European Vacation... Part 4
From the scenic Alps to the artistry and history of the Italians.
October 3rd
A Train from Zermatt Switzerland makes it's way through the mountains and across the border via tunnels, eventually stopping in Milan, and then continuing on to the island city of Venice. Everybody loves Venice...right? Well it was only ok. Actually it smelled and was over-crowded.
We could only get a room for one night, due to some medical convention in town, and that was ok too.
We made the most of it, exploring canals, narrow walkways, and historical locations,
such as The Grand Canal, Doge's Palace, Ca' d'Oro Palazza Labia and Piazza San Marco.
The prices for gondola rides were more than the aerial gondolas in Switzerland,
but they sure look romantic as you row through the raw sewage of a quarter million italians.
The Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square) would be very impressive, if there wasn't so many people.
We spent our one night, then left the noise trash and smells of Venice, and took a train to Florence.
As I look back now I realize, just how much Venice didn't impress me, maybe you can read that between the lines,
maybe it was just all the buildup over the years, and it just couldn't meet the expectations we both had.
October 4th
Florence was our introduction to the true historic culture of Italy, around every corner there was art, art in the form of statues and fountains, art as architecture, and a lot of art in museums.
The two most prominent landmarks are the Ponte Vecchio bridge, with it's built in shops,
and the amazingly colorful church, Santa Maria del Fiore, aka "The Duomo" and it's Campanile tower.
The more you wander around Florence, the more you realize just how unique it's history was.
Florence was the centerpiece of the art world. The Louvre in Paris was impressive,
but it wasn't the same as rounding a corner and seeing the Fountain of Neptune, just sitting out in the open, or seeing my namesake, David, at the Accademia dell' Arte del Disegno... beyond expectations.
When you wander down the street that is surrounded by the Uffizi Gallery, your jaw drops,
Inside the gallery is a fascinating collection of italian works of art, such as Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus'
outside is row upon row of statues of the most famous Italians, including Leonardo Da Vinci.
After making the trek to the highest point in Florence to see Pallazo Pitti, (Pitti Palace)
we are caught in a sudden downpour, and seek refuge in a deserted church before heading back.
Apparently Salvation can take many forms...
" sal·va·tion: rescue (deliverance) from an undesirable state or condition".
October 6th
From Florence we travelled by train to Naples, found a smaller train and continued on to Sorrento.
I hate Naples, Naples is a hole, very much like a 3rd world country all in one city... trash, graffiti, rubble.
There are "Watch for pickpockets" signs everywhere, and a strange old man is yelling at us,
"HEY!!!... FOLLOW ME... GO THIS WAY... COME ON... PAY HERE... HEY!!!!!"
I guess he spots tourists and then acts as a paid guide to get them to the smaller train,
we couldn't leave fast enough, but not before he demanded payment. He wasn't happy with his 'tip'.
I'm not putting a picture here, because I don't want anyone to go there
Sorrento was a unique hillside/seaside town, what we quickly discover is that it is a major English tourist spot.
There is more people whizzing around on Mopeds with English accents than there is with Italian ones.
Aside from a few less Fish and Chip shops, it has a similar feel to the Costa del Sol area of Spain.
We did a day trip to Positano, the next coastal town to the South, away from Naples.
Nestled on the hillside, we make the mistake of getting off the bus too early, and have to walk to the beach,
winding our way down, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...
it took us well over an hour to get to the bottom, in the scorching italian sunshine, but it was worth it.
A beatiful spot on the beach, and a great little lunch spot to enjoy the ocean and hillside view.
We eventually hike back up to the bus stop we should have gotten off at, and wait, and wait, and wait...
By the time the bus finally shows up it is getting dark as we wind our way along the coastal roads,
someone weak of stomach would most likely need an airsick bag for this windy twisted trek.
October 7th
Today was the last day in this area, and we had planned to see the historic city of Pompeii.
We get off the train, and find the city is closed for the pope, close the city for a guy in a big hat?
I don't think you are allowed to say "Damn the pope", so we went to Herculaneum instead.
Herculaneum (Ercolano) is a town completely gutted by the lava and mud of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD,
it's just like Pompeii, except without the mummified bodies of those caught in the flow.
From Sorrento we made our way back through Naples, and guess who is in the train station again?
The old man starts coming at me in the ticket line and starts yelling at me, I gave him the international sign...
I stare him in the face with my hand up, and yell, "NO...GO AWAY!!"...
he does, and we are safely off to Rome...
October 8th
Rome is an amazing city, the Coliseum, the amazing fountains, buildings, palaces, churches, Columns, parks... you could spend a week in Rome and not see everything. The thing I most enjoyed about Rome was the way you could just wander in any direction, and every few blocks was an amazing piece of history, a visual feast for the eyes and the mind. Even their bridges are works of art, with statues, columns, and light standards.
The first major stop of our wander is the Colosseum, I could fill an entire website with the pictures I took,
You know it's a major part of Roman history, we've all seen Gladiator, but to be there, and venture inside...
The sheer size of it, and the imagined history... we just sat outside after and stared at it for a while.
Standing in the center of Rome is the immense and majestic Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II,
a palace structure of incredible detail, we explore our way to the roof, where we stop for a drink.
The most expensive Ice Tea and Diet Coke ever drank in the history of the Roman Empire.
The fountain in Piazza Navona seems impressive, until you wander into the square of the Trevi Fountain,
it's one of those jaw-dropping sights that could never be described in words or pictures.
So I won't even bother to try, if you want to see more,
click here to see a 360° view of Trevi Fountain,
but don't forget to come back to warfsworld.com and finish my story.
October 9th
The next morning we decide to go visit the home of that guy that stopped us from seeing Pompeii, Vatican City is actually a seperate nation inside of Rome, housing St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel.
The entire complex, starting with St. Peter's square, shows that the church has spared no expense, they wanted to create the grandest of domains for their Bishop of Rome, and the Capital of the Church. The details in the architecture, the statues, tombs and monuments are all intricately carved, using the finest of marbles, gold and other materials, created by the best of the days artisans. It makes you wonder how better off the citizens of the church might have been if they had a budget. Having stated this out loud, I am now prepared for eternal damnation 8-(
Inside the Apostolic Palace (Pope's home) is the most famous of rooms, the Sistine Chapel...
You wander into rooms filled with the art of Botticelli, Raphael and Michalangelo,
these names may be better known as a fine wine and 2/3 of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
A guard constantly reminds visitors you are not allowed to sit down and admire the artwork, you must stand in the room craning your neck up to admire Michalangelo's ceiling frescoes, the most famous of which is at the center of the room, 'the creation of man'. All is quiet at first, and slowly a din of whispers rise as people discuss the art, when it reaches a dull roar, the guard yells... Shhhhh... Silencio!!! all is quiet again, and the noise starts to rise again, this repeats time and time again, seperated only by the same guard telling people not to take pictures... oops.
After mailing some postcards from Vatican City, (they have their own post office) we start our wanders as we make our way past the Castel Sant'Angelo towards the famous Spanish Steps. After wandering through Villa Borghese, it's "Hey look, 138 steps", ok, we're ready to continue our wandering. After spending several days wandering around Rome, Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' & 'Angels and Demons' take on an entirely different meaning... the codes and clues we must have walked right past.
October 10th
Our feet are sore from all the walking in Rome, so it's a good time to sit down for a few hours,
we board the train to Pisa. The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa will be a picnic stop for us.
We stash our luggage in a locker at the train station and walk to the other side of town to see the tower.
At certain angles the tower seems fairly erect, at others you can truly see the lean,
at any angle we are shocked by the size of it, at 56 meters (185 feet), it seems so small.
Maybe like Venice, expectations have been built up for so long, but we liked the tower.
Almost lost in the excitement of the lean is the beautiful Baptistery, a tribute to St John the Baptist.
After a short visit to Pisa we buy the T-Shirts and take the train to Cinque Terre.
What you haven't heard of Cinque Terre? Neither had we, until TV host Rick Steves mentioned it. Vernazza is our destination, the central locale of the 5 small villages of Cinque Terre. We find a room on the top floor in the rust colored building at the center of the harbour, and prepare to unwind from the excitement, noise, pollution and population of Rome, Cinque Terre is the polar opposite of any city, big or small. Thanks Rick Steves.
Vernazza 
Vernazza Sunset. . . .
We hike up the 3 floors to our little room, with it's small window overlooking the harbour, unload our luggage and make our way out into the vast metropolis. Windy stairways, an old church, and the remains of a lookout tower form the bulk of the village, with some unique craft shops, and a couple Italian seafood restaurants rounding out the collection... oh, and a surprise to us, they even have an Internet Cafe.
Now we both love seafood, and you don't get any fresher or more abundant than in Cinque Terre, the food in the restaurants comes straight out of the net and onto the plate... literally. That was a bit troubling for Norine who is not a fan of having her food look back at her. 8-) Once you knew the routine, you were more specific when asking for your meal options.
October 11th
We get up the next morning and decide to hike the trails to the other villages south of Vernazza.First up is Corniglia, like all of the 3 towns to the south, it clings onto the hillside above the water.
Corniglia
Manarola
We continue our hike along the beautiful coastline to the "Via dell' Amore" (Lover's Lane),
it is a scenic paved trail which connects the last two towns to the South, Manarola and Riomaggiore.
After an afternoon of hiking, exploring the unique towns, we take the water taxi back to Vernazza.
. . . .
Riomaggiore Monterosso al Mare
Due to a train strike we were 'forced' to stay in Cinque Terre a little longer, the hardship we must endure to spend more time with the freshest of seafood, the smell of the salt air, and the tranquility of these tiny italian fishing villages. Our room was booked for that night, but due to the strike we had nowehere to go and no-one was going to come in and evict us.
We used the extra time to do a much more intensive hike across the hillsides to the North,
working our way up and up and up through deserted hillside pastures looking down on the ocean,
we discover a classic old monastery before starting the descent to Monterosso al Mare.
Monterosso is unique in Cinque Terre as it is the only village with a sandy tourist beach,
a nice way to spend the final day, before boating back to Vernazza for another seafood dinner.
The strike is over after exactly 24 hours and we board the train that will take us to Nice.