Rickmav – Italy Trip Report: Three Weeks in Venice, Florence, Tuscany & Umbria
Mar 9th, 2007 | 04:21 PM
#101
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,336
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Thanks for finishing the Italian report.
Our move to Calgary is now very unlikely as my husband got an alternative job offer close to home. Just as well as I'd booked flights to Italy in November (from Boston)and it would have been tough to add on return flights to Calgary!
I'll keep an eye out for the Crimbo in England report!
Our move to Calgary is now very unlikely as my husband got an alternative job offer close to home. Just as well as I'd booked flights to Italy in November (from Boston)and it would have been tough to add on return flights to Calgary!
I'll keep an eye out for the Crimbo in England report!
Mar 11th, 2007 | 11:34 AM
#102
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 897
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If anyone is interested in following our travels - we go to England next to celebrate the Christmas season. Shortcut: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34961337
ssvw27 - Glad you enjoyed the report.
highflyer - Congratulations on your husband's new job. And have a great time in Italy - remember we will be expecting a trip report!
ssvw27 - Glad you enjoyed the report.
highflyer - Congratulations on your husband's new job. And have a great time in Italy - remember we will be expecting a trip report!
Mar 19th, 2007 | 05:56 PM
#106
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 784
Likes: 0
As you may recall I previously expressed my thanks for your wonderfully written and engaging report . You both came to mind on the weekend just passed when in a local daily paper there was an account of a Funeral Service of a well known and liked Melbourne sporting and business identity . Death was not the cause of me thinking of you I hasten to add but rather Elizabeth Barrett Browning . I know you recited as much of one of her poems as you could recall whilst in Venice and as a tribute to your own marital bliss . The wife of the man who was being buried ,in her eulogy to him ,recited a stanza of a poem by Browning and so I thought of you .It is particuarly lovely and poignant .
" I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -
and , if God choose,
I shall love thee better after death. "
I do not intend this to be maudlin and I hope no one is cross because it is not strictly on " travel " but you can see what impact your words had on my memory in that as strangers who have only met as it were " in cyberspace " my mind nonetheless turned to you and fondly recalled your trip report . John
" I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -
and , if God choose,
I shall love thee better after death. "
I do not intend this to be maudlin and I hope no one is cross because it is not strictly on " travel " but you can see what impact your words had on my memory in that as strangers who have only met as it were " in cyberspace " my mind nonetheless turned to you and fondly recalled your trip report . John
Mar 19th, 2007 | 07:27 PM
#107
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 897
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Thank you John for keeping in touch. As someone who believes strongly in the interconnectedness of things I am pleased, but not surprised, that my stories have connected you to someone else's story. And your comments have allowed me to travel back to my wedding day. And Elizabeth Barrett's beautiful writing has connected us all.
I think it's more than appropriate that we have this discussion on a travel site, since travel chief's purpose, in my opinion, is to connect us to others.
Thank you for giving Rick and I yet another topic to discuss over coffee tomorrow morning.
I think it's more than appropriate that we have this discussion on a travel site, since travel chief's purpose, in my opinion, is to connect us to others.
Thank you for giving Rick and I yet another topic to discuss over coffee tomorrow morning.
Mar 20th, 2007 | 05:36 PM
#109
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 784
Likes: 0
Delighted. Keep well and happy. And I have not forgotten that I am toasting you both in Venice .I arrive there from Milan on 4th June and stay until the 11th so there will be ample opportunity to do so . I have also been inspired to search for a collected works of Browning . Searching on the net yesterday Christina Rossetti's name popped up as a double for purchase with Browning and ironically one of the loveliest pieces I know , again a memoriam to lost love , is by her .I think I might extract a nice sonnet and recite it somewhere wonderful whilst I am away .Best wishes .John
Jul 26th, 2007 | 11:17 AM
#110
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 161
Likes: 0
Dear rickmav,
What a delight your travel report was!! It was at times quite touching, humorous, and most of all, filled always with such beautiful, sensory descriptions that I could almost taste the food, wine gelato (!), see the beautiful scenery and hear the music and birds. I totally agree with SandyBrit that I had "to keep reminding myself that I was not reading a book, but your trip report." I capped your report off by watching your slide show of Italy and I can tell you that now I reeeally cannot wait for September 21 to come! My heartfelt thanks for the time you spent giving us all such a beautiful gift!
What a delight your travel report was!! It was at times quite touching, humorous, and most of all, filled always with such beautiful, sensory descriptions that I could almost taste the food, wine gelato (!), see the beautiful scenery and hear the music and birds. I totally agree with SandyBrit that I had "to keep reminding myself that I was not reading a book, but your trip report." I capped your report off by watching your slide show of Italy and I can tell you that now I reeeally cannot wait for September 21 to come! My heartfelt thanks for the time you spent giving us all such a beautiful gift!
Jul 27th, 2007 | 06:29 AM
#112
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 897
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Oh lovesroses, what lovely things to say. You made me go back and read the report again and it was as if I was there - and I didn't want to come home! Hope you have a wonderful time on your trip. Italy is magical.
Jul 28th, 2007 | 04:34 AM
#115
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
Wow, who needs Harry Potter or fantasy when we have this riveting Appreciation of a wonderful alternate reality (Italy) and a serious sense of humor that had me laughing out loud often. Kudos !
This is definitely the most entertaining trip report I've read online and that means probably out of a trillion or so available.
I did enjoy the rare flights of fantasy when you imagined throwing Rick over your shoulder to save him from the bat and your nightmare of finding a flashing wrench behind the unveiling of the woman's eyes!
We had a similar reaction to seeing the Florence duomo for the first time, in May '06. I hadn't seen photos of it for some reason. Photos of the Baptistery, yes, but not that main building. It's almost as if I was suddenly on another planet when I saw that -- or space-people might have deposited it when no one was looking.
19th C or not, the facade truly is jaw-dropping. Colors and patterns I never imagined for a church.
And your leg. Was surprised you didn't get medical treatment for that in case!, but glad it eventually healed okay. You're brave.
We stayed 2 blocks from the Duomo (in a great place) and it made me so happy to be walking around there so easily on the very streets Michelangelo and da Vinci walked! On my last night in Italy I was walking 'home' and thinking how great I felt after walking all day and how terrific this place was for mind and body.
I found my way back to the hotel (I am direction-challenged), and seeing the next street sign had the name I needed I was ecstatic! Soon, rest, and a good final dinner in Florence before flying out. And then I was on the ground, my leg hitting hard cobblestone on the stone's high point because the walkway was extremely narrow and I had fallen off the curb and into the street. I was so stunned and in such really bad pain that I couldn't get up. And was afraid to. A few people passed by as if this happens all the time! Finally, some British people came along and helped me up and I hobbled back to the hotel, a block away, declining with no small gratitude their offer to get me to the hospital. The leg was already twice as large, and after icing it, I still couldn't really walk without pain, so the Last Great Dinner in Florence we'd been looking forward to was out! We ordered pizza in. (Yes.)
We had to leave at 4am to catch a plane for an 18 hour trip back home to San Francisco. Ideal air pressure for a swollen leg.
A few days later, after getting back here, I wound up in 'urgent care' where the doctor had to make withdrawals from a large swollen lump of collected blood, via 3 long-needle insertions, after one long one to numb me, and then another to inject cortisone. Am glad that if the fall had to happen (I guess it did), it was on the last day of the trip. So I wondered how you got through that!
As for the Duomo dome, I see you're going back in November. If you go to Florence, you really will want to go inside that Baptistery. The ceiling is just awe-inspiring. Old and New Testament stories in colored mosaic tile on gold leafing.
Re David, I took one photo that showed how that would look from below as it was intended. It was originally to go higher up on a church (before the piazza decision) so, paying attention to perspective, the head would have to be bigger and the hands, if important, more visible. I do agree with the Thought vs Action thing, between head and hand.
It's said that this David is different from the other sculptures in that it's of a tense moment before David takes his shot. His tension explains the size of his other imbalanced part because in times like this (whenever one must deal with a Goliath), it contracts, according to two university researchers in Florence.
He's both tense and relaxed, depending on the angle of viewing -- this includes his face, which looks altogether different from one side, not usually seen because it's partially blocked. In sizing up Goliath and how best to attack this looming problem, his facial expression is very formidable from his left side and up. There's an online site that shows this.
For me, seeing it in 'real life' was overwhelming because I couldn't understand how anyone could have chiseled something so beautiful and realistic from one 'useless' slab of marble. Little prepares you for the impact of it in person (for many of us).
On my photo-report for Italy, with five pages for Florence, I have photos of the Baptistery ceiling on two of the pages and a set of photos of David at the Accademia, as well as of the copy at the Piazza.
We also went to Carrara, near Lucca, which was the source for that marble slab. Michelangelo 'inherited' this one, which lay unused for something like 40 years after two failed attempts, but he spent months in Carrara area choosing the marble for his other pieces. The marble mountains or hills are quite a sight. Here are links for the pictures from my trip.
Baptistry ceiling:
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/florence
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/florence5
David at Accademia:
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/florence1
Marble quarries in Carrara
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/carrara
I hope that eventually you also do a blog (Wordpress or blogger.com) for this trip-report and insert key photos for each part. Your description of what you took makes me sure they'd be excellent.
Thanks for this fantastic trip report, and I envy you November!
- Andrys
This is definitely the most entertaining trip report I've read online and that means probably out of a trillion or so available.
I did enjoy the rare flights of fantasy when you imagined throwing Rick over your shoulder to save him from the bat and your nightmare of finding a flashing wrench behind the unveiling of the woman's eyes!
We had a similar reaction to seeing the Florence duomo for the first time, in May '06. I hadn't seen photos of it for some reason. Photos of the Baptistery, yes, but not that main building. It's almost as if I was suddenly on another planet when I saw that -- or space-people might have deposited it when no one was looking.
19th C or not, the facade truly is jaw-dropping. Colors and patterns I never imagined for a church.
And your leg. Was surprised you didn't get medical treatment for that in case!, but glad it eventually healed okay. You're brave.
We stayed 2 blocks from the Duomo (in a great place) and it made me so happy to be walking around there so easily on the very streets Michelangelo and da Vinci walked! On my last night in Italy I was walking 'home' and thinking how great I felt after walking all day and how terrific this place was for mind and body.
I found my way back to the hotel (I am direction-challenged), and seeing the next street sign had the name I needed I was ecstatic! Soon, rest, and a good final dinner in Florence before flying out. And then I was on the ground, my leg hitting hard cobblestone on the stone's high point because the walkway was extremely narrow and I had fallen off the curb and into the street. I was so stunned and in such really bad pain that I couldn't get up. And was afraid to. A few people passed by as if this happens all the time! Finally, some British people came along and helped me up and I hobbled back to the hotel, a block away, declining with no small gratitude their offer to get me to the hospital. The leg was already twice as large, and after icing it, I still couldn't really walk without pain, so the Last Great Dinner in Florence we'd been looking forward to was out! We ordered pizza in. (Yes.)
We had to leave at 4am to catch a plane for an 18 hour trip back home to San Francisco. Ideal air pressure for a swollen leg.
A few days later, after getting back here, I wound up in 'urgent care' where the doctor had to make withdrawals from a large swollen lump of collected blood, via 3 long-needle insertions, after one long one to numb me, and then another to inject cortisone. Am glad that if the fall had to happen (I guess it did), it was on the last day of the trip. So I wondered how you got through that!
As for the Duomo dome, I see you're going back in November. If you go to Florence, you really will want to go inside that Baptistery. The ceiling is just awe-inspiring. Old and New Testament stories in colored mosaic tile on gold leafing.
Re David, I took one photo that showed how that would look from below as it was intended. It was originally to go higher up on a church (before the piazza decision) so, paying attention to perspective, the head would have to be bigger and the hands, if important, more visible. I do agree with the Thought vs Action thing, between head and hand.
It's said that this David is different from the other sculptures in that it's of a tense moment before David takes his shot. His tension explains the size of his other imbalanced part because in times like this (whenever one must deal with a Goliath), it contracts, according to two university researchers in Florence.
He's both tense and relaxed, depending on the angle of viewing -- this includes his face, which looks altogether different from one side, not usually seen because it's partially blocked. In sizing up Goliath and how best to attack this looming problem, his facial expression is very formidable from his left side and up. There's an online site that shows this.
For me, seeing it in 'real life' was overwhelming because I couldn't understand how anyone could have chiseled something so beautiful and realistic from one 'useless' slab of marble. Little prepares you for the impact of it in person (for many of us).
On my photo-report for Italy, with five pages for Florence, I have photos of the Baptistery ceiling on two of the pages and a set of photos of David at the Accademia, as well as of the copy at the Piazza.
We also went to Carrara, near Lucca, which was the source for that marble slab. Michelangelo 'inherited' this one, which lay unused for something like 40 years after two failed attempts, but he spent months in Carrara area choosing the marble for his other pieces. The marble mountains or hills are quite a sight. Here are links for the pictures from my trip.
Baptistry ceiling:
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/florence
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/florence5
David at Accademia:
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/florence1
Marble quarries in Carrara
- http://www.pbase.com/andrys/carrara
I hope that eventually you also do a blog (Wordpress or blogger.com) for this trip-report and insert key photos for each part. Your description of what you took makes me sure they'd be excellent.
Thanks for this fantastic trip report, and I envy you November!
- Andrys
Jul 28th, 2007 | 06:02 AM
#116
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 161
Likes: 0
Andrys, thank you for your links--I have just spent and hour with my morning coffee viewing your pictures and dreaming of our trip in September--each day I am more eager to see with my own eyes and cannot wait! By the way, your pics. of the interior of the Siena Duomo w/o flash: what camera did you use? (I will be taking my new Casio Exilim [like the Elph]. I am not taking my 35mm along.) Just curious. 
gt;
gt;
Jul 28th, 2007 | 08:08 AM
#117
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
lovesroses,
Glad you enjoyed those already! and that you're going to be there in little more than a month! I am a shade of green right now.
In the Siena Cathedral, I used the Canon Powershot (Elph) s410, a very small camera that's fairly flat, though not as small as your Elixim! Flash was prohibited and can't light that kind of distance anyway. I used iso400, the highest setting on that camera for sensitivity to light, and held the camera as steady as possible with exposures from 1/6th of a second to 1/20th. I sometimes used a wall or a rail to brace against, since that camera had no image stabilization. Nothing to brace with for those gorgeous floor mosaics but I was motivated as they were just awesome work. I also bought two books on the church and the floors.
The one very dark picture with the statue at the top right was taken with my new Canon Rebel XT and a telephoto lens at minimum setting.
You can click on 'Exif' under the photos, to expand them all for camera info.
How long will you be there?
I see you mentioned a slideshow of Italy by rickmav. How do I get to that?
Thanks for visiting
- Andrys
Glad you enjoyed those already! and that you're going to be there in little more than a month! I am a shade of green right now.
In the Siena Cathedral, I used the Canon Powershot (Elph) s410, a very small camera that's fairly flat, though not as small as your Elixim! Flash was prohibited and can't light that kind of distance anyway. I used iso400, the highest setting on that camera for sensitivity to light, and held the camera as steady as possible with exposures from 1/6th of a second to 1/20th. I sometimes used a wall or a rail to brace against, since that camera had no image stabilization. Nothing to brace with for those gorgeous floor mosaics but I was motivated as they were just awesome work. I also bought two books on the church and the floors.
The one very dark picture with the statue at the top right was taken with my new Canon Rebel XT and a telephoto lens at minimum setting.
You can click on 'Exif' under the photos, to expand them all for camera info.
How long will you be there?
I see you mentioned a slideshow of Italy by rickmav. How do I get to that?
Thanks for visiting
- Andrys
Jul 28th, 2007 | 09:16 AM
#119
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 897
Likes: 0
Enjoying the discussion. Our photos of Italy are at:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34985411
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34985411
Jul 28th, 2007 | 02:00 PM
#120
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Hi Maven. There have been scores of interesting and helpful postings on this site that have made planning our upcoming 6-week trip much more fun and a lot easier. I do thank all the posters.
But yours was the icing on the cake. I am so glad that it popped up when I was perusing the site a couple of days ago. It took me several days to complete and even copy some of it. I was really feeling badly that it was over and then the photos came. Spectacular!!!
We are leaving on September 26th from Phoenix, so will be in Venice and Chianti at about the same time of year that you were. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
But yours was the icing on the cake. I am so glad that it popped up when I was perusing the site a couple of days ago. It took me several days to complete and even copy some of it. I was really feeling badly that it was over and then the photos came. Spectacular!!!
We are leaving on September 26th from Phoenix, so will be in Venice and Chianti at about the same time of year that you were. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
