Last Night in Venice

We spent our last day in Venice wandering the various streets and back alleys and traversing too many canals to count.  One of the most popular things to do when in Venice, at least for the tourists, is to ride with a gondolier.  Mom turns 76 later this month and for an early birthday present the four kids paid for a gondola ride for her and Pop.  She was very excited and was kind enough to ask us along.  It was a great finish to our time in Venice and a nice way to cap our vacation in Italy.  Ciao!

Mom and Pop's First Selfie

A first for the "techno-savvy" parents -- the selfie.  We're standing on a bridge over the canal in Murano, although you can't really tell where we are.  I guess we'll have to practice more so we can frame the shot better.  :)

Rialto Bridge

A super close up is the best I can do to show
the bridge and not the scaffolding

The Grand Canal traverses through the heart of Venice and there are only four bridges that cross it.  Rialto Bridge is the most famous and most photographed.  Similar to the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the Rialto Bridge is lined with shops on both sides.  Unfortunately for us, the bridge is undergoing renovation.  We've seen a lot of scaffolding while we've been in Italy.  It's good to know that these sites are being preserved, but it makes for horrible pictures.  Perhaps this is a clever ploy to make us come back so we can see it in all its glory.  We're just grateful to be able to be here and experience it, even if I don't have a very good photo.

Murano & Burano

Murano

Today we visited two outlying islands from Venice -- Murano and Burano.  Murano is known for glass making and has multiple glass factories on the island.  When you hear of Venetian glass, you're hearing about Murano.  Burano is known for lace-making and the panoply of pastel colors that cover its buildings.

Cam Furnace -- Glass Factory

Our first stop was Murano.  We took the vaporetto from the stop nearest our hotel for the 40 minute ride to Murano.  The public transit system in Venice is not buses, but boats.  There are no cars in Venice, only boats that traverse the numerous canals that cross the city.  Vaporettos are the public transit boats.  Being that it is Sunday, we weren't sure what we would get to see, but we found the Cam Furnace open and they gave us our own private glass making demonstration.  If it were a weekday, we could have see normal production taking place, but having a personal demonstration was pretty cool.  The master glass maker made a vase and a horse figurine while we watched.  It was amazing to see the speed at which he worked.  As with most of of Venice being dependent upon tourism, Murano is no different and we were then escorted to the show rooms to see all of the glass on display that we could buy.  While we did make a small purchase for a souvenir, it was incredible to see all of the chandeliers and other large glass items that are made in Murano -- and as was pointed out to us -- they can ship it anywhere in the world.

Burano

Murano was a nice first stop, but after seeing the demonstration and strolling the streets for a while, we were ready to move on to Burano.  Another 30 minute vaporetto ride and we were there.  The first thing that struck you as the boat was pulling in was the rainbow of colors covering the buildings.  Burano seemed to be more lively than Murano, with more outdoor cafes and shops open.  We saw several stores that sold everything lace -- from clothing to curtains to other decorative items.  Some of the patterns were quite intricate and delicate.  After a couple of hours of Burano charm, we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta before heading back out.

Our lunch stop -- delicious paninis

Venice & St. Mark's Square

We've arrived in Venice.  Our home for our last three nights is the Hotel Campiello.  The hotel is less than 100 yards from the San Zaccaria stop on the water at the end of the Grand Canal.  We walked right off the boat with our luggage and were in the lobby in about three minutes.

Venice is fairly compact and you can easily walk everywhere you want to go through its maze of alleys and bridges.  The heart of Venice is St. Mark's Square, with the Basilica, Doge's Palace, Correr Museum, and Bell Tower all surrounding the square.  During the day, its one huge mosh pit of people trying to get around.  Fortunately, our hotel is only about a five minute walk to the square so we're right in the heart of Venice but on a quiet back alley away from all the commotion.

Mosaic on the outside of St. Mark's Basilica

We headed out to the square to see the action for ourselves.  First up, we went in and toured St. Mark's Basilica.  This church dates to 1064 and is gilded to the hilt in gold, with colored marble and extensive mosaic murals on the walls and in the floors.  Given the era and location in Italy, there is a significant amount of influence from the Byzantine era.  Given all of the other churches and duomos we've seen since we arrived, the Basilica was smaller than I expected.  The mosaics and gold present throughout were much more extensive and impressive than any of the others we saw.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so unfortunately I have none to share.

Inner Courtyard at the Doge's Palace

After we visited the Basilica, we decided to go ahead and tour the Doge's Palace as it was later in the day and there was no line.  The Doge or duke was the Venetian ruler and the Palace was his home.  Venice was the center of power in the world for four centuries between 1150 and 1550.  In one sense, the Doge was an elected king, chosen by nobles from within their ranks to carry out their laws and decisions.  The Palace was very impressive in how it was laid out and the way the rooms would function to reinforce the sense of power carried out by the Doge -- the same way the Oval Office reinforces the power of the Office of the President.

Because today was a travel day, we didn't know how much sightseeing, if any, we'd get done.  This opens up our schedule quite a bit so we'll be able to soak in a little more Venice.  That shouldn't be a problem.

Arrivaderci Fucecchio

Saying goodbye to our hostess Tiziana

Tuscany has been great, but all good things must come to an end.  Our time in Villa Maura is over and we're off to Venice for the final leg of the trip.  Tiziana has been a great hostess and we loved the slower pace, less crowds, and tranquility of our time in Tuscany.   We're dropping our car off at the Venice Airport, so our route from Fucecchio to Venice takes us past Bologna.  We drove through probably 25 or more tunnels through the mountains with just as many bridges over gorges and rivers to get there.  The Venice that everyone knows and pictures in their minds is an island with lots of canals.  However, the city extends to the mainland and that is where the airport is located.  We'll then take a boat from the airport to our hotel.   That's a first for us.

The Fun is in the Wandering -- not just the Destination

Mona and Vanna with our new memento

One of the fun things about this trip has been the wandering through the side streets and neighborhoods -- finding a neat little store, discovering hidden arches, or seeing a fabulous view.  Such was the case when we stumbled into Vanna Spagnolo's studio in Volterra.  Vanna was alone in her studio working on her next painting when we wandered in and begin looking at her paintings.  We loved how she painted the frame as part of her pictures which gave it a 3-D appearance.  All of her paintings were of the Tuscan countryside and views we've been seeing.  One of the views we frequently saw in our travels we were not expecting  -- fields of sunflowers.  Vineyards and olive groves --yes;  sunflowers -- no.  While she did speak some English, a lot of what she told us was in Italian.  Our Italian is practically non-existent, but we understood one another.  She showed us how the various features of the painting represented wisdom, serenity, security, and tradition.  We probably spent 30 minutes or more in her shop -- just the three of us -- talking about her paintings and deciding which one we'd like to purchase.  We now have a fantastic memento that will remind us of the wonderful time we spent in Tuscany every time we look at it.  This is why we have so much fun wandering.

San Gimignano and Volterra

It's our last day in Tuscany.  We decided to spend part of it visiting two more hill towns towards the southern part of Tuscany -- San Gimignano and Volterra.  San Gimignano is the more accessible of the two and a bit more touristy.  It's closer to Siena and gets more group tour bus traffic.  Volterra is a little larger and seemed more authentic, with more locals and fewer tourists -- at least to our eyes.

Duomo and Medieval Tower
in San Gimignano

Besides its general Tuscan hill town charm, San Gimignano is also known for the 14 medieval towers still standing out of an original 72.  These towers were used to as a refuge and protection from invaders -- families would retreat into the towers and pull up the ladders preventing barbarians from reaching them.  We arrived a little before 10 just as the shops were opening and the Town was beginning to wake up.  We strolled the main drag and every other shop catered to tourists and it was hard to get a feel for how the locals lived.  Not long after the buses began arriving which you could tell by the sudden influx of people.  Visually, San Gimignano is very picturesque and the views of the surrounding countryside are fabulous, but after about an hour or so, we felt like we had seen all we needed to see and decided to move on to Volterra.

Etruscan Arch in Volterra

Volterra is about 30 minutes from San Gimignano.  It was an important Etruscan city its day, pre-dating the Roman empire.  It retains an original Etruscan arch dating to fourth century B.C. that is still used as an entrance through the walls surrounding the town.  Alabaster is prominent in this part of Italy and Volterra has lots of craftsmen and artists.  As we walked its streets, we passed the bank, multiple markets, and other shops that cater to the residents.  I definitely felt more like we were visiting a real, living community as compared to a well-preserved tourist stop.  Volterra was just as picturesque with equally fabulous view of the surrounding countryside.  Unfortunately, the last few days have turned quite hot and hazy so the photos of the countryside don't really do it justice.  I can only imagine what it would look like on a clear day.

Hazy View from San Gimignano

Yes, it's leaning

We finally made it over to Pisa this morning to see its famous bell tower.  Pisa is a university town with lots of students and other sites to see.  However, throngs of tourists come by the busload to Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) to see the Duomo, Baptistry, and the Bell Tower -- the infamous Leaning Tower of Pisa.  I'd like to say we were different and truly explored Pisa and all it has to offer, but we weren't.  We at least toured on our own and were not a part of the thousands of bus tour groups that descended upon the area.

We did tour the Duomo but made no attempt to climb the tower.  Did I mention the throngs of people?  The Tower currently leans at a five degree angle (15 feet off the vertical axis).  When it was built, there was not sufficient foundation for the marshy soil and it began to lean almost from the beginning.  Back in the 1990s, the tower was closed for about a decade as engineers tried to stabilize its lean.  Actually, all of the buildings in the Field of Miracles lean to a certain degree, but because the Bell Tower's lean is so dramatic, everything else seems perfectly straight.

Cooking in Tuscany

We've been enjoying cooking this week instead of eating out.  We've become regulars at the local grocery store -- COOP -- and have (mostly) figured out how you're supposed to do things.  For example, they have disposable plastic gloves that you put on to pick out your produce instead of touching with your bare hands.  Then you take your produce to an electronic scale and print out the price tag using the touch screen provided.  The cashier doesn't do this for you like in the U.S.  You also have to put a coin in the handle of the grocery cart in order to free it from the lock so you can have a cart to use while shopping.  You get the coin back when you put the cart away -- a really smart way to have the customers put carts away instead of leaving them haphazardly in the parking lot.

Mom insisted that we post a picture of our July 4th inspired
meal.  Unfortunately, we had already started eating.

While our meals have been pretty basic, you can't help but be inspired with all of the fresh food that's grown locally.  I've made bruschetta twice (yummy) and we even fired up the grill to have our one American-style meal of hamburgers in honor of Independence Day.  Since we will be in a hotel on July 4th, we had to celebrate a little early.  No fireworks, but we do have beautiful sunsets so it's not a bad tradeoff.

Cinque Terre

Vernazza

Today we headed to the Cinque Terre which is along the northwest coast of Italy overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  Cinque Terre means five lands, and it's a collection of five small towns that are set amongst the cliffs of what is now a national park.  The five towns in order from south to north are Manorola, Riomaggiore, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare.  The Cinque Terre is basically the southern portion of the Italian Riviera, but with picturesque workaday towns and not the splashy resorts that you find in the other parts of the Italian and French Riviera.

The only way to reach these towns is by train or boat.  While you can drive to near each town's entrance, cars are not allowed in the towns so it's not a very effective way to get there.  Because of the terrain, none of the towns except Monterosso have any sort of beach.  The water is very clear and you do catch locals sunning themselves on the rocks, paddle boarding, and jumping from various small cliffs into the sea.  We drove to La Spezia, about an hour and 15 minutes from the villa and took the 20 minute train ride to Vernazza.

Like Vernazza, Monterosso has stairways
for its side streets too.

Vernazza has one main street that starts at its train station and goes all the way down to the water.  The way the town was built through the years, the other "streets" are actually stairways that go up and down between and behind buildings and the doors open up right off of them.  We climbed to the old fort and tower that has a commanding view of the town.  It was originally used as a defense against pirates and other invaders, but now provides some of the best views of the town.

All of the towns are connected with hiking trails and the total distance between all five is about 7km.  Because it is a national park, you do pay a small fee to hike the trails.  Mona and I hiked a short distance from Vernazza towards Monterosso in order to photograph the town.  As you can see from the picture, it's quite colorful with a breathtaking view.  The locals farm the hillsides surrounding their towns a they have for centuries, growing grapes for wine and also olives.  The Cinque Terre is part of a region of Italy called Liguria, and this region is the home to two of my favorites -- pesto and focaccia bread.  We sampled both while we were here -- more than once.

Monterosso's beach

After spending our morning in Vernazza, we caught the train up to Monterosso al Mare.  Monterosso is the largest and most resort-y of the Cinque Terre towns.  The railroad sort of divides the original historic town center with its narrow streets from the newer section that features the beach and more modern accommodations.  We wandered the historic section for a while and stuck our feet in the water to say we had been in the Mediterranean.

More and more folks are discovering the Cinque Terre and it's getting a lot more tourists than it used to.  Because of the summer weather and the water, lots of folks were wandering around in swimsuits, giving it more of a beach vibe than a historic town vibe.  It was a lot warmer today than was forecast and because shade was harder to come by, we decided not to visit a third town.  We knew we couldn't visit them all anyway, so we chose the two most visited.  One thing we'll be sure to do if we make it back is bring our hiking boots.  I'd like to hike the entire route as we'll be rewarded with many breathtaking views.