Firenze - birth of the Renaissance

Sept. 25 - My memory of Florence is of artistic sensory overload. From the moment we arrived at the piazza beside the Duomo, it seemed that you couldn’t turn around without finding some new treasure of art history. We followed the Rick Steves audio Renaissance Tour that we downloaded onto the IPod. Thanks to Susie for the earphone splitter, we were able to walk tethered by earphones and hear commentary on some of the famous sites. This helped us focus instead of being completely overwhelmed. We were lucky to beat the crowds into the Duomo and then took the stroll down to the Ponte Vecchio stopping at many amazing sites along the way.

The Ponte Vecchio is such a beautiful bridge, lined with very high end jewellery shops. Not much tourist kitsch there. We lunched on amazing pizza at a contemporary styled restaurant with a view of the Arno River. After lunch I went to look for a store where I bought a beautiful skirt and top on a previous trip. I don’t think the place we ended up in was the same store, but the owner, who has a design brand called Siste’s, delighted in the whole process of showing me how his clothes should be worn – how could I resist buying a skirt, a versatile black sweater and a “design mistake” top, which he sold at discount price?

We had pre-booked tickets for the Ufizzi Gallery, which enabled us to beat the line-up. Using Rick Steves audio guide again, we were able to make some sense of the rich art treasures that fill the gallery. In the evening we stopped for a drink in a lovely piazza beside the Chiesa San Croce. A busker set up with his guitar, harmonica and portable sound system and filled the evening with soulful Italian songs interspersed with mellow Neil Young. Local residents came out to play – one family kicking a soccer ball around, a young girl on her bicycle doing circuits of the square. It was magical, so we stayed for dinner. Since beef is a Tuscan specialty we had the 1 kilo Florentine steak, with a good bottle of Chianti and Espresso to round it out.

Glorious Florence

Enroute to Firenze (Florence)

En route to Firenze (Florence)

Sept. 24 – The route to Firenze took us through several towns, the port/resort town of La Spezia, Carrara, and Massa before we entered the rolling hills and pastoral scenery of Tuscany. Going through the outskirts of Carrara we could see the cuts in the quarries where marble is excavated. We passed many marble warehouses where marble is cut and finished. Our first stop was in Lucca, a walled town where the ancient city co-exists harmoniously with contemporary lifestyles. Here we found the fountain of life – or at least an old tap where the locals come to fill their water bottles, claiming that the water cures all ailments. We filled several bottles there, feeling very pleased with ourselves.

The old town of Lucca is a maze of streets, where high fashion stores operate side by side with ancient churches and other tourist attractions. The old walls encircle the city with a walking/cycling route. From there we had great views of the old city and the scenery beyond.

On to Pisa, which I thought of as an obligatory stop to at least say we saw the Leaning Tower, or the Hanging Tower as it is called in the guidebook for Tuscano. (Translation into English, we find, is quite often quite poor, even in the most prestigious museums.) We were very surprised at how beautiful and elegant the Tower and surrounding buildings are. The lean might be interesting, and I do have a photo of Peter pushing it over, but its design and setting are really lovely. The area was mobbed with tourists, but there was plenty space to get great views of the tower and the Duomo.

The next part of the journey was on the Autostrada to make up some time and get to our hotel before dark. At this point the GPS, which we have nicknamed GyPSy, proved its worth. Without the guidance of the very patient voice to warn us which way to go and where the turns were coming up, we would have been a mess. Peter managed the ferocious Firenze traffic snarls like a pro and muscled the car into lanes, just like a local. We arrived with flawless precision at the door of our hotel.

The Hotel Orcagna, just outside the Traffico Controlo Zona, was another pleasant surprise. The cheapest hotel on our trip, pre-paid for by mistake (mine) online, was a great choice. Located in a residential area, walking distance from the city centre, the room was the best on the trip so far. We had a balcony facing an inner courtyard, with a view of typical Florence tile- roofed buildings, golden with the setting sun. We were enthusiastically welcomed by the receptionist who proceeded to explain the where, when and why of the parking situation. Apparently the neighbourhoods of Firenze have street cleaning on appointed nights, at which time all cars have to be off the streets from midnight to 6 am. We were directed to a street for free overnight parking, but with instructions to move it very early in the morning.

Lucca and Pisa, Tuscany

Hiking Cinque Terrre

There are 5 towns linked by hiking trails which thread, sometimes precariously on the cliffside, with stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea waaay below. There are no cars allowed into the towns so the other main connection between them is the train. Each of the towns has its own character but they all basically survive on wine making from the vineyards perched on terraces above the towns, olive groves, fishing and the tourist trade.

From Riomaggiore we set out on the easiest section of the trail, a stroll in the park, so to speak. It didn’t seem like much of a challenge. The scenery in every direction was breathtaking; sea, rocks, vineyards, mountains and always another quaint town beckoning in the distance. In about 30 minutes we arrived in the town of Manarola. A friendly local pointed out the best views which were from the cemetery. Naturally the deceased get the best outlook of the town and the seascape. On the trail to the next town, we got caught up in a parade of tourists with their walking poles, but we lost them on the steep stairs into Corniglia. After a brief stop for yummy forcacia and lemon soda, we headed out for Vernassa. The longest stretch of the trail, it was much tougher and the crowds thinned out. This and the last section to the fifth town are not for the faint of heart, Thank goodness for skiing and Pilates or I would have expired in a heap half way along the final tortuous climb before the vertical descent into Monterosa. But at the end of the journey we were rewarded with a swim in the ocean. The local train got us back to our little home base of Riomaggiore in half and hour; somewhat quicker than the 6.5 hours (with stops for lunch and gelato) that it took us to hike.

A good bottle of local wine from the vineyard of the friend of our waiter, and a thick tuna steak gave us enough energy to stagger back up the hill to bed. This time we had the sense to close the windows and the blinds so that we wouldn’t be jolted awake with the chimes from the church tower followed by cocks crowing – but well preceded by the trundling of garbage trucks cleaning up the town for the next onslaught of tourists.

I have to thank a friendly ski guide at Sun Peaks and Ben from the office for recommending the Cinque Terre as a special place to visit.

Route to Riomaggiore

Route to Riomaggiore:

Sept. 22 – Pick up rental car, follow pre-programmed GPS to the Autostrada via Padova to Vicenza, then on through Verona and Parma to the curvy road we found on the map, to the town of Riomaggiore, easterly entry to the Cinque Terre; distance of about 400 km. – sounds simple. Right? Well, yes and no. Somewhere in the first 10 minutes we made a wrong turn, according to our polite GPS voice. After which, we criss-crossed small towns and country road to get back on course;. which we did by luck and common sense. Then we got into a tight tangle of streets in Vicenza. I lost faith in the GPS at that point.

Fortunately Peter did not as afterwards it steered us successfully through the maze of streets through Parma to the most incredible mountain route of twisting road and breathtaking views. Of course, there are two versions of this part of the journey; mine as I braced myself white-knuckled and gamely tried to enjoy the vista and Peter’s as he whooped it up cranking turns and pushing our poor little Fiat Panda to its limits.

Arrived at dusk, watching the sun set over the Mediterranean, from the dizzy cliff heights of the only road to Riomaggiore, we find ourselves in a stunningly beautiful village, clinging to the steep rock face. The Hotel Locanda Ca' Dei Duxi had blessedly reserved us one of the cherished parking spots. Most cars pay a premium to park at the village edge, or risk the free parking allowed on the side of the mountain access road. After getting past the fairly surly guardian of the entry point we were welcomed to the Hotel by a signorina, formerly from Toronto! Our room, up three steep flights of stairs, has a sublime view from corner window, down the main street.
More to come as we hike the trails between the 5 villages.

Venezia - the living museum

Sept. 20, 2009

The somewhat tedious flight, due to a long stopover in Rome, was quickly forgotten when we landed at Marco Polo Airport and caught the Express Bus into Venice. It was only a short walk, hauling our suitcases, over a couple of bridges to the hotel.

The Hotel Al Sole, booked months ago as the first stop on our trip, proved to be a brilliant choice. Built on the site of an ancient monastery, it is owned by the Marcello family since 1400, who was one of the 40 founding families of Venice. Opening the shutters of our small, but well appointed room, I felt as if I was playing my part in the ongoing pageant that makes Venice so vibrant. On the first floor up, it overlooks a bridge on the bend of a canal. There was an endless passing parade of people and boat traffic. I leaned right out the window where I could look people in the eye and cordially greet passers-by with a smile.

In no time we were out joining the throngs of tourists to do our first sightseeing, starting with the Rialto Bridge. We didn’t stop, except for dinner, until the wee hours. I am embarrassed to say, we took about an hour’s detour when we made one wrong turn, went right by the cruise ship docks. The short, but eventful day included a slow trip by vaporetta on the Grand Canal.

Day Two: More walking, more vaporetta rides, gelato and gelato again. We visited many churches to see the paintings and art work. My favourite was the Frari Church with several Titians and intricate inlaid wood in the choir. A ride out to the glass blowing island of Murano was somewhat disappointing when we were not able to find anyone at the factories demonstrating glass blowing. But there were tons of stores showing fancy glassware. The large glass sculptures in the squares are very impressive. On the way back to Venice, we stopped off at the site of the Biennale, but being Monday, it was closed. Never mind, we wouldn’t have done it justice in the short time we were there.

All in all, Venice is pretty stunning, with its intricate waterways, grand palazzos and maze of alleys. We loved seeing the regular folk who live there going about their daily business. We particularly enjoyed watching the working boats – delivery, garbage, fire, police, ambulance, construction boats. The vaporetti, gondolas, taxis and pleasure boats all vied for spots along the canals. It was particularly amazing to watch the gondoliers navigate tight corners, amongst heavy traffic.

Peter was quick to notice the two different networks of movement through the city, by boat and by foot, that criss-cross each other, occasionally parallel, that allow you to experience Venice in two completely different ways. This is mimicked in the way that the residents and tourists by-pass and intersect, to make this an incredible living museum.

Anticipation....

Over the past many months while booking and researching places to go and things to see, I have attempted to learn to speak Italian. The TPL has a great supply of language CD's and I tried pretty much everything they had to offer in the way of Italian learning CD's. As it turns out, despite the claims on each product, there IS NO EASY WAY to learn a new language. At least I know how to ask for "due birre per favore"

I used to have a saying "have passport, tickets, contact lenses and credit card, will travel" but now the list included computer, GPS, I-Phone, and a whole slew of adapters and chargers. But the good old guide books and paper maps are still my standby.

Our Italian itinerary

This is the route we are following:
Fly to Venice. After two nights in Venice - pick up our tiny rental car and a long day's drive to Riomaggiore, first stop in the Cinque Terre. Hopefully we will have some time for these towns, Verona, Padova, Parma and more. Two nights in Riomaggiore give us time to walk the trail between five coastal cliff towns. Then on to Firenze. Next stop Siena. Somewhere in there we will take at least a brief look at Pisa. From Siena we take a longish haul to Rome with our first night in Ostia in order to visit Ostia Antica. Then we drop the car at the airport and the rest will be by train and foot. Three final nights in Rome - hardly enough time to see the main sites. And then home again. Already it feels too short.