See Me Now

As I update this blog for my upcoming trip to Ireland,  I wanted to preserve some of the original content from my 2009 trip to Italy.   Here is the map and itinerary for that trip.  Stay tuned for Ireland 2013!   2009 Italy Itinerary Sun Sept 6 - Rome Thu Sept 10 - Florence Sun Sept 13 - Monterosso al Mar Thu Sept 17 - Milan

One of my readers has persuaded me to share the embarrassing incidents I endured while traveling. I didn't write about them at the time because they were, well, embarrassing! But with the passage of days, the sting has faded so here goes: The Tour Guide Incident This one occurred at Vatican City when I was exiting the Sistine Chapel. My out-of-date Rick Steves guide book mentioned a door at the rear right of the chapel and said that if you go through that door, it will save you a lot of walking. The door has a sign on it that says it is only for tour groups but, Rick assured me, it is OK for individuals to pass through too. Well, when I found the door, I discovered a guard standing in front of it, and I did not have the moxie to push past him citing authority from Rick Steves. Instead, I decided to wait until a tour group assembled and then I'd walk through with them as if I were part of the group. This strategy worked beautifully, but only for a nanosecond. On the other...

I'm home now folks, exhausted but safe. I wrote the following on Satuday: -------------------------------------------------------------- So far, my exit strategy is proceeding as planned, but not without some anxious moments. After seeing The Last Supper this morning (see prior post), I walked back to my hotel, finished packing and checked out. On the way out the door, I re-checked the info I have on how to take the bus from Milano Centrale train station to Linate airport. It says that the bus runs da lunedi a venerdi . I know that lunedi is Monday, but suddenly, it dawned on me that I didn't know what day venerdi is, and it sounds a lot like the French word for Friday. I fished out my Italian phrase book and to my horror, confirmed that venerdi is Friday and oops, today is Saturday. Thus, according to the info I had, my plan to take the bus to the airport was no good. Still, I reasoned, people have to get to the airport somehow on Saturdays and the best chance of...

Viewing of Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper is carefully controlled, so as to maintain an environment conducive to its continued survival. Only a few people are allowed in at a time and you're unlikely to get in without an advance reservation. I had one for the first appointment of the day at 8:15, and they instruct you to show up 15 minutes early. This in itself is remarkable since, for the most part, nothing seems to happen or open in Italy before 9am. I left my hotel in plenty of time and walked the short distance to Santa Maria delle Grazie . Most everything was closed, but I found an open caffe near the church and got my morning standing cappuccino (I recently learned that the Italian word for caffe has two f's). I stood outside the Cenacolo Vinciano with other early tourists. At precisely 8am, the wood door retracted into the sidewalk, a startling high tech feature built into an ancient building. Inside, they were all efficiency, checking our reserv...

With my departure logistics seemingly resolved (see prior post), I set out to sight-see this morning. I overcame my duomo fatigue and toured Milan's Cathedral/Duomo dedicated to Maria Nascente. Although this structure is referred to as the Duomo, and it does have one, the dome is not obvious from the outside. You have to go inside to see it, which I did. Although the cathedral interior is huge, in my opinion it is the least impressive of the duomos from an artistic standpoint. However, as you can see from the photos, this cathedral is a Gothic cluster-you-know-what. It took several centuries to build and features hundreds of exterior sculptures carved by numerous European artists. There are also grotesque gargoyles all around the exterior – these serve as rainwater downspouts. The cathedral facade was cleaned in 2006, so the marble and concrete looks good for now. The building was constructed with stairway access to the roof so I climbed up. The close-up views of th...

GN: I made it to Milan with no trouble. The train ride was enjoyable and after arriving at Milano Centrale, I quickly figured out the metro and walking route to my hotel. BN: My hotel sucks. I have a room devoid of charm. There is a sink and bidet at the foot of the bed, a tiny shower with not enough water to get my hair wet, and a toilet/bathroom down the hall. GN: they have wi-fi access which I didn't discover until this morning. BN: I realized rather late that I had planned poorly for my Sunday departure. My plane leaves at 7am which means I need to be at the airport ~5:30 am and there is no way to get there that early except pay a taxi an exorbitant amount. Plus, I'd have to worry all night as to whether the taxi would really show up at 4:45 or whatever. I woke up off-and-on all night fretting about this. GN: I got online this morning and made a reservation at the Holiday Inn (thank you very much) near the airport. I'll spend Sat night there and tak...