Cinque Terre - 5/27/09

Cinque Terre - what can I say - this is a day we have been looking forward to. Anne researched some of the places on the itinerary and this trip was definitely at the top of her list. Northwest of Florence, Cinque Terre is now a national park consisting of five villages cut out of cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean in the Liguria region on the Italian Riviera. We got an early start as this was about a 2-1/2 hour drive from Barbarino/Florence. In the back of the van and probably sleeping as usual, I don't recollect much of the drive. You can't drive into Cinque Terra - the train is the only way in. So we parked the vans and boarded the train in La Spezia for the trip to the last town on the line - Monterosso al Mare.

I can’t overstate the fact that Cinque Terre is one of the most beautiful and unique places I have ever visited. The original inhabitants of this place had agricultural origins and lived on the hills overlooking the sea. They eventually came down to the coast when the sea became safe with the end of Saracen invasions. The villages along the shore were populated and over the centuries, generations of locals built hundreds of terraces held up by over 7000 km of dry stone walling on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea. Cultivated as vineyards and olive groves, this is a one-of-a-kind feat of agricultural engineering. This region is famous for its fresh fish, wine, olive oil, and pesto which you can sample at cafes in any of the five villages. These villages are connected by hiking trails and a train line that stretch the entire length of the Cinque Terre coastline. Monterosso al Mare is the far western village of the five and features the largest beach. A rocky outcropping splits Monterosso and is just steps from the train that carried us into the village - beautiful. This was a good place to stop and eat - yes, let's sample the food and beverages this place is famous for. We climbed up to an elevated cafe overlooking the beach. What could be better - sampling the local pesto and wine, with good friends, beautiful weather, in an outdoor cafe overlooking the Mediterranian. La Dolce Vita, baby! Even the lifeguards on the beach seemed to recognize how good their life was - the fourtyish dude on the beach below us was lounging in his lifeguard chair, under his lifeguard umbrella, smoking a cigar. Now that's a relaxed lifeguard! I wonder if he had a supply of breath mints in case he had to go save someone.

The next town on our five village trek was Vernazza. Most of us expressed an interest in taking a boat trip between the two villages, but quickly found out that this was not possible. Paul, Amanda, and Zac decided to hike - the rest of us rode the train. During the age of maritime republics in Genoa, Vernazza was a Roman installation with strategic importance. This village has the only natural harbor in Cinque Terre with an ancient watchtower overlooking the sea. Vernazza was also famous for its carpenters. We ascended a flight of stairs to an outdoor cafe overlooking the harbor to contemplate what things must have been like in antiquity. Not really - it was just time for more refreshment and relaxation while we enjoyed the view. A discussion determined that we would take the train to the next village, Corniglia, and hike the cliff trails to the last two villages. We agreed to make the hike at our own pace and meet up in Riomaggiore, the eastern most village, at a specified time. After shopping a bit, we all boarded the train.

Spending very little time in Corniglia, Anne and I hit the hiking trail for the 2 km walk to Manarola. The trail wasn't too difficult for us old people, but we took our time - beautiful scenery along the way. The trails wind around the cliffs and you are constantly rounding a corner to another fantastic view. Manarola is famous for its wines - I'm sure we have already had some. We decided to keep pushing on. The trail heads right through the train station back out onto the cliffs. This is the start of the most famous of the many hiking trails in Cinque Terre, Via dell' Amore. I'll give you two guesses what that means - times up. It was too crowded and hot for amore, so we satisfied ourselves with taking pictures of one another. I have never been accused of being the brightest bulb on the planet, but I was astute enough to know that amore wasn't the first thing on Anne's wish list - it was gelato. So we entered Riomaggiore with gelato lust. As fate would have it, we blundered into a shop with some of the best gelato we had the entire trip.

What a day! It was getting late and time to take the train back to La Spezia for the long trip back to Il Castelluccio. With great weather all week, we got our only taste of bad weather when loading the van for the trip back. Driving through La Spezia, we got caught in one of the longest hail storms I have ever witnessed - it lasted at least 15 - 20 minutes. Again, sitting in the back of the van, the trip back for me was a total blank. Thank you to Manuel, Ken, and Zac for doing the driving all week. Because of the late hour, we stopped at a small restaurant in Barbarino the girls had found last night while picking up pizza. Wanda, Ken, Maxine, Zac, Anne, and I shared a table and ordered too much food, but it was one of the best meals we had in Italy. I know why it was good - the name of the restaurant - that's right, La Dolce Vita baby!

Florence - 5/26/09

Another beautiful day in Tuscany - it's hard not to feel good about life when you wake up to beautiful views of the Tuscan hills outside of your bedroom window. Il Castelluccio is the perfect base of operations - Manuel gets an A+ for finding this place. We don't waste much time getting ready to go. We only have a limited time and there is so much to see. Off to another battle with the Termini parking garage before spending a full day in Florence (Firenze).

First up is a visit to the Accademia art gallery. The Accademia was initially named the Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno, and was founded in 1563 by Cosino I de’ Medici. It was divided into two branches, an art academy and a kind of a corporation (the de’ Medici’s loved art but also knew how to bring in the cash). Every working artist in Tuscany was encouraged to join the corporation. Only the most important artists of Cosimo’s court were members of the Academy “and had the task of supervising the whole artistic production of the medicean state”. In 1784 the Grand Duke of Tuscany decreed that all schools of drawing in Florence be combined under one roof and named Accademia di Belle Arti. The Grand Duke also decided to protect the artwork by including a school of art restoration. “The Gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti has housed the original David by Michelangelo since 1873. The sculpture was allegedly brought to the Accademia for reasons of conservation, although other factors were involved in its move from its previous outdoor location on the Piazza della Signoria. The original intention was to create a ‘Michelangelo museum’, with original sculptures and drawings, to celebrate the fourth centenary of the artist’s birth.”

Besides Michelangelo's magnificent original sculpture of David and a variety of religious art, the current headliner was an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe photography. An American born in New York and educated at the Pratt Institute of Art, he is best known for a controversial retrospective exhibit of his work after he died of AIDS in the 1990's. The exhibit, titled "A Perfect Moment" was funded by the National Endowment of he Arts (NEA). Although many photographs were of flowers and the human form, some of the images depicted his interest in S&M and his gay friends. The exhibit set off a firestorm and the NEA was forced to withdraw its funding. Proponents claimed that the First Amendment guarantees the right of freedom of expression - detractors were not happy with the fact the exhibit was funded by the government. The photos on display in the Accademia were tame compared to what must have been in the 90's exhibit. The quality of the black & white prints was outstanding. The photographs were very good - he definitely had an eye for design, although some of his content choices may have been creepy. His films on display were avant garde weird. Apparently, for a time, he lived with Patti Smith, a legendary New York rocker - that must have been a ball of laughs. She is shown lounging on the floor, wasted on who knows what, showing off her unshaven hairy legs - Hey Robert, stick with the still life photos of flowers! But alas, it’s too late for advice. Another film was of Lisa Lyon, a female body builder who was a regular nude subject of Mapplethorp - weird film but at least she shaved.

After the exhibit we all decided to go our own way for a while. Anne and I decided to head for the Ponte Vecchio, one of the bridges over the Arno river that flows through the middle of Florence. We found a ceramic shop along the way and purchased some gifts to take home. Anne had been to Florence (Firenze) before when she was just out of college - I was a virgin. I couldn't get over the uniqueness and the history of this place. Florence lived up to its press as one of the art capitals of the world - beautiful city. I much preferred Florence to Rome. It was time to get back to Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) and meet up with the rest of the group. We plan to walk up the 463 steps to the top of the dome.

Santa Maria del Fiore was the third cathedral built in Florence. Started in 1296, it was designed to be the largest Roman Catholic church in the world. The building went through a series of work slowdowns and stoppages. The nave was completed by 1380, but by 1418 the dome (duomo) had not been built. At that time a design competition was held between Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi – Brunelleschi won with an inventive octagonal design. The building of the dome in itself is an amazing story. Work started on the dome in 1420 and was completed in 1436. Zac, Ken, Amanda, Paul, Anne, and I decided to brave the hike to the top of the Duomo while the rest of the group headed to another museum. Claustrophobic, winding climb to the first and second landings with fantastic view of the beautifully painted ceiling of the dome - angelic at the top down to violent gory paintings at the bottom - heaven and hell. By the look of the lower part of the dome ceiling, you don't want to be in hell. At the top there was a 360 degree outdoor view of Firenze - definitely worth the climb.

It was time to head back Barbarino/Il Castelluccio for some rest and relaxation. But first, we need to stock up on some wine. We stopped at a little wine store on the walk back to the car. When I say stocked up, I mean stocked up. Manuel talked the store owner into opening a bottle which turned into a little wine and cheese tasting party. Smart store owner - we walked out with a lot of wine. Picked up pizza on the way back to eat with some of the wine. Julie kept us laughing with her tales of nursing - Maxine with her excellent comic timing. No, you don't talk too much, Maxine - I really thoroughly enjoyed your stories! Time to call it a night - another big day tomorrow.

Prato & Fiesole - 5/25/09

It was a long day yesterday, but we woke to another beautiful day at Il Castelluccio. As this is a bed and breakfast, we had plenty of time in the bed, so we went downstairs to a breakfast of yogurt, farm fresh eggs, fresh fruit, toast, etc. The B&B was equipped with all the best in kitchen equipment down to a state of the art coffee machine. You can order coffee in one of three ways here in Tuscany - cafe, cappuchino, or cafe american. Cafe is motor oil in a cup, but very high grade motor oil - hell with Red Bull, give me a cup of this stuff (a note of caution for us old people - don't take your blood pressure medicine with a cafe - the chemical reaction may cause internal combustion). Cappuchino as we all know is a cafe with steamed milk and and cafe american is a cafe with a lot of hot water added. I guess the message is that Americans are pansies.

We decided to start the day with a trip to Prato, a city to the northwest of Florence. "Prato occupies the central part of the plain that lies between Florence and Pistoria at the mouth of the Bisenzio Valley. Inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age, the area was colonized in Roman times, but the first urban nucleus was settled by the Longobards who built a Church in honor of St. Stephen. Prato was a free commune after the 12th century, and in the 13th century underwent major new development." The church became the Cathedral of Prato. Let's check this out. We came, we saw, and decided not to take the tour. Someone suggested we retire to a nice cafe for midday pizza and wine - all this walking and sightseeing makes one hungry (and thirsty). I volunteered to enter the church office and use my substantial Italian language skills to communicate with the locals and find a suitable establishment. A half-hour later, Anne entered the office to make sure, having failed at verbal communication, I wasn't prostituting myself to the two older female tour guides in an effort to extract the location of this obviously secret pizza place. Anne arrived just in time to save me - Mrs. Mussolini was in the process of removing the inquisition implements from the cathedral vestibule. Being tortured for inappropriate hand signals at the Cathedral of Prato would have been a very unpleasant vacation memory.

After lunch, Julie suggested we visit the Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Centre also in Prato. Founded in 1988, the building not only houses an exhibition space, but also an information and Visual Arts Documentation Centre. This would be our first and last foray of the week to a museum of modern art. On exhibit were the works of Loris Cecchini in an exhibit called 'dotsandloops'. The exhibit was bizarre (as are a great deal of things labeled 'modern art') but amusing. However, the booklet describing the exhibit is truly a towering work of literary bullshit. Listen to the beautiful flow of words in this excerpt - "The exhibition itinerary mirrors the artist's empirical skill in planning, his continual forays towards new techniques, his tendency towards deconstruction and constructive stratification. Like a wave pushing onwards, the rooms of the Pecci Centre, in giving themselves to the artist as a place to experiment in, take part in the mise en scene of a perceptive itinerary which is totalising." Huh? Take it from me, I'm not sure what it means, but that is some good B.S. Half way through the exhibit there is a display of some sticks the 'artist' picked up on the beach which he encased in a plastic box (great way to write off a vacation). "Land and sea materials personally collected by the artist - a kind of notebook in three-dimensions - are arranged in an orderly fashion in display cases and juxtaposed to architectural structures, which for the iridescent quality of their material, give off effects of light and wonder." Damn! This writer is wasting his time in Prato. He needs to move to the big city! He can make sticks in a plastic box sound important. This booklet was worth the price of admission and will retain a special place in my library of over-the-top creative writing.

There is no rest for the weary. We are off to Fiesole, a town to the northeast of Florence up in the hills. As with most of Tuscany, this was a beautiful little town. Those of us relegated to the back seat of the van were treated to a slightly swaying, bumpy trip up the side of the mountain. Unfortunately, the trip wasn't very pleasant for Wanda. Upon arrival, we walked to an outdoor cafe just off the main square with a wonderful view of the countryside. Jane, Amanda, Marilyn, and Anne went for a walk. The rest of us ordered cold beer and waited for Wanda's bout with car sickness to subside. We passed the time in conversation, planning dinner and a trip to the grocery store on the way back to the B&B. I began reading the wonderful passages from my now treasured modern museum booklet.

Grocery shopping - lots of fruit, vegatables, bread, cheese, wine, and beer - on the way back to Il Castelluccio. We decided to party and prepare our own dinner tonight. Good dinner and fun as always. We are going into Florence tomorrow.

Tivoli/Ovieto/Florence - 5/24/09

Slept well last night - Anne and I ran into Manuel in the lobby on the way to breakfast. Anne discovered that she and Manuel were both in a similar end of the construction business in a past life. Fortunately, they both got out before the housing crash. No, I didn't have wine for breakfast. With breakfast over, it was time to make one last stop in Tivoli before we left for Florence.

We packed up and headed to Hadrian's villa - these ruins had quite a few more years on them than the Villa d'Este. "The villa was created at Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian in the early 2nd century. Hadrian was said to dislike the palace on the Palatine Hill in Rome, leading to the construction of the retreat. During the later years of his reign, he actually governed the empire from the villa. A large court lived there permanently. Hadrian’s villa was a complex of over 30 buildings, covering an area of at least 250 acres of which much is still unexcavated. The villa was the greatest Roman example of an Alexandrian garden, recreating a sacred landscape. The complex included palaces, theatre, temples, libraries, state rooms, and quarters for courtiers, praetorians, and slaves." Hot day - not awe inspiring like the Villa d'Este, but fun to contemplate it's history nonetheless. It's good to be Emperor - except for all those people who want to stab you in the back - et tu Brute.

We got back on the A1 highway headed north to Florence, Manuel and I trading stories and catching up on people we knew from U.D. There were now nine of us in two vans. We decided to stop at the town of Ovieto, up in the hills about 1-1/2 hours out of Tivoli, to eat lunch. "Ovieto is an ancient city, populated since Etruscan times, sitting on an impregnable cliff controlling the road between Florence and Rome. The city was annexed by Rome in the third century BC. After the collapse of the Roman Empire its defensible site gained new importance: the city was held by Goths and by Lombards before its self-governing commune was established in the 10th century, in which consuls governed under a feudal oath of fealty to the bishop. Ovieto’s relationship to the papacy has been a close one; in the tenth century Pope Benedict VII visited the city with his nephew, Filippo Alberici, who later settled there and became Consul of the city-state in 1016." That's cool stuff, but it's 2009 and we're hungry! Parked below the city - beautiful town, walking up winding narrow streets, uphill all the way. As with most of the towns we visited, there is an ornate cathedral in the center of the city. Found a small cafe with excellent food and wine. This was a welcome break from the long drive from Tivoli to Florence. Time to push on.

I'm rejuvenated, back in the navigator seat with Manuel driving. I promptly fell asleep. Manuel managed without me and we arrived at our accommodations outside of Florence, the small town of Barbarino, late in the afternoon. Waiting for us were three more friends form U.D. - Zac, Maxine, and Marilyn. They had flown into Milan the previous week. Our home for the next week is an old farmhouse converted into a six bedroom bed & breakfast called Il Castelluccio (the castle) in the hills about 15 minutes out of Florence. The young husband and wife who own this place have done a terrific job of remodeling - it exceeded my expectations by a long shot. It is still a work in progress - workmen were hard at work laying tile around an outdoor jacuzzi. Anne and I got situated in a very spacious room on the top floor - I don't think anyone else wanted to climb those stairs up to the third floor. The views out the windows on both sides of the room were incredible. We changed and off to Florence for dinner - had our first battle with the parking garage at the train station. The van was too tall to fit into some of the entrances. We were scheduled for the second sitting at a little out-of-the-way restaurant in the middle of the city. White wine while we waited to be seated - Chianti, bread, olive oil, cheese with dinner - first dinner for the whole group of twelve. Got to hear Zac's story about the best day of his life. Lots of fun and a great ending to our first day in Florence. Back to Il Castelluccio for much needed sleep.

Rome/Tivoli - 5/23/09

Didn't sleep much last night. The gourmet food really did a job on me - woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Time to wake up and get ready to leave Rome. Headed up to the rooftop breakfast room for our morning yogurt and cappichino - another beautiful day in Rome. Off to meet Manuel, Jane, and Julie for a ride to the airport. There we plan to meet Ken and Wanda Burghart (also classmates and friends from U.D.), rent two vans, and drive to Tivoli, a town to the northeast of Rome. They made me navigator in the lead car - go figure. Anne has a long-held belief that I must have some magnetic rocks in my head that are screwing up my internal compass - I blame my lack of direction on those damn aliens that abducted me when I was a child! Needless to say, we got a little lost. Hey, I like the way these Italians use their hands when speaking. I'm not much good at the language, but I could get into these hand signals.

We arrived at the Duca D'Este, a beautiful hotel on the outskirts of Tivoli - didn't waste much time checking into our rooms and leaving for a sightseeing tour of the Villa D'Este. "The Villa d'Este was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, son of Alfonso I d’Este and Lucrezia Borgia and grandson of Pope Alexander VI. He had been appointed Govenor of Tivoli by Pope Julius III, with the gift of the existing villa, which he had entirely reconstructed to plans of Pirro Ligorio carried out under the direction of the Ferrarese architect-engineer Alberto Galvani, court architect of the Este. From 1550 until his death in 1572, when the villa was nearing completion, Cardinal d’Este created a palatial setting surrounded by a spectacular terraced garden in the late-Renaissance mannerist style, which took full advantage of the dramatic slope but required innovations in bringing a sufficient water supply, which was employed in cascades, water tanks, troughs and pools, water jets and fountains. The result is one of the series of great 17th century villas with water-play structures in the hills surrounding the Roman Campagna. Their garden planning and their water features were imitated in the next two centuries from Portugal to Poland.” We walked through the villa, had lunch and a couple of beers in the outdoor café – amazingly beautiful – the fountains are a fantastic feat of engineering. Set on the hillside, beautiful gardens, statues, and fountains for acres and acres – any additional description could not do this place justice. Cardinal d’Este may have lost his campaign for pope, but he built himself a nice place.

The Zunigas and Burgharts are terrific traveling companions - lots of laughs and good company. Back to the hotel for a nap and dinner. Anne and I passed out and had to be awakened from a deep sleep for dinner. Paul and Amanda had elected to stay in Rome a little longer and take the train from Rome to Tivoli. Instead of getting lost in the van caravan, they got lost in Tivoli after getting off the train. After frantically searching for hours, Manuel and Jane found them aimlessly wandering in the hills above Tivoli. We are not too far from the Vatican - it must have been a miracle! Dinner, pasta, and wine - a refrain I will repeat many times in this blog. Good thing we are walking a lot. After dinner Anne and I went for a short walk to the local gelato establishment across the street from the hotel - good people watching - the owner of the gelato place with his young child and his wife dressed to the nines including stiletto heels, teenage girls smoking their favorite brand of Italian cigarettes, and even an extreme cage fighter (I could tell by his tattoos and t-shirt). Anne has vowed to try every flavor of gelato before we depart Italy - this could become an obsession. I will have no trouble sleeping tonight - off to Florence tomorrow.

Rome 5/22/09

Our hotel has a buffet breakfast on the sixth floor overlooking the Borghese park. Beautiful setting (that's why we picked this hotel), but by American standards this was more of a continental breakfast. We didn't get up until 9AM - still suffering a little jet lag. The view was outstanding and better than the breakfast. We didn't want to waste any of this vacation, so we ate, got out on the street, and walked to the Trevi fountain. These Romans had it really going on. The architecture and statuary they created was and is amazing.

"The Trevi fountain is at the ending part of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct constructed in 19 BC. It brings water all the way from the Salone Springs (approx 20km from Rome) and supplies the fountains in the historic center of Rome with water. In 1732, Pope Clement XII commissioned Nicola Salvi to create a large fountain at the Trevi Square. A previous undertaking to build the fountain after a design by Bernini was halted a century earlier after the death of Pope Urban VIII. Construction of the monumental baroque fountain was finally completed in 1762."

I can see why this city was the center of civilization back in the day. The Trevi fountain was awe inspiring - too many people - I hate big crowds. I think I would have preferred to stay in my villa getting fanned and fed grapes by the slaves rather than brave the Coliseum for the chariot race on game day. We spent time wandering aimlessly, not knowing where we were going (I'm speaking for myself, not Anne) and happened on the Presidential Palace among other things. Getting tired - time for lunch. Stopped at an outdoor cafe - had some pasta and fruit. Time for another nap. Woke up to get ready for dinner with the Zuniga's (Manuel and Jane are old friends and classmates from the University of Dallas). We arrived early - went to look at the nearby Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore - unbelievable inside - way over the top - them damn Catholics have too much money. We found another rooftop cafe and ordered a nice Pinot Noir. The waiter put a bowl of potato chips on the table. Huh?! I thought this was the center of culture! So here we were, all dressed up, sipping Italian wine on a rooftop overlooking the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore - life is good. My eyes kept straying from Anne, to the view, to the potato chips. Damn, all this walking has made me hungry. Guess I'll eat the potato chips.

Anne and I met up with Manuel, Jane, their children Paul and Julie, and Paul's wife Amanda at the restaurant. The restaurant was gourmet - recommended by the head of the U.D. campus in Rome, who also shared dinner with us. The menu was set. The food was odd - lots of fish things and pate my uncultured eye did not recognize - definitely a digression from the potato chips. The coup de grace came in the last course - ice cream made of Gorgonzola cheese with warm Gorgonzola cheese sauce - true barf quality gourmet. However, the wine choices were outstanding. I ate the Gorgonzola offering anyway. I think I might have to take a few Pepcids tonight. We had lots of laughs - the conversation was interesting and company was good. Tomorrow we are off for Tivoli.

Rome 5/21/09

Flight to Rome - uneventful except for some kid screaming for an hour non-stop in the back of the plane. Movies on-demand were cool and made the trip shorter. I couldn't sleep much. Rome - shuttle from the airport to the Hotel Eliseo on the Via Veneto - La Dolce Vita - yeh baby! Passed all the tourist traps on the way in - the Coliseum, etc. Envisioned the lions eating the Christians, Ben-Hur, Spartacus - old building with lots of holes in it. Sitting on a balcony right now, drinking a cold draft beer, overlooking the Spanish Steps - lots of rooftop gardens, beautiful afternoon. After arriving at the hotel, Anne and I were determined to stay up until after dark to beat the jet lag. There's a picture of the Virgin Mary over the bed in our hotel room. What's that all about. Guess we'll have to block that out if we plan to do the wild thing. Walked down the Via Veneto - expensive shops like Fifth Avenue in New York. The very expensive Italian shoes are butt ugly. Motorbikes all over the place driven by guys in suits and women in pants suits - most seem to have a death wish. They have no concern for speed or lanes. We also took a long walk through the Villa Borghese park. We got very tired and hot - got to go back to the hotel and lie down. Our determination to stay up until dark was waning - need to take a nap. Nap was rejuvenating. Walked to the Spanish Steps. Now sitting on an outdoor cafe balcony, watching the sunset, drinking a cold beer, Anne sipping a Manhattan. I could get used to this. Talking to some women at the next table from Libya who grew up in the U.S. and living in Rome, working for the U.N. Food Bank. Interesting conversation. The second cold beer is even more rejuvenating. Better head back to the hotel before I start getting stupid. Planning to walk back through the park and catch a late dinner off the Via Veneto. We will catch up with some of my college friends at dinner tomorrow night. Ciao!