Italy - Our Top 10

During our nearly one month stay in Italy we were able to visit an array of different regions and cities. To wrap up our trip, before moving onto Vienna and Berlin, here are our top ten Italian experiences.

Ancient Rome

No trip to Italy is complete without visiting the Colosseum. One of the Seven Wonders of the World, it is not only extremely impressive, even by today's standards, but also a testament to the building acumen of the ancient Romans. If that wasn't enough, you can walk in the footsteps of Augustus, Caesar, and the rest of Rome's important historical figures in the ruins of the Roman Imperial Forum and Palatine Hill.

The Colosseum - the centre of Ancient Rome

Cinque Terre

Five cities perched on the Ligurian coast caused us to forget everything - blog posts, TV, calling home, and even bickering - if only for a few days. Rightly a UNESCO World Heritage Site, these five cities still seem to operate the same way they have for hundreds of years, oblivious to the millions of tourists flocking to see them every year.

Riomaggiore - our home for 4 days

Pompeii and Herculaneum

Perhaps the best opportunity to step back nearly 2000 years and explore a fully functioning Roman city - from palaces and temples to storefronts, cafeterias, and small family homes. Ironically, by being destroyed, Pompeii and Herculaneum survived, untouched and avoided the slow degradation of generation upon generation building on top of each other. 

Pompeii - destroyed but not gone

Burano

A photographer's playground, with it's brightly painted houses and winding canals, Burano provides the authenticity that Venice is now missing. Even as water buses deposit groups of tourists on the island hourly, it somehow manages to retain a laid back, peaceful feeling.  

 

Burano - full of colour

Sculpture

With the likes of Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, and Bernini (wait, he wasn't a ninja turtle), the Italians easily dominate in the field of sculpture and there's no better place to bask in the glory of their masterpieces than Florence. The Uffizi, Bargello, and Accademia museums feature works by these famous sculptors as well as many others. 

Giasone - one of our favorite sculptures in Italy

The Vatican Museum

Our favorite Italian museum (that we've visited), and a serious contender for best overall, the Vatican Museum won us over with it's collections which are large both in size and scope. From ancient Egyptian artifacts, to Greek and Roman sculptures, classical and modern paintings, and the museum's architecture, the museum offers something for everyone - and it's also home to the Sistine Chapel. 

The Raphael Rooms - one of art's great achievements

Pizza

Naples may be credited with the invention of this tasty dish, however we found restaurants throughout the country serving up mouth watering versions. Our favorites were Senzanome, in Florence, and Dar Poeta, in Rome. 

Pizza at Senzanome

Montemartini

Unable to get enough sculpture in Florence, we added a trip to the Montemartini Museum to our Roman itinerary and were blown away at the exhibition space - a historic electric plant. The contrast between the soft white marble sculptures and dark metal engines, valves, and pipes is gorgeous and provides a great photo opportunity as well. 

Juxtaposition at Montemartini

Basilica San Marco

Unrivaled for the title of most opulent by anything we've seen to date, Basilica San Marco makes up for what it lacks in size and scale with an abundance of sparkling gold mosaics. The lavish exterior, situated next to the equally stunning Doge's Palace, and mosaic covered interior leave visitors with a true understanding of how rich and powerful this republic really was. 

Basilica San Marco - one of the best in the world

The Pantheon

Was it famous before Dan Brown included it in his best selling novel Angels and Demons? If so, it's impossible to tell now, as visitors flock to the site hoping to glimpse a hidden symbol, or at least Raphael's tomb - which actually isn't that easy to spot. However for us, the building's architecture is the real draw. 

The Pantheon - an architectural marvel

A reminder, many more photos from our time in Italy, as well as the entire trip through Europe can be found on our Flickr page.

Hope you enjoyed our list...think we missed anything? Let us know!

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Florence - Home of the Renaissance (Part 3)

This should be the last of the series of posts on Florence (until I get around to talking about food), so hopefully you are not too tired yet of reading about it. 

In addition to the fantastic museums and churches, we really enjoyed the wonderfully preserved mix of architectural styles. From Romanesque to Gothic to Renaissance to Mannerist, Florence has it all. We spent a lot of time just walking, taking pictures, and trying to improve our style-identifying skills. Here are some of our absolute favorites. 

The bank of the Arno

View to the Boboli Gardens

The Duomo's green, white, and pink facade

Easily the most popular spot in Florence is the Piazza del Duomo. While I already mentioned how impressed we were with the Duomo itself, the other parts of the Piazza also deserve a mention - specifically Giotto's Campanile and the Baptistery. Done in the same marble facade as the Duomo, these two structures are often overlooked by the rushed tourist, to their own detriment. The Baptistry is renowned for it's three sets of bronze doors, referred to by Michelangelo as "the Gates of Paradise", while the Campanille (free standing bell tower) offers stunning views of the surrounding city.  

Doors of Paradise - found below these sculptures and crowded with tourists

Views of the Duomo and Campanille (right) from Piazzale Michelangelo

For having one of the best views in the entire city, Piazzale Michelangelo draws criminally few tourists. It is a nice easy climb through the Porta a San Niccolò and up the steps (you could also take a bus), and a great break from the crowds in the city. Additionally, the piazza contains a copy of Michelangelo's David and copies of the four allegorical statues he made for Pope Clement VII.

Panorama from Piazzale Michelangelo

While the Piazza del Duomo gets the majority of the plaudits in Florence, perhaps the most interesting and beautiful square in the city lies just a few blocks away at Piazza della Signoria. Bordered by a number of Palazzos, the Logia dei Lanzi (with it's wonderful replicas of famous sculptures), and the gateway to the Uffizi, the L-shaped "square" is always buzzing with activity and is a great place for people-watching (well, mainly tourist-watching, but that's fun too). The square also infamously is the spot where Giacomo Savonarola, a Dominican priest, was hanged and burned after he and his followers carried out the famous "bonfire of the vanities" where they burned books, gaming tables, dresses, and poetry.

Michelangelo's David (replica) in Piazza della Signoria

These are just a few of our favorite places we found while exploring. Many more interesting places - the Pizza della Repubblica, the Basilica of Santa Croce, the San Lorenzo Market, the Architecture along the Arno, The Boboli Gardens, and so on - are all around the city.   

I think this is it for now in terms of Florence posts, but maybe some more in the future as we still have lots of interesting stories about the people and places of the city.

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Florence - Home of the Renaissance (Part 2)

As you (hopefully) read in our previous post on our time in Florence, much of our time there was during the rainstorms that hit all across Italy for a week in late October. Despite this, we were able to take advantage of the sunny breaks and enjoy some of the amazing architectural sights that make Florence one of the top destinations in Italy. 

Undoubtedly, the most famous building in Florence is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, more commonly known as the Duomo, with Giotto's Campanile and Baptistery. Built between the 13th and 15th centuries, the exterior is unlike anything else you will see. The white, pink, and green marbelled facade create a striking contrast with the surrounding buildings. The dome of the cathedral is an ingenious design by Brunelleschi, and after reading about how it was built I was absolutely blown away. Although the gothic interior is largely austere, the frescoes painted on the inside of the dome are stunning and cover over 38,000 square feet (it took 12 years to complete it). 

The incredible Duomo on a sunny day

Inside, an idea how large this basilica is.

Interior of the large dome

You can climb either the dome or bell tower for a fee

We also visited two other churches while in Florence - the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella and the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte. 

Santa Maria Novella, as the name suggests, is right near the train station, and was constructed around the same time as the Duomo. While it has a lovely gothic facade, the real treat is inside where frescoes by Ghirlandaio and Michelangelo, sculpture work from Ghiberti and della Robbia, and an altar from Giambologna all await. It also holds the unfortunate honor of being the place where the movement against Galileo (for his support of heliocentrism) began, eventually leading to his arrest, trial, and sentence to house arrest for the rest of his life.

Stunning exterior striped arches

The final church we visited in Florence was San Minato al Monte, which is located near the Piazzale Michelangelo and its amazing views. The church in one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in all of Italy and dates back to 1013 AD. The interior houses intricately patterned pavement, mosaics, woodwork, and frescoes, as well as a crypt.

A few steps up to the top

A second church discovered underneath

Ornately painted alter

And it's hard to beat the view

With so many churches to visit, it's nearly impossible to see every one. We found simply wandering around, and popping into one or two as we had time, worked well for us.

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Florence - Home of the Renaissance (Part 1)

Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance and the center of Tuscan culture and heritage. Although our time in Florence was filled with cold, rainy days, we made the most of the poor weather and tried not to let it slow us down.

Although the rain often disrupted our time outside reveling in the architecture of Florence's amazing Cathedrals, Palaces, and Piazzas (coming up in Part 2!), by forcing us indoors it also allowed us to experience some of Florence's most important cultural experience - its museums.

As you may already know (from previous posts), we have a love/hate relationship with museums (Travis loves exploring them/Calli hates the way they make her feet feel), but we thoroughly enjoyed all Florence had to offer in this aspect.

Our first stop, after a rainy hour exploring an antiques market (who's idea could that have been?), was the Bargello. Housed in a beautiful castle turned palace turned barracks turned jail, the museum now hosts an amazing collection of Gothic and Renaissance sculpture, featuring such superstars as Michelangelo, Donatello, Giambologna, and Della Robbia. In addition, it houses a great collection of ceramics, textiles, ivories, coins, and other items of historical and artistic value. 

The beautifully detailed interior of the Bargello

  

We spent a good couple of hours admiring the amazing sculptures, picking out a few favorites along the way - Donatello's St. George, Michelangelo's Bacchus, and Pietro Francavilla's Jason.

Jason by Pietro Francavila

Our second museum visit in Florence was to one of the most famous in the world, the Uffizi Gallery. Not wanting to wait in line in the rain, we splurged a few euros and had our lovely hostess Lara make us a reservation. We were able to (fairly) easily collect our tickets and only had to wait in line for about 20 minutes. After checking our umbrella we set off to explore.

The exterior of the Uffizi Gallery

 First off, the building is amazing - at times even more amazing than the art, with the seemingly unending ceiling frescoes making it hard to look down. But the paintings are amazing too. Many of the greatest artists, both Italian and foreign, are represented here, and their talents cannot be denied. Paintings from the likes of Botticelli, Raphael, Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Rembrandt can a be found here, and no matter what your artistic preferences you are sure to find something you'll love. Some of our favorites included Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, Paolo Uccello's The Battle of San Romano, and Albrect Durer's The Adoration of the Magi. 

Sandro Botticelli - The Birth of Venus (via)

Paolo Uccello - The Battle of San Romano (via)

Albrect Durer - The Adoration of the Magi (via)

 Our final museum stop in Florence was La Specola, the natural history museum, and the post on that can be found here (We got a little ahead of ourselves because we visited on Halloween...sorry). Part 2 of our time in Florence should be up soon and the pictures shortly after that.

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Happy Halloween from Florence

We interrupt our regularly scheduled posts on Andalucia to bring you a special Halloween themed update today.

Happy Halloween!

It's October 31st and I'm having some costume withdrawal here in Florence. I'm normally "that" person who spends weeks coming up with a costume idea and then tediously constructs the entire thing by hand hoping it turns out, while Travis couldn't care less if Halloween was banned for eternity and loathes dressing up. Besides "helping" to eat any left over candy his Halloween participation is zero. 

Without any special plans we decided to take shelter from the rain and hit some of Florence's world class museums today. Perhaps not in the top 100, but intriguing to us was La Specola, or the Museum of Natural History. The museum's 34 rooms feature zoological specimens and a collection of anatomical waxes, surprisingly it's also (possibly) the absolute best way to celebrate Halloween in Florence.

We'd read that the museum was a bit odd but were not prepared for the collection which resembles the content of a taxidermist's garage, who also happens to be a hoarder, and not very good at his job. Each room opens into floor to ceiling antique display cases stuffed with hundreds of species - mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, insects... it seems never ending. 

Better specimen jars than anything DIY by Martha Stewart

Butterflies, only creepy when in large numbers

As close as I was willing to get to this case

Is that a dog or a bat? We still aren't quite sure.

Family pet turned museum display (via)

He obviously hasn't seen any Alfred Hitchcock films

The collection dates back hundreds of years with many specimens donated by the Medici family - the museum itself was first founded in 1771. As a result, the hides and furs are a bit tattered on many of the animals and some of the taxidermy work is a bit suspect - partially due to aging of the collection as well as an unfamiliarity with the animals they were preserving. Legend has it that the hippopotamus specimen currently on display was originally a Medici family pet in the 17th century. After a natural death, the hide was taken to the taxidermist for preservation however, never having seen a hippopotamus before, he did his best to preserve the specimen and decided to finish the feet as he would for a dog.  

Although higher quality specimens can be found on display at other Natural History Museums, including the one we visited while in London, the presentation, atmosphere, and sheer size make this collection unique, and a bit bizarre. And the weird-level was only about to go up because once we made our way through the zoological collection we entered the area displaying anatomical waxes, something you won't see anywhere else. 

Creepy right?

The grey curls add a certain je ne sais quoi

Museum that moonlights as a haunted house

Quite the provocative pose

Multiple rooms of cases, waxes, and drawings

The displays oddly resemble caskets

Try creating that for your haunted house decor

An art developed in Florence in the 17th century for the purpose of teaching medicine, the anatomical waxes originally acted in place of cadavers. The collection is actually quite famous, with Napoleon ordering a set for medical schools in France, however the wax molds of organs, arteries and veins, and peeled back skin are also quite creepy and eerily lifelike. I imagine the constant stare from those true to life eyes was quite distracting to students trying to learn!

Very strange, a bit disturbing, and completely geeky, La Specola is a wonderfully different museum to anything in Florence. We really enjoyed our visit and unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you look at it) we were only two of a handful of visitors in the place. For the 6 Euro entry fee you really can't go wrong with a visit, especially if it coincides with one of the most haunted days of the year!

Note: I apologize as we are still writing about Andalucia although technically in Italy now and promise to get caught up as quickly as possible. Also, if you're freaking out because the posts are no longer in a linear order now that we've jumped ahead to Florence in celebration of Halloween, please take comfort in the fact that I too am having a hard time with this and you're not alone.

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