Italian Road Trip-Pisa, Italy

Wednesday-July 18th-I traveled, by car to Pisa, Italy.  I thought I'd try to find the Juliet thing in Verona, so went there first.  Big Mistake when you don't know where you are going!  So back on the Autostrede and headed to Pisa.  This route took me through a mountainous/hilly region with lots of tunnels around Florence.  Another long and exhausting drive.  But, when I got to Pisa...Easy!  Signs that take you to the Tower and to an awesome parking area that cost me only 1.5 euros for 2 hours.  This was an amazing place.  And, I finally found some good deals on leather handbags!  YAY!  I will post the pics later, but this is a must see if you go to Italy. 

The Tower was actually originally built to be the bell tower of the Duomo di Pisa, The Cathedral of Pisa.  Gorgeous just stunning!!!  And behind the Cathedral is the Battistero, the Baptistry.  The 3 structures go together and are jaw dropping.  No, I did not choose to climb the tower.  It didn't appear too many did, or they did and they were the ones that appeared to be dying of exhaustion surrounding the tower.  Lots of people taking pictures of each other trying to "hold up" the tower.  Very funny!

I really loved this trip and wish Howard and I had taken it together.  It was beautiful.  Miss you sweetie!

More pics later.

The History of Vicenza

History of Vicenza:source. http://www.veneto-explorer.com/vicenza-italy.html

It was founded by the ancient Venetos, then it passed under the Romans. At the times of the Roman Empire decay, it was subjected to the Barbarians invasions, turning into a Dukedom under the Lombards and a County under the Franks.
In 1164 it became a Free City-State, until 1404 when it passed voluntarily under the dominion of the Venice Republic, enjoying a period of great wealth and glory.

Over the 1500s’ the architect Andrea Palladio, born in the nearby Padua, concurred to turn Vicenza into a jewel of the Renaissance architecture.

After the Serenissima fall in 1797, it first passed for a while under the Napoleon rule and later under the Autrian-Hungarians.
Vicenza, and the rest of Veneto, joined the Kingdom of Italy - born in 1861 - in 1866, after the Third Independence War.


Teatro Olimpico:an architectural jem of Vicenza Italy
At the end of Corso Palladio do not miss the Teatro Olimpico, the most ancient indoor theater in the world, and the last impressive work of Andrea Palladio before passing away in 1580. The theater shows off an amazing trompe l’oeil effect in his interior.

Italian Road Trips-Ancona

This week, I rented a car from Sixt.  I picked it up in Podova.  It is a cute little Fiat Panda.  Gas mileage is not as good as I expected.  Not as good as the 500. 

On Tuesday, I drove to Ancona, Italy.  This is on the East coast on the Adriatic Sea.  I was expecting this beautiful 'little' seaport.  Instead it is a thoroughly modern Sea Port, host to hundreds of cruise ships and cargo ships daily.  I found my way into the town center, which felt like I could have been driving in Rome, and finally saw this tiny little road that led up and away.  I took it!  Turns out it led me to the Cathedral of Ancona.  Predates the 6th Century and offers you an amazing view of the Adriatic Sea, and the CITY of Ancona.  The picture above is not one that I took.  I found this on Wikipedia.  I got some close ups of the cathedral and some lovely shots of the Sea, Town and Ships.

The drive to Ancona was interesting.  My brother's GPS had me going on the Autostrede through Bologna to get there.  A 3.5 hour drive was more like 4.5 hours, by the time I got there.  I decided to take the long way home (a 5 hour drive), but I got to see more of the country side.

Sunflowers?!  Is Italy home to the Sunflower Seed?  I saw hundreds of acres of Sunflowers growing.  I need to google this.  Did and Europe is the major sunflower seed exporter to South Africa.  Interesting.  Another thing I found:"The sunflower's seeds have been long prized for their oil content and are sold from China and the U.S to Russia as a snack food, it has also been cultivated across Italy for centuries because of these qualities. Research is currently being carried out to refine the oil for use as a bio-diesel.".   They were lovely and not what I expected.  They are prevalant in all of Italy, apparently, next to grapes and olive trees. 

Nice trip, but I was exhausted when I got back to Bud's.  Very frustrating drive with the GPS, who didn't know her way home.  When I reached Ferrara, Italy, I got back on the Autostrede and just zoomed home.  Very long day.  at least 10 full hours of driving, as I didn't stop long to sight see.
Bummer. 

Oh, Sad to say, but the East coast of Italy is not as pretty as I expected it to be, at least to Ancona.  Pretty, but not what I expected.  I think that will be on the West coast.  A good thing to note is that if you want to camp in Italy, it is a big thing.  Lots of campgrounds, especially on the Adriatic Sea.

Will post more pics of the cathedral and sea later.

Paladio's la Rotunda-Vicenza, Italy

This was a def must see, although I was disappointed that I could not take pics of the frescas painted on the ceiling.  The paintings were by 3 different Italian painters, dating back to the time the home was built.  It was first occupied by a clergyman, so you can understand why there are so many religious statues and paintings.  Paladio designed this structure, he never lived in it.  With the rolling hills, you could almost imagine being at Monticello. 

The Italian Adventure

I do not travel long distances well. To start with, mother Naturre decided to leave me without electricity. So no shower from Monday to Wednesday. The hotel in Venice had a wonderful shower!!! To add to the stress, TJ, my obnoxious yellow napped Amazon parrot, was attacked on the screen porch, while in her cage, by a young raccoon. I had to have her wing ,left, amputated. Thank you to my wonderful land lady's daughter, Priscilla, for all the TLC she is giving her. I didn't get any sleep on the flight from Phil to Venice. Arrived in Venice in June 27 th. we were able to navigate the twist and turns without much problem. Visited the Doge Palace, St. marks Basillica, the Jewish Ghetto, rode on a gondola, a vaporetta, and went to an Italian pub on Thursday to watch Italy beat Germany in the European soccer semi finals. Venice was lovely. I never felt frightened and it was so wonderful not to deal with traffic. Everyone was so friendly. They treat all tourists with kindness. Paloza del Giglio is the hotel in which we stayed. They were super helpful with great restaurant "non tourist" restaurants. Very close to the water taxi boarding site and a pleasant walking distance to all the sites. Let's see if I can upload some pics.

July 10-Asiago-Yum Cheese!!

Had to wait to visit this place until Howard had gone home.  He has an aversion to cheese of all kinds.  However, can eat pizza.  I don't get it.  But it is for real. 

This little mountain side town (Dolomites, often referred to as the foothills of the Alps), Asiago, is a charming touristy town.  Buildings are painted bright colors, there are shops all over the town's center including a Gelato shop that, honestly Howard, was not as good as the ones you and I have had. And I only got one scoop.  Buddy got 2. 

Made a huge investment into chocolate, for Howard.  Bought Asiago ham and Asiago Chees (aged 3 years and hard)  MMMMM. 

Buddy and I tried to find all these cheese places and only found one.  Asiago cheese.  Get it?  It was fun and just a short drive from Vicenza.

Vicenza-July 10?

I don't want to do that tomorrow, Aunt Rox.

Vicenza views-hillside
Aside from the house styles, this could pass for the foothills of the Blue Ridge

Yep, another church/basillica.  Beautiful structures

I saw some brown trout in this river.  It goes through town.  Two
men are over there spinning.

Bright colors here.  When I went by on the return trip, I
realized that this is a local butcher.  Proschiutto anyone?

Up this morning for an early walk with "John Wayne", Buddy's slightly overweight Doberman/Bassett Mix.  We walked for just under an hour, stopping only to check out some fly fishing equipment in the town. 

Venice-The Jewish Ghetto

The oldest confinement of Jews is in Venice, dating back to the 1500's.  This thriving, popular neighborhood (today) is the site of many Kosher restaurants, shops and heart breaking structures.  The area is still walled off and topped with rolled barbed wire.  Just for History?  Come on People, get with it. 

A Kosher Restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto



Scenes depicting the treatment of the Jews during WWII
 Note the Barbed Wire above the wall.

Remembering the Jews who lived here and were deported
to the concentration camps, during WWII

The Jewish Temple

A street scene of residences in the Jewish Ghetto

We went to a Kosher restaurant that served us a Kosher pizza. i.e. No cheese.  It was delicious.  Howard had a pasta dish with out cheese.  What to drink?  Ask for Still or Natural Water.  The other choices are soft drinks and Bubbly water.  On a hot day, the bubbly is not good or refreshing.  Ask for still

The Italian Adventure-Travel in Italy-Specifically, Venice

We arrived in Venice Airport and took a Vaporetto to the docks of Venice proper.  Our Hotel was within walking distance.  We left Venice by Train, the fast one.  We chose to ride economy, as the description was quite accomodating.  And, it was.  Easy to load our carry ons in the overhead compartment, right at our seats.  Online:  Eurorail pass.  Book online and you receive your passes within days, stateside.  You do have to have a pretty tight itenerary to do this, as you will get assigned seats.  Much less stressful than hoping to get on the right train at the right time.  Also, it is a ton easier to travel this way if you have limited yourself to carry on luggage. 

Don't worry about the Vaporettos not being close to your location.    They dock lots of places throughout Venice.  Because of this, they are a slower mode of travel.  Sort of like riding a bus with lots of stops.  The second/fastest choice is the Water Taxi.  They pick you up and take you to your destination.  We only used a water taxi to get us from our hotel to the train station because I was afraid we didn't have enough time to get lost in the station and locate our correct podium for the train.  I was wrong.  We had plenty of time, but the peace of mind was "priceless". 

Gondolas are costly but fun for sight seeing the city of Venice from the water, itself.  If you are lucky you get a Gondolier who doesn't talk except to point out exceptional sites: i.e.  Marco Polo's Home, The Rialto Bridge and its history (built in 1492, the first bridge built across the canal).  If you are unlucky, you end up with 1 Gondolier who has a passenger (that happens to work with him-there are no her Gondoliers) who breaks out in song.  You are often left with the "don't give up your day job, Oh, shoot this is your day job-Sorry!" feeling.  We were lucky.  And it really is delightful.  Gondola ride-a must.  You simply cannot appreciate the Venetian building, at water level, any other way. 

Views from the Gondola

Our Gondolier and "Quiet Travel Guide" on the canals

Marco Polo's Home

View of the base of a Structure at Water Level.  Note the Water line about
12 inches above the water

Arriving in Venice by the Vaporeta (spelling?)

Us

Opera House-Maria Callas sang here often.  She is Honored with this plaque

Shop keepers are accustomed to rising waters-at least 1 foot-and are ready, at a moment's notice to elevate their wares above the water.  If you happen to visiting Venice during the rainey season, bring boots.  Or, be assured, plenty of places will sell them.

The Italian Adventure-July 6,2012

Left Gardone Riviera for Vicenzia in our rental car. Decided to visit Sermione on the way. This is an old seaside port at the base of Lake Garda. It is literally a "spit" of land. Reminded us a lot of a typical busy beach town. We left Sermione and headed to Vicenzia on the autostrada which is not such a big deal. The traffic was not any faster than some of the traffic on I-95, except slow people have the sense to stay out of the left lanes, or move over when a car comes up behind them. Our Fiat handled well

We decided to keep the car an extra day and return it on Friday, since we were not going to make the return time. I called the day before to let them know. We weren't charged for the extra day. Nice!

The Italian Adventure-Lake Garda region-July 3, 2012

Took a train from Rome to Bologna, where we picked up our rental car. A Fiat, what else?
From Bologna we went to the Lake Garda Area, specifically Gardone Riviera. This is a beautiful region. The Dolomite Mountains drop to the water, hotels and houses are built right on the side of the mountain, the sea side towns are quaint and clean and feel so safe. The views are breathtaking. We visited many of the little towns on the west side of the lake. First we took a boat tour from Grandone Riviera to the north. Aagh, forget the name... Then we got in the car and visited some of the little towns. We drove to Riva, then turned around and came back to our hotel.

Our Hotel

A seaside town on Lake Garde

A seaside town with a Castle looming above

Roxanne-sitting poolside

Howard-sitting poolside

Another view from our hotel dock
Seaside shops and restaurants

Another view of our hotel

Waiting for our boat

This was our resting stage from the hard work of sightseeing. It was great. Wonderful setting with a wonderful significant other!

The Italian Adventure-Rome-June 29-The Pantheon

Rode on my very first train. Left the Rome terminal Bout 9 and got into Rome by noon. Very easy travel. Went economy and was amazed at how nice the accommodations were. We only had carry on bags (2) and our backpacks (and of course my pillow). Stored our stuff either overhead or between seats. Plenty of room.

The Pantheon

Okay, I'll Play.  Does he think I wouldn't?

Interior of Pantheon

While in Rome, we visited the Pantheon, Forum, Coliseum, Palantine Hill, Treviso Fountain, The Spanish Steps, the National Rome Museum. We walked everywhere and found it easy to do that. We took one bus ride, to say we did. Saw the European Soccor finals between Italy and Spain, in an Irish Pub! Ate in fabulous restaurants. Rome is unbelievable. I did feel more inclined to protect or be on guard. The Gypsies, homeless and street beggars are numerous and disgusting. I really became angry with some of their stunts. You watch the locals and they just ignore them. They seem to know who to target and definitely back off when you glare at them. I got my teacher look in practice and fine form while in Rome.