Italy: Florence -->Bologna --> Venice

Hello everyone!

I know it is not so long since you heard from us, however we had so many pictures of Italy that we really had to break it up to keep from breaking the blog with a photo overload.

After seeing the wonders of the Vatican we hopped on the train and headed towards Tuscany. We stayed in a the little medieval hill town of Siena just a short train ride from the center of Florence.  we arrived late, but thankfully the local taxi driver (yes there was just one and his name was Fabrizio) was able to pick us up.  Here is a view of the town from the train station:

We got to our hotel and were welcomed by a very helpful staff and a warm and cheery room.

The Villa we were staying it was about a 2 mile walk from the train station, but worth every step.

We went and grabbed some dinner at the hotel's restaurant that was in the big villa on the top of the hill.

We got some amazing food and amazing wine in a beautiful restaurant. Welcome to Tuscany.

The next day we hoofed it down to the train station, but the walk was beautiful so we didn't mind it too much.  Plus, after Nepal what is 2 miles?

We made it safe to Florence and checked out the main cathedral in Florence, which is made out of multicolored marble which I have never seen on the outside of a cathedral before.  Very unusual.

It was pretty inside too.

We also went to the gallery where a lot of Michelangelo's work is, including his statue of David.

The next day it had turned kind of rainy but the hotel loaned us some umbrellas which made us feel quite fancy.  Here I am like a million dollar trooper, trying hard to look like Gary Cooper.  I don't think it worked; maybe if I had some spats.

We found this tower, but it was falling down!  Don't worry, I was there to hold it up.

I also reserved a museum and factory tour at the Ducati plant in Bologna, and Grace was very supportive as I geeked my way through it.  I took way too many pictures, but I wont bore you with too many.

They had several MotoGP bikes that raced in the Grand Prix over the years.  Each bike is worth about $500,000 if you don't count all the research and development that went into them.  VERY COOL.

Then with our time in Tuscany drawing to a close, we packed up and took one last jaunt through the countryside.

I will certainly miss the views of rolling hills covered in vineyards and olive groves.

We caught the train and headed north to Venice.  Its only about 2 hours via train from Florence S.M.N. (Santa Maria Novella) train station to Venice.  I am really gonna miss the trains when we get back to the States.

We took the water bus to our hotel.  The view was only so so.  ;)

This was our hotel, about 5 min from the Grand Canal and Saint Mark's square

We walked around as it got dark.  It really is a pretty city.

Grace did some window shopping.  The streets were all quiet, without cars and scooters and buses. Just the chatter of people walking by and the hum of boats in the canals.  It was like walking on a movie set.

The next day we walked around the city.  The canals...

The narrow streets and bridges..

We also toured the Doge's Palace, armory, and prison.  Not sure what this guy's problem was...

The word of the day was: Opulence

Everything was very ornate and almost every space was used for some sort of decoration.

There was an extensive collection of documents, maps, and treaties on display which were very interesting. This is a extremely detailed hand-drawn map of Europe, complete with minute city names.

Also I just want to point out that we have been lied to all these years.  Here is solid proof that unicorns DID get on the ark.  What happened after that?!  Did Voldemort finish off the last of them?  Will we ever know?

Then we went to the armory, which was mind blowing with the collection of actual weapons created way back when.  It was amazing to see the workmanship and sometimes the lack of it.

They were displayed in a very impressive way.  The sword smiths had their work cut out for them with all these weapons.

There were SO MANY swords and pikes and war hammers etc etc...

And there were some rather... unexpected things.  This is a wheel-lock action multi barrel revolving "machine" gun.  The barrels are all twist damascus.

A close up of different gun.  The machine gun was almost impossible to photograph due to the glare on the case.

Then we went down to see the prisons.  Sadly I took a wrong turn and got thrown in...

The doors were so short!

Then we escaped into the sweet sweet sunlight of freedom.  We exercised our freedom to roam the city once more.

The basilica was beautiful as the sun went down, captured against the cloudless sky.

Also this is the look of resignation and long suffering.  I guess having a seagull sit on your head will do that to you.  By the way, the seagulls in Venice are evil.

We loved our time in Venice but it was quite expensive and so we caught the water bus back to the train station, then the train to Trieste, then a bus through Slovenia to Rijeka Croatia, where we would take the train to Split, but that will have to wait till next time.

Take care everyone!

Italy: Naples --> Rome

Hello Everyone!

We finally have another update, this time from Italy!  We took the ferry from Corfu overnight to Bari Italy then took the train to Napoli (thats Naples) got in late, with nowhere to stay but Grace used her reservation wizardry and found an amazing deal on a hotel walking distance from a train station.  She is amazing.

The next day we took the train into the middle of Naples, and then took the funicular up to the top of the hill for the view and the Certosa di San Martino; an old monastery converted to a museum at the top of the hill near the Castel Sant'elmo.


The view was worth it.

The chapel in the museum was amazing.  Such vibrant colors.

The ceiling was particularly amazing.  It is impressive to see how well the building was designed to use the natural light to show off the ceiling and yet at the same time illuminate the whole church.  We don't decorate like this anymore...

They had extensive collections of nativity scene figures in one of the galleries...

Also a couple very large carriages that were immaculately preserved.  The leather harnesses were still intact, and the gold details on the body of the carriage were impressive.

They also had several boats there.  This one was for royalty.  

Its really the little details that matter...

The next day we took a trip to Pompeii which is only about a 30 min train ride.  We found it odd that you could see Mount Vesuvius from Naples, but was relatively unharmed while Pompeii was almost completely obliterated.

We saw the famous mural tile floor warning "beware of dog"

As well as the large floor mural depicting Alexander the Great, who was a visitor in this house.

The frescos were also very amazing and very well preserved especially seeing as they were painted close to 2000 years ago.   The floors were stunning.

Sadly due to it being off-season a good many places were closed for renovation or preservation, but I am not sure the sign was very clear...

We got to sit where Pomeiian citizens sat to watch a play.  Odd to think about being in a place with so much history, that people we know so much, and yet so little about were right were we were, so long ago, seeing the same thing.  I wish I could see what it was like before it was a crumbling ruin that a volcano half destroyed, but yet I am awed by the fact that it is still here for us to enjoy.

After spending a few days in Naples, we took a train north to Rome.  We were walking distance from the Colosseum, so after checking in we walked down there to get some pictures, see the sights, and of course... Gelato.

Also, our building had an elevator, but it was really old.  We enjoyed it a lot.  Too much perhaps.

Then with a fresh day ahead of us we went down and got into the Colosseum.   Grace might have gotten a little carried away with the spirit of things watching people vie for the best photo spots...

The amount of information posted about what we were seeing was very scant and what there was, was in Italian.  However that didn't stop us from enjoying the scenery.

Grace was a huge fan of this ancient stone flower as you can see...

We went and found the Trevi Fountain, but as it was off season it was covered in scaffolding while it was kept clean and in good shape.  Kind of a bummer for us though...

The architecture is still beautiful, even if it isn't the famous stuff you have seen pictures of before.

The next day we had reserved tickets to go see the vatican so as to avoid the two hour long line, but on the way to vatican I got my wallet stollen, and so we got to spend the day filing a police report and canceling credit cards, and trying to get new ones.  However CapitalOne really came through and got us a new card the NEXT DAY.

So we went the next day and stood in line for two hours (our tickets had a time limit on them).  It didn't bother me at all to be surrounded by a zillion potential pickpockets...  (I have my eye on you big guy...)

Two hours later (yes it literally took that long) we were in!  Worth it!

A lot of the ceilings were painted to look like inset stone-carvings.  The attention to the lighting and shading was impressive, and the colors were really unique.  A picture will never capture it; you just have to go see it for yourself.

here is a little closer picture...

Here are some real sculptures... There were so many, but for having such a strictly modest dress code, there was an awful lot of nudity in the Vatican, even if it was lifeless nudity. 

I've heard that this painting is pretty famous...

Even the floors were decorated...

And the archways... (sorry for the blurriness)

Sadly we were not able to take pictures of the Sistine Chapel (people did it anyway) Photography is strictly forbidden; as are hats, sleeveless tops and dresses shorter than the knee (on anyone, not just the ladies... nobody wants to see that guys... wear some pants!)  However, the ceilings and domes were all beautifully painted.

After seeing the vatican, we picked up our bags, and headed north towards Tuscany.

These pictures can never convey how amazing these sights and sounds and smells are.  In short... you need to some see these things for yourself.
(but more pictures will be coming soon)