Berriman to Bari

We arrived in Florence on Tuesday on the very fast train from Rome. That was easy.

It goes so fast that you can feel pressure in your ears when the train passes through a tunnel!

As we arrived at our apartment in Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti the market was just shutting down so we took the few steps over to it and bought ourselves some great fresh vegetables and fruit as well as cheese and bread of course. The stall owners don’t speak much English so we had to attempt Italian and use a lot of sign language, for the first time since arriving in the county.

Our apartment is old and looks like it might once have been a shop. It has many shutters on the windows and some interesting features, but also has some of the down sides of age (its a bit tired and worn out). The location is excellent. We step down almost right into the piazza and walk about ten minutes to the Duomo.

The last three days we have been packing in the sights as we bought a Firenze card which gives us 72 hours admission everywhere with no queuing. I think we have saved money but the jumping the line is an excellent feature . If you are coming to Florence I recommend you buy one.

We are finding it much easier than Roma. The layout is not so confusing, with something of a grid and it is much cleaner. There are still considerable crowds but it is easy to avoid them by just moving a few lane ways over from the main routes through town.

We are, of course, in awe of the architecture and the art history , the art works and particularly of course, the sculptures. We have seen so many treasures, as one must on a visit to Florence , but hopefully not so many as to not remember them. The highlight for me is without a doubt, Michelangelo’s David.

I am no art buff and am not going to tell you anything about the works we have seen but I can tell you that I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and would recommend a visit here. I did a tour to the Uffizzi gallery yesterday and had a Florentine guide. He used a few pieces to illustrate the development of Florentine Renaissance art and did it with flair and drama, as you would expect. It was great.

He recommended the Boboli gardens, which are part of the Pitti Palace and we went there today on a lovely sunny morning. A highlight there was the porcelain museum in the garden.Mind boggling crockery!!

Most days we have walked more than five thousand steps before morning coffee, and another five before lunch. Then at least another five in the afternoons. We are both doing well , though my dodgy ankle did suffer after coming back down the steps in the campanile (bell tower). Just too many hard, uneven, shallow steps. Jock had to go out to the pharmacy for me as we had not bought any anti inflammatory medication with us and I was having trouble walking. He was given some super powder which fixed me in one dose. Amazing stuff.

Today we were in the Piazza Santa Croce as the students on strike began to gather for their climate action march and then we were in the laneway along which the huge mass of them were marching. We tried to show solidarity by saying Bravo and raising our arms (well at least I did). They were a large crowd and we noticed a newspaper headline later, that all over Tuscany students went on strike, as I am sure they did in Australia. What an awesome international movement that has become.

We have had some wonderful food here. We found a quiet trattoria yesterday where some Italian workers were having lunch: antipasto, pasta and glass of red. How do they do that?? We had just one dish, of course and that day, no wine,which does raise eyebrows. There is no legal age for drinking here and alcohol is available everywhere. Even cafes that serve only paninis (like bakeries) can and do serve alcohol. It must be a quite a shock for Italian travellers to Australia to deal with the limits and the expense. The wine is very reasonably priced here, as is the food.

Last night we ate in view of the Duomo.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral

One of the places that you would expect to be over crowded and over priced due to its location, but it wasn’t either of those things, so we had a wonderful relaxing time. I ate a Tuscan specialty of eggplant rolled round mozzarella and anchovies with , of course, a rich tomato sauce. Jock had another specialty of the region, a risotto with cheese and bacon.

Once again the waiter seemed very pleased by our interest in the food and at the end of the meal offered us a limoncello on the house. Of course I said yes . I couldn’t believe that it was actually the first one I have had since arriving. But what a slippery slope that is – I love that stuff!!

Well the church bells are ringing for 6pm, time to go and do some other things and see the end of the day. Ciao.

P.S. I will upload more photos later, the internet is just too slow tonight.

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So apart from my overall impressions, for the sake of the historical records, I am going to write a little about some of the places we have managed to see in our 8 days here. And, also for the record , we both really like Rome, in spite of, and maybe because of, its challenges and contrasts.

We visited the Colosseum, the Forum and Palatine Hill in three separate trips. That of course meant we had plenty of time for each, We entered the Forum and the Hill via the Palatine Hill entrance which has practically no waiting time at all, The Colosseum was a different matter, though in the end we did not queue for long,

I made an early morning visit to the Vatican and entered the Sistine Chapel before the public viewing time, with my guide and small group That was a really good idea and worth the money, as obviously we had a lot of space and time to really take in Michelangelo’s frescoes which I’ve wanted to see since reading The Agony and The Ecstasy about a hundred years ago. I know I read it when I was a teenager and it left a lasting impression. I think I might try it again now.

On that visit I also saw three galleries in the Vatican museums as well as St Peters Basilica and St Peters Square. I was impressed but not moved by that particular basilica and lets face it, anything to do with the Catholic Church is going to produce mixed feelings. I was hoping there might have been a protest in the square that day that I could have joined in, but alas no,,,,,,,

We went to the market at Campo Di Fiori where wattle blossom is very popular. Had a great lunch there at a cafe where we faced the market and got to do lots of people watching over a leisurely meal. I had a little dance with one of the very jolly trattoria owners, as there was some wonderful music playing.

We have heard some magnificent buskers and a glorious church choir. Haven’t managed to get to an evening concert yet due to jet lag making a 9pm start impossible at the moment. We are feeling good but waking very early so have crashed at home by that time of night.

We missed the Villa Bhorgese as we did not book early enough. Due to it being Cultural Week here with free tickets in many institutions, we were unable to buy tickets online prior, and had to book our time slot once here. We were a bit too late on this one and sadly only got to visit the gardens.

We have been to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Of course in our travels we have passed through hundreds of different Piazza but there are piazzas and piazzas! Today we plan to revisit the Piazza Del Popolo to view some more Caravaggio paintings in one of the churches there.

We are staying about two hundred metres from the top of the Spanish Steps and Spagna is our Metro station, so we have traversed the steps many times and took a glass of wine with us to sit on the steps one evening and watch the crowds. Very close to the Piazza Di Spagna is a beautiful salon called Cafe Greco where Keats and Shelley used to pass a lot of time. There we had the best coffee we have found in Rome.

In the other direction and also very close is the Trevi Fountain .The crowds at the fountain are ridiculous , as the piazza is so small that is is always full. But I did visit a second time when I was doing one of Rick Steves audio tours by myself and it was more reasonable then. Also in that area is a very good gelateria, noted by our host and in a couple of guide books. We perservered in trying to find it , which was not easy, and were rewarded with fig and fruit and cinnamon and ginger gelato. It was of the natural variety with only seasonal fruit and not many additives. Bellissimo.

We have called in to many churches and have viewed works by Carravagio, Michelangelo, Bernini, Raphael and others…….

With some difficulty we found or way to the Museum of Musical Instruments, which was not a well curated museum but had some wonderful artefacts.

The Marcus Aurelias column is one of hundreds of monuments and columns but one we particularly appreciated. Many piazzas have obelisks transported from Egypt. Really, nothing was too much trouble!

The other tour we did here was the one to Hadrian’s villa and the Tivoli gardens in the small town of Tivoli just outside Rome. It was good to drive through the outskirts of the city which certainly gives you a different perspective to the ancient city. Seeing Italian families out for Sunday coffee in Tivoli was great and both of the places we visited were fascinating. The tour thing is interesting, we find ourselves switching off a bit but also recognise that we do get information we would not otherwise have known and do find that it is good to have someone else taking care of all the details from time to time. I think the four or five we have booked during our seven weeks here will mix it up nicely.

That isn’t an exhaustive list but covers a good deal of how we spent our time here. Another eight months might just about do it.

Perhaps today’s lunch is a suitable illustration of the good things about this city.

We decided we wanted to eat pasta for lunch after our morning tour guide talked about the two local specialities, pasta carbonara and pasta cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper).

As we drove back from Tivoli gardens and Hadrian’s villa, half an hour outside of Rome, she told us how to cook these two simple specialties. We walked from where the tour bus deposited us, to our apartment, and lacking the ingredients at home, thought it would be great to find a cafe on our way there and eat these dishes, having had our appetites thoroughly whetted. Sure enough, on the short trip to the apartment we found an enticing small cafe with two men at the door inviting us in.

“Ah, but you don’t have cacio e pepe on your menu”, we lamented. “No problem, we’ll cook it for you, have a seat.”

The tiny restaurant was spotless and gleaming with warm wood and a fancy chandelier. The host was thrilled that we cared about these dishes and that we wanted the usual Roman aperitif of Prosecco (and not Coke as the other tourists seemed to be drinking). He told us he had a very good one and opened a new bottle. He was right, it was delicious.

The pasta was the best we have had, so full flavoured, it’s impossible to believe that both dishes have so few ingredients (three or four).

It was all so convivial, so easy, SO delicious and indulgent. It wasn’t the first time we have felt like we had been invited into the hosts home, rather than his business. (It does seem to always be a he).

And then there is the other experience of Rome. The difficulty in knowing where you are going, due to the lack of information and signs (and the difficulty of reading maps due to the extraordinary layout of the city). The endless hawkers.

The litter and the gritty air, the refusal of drivers to stop at pedestrian crossings, the good luck to you, you figure it out kind of mentality, that seems to be pervasive.

And the glory of the buildings, the ever present history. The surprises round every bend and at the end of every enticing lane way (not all of them good). The crowds of tourists. The plethora of fountains, the marble, the remains of city walls………………………………

The artworks and glorious singing to be found in the churches, the statues and sculptures on every street, the cobblestones , the cigarette butts, the poor city dogs being dragged along treeless streets panting on the end of the lead.

Eternally, Roma.

That was a long haul, having spent a night in Canberra, then one in Sydney, due to flight delays, only one in Hong Kong (due to the changes) then a long flight to Roma.

But here we are , feeling almost normal now after our first night here and a good walk round our district .

Hong Kong to Rome is something of a change and while they break the trip up nicely, those Asian stopovers do add to a bit of culture shock. We were lucky to spend some time with Phoebe’s friend Julian, who teaches literature at the university and has lived there for more than a decade now. He took us on bus trip up to The Peak and on the short ferry ride across the harbour. We met at Central train station on Hong Kong Island which was absolutely overflowing with women. Julian explained that Sunday is the day off for domestic staff. They come mainly from the Phillipines. As there are few free public spaces and there were a few showers that day, they gather in places like the train station and spend the day socialising there. The atmosphere was festive. They laid out picnics on rugs in the stairways and next to the walls. The noise and movement was something to behold and the three of us towered over them, which is a pretty unusual sensation for me! I had not known that Hong Kong has a huge overseas work force who have little chance of gaining citizenship, just like in the United Arab Emirates.

While eating out I decided to try something very Chinese looking, rather than western and went for a Schezuan dish with chillies. It was covered in about a dozen whole chillies, full of sliced ones and was as hot a dish as I have ever eaten. I managed quite a bit of it , to the delight of other diners who shook their heads ruefully when they saw what I had ordered.

And now we are happily ensconced in our little apartment, with the Spanish Steps at the top end of the street. We have started to find our way around and managed to find a great coffee shop this morning where we stood at the counter for our coffee, Italian style.

We are ready now to start seeing the sights and are already getting the sense of why this city is the favourite of so many.

So here we are at Sydney airport contemplating life in the Business Class lounge.

As it turns out we have LOTS of time to contemplate it, as our flight to Hong Kong is delayed due to engineering problems (which has Jock really worried!).We travelled to Canberra yesterday, had some lovely family time last night, then headed to the airport this morning. We were on the move when the workers were heading to the office and now here we are still sitting in an airport, while they are heading home.So didn’t get far today, but have moved into this whole other world of a quiet lounge, far removed from the commercial overload of the airport proper. The ASX has a prominent screen , like the departure board, and lots of people have their heads buried in good old fashioned newspapers.The wine and bubbly flow and there is non stop food, a lot of which is healthy and delicious (not that I’ve tried ALL of it) the bathrooms are abundant and smell good, and the wi-fi is free.I can think of worse places to get stuck. Might as well make the most of this limited time in a parallel universe. Think I’ll try the red next and see who else has resigned from the Liberal party……………………………..

Let’s see where it ends up

We hope we have nailed this!

It’s less than two weeks till we leave and today I lost my mobile phone!! Just needed a few extra jobs to do before our departure.

I will now be letting you all know the address of my blog and we will be saying our last farewells.

Stay posted.