The Net Monkey

I arrived back from Italy this past Monday (Jan. 7) and finally feel like writing up something about the vacation.

On this trip, there were six of us: Me, Lisa (sister), Jim (brother-in-law), JD and Andrea (who are neighbors of Jim and Lisa), and Rey (who works with Jim at the university).

Here are some of the highlights of the trip.

Florence

I love Florence!

We stayed in an apartment right on the Arno River near Ponte alle Grazie. This put is very close to the center of the city, including Piazza della Signoria, the Uffizi, great shopping, etc.

Of note while visiting Florence, the original David sculpture by Michelangelo is absolutely stunning to see in person. It’s one of the most beautiful works of art I’ve ever seen, and I can’t believe it was sculpted just over 500 years by an artist in his twenties.

According to Frommer’s, one should buy leather while in Florence. So, I did. There were tons of leather shops, but there was this one which sold Piquadro, which is a local Florence brand. I bought myself a wallet, which is a dark brown with a blue trim around it. It’s hot. I also picked up a new toiletry bag, but it’s a different brand.

We were in Florence for New Year’s. According to what we read, if you don’t have any specific place to be, you should go out to one of the bridges over the Arno. So, we went outside a few minutes before midnight and brought in the new year. Lots and lots of fireworks were going off around us! It was a bit scary, actually, because people were being reckless and the fireworks seem to be much more powerful than the ones here in the USA. Some of them reminded me of pipe bombs.

Our stay in Florence was just for a week. For the weekend after, JD, Andrea, Lisa, and I ventured off to Venice, while Jim and Rey set their sights on Sienna.

Venice

Lisa and I stayed at this little hotel in Venice fairly close to the San Lucia train station. The room was small, but had been recently refurbished so everything was new and clean. None-the-less, we had a great view outside of our window.

The really big highlight of Venice for me was Piazza San Marco. It’s huge, and at one end is St. Mark’s Basilica. I was amazed at this place! The original structure was built to the house the relics of St. Mark, which the Venetians stole from Alexandria in the early 800s. The current building (below) was consecrated in 1094.

That’s my sister Lisa on the lower right.

Inside the cathedral, the walls and ceilings seemed covered entirely in mosaics, depicting the various stories of Jesus. I can’t imagine the amount of time it took artisans to do this work, as I’m sure it’d take years even with today’s technologies.

We were also able get some fantastic views of the piazza from up on the basilica.

Inside the basilica were the Horses of St. Mark. These were once at the Hippodrome of Constantinople and were sent to Venice in 1204 as part of the loot after sacking Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. I love stuff like that, so I was all excited about seeing them. They looked fantastic, for having been cast around 200 AD.

Food

A good friend told me that it would be difficult not to eat well in Italy. Boy, was he right! We ate well, for sure. JD cooked a lot, and having an Italian heritage certainly showed.

For New Year’s we had a wonderful dinner.

After going outside for ring in the new year, we had a sweet bread with powdered sugar sprinkled over the top. It was somewhat like a panettone, but without the fruit. Not quite sure what it was called, but it was delicious and took a few days for us to eat it all.

Alitalia

Alitalia lost my luggage! Alitalia sucks!

The first mistake was somewhere at JFK. I don’t know if this was Delta’s fault or Alitalia’s, but somehow my luggage made its way to Atlanta and on the next flight to Rome. It arrived the day after me; however, it stayed in Rome for five days. No one knew where it was and no one was able to tell me if I would even get it.

I eventually had to buy some clothes in Italy. Thankfully, I had travel insurance that with delayed baggage coverage! On the other hand, in Italy, the sizes are smaller, and there I was this stocky American trying to find clothes on New Year’s Eve right before all the stores are getting ready close. I did manage to find some clothes that fit, though.

Finally, my luggage was to arrive in Florence. I went over to the airport to get it, but was told that the flight was canceled, but there was another flight due that evening from Rome. No one knew if my bag would be on it or not, so I decided not to wait around for it.

That night, I heard from the airport folks in Florence. My bag was there! This time it was for sure. I went to the airport the next morning, and finally got it. I was happy, but the whole ordeal set me back €80 (about $120).

Thankfully, on the trip back to the USA, my luggage wasn’t lost.

The most infuriating part of the whole experience was Alitalia’s inability to help me. Every time I called, the most they could tell me is that my luggage was supposed to have been on some flight from Atlanta. Eventually, it sounded like they believed the luggage to simply be lost. So, I was a bit surprised that my bag even showed up. Turns out, they have some major issues down in Rome. My bag sat there for 5 days before they did anything with it.

I’m all about the carry-on luggage next time I travel to Europe.

Asians & Surgical Masks

There are tons of Asians visiting Italy. I don’t know why (and I hope someone can provide a definitive answer here), but lots of them were wearing surgical masks.

What’s up with that? SARS is so 2003. Surely, they can’t be worried about that?

Conclusion

Overall, I had a great time!

I wish i could have seen Rome, but it just wasn’t in the cards this year. Honestly, I think spending another week abroad would probably have been too much, so I hope that some day I can take a trip just to Rome and check it out.

Photo Set: Italy - New Year’s 2008