I never did write in my travel journal for the last day we were in Verona. Probably because we didn’t do much. We walked around, but it was the same places we had been the day before. The old part of Verona is entirely doable in one full day. We had an excellent dinner at a place that served both horse and donkey meat. Once again, we stuck to pasta. Honestly, I’m not a big meat eater, so I’m really not adventurous when it comes to trying different meats.

The trip home got off to a rocky start when the Verona airport got confused about our tickets. Our paper tickets (issued almost a year ago) didn’t match our itinerary, because the flight had been changed by United at some point. So we had to claim our baggage in Frankfurt and check in again at the United counter there. They understood our tickets perfectly, but it was so busy we didn’t get our seat assignments until we checked in to board. And for some mysterious reason, we were upgraded to business class. Oh my. That is how to fly. Lots of alcohol, lots of food, lots of water, lots of attention, lots of leg and reclining room…too bad we had to change planes in Chicago. Due to a lightning storm, the luggage was delayed in coming off the plane. But all of the flights were delayed and we had a long layover, so it wasn’t a problem.

Chicago to LAX was Economy Plus, also better than regular coach, and I’m not sure how we landed there, either. By the time we flew into San Luis Obispo we had been up for 24 hours, with only a few cat naps on the planes. My mom’s luggage showed up in SLO, but mine didn’t. Luckily, it arrived the next day. I think it was scared of the lightening and hid in Chicago for awhile.

So that’s the trip. The jet lag took a few days to get over. Unfortunately, I’m back to work and the trip is only a memory now. But oh, what a memory.

9/23/07

We went to Piazza Bra
for breakfast, our first breakfast out this trip. We ordered a Continentale and a Europea, both with cappuccinos. This way were able to get a combo of fruit, toast and cornetto. We also got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with one of the orders…it was all quite good, and about the same price as our hotel breakfast would have been. And that looked like just coffee with bread and jam. And cereal.

After breakfast we went into the Arena, which still had the stage set up from last night’s concert. Zucchero is on tour…no, we didn’t get tickets. The marble steps/seats of the arena are tall and quite a challenge to climb (it’s even worse going down). The arena is a Roman theatre and has been in use for over 2000 years. How cool is that?
Next, we set off to loosely follow the walking tour from Rick Steves‘ book. We started at Piazza Erbe, site of the old Roman forum. There is a lion atop a column (sign of Venice’s dominion), a small marble pavilion where the merchant’s scales once were, and a fountain. And lots of people. Then we went under the whale’s rib (1000 years hanging – legend says if someone who has never lied passes underneath it, it will fall) into the Piazza dei Signori. Dante’s statue is in the middle, as he was granted asylum here after Florence kicked him out. The della Scala residence is on this square. Behind Dante, the yellow building is the Loggia del Consiglio, a Renaissance style council chamber. Palazzo della Ragione (Palace of Reason) is opposite Dante. We climbed the 13th century Torre dei Lamberti(almost 300 steps, not that I was counting…there is an elevator, but we were being healthy) to see some great views of the city.

We passed by the Gothic looking tombs of the Scaligeri family. Their name comes from the word for ladder, and you can see ladders on the fencing. From there we walked by Sant‘ Anastasia church, the largest in the city. Then to the Ponte Pietra. After it was bombed in WWII the locals fished the Roman marble stones from the river and rebuilt the bridge. The bridge is now two-toned, with the old Roman marble being white and the newer brick being red. We crossed the bridge to the Roman theater, excavated from beneath medieval buildings. The museum is in an old Jesuit monastery built into the hillside. There are great views overlooking the city, so it is worth the hike up the hill.
Back over the bridge we walked by the Duomo and then headed off for lunch on Via Viviani at Caffe Coloniale. Then more walking back to Piazza Bra and along the old wall that runs to the river. Finally, we headed back to the hotel to rest before returning to Liston for dinner.

9/22/07

Off to Verona. We made the drive in a little more than one hour. We even filled up the car (and with diesel this time!). Despite lousy directions and a few unidentified streets we managed to find Avis and return the car. Sue and Lance left for the train station to leave for Milan and mom and I took a taxi to the Hotel Torcolo, just off the Piazza Bra in the old part of town. We checked in and then headed for lunch at one of the places recommended by the hotel owner, Liston (that’s the name of the restaurant, not the hotel owner). I had risotto with red chicory and wine – it was a beautiful purple color and delicious. Mom had an equally delicious Gorgonzola pizza. It was one of our better lunches.

After lunch we set off with a map to walk the old city. Almost the same walk we did the next day, so I’ll skip the details. The only exception was Juliet’s balcony (as in Romeo and Juliet), which we took lots of pictures of for my Auntie Frankie. Juliet’s house is the actual site of a house owned by the Capello family, and where Shakespeare supposedly took the name Capulet from. The balcony was added in the 1920s for tourist purposes, but that doesn’t stop everyone. The place was full of tourists, tourists on the balcony, tourists groping Juliet’s breast (see how shiny it is? it’s supposed to bring you a lover if you rub it),and tourists leaving love notes in the form of graffiti. We pretty much just took our pictures and beat a quick retreat.

Later, we went to dinner at Greppia. The tables were all booked for reservations, so it’s quite a popular place. We didn’t order the regional specialty, horse meat. We stuck to pasta, instead. And oh, was it good. I had spinach and cheese ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce. Mom had a plate with three different pastas, the ravioli, pesto and gnocchi. We shared caramel cake for dessert…it was good, too, but very sweet. There were two older men next to us. One asked if we were from the US…when I said yes, he said they were from Sicily. Then he added mafia and cracked himself up. He kept chatting to me in Italian and English and I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say. Maybe that’s a good thing.

9/21/07

Up early to catch the train for one last day in Venice. The plan – St. Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace. We’ll see if we can beat the people.

Doge’s Palace yes. St. Mark’s no. We took the #1 vaporetto from Ferrovia (the train station) to San Marco and got in line for the Doge’s Palace. The line was mercifully short and we were in the palace within 10 minutes. First we saw the courtyard and the Grand Staircase with Moses and NOT Paul Newman (there are two statues…Rick Steves says they are Moses and Paul Newman…Rick Steves is a dork). Then we went up the Golden Staircase (the ceiling is decorated with paintings and gilt, so you have to look up to understand the name) into the Doge’s apartments. Then into the Council and Senate rooms and the armory. Then into the huge room where they met to elect the doge, then over the Bridge of Sighs

and down into the prison. What a contrast. All of the rooms in the palace are heavily decorated, either with silk wallpaper or panelling, and paintings. Lots of dark oils, especially in the Senate Room and Hall of the Grand Council with Tintoretto’s paintings. The prison was stark stone, damp and cold with short little doors. The prison was supposed to be modern, with light and airy cells and wood panelled walls. This is only true on the cells with windows. The further inside you go, the darker and colder it gets. The palace is where the doge lived and all the government stuff happened. The doge was elected, but ruled for life. It sounds like the Senate and Council did most of the work and made most of the decisions, though. Especially the Council of 10. But the doge was like the pope in that when he died everything came to a screeching halt until the Grand Council convened and elected the next guy.

After we wandered through the palace we decided to skip the very very very long line into the basilica. We stopped to eat at a place behind St Mark’s that wasn’t that impressive and had bad service, even taking into account the fact that there really is no such thing as customer service in Italy. After lunch we started randomly walking down streets and came across the Arsenale, where the old shipyards used to be. It now belongs to the Navy and is off limits. But we took pictures of the gateway with its stone lions standing guard.

From there we walked to the Giardini Pubblici (Public Gardens), then hopped on a vaporetto back to San Toma so Sue and Lance could check out Frari Church with it’s Titians. Mom and I skipped the church to look at the beautiful carnivale masks in the nearby shops. Then we wandered back to the train station and headed home for leftovers and packing. Some last shots of the canals:

doorknob in Venice

9/20/07

We decided to hunt down the sights of Monselice, which is about 5 miles from where we are staying. It turned out to be easier than we thought. We walked right to the castle, as it’s lower on the rock than we thought. We paid 5.50 euros entry, and ended up getting a guided tour from Federica, who claimed not to speak very good English, but did a damn good job describing all the weapons they have on display in the armory. The castle was built in three sections – the oldest, the fortress part.

Then a separate addition in the middle ages, then a later addition in the Venetian style that connected the two. When Count Cini bought the castle he furnished the whole thing with his collection of weapons and armor and furniture. Federica showed us the armory, the bedrooms, the courtyard and chapel,

the “party room,” and the kitchen. The chimneys are unusual with their rounded, painted hoods. (Sorry, no pictures allowed inside.) It was a simpler, more realistic Hearst Castle like experience.

After the castle we continued up the hill, past a villa with statues of dwarfs (the family name means dwarf), then past 7 little identical chapels,

and then to the Villa Duodo.

Access to the rest of the rock (the hike to the top) was prohibited until 3pm (plus it cost 4 euros), so we walked back down and had lunch at what looked like the only place left open in town.

Then it was home to nap and then cook our own dinner of rosemary chicken, roasted potatoes and veggies, and foccacia bread. Plus we had antipasti (olives, cheese and crackers) and dessert (tiramisu). Everything was so good.

9/19/07

After the Duomo we walked to Basilica di Sant’ Antonio. This is where St. Anthony spent his last years and the site of his tomb – not to mention his tongue, his vocal chords and lower teeth. All preserved and on display. This is a major pilgrimage site. St. Anthony being the patron saint of travelers, donkeys, stewardesses and pig farmers. And lost things. His tomb was surrounded by pictures and letters praying for help.

9/18/07

Today we set off to look for local villas. Our first stop was planned – Valsanzibio’s baroque gardens. Entrance to the gardens is 8.50 euros and they give you a guided walk to follow. The garden/villa was built in 1669 by Barbirigo and Bernini drew the plans. The walk through the garden is supposed to be an allegory of man’s progress and salvation. We weren’t exactly up for such deep thought, but we did enjoy the walk and the fountains. We checked out the maze, the hermit’s pond (no pond, but there was a hobbit house), the swans in the fish ponds (the black swans were quite chatty and kept following us), Rabbit’s Island (with lots of little bunnies hippity hopping around), and the Fountain of Water Jokes (where the fountains start up as you walk by, potentially soaking those sitting on the benches). We eventually made it to the villa, which is still occupied and not open to visitors.

9/17/07

Since the train to Venice leaves from Monselice (or nearest “real” town) once per hour, we got up fairly early and were at the station at 9am. The train takes 20 minutes to Padova and one hour to reach Venice. Once in Venice we walked out of the station and bought tickets for the vaporetto. 13 euro for a twelve hour ticket. We took the short way (out into the lagoon) to Piazza San Marco, where we started an iPod tour in front of the equestrian statue of good ole Vittorio Emanuele II. We walked past the Bridge of Sighs (and every time he said Bridge of Sighs the cheesy narrator had to sigh dramatically)

and then towards the columns marking the official entrance to the city. The Piazza was absolutely packed with people. And pigeons. It was a zoo, the worst I’ve seen in Italy. And long lines to get into everything. We listened to the iPods and looked at the outside of the Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s, the bell tower (that fell down in the early 1900s and was rebuilt) and the piazza. And the pigeons. And the people. And the people feeding the pigeons. Yuck! Then we started to walk to the Rialto Bridge and it started to sprinkle. Then thunder. Then rain. Really hard. We took refuge in a shop selling glass and stood there for a ½ hour watching the street turn into a river. Finally it lightened up and Sue found a restaurant right around the corner for lunch. I had pasta e fagioli soup. It was good, but holy cow our lunch was expensive. We ordered fairly light and the total for the four of us came to 104 euros. I’m glad I decided not to stay in Venice for the week!

After lunch we finally made our way to the Rialto, which was also mobbed with tourists, including two girls from Cal Poly (we saw their sweatshirts and asked if they were really from SLO). After a few pictures from the bridge we just started wandering the streets. We eventually got back on a vaporetto to take us back to the train station, where we got on another vaporetto to go to Murano, the island where all the glass makers are. They were basically exiled there many moons ago when people were afraid they’d burn the city down with their furnaces. We never did get to see anyone blowing glass, but we went into lots of shops. Some pretty stuff, but a lot of repetition. After about two hours on Murano we took the vaporetto back to the train station and then the train back to Monselice. We stopped at our local pizza place for dinner before going home. We’re torn on whether we’ll go back to Venice…I don’t think anyone expected it to be that crowded.

9/16/07

I woke up to the sound of church bells. I though it would be 8:00, but the cell phone said 8:19. There is a church next door (yes, pizza on one side and church on the other…it’s a very small town) and the bells are rung by hand. Last night we heard them at off times between 6:00 and 8:00. One time the bell ringer practically played a symphony. Tonight, at 8:30, we only heard one solitary bong.

Today we drove to Este and Montagnana, both due west of here. At Este we cruised through the flea market and then the castle.
The castle was built in the 1300s. The walls still stand, and the inside is now the city park. It has paths and benches and rosebushes. What a totally cool idea – the town must think so too, as we saw people of all ages there.

We continued on to Montagnana, an old walled town. The walls and gates still stand, although you can’t walk on top of the walls. The portcullis spikes are visible if you look up at the gate. And you can see where the moat was. The gates were serious business…three or four arches to pass through. After entering the main gate you come to the piazza dominated by the duomo, aka il jumbo duomo. Huge inside and out. The piazza had a few vendors selling candied nuts and cheeses. We went for the nuts, which were warm and sugary. Then we walked through the town – lined with antique/junk stalls as it was the third Sunday of the month, and this is what they do on the third Sunday of the month. We walked the length to the other gate, then walked back to have lunch at an hosteria. It had a small menu with mostly ham and cheese plates. I had a caprese salad and bread – with the absolute best tomatoes I have ever had. Then we went across the street for, yes, gelato. I had green apple – mela verde. Mmmmmm. Then we came home to relax and do laundry (one load takes 2 freakin’ hours in the washer!) and eat leftover pizza from last night.

9/15/07

Off to the Veneto. We left the villa round 9:15 and headed for Bologna. We went through the mountains…literally. There were lots of tunnels around the Tuscany/Emilia-Romagna border. After about 1 ½ hours of driving we arrived in Bologna. We had no map of the city but did a pretty good job of finding the centro storico. We parked off of Piazza Cavour and walked to Piazza Maggiore. There was a band in the piazza (the Tolga Trio, except there were four musicians) playing sort of a Dixieland jazz. We went into the Basilica di San Petronio and looked at the astrological clock and did a quick lap around the church. They were refinishing the floor and the fumes were suffocating. The basilica was supposed to be the biggest ever, but after Rome heard of the plan they got jealous and cut off funding. So the façade is only about one third finished.
This is where Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1530.

Next we looked at the Fontana del Nettuno, with its sirens that spout water from all orifices.
Then we headed right down the Via Rizzoli to see the two leaning towers of Bologna, built in the medieval ages as symbols of wealth and prestige. It’s hard to see in pictures, but they really lean. Torre Garisenda is 165 feet tall and 10 feet off the perpendicular. Torre degli Asinelli is twice as tall and 7 ½ feet out of plumb.

We walked back to the Piazza Maggiore through the market streets, with stores selling fresh pasta and fish and veggies.

Then we hunted down Trattoria da Danio on Via San Felice. This was a neighborhood joint with great pastas. I OD’ed on meat…meat tortellini with meat sauce. I was taking Herman Melville’s advice: “First thing at Bologna: tried Bologna sausage on the principle that at Rome you first go to St Peter’s.”

And yes, we had our daily fix of gelato before leaving town…chocolate and blueberry.

Once outside of Bologna it started looking like the valley and I5. Flat, farmland, and hazy. We had entered the Po Valley. After a 40 minute drive we arrived in Vanzo, at the house I rented online from Giorgio. His wife met us there. Even though I had arranged to rent the two bedroom, they gave us the three bedroom. Although it doesn’t really have a living room (just a kitchen/dining room/couple of chairs in front of a fireplace) it’s perfect for the four of us. And I have my own room for the first time in over two weeks. Score! We followed Giorgio’s wife to the grocery store to stock up, then came home to unpack and relax until 7pm, when the pizzeria next door opened for dinner. It has a HUGE menu…I think you could eat there once a week for a year and never eat the same thing twice. And it’s way cheap. And good. We’re definitely off the beaten path here in Vanzo. Fewer people speak English and we didn’t see any other tourists all afternoon. It’s great!