7 Days In Italy

Finally getting some down time to update everyone. I have now left Oregon and before I arrived in India I got to spend a wonderful week with my two sons and my ex in laws (yes you heard that right, but they are like 2nd parents to me). We had a great time visiting Florence, Pisa, and Rome. I haven’t been to Italy since 2005, and it seems like English is much more common now that it used to be. Honestly you could get by just knowing some Spanish as many of the root words are the same. I am sure the food was great back then but it tasted even better this trip it seemed. It was similar to the feeling I have when I have been to France — it doesn’t matter which restaurant you go in the food is going to be great. Granted there are always exceptions. We did go to one restaurant who actually had terrible pizza! Mama Mia!

Florence — This was probably my favorite part of the trip. It is a smaller town that doesn’t have all of the crowds and hustle and bustle of Rome. Granted we were there during the winter which is low tourist season but the weather was still warmer than back home. We went to the Galileo Museum and had a private tour by Ricardo from Get Your Guide. It was about a 2 hour tour and we got to learn and se alot of artifacts and explore the history of science. We got to see so many different creations and tools including a flat earth map! Then we went on another Get Your Guide Tour (private) to the Duomo or Florence Cathedral. It was breathtaking. Through all my tours on this trip I actually got a huge appreciation for how much the church sponsored and regulated art work. Very interesting. The tour was 3 hours but it went by very fast. If you can spring for it definitely do a private tour. My boys and I asked so many questions there is no way we could have had the same experience with 15 other people. The next day started at 9:30am and was a 5 stop restaurant tour. Starting with coffee and pastries and then moving on to meet and cheeses to finishing with gelato, it was fantastic and I highly recommend it. Please again arrange a personal tour. And you can always order more! We took extra to our airbnb for eating in the morning. After naps, we went to go see the David and it was breathtaking. We learned alot about Michaelangelo on this trip we never knew (a fantastic artist and a Ninja Turtle). We pretty much laid low on Christmas Day, nothing opened until noon. I was amazed though that by Christmas afternoon everyone was out and about. Italians apparently have their tradition of a huge afternoon Christmas lunch. Oh that reminds me of one thing to keep in mind during Italian restaurant visits — check to see when the kitchen closes. We only got half way through a meal and when we ordered our main course found out the kitchen would be closed for 3 hours. Only apps and salads for that dinner! The next day we were on a train headed to Pisa!

Pisa – First of all this town is so much more than a leaning tower (it is actually called the Belltower).  Our train arrived on time and we took a cab to eat at a restaurant near the tower.  Food was fantastic and I definitely had my share of Peroni and Morretti beers!  We used Martina Manfredi’s Personal Tours By Locals.  Martina recommended our lunch spot and met us right on time.  She was a great guide.  We learned so much about the entire cathedral complex.  Though the belltower is what makes it famous the stories of the sinking cathedral (yes all of the buildings are sinking in the marsh where this was built) to learning about the expedited deterioration of human remains in the burial yard (dirt was shipped in from the Holy Land and apparently could fully decompose a body in 24-48 hours).  Going up the tower was an adventure which sort of hurts your legs when you get back down because you are walking up a long narrow staircase at a crooked angle.   We finished in about 3 hours, Martina called us a cab and we were off to the train station for Rome.  If I were to go back to Italy again I would love to stay in Pisa for a couple of days.  It is even smaller than Florence but had much better prices, similar friendly attitudes, and was much more quiet. 

Rome – We took a train from Pisa.  It felt more like Amtrak than the commuter train we took from Florence.  We had first class seats but don’t be deceived.  The only thing first class about it was that we got assigned seats and a little more room (2 and 1 configuration vs. 2 and 2).  There was no drink or food service so we had our worst meal in Italy in the train dining car.  I felt like I was back in Elementary School eating the “Italian Surprise” lunch which was obviously just a bunch of oddball ingredients thrown on some sort of pasta.  The best part about it was throwing it away. Our hotel was Hotel Capo d’ Africa in Rome. It was literally a few blocks from the Colliseum, was very comfortable, and had a nice small bar in the lobby. I would recommend it.

The next day we visited both the Collisuem and the Vatican.  For the Colliseum we used City Guide Experiences (Walk) and did a group tour that got to go on the floor of the Colliseum.  It is an amazing structure and feels like the prototype for our stadiums today.  The group tour wasn’t as bad here but it was super crowded given it was Christmas break.  We also got a tour of the Roman Forum afterwards.  We got to do a lot of learning and walking!  We headed straight after to the Vatican for a quick lunch outside the gates and then on to the tour.  We used Maya Tours and our guide was named Debra.  She was a ball buster.  She made us leave on time, leave some slow people behind, and kept the group focused.  She was a great guide but seemed more like a German Kommandant than an Italian art lover.  She would push us through to the front of every exhibit yelling “VIPS please VIPS”.  You get what you pay for her with her.  She was very engaging and taught me more about art history than I have ever known or experienced in my life.  The Vatican is definitely a place of immense spirituality and faith but it is also a shrine to one of the best art collections in the world.  I loved hearing how Michaelangelo painted rebellious images and designs in to his work, even in the sistene chapel which offended Cardinals and Popes alike yet it was subtle and due to pride a lot of them didn’t realize what his paintings truly showed (one was of a Cardinal known for child abuse who he painted drowning in hell with a snake eating his genitals).  Hoo-ah!!  We ended the evening with a self guided tour of St. Peter’s Basillica and then had a huge steak dinner!

My last full day was much more layed back.  We did the hop on hop off tours.  I know these sound corny but its actually a really cheap way to get around town.  You can pay for 24, 48 or 72 hours for your ticket and rarely did they even check that I had one.  The bus comes every 15 minutes so you don’t wait very long.  The audio tour on the bus is sort of lame and brief so I would just recommend taking in the sites for yourself.  We got to visit the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain by using our walking app.  We ate at an incredible pizza place in an alley close to the fountain and I am kicking myself because I do not have the name for it.  It was 5 stars and run by two guys in the kitchen and only one out front.  Luckily we ate early because by the time we finished there was a line out the street.    We had a nice dinner and went to bed early since I had a 7am flight to India the next morning.  I kissed and hugged the boys for as long as I could, shedding some tears of course.  Due to my India move I will not be seeing them again until Spring.

In summary, I want to go back to Italy again with Tami and Tenley and whoever else wants to come!   The food for the most part was delicious whether it was a quick café or a sit down restaurant.  I mean does anyone have problems eating pizza and pasta for a straight week??  The people were very friendly and helpful.  Make sure you bring good walking shoes as there is a ton of walking (And a lot on either hard marble floors or cobblestones).  We walked usually between 3-6 miles a day if not more.  Italy is not very handicap friendly in most of the older buildings so keep that in mind.  I think it is worth the extra 20% to pay for front of the line VIP tours.  You get to see everything and it is customized to your interests.  One thing that stood out to me was the amount of people that smoked cigarettes.  Most restaurants have outdoor smoking (not indoor) so if that bothers you be aware of where you are sitting.  Taxis in Rome can only pick up from Taxi stands so make sure you keep tabs on where those are.  Uber is not in use in most of Italy due to protests and the taxi unions, but you can use them in Rome (its really expensive though). When in Rome! Now it is off to India for more travel adventures….