For our last full day in Milan we had one of Tim's bucket list items in store. A visit to Michaelangelo's The Last Supper was in store, and we were all very excited. It was the one thing he wanted to do during our 2009 trip, and we were not able to, thanks to Dan Brown and his amazingly popular books that created such a hype about this particular painting. In fact, because the painting is so fragile, they only allow 25 people in every 15 minutes, and the tickets are booked 2-3 months in advance. So we made sure to reserve them before we left the states, and for a time we thought was reasonable (9:30 am).
In hindsight, we left the hotel room a little early (7:30 am) to make the trek over to the church. It wasn't that far away, we just wanted to make sure that there would be no reason for us to show up late and miss our entrance window. We ended up getting there a whole hour early, which left us with a little time to kill outside of the church.
We were supposed to get our tickets about 20 min before our tour, and once we had the tickets we could wait in the entrance hall for our guide. As a group we were taken through two entrance rooms which were supposed to decontaminate us (Michelle had visions of a Jetsons type moment with some kind of laser coming down and killing all microbes on her) but it seemed like we just walked through one room, had the doors close behind us, then into another room, with the doors again closing behind us, then we were in the room with the painting. The interesting thing with this painting, and why it is so fragile, is because Michaelangelo painted this painting directly on top of the dried plaster, as opposed to on wet plaster so that the colors could dry with the plasters, thus sealing them in. Because it was done on top of dry plaster, it almost immediately started deteriorating. And because it was done on dry plaster, they also cannot move it from the wall it was painted on. If it was painted in the wet plaster they could remove it from the wall and preserve it in temperature controlled conditions. So to say it is a fragile work of art is an understatement.
And it was impressive to stand in front of. The sad thing is, this is not the only painting in the room. The Last Supper is on one wall, and directly opposite is another painting of Christ crucified painted by . . . some other guy. Both are beautiful works of art, but who is going to pay attention to the other painting when it is in the same room as The Last Supper. Poor other guy.
Once we finished with our tour of The Last Supper we tried to find some shopping centers that were mentioned in some of our guidebooks. We found the area of town they were in, but they must have all closed or moved in the last few years, because none of the places we were looking for were where they were supposed to be. And since it was getting close to noon, we headed over the the La Scalla theater to take a quick tour. We were considering going to an evening show, but there was no opera or ballet playing that evening, and we were self conscious about our clothes. La Scalla is a pretty ritzy local, and we were not sure they would appreciate the zip off cargo pants and rain jackets we were sporting. Plus, with performances beginning at 8 pm, we wanted to be packing for the flight around that time versus attending a theater performance. So a tour of the theater and attached museum was a better option.
The theater itself is huge, 6 rows of seats straight up plus seating on the lower floor. Every surface is covered in red velvet, and there is a massive chandelier in the middle of the room. Apparently the theater was more of a whos who see and be seen kind of event, so though the acoustics are amazing, the purpose of going was not for the performances. Which is one of the reasons why the boxes face each other, so you can see who is there and what they are wearing. There are some seats where you can't see the stage at all. Again, additional reasons why it was probably a good idea that we did not go to an actual performance.
After La Scalla we had a good lunch of pasta at a little cafe and then headed back to the room. Ed decided to take a nap and Tim, Michelle and Diana went out in search of more shopping. There was a street that was recommended, Corso Buenas Ares, which was supposed to have a lot of good shopping. And there were stores lining the streets, but everything was so expensive ($350 euros for a pair of shoes anyone?) so we did not buy anything. We were all ready to splurge a little bit, especially since it was our last night there, but there are some things that are just too silly to even splurge on. Why spend that much on a pair of shoes when I can splurge at home and buy 5 pairs for the same price? So all in all, where the shopping was concerned, we were a little disappointed.
On our way walking home we bumped into a little restaurant with affordable prices and decided to come back with Ed for dinner. We feasted like kings here, especially because the prices were reasonable and the portion sizes were large. If we ever come back to Milan, we will come back here. After dinner it was back to the rooms to pack. We have a 9:30 flight out in the morning, which means leaving the hotel at 5:30 to get to the train station to catch the 6:25 train to the airport. It takes 45 minutes by train to get to the airport, which leaves us with 2 hours to get checked in and make our way through security. And once we get on the plane (with all of our passports this time! :) we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Almost home!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Lake Como here we come!
Day 2 in Milan saw us leaving Milan. :) We figured that since we had so much time in this last city, and we had seen most of the major sights on our first evening, that we could afford to take a day trip. So after a late start and breakfast at a local cafe, we hopped on a regional train for the hour long ride to Lake Como.
Once there, we hopped a bus to get down to the lake, then on a fast boat to go the distance to the small city of Bellagio. Funny thing was, since we were taking this trip in the low season, we were a little concerned that the boats were not running yet. We were surprised to see that they were, and in fact had just started running the day before! Talk about good timing! The view of the shore from the boats is a treat in and of itself. So many of the homes are built right on the water, and either have only walking access from the road high above or are accessible only by boat. They have garages for their boats just like a house would for its car, you open a garage door and motor your boat right into the water entrance under your house. It is such a different way to live, I don't know if we have anything like it in the states. Such is the sacrifice if you want to build your house on a steep hilside next to a lake!
Once in Bellagio Ed found a place to sit near the water so he could watch the lake and Tim, Michelle and Ed began walking around to do some shopping. Shopping in Bellagio is part browsing and part Alpine hiking. The streets are not really streets if they are going up the hill, they are more like wide staircases with shops on either side. And these staircases are very steep. You don't really need a stairmaster if you spend much time there.
All three found some fun unique gifts for themselves and family members, and Tim and Michelle had a fun encounter with the owners of a wine shop. They were so excited to see a sign for wine tasting, as they wanted to bring back a few bottles, but were not sure which ones were good. Wine taskings would allow them to taste before they bought, so they would avoid bringing back a bad bottle. There is nothing worse than lugging a bottle of wine in your backpack all the way home, carrying the weight and risking it breaking all over your clothes only to have it taste horrible! After they walked in the store, the owners quickly told them that they just opened that day, and that they were still stocking the store, so the wine tasting was not ready yet. Tim and Michelle were dissapointed, and so the owners asked which bottle they were interested in trying. That bottle was found, and the owner pulled out two glasses and poured liberal tastings for them, no charge. Well, of course they had to buy something now. Luckily the wine was good, and they walked out with two bottles.
Once the shopping was done, we opted to take the bus back to town so that we could get a better look at all of the hilside homes. And we were not disappointed. Some of these homes really are built on such steep cliffs that you cannot access them by car. You have to walk up or down the long flights of stairs. There is something so . . . fantastic about this as a way of life. Anything you bring into that house has to be carried in. Which, theoretically, would make for a less materialistic disposable frame of mind. You don't get a new couch on a whim because you are tired of the old one, because it is too darned hard to get the thing into your house and to get the old one out. You would have to really think about how badly you wanted everything you were thinking of buying.
The bus took us back to the train station, then we jumped onto a train back home. We arrived around 10:30 pm, and searched for a place to eat dinner. The man at the front desk of our hotel called around, and found a place willing to have us come in that late. Unfortunately, this was also a very nice restaurant, but unlike the one we went to the night before, the wait staff here were not nearly as gracious. We were put at a table in the back corner, told how we would eat our meal (apparently we could absolutely not have our vegetable sides with our main meal, they had to be served after) and by the time the first course came, none of us wanted to be there any longer than we had to. Once freed from the pretentious restaurant we went back to our rooms and fell into bed.
A long day, but a good one overall. Our final full day is to come, then off to home!
Once there, we hopped a bus to get down to the lake, then on a fast boat to go the distance to the small city of Bellagio. Funny thing was, since we were taking this trip in the low season, we were a little concerned that the boats were not running yet. We were surprised to see that they were, and in fact had just started running the day before! Talk about good timing! The view of the shore from the boats is a treat in and of itself. So many of the homes are built right on the water, and either have only walking access from the road high above or are accessible only by boat. They have garages for their boats just like a house would for its car, you open a garage door and motor your boat right into the water entrance under your house. It is such a different way to live, I don't know if we have anything like it in the states. Such is the sacrifice if you want to build your house on a steep hilside next to a lake!
Once in Bellagio Ed found a place to sit near the water so he could watch the lake and Tim, Michelle and Ed began walking around to do some shopping. Shopping in Bellagio is part browsing and part Alpine hiking. The streets are not really streets if they are going up the hill, they are more like wide staircases with shops on either side. And these staircases are very steep. You don't really need a stairmaster if you spend much time there.
All three found some fun unique gifts for themselves and family members, and Tim and Michelle had a fun encounter with the owners of a wine shop. They were so excited to see a sign for wine tasting, as they wanted to bring back a few bottles, but were not sure which ones were good. Wine taskings would allow them to taste before they bought, so they would avoid bringing back a bad bottle. There is nothing worse than lugging a bottle of wine in your backpack all the way home, carrying the weight and risking it breaking all over your clothes only to have it taste horrible! After they walked in the store, the owners quickly told them that they just opened that day, and that they were still stocking the store, so the wine tasting was not ready yet. Tim and Michelle were dissapointed, and so the owners asked which bottle they were interested in trying. That bottle was found, and the owner pulled out two glasses and poured liberal tastings for them, no charge. Well, of course they had to buy something now. Luckily the wine was good, and they walked out with two bottles.
Once the shopping was done, we opted to take the bus back to town so that we could get a better look at all of the hilside homes. And we were not disappointed. Some of these homes really are built on such steep cliffs that you cannot access them by car. You have to walk up or down the long flights of stairs. There is something so . . . fantastic about this as a way of life. Anything you bring into that house has to be carried in. Which, theoretically, would make for a less materialistic disposable frame of mind. You don't get a new couch on a whim because you are tired of the old one, because it is too darned hard to get the thing into your house and to get the old one out. You would have to really think about how badly you wanted everything you were thinking of buying.
The bus took us back to the train station, then we jumped onto a train back home. We arrived around 10:30 pm, and searched for a place to eat dinner. The man at the front desk of our hotel called around, and found a place willing to have us come in that late. Unfortunately, this was also a very nice restaurant, but unlike the one we went to the night before, the wait staff here were not nearly as gracious. We were put at a table in the back corner, told how we would eat our meal (apparently we could absolutely not have our vegetable sides with our main meal, they had to be served after) and by the time the first course came, none of us wanted to be there any longer than we had to. Once freed from the pretentious restaurant we went back to our rooms and fell into bed.
A long day, but a good one overall. Our final full day is to come, then off to home!
Forgive our delay - Milan Part 1
So the posts on Milan are delayed a bit. We opted to enjoy the city and post later. Then, once home, we were caught up in life (and some serious cuddle time with Zander) and lost track of the week. Back to the adventure!
We packed up in the morning and were off on our last vaporatto ride back to the train station. The weather was a little soggy, so it was a great day to leave. One thing we have not mentioned yet is that every time we check the weather forcasts for the next few days, they always say rain, but when the next few days finally come, we see nothing but sun. It seems that we are one step ahead of the bad weather so far. And whereas the weather is usually in the 50's, low 60's this time of year, we have seen 70's almost every day. Which makes this the best time to travel. The weather is pleasant, and we are still in the "low season" so prices are still reasonable. The best of both worlds.
Arriving at the train station, we bought tickets to Milan and waited for the next train. It was a regional one, so no reserved seating and lower prices, but a longer train ride overall. Which was fine with us, we were all needing a little down time. We reserved a hotel for 4 nights in Milan, and Michelle is really hoping it is a good one. When you travel as the Hardleys usually do, never spending more than 2 nights in a city, you can deal with almost anything for a few days. When you spend 4 days in one location, you really hope it is good. And since Michelle and Tim's first short stay in Milan set the bar for the all time worst hotel E.V.E.R., they were hoping this place was decent. It was one metro stop away from the central train station, which was the one needed to get to the airport to fly home, so if nothing else, it was convenient.
Upon arrival, they were all pleasantly surprised to see a lovely hotel. It turns out that it used to be a 3 star hotel, and was recently upgraded to a 4 star. The funny thing was, there were a few amenities that you would expect to get for free from a 4 star hotel. Like the internet. Which we had to pay for. And shampoo. Which was no where to be found in the bathroom. And the headboards on the bed had the name of the hotel written on them and the number of stars right underneath. Except when they were upgraded from 3 to 4 stars, they didn't want to buy new headboards with the 4 stars on it. So someone litterally took a sharpie marker and drew in a 4th star. So a few little quirks, and a fairly small room, but it was clean, secure and a great way to end our European adventure.
After checking in and dropping our bags we headed out to walk towards the center of town. We wanted to show Ed and Diana the Duomo, the largest church in Milan, and the Galleria, a ritzy shopping area just outside of the church square. La Scalla theater is near there as well. We walked from the hotel over to the center of town to give them a flavor of what Milan was like. Much more of an industrial city (but still with European charm) than the other towns we had been to. The last time Michelle and Tim were in Milan they saw the outside of the Duomo, but not the inside. As we approached, we kept seeing people carrying olive branches in their hands. It soon dawned on us that it was Sunday, as in Palm Sunday, and the olive branches were the Italian version of the palm fronds that we usually carried on that Sunday. :) As we were going into the Duomo we also realized that we were in the middle of mass, so we grabbed a seat and listened to the end of the service.
Once the service was over we headed down to the Galleria. It is a large mall, with a high curved glass ceiling. Very beautiful, with wide open spaces and lots of restaurants and high end shops all along its sides. The last time Tim and Michelle were there they had shared a pizza and risotto at one of the restaurants, so we headed back to the same restaurant to see if the food was really as good as the memory. And we were plesantly surprised. The great thing about this place is that it is a high end restaurant, with higher prices than we are used to paying, but their is no air of pretension with the wait staff. We were dressed in our traveling clothes, complete with Jansport backpacks, coming into their nice restaurant. And our waiter was so gracious, so nice and attentive, you would have thought we were royalty. No one looked down their noses at our appearance, and our waiter fretted over Ed and Diana, making sure they had everything they needed. When one of our party needed to use the restroom, they found their chair being pulled out from behind them as they stood up by one waiter, while another was already at the lift calling it down from an upper floor so we could use it to get upstairs. The staff was that good. And the meal was excellent as well. It was a fine way to begin the Milan portion of the trip.
Once finished with dinner, we made the walk back to the room. The wind had picked up a bit, and by the time we got back to the hotel we were ready for the heater to kick in. We headed to bed to get our rest for the next day. Michelle was able to connect with Susanne and see Zander, which made her day. All in all, a good day!
We packed up in the morning and were off on our last vaporatto ride back to the train station. The weather was a little soggy, so it was a great day to leave. One thing we have not mentioned yet is that every time we check the weather forcasts for the next few days, they always say rain, but when the next few days finally come, we see nothing but sun. It seems that we are one step ahead of the bad weather so far. And whereas the weather is usually in the 50's, low 60's this time of year, we have seen 70's almost every day. Which makes this the best time to travel. The weather is pleasant, and we are still in the "low season" so prices are still reasonable. The best of both worlds.
Arriving at the train station, we bought tickets to Milan and waited for the next train. It was a regional one, so no reserved seating and lower prices, but a longer train ride overall. Which was fine with us, we were all needing a little down time. We reserved a hotel for 4 nights in Milan, and Michelle is really hoping it is a good one. When you travel as the Hardleys usually do, never spending more than 2 nights in a city, you can deal with almost anything for a few days. When you spend 4 days in one location, you really hope it is good. And since Michelle and Tim's first short stay in Milan set the bar for the all time worst hotel E.V.E.R., they were hoping this place was decent. It was one metro stop away from the central train station, which was the one needed to get to the airport to fly home, so if nothing else, it was convenient.
Upon arrival, they were all pleasantly surprised to see a lovely hotel. It turns out that it used to be a 3 star hotel, and was recently upgraded to a 4 star. The funny thing was, there were a few amenities that you would expect to get for free from a 4 star hotel. Like the internet. Which we had to pay for. And shampoo. Which was no where to be found in the bathroom. And the headboards on the bed had the name of the hotel written on them and the number of stars right underneath. Except when they were upgraded from 3 to 4 stars, they didn't want to buy new headboards with the 4 stars on it. So someone litterally took a sharpie marker and drew in a 4th star. So a few little quirks, and a fairly small room, but it was clean, secure and a great way to end our European adventure.
After checking in and dropping our bags we headed out to walk towards the center of town. We wanted to show Ed and Diana the Duomo, the largest church in Milan, and the Galleria, a ritzy shopping area just outside of the church square. La Scalla theater is near there as well. We walked from the hotel over to the center of town to give them a flavor of what Milan was like. Much more of an industrial city (but still with European charm) than the other towns we had been to. The last time Michelle and Tim were in Milan they saw the outside of the Duomo, but not the inside. As we approached, we kept seeing people carrying olive branches in their hands. It soon dawned on us that it was Sunday, as in Palm Sunday, and the olive branches were the Italian version of the palm fronds that we usually carried on that Sunday. :) As we were going into the Duomo we also realized that we were in the middle of mass, so we grabbed a seat and listened to the end of the service.
Once the service was over we headed down to the Galleria. It is a large mall, with a high curved glass ceiling. Very beautiful, with wide open spaces and lots of restaurants and high end shops all along its sides. The last time Tim and Michelle were there they had shared a pizza and risotto at one of the restaurants, so we headed back to the same restaurant to see if the food was really as good as the memory. And we were plesantly surprised. The great thing about this place is that it is a high end restaurant, with higher prices than we are used to paying, but their is no air of pretension with the wait staff. We were dressed in our traveling clothes, complete with Jansport backpacks, coming into their nice restaurant. And our waiter was so gracious, so nice and attentive, you would have thought we were royalty. No one looked down their noses at our appearance, and our waiter fretted over Ed and Diana, making sure they had everything they needed. When one of our party needed to use the restroom, they found their chair being pulled out from behind them as they stood up by one waiter, while another was already at the lift calling it down from an upper floor so we could use it to get upstairs. The staff was that good. And the meal was excellent as well. It was a fine way to begin the Milan portion of the trip.
Once finished with dinner, we made the walk back to the room. The wind had picked up a bit, and by the time we got back to the hotel we were ready for the heater to kick in. We headed to bed to get our rest for the next day. Michelle was able to connect with Susanne and see Zander, which made her day. All in all, a good day!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Gondola nights
This morning was something of a late morning. We all slept in and did not get going until around 11:00
We opted to do the big stuff, so we grabbed a seat in St Marks square and went through a Rick Steves audio tour of the square. In his guide book he also suggests that a quick way to bipass the long line to get into the church is to check a bag in baggage storage. They then give you a ticket that allows you to go to the front of the line. After a quick walk to the check in station, we zipped right into the church. Once there, we did the quick Rick Steves audio tour, which was great, and then we took a lift up to the upper floors where the museum was.
Since we took the lift, we actually began at the end of the tour and had to backtrack. We quickly abandoned the Rick Steve's audio tour of the museum because it was too hard to figure out where he was. There was a portion of the museum which allowed you to go outside and stand on the original rooftop. From there you had an amazing view of St Marks square below, and the grand canal off in the distance.
After our St. Marks experience, we went back to the room for late day snack of sandwiches. Ed and Diana opted to take a short nap before going out for the evening. Tim and Michelle decided to take a walk, but to toss the map to the side and just"get lost" in the city. It is fun to navigate by landmarks versus streets in a city like Venice. Michelle thinks it is a little like the 80's movie Labyrinth, the one with David Bowie. Just when you think you are walking down a set of stairs, everything changes. Lanes appear where there shouldn't be, stairs lead to open water and paths cling to the sides of buildings. It is just so surreal, you could spend your entire life trying to see it all.
After about an hour we headed back to get Ed and Diana to go out on a gondola ride. It was about 7:00 at this time, and we were a little worried that we had missed them for the day. Ok, let's be honest, Tim was confident that we would find one, and Michelle was the pessimistic one. We did find one man who was very energetic, and after a little teetering to get into the boat, we were off. Our gondolier was amazing, his dad was a gondolier and he inherited his license from him. He was born in Venice and had been doing this for 23 years. Apparently there are only so many licenses given out, and they are passed from father to son. You also have to train to be a gondolier, and there is a delicate balance between the gondolier community and the motorized water taxies. The gondoliers feel like they are preservationists of culture. One, because they continue the long tradition of having a person ferry others around (they are the original water taxis) and two, because of their presence the motor boats have to go slower, thus limiting the noise polltion and the damage the waves do to the houses. He was great at answering questions and was a very charming man.
After our little boat ride, we ate dinner at a small sports bar. They had amazing bread, Michelle had some good soup, Ed and Diana enjoyed the spaghetti and Tim enjoyed the Italian beer. The rest of the meal (there were three total courses for each person) was unremarkable. We were quickly off for bed, as we knew we had an early morning of packing and checking out. We are off for a train ride to Milan tomorrow, our last city. We fly out of Milan on Thursday, and will be home Thursday evening in the states. My how time flies!
We opted to do the big stuff, so we grabbed a seat in St Marks square and went through a Rick Steves audio tour of the square. In his guide book he also suggests that a quick way to bipass the long line to get into the church is to check a bag in baggage storage. They then give you a ticket that allows you to go to the front of the line. After a quick walk to the check in station, we zipped right into the church. Once there, we did the quick Rick Steves audio tour, which was great, and then we took a lift up to the upper floors where the museum was.
Since we took the lift, we actually began at the end of the tour and had to backtrack. We quickly abandoned the Rick Steve's audio tour of the museum because it was too hard to figure out where he was. There was a portion of the museum which allowed you to go outside and stand on the original rooftop. From there you had an amazing view of St Marks square below, and the grand canal off in the distance.
After our St. Marks experience, we went back to the room for late day snack of sandwiches. Ed and Diana opted to take a short nap before going out for the evening. Tim and Michelle decided to take a walk, but to toss the map to the side and just"get lost" in the city. It is fun to navigate by landmarks versus streets in a city like Venice. Michelle thinks it is a little like the 80's movie Labyrinth, the one with David Bowie. Just when you think you are walking down a set of stairs, everything changes. Lanes appear where there shouldn't be, stairs lead to open water and paths cling to the sides of buildings. It is just so surreal, you could spend your entire life trying to see it all.
After about an hour we headed back to get Ed and Diana to go out on a gondola ride. It was about 7:00 at this time, and we were a little worried that we had missed them for the day. Ok, let's be honest, Tim was confident that we would find one, and Michelle was the pessimistic one. We did find one man who was very energetic, and after a little teetering to get into the boat, we were off. Our gondolier was amazing, his dad was a gondolier and he inherited his license from him. He was born in Venice and had been doing this for 23 years. Apparently there are only so many licenses given out, and they are passed from father to son. You also have to train to be a gondolier, and there is a delicate balance between the gondolier community and the motorized water taxies. The gondoliers feel like they are preservationists of culture. One, because they continue the long tradition of having a person ferry others around (they are the original water taxis) and two, because of their presence the motor boats have to go slower, thus limiting the noise polltion and the damage the waves do to the houses. He was great at answering questions and was a very charming man.
After our little boat ride, we ate dinner at a small sports bar. They had amazing bread, Michelle had some good soup, Ed and Diana enjoyed the spaghetti and Tim enjoyed the Italian beer. The rest of the meal (there were three total courses for each person) was unremarkable. We were quickly off for bed, as we knew we had an early morning of packing and checking out. We are off for a train ride to Milan tomorrow, our last city. We fly out of Milan on Thursday, and will be home Thursday evening in the states. My how time flies!
Venice extended
Check out time today was at 11:00, so we made sure to be down for breakfast nice and early so that we could get our things packed in time. Tim and Michelle went to go check out location of apartment, and it turns out it was right around the block from old hotel. While we were there we bumped into owner of the hotel, and he said the room will be ready at 11 versus 2. This was great as we could go directly from one hotel to the other, without having to leave our bags in checked luggage.
Yesterday on our way out to Murano Diana had talked to a lady on the vaporatto who mentioned that there was a small island with a church on it, and you could take a lift to the top of the churches bell tower to get a great view of Venice. So, since we still had a few hours left on our passes, we decided to head out that way. Plus, Ed really wanted to see the ocean and the beach, so it was also a chance to visit Lido, another little island, and walk to the ocean.
The churches name was San Giorgio, and it was a beautiful little church. A monk took our money at the bottom of the lift, and we quickly zipped our way to the top. The views were amazing, and we even made it up just in time for the bell to ring at the top of the hour. A little noisy though!
We took another vaporatto to Lido island, then walked across the island to the ocean where there was a beach. After a little difficulty in finding the beach access point, we located it (and another gelato shop - had to stop for some of course!) and we stepped foot on the shore. Tim and Diana took off their shoes and wadded into the water to do some shell searching. Ed decided to use his ice cream spoon to do a little digging. Michelle decided to savor the gelato and the view while the rest were playing:)
On the way back to the vaporatto we decided that since we had a kitchen, we should do dinner in, that way we could have a relaxing evening and get to bed early. We picked up some pasta, sauce, salad and meat balls at a local grochery store. We used some of the extra bread and butter we had as well. Though not the best meal ever, it was fun to cook and to be in our own space.
Tim and Michelle tried calling Zander, but the connection was really choppy. It froze, and then after that we were not able to get back onto the internet. So Ed and Diana opted to go to bed. Tim and Michelle stayed up to watch a movie for a little while.
Last full day in Venice tomorrow. See you then!
Yesterday on our way out to Murano Diana had talked to a lady on the vaporatto who mentioned that there was a small island with a church on it, and you could take a lift to the top of the churches bell tower to get a great view of Venice. So, since we still had a few hours left on our passes, we decided to head out that way. Plus, Ed really wanted to see the ocean and the beach, so it was also a chance to visit Lido, another little island, and walk to the ocean.
The churches name was San Giorgio, and it was a beautiful little church. A monk took our money at the bottom of the lift, and we quickly zipped our way to the top. The views were amazing, and we even made it up just in time for the bell to ring at the top of the hour. A little noisy though!
We took another vaporatto to Lido island, then walked across the island to the ocean where there was a beach. After a little difficulty in finding the beach access point, we located it (and another gelato shop - had to stop for some of course!) and we stepped foot on the shore. Tim and Diana took off their shoes and wadded into the water to do some shell searching. Ed decided to use his ice cream spoon to do a little digging. Michelle decided to savor the gelato and the view while the rest were playing:)
On the way back to the vaporatto we decided that since we had a kitchen, we should do dinner in, that way we could have a relaxing evening and get to bed early. We picked up some pasta, sauce, salad and meat balls at a local grochery store. We used some of the extra bread and butter we had as well. Though not the best meal ever, it was fun to cook and to be in our own space.
Tim and Michelle tried calling Zander, but the connection was really choppy. It froze, and then after that we were not able to get back onto the internet. So Ed and Diana opted to go to bed. Tim and Michelle stayed up to watch a movie for a little while.
Last full day in Venice tomorrow. See you then!
Water, Murnano glass and a little good wine
Today was our first full day in Venice, and it felt nice to be in a new city and a fresh start, especially after the events of the night before. We took our time getting up and ready, making it to breakfast with more than enough time for the 8-10 window it was open.
Our impression of this hotel is already a little negative. Most of the places we have stayed so far have been on the good side. A few little quirks here and there, but nothing off-putting. At this hotel in Venice, it is hot, in fact the heater in Ed and Diana's room is on, and there is no nob to turn it off with. They must get mosquitos, because former guests have smushed them on the walls, and the cleaning staff has made no effort to remove them. And one of the ladies running the front desk in the afternoon is a little . . . unhelpful would be a polite way to put it. When asked how to call from one room to another, she was wrong the first 2 times she told us. When asked for a recommendation to a good restaurant, she responded with "I don't ever eat in Venice". When asked if she had heard of good restaurants here, she said "No". Needless to say, we found her a little useless.
We decided that since we had tickets for the vaporatto (water busses) for the next 48 hours, we might was well get our use out of them. So we hopped on one headed for Murano, the glass island. It was a slow water bus, taking us a full 45 minutes to get out there. But as we understand it, that is typical. Unless you want to take a taxi, there is no faster way. But it allowed Ed and Diana to continue resting, which was good.
Once there, we tried to find a place that would let you watch the glass blowing technique for free. One place wanted to charge 3 euros per person, which seemed excessive to us. So we found another place that charged 5 euros per family, which was better. And if you bought anything, they would take 5 euros off the price. The demonstration was short, but neat, and since we could not find anything we liked at that shop, we opted to continue on.
We walked along the main waterway and found a place to eat lunch. More pizza! This time one called quatro stazione, which means 4 stations. Litterally it is a pizza with artichoke, olives, ham and mushroom, but not mixed together on the pizza like you would find in the states. The are separated into 4 quarters, so one quarter is ham and cheese, another is mushroom and cheese and so on. It was a good pizza.
We walked around Murano a bit more, did some shopping and had an ice cream near one of the waterways. We left the island and took a 30 minute boat ride back to the mainland of Venice. We went to the hotel to rest a bit, and Tim and Michelle looked into dinner options.
We finally decided to have dinner at a local restaurant near the hotel that had a fixed price menu, where you have one flat price, and you order in courses, where you can have between 5-10 options per course. Tim also ordered a nice bottle of wine, Brunello di Montalcino, to go with the meal. When the wine arrived the waitress quickly showed him the front, then went to open it. Tim asked to see the front again, and discovered that instead of the 2004 (which was a very good year) in the wine list, she was opening a 2007 (which was ok, but had not aged as long). There was no mention to us that the bottle was different than advertised. Tim questioned her about it, and she asked the owner if they had anymore 2004 bottles. He said they didn't, so Tim asked to see the wine list again. Low and behold, 5 minutes later, a 2004 bottle appears. Shocking! It is a little frustrating that it seems to be the cultural norm to screw with tourists and give them less than what they pay for. We just don't see this kind of thing being ok in the states. To always be on your guard, it is exhausting . . .
The food overall was ok. Diana tried a fish, and it came to her with the head still on. It was one of those moments where you look at your food and you really don't know how to eat it, so you stare at it for a good long while. Then you just dive in. Michelle had a side of spinach that was really good. Other than that, the food was just ok.
Back at the hotel, Tim and Michelle checked on hotels for Lake Como, which was the next stop on the trip. None of the ones they were finding looked good for Ed and Diana, so we opted to stay in Venice for another 2 days. We found a good apartment which advertised having a washer as well, which is great because we are all getting to the end of our clothes. We booked it, and finally went to sleep around 1:30 am.
Our impression of this hotel is already a little negative. Most of the places we have stayed so far have been on the good side. A few little quirks here and there, but nothing off-putting. At this hotel in Venice, it is hot, in fact the heater in Ed and Diana's room is on, and there is no nob to turn it off with. They must get mosquitos, because former guests have smushed them on the walls, and the cleaning staff has made no effort to remove them. And one of the ladies running the front desk in the afternoon is a little . . . unhelpful would be a polite way to put it. When asked how to call from one room to another, she was wrong the first 2 times she told us. When asked for a recommendation to a good restaurant, she responded with "I don't ever eat in Venice". When asked if she had heard of good restaurants here, she said "No". Needless to say, we found her a little useless.
We decided that since we had tickets for the vaporatto (water busses) for the next 48 hours, we might was well get our use out of them. So we hopped on one headed for Murano, the glass island. It was a slow water bus, taking us a full 45 minutes to get out there. But as we understand it, that is typical. Unless you want to take a taxi, there is no faster way. But it allowed Ed and Diana to continue resting, which was good.
Once there, we tried to find a place that would let you watch the glass blowing technique for free. One place wanted to charge 3 euros per person, which seemed excessive to us. So we found another place that charged 5 euros per family, which was better. And if you bought anything, they would take 5 euros off the price. The demonstration was short, but neat, and since we could not find anything we liked at that shop, we opted to continue on.
We walked along the main waterway and found a place to eat lunch. More pizza! This time one called quatro stazione, which means 4 stations. Litterally it is a pizza with artichoke, olives, ham and mushroom, but not mixed together on the pizza like you would find in the states. The are separated into 4 quarters, so one quarter is ham and cheese, another is mushroom and cheese and so on. It was a good pizza.
We walked around Murano a bit more, did some shopping and had an ice cream near one of the waterways. We left the island and took a 30 minute boat ride back to the mainland of Venice. We went to the hotel to rest a bit, and Tim and Michelle looked into dinner options.
We finally decided to have dinner at a local restaurant near the hotel that had a fixed price menu, where you have one flat price, and you order in courses, where you can have between 5-10 options per course. Tim also ordered a nice bottle of wine, Brunello di Montalcino, to go with the meal. When the wine arrived the waitress quickly showed him the front, then went to open it. Tim asked to see the front again, and discovered that instead of the 2004 (which was a very good year) in the wine list, she was opening a 2007 (which was ok, but had not aged as long). There was no mention to us that the bottle was different than advertised. Tim questioned her about it, and she asked the owner if they had anymore 2004 bottles. He said they didn't, so Tim asked to see the wine list again. Low and behold, 5 minutes later, a 2004 bottle appears. Shocking! It is a little frustrating that it seems to be the cultural norm to screw with tourists and give them less than what they pay for. We just don't see this kind of thing being ok in the states. To always be on your guard, it is exhausting . . .
The food overall was ok. Diana tried a fish, and it came to her with the head still on. It was one of those moments where you look at your food and you really don't know how to eat it, so you stare at it for a good long while. Then you just dive in. Michelle had a side of spinach that was really good. Other than that, the food was just ok.
Back at the hotel, Tim and Michelle checked on hotels for Lake Como, which was the next stop on the trip. None of the ones they were finding looked good for Ed and Diana, so we opted to stay in Venice for another 2 days. We found a good apartment which advertised having a washer as well, which is great because we are all getting to the end of our clothes. We booked it, and finally went to sleep around 1:30 am.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
A day of training, ugh!
Today we awoke to an early am wake up call from Diana. Yeah, just like at home. :) We packed and dressed and met them for our final breakfast in Siena at our hotel. Then we were off to the Wednesday Central Market. Let's put it this way, imagine the biggest swap meet you have been to, then at least double it. And everyone and his mother was there. Little old Italian ladies are so cute walking down the street arm in arm, but get them in this market and they can push and shove with the best of them!
While we were there Michelle and Diana picked up a few shirts. Diana bought an apron and some cheese, and Michelle bought a new laundry basket for Zander. It is a pop up kind that has a chicken design on the top. Even Tim thought it was cute. Getting it home will be fun, but we think it will fit in one of our packs. Tim also picked up some olives, which look delicious.
By the end we were all a little exhausted and needed to rest our feet. We left the Central Market in search of food and found a little cafe that sold pizza. We intended to get 4 pieces, but somewhere in the translation we ended up with 6. Which ended up being fine as we needed some food for the train to go along with our olives.
After our market expedition we headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags and slowly make our way to the train station. Michelle and Tim's backpacks have already gained considerable weight. We figured out how to board the closest bus and which stop to get off on. When we got onto the bus, which was about the size of the shorter school busses, there were 3-4 people already there. At the first stop we added another 15 people. At the next stop, around 20, then 2-3 at the next two. So by the time we started leaving the city for the train station (which is a steep downhill slope) we were packed in tighter than sardines. Michelle was wedged up against at least 3 older gentleman, who all laughed at her facial expressions every time the bus jolted forward or to a stop. Once we reached the station, one of them looked at her and said "Sazione" with an empathetic expression, to which she replied "Si, Si Si" with a grateful face.
At the station, we booked our tickets for Venice, and found ourselves with about an hour to wait. We enjoyed the time with a bit of people watching, then determined that our train was already in the station, so we could board early and find some good seats. Unfortunetly, this particular train was running late, so we ended up sitting at the track with 20 of our closest friends who were in our compartment until we were almost 25 minutes late. And since our connecting train in Florence leaves 30 minutes after our train is supposed to arrive, we are guaranteed to miss that connection and need to rebook our tickets. We don't know what it is with planes and trains and making our connections but we just can't seem to do it. Grrrrrr!
So, it is official, we missed the connecting train. Both because our original train leaving Siena was late, but then also because the train broke down in Empoli. So we hopped off one train, then boarded the next train through Empoli. The only problem was, so did everyone else on our very full original train. And we all boarded a train that was already packed and about half of the original trains size. So yet again we were sandwiched tighter than sardines with about 100 of our closest friends. :) This time, for a longer period and with our packs on. Thankfully we were able to find a seat for Ed, which made the trip a little less painful.
Once in Florence we were able to visit the red ticket booth where missed trains are rescheduled. We arrived with just enough time to change the ticket, take a quick bathroom break and jump on. The nice thing is, this leg of our trip has reserved seating, so we were not stressed about finding our seats, only about getting our luggage in their very small overhead bins. Once settled we realized that we had three of the four seats in a shared seating area, and one seat was in an adjacent area. We were easily able to ask a young woman to switch seats with us, which she was gracious enough to do.
And we thought we were off and running at that point, having gone through one train delay and come out on the end only one hour behind. And then the real fun began. About an hour into our final train to Venice, there was a rapid announcement in Italian that had all of the people around us groaning and hitting their heads. We asked someone what happened, and they said there would be an hour or more delay, with no details given. We all looked at each other and rolled our eyes, score one more for the Italian train system! But what can we do? So we made the best of it. Michelle pulled out a book and bought a water on board, Ed and Diana began watching a movie on our Ipad and Tim took a nap. So all in all, instead of arriving at 6 pm, we arrived in Venice exhausted and starving at 9:30 pm. We found our hotel (finally) and by 11 we were out to grab a quick bite. Back in the rooms at 11:30 and off to bed. Tomorrow we will all be sleeping in a little. :)
So there you have it, we are safe and sound and in Venice for the next two days. See you tomorrow!
While we were there Michelle and Diana picked up a few shirts. Diana bought an apron and some cheese, and Michelle bought a new laundry basket for Zander. It is a pop up kind that has a chicken design on the top. Even Tim thought it was cute. Getting it home will be fun, but we think it will fit in one of our packs. Tim also picked up some olives, which look delicious.
By the end we were all a little exhausted and needed to rest our feet. We left the Central Market in search of food and found a little cafe that sold pizza. We intended to get 4 pieces, but somewhere in the translation we ended up with 6. Which ended up being fine as we needed some food for the train to go along with our olives.
After our market expedition we headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags and slowly make our way to the train station. Michelle and Tim's backpacks have already gained considerable weight. We figured out how to board the closest bus and which stop to get off on. When we got onto the bus, which was about the size of the shorter school busses, there were 3-4 people already there. At the first stop we added another 15 people. At the next stop, around 20, then 2-3 at the next two. So by the time we started leaving the city for the train station (which is a steep downhill slope) we were packed in tighter than sardines. Michelle was wedged up against at least 3 older gentleman, who all laughed at her facial expressions every time the bus jolted forward or to a stop. Once we reached the station, one of them looked at her and said "Sazione" with an empathetic expression, to which she replied "Si, Si Si" with a grateful face.
At the station, we booked our tickets for Venice, and found ourselves with about an hour to wait. We enjoyed the time with a bit of people watching, then determined that our train was already in the station, so we could board early and find some good seats. Unfortunetly, this particular train was running late, so we ended up sitting at the track with 20 of our closest friends who were in our compartment until we were almost 25 minutes late. And since our connecting train in Florence leaves 30 minutes after our train is supposed to arrive, we are guaranteed to miss that connection and need to rebook our tickets. We don't know what it is with planes and trains and making our connections but we just can't seem to do it. Grrrrrr!
So, it is official, we missed the connecting train. Both because our original train leaving Siena was late, but then also because the train broke down in Empoli. So we hopped off one train, then boarded the next train through Empoli. The only problem was, so did everyone else on our very full original train. And we all boarded a train that was already packed and about half of the original trains size. So yet again we were sandwiched tighter than sardines with about 100 of our closest friends. :) This time, for a longer period and with our packs on. Thankfully we were able to find a seat for Ed, which made the trip a little less painful.
Once in Florence we were able to visit the red ticket booth where missed trains are rescheduled. We arrived with just enough time to change the ticket, take a quick bathroom break and jump on. The nice thing is, this leg of our trip has reserved seating, so we were not stressed about finding our seats, only about getting our luggage in their very small overhead bins. Once settled we realized that we had three of the four seats in a shared seating area, and one seat was in an adjacent area. We were easily able to ask a young woman to switch seats with us, which she was gracious enough to do.
And we thought we were off and running at that point, having gone through one train delay and come out on the end only one hour behind. And then the real fun began. About an hour into our final train to Venice, there was a rapid announcement in Italian that had all of the people around us groaning and hitting their heads. We asked someone what happened, and they said there would be an hour or more delay, with no details given. We all looked at each other and rolled our eyes, score one more for the Italian train system! But what can we do? So we made the best of it. Michelle pulled out a book and bought a water on board, Ed and Diana began watching a movie on our Ipad and Tim took a nap. So all in all, instead of arriving at 6 pm, we arrived in Venice exhausted and starving at 9:30 pm. We found our hotel (finally) and by 11 we were out to grab a quick bite. Back in the rooms at 11:30 and off to bed. Tomorrow we will all be sleeping in a little. :)
So there you have it, we are safe and sound and in Venice for the next two days. See you tomorrow!
Scenic Siena. . . .
We slept in late on Tuesday (if you can call 8 am late) and had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Most of the hotel breakfasts in our previous trips were instant coffee and a packaged sweet roll. This trip we have been surprised to find milk, cereal, a variety of breads, jams, yogurts and coffee options including fresh made cappuccino. This breakfast was no different, and was a great way to start the day.
After breakfast we hit the road, looking for a leisurely walk to see what the town was all about. Siena is built on a hill, so even with a slower pace, it still involves a lot of uphills and downhills. We tried to find the soft slopes versus the stairs, as you can find some steep staircases here.
We did find a shop that specializes in kids toys, which was a fun one. There are so many things we would have liked to buy, but with limited space to pack it home, you really have to think carefully about what you want to cart around for 8 more days. Tim found a toy lance made of soft padding that he thought would be fun for Zander, and Diana found some things for the grandkids. The shop itself was fun to explore, as the Italians have very different toys than we do in the states. Not many things with lights and batteries, which I guess is a blessing and a curse depending on the child you have. :)
After the toy store we continued walking around town, this time in the direction of one of the old entrances to the city walls called Porta Romana. Seeing something so old, that has gone through different uses was fun. Diana and Michelle kept asking each other questions like "I wonder what that door was used for" and "Why did they have the holes all the way around". Maybe we should have been history majors, because questions like that fascinate us.
From the Porte we walked back to the main square of town and found the restaurant we ate at the night before. We continued to try different dishes, and after looking, we noticedthat we had tried almost everything on the menu. Michelle had a spaghetti with a boar shank sauce, Tim had a spicy pici pasta dish, Diana had the lasagna special again and Ed had the mushroom and spinach ravioli. They were all delicious, and it was soon determined that the ravioli and lasagna were the favorites of the group.
After lunch Ed and Diana went up to their room to rest, and Tim and Michelle went to visit a small bazar that was set up in a little square. Tim bought some sunglasses (to replace an earlier pair he left in Florence somewhere) and he shared a gelato with Michelle. They window shopped down a few streets and found a little ceramics store. It is a tradition now that they buy a tea cup from a town on each of their European vacations. Once inside, they saw the shop was staffed by an adorable little old Italian woman. With her limited English, our limited Italian, and a lot of hand gestures we managed a good conversation, all about the china, our families and our travel plans. Her name was Franca, and she even allowed us to take a picture with her.
After our visit to the china shop, we went on a hunt to find the meat and cheese shop we had seen on our first trip to Siena with Brandon (our nephew) and Duane (Tim's brother). We had a vague idea where it was, but were not too sure. After a bit of searching, we did manage to locate it. Though the same gentleman (the owner) who waited on us last time was not at the shop that day, we had a great experience with the man behind the counter. The last time we were there we had bought some hard cheese to take home. They wrapped it in paper and we were on our way. The only problem was, it was a stinky cheese, so it made all of our clothes smell! This time when we bought cheese, they made sure to shrink wrap it, so we won't be smelly for the rest of this trip! To which everyone around us applauds with joy. :)
When we returned to the hotel a few hours later, Ed and Diana were waiting in the hotel lobby. They were ready to go out on the town again, so we dropped our bags and made our way to visit the Duomo. On the way Tim and Diana went into the meat and cheese shop and Diana bought some cheese too. By the time they were finished, it was getting late, so we opted to do dinner and make it an early night.
Dinner was at the Ristorante Le Campane. This was a fancier place than we had been to the night before, and finding something on the menu was a little tricky. They had an English menu, but their foods were a little exotic for our tastes. Tim and Diana had the risotto, Michelle had something called pasta with Angelfish (she almost doesn't want to know what an Angelfish is, as it looked like a sardine) and Ed had the sea bass. We all thought the meal was just . . . ok.
After dinner we took the short walk to El Campo, the big open square in the heart of Siena and sat under the stars. We ate some of the cheese that Diana had bought and some of the meats from Tim and Michelle. We sauntered back to the hotel and said goodnight. Michelle and Tim spent a bit of time researching trains for the next days trip to Venice, and Michelle had a chance to skype with Susanne and see Zander. While talking with Susanne, she had the camera trained on Zander so that she could see him. And as she was watching, he got up on all fours, rocked himself back and forth and then took his first two crawling motions forward! He has always worked himself backwards in a slow belly scoot, never on his knees and never forward. She was glad to get to see that moment, even if it was from halfway around the world. Isn't technology great! We are sure that he will be off and running by the time we finally get home. :)
Well, that's all for today. Tomorrow we make our way to Venice, so pray for safe travels!
After breakfast we hit the road, looking for a leisurely walk to see what the town was all about. Siena is built on a hill, so even with a slower pace, it still involves a lot of uphills and downhills. We tried to find the soft slopes versus the stairs, as you can find some steep staircases here.
We did find a shop that specializes in kids toys, which was a fun one. There are so many things we would have liked to buy, but with limited space to pack it home, you really have to think carefully about what you want to cart around for 8 more days. Tim found a toy lance made of soft padding that he thought would be fun for Zander, and Diana found some things for the grandkids. The shop itself was fun to explore, as the Italians have very different toys than we do in the states. Not many things with lights and batteries, which I guess is a blessing and a curse depending on the child you have. :)
After the toy store we continued walking around town, this time in the direction of one of the old entrances to the city walls called Porta Romana. Seeing something so old, that has gone through different uses was fun. Diana and Michelle kept asking each other questions like "I wonder what that door was used for" and "Why did they have the holes all the way around". Maybe we should have been history majors, because questions like that fascinate us.
From the Porte we walked back to the main square of town and found the restaurant we ate at the night before. We continued to try different dishes, and after looking, we noticedthat we had tried almost everything on the menu. Michelle had a spaghetti with a boar shank sauce, Tim had a spicy pici pasta dish, Diana had the lasagna special again and Ed had the mushroom and spinach ravioli. They were all delicious, and it was soon determined that the ravioli and lasagna were the favorites of the group.
After lunch Ed and Diana went up to their room to rest, and Tim and Michelle went to visit a small bazar that was set up in a little square. Tim bought some sunglasses (to replace an earlier pair he left in Florence somewhere) and he shared a gelato with Michelle. They window shopped down a few streets and found a little ceramics store. It is a tradition now that they buy a tea cup from a town on each of their European vacations. Once inside, they saw the shop was staffed by an adorable little old Italian woman. With her limited English, our limited Italian, and a lot of hand gestures we managed a good conversation, all about the china, our families and our travel plans. Her name was Franca, and she even allowed us to take a picture with her.
After our visit to the china shop, we went on a hunt to find the meat and cheese shop we had seen on our first trip to Siena with Brandon (our nephew) and Duane (Tim's brother). We had a vague idea where it was, but were not too sure. After a bit of searching, we did manage to locate it. Though the same gentleman (the owner) who waited on us last time was not at the shop that day, we had a great experience with the man behind the counter. The last time we were there we had bought some hard cheese to take home. They wrapped it in paper and we were on our way. The only problem was, it was a stinky cheese, so it made all of our clothes smell! This time when we bought cheese, they made sure to shrink wrap it, so we won't be smelly for the rest of this trip! To which everyone around us applauds with joy. :)
When we returned to the hotel a few hours later, Ed and Diana were waiting in the hotel lobby. They were ready to go out on the town again, so we dropped our bags and made our way to visit the Duomo. On the way Tim and Diana went into the meat and cheese shop and Diana bought some cheese too. By the time they were finished, it was getting late, so we opted to do dinner and make it an early night.
Dinner was at the Ristorante Le Campane. This was a fancier place than we had been to the night before, and finding something on the menu was a little tricky. They had an English menu, but their foods were a little exotic for our tastes. Tim and Diana had the risotto, Michelle had something called pasta with Angelfish (she almost doesn't want to know what an Angelfish is, as it looked like a sardine) and Ed had the sea bass. We all thought the meal was just . . . ok.
After dinner we took the short walk to El Campo, the big open square in the heart of Siena and sat under the stars. We ate some of the cheese that Diana had bought and some of the meats from Tim and Michelle. We sauntered back to the hotel and said goodnight. Michelle and Tim spent a bit of time researching trains for the next days trip to Venice, and Michelle had a chance to skype with Susanne and see Zander. While talking with Susanne, she had the camera trained on Zander so that she could see him. And as she was watching, he got up on all fours, rocked himself back and forth and then took his first two crawling motions forward! He has always worked himself backwards in a slow belly scoot, never on his knees and never forward. She was glad to get to see that moment, even if it was from halfway around the world. Isn't technology great! We are sure that he will be off and running by the time we finally get home. :)
Well, that's all for today. Tomorrow we make our way to Venice, so pray for safe travels!
Ciao Firenze (Florence), off to Siena
Today (Monday) was our last day in Florence, and we are going to give you the abridged version of the events. :) We ate our last amazing breakfast at the hotel and headed over to the Santa Croce church. The church itself is amazing, and they also have a leather school attached to it which trains artisans in how to make leather goods. We thought this would be a good place to pick up a few things, but the prices were a little out of our comfort zone. Like $750 euros for a purse, over $1,000 euros for a jacket. The quality of the leather was amazing, but we just couldn't see paying that much for a luxury item.
After the church we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and visited the exterior of the Pitti Palace. There was no time to visit inside. We had lunch at a little cafe in front of the palace, nothing too spectacular. The one thing we are missing on this trip is mayonayse and mustard. We have had our fair share of sandwiches, but they are always so dry without any condiments. And it seems the Italians like it this way. What we woudn't give for a few little mustard packets!
After the Pitti palace we headed back to the hotel to gather our bags and see if we could call the credit card company to have a replacement card sent out. After about an hour on the phone, we were able to speak to a suprovisor who was able to make it happen. They were going to overnight it to our hotel in Venice. Fingers and toes crossed that it actually arrives! While Tim was on the phone working on that, Ed, Diana and Michelle had a lovely conversation with the hotel clerk named Alex. His English was excellent and he was very interested in learning about the partculars of American culture. It was a treat to be able to pick his brain on Italian culture as well.
With our bags we headed out to the San Lorenzo market. It is a huge market with 200+ vendors who have little roadside carts. Every night they pack it down and lock up their goods, some of them leaving their carts right there on the street. Others you can see hauling their carts back to their store front, sometimes blocks away. Tim bought some belts and ties and Diana and Michelle bought some gifts for the family. We had a divided approach. Ed and Michelle initially stayed with the bags so that Tim and Diana could shop, then once they were done Diana and Michelle went off and looked for their things. It kept us from all having to pack around 30+ lb packs in the middle of a crowded market.
After the market we were off on a train to Siena, a small little hill town closer to the western coast of Italy. The train station has changed drastically since the last time Tim and Michelle were there. They have added an entire underground path that takes you out of the train station, and under the main street in front of the train station to the underground bus terminal. Tim and Michelle were so turned around. After asking a local for bus information we headed on a very rocky bus ride to our hotel.
We arrive at the hotel, Albergo Cannon D' Oro and paid 240 Euros for two rooms for two nights, which is a steal. We love Booking.com, a website we use to book our rooms. They give great last minute deals, and have reviews from past guest that you can read before making a reservation. We checked into the rooms - Ed and Diana were on the ground floor, Tim and Michelle were on the 3rd floor. We asked for a recommendation of place to eat from Brian at the front desk and he said he eats at Ristorante Guidoriccio, which is just to the right of the parliament building in El Campo. This was the best recommendation for food we have received so far. It is set in an old wine cellar, which makes the ambiance spectacular. Michelle had the rissoto, Diana had the lasagna special, Ed had the steak, and Tim had the gnocchi bolognase. For dessert, Diana had the lemon cupcakes, Michelle had the panecota (a close cousin to creme brulee), Ed had some assorted Tuscan cookies and Tin had a chocolate cupcake with liquor on top.
Fully stuffed to the gills, we went back to room and tried calling Zander. He was napping, which was a bummer, but I am grateful that we are able to talk to him at all during our trip.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Wallets, bikes and . . . ah crap our credit card!
As we checked in last night we learned that there would be a time change the following morning, with us loosing an hour. Yes, not only did we go through our own time change in the states, and struggle through jet lag for 2-3 days, we now have another time change. This caused us to wake up a little later than usual.
We finally got through to find out that someone had double swiped our card, i.e. we paid for a purchase using the card, they took our card back and swiped once to pay for our purchase, then a second time in a second machine to gather the information on our card. They then swiped a second blank card to store our information on, and used that card at various places in Rome to make almost $6,000 worth of purchases. Yeah us! As if we had not already had enough drama, now we needed to deal with this. It was easy to dispute the charges as we were in Florence by the time they were made, but was a pain to have to waste time getting it sorted out.
As we left the hotel, we bumped into an outdoor antique market that had been set up overnight right outside of our door. There were 3 blocks of wall to wall vendors, with a lot of different things for sale. We spent about 2 hours slowly cruising up and down the aisles trying to see if there were any good finds that we would be willing to pack back to the US. If Michelle lived in Florence, she would have bought much of the furniture there. As it was, she was seriously thinking about trying to get a set of 6 Danish looking chairs into her luggage. :)
We meandered our way to the train station and caught a train to Pisa. Once there, we walked to the monument, all the while experiencing off and on showers. So for people who bring 2 unbrellas, 4 rain ponchos and 4 rain jackets, we were woefully unprepared. As in we had none of that. But we did have the ability to stand in doorways until the rain subsided and lucky for us, it was off and on showers. After the tower, we stopped for pizza at a local cafe. While we were there a man came in to use the phone. He had just been pick pocketed, and needed to call the police. It added a little drama to the afternoon, and we were glad, for once, that it was not our drama! We were hoping to hit the beach too, but by the time we finished with the Leaning Tower, we were all exhausted and decided to head home.
Once back in Florence we had kababs again for dinner (what can we say, they are delicious!) did some laundry, made a facetime call to Zander and fell asleep. Tim and Michelle are convinced that the homesickness has been kept at bay because we are still able to see Zander each day through facetime. We can also get pictures and short videos of him from Tim's sister Susanne (thanks Q!).
What would we all do without modern technology! More updates to come on our most recent days, stay tuned!
Daylight savings time strikes again!
As we checked in last night we learned that there would be a time change the following moring, with us loosing an hour. Yes, not only did we go through our own time change in the states, and struggle through jet lag for 2-3 days, we now have another time change. This caused us to wake up a little later than usual.
We also had the very nice surpise of an e-mail the night before from one of the main credit cards we are using while here saying there was some supicious activity on our card. We had tough time trying to get a collect call into our credit card, so we had Tim's sister try to call and determine what the problem was. She was not allowed any information, but was told that it could be an issue that the card company just didn't know we were traveling. Tim was certain that he had called and let them know of our plans.
We finally got through to find out that someone had double swiped our card, i.e. we paid for a purchase using the card, they took our card back and swiped once to pay for our purchase, then a second time in a second machine to gather the information on our card. They then swiped a second blank card to store our information on, and used that card at various places in Rome to make almost $6,000 worth of purchases. Yeah us! As if we had not already had enough drama, now we needed to deal with this. It was easy to dispute the charges as we were in Florence by the time they were made, but was a pain to have to waste time getting it sorted out.
As we left the hotel, we bumped into an outdoor antique market that had been set up overnight right outside of our door. There were 3 blocks of wall to wall vendors, with a lot of different things for sale. We spent about 2 hours slowly cruising up and down the aisles trying to see if there were any good finds that we would be willing to pack back to the US. If Michelle lived in Florence, she would have bought much of the furniture there. As it was, she was seriously thinking about trying to get a set of 6 Danish looking chairs into her luggage. :)
We meandered our way to the train station and caught a train to Pisa. Once there, we walked to the monument, all the while experiencing off and on showers. So for people who bring 2 unbrellas, 4 rain ponchos and 4 rain jackets, we were woefully unprepared. As in we had none of that. But we did have the ability to stand in doorways until the rain subsided and lucky for us, it was off and on showers. After the tower, we stopped for pizza at a local cafe. While we were there a man came in to use the phone. He had just been pick pocketed, and needed to call the police. It added a little drama to the afternoon, and we were glad, for once, that it was not our drama! We were hoping to hit the beach too, but by the time we finished with the Leaning Tower, we were all exhausted and decided to head home.
On the train back to Florence we were in a compartment (the last one on the train) with a couple who had obviously just finished with a long bike ride. They were the serious riders, with the fancy pants and shirts. Their bikes were road bikes, and obviously not cheap. They put their bikes on the bike racks on the train, then went past the handicapped compartment and took a seat in our compartment. During the train ride a gypsy woman came by begging for change. She then hid in the handicapped bathroom. We knew she was there because she had not come back through our cabin yet and the handicapped bathroom door was locked. The next thing we know, as the train is stopped, the woman biker is screaming at the man, and running off of the train. He jumps up, runs off the train, then back on the train, grabs his bike and takes off riding in one direction while she goes running down the platform in the other direction. It turns out, her bike was stolen, and she just realized it at that stop. She thought someone took her bike and was trying to find them. While they are both running down the track searching, the train pulls away. A few stops later, Tim figured out what happened. The gypsy took the woman's bike and went into the handicapped bathroom with it to hide. The woman biker realized her bike was gone, she and the man got off of the train in search of it. The train then pulls away. At the next stop, the gypsy got off of the train with the bike and road in the opposite direction of the train, so no one on the train would see her leave with it. Pretty smart, and made us realize that, yet again, you should never be separated from your belongings and should always be on your guard.
Once back in Florence we had kababs again for dinner (what can we say, they are delicious!) did some laundry, made a facetime call to Zander and fell asleep. Tim and Michelle are convinced that the homesickness has been kept at bay because we are still able to see Zander each day through facetime. We can also get pictures and short videos of him from Tim's sister Susanne (thanks Q!).
What would we all do without modern technology! More updates to come on our most recent days, stay tuned!
Mama Gina's, Mama Gina's and we wish more Mama Gina's
Ok, so we have a bit of catching up to do! Know that we are alive, well, and having so much fun (and so many late nights!) that we have not kept up on the blog as we should have. Sorry for that. Today is a down-time day, so we should be able to catch you up on the adventures of the last three days.
Last we left off we were headed to Mama Gina's for dinner. Ed decided to stay and rest in the room, so we made him some chicken noodle soup from some packets we brought, plugged him into the only English channel we got on the tv (yeah BBC news!) and headed out. We started with some appetizers of bruschetta and pate which were recommended. They were . . . ok. Tim had a steak with cream and green pepper sauce, Michelle had a chicken with cognac and mushroom sauce, and Diana had the chicken Mama Gina. We also had the white (canallini) beans, some wine and 3 different desserts. Yeah, we were a little hungry. We all loved our main meals, the sides and white beans were just ok. After dinner we took a long hike home, zig zagging around town. We want to say that it was because we intended to take a long walk home, but there may have been a little bit of wine involved in the navigation. :)
The next morning we were off to the Academia. Ed decided to stay and rest again, so he missed this museum. The Academia is a little museum, but its prized possession is Michaelangelo's statue of David. You can see pictures of it all of your life, but there is something about seeing the massive sculpture in person that just takes your breath away. Michelle also likes the unfinished sculptures that are also on display from Michaelangelo. You can see the creative process at work here as these figures seem to rise up out of the marble, but never quite escape. Plus, most other sculpters did cermaic models of their work and then copied from there. Michaelangelo (they say) is one of the only ones who worked directly on the marble, no pre-work done. Which is just astounding.
After the Academia we did some shopping, and met a woman in a wine and olive oil shop who was from Chicago. We got to chatting with her, and ended up buying some olive oil, basalmic vinagrette and some local spice mixtures. Afterwards we went and picked up Ed, and slowly made our way to the Ufuzzi gallery. The Ufuzzi is a large horseshoe shapped gallery full of all kinds of paintings and sculptures. Unfortunately, the rooms that Michelle was most interested in (where there are a number of large sculptures) was closed for restoration. But overall it was fun to take the Rick Steves tour version and hear about the history of many of the works.
After the gallery we walked around and did some shopping, ate a late lunch of kababs, and went back to the room. Ed decided to stay home and relax with another bowl of soup, the rest of us headed back to . . . wait for it . . . Mama Gina's! For appetisers we had an avocado and shrimp with thousand island dressing dish, and a dish with raw artichoke with olive oil and slices of paremsean cheese. We have to say, the avocado/shrimp dish was interesting, we could have done without the raw artichokes. :) But, life is an adventure, right, you try new things and the worst thing that happens is that you don't like it. Tim had the steak again, Michelle had the chicken again (what was that we just said about trying new things?), and Diana tried chicken tuscany style with fried zuchinni. This basically meant fried chicken and zuchini fries. We also had fried artichoke as a side with dinner. Dessert was for Michelle, and was a traditional tiramisou. Overall, another wonderful meal!
We walked back from the hotel, this time in more of a straight line than last night, and took a moment at the Arno river for pictures. While there, we met a couple from New York who were having dinner with their friend from Texas. The woman from Texas was there for a semester as a student. It was fun to meet some random people and share a laugh and travel tips in such a beautiful location.
A short walk brought us home and to bed. All in all, a good day!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Photo Bomber strikes again and again
First appearing in Rome a couple of days ago, the Photo Bomber has been striking tourist cameras throughout Florence. The typical motis operandi of the Photo Bomber is to appear like an unsuspecting tourist gasping at the wonders of the city as she strategically maneuvers between the photographer and their subject. The Photo Bomber likes to display a shocked expression as she attempts to fill the viewfinder of the photographer, but with the number of instances authorities believe that this is just a rouse to prevent a confrontation. This reporter has been unable to catch the Photo Bomber in action, but when possible a picture of the subject will be posted to warn others of her presence. Luckily, in this digital age the damage caused by the Photo Bomber is usually quickly erased with a push of the delete button.
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