December 26 – 29, 2010 Italy
Our trip to Italy began with a long 3-hour drive back to Gardermoen Airport in Oslo. It was still somewhat dark when we left Karlstad with Gary driving (he’s the best) through a pretty bad snow storm. We parked in probably the furthest “parkering“ space possible and stomped through several inches of snow to catch the shuttle bus to the terminal.
Once we got through security, we stopped at our favorite little airport café and each had a café latte. Gary and I both enjoyed a wonderful pain au chocolat (and, believe me, there was no “pain” to it). Annie is such a loyal Starbuck’s customer she refused to say this may be one of the best lattes she has ever tried. They even do little swirly designs with the steamed milk.
The beginning of a terrible no good very bad day…
We caught our flight to Milan on Norwegian Airlines. We were amazed that as soon as the seatbelt light was turned off people were milling around like it was a cruise ship. Two men (Swedish or Norwegian) had a very loud conversation where one man stood with his bottom at my eye level. They talked so loud it was distracting. At one point when I looked over at them, the one with his bottom in my face began to rapidly flex his buns!! I was horrified! I didn’t understand what was said, but I noticed he glanced down at me and they both laughed.
It was dark by the time we landed in Milan, and we needed to take the bus to the train station. From there we were able to walk to the hotel. (Because of changes in certain train schedules we had to work our plans this way and take a train to Florence the next day, necessitating an overnight stay in Milan.) It probably didn’t help my sense of security when Gary forewarned me of the beggars and the need to carefully guard my pockets and purse.
We boarded the bus along with all kinds of people – people with stale smells or strong body odors mingled with heavy cologne, sick people with hacking coughs, smokers who took their last drag before climbing aboard and even a man who played loud ethnic music continuously on his cell phone sat behind us while his baby cried. It was just a little bit of sensory overload for tired me. At one point I looked at Gary and said, for the first time since we left South Carolina, “I am out of my comfort zone. I want to go home, and I mean home to Greenville.”
Poor Gary. As tears streamed down my face, he reached over, took my hand, and what did he say? He said, “You’re beautiful.” I looked at him like he had also lost his mind and said, “Why are you telling me that when you never do? (Have to tell you, the man has said it almost every day since!)
When we arrived at the bus station we pulled our one suitcase along as we trekked to the hotel. We walked past many indoor and outdoor restaurants and met many strange men on the streets along the way. Cops popped out of nowhere causing me to wonder, was this really a safe place to be, or not? My apprehension level was a little beyond high alert.
The hotel was lovely, and after we settled into our room, the front desk was kind enough to direct us to a wonderful Italian restaurant. I have to explain that wherever we went, Gary and Annie were always about ten feet ahead of me. So when we were on about the second of five blocks to the restaurant, Annie turned to me and said, “Mom! Don’t look.” Well, tell me not to look, and what do I want to do? Of course, look!! Just in time to see a man peeing like a race horse between two cars. There was just enough light we could witness his activity and we sure could hear him. By the time we were seated at the restaurant I announced to my husband and daughter, “I am now devoid of all coping mechanisms.”
A good night’s rest remedied my state of mind and by the next morning I was ready to board the train and get out of Milan – pronto!
The Milan train station was beautiful in daylight.
Firenze (Florence) -
What can I say? For me, it is worlds apart from Milan, although I have since heard that there are parts of Milan that are fabulous, so I probably need to give it a second chance – in daylight.
Picturesque comes to mind when I think of Florence. Even a shabby, but charming building on a simple street was like something you’d see in a painting. We certainly couldn’t resist capturing it in many photographs. We saw many historical sites, and hopefully the pictures below share just a small part of our experience and Florence’s beauty.
The Duomo Cathedral in Florence took six centuries to complete. It is located in the Piazza del Duomo and is dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore (Saint Mary of the Flower). It is the third largest cathedral in the world. The door panel in the last photograph is part of the baptistry. Each door panel tells a Biblical story.
Gary and Annie went up into the dome to take pictures while I stayed back. In fact, while doing my “people-watching” (Gary claims I get my laser beams going, but I beg to differ), my ears perked when I overheard an English-speaking family sitting next to me. Could I have found some Americans? We started to chat and I learned they were from Houston and recently took on a similar type of assignment for another company in Germany for the next two years. Their sons were visiting them on college break like our Annie. It was a lot of fun comparing notes of our adjustments, and later that evening we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Gilli’s.
Love Locks (not to be confused with Locks of Love – the donating of your cut hair) located at the Ponte Vecchio. Almost everyone enjoys a good love story, right? Here’s this one. Lovers used the railing round the statue of Cellini to hang padlocks on which they had carved their names. They locked the padlock on the railing and tossed the key into the river which signified they were “locked in eternal love.” It is believed a locksmith concocted the idea in an effort to drum up business. Eventually the practice was banned and moved to another location.
Ponte Vecchio – Many of you have probably seen photographs of the Ponte Vecchio which crosses the Arno River at its narrowest point. There’s a story behind it that I found really interesting. In 1442, in an effort to help keep the city clean, the butcher shops were built along both sides of the bridge. This not only contained the smells to this area of town, but it also allowed the butchers to throw their wastes into the river to be carried away. In 1565, the butchers were forced to move off the bridge because the smells were offensive to those who walked across the bridge. In 1593, the shops were cleaned up and taken over by goldsmiths. Today you can get some of the best deals for gold and silver at this location.
This is the restaurant where we had lunch at three days in a row. I know, sounds boring, but the food was so great and it was convenient – just steps from our hotel. I had pizza once and pasta the other two days where Gary and Annie had pizza and more pizza. (The designer, Salvatore Ferragamo, had a shop right across from this restaurant which made for a nice view!) Doesn’t this look like a typical scene in an Italian painting?
The remaining photos are just areas around town that were so lovely or so Italian! Even the display of veggies along the street was beautiful!!
Didn't I say I was usually walking at least ten feet behind them?
Just across the Ponte Vecchio, Gary and Annie discovered a restaurant that we decided to try. It’s called the Golden View Open Bar, and while it was not a small splurge, it was worth every penny! Located along the Arno, it’s not your typical touristy spot. It had everything: a modern décor, a spectacular view and live music…and the food was excellent! I won’t go into our entire meal, but one of our favorite appetizers was “insalata verde, pere, pecorino e noci” – bib lettuce, sheep’s cheese, a fresh pear, walnuts and a little drizzle of honey. Favoloso!! We loved it so much that, creatures of habit as we are, we went back again the next night – our last evening in Florence. We repeated the salad but everything else was new and different and equally as wonderful.
