The food episode, Venice chapter!

First, my apologies for making you wait for two weeks since my last post.  This will be the second post since our return, but it's also the one I'm most excited about because the topic is food, and most of us probably enjoy Italian food, whether it's pizza, pasta, or wine.

If you're hungry right now, you should probably wait and read this after you've eaten, because there are going to be many pictures of food.  Nate, regardless of when your last meal was, you should go and get a piece of Saran wrap and lay it over the keyboard, so you don't drool on the keyboard.

Back on October 2, in the blog entry titled "Sunday afternoon update", I wrote about our first meal in Italy from the night before, where we enjoyed a very nice meal at a small restaurant in Venice.  Like most restaurants in Italy, the menus offer appetizers,  first course, second course, and salads.  The first course is usually a starch such as pasta or risotto, and the second course is meat or fish.  You can order either one, or both, but for us, we found that unless we were extremely hungry, we found that we could order both courses to share, and the restaurants seemed fine with that.  That allowed us to each enjoy a more authentic meal experience without feeling as if we ate too much, while also leaving room for dessert and abundant wine.  The second course in that first meal was cuttlefish with (squid) ink sauce, served with polenta:

Besides making the food black, the ink somehow intensifies the other flavors in the food, while also adding a slightly briny and seafoody flavor.  It really adds body and unique flavor, not to mention briefly turning your mouth black, but that doesn't persist.

By the way, drinking water in Italy is not a problem.  We often drank tap water, and Venice and Florence (and probably other places) had public drinking fountains where you could fill your bottle, or just drink from directly, like these in Venice:

Another meal we had in Venice was at a sidewalk cafe on Sunday afternoon, after having spent the morning at the nearby Accademia Galleries, a museum of Venetian paintings.  It was a perfect day and place to eat outdoors, and we had a nice light meal and tasty wine:

Left: Artichokes, tomatoes, eggplant.  Center: prosciutto, mortadella, cheeses, walnuts.  Also, assorted breads, sparkling water, white wine.

Monday morning, as we were walking to St. Mark's Square, we passed through the Rialto Market, which like market in other cities, features very fresh food, and patronized by locals residents, restaurant suppliers, and some tourists.  Everything in Venice is delivered by boat and/or hand cart.  The first picture shows how the food gets to the market;

and the next few picture show some of the food sold at Rialto Market:

The prices shown in the photos are Euros per kilo, which at that time, was about $1.35 for each Euro, and a kilo is 2.2 pounds.  So, for the bundled red peppers above, that works out to $1.23 per pound.

The final food picture from Venice was taken at a small restaurant near our hotel.  The lighting is poor, but the food is a Venetian seafood specialty, served as an appetizer:

Included on the plate was a scallop, a couple kinds of octopus, a couple kinds of fresh sardines (not canned!), a big shrimp, a squid, and a couple kinds of fish.  It was quite adventuresome and tasty!

I'll continue the food stories in the next blog entry, so stay tuned!

Piazzas and Streets

This is my first blog entry after returning home to Austin.  The trip was great, and I want to get more thoughts written down while the memories are fresh.  There are still several things that I plan to cover, and I welcome your questions if there are certain things I haven't gotten to.

When we planned this trip, we wanted to visit a few of the popular spots, in order to see some of the well-known highlights of Italy.  We didn't think of things like similarities or differences in the destinations, but last night while laying in bed, awake at 3 am (still feeling some jet lag), I thought about such things, in particular,  the piazzas and the streets, and how they compare in the different places.

A piazza in Italy is like a town square, although the piazza may be almost any shape or size, and a town may contain many piazzas.  They served as gathering places for the residents, and still serve that purpose.  Our trip took us to Venice, then Manarola (a small fishing village along the northwestern coast), then Florence, and finally Rome.  Every one of those places had piazzas that were similar to each other, in the sense that it felt like a gathering place, and you could feel some history as you passed though or lingered in any piazza.  Here's a few piazzas in Venice:

old man in unidentified piazza

Campo San Giacomo di Rialto

Campo San Bartolomio

and here's a few from Florence:

Piazza San Pier Maggiore

Piazza Della Republica

Piazza Della Signoria

and a couple from Rome:

Piazza di Trevi

Piazza Navona

Piazza della Rotunda, in front of the Pantheon

Regretfully, I don't have any photos of the couple of piazzas in Manarola.

These different piazzas are the same in that they are hundreds of years old, have served as gathering places for many people over many years, and still hold special meaning for both the locals and the visitors.

The piazzas represent a consistency among the cities and villages in Italy.  That is a stark contrast to the streets and alleys that we experienced during our trip.  Our first destination, Venice, had very narrow alleys, and absolutely no cars:

After arriving at the Venice airport, we took a boat from the airport to our hotel.  Everything that is consumed in Venice came in on a boat, and then probably a handcart:

In Manarola, there were a few vehicles, mainly delivery and the occasional taxi, but there were more boats parked in the street than wheeled vehicles driving there:

Florence was where we first time saw many bicycles (many times with a pretty woman in a skirt and heels, while talking on a cell phone) and scooters, some cars, trucks, and small buses, and the occasional horse or donkey drawn cart:

And Rome was the opposite extreme of Venice, with too many motorized vehicles, and their smell and noise.  Many scooters, motorcycles, cars, buses, trucks, and the driving was like barely controlled chaos.  It was the first time on our vacation that we had ridden in a car, with our driver/guide, Angelo:

who knew his way around very well, and drove like he cared about the welfare of himself and his passengers.  The next day we took a cab to Vatican City, and that was a thrill ride.   The drivers participate in in some kind of rabid ballet, with smaller vehicles filling the space that larger vehicles will not fit in, and quicker vehicles always snatching the space in front of slower vehicles.

Now back in Austin, by comparison, the drivers seem civilized.

Final day in Rome

For our last full day in Rome, the only event we had lined up was a 1pm reservation at Galleria Borghese, so that meant we got some bonus sleep Thursday morning. That gallery is booked days in advance, and requires reservations via online or phone, but it's well worth it. Many of the better museums require reservations, for which you get a specific time that you must show up, and Galleria Borghese is different in that they give you only 2 hours to see the sculptures and paintings, but it makes the viewing experience more pleasant because it is not as crowded.

That gallery is about a 25 minute walk, so we started there early, intending to stop for espresso along the way. We first hit the closest coffee shop, had espresso and a pastry, about €4, which comes out to $5.60. Walked a few more blocks, had another espresso and pastry, and then we arrived at Borghese Gardens, which is like a big park - peaceful and serene, and it was a great escape from the noise and smell of the traffic. After our visit to the gallery, we headed back to the hotel, and had a late lunch, which is not easy, because many restaurants close at 2 or 3, and reopen at 7 for dinner. Then we lounged at the hotel for a while, decided where to have a nice dinner dinner, which we had (early by Italy standards) at 7:30. Then another stroll to a gelato shop, watched some protesters for a few minutes, then back to the hotel. I think the protesters are following the lead of the Wall Street protesters, since the ones we saw were chanting, singing, and staying overnight in tents in from of a government building.

This morning a quick breakfast, then a driver picked us up for another thrill ride through the streets of Rome, to take us to the airport, where we are now waiting for our flight to Chicago, which has been delayed. The delay probably won't be a problem because we have almost 3 hours in Chicago.

I still plan further updates to this blog after returning in Austin, because there are more stories and photos to share.

Here's the final moon photo, taken near the fountain a couple blocks from our hotel in Rome. It's now a full moon:

Location:At the Rome airport

Rome update

I didn't have photos posted yesterday because my Internet connection was a bit slow, and I was too tired to wait for it. I've got an abundance of photos, though.

Yesterday We visited many of the ancient Rome sites, and here's a shot of the Colisseum:

Today we went to Vatican city, first for the massive museum (4 miles of exhibits), and then the basilica. Throughout the entire museum, except for the Sistine Chapel, non-flash photography is permitted, but no photography at all is permitted in the Sistine Chapel. Don't ask how I came into possession of this photo from the Sistine Chapel:

And here's one from inside St. Peter's Basilica, which is the largest church in the world, and it is BIG.

When we came back (via taxi) to our hotel, we saw many police and some television crews. This evening the street is barricaded, and a helicopter is circling above, as it was all afternoon. Apparently these are precautions against widening protests.

We walked a couple blocks to a little neighborhood restaurant, where everyone except us spoke Italian, and the waitress and owner weren't very interested in attempting any English. He is a short stout fellow, and asked if our food was good, and he greeted other regular patrons with the double cheek kiss, and even pinched one gentleman on the cheek. When one of the regulars paid their bill, the owner just pulled out a wad of cash, added the payment to his wad, and extracted the change - no pesky cash register in that exchange. Some other customers came in that didn't speak Italian, and the conversation got a little bit lively, then he went to the kitchen and returned with an eggplant and a large plate of pieces of cheese. The cheese he put on their table, and the eggplant he waved in their faces. I think they'll be having eggplant this evening.

Tomorrow is our last full day. Our plan is to visit Galleria Borghese for even more art, and then after that there's one more sight I want to see: my ass in my recliner in my house. This vacation stuff is hard work.

First days in Rome

We arrived in Rome yesterday (Monday) afternoon, and immediately set about exploring the neighborhood of our hotel. We're not too far from the Spanish Steps, so we walked over there. Then started wandering back towards the general direction of the hotel, and came across a sign pointing to the Trevi Fountain, so we went that way. Gazed upon that and the thousands of people present, then resumed walk back to hotel. Got lost. The iPad helped us eventually find our way back to our neighborhood, and it also helped us (along with tripadvisor.com) find a nice little restaurant near the hotel.

Given what we learned on Monday, along with the advice of fellow travelers, we decided that professional assistance would be a good thing. Sent out some email Monday evening, but had no good responses, so made a phone call Tuesday morning to a driver/guide service. Angelo picked us up at 1 pm for a 6 hour engagement, and we went all turbo-tourist on this town.

He dropped us off at Palantine Hill, and we spent about 2 hours there, along with the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Back into the car to Circus Maximus, then Aventine Hill for a scenic overlook, then peeked through the Knights of Malta Keyhole, then on to a tour of the Catacombs of San Callisto. Back into the car and on to the Piazza Navona, then to the Pantheon. In each of those places, we wandered about, took pictures, and said "wow". We also did driveby viewings of numerous churches, statues, fountains, smaller piazzas, embassies, and government buildings. Much more than we could have covered on foot, even in two or three days. And it was pretty sweet hopping into an air conditioned black Mercedes-Benz while other tourists where trudging around in the heat.

We're pretty darn tired now, and we have 9:30 reservations at the Vatican tomorrow. Pray for us.

Location:Via Nazionale,Rome,Italy

More from Florence

The first photos are from the Basilica of Santa Croce:

And here's a rainy street with a bicycle parked in the middle of it. We were surprised by the number of bicycle riders in Florence, especially after seeing none in either Venice (too many bridges) or Manarola (too many hills). In Florence, it is not at all unusual to see pretty women riding bicycles. In skirts. With high heels. And talking on their cell phones. Adds to the scenic beauty. Most people seen on a single bicycle in Florence: 3.

I also like this image because it was raining, which we've not seen for quite some time in Texas, although I have heard (via Facebook) that it has rained lately in our neighborhood.

Many nice leather and jewelry shops in Florence, and this is one of the several stores that seem to sell nothing but gloves:

A moment of relaxation at a local enoteca, that offered tasty wine and snacks, and interesting people hanging out or walking by:

Here's one of those interesting people, stopping to visit with the proprietor:

This photo was taken inside St. Mark's Anglican church, which is where we went for the opera Rigoletto. Very talented performers, and about 120 seats in the audience. A plaque inside the church honors the English and Scottish soldiers that died on Italian soil.

Taken during one of our nighttime strolls, a family of 3 with 1 bicycle. Dad was walking, and Mom and son were arguing.

Beautiful things in Florence

Florence is an incredible in so many ways. We arrived here on Thursday, and have been very busy, but now it is Saturday afternoon, and while sitting in the laundromat (as Jenae shops in another area), I have an hour or so to write.

We're staying just a few blocks from the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, commonly called the Duomo, so that was our first destination aft we unpacked. We've not yet gone inside, but here's the view from Piazza San Giovanni:

Yesterday we visited the Basilica di Santa Croce, and here's one of the many beautiful windows, although the view of most of the altar was obscured by a restoration project involving a large scaffold:

My beautiful wife, at our lunch table:

The Piazza Della Repubblica, with a merry-go-round, at night:

The Ponte Vecchio spans the Fiume Arno, and is also home to many fancy-pants shops:

And finally, to keep the guys reading, here's a beautiful Italian woman:

Yes, doing laundry is a mundane chore, but since we packed so lightly, it is really necessary. We had a washing machine in the condo, so we did a couple of loads there, and hung the clothes out to dry on a clothesline like the locals do. I also washed a few things by hand when we were in Venice. In the bidet. Hung them from a travel clothesline and it took quite a while to dry.

Earlier today, we went on a food tour from Taste Florence, and our guide was great. We tasted many good foods, and I got lots of good photos, which I'll share with you soon.

Okay, time to fold the laundry. Thank you for visiting!

Wrapping up in Manarola

Now it is about 6 pm Friday evening, and we've been in Florence since Thursday afternoon, but we've been so busy seeing the amazing sights that this is my first opportunity to start wrapping up the section about our too-short stay in Manarola.

In an earlier comment, my sister asked if it looks like time has stood still in the village. In some ways, yes. Fishing boats line the streets, where they are stored after being lifter up the cliff face with a crane, and the locals gather and visit in the evenings, probably complaining about the tourists. There was a group of older ladies who would sit on a bench with a nice view of the village and ocean, and they would knit and chat. I imagine that many of the homes that are occupied by long term residents still retain most of their original design, layout, and furnishings, if only because getting materials into the village and up to the homes is not a simple process. On the other hand, once a home was added to the tourist rental market, those places were probably renovated to satisfy the tourist's comfort requirements and to make the home more competitive in that market. For example, the interior of the place where we stayed was a contemporary design, with air conditioning, spacious shower, and modern finishes, such as countertops, laminate flooring, etc. The owner of the restaurant where we had dinner one night also said that the young men of the village no longer want to work traditional jobs - they would rather rent to the tourists.

You recall our adventure in trying to get the train tickets that I already paid for, which entailed a trip to another village in the Cinque Terre. Below is a photo from the beach in that village, Monterossa:

Next, here are a few parting photos from Manarola. In the this photo you can see the bellower in Manarola, and the bell rang the hour and half hour starting at 7 am, and stopped sometime around 8 in the evening. I wasn't paying too much attention to when the last ringing of the day occurred, but it's hard to miss the village bell at 7 am when you're on vacation. In the background you can see the terraced hillsides, which is for growing grapes to keep the wine flowing.

This picture shows you how calm and beautiful the ocean was during our visit.

This photo focuses on the rock formations where it meets the water in the harbor of Manarola. I thought this was quite interesting:

And here are a couple kids playing on the rocks, probably finding interesting little critters and such, as I stood above them on the path overlooking the harbor.

Here's the obligatory sunset photo:

And this one, which some of you have already seen on facebook, indicates the location of our apartment among the dozens of homes that cling to the cliff: