Category Archives: Italy July 2012 Alex

 July 4 2012

Well what happens when you take a 19 year old, fluent Italian speaker (after two days of internet Italian lessons) to Musei Vaticani.

Train trip to Roma all pretty uneventful. I met some really lovely people from Hong Kong (Alex and I ended up in totally different carriages because I forgot my glasses when choosing our train seats) so I struck up a conversation about the great Michelin restaurant in Mong Kok where you get the best char sui bao for a few dollars. He had just retired as head of the police academy in Hong Kong and his wife was lovely. We exchanged email addresses and Alex is totally convinced that I will now have my identity stolen. I highly doubt it as I heard all about his time in the police force but Alex is convinced that it was a highly complex identity stealing plot. Too much Don Corleone yesterday.

Arrived at Musei Vaticani. In the doors – huge Roman basin. Italian speaking museum expert Al … What the .. Hey that is cool .. Sort of like a medieval 12 person spa. And it didn’t stop there. Hey that would make a pretty good dining table (priceless early Italian bench)

He shows you how bad you have done on his religious education. Hey mum do you reckon the Pope goes out to restaurants? I wonder whether he has ever been to Maccas? Do you think he walks around in this place after dark? How come do you reckon they don’t take up the floor (in St Peter’s Basilica) so you can see the dead popes underneath? I am not being gross but it would be pretty cool to see where they are buried. Surely they are in coffins aren’t they? Hey how come Peter got buried here? (hot mother replies) Alex because he was the first pope.  But how do they know it is the real Peter? (exasperated mother replies) Because they found something down there that said Peter was buried there. (Alex) but how do they know it is that Peter? I know heaps of Peters – Peter Stubbs, Peter Brock .. Overheated mother under her breathe – Well perhaps Peter Stubbs can be buried in the bloody Vatican when he dies with all the other Peters.

 Anyway he was driving me nuts so I sent him to climb the Capolla of St Peters while I attempted to stay cool – Italian mass is really good – you get to sit down in cool Basilica and don’t understand any of it.

 To the Piazza Di Spagna, the Fontaine Di Trevi – yes we did throw coins so we are destined to return and then to the Colosseu. I think the one in Verona is far more beautiful with opera music. Every time I visit the colosseum I feel slightly nauseas at the thought of what went on there – Not helped by Italian speaking son who thought gladiator headgear at cheap souvenir shop was pretty cool.

 The trip back to the station was once again colourful with a school teacher and group of teenage school kids on a school trip singing Viva La Spagna loudly on the escalators to annoy the Italians (after the soccer).

 It is dark outside and we are hurtling toward Firenze. It is a full moon outside and the Tuscan country side is blanketed in darkness but it is rather nice sitting here out of the heat and away from the frenzy that is Roma listening to the wonderful accents around me. I love the expressiveness of the Italians. The disagreements are just so fantastic. Nothing like sulking here – Just a damn good screaming match with copious hand gestures – seems quite civilised.

The Colloseu

Alex at the Trevi

July 3 2012

Sitting in the beautiful town of San Gimignano and had today’s classic comment from Al.  Hey I feel like that Corleone mafia dude hiding out in Tuscany.

Well I am not an organised tour sort of girl.  Would much prefer to hire a car and drive dangerously and frenetically on the wrong side of the road hitting every curb. But the heat must be getting to me because we did the Taste of Tuscany tour (recommended by Kaye Knight before we left – thanks Kaye) and it was fantastic.

Left early from Santa Maria Novella Firenze station  (I have to keep writing that – Don’t you love the name? Much better than Florence railway station).  Headed toward Sienna and heard that we were visiting Sienna on a very special day. Our guide was a Polish girl who was an expert in Italian renaissance art.  She is studying for a PhD in London for half the year and doing field work as part of her research and working as a tour guide for the other half. She was totally fantastic.

We had a great introduction to Sienna and the totally made Palio. Alex knew about it but I didn’t. All quite nuts.  Sienna is a beautiful and very steep city that is divided into districts. Every person that is born in Sienna belongs to a district and even if you move you are still part of the district in which you were born. I am a bit rusty on why the Virgin Mary and horse racing are linked but the special day we were visiting was the day of the Palio.

The Roman road of the market square is covered in sand and all the buildings covered in mattresses ready for a frenetic couple of minutes of horse racing. The mattresses are to offer some protection for horses and jockeys hitting stone buildings as they speed around the square. 50000 people crowd into the piazza waving the flags of each district in 45c heat and ten horses with bare back jockeys representing ten districts race madly around the square.

But first the horses are taken to church (of course) for a blessing. It would be too logical to bless the horses outside. Yep they are taken to each church in each district and blessed at the altar. A ton of shiny horse flesh being led over precious mosaic floors to be blessed.  It doesn’t matter (words from tour guide) if the jockey breaks a leg, arm, neck or dies. It is all about the horse.  Even if the horse has no rider, if it crosses the line first it wins. They all take it very seriously and the prize is so eagerly sought -A banner of the Virgin Mary to hang in your village (yes jockeys and horses die for this!!). It was a great spectacle though and felt like we were in medieval times, with banners, trumpets and century old costumes.

On to an organic farm in the Tuscan hills for a wine tasting and lunch. Breathtaking scenery. Yep just like Under The Tuscan Sun. Hills, olive trees, orange groves and terracotta farmhouses.  Alex thought he was some mafia don and I kept thinking of Hannibal … Hmmm the chianti … Just wonderful

Great bruschetta, pasta, cheese and never ending wine. The biscotti with Tuscan desert wine was especially good.

To the wonderful hill town of San Gimignano. Yes I will defiantly return. It was breathtakingly gorgeous up on a hill with Tuscany at its feet. Great shops and of course we stuffed our mouths full of (apparently) Italy’s best gelato.  San Gimignano is a small town with beautiful buildings, somewhat quieter than where we have been and I could have easily stayed for a month.

On to Pisa for the obligatory cheesy photos with the leaning tower. Pisa is so much older than the rest of Italy and it is amazing that it used to be a major sea port but with water level changes the sea is now 10 km away. Very old buildings and a really lovely centre of the city (away from the Field of Miracles that houses the cathedral and leaning tower). It reminded me a lot of the Seine in Paris, with buildings on each side, but so much older. It is now a large university town, with 50000 of the towns 100000 population students.

Back to Firenze and more pizza and pasta. Alex has eaten a large Tuscan pizza every day. For me the vice is gelato and limone granita. Too damn hot to eat but I reckon I am consuming 10000 calories a day of gelato.  I am kidding myself that the kgs are melting off in the heat

San Gimignano

Alex Cheesy Pisa

July 2 2012

Whilst I would like to think I was Miss Lucy Honeychurch (if you have no idea what I am on about you obviously haven’t read Forster or seen the wonderful Merchant Ivory film ..it is on my shelf at home if you haven’t seen it ),  I think I am probably much more likely to be one of the old Miss Allans. My travelling companion “George” now thinks he will learn Italian overnight and has been practicing constantly. It is driving me totally crazy. He practiced half the night using an internet site. Of course he is convinced he will be an expert in one day.

Arrived in beautiful Firenze after a damn hot train ride (air-conditioning not working on the Eurostar). I know the constant mention of weather must drive everyone crazy but day after day of more than 40 Celsius is really wearing thin.

I have stayed at the really comfortable Hotel Casci before and was welcomed like a long lost relative. Paolo and his mother run a fantastic small Italian hotel. If you want a big hotel experience you shouldn’t stay here.  If you like a much more traditional Italian experience then Hotel Casci is great. The world’s tiniest lift to the second floor, and then a busy reception with smiling Paolo. The rooms are basic but really comfortable. It is like staying in a friend’s house. We have a room with two beds, an open study, dressing space and quite a large bathroom with a bath and shower.  We have breakfast in a very traditional dining room and we enjoy typical Italian food. Cereal, pastries and the usual bread, cheese and fruit. I have taken to drinking cappuccinos because the smell is so fantastic.

Out into the streets of Firenze to sigh and ahh over the Ponte Vecchio and the wonderful piazzas. Our hotel is only a few minutes from the spectacular white, green and pink Duoma so couldn’t be more central.

 We visited the Uffizi, and of course the Botticelli works were our favourite. I have seen the Birth of Venus before but it still caused me to sigh.

 The trusty Trip Advisor helped us find a great restaurant near Piazza San Paulo; Ristorante Accademia and we probably had the best meal we have had since being away. We ate so much. The mushroom and parmesan strudel and bruschetta that we shared were fantastic. The sun is so damn hot but oh such good tomatoes. Al had pasta with spicy sausage and went redder and redder. I felt slightly pleased that he got to experience serious hot flushes. The ravioli with black truffle was splendiferous and made me think of pigs fossicking for truffles and shady truffle deals aka Peter Mayle’s Year in Provence. Different country, but I heard about the pigs searching out truffles here today so I like to think that my truffles were found by a wonderful old Italian man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and his pig.

 We wandered miles to a large grassed area that the waiter told us about to watch the Italy Spagna soccer game on a big screen. It was very colourful. By the time that we got there it was pretty clear that Spagna would win so the Italians just drank, smoked and partied. No laws here about drinking in the street and no one has heard about lung cancer.

 Mel told me she is enjoying the classic lines from Al – well today’s was a crack up. In the Uffizi.   Hey mum do you have a spare sharp kitchen knife that I can borrow?  What for says a hot and bothered mama.  So I can take up whittling.  Al what an earth are you on about now? Al – Are you trying to stifle my artistic streak? I am feeling very inspired by Michelangelo. 

Dinner in Florence

The Duomo Florence

Piazza in Florence

Al and ‘Santa’ at the Uffizi

June 29 2012

Flew to Milano Italy late Wednesday. Arrived quite late but an easy walk to the lovely, small and very Italian Hotel King. Milano is of course very glamorous. Classic comment from Al – ‘I reckon all of the girls here are so good looking because they are all models’ – there must be millions of models in Milano because they are all so stylish. Arrived at the conference yesterday morning to register. Not far from the hotel (short walk) which is just terrific cause it is so damn hot!

The conference is being held at the Universita Cattolica and it is just amazing. The University is built around large courtyards – all green grass, brass sculptures surrounded by the cloisters – weather beaten marble columns, ancient brick and terracotta – of course they didn’t have air-conditioning hundreds of years ago so only down side is how hot it is.

The conference didn’t start until last night so Alex and I decided to visit Juliet in the absolutely wonderful town/city of Verona. What a place! We caught the train and wandered the streets. Wonderful coloured and shuttered buildings, cobbled stone streets and of course Juliet’s balcony – hundreds of people leaving letters to Juliet – it was truly wonderful and photos don’t do it justice. Oh just the most wonderful city. The arena (colosseum) was a real surprise. Much more intact than the one in Roma and a much more pleasant re-creation as an opera house. The opera was on last evening so we sat and listened as we ate dinner beside the arena.

Our train trip back to Milano was quite eventful – a large group of teenage boys boarded the train and the noise was unbelievable. I was a little worried because they were screaming and jumping so much the whole train was shaking. We finally realised that they were watching the soccer on mobile phones. When Italy scored the second point I thought the train was going to be derailed – the screaming and jumping shook the whole train and it was happening in every carriage!

We arrived back into Milano into total pandemonium. The street was full of screaming people waving Italian flags and cars were blaring horns. Hatchback cars were coming past with their backs open with piles of people hanging out the backs draped in Italian flags. There were people in boots of cars, sitting riding outside windows in cars and the motor bikes were blaring – oh grand final day in Australia is so damn boring! As we walked to the hotel they were playing soccer amongst the frenetic Italian traffic with motor bikes, blaring horns and screaming Italians laughing and crying – I think we will need to stay inside on Sunday when Italy plays Spain. When we go back to the hotel even the concierge was partying. The funny thing was that the police were joining in. I couldn’t quite imagine the constabulary in Australian being quite so tolerant – but oh Soccer and Italy is another story.

I presented today and it all went really well. We are now back in the hotel. It is 6.10pm and still so hot outside. Alex is snoring beside me and I am laying down in the air conditioned comfort watching CNN Egypt coverage of the president elect. We will move soon and look for more pasta (too damn hot for wine) and limone granita.

The Duomo in Milano is pretty amazing and the piazza just so glamorous – beautiful buildings full of so beautiful people. We will wander down and find a place to eat. Millions of cafes outside. Only thing that gets to you is the thousands of smoking Italians. No smoking in restaurants definitely hasn’t reached Italy!

Of course when in Italy …

Milano style albeit un-ironed