Madison Monroes

After a good night’s sleep and a quick breakfast, we loaded up in the car and headed out to Tuscany for a day in the hill towns. After a quick hour drive north, we came to our first stop, Montepulciano. Here we found a parking spot and started walking up the hill to Piazza Grande where we took a quick walk through the Cathedral and took in a cantina (cellar). While at the Contucci Cantina, we were treated to all the samples we could drink with no pressure to buy.  After several tasty reds, we decided to go with five reds and one white. This specific winery is owned, operated, and manufactured locally and (according to Adamo, the cellarman) featured on American PBS. From there we proceeded back down the hill, taking in the views of the Tuscan hillsides.

Our next stop was Piensa, where we paused for a quick lunch on our way to Montalcino.

Once to Montalcino, our first stop was at the biggest wine store we’d seen yet. After a few minutes of being awe struck at the huge selection, we decided to take home just one bottle of €35 Brunello di Montalcino 2005, the area’s number one wine. As we paid for the bottle, we were instructed that it is to be opened and let breathe for two hours before drinking it. I guess we’re starting to get fancy with our wines.

At this point in our day, we were ready for a drive through the Tuscan countryside, simply taking in the views. Sadly, this is where our Tuscan experience ends.

This is a shot looking out from Montepulciano.

This is Montalcino up on the hilltop, taken as we approached the town.

We got up early this morning to grab a few more pastries from Il Pirata before catching our train to Pisa. Most of the pastries from the first round of baking were already gone, but we were able to get ricotta croissants and then grab an apple and peach pastry on the way out.

When we got to Pisa, we checked our bags at the train station and wandered toward the Field of Miracles (the area of the Leaning Tower). Along the way, we stopped at a farmer’s market and bought some raspberries and strawberries to munch on while we walked.

The large building is the Duomo, and the smaller one is the Baptistry. Both are surrounded by grassy expanses and more buildings that complete the Field of Miracles complex. The tower is just out of frame to the right, in front of the Duomo.

Once we reached the Field, we bought tickets to see the Duomo and Baptistery. Inside the Baptistry, we were treated to a brief serenade by one of the staff (the acoustics are excellent). The space is large without much light inside, so we weren’t able to get many worthwhile photos.

Next up was the Duomo. This was one of the few on our trip that allowed photos, but it was also pretty dark. I played around with some manual settings on the camera and was able to get a few better shots of the main altar. I was pleased to see that it was possible to enter for free if you intended to pray (everyone else had to pay just to go inside).

Random Note: Imagine one out of every two tourist around the field of miracles stopping in the middle of everything and holding their hands up in the air. Somewhere nearby, another person was taking their picture to make it look like they were holding up the tower (or pushing it over). We couldn’t bring ourselves to stoop to that level.

After we left the Duomo, it was time to climb the tower. I assumed that they had not corrected the interior to going up the spiral staircase as you circle the tower were fairly subtle. The steps were all worn in the same places, giving each one a dip in the middle from left to right. This uneven surface made the climb a challenge, even more so than the lean.

We were able to walk around the outside of the tower at three levels: one in the middle, one near the top where the bells hang, and one at the very top above the bells. We got the impression that the bells don’t actually ring. They were doing restoration work on the exterior of one of the levels near the top, and the entire middle column seemed to have work ongoing. The views were nice, but not as impressive as some others we’ve seen on the trip.

The last several posts have been backdated because we didn’t have reliable internet at the time. I tried to set the dates and times appropriately. We’re on an hour of wifi in Vernazza, so we’ll probably make a few modifications later. Ciao.

C: What should we write about?

A: Well, today started out much better than yesterday.

C: Yesterday wasn’t hard to beat…

A: I actually got to have eggs for breakfast. And I tried my first cappuccino, but I’m not that thrilled about having another one. (Blue Marlin Bar)

C: You should have seen the look on your face!

A: After breakfast we transferred our laundry from the washer to the dryer.

C: What a waste of €6. We wandered around the town for an hour and a half following Rick Steve’s walk. When we got back to the laundry, everything was still wet.

A: Remember when we joked about trying out the clotheslines outside the window? It’s not so funny anymore.

C: I still can’t believe our stuff isn’t dry after hanging all day. At least it has another full day before we have to pack it back into our bags. After dealing with the laundry, it was time to start hiking.

A: I’m glad we did the hard section from Vernazza to Monterosso first. Lots of stairs, but better to be going up than down, since some of them were so slippery. The lookouts were awesome.

C: I’m pretty sure none of our pictures will do it justice.

A: It was a great way to burn off last night’s pasta. One of the best parts was listening to some people complain about how dangerous the trail was, but they are the ones hiking it in flip-flops and mini skirts.

C: I’m still disappointed that some of the trail is closed due to possible landslides. Do you think it will be open tomorrow?

A: I don’t know. Are you sure you want to spend another day hiking?

C: Maybe we should just take it easy tomorrow. What did you think about Via dell’Amore?

A: It would have been way more “amore” without the tour groups following their umbrella-toting guides. [Many of the guides held umbrellas in the air so their groups could keep track of them.] I’m kind of irked that we forgot to take a padlock; I forgot about it. [It’s currently popular to close a padlock with your lover onto a railing or fence along this path.]

Other than the non-view, what did you think of dinner at the castle? [The place was described as having cliff-side, sea-view tables for two. Those tables were there, but they weren’t using them for some reason. Instead, we were seated at a table behind an opaque sheet of plastic where you couldn’t see much.]

C: The antipasto mare was really good. A cold plate on one side and a hot plate on the other made for a nice contrast. How many different items were there?

A: I think it was eight; four per plate.

C: The penne pasta was also pretty good. I was expecting a more powerful pesto flavor, but it was just a subtle part of the whole. Tasty.

A: My veal steak looked huge, but it was mostly bone. The part that was edible was mostly tough and chewy. The “fries” were pretty sad.

C: They definitely know how to handle surf better than turf. Did we miss anything interesting about our day?

A: Probably.

Today was supposed to start with an easy walk across Venice to the train station. We left the hotel a little later than planned and soon realized it was a lot farther to walk than we had anticipated. We needed to catch a specific train to make it to Cinque Terre at the right time to meet the person who would show us to our room around 4pm. Amber had repacked our bags and added a few of the items we’d purchased, so everything seemed heavier. I carried the full laptop backpack and I was ready to kick it into the grand canal by the time we made it to the station. We had about 15 minutes before our train left, but we still needed tickets.

We finally found an automatic ticket machine and punched in our intended destination, Vernazza. We found the train we were expecting and pushed the button to select it. No Seats Available. Not good. What were our other options? This leg of our trip was going to be at least two trains long, so maybe we could break it down into pieces? No. Nothing was available going to anywhere near where we needed to be until over an hour later. Not only that, the best solution we could find would put us into Vernazza two and a half hours later than originally planned. We went ahead and bought the tickets without knowing if anyone would be available to take us to our room when we got there.

I had more problems at the pay phone. There were no instructions on how to use it, so I had to guess. I was eventually able to place a call to the main number for Francamaria Rooms. The display told me the call was connected and deducted €0.20 from my credit. I waited. And waited. And waited some more. The phone deducted another €0.10, and still nothing.  No ringing, no voice, no sound whatsoever. I made the mistake of hanging up the receiver, and the phone ate my remaining €0.70 of credit. I tried the cell number I had recorded in our itinerary; this time I got a distinct busy signal and a message “Line is Busy.” After trying multiple times  with no luck and going through about €3, it was time to get on the train. The call would have to wait.

By this time, Amber was visibly upset and I was frustrated that more of our day would now be spent on trains.  Our new route would take us from Venice to Brescia on a Eurostar City train (a step below the Eurostar AV trains we’d been on already, but still pretty nice).  From Brescia, we would change to a regional train (bottom of the line) and head to Parma. There we’d change to another regional train to La Spezia. Finally, we’d catch one more regional train and head for Vernazza.

On the first train to Brescia, there were several people with cell phones, and I was tempted to ask to borrow one. Instead, I waited patiently, hoping to find a pay phone in the station at Brescia. Unfortunately, we ended up with very little time there, and we ran from track to track to catch the next train about two minutes before it left. Not wanting to risk another mad dash through a station, I decided it was time to take my phone out of airplane mode and make the call from the train. After about 2 minutes, it finally picked up a signal from Vodaphone IT and I made a quick call (actually 3) before I finally got someone on the phone and told her we would be arriving at 6:30 instead of 4:00. She said it was ok, but if we were any later there would be a problem (like we have any control over the trains).

At that point, we finally felt like we could relax a bit. We still weren’t thrilled with some of the other characters around us. We quickly realized that regional trains stop at almost every station they pass, sometimes for as little as a minute or so. That first regional train wasn’t air conditioned, nor was the interior in very good shape. Eventually it was time to change again. Starting in Parma, the trains were better.

We made it to Vernazza right at 6:30, but I couldn’t find a pay phone anywhere. Once again, I switched my phone out of airplane mode and made a quick call. Who knows how much that will cost. A guy came down to meet us, and after several flights of steps, we finally made it to our room. I was pleased to see that it looked exactly like the website depicted it (room 6B).

The food in Venice was okay, but lacked the pizzazz and wow that we experienced in Florence.

By the time that we arrived in Venice it was already 12:30 and we could not check into the hotel until 2:00. So to kill some time, we grabbed a couple of paninis at a snack shop near St. Mark’s Basilica and proceeded to walk around the square.

For supper that evening, we wanted to try a place that we read about in Rick Steve’s Italy. In the book, it states that place opens at 6:00. It was 6:30 when we got there and the place was gated shut with a guy inside on the phone. Although disappointed, we consulted Rick again, and found a place near our hotel that has a relaxed atmosphere and great fish. So, we get there a few minutes after 7:00 (we don’t have the recommended reservation so we are hoping for a table) and are quickly seated at one of the 10 tables in the restaurant. We ordered a plate of Cod to start and Penne with Crab to split. After the waiter/owner takes our order to the kitchen, he returns to ask if we would like to try the chef’s specialty, fresh Gnocchi instead of the penne. Sure, sounds greats! 15/20 minutes and half a bottle of wine later, the Gnocchi shows up. This was delicious, melt in your mouth pasta with a sauce to die for! Wait a minute, what about our cod? Oops, he forgot about it, he’ll go get it now. Before he brought it out, we were expecting a plate of fried cod… Nope! It was a plate of cod salad (you know, shredded cod with cream sauce all mashed together like you are going to spread it on a sandwich) and three squares of what we finally concluded were grilled potato of some sort. Although hesitant, it was very good. I am beginning to like eating outside of my box! As we were finishing up with our delayed cod plate, the restaurant was full; not an empty table in the place. Wait, they can squeeze in a few more groups… Any table that had four chairs but only had two people sitting at it started to receive guests at their table. Ours included. He sat another couple from Switzerland (???) at our two empty chairs. What an evening of oddities, but the food was good. [We keep forgetting to take pictures of our food, so no pictures to make your mouth water.]

The following day started with more of the same: a roll with meat and cheese for breakfast and a panini for lunch. This time dinner came with a recommendation from our hotel. We arrived and were promptly stalked by our possibly hung-over 40-something waiter until we ordered. Carson started with a macaroni dish and I started with ham ravioli in a cream sauce. Both were very good, although Carson’s came out looking like penne instead of macaroni so we’re not sure he got what he actually ordered, nevertheless, it was still good. For the main meal, Carson had Filet Mignon, and I had Veal in a Lemon Sauce. Both of which were OK, but nothing to write home about. We did finish with dessert this time, a “truffle” that came in the form of a very liquored slice of white cake. [Of course we forgot to take pictures of the most interesting part, the pasta. Here's the second course.]

On to Cinque Terre!

Our second tour of the day was to see the St. Mark’s Clock Tower. The tour was almost over even before it began. With rain in the area, there was a good chance we would not get to see the fourth and fifth levels of the tower since they are outside and it would have been too dangerous if wet. However, we decided to go anyway and chance it with the weather.

The tour started in the living room of the clock-watcher’s apartment, which is also where the weights that power the main mechanism hang. While on this level, we learned that in order to build the clock tower, several buildings were demolished to make room. Built around 1496 and completed within 4 years, this clock tower was also home to each clock-watcher and his family until renovations began in 1998.

Next we proceeded to the second level where the main mechanism is housed. Also on this level was the former kitchen, which is no longer much to see as it is now the cleaning lady’s closet.

This is the main mechanism (actually 5) that makes the whole thing work.

The third level housed the Procession of the Kings until 19^th century renovations upgraded their doors to house a more modern digital clock, the first in the world. Since the Kings were replaced, they are returned to center stage twice a year: once in February for Annunciation of the Kings and again after Easter for Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension.

The fourth level is where the Winged Lion of Venice guards the city.  On this level, the weather held up and we got to walk on the terraces on each side and watch as the Moors struck the bell to mark the time.

The last level, the fifth level, is the top of the Clock Tower that houses the Moors and the bell.  These specific Moors, contrary to popular belief, are not African males but instead, got the title of Moors because of the dark color of the aged copper. While on this level, we noticed that one Moor is old with a long beard and aged skin, while the other Moor is young with strong muscles.  This was done intentionally as each Moor strikes the bell at different times: the old Moor strikes the bell two minutes before the hour to acknowledge the time past and the young Moor strikes the bell two minutes after the hour to acknowledge the future.  Oddly, this clock is never struck on the hour, only two min before and two min after. This level also presented with several wonderful photo opps and a spectacular view of the city and the square below.

This is a view from the fourth level out over the square, past St. Mark's Basilica and the Bell Tower and over the lagoon. The two pillars near the water were used to hang people during executions, among other things.

Our guide let us pass the rope line long enough to snap a shot of us in front of the bell and the moors.

Before I forget to mention it, the design and location of the clock tower were picked specifically to welcome the ships from the sea into Venice.  The arch at the bottom of the tower opens into the main market street of Venice.  This street is also a direct route to the Rialto Bridge and the rest of Venice.

Our full day in Venice started with a tour of the Doge’s Palace. The tour was called the “Secret Itineraries” tour, which is an odd name but basically means, “we’re going to take you to parts of the palace most people don’t get to see.” Our guide was Italian, but spoke passable English. “Photos are forbidden inside. Once we pass the golden staircase, no more. *smile* Sorry.” She was pretty adamant that no one touch, sit, or lean on anything which became quite a challenge as our group of 20 or so squeezed into a tiny half office belonging to the Venetian secret-keeper.

This is a shot in the courtyard of the palace, one of the few places where photos were allowed.

Apparently the Doge (ruler of Venice) chose a single commoner to protect all of the empire’s secret documents. This sounds a lot sexier than it really was; most of the secret documents pertained to contracts or war. This chancellor spent all day in a tiny little office, occasionally venturing over to a room that stored all of the documents in cabinets lining the walls. This room was filled with secretaries and other workers, none of whom actually ever saw the secret documents around them. Each document had just a single copy. What did they workers do? They spent their time making two additional copies of all of the non-secret documents.

Next we found ourselves in the Venetian torture room. Here, they would tie peoples hands behind their backs and repeatedly lift them to the ceiling until they confessed their crimes. There were always three magistrates present, along with other prisoners waiting in the wings so they could hear the agony of the one being tortured.

From there we were led through a tiny doorway (maybe 4’ tall) into a prison cell. This cell would typically hold just one or two prisoners, so it was quite large by most standards, probably 15 x 15 x 6+. It was just tall enough for me to stand up inside. Here we learned the “true story” of a prisoner who was held there.

This guy was quite a ladies man. Venetian law allowed anyone to accuse anyone of a crime by putting a letter in a drop box. As you may imagine, there were many angry husbands accusing him of adultery. He was eventually arrested, but there was no evidence of adultery. Instead, the charge was possession of magic books. He was sentenced to 5 years. He actually got off easy because his offenses had been punishable by death until 6 months before he was arrested.

The prisoner was mostly well liked, so he was allowed to have a chair (he was taller than the cell) and to walk alone in an attic on occasion. It was in that attic that he found a piece of iron and started hatching an escape plan. He slowly created a hole in the wooden floor under his bed. Just as he was about to break through to the office below, the prison-keeper informed him that he was to be moved to a new cell. When the prison-keeper moved his bed and found the hole, he went to the prisoner with his discovery. He was promptly blackmailed; the prisoner explained he would tell everyone that the prison-keeper had given him the tool for his escape. The prisoner was able to stow the piece of iron in his chair to get it into his new cell.

This new cell was different; the floor and most of the walls were made of stone. However, he was near another prisoner, a priest, in an adjacent cell. Since they had only a handful of books each, they were allowed to exchange and started passing messages. They agreed that they would work on an escape together. The piece of iron was passed to the priest inside a bible and he started making a hole in the ceiling of his cell. After gaining access to an attic space, a second hole was made into the other prisoner’s cell. Once both men were free, they simply walked out the front door of the palace.

Who was this prisoner? Giacomo Casanova. The story was apparently written by him, so outside of the escape, who knows how much of it is true.

After the Casanova story, the rest of the tour wasn’t that exciting. We saw a few other offices of judges and magistrates, and then she left us to wander through the rest of the palace rooms on our own. We eventually made it over to another prison and walked across the bridge of sighs. Even from the inside, we could tell it was mostly covered in blue on the outside.

After a two hour train ride from Florence, we arrived in Venice. We walked from the train station and hopped on a vaporetto boat and rode it to the far end of the grand canal. We got off at the last main stop and noticed right away that there seemed to be way more people out and about than there was in Florence. It would be hard to imagine that there are busier times of the year.

As we walked through St. Mark’s Square, I noticed something a friend had warned me about. Some of the buildings are wrapped in giant ads. This is being done to help pay for building restoration, but it’s a little strange. Some of them aren’t so bad since they only cover a portion of a building with a repeating pattern. It’s not like you’re missing that much. Others cover an entire visible side of a building. The Bridge of Sighs is a good example; compare the shot on Wikipedia with this one obscured with ads.

After getting our bearings on the square, we decided to check our bags and see St. Mark’s Basilica. No photography allowed in there, so not much to show here. This seemed like one of the oldest buildings we’ve been in so far; I’m not sure if that is because it really is older or if it just has not been as well-kept and/or restored as the others. There was a lot of intricate marble work on the floor and lots of mosaics on the walls and ceilings. We did not pay to see any of the extra sites inside the Basilica.

We exited the church and checked out the rest of the square before grabbing our bags, buying a map, and heading for our hotel. Navigating in Venice is confusing as hell. We struggled to orient ourselves with the map, especially since there seem to be plenty of streets not on there at all. For the record: including a map on the back of a business card seems helpful. Leaving out 3 streets so the restaurant looks like it’s around the corner at the end of the block instead of 4 blocks away – not so helpful. Anyway, we found the church closest to our hotel (with the same name), but it still took us another 5 minutes to find the entrance. The stairs in this building leave you feeling like you’re walking into the wall. Here’s the view from one of the three windows in our room:

Later in the day, we started taking Rick Steves’ advice and stopped paying so much attention to individual street names and simply followed the signs in the general direction of major landmarks. I knew there were no cars in the city, but some of the streets here are barely wide enough for two people to pass one another without turning sideways. Add in people with strollers and shopping bags, stopping to look into shop windows and it’s totally insane. We walked a lot more this afternoon and evening; at least it seemed like a lot.

We crossed a good portion of Venice,  including a trek over the Rialto Bridge to see Frari Church. It’s filled with all kinds of artwork and everything has a permanent place inside the church. Again, no photos, so I can’t show some of the coolest statues.

After that, we spent longer than we really wanted trying to find a place to eat dinner. We’re both indecisive at times, and even though we were really hungry, we didn’t think any one thing sounded better than another. Many places open late, which made the choice more difficult. We finally settled on one, but of course we still had to wait for it to open. That place was an experience in itself, but it’s after midnight, so the story will have to wait.

After walking around it and even going inside to stand under it yesterday, we decided this morning was our best chance to actually climb Brunelleschi’s dome. We got there just as they were opening the doors and prepared for a long climb (463 steps). The first part was a series of small sets of stairs like you would climb around the inside edge of a square tower. After a larger landing, we switched to tight spiral stairs not more than two or two and a half feet wide. At one point our path took us out onto a ledge inside the cathedral where we could get a better look at the fresco painted on the ceiling. There are actually two domes, an interior one and an exterior one. Most of the way there were various sorts of windows, some larger ones and some very small, to provide additional light in the small space. The last part of our climb was actually through the space in between the two domes, slanting sideways as we went before moving to the inner dome itself. The last set of stairs were nearly vertical, and then we were finally at the top.

After being inside stone tunnels, the sun was extremely bright. We took a few moments to catch our breath and down some water before taking in the panoramic views of Florence. From up there, we could see every site we’d already visited and most of the rest of Florence and beyond.

I don’t think this is the worst climb we’ve ever attempted by a longshot; the Kansas state capital dome still wins that contest. However, there were some small spaces here that were pretty claustrophobic. Amber doesn’t like heights so portions were intense for her, especially coming back down. The worst part for me was early on the way down. The stairs are built right into the outside of the inner dome, which wouldn’t be so bad, but there wasn’t enough room for me to stand up straight. I had to either hunch really far forward or lean back awkwardly as I descended.

Back on solid ground at the bottom, we headed back to our hotel to check out. Before we left, Amber decided to check the booking confirmation for our next hotel in Venice and noticed that the days and dates did not match up. That was when I noticed that the year on the printout was 2011. Crap.

This was a reservation I’d already had issues with (they originally offered two nights but only listed dates for one), so I wanted to be doubly sure it was correct. I read back through the emails we had exchanged, and all of the details in the final email were good (dates were correct, number of nights correct, but no days mentioned). I decided we better pay the fee to make a phone call and be sure that they were expecting us today and not next year. Luckily, everything was fine and they even had a note about our arrival time I had sent a few days ago. For this particular reservation, I had to fill out a secure form online to send over credit card details to hold the reservation. I must have messed up the dates there, even though they had already marked down our correct reservation on their books. With a crisis averted, we headed for the train station to leave Florence behind.