BigWeather's Blog

As Michelle and Addison were leaving this morning we awoke at 3:15a.  The next hour and change were a blur, getting them up and out for the 4:30a taxi pickup that would take them to the airport.  Returning to my room I read up on Ostia Antica and talked a bit with the hotel’s night desk man about how to go about getting there.  Went back to sleep about 6a, awakening at 8a.  After a quick shower and breakfast I set out on my solo adventure just before 10a.

My first stop was a barber as my beard had grown quite a bit during the two weeks in Italy and was itching like crazy, especially as I was back in the heat of Rome.  He didn’t speak a lick of English but I managed to get a shave (a rough one, a bit of blood here and there).  Still, a shave is a shave and it felt great to be rid of the beard.

Walked past the Colosseum from a new vantage point as well as the Arch of Constantine and Palatine Hill.  A bit further lay the massive Circus Maximus, its far end set up for the second night of a Pink Floyd (at least Gilmour) concert.

After a short walk along tree lined avenues and houses covered in all manner of flowering bushes I saw the Piramide di Caio Cestio, or Pyramid of Cestius, a tomb built in 12BC in the style of the pyramids in Egypt (which were quite ancient by then — in fact the Pyramid of Cestius is still closer to the present day than the pyramid it copied by almost 600 years!).  It stood 125 feet high and 100 feet a side at the base and was quite impressive with its shining white marble facade!  Across the street was the Porta San Paolo, one of the main gates into Rome built in the third century.

Navigating the fairly heavy traffic I crossed the street and entered the Piramide train station.  It wasn’t nearly as streamlined as the Termini station across town.  I waited in a very long line and it was clear everyone was just a bit frustrated.  Finally managed to get tickets and headed out to the platform area.  I met a small group of English students also hoping that they were going about getting to Ostia Antica correctly.  The train arrived, but at an entirely different track, so the entire group of us shifted to the new platform and boarded.  It was an uneventful train ride lasting about a half hour, passing through the southwestern suburbs of Rome and headed to Ostia and Lido by the sea.

Arriving at Ostia Antica I used my offline Google Maps map to navigate.  Crossed the highway via a pedestrian footbridge and came almost immediately upon Castello di Guilio II, a charming walled fortification area with a church and nice public fountain (where I dutifully filled up).  The papal fortification was built between 1483 and 1486.  One nice thing about getting away from Rome is that there were very few tourists milling about, only two at the Castel.

After a short rest I headed to Ostia Antica, a vast area — seventy acres — of ruins.  Like the castle there were few tourists to be seen.  Oftentimes I was alone among the ruins, hearing only birds and crickets and the occasional airplane flying over to land at the airport across the Tiber (there’s a hexagonal lake there that is actually the remains of an ancient harbor).  After buying a guidebook I walked down the ancient road to the settlement, the major port for Rome.  Two thousand years ago Ostia sat on the shore, now it was inland over two miles!  The flagstones were worn smooth and rutted by ancient cart traffic.  Surrounding the road were ancient tombs, forbidden from being built in the town limits.

Entering the town proper the first sight was Terme di Nettuno, the Baths of Neptune, a large bath house for the inhabitants of Ostia.  Up some stairs was a great vantage point overlooking not only the ruin but also some impressive mosaics, some of which were protected from the elements with Gore-Tex.  Behind the baths was Caserma dei Vigili, a large complex that hosted about 400 vigiles, men charged with preventing and extinguishing fires in Ostia.

After that was the Piazzale delle Corporazioni, Plaza of the Corporations, which originally was a square of shopfronts surrounding an open green space containing Tempio Di Cerere, the Temple of Ceres.  What was really fascinating about the plaza was that there were mosaics in front of each shop depicting the purpose or goods of that shop.  Unfortunately some tourists chose to disregard the ropes and copious signs preventing them from stepping on them for pictures.  Grrrr!

I next headed to the adjacent Teatro di Ostia, Theater of Ostia, a semi-circular set of stone bleachers surrounding a stage.  Pretty amazing sitting on the bleachers imagining theater-goers doing the same nearly two millennia prior.  I was blessed with a gorgeous day — puffy clouds, fairly cool, and a light breeze.

Moving on I entered the main forum area of Ostia and the adjacent Capitolium.  By this time, however, I was getting quite hungry so headed north toward the river to find lunch.  The cafeteria was a buffet-style affair.  I had lasagna, zucchini, and an orange Fanta.  Not bad at all!  Headed to the adjacent bookstore and bought a magnet.  Stopped by the bathrooms and… nope.  No seats, no go.

I had read in Rick Steve’s about a row of ancient latrines (no, not for me to actually use!) that I wanted to see so I set about exploring the western half of Ostia Antica looking for it.  Along the way I met some young students from California and some English people but neither had seen the latrines.  Looking back I imagine it was a fairly odd thing to ask “Hey, nice to meet you total stranger — have you seen any ancient toilets?!”  Anyhow, along the way I saw some temples, various middle- and upper-class homes (including one of the earliest examples of a home with a central hallway), and the like.  Some had surprisingly well-preserved mosaics.  I saw a glimpse of the Tiber on the northern edge of town.  The extreme western part of the town gave way to hay fields with large bales.

Finally while exploring the baths in Ostia’s forum I stumbled upon the latrines.  Declaring victory, I headed to the sculpture museum near the cafeteria and bookstore.  While in a small space it was completely packed with amazing sculpture including some I could swear I had seen in textbooks.  By this time I had to admit defeat and use the restroom, ugh!  As it was getting toward evening I headed back to the train.  While relatively uneventful, I witnessed a young Italian guy hitting on a Polish teenager with her mother, opening with “What’s the time?” and going from there.  They were in Rome on pilgrimage.  Once they got off the train he looked about, spotted his next target, and opened with “What’s the time?”

Once back in Rome I walked past the pyramid and along the city walls to the Tiber.  I passed a small church (with a very impressive bell tower or campanile) containing the famous Bocca della Verita, or Mouth of Truth, but did not enter.  Legend has it that telling a lie with one’s hand in the mouth would result in the hand being bitten off.  Next I walked past the Tempio di Ercole Vincitore, the Temple of Hercules Victor, and Tempio di Portuno, the Temple of Fortuna Virilis.

Next visited the impressive Teatro Marcello, Theater of Marcellus, an interesting incorporation of the ruins of the ancient theater (built in 13BC) with a residence built atop in the 16th century.  Right next to the theater was the Temple of Apollo Sosiano, or rather the three remaining columns of the temple.  It was quite beautiful in spite of — or due to? — having only three columns.

As it was full on dusk I navigated east to the plaza in front of the large Altar of the Fatherland and from there to the hotel.  After a brief rest — I had walked seventeen miles, or 34,000 steps! — I headed to the Public House at 9:30p.  There I had water and a fair bacon cheeseburger.  The service wasn’t great (I had ordered nachos without guacamole but had to send it back when it came absolutely smothered in it) but it had an interesting atmosphere.  Watched some of the Poland versus Portugal Euro 2016 match while there.

Headed to get some gelato at 11p and got called out by the guy working there as a repeat customer.  Ooops!  Once back at the room I talked with Genetta via Facetime, texted Michelle, read up on some ideas for the next day, and went through the very frustrating process of transferring photos.  Finally went to bed at about 3a (stupid, stupid, stupid!).

We woke up about 7a and grabbed breakfast at the hotel.  After many days of Continental breakfasts it was nice to have eggs, bacon, and Vienna sausages again.  For Michelle and Addison’s last full day we decided to see a few of the sights we’d skipped during our earlier stay in Rome.  As it was Saint Peter’s Day some stuff was closed, thankfully nothing on the list to see.

We set out about 10a, heading first to Trevi Fountain.  Though Michelle and I had seen it shortly after arriving in Rome Addison hadn’t seen it, and none of us had seen it during the day.  It was not quite as crowded as at night but still quite busy.  There was a couple that had just been married there.  It was quite hot so we didn’t linger.

We headed west towards the Pantheon, passing by Il Tempio di Andriano (Temple of Hadrian) first.  Only eleven columns of the ancient temple, built in 145AD by his adopted son, remain and had been incorporated into a 17th century papal palace that eventually became a bank.  Ah, recycling!  Arrived at the Pantheon at 11:05a but it was closed until 11:45a due to a liturgy.  We opted to seek out lunch quickly as it was to close for good at 12:45p due to the public holiday.  Ate at a pizza restaurant, Michelle had a cheese pizza, myself a mushroom pizza, and Addison had Angus steak and roasted potatoes — that he didn’t care for much.  Also dining was a British guy who was in Rome for only a few hours before flying out after being on a western Mediterranean cruise.

We arrived back at the Pantheon to a medium line that was thankfully fast-moving so getting in with time to enjoy before closing was no issue.  The temple is amazing, built around 125AD as a temple to all gods.  What is remarkable is how well preserved it is.  Unlike the vast majority of Roman ruins this one was never abandoned, having been in continuous use for nearly nineteen hundred years!  As it was in use and was a Christian church for most of that time it wasn’t left to neglect nor plundered for marble and other resources.  Its beautiful marble floor of yellow, white, and red marble — from Egypt, Numidia, and other locales — is intact.

Its amazing free standing dome (still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome) is a marvel at 142 feet high and wide.  At its apex is the oculus, a large hole that lets in light that shines down as a brilliant shaft of light.  It also lets in rain; this isn’t a problem as the marble floor has little drainage holes throughout.  About the perimeter of the church were tombs of the first two kings of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto) as well as the Renaissance painter Raphael.

Leaving the Pantheon we headed northwest toward the Pont Sant’Angelo.  We passed through the Piazza Navona, a large plaza built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian built in 80AD.  A fountain topped by a Roman obelisk from about that time stood in front of the impressive church Sant’Agnese in Agone.  On the way we saw an amazing toy metal soldier store, sadly closed due to the holiday.  We also made a pit stop at a cafe for bathrooms and had cokes and a chocolate cookie.  The neighborhood was quiet and artsy, a welcome respite from the crowd of tourists near Trevi and the Pantheon.

Crossed Pont Sant’Angelo, built in the early 100s for access to Hadrian’s mausoleum at Castel Sant’Angelo.  It was quite impressive as it spanned the wide Tiber and had a series of angel sculptures grace both sides.  Castel Sant’Angelo was impressive, an imposing structure originally intended as Hadrian’s mausoleum but later became a papal fortress, residence, and prison.  A secret passage to the Vatican helped Pope Clement VII escape the 1527 sack of Rome (though the entire Swiss guard contingent left behind did not fare so well…).  We didn’t do much at the Castel, being a bit museumed out.  We left shortly after Michelle was done going to the restroom and headed northeast along the right bank of the Tiber.

It was a very pleasant walk as it was amply shaded by trees.  We saw a guy fishing with an extremely long pole (nearly twenty feet, it looked like) as well as small boats at docks along the grassy riverbank.  We passed a very impressive building called the Palace of Justice where the Italian equivalent of our Supreme Court sits.  There was also a long row of book and coffee stands.  Crossing the Pont Cavour we emerged back on the left bank of the Tiber near our next destination.

The Ara Pacis, or Altar of Peace, was built by Augustus as part of his reorienting Roman life to be more cult god centered.  Fragments of the altar had turned up for years but it wasn’t until the 1800s that the dots were connected and there was an effort to get the pieces from all the places it had been dispersed to — Paris, Florence, the Vatican, etc.  The main part of the altar was discovered under a theater in the early 1900s.  It wasn’t until the 1930s, however, that they could finally excavate by using liquid nitrogen to freeze the water seeping in from the tiber as the hole was 27 meters (nearly 100 feet!) deep.

Mussolini made the altar a centerpiece of his new Roman Empire and built a pavilion for it.  In the 2000s, however, a new building was built around it.  Designed by an American architect, Italians are quite divided on it.  It is a very modern-looking building with glass all around allowing a view of the altar within.  It reminded me a lot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s similar structure surrounding their small Egyptian temple.

The altar itself was really cool.  Guests could walk up in it and all around it.  There was a decent intro film and some models of how the altar and surrounding area looked in Roman times.  The altar, now only carved white marble, was once brightly painted.  Below the main floor was the exhibition floor.  On exhibition were photos by Japanese realism photographer Domon Ken.  He was active during both pre- and post-World War II Japan and it was fascinating to see the change in life of that country during that period.  His later work consisted of photographing beautiful shrines — absolutely jaw dropping.

Leaving the Ara Pacis we passed a tree-filled mound of dirt and stone that was Augustus’ Mausoleum.  It wasn’t restored at all and was neat to see in a ruined state through a fence (that sported odd modern “art” pieces attached to it).  We stopped at a nearby gelato shop and got shakes — Michelle had strawberry, Addison oreo, and myself coffee (of course).  We walked south past the Spanish steps (empty as they were being cleaned and renovated) and down some fashion streets selling ties and the like.

Got some more water from a fountain shortly before returning to Hotel Bolivar for siesta and some blogging.  Awoke and headed out for dinner about 7:30p or so, getting some cash along the way.  We went to the place we went to our first night in Italy, Hostaria Al Boschetto.  Michelle had lasagna, myself spaghetti al carbonara, and Addison pork fillets and roasted potatoes.  We had “garlic” bruschetta as an appetizer.  Afterwards we tried to find some snacks for them for the trip back but they were all strange brands so we passed.  Did get some gelato on the way back, however!  Once back at the room we packed until midnight when we went to bed.

We awoke at our usual 6a or so and finished readying to vacate our room at the Relais Uffizi in Florence. It was a really nice hotel, other than having a full flight of stairs up to the bathroom. Ate our normal breakfast (without Addison, he’s long since given up on Continental breakfasts) and finished getting out of our room, leaving all of our luggage and carry-ons minus the backpack with the hotel.

Walked the mile or so to Firenze SMN and hopped on board a regional train to Pisa, arriving about 12:30p. It was already getting brutally hot but we managed to shuffle our way northwards through a square honoring Victor Emmanuel II and across the river. Shortly the area became more tree-lined and shady and we stopped at a restaurant attached to a hotel called Amalfitana. Though they only had outdoor seating they had those mist generators so it wasn’t so bad. We ordered a liter of still water and three cokes. Addison had a grilled beef steak and fries, Michelle a ham and cheese (mozzarella) ommelette, and myself a salami pizza. Very tasty. We finished up with some chocolate cake (with cherries — or at least that is what I think they were — embedded in it). The bathroom had a funky square seat shape (but at least they had a seat, many restaurant toilets have no lids or seat).

Refreshed, we headed back on the street, the Via Roma, heading north. We passed some university buildings and a wall with graffiti on it protesting the idea that austerity should be imposed on Italy (like in Greece) by the rest of the EU. We knew we were getting close as the street vendors selling selfie sticks (how I loathe them and the whole selfie culture) and art prints and the like were getting more numerous.  We met a married couple from Scotland who currently lived in central France.  They were quite worried about their pensions due to Brexit and that it may mean that they have to return home to Scotland.  They were, however, happy that Iceland beat England but dismayed that Italy beat Spain as they believed Italy had cheated (though they didn’t need to).

We finally got our first glimpse of the leaning tower.  It is actually the campanile, or bell tower, for the adjacent cathedral, Cattedrale di Pisa.  It leans about 4 degrees off center.  It had been more but through a modern engineering feat was corrected a bit.  The baptistery also leans and is incredibly about the same height as the leaning tower as it looked so much shorter as it is squat.  Took some pictures, including some hilarious attempts at the touristy “holding up the leaning tower” picture.

While Michelle and Addison enjoyed the shade next to the baptistery I bought tickets for the cathedral, baptistery, and Camposanto (literally “holy field”) for 7 euros each.  We passed on climbing the leaning tower as it was a very steep 18 euros each!  We visited the baptistery, formally known as Battistero di San Giovanni, first.  The baptistery is famous for its acoustics and a demonstration was ongoing so we had to wait until that was over.  After entering we looked over the sparse decoration and waited for the next demonstration.  A lady came in and sang — her singing hung in the air, echoing about the chamber, almost sounding like a round as earlier notes continued to sound on top of her current ones.  Once the demonstration was over I climbed the stairs that wound about the wall of the baptistery up to the second level.  Up there were fantastic views of the cathedral and its campanile.

Next we crossed the unnaturally green lawn, the Field of Miracles, to the adjacent Camposanto.  Though bombed heavily with incendiary grenades by the Allies in 1944 during World War II, melting its lead roof and damaging much of its frescoes and other artifacts; it was beautifully restored by the Allies with a gorgeous green lawn with roses and an open courtyard.  The covered outdoor space surrounding the courtyard was lined with frescoes, Roman sarcophagi, and a number of statues and monuments.  A side chapel had some relics from a Saint (that appeared to be a very common theme throughout Italy).

One fresco was absolutely amazing in its depiction of Hell.  A devil was eating and pooping people, entrails were extracted from the damned (those that weren’t required to hold their own severed head), people were on spits over roaring fires, etc.  So very metal!  There was a hall with even more frescoes including the famous “Triumph of Death” but sadly it was closed for renovation.  Booo!

Headed on to the cathedral.  Sadly it was also being renovated, including not being able to see the full mosaic of Jesus which, if the feet and lower robes were anything to go by, would have been a sight to behold.  There was, however, an amazing pulpit from the 1300s as well as a very intricate wood-carved ceiling.  A side shrine had some amazing mosaic work and one of the lamps hanging from the ceiling supposedly inspired Galileo to formulate some pendulum theories.  It is now called the Lamp of Galileo as a result.

Left the cathedral to do a little shopping.  Bought our customary magnets and a couple of postcards (one that Genetta had asked us to find as she had forgotten to buy it a few weeks prior).  Headed back to the train station as it was nearing 5p and we had to be in Rome that night!  We did, however, make some time to take some pictures of the Arno as well as a charming church, Santa Maria della Spina, built in 1230 along its banks.  We also stopped for some water as it was still hot despite being evening time.

We rode the train from Pisa to Florence for an hour, from 6p to just after 7p.  There were three Spanish tourists on the train that hadn’t validated their tickets (an easy mistake to make) and were about to be slapped with a 60 euro fine each — 180 euros (nearly $200!).  A friendly Italian man pleaded their case to the ticket agent and got it lowered to 60 euros total.  We walked back to the hotel a long way through a rich area, stopping for gelato along the way.

Grabbed our luggage and took a quick taxi ride back to Firenze SMN and were able to catch the 8:38p train.  In our haste we almost got on the wrong train… twice!  That would’ve been a disaster.  It was another super fast train, tunnels in particular hurt the ears.  We hit right at 250km/h.  As Michelle was not feeling well she didn’t appreciate it.

Once we arrived at Roma Termini (at about 10:15p) we took a taxi ride for 14 euros to the Hotel Bolivar, a place that had become our home away from home.  Checked in to room 106 — not as nice as our room those first few nights as there was a distinct rattle with the AC.  As it was 10:30p our food options were limited.  Michelle and I (Addison passed) decided to go to the nearby Ristorante Petrucchi.  We got a liter of still water, two cokes, six wonderful slices of garlic bread, and two spaghetti alla bolognesse (spaghetti with meat sauce).  Really hit the spot!

Headed back to the room and tried to upload pictures (impossible due to Hotel Bolivar’s terrible, terrible internet) and blog (again, impossible).  Decided to call it a night shortly after midnight.

Woke up unusually early, 6a.  After a quick breakfast at the hotel we headed to the nearly adjacent Palazzo Vecchio for a self-guided tour.  The first room we came to was massive, a great hall lined with paintings and overlooked by a second floor balcony.  Tucked to the side was a small study, or studiolo, built by Francesco I de’ Medici in the early 1570s.  It was lavishly painted floor to vaulted ceiling.  The rest of the first floor had office for various Medici members.

The second floor had rooms based on various elements as well as rooms depicting pagan Greek and Roman gods, goddesses, and myths.  Past an impressive Hall of Lilies lay the most awesome room — the Hall of Geographical Maps.  In the center of the room sat a large globe, surrounded by fifty three painted maps lining the walls.  It was amazing seeing depictions of animals, real and imagined, in lands from all over the globe including the Americas.  No Australia or Antarctica, however, as they hadn’t been discovered by Europeans by the late 16th century.

Dodging a large tour group we made our way to the excavations under the Palazzo.  The rest of the family elected to pass the visit as there were uneven metal grates and stairs to navigate.  The Palazzo was built on top of a Roman theater.  There wasn’t a ton to see, mainly some foundations and parts of walls as well as a few statues and some pots and urns.  There were neat shadow projections of performers and such to help bring the place alive.

Exiting the Palazzo we headed to the Piazza del Duomo and purchased tickets to the Duomo and other connected sights.  After a surprisingly brief wait in line we entered the cathedral, formally known as Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.  I’ll be honest, it is quite underwhelming inside compared to many of the cathedrals we had seen thus far.  The walls are almost completely unadorned, left a uniform gray.  The sparseness is in part because it was built with public funds and most decorations thus honor the civic leaders of Florence, such as a painting of Dante that shows a view of Florence in the late 1400s (long after Dante died) as well as scenes from the _Divine Comedy_.  Also, quite a bit of the art pieces have been moved to the adjacent museum.

Despite the sparseness, however, the interior of the cathedral’s dome, or Duomo, was spectacular.  It depicts _The Last Judgment_ over a vast 39,000 square feet.  Though the product of several artists in the late 1500s using different techniques it still managed to look very impressive.  There was also a funky 24-hour clock with I at the bottom and it even used IIII for four, VIIII for nine, etc.

Once we were done with the cathedral proper we descended some stairs into the remains of the Roman houses (including mosaics from North Africa ca. 500!) it was built upon as well as the earliest Christian church, Santa Reparata, as well as subsequent expansions to the church.  It had many graves of prominent Florentines including bishops as well as the tomb of Brunelleschi, designer of the Duomo’s dome.  In an alcove were skulls, shin bones, and other relics in small glass chests.  Several Medici artifacts like spurs were also on display, as well as a recreation of the original Christian altar that graced the small original church.

For lunch we went to Panini Toscani, a very small sandwich shop right across from the Duomo.  We waited on line for over half an hour and happened to be in line right behind a couple on honeymoon from North Carolina.  They were visiting London, Florence, and Rome.  He was a NCSU graduate student and she a UNC undergraduate and NCSU graduate.  We talked about home as she hailed from Cary (having gone to Enloe Highschool), NCSU basketball, Brexit, etc.  Finally making it into the shop were were treated to a demonstration of the choice of four cheeses and three meats.  We then chose our meat, cheese, bread, and toppings.  It was simply amazing, very tasty.

We sat in front of the Duomo museum in the scant shade and ate our paninis.  Genetta showed a little bit later and got her panini and Addison got a bit more.  We watched pigeons pecking for crumbs (and tossed a few which they played with) and even pieces of meat (they didn’t like that) in the flagstones in front of us.

We headed back to the hotel about 2p while Michelle and Genetta went shopping.  They returned between 2:30p and 3p as Michelle wasn’t feeling very good.  I headed back out with them to finish shopping — Michelle got a leather bag and Genetta some tea — as well as a quick stop for gelato from a shop off of Via dei Neri.

I walked Genetta back to her apartment, observing some amusing graffiti of an octopus grasping a red car along the way.  I then headed west a few hundred yards to the Piazza del Duomo and went through the Battistero di San Giovanni, or Baptistery of Saint John.  Wow!  In addition to ornate balconies with white and black marble was the real star of the show — the amazing ceiling. It depicted not only Jesus and saints and such but also a devil eating corpses.  Metal!  After I left I convinced Michelle to go through (she had been waiting outside as she didn’t feel well).  Afterwards she headed back to the room, with me following soon after once I was done taking a couple of pictures of the outside, including the ornate (but reproduction) doors (the Porta del Paradiso, or Gates of Paradise).

At about 5:30p I decided to head solo to the museum, rushing as I thought it closed at 7p.  It turns out it closed at 9p, giving me ample time to enjoy.  What a museum!  The first room was three stories tall and had a reconstruction of the original cathedral facade (prior to the redesign in the 1500s — which was better than the subsequent redesign in the 1800s) with some of the original stonework and statuary excavated over the years.  They also had the Roman sarcophagi that graced the area between the cathedral entrance and baptistery.  Of note too were the three original baptistery doors, moved to the museum to protect them from the elements.

They had a disappointing la Pieta but much of the rest of the artifacts in the museum were very impressive.  One gallery housed a series of diamond and hexagon “medallions” displaying professions and people that once lined the bell tower or Campanile.  Another gallery had large wooden models of the dome built to help in the actual construction as well as models from other designs that lost the competition.  Maps showed where timber was harvested from Church-owned lands in the countryside surrounding Florence.

Later rooms housed vestments, scepters, music books, and an ornate silver altar with miniscule details.  There was also a nice terrace affording decent close views of the dome.  Walked back to the room just before 8p.  Suddenly horns were blaring, guys cheering and shouting and running in and out of the bars lining the street — Italy had defeated Spain 2-0 in the round of 16 of Euro 2016.

I convinced Addison at about 8:20p to make a mad dash across the Arno river and up a steep bluff to the Piazzale Michelangelo which afforded beautiful sunset views of the city.  Once there we got some water and took a number of photos and enjoyed the evening breeze.  Descending the hill shortly after dusk we passed a big screen next to the river showing Iceland versus England, Iceland winning in a massive 2-1 upset.  We stopped at Lungarno 23 for dinner (yes, again).  Addison and I both had bacon cheeseburgers with fries and got takeout for Michelle — Lungarno 23 salad and Coke.

We got back to the room just before 11p.  Michelle really liked her dinner, made her feel a bit better.  I picked up the laundry and refilled our water bottle at the fountain in the Piazza.  Transferred photos from the cameras and blogged for a bit, heading to bed at about 1:30a.  What a busy day!

We awoke at 6a and ate our hotel breakfast at 7:30a sharp as we were to be picked up at 8:15a for our bus tour of parts of Tuscany.  Before heading to the pickup spot we saw the plaque on the piazza marking the place that Savonarola (of Bonfire of the Vanities fame) and two conspirators were burned in 1498 after being sentenced and hung.  Gruesome!

After pickup not far from our hotel we were driven to Firenze SM Novella.  Our bus, a large air-conditioned touring bus, left at 8:45a.  While not full there were a number of people, perhaps fifty or so.  Our guide, Giulio, was around 30 and spoke fluent English and Spanish, seamlessly drifting between the two.  The driver, Massimo, was an older gentleman but didn’t speak much (if any) English, speaking through Giulio when needed.

On the way out of Florence we saw a prison.  It was in the shape of a stadium, with the cells opening to the air overlooking the “field”.  While I certainly wouldn’t want to go to jail (and especially not in a foreign land!) it seemed like a pretty nifty setup.  No idea if it was a minimum or maximum security jail, however.  Also on the way out we saw several neat signs including one with rain clouds, snowflakes, and the like marking slippery when wet and dangerous conditions.

After an hour or so driving through the beautiful countryside of Tuscany we arrived at the first of four destinations for the day, the town of San Gimignano with its many tower houses.  Once a thriving independent town based on the pilgrims’ route to Rome from England and France (the Via Francigena) it had quite a large merchant class catering to the pilgrims’ needs.  They used this wealth to build tower houses — not only as a display of wealth (the taller the tower the wealthier the family) but also for defense.  Should an enemy come calling (often in the form of roving bands of mercenaries) the wealthy family need only pull up the ladder to protect their family.  Originally there were 72 towers, of which 14 survive, with the last built in 1311.  This last one, the tallest surviving tower at 177 feet, is known as the Torre Grossa and served as a guard tower.  One of those towers that did not survive was much taller at 230 feet!

Sadly, the Black Death hit San Gimignano in 1348 and killed three-quarters of the people.  Unlike Florence the town never bounced back.  There was a silver lining, however, in that the town’s rapid decline and remaining in obscurity meant that it is well preserved to this day.  The vast majority of the town’s remaining 5,000 people cater to the tourists that come to see the remaining towers (though only one is open — the Torre Grossa).

In addition to the very impressive towers, many with tufts of vegetation growing from them as well as the hint of exterior staircases, a few other things stood out about the town.  There were vast… flocks?… of swallows flitting about the tower tops.  One of the two piazzas in town had a neat old well, the other a church.  We didn’t get to visit the inside of the church, however, as service was going on as it was Sunday morning.  We also ate some “free” (included in the tour price, I’m sure) gelato that was quite extraordinary (having won some Italy-wide competition, supposedly) that would normally have served as an afternoon snack instead of a pre-lunch snack.  We were in San Gimignano in the morning as Siena (the normal morning destination) cathedral was also having services and it was not to be missed — hence the destinations were flipped.

San Gimignano had a variety of quaint shops including one specializing in painting metal soldiers but we didn’t have much time to shop aside from buying a few magnets.  We also took the time to walk along the walls and see some beautiful views of the countryside of Tuscany.  So very beautiful!  Reluctantly headed back to the bus at 11:15a and talked with Giulio.  We laughed as a different tour bus was leaving and one of our group ran after it asking it to wait up before realizing it wasn’t his bus.  Even more amusing was hearing Giulio relate the tale to Massimo in Italian a few minutes later.

A short fifteen minute drive along a narrow road and around a couple of tight turns (along which we were treated to views of both San Gimignano and our destination Monteriggioni) we arrived at the small walled town built by Siena to guard against their rival Florence.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any decent wide view of the small town’s walls and its fourteen towers — the downsides of being on a tour where I can’t just have them stop the bus for pictures!  In the parking lot we were amused by a guy yelling at *something* under his car — never did find out what it was!

Walked a short way to the gate into town and visited the main piazza that had a marketplace set up.  Michelle and Addison bought magnets and sat on a bench while I went across to the other gate and climbed up to the top of the walls (for a 5 euro fee) to take some pictures.  Atop the wall the view was spectacular and I could even see San Gimignano off in the distance.  To give a sense of how tiny the place is, the walls encircling the town are only 1,870 feet long and only forty people live within today.  On the way out of Monteriggioni at about 12:20p we saw a sign with the town’s name and a diagonal red line through it indicating that we were leaving it.

After a short ride to Siena we had a fairly long walk from the outskirts of town near fortifications built by the Medici to the old town, arriving about 1p.  We at lunch with the tour until 2p, quite tasty.  We had salad, bread, pasta with ground beef ragout, pork slices with roasted potatoes, pastries, and (for me, at least) water.  We met a nice lady from Honduras who was currently living in France with her two pre-teenage daughters.  She said the oddest thing about living in France was going to school on meet the teacher night and other events and having wine.  She also recommended that we visit some islands off the Honduran Caribbean coast.

Afterwards we walked with Giulio to the city center, a large plaza called Piazza del Campo dominated by the town hall or Palazzo Pubblico.  We couldn’t walk into the center of the plaza as they were setting up for the twice-yearly horse race, a famous event in the region.  The peremiter of the plaza had hard-packed sand and dirt on it to serve as the track and wooden stands were built all around.  Each of the town’s districts (represented by a color scheme and animal) have a horse and bareback rider race around the perimeter of the plaza, the winner being recognized as the best district until the next race.

While we stood in a group listening to Giulio’s instructions a nearby band of musicians playing to restaurant patrons kept getting louder and louder each time Giulio asked them to get quieter.  Finally muttering “bastardos!” he conceded that they had won.  A local lady joined us as our tour guide to Siena.  We were equipped with small walkie-talkies so that she could speak quietly to us as we’d be going to the cathedral.  She told us all about Siena (a town now of 50,000 people) and its rivalry with Florence in the 1500s.  There are seventeen districts and the races are held in early July (the 2nd this year) and mid-August.  She told us that only the horse need finish first, the rider can fall and that doesn’t disqualify the district’s horse.  She told us that despite living in another district she was born in the district represented by the turtle and she’s thus a turtle for life.

We walked uphill through narrow streets away from the plaza to the spectacular cathedral.  She pointed out arches and windows in adjacent buildings — originally the existing cathedral (already quite big) was to be greatly expanded and become just the end of the new cathedral.  This didn’t happen, however, as the Black Death put a stop to those plans.  Sadly because it was hot and so bright I totally missed taking any photos of the front of the cathedral and its really cool triangular mosaics.  Genetta has a nice shot of them in her blog here, however, from when she went.  Yay!

Inside was amazing.  The first thing that struck us were the black and white striped marble pattern everywhere as well as the colorful flags of all of the districts lining the main corridor.  There were also 56 floor mosaics made of white, black, red, and even yellow marble.  Only some were on display, however, the rest protected by carpet to prevent them being worn.  Twice a year they uncover them all — Genetta actually got lucky when she went earlier in the month and saw that.  Another cool detail were busts of the first hundred or so Popes (all of the ones up until the mid-1300s) staring down from above.

As spectacular as the cathedral was, the library was even more amazing!  As it had never had lamps within it was free of soot and sported the original — never restored — murals with beautiful colors.  The ceiling was equally impressive and cool old music books were on display as well.  At the bookstore we bought a small dragonfly ornament and magnet before re-meeting the group at the plaza at 4:10p.

Once back at the square we couldn’t linger long as they were wetting the surface for a trial run of the horses.  Sadly it was not to be for another hour and we had to leave before then.  We did get to see, however, a parade by one of the districts, blue fish banners waving in the breeze.  After a long walk back to the bus we proceeded to our last stop of the day, a vineyard, arriving at 5:30p.

After a short (but not short enough, haha) tour of the winery we sat with others at tables and tried two white wines, a red wine, some cheese, bread with olive oil and veggie mayo spread, and salami.  Before each wine was poured the vintner described what we’d be tasting but honestly it was lost on us.  We did meet a couple from Glasgow who were great to talk with so that’s something at least.  While the rest of the tour shopped for wine and such we headed outside and enjoyed the view of the Tuscan countryside and the nice early summer evening.

At 7p we hopped back on the bus for nearly an hour.  Along the way Giulio talked with Massimo lots.  He kept talking about his dog’s big ears and called him “Dumboreener” based on Disney’s “Dumbo”.  He also started talking about the movie “Armageddon” and the dog “Little Richard” that he called Ricardino.  I think the sun may have gotten to him!

Arrived back in Florence about 7:50p and walked back to the room.  We met Genetta there, wine in tow for us to take back for her (as she’s underage in US terms).  We went to a burger joint called “Off the Hook” that was quite good.  I had a bacon cheeseburger with cucumber and onions as well as fries.  Everyone else had burgers too.  Much Coke was drunk and Genetta had some white wine.  Belgium was playing somebody for Euro ’16 at the time.

Dropped Genetta off and on the way back to the room had some gelato before going to bed.  What an insanely busy day!