Clare in Italy 2008

New trip!

2010-12-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

Clare's in Italy again! This time, I'm spending two weeks, most of it in Venice. The new blog is at http://clareinitaly2010.blogspot.com

It's Friday, July 25

2008-07-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day in Florence, and I'm filled with mixed emotions. I could live in this city forever, I think, although I will be very happy to get home to see friends and family. And there are still so many things that I haven't seen, but that's just my excuse to return, right?

Yesterday, I went on the afternoon outing to Santa Croce with the school. Marco was our guide, and he's just wonderful (as usual). It's a beautiful church and very important to the people of Florence. Michelangelo, Vasari and Machiavelli are buried there, and there are empty tombs for Dante and Giaccomo Rossini, although there seems to be some question as to whether or not Rossini is actually there or still in Paris, where he was first buried.

There's also a beautiful chapel belonging to the Pazzi family, built mostly by Brunelleschi, with terra cotta work by della Robbia

The interior is fantastic - here's a very poor quality video of Marco explaining it to us:

Later last night, I had dinner with Marco and his friend Giovanni (along with Magre the english spaniel again). We went to a restaurant called Ora d'aria, run by a chef who is considered one of the top chefs in Florence and all of Italy right now. Here's an article (in english) about him:

http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=3365&browse-by=Up-Close-Personal

Dinner was great, and lasted almost 3 hours. We all had the tasting menu, and it was very haute cuisine - tiny little dishes with exquisite tastes of food on them. I'm not really even sure what I ate, but it all tasted delicious.

So now I'm off to spend my final day in Florence. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do, but probably I'll end up at 4 Lions for dinner, which has been a gastronomic highlight. As much as I enjoyed last night, there's something so wonderful about a plate of pasta and some bread, right? This will be my last entry from Italy, since I'll be packing tonight. Hopefully, when I get home to Seattle, I'll be able to upload more photos from the trip - between Aunt Clare and I, there must be hundreds!

Busy days!

2008-07-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

As I approach the end of my almost-six-week-long trip, I'm scrambling to make sure that I see everything that I need to see before I go. It's not nearly everything that I WANT to see, but that wouldn't be possible.

Yesterday turned in to a day about Michelangelo. I started out at the house that he bought here in Florence. They are having an exhibit entitled "The Face of Michelangelo", which includes many romanticized pictures of him, as well as those from his time. It is a beautiful exhibit. You can read about it here:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/21/michelangelo-portraits.html

The house also has treasures of his, both of works that he created and items that were collected while he lived there. There are also works of art commissioned by his family in later years, including an entire room painted with scenes from his life. It's definitely a beautiful museum!

After that, I went to the Medici chapel again to see the tombs that Michelangelo built for Lorenzo and Giulio di Medici. (Thank goodness I bought this "Friends of the Uffizi" pass - I can go see anything I want as many times as I want!) I'm glad I went back, because there was a new exhibit in the main chapel: items that had been taken out of the coffin of the last Medici grand duke, including his crown and his baptismal medallion. To read more about why they're exhuming the Medicis, go here:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2206238
(warning: lots of technical jargon for scientific types like my mom)

Then I headed to the Uffizi to see the Doni Tondo, the only known preserved panel picture by Michelangelo. It's said that it's very easy to see that Michelangelo was a sculptor by looking at his painting: look at Mary's arms, in particular, as well as the way their robes drape around them.

Since I was at the Uffizi, I looked at a few more paintings, including the Rembrandts and the works by Caravaggio, including his Medusa, which is SO much more powerful in person:

(Melissa, you HAVE to see this work!)

Then it was back to 4 Leoni for dinner, where I had a nice chat with the waiter who remembered me from all the times I've been there. I decided it was time to try some beef, but I couldn't possibly eat an entire Bistecca Fiorentina, so I just had this plate of beef:

Good thing, too, because this was hard to finish! But yum, so delicious!

Tuesday's lunch

2008-07-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

Trio of three soups: Ribolitta, Pappa al pomodoro, and Farro and Chickpea soup with rosemary.

Arugula with pears, brie, and pinenuts

The museum I visited today...

2008-07-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Monday...Marco's birthday!

2008-07-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Marco's birthday, and we had a small celebration at school - a little singing, and a fruit tart that I had brought him as a treat. I had thought that he would take it home and share it with his friend Giovanni in the evening, but he insisted on sharing it with all of us.

Afterwards, I headed to the train station to go to Lucca, stopping on the way for a panino (turkey, cheese and tomato) and a fruit salad. I got to Lucca in the mid afternoon and tried to find the restaurant that Marco had recommended: Buca di Sant'Antonio. He had told me that it was closed on Sundays, but they must have changed their day off, because the sign said that it was closed on Mondays. So I decided just to spend a couple of hours in Lucca and then head back for dinner in Florence.

Then I set off on the main purpose of this trip: a Puccini pilgramage (as Lucca is his home town). I first tried to go to the Puccini museum, which was his childhood apartment originally, but that too was closed on Mondays.

Then I headed to the other side of town (after a bit of a detour which was caused by an Italian giving me mis-information!) and finally found Palazzo Giunigi, where a Puccini exhibition was being held, in honor of the 150th anniversary of his birth. This exhibition filled 7 rooms of the Palazzo, mostly with documents, pictures, and letters of his. I saw a letter from Mascagni to Puccini expressing condolences after the death of Puccini's brother. I saw the census from 1861 with the list of the family. I saw Puccini's certificate for first prize in organ school. I saw scenic and costume sketches from the premieres of both Le Villi and Edgar. I saw a piece of music manuscript with Puccini's handwriting on it, reading "Ms. so and so, please wake me at 9 am". It was really wonderful, and I could have spent hours there, but I wanted to make sure I caught the 7:30 train back to Florence.

A panino for the train (and a little prosecco!) and the ride back to town took no time at all. I went to Pizzeria Dante for dinner, and then to Gelateria La Carraia afterwards (chocolate-orange gelato!). Home to bed....

Happy birthday Pam!

2008-07-19T11:28:00.001-07:00

My beautiful daughter is 22 today! Happy birthday, darling girl!

By the way, for all who are interested: Claritin in Italian is still Claritin (and it's cheaper here).

The Duomo

2008-07-19T09:20:00.001-07:00

Today, after a late start to the day, I went to the Duomo, the Baptistry, and the Duomo museum, and I saw some really amazing things. I had been to the Duomo before, but last time we hadn't gone down below the church. In the 1960s, they had done some excavating and discovered much of the earlier church of Santa Reparta, which the Florentines had built around and demolished in part while they were building the Duomo. It was fascinating to walk around down there, in a roman church that was built in the 5th century!

What was also fascinating to me was that Brunelleschi's tomb is located down below the church, in Santa Reparta, but this was unknown to the general public until 1972! Of course I had to go see it, as Brunelleschi is such an important man in Florence's history.

After leaving the Duomo, I went over to the Baptistry. I had walked around this building 100 times, but never been inside, and I was certainly missing out! It's a beautiful space, filled with art, including an amazing ceiling studded with mosaic glass. The baptistry is also the burial site of Baldassare Cossa, Pope John the 23rd, one of the "anti-popes".

After this, it was over to the Duomo museum, where all the priceless works of art that used to be in the church are held. This includes the original Ghiberti gold panels for the door of the baptistry (the ones that are on the door are bronze casts).

Also at the museum is one of the three "Pietas" by Michelangelo. This one was done when he was 80 years old, and intended for his tomb. The man in the back is Nicodemus, and thought to be a self portrait of the artist.

There is also more homage to Brunelleschi in this museum, including this bust:

and his death mask:

The weekend is here!

2008-07-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

I can't express what a great time I'm having here. I'm hanging out a bit with my friends from school and speaking a lot of italian. It's pretty incredible.

Thursday night I went back up to Fiesole with the intent of going to see "Carmina Burana" as performed by the orchstra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in the Roman ampitheater there. But dinner was so great and the conversations at the table just went on and on and before I knew it, it was too late to go to the concert. So instead of hearing a great concert, I had dessert: a flourless dark chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. Yum!

Also in the category of culinary adventures, I had my first tripe sandwich on Thursday afternoon after school. As you can see below, it's been memorialized for history:

It was ok, but I won't be having another!

Last night, I had dinner with Marco at this great restaurant called Taverna del Bronzino, which is in a 15th century building. It was originally the painting studio of il Bronzino, Agnolo di Cosimo, who painted many of the portraits of the Medici family. The food was really wonderful, and the conversation was fantastic. Marco brought his dog with him, a cocker spaniel of some sort. The sweet dog slept under the table at my feet during the entire (2 hour long) meal.

And now I have two days in front of me with no school in which to make plans. I'm thinking about going to Torre del Lago on the coast, where Puccini spent most of his life. If there are no posts for a few days, that's where I've gone.

Wednesday's events

2008-07-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

After class on Wednesday, I attended the afternoon activity, which was a guided tour of the church of San Lorenzo, the Medici's parish.

Christina was our guide, and as she's a native Florentine and a resident of this neighborhood, she knew just about everything there was to know about this church. Brunelleschi was the architect of this church, as well as many other structures built in Florence during this time.

Christina talked a lot about the light and dark colors of marble and stone that he used, in order to create contrast: chiaro and scuro, which is such a hallmark of the renaissance. There was also a wonderful painting by Filippo Lippi, his annunciation. This picture does not do it justice. Christina pointed to this painting as one of the most characteristic Renaissance paintings. In particular, the sense of prospective, the movement of the bodies, the facial expressions, the setting (which is purported to be a florentine garden), the colors, and the use of light, as if this event were taking place at noon on midsummer day, with the sun shining directly downward.

Also within the church are sculptures by Donatello and Michelangelo, both of whom were friends of the Medici family. The story goes that the current pope (a member of the Medici family) asked Michelangelo to build a new facade for the church. Michelangelo agreed, and plans were drawn up, including a large model which currently resides at Michelangelo's house here in Florence (I hope to see it before I leave). The pope approved, and building was about to commence when they had a disagreement about the material. Michelangelo wanted to use marble from Carrera, which was very pure white. The pope, however, had financial interest in another quarry and wanted that marble to be used. Michelangelo refused, on the basis of his artistic eye. The pope would not budge, since as pope, he never had to negotiate with anyone - his word was law. The two were never able to agree, and it was never built. That's why the front of San Lorenzo doesn't have the dazzling facade that some of the other Florentine churches have.

In addition, we visited the graves downstairs, which included those of Cosimo the elder and Donatello. There was a fresh laurel wreath on Donatello's grave...people here still love him.

Later last evening, I went to an orchestra concert given by the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina in the courtyard of the Bargello museum (outdoors). It was wonderful! They played an "adagio for strings" written by David Jackson, a young Monk who lives in Florence. Very reminscent of Barber's adagio for strings. Also on the program were the Sibelius romance for strings and Nino Rota's Concerto for strings. But in the middle, was the Bach E major violin concerto, played by David Garrett, pictured below:

You wouldn't think that a guy who looked like that would be a classical violinst, would you? Maybe a rock guitarist or singer, but not a violinst! But yes, he played the heck out of that concerto, and then encored with two movements from one of the Bach partitas. Such a great performance! He was extremely musical!

After the concert, I walked over to Vivoli for a little gelato before heading back home. Do you suppose I can get italian gelato shipped to Seattle next month? Otherwise, I'll be suffering from withdrawal...

Foods I have loved

2008-07-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

Monday again...

2008-07-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

...and back to school! Marco has returned, and it makes such a difference! The morning flew by, and before I knew it, it was 1 pm. We have another new student in class this week: Monica from Germany. But wait, you say, didn't you spend last week hanging out with Monica from german-speaking Salzburg? Yes, true...this is another person entirely. I guess the name "Monica" must be popular over there...

I didn't do much of anything this weekend....watched a little italian TV to work on my listening skills and took a few walks. Yesterday, I stopped for a drink in the middle of the afternoon and had a "Rossini" made of champagne and strawberry juice. Yum.

For dinner last night, I went back to 4 Leoni, which mom and aunt clare and I had visited while they were here. I had a little antipasto (including crostini with chicken liver) and then the pasta which mom had last time: fiochettini. It was just as good as I had remembered. And then for dessert, the waiter recommended the cheesecake with chocolate sauce, which is his favorite dessert there. It was wonderful! And afterward, I used a phrase which Marco had taught me: mi piace da morire, which means, literally, I like it to death - a Tuscan expression meaning that you like something very very very much. The waiter was very surprised and pleased to hear me say that!

Tonight I'm going up to San Miniato al Monte to watch the sunset over the Arno...hopefully I'll be able to get some spectacular photos. Then dinner at a new place recommended to me: Osteria Antica Miscita di San Niccolo. Another adventure...

Okay, you tell me which way I'm supposed to walk! It appears to be into the construction site, doesn't it???

A video from our evening in piazza signoria

2008-07-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a video I took on the night that mom, aunt Clare and I saw Zubin Mehta conducting Beethoven's 9th symphony with the orchestra and chorus of the Maggio Musicale Festival in piazza signoria.

Friday night

2008-07-12T01:22:00.000-07:00

On Monica's recommendation, I decided to go to the Bargello museum on Friday afternoon, one of the options available on my "Friends of the Amici" card. Boy, am I glad I did! Besides the usual displays, they are having a special exhibit entitled "The great bronzes of the Baptistry", which is all sculpture by Vincenzo Danti, a student of Michelangelo. You can view the exhibit's website here:

http://www.danti2008.it/galleria.asp

My favorite of the sculptures in this exhibit was a work entitled "L'Onore che vince l'Inganno", or "Honor triumphant over deceit".

I absolutely love the tortured, twisted body of deceit beneath the body of honor. This picture does not do it justice. You can walk around all sides of this sculpture, and every detail is so thoroughly portrayed, every line shows the pain and suffering of the man beneath and the victory of the man above. It's spectacular.

Also within the museum is Donatello's David, among other famous artworks.

David is in the process of being restored, and the amazing thing is that he's being worked on in the middle of one of the exhibition halls. On Friday afternoon, he was lying face down on a work table, surrounded by lasers, cameras, and tools. Unfortunately, the restoration was done for the week, but I am definitely going to go back next week to watch the technicians bringing him back to life. Sorry, no pictures were allowed, so I can't show you any of this in progress....

After a couple of hours in the museum, I headed to Vivoli for gelato - this time raspberry with dark chocolate. Yum. Went home and chilled out for a bit, and then went to Pizzeria San Jacopo, which is in my neighborhood here. This is the second time I had gone. Tonight, I had a 1/4 liter of red wine (about two glasses), a pizza with mushrooms and prosciutto, a side salad and a coffee. I went up to pay, having totaled my bill in my head and coming up with almost 12 euro. The manager/boss at the register punched a few buttons, and then told me that my total was 10. "10, really?" I asked, and the answer was yes. I guess repeat customers get a discount!

Yes, Melissa, you're right, I don't want to come back. I love living here, but I would need to transport all of you here to live with me because I would miss my family and friends too much. And mom, I finished "Marley and me" last night, and I cried like a baby....

Friday afternoon

2008-07-11T05:20:00.001-07:00

....and school is finished for the week! Marco returns on Monday, and I'll be very glad to see him again. Our "substitute" teacher was fine, but Marco is such an amazing teacher that everyone else pales in comparison.

Yesterday was an exciting day for a couple of reasons:

First of all, I purchased a membership entitled "Amici degli Uffizi", which is basically a donation to the foundation which supports the state-owned art museums in Florence. With this donation, I received a card which gives me free admission to all those museums. This includes the Uffizi, the Accademia, Palazzo Pitti and all of its many sub-museums, Boboli garden, the Medici Chapel, etc. etc. This enables me to enjoy these museums at my leisure, without making reservations or standing in long lines waiting to enter. It also allows me to spend as little or as much time as I like, without worrying about trying to see everything, since I can always come back. Yesterday, for example, I spent 90 minutes in the Uffizi, most of it in the Botticelli room. I saw about 10% of the museum, but I could go back today, tomorrow, Sunday, etc. etc. I think this is probably one of the best purchases I could make!

Following my afternoon at the Uffizi, I went back to school for the afternoon excursion. Today it was a guided walk to the other side of the river, known as the "Oltr'Arno". Although I had walked over there numerous times before, I had never done so with a native Florentine, and what a difference that made! Christina told us all about the history of the city, and the importance of the river to the city, and the history of the expansion across the river. In addition, the other side of the river has much of the artisan work that used to exist in Florence proper prior to the flood of 1966, when thousands of artisans were destroyed in one night as the river washed away all of the tools of their trade. Today, across the river, you can still see, for example, shoes being made by hand, with apprentices learning the trade from the master.

Afterwards, I met many of my classmates for a beer near Santa Croce. There's a very interesting phenomenon here: many bars put out a buffet spread during the cocktail hour, between 7 and 9. If you buy a drink, you can help yourself to as much food as you like. So we each had one drink: a beer or glass of wine and plates full of food. I don't know how the bars make money on this, since the drinks were not priced very high and the food was plentiful. It's a good thing to know about if you're trying to save a little money!

OK, off to the museum of the afternoon...which shall it be?

Tuesday night's opera

2008-07-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

Please forgive me if this post is a little short, because I'm pretty tired after only 4 hours of sleep!

After relaxing at the apartment after school for a little bit, I got on the bus and went down to porta Romana, which is the back entrance to the Boboli Gardens.

I was there early since I wasn't sure when the bus would get me there (I had to transfer buses at the train station). Upon arriving, I went across the street to a little cafe to have an "apertivo". I told the bartender that I wanted a little something to drink, but didn't know what I wanted, to which he said, "would you like me to make something for you?" Since I've been making an effort to try things I've never had, I said that I definitely wanted him to make something up. He created a drink that was mostly juice but also had a little gin and some other ingredients. Very tasty!

I went to the entrance to wait for Monica, my classmate who was going to the opera with me. While I was waiting, I chatted a little with an elderly lady, who was waiting for her daughter and granddaughter. They had dropped her off while they went to park the car. When they finally arrived, she said to them "Look! I found an american!" I found that very funny, particularly considering how many americans there are here in Florence at the moment.

Monica arrived, and we found our seats, which were lovely. The stage is mostly built out of scaffolding, with an orchestra pit, and the opera was staged just as it would be in a theatre, although the singers were miked because of the outdoor acoustic. Marco had told me that this company was not up to the professional level of the Maggio Musicale, but it would be entertaining to attend. I agree. And it was very lovely to sit outside on a clear cool night and listen to Verdi. The audience was VERY enthusiastic. That's one big difference here in Italy: the general public (for the most part) knows and loves opera. You could hear people humming along with some parts, and everyone felt free to yell "bravo" at the end (or in the case of the man in front of me, speaking about Germont, "I hate you". I don't know whether he hated the singer or the character)

It was a very entertaining evening, and lovely to speak Italian with Monica during the (3!) intermissions. Afterward, I found the night bus, but I had missed the 12:28 bus and the next one wasn't until 1:15, so I walked towards "downtown" and got a cab on one of the main streets. Tonight I'll be going to bed early!

Monica didn 't want to have her picture taken, but I insisted!

Tuesday...

2008-07-08T04:25:00.000-07:00

The view of the Duomo from piazza santa annunziata

As I suspected, life is much less interesting now that Mom and Aunt Clare have gone. Yesterday's events in a nutshell: went to school, had lunch, went to happy hour for the new students, bought groceries, went to the tabaccaria to add minutes to my phone, ran 3 miles, ate dinner, studied, slept. Not very interesting, eh? But I do feel a lot of satisfaction about the fact that I'm able to do all of this without using any english. In particular, the interaction at the tabbaccaria was very challenging, because neither I nor the woman behind the counter were really sure which company my cell phone belongs to. But we succeeded, all in italian, which makes me very happy.

Tonight is another challenge, as I need to take the bus to the southwest corner of the Boboli Gardens to go see "La Traviata" with Monica. Hopefully, we'll be successful in getting tickets: I couldn't buy them over the internet (because it was only one day before the performance), the ticket office was closed yesterday, the school secretary couldn't make a reservation over the phone, and the ticket sale center in the downtown bookstore was having "technical problems". Very Italian. The opera doesn't begin until 9:15, since it's outdoors, and therefore it won't end until after midnight. Trying to figure out which buses run after midnight was difficult! I've found a bus, which takes me most of the way, but I may just grab a taxi if I'm tired. This afternoon is free, and I'm planning to wander a bit, and hopefully find an interesting place for lunch.

But here's an interesting bit of trivia from class this morning: in english, we say that someone has "the wool pulled over their eyes". In italian, there's a similar phrase, but they say that someone has "the prosciutto over their eyes". Very apt for this culture, don't you think?

Yesterday's lunch: tomato and mozzarella on "schiacciata" bread. Delicious!

An interesting fountain at piazza santa annunziata

Monday, with new classmates again

2008-07-07T04:31:00.000-07:00

My school has two-week long "courses" and last Friday ended a course. This morning, we spent the first two hours doing individual grammar work while the incoming students were tested, and now we have two new classmates: Lisa from France and Kun (?) from Holland. Anna from New York has left, so I'm once again the only american in the class, as well as the only one who has english as her mother tongue. I like it better that way. And I can feel myself getting better at speaking, although I'm not nearly as good as I would like to be. But there's still time....

Last night, I had dinner at I che c'e c'e, a restaurant that I've visited every time I've come to Florence. Marco had recommended it, and it's a great place...friendly people and good traditional Tuscan cuisine. I was the only one there speaking Italian with them...all the rest of the diners were American, as far as I could tell. I asked why, because my memory of this restaurant is that I couldn't even get in to the restaurant some nights, since it was so full of italians. The answer was that most italians spend the weekend at the coast, since it's so hot in town (as my hostess did). Also, many italians are on vacation in July or August, and they don't stay in town. Dinner was great: ravioli with sage and butter (one of my new favorites), grilled chicken, and vin santo with biscotti (another new favorite). When the bill came, I saw that she had rounded it DOWN...instead of charging 28, the bill read 25. It just amazes me how nice everyone is here.

Tonight there's a happy hour for all the new students, and then I'm heading to the ticket office: Monica (from Salzburg) and I are going to see La Traviata in the Boboli Gardens tomorrow night! I'm very excited, not just to go see an opera, but to go with a new friend and speak only Italian with her all evening.

I think that today (or yesterday) marks the halfway point of my trip. I've been here 19 days, and I have about 18 to go. Very sad...

To leave you, here are some pictures of things that I find very typically Italian:

Train and bus strike, but as you can see, from 6 am until 9:15 am and during lunchtime the bus was running to accomodate the working folks. Would never happen in america, would it?

Great works of art covering up other great works of art - hidden treasures! Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time to see this - I would never have known that there was a fresco behind this oil painting!

The bodies of dead saints on view. This saint (I've forgotten her name) died in the late 1200s. They fashion a plastic or ceramic mask, hands and feet for the saints, but under that nun's habit, her bones are there.

Places where very famous people have been. This placard marks a hotel where Mozart stayed on the first of his 3 trips to Italy. I'm always stunned to see something like this, just unobtrusively hanging on a wall!

A quiet weekend

2008-07-06T04:53:00.000-07:00

After the crazy party that happened here for the fourth of July, I'm ready for a rest! (no, just kidding....no one even acknowledged America's Independence Day, as I knew would be the case). Yesterday, I wandered around the city at a very slow pace, seeing a few things and just ambling in general. I did visit the Medici Chapels, with the spectacular tombs by Michelangelo. That was pretty stunning.

I also went inside Santa Felicita and Santo Spirito, both beautiful churches. Santo Spirito had been designed by Brunelleschi, who I am coming to admire more and more for his architecture.

Dinner was at Pizzeria Dante, across the Arno, where I had this AMAZING fried polenta with mushroom and tomato sauce. Delicious!

Chiesa Santa Croce

Poor Cosimo...the indignity of having pigeons landing on his head every day...

My new apartment

2008-07-05T04:24:00.000-07:00

I moved on Friday to my new apartment, in an area a little farther from the center of town. The apartment is owned by Rosella, and her daughter Constanza lives there as well. I'll have to take the bus to school now, but at least the area is a little cooler, weather wise. And the heat seems to have broken, as Aunt Clare knew it would just after her departure!

Wednesday in San Gimignano

2008-07-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

For Mom and Aunt Clare's last day in Tuscany, we decided to take the train to San Gimignano to see the towers. The city has (I think) 7 towers left standing. We took the train to Poggibonsi, and then the bus to S.G. It was such a beautiful city!

There was a lot of walking, because like usual, almost every small town in Tuscany is built on a hill (or so it seems). We had gelato at a wonderful little gelateria, which had about 40 flavors. I had vernaccia (the local white wine) with grapefruit. It was very refreshing on a hot day like Wednesday was!

We walked up another hill to a wine museum, converted from an old fort and tucked away where there were hardly any tourists. It was time to have a little afternoon beverage, and the winery offered wines by the glass. We chose to drink Vernaccia, of course, and the winery had three different choices for us, each one aged a little longer. You could definitely taste the difference when you drank them in sequence. We sat on a tiny little balcony overlooking the surrounding countryside, enjoying the breeze at the top of the mountain.

After a little shopping, it was time to go back to Florence. Bus, then train, then a not so great dinner (but how could anything compare to Tuesday's dinner!) and then packing for mom and Aunt Clare so that they could take the train to Rome on Thursday morning.

Tuesday's events

2008-07-03T04:16:00.000-07:00

Priests & monks enjoying a little gelato

Yes, I know I'm behind....but since mom and aunt clare left me this morning, I'm sure that I won't have as much of interest to report, so I'll at least have a few days to catch up.

Tuesday afternoon, Aunt Clare and I went to Sienna (mom wasn't feeling well). We took the bus, which was very easy to figure out...it's about an hour by bus from Florence. Unknown to us, we were on a "training run". There was a new guy driving the bus, and his trainer was sitting behind him. What an experience! You could tell that the new driver was very nervous...it seemed that this was perhaps his first time behind the wheel of the bus. The trainer kept telling him to honk his horn at the other cars - I suppose just to alert them that he was there, because everyone drives ALL OVER THE ROAD here. It was my first time on the autostrada, and it was a bit terrifying to be careening down the highway in this very large vehicle when I had no confidence in the driver!

We arrived in Sienna without incident, however. Tuesday was the day before the palio, which is akin to the Kentucky Derby, with the exception that every resident of the city has a stake in the outcome. The city is divided into teams, called contrade, each of which has its own colors and flag. There seems to be a great deal of team pride here, as many residents were wearing their colors, and if not, they had bandanas with their team colors on it. The excitement in the city was very apparent!

(picture by Aunt Clare!)

The race takes place in the campo, with bleachers set up for the more important members of the city and the rabble crushed into the center of the ring. The horses run around the ring, and the entire race lasts only 90 seconds. But the winning team has a party that lasts all night long, with guests and tourists invited to help celebrate, and the winning horse eating at the head of the table, because it's the horse, and not the jockey, who is important in this race.

After walking through the campo, we spent some time in the Duomo, which was spectacular. Prior to my trip, I purchased "The Blue Guide" for Tuscany, which I highly recommend. (They also produce Blue Guides to other tourist destinations). This is not necessarily a comprehensive tour book, but it gives you the basics on how to travel to a city or area with a few hotels and restaurants, and the rest of the book is dedicated to the art of a city. The Duomo in Sienna took up four pages of my book, with almost every work of art in the church described in detail, including the artist, title, and approximate date of creation, along with a little history about the work. The Duomo in Sienna has the oldest Italian made stained glass window left in the world, which I never would have known if it were not for this book.

After we left the Duomo, we were trying to decide what to do next when we heard drums. We tried to follow them through the town, but couldn't catch up to them, but then we realized that they were heading towards the campo. We took a detour, and then saw that every contrada was parading into the city hall, right at the end of the campo. Each contrada had a drummer and two flag bearers, and they paraded (I assume from their home territory) into the campo and into city hall. Then they exited and left the campo...Aunt Clare and I were speculating that they had to sign some sort of registry on the day before the race. It was a very exciting day to be in Sienna, and thankfully, the bus driver for the return trip was experienced.

We headed home and picked up mom, and then set out for the best meal we've had in Florence. Aunt Clare remembered that we had eaten at a wonderful restaurant in 2005 on the night before Easter. Marco had recommended it, and luckily I had my notebook with the name of the restaurant: Da Osvaldo. We found it, and although the menu was extensive and wonderful, we decided to go with the "tasting menu", which was 6 courses, all surpises...whatever the chef decided to do. In addition, we had a very nice bottle of wine, recommended by the owner of the restaurant.

Before dinner (we had no idea what was in store for us!)

Our six courses were as follows:

Chickpea soup with shrimp in rosemary & brandy cream sauce

Duck terrine with prosciutto and crostini

Tagliatelle (made from both wheat and white flour) with pesto (made with pecorino in place of parmesan)

Guinea fowl sauce with ravioli gnudi (a kind of dumpling similar to gnocchi)

Pork with cream and balsamic vinegar sauce and roasted potato

Strawberry mousse.

We were SO full but SO happy when we finished....definitely one of the best meals I've had in my life!

Afterwards, we strolled to Piazza della Signoria to catch the last movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony, which was being performed by Zubin Mehta with the orchestra and chorus of the maggio musicale fiorentino. It was a beautiful evening, and the piazza was packed with people. The music was glorious, and it was a perfect end to a spectacular day.

Zubin Mehta in rehearsal before the performance (picture by Aunt Clare!)

A quick post

2008-07-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

Not much time today, but I wanted to share a couple of photos with you. More tomorrow....

Mom's new shoes:

Aunt Clare's new shoes:

And the best find of all: the priests of the month calendar (distributed by the vatican!)

Monday in Florence

2008-07-01T04:08:00.000-07:00

Today was the start of a new week, and thus new classmates. Yumi has left us, but we now have Anna from New York, who is about to turn 17. Her mother tongue is german and her third language is Italian. Her mother is german, her father is italian, and she lives in New York City. Can you imagine how wonderful it must be to be able to speak all those languages from childhood? Another new student is Elizabeth, who is italian, but she lives in the north of Italy where they speak German. The last is Monica, who lives in Salzburg. I am anxious to hear her speak about her home town, as it is so important to those of us who love Mozart!

After class, mom, Aunt Clare, and I had thought we would visit the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, but none of us thought about the fact that it was Monday, and therefore many of the museums were closed. The museum of science was open, however, although parts of it were under construction and we'll have to come back to see the rest another year. But we did see Galileo's telescopes and his writings (and also his severed finger!). As you can imagine, mom LOVED this, being a science teacher. Aunt Clare took lots of pictures of the old instruments for mom to share with her fellow teachers back in Cleveland.

After the museum of science, we went to the Duomo to see the artwork inside the church. What was most impressive was the expansiveness and the grandeur of the space. There aren't any pews - they set up chairs for the service - and therefore you found yourself in an enormous open room. The floor was particularly beautiful - lots of marble mosaic in interesting patterns.

After the Duomo, mom and aunt clare did a little shoe shopping and both bought gorgeous shoes. I wish I had taken a picture for you - maybe tonight. I resisted - I don't want to buy anything else new until after I change apartments on Friday - no need packing anything more than what I have right now!

We wandered a bit and saw this statue of Brunelleschi, which is positioned so that it appears that he's looking up at the cupola of the Duomo which he designed.

A little browsing in "paperback exchange", which is an english bookstore where I plan to leave all the old guidebooks and novels that I have here, and then we headed to Piazza della signoria for an apertivo. The waiter brought us water with ice in it, and I told him that this was the first time we had had ice in our water in Florence. He was suprised to hear it, and brought us an extra glass just with ice in it so that our water could stay cool in the heat! Every Italian that I have encountered has been so nice and friendly to us!

Later, we went back to Trattoria Angiolino, which is definitely one of our favorite places. This time I had grilled vegetables and pasta with wild boar, Aunt Clare had an antipasto plate and gnocchi with pesto, and mom had ravioli with sage and butter. Absolutely wonderful! There's a waiter/manager there who we've named "Stanley Tucci", because he looks very similar to him. He's also VERY stylish. Aunt Clare tried to get a picture (we've named her "the stealth photographer") but he was moving too fast. For dessert, we shared creme caramel, and the waiter brought us all glasses of vin Santo, on the house.

After dinner, we walked back to the piazza della Signoria because the ballet of the Maggio Musicale was performing there on a platform erected for the occasion. Tonight the symphony and chorus will perform there - Beethoven's 9th symphony - and that will mark the end of the Festival for this year.

Sunday in Assisi

2008-06-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we woke up pretty early in order to catch the train to Assisi. It's a long journey (2.5 hours from Florence), but all of us felt pretty strongly that we wanted to go. It's a really beautiful city, and it holds such importance in the Catholic church that we couldn't miss it. On the train, we met a man and his wife who had just spent a week there. Their church had organized a pilgramage - 7 holy places in Assisi in 7 days. We chatted for a bit, and then Aunt Clare said, "It's very important for us to go to Assisi because we're both Clares", meaning that St. Clare is our patron saint. But this man immediately assumed that she meant that we were both members of the Poor Clares, a branch of Franciscan nuns. Only in Italy....

We got to Assisi about a half hour before mass was about to start, so we took a cab from the train station up the hill to the town. The cab driver asked me where I was from after we talked for a minute, and I told him Seattle. He was surprised, and said he thought I was from Rome because of the way I spoke italian!

Mom in front of the Basilica

We went to mass at the Basilica of St Clare, which was wonderful. There were a group of nuns singing all of the hymns and responses, hidden away so that we couldn't see them. Afterwards, we went to Osteria gli Orti for lunch, which had been recommended by the cab driver.

Aunt Clare's antipasto plate, which was totally empty before we left!

Assisi is full of hidden little alleys and corners and so many beautiful flowers

I wanted to go to the museum exhibit to see the instruments of torture for the martyrs, but I was overruled...

After strolling through the city for awhile, it was time to go back to the station, and we hailed a cab in front of the Basilica of San Francesco. All it took was a little question of the cab driver to start an incredible adventure: I asked him where all of the fields of sunflowers were, since we saw them in pictures but not in person. He asked me if I wanted him to take the street near the fields, since it too went to the station. I said yes, and we were off! We went along a street that was right under the city, and the panorama was spectacular.

We stopped to take a few pictures, and then he asked me if we had been to Chiesa della Santa Maria dei Angeli, which is right near the station. We said no, so he took us there, explaining all the way (in italian) why this church was so important. I translated the best I could for mom and aunt Clare. He parked in front of the church and took us inside. We saw a plaque commemorating three days of prayer in the late 80s, attended by leaders of all of the world religions. Then he showed us a small chapel built by St. Francis to honor the Virgin Mary. He showed us the place where St. Francis died. On display is the rope belt that he wore around his habit as well as blood from his stigmata. It was a spectacular mini tour led by a man who was very emphatic about showing us the most important parts of his city and his religion. Of course, we tipped him very well, and he tried to refuse the extra. He had even turned off the meter while he took us inside the church. It's people like this that make Italy so wonderful!

The long trip back to Florence and then pizza for dinner for all of us. Here's mine below...and yes, those are slices of hot dog on the pizza! We all laughed so hard when it came that we practically could not eat!

The Cinque Terre

2008-06-30T04:15:00.001-07:00

The three of us in Monterosso al Mare

Saturday we headed to the Cinque Terre - a group of 5 tiny towns on the west coast of Italy in Liguria. Many many people (including Rick Steves, the travel guru) say that the Cinque Terre is one of the most beautiful locations in Italy, and I can see why! The towns are on the coast, and there is every opportunity to experience the beauty of nature there. You can swim, boat, snorkel, hike, ride horses, wander through the forest, etc, etc.

We took the train from Florence to La Spezia, and bought our "Cinque Terre Card" there. This card allows you to ride the train on and off between the towns as well as walk the trails between the towns. We started with the northernmost town, Monterosso al Mare, which was the most beautiful, in my opinion.

Monterosso al Mare

We walked around a little (these towns are very tiny) and I put my feet in the Ligurian sea.

The trail between Monterosso and the second town was reputed to be the most difficult, so we skipped that one and took the train to the second town, Venzana, where we would begin our hike. That town was also very pretty, and we started out on our hike (during the heat of the afternoon on a day that reached around 90 degrees). This hike was pretty darn hard: 2 kilometers uphill followed by two kilometers downhill. And it wasn't easy steps either - it was big rocks that had been transformed into steps.

Monterosso al Mare

The hike took us two hours before we reached Corniglia. Thankfully, there was a rest stop about halfway through the hike, where we were able to purchase water and snacks. We had lunch in a little trattoria in Corniglia, which was very good.

My lunch in Corniglia: some kind of fish. Beautiful, isn't it?

We then took the train to town #4, where Aunt Clare and I got off to hike the final segment of the trail, but mom continued to Riomaggiore, the last town, because she was all hiked out. The final portion is named "Via dell'amore" because it's an easy stroll, with benches spaced out where you can sit and enjoy the view with your loved one. We wandered around Riomaggiore a little and then got on the train back to La Spezia and then to Florence. A quick dinner at a bar on the way to the apartment and then we all collapsed in our beds, after long showers. I don't think I've ever sweated so much, even after my triathlons! And it's a good thing too, since we're eating so much that I have to stay active, otherwise I won't fit into any of my clothes when I get home!

The view from the trail looking down at Corniglia

View from the trail

Tomorrow I'll write about our Sunday in Assisi. I hear that Seattle is having a heat wave - I hope that you are all staying comfortable!

The weekend

2008-06-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy travelling this weekend that I haven't gotten to a computer and this internet point closes in 2 minutes! I promise another post (including pictures) Monday...

Friday in Florence

2008-06-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a day to stay in Florence for Mom and Aunt Clare. I had school, as usual, which was fantastic, as usual. I get so much satisfaction from this class! Here's a picture of my class: Marco, our teacher, Yumi, the japanese girl, Anna, the polish girl, and me.

One funny story from class today: Marco was helping us with the pronunciation of some word...can't remember what, but he did say it was a tongue twister. He then gave an example of a tongue twister in Italian. He asked us to each say a tongue twister in our native language (I chose 'she sells sea shells by the sea shore'). It was very cool to hear tongue twisters in Polish and in Japanese!

After class, I met mom and AC at the apartment, and then we headed to San Lorenzo for a little shopping at the open air market. I picked up another few necklaces very similar to my purple Murano glass necklace (which broke last week) as well as a linen skirt, which I changed into right there on the street. It's way too hot for anything heavy!

Then we wandered down to the Santa Croce district to have gelato at Vivoli, which is considered by many to be one of the best gelaterias in Florence. As you can see, we had no problem finishing our gelato!

We hopped on the bus after that to head up to San Miniato al Monte. I had heard about the Benedictine monks who sing Gregorian chant every afternoon and I was eager to hear it. We got there just in time...around 5:15. The singing began at 5:30. We looked around the church a little, which was VERY beautiful and VERY old, built around 1027. Then we sat down to listen to the monks. It wasn't long before we realized that it wasn't just chanting - we were attending mass in Latin. So, although we had planned to spend only a little time there, of course we could not leave during mass, so we stayed until the end, which was really wonderful.

Mom and Aunt Clare in the courtyard in front of San Miniato

A nice walk back down the mountain, and then dinner at Trattoria dell Angiolo, which is one of the most wonderful meals I've had yet, and that's saying a lot! We started with grilled vegetables for Aunt Clare and Pecorino with Etruscan sauce (which was honey). Then Aunt Clare had tagliatelli with Porcini mushrooms, mom had gnocchi with pesto, and I had tagliatelli in lemon cream sauce. Absolutely fantastic! The waiter recommended tiramisu for dessert, and it was one of the most wonderful tiramisus I've had....my first one here on this trip. Thank goodness we had to walk a little to get home, because we were absolutely stuffed full.

My cheese and Aunt Clare's vegetables tonight.

I know that these posts are full of superlatives, but I just can't say enough about how wonderful everything is here and how happy I am. Even though we're dying from the heat, we're all dreading the end of this trip because we're having such a good time here.

The view while crossing the Arno river this evening

For Thea: a very sweet pug on the bus on the way to San Miniato

Thursday's events

2008-06-27T04:38:00.000-07:00

Here's Aunt Clare's account of Thursday (while I was in school):

Donna and I took the train to Chiusi and then a bus to Montepulciano. It is a hill town that has the highest elevation in Tuscany. It was fabulous with spectacular views overlooking the olive groves and grape vines. Everywhere in town they had wine tasting - obviously we didn't know this area was famous for its wine. We also had a pasta that we never saw or ate before. It is called pici - it is made from flour, water and olive oil and then hand rolled into a tubular shape - fabulous! We mostly walked up-hill exploring the city, shopping, and eating in the 90+ degree weather. We need a cold wave soon!

And from me:

I spent the morning in school, and then had a leisurely lunch and a short nap, since I knew it would be a long night. I then met mom and AC for a quick dinner in a bar near our apartment, and then I went to the opera! It was a production of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino at Teatro Communale, which is very near our apartment. The opera was Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich, and it was MARVELOUS! I loved everything about it. During intermission, I went to the bar to have a little snack and a glass of wine. A man came over to me and asked if he could sit with me, and we chatted a bit. He walked me back to my seat, and as it turned out, he had been sitting right behind me during the first act. He sat next to me during the second act, and afterward, took me out for a pizza and then walked me back to the apartment. A complete gentleman, very polite and interesting. And thank goodness he was full of stories, because my italian isn't really good enough yet for small talk with strangers!

The shoes of Italy

2008-06-26T04:45:00.001-07:00

Here's a sample of what we see when window shopping

And of course, I had to buy a pair for myself!

Wednesday in Florence and Fiesole

2008-06-26T04:28:00.000-07:00

The morning was spent in class, where we had an unusal (for me) assignment. We had a long discussion about the geography of Italy, including receiving a chart of the regions of Italy (of which there are 20) and a list of each name and short description. We had to figure out which was which. Then Marco talked with us about the differences between all the regions, culturally and linguistically. He asked us to come up with a few questions about the regions of Italy - as if we were journalists interviewing Italian citizens about the differences between the regions and what their identity was: were they Florentines? Tuscan? Italian? He gave us a grammar lesson, fixing each question so that it was correct. And then he sent us out to find Italians on the street and ask them our questions! I was terrified to do this, but Marco assured me that it would be just fine, and in fact, it seemed that everyone was friendly and welcoming, and we all had an opportunity to chat with someone about their thoughts on regionality. This is what makes this school so special to me: it's all about lessons building upon each other and it emphasizes self-discovery. You are not spoon-fed one thing - you have to work for everything you learn, which makes it much more valuable, in my opinion.

While I was in class, Mom and Aunt Clare were doing a little more shopping, and I got to see the results, including some beautiful jewelry and linens. We met in front of Dante's house (!!!!), which is near my school and near the restaurant that we wanted for lunch. It was the same restaurant that we had visited for dinner in 2005 when all seven of us were here: Mom, AC, me, Mary, Melissa, Pam and Yasmine. We sat outside that evening, but it was too hot on Wednesday, so we stayed inside. More absolutely delicious food....we haven't had a bad meal yet!

Afterwards, we shopped a little more on our way back home, including stopping at a store called "Falsi gioelli", which has beautiful jewelry. I definitely want to buy something there! Mom took a nap, I went to the opera house ticket window for a ticket to the opera tomorrow night, and Aunt Clare found the Pennsylvania girls choir singing in a church near our apartment!

In the evening, we took the bus to Fiesole, which is very close to Florence - about a 15-20 minute drive. It's up on a hill, and the vista there is incredible, as you can see!

The very steep path up the hill

The view from up top...it was a little hazy, but you can see the Duomo in the distance

We ate at a little restaurant on the piazza with a very flirty waiter. Gnocchi with red sauce for mom, antipasto and pasta with red sauce, eggplant, and capers for Aunt Clare, and tagliagelli with pesto followed by chicken caciatorri for me. Red wine, as always, and a little coffee afterward. So far, we haven't ordered dessert in any of the restaurants! But we've had gelato many afternoons, and that's the best anyway, although I definitely need to have some tiramisu soon!

After dinner, the bus back to Florence and a little window shopping before bed.

Pictures

2008-06-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

I just read the comments that y'all want more pictures, so I'll do my best. The problem is the connection here - I sometims have difficulty finding a computer that will download the pictures. But now that I've started school, I can use the wireless connection there, and hopefully that will be easier.

Mom, Aunt Clare and I send lots of love to all of you!

Tuesday in Bologna and Parma

2008-06-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

Walking down "Verdi Street" in Parma

A gorgeous meat store in Bologna...look at those hams!

Window shopping in Bologna....who wants me to bring pasta back home?

The statue of Neptune in Bologna

Bruce Willis has arrived in Bologna

Tuesday was a day off of schoo.l...the feast day of St John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, so Mom, Aunt Clare and I took a day trip. We hit the train station at 8:00 am so that we could take the Eurostar to Bologna. What a beautiful city! We did a little shopping and a little sightseeing, and had lunch in a small restaurant near the towers. There are two medieval leaning towers in Bologna, and the plan was to climb up to the top, until we saw what they looked like - fortified, defense towers...very narrow with very few windows. We decided that that was perhaps not the best plan. But we did see the building where the Council of Trent met for a couple of years, as well as a cafe that Umberto Eco frequented.

In the afternoon, we took another train to Parma. We walked through the center of town and found a little flea market - we are looking for a pair of silver or gold sandals for me so that I can be in fashion here in Italy! But we didn't find anything that worked. We saw some very very beautiful churches, including the baptistry of the Duomo, which was made out of pink marble. It's amazing how decorative everything is - every inch is carved or painted in exquisite style. We had a gelato in Parma, and then back on the train to return to Florence, where I sat next to a woman who had lived in Florence for 62 years. She proceeded to tell me how much better everything was 30 years ago...but I'm not going to let her negativity bother me!

Back in Florence...found ANOTHER wonderful restaurant, very close to our apartment. Another course of prosciutto and cantaloupe...I've had that numerous times now, and I can't get enough. It's perfect for this 90 degree weather. I had planned to go see the fireworks over the Arno river last night (in celebration of the feast day), but I was just too tired, so I went to bed...

Monday....first day of school!

2008-06-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Santa Maria Novella, where we went to church on Sunday

I was so very excited for today, and it all turned out just as I had hoped. I got to school early, thinking that I would finish the registration and paperwork, but I got there before the secretary. I sat outside waiting for 9am, and then saw my old teacher Marco walking up the street. He was very surprised to see me, as he hadn't known that I would be here this week - turns out that that was because they confused my registration and thought that I wouldn't be here until July...but no matter. And even better....Marco will be my teacher, at least for this week. I'm in a class with a young Japanese girl and a woman from Poland, perhaps a few years younger than me. I have already learned so much, just in one day, and Marco tells me that he thinks that my Italian is better now than it was when I left here two years ago....I have no idea how that could be possible, but it makes me happy to hear that.

While I was at school, Aunt Clare and Mom went shopping at San Lorenzo market and bought a few presents and some things for themelves. Then we met up on the Oltr'arno side of the ponte vecchio and had lunch at Borgo antico, a restaurant that we had eaten at in 2005, when all seven of us ladies were here (AC, mom, me, Mary, Melissa, Pam and Yasmine). HUGE portions, including a salad for Aunt Clare that could have fed an entire family.

This afternoon included naps for all three of us, and then another dinner on the other side of the river at Quattro Leoni, which was SPECTACULAR. It seems that every dinner gets better and better....how can that be possible? And tonight, I had my first Limoncello of this trip....Melissa, it's even better than we remember!

Quattro Leoni restaurant on the other side of the Arno river

Tomorrow is the feast of St John, so it's a holiday and therefore there won't be any class at school. We're going to get on the train and go to Bologna, Modena, and Parma. It's still incredibly hot - temperatures in the 90s - so hopefully the air conditioning will be working on the trains!

Sunday in Florence

2008-06-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today was another day trip, but we started out at mass. Last night, AC and I had checked out the mass times at Santa Maria Novella, the church near the train station. We got up early for 8:30 mass, and were met at the church door by a very stern woman who inquired as to whether we were there for mass or for seeing the church. I answered that yes, we were going to mass, but she gave us a look and asked again. I assured her that yes, we were going to mass - not to view the church and she let us in. We looked suspect, I suppose. But mass was beautiful - it was great to hear it in italian in this beautiful church. The priest was a tiny little man who was wearing levis and nikes under his vestments. He also had to use a giant magnifying glass to read the scripture.

After mass, we had breakfast outside near the church, and then got on the train to Arezzo. If you've seen "life is beautiful", you've seen part of Arezzo. It's a beautiful town, with cobblestone streets, hills and old, old buildings. We used AC's "village walks" cards again, which took us to a few really wonderful places, including a great Osteria for lunch, the house Petrarch was born in, and some fantastic frescos at Chiesa San Francesco. Unfortunately we missed a wonderful festival by one day: yesterday, there was a medieval joust in the center of town in full costume, contested by teams from the 4 parts of town. So... another reason to come back to Italy in the future.... But we did walk into a municipal building, just by happenstance, which had a city model of what Arezzo looked like in the 1300's, before Cosimo Medici levelled the town to build a fortress. Pretty amazing.

After Arezzo, we bought a ticket to try to go to Cortona, but had problems with the train service. Many trains don't run on Sunday because it's a holy day. We made it to Chiusi, where we had a gelato and then decided to save Cortona for another day and head back to Florence. Dinner at a restaurant just around the corner, where mom had spaghetti carbonara, I had pasta with salmon, and AC had an amazing antipasto plate.

Tomorrow is my first day of school, and I'm VERY excited for that. Mom and AC have plans to go to the San Lorenzo market while I'm in class, and then we're going to meet across the Ponte Vecchio on the Oltr'arno for lunch.

I've left out two very important people from this post...the 5 year old we met on the train to Arezzo and the 70 something year old we met on the train back. That will have to wait for tomorrow!

Pictures

2008-06-21T12:42:00.001-07:00

Mom filling her water bottle in our cute little kitchen

Me with my main man Puccini in Lucca, his hometown.

Aunt Clare at the top of the tower in Lucca

Mom at the top of the tower in Lucca

Waiting for the bike trip to begin.

Friday & Saturday in Italy

2008-06-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how HOT it is here! I thought I had brought appropriate clothes, but after living in the Northwest for so long, I think I forgot what summer was. But it is certainly beautiful!

Friday was a short day trip for us. We headed off for Lucca in the morning so that I could show mom and Aunt Clare the beautiful little town where Yasmine and I spent 5 days together in 2005. It's a pretty quick ride on the train - just over an hour, going through the beautiful countryside. We took along AC's "Village walks of Tuscany"to guide us through the town. This is a set of cards, with an itinerary on one side and a map on the other. They're absolutely wonderful, and we found some lovely places, including a great shop that made homemade chocolates. I showed Mom and AC the bed and breakfast that Yasmine and I stayed at, as well as a few of our favorite spots. We had lunch at Antico Sigilio, which was amazing, just like all the food we've had here. AC in particular loved the soup she had there - a local specialty, which was a vegetable soup with delicious broth. We also went up the tower and took some great pictures of the incredible vista. Mom especially liked window shopping along Via Filungo, which has some very fancy shops.

We left Lucca in the mid afternoon, and decided to stop at Pistoia, one of the small towns on the train route back to Florence. Unfortunately, we had not thought ahead to bring along the correct "card"from AC's set, so we had to rely on my book, which did not have a great map in it. We had some delicious gelato there, and wandered around the town. We tried to get to the Duomo, and although we could see it, we couldn't quite find it. I asked directions from a little old Italian lady, and either she didn't understand me, or she chose to mislead us, because we wound up at the northernmost tip of the city, far away from the Duomo! But we did find the church of San Francesco, which was under repair but had some nice aspects to it, including a beautiful bit of stained glass.

Back to Florence, and dinner at Giorgio's, which was just down the street from our apartment. This was a fixed price trattoria - just 12 euro for each of us for dinner, which included 1st course, 2nd course, side dish, and water and bread. And the choice was pretty vast - we all got some really great food, including "Balaca", which is dried salted cod. Mom liked it....I was happy with my sausage!

Saturday morning was the day I had been looking forward to for quite a long time...our bike trip through the chianti region. We met on the other side of the Arno river (about a half hour walk from the apartment). We were a bit worried because more and more people kept showing up and we thought it was going to wind up being one of those packed tours, but it turned out that there were only about 25 of us....not too bad. The guides took us up into the countryside in three big vans, right to an 11th century castle which operates as a winery/olive oil factory. We got a tour of the castle, including seeing barrels and barrels of wine in every room. Andy, our guide, is from Scotland and was very charming, calling us "darling", "sweetie", and "amore" every time he spoke to us. He took us to the top of the castle tower so that we could look out over the landscape, more beautiful than any picture you've seen of Tuscany. After the tour of the castle, we got to have a glass of wine and some bread with olive oil, both produced on the estate. We then had the opportunity to purchase some wine and oil, which we did. AC bought a bottle of their best wine - Trecorno - which apparently sells for 50 euro in the restaurants. I'm looking forward to trying it!

Then came the fun - we were all fitted for bikes and helmets and started off meandering through the countryside. It was very hot and sunny, but there was enough of a breeze that it wasn't unbearable. And the scenery was just spectacular...more beautiful than I had imagined. After about a half hour, we arrived at a wonderful restaurant for lunch... Ristaurante Buongiusto (I think). We all sat at a long table, family style, and had a salad followed by our choice of pasta dishes. Mom got farfalle with vegetables, and AC and I both had prosciutto with melon. Then we had dessert and coffee...all included in the rate for the trip. Our guides served as our waiters as well as chatting with us about life in Italy. Besides Andy, there was Erin, an army brat who most recently lived in Texas, and Mary from San Diego. All of the other tourists on the trip were great too...we met a couple from Arkansas and a group from South Africa among others. After lunch, we rode for about another 15 minutes, and then stopped at the bottom of a big hill. Our guides warned us that it was hard, and if we were tired or hot or anything, we shouldn't even attempt it - we could ride up in the van. I had no idea how serious they were - this hill was HARD! I had to stop and walk a couple of times going up, and it was a workout! But we all made it to the top and were rewarded with some cold water at a little cafe. Then another 15 minutes or so and we were back at the castle. All of us agreed that this was an amazing trip, and we were VERY glad that we had done it.

Back home for a shower, because we were all dripping with sweat from the day. (The van smelled pretty bad on the way back to town!) We had dinner very close to the apartment at Ristaurante Rotunda. Pizza for me and mom, and spaghetti for AC. Mom went back to the apartment, and AC and I walked to the train station to look at schedules for tomorrow...Arezzo. Then a stop at Santa Maria Novella to check the time for mass, and then a stop at our corner bar for a caffe for me and a gelato for AC.

Now I'm off to find a glass of wine to celebrate "La Notte Bianca", the white night. Today is the longest day of the year and hence the shortest night, and the whole city is out celebrating.

Arrival in Italy!

2008-06-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

A long long travel day yesterday! 9 hour flight to Paris, then a short layover, then a 2hour flight to Rome, then the train from the airport to the train station, then the train to Florence, but I'm finally here! Mom met me at the train station, and I can't believe that we found each other in the lobby that was so mobbed with people! It's a very short walk to our apartment from the train station, but it's on a quiet street that seems to be populated with only Italians. Very nice! The apartment is beautiful and very cool in this hot summer! There is a living room, dining room, kitchen, and two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It's perfect for the three of us. Here's mom filling her water bottle in the kitchen:

(OK...pictures are not working on this computer....I'll try to upload this later)

After a quick shower, we headed out for dinner. My book, Food lover's guide to Florence, recommended a restaurant named Mario's in San Lorenzo, so we headed there. What I failed to notice was that Mario's is a lunch only place, so it was closed on our arrival. We went around the corner to ZaZa's, which is a very popular place. The food was great! Bread and wine for the three of us, and then Aunt Clare and I shared the salad ZaZa, which had arugula, walnuts, goat cheese, and a wonderful basil dressing. Mom had a trio of three typical Tuscan soups, I had gnocchi with red sauce and AC had a pizza. All were excellent.

After dinner, we walked back to the apartment, and then AC and I headed out to pick up some groceries for the kitchen, including some coffee. And of course, we had to get our first gelato in Italy for this trip. Yum!

The eve of the trip

2008-06-18T00:18:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends!

I'm writing this at 12:45 am Seattle time, in my quest to try to stay awake all night in the hopes that that will enable me to sleep on the plane, something I never can do. It might not work, in which case I'll be really cranky upon my arrival in Europe, but I'm hoping that won't be the case.

So tomorrow, we're off to my favorite city in the world: Florence. It will be me, mom and Aunt Clare for the first 2 and a half weeks, and then they leave me on July 4th to go back to Cleveland (Just in time for Independence Day fireworks!) I'm in Italy until July 26: almost 6 weeks!

I'm hoping to be able to update often, including pictures of the three of us adventuring in Italy. It will all depend on how often and easy it is to find a wireless connection.

So that's all for now...I'm going to finish packing and cleaning the condo. I'll be in Europe when I next write in this blog!