OMG! Not Done Yet

Eh...we thought that today would be fairly easy.  We talked with Gpa Gio about how to get Leonardo close to where we could load our luggage.  No problemo...just bring him up from parking into the Cathedral square, park, load...very simple.  Then, turn left off the plaza and go down Via del Theatro and you are on your way.  And that's just how we did it.  Pam got Louisa going with the route to Florence (Fierenza) and off we went into the foggy morning.

Once we hit the open road and were ticketed and on the autostrada (the toll road) we felt pretty good.  We were even lucky enough to be able to pay our autostrada toll to a real person rather than fiddle with the ticket and the credit card as people honked behind us.  So...off the autostrade and into Fierenza.  One issue...get gas.  Must return the rental with a full tank.  So we stop at a gas station and are presented with another new puzzle to solve.  How to get the gas to pump.  We stood behind a young man who tried and tried to get the machine (no people at this station) to take his €20 bill.  No luck.  We traded him a €20 bill in hopes that another would work.  Nope.  So he drove off.  We tried our credit card...it was rejected 4 times...then a young Italian couple tried their luck.  Somehow, we traded bills, fiddled, laughed and between the four of us got the pump to work.  After several tries...we both ended up with full tanks and with great thanks and grazies we drove off...Into Fierenza.

All was going well until Louisa told us to turn right, down a street where she apparently didn't know there was construction.  The street was totally blocked off.  Flummoxed, we turned left and Louisa lost it...and we were lost.  We went around the same block 4 times...we understood we were to cross the Arno river, but couldn't do it the way Louisa wanted, so finally, ending up on a street that crossed the river on a bridge just below the Ponte Vecchio, where Louisa wanted to cross...we crossed and seemed to be back on track.  But no.  When Louisa announced that, "Your destination is on the right.  Route guidance is ended," we realized that she had brought us to the Uffizi Museum (where Pam had her picture taken with the street mime) and that was the end of that.  No Hertz Rent-a-car, no home for Leonardo.

So we drove around on our own, turning down streets that I didn't think a bicycle could go down.  We fit somehow, but ended up in the Piazza della Signore--one of the most historic piazzas in Florence.  No cars.  Pedestrians only.  And there we were in a crush of tourists.

We are sure we will get a ticket for this too, as there are cameras around the piazza, but there we were!  We saw two street cleaners, pulled up next to them (they were not too surprised) and asked, "How to get out?  We are so lost!"  They told us to go to the Farmicia and turn left and go straight.  We did.  Got off the plaza and were still hopelessly lost.

Eventually, we just plain stopped, pulled over into a space by the curb just off a market and let the traffic flow on by.  I walked off in one direction and Pam in the other and eventually I was able to flag a taxi.  I motioned him around the corner to Leonardo, explained the situation and asked if we could hire him and follow him.  Yes, OK...and off we went.  I cut off a herd of tourists, two bicycles, ran a red light, but never lost our taxi.  All of a sudden we were at Hertz.  Oh what a relief to put little Leonardo in his stall, check in, and be on our walking way to the train.  

 

Arrivederci, Leonardo!

Then we walked to the train.  While waiting for our train, we tried to pay our parking ticket.  We were directed to the Post Office, NO!  Then to the bank...all closed from noon to 3 o'clock.  We couldn't miss our train because we knew there would be a special treat waiting for us at our hotel in Milano.  So we left the parking ticket for another time.  

Oh! No!  Our first train was 10 minutes late (never would have happened with a Swiss train).  We boarded and at the other end of about and hour and a half, we had 3 minutes to run to the track and catch our next train to Milano Malpensa...we got to the door of the last car as it began to move down the track.

In 35 minutes we caught the next train and finally arrived at our destination...Milano airport.  We got a bit lost in the airport but a wonderful Hertz agent walked us to where we needed to go to get the shuttle to our hotel.  And when we arrived, here was the best prize ever, waiting for us...

Katie PIetsch...all the way from Zurich just to have dinner with us.  Oh what a joy.  We had a few hours to catch up on her life, have some laughs about traveling in Italy and then, after dinner it was time for Katie to drive back across the border to Switzerland, turn in her rental car, and take the train back to Zurich.  Oh, Katie...thank you so much for making this huge trip for a couple of hours.  We do love you and thank you...

and off she drove into the night...

Now, for sure, we hope this is the end of our adventures.  Tomorrow off to the aerporto and onto a 10:30 a.m.  flight for Frankfurt and then Denver...and Lee and Mare!  Once again, thanks for traveling with us.  Ciao and so much love and thanks to Katie for making the effort to connect.  

Bonnnie & Pam

 

Last Day Under Tuscan Skies

We wandered here and there again with little Leonardo. The countryside is amazing. Today a real highlight was finding Abbé Sant' Antimo where for fifteen beautiful minutes we listened to Gregorian chanting done by six French Benedictine monks. The abbey is very simple and rustic. For a long time in the Middle Ages it was on the pilgrimage path from France to Rome. Soon now, the monks will leave for good and return to France, their home base as there are no pilgrims to care for anymore. One of the sweet things about this afternoon's chanting was that quite a few of the monks' families and friends were in the chapel. After the chanting was done, several of the monks were hugged and kissed by people ranging in age from about 2 to very old. Outside, the skies were bathed in afternoon sun. Dark clouds were outlined and highlighted, white clouds glowed as if lit from within. The yellowing grapevines and vivid greens of grasses and cypress trees were dream like. Just lovely as we put our new Gregorian chant cd into Leonardo's player and cruised toward home. 

Later on this evening, we walked to La Dolce Vita, a local wine tasting/retail store and really indulged ourselves. We tasted about 5 wines, then ordered a mixed case to be shipped to IL. It should arrive in 2 weeks. Pam ordered a burger because she read they were outstanding. Indeed!  The closest thing to Burgess beef we've ever tasted. Lean Tuscan beef ground with 5% pork fat. Out of this world!

And there you have it. Tomorrow we'll give Leonardo back to his people in Florence, hop the train for Milan, and take off for home Tuesday morning at 10:00. Thanks to all of you for traveling with us.

Ciao,

Bonnie n Pam

Pam at the well...

Crazy baker in our town...gave everyone samples, even drivers of cars going by

Door dec in Montepulciano

Tuscan countryside

Traveling Around

After a day wandering around our town of Montepulciano--some wine tasting, and a great dinner with some very fun servers in a local restaurant--we decided we were brave enough to do some exploring of the countryside.  We were a bit nervous about taking Leonardo out of his parking place, but Gio, the dapper grandpa type who owns Il Riccio, patted me on the face and said, "Duomo, duomo, duomo at every turn..." and that was his way of telling me the signs to follow coming back in to town.  Worked like a charm.  I'm going to put mostly pictures in the blog so you can see our place, our town, and some of the Tuscan countryside and places we visited.  We literally walked right into a movie set in our travels today.  Seems Dustin Hoffman is making a series about the Medici family and the crew has been in several towns, including Montepulciano.  We wondered why the gypsy-type wagon was sitting in the middle of our square, and learned today that it was a left-over prop from the filming.  We saw horses, mules, lots of men and women in period costumes, and LOTS of men with dirty and bloodied faces (make up, of course).  So here's a bit of what we've seen in the last two days...

 The entry courtyard to our hotel

Gypsy wagon in the town square

Reception and breakfast area in Il Riccio, our hotel

View from the rooftop sitting area of our hotel...just as the sun was going down

The view from the window in our room as the sun was coming up

The wall surrounding Montepulciano...and the road coming in to town

Pam at the gate of Montechiello...we had a lovely lunch on the terrace to the left

A look at Montepulciano in the late afternoon as we returned from our travels

 One of the mules on the set of the movie

Two guys...plotting??? 

Obviously the movie has a lot of dirt and gore...

Driving Ms Pamela

Our time in Siena was brief but fun-filled and jam-packed.  Once again we had an amazing visit in the cathedral and surrounding museums.  We had a tour that took us up into the cupola and around the outside...not nearly so high nor so many stairs as we climbed in Florence.  Even though Siena was blessed with the workmanship of many of the same artisans as Florence, including Michelangelo, the buildings and art looked much older and less sophisticated.  The floor of the cathedral is uncovered for only six weeks out of the year, Pam got us to Siena to see the floor during this time.  The colors of Siena are black and white and the cathedral is decorated inside with columns and walls containing the black and white theme.  I made the mistake of telling Pam the columns reminded me of Hopi Kachinas (clowns who often wore black and white striped outfits), which, unfortunately, then stuck with her.

After our tour of the cathedral and the museum, we strolled out to the Piazza del Campo.  This is the center of town and it's set up in a wonderfully artistic formation.  All around the outside there are old buildings where people lived and worked.  Just off the walkway there are many, many restaurants and souvenir stalls.  Then there is a roadway and inside the roadway a sloping "infield" cobbled in brick, as is the roadway.  On this afternoon, with soft Tuscan light filtering among the buildings, children played, lovers strolled, tourists roamed, and business-dressed men and women strode purposefully toward home or late afternoon meetings.  The piazza, however, is also home to two of Europe's most famous horse races.  The races take place every year on July 2 and August 16.  The purpose of the Palio, as it's known, is to honor the Madonna dell Assunta--the patroness of Siena.  It was first run in 1656.  For the days-long celebration, the flanking roadway is filled with dirt and the rest of the piazza is filled with people.  There are 10 racers--seven by right and three by drawn lots.  Here are two pictures of the Palio from the internet.

So, as the sun went down, we returned to our house and tucked in for the night.  In the morning we were off for the Tuscan countryside and the town of Montepulciano.  Now, I'd like to say a bit more about driving.  We picked up a new car in Florence.  It's a dark gray Fiat 500...a bit smaller than the Panda (and we had reason to be grateful for that today), with a lot less pick up, Ulp! 

 Off we went in the car we dubbed little Leonardo.  The first danger was to get out of Florence and  the last was to get into Montepulciano where we will stay.  We are using Pam's iPhone with Google Maps to navigate.  We rented a gps but found it to be less than useless b/c we couldn't figure out how to use it (I guess that makes us the useless ones!).

No matter: Louisa, as we fondly call her, speaks to us in very unaccented American English.  She doesn't pronounce Italian very well--probably OK for us.  But she comes out with things like:  "Turn left at Parade de Guard-O," or "Stay straight on Castanets and Corncribos," or (my personal favorite) "Turn right on Bitch Weg street."  You get the idea, but we are lovin' her.  We've only made one wrong turn--until today.  We love roundabouts.  She tells us "At the next roundabout take the third exit toward via condios and highway 132."  We call the exits off in clicks...something Pam, Lee, Mare, and I made up driving in New Zealand.  We count the clicks, "OK, 1...2...3rd click," I turn as Louisa says, "exit the roundabout."  I shift and adjust to the new road, and ask Pam, "Did she like that?"  Pam is checking the gps and watching our progress on the line Louisa has laid down for us to follow.  "She likes it!  We're good."  And that is how we get around.  

Montepulciano is an ancient and walled city whose streets are bounded by tall brick buildings or walls. The streets are cobbled in old brick and they go straight up...and I mean straight up (one sign warned of a 15% grade).  You remember I mentioned that little Leonardo doesn't have the umpf! that our Panda did?  Here we go off the highway into the maze of streets where we know we have to end up at the top of the city, but must not enter the historic square at the very top.  

Somewhere just below is the parking area where we'll leave the car and then walk up the last way to our hotel, Meuble Il Riccio (Riccio means hedgehog...a close-sounding name to the family's name, Ricci).  Somehow Louisa got us going up a street so incredibly steep I thought Leonardo was going to flip backwards.  I had to make a turn so tight going to the right that I missed the left and right walls by inches...no kidding.  Shifting down into first gear, I gunned our little missile for the top.  He skipped, stuttered, coughed, bucked on the bricks but like the little engine that could, made it to the top.

 The top was a dead-end street with a car parked in front of us, and nowhere to go or turn around.  After manuvering for about 7 minutes, sweating bullets, I managed an 8-point turn, got us going around in the direction from which we'd come and thought I'd really like to pull over and cry.  All the while Pam was gripping the door pull with both hands, saying..."She said this was the right way, but she doesn't seem to like it." "Turn right onto grappo..."  "No, she doesn't like it, turn left here..."  "I can't.  I think it's one..."  "Make a U turn onto "buckwheat passeo..."  Finally, I saw a police cruiser that was just about the Panda's size.  I pulled into a tiny spot by a building and Pam got out to talk with the polizia.  After a conversation that included a lot of gesturing and hand waving, map study, and head shaking, Pam returned to Leonardo and said, "He will take us there.  We are to follow him."  He flipped a U, waved at us to come on and off we went.  We drove places I didn't think it possible to fit cars, turned, climbed, stopped, and started.  When we were in front of our hotel, he pointed, waved and drove off.  I snugged in close to the wall and Pam went to check in.  As I sat in the car a large delivery truck began to back down the street from the plaza above.  A nice guy came over to me and said, "Madame, you see you have a very small car.  If you pull up here just so, it will be OK."  I did and miraculously it was.  The truck backed past me and stopped at the next door below.

After a time, Pam came out of the hotel and said, "We can bring in the bags and give the car keys to the lady at the desk.  She said she would drive the car over to the parking lot."  I was never so eager or relieved to surrender keys to a car in my life.  We stayed in town, resting, walking about, exploring.  This is all I think we can say about the day and here are a few pictures to give you an idea about the car and driving...but nothing will even approach the experience.

Ciao...we love you and thank you for reading about our adventures.

Bonnie & Pam

Leonardo...resting!

Our Polizia!

 Here comes the truck!

OMG...he's going to make it past.

 Home at last...Let's rest!

That's the Ticket

This is a catch up, but I want to lead off by saying we are now in Siena, and are the proud owners of a €30 parking ticket.  When we found our bed and breakfast with our tiny Fiat 500 (gray still), I pulled in to the only parking space on the street.  Our host told us we should be fine there but move the car to the other side of the street because street cleaners would come in the morning.  When we returned home from roaming downtown Siena, there was a ticket on the windshield.  We'll ask about it in the morning.

Imagine climbing 463 stairs to the top of the Duomo in Florence.  What an experiene.  Imagine going up a staircase that is so steep it is as if you were climbing straight up.  Most of the stairs are spiral and the wedges of eah are very small.  The space in which we climbed was very narrow.  If you extended bent arms out from your shoulders, your elbows would bang the walls.  There is very little light but up, and up, and up we went.  Right under the place where the cathedral walls become the dome, we exited long enough to walk half way around the dome looking down on the floor of the cathedral and the ant-like people walking below.  The up and up we went again and when we thought we could bear the confinement, the dim light, and the exertion no more, out we popped at the top.  Oh, what a view!

We could see the rooftops of the city, the train station, and all the way out to the surrounding hills.

It was a dizzying look down, but despite the spitting rain we stayed up for quite some time.  Then it was time to go down.

The story of the dome is testament to the human belief in possibility.  The cathedral of Santa Marie del Fiore (its official name) was begun in 1296.  The cathedral was to showcase the status of Florence as one of Europe's economic and cultural capitals, grown rich on banking and the wool and silk trades.  The powers that be decided that the crowning structure would be the largest cupola or dome on earth.  This dome would have no flying buttresses to support it, nothing visible to hold it in place other than the elegance and beauty of its structure.  The problem was that in 1296, and in 1350 and in 1400 no one knew how to build a dome nearly 150 feet across, especially as it would have to start 180 feet above the ground, atop the existing walls.  Finally in 1418,  a short, homely, and hot-tempered goldsmith named Filippo Brunelleschi appeared on the scene with enough knowledge and chutzpah to do the deed.  As an applicant in a contest sponsored by Florence's reigning powers, Brunelleschi promised to build not one but two domes, one nested inside the other, without elaborate and expensive scaffolding. He refused to explain how he’d achieve this miracle, fearing that a competitor would steal his ideas.  After a lot of negotiation over several years, the contest went to Brunelleschi and he began to build.  On March 25, 1436, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pope Eugenius IV and an assembly of cardinals and bishops consecrated the finished cathedral, to the tolling of bells and cheering of proud Florentines.  

OK...that is your history lesson for this day.  Now, we'll offer you some pictures with not a lot of explanation.

After climbing the dome, we went across the street for a visit to the Baptistery.

And after a quiet time inside, we found our way down the winding streets of Florence to the Medici Chapel.

  Where we found, among many things the crest of the Medici's worked in marble in the floor.

In the chapel there are two sarcophagi commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, future Pope Clement VII.  He asked Michelangelo to carve memorials for the mauseoleum honoring several family members.  As Michelangelo worked the marble on one of the figures, a crack developed.  Because he was perhaps the finest sculptor in history, Michelangelo was able to work with the crack by contorting the figure's arm.  You can see the crack in the upper left of this figure's left arm.

Next, we visited the Laurentian library, yet another Medici building, for which Michelangelo designed the stairs.  They are magnifient to see.

  The library is a long hallway with these book stalls lining either side, an aisle down the middle.  On the end of each bench is a heading that describes the kinds of books found here (Science, Mathematics, Philosophy, etc.) and then a list of the actual books to be found in that section.  One could sit and read and study on the benches by the books.

Also in the library there was an exhibition of some of the first published copies of Dant's Divine Comedy.  It was in this city that Dante read his allegorical poem aloud publicly.  Dante was very popular and people flocked to hear him read what was to become modern Italian.

After our library time we had some lunch and a quick walk through the Galileo Galilei Science Museum.  Having just finished reading Galileo's Daughter, I was fascinated to see many of the instruments and experiments Galileo invented and put into common use.

 An intricate model of how everything revolves around the earth--a conept that Galileo Galilei disproved and was almost excommunicated for publishing.

On the way to our last museum visit of the day, we met a street mime who took a shine to Pam...

Finally, we met our guide to the Uffizi Museum, Chistina Mifsud.  Christina came to us recommended by our friend Betty Brockelman Eich.  It seems that some time ago, Christina used to guide New Trier Latin students and their teacher, Linda Knier during summer trips to Italy.  So thanks to Linda and Betty we had a wonderful guided look at some beautiful pieces in the Uffizi.  Christina is a wonderful teacher and after our time with her, I understood more about Renaissance art, thought, mores, and transitions than I ever had...better late than never.  So, I will leave you with one more story

This piece is by Michelangelo.  It is called a tondo, meaning that it is round.  One of the first things we learned is when a sculptor paints, he also sculpts.  Mary's arms show a sculptor's attention to musculature and definition. This piece was done on commission for a wealthy merchant.  The agreed-upon cost was 40 ducats.  When the piece was done, Michelangelo sent the piece over to the patron.  The buyer looked at it and told his servant to take 30 ducats to Michelangelo for the painting.  Michelangelo was angry and told the servant to tell his master the price of the painting was now 50 ducats payable immediately.  The merchant sent his servant back with the original agreed upon price of 40 ducats.  Michelangelo, now incensed, sent the servant back with the message that the cost of the tondo was now 80 ducats and if the merchant didn't pay, Michelangelo was coming immediately to relclaim the painting.  The merchant paid.  This Doni Tondo as it is called is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive.

Last stop of the evening was the Mercado Centrale.  This is a lively, jumpin' place where any kind of food or beverage one can think of can be had.  We shopped for our food, got our chianti, pulled up at an empty table and let the good times roll all around us.  Irreverent, fun, and a great way to spend our last evening in Florence.

  Ciao and Good Night.  BB & P

Crushed

Pam and I came home in a driving rain tonight.  We were gone from our room from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and had a wonderful day.  It was my intention to catch up on our activities from yesterday and then add a bit about our day today.  It is now 11:30 p.m. and for whatever reason, I just lost the entire blog I was working on.  It is too late to do more or start over completely, so I'm going to do a quick run down on our activities and call it a night.

Tuesday

Visited with David at the Accademia.  Then off to the Convent of San Marco to see murals painted by one of the monks, Fra Angelico.  The murals were his gift to God and truly to fellow inhabitants of the convent and posterity.  Here too we learned something about Girolamo Savonarola, the fundamentalist monk who engineered the Bonfire of the Vanities.  During a time when the Medicis were driven from Florence, Savonarola preached hellfire, damnation, and the sins of accruing money, artwork, books, and "things."  The bonfire in the plaza in front of San Marco was fueled as residents threw many books, pieces of art, possessions and accrued wealth into the flames.  Many artists were swept up in Sanonarola's rhetoric, including Sandro Botticelli who threw some of his own artwork onto the conflagration.

Two of Fra Angelico's murals and Savonarola's desk  

Bargello Sculpture Museum

Some of the most talented sculpters and representative works are shown here.  One can only stand in awe and wonder.  

   Donatelo's John the Baptist and his bronze David

A very different hero than Michelangelo's David

A linden wood crucifix carved by Michelangelo when he was thought to be about 15 years old.

A visit to Palazzo Strozzi--where we were lucky enough to see a special show called, Divine Beauty from Van Gogh to Chagall and Fontana.  The exhibition explores the relationship between art and religion from the mid 19th to 20th centuries.

 Edvard Munch...Madonna

The angel who came to tell Mary she was with child

   A model in clay for a sculpture of Christ walking on water.

It's time for bed now, and I must go before I lose this thing again.  I'll catch up on today's activities (which started with a climb of 463 stairs to the top of Brunelleschi's dome...amazing) when we are at our new digs tomorrow.  Ciao.  BB n P