For My Mother...

If I may digress from previous blogs about Italy, I have an inspirational message to share.

This is my Mother:

Correction. This is my Mother, quite in her element. For as long as I can remember, there have been large (and small) four-legged creatures roaming our property in the suburbs of Chicago. In other words, yes, I was the girl who grew up with a pony (and her name was Star).


But much has happened since the days of Star. I decided that horseback riding was not a hobby, after falling off around age 12 and fracturing my arm (my mother tells a different story). I moved on to writing and research. Since I can remember, I was writing short stories to bring home to my parents. So, I got my college degree (in English) and like most of my generation, moved right back home.

She was there for me, though. And I must not discount my Father, for he was an excellent support system as well. This was right around the time I decided to become a teacher. I wasn't interested in teaching in Illinois, however. I wasn't even interesting in teaching in The States. I set my goals higher. I was Europe bound. Italy. (Most of my prior readers will know this seeing as I spent the five weeks in Italy blogging about my adventures. By the by, THANK YOU ALL for reading.)

Both of my parents were supportive and told me to follow my dreams. And I did. But not alone. I asked my Mother to come with me for the first ten days. And she did! : )

Italy was wonderful and I will always have very fond memories. I have been fortunate enough to travel a decent amount in my soon-to-be 27 years: a few stints to Europe, cruising to Mexico and countless backseat car rides out west. My Mom always loved those trips out west.

I arrived back in The States, after Italy, and back into my parents’ house. One night, my Mom and I were watching T.V. when she mentioned how much she desired to experience an authentic dude ranch. My reply was, "Let's do it." Her prompt retort was, "Oh Megan, I'd never get you to a dude ranch..." Seeing how I was fairly soured on horseback riding as a child, I tried to appease my Mom every few years and go on a trail ride with her, but she was right; horseback riding is not really... my thing. But I told her, "Mom, is this something you have always wanted to do?" Her reply, "Yep." So I said, "Let's do it. For your birthday, next year, you and I are going." And ever since that faithful conversation, I have been in planning mode.

Now, my Mom, bless her heart, gave my multiple chances to renig on my offer. But I told her, "No. You came to Italy with me to accomplish my dream. We are going out west to head-up a dude ranch." My argument extended its genuineness after I gave her further reasoning. "Mom," I said. "Think about it... There is no place in the entire world, that you can recall the experience of Wild West for all that it was and is. That sounds like a great adventure in itself. And if this is something you have always wanted to do, we NEED to do it!"

I stumbled across Black Mountain Ranch, through my Aunt Debbie (also an avid traveler). She mentioned to me about a giveaway they were having and I couldn't resist. I had to enter.

Thus, fellow followers, you are reading my entry. It's the least I could do to fulfill a dream of my Mom's. She would do anything to make me happy and allow me to follow my dreams. The least I can do is repay the favor.

Thank you for the consideration, Black Mountain Ranch!

Day 32 - Oltrarno

Dividing Florence is the Arno River, you have heard me talk about this before. The other side, opposite from where I live, is called Oltrarno meaning simply 'across the river.' This is definitely the more authentic side of Florence. There are not as many tourist attractions here, however, plenty of things to see in one day and that's exactly what I did.

Visuals. They always help me!

I started the day with Alexis. Her and I walked north on our side of the river to purchase ballet tickets for Saturday night (flash forward: Alexis and I saw "A Mid Summer Night's Dream the next evening. It was pretty awesome). We crossed the river 3 bridges north of the Ponte Vecchio. After grabbing lunch at her favorite deli and a cup of coffee just down the road, Alexis ran off the the studio and I found myself ready to start my 'across the river' adventure.

My first stop, the Brancacci Chapel. This chapel is located in Santa Maria Del Carmine. The beautiful fresco-ed walls of the chapel depict the life of St. Peter (same guy who the basilica in the Vatican was named after). These frescoes were painted partially by Filippino Lippi.

Front of Santa Maria Del Carmine. Inside is the Brancacci Chapel.

Brancacci Chapel

Brancacci Chapel - Right Wall

Brancacci Chapel - Left Wall

Brancacci Chapel - Ceiling

Next up, I was headed back to Palazzo Pitti. One of my newer room mates told me that the other half of the visit (if you remember, I only bought one of two ticket options upon first going to Palazzo Pitti) was worth viewing. Palazzo Pitti was where the Medici Family moved to after leaving the San Lorenzo area. Once they headed across the river, other aristocrats followed. The palace has since been inhabited by other families and much of the original architecture and design of the rooms has changed. They don't allow photos in this area of the palace because it now houses an art gallery. A quite impressive one at that.

However, those of you who have followed me on this blog might recall a fountain. 'Street corner fountain, Florence.' Sound familiar? Well, I hit up the internet again prior to my journey to attempt to locate Street corner fountain, Florence. However, my new directions led me awry, yet again, and I decided that faulty internet leadership would cause my hunt to wait another day. As I began the walk to Palazzo Pitti, I was having one of those meaningful moments, trying my best to enjoy strolling down Florentine streets when I happened to look up:

Boom! FOUND! Good moment..

I spent a lot of time climbing to the top of "things" while in Italy. Whether it was a bell tower, church, hill, steps, you name it. I calculated that I walked up more that 1,000 stairs while I was in Italy (not to mention the 4 flights to reach my room every day). When I was at the top of multiple monuments in Florence, one distant building caught my eye.

 Hard to see here, but this picture was taken from the top of the Giotto's Bell Tower. 

This was taken at the top of the duomo. What is this?!?! Across the river... Large white, marble faced building... AHH!!!

None of my travel books highlighted this building so I had to dig a little. But the effort paid off. This church, San Miniato al Monte, is located high atop a hill. So, I hoofed it up there and, well, the pictures get better.

And there it was. The illusive white-faced structure I had seen many times but from a great distance. 

 San Miniato al Monte 

Mosaic of Jesus centered on front of San Miniato

While walking through the church, taking pictures and exploring, I stumbled across an elderly gentleman dressed all in white as the figures above. This was a mural painted hundreds of years ago and turns out the clergy men of San Miniato still dress the same. I said, "Boun giorno" but he shuffled off. I think I scared him. 

View of Florence from San Miniato.

I was told by many, including my Mom before she left, that one location to visit was Piazzale Michelangelo. So I made it my last stop of the day. I'm not even going to bother trying to explain what I saw because it is, just, absolutely, indescribable.

Florence at Sunset

Ponte Vecchio, River Arno, and Florence

Replica of Michelangelo's David resides in Piazzale Michelangelo

Needless to say, I saved one of the most beautiful views of the city for one of my last days in Florence. I had a wonderful day, walking the streets, enjoying the culture and people, spending time with those I knew I would miss and taking in as much as I could.

I was determined not to take this city for granted, as I only had a few more days until my arrival back in The States.

Days 29, 30, 31 - Venice

Venice. Venice! So much to say before I even tap into Venice. But one more time. VENICE!

Ok, rewind. During my college days, (I could follow this phrase up with so many thoughts and ideas, but college was college and I'll leave it at that), I had a very good friend, Kyle. Kyle was my buddy from freshman year until he left Eastern to join the Air Force just before my junior year. Kyle and I knew how to put them down (and by them I mean beer). And put them down we did. But before I tarnish anyone's rep here, we were good friends and had a lot of fun together. And a lot of laughs.

So, Kyle leaves college and joins the military. He is currently stationed at Aviano Air Base, just outside Venice. So, not only do I get to see an amazingly awesome town, I get to hang with a friend from the good ol' days.

I left Florence on Tuesday evening and caught up with Kyle in a small northern Italian town called Sacile. Kyle told me that back in the day, the rich Venetians would have homes here as well as in Venice. Quite a pleasant little Italian town, but not my final stop for the day. Kyle lives in smaller mountain community called... Ahh... I forget. The town only has about 100 people in it and I know it starts with a 'p.' Sorry Kyle.

So, I arrived at Kyle's home and we grabbed dinner at a local hot joint, Casa Bianca (a.k.a.The White House). I indulged in the pumpkin ravioli. Yep, just as good as it sounds! Later we headed back to Kyle's abode, reminisced about college times, drank like in college times and realized the next morning we are not as old as we were in college and drinking like that makes you pay a hefty price. The wine was really good, though.

We caught a train to Venice, which is an island for those who don't know (don't feel bad, I didn't know either). The train ride to the city/island was pretty nice, you take a long bridge from the mainland to Venice. Once we arrived, it was very difficult to put my camera down. Venice is incredible.

Right off the train.

 Market in the middle of the street.

 Common bridge. And when I say common, I mean common. There is very little automobile access in this city/island. Transportation is done with legs or on boats. In other words, you'll walk over a bridge ever 5-10 minutes. For reference, I'm standing on a bridge taking a picture of a bridge. I can't walk on water. Disappointed? Me too...

 Kyle down the street. Looks like an alley, right? Nope. These are common streets in which tourists flood during the peek season. Lucky for us, it was smooth sailing (pardon the pun).

Cute flower shop. Couldn't help it...

Our first stop was Piazza de San Marco. He's pretty much the main guy to see in Venice. Rome has St. Peter, Florence has the marvelous duomo and Brunelleschi and Venice has San Marco. He must have been a pretty awesome guy/saint, because he had one of the best churches (Basilica di San Marco) I've seen yet.

Basilica di San Marco

And, of course, what have we learned while traveling through Italy? You can't have a basilica without a bell tower.

Basilica di San Marco

The spectacular golden alter in Basilica di San Marco

Canopy over none other than.... Yep, Mark. Or Marco, as the Italians refer to him.

I have been to my fair share of churches while in Italy this last month. But none of them had a floor quite like this one. An intricate marble flooring covered every inch of the bottom of the beautiful church.

The marble floor could only be topped by the mosaic ceiling. The entire ceiling designed with elaborate pictures from the bible was completely covered by mosaic tiles. For reference, one tile is probably about a quarter of an inch by a quarter of an inch. Every color imaginable was used and created one of the most astonishing sights I have ever seen. The above picture is a close up, but imagine the ENTIRE ceiling covered in little square tiles.

Quite an impressive sight inside the Basilica di San Marco are the Triumphal Quadriga. These four horses were moved inside the church for preservation, however the fascination behind them remains. The exact date these horses were created is unknown, however it is speculated at the second half of the second century A.D. They were apparently brought over from Constantinople as war booty by a past doge (more on the doge below).

Climb to the top of the basilica?! Of course we did!!! The view of San Marco Piazza facing the ocean. This is a picture taken from the loggia. The loggia is an opening at the top of the basilica where the doge (or the man in charge of Venice) would address the public. He's like Venice's Pope.

An interesting way to keep time, the Torre dell'Orologio is not just a clock. Between two large quadrants, a spectator can tell the phase of the moon and corresponding zodiac sign, as well as the time. Kyle told me that the creator of this contraption was blinded after its completion. According to legend, this was done in order that the masterpiece never be duplicated. The gentlemen at the top are what we would call 'animatronic.' They actually swing their hammers upon the hour.They toll the bell.

This is the original location of the four horses, atop the loggia. These are replicas made in Milan in the 80s, I think. Not as impressive.

Next up, a trip into the doge's home, Palazzo Ducale. For the record, Kyle and I could not figure out exactly how to pronounce 'doge.' dOH-sha? dog-eh? Doe-g? Doe-ga? It's a mystery for the ages (I could probably just google translate it, but you know, the mystery part is more fun).

Inside of the Palazzo Ducale. Again, they frown on taking pictures inside the palace, but we may have snuck at least one... 

Entrance from the courtyard into Palazzo Ducale. 

Kyle is a collector of rare, old keys. He often attempts to open various locks with them. Above is one of his many attempts. PSYCH!!!! That's actually just the key to Kyle's home. He's being funny.

After an hour and a half walk through the Palazzo Ducale, we chose one more must-see destination: Ponte di Rialto. This famous Venice bridge is comparable to Ponte Vecchio in Florence, however much shorter and with less pizazz.

Ponte di Rialto

 View from the middle of Ponte di Rialto

View from the middle of Ponte di Rialto

Kyle and I on the Ponte di Rialto

The rest of the afternoon was spent venturing around the island. Kyle was kind enough to watch me shop and didn't complain as I randomly stopped to take multiple pictures. 

When I say Venice, what comes to mind? Murano glass? Gondolas? The Grand Canal? Please view below, as I have attempted to gather, via photograph, as much of a feeling of Venice as I could. Keep in mind, pictures will never do this city/island justice. Outside of Florence, I would recommend that anyone go to Venice. It really was quite exquisite.

The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal 

Gondolas facing the sea 

Old Wooden Sides (or at least that's what I called it)

Anyone for a gondola? When walking down the streets and over the bridges, the gondola guys (I know they have an appropriate name, but I'm a fan of alliteration) would ask, "Gondola, gondola, gondola?" This must be why. Slow time of the year for them. 

Our view from a cafe where we stopped for a cup of coffee. Well, that's really misleading. Let me, once again, rephrase. Italians do no drink 'cups of coffee' like we know in The States. They drink espressos, which is basically a shot of caffeine. It does not take long to drink and this way they can get moving with extra energy to spare. I par-took in the espresso drinking. But, I'll tell ya, there is nothing like an actual cup of coffee, or cafe Americano as they call it (I ordered one once, got a sour look and never did it again. Live and learn, amiright?!). 

This particular spot, Taverna San Trovaso, was our lunch destination. Notice the steps down to hop on a boat. No railing, no chain, no barricade of any kind. How do these people keep from falling in the water? No clue. Kyle and I made it through the day without a dip in any canals... As Americans, I think there is something to be said for that.

Gondola Guys. : ) 

All in all, Venice is a MUST-SEE when traveling to Italy. The streets, buildings and architecture are majestic. The people are warm and the jewelry is a-mazing!

So after a nice long, caffeine induced walk, Kyle and I caught the train back to Sacile. We stopped at a pub he knew and I had my first cheeseburger in three weeks. Now, that may not sound like a long time to some of you, but I love cheeseburgers. And there really is something to the whole, "You want it more because it's not available" argument. All I know, it was a damn good cheeseburger. 

Exhausted, half from walking around all day and half from a caffeine crash, we made it back to Kyle's place and promptly  said, "Bueno Notte." We woke in the morning and had a cup of coffee (American style, YEAH!) and concluded our catch up. It was a super nice mini vacation in a vacation.

Kyle and I have grown since our college days. We no longer stay up until 4 a.m. polishing off a case of beer. Now we stay up until midnight and consume fine red wine. However, our conversations have grown to become more important and adult-like. Guess this means we are growing up...

Kyle, thank you for a great time. I look forward to when we get to hang again. Double date in March, eh?!?! Oh and hey, if you can post the name of your town on this blog, that would be great! 

But for now, it's back to the home front. Back to Florence.