Saturday, August 28th -- Venice, Italy
My train ride to Italy was the best night train ride I've had yet. Surprising,
considering all of the horror stories I've heard from others about their
experiences. I had a whole compartment to myself and got a good nights
sleep. I got into Venice at about 6:30 in the morning. I had to wait an
hour or so until the change office in the station opened so I could get
money. Armed with lira, I headed for the bus stop -- well, boat stop. The
only form of motorized transportation in Venice are the boat-busses that
traverse the major canals. On land, the only form of transportation is
by foot. It makes for a very different atmosphere than any other city I've
ever been in.
I took the boat to a hostel across the main canal from the center of town
and got accommodations for the night. I then took a boat across the canal
to Piazza St. Marco -- the main plaza in town. I hooked up with two South
American girls, one from Argentina and one from Uraguay and we wandered
through the streets of Venice for the morning and early afternoon. Everything
is so quiet here with the absence of cars. I went back to the hostel and
took a nap before dinner.
I had dinner in a little restaurant called Alle Fonte. I was attracted to it because it pronounced like my last name and because the chef wore a hilarious tall white hat. I had Spaghetti Ragu, Pollo al Forni, potatoes, bread, and a quarter liter of red wine (of course!) I cracked up when I realized that "Spaghetti Ragu" means "spaghetti with meat sauce". It makes you wonder when you by Ragu vegetarian sauce in the States! It's only my first day in Italy, but already I've decided there's nothing like a good Italian meal. The pasta here is amazing! It's not like anything is really all that different, just that they do it perfectly. I guess if you have pasta every day, you learn how to do it right. After dinner, I had a gelato and then returned to the hostel.
The next morning, I had the typical hostel breakfast and went across the canal and into town. I saw a Dali exhibition that was quite interesting. It was a bunch of plates from books he had illustrated. Also, some of his sculptures were there as well. Pretty strange guy, this Dali. I spent the rest of the day exploring the side-streets of Venice. There are plenty of gondolas giving rides to tourists, but they are also used as a legitimate form of taxi service. I had dinner at the same restaurant as the night before. They made a mean calzone.
Tuesday, August 31st -- Florence, Italy
I'm at a really cool hostel in Florence. It's out of the center of town,
but it is in and old villa complete with gardens and frescos on the ceiling.
I've been here for two nights now. On Sunday morning I took the train here
from Venice via Bologna and got in a little after one. I found out what
bus to take and, as I was getting on, I noticed some girls panicking in
front of the ticket machine. It turned out that they didn't have correct
change. I helped them out and almost missed the bus (they did miss it).
Walking up the (long!) driveway to the hostel I met two guys, both met
Dave (reminiscent of the two Todds in Munich) from New Jersey. We checked
into the hostel and went back to the center of Florence. I saw the Duomo.
Impressive, but I've seen quite a few impressive churches in the past few
months. There was a choir of people in monastic robes singing in front
of the Duomo that was quite good. After looking for quite a while, we found
a nice trattoria for dinner. Trattorias are generally smaller, cozier,
and cheaper eating establishments than are ristorantes. We had a good meal
with lots of wine.
We searched for a while for the perfect gelatoria. The places on the main street were too expensive and skimpy with the servings. Our patience paid off. We found a great little place on the corner of Piazza Santa Maria Novella. They gave us monstrous cones for a reasonable price. We bought a bottle of wine and some plastic cups and hung out in the piazza for the rest of the evening. One of the Dave's got quite tipsy. We managed to get him on the bus and back to the hostel.
The next morning was the day a traveler dreads -- Monday. Europe closes down on Monday. In particular, all of the museums are closed. Still, we managed to do some sight-seeing. We saw Santa Croce, an amazing church full of tombs. Among others, Michelangel, Galileo, and Machiavelli are buried there. We saw another church, St. Laurenzo, that is famous for it's architecture. I was quite amused by an altar devoted to some patron saint or another that was covered with letters from people begging for one favor or another.
We had dinner in a fantastic trattoria -- Trattoria Da Giorgio. I love the Italian concept of "prezzo fisso", or "fixed price". As the name indicates, for a fixed price you get a first pasta course, a main course, bread, and all the wine you can drink. After dinner, we went to Piazzale Michelangelo and had a great view of the city at night. We saw some Italian guys around a card-making machine. I said something random to them and one of them gave me a business card he'd just finished making.
The next morning the museums were open again so we went to the Acadamia
and saw the David. I didn't think I'd be impressed, but I was. It was much
larger than I expected. I saw the Daves off to their train bound for Rome
and went to Palazzio Pitta. I saw an art museum but it turned out to be
the wrong one -- I wanted modern art and got "Madonna with child" 1000
times over. Why is it that every painter decided that he absolutely had
to paint this scene?
During the afternoon, I went to the Boboli gardens. They were pretty, but
after having seen Versailles and Schonnbrun I wasn't overwhelmed. The highlight
was definitely a fountain topped with a sculpture of a fat, naked man sitting
on top of a turtle. A sign below gave warning in several languages not
to drink the water. Hold me back! Afterward I went to the Ufizzi, Florence's
renowned art museum. Part of it was closed because of a bombing several
months before. I was most impressed by the paintings by Bottecelli.
After hanging out in Piazza Santa Maria for a few hours (and having my required dose of gelato) I went to Trattoria da Giorgio for dinner. I ended up at a table in the back sitting across from an Italian guy. In Italy, if you come to a restaurant by yourself, they don't give you your own table but rather seat you with someone else. He spoke no English, I spoke no Italian, and we got along beautifully. It doesn't take spoken language to pass the wine at the appropriate time. From my table I could see a big Italian woman making the pasta in the kitchen. At the table next to me was a group of Italian men, one of which sounded just like the Godfather. Great meal!
Back at the hostel, I phoned Frederic, one of the French people I'd met in Prague, to see if he was going to be around when I swung through Southern France (he lives in Aix en Provence). Unfortunately, he'll be in Paris then. I phoned Carlos, my Portuguese buddy from Germany, but he wasn't home. I ended up attempting to talk with his mother, who spoke no English. She put his father on the phone and he didn't speak much English either. I called back later, got Carlos, and it's full speed ahead with my visit to Portugal.
Wednesday, September 1st -- Milan, Italy
I
left Florence this morning and spent the day here in Milan. There isn't
really a whole lot to see in Milan. It's more of a business capital than
a cultural center. The Duomo in Milan is very impressive, however, especially
when one climbs up to the top. I spent the entire afternoon in a Virgin
records superstore. I was desperate for a good music fix. All I've heard
are the same American dance tunes everywhere I go in Europe. The had listening
stations set up so that you could listen to CDs -- I was in heaven!
I went to find a restaurant that was listed in my guide, but got lost. I found a little trattoria, but kept searching for the place I was looking for. I eventually found it, but didn't like it so I went back to find the trattoria I'd seen earlier. I got lost again, but finally managed to find the place. I was almost the only person in the place and had a really nice meal. I'm catching a midnight train tonight for Nice.
Send
me email