Guyaders in Italy
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2004
1
11
40
Trip End
Apr 03, 2005
Rome,
Italy
Monday, August 30, 2004
In this segment we will try to cover off our adventures in Italy.
We left Innsbruck in the rain in search of some sunny weather. That was on the 23rd of August. We travelled from Innsbruck straight south to Verona. When we got off of the train it was 32 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We found a spot to camp at the Romeo and Juliet Campground (how romantic) without too much trouble and started making plans. Verona is known for their operas held in the outdoor arena built of pink marble by the Romans in the first century BC. So we got as dressed up as a couple of backpackers could be and went to the see Traviata. We couldn't understand anything that was sung but based on our viewing the story is one of boy meets girl, pride drives him away, he comes back on bended knee and her pride won't allow her to take him back, their love burns with a fire and finally they put their pride behind them and get together just in time for the girl to die
Coffee Tea or an Olive Pizza Perhaps
. Same old story really except that it took two acts for the girl to die. Dave says one act too many really. Anyway very cool to be sitting in a 2000 year old arena and have guys and girls walking around before the performance yelling 'peanuts, popcorn, gelati, biera, vino'. just like the bluejays games. The performance started once it got dark and all 20,000 people lit candles for the first act. Pretty cool.We spent a day wandering around Verona which is also famous for being the home of the Scaligieri family on whose history Shakespeare based his Romeo and Juliet. Its important for all good tourists to track down and see Juliets balcony. So we did. The walls in the tunnel leading the balcony courtyard are covered with bits of paper with love messages written on them, attached to the walls mostly with chewing gum.
From Verona we took a day trip to Venice and spent the day exploring the narrow streets and canals. We took the advice of the Lonely Planet and took the Vapporetta (city water bus that looks more like a rusted out scow) up the Grand Canal and then walked back to the station through the town. It really is a wonderful sight to behold. The Grand Canal is about 100 feet wide and runs the length of the city. As there are no cars in the city all goods have to be brought in by boat so the Grand Canal is absolutely jammed with boats of various sizes carrying everything from restaurant supplies, produce, coke and water, garbage and of course throngs of tourists and gondoliers
Dave in the Tuscan Sun
. Even the ambulance is a boat. There are over 400 bridges in Venice spanning the small tributary canals and only three crossing the Grand. Many of the hotels and older buildings come right down to the water on the canals. The city wasn't kept up the same way as we saw in other parts of Europe but the architecture was impressive none the less. Of the 400 bridges I think that we crossed at least 200 in our meandering back after the bus ride. It took us about 4 hours to find our way back to the bus station after only a few dead end streets.We left Verona on the 26th and headed to the small town of Rome. 6.5 million people live there but that doesn't include the tourists. We arrived in the train station with the intention of camping but we were met by a friendly woman who offered accomodation at the Palace Michelangelo. She showed us a brochure which depicted wonderfully airy rooms and promised free Internet in every room, breakfast included, the finest in furnishing, free laundry, free maps and use of the communal kitchen. It was only 10 minutes from the station and close to all of the major monuments. Sounded good to us so we followed the map provided and found the 'palace'. It was up five flights of stairs on a dingy back street, the furnishings were tired to say the least but the sheets were clean and it was pretty central. As the price was pretty much what we would pay anywhere else, we decided to stay
Hurry this thing is heavy.
. After settling our packs (locked) into the room and picking a bed we prepared to start right into the sight seeing. We asked the reception (an unshaven 20 year old) for a map and he suggested we try the tourist office. We asked about the kitchen and he pointed to a fridge. We asked to use the internet but it wasn't working. Oh well we had a place to crash so off we went. All that we had heard of Rome was true. The ruins, are spectacular. We were walking down a city street and turned a corner to see the walls of the coloseum right in front of us. Wow. The coloseum, which could hold 80,000 was built in 72 AD and finished in 80 AD by Emperor Vespasian. There were marble bleachers for the senators and wooden bleachers for the common folk. These were known at the time as Noseus Bleedius seats. During the middle ages the Coloseum was pillaged by the various churches for its marble and travertine. Still a very impressive structure. We took the tour (and about 100 pictures) before moving one down the road. Every where we turned there was another monument, cathedral, columns and statues. As the sun was setting we wandered back to the coloseum and watched the moon rise over walls and the hundreds of vendors setting up their wares around the site. We wandered back to our flop house and actually had a pretty good sleep. The accordian player at the bistro below our open window seranaded us with Dean Martin classics until we drifted off dreaming of our free breakfast. In the morning we braved the showers and then met in the lobby (narrow hallway) and inquired about breakfast. We were told that normally we could get coffee from the machine but that it was broken. We were handed a stale pastry sealed in celophane and sent on our way. We caught the subway after a quick stop at the grocery store for something edible and we arrived outside St Peter's Basillica at 8:45 am. St Peter's Square is immense and surrounded by marble columns. There is a beautiful fountain in the center of the square and, unlike the rest of Rome, it was spotlessly clean
Nap Time in Venice
. We got through the metal detectors and walked into the Basillica. We were both blown away. It was jaw dropping, eye popping amazing. Just the size of the structure is hard to explain not to mention the artwork. There is not one inch that is not adorned with a marble statue, painting or mosaic. Because we arrived just as they were opening the doors it was very quiet and every step and turn was accompanied by a 'wow'. There was a mass going on in one corner (the little corner probably held 100 people attending the mass) and the sounds of the priest's latin could be heard throughout the building. We spent about 2 hours wandering around before we headed off to find the Sistene Chapel. This cost us some dough and time. We had to walk for about 1 1/2 hours through the Vatican Museum before getting to Chapel. We got to see many tapestries from the 12 and 13th centuries, artwork by Rafael and what seemed to be miles of hallways covered floor to ceiling and floor and ceiling with paintings and mosaic. There were so many people that it felt like we were on a conveyor belt. The last stop before the giftshop was the chapel. It was smaller than I thought but then we learned that it was meant to be a private chapel built in 1473 for Pope Sixtus IV. Michelangelo's artwork is as amazing as we heard. The ceiling, including 'The Creation of Man' took 4 years to paint. The front wall which depicts 'The Last Judgement' was painted 24 years after the ceiling was completed. We spent the rest of a really hot day bagging ruins and monuments. We found the Pantheon built in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa dedicated to the Planetary Gods and the Palazzo Venezia which was built in the 15th century and was later the official residence of Mussolini and houses the tomb of the unknown soldier. From there we went to the ruins of the Roman Forum which has layers of ruins dating back to 204 BC. There is a 14th century church built on the ruins of a 4th century church build on the ruins dating back to 400 BC
Night at the Opera
. I think you have to get an archialogical permit to dig a garden in this city. We spent another night in our 'palace' and then caught the train south to Sorrento. Sorrento is right on the water across from Capri and across a bay from Mt Vesuvius. We caught the bus to the wrong camp ground but stayed anyway. We had a very quiet site overlooking the sea. We alternated tour days with lazing about days in view of the 40 degree heat. We spent a day touring through Pompei. The ruins of this city are much more expansive than Jacquie or I realized. The city, excavated to date, covers about 45 acres and although many of the relics and frescos have been removed to the museum in Napoli, the site is very impressive. Pompei was hit by a pretty strong earthquake in about 65 AD so when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, burying the city in 2 meters of ash and rock, many buildings were in the process of being reconstructed. Everything has been preseved so well that you can wander through houses and see how the people of the 1st and 2nd centuries BC lived. There were bath houses with hollow walls and floors to allow the heating of rooms by forced hot air and bathing pools of hot and cold water. There were road side stands where vendors sold hot and cold food out of marble counters. Houses had plumbing of a fashion and beautiful artwork on all of the walls and mosaics on the floors. There were two outdoor theaters in the style of the arenas and a large gymnasium where soldiers, gladiators and atheletes trained. The arena where the gladiators fought was closed down for 10 years following a riot in 50 AD but Nero lifted the ban three years later and the games were allowed to continue. There were also many temples and administrative buildings. My favourite housing feature of the times was the open ceiling in most houses which drained rain water into a marble pool in the middle of the entry way
The Coastline of Capri
. We think that this should work in Victoria just fine. We also took a day trip to Capri which is a half hour boat ride from Sorrento. It was really hot when we landed in the Marina Grande but we were in need of a little excercise so rather than taking the funicular train up to the city we took the stairs. There were 800 stairs to be exact. The stairs took us through gardens of eggplants, lemon trees and grape vines. Capri was aquired by Ceasar Augustus in 29 BC when he traded with the Greeks for the nearby island of Ischia. Since that time many emperors had built villas on the island but now it is a tourist destination and the home of many artisans. We wandered the narrow streets (I could reach out my arms and touch the walls on both sides of the street) and found our way to the Grotto Azzura (Blue Grotto) which is a large limestone cave of which the opening is only big enough for a small row boat. The sun enters the grotto under water and bounces off the white sand beach making the interior of the grotto glow with an indigo blue light. This was a private swimming hole for emperors and then rediscovered in the late 1800's. Jacquie and I paid our money and got into one of the rowboats with our guide and entered the cave. Hope the pictures turned out. We wandered the streets and trails for about 7 hours and then headed back down to the marina to catch our boat.
After 6 days in Sorrento we headed north
The Coloseum
. We had a very brief stop in Florence and then on to La Spezia with a stop off in Pisa. The leaning tower is as comical as everybody says. This was the bell tower for the very ornate cathedral which occupies a very pretty square. To reach the square we had to walk along a wide pedestrian street filled with people. It was about 11:00 am and already hot and busy. We spent some time around the tower and the cathedral and marvelled at the detail of the statues and carvings on the exterior of the cathedral and tower. We were headed back at about 2:00 pm along the same street and it was like a ghost town. All of the shops close down at about 1:30 pm and everybody goes somewhere. We headed for the train station and hopped on the train for La Spezia where we planned on hiking the hills of Cinque Terra (5 lands). We arrived to find that there was no camping in La Spezia and were directed to a small coastal town called Lerici which was about 1/2 hour out of La Spezia. We played in the Medetteranian for a few days but never made it to Cinque Terra. Too Hot and too crowded for us and so we decided that we needed to head to the mountains to cool off. So we hopped on a train for the 5 hour trip to Interlaken Switzerland. The Italian railway workers had other ideas though and chose our travel day to go on strike. We did make it to Interlaken on the day we had hoped but it took about 11 hours and many false starts from the stations. All in all we really enjoyed our time in Italy. The people are vibrant and the gelato is cold and refreshing. We learned that Italian is rarely spoken quietly and driving is a competitive sport.
Until next time,
Jacquie and Dave
