In general it was an excellent vacation: no glitches in the travel, we had a terrific time with friends and relatives we hadn't seen for a while, the weather was good, and we saw some really interesting and impressive things. We almost decided not to go overseas this year because we, especially Claire, had had a less than enjoyable winter and spring, and we didn't start planning until April. But we're glad we went because it worked out really well.
We started with our normal lousy flight to New York. The plane was a little bigger than usual this year, and the heat and the bus ride in New York weren't quite as bad as usual. It is worth mentioning again that there were no flight delays, so we got on the British Air flight and began to relax. We landed at Heathrow and took a bus to the Geneva flight at another terminal. This flight, too, was on time. During the layover, we discover some wonderful shops, and we hoped we would have time to shop on the way back.
After we landed and found our luggage, we looked for our friend Kjersti. We found her looking exactly as she had 14 years ago, and not a day pregnant, although she was 3 months along. We piled our suitcases in her car, then drove to her apartment. We stopped at a local vegetable market along the way.
When we arrived at her apartment, we met her husband Emmanuel. He is a personal investment broker: not bad in a city of bankers. We all walked from their apartment to downtown Geneva, passing by the nice European architecture, and seeing some of the sites of the city. We saw Loch Lemand - Lake Geneva, with its large fountain. The fountain was turned off because of high winds. We saw a church where John Calvin had preached his Reform message several hundred years ago. After walking, we walked back to the apartment. Kjersti made a nice dinner for us. We stayed awake as long as we could, then crashed with the effects of jet lag.
On Sunday, we took a trip to a small French village named Yvoire. It was loaded with tourist shops, but it was nice. Old restored buildings, and a nice view of the lake. We met Emmanuel's uncle, aunt, and grandmother there. We drove back to Geneva and went to a really nice restaurant for dinner. Mark tried "steak tartar" - interesting, but I probably won't order it again.
Monday was a holiday in Switzerland, so Kjersti was available to take us siteseeing. Because Emmanuel has clients in North America (where it was not a holiday), he had to spend some time in the office. Kjersti took us to Gruyere. This is where the cheese is made, but there is a nicely restored old castle there. Gruyere has become a haven for artists: there are lots of artists selling their wares, and there are some major festivals there every year. We saw some nice stuff. And of course we had Gruyere fondue for lunch! When we returned to Geneva, Kjersti again made us dinner, this time with some fresh Norwegian salmon: that was really good. Kjersti's sister Hege and two friends stopped in to visit. They are students in the south of France, and they had just finished examinations. That is the first time we met any of Kjersti's family. After dinner, Kjersti took us to the train station.
We made a really good decision to take the overnight train from Geneva to Florence. The journey was about 8 hours, and travelling at night gave us an extra day to see Florence. The sleeper car was a little expensive, but it worked out really well. The beds were just about big enough for our bodies, but we did get to sleep. The motion of the train was like being rocked to sleep. We both slept pretty well and were ready when the porter woke us up at about 6:15. We got into Florence, took a taxi and got to our hotel at about 7. Another bit of good luck: our room was ready. We didn't get breakfast, but we had the opportunity to shower. We started our Florence siteseeing early.
On Tuesday, we started walking from our hotel, finding our way around. We first saw the church of San Lorenzo. This was one of many fine cathedrals. There was sculpture all over. We saw all the people selling leather: belts, jackets, purses, brief cases, etc. We passed some large open piazzas, some with outdoor restaurants. We then went to see the Duomo: the cathedral with the large dome overhead. Again, nice artwork inside. And we got our first taste of waiting in line for things: this was high tourist season with lots of American and Japanese tour busses. Our next big site was the Palazzo Vecchio, the palace of an important family. It was nice, and had some good views of other Florence landmarks.
We wanted to see the Uffizi art gallery in the afternoon, but the estimated wait in line was too long. We walked across the Ponte Vecchio to the Boboli Gardens. They were nice too, but it was so hot that we couldn't really walk very far. We came out, sat down, and bought some water. Even though Florence wasn't as hot as Rome, it was bad enough that we had to be careful: rest occasionally and drink lots of water. In the evening, we found the first of several nice restaurants. Not too expensive, and the food was really good. They do make better pizza and spaghetti than we do here in the United States.
I'm jumping ahead a little so I can keep things geographically separated. The other descriptions are chronological, but this is at least one way to organize. On Thursday morning, we got up early and went to the Uffizi gallery (so we could get to the line early). This was a gallery for the powerful Medici family. It was terrific: probably at least a thousand paintings, and maybe as many sculptures. All the big names were there: Michaelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Peter-Paul Reubens, and more names that I didn't recognize. It's no wonder that students come to Florence to study art. We then went to the cathedral of Santa Croce where some famous people are buried: Michaelangelo, Macchiavelli, Galileo, Rossini, Marconi, and more. There is a memorial to Dante Allighieri, but he is not buried there: he was forced to leave Florence for political reasons, and he never returned. We then went to the Accademie gallery where Michaelangelo's statue of David is. Wow! Anatomically correct in all details including abdominal muscles and veins in the arms. Really spectacular. In the evening, we went to the hill overlooking the city. It's a good view of the river, the Duomo, and the tall tower of the Palazzo Vecchio. But we found that evening light wasn't the best light: we would try to come back.
We had planned to go to San Gimignano on Sunday. We found that there weren't any trains there, and the first bus left at four in the afternoon. So we decided to go back to the hill overlooking Florence; we would now see it with morning light. It was, in fact, nice in the morning. We took some pictures, then visited the church on top of the hill. It was also nice, with an interesting cemetery in the back. When we went into the main part of Florence, many of the shops were open. Claire bought a nice jacket, and had an interesting conversation with the shopkeeper. He gave Claire a discount because she came in alone. He charges full price to people on bus tours because he has to give a commission to the driver. And he always charges the Japanese full price because all of them are wealthy! Perhaps he tells the same story to everybody, and maybe we got less of a discount because we were gullible!
On Wednesday, we tried our rail pass and got on the train to Siena. The ride was pleasant, and we found out that train service was pretty reliable: most of the trains were on time. We got to Siena, a small town with a few minor attractions and one big square. The square was home to the "Palio", a horse race in which parts of the city compete twice a year. We've seen the race on television, and we're glad the square wasn't that crowded. There was a big tower from which one could see the city and a lot of the countryside. For a mere six dollars, one could climb the 339 steps to the top. We passed up the chance. They had a nice museum and a nice cathedral there. In the cathedral was the "Piccolomini Library", an old library that had large books of hand written church music. We had lunch and a generally pleasant day there. We took the train back to Florence and had dinner in a nice restaurant where we met Aldo, a personable waiter who liked Americans. And Japanese. He had a quaint way of saying "Tanks a lot!".
On Friday, we took the early train to Venice. We had to buy reservations for this, as it was a special train. But we rode in first class for the three hour trip. There we met Laura, Mark's cousin Rick's daughter. She had married an Italian and they are living in Venice. We also met Maria and Roger, Laura's friends from El Paso; Roger has family in Germany, and they were vacationing in Italy. We saw the canals just outside the train station, but then Laura took us through some very narrow alleys. I couldn't figure out where we were going, but there are only two routes in Venice: the water and narrow alleys. They were both very picturesque, and Mark could have spent a lot of time taking pictures. We saw Piazza San Marco, and it was terrific. A beautiful churc with a large square and very quaint buildings. Lots of pigeons, too, but they weren't bothersome: not much pigeon poop visible. Looking out to the Adriatic was nice, too. The gondolas lined up, and the church across the bay. Laura's husband Paolo met us at about 2:00, and he arranged a good price for a gondola for us. We had a nice ride through town; we even passed Marco Polo's house, still standing from the 12th century. Unfortunately, Laura had to leave us. She is expecting in November, and the walking and the heat were too much, so she and her husband went home. Claire and I just walked around, shopped, and enjoyed the sights. When it was time to go back to the train station, we wanted to take a water taxi. But it cost $45, so we walked really fast through the alleys; it was a good thing there were lots of signs! We bought a sandwich near the train station, then had a nice ride back to Florence. Venice was really nice.
We got up early on Saturday and took the train to Pisa. All we saw there was the square in the walled city. It had the important things: the leaning tower, the cathedral, and the baptistry. The tower was very impressive, and it really did lean! It had recently been opened to some students who climbed to the top. Unfortunately, it wasn't open to the general public. The cathedral and baptistry were both nice also. It seemed that there was nothing else worth seeing in Pisa, so we went back to the train station. We later read that there were more churches and some interesting museums. We'll have to see those next time. We took the train to Lucca, another small Tuscan town. We entered the walled city and found some churches with large towers. We also saw lots of people selling things in open squares: like a giant flea market! Some things were interesting, but there was a lot of junk. Lucca called itself a "City of Art", and there were some nice galleries. There was one open square that had been a Roman arena. It was circular, and you could see where the walls had been by the brick patterns in the ground. I think that square wsas reserved for festivals: no flea markets. people picture situations: children with pigeons, street musicians, old men selling things. There were some very nice statues, too.
On Sunday morning (after buying bus tickets; see next paragraph), we again went to the hill overlooking Florence. The view was much nicer with the sun in the east. We took the opportunity to take more pictures. Then we walked up to the church of xxx, about the highest point in the city. We couldn't go inside because services were being held. But we did look around the cemetery. We then went into the city to see some things. Claire found a leather shop. She talked for a while with the shop owner (there was no one else in the store). He said he would give Claire a discount; he charged full price to people from tour buses because he had to give the drivers a commission; and he *always* charged the Japanese full price. Because they've got loads of yen, of course. Claire bought a pretty nice jacket. I hope it's real leather and that it lasts a long time!
We wanted to go to San Gimignano, the City of Towers, on Sunday. We looked in the Florence train station (on Saturday), but couldn't find it on any schedule. But after asking, we found out that you can only get there by bus. And the bus made a stop in Poggibonsi. Furthermore, there were three bus companies, but only one went to San Gimignano. So we went to the appropriate bus terminal on Sunday morning and found that there was only one bus on Sunday: at 4 PM. So we bought our tickets and decided to see more of Florence. When we got to the bus station, everybody was pushing and shoving getting on the bus; there was no order. We were lucky to get seats together. When we stopped in Poggibonsi, we were told the San Gimignano bus would be "a few minutes". It was almost 45 minutes, and we had to stand outside in the sun while waiting. We did eventually get to San Giminano, but it was about 5:30. San Gimignano is a walled town with several towers. At one time there were 72 towers, but now there were only about 10. Still, the 10 were pretty nice. And there were a lot of interesting shops: Claire got some wooden cooking utensils there. We also saw part of a folk festival, complete with oxes walking around. We were told that the last bus left for Florence at 7:30 and at 8:45. Taking no chances, we got to the bus stop at 7. The bus arrived at about 7:30, and again it was crowded. It was a local bus, and it stopped at every small town between San Gimignano and Florence. We didn't get back until about 9:30. The trains in Italy are great, but beware of the buses!
We later walked back to our hotel, and did the usual unpacking. Then we took our first of many trips to the Vatican. We took the bus from our hotel (the local buses were fairly reliable) and arrived there at about 6:40 PM. We saw the large area outside St. Peter's basilica: thousands of chairs, and people starting to fill them. There was a musical performance that evening. Would the Pope make an appearance? No, but he would be there on Wednesday morning at 10 AM. So we decided to go into the Basilica and look around. It would close at 7 PM, so we only had a few minutes. It is spectacular: the mother of all cathedrals: everything looked like it had been constructed with the last 5 years: bright colors on the paintings, sculptures were clean with sharp edges, floors colorful. If this is the first cathedral you see, you will always be disappointed afterwards. We looked specifically for Michaelangelo's Pieta. It was near the entry and behind glass. And it was really nice. After leaving, we had dinner, then called our friends in Cori and made arrangements to visit on Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, we first went to St. Mary Major, a church we had seen in our tour books. Then we walked to the Coliseum: wow, what an impressive site. Not only for the structure itself, but also for the history. There is something to be said for a structure that has been standing for almost 2000 years. We took the tour and learned some history: it took about ten years to complete and it held between 50,000 and 70,000 people. It looks white in old movies because it was originally covered in marble. But all the marble has been taken away over the years to be used for other projects. I heard that the marble for the Trevi Fountain had been taken from the Coliseum. An interesting note: the Coliseum is being refurbished so that Greek plays can be shown to live audiences.
Outside the Coliseum, some street entertainers were dressed as Caesar and as Roman Legionaires. For a few lira, one could have their picture taken with them. They were pretty entertaining, telling lots of jokes.
From there we walked along the Forum, past the ruins of all the temples and statues. There is quite a bit of excavation going on; I guess artifacts are still being found.
On Wednesday morning, we again went to the Vatican, this time to see Pope John Paul. On the way there, we saw a bride and groom in a taxi; apparently it is a custom for newlyweds to visit the Pope during one of his audiences. The place was packed; I'm guessing there were more than 100,000 people there. And we all had to go through metal detectors to get there. Before the actual speaking, the Pope rode around the square in his popemobile to the cheers of the crowds. John Paul II didn't do all the talking, but he did deliver a message in several languages. There were big screen TVs in the square so that everyone could see him. After the address, he greeted some church officials, then he greeted what appeared to be lots of sick folks: in wheel chairs, etc. When the crowd finally dispersed, Claire and I did some shopping in the nearby shops.
On Thursday morning, we had intended to see the Vatican Museum: Sistine Chapel and other things. But it was closed, and for no apparent reason. We did devise a plan where we would see it on Friday, before making a return trip to Cori. And we did see some interesting things that day: the Pantheon, two large squares with fountains, the church of St. Peter in Chains with Michaelangelo's "Moses" sculpture, and some other sculptures and obelisks behind the city building. We had made some plans to see a Tango performance with Alberto and Francesco, but after meeting them, we told them that it was too late and we needed to rest. Fortunately, they hadn't bought tickets in advance.
On Friday, we got to the Vatican as early as we could, so as to avoid the long lines. It was well that we did, because the line did indeed grow long before the doors opened. We saw what we had intended to see: the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Library, and lots of other rooms with historical and art items, collected over the centuries. Very impressive. We managed to get to the train station in time to get the 12:15 train to Cori. Leo met us again, and we had a very pleasant afternoon at his parents house. We chatted with Tony and Leo again, as well as Leo's sister Stephania, and we played with her 3 year old son Andrea. Unfortunately, Leo's parents didn't speak English, so we had to talk through Leo or Stephania. Stephania said that her mother wanted very much to talk with Claire, just about girl talk. Leo's mother prepared a fabulous meal for us: antipasti, spaghetti, fish, salad, dessert, and aperitifs. It was really nice, and the afternoon was one of the highlights of the trip. As we were leaving, Leo's parents gave us some gifts: olives and olive oil hand processed from their trees, two nice posters of Cori, and some home made lemon liqeur. As well as the recipe for the liquer! A great day. Tony and Leo took us to the train station, and we said our final goodbyes.
On the way home, Claire noticed the ruins of old aqueducts in the distance. I guess they had been there for almost 2,000 years also. We got back to Rome at about 6. Leo said that we should not miss the Plaza Republica and the Campidoglio, so we checked them out. Fortunately, they were on bus routes; by this time, we were all walked out! Plaza Republica had two "twin" churches: across the street from each other, and mirror images. As it turned out, we had already seen Campidoglio, the square designed by Michaelangelo.
We made arrangements that night for a cab to the airport. Our flight was leaving at 7 AM, so the fellow had to be here early. He showed up at 5, maybe a few minutes early. It turned out that the ride to the airport provided some free entertainment. The taxi itself was a Mercedes; not unusual for Europe. After we got out of the tourist area and onto what looked like a highway, I saw the speedometer get up to almost 180 kilometers per hour. That's about 115 miles per hour! I don't think I've ever gone that fast in a car. It was a smooth ride, of course, because it was a Mercedes, but it made me a little nervous! But we got to the airport on time and in one piece.
There were a few delays in the airport, but we got our luggage checked and our tax rebate forms turned in. We made it to the plane in plenty of time. On our way to London, we saw some snow and some low lying clouds over the French Alps: a pretty scene we hadn't expected. When we got to London (Gatwick this time), we took the opportunity to buy some last minute souvenirs: some European Cup soccer magazines, Orbit chewing gum, and of course some whiskey. I couldn't pass up Bushmills at only ten pounds. We jammed all that stuff into our carry on, and headed to New York.
When we got to New York, we found that once again the temperature wasn't too bad. And there was no trouble at customs, fortunately. But there were loads of people on the bus from JFK to LaGuardia, and we had to put our luggage on a seat. But we got to La Guardia in plenty of time, and so had an hour so in the lovely airport. We got home to Columbus, and Karen was waiting for us. The conclusion of one of our best trips so far.
Our flight home was good, and the delay in New York wasn't too bad. We didn't have trouble with customs, and we got to Columbus pretty much on time. All in all, it was a good trip.