Day 5: Siena & Florence

Here it is two months after our Italy trip and I'm finally getting around to blogging about the mid-point of our trip! On Day 5, we left early in the morning for a day trip to the medieval city of Siena in Tuscany. I had been looking forward to our daytrip to Siena because the tour books all raved about it.


We began our tour of Siena at its fan-shaped Piazza del Campo. It is one of Europe's greatest medieval squares and sits at the heart of the city's 17 "contrade" (or districts). Residents of Siena are loyal to the "contrada" where they were born and rivalries between contrade are fierce. Twice a year, thousands of spectators flock to Siena to watch the Palio -- a bareback horse race around the town square. Jockeys and horses from ten of the seventeen contrade are chosen to participate in this wild race that lasts a mere 90 seconds. Each contrada has an animal symbol to represent themselves. You can see these symbols on flags and plaques throughout the city.


We then headed to the Duomo -- it is one of Italy's greatest cathedrals and stands out from many others because of its striped black and white pillars. The floor of the cathedral features several scenes in the inlaid marble floor. Several scenes were covered up to protect them but we were able to see "The Massacre of the Innocents".


It was during this tour of the cathedral that the daytrip began to go downhill. Taking an exhausted toddler on a walking tour when she should be napping does not work so well. Brett took her outside when she started to act up and missed the majority of the cathedral tour. When we came back outside, she was passed out in his arms and he had a very disgruntled look on his face. Apparently she screamed and hit him for about half an hour before passing out just minutes before I arrived. Needless to say, Daddy was exhausted and needed a break from Ella. The tour soon ended and we grabbed a quiet bite to eat while Ella slept.

On the way back to Florence, our bus driver Francesco treated us to a brief stop at the Piazzale Michelangelo. It is one of the great Florentine viewpoints that offers an amazing panorama of the city. We quickly took a group photo and family photo and then headed back to Florence for free time.



Ella & I retreated to the hotel for a much needed nap in an actual bed (her only for the entire trip) while Brett saw the sights of Florence with others on the tour. He climbed the steps on the Campanile (Bell Tower) and got a magnificent view of the Duomo.



After our rest, Ella & I met up with the rest of the group for dinner. Thankfully, her stroller finally caught up to us so I didn't have to carry her all the way into the city center! Dinner was good -- it was our one evening meal that was not veal! We had pasta with meat sauce and some sort of a stewed beef and of course gelato for dessert. Then it was a short walk along the Ponte Vecchio until Ella became too fussy and we headed back to the hotel for the night. We needed some rest for our bodies and our spirits as we prepared to head off to Assisi and then Rome.

Day 4: Florence

Finally, I'm getting back to the review of our Italy trip. On Day 4, we took the bus from Venice to Florence. I was amazed by how completely beautiful the Italian countryside is. On all of our travels from city to city, we saw some spectacular scenery. It's a pretty long trek from Venice to Florence so we didn't arrive until the afternoon. We had just enough time to check into our hotel in the city center before we had to meet our local tour guide. Our guided tour of the city included viewing sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria, the Ponte Vecchio, Brunelleschi's Dome (the Duomo) and Ghiberti's bronze Baptistry doors.


Florence is known for its museums that feature spectacular art of the Renaissance. One of the most famous works is Michealangelo's David which is housed in the Galleria dell'Accademia; however, there a couple of copies in the city. This copy is in the Piazza della Signoria -- the original stood in this piazza until 1873. Another copy is in the Piazzale Michelangelo -- one of the great Florentine viewpoints with a magnificent panorama of the city.


After the Piazza della Signoria, we walked along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio -- the old bridge (seen behind Ella & Brett in the above photo). At this point, the sunny skies had turned to gray and it started to sprinkle. Fortunately, we had an umbrella in the backpack...but if we hadn't we could have purchased one from the dozens of men who suddenly appeared hawking them for 5 euro. We got some relief from the rain when we entered the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. It's orange-tiled dome is one of Florence's most famous symbols.



After the guided tour, we went to a local leather workshop where we saw a demonstration of how they make the famous Florentine box -- a box fashioned completely from leather. Brett even bought a nice new leather belt there, and I got a nice new shawl from a stand just outside the workshop -- I needed something to keep me warm and it made a nice souvenir.



Then it was off to dinner at a local restaurant -- we had veal yet again, but this time paired with some fantastic potatoes. Ella got bored during dinner and whipped out the baby doll from her backpack. One of the waiters was charmed by her...and later asked to take a picture of her with his cellphone. It was pretty cute. After dinner, it was off back to the hotel and some much needed rest.

Day 3: Venice

Although technically billed as Day 3 of our tour, Venice was our first sightseeing destination. In retrospect, I think it was my favorite day of the tour, and I would definitely love to go back one day. Venice is a lovely and unique city. Rick Steves, the travel guide writer, beautfully describes it as a "city in a state of elegant decay". Situated in a lagoon just off the mainland of Italy, Venice is a car-free city of a hundred islands connected together by 400 bridges. Since Venice only has 65,000 residents, it is pretty deserted during the early morning and evenings. But, during the day it is swarming with tourists who day-trip in to enjoy its sights. We were some of those very tourists. Since we were staying on the mainland, we woke up early to catch a ferry over to Venice for a 9:00am guided tour of the city. It was a beautiful time of the day to see the city -- still quiet before the huge influx of people. Our guide took us down quiet alleyways and explained about the city's history and architecture. So beautiful!


Our guided tour ended in Saint Mark's square. You've probably seen it in movies -- it is teeming with pigeons and birdseed sellers. Because the pigeons are known to transfer illnesses such as salmonella, we didn't feed the birds. From the square we headed to a glass-blowing demonstration. Venice is known for its ornate glass beads, jewelry and glass art.


After the glass blowing demonstration, we met up with my friend Carmen and her Italian hubby Gianluca for lunch. I've met Gianluca before in the States but Brett had never met either Carmen or Gianluca. I never actually had much of a conversation with Gianluca because he didn't speak much English back then but now his English is wonderful! It was great to get to know him a bit and learn more about Italian life from him. After lunch, they headed off to the other side of the island where they were to meet another friend, and we made plans to meet up again later in the afternoon.


From there we headed to get a "gelato" (Italian ice cream) and to visit the Doge's Palace. Ella was exhausted by this point and ended up falling asleep in our arms as we toured the rooms of the palace. Our visit was cut short as we needed to meet back up with the group for our gondola ride. Gondola rides are known to be expensive. Our tour director told us that this was a "reasonable" rate for a 30 minute ride -- 20 euro per person (about $27). That's still expensive in my book, but it was worth it for the experience. It was a lovely trip through the city and along the Grand Canal. Unfortunately, Ella didn't really experience it -- she slept through the entire ride. But, at least it was a relaxing way for us to hold her during her nap.


After the gondola ride, we met back up with Carmen & Gianluca for a drink along the canal and more conversation. It ended all too soon as they needed to head for the train station and we needed to meet back up with our group to catch the ferry to the mainland. Overall it was a wonderful day full of beautiful sights and a pleasant visit with old friends. I look forward to returning one day.

Day 1 & 2: Travel & Arrival in Italy

After more than 24 hours of travel, we finally arrived in Italy on Sunday, April 1st. Surprisingly, Ella held up amazingly well during the two bus rides and three flights. Unfortunately, the airline lost our stroller on the last leg of the trip -- who would have thought they would do that with something that you check at the gate! But, apparently it does happen.

Upon arrival in Milan, we met Rita, our EF Tour Director (an American from New York) and our bus driver Francesco (an Italian who didn't speak any English). We then learned that we had yet another 4 1/2 hour bus ride to our first hotel in Jesolo di Lido, a town on the mainland near Venice. We opted to skip the scheduled stop in Verona since we were all so incredibly exhausted and ready to find our beds for the night. That night we had dinner at our hotel -- first course: pasta, second course: salad & veal. This ended up being the meal that we had nearly every night of our trip with slight variations. The Italians must really love their veal!

That night I got a phone call from my friend Carmen. We met about 9 years ago when I studied abroad in France. She was a fellow UC student from Los Angeles who ended up being my roommate for a couple of months. After France, she moved to Italy where she met and married Gianluca, an Italian. I've seen them a couple times during the past few years when they've visited Santa Barbara, and contacted them a couple of months ago about meeting up during our trip. They live in Bergamo which is a 3 hour train ride from Venice. During the call, we made plans to meet up in Venice the next day during our free time.

Finally, around 10:00pm (30+ hours after our departure from home), we finally made it to bed. The next day our sightseeing was set to begin in the beautiful city of Venice!

We're back!

Just wanted to let you all know that we've arrived back home safe and sound from our whirlwind tour of Italy. We took TONS of pictures that we hope to share with you all. Most likely, we'll post some to the piersmas.com photo gallery in the next few days. There are so many stories to tell and so many people to share them with! Right now, we're pretty exhausted so we don't know when we'll be able to catch up with you all individually. So, I think I might do a post about each visit along with some photos in the coming days. Check back for details about our trip!

We're Headed to Italy

2 days and counting! On Saturday, we begin our first trip to Europe with a child! We're headed to Italy with about 50 others from the high school (students & a few parents) for a 9 day tour. Actually, it is really only 6 days of sightseeing since the other 3 are lost to traveling overseas. But, it will be jam-packed with sights. Here's a brief overview of our trip:

Day 1: Fly all day

Day 2: Arrive in Milan, stop in Verona & head to Venice

Day 3: Venice

Day 4: Head to Florence

Day 5: Florence & Siena

Day 6: Assisi & Rome

Day 7: Rome

Day 8: Pompeii & Bay of Naples

Day 9: Head home

To be sure, this trip will be unlike any we've taken before. We've never been to Italy and we've never been to Italy with a toddler AND dozens of high school students either! We're excited, but not too sure what to expect. Since we're packing light (or trying to at least), we won't be bringing the laptop with us. So, you'll just have to wait until we return to see photos & hear the stories. We'll be back home in the wee hours of the morning on the 9th.