Beautiful Tuscany

The play of light on the barren fields, the cypresses bending in the wind, the storm clouds brewing, the flocks of sheep belles tinkling that produce the famous pecorino cheese, and the organized vineyards marching up the hillsides characterize the Tuscan landscape.  Little wonder so many famous artists call this place home.  And for amateur photographers even equipped with a cheap point and click opportunities to stop and take a photo present themselves at every bend often to the chagrin of Marielle.  Watch out for the cars!  I hope you enjoy the following montage.

Eating In

The best thing about having your own apartment is that you can eat in thereby saving money and time on restaurants.  The worst part is that you have to prepare a meal and that’s not why I came on vacation (direct quote from Marielle). The middle ground is to buy a meal and eat in.  Here are some addresses:

Try the family size, as in too big for three people, pizza (the four seasons – quattro stagioni is delicious) for 14 euros at the little pizza and gelati place right at the Fondamente Nuove vaporetto stop in Venice.  Who said Rome is the pizza capital of the world.

In Florence, go to the traiteur (prepared meals place) called Giuliano at Via dei Neri 74r one block from the Palazzo Vecchio.  Every day this place has several cooked meals to take out complete with vegetable side orders and dessert. Thanks for the tip Helen.  Also in Venice try the markets (Mercato San Ambrogio and Mercato central) where you can buy prepared meals (the roast chicken is great) and desserts.

In Rome we went out most nights as we had saved so much on our food budget during our stays in Venice and Florence.  And don’t forget to ask your hosts where the locals eat.  All the recommendations we received turned out to be great food at low prices.  Italians like a deal as well.

Buying groceries can be fun, in this fruit store Marielle asked for two afternoons (due pomeriggi) instead of two tomatoes (due pomodori)

Raisin bread for a breakfast treat, available at local bakeries

Riboletta, a tuscan soup that will put hairs on your chest

A dessert to die for

Paul's famous italian flag of food - eggplant, ham and potatoes, and spinach from the local market

Piazza San Marco

Of the millions of tourists who visit Venice every year nearly 80% stay for less than 24 hours.  During these 24 hours they invariably visit Piazza San Marco.  Why?  Have a look at this website to find out:  http://www.italyguides.it/us/venice_italy/st_mark_s_square/piazza_san_marco/st_mark_s_square.htm

We stayed a week and bypassed Piazza San Marco to get away from the tourists.  However one day armed with our reserved passes to the San Marco basilica and the Doge’s Palace we visited the famous square.  We toured the basilica with an audio guide before the tourists without reservations were let in and the palace on a guided (yes a real person) secrets tour.  The secrets tour guide led us through numerous rooms behind the museum to see where the leaders of one of the largest maritime powers of the early second millennium sat and discussed the business of state.  The tour also gave us an insight into the exciting life of Cassanova one of Venice’s favourite sons.  After the tour we joined the other tourists to tour the museum and cross the Bridge of Sighs to the prison.  The San Marco basilica museum is also worth the steep climb up the stairs for the view, to see the horses the Venetians pillaged from the Byzantines over a thousand years ago, and the mosaics.  In fact the whole interior and much of the exterior of the basilica is covered with mosaics.

There are a couple of other museums bordering the square which we did not visit.  There is a bell tower, boutiques selling murano glass, gelato stores and the campanile which we did visit for a splendid view over the city.  While we were up there the bells tolled twice, an ear splitting experience.

San Marco basilica with horses (false ones), the real ones are inside

Painting outside San Marco basilica using mosaics

The Piazza taken from San Marco basilica

The Bridge of Sighs

Looking out from the Bridge of Sighs

Campanile

Doge's Palace

Piazza San Marco bordering on the Grand Canal

Doge's Palace from the Campanile

Cappuccini Break

My Mum always said not to hold it in so when nature called we would stop to grab a cappuccino.  We not only had a great Italian beverage but also we could use the bathroom and sometimes even try a yummy pastry.   Prices varied and the stops were worth it.

Acqua Alta

Venice is sinking!  You can read many articles on the Internet about Venice’s war against the seas.  Despite several emergency measures and new construction Venice is flooded many times a year.  One day when we were window shopping (no surprise here) in the piazza San Marco we heard a loud wailing sound.  Soon after we saw water bubbling up through the grates which stopped before we had to roll up our trouser legs.  There are numerous platforms stacked around San Marco in case the waters rise too high.

Getting Organized

When?

We chose to leave in late September to avoid the Summer crowds and Summer prices.  Furthermore we let on a Friday night and arrived in Venice on a Saturday morning as most accommodation rentals go from Saturday to Saturday.  Fall is also cooler and the leaves were changing colour in Tuscany.

Where?

Where depends on your individual tastes and the length of time you have to visit.  We planned a week in Venice, two weeks in Tuscany (at two different locations), 5 nights in Florence and four nights in Rome.

Plane

We chose Air Transat principally for the direct flights from Montreal to Venice and Rome to Montreal.  Thanks again Denis for driving us to and from the airport.  The price was comparable to Air Canada whose flights take longer as they go through Frankfurt.  I guess we could have taken longer and used our Aeroplan points but it can be a hassle if you have limited flexibility in your dates.  Don’t forget to check out insurances.  We took out trip cancellation insurance which is not covered by my VISA card.

Accommodation

See my article on Homelidays.  I reserved our accommodation in advance.  Most owners prefer a small deposit to hold the reservation but when I pointed out that the bank fees on a small money transfer are as much as the deposit itself they were OK with paying upon arrival (in cash).  Our average per night cost was $120 CAD for the three of us, two bedrooms, and all amenities.

Money

Luckily for us the exchange rate was very favourable following the demise of the Greek and then the Spanish and Irish economies which forced down the value of the euro.  I bought some euros in advance which turned out to be a good idea as the exchange rate improved by 7%, in favour of the euro, during our trip.  In addition to cash we also used our bank cards to draw cash and also used our trusty VISA Aerogold card.  We never had any problems with the instant teller machines or purchasing items by credit card.

Luggage

Travel light!  We took less than 20 kgs of luggage each in one medium size suitcase which could be wheeled.  I still found this minimal amount too much especially for the fourth floor (no elevator) climb to our Venice apartment.  Think over eighty stairs, dim light and narrow with Paul carrying 20 kgs in each hand.  And this was after wheeling our suitcase for 600 meters between Marco Polo airport and the docking area for the vaporetti.  Less luggage helped us to rent a smaller car and to negotiate the mayhem (many tourists with large suitcases) on the Eurostar train from Florence to Rome.  For those of you who need to change clothes once if not twice a day, don’t forget that you will probably never see these people again so you can wear the same thing twice in a row.  The Homelidays apartments all come with washers.  Just buy some laundry soap.

Venice apartment, 77 steps to the top floor

Rome apartment, 54 steps to the third floor

Reservations

I strongly recommend reserving tickets for well-known attractions (Doge’s Palace, Uffizi, Accademia, Coliseum, Vatican Museum) in advance.  You will pay a small administration fee however you will avoid long line-ups.  I reserved my tickets through the Internet except for the Doge’s Palace Secrets Itinerary tour.  Because their website sucked I called a perky tourist agent in Venice who gave me the opportunity to practice my Italian, parla inglese, due, due, quattro, cinque, arrivederci.

Language

A big thanks for the Harraps Learn Italian book and CDs from Chantal and to Marielle whose latin came in handy.  In fact it was rather frustrating for Paul considering he had studied for hours and hours when Marielle who didn’t study much (didn’t get past chapter 10 of 50) could understand and even converse as if she had been in Italy for a few months.  Italians like tourists to make the effort to speak their language no matter how poorly.  In Rome when we took taxis everywhere, once I attempted to speak in Italian the drivers would open up and point out sites and make conversation.

Writing Home

We used the same setup as for our trip to Australia that is, mobile phone with international card and our Hotmail account on the Internet.  The mobile phone worked almost everywhere except for some places in Tuscany where we would have to go outside the apartment to get reception.  It was more difficult to find Internet outlets than Australia.  In Australia we would go to the local library.  In Italy we couldn’t even find a library (what is library in Italian by the way) and would have to ask the locals.

Avoiding the Internet cafes by borrowing the apartment onwer's laptop

Air Transat

Often called Air Sardine due to the lack of space between the rows of seats, as in no leg room and very little bum room, I upgraded to the ‘Club’ section of the plane.  This section of three rows and twenty-one  large size, comfortable each is at the front of the plane which is separated from the rest of the riff-raff by a curtain and cabin crew who guarded our intimacy.  You pay a big premium but in the grand order of things it is worth it.  I still found the nine hour flights exhausting however we were never bored what with snacks, meals, water, more wine, champagne (mousseux really), another magazine, another paper, and going to the washroom without a huge line-up.  You also get priority check-in service which can shave an hour or more off your wait time at the airport and a priority luggage pick-up service which didn’t seem to be working at Montreal.  You also receive a free kit containing blanket, mask, headphones, toiletries etc.