By now we are in Rome and almost ready to come home, but I am still catching up. So . . . .

Florence did not make a good first impression. We arrived in the heat of late afternoon – maybe 90 or more degrees – into the chaotic train station and miscalculated the distance to our hotel. The result was a very long, very hot slog through the heart of the city at rush hour. Finally, just before sunset, we reached our hotel, the Hotel River, and opened our terrace to find this view.

Some of you may know that “A Room With A View” is one of my favorite books and films. Largely because of it, I have wanted to visit Florence more than any other place in Italy for about 25 years. Not surprisingly, to have a room with a view in Florence was pretty great. And to further duplicate the book, the first place we went to was Santa Croce, the church where the heroine, Lucy, first “lets Italy make her happy.”

And it was closed. So, on to Santa Maria Dei Fiori, Florence’s Duomo, which I had just finished reading about in the excellent book Brunelleschi’s Dome. It was just about sunset and as we gazed at the amazing Baptistry doors and the wedding-cake facade of this church, the bells in Giotto’s tower – the Campanile – began to chime and were soon joined by all the other bells in the city.

We had dinner in Piazza Santa Croce in this wonderful restaurant called Boccadona. It served rustic Tuscan cuisine and I had my first taste of pappa al pomodoro, a Tuscan soup made of stale bread and tomatoes. It was awesome. We watched the sun die on the facade of the church as the piazza became what all Italian piazzas seem to become at night – one huge living room hosting a big old party. People came out with dogs, babies in strollers, teenagers came out with beers and cigarettes and sat on the church stairs far into the night. It was a great scene.

Our first full day in Florence started with a trip to the Uffizi Gallery, a place I was most excited to see because it contains Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus and other masterworks of the Italian Renaissance I have so long wanted to see. No pictures inside, tho, so I have none to share. But I can tell you, if you travel to Florence and you even remotely enjoy art, this is a must-see museum. It will be packed, so do get reservations. Oh, the paintings were glorious. You can get right up close to them and see some of the brushstrokes and the crackle of the finish. I also enjoyed all the madonnas – some of these guys seemed to do nothing but paint the Virgin Mary over and over again in their long careers, and yet – if they were a master – everyone looks a bit different.

After the Uffizi, we stumbled on this great little enoteca for lunch, the All’ Antica – or something like that. It’s a little tiny place – stools, no tables – and you pour yourself a glass of red wine, pick out a couple of sandwiches and stand around and eat and listen to Eugenio, the delightful young man who acts as host, tell you about Florence and the world. We loved it! We were smart enough to ask Eugenio for a restaurant recommendation – a place where Italians, not tourists, go – and he sent us to Ristorante del Fagioli – the restaurant of beans! We waited a long time to get in – the place is very popular – and it was worth it! This meal was among the best we had in Italy (we did not have a single even mediocre meal in Florence) and it is the only restaurant I have ever been to WHERE I ASKED FOR SECONDS! I had ordered meatballs – the waiter’s recommendation – OMG!!!!! Terry and I shared the second portion. It was phenomenal. So the next day we went back to lunch at All’Antica and asked Eugene for another recommendation and he sent us to Pantero d’Oro – the golden pan – and again, WOW. It is an “historical restaurant” and the owner comes out and acts as a major host and guide through all the courses, which he has recovered from MEDICI RECIPES. Yowza!!! We quite literally ate like Medicis! I plan to post all our restaurant names, reviews and recommendations on Trip Advisor and will alert you all.

What else did we do in Florence – went to the Bargello Museum ( lots of gorgeous sculpture and PORCELAIN – my favorite), walked through the Boboli Gardens (just beautiful), took a stomach-turning bus ride up to Fiesole, where the 19th century Romantics poets used to go for their view (and where the Rev. Mr. Eager takes Lucy and George in A Room with a View) and, of course, climbed Brunelleschi’s Dome. This was one of the best things we have done on the whole trip – 463 stairs up a twisty staircase that runs BETWEEN and inner and an outer dome. The rewards are monumental – you get to see the frescoes on the inside of the dome up close, and you get one of the best views in any city anywhere from the top. We were both sweaty and hot by the time we were up there (it was over 90 degrees F) but we both were transported by it.

Another cool thing – on the day we were supposed to leave Florence for Siena (OMG, Siena!), we were returning to our hotel from the Boboli, when we heard big pounding drums in front of the Pitti Palace. It seemed there was a parade – a parade of Florentine men (and a handful of girls and young women) in medieval costume carrying banners and flags and marching with drums and trumpets from the Pitti over the Ponte Vecchio and into the main plaza, the Piazza della Signoria. They started throwing the flags around their bodies and up into the air and when we reached the Piazza, they were joined by more than a dozen other flag-bearing groups, each on representing a different quarter of the city. It was thrilling! Seems they were celebrating some city-wide soccer contest – in medieval dress.

A not cool thing – my camera was hit by a car! Terry and I split up one afternoon for a couple of hours so he could see something he liked and I could see something I liked, and I was standing on a sidewalk, WITH MY BACK TO THE WALL OF THE BUILDINGS, and my camera was on my stomach. A small van drove by and BAM! My camera lens was in the gutter in three pieces. His side mirror whacked it. The driver stopped – as did several other people who heard the noise – and made sure I was okay. I was- but I was completely in shock. If he had been one inch closer to me, it would have been a rib. A few inches higher and it would have taken out my left hand, which was holding my guidebook up for me to read. I gathered the pieces and wandered a bit in shock and sadness – not to have a camera for Siena and Rome? Long story short – no one can fix Olympus cameras in Florence, so I did it myself! But from Florence on, you will notice a small blur in the center of some pictures – a big scratch on my lens, which ended up in the street.

Today we are in Siena, but I am still catching up. So back to the Cinque Terre.

Cinque Terre laundry

After two days of hiking between four of the five towns, we decided to take a day and just hang around town. We did some laundry – thank God – and acted the Italians and hung our laundry to dry from our terrace. Italians seem to have washing machines in their homes, but no dryers. Which makes for some pretty pictures. Nothing like airing your clean laundry in public.

While the wash was going, Terry and I took turns walking about the town with the camera. Perhaps because Vernazza is on the water, there seems to be a special luminescence to the light. The contrast between light and dark feels more sharp. And the temperature between shade and light is dramatically different, too.

Some Americans in the laundromat told us that a couple was getting married this day – a Monday! – and that after the ceremony in

Wedding

this hillside church they were forming a procession through town and would then throw candy from a balcony – apparently an Italian tradition. We were game. Sure enough, here came the couple. They went up to a second-story balcony and began tossing all kinds of goodies out the window. A pretty sizable crowd had gathered, and as there are only so many sweets you can eat, I started picking up candy and ladling it into this little old lady’s bag. We couldn’t talk to each other, but as I think it hurt her to bend over, we got along great!

Lunch

After lunch – I picked up some pecorino, salami and bread at the store and we ate it on the roof – we decided to have a dip in the water. By now it was about 90 degrees – Italy is having a heat wave while we are here. We put on our suits and walked down to the waterfront, found a suitable rock for our towels and got it.

I think this is one of my favorite moments of this whole trip – swimming in the cool, clear Ligurian Sea. We swam out pretty deep and could see the bottom. Here and there these small wooden fishing boats would come into the harbor as they returned to town. I didn’t see any fish, but they had a few tourists in them. While we swam, church bells rang. The town has two churches, both with clocks on them, but for some reason, one rings before the other. Perhaps they have an agreement, so that people can hear each one? Either way, the effect is lovely, with the downtown church ringing first and the hillside church chiming in afterwards, like an echo. We swam for maybe an hour, soaking up the sun and the scene, which was beginning to quiet down as the day-tourists begin leaving at about 6.

While we were swimming, the wedding party with its photographer came down to the beach to pose for pictures. Pretty soon, everyone – including the bride in her wedding dress – was in the water up to their chests. I was aghast! What would it have taken to get me into the ocean in my wedding finery? World War III, that’s what. She just walked right in like she was wearing her bikini!

Dinner guest

We had dinner that night on the town square and were visited at our table by several of the town’s four-footed denizens. These cats rule, I tell you. They have attitude. They know you can resist feeding them and they just wait for it, scarf it up, and then wait for more. One of the local specialties is an appetizer of anchiugge (anchovies) marinated in olive oil, lemon and white vinegar. I ate this every meal while we were here. These are not anchovies as we in America know them – brown strips of oily salt (which I love) – but fresh white fish fileted open on the plate. I miss them already.

Next day we had to leave. This has been one of our favorite rooms (and we’ve had some amazing rooms here) and one of our favorite places. The woman who owns our room, Guiliana, exchanged addresses with us and kissed us goodbye. Off we went to the weekly market before heading for the train and the ride to Florence!

Hi, everyone. I am writing to you today from Florence, but need to catch up on places we’ve already been. So get ready for the Cinque Terra.

Vernazza

This place is gorgeous! It is a cluster of “five lands,” or towns, along the Ligurian Sea in the Ligourian region of Italia. The coast is very rugged here and there are no cars in any of these five towns, but a train and a network of paths that connect them all. Typically, you take the train into one of the towns – usually the last, Monterossa, and then change trains to reach the one you are staying in – in our case, Vernazza – and then hike, train or ferry between them.

We came here (with a two-night stopover in Moneglia to rest) from Venice and I have to say I was ready to leave. I loved Venice, but after a while it was just too many people in too small a space. And Italy is having a bit of a heat wave while we are here and folks say it feels like late June, so Venice was both hot and humid. I loved it, but was just ready to move on. And when we left the train in Vernazza the sea breeze hit us and we walked downhill to find our room.

Now, we expected our CT digs to be no big deal. Terry had tried a couple of hotels and they were all booked. Finally, one hotel, the Gianni Franzi, said they knew a woman who rented a room through them and we could have it for 100 Euros/ night. We met the room’s owner, Guiliana, at the GF and she escorted us up to our room. And I do mean up – 79 steps! And when we got there OMG! The “room” was actually three rooms on three levels, all connected with spiral staircases, and culminating in a ladder going up to the rooftop terrace set with two chairs and a table. Check out the view.

The beginning of our 180 degree view

After hugging ourselves with joy, we decided to make the first hike, from Vernazza north-ish to Monterossa. This is considered the most difficult of the hikes and it were, it were. We kepts hiking up and up and up all these stairs – and then, about 1.5 hours later, down and down and down. But along the way, the view! Straight out into the Ligurian Sea! And everywhere there were wildflowers

Stairs to Monterossa

and terraced hillsides where the locals tend vineyards and gardens. Oh, it was so beautiful. When we reached Monterossa, we walked to the beach and stuck our sore feet in the water. Then we roamed the streets for a place to eat. It seemed the town was having a “lemon festival” so everyone was out in the streets. Very festive. We had dinner and trained home – which was a bit of an adventure because we got on the wrong train and nearly ended up much further south in Parma! But all was well that ended well and we ended up on our terrace at about midnight drinking red wine. This is what it looked like.

Next day was our anniversary – 11 years. And, alas, I woke up in great pain. But I wanted to be a good sport and thought I would loosen up, so we set off on the next hike, one town south to Corneglia, the second most difficult hike. It was as big a gain in elevation, but the path was less narrow. But just as many “stick people” – over-prepared German tourist who dress as if they are hiking the Alps and carry those skipole-like thingies. None of them looked like they were having any fun. And they take up the whole path. Anyway, this was my favorite hike. Halfway, just as you can see Corneglia in the distance, you come upon this little bar – some guy has turned his house with a view – and WHAT a VIEW – into a place for tired folks like us to

Towards Corneglia

stop and have a coke, a vino, a cappucino – whatever. We certainly took our time in this table by the window. Then onto Corneglia, which was charming, where we had lunch and decided to press on to Manarola. This was my least favorite hike. It ran along the train tracks and the sea and did not have the wildflowers or the views of the other two hikes. Once in Manarola, we took the ferry back to Vernazza where we had dinner – the only substandard meal we have had on this trip, and it was our anniversary! – and decided that we would pretend another day was our anniversary and start all over.

Wedding

The next day we just stayed in Vernazza. There was a wedding for an American couple and after the cermony, they threw candy from a balcony! Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, I’ll write more later. We have to leave Florence for Siena. Such a tough life.

The Grand Canal, from the Accademmia Bridge, in the fog

As I write this to you, Terry and I are sitting on our terrace in our Moneglia hotel, overlooking the Ligurian Sea. Yeah. I know. This trip totally rocks.

So even though we are now on the border of the Cinque Terra, and will head to its town of Vernazza later today, I will write about Venice. Venice is where we were for five days before coming to Moneglia. But Venice has only very sporadic internet access and I did not want to waste one moment of our time there sitting in an internet café.

Venice. I do not even know what to say or where to begin. It has to be seen to be believed. So many people have written that Venice is like a dream, but I don’t think you understand that until you see it. It really is like a dream! Or a time machine. Or a living, floating museum. I have never seen its like and don’t expect to again until I make a return trip.

Working on gondolas in the Dorsoduro neighborhood

We arrived by train and took the vaporetto – Venice’s equivalent of a public, but water-borne bus – down the Grand Canal to our hotel in the Castello neighborhood. This is just to the East of Piazza San Marco. Our hotel was the Liassidi Palace, and it sits on the Canal Greci, a side canal that sees its share of gondolas and water taxis and the small boats that supply Venice with everything from toilet paper to luxury goods. After a fabulouscanal-side lunch of fresh sea bass at Trattoria Da Giorgio, we were shown our room. Holy Cow. We had somehow snagged a junior suite on the fifth floor overlooking the Canal Greci. We could just see the top of the Campanile and several other spires throughout the city. It was beautiful!

A side canal

For the next five days Terry and I roamed the city. Our heads were on constant swivel mode as we gaped at the gondolas, the tiled rooftops, the shuttered windows decorated with red flowers, the gargoyle-like faces on many of the buildings, the pallazzos with their lacy stonework. I could go on forever. What a place. “Elegant decay” is the perfect description for this fading beauty of a city.

We visited the island of Murano, where the Venetians have made exquisite glass for hundreds of years and we made several friends at Schiavon, a glass factory that goes back seven generations. We spent hours there watching Dino, a master glassman, make cups and bowls and the like, and Massimillian, the scion of the family, craft glass balloon lighting fixtures. Our salesman, Andrea, was a doll and grew up with Massimillian. We came away with new friends who promised to visit us in the Bay Area and a glass lighting fixture for our dining room table.

With Andrea at Schiavon on Murano

On another day we visited the island of Burano, where the Venetian ladies have made lace for 600 years. Visiting its lace museum was going to be a highlight of this trip for me – but it is closed to reconstruction. I was absolutely sick. UNTIL we found la Perla, where the co-owner, Allessandra, showed us lace made by her grandmother and other ladies in this small, sleepy, Mediterranean-like town. I came home with a small lace medallion made by her grandmother.

On other days we simply roamed, going into churches as we found them and visiting the Accademmia Galleries, where we saw some of the most beautiful paintings in the world. We had the galleries almost to ourselves, despite the fact that Venice itself was crowded. The paintings by Tintoretto were among my favorites. I think it was he who painted so many madonnas and they had about 12 of them all in one room and yet each one looked different. A different expression, a different color hair, etc. I suppose he never got bored with his subjects. And you could get right up close to all the painting in this museum and see the brushwork. I just love that. I would give anything to know how to paint.

One of the highlights of our trip was a nighttime gondola ride. We picked up a gondola at about 11:20 p.m. and rode for 40 minutes through side canals and, finally, the Grand Canal, before ducking back into a side canal again. It was so quiet and so dark it was easy to imagine what Venice was like in the 1500s at the height of her power. It was a marvelous. Alas, I took no pictures and I did not wish to spoil the mood of it, slipping through the canal with my husband. If you ever go to Venice, splurge on this. If you don’t I think you will regret it.

Saint Mark's Basilica

On our last day, we tackled Saint Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. All I can say is WOW. They were a little crowded, but not too much. We did not have to wait to get into either. What glory! What power this city-state once had! I imagine if you Venetian back then you felt like you were among the kings of the world – if you were a man and a merchant, that is. Not a lot for the women to do but look pretty. If any of you havenot yet read “In the Company of the Courtesan” by Sarah Dunant, I highly recommend it. It’s about a famous Venetian courtesan and her pimp in the 1500s. Great book.

That afternoon, I went to Florian’s for a Prosecco. This is where Dickens and James went when they visited the city, and where Casanova used to go for coffee. Has been around since 1720. Think about that for a minute. Older than our entire nation. The rooms are painted and hung with old mirrors and look out on Saint Mark’s Square. I saw Helen Mirren pass by, in town before going to Cannes. Very cool.

On another night, we dined at a restaurant called Bancogiro, just next to the Rialto Bridge. Our table was outside and along the Grand Canal. The food was great. Terry had a dessert that was a tower of chocolate and when it fell over he said, “Oh, it’s a Venetian Ho-Ho.” I laughed til Prosecco came out my nose.

Next time, the Cinque Terra. Love to you all.

Trento spire and statue

Tonight is the last night of our three-night stay here and this city – its people, its art, its architecture and its food and wine – have not disappointed. Rick Steves does not devote even a page to Trento and I am here to tell you it is one of the best places I have ever been.

We arrived on the train and walked to our hotel, the Hotel America. I was worried that with a name like that it might be

This simply does not suck

Holiday Innish. I need not have fretted. Check out our room. We have a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a full bath, complete with tub – a rarity in Europe. But best of all is the TERRACE. Not a window, not a balcony, but a full-fledged, table and chairs, potted plants, striped awning TERRACE. As if that were not enough, the damn thing overlooks the Castello del Buonconciglio – a real medieval castle. No kidding. After hugging ourselves at our good fortune, we set off at once for its turrets.

Trento is known as “the painted city,” a a step or two inside the Castello and you know why. Everywhere are frescoes of cupids, medieval knights and ladies. It is gorgeous. It also has a loggia – I think that is what this is called – and an arched staircase that ran around three sides of a central courtyard that put both of us in mind of an M.C. Escher drawing. Terry says Escher came to Italy to draw, so maybe he was here. We both loved this castle and the medieval and Renaissance artifacts it held. Among my favorites were this hand-painted stove/oven.

Oven detail

For the next two days, I wandered around the city while Terry met with professors and engineers at the University of Trento. I saw Roman ruins under the Duomo, I shopped (didn’t buy anything yet) and found THREE yarn stores, but no yarn I had to have. I have been inside a half-dozen old churches, sat in cafes and watched Italian women in impossibly high heels float over the cobblestones. And they are so thin! Where do they put all that pasta? I walked and walked and took about a million pictures. I love this city. There is something old and cool looking around every corner. I could soooo live here.

The Museum of the Council of Trent

In the evenings, we joined each other and our fabulous host, Tito Toro, for dinner. Tito brought along a colleague, Michael, and the four of us had a damn good time eating pizza, drinking limoncello and grappa. Here’s the thing – our money has been no good here as Tito and Michael have treated us to everything, only letting us pay for some pizza when we insisted. The food fest culminated this afternoon when they took us to Villa Madruzza in the hills above the city, a one-time bishop’s palace, for a four-course typical Trentino meal. Here’s a picture of my second piatti, a dumpling made from bread and milk that sounds awful but was YUMMA YUMMA. Afterwards, we had grappa on the villa grounds beside a fountain. I ask you: why would anyone not want to come to Trento?

I spent time in the Museum of the Council of Trent - a big deal for us religion nuts – and I also went to a photography exhibit of the lives of shepherds in the Dolomite Mountains, which surround the city. It was a knitter’s dream – great pics of wool on the hoof in all season sets amidst alpine scenery. Today I went to a contemporary art museum – but when Europeans say contemporary art, they mean any art made later than 1800, so there was a lot of stuff I liked. Here’s the thing – since arriving in Trento, I have been in four or five museums AND HAVE HAD EVERY ONE OF THEM TO MYSELF. It’s not that the town is empty – it is just full of Italians! FABULOSO.

Tonight, the moon is full and Terry and I went for a stroll past the painted medieval buildings and into the main square where we had dinner in a restaurant just in front of the Duomo and the town’s famous fountain of Neptune. Our meal was delicious – salumi, pappardelle nero (me) and gnocchi (him) with some local sparkling wine. That’s another cool thing – we’ve had a lot of local wines and they are excellent – especially the marzemino. Try it! Then we came back to our hotel and sat on the terrace under the full moon highlighting to town and mountains.

Tomorrow we go to Venice. Think it can top this?

Wine on the Terrace