Today was wonderfully good. Our travels continue to inspire and amaze. The voyage was excellent; I get a slightly different perspective as the driver of our conveyance and negotiator of the vias and estrades that make up the highway system here (Can anyone say 160 KPH+ woohoo!!!). The drive across the northern end of this delightful country was swift and memorable. Rolling plains of Milan to Modena (yes, that’s where Balsamic vinegar comes from) gave way to the hill country surrounding Gorgonzola (yes, its a place, not just a tasty cheese) the descent into Genova (the city not the cold-cut) was breathtaking and unforgettable. You can thank me later for the mini-gastronomy lesson. Refueling the Ford Fiesta proved nail-biting as the gas stations here place Diesel in the pumps with black tubing and Unleaded Gasoline in GREEN! I sweated it out untill my rusty Italian-Latin lingo skills proved the day with a still-functioning rental car. Whew!
The coastal lands around Genova to Livorno are reminiscent of an ancient Santa Cruz (California) mountain region, not to be missed in this sweet short lifetime :)
Pisa might be well advised to vote a municipal bond for a sewerage treatment plant, STINKYYYYY... ok, enough gringo :) The old University may have felt cheated by the ill-constructed (actually the foundation is the only problem with this GORGEOUS bell-tower) edifice, but it has paid off in spades for the modern hamlet of Pisa. It’s a ‘cannot miss’ if you ever are in Italy. NOTE: Languishing in the limelight of the WORLD-FAMOUS off-kilter tower are two magnificent structures we were also privileged to tour: the cathedral and the duomo at Pisa are stunning examples of stonework and acoustics. Almost an after-thought (I’m sure) to most visitors, these fine buildings and the rest of Pisa are worth the trip here alone (leaning tower or no) Did you know Galileo attended this University? Boom! That right there... Ironic though, the (now) leaning tower was meant to be a compliment or finishing touch to the cathedral and duomo.
Arrival in Firenze (Florence) at a lovely hotel brought on excellent conversation (and so forth) with my lovely bride over a sumptuous meal and a GREAT bottle of Chianti (local only though, not for export, damn). Can a man get any more fortunate than this? I think no. :) ~S
Today was so great. We woke up and ate breakfast, then turned in our room key and made our way out of Milan. The only bad part about the morning was the entire hotel’s hot water system broke this morning and we were left with cold showers, literally. I debated not showering, but the film from the day before was just too thick to not, so I bravely showered in super cold water as quickly as I could... at least I wasnt sleepy after that :) We wanted to see the Last Supper painted by Davinci at the convent in Milan, but we found out it’s closed on Mondays, so that was a no go. Oh well... the Sistine Chapel in Rome will make up for it :) We jumped on the Auto-Estrada in route to Florence, through Genova and along the coast. This was an amazing and beautiful drive. Such beautiful landscape and awesome towns along the way. And the more we drove, the scenery became more and more beautiful. Not far before we came to Genoa, the roads started winding madly through the hillsides and the decent was fast and furious as we were speeding at 150 kph down the thin and perilous highways. What a ride. And the view of Genoa, as we came upon it, nestled in the steep hillsides of the coast was simply amazing!
At Genoa we decided to exit the freeway and instead take the coastal roads to La Spezia. This was such a beautiful drive. The coastal town of Portofino is amazing... steep hillsides with houses and buildings nestled in. Very cool. This took a couple of hours to navigate, but well worth the time. A drive I personally will never forget :)
Once the coastal road started heading inland for a while, we jumped back on the freeway and made our way to Pisa. At first glance, when driving into this town, it looks like a dump. Not anything near Milan or Venice... more like a poor country town with a lot of poverty. And the smells here... wow - too many to be happy about. Sewer... garbage... rotting animals... some that were unrecognizable. We weren’t sure why this town was so stinky, and we were glad not to know. We found a parking spot not far from the sites and walked about 6 blocks into the super busy tourist area. Here there were a zillion people, all taking in the sites and experiences of the Leaning Tower, Duomo and Cathedral of Pisa. The architecture is amazing, the sites are beautiful, and the sounds of a woman singing in the Duomo were stunning as her voice echoed off the ceiling and walls... it was so beautiful and sounded like several people singing at once with the way the echo lasted. Very cool. We took some amazing pictures of this place... and yes... we couldn’t resist the cliche pictures of us “holding up the tower”... :)
We left Pisa and made our way to Florence. By the time we got here is was mid-evening, so we opted to stay in rather than try to explore the city at night. We ate a lovely dinner at our hotel, which has been the nicest we’ve stayed at thus far. Very nice hardwood floors, marble bathroom, beautiful view. It even has a restaurant in the hotel, which we ate at and just got back from not too long ago. Stanley had a grilled chicken breast that was delicious, and I had mushroom ravioli which was very good. The meal ended with the most delicious dessert I’ve ever tasted... Profittero. It is a chocolate mouse like yumminess, packed into eclair like cakes, and smothered completely with a thick and delicious whipped topping. OMG!!! It was SOOOOO good :) We’re off to bed soon because tomorrow will be a long day. Explore Florence, then drive through Tuscany to Sienne, along the Chianti Highway and down the coast to Rome. ~M
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