Roma-ing

Rome. Where to begin? We sort of decided to leave the guide books at home and just walk. There's no way to see it all and its totally overwhelming....so we just roamed (horrible pun).

I was really impressed by the churches built in the 1100's while we were in Umbria. We hit Rome and its like...this was built in year 0. Wow. Everywhere you look there is another monument, church, statue, painting or fountain.

Our highlights were Palantine and Capitoline Hills (Hadrian's Column, the Forum, Piazza Colunna, the Colosseum), Villa Borghese Park, Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, and Vatican City.

Trajan's Column. Erected by Emperor Trajan to commemorate his victory in the Dacian wars. Completed in 113 AD, the relief details the epic victory. As with everything in Rome this thing is just absolutely grand and massive and hard to comprehend how old it is.

The Pantheon. Built 126 AD by Emperor Hadrian. The building is perfectly proportioned with an equal height and diameter. The dome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.

I thought it was really interesting to learn that the coffered design minimized the ceiling's weight but didn't compromise strength. The oculus provides the only light. A choir was singing while we were in there and it was pretty amazing.

Piazza Navona. This site used to be a stadium where chariot races were held. Later Baroque fountains were added and today it is a very popular meeting place for Romans (that sounds about a million times cooler than Birminghamian) and tourists alike. Here's an brief architecture 101 of Rome...

Classical Architecture:

Inspired by Greek buildings from 12 century BC. Pantheon, Triumphal Arch and Colosseum. Domes, arches and columns. Romans had population density and a strong understanding of building materials and construction. They also had a need of buildings that would impress the populace. 

Renaissance Architecture:

15th-17th centuries. St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican and other ecclesiastical buildings. Developed first in Florence with Brunelleschi's dome. Rebirth of Classical forms, symmetry and proportion inspired by Humanism and replacing irregular medieval forms.

Baroque Architecture:

17th century. Trevi Fountain and Church of the Gesu. Took Renaissance ideas and interpreted them in new theatrical and sculptural forms. Influenced by ideals of the Counter-Reformation and Jesuits and intended to highlight the wealth and power of the Catholic church.

It was so much fun walking around and seeing all of these architectural styles in such close proximity to one another. I mean, really amazing.

The Piazzo Navona was filled with hustlers. It has been really fascinating to take note of these as we have traveled around the world. One guy had Can-Can dancer dolls on his hands and they were hilariously dancing across a little homemade stage. And of course there are the endless variations of the human statue (the pharoh, the mummy, the bullfighter, the tin man, and then there are some really creative ones). Problem is, you need the gear to get this game going. This is why I loved this guy. He had a knife and some vegitables and he was making art, beautiful flowers, elaborate dragons, perfect figures. We have definitely not seen anything like this and it was just so simple and creative and cheap to get going. Smart man.

Spanish Steps and the Villa de Medici.

The highlight of my trip to Rome was throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain. Its weird because I remember doing this on past trips when I was just a bebe. Alex an I sat and debated how much money that fountain must bring in every day. Awesome people watching. There is something just so funny about watching people pose for photos....especially in the digital camera age where they can review and then re-take it if they don't like what they see.

Church of the Gesu. Unfortunately my picture didn't turn out but there was the most amazing trompe l'oeil dome. It looked perfect when you walked in the church but when you were standing directly under it the oculaus was completely off center. Awesome.

Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Beautiful cobalt blue ceiling with guilding. Fra Anglico is buried here and Galileo was tried for heresy in the adjoining monastery.

We have had an awesome few days. A few blisters and feeling exhausted by the end of the day. Luckily we've had wonderful afternoon rainstorms, perfect for sitting still and enjoying a pizza and glass of wine. Ciao!

More Postcards from Umbria

Just a few more gorgeous views from Umbria.

Views across Todi.

Todi town square.

The Orvieto Cathedral.

Facade of the Cathedral.

And dinner in bed. We are getting really tired of eating out. The only other option when you don't have a kitchen is a bed picnic. It is so fun shopping at the little markets and groceries. Even buying stuff at the pharmacy is a little bit of an adventure. After three visits to three different stores for wine, cheese, bread, apples and Peanut M&M's, we were all set.

Umbria

So Alex and I left Florence in our rental car and hit the very curvy roads to Umbria. Great timing as it poured rain for the first few hours.

We stayed at this cute little "agriturismo" hotel overlooking the valleys around Perugia. Agriturismo hotels are growing in popularity and are basically little B&B's housed in farm houses across Italy. Ours wasn't an actual farm but it was absolutely stunning. The little Italian gentleman who served us fresh croissants and tea in the mornings really made the whole experience.

Every view from every hilltop over the next few days looked like a postcard.

Example numero uno. The colors look like a painting...or I should say, you see why so many artists and photographers try and capture these scenes. The dusty green of the olive trees with the deep evergreen of the Italian cypress trees is my favorite. Throw in some pink limestone buildings, terracotta roof tiles, and the purple blue hills in the distance. Gorgeous.

Basically you have gorgeous valleys filled with olive groves and wheat fields. Every few kilometers you stumble upon another medieval hill town. Over our three days we visited Perugia, Assissi, Solomeo, Deruta and Orvieto. This is a sort of classic view from the towns...narrow dark alleys and then all the sudden you get this amazing pastel sliver view of the surrounding countryside.

Most of the cobblestone streets are just wide enough for a tiny Fiat to squeeze through. Alleys are lined with adorable balconies, small pocket gardens, and large archways.

Alex and I both agree that the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is the coolest and most beautiful church we have ever been in. Begun in 1288, the church holds the remains of the saint along with many other religious relics and beautiful frescoes by Giotto, the father of the Italian Renaissance. The frescoes told the life of the saint and were prefectly preserved. It makes you realize how paired down some of these other churches are. When these things were built they were over the top. The church and the artists were master storytellers and marketers. They created beautiful, almost perfect images for the overwhelmingly illiterate people to interpret. Its hard to imagine what it would be like to walk into one of these churches before the era of photography and other forms of accessible art. I'm sure they were utterly and completely blown away. The lower part of the church held artifacts from Saint Francis' life (including his robes!) and a very well and moodily lit crypt where the saint is interred. 

Views from Assisi. The whole town was in perfect condition. I think the roads were re-done recently, so the site had a tiny bit of a Disney World feeling rather than the somewhat gritty feeling of it univeristy-town neighbor of Perugia. Alex and I were sort of laughing because the little we read about Saint Francis was that he devoted himself to a life of simplicity and poverty. Assisi's entrepreneurs obviously aren't follwoing the same path. The shops in his native town are now overflowing with wines, pastries, gelato, and of course every type of Catholic souvenir you could ever imagine. But it is still possible to lose yourself in the quiet solitude of the tiny paths and alleys in Assisi and it is wonderful.

Under the Umbrian Sun. Eat your heart out Diane Lane.

Our first full day we took advantage of perfect weather to enjoy a hike through the countryside around our hotel. We did have a great local trail map but once again I have to give credit to Alex for his navigation skills. It's actually funny I took this pictures because our trail had no signs. We made our way through private farms and past no trespassing signs. On one odd occasion walking by a totally isolated farm house blasting techno music. Random.

Me sitting by an ancient watering well along the path.

Alex crossing a field of wildflowers. At this point I was convinced we were lost and I was ready for the Italian farmer to start shooting at us.

But then I turned around and all my cares slipped away...wow. I want to move to this very spot. 

Poppies and little white wildflowers. You just sort of want to stop and like jump in there and take a nap.

Heading out on a hike with no plan and very little sense of direction is quickly becoming my favorite thing to do. A fun adventure and a really awesome day.

Firenze

After a mild mix up at the train station where I said to Alex, "I can't wait to get to Firenze"...and he said "Firenze?! You bought tickets to the wrong town! We're going to Florence."

Tragedy averted...and now we're here. We walked about 5 minutes from our hotel on the Piazza Santa Maria Novella and we catch this glimpse of the Duomo.

Gorgeous!

This building really is absolutely amazing. Judging by the hoards of tourists standing in the Piazza below, they agree.

 

Alex and I on the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Spanning the most narrow point of the Arno river, it is the only bridge to have not been bombed by the Germans.

The Duomo is fantastic, but the less touristy Santa Maria Novella church is equally as stunning in my opinion. This park was right outside of our hotel and was the perfect place to enjoy a picnic lunch in the sun.

The Palazzo Piti and the Boboli Gardens are on the opposite side of the Arno and this is the 4th time I have walked them. Gorgeous.

The rose garden on the top of the hill looks out over the valley opposite Florence. Ahhhh Tuscany!

The roses and peonies were in full bloom. The bright green and hot pink with the muted pinks and greens of what is now the porcelain museum...perfection. This picture does not do it justice. The Medici's porcelain collection was amazing as well. It really hard to imagine people living with such wealth and grandeur. I am half way through the "The Rise and Fall of the Medici's" and it is fascinating.  

Alex enjoying views out over Flroence.

When traveling to Florence, BOOK AHEAD for all of the museums. We booked through out hotel for the Uffizi and it was so easy and there was no waiting in line. I took a Renaissance art class in high school and I really haven't thought about it much since, but seeing Boticelli's "Birth of Venus," and works by Giotto and Michelangelo really brought it all back. What a collection. Not only was the art amazing, but the building was just gorgeous. I just wish I could go back to high school and college and do it all again.

OK, search ended. I have found the most delicious gelato in the world. Its official. Oh my gosh. Visit Vestri. A must!

Lucca

In between Cinque Terre and Florence, Alex and I spent 2 great days in a little town called Lucca. Lucca is famous for its bikeable and walkable city wall that wraps around the entire old town and for the fact that it escaped bombing during the WWII.

Another tower...Torre Guinigi has trees on top of it amazingly enough. Built and named for Lucca's leading family. Awesome views from the top. Behind Alex is the oval shaped Piazza dell'Anfiteatro where the Roman amphitheater used to be. Eventually residential buildings were built over the original Roman footings and the result was a very cool oval shaped piazza. I've never seen anything like that. Definitely leads to some odd shaped rooms in the houses above, but really pretty cool.

It was sort of rainy so we opted to walk the 4 km stretch of Renaissance era walls around the old town. They were very well preserved and cool to see such and old architectural element still being enjoyed by so many people. And a great way for pizza filled tourists to get a bit of exercize before hitting the gelato stand.

There were about 5 towers and 10 churches in Lucca. We made it up the one tower and into about 5 of the churches. That was our max. The rest of the time we spent cruising the pedestrian streets, window shopping and just waling around. On Sunday, every piazza was filled with antique and flea markets type vendors from the surrounding area.

Cool architecture.

Lucca was also home to Giacomo Puccini, author and composer of operas such as "Madame Butterfly," "La Boheme," and "Tosca." Alex and I went to a concert at the Church of San Giovanni. It was pretty cool to see his music performed by Italians in the church where he was baptized and buried.

Cinque Terre

Finally some sun!

Alex and I arrived in Cinque Terre after training from Verona, through Milan. I have to say, the trains in Italy are really kind of gross. I won't expand on that, but I'll just say that on travel days I am back to  walking the fine line towards dehydration as I avoid public restrooms at all costs.

Almost everyone I know has heard of or been to Cinque Terre. It is the thing to do for backpackers and well anyone else who likes the sound of exploring ancient Italian villages perched on the rocky cliffs along the Mediterranean. The two villages on either end of the five are large and allow cars. The three middle villages are totally cut off from the outside world aside from a rail line built in the 1800s and small harbors. They are, to use my favorite word, totally picturesque.

We decided to stay within the five in a little town called Vernazza. I have to say we chose right. During the day it is bustling with tourist activity and walkers who are making their way on the 12 km Cinque Terre track linking the five towns. In the evenings it was just us locals and much more laid back.

Alex and I sat in the little harborside piazza and drank a bottle of wine and discovered the true meaning of the term la doci vita. Thinking back to my days at Alys Beach and our efforts to immulate this European, cafe culture, I realized what we were always missing...the people. Italians stop in the middle of the day for la pausa. From 1:00 to 3:00 (everyday!) they enjoy a leisurely lunch, a glass of wine and sit, chat and take a deep breath and enjoy life. For some reason this is harder for us Americans to do. Alex and I are "on vacation" and we don't do it very often. We always seem to have somewhere we want to go and something we want to see. As we sat, surrounded on three sides by the aborable pink, yellow and terracotta buildings and multicolored striped umbrellas and on the other side by the deep green water of the Mediterranean, we paused...and it was wonderful.

Sunset on the buidlings in Vernazza. The train runs parallel to the coast about 50 yards up the hill. Trains link all of the villages and run about 10 times a day. There is also a ferry service that links a few of the little villages.

Well we woke up ready to walk and headed to the park offices to buy our Cinque Terre card and were informed that the park was closed due to rain and mudslides. I overheard a loud Canadian woman talking and she sounded like the kind of woman that knew what was going on. Travel tip: eavesdropping is sometimes a great thing. We struck up a conversation and learned of some trails that were still open and that the park rangers really don't close them off or check cards at all of the entrances. Thank goodness we met this woman. We ended up taking the perfect track and having an amazing day.

The actual Cinque Terre walk hugs the coastline and the water. We hiked up some paved roads to San Bernadino and walked along the crest of the hills above the villages. At one point we had a view of all 5 of the villages over the terraced vineyards below. We were also completely alone for most of the day. We picked up some salami focaccia and ate a picnic at the top of the hill. It was awesome.

The wildflowers were in full bloom. Gorgeous.

After hiking along the top of the hills between Corniglia and Manarola, we hiked down into town to walk along the coast from Manarola to Riomaggiore.

Our walk was interrupted by a terrific thunderstorm. We sat at a harborside cafe in Manarola and enjoyed some spaghetti and Cinque Terre wine. Que romantico.

View of Manorola from a path on the hillside. A little river flows right through the center of this valley and empties out into the sea. Its easy to see why they picked this spot.

Manorola.

Despite any path closings and thunderstorms, we had an awesome time in Cinque Terre. Beautiful little isolated towns, great walking, and delicious Italian food and wine. A great trip!