Pisa’s Leaning Tower

Another quick train journey and we arrived at Pisa.  I was over the moon to discover that our very nice hotel was situated directly opposite the train station, so all we had to do was wheel our bags across the road.

I had been in two minds as to whether to include Pisa on our itinerary.  I have always wanted to see the famous tower, however, just about everyone that I had ever spoken to who had visited said that it was a disappointment. Michael and I discussed this and decided that we would see for ourselves and then, at the very least, we would have seen another nice Italian town.  We walked through the beautiful city streets until we came to the Piazza dei Miracoli and there was the tower.  I can only assume that the people who were disappointed have not seen the beautifully restored version because both Michael and I thought that it was amazing. The white marble is impressive and of course, the impossible lean is eye catching.  I would have loved to climb the 296 steps to the top however Michael ventured up there alone.  He said that the view was fabulous and he spent quite a while walking around the top of the tower.  He also said that he felt drunk on the descent, as the tower’s lean forces you to walk at a disorienting angle.  

In the centre of a small, quiet side road we found a lovely, quaint restaurant for our dinner – Triclinium Taverna Romana.  The chef seated us upon arrival and explained that we would have to wait for the waiter to arrive who would translate the menu for us.  The waiter duly arrived and we placed our orders.  The taverna was so small, that we could see everything that the chef did and it was very interesting watching the preparation and plating of our meals.  The food and wine were very good and we left feeling very happy with our choice of restaurant.

The following day we ventured once more to the Piazza dei Miracoli to visit the remaining places of interest.  We explored the lovely Romanesque Pisa Cathedral (Il Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta). It is a very beautiful cathedral and is said to be where Galileo formulated the theory of isochronism of the pendulum.  We also visited the Pisa Baptistery of St John, which was completed in 1363.  The interior is huge and is very plain and unadorned.  The interior is acoustically perfect, which was demonstrated by the attendant on duty, who sang a few notes that reverberated around the majestic cylinder. It really was quite lovely.  Our final stop was the Sinopie Museum, which is part of the Hospital of Santa Chiara.  The museum is dedicated to fresco preparatory drawings (sinopia), the majority of which came from the Camposanto in Pisa.  Bombs dropped during World War II caused a major fire, and to save the 14^thcentury frescos, it was decided to detach them from the walls and place them on panels.  It was during this procedure that many preparatory sketches were discovered.  It was all very interesting.

The rest of our day was spent wandering the ancient streets of Pisa.  We discovered a fabulous Keith Haring mural, Tuttomondo, one of the last he completed before his death.  It was in absolutely pristine condition, without the slightest trace of vandalism (unlike the Melbourne one).  There is a lovely café/bar situated directly opposite and it was the perfect vantage point to sit and admire the work.

Dinner that evening was at a family restaurant where the owner took a real shine to Michael.  He complimented Michael on the colour of his face and insisted that he would make something special for his dessert.  Then, as if that wasn’t enough, when it came time to pay the bill, he opened another bottle of wine and demanded that we each have glass.  It was a fun evening and the food was fantastic.

Return to Florence

To the train station once more for another journey, this time to Florence.  We were both absolutely thrilled to be back again and the weather put on a glorious show – 23 degrees and sunshine.  We were staying at the same apartment that we stayed on our last visit, as we loved the central location and the view over the Piazza della Repubblica.  Unfortunately, when we rolled our suitcases to the piazza, we discovered that it is now part of an enormous archaeological dig.  The ancient Roman colony Florentia was rediscovered when resurfacing works were taking place in the square.  Still, it was pretty thrilling that we had a bird’s eye view of the dig from our apartment window.

We lost no time in returning to our favourite food market, Mercato Centrale, where we pulled up a stool and enjoyed the freshest and finest food and wine on offer.  It was good to be back.  The afternoon was spent reacquainting ourselves with the beautiful city, which was already starting to receive an influx of tourists.

The main purpose of our Italian trip was to surprise our son James on the occasion of his 30^thbirthday.  James’ partner Amber was in on our plan and we had arranged that we would be seated at Olio & Convivium Restaurant before James and Amber arrived.  The Maitre d’ showed us to our table and neither Michael nor I thought to tell him that our presence was to be a surprise. James and Amber arrived a short time later and the Maitre d’ proudly told Amber that her parents were already seated at the table.  This confused James and he turned to Amber who assured both him and the Maitre d’ that there was a mistake and to take them through to their table.  He asserted that there was no mistake and Amber was trying to catch his eye to let him know not to press the point.  Finally they were escorted through to where we were waiting and I really don’t think that James could have pretended his surprise – he looked utterly confused!  Hugs and laughter all round and then we settled in for a wonderful evening, catching up on each other’s news.  They had both recently returned from travels to Egypt and Israel and it was great hearing of their adventures (there are now another 2 countries added to my wish list). The food and wine was excellent and I would recommend the restaurant to anyone.

The following day was James’ actual birthday and Michael thought that it would be a good opportunity for James to “get a bit of culture”.  We had discovered that on James’ previous trip to Florence, he had somehow missed seeing Boticelli’s The Birth of Venus (which horrified Michael) and Michelangelo’s The Statue of David (which horrified me).  We whisked both Amber and James to the Uffizi Gallery, where first we hired a wheelchair for Amber, as she is still in a moon boot from her accident earlier in the year.  Then, with James in the driver’s seat, we set about seeing as many of the artworks as possible, including the Birth of Venus.  I am not sure that James was as enamoured with the painting as Michael, but at least now he can say that he has seen it.  We spent the morning at the gallery before finding a restaurant for rest and refreshments.


 
Then, it was onwards to the Galleria dell’Accademia to view The Statue of David. It was just as magnificent as I remembered.  I hope that James enjoyed the statue (he said he did).  

There is only so much culture that you can fit into one day so we all returned to our apartment, via the leather market and had a look at the handbags, wallets and belts along the way. Amber showcased her haggling skills and purchased a couple of handbags, and Michael bought very nice bottle of red wine at the main market. We arrived back at our apartment, opened the wine and then James was finally able to open his birthday presents.  It was good to relax before heading out for our evening meal.
 

We stopped along the way so that Amber and James could put a coin in Il Porcellino’s mouth and rub his snout. Amber had booked a lovely restaurant for dinner, Culinaria Bistro.  James and Amber had dined there on their previous Florence visit, and the bistro specialises in farm to table dining.  Once again the food and wine was delicious and it was a lovely way to finish our time together.  James and Amber were driving to Bologna the following day from where they were flying home. Well, James didn’t have the birthday he expected however I hope that he had a memorable time.      
  

    

I’m Too Sexy For Milan

Michael and I flew out of Dublin on Easter Saturday bound for Italy.  The act of flying itself has become so mundane and with it the routine of going through security, boarding and disembarking that you rarely give it much thought.  It was therefore a shock when I experienced chronic ear pain during the flight, something that I hadn’t felt since I was a 12 year old flying domestic in Australia. The plane appeared to be badly pressurised with many people complaining, however I experienced very bad pain and pretty much the total loss of hearing in one ear for the next two days.  It wasn’t very pleasant and I hope that I won’t have to experience that again for another 40 years!

We landed in Milan, cleared customs and made our way onto the comfortable coach that would take us for the hour-long journey to the heart of the city.  The city is large with impressive buildings and beautiful parks, which we lost no time setting off to explore.

When we booked our trip, we were fully aware that we wouldn’t be able to do our usual “visit every attraction in sight” routine as, being Easter, a number of places would be closed or in use.  We had tried to obtain tickets to see the Last Supper at the Basilica di Santa Maria dell Grazie however they had sold out months in advance.  Michael and I decided to visit Milan anyway, to get a feel for the city, in the hope that we would one day return.  This meant that we spent a very relaxing couple of days just enjoying the city as it presented.

The main city square in Milan is the Piazza del Duomo, which is named after the magnificent cathedral dominating the square.  It is one of the largest cathedrals in the world and took over 600 years to complete. Naturally there were a number of religious services taking place throughout the day, so we were unable to visit the inside however we enjoyed walking around the outside of the pink and grey marble structure.  There was a heavy security presence around the cathedral, which was to be expected at such a significant monument attracting large crowds.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele is absolutely stunning.  It is a four-story double arcade full of designer boutiques and high-end shops. It is topped with a huge glass dome in the centre and there are four beautiful mosaics on the floor portraying the coats of arms of Turin, Florence, Rome and Milan.  We saw many people spinning around in one spot and discovered that they were spinning around with one heel on the genitals of the bull from the Turin coat of arms.

 
Apparently this act brings good luck (but not to the mosaic, as all the spinning has caused a hole to develop on the place of the bull’s genitals).  I expected to see many glamorous women walking about the fashion capital however, apart from one or two well-dressed ladies, most women were dressed for comfort not style.  The young men though, were very stylish indeed.  Almost without exception they appeared groomed to within an inch of their lives with impressive hairstyles and clad in the latest clothes.

On one of our walks around the city, we came across the impressive Sforza Castle.  It was built in the 15^thcentury and has been renovated and enlarged over the years and now houses several museums and art collections.  We didn’t enter the castle however, once again it was interesting just walking along the outside and perhaps we will have a chance to visit there in the future.

The weather was absolutely glorious for us – a very pleasant 18 degrees – and we took every opportunity that we could to enjoy our meals, coffees and drinks al fresco.  It was so nice to escape the freezing weather of Dublin and we could literally feel our bodies soaking up the sunshine.  The flowers and trees were in full bloom with magnolia trees everywhere covered with huge flowers.  We weren’t the only people fascinated with the magnolias – many people were taking photos and admiring them. 

Genoa by Night 

A quick and comfortable train journey took us to our next port of call, Genoa (Genova).  Michael had originally intended to do some diving here however, he changed his mind and we decided to visit the city anyway.  Our hotel was on the other side of the town away from the tourist area.  

Genoa is the capital of Liguria and is the sixth largest city in Italy and an important port on the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately the magnificent weather of Milan deserted us, and we spent the next couple of days exploring the city accompanied by an almost continual drizzle. It didn’t stop us although it did put a bit of a dampener on things (pardon the pun).  The old town is a maze of narrow alleyways with a number of large palaces along the way.  Many of the palaces date back to the late 16^thcentury and formed part of a system of public lodging, hosting notable guests on State visits.  Forty-two of the palaces are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

We took a ride on the Zecca-Righi funicular, a 7 station journey of 1,428 metres up the slope of the Righi hill.  The funicular is part of the public transport system and we joined the commuters in a ride to the top.  The view was lovely and we had a little bit of a walk around before making the return journey. We probably would have walked down the hill had the weather been a little kinder.

It is hard to give an accurate picture of Genoa, as the weather meant that we really didn’t get to experience all that it had to offer.  It certainly doesn’t have the beauty of some of the other cities that we have visited however we felt safe and I am glad that we were able to experience a large port town.

    

  

  

  

Dublin Take Me

Finally, winter has passed – and what a winter it has been!  It was the first winter in Ireland where both Michael and I really felt the cold. We used to joke that spending two winters in Canada had damaged our cold receptors and we became immune to the cold, however it seems that was only a temporary reprieve.  First came the Beast from the East, which swept across the Russian Far East and the British Isles bringing heavy snowfalls to Ireland, including Dublin.  The snow was accompanied by huge winds and all of Dublin shut down for two days. All trains, trams and buses ceased and all shops closed.  Michael’s work closed and he had to work from home for two days.  We decided to pop to our local supermarket for a few last minute items before they closed and I have never seen anything like it – the queue stretched up and down each aisle with people buying everything they could get their hands on.  Shelves were literally stripped bare.  It was actually a little unsettling, as I had never experienced panic buying before. We returned home and settled in and watched the snow being blown horizontally by the fierce winds.  We ventured outside again when the storm had passed and it was lovely seeing the streets covered in the snow.  Two weeks after the Beast from the East we were hit with the Pest from the West.  This storm brought sub zero temperatures, sleet, frost and ice.  We then experienced a brief spell of warmer weather before the Mini Beast from the East hit (seriously, who comes up with these names?) Snow was once again accompanied by high winds and many events had to be cancelled, including the homecoming of the victorious Irish rugby team, who had won the 2018 Six Nations Championship.  Thankfully the predicted Beast from the East Mark 3, which was due to hit Ireland over Easter, is now going to spare us.  Spring must surely be around the corner!

Luckily the snow didn’t stop the St Patrick’s Day parade.  It was bitterly cold so Michael and I only stayed long enough to see some of the marching bands before finding a warm pub to have a glass of Guinness. It is always a fun day and it is interesting to see the effort that people put into dressing up for the occasion. 

Michael and I have joined the National Gallery of Ireland and have taken a tour and a talk, both of which were interesting. The Emil Nolde exhibition, Colour is Life, is currently showing.  Michael enjoyed the exhibition. I can’t say that I really appreciated the artworks however they were extremely colourful.  Michael has also joined the Whiskey Appreciation Society and enjoys their monthly meetings and tastings.  This is the same man that used to recoil in horror if someone gave him a bottle of whiskey for Christmas.  I guess his palate has matured!

 

We have kept up our swimming in the mornings throughout the winter, the only exception being when the temperature plunges below zero.  I am always nervous about slipping on the ice in the dark.  We were rewarded one morning on our way to the pool with the sight of an otter playing in the River Liffey.  I can’t tell you how happy that made me and even though I will probably never see him again, just the thought that there are otters swimming about the river makes me smile.  I have since found out that minks live in the river as well.