beautiful day in florence

today has been a full, productive, beautiful, exhausting day

it began with a tour of the uffizi gallery...oops forgot the churc of s. remigio including the bancaddi chapel, then the palazzo vecchio, the basilica of santa croce and its leather works shop...waited 30 minutes for shop to open...didnt buy a thing...the museum bargello, basilica of san lorenzo and the san lorenzo market, the central-food-market...il duomo-THE cathedral here.

also teh chapel of the medicnis...the most beautiful dome seen thus far, the convent of san marco....fabulous frescos...one in each cell, the galleria dell accademia....including michalangelos david....

florence

florence is beautiful, relaxed, and certainly walkable...arrived by train from rome about 4 yesterday...found hostel within 20 minutes...yes...success

im in bed 247...with corresponding locker...top bunk...very clean sheets...so glad that the bed is in the corner...its been a while since ive slept in a bunk and not sure i could handle it...22 beds in the room...girl in next bunk...upper level...is from demark...completing 3 week tour

dropped bags and headed out...toured the palace apartments of the medici family...former rulers...opulence and more...the pitti palace...also hoe to the hapsburgs for 100 yrs and then the savoy family before the unification of italy...walked over several bridges back and forth and saw many sights which i plan to visit today

dinner was in the hostel kitchen...there is a supermarket next door...bought a container of lettuces, proscutto, cheese and a bottle of wine for 8 euro...enough for tonights meal as well...will need refill of wine

girls at next table had made sangria by boiling oranges and sugar as a base

was joined by francisco from paris...he had finished dinner with step'daughters...he gave great tips for paris later on

lessons learned
.supermarket dinners are great and cheap
.give the deposit for towels...while the rei compact one works...a real towel cant be beat
.this is a could have trip...not a should have trip..for example...i could have gone to pisa but chose not to...not should have

ciao


goal...learn how to upload all these freakin pictures

catacombs

with my ongoing fascination with death, funerals, cemetaries, etc...determined that i had tour catacombs. visited catacombs of saint callixtus...resting place of 16 popes. very interesting...went about 30 meters down into the ground...best tour ive had...they divided group according to languages...about 10 of us who spoke english...guide, maria...are all women here named maria...teacher from slovkia who guides on her holiday...was great...could tell she was a person of great faith and wove that in...death, resurrection, salvation....etc...

quote on the front of the brochure
if you look for it, you should know that here lie togetehr at rest a host of Gods friends. the sepulchers worther of veneration preserve the saint bodies, but he palace of heaven has carried off the chosen souls for itself.
pretty strong...

also, she gave us each a Bible vs upon departure...mine, from Psalm 86, 11...teach me your way o Lord, that i may walk in your truth...prophetic.

back, showered, and ready for journey to florence...decided not to go see the tower at pisa...with my luck, it might fall before i get there and since thats the only thing i want to see there, iàll just google it later. bye for now

rome continued

the vatican museum was very impressive...so glad that i sprung the extra 4 euro for teh guide who took us to the frontof the line...still 30 minute process...but much better than standing for hours in the line around the vatican wall in the sun no less

had pizza for lunch...lesson learned...sold by the weight...in kilograms...not by the slice

siesta time...trying to do this to recharge batteries eachday

then onto the castel st. angelo which was used as a castle, prison and place of refuge for the pope in case of an invasion during the middle ages...thenthe borghese gallery, colosseum and first metro ride. tried to getto the catacoms a priscilla...but they're closed a random month of the year...nothing on the website about closure...but they closed on the 27th...guess the nuns went to the beach without updating the website

Thursday, 7/29

started day at st peters...got there...recall it is only block away...at 630 for 7 am opening....was amongst first in the basilica...really felt like i had it to myself....the first in line for the trip to the top of the dome...with kyle...guy from california...here with 3 kids, wife and parents...he'd spent time growing up in kinston...dad was w/ dupont....he beat me to the top as he'd participated in a 50 story skyscraper race in philly...worth the effort but was drenched w sweat at end...then...firstin line for tomb tour....saw lots of dead popes graves including john pauls where 2 guards keep you moving

kept momentum upfortheday...toured forum and palintine hill, trevini fountain, parthenon, spance spteps, victor emmanuel monument...and went in lots of churches along the way

met great family from clemson...they gave me tips on the forum and p hill...i shared strategy for doing st peters without the waits i encountered

love the fountains throughout rome for drinking water...have saved tons of cash by not buying water all the time...lunch yesterday was a fruit cup at the camp fiorni market...saved cup for water in fountains as i had left my water bottle in the room

decided not to do the national museum...have seen enough statues and paintings for this portion of the journey

lessons learned>
.don't wear rainbows to the forum
.shampoo makes a great laundry detergent
.when the shower and toilet are in the same room, put the lid down before taking a shower to ensure a dry seat when you need it
.the vatican has its own post office, great for sending postcards
.climbing to one high point per city is sufficient...no need to do for example...st peters, victor emmanual and another i can't even remember
.learn public transporation on the front end...saves time and money
.don't unpack even if you're there for 3 days...still must repack

i've now worn everything in the backpack...maintaining good hygene...shaving daily...on vacation...shaving daily and not buying anything...where is rann

Rome

30 july 2010
day 7...can't believe a week has gone by...and that after 7 days not a single piece of silver, painting, souvenir for myself or others has been purchased...who is this guy i'm traveling with

where is rann

remember...folks...italian keyboard, punctuation simply isn't worth the effort

picking up from tuesday...attended opera highlights at an Episcopal church...`chiesa di `san `paolo `entrole `mura....no a/c but very enjoyable

back to hotel for cocktail in courtyard...water was 6.5 euro...jamesons, 5 euro.

Wednesday, 7/28
breakfast included and guess what...water...still or with gas...sparkling...included...that's better than grey goose at a cocktail party with open bar...they lost money on me

free at last free at last...left backpack and money belt in room...thankful for in room safe

forgot to tell you that ross-s cousin monica will ultimately be buried in same niche as her dad....they'll put his bones in a box in the back corner and put her in.

today...vatican museum tour...unbelievable....now about to be disconnected.. from internet...more in a few

milan to rome

honestly, milan didn't do a lot for me...climbed stairs to the top of il duomo, the city cathedral, first thing this morning...may have a good photo on the roof for the Christmas postcard...inside was very dark...galleria was pretty cool, as was shopping street, but you can get everything in the states and judy does call from brooks brothers when there is a sale!

also visited the castle of napoleon and tried to get into the church where da vinci-s last supper is...but alas no tickets available.

had a great lunch with view of the castle...nancy blankenship and haittie bowers would be proud....wrapped left over rolls in napkins for later consumption...times are tight you know.

my hotel in rome, hotel columbus, was once a papal palace and is literally 100 yds from st peters...great view...haven't been over yet...

i'd read that the bidet makes a wonderful washing machine...it does``!!! fill bidet with hot water, add tide, add clothes...rub a dub...take shower...in same room, 6 x 8 all open, while clothes soak, rinse body, rinse clothes, wring out clothes, dry body, hang clothes on luggage rack. time will tell results.

good night

Italy...first few days

because the keyboard is slightly different here..i'm going to pretty much murder punctuation...so i'm avoiding it-apologizing for it on the front end.

the flight to philadelphia was uneventful...met friend heather anderson when she arrived from rdu for weekend in philly...another friend i hadnt seen in quite a while, neil sherron was on board as well.

caught only a few shut eyes to frankfurt...sat with gabrielle, aka chatty cathy...who was either talking or getting up to go to the loo...nice lady...just non-stop chatter. forgot to empty water bottle in frankfurt and almost had to give it up, but convinced security guard to allow me to pour it into a bottle which had been discarded so that i could keep mine...sports bottle which i intend to use and save from buying bottled water on this journey

luftansa served a great cheese sandwich for bfast...something like pimento cheese but not as good as jimmy harris's

followed friend ross's directions to the train stations to get to stradella, near her family home with no problems...did mis-read track in volgosa
the stradella train station is about the size of the one in warren plains. the cell phone i borrowed from tim horne had gone dead...couldn't reach ross in italy or tim at home to get word to her that i had arrived. after about 2 hours of trying to figure this out, decided to take a taxi to what i thought was ross home. asked angelo, nice 65ish man about taxi, he offered to take me. so i jump in this tiny mercedes with angelo who speaks virtually no english and off we go to santa maria della versa...a village about the size of warrenton with stradella being like henderson for comparative purposes. then we follow signs to soriasco...kinda like macon or inez. i dont have a specific address or ross's grandmothers last name only that her name is mariarosa. we ask policeman and others...no luck. angelo leaves me in the car and walks up the hill as the streets are closed for a race. he comes back about 15 min later and tells me to get my back pack and to come with him. we walk about a block and a half where we see elizabeta, beta, who speaks good english. she says she knows several mariarosas...when i told her that her family had a wedding the day before, she said, she's five minutes from here walking...she asked me her granddaughters name, i said ross...she said we know ross...so off we go, giving angelo 20 euro for his trouble.

turns out we were just below the castle which i thought looked familiar from the picture i'd seen..we enter the courtyard and there is ross, her grandmother-maria rosa, aka nonna, cousins keiko and monica and monicas mother whose name i cannot recall. she couldn't believe that i had found her. obviously the big guy upstairs was looking out for me....hopefully He will continue to do so throughout this journey.

note to margaret britt...hesitated to write above after what you said about worrying about me...but i was safe and got to where i needed to go even though we didn't speak the same language and didn't know each other from adams house cat.

franchesco, aka jay, brother of ross, wanted to work on his english, so we walked about a mile or so up hill through the vineyards to watch the car race going on in the area...little cars...going fast...not like nascar...all at one time...but rather released and then timed at intervals...very interesting. we stopped at a neighborhood bar, guzzling water and having a glass of wine and a plate of salami and capo....something like proscutto.

jay lso took me next door to the castle to the little church...only 12 pews each side seating about 4 each...small people not fat ones...very beautiful church...their cousin, phillipo, son of keiko and monica was married there the day before to romena.

the castle was built in the 1100s...nonnas family, the faravellis, bout if from the marquis in the 14th century....it has been passed down, divied, sold off etc...as needed to present day. nonna and monica hold one corner and philippo has bought and redone an apartment...otherwise no family. thee. nonnas space was the original court chamber of the castle. the central room is about 20by 30 with 20 ft ceiling...huge fireplace and wall of stone. the kitchen and nonnas bedroom was the space the judge used for deliberation. my room is part of the original chapel...it was cut in half or less...monica and keiko have the other portion in their space. nonnas basement has vats for wine philippo makes...some holding up to 700 liters. we enjoyed a bottle last night with dinner and another today at lunch ...lunch wine you water down with sparkling water...cant get toasted at lunch you know.

while nonna usually prepares a big meal for the family on sunday, she was pooped after the big wedding saturday so we ordered pizzas and some dough bites which we stuffed with more salami, capo and lardo...lardo is kind of like fatback sliced real thin.

keiko makes salami and hangs in his cellar to age for a year...buys the pork from a friend who raises pigs.

nonna is 89...friend across the court yard ...amelia is 88. amelia's daughter ennis and her husband live in the castle complex, just outside of the main gate-entrance. we had coffee with ennis and amelia ...expresso really...in the afternoon. ennis, who looks like...no actually better than...sophia loren...brought us a torte...peach and pistachio for our dessert. amelia is also a beautiful lady...snow white hair...but everytime someone said her name i thought of the book amelia bedelia and how she pinned up the lady's hair with stick pins...so i was always smiling when i saw her.

finally bed at 1030...slept till 930 this am...no real jet lag.

today, monday, july 26...nonna let me wash clothes in washing machine...hung out to dry on her terrace. she made us lunch of a sauce with butter, fresh grape tomatoes, canned tomatoes...like diced...water, onion, then milk to keep the acid down...served over el dente linguii then next course of steak and salad...delicious...more of ennis's torte for dessert

the castle has a tower which appears to be 80 ft tall...occupied by the germans during the second world war...they put mines in the tower and nonna at the top...trying to destroy it so the americas couldn't use it to see far distances as they had...destroyed the roof...nonna survived and the tower with its walls 2 meters thick, stands today....she sold it to a duke...who didn't have his own tower, after the war.

also during this time, there was some horsing around in the courtyard and a man who had found a mine detonated it accidently...killing the girl in front of nonna and injuring her...she showed me a piece of shrapnel about 3 inches long with vicious edges which entered her chest just above and to the right of her heart...she also showed me the scar...this is one tough lady...then and now.

her husband, and monica's father also, were pows of the germans....surviving the war but dying a few years later, her husband in 1948.

ross and i went with monica to the cemetary to take flowers for her parents left over from the wedding...while we stick a red rose up on the altar to remember dead folks...they take the flowers to the dead folks...very appropriate i think. the cemetary was quite interesting...the favellis have a large space with room for drawers...like a masoleum...it is obviously well-tended. poor people are buried in the ground in the center courtyard. trees are planted in memory of those who died in the first world war in front of the complex with their names on them on brass plaques.

alexandra...pronounced alice-sandra, mother of ross, drove us to milan to her sister's house, keika...stopping in pavia to pick up jay...we met keika for dinner with friends and are now at her apartment for the night.

ross returns to nc tomorrow...i will spend the day in milan then onto rome.

Leaving today

I leave for the airport in about an hour...the bag is packed...and a bit lighter still...a good friend wisely advised that if I'm going to carry a backpack around and stay in hostels, a navy blazer isn't necessary. After traveling in the "uniform" for so many years...navy blazer, gray or khaki slacks, white shirt...I'm not sure that I will know how to board or if the airline will allow me to board the airplane!

Very good friends-recognizing that I've continued to slash my packing list to a "pair and a spare" of drawers...presented me with pair #3 last evening..."just in case." Good friends can do that...present you with underwear.

Watch out world, here I come!

Departing Saturday

I've always wanted to see Europe with a backpack. I leave Saturday, July 24 for 51 days with 27 pounds of "essentials" for this grand adventure. Destination: Milan. The first night is planned with my friend Ross and her family, about two hours outside of the city...then no concrete plans until the Passion Play in Germany, August 4-6. My parents, Macey and Vivian Paynter, along with Momma's older sister, Aunt Judith and Uncle Welton and hopefully another aunt, Louise, will meet me in Paris on September 4....where we'll go onto Normandy and then spend a few days in Paris, returning to Raleigh on September 12.

USAir will take me to Milan via Philadelphia and Frankfurt.

R