Firenze Secondo Giorno

On our second day in Florence, we headed for another main attraction - Michelangelo's David.

We bought tickets online and I recommend doing that for any tourist attraction when you can. You pay a slightly higher price, but you avoid the long lines and at peak times, it can take several hours of standing in line just to get in. Most people don't have that kind of time to see just one thing. It allows you to go to a separate line so you don't feel like an ass in front of all those people who've been standing there through their last 2 meals.

The statue of David is in the Galleria dell Accademia in Florence. Although there are many other beautiful pieces of art here, this one is absolutely magnificent. It just takes your breath away as you enter the hall. This thing is huge! Photos are not allowed - so I took only one or two.

It's so hard to show what an amazing Carrara marble sculpture this is. He stands 14 feet tall. That's me stacked nearly 3 high. I'm not a big fan of spending hours in a museum, but I wouldn't have missed this.

Michelangelo (born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) carved the statue of the Biblical hero David between 1501 and 1504, begun when he was only 26 years old. Unlike many other carvings and casts of David, Michelangelo's appears to depict him before the battle with Goliath.

Michelangelo was considered the greatest artist in his lifetime and has become one of the greatest artists of all time. In addition to David, his more famous works include frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and the Pieta' sculpture.

In the same museum, is the Conservatory of Music with a beautiful collection of instruments.

I don't know a lot about instruments, but you can see that this violin (which looked like a cello to me) is a Stradivari. I do know who that is. There was also another really beautiful violin (the size I'm familiar with), but I got reprimanded for taking the photo above so I couldn't get a photo of the other one :(

Antonio Stradavari (1644-1737) was an Italian luthier - a crafter of stringed instruments. He made an estimated 1,000 stringed instruments and it is believed around 650 of these have survived. In June of this year a Stradivari violin was bought by an anonymous bidder for a record $15,932,115 with all proceeds going to help the victims of the Japan earthquake.

This is the Medici Chapel. We walked in and found out quickly there would be no photos and it cost €15 each to get in, which seemed like a lot, so we moved on. Other than having heard the word Medici, I really didn't know anything at all about this family. Turns out they were quite important.

This banking and political family became prominent in the 14th century gaining power first in Florence and then throughout Europe. They were also the first family to gain power, not through war, marriage or inheritance, but through commerce. They are credited with developing the double-entry accounting system to track debits and credits.

Their legacy also lives on in art since they financially supported such artists and scientists as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Galileo. Four Popes were also of the Medici family. We downloaded a 4-part series on PBS about the Medici family and I am anxious to watch it now that I know a little more about them.

Next, we decided to venture out of the city center and attempt to get a view of the city from the hills surrounding it.

We walked down to the Fiume (River) Arno.

"Hanging" from this bridge are little stores.

Just across the river, we started our ascent when we spotted this winding street that appeared to have a steep incline.

We walked and walked past house after house.

There were olive trees all along the way and they were loaded with fruit. They're evergreen and they remind me of small live oaks. It takes about five years for a tree to produce fruit and the average life of a tree is about 500 years.

Although not as famous as the south of Spain, the Tuscany region is known for olive trees and olive oil. All olives are green and if left on the tree will eventually turn black. If you've never tried an olive straight from the tree, don't - they taste awful.

The road that we thought would lead us to a lookout point just kept winding and ascending, but there were houses and fences with absolutely no view. This little road is for cars and those little narrow "sidewalks" are for the pedestrians. We contemplated turning back a number of times, but we trudged on.

Finally, we got to this . . .

a main street that led back down to the city and it definitely had some great views.

We were worn out, but glad we did it. After we got back to the hotel and did some calculatin', we'd walked 10 miles! Or as they say in Florence - 16 km.

Napoli

I insert this post on Naples at this point because I believe there is a program on National Geographic that airs today in the States that perhaps you may find interesting. More on that at the end.

Frankly, I can't say enough about Naples. Despite us spending only a few hours there, I saw enough to last a lifetime.

As you can see, it is right on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Like the Ligurian Sea, this sea is also part of the larger Mediterranean Sea.

Naples is the most densely populated city in Italy: 1 million residents = 8,000 people per sq km. According to their census information, 98.5% of their residents are not immigrants, but native Italians.

It was our intention to spend a day seeing Pompei (just outside of Naples), then return to Naples to see the coastline and maybe have dinner at sunset. Naples is synonymous with pizza and I really love pizza.

We arrived in Naples and immediately bought a ticket to Pompei . . .

and boarded this train.

Perhaps this should have been some sort of warning, but unfortunately, graffiti is fairly common in most cities.

We took pictures as the train sped by these little villages. The countryside was really beautiful.

Perhaps you can see the Gulf of Naples in the distance.

When we saw these vineyards with the Gulf in the distance, we really wanted to stop and check out one of these little towns, but there just weren't enough hours in the day :(

This is one of my pictures from Pompei. You can see the mountains and ocean in the distance. No wonder they lived there. It is really beautiful. It was bigger than I expected, strange, and interesting. Much more on that another day.

After Pompei, we boarded another train very similar to the one noted above and returned to the Naples station.

The station is really modern and clean. We went to the tourist information center where a really nice lady told us which bus to get on for the tourist attractions. In other words, if it wasn't already obvious, we let every local criminal know we were tourists.

Within minutes, the bus filled up with locals. As noted in my first "Italy" blog post, two of these locals tried unsuccessfully to lift Jim's wallet the entire time we were on the bus.

I really wanted to take photos of the narrow streets along this major road, but Jim suggested it was best to put my camera away.

Naples is one of the favorite ports for cruise ships. When you google it, you will get images like the one below . . .

Gorgeous, huh?

We never got to see anything like this because all we did was take the bus route from the station and back to the station - never getting off.

We were happy to be on our way back to Rome. Despite my wallet being stolen in Rome, we never felt as uneasy in Rome as we did that short time in Naples.

After our return to Belgium, I began to research Naples as I should have done before we left. Here's what wikitravel has to say about Naples . . .

Whoever comes to Naples historical city centre has to take some general precautions:

• Do not leave valuables laying out in the open (such as bar tables) where they can be snatched by thieves.
• Do not flash around money or other valuables.
• It is advised not to carry a purse as it can be snatched or "picked" by thieves.
• Do not wear too expensive watch (Rolex especially).
• Do not wear expensive or flashy jewelery.
• Do not use a costly camera or video camera.
• Do not wander down small dark alleys/streets, especially in the Spanish Quarter.
• Pay attention to fake public service vehicles.
• Be careful around the main train station as there are many thieves in the area. The Piazza Garibaldi, the large square in front of the station, is no place to spend more time than necessary, especially at night.
• In Naples, you can buy over-the-shoulder packs that are excellent, as they allow you to keep an eye and firm grip on your valuables.
• Some persons pretend to offer images of old Naples or others things, as gifts but, then, expect payment.
• Pay attention to people who want to involve you in fake road accidents.
• It is advisable not to wear football shirts of any club especially Juventus FC, AC Milan, Internazionale Milano, AS Roma, SS Lazio or Fiorentina. Neopolitans support SSC Napoli with big rivalries with those clubs.

Good heavens. Basically, don't take any money, or a purse, or a camera, or wear jewelry. Definitely don't walk slowly around the train station and know a fake taxi when you see one. And don't even think about wearing your AC Milan soccer jersey. Translation: don't be a tourist.

Ciro Fusco/European Pressphoto Agency

Sadly, much of Naples looks like this. On our short bus trip, we didn't see anything this drastic, but every street we passed had its share of trash. It's such a shame.

Ironically, the day after we returned from our trip, National Geographic aired a show called Inside: Pickpocket King. It was filmed in the "Capital of Pickpockets".

That's right - Naples, Italy.

I think this program airs in the States today, Oct 29. If you get a chance to watch it, it will give you an idea why we will not be visiting Naples again.

In all fairness, so to speak, the thieves and scammers don't seem to want to hurt you. They just want your money and other valuables. But there are so many amazing places to see, why go there?

Firenze Primo Giorno

The next stop on our "All Roads Lead to Rome" tour was Firenze. We know it as Florence and I cannot find a definitive answer as to how we got Florence out of Firenze. In Latin, it's Florentia so I'll go with that being the reason.

Florence (aka Firenze) is the capital of the Tuscany (aka Toscano) region of Italy with a population of 370,000.

It takes just over an hour by train to go from Pisa to Florence and a bargain at about €10 per ticket.

Our hotel was in a good location just down the street from the most famous landmark in Florence - the Piazza del Duomo. I just loved walking down this narrow street that opened up on the huge square with the Basilica.

This Piazza held the Baptistry of San Giovanni (in the foreground), Giotto's Campanile (bell tower on the right) and the Basilica di Santa Maria del Flore - commonly known as the Duomo.

This is the domed ceiling of the Baptistry with 13th century mosaics.

The Baptistry is the oldest building in the square built between 1059 and 1128.

These doors are called "Gates of Paradise" by Lorenzo Ghiberti with scenes from the Old Testament: Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Esau & Jacob . . .

I stood for some time trying to take a photo without an Asian girl in it and finally gave up and took pictures of them. If you travel much at all, it's unavoidable, really. I find it interesting that it's always the girl or woman and they are almost always striking a pose similar to photo 1 and 2 above. One arm extended holding onto something, knee bent and foot with toe pointed. It's universal. I cannot imagine the server that's storing all the photos these people take.

Anyway, construction on the Basilica began in 1296 with completion in 1436 - 140 years. Too bad nobody thinks of doing that anymore.

When you look at the church from a distance, it looks like it's painted, but it's actually Prato's green, Siena's red, and Carrara's white marble (Prato, Siena, and Carrara are Italian cities).

Jim convinced me to climb to the top - 463 steps (167 more than the leaning tower in Pisa).

The total height of the dome is 380 ft (equivalent to ~ 38 stories).

That little fenced area is where we stood so I'd say we were pretty near the top.

It isn't for the faint of heart and there really should be warnings (we never saw any) as I wouldn't have wanted to be any older or any more out of shape than I am.

As you can see, this is a pretty steep climb when getting close to the top. We made it, and of course, the view was beautiful.

By climbing to the top, we got to stop at the level of the dome to get a good view of it.

This is looking down from that level. It's hard to appreciate the size of this place, the 4th largest in Europe, but those are chairs lined up in rows to give you some perspective. On the distant wall is a clock.

It's a one-handed liturgical clock ending with sunset at 24 hours. This timetable was used until the 18th century. This is one of the few still in existence and in working order.

And the views from the top were worth the climb.

I liked the shadow of the dome over the city.

And then the descent. Sadly, graffiti is everywhere and even beautiful churches are not immune.

There was so much to see in Florence. Hope you will come back for Primo Secondo. In the meantime . . .

Pisa e della Toscana

Tuscany is considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and is home to some of the most famous people in arts and science including Dante, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Puccini, Amerigo Vespucci.

Toscana (Tuscany), known for olive oil and chianti, is in central Italy with a coastline on the Ligurian Sea. Never heard of the Ligurian Sea?

The Ligurian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea between the Italian Riviera (that little green area on the shore that includes Genoa), and Tuscany and the island of Corsica (that little grey island south of Genoa).

We flew into Galilei airport.

Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642) was from Toscana. Born in Pisa, he moved to Florence as a child. He returned to Pisa to attend the University of Pisa.

The Tuscan hills as we descended.

The coastline of the Ligurian Sea.

Our first stop in the Tuscany region was Pisa, population 88,000.

Piazza dei Miracoli is the main attraction in Pisa. It's a walled, pedestrian area and holds the Pisa Cathedral, Baptistry, Camposanto, and of course, the Campanile.

The round building in front is the Baptistry.

Begun in 1152, it is still used today as a baptistry. Our appointment to visit was to be before 4:00 because there was a baptism to take place. This Baptistry is the largest in the world and the acoustics are said to be perfect.

This is Pisa Cathedral.

I took this picture from the top of the Baptistery.

The first stone of Pisa Cathedral was laid in 1093.

It's hard to believe that is 4 centuries before Columbus spotted land from the Pinta.

This is the Camposanto Monumentale (monumental cemetery) translated as "holy field".

It is said to have been built on sacred soil brought back to Pisa from the Fourth Crusade in the 12th century. All those rectangles on the floor are graves.

Time for Italian wine and cheese.

Delizioso.

My next stop was here.

I just hoped this wasn't actually the wine cellar.

This is the Campanile or bell tower for the Pisa Cathedral.

Of course, you and I know it as the leaning tower of Pisa.

Construction of the tower began in 1173.

Five years after construction began, the poor foundation and weak subsoil caused the building to lean. It was left for the next 100 years and the soil stabilized.

In 1272, construction resumed with one side built taller than the other. By the time it was completed, 177 years from start to finish, the lean was 1 degree (2.5 feet). In 1990, the lean was 5.5 degrees and in 2010 it was reduced to 4 degrees.

As we braved the climb to the top - all 296 steps - the lean was very obvious.

The view from the top.

We decided to forego the bus and walk back to the train station and we were so glad we did.

This is the Fiume (River) Arno that runs through Pisa.

A typical street in Pisa.

Most buildings are painted this color of gold. I love it.

The only reason we went to Pisa is because Ryanair doesn't fly into Florence (our next stop). We felt lucky to have been routed here first.