A Day in the Life

We’re breaking Italy up into two portions, because there is just too much good stuff to post about! Venice was first, and we only spent a day there. But it was so beautiful that we took many, many pictures. We didn’t need to even do anything in Venice but ride the water bus and eat gelato to soak up the best that Venice has to offer. The Grand Canal is lined with apartment buildings, hotels, and office buildings that all convey the same message: ‘We are Authentic Italy. We don’t need to repaint our buildings, fix the weathered wood, or rebuild in a modern style to attract people to our city.’ And seriously, walking around you feel like you are transported back in time. Of course people dress in modern clothes, and there are tourists EVERYWHERE, but if you get lost in a back alleyway, you could mistake the year 2010 for the year 1910 pretty easily.

Venice activities included:

• St Marks Square: the Byzantine style of St. Marks Cathedral was so different from every other church we’d seen. It reminded me of something you’d see in Moscow or something (not that I’ve been there, but I can imagine). No pictures inside that one.
• Doge’s Palace and Correr Museum – Neither were particularly inspiring, except that through the Doge’s Palace you get to walk across the “Bridge of Sighs” and into the prisons. I think that bridge is famous from a movie, but I’m not sure which one. No picture of that either, it was covered by scaffolding and advertisements.
• Cruising the Grand Canal – we were cheap and didn’t take a gondola ride, but even riding the water bus with 100 other people, you can find a corner and watch the world go by in a slightly romantic setting.
• Frari Church – we took an audio tour from Rick Steves on this one, and it was good we did. Don’t you think that the more you know about a place, the more you appreciate it? That is how we felt about this one. And by the way, if you EVER go to Italy, you MUST consult Rick Steves’ website, and download any audio tours he has on iTunes. They will save you money and give you all the information you could want for wherever you are going.

  

  Venice at night

  

  Sunset from St Marks Square, Venice

  

  View of St. Marks from the Doge’s Palace courtyard, Venice

  
  

  

  Doge’s Palace, Venice

  

  

  House covered in vines, Venice

  
  

  

  Traffic in the Grand Canal, Venice

  

  Restaurant in Venice

  

  Zac’s Pizza Diavola, Venice

  
  

  

  Andrea’s Pizza Capricciosa, Venice

  

  Boat parking lot, Venice

  

  Pretty Alleyway, Venice

  
  

  

  Duomo in Florence

  

  Detail on the facade of the Duomo, Florence

  

  Sitting in front of the Duomo doors

  
  

  

  Campanile (bell tower) in Florence

  

  Copy of Michelangelo’s David, Florence

  

  Florence

  
  

  

  Florence from Piazza Michelangelo

  

  View of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo

  

  Another view of Florence

  
  

  

  Statue of Michelangelo and the rainbow, Florence

  

  In front of the Ponte Vecchio

  

  Michelangelo’s tomb, Florence

  
  

  

  Touristy Leaning Tower of Pisa

  

  City of Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre

  

  It was cold and rainy in the Cinque Terre

  
  

  

  Flowers in the rain, Cinque Terre

  

  Climbing the steps to Manorola, Cinque Terre

  

  
  
  

We had 3 days in Florence, and spent the first two exploring the city, and the 3rd out in the Cinque Terre, or “Five Lands”, out on the coast.

• Duomo – HUGE church, complete with a tall bell tower (campanile) and a baptistery across the square. This place is covered with statues, green and white striped marble, sculptures, gold-leafing, and more. We went to the Duomo Museum to see all the original sculptures from the 1500s (the ones on the church now are copies), and the original doors to the baptistery, which were made out of GOLD, and depicted Bible scenes (made by Ghiberti).
• Michelangelo’s David – WORTH EVERY PENNY. Go see this in the Accademia Museum. It really is amazing. It is 17 feet tall, and the detail and emotion that Michelangelo sculpted into this piece of marble is incredible. The fake one out in the Uffizi Square is cool too, but the real one is stunning.
• Churches – Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce – both include tombs of famous people, Michelangelo being one of them, and were beautiful and worth visiting.
• Uffizi Gallery – This museum traces the history of art from Medieval times (1300s) to Renaissance (1400-1520) all the way through to modern art. But the focus is on the Renaissance, since it started in Florence. It was cool to see how art evolved, and how new ideas and techniques caught on like wildfire with all these artists once the Renaissance began. I can now tell you at least 3 differences between pre-Renaissance art, and post-Renaissance art. I felt very educated after touring this museum.
• Ponte Vecchio Bridge – The only bridge to make it through WWII undamaged, and it is chock full of gold and jewelry merchants. It looks like there are little houses on it when you see it from the outside.
• Piazzale Michelangelo has the best view of the city, across the river and up quite a few stairs. We made the trek in the rain, but we were rewarded once we made it to the top with a beautiful rainbow over the city as the rain stopped and the clouds thinned.