Rainy Days in Venice / Siesta in Lugano

DAY 1:

So we had to wake up pretty early Sunday morning to catch our train from Florence to Venice, the city on the sea! The train ride was PACKED! Joe had to fight for space for our luggage and make sure no one was sitting in our seats.  As we traveled North, the rain started to pick up.

We made it to Venice in one piece and had to hop on the vaporetto (water bus) to our hotel.  We made it to our hotel which use to be a part of a palace of the 17th Century.  We dropped our stuff and headed over to the Accademia.  It was filled with all the Venetian Renaissance artwork from medeval to the 19th Century. 

After the museum, we headed over to San Marco's Square.  Its the most popular area for tourists and its filled with many historical caffés and trattorias. 

Even though it was raining, we still had to the one traditional thing Venice is known for: Gondola Ride.  It was kinda expensive, but it was well worth, and hey, its Venice you have go Big.  We went through different canal and on to the Grand Canal to see the famous Rialto Bridge.  It was a great ride and our Gondolier was very entertaining.

DAY 2:

We started our day back in San Marco's Square for our tour of the Doge's (Duke) Palace! The duke was the over seer of the city state before it became apart of the kindom of Italy.  Our tour was special because it included the Secret Passages throughout the Palace including secret political chambers, mezzanine floors and a torture room. 

Also we saw Cassanova's Prison cell, which was on like 5 ft. 2 inches high. Cassanova however was actually 6-5!  The tour guide also described to us his possible escape route with the help of an inprisoned preist, however this story was solely based on his memoirs.

From the Palace we walked over to the Basilica of San Marco. Sorry pictures were not allowed again. All and we mean ALL of the Ceilings were of Mosiac Style Gold Images of the Bibile.  This meant gold sqaures about with 1/4 inch sides were plastered to the roof of the multiple domes in this building.  It was crazy!

Later we got a long boat ride over to the island of Murano!  It is most famous for its glass and glass blowing techniques.  We got to visit the museum and picked up a few pieces from the local merchants.  It was a worth while experience. 

Later we made it to our last dining experience in Venice.  We ate at Trattoria di Giorgio.  It was canal side in a quiet area.  The food was very good and it put a nice ending on our Venice excurision.

OFF TO SWITZERLAND:

So another early train took us to Lugano. We had a short stop in Milan but we will be there tomorrow.  We met with Paloma, Camille's cousin.  She showed around the city and we stopped to have gelato in the local park.  The pictures speak themselves.  We just took this day for leisure and relaxation. With only 1 day left we needed one day to take in all of what we had experience.

Firenze Frenzy

Today we explored the Renaissance City, Firenze or Florence in English. Our day started bright and early…this time we actually set 3 alarms to make sure but none the less, by 8:00 a.m. we were out on the streets. Our hotel is near a lot of luxury stores including Burberry, Tiffany and Co., Gucci, and Prada. After a few minutes of window shopping we made our way to our first destination, Galleria Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery). Here we came across the evolving style of medieval to renaissance style art. The BIGGEST works at the Gallery was the Birth of Venus and Primavera. Unfortunately NO PHOTOS were allowed in the museum, this was the general trend of many of our destinations but we do have some photos of today.

Leaving the Uffizi we went toward the Arno River and visited the Science Museum. All the early explorations of astronomy, biology, chemistry, and engineering was housed here. We saw early globes, maps, compasses’ and even some of Galileo’s experiments of motions. Toward the end of the room of Galileo was also his FINGER! It was pretty much a skeletal bone but it was just weird to see on displayed. Joe was about to take a picture of it when a museum worker informed us that taking pictures weren’t allowed in the room. It was still a very interesting museum to see.

After leaving the Science Museum we made our way to the Bargello. It was originally the police house but was eventually converted into a museum with numerous statues, decorative china and paintings. Some of the highlights included the Statue of Jason, John the Baptist, and Donatello’s first and most famous Statue of David. BUT don’t confuse this David with the Michelangelo’s David, located in the Accademia. Once we finished the Bargello we grabbed lunch at this busy restaurant called the Yellow Bar. It had retro advertisements from the 20s and 30s and the atmosphere was very fun.

After wrapping up lunch, it was time to conquer the DUOMO! A gothic looking cathedral decorated with pink, green and white marble. Its huge dome is what made it famous. We took to the challenge to climb the 463 STEPS to the top. It was a cramped space not built for anyone over 6’ 4”. Joe struggled to not hit his head on the overhead stairs. Luckily there were some flat points in the climb and the one that was the most beneficial was when we walked the outlining of the outside of the dome. The pictures will show you the details of how descriptive they were about heaven and hell. Some the images are pretty intense.

Once we made it to the top the view was unforgettable. We could see all the places we visited, our hotel and the shopping area we were going to explore.

The San Lorenzo Marketplace was like the ultimate swap meet. Leather goods, cashmere scarves, silk ties, Venetian Carnival masks, decorative plates, wine, cheese, you name it. The way it worked was they would advertise on the street and take you back into their stores to look at the rest of the collection. It was pretty crazy to take on and a lot of haggling going on. The prices could be beat. It was overwhelming but worth it.

After doing some browsing, we made our way over to the Accademia. Here we got to the see Michelangelo’s famous David statue. It was 14 Feet Tall amazing. But just like you assumed, NO PICTURES. They were literally deleting photos off of other people’s cameras. It was a really cool to see in person. Along with the statue, we saw some unfinished scriptures by Michelangelo called the prisoners. It gave us a chance to understand how they made these amazing statues out of solid rectangular prisms of marble.

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for our last night here. Joe wanted to try a more family style restaurant and the hotel helped us pick one out. “Zio GiGi” or Uncle Joe Joe in English. They had a wide selection of wine and made this Tuscan special dish: Bistecca (a 500g about .5lb T-Bone steak seared on the outside and rare in the middle). The chef actually cut the steak a little larger and made it a 600g steak. It was huge! The food was great and we stopped in a little caffé called Gilli. It had a food bar, chocolates, hard candies, dessert, etc. It was open back when the Medici Family was still in Power (1733). We pick up these rose shaped candy that taste like the smell of roses. It was crazy. It was an tiring day but we got to see so much!

Two Days- Last Day in Rome and Arrival in Florence

Sorry for the delay internet was crazy and we were sleepy :)

Thursday

Last day in Rome was super hot!  We spent the day in Ancient Rome visiting the Coliseum, Forum, Palatine & Capital Hills and the Pantheon.  It was a lot to conquer.  I’m sure exactly what the temperature (probably high 80s) but the sun cooked us.  Not to mention all the walking and hills. 

The Coliseum was absolutely amazing especially since we had the Roma Pass and got to skip the ridiculous line (reminded me of FastPass at Disneyland).  Once inside the coliseum we pulled out our Rick Steves audiotour guide and wandered around.  Wasn’t ridiculously crowded like the Vatican the day before, but the heat was tough.  Every five minutes we sought shelter under the huge archways.  There was a cool exhibit on the upper level that displayed gladiator weapons and armor. Joe was very excited. 

After the Coliseum we hiked up to Palatine hill and the Roman Forum, which sit side-by-side.  Aside from the hot dust storms, we had a great time exploring the ruins of Augustus’’ palace, the tracks of the chariot races and what’s left of the great Forum and surrounding buildings.  We hopped on an English speaking tour to learn more about the sight.  

After a quick lunch at a random bar (in Italy a bar is like fast food restaurant) we made our way down to Capital Hill and the Pantheon.  These two sites are a must see for anyone visiting Rome.  Atop Capital Hill is the enormous Victor Emanuel monument that towers over the city.   The Pantheon however, was by far the most impressive.  The pictures come nowhere near representing how this building will make you feel.  Inside are the tombs of Rafael, Victor Emanuel and his son Umberto.  Right as we entered a choir was singing in the center and with the acoustics of the dome it was beautiful.  

Exhausted from the sun, we passed out for a few hours in the hotel and then resurfaced for a late dinner at an Irish Pub.  With surprisingly delicious pizza we hung out till late at night.  I went to bed, but Joe slept lightly so he could reawake for the Lakers game.  I woke up after hearing that the Lakers won and had some trouble going back to sleep. 

_______

Friday

A warning to everyone… if you set your alarm double, no triple check.  Long story short we missed our train this morning because our cell phones keep resetting the time zone.  But no worries we caught the first one out and still got to Florence in time.  Now we’re super paranoid about alarm clocks, lol. 

Florence beats Rome any day.  Not only is it a lot smaller, but quieter and welcoming.  We wandered around during the afternoon throughout the narrow streets.  Our hotel, Albergo Alessandra, is right by all stores and boutiques and the open-air market is up the street.  There were so many purses, leather jackets and other goodies we could barely keep ourselves calm.  We’re coming back tomorrow for a shopping spree since the prices were amazing.  

Our dinner was an adventure.  Instead of going to a restaurant, we took a cooking class! We prepared the following four courses and they were delicioso!!

Antipasto: Round zucchini stuffed with ground beef, crumbled bread, parsley and topped with tomato sauce

Primo piatto: Gnocchi with freshly diced tomatoes basil

Secondo piatto: Chicken cacciatore with a red wine, tomato and onion sauce

Dolci: Panna cotta with strawberry sauce

We will begin taking requests to prepare the meal when we return to the states, lol.

Preparing for another busy day tomorrow,

Camille and Joe

Big Day!

First “real day” in Rome, yesterday was all travel and little exploring. Started off with an adorable breakfast in our hotel with tons of croissants (yes they’re French but delicious). Next off to the Vatican, which was journey in and of itself. We had to take the metro for the first time, which ended up being easier than expected and easily found our tour group. As the Pope drove by in his Pope Mobile (minus the bulletproof glass) we struggled to chase the car and get a good picture lol.

After viewing the introduction of the papal audience, we embarked on a four-hour tour of the Vatican museum, Sistine chapel and St. Peters. Our tour guide was very informative, but I won’t bore you all with the history that we learned today. It was amazing to see the paintings and sculptures studied in art and Italian classes. Speaking of which, I’ve barely been able to use Italian. Everyone speaks English! I tried speaking Italian at various places but its no use. Well, it makes things easier for us.

By mid-afternoon the tour was finished and I mailed my mom a postcard from the Vatican post office. Hopped back on the train and found our way to Piazza del Popolo to begin our “Dolce Vita” stroll. Immediately we were approached by this guy selling flowers. He stuck three in my hand without me noticing and proceeded to talk about God knows what and tie a rainbow string around my hand. And yes he had the nerve to try and charge us, but I didn’t want the stupid flowers or string bracelet. Walking through the famous shopping district (I promise we didn’t splurge, yet), we found the Spanish steps. After attempting to recreate the famous scene from “Roman Holiday”, we power-walked to the Galleria Borghese since I was super paranoid we would miss our reservation. Again we were stopped, and someone tried to tie a string bracelet around both our wrists. Super aggressive.

Made it in time but by this point we were super tired, I swear I was sleep walking. After the museum we wandered the Borghese gardens and found ourselves looking over the Piazza del Popolo, where we’d started earlier. We have no idea how we got there; the city must be built in circles or something. Anyways, we had a beautiful view of the entire city. The Vatican towers over every building.

After a short break at the hotel we ventured to Campo de Fiori for dinner. Dissappointed at the long wait at the restaurant in the square we wandered a little further to Piazza Navona and at dinner in front of the Four Rivers Fountain. Our odd waiter made me get up from the table and walk to the kitchen to see which vegetables were available. Finally full, we almost jogged to the famous Giolitti gelateria to get ice cream before it closed. A few wrong turns later and we made it! Afterwards we ate our ice cream ( I had limoncello and strawberry, Joe ate tiramisu and caramel). It was delicious!!!

Finishing the ice cream we walked past the Pantheon and settled at the Trevi Fountain. Absolutely beautiful. Both of us tossed a coin over our shoulders in order to guarantee that we would return to Rome some day. And that’s when it happened. Getting down on one knee, Joe proposes. I freaked out because I’ve been teasing and joking about it for a while. I didn’t think it was real. I said yes! WE'RE ENGAGED! After calling my parents and close friends (sorry mom I’ll pay the bill, lol), we wandered the streets back to our hotel since the metro was closed. It's all taking a while to settle in...I'm still in shock, but thankfully Joe isn't super tense anymore.

Super awake, can’t fall asleep!

Camille & Joe