A crash course in Italian and other parting thoughts.

Heading to Italy was both exciting and daunting - so much to see, but with no Italian vocabulary.

So as we rode toward venice I was learning how to say hello, goodbye and where are the toilets. Heading into rome, it was numbers, and how much does this cost. Practicing the words in conversation throughout rome and florence. Still can't pronounce rossi well enough to order red, instead of white wine!

At least I can order pizza i gelati...

I did very much enjoy my first visit to Italy. It is busy - that is part of the atmosphere. It is rich with history and tradition, and the number of tourists mean that english is spoken with expertise. I appreciated that, because I was able to understand why things could persist for 1000 years - or not. There is much to see in Italy, and I barely scratched the surface.

I hope to return to Italia (afterall, I did throw coins in the Trevi fountain ) after, of course, better learning the language.

Pizza i Gelati

It doesn't take much to link italy with food, and this post is about eating. Sorry to all of you who hate posts about what others ate for breakfast. I assure you Italian pastries are worth tweeting about.

Shortly after arriving in italy, we stopped at one of our ubiquitous rest stops and got lunch. It was here that I had my first pizza,just tomato sauce and mozzarella. The crust on pizza in italy is the perfect combination of crispy and chewy, and the toppings aren't piled on. Our guide told us the secret of food in italy is simplicity,so maybe that's it. Anyway, my point was you can have awesome pizza even at a rest stop in italy, not that spongy, soggy stuff like you get at BJs in the states.

The next day, waiting within sight of the pantheon for the rain to stop, the perfect dinner came to mind - pizza and gelato. We found a pizzeria on a street off piazza navona, and munched on the plain pizza for dinner. (By now I could actually order in Italian, but that's another story.)

One thing about the pizza, you have to eat it hot. If you wait for it to cool, it is not as good.

The secret to gelati (ice cream, but better) is to order a small. If you order a medium, then the server gets mad and packs tbhe cup full, and you drip rich chocolate ice cream all over yourself. Mom and I had gelati every day in italy, and we hope to find some in pisa tomorrow early. Stores that sell it are everywhere, so that isn't a tall order.

Finally today in Florence, we were able to have a nice sitdown lunch. I got a penne pasta with a spicy sauce and glass of house red. The combination is molto bene, and achieved with much consistency through Italy.

We've done plenty of walking to justify our daily gelato. If I lived here, it would be tough to eat anything else. It'd be tough to refrain from shopping too...

Your favorite Italian food experiences? (I still remember Leslie B's pix of a latte from her trip to Rome)

Prelude to The Sistine Chapel

Before going to see the great masterpieces inside the popes private chapel, you can stop in the interior courtyard and see a smaller,closer version of the frescoes.

These slots are often crowded with tour groups, and ours muscled in front of a sign to hear our explanation. This picture, the final judgment (I think) was completed late in michaelangelo's life.

When hired to paint the ceiling, michaelangelo was sculpting for the popes tomb. The pope convinced him to repaint the private chapel ceiling, and even hired a teacher to help him learn to paint.
You know the outcome, and walking through the chapel and seeing it all is indescribable. It and st. Peter's basilica are a sight to see, and I hope you do if you haven't already.

Roma

We arrived mid afternoon in this historic city and judging by our entry, it was a city of grafitti. We saw some ruins and important buildings as we drove closer to the center city.

Walking in rome is an adventure in itself, passing through the narrow cobblestone streets where shops spillout onto the sidewalk, if a souvenir vendor hasn't taken that free space. Round a corner and suddenly you've found a fountain sculpted by bernini, or a building engineered by a conquering ruler 2000 years ago. One of our guides joked that anything 300 years old or less is considered modern.

I took just a couple pictures that I will try to post, but most will have to wait. I have used half the storage card on my camera.

Fields of tuscany

Sunflowers from a moving bus. Not too bad, eh?

Venice: Majestical ... and Crowded

I've heard so many different opinions of Venice - it was gorgeous and wonderful, crowded and smelly, grand, filled with pigeons.

Yes it was.

From the truncator, or terminal where all big vehicles seem to stop, into the city is the more industrial side of the city, a little dirty.

From our point of disembarkation, the cobblestone walks and stone buildings, bridges over canals were all grand. St. Marks square was both filled with pigeons and grand. The mosaics and paintings on this church were wonderful to behold, and mark's winged lion guarded the square.

We walked through the crowded alleyways shoving through those gathered to look at the glass shop wares. We had a tour of the Murano glass company, which included a demonstration of blowing a vase and also molding a horse standing on its hind legs. I found a beautiful pandant here, and I'm hoping Julie will turn it into a beautiful necklace ;)

We ventured back to the main street, where we hopped onto a string of gondolas for a trip through the canals of venice. Here it is true, there are places that it smells. But the lapping of the water against the boat, the conversation between the gondolier and people on wet land, and the musicians playing italian classics made it a peaceful interlude for the day.

A short walk further out into the city brought many of the same souvenir stands and hordes of people, but our final leg of this visit achieved majesty. The Grand canal, with its houses hudred of years old, boat slips, gated, landscaped courtyards, piazzas, bridges, and even a boat with a couple getting married, certainly lived up to its name.

So whichever you think you will find in Venice, you will. Anyone else have adjectives to share?