Venice, Italy: The Final Eurotrip

The weekend before I departed Geneva (and, therefore, Europe) I finally made my way to Venice, a destination I had been wanting to get to since my arrival two years prior. The beauty of the city certainly lives up to the hype, though the prices of everything there do as well. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and departed on Tuesday afternoon, giving me plenty of time to explore, visit some nice art museums and have a final taste of authentic Italian food. What a place.

Worth a few thousand words:


The Grand Canal


There were plenty of thunderstorms and plenty of sunshine during my visit. The times when both converged made for some amazing lighting.


They love their St. Mark in Venice. His winged lion is all over the place, including the Basilica.


Carnival masks are all over the gift shops of the city.






the grand staircase at the Doge’s Palace


the towers of the Basilica







Arrivederci Italia!

Florence, Italy

The train ride from Pisa to Florence is only about an hour so we had a full day upon our arrival. After finding Andy and Julie’s hotel, we headed off for the Accademia which is home to Michelangelo’s David. We had booked tickets online a few months prior but had a slight mishap when we got to the ticket counter. Seems that our reservations were for the Accademia in Venice. Oops. Even so, the ticket guy let us re-buy admission without having to wait in the really long non-reservation line so despite paying a little extra we didn’t lose any time.

Turns out the only really notable thing in the gallery is David. Even so, it was worth the price of admission. Out of all the famous buildings and pieces of art I’ve seen since I’ve been in Europe, the David is the most impressive/least disappointing. The larger-than-life size certainly helps, but the shear artistry of the thing is phenomenal.

Following that, we headed to the Duomo and then grabbed lunch at a little place our good pal Rick Steves recommended. Good choice, Rick. The afternoon took us to the Uffizi Gallery which includes Botticelli’s Birth of Venus among others. It was alright, but I’m starting to think that I might not really care for Renaissance art that much after all. At least they had some really nice Caravaggios (including the Sacrifice of Isaac).

We also took time to wander across the Ponte Vecchio, eat more gelatto, and climb the steep hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo which offers a magnificent view of the city. Before too long, it was time to grab dinner and jump on the airport bus so I could return to Geneva. The Daubenmires would continue on to Rome, but my midweek journey had to end here.


Duomo


front of the church


nice candelabras


the interior of the dome


crowd in front of the baptistry


close-up of one of the bronze door reliefs (replicas of the originals, apparently)


Alessi creates the greatest knife-holder ever


Replica David




Perseus slaying Medusa


UC has two little lion statues at McMicken Hall which are kind of unofficial school mascots. They are based on this guy. Here, I display a bit of UC pride.


the Ponte Vecchio


maybe the most dramatic statue ever. The dying guy’s hand is amazing




Beautiful view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo


the Daubenmires on the hill


another David replica which caps the whole thing off

Pisa, Italy

Once again, I find myself way behind on entries. I have plenty to share about the Eurocup, my parents’ visit to Switzerland and our trip to Barcelona last week. However, given my desire to keep things as chronological as possible, I must first share about Italy.

Last month, Andy and Julie came to Europe for their summer vacation, and though they didn’t have time for Switzerland, I was able to join them in Pisa and Florence, Italy, places I’ve wanted to visit for awhile but hadn’t yet had the opportunity. So it was that early on the morning of Tuesday May 20th I boarded a train for an 8-hour journey south. I connected in Milan and Florence before making it into Pisa mid-afternoon, just after the Daubenmires flew in from England.

They met me at the train station and we dropped by the hotel (my first in a very long time) before heading to see the tower. It was great to see them for the first time in a few years and fun to reminisce about a few high school band trips (even if we had trouble remembering some of the details) as well as catching up on our current lives.

Anyway, if you talk to anyone who’s been to Pisa they are likely to complain that all there is to do there is see the tower. In a sense, that’s true. I suppose if Pisa was your destination and you planned to spend a few days there you’d quickly become bored. However, if you only plan on spending an afternoon there, it’s certainly worth a visit. First off, the tower (which is of course leaning) is quite a marvel – it’s the oldest standing tower in the world. (It also seems a rip-off to pay something like 16 Euro to go to the top which we opted not to do, but friends have told me is actually worth it.) But beyond that, it gives a nice sense of a smaller Italian city. We explored at a leisurely place, found a great place for dinner (with amazing gnocchi, even though we passed it by two or three times because it looked completely empty from the outside) and had some terrific gelato to boot.

All in all not a bad pace to pass the time before our trip to Florence the following morning.


Yes, it really leans


as do Andy and I… a little too much


foundation


the accompanying basilica


another little Pisa church, this one by the river


The Daubenmire double-camera assault


exciting Iron Man-themed graffiti


the tower by night

Away From Home For the Holidays Part 4: Italian New Year

Although I couldn’t be with my family this holiday season, I was fortunate enough to spend four days with the Montanaros who were renting a small villa in Italy. I think I’ve probably known Maggie and her family at least since we were three or four — “cherub choir” days at church — so it was pretty cool to be able to see and spend time with them in a foreign country. We had beautiful weather and moderate temperatures which certainly added to the experience.

I took quite a few pictures, and I’m way behind on updating this thing so I’m just going to post some of my favorites which will hopefully give a decent narrative of my time there, assuming I remember it all correctly.

Day 1: Rome

Katie, Bo, Maggie and I take the train from the house (which was located near Viterbo) into Rome. We manage to pack a lot into one day and I thoroughly enjoyed not being the one leading the group/setting the itinerary for a change.
















Though this photo doesn’t do it much justice, the Pieta is probably my favorite sculpture and favorite work by Michelangelo





Day 2: Civita di Bagnoregio

With Rick Steves as our guide (in book form), we headed to a hill town called Bagnoregio which is only accessible by one pedestrian bridge. There are only 15 permanent residents left in the town, but quite a few shopowners come and work during the day.







Day 3: Montalcino and Montepulciano

We decided to journey into wine country which was a good decision. Unlike Napa Valley where the vineyards in most cases are estates with nice tasting rooms and commercial set-ups, in Italy you basically drive up to a family’s house and sit down in their kitchen to try what they have to offer. Even though the family we tasted with didn’t really speak English and we didn’t really speak Italian, it was pretty cool.






The proprietor of the place we stopped

Day 4: Ostia Antica

On my last day, we drove to Ostia Antica which is sort of the next-best-thing to Pompeii in terms of ancient Roman towns. Basically, it’s an old port city that was abandoned when the water receded. It was a lot larger than we expected and we spent the better part of the morning wandering around looking at the ruins.








Katie and Maggie amid some ruins




All in all, it was a quite relaxing time and great to be with friends from home. I’m definitely looking forward to my own parents making their way to Europe in June.