Fri., Sept. 7 My date with David on my last day in Firenze

This morning, we waited in trepidation after breakfast for the tour driver to come, having missed the tour yesterday. A couple of phone calls yesterday and a fax from American Express seemed to have worked out the issue, but one can never be sure. At 8:40, the driver came into our mad, tourist-filled, bus boarding lobby and walked straight up to me  asking if I was Signora Tallo. RT was outside looking for him. I replied “Si”, and he said, “Prego.” After a week here, I knew it was time to go. 

RT found us and we drove to the bus station at Santa Maria Novella to find our tour. The guy who met us there looked like he could have been Lino Rulli’s younger brother. He looked us up on his iPad, found us and told us to wait. 

A short time later a couple walked up and the guy was wearing, of all things, a University of Alabama hat. The Crimson Tide is everywhere, I guess. Turns out they live in Atlanta. RT and the guy had a friendly exchange about SEC football and then the rest of the folks and our tour guide showed up. 

We drove in two mini-vans across the city to the Piazzale Michelangelo! (This made it the third time RT and I had been there, but it was still cool to see.)  We went back down the hill through the areas we had been yesterday, and finally ended up at the Academia, where David lives (or rules!) 

The tour guide was explaining a lot of the history of the city as we were going along, and when we got to the museum, there was Signori Rulli again to check us in and give us tickets and radios to hear the guide. We skipped the line (my favorite thing) and went right in. We got to see some beautiful old musical instruments including several Stardivari violins, cellos, harpsichords, dulcimers, horns and pianos. 

Then we went into the art side to view some beautiful paintings, panels and sculptures. We made our way through until beautiful David appeared around the corner. He stood there majestically in the center of an area where you could walk around him and admire him from every angle. He has a stone in his right  hand and his slingshot over his left shoulder. Ready for battle, the tour guide said, but I always thought I could imagine Goliath on the ground waiting to have his head cut off. 

We finished the tour through the room of plaster sculptures for a break in the bookstore and a look at someone’s idea of a joke. It was a copy of my precious David, but he was looking pretty funny. I said it was a replica of David by Michel Redneckio.  After this, we then proceeded to the end of the tour. 

Walking through the streets, he pointed out a home where Leonardo Da Vinci had lived and showed us the “headquarters” belonging to the Medicis. That one family produced two popes and two queens of France, along with very high government officials in Fireneze long before the unification of Italy.  

Our guide left us at the Basilica of the Santa Maria del Fiore, or as the Florentines call it, Il Duomo (the Dome). It is the third largest church in the world behind St. Peter’s and St. James in London, according to our guide. It is Gothic style with a Mediterannean flair. There was no line, so Richard and I went inside. Once again, we were overwhelmed by the beauty inside. 

We made our way back through the Ponte Vecchio to a side street where we found a restaurant and had some excellent food. Then we walked the long way back to the hotel to rest before going out to dinner, and do some last minute things like printing boarding passes! Tomorrow we head back to the good old USA! I will miss Italy, but I do look forward to getting home. 

So I say Ciao, Italia! I know I will return to you one day. 

 Lino Rulli's little brother. (If you don't know Lino, please google him!)

The replica of David by Michel Redneckio

 The Medici building. 

 The place where Da Vinci lived for a brief time. 

 Il Duomo- I could not get the whole building in my frame. I wanted to show some detail. 

 Looking up into the dome.

When they tell you to cover your shoulders to enter a church, they mean business! You don't, you end up in a hospital gown! 

Thurs., Sept. 6, The accidental tourist’s guide to Firenze

Today started off with a bang, as we hoofed it back up the hill and the massive stairs to Piazzale Michelangeo to meet our tour bus. Trouble was, our tour bus was at our hotel to pick us up. The miscommunication was on the tour company’s part, as it turns out. I made my first Italian phone call on a public phone to find that out. Our paperwork told us to go up the hill, and the bus driver was told to pick us up here. We decided to try again tomorrow. 

We walked all over Firenze, I believe. We were gone from the hotel for 6 hours, and RT racked up 12,000+ steps on his pedometer. That is usually his allotment for one whole day. On the way we saw a Lutheran church, which reminded me of my sweet daughter-in-law.  

We went to the big open market and bought a few souvenirs. On the Ponte Vecchio, (old bridge) we saw jewelry store after jewelry store with beautiful jewels and gold and silver. Of course, I wanted something, and of course RT bought it! He got me a cameo from the south of Italy that just happened to be on sale. Since it was silver, it did not break the bank at all. 

We visited a beautiful church called Orsanmichele, which would not allow photos inside. It was magnificent! There were beautiful statues outside. As I was remarking on the church, an elderly Italian lady walked by and said, “molto bello!” 

We had a great pizza in the central city area, and enjoyed a coffee and pastry on the Ponte Vecchio. 

We saw some of the places we will visit in depth on the tour tomorrow. We are looking forward to going inside the massive cathedral in the center of the city, called the Duomo, and to the museum that houses David. That will be the highlight of our visit here. I saw the reproduction in California as a child, and I have always wanted to see the real one. 

We came back to the hotel to rest and recuperate from all that walking and actually got on the WiFi here. We were able to straighten out the tour problem and talk to our son, Aaron also.

Headed to dinner in our hotel and then to get some rest for tomorrow, our last full day in Firenze! 

The Lutheran church we found for Anna.

Il Duomo, which we will visit tomorrow. This is no indication of the size of this place. 

Shoppers in the open market

The Church called Orsanmichele, which was beautiful.

One of the many jewelry shops on the Ponte Vecchio. 

Wed., Sept. 5 Firenze on Foot

 David's bronze brother in Piazzale Michelangelo

 The Italian countryside

 Our friends on the train

 Firenze from the top 

RT at the madness that is Termini Roma

(This post is a day late because of no wireless in the hotel.) 

Today was our travel day to Firenze (Florence), and it proved to be a long one.  Bidding our wonderful Rome hotel arrivederci, we took the metro two steps to get to the Roma Termini (train station) in order to board a Euro Rail train for the 1 1/2 hour ride to Firenze. We got to the Termini and had no idea where to go next. After walking for some time, we came to the Customer Service desk where you took a number and waited. After about 40 minutes, the man took approximately 40 seconds to tell Richard we needed the train to Milan (which stopped in Firenze and Bologna along the way) and it was at Track 9. (I was disappointed that it wasn’t Platform 9 3/4, quite frankly.)

Once we located it, we ran upstairs for a quick sandwich. We got back to the track to discover the train was running late. After a great deal of speculation, we and some other travelers asked the conductor (or whatever he was) and he said it may not have been track 9 after all. The train was delayed because another train from another company had broken down in front of it. Great. As it turned out, it showed up about 5 minutes later on Track 8.

The train ride across the Italian countryside was magnificent. It looked exactly like I thought it would. We sat across from an elderly lady and a younger lady and a beautiful baby boy. They did not speak a word of English. 

Once in Firenze, we took a horribly loud, jerky, bumpy bus ride across to our hotel, the Grand Hotel Mediteranneao. We got checked in and decided to go exploring. We walked along the Arno River until we got to the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) which will take you into the city in one direction, and to the Piazza San Niccolo and the Piazza Michelangelo. 

We climbed a set of steps that made the Spanish Steps in Rome look like  a doorstep. There had to be 300 of them. On the way up. we found a public rose garden that had become the home to several bronze works by an artist called Folon. 

It was a long climb, but the trip was worth the prize at the top. We got a view that was unbelievable. Michelangelo was born and lived some of his long life in Firenze and the city is very proud of him. We saw a bronze David dedicated to him. I hope we will see his actual sculpture while we are here. 

While in the area, we discovered a beautiful church called San Salvatore al Monte alle Croci, which my friend Fr. David will have to translate for me. I do know it was Franciscan, however. It was very different from the churches we had seen in Rome. Not as ornate, but beautiful in its own right. It actually reminded me of some of the mission churches in California, which were all founded by Franciscans.

We were able to grab dinner (delicious pizza) across the street and then began the trek back to the hotel. 

Tomorrow we have a tour, so after walking for hours today, we are ready for a rest. 

Tues., Sept. 4, Rainy Day in Roma

Today was the day I had been waiting for. We had purchased a tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica online before coming to Rome. The Skip the Line tour is the only way to go. We took the Metro to the area near the Vatican to meet our tour. The Metro turned out to be very much like the Tube in London. We call them subways in our country.

We met our tour guide Frederica and began the tour promptly at 9 am. (The hundreds of folks standing in line did not look too happy with us.) After going through the metal detector, we started the tour which was unbelievable. Our tour took us on the Long March through the Candelabra Room, the Tapestries and the Maps rooms into the area where you find works by Raphael, many of which were housed in the old papal apartments. There is a room dedicated to Constantine with works that celebrate the passing of Rome from the pagans to the Christians. The Raphael Rooms include a large painting of King Jan Sobieski liberating Vienna, the Immaculate Conception Room, and then you are headed toward the Sistine Chapel. I have no pictures of it, because you are not allowed to take them. In order to enter, you must have your shoulders and knees covered, and the security takes it very seriously. 

Michelangelo has captured the the story of man on that ceiling. It is really unbelievable. From the creation of man to the Last Judgement, Michaelangelo painted the frescos alone in the room.  

Of course, my favorite part was when the tour guide reminded us that this room is where the cardinals elect at new pope. We saw the door that the pope goes through to the balcony after choosing one of the three vestments hanging in the “Crying Room” (Small, Medium or Large) to put on before being revealed to the people. She showed us where the white smoke is emitted. 

From there, we made our way to St. Peter’s Basilica, the cornerstone of the Roman Catholic Church. We could hear a choir singing in the basilica as we were walking through. There we saw the Pieta, Michelangelo’s first major work. We walked past the tomb of Blessed John Paul II, and my heart nearly stopped from the sheer knowledge of where we were. The Main Altar was magnificently adorned and underneath it are the bones of our first pope, St. Peter.  Frederica reminded us of the story where Jesus told Peter “upon this rock I build my church.  The early Christians built their church on top of the bones of St. Peter (the Rock). That simple sentence really blew me away. 

After our tour ended, we took in lunch at a restaurant recommended to us by our favorite desk clerk, Alessio. I had my first carbonara there, which was delicious. We had truly planned to go back to St. John Lateran to find the Holy Stairs, but were not able to as Roma had other plans. It rained heavily for the rest of the day. We waited for our Hop on Hop off bus because we still had today to use it. The only place we could sit was up top. After a miserably rainy ride across the city, we were in no mood to walk from the Colosseum stop back to St. John’s so we stayed on until we got back to the Spanish Steps, which is close to our hotel. I have climbed those 139 steps every day since we got here. Richard counted over 16,000 steps yesterday and today has 12,000 or so today. Since I am that much shorter than him, you can add probably 25% more to that for my steps. 

Tomorrow we say Arrividerci to Rome and head to Firenze on the train. I did not see the Holy Stairs this time, thanks to the rain both days. I figure that means I’m coming back again... 

 La Pieta by Michelangelo

 The tomb of our Holy Father, Blessed John Paul II

 The Main Altar of St. Peter's- Underneath this altar lie the bones of St. Peter the Apostle. 

 End of the Tour with Frederica

Leave is to us Catholics to build the largest church in the world in the smallest country in the world. 

Monday, Sept. 3 Labor Day in Rome or “Hop on, Hop off.”

Nothing like watching LL Cool J, Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas dubbed in Italian before going to sleep. 

Our Mini - Pilgrimage continued today. 

We woke up and after breakfast we headed to the Termini to catch our Hop on, Hop off bus. We rode across the city until we got to the Colosseum and the area of ancient Rome. Our bus stopped in front of the Arch of Constantine. It was awesome to think of the emperor who brought Christianity to the Roman Empire, by legalizing Christianity.  To see the Colosseum is almost surreal. We were awed by the structure and its magnificence. It was built in 80 A.D. To see a structure that old took our breath away. 

We found a quaint outside restaurant across the street from the Colosseum, where we enjoyed our first Roman-style pizza. Then we began the walk to visit the church called San Giovanni in Laterno (St. John Latern). Built in 318 A.D., it became the first church in Rome where once persecuted Christians could worship openly and legally. In Medieval times it was the seat of the Catholic Church and remained so until St. Peter’s Basilica was completed during the Renaissance.  It was really beautiful inside with impressive statues of the 12 Apostles and St. Paul. The 2000 year old bronze doors originally hung in the Roman Senate. We prayed in this church before going back to the Colosseum area. We enjoyed a thunderstorm and a cup of gelato on the way back to the Colosseum. 

We walked through an area where the University of Rome is excavating a part of the northeast slopes of the Palantine. We walked up to the top of the hill and discovered a hidden treasure in the Church of St. Bonaventura. Its facade was plain, but inside was another story. We are slowly discovering that every church in Rome is magnificent. Walking up the hill to the church were the Stations of the Cross built into the outside wall. 

Walking back to the Arch of Constantine to grab out bus, Richard decided to be photographed with his beloved Ole Miss flag. Then, it was back on the bus and back across the city to the Triton Fountain, which is around the corner from our hotel. 

We came in and decided to rest a bit before dinner. We may return to the Spanish Steps this evening to check out the shopping and find dinner. 

Tomorrow, the Vatican and the Holy Stairs, which we missed today because of the storm! 

 The Colosseum

 Richard in St. John Lateran

 The 2000 year old bronze doors at St. John Lateran

 Hidden treasure: the altar and tabernacle at St. Bonaventura

St. Bonaventura Church

Sun.Sept. 2, Bella Roma

Sunday, Sept. 2-

They brought around breakfast about an hour and half before we landed in Rome. I saw the sunrise over Italy, but I was so far up I could not see what Italy looked like. We came into Rome and through the Passport Authority and found our driver. His name was Pino, but of course I thought he said Lino, and I got really happy! I thought that was a good omen, but Pino did turn out to be awesome. Even thought he did not speak much English, he did identify a few landmarks, which I could usually translate from Italian to English. Not because my Italian is any good, I could just recognize them. 

In the airport, RT found out that there was a difference in Italian coffees and Caffee Americano. We got for 2 Euros = 2 tiny espressos. We made our way from the airport to the Hotel Anglo Americano and checked in early. While we were waiting, we enjoyed our first complimentary breakfast.

After getting settled, we were on our way to explore. The first stop was the Trevi Fountain- well- known to most Rome visitors. We threw the coin in so we could come back again, like every tourist does. 

  Fontana delle Naiadi

 Mass here was beautiful.

Spanish Steps- It was sprinkling a bit.

We discovered the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs and after a quick trip to McDonald’s (yes, really) for a bottled water, we made our way to mass at noon. What an experience to celebrate mass in Italian. Even though we did not know most of the words, our bilingual masses at St. Gregory’s came in handy. Hearing Spanish every Sunday really helped us recognize some of the Italian we were hearing. I began to cry at Eucharist, because it struck me that we are truly the Universal Church. I was doing the same thing my brothers and sisters all over the world were doing. It was so overwhelming!

We enjoyed lunch and came back to the hotel to rest for a little bit. Being up and traveling for 24 hours straight was very tiring, so we took a 2 hour nap before heading to find the Spanish Steps. We walked around in that area for a good while, had some gelati and made our way back to a quaint family restaurant. We could not get past the first course and soup. That was plenty to eat. 

Now back at the hotel to upload the blog and get some rest. 

Ciao! 

Day 1 Italian Voyage- Getting there

Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012

We began our trip from Memphis to Atlanta at 11:40 am and had a good flight complete with internet. We ate at Qdoba in ATL airport and were unsuccessful in getting an international cell phone plan. We did get a landline plan so that we could call our kids while we are there. Our cell phones will be on airplane mode for a week. 

The Delta flight to Rome began at 3:40 pm. Our in-flight entertainment for the first three hours consisted of nothing, since the system would not work. They rebooted it at least three times. The only thing we could see was the trip map which showed that we were flying up the east coast from Atlanta to Boston and making a sharp right turn headed straight toward the ocean. About 6:15 p.m. CST, the sun was setting. It was beautiful. A few minutes later I could see nothing out of the window. 

There was no internet, which left RT wondering who was winning the Ole Miss vs. Central Arkansas game. Guess we’ll have to wait until we can get on Twitter tomorrow morning. He was looking forward to tracking the game along the way. 

Our dinner was chicken and rice, salad (I got all of RT’s cucumbers, since he hates them), cheese and crackers, a roll with butter, a blonde chocolate chip cookie, Dinner conversation was listening to the liberal Democrat non-practicing Episcopalian lady and the South American Catholic doctor, (who claimed he only goes to church to take his children) drone on and on.

The third reboot was wholly unsuccessful, so we decided to take a nap, which was wholly unsuccessful as well. They served us turkey and cheddar on a roll and Milano cookies later in the evening, which we both ate. (Weight watchers is out of the question on this trip, I am discovering.) 

No movies, no music (my iPhone was low on battery) and a couple of puzzle books and a SkyMall magazine kept me company. In my haste, I forgot to pack my book.

They fed us a nice breakfast just before we landed, but that did not stop us from eating the free breakfast at the hotel!

On time and ready to go!

With no internet or movies, our entertainment was watching ourselves cross the ocean.

We're here!

First glimpse of Italia under cloud cover.