We had to go to the train station to get the overnight train tickets from Amsterdam back down south to Milano. The typical setting; it was filled with traveling high school and college students on holiday trying to go somewhere last minute but not wanting to pay the bill. They will stay in line for hours to have an attendant tell them that one of their options is to pay a couple hundred Euros to take the fast train to where ever it may be they are going but they opt out for their second choice, a very slow eight hour train ride with seven train changes. In the end they are still at the train station trying to decide as to what they should do, only missing what this current city has to offer them. You can’t blame them; they are just trying to stretch their money for as long as they can. They will do anything to stay away from home and any responsibilities. They keep telling Mom and Dad that the debit card they gave them is still full. Truth be told, they have been eating bread and water for days now, sleeping where ever they partied the night before, showering once a week if they can, and saving every penny they have to make it to the next location in a long line of cities meant for a summer long independence. I, most of all, can’t say anything. I did the same thing. It made me the traveler I am today.
Today, with more experience and, most importantly, more money; I travel a little better. We are taking the Hispeed train out of town with our very own sleeping room and room service. What a Euro buys today. But you have to do those other things in life to appreciate what other options there are out there. I’ve slept upright in a chair during an overnight train, been kicked off as a stow-away and hidden in sleeping cars before so, it’s nice to have a little luxury once in awhile.
After watching the kids talk and fight about what city they should move to next, smelling days, if not weeks, of a lack of showered bodies, having them ask me questions after inhaling what seemed to be an entire carton of cigarettes, watching a local try to sell them bogus train tickets to “where ever they want to go” for practically nothing, and just getting hungry; we purchased our “adult” tickets and went to Menneken Pis on the Damrak for some of the world’s best French Fries.
We walked around town, and I mean around town, finally resting for drinks and Bitter Bollen on the Singel Centrum. This is one of my favorite spots in Amsterdam. We tried to enter the house of Anna Frank but being that it is Late July-early August; there are tons of travelers and the typical tourist attractions are like Space Mountain at Disneyland with long lines zigged zagged in front of them all. That’s the very reason why you do not visit any city just over night and expect to see everything. We will try again in the morning.
We went to the Van Gogh museum again. I go at least twice every time I’m in Amsterdam. I get the Museum card, which allows me to enter dozens of attractions for free for a year. When I time it right, I can use if for two vacation trips.
For the most part, today was a time to remind those travelers with me that life is short and we need, no must, appreciate it. We must not race through life expecting to be here tomorrow. We must take time out to reflect about what it is we want and how to get it. While in Europe I am capable of doing this by simply sitting in a square (local spot outside a café) having a drink and just thinking about life and all that it has given me. For me, for this trip, it’s appreciating the fact that a couple of my travelers happen to be my own mother and son. To share with them what I love about this life style is an amazing gift. But most of all, sharing with them the philosophy that we need to appreciate that what we like or expect to find just wont be there; things are different all over.
Day 11-12
July 30-August 1
Piacenza, Italia
The Romans built, among just about everything, a long road stretching across Italy from the Eastern coast clear across to the western side, building a town about every 20 kilometers because that's how far the army could march in a day. They last town on the road, which is still used as a road today, is Piacenza. This beautiful little town is the quintessential Italian town, with its narrow curved, cobble stone streets and its vibrant colored houses. It is my favorite city in Italy and I am able to visit every year because I have a friend who happens to be a native of this lovely little town.
I first met Giulio about 15 years ago and have been able to see him on a regular basis. I always learn more about both Piacenza and Italy when we spend time together because he always takes me somewhere new and the drive there reveals something I haven't seen or heard about. Whenever I am near I make sure to travel through Piacenza to at least have dinner with him. I walk the streets, shop, eat and just have the best-relaxed time while I am there.
We only had a couple of days in Piacenza and we met Giulio the first night for dinner. He picked us up at the hotel and we walked the several blocks to a great little restaurant in the middle of the steps of a hill. We had the typical proshutto and many different dishes kept coming as he continued to order as we ate. After a great three hour meal, as all meals with Giulio are long, we walked around town and stopped here and there for drinks and grappa. One of Giulio's brother-in-laws was with us and walked along with us with his bike. Everyone rides a bike and we felt like natives with someone in our group pushing his bike.
The couple of days in Piacenza were literally nothing but relaxation, shopping, and food and drinks. We just walked with cameras in hand and shot everything in sight, stopping off occasionally at the nearest cafe for a drink, some snacks, and a few pictures of the locals doing the same.
On our last morning there we went to Giulio's dentistry to say goodbye and have a coffee with him. We stayed at the studio for a while talking with the office staff that I see every year and a few new students. We took pictures with Giulio and he showed us the renovations that are currently taking place in his twelfth century home and let him get back to work. That night there was a city wide shopping event for the summer and we attended to see what deals we could find. We had to buy a new suitcase because my mom purchased too much along the way.
All good things have to come to an end and our time in Piacenza was no exception. We gathered our things, packed up the new suitcase and taxied our way to the train station north to Milano. I love Piacenza and when you see the photographs you will know why.
Day 7-11
July 26-30
Venezia, Murano, Italia
A year ago I was walking the main waterfront near the Piazza St. Marco in Venezia, Italia with my girlfriend when a lone messenger approached us. An elderly gentleman with a particular ease about him that he just looked relaxed with his Italian loafers, white slacks, and pinstriped shirt. Through the smoke of his cigar he asked us if we wanted to see Murano. “It’s possible”, I said, acting like I knew where he was talking about. “Come on”, he said. “We give you free boat ride”. We jumped into the Venetian speedboat and melted to the bright yellow leather seats in the sun. We watched as the familiar sights of the piazza got smaller and smaller on the horizon and we soon entered open water.
There were several men, all dressed like the first, waiting for us at a dock in Murano to take us into the Glass Factory. You see, Murano is known; as all areas in Italia are know for something, for glass blowing. They have been blowing and working glass in Murano for more than a thousand years.
After a simple tour of their factory and watching them blow the typical examples and prodding us to buy whatever we could, we left the factory to explore this little island and see what it had to offer. We soon found that is was a needle in the haystack for tourists. It has become a standard stop of mine and of Travel-Lens. I will bring people here for as long as they let me through the front door. Life on Murano is simple. I don’t know what people other than the merchants of the storefronts and cafes do but it seems like everyone is unemployed. All day long the inhabitants are walking around, stopping at each café to have a drink, talking with those who walk by, yelling at the few boats that float through the island on one of the canals or inviting the pilot of the boat to stop for a drink. The interesting thing about Murano in regards to tourists is that they all leave at five in the evening. They came ashore with tour boats, or by one of those guys that brought me and leave to go back to Venezia because that’s where they are staying. They only came to Murano to shop.
Most of the canals are just twenty feet wide. The Grande Canale, where most of the tourists end up and most of the shops happen to be, reminds me of The Pirates of The Caribbean at Disneyland. The people are so close to the boats as they float by that one may even reach out and touch them. There are so many things to see, hear and watch as an on-looker. You absolutely forget that there isn’t one car on these islands. The sounds that normally flood your eardrums are replaced with people’s shoes clattering down stone pathways, dogs barking from blocks away, or the boat’s engines bubbling under water as they are thrown in reverse to park.
So for the last two days we have done nothing but walk, talk, drink and eat like a local. The locals say that Murano is very much Venetian. They say that it’s more than Venetian than Venice is anymore. The people here are true Venetian, not emigrants. They are third, fourth and fifth generation; doing the same as their ancestors did. So we have done nothing but enjoyed ourselves for the last two days and relaxed. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we changed our plans from staying at a hotel in Venice to just staying in Murano for another two nights. It’s just wonderful.
Day 5
July 25, 2009
Still in Firenze but leaving in the morning for Venice. We had a short, relaxing but productive day today. We awoke late, allowing Wolfie to sleep in awhile. I like to see the differences from person to person as to how they react and deal with the new mode of life through travel. This allows me to change my way of seeing and doing things to accommodate to those with me. Wolfie has done well for his age and this being his first time abroad. He wanted to eat at his “favorite” pizza place, so we headed over there and had a seat outside just near the open leather market, the Mercado Nuovo. Merchants have been selling there since 1547 and near it happens to be the Il Porcellino, the little pig that if you rub his snout, will bring good luck. We could see the venders and their potential customers as we ate. We talked about the cooler day that was among us than other days. We had a great lunch and refueled for a relaxing day around Firenze.
After lunch we strolled through the other leather market and purchased a few more items for those back home and us as well. Wolfie wanted a belt with those metal studs all over it. He likes it. Each region of Italy is known for something in particular and Firenze happens to be versed in Leather, so much so that they have leather schools. In-fact, the first inhabitants of the Ponte Vecchio were the leather tanners of Firenze. There are other leather merchants in town but regardless of what I heard an American woman say tonight as I walked by her attempting to inform her friends; this is the largest leather market in town and where you will get the best deals.
I had never been inside the Pallazzo Vecchio so I decided to see if it were even necessary for clients in the future to be told about it. The Pallazzo Vecchio was once the town hall but later became the private home of the Duke of Firenze as well. The grand apartments upstairs housed the politicians while were working as city council members, such opulence. We headed over right after lunch and got in a fairly short line only to be let in through another non-operational metal detector one at a time. So our short line seemed like there hundreds of people where in front of us. This did however make for a thinner crowd once inside. A must see for those who are interested on the city’s history.
Well, an uneventful day just taking in a few sights, enjoying the town and the cool breezes. We collected a few sandwiches and water before heading back to our apartment and had a nap. Packed our necessities and now getting ready to retire, only to get up early o board that train to beautiful Venice.
Day 4: Friday
July 24, 2009
You know you can’t spend years doing something, like traveling, and expect everything about it to be the same from year to year. I experienced that phenomenon to the tenth degree today. We took the early (and only) train to Milano to see the Last Supper by Leonardo De Vinci. This particular Train was supposed to arrive at Milano Centrale at 9:29 A.M. leaving us just enough time to grab a cab and race over to the church to see this one time forgotten piece of historical art. Unfortunately, the train was late to arrive because of traffic. I know, it sounds silly but our train had to stop to allow another (much faster train) to go by. So we grabbed the cab late, drove to the church late, and walked in behind who knows how any Asian tourists to be told “you are late!” I pleaded and they reluctantly allowed us to enter with another group. Now, I remember seeing this piece while they where restoring it about 15 years ago, before that book, the De Vinci code. Back then, we walked in for free to a dark, damp, lonely room, only to find the fresco all alone for Butch and I to gape and wonder at. As we sat there on the floor, after we got so close we could have touched it, a nun entered the room, saw us and walked out. We were left alone with the famous piece for as long as we wanted. You see today is different. We paid thirty dollars a head to see it, the room had been cleaned and painted, there were barriers to prevent anyone to get closer than about ten feet from the wall, and they only allowed for so many people to enter at a time the forced us to leave after just fifteen minutes. What a difference. Regardless, We saw it and that’s what is important. The trip from Firenze to Milano took about two and a half hours so that was the only thing planned for Milano. I wanted everyone to use this day to rest. Its’ important to have days like that otherwise you will become worn out or burned out. So we headed back to the train station while taking a few shots of Milano along the way. I checked the schedules and found a train was leaving in just minutes so we while getting a return ticket, we missed that train but took the next. The train station last year was chaotic at best. They were cleaning the massive stonewalls and building a mall two floors beneath the ground. They also moved the ticket booths so it took me some time to figure that one out. So many changes in just one year and but it looked great. We took the train back to Firenze without any problems and made it back to the apartment in time for me to see the last leg of The Tour De France. Oh Lance. We all rested, showered and got ready for dinner. Walking slowly back to the Piazza Vecchio, we just took in the cool breezes and watched the people beginning to fill the square. My son asked me why we weren’t going to eat right there on the square. I told him that there were too many tourists there and the prices were worse than the food. If you want something good, you have to find them tucked away in some narrow walk way. We decided to eat at Guisippi’s again so we walked through the small alley and found our way through the door to be greeted by both Guisippi and Daniniele.
After dinner, we walked about the piazzas, ate sweets, and walked up and down various streets to window shop and just watch the people. Crossed over Ponte Vecchio and back again. We found ourselves near El Duomo so we took a few photos at night since we had never done that. We listened in the far distance, a lone operatic voice of the young girl who, with her boyfriend playing the accordion, sings like an angel. We found the man who’s guitar playing summoned use from afar and sat to watch and listen to him for a while. We had a coffee and joked with the waiter. I tried to sell back a toy we bought for my son to another one of the illegal venders as a joke. We purchased a few pencil drawings of Firenze from a street artist a couple of days ago, found that guy and talked with him. Then we took pictures of the chalk artists who replicate the works of masters by drawing them in chalk on the street. The pieces take many hours to complete and only last overnight. After paying a visit to the famous bronzed wild boar that is supposed to give you good luck if you place a coin in its mouth to let it fall through a grade, we walked slowly back to the apartment, only to stop at Gelletaria de Lorenzo for a cone for the way home.
Day 1-2.
21-22, July 2009
Unfortunately I have yet to get the server to work at the apartment so I have not been able to upload any information or text to the Travel-Lens site. I have to instead, write it here in Word and as soon as I am able to get on-line I will upload this and the following daily updates. Therefore, continue to visit the site to read the stories and see the photographs of our adventures. For that matter, I’m going to put both of the first two days on the same upload.
The time spent in the plane on Monday was uneventful, nothing more than your typical annoying travelers that you must sit by as if you did something wrong in a past life. The kicking of your chair, the screaming children that can’t sit still and the constant talking of the guy next to you that only wish would simply shut up long enough to allow you to fall asleep to no longer have to hear him; so you just fake it and turn your head.
Canada, another visit through Canada made me tell myself, AGAIN, that I will no longer travel through that hyper-secure country. I do have my son with me on this trip, but they seem to take the interrogation a bit too far. We made it through three sets of their customs and check points to only take more time to be assured that our bags made their way checked through to Roma, Italia.
Roma was hot. Very hot! A nice summer day but we only used the metropolis as a hub to land in and take a train to our final destination, Firenze. We depart from Roma at the end of the trip so at that time we will visit the necessary sites that this historic Roman city has to offer. We took a taxi to Roma Termini (the train station) and as we walked into the terminal, I saw that there happened to be a train preparing to depart in just thirty minutes. We squeezed our way through a sea of people to the track and I directed everyone to hop on that train. After I found a car with air conditioning and went to grab lunch. I returned from one of the famous train station grills with a panini de proshutto and water for everyone. This is the best lunch; salty, tasty and filling. A poor mans lunch. Right on time, the train left the station and with us still eating our sandwiches, the train cut through the city, revealing itself from the inside out like a worm eats its way through an apple. This should have been a great train ride with people we knew, food, water and most importantly, air conditioning. But the lack of time didn’t allow me to read the charts to see that the schedule was a slower (not the worst but slow) train. That’s the luck of the draw if you cut it close. Four hours later and with the last two completed with the air conditioning not working for some reason, we arrived in beautiful Firenze.
This is the maiden voyage of Travel-Lens and my escorting willing travelers to Europe. To make things more comfortable I rented an apartment in Firenze and could not wait to see it, and Firenze for that matter. I love this city. Firenze has always been filled with artists. I love the small village feel, small streets, many piazzas, too many attractions for just a few days and so much history. We walked the short distance from the train station in Firenze to the apartment. The feel of Italia, the smell, the sounds of traffic and the beeping horns of the hundreds of mopeds were all pleasures that I have longed for over the past year. The checked in and took off to see things. I took the group South-East into town and cut over to walk along the Arno River. I want everyone to have this river as their first reference point of Firenze as it was such an intricate part of what made this city the renaissance capital of the mid-evil times and today. Rivers have always been the artery that feeds both its city and those outside the city the goods that create an economic stability. We walked slowly towards the Ponte Vechio ( the oldest bridge in Firenze) as I explained how it has overcome renovations after being torn away from floods and how the current business residents are the direct descendents of the original jewelers that kicked out all of the leather tanners and took up shop. Not wanting to wear them out on the first day, I dragged the crew around town just getting to know a few of the sights. We saw the Pallazzo Vecchio, El Duomo, and walked around a few of the piazzas. The best way to get to know any place is to spend plenty of time there and do as the locals do. Walk around town, eat their food and take up their late night shopping and eating of Gellato on a warm breezy evening.
Day Three, Thursday:
Knowing that we have many days in Firenze, we took it easy today with a late breakfast at the apartment of crossants and coffee, early lunch with pizza near the Piazza Della Signoria and an early dinner of the worst speggetti ever next to the River Arno. However, I must say that I’ll take the worst meal in Italy over the very best Italian meal in California any day. We spent a little time getting tickets for the train to Milano in the morning but that was uneventful. We did two very big and delightful things today. First we visited the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (El Duomo). A beautiful church that happens to have the world’s largest brick dome. We actually walked over the inner dome today as we climbed over three thousand steps to the top. I must admit that I took many stops to rest as my legs felt like rubber the entire time. During our journey to the summit of stone, brick and iron rails we stopped to stare at the fresco atop the ceiling. A magnificent piece of art that seems life size when viewed from the church floor but, while climbing the interior; one doesn’t compare in size to these over dramatized humans and beasts.
After such a feat we found a café in the Piazza San Giovanni and had a cool drink with a discussion of the climb and the shear beauty of that nearly six hundred year old church. We rested and watched the people, both tourists and locals alike, walk by as their day continued in the hot Firenze sun. From the café we could see those peddlers of tourist crap like toy cars, posters and camera tri-pods selling their “goods” to the spectators lined up to enter El Duomo, and we could see them quickly gather those things only to drop a few and run to hide as the local and government police came near.
When we were ready to march again, we headed towards the home of Michelandgelo but decided instead to just visit the Academia today and his home later. We stood in line for a short while, perhaps only twenty minutes and was let in only to see them shut the doors behind us, as it was after five in the evening. The security ran us through the usual metal detectors but I left my things in my pockets on purpose. I do this every time because their devices don’t work well. A guard’s wand detected something in my pocket only to be my passport, and it continued to beep afterwards. They just don’t understand that their equipment doesn’t work. It’s funny. We made our way through the usual religious paintings. This year’s visiting show was a small collection of Robert Mapplethorpe’s and it’s comparison to Michelangelo and his studies. It was small but very nice. We then made our way around to David, the star of the show at the Academia. Every year the display gets more and more “secure”. My first visit to David was so relaxed that I touched the sculpture and took great shots without those new barriers. Last year they put a barrier, and this year eliminated the photo-opts. I still managed to sneak on with the old i-Phone. “I’m am seeing you sir” is what the young blond Italian student said as she came up behind me. I gave her that famous “what did I do” look and went about my business. My business is photos. We compared the works of Michelangelo to those from others and discussed how smooth and perfect his finished works are. The ability to tear away the stone to reveal those characters and bring them to life only Michelangelo could have done. We left the Academia and walked back towards the .Palazzo Vecchio. We sat down on the front steps of the Ponte Vecchio and watched the people walk around and by us, listened to musicians fill our ears with beautiful sounds to lure us to purchase their CDs, and took photos of the life that happens in any piazza, in any town throughout Italy as the sun goes down and the cool night’s breeze carries a fresh blanket of comfort over everyone and takes the heat from the day to cast it away.
We followed such a wonderful day with cookies and Gelato and went to bed early as we are leaving for Milano early in the morning to do one thing and one thing only; visit The Last Supper.
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