Posts Tagged ‘florence’

Earth To Italy

April 27th, 2009

So I have been planning a trip to Italy to travel around as well as to visit my parents.  Finding hotels has not been an easy process.  For instance, during my time in Rome, there will be a sporting event that could equate to our Super Bowl. Google Earth has this great feature where you can turn on icons to represent lodging.  But even with that great tool, almost every place I searched for in Rome ended up being unavailable.  Eventually I found a place through http://www.vrbo.com.  

I figured out general locations where I wanted to be situated in each city.  Then, when looking for a room, often the hotel would claim that they are near that location.  But Google Earth has been a great tool in this.  I would merely punch in the address of the hotel, and it would show me exactly where it was in relation to where I wanted to be.  You would be surprised at how many hotels claimed to be near the Duomo in Florence, only to be not so close.

At this point I have everywhere booked, except for 3 nights – 2 of those nights are in the Cinque Terre.  Here are the screenshots from Google Earth and websites where appropriate.

 
Here is my itinerary:

  • May 7th leave San Diego
  • 8th land in Milan
  • 8-9 Lake Como
  • 10th Milan (I am hoping to  get tickets to the soccer game or the opera as a fallback)
  • 11-12 Venice
  • 13-14 Cinque Terre
  • 15, 16, 17, 18 Florence
  • 19, 20, 21, 22 Montalcino
  • 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 Rome
  • May 28th Fly home

 

Lake Como
La Pergola

La Pergola, Hotel and Restaurant, drawn from a sixteenth century-building, lies by the lake, in a most typical fishermen’s hamlet called Pescallo, right on a shore of the promontory of Bellagio, turning south-east and facing the Lecco branch of Lake Como. The House was drawn from a building dating back to 1500, and assigned to a convent in the past centuries. The centre of Bellagio is but 10 minutes’ walk, among the luxuriant olive trees and mediterranean vegetation spread out on the Spartivento Point.

La Pergola

 

Milan
Best Western Cristoforo Colombo
About a 15 minute walk from the train station and about a 15 minute walk from the Duomo.  Im desperately hoping to get tickets to the Juve v. Milan soccer game, but am considering the opera as a backup plan.

milanhotel

Venice
Hotel Ai Do Mori
They have a crappy website.  They need Gorirra.  But it is only about 10 meters from St. Mark’s Square.  

Venice Hotel

 

Cinque Terre
Vernazza
Ivo Camere
The apartment which is also in the center of the town is accessible via a characteristic “carugio” (small side street) and is steps away from the piazza and the sea. 

vernazzahotel

 

Florence
Brunelleschi Hotel 
Hotel Brunelleschi is located in the middle, pedestrian area of the historical center of Florence, just steps away from the Cathedral and the Signoria Square, from a part overlooking the Via Calzaiuoli.

Florence Hotel

 

Montalcino
With My Parents
Next time I get the address from my parents, I’ll take a Google Earth pic.

montalcino

 

Rome
Private Apartment
its perfect location. From there the most important sights of the City can be reached with a short walk. You are just in the heart of the centre. 200 metres from Piazza Navona and Pantheon, 300 metres from Spanish Steps or Trevi Fountain and, in the opposite direction, just crossing the Tiber, you can reach Sant’Angelo Castel and St.Peter Cathedral (400 metres).

Rome Apartment

A correre e cagare ci si immerda i garretti

February 28th, 2009

duomoYes, I know what that phrase means, do you?  The other night I went downtown to little Italy for a lecture on florence art and architecture at the ICC.  The lecture was done by Miti Aiello, Architecture and Art Professor at Newschool of Architecture and Design and was titled Under the Shadow of the Duomo: Architecture of the Renaissance in Florence.  It was an enjoyable lecture, seeing pictures from florence, and learning different things about certain aspects of the history of florence.

After the lecture, I walked around little Italy, and decided to stop for a bite and got a table curbside at Buon Appetito.  I had a lovely evening, on the street sipping a glass of wine, enjoying good food, and soaking in the culture.  I ordered a caprese salad, a glass of restaurant_outside_smRubico Lacryma di Moro d’ Alba ~ Marchevv, and a plate of Penne Pasticciate.  Everything was very delicious other than the wine.  Although I enjoyed it, I probably won’t order it again.  It had too much of a strong fruity taste.  The menu describes it as “Medium body with notes of dried rose petals with raspberry overtones. A hidden treasure! Like no other wine!”  I agree that it was like no other wine, but not in a good way.  However the caprese and the pasta were to die for.  The pasta was a penne bolognese, basically.  However, they put a dallop of mascarpone cheese on the top.  Mascarpone cheese is relatable to cream cheese.  So imagine a cold dollup of cream cheese on top of hot steamy pasta with meat sauce.  Odd, no?  I mixed the cheese into the sauce and it was heaven on a fork.  Yum.  I want to go back.

I like being immersed in culture.  I found it fascinating to just sit on the street patio, people watching.  Couples walking by speaking italian, customers at their tables jabbing about their flights back to the east coast, and waiters flirting with pretty girls.  I didn’t feel like I was in a different country, but I felt like I was not in my own neighborhood.  Part of me wishes that I was more cultural.  I am always fascinated when I am in a new place or am with people different than I am used to.  I love soaking in history, culture, and different people.

from my cell

from my cell

I feel completely blessed.  Part of me thinks that I could die today, and that I would feel like I have lived a lucky and blessed life.  I have experienced so much more than most people in the world.  I have traveld– been to about 10 different countires and about 35 different US states.  I have loved and I have been loved.  I have spent time at college.  I have developed deep friendships.  I have been employed.  I could die today and feel that there was very little my life lacked.  But despite that, I still wish there was more.  I am always in longing.  There is never enough time in life, enough hours, days, weeks,  months to fully do all that I want, or be all that I wish.

I wish there was someone in my life, that was more of a “forger.”  That fits themselves into any situation and holds total confidence.  I am a follower at heart.  I lack confidence.  I wish there was someone close to me that I could latch on to and find myself feeling at home in random situations and scenarios.  There is so much culture out there that I wish I could invert myself into.  Whether that means clubs downtown, bars, countries, art galleries…I want all that life can offer.  My shy un-confident side often keeps me out of these situations, or at least limits them.  There is so much more of life I want to soak up.  There is nothing I want to miss out on.  I want all that life has to offer.  I want to live the life.

This Week I'm Thinking About: Doug Kyle