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Travelog On Saturday, February 14th, 2009, my group and I boarded
a chartered van in Guilderland and headed south to Newark International
Airport. Our Alitalia plane departed at 5:40PM and we arrived in Rome,
Italy the next day at 8AM Italian time. Our connecting flight left Rome
at 9:30AM and we were in Florence an hour later.
After clearing customs,
we were met by a friendly, local driver who quickly got us to our hotel.
The Fenice Palace is a good hotel with a very friendly bilingual staff. It's located downtown just a block away from The Duomo, Florence's
renowned cathedral. My friend and Beatle Guide Glen Portch, apparently
enjoying a busman's holiday, met us in the lobby and stayed with us for
the entire tour. It was great to see Glen again and also quite handy to
have a professional tour guide with us!
We stayed at The Fenice Palace for three nights. Florence is an amazing city. It's known as the birthplace of The
Renaissance, a period of tremendous artistic and intellectual
achievement that took place from about 1300 until 1600. Some of the
greatest painters, sculptures and writers in history lived and worked in
Florence. A person could stay in Florence for a month and never run out
of things to do. Florence's Uffizi (pronounced you-FEET-zee) is a world
famous museum and gallery that features many of The Renaissance's finest
works of art. You would need a week to begin to appreciate everything
that the Uffizi has to offer. Michelangelo's iconic statue of David is
on display at The Accademia Gallery just a few blocks from the Ufizzi.
While we were based in Florence, many of us took day
trips through the region of Tuscany with destinations such as Pisa, San
Gimignano and Siena. I especially enjoy the quaint and beautiful village
of San Gimignano, a place where the buildings seem to change color as
the sun moves across the sky. If you love great food and red wine,
there's no better place to be than Italy. We sampled as many Tuscan
restaurants as possible. My favorite was a place called Vecchio Mercato. It was a short walk from our hotel and adjacent to a large central
outdoor market. The food was out of this world and the prices were very
reasonable. I could eat there once a week. Make that three times.
On Wednesday morning we were driven to Santa Maria
Novella train station where, after a brief delay, we boarded a train for
a 90 minute trip to Rome. Upon our arrival, like clockwork, our driver
was waiting for us on the platform and we were in The Hotel Diana lobby
within 30 minutes. Rome is a very big city and we only had two days to
spend there. So much Roma, so little timea. Even though this was my
third trip to Rome, the city never ceases to amaze me. As far as I'm
concerned, the Colosseum alone is worth a flight to Italy. Standing in
and around it, you can't help but feel the spirit of all the
citizens, soldiers, slaves and emperors that were there to witness and
take part in so many amazingly brutal events.
While touring The Vatican, we were literally overwhelmed
by St. Peter's Basilica and the incredible paintings created by
Michelangelo in The Sistine Chapel. Most of us also saw The Roman Forum
ruins, The Pantheon, St. Paul's Basilica, The Spanish Steps and The Trevi Fountain. On Wednesday evening, thanks to a suggestion from our
hotel desk clerk, a few of us made our way to a marvelous restaurant
called Ristorante La Pentolaccia. It was a little pricey but well worth
the Euros. This too was one of the best meals that I've ever had and
their wine list, like my thirst, seemed endless. After a lot more
sightseeing on Thursday, we gathered at Ristorante Il Tinello for our
farewell dinner. The food was served family style, the wine flowed freely and we
were entertained table side by a local acoustic trio. There was plenty
of laughing and toasting. It was a fun way to end another phenomenal
trip of a lifetime. I hope that I'm lucky enough to return many more
times.
Click here to see photos!
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