I love Italy! The food, wine, the people, the culture, history, the style......and yes the gelato! So in my fantasy I drive up on my Vespa wearing my Italian made boots, leather jacket with my hair flowing from under my helmet. I walk along the streets and find a cafe to stop for an espresso or cappuccino and perhaps a yummy pastry to go along with my coffee....okay, I could go on but you get my drift.
So, my time here has been short with only a few more days to go but it has been great and I feel it has been a wonderful introduction to the Italy life and culture. I arrived from Paris on the 3rd of November and dropped off some of my "load" at my friends house in Rome and headed off to Siena. I only spent one day there really and it is a lovely small ancient city(what isn't in Italy)with charm and a sense of wanting to melt into the winding streets of shops, the historic buildings and yes......the gelato shops. I love the gelato here in Italy and am working my way through just about every flavor.
I left the next day by train for Florence. There I met up with my cousins, Morag and Robert, from Glasgow as they were there on holidays in Florence. We had a great time enjoying the view from the top of the Duomo and visiting some of the greatest museums. We went to the Academia which houses "David" by Michelangelo which was amazing. I could have sat and examined that work of art for ages!We ate lots of good pizza and really good pasta and of course great wine.....not to mention...gelato.
I took the train to Venice and got into the water bus made my way to my hotel. What an wonderful city Venice is. I wandered the narrow streets and waterways for the rest of the day and evening until I just felt exhausted from visual overload. The next day I went for an early morning run and it was magical. The sky was cloudy but in the early morning light it made the rust, yellow, peachy colors of the buildings really stand out and the water was a slate blue. Later that morning when I was wandering the streets and getting lost-you really can't get lost since your on a small island-I went into a wonderful art exhibition of a Chinese master and had a conversation with the man there about energy and symbolism.
I then made my way to the boat to take me to Murano; the small island that is famous for making glass. There the windows were exploding with color with some fantastic pieces of art, jewelery, lamps and chandeliers. By this time it was raining cats and dogs and when I returned to Venice and went to San Marcos square it was literally flooded. This is went welly boots would come in handy and a lot of people had them or had plastic bags tied around their feet and legs. For the tourist not in the know, they had a line of table like risers to walk along to stay relatively dry. Not the best of days for sight seeing but still, a wonderful place to visit.
Off to Rome where I'm at now but I'll save that and the photos for the next blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment