May 6 : Siena

We were going to have to accomplish a lot this day, as we needed to do laundry and discover the city. Sleeping in until 9:30 did not contribute to the cause, but it definitely contributed to the needed rest our bodies needed. 

Eventually we were on our way into the city, armed with a full bag of laundry. As we arrived at Piazza Gramsci we noticed a huge market on Viale Cesare Maccari, the road leading to our first stop, Piazza de la Liberta in the Fortezza Medicea. I had read that Siena has a Wednesday market and since it was a Wednesday Market, and since it was Wednesday it all made sense. After strolling through that we walked around the perimeter of the fortress which offered stunning views of both Siena and Tuscany. By looking at our city map we identified the sites we wanted to visit, so we strategically headed towards the Basilica di S. Dominico. On the map it looked like a rather gook looking building but from up close it was rather ugly. Conor and I had alternate views - he found the building charming because it made a statement without trying too hard - I thought it did not try enough. We visited a few Basilicas while in Siena and it was remarkable how stark the difference they are from every other one we have seen.

The Siena Basilicas were huge - wooded roofed virtually empty buildings - not quite my style. Perched above the rest of the city is the Duomo. As we approached it, it was obvious that it used the same color scheme as the Florence Duomo. We bought tickets for 10 Euros that gave us access to the Duomo, crypt, "Museo dell Opera" and the baptistry. 

The Duomo was fascinating. It was a little eerie because there were tombs of several "Brothers" in the church. We then went to the museum - we skimmed through the art collection (neither of us are incredibly interested in that) and made our way to the roof for a panoramic view of Siena and its Tuscan environment. I was starved by that point but we first had to maximize our ticket by visiting the crypt and Baptistry. We made our way to the laundry mat, started a wash and then found lunch. I have realized that I become quite unpleasant and irritable when I am hungry. I was much more pleasant after lunch and thanked Conor for his patience. We hung out at the laundry place while our laundry finished up (We didn't want any Italian hooligan making off with our stuff). Since Siena is surrounded by a wall, there are only 8 gated entrances. We walked to a main entrance, Porta Tuffi and then double backed towards Il Campo. By this time we had walked a huge portion of the city but weren't done yet. We headed towards Basilica di S. Francesco as it looked like one of the bigger ones. Just like the first Basilica we visited, it was rather (in my opinion) lacking esthetic value. I don't know if Siena was built quickly as the rivalry with Florence increased, but the buildings seem (the Basilicas) they were built to occupy space and be huge spaces all strategically placed adjacent to the city wall. Their height leads me to believe that they must have been used as defence tactics. We then headed down to another opening in the wall, Porta Olive. Our stomachs were reminding us of their need to be fed so we headed back up the hill. 

Instead of wandering the streets of Siena all night we remembered that our campground had a restaurant, so we left Siena for the last time, bound for the campsite. Dinner was rather exceptional and priced to made our budget happy. All the walking we are doing is being rewarded with beer and pizza, 2 things you can't go wrong with (and can always find). 

We had to pack up our stuff, obviously drink another bottle of wine, and go to bed. We head to Rome early tomorrow morning and need to leave our little cabin by 6:30.

Siena was a great little city full of picturesque buildings and surrounded by stunning Tuscan landscape. We could not have asked for better weather (it was once again beautiful and sunny). Siena is another city that is being added to out list of recommended places to visit.

P.S. I love you Conor.

May 5 : Florence & Siena

As it was our last day in Florence, we needed to accomplish anything we had not done... before 1 p.m. We headed straight for the Duomo, as we had not been inside yet. As we were standing in line we noticed a sign that stated no shorts allowed... We were both wearing shorts. We left that line and walked around a little bit more. As we were heading back towards the Fortezza Da Basso, a big fortress Conor wanted to check out, we were walking by the Duomo. Right beside the Basilica is Giotto's Bell Tower, 414 stairs to the top. For 6 Euros we were able to experience the view of Florence, in shorts, and include the Duomo in them. Speechless is the word to describe the sights. No words can fully describe the sea of tiled roofs that flood the city. We then headed towards the fortress, that turned out to be banned to tourists. 

We hopped on a train bound for Siena at noon and had to transfer in Empori. We arrived in Siena at 1:30. Our directions that the hostel sent us told us that had to head up to the city (it is surrounded by a wall) to catch a bus to the camp ground. With our packs and a grumpy Conor in tow we made our way up to Piazza Gramsci...

Once we caught the bus and realized that it basically retraced our steps back down the hill and to the train station, I had to deal with an even grumpier Conor. Oh well, now we knew where to catch the bus! The driver was kind enough to let us know when to get off the bus. We were literally staying on a campground. There were RVs parked everywhere and little cabins dotted the premises. We were given the key to cabin 13, a cute very tiny two bed shack. We had out own bathroom and fridge - it was one of the nicest places we had stayed - mainly because of the screens on the windows. It was all we needed to rest our heads on at night. Although it was a little far from the city, it was really cool to be surrounded by trees and rolling Tuscan hills with villas. We figured that we should probably head into town for the sole purpose of finding an internet café to search for a place to stay in Rome. We took the bus back and wandered around a bit. We ended up in front of Il Campo, the big bell tower in Siena. We passed a laundry mat and made a mental note of it as Conor was running low on clean underwear...

We eventually found an internet place and successfully booked a hostel, Les Artistes, which is suppose to be close to the train station. After letting our parents know we were alive we headed back to the bus stop. We stopped and had really good pasta before heading back to our little cabin, the bus ride was about 20 minutes.

Since we were able to chill the sparkling wine in our fridge, Conor and I devulged that and basically passed out... Who knew being a tourist would be so tiring!?

May 4 : San Gimignano

This was the day trip we had signed up for with our hostel, 'The Grape Escape'. Since we weren't going to be able to visit any museums, discovering the Tuscan region was a good alternative. We all met at 9:30 at the reception and headed for our bus. We took an hour long ride winding through Tuscan hills and vineyards and learned about the Chianti "Black rooster" and other small facts about the region. We arrived first at the first wine and olive oil tasting, Tenuta Torciano. It was a really cool, out-of-a-movie setting. We tasted 4 wines and 2 olive oils. We then headed to Pietraserena Winery where we were shown how the wine is made and were given a glass of their white wine. 

As a group we ate lunch in the owners garden surrounded by Tuscan hills and olive trees. At lunch we were served two more bottles of wine (per table) - red and rose. Conor was drawn to the wine store and emerged carrying their white sparkling and Merlot, both have to consumed before the end of our trip...

We boarded the bus again and headed towards San Gimignano, a romanti fortified town that sits atop a Tuscan hill. We were given an hour and a half to look around so we headed first to a torture museum. After a lovely twenty minutes we emerged happier that we grew up in the twentieth century. We walked a little and found the highest FREE tower to climb that still offered exceptional views of Tuscany. It is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL region. It is easy to see how it inspired so much art and culture. We ate some "World Champion" gelato (seriously), took some photos of Piazza della Cisterna and headed back to the bus to head back to Florence.

The day was exceptional and could not have gone better. It was a sunny day and was a definite highlight of the trip so far.

When we arrived in Florence we changed and headed out for dinner. Conor was told about a restaurant "Trattoria 4 Leoni" by someone who bought wine from him in Halifax. Determined we went looking for it. We made a pit-stop along the way to buy reactine for Conor and anti-itch for me, as I had been literally devoured in Venice. Dinner was fantastic as we shared the typical Tuscan dish, Biftecca - a 1.2kg T-bone steak... Fantastic. It is however served rare and I am pretty sure the heart was still beating...

After dinner we took a walk along the Arno and took some stunning photos. We were tempted to go to Piazzale Michaelangelo to climb the tower, but decided against it. Instead we walked through Piazza della Signoria and experienced a Florentine music performer before heading back to our hostel. We booked our stay in Siena and were headed to "Camping Siena Colleverde" the next day. It is safe to say we both thoroughly enjoyed PLUS Florence and would recommend it to anyone.

 

May 3 : Florence

We arrived in Florence at 1:30 and immediately headed for our hostel. As usual, it took us a little time to find our bearings, but as soon as we did we were well on our way. We shortly arrived at our hostel - PLUS Florence. With red carpet leading to the door, we were immediately optimistic. We checked-in and were approached by the PLUS Port staff - a company that arranges tours for the backpackers. We arrived on a Sunday so Monday was going to be our museum day. The PLUS Port guys informed us that all museums are CLOSED on Mondays for cleaning. They swayed us to then go on their organized trip 'The Grape Escape'. So we signed up. He headed up to our room to put our thing down. 

The "David".

Since our one day we had in Florence was not going to turn out the way we had hoped, we had to se some things on the day we arrived. Of all the museums in Florence Conor and I wanted to visit, the Accademia Gallery held top priority. After all, it does house David. The reputation of long lines in Florence had us a bit skeptical but we headed there anyways. The building itself gives nothing away, and the only indication of its resident is a small discolored plaque on the wall. If anything it looks more like a centre for troubled youth because of the graffiti and writing on the walls, a definite contrasts of the art pieces inside. The museum starts by introducing you to paintings, instruments and sculptures. Then, as you turn a corner, you become captivated by this massive sculpture that is David. As there are no cameras allowed we could not take pictures, but the images will remain etched in our memories. It is outstanding that such a sculpture has been granted such attention and survived so much abuse. (I forgot to mention that we walked right in with no line. We also had to go through a metal detector). Every person is captivated with the sculpture, some are jotting down notes while others just stare. It was memorizing. 

Afterwards we walked towards the Duomo and were captivated by that as well. It dominates the square and demands a sense if importance. From there we moved on towards the 'Fiume Arno' - It should be called the 'Dirty River' - to see the collection of bridges. We emerged at the Ponte alla Carraia and immediately searched for the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge with shops and look alike apartments. Decades ago the bridge was occupied by butchers, but since the Medici family crossed the bridge from the Palazzo Pitti to the Palazzo Vecchio they complained about the smell. They quickly had them converted to jeweler shops. We mingled on the bridge for some time and then went to dinner to a little restaurant 'Pino's'. After dinner we ate some famed gelate - waited 1/2 and hour to make sure Conor would make it (severe nut allergy) - and headed back to the hostel. We took a detour and passed by the Duomo (you can't see it too many times) and passed the old "S.S. Annunziata Basilica". Our night was ended with a game of Crazy 8's - we are really good at that now.

Our Grape Escape tour is tomorrow. 

May 2 : Venice

We woke up and looked out the train window to see Italian countryside going by. We had breakfast given to us and arrived in Venice at 8:30a.m. The train ride went by quickly, as we slept for the majority of it. Our sleeps were good, I made Conor take the upper bunk in our cabin, at least he had a railing to keep him from rolling off. 

As we were arriving in Venice, we rode from the mainland onto the island of Venice, driving over a bridge that connects the two. Our plan was to purchase our tickets for the next day to Florence so we would have that already done. Our tickets came to 76 Euros with seat reservations. We had booked beds at a hostel, so after some wandering we finally found our hostel, Absolut Venice. It was reviewed as an awesome and social place to stay in a key location. The location was a definite plus as it was down the street from the train station. We rand the doorbell and were greeted by someone we expected would also check us in. We headed up the stairs - The hostel was on the top floor of the building. We sat at the reception and waited for a staff member for half an hour. It was already approaching 9:30 a.m. and with only one day in Venice, we didn't want to waste anymore time. We asked some of the other hostellers where the guy was and they had no idea. They were still waiting for breakfast. We made a collective decision that this place was not going to do it for us, and we did not want to waste anymore time. The train station had a hotel reservation desk, so we headed there and found a last minute room for 75 Euros just down the street, called San Geremia. 

After we settled that, it was time to see Venice. The train station is right on the Grande Canal so we waited in line for some 'Vaporetto' tickets (Water buses). A 24 hour ticket cost 18 Euros, so we were able to use it to its full potential. We immediately jumped on the #2 and conveniently grabbed seats at the front. We were brought down the Grande Canal for a bit and then along the Canal di Fusina. The skyline of Piazza San Marco teased us the whole (45 minute) trip. I still can't say what was more fascinating - my surroundings of the look on Conor's face as he was trying to absorb his environment. We got off the vaporetto and headed to San Marco (With the rest of the world). Conor was immediately drawn to the Campanile, the huge bell tower that dominates the sky in San Marco. Looking around, it was evident that waiting in line was going to be common, so we stood in the one for the Campanile first. It proved to be well worth it as the views from the top offered a 360 degree view of Venice - an unexplainable beautiful city. Blue water winds through the city and acts as the roads. Waterways are the way to travel - We even saw a water policeboat, ambulance and fire 'truck-boat'. I never saw a car - there would be no where to drive them. There are random beautiful bridges that allow pedestrians to wind their way through the streets. Anyways, I digress. 

Back to to our adventure - We stopped at a café for lunch and had pasta. I don't know if it was the spirit of being in Italy, but Conor claimed it was the BEST past EVER. Since we were still in front of San Marco, we had to see the Basilica di San Marco, regardless of how long we would have to wait. To our surprise, there was hardly a line - compared to that morning. Although it clearly states not to touch anything, Conor needs to touch things. In this case, a small alarm went off - thus only encouraging him to see how many alarms he could set off. After acting like the Paparazzi we left the Basilica and headed on a walk towards the Rialto Bridge. It would be difficult to imagine more people in Venice. Since we travelled in May, there are not too many tourists, but of course the one who are there all went to see the same sites. We fought out way up the bridge and took some mediocre pictures before leaving the crowds. We headed back to our hotel to have some showers and change for dinner. 

We toyed with the idea of taking a gondola ride. We convinced ourselves that it probably wasn't worth it. However, the thoughts were still in the back of our minds. That evening we were winding through the canals on a gondola - we had to! How could we leave Venice and not take a ride! Our guy was great - we named him Alessandro. He told us that in November the gondolas cannot operate because the water levels rise - causing the gondolas to be unable to fit underneath most bridges. When our romantic-Heineken-ride finished we asked Alex where the best pizza in town was. He pointed us to "Casa Mia' - on a side street near Campo dei SS Apostoli. A guaranteed the piazza was fantastic. Complimented by a bottle of wine, our night could not have been better. We returned to the hotel via vaporetto underneath a warm Venetian sky.

The next morning we woke up early so we could return to the Rialto Bridge to take some better pictures. We took some 'frame-able' shots and headed back to pack and head to the train station. Every souvenir place was selling painted masks and we found out that it was because Venice was the first place that hosted the Carnivale - so of course I picked up 2 ceramic masks.

We are on the train now heading to Florence. We have booked a hostel and have high hopes that this one will be more successful than last. We did not get seats together on the train, but we made vows never to complain - We are after all heading to Florence as one of our Italian adventure stops.

May 1.

Our journey begins with a "luxury" overnight train ride from Vienna to Venice. We booked a  private 'sleeper car' (or Schlafwagon) and we were greeted with a little cabin-esque car with fold-out bunk-beds, a sink and closet. Everything we needed - plus the addition of the going awaz present I received from my co-workers. As Conor is brushing up on his Venice tourist points, I made the decision to use this book as the new version of my blog. 

For the next 12 days we are going to be dis-connected from the world, so I will resort to the 'old fashion' way of communicating. We arrive in Venice tomorrow morning for a full day of tourism. 

Neglect

This is well overdue but I am going to use the mayhem of the last few weeks as my excuse. Since I last wrote an entry, Conor and I have traveled from Venice all the way down Italy to Sorrento, we went to Tremblant for a quick visit and I am now back in Halifax for the summer. Pretty hectic.

Although I was unable to make updates online while in Italy, I did keep a detailed journal (So detailed that Conor was not allowed to contribute because I have a method). I am going to copy what I wrote, with some modifications as I have now had the opportunity to reflect on our adventure. I will do it in installments, every city will have its own entry, so the entries are not too long.

I have really liked keeping a blog, and I really hope to continue. I will start a new one for everyday thoughts and little adventures, I will put the link up once I have my life back in order. I am overwhelmed with catching up in class (I missed 2 weeks of school while in Italy) and searching for my next co-op for September.

Anyways, enjoy Italy!