Italy - day 6 (Pisa and Lucca)

We wandered around Tuscany today and then went to eat in the wine cellar of a family farm in Monte Carlo (the original Monte Carlo...the one in Monaco is just a copy!). First, we stopped by Pisa and saved the tower. The sun was shining and the grass was green and we thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the grounds. Other than the tower, there is not much to see in Pisa so we meandered to Lucca. Lucca was another favorite. It is the rare city that still has its original wall. Most of the other cities in Italy tore down their walls to build roads, but Lucca kept theirs. More about Lucca below. After Lucca, we traveled to a family farm where they grow olives for olive oil. We got a lesson on what makes olive oil good and bad and where NOT to buy it (cough, cough...Pisa) and how to put it on everything. Wow, the food was the best meal we had all trip. We couldn't get enough. We had olives, sun dried tomatoes, bean soup, potatoes, sausages, chicken, ribs, salad, and I'm sure much more I can't remember. I almost had to roll back to the bus.

More pics!

 The leaning tower of Pisa!! About 10 years ago, they closed it down so they could "shore it up." During that time, no one could climb to the top. Now it is all fixed and you can climb it again. Nope, didn't do that either. I wanted to but didn't. I guess when it comes to climbing stairs I'm a wimp. This is a pic of the tower and the cathedral.

 The cathedral and the baptistry. These buildings are HUGE! look at the people at the bottom of the pics.

A close up of one of the mosaics on the cathedral above the doors. I'm not sure what story this one is telling but I loved looking at it.

A pic of the doors and the mosiac. These doors were 3D. Very amazing. There were eight panels, telling eight different stories. 

The pillar to the side of the door. Engraved stone.

 LUCCA!! This place was amazing. So, the history is that they were very, very rich but they had royalty on their side so no one actually invaded to take over. Once that happened, they (the people of Lucca) decided to become invisible. So, they started acting like they were just farmers and didn't let anyone know how rich they were. About 150 years ago, the King of Italy came and said "Lucca, you are part of Italy! You are Italians!" and they said "We are??" Our tour guide was hilarious.

  

So, Lucca had a Colosseum! How random is that? It held gladiator games, was a stable, was a market and is now shops and housing. Here is a pic of the outside and the inside.

It was one of the first sunny days we had had all week. We thoroughly enjoyed just sitting in the square and enjoying the sun. I actually take a nap. I had my scarf over my nose cuz the cold air was hurting my lungs. So, here are some pics. First is a girl playing in the square. She was so randomly dressed it was CUTE!. Allison and I sleeping in the square. Our point of view from our nap spot.

 




Lucca still has its original medieval wall. Most walls were torn down to make roads, not this one. It was awesome! I just needed Kaitlyn's cloak to feel truly epic. Here is what you are seeing below. First, on top of the wall. It is about 5 miles all the way around and people are constantly walking, jogging, and biking on the top. It was so big! Next, is a view of the wall from the top. Finally, the flowers that grow up there. So pretty.

  

Pics of the family farm where we had the best meal of the trip.

  

 

Did I mention we had to climb five flights of stairs to get to our room in Montecatini? Here are the stairs and the pillars on the stairs. They were gorgeous but really tiring to climb.

 

Italy - day 5 (Florence)

Today we entered the mystical world of Florence, known for leather goods and its open markets. Can I just say...WOW! If you want souvenirs in Italy, Florence is the place to shop. Not only do they have better goods, they have better prices than Rome (even better than we found in Venice). The market goes on forever and then turns down a road and keeps going. I ended up walking the market about three times by the time we got everything we wanted. By the third time, I had people waving at me and acting like we were best friends. I guess my purple hair was memorable. Allison and I even got an invite to dinner by these two Italian men. "You come with me. I'll call my mama, she cook for us!" "We are leaving today." "What? Where you stay. We come pick you up!" They finally gave us a kiss and let us go on our merry way. I would have loved to have a picture of them but I thought they might take it the wrong way. :)

Of course, Florence is famous for the David and duomo with the big red domes. We got to see both. I really wanted to climb the domes but we didn't have time. The duomo (church) was built around the original church. The outside is AMAZING. When we were looking at the outside, Allison said the inside was probably really plain. She totally called it! Plain but still very beautiful. The architectural influences were totally different from Roma. One hundred and fifty years ago (yes, they are celebrating all year long) they were lots of different city states and were finally unified under one government. When traveling, you can see and hear how much of this city-state influence still exists even 150 years later.

Here are my fave pics of Florence!

The beautiful duomo in Florence with the famous red domes. Downtown Florence is a pedestrian only zone. It makes it nice to just walk around and not have to worry about cars or scooters. However, bicycles are allowed and are just as dangerous!

 The inside of the duomo. Allison totally called it when she said it would probably be plain. I actually loved how plain and classic it looked inside. It felt more peaceful than the craziness of St. Peters.

One of the amazing stain glass windows. It was hard to get a picture on them but I could have stood and looked at them for hours. One of the things I love about cathedrals in Europe is how they tell the story of the bible through imagery. These windows definitely told stories. I think this one depicted six different saints. 

 Fascinating clock. Roman numbers 1-24. One starts at the bottom and the numbers go counterclockwise.

 More outside the duomo. Better view of the domes. You could really climb up them and look out over the city. I really, really wanted to but we just didn't have time. The choir had a practice and concert on this day and we were only here for one day so our time was limited.

 The cultural center where David was originally placed (there is a replica of him there still). Ok so, the David is breathtaking. Michaelangelo was truly a genius. He never modeled his sculptures before he started. He would just start hammering away and see what can out of the block. He only worked on a small section at a time. So, he would finish the abs before moving on to the feet, etc. There was never a "rough sketch" of the entire picture. Each piece was completely revealed before he moved on. He sculpted perfect anatomy. The detail in what he created is impossible to describe. I never understood what made him so great until this trip. I definitely appreciate him a lot more now.

Yup, random carousel...of course I got a picture!! :)

Italy - day 4 (Roma to Tuscany)

Our final day in Roma. We visited the Vatican museums (including the Sistine Chapel). Then we had some free time so we visited the mouth of truth and then walked around the ruins of a fish market and down some random streets. We ran into more ruins and more fountains and more shops. Rome is full of all three. We were told that everyone has a hard time building something new in Rome. Every time they start digging, the find ruins. The site then turns into an archeological dig and all new construction is halted.

We then had a four-hour drive to Montecatini, our home base for the next couple of days. Allison couldn't wait to get to this hotel! When we got there, we were not quite so excited. The elevator was broken so we had to walk up the stairs. Well, we were on the fourth (4th) floor and in Italy, that meant walking up FIVE flights of stairs. Apparently, the ground floor is really the ground floor and not the first floor. I wonder if they break tradition enough to have a 13th floor? Here are my fave pics from the day.

The visitor's gate of Vatican city. I love being on tours. We walked to the front of the line and through the gate. No need to queue for tickets or entrance or anything.

So, we kept seeing these big bathtubs everywhere inside the museums. We couldn't figure out why the church would spend so much money on such a huge slab of marble, just for a big tub. Well, we finally figured it out later that day...see more below.

The only thing I can remember about this statue is that when found, the arm was missing (the one that is raised). Someone created an arm but Michelangelo told everyone that it was wrong. In looking at the muscles and shape of the shoulder, he told everyone that the replacement was incorrect. Well, about 50 years ago, they found the correct arm. And it was sculpted exactly as Michelangelo said it should be. So, the museums replaced the poor substitute with the correct arm.

Tapestries inside the Vatican. These are HUGE!! Knowing how tapestries are made, it was completely amazed. They are made with only three colors: red, blue and gold.

This is just one of the ceilings in the Vatican museums. I love these ceilings. They look like cameos. However, they are just painted. Even standing in the room and looking at the images, it was hard to see that they were just painted and not sculpted.

Ceiling in the gallery of maps. I love maps so I loved this gallery. It was fascinating to see how to view of the world changed over time. As you are walking down the gallery, you can see more accurate maps and places further away from Rome.

Yes, I saw a Hello Kitty car and just had to have a picture. If I could have folded her up and carried her home I would have. Instead I settled for a book of Hello Kitty paper dolls.

The Mouth of Truth. If you are telling the truth when you put your hand in the mouth, nothing will happen to you. However, if you are telling a lie....

...you will lose your hand! We were lying. We said we were ready to go home.

The church in which the Mouth of Truth is housed. It was beautiful in a very simplistic way. Nothing compared to St. Peter's but still beautiful. Notice the wooden ceiling? 

And here we found the real purpose for those giant bathtubs. Who would have guessed they were really alters. Well, now we know why the church used precious marble to make a tub...uh, I mean alter. Below are some pics of the tiled floors inside the church.

 

 The beautiful Italian countryside. It was loaded with sheep and castles and sheep and castles and more sheep and more castles. :)

 My kiddos are totally into medieval stuff right now. Wells fights with the local ARMS group and Kaitlyn is designing medieval looking prom dressing and wearing cloaks to school. This is a pic of a real life medieval town. People still live here! Can you see the cliffs and single ramp and cool buildings? Not really but it's all there!



So, Montecatini was one of my favorite places. We didn't get to spend much time there as it was just home base to go see other things. We did walk around this night for a little bit but most of the shops were closed or closing. The pics below are the view from our window. Being on the fourth floor, we didn't get a balcony, just a window. Still, loved, loved, LOVED the view.

 

Italy - day 3 afternoon (Roma)

After a morning of touring, we were transported to Piazza Navona (the artists' square) for the first concert of the trip. 

 After we walked to the piazza, we had time to wonder around before the concert and practice. We walked down to the Pantheon, sat in the piazza and ate pizza, and listened to a lady playing the accordion. It all felt very, very Italian. :) 

  We next walked through the Pantheon. Here is an idea of the size of the pillars in the front. 

 This is the church where the group held their first concert! I was so, so, so cold!!! I think this is where I started getting sick because I sat here for four hours for practice and the concert. How amazing though! Their sound just filled the space (humongous space) and the organ was beautiful. They opened the doors (making it even colder) to get people to come in for the concert. The benches were completely filled and there was a crowd in the back of the cathedral. It was amazing. One gentleman teaches music and was just overwhelmed. Afterwards we went to dinner just one Italian minute away. We had delicious lasagna and pizza. The service was slow and the room was freezing. We were so, so happy to get back on the bus. Hot showers that night!! 

Italy - day 3 morning (Roma)

Was split between ancient Rome and St. Peter's. What an amazing day! It was long and a bit cold but so worth it. Ancient Rome is amazing! I can't believe that I'm looking at buildings that are so historic. Here are my favorite pics from the Colosseum and Roman Forum.

The outside of the colosseum. This place has such a gruesome history. I cannot even imagine all the yucky stuff that took place here.

 Inside the Colosseum. They rebuilt part of the floor so you can see what it used to look like and still see all the animal and gladiator cells underneath. Right now, we are looking from right above the emperor's box. This is what the emperor would have seen when he was in the Colosseum. 

A closer look at the animal/gladiator cells. There was not much space, room, air or anything else below the stage. Here's a better description of the architecture. All the sloping surfaces were once bleachers. The floor had trapdoors (pretty advanced for the time frame).

Part of the Roman Forum. There are a ton of ruins in this area. It seems every emperor had to build something bigger and better in pretty much the same place. There isn't much left.

 This plaque shows us the place where Caesar was cremated. It was rumored that he was killed in the Roman Forum but he wasn't, he was only cremated here.

The navel of Rome. :) Called that because it was once the center of Rome.

  

At one time, Rome had 12 triumphant arches. This is just one of them. They are beautiful. The carving in the stonework is incredible.

 A  view of the forum from the other side. This view allows you to see the column ruins a lot better than previous picture. 

Here is a peek at St. Peter's Basilica. I was completely overwhelmed by the size/scope of this building. Here is a quick reference. So those letters in the gold band? They are seven feet tall. See that ledge above the letters? It is big enough to drive a city bus on it. Yeah. It's that big. The following pictures are more images of the basilica. Allison was able to sing mass for the most important cardinal of the basilica. We asked our tour guide why he was so important. She told us that he will probably be the next pope. It was definitely interesting.

That little white building peeking over the diagonal roof is the Sistine Chapel. We had free time on this day so we walked through the tombs. It was a little freakish. The tops of the tombs are all engraved stone to look like the cardinal inside. We were glad we went down there as we were unable to see them the next day.