Italy Part III
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2006
1
52
Trip End
Ongoing
Vatican city, Vatican City
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The first evening we found out the it was late night at the Uffizi Gallery. So although we had to wait 2 hours in line we still had time to wander through before it closed. In all we spent 3 hours there. I'm sure you could spend much longer but it had been such a long day by the time we arrived that while really happy to see the Birth of Venus we didnt longer too long.
The next day we started with a trip to see the David. I'd already seen the reproduction in London but seeing it in Florence was something else. Definately surpassed my expectations. In person you can see much more detail that you normally can from a photo.
Next we headed to the Duomo. The outside was just magnificent with green, rose and pink marble. Inside the decor is not nearly so elaborate but we headed up to the many MANY stairs to the dome to see the painting on the ceiling. No doubt about the purpose of the painting...scare the crap out of the people so they are good. Nothing like seeing huge images of demons eating people and shoving fire pokers up their asses to scare them straight.
We finished the day with a visit to the shops on the Vecchio Ponte, the oldest bridge in Florence and the only one not destroyed in WWII. Now lined with gold shops its a busy tourist attraction.
Our second day we took the train out to Pisa where we did the normal tai chi poses near the lawns. Got some great pics of us larger than life pushing the tower back in place. We also decided to splurge for the tickets to actually climb the tower. It was a littel disorienting since you cant trust your eyes and sometime are leaning towards the centre and sometimes towards the outer wall as you make your way up. Lots of fun through and I got a great shot of Rachael coming down the top staircase on her bum to prevent falling.
Next we were on to Pompei. The ruins in Pomei were fantastic...almost a shame we saw them before the ruins in Rome since I was much less impressed after seeing Pompei. Its was absolutely fantastic seeing all the houses with mosaic floors and wall paintings intact. They even have the brothel open for visitors to see the wall paintings of services on offer. We only saw 4 body casts while there. I believe a lot of them have actually been removed to other locations. Very creepy though. In one you can see the mans teeth and eye sockets staring at you. Later that day we took the bus up to Mt Vesuvius where we hiked the rest of the way to the summit. Very cool to see Pompei and then what caused it.
Finally, we took our last train to our last Italian city...Rome. Just quickly I will say that we saw....the Colesseum, Roman Forum, Palentine Hill, Pantheon (awesome), Trevi Fountain (which we did throw coins into) and the Spanish Steps.
The final day of our travels together we headed to the Vatican where we spent hours walking through gallery after gallery after gallery. All amazing. Finally we had it to the Sistine Chapel which was incredible. Everyone loves the ceiling as I did but my favourite was actually the last judgement which is painted on the wall. Amazing. Afterwards we climbed the 551 stairs to the top of St. Peter's Basilica before rewarding ourselves with a well earned dinner splurge including all the extras.
Italy has been fantastic!!! Will come and see some more one day for sure.
