This time though, my friends, it was different. I went to Italy completely as a tourist, so Bunny, I know you will be glad to know I did visit the churches and museums (some of them not all of course, you need to visit 16 churches a day for a full calendar year to see all the churches in Rome only) and not many bars. I couldn’t get off the food part though. So, anyways, here it is by cities!
ROMA
I did not know what to expect from Rome, maybe some ruins, but maybe the same as most big cities I have been around Europe. After all most of them do have many things in common, at least for me. Not Rome, I loved Rome! History is literally built everywhere in the city. The very first landmark I went to see was the Coliseum. A magnificent stadium built entirely of rock that dates for about 2000 years ago. It is massive, it is impressive, it is hard for me to really fathom myself there back in the day and see that place working. Too bad it is too crumbled up to be still of use. Next to it is the Arco di Constantino, pretty big arch resembling the Arc of Triumph. Then you walk down the Via del Fori Imperiali to reach the monument to Vittorio Emanuele. Huge white-marbled building with a bronze statue of Vittorio in front and a grotesque Italian flag waving in the wind. Pretty but importantly powerful. Right across the street form there the Via del Corso begins, which is the main street in downtown Rome that carries all the big fashion name stores. I walked by very quick as you all may imagine. I can tell you thought that the color of next season is plum purple. Next is the Fontana di Trevi. I am running low of new words to describe the magnificence of the different monuments I saw… the Fontana is a fountain, huge, big, beautiful, with different marble statues all over it. Really beautiful. There the tradition is to throw a coin behind your shoulder into the fountain.. Which I did, one item on the list scratched. Then I went walked through the Templo Adriano, where all that was left from “back in the day” is this front of the building resembling greek columns. A little down the street is the Parthenon, a circular burial church with a big dome. The dome though was open at the very top and never closes. If it rains there are holes in the floor that drain the water. Further west is the Piazza Navona, which is long and slim, like a horse track of some sort. There artists and painters and musicians stand on the street offering their services. Around the Piazza there is plenty of my beloved cobblestone streets and alleyways, all full of little restaurants. Many of them don’t look good at all, but from all Italy, the best food I had was around Piazza Navona, by far. Good pizza and the best Spaghetti a la Vongole I had in the whole trip (spaghetti with mini clams.. Absolutely delicious and my mother‘s favorite. I loved calling her while I was having my second plate of them, what she called me I can‘t repeat for all of you). Also visited the Piazza Spagna, where there is a very long and wide set of steps. There the tradition is for people to sit on the steps and sunbathe. Checked that one off the list. Next was the Sant’ Angelo bridge and castle, next to the Tevere River… more marble statues. And on the other side of the river the Vatican and the St Pietro Basilica. The center of Catholicism. The Basilica, or main church, is very big, and beautiful. Inside you find the Pieta, a marble statue of Mary and Jesus made by Michelangelo. Several domes all painted beautifully, more marble statues, gold statues, paintings… so many things I am leaving out. It is very impressive. Also visited the tombs of the Popes and it seemed everyone visiting there was interested in John Paul’s II and none else. I thought it was too expensive for me to go into the Sistine Chapel, so I didn’t. Sorry Bunny.
FIRENZE
Next stop was Florence. After finding the hostel I was staying, being literally 100 meters away from my nose and walking an hour in the wrong direction… and back… I was ready to know this city that was much smaller than I expected. After walking Rome for what seemed ages to get to the different places, walking through Florence was easy. The Mercato Centrale (Central Market) had all kinds of cheeses (fresh Mozzarella and Parmigiano Regianno mainly… YUMMY!!) cold cuts, fresh meats… made me miss home a little. Outside the market and through the streets towards the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore and the Dome (there is a dome everywhere in this country) there are artisans selling their products on the streets. Leather goods are big, so are some hand-painted wooden tray tables… typical of Florence. Reached the Dome and PAID to get in it and climb the 463 steps to the top. Italians are smart. There is no lift and still they make you pay for going up. The view was gorgeous, but I was still gasping for air the whole time up there. Inside the dome there was a painting representing Dante’s Inferno, you know, the seven “levels” of Hell and Heaven. Really cool stuff. Then there was the Piazza della Signora where a replica of the “David” of Michelangelo stood and a bronze statue of Perseus, holding Medusa’s head among others. Next to the Piazza there is the Uffizi museum, which I went in thinking the David I just talked about was in… and of course I missed it. It wasn’t there. It was in another museum in the city, pretty much devoted to it. I went later and I must say that THAT marble statue IS truly amazing. It is enormous, and the detail spectacular… you can even see the veins popping out David’s arms and hands! Crossed the Vecchio bridge and had a “gelatto” (ice cream) from Florence, the thing you have to do there. Cross another one from the list.
PISA
Pisa is small. If the Pisa tower wasn’t on the other side of the town across from the train station, you would not get to know anything else but the dome (of course) and the tower. Nice town it seemed, but not much going on. The tower is REALLY leaning, even after they have straightened it out a little and secured it. I took the idiot’s picture holding the tower… scratch that off the list.
VENEZIA
This city is like no other. One part of it is main land, the other is the part of the canals. It seems there was a small sort of archipelago out in the sea from the original Venice, you know, a small group of islands, and once they started building houses and buildings there, they just went all in, and built all the way to the edge of the land (or water if you may), having to let just enough room for the water to still be there, in between the islands, thus forming the canals. You can cross the bridge by train or car, but there is only an area of maybe 5 blocks were cars and buses and motorcycles may transit. All the rest is by foot, and very few bicycles, the streets are way to small for anything else. So for example, in the mornings you see men pulling wooden carts with the supplies for the restaurants, or the FedEx guy with a dolly carrying the packages. There is a main canal that crawls through the middle of Venice, so there are bus-boats you can take that take you through the main canal stops and other stops around the main archipelago, and other islands a little farther away. And of course the famous gondolas, that are best suited to travel through the smaller canals. Maps are of little use, it is almost impossible not to get lost walking through the alleyways. It is not a bad thing though, you find hidden restaurants and shops and piazzas everywhere. In one area there’s the main piazza (San Marco) with a beautiful church and dome, and of course a tower. From the top of the tower the view is magnificent, gorgeous, and you can really NOT see any streets down below, it is all just a mass of disorganized roofs with barely space in between them. One of the days I took the bus-boat and went to a nearby island called Murano. The cool thing about the island is that there are artisans that they make glass adornments of all kinds; from ashtrays to chandeliers worth several thousands (of any currency you might imagine). In one of my crazy moments I bought an adornment for my non-existent house/apartment. I just had to. Then I took the bus-boat again to a further island called Burano, and there they made hand-sewn crochets of all kinds, and although the houses were similar than those in Venice and Murano (architecture, and the canals, and the bridges) these houses were different in that they were all painted in bright colors; pink and blue and yellow, green and red. A very special place indeed. Like I said before, there is no other place I’ve been that is like Venice.
VERONA
Verona had more of the same. Old city with Roman walls surrounding the old downtown, with a nice castle (Castelvecchio) and bridge guarding the old entry of the city and over the Adige river, and of course a church with a dome. Here there is another Roman arena, just like the Coliseum, but maybe half its size. The cool thing about this arena is that is in really good shape, and they still use it today for major concerts and events. It is also the city where the story of Romeo and Juliet happened for real. You can actually go and visit Giuletta’s house and her balcony. To get to the patio underneath her house you walk through a little passageway which is full of post-it notes and inscriptions on the wall. They are messages of love to Giuletta or the visitor’s significant others, with public phones as well to call your loved ones all over the world. Once in the patio, underneath the balcony, there is a statue of her and the tradition is that you go and get a picture grabbing one of her breasts… scratch that one off the list as well. Across the river there is a big hill where a Roman theater is still half up, and it is also still used to present plays.
SIENA
Finally it was Siena, a city lost in the hills of central Italy. The smallest of all the cities I visited except from Pisa probably, the city was the same as the others with two main differences; no river crossing the center of the city and it was not built on a plain. This town is on a hill so the streets and alleys are much steeper. Also, the main Piazza is on an incline, so the thing to do there is to lay down on the stone and have a drink or sunbathe. Another scratch to my list. Every August there is some sort of horse race, which I couldn’t find out what was the reason for it, around the Piazza. I saw some impressive pictures of the people and the race around this tilted stage. Missed it by a month though.
And now I have made it back to Scotland and rejoined Felipe for the week. We are playing the Dunhill Championship, which is a pro-am (every professional golfer plays with an amateur partner for a prize on the side of the individual professional tournament) and it is played in three different courses; Kingsbrands, Carnoustie, and St Andrews. Kingsbrands might not be famous, but the other two are, and very much so. St Andrews is regarded as the oldest golf course in the world, and the home of golf… where it all begun. For a golf nut as I consider myself to be, this is my “Mecca“, and I can’t wait to set foot on the course. Might not be able to play it this time, but being here makes me very happy and in a way fulfilled to say the least. I know, I am weird and probably way too much into this golf thing, but I can’t help it. It is irrational and makes no sense, I just love the game.
I will let you know about it soon. Wish us luck! Again, you can follow Felipe on the web by online scoring at
http://www.europeantour.com/ or live broadcasting on http://www.channelsurfing.net/ or the Golf Channel.
