Day 17: Abbiamo ritorno a Venezia

Today we left Rome and took the train back to Venice, as our flight leaves from Venezia tomorrow very early. We enjoyed the scenery along the way.

Our train arrived in the early afternoon. After taking a bus to a taxi to our hotel, we then took a shuttle to a bus to the vaporetto in Venice for a little more sight seeing. We always find it so rewarding to return to a locale we visited just recently. We did this on our honeymoon, returning to Paris for a second week after traveling in Spain. For this trip we only had a day, but Venice did not disappoint.

We still got lost a few times in the small streets, doubling back to find our way across canals and to places we wanted to see again. It's so rewarding to spend time in a place as beautiful as Venice.

The Biennale was still on exhibit, so we made some time to drop into a few of the sites. This site featured busts of all the notable Venetians through history, doges, explorers, and the like. Can you tell which bust is the figure that has been added for the current installation?

On our trip we both read John Berendt's City of Falling Angels, a non-fiction account of the 1995 fire and subsequent restoration of the Venice opera house. As a result we were intrigued to hear music in the auditorium, so we got tickets for this evening.

It was Mozart's Don Giovanni, and the show was superb! The acoustics were incredible in La Fenice and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Italy is an amazing place to visit, and we have had such a wonderful trip! Thanks to everyone who emailed or posted comments on this blog - it has been great sharing our experiences with you.

Ciao for now,
Kristina and Pete

Day 16: In Roma, il futuro è adesso!

This morning we visited two contemporary architectural "sites" in Rome. The first was the new museum of contemporary art, the MAXXI, designed by Zaha Hadid.

Much like Kristina pictured here, the architecture was languorous and flowing, allowing us to feel like we were gliding through the galleries. We enjoyed exhibits about contemporary Chinese architecture and Indian culture.

This photo is shot from the main lobby and shows the sweeping stairways.

Just about 5 minutes walk from Maxxi is the new music auditorium designed by Renzo Piano, Parco Della Musica. Unfortunately we couldn't tour inside the concert halls, which look gorgeous in photos. But we did walk around the site. This is the outdoor amphitheater with one of the three halls in the background. The concert halls skinned in metal and resemble beetles.

Of course, this being Rome, not everything is futuristic. Here Pete is refilling our water bottle from one of the many fountains found around Rome. They are fed by an ancient aqueduct.

In the afternoon we toured the Gallerie Borghese, which is filled with amazing sculpture and painting. The works are mostly from Renaissance artists like Carvaggio, Bernini, and others. The entire building was created as a museum by its founder, Carlo Scipione Borghese, who was a well-connected Cardinal (his uncle was Pope) who had an insatiable appetite for collecting. Every surface inside was decorated ornately and tastefully.

We thought this was the most incredible piece inside the gallery, "Apollo and Daphne" by Bernini. Apollo is about to abduct Daphne, but she calls for her father's help (he's another god) and he changes her into a laurel tree. This sculpture is depicting the moment of transformation. The bay leaves are so delicate that they appear translucent. It's said that when struck, they ring like crystal. (This image is from the Web as we weren't allowed to photograph inside.)

Dinner was at Armando al Pantheon, a traditional Roman trattoria. We had all the "ancient" favorite: goose breast crostini; fettucine with chicken hearts and tomato; spaghetti with guanciale, pecorino, and pepper; duck with prunes; lamb hearts, lungs, and liver with chicories (called Cotadella and pictured here - it was wrapped in bacon and was delicious); and we finished with a torte filled with ricotta and apricot jam.

Day 15: Oggi abbiamo visitato l'antica Roma

Today we spent most of the day visiting the sites of ancient Rome. We came upon this site at the Largo Argentina by happenstance--we were going to a bank in the area for cash. It turns out to be the site where Julius Ceasar was assassinated.

The place was literally crawling with cats and there was an active cat rescue mission in the area. This guy took a bit of coaxing to look anywhere near the camera.

After lunch we headed toward the major sites of ancient Rome. This is a detail of Trajan's column that depicts his victory over the Dacians, modern Romania.

Here we are in the garden of the Vestal Virgins, which apparently was a pretty good gig for a Roman female, as you had these nice digs and were revered. Although if it was found out that you had lost your virginity, you would be buried alive.

I don't think this picture needs explanation, but one of the interesting things to note is that they used three different styles of columns at each level: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian from bottom to top.

Here we are inside the Colosseum, which we found out is technically is called the Vespasian Amphitheatre.

Dinner was at a small restaurant, Ditirambo, which is just off the Campo dei Fiori. We had a tuna tartare and a vegetable sformatino, which was like ratatouille with some creamy cheese. For pasta we had a tagliatini with tomato, shrimp, and asparagus; and this rice rice pudding with shellfish. For our main courses we had sea bass with olives and capers; and squid stuffed with shrimp and eggplant. We enjoyed a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our 25th anniversary.

On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at the Piazza Navona and enjoyed the view of Bernini's Fontana dei Quatrro Fiume with figures that represent the four major rivers known at that time. This figure represents the Nile.

Day 14: A Roma, c'è una chiesa ogni strada

The Pantheon is so impressive. We visited around noon, when the sun was directly lighting the interior of the church (as shown in this photo), and we also went back around 6 to see it in the more diffused light. There's so much marble on the inside of the building.

Next we visited a Jesuit church named San Ignazio. The ceiling was gorgeous, and with so much depth it was like the legs were dangling down. Originally designed to have a dome, but when the neighboring convent objected to having their view blocked, the ceiling was painted instead.

Now that's a big head! We spent most of the day in Vatican City, soaking up all the artwork. The Sistine Chapel was really impressive; our necks got really tired from looking up for so long.

The floors often have mosaics like this example. We were really taken with them.

It looks like we were the only ones in Saint Peter's Basilica, which was not the case; For some reason they closed the altar area of the church early, so we were lucky we were able to tour it. This is the largest church we have ever seen!

This is Bernini's Baldacchino (in Saint Pete's) which is an extravagant Baroque canopy. I like how the light beams are also visible in the photo. Pete was reading the guide book aloud, and I asked him, "why do they call it bald?" - I guess I'm just used to chrome domes!

it was good to be outside after spending hours in the Vatican museums. It rained a bit, which helped cool down the city. Tonight we took a break from dining out and enjoyed a picnic in our hotel room: salame, bread, tomatoes, olives and wine.

Day 13: Tutte le strade portano a Roma

Today we left Bologna and took the train to Rome. We passed through the scenic Tuscan countryside on the way.

We got to Rome in the afternoon and checked in to our hotel. The hotel is near Piazza Barberini, very close to all the touristic sites. As you can see from this photo of the Spanish Steps, we had Rome to ourselves ;-)

It's great fun to walk the narrow streets, but it does make it easy to get lost. We were looking for a gelateria recommended by our hotel, which we didn't find, but we did find a great pizza place.

We celebrated Pete's birthday tonight with a special meal at Glass in the Trastevere section of Rome.

As you can see, this is not traditional Roman or Italian cuisine, but more along the lines of international haute cuisine. We had the tasting menu that featured this beef tartare with wasabi seasoned tobiko and shiso and daikon sprouts.

Next we had pork belly with roasted fig and buffalo ricotta. Third course was pasta, which was a delicious Amatriciana ravioli with crispy guanciale (like bacon). Seared scallops with chanterellles and pistachio cream finished the savory courses.

Pete's dessert was this strawberry and hazelnut daquoise with basil ice cream. Then we finished with house made petits fours. All of the food was delicious and extremely well crafted.

Dinner lasted until about midnight. We were glad to walk after eating so much. Our way back to the hotel took us by the Pantheon. . .

. . . and then by the Trevi fountain. By this time of the evening, it did feel as if we had Rome to ourselves.

Day 12: Godere di Bologna

We have been enjoying our time here in Bologna. Bologna has lots of bikes. This was one of many bike parking areas we passed as we walked around the city today.

Most cyclists are commuters - using their bikes for short trips and errands. And people of all ages are riding bikes, from bambini to nonnas.

These towers are the two remaining ones built in the 12th century; apparently this was common among the wealthy families. The tower on the left is leaning quite a bit and was actually shortened a few years after it was built for safety reasons; it remains 3 meters from vertical. We did not climb the 500 steps to the top.

Nearby we saw this graffiti about these towers. We have been walking a lot, as it's such a great way to see the sights.

We also visited the archaeology museum today. It had a large Egyptian artifacts exhibit. The hieroglyphics on this tombstone were very clear to see. Pete is explaining that he thinks it's a recipe: fill a pot with water and wash snails, snakes and eyes...

Currently the archeology museum is celebrating their anniversary with this hands-on demonstration area in the Piazza Maggiore of what it was like to be a Roman soldier. Pete humored me by holding up one of the shields. Speaking of anniversaries, we are celebrating our 25th on this trip!

For lunch today we sampled the local porcine products, including Parma prosciutto, ham and mortadella, Bologna salami, and coppa. It was served with a bread pizza and everything was delicious.

For dinner we went to a family run restaurant called La Traviata. It's located in a 400 year old palace. We were especially interested to try their house made pasta. The hostess came out and recited a list of daily specials, in Italian, pausing to make sure that we understood and throwing in a few key translations when we looked bewildered. Each one sounded better than the previous. We settled on tagliatelle with asparagus and prosciutto; tortellini filled with ricotta, served with prosciutto and fresh fig. The pasta was ethereal. Our secondi were two magnificent pork preparations: culatello Bolognese (pork chop fried in a crispy breaded coating, covered with prosciutto and mozzarella); and a piece of slow-roasted pork shoulder seasoned lightly with orange (fall-off-the-bone moist); on the side were crispy roasted potatoes. For dessert we had chocolate torte wIth mascarpone! As you can see from the photo, it was beautiful, and it tasted heavenly.

The evenings have been pleasant temperature, so we walk at night too. On the way back to the hotel we strolled through the Piazza Maggiore.

Day 11: Bologna é una città vera!

We left Bellagio early this morning and took the high speed ferry back to Como. This goose was our greeting committee, and would have liked a snack from us. But we had a train to Bologna to catch. I think we've now got the hang of the trains and how to use our Eurail pass. We took the fast train and at times the posted speed was 300 Km/hr!

It's great to be back in a city. Bologna has a gritty feel with so much history. We walked around the centro storico, the historic center. For lunch we enjoyed pizza; we ordered Parma ham, mushroom and radicchio - and were surprised when one third of the pizza had just ham, etc.

We expect to eat really well for the next few days because we are in the Emilia-Romagna region, the bread basket of Italy. Inside this shop there were many other varieties of pork products.

This is the choir section in the church of San Petronio. Kristina is in front of a wood inlay of the last supper.

Pete is in front of the San Domenico church. Parts of it were built in 300 A.D. (and are still standing).

For dinner we went to Marco Fadiga Bistrot, which was down a small, narrow street on the edge of the centro storico. It was a charming room with a slighty funky, run down feeling. The menus were on chalkboards around the room and even written on the large ceiling height mirrors. We started with oysters and a foie gras terrine that was smooth and delicious. We shared a risotto with braised rabbit for our primi. And then it was a perfectly cooked piece of pork loin roast for Pete garnished with edible flowers. Kristina had the "small" lobsters you see here that were served with tropical fruits (mango & papaya), long toasts, and a wonderful aioli.