Photos - As Requested and with Gusto

A lot has happened since we've last written and even more since we've uploaded pictures.  It's been a bit of a challenge for us to will ourselves to take pictures as we're moving through the events, but we're managing.  Since arriving in Florence, we have traveled through the city, to Empoli and Pistoia, to outer-Florence and today, to Bologna.  We are tired.  This post may lack some of our usual pizzaz (that's sarcasm, folks).  Emily adds, "this may be due to the lack of wine before writing" although Ethan knows not of which she speaks.

We'll start by putting up the photos and commenting there.  For those of you with an inexplicable interest in us, we may also add some non-photographed adventures as well.

Way back when we were in Paris, we shared one of the best foods the French have to offer for a lunch in our apartment.  The French have mastered the manipulation of the potato here into wonderful mashed goodness.  Also, they make available rotisserie chickens that are just about perfect.  So, along side some fizzy water and some fruit, we enjoyed this lunch immensely.

Skipping ahead, we arrived in Milan and so like all travelers, we made for Grom.  Eventually, we also went to the Duomo.  It is a beautiful square.  There are even nice men who are willing to tie bracelets on your wrist for money.  If you ask nicely, they'll also alleviate the weight of your wallet.  Avoiding such luxury, we enjoyed the square, the fashion and the food of Milan.  I think I wrote in a previous post, we even found superb Neapolitan pizza. Ethan has failed as an Italian, because while partaking in the Milanese tradition of the apertivo, he found he does not like Campari, despite his best efforts to convince himself otherwise.

St. Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan is buried in this church, also named for the saint.  The church is a fine example of Italian romanesque. Emily went there because she has taught this church numerous times.

Met up with a good friend, Yoko, who showed us around Padova.  This is in front of the Donatello statue of Gattamelata (the honeyed cat), a famous general who led the city's army in the 15th Century. Next to us is the church of St. Anthony - a major pilgrimage site.

Orsanmichele - take the 15th century guilds of Florence, a few sculptural niches and some of the greatest artistic talent the world has known.  Put them together for one amazing monument.  Our treat?  We happened upon the building when the upstairs rooms were open, meaning that we got to see the actual sculptures from the niches, not the copies that are on the outside of the building today.

One of our favorite restaurants in Florence - you can tell how much we like you if we tell you the name when requested. Also, Rick Steves has no idea this place exists.  Ethan might have mentioned the other night that we were really happy in Florence and his mood had been directly affected by our dinner here.

Empoli - when we told our Florentine landlord that we were headed to Empoli he responded with more than a little confusion.  “E brutto!” (It is ugly), he exclaimed.  This small tondo is what we came to see – I am not kidding.  Art Historians have their own kind of pilgrimages and this particular one took us to the tiny town of Empoli on one of the hottest days of the year.  The town museum, which is attached to the main church, is so small and so infrequently visited that the woman on duty had to turn on lights and open doors for us so that we could see the sculptures and paintings.  She was charming and wanted to know where we were from, let us in for free, and called after us to shut the door when we were finished with the galleries upstairs.  To put the museum and the experience in perspective, it is like a town the size of Crozet or perhaps Warrenton having several works by both major and minor figures of the 15^th century in a 6 room museum.  It gave Emily some small idea of the richness of Renaissance culture, even outside of major centers like Florence.  Also – if you ever find yourself (improbably) in Empoli over lunch, head for the local grocery.  You can buy sandwiches made to order with fresh-sliced meats and cheeses (mmmm mortadella) for about 1.5 euros a piece.  That, my friends, is a steal.

St. Andrea in Pistoia – later the same day as Empoli. (Side note – love the Italian trains!) Another Art Historical pilgrimage to a tiny church with one of the best marble pulpits completed in the 13^th century.  Now, some of you are yawning at this point….so I will tell you about Pistoia.  It is a gorgeous medieval town and has decided to give local middle school students something to do in the summer – they give free tours at the cultural sites in town in all languages.  Just look for the friendly girls in the red tee-shirts and tell them “English.”

As mentioned, Pistoia is a small town.  Still, like we have Starbucks, they have churches.  And of course, they’re all done up in multi-colored marble.  This gem was San Giovanni, the first of the many we passed navigating the medieval streets.  Fortunately, the locals were all kind and helped us right our often wayward path responding kindly,“Niente” – it’s nothing to our thanks.

Any town of size is going to have a Duomo. Empoli did not but Pistoia, which used to be much bigger, did (below). They also had a detached Baptistery. It may look a little familiar and in between the welcomed rain drops, it provided alternately some shade and some shelter.

It seems many of our favorite Florentine restaurants fall on the other side of the Arno. This has been fine as it has resulted in lovely evening strolls back across the bridges. This particular evening we visited Al Trenvai (it’s okay to tell you since Time Out already mentions it). Emily enjoyed zucchini carpaccio and tortelaccio (big tortellini) while Ethan satisfied his requirement for ribolita followed by fried rabbit and scrumptious fried zucchini. In the US, we may make some killer fried Twinkies, but why not more fried zucchini? Come on kids, eat your greens! We followed up our dinner with panna cotta. All in all, a great dinner followed by a nice walk. It was so good, we even skipped Grom that night.

 Last night, this was the view as we ate Grom.  Jealous?   You should be.  Brunelleschi’s dome never seemed so sweet.  Florence is coming to an end, but this memory was so good, we even remembered to photograph it for you.  When are you booking your trip?

 Okay, enough for now.  We’ve done some other great things, like a dinner party with new friends on the edge of the Florentine hills, visited three churches and the Academia in one day and sampled the goods at San Lorenzo market, but we don’t have pictures of those, just memories.  They’re pretty spectacular.  Now, as is always our pleasure, we’re off to find some dinner.  We are looking forward to hearing from you!

  

From Florence with Love

Today was great despite more frustrating internet problems.  It was so great that I'm just now getting around to telling you.  We had a wonderful morning, afternoon, evening, and now - we just need to have wonderful dreams from today.

Thanks to all the folks who sent kind words about our travels - your wishes for us came true today and hopefully will keep coming true.  Know that we miss home and friends and family, but today, things were were just nice.

Emily or I will fill in the details tomorrow - and yes, there may even be pictures.

Firenze or Florence

We've safely arrived in our wonderful flat in Florence.  It feels very 15th century.  We even have laundry although unfortunately, one of my shirts has fallen of the drying line and into a forlorn courtyard.  Hopefully, I'll get it back tomorrow.

On the train ride in, I finished reading The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie, which was strangely not as appropriate as I guess it should have been.  Still, it was nice timing.  We had dinner in tonight.  It was melon and prosciutto and pasta with pesto sauce and I had a fair bit wine, which may explain the writing, along with the Rushdie.  It was a generous meal served up for a bargain by my wonderful wife.  Now, all I have to do is wash dishes.

Anyhow, it is wonderful to be back in Florence or Firenze.  This city doesn't change drastically.  I'm one of the people who has no claim to the city but comes here anyway.  All of the wandering travelers feel like they are a bit in my way but then, it is like looking in a mirror.  Of course, I've come for the food, the art, and the views and I'm not sure why some of the others do.  There is certainly fashion here and culture.  I think traveling in Italy always feels a bit like it has been mucked up somewhat by the progression of time.  I want to go back to the Renaissance when Florence was a jewel of the world and not an antique.  I could do without the wars, the plagues and the antisemitism, though - I'm glad we're a little past some of it here.  But enough snobbery.  I think that the strangeness of how others feel and act towards this city only enhances the joy when I feel that I've found a little piece of my own imagined Italy.  When we stumble across the authentic family restaurant or know  (as much as anyone does) what a piece of art means or why it was made.  But I can share the views of the Duomo, the Arno and the San Lorenzo market (inside more than on the street).  I have no choice and every once in a while a person who sees it with the same light shows you a better angle and makes it all the better.

This is why you should not write blog posts after your wife tells you she does not like the wine and you feel obliged to get your 6 Euros worth from the bottle all by yourself.  Forgive me.  We are exceedingly well, a little sick for home, missing our Wally and friends and family, but happy and enjoying our journey.  There are moments where I understand nothing about why I've come and the things I see and moments where the reason for the sometimes uncomfortable, stretch of travel is a sparkling, translucent and beautiful thing.

We saw many beautiful things today but took no pictures.  I am sorry.

Last Night in Milan

This is the point in the trip where I don't think I'm doing as good of a job keeping the blog up to date as I probably could be.  My excuse?  We've been going and doing or working or reading or eating, which is why we came.  So, I can't say I'm sorry, but I know that at least a small number of folks back home want to know what we're up to and that we are safe.  For the latter part, I can assure we are and have been.

Since my last long post, we left Paris.  The night before we left was the solstice.  I have to say I just cannot party like a Parisian.  My prohibition against excessive public drunkenness and urination just keep be a bit gauche (not cool, but I think literally, left).  Still, that evening we'd had a lovely dinner in a truly authentic Parisian cafe and strolled down by the Eiffel Tower in what proved to be a great send-off.  Sorry, we forgot the camera.  Which I'm sure was a relief to the drunkards that evening, if they had any shame at all.  Also that evening, we encountered a strike which caused the metro to overflow as people were unable to board the regional trains as normal.  I still haven't fully understood the Paris Metro but what I do know is that the people seem to take it as a community challenge to see how many can fit into the cars, which were laid out by someone who clearly had never actually traveled on the Metro.  Me and the Paris Metro?  Not good friends.  I'd love to go back to Paris and try again.  Next time we go, we'll make sure to stay somewhere chic, eat lots of pain au chocolat, hire a driver, rent the Louvre to ourselves for the day and hit the fromagerie when it is open.  Oh, and more crepes and fallafel.  I really did have a good time, but it was a city of extreme highs and lows for me.

On to Milan.  Milan has exceeded my expectations.  I thought it was going to be super expensive and stodgy. While we had some travel issues getting here, and had to secure internet via Vodaphone, we soon discovered that Milan was unique, beautiful, and even welcoming.  Their Metro is easy to navigate, there is excellent (and reasonably priced - nothing is cheap in Europe) food, and even some lovely churches.  We've been to the Duomo, which every city has, and this one is quite impressive.  We also went to the Brera museum which was nice, if not a little strange and Castello Sforza.  Emily will correct my spelling when she tells her harrowing and ultimately happily-ending story of getting to the Michelangelo they have.  Oh, and Milan has Grom.  And Milan has a Neapolitan pizza place that, I don't know how else to say, rocked my shorts.  I'd come back to Milan in a heartbeat.

What's more, today we went to Padova.  It was a two hour or so train ride through the foothills of the Alps.  In some spots it was breathtaking.  Padova is a bigger city than I realized and seams to stretch out.  We visited for the brief 15 minute stay in the Arena Chapel aka Screvigni Chapel.  It has a Giotto fresco series that was way too much to take in during the time allotted.  We'll have to go back.  It is amazing.  And Giotto, if you aren't aware, was a really mysterious and fascinating guy, without whom the Italian Renaissance of painting would have been completely different.  Disclaimer, this is my opinion, and does not necessarily reflect those experts with whom I'm traveling.  Also in Padova are some very nice Donatello sculptures and the tomb of St. Anthony.  Padova was also a city where there is a stark reminder that Italy was a major site of WWII.  It made us both want to learn more about Italy's role as they're always the third country mentioned in the Axis.  One chapel we visited was completely rebuilt and crucial works were all but lost.  While this is just art, and history, it is a reminder of the lives that people lost from that war whether they survived or not.  Also, Padova has Grom, too!

Tomorrow, barring the strike and computer failure of the regional train services, we're on to Florence.  It feels almost like a homecoming and, no exaggeration, a majority of the Emily's peers are currently there.  It should be excellent to revisit the city that was my introduction to La Dolce Vita (yes, it isn't Rome, but it is still coming up).   We'll check in from there tomorrow to let you know we've settled in.

Also, we've been taking fewer and fewer pictures.  It is a funny thing to take pictures once we're in the thick of it.  We've seen so many tourists behaving like nimnulls to get photographs, it just makes the process sort of a turn-off.  We'll keep trying, but only if it doesn't spoil our memories as we're making them.

Allora! In Milan!

Just updating that we are in Milan after another exhausting journey that began way too early in the morning.  We spent the first day wondering, getting a bit lost, but seeing the center of Milan.  This morning, we've already seen Leonardo's Last Supper.  I'm currently working, having restored my access to the web and Emily is off studying art.  We're both safe, if not, again a bit tired.  We'll replenish and I'm sure provide a bit more color to our trip.  This will have to include our feelings about Paris, which, unfortunately were not left on the best note.  Still, it's a bright future ahead, and we're well.  More to come! By the way, I've disappointed all of Lombardi by not liking Campari.

Photo Dump 2!

High Tea in London...yum.  Ethan set up the reservation as a treat for me. 

 Ethan and Bruges Zot beer - its a beautiful thing.

Ethan and more Belgian beer....

 Just up the street from the apartment in Paris - Sacre Coeur.

 Tell me Ethan doesn't look Parisian here.  I mean, all we are missing is the beret.

 Notre Dame.

 Public Park, Paris - Ping Pong Tables!

L'As du Fallafel and an Orangina.  Life is good!

Longs Walks and Long Stairs

One of the benefits of living in the Montmarte area is that we have lots of nearby restaurants and bakeries.  One of the downsides is that we have lots and lots of stairs to climb to get to them.  It's not that bad, but yesterday, I had to dig a little deeper.

We started our our day by heading down to the Louvre.  We visited the galleries and saw so many works that are of a sort as to be the focus of a lesser collection.  It seems that there is no prohibition of photography of any kind in the museum.  The result is that you can pose with the Mona Lisa, The Venus Di Milo, Michelangelo's Dying Slaves, or whatever else you would like.  So, people generally elbow their way up to the works, turn their back on it, strike a pose, pause to throw another elbow in the back of the unworthy traveler there to see the priceless treasures of humanity, and have their picture before they venture off for their next photograph.  Hence, I have no pictures of myself with art or in the Louvre and I generally think photography should be banned and those who persist in taking these idiotic photos drug out in the street, and before they are shot, they should have their elbows filed completely off.  Despite this, we enjoyed the Louvre and had a very nice time.  Emily was, as usual an excellent tour guide.

About half way through the day, we ducked out for lunch.  The city of Paris gained a few points back from its deficit due to wretched signs, transport that defies logic and late opening tourist shops.  In a public park near the Louvre, where Emily found us lovely sandwiches, the city provides public ping-pong tables.  I advise that on this point alone, America take note.

After the Louvre, we trekked down the Champs-Élysées, which is only 1.5 miles, but felt like quite a bit more through the beautiful, but soft and muddy Tuileries Garden and then played dodge-em people through the retail district.  There were some lovely views and we stood in front of the Arc de Triomphe as yet another shower moved in over Paris.  Kudos to the Paris Metro (do I have to?) for having a stop right there that took us home for some much needed R&R before dinner, up the hill.

More wonderful views to be had on top of Montmartre before heading back home to collapse into bed.

Today we have another exciting day to meet up with friends, get great food, see great things... oh la la!  Look at the time!  I'll check in tomorrow.

Oh but before I go. We're both enjoying Paris - but would have loved to be with our Dads today.  Happy Father's Day to our Dad's who brought us up right, even though we abandoned them for Paris. We'll be home to celebrate you soon.