This summer we elected to do two back-to-back trips to Italy. Because of Gale's April hip surgery, our May dates got shifted to late June and July which turned out to be the hottest summer in Italy in 70 years - 95 to 105 degrees with 80+% humidity every day we were there, except for 1 day in the Dolomites. It was HOT! We survived, but I am swearing off taking trips to Europe in July and August.
The trips were wonderful. A kaleidoscope of history, art, and wonderful scenery. In preparation for the trips we spent quite a bit of time reading books and viewing videos about the Renaissance and Renaissance art, etc. We prepared lists of famous things to see in the various places we went. Gale likened the trips through the art museums and churches to a scavenger hunt with us consulting our lists and searching for the particular art work. It was great fun and very rewarding to stand in front of the Michelangelo's, Leonardo's, Botticelli's, Bernini's, etc. I'd do it all again, but at a cooler time of year.
Itinerary: Italy: Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast
Grand Circle Travel: Italy: Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast
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Tues., 6/23-24/15 – Estes Park to Dulles Airport to Rome, Italy
This was another long day of travel. We got up at 2:15 AM! and left Estes Park at 3:15 AM. We left the Subaru in “monthly parking at US Airport Parking at 5:00 AM, shuttled to the airport for check in, and waited for our 8:01 United flight to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC. At Dulles we had a 3 ½ hour layover before our United flight to Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) Airport in Rome. Because we have Grand Circle tags and OAT logos on our things, two other members of our group introduced themselves to us, Jane and Margerie (daughter and mother) from Virginia.
Both flights were uncomfortable but rather smooth and quiet with no screaming children until we were landing in Italy. There the approach became somewhat bumpy. No food was served on the domestic flight, of course, but a ravioli dinner and a tasteless croissant with strawberry filling for “breakfast” were offered on the international leg. United does not have the best meals, to say the least.
Wed., 6/24/15 – Rome, Italy
We arrived in Rome at 8:10am ( 8 hours). In the airport we met some others of our tour group. Since our luggage was last off the carousel, we were happy to see them and the GCT representative who came looking for us thinking we might have had lost our luggage.
Fabio was our driver who took us on a long ride through the heart of Rome with impossible traffic to our hotel, the Albani Roma Hotel. Our tour director, Fernando Aversa, met us at the hotel at 10 AM. He gave us maps and we were able to get in our rooms at 11 AM. We took necessary naps and then walked to the park, Villa Borghese, to stretch our legs. .
We got back to our hotel just before the thunder and lightning brought rain. We rested some more, took showers, and met with 21 other members of our tour at 6:30 PM.
We walked about four little blocks to Casa Mia for a fixed price dinner (dinner was “on our own” but Fernando arranged this for us) for 15 Euros each. We had a nice oil and vinegar salad, thin crust pizza, and “short-sleeve” pasta with tomato and bacon, Italian bread, red wine, and biscotti to soak in strong raisin wine. It was all very good. The rain clouds were gone and it was very pleasant walking back to our hotel.
Flag of Italy
Italy's EU license plate
View of the grounds of the Villa Albani from our hotel room
A very colorful hotel room!
Thurs., 6/25/15 – Rome to Chianciano
This morning we rode on the A1, Autostrata, for an hour, had a pit stop, rode for another hour, and stopped for snacks or a sandwich at a rest stop. It took another half hour to reach our hotel for the next week in Chianciano, the Grand Hotel Ambasciatori. We got our room keys and had the next four hours “on our own.” We went out to find a grocery store and bought bananas, crackers, and water.
The 16 people who took the pre-trip to Venice finally arrived and the whole group met at 5 PM for a two-hour briefing with Fernando. We went to dinner at 7 PM at a winery, Palazzo Bandino, and sampled four of their wines. Dinner was a typical Tuscan meal with starter antipasto, soup, raw hamburger Parmesan, and Italian pastry for dessert. It was okay.Friday, 6/26/15 – Chianciano and Radicofani
After a typical European breakfast buffet with only canned pineapple for fruit, but wonderful croissants, we were given our individual “whisper” devices and walked as a group up one block to the plaza. The whispers work well and I got to use my new folding stool while Fernando talked. It works well.
We got on our motor coach and headed for our visit to the hilltop town of Radicofani. We drove past several scenic Tuscan hill towns. The lord would build his estate at the top of a hill and put up a tower so he could see who was approaching and defend as necessary. If his tower had square crenellations on top, the lord was a Guelph and supported the Pope. If the top was serpentine, he supported the Holy Roman Emperor and was a Ghibeline. Travelers knew which one to approach or avoid.
We passed many fields of sunflowers, fava beans, corn, and wheat. One field had many white Chianina cows.
Radicofani is a 1400’s UNESCO Heritage Site. We walked through the town of narrow streets and stone houses. We entered the Church of St. Agatha (Agata, in Italian) that contains several works by Andrea della Robbia. The della Robbia family are famous for their glazed terra-cotta sculptures. The altarpiece and several other works are found in this church. We also went into the 1000 AD Chiesa (Church) of San Pietro. Inside are more della Robbia's. The town has 500 residents, some of whom are farmers, and most of the rest are retirees. We sat in one of the town plazas and ate bread made with olive oil instead of water and drank a local red wine.
Next we visited a farm with 1,000 sheep that are milked twice a day (48 at a time by machine) to make cheese. The farmer who was humorous, as well as instructive, explained the process of making cheese. He told us of the bacteria and enzymes, heating and cooling, pasteurization, separating the whey, and making of ricotta cheese from the whey and how cheeses can be flavored.
We then sat inside and tasted 10 different flavors of cheese that this farmer makes and ate lettuce and tomato, bread and cold cuts with red wine. It served as lunch.
Dinner tonight was at Mi Casita, a little house. We had a tomato soup that was like spaghetti sauce, veal rapped around sausage and apple, Swiss chard in bread crumbs, and a lemon-coconut cupcake for dessert and, of course, red wine.
Street scene in Radicofani
A Guelph tower with square crenellations
Tuscan Countryside
Street scene
Church of St. Agata
Sculpture by Andrea della Robbia
Church of the Annunciation
Sculpture by Andrea della Robbia
Ladies passing the time of day
Dairy farm
Cheese products
Sat., 6/27/15 - Chianciano and Florence
We were up early and left for Florence at 7:50 AM. At 10 AM we arrived and met our local guide, Amyl. She gave us a whiz-bang walking tour from the Square of the Annunciation to the old bridge, Ponte Vecchio. The tour let us get our bearings in Florence - we will be back in three weeks to get to see the insides of some of the churches and museums. We stood and marvelled at the Duomo of Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Amyl described the competition and successful construction of the dome of the Duomo by Brunelleschi. The Pope is visiting in October so the Duomo museum is closed for renovation but we could see the copy of the 10 panels of the doors of the Baptistery by Ghiberti.
We walked on to the Square of the Republic. It was originally a Roman Square and market but was renovated in 1895 for the new Italian Republic. We walked past the grain market, which became a church and the grain was moved up to the second floor. At the Square of Vecchio or Signoria we looked at the copy of Michelangelo’s David, the Fountain of Neptune, and the open statuary gallery. We walked along the Uffizi Museum and looked down the Arno River at the old bridge, the Ponte Vecchio. There were originally butcher shops on the first floor of the bridge, but when a second floor was added to create a passage for the Medici from the Uffizi to their palace, the shops were made into jewelry shops to eliminate the stench. This was the end of our formal walking tour.
Fernando had gotten us reserved tickets to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see David, so he led us back and showed us where and how to get the tickets and get in line to enter the museum. It pays to have an experienced tour guide.
Piazza della Santissima Annunziata
Italian street sign
The Duomo façade
The Duomo façade
The Duomo façade
The Duomo Bell Tower façade
The Duomo - side
The Duomo - side
The Duomo - dome
The Duomo - altar
The Baptistry - replica of the Ghiberti doors
The Baptistry - replica of the Ghiberti doors
Arcone Triumphal Arch at Piazza della Republica
Signoria
Ponte Vecchio
While we waited for our time to see David, we got some lunch and wandered past Orsanmichele which was originally a trade guild hall and is now a church. The guilds commissioned sculptors to put various sculptures in niches around the building.
Orsanmichele
Copy of Four Crowned Saints by Nanni di Banco
Machiavelli outside the Uffizi Gallery
Interesting letter box
Florentine manhole cover
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