Scenes from St. Mark’s Square on a Rainy Day

It was lovely and busy.

See the platforms people are sitting on to your left? It finally struck me that those are walkways during the flood times. Wow.

This piazza is really big.

Everyone is gathering to tour the cathedral. Except us. I was content to take photos outside, with no waiting.

The thing about Venice is that its position at the crux of byzanitine and asian influences and roman and gothic influences is really evident in the architecture. You really do see an extraordinary mix, and I liked it. It was especially welcome after the weight, stolidness, and excess of Florentine architecture. Click on photos, and then again, to enlarge details.

Iconic Venice: Bridges and Canals

This post, let’s take a tour of what makes Venice, Venice. I have photos of St. Mark’s Square for a later post, and the interesting details found all over the island, but after all, without the canals and bridges, Venice is just another Italian port city. (Well, OK, probably not, since it was the hub of trade between east and west for centuries, but I don’t claim to be an expert!)

You’ve already seen two of the bridges that caught my eye in my last post, but the most famous Venetian bridge is the Rialto. It is lined with shops for your canal-crossing shopping convenience; however, here I have to say I prefer the Ponte Veccio in Florence. The Rialto is not only smaller, it’s just not as lovely. It does seem more affordable, though.

The Pont Rialto, surrounded by tourist kitsch.

Metal bridges like these are more rare. Isn’t that light extraordinary? I am no photographer, but even I could capture some of the magic of this light!

One thing you can be sure of in Venice: climbing stairs. The bridges are omnipresent, and give you glimpses of colorful, helter skelter worlds just around curves and corners. They raise your perspective. You climb up, watching your feet, one hand on a stone rail, and then you look up and left or right and stop, involuntarily. The sight literally arrests you. Every bridge seems to become an invitation to a panorama view, where you turn and gaze and drink it in.

The bridges here come in all shapes and sizes.

The view from up here is wondrous.

Some perspectives are up close and personal.

Some bridges were covered in these…

This is a REALLY bad practice. These are supposed to represent the commitment of two lovers, but mostly they just corrode these antique ironworks and ruin the bridges. Don’t do it!

Calling me to come explore!

Venice is just as magical at night! Bad photo, but I couldn’t resist sharing all the sparkle.

So, does it show that I enjoyed Venice a little more than Florence? I love it when I surprise myself. I am also gathering up posts about eating in Venice, and finding the details in Venice, not to mention St. Mark’s Square. And the island of Murano will blow your mind! Or it did for me, anyway. So family and friends, just know that even though you couldn’t join me, I thought of you all constantly, and have looked forward to sharing with you virtually what I wished I could have experienced with you in reality!

Venice: My Pleasant Surprise

My preconceptions of Venice:

* narrow, dirty lanes

* stinky canals

* plazas filled with aggressive, obnoxious hawkers of tourist junk

* overrun with elbow-to-elbow tourists

* crazy expensive

My experience of Venice:

*ENCHANTING*

The charm of Venice.

The narrow lanes weren’t shared by any vehicles, and April was not especially overrun with tourists, so it didn’t feel nearly as crowded as Florence. And it was pretty clean. There was a hint of river-smell, but not too bad, although I could imagine that July and August could be pretty stinky. There were some hawkers of strange touristy things and tours of Murano and such, but the ones in Florence were worse. It was pretty expensive, though; not terribly much more than Florence. Kind of like going to Disney, maybe.

Our hotel was more expensive than Florence, and you couldn’t find a level surface with a drunken surveyor, but we were ON the island (probably not particular unmoving over hundreds of years) and a short walk to a main street, and only slightly longer to the boat docks for the island excursions. The location was quiet, and the hotel family friendly, with tasty breakfasts that had actual HAM and cheese. That is really unusual for a continental breakfast B & B. The room was not only large, but the bathroom was large, and the whole suite was down its own hallway with locking door. The convenience factor was a real plus after Florence! The hotel was the B&B Al Palazzetto.

Our surprisingly large room slept our son on the daybed, but there was also a roll-away behind the door and room to use it.

The view from the bridge at the corner of our hotel.

The lighting actually seemed magical at times. Of course, just like in Florence, we had some overcast time and some rainy time, but when the sun shone, the city glowed.

Plenty of people in the streets, yet I rarely felt overcrowded apart from lanes right outside St. Marks’ Plaza.

This was my favorite bridge that I came across, but there were a LOT to choose from !

Cool details lie around every corner, just waiting to be discovered.

I have a ton of photos, but I’m not sure how I want to organize all this. I’ll try to separate out the island of Murano, but other than that? So keep in touch for more scenes from Venice! 

Interrupting the Tour of Italy…

to bring you a glimpse of my Ladies’ Retreat! Last weekend, our church organization sponsored a spiritual retreat for the French churches of South France with the theme of Free to Serve Him. Aside from an interest in the topic, I loved the idea of learning and worshiping alongside my sisters in Christ here. The one big hesitation I held was, well, it would be a French retreat in French. I’ve been working on this language for 10 months, but I still can’t say I speak it. One of my French friends who was attending, though, and who translates, offered to let me ride with her and the pastor’s wife, and she would make sure I understood the teaching. YES!

One of the joys of being a part of the family of God is that, where ever you go, regardless of cultural or language differences, the Holy Spirit in each of you is able to communicate a bond that transcends these barriers. Poor tribal women in the mountains of Mexico who know the Savior lit up at meeting a white, clueless English believer in Christ (and vice versa), and it is the same in France. I sang songs in French, whose lyrics I could only mostly comprehend, but some I knew in English, and what a joy! I prayed with women in French, and enjoyed 3-course French meals preceded by lovely songs that were benedictions, like we used to do in camp! And I was able to follow French Scripture readings in my English Bible.

Good food and conversation at a French retreat is a given, I guess.

We gather to practice a song for the host church’s worship service Sunday. It was the French version of “Open My Eyes, Lord.”

And folks, the liberating grace and mercy of God is the same in every language! It was a first for the women of the region, and I pray it will double in size next year.

It was a mercy and a delight, though, to find that a third of the ladies in attendance, while speaking French for the retreat, were yet native English-speakers. And additionally, the matron who was caretaker of the retreat location was an  American missionary who had come to France long ago to minister to lovely French people. The world of the family of God is small indeed! I had an abundance of help with the material, and people who were ready to talk about Jesus in my own heart language, too. I did sometimes grow weary of all the foreign-ness. It is hard work and a constant alertness to focus on a foreign language, and it wasn’t just a few hours with French class. It was definitely a weekend that helped my language listening skills, though.

The location was a retreat in itself, too, though. Maubourguet is a quaint ville, and this building the retreat met at was right on the market square. Looking at the solid wall facade that faces the square, you’d never guess all the courtyard and home behind them.

The courtyard, with bedrooms, the kitchen, and a meeting room facing it.

This is a lovely canal that runs behind most of the building, and actually UNDER parts of it. Very cool, and the babble of the water was refreshing.

I definitely hope I have the privilege of attending again next year!

The Basilica di Santa Maria Novella

The first great basilica in Florence was Santa Maria Novella. It was finished in the 1300s. We visited this our last day, and it was inspiring. And just another reminder, that many of the photos I post can be clicked on to open individually, allowing you to click again to enlarge parts. This is how I found the paintings of the apostles and saints in each small arch above the entrance at the Byzantine church in my previous post. It’s like a “Where’s Waldo” for architecture!

The front of the basilica. The back is apparently what you see from the train station.

These churches all seem to have a courtyard of some sort. I think they are beautiful.

The Italian courtyards have design elements as intricate as any inside the building. The window beside Stoney lead to the Spanish Chapel.

A close-up of the columns.

The frescoes in this section are quite damaged; to be expected, I guess, in an area exposed to the elements.

Churches in Florence

My one great regret in Florence occurred at the end of Sunday, walking back to our hotel after a long day on our feet. It was growing dark, and singing was wafting from a recessed doorway. Suddenly Theo realized the tune was familiar. I stopped dead, recognizing an often-sung praise tune. Oh joy! Brothers and sisters in Christ, worshiping here, in Italy! I know this should not be a surprise to me, but I wasn’t looking for it here, in this non-descript stone building. My legs almost carried me up the dark stairs to the low light inside, but my tired guys had only paused. I was torn, knowing I would not be unwelcome in that body even if none spoke English (highly unlikely from my experience), but I followed my exhausted fellows. Only later did I realize that I could have gone in and let my traveling companions proceed without me. I really think I could have found my way back to the hotel myself. It is the one thing I did not do that haunts me. But what a reminder that the true Church is not these massive towers and domes of stone or brick. All of the houses of worship we visited house that Body; they are NOT that Body!

Any European city seems to be riddled with churches, most of notable beauty. Florence was no different.

A beautiful church door.

Many of them have these cool domes along with the bell towers.

Ornate carving on a church otherwise much covered, in the process of being refurbished.

Pretty much all the churches we saw charge to come in and look around, and considering the serious brand names of the contributing artists in the churches of Florence, I can see why. You have to pay for wear and tear after all that foot traffic somehow. But as a result, we only went in one…

The Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, opposite the train station.

I’ll save all my Basilica di SMN photos for another post. My favorite church we only stumbled upon accidentally, returning from our iffy bus ride, and never even got inside its gate. It was a tiny little Byzantine-style Orthodox church.

I’m pretty sure this is the Chiesa Russa.

The onion dome spires were distinctive, and this rainy day doesn’t really bring out the vivid colors.

Beautiful entry! It shimmers and glows even in the rain.

So next time, I’ll share with you our tour of the Basilica di SMN.

 

 

 

Sightseeing in Florence

One major question a visit to Florence raises: WHERE did all this marble come from?! And who knew it came in so many colors?

My primary sightseeing destination was the Piazza del Duomo and further on, the Renaissance art mecca, the Gallery Uffizi. While you can’t take photos inside the Gallery, I did get my obligatory “Pam outside another art museum” photo for my collection. (By the way, the virtual tour online is excellent.)

Another notch in my belt…the Uffizi.

Florence is definitely done up fancy, almost everywhere you go. We had reserved tickets online to avoid waiting in a line at the door. We, in fact, got in a little early for our reservations because it just wasn’t that busy. A tour group had gone in the reservations door a little before us, and we only walked past 15 or so people to go in. I am sure it is much worse when it isn’t shortly after opening on a Sunday in spring. Anyway, the ticket office to exchange our vouchers for tickets was across the street, and quite beautiful, too, if you look up.

ALWAYS look up in Florence.

This is the piazza (I think) that housed the fountain of Neptune, which I actually liked. I just don’t know if it was the real thing or a copy, because this has an area, some covered, some not, with copies of many of the most famous sculptures in the Uffizi. The copies are for everyone to see and learn from for free, with no concern for pigeons or other vandals.

Part of the Neptune fountain. I think the green is a color change wrought by the water, but I suppose it could be the color of the marble? Or maybe just those parts are bronze?

Tourists hanging out around the statue replicas, most of which include plaques explaining their origin.

This is also a prime spot for catching a tour carriage, or being hit up by any number of street hustlers with fake goods, right outside the Gucci Museum.

The Uffizi is to your left, down that street. Note how quiet the piazza is on a Sunday early afternoon. It won’t stay that way.

Meanwhile…back in Florence…

I am so sorry for the big lag between Italy vacation posts. Theo and I reached the end of his third quarter of homeschool, and this is always a big scramble to finish up projects, polish papers chosen for submission, and for me…scan, scan, organize, and scan. I just couldn’t fit any time to share more of Florence, until now.

Considering that homeschool kept me away from blogging, I’ll start with the Leonardo da Vinci museum, which was a little museum of reproductions and models of many of his inventions from his notebook illustrations. This was a required stop for Theo, who was doing a history book report on a biography of da Vinci, and who was also to do a model of his pyramidal parachute as a project. We joined an Italian school group also touring this very hands-on, interactive museum. We found it at the Galleria Michelangiolo, the irony of which is not lost on me.

Theo drawing water uphill.

You crank this fellow to get him drumming, but he was originally intended to march and everything.

Something tells me the Louvre isn’t likely to make a spot on the wall for this painting.

It’s no major attraction, but it was a fun diversion, and suitably touchable for children, which so much in museums is not. In fact, most of indoor Italy seems to be off-limits for photos, too. That will affect this series, for sure.

Theo has a very limited touring-threshold, so in general, we would go out and explore for several hours, and then return to the hotel for a break before heading out for more sights without him. As a result, it really was kind of important to have a comfortable and safe hotel room, and wi-fi. Well, truly, we all prefer good wi-fi access.

Our hotel in Florence, Residenza Johanna, was nice. It was off the main street and a few blocks’ walk from Palazzio St. Mark. While that made it convenient to the Accademia Gallery, and a science museum, it was a bit too much of a hike to everywhere else. In future, I would prefer staying closer. Our room was at the end of a hall, and had a separate sitting room with a daybed made up for Theo. It wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small, and the bathroom, which had a shower, was generous. Unfortunately, the wi-fi connection was a little weak, so Theo spent chunks of time on a sofa in the hallway, where he could stream You-tube better. The included breakfast was a lovely continental spread with perfect cappucinos. I really need some protein in the morning, though, so I confess they didn’t last me all morning. Fortunately, you can get great breakfasty croissant sandwiches and things for a nice, Hobbity mid-morning snack on something like every third street corner. 

Kicking up our heels between excursions. Theo is through the arched doorway.

Next time, some of what we found on our excursions.

Not All I Expected

I had really been looking forward to visiting Florence. What had I been expecting? I’m not really even sure. I am sure I probably expected too much…the birthplace of the Renaissance, covered in the fingerprints (sometimes literally) of the greatest artists of the time. Architectural innovations developed here that spread the world over. A city whose misty history is steeped in intrigue and murder and, well, Machiavelli.

What I found was a chunky, heavy city (sometimes even gaudy) with very narrow sidewalks overflowing with people who also tugged luggage. As crowded as the city was, I am so glad we didn’t go at the high season. Lots of buildings and things were covered and being refurbished or renovated or restored. We heard English as much as other languages, quite surprisingly, and rarely ever encountered someone who couldn’t speak to us. We found mostly mediocre food, with occasional bright spots, probably because our price range dictated mediocre restaurants; it was very expensive almost everywhere.

We also found occasional jewels, a few masterpieces, and some fun moments, and consistently the best cappuccinos ever.

This had some beautiful details, and like so many things in the city, was also being refurbished. Note plenty of people, in the rain, early in the morning.

The tourists were truly from EVERYwhere. And groups of 15-20 or more clustered in tours all over the place.

I discovered that narrow streets make for a darker city.

But the view from the Piazza Michelangelo was very pretty, even in the rain. And amazingly, I could see the old city walls, reminding me that this was once a fortified city, often having to defend itself from other armies.

The Piazza was a long way up. This is about halfway.

Traveling in Italy

We are back from our week in north Italy! It was quite an adventure, and truly, the Italians are a unique people. We experienced a LOT of firsts while there, not the least of which was the being there.

We arrived in Italy (our first First!) at Marco Polo airport near Venice with easyJet, which, while cheap, I do not consider easy. It’s like flying a la carte, which isn’t bad, but carries a lot of details to track. We were taking the high speed train(our second First!) to Florence right off, but weren’t sure how many delays we might encounter transferring to the train station by bus. Also, the afternoon trains are much cheaper than the morning ones, so we chose a later train. I figured we could find places to hang out, drink coffee, whatever at the train station.

First miscalculation:The train station in Mestre is small and for the most part unenclosed. Mestre itself in this area is unattractive and offers little to do. Several hours’ layover is something I think I would pay more to avoid next time.

Waiting on the train, thinking, we are pretty sure, we are at the right platform. Pretty sure.

Not an attractive station, and the McDonalds is small and about the only place to wait.

The train itself was nice and comfortable for a two-hour trip, I thought. We zoomed along at over 130 mph.

A wall zooming by.

However, it didn’t FEEL that fast, unless another train passed us going the other way. It was remarkably peaceful.

Not as exciting as one’s first high-speed train trip was expected to be.

The station in Florence is much more like what I was expecting. There are shops, a large McDonalds/cafe, and is surrounded by, well, Florence; so if someone had to have a layover here, it would be manageable. At this point, let me also add that, unlike the French, Italian transportation staff are only minimally helpful, and actually rather rude. It pays to be as familiar with the system as possible beforehand.

Florence train station

Soooo much nicer!

Mostly we traveled Florence on foot, but our hotel was a little farther from the main tourist area than I had realized. This made for some very sore-footed days. It also meant that after hiking up to the Piazza Michaelangelo, I had no intention of hiking back, especially since that was a rainy day. We took the bus. The bus routes and map were a little confusing, but we managed to get off at a stop we recognized. The regular buses don’t travel in the center piazzas at all; those are little electric buses, and I have no idea how to catch one of those.

Compare the size of ths bus to the man walking behind it…

Italians really do drive fast and crazy. Loads of people walk, and the sidewalks aren’t really wide enough to easily accomodate two people walking abreast, so you would think drivers would be slower and more cautious around these literally overflowing sidewalks, but no. They just honk a lot. And we witnessed a nasty crash at an intersection where we were standing. After that, I was VERY cautious about crossing only with the light!

Another First was, after returning to Venice by train, taking the vaporetto (or waterbus) to our hotel. It is only a 15 minute walk, and we could have easily done that over a 6 or 7 euro vaporetto ticket, if not for the bridges. Hauling your suitcase over bridges is not pleasant. I know, because we did that on the way back. Besides, the vaporetto ride down the canal was one thing Theo enjoyed!

The view coming in on the vaporetto was truly charming.

Stoney wasn’t so much a fan of the waterbus.

We never did ride a gondola or a traghetto, but getting around on foot in Venice is much easier than Florence. The walkways are quite wide, and at the time of our trip, early April, Venice wasn’t nearly as crowded as Florence. We also took the bus back to the airport rather than the train or the Alilaguna airport shuttle, and that worked fine for us, actually leaving earlier than schedules said.

So there begins our trip! I feel much more able to navigate their transportation system in future, although I realize there is still a lot about it I don’t understand.