Italy Stop #4 : Florence (Firenze)

Of all the places we visited, Florence is the one place I could visit for an extended time. In Rome, there's so many famous historical things to see and all the hustle of a major city blended into one. Pisa has one big albeit crooked bell tower and the charm of a smaller town. Pompeii, well it's Pompeii, and it's a phenomenal site in itself. Florence is still different. It's a small city, with lots of great food, markets, shopping and the like all within an easy walk. The people are friendly and it is more of what I suppose I would have expected of a European city, if I had really any expectations formed in my mind. The touches of great artists over the centuries grace the architecture. It's beautiful, relaxing and probably my favorite city of the entire trip. I did make a stop to see Michaelangelo's statue David, as well as the cathedral that plays host to the tomb of Machiavelli, Galileo, Michaelangelo and other higher ups in the Catholic world. The Grand Hotel Mediterraneo, our hotel in Florence, had a unique touch in the room; they provided a nice map with two marked routes for those guests who like to walk or run for exercise. It is attached to a string and has a flat pocket to hold a room key snug while running. Despite mostly rainy weather, I caught one morning that was only slightly drizzling and took advantage of the map. Just to run along the banks of the Arno river with the morning traffic bustling by was a wonderful experience I won't soon forget.

We did spend one night in Venice, and while I can say I've been there, I'm not in a rush to go back. The narrow foot-traffic only streets were interesting, and the few shops that were open had quite the variety of goods from the latest in haute couture to the downright quirky. It was easy to get lost in the maze of shops and streets. Admittedly it was near the end of my trip and I was pretty exhausted.

One thing did stand out, I had the single best lasagna I've ever had in my life at a local eatery in Venice. It left me rethinking my own recipe; actually the whole trip has me starting completely over with a new take on Italian dishes. As much as I aim to find the local restaurants when traveling, sometimes it's difficult to do. That wasn't the case in Italy. I had McDonald's one time, and even then it was a menu item they don't serve in the US.

Overall I am very glad I made the trip to Italy. It was everything I couldn't begin to expect and more. Being surrounded by history at every turn is a different feeling than I've experienced anywhere else in my travels. As I've told a few friends, here in the US things are considered "old" at 200 years and gain a "wow" factor by being closer to 300 years old. In Italy however, it requires adding an extra zero to that number to get even the slightest nod. Realizing just how much we have and yet haven't changed as humans in that 2000 (or more) years provides a perspective that just can't be gained anywhere here in the US. At least not anywhere I've traveled, yet.

Italy Stop #3: Pompei

I'm not sure I can begin to describe Pompeii and even begin to do it justice. Maybe I hadn't really woken up from the 6:30am bus departure time to get there, but it made an impression on my slightly groggy mind. I think even stone awake it would have taken me in. It really was one of the most facinating places I visited the entire trip.

I didn't realize just how large Pompeii was until I got there. It's not just a building or two, its an entire city. Mount Vesuvius might have stopped the residents lives, but it did it in a way that perfectly captured daily life at a precise moment. I found it surprising how little day-to-day living has changed today. With the way things are preserved, I could easily visualize the people bustling about, the chariots rolling down the streets, people cooking, shopping, having a drink at the corner bar. Their homes were connected like modern day condos. Mosaics decorated the floors and walls, greeting friends or warning foes to beware of the family's dog. Just walking down the streets knowing many years ago someone else walked down this same street, just heading home after a busy day of work seemed almost surreal. The ruins here aren't like other areas in Italy with partial buildings, incomplete columns, broken tablets and the like. They're far more complete, creating an environment that I could immerse myself in and get a better sense of what life was like then, more so than with any other place I visited.

Groggy or not, Pompeii was very well worth early morning trip it took to get there.

Italy Stop #2: Pisa

A small town with one very unusual claim to fame, Pisa was one of the most memorable places I visited. My traveling companions thought I was a little crazy to pay 13 Euros just for the privilege of climbing up over 7 stories worth of stairs. I could get that at the hotel and not pay a penny extra. But for me it was a challenge, so 13 Euros lighter I got in the queue to the top and made my way up.

While the angle of the building is visually noticeable from the outside, it creates an even stranger sensation while climbing the tower. It's narrow and as the steps go up and the leaning gets more pronounced, the indention into the stone steps where the millions of feet have walked shifts from side to side. As it gets closer to the top, the last area of steps is so narrow that it was impossible to stand with my hands on my hips.

At the top, the view is beautiful, and looking down at the ant-sized people below I could get a sense of just how far up this tower was. Finally I could fully appreciate how it really was worth the effort and expense. The railings there were pretty basic and small , leaving a very unobstructed view of the entire town of Pisa.

So overall, Pisa is not for the financially conservative, claustrophobic, over-sized, unfit or someone with Aeroacrophobia. Yet they didn't seem to have any trouble selling tickets despite an overcast and somewhat rainy day.

Something I have noticed after visiting Italy (most especially Pisa) and since then Jamaica is how over-guarded we are in the USA. The serious lack of guard rails at the top of the tower in Pisa, the non-existent hand rails all the way up, the numerous areas of slick marble (it was raining that day) around the outside with minimal railings at best; these would have never made it past the legal department for any attraction in the USA. I saw similar things going on in Jamaica. Climbing a slightly steep and rushing waterfall sans any protective gear might seem like a joke of an idea here, but in Jamaica the guides were doing it barefoot and wearing just a pair of swim shorts. It seems here at home we miss out on some really interesting things to see and do because of the few who will sue the swim shorts off the owners of said attractions because their precious snowflake fell down and skinned his knee. That being said, that sense of safety is kind of nice and I think a tad under appreciated, until I watched a woman fall down hard and repeatedly on wet rocks as she makes her attempt to climb the waterfalls. That's going to leave some bruises. Not cool.

What is Aeroacrophobia? The fear of open heights. Yes, I had to look this up to be sure.

Italy Stop #1: Rome

First destination of my trip to Italy was Rome. It has the feel of any large city, but with very historical overtones. Everywhere something with either historical significance appears in view or at least seems to be very very old. The exterior of my hotel, Prime Hotel Saint John, blended into the side street's aged look, yet the interior was completely modern at every turn. The hotel was quite clean and as quiet as a city center hotel can be. Within easy walking distance there were a few restaurants and bakeries, plus a restaurant at the hotel.

All the hotels we stayed at in Italy had really exceptional breakfasts. We generally didn't stop our touring for lunch, so by dinner that evening I was quite thankful for the good breakfast. Most notable was the Orange juice. First, it wasn't orange in color at all, it was red. It was also really really good. As was the Pompeii grapefruit juice and some concoction they called "ACE," a blend that involved orange, carrot and I don't recall was else. It wasn't something I'd have expected to like, but while in Italy I wanted to try anything new I could get.

Something I discovered about the food overall that didn't really strike me until I returned home was the lack of salt and sugar. For about the first week after I got back, everything tasted like it was heavily salted or had way too much sugar. I promptly adjusted my habits here at home and have for the most part kept the salt cut back when cooking. I should have caught the clue that the salt was so much lighter by two of my traveling companions actions... they were reaching for the salt at every meal. I think I might have added a touch to some eggs, once. It's amazing how little I missed the salt and how much I noticed it's presence at home.

Back to the tourist must-see bits. The Coliseum is truly a sight to see. In a word, it's gargantuan. It's impossible to get across the sheer size and the awe inspiring technology the builders and designers employed. Getting a guided tour was the way to go for this as the guide provided more explanation as to what things were, how they were used and how the building has come to be in the condition it's in today.

Visible from the Coliseum as well as just a short walk away are both the Arch of Constantine and the Roman Forum & Senate. We didn't take any special tour of either, but again the sheer size of both was impressive. Just from walking around and seeing what is there now, it's easy to tell this was the central hub of activity for a thriving metropolis. Like the coliseum, it's amazing the technology that was needed and used to build such tall and imposing structures using solid stone and even concrete.

The easiest way for us to see the city was to take a bus tour. They are inexpensive and were plentiful, and we could just hop off at whatever stop we liked. Our stop was the Vatican. Starting with the Vatican museum, we walked through hall after all of paintings, artwork, tapestries, statues, carvings... the list goes on and on. Everywhere I turned there was art. A window frame? Can't leave it as is, it must be heavily decorated with painting and textures. From the floors of flawless stone to the ceilings painstakingly painted by masters such as Michelangelo, every inch is a piece of art. And then, in the middle of these hallways lies the Sistine Chapel. My only wish there was for better lighting. It's large and some of the more famous artwork adorns the ceiling of this chapel. Despite a crowd of visitors, it was relatively quiet in the room. I can only imagine what visiting the Vatican must be like for a Catholic; just the sense of patience and devotion required by the artists alone to create their artwork is enough to me. It's also very obvious that the current caretakers are taking their jobs seriously, and if the original artists were here today I am sure they'd be quite appreciative.

After a few days in Rome, we packed up and took a train trip to Florence for a few days. More of that coming soon!

Crossing the Atlantic

I just returned from what I expect will be my first of many trips to Europe. The whole experience can be summed up in one word: Wow. It's the little differences that I found most facinating, but there are plenty of big ones you can't miss either.

Let's start with the overview of the trip. Nine days with a group of three other women, taking a traveling view of Italy. Transportation would include plane, taxi, bus, metro, local train, Eurostar, water bus and the most often used mode would be walking, a lot of walking. Plans were to visit Rome, Pisa, Florence, Naples and Venice if time and energy allowed for them all.

Just getting there was entertaining. We took a direct flight from Chicago to Rome Fiumicino airport. We were able to get Business Class seats for the trip, which sounded great to me. Then I saw what that entailed... woah. First class on domestic flights pales in comparison to this. Going anywhere internationally, this is the way to travel. Each passenger has plenty of space and seats that have more adjustments than a Mercedes. Once in flight, the attendants provided the laptop-sized personal tv's that had a sizable selection of movies and currently running tv shows. Those came with your personal Bose noise-canceling headphones too. As a relatively frequent traveler, my husband discovered those a few years ago and we haven't had a flight without them since. But to have them provided, that was a surprise. Also each seat was equipped with a cigarette-lighter style power plug, so I arrived with my Ipod charged and ready to go after using it as much as I wanted on the flight. The 5 course meal provided on real china, with real silverware was actually good. I know, airline food... good? Rarely do the two go together, but in this case it was an accurate, if surprising, statement. But enough about the flight already...

On one hand, Rome is just another big city. However, the staggering amount of well preserved and documented history found in this city does change that a bit. Everywhere is history. Considering that "old" there takes on an entirely different meaning than we find in the USA, it really is something to see and simply absorb. After arriving in Rome about 10am, we checked our luggage at the hotel and went for a short stroll to see a few things. A few blocks from our hotel was the Colosseum. Just the sight of this massive structure was a wake-up call... "Yes, you really are looking at what you've previously only seen in photos." We would wait until the next day for a tour, but just to stand in the piazza and see it, the Arch of Constantine and the Roman Forum nearby was indescribable.

Some general observances I made very quickly about Rome proved themselves true over the days we were there. The cars fascinated me, probably a bit to the annoyance of my traveling companions. My own cars at home would seem ghastly and big in contrast with the city cars that populated the roman streets. Smart cars were everywhere, as well as all the small sized vehicle offerings from Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Mercedes, the occasional Ford and some I didn't recognize at all. The vast majority were models not sold in the US at all, and would be nearly laughed at on the street as looking like "toys." But at nearly $8 a gallon for gas, who can blame them for wanting the most fuel efficiency possible? Toss into the mix at least one scooter for every three cars on the road as well. With this crush of compact cars and 2 wheeled cheap transportation on the road, traffic was lunacy. Lanes? What lanes? Drivers simply drove wherever they wanted, the idea of lanes was merely a suggestion. Scooter riders were the real daredevils, splitting the suggested lanes at every opportunity, taking full advantage of their narrow size and ability to drive over most any obstacle in the way, including pedestrians. Traffic and the drivers there are simply insane. Maybe outside of the city center it's not that way, but inside, pandemonium rules the road.

I'll be posting more of the experience including a few pictures... coming soon!