Firenze

Italy was Suzee's idea.  This would mark my 6th trip to Italy and frankly, I wasn't all that excited about it, preferring more off-the-beaten-path sorts of places.

The trip from Eugene to Florence involved three flights and roughly 21 hours. I almost never can sleep on planes, so we were happy to arrive about 5 minutes ahead of schedule and just grabbed a taxi rather than wait for the airport bus and then face lugging our stuff to the apartment from the rail station, about a 15 minute walk and something |I would ordinarily handle had I not been up for roughly 26 hours straight.  The cabbie was friendly, efficient and a set rate into town took away any fears of getting taken for a ride.

By the time we got settled into the House of the Sculptor, an AirBnb find: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1281468 we were crostini.  What drew me to this place was its location about 2kms from the center.  No tourists around here, just a nice little working class neighborhood full of buildings that date back centuries (this area was built up back in the 14th century). A big plus is that some of the younger restaurateurs are moving in and there's some great food at local prices.  One can still leisurely stroll to the center in about 25 minutes and there must be 200 routes from here to the Duomo.

Dealing with jet lag is never fun.  I awoke the first morning at 4AM.  Getting out to see a city before sunrise can be a major awakening.  With the brilliant lighting on the monuments and zero tourism, had a magical walk through the Renaissance

Ponte Vecchio at 5AM 

I decided to work the back streets and some of the lesser attractions that I'd missed over the years while Suzee was doing all the de rigueur stuff, so I hustled her over to the Accademia for a look at David while I ducked in and out of some eclectic little churches and went through the rigors of getting a SIM card and dealing with wifi problems at the apartment.  I don't generally mind tech stuff,but Italy makes getting a SIM card quite a bit tougher than Bangladesh or Russia.  One needs a passport and then there's a two hour wait while one is "approved".  Then I had to trot the apartment's mobile wifi device over to the dealer and somehow the problems were resolved.  Given the age of most of the apartments around here and the difficulties of wiring through foot thick masonry, a lot of folks buy these nifty little devices about the size of  a pack of cigarettes and then just top them off when the data allowance depletes.  What's especially cool is that you can put the device in your pocket and just walk around with your own hotspot though there's so much free wifi around the center that it's not really necessary.  

  Our eclectic little pad.  Lots of art pieces, books and music.  Perfect, really.

As day one came to a close, we opted to just eat take out since we were too tired to go to a nice restaurant.  Within 150 meters I found some nice pasta dishes, bread and butter.  Had to make four separate stops, but it was fun interacting with the lovely Italian people and we had some decent local red wine to accompany dinner, along with some Limoncello (a popular lemon liqueur) for after dinner.  Crashed super hard around 9PM.

Some post day one thoughts:  Despite initial reservations, I was delighted to be back in Italy.  The spirit of the people, along with the fantastic art and architecture make Florence an amazingly special place.  It has always been my favorite city in Italy and nothing has changed to dissuade me.  There seems to be a lot more tourists, but basing out of the tourist district has been a plus.  Maybe also not having to fight the hordes in popular tourist spots around town has also helped.

Day 2

Suzee has a horrible case of hives brought on by a medication her dentist prescribed.  She's bucking up fairly well and today was a big day for her, with the Uffizi on tap.  While Suzee roamed among the Botticelli's, I headed over to the Bargello and enjoyed some of the great Renaissance sculpture, headlined by a good number of Michaelangelo and Donatello pieces.  Crowdwise, it was dead over there since the Bargello apparently isn't a must see on tour bus lists.  Thank heavens for small favors.  Then it was on to the central market; last time I was there in the mid-80's, it was a fly infested dump (and quite enjoyable).  Now its morphed into a sort of Pike Place Market>Not all bad, but you won't find blood on the floor and pig's heads on the counters any more, but rather a lot of over-priced stuff geared towards the tourist trade.  At least they give out a lot of free samples.

Next it was on to Santa Maria Novella church where I finally had to battle the masses of tour groups. Those who know me know I detest everything about tour groups.  Remind me of 3rd grade school excursions for adults who don't have the time or knowledge to put together their own itineraries.  There's always someone getting lost, showing up late, getting sick, etc.  There is little interaction between tour group members and the local community and the food generally sucks.  Now that I've got that off my chest, back to the adventures:  Santa Maria Novella church was well worth fighting the crowds to see.  Brilliant frescoes, amazing architecture and large enough space to not feel completely crowded.  An easy place to spend a couple of hours.  Will I get in trouble with the higher ups for lying about my age for an entry discount?

As lunchtime approached, today's choice was easy.  Panino Lampredotto over by the apartment.  Lampredotto is tripe, but not the spongy stuff we're used to since it comes from a different stomache chamber.  They add a spicy green sauce and it's out of this world.  The place I visited is little more than a large food cart, but it's always packed.  Trip Advisor rates it #30 out of 1992 restaurants in Florence.  Not sure how I lived this long without having a Florentine tripe sandwich, but at least I know what I'll eat for lunch tomorrow.  Only 3 euro, too  Name of the place is L'Trippaio di San Frediano, just across the Vespucci Bridge about 150 meters straight ahead in a small square.

For Students of Tripe 

We've only got two more nights here, so we're going to hit two of the top-rated local spots for some home Florentine cooking, both run by young chefs that are attracting good reputations and both only a 5 minute walk.  More on that in the next post.

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Firenze Wrap Up

Final two days in Florence and just starting to unjetlag a bit.  Dinner at San Frediavino last night was terrific.  Located just outside one of the ancient city gates in an area with a lot of young, hip restaurants.  The owner, Emmanuel, was also our server.  He patiently translated the menu while further describing the various dishes.  Suzee had a wonderful smoked ravioli and I opted for an excellent Maltagliati handmade pasta in a spicy red sauce with whole cherry tomatoes.  The pasta was very thick, almost like a 1/4" diameter rope with very pleasing texture.  I followed the pasta with some local Chianina beef wrapped in bacon and covered with fresh green peppercorns. Could cut it with a butter knife and literally melted in my mouth.  There was no wine list and we were left in the

No, we didn't eat here, but who doesn't love a slow food hot dog?

hands of Emmanuel who selected a nice Montepulciano red for me and a white for Suzee.  We enjoyed both pours and the overall food and ambience made for a nice, slow meal, topped off with a delicious fig tart.  Total tab including tax and service was 51 euros, a terrific value for a quality meal.

After dinner we walked around the neighborhood and it was really hopping with diners in half a dozen restaurants eating out on the sidewalk and grabbing the last bit of summer like weather.  If this were NYC, we'd probably be eating and staying in the equivalent of Williamsburg, though without quite the same
annoying hipster vibe.

Lunch Lampredotto--They Should Serve These at Carl's 

Slept in this morning until 5:45, just hung out until lunchtime when it was once again Lampredotto time.  Damn, these little puppies are addictive and now the counterman knows how I like them..."tutto" or "the works".  I'll miss these, though will also probably add a couple years to my life by not having them so nearby.  Today's lineup included a Rick Steves led Renaissance Walk (he's got a great free app that allows one to download literally hundreds of walking and museum tours.  They're succinct and don't have you nodding out like tour guides sometimes do).  Long before he became famous, he wrote a book called Europe 101.  I bought it in 1985 and marveled at what a great book it was then.  Glad he's turned his talents into an empire and the book is still in print with regular updates.  After the walk, we headed up to San Miniato Monastery for some sunset Gregorian chants,  The monastery is located high in the hills above the city with spectacular views. Suzee liked the chants more than I did.  Then our final dinner at La Boca di Leone, another local spot just a couple minutes walk from the apartment.  While the food was very good, neither it nor the wine quite reached the levels of the meal at San Frediavino.  Nonetheless, one would be hard-pressed to find food as good as this outside of Italy and the prices were about what you'd pay for considerably lesser-fare at home.  Will be sorry to leave Florence for Montepulciano tomorrow, but looking forward to a week in the countryside and the town is full of excellent dining options as well as hiking opportunities.  This will be the part of the Italy trip that I've most looked forward to.

A Week in Tuscany

Rented a car from Avis at a very reasonable $180/wk and headed down to a suburb of Montepulciano, about a 75 minute drive from Central Florence on the Autostrada (anyone see the film L'Autostrada with Anthony Quinn, Jr?  I didn't think so).  Got a great off season rate at an Agriturisimo (a concept that started out as farmers renting rooms, but has exploded into anyone who buys an old house in the country and turns it into a large B&B type of operation).  We've got a great 2 BR apartment at only about $70/night at a place called Casa della Querce, about 5 miles from Montepulciano on what pretty much amounts to a scary one to one and a half lane road; thankfully, not too much traffic on this rural road.  Views from our place are amazing and we've spent a couple of days just hanging around the apt.

Tuscany, for me, is really all about the food.  The towns are incredibly charming, but at some point they begin to look alike.  We had originally planned to visit village after village, but settled on three days of substantial tourism visiting such places as Pienza, Montalcino, San Quirico, Orvieto (which is actually in Umbria, about an hour's south of our apartment) and, of course, Montepulciano. Having already been to the very touristy Siena and San Gmignano, we decided not to make the full day excursion.  My favorites were the relatively untouristed San Quirico and Orvieto, which happened to be relatively quiet the day we visited.  Otherwise, the tourist industry is alive and well here and it sometimes seems that you hear more American English than Italian.  Guess the Siena Tourism board is doing a good job in the States.

The above is the view from our apartment; easy to see why one can get lazy and just sit outside sipping Limoncello and watching the world go by.....at least until dinnertime.  Not sure I've ever eaten better than here.  Will be hard to go back home and eat anything Italian.  Tuscany is renowned for its food and deservedly so.  All pasta is fresh and generally unusual local varieties (like Pici) that you'd almost never find at home (at least in Eugene).  I've been more impressed with the local table wines than some of the fancy export stuff they produce.  The local wines tend to be more full-bodied and I guess I'm not into some of the subtleties that others are.  There's no lack of US wine snobs here and one of my favorite comments came from a sommelier who was getting pressed by an American about which wine was her favorite.  After telling the guy it didn't matter and all that mattered was what HE liked, he pressed further and asked what she was having for dinner.  Her answer?  "Table wine.  This stuff you're tasting is too expensive and only for special occasions".  The guy was tasting a bottle that cost about $25. Favorite meal was a 3# Fiorentino (2" thick t-bone) at Osteria L'Acquacheta in Montepulciano.  What made the meal a favorite was the family style seating.  We wound up eating with a couple from California who had just transferred to Naples and another couple from Germany.  Lots of great house wine and since Suzee doesn't eat much beef, I pretty much polished off 2# by myself while probably raising my LDLs above 250.  Oh well, when in Rome....Our final meal here will be in a small village nearby at a little husband and wife trattoria which has the best food we've tasted in Italy; it's also the only place we've chosen to visit twice....Piccola Trattoria de Guastina.  The wife does the cooking and she's very creative, taking the traditional and elevating it a level with dishes like duck in olive oil with fresh herbs direct from her garden, fried pecorino (OPA!) with bacon, excellent desserts and I could go on and on.

Driving has been nothing but crazy.  Every Italian fashions themselves a great Formula One driver and this might be the only place where I'd be considered a polite, unagressive driver.  And I thought Morocco was going to be crazy in a few weeks (well, it probably will be).  I won't mind trading in the car for the train and a trip to Venice tomorrow.

Venice, Europe's EPCOT

Such a lovely place laid to waste.  I used to think going to Hell would involve spending purgatory in Times Square.  Not any more.  In my 4th trip to Venice spanning 30 years, I've slowly watched the charm being sucked out of the place.  Little wonder that only 58,000 call Venice home anymore while 22,000,000 annual visitors (yeah, I know I'm one of them) drive the final stakes in the heart of a once-amazing place.  This article sums it up well:http://www.ibtimes.com/venice-massive-tourism-and-now-huge-cruise-ships-ruining-city%E2%80%99s-priceless-charms-780741

There are still a few solutions, starting with getting off the treadmill that leads to and from St Mark's Square.  We're staying at a lovely little canal-side apartment in Dorsoduro, well off the beaten track and an easy walk to the Guggenheim and Accademia Museums which sit a large canal away and past which few tourists bother to travel.  One can also still get lost in tiny lanes away from the masses or move about either very early or very late.  The charms are still there; you just gotta work a little bit harder.

Meanwhile, back on the tourist trail, traveling becomes further complicated by the influx of aggressive vendors, all of whom block walkways and basically sell the same handbag knock-offs, shelf pickers or neon-like wind up helicopters.
Since most of them seem to be African immigrants, my best guess is they're all working for a syndicate who plunks them down all over the city and then generously allows them to stay in massively over-crowded small apartments on the mainland.  A sad state for vendors, tourists and locals and the only winners are the few that control the sales and the few that are paid off to continue to allow them.  As one site notes:  Street vendors obtain their bags through middlemen and there's no way of knowing who those middlemen are (e.g. The Mafia).  So, hey, maybe the bags are real after all and just fell off some trucks.

It hasn't all been bad.  Landlord recommended a nice little trat nearby that always seems to be jammed with locals and the occasional TripAdvisor devotee. Good food at local's prices (Taverna San Travaso), though we're getting burned out on Italian and just decided to make some salads for today and tomorrow and hopefully drop some of the pounds we've been packing on during a dozen straight days of eating out.   Just spent 3 hours wandering around, mostly off the beaten path and just soaking in what's left of the local culture.  Attending an opera so had to find something a tad more appropriate than a t-shirt (not an easy task in a town where wafer-thin polo shirts from Bangladesh sell for triple what you'd pay at home).  Got lucky and found an H&M with a good selection of nice tops.  So let's see, I'm in Italy, went to a Swedish chain and bought a flashy Bangladeshi sweater.

The opera (La Traviata) was held in an old 15th century palace, much like operas were presented long ago when folks would invite friends to their palaces for some evening entertainment.  The palace was delightfully ramshackle, with floors, ceilings and doors going in different directions, but one could still see its former elegance.  The opera was surprisingly good, with three singers and a 4 piece chamber orchestra.  At one point, the heroine, Violetta, handed me a glass of champagne.  Now that's the kind of audience-performer interaction I like!  The opera moved through three acts in three different rooms in the palace.  Cool way to spend an evening.

Our charming canalside place turned not so charming the last two nights as a result of thoughtless other guests who noisily awoke at 5:45, then 3:45 AM.  Our final day was to be a day of island hopping and Grand Canal viewing from a vaporetto (water bus), but we managed only a trip to the touristy glass-blowing island of Murano.  All in all, I was pleased to get out of Venice and catch a 2.5 hour train to Milan.

Milan/Italy Wrap

After a 2.5 hour train trip in a virtually empty car, we headed for our Milan apartment, an easy five minute walk from the station.  We'll only be here a couple of days, mainly to see La Scala and then depart for Morocco on one of the cheapo Easyjet flights.  Remarkably, it'll cost more for the airport hotel and airport transfers than it will for the flight (for two) to Morocco.

Milan isn't part of the big three of Italian tourism and we're staying in a small flat in a business district, where tourists are far-outnumbered by locals.  If there's any drawback, a lot of the local restaurants keep short hours geared to the folks working in surrounding skyscrapers. Our La Scala tour was postponed at the last minute since one of the major sponsors (Rolex) chose to do a last minute photo shoot and reserved the entire building.  We arrived the next morning and were met by Francine, who is responsible for recently organizing the first backstage tours for the general public.
Lucky us that we were the only people on the tour.  We visited various boxes, including the Royal box and another box that was left in it's original condition after the extensive remodeling of the building in the early 2000's.  This remodeling brought the house up to more modern standards and we were quite surprised at the technological improvements that put the house on a level with more modern buildings like the Met.  Essentially, they tore out everything behind the curtain and built a large seven story building to accommodate workshops,  artists, practice rooms, offices and most importantly, gave them the ability to make rapid scenery changes.  The photo above shows the set for Simon Bocanegra.  La Scala is slowly moving towards modernizing its productions, but much like any other house, they have to keep the older patrons/donors happy and such radical sets as seen above will cause some concern.  The trade off is that Domingo is singing a role that Suzee and I saw at the Met, thus assuaging the same people who might gripe about modern productions.

That's Suzee and Francine in the photo at the left.

After La Scala, we strolled about in the Duomo area and just picked off a few of the major sights.  The church is the 4th largest in the world behind London, Rome and Seville, and was built to accommodate the entire population of Milan in the 15th century.  Some of the original stained glass remains.

Milan has an inordinate amount of pickpockets, beggars and thieves.  In both instances, when I attempted to purchase subway tickets, people rushed up to the machines and started pushing buttons for me in anticipation of a tip.  I protested, but they wouldn't back off.  Then they got insulted when I wouldn't tip!  I've heard of instances where they'll steal both tickets and change from the bin underneath the coin slots.  The police seem to look the other way most of the time and in the one instance where we saw security chase a guy away, the "helper" returned within less than a minute.  Makes one appreciate the relatively hassle-free NYC.

In sum, we've enjoyed Italy despite the harrassment in both Venice and Milan.  The food has been great and Suzee has been able to see some of the highlights of Florence, Tuscany, Venice and Milan.
Neither of us has any desire to return and it would behoove the officials to protect their tourism industry by removing some of the deadbeat hangers-on.  Then again, they don't seem to do much about the same sorts of situations in San Francisco.