Sunset over Arezzo, as seen from the window of my hotel.

Arezzo-Venice-Padua

Three days after my hike in the Cinque Terra, I'm finally able to navigate stairs. I like to think that I'm in pretty decent shape, but my legs have been a mess! I've taken things fairly slowly the last few days. I arrived in Arezzo around 1:00 on Friday, planning to spend the afternoon before heading to Venice (and break up the long trip). I walked through the town, made it to the park at the top, and found myself wondering why I was rushing. Arezzo is stunning--ancient but clean, perched on a hill surrounded by rolling green hills and portions of an old roman aqueduct. The hostel I stayed in was in the middle of a huge, landscaped country estate. I was the only one there for the night (the place probably sleeps 200). The sunset over the town was a rich, deep purple.

Arezzo is known for its jewelry, of which there was little to see, and Pierro della Francesca's frescos in the Chiesa San Francesca, and yes, you should go to see them. The colors and the subject are vibrant. I visited several churches and the local museum, but what I enjoyed the most was wandering around the town and observing the buildings and the locals. Despite its age, Arezzo still feels like a real, living place. If you're in the area and have a car, I'm recommend using the town as a base to other cities in the area (Assisi is quite close).

I was worried that a day and a half in Venice wouldn't be enough, but frankly, I'm ready to leave. I found myself struggling to find reasons to like the town (I didn't like it on my last trip either), and finally gave myself permission to say that it's just not one of my favorite places. I visited the Galleria dell' Accademia (fantastic), the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (I'm not a huge fan of modern art, so it didn't do much for me), and the Galleria Ca'D'Oro Franchetti (not particularly interesting in and of itself, but the audioguide gave a useful history of Venice), and wandered for several hours through the various Piazzas and over bridges. Venice is dirty, massively crowded, and feels like it's just out to make a quick buck.

So, rather than continue feeling put out by the town, I took a detour this afternoon to Padua, a city I really do like. Like Arezzo, Padua feels like it's still real. The architecture is stunning, the people are friendly (there was a marathon through the city this afternoon, and I enjoyed watching the runners and their supporters cheering them on). I only visited a limited number of sites, including several churches; the majority of my afternoon was spent wandering and eating. I've been on a pizza kick for the last few days, mostly Pizze Napoletano, which has tomato sauce, cheese, capers, and anchovies. Today's was the best--they used slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella instead of the usual grated.

I'm off on a night train to Budapest soon--new culinary adventures await.

The Cinque Terra, seen from the hiking trail.

Cinque Terra

I stayed in Manarola, the second of the five towns. It's tiny and perched above the water. I was really expecting the Cinque Terra to be like the Amalfi Coast, but it's very different--much smaller, less touristy, much more remote in feeling (though actually a bit easier to get to). It's a must-see if you like hiking and pesto, but otherwise has very little to offer. Physically, the area looks a lot like Muir Woods once you leave the redwoods and get on the trail towards Stinson Beach.

I arrived around 6 pm, and met a lovely Australian girl on the way to the hostel. Michele is three weeks into a 6 month trip that culminates in Russia. The following morning we set off on the 5-city hike, adding on an inland detour between towns 2 and 3 because of landslides on the main trail. It's really nice to find someone at a similar fitness level and with the same pace--she was an excellent hiking partner. We wandered up hills, down hills, and through vineyards, with several gelato and snack breaks. The weather was perfect--sunny but with a bit of a breeze. We completed the entire round trip in just under 10 hours, including breaks. According to my guidebook, it was roughly 22 miles. Needless to say, I'm really sore and taking it easy today.

The food in Manarolo, while limited, was excellent. There are probably 6 restaurants in the entire town. Pesto is a local specialty, and it's just perfect--not to oily, lots of garlic, lots of cheese. I also drank a fair amount of the local white wine, which is quite sweet, almost a dessert wine.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Lunchtime at the Pantheon on Rome.

Rome-Assisi

I love Rome. It's a fascinating, layered city with tons of things to do. I had a negative and a positive side to my visit this time:

Negative: massive crowds because of the pope's passing and the election of the new pope.
Positive: Clint and Susan Baggerman (Clint is Lisa's brother) to tour with. Clint and Susan are both fascinating people with extremely interesting jobs at NASA--make sure you meet them on your next trip to Texas.

Looking over my notes, I'm having a bit of a hard time condensing Rome into a few paragraphs. Rather than bore you with the details (I saw over 20 churches, multiple monuments, and several museums), here are my top five from this trip (not in any particular order):

1. Bernini's elephant statue in the Piazza della Minerva.
2. Andrea Pozzo's ceiling in the Church of San Lorenzo. At the risk of pissing off a lot of people, I think this is better than the Sistine Chapel.
3. Basilic del San Clemente: 3 churches built on top of each other. This church conveys the history of Rome unlike any other.
4. The Catacombs of San Sebastiano: very informative, appropriately creepy. I also saw the Catacombs of San Callisto, but I think San Sebastiano is better (they have 3 roman burial temples converted to Christianity that are quite interesting to see). It's quite a hike to get out to the catacombs, but the journey allows you to see the original Appian Road, which is beautiful.
5. Bernini's statue of the Ecstacy of St. Teresa (can you tell I like Bernini?).

After leaving Rome, I headed to Assisi. It was yet another cold, rainy day, which never helps. Unlike in the southern parts of Italy, the people of Assisi were neither warm or welcoming. I definitely felt like a tourist, and have to say that I didn't really like the town. That said----the Basilica of St. Francis is THE MOST IMPRESSIVE AND BEAUTIFUL CHURCH I HAVE SEEN YET. Seriously. It's worth going way out of your way to see. There are three levels (crypt, two churches) and each is staggering in its own way. I preferred the middle level, which was covered with complex, brightly shaded frescos. The upper level was damaged in the 1997 earthquke, but the town has done an admirable job of restoring the art. The entire place does a great job of accomplishing its purpose--making one think about St. Francis and what he preached.

At 6:25 pm, the bells (every bell in town, which are quite numerous) started ringing. I was walking up the hill to dinner. After about 10 minutes, I realized that the bells had a purpose, and was able to watch the Italian news coverage of the election of the new pope from the restaurant I was in. Surprisingly, there was very little reaction on the street (or not surprisingly--the Italians did what we would do: turn on the television). I was happy to at least share the experience with the people in the restaurant.

I spent most of today traveling, with a quick detour into Pisa, which has a lot more than the famed tower. I was actually surprised by how short the tower is (although it definitely leans). I'll be in the Cinque Terra for the next two days.

Looking down on Positano (after climbing for over an hour).

Positano-Naples

There was a major landslide on Thursday (a rock went through two floors of a hotel, which was fortunately empty at the time), so the roads were closed north of Positano. Rather than spend another night in Positano, I decided to stay in Positano, in the hostel I found on my last trip. I arrived around five and wandered down to the town. The weather was absolutely perfect, the town almost completely empty (the pope's passing has had a major impact on tourism outside of rome). The landslide created a major traffic jam, so I was able to observe the locals out of their cars, chatting while they waited their turn out of the town. Positano is a really small town--I thought it interesting to note that it's similar to Herculeum in population (4000), geographic size, and function. Because it really caters to tourism, nearly everyone speaks English. I met Nario, who works in the local laundry, on the way up the hill. It seems that working in a laundry has its perks--you get to see the inside of every kitchen in town. He took me to his favorite for dinner, Il Mediterraneo. I had fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with salty ricotta, bruschetta, pasta with anchovies, fried calamari, and a few bites of steak. Possibly one of the best meals of my life.

I woke up early for what turned into a much longer hike than I had originally planned. I walked up the mountain, on stairs, for an hour and a half. Ouch. The view extended out to the horizon. It actually reminded me a bit of the north side of Kauai. I thought I was heading north, but somehow ended on an eastern path. After 4 hours and about 10 miles, I found myself near Sorrento, having crossed the entire Sorrentine peninsula. My legs still hurt, but it was a wonderful way to see the area, and the non-touristic towns.

I took the train back and met Nario for yet another hike, this time to the huge hole in the side of the mountain near Monte Pertuso. Getting there involved walking through people's yards and scrambling up a cliff--I was glad to have someone show me the way. I got some great pictures, which I'll post when I get back to Paris.

We ate another great dinner, this time in Monte Pertuso. The restaurant overlooked Positano, and grows all its own vegetables, raises pigs, sheep, and chickens, and makes its own wine and mandarin orange liquor. I ate a lot of vegetables and pasta. I definitely think the food gets better as you head south.

Today was spent traveling and in Naples. My prior trip to Naples wasn't great--it's big, dirty, and loud. I managed to get my sister and I completely lost, and we wandered for hours. This time I just took the subway, which was cheap, clean, and easy. The national archaeology museum is one of the best I've seen. I was expecting something on the scale of the archaeology museum in Mexico City (which would take 2 days to see completely), but this one was intimate, quickly seen, and full of spectacular sculpture and mosaics (including the famous erotic art from Pompeii, which just recently opened to the public in general and women in particular). The curators have spent a lot of time putting together overviews of the collections and time periods, in both Italian and English. I found the entire place very easy to understand and appreciate. It's definitely worth braving the city to visit.

I'll be in Rome for the next four days.

Herculeum, with the modern city in the background.

Siena-Herculeum-Sorrento-Capri

I arrived in Sorrento last night after a long day of very scenic traveling, and a detour to Herculeum (which I loved; I think I enjoyed it more than Pompeii. Much more manageable in size, but still packed with interesting art and architecture). I had wandered quickly through Siena the afternoon before. It was possibly the most beautiful city I've seen so far. I got a taste for it--and toured the Duomo--before heading to the hostel, which was in the middle of nowhere, 20 minutes by bus from the city. Fortunately, an UCSB student studying in the area told me which stop to get off at. I think I may return on the way north, but I'll need to find a more central place to stay.

The weather has dramatically improved, so I decided to stick with the original plan of going south. Upon arriving last night in Sorrento, I found a guy from Israel and a young student from Baltimore who had been in town for several weeks. We had dinner (ravioli stuffed with eggplant in a sausage and tomato sauce), a bottle of local wine, and some gelato, and then wandered the streets for a few hours. They took me to all of their favorite spots, from the fishermen's village to the village square to the castle hidden under a bridge. It was wonderful, the perfect way to see the city.

I spent four hours this morning hiking the eastern third of Capri. Despite the masses of tourists (nearly all over 60, traveling in packs, and either american or german), it was a truly magical place. The trails were paved, every view was spectacular. I made it to Villa Jovis, the natural arch in the mountain, and the Grotto of Matromania. The famous blue grotto was closed for the day, which gives me an excuse to come back to this area again someday.

I'm about to take the bus to Amalfi for two more days of hiking.

Dante's grave in Florence.

The central square of Verona.

Verona-Bologna-Florence

Today is my third, and last day in Florence. I realize that I have made comments in the past to many of you about how much I dislike Florence (I think "Italian Disneyland" might have been the term I used), but I'd like to officially change that opinion. My last trip here was spent either rushing around or in lines, and I've found it a major relief to not have to bother with the "A" level attractions. There are other museums than the Uffizi (I'll see three of them today), and certainly plenty more churches than Il Duomo.

I really hated how the city seemed overrun with tourists last time, but being here on my own now it seems like a bit of a plus. Americans certainly seem to travel a lot, particularly those from California and New York.

It is absolutely freezing here--bone-crushingly, wear-a-down-jacket-and-mittens sort of weather. My trip through Bologna was quite brief because of this--I climbed to the top of their famous Torre degli Asinelli, was pelted with hail, took cover in San Petronio chruch, inhailed a delicious bowl of pesto pasta, and ran for the train. It's hard to wander and appreciate the sites when you're a popsicle. I'm hoping for better weather soon, but am adjusting the itinerary a bit to let it warm up before I get to the Amalfi Coast. Today: Florence and Siena. Tomorrow: Siena to San Gigigamo, then either Florence for the night, Assisi (unlikely, it's pretty far out of the way and doesn't have cheap lodging), or Naples (I city I planned to skip, but the archaeology museum is sounding like something I should do before Paestum). I suppose it's nice to have options.

A few notes on the people I've been meeting: we Americans certainly are an outgoing group. I've found it incredibly easy to make casual acquaintances, something I'm not great at in real life. The majority of people in hostels, male and female, are traveling alone. Most so far seem to be quite a bit younger than me--I feel a bit old. I've met three Bay Area people, including Jennifer from Oakland who sends her best to Kendra.

Paris-Milan-Bergamo-Como-Verona

I made it safe and relatively sound (definitely tired) to Milan on Thursday at 7:10 am. By 7:25, I was at Il Duomo, wandering around in relative peace. Milan doesn't seem to wake before 8 am, making it hard to even find a cup of coffee, but allowing a nearly empty tour of the interior of the Duomo. It's huge and impressive, though I far preferred the roof tour, which gave a great view of the multiple layers of construction. My guidebooks mention that there are over 3000 statues on the building, which seems believable considering that each spire has about 8-12.

I next toured the Brera and Ambrosiana museums, which were excellent. My criteria: strong, interesting collection which a few recognizable pieces, ideally small enough to be completed in under two hours (before brain fatigue sets in). Both focused on religious art, and had small collections of 18th and 19th century works, including several by Francesco Hayez that I particularly liked. He's known for "The Kiss", but also did Whistler-esque society portraits. I liked the Ambrosiana the most, because they had a restoration area right in the center of one of the portrait galleries. It was interesting to watch the people work.

Lesson for the rest of the trip: leave the most important church for the end. I saw three or four others (San Alessandro being the most appealing), but they all paled in comparison to Il Duomo.

I planned a day for all of this, but finished up around 1 pm. The train to como wasn't scheduled to leave for 5 hours, so I spent the afternoon traveling to and around Bergamo. This was a lovely little walled town in the center of a larger modern one. It's know for the extremely baroque Capella Colleoni church (which is indeed quite ornate, to the point of being gawdy). I took a bus around the outer wall, then walked through the center. This town isn't necessarily worth the trip, but would be a great place to study abroad. I assume there are several schools in the town, gaging from the fact that nearly everyone I saw was under 25 and carrying a bookbag.

Two more hours on the train brought me to Como and a nice, quiet, and clean hostel. The town was covered in fog. My next trip to Como will be a better funded one; it seemed like a great place to enjoy with a healthy budget. The hills were covered with grand villas covering the hillside.

I'm nearing the end of my second day in Verona. While you could get through the major sites in a single day, the pace is slow here and I've enjoyed wandering the streets. I've seen 8 churches (my favorite being the one devoted to San Zeno, which was originally constructed around 806 A.D.), the Colliseum and Juliet's house (unremarkable), several roman ruins, a small museum, the view from the top of the Austrian military baracks, several bicycle shops (I spent most of the day with two nice young men from a town near Shasta who plan to bike from Verona to Rome, if they can find bikes), and a few other things. Verona isn't so much about the things in it as about the town itself--it's friendly, full of beautiful, old buildings, and quite atmospheric. The kind of place where it's okay to do nothing but be there.

I plan to eat something with a lot of cheese on it tonight, drink some of the excellent local wine (very light and fruity), head off to Bologna tomorrow morning, and make it to Florence by nightfall (note to future travelers: there are few direct trains between Verona and Florence; you have to plan on a detour to either Milan or Bologna).