Florence, Italy - September 2007

Oops - things got a little crazy over here and I forgot to post my Florence blog! Well, before going to Florence I had heard all good things about it. Many "oohs and ahhs" escaped from the lips of those that had been before. Sherri and I had about a day and a half to spend wandering Florence so we had to be very selective with our plans.

First things first - we didn't go to any museums. I know, for shame, the horror! However, like I have said before, I'm a walking around and seeing the sights, people, and food type of girl. I love museums but when it comes down to a time crunch a leisurely stroll will beat out a museum any day. I did see 2 of the David replicas in Florence so at least I have that.

Day 1 we arrived in the afternoon and headed out to get our bearings. First we stopped at an ATM for some cash. As Sherri was at the machine, 3 vans pulled up in front and all kinds of people starting hopping out and coming towards us. My first thought was that we were about to witness "The Italian Job" up close and personal. I just leaned over to Sherri and whispered "this bank might be getting robbed in a minute". Then they started to unload cameras, tripods, and actors. Turns out a movie was filming...whew!

We then headed towards the Ponte Vecchio which although isn't stunning in its beauty, has a very interesting history that goes all the way back to the 1300's. From the picture you can see what looks like houses that are built on the bridge. These are actually little shops that today sell mostly gold...but in the past these were all butchers. You can also see an area above the shops that spans the bridge - this is a walkway that was built at the request of the Medicis so that they would not have to walk through the common area and see/hear/smell the butchers below.

After crossing the bridge we had the option of taking back roads or the main road to head up to Piazzale Michelangelo. We chose the back roads since the guidebook said that we would walk on cobblestone roads through vineyards and a monastery. Sounded lovely and it was...however sunset was fast approaching and we wanted to be at the Piazzale for the "breathtaking sunset views". Upon consulting our guidebook we read that our back road experience was a little over 4 hilly miles. Probably should have read that part before getting about 1/2 way into the walk. So we continued at mallwalker speed and made it to our destination while quickly enjoying the scenery along the way. What we saw at Piazzale Michelangelo made the mini-marathon totally worth it. You can see all of Florence laid out before your eyes and at sunset it is just what the book described - breathtaking.




We stayed here for a couple of hours because it really was that beautiful. There are steps that people were sitting on and enjoying bottle(s) of wine. I wish we would have known about that beforehand because we would have done the same! Finally we decided it was time to head back and grab some dinner and then go to bed. This was the scene from a bridge as we crossed back into the city of Florence.

Day 2 we had planned a 3 hour walking tour of Florence and it was by far the best tour I have been on. I have tried to look for an online link to it but have been unsuccessful so far. If I do ever find it, I'll post it. The woman was AMAZING. She was an American that came to Florence to study Art History and ended up falling in love with an Italian and stayed...she had so much knowledge of the city and she pointed out so many little things that I would have otherwise not paid any attention to. The highlight of the tour was the Duomo with the Dome built by Brunelleschi. She told us the history of the Dome and the problems encountered while trying to build it and how Brunelleschi solved the problems with ingenious and unprecedented new solutions. The result is beautiful. Unfortunately, the Dome end of the Duomo was being cleaned so there was a lot of ugly scaffolding up around it. However, I did get a picture of the front of the Duomo. It was nice to see a church that was nothing like anything I had seen in the rest of Europe. The colors were all pastels on the outside which I didn't expect.

After the tour we had time for lunch and we went to a local *hole in the wall* and had one of the best (and cheapest) meals I have ever had. I never knew a tomato sauce with mashed cauliflower could be so good - but it was heaven on a plate. We walked back to our hotel past some horses eating their lunches (so cute) to pick up our stuff and said goodbye to Italy. I look forward to returning!

*Speaking of hole in the wall - do you know how that phrase came about? I do, compliments of our previously mentioned AMAZING tour guide. Back in the days when the very rich held elaborate banquet dinners with far too much food they would give their leftovers to the hungry people of the city. In an area near the kitchen, the servants would hand out food from a hole in the wall of the home to the line of people waiting outside. Hence, those folks ate at a hole in the wall. We actually saw these holes in a few places during our tour. Interesting, no?!

Venice, Italy - September 2007

Last week my friend Sherri from Chicago came to Madrid to visit me. We spent a couple days in Spain and then took off for Italy where we spent one day in Venice and the next 2 in Florence. Although we were exhausted at the end from our very full days of walking around nonstop, it was totally worth it.

Since we only had one full day in Venice, we opted not to go inside any buildings and do the tours. Instead we roamed the streets (canals) in Venice and then took a boat trip to Murano, Burano, and Torcello. Burano was especially charming with its brightly colored houses and pedestrian only streets.



Before I went to Venice I hadn't really heard any rave reviews. People always seemed to be neutral about it so my expectations weren't set too high. However, I think Venice is one of my most favorite cities yet. It is hard to imagine a city with no cars and instead a lot of little tiny canals. The streets are very, very tiny and we got lost more than a couple times. But I thought it was a beautiful city and the whole time Sherri and I kept saying that we felt like we were on the set of a movie because at times it really is that surreal. Below are some pics of the Ponte di Rialto, a bridge built in the 1500's and the view of the Grand Canal from the bridge.
Below are pictures of a normal sized canal that runs through the neighborhoods and a picture of houses that are built along the Grand Canal:


Last are some pictures that I took of random things while walking around. Venice is a playground for those with a camera. Everything is picture-worthy (well, at least to me). I am especially fond of old folks and love to snap pictures of them when I can. Sherri became very good at helping me find my "victims" by the end of the trip.

Warsaw, Poland - September 2007

Our last stop! We actually were only here for one night and they way our flights worked out we only had 1/2 day to spend in Warsaw. As per usual, it was pouring! But since we only had a few hours to work with went out anyway.

After the Warsaw Uprizing in 1944 where civilians tried for 63 days to take back their city, they were defeated. In reaction to this, Hitler ordered the entire city to be razed to the ground. In the end, 85% of the city was completely destroyed.

Warsaw has been and is continuing to rebuild their city according to pictures before it was destroyed. Even in the rain we enjoyed walking around the new "old" streets and looking at the new "old" buildings. The main square was especially adorable. We didn't have any time to do any tours or go in any buildings so we had to just get the feel of city from walking around it. I thought it resembled Krakow quite a bit, which is a good thing.

Since we had yet to try a real Polish perogie, we decided to make that our last meal of the trip. We each tried a different type of baked perogie with 3 different sauces and they were unbelieveable! Cass liked his, but not as much as me. Here is he is contemplating his meal:

Unfortunately that is all for Warsaw. We had a 4 pm flight and did as much as we could...but I think we got the idea. We were also at the end of a 2 week trip and looking forward to coming home and sleeping in our bed and seeing the cats (well, I was excited to see the cats).

Hope you enjoyed the trip blogs! I'm heading to Venice and Florence in 5 days so I'll have more to show then! Here are some more pics I snapped in Warsaw to wrap it up!

Auschwitz, Poland - September 2007

From Krakow, Cassidy and I took a daytrip to the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) concentration camps. There aren't any words that can accurately describe the emotions felt while watching the videos, seeing the pictures, viewing the displays of human hair, shoes, and eyeglassess taken from the dead, and walking around the very place that for millions of people is their final resting place.

Although it is extremely upsetting, I think that going was the right decision for me. I am just going to post some of pictures and if anyone wants more info on these camps in particular, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp.

Krakow, Poland - September 2007

We only had one full day to enjoy Krakow and on that day we were graced with a torrential downpour of rain. Even through the wall of water we could tell that Krakow was a very charming city. The Old Town square had a huge covered market where the locals were selling all types of crystal, jewelry, and carved wooden objects. While I browsed the "junk stores" as Cassidy calls them, he took some time to catch up on emails. I managed to take a couple of pictures of the square during a short break in the downpour.

Due to the rain (or our developing drinking problem) we headed to an Irish bar and tried out Zyweic, one of the favorite local Polish beers. There was a large group of Irishmen sitting near us having a "discussion". I didn't know the word 'fuck' could be used so many times and still sound like a word. Also, they were yelling the whole time, but it really appeared to be a friendly conversation. Cassidy and I continued our Uno game and that caught their attention. They had never heard of the game and one of the guys asked Cassidy - "is this a game you play to keep her occupied so you don't have to talk to her anymore?". Sounds mean, but it was all in good fun. One of them came over to play Uno and another told us about getting married in Central Park while holding an American flag (he REALLY likes us Americans), along with offering some non-PC advice on how to handle Iraq.

After quite some time we said goodbye to our friends and walked past Wawel Castle before heading to dinner. It was closed to visitors so we just did a quick loop around to see it from the outside. It was nice, but compared to the other castles we had seen in this trip, we weren't awed by it. Then again, that impression could also be due to our afternoon of drinking and the rain.

Dinner...so we were fully prepared to find a place that served traditional Polish food. This plan was ditched after Cassidy spotted a Pizza Hut. We both reminisce about the days of Pizza Hut lunch buffets (seriously, is there anything better?) and we decided to see if Pizza Hut in Poland could live up to our memories. Oh it did. Let me tell you something else, it was a packed house in there so we weren't the only ones seeking shelter in the Hut.

We really did do a lot of walking around the city and I wish I had more to show for it in terms of pictures. Krakow was enjoyable and I would love to go back again during good weather to explore it a little more. Here are some pictures of us throughout the day. Please note Cassidy's umbrella. Yes, we should have bought a new one but the fits of uncontrollable laughter that this provided me were worth him getting a little bit wet. Also...can anyone tell me what the street sign below means? No holding kids' hands? It was posted on a sidewalk and we cannot figure it out.