Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Italy Part 2: Florence and Rome

 After spending quality time with the Rudmanns in southern Italy, we hopped on the train (yay fast trains) and zipped up to Florence at the end of December. Paul (and the girls, of course) had never been to Florence so I had scheduled trips to L'Academia, home of Michelangelo's David, and the Uffizi Gallery.  I had never seen the real David, as it was under restoration (or the gallery was) when I last visited with my parents. It definitely lived up to expectations - it was amazing.  Paul walked around and took pictures and sketched - I amused the kids, and even they were amazed.  I asked them, "What's the first thing you notice about David?" And of course the response from both of them was "His penis." So...what ELSE do you notice about David? So we got into a conversation about his ear and is hair, and what that thing over his shoulder was (explaining a slingshot to a kid who's never seen one...?)
 Between the two galleries we had New Years Eve and New Years Day, a national holiday when just about everything was closed.  On New Year's Eve, I woke up at 12:20 to the sound of multiple explosions...they must have gone on 30 or 40 minutes. Italians really love their fireworks! New Year's Day was quiet - I went up to San Miniato in Monte (truly, on a mountain, I was glad it was just me climbing) and Paul took the kids to the park.

The Uffizi was amazing, much better than I remember, although probably tortuous for Claire (3) - I think the yogurt break (pictured below right) was her favorite part - and strangers were commenting on Audrey (6) because she was sitting and drawing the artworks in her notebook.

As we walked around town, we kept passing by Santa Maria Novella (below left), and it always looked gorgeous - I kept taking pictures of it.

On our way to the Uffizi early in the morning, we had some more gorgeous Florence moments with buildings and bridges reflected in the still water of the River Arno.

Spending New Years in Florence also meant some beautiful lights; the illuminated tree by the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) in the center of town, and the lit-up merry go round (only 1 euro to ride for a kid!) and building in the Piazza della Repubblica.



Florence also had some amusing graffiti

We finished our trip in Rome, discovering that in the ten years since we'd been there, the Italians got things together and were now charging for entrance to the Forum as well as the Colosseum, but the access to the forum was much improved - in 2005 it was just one path through the Forum, but now you can walk around quite a bit .Claire was posing (below right) and some random tourists even asked if they could take her picture, she was so cute.

By the time we got home (back through Amsterdam and Glasgow again) we were ready to be back.  I had made reservations for a train from Glasgow to Dundee that departed about 1 hour and 5 minutes after we were due to arrive at the airport.  I figured we'd never make it, and have to get a later train.  But Paul was determined...and we made it, thanks to a (relatively) speedy trip through Passport control and great timing with the bus from the airport to the train station - after that we were ready to say Hooray, UK. And of course open presents, because Santa (and our families) left just about all the Christmas presents in Scotland.

Although the trip had its downsides (Paul being ill for most of the trip chief among them) we had a great time overall, and achieved all our goals - seeing the Rudmanns! More light! Families getting along! And of course beautiful scenery, great art, and some good food as well.

Follow this link to read about the first part of our Italy trip!

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Italy Trip Part 1: Amsterdam, Naples, Pompeii, Vietri!


When I found out that my best friend's husband was going to be stationed in Naples, Italy, with the Navy during our time in Scotland, I started hatching a plan.  It involved traveling to Italy to see her and her family. I became a little obsessive about planning this trip (as both Margaret and Paul can attest).  But I wanted it to be great. Since we were traveling at Christmas, I also didn't want any unwelcome surprises like "Oh, the train from Rome to Naples on the 23rd? That's been fully booked for 6 months." Yeah, okay, so, obsessive. But the plans came together. Involving lots and lots of transport - the kids and I counted how many planes, trains and buses we went on over the trip...here are the totals:
Transportation     Number
Planes     4
Trains     9
Buses     6

But ridiculous amounts of transport aside, our goals were modest. I just wanted to see Margaret and her family and enjoy more light than we see in Scotland in December (not difficult, since Scotland is about level with Southern Norway and it's very dark in the winter...).  Paul just wanted us all to be (relatively) calm and get along.  So it began.First stop: Amsterdam for an overnight stay. Got there too late for the Van Gogh museum...but we saw the outdoor ice rink and the I Am sterdam sign, both pictured below.


Next day, we continued our journey to Italy. Once we arrived we had a couple of days preparing for and celebrating Christmas - "gingerbread" houses and Christmas cookie-baking pictured!


After Christmas we visited Pompeii. It amazed us because of the vastness of the site - we felt we explored a lot, but there were many parts of the city we didn't even get near. The day alternated clouds and sun, which made for some lovely pictures - a photographers paradise, even for an amateur photographer like me. Top row: view with trees and mountains, kids on ruins. Bottom row: Paul and Audrey in the amphitheater, artsy shot by Paul of a bit only he explored.


We visited Vietri (properly, Vietri sul Mare) with the Rudmanns as well, on the Amalfi coast and known for painted pottery as well as dramatic views of the city seemingly tumbling down the hillside toward the sea. Top row: Margaret, Nora and I pose in the mirror of one of the bathroom setups in a ceramic tile store. Bottom row: view of the sea and part of the city from the beach below.


Our last trip with the Rudmanns was to downtown Naples.  The traveling party was much reduced; just Margaret and myself and the middle (6 and 7 year old) girls. The itinerary included Christmas Alley (more properly the Via San Gregorio Armeno, a bit of a side street off the Spaccanapoli, the main street in the historic center of Naples) devoted to presepe, or nativity scenes that feature not just the traditional characters, but everyday people and even celebrities too) and one of the two places in Naples that claim to be "the birthplace of pizza" (L'Antica Pizzaria da Michele). But before we set off, we had to get re-accredited at the security office at the base; I had Paul take a picture because we spent so much of the first week of our vacation at the security office (due to the holidays, we could only get visitor "day passes" that had to be renewed every day) it needed to be included in the photos! Top row: Mike and I at the security office, day 5 or 6. Large figures for presepe, including the Queen (in pink toward the front of the table). Bottom row: This just made me laugh...street decoration of the magi adoring Jesus...and a pizzaria. The crowd outside L'Antica Pizzaria, as we waited for our number to be called. 

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we leave the naval base (and our going-native guides) to venture to the (temporarily) frozen north of Florence, and then return to Rome before heading back home!