Sunday, 24 September 2006 01:55 pm
Belated Italy Post
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deckardcanineOkay, the hassles of returning to the U.S. on Tuesday and then moving yesterday (more on that when it’s been a while) are not a sufficient excuse for making you wait this long for a post. I blame my idleness. Sorry, everyone.
Our trip consisted of 2-3 days each in Rome, Venice, and Florence, the rest of the time being in transit. Actually, we did leave Rome for a few hours to visit the Vatican. I had decided not to ask my folks about visiting religious stuff (recall that I’m not just the only Catholic but the only self-described Christian in the family), but there doesn’t seem to be much worth touring in these cities that doesn’t have a religious theme, whether a church, an art museum, or the Venice ghetto. That leaves the Colosseum; gondola rides (which we skipped); and elite stores like, you know, Versace.
There’s a fair amount of English around Italy in both writing and speech, but it definitely helps to know a close-ish romance language like Spanish. I have not learned enough Italian to construct a complete sentence, but at least I’ve finally determined how to pronounce things, aside from which syllable to accent in some cases.
We had been warned about the high risk of pickpockets, so my dad carried all our money in a pouch that hung, to my slight embarrassment, beneath the front of his pants. I didn’t think about it until he had to reach in when we paid.
At the Vatican, we did not see anyone famous like, you know, Versace. In Florence, however, we met a Hapsburg prince who runs a great restaurant called La Giostra. He loves his job too much to live like a typical prince. I hope to have his enthusiasm as an octogenarian.
After all the pizza and pasta with marinara I had in college, I didn’t expect I would eat so much of them again. Nor did I expect so much ice cream – or, as we gladly called it, gelato. Italy is great for food, even among the herbivorous. At the same time, I doubt any of us gained weight, because we did a lot of walking.
It is rare for me to want to see a place more than once, but the only one of these cities I probably wouldn’t visit again is Venice. Even that was worth one trip. We all had fun, although my sister came down with a cold in the last few days. At least she waited until after her birthday on the 13th.
My observations from the whole experience:
1. Virgin Atlantic rocks. There are so many ways to pass the time, and who would’ve expected a British airline to serve better food than an Italian one? On the plus side for Alitalia, it has the most amusing safety instruction video I’ve ever seen, and I don’t mean it ironically.
2. European train travel is cheap. In a country where most things cost more than they would in the U.S., accounting for euro values, how is it that trains are so much cheaper? I don’t know which nation’s train companies are smarter from a capitalist perspective.
3. Roman traffic is horrendous. Maybe that comes from the old streets being narrow, or maybe it comes from all roads leading to Rome. At any rate, we were glad not to have rented a car. On the other hand, few drivers paid any respect to the pedestrian traffic lights. Many places had no obvious crosswalks, so you had to be daring. At least there were a number of motorbikes and cute Smart Cars to balance the clunkers. It’s quite a contrast in Venice, where stairs on bridges prevent even bicycles from being practical. Florence, meanwhile, provides a very happy medium.
4. There must be an implicit honor code in effect. It would have been very easy for us to take the train with no tickets. On trains where someone actually checks for tickets, it appears that some people feign sleep until the taker leaves, which you’d think was the oldest trick in the book. There was also nothing to stop us from taking what appeared to be a luxury compartment, altho no one else did either. Finally, some places were surprisingly lax with security. I set off the metal detector (with my pocketed glasses, I think) at St. Peter’s Basilica, yet nobody paid me notice! Maybe I looked devoutly Catholic enough?
5. There are no fish in the Arno. What we saw of the river by day were two oily shades of brown. Meanwhile, the Venice canals, while equally fishless, were nowhere near as foul as I had anticipated.
6. The market for Renaissance-style masks is huge. I never thought so many similar mask vendors, both in stores and on the street, could stay in business within such proximity. It isn’t even restricted to Venice; you can buy them at train terminals. Many masks have a peculiar theme of sheet music, many show more than one face, and many depict felines. I was just thinking that I would have to get a fox mask if I saw it – when I did. Once I get a good photo scanned, you can expect to see a new avatar from me, vaguely similar to the one I have now.
7. There’s a lot I hadn’t noticed about the statue of David:
(a) I had always seen pictures of him from the same angle.
(b) His left hand holds the sling he used against Goliath.
(c) His right hand is a bit oversized, as a symbol of power.
(d) His right leg leans against stubby vegetation, presumably to keep him from falling over.
(e) He’s all over Florence. You can even buy running shorts that look like his lowers. Disgusting, yes, even for such a handsome guy. I wouldn’t have minded a shirt that looked like his upper torso, tho.
(f) He’s not circumcised, because Michelangelo used a Christian man for a model.
(g) No other statue I’ve seen shows hair anywhere other than the head.
8. Venice seems sad. Tourism is its only industry, which explains the old-fashioned clothes on gondoliers. (I just happened to be wearing a white- and dark blue-striped shirt when we arrived.) The population is in decline for a good reason, leaving many empty buildings. The only creatures I saw were humans, pigeons, dogs, a few seagulls, and a few insects. You’d think they wouldn’t bother with a Disney Store.
9. Ruins can be good for cats. For some reason, Rome had just discovered ruins not far below the street level. The excavation site had at least seven cats when we looked. They must love the shelter of sorts. Cats were otherwise scarce on the trip.
10. Italian music is hard to come by. You might come across the Vivaldi store or hear a concertina at a tourist-catered restaurant, but for the most part, you’re more likely to hear "The Land Down Under," "The Sound of Music," or (in the Jewish ghetto shop) "I Shot the Sheriff."
11. The Colosseum area doesn’t allow masks and costumes. I only wish I knew the story behind that prohibition.
12. Italian genius did not end with Guglielmo Marconi. Italian cooks know much better than Americans how to use fruit in meals. I tried several fun flavors of gelato not available in the U.S., making me wonder if I’d ever be satisfied with vanilla again. My favorites included green apple and some kind of carrot combo, although I couldn’t speak for the melon or kiwi. More importantly, on my adventurous last night in Italy, I ordered a pizza with gorgonzola, mozzarella, apple, and cinnamon. The whole family enjoyed it, altho the mozzarella was barely detectable.
Our trip consisted of 2-3 days each in Rome, Venice, and Florence, the rest of the time being in transit. Actually, we did leave Rome for a few hours to visit the Vatican. I had decided not to ask my folks about visiting religious stuff (recall that I’m not just the only Catholic but the only self-described Christian in the family), but there doesn’t seem to be much worth touring in these cities that doesn’t have a religious theme, whether a church, an art museum, or the Venice ghetto. That leaves the Colosseum; gondola rides (which we skipped); and elite stores like, you know, Versace.
There’s a fair amount of English around Italy in both writing and speech, but it definitely helps to know a close-ish romance language like Spanish. I have not learned enough Italian to construct a complete sentence, but at least I’ve finally determined how to pronounce things, aside from which syllable to accent in some cases.
We had been warned about the high risk of pickpockets, so my dad carried all our money in a pouch that hung, to my slight embarrassment, beneath the front of his pants. I didn’t think about it until he had to reach in when we paid.
At the Vatican, we did not see anyone famous like, you know, Versace. In Florence, however, we met a Hapsburg prince who runs a great restaurant called La Giostra. He loves his job too much to live like a typical prince. I hope to have his enthusiasm as an octogenarian.
After all the pizza and pasta with marinara I had in college, I didn’t expect I would eat so much of them again. Nor did I expect so much ice cream – or, as we gladly called it, gelato. Italy is great for food, even among the herbivorous. At the same time, I doubt any of us gained weight, because we did a lot of walking.
It is rare for me to want to see a place more than once, but the only one of these cities I probably wouldn’t visit again is Venice. Even that was worth one trip. We all had fun, although my sister came down with a cold in the last few days. At least she waited until after her birthday on the 13th.
My observations from the whole experience:
1. Virgin Atlantic rocks. There are so many ways to pass the time, and who would’ve expected a British airline to serve better food than an Italian one? On the plus side for Alitalia, it has the most amusing safety instruction video I’ve ever seen, and I don’t mean it ironically.
2. European train travel is cheap. In a country where most things cost more than they would in the U.S., accounting for euro values, how is it that trains are so much cheaper? I don’t know which nation’s train companies are smarter from a capitalist perspective.
3. Roman traffic is horrendous. Maybe that comes from the old streets being narrow, or maybe it comes from all roads leading to Rome. At any rate, we were glad not to have rented a car. On the other hand, few drivers paid any respect to the pedestrian traffic lights. Many places had no obvious crosswalks, so you had to be daring. At least there were a number of motorbikes and cute Smart Cars to balance the clunkers. It’s quite a contrast in Venice, where stairs on bridges prevent even bicycles from being practical. Florence, meanwhile, provides a very happy medium.
4. There must be an implicit honor code in effect. It would have been very easy for us to take the train with no tickets. On trains where someone actually checks for tickets, it appears that some people feign sleep until the taker leaves, which you’d think was the oldest trick in the book. There was also nothing to stop us from taking what appeared to be a luxury compartment, altho no one else did either. Finally, some places were surprisingly lax with security. I set off the metal detector (with my pocketed glasses, I think) at St. Peter’s Basilica, yet nobody paid me notice! Maybe I looked devoutly Catholic enough?
5. There are no fish in the Arno. What we saw of the river by day were two oily shades of brown. Meanwhile, the Venice canals, while equally fishless, were nowhere near as foul as I had anticipated.
6. The market for Renaissance-style masks is huge. I never thought so many similar mask vendors, both in stores and on the street, could stay in business within such proximity. It isn’t even restricted to Venice; you can buy them at train terminals. Many masks have a peculiar theme of sheet music, many show more than one face, and many depict felines. I was just thinking that I would have to get a fox mask if I saw it – when I did. Once I get a good photo scanned, you can expect to see a new avatar from me, vaguely similar to the one I have now.
7. There’s a lot I hadn’t noticed about the statue of David:
(a) I had always seen pictures of him from the same angle.
(b) His left hand holds the sling he used against Goliath.
(c) His right hand is a bit oversized, as a symbol of power.
(d) His right leg leans against stubby vegetation, presumably to keep him from falling over.
(e) He’s all over Florence. You can even buy running shorts that look like his lowers. Disgusting, yes, even for such a handsome guy. I wouldn’t have minded a shirt that looked like his upper torso, tho.
(f) He’s not circumcised, because Michelangelo used a Christian man for a model.
(g) No other statue I’ve seen shows hair anywhere other than the head.
8. Venice seems sad. Tourism is its only industry, which explains the old-fashioned clothes on gondoliers. (I just happened to be wearing a white- and dark blue-striped shirt when we arrived.) The population is in decline for a good reason, leaving many empty buildings. The only creatures I saw were humans, pigeons, dogs, a few seagulls, and a few insects. You’d think they wouldn’t bother with a Disney Store.
9. Ruins can be good for cats. For some reason, Rome had just discovered ruins not far below the street level. The excavation site had at least seven cats when we looked. They must love the shelter of sorts. Cats were otherwise scarce on the trip.
10. Italian music is hard to come by. You might come across the Vivaldi store or hear a concertina at a tourist-catered restaurant, but for the most part, you’re more likely to hear "The Land Down Under," "The Sound of Music," or (in the Jewish ghetto shop) "I Shot the Sheriff."
11. The Colosseum area doesn’t allow masks and costumes. I only wish I knew the story behind that prohibition.
12. Italian genius did not end with Guglielmo Marconi. Italian cooks know much better than Americans how to use fruit in meals. I tried several fun flavors of gelato not available in the U.S., making me wonder if I’d ever be satisfied with vanilla again. My favorites included green apple and some kind of carrot combo, although I couldn’t speak for the melon or kiwi. More importantly, on my adventurous last night in Italy, I ordered a pizza with gorgonzola, mozzarella, apple, and cinnamon. The whole family enjoyed it, altho the mozzarella was barely detectable.
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And as for the Colosseo, they don't allow costumes, because they're already running their racket with the soldiers posing for photographs, they don't want anyone cutting in on that.
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