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If you are ever
in Rome, you must make time to see the Vatican Museum. You don't
have to be Catholic or even religious to appreciate the spectacular
art! I was glad I went on this side trip, although a pickpocket
tried to boost my "security wallet" inside my shirt during the
ride over to the Vatican area on an overcrowded city bus. Wear a
long shirt and tuck it inside your pants! |
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Words cannot describe this ceiling art. They were all great, but this one
is probably the best, in my opinion. |
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Absolutely
awesome!!! Check out the Museum's web site - http://mv.vatican.va/StartNew_EN.html
or this link http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
if your browser doesn't know what to do with the nifty JavaScript
introduction when the site first loads. It also has 360-degree
virtual tours of some of the rooms. Your browser has to have
JavaScript enabled to enjoy most of their site. |
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One of the many
old and new hilltop villas all over Italy, older ones like this served a
double purpose - owners could keep an eye out for invaders. Many
had extensive underground caves to hide out during a siege. We are now headed north to the town of Orvieto
on the way to San Gimignano. Orvieto has magnificent vistas
and... |
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a spectacular
duomo, the Italian word for a cathedral. I don't have any
photo-stitching software to combine the two pix, and didn't have the
proper lens to get all of this duomo in one shot. That's not paint
on the exterior, it's glass. Amazing! My Konica-Minolta
DiMage Z5 digital camera was used for most of the pix on these two
pages. |
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My DiMage has a
12x optical zoom feature which came in handy for this shot of the
peak. Humbling! |
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Orvieto has a
some great vistas including this one looking south with an old villa in the
center of the pic. |
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One of the many picturesque
views of our 3rd stop, San Gimignano (pronounced gim-in-yano), from our
hotel about a mile from the outskirts of town. In medieval times,
the towers were built by rival families. The more money and importance
the family had, the higher the tower. From here, we visited
Florence and Greve in the Chianti region for some wine tasting.
Note the olive orchards and vineyards which are all over the
country. A residence with a lawn like here in the USA was a rare
sight in Italy. |
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Some of the statues in
Florence during a day trip. This is Neptune's Fountain, in Palazzo
Vecchio near the city's government building. We were primarily interested in a flea
market-type sale in this area with vendors selling mostly leather
goods. At dinner that evening at the Tuti Ristorante, I ordered
"Wild Boar in Florentine Style" which was very tasty.
Try it, you'll like it! Other pix of Florence can be had here.
Try Photovault
for other Italy pix. |
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Day 8, Sunday morning,
September 24th. We hired a balloon ride firm to take us for a
cruise over the Tuscany countryside. It's hunting season there
and we met 2 hunters after landing in a sunflower field. See the
pic here. Later in the day, we traveled to Venice. |
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Day 9, Venice. This is a
view of the Grand Canal looking south from the top of the famous Rialto
Bridge, once the only bridge across that canal. Venice also had
the best pizza of the trip. |
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There are no vehicles in
Venice since most of the streets are about the the width of two of
our sidewalks. This pic from near the Rialto Bridge shows how
goods are transported. Numerous delivery guys were seen pushing
two-wheel hand carts throughout the city to deliver the items. |
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A few of the streets are three
sidewalks wide or slightly more. This pic is from the middle of
the top of the Rialto looking east. There are retail stores on the
bridge and the prices are a bit inflated. |
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Before I forget, I should
include a pic of that bridge! |
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A Gondolier waiting for a
fare. Thankfully, he didn't start singing "Volare." |
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Strange store-front message. |
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A cruise ship being towed thru
the lagoon south of St. Mark's Square by a tugboat. Zooming
in on the ship revealed its passengers lining the decks with cameras
in-hand. |
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St. Mark's Square, also known
as San Marco, often floods during high tide. It had just rained
too. Some had or were issued waders, others just braved it and
soaked their shoes, while others crowded onto platforms to cross to the
other side and higher ground. St. Mark's Basilica is on the
right. This pic was snapped by my wife, Annette. |
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Left to right, our very
talented bus driver, Ronan (whose surname I don't know) and the best
tour operators in Italy, Luigi & Isabella Dusi. Thanks for a
great time! See my best_of page for
contact information. |
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Some of the group departed for
home on the 26th but some stayed in Italy longer and visited their
relatives. Susan & Annette/Louis & Natalie are related to
these folks via
their maternal grandfather/great-grandfather Nazzareno Paglialunga, who
emigrated to the USA in 1912 through Ellis Island. Left to right,
front row: Antoinette and Natale Forti, Felitia and Tomasso Forti.
Back row: Milan Dotlich, Pietro Forti, Kara Forti held by Theresea Forti,
Natalie Dotlich holding Tomasso Forti, Kristi Kusnier, Susan Nocella, Annette Ward and
Louis Kusnier. The pic is linked to the 640x480 version or you can
click here to get and copy the full-sized 1600x1200 version at 667kb.
added 10/4 by popular demand... |
