Under the Tuscan Sun (Part 2)

Friday, 4 July 2014

I woke up with mixed feelings. We were booked on a tour of Tuscany for the day, and I was very excited, but at the same time I realised that our time in Italy was drawing to an end. We have had such a fantastic time and I really did not want to go home. But we were also feeling quite tired and my ankle, which I sprained quite badly in March, was playing up.

I got the girls out of bed, and after some Moka coffee, yoghurt, fruit and ham and cheese sandwiches, we were on our way to Stazioni di Firenze Santa Maria Novella, where we were to meet up with our tour group, under the ‘black clock on top of the main building’.

Once again, it was the meeting point for quite a few bus tours, but we eventually tracked down our group, managed to sign in and got onto the bus.

The girls are ready for the tour…

Our first stop was Pisa, which was more than an hour drive out of Florence so I settled in, caught up on some emails (work was starting again the next week) and just enjoyed driving through the Tuscan countryside.

We arrived in Pisa and walked to the Piazza dei Miracoli, which is actually a piazza situated almost outside the town, with the Pisa Cathedral, Pisa Baptistry and of course, the town’s main attraction, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It really is quite a sight. Unfortunately, entrance tickets to the cathedral were sold out, but we took loads of pictures, including the obligatory pictures trying to ‘hold up’ the tower.

With my girls in front of the leaning tower of Pisa

Panoramic view of Piazza dei Miracoli

Holding up the tower!

And just fooling around…

Stunning view with baptistry in front

As we were walking back towards the bus, it started drizzling. We had such fantastic weather all week, that I didn’t mind too much, but as we were dressed for a summer’s day, we were keen to get back on the bus.

The drizzle didn’t last too long, and by the time we arrived at our next stop, Vinci, the skies were clear and blue and we were back in action.

Vinci, close to the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci, is a beautiful little village surrounded by Florentine plains, mountains and stunning views. As you walk past the beautiful turreted castle of the Conti Guidi, there is a wooden representation of the Vitruvian Man, based on the drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. We visited the Leonardo Museum, a small museum filled with many of Leonardo’s drawings and with working models of his equipment and machinery, including building-site machinery, textile weaving equipment, mechanical clocks and flying equipment. Fascinating!

The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci in the town of Vinci

Anya in the Leonardo da Vinci museum in Vinci

Working models in the museum – Vinci

After the museum, we grabbed something small from one of the little cafe’s as we were told that we were going to have a late lunch, and just admired the views and town. I could easily imagine myself sitting down at one of the little open area tables, soaking up the sun, with a cappuccino or glass of prosecco!

The beautiful town of Vinci

Sitting on the stone walls of the town with the Tuscan countryside as backdrop

But we were off to the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci, just 3kms outside Vinci in the foothills of Montalbano, in the village of Anchiano. The girls were fascinated by the life-size hologram of Da Vinci retelling his life story. I was more interested in getting outside and taking in the sweeping views of the Tuscan countryside. It really is picture pretty, with vineyards as far as the eye can see and olive groves aplenty.

The house where Leonardo da Vinci was born

Leo’s house…

Soon, we were on our way again, this time en route to San Gimignano, where we were going to have lunch and a wine tasting.

We were booked for lunch at the Tenuta Torciano Winery, just about 9kms outside San Gimignano. The tour guide started telling us about the food that was going to be served on the bus, and we were definitely getting hungry!

Lunch at Torciana, San Gimignano

Starters were Tuscan salame, finochionna (a fennel seed flavoured salami), pecorino cheese and bruschetta, of course drizzled with their own olive oil. Starters were served with a delightful Vernaccia di San Gimignano. The winemaker was very entertaining and showed everyone how to taste the wine ‘properly’, right from how to transfer the glass from the left to the right hand and how to hold the stem of the glass between three fingers, swirling the glass and inserting most of your nose into the glass to smell the wine, before tasting.

Antipasti and vino!

The Vernaccia was followed by a Chianti (of course) and even a taste of their Chianti Classico. There were also a Bartolomeo Gold Medal, a Baldassare and a Cavaliere “Super Tuscan” and several other wines for tasting. The main course was a pasta with fresh tomato sauce, drizzled by their own special olio al tartufo. We also got to taste their balsamic vinegar (which was sweet and pungent) and Tuscan biscuit dipped in a sweet dessert wine to finish off with. We were given the opportunity to purchase some produce, and I bought truffle oil and a bottle of the Chianti Classico.

Our next stop was San Gimignano, and of course it was time for our daily gelato! San Gimignano is a small medieval town, also known as the Town of Fine Towers, because of its many medieval towers. You genuinely feel like you have been transported into another century as you enter the town. It is definitely one of the places that I have put on my list of ‘places to see again’. We got our gelato and strolled through the historical centre in awe. The little shops everywhere were very inviting and Pinocchio was to be found everywhere. Apparently the creator of Pinocchio hailed from Tuscany, a little bit of useless information that we found when we googled it, after seeing so many Pinocchio’s!

Views from San Gimignano

Stunning Tuscan countryside

The girls in the streets of San Gimignano

Gelato time!!

Beautiful piazza, San Gimignano

Couldn’t resist another snap… San Gimignano

And…Pinocchio!

Our next, and final stop for the day, was Siena. Our visit was the week after the Palio di Siena (or Il Palio), the famous horse race in the Piazza del Campo, and the town was decorated by flags of the different contrade or wards in the city.  The Piazza del Campo has been cleared but there were pictures depicting the scenes during the horse race and it didn’t take much to imagine the square filled with people, horses and flags, only the weekend before!

Photo’of the weekend race in Siena

And the Piazza as we saw it…Siena

Flags everywhere in Siena

We had a small walking tour with a local guide through the streets of Siena, which ended at the unfinished Siena Cathedral, which was originally intended to be the largest cathedral in the world. But in the mid fourteenth century, the town was hit by the Black Death which claimed almost 50% of its citizens, and the construction of the Cathedral was abandoned. The west facade, which was completed, is breathtaking, with its polychrome marble inlays everywhere, and gives a flavour of what was intended for the construction of the full cathedral.

The facade of the unfinished Cathedral, Siena

We were also fascinated by the many statues of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers who were raised by a she-wolf. Legend has it that Siena was established by Senius, the son of Remus, after Romulus found Rome. The she-wolf suckling the twins is widely regarded as the symbol of Siena.

Romulus and Remus in Siena

And another one in front of the Cathedral

Some people on the tour were staying in Siena for a light dinner, but we were on our way back to Florence. I also found out from my travel insurance that I would need to go and report the theft of my wallet, if I wanted to put a claim in for the stolen cash.

Anya with her brand new Siena bag…

This proved an experience on its own, as despite the presence of the polizia everywhere in Florence, the Polizia di Stato was a good 3.5kms from the train station in a district definitely NOT regarded as touristy. It was dark as we walked the streets of Florence in search of the police station and once again, I was very grateful for the help of Google maps, else I am not sure if we would have ever found it! After reporting the crime (which meant filling a manual form in duplicate and having it stamped by the attending officer), we tracked down the closest bus and took another circular bus route to the area where our apartment was located.

By now it was quite late already and we decided that we were going to have dinner at the Osteria De’Benci in the street below our apartment. I tried the Pappa al Pomodoro, a bread soup. The girls had Spaghetti Carbonara (of course). The restaurant is famous for its meat, SERVED BLOODY (this is written in capital letters on the menu…), but we were not really feeling like lots of (BLOODY) meat after the long day. A glass of Chianti for me did go off well, though. I am not sure about the bread soup though, I would have preferred more tomatoes and less bread, but it was good trying out something different.

It was time to go to bed again. Our last sleep in Florence, and I was feeling a bit nostalgic and ended up googling the prices of long term rentals in Florence. Maybe one day…

Saturday, 5 July 2014

Our last day in Florence was set aside for some shopping and a last bit of sightseeing in the historical city centre. However, we were having some problems with suitcases and started off our day buying 3 new suitcases and ‘disposing’ of our own. After a hearty breakfast of leftover carbonara, we packed our bags and left it at the entrance of the apartment and hit the streets.

We packed in a good dose of shopping until lunchtime and fell into the nearest and closest Trattoria for lunch. By now, it was time to top up Bianca’s savings account again, so I whipped out my iPad to transfer cash, but alas it wasn’t working. We quickly worked out that without a transfer we would not be able to pay for lunch at this place, so we left as inconspicuous as possible and I started phoning around to try and found out what was wrong. Eventually I was told that FNB online banking was down and that they did not know how long it was going to last. We were a bit stuck, as we worked out that we had about €35 in total left in Bianca’s account and we still had to get a taxi to the station, and last with what we had until the evening as our flight was only at 11:30pm.

The streets of historical Florence

Anya making friends in Florence

And goofing around…or is that Pinocchio’ing around??

In front of the Basilica Santa Croce

Leonardo da Vinci…this is not a statue, it is a street artist!

Last view of Ponte Vecchio, Florence

We managed to withdraw €20 and had some change left over after the taxi. Lunch was sandwiches from a supermarket and we could even squeeze in a couple of key rings as gifts for people we simply could not go home to empty handed. But that, alas, was the end of our shopping.

Thankfully, our transfer from the train station in Rome to the airport was booked and we had no other expenses, so we settled in for the long  trip home, via stations and airports (we flew via Addis Ababa on Ethiopean Airlines).

We were sad to leave Italy, and I am definitely planning on going back at some stage for a longer visit, but I don’t know if I will ever have the opportunity to visit Italy again with my girls, and in my heart I knew that despite the exhaustion that descended on us, that we would be able to look back on this trip and treasure the memories forever.

So, it is definitely goodbye and not farewell.

Who knows, maybe one day I will do my own ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ journey.

Arrivederci, Italy!

 

Under the Tuscan sun (part 1)

Wednesday, 2 July 2014

Our welcome gift!

After a busy morning in Venice, we settled in on the train for the trip to Florence. We were due to arrive in Florence at 16:30, which meant that we had a couple of hours to kill (and put our feet up). And I had to do some research on what to do and where to go for the next couple of days…

We arrived in Florence and took a taxi to our apartment, after drawing some cash for the balance of the apartment rental. This is one thing I noticed in Italy, cash is king!

Our apartment was small but very comfortable, and in the historic centre of Florence, very close to the Basilica of St Croce, the burial place of Michelangelo and Galileo. And on the table of the kitchenette, there was a complimentary bottle of vino, all set out. I felt very at home!

After a bit of a siesta and a shower, we were ready to hit the roads. The plan was to track down another recommendation for an ‘affordable, yet quality’ restaurant en route to the Piazzale de Michelangelo, which promised to have one of the most magnificent views over Florence. And I wanted to be there at sunset. Snap happy! The fact that the map books said that it was a bit of a walk up the hill (albeit worth it), was a fact that I chose to not divulge to the girls. We would deal with that when we got there…

We crossed the Arno at Ponte alle Grazie, with views of Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge with shops along it spanning the narrowest point of the Arno. We struggled a little to find Trattoria Bordino, which was clearly a local place, just as we love it. We had a lovely meal (which wasn’t quite budget, but it was still okay), and started making out way towards Piazzale Michelangelo. It was a bit of a walk up some steep steps, but the views were beautiful and we were clearly back in the touristy district, no need to consult google maps anymore!

Dinner fit for a king!

The girls on the steps leading to the Piazzale Michelangelo

Looking back…

At the top of the hill, we were rewarded with fantastic views over the city, and…a sunset musical concert! We had our daily gelato and were convinced to buy some prints from a street vendor who are from Africa somewhere. We settled on the steps to watch one of the most magnificent sunsets I have ever seen. Sweeping views over Florence, with the Duomo standing proud in the midst of red rooftop buildings, with the Arno snaking past in the foreground. We were listening to music, while the sky was painted all shades and colours of the rainbow.

Views from the Piazzale Michelangelo. With a sunset concert!

Beautiful Florence

Sunset over Florence

Florence, with the Arno and Ponte Vecchio

I was trying to juggle my camera and phone to try and take pictures, and before long my phone’s batteries were flat, so I popped it into my handbag and continued to take more pictures with my Canon. The girls wandered off, and when I turned around, I had a bit of a fright because my handbag was open and my phone was missing, but soon I spotted the girls with my phone…taking selfies in front of a replica statue of David. I scolded them for leaving everything like that, but couldn’t stay angry as the mood and atmosphere was magical.  As it was starting to turn dark, we decided to take a different route back home.

The girls in front of one of the many David replicas on Piazzale Michelangelo

Taking selfies….

We walked down the hill, constantly admiring the views, laughing and watching in awe as the lights of Florence were turned on, transforming the horizon into a kaleidoscope of lights. We walked along the Arno, crossing again at Ponte alle Grazie, and by now we were dragging our sore feet along, relieved that our apartment was only a hundred metres after the bridge.

The three girls with Florence in the background

The Florence skyline

Another snap en route

Walking home along the Arno

A statue about to walk into the Arno river….

Last view over the river, with Ponte Vecchio in the background

It was quite late when we arrived at our apartment and when Anya asked if she could go downstairs to get some cool drinks and water, I said yes.

“Where is your wallet?”, she asked.

“In my bag”, I replied.

But at the same time a hand of ice grabbed me. It was not there. And there was only one explanation. We have been pick pocketed.

For the next hour I was in a panic of note. I phoned South Africa on roaming to cancel my credit cards (both was in my wallet, of course). I spoke to my bank to try and see how we could arrange some urgent funds, and Owen Thumbiran from Investec was ultra helpful and said he could try and arrange a money transfer that we could pick up from a bank the next day. We went to bed, stressing a bit, but also positive that we would sort it out.

Before I turned off the lights, I posted a last picture of the sunset earlier and all of the sudden I was glad that we did not immediately discover the theft (which I am sure happened when I thought my phone was stolen), because it would have spoiled a magical evening.

Thursday, 3 July 2014

As I woke up, I had an idea and asked Bianca whether she had her savings debit card on her, which she did. She has not used it and we were unsure if it would even work, and there certainly were not much money on it. But I was able to transfer money instantly from my bank account to hers, so we decided to try it out and see.

We found a supermarket and loaded our basket with some goodies such as rolls, ham and cheese. We held our breath as Bianca offered her debit card at the till and did a little mini dance when the transaction went through.

We were still not sure if we would be able to draw cash, (and remember who the king is??) but at the very least we would be able to shop at supermarkets and feed ourselves for the next couple of days. We had a tour booked the next day and I had tickets to the Uffizi museum booked for that afternoon, so worst come to worst, we would have that…

I still had some coffee left from Rome and I googled the instructions on how to operate the little moka pot in the flat, and voila! We had an excellent breakfast of coffee, brioche with prosciutto and cheese, with yoghurts and fruit and set off towards the stations.

Another replica of David on the Piazza della Signoria

The Piazza della Repubblica

We went in search of a hop-on-hop-off tour on one of the very many sightseeing tour buses in the city, to save our feet a bit and which would hopefully be a bit cheaper than a city tour. On the way to the station, we passed an ATM and did the test. And lo and behold, it worked!!

We had some precious cash in our hands again. And it seemed that I did not have a limit to transfer money to Bianca’s savings account, so it appeared that we were sorted. Owen, from Investec, sent me an email and told me that he could arrange a money transfer but at a significant expense, but I told him I thought we would be okay, and thanked him for his effort.

We bought tickets for a City Sightseeing tour and were off. It was quite a relief to be able to just sit back and listen to the running commentary on the city of Florence. Buses are not allowed in the historical city centre, so we entered the circle route that surrounds the city. I was keen to go and visit the Palazzo Pitti, which featured in Dan Brown’s Inferno and where he sneaked through the Boboli gardens. We bought tickets and entered the palace, the house of the Medici family for centuries.

The girls in front of the Pitti Palace

We visited the treasure rooms and bought take aways which we had in the gardens. Our feet were feeling the effect of constant walking for days on end, so we started making our way back to the bus stop, but not before buying our daily gelato!!

Treasure rooms inside the Pitti Palace

Views over Florence from the Boboli gardens

We stretched out in the bus for a while and circled the city before getting off at the stop closest to our apartment for a short rest, before our Uffizi visit at 3:30. The apartment was lovely and cool and we felt a bit more refreshed after the rest.

The Uffizi Gallery was walking distance from our apartment and we were thankful that we had bought our tickets online before we left home, as the queues were reminiscent of the queues at some of the sights in Rome! We rented audio guides and entered this museum, which houses one of the largest collections of medieval and renaissance art.

The Botticelli room was a highlight, with the Birth of Venus and the La Primavera. Another highlight was the restored Tribuna room, the 16th century parlour built for Francesco I de’ Medici as a gallery. You cannot walk through this room, but instead peer in through the doors and just savour the beauty. I could imagine spending days in the gallery, were it not for the fact that I was barely able to feel my feet anymore, they were so sore.Anya was leisurely strolling through the rooms, listening to EVERY set of commentary and I had to reign her in and call it THE END. I just could not stand on my feet anymore.

La Primavera in the Botticelli room, Uffizi Gallery

The Tribuna room, Uffizi Gallery

The Sleeping Ariadne, the Medici copy of the Hellenistic third century BC sculpture, at the Uffizi

We left the gallery, searching for a reasonable priced place to sit and eat. The original plan was to get food from the Supermarket and eat at the apartment, but we needed to rest our feet and pizza for dinner sounded much better at that stage. We found a Trattoria and after about 15min I found my feet again! They were dangling at the end of legs that felt like pins and needles stumps.

But, there is nothing that a glass of vino, pizza and some rest cannot restore and afterwards, we walked towards the Duomo, or Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, and admired the architecture, with its marble panels.  The picture really don’t do it justice!! Unfortunately, we were too late to enter the Duomo, but vowed to return later.

The Duomo close up….stunning architecture!

We were quite tired by now, not helped on by the cobbled streets of Florence, and decided to head back home. We had a tour of the Florence countryside booked for the next day and we were very excited.

But, before then it was time for some well deserved rest after a couple of crazy days…

For the last (I know, really!) post of the trip follow this link…

 

A day in Venice

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.” ~ Truman Capote

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

We woke up in Rome (see previous post), ready to pack and catch a train to Venice. We organised a taxi to collect us at the apartment and take us to the station, as there was no way we were dragging 4 suitcases through the streets of Rome again to do the 2km trip to the station.  The train journey was a bit more than three and a half hours, and we were looking forward to putting our feet up and relaxing a bit.

Anya and I watched ‘The Tourist’ as part of our pre-trip movie preparation, and we were quite excited to arrive at the same Venezia Santa Lucia Station where Johnny Depp so cleverly fooled the polizia into thinking he was not the sought after thief Pearce, travelling with Elise, but rather just Frank, an innocent maths teacher. Of course, that’s where the similarities ended, as we were definitely not staying at the Hotel Danieli! Still, arriving on the platform, I couldn’t help imagining policemen hiding behind the pillars…

We bought Vaparetto passes for 24 hours, which would enable us to use the water buses for the next day. A single fair is a staggering €7, so the €20 fee for 24 hours would be worth our while since we were planning on using the vaparetto at least 4 times. Allora, we made our way to the hotel, which was just across the bridge. Lugging our suitcases over the stairs, purposefully avoiding the offers by all the hordes of porters at the ready, because I did not want to haggle over fees for carrying our suitcases for 500 metres. I have been warned off so much about how expensive Venice as, that I was over-conscious about costs.

We checked in and decided to try and find some lunch close by, as we had a walking tour booked at 3:45. A quick search on Tripadvisor, and I found the reference to Bacareto Da Lele, an affordable place that promised to serve ‘some of the best sandwiches in Italy, for ridiculously cheap’. My type of place. And we were not disappointed. It is not a restaurant, but rather just a corner shop where you can buy a panini with delicious fillings and a tiny glass of vino or prosecco for about €1 each. We bought 6 paninis, a glass of prosecco and 2 cooldrinks for about €8!

Bacareto da Lele in the background

My kind of lunch…on the steps of the piazza

Beautiful Venice

Once we were physically rejuvenated, we were ready to tackle the vaparetto. There are 2 lines, a quick line (only stopping at some of the stops) and a slow line (that stops at every stop along the route).  We took the ‘quick’ line 2 from the train station to Piazza San Marco. We ticked our names off the list for the walking tour (booked with Local Venice tours) and strolled through along the many outdoor shops selling souvenirs of every kind.

The walking tour was excellent and took us to places in Venice that we may not have otherwise seen, like the opera house of Teatro La Fenice (The Phoenix), which theatre has been rebuilt several times after it was destroyed by fire (the phoenix rising from the ashes). The tour guide (whose name, I am afraid to say, I cannot remember) recommended a visit to the theatre. I can imagine it will be a magical experience to see an opera production there…

Anya getting ready for the tour…

Teatro La Fenice

On the way to the Teatro, we walked past Harry’s Bar, which featured in one Giada de Laurentiis episode, famous for inventing the Bellini and Carpaccio. One of its most famous patrons, Hemingway, is said to have spent a lot of time at this bar in 1949 – 1950, and mentions the bar several times in “Over the River and into the Trees”. Alas, we just walked past, but who knows, one day I may go back and try their world famous grilled cheese sandwich (which Giada made in her cooking show).

Narrow streets in Venice…

We walked along the Campo Sant’Angelo, with Venice’s own leaning tower and visited the Scala del Bovolo, a complex spiral staircase in a little enclosed garden of the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. We walked along many little streets, crossed little bridges and admired the many historical buildings. I was fascinated to find out that there are often little tremors and quakes and that many of the buildings have to ‘rebalance’ themselves on a regular basis. We finally ended up on the middle of the large inverted ‘S’ that is the Grand Canal, with a fantastic view over the Rialto Bridge, which was finished in 1591, and is the oldest bridge over the Grand Canal.

Venice’s own leaning tower

Old water fountain on the Campo Sant’Angelo

Anya taking a break in the Campo San Beneto

Gothic windows of the Palazzo Fortuny, on the Campo San Beneto

Typical window boxes

The spiral staircase on the Scala del Bovolo

View of the Rialto Bridge

We walked back to the starting point of our tour, where a few Gondola’s were waiting to take us on a 35-minute trip along the many water streets of Venice. It was a fantastic experience. The gondoliers are very experienced and ours was certainly very friendly, even though we were not serenaded…The many Gondolas are something to experience on its own. With the striped shirt gondoliers, they are a part and parcel of Venice that can be recognised everywhere.

Ready for our Gondola ride

The streets of Venice

Taking a picture of Bianca taking a picture…

After the tour ended, it was time for our daily gelato! I was very thirsty, so decided to skip on the gelato in favour of a granita but the girls kept up the intent to have gelato every day! Our feet were quite tired, and we sat down on the steps facing the Doge’s palace.

Gelato time…on Piazza San Marco

Afterwards, we walked along the Riva degli Schiavoni, admiring the Bridge of Sighs and then just followed the general direction of the Rialto Bridge, stopping often at all the little shops along the route, buying a few touristy things. We did (on at least one occasion) survey our surroundings and exclaimed that we were going in circles, but Google maps are fantastic and eventually we made our way to the Rialto Bridge.

We crossed the bridge (stopping for a couple of pictures) and found a little Trattoria on the other side of the bridge where we could have dinner. The girls had pizzas (Anya managed to find a pizza with pineapple or ananas) and we debated the meaning of the word prego (which we realised cannot mean ONLY ‘a pleasure’ as the waiter showed us our table with the expression ‘Prego’ as well…).

View of the bridge of Sighs

The girls on one of the many small bridges

Rialto bridge, Venice

View from the Rialto Bridge

After dinner, we walked back across the river just in time to view the most magnificent sunset. We caught the vaparetto to our hotel and had an early evening.

Sunset view from the Rialto Bridge

The next morning after breakfast, we packed our bags and boarded the vaparetto in the direction of San Marco again. I had pre-booked tickets for Saint Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s palace. Which was a good thing, because the queues were VERY long. Even the queues getting onto the vaparetto was long, and we missed the first bus because we retreated to seats at the back of the waiting area and when the vaparetto arrived, it filled up quickly and we had to wait for the next bus. We had limited time, as we needed to catch a train to Florence that afternoon, so we could kick ourselves.

Crypt in Basilica di San Marco

San Marco’s is really something extraordinary. The only unfortunate thing is that the entrance ticket is just that. An entrance ticket. Anything extra you want to see inside the Basilica is extra. But this was Venice. So, we retreated from the Basilica and made our way to the Doge’s palace. By now, both girls (and I) were a bit tired of walking, but we pushed through some of the awesome rooms, eventually crossing the Bridge of Sighs into the prison, looking out the little windows of the bridge onto the view that gave the bridge its name.

Gilded ceilings in the Doge’s palace

Views from the Doge’s palace

The large Ballroom in the Doge’s palace

The Bridge of Sighs

After our visit to the Doge’s palace, we started making out way back to the Rialto Bridge and the market, where I was hoping we could get something to eat. We took the vaparetto again to the Rialto Bridge, crossed the bridge (this time all the shops along the bridge were open, which was quite a sight). We found another little panini and vino shop, similar to Bacareto Da Lele, although not quite the same. My sandwich with truffle butter was delicious, but the girls did not quite appreciate the artichokes that much.

Views from Piazza San Marco

And, unfortunately that also signalled the end of our short but sweet visit to Venice. There were sooo many things we did not get to do and see. I have been to Venice many years ago and would have loved to take the girls to Merano island to see how they blow traditional Venetian glass. And then there are the islands of Burano with their multi coloured houses and beautiful linen. But I also itched to get into some of the lovely museums and galleries that Venice has. But, in reality, you can never do all that in a short visit. I, once again, vowed that I will definitely go back one day, for a longer period.

As we boarded our train to Florence, I reflected on our Venice visit. Venice was not part of the original plan, not because I did not want to go there, but because we only had a week. On recommendation of my friend, Annie, I decided to cut out a day from Florence and squeeze in a short trip to Venice. And I am so happy I did. Even the short trip was a dream come true for the girls and has reminded me why Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Arrivederci, Venezia!!

 

A Roman holiday (Part 3)

Our last day in Rome… (View part 2 here)

Monday, 28 June 2014

A bit tight, but doable…

“We are going to the Vatican” is the first thought that went through my mind when I woke up.

If I thought I was excited the day before, I ain’t seen nothing yet. We bought some coffee, yoghurt and muesli the day before, because we knew we would need to leave the flat early on Monday morning to be at the Vatican by 8:45am. I booked a tour (one of the few tours I booked in advance) because I was scared that I would get completely lost in the Vatican and miss half of what I was supposed to see. If only I had known…

I investigated the different routes to the Vatican from our location and settled on the route with the least amount of walking. This meant; you guessed it; the famed route 492 bus, which ends up pretty close to the Vatican. And the bus was on time. A bonus.

Unfortunately, Google maps was not as reliable as I thought and by the time we approached the Piazza Venezia, I realised that we were not going to arrive at the destination at 8:44am, which would have given us time to walk the last 270m, and still be at the meeting place close enough to 8:45. Nope, it was more likely to be a sprint, IF we were on time at all.

Franzcesca and the important orange flag..

It was already after 8:55am when bus stopped at the designated stop and we were running. Of course, the streets were bustling and there were people on every corner, asking “Vatican tickets?”. I was tempted to say “If you don’t get out of my way NOW, our Vatican tickets will be worthless”, but that would have been rude (and wasted time). Checking behind me to ensure the girls were still with me, we steamed into the spot where we were supposed to meet our guide, realising immediately that this is the place where ALL guides meet their groups.

Eventually, we tracked down Franzcesca, who was our guide for the morning. We were each issued a two-way radio, which crackled every time Franzcesca spoke, but we were on our way to enter the Vatican Museums (along with thousands of other tourists, of course). A dream come true. With bated breath, we stood in the ‘fast track’ queue and entered the Vatican Museums. The kids had to be vetted as they pay a discounted price, but soon we were on our way.

We spent a bit of time outside while Franzcesca explained the different artworks we would encounter in the Sistene Chapel, where we would not be allowed to linger or talk. I gained a lot of respect for Michelangelo, who seemed to have had a bit of an artist temperament as well.

The girls in front of the entrance to the Vatican Museums

Look what we have 🙂

Outside the museum entrance

The girls waiting to go inside

The stairs leading up to where we started our museum visit

Franszesca was very knowledgeable and as we walked up the impressive staircase and entered the first room upstairs, I silently patted myself on the back for my choice of tour booked.

The second room was filled with the most magnificent carpets on the wall, stretching from the ceiling to the floor and I was trying my utmost to take some proper pictures, when I heard Franzcesca saying, “And we move along”. I quickly snapped my picture, and started walking towards the crowd (which engulfed me). I couldn’t immediately see Franzcesca, who had an orange flag (meant to distinguish her from the proliferation of multicoloured umbrellas and flags of all the different tour groups). I could not see her anywhere. “Maybe they are a bit ahead”, I thought. I heard her speaking about moving through the doors towards the next room, and had a bit of a panic attack.

The tapestries are replicas of the originals. Stunning!

The ceiling of the Gallery of the Tapestries

The next doors were a little way ahead of me, so I rushed forward, pushing people aside with “Scusi“. I walked through the next set of doors into a room filled with these life size maps and a frescoed ceiling, and was tempted to stop and take pictures, but by now I was really worried that I am going to lose my group, so I pushed ahead. The next moment the two-way radio went silent. No crackled Franzcesca, nothing. Dead.

This could only mean one thing (or two things). Either, I have walked past the group and out of their range, or they are too far ahead of me. Which put me in a predicament. If I pushed ahead, and they were behind me, I would lengthen the gap between us. On the other hand, if they were ahead of me, I risked falling even further behind if I went back.

The ceiling of the Gallery of maps

I started walking back towards the entrance of the map room, hoping that the crackle of Franzcesca’s voice would start in my ear again, but after pushing against the crowds for a little while, I decided that there was nothing behind me. Did I not look out for the orange flag as I walked past all these people? So, they must be ahead. I turned around and started pushing ahead, all the while listening for the tell-tale sign of the crackling two-way radio to give away their position. Nothing. Now, I really started to panic. Where are they? Which direction should I search?

My heart was pounding and I kept wondering what the kids would do when they could not find me? I pushed ahead with some more speed. But the two-way radio kept its silence. I looked around for a friendly guard, preferably English speaking, who could assist me, but I knew it was hopeless, so I pushed ahead. I knew that at some stage we would reach the Sistene Chapel, and worst case scenario, I could wait there.

Rushing through rooms filled with priceless treasures, artefacts, paintings and sculptures, I could only think of two things, how my kids would react when they couldn’t find me and wishing the two-way radio to crackle in my ear. At one stage, I stopped and decided I was going to try and SMS Bianca. I knew she did not have wifi, and her roaming was not activated, but in most likelihood, she should be able to receive a SMS. But, it showed as undeliverable. I tried to think logically and tried to phone the number of the tour group on my tour confirmation, but there was no answer.

I stopped a guard and told him I lost my tour group. His solution, go towards the Sistene Chapel, you will catch up with them there. So, there was nothing else to do. I snapped a quick picture of a wooden structure which looked like a sarcophagus to me, and entered the steps leading towards the Sistene Chapel.

A quick snap of something which looked like a sarchophagus

Steps after steps, stairs upon stairs, the crowd pushed along. Finally, we entered the chapel. I looked up at Michelangelo’s wonder, but could not appreciate it. I rushed towards the back of the room, trying to spot the orange flag but to no avail. It finally dawned on me that I must have rushed far ahead of the group. My phone started ringing, but it was noisy and I only realised too late. A South African number, maybe the South African couple who were also included in the group? I tried to return the call, but there was no answer.

The next moment my phone pinged. It was Bianca “Where are you?”. I answered that I was in the Sistene Chapel and she replied “You went too far ahead”. Yeah right. She said I should wait there, they are on their way. She sounded all grown up and mature. While I was panicking.

I decided to move back towards the front of the chapel and try and find a seat to wait. I finally found a seat, and looked up. I know Michelangelo was a sculpture artist first, but man oh man, could he paint. I stared at the ceiling, while watching the crowd. There were policemen patrolling the chapel, directing the crowds towards the right, and when that area filled up too much, they would redirect the crowd towards the left. All the while they were shouting “No pictures” and “Silenzio!“. In spite of my hysteria (or maybe because of it), I chuckled to myself. Imagine having a job like that. But at least now I was sitting down, and waiting.

A quick (and illegal) snap of the ceiling of the Sistene chapel

I didn’t know where my kids were (exactly) but they were behind me and they were on their way. I waited for 40 minutes, I kid you not. I could have walked all the way back to the entrance and back, I reckoned!

But the next moment, a sound sweeter than anything I could imagine came crackling through my two-way radio. Franzcesca!! A few minutes later they emerged. Hugs and kisses, none more relieved as those from Franzcesca, who told me she was going to take my kids home with her if I didn’t show up. Not sure if she thought I was playing a Hansel and Grethel trick on her, but we were reunited and come hell or high water, I was not going to lose them again!!

Some of the pics Bianca took in the Vatican Museums

Another of Bianca’s pics

And another

We followed the crowd through the door and outside where we had to wait to enter St Peter’s Basilica. What a fantastic view! It was a clear, beautiful summers day and the piazza just stretched out towards the horizon.

Reunited – waiting to enter the Basilica

Views over St Peter’s square from the Basilica entrance

Anya resting her feet in front of this impressive door

Upon entering the Basilica, I thought for a moment that I had lost the group AGAIN (and only a donkey bumps his head twice??), but I quickly found them. The basilica is a work of art. And big. Apparently the largest church in the world. There is a display in the middle of the church indicating the relative size of many other churches in the world to the Basilica. Shaped like a large cross, it is 220 metres in length and 150 metres across. The nave is 46 metres high.

Inside St Peter’s Basilica – magnico!

One of the many statues dedicated to one of the popes (Google search says it is Statue of St Peter of Alcantara)

Gilded domes and pillars

The inside view of the fames St Peter’s dome

The girls in front of the altar by Bernini

Statue of St Andrew inside St Peter’s Basilica

Michelangelo’s Pieta (Bianca’s picture)

The girls and I inside St Peter’s Basilica

After finishing off the tour, we descended into the tombs, but couldn’t locate St Peter’s tomb and our feet were literally killing us. And to be killed in a tomb is just scary, so we left the tombs and entered into the sunlight. Onto Piazza S. Pietro, with its giant obelisk representing a huge sundial, we emerged and I was sad to leave. I kept turning back like Lot’s wife, not wanting to miss the last view of St Peter’s Basilica.

The girls outside the Basilica in St Peter’s square

Beautiful view from St Peter’s square

Last snap of St Peter’s square with the obelisk in the front and the Basilica in the background

Ignoring the guidebooks’ advice to avoid any restaurants around the Vatican, we popped into the closest and cheapest (which is all relative) pizzeria outside the Vatican walls. Afterwards, we took the Metro or underground back to Termini station, and tried to find the closest bus to our apartment in vain (it was a 2km walk back after all!!). Eventually we found a bus (about halfway to the apartment), but it was better than nothing.

It was time for a siesta again, before we go out to spend the last night in Rome.

Around 5pm, we ventured onto the streets of Rome again, walked to the station and took the Metro towards the Baths of Caracalla. We were all very keen to see the baths, but unfortunately they were closed, so we stopped at the Circo Massimo stop.

Unfortunately, there was not much to see at the Circus Maximus, but the views over Rome were beautiful. We walked towards the city. and tried to locate the ‘La Bocca della Verita’ or the ‘Mouth of Truth’ which featured in Roman Holiday, which Anya and I dutifully watched before we departed on our own Roman adventure.

The girls in front of the Circus Maximus with the Hipodrome in the background

Bocca della Verita (mouth of truth) – Bianca’s picture

We tracked down the sculpture, but were spared having to test it, as it was closed. We could, however, snap a picture through the gates. Turning our backs upon the famed lion, we faced the Temple of Hercules Victor, which is considered to have been a temple of Vesta.

Fountain of the Tritons in Piazza Bocca della Verita – Bianca’s picture

Temple of Vesta in Piazza Bocca della Verita

Walking uphill towards the Tiber river, we spotted the Isola Tiberna, an island in the Tiber river. We walked towards the Theatre of Marcellus, an ancient Roman open-aired theatre. The kids were now complaining about being hungry, but I wanted to push towards the Campo de Fiori, through the ancient Jewish ghetto.

Finally we found a little Trattoria and I had the most delicious seafood pasta, while Anya devoured a pizza and Bianca a Carbonara. This was, of course, rounded off with some prosecco and Fanta Orange.

Theatre of Marcellus

But first, let me take a selfie (all selfies are Bianca’s photos. She’s an expert!)

Anya lighting a candle inside Chiesa di Santa Maria in Portico

Inside Chiesa di Santa Maria in Portico (Bianca’s picture)

After dinner, we took a leisurely stroll towards the Campo de Fiori (in all honesty, the Campo de Fiori was not quite en route to the bus stop, but if I have the maps, then the kids wouldn’t know???) and then back towards the Tiber river in search of the closest and most convenient route back to the flat (it was route 71, of course!!).

The streets were beautiful, and somehow felt a little bit like we were off the main tourist routes. We enjoyed our daily gelato and savoured the experience. We were sad to be leaving Rome early the next day, but overwhelmed by the experience, and terribly excited about the next stop on our tour, Venice.

Anya digging into her Pizza (with loads of ham!)

Gelato time in Campo de Fiori

And some evening entertainment

Evening descends in Via Giulia on the Jewish district

Fountain of the Mask in Via Giulio

Evening strollers on the Ponte Sisto foot bridge

View of Tiber river from Ponte Sisto (Bianca’s picture)

The dome of St Peter’s Basilica from Ponte Sisto

That evening, we all slept like logs, knowing that we have probably seen as much of Rome as you could see in three days, and with lots of stories to tell, amongst which about being part of the lost and found in the Vatican.

Rome has truly made a lifelong impression on me, and I vowed to be back one day, for more than 3 days…

Next up…Venice in a day!