Florentine Splendor...

I love this city - in contrast to Naples and Rome, Florence has grace.
It has a smallish feel to it, an aura of sophistication, and the men are pleasantly charming.

The Arno River runs right through Florence, and the numerous bridges that cross it are perfect places for swinging your legs over the edge and relaxing with lunch.




The Ponte Vecchio is lined with shops, which is less Italian than it is medieval (most references date it as 14th century, but there was a bridge here as early as the 10th century).




I took a few side trips, the first of which was Siena:





This is the coolest sandwich shop ever - see the boar's head by the doorway?


One of many entries into the main town square...


...which was a hell of a lot bigger than I expected.



And of course, the streets were lovely, with plenty of little alleys to duck into when the clamouring and jostling of the tourist-collective got too aggravating.


I also went to Greve-in-Chianti, where I sampled $150 Chianti (exquisite, I'm ruined for life now) as well as a few different olive oils (truffle oil is where it's at, people). If only the balsamic had been available for sampling...

As for cultural stuff, the Science Museum was so interesting - there was an entire exhibit on Galileo that captured my attention for almost two hours.

Outside the museum, there is a sundial indicating the true solar time of day and the period of the year:


The rest of museum was filled with instruments and mechanisms and tools like this:


Yup, that's Galileo's right index finger. Of all the things...


Galileo created a complete moveable 'map' of the constellations, planets and stars known at the time so that you could chart the sky based on any position and any time of year.


The Uffizi gallery was a jumble of artworks and frustrating didactic paths (it is impossible to exit any major museum in Europe without passing through at least one gift shop).

Most memorable was Botticelli's Spring and Birth of Venus, and these statues carved out of different types of stone, with amazing detail and beautiful natural patterns.


The Duomo was actually more impressive from the outside - probably the most interesting and gorgeous facade I've seen yet.




Inside it was massive and felt rather empty...but still beautiful.



I like their votive arrangement:


So, the Academia gallery, and the ubiquitous David.

When whoever-it-was said that after seeing Michelangelo's David, one needn't see any other works of sculpture, he was right. It's absolutely perfect.

The muscles, the tendons, the viens. If you stare at it long enough, it starts to look like it's breathing. I was very sneaky-sneaky, and snapped a few photos from behind a pillar.




Incredible.

The museum guard posted near Michelangelo's Prisoners was far more adept at his job than those watching the David, so I was unable to get any photos. A description will have to suffice:

The statue's taut and swollen neck muscles and the arm straining forcefully towards the rear as if to check the forward movement of the figure's bent leg are immediately evident in the statue and express the contrast between matter and idea, between finite and infinite in Michelangelo and the incarnation of the interior torment that envelops the human soul.

Alright then.

So, I've been backpacking for 2 months now, and I didn't realize how much I miss good conversation until I met this cool Californian in Florence - questions and answers, monologue and dialogue, simply listening to someone else's thoughts and ideas. After communicating in broken english so often, it's actually rejuvenating to hold a conversation unrestricted by language barriers. Somehow, it brings you back to yourself.

We went to a sushi restaurant - deciphering an italian sushi menu is much more fun than you might think - which satisfied a craving three months in the making (unripened avocado and no tobiko, but still).

In fact, food nostalgia was a recurring conversational theme.
My top three most-missed foods are pumpernickel bread, montreal bagels, and I don't even want to consider what I would do for a mango smoothie right now.

Indulge me for a moment while I wax-romantic on supermarkets: I love grocery shopping in my own country, and I have to say, there is a certain...shall we say ecstatic joy to be had in (finally) finding a large supermarket with more than one isle and more than one choice for each product. Now I'm all for the little corner shops for day to day needs, but nothing can compare to the consumer cornucopia offered by the larger stores. So satisfying yet so fleeting...


Overall, I loved being in Florence for ten days.

I'm leaving with distinct memories and impressions: someone whistles sharply on a side street and 15 inquiring heads pop out of second, third, fourth floor windows; how packed the markets are in the early morning - a chorus of buongiorno's and the aroma of espresso.

The other day, when I asked for a wine recommendation, the shop keeper said "I don't recommend wine for women - they get drinking and start to touching me." He laughs as he twirls around patting his chest and hips in mock demonstration. I replied "you're lucky you're safe behind that counter, I've already had a few."
His eyes shone as he passed me a bottle, at a discounted price ;-)

It also gave me time to return to certain streets, markets, shops and cafes; to be remembered and greeted as a patron rather than a tourist. This was one of my favourite patios.


So postcard-y I know but I absoluetly love this picture. The whole street leading down to this archway was lined with colorful doorways and draped with vines.


Mark my words, I will come back to Florence.
You can come for a visit at my rural villa, and we'll go for a spin on my little motorbike, then we'll open a few bottles of Chianti and watch the sunset over the Tuscan hills.

Rome Is A City Of Secrets...

The entire time I was in Rome, I lied.
Creatively, repetitively, compulsively, gleefully, I lied.

I lied to the man who asked me if I was married and, undeterred, asked me to dinner.

I lied to the man in Piazza Navona who snagged my little finger with some thread as I was walking past, and proceeded to tie a very tight bracelet around my wrist, which would normally cost €10 but he only wanted a date, when I said I was late to meet someone.

I lied to the pharmacist, who flattered me and gave me a discount on earplugs, when he asked me where I was staying.

I lied to the man who followed me for 20 minutes after I said mi dispiace, no parla italiano when I said I didn't understand what he was saying (you don't want to know).

And every other time a man told me I'm beautiful, asked me where I'm from, if I would have lunch/dinner/coffee with him, I would have easily lied had they pressed me for any further information.

Not that these men were unattractive (some of them...whoo!). They're just so aggressive that it warps my creep-radar, nevertheless sending me into avert-or-destroy mode.

This happened constantly. And please understand - I'm not bragging, I'm complaining. After the second day I stopped wearing makeup and kept my hair up. It didn't work. I should carry a bat.

On a cheerier note, I have made a monumental discovery: Lindt makes a collection of chocolate bars called Petits Desserts. Chocolate Mousse, Creme Caramel, Tirimisu, Creme Brulee, all encased in Lindt milk chocolate. "Jesus Christ" is right.

Anyhow, back to Rome. I spent most of my first day just walking around randomly and snapping pictures. So here, enjoy the fruits of my labour:







I found this little street lined with artisan workshops:


One of the many palace courtyards:





Gladiators a-plenty, zipping around on bikes and mopeds...


There are indiscriminate ruins all over the place - such an interesting landscape.





So many street corners are decked out with sculptures and fountains, it makes the whole city feel grand and, at times, imposing.




The Campo de Fiori market is arguably one of the best open air markets in Rome:




Since I started traveling, I've been dodging masses of street performers, but in Rome they're some of the best I've seen so far.


Obviously I expected the architecture to be impressive, but the detail in some of the sculptures and monuments really is amazing.



There's also several Egyptian obelisks in Rome, scattered about in the Piazzas and guarding entrances. Most of them are far bigger than this one, I just like the elephant.


The best thing about walking around the city is the multitude of fountains - getting sprayed by a shifting wind was a welcome refresher on sunny afternoons.

Piazza della Republica:
Fontana di Tritone:

This is the President's Palace. This guard actually invited me to take a picture of him. I thought twice about pointing my camera at the other guards, who were pointing machine guns at me (and everyone else facing the doors).


The Spanish Steps: apparently the longest and widest staircase in Europe (138 steps) leading up to the Trinita dei Monti, built in 1723.




No doubt the most famous fountain is the Fontana di Trevi. It's actually the end of an aqueduct.

"The central figure of the fountain, in front of a large niche, is Neptune, god of the sea. He is riding a chariot in the shape of a shell, pulled by two sea horses. Each sea horse is guided by a Triton. One of the horses is calm and obedient, the other one restive. They symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea. On the left hand side of Neptune is a statue representing Abundance, the statue on the right represents Salubrity. Above the sculptures are bas-reliefs, one of them shows Agrippa, the girl after whom the aqueduct was named."




Walking along the Tiber River was another favourite for me - most of the bridges (at least one as old as 62 B.C.E.) were capped at each end with beautiful sculptures.






All the more beautiful at dusk.




The main street leading through the most popular ancient sites, Via dei Fori Imperiali, was so overcrowded with tourists and kitschy little souvenir stands, plus constant traffic and it's attendant noise - it was terrible. I escaped from that horror and found a much nicer route to the Colosseum up Via dei San Gregorio that was lined with massive trees and had that earthy spring smell.



The Arco di Constantino - a marble victory arch constructed in 312 A.D.



The Colosseum needs no introduction.








The only cool thing along Via dei Fori Imperiali: four maps depicting the expansion of the Roman Empire (starting with that little white dot).





The Forum was really cool. Excellent audio-guide, which can sometimes make all the difference.









This is the Senate.



The Arch of Septimus Severus (on the right).


The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. It was converted into a church, hence it's remarkable condition.


The weathering of the marble pillars on this temple has created beautiful shades and patterns.


The temple of Saturn - since Saturn is the guardian of wealth and riches, they used to store gold and jewels in the temple foundations.


The Temple of Romulus. Bronze door, red porphyry pillars - the whole building was once covered in marble but all that's left is the part above the door. It was also converted into a church.

I would want my temple to look like this, if I were, you know, a God...


This was my first glimpse of the Pantheon. I came back later to see it by night and relax with a glass of morello at the "Pantheon Cafe".







Beautiful. I'd like to be inside the Pantheon during a rainstorm, to see all that water rushing down in a near-perfect cylinder and seeping through the drainage holes in the floor...

I stopped by the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, just out of curiosity. They vaccinate, spay/neuter, and feed street cats, providing them with a home either in the tiny building or in the ruins just next to it (actually, it's where Brutus stabbed Caesar in 44 B.C.E). The people there are essentially squatters, but they get a lot of support so they've managed to stick it out for 14 years now.



Apparently the last count was 180,000 stray cats in Rome alone. People in Italy often abandon and poison cats because they're equated with vermin, especially the black ones for the sake of superstition. They also don't believe in fixing animals. Ridiculous.

There are a few things about Italian culture that are...let's say, not so admirable.

On my last day in Rome I went to Vatican City.





I don't have the words to describe it. Exquisite comes to mind.











This is the Cortile Ottagano (Octagonal Court).


The Trojan priest of Poseidon, Laocoon and his two sons, who warned the Trojans against accepting the infamous horse. They were fed to sea monsters. Steep price for dissent.


Best. Bathtub. Ever.




Perseus, after decapitating Medusa.


This is the Sala Rotunda (Circular Room).


A giant bronze Hercules with his traditional club, lion skin and three golden apples.



The tapestry room.


The map room.




Raphael's most famous works, in the Stanza della Segnatura (Signature Room).



A little modern art thrown in for good measure...


Creepiest Pope sculpture ever - monstrous, really.


And of course, the Sistine Chapel. Again with the lack of words to describe...



I spent a good 45 minutes craning my neck and staring. Absolutely amazing.

Then I went to St. Peter's Basilica.






St. Peter's was quite impressive. I love this picture.


Overall, I was imbued by the sense that Rome is a city of secrets: underground passageways through parts of the ancient city, whispered confessions in the sanctity of churches, hushed theories as to what exactly the Vatican holds in its vaults...

I got to wondering what I might confess if I believed in the concept of sin. When in Rome...

* I want to hear all of your secrets, while assuring you that I don't have any to tell.
* I have impure thoughts. Lots. On rare occasions, I'm wearing hockey gear.
* I miss you terribly. I wonder if we'd still get along, and if you miss me.
* I'm scared of sudoku.
* I wish I'd said yes that night in 1997.
* I wish I'd said no that night in 2002.
* When you're not around, I slurp my tea.
* I talk to myself. Incessantly.
* I know your secret. Yeah, that one.