Travel Beyond Japan: Italy

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2012年8月24日金曜日

Venice

June 24, 2012

It took about two hours from Florence to Venice Santa Lucia station by an express train. The name of the station made me remember the famous Italian song "Santa Lucia" in Naples.

Venice is a very unique and impressive city. It was built in the lagoon, on small islands separated by 150 canals; there are about 400 bridges.

There are no cars in Venice; we have to use water buses or water taxis. The transportation is very unique; it makes the scenery unique. Water bus stations are floating on the water.

Santa Lucia station was crowded, however, I was very moved to see the beautiful scene in front of our hotel when we arrived the hotel by a water bus. Our hotel was on Giudecca Island; it took about 20 minutes to get there from Santa Lucia Station.

I had been excited to ride in a gondola in Venice for a long time. The price was expensive, €80 for 35 minutes. However, my husband and I decided to experience riding in a gondola to have a nice memory of Venice.

I enjoyed the gondola very much! I found the gondolas' shape is not symmetrical. This is for gondoliers to stand on the stern with the oar so as not to overbalance. Our gondolier said that he bought his gondola for €35,000. He also said that every gondolier has his own gondola. They need to get a license to be a gondolier, and there are many people on the waiting list to be approved. So our gondolier was very proud of himself.

The next day, we went to Murano Island famous for Venetian Glass.

We stepped into a shop where workmen were painting cups as in the following picture. I bought a pair of glass at the shop as a souvenir for my parents and aunt.

2012年7月21日土曜日

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the region of Tuscany in Italy.
In the past, Florence was under the Medici Family's rule. The Medici family was a very important family in Florence during the Renaissance. The family ran many banks and they supported many artists like Michelangelo.
The central city of Florence is a World Heritage Site; there are many historical places and buildings there. It was very impressive city and we had a nice time there.

The David in the Academia Gallery was very tall; it measures about 4 meters. It was very elaborate; we could see the veins in his arms. It was amazing that it was sculptured from marble. The David was placed in front of the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio but now it has been moved to Academia Gallery to protect it from damages. There is a replica of the David at the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio. I took a picture of the David there because taking pictures was prohibited in Academia Gallery.

A replica of the David

Facade of the Florence Cathedral

It was a masterpiece of Gothic architecture of marble many colors.

The Duomo is the landmark of Florence. I decided to attempt climbing to the top of the Duomo.

Duomo's height is 90 meters and it has 464 stairs to the top.

Where you made it

It was hard; however it was a valuable experience to climb it. The view overlooking the city was breathtaking!

The Giotto's bell tower

I saw the Giotto's bell from the top of the Duomo, the tower's height is 84.7 meters and it has 414 stairs to the top.

The Florence Baptistery

And then, we went to the Michelangelo Square.

The Michelangelo Square ( Piazzale Michelangelo)

We enjoyed the view of Florence from Michelangelo Square. There is replica of the David in the Michelangelo Square, too.

The Duomo & the Giotto's bell tower

We found the Rose Garden walking down the Michelangelo Square.

We enjoyed sculptures by Folon there.

I loved the view of the city from his sculpture; it was perfect as a picture frame.

2012年7月20日金曜日

Saint Patrick's Well ( Pozzo di San Patrizio)

Saint Patrick's Well is near the Orvieto station. The well was commissioned by Pope Clement VII who took refuged in Orvieto during the sack of Rome in the 16th century.

The well is unique. Wells are usually used winches and small buckets to get water, but this well is 53m deep, and has 248 spiral stairs to get water. It is amazing that people at that time possessed a knowledge and skill to build such a big well.

where you looked down

The water of the well

where you looked up

Civita di Bagnoregjo

We went to Civita de Bagnoregjo by the route like the following. First, we got on a train to Orvieto, and changed to Funicolare(cable car) to the center city of Orvieto.

We took a taxi to Civita de Bagnoregjo because we learned a bus wouldn't come a few hours later.

Civita de Bagnoregjo is a town in the Province of Viterbo in Central Italy. This town is called "lipase che muore"( the dying town). Only 20 families live there now and the city has recently been revived by tourism. It looked like Mont Saint-Michel in France from distance.

the bridge to the town
No car, on foot or by motorcycle

The entrance at the top of the hill

The houses built from stones.

The town was small and charming.

An old woman invited us to see her garden and we were moved by the very impressive view looking down from her garden.

the rock face ("calanchi" in Italian)

2012年7月18日水曜日

Amalfi

Amalfi is said to be the most beautiful beach in the world. Positano, one of the beaches at Amalfi is said to be especially beautiful. It was one of the places we were really looking forward to visiting on this trip. We took a bus tour to Amalfi. The tour picked up and dropped people off at each hotel. It was a little expensive (€65 /person), however we really enjoyed the beach and clear blue ocean thanks to the tour.

The right edge of the rock looks like a lady holding a bunch of flowers.

The ocean was so clear that I could see the bottom of it.

The bus stopped a most amazing viewpoint where we enjoyed Positano beach. It was breathtaking. The actual scenery was more beautiful than my picture.

I had an hour of free time at Positano. Positano was very small city; the road in the city was very narrow; cars can't drive there. We walked the lanes enjoying the scenery.