Posting here will be trailing off for a while, now that we're going to be back in the US. But, while I still have you attention, here are some other blogs everyone should be reading.
- Kiki in Skopje - my sister, who I think we can all agree is much cooler than me, is spending the next year teaching English at a university in Macedonia. She already has a bunch of interesting stuff posted and I have high expectations.
- Geeky Hippie Musings - just like this blog, only with fewer pictures and better writing. Of course, I would prefer that she focus on her primary job of getting that game shipped so I can play it. Also, for my more recent friends, you might be able to convince her to tell stories from high school. (I was shy and retiring back then.)
[Updated to correct the misspelling.]
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Apologies
We're in Rome now, and I'm getting the feeling that 3 and a half days (4 nights) just isn't enough. We've been trying our best to see stuff (which, as you know, is unusual for us) and we're still going to miss a lot of stuff. So, I'm probably not going to have time to do the usual long posts before we get back. (It's actually very time consuming, especially picking out and web-ifying the pictures.)
But, I will be posting everything after I get back to the US. To keep you interested, here are some of the things that I'll be posting about.
- The best gelato we've had on the trip (San Gimignano-style)
- The best gelato we've had on the trip (Rome-style)
- Why I hate cigarettes
- Siena
- San Gimignano generally
- Why rain sucks, especially in Florence
- Thoughts on driving in Italy
- Wanderings in Rome
- The single awesomest thing I've seen on this whole trip. (So awesome that I'm not going to risk ruining the surprise by giving hints)
- At Cookie's request, a compendium of all of the self-portraits that we've taken on the trip
But, I will be posting everything after I get back to the US. To keep you interested, here are some of the things that I'll be posting about.
- The best gelato we've had on the trip (San Gimignano-style)
- The best gelato we've had on the trip (Rome-style)
- Why I hate cigarettes
- Siena
- San Gimignano generally
- Why rain sucks, especially in Florence
- Thoughts on driving in Italy
- Wanderings in Rome
- The single awesomest thing I've seen on this whole trip. (So awesome that I'm not going to risk ruining the surprise by giving hints)
- At Cookie's request, a compendium of all of the self-portraits that we've taken on the trip
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
First Trip to Florence
We drove into Florence for the first time yesterday (Sunday). It's for the best that we did it on Sunday, because we made a few mistakes on the drive. We should be able to do it right the next time.
First, we walked through the Piazza della Repubblica. Lonely Planet basically says that it's a crappy square created in the 19th century by destroying part of the much more interesting old city. I suppose that's true. It certainly wasn't the most interesting thing we saw yesterday. Even the pictures I took were dull.
From there, we went to the Duomo. Of course, it being Sunday morning, mass was going on and the church wasn't open for tourists. We walked around the outside.
We haven't been up the bell tower yet, but we may do it when we come back.
We then went to the Baptistery, which is the oldest building in the square (and one of the oldest in Florence). The doors were added in the 15th century.
The dome is decorated with biblical scenes, including the last judgment.
From there we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to wait in a really long line. (Apparently there's some art there. :-) ) After about an hour and 15 minutes, we got in. We saw Michelangelo's David, which completely lived up to the hype. We also went through the rest of the museum, including the collection of musical instruments going back to the 16th century. (There was even an ornate hammered dulcimer dating to the end of the 16th century.) It was very interesting, and led us to ponder such questions as "Does a harpsichord made of marble actually sound good?"
Sadly, they don't allow pictures inside the gallery, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Every person reading this should now give thanks that discretion and sanity prevented me from buying this:
as a gift for anyone.
From there, we passed by the Duomo again and were able to go inside. I apologize if the pictures are a little on the dark side.
And, one last picture at the main door of the cathedral before we left.
We proceeded to the Piazza della Signoria, where you can see the Palazzo Vecchio (left) and the Uffizi Gallery. We didn't go in, because we're going to try to make reservations before our next trip into town. (And my feet were starting to hurt at this point.)
We walked by the Ponte Vecchio, where all the gold shops are located.
As our final stop, we went to the Ponte Santa Trinita.
We tried to take a picture of Debbie with the Primavera (spring) statue, but we weren't sure which one that was. The book says it's on the north side of the river, so there's a 50-50 chance we got that right. (Why do we care? Read The Miracle at Santa Anna.)
First, we walked through the Piazza della Repubblica. Lonely Planet basically says that it's a crappy square created in the 19th century by destroying part of the much more interesting old city. I suppose that's true. It certainly wasn't the most interesting thing we saw yesterday. Even the pictures I took were dull.
From there, we went to the Duomo. Of course, it being Sunday morning, mass was going on and the church wasn't open for tourists. We walked around the outside.
We haven't been up the bell tower yet, but we may do it when we come back.
We then went to the Baptistery, which is the oldest building in the square (and one of the oldest in Florence). The doors were added in the 15th century.
The dome is decorated with biblical scenes, including the last judgment.
From there we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to wait in a really long line. (Apparently there's some art there. :-) ) After about an hour and 15 minutes, we got in. We saw Michelangelo's David, which completely lived up to the hype. We also went through the rest of the museum, including the collection of musical instruments going back to the 16th century. (There was even an ornate hammered dulcimer dating to the end of the 16th century.) It was very interesting, and led us to ponder such questions as "Does a harpsichord made of marble actually sound good?"
Sadly, they don't allow pictures inside the gallery, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Every person reading this should now give thanks that discretion and sanity prevented me from buying this:
as a gift for anyone.
From there, we passed by the Duomo again and were able to go inside. I apologize if the pictures are a little on the dark side.
And, one last picture at the main door of the cathedral before we left.
We proceeded to the Piazza della Signoria, where you can see the Palazzo Vecchio (left) and the Uffizi Gallery. We didn't go in, because we're going to try to make reservations before our next trip into town. (And my feet were starting to hurt at this point.)
We walked by the Ponte Vecchio, where all the gold shops are located.
As our final stop, we went to the Ponte Santa Trinita.
We tried to take a picture of Debbie with the Primavera (spring) statue, but we weren't sure which one that was. The book says it's on the north side of the river, so there's a 50-50 chance we got that right. (Why do we care? Read The Miracle at Santa Anna.)
Dinner
We ate at the agriturismo's restaurant for the last two nights. On the first night, we tried to do it traditional Italian style, where you start with a pasta course, have a main dish, and then get dessert. We actually started with a glass of sparkling wine, courtesy of the restaurant. It was nice - less bitter then champagne. I had a glass of one of the chiantis they make on site. Debbie had a faro pasta with basil pesto sauce, followed by a grilled pork chop with a sauce of capers and sun-dried tomatoes. I had a pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, and olive oil, followed by beef with a balsamic reduction over greens. Oh, and the vinegar is made here, too. After all of this, neither of us had space left for dessert, so we decided to put it off for another day. Even so, it was pretty spectacular. Probably a tie with the first night in Venice.
The second night, we went with an antipasti (pate over crostini) and followed with a secondi. I had another beef dish - filet of beef with a sauce that I don't remember the name of. It tasted like A-1 would if it were made by God (i.e. the principles are the same, but the result was way better). Debbie had roast rabbit. We weren't about the let the fact that we had gelato in the afternoon stop us, so We finished with an apple tart for dessert. The waiter is our buddy now, so he made sure to bring a different wine last night and even gave Debbie a little bit, free of charge. I have a feeling we'll be going back there again...
The second night, we went with an antipasti (pate over crostini) and followed with a secondi. I had another beef dish - filet of beef with a sauce that I don't remember the name of. It tasted like A-1 would if it were made by God (i.e. the principles are the same, but the result was way better). Debbie had roast rabbit. We weren't about the let the fact that we had gelato in the afternoon stop us, so We finished with an apple tart for dessert. The waiter is our buddy now, so he made sure to bring a different wine last night and even gave Debbie a little bit, free of charge. I have a feeling we'll be going back there again...
Onward to Tuscany
We left Venice on Friday (yesterday, as I write this). We crowded onto the vaporetto with a ton of other people, including a whole crowd of tourists who were all headed to the train station, just like us. Oddly, in this crowd we were considered the experts on the system, possibly because we had gone to the train station on Thursday to get our tickets. Anyway, we met two women who were heading to Tuscany to participate in a bike tour. One woman had traveled a lot in the US, but was on her first trip outside of the country. (I'm not sure that I would choose Italy for my first trip abroad - maybe it's better to ease yourself in with something easier, like the UK.)
Moving along, we had a lovely (and surprisingly punctual) train ride to Florence. We stayed in Florence just long enough to pick up the rental car and then set out to the agriturismo that we'll be staying at for the next week. This is the part of the trip I've been most nervous about - aside from a short trip last year in Greece, I've never driven in another country. Starting with Italy hardly seems like a sensible way to start, but it's clearly essential to a week in Tuscany, so I'm biting the bullet. This is one of those times that I'm grateful that I had to learn to drive stick shift in high school to drive my mom's car, because I would hate to add that to the challenges of driving here. They gave us a cute little Ford Fiesta.
It's pretty nice to drive, actually - peppy, but with good gas mileage. I certainly wouldn't want anything bigger, considering the size of some of the roads.
An agriturismo is a working farm (usually making wine, olive oil or both) that also rents out apartments to tourists. You generally have to stay at least a week. Some of them, including the one we're staying at, have full restaurants. After last year's trip to Greece, where we spent a week on Lesbos, we decided we really wanted to spend a week in one place during the trip, so this is perfect for us. I'm just lucky I have an awesome sister who lived in Italy and knows about these things. :-)
So, in case you've been looking for more reasons to hate us, here are some pictures of the area where we're staying. All of these pictures were taken within 100 feet of our front door. First, here's the building. Our door is all the way to the right, with the curtain billowing out.
You can see the hills and valleys of Tuscany just behind the building.
There's a pool.
There are a few olive trees next to the building.
And a church on the hill.
Nice, huh? And how have we spent our first full day here? Not doing much, actually. Right now, we're in a laundromat, because we're just about out of clean underwear. (Music note of the day - as we're sitting here doing laundry, Umbrella by Rihanna is playing. Some things really are universal...)
Tonight we'll be going to the agriturismo's restaurant and Monday we'll do a tour and wine tasting at its winery. The only question now is how much wine and olive oil to buy. No matter how much we buy, it'll be a real challenge to bring back (especially since you can't bring a bottle on as carry-on). On the other hand, shipping is expensive (with high fixed cost). Our current thinking is that we're going to have to buy a whole lot of stuff to justify the cost. So, if we happen to come back with a 20-gallon cannister of olive oil, don't be too surprised. :-)
Tomorrow, we're hoping to go into Florence. We'll probably do that a couple times and maybe take a trip to Siena, as well. Oh, and possibly take a trip through Chianti, but we're not sure about that yet. (We're staying near San Casciano, which I think is technically in Val di Pesa, rather than Chianti, but they do make Chianti wine here, as well.)
Moving along, we had a lovely (and surprisingly punctual) train ride to Florence. We stayed in Florence just long enough to pick up the rental car and then set out to the agriturismo that we'll be staying at for the next week. This is the part of the trip I've been most nervous about - aside from a short trip last year in Greece, I've never driven in another country. Starting with Italy hardly seems like a sensible way to start, but it's clearly essential to a week in Tuscany, so I'm biting the bullet. This is one of those times that I'm grateful that I had to learn to drive stick shift in high school to drive my mom's car, because I would hate to add that to the challenges of driving here. They gave us a cute little Ford Fiesta.
It's pretty nice to drive, actually - peppy, but with good gas mileage. I certainly wouldn't want anything bigger, considering the size of some of the roads.
An agriturismo is a working farm (usually making wine, olive oil or both) that also rents out apartments to tourists. You generally have to stay at least a week. Some of them, including the one we're staying at, have full restaurants. After last year's trip to Greece, where we spent a week on Lesbos, we decided we really wanted to spend a week in one place during the trip, so this is perfect for us. I'm just lucky I have an awesome sister who lived in Italy and knows about these things. :-)
So, in case you've been looking for more reasons to hate us, here are some pictures of the area where we're staying. All of these pictures were taken within 100 feet of our front door. First, here's the building. Our door is all the way to the right, with the curtain billowing out.
You can see the hills and valleys of Tuscany just behind the building.
There's a pool.
There are a few olive trees next to the building.
And a church on the hill.
Nice, huh? And how have we spent our first full day here? Not doing much, actually. Right now, we're in a laundromat, because we're just about out of clean underwear. (Music note of the day - as we're sitting here doing laundry, Umbrella by Rihanna is playing. Some things really are universal...)
Tonight we'll be going to the agriturismo's restaurant and Monday we'll do a tour and wine tasting at its winery. The only question now is how much wine and olive oil to buy. No matter how much we buy, it'll be a real challenge to bring back (especially since you can't bring a bottle on as carry-on). On the other hand, shipping is expensive (with high fixed cost). Our current thinking is that we're going to have to buy a whole lot of stuff to justify the cost. So, if we happen to come back with a 20-gallon cannister of olive oil, don't be too surprised. :-)
Tomorrow, we're hoping to go into Florence. We'll probably do that a couple times and maybe take a trip to Siena, as well. Oh, and possibly take a trip through Chianti, but we're not sure about that yet. (We're staying near San Casciano, which I think is technically in Val di Pesa, rather than Chianti, but they do make Chianti wine here, as well.)
Getting Lost in Venice
I'm pleased to say that we haven't gotten lost in Venice. Of course, that's by my personal definition of getting lost, i.e. not having any idea where you are or what to do next. As many of you know, I tend to get lost a lot when I travel. I've managed to do it in such varied locales as Tokyo (lots of times), the Greek island of Lesbos, and San Francisco. So, I've had consider what it means to be lost. For example, if you're intentionally wandering in a general direction without a specific plan, you're not lost. We did that when we wandered the shopping area between San Marco and Rialto. You're not lost if you just go the wrong way, since you can backtrack and go the right way. That happened to us on the way home from the restaurant on the first night. ("This doesn't look familiar." "Oh, whoops, sorry. I guess we should have gone down that way.")
The problem is that there are "streets" in Venice that are the correct route (as marked by the official signs), that would be considered too narrow to be alleys in any other city. So of course you miss stuff. I mean, there's no way they meant for us to go down that little thing - it's way too narrow.
The problem is that there are "streets" in Venice that are the correct route (as marked by the official signs), that would be considered too narrow to be alleys in any other city. So of course you miss stuff. I mean, there's no way they meant for us to go down that little thing - it's way too narrow.
Venice - Murano and Gondola
Debbie has been a bit sick for the last couple days, so we're trying to take it a little easy so she can recover. Of course, when you only have two days, you can't afford to take too much time off. She'll get more time to rest in Tuscany.
We started off our one full day in Venice with an exciting trip to the train station to get our tickets to Florence. After that, we took the vaporetto (the aquatic equivalent of a bus) to Murano, which is the Venetian island famous for its glass. It's packed with stores selling pretty glass things and with the workshops for making those things. They have a problem with stores on the island selling glass not made there, but we were careful to buy local.
Here's Debbie with a big glass tree in one of the squares.
And a goofy self-portrait with the tree in the background.
We looked around the island, had lunch, and bought some stuff. We wanted to buy more, but we're afraid that fragile glass wouldn't survive two train rides and two plane rides, so we limited ourselves. Someday, when we're spectacularly rich (haha) we'll have to buy one of those chandeliers.
After we got back to the main part of town, we took a gondola ride. It was ridiculously expensive, but as Debbie pointed out - first, it's the archetypal Venice thing to do, and second, we're not likely to come back to Venice, so it's really now or never. (It's a nice place, but it doesn't draw me back in the way that London, Paris, or Tokyo do.) Anyway, it was a good chance to take more pictures of canals, but this time with parts of the boat in the picture, too. For example,
Lots of people get gondola rides, notwithstanding the cost.
We got the gondolier to take a pictures.
We also did a kissy-face version, but Debbie's strange notions of dignity won't allow me to post it. (She's probably right, but still...)
We started off our one full day in Venice with an exciting trip to the train station to get our tickets to Florence. After that, we took the vaporetto (the aquatic equivalent of a bus) to Murano, which is the Venetian island famous for its glass. It's packed with stores selling pretty glass things and with the workshops for making those things. They have a problem with stores on the island selling glass not made there, but we were careful to buy local.
Here's Debbie with a big glass tree in one of the squares.
And a goofy self-portrait with the tree in the background.
We looked around the island, had lunch, and bought some stuff. We wanted to buy more, but we're afraid that fragile glass wouldn't survive two train rides and two plane rides, so we limited ourselves. Someday, when we're spectacularly rich (haha) we'll have to buy one of those chandeliers.
After we got back to the main part of town, we took a gondola ride. It was ridiculously expensive, but as Debbie pointed out - first, it's the archetypal Venice thing to do, and second, we're not likely to come back to Venice, so it's really now or never. (It's a nice place, but it doesn't draw me back in the way that London, Paris, or Tokyo do.) Anyway, it was a good chance to take more pictures of canals, but this time with parts of the boat in the picture, too. For example,
Lots of people get gondola rides, notwithstanding the cost.
We got the gondolier to take a pictures.
We also did a kissy-face version, but Debbie's strange notions of dignity won't allow me to post it. (She's probably right, but still...)
Venice - San Marco and the Area
The hotel is right by Campo San Stefano.
We walked from there to San Marco. It being Venice, I was compelled to take pictures of canals and absurdly small streets.
Of course, there are many more of those pictures, but I'll spare you for the moment. Anyway, we made it to San Marco without getting lost. The basilica is beautiful.
There were a lot of pigeons. Unlike some people, Debbie and I know that they're basically rats with wings, so we opted not to let them climb on us.
We went into San Marco Basilica. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures inside, but we could take pictures from the upper level.
That's the Piazzetta San Marco in the background, with the statues of the Lion of St. Mark and St. Theodore.
Also, the Bridge of Sighs.
We then walked up the Marzarie, which is basically a long shopping area, to the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge). Debbie tells me that the bridge is in at least one of Shakespeare's plays (The Merchant of Venice). Of course, I'm just a simple engineer, so I know nothing of these things.
That's the view from the bridge. Here's a view of the bridge.
Dinner was, at least as of Thursday, our best meal so far in the trip. I let the waiter recommend a glass of wine, which turned out to be excellent. He also suggested the homemade tiramisu for dessert, which was spectacular.
The restaurant we went to is recommended by at least two guidebooks (Lonely Planet and Time Out), so there were a number of tourists in it. That actually wasn't so bad - we've actually been appreciating the increased diversity of tourists since we got to Venice. Rovinj had kind of a surplus of Germans. We particularly appreciate that there are more than 3 Asians in the whole town (we saw 4 the whole time in Rovinj). Being instantly memorable as the interracial couple is slightly fun (the memorable part), but a bit annoying as well.
We walked from there to San Marco. It being Venice, I was compelled to take pictures of canals and absurdly small streets.
Of course, there are many more of those pictures, but I'll spare you for the moment. Anyway, we made it to San Marco without getting lost. The basilica is beautiful.
There were a lot of pigeons. Unlike some people, Debbie and I know that they're basically rats with wings, so we opted not to let them climb on us.
We went into San Marco Basilica. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures inside, but we could take pictures from the upper level.
That's the Piazzetta San Marco in the background, with the statues of the Lion of St. Mark and St. Theodore.
Also, the Bridge of Sighs.
We then walked up the Marzarie, which is basically a long shopping area, to the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge). Debbie tells me that the bridge is in at least one of Shakespeare's plays (The Merchant of Venice). Of course, I'm just a simple engineer, so I know nothing of these things.
That's the view from the bridge. Here's a view of the bridge.
Dinner was, at least as of Thursday, our best meal so far in the trip. I let the waiter recommend a glass of wine, which turned out to be excellent. He also suggested the homemade tiramisu for dessert, which was spectacular.
The restaurant we went to is recommended by at least two guidebooks (Lonely Planet and Time Out), so there were a number of tourists in it. That actually wasn't so bad - we've actually been appreciating the increased diversity of tourists since we got to Venice. Rovinj had kind of a surplus of Germans. We particularly appreciate that there are more than 3 Asians in the whole town (we saw 4 the whole time in Rovinj). Being instantly memorable as the interracial couple is slightly fun (the memorable part), but a bit annoying as well.
Venice - Getting There and Our Hotel
On Wednesday morning, we took the ferry from Rovinj to Venice. It's a relatively short distance, so the ferry company offers a package deal for people who want to do a day trip. (Sort of like the Victoria Clipper people do in Seattle.) So, there were about 15 people on the boat who were travelling to Venice (like us) and about 100 more German and Swedish tourists on a day trip. They segregated people by language, and somehow we were stuck with all the Germans for 3+ hours. German - not the prettiest of languages, especially when the tour guide spent over an hour explaining Venice to them in German.
But, this, too, passed, and we arrived in Venice. Venice is not really made for rolling luggage. We had a lovely little walk from the ferry boat to the hotel, which would have been even nicer if I hadn't had to carry our bags over all those bridges. (My opinion on the bridges changed significantly once I didn't have to carry luggage over them.)
Our hotel is on a side street, and is surprisingly nondescript from the outside.
It's the first door on the left. Not obvious, is it?
That's the actual door.
That's the room itself. It's not bad, although very expensive (as expected - it is Venice, after all).
Oh, I almost forgot. The hotel has an alternate entrance - by the canal.
But, this, too, passed, and we arrived in Venice. Venice is not really made for rolling luggage. We had a lovely little walk from the ferry boat to the hotel, which would have been even nicer if I hadn't had to carry our bags over all those bridges. (My opinion on the bridges changed significantly once I didn't have to carry luggage over them.)
Our hotel is on a side street, and is surprisingly nondescript from the outside.
It's the first door on the left. Not obvious, is it?
That's the actual door.
That's the room itself. It's not bad, although very expensive (as expected - it is Venice, after all).
Oh, I almost forgot. The hotel has an alternate entrance - by the canal.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Pula
Pula is a bigger town about 45 minutes by bus from Rovinj. It was actually a major agricultural center during the Roman Empire, when it was called Pola. They still have some ruins there, including a very well preserved amphitheatre.
We wandered around there for a while and took a whole lot of pictures.
The amphitheatre was used for gladiator fights during Roman times. They actually dug an underground staging area into the rock under the amphitheatre where the gladiators would wait before battle.
There was also an archeological museum in town. We didn't go in, but it had an ancient Roman theatre behind it, too. This one wasn't quite so well-preserved, but we walked around a bit anyway.
There was also a Venetian citadel at the top of the main hill in town. It was built around 1600, when the town was apparently a strategic location.
In the main square, they have the town hall (below, right, built in 1296) next to the Temple of Augustus.
And, there was also the Triumphal Arch of Sergius leading into the old part of town.
As I write this, it's our last day in Rovinj. I'm planning to find an Internet cafe to post all of this stuff today. Tomorrow morning, we take a ferry (at 7 AM, ugh) to Venice, where we'll stay for 2 days before going to Tuscany.
We wandered around there for a while and took a whole lot of pictures.
The amphitheatre was used for gladiator fights during Roman times. They actually dug an underground staging area into the rock under the amphitheatre where the gladiators would wait before battle.
There was also an archeological museum in town. We didn't go in, but it had an ancient Roman theatre behind it, too. This one wasn't quite so well-preserved, but we walked around a bit anyway.
There was also a Venetian citadel at the top of the main hill in town. It was built around 1600, when the town was apparently a strategic location.
In the main square, they have the town hall (below, right, built in 1296) next to the Temple of Augustus.
And, there was also the Triumphal Arch of Sergius leading into the old part of town.
As I write this, it's our last day in Rovinj. I'm planning to find an Internet cafe to post all of this stuff today. Tomorrow morning, we take a ferry (at 7 AM, ugh) to Venice, where we'll stay for 2 days before going to Tuscany.
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