Tuesday

Tuesday -still in Siena



The convent is very centrally located. It has been a very good place to stay. It is clean and quiet. Very secure. We have listened to music in the evening with our windows open. We went to mass with five nuns in the church at 6 pm. There were some rules for the room that Eileen and I broke - no clothes washing - we washed our undies.


The nuns' church is the Sanctuary of St Catherine. We entered the church through the nuns' entrance on a lower floor. The book calls this is a simple sanctuary but it is far from simple and smaller than most. It is one of the most beautiful I have seen. It is filled with angels and lots of gold.





We got up and went to the breakfast served at the convent. I think it was the best yet - croissants, yogurt, juice, cappuccino, fruit, and cereal. We wanted to get to the museums when it opened.

We bought one ticket for four museums. The first was the museum of masterpieces of Italian art. This lead us to a tower for a panoramic view of the city. It was a good thing we were early because they limit the number of people at a time to a narrow stairway and small viewing area. Up we go. The viewing area has an incredible viewing area with high wall surrounding it.


As I am taking pictures, I see Eileen is stuck in one spot hiding onto the fencing. Judy is moving around easily saying " I am going up higher". I didn't even know you could go higher. Eileen is going back and I am going to follow her. Only one person goes up or down at a time - no passing. When Judy finally comes down, she explains the stairs became more narrow but the view was unbelievable. She is the bravest by far.

The cathedral was different than any of the others. The marble was striped black. I hope the pictures do it justice. We liked Siena. It was easy to get around. Our legs are getting stronger. Joan











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Sat and Sun

Saturday and Sunday
We came in by train arriving in Verannza about 12:30 from Florence. We had to change trains twice in three hours. Cinque Terre is an area along the coast of five small villages that are connected by a walking path. I was hoping when we arrived that this was going to be restful and lovely. Well, the train was so packed that it was difficult getting off with those big bags.


There just one main street here that goes down to the harbor and at the harbor are several outdoor restaurants. This street had so many people it was difficult to maneuver. Eileen asked a local woman where our rooms were located and to our delight they were right on the harbor. Rooms were hard to find so we didn't really know what to expect. We had two rooms. Eileen and I shared one, we only had to go up 63 steps. Judy was on the top floor (an additional 18 steps).
This is the building we stay in.


We were so overwhelmed by the number of people in such a small area. I have a cold so went to rest. Eileen and Judy went to explore. By evening the crowd was mostly gone. We had a wonderful dinner outside on the harbor. The owner was about 80 and treated us so royally.


We had a bottle of his own wine. He spoke good English because he worked with his brother in New York for 30 years. We had sardine anti pasta, vegetarian ravioli with walnut sauce and lasagna. Great dinner. The city was beautiful and quiet except for the church bells every hour or more. The trains had gone on strike from nine to nine, which was another reason there were not so many people around.

The morning was full of excitement. A storm was coming and the older community men (some in their speedos) were in the harbor pulling in their fishing boats up onto the upper areas out of the water before the rain. The rain came. We were' t able to walk the trail so it was a restful day with many of the locals. The boats weren't working either because of the weather.





We did get to see the excitement of an Italian wedding. Evidently, many Italian couples choose this location for their weddings even if they live in the states. We walked around this city a bit and found stone houses in the hillside. People live in very small simple spaces. The grapes are on tiered areas on the hillside. There many stone walls, walks and houses.






Since their wasn't any outdoor setting we just had some cheese, olives, pesto, ham and bread for lunch. For dinner we had a great pizza. We will be getting up early to head for Sienna. Joan














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Friday

Friday
We are up at 7:38. Breakfast was the usual of coffee, yogurt, juice and croissant. Perfect. We can all be ready in 30 minutes - just like when we were kids going to school. We are off to the Galleria dell' Accademia. Again Eileen has called in advance to reserve tickets so there was no waiting. We are thankful. The building entrance is on an unassuming street. You would never know it was housing such famous old works of art.

Just when you go into this school of art, you see at the end of a long expansive corridor the famous statue of David. It stands 17 feet tall depicting David of David and Goliath. The details in the marble are especially incredible. He represents the new outlook of the Renaissance Man. Michelangelo believed his work was a work of God. He was commissioned to do the work 1501. It is made of one piece of marble.

We were not allowed to take pictures but could stay as long as you wanted. Joan





We were soon overwhelmed with all the sculptures and paintings. I am sure Margie Rangno would have liked this museum which used to be a school for art. The masters used the students to do much of the work. Lots of gold leaf painting and stenciling. And this museum has long benches so one can just sit and gaze at the works or to wait for your companions. Worth seeing.

Joan decided to go back to the room hoping to get some quiet time and Eileen and I had a cappuccino, looked at a map, trying to figure out how to catch the right bus to get a higher view of the town. Since we hadn't yet seen the Pitti Garden we walked there and realized that we could get a great view from there. In fact, when stumbled into the adjourning garden, the Boboli, we struck gold in that there was nice cafe at the top overlooking the city with a porch. We didn't get into the palace but it was great having a beautiful view with some exercise built in.









By the time we returned to our room for our "rest"and snack of wine, cheese and salami from a local shop we knew the bus ride idea was not realistic and just enjoyed some time together. Florence is a busy town with tons of tourists,shops, and cafes. I am missing my quiet place in Catalina, despite really liking this trip. We ended the evening at a local restaurant which again was quite good. Tried the tomato soup and gnocchi. A group of 50 plus high school seniors from North Carolina were also there so the octave level was up but was impressed with their group.
Judy


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Thursday

Thursday











Judy and Eileen are playing Scrabble at 5 am. We are planning to catch the vaporetto at 9. Breakfast is served at 8. As we leave on our last boat trip, we see many transport boats. Everything has to be brought in by boat. It is quite a feat. We are headed to Florence for two days . It is just a 2 hour train ride. We find the trains a fairly easy way to travel and see the sights too. These are reserved seating so you don't feel the need to rush to get a seat and they are clean. We arrived in Florence at 12:30. We got our train tickets to Cinque Terre so we knew when we needed to be at the station on Saturday.





Our room is just minutes from the train station. We were in our room quickly and out on the streets for a look. Florence has a different feel to it. It still has the open cafes but more merchant street stands than the other cities. The sidewalks are narrow and everywhere you look people are pulling their bags. It seems like there are more motorcycles and less bicycles. Also less fashion. We stopped for a slice of pizza and then we tried to find some of the places we want to see tomorrow.


Our hotel is located centrally so we are able to walk to everything. We


came upon The Galleria deli Uffizi.


This is the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere featuring works by Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titan,and Botticelli. The line didn't look so long so in we decided to wait. It took about an hour. We were inside for about an hour and half. It was all pretty incredible.
Everything is so old and so well preserved. We were now ready for dinner.





On the way back to our room we stopped for a lovely dinner. Again there are so many places to choose. Judy and Joan had the daily special which was a salad,beans,brushetta, and the best lasagne ever. Melted in your mouth and a reasonable small portion. Eileen thought she ordered a salad with local ham,olives etc. Turned out that she ordered a plain salad so Joan and Judy gave her some bites. She will make it.

Judy and I did laundry and had sauna at the the same time. We were so excited to have our clothes cleaned. Joan

Wedesday

Wednesday
We planned to get up early enough to get to St. Marco by 9.30. Eileen had gone on line and paid 3 euros for a quick entrance for the day before but we arrived later than expected. When we arrived there were at least a thousand people in line. It was already getting hot. So Eileen asked if we could still use the pass and he opened the gate for us. This Basilica was built in the 11th century. St Marco's
bones have been here (originally in a previous church) since the 800's.





You can just sit inside and look and look. So much to take in. There is so much gold on the ceilings. The mosaics tell the the stories of the saints and scriptures. There was no written word. No pictures allowed. Strict rules to covered arms, all hats off and knees covered. We don't have this same reverence in the states. The outside is as impressive as the inside. The Romans made structures to last. The line was just as long when we got out - those poor people.








We had planned to go to another museum but changed our minds. We got on a boat to the island of Murano. The boat was not as crowded and went faster than the canal boats. It was about a 45 minute ride. This is where Murano glass comes from. There are many glass factories with shops . It is all beautiful. It wasn't very crowded but there were many photo opportunities. (we are thinking of our cousin, Marilyn knowing she would love this) We visited a church here -again so old and incredibly beautiful. This area has more local housing. We bought a piece of artichoke/mushroom pizza from this tiny bakery. So so good.

On our way home we stopped at the train station to reserve our tickets to Florence in the morning. We returned to our room for showers and a rest. I am listening to a conversation between Judy and Eileen. As Judy is looking out our window, she says the building across the walkway appears close enough to jump. Eileen says it could look deceiving. I am thinking no wine for Judy.


In the future we will purchase our tickets when we get off the train so we don' t waste time

We ventured out later. You can just walk and see new shops, restaurants and churches in every direction each connected with a bridge over a canal or narrow walkway. We found another quiet restaurant for light meal of spaghetti w/clams and anti pasta w/sardines and polenta. It is just fun to watch the gondoliers entertain their guests with their romantic singing. The night life here is so wonderful for everyone. There are not many street lights but activity at every square. What an experience!
We leave for Florence in the morning, catching the train at 10:30. It is a two hour ride. Joan w/help from Judy.







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