ON THE ROAD TO SIENA

Wednesday April 3, 1996 Siena, Italy

Up about 8 am, Jim went down to breakfast early and then for a walk. Barbara and I packed and did other things and then went to breakfast. It’s raining harder than any day we’ve had so far on our trip. Glad we did our walking yesterday. Jim ran to get the water bus tickets. Then we checked out, and with luggage in tow headed for the water bus. Thankfully only over one bridge. Jim told them we only had very small bags so he didn’t charge us for them. Got absolutely soaked getting to the water bus. Fortunately I had cut holes in a plastic bag and put it over the computer.

It's a long trip on bus #l which stops at each of the ports along the Grand Canal. Slow, but a great way to get a good feel of the city. I was daydreaming about business in California when Barbara gave up her seat to an older lady with lots of bags. Suddenly I turned around to say something to Barbara and was surprised that someone else was sitting there. Gave Barbara a good laugh with the stunned look on my face. The boat is so noisy when it goes in and out of the docks that we tried to get the sound on film on Jim’s camera….which I was holding; have no idea what we filmed while doing it. Jim stood the entire trip outside the cabin with his and Barbara’s luggage. By the time we reached the auto parking lot, he was soaked. But we did arrive, got a scare when people got off at the train stop…Jim thought that was our stop and by the time he got us out of the cabin we’d missed the stop. But, Barbara asked someone and she said it was the next stop. Pouring rain as we got off but we managed to get off and into the parking garage. Jim went up and got the car and we loaded it downstairs as we’d been parked on the roof.

Back to the Autostrassa, retraced our route to Florence and then went south towards Rome but got off at Siena. We’ll do laundry there and stay two days instead of going back north to Pisa and Lucca. We discovered information on Laundromats in the Italy book. Between Venice and the top of the mountains we had lots of rain and then at the top there was about three inches of snow, it dropped to almost zero. But after we went through the last tunnel the snow was completely gone! The rain stopped and we had semi nice weather. Stopped for WC and bought ice cream bars. Long day of driving, we had a long delay with an accident ahead of us. During that time a truck driver next to us turned off his motor. We caught him watching me as I typed on my computer in the front seat. He put on a big smile when I looked at him.

We went south past Florence to Arezzo where we left the Autostrassa and headed west across the Tuscany valley to Siena. Saw lots of medieval towns still in very good condition. It was a very long twisting two lane road. Years ago this was one of the main roads to Rome. Arrived in Siena about 4 pm….hesitatingly we drove in through the gate in the wall and found ourselves in very narrow and winding roads which were also very steep. It was very hard to tell whether or not we were even allowed on the street or what direction we were suppose to be going on it. Barbara and I were very glad that Jim was driving. We managed to get into the town square…which is pedestrians only….but got out quickly before the police spotted us. Finally found a space to park and left Barbara to guard the car.

Jim and I walked to the town square and then split up to search for the information shop that’d we’d seen a sign for. They gave us a local map and a book on hotels. By asking a second time, she marked two hotels that were nearby on the map. We actually located three; a 2-star, a 1-star and finally a 3-star. They had only one room left for three people…we took it! Found Barbara in the car less than half a block from the hotel. They have parking, down a very steep hill, but it doesn’t look too secure. We’ll see. The room is very large, twin beds and one cot; no extra plugs and tile floors. Very high ceilings but wonderful views down very narrow streets from our windows.

We took the laundry in bags and started for the town square. The map showed that the street for the Laundromat was in that area. We were delighted when we found it less than a block from the main square. We did our laundry finally, along with about eight young boys who were doing their own laundry. Then off to a little restaurant around the corner which turned out to be a wonderful dinner after we got over the language problems with placing our order. Jim had found it for us while we were doing the laundry. After dinner we trudged back up to the hotel and watched TV in Italian….no CNN.

So nice to have clean underwear and especially socks! We were all very low on these items.

GLASS FACTORIES ON MURANO

Tuesday, April 2, 1996 Venice, Italy

Up about 9 am, had a lovely breakfast with full buffet. Four star Hotels are great to stay in....so glad that we had the International Entertainment Book and someone who spoke the languages to make our reservations! (As far as I know...they no longer have this book available.) It’s not raining yet but very threatening outside. We took off to find a pharmacy for Barbara for her nicotine gum and to exchange money at American Express. Jim found another Exchanger that was cheaper than American Express so they each saved about $5.00.

We went back to the hotel for a WC stop and to get our umbrella as it’s starting to rain. We headed towards the Ducal Palace for the tour. Not too long of a tour but did get to go over the Bridge of Sighs. That is the bridge between the Palace and the Prison. It got it’s name because of the sighs of the prisoners as they made their last trip of freedom over the bridge. I said that it was given that name because it had two sides…we went over one way and back another. By this time, the water was really beginning to flood the boardwalk on the Grand Canal. The center of the St. Mark’s square is flooded. Shop owners were sweeping the water out of their shops. They have platforms all over to create walk ways.

By this afternoon the water had dropped nearly four feet at low tide. Jim read that we could get a 24 hour water bus pass. But we didn’t want to buy it until about 1 PM so that we’d be able to use it to get off the island to the car. Jim and Barbara had also been negotiating all morning with various taxi drivers for a free ride back and forth to the Glass Factories on the Island of Murano which can only be reached by boat. We got into a boat, a beautiful classic wooden motorboat, that dropped us at one factory called Signoretti SRL International. They showed us how they made a vase and a horse…but we couldn’t buy these as they would need more time to properly cool. Then we were taken to a showroom with Museum quality pieces. A set of six glasses were about $700.00. Jim kept saying we couldn’t afford what they were showing us which made me mad as we all know we could afford anything we wanted, we just don’t believe in spending that kind of money on glassware! Oh well, we ended up purchasing a very pretty little vase which had all the Venetian colors and was reasonably priced. I was in dire need of an attitude adjustment by the time we left the factory. Took me several hours but I managed to regain a better attitude. Barbara was trying to find a statute of nudes or lovers depending on how you looked at them for her son's mother-in-law, but, couldn’t find one that she liked. If she had we'd have probably gotten a better ride when we left the factory.

When we asked for them to take us to the other part of the island. They put us on a boat and dumped us at the nearest water bus stop. Assuming that we were on Murano, we followed different paths that lead to nowhere. Guess we didn’t spend enough money!

It was starting to rain and we finally went back to the bus stop. Caught the number 52 bus and had to pay a penalty for not having our tickets purchased prior to getting on the bus. That ended the 24 hour bus pass ideal. But we finally got back to the Grand Canal and put our things in the room before leaving for a walk to the Market area that Barbara wanted to show us. We walked and walked and walked….still raining…..saw a flea market and lots of shops but never the one she was looking for. But we did walk over the Grand Canal on the Rialto Bridge. This one has two rows of shops as well as two walkways. Another famous bridge that we crossed during our very, very long walk was the Accademia Bridge which is one of the few wooden bridges that remain.

We were looking for the restaurant that the lady on the water bus coming in had told us about. Finally found it but it was only about 5:30 PM and it didn’t open until 7 PM. Another American couple was there at the same time, her name was Holly. She was very upset with her husband. We named him George. They’d also been told about the restaurant and had spent time looking for it. Finding food seems to create a lot of arguments on trips for tourists! They caught the water bus and we continued to walk back towards St. Mark’s Square looking for an open restaurant. (Many years later we finally enjoyed a meal at her favorite restaurant...we checked the times before we went this time!)

On the way we found the hotel that André & Manfred like in Venice: The Kette, which we’d been looking for since we arrived. It was down a side street just the other side of St. Mark’s Square. Finally decided to go back to Alfredo Alfredo. As we were entering the square, we saw Holly and “George” again. Barbara yelled out “Holly” they turned around with a very surprised look on their faces. We recommended they find Alfredo’s. But, they didn’t follow us. We finally found Alfredo’s and had another delightful dinner. Then back towards the hotel, stopping for ice cream cones for dessert. We stopped for two small bottles of water. Back at the hotel, Jim decided to go walking for another hour. Barbara and I decided to stay in and watch CNN.

Another nice day with a few problems but not many. It is still raining. We still see hair on both boys and girls and adults that has been dyed a bright orange or deep maroon red. Very unusual to us but we see enough of them that it must be a common fad.

ST MARK'S SQUARE IN VENICE....

Monday, April 1, 1996 Venice, Italy

Up about 8:30 am, Jim ate an early breakfast and then went for a walk while Barbara and I ate a later breakfast. Barbara hadn’t slept too well…up until 2 am due mostly to the strong coffee last night and also she’d gotten soap in her contact lens in the shower. She had a very small shower that was almost impossible to turn around in! By 10:30 am we were all packed and ready to go, it took a while for the car to be delivered. The driver had smoked in the car and we had to air it out.

On the road finally, we reached the Autostrassa rather quickly and headed towards Venice. We went back over the same mountains we’d come in on from Verona, but at Bologna we turned east and went to Venice. Missed our first turn off and had to go off the Autostrassa and turn around about five miles down the road. They don’t have very many off ramps. Stopped at a rest area and purchased some water and candy bars. We ate beef jerky and crackers for lunch in the car as we drove. Arriving in the area, we went to an information station but it was closed. The second one we found was open but it didn’t know anything about a Laundromat and the map they gave us was in Italian. But she did tell us where to park, to take the number one water bus and to get off at number 17 which was the closest to our hotel.

It was raining and we had to walk several blocks pulling our luggage…thank the good lord for wheels! We got on the water bus and headed in. A very sophisticated woman approached us on the bus and asked if we were from Florida. She’d spotted our Century 21 luggage tags and remembered a very large Century 21 office in Fort Lauderdale where she was originally from. We had a great conversation with her. She has been here about a year and had been in Egypt before that. She teaches English. Because of the education requirements in Italy, she teaches for Corporations. Told us about restaurants and places to go while we are in Venice.

The water taxi was fun, we used Bus #1. It stops everywhere...definitely the milk run. But it gave us a great overview of the Grand Canal. Our hotel is The Gabrielli Sandwirth in Venezia. It is on the Grand Canal and our rooms overlook the Canal. Which means that we will have the noise of the boats clanging and bumping through the night, but we feel that the view is worth the noise. We have a view of at least three major churches and several islands. We walked all over the area, went through St. Mark's Cathedral, the gold gilding is beautiful but the paintings are very faded. The floor is marble and sinking in some areas. To keep the tourists quite you hear the chanting of a monk throughout the walk through the church.

While walking and window shopping we went into a jewelry store and got him to bring out some gold chains for our crystals from Germany. Barbara negotiated a great deal since we were purchasing seven of the chains. We made a quick trip back to the hotel for the WC and warmer clothes. The rain seems to be getting heavier. Barbara and I put the pendants on the chains back at the hotel. They really look lovely and hopefully all of the girls will love them as much as we do. Barbara also discovered she forgotten to get out a new supply of her Nicotine gum. Will try to get some tomorrow at a pharmacy. Or we may have to go back to the car to pick some up for her. Then we ate dinner at a lovely restaurant called Alfredo Alfredo.

Our dinner was one of the best meals we’ve had in Italy. After dinner we went walking again through St. Mark’s square. Nearly empty due to the rain. This afternoon it had been filled with people feeding the many pigeons in the square. Barbara says during the summer it is filled wall to wall with people sitting on chairs and there is always music playing by a live orchestra. We found many of the five star hotels as we walked. Found the American Express office and walked over many footbridges. Saw about four gondoliers together this afternoon in the canal. There was even one with a musician on board. We really enjoyed seeing them, very romantic. But sounds like it’s very expensive so probably will not be going on one. One quoted us 100,000 lire for a ride for three people for about fifteen minutes.

Continuing our walk we found Harry’s Bar which was made famous by Hemingway. Back through St. Mark’s Square they had a piano playing outside even though it was raining even harder than before. Very romantic, but we were in need of a WC by then, so we hurried home. Our room is great, it has two beds in one room and a single in a second room. We share the TV and one bathroom. My bed is extra firm due to a board between the mattress & springs. We need to get more water as we’re told that we should even brush our teeth with bottled water. (What a sales pitch!...There's nothing wrong with the water in Europe!) About midnight we called it an evening.

ACCADEMIA MUSEUM IN FLORENCE

Palm Sunday, March 31, 1996 Florence, Italy

Barbara knocked on the door at 8:45 am and said we only had 15 minutes to get our free breakfast and I was still fast asleep. But we all made it in time. Only rolls and coffee. Had some conversation on attitude and we adjusted how we looked at each other. Barbara is no longer Jim’s little sister, but my best friend. Then back to our rooms to get cleaned up and dressed for the day.

As it is Sunday we all dressed a little better than usual. We started walking to the Accademia Museum to see the statute of David by Michelangelo . On the way we passed the cathedral. The doors to the Baptistery Building were open. Barbara asked if we could go in and they said yes. It was the blessing of the palms by the Archbishop. The people all carried olive branches instead of palms. Only the priest had palms. We joined in with the procession and made an instant decision to attend the 10:30 am mass. We were able to sit up front since we were in the procession.

The music was beautiful and as Barbara said, we probably didn’t get rooms in Venice for this weekend because we were destined to attend mass in the Cathedral on Palm Sunday in Florence. To quote Barbara, the experience was better than a museum. After mass we walked on to the Accademia Museum. Jim decided to go on his own for three hours and Barbara and I went in to inspect the marble statute of David by Michelangelo. A magnificent sight to behold! There were many other statues and painting in this museum in addition to David...but he is definitely the reason most people come to this particular museum. Afterwards, we walked the streets until we happened on a very large flea market. We were looking for various items but ended up purchasing a new bag for Jim to carry his video camera. The strap broke on the one he has been using from home. Barbara managed to get the price down from 50,000 lire to only 28,000 lire by the time she finished negotiating. She gave me lessons on how to get the best price. Then we continued to walk and entered an art shop where Barbara purchased three still life prints to take home. We also saw a print of the painting of early Florence similar to one Jim had commented on at the Rose Hotel the night before. We had the clerk mark the map and she gave us a card.

Back to the hotel, we entered at the same time as Jim. He’d had a marvelous time and had found an excellent museum to tour. We put things into our room…the camera bag was perfect. Off the three of us went to find lunch…pizzeria time. Then back into the straw market after Jim and Barbara purchased beautiful sweaters in the shop that we could see from the outside eating area of the Pizzeria. We decided to find the art shop, took a while but we managed. Jim finally decided to buy the print of Florence (a larger one than we had originally looked at) after I said that would be my sweater, and Barbara said we might regret it if we decided not to return to Florence after Venice. The clerk also gave us a print of Lucca for Jim’s friend who was born in Lucca.

Went into a department store to purchase socks for Jim and then back to the bridge to take pictures. Along the way, Barbara found a shop for the cigar case she was looking for. I went by myself to take photos from the other end of the bridge and found an open market where I purchased marble eggs for the grandsons. I managed to negotiate with the dealers myself for a better price than they were offering! I went back and met Jim and Barbara for a glass of wine at the bar area on the second floor of our hotel. Afterwards, Jim and I went up to the roof and took pictures of the city. We later took Barbara up before leaving for dinner after a rest time. During this time Jim roamed the city again looking for different things. He found a great sculpture shop and a leather shop. We found the sculpture shop again after dinner but not the leather shop.

We ate dinner in a very nice restaurant that Jim found on his walk located just behind our hotel called Ristorante Toto. Enjoyed roasted chicken and I drank too much of the bottle of wine. After dinner we went for a long walk, interrupted by a return to the hotel for the WC. I had a severe reaction to the wine which caused me to walk in front of a Vespa and an automobile, plus ring at least three of the bells on each of the doors that we found on the different alleys. A very fun walk that ended in comparing the copy of David in the square to the original we’d seen this morning. We finally agreed that Jim’s book was right and it was an exact copy of the original! Back to the hotel by 11 PM and to bed after finishing the journal for the day!

Tomorrow we’re off to Venice. We’ve asked for information on a Laundromat…if we find one we’ll do laundry before going to Venice. Barbara called home this afternoon to find out how things were going. She told her grandson that she was bringing a present home for him but not what it is….that should keep his mother busy! John was in Palm Springs this weekend instead of last due to the painting (Barbara has a remodel job going on in their house while she is traveling.) But the paint smell is just as bad as before he told her. She told him about the bracelet that she purchased! We discovered that the bathroom window provides another magnificent view of the street below that is different from the other view. I stood over the bidet for twenty minutes of people watching in the street below. What did travelers do before we had the telephone?