Venice reminds me of a disney movie

We arrived in venice at our hotel around 11:30 this morning. Our hotel is near the airport. We are staying here because we have an EARLY flight on friday. We took a bus to venice.

We visited san marco island by river taxi/bus. It was packed. We walked around the little streets. It's surreal to not hear cars because of the canals. We also took a trip around the entire main part of the islands. There was a warm breeze. We had a nice dinner outdoors at a restaurant that grows its own herbs.

Tomorrow we will visit morano island where the glass is made. We are also planning to visit burano island, famous for its lace and multi-colored facades on its buildings. We don't expect to see as many tourists tomorrow :)

Venice is beautiful. It really looks like a scene in a movie, quite idyllic.

Sorry no pictures, I'm not able to post. This is the last blog since we have an early night on Thursday but rest assured michelle has lots of photos.

Bono sera!

Bologna - Does Oscar Meyer Live Here?

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The above photos are: 1. Statue of Roman God Neptune; 2. Leaning Tower of Garisenda; 3. Porticos

This morning we awoke at 7:30 and caught the 9:30 train for Bologna. The train ride is just under 3 hours and outside of Rome, the Italian countryside is hilly and beautiful. We even saw picturesque sheep grazing on a hillside.

We arrived in Bologna at noon. We are staying at a Best Western which is turning out to be the nicest hotel on our vacation. For 89 Euro a night it by far beats the more expensive bed and breakfasts in Milan, Florence, and Rome.

We are only staying in Bologna for one night but we have explored a lot of the town. It is a university town home to the University of Bologna. We have seen many students but few tourists. We read that Bologna is one of Italy's few secrets, the food and museums are among the best but bypassed by visitors.

After a simple lunch of mozarella and tomato panninis we headed for a couple of meseums that were free. Along the way we visited the above Neptune statue sculpted by Frenchman Giambologna in 1566. We also saw the leaning tower of Garisenda.

Many of the museums here are free. I emphasize free because we have been overpaying (in my opinion) to see some of Italy's finest art. Our first stop in Bologna was the Communal Museum home to one of Bologna's famous painters, Giorgio Morandi. His works were mainly penciled flowers and table objects (jars, salt shakers, etc.). We think we saw some of his art earlier on our trip in the Brera Gallery in Milan. Michelle was not all that impressed but I think that it's great this one artist has his own museum.

After Morandi's works, we visited the archaelogical museum to see its Egyptian artifacts. These were some of the finest artifacts I have ever seen including a sarchophogus. This museum has one of the best Egyptian collection in Italy. Unfortunately, all the explanations of the artifacts were in Italian. But regardless of the language, they were in excellant condition. Unfortunately, we did not realize we arrived with the museum nearly closed. While sitting on a bench resting our feet on the ground floor, the lights were turned off. We scooted out quickly. But for free admission, I'm not complaining.

Our next goal was to track down Michaelangelo's San Procolo statue, the forerunner to his David. Our travel book says it's in the San Domenico Basillica. Wrong! It's located about 4 blocks away but by the time we figured out the Italian directions given to us by a stranger, the San Procolo church was closed and would not reopen until 5 p.m. It's quite a walk from our hotel so unfortunately we will not get to see it. We will look it up on the Internet to view it :(

Tonight we are going out for a traditional Bolognese dinner of tortellini. Since Bologna is not a tourist trap we are finding the food prices very fair.

On final comment about Bologna. Many buildings have the porticos as seen in the above photo. They are shaded areas where people can be protected from rain, snow, and sun. Many buildings have them in the city. I think Bologna is unique in Italy for these structures.

Tomorrow we are headed to Venice, our last stop. Michelle has 2 places she wants to see: San Marco piazza and Merano island (where the glass is made). We will have a day and a half in Venice so we will try to see as much as we can. But the temperatures are very warm. Everyday we have been out for 4-5 hours before needing a break, so we will see what Venice holds for us. We know it's a tourist trap so Bologna is a refreshing stop over.

Bona Sera!

Good Yom Tov Pontiff

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The above photos are 1.fountain near the Spanish Steps; 2. Spanish Steps; and 3. Trevi Fountain

The last 2 days have been a marathon of sight seeing in Rome. On Sunday, we left our hotel at 10 am and traveled by subway to the Spanish steps. The steps are in a high end of the city located near some expensive shops. The Spanish steps are located near the Spanish embassy. The #2 photo above is a fountain located at the foot of the steps.

The Roman sun is intense and hot. In hopes of avoiding a sun burn on my nose and forehead I bought a traditional white Italian hat and have been wearing it for 2 days. It's lighter than a baseball cap and I all need is an ascot and mustache to look like an Italian out of an old 1940s movie.

After the Spanish steps we walked to the Trevi Fountain. It is a large, loud fountain you can hear a block a while even with all the crowds. We followed the tradition of throwing a few coins over our heads for good luck.

After the Trevi Fountain we walked about a mile to a pizzeria recommended by our hotel. It was not a tourist trap. We each has a pie. Mine was sausage, onion, and cheese. Michelle's was artichoke and egg. As strange as that might sound, it was delicious. Upon further inspection, it seems here in Italy that a pizza does not need to have lots of sauce or cheese. The crust needs to be thin and cooked in a wood fire oven. Maybe our next house will have a pizza oven :) The pizza here by far beats anything in Atlanta!

After finishing off our lunch with delicious tiramisu, we came across the piazza novana. It was very large and in ancient times was used for chariot racing and naval reenactments. Yes...the Roman emporers would fill the piazza with water to reenact a naval battle.

After about 4 hours of all this site seeing we were wiped out. Officially the temperatures are in the low 80s but don't believe that for a second! After a 3 hour rest in our hotel room we had a delicious pasta dinner near the coloseum. After dinner Michelle took several photos of the coloseum lit up at night. They look great! We made it back to our room around 11 p.m.

On Monday we headed to the Vatican. We were there for about 4 hours. we were warned about the lines but they were not too bad. There were a lot of tourists but no standing endlessly in line.

Our first stop at the Vatican was St. Peter's Basilica. If I were Christian I would have trembled upon entering. But since I am Jewish, I am quite impressed. One of the previous popes from the early 20th Century is on display like Lenin, he doesn't look real. The basilica has amazing sculptures, paintings and is lined with gold around every corner. It sits off of St. Peter's Square where the Pope's followers gather for outdoor prayer and he speaks to them from the window of the Basilica.

After the Basilica, we toured the Vatican Museum. It was too crowded for my taste and I was not thrilled paying 28 Euro. But the art collection while mostly with a Jesus theme is still stunning. We saw a tapestry of the Last Supper. It was the largest tapestry I have ever seen. It sits in a dark room to keep from fading.

The Sistine Chapel is at the end of the museum and it is a hike to get there. Visitors enter many large and small rooms with artwork before arriving in the Sistine Chapel. Some of the best art work on the way to the Sistine was the modern religious artwork because it showed Christianity from several perspectives not just the classic Italian versions of Jesus's birth and crucifixion.

Finally the Sistine Chapel. Oh yeah, there are capuccino and soda vending machines just before you enter. The Chapel is amazing. You can easily see a link between Michaelangelo's David and his paintings on the ceiling. His trademark seems to be human muscle structure. In the center of the ceiling is the famous painting of God touching Adam. It is spectacular. All across the ceiling are paintings of different scenes from the Bible such as the flood and Eve taking the apple. You have turn around in several different directions and look up in order to see the paintings right side up.

Imagine Michaelangelo painting all these on his back! I don't know how he did only using candelight. The Sistine does not have a lot of nature light so he must have used candles.

My one negative comment about the Vatican is the crowds. There were just too many people in the Sistine Chapel, we were all squeezed in there. After 4 hours at the Vatican, we were tired and hungry and decided on pizza for lunch. After picking up a couple more souvenirs we went back to the hotel.

Lucky us we managed to ride the subway during rush hour. The Roman subways are cheap and easy to ride. 1 Euro each way. But during rush hour it's everyone for themselves. We saw a 4 foot nun push her way onto the train car ahead of us, no kidding.

Rome, like any large city, is crowded and noisy but the people are friendly. We have met a lot of Americans and Canadians. Our hotel is 2 blocks from the main train station and is a good location for getting around town. While pick pockets are common, we haven't had any problems and generally feel safe here. You just need to use common sense. Everywhere you go you see people looking at maps trying to navigate the city.

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Bologna for one night and hopefully cooler temperatures. We've been told that an afternoon should be enough to see the touristy sites.

Ciao.

A Funny Thing Happened at the Forum...

Here are some more photos from our trip: Tuscanny, David, our first cup of capuccino, and the Colloseum

We arrived in Rome without incident this morning. The train ride was about an hour and a half.

After we checked in, we walked to the Colloseum. Oh my gosh, is it incredible! The photo above was taken with my cell phone and uploaded to this blog. Michelle has many more pictures from several angles.

The colloseum is a part of a larger area that includes the palatino and the forum. The entire area is the historic city center of Rome. A lot of the city has been excavated and is in bits and pieces. But one can easily imagine how impressive ancient Rome was. We spent 4 hours touring this entire area. It is a rocky area with lots of steps, you need to be in good shape with good balance.

We are tired! The temperatures are warm around 85 degrees and very sunny. Our first impressions of Rome are quite positive. Like any large city it is noisy but the views from the hills are spectacular.

Tomorrow we will visit the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain.

Believe it or not we had chinese for dinner, taking one night off from Italian.

Ciao!

PO BOX Chianti Tuscany

This morning we started off in an hour long line for the Uffizi gallery here in Florence. The gallery is home to several italian artists I have not heard of but there are works by Bottecelli, Rafael, and Davinci. Most of the art has a jesus theme of him on the cross or as a child. Some paintings were of italian noble families.

After dodging rain drops we boarded a tour bus for the chianti region of tuscany. Italy has 20 regions and florence is located in tuscany. We stopped at castello ill palagio for wine tasting and tour. To say tuscany is beautiful is an understatement. It looks like what you see on tv. It is rolling hills of olive trees, grape farms, and cyprus trees. Our photos will not do it justice. The wines and olive oil were delicious and we will order some asap from the US supplier. Shipping charges from Italy are over $100! That does not include the cost of the wine/oil.

After the tour and wine tasting, we drove to Greve, a small town nearby. It is a small, quiet town that is not touristy but with lots of shops and flats above the store. We visited a butcher where I bought a package of italian salami to eat as a snack for the train ride on saturday.

Tomorrow we are riding the train to Rome. We've been told to expect a crowded, noisy city. We'll see but we are excited.

We have learned first hand the italian train service is not the best but we are hoping for an early start so we can arrive in Rome by early afternoon.

One interesting side note: I have had NO acid reflux eating the italian food and Michelle's acid reflux is a lot less here. We cannot say enough about the quality of food at mid-priced restaurants and the service. Italians are a very friendly people so far on our trip.

That is all from here.

Arrivederche!

ouch our feet hurt!

Nearly every street in Florence is brick or stone. We must have walked 3-4 miles today.

In the last couple of days we saw michealangelo's David. The sculpture is unbelievable. His hands are enormous. The artist sculpted veins and intricate muscles.

We also visited the Duomo, a large church in the center of town. It was built starting in the 1200s or 1300s and took nearly 2 centuries to complete. The structure has green, pink and white tiles in a geometric forms.

Today we visited the city's only synagogue, a sephardic community of about 1000 lives here. The synagogue is moorish
In structure but has an organ inside. We learned that the city's jews lived in a ghetto for nearly 300 years, longer than the US has been a country! They were not given citizenship until the mid 1800s.

We spent the rest of the day walking around including the famous ponte vecchio bridge.

Tomorrow it is on to wine country on a tour. We were going to rent a car but it would be insane to try and try in this city, chaos reigns on the road.

We have some technical glitches with this blog that is why there are no pictures. But I am working on it. Stay tuned...you should also be able to post comments now.


Bono sera!

in focus

We have had a busy day!
After a salami and cheese based breakfast we went to the brera gallery for a couple of hours. A lot of the paintings are from italian artists.there were a few beautiful paintings by rafael.

The day then took us to the milan duomo,a gothic looking cathedral. It looks like a church out of batman! I have never seen such large stained glass. Michelle and I snapped lots of photos that we will try to post asap.

While not a major tourist destination, the people who live here are very friendly and helpful. There is a beautiful park near the u.s. Consulate.

the food has been outstanding. In 24 hours we have sampled octopus, salami, prosciutto, canolia, of course pizza! Not in that order :)

Tomorrow we leave for florence where we will stay for 3 days.

Ciao until tomorrow!