NEW YORK CITY

Setting the Stage

This adventure included Adina, Adriana, and me. Adina and I arrived on Wednesday, June 5. Adriana arrive on the 6th.

We booked a flat through Air B&B in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Public Transit

We purchased a MetroLink card which allowed us to travel on the PATH which is the train that connects New Jersey to New York. 

We took the Light Rail Transit (essentially a street car) in New Jersey.

We also journeyed on the ferry in New York Bay (which connects Hudson River to the East River).

We had an authentic NYC Yellow Taxi ride from 110th Street to 33rd Street.

We use the airport limo to get to and from Newark Liberty International Airport.

We walked. And walked. And walked. Which really isn’t public transit, rather personal transit, but is really worth noting here.

The People

Through our entire visit, all of the people that we met, without exception, were welcoming and friendly. From our cab drivers, limo drivers, host at our flat, shop keepers, fellow commuters, police officers (really great), food service workers, those employed in the tourist industry, transit employees, and museum workers.

Manhattan - The First Visit

Adina and I were on our own for the first day. After checking in and settling in we took our first train journey from Jersey City (Journal Square) to 33rd Street, Manhattan. We ascended the stairs to a New York City day! It was so amazing to see, first hand, many of the iconic locations of NYC that I have only ever seen on TV or in movies. One of the first buildings I noticed was the Empire State Building. Walking north along Broadway a bit we came across Macy’s. Finally, we emerged into Times Square. Times Square is a pedestrian area so people are able to wander around, sit at a bistro table, enjoy a cup of coffee, and people watch. Here we were able to see signs for Broadway musicals and plays (Les Mis and The Phantom are both playing here now). There was a huge, snaking line of people waiting to purchase tickets for shows. A lot of food trucks and magazine stalls are scattered along the street.   

We continued north along Broadway, bought some late lunch, and took it to the edge of Central Park to sit and enjoy our food. We only entered very briefly into Central Park and I looked forward to walking through it further another day.  

After our wee rest, we headed south down 5th Avenue. We passed by all of the high end shopping locations. We walked past St. Patrick’s Cathedral where the steps were filled with graduates and their family members. We veered a bit to the west to Rockefeller Centre where the iconic golden statue of Prometheus is located as well as NBC Studio.

We stumbled upon Bryant Park, located behind the New York City Public Library. It is a beautifully park treed with London Planetrees. There is a carousel, a reading room, plenty of places to sit, and an entire section dedicated to board games. People of all descriptions congregated to play board games such as Scrabble, Connect Four, and Chess.   

We stopped off for a coffee at Pret A Manger, a coffee shop that I recognized from the UK, sat in the window and watched the world go by. 

Our journey home was during rush hour, which was a true New York City experience. I became quickly intimate with strangers on that journey home!   

Hoboken

The gangs all here. Adriana arrived at the flat around 10:30. Our first stop was Hoboken. We wanted to find Carlo’s Bake Shop, the home of The Cake Boss. We travelled to Hoboken on the PATH and arrived to a quaint area of New Jersey. Carlo’s Bake Shop was located a couple of streets away from the station and was very easy to find.

We got some shots of us outside of the bakery. Other tourists were doing the same as us so we switched cameras to help each other out.

The real treat was inside. The shop is not large. One side is all counter with the most delicious looking baked goods behind glass. Cakes, pastries, cookies, cupcakes, and cheesecakes adorn the shelves. On the opposite side of the shop are a few bistro sets where people were enjoying their baked goods. At the back of the shop we were able to see some workers decorating cakes and filling pastries. 

Adina recognized one of the counter workers from the TV show. We were served by someone we did not recognize but quickly loved. She was very sweet and helpful. All three of us bought two treats each! This was a difficult decision. I remember seeing an episode of Cake Boss with Sage where Buddy was filling triangular shaped pastries with cream. They were called Lobster Tails and I thought “I need to try one of those”. So that was the first choice I made. The other treat I chose was a tribute to my Italian trip, a cannoli. And of course, a cup of coffee. We sat and enjoyed the atmosphere and, even more so, the treats. 

9/11 Memorial

Being in New York City, it was natural for me to want to visit the site of the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of a desire to pay respect to the events and the people, this visit seemed necessary. This part of history is so clear in my mind. I remember where I was when I first heard about the attack on the Twin Towers. I remember being confused, not quite able to understand what had actually happened. Or possibly, not really believing that something like that could actually happen relatively close to home. I remember the airspace over home being silent, no planes. I recall the 10th Anniversary and becoming unusually obsessed with gathering and reading and viewing all the information I could about the attacks and the Twin Towers. I guess that I was trying to make sense of a completely senseless act.

I am sure that relatives, friends, service workers, New Yorkers, all those who experienced the events first hand, have not been able to make sense of these horrific attacks. But in rebuilding and creatingt hese exceptionally unique and special areas in New York City, they have truly done an excellent job of respectfully memorializing those who lost their lives on that day.

In the exact location of the North Tower and the South Tower are two memorial fountains. They are the largest ever manmade waterfalls. The four sides of the fountains are in the same location as the four sides of the walls of the two towers, sitting in the footprints of the towers. At about waist height, around the edges of both fountains are written the names of the 2977 people who lost their lives that day. Including not only those who lost their lives at the site but also the victims from the plane crash near Shanksville, Pa., at the Pentagon, and the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. At night, the falls and all of the names are backlit. It really is a beautiful memorial.

Underneath of where the towers were located is the 9/11 Memorial Museum. I truly can not say enough about this museum. It is excellent. It is thorough. It is sad. It is informative. It is interesting. It is overwhelming. It is a fitting tribute.

When you descend the escalators, you enter Foundation Hall. In the hall, you see the original slurry wall that remained standing when the towers came down. I learned that the slurry is a retaining wall, based on Italian design, that was built to keep water out and support the towers in an area of soft earth. Also in this large hall is the “Last Column”, which I think a lot of people would recognize from TV news as the column on which rescue works raised an American flag. This column is covered with memorial writings and missing persons posters. Finally, in Foundation Hall, there are artifacts from the towers, including things like letters written to loved ones and a burned axe of a firefighter.

I was especially captivated by three gigantic pieces of steel hanging form the ceiling. These mangled and bent pieces of steel were taken directly from the point of impact where the airplane hit the North Tower. It is completely incredible to see how bent and twisted this steel became. It was also heart wrenchingly phenomenal to see a photograph of these steel beams directly after the plane had hit the tower and prior to its collapse. Looking extremely closely, I was able to see the image of a woman standing at the edge of the building. This was 92 floors high. Behind her was a complete black hole. I can not imagine the terror that she felt at that moment and for the next hour.

Around the hall, I was able to follow the outside walls of the North Tower and the South Tower around their edges. The remains of the support pillars have been preserved to mark the perimeter of the towers. 

On the wall opposite the slurry wall there is a beautiful artistic memorial to each victim. There are 2977 painted blue squares. Each person who painted a square was asked to paint their memory of the colour of the sky on September 11, 2001. The multitude of shades of blue is dramatic. Using reclaimed pieces of metal from the towers, the Virgil quote, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time” takes its place between these squares.

In the centre of the museum (The North Tower part) is the Historical Exhibition.  This exhibition is divided into three parts - Events of the Day, Before 9/11, After 9/11. I spent most of my time in the first part of this exhibit. This section is dedicated to everything that happened on September 11, 2001. Visitors are able to hear audio recordings from people on the planes, flight attendants contacting ground crew for assistance, and flight attendants and passengers contacting loved ones with their last words. There are news reports of the events. There are many artifacts from the buildings - papers, floppy disks, phones, items of clothing, desk photos of family members, all of the minutia of daily life working in the Twin Towers that take on a different meaning when you realize that these items survived the descent to the streets of Manhattan. This part of the exhibit also included things like parts of the plane wreckage, the wheel found three blocks away from the tower and parts of the fuselage. There is a fire truck, mangled and ruined from the events of that day. Photos of people coming down the stairs as rescue workers are heading up. Photos of rescue workers assisting people in many different ways to get away from the area. Pictures of clergy workers coming to help. A part of this section also included audio recordings from survivors and rescue workers recalling events of the day.

The second section shifted to a focused on the terrorists who attacked on September 11th. I did not feel that I wanted to dedicate any of my time to this section, so I moved on.

The final section focused on the events after 9/11, including trying to understand the whys of the attack, the clean up, and rebuilding efforts. I admit that I felt the weight of the first section of the museum and I know that Adina and Adriana were also feeling overwhelmed. We were tired from this emotional visit. I really feel like a visitor needs more than one day to get a full appreciation for this museum.

Under the South Tower section is the Memorial Exhibit. In a smaller room the four walls are filled with photos of each victim. In the centre of the room, on a continuous loop, are audio recordings and photos from family members remembering their lost loved ones. It is touching and overwhelming.

The curators and those in the decision making process have done an exceptionally thorough job of creating a memorial and museum that pays tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. This is well worth a visit.

Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty

No trip to New York City would be complete without visiting The Statue of Liberty. This is such an iconic part of New York. This was the first thing that 5000 immigrants a day would see as they prepared to step on to American soil for the first time. Liberty Enlightening the World, her proper name, is a beautiful statue representing freedom and was a gift to America from France. The fealty between France and America was based around the common history of revolution and independence and to was a gift to commemorate the perseverance of freedom and democracy in the United States.

Adriana, Adina, and I met the ferry in Liberty State Park, New Jersey. The ferry took us first to Ellis Island. As we journeyed we were able to get great views of the statue and of Manhattan.

Ellis Island is a memorial to the millions of immigrants to entered America via New York. The old building, which housed the Registry Room, where immigrants were asked there names, home town, occupation, destination, and amount of money they carried, is now a museum to immigration. This museum has only been open since the mid 1980s. The immigration building was closed in 1954 and sat unused until it was brought back to life and became the museum. 

The ground floor is called “Journeys: The Peopling of America”. This section of the museum describes the varied reasons why people would immigrate to America from 1550 to the present day.

The second floor demonstrates the immigrants experience when they landed on Ellis Island, including the medical inspections and legal examinations they would need to complete in order to be allowed to head on their way to their final destinations.

The third floor included the Bob Hope Memorial Library and an exhibit that outlined the restoration of the building from derelict to restored. Especially interesting on the third floor where the preserved pillars, encased in glass, that showed graffiti of newly arrived immigrants - their first mark on their new home.

After our museum visit, we hopped back on the ferry and headed to Liberty Island. We had tickets to the Pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. We climbed up to the pedestal and were able to walk completely around the base of the statue. Basically, this gave us excellent views of Manhattan, the waterway, and a number of bridges.

 

Climbing down the stairs and walking around the outside, we were able to get wonderfully close up views of Liberty. Under the actual statue, there is an exhibit that describes the planning, building, delivery, and erection of the statue.

Our next ferry ride took us to the base of Manhattan, at Battery Park. We walked past a sculpture called The Sphere. The original location of The Sphere was between the World Trade Centre Towers. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, The Sphere, having been damaged, was relocated to Battery Park, without any repairs, as a temporary memorial to the victims of the attacks. An eternal flame was placed in front of the sculpture making Battery Park The Sphere’s official new home. The sphere was designed to symbolizes world peace through world trade.

The three of us decided it was time for a drink. Conveniently, there was a wonderful pub located on the waterfront. Pier A had a wonderful patio where we parked ourselves and enjoyed some grub, drinks, and laughter.

We wandered around the base of Manhattan. We browsed an out door market. Walked north on Broadway, stopped and stared at the infamous Wall Street, admired the architecture of all of the buildings, people watched, checked out some street performers, saw City Hall, and made our way to Park Row. Park Row leads directly to The Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge is for cars, bikes and pedestrians. The pathway was packed with people walking and biking over the bridge. We joined these people and walked to the first tower where we admired the view, took a few pictures, then turned around and headed back to Manhattan.

Having watched and loved Blue Bloods, I really wanted to see 1PP (One Police Plaza). A NYC Police Officer helped us with directions to find our way to 1PP. Although that was highlight enough, this also became the place where we had our first and only encounter with NYC rats. A true New York experience. And a gross one.

We ended our day with a slice of New York City pizza at a small pizza joint called Majestic Pizza on Courtlandt St. The pizza was fantastic. This pizza joint was essentially a kitchen with a small shop front where a couple of tables and stools stood for a few customers at a time. On one wall was a black and white photograph that caught our eyes. It was a picture of Courtlandt St after the fall of the towers in 2001. We can see the store front of Majestic Pizza in the foreground. At the end of the street we can see the remains of the towers, the walls of the towers spread out like an open box. The picture is entitled Touching Ground Zero. The caption states, “For New Yorkers, the urge to bare witness is incredible.” It is an incredible photograph.

The High Line

Saturday morning, I parted ways with Adina and Adriana for a wee bit. I wanted to walk The High Line. The High Line is a NYC linear park. A path has been built on an old section of railroad tracks. Sometimes the old tracks are still visible. Part of the path is wooden. Part of the path is made of rock. It is a lovely path to walk. The railroad is elevated over part of the city. As I walk along, I am able to look down a number of different streets of New York City. There are many art installations along the path. The park is also filled with different types of greenery. The path eventually makes a huge turn toward The Hudson River. The curve bends back around to the street where the park ends. Within the curved section is the parking ground for the trains of NYC. The views over The Hudson are fantastic. 

I made my way back to Broadway and 33rd Street to meet up with Adina and Adriana. I enjoyed a coffee and sat at a bistro set doing more people watching while I waited. Adriana want to spend some time shopping. Neither Adina nor I were interested it this but we were interested in taking a sight seeing bus tour. We agreed to meet up in a couple of hours.

Our bus tour covered Lower Manhattan. Our guide was an authentic Brooklyn resident whose accent was heavy and sentences clipped. Introductions to most attractions began with “By the way…”, which really sounded like “by da way”. He even treated us to a “Forget about it” (fuhgeddaboudit) in true Brooklyn fashion. Classic.

Our tour included many of the popular hotspots that New York City is known for, everything from Times Square, Carnegie Hall, the Empire State Building, SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy, One World Trade Center, Battery Park, United Nations, and Rockefeller Center, and Central Park. Our guide regaled us with piles of interesting information, including the cost of one night in the most expensive hotel room in NYC - $18 000 and the cost of a three bedroom apartment in Manhattan - $3000/month! 

Our bus tour ended up taking a bit longer than we had anticipated and so Adina and I were a bit late meeting up with Adriana. When we did, Adina and Adriana decided they could use a drink. I wanted to head to Central Park. We agreed to meet at the Met later that day.

I started my walk to Central Park. We had met Adriana at Broadway and 33rd so I headed over to 5th Avenue as I wanted to meet Central Park at the 5th Avenue entrance. My plan was to follow a route through Central Park that had been mapped out in the tourist book that I had purchased. I walked from 33rd Street and 5th Avenue to 59th Street and 5th Avenue. I purchased a pretzel from a street vender, smothered it in mustard, and enjoyed my snack as I walked toward Central Park. There is constant activity in this city. The energy is amazing. It seems that no one really bothers with the walk and stop signs on the street corners (unless you are a Canadian visitor). It really seems best to go with the flow and just be extra cautious of the cars, buses, and taxis that are moving around. The constantly honking of horns really acts as the warning that pedestrians should stay out of the intersections.

At the base of Central Park there was a lively jazz band playing, a band like I would imagine hearing in New Orleans. Not only was the music awesome but the bad members were extremely lively.

Finally, I arrived at Central Park. I entered the South East corner and took out my map. I was directed through the Central Park Zoo. I walked along The Mall and passed through statues of a variety of authors. Along this walk there was a piano that had been place in the park that anyone could stop by and play. There was a young guy playing a beautiful piece of music and a small crowd gathered around to listen to him play. Also along The Mall were a variety of artists selling their paintings and drawing caricatures of those who chose to stop and have themselves sketched. I made my way down a wide stair case to Bethesda Terrace. There was a lovely group of singers just before the large fountain. 

The next part of the map took me around the west side of The Lake to Bow Bridge. The lake was littered with row boats and gondolas. Unfortunately, Bow Bridge was under construction and I had to back track a bit, going off map! I decided to follow the west side of The Lake until I could meet up with the location opposite Bow Bridge. I passed by the Swedish Cottage and Delacorte Theater, the north side of Turtle Pond and made my way to the back side of The Met. Central Park is beautiful. It is lush. There are many trees and plants. There are also a lot of people lounging, walking, running, biking, blading, and generally spending time enjoying the countryside within the city.

I circled around to the front of The Met and contacted Adina. We met in the basement of the museum. It was time to rest my feet and charge my phone for a bit. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is gigantic. I know that it was big but the size of it really surprised me. I am guessing if a visitor wanted to see all of the collections they would likely need an entire month. I decided to dedicate a small amount of time to the Egyptian, Roman, and Greek sections of the museum. Adriana was in awe of everything that she saw and spent more time that I did exploring the museum. 

The three of us met up outside The Met and decided to take a taxi back down to 33rd street to look for some grub. This was my official introduction to a NYC taxi ride. We grabbed some dinner at the UrbanSpace vendors and then it was time to say so long to Manhattan. We hopped on the PATH and headed home. We were exhausted and happy. It was another great day in New York City.

I have always thought that the New York City slogan I♥NY was a really cheesy slogan. After visiting, all I can say is they got it right and I totally understand because I♥NY!

 

Pompeii, Sorrento, and Home!

Saturday morning our group left Florence to head south, past Rome to Pompeii, Naples, and Sorrento. The journey south was long but comfortable and the day was sunny and bright. We passed by vineyards and sheep with their shepherds in fields.  

Our final stop for our hotel was Sorrento but we were stopping in Pompeii on the way. I have to say that Pompeii was the absolute highlight of the trip for me. On our way through Naples, we passed under the shadow of the imfamous Mount Vesuvius. We met up with a local guide who was to take us through the site.   In 79AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering the Roman city of Pompeii in ash and essentially "freezing" this city in time. They site was initially recovered in 1599 and then there was a larger rediscovered about 150 years later. Pompeii is about 170 acres and, at the time of the eruption, there were approximately 11 000 people living in the city.  

We walked the streets of Pompeii. It is so amazing to think that we were walking on the same streets that were walked on by those citizens of Pompeii on that fateful day. Our guide called the eruption of Vesuvius a most beneficial disaster. Obviously, the complete misfortune for the entire citizenry of Pompeii can not be discounted. But the disaster has left behind such an amazing site from an historical perspective.  

We learned so many fascinating things about the Romans of 2000 years ago. The streets were covered with large stones and would have been fairly smooth to travel along by foot or horse and cart. We could see deep grooves in the roadway where carts had worn the stone away due to constant travel. Periodically there were three larger stones crossing the road from side to side. These stones acted as a bridge for when the roads were water covered. Originally, the Pompeii was a seaside city. Now the sea is about 1km away from the site.  

At the side of the road, some of the stones that line the roads had a drilled hole in them. These were used for tying up horses.   We learned that the eruption likely occurred midday as there was evidence of bread being cooked in the kilns at the time.  

There were many shops in this city. People sold their wares on the ground floor at street front and then lived behind and above the shops.  

The gymnasium and bath area still shows marble flooring and elaborate paintings on the walls. We saw the change rooms, where there were lockers. Every citizen in Pompeii would have used the baths.  

Similarly, the open air ampitheatre still has some marble steps and seating. We learned that when the weather was too hot, a linen roof could cover the ampitheatre, strung up by wooden poles around the circumference and tied and supported in the centre.  

We walked along the red light district and saw the brothels where there was a pictoral menu of services available for purchase. We even saw a carved stone on the roadway that pointed the direction to the ladies of the night.  

We learned that Romans invented concrete and the arch. They organized their city's roadways in a north-south, east-west pattern so that there were crossroads. Road signs were located at the corner of the crossroads to indicate location.  

We saw the original pipes used for running water through the city. There were a number of public fountains for citizens to retrive their water.  

At the end of the roadway was a pedistrian zone where there was a public square. In a covered area are many artifacts that have been uncovered and are being house in this area for protection.  

We saw a few plaster body casts of people as they were when the eruption occured. There was even a plaster cast of a dog.  

Pompeii continues to be an active archeological site and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

From Pompeii, we headed to our hotel in Sorrento. Most of our group had signed up for an option excursion which included dinner. Sage and I decided to skip that excursion and head to a local pizza joint. The Naples area is the area of the world where the Margarhita pizza was invented. Named after Margarhita, a royal, the inventor included food that represented the colours of Italy: red - tomato, white - mozzerella, green - fresh basil. Italian pizza is thin crusted. The toppings are sparingly used. The crust should be a week bit burned. We found da Frano's pizza steps away from our hotel. It was a highly recommended place to visit for tourists and for locals. And Sage and I found out why. This was the most delicious pizza that I have ever eaten. So this was an excellent choice for dinner for the two of us.  

The streets of Sorrento are lined with orange trees. Everywhere we looked we saw lemon trees and orange trees. We also saw a lot of beautiful olive groves covering hillsides.

Sunday morning we were out the door fairly early after breakfast. We hopped on a high speed people ferry and headed to the island of Capri. We took a funicular from the port to Capri town proper. As it was Sunday, and the off season, many of the shops were closed. But there were a few cafes and restaurants open and we were able to wander along the main street and through some of the back, walking roads of the town. The views over Capri and the sea were beautiful. The sun was shining and it was truly a beautiful morning. We enjoyed coffee (me), canolis, pizza, and gelato while on the island.  

In the afternoon, we headed back to the mainland in order to board a couple of mini buses which took us along the Amalfi Coast. This was a spectacular drive along the Tyrrhenian Sea to the town of Positano. As we travelled along, we made a couple of stops. One stop was merely a look out spot where we were able to take some captivating phots. The other stops was at a statue of Mary. There were fruit stands there also and Liz shared blood oranges, pistachios, and figs with us here. Finally, we continued along the windy roads to Positano. This beautiful coastal town is build on the edge of rocks and cliffs. Sage and I headed down to the seaside and laid ourselves down in the sand for a lovely half hour of sunshine and waves.  

This was the final stop on our Italian adventure. We returned to our hotel and prepared ourselves for the Celebration Dinner - by prepared I mean Sage and I played around on the internet. Others in our group dolled up for this occasion. I can't believe people actually bring high heeled shoes on trips like this. They take up valuable luggage real estate.  

Our celebration dinner took place at a local restaurant that was within walking distance of the hotel. As we have become accustomed to during this trip, the meal was multicoursed. Coffe, Food, wine, and conversation seems to be order of business in Italy and it was a great way to end our time with our group.  

Sage and I walked home together and got packed and ready to leave early Monday morning for our coach trip to the airport in Rome on Monday morning. Sage and I kept commenting that the time was flying past and couldn't believe all of the places we were able to visit, the things we were able to see, and the experiences that we had.  

The Best of Italy trip was a really good way to be introduced to Italy. It gave us a taste of the country and possibly planted the seed of thought about where we would like to travel and explore a bit more indepth.  

The absolute best part of this adventure, hands down, was the time that I was able to spend with Sage. Sage is a fantastic kid. She is funny and smart and beautiful. I am so appreciative and fortunate to have such a wonderful niece who seems to like having me in her life. Thanks to Mike and Anne-Marie for giving me the opportunity to travel with Sage and for giving Sage the opportunity to travel, learn, and explore. I am so thankful for this time.

Florence

On Wednesday afternoon we arrived in Florence. We checked in to our hotel, had a wee bit  of a rest before we headed down to the restaurant for our dinner.   This evening's dinner included a delicious tomato soup with pasta, pork, roasted potatos, a grilled tomato, apple pie, coffee. Sage emjoyed roasted eggplant and zuchinni and cheese instead of pork. Dinner started and ended late, we were done by about 9:45 so it was off to bed for the both of us as we had an early rise the next day for our Florence tour.  

Friday morning began with a local guide. Our bus took us to the city centre where we walked through St. Mark's Square (another one) to meet our local guide. She began the city tour by taking us to the museum that houses Michelangelo's David. This relatively small museum was located on a side street and, besides David, also had a few other sculptures by Michelangelo including four "incomplete" sculptures of men trapped in the stone, called Prisoners, and one of the four Pietas that he sculpted during his life.   We spent a fair amount of time around David. Our local guide pointed out some of the details of the scuplture to us including his broken left arm and the damage done to David on his left foot (by a vandal) and the damage done to his right shoulder (by pigeon poop). We also learned that upon his completion, David would have had gold leaf on the tree stump behind him and on the ball that he is holding in his right hand. Over the years, this gold would have been scraped off by those looking for extra money. Originally, David had been on display in the political square of Florence. Wanting to preserve this sculpture, he was moved by ox and cart over the course of a four day four night journey to the museum where he now stands.  

Our walking tour continued from the museum to the site of the Duomo. Here, a large church, bell tower, and bapistry are located. The bapistry was completely covered by scaffolding with the exception of the famous doors (which are actually replicas of the originals) The Gates to Paradise. The Duomo and the bell tower are beautifully built. Three different colours of stone (white, red, and green) make up the exterior of this building.  

Our guide then led us to the Political Square where David originally stood but has been replaced by a replica. There are a number of other statues in this square including a large fountain and a significant number under a covered arch way.   The last stop on this tour was to a leather shop. Apparently there were a number of people who were interested in buying real Italian leather. We were told that we were going to watch a leather making demonstration. Some dude rolled a wee bit of guilded gold onto a leather garbage can and that was the extent of the demo. Then it was off to a sales pitch by the owner who let us know the fabulous deals we could get from him and only him. Once the pitch was over, Sage and I hightailed out the doors and back on to the streets of Florence.  

Sage and I had free time for the rest of that day. We wandered along the Arno river and stuck to the side where the dun was shining. Along the river, we saw Ponto Vecchio, which is a bridge over the river that is covered with shops selling gold and leather. Originally, many other markets existed on the bridge but a leader put a stop to that as butchers were throwing their waste into the river causing an unholy stench.  

As we left the river, we walked down a shopping street where high priced, well known retailers were located. We window shopped here. We also stopped to look around some independent stores that were a more reasonable price point. Sage had seen Brandy Melville, an American store that she likes, on our bus ride into town in the morning. We hunted this store down on foot and Sage did some shopping.  

In the centre of Florence, we found a lovely pizza restaurant where we stopped for a couple of slices. We then walked along the main road to find our gelato for the day. Sage had lemon and I had coffee. A slight pattern had developed in our eating habits in Italy!  

We made our way back to the hotel on foot by around 3. We had spent the day walking and were ready for a rest. Since we did not have wifi in our room, we hung out in the lobby for a bit catching up on our social media.  

After our rest, we headed down the street for a coffee and a fanta. Dinner was salad and fruit in the hotel via Room Service.  

Tomorrow off to Pompeii and then Sorrento for, unbelievabley, the last two nights of our Italian adventure.

Pisa

On Thursday we made a stop at Pisa on our way to Florence. As tourist buses are not able to get too close to the tower, our coach dropped us off at a parking lot and we boarded a mini "train" that took us the rest of the way to the famous landmark.  

We walked through a market that was basically selling all sorts of souvieners that no one really needs, passed through the gates of the impressive wall and came upon The Bapistry, the church and the imfamous Leaning Tower of Pisa.  

Sage and I worked on taking the obligitory pictures of us pushing the tower or holding the tower up as so many other toursists were doing.  

The buildings were beautiful and impressive but the town, not so much. Once we were away from the tourist site, the town really seemed to die. It was not a place full of life. Even trying to find lunch that day was a bit of a challenge. Places seemed decrepit or unappealing. We did eventually find a place where we were able to have - wait - you guessed it - pizza and gelato (Puffo Smurf for Sage and Coffee for me).  

And that was about the extend of the visit to Pisa. It is possible to climb the tower (for a price that I did not care to pay). I did find the information about the tower to be very interesting and I am glad that I visited this famous place.  

After this short stop, we were back on the bus and heading to Florence for the next two nights.

PS I wanted to call this post Pisa Crap.

Venice is Sinking

Sage and I arrived in Venice on Tuesday afternoon. There is a limit to the distance that the bus is allowed to travel and so we had to complete the rest of the journey to the hotel by water taxi. The water taxis can hold between 10 and 12 people so our group divided into three taxis and headed out.  

Venice. What a captivating place. Our water taxi snaked its way through the canals of the city. Sometimes, our driver had to adjust his speed and switch from reverse to forward in order to successfully navigate the tight corners created by the irregular building angles of the canals.  

We arrived at our hotel by docking along side the entry way. Our boat was tied to the tall red and white striped pillars that are located everywhere docking is acceptable. We checked in to our beautiful room, got settled and enjoyed a bit of a rest.  

St. Mark's Square is located at the centre of Venice. All walkways and canals will eventually lead to St. Mark's Square so, although the walkways may seem like a labyrith where a newcomer can easily get lost, there is a simple way to get reoriented, that is follow the signs to St. Mark's Square and start over again.  

Our tour guide led us down a few walkways to the square. St. Mark's Square includes the Basilica, the doge's palace, a beautiful clock tower, a couple of pillars where criminals were previous hanged, and a brick bell tower called Campanile.  Liz lead us to a dock where we were to meet our gondalos. Dividing our group into smaller, acceptable numbers for the ride through the canals was a bit of a challenge but it was eventually accomplished. Sage and I joined another gentleman and enjoyed a very peaceful paddle through the canals of Venice. Gondala drivers, all dressed in navy and white striped shirts, will use any wall or other boat in order to help push them through the canals. Our ride was comfortable and smooth and relatively quiet. One of the gondalas ahead of us had an accordian player and a singer for our group as we journeyed. We were able to look around at the interesting buildings with laundry hanging across the canals and flower pots outside of the windows.  

As our ride conluded, we hopped off our gondalas and hopped on to a water taxi. Liz guided us through our journey on the infamous Grand Canal.  

Sage and I had to make our daily gelato visit. This time, Sage and I both choose chocolate mint. Delicious.    

That evening, we enjoyed a dinner of lasagna, vegetables, pork, and a delicious caramel dessert at our hotel.  

Wednesday morning was the first time that we had where we could sleep in a bit. So Sage and I opted for a leisurely wake up. Breakfast was served until 10:30 so there was no rush at all. After breakfast we took the short walk back to St. Mark's Square. From there we chose to walk along the waterfront. It was a beautiful morning. We crossed over many bridges that span the many canals of this city. Vendors were just beginning to open up their waterside cafes and stalls and the Gondoliers were begining their services also. Sage and I stopped to admire the scene and awed at the fact that we were in Venice!  

We returned to St. Mark's Square along the waterfront and headed over to the Bell Tower or Campanile. The construction for this tower began in the 9th century and was used as a place of punishment. In 1902, the tower collapsed but the largest bell survived. The current tower was reconstructed and opened in 1912. We were able to take an elevator to the top of the tower. The reward for the journey up was the spectacular view. We were able to walk the four sides of the tower and look out beyond Venice to other islands and back on the roof tops of the buildings in Venice. It looked like a sea of red roof tiles. Interestingly, we could not see any of the canals from the top of the bell tower.  

Back on firm ground, we walked through St. Mark's Square, doing our best to dodge the pigeons. Naturally, at this point, it was time for gelato. I chose caramel and Sage chose chocolate chip. Once again, delicious.  

We met up with the rest of the tour group around noon and boarded a water taxi for at short ride to a glass factory. Murano glass is world famous. We watched a glass blowing demonstration. This was fascinating to watch. The gentleman expertly shaped the glass into a vase with two handles. After applause, he casually tossed his creation back into the kiln! The next object he created was a horse. It was so amazing to see a horse created out of a blob of glass. The glass makers train for years in order to be able to perfect this art. He made it look easy.  

This visit was a bit of a sales pitch also. We were taken into the glass factory. The guide showed us some of the spectacular glass work that had been manufactured in the factory and then left us with time to shop and browse. Sage and I hightailed it outside to enjoy the sun and avoid any mishap.  

The next part of our journey was to the island of Burano. This was about a 40 minute boat ride away. The water taxis are not permitted to travel at speeds greater than 7km/h when they are close to land but can speed up to a maximum of 20km/h farther from land. So, although the distance wasn't great, it did take a bit of time. We were heading to this island for a late lunch. Arriving there, we were greeted with multicoloured home, that reminded me of the homes in Newfoundland. Our guide told a familiar tale that the homes and the boats matched in colour so that the fishermen could find their way home.  

Arriving on the island, the first thing that I noticed besides the colourful homes, was the peace. There is no traffic. Of course there are canals that snake through this island community also but there are not cars, scooters, buses, and the like. This is a walking community. And it is beautiful. The island of Burano is also known for their lace makers so there were many shops that sold Burano lace.  

We arrived at the restaurant and were escorted to a room for our group. We were given wine to drink and then the food started to arrive. As we were on an island, many of the dishes were fish and seafood. We had toast and pate, risoto with seafood, pasta with zuchinni and shrimp, salad, and deep fried seafood - which I tried but I always think that the deep fry spoils the taste of the seafood. Sage has been accomodated for the entire trip with regard to the food that she eats. For dessert there was fruit and S cookies that we were told needed to be dipped in the wine. Finally, the server came around with espresso and a choice of Zambucca, Ameretto, or Limoncello. Needless to say, the journey back to Venice was a bit louder and friendlier than our outboard journey.  

We returned to Venice and Sage had to stop for another gelato! We did a bit of window shopping and a wee bit of actual shopping then returned to our room full and exhausted.  

The next morning after breakfast, we hopped on our water taxi and headed back to meet the coach on the mainland. That was it for Venice. We were now on our way to Pisa for a short visit and then on to Florence for the next two nights.