And that's about the limit of my Italian. I do get a Grazia, Prego, and a few others in once in a while, but not very effectively. Took me several trips thru the metro and railway station to realize that "uscita" wasn't a street that was in the direction of the arrow, but the Italian word for "exit". Live and learn.
Firenze (Florence) is fine, and I'll have to come back here sometime. Lots more to do, but I leave in the AM. Here's a quick update on the last few days.
On Tuesday AM, I walked thru the market area. A building one city block in size, with stalls surrounding with all kinds of good it on all sides. The entire first floor is dedicated to fresh meats, with one small corner for fish. (guess that explains why fish is so expensive in the restaurants, not much of it around) The second floor has all the fresh fruits and veggies you could ask for. I bought my third hat of the trip in one of the stalls. Left the nice cold weather one with ear flaps I bought in Romania on the train. Dumb.
Since it was drizzling, I decided a day indoors would be Good idea. I found what I couldn't find in Rome. A tourist office that actually gave out decent information. Even had a map for 1 euro that gave a one paragraph description of all the museums and other places of interest. Of course, it's in the hotel now, so I'll probably misspell most of the names. They even looked up the weather report on the computer for me. It was wrong, but that wasn't their fault.
Then I went to the Galleria dei Academia. Two exhibits made the entire trip to Florence worth while. Michelangelo's David is on exhibit here, and it is quite something to see!!!. The way it's displayed really sets it off. Really a work of art, and I hope that doesn't sound like a cliche. Additionally, there are several of his unfinished works on display. You can see the transition from rough chipping on marble to the finished product on one piece of work. Really makes you (or me, at least) appreciate his talent. I tried to take photos, but the camera cops were really vigilant. I swear they could hear the power button on a digital camera being pressed. So I broke my rule, and bought a souvenir booklet on the David.
They also have a musical instruments section, which in itself was quite interesting. But what really made it worthwhile was the fact that they had several Stradivarius instruments on display. One was a viola that was (except for the strings, I imagine) completely original. The others had some repair or replacement work (the bridge, noticeable).
Then on the the Uffizi Art Museum. Stopped along the way at the Santa Maria dei Fiore Cathedral. This is the one with the dome so often seen in photos of Florence. There is aslo a Bapistry and bell tower, which I didn't try. More on that later.
The Uffizi has one of the largest collections of Italian Art in existence. It's a two story building, a block long, with a courtyard in the center, so it's effectively 4 blocks long, for those interested in numbers. I was more impressed than I thought I'd be with the art. Over time, it got to be a bit much. I can only handle so many "Madonna and Child", "Crucifixion", "Holy Family", etc. Included in the artists are Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, and a smattering of Dutch masters, including Rubens.
So Much for Tuesday. On Wednesday, I took the advice of the hotel clerk and didn't take the 39.00 euro tour to Pisa. Instead, I took the train and did it on my own. Good suggestion. The tour was 5 hours long, including 2 plus hours on the train. I took the same train for 10.10 euro round trip, and was able to spend as much time as I wanted in Pisa.
The tower really does lean. What you see in the photos isn't an exaggeration, by any means. I climbed to the top, just under 300 steps. Take deep breaths. Some view from up there! And you really do sense the fact that it's not level when walking on the top. You feel as if you are walking up/down hill. The only bad thing is that the tower trip is 1/2 hour long. Period. And that includes the time getting up and the time returning. So you really only get about 15 to 20 minutes up there. It' s almost worth paying another 15.00 euros to do it again, but I didn't.
Also in the square is the Cathedral that accompanies the tower, and the baptistery for the Cathedral. The tower is actually the bell tower for the Cathedral. You can purchase a ticket for one, two or three of the five museums/exhibitions in the square. I chose to visit the Baptistery and the Duomo dei Opera. Not an opera museum. I need to find out what opera means, because it's used for more than just what I think of as opera. Neither was too exciting. I covered the Baptistery in about 10 minutes. But then, part of it was closed. The Duomo dei Opera was a good deal of sculpture, pieces of the original Cathedral building, etc.
I wandered around Pisa for a while, in the rain. Anyone coming to Italy at this time of year has to remember what a Mediterranean climate is all about. I did, so I don't feel too bad.
One thing Worthy of note. I finally ran into two Aussies in Pisa. The first I've met in Italy. Additionally, I met a new Zealander, just about the first IƬve met on this trip, with the possible exception of one in Berlin, but I'm not sure.
So what happened on Thursday? The weather finally caught up with the projections, and it was nice and sunny. I went up to the Piazza Michelangelo. Great view of the city from there. Also, a bronze copy of the David statue. While the same size, it just didn't have the effect the original did. Another in one of the squares in the city, and it also doesn't come close to comparing.
After lunch, I took the advice of the hotel clerk, and took the "Chianti" tour. Worth it. A nice ride through Tuscany to a winery/olive farm. Great view from the castle, as they referred to it. I think more like manor house, but it's not my country. Then for a little wine tasting in the dining room. 10 at one table who all spoke English! Talked to a couple from Chicago most of the time. Could have bought wine, but I don't have any place to put it for the rest of the trip.
Then on to the town of Greve. Had two choices there. Either spend an hour walking around the town square looking like a tourist, or following the two blondes from the wine tasting mentioned above to the wine bar. I'll leave you to ponder my decision, and move forward with the narrative.
Let me tell you about the high tech wine bars in Italy. They sell a card for 10 euro. You simply insert it in a slot, press the button above the bottle of wine you'd like to sample, and out it comes. Make sure you put your glass under the spout. There must have been 20 to 30 different Chianti's to try (no, I didn't, I actually had 5 euros credit when we left.)
Turns out Chianti is controlled like champagne. It can only be sold as Chianti if it's grown in Tuscany, and only certain areas of Tuscany, at that. The really good stuff has a DOCG on the label, which means "denominozione di origine controllata e guarantita". I'll let you figure it out. The next lower grade is DOC.
On the return to Florence, the two blondes, a couple from Dallas, and I had dinner. One of the blondes, Amelia, was from New Zealand. How about that? Two folks from NZ in two days!!! The other was sort of an American expatriate from Washington. Had lived in NZ, AU, S. Africa, and SE Asia. We all had a nice dinner and it was really good to speak English and be understood for nearly an entire day.
On to today. Last day in Florence. Bought my train ticket to Venice. I mention that because I've found that the prices of tickets purchased directly at the station, at least in Italy, are markedly less than the price on the Rail Europe web site. The worst example is the price from Florence to Pisa. I mentioned my ticket was 5.10 euro. That's about $6.00. On the web site, its $28.00. Most of them aren't nearly that bad. My Rome to Florence cost me 42 Euro, or $49.00, vs. $61 on the web site. Just something to look for if you plan on traveling here.
I went to a really great museum this morning, the Musio di Storia di Scienza, or Story of Science, I think. All kinds of scientific and mathematical instruments form the 15th century on. Even had some of Galileo's instruments. The detail and workmanship, with the tools they had available is amazing. It should be appreciated as much as any piece of art, considering the craftsmanship that went into making it. I spent as much time there as I did in the Uffizi, and it's much smaller. I'm sure any of you with an engineering or scientific inclination would really enjoy it.
In the PM, I went to the Boboli Gardens. By now you know I always visit the local parks if at all possible This one is part of a Museum complex, the name of which escapes me. Nice, but no flowers. Several nice ponds with fountains that lent themselves to photos with reflections, so all was not lost. The ticket entitled me to visit the Porcelain Museum, not nearly as elaborate as the Dresden China exhibit, but nice if you like porcelain. Some of it was really pretty. And the ticket also included admission to the Mythology and Erotica museum. A bit on Mythology, and not very erotic. The ceilings of the exhibit were the real attraction, to me. Frescoes that were worth bending your head back to see.
And that's about it for Florence. Off to Venice tomorrow AM. Less than three weeks left. Time really flies. Have I said that? It seems so. Oh well, It's my e-mail/blog, isn't it?
Friday, December 02, 2005
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