Friday, October 5, 2007
Rome Day 2
Our second day in Rome started badly, as we spent 40 minutes wandering around Termini Station trying to find the people that sold tickets for the shuttle to the airport. During that period, I had the time to ponder some of the negatives of Italy, like the damned smoking and the inadequate signage. After a long search, we finally found the tourist information people (surprisingly difficult given the fact that this was the train station), who directed us to what we were looking for. It was, of course, on the exact opposite side of the train station. Happily, the day was about the get better.
We next headed off to the Colosseum area to see the sights of ancient Rome. Of course, it was pretty crowded.
It was getting near lunchtime, so we decided to save the Colosseum for later and instead to walk through the Roman Forum (which is free) and look for some food on the other side. The Forum was pretty great - like the Agora in Athens, but better preserved.
The other side of the Forum has one really enormous monument that I unfortunately don't remember the name of.
It was a hot day and it looked like a lot of stairs, so we skipped the climb. We did take a break to get panini from a street vendor. It was at this point that we saw the single awesomest thing we saw on the whole trip, which is so awesome that it deserves its own post.
After lunch, we walked down the main road to the Colosseum. It was Sunday, so the road was closed to traffic.
There was still a sizable line for the Colosseum so we tried a trick from the guidebooks and went to the Palatine first, because they use a combined ticket. The Palatine is supposed to be where Rome was founded and was the site of the palaces of several Roman emperors. As a lucky bonus, tickets were free because that day was a "European Day of Patrimony" (or something to that effect).
There was a pretty cool fountain halfway up the hill.
And ruins at the top.
There was also a tunnel that Nero built under his palace. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of it. After that, we went to the Colosseum.
Apparently they used the arches in ancient times to store really large beach balls.
In the evening, we went to the Centro Storico for dinner. That area was the center of Rome around the 1500s and 1600s. (Possibly later, too. Sorry to be so vague, but we shipped the guidebook back with some of our other stuff. It's somewhere between here and Italy right now.) We took the bus down to the Piazza Navona at twilight.
Then we had the best pizza of our trip. Sadly, that was the only time we made it to that area. On our next visit, we're going to have to spend more time there.
We walked back to the hotel after dinner and took some pictures of St. Peter's Basilica as we crossed the river.
We next headed off to the Colosseum area to see the sights of ancient Rome. Of course, it was pretty crowded.
It was getting near lunchtime, so we decided to save the Colosseum for later and instead to walk through the Roman Forum (which is free) and look for some food on the other side. The Forum was pretty great - like the Agora in Athens, but better preserved.
The other side of the Forum has one really enormous monument that I unfortunately don't remember the name of.
It was a hot day and it looked like a lot of stairs, so we skipped the climb. We did take a break to get panini from a street vendor. It was at this point that we saw the single awesomest thing we saw on the whole trip, which is so awesome that it deserves its own post.
After lunch, we walked down the main road to the Colosseum. It was Sunday, so the road was closed to traffic.
There was still a sizable line for the Colosseum so we tried a trick from the guidebooks and went to the Palatine first, because they use a combined ticket. The Palatine is supposed to be where Rome was founded and was the site of the palaces of several Roman emperors. As a lucky bonus, tickets were free because that day was a "European Day of Patrimony" (or something to that effect).
There was a pretty cool fountain halfway up the hill.
And ruins at the top.
There was also a tunnel that Nero built under his palace. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of it. After that, we went to the Colosseum.
Apparently they used the arches in ancient times to store really large beach balls.
In the evening, we went to the Centro Storico for dinner. That area was the center of Rome around the 1500s and 1600s. (Possibly later, too. Sorry to be so vague, but we shipped the guidebook back with some of our other stuff. It's somewhere between here and Italy right now.) We took the bus down to the Piazza Navona at twilight.
Then we had the best pizza of our trip. Sadly, that was the only time we made it to that area. On our next visit, we're going to have to spend more time there.
We walked back to the hotel after dinner and took some pictures of St. Peter's Basilica as we crossed the river.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Rome Day 1
We left Tuscany by train that Friday, cursing it for not understanding that there should be no rain on our vacation except in approved locations (i.e. London, where it's inevitable). Rome came through for us, though. Of course, first we took the afternoon off to recover from all the rain.
Saturday, we set out with one goal before all others - find the church that Christina (my sister) told us about that has all the art made from bones. Inconveniently, that was all she remembered about the place. She couldn't remember its name or where it was. Luckily, Lonely Planet Italy is just that kind of book, so it came through for us. So, we were off that morning to the Chiesa della Concezione de Cappuccini to see some "bone art".
Rather than take the direct route, we decided to test just how walkable Rome really is. We were staying at Pensione Paradise, which is fairly close to the Vatican. So, on Saturday morning, we started out by crossing the Tiber and going to the Piazza del Popolo.
From there, we walked down the Via del Corso and then over to the Spanish Steps.
The area around the steps includes what one book called the "most expensive street in Rome". You can't exactly tell in the next picture, but on the left side of the street are, in succession, the Dior store, the Gucci store, and the Bulgari store. Needless to say, we didn't buy much there.
From the Spanish Steps, we walked down to the Piazza Barberini, where we saw the Fountain of Triton, by Bernini.
Then we went to the church with the bone art. The art is actually in the crypt below the church and is made from the bones of 4000 Capuchin monks who died over a several century period. It's almost too weird to describe, and we weren't allowed to take pictures. Pretty much everything there was made from bones, including the light fixtures and picture frames. Some rooms had more scapulae, while others mostly used arm or leg bones. Liberal use was made of vertabrae. I was glad to have Debbie along, so she could identify which bones were which.
I think I'll leave it at that. The whole thing sits somewhere between fascinating, macabre, and gross, and describing it is weirding me out a little bit, so I guess I'll move on.
After a quick lunch, we proceeded on to do some shopping. As always, I won't bore you with the details.
Our last activity of the day was to visit the Trevi Fountain, sculpted by Salvi. It's really cool, in an over-the-top kind of way, but also really, really popular.
At that point, I had a raging headache and our feet hurt (also it was starting to rain, and we'd had enough of that), so we took a break for the rest of the day.
Saturday, we set out with one goal before all others - find the church that Christina (my sister) told us about that has all the art made from bones. Inconveniently, that was all she remembered about the place. She couldn't remember its name or where it was. Luckily, Lonely Planet Italy is just that kind of book, so it came through for us. So, we were off that morning to the Chiesa della Concezione de Cappuccini to see some "bone art".
Rather than take the direct route, we decided to test just how walkable Rome really is. We were staying at Pensione Paradise, which is fairly close to the Vatican. So, on Saturday morning, we started out by crossing the Tiber and going to the Piazza del Popolo.
From there, we walked down the Via del Corso and then over to the Spanish Steps.
The area around the steps includes what one book called the "most expensive street in Rome". You can't exactly tell in the next picture, but on the left side of the street are, in succession, the Dior store, the Gucci store, and the Bulgari store. Needless to say, we didn't buy much there.
From the Spanish Steps, we walked down to the Piazza Barberini, where we saw the Fountain of Triton, by Bernini.
Then we went to the church with the bone art. The art is actually in the crypt below the church and is made from the bones of 4000 Capuchin monks who died over a several century period. It's almost too weird to describe, and we weren't allowed to take pictures. Pretty much everything there was made from bones, including the light fixtures and picture frames. Some rooms had more scapulae, while others mostly used arm or leg bones. Liberal use was made of vertabrae. I was glad to have Debbie along, so she could identify which bones were which.
I think I'll leave it at that. The whole thing sits somewhere between fascinating, macabre, and gross, and describing it is weirding me out a little bit, so I guess I'll move on.
After a quick lunch, we proceeded on to do some shopping. As always, I won't bore you with the details.
Our last activity of the day was to visit the Trevi Fountain, sculpted by Salvi. It's really cool, in an over-the-top kind of way, but also really, really popular.
At that point, I had a raging headache and our feet hurt (also it was starting to rain, and we'd had enough of that), so we took a break for the rest of the day.
Florence Again
We took our second trip in to Florence on our last day in Tuscany. Unfortunately, that was the day that the weather gods got their payback for all the good weather we had on the trip. It didn't just rain that day - it poured, with thunder and lightning. So, basically, our second day in Florence sucked. Here's a pictures of the plaza of the Uffizi in the rain.
We had reservations at the Uffizi at 5 pm, so we went into town around lunchtime. It started raining hard right about then, so we found a good place to eat and took a traditional Italian lunch (i.e. ~2 hours). We did some shopping in the afternoon, then went to the gallery. Now, I don't know much about paintings, but that was some pretty cool stuff. No pictures of that, of course. After the gallery, we had a semi-harrowing drive in the dark and rain to get back to the agriturismo for one last dinner, which was just about as good as the previous ones.
We had reservations at the Uffizi at 5 pm, so we went into town around lunchtime. It started raining hard right about then, so we found a good place to eat and took a traditional Italian lunch (i.e. ~2 hours). We did some shopping in the afternoon, then went to the gallery. Now, I don't know much about paintings, but that was some pretty cool stuff. No pictures of that, of course. After the gallery, we had a semi-harrowing drive in the dark and rain to get back to the agriturismo for one last dinner, which was just about as good as the previous ones.
San Gimignano
First a disclaimer. The two best things about San Gimignano happened after the camera battery ran out, so you're going to have to take my word for it.
We went to San Gimignano on Wednesday. It's a much smaller town than Siena or Florence but (of course) has a long history of its own. It's at the top of the highest hill in the area, so the view was excellent. (A particularly good view from the fortress is one of the things that we missed when the battery died.)
Of course, it has a lovely old section of town.
There's the Museum of the Medieval Criminal. (We didn't go in, but I do love a suit of armor.)
There's a central piazza around the cistern.
Oh, and there's the thing the town is most famous for - the towers. Apparently, the city's medieval families would show off by building them. There were over 70 at one point, but now there are only 13 left.
We went to the local church, which has interior walls that are completely painted with scenes from the Bible. Very nice, but as with all the other cool stuff we weren't allowed to take pictures.
After some walking, we made our way to a punto panoramico and took one last picture before running out of juice.
By far, the best thing about the town was the gelato. The gelaterie that we went to was award winning and has the approval of many famous people (like Tony Blair). The gelato was absolutely the best we've had on our trip and will probably not be equalled in Rome. Even if the town weren't pretty, I would go to San Gimignano just for the gelato. I had a version made with Vin Santo, which is the locally made dessert wine. Just wonderful.
We went to San Gimignano on Wednesday. It's a much smaller town than Siena or Florence but (of course) has a long history of its own. It's at the top of the highest hill in the area, so the view was excellent. (A particularly good view from the fortress is one of the things that we missed when the battery died.)
Of course, it has a lovely old section of town.
There's the Museum of the Medieval Criminal. (We didn't go in, but I do love a suit of armor.)
There's a central piazza around the cistern.
Oh, and there's the thing the town is most famous for - the towers. Apparently, the city's medieval families would show off by building them. There were over 70 at one point, but now there are only 13 left.
We went to the local church, which has interior walls that are completely painted with scenes from the Bible. Very nice, but as with all the other cool stuff we weren't allowed to take pictures.
After some walking, we made our way to a punto panoramico and took one last picture before running out of juice.
By far, the best thing about the town was the gelato. The gelaterie that we went to was award winning and has the approval of many famous people (like Tony Blair). The gelato was absolutely the best we've had on our trip and will probably not be equalled in Rome. Even if the town weren't pretty, I would go to San Gimignano just for the gelato. I had a version made with Vin Santo, which is the locally made dessert wine. Just wonderful.
Siena
We went to Siena on Tuesday. In fact, the last set of posts was made from an Internet cafe there. It was about a 50 minute drive from our place and was just a bit harrowing (my first extensive experience with the Italian highway). The drivers are fairly aggressive and don't have the same concept of driving space that we have in the US. But, we survived, so I guess it wasn't that bad.
I'm a sucker for pleasant European towns, so I took a lot of street pictures. The city center of Siena is mostly pedestrian, which has helped to keep it pretty. It's also very steep.
Siena's famous main square is the Piazza del Campo. Twice a year, they have a horse race called Il Palio in the square. The book claims that it's the world's shortest horse race (3 times around the square).
Siena has a Duomo (cathedral) of it's own. It's Gothic, rather than the Renaissance style of the Duomo in Florence.
The interior is very different, too. Love the horizontal stripes.
There's a library with a spectacularly decorated ceiling.
The cathedral has a baptistry that is a couple centuries older than the main church. There's great art in there, too.
We went into the cathedral museum, but pictures weren't allowed. Aside from that, we had another relaxing (i.e. ~2 hour long) lunch at a local restaurant. Oh, and we admired the wares in the shops.
Finally, I took a picture of Debbie in the courtyard of a palazzo. Unfortunately, I don't remember which one. It's a nice picture, though.
I'm a sucker for pleasant European towns, so I took a lot of street pictures. The city center of Siena is mostly pedestrian, which has helped to keep it pretty. It's also very steep.
Siena's famous main square is the Piazza del Campo. Twice a year, they have a horse race called Il Palio in the square. The book claims that it's the world's shortest horse race (3 times around the square).
Siena has a Duomo (cathedral) of it's own. It's Gothic, rather than the Renaissance style of the Duomo in Florence.
The interior is very different, too. Love the horizontal stripes.
There's a library with a spectacularly decorated ceiling.
The cathedral has a baptistry that is a couple centuries older than the main church. There's great art in there, too.
We went into the cathedral museum, but pictures weren't allowed. Aside from that, we had another relaxing (i.e. ~2 hour long) lunch at a local restaurant. Oh, and we admired the wares in the shops.
Finally, I took a picture of Debbie in the courtyard of a palazzo. Unfortunately, I don't remember which one. It's a nice picture, though.
Sometimes the Nutella Craving Is Just Too Much
Note the orange added for scale. That was breakfast in Tuscany. Well, there was other stuff, too, but that was the most important bit.
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