Back to Columbus

Our final day in Rome started very early with a taxi taking us to the airport where we arrived 3 hours prior to our flight and stood in one long que after another processing with hundreds of other travelers. I guess we shouldn’t complain since two days earlier all international flights were cancelled after a fire broke out in the terminal. Here is a photo of Carlin’s suitcases and 1 of our backpacks being sent through the baggage check in.

Fate was temtping us when we were approached asking us to give up our seats for a travel voucher. Mindy and I had to return but Carlin?!?!? We passed and returned to waiting for our line to move. We finally reached our gate with 40 minutes to spare so we grabbed our last taste of food in Italy at the cafeteria in our terminal. After presenting our boarding passes, I was pulled aside for a cursory pat down and bag inspection before boarding.

Our flight to Washington was 9 hours but we were able to entertain ourselves with the on board entertainment center watching movies (Carlin- Whiplash and episodes of Friends and Mark-American Sniper and Silicon Valley, Mindy watched a dark Polish film in black and white).

We arrived in DC on time but since it took us over 2 hours to process through customs, we only had 30 minutes to grab a snack and board the last leg of our flight home. On board our commuter plane there were 15 Dutch graduate students traveling to Athens Ohio to participate in a 6 weeks competition with other IT teams from around the world. All of them spoke English but their conversations with one another was very entertaining since the Dutch dialect is so interesting to listen to.

We arrived in Columbus along with all of our luggage and hired a porter to take us to the pickup area where Susan and Kelly were waiting for us. Oliver was at the Crew soccer game that night. We loaded up the car to be reunited with our puppy dog. I took a video of that reunion. Here are a IMG_5115-001 couple screen shots from that video. Needless to say, Stella (and Cooper) was one happy puppy to see us.

We tried to stay up as late as possible that night to adjust to the time zone but ended up falling asleep before 10 PM. After 2 weeks in Italy, having taken numerous taxis, 3 trains, several buses and walked over 90 miles, we deserved a good night sleep in our own beds before unpacking.

Our final visit to Rome- Part Due

Wednesday May 6

We returned to Rome arriving at the Roma Termini train station and grabbed a cab to our next apartment. We had to wander around the area in search of our apartment and wait for our contact but once inside, the apartment was exactly as promised and pictured on the website. It was roomy, airy and decorated in a contemporary fashion. It was centrally located in a key area of Rome close to the Vatican, Campo D’ Fiori and Piazza Navonna.

Front door of our apartment. More details below.

The street on which our apartment was located, Via dei Banchi Vecchi, 35, 00186 Roma, Italy

Mindy descending the stairs that spiraled around the elevator

Despite traveling most of the day we made arrangements to pick up Carlin’s 2 large suitcases from her dorm on the Loyola University Rome campus so we walked to a taxi stand and hailed a cab to her campus around 25 minutes up in one of the hills overlooking Rome. As we approached her campus we observed this area had a more neighborhood feel with larger homes and a lot more greenery than in Rome. The campus is near a parkland and set behind a 10 foot high brick wall surrounding the perimeter. The campus had the feel of one quadrant at Miami University with classrooms and dormitories constructed of brick and looking very much like a college campus. Carlin gave us a tour of the main areas but we were not able to see a room since there was a conference taking place on campus and the rooms were being used by the attendees. It looked like a very comfortable and compact campus from which to branch out to see Rome and Europe.

We returned to our Rome apartment with Carlin’s 2 massive suitcases and headed out to find the perfect Pasta Carbonara for Dad that night. We settled on a restaurant rated highly on Trip Advisor located very close to our apartment off the Campo Fiori Plaza, Osteria De Fortunata. After some cajoling with the maitre d’ we were seated outside on the Piazza nestled in close with our neighbors on either side. Most of th
e patrons were speaking Italian which we took as a good sign. Our waiter Emilio fluttered around from table to table taking requests and offering suggestions. Emilio was flawless as a server and entertainer. At the table to our left a distinguished gentleman around 55 years old was seated opposite a very attractive blonde in her early 30’s. As he was typing on his phone the waiter came over and speaking in passionate Italian, he implored the man to pay greater attention to his beautiful date or warned that she would quickly lose interest in him. Carlin understood every word and translated for us but it was also obvious to even us that the man was being scolded as being foolish by the waiter. Hearing this exchange and understanding the context made you understand why most operas are sung in Italian. There is something about this language that sounds as though people are singing when they get excited. This is one of the reasons I took videos of two if our hosts giving us instructions in English and Italian.

I don’t recall what the others ordered but I had a delicious dish of Pasta Carbonara prepared with pasta that was hand made by a woman seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant.

The wine and dinner was delicious and we were entertained by an older Asian Indian gentleman doing 4 magic tricks a few feet away from our table. Carlin said this man is infamous in Rome and that she has seen him perform his silly tricks several times. During his act he constantly yells “Guarda hqdefault mi” or “Look At Me” to the crowd. He is very bad at magic but extremely entertaining so I tipped him a half Euro as he leaned forward to take off his terrible toupee to collect his donations. When we returned home I searched and found one of several videos of him on Youtube that I linked here.

After dinner we walked around Campo D’ Fiori taking in the sights and sounds. We had a very restful sleep that night in Rome.

Thursday May 7

I grabbed pastries and cappuccino at the corner patisserie and tried to speak only Italian since there were only locals inside. The barista took pity on me and helped me while speaking perfect English.

We walked toward the Castel St. Angelo and across the Bridge of Angels to find a taxi to take us to the Jewish Quarter in order to tour the Great Synagogue of Rome. It was a busy time of morning and we had trouble locating a taxi. Along the way we looked at souvenir stands for a calendar of famous penises from Roman artwork to bring back as gifts from Rome.

View of Castel St. Angelo from the Bridge of Angels

We set out to visit the Jewish Quarter again to take the first tour of The Hebrew Museum in the morning.We arrived shortly after the museum opened so we wandered around and looked at the various exhibits on display. This museum is very well done with over 400 silver pieces and 900 textiles. It tells the story of the Jewish people in Rome from around the 1550’s. Around the turn of the century the Jewish Quarter was a run down ghetto with the area frequently flooded by the Tiber River. After Rome implemented protective measures to minimize flooding, many of the buildings including the five synagogues were demolished and new buildings were constructed on the site. To replace the synagogues a Great Synagogue was constructed between 1901-1904 with separate areas to accommodate the 5 synagogues. The first set of photos are from one of the smaller synagogues inside the building.

The next set include the exterior of the building and then the interior of the largest sanctuary space in the building.

After our tour we walked over to the main square and while Mindy and Carlin looked over various restaurant menus I looked up ratings on Trip advisor. We settled on a place at the edge of the square that featured several varieties of artichokes. We ordered a plate of Roman Artichokes, Fried Artichokes and Jerusalem Artichokes as well as bubbly water and salads.

We taxied up to the Borghese Gallery where we met our guide from the previous week, Daniella, to guide us though the Museum. It was a good thing we purchased our reserved tickets far in advance since the sign at the entrance announced that the next open admission date was 10 days later. This museum was likely our favorite in Italy because of the building architecture, quality of the collection, having Danella and the fact they limit the number of visitors in the museum during every 3 hour timed visit slot.

After the Borghese we walked toward the exit for the park with Daniella near the twin churches. At an overlook to a plaza she told us this location is where the last Vatican execution too place in 1969. They used decapitation for this punishment. The accused was never granted a trial or an opportunity to defend himself against the charge of attempting to overthrow the papacy. Hypocrisy abounds everywhere with the church in Rome.

After we left Daniella, we ventured toward a gelato place we visited during our first tour with Daniella and snuck into an exclusive hotel to get a view of their beautiful gardens. We grabbed a taxi and headed to the Capitoline Hill to see the statues, buildings and churches. It was so helpful having Rick Steve’s book on my mini iPad since he not only tells you about the history of the monuments but offers tips to cut through buildings and locate clean restrooms.

We rode an elevator up 10 stories to the top of the Capitoline to catch a magnificent view of Rome and the Forum area from an observation deck before sunset.

Afterwards we taxied to the Testaccio area of Rome to see one of Carlin’s favorite sites; a protestant cemetery that she visited for one of her writing classes where she found inspiration for her writings. Unfortunately, the cemetery closed just before we arrived so we left promising to return to the cemetery the following day.

Since we were in Testaccio and heard there were dozens of great restaurants, I located one of them on Trip Advisor. As usual, we were too early for dinner at 6:30 and had to return at 7:30 when Trattoria Perilli’s would open. We walked around the neighborhood and noticed several spotless butcher shops and patisseries. We stumbled across a large Piazza where there were people of all ages with children, dogs and young and old couples seated and strolling about. It was fun watching the kids play soccer with wild abandon relying on their own rules of the game. This Piazza appeared to be a popular gathering place for everyone in the neighborhood.

We returned to the restaurant Perilli’s and took a seat near the front. Almost every table had a reserved card on the front. We order pasta dishes and enjoyed the house red. For dessert that night we enjoyed their version of tiramisù which was the best we enjoyed in Italy until our dessert the following night.

This is such a typical scene in a restaurant with the tables close together, male waiters wearing white shirts and black bowties and everyone talking while holding forks and eating. This is the real deal.

We returned to our apartment at 10 PM tired from the days events and went to sleep early.

Friday May 8 – our last full day in Rome

We decided this morning to revisit a few of the places we saw at the beginning of our trip since the weather was supposed to be perfect this day. We started with espresso on our balcony and stopped in a nearby church before heading out. ASs we found with most churches in Italy, there always seems to be soemthing beautiful and unique inside each building.

It was over an hour since our last coffee and pastry so we stopped at a tempting patisserie near Campo Fiori for pastries and cappuccino. I have to say that there are so many incredible shops like this that it would be pointless to create a guidebook suggesting which ones to try.

When we arrived at Capo Fiori there was a massive farmers market in the process of being set up where last night there was nothing in the square. The displays of fruits, vegetables and spices were impressive. I took photos below of some of the sights including a display of mannequin heads before they mounted the hats on top.

We walked into Piazza Navonna which we saw in our first week but the weather was so dreary at that time that everything looked dull. Look at what a difference it makes to see everything on a beautiful day. Here are a couple videos around the main fountain and a side fountain.

Along the way to the Pantheon, I took photos of typical and interesting building and street scenes in Rome.

The Pantheon and square outside on a sunny day.

Next we walked over to the Anglican Church and next door to the Library Archive of that church. We saw it from the outside with our guide on our first tour but wanted to see it up close this time. You felt like you were stepping inside a time machine to the 16th century standing among all these ancient texts.

We went inside the Anglican Church next door to the library again just to get a peek at one of our favorite Caravaggio paintings.

We headed over to the Pallazo Barberini to visit the National Academy of Art.

Art students gathered around their teacher sharing their notebook drawings from inside the museum.

The gallery is famous for housing two staircases that were designed by the competing architects of the early 1600’s in Rome. A large squared staircase by Bernini to the right and a smaller oval staircase by Borromini to the left.

Care to guess what these two women are looking at in this painting?

It’s another famous painting by Caravaggio, “Judith beheading Holofernes”. The artist featured beheadings in many paintings including one where he used his face on an image of Goliath being beheaded by David.

I laid down on a bench to take in this incredible ceiling mural. One of hundreds in this museum.

The Coffeys like to recreate poses in front of marble statues.

The symbol of the Barberini family, the bumble bee, was located everywhere including this grate covering a radiator.

On a street corner outside the museum there were bas relief sculptures on all four corners.

Street scenes on the way to lunch Carlin took us down one street where there was a terrorist attack outside a building carried out against German occupiers in WWII that was never fully repaired so the damage could serve as a reminder of the event.

At lunch Mindy ordered a delicious dish with octopus.

Carlin took us to a very peculiar museum called the Capuchin Monks Crypt. Aside from teaching you about the history of their order, the centerpiece is the crypt where monks created sculptures made from the skeletons of 4,000 people who died during the black plague. It sounds strange and macabre but there was something beautiful about these objects. You can’t take photos in the crypt so I downloaded these from the web.

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Carlin led us to the subway entrance so we could experience the underground metro in Rome.

We popped out of the metro at a square and popped in to see a beautiful church.

We walked through a very chic area near The Spanish Steps on our way to get gelato before heading back down to Testaccio.

In Testaccio we visited the Protestant Cemetery which features a very large Pyramid and many interesting tombs and plots.

Before heading back to our apartment, we went to the Vatican nearby to see if we could sneak in another visit to the Basilica. Unfortunately the line was still long so we relaxed next to one of the massive columns on the edge of the plaza waiting for the line to diminish. Unfortunately, the line only got longer and while waiting, I was approached by a young lady with a French accent and her two friends. She asked permission to sit and talk to me and explained that she and her friends were on a year long mission to spread the gospel of Jesus. She wanted to know if she could hear my testimony. Her purpose in coming to the Vatican was to convert Catholics to Evangelical Christians. I was completely dumbfounded by her purpose and technique in coming to the center of Roman Catholicism and so I engaged her in a lengthy conversation about her background and purpose in life. Her friends appeared to be hanging on every word but I think that was because they were not as fluent as her in English and couldn’t follow our conversation. At one point I suggested she move onto someone else because our conversation was not going to change me or her. In any event, it helped pass the time and was a fun experience.

Carlin took us to one of her favorite places for dinner near the apartment where we were seated outside close to the street. Il Giardino Romano boasts fresh ingredients and very friendly service. I videotaped our waitress explaining some menu items to us. After dinner, the waitress sat down next to me and wrote up our bill on the paper tablecloth. The total was 57 Euros or roughly $62 for our meal for 3 including wine, appetizers and dessert

Appetizer of cured meats and delicious bread

Yet another fine interpretation of Tiramisu

Sienna day 3 then off to Florence and Rome

On our last morning in Rocca A Pilli, I woke up early and walked around the property to take pictures of the landscape and grounds.

We left our place at 9:30 am to travel by bus to Sienna then Florence where we caught a high speed train to Rome.

A Full Day In Sienna

We enjoyed a breakfast prepared by Mindy in the farmhouse from food we picked up at the local market and headed into Sienna via the number 30 bus this morning.

Mindy making magic in the farmhouse kitchen

The bus to Sienna takes around 25 minutes and dropped us off a few hundred yards from the town square del Campo. The narrow streets were beginning to fill with tourists early in the morning.

Cute scene of school children being led by nuns near policemen on our way to del Campo

After weaving through narrow high walled streets, the main city square seems to suddenly appears before through one of the narrow walkways. This square is famous for the running of El Palio every summer which is a horse race around the square that has taken place since the 1600’s. There is a rich tradition associated with the race that is portrayed in this linked video. and featured in this film that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year.

We scouted our the many open air restaurants located on the square and plopped ourselves down to enjoy a leisurely cappuccino and pastries before climbing the city tower next to the square.

Mindy passed on yet another opportunity to climb an infinite number of steps to catch a birdseye view of the Del Campo and all of Sienna at the top of the City Tower. You have to pay a small fee to climb the tower by purchasing your ticket on the ground floor near the tower. However, you only present the ticket after you climb 5 stories. I asked the ticket taker if they have many people appear before him without tickets and he said that happens all the time.

This climb to the top of this tower below was not very difficult. We had to keep a constant watch above our heads or risk or hit them on massive stones. At the top level there was a 360 degree perch to walk around and see the entire city and surrounding countryside,

Torre del Mangia – 387 steps to the top of this nearly 300 foot tower that is equal to the height of the church cathedral in Siena. This was meant to represent the equal stature of the city government and church in Siena.

On the way down, we encountered a middle aged woman who was struggling with feeling claustrophobic in the closed spaces in the tower staircase. I assured her that the area opens up after you climb a few dozen steps but later on we saw her at the bottom of the staircase looking defeated.

We met up with Mindy and the three of us entered the Civic Museum located near the tower. This museum was different than most of the other ones we visited earlier since it was a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the city. Inside were the original council chambers, courthouse and several murals depicting the history of Siena. This city competed with Florence as a hub for trading and commerce among noble families. The Medici were one of the families that ruled in this area.

We walked around Sienna and stumbled across this woven clothing store where Mindy purchased a sweater shawl. There was a loom in the center of the shop that the woman’s husband used to create custom woven goods. Here are photos and a vid eo of the shop owner speaking to Mindy and Carlin in English and Italian about the sweater.

On our way to lunch we watched a scene unfold with an older gentleman committing civil disobedience over some matter. unknown to us. He is stylishly dressed and seated in a folding chair that he apparently brought with him along with a book to while away the time. He’s positioned in front of a city services truck with several workers milling about. The fellow leaning down to speak with him appears to be a neighbor or friend trying to convince him to take another course of action. We had no idea how long this blockade took place before we arrived but while we were at lunch nearby an ambulance appeared and the attendants escorted him away along with the local poliza.

We We enjoyed a delicious lunch (with wine) at a sidewalk cafe off El Campo Square.

After lunch we toured the Sienna Duomo Cathedral (commonly referred to as The Duomo), the Duomo Library and Duomo Museum. The exterior and interior of the Duomo was magnificent. Construction on the cathedral began in 1296 and the dome completed in 1436. Here is a video of the interior and another of one of the interior chapels. I left many of these photos in a larger format because the detail is so magnificent.

This lineup of figureheads represents 200 popes that served Italy up to the date this church was constructed. Seeing this fact arrayed this way and realizing there have only been 4 popes during my lifetime so far gave you a greater sense of the time period that this covered.

Many churches in Italy commemorate the Massacre of the Innocents through art. The story is that when King Herod heard there was a “King Born in Bethlehem”and it was not known which child this was, he ordered his soldiers to kill every Jewish baby in the hope of killing this child and the rumor.

After the Cathedral, we walked to get gelato from Gelateria Grom found on Trip Advisor.

We headed back toward the Duomo area to visit other sites and along the way saw many interesting things in Sienna.

We returned to the Sienna Duomo Cathedral area to climb the lookout point at the top of the only wall of the Neuvo Duomo. To get there you have to go through the Piccolomini Library. This wall is all that remains of an attempt to build an extension to the original cathedral in 1339 to rival the Duomo built in nearby Florence. The Black Plague killed 4 out of 5 residents of Sienna in 1348 halting the construction of the Nuevo Duomo. All that remains of the expansion is this exterior wall which tourist climb to get a view of the Cathedral across the plaza.

Mindy climbed partway up with us to take in the view.

Next, we toured the Duomo Crypt beneath the Duomo Cathedral. There was a section with the floor cut away above so you could look up into the Cathedral and another section cut away below to see the extent of the foundation below the crypt and cathedral. There must be a 100 feet of construction below the ground floor of the cathedral.

We visited an antique bookstore with manuscripts dating back hundreds of years.

We were almost ready to head back to the farm but wanted to walk across town to see another church and visit the shrine of Saint Catherine who dreamed that she married Jesus.

We left Sienna on our favorite Bus #30 and after freshening up at home, we went to dinner at the restaurant in San Rocco that we originally set out to enjoy the night before. Dinner and wine were delicious and we also had a very good dessert. During dinner there was a soccer match on television that many of the patrons were fixated on. It was fun watching the match and hearing their reactions to every call that went against their team. We walked home again under the the moonlight to our farmhouse making certain to stop and enjoy the complex smells of the countryside. Tomorrow we travel back to Sienna by bus, Florence by bus and then Rome by Train for the last leg of our trip.

Florence to Sienna

Monday May 4 started out so well with the sun shining brightly and temperatures increasing. We checked out of the apartment with Nicollo and got to our bus stop in plenty of time to catch our bus loaded down with our backpacks and 3 bags Ten minutes into the bus ride, I noticed I left my large carry on bag at the bus stop. We exited at the next stop where I left my backpack with Mindy and Carlin ran a mile back to our initial bus stop. Three quarters of the way back, I had to stop to catch my breath in order to keep going. I kept telling myself that every second I waited was a second away from losing the bag containing our iPad, Kindle, jackets and who knows what else. As I rounded the corner by the bus stop I nearly ran over a young mother pushing a baby stroller who was carrying MY bag on her shoulder. I pleaded between gasps, “Per favore señora. That’s my bag. Per favore.” She had a look of panic on her face and was clutching the bag. She could not understand English and my Italian probably sounded like gibberish to her. I begged her to return the bag to me and was so happy when she handed it over. I heard her say something about bringing it to the poliza and kept saying to her, “Grazie Grazie”. I started reaching in my pocket to giver money and she said no no no. I said that it’s for her bambino but she sternly grabbed my arm and said no so I backed away repeating “Grazie” over and over.

Since I was already at the bus stop I waited a few minutes and took the next bus back to Mindy and Carlin. Dripping with sweat and returning triumphantly to them we boarded the next bus for the Florence bus station for our next venture to Sienna.

While waiting for the Siena bus in Florence to leave in 30 minutes, Mindy and Carlin took a walk to pick up some coffee and pastries. They started boarding 15 minutes before departing and since it appeared the bus was full, I carried all three backpacks and our 3 smaller bags to the bus and placed the bags on two empty seats. A German couple boarded the bus and got into an argument with folks in the first couple rows who refused to move in order to allow them to sit next to each other. I was dreading the idea of having to explain to them that my seats were reserved but the problem resolved itself when Mindy and Carlin board a few minutes before departing.

The bus ride to Sienna was very comfortable traveling on winding roads. We were dropped off at a busy square in town. From there we took a local bus 20 minutes to our farmhouse in Santa Rocca A Pilli. We got off the bus a little too early and had to walk through the small town to our apartment. The directions to the farmhouse instructed us to go to the Villa mansion for the farm and ask for our landlord to take us to the farmhouse. This Villa was quite a sight for this small town. It was a 3 story stucco mansion with heavy duty iron gates in front that are adorned with iron eagles. The official name is La Villa Cavaglioni. The villa and farm have been owned by this same family for 300 years. Inside the villa there are frescoed walls and tall ceilings. The owners are not nobility by any sense of the word. In fact, I would say they are simply farmers. We later learned the villa was built by the current owners father who had the gates made to copy ones he saw in Austria as a child.

Our host was not there so we were guided to our apartment by the matriarch of the family, Anna Marie who was wearing a heavy wool sweater despite it being in the mid 80s. Her English was quite good and we had an interesting conversation with her about the Villa, the town San Rocca a Pilli and the US. She visited friends of hers in South Carolina last year and enjoyed her stay. After our tour she dropped us off at the Central Square where we sat outside and had a delicious lunch of locally prepared foods and beer while watching the people pass by in the square. None of the people at the restaurant could speak English so Carlin’s Italian came in handy while we were trying to figure out what foods were in the food case since they lacked a menu written in English.

We walked back to our apartment stopping at the local church for a visit and discovered a seldom used path from the church to the road by our Tuscan farmhouse. We pose for several “prom” photos at our gate outside our farmhouse.

Here are some interior shots of the farmhouse:

Exterior shots of the grounds and nearby farmland :

“Prom photos” of us on the grounds.

That night we walked into town to pick up items at the grocery store for breakfast and eat dinner. Our top two dinner options were closed and so we ventured into a restaurant not on Trip Advisor. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment and was the only time we had a mediocre meal in Italy. The house wine was undrinkable and our meals were very uninteresting and flavorless.

Despite the disappointing meal, we walked back under moonlight skies and enjoyed the cool crisp night air. That night we slept like babies exhausted from the traveling and walking.

Day 3 in Florence

Our third day in Florence began with steaming expresso and breakfast in the apartment. The sun was obscured by clouds producing an eerie scene of the church and rolling hills from our terrace.

We traveled by bus to downtown and began our day looking for the oldest Farmacia in Florence, Pharmacy of Santa Maria Novella. Founded in 1221 by Friars, they made herbal remedies and potions to use in the monastery. Their Pot-Pouri is still handcrafted in terra cotta vases and Eau de Cologne is said to have been created here. The building was beautiful and seemed more like a church or monastery than a place to buy fancy smelling stuff.

After the Pharmacy we stumbled across the Contemporary museum Novecento and are glad we stopped in. We saw several paintings in their permanent collection that appealed to what we like in art and enjoyed the exhibition space.

Next we ventured to the Palazzo Strozzi museum which had on display one of the largest collections of well preserved bronze statues from 2,000 years ago that were recently discovered buried in the sea near Greece. This exhibit was about to go on a world tour starting with the Getty Museum in LA in July. Here is an article in the Wall Street Journal on the exhibit, Power and Pathos. Here is a video from the museum advertising the show.

It was time to go shopping so we walked over to the large outdoor leather market to find the perfect leather messenger bag/briefcase for Oliver market-florence . It took us a while but we finally found it along with some linens and scarves to bring back as gifts for family and friends.

We worked up an appetite and Carlin remembered a great place for pannini sandwiches nearby. She ordered in Italian for us while we waited in the square outside for these delicious sandwiches.

Mindy and Carlin continued window shopping while we waited for a bus to take us back to our apartment for a rest until our next adventure in a hills outside of Florence. Mindy said she would gladly wait longer for the next bus if she could stay to gaze inside these shops.

After resting at the apartment we headed by bus up the steep winding road to the hillside town Fieselo. This quaint village boasts an Estuean ruin that was closed by the time we arrived. However…there was flea market taking place in the town square.

While Mindy and Carlin visited the different vendors, I toured around and settled down at a cliffside bar to enjoy a bier and this view of Florence below.

The girls didn’t buy anything so we headed over to the ruins to get a glimpse of the site and then marched up the steep cobblestone street to the vista point above the town.

Next we visited the missionary at the top of the hill which Trip Advisor told me housed an extensive museum of items collected by their missionaries from around the world. It was a very interesting array of items from the 4 corners of the world.

Behind the missionary there was a pergola with a thick mass of plants that we used as a backdrop for a series of “prom photos”.

We toured around the grounds and took photos of us and sights.

The highlight of the evening was dinner. In Italy, most restaurants open at 8 PM but by 7 PM we were starving. We walked into the place recommended by Rick Steves for Tuscan steak and they agreed to serve us at 7:30. Before ordering, I ran across the street to the flea market and purchased an oil painting Mindy was admiring of two elderly italian men. She was asking for 50 Euros and we settled on 25. Armed with this gift I returned to our streetside table to enjoy one of our best meals in Italy.

We started with a plate of dried meats and cheeses and for our entree we shared a T-Bone steak prepared Tuscan style. This means that the meat is aged and prepared rare. The waiter brings it to the table whole on a platter and then after you nod your approval he takes it to a neighboring table and carves it up into medallions with the T sticking up from the center. This meat was more savory than the best tenderloin I have ever tasted. It was a rare treat to enjoy such fine meat.

After dinner, we ordered gelatos next door and strolled around the other side of the town admiring the homes and beautiful views as the sun was setting.

We took one of the last buses back to Florence and relaxed on our terrace watching the sun set over Florence and the nearby church. Tomorrow we wake up early to pack because we travel to the medieval town of Sienna.

First full day in Florence

Mindy and I ventured out early in the morning on Saturday May 2 to locate the neighborhood grocery store and grab coffee. We found the coffee shop Pasticceria Villani Di Petrini Paola nearby where we sat and enjoyed watching the locals come in for their regular orders while we drank delicious cappuccinos and pastries.

Along the way we stopped in a couple markets to buy eggs, veggies and provisions for the apartment. We also brought back a takeaway cappuccino for Carlin. In Italy you ask for takeaway when you want to take food to go. Later, Mindy prepared eggs, toast and fruit for us which tasted so good since the eggs were fresh and delicious. The yolks were a very bright yellow/orange. The apartment had an espresso maker and after locating a video tutorial on YouTube, Mindy made our first espresso using the classic pot you see in movies.

The three of us headed out that morning to catch a local bus and visit the Academy Gallery to see Michelangelo’s statue of David. Seated on the bus behind us was a well dressed elderly gentleman who had a well used accordion on his lap.

Upon arriving we saw a line several blocks long but learned our Firenza passes allowed us to skip to the front of the line and walk almost immediately into the museum. Although we only waited briefly, we enjoyed being entertained by non other than the elderly gentleman who rode into Florence with us. Here is a video of him playing.

Shortly after entering The Academy Gallery you walk along the hallway seeing David at the end. Along the way you visit several side galleries to see the artwork. After a little of this you want to run and just go see David up close. We spent quite a bit of time viewing the statue which I never imagined to be as large as it was and beautifully detailed. It was a magnificent sight to behold it. There weren’t as many people there as I had expected but later as we went back for second look at David it was nearly shoulder to shoulder crowded with tourists. Carlin said when she visited earlier in the year there were only a handful of people in the gallery.

From there we ventured over into another gallery featuring plaster casts of hundreds of statues which was a way to demonstrate how they were able to take plaster cast molds of original statues and manufacture them as plaster versions to sell to the general population. This was a very interesting education on this ancient process.

Interesting painting of the death of Leonardo DaVinci in the arms of his patron Francis I.

Adjacent to the museum featuring David is a musical instrument Museum which featured instruments from the Renaissance period. From a distance it’s hard to tell the difference between a modern viola and a Stradivaria made in 1690. However, up close there is an incredible amount of detail found on these beautiful handmade instruments including the Medici family emblem on the bridge of this instrument.

One of my favorite pieces was an item called a Hurdy Gurdy. There was also an upright piano which literally looks like a baby grand piano folded in an upward position. They also had an impressive number of harpsichords in that room which you could almost picture being played by men in powdered wigs in the 1500s.

Next we ventured to the other side of the Duomo to the Uffizi Gallery which is a huge gallery featuring pieces by Botticelli including the Venus de Milo painting. It was fairly crowded here but you could get a front row view of many paintings if you just waited two or three minutes for people to walk away. I took a photo below of one of hundreds of people taking photos with iPads allowing their covers to drop down so that they really did a fine job of obscuring the view for the rest of us.

Some of the rooms in the Ufizzi are as beautiful as the art on the walls. This was one of my favorite rooms.

After the Uffizi Gallery we walked over to the Museum of Galileo’s instruments to see this massive collection of scientific instruments that were used by Galileo and his contemporaries in the 1500s. It was an interesting collection which also included terrific demonstrations of various experiments conducted by Galileo. These models were constructed by artisans using finished wood.
We figured that they had to put on a good show to get patrons to chip in toward the funding of the actual experiment

Outside the Galileo museum there was an astrological sundial where we posed for a toe shot surrounding the month of April and Aries since the three of us all share that same birth month and birth sign.

We headed over to the Ponte Vecchio (Italian for “old bridge”). This structure dates back to 996 AD and originally housed butcher shops so the blood and entrails could drop below to the river. Today it contains dozen of fine jewelry shops ranging from common to exquisite objects of art. Mindy stopped to chat with a street vendor and purchased 3 short thin male statues that had a Giacometto look about them. Unfortunately we could not locate them after we returned home.

On the other side of the Arno river there are more shops and craftsmen as well as restaurants and galleries. It was not yet lunchtime but we worked up a hunger for gelato before heading up a steep hill to our next adventure.

On our way to the Piazza Michelangelo, we stopped at a hidden rose and sculpture garden.

Once we got to the Piazza at the top of the hill, we discovered the National Gelato Festival. Up to this point the day was mostly cloudy but the skies cleared and turned blue for this magnificent view.

From there we hiked up even higher to the Basilica di Santa Croce church at the top of the highest mount in Florence. Mindy and Carlin noticed that a crowd was starting to gather in front of the church signaling there was a wedding about to take place. One by one we watched handsome couples walk into the church wearing the most beautiful couture clothing we have ever seen. It was simply breathtaking. I took several photos of the members of the wedding party as well as the bride

While they were waiting for the bride to appear I wandered behind the church and found an incredible cemetery featuring beautifully carved headstones, sculptures and family mausoleum When I returned I just caught a glimpse of the bride walking into the church. I swear I saw tears in Carlin and Mindy’s eyes.

We walked back down the hill to the Ponte Vechio area to shop for leather and linens. I took these shots of Mindy and Carlin having fun inside a linen store where they bought gifts for Raye and Susan.

We stopped for coffee across from a sloped square in front of a fortress museum that featured a flower garden in the rear that we did not tour.

We crossed back over the Arno river on a different bridge with a

We returned to our apartment and used the time to soak our feet and enjoy the sunset from our balcony.

For dinner that evening we went to La Salmoneria nearby. I read about it on Trip Advisor and was intrigued to experience a restaurant that featured almost every dish prepared with salmon. Like in most small places like this in Italy, it doesn’t take long before you find yourself sitting down with the owner and learn about their back story. The owner works full time during the day for a linen import/export business. Several years ago his daughter married the son of Europe’s largest salmon importer/exporter. She proposed an idea for a restaurant to her father and he agreed to fund it so long as he was the majority owner and could work in the business with her. Five years later the place is a success and our meal was outstanding from appetizers to dessert. No, we did not have salmon for dessert. Instead, he prepared a ricotta cheesecake with a blueberry puree poured on top. It was outstanding. Their website.

Last day in Venice and First Day in Florence

Today is a holiday in Italy. It’s May 1 or Labor Day and many of the offices are closed which means in addition to the many tourists that visit Venice, lots of locals have a long weekend to travel to places like Venice. We asked the clerk at the hotel front desk for suggestions where we could tour for an hour and so armed with a map and a tight deadline we headed north from the hotel for our last stroll around Venice. We arrived at the waterfront and saw where one catches the boats to tour the nearby islands of Murano and Burano which we never had a chance to visit.

Along the way to a square we ventured into a church that was styled differently from many of the ones we visited earlier since it used brighter colors and lighter marbles inside.

We also passed by a hospital housed in an ancient building and stopped to look at the row of water ambulances docked nearby.

The square was charming and featured a statute of a general on a horse in the center.

Along that walk and others we came across so many beautiful and interesting sights in these photos below:

Along the way back to the hotel we got lost again and it was Mindy again who guided us back to the hotel. While walking with our bags to the train stations we ran into a sea of tourist heading into Venice from the train station and cruise ships. Mindy spotted one tourist hauling a set of golf clubs. That one still has us scratching our heads over not just the where but the why would you bring golf clubs to Italy? On this train ride we settled back into our second class seats for the two hour ride to Florence. The compartment was more crowded this time and I had to endure the muffled sounds of techno music through the air buds of the German fellow seated next to me. Mindy enjoyed people watching on the train and sneaking in a nap.

We arrived at the Florence train station 10 minutes after Carlin arrived from Rome so she was waiting for us outside our train coach. It was wonderful to see her again dressed in her MC Hammer-esque floral printed pants and looking like she hadn’t slept in over two weeks. Apparently there was a lot of crying and staying awake while saying their goodbyes to one another the night before in Rome.

We taxied to our apartment located in the Campo Marti neighborhood north of Florence. Mindy chose this apartment on Trip Advisor because it was located in a neighborhood away from the tourist area and featured many amenities that we thought would be needed with three of us sharing the space; washing machine, outdoor terrace, full size kitchen and separate bathrooms.

We were greeted there by Nicolo’s mother Paolo who gave us a very quick and detailed description of the neighborhood our options. I recorded this video of her switching from English to Italian after she learned Carlin could understand Italian. Carlin kept nodding her acknowledgment and I asked if she was understanding Paolo’s rapid fire explanation. Even Carlin was amazed that her four months in Rome and classroom experience allowed her to be able to listen to such a fast and detailed explanation from a real Italian. Mindy and I were experiencing our first dividend from our investment in Carlin’s semester in Italy!

Mindy whipped up a quick meal of pasta and homemade marinara sauce our host provided as a welcome packet. We ate on our terrace while Mindy and I we got our second wind. Carlin was almost falling asleep in her plate.

Here are some photos of our penthouse apartment in Florence and a video tour of the place..

After unpacking, Mindy and I were anxious to head back into Florence for some exploring before nightfall but Carlin’s body was telling her otherwise so she fell asleep at 2 PM and didn’t wake up until 8 PM so when we returned with leftover pizza from our dinner.

Mindy and I took a taxi downtown and tried to find a location to obtain our Firenze card which allows us to skip lines at museums and take public transportation. After a few failed attempts we finally located an open office and took off to tour the Palazzo Vecchia. Along the way we saw a film crew disassembling a huge light bar that appeared to be used for a large scale film production. We later learned the film crew was in Florence to film the latest Da Vinci Code movie with Tom Hanks. The Pallazo Vechi housed the city governments in Florence since the 1300’s and boast several large impressive chambers adorned with remarkable paintings and frescoes highlighting various historical events in Florence. One of the architectural highlights was the clock tower which I naturally wanted to climb. Mindy climbed to the clock level and spoke with a couple from the US while I marched up to get a beautiful view of Florence and the nearby Duomo..

Carlin took this photo of me showing that I had a lot of time on my hand. This is the tower I climbed at Pallazzo Vecchio

As a reward for Mindy persevering through my climb up the tower we took a tour of the Gucci Museum off the Square. It was very impressive both as a museum and because of the beauty of all things Gucci. It was also refreshing because there were hardly any people inside museum creating a calm and peaceful atmosphere.

Mindy and I stopped to have pizza and wine at a restaurant where a toddler screamed at the top of his lungs in the room next to us until the father finally took the kid outside We could hear his screams in a Square over a hundred yards away The pizza and beer were delicious.

After dinner we caught a taxi back to the apartment bringing along a whole pizza with us for Carlin who devoured it quickly while we shared our afternoon ventures with her .

In most of Italy, people dry their clothing outside on racks or lines. That night we brought our drying clothes in from the terrace since it was supposed to rain that evening. We showered and went to bed exhausted.

Venice Jewish Ghetto and across The Rialto Bridge

After breakfast at our hotel we walked along the canal through the Cannaregio neighborhood toward the Jewish ghetto area where we scheduled a tour at 10:30 AM. The word Ghetto originated in Venice in 1516 when the Jews in Venice were told they had to move to this area that was the former location of a foundry. The word ghetto in Italian means foundry. Jews were restricted from leaving the area from sunset to sunrise and their professions were limited to medicine (due to their understanding of Arabic text), money lending (due to the catholic churches prohibition of such practice), merchants and rag sellers. This restriction stayed in place for over 200 years until lifted by Napoleon in 1797.

Along the way we stopped in many shops, art studios and saw street vendors selling vegetables and seafood to the local residents.

Once we arrived in the Jewish quarter the architecture seemed different. We were told during our tour that most buildings in Venice were 4 stories tall but in the Jewish Ghetto many were 6 to 7 stories tall since that was the only way to add housing units to this land locked area.

In the Central Square there were two memorials to the victims of the Holocaust that were extremely moving. There was a guard station with two security guards which we were told was installed after 911. The other thing that stood out wa Venice-Ghetto-Holocaust-Memorial-1024x768 s a corner storefront for Chabad in the square.

We met our tour guide at the Hebrew museum and set off for a tour of the museum and three synagogues that are primarily used for ceremonial purposes. Two were Ashkenazim (German Jews) and the third was Sephardic (Spanish Jews). The interiors of the synagogues were a stark contrast to the Baroque interiors of many of the churches we visited. Our guide would not allow us to take photos since the synagogues are still in use today so these photos were taken from the internet.

Mindy asked our start guide who were the craftsman that worked on the interiors of the synagogues and was told they were local Venetian craftsman since the Jews were restricted to only working in the professions mentioned above. We also learned that Venice in the 1600s was similar to Las Vegas today. There were 150 casinos operating in Venice and this was the place you went to party and blow off steam. The photos below were taken around the Jewish Ghetto which is only 2 blocks and located on a small island accessed by small bridges.

Sephardic synagogue exterior that we did not visit on the tour.

A somewhat innocuous doorway to one of the synagogues

The portion jutting out from the building is the area behind the bimah inside one of the synagogues

The wooden portion of this building is the back of the synagogue pictured to the right.

Smithsonian Magazine published an article commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Jewish Ghetto in Venice in March 2016. The New York Times published a good article on the anniversary too at here

After the tour we headed over to one of the most popular coffee shops in Venice, Torrefazione Cannaregio, which according to Trip Advisor is the best coffee shop in Venice. You stand at a counter with both locals and tourists to enjoy your coffee standing up. Mindy had an espresso coffee while I tried the Viena coffee standing at the counter with lots of locals. According to coffee wiki, the Vienna coffee is made by preparing two shots of strong black espresso in a standard sized coffee cup and infusing the coffee with whipped cream (as a replacement for milk and sugar) until the cup is full. Then the cream is twirled and optionally topped off with chocolate sprinklings. The cost for these delicious drinks was €1.3 and worth four times that amount if you could get it prepared this way at a local Starbucks in the US.

We set off to explore more of Venice heading across the Rialto Bridge. This is a bridge similar to the Ponto Vecchio in Florence that is lined on each side with shops. Unlike the one in Florence, most of these stores were filled with souvenirs and cheap goods.

Once you cross the Rialto Bridge you are in another area of Venice and travel along narrow walkways lined with shops and restaurants. We went inside a few churches, stopped to listen to street musicians perform (short video of one here) and grabbed a delicious gelato. While enjoying our gelatos we noticed two unusuallly dressed guys strolling about the square so I took a couple photos of them in their get-ups.

There were so many interesting sights and stores along the route to stop and visit. Here is a sampling of a few.

There were lots of artists with easels set up painting scenes in Venice

We stumbled across this gallery where the artist creates wood sculptures made to look like clothing. The item in the window is a pair of undershorts hanging from a clothesline made out of wood.

This gallery represents an artist who creates wood sculptures of ordinary objects. In the window is a pair of undershorts hanging from a clothesline made from a wood carving.

Our goal was to make it down to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art at the end of this island but it took us so long to get there that we would’ve only had 45 minutes inside the museum. We looked at each other and decided that our feet and bodies could not take anymore standing so we sat in the square in front of a massive church people watching for a while and then headed over to the Vaparetto stop to head back to our hotel.

We could not locate a ticket machine to purchase tickets but noticed that several people would simply pass the machine without presenting their ticket so we decided to do what the locals do and just walk onto the boat when it arrived. The ride back was even more crowded than the ride the day before so we passed the time watching all the Asian tourist traveling along the gondolas while being entertained by musicians on their gondolas. There were several gondolas with opera singers, guitarists and the like.

At our vaparetto stop there was a museum called Ca D’or inside a palace along the canal built in the late 1400’s, The materials used in the construction of the palace were beautiful making the palace a work of art but the artwork inside was varied and interesting.

After resting up we headed out to enjoy a performance by the Venice Symphony in the legendary Venice opera house theater. I purchased the tickets far in advance because I wanted to experience a performance inside the legendary Opera House. Since there were not operas performing while we were there, I opted for the symphony. Here is an internet photo of the Opera House.

We arrived at the Opera House early to see that the entry doors were closed and not many lights were on. There were a few other tourists milling about holding tickets similar to ours so we waited and wandered around until 8 PM. When it became apparent something was wrong, I looked closer at the ticket and even though there was a billboard outside the opera house advertising the concert and the website I purchased the ticket on was hosted by the opera, this this performance was taking place at another concert hall in Venice that night.

I looked up the other location on my phone and learned was about a 20 minute walk away. After getting lost multiple times in finding the GPS to be of no use I stopped in Teatro_Malibran to a café and asked the waitress for directions only to learn it was around the corner. As we approached the theater, guests were pouring out for intermission so we headed back over to the café to have a glass of wine before going back to the theater. Once we returned and took our seats in the first row of the balcony we enjoyed a beautiful performance by an 80 Piece orchestra conducted by the Swiss National Orchestra conductor, Michel Tabachnik. My favorite piece was one by Brahms in which the triangle player had several featured moments. Mo
re Triangle!! It was fun getting dressed up to go to the symphony with such a distinguished group of patrons. One cultural item to note is that several audience members were “shushed” when they clapped after a particularly moving piece. Apparently it is gauche to make a sound between movements and p MALIBRAN2012 ieces. Ugly Americans!!

After the symphony we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant where we had a dinner of fish followed by dessert with a caramelized pear.

Walking back to the hotel after dinner I insisted I knew the way and it wasn’t long before I was completely lost and Mindy regained our bearings to take us home. Along the way we passed hundreds of young and old couples walking hand in hand along the canals and enjoying gelatos and drinks along gas lantern lit streets. Very charming and romantic.

The Magical Island of Venice

After breakfast at No Name we toured around our neighborhood a little bit and called for an Uber to take us to the train station. Unfortunately in Rome Uber does not do a great job identifying your location and most of our drivers did not speak enough English for me to tell them where we were standing so even though we walked our backpacks and selves out to a main road it took our driver an extra 30 minutes to find us. This caused us to nearly miss our train to Venice. To give you an idea what we mean by nearly missed, Mindy stepped after me onto the train and the door nearly closed on her backpack. We did not have 3 seconds to spare. Once settled on the train we took our seats in the first class section, breathed long sigh of relief and settled in for a pleasant two and three-quarter hour train ride from Rome to Venice.

The sights outside the train were lovely with gently rolling hills featuring lush green landscape and interesting looking trees and shrubbery. 30 minutes outside of Rome and you could have told me we were in the countryside of Tusacany. I took this video from the train to illustrate the sensation of traveling 200 mph relative to the cars speeding along the highway beside us.

Stazione_di_Venezia_Santa_Lucia — Arial view from the web of the train tracks into the Venice train station

Upon our arrival in Venice we hoisted our backpacks and walked our way through the crowded streets filled with tourists from the train station toward our hotel. Once we turned off the main thoroughfare toward our hotel, we breathed a sigh of relief as we realized that this hotel which was selected for being away from the maddening crowds was exactly what we needed in Venice. The city of Venice is divided into 6 areas. Our hotel, Una Hotel Venice, was located in the northernmost area called Cannaregio. To get there we had to walk along a narrow alley that was two people wide which wound its way past doorways and courtyards until it opened up slightly and crossed over a canal. The hotel was located along a canal which our room overlooked.

Upon checking in the front desk person informed us that our reservation was for one person so they placed us in the smallest room in the hotel. She offered to locate another room for us and informed us we could upgrade to a better room for a higher price and that we could check it out before committing. The new room was spectacular so we opted for it. This room was located on the corner of the hotel overlooking the canal. We came to learn later this is a very typical technique for encouraging tourist to up charge hotel rooms but since we were only in Venice for two nights and this was the only hotel we are staying at we decided to spend the extra €50 per night. Here is a video of our room in Venice.

Once settled we took our first step of thousands more around beautiful Venice and headed over to a Piazza near the hotel to sit and enjoy a glass of Italian beer and pizza with prosciutto and porcini mushrooms while watching the throngs of people pass by. The sun peeked out from the clouds allowing us to re energize ourselves and begin anew in Venice.

We ventured our way toward San Marco Square. Even though the map siad it was only a mile away everytime you turned and weaved along the streets you kept saying to yourself how in the hell am I ever going to find my way back to the hotel. I had my phone with GPS on me and have to tell you GPS is of limited use in Venice because the streets are not straight and perpendicular to one another and its difficult to get an accurate signal between the tall stone buildings.

After walking about 100 yards Mindy commented to me that she has never in her life seen so many fine and beautiful stores in such a small space. Four hours later she was saying the same thing and incredulous over the sheer numbers a beautiful shops and goods in Venice. Her favorite was one by a canal that had on display so many beautiful items Mindy could have closed her eyes and picked out anything.

Once inside San Marco Square we took turns with an Asian couple taking photos of them with their camera and them doing the same for us. I shot a short video in side the square and tried to capture the atmosphere of having rows of tables in front of restaurants lining the square with small orchestras playing classical music for the enjoyment of all.

We took in the sites and made our way to the Doge’s Palace for a tour of the museum shortly before it closed. It was a remarkable museum with objects ranging from Renaissance paintings and sculptures to an incredible collection of weaponry from medieval times. I’m not talking about one crossbow and three sets of arrows but dozens of crossbows allowing you to see the evolution of the technology used with these instruments over hundreds of years. There were many rooms of art, frescoes and sculptures throughout the Palace.

Detail of a massive painting showing a poor soldier with an arrow through the top of his head.

Across the channel from the Doge’s Palace is another area or island that we visited the next day.

To get back to our hotel we took our first of many rides on the Vaporetto which is the water taxi system in Venice. The boat was crowded shoulder to shoulder with tourists and locals and even though it took us around 25 minutes to get back to the stop your hotel if felt wonderful to get off her feet after walking so much that morning.

After freshening up we headed out that night to a tiny out of the way restaurant I found on Trip Advisor. At La Panocia D’Oro We enjoyed the house red and ordered the grilled fish platter which was delicious and fulfilling. Another memorable meal in Italy.

We return to our luxurious hotel room tired, fed and anxious to explore more the next day. Here are some random photos from Venice during our stay.