Wednesday 30 May Florence to Rome

“All roads lead to Rome”. The Stranglers song was on high repeat in my head this morning as we boarded the 11.08 fast train from Florence, which whisked us through the lovely rolling green countryside, dotted with beautifully mellow stone buildings and towns, to the eternal city. It is early summer here, the first cuts of hay are being baled and the red poppies are riotous everywhere. If I could have changed one thing about our tour of Italy, I would have loved to have had more time to spend in the country. Hopefully we will be able to make up for that a little in France and England.

We reached Rome around lunchtime. I am beginning to recognise a pattern in this travelling. With changing cities every two to three days, there is always a sense of disorientation and alienation when you first roll into a new city. Travelling by train, I always notice the grime, the graffiti, the dirty and teeming outer suburbs first. There are always an initial few hours of ‘why didn’t we just stay longer in the last city - I liked it there’. The first walk around is usually a bit daunting as everything is totally unfamiliar. After a njght, though, when we set off for our second days look around, things start to look familiar, and the hotel/apartment starts to feel like home. By then we have generally worked out how the public transport system works, and where we want to go. And of course, on the third day it is all wonderful and it is time to move on and start the cycle again!

Anyway, our first afternoon in Rome. We are meeting my cousin Laurence here tomorrow to join his tour of the city, so I checked up on what he is going to show us, and we set off to see some of the things that he will not be covering. First stop the Spanish steps. Hmm, heaps and heaps of tourists sitting on a big flight of white steps. Perhaps I am missing something, but I’m afraid I was a little underwhelmed. We walked up to the Medici Palace on top of the hill behind (these Medicis really did get everywhere!), and then into the large gardens, and spent a couple of hours enjoying just lying about on the grass, seeing trees everywhere and coming across fountains, statues and ponds at every turn. Very pleasant. Home through the bustling city, and an early night.

Italian trains - fast (250 km/h), on time and very very good.

Naiad fountain, Piazza di Reppublica - Rome is full of beautiful statues and sculptures at every turn.

Spanish Steps

Lots of horses giving tourists rides in little carriages around Rome ...

... but we prefer the plastic variety that goes round and round in circles 

Rome is also well supplied with public drinking fountains, with very good water, and always highly sculptural

Another drinking fountain

Tuesday 29 May Florence

Why don’t we call Italian cities by the names that the Italians do? They have such a beautiful ring to them - Venezia, Firenze, Roma, Milano, Napoli - Firenze in particular, so much more musical than Florence. 

Anyway.

Today was an explore Florence day. My two non-negotiables for the day were the Uffizi Gallery, and the Duomo, otherwise we were free to wander. We started by walking from our apartment, which is about two blocks from the Duomo and in the same block as the Medici’s palazzo, into the heart of Florence. This is a very compact city, so everything is within easy walking distance. We meandered past the Duomo, and down to the central piazza, which is filled with copies of famous statues, with Michelangelo’s David ruling over all. From there we walked to the river, and crossed over the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. 

We traced the course of the fabled Vasari corridor, an elevated walkway which links the Uffizi (meaning ‘office’ - this is where the city was governed from in Medici’s day) with the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the river. This corridor was ordered built by Lorenzo Magnifico - Lorenzo the Magnificent - a very humble and shy Medici prince (not!), who disliked mingling with the commoners when he had to visit the Pitti’s. The corridor was built over the roofs of the shops lining the Ponte Vecchio, which were mostly butcher shops. Lorenzo’s nose was offended by the smell from these shops, so he ordered that they all go away, and that only jewellery and gold shops be allowed on the bridge. This duly happened, and even today, that is what you find on the Ponte Vecchio.

Back into central Florence and we joined the queue for the Uffizi. The hour and a half(!) passed fairly quickly, broken by half of us going in search of sandwiches, and chatting to the other people in line. And the treasures inside made every second worthwhile. Even the kids maintained interest in the fascinating series of famous painters and paintings. Highlights for me were Botticelli’s Birth of Venus - an iconic image, but so much more beautiful and delicate in real life - and huge, too! Da Vinci’s Annunciation showed a masterly skill in miniature background landscape and a lovely use of perspective. The Doni Tondo by Michelangelo was like looking at one of his sculptures, but in 2D - he paints the virgin Mary with lovely muscly arms, and there are some very well-built angels in the background. The scheming and intrigue of the Vatican is beautifully represented in the faces of Raphael’s portrait of three bureaucrats. Fantastic.

After the obligatory gelato break, we visited the Basilica di Santa Croce to pay our respects at the mausoleums of some of this city’s greats - Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Rossini - and then headed back to the Duomo. We paid our money and climbed the 463 steps (although Kia reckons there were only 458) - but these were not ordinary steps! They consisted of a series of tight spiral stone staircases, interspersed with narrow passages right in the hearts of the walls of the church. At two points, the path took us out onto narrow gantries (so narrow you could not pass another person on them) clinging to the walls of the dome’s interior, with sweeping views down into the cathedral, at a dizzying height. Up here, we were right among the stunning frescoes that decorate the ceiling. The theme was once again the contrast between the angels in heaven looking down upon the poor souls in hell, being subjected to all manners of horrific torture and unpleasantness by a series of beasts and devils. The final staircase was a curved ascent of the dome itself, between the ceiling and the outer brickwork, from which we emerged onto a narrow balcony at the very top of the dome, for 360 degree views of another beautiful and ancient city. Absolutely stunning. We were even looking down on the top of the campanile (bell tower) next door. 

That pretty much finished off the day. We stopped at a street market on the way home, and Romy bought herself a very flash Italian leather jacket (don’t worry, I made sure that it fits me too), and then we went home to collapse.

Courtyard of Uffizi Gallery

Statue in the central piazza, Florence

Another statue

Guess who? Just a copy but great to see him out in the open air, being admired by crowds in the square

Another famous statue - no, actually this one is a real live busker

Ponte Vecchio, with the Vasari corridor built over the top.

Hmm, I wonder if they actually make jackets out of kanguro?

Galileo's tomb, Basilica di Santa Croce

Michelangelo's tomb, Basilica di Santa Croce

Florence Duomo, view from the ground, just 463 steps to go ...

Stairs inside the Duomo

Ceiling frescoes, Florence Duomo

View from top of Duomo, and there was such a timy little railing between us and this too!!

We can see our house from here!

Stairs back down again - see how they follow the curve of the dome

Monday 28 May Florence

Got picked up mid-morning by Artan, who manages the apartment we are staying in, and has his own business running tours of the area. He drove us firstly to Siena, which I have wanted to visit since reading a book called “Palio: The most exciting race in the world” when I was young. Twice a year, on 2 July and 16 August, the city of Siena runs a fantastically dangerous horse race called the Palio. It is set in a large piazza in the centre of town, and hotly contested by the 17 contrada, or areas, of the city, each of which has its own flag and emblem (The Tower, the Dragon, the Snail, to name a few). The names of ten contrada are randomly drawn for each race, and only those 10 compete (there is not enough room for all 17 horses). Earth is laid over the cobbled streets, and the horses race three laps of the piazza, urged on by local riders, riding bareback. The piazza is not flat, and there are some really steep and dodgy corners, so there are horses and riders flying everywhere. We visited the piazza, and did a lap of the course, imagining the mayhem of the race. Look it up on YouTube.

Next stop Monteriggioni, a small village built by the Sienans at the height of their rivalry with Florence, as an outlying barracks to guard a pass through the hills. It is tiny, maybe 20 or 30 houses and a central square, circled entirely by a high stone wall, with towers at regular intervals. We had lunch here, a Tuscan feast of cold meats and salamis, cheeses, bruschetta and pasta, accompanied with a bottle of very good local chianti, all in the warm sun on a balcony draped in jasmine. Bliss!

After a drive through the beautiful Tuscan hills, and much historical, economic and military discussion with Artan, we made our final stop at San Gimignano, known as the Tuscan Manhattan because of its 13th century towers, These were built by the local wealthy families, who entered into a bit of a ‘mine is bigger than yours’ rivalry concerning the height of their towers. Originally there were 70-something towers, but only 13 now remain. Quite a sight.

Home by 7pm, and a bit of a break, and then Romy and Kia and I went out for a moonlit walk around the absolutely stunning Duomo (cathedral of Florence). This magnificent and massive building is made of pink, green and white marble and is topped by the biggest dome in Europe, a 1400s masterpiece by architect Brunelleschi. Tomorrow we shall venture inside, and climb its 463 steps for the view from the top (won’t tell the kids how many steps there are until we reach the top!!).

Outside our apartment, Via de Ginori, Florence

View of Florence Duomo as we left town

Interior of Siena cathedral - love those stripes!!!

Floor mosaic, Siena cathedral - some of the contrada emblems

Column base, Siena cathedral

Very clever 2 dimensional painting, using trompe l'oeil technique to look like a real window
with amazing feeling of perspective. Siena Cathedral library.

Piazza del Campo, Siena - the Palio race track

Lunch, Monteriggioni

Monteriggioni walls

View through gate to Tuscan countryside, Monteriggioni

Bear(?) in the entranceway of the Museo del Tortura (yup, the Torture Museum), San Gimignano.
Sign not necessary - as if we would touch that!!

Towers of San Gimignano

Sunday 27 May Venice to Florence

Got up early today to meet our guide at St Marks Square for a tour of the Doge’s Palace. Unfortunately we did not take into account the fact that there was a BIG boat race on in Venice today, starting at 9am, so the streets were absolutely jam packed with people. And we thought yesterday was bad. Today was unbelievable. Queues everywhere, not helped by the tiny narrow little streets that everyone was trying to squeeze through. We did get there in time though, and watched all the boats marshalling in the lagoon - very entertaining. It was more of a social event really, although there were apparently some serious Olympic rowers there too (we didn’t see them). 

Anyway, we met up with our guide and went into the palace. This is where the elected rulers lived during their lifetime rule of Venice, and where all of the Machiavellian (although he was actually a Florentine) politics went on. Our tour was called the ‘Secret Itineraries’ tour, and it focused on how the Doges and their court used secrets and information to control their subjects and their trade partners. We saw behind the scenes, and the contrasts between the fabulous opulence of the public and ceremonial areas of the palace, and the humble and tiny spaces occupied by the scurrying bureaucrats. It was fascinating to see, firstly, the torture rooms, and, later in the tour, the courtrooms, where the prosecuting lawyers had a secret passage behind their bench which connected directly to the torture rooms, so the could zip away for a quick bit of ‘research’ during trials. We also saw the prison cells, including the one where Casanova was held for three years, and then the one which he succeeded in escaping from. 

Pause for lunch, and then we braved the crowds once more to claw our way back to St Marks Square and join the queue to get inside the basilica. It was a long queue, but moved quite fast, and after 40 minutes or so we finally reached the front door. The guard there took one look at Romy and Kia in their shorts, and drafted them off to one side - ‘No shorts in the Basilica’. Like good loyal parents we waved them a quick goodbye, and headed into the interior for a look. It was pretty impressive, although a little marred by our thoughts of Romy and Kia waiting outside. Lots of gold leaf and massive spaces, and a sort of hushed, shuffling buzz of people. The fantastically decorated interiors of the five domes were quite something. We emerged blinking back into the bright sunshine to find Romy and Kia waiting, quite upset at being excluded, so I got my silk scarf out of the backpack, tied it around Romy;’s waist and marched her to the front of the queue. Luckily the nasty guard had gone, so I told the new one what had happened, and that my daughter had gone all the way home to change into a skirt (luckily she had a sweatshirt tied round her waist to hide the gaping hole at the back because the scarf was way too small to go all the way around her), and he let us back in. We walked around once more, and then I repeated the whole scenario with Kia - so I have now toured the St Marks basilica three times! Think I have had enough now! Note to all travelling females - always carry a large silk scarf in your backpack. It has also been used to cover up Jessa’s shoulders when she got a bit sunburnt in Athens.

Gelatos on the edge of the Grand Canal rounded off the afternoon, and late in the day we jumped on the train for Florence and another day in another city.

Boats marshalling in Venice lagoon

Bridge of Sighs - leads from Doge's palace to the dungeons, where prisoners took their  final glimpse of Venice and sighed as they left it (or sobbed or wailed or whatever, but Bridge of Sighs has the best ring to it).

Doge's Palace courtyard

The Golden staircase, leading to the sumptuous  chambers in the Doge's Palace

Jermey in Casanova's cell

Torture room, Doge's Palace

The Dungeons

Thronging crowds of tourists, on the way to St Marks Square

Display in the armoury, Doge's Palace

Queuing outside St Marks Basilica

St Marks interior

Fabulous decorated interiors of the domes of St Marks

Priceless gold and jewelled altarpiece, St Marks

Saturday 26 May Venice

Woke up in Venice. It’s not every day that you can say that!! Our hotel is superb, on a little back roadway - well, walkway really, and if you lean out the window, you look down to the canal about ten metres beyond the window. It is quite central, about ten minutes walk from the Rialto Bridge, but not right in the tourist heart of this town. And this is a tourist town. I used to think that Central Otago was a bit of a tourist hotspot, but it is just nothing compared to this place. It is no place for claustrophobes, that’s for sure.

Murano Island

This morning we walked down to the other side of Venice, and caught a water bus to Murano island, famous for its glass blowing. We found a ‘fornacio’ (furnace), and settled in to watch a very skilful and entertaining display of the art of glass blowing. The kids were enamoured of the tiny little glass animals that they make here, so bought a menagerie of them (ok, ok, I admit, I succumbed and bought a couple myself).

Glass sculpture, Murano Island

Shaping the handles on a glass vase

Another glass sculpture, Murano

Waiting at the bus stop to catch a waterbus back to Venice

We got back to Venice mid-afternoon, stopped for a quick break and then set off for some art appreciation time. Thought about going to the Gallerie dell’Accademia but it was frighteningly expensive, so we went a bit more modern and visited the Peggy Guggenheim collection instead. Some lovely Picassos, and a very interesting/disturbing Dali, but I must admit, Jackson Pollock does absolutely nothing for me whatsoever, no matter how good they say he is. Looks like finger painting to me! 

As if this town needs any more tourist attractions!
The Leaning Tower of Venice - great, tick that off, now we don't need to go to Pisa!

Chagall - The Rain

Jackson Pollock - go on, tell me that your 6 year old couldn't have done that!!

Magritte - Empire of Light - this was written up as having a disturbing and sinister feeling,
but Romy and I agreed it was actually lovely and restful.

Boccioni - Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

Relaxing and watching the traffic at the Guggenheim.

   Walked back home through the Dorsoduro district, and stopped for a gelato and the ubiquitous Venetian ‘spritz’ drink - very pleasant in the warm early evening.

Gelatos - thanks Ms Gunn!!!

End of another busy day