The Leaning Tower

I woke up around 8:30 (that's sleeping in for me!) and went through all of my Venice images and prepared the text to go along with them for posting. One of the girls took the initiative to go through the kitchen and living area to clean up after the other's messes--so I decided to go to my room and straighten up as well. Around 10:30 AM I got the news that some of the roommates were going to Pisa for the afternoon and I decided to tag along with them. Unfortunately, waiting for four girls to get ready took a lot more time than expected and stopping for a bite to eat during peak time put us even more behind schedule, so we didn't leave the Santa Maria train station until 2 PM!


The train ride was only €5 and lasted for a little over an hour. Once we arrived we discovered that another house from our FSU group had decided to make the trip as well as take the same train that we did. Having them along gave us a much larger group and an unintentional free bus ride to the Tower and Basilica complex. We got off at a stop that looked promising and luckily it lead directly to the grounds!


Upon entering we were overwhelmed by the amount of tourist carts and street hagglers, waaaaaay more in Pisa then can be found in Firenze. Immediately we took out our cameras and began taking quirky snapshots with the tower. Here's one of me and some of my roommates (I have 6 total):


We walked the grounds and admired how pristine everything was. The baptistry out front is one of the few round baptistries in existence (most are octagonal). We didn't go inside any of the buildings except for the crypt, as the tourist fees were outrageous. The grass out front was roped off because it is known as "The Field of Miracles" not only for the Tower that still manages to stand, but also for the fact that bodies interred within its soil (supposedly) decompose to bone in only 3 days.





Here are some highlights from the crypt:





As you can tell from the photos it was kind of a dreary day, however the rain we received was mostly sprinkles and not detrimental to the experience. We would have seen much more rain had we stayed in Florence for the day, and this was the first rainy day we had received since the trip began.


Everyday a new surprise! When I woke up this morning I had no idea that I would be visiting THE premier Italian monument! I wonder what tomorrow holds...

Ahh... Venice!

We woke up early (had leftover pizza for breakfast) and ventured west toward the train station, passing some pleasant parks and famous landmarks along the way, including Brunelleschi's "Ospedale" or orphanage. After a bit of searching we found the Santa Maria Novella Train Station and although we thought that we had left early we arrived right on time! We stood at our meeting place (in front of a McDonalds) for awhile before we boarded the train. I'm not sure that I've ever rode a train before (maybe I have and just don't remember) unless you count the mini train at Disney World : ). It was extremely comfortable and we were grateful for it since it was a 3 hour ride to Venice. Along the way, we enjoyed the countryside, peering at the villages and contemplating the rolling mountains.

There was excitement in the cabins when we crossed over water and could see buildings emerging from the mist. We had arrived in that fabled city! After exiting the train station we walked out to the water and admired the buildings and boats, after snapping some pictures our private vaporetta had arrived to ferry us to St. Mark's Square. We battled hoards of tourists to make it to the line for entrance into St. Marks Bascillica and admired all of the architecture.









We were unable to take photos within the bascillica but once inside we were treated to a remarkable view. The church was built in the 11th century (upon the foundations of another which had burned down) and it believed to house the final resting place of St. Mark. Its other claim to fame is its 43,000 square feet of mosaic constructed of gold, precious stones and metal that blanket every square centimeter of the walls and ceiling. Once inside we were also able to see the Pomodori, an altarpiece completely designed with gold and every known precious mineral or otherwise ornamenting its surface. It was absolutely mind boggling!

We journeyed upstairs to view the church's other riches--a set of four large ancient horses that are the world's only existing example of Greek sculpture in the round. They had been pilfered by Napoleon and were returned to Italy where they were placed on top of the basilica, until acid rain proved to be a serious detriment to their existance and they were moved inside. The attention to naturalism was amazing, and I would have to say that viewing them was my favorite part of the entire trip!

We were able to walk out onto the balcony to have a view over St. Marks Square where tourists mingled with mutant pigeons. We could also view close-up copies of the horses that stand in the place where the originals once had. It was a lovely view over the square and also a closer view of the tower across the way.



We walked a far and winding distance through the city, over some canals and by some very high class fashion shops. When we were thoroughly lost our guides let us free to find some lunch. I had some sort of prosciutto and mozzarella wrap followed by another taste of gelatto! We enjoyed our treats while sitting on the steps of a church overlooking the Grand Canal. After our lunch we were supposed to decide which one of the museums we were going to attend and meet there. One of my roommates and I decided that we hadn't spent enough time in Venice (and wouldn't if we visited either of the museums) so we spent the afternoon wandering the streets and shops and taking pictures of various sites.















Some shop highlights:





Bonus: The Leaning Tower of Venice!



Toward five we headed back to meet our group at the Ponte' Accademia, but not without stopping to split a Kebab at a delicious smelling shop. As it turns out, a Kebab in Italy is not a Kebab in the American sense--it's a gyro!

We left just in time to miss the storm and rain that was rolling in--but it was extremely windy and enough to toss the waters in the Grand Canal and give us a bumpy vaporretta ride back to the train station. We boarded the train and shared stories from the trip until we pulled into Firenze. Then, exhausted from the adventures of the day, we walked home and soon fell asleep in our cozy beds.

Quest for Pizza, Featuring the Ponte Vecchio

I wrote earlier on Thursday to tell you about my first museum expedition in Florence, just a week after arriving. After leaving the Student Center (where I was doing the updating) I went back to the apartment and met up with Katie to scope out the €5 pizza place called "Gusto Pizza" on the opposite side of the Arno. At first we weren't sure about going since we live well north of the main portion of the city, but we decided that authentic (and cheap!) pizza was well worth it.

We walked through the city center past the Duomo, Casa Alegheri and Piazza della Signoria and walked along the Arno until we got to the Ponte Vecchio. The bridge we needed to cross was the next one over, but we strolled the Ponte Vecchio (architected by Giorgio Vasari) since we hadn't yet had the pleasure of walking it. Back when it was first created, it was home to shops of butchers and bakers (and candlestick-makers) who would throw all of their waste into the Arno. When the Medicis grew weary of the mess (especially because of the proximity of these shop owners to the governmental offices [Uffizi] and the Palazzo Vecchio) they evicted these owners and put in their place 41 goldsmiths and jewelers, all of whom continue to operate shops on the bridge to this day! It was not yet dark and about half of these shops were still open when we walked by, but I didn't take pictures until later that evening, when all had closed up shop (much in the same way that they would have in the 15th century!), and many of the lights of the city had come on.





Back to Pizza! We didn't know the exact location of the shop but we stumbled upon quite quickly. We were invited in and ordered two Margherita Pizzas (molto bene!). Our order number was cinquantacinque. While we waited a gentleman from the establishment walked by with a large bowl of fried and salted bread and offered us some, it was extremely tasty--very much like popcorn! I watched as they made our pizzas and took video of them putting the pies into a large brick oven, tuscan style! Here are some pictures of the establishment and a video of the oven:

Sidenote: Not exactly sure what was going on tonight, but there were fireworks going off by the Duomo. I wish I could have gotten to see them, but I have to get to bed slighlty early this evening because we are going to Venice tomorrow (expect lots of pictures!) and we have to trek to the far west side of the city to meet everyone who's going at the train station. When we arrive we have a choice of going to the Accademia of Venice or to the Peggy Guggenheim collection.

I don't know which one I want to go to yet--the Accademia has Leonardo's "Vetruvian Man" and a few famous works by Giorgione, but I don't know if I can pass up Picassos, Pollocks and Kandinskys. I'm not a huge fan of contemporary art, but it would be nice to see some if I'm going to be stuck in the 13th to 17th centuries here in Florence... not that that is a bad thing! I'll blog about it to let you know which one I ended up going to.

P.P.S. I'm booked a trip to Capri and Pompeii at the end of the month! I couldn't pass up seeing Pompeii knowing that I am soooo close (the other incentive was hearing that there were only 10 seats left). Now I just have to find a swimsuit... not for Pompeii, for Capri! : )

Food Glorious Food

I've been meaning to write more about my exploits with food, I will try to be better from here on out because the food is awesome and, yes, at times even pretty! (Note to self: bring camera to meals and take pictures of food, glorious food!) So here for starters is what comprised my lunch at the Loggia Delgi Albizi, one of our student meal ticket restaurants. Today I had a slice of spinach and riccotta something-or-another, it was very much like a large quiche (and went a little all out) with a piece of dolchette (cake). The Loggia Delgi Albizi's pastries are the best! As indulging as decadent as this chocolate monster appears in the photo, it was actually quite light and not rich at all. It was two layers of chocolate cake frosted with custard, with a topping of mini chocolate chips and cocoa. This is actually the first chocolate-anything that I have bought since I've been in Florence, and that's what made it to die for when I saw it behind the glass! Yum!

And if the meal portions from here on out look small, its because they truly are, and honestly I have never left an establishment feeling hungry for more. I'm always satisfied and with all the walking from one end of the city to the other, its an excellent diet. Lunches for me have typically been sandwiches and in the evenings I've picked up either pasta or pizza or even nothing at all (as we typically eat late, around 3pm). When I grocery shopped at STANDA (a mini grocery store... and when I say mini I mean teeny-tiny) I made it out of there with 2 bags of grocery items for only €16 and often times end up snacking on them in the morning and evening instead of having full meals.

I have yet to pick up a bottle of wine anywhere yet though, mainly because I have no idea what's good (besides looking at the price)! At home in Tally I prefered the reds, but here when I've been at the shops the whites have been much more to my liking!