Italy

The road to Florence

We much enjoyed the road trip along the Mediterranean coast. On we sped past Monaco, Nice and the Italian border. The French riviera is quite stunning, mountainous and heavily popluated. Plenty of greenery, but the houses don't stop. The freeway is a marvel in itself, cutting a swath through the mountains by frequent tunnels and amazing viaducts. In between mountains we could glimpse the coast, where the rich squander their time. Crossing the border was a shock. The wealth of the rivera gave way to the lands of Italy. Still mountainous, but a little more arid. Still with the vast number of houses but of a poorer nature. Less glitz, less glamour. More rugged.

We kept up the pace streaming towards Florence. The socceroos were playing Croatia tonight, and we had to get to a pub. A frenzied number of phone calls found us a place to stay and in Florecnce arrived we did (thanks Yoda).

A fabulous Medici mansion, with some of its space reserved for the likes of us. A beautifully large room, only a hundred metres from the Duomo itself. The place is looked after by a delightful Welsh lady by the name of Evilin. The fittings are aged, as is the decor which include many antiques and paintings. Not to mention the many cherubs, books and sculptures that dominate the halls and lounge areas. The staircase itself was grand and cold, made from solid stone, wide like a roadway. No airconditioning, but very cool none the less. This is good because Florence is a hot box (we found it easily within tolerance having acclimatised in the desert). The big relief was the lack of humidity.

The world cup.

After frantically checking-in, we launched ourselves down the stree in search of a pub. We entered one near to our hotel and the loud noises we heard soon turned out to be a bunch of Australians crammed in the back room (apparently the rest of Italy was interested in the Brazil game). We arrived to see Australia down by 2 to 1. The red cards came out, the crowd went off and the few Craotians lost it in a fury. A massive goal and frantic last minutes, all while pressed elbow to ribs in a heaving sweaty mass. High fives were the norm and "OZZIE! OZZIE! OZZIE!" was frequently heard. Glad we were not in Craotia for the game, for they looked very pissed off after the game.

A beer down the street and a quick talk with the bartender by the name of Fabio, of course, revealed that we will be playing Italy on Tuesday. The locals suddenly have new respect for the Aussies (running shit scared is what I would call it). The local beer is great and cold and the food is excellent. Although we have serriously overdosed on pizza, calzone and gelati. At least Dim is out of her kebab fixation.

The sights.

Florence is beautiful, as are the residents, who are refreshingly helpful and friendly. Their English is often much better than mine. This is good, as my own attempts at Italian are some what messy. I am beggining to ask questions in Spanish, then get a kick in the ribs from Dim...."its Due not Dos!". We have visited almost everything on our hit list and still have another day before we leave.

A quick summary of the higlights:

The Duomo: another big fuck off church. It is magnificent. Tall, large, edifice clad in intricate white and green marble, with a terracotta dome the size of Los Angeles.

The bell tower: alongside the Duomo, has 414 steps. Dim seems to be getting better at climbing. My traing regime seems to be working. Magnificent veiw. The sight of Tuscan roofs, a few high domes and the streets of Florence. A pigeon could not hope for better.

Galleria dell Accademia: The gallery containing the true David. A price hike from that listed in the guide book, but still worth every penny. The statue of David is inspiring. I can see why it became the symbol of Florence and its people (they love the David and Goliath story as well). The marble is exquisitely smooth like skin, with veins and wrinkles and love handles. Dim got a photo before the gallery attendants could throw us out. But only got a snap shot of his waist (Dim claims it was his best asset).

Palazza Vecchio: Amazing! The Medici family (on and off rulers of Florence) turned this building into a palace, filling it with works of art. Barely an inch remains which is not clad with paintings or gild. The walls remain bare without their tapestries, but the ceilings are something special. Each a work of art, with many panels each in their own gilded frame. We spent a surprising amount of time here, getting a crick in our necks. The map room was also a highlight

Galleria delgi Uffizi: Once the home to the city's bureaucrats, now the location of the Medici family art collection. The single greatest collection of Renaissance/Florentine art in the world (I think?). Plus it has Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". We spent the last hour and a half of the day in the Uffizi, before being dragged out by the attendants. Works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, El Greco, Rubens and Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci's works were of particular interest. We were able to see a special showing of his manuscripts and notes. The man was an out and out genius.

Piazzale Michelangelo: Another hike up a mountain, but well worth the view. The gelati at the top/middle/bottom was worth every penny. Damn, those pennies are starting to add up..... we will be on bread and water soon.

Too many more sites to mention. It just goes on and on. We have spent much of the time walking, moving between sights, museums, gelaterias, pizzarias, bars and cobbled streets. And to top it all off there will be a fireworks display tonight.

Festival of John the Baptist.

The patron saint of Florence is "John the baptist" and his day happens to be 24 June. His society happens to inhabit the lower floors of the mansion in which we are staying. We were woken this morning by loud trumpets and a steady beating drum. Peering out the window we were greeted by a substantial march by men in garb of the Renaissance. Dim kept saying "They are wearing pontaloons! They are wearing pontaloons!" The marchers received a gift from the society and then left to continue their journey to the Duomo and then the Plazza Vecchio. There used to be a medi-evil football match on this day, but it has been cancelled this year. Apparently the damage toll from last year was steep. The day will finish with fireworks at 10:00pm ... ermm 9:15 now ...

Fire works were awesome.

current plans ...

ermm off to the Czech Republic? Poland? Croatia? Then back to Italy via a ferry from Dubrovnik, then a journey to Pompei and finally Rome where we will be meeting friends of the family (fingers crossed).

- all the best Nick and Dim