Italian Travelogue #9: Pompeii / Rome

After another early wake-up call and breakfast, we said goodbye to Sorrento and went towards Pompeii, the opulent Roman town which was preserved by layers of ash from the disastrous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD79. It was a bittersweet day as it was the last day of the tour.

Pompeii is an excavation site and outdoor museum of the ancient Roman settlement. This site is considered to be one of the few sites where an ancient city has been preserved in detail – everything from jars to tables to paintings and people were frozen in time, yielding an unprecedented opportunity to see how the people lived 2000 years ago. We met our guide who told us that this was a sacred site – the end of the world as they knew it for 20,000 inhabitants. The hot ash that buried the town in a way protected it also for future excavations.

We began our tour around the ruins and saw everything from residences to temples, from bakeries and other commercial buildings to baths. It was eerie to look at the deserted streets and picture the flurry of activity the bustling city once hosted. Lonely columns that once were part of regal buildings now stood at attention to a world long since passed. Once busy town squares are now shells of their former glory. The mountain itself stood in the background of a street it once strangled with its volcanic ash.

Italian Travelogue #8: Amalfi Coast / Positano / Isle of Capri

With the dawn of our next-to-last full day in Italy, we prepared to leave for the Amalfi Coast, Positano and the magical Isle of Capri. This was the day I was looking forward to.

After our breakfast in the elegant dining room, we boarded our mini buses for the trip to the Coast of Amalfi. The Amalfi Coast is a beautiful and renowned stretch of mountainous coastline south of Naples. The peninsula is dotted with picturesque fishing villages and towns clinging giddily to cliffs. It also makes a good base for exploring other popular destinations, one of which is Positano, to which we were headed.

The views of Sorrento from the cliffs high above were breathtaking. The first several miles were an adventure as we watched Marco deal with the insane drivers in the area. The drive along the coast took us on hairpin turns and switchbacks and the width of the road was completely inadequate, especially in a motor coach of our type and especially around the sharp corners. Whenever we and another large vehicle met, it was nearly impossible to either pass or negotiate a hairpin turn. Compounding this was the fact that much of the road was on a cliff 200 or 300 feet over the ocean, and if you were sitting on the ride side of the bus against the window [as I was], it won’t be an exaggeration to look directly out the window straight down and see nothing but the ocean and cliff 300 feet below you.

Notwithstanding the hairy ride and a white-knuckle drive with a winding two-lane road and dramatic cliffs dropping away from the road, it didn’t matter because the views were to die for – almost literally! It was breathtaking, to say the least.

Italian Travelogue #7: Sorrento

Before hitting the road towards Sorrento, we stopped in Florence at the Galleria dell’Accademia to pay homage to the beloved Statue of David, by Michelangelo. In 1873, "The David" was moved to the Academy from its original position in Piazza della Signoria to protect it from weather and pollution.

Anyhow, we met our guide outside of the Academy and we once again donned the Vox System so that we could all hear her.

Security at the museum was tight, so much so that cameras were not allowed to even be displayed, never mind used. We passed through a room that contained partially completed works by Michelangelo. Many scholars believe he left them in this incomplete condition purposely to show the technique he used to create his master works. One of his more famous works, "Quattro Prigioni" (the Four Prisoners), demonstrated his belief that his figures were trapped in the marble and his job was only to carve away the superfluous stone. It really was amazing to look closely at the work and see the chisel marks created there by Michelangelo himself.

We soon entered the room containing perhaps Michelangelo's greatest work, "David", an 18-foot tall, anatomically perfect nude male. It was breathtaking! Especially to the women. [I noticed that the women went around the statue twice, me included. haha]. It was incredible! The detail has to be seen to be believed. We all commented that some of the features, like hands and toes, seemed out of proportion to the rest of his body. However our guide told us that originally the statue was to be displayed high on a pedestal in the Piazza della Signoria and Michelangelo was compensating for the viewing angles from below. He’s a genius that he simply thought of everything. Amazing!!! It made his work even more of a marvel. It was impressive than I imagined it would be.

Italian Travelogue #6: Florence

After another early wake-up call and breakfast, we boarded the bus for the trip to Florence (called Firenze by the Italians). I had been looking forward to this stop with great anticipation as there was so much to see in this city.

Shona wasn’t able to book our reservation at the Academy of Arts to see my boyfriend, “David”, so it was scheduled for the following day. Today’s agenda included a walking tour of the city. And shopping! (finally!)

After meeting our guide, we first went to Piazza di San Giovanni to see the outside of the Duomo and the Baptistry, two magnificent buildings. The dome, along with Giotto's Campanile, is the landmark that defines Florence. On the east side of the baptistry, facing the Duomo, are the famous bronze doors, dubbed the "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo when he first saw them. The doors on the baptistry are replicas, with the originals on display at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo not far away. The doors are comprised of ten panels that depict stories from the Old Testament. Simply put, the work is stunning!!!

Italian Travelogue #5: Pisa / Tuscany

Another early start to the day and we woke up to a rainy day. After breakfast, it was time to bid farewell to magical Venice, after which we embarked on a 6-hour drive to Tuscany. I spent the long drive looking out the window at the passing landscapes which, on this particular drive, were spectacular. We passed through numerous tunnels, 28 to be exact, [can you believe I was counting them? haha] that cut though under the hills. This particular highway was called “Highway to the Sun” built by Mussolini, that runs from Milan to Naples. Our route, however, took us across the plains of the Po River and traversed the Apennines, the hilly backbone of Italy, to reach the Arno valley. Enroute, we heard the informative tutorial about the famous Chianti wines that make this region so famous.

Following the river westwards, we stopped at Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower where elaborate steps have been taken to prevent this landmark from falling over. I can hardly contain my excitement. As you know, it has always been my dream to have my picture taken against the leaning tower. As Shona aptly described it, the leaning tower is the most defective work of art in Italy. Florentines hate it so much that they want to topple it down. (haha)

When we got to Pisa, we boarded Disney-like trams that ran from the parking lot to the old city walls. Driving through part of the town showed that Pisa was definitely working class and not a very attractive city.

Italian Travelogue #4: Venice

After another early wake-up call and breakfast, we were back on the road driving along through the Apennines and across the Po Valley to the romantic city of Venice. The trip lasted approximately 4 hours. I was looking forward to see Venice, a city which I had always been obsessed with, because I always felt it was a marvel of engineering that it even existed. Being a hopeless romantic sap that I am, the idea of wandering the streets while visiting little shops or traversing the canals via a gondola really appealed to me.

Anyhow, we arrived in Venice under sunny skies and proceeded to the gondola area beside the bus parking lot. I don’t care how touristy you think it is, but riding in a gondola is part of the Venetian experience and something you must do at least once in your lifetime. Anyhow, they were stashing 5 or 6 of us into each gondola. Our gondolier, who was a little too good looking and charming to be believed, navigated us through the labyrinth of canals that make up Venice. What struck me most about Venice was the muffled silence around me. There were no cars or scooters and not many motorized boats. All you hear is the swish of the gondolier poles and your boat as it cuts its way through the water. Looking up at the scenes above us was surreal. The large, open shuttered windows, the ivy colored walls, the large arched doorways, despite being rotted by the constant exposure to the canal, all contributed to a memorable experience. For me, it was the highlight of Venice.

Italian Travelogue #3: Assisi / Spello

I woke up early to a cloudy day. After an early breakfast, we left Rome and ambled along the valley of the Tiber River to the hills of Umbria, which form part of the Apennines, onto the peaceful hilltop town of Assisi, the home of St. Francis. I was really excited, as this was our first actual day of touring on the road. As we would find out so often, Shona would give us talks on local customs, history, etc. We were spellbound and could listen to her talk forever. We would really appreciate this later in the tour when the drives were longer. On the way through the rolling hills of Umbria, we passed fields of dried up sunflowers. Everywhere I looked, everything seems to just scream “Italy”. I was enthralled!

After about 90 minutes or so, we stopped at an Autogrill for lunch. Autogrills are similar to rest stops on American interstates but with better food. They also carry all manner of other items, some of which seem out of place. But the process in place to serve people could only be thought of – I should say this again – by a confused Italian. The cafeteria area is divided into few sections. There's a hot food line where you can load up on pasta, hot meals, main courses, vegetables and the like. There is a separate pizza bar where you can grab any of 4 or 5 types of pizzas. And then there's the sandwich area. To use this, you have to walk over to the sandwich bar, decide what you want while trying desperately to remember the Italian name of the sandwich, then get in line at the check outs to prepay for the items, then bring the receipt back to the sandwich area (another line) where they then get your sandwich for you. It was explained that the reason for this process was to keep the food handlers from handling the (dirty) money. But that never made sense to me. If you picked up the sandwich in the same way you put food from the hot food line on your tray and then checked out, no food handlers would touch money either. But who was I? A lowly peon, that's who. And one that had to wait in 3 lines to finally get a sandwich. It was a bizarre process, and one that we assiduously avoided for the rest of the trip. We stuck to the hot food.

Italian Travelogue #2: Rome

Off we went for our first tour of the day. To say that I was beaming with excitement was an understatement. Following the seat rotation rule in the bus where we have to move up 2 rows everyday, I strategically positioned ourselves in such a way that we would be at the front row of the bus on the last day of the tour. Brilliant idea, eh? Anyhow, we arrived at the Vatican Museum shortly after 8:00am where we met our guide for the day (Ulysses), and who handed out our audio system.

One notable good thing about being on a tour is that you don’t need to line up like the rest of the maddening crowd who waited in line for hours. We just walked ahead of the crowd, down some escalators and then through several corridors before emerging in an open and very nice courtyard called the Courtyard of the Pigna. There were easels set up along one length of the courtyard with information about the Sistine Chapel. Each time a tour group came into the courtyard, they would walk over to the next available easel and the guide would use the information mounted there to talk about the Chapel. The large illustrations showed how the restoration process had cleaned up the images, providing before and after shots, and displayed a panel-by-panel review of what to look for, both on the ceiling and on the walls. This all took place there because there was no talking allowed in the Chapel. Or photos. Or flash. Or breathing. (haha)

It was kind of interesting to look over along the wall and see 10 sets of easels with guides talking to their groups in at least 5 different languages. I don't normally have Attention Deficit Disorder but I was having a hard time listening to Ulysses. I wanted to drink in as much as I could of the courtyard and the surrounding area. I had done a ton of research on my own prior to arriving, so much so that what the guide was saying was redundant to me. I was there to see and experience; therefore I would get restless when we stood around for more than five minutes in any one place.