The last couple of days

Last night was dinner at the Piazza Navona, which is a gathering of trendy ristorantes not too far from our hotel. Some of our group had to meet, while the rest of us spread out and enjoyed the cool evening.

Okay, Jennifer, if you haven't been paying attention, start listening.
We ate at Tre Scalini, which was listed in our tour guide as having one of the top 10 treats in Rome, a desert called Tartufo Tre Scalini. Essentially, a truffle with chocolate ice cream covered with dark chocolate shavings and whipped cream with a piece of fudge and a cherry in the middle.

Goes well with cappucino. Yum.

This morning we departed bright and early for the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. Our group was a little smaller, with some doing their own thing and others resting tired legs, so we grabbed a couple of taxis to head for our destination.

We had two taxis, and the first one went away while we waiting on our others. Our driver picked us up and then proceeded to drive in circles while explaining in Italian why it was necessary to go five miles out of the way to get us to something two miles from the hotel.

So, thirty minutes and several Euro later, we arrived at the Vatican and took our place in line. Jim said we were fortunate to have our place for our hour-long wait; he had seen lines much longer than the one we were in that took three to four hours to get inside.

Our plan was to cruise through the museums on the way to the Sistene Chapel. We finally made it inside and began winding our way through the Vatican.

The frescoes inside are mind-boggling. The way they are painted is done with such detail and attention to shading that they appear to be three dimensional. The map room was the most elaborate of the rooms we saw; it seemed to be the length of a football field. The ceiling was covered with a fresco that was elaborate and amazing in detail.

From there we continued through rooms with tapestries, a musuem of modern religious artwork and a whole lot of stairs until we finally reached the Sistene Chapel.

I have to admit, it was nothing like I could have ever imagined.

For one, the paintings on the ceiling are much more elaborate than I would have imagined. I actually had to search a bit to find the painting on the ceiling depicting God giving life to Adam; it was that elaborate. And, Jim said he read somewhere that the space between the fingers is actually six to eight feet.

I would love to show you photos. However, the entire time I kept hearing one of the guards shouting, "Silenz . . . no peekchures . . . "

So, no peekchures. At least not of the Sistene Chapel.

After seeing that, we took a lunch break before heading for St. Peter's. It is deemed the largest church in the world, and I believe it. Even bigger than that Pentecostal church in North Little Rock, I joked.

There are burial places for the popes within the basilica, and if I remember correctly, about 40,000 can attend mass inside of the facility. There are several smaller chapels inside the church as well.

However, the domes were the big draw for me.

The main duomo is slightly smaller than the Pantheon, but is more elaborately decorated in my opinion. They acutally allow you to go up into the dome, but facing 300-plus steps after an elevator ride did not seem too appealing to me.

We did gawk at from the floor, though.

One of Michelangelo's sculptures is on display at the basilica, although behind glass after it was attacked by a man with a hammer in 1972. He claimed he was Jesus Christ.

Hmmmm . . . .

Walking around some more, we were amazed at all of the memorials in honor of the popes. Seeing the different styles of memorials for each one was quite interesting; they spanned several years as well as different art styles, from Baroque to Medieval and Renaissance.

They were all beautiful and impressive.

My friend Tony asked me to take a photo of something "Catholicy" for him, so this was my attempt:

Many of the domes have openings that allow shafts of light to pour into the chapel. It was like a gift from God. Pretty cool.

Tonight we're having a farewell dinner to top off a great trip to an incredible land. I may not have time to post more until we're home and rested, so I hope this has been an enjoyable read for you guys. However, there's no way I could do it justice with my words and photos. There's so much here I have left out; you really have to come over and see it for yourself.

Ciao!

So, what makes them so smart?

Okay, so I'm fascinated with cars. Always have been.

And I know, in the U.S., we like our cars bigger, better, faster.

But, these little cars are everywhere underfoot in Italy.

The Smart car seems to be an answer to some of the crowding on the streets of Europe, and they are everywhere here. Little more than a two-seat car with a motor somewhere on it, they come in all sorts of flavors.

I've seen them painted up in festive colors and understated ones. They are driven by all ages, sexes and socioeconomic groups.

They seem to be pretty easy to parallel park, too.

Actually, cars over here seem to be skewed toward small. Mostly hatchbacks, it's been refreshing for me to see a lack of gas-guzzling monster SUVs piloted by cell phone operators intent on doing anything but driving.

Okay, actually, there's lots of cell phone calls while driving that take part here. Which makes it even more amazing to watch people pilot them between other (really close) cars, cyclists and pedestrians. Lanes are optional here; if there's real estate in your lane available, you take it, and possibly gesture while you're doing it.

And for those of you thinking that exotic sportscars rule the road here, forget it. At least in the city. I've seen one Ferrari since I've been here.

However, I have been lusting over the amount of Ducatis in traffic 'round here . . .

Rome in the morning

This morning's tour took us to the Roman Forum, the Colliseum and the Pantheon, as well as seeing several sites by bus.

The first stop on the tour was the Capitoline Hill, which is now a museum. It is perched on one of the seven hills that ancient Rome was built atop, and is quite beautiful. A pair of statues greet you on either side, and I swore that one of them was text messaging someone.

After a quick group photo, we were around this fine structure and made our way to the ruins of the Roman Forum. It was very impressive. As we rounded the building, ancient columns could be seen, and we eventually made our way to a spot overlooking the area. Our tour guide, Flavio, was adept at pointing out where the ancient temples and buildings were, as well as the history behind the area.





We walked through the Arch of Septimus Severus (much grander than any Arch of Triumph in France, according to Flavio) and marveled at the the amount of history we were walking through. Flavio pointed out the stones that we were stepping on were the original Roman road leading to the forum. Amazing.

We kept on, eventually making our way past the Temple of Ceasar, the ruins of the temple of the vestal virgins and many other sites until we worked our way down into the level of the Colliseum. It was as large as many stadiums we know in our current world, but much grander at the same time.

It was funny to see men dressed up as gladiators posing with tourists for photos - for a mere 5 Euro. What a bargain!

Lots of tourists surrounded the place, and we were given 15 minutes before boarding the bus to head for the Pantheon. It was fun to circle the place to see people inside doing walking tours which we declined. Not enough time.

Even on our drive to the Pantheon, Flavio was able to point out numerous basilicas and ruins that were a part of the Roman landscape. This seems to be the coolest part about this city; everywhere you look, there's something beautiful and historic to see.

Rome in a day

From Florence to Rome by first class train is the way to go. If they actually post the time.

Jim, our tour guide, has done a great job in taking care of the travel details, getting cabs to take us the train station this morning as well as handling getting the tickets. First class this time around, which meant we weren't packed into our seats and 6'2" sardines.

It was nice. Except they didn't post our gate until about five minutes after the train was supposed to leave.

Fortunately, the train was a little bit behind.

The countryside of Italy is so enticing. I really want to return on a motorcycle (which may be interesting when I try to ride it across the Atlantic) and explore the small towns across the country. So many quaint little villages that probably have many, many stories to tell.

We made it to Rome in about two hours, which meant we arrived early afternoon. Once we settled into our rooms, we decided to grab taxis to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, and then walking to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain before returning home.

The lunch was enjoyable - the first hamburger I've had in a couple of weeks, which is quite an accomplishment for this carnivore. Purchased some souvenirs (Brent, I have some picks for you) and then headed out for the Spanish Steps.

One problem - left the hot rod camera at the hotel.

New batteries for Crystal's point and shoot, and we're back in bidness.

Rome has quite a different vibe. A population of 4-5 million (which I incorrectly stated was the population of Florence earlier, which is not so: Florence is about 400,000 strong) creates a lot more hustle and bustle. It was very busy, to say the least.

We walked for a good long ways before we reached the Spanish Steps, which were named after the consulate which is nearby. Quite a hike, and then a bit of a jaunt down for some photos.

We went to the fountain at the foot of the steps, thinking incorrectly that this was the Trevi Fountain where Crystal was supposed to throw some coins over her shoulder for her mom. Being the dutiful daughter, she did.

And then, we found out we were in the wrong place. Begin the hike again.

It took a couple of wrong turns, but we finally reached the fountain, which was magnificent. Large marble statues grace the fountain, which is huge and attracts quite a few tourists as well.

The legend goes that if you throw three coins over your shoulder into the fountain you will return to Rome. At least according to Frank Sinatra.

So, Crystal did it for her mother. Does that mean she will return to Rome, or her mother?

And, so began the hike back to the hotel.

A few of us were walking wounded. Patsy's ankles were giving her trouble, Jan has been having knee problems and Crystal was running out of energy.

It was a long walk back, but a chance to check out the scenery.

Although I've not been able to figure out what buildings I'm seeing, I'm shooting tons of photos of the amazing architecture.

We spent a great evening in the suite inherited by Mary Kay and Dianne. A balcony overlooking Rome (Hey, I can see the Vatican from here!) was a great way to wind down a long and busy day.

Apparently, Rome is pretty spread out and we're going to be doing quite a bit of walking over the next couple of days. The Vatican, the Colliseum and several other amazing sites are on the agenda before it's all said and done.

Two days and counting.

Day trippin'

Woke up this morning hoping to do some daybreak shots of a basilica across the Arno that I noticed when jogging a few days ago. The early morning sun illuminated it, and even cast its reflection in the still waters.

But, the front desk said rain when I asked for a forecast the previous day.

Maybe I'll sleep late, I thought.

The alarm went off bright and early, and I checked through the slats of the shutters and the light looked pretty even. Overcast, I thought, and headed back to sleep.

When I finally woke up around 7:30, I took another peek. Hey, that's a shaft of sunlight!

Great. Slept right through the good light.

Got dressed quickly and hurried up the river, but it just wasn't right. Took a few shots, but it just wasn't there.

Oh, well. We got ready and roamed the city anyway, with the goal of the day a bus trip to Pisa.

The previous tour by bus was the fateful rainy day trip. It really didn't allow for much walking around, and what little we did was pretty soggy.

So I was leery of the trip to Pisa.

We enjoyed revisiting many of the sites that we've enjoyed the past few days, sitting among centuries-old sculptures and watching the many flavors of people float past. Had a nice lunch and made our way to the meeting point for our trip to Pisa.

We all met, headed for the bus station just like the schedule said. Only, the bus left five minutes before we got there.

What?

Turns out our tour was at 2, not 2:30.

Great. What are we going to do now?

Well, the train station is a block away from the bus station. Round trip to Pisa is about 10 Euro if you go second class.

Andiamo! If I actually spelled that right . . .

We hopped a train that took us to Pisa, and actually took a slightly different route than the trip to Cinque Terre. We passed small towns that looked so peaceful and inviting, that I had to find them on the map I purchased today. I want to remember where they were for a future trip . . .

In about an hour we arrived in Pisa. We found a map and set out on foot for the Leaning Tower and basilica.

It was an impressive scene. Thousands of people trying to hold up the tower - or at least be photographed pretending they were. It was pretty neat to see the architecture and lounge around in the shade of the basilica.

The grounds were nicley manicured, and we watched the polizia aggressively blow their whistles to encourage people to stay off the grass. A few of us made out way to the baptistry, which is separate from the duomo and according to travel guru Rick Steves offers a much more impressive view of the area.

We bought our tickets, and off we went. Not before I photographed a priest on a bike, though.

Inside the baptistry was breathtaking. The cupola had to have been 10 to 15 stories tall at its highest point. A confining staircase wound through the wall to lead you to the second level, giving a great view of the duomo with the tower sticking its head out from behind the basilica.

While we were admiring the view, we heard what sounded like several monks chanting. We went to the upper railing to find them, but only found a tour guide chanting a single note.

Apparently, the cupola creates echoes that add several "voices" - not to mention octaves - to a single person's voice. It was incredible as she gave a short performance.

The city of Pisa was not large and didn't have as many attractions, but we enjoyed winding our way through it nonetheless. Having enjoyed the duomo and tower, we headed back to the train station but got called into a trattoria by a waiter trying to drum up business.

It worked.

We had a great meal, with pizza, seafood and even some more wild boar for me. I was happy.

On the train ride back, we decided this was much, much better than the bus tour. We got to go at our own leisure, took our time, had a great meal and enjoyed each other's company.

We should do this more often.

Cinque Terre

For some reason, the name of this national park kept reminding me of a fraternity brother's habit of saying "Tierra Del Fuego!"

Actually, judging by the beauty of this trip, I may know why it kept coming to mind. The views we had today can probably be topped only by the island near Antarctica.

The day started out overcast and dull, with the added bonus of a two-hour train ride out to an Italian national park named Cinque Terre. The name means "Five Lands," and the park's main attraction is a trail with a length of eight miles that links five coastal villages along the Ligurian Sea.

The trip was suggested by Jen, a graduate student with the study abroad program. She and Danielle, the director of the study abroad program, had made the trip a few weeks ago and thought it would be fun.

Our train ride took us to Riamaggiore was socked in by fog at times, which limited the views on our way. Before entering the station, we went through a fairly long tunnel, and at the end we were greeted with a sweeping panoramic of the Ligurian.

The small town marked the beginning of the first trail, Via Del Amore, or the Trail of Love. It was a one-mile hike to the next city, Manarola, which we walked fairly easily though.

The towns themselves seem carved out of the steep faces of the mountains that plunge into the sea. Centuries old storefronts and villas overlook the rocky shoreline, providing a sense of tranquility.

Even though we were hot, sweaty and hiking.

The next leg of the trip was a two-mile hike to Corniglia. At that point, we decided it would be prudent to catch a train, since the other trails began to get increasingly diffuclt. In fact, the two miles to Corniglia were some of the toughest walking we've done since we've been here.

It was amazing to see not only houses but gardens perched on the side of the hill. Jim pointed out a "tractor," which consisted of a seat with a motor that was used on a rail to lug the farmer and his goods up and down the sheer sides of his vineyards.

After waiting for about an hour, the train arrived and we rode to Vernazza, where the decided we would take our lunch.

Wow.

Walking down into the city was like being taken back in time. Even though it was a popular tourist destination, the little village seemed to have not changed over time. There were numerous ristorantes to choose from, and the two of us chose the Ristorante Belforte.

The restaurant had a beautiful view from the point of the city, although several others were noted even higher up the side of the sheer cliffs, Nonetheless, our view was breathtaking, and included a sea gull that perched on the railing behind Crystal waiting for a handout.

Eventually, one of the cooks did bring it out a plate of anchovies. He seemed pleased.

I think the seafood was grabbed out of the sea, and the menu boasted of vegetables taken from local gardens. It was great.

We hung around the city while our group reassembled and I took the opportunity to snap a few shots of residents watching the tourists take over their tiny town. It was a beautiful place.

Our last stop on the ride was the beach resort town of Monterossa. This was the icing on the cake.

A beautiful sandy beach which eventually blended back into the rocky shoreline we were accustomed to, this tiny town seemed like the Italian answer to Eureka Springs. You went from your train immediately to the beach, walking along it until you reached a tunnel that took you back under the tracks and through a hillside to reach the center of the city.

The city itself was tiny, dotted with shops and ristorantes as well as two ancient churches, one of which was undergoing renovation. I did my duty by leaving a Euro in the donation box as instructed.

Crystal and I roamed the backstreets, marvelling at the structures and the people of the city. We stopped for gelato and sat at the municipal building listening to some older men discuss something.

It could have been anything, really. The soccer game that the young men in the bar were loudly celebrating when goals were scored, the nagging of their wives, the direction in which the sun rose this morning, anything. But their expressiveness and gesturing was a treat to behold.

We roamed the city some more before catching the 6 p.m. train back to Riamaggiore, in order to catch the 6:45 train back to Florence. En route, we passed through Pisa, which will be our trip tomorrow afternoon.

I really doubt it can match today, though. I'm ready to open a photo shop in Vernazza, personally.

Ciao for now!

Finding a gold mine

Today may have been Crystal's favorite day in Florence.

We had nothing on the agenda, and while I had planned on getting up early to once again view the sunrise, we slept in until around 9:30 and hit the streets around 11. We found a great pastry shop down the street where I had a chocolate filled bigne and the best caffe' americano I've had since I was here. I'll be back.

Our main destination was the Ponte Vecchio bridge, which is an old structure that houses tons of small jewelry shops spanning the Arno River. Crystal just wanted to see it if nothing else.

She was fascinated by the shops, and spent a good bit of time window shopping. It was fun to see the view from the shops, which was a straight shot right down the Arno.

And, yes, she did make some purchases on the bridge. I may be going shopping for a leather jacket now . . .

After that, we made our way to the Palazzo Pitti, which was a large palace built by the Medici family when one of them contracted tuberculosis and wanted to move out of Florence. Behind it is the Giardino di Boboly, or the Boboly Gardens. I would not want to be their gardener; the place is huge.

It involved some pretty steep hikes, but once we reached the top of the garden the view of the city was very impressive. The Duomo is very prominent, and seeing the houses and buildings stacked on top of one another is very picturesque.

We only saw part of the garden. It is so huge that we did not see all of it. It was a hot day and we began to get tuckered out, facing a pretty long trip back to the hotel.

We wound around some side streets to reach our hotel, stopping at several shops along the way that sold produce, olive oil, books, ceramics, leather goods, and many other things. It's amazing to wind through the centuries-old streets. They have seen foot traffic, horses and wagons, and now have to put up with fast-moving taxis and scooters on those same cobblestone streets.

It's truly a beautiful city.

At one point in the day, Crystal mentioned she would like to see one of the churches in the city. The lines to get into the Duomo (and everything else) tend to be long, so I really hadn't held out much hope.

However, on our way back to the hotel, I saw a door leading into a chapel. I grabbed Crystal and we ducked inside and were instantly amazed.

The Ognissanti chapel was huge and beautiful, ornately decorated with paintings of the Crucifixion, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. Two frescoes that were rescued from the flood of 1966 are also displayed. It was amazing.

We got to see our church. One that we had passed numerous times on our way to and from the hotel.

You gotta keep your head up.