Venice Day 1

So we left bright and early for us this morning - getting on a train for the first time since leaving home to head to Venice. We rode 2nd class because 1st class was sold out but we knew this in advance so no big deal, right? Let me tell you - our luggage was sitting in our seats because there was no where to put anything. The train car was completely packed with tourists and their suitcases. It made me think of a plane because there was space above you but nothing for suitcases. We ended up blocking the bathroom door for awhile until someone who worked on the train came and cleared things. We sat in the very back but at least we were able to sit! The train ride was about 2 hours and as soon as we arrived we were greeted by intense humidity.....Getting to our hotel was a trick because it was about a 15 minute walk. No big deal but when you have 90+ temperatures out with 90+ humidity then it's pretty miserable. Plus, when you have to go over 5 or more bridges to get to your hotel, and these are bridges with steps - not just walking over them.......we were soaked with sweat when we arrived. Of course, not 5 minutes into checking in, John looked through his backpack and realized........

He left his video camera on the train.

I think he about had a heart attack. We unloaded our stuff and went back to the train station but nothing. We have been instructed to call the train station's lost and found tomorrow morning. We're not very hopeful and we're both about sick because the camera was very expensive....
However, we're determined not to let it get us too down.

Photo right outside of our hotel.
Anyway, we started wandering through the city and I will say that it's very very quaint. Since you can only travel by foot and boat, you just walk everywhere. The pathways/walkways/alleys are extremely narrow and the streets are convex large paved stone for drainage.
We went to St. Mark's Cathedral which is stunningly beautiful. The one thing I found very disturbing is that it's free to get inside but they charge for EVERYTHING. To go in the area where the "treasure" is kept and also the suspected bones of St. Mark, it's 3 E per person. Then in another area, to go through another exhibit it was 2 E per person. It just seemed wrong to do that in a church, but that's just me. The photo I have below is one taken inside - a big "no no" but there you have it. There was a particular area reserved to go in if you wanted to pray, so we went and I said prayers for all my family and friends back home!
Afterwards we wandered around and got an early dinner. We found that if we want to eat early, you have to go around 4:30 or so - in the time considered "snack time" for Italians - and then you can eat! So I feel much better this evening. :>) Here's John right outside our hotel room determined to enjoy Venice despite losing his camera.
We went back out this evening to wander again and possibly do a gondola ride but it's starting to thunder and lightning so we headed back in to relax. Tomorrow is our 1/2 day cooking class which John is extremely excited about. I'm more excited to take pictures! It's calling for 80% chance of rain all day so it might be a good day to do that.

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Well, I just realized that I was signed in as "John" for the Florence, Day 2 blog. Sorry!

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Florence Day 2

So today was our private walking tour through the city of Florence by a man named Roberto. Roberto was excellent and our tour took us all through the city, and to some very interesting lesser known "gems". Of course we walked by Il Duomo and the Bapistry near the beginning and we found out that the Baptistry has been around since about 600 A.D. - WAY before Il Duomo was ever even thought about. The doors are made of bronze and, although all but one have been taken down and preserved, one was still there. The detail in the carving is spectacular and we were told it took the sculptor over 27 years to do the first door, and 20 years to do the second - the most famous, The Doors of Paradise. You can see these if you look closely at the bottom of the Baptistry.
As we wandered through the city we came across a guy who stands below where Dante was actually born and can recite the ENTIRE Divine Comedy. He was dressed in costume of the period and you could flip through the Divine Comedy (which he had there on a stand), point to a page, and he'd start acting it out and reciting it. And I thought opera was tough!!!

We were going to go through the Ufizzi and the Accademia in the morning but the temps today where in the low 90's so we walked first, and then John & I just walked through the museums as the day wore on. Of course, in the Ufizzi Museum there were paintings by very famous artists - Boticelli being one and hundreds of beautiful sculptures. It was a little overwhelming.
The Accademia was built with the idea of students going through and learning, and so it's a bit smaller but just as spectacular. They have a small section of instruments so of course I took John through and "oohed" and "aahed" over the Stradivarius - pointing out all the little differences in those and ours. I think he got a little bored!!! :>) The museum had Stradivarius' only viola which was exquisite! For Mom and those other people who love strings, the fingerboard and tailpiece were beautifully ornate and the bridge was very curvy and had it's own design. I couldn't take my eyes off it! Of course we weren't allowed to take pictures, so I just stood there trying to memorize everything I saw.

The David. Wow. That's about all I can say. For some reason I expected it to be smaller because so many times you hear about a painting or something being so magnificent and then when you see it it's way smaller or less wonderful than you imagined. Not so here. The detail in the sculpture is beyond description. Of course I took 2 pictures and got yelled at but I just had to!! ;>)
Leaving for Venice in the morning so more later....One last shot of us looking over the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

Evening in Florence

Well, there's too much to just write one post a day so I had to spend a little time on our evening in Florence. We left our apartment around 6:00 to wander and find some dinner. I'm posting a few pics from our walk/evening. The first is of Il Duomo which is the largest cathedral I've ever seen in my life. If you look closely at the bottom you'll see someone standing there in a white shirt - that's John!!! The other photos are from where we stood on a bridge looking into Ponte Vecchio with the sun going down. We'd had a wonderful dinner in which I was too stuffed so we walked for awhile and this is one of the sights.

Florence

Yesterday we left Siena and toured the Capanelle winery in Tuscany before heading to Florence. This place is a small winery compared to some we've visited in Napa but it was still just beautiful! We did the tour and then had lunch there, and the food was magnificent.


After leaving the winery we headed straight into Florence to spend the afternoon here. I know I've said this before but driving in the cities is a test in blood pressure and stress levels. Mine was sky high by the time we arrived at the Avis Rental place to return the car. You're surrounded on all sides by people FLYING down the road - a road really only big enough for a motorcycle. You drive down alley-ways with people walking, cyclists biking, and motor cycles hauling. We took a taxi from Avis to our apartment that we're renting for a few days. I was so stressed out that the first thing I asked our host was, "Where's the closest gym?"

Our place here at the Palazzo Alfani is wonderful - a small apartment with a sitting room combined with kitchen, nice bedroom and bathroom. They even have a diffuser on their hair dryer. I immediately told our host she was my best friend!

We hit a local gym and I ran as hard as I could for awhile, which probably wasn't very fast but exactly what I needed to de-stress from the drive. We grabbed dinner and brought it back to the apartment and just vegged.

This morning we headed out to do a little shopping and just walking around the city. Since we're doing a private tour of the city tomorrow, we thought we'd just check out the place today. It's really beautiful with tons of little shops and beautiful historical sites. Our apartment is directly across from the Accademia which we'll tour tomorrow.

Here are some great photos of some things we saw. The first is of a "statue" who danced/moved on her pedestal and the second was a street musician who was an EXCELLENT violinist!




















On our wanderings through the city, we came across a huge demonstration/march of people through the city with flags, signs, horns, etc. I got some pictures - apparently it was employees of the company Fiat who were protesting their plant being shut down here. Can't say I blame them....Basically they have taken up the city streets and it was kinda fun to watch! Here's some photos of Florence and you can see the protesters on the right....














After some shopping and a tasteless but expensive lunch, we headed back to the hotel to siesta for a bit. Stopping for some gelato on the way back, we didn't realize that we should've asked the price before we purchased. We just paid 20 Euro for two cups of gelato! John almost seized up!:>) We'll head out this afternoon for more wanderings and to have dinner and view the sun setting over the river. Can't wait! More tomorrow.

Siena

After our scary B&B outside of Assisi we woke early and took off out of the place.

The drive to Siena was uneventful - that is to say, we only were almost hit head on one time. :>) The countryside here is beautiful - makes me think a lot of Napa Valley in California but prettier. There are vineyards everywhere and these gently rolling hills all around with beautiful green trees and grass.
Again we stayed at a B&B outside of Siena but this one is great! The staff is extremely helpful and welcoming and our little place has no other occupants so we have this huge great room and kitchen all to ourselves. There's also a pool......The photo of the pool won't upload so here's one of our B&B....


The B&B has their own restaurant across the street and it's some of the best food we've eaten. So good that we came back for dinner!

Siena itself is a great town - very busy due to the Palio (Horse races) that will happen tomorrow.


Everything is being set up and the square for it was bustling with people and vendors already. Lots of shops and quaint stores - everything is walk-able and so we spent the afternoon browsing around the city. We did a tour of the Duomo there along with it's museum which was fascinating. Lots of wonderful sculpture and art work throughout.






At the end of the museum you can trek it up to the top for a panoramic view of the city. Well worth it!

Assisi - and the B&B from Deliverance..

OK. Assisi was nice. Old. Beautiful. Up on a hill. Great place to visit.

Our place to stay was a little strange. Very well appointed - someone obviously spent a lot of place. Nice bed - modern bathroom. Best shower I've had in Italy yet.

However, there are a couple of things it lacked - hospitality and location.

From a hospitality standpoint - there was none. An 18-20 year-old was there to greet us when we arrived. This greeting consisted of "Here's your room" and "Leave the key in the door" and "I need your passport" and "No, there is no air-conditioning." And as for location, well, it's about 4km from Assisi - as the crow flies. It's really about a 25 minute car ride over a paved road then a gravel road from Assisi. It was the 3km on the gravel road that really made us a little nervous - as in "where the heck are we going?".

Needless to say - if the place hadn't already been paid-for, we might have found other accommodation. We definitely made sure our doors were locked...

It was a nice place - just needs some hospitality - that's all. Basically, after you've trekked for 25 minutes up a gravel road, you want to be greeted by someone who realizes what a weird situation it is and seeks to reassure you that everything will be OK, that you're welcome and says things like "Can I help you choose somewhere to eat?"

Anyway - it's around 10:30 PM here, and I'm tired - perhaps we'll post more pictures tomorrow. We had a great day in Siena today and we're staying in a much better B&B tonight in a little town outside of Assisi.