Arrivederci, Firenze

Today we hop on the Eurostar Alta Velocita and travel to Napoli. From there the suburban Circumvesuviana train takes us to Sorrento for our next-to-last stop in Italy. We plan on taking the bus to Positano and Amalfi tomorrow, then stopping at Pompeii on the way back to Rome on Monday.

We'll miss Firenze...there is tons of history here, and there are so many things we didn't have time to see. But we ate well, walked and saw a lot, and really enjoyed our time. There probably won't be any posts from us until we're back in Rome.

Day trip to Siena

We made the choice to skip the Accademia and Michelangelo's David in favor of taking the hour-long bus trip to Siena. I don't regret it one bit, because I really enjoyed Siena (despite the withering heat). The city centers around by Il Campo, the great square dominated by the medieval city hall with its notable tower.

First thing we did was walk past the square and down a little further to the Duomo (not to be confused with a church of the same name in Firenze). It has a similar style, but has unique horizontal stripes of green marble, kind of like a zebra effect. Once again we were disappointed to see the actual dome itself covered in--you guessed it--scaffolding and protective sheeting. The rest of the exterior and interior is stunning, though. The vaults are painted blue with gold stars, and several scenes are carved into the marble floor along the sides of the nave. One of the rose windows is missing, having been moved recently to the adjacent Duomo Museum. Make sure not to miss the library, hidden through a tiny door on the left of the nave. Several illuminated texts are displayed under a wonderfully elaborate vaulted ceiling.

After a quick lunch of tasty sandwiches and a cold Fanta, I convinced Leanna to try scaling the tall tower on the main city building at Il Campo. It's called La Torre Mangina and it takes an enervating climb of 400 steps to get to the bell tower on top. It wasn't as bad as I feared, and they only let 25 people up there at a time. The breeze was surprisingly refreshing that high up. We got some great shots of the old city wall, the town, and the fields of Tuscany outside of town. I recommend the climb if you can manage it. There is a spigot at the bottom of the climb with much needed cold water.

We just got back an hour or so ago. The ride home was among the more harrowing bus rides I've ever had--the bus company saw fit to put a rookie driver at the controls (with an experienced driver showing him the ropes, I admit). This kid almost parked the bus in the trunk of several Fiats at highway speed along the way, careened around some of the tight curves of the motorway without heeding the signs warning him to SLOW DOWN, and struggled throughout to keep the bus in a specific lane. Leanna of course zonked out, and I envied her, because I sat there white-knuckled entertaining visions of the bus plunging off a curve and somersaulting down the hills. And that was before we got to busy Firenze with its roundabouts, maniacal motorcyclists, illegally parked vehicles, and cramped streets. Oh well, we survived.

The shopping outweighs the soccer!

Yes, Joel is in seventh heaven being able to be in Europe during the Euro Cup 2008, I on the otherhand am thoroughly enjoying the markets and great shopping that Florence has to offer. (And the museums too!) Today I found a leather handbag that I couldn't live without and Joel was kind enough to let me get it! In some ways, the markets remind me of Itaewon in Korea, but no one is hounding you to buy anything, so that is a nice change. We try to bargain, and make them feel sorry for us that the dollar is weak, but that has not brought us any luck.... oh, well, we try. =)
Tomorrow we are heading on a day trip to Siena. I am excited to see this Medieval town and everyone who we've talked to says it is a trip well worth taking. In that case, I best get my rest since we are leaving early in the morning on the bus.
Ciao! Ciao!

Deutschland uber Alles

Last night we cooled off after dinner by watching the first Euro 2008 semifinal between Germany and Turkey. I treated myself to a giant bottle of.....erm, Heineken from the corner shop down the way. Much to my surprise the Turks started off on the front foot while ze Germans were sleepwalking through the first 20 minutes.

Germany survived one scare when the erstwhile Sheffield United waster Colin Kazim-Richards, now restyled Kazim Kazim (having chosen to play for Turkey through his dual citizenship) took a nice cutback from the byline first time and thundered it off the bar. A couple of minutes later Turkey worked a nice throw-in and again Kazim Kazim popped up to hook the ball acrobatically over the creaking Jens Lehmann (age 146), onto the bar, and down to the predatory (!) defender Ugur Boral, who comically miskicked straight at Lehmann--who succeeded only in falling over the ball and fumbling it into the net. Germany 0 Turkey 1. The Germans awoke and equalized soon after when a low driven Podolski cross from the left was neatly deflected by Schweinsteiger. Germany 1 Turkey 1.

The most entertaining stretches of the 2nd half were duly missed by everyone in Italy (and I presume elsewhere) thanks to a satellite foul-up in Vienna. Or so we were told. Instead we were treated to the spectacle of the talking heads on Rai Uno fidgeting embarrassedly as they sat there while everyone listened to the radio feed filling in for the lost video.

Reputedly Miroslav Klose headed in for 2-1 with about 15 minutes left, then Turkey equalized in dramatic fashion in the 86th minute (this I DID get to see a replay of). Sabri (I think?) made a mug of the hapless Philipp Lahm out by the touchline, turning him with a move that 10 year olds don't even fall for. He got to the byline and crossed low for Semih to nip in and poke past the statuesque Lehmann, who once again looked badly short of international quality.

Undeterred, Lahm made amends in the 90th minute, just when extra time looked certain. A delightful one-two put him in alone on Rustu with the Turkish defenders looking vaguely confused and appealing for offside. He scored adeptly into the top near corner to make it Germany 3 Turkey 2, whereupon the video once again fritzed out and we missed the final whistle and celebrations. Except for the broadcast interruptions, a very entertaining semifinal, infinitely better than the goalless borefest between Spain and Italy that sent our current host nation packing on penalties a few nights ago.

Today we visit the Uffizi

Yesterday we had a whirlwind afternoon in Firenze. Setting out from the hotel we had a couple hours before a couple of the major churches closed (lots of things close around 5 here). We hustled down to the Duomo and got to enjoy its expansive, shaded, cool interior. The dome is magnificent. From there we headed southeast to Santa Croce. Unfortunately the piazza in front was cluttered with bleachers from some event that must have just occurred, which hindered good picture taking. But we got in saw the tombs of Dante Alighieri, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo. Maybe it's kind of like the Italian version of Westminster Abbey. Before grabbing a hearty dinner and some gelato we zipped past the Palazzo Vecchio, outside which is a giant marker on the piazza indicating where Savanarola was burned at the stake in 1498. Mmm, crispy.

Joel's Occasional Cultural Notes:

Summer must be the construction/restoration season in Italy. Almost every major sight has been obscured to some degree by scaffolding as it gets worked on. Kind of a bummer.

Top tip: Never remain stationary for longer than about 30 seconds. You will be emblazoned with graffiti. The amount of graffiti in this country is staggering. I can't imagine the Bronx, LA, or Philly coming anywhere close.

Is it Firenze, or Hell?

No, I expect the city to be wonderful. But it was 97 degrees when we arrived at Firenze SMN station about 30 minutes ago.

We just spent 1 night in charming little Lucca, which is a small town enclosed by a medieval wall with bastions and everything. Can't wait to show everyone pictures of it. Last night we rented bikes and rode around the perimeter atop the wall (it's tree-lined, for which we apparently have Napoloeon's widow to thank) and then dined outdoors on a quiet little piazza and enjoyed the regional specialty tordelli, which is extremely good ravioli. I mistook the green inside for pesto, but we were assured it was meat of some sort. Fantastic meal, and I may or may not have gone slightly turbo on the red wine.

Tomorrow we have reservations at the Uffizi, and Friday reservations at La Accademia to see David. This afternoon, if I can motivate Leanna enough, we'll head out and explore. We have free internet at our wonderful hotel, so expect some email replies and further blog posts.

Ah, the Cinque Terre

The brutally hot train ride (with 4 changes) was worth it--this place is HIGHLY recommended. A tiny town set in steep hills overlooking a picturesque harbor. Leanna and I took a swim in the Mediterranean as soon as we got situated in our room (which is up several flights of punishing stairs). Right now we are approaching 20 minutes gone in the big Spain v Italy quarterfinal at Euro 2008. Every single restaurant is crammed with people watching. We got some gelato and watched the sun set over the hills. Tomorrow we're going to hike the trail and see some of the nearby towns.

Joel's Handy Italy Tips
A couple things to pass along on the general travel front...

If you ever travel in Italy via the Eurostar, cheap out and get 2nd class tickets. They are cheaper and in a bizarre twist, I think we actually had more legroom compared to the 1st class seats of a couple days ago. Go figure.

Take water EVERYWHERE.

Plan on encountering functioning ATMs about as often as blue-striped unicorns. Man this is driving me bonkers. I know the Italian economy is in a general malaise, but come on, at least let me get some cash.

We have arrived at the amazing Vernazza!!!!

WOW! What a place! Just the views from our room are breathtaking. We left Venice around 8 am this morning and took 4 different trains until we could arrive in our final destination of the Cinque Terra Region.
Strangely enough, at our train stop in Piza, I looked up and recognized our neighbors, The Barr's, from when my parents and I lived in South Korea - what a SMALL world! I hadn't seen them for 10 years and now thier kids (who were also with them) were so grown up.... to think I babysat for them, what seems like just a short time ago, and now they are in high school and college! Yikes! I feel old. ..... anyways, Joel and I are doing well. After surviving the hottest and longest train ride EVAR! I think we will really enjoy our stay here in this beautiful region. As we were walking down to the beach once we arrived, Joel turned to me and said, "I can already tell that I want to come back here again someday." So far, no complaints, it has just been enjoyable to take it all in and try to savor it for a lifetime. Ciao!