Italy: Day XII (Venice)

Saturday, July 30^th:

Venetian Canals:

            Today was our second day in Venice and we got to really dive into the sites and beauty of the city. Venice is very small—tourists probably only need a day or two to see all that they really want to see there, however it is remarkably charming and captures your attention at every turn if you sit back and really take it all in. For breakfast I went to an outdoor café and had a chicken salad Panini with a Cappuccino. I am really getting used to these Italian cappuccinos! I waited for Max to show up from getting a straight-razor shave recommended to him by a barista near our hotel, and we walked over to Basilica San Marco.

The Interior of St. Mark's Basilica:

            The lines were not too bad when we got to the basilica, so we went inside to explore all its splendor. It is said that Saint Mark’s Basilica is a smaller version of what the Hagia Sofia would look like if all its original mosaics were intact. Having been to the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, Turkey, this really intrigued me. The entire inside of St. Mark’s Basilica is covered in gold tile mosaics. There is literally not a single place not covered in gold inside this church. There is a reason it has been nicknamed the “Church of Gold” since its completion in the eleventh century. The church also supposedly houses the remains of St. Mark himself, however there is debate over whether his body had been removed and relocated, or whether the remains were in fact those of Alexander the Great instead of St. Mark. His tomb lies beneath the altar and alongside a beautiful work of Byzantine craftsmanship, the Pala D’Oro, decorated with gold and almost two thousand pieces of priceless jewelry.

The Original Quadriga of St. Mark:

            After walking around the cathedral we went into the treasury to see more priceless artifacts, including the four horses of St. Mark which adorned the front of the cathedral for seven centuries beginning in the 13^th century. We also got to take in some views of Piazza San Marco from the cathedral balconies and check out the incredible marble work on the exterior of the church. We soon exited the beautiful church and walked over to the adjacent Doge’s Palace, or Palazzo Ducale.

The Inner Courtyard of the Doge's Palace:

            The Doge’s Palace was the seat of the supreme power of the Republic of Venice for almost a millennium. The palace was built in the ninth century and renovated countless times, and is now a museum and one of the top tourist destinations in the city. The gothic exterior façade and lavish interior courtyard are wonderful architectural achievements and a great way to spend the afternoon admiring. There are also countless artifacts and paintings of all the Doges of Venice. There is also a vast collection of Veronese and Tintoretto works inside the palace. The biggest painting in the Doge’s Palace is a fresco called “Il Paradiso” that covers an entire wall of the biggest room in the palace, however it has been damaged significantly by fire.

The Bridge of Sighs:

The palace also sits on top of the Doge’s prisons, and visitors can walk through them and across the famous Bridge of Sighs, or Ponte dei Sospiri. During the time of the Venetian Republic, as prisoners were being escorted from their cell to be executed, they passed over this covered stone bridge and were offered one last view of the Venetian lagoon outside. The name then comes from the sigh uttered by prisoners as they realized they would never again take in such beauty. A bit depressing, but an amazing story and site no less. Unfortunately, today, the bridge is nearly entirely covered by corporate billboards and advertisements. Both tourists and Venetian locals lament this trend, but it continues across the city.

Harry's Bar:

After visiting the palace, Max and I decided to find some food and drinks. We tried to go into the world-famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, a Hemingway staple, but were not allowed in because we were wearing shorts. We decided to go eat lunch and come back later to get some drinks there. We wandered around and found a delicious Tapas-style restaurant called Cantina do Mori where we ate basically everything they offered, mostly seafood, before grabbing some beers and wandering again. I think this time we did manage to get lost, but we were trying to and really didn’t care. We ate some fresh fruit sold off of floating fruit vendors and wandered for hours beer-in-hand. We got hungry again eventually, and settled on a spot called Osteria Toni where we ate Caprese Salad, Spaghetti Bolognese (again!), Swordfish, some local white wine, and some Limoncello for dessert. It was tasty, but unfortunately there was a piece of glass randomly in my pasta, so I was given a free entrée!

The Santa Maria Salute Church at Night:

We grabbed some pants and wandered around the south side of the city until night-fall. It was very cool seeing some of the famous landmarks, palazzos, churches, and piazzas all lit up at night on that part of the city. We did get to go back to Harry’s Bar, and try a couple of their world-famous drinks. Harry’s Bar invented the Bellini, which is Prosecco and Peach Puree in a cocktail. We tried one of those, along with the Montgomery Martini. The Montgomery Martini is named for British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, who preferred a fifteen-to-one troop ratio going into battle, thus the  martini is a fifteen-to-one ratio of gin to vermouth. Extremely dry! Also very expensive. Incredibly, the bar also invented the Carpaccio style of food. Pretty crazy place…

Lightning over the Rialto Bridge:

After a few drinks emptied our pockets at Harry’s Bar, we headed back to the hotel to do what we did the night before—enjoy some beers and use the WiFi while sitting alongside the Grand Canal. We did get to experience a pretty incredible wave of thunderstorms that came through, offering some awesome lighting to the beautiful facades of the buildings. I could live in this place in a heartbeat.

Italy: Day XI (Florence, Venice)

Friday, July 29^th:

The Grand Canal of Venice:

            Venice is an absolutely wonderful and beautiful place, but before I get to that, I will go through the day. We woke up pretty late in Florence after a long night, but spent some time in the San Lorenzo leather market picking up some Christmas gifts. It is a pretty unique place and is filled with tiny leather shop stands and all the different Fiorentian leather in every color you could ever have wanted. I wished that we had a little time to explore the San Lorenzo church which houses the tombs of the Medici family, but we had to catch our train and head off to Venice! The train was pretty quick, and before long we were crossing the only transportation bridge onto the island of Venezia.

Gondolas on a Venetian Canal:

            My first thought on Venice was “Why would anyone ever come up with the idea to replace roads with waterways and build a floating city?!” but I am glad that they did. The city is often very crowded, but with all the wandering side streets and walkways, it is easy to get yourself lost. Lost is all relative, however, as the city is merely a mile long island. We thought about taking a water-taxi to our hotel, but declined due to the high expense, and instead walked almost forty minutes over countless stepped canal bridges with our luggage before finally arriving. Our spot for the next three nights is the Hotel Marconi, in an amazing location right next to the Ponte Rialto and the Grand Canal of Venice!

St. Mark's Square, St. Mark's Basilica, and the Campanile:

            The rest of the day was pretty leisurely. We checked out some of the famous glass shops of Venice, explored the various fish markets, ate some Salami Pizza Rolls, and wandered over to St. Mark’s Square to get our bearings. Piazza San Marco is the center of Venice for tourists, and sits next to the beautiful Basilica San Marco. We decided to save that for later days, and instead went up to the top of the Campanile that overlooks the square to get some views of the city. The elevator whisked us to the top and we finally realized just how beautiful this city really was. Every direction we looked we were afforded with birds-eye views of the hundreds of churches and apartments, all in Renaissance style, seemingly all on top of one another. Gorgeous!

Views from the Top of the Campanile:

            We also noticed while we were up there that a concert was being organized in the square below, and they were performing a sound test. After listening for a little bit, we realized it was Sting from the Police! We snapped a few photos of him before heading back towards the hotel and trying to get lost. We eventually got hungry and stumbled upon an amazing little hole in the wall restaurant called Antica Trattoria Poste Vecie. I went all out here, and ordered Sauteed Clams and Mussels, Spaghetti with Cuttlefish Ink, Cuttlefish Venetian Style with Palenta, and a bottle of Sereole Soave local white wine. What a feast! Venetian style pasta is pasta covered in Cuttlefish ink, and it is phenomenal.

The Entrance to Antica Trattoria Poste Vecie:

            After dinner we enjoyed some post-dinner beers at a tiny café-bar right on the Grand Canal called Birreria Rivo Alto where we were served right next to the canal itself. What an amazing spot to sit back and relax and enjoy the weather. We wandered over back to San Marco to enjoy a bit of the Sting concert before heading back to our hotel. Luckily our hotel had a table set up outdoors that still was in range of the WiFi, so Max and I spent the night surfing the web in possibly the coolest place imaginable, right alongside the world famous Grand Canal. Unbelievable.

A Gondolier at Night:

Italy: Day X (Florence)

Thursday, July 28^th:

The Duomo:

            Today Max and I decided to really take in the glory that is Italian Renaissance art. The weather was finally beautiful today so we spent the first part of the day walking around the southern part of Florence where we had not previously visited. We spent time in another major site in the city, Piazza Della Republica and the adjacent Piazza Della Signoria. These piazzas are great meeting places and are filled with restaurants, a few carnival-style rides, and marble statues. One of the “fake” David statues remains here, as this was the original location of Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Piazza Della Signoria is also overlooked by the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio, which we did not visit in favor of the neighboring Uffizi Museum.

Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi Museum, and Piazza Della Signoria:

            The Uffizi Museum is one of the oldest and most recognized art museums known to the western world. The museum is quite large and daunting, and houses artwork collected mostly by the Medici family when they ruled Florence and Tuscany. With works from Botticelli, da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt, this museum could be confused with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode; is an art lover’s dream. Max and I spent hours wandering around the halls, and my favorite painting had to be Botticelli’s Birth of Venus known across the world. We had a coffee at a café on the roof of the museum before wandering across the Ponte Vecchio to the Medici Palace known as Palazzo Pitti.

Palazzo Pitti:

            We stopped and had lunch at an unnamed café near the Ponte Vecchio first. I had a Caprese salad and Parmesan Risotto with cold beef for a quick meal before we were again on our way. The Palazzo Pitti stands as the most massive building across the Arno in Florence. The palace stood as one of the main homes for the powerful banking family known as the Medici. The Medici produced four popes, and managed to hold power over Tuscany and a vast portion of Italy from the late 14^th century until 1737. The palace is rather large and impressive, and also holds the family’s private art collection. Must be nice to wake up and get dressed next to your own personal Raphael portrait…

The Duomo from Piazza Michelangelo:

            Following our palace visit, we walked over to the famous Piazza Michelangelo which overlooks the entire city of Florence. Many of you have probably seen this spot in pictures of friend’s travels, as it truly is the most spectacular sight in the city. There is also one of the “fake” David statues, made of bronze, in the center of this piazza. We spent a while admiring the city and the Tuscan landscape that stretched in all directions before heading back towards the hotel for a bit of rest and to get ready for dinner.

Myself at Piazza Michelangelo:

            For dinner, we made our way across the Arno again to a place called Trattoria Sabatino. This restaurant was unique as it was basically a large family kitchen and they cooked whatever they felt like for that day! We talked to a few British guys while we ate a form of Gnocchi with potatoes, and salami, as well as Tuscan Roast Beef in a light garlic gravy sauce and drank a few Italian beers. After dinner we met up with our friend Drew Morgan from Rome near the Santa Maria Novella church but not before having a hilarious and bizarre interaction with a drunken Italian fellow who was trying to make some new friends. We headed to the Birrificio Artigianale Mostodolce pub from the night before where we sampled just about everything they have to offer. We also got into a hilarious argument with a Canadian traveler regarding the treatment of Native Americans/Canadians. Weird what you can get yourself into! Tomorrow we will hang out in Florence for a bit before heading to the floating city of Venice!

Italy: Day IX (Florence)

Wednesday, July 27^th:

The Duomo of Florence:

            Wow! Today was another epic day, this time exploring the center of the Italian Renaissance that is Florence, Italy. With tons of sightseeing to do with little time, we woke up fairly early and skipped breakfast to get out the door. The weather was a little iffy this morning, but we walked over to the Santa Maria Novella church right near our hostel and explored inside the first of the many noteworthy churches in Firenze. On the outside, facing the train station, is a large bell tower and yellow bricks in interesting architecture. Walking around to the front, visitors are greeted with the massive marble façade that makes the other side seem very lackluster. Inside, the church is filled with Christian frescoes from the 14^th and 15^th centuries covering seemingly every single wall and ceiling nook. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but we were able to inside more churches later in the day.

The Facade and Bell Tower of the Santa Maria Novella Church:

            Next we made our way over to the Duomo, the massive church that stands as the city center. The piazza surrounding the Duomo is always packed with tourists, and there was a long line to do nearly everything touristy in that area. Giotto’s Bell Tower stands next to the Duomo and its baptistery and visitors can climb to the top of it if they please. The baptistery also has some of the most beautiful doors I have ever seen, cast in gold and bronze, depicting major events in the history of Christianity and its founders. We headed inside the Duomo first, as it was the only location without a line at the time. Inside the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, as the Duomo is really called, the church is one of the biggest I have ever seen. Brilliant marble work on the floors immediately catches the eye, as do the enormous stained glass windows in all directions. The massive dome that gives the cathedral its name is also painted on the inside. It is a lesser known version of the Last Judgment of Sistine Chapel fame, however the scale and detail is just as incredible. We wandered around the sacred halls before grabbing some Lasagna and Proscuitto and Melon and waiting in the long line to go to the top of the dome.

Florence, and the San Lorenzo Church from Atop the Duomo:

            We waited for what seemed like two hours in line, in the rain, before finally getting to climb the dome. What a workout! Four hundred and sixty-three steps later we finally took in the view from the highest spot in Florence. Although it was a foggy and rainy day, we could still see all of Florence’s beauty in every direction. It seems as though the city has not changed since its height in the Italian Renaissance. Beautiful colors and tile rooftops stretch in all directions, and immaculate churches sprouted up every few blocks. We took in the scenery (and rest) for about a half hour before making our way back down to head to the next church, the Santa Croce church.

Santa Croce Church:

            Santa Croce was being worked on while we were there, so we did not get to see the main altar in its usual beauty, but the church offers tons of frescoes and sculptures all over anyways. We got to see some works by Donatello and Raphael before heading to the back of the nave where the church’s history has been cemented. In a row are the final resting places of Galileo, Michelangelo, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Dante Alighieri. Talk about an impressive lineup! Michelangelo even designed his own tomb before he passed away. It is pretty impressive to stand and admire the tombs of four of the most influential men in the history of Italy and the world.

The Tomb of Galileo Galilei:

            As the rain finally lifted we made our way over to the Ponte Vecchio. As the story goes, Hitler destroyed every bridge in the city of Florence during World War II, but refused to bomb the Ponte Vecchio as it was just too beautiful. It just may be one of the most photographed bridges in the world, as tiny shops line both sides of the bridge as it crosses the Arno River. We took some photos and wandered around the shops before walking back across the whole city to reach the Galleria dell’ Academia before it closed.

The Ponte Vecchio Bridge:

            The Galleria dell’ Academia is one of the major art museums in Florence, and more importantly, home of Michelangelo’s David. The David is one of the most recognizable and famous sculptures in the world, and it stands tall over its visitors and the other artwork in the museum. As we were on a bit of a speed run, I did not take in much of the other art in the museum, but did manage to snap some sneaky pictures of the David under the eyes of the security guards before the museum closed. Another funny note, there are three David sculptures in the city of Florence, but only one (this one) is the real famous one.

Michelangelo's David:

            For dinner we found an awesome pizzeria called La Divina Osteria. I ate some Bruschetta, Fiorentino Pizza with salami and roasted peppers on it, and enjoyed some Vernaccia di San Gimignano white wine from the nearby city of San Gimignano. We spent a lot of time at this beautiful restaurant…I believe Bertuccis is perpetually failing at trying to look like this place. We also managed to find an awesome brewery pub called Birrificio Artigianale Mostodolce where we drank a bunch of local brewed beer before heading back to sleep. We vowed that we would return to the brewery the next night, but for tonight we were wiped and ready to sightsee some more tomorrow.

The Last Judgement Inside the Duomo:

Italy: Day IIX (Positano, Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Florence)

Tuesday, July 26^th:

The Beach at Positano:

            We woke up this morning to one of the most beautiful seaside places I have ever seen. Positano really is just that gorgeous. All the eye can see is cliffs, beautiful blue ocean, and colorful houses built into the hillside. Max and I had breakfast at the hotel before venturing down towards the beach at the bottom of Positano. All of the roads, save for the one main winding one-way road, are not actually roads but tiny, steep staircases. We made our way slowly down to the beach, and explored the shops in the area. We also stepped inside the one main, colorful church in Positano called Santa Maria Assunta.

Positano and the Church of Santa Maria Assunta:

We hung out at the beach for a little bit before deciding to hike up the stairs (quite the workout, seriously) back to our mopeds to cruise the Amalfi Coast road. The road winds along dramatic cliffs for twenty miles from Sorrento to Amalfi and Ravello. We had an afternoon train to catch all the way back in Napoli, but we spent the rest of the morning and midday cruising along the road through tunnels and around the massive and scary buses. Each tiny city looked like a little rainbow gem stuck into the coastal cliffs! We got a pretty good handle of the mopeds too which allowed us to fly around the tight corners going much faster than cars are able to. We got almost to Amalfi before turning around and heading back to Sorrento. In Sorrento we returned the mopeds, gathered our stuff from the hostel, and headed back on the Circumvesuviana train to Napoli where we ate some pizza for lunch and waited for our train to Florence!

Positano, the Amalfi Coast, and the San Gennaro Church in Praiano:

We arrived in Florence pretty late at night, but checked into our hostel called the Luna Rossa, and headed to dinner. We were recommended to go to Il Contadino by our hostel host, and it was definitely not a let-down! I ate Fettuccine Bolognese with Mushrooms and Black Olives with a salad and some Roasted Rabbit. We also drank some local red wine and finished our meals off with a cappuccino (I am really getting used to this). After dinner we wandered around the center of the city, the massive Duomo cathedral, before meeting up with Max’s friend Pat and his friends from their study abroad program. We got drinks with them before heading to a club called Astor and partying through the night. We also hit a couple other nameless techno clubs in Florence through the night (I think one of them was called Twice?), and headed to bed in the wee hours of the night. The club scene in Florence is very interesting because it is very American (see Jersey Shore…), but it was a welcome night after interacting with lots of foreigners. Tomorrow we will start our sightseeing!

Italy: Day VII (Sorrento, Capri, Positano)

Monday, July 25th:

A Capri Lighthouse:

            Today was an incredible whirlwind of sightseeing in one of the most beautiful areas of the world. We woke up early for breakfast in the hostel before heading down to the Sorrento marina to meet our Capri tour guide, Andrea (a man!). He was a very funny guy and him and his friend Sebastian led us on their Ribcraft boats out to Capri. We also met a group of girls from Taos, New Mexico who were also on our tour boat. We spent most of the morning on the boat as we made the trek from Sorrento to the ridiculously stunning island of Capri. The entire island is surrounded by cliffs and grottos and crazy rock formations. We did some swimming in the water, which was surprisingly cold for midsummer in Italy, and did a trip on the boat around the island to see all of the famous grottos. We also got to pass through the really cool "Gates of Capri" rock formation. Unfortunately, we were not able to see the famed Blue Grotto as the water was too rough to allow our boat to enter the tiny entrance tunnel. I suppose I have to save some things for future trips!

The Gates of Capri:

            We had lunch next to a beach near the only part of Capri that does not have cliffs down to the water before going on the island to explore. Visitors must take a funicular elevator from the port up to the top of the island! Most of the island is tiny streets, narrow staircases, small villas, and shops. Max and I did not feel like doing a lot of shopping, so we grabbed a bottle of Limoncella and relaxed on top of the cliffs offering spectacular views. We got some pizza while we were up there as well before heading back down to the boat to ride back to Sorrento. The entire trip took about ten hours, but it was totally worth it and Capri is truly an awesome place.

The Port of Capri and Anacapri:

            The fun does not stop here, however, as Max and I decided to leave our luggage in our hostel overnight and rent motor scooters to ride the Amalfi Coast Road to Positano for the night! These things are a little scary at first, but once we got the hang of them we were flying around the hairpin turns of the cliff-top road to Positano. This is one of the prettiest roads I have ever driven on, but it can be quite frightening to see a massive cliff drop down to the ocean on the other side of each guardrail. After about a half-hour we got to Positano.

The Amalfi Coast Road at Sunset:

            Positano is a honeymoon spot for sure. The entire town is built into the side of a massive cliff, and there is only a single one-way road winding through the whole town. Naturally, Max and I passed our hotel twice, and had to wind all the way back down and up to the top again each time. We finally found the Hotel Montemare, checked in, and walked up the road to find some dinner. At night, all of Positano is lit up with very romantic dimly-lit lights and music is always playing faintly. I think I will return here later in life with my wife or girlfriend for sure! We found an awesome place called Ristorante Saraceno D'Oro where I had some Bruschetta, Ravioli stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach with a Mushroom sauce, and Veal with Mushrooms. We both also drank some local white wine, and Max joked that the elderly woman hostess should come home with him to cook for him for the rest of his life! Such is Italy. We finished our dinner and hit the hay early after a really, really long day. Tomorrow we are off to Florence!

Positano:

Italy: Day VI (Sorrento, Pompeii)

Sunday, July 24th:

The Temple of Apollo at Pompeii, in the Shadow of Mt. Vesuvius:

            Today was yet another awesome day on the trip. Unfortunately, the wind and seas were too high so we were not able to go to Capri this morning. Instead, we are signed up for the same trip tomorrow. We ate breakfast at the hostel before I decided that I was going to take the Circumvesuviana train up to Pompeii. Max wanted to stay at the hostel to read and rest as he had already been to Pompeii, so I made the trip alone. I got out at the Pompeii train stop, ate a Panini and some fresh orange juice, and went inside the enormous excavation.

The Isis Temple at Pompeii:

Ruins and Mt. Vesuvius:

            I was told that I should take a guide, or at least an audioguide, but I decided to go it alone anyways. The site is very, very large and can be confusing, as all of the streets are tiny and winding, so it is easy to get lost. I spent hours wandering around the old temples and forums of the city. It is absolutely amazing how life just completely stopped in the year 79 AD from the Vesuvius eruption. The city was completely preserved, and visitors can even see a few people and animals who were preserved by the ash upon their untimely deaths.

A Petrified Body of a Pompeii Citizen (AD79):

            One of my favorite parts of the day was checking out the ancient Roman brothel in Pompeii. It was very unusual and humorous because each room had fresco paintings of the services that the women could provide, as not all customers could speak the same language! I must have spent over four hours wandering around the ancient streets before heading back to meet up with Max back at the hotel.

Brothel Advertisement Frescoes in Pompeii:

            We had some time to kill before dinner, so we decided to borrow a soccer ball and play around with some local kids at a turf soccer field right by our hotel. We had a great time booting it around and getting shown up by kids half our age before working up a big enough appetite to get some dinner. We walked across down to the cliffs overlooking Sorrento’s marina and ate at a place called La Ripetta. We ate some veggies soaked in olive oil, Green Sea Pasta with Clams, and I had a coastal fish. It was pretty funny eating the fish because, as is the typical style in the area, the fish came out un-cleaned. I am used to this and can clean a fish, but they sent out a special waiter to clean the fish for me who was an elderly man who put on his glasses before cleaning the fish in ten seconds flat! Needless to say, I was impressed by him and the fish. We walked around Sorrento a bit before having some drinks at our hostel and resting up for Capri and Positano tomorrow!

The Pompeii Forum: