Day 47 - Venice, Italy

As we were getting into the Panda this morning, which I had parked in a side alley next to the hotel, I noticed something odd. The driver’s side door was open. We looked inside and all the papers in the glove compartment had been thrown onto the floor. The car had been broken into. Luckily, we had no belongings in the car except a bottle of wine (which the robber left). I guess the Panda’s lock is easy to pick, since I am almost certain I locked the doors the night before (but MAYBE not amidst the whole check-in fiasco).

It took us about an hour and a half to get from Verona to Venice, where we dropped off the Panda, and hopped on a Vaparetto (water bus). Vaparettos are the main form of transportation up and down the main canal in Venice. The Vaparetto took us all the way down to our hotel, which is close to St. Mark’s square.

The first thing we did once we were checked-in was visit St Mark’s square. For those unfamiliar with Venice, this is Venice’s main square. Historically, it was the political, economic, and religious center of Venice, housing the Doge's (Duke's) Palace as well as St. Mark's Basilica. Today, it is home to multiple museums, expensive restaurants/shops, and the picturesque buildings of Venice’s past. At night, when all of the cruise ships are gone, it is a romantic spot to stroll through and listen to the café orchestras play “New York, New York.” Many of the diamond/engagement commercials are shot here.

St. Mark’s is also home to many, many pigeons (see the “Pigeon Challenge” in the additional notes). Watch me spoil some fun for this unsuspecting kid:

Pigeon Run - Venice, Italy from Brian Burns on Vimeo.

Rick Steve’s gave us a good little tip on where to grab a good, affordable lunch (at a place where you can sit down) just steps away from St. Marks square. The street is known as “Sandwich Row.” They have tramezzini sandwiches, which are packed with meats and fillings for just over one Euro. You just point through the glass, and they bring the sandwichs out to your table. Still hungry? Go back and point to another one. All of the sandwich’s are pre-made every morning, so the popular ones go early (you don’t want to show up too late).

The rest of the day and night was relaxing as we took it easy walking around and enjoying Venice.


Additional notes:
- The Pigeon Challenge: The pigeons in St Mark’s square, in addition to being plentiful, are quite savvy, and are artful dodgers. Unless you have food, they are almost impossible to touch, even if they are standing right by your feet. Kim, noticing my frustration, proposed the Pigeon Challenge: I will have to touch a pigeon without any aids (such as food). Though a difficult and mentally enduring task, I have accepted her challenge!

Day 46 - Verona, Italy

This morning we left Florence for Verona. Along the way, we drove through “motor valley,” a stretch of area that is home to Lamborghini, Ducati, Ferrari, and other high-end Italian car/bike manufacturers. This meant only one thing. We had to stop.

We chose to visit the Ferrari Gallery, which is just outside of Modena. They have many of the old and current Ferrari models on display, as well as engines from each year (which I liked… you can see the tweaks/changes made to their F1 engine every year starting from the mid-1900s, for example). We had a moment of hilarity when Kim got stuck in the F1 simulator (she didn’t know you had to slide your legs all the way under before sitting).


Here’s Kim next to her favorite Ferrari, the 360 Modena.

Here we are in front of a 2002 Enzo (named for the founder of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari).

Upon arrival in Verona, we had difficulty checking into our B&B. Mainly, no one was there to let us in, which was a little frustrating because we then had to locate a pay phone a few blocks away to try and get in touch with someone to come let us in (they also didn’t speak English, which made coordination difficult). Once we got things resolved and checked in, we headed out for the opera.

The Verona Opera Festival's operas are staged in the city's Arena, a huge coliseum-like outdoor amphitheatre (built in the 1st century AD).

We saw “Tosca,” which follows the basic opera plot line where everyone dies in the end (sorry if I ruined it for you!), but it was good. The amazing thing is that they use no mics or speakers for the performers or orchestra. We were up in the nose-bleed seats, but we could hear everything perfectly.

Additional Thoughts:
- "The Boss": No matter where you go in Italy, you are sure to here Bruce Springsteen playing from somewhere. You can't escape it. Italians love the Boss.

- (Kim) Brian’s Baby: Because it’s been pretty hot, we’ve been carrying bottles of water with us everywhere. I prefer to carry a 0.5L bottle because it fits in my purse, but Brian needs more, so he usually ends up buying a 1.5L bottle (we try to stock up at grocery stores when we have a car). The problem is these big bottles are too heavy to just hold by the top with your fingers, and they certainly don’t fit in any pocket, so Brian ends up cradling it in his arm. Therefore we’ve taken to calling his bottle his baby. The funny part is that occasionally Brian puts down his bottle and accidentally leaves it somewhere. Today, as we were leaving the Ferrari museum, a look of panic came over Brian’s face, he gasped, and he yelled, “Where’s my baby?!” (I wonder what the people around us thought.) He ran back into the museum and found his baby in the men’s bathroom. Brian proudly reminds me that he’s only completely lost his baby once. I don’t know what this bodes for fatherhood.

Day 45 - Florence, Italy

At the recommendation of my brother, Jeff, today we went on a horseback riding excursion through Tuscany. We were driven down to a farm close to Monteriggiano where we got saddled up. The last time either of us had ridden horses was when we were kids, so it was like riding a horse for the first time.

As we were riding, Kim made the comment that she liked this much better than riding a camel! Our ride took us through Tuscan fields and wine vineyards. The scenery was gorgeous! After we got back, we were treated to some wine produced from the vineyards we had just ridden through (white wine made from Trebbiano grapes). It was an awesome time.

We were then taken to a secluded “country club” (I’ll call it) that was nestled between vineyards in some remote Tuscan spot (you would never know it was there). We cooled off in the pool, ate lunch, drank wine, and walked around the peaceful lake (oh yeah, it had a lake too). It was a nice relaxing break after the horse ride.

The excursion was completed with a trip back to San Gimignano. Can you guess what we got while we were there? You guessed it - world champion gelato! It was a great way to finish an great day. Here is a picture of the friendly Portuguese family from Toronto we did the excursion with.

We got back to Florence in time to catch the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo, which is a hill close to our hotel, and probably the best spot in Florence to view the city.


And Kim's patented panoramic (click to make larger):

Day 44 - Florence, Italy

Brian: Today we started the day with a visit to Accademia. Accademia is mostly home to Renaissance sculpture, but the main attraction is Michelangelo’s David. I will be honest, since I’m not an art buff, I wasn’t expecting very much. However, I was really taken aback. David is pretty awesome. From seeing it in books, I thought it would be normal human size. In actuality, it is enormous. As you walk down a long hallway of unfinished Michelangelo sculptures (giving you insight into the arduous sculpting process) David is looming in the distance at the end of the hall. Once you get to the room housing David, it is packed with crowds circling the huge statue. Many people just sit on the benches for 20-30 minutes just taking it in. We did the same, as we listened to our Rick Steve's podcast about it.

Our next stop was San Lorenzo and the market surrounding it. We had another run-in with theft, but luckily we weren't the victims this time. As we were perusing the outdoor market stands, we heard a woman scream, then witnessed a man running by with a hand full of purses. Police were there in a hurry, but since everyone was speaking in Italian, we didn’t know exactly what had happened. We pieced together that the woman who screamed was actually an accomplice who faked the injury so that the man could run off with the purses from one of the nearby stands. The unsettling thing (to me at least) was that as the thief ran through the crowded market, no one tried to stop him, almost like it was an every day occurrence (even the police didn’t seem to care much when they arrived).

After lunch, we visited the Duomo. And would you believe it? We witnessed another theft while in line to get inside the Duomo. Long story short: We see three guys running away, some parents chasing them, and a few minutes later the parents come back carrying their young son who is balling. Don’t know what they took (maybe something from the kid), but it wasn’t a good situation.

Kim: Inside, we listened to another Rick Steves podcast that told us about the history of the Duomo and the Baptistery. The inside of the Duomo is fairly empty, with very little artistic decoration. The main draw is the dome itself. An engineering marvel of its time, the dome is really two domes, a smaller inner dome supporting the larger outer one. Once outside again, we took a closer look at the famous Baptistery doors. The bronze doors are covered with reliefs by Ghiberti (he won a contest in 1401 to get the privilege to design the doors) with one set showing the Old Testament and the other the New Testament. Technically, the original doors are in the Duomo museum and the ones you see on the Baptistery are copies. Close enough.

We continued to walk down Florence’s main pedestrian street to Orsanmichele, a church with several Donatello sculptures displayed prominently on the outside. We spilled out onto Piazza della Signoria and stopped to take a couple of pics with David (this one’s a copy, standing in the place where the original David stood until the 1850s) since no pictures were allowed inside Accademia.

On our way by the Uffizi, we stumbled upon a courtyard full of statues of famous Florentines. Brian took pics with Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo . . . but no Raphael. Apparently he’s from Urbino. Brian’s ninja turtle dreams were once again dashed. He had to settle for a pic with Galileo instead.

We finished up at the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. Since the 1300s it’s survived multiple floods and was the only bridge spared by the Nazis in WWII. Above the shops and walkway is the private passage of the Medici that allowed them to cross between the Pitti Palace on one side of the river and the Palazzo Vecchio on the other without having to mingle with the commoners.
After some rest and a bottle of wine on our terrace, we ventured back out to try the regional specialty Bistecca Fiorentina (Brian’s came with the best little cippolini onions ever), and then we hit the most famed gelateria in Florence, Vivoli. The gelato was awesome. Because of our exuberance (and potentially aided by the second bottle of wine we just drank), we took a flurry of pictures.

Additional thoughts/notes:

- Brian: Before the trip, we were led to believe Rome would be the worst place for theft and pick-pocketing. Thankfully, we did not have any run-ins or witness any theft in Rome. Unfortunately, our experience so far in northern Italy has been different. For us, it could just be wrong place at the wrong time (thefts happen everywhere). But Italy has gotten this rep for a reason, and I now think it is truly warranted. In contrast, when we were in Vienna there was absolutely no worry of being robbed (thefts aren’t common there, though we were still smart about our belongings). Oh well. We will have just tighten our money belts and be careful!

Day 43 - Pisa/Florence, Italy

Brian: Today we departed Tuscany for Florence. On our way (well, actually about 2 hours out of the way), we decided to make a quick stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower.

Our Pisa stop consisted of parking, snapping pics of the leaning tower, then heading on to Florence. However, during our stop, we were victims of our first theft of the trip. Our Italy guidebook (i.e. bible/lifeline) was stolen when we set it down to snap our tower pictures. It didn't seem like we left the book unattended for too long, but looking back at the pictures now, we were probably easy prey. Here's what I mean (the book was stolen sometime during this montage. . . don't we look attentive?):


Kim: We arrived at our hotel in Florence with little trouble (due to my expert navigation skills) and quickly went out to fit in some afternoon sightseeing. Our first stop was the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is known for its impressive collection of Florentine renaissance masterpieces, with its two most famous paintings probably being The Birth of Venus and Primavera by Botticelli. We also saw works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo (Brian was disappointed to learn that Donatello wasn't considered a master of the High Renaissance, so he'd have to wait for another museum to see the complete Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle quartet).

After our fill of Madonnas and Venuses, we explored the Piazza della Signoria and stumbled upon the Duomo. Actually, it’s hard not to come across the Duomo – it takes up ~10 city blocks and is right in the heart of Florence. We snapped some pics, ate some dinner, drank some wine, and called it a night.

Additional notes:
(Brian) The Panda - We have been driving a small Fiat Panda ever since leaving Rome and we are loving it! It is so tiny that we can park in unimaginably tight spaces, which is perfect for Italy, where parking is minimal. We have also made U-turns on one-lane roads (no joke). Our hotel in Florence was iffy about letting us park in their tiny garage. . . that is, until I told them we have a Panda. They got big smiles on their faces and said “Give him space 6!” (which was a tight corner space). Kim thinks the Panda is a “cute” car, much like an actual panda, but I informed her that Panda’s are actually pretty ferocious in the wild. She doesn’t believe me.

Days 39 thru 42 - Tuscany, Italy

We spent the next 4 days in Tuscany, based out of Ulignano, a very small town near San Gimignano. We stayed at a small bed and breakfast where we were treated like family by the owner, Guido. Every morning Guido gladly served us tea and coffee and treated us to a unique Italian-style breakfast. Guido sure could bake a mean fruit-cake. He also was good at giving us helpful tips and recommendations before we set out for sightseeing each day. Here is the view from the patio, where we had a nice dinner of local sandwiches and wine (both from San Gimignano) on our second night.

We visited hill-towns (i.e. castles) such as Orvieto, San Gimignano, and Monteriggiano (under Guido’s recommendation). I am a huge fan of hill towns, and there are plenty to see in Tuscany (there are a list of others I’d like to visit if we come back to Tuscany). The towns are basically old castles high up on hills with huge walls and many towers, and inside are tightly packed buildings of residences and shops (the towns are pretty much entirely pedestrian).

We spent an entire day in San Gimignano, which happened to have three torture museums (I convinced Kim into two of them), as well as a world champion gelato maker. You better bet we tried his gelato, and boy was it good! Take a look at Kim's happy face!


We had high expectations for the Museum of Wine, but it was a big let-down, mainly because it seemed partially closed. Kim had her second favorite meal in Italy so far for lunch – Pappardelle con Cinghale (pasta with wild boar ragu) - which is a Tuscan specialty.


Here is a panaramic of the countryside taken from over one of the city's walls:

We spent the majority of another day visiting Siena, a large, fortified city with a huge campo (square), arena, and Duomo.

Back in Medieval times, Siena was a powerful city that battled with Florence for dominance over Italy, but Florence won out (or else Siena would have been today’s Florence). Most of the castles you see in Tuscany today were defending either Siena or Florence. Some changed sides multiple times as they got sacked by the other side. Siena’s Duomo is huge, and was to be the largest in the world at the time of construction, but there were foundation issues, lack of funds, and a plague that got in the way.

We enjoyed a full day (and a separate evening) in the Chianti region of Tuscany. We went from vineyard to vineyard, touring and sampling wine. Some places had tasting rooms out front and others allowed you to go inside and tour without reservations (such as the castles). Here’s a quick list of the towns we visited: Castellina in Chianti, Badia a Passignano, Greve in Chianti, Volpaia, Radda in Chianti, and Gaiole in Chianti (toured Castello Meleto and Castello di Brolio here). We also toured Badia Coltibuono, a monastery up on a high hill that makes wine, has a nice garden, and has great views (see the following two pictures). You can also book a room here. . . we definitely wouldn’t mind staying here the next time we visit!


Here's a photo of Badia a Passignano:

View from Castello di Brolio:

Castello Meleto:

Additional thoughts/notes:

- We have a first-hand account of carnivorous bees in Tuscany. While eating our sandwiches on the porch, an angry bee landed on my sandwich, and meticulously bit off a piece of my prosciutto (larger than himself) and carried it off - presumably to the hive. What do you do when a bee is carving off a piece of your meat for himself? You let him. He came back regularly every 5 minutes to slice off another piece, and every time he did, I sat back and patiently waited for him to take his portion. I've never seen bees that have a taste for meat (I don't think there was anything sweet on it either), but I guess there's a first for everything.

Day 38 - Rome, Italy

For our last day in Rome, we decided to take it easy. We made it up to the Piazza di Popolo (which Brian likes to call Piazza Poopalo) and visited the church Santa Maria del Popolo to see some amazing Caravaggio paintings in the Cerasi Chapel.

Then we wandered around the Borghese gardens and happened upon some great views of the city (that’s St. Peter’s dome back there – it’s just huge)!

Later that night, for Apertivo and dinner, we explored the Trastevere neighborhood, a less touristed area on the other side of the Tiber. While there, we popped in to see Santa Maria in Trastevere, the oldest church in Rome. Its covered with Byzantine-era mosaics, and its nave is framed by “recycled” Roman columns.