Istanbul, where east meets west

Istanbul, where East meets West

We arrived in Istanbul at 7:00 this morning. It is, perhaps, the most unique city in the world because it is the only city in the world built on two continents, Europe and Asia.

Bridge east and west

It is on the shores of the Bosphorous and one of the longest suspension bridges in the world connects the two parts of the city. Over the course of 10,000 years, Istanbul has been the seat of three different empires. The Ottoman Empire, the last of these, lasted from 1299 to 1918, when Turkey picked the wrong side in WWI. The League of Nations started to divide up the spoils with the Greeks being interested in Turkey. But the national hero, Mustafa Kernal Ataturk organized his people and forced the establishment of the Republic of Turkey as we know it today. Istanbul has more than 2,000 mosques and 99% of the populatioln is Muslim, yet this country prides itself on having a secular government. Bill and I chose the Ottoman Istanbul tour which allowed us to see the Topkapi Palace (everything but the old harem section), the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.

Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace was once the home to Ottoman's sultans and their harems. Mehmet II built this in the mid-1400s and it was home to three generations of sultans. Suleiman the Magnificent is the one who enlarged it from a small Summer palace into a great complex of buildings set in beautiful gardens. Within the final section of the palace a museum has been arranged with household items (including a diamond encrusted baby cradle), the famous Topkapi Diamond and the Spoon maker Emeralds, each over 8 carats and traded for a spoon. The gardens are quite beautiful still and there is a corner courtyard that looks out over the city and the Golden Horn that is an amazing view.

View from palace

We lost a tour member on this section of the trip because between the bus and the palace she stepped into one of several holds in the street and broke a bone in her foot. Saw her back at the ship later in a cast and black and blue. She won't be touring the rest of the trip.

The Grand Bazaar was our second stop because it was Friday and there are extended prayer times on Monday at the Blue Mosque so we would not get there until after 6 p.m. The grand bazaar, which I think could be titled “The Grand Bizarre” in a huge market place with both covered and uncovered sections. There are merchants with permanent shops there and also lots of men who try sell you “100% silk, hand loomed rugs, 2,000 knots per sq. inch....only 50Euros!) You can buy anything you can think of there, rugs,leather, jewelry, silver, souvenirs, antiques, textiles and artwork. It was overwhelming so Bill and I sat down and had a Turkish coffee, very good.

Blue Mosque

We were finally able to get to the Blue Mosque after the 6 p.m. Prayers were finished. It is also called the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed and is the only mosque in the world with six minarets. The blue in the name comes from the thousands of blue Iznik tiles which line the wall of the mosque. The stained glass windows also have blue as a predominant color and the domes and half-domes are full of beautiful mosaics. We had to take off our shoes at the entrance and carry them in a little bag. There are many,many faucets with small stools in front all around the outside of the mosque, where worshipers stop to wash their feet and faces before they enter. The interior of the mosque is all carpeted and there is a small altar at the front. We were not allowed to walk past a certain point.

Women are not allowed to worship on the first floor, but must sit together in the second balcony, “so they won't be a distraction to the men” our guide pointed out....right. And he presented to us a young boy about to be circumcised which is a tradition moving to manhood, who was enjoying all the attention and adulation – little did he know!

We had a “connect the dots moment” in front of the Blue Mosque when Sinan, our guide said that the entire area had once been the Hippodrome, the site of chariot races, and the large entrance to the hippodrome had four large and beautiful bonze horses over it. The horses were stolen by the Italians. “They're in Venice,” we said at the same time!
Hagia Sophia where they are restoring minarets as seen from ship.

The Blue Mosque sits just across from the Hagia Sophia which was once the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world and the home of the Patriarch of that religion. It is said that 10,000 workers participated in it's construction and that Emporer Justinian had marble brought in from all over the world. It has been a museum for some time now and is full of beautiful mosaics and byzantine art. The Hagia Sofia is in the process of restoring its minarets.

The traffic in Istanbul, which is now a city of 15M people, was incredible and there is a haze of smog over everything. We were warned that pedestrians do not have the right of way ANYWHERE and to beware of the traffic. We were also taught the Turkish word for “NO” and told to use it repeatedly as the merchant will just follow you and keep following you trying to sell you something, even after you have repeated said, “Hayer.” I am taking back everything I said about Italian disorganization because they are models of precision compared to the residents of Istanbul.

We spent a day and a half in Istanbul, but Bill and I used the second day as an opportunity to rest, get some sun and enjoy all the ship has to offer. We haven't talked much about this ship, the Celebrity Solstice, but I'm going to ask Bill to post some of the “ship” pictures here.

While we have not played croquet at the lawn club, the beautifully manicured large area of real grass on deck 15, we have strolled up there in the evening when attendants are watering and it smells wonderful.

Lots more grass too!!

The ship has a library, a card room, a world map room and offers enrichment lectures on a variety of topics during the cruise.

Bill is just back from the astronomy lecture and we both went to a lecture last week on the connections between the Etruscans, Romans and Greeks. We have met people from all over the world and crew members from all over the world and we have eaten far too much good food in every venue on board. We have heard a world class Polish violinist and a 1950s Irish comedian in the big theater.

We are off tomorrow to Kusadasi, Turkey)

Kusadasi and the beautiful ruins of Ephesus

We knew we were getting close to Kusadasi when we saw pigeon island with the old pirate castle on it.

pigeon island with unknown foreground

Kusadasi is a small (50,000) and thriving metropolis Turkey's West side, right on the Aegean Sea. It has become a big holiday destination over the last few years because of the beaches, deep water harbor and because it is within a few minutes of Ephesus, the showplace of Aegean archeology.

Harbor Kusadasi

We boarded an early busy for Ephesus and were glad because I think it is going to be at least 85 today and there are not many trees around the ruins. We have learned (after a week!) that if the ship's news tells you to be at a certain place for your tour at 9:00 a.m. You should be there by 8:40. Otherwise you will be on bus 35. We were the first people in line and were on bus#1 this time, so the first one at the ruins. Our local guide, Tahir, as born here and other than a year, spent as an exchange student in Buffalo, New York, has lived his whole life in the area. Our buses drove along the Arcadian Way a ceremonial road built during the Hellenic period. Our buses dropped us off at the top of Ephesus and we were able to tour the ruins while walking downhill. As opposed to others buying their tickets at the bottom of the hill, who had to walk up in the heat.

Ephesus was colonized by the Ionians in the 10^th Century B.C. The city itself was established by one of the Generals of Alexander the Great. Excavations have been going on for some time and so far have uncovered the Artemis Temple (only one of the 127, 60' tall pillars of one of the seven wonders of the world, still remains), the theater, the Prythaneion Temple, the Marble Road, the Trajan fountain, the temple of Hadrian, the Serapis Temple and the Celsus Library (which alone was worth the price of admission), and the baths of Scholastika. The great theater, where St. Paul preached, is in amazing condition. It originally seated 24,000 people and they still have concerts here. They are still repairing damage suffered after a Sting concert almost 20 years ago, where the acoustics brought down part of the wall. The last concert given here (can be seen on You tube) was Elton John's concert. He had his piano lowered to the stage by helicopter!

Great Theater

The Library of Celsus was my favorite, perhaps because the facade has been so well restored by the

Austrian Archeology Institute over a period of five years.

Library of Celsus

There were feral cats all around the ancient city. Our guide told us not to worry about them as they are fed by the soldiers that guard the site. It didn't look like the soldiers were feeding them very well and I wondered if our guides explanation was merely to preclude us from asking about the hungry cats.

The Tourism Board had arranged a small entertainment for us, a triumphal procession of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra along the very road they had once used to enter the city. Then a gladiator fight, some dancing and juggling. I did not think Cleopatra looked very happy....of course, her costume was heavy, it was really hot and Marc Anthony did not look like Richard Burton!

Cleo and Marc Anthony dropped by for a visit (as they had in the 1st century)

We were dropped off downtown for shopping, which we did and our guide had recommended a small restaurant for lunch down a few alleyways. We had a little table outside and some very good food. A small feral cat waited quietly under Bill's chair for bits of chicken he conveniently (and unobtrusively) dropped. When we were finished, the cook came out of the restaurant and had someone ask me if he could have the #1 yellow sticker on my blouse (which the tour bus uses to identify us) and I gave it to him. He pasted it on his apron and said, “I am number 1 cook.” He was very funny and he as a good cook.

We walked slowly back to the ship, stopped to eat some fresh Baklava and write some post cards and made it back in time for a nap before dinner.

Tomorrow is a sea day, which they give us if we've had a pretty intense couple of days of touring. Everyone will sleep late and spend the day by the pool or playing bingo or reading in the sky lounge or getting enriched, like Bill. I will have him post some more ships pictures here and before you know it (like 8 a.m. Tomorrow) we'll be in Athens and we'll be able to tell you everything about the Acropolis and shopping at the Plaka.

Rome to Santerini

We had one evening in Rome at the end of our tour back at the Albani Hotel. We really like this neighborhood and if we come to Rome again I would definitely stay here. We hitched a ride with the group going to the Trevi Fountain and then out for the “farewell dinner,” along with Sunny and Ron. Trevi was a mass of people and it was hard to even get close to the fountain.



Said good-bye to the group and shopped our way up to the Spanish Steps(which is right in front of the oldest and largest French church in Rome....so why aren't they they French steps???...actually they are across tithe street from the Spanish Embassy, which is the oldest continuously operating embassy in Rome) and then caught a cab back to the Albani.



We had our own farewell dinner (about 8 of us) down at Setso Pizza Y Cucina where Bill and I ate on our first night in Rome. We will see one of these couples, Sharon and Graeme, on our cruise ship as they are doing a long vacation, like us.
The next morning we had breakfast with the people whose planes didn't leave at 6:00 a.m. And while they were off to the airport, we were off to the Cavilieri Waldorf Astoria, which is high on a hill behind Vatican City.


Show all


We arrived early and the room was not ready, but they upgraded Bill and so we sat in the Imperial lounge on the 7th floor, drank champagne and looked out over Rome. It was pretty smoggy that day but it was still a beautiful view. Our room was lovely, big balcony overlooking the grounds and they gave us access to the Imperial Lounge, which serves three meals a day and has a full bar. That's when we decided we were not leaving the hotel until we left for the cruise. It gave us an opportunity to unpack, sort, do laundry and repack before Monday morning,as the same time that we got a little pampering from some wonderful staff. Bill got some great shots of the Vatican and of the City during both day and evening.




The grounds are beautiful with a pride of bronze lions on the hillside, flowers everywhere and a beautiful pool.



There was a wedding reception in the courtyard of the hotel Sunday night and there was fireworks for the bride and groom. We pretended they were our fireworks to celebrate starting our cruise in the morning.
The next morning were were off in the shuttle, which picked up a French couple at another hotel, and two U.S. Servicemen, who were in Rome on vacation but are stationed in Nuremberg. One is very short, home in two weeks and very glad to be going. The other has four more years and is slated to go to Afghanistan the first of the year. We'll light a candle for him when we get back to Rome. We dropped all four of them at the Rome airport and drove another hour to the cruise port terminal in Civitevecchia, which means “Old City.” The check in at Celebrity was pretty smooth and we were in our cabin by 2:00 p.m. Dumped our hand luggage and sent off to explore the Solstice (which we are still doing) because it is so large. We got back in the cabin at 3:30 and unpacked our bags and met our cabin steward before the lifeboat drill. Managed to get through that and find our table in the dining room. Had dinner after sail away from Rome. We didn't stay up late (sorry Patty, no shows that night) but were kept up anyway by the people to the right of our cabin, who sat up until 3 on the veranda, talking very loudly. We haven't heard a peep out of them since and the “Do not disturb” sign has not left their door handle.

Day two was a sea day, so more exploring. We went to the gym in the a.m. And sighed as we ate our oatmeal and fruit. Breakfast in this buffet was overwhelming and since it goes for nearly 24 hours, you could just stay in the ocean view face for the whole voyage. Not us, of course because after eating our way through Spain and Italy I was worried about fitting into the sparkly dress for formal night(good thing we did a lot of walking because it fit). We went to a lecture in the morning on the connections between the Etruscans, the Greeks and the Romans given by a woman who has lived and taught in Italy for almost 50 years. We slept, sat on our patio and wandered. We had dinner that night in one of the specialty restaurants called “The Tuscan Grill” which was wonderful but honestly on my best day I could not do six courses.



We did two courses and shared dessert and could not finish our steaks. Do not know what it takes to provision this ship, which carries 2800 people and 1400 crew, I think. The people working on this ship are from all over the world, and so far we have met crew from Romania, Macedonia, South Africa, Greece, Croatia and the U.S. No show this night either because we are getting off the boat tomorrow to see the small town of Santorini. Santorini is a small, circular archipelago of volcanic islands in the Southern Aegean Sea.



It's essentially what remains today of a huge volcanic explosion. It was first settled in 3,000 B.C. But this civilzation disappeared when the island was engulfed by the eruption, which left it uninhabited for centuries. It was resettled by the Phoenicians around 1,000 B.C. The volcanic eruption produced a tidal wave over 800 feet high, which completely destroyed the entire Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 75 miles away. Fira (also called Thera) is the main town on Santorini and is reached either by funicular (cable car), donkey or by climbing 600 steps....which the donkeys have been climbing over...for many years...it's very slippery.

The ship was not in Santorini for long (docked at 2 p.m. And sailed away at 10:00 p.m.) and even though we lined up early for tender tickets (this ship is so large it had to be buoyed out) we were on boat#21. Didn't arrive until about 3 and waited for an hour in 90 degree heat to take the cable car up to the top of the cliff,where the town is, as opposed to riding up one of the little donkeys or walking up the 600 steps up the cliff (which is the same steps the donkeys use, so a little slippery). We were within ten feet of getting on the funicular when it broke down. We waited...they tried the easy fix, which did not work, and said they did not know when it would work again.



This is the point at which Bill and I looked at each other, looked at the blue, blue, blue Mediterranean, and looked at the beautiful little whitewashed taverna right on the water. We had a beer there, visited with a Ford dealer and his wife from Missouri and did a little shopping at the harbor and tendered back out to the ship, which left a little later than planned that night, because of the broken cable car. No problem really, because Mykonos is only 96 nautical miles away, just a hop, skip and jump for a ship this large.






We are still trying to take in how big the ship is, the dining room has two levels, as does the theater. There is both an indoor and an outdoor pool, a basketball court, a putting green with real grass, four specialty restaurants, and 11 bars. There is a huge spa and beauty salon, a big fitness center with the most up-to-date equipment there is as well as a large room for yoga and pilates classes. There are a large number of shops, a library,a card room, a casino and an art gallery. We are on the starboard side of the ship and still have to think each time we get off the elevators, which way we are turning.

We had been told we would tender out again at Mykonos, another small island, but awoke at 5:45 a.m. To find that we were tied at the pier. We had an early tour to Delos and so we were at the buffet bright and early for more oatmeal and surprisingly good coffee. This time we were a little closer to the front of the tour line to pick up our tour# (#3). All the participants wait in the theater until their number is called, then file off the ship and are met by a local tour guide. In this case, our guide Elena, was French but lived on Mykonos.


We all boarded the “Orca” and were off through very choppy seas for a 30 minute ride to one of the prime UNESCO Heritage sites in the world, Delos. Both Bill and I were very excited to take this tour. We both love history and there is something about walking through places like this that fascinates us and connects us to the past in such a visceral way. That is not to say we don't admire the beautiful setting (whitewashed buildings, blue roofs and bougainvillea blooming everywhere) but we really love the history.

Mykonos is part of the Cyclades, lying between Trinos, Siros, Paros and Naxos. It is really beautiful because while people used to white wash their stucco homes using lye-based washes for health reasons, it has become a trademark here and now by law you cannot paint your house a different color.

Delos is an uninhabited island about 30 minutes offshore and it is considered the birthplace of the God Apollo.

The ruins on this island date back to the third millenia B.C. The first real inhabitants were the Carians from Asia Minor and they were followed by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Cretians and Ionians but Delos really flourished under the Romans (2nd thru 1st Century B.C.) because they were only interested in the harbor and the taxes it produced. This picture comes from the most early times of Delos.




Delos became a huge trading center, grain, spices and the slave trade provided the gold that enhanced it's growth. It was a harmonious group with Roman and Greek gods existing alongside each other and temples everywhere. According to Elena this is the only found from this time period that still exists. French and Greek archaeologists have been working together at this site since the late 1800s. There are still little houses there that are home to all the archaeologists, as well as the ruins and a museum. We saw the Temple of Apollo, the dried lake where he was supposedly born, the marble lions of Delos, the terrace of the foreign gods a really large amphitheater and the remains of “mansions” with incredible mosaics on the floors.

The museum also contained this "David" like statue of Dionysous, who was the greek god of pleasure and wine. This was created long before Michelangelo created David. One wonders if he had seen it at an earlier time.



It's a good thing there was a really stiff wind or I think we would have roasted. The only tree on the whole island is the “miracle” palm tree in the middle of the dry lake. Of course, that same stiff wind created a very rough ride home through big waves. The boat dropped us in the town of Mykonos where we made our way back to the ship without buying a single t-shirt with “Mykonos” spelled out in glitter, or caps, etc. But we did find this beautiful church and just had to spend a minute here.




We will leave Mykonos at 5,hopefully with everyone on board and tomorrow we will be in Istanbul for two nights. Bill and I are looking forward to the tour there. We are skipping the belly dancing dinner to see the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar.

Verona and Venice -

Verona, Venice and Rome Again...

We are off to Verona and Venice, after an early breakfast at the Florence Metropole Hilton, which is far outside the city center and has a front traffic gate they lock at night...this is part of the reason I won't miss Florence. While I loved the art and the drive up from Pisa was gorgeous, with fields of red poppies in amongst the dry grass, we were far outside of Florence itself. There was nothing about the city itself that I really loved. It just was not a place I liked very much.

I have a feeling that the Verona stop, which was explained by Alessandro, our tour guide, as, “A stop to see the famous balcony where Juliet lived....or so the story goes,” was really a timing issue. I think the tours plan them so that the hotel,where a large group of tourists has just checked out, can clean the rooms before another large group of tourists (us!) check in for two nights. At any rate, it was a nice town, with an existing, small Colosseum in very good shape (far from downtown) and a lovely town square with an herb market. We did indeed go into the inner courtyard to see “the Juliet balcony” but did not pay to get into the house. Shakespeare did not live there and I personally think he just liked the name “Verona.” On the walls of the hallway leading to the courtyard are thousands of declarations of love, some pinned on little notes.

We went to the herb market and bought lovely dried fruit and had lunch off the square at a little sandwich shop, where Bill had his first experience with an Italian pit toilet...enough said. Venice was about a hour away.

When we arrived at Venice, we were dropped off by the bus in a large traffic circle and had to walk across two bridges (everything in Venice is measured this way, where we might say, “it's two blocks from here...” in Venezia, “it's two bridges away” is something you'll hear all the time.) to get to the hotel. The baggage was brought by boat, because everything in Venice, from Fedex to food deliveries, to tourists, are brought by boat. Our hotel was on the Grand Canal, right across from the very busy train station.

Our room keys at each hotel are handed out by the tour guide and apparently the hotel determines one lucky group member who will have a room with a canal view. The lucky member of our tour was Catriona, a retired Illinois school teacher, traveling alone and she was thrilled. Bill and I, on the other hand, were shown to an interior room about 140 square feet, tiny bathroom overlooking the air conditioning system on the room and reeking of cigarette smoke. Bill took one look at me and went back to the desk. We ended up paying extra to have a smoke free room with a grand canal view (we are right behind the red and gold Lion flag of Venice), but we had to pay for it.

Our next stop was off to the gondoliers for a ride around Venice.

We were lucky enough to ride with two couples we'd met on the tour and really liked, Barb and Mike, from Connecticut and Sunny and Ron from Virginia. The Gondola holds six people but only four of them can actually sit next to each other. Bill and I were the last on board and couldn't sit together. But after looking at the alarmed faces of the Gondoliers who helped us all on board (imagine a flurry of Italian, “how will we place all the fat Americans without swamping the Gondola?”) I got the positioning. Mike, who was in the back of the boat said to his wife as we were all snapping pictures of each other, “How come all our vacation pictures make me look fat?” which made everyone laugh. We had four Gondolas of tour participants complete with an accordionist and singer, which the tour company arranged because the Gondoliers don't wear little hats anymore and they don't sing anymore. It was about a 30 minute ride and we saw people in Gondolas the whole rest of our time in Venice. Our local tour started the next day.

We took a private boat,early, to the boat dock that is closest to St. Mark's square. We met our local guide, Manuella there and she took us to the Doge's Palace first.

The interior does not allow pictures, so we'll just have to describe it to you. Basically the Doge was elected, first by all the people of Venice and eventually, by only the aristocrats. This is because a subcouncil of the merchants passed a law that only the aristocrats could belong to the council. The Golden Book, which listed the families who could belong to the council, still exists in the archives of Venice, which are the third largest collection in the world. The Doge's palace was the original hall of justice and there was a council and subcouncils for all decisions. No one trusted anyone else and the Doge is seen in all the paintings there (only two of which have been restored because it's too expensive) as kneeling because he is supposed to be subject to the will of the people. In fact, he was subject to only the will of the merchant class.

We proceeded outside of the palace and over the “Bridge of Sighs” which has nothing to do with romance because it was the bridge that the prisoners took after they had been judged and found guilty in the Doge's Palace and were on their way to the Doge's prison. There is a place in the Doge's palace where people could accuse each other of crimes against the state. They merely wrote the accusation on paper, signed it and slipped it into the mouth of this wall carving.

They did have to sign the accusation....it could not be anonymous.

The prison was very bad and while prison should never be comfortable, I don't think having lead roofs in the top cells so the prisoners actually baked, would be considered humane, even several centuries ago. This cell may look large, but 15 to 20 occupied it!

We proceeded to the Cathedral of St. Marks and Manuella had an interesting explanation for the nature of the City of Venice, a city started and controlled for the longest period in history, by the merchant class. She told us that some consider St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice, to be the patron saint of merchants, but he is also called the patron saint of thieves. The merchants of Venice were apparently fond of taking what they couldn't buy in a good bargain, including their patron saint.

This mosaic above the cathedral door depicts how St. Mark came to Venice. The patron saint of Rome is St. Peter. Venice has always had quite a rivalry with Rome (the only painting in the Doge's Palace with the Doge not kneeling is when the Pope came to Venice for a visit). Venice decided it had to have a patron saint and if it couldn't have an Apostle, it would have an Evangelist and it chose St. Mark. Unfortunately, he was buried in Egypt. So, the merchants traveled to Egypt and stole the body of St. Mark, brought it back and buried it in Venice. The merchants of Venice managed to fool the customs officials on the way out of Egypt by placing raw pork over the coffin of St. Mark. The muslims were offended by the pork and never checked the coffin....according to the story. Poor St. Mark, he wasn't even born in Venice as as far as we know, he never wanted to come here. But, he's now here for eternity.

When the cathedral was finished, the merchants felt it wasn't fine enough so they went to Constantinople and stole these four bronze horses to place on the front!

The cathedral is very Byzantine in appearance, not like any other church we have seen. The interior of the ceiling is all 24 carat gold leaf and mosaic after mosaic, which is really an Eastern rather than a Western art form. It is quite beautiful, but no photos! San Marco Square is enormous and I think it would take you an entire day to take in the sights and the stores and the people. There is the most beautiful clock, mosaic, in the square with all the signs of the Zodiac and a moon that actually changes during the month to show the phase of the moon. Also note that in this clock the Sun is traveling around the Earth! Something Copernicus would fix later with Galileo (who the pope has yet to pardon - as he was convicted of heresy during the inquisition for stating that the earth traveled around the sun!)

The tides are something everyone in Venice pays attention to since severe flooding usually occurs twice a year, at the Autumn and Spring Solstices. Everything here is built on huge pillars of timber sunk into the mud under Venice. Under bell tower alone there are 3,007 timbers.

When we finished we were rushed into a glass factory, not on Murano, the glass making island,but in the city of Venice, where we saw a demonstration and then were rushed into large rooms which were full of high pressure sales men. I think the glass was beautiful but 500 Euros for a pitcher and four glasses was not in the budget. We saw a lot of beautiful things and the life-sized horse in the entry was entirely made of glass.

Bill and I waited on the bridge for Sunny and Ron, since we were getting lunch and got this shot totally by accident!

We were going to a tiny place recommended by one of my books, Cava Tapi, in a very small street two bridges from San Marco Square. We had a really, really good meal there in a tiny place with five tables and a bar. Some of the best pasta we've had.

We were going to Murano that afternoon so left Sunny and Ron in the square. It was a 20 minute boat ride. We went through the glass museum, which has glass going back to the 2^nd century and some really amazing art pieces. On the way back to the boat, we stopped in a small shop to get some souvenirs, what my children used to call “pimentos” of our trip. The owner was a lovely man who asked where we were from and when we told him, said, “I love Ouray and Telluride in the Summer.” The world is a small place.

Going back to the hotel our boat broke the record for the most number of people every carried on a small boat without swamping it. I was literally wedged into a niche with two British woman (we were standing) and a man(sitting) wearing very short shorts and many gold necklaces, who slept through the whole ride. Everyone except the driver got off at the train station. We crossed the bridge, got back to the hotel for a short rest before our “romantic” Venetian dinner.

Bill had asked Claudia at the front desk for a restaurant recommendation and made a reservation for us at at restaurant a short distance (one bridge) away, in a residential district. It was called Antica Besseta Trattoria. One of the things I loved about our hotel location was that San Croce is the most residential of all the districts. We got lost going to the restaurant even though we were carrying a detailed map, but people were very helpful. The restaurant was charming, with four tables outside (we chose one) and about the same number inside. We sat down and ordered wine when the restaurant suddenly was engulfed with the sound of very loud Italian T.V. Our waiter looked at us and explained that the apartment across from the restaurant housed a very deaf fisherman, who was usually asleep by this time. Repeated whistles through the window did not lower the volume but our waiter told us it should end shortly because the fisherman had to be up early. It did! At that point, a lovely couple from Milan sat down next to us, with their dog, Giotto. Giotto was lying down at their feet, but their table was next to the point where another narrow passageway met our narrow street. Every time someone walking their dog came down the passageway, Giotto launched himself at the dog and a full blown dogfight ensued, along with a long argument about whose dog started it, in Italian. There were may dogfights. The last and most romantic moment was when a couple at the other end of the passageway started a loud fight in Italian. It kept escalating in volume. I don't speak Italian, but even I know what the phrase, “Puta, Puta, Puta” means and it is not a word you'd say in front of your mother. At the end of the meal, the waiter, who was looking pretty frustrated about the lack of romantic atmosphere, handed me a rose. It's a dinner I'll never forget!

All Roads lead to Rome....

Off Rome early the next morning, a very long, 7 hr bus ride, with two stops along the way at an Italian Autogrill. Every time I go into one I am convinced that we never should have worried about Mussolini in WWII. There is no way the Italians are organized enough to win a war.

Sistine Chapel , St. Peter's and Florence

Yesterday, the eighth, we found our way very early to the Sistine chapel. By being in a group (and getting up at 5:30 a.m.)we got in at 8am, before the Vatican museum opened and before single ticket holders were able to enter. The tour of the Sistine chapel begins at the original door to the chapel, which is marked with statutes of Michaelangelo and Raphael as seen in the picture below. While Michaelangelo died in his 80's, Raphael played around a bit and died at 37. Our local guide, Stefano (you have to pass an extensive licensing exam to be a local tour guide) told us that he would prefer to be Raphael, whose statue looked happy! These marble statues are above the original doors, which are no longer used as the Vatican spent untold millions building a new entry-way to accommodate large numbers of visitors and groups.





While the Sistine Chapel was started by Pope Sixtus and completed by Pope Julius, who convinced Michaelangelo to complete the ceiling and then return to complete the far wall of the Chapel. The picture below is the crest of Pope Julius. All of the Popes started adopting new names when they became Pope, starting in the second century or so and then started adopted crests to use. Since they were all members of the Aristocracy, they were used to having them. Only the Pope is permitted to say mass in the Sistine Chapel and still does so occasionally.





To get to the Sistine Chapel you walk through corridors of incredibly beautiful statutes, long hallways with frescoes on the ceiling, and unbelievable tapestries made in Brussels, from sketches done by Italian artists. The largest tapestry in the world is in this corridor and some of these took up to 15 years to make. This is just one of the hallways:




All of these statues were originally nudes, but when a particularly conservative line of Popes came in they forced artists to attach plaster fig leaves in appropriate places. Shocking!
Inside the chapel(sorry we can't show you but no photos are allowed) are the incredible paintings of Michaelangelo -most of the ceiling and all of the far wall. Especially well- known is the section on the creation of Adam (yes there is one for Eve too), along with panels that depict stories from the old and new testaments. The entire back wall of the chapel is the story on the last days, showing heaven and hell. At the bottom right of the "End of Days" wall is the painting of Satan and Michelangelo must have had a sense of humor, because he painted in the face of Cardinal Biaggi, a Cardinal that he particularly disliked on the body of Satan! What I find particularly fascinating is that Michelangelo was not a painter, he was a sculptor,but when the Pope asked him to do this, he hired the best painters in Italy to teach him and when he was ready he sent them on their way and did the chapel. He did not lie down on scaffolding, but stood on scaffolding while painting, wearing a halo of candles at night so he could see to paint.

A mock op of this is shown in the new movie Angels and Demons - as this is the place where all popes are elected. The stove for burning the ballots is placed in the far right corner all the way in the back. There is also a door there into St Peter's Basicilia.
And in the middle of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is the famous creation of Adam panel by Michaelangelo


As you leave the chapel you can go directly into St Peter's Basilica – and upon entering the Basilica the first statue on the right is the Pieta – also created by Michaelangelo – who really only thought of himself as a sculptor – not really a painter. Pieta means “pity” - for the Christ with his mother holding him after his death. Michelangelo was only 25 when he sculpted this. What amazing talent. The Pieta is behind glass now ever since a mentally disturbed tourist managed to get to it with a hammer. The face of he virgin had to be restored, and now it's behind glass to be safe.




St Peter was the first Pope of the Catholic Church, and he is buried here three stories under this amazing canopy of gold.



Here is the original sculpture of St Peter done in the 13th century by di Cambio and touching his foot is considered good luck. We all did it!



Of course (like I already knew this) St Peter is really buried three stories below the basilica and the whole area must have continued access too air – or things would rot! This is one of the grills in the floor that allows the lower levels to have air exchange.



And finally standing back at the entrance of the Basilica, you can see how enormous it is, look at the people at the bottom of the picture. This Basilica is larger than any other Catholic church in the world and is designed in the shape of a cross, with this picture being taken along the longer bar of the cross.
There are markings in the tile of the floor to show you where other churches in the world fit in, and while St. Patrick's in New York is huge, there is no match for St. Peter's. There is no way to really describe the side chapels, the beauty of the mosaics and the frescoes. You just have to see it for yourself. We are not going to put in a picture of the mummified body of Pope Pius X....all I can say is, “What were they thinking?????”




Outside St Peters, we found the Swiss Guards. It seems there are 160 of them and they have been serving the Papacy for a very long time. The must be 18 to 25 to apply and one of their fore bearers must have been a Swiss Guard and they seem to look a lot alike and all are very handsome.



Off to Pisa and Florence

Bill liked Pisa more than I did because once you've seen the original city wall, the church and the leaning tower, that's all there is to see. It is a novelty, of course,but I am not sure it's worth a stop when you have to fight your way through a dozen African immigrants selling fake rolexes and Louis Vuitton bags! -



Off to Florence – We arrived fairly late in the evening and our hotel was outside the city center, so we didn't hit the downtown the first night.


We made it to Academy of fine arts with a local guide, Simone' to see Michelangelo's “David.” I have to say this is an amazing piece of sculpture and we were so glad we got to see it there. Apparently this chunk of marble stood around in the marble yard for 120 years before Michelangelo chose it. It had a flaw, but one that fitted perfectly into his vision. Our local guide, Simone, told us that when the sculpture was finished, the man who commissioned it told Michelango that the nose was too big. Michelangeo argued vehemently that it was perfect. The man insisted. So the artist climbed his scaffolding with his chisel, hammer and some marble dust in this hand, pretended to chisel while releasing the dust but not actually touching anything and when he was finished, asked the buyer if that was better. "Perfect," said the patron.





The group walked to the Cathedral (Duomo) and we had to leave them as we had tickets to the Uffizi Gallery for 11 (our original request was for tickets at 2:00 but apparently even my English is not good enough to order museum tickets).

Simoni said the outside of the Duomo is magnificent but he didn't think the inside was as valuable and only a couple of people in our group climbed the nearly 500 steps to the top of the Dome (in background below)



(one women incurring serious blisters and food problems as a result). But the Uffizi.....There is so much in this museum that were were exhausted after an hour and a half and then had to limit ourselves to our favorite artists, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Rubens and Rembrandt, and even that was overwhelming. Botticelli's "Venus Rising from the Sea" was absolutely beautiful.






I think you would have to spend quite a bit of time here and just do one gallery a day to really appreciate it. It was also very hot, even though it was fairly early in the day.


The famous Ponte Vecchio in Florence (below). This is where people actually live over the bridge! Well we don't know if they really live there, but certainly the gold merchants all have shops there. 18 Karat gold is the specialty of Florentine jewelers. We did not buy jewelry there, but we were glad that we crossed the bridge (originally to look at the Pitt Palace) because we found a beautiful ceramic shop there, down a tiny alley. More on this later.





Gelato became a favorite as we ate ourselves across Florence . Actually Bill is eating his way across Italy. He has tried dark chocolate Gelato in every place we have been, in order to find the best. I fortunately have a more modest approach because I would like to be able to fit into my clothes on the cruise. A funny thing happened when we stopped at this little shop in Florence for Gelato. The woman at the table behind us noticed Bill's CU hat and started to talk to him, she was behind me so I couldn't see her without turning around,but when I did it turned out to be someone I knew in Boulder a long time ago and hadn't seen in about 20 years. She was there with her two granddaughters. Small world!





Finally, just before leaving Florence we found this fantastic ceramic store. The owner is an architect who came to study in Florence 20 years ago and worked in this little shop and now owns this shop and draws the designs for this pottery. We had been hoping to find a piece of ceramic for Kristin and Jerry while we were here, but Allesandro told us the good ceramics were all around Orvieto, where we are not going. We were happy to be able to ship a beautiful piece home to them and I have her website if anyone is interested. In addition she has renovated the three bedroom apartment over the shop and rents it out to people like us.



Tomorrow (the 10th) we are off to Venice,with a stop in Verona for lunch. More later!