Ahhhh Venice...

We rode the PSP train to Venice. There were promotion guys passing out PSP literature, but I never flagged one down to collect any. It was in Italian, anyway. I was going to bring my PSP, but at the last minute changed my mind... *sigh*


I wanted a pic of me playing the giant PSP on the side, but that would have been too touristy (and the group was in a hurry).


This adorable dog tried to bite me when I petted it. :-( There are dogs off leash all over the place and they stay close to their owners.


Here is our hotel key and self defense device. The fob weighed about 5 pounds and we were not allowed to leave the hotel with it. We had to check it in and out as we left and entered the hotel, respectively.


Venice is known for both its canals and its glass. Here is a glassblower at work.


They work fast.


Enough stalling. Here is what you really want to see, pics of Venice:



The world famous Rialto Bridge



The (also) world famous Bridge of Sighs. This bridge connects the old courts (left) with the old jail (right). The prisoners would sigh as they got their last glimpse of the beauty of Venice and their last glimpse of freedom.


Pisa's not the only place with a leaning tower.




I took the following pic after spinning around and aiming my camera with my eyes closed just to prove it is really hard to take a bad picture in Venice... The same goes for Florence.


The island of Murano (where they make the glass):


Venice is nice, but I love Florence. The people are more welcoming and friendly. In Vencie, they go out of their way not to understand or speak English. The Florentines will speak English and put up with my bad EnglItalian. I feel more at home in Florence, i felt like a visitor in Venice.

Today back in Florence, I walked to the Puma store to grab a pair of shoes, sandals, and a Puma Firenze (Florence) shirt. The shoes and sandals are for when we go to the beach on the 18th.

After I got back, it rained for a couple hours or so rather hard. I was actually kinda happy to see the rain. The city streets and sidewalks are really grimy. They run street sweepers in some of the main Piazza's every few hours and at least 2 or 3 times a day on my street.

A week from today, we leave for Rome...

More pix of stuff

The masterpiece by Giambologna you see below was originally placed in the Loggi Della Signoria way back in 1583 when it was completed. It has been in it's place ever since. Originally it was untitled and was a Renaissance celebration of the human form. It having no title was considered a bad thing ("That new statue with the nekked people" wasn't cutting it any more) and it was named "The Rape of the Sabine Women" after the story of Rome's founding. This statue was among the first to break new ground in a couple ways. First, it was created without a story in mind. It was art for art's sake, the title and background story came later. Also, this statue was meant to be enjoyed from all angles as it spirals up to the lady's hand. This is as opposed to from one or two sides (360 degrees versus front and back). The "rape" in the name refers to "raptio" or kidnapping, not rape in its modern interpretation. History here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women

Someone said my blog was to risque, so to balance out the classical nudes and maintain my PG rating, I'm posting pics of TV evangelists with them. Here is Tammy Faye Messner-Bakker:

pic source: Wikipedia.org

The Ponte Vecchio:

Today was a free day, so I went to the Boboli Gardens behind the Palazzo Pitti. The Pallazzo was the home of the Medici when they were the Grand Dukes of Tuscany (if memory serves) and the Boboli Gardens were their private gardens. Now they are for everyone (provided you have €10). It is well worth the price of admission. I went around 10:30 in the cool of the morning. It would be a good place to get lost if it wasn't for all the Uscita (exit) signs everywhere.

This is the view from the gardens of the city. The dome is the Duomo and the tall tower on the right is the Pallazo Vecchio. The Pallazo Vecchio is 2 blocks from my apartment.

These duckies swam up to me as i walked up to the railing of the pond they were followed soon by koi. Sadly, they were hoping for food and I had none. :-(

The Kaffeehaus (I'm not sure why the name is in German):

I appologize in advance for the most touristy of pics

Sorry, It's required... And I may not be going back to Pisa any time soon. It was either that or me pinching David's butt; and they don't allow you to take pix in the Accademia (more on this in a minute) Here are some more pix of Pisa:



(The Baptistery doesn't lean like that, it's the way I took the picture.)

Inside the Baptistery:



The cemetery:



Pretty much everything except the Duomo complex was bombed and destroyed in WWII. What little remains of old Pisa leans one way or another, so if you look at the front end of the Duomo (toward the round Baptistery) you can see they tried to correct this. The front end started drooping while they were building it, so they added more blocks to level it out. Look at the top of the arches, there is a rail above them that gets higher and higher. BTW, my indoor shots will be super grainy. I have to use the highest ISO setting my camera has and no flash (it would be too weak anyway). Half the time, the shutter speed is still to slow to get a decent image.


On the way back from Pisa, we went thru Lucca. It's a lot like Florence, except smaller, quieter, cooler (climatologicaly), and there is less automobile traffic.


On the 4th, we went to the Accademia where Michelangelo's David (the real one) is. When you first get a glimpse of it you are completely in awe. Michelengelo's work was incredible. The perfection of the marble is amazing (the copy looks like it was made of cheap limestone). I did a few sketches, but my teacher laughed at them and confirmed my choice as a photographer. (Go go gadget arm) I would have loved to taken some pictures, but it is not allowed (even without flash).


Today, I went to the Leonardo da Vinci museum in Florence. Don't waste your €6. They have some machines he designed, but it's not that great of a museum overall. They do have a working clock he designed for €150 that I am considering buying. I'm not sure if I can cram it into my luggage, however. If the trains and buses weren't halted by a strike, I may consider going to the nearby town Vinci to the other Leonardo da Vinci museum (which is much better), but I can't. Also today, I saw the police take down someone who (I assume) was selling fakes. As I was headed to the Duomo, I saw the illegals running toward me with their fake Fendi (Fendo) bags and Dolce & Gabbana (Dolec & Oabbana) sunglasses. As I got closer, I heard a crowd cheering, then saw the police pepper spraying someone as he was trying to escape their grasp. Needless to say, I was cheering for the police as well (when in Rome, er Florence...). The fines for buying fakes is really steep (€10,000), so don't buy your Louis Vuitton (Louie Mutton) off the street.

Oops.

I posted the wrong pic for Machiavelli. Here is the right one:






Don't miss my prevoius post (below).

Fake David, Top of the Duomo, Santa Croce, and Gypsies, Tramps, & Theves

The Fake David:



The real one is in a museum. This is a copy in the place where it originally was. It is often referred to as the fake (or copy) David.



463 steps to the top of the Duomo, then this:




Looking down:


No tramps or thieves, just a Gypsy. Ok, they are theves:




Santa Croce, well worth the €5 to get in:




Machiavelli’s Tomb


Restoration work:


Dante's memorial


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Update: Spell checled. My internet connection dropped just after posting.

Lundry *sigh*

Laundry in Italy is a trip... To start things off Dave (our tour/school leader) described it like this: Laundry machines in America were designed for efficiency, but not the Italian ones. They were designed to simulate how laundry was done way back when, by laundry ladies. First, you cram all your laundry into the tiny drum. This simulates handing it to the wash lady. Don't plan on seeing your undies again for a long time. Then you close the door, which locks, and it sits there doing nothing. The laundry lady is walking to the local fountain, and then she rests and chats with the other ladies. In a few minutes or so you hear it filling; she is tossing your laundry into the fountain. Then she gets tired and walks to a cafe for an espresso. Once she is hopped up on caffeine the machine runs quickly, but as the coffee wears off, it slows down and she gets another espresso. It goes on like this for oh, about FOUR HOURS. Then it all stops, but she is not done. She is walking back from the fountain, so the machine just sits there. Locked. Eventually, she gives you your clothes back and you hear this soft *click*. Chances are you are asleep when that happens. When you finally wake up you are treated to a big mass of wet clothes that you must then lay on the drying rack to dry in the heat of the day.

On to part 2.

I go to the supermarket and get a box of what looks somewhat like laundry detergent, but not quite. I look at the directions and there is a pictogram of one of the tablets being tossed in, then clothes being tossed in. I do a load of whites, then a load of shirts and pants. They all dried hard as a board. What I thought was laundry detergent, was laundry machine decalsium tablets. So I am once again waiting for the laundry lady to get back from the fountain.

Later

A real blog post and the best Gelateria in Italy

Well, it's 9pm day 3. We are all getting settled. I just plugged in my laptop and it didn't explode (no matter how much I want it to so I can get my Dell *sigh*). Everything seems to be going well besides the heat wave that has struck the area. We are currently experiencing temps in the 90's. It is supposed to be going higher this weekend and then dropping. We have had 2 days of safety and living lectures, but I don't plan on getting ripped off. Take a look at the lock on my door:

It also locks the top and the bottom.

Petty theft is an issue in Italy. Pick pocketing and break ins are a major issue. The Italians see it as paying a poor tax and move on about their business. However, there is little danger of violence, mainly from the illegals (who also try to sell fake D&G belts, bags, etc which will get you in as much trouble for buying them). Also, there are beggars all over the place, some of which are Gypsies who will rip you off without your ever knowing it.

This is the best Gelateria in all of Italy:

And they are directly across the street (I took the pic from our front window) and are super nice. They even put up with our bad "EnglItalian" and complete misunderstanding of numbers. For €1.5 to €2 (or more if you want more) you can get a small cup or cone of awesome Gelato. If you are in Florence, go there.

Oh, and here is a detail from a fresco we saw today: