Last Night in Italy

and we got the airport ripoff.  We looked for the Best Western shuttle bus at the airport (after taking two trains to get there) but couldn't find it. We got charged 50 euros to go 2 miles by taxi. We took the white cabs in the taxi line but apparently, that wasn't the right thing to do. The driver kept saying it was a standard price and I kept arguing that was the price to go into Rome but I lost since he was in possession of our luggage.

We are now officially exhausted. On the 11 hour bus tour, we saw a lot but each stop was brief. We decided if anyone asked us for advice, we'd tell them to either rent a car and stay at Siena overnight and tour around by yourself or just take a bus from Rome and spend the day there or in another small town.

Our tour guide had to speak 4 languages; therefore, she did not give us the kind of information you would expect on that type of tour. Plus, there were 45 people on the bus. Everywhere we went, the bus parking seemed to be miles away from the city centers. The fitbit count was over 7 miles. And they were fast miles--when the guide said "go," she walked so fast, no one could keep up, especially with the crowds of people who were touring all the sites.  The only exception to the speed tour was the lunch and wine tasting at a small winery. It was almost restful except we shared a table with the Italians from Newark who became our best friends for the rest of the tour.

First we went to San Gimignano . Both it and Siena are at the top of  mountains so walking always involved going uphill.

The only thing we had time to do there was tour the cathedral which is ancient but photography was not allowed. The walls of the church are frescoes--one side depicting the creation and other stories; the other side depicting the life of Christ. And, of course, it had those fancy ceilings. The church was badly damaged in WWII so most of the art had to be retouched.

View of the Campanile

The Duomo

From there, we went to the winery where we got to taste two wines and eat lunch. The lunch consisted of a meat and cheese plate, bolognese, panna cotta with chocolate sauce. The Sopranos from Newark had to ask the waiter what the dessert was even though Lola told them 1000 times it is called panna cotta. We do not know what those Italians eat in Newark.

After lunch, we went to Siena and were given a guided tour by a local. He was difficult to understand and explained more about the town than anyone would want to know. Besides the upscale shops, what you really want to tour is the cathedral but we didn't have time:

Duomo in Siena

We also heard a lot about the famous horse race in Siena. Here's the square where people hang out when there isn't a horse race:

We walked by a palace that belonged to some rich family and on one side at the rooftop, there was a large collection of heads. We do not know who they are or why they are there:

Right when we thought we were going back to Florence, we had another stop at a small fort, Monteriggioni, that was built to defend against the Florentines; getting there involved another walk up a very steep hill. The guide claimed she was giving us a half hour to tour the small fort but it turned out to be 20 minutes so we saw little. Plus, locals were selling homemade goods and we didn't even get to shop. That part of the tour should have been longer or else just a drive by. It was interesting and could have definitely used more time.

Back on the road, the guide said the drive to Florence usually takes a half hour but that the traffic was bad. When we got to the highway, you could see the traffic was at a standstill so our driver took back roads and got us into town in under 40 minutes. The roads were windy and narrow but we were glad to get back, eat dinner outside, and collapse since we had an early day today. At the Best Western here by the airport, the clerk said he didn't think it will take too long to check in for the flight. However, we are going to get there over 2 hours early since the international terminal does not have the best reputation for being speedy. We fly to JFK and eventually back to Cincinnati. See you soon!

No blog

11 hour tour of Tuscany. Exhausting and we leave by train tomorrow. The Corelli's were always late back to the bus. Yes, it was that kind of tour.

The Uffizi

We had 11:30 tickets for the Uffizi today--the actual tickets, not just vouchers. So the line was not too long and the whole museum felt less crowded than some of the others we've been in.  We thought people should be at church but many of them were not. At 11 on the square of Santa Maria Nuovo, the traditional Easter fireworks occur. We couldn't go but our host had made us watch a movie of them on the computer. What it looked like was a big box and the fireworks seemed to just go in circles close to the ground. However, we don't know how the movie ended because it was too boring. Our host, Franco, looked up how to say "a couple of oxen" to say that is what carries the box away from the square. When we were there later in the day, there was no sign of box or oxen.

Our new thing in museums is to take the elevators that are reserved for people with limited mobility. No one ever stops us and this elevator today even had an attendant. Otherwise, you have to walk up a gigantic staircase. There's only two levels to the museum but the top one seems to be 4 stories high. We walked down the staircase after the tour.

Again, you can spend an hour looking at each individual ceiling:

some ceiling panels in the Uffizi

You never get an explanation of who did the ceilings. I am convinced there was a craigslist back in the day, probably caesarslist.com where you could hire ceiling painters.

The museum is huge so you have to pick and choose how to spend your time. Here's a Michaelangelo sculpture which is of someone, the guess is it's Venus:

 

And finally, what everyone goes to see, Venus on the Half-Shell (Birth of Venus). Rick Steves claims only Americans call it half-shell; I thought that was its real name:

That was the only picture that was a little hard to get close to, similar to the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

There's a lovely terrace at the top of the building. Here is the tower you can see--not sure if it's part of the Uffizi:

After the Uffizi, we found a highly-recommended coffee shop close to us, called Procacci. Our hosts had asked us whether we liked truffles which of course, everyone does.  They sell tiny sandwiches--we sampled the foie gras and truffles and had a "light lunch" and wine. I had eggs with truffles and Lola had cauliflower with a truffle cheese sauce which was the best dish anyone has ever made. It was a great experience.  Then we found the only macaron store we've seen in Italy. These have more filling than you would get in a French macaron--not as good as the French but very good nevertheless. We saved those for later so we could get gelato on the Santa Maria Nuovo Square. It was a beautiful afternoon and everyone was doing that so we went along with the crowd. Here's the square:

The crowds seemed to have thinned out somewhat this evening and it was raining so we went to a restaurant we've been to before. They have the best appetizer--chicken liver pate on toasty bread (crostini). Their house wine is also very good. Tomorrow is our 11 hour tour of Tuscany so it's early to bed, after the macarons.

The Big Guy

He's a major reason people come to Florence:

David

I took his picture from every angle.  And here's the phony David at the Piazzale Michaelangelo which is at the top of a mountain and has the best views of Florence:

Phony David--Piazzale Michaelangelo

Florence remains unbelievably crowded. We had a voucher for the Accademia today so we went a little early and found the line for people with tickets. The line for people without tickets had to be 2-3 hours long. We stood there for about 20 minutes when a nice lady behind us told us, in broken English, that we couldn't enter with our vouchers but had to go get the actual tickets down the street. She even told me to go and Lola to hold the place in line, so that's what we did. It seems I'm always behind someone with a major problem at the voucher place but as it turned out, Lola had to let just a few people pass her by and then we got inside. The statue of David is, of course, magnificent, but the setting is what cannot be captured in a picture. It sits under a dome skylight giving great lighting to all the people taking selfies.

We wandered around the rest of the gallery and saw the Michaelangelo unfinished Pieta and The Prisoners. Surprisingly, it didn't feel that crowded in the museum and it's fairly quick to get through it.

From there, we went to the Bargello since we knew that's a smaller museum and it turned out to be everything you want a museum to be. No crowds, walk in and pay admission, and small. Here is the courtyard:

Bargello Museum Courtyard--the round thing is a very deep well

And the most famous piece, the Donatello David:

We planned to go by bus to the Piazzale Michaelangelo since it was highly recommended by our hosts and some of the guidebooks. Our hosts said you have to take a bus up the mountain but can walk back.  After a nap, we walked to the train station to get the bus. The first #12 bus that was supposed to arrive shortly didn't make it. There was a sign reporting when the buses would come but ours changed from 10 minutes to more than 20. Finally, it came and it was packed. We knew there were many stops along the way but more and more people got on and no one got off. I heard a young man next to me say the bus was always that crowded. Plus, there was a group of young men who thought it was funny to sway with the bus--they almost crushed us. Finally, we made it. Besides the phony David, there were lots of souvenir stands, an Italian guy singing old songs, like "Mrs. Robinson," (he was good and was making lots of tips), and grassy areas where people were sitting.  The views are spectacular:

View from the Piazzale Michaelangelo

Some bridges over the Arno

When we finished the sightseeing, we looked up the map to get home and discovered it was a 26 minute walk or 28 minutes by bus. We knew we'd have to wait a long time for a bus and be claustrophobic again so we walked down the mountain, crossed the Ponte Vecchio which was crowded as usual, and made our way home. Total walking for the day was almost 7 miles. 

Tonight the time changes in Italy; luckily, our Uffizi tickets are for 11:30 so we should be able to make that. Seeing great art often seems to be a lot of work...or at least, a lot of walking.

Train to Florence and Crowds

High speed trains are the answer to transportation. Our train sped along at around 250 km/hr. and got us to Florence from Rome in an hour and a half.  We had perfect timing to meet the "hosts" of this apartment--a woman whose dad was a doctor and owned what is now 3 apartments on the third floor of a building now surrounded by upscale shops. Gucci is right around the corner. This apartment was once just the living room/dining room of the apartment:

living room

bedroom

Plus, there's a kitchen; a two-room bathroom, laundry and another bathroom in the hallway. There are only 4 keys to get into this place although the key to the wooden doors on the street is difficult to use.

Our hosts, Miki and Franco, spent an hour telling us everything there is to know, like how to use the stove even though we told them we don't cook. They had maps to give us and showed us how to get to the various sites. Neither one was fluent in English so it took a long time, especially since each of them showed us the same things. They are very cute but told us much more than we need to know, like how to fix the electricity if it breaks.

After that, we were starving so we went to a main square and ate an overpriced sandwich at the outdoor tables. Then we walked around as best we could. This city is crowded. There seems to be very few Americans but lots of tour groups. Also, as in Rome, there is no distinguishing a true pedestrian street from one that allows motorcycles. The sidewalks are so narrow, you can't possibly stay on them, especially with the crowds of people. A couple of gigantic trucks drove through the main square outside the Duomo. We're constantly listening for cars and motorcycles so we can get out of the way.

We saw the outside of the Duomo--the lines to get into the various attractions--climbing the 400 steps to the top of the dome, the cathedral itself, and the museum, were too long today. It seems many Italians are vacationing in Florence for Easter week.

Duomo--can't get it all in one picture

From there, we walked to the Ponte Vecchio which was another extremely crowded area. We walked over most of it but didn't want any of the expensive jewelry in the stores on the bridge.

View from Ponte Vecchio

Then, we wandered kind of aimlessly and came across a church, Orsanmichele that we went into. Some kind of church was on that space since the 700s but this rendition was finished in the 1500s. It has stained glass which we haven't seen too much:

Windows in Orsanmichele

After rest time, we went out searching for dinner and we denied entrance to the first two places we tried. We finally found a restaurant that we could get into, La Spada, right down the street. There are very few restaurants with outdoor spaces in this area but the restaurants seem bigger on the inside than the ones we saw in Rome. Lots of meat here so Lola had rabbit and I had ribs. The place was jammed from 7:30 until close to 9:30 when we left.

There are better dogs in Florence than in Rome--more purebreds and well-groomed. There are fewer people speaking fluent English. It seems every city has its version of a 7/11; so far, we've had no luck finding a small store.  There are several places to buy meat, cheese, fruits, and vegetables but nothing close by for staples, like cream for our coffee so you can imagine how we are suffering.

Trastevere and Last Day, Roma

Last night, we had dinner with John Battistone's aunt Sylvia and cousin Andrew. We met at the Piazza Navona in the midst of what was the worst weather we've had on the whole trip. It was extremely windy and cold. Andrew had made a reservation at a restaurant he goes to often which he called "classic Roman with a twist." We saw the name of it on the menu but it was too complicated to remember. It is just a short walk from Navona, though and the food was great. We even had Zabaglione for dessert. We were curious about the lack of ethnic restaurants (we haven't been everywhere but have seen very few) and Andrew explained they just don't do well in Rome, probably because the food here is so good. He did say he has been to Indian restaurants but none are close to where we are. We had a lovely visit with them and a great meal.

Today, we walked to Trastavere, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Rome. The original name means "beyond the Tiber." So we got a good view of the Tiber again.

View of St. Peter's Dome

The famous church in the area is Santa Maria de Trastevere. It sits on a small square. There were two armed guards there which seems to be the norm at every tourist attraction except St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums had more. There were a lot of people sitting outside drinking their morning cocktails at one of the cafes facing the square so we sat down and had coffee. The church is another beautiful building:

Santa Maria

The other famous church we visited was St. Cecilia which had a very nice courtyard but no guards:

We're leaving for Florence tomorrow. Our "landlord" is coming to collect the keys. There are 6 keys to get into the apartment--wooden doors on the street, gate, two for the gate going into the apartment, door. When we arrived, he taught us how to use them to be safe, safer, and very safe. We promised to lock all the locks when we were gone. He also showed us other things about the apartment but he spent most time explaining the garbage. Rome is now taking recycling very seriously. There are 5 different types of garbage and two or three of the types are collected on different days of the week. We have been terrified that we are putting the garbage into the wrong bins. We finally deposited two bags into the large garbage cans in the courtyard, just hoping we did the right thing and the garbage police wouldn't catch us.  Sylvia and Andrew said we shouldn't worry about it but the "landlord" is holding our 200 Euro deposit so we won't know until morning whether it will be returned.

And arrivederci, Roma.

The Borghese Gallery and Villa

We had 1:00 tickets for the Borghese Gallery today. Tickets give you 2 hours to be there and after that, maybe someone kicks you out. We did find out these people are serious about tickets.

The Borghese is in another part of town so we had to take two buses each way. A couple of times, we actually got seats. Rides on these buses are far from smooth. We planned to go early in the case they would let us in, but if not, we would walk around the gardens which are huge and beautiful. We got there around 12:10 and unfortunately, today has been very windy and chilly. We went in the entry door and were turned away and scowled at by a woman who told us we had to check our bags downstairs--yes, even purses. So stupidly, we did that and then took our reservation voucher and got the official tickets. We went back upstairs, only to be turned away again because our tickets said 1:00. So we went downstairs, got our purses, and had a little lunch (ham and cheese panini and cappuccino. Then we checked our bags again and went back upstairs. No one was being let in because it was now 12:55. Promptly at 1:00, the whole crowd was allowed to enter.

As it turns out, they actually have a good plan. The crowd was not huge and you could actually see all the art. Unfortunately, we were under the impression cameras were banned but they weren't. Hence, we have no pictures, but as usual, you can see good pictures by looking it up on Wikipedia. Some of  famous artists represented include Bernini sculptures and paintings, Carravagio, Rubens, Titian, Raphael. The sculptures are fabulous. Had I had my camera, though, I would have probably taken a picture of every ceiling in every room. They are magnificent. There were explanations about each room but none of them said who painted the ceilings. The mosaic floors are also fabulous. Here's the outside of the building:

The Borghese Gallerie

This fountain is right outside the gallery on the way to the gardens:

Fountain Face Dude

Here's a view of the main path leading through the gardens which consist of approximately 140 acres. There's fountains and statues within it and we saw people being driven around in golfcarts.A little cold to enjoy today but it's probably popular in the summer.

Borghese Gardens

On the way back, we decided to stop in the church at Chiesa Nuovo which is a short walk from the apartment. It seems every neighborhood church in Rome has a Carravaggio:

and also one of those domes with the little dome skylight:

Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and then it's on to Florence.