Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Vatican Tour
Our Tour Guide, Chiara, met us somewhat in front of the entrance to the Vatican Museum – although there was a growing crowd of tourist visitors that must have numbered more than 2,000 waiting to get in. Luckily we had a reservation and were able to pass the lines and go directly to the check-in area. The bad news was that the Vatican only allows reservations for groups of 11 or more and our guide was free. SO… Jackie and I were our own tour party of 11, making a donation to the Vatican for their overhead. The Vatican is an independent country that counts less than 1,000 citizens around the world: Cardinals, Bishops, Political figures and, of course, the Pope.
There are so many things to see at the Museum and it would take hours to go through all the halls and rooms. There are over 4 miles of displays. Most of the art owned by the Museum as paid for by grants and commissions to the artists. Raphael, Bernini and Michelangelo were among a large group of artists regularly under commission to paint, sculpt, or build artistic works. There are huge early Greek works (100 BC) as well as early Roman copies of early Greek works. There are long halls that have huge tapestries, hand-made wonders extolling the virtues of Christianity as well as very accurate maps of the known world.
We spent a good amount of time in the Raphael rooms – where Raphael was actively working at the same time Michelangelo was downstairs working on the Sistine Chapel – and they both added features to their work honoring the other. In one of Raphael’s frescos he paints a figure of Plato that is actually Leonardo di Vinci.
The Sistine Chapel was amazing – and now fully restored to its original brilliance. The Chapel is the Pope’s personal chapel, although he only uses it three or four times a year. The crowds were huge. They seemed to just stand and look for long periods of time: and talk, and talk and take pictures. Michelangelo’s work depicts the story of creation – with the famous scene of God reaching out and not quite touching Adam’s finger. But each of more than 40 scenes around the ceiling tell the story of Creation, the Fall, the Pain, the Birth of Christ, the Last Supper, Cruxifiction, the Resurrection and the Last Judgment (which alone takes an entire wall).
St. Peter’s Basilica is a wonder all its own. It is the richest, largest and most impressive Church in the World. There are marks in the center aisle to show where the next-largest churches would fit. The main altar of the Church, where the Pope says Mass, is located directly above the tomb of St. Peter who was crucified up-side-down just outside the front door of the Basilica. Peter was crucified for his love and devotion for our Lord and he did not feel it worthy to be crucified as Jesus was…so he chose to be crucified upside down. It has been amazing to walk the steps of Paul and Peter after so many years of following them through Bible Study and truly getting a sense of all they went through in Rome, during that time, to tell others of the love and forgiveness of Christ.
There used to be beautiful frescos on the wall, but they’ve been removed to the Museum and replaced by ornate mosaics. And of course, there’s the spectacular Pieta of Michelangelo: Mary holding Jesus after His being brought down from the Cross. It’s amazingly real and very moving. Michelangelo finished the Pieta when he was only 24 years old.
We left St. Peter’s and walked out into the square where hundreds of thousands of people have gathered over the years to hear and see the Pope – and celebrate various Holy Days. It’s a huge area and it’s also hard to imagine all the people that can gather there to hear the Pope speak.
After our four and a half hours at the Vatican, we said a sad good-bye to our guide and driver (they were great!!), walked back to the Campo de Fiori for lunch and a very long walk back to the hotel. As you can imagine, we are becoming a little weary! Today is the last day in Rome and the last full day of our wonderful trip. Tomorrow we’re off to a short stop-over in London and then the flight home on Sunday afternoon.
Thanks to all who have followed our trip. We hope you have enjoyed it. We certainly have and it has been a fantastic way to celebrate 25 years of marriage.
See everyone next week….. CIAO!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Our First Full Day in Rome
The Colosseum was spectacular. It’s 2,000 years old and in pretty good condition, considering. As we walked through the entrance ways, it was almost like being in a football stadium. There are 58 entrances around the circumference of the building, each numbered, so the patrons could find their way to their correct seats. Of course the Emperor had his own entrance, which is now marked by a Cross, signifying the Christian victory over persecution in the arena. Over the years, Popes have blessed the area. The original name of the Colosseum was the Flavian Amphitheater. But Emperor Nero had a 100 foot bronze statue of himself constructed just outside the grounds that was so large and “ugly” (colossal) that the Amphitheater was then known as the “COLOSS-EUM”
Then, we walked to The Palatine Hill and the remains of the huge palaces of the Caesars. Palatine Hill is one of the 7 Hills of Rome and sits between the Colosseum and the original city location of the Forum. If you remember from your early History courses, the seven hills of Rome are: Aventine, Palatine, Caelian, Esquiline, Capitoline, Viminal and Quirinal. At one point there were so many palaces on Palatine Hill that the newer Emperors started building in the suburbs. Legend has it that the huts of Romulus and Remus are located at the top of Palatine Hill.
Just below Palatine Hill is the Roman Forum – the oldest section of ancient Rome and its original settlement. It’s located at the lowest point between the seven hills and has a number of temples built to honor the gods of the day. Building for the court system, the building for the money system and a tower to mark “Ground Zero” where all roads out of Rome, began measurement.
About this time, our guide left us and dropped us off at a small café in Campo di Fiori which has a lot of wonderful small artisan shops and office. We mapped out our walk home to include The Patheon and the Piazza Navona. These are two wonderful places in Rome that are filled with tourists that want to see FREE monuments, statues and fountains.
The Pantheon has the best preserved interior of any ancient Roman building and became a church in 64 AD, and was later dedicated to the martyrs killed after the fall of Rome. The dome of the Pantheon is amazing. It’s one, complete concrete cast, 142 feet high, and it gets thinner and lighter as it goes up. Raphael is buried in one section of the building.
The Piazza Navona has wonderful fountains by Bernini and great outdoor cafes. The area on the outside of the Piazza was originally a racetrack for the Emperor Domitian.
Well, we finally made it back to the hotel – in the heat of the Roman afternoon sun. We’re sitting down for a comfortable afternoon nap – and will set out again for dinner and wine about 8:30.
Tomorrow is a tour of the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. Ciao!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
From Florence To Rome
From there we walked to the Trevi Fountain – down a couple of small side streets and behind a church. As we walked, we could see the tourists ahead… and then, all of a sudden, there it was! The fountain is an example of the power of the aqueducts – and was built under the direction of several Popes to celebrate the opening of an ancient aqueduct that brought thousands of gallons of water into the city.
Tomorrow is a tour day of the ancient city…. Ciao!
A Second Day in Tuscany
The first problem was getting to San Gimignano. We had to navigate traffic along the roads in and out Siena – and then along SR 2 through Poggibonsi to San Gimignano. The Italian road system is at best a little confusing. If Patton had followed the road signs as he moved through Italy, he would still be circling the round-abouts in Rome.
But, once we made it to San Gimignano, it was a great experience. We parked at a city parking area and took the city bus to the top of the Fortress. It saved us a lot of energy, walking the steep streets. And, we spent that saved energy shopping for things that we really wanted – at the best prices we’ve seen. The town is greatly preserved from the 13th century and the naturally fortified fortress is amazing. Most of the major buildings in the city centre date from the 1200s and the 1300s and the little buildings are amazingly well preserved examples of medieval architecture. There are 14 medieval towers in the town, all still standing and in pretty good condition. And the town is known for having probably the best saffron in Italy – and the best Tuscan white wines come from the vineyards around the fortress.
Then we headed west for one of the most rewarding experiences we’ve had on the entire trip. The drive from San Gimignano to the medieval city of Volterra. The drive was more than 40 kilometers along one of the most scenic road we’ve been on. The city is located on one of the highest points in all of Tuscany and, on a clear day you can see the Mediterranean. It was a wonderful drive and we looked down on miles and miles of Tuscan countryside. Volterra used to be one of the most important Etruscan cities in Italy and the Etruscan Museum in town is one of the best in the world, behind the Vatican Museum. We had lunch of the city square and looked on the City Hall which claims to be the oldest of any Tuscan village and was designed after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
On the way home we drove through Siena, following roads that went up, down, sideways and then up sideways and down sideways. By the time we got to the centre, we were too exhausted to fight the swarms of tourists that were starting to trek through the tourist sections. It seemed that we’d already seen the best of the best, so we decided to drive back to the hotel and have a good bottle of San Felice wine and relax.
After all, we had to pack and get ready for the trip back to Florence to catch the train, tomorrow, for Rome…… AH Roma…
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
A Day in Tuscany
After several hours we drove east along small Tuscan roads – little wide enough for a small Alfa Romeo, let alone a large truck.
A Drive from Florence to Tuscany
EuropCar gave us a great Alfa Romeo – with just enough power to be dangerous.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
A Day in Florence
We started on the Ponte Vecchico Bridge and Helena talked about the history of the bridge and the private walkway constructed on the east side, above the shops. This was for Lorenzo Medici and his advisors so they could easily move from the Pitti Palace to Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi in case of attack or just going to work, away from the commonfolk. A statue of Cellini stands in the middle of the bridge – he was the first master goldsmith in Florence and there are a lot of small jewelry stores along the bridge.
We then walked along the Via Por Santa Maria to the Piazza della Repubblica – the old Florence city square, where the early Romans constructed the original city – in 45BC, under Julius Caesar. It was a 4 block area that was bounded by high buildings, acting as fort. Today, this is the center of the shopping district. Major fashion stores line the outside of the center – along with restaurants and a Merry-Go-Round for children.
From the Duomo we walked west a few blocks to the Galleria della Accademia – the art academy that houses rare art of the middle ages as well as Michelangelo’s best know “DAVID”. There are also a number of his unfinished works including Prisioners and St. Mathew. The Accademia also houses a vast collection of musical instruments including violins, violas and cellos by Stradivarius.
We then retraced our steps back towards the Ponte Vecchio and spent several hours walking through the Uffizi Gallery that contained more Middle Ages art as well as some of the early Italian Renaissance art. It was remarkable to see the transformation from art created on plaster which covered wood to art created on early canvas. The beginnings of the understanding of perspective was also evident in early Italian Renaissance art. The collection included works by Giotti, Leonardo, Raphael, Rubens, Botticellis and Michelangelo. It probably features more early Middle Ages and Italian Renaissance art than any museum outside the Louvre.
Then, back to the Piazza del Repubblica for some shopping, a large gelato for sugar and the hotel for a short nap.
Refreshed from a nap, we were off to the south side of the Arno river and the Pitti Palace. This was the home of the Medici family – while they ruled Florence for more than 400 years, and sponsored all the great artists in Italy during the time. We continued to walk on the south side of the river for a mile or so, passing the massive Santo Spirito Church built by Brunelleschi and features a wonderful crucifix by Michelangelo.
Of course we wound up back at Harry’s Bar for a lively discussion with Leo (52 years as Bartender, mostly at Harry’s). Leo had all the stories of Harry as he opened his restaurants in Venice, Florence, Milan, Rome, Paris and Frankfurt. AND the Harry’s Bar in New York city is a knock-off and NOT part of the Harry’s group. Leo brought out his memorabilia collection of pictures and signed autographs that included Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Paul Newman and Mariel Hemmingway, among others. What a wonderful life. We were able to go down memory lane with Leo and thoroughly enjoyed it. Once again, you can see that Jackie conversed with Leo as if they were old friends, leaving with a hug and kiss on each cheek. Dinner was at a small café and we headed back to the Hotel to pack for our drive to Siena, tomorrow.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
From Venice to Florence
Our taxi driver was traditional Venetian and somehow was able to maneuver the motor launch through the little canals and around all the traffic. At the train station, we said Ciao and went off to find our high speed train to Florence.
The Italian railroad press was very proud of the fact that the high speed rail system was running efficiently – not as other things work in Italy. The train actually left on time, traveled quickly through the Italian country side and arrived in Florence 2 minutes early. Nothing like that in the States!
In Florence, we grabbed a taxi to the Lungarno Suites Hotel, a wonderful little hotel on the Arno river at the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. The bridge is still standing – from the 11th century - after the destruction Florence experienced in WWII. Hitler actually met Mussolini in a room above the bridge and was so moved by the view of the Arno that he ordered his Army not to destroy any part of the bridge. There is a long walkway on one side of the bridge, above the shops that allowed Lorenzo De Medici to walk from his home on one side of the Arno to the political offices on the other without being confronted by ordinary citizens. It’s quite ingenious – much as the US House and Senate have their underground subway system to avoid the common taxpayers.
We walked through a lot of neighborhoods before heading out for drinks at Harry's Bar of Florence. This Harry’s is much larger than Venice and we had a great conversation with Fortunato, a Sardinian bartender, relatively new to Harry’s. We’re going back tomorrow night to talk more to Leo, who’s been with Harry’s for 51 years and has ALL the stories.
Dinner was short and uneventful at a small café next to the Hotel – and we got to bed early, in preparation of a long walking tour of the Art Museums of Florence, tomorrow. Till then, Ciao!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Another day in Venice
After left turns, right turns, more left turns and more right turns we finally made the Rialto Bridge. This bridge, constructed centuries ago is one of only two bridges across the Grand Canal – from one main area of Venice to the other. Of course, it’s full of tourists. I’d love to see Venice in the off-season, although this time of year is not the high tourist season, either. We crossed the Rialto Bridge and walked through the market area where, early in the morning, they sell fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, etc. for the local trade. There were wonderful smells coming from all sides.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
From Nice to Venice
After a short respite back at the hotel, we ventured out to find a good restaurant for dinner. We walked east from the Piazza along the San Marco Canal and first found the Hotel Danieli – a wonderful hotel facing the Canal. The bar area was old Venetian, but the piano player was early Pittsburg (played Sinatra off key and had a terrible Elvis impersonation).
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Day In Vence and Monaco
We left St Paul de Vence and went back to Vence for a lovely little luncheon in the historical city area of Vence – the home of D. H. Lawrence, James Baldwin, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. The town, of course, has a wonderful art museum and lovely little sidewalk cafes.
A Day along the Cote d’Azur
We left the heights of Vence and drove to Cannes for a little walk along the beach. Quite a different place, now that the motion picture world community has left. There are a lot of Chinese tourists this time of year – and there seems a large medical convention in Nice, with tour buses traveling along the Cote d’Azur, constantly.
On the way back to the Hotel, the sky opened up with a torrential rain and hail storm. The water was rushing down the roadway and we had to duck under the trees, at times, to avoid damage to the car. We decided to get some wine and cheese at the local supermarket – in the rain, and Jackie’s umbrella was barely workable. Such fun was had attempting to communicate with the locals. Jackie had a lovely lady ask her, in French, to borrow her umbrella. Of course, all Jackie could do was ask “Anglais?”…and the woman started over in English….she just wanted to borrow the umbrella to run to her car to get hers. By the time we got to the Hotel, the sun was out and the air cleared.
Monday, June 1, 2009
A Travel Day and Rest
The train station was bustling with people and it was a great time for watching people as we waited to step on our car. As we purchased sandwiches and water for the ride, we sipped on espresso.The train we took was very comfortable and allowed us a few naps between the sites. It took about 5 hours and, upon arrival, we caught a cab to the airport where we rented a car.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Another Long Day in Paris
After the d”Orsay, we walked a few blocks and crossed the Seine at Pont Solferino, which led us the Tuilleries Gardens – a beautiful garden area that stretches north from the Louvre and borders on rue Rivoli, one of the better shopping areas on the right bank. We were on a mission to visit the Ritz Hotel and the Diana door (which Jackie had to walk through!), the Hemmingway Bar, the Westin Paris, Le Meurice Hotel and Angelina’s Tea Room. The gardens were great: long walking avenues of people enjoying the afternoon sun, children riding ponies, and older people (older than us) just sitting reading and talking.
Our dinner, last night, was at Le Restaurant – a relatively new, but highly rated restaurant with 3 Michelin stars. The dinner was great, the chocolate desert was even better and we met a couple from North Carolina headed to the south of France as we are. We then walked to Pont Neuf for a one-hour boat excursion on the Seine under the stars. We traveled from the Pont Neuf along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and then returned and traveled on the left side of the Seine past Il de la Cite and Il Saint Louis. It seemed like all of Paris was partying along the banks of the river. There were hundreds and hundreds of people of all ages singing, dancing and drinking their wine.