Florence

On September 5th we traveled from Venice to Florence by train. We spent three nights in this beautiful city, and only saw a fraction of what we could have.

Fake David.

Inside the Uffizi Gallery.

Ponte Vecchio with view of the Vasarian corridor which leaves the Uffizi, runs above the shops on the bridge and leads to the Palazzo Pitti.

Looking down on one of the many street markets.

Indoor market off of the street above.

Duomo from the outside.

Inside the Cathedral. We took the stairs all the way up to the top of the Duomo. This is on the way up.

Christian in the stairs.

Ceiling inside the Duomo.

The scenes of life in the heavens were beautiful.

And the depictions of hell were horrifying.

I'm sure from the ground, the terror loses its effect somewhat.

Here we are at the top!

This experience was a major highlight for me. I was excited and on a high for the rest of the day.

I love the reflections in this shot.

We went a little camera crazy.

About to blow over the railing.

We also visited the History of Science museum which had an amazing collection of Scientific instruments used by Galileo and other famous minds. Christian stared at this clock for a very long time.

Some of the beautiful items on display.

The magic of science.

Rome

On September 8th, we traveled by train from Florence to Rome, and spent two nights there.

This one's for my mom. Apparently we descend from a family of ice-cream makers.

Lemons getting ready.

Olives getting ready.

Pomegranate getting ready.

Arch of Constantine outside the Colosseum.

The formerly glorious underground maze below the floor of the Colosseum.

Great public fountains, almost as good as Venice.

A lovely courtyard we invited ourselves into.

Mob of mopeds.

Crowd of tourists around the Trevi Fountain.

Outside the Pantheon.

Scary crowd of tourists storming into the Pantheon. We had to wait outside while a wedding ceremony finished up.

The very wealthy bride who was married in the Pantheon.

View of the Roman Forum.

Having a little rest. We did a ton of walking that day, but Christian did a little extra when our audio guide broke and he walked all the way through the Palatine hill to the entrance to get a new one. I had a snack... he's a gentleman.

Piece of an old temple that really gave us a sense of the scale of this grand old space.

Christian holding our daily gelato.

We sat and enjoyed pizza and gelato on these steps looking down at the Column of Trajan.

A really great space that focused on Trajan's forum, but also had many pieces from other forums in the city. It is called Mercati di Traiano Museo dei Fori Imperiali.

Enjoying the view of this ancient and modern space.

Student working on some sketches. I think they were architectural students working on projects. They were all over the place, and really made me think of my brother and dad.

Christian taking a breather from the museum.

The two of us eating up the experience of Rome.

Disgusting product that Christian wanted to try. Imagine a teeny weeny little drink box that tastes a little like coffee, but mostly like preservatives and fakeness. MMMMmmmmm. Part of it is still in our mini-fridge here in Greece, and I'm considering chucking it while Christian's mind is on his conference.

Veneto

From September 2-5, we stayed with a friend of Christian's named Tulia in a little town called St. Michael right next to Conegliano and just north of Venice. Tulia and her family welcomed us into their nearly finished bed & breakfast suite on the top floor of their house. We were incredibly spoiled with local wine, live music, and plate after plate of delicious food made from ingredients grown outside or on the neighbours' farms. Tulia also lived in Venice when she went to school there, and so we had an insider guided tour around.

This is Tulia and her mom at their lovely house.

This is their front room, complete with pizza oven, fireplace and enormous windows that look out on rolling hills and vineyards as far as the eye can see.

This is their dog Lilla (purple). She parks her two front paws like this inside the doorway, and that's as far as she's allowed to go (when Tulia's mom is looking). Christian had a great time running around in the yard with her. Apparently her favourite meals are small animals and local lizards.

Tulia's dad playing a baroque-style guitar from his collection. Tulia plays the harp and they have a band together.

View of the countryside in St. Michael.

An old mill we visited near Tulia's.

Near Tulia's at an old church.

Conegliano. We had a nice Spritz with Tulia around here before we left.

We climbed up a tower that looked out over the town in Conegliano. This is one of the views.

Venetian alley, on Tulia's tour.

A fancy gondola. A little too rich for our blood.

Tulia and Christian enjoying...

this view.

Many many store windows were stuffed full of these masks.

Had to be careful not to walk right off the edge.

Walking out into St. Mark's Square.

Bride on the loose in the square. It looked like a photo-shoot.

The best tasting water of the trip came from these fountains.

We even got to see the Venice Bienniale. This was VERY exciting, and perfectly set in the massive spaces of the arsenale - where ships used to be built. It only looks like he's drinking the installation.

I like this shot.

Tulia snapping away in the different coloured rooms. And Christian is smiling!

A great installation that made a starry universe out of many appliances and office machines in a very dark space with their power lights on.

Buddha's hand.

Whenever Christian gets his hands on string, he makes this design.

This one reminds me of the dancing we saw at a wedding in Germany.

Out in the sculpture garden.

You could get from one end of a long enclosed space to the other without touching the ground.

After the art we got on a waterbus. Our feet were just about to fall off.

Christian and Tulia having a well-deserved rest.

One last image of Venice.