walking tour. We entered the Coliseum,
built from 72-80 A.D. at entrance #49.
It was much like when Tomu and I visited 20 years ago but without the
stage in the centre as an example.
Video of Coliseum
Photos from Roman
Tour
Then on we went on to the Roman Forum. I learned that the murder of Julius Caesar
by Cassius and Brutus was not on the Senate Forum steps in the Roman Forum we
visited as it was being remodeled during that time, so the assignation instead
took place across town at the temporary Senate Forum.
Video from city tour
The Temple of Vesta had an eternal flame that was tended by
the Vestal Virgins. If the flame went out, that meant the signal of the end of
the world.
Roman Forum Video (Part 1)
Roman Forum video (Part 2)
We also learned about a very pragmatic Emperor who put both
Antonio and his wife Flavina in the same temple to cut down on building
costs.
Then we went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that was
built by the King of Unified Rome.
Video of City Hall
We also passed by where Michelangelo (age 87) had his
funeral. On this whole trip, we saw all
of Michelangelo’s talents as an architect, sculptor and painter.
The legend for throwing coins at the Trevi Fountain is if
you throw one coin it means you’ll return to Rome, two coins means you’ll find
love in Rome and if you throw three coins you’ll get married in Rome.
Video at the Trevi Fountain
Then we headed to the Pantheon which is one of the best
preserved temples as it’s also a church so was always looked after over
thousands of years. Raphael is buried
in the Pantheon as is Empress Margarita (Queen of Pizza). Our tour wrapped up at the Piazza Navarone
which had a sculpture representing the 4 known continents at the time and the
water symbolized earth.
Video from Pantheon
When I look back at how far we walked on this tour, it’s no
wonder my feet hurt so much!
Dinner was at a local restaurant called Gioia
Mia Pisciapiano which is family owned. I loved the large flat noodle pasta
dish called Papparelle de Gauvo with cream of mushroom, ham and cognac. It was
simply devine! For dessert I had a Mille
Fiore which is a flaky pastry cake and cream.
Another new favorite!
Wed. Jan. 9, 2013
On our open day, we woke up a bit more leisurely and then
went to the Mail Box Etc. to mail off our packages of souvenirs to our families
back home. It seemed like a brilliant idea as it cost a lot less that I would
have paid for postage from Australia.
We visited the Spanish Steps again, this time during the
daylight. In the below video you’ll see
these illegal street vendors selling these globs of plastic goo and
demonstrating what they do. Basically, you throw this glob of goo onto a flat
surface and it “splats”.
The funny story is that in Venice, a lazy street vendor just
pointed at the splat on the flat surface, didn’t even bother to throw it to
show how it works. As you watch this
video, you’ll notice that there’s a noise when the glob splats on the flat
surface. It’s not from the cheap toy, that’s the street vendor making that
noise with his mouth.
All across Italy, the police are quite strict about catching
these illegal street vendors. They have people who watch out for the police and
we’ve seen some vendors leave in such a rush they leave behind their flat
surface. We even saw one “plain clothes
policeman” catching one of these illegal street vendors and writing him up.
Video of the splat
After lunch we headed to the Open Rome lime green colored
hop-on-hop-off sightseeing tour bus. Our first stop was Circus Maximus where
the chariot races used to take place. When you see what’s left it’s an open
park area for joggers, not very impressive with no real historic remains.
Video of Circus Maximus
From there we walked to the church where “The Mouth of
Truth” is located. And surprisingly it’s located outside of the church. This is where a scene from Roman Holiday took place. We each had a photo taken with
our hand in the mouth. Then we headed to Teatro to pick up the bus again.
The bus had audio so we listened as we passed where Julius
Caesar was actually assassinated on the Senate Forum which was in use when the
original was being remodeled.
We decided to take the full loop so we passed by St. Peter’s
again. Unfortunately that’s when the bus broke down so we had to get off, have
a quick coffee and wait for another bus.
This time we took the bus to Piazzo Navarone which is where artisans
sell paintings and Shell and I purchased a number of small paneled paintings
that together create a nice panorama of all the highlights of the sights we
enjoyed.
We walked back to our hotel and along the way had a very
delicately decorated cupcake called “Creative Bakery”.
Our concierge Stefano again gave us another restaurant
recommendation. This family restaurant
was called “Hotel Romania” where I had the signature mixed antipasta then I had
the spaghetti cabonara which was ok, but as I was so full it was a bit salty
from the bacon. For dessert I had the
tiramisu which was very good.
Thurs. Jan. 10, 2013
An early wake up call for the train from Rome back to
Florence/Firenze. We arrived at 9:51 a.m. and by 10 a.m. we were at our hotel,
the Best Western Viva Hotel Laurus which is a “Life Beyond Tourism” hotel. On the outside of the front door to our room
there was a photo of the views outside our window as well as a detailed
description. With hard wood floors, it was also one of the larger rooms we
stayed in.
And most importantly it had 7 power outlets which when you
consider we each had our mobile phones, our Kindles, camera battery chargers
and Shell had her laptop we had a ton of electronics to charge! So this was a big deal. In fact we’re so fastidious about this,
here’s how it all broke down:
·
Tuscany hotel 5 outlets
·
Venice hotel 4 outlets
·
Positano 3 outlets
·
Rome 2 outlets
·
Florence 7 outlets
We quickly set out to the
Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral for an audio guided tour of the
inside. Then we headed to The Uffizi
where we had noon advanced ticket reservations. When I passed by the first day
I was here there were long lines, but on this date there were none.
Of all the paintings I was most impressed with Bottecellis’
Birth of Venus and Primavera/Spring. I
was surprised that Birth of Venus wasn’t as brilliantly colored or the colors
weren’t as vibrant as the others, but I suspect it’s because it hasn’t recently
been restored.
I enjoyed hearing the associated audio stories.
·
For the Birth of Venus, I learned how the two
Gods were blowing wind, sailing Venus into shore. She’s naked and in typical
fashion covering her privates with her hair and another Goddess is awaiting
with a shawl to cover her.
·
Primavera portrayed from right to left, one of
the Gods transforming Flora into the Goddess of Nature, then Venus is on top
with a blinded cupid who shoots an arrow at Chastity, Faith and Hope who are
dancing. There’s also Hermes who’s using his magic wand.
·
There was also a painting by Michelangelo – he
rarely painted – of a commissioned piece of Christ, Mary, Joseph and a little
boy at the fence and then 5 Muses or nymphs at the far back.
·
Evidently, most personally commissioned pieces
are round. There was what I call a “Harry Potter” frame that had figure heads
popping out of the frame in 3-D.
Afterwards we went along to the Piazza Republica where we
watched “bubble guy” and had crema and chocolate miele fiorre for a snack.
Afterwards we walked along to the Ponte Vecchio. Then on to the Galleria de L’Academie namely
to see Michelangelo’s David. When you enter the museum, then head left you are at one end of a very long
hallway and the first thing you see is “David”. It looks very normal in size
from this perspective at the end of the hallway and it’s quite “white” and
looks human-like in that there are no rough edges in the marble and it’s very
smooth with no blemishes.
As you walk towards it, you realize just how big it is. It’s
on a marble platform that’s taller than me and surrounded by plexiglass that’s
also about my height. You can walk
around it 360 degrees and immediately you see how “real” it is with incredible
attention to detail. The veins in his
hand/arm, wrinkles in the hand’s knuckles, the ribcage and dimples in the
knees.
It wasn’t clear to me at first, but David is also holding a
sling shot across his back and a rock in his right hand. His eyes gaze up and to the right so I went
along to that side to see it from that perspective as well and it did indeed
feel like he was “looking” at me.
The hand on his right is also very large, the head a bit
large (but not as noticeable) as originally the sculpture was intended to be
high up on the top of the Santa Maria
Cathedral and with observers on the ground the perspective would have balanced
out.
Afterwards, I headed back to the Santa Maria Duomo to start
the 414 step climb to the top of the bell tower. It was a good recommendation from
the concierge at the Tuscany hotel as from the bell tower you can get great
views of the Duomo (Note: The alternative is to climb to the top of the
Duomo).
Photos from Florence
Video from Santa Maria Duomo
I started to climb at 5 p.m. with bells ringing and ended at
6 p.m. just as the last bells faded. It
cost 6 Euros and closes at 6:50 p.m. There were 3 platforms that you could rest
at and take in some great views. So it’s a good choice for someone who can’t
climb to the top of the Duomo or bell tower, but wants to get a bit higher up.
Video of climb to Bell Tower (Part 1)
The views were spectacular!
Oddly bells rang at 5:30 p.m. and just before 6 p.m., then loudly (in
the bell tower I climbed?) at 6 p.m. It was hard to figure out where all the
bells were ringing from and I was surprised there were any bells outside at the
top of the hour.
Video of climb down the Bell Tower (Part 2)
When back down at the bottom, we walked back to the Piazza
with the copy of David, through the Uffizi which had statues of artists and
great minds before making our way back to view the Ponte Vecchio at night.
Video of Copy of David
Then we headed to the restaurant our concierge had booked
for us –Ristorante
Parione Firenze – that was in the area of what I imagine to be the head
store for Salvatorre Ferrigamo. Shortly after we arrived, so did Tommy Hilfiger
for drinks with a few friends. I surprised myself by recognizing him, as while
I know the brand, I can’t specifically remember when I would have ever seen
him.
I had a tuna carpaccio (sashimi that was locally caught) and a ravioli with
ricotta, spinach and fondue of parmesan and sage. I also had a cheesecake that was pitched to
me as “a cheesecake with no cheese, made with Philadelphia cream cheese” that
was very light, like flan and did not have the texture or substance of
cheese. Shell had the lava cake which
she LOVED.
Here's a photo gallery of the best photos from the trip:
New Year's Eve in Venice
Pompei
We miss you Ana! In Pompei...
Cooking in Tuscany
On the Amalfi Coast at Sunset
My favorite spot at the Gardinier Augustus on the Island of Capri.
The Gladiator
Michelle and Marcus at Gladiator School
The famous horse race in Sienna. Gallop, gallop...
The restaurant we spotted Tommy Hilfiger
Independent artist in Tuscany
The ever present "bubble jacket"
On arrival at Venice, private boat.
On the patio of Juliette's home, "Romeo, Rome where art thou Romeo..."
Purchased painting in Venice.
New Year's Eve in Venice
The wine I enjoyed on New Year's Eve - it's from Sting's Winery in Tuscany
On the patio of San Marco Bascilica
In Pompei
Gondola in Venice
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