Austria

On day 7 we woke up early, ate a quick breakfast and got on the bus for a long day of bus riding. David had been talking to our bus driver who recommended that we ride in the front seat for the drive from Venice to Austria. He was right. The view from the front seat of the Dolomites and northen Italy was astounding. The mountains got taller and more straight up. The valleys were greener, the trees more interesting. The sky bluer. Everything about the drive indicated clearer air, more beautiful scenery and a mountain retreat to make us very happy. And all the indications were exactly right.

Around lunch time we stopped in a town in northern Italy called Bolzano. There we went to the archeology museum and saw Otzi the ice man (found in a glacier about 10 years ago), had lunch and gelato. Bolzano was a charming town. It would have been fun to hang out there for a while.

We arrived at Gutshof zum Schluxen around 4 and had to hurriedly get some clothes on to wash, have a bath (David had a nap) and enjoy some of the local wine before dinner. And dinner was amazing. I had the veal and David had the venison. Unbelievable. And did I mention the local wine? Because it was also fabulous. During my quiet time at the bar watching the patriarch kill flies, I was seriously enjoying the relaxation of no kids, no husband and no tour buddies, when one of our guides walked by and said, "You look totally refreshed!" I said, "I had a bath in a real tub with hot water," and she was jealous.

That night after a wonderful sleep, David, Alyssa and Elizabeth went with the rest of the tour group on a hike to Neuschwanstein Castle. They took this picture of the village we stayed in along the way. I stayed back at the hotel and got our clothes on the line (which were later brought in by the hotel staff and folded when the rain storm came up. Wonderful people at Schluxen).

Neuschwanstein Casle was built by Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria but never completed. He built it because he liked the view--it was an astounding view and an extremely difficult hike. He dedicated the castle to Wagner's operas with each room "playing out" the main idea from one of the opeas. Swans also played an important role, with over 300 swans depicted in one room alone!

After Neuschwanstein, we went to the luge and had a picnic. Everybody but me rode the luge twice and found it to be quite fun. It just wasn't my thing. I did enjoy the picnic, especially the champagne.

After that we went back to our hotel where we rested up a bit from our extremely physical day. After David's nap, we hiked into the village and took a few pictures of interesting things. The village church was charming. And the cows that were being herded home by two guys on bicycles kept us laughing for quite some time.

We made it back to our hotel in time to have some of that beautiful wine at the bar before dinner (no flies this tme). Dinner that night was a buffet of all kinds of terrific food.

I did not want to leave Schluxen. It was the first place I totally relaxed on the trip, the kids had play space and enjoyed the country air. The food, if possible, was actually better than Italy. We had so much fun there. The hotel owners were extremely nice. Everything about it was perfect. Our driver spoke excitedly about Schluxen from the day he picked us up in Rome and I completely understand. He called it a "heaven on earth" where the water tastes like nothing else in the world. And he was right. Everything in Austria was perfect--the weather, the food, the activities, the smell, the atmosphere, the scenery. I cannot wait to go back to this little wonder on our earth.

Venice

We woke up on the morning of Day 5, had our wonderful Tuscan breakfast (the apricot crescent rolls were everyone's favoite) then boarded the bus for our drive to Venice. It was a long drive, but riding a bus on a tour in Europe is actually not a bad experience. The bus drivers are required by EU law to stop every 2 hours for a 20 minute break. Our driver, Jean, was amazing and always tried to stop at picturesque places when possible. Because we were still on the road during lunch time we stopped at a roadside cafeteria, where the food was not only prepared right there in front of you, but was fresh and delicious. I had shrimp and zuccini pasta and a salad.

We arrived in Venice around 2:00 and got in line for the ferry to our island. The main island is Venice and that's where the Grand Canal and all the major sights are, but Venice is made up of several smaller islands as well. Murano is known for glass making, Burano is known for lace-making. We stayed on the Lido which is a beach resort town...very cute and quaint with lots of neat little stores and restaurants and a decent beach. Locals live there, so there is also a thriving modernerity to it that's absent in the heart of Venice.

After the ferry ride and being dropped off right at our hotel, we put our stuff away and then went into the city for some sight seeing and dinner. We rode a vaparetto (which is the equivalent of a city bus on a boat) during "rush hour" and ended up being so packed in that I thought I would have a panic attack. David and I were squished into a corner and there was a man holding onto the hand holds above me with his elbow in my eye. I was surprised I ended up without a black eye. Oh, and it was raining, so not only were we packed in, we were wet... We were supposed to ride the gondola that night, but I'll explain later what happened.

One thing our guides kept insisting about Venice is that you can't get lost. The alleyways may be confusing, but you're on an island and can't get off unless you're on a boat. So, the brattiest member of our tour group became our guide and followed the signs and walked us to St. Mark's Square. This is the square of pigeon fame. There are thousands of them everywhere and they pester the tourists who feed them and take pictures of themselves being attacked by pigeons. I think it's supposed to be quaint, but I wasn't happy.

As we were grouping up to get our directions for the walk to the gondola, this happened, so our tour guide cancelle our gondola ride that night. We walked around looking for a place to eat, but most of them were packed, except for one which was getting rained on INSIDE.

After dinner, we walked around the square a bit, then met up with our group and went back to our hotel on a much less crowded vaparetto this time.

The next morning we woke up, went into the city with our group and toured the St. Mark's Cathedral. I wish I could have taken pictures of this place because it was truly amazing. There are mosaics everywhere. Every single square inch of floor, ceiling and walls are covered in tiny glass pieces arranged to tell a story. Sparkly, pretty and wonderfully overwhelming. There was a choir in there that day and the music gave me chills. We also saw the golden altar which was quite golden and shiny. Definitely worth the Euro.fifty we spent to see it. Then we walked up the steps to see the bronze horses (which were also pretty cool) and ended up watching a military review in the square from the balcony. That was cool. Some of the frescoes were also on the outside. A picture of one.

After St. Mark's we went to the Doge's Palace. The Doge's Palace was where the doge, the equivalent of an elected king, lived and conducted politics. It's huge. The rooms are huge, the tapestries and paintings are huge. Everything is huge. The stairway below is the one that petitioners would use to enter the doge's chambers. When you enter the courtyard, this is the view you have of the staircase. Rather daunting isn't it?

The Doge's Palace was connected to the prison by the Bridge of Sighs. This picture, of course, was taken from outside, but we did walk through the bridge and back again.

After a quickly eaten lunch in the rain at a pizza bar (remember these are the stand up/take away restaurants in Italy, not alcoholic institutions) we rode the vaparetto to Murano. We had to pause for dessert becuase we were all so tired. Hot chocolate and some yummy sweets later, we walked to several showcases and admired and purchased a few pieces of Murano glassware. We also saw a demonstration of a vase being made.

Our family went back to the hotel at this point, apparently on the slow boat. We had dinner, then went back into Venice for our group's gondola ride. We had a singer and musicians, and it was quite fun overall.

That was Venice. We did a lot in a day and a half and I wished I'd had another 2 or 3 days to get "lost" on the main island. The weather was so bad while we were there that walking around and strolling weren't very much fun. I have to say that Venice is the only place in Italy where the food wasn't all that good. Our hotel, while modern and really nice, put David and me in a crummy room with no air conditioning and a flock of mosquitos. I was dive-bombed all night long. Didn't sleep well as a result. I would also have liked to have stayed on the main island. We spent a lot of time commuting and no time enjoying the beach. Finally, this was the place, where I lost it due to travel weariness. David and I got on the wrong bus on the Lido trying to get back to our hotel, and when we asked the bus driver which stop we got off of to get to our hotel, he told us we were on the wrong bus, stopped in the middle of the road, and told us to get on the bus stop across the street (which was also a 1/4 mile down the road). I cried because I was so frustrated and tired and hot and ironically wet and knew I would have to sleep in a room with mosquitos and no AC.

All that bad-luck aside, I loved Venice. It charmed me like I hoped it would. It was one of the places that I couldn't wait to go see and was so excited that it was on our tour because who can imagine what a city built in the water looks like? It reminded me a bit of New Orleans--decadent, expensive, hustlers everywhere--but like New Orleans it captivated me and made me not care that I'd just spent too much money on a crappy piece of pizza. It's fun and has a great history. It is definitely one of those places where I'd like to sit and stay awhile.

Tuscany and Florence

On day 3 of our trip we left Rome after lunch and drove about 4 hours into the heart of the Tuscan hill. We passed charming hill towns along the way. Tuscany is a pretty countryside that reminded me of the Texas hill country with Italian villages instead of Texan small towns. Olive trees, wine and other agricultural pursuits are the main economic drivers outside of tourism.

The hotel where we stayed was called Il Croccichio and had the best breakfast of our entire trip. After arriving at our hotel, David and I washed clothes and rested while the girls went swimming. Dinner that night was at the hotel and was a Tuscan feast. We had Italian peasant bread, salad, sausage and cheese, and dessert.

Day 4 dawned bright and early and we boarded the bus for our trip into Florence. Florence is a mecca for art lovers, and I can only wish we had had more time there. I think I could have fallen in love with the city. As it was, it was extremely crowded, pushy and otherwise not the best of experiences.

Our first stop in Florence was the Academia to see Michelangelo's David. I took this picture before I realized you weren't supposed to. The hallway leading up to David has several of Michelangelo's "prisoners." Sculptures that he bagan and worked on at various stages during his life but never finished. I thought the prisoners were very thought provoking.

After the Academia we met our tour guide, Valentina, and walked to the main square in the city where the Duomo stands. Duomo is Italian for "cathedral." The Florentine Duomo is the 4th largest in the world, made of green and white marble striped for effect. The dome was designed by Brunellesci and is the model for most domes created afterwards, including the one in the US Capilol Building. While I really wanted to go inside the church, the lines were too long and we didn't have time.

From here we walked along through the old town to an open air market where a statue of a boar sits. You rub his nose and drop a penny into the grate for good luck and a return trip to Florence. Finally we made it to the Uffizi to find out that the air conditioning was broken in the building and they were only letting a few people in at a time. We waited for over an hour to get in and then toured the famous paintings and other works of art in the Uffizi. These included the Birth of Venus, Michelangelo's painting of the saints including a frame he carved out of wood (which was super interesting), Bottecelli's "Spring" and many others. Pictures weren't allowed, so I don't have any.

After the Uffizi, David went to the Science and Technology museum, and Alyssa, Elizabeth and I went with our friends the Peterson's for pizza. After pizza we shopped and bought a few things. On our way out of town, we stopped at a scenic overlook and got some greats shots of Florence. you can see how the duomo dominates the city.

Then we returned to our hotel for another fabulous afternoon of swimming, recreation and another Tuscan feast! This time I had eggplant (so yummy) and gelato for dessert.

I loved Florence and would have been so happy had it just been me and about 200 other people in the city. Instead it was overwhelmingly crowded and our "true Italian" experience consisted of fighting our way into the Uffizi, literally blocking pushy tour groups from getting passed us in line. While I would have liked to have had the time and space to experience Florence for all she's got to offer, I was glad to leave. This isn't to say I'm not interested in going back, I just think it would be wise to do so in November when the tourist crowds aren't so bad.

Another thing I learned to appreciate in this part of our trip was that being a part of a tour group gets you access quicker and easier to places than you would if you weren't. Because of the AC problems, only tour groups were allowed access to the Uffizi. We would have waited for hours only to find out that we couldn't go. That would have been horribly disappointing. The "power tours" of the highlights seemed worth it at that point.

I think that Tuscany is one of those charming areas of the world that has held onto its charm because of economic hard times. It sort of "froze" expansion and development and has become an interesting place for tourism because no other place in the world exists quite like it. I definitely want to go back on my own and explore the hill towns, talk to the people, taste the crops fresh out of the fields. And I would love the opportunity to take lots and lots of pictures. It's such a beautiful landscape that it begs for photos, and driving by in a bus just doesn't provide those opportunities.

Rome

Days 1&2 were spent in Rome, Italy. We arrived around 9:30 on Monday morning, caught a train into the city and walked the 2 or 3 blocks to our hotel from the train station. It was too early to check in, so we left out bags and went out in search of a late breakfast/early lunch. We found that in a nice little "bar" just around the corner from our hotel. Now, a bar in Italy, while also selling alcohol, is a cheap, efficient way for locals to get good food. For tourists it's a confusing mis-mash of people jockeying for position and throwing receipts up on the counter. We managed to order our food and then convey to the person behind the counter that we wanted to sit down. The person who understood English, took all our food away and told us to go sit down. We were tired and confused, but did as he suggested. Luckily they brought us our food in short order and we plowed through it. I had a most delightful tomato and mozzerella pitta warmed under a toasting iron. YUMMY!

After lunch we walked around the area and went into a local church called St. Mary and Martyrs (there were several, and I shortened it for my notes and now can't remember the rest). It was originally the Diocletian Baths, but all of that area is under renovation. The church itself was designed by Michelangelo, but time and wars have erased most of Michelangelo's imprint. My favorite part of the church was the nave pictured below. It is all painted, but from a distance looks so three dimensional that I walked over to have a look at the beautiful marble.

We walked back to our hotel via this fountain in the Plaza Republica.

After putting our bags up, we were seriously fighting jet-lag and decided to go out for a bus ride around the city. Little did we know that by the time we walked to the bus stop it would be pouring down rain and the busses wouldn't let us on because they were already full. We got soaked and miserable, but managed to finally ride around the city. It kept us awake, if nothing else. After that, we went back to our rooms, dried off, and met our tour group and went to dinner. We ate at a local pizzeria that was absolutely fabulous. My favorite of the pizzas was the "frute de mer" (sea food). It was delicious, simply delicious.

On Tuesday we were up early for a quick breakfast and then brisk walk to St. Peter in Chains chuch. There is a statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo. Very interesting. The chains that Peter wore as a slave and as a prisoner are also on display in the church. The church also had all these grim reaper type statues and paintings around. It was actually kind of weird.

As we were waiting to gather all up for our walk to the Colosseum, it started pouring down rain. It rained pretty much the rest of the day, but we were still able to tour the inside of the Colosseum. I honestly expected to be more impressed with the massive ruins, but I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it's still really impressive, but I thought it would be bigger than it was.

After the Colosseum, we toured the Roman Forum. This is where most of the political goings-on in ancient Rome happened. What is amazing is that until 150 years ago, it was completely covered in dirt and was a cow pasture. The archeology going on there, will continue for many more years. I thought it was also interesting how the Romans have built upon the ruins simply by adding stories or filling in the areas below. This way they've actually preserved much more than you would think possible.

From here we walked to the Pantheon, again in the rain. Walking into the Pantheon made the entire day of rain and cold and frustration worth it. I only took a couple of pictures, and they don't do much for understanding the amazing space. When inside, you are standing in a sphere that it 142 feet tall and wide. It has a hole in the dome where the only source of light it, and rain as it turns out. There are drains in the floor to keep things dry and safe that you would never notice unless you were looking for them. The Pantheon "made" Rome for me.

After this, our tour group broke up. We went to a wonderful lunch outside of the Campo di Fiori (Flower Market) and then back to our hotel to rest and dry out. Dinner that night and an early bedtime rounded out the day.

On Day 3, we went to Vatican City and toured the Vatican Museum which has to be the finest collection of statues anywhere. The Sistine Chapel is located towards the end of the museum and we went there and admired Michelangelo's ceiling. The Chapel is unbelievably crowded and noisy even though no talking signs are posted everywhere. Every great now and again a museum person will shout out "Silencio" and the noise will fall only to grow again. One cool thing that our guides kept reiiterating is that this summer is the first time in over 25 years that the scaffolding has been down in the Chapel. We were the first tour group to see the Chapel without its scaffolding in a generation.

At this point in a regular tour we would have gone into St. Peter's Bascilica, but since the pope was giving mass in St. Peter's Square, we went to see him instead.

A yummy buffet lunch and David and I were awaiting our bus for our ride into Tuscany.

My overall impression of Rome (and most of Italy for that matter) is that it had some really amazing food, even more amazing collections of art, was crowded, VERY crowded, busy, bustling and alive. While much of Rome itself is very old--4000 years or more--much of it, right next to the old stuff, is very modern and industrial. There are cars everywhere, parks, plazas, squares and people living and loving life. The people were definitely entrepreneurial (the umbrella people materialized at the first drop of rain with a pack of umbrellas under each arm). Our Roman tour guide, Francesca, said it best when she said that Rome is ancient, old, and modern all within a block. It's ruins and office buildings stacked on top of one another. Rome lives its history while creating its future.

I don't know if I'll go back to Rome or not. I enjoyed the Pantheon enough to make another trip and I really missed seeing St. Peter's Bascilica, so maybe I will, and maybe next time I'll fall in love.

Sometimes...

Sometimes all you need is a comfy basket to while away your troubles in life...

On another note, I'll begin posting a city by city account of our trip tomorrow. It'll probably be interupted by daily life post-able accounts, etc., but I'll try to provide an interesting recap (with pics of course) of the trip, while updating you on what has become my crazy life!