Pisa, Firenze, Venezia, Roma
Trip Start
Apr 01, 2001
1
9
89
Trip End
Ongoing
Pisa, Firenze, Venezia, Roma,
Italy
Wednesday, May 23, 2001
Our purpose for being in Pisa was to meet Paul's parents, Rick & Kath, off their £9 Ryan Air flight from London. We had instructed Rick & Kath to travel light - a concept they are not familiar with.
As we had an hour to spare we went to Il Campo dei Miracoli to see if the Leaning Tower was still standing... It was... barely...being held up by a large iron sling. You can't get close to the building as the area is cordoned off. Guess they expect it to topple over soon!
FIRENZE (Florence)
This part of out trip was to be our "vacation"; our budget was to go out of the window and we were going to enjoy ourselves with Paul's parents
A hard Day at the Office
. Hotel Concordia was rather plush, but at more than 4 times the cost of our usual accomodation, so it should be!For Paul's parents it was a case of "in at the deep end" with three days of frantic sightseeing starting with the 465 steps (or 258 in Kath's case) to the top of the Duomo. For us the highlights of Firenze were the Boboli Gardens and Trattoria Marione, (Via della Spada, 27, Tel 055 214 756). This hectic restaurant was one of the most entertaining places due to the flamboyant style of its owner - a portly whirlwind who rushed from table to table shouting the orders to the kitchen and making people laugh. And the Ossobucco was even better than Tonya's Nonna used to make!
VENEZIA (Venice)
Venezia is probably the most romantic city in the world... not usually a place couples visit with their parents in tow!
We stayed at Casa Gerotto, Campo S. Geremia 283n, close to the railway station, while Rick & Kath stayed in a hotel by the Rialto bridge. Casa Gerotto was great. We had our own room for L110,000 ($50) with ensuite internet facilities, but the bathroom was down the hall
Newlyweds
.A 3-day waterbus ticket proved to be an excellent investment as we did all our sightseeing from the water. Tonya had been to Venezia several times before and made a point of seeing some of the less "standard" sights... like the cemetary!
Highlights of Venezia were:
- Seeing Piaza San Marco flooded at night.
- Watching a glass-blower in Murano produce a glass horse in 45 seconds
- A peaceful afternoon wandering around the cemetary.
- Walking around Burano, Lido, and central Venezia and getting lost at every
opportunity.
ROMA (Rome)
Our highlight in Rome wasn't the Colosseum, the Vatica, or the Sistine Chapel, but a somewhat macabre chapel decorated with the exhumed bones of 4000 Cappuchin Monks. (Santa Maria delle Concezione, Via Veneto 27, near Barberini subway station). We especially liked the Grim Reaper on the ceiling constructed from a human skeleton!
We stayed at The Beehive, and have to say a huge "thank you" to Steve & Linda, the American couple who run it, for their hospitality and helpful guidance. Paul's parents who were paying four times as much for their hotel wished they were staying at The Beehive too.
We bid farewell to Paul's parents and headed South... to meet Tonya's parents!
