So where did I leave off? Right, the Uffizi.
We wandered back down to the tourist area to see Italy's largest gallery. Happily, the wait wasn't too long and we got to see some very beautiful art. After that, it was time for dinner, which we enjoyed overlooking a very old square and the palace. We had some tasty cheese (which EDP enjoyed greatly) and met a lovely couple from Cincinnati, who gave us some good tips about Venice. After that, it was time for more gelato and headed back to the hotel. In the morning, we had a lazy morning wandering around, enjoying a cappucino and some pastries before sitting in the Piazza della Repubblica before catching a bus for a tour out in Chianti. We visited a winery called Vicchiomaggio (that may be spelled incorrectly) and got to see the giant barrels where the wine is aged and had a lovely tasting of 4 different Chianti wines with snacks (yum!) After that, we explored Greve before heading back to Florence for our last evening in the crazy hotel. The next day, we got up, packed our bags and headed out to Pisa!
Pisa was a cute little town with little more than the tower and other church buildings. We went through the cathedral, the baptistry and the cemetary before heading up the leaning tower. I made it up to the bells, EDP got all the way to the top. It was quite weird going up the stairs as you could feel yourself falling towards various sides as you wound your way around the tower. Very strange sensation. EDP tells me it was quite windy at the top and that he nearly lost his sweater. After that, it was time for some lunch at a little trattoria that had a lovely view of the tour. We were serenaded by a crazy old man who told EDP he could donate if he liked the man's voice but that we didn't have to but that his voice was beautiful and that people who appreciate culture would give him money. EDP gave him some money. I think it was to get him to go away.
After that, we caught the train up here to Verona. After settling in, we headed out for dinner where EDP finally had his tiramisu and I broke with my daily gelato tradition and had tartufo instead. Today, we've been exploring Verona - seeing the arena (now the world's largest open air opera house) and Castelvecchio, a old castle filled with art and various things. Then, we wandered around, seeing the Piazze dei Erbe and the Torre dei Lamberti (again, EDP made it to the top, I got up to the bells) before finding Juliet's balcony and then a little spot for lunch and heading back here to the hotel. Tonight is dinner and then tomorrow is off to Venice!
In Florence!
Hello again... We've made our way up to Florence now and have had a lovely few days.
Our train trip up to Florence was quite the event. We didn't really know what was going on at the train station so we bought tickets that didn't have specific seats assigned. That was a bad idea. We ended up standing the whole 1.5 hours to Florence. And, the train left and hour late. After arriving, we made our way to our crazy hotel and then went out exploring. Sadly, it was the middle of siesta time so we couldn't get bus tickets. So we walked up to the Duomo instead. And we could't go in because a service was about to start. The idea for an early dinner didn't work out either - restaurants are closed from about 3 to 8. We napped back at the hotel, instead, before heading out for dinner at 9:30. It was worth the wait, though - I had the best gnocchi ever and EDP took a chance on something called ribollita that he ended up loving. After that, it was back to the hotel (with another stop for gelatto along the way) and a good sleep.
Yesterday, we woke up to a cloudy sky (oh, did I mentioned that it's rained every night since we got here but not during the day at all?) and after a tasty breakfast, caught the shuttle up to the train station and booked tickets for Cinque Terre. It poured most of the way up but stopped just as we arrived in Levanto, pretty much. There, we bought our Cinque Terre cards and headed over to Monterossa. We had a nice little lunch over looking the sea before findind our way to the trail and hiking to the next village, Vernazza. This stretch of the path is supposed to be the harded - it was 3 km and the hike took about 1.5 hours and took us 300 metres above sea level. It was insane - in some places, there was hardly room for one person, let alone two if someone else was coming along. We met a nice couple from New Zealand who gave us some good tips about the other villages and spent a good chunk of the way walking with them. Once we arrived in Vernazza, it was time for water and a rest (and gelatto.) The views were beautiful so we decided to ask someone to take our photo. He looked at my sweatshirt and said "UW? Are you from Kitchener?" and we quickly learned the couple was from St. Catharines. They told us about their travels, made some recommendations and then a scary man started talking about how rude the Italians were so we both kinda started inching away. Too bad, it was a lovely conversation.
From there, we tried to take the train to the 4th village but it didn't really stop, it just kind of slowed down. So we caught the next train instead. We passed by Corniglia and went down to Manarola where I bought some local wine and olive oil. Then we walked the last part of the trail down to Riomaggiore along Via dell'Amore before stopping at a local restaurant where EDP enjoyed some seafood spaghetti and I had a pizza.
Then it was back to Florence on the train (nearly went to Parma by accident) and to bed before getting up today to see the Accademia (with David) and going inside the Duomo. We climbed the 463 steps up to the top - I stopped around step 455 but EDP went right out onto the cupola and got some beautiful photos of Florence. We had a nice little lunch and now, we've come back to the hotel to wait for the lines to die down at the Uffizi, Italy's largest and most famous museum.
I heart Roma
We're here! And it is awesome.
Our plane took off with little trouble beside a gate change at the last minute. The flight was smooth (yay for good pilots)and we made our way through customs with no major international incidents. After finding our way to our hotel in the glorious Italian heat, we freshened up and headed out to learn the subway system and start taking in the sights. We stopped for lunch at a little trattoria for our first taste of real Italian pasta - there was a HUGE menu but we walked in and were told we could only have pasta. That was fine as there was lots of pasta. We sat down and were told we could have canelloni, lasagne or something else (can't remember what...) So much for the huge menu!
Our first stop was the Colesseum. We walked out of the subway station and it was looming right up in front of us. Hard to miss! After wandering around for a few minutes, we went inside, skipping the MASSIVE line with our handy-dandy Roma Passes and looked around. It is pretty much impossible to describe how massively huge it is. It's pretty big, let's leave it at that. We spent a fair amount of time going around the entire outside of the second level before heading down to the first level and checking it out from that angle. The ruins are amazing - you can see all the tunnels that would have been running through everything.
After that, it was over to Palentine Hill to wander through the ruins of the ancient palaces. They were quite impressive. After wandering around there, it led us to the Roman Forum, which was also quite impressive. And both were HUGE, I think it took us about 2 or 3 hours to make our way from one end to the other. We were pretty tired after and went to head back to the hotel. We needed to shower again after all the dust and then made our way back out to head down to the Trevi Fountain. On the way, we stopped for dinner at a little restaurant that was out on the street. EDP enjoyed some veal scallopini with lasagne and I had four flavours of gelato - I think we were both pleased with our selection! After that, it was down to the fountain, which was quite the site in the dusk, all lit up. We made our obligatory wish with a toss of a Euro in the fountain and off we went back to the hotel for a well-earned sleep.
This morning, it was breakfast in the hotel before heading out to Vatican City, where we got a guided tour of the museums and learned many interesting things about the millions of dollars worth of marble and how to worm your way back into the church if they get mad at you for murdering someone (paint them a really nice painting and they will be putty in your hands.) Our guide was a friendly fellow by the name of Ian, hailing from Glasgow and he was quite interesting to listen to. What surprised me most was the number of gift shops running throughout the galleries. We passed probably a half dozen while on the tour and then had to go through two or three more to get out. Sadly, we didn't see the Pope, but I hear he is pretty busy. We then headed over to St. Peter's where the line was probably about 3,000 people long (seriously, it wrapped around the entire place) so we decided to skip that and had tasty sandwiches instead. Then, it was back to the hotel to sort out how we'd get to our villa (moral of the story - we're staying an extra night in Florence instead) and then off to find the Crypt with the Capuchin monks and the Pantheon. Both found, both explored, both fascinating. Then it was time for some dinner (yum, pizza) and now we are heading back to the hotel to enjoy a bottle of wine THAT THEY OPENED FOR US IN THE STORE (seriously, the day the LCBO starts doing that will be the day I start going more frequently.) And maybe some more gelato on the way.
Don't miss you at all, Italy is fabulous... Tomorrow, we're heading off to Florence so it'll be a pretty dull day but then the adventures start again.
Okay, miss some of you a little bit.
Buona sera!!
I got my swim trunks and my flippy floppies...
24 hours until take off, EDP assures me he has the guidebook and I think I'm ready!
I've got all of our hotel confirmations printed out and in about 13 minutes, we can check in for our flight online! My suitcase and carrying-on are packed, pictures below for those who don't believe I'm capable of travelling light. FYI - I'm only going to have THREE pairs of shoes in Italy. When I get there. Perhaps more like thirteen by the time we head home. (sorry, the one image won't come in properly... and I don't know how to rotate)
Okay, I know I have an essay to write...
It's my break time, though? Yes, that is it!
Last night, EDP & I finished planning out what we want to see in Italy (it is only TEN sleeps away.) Man, are we ever going to be doing a lot! After we leave our Tuscan villa, it's off to Florence...
We'll arrive in the afternoon or evening, check into Hotel Crazy and head out on an evening walking tour of the city
Tuesday will be a day filled with art - we're taking in the Uffizi (the finest picture gallery in Italy, according to a guide book) and the Accademia (home of David) along. We're also going to visit the Duomo (which lords over the cityscape with an authority unmatched by any architectural creation in any other Italian city - also from the guidebook)
Wednesday is a day trip out to Cinque Terre where we will hike (read: saunter) as much of it as we can
Thursday brings a trip out to Pisa to check out the Leaning Tower and the Campo dei Miracoli before heading off to Verona where I will....
Have my photo taken with two random guys and claim they are the Two Gents and then let EDP dictate the rest of the day's galleries and churches and museums
We also plan on eating a lot in Verona as we hear the food is amazing there (and shopping - don't tell EDP)
Saturday, we head to Venice where we will spend Saturday and Sunday morning visiting St. Mark's Square (including the Doge's Palace) and quite literally, getting lost for a while
Sunday afternoon, it's back to Rome for our last night before coming back to Canada on Monday
It'll go pretty quickly but I can't wait for next Thursday to get here! I've already started packing :D (oh come on - did you really think I wouldn't have started by now?)
Eeee... One month to go!
So the time is starting to go quickly and now we're working out the details of the trip. So far, we've got Rome & Tuscany figured out:
Arrive in Rome mid-day on Friday, check into the hotel and freshen up a bit.
We'll head off to see the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill before settling down for some dinner with a walk by the Trevi Fountain on the way back to the hotel for the night (and don't tell EDP, but there will be several gelato breaks along the way)
Saturday, we're getting up nice & early to go to the Vatican where we will be see the best sights, compliments of a tour guide (thanks for the tip, Katy.)
After that, we're going to fit in the Pantheon and the Capuchin crypt and maybe the Spanish Steps
Sunday, we'll see anything we didn't manage to fit in or discovered while we were there before boarding a train and heading to our Tuscan villa
Once there, we'll be enjoying a four-course dinner and wandering around the vineyard and Monday will include a winery tour!
After that, it's off to Florence!