Final Thoughts on our Italy Trip

We have had a great trip and a great time!  We have sampled Italy and seen many of the "major" sites everyone expects to see.  The Monograms independent travel worked well and we would do that again.  We have eaten great food at nearly every meal and enjoyed some wonderful Italian wine.  The Italian people we have met were warm and welcoming, and always willing to be helpful.  English worked well most everywhere, much to our surprise, and we were grateful for that.  Italy is expensive in most of these tourist locations, but that is to be expected.  

Two weeks goes fast and I am writing this post over the Atlantic on the flight from Paris to Atlanta.  It seems we were just on our way.  But that is always how it goes when you are having a great time!  I have taken over 1100 photos and posted most of them through this blog.  That is my way of remembering a trip, as the photos become what you remember years later.  I don't know how many blog readers have actually viewed all of the photos, but I took them for us first and the blog was just a way to share them. If someone thinks he/she has seen them all, I would like to hear about it!

For anyone who has followed this blog from the start, I hope it has been at least a little entertaining.  It was harder to keep up that I envisioned, and I had many other topics in mind along the way to blog about, but had to give up at some point as there just wasn't time.  The blog is our diary of the trip, and I will leave it up indefinitely.  But, this is probably the last post.  Thanks to the very few who commented or emailed about the posts.  I learned it is nice to have some feedback, even when you are blogging just for yourself.  It's nice to know someone is reading.

Until the next trip... Jim

Photos from the flight home.

Independent Touring

We arranged this trip via Monograms, an independent touring division of Globus.  They call this independent touring because you have a small amount of organized activities included and a lot of independent time on your own.  The hotels are arranged, the transfers to/from the hotels are arranged, and certain touring activities are arranged.  For example, in Rome we already had an 8am appointment for the Vatican tour, bypassing the crowds and the multiple-hour wait just to buy s ticket.  Likewise at the Colliseum later the same day.  In fact, what we did in Rome in one day would have taken an individual two or three days to do on his/her own.  

While there was a "group" of us, the members changed along the way as all were not on the same itinerary.  You could have as much or as little group involvement as you wanted.  Breakfast was included in the hotel arrangements as is standard in most of Europe, and no other meals were planned.  We all ate where and when we wanted.  Everyone we met on the tours was just like us, wanted some help and advice and arrangements, but lots of freedom to be on our own.  Overall we were very pleased.  It was a good way to travel in Italy.

Another Venice

Our first day and a half in Venice had been fun, but we were put off by the size of the crowds and the press of people in and around St Mark's Square.  The square is huge and during the day it literally was full of people, pressed close together!  The streets close the the square were equally jammed.  We soon learned that the overload of people come from the cruise ships that dock early and stay all day. The crowds they dump onto Venice really distort the environment around St Mark's Square.

We decided to get away and see what else Venice had to offer. So Saturday morning we had breakfast in the beautiful hotel garden room, then set off for the Rialto Bridge, which is lined with shops like the Ponte Vecchia in Florence.  There are also produce and fish markets near Rialto that we wanted to visit.  After crossing the Gande Canal on the Rialto we walked through the produce and fish markets, then set off to explore farther away from St Mark's Square.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a cleaner, calmer, more enjoyable Venice.  We found local people shopping at the markets, European couples and families on holiday but away from the tourist areas.  We walked through residential streets and discovered small squares (called Campo's) that were like a small community with its own shops, cafe's, hotels and markets.  We saw small boutique hotels and B&B's that look really interesting.  It was a different Venice.

Below are a few favorite photos from that day, and the full album link is below.  These are some of my best photos of Venice.

Another Venice Photos

Where is the Recession?

You would not know that there had been nor still was any recession in the world based on where we have been.  From Capri to Venice and every stop in between, the shops and restaurants were full every day.  There were plenty of tourists from around the world traveling this past two weeks.  Capri and Sorrento were pleasantly busy, but not crazy.  Rome was very busy but still manageable.  Florence and Pisa were very busy but again manageable.  Venice was a madhouse around St Mark's Square and to be avoided!  The rest of Italy may be in trouble, but these tourist areas are going strong!

Water & Coffee (caffe), the other beverages

In an earlier post I discussed how wine is a common beverage for Italians.  Water and coffee deserve a mention as well.

As in Europe in general, the Italians drink bottled water primarily.  The exception was in Venice, because the people of Venice are vey proud of of their clean drinking water that is piped from the Alps.  You could drink the water from the public fountains, and many people (including us) filled their water bottles there.  But otherwise, it is bottled water everywhere.  So, at dinner you order a bottle of water with your meal. Bottled water comes in two forms, carbonated and not.  They call the carbonated water "with gas" and the un-carbonated either "still water" or "natural water".  

Coffee is generally available in three forms: americano, cappuccino, and espresso.  Americano is generally very strong and is served with hot milk available.  Using hot milk is superior to how we do it in the US as it helps keep the coffee hot as well.  We had many cappuccino's and they were generally available for breakfast.  That was a great way to start each day!  We will miss the regular cappuccino's!

Asking for the Check

An interesting difference we noted is that in any restaurant in Italy you must ask for the check before they will bring it.  No matter that you have finished eating and have said you want nothing more, until you explicitly ask for the check, they will not bring it.  It was certainly nice to have time to sit and enjoy the evening, or whatever the situation offered.  But it was certainly something requiring adjustment.

Venice, St Mark's Square Flooding

The tide affects Venice like any other place located near the ocean.  That means the canals and surrounding water rise and fall with the tide.  It is a regular experience for the rising tide to flood St Mark's Square, and they are prepared for it.  They have portable walkways stacked around the square that they can used when needed.  In the women's fashion stores we even saw fashion photos of models in dressy clothes with fashionable rubber boots wading through the square!

Friday night after the Gondola ride and a rest at the hotel, we walked to St Mark's Square after dark to see it lighted and to hear the music played there.  When we arrived at the square around 9pm, we found it flooding on one side (the low side).  The water was rising through the drain pipes in the square that are there for the water runoff.  I can only speculate that the runoff drainage system actually drains into the underlying lagoon, so when the tide rises it rises through through the same pipes.  We could see that the square was sloped to drain into those drains, so the rising water was pooling first along the line of drains.

The next day we spoke with a couple in the group who attended a concert Friday evening near the square.  When they came out of the concert hall, they were trapped by the water and had to remove their shoes and roll up their pants to wade through the water to dry land! They laughed and thought it was a unique experience.

Below are some interesting photos I took of the reflections in the square with the water.

St Mark's Square Flooding

Gondola Serenade

Friday was a busy day with the organized morning tour and the afternoon boat trip to Burano for lunch and exploring.  When we returned to Venice at the end of the afternoon, the last activity of the day was an organized serenade Gondola ride.  We decided to take the tour organized serenade ride, as our tour host said some of the Gondola companies may try to cheat us on the ride if we just go as individuals.  She always uses the same company and they know to provide the expected experience to keep her business.  That turned it to be good advice.  

We had three gondola's with a young  acoustic guitarist who sat and played in our boat. He was very good, although that was probably not the traditional Gondola music of Venice one would expect.  We leaned he is a music professor at the local university and does this to make some extra money.  experience.  We really enjoyed the ride through the canals, and the music. 

Below is a link to the few photos, plus a link to a short video of him playing during the gondola  ride.

Gondola Photos

Gondola Video

Burano

Fixed the photo link below.

After the guided walking tour in the morning, we joined a smaller group for a boat trip to the fishing village of Burano for a nice lunch and to see some handmade lace. The boat trip was very relaxing and the scenery really beautiful. The lunch was family style and excellent.

The houses in Burano were/are painted in distinctive bright colors to help the fishmen find their own house when returning at night in heavy fog.

Burano photos

Venice Walking Tour

Our formal walking tour of Venice was focused mostly on the palace of the former noble ruler of the Rebublic of Venice when it was an independent state, and the Basilica.  During the palace tour we also visited the dungeons under the palace, which was a little strange. Over the doorways to the Basilica were some very impressive mosaics.  We also visited a glass blowing showroom where they demonstrated the glass making techniques used for Murano glass.  No pictures allowed in thee, but it was very impressive.

Venice Walking Tour Photos

Arriving Venice

Thursday we left Florence by Eurostar train and arrived in the Venice train station just after noon.  Out tour host met us there and led us to the nearby docks (we were all pulling out own luggage for this short walk) where we left the luggage on a dock to be picked up and transported by boat to the hotel.  We traveled in two water taxis, which were very crowded and cramped.

The hotel is beautiful and is located just a few minutes walk from the Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square).  We settled in, had our arrival briefing, and then set out to explore on foot.  The weather was very cool and gloomy, making the photos very dull that day.  

After walking around St Mark's Square we set off for the art district to find an artist from whom one of Linda's bosses recently purchased a piece.  Our info was bad so we walked to an old address, then headed another direction and eventually found him.  From there we walked farther south to the water and found a nice outdoor restaurant for dinner and the sunset.

Below are a few favorite photos, and link to the arrival album for Venice is below as well.

Arriving Venice Photos

Pisa

On our free day in Florence we decided to take the train to Pisa.  This was not part of the tour and we wanted to see what was required to buy a train ticket for the local train and navigate to Pisa and back.  It worked out fine.

Pisa has little to offer other than the leaning tower, but now we can say we have seen it.

Pisa Photos

Florence Hotel

Our hotel in Florence was very traditional Italian and was very nice.  There were even some art reproductions in the room.

Florence Hotel

Florence

After a full and exhausting three days in Rome, we were ready to slow down in Florence.  That only partially happened as we still walked a lot in Florence and spent a lot of time on our feet.  Where Rome was about ancient ruins, Florence was primarily about art.  At least Florence is mostly level with very few hills, so that was an improvement for walking after Rome.

We arrived in Florence Monday via Eurostar train.  We did some exploring on our own and found a nice restaurant for dinner.  One of the bridges in Florence, the Ponte Vecchio, is quite famous for the elegant jewelry shops located on the bridge, so (of course) we had to see that.  There are some photos of that in the Florence photo album.  We also walked through the extensive outdoor market where the vendors have overrun the traditional vendors selling from storefronts.  Leather is particularly favored in Florence and there were more leather shops and vendors than you could visit in three days.

Tuesday morning was our organized walking tour which included visiting the Accademia Gallery where Michelangelo's David is displayed.  That was really the highlight of the walking tour as the statue of David is really magnificent in person.  It is also much bigger and taller than I thought, which was quite a surprise.  Unfortunately, you cannot take photos in the museum, so you will have to click here for photos and more information about the sculpture.

Tuesday afternoon we took the additional tour of the Uffizi Gallery, which contains an extensive and fantastic collection of artwork from the most famous Italian artists.  Our tour guide for the Uffizi was a very knowledgable young woman who gave us an overview Italian art history class in about 3 hours.  Because the Uffizi is organized chronologically, she showed us the progression of art techniques and styles over many centuries, from Medieval through the Renaissance.  It was really very interesting and she was fantastic.

Florence was not nearly as photogenic as the ruins and the sites in Rome, so I took fewer photos.  But, below are a few favorites, and the link to the full album is also below.

Florence Photo Album

Final Thoughts On Rome

Rome was a fun and educational experience.  It was also exhausting!  Our tour day started early with the Vatican tour, which was tiring and overwhelming itself, then we continued after a short break for lunch with the Catacombs and St Paul's Basilica.  Rome is built on 7 hills, and that is evident as most streets run either up or down a hill.  Few seem to be level.  We started walking the afternoon we arrived, we walked a lot the tour day, and we walked most of the following free day.  By the end of the three days we were worn out!

But overall we really enjoyed Rome and although we think we saw the significant sites, I know there are many we could yet visit another time.  We also had great food and wonderful dinners each night in Rome.  The second night we ate at a restaurant near the hotel recommended by the tour host, and I had the best lasagna I have ever eaten!  Linda agreed it was extraordinary and put to shame every other lasagna we had ever fixed or tried.  Our final dinner in Piazza Navona was terrific.

Below is a link to an album of miscellaneous photos from Rome that didn't fit anywhere else.  I have inserted a few favorites below.

Rome Misc Album

Piazza Navona

Our final activity in Rome was visiting the Piazza Navona.  This was again a recommendation from a member of the tour group and it was an excellent recommendation.  This piazza is long and rectangular and chariot races were supposedly held here in ancient Rome.  There is a huge fountain in the center of the piazza with two small fountains, one at each end of the piazza.  It is easy to see how races could have easily been held there.

Along one long side of the piazza are restaurants with large outside seating areas.  In the center of the piazza were scores of artists displaying their work.  Linda had a great time shopping there and ultimately purchased two paintings of Italian locations from our trip to remind us of what we have done.

This is also where we had our last dinner in Rome, and it was an excellent one.  It was the perfect way to finish 3 busy but great days in Rome.

Piazza Navona Album

The Pantheon

We almost missed this, but someone else in our group recommended it.  This is an amazing Basilica done in a huge round dome.  We made it in just a few minutes before they closed the entrance late Sunday afternoon.  Almost two thousand years after it was built, it's dome is still the worlds largest uneeinforced concrete dome.  It is amazing to see when you consider the time period in which it was built.  The portico is supported with eight huge Corinthiun columns and I cannot imagine how they were transported to the site and erected at that time.  Really remarkable.  

Below are a couple of select photos, and link to the full album is below.  I also captured a really good 360 degree panorama inside the Pantheon that you must see. That link is below as well.

Pantheon Photos

Panoramic inside the Pantheon

Obelisks of Rome

All throughout the Rome photos are obelisks, usually as a centerpiece of a square or piazza.  The obelisks were many times originated in ancient Egypt and were considered a pagan symbol. Either as gifts from a pharaoh, or later as spoils of war, obelisks came to Rome and were placed around the city.  When Christianity became a significant factor in Rome, the Church took control of many obelisks and topped them with a cross, sanctifying what had been a pagan symbol and converting it to a Christian symbol.  Look closely at the photos in the variuos Rome photo albums, and you can see the cross atop many of the obelisks.

Obelisks of Rome

The Basilica of Saint Paul

After the Catacombs we then stopped at The Basilica of Saint Paul, dedicated to the Apostle Paul.  It was built outside the wall protecting Rome, over the burial place of Paul. It is a beautiful church both inside and out and very worth seeing.  Inside, encased in a glass display, are the chains purported to have bound Paul during his imprisonment in Rome.  The history and more detail about this basilica is available here.  Below are a few select photos.  The full album link is below.

St Paul's Basilica

The Catacombs

Saturday afternoon we took an additional tour to the Catacombs and St Paul's Basilica.  We were not really familiar with the Catacombs until the tour, but they are actually cemeteries.  In ancient Rome they did not allow burials of the dead inside the walls surrounding the city, primarily for health reasons.  So all burial sites had to be outside the walls.  The terrain surrounding Rome is actually soft volcanic rock beneath the surface soil.  So they dug graves out of the soft volcanic rock, spaced along underground tunnels.  The graves were dug horizontally in the walls along the tunnel corridors.  The tunnels are tall enough I could stand and walk in them. 

The demand for burial graves was so large that gravediggers were a specific skill and "career", and they were able to dig down to multiple levels of graves with stairs dug out between the levels.  At the particular site we visited there were 4 usable levels, and a fifth level was started but not stable enough to use.

When families wanted to be buried together, and when they had the wealth to do so, entire rooms would be dug out of the tunnel corridors with graves then dug in the walls around the room.  

The tour included walking down to level one and around a small area.  It was interesting to see how small so many of the graves were dug.  The tour guide explained that many of the graves were for children because the mortality rate among children was vey high.

I have no photos of the Catacombs because they allow no photography.  So you can read more about them here.

Arrived Venice

Arrived in Venice early this afternoon and have been exploring. Now enjoying a wonderful dinner while overlooking the Canale Della Giudecca.

The Coliseum

The Coliseum is probably one of the most iconic symbols of the Roman Empire and is still a remarkable structure to tour.  Our same fantastic tour guide from the Vatican continued on with us to the Coliseum and the Forum.  Among the interesting things he discussed was that more recent investigation has determined that Christians were not likely sacrificed in the Coliseum.  They fought as gladiators and died fighting there, but the sacrificing of Christians was done in the Circus Maximus nearby.

What remains today of the Coliseum are the structural parts.  All of the decorative finishes are long gone.  The brick walls were plastered and then finished with decorative painting. The floors of the corridors and walkways we're covered with marble.  Seeing it today you have to use a lot of imagination to see it as it must have looked.

To read more about the Coliseum and it's history, click here.

The Forum is nearby and was a public marketplace and common gathering place for Romans.  It is a huge area, much larger than I had pictured. We walked the length of it and it was extremely interesting.  To learn more about the Forum, click here.

The entire photo album of the Coliseum and the Forum is quite good.  You can see it here.

The Vatican

Saturday was a full tour day in Rome.  First stop was the Vatican.  It was amazing and almost overwhelming as we felt that we were on overload at the end of the 3+ hour tour.  Our tour guide was fantastic and had an amazing amount of information at his disposal.  He talked and explained continuously throughout the tour.

To understand more about the Vaticann, read the description in Wikipedia here.  To see a detailed layout of Vatican City, click here.  I have inserted a few select photos below, but the full album is worth viewing.

Vatican Album

Mister Italian Pants

When we left Sorrento Friday morning, I decided to wear the new Italian jeans, loafers, and polo we had purchased the night before as that was easier than unpacking and repacking the suitcase. The jeans and polo were trimmer fitting than I normally buy as that is more the style here, and I didn't have much selection available in summer weight. Fall clothes were mostly out on the racks.

I ended up liking the look and feel of the Italian clothes so much that I have been wearing them to go out to dinner each night. Linda has started calling me Mister Italian Pants when we are going out in the evening. I think it's a compliment! Anyway, I am taking it that way.