Blog #26 - More Pictures from Our Adventure in Italy

Tuscany

This is a common view of the Tuscan Hills. Irregular fields with grape and olive groves that dot the landscape. It is completely harmonious and relaxing to look out upon the pastoral scenes. It was also a welcome relief from the  crowded cities filled with other tourists. We enjoyed taking the smaller roads even through the frustration of disappearing roadsigns and round abouts where we had to guess about which direction to take. Next trip - note to self - get a vehicle with a GPS!

These flowers were outside the Borghese Gallery in the heart of Rome. It was the contrast in colors that caught my attention as we were walking by. There is a  very large park where the Borghese Gallery is located. The Borghese Villa is found in the middle of the Park. We walked in and then used our Roma Pass to take the small bus out of the park and into the city of Rome to cross the Tiber to have dinner in the Trastavere.

Barbarino d'Elsa is a walled town and this was one of the two gates into the town. It was up a rather steep hill and our apartment was up halfway in the town. The walls were constructed in the 14th century and are still in great shape. There are still the iron circles where horses were tied. 

The Alps were majestic and a complete surprise. I was not expecting to see such grandeur until I realized were were taking 3 cable cars right to the top. Our guide was very nice and took the views for granted - this was impossible for the rest of us for whom this was anything but ordinary. Even the Pope had visited and his picture adorned the small cafe at the top of the mountains. 

As I walked down from the mountains to the town this view captured my imagination. As not being neat myself I was amazed at the structure and compactness of the wood.  It was a very peaceful walk down the mountain with very interesting views of chalet style houses, bright red geraniums and wood piles all in the shadow of the beautiful snow capped mountains. 

Blog #25 - Italian Doors and Windows

I love doors, windows and flowers and when I see all three I can't resist taking a picture. Italy has some of the most beautiful doors and windows often in the most unsuspecting places. 

Venice

Courmayeur 

Barberino Val d' Elsa 

Montepulciano

Barberino Val d'Elsa

Venice

Venice

Courmayeur

Blog #24 - Sandy's Favourite Memories of Italy

Rome

The forum was spectacular. That the centre of ancient Roman life could be reduced to rubble made me wonder what our cities will look like in 2000 years?

The Vatican

Spectacular to feel the power and wealth of the  Roman Catholic Church. To stand beneath the obelisk that has stood for over 2000 as a testament to the crusifiction of St. Peter was remarkable. The size and grandeur of the square and the opulence of the act in the Vatican Museum was a very special experience. 

Venice

Beautiful and sad at the same time. Important to experience the uniqueness of this city!

Monte Carlo

Smaller than expected with evidence everywhere of wealth. 

Monte Bianco

Majestic.... cold, clear and beautiful. Meeting up with Andy and Birgit made this a very memorable place. A very appreciated break from the touristy areas of Rome and Venice.

Florence 

Busy, touristy and beautiful. Seeing "David" is well worth the trip!

Cinque Terre

Small towns that in the past were only reached by boat and small paths. A much more challenging hike but well worth the views! This photo was taken in Vernazza - note the colour of the sky - the rain prevented us from hiking onward toward the next town - next time!

Tuscany

Pastoral countryside with small villas. Still retaining it's rural character Tuscany is charming when you take the small roads, experience the disappearing roadsigns and the many round abouts. Walled and hilled towns appear out of nowhere with church domos and always a town square. 

San Gimignano

Although only 14 towers remain from the original 60 however it demonstrates how wealthy families chose to show their money. We had the best gelato here in the Palazzo.

Blog #23 - Heading Home

Getting home turned out to be a two-day adventure because we had to first get down to Rome from Tuscany on Saturday, Oct 9th and then catch our flight out the next morning to Canada.  We decided to drive down the coastal highway instead of taking the Autostrada down the centre of Italy from Sienna to Rome.  The coastal highway was slower, but we had all day to get from Barberino to our hotel, which was located just off the great Ring Road that circles Rome, similar to the beltway that circles Washington DC.

Sandy in Citivecchia on the coast of the Mediterranean.

We made two stops along the way.  The first stop was by the roadside so I could cut up some cheese and wild boar salami and the second stop was in the city of Civitavecchia (pop. 51,000), which is a major port for ferries travelling to Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Tunis and Barcelona.  We had a gelato, took a photo and then drove on to Rome where we went through the usual frustrations of trying to find our hotel and stopping numerous times to ask directions - next time we'll get a GPS!  We thought we might try to go to a shopping centre, but after driving around for an hour and not having any luck locating it, we gave up and went back to the hotel.

The Victor Emmanuel Monument at the Italian Capitol.  Victor Emmanuel
was the first king of Italy when it was united as a nation for the first time in 1861.

After a little rest, we decided that since it was our last night in Italy, we should go downtown and see Rome for the last time.  The concierge at the hotel advised us not to take the subway for safety reasons, so we hopped in a taxi and he dropped us off exactly where we wanted to be.  We thought we could catch a special night tour, but when we went to buy the tickets, we learned that the tours finished at the end of September.  So instead we bought tickets for a special movie about the history of Rome that was like a Disney ride where we sat in a special car that had motion and special effects.

A Roman soldier in the Piazza Venezzia near the Capitol in Rome.

Done for the day, the soldier heads back to his camp.

While we were waiting for the movie to start, Sandy went shopping and I wandered around and took a few photos.  Sandy came back from her short shopping trip with the pair of Italian boots that she had been trying to find for the whole trip - success at last!  She was very happy.  After the movie we found a restaurant and had one last pizza/pasta dinner and then walked over to the Trevi Fountain.  They say if you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, then you will return to Rome some day.  Since we threw coins in the fountain when we were in Rome two weeks before, I guess the adage is true.  Of course we had to throw more coins in the fountain so that we could come back to Italy on another trip in a few years.

A man roasting chestnuts on the street.  The chestnuts were not
very tasty I discovered, but you never know unless you try one.

At the restaurant for our final Italian dinner.

The Trevi Fountain where we threw in coins to make sure we come back to Rome.

We then walked over to see the Pantheon, the temple to all the Roman gods built by the Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD.  We didn't have time to see the Pantheon when we were in Rome at the start of our trip and it was now nighttime so all we could do was see the outside.  It is an amazing building and we will definitely see it on our next Italian adventure.  We then caught a taxi back to our hotel and had a nice chat with the taxi driver.  However, I did get into two disagreements with him when we told him stories of some of our adventures in Italy and on our trip to Greece in 2008.  The first disagreement was over the tallest mountain in Europe.  The taxi drive said it was Monte Bianco, where we went on our Alpine adventure and I said it was a mountain in Russia in the Ural Mountain Range.  The second disagreement was over the largest island in the Mediterranean.  The taxi drive said it was Sicily and I said it was Crete.  Sandy thought we were going to come to fisticuffs over the disagreements, but I'm sure it was just the Italian character of discussing things passionately and found the discussion to be great fun.  And who was right?  Lorne 1; Taxi Drive 1.  Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus at 5642 metres vs. Monte Bianco in the Alps at 4808 meters.  Sicily is 25,460 Sq. Km. and Crete is 8,312 Sq. Km. (fifth largest).  However, the Taxi Driver did not consider Russia to be part of Europe, so he probably thinks he was right about both topics.

A night photo of the Pantheon.

The next morning we woke up and headed to the airport, but found that we had one last driving frustration, which was to find the rental car drop-off location.  We finally located it and felt great relief to turn in our Doblo without any issues.  It was at this point that I decided to call our breadtruck "St. Doblo" because it did such a good job about getting us safely around Italy.  We got to the check-in counter with all our luggage two hours before our plane was to depart, but there was nobody in line and two couples dealing with ticket agents.  They were having very animated discussions, which made us worry a little.  Then one woman grabbed her suitcase and stormed off in a huff.  When we went up to the agent, I asked if they had overbooked the flight and if there were any seats left.  The agent replied, "that depends" and took our electronic ticket printout.  After a while, which included a few phone calls, she printed out two boarding passes for Sandy and me for First Class seats!  They were overbooked and had sent the other woman to catch a flight with US Air (which meant she had to go through the US), but there were no longer any seats left on that plane, so they had to give us the last two empty seats on our flight, which happened to be in First Class.

First Class seats for the flight to Canada!

But our troubles weren't over yet we were soon to discover as we entered the long queue for security.  It took us an hour to get through and when we finally made it up to the x-ray machines, they took one look at Sandy's walking poles and told us we had to go back to check them as luggage.  We could not carry them onto the airplane as we had done when coming from Canada.  So I ran back to the check-in counter and found it was closed.  I asked an agent at another Alitalia check-in counter to check the poles and he said it was too late.  They were not accepting any more check-in luggage!  So what could I do with the poles?  I had no choice but to throw them out, which made Sandy very sad.  Well, you win some (two free upgrades to First Class - value $4,000) and you lose some (walking poles - value $100).

First Class meal - primo piatta.

First Class meal - secondo piatta.

First Class meal - dessert.

The flight back to Canada was very relaxing in First Class - it really is the only way to fly (especially with free upgrades).  When we were in Toronto waiting for our flight to Ottawa, Sandy's brother Phil sent us a message to ask if we needed a pick-up at the airport.  We had nothing arranged, so we replied back that yes we did.  Phil was there to greet us, but instead of taking us to our house in Orleans, he took us first over to his house to have Thanksgiving dinner with Sandy's Mom and Mireille.  It certainly was a nice touch to the end of our Italian adventure!

Thanksgiving Dinner (7:00 PM local, 1:00 AM Rome time for us).
Beer, wine, lack of sleep - I slept quite well that night.

Blog #22 - Our Venice Adventure

We arrived in Venice by train and learned very quickly that Venice was unique. The train station is beside the Grand Canal and it is as busy as any city street except that the traffic is all boats - vaporettos (water bus), water taxis and gondolas. Tourists were everywhere; in fact we rarely met a Venetian the whole time we were there! The buildings are charming and sad at the same time as many are crumbling into the sea!

The "Partial Canal" view from our Venice hotel.  We had the best room in the hotel on the top floor at the front of the hotel.  This shot was taken, leaning out of the window and looking up the street.

The TV in our hotel room was built into the mirror.  Here you can see a reflection of Lorne taking a picture of the Italian weather channel.

St. Marco Square was also a bustling place with lots of restaurants, museums and stores. The Doge's palace was a highlight - you could almost imagine the time when the Doge was in power - the beautiful artwork, the hand carved throne seats and the amazing marble statues were all to impress - and it works! We were impressed. 

There were many shops selling masks in Venice.  We brought back a cat mask for Kristin.

The Grand Canal in Venice

The small cobblestone streets and small bridges that cross the canal were windy but once we walked around the town we started to know landmarks and how to get from our B and B to St. Marco Square. We ate a true Venetian family restaurant and had a wonderful meal. One thing that surprised me was the bread in Italy. Your would think that the bread would be fresh, crusty and doughy in the centre. Not so... the bread was crusty but not fresh tasting. When buying bread you can buy as much of a load as you want and it is sold by the weight! 

The Rialto Bridge

The Rialto bridge is a very famous bridge and always busy. It is a beautiful bridge built in 1588 and spans over the Grand Canal. The gondola rides were busy and it was almost like a Disney ride as they were all backed up. The black gondolas gliding along the canals with the gondoliers in their black and white striped t shirts were interesting to see. We did not go on a gondola ride - very expensive for a Disney like ride and the canal was so busy it was everything but romantic! 

One of the cruise ships in the harbour at Venice with a water bus (vaporetto) passing by.

We did take a vaporetto to Murano. The water bus was a great option to ride through the canals, across the open ocean and visit Murano the island of Murano glass. It was a "little Venice" where glass is sold everywhere! We exited from the water bus and there was a man directing us to his glass factory. We went and saw a short glass blowing demo and then was directed into store. Lorne found some beautiful handmade wine glasses with a platinum design around the rim. We had been looking for a gift with silver to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary with money received from Lorne's mom. This was perfect! We knew there was more to Murano than this as we could see the church domo. We kept walking the other way and ta da there was a small canal, bridges and what looked like a mini Venice. The seawater was so high that the sidewalk was half underwater. Stores selling Murano glass lined both sides of the canal. 

Gondolas in one of the side canals in Venice.





A Murano glass worker.





Worker by the glass furnaces.

Leaving Venice was quite an adventure. They had closed the shortcut by the train terminal so the only way to go was through several cobbled streets and over 4 bridges to get to the car rental place to pick up the car we ordered. We were pulling all of our luggage with us and it was quite a hike! One thing is for sure Venice may be for lovers but they have to be in really good shape to get around! It is an interesting city and very unique. I am so glad we experienced it when we were young enough to enjoy it!

An ambulance in Murano

The nice little restaurant we found down a side street in Venice.