This trip to Italy, January 12 -17, 2009, is thanks to Ricky attending a conference in Novara, bringing Heather along for the ride. We landed at the Malpensa airport in Milan around 10 in the morning. We took an express train to the city center which was full of high end name brand stores. All the ladies in Milan wear fur. As we walked around the industrial city unexcited about Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Channel, etc, we rounded a bend and caught our first glimpse of the beautiful Duomo. It was like an intricate drip sand castle with deliciously colored stained glass windows. The Duomo is the second largest Catholic Cathedral in the world and was built in 1075 to replace a fire damaged 5th centurn basilica. Further exploration uncovered charming neighborhoods & cuter shops. Our private hostel room, at Hotel Brasil, had 4 beds, a sink and a bidet. There was a very public, unisex bathroom where we showered.
"What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so
delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems ...a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!...
The central one of its
five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures-- and the figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without exhausting its interest...everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a
marble statue, and every statue is a study in itself...
Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted
spires spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky beyond. ...(Up on) the roof...springing from its broad marble flagstones, were the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in the distance...We could see, now, that the statue on the top of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street...
They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands." -Mark Twain, about the Duomo in Milan.
The next day we used our Euro Star pass and road to Florence, our favorite stop of the trip. We spent 3 nights at a lovely hostel run by two brothers. It was the homiest and most accommodating hostel we have ever stayed at. There was free internet, books, movies, a cafe with brekfast and wine for the evening (only 1.90 euro for a generous glass of cianti!. Also, there were multiple bathrooms one of which the shower was directly over the toilet, making it possible to kill two birds with one stone if one so chose. Florence is beautiful, small and walkable. Now we see why so many creative geniuses came from this city. We went to the Duomo designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1294, first stone laid in 1296. The cavernous yet peaceful interior was brightly lit by stained glass windows and a beautifully painted dome. We paid extra to take the 463 steps up to the dome which provided a breezy and beautiful 360 degree view of the city. We mostly ate panini on the trip but did splurge on a dinner at ZaZa's restaurant which seemed to be a popular tourist and businessperson stop.
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Day two in Florence we climbed up to the Piazza de Michelangelo which provide more spectacular vies of Florence. A little higher up Monte alle Croci is the The Basilica di San Miniato al Monte with the most amazing cemetery we have ever encountered. We spend what felt like hours perusing the graves which ranged in size. Wealthy families have burial tombs here. After all the spiritual contemplation of those passed on through the centuries, we got a little pasta and wine at the base of the hill in a charming local cafe. Next our journey lead us to the museum which houses The David, or Da David as we like to call it, which was fun to see "in the flesh"
The Cemetery from the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte by Hans von Bartels.
Next stop, Novara for Ricky's presentation on wine grapes! He had presented the paper before and we arrived after the start of the conference and left shortly after his flawless presentation to return to Milan. A foreign man who presented after Ricky did not do very well. Heather wrote on note paper during the presentation "I cannot understand this mun at all. Also, his powerpoint is too tiny! At least your powerpoint was nice & legible in case you were hard to understand. Great job Marticulosuoso!" Ricky's response: "Every slide has 5 times the number of words it should. Also, this guy stops to breath once every 5 minutes". On top of the poor presentation, his paper rewview was brutally horrid. Makes us all the more grateful Ricky is on the right track with writing/speaking! Presenters take note!
We took a double-decker train back to Milan arriving at 9 PM quite ravenous. Ricky spotted a low-brow fast food pizza joint in Venezia Square, the nearest metro stop to our hostel. Heather balked at it, despite the extreme hunger. Thankfully, we staggared into Pizza OK, a restaurant we had been by several times earlier in our trip and joked about. As in, why settle for OK pizza? It turned out to be an excellent choice for dinner. For 26 euros we got more pizza than we could possibly eat and a liter of wine. We feasted like royalty and checked back in to our first hostel. This time we were in a smaller room with two twin beds and a private en suite bath! Yet another example of the shower/toilet as shown below.
After a quick brekfast at the Hotel Brasil, we were off to Venice! A picturesque, incredibly unique labrynth. We walked from the train station to out hostel with frustration, despiration and confoundation. We traveled down successively narrow alleys thta followed absolutly no order that we could discern. Evenutally, with the help of Clair (our GPS) and a map from our guidebook we found it. From there, we set off to see as much of the city as we could in the brief period of daylight left to us. We were grateful to stumble apon some larger piazzas to counteract the closterphobic seemingly routeless allys. It is not hard to see why Venice is a car-free city as it would be impossible for a motorised vehicle to wind around. We meandered in and out of cafes for wine and snacks. It was truly a joy to just let the city guide us around. Our hostel is spacious, privat with an en suite bath. We purchased a bottle of Belini, the local peach bubblie drink and are sinking into our beds after a few pull ups on the rafters.
The next day we walked the entire circumfrence of the main island of Venice. The second day was less foggy and we found it far more beautiful and less intimidation in the sunlight. We discovered there are signs everywhere on the buildings directing you to the major landmarks which pretty much emiminitated the disorientation we had felt the day before. We felt we were almost in Disney world with the narrow allys, ancient edifaces and elaborate gondala boats.
January 7-14, 2008 we went on our honeymoon cruise. Norwegians Pride of Hawaii took us to four islands, Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and The Big Island. The restaurants on the boat were delicious and the sights we saw on land were beautiful. Every morning we went to the brekfast buffet where we dined on fresh fruit, eggs, breakfast quesidillas, eggs Benedict, etc. In the evenings we would go to a restaurant and get at least 3 appetizers and once we even ordered three entrees between the two of us! The all you can eat concept is deliciously dangerous. This was a week we will never forget.
Our first Hawaii sunset on board Pride of Hawaii at the port of Honolulu.
The first day on Hawaii we took a guided tour of the Hawaii Volcano's National Park. This picture shows a volcanic crater with the gently sloping Mauna Loa in the background.
We went underground in a lava tube. These are formed when flowing lava hardens on the surface making a crusty roof, the lava flows on leaving a tunnel. People have been walking over them unaware and then the crust caves in and they find themselves in a rough dark tunnel. Pretty scary!
We hiked along side this 34 year old lava flow with our guide. On this day we felt very fortunate as we had clear views and no rain, very atypical for the January season.
This is a NeNe, the state bird of Hawaii. Our native Hilo guide claimed he's only seen about one a year since he's been doing this which made the day even more special.
This is where the most delicious nuts ever are seasoned and packaged.
This is a beautiful bay we stopped to photograph with the tour bus. The guide told us a story of when he went swimming here as a young boy and was bitten all over by water bugs.
A young pretty waterfall on the walk to...
This mama water fall!
Ricky kept his parents informed of our lovely trip. The ship had many lovely spots to lounge and enjoy the scenery.
View from the top deck of the Big Island.
Our first day on Maui we rented a car and drove to Hana. The road was very windy and one lane on bridges and many turns. There were beautiful beaches and vistas along the drive that were well worth the trek. We stopped at a botanical garden called the Garden of Eden where this peacock harassed us for our snacks.
A very nice couple took our picture and we returned the favor.
This is a hidden waterfall that can be viewed from the edge of the gardens.
In Lahaina is a cute touresty town where we purcased traditional nut jewelry and a shot glass for the collection. In Kauai we dove to Hawaii's Grand Canyon where we lucked out on more clear views. We went on a hike along the ridge, not for those feint of heart. We rented cycles in Kona and stopped at beaches along the way where we watched people catch some waves. This is our little rental car.
These are from the ridge hike.
This series of pictures are from the last night on the boad. Sunday all abord was at 1:30 in the afternoon so we decided to make this a relaxing day on the ship and once we set sail we traveled up the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. This is a trip some pay big bucks for a boat to take them on. We got to enjoy it from the comfort of our cruise boat. Once we reached the end of the beautiful coast the boat lingered for the sun set and there were whale sightings. As the sun set and the waves gently rocked us we knew this was a trip we'd cherish always.
