WOW a million times wow! 9-26-14 on the Reflection

[cruise kitty]

Hi, thanks for posting your review, looking forward to the rest!

[jamona2311]

Thanks everyone! So glad you're liking it and that it might help those of you pass the time until it's your turn to go 😊

Seems I can only get my pictures to post when I use the computer at work! :o lol

Luckily it's not a big deal and I will continue tomorrow :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Gran2five]

Love your review and your enthusiasm! We were in Venice a few years ago prior to a similar cruise. Thank you for bringing it all back - including lugging the luggage up and down the stairs!

 

Look forward to reading the rest.

[jamona2311]

Our two hour train ride got us to Florence around 9am. It was early but I emailed Hotel Annabella when I booked and they were more than happy to hold our luggage for us. The man behind the desk turned out to be Greek and found out my mom was Greek by her last name. Oh, he was sooooo excited. He was gushing over her, lol. I love when Greeks meet other Greeks, everyone is family! LOL

We headed over to the Central market. In my research it really sounded like a fun place, if you love food. Was it ever!!! I got tons of pasta, sauce mixes, truffle spreads, oil, cheese. Oh geeze I would have got some of everything if I could carry it home!!

 

We even had lunch here, soooo many options. We settled for some Ravioli with pesto, and fladbreads with melted cheese and prosscuitto, and of course cappuccino. Oh my, soooo good. I live in a small farm town now and boy do I miss the variety of good restaurants. Around here its all beef tips and gravy and packaged feta cheese. Blech.

 

Florence was my moms favorite until this trip. Once we got to SIcily she said to just leave her there! hha

Central Market and its goodies.....well maybe not octopus...

 

\\

 

Time for some lunch.....delicioso!

So many yummy things here. Can they just package it up and ship it all to my house??? We spent about an hour and a half here. It deffinatly could have been more! You name it they had it.

[jamona2311]

We had a Uffizzi tour scheduled with Art Viva at 1ish so we made our way in that direction, stopping at the Mercarto Nouvella for some leather shopping and to find the pig. Ok if you don’t know about the pig its like the Trevi fountain in Rome. Except you have to drop a couple of coins and rub his snout. Snout rubbed, leather acquired we walked over to plaza Vecchio.

Got a few shots of the sculptures in the outdoor sculpture garden, and of the outside David. Hmmmm I wondered how the original would compare. I still hadn’t learned to appreciate the David in my minds eye. But first on to the Uffizzi with another Brenda from Art Viva!

OMG she told us just a few weeks ago it became ok to take non flash photos in the Uffizi AND of the David!!!!!! Yes! Oh I was so excited!

 

On our walk to the Art Viva meeting place

 

A promise to come back?

Plazza Vecchio......

....And the sculptures next door

 

 

The Rape of the Sabines. A sculpture I was looking forward to seeing.

[jamona2311]

The Uffizi Gallery

Our guide, Brenda, for the Uffizi and the David. So young but so passionate and soooo full of information. She really made see the art fun on a whole new level. I wouldnt have wanted to do this without her.

 

 

Vassari corridore, used by the Medici to get from their home to Plazza Vecchio. Did you know you can book a tour of this? I didnt. Next time!

A Michelangelo. Brenda said it was a good example of the vibrancy in the color he used to do the Sisteen Chapel

[jamona2311]

Brenda was a wonderful guide! So passionate and really brings all the art to life. As she talked about them they became more beautiful. She also showed us that a lot of time the artist will put himself in the painting or use the woman that he loves in the painting too. Soooo sweet!! I think that would be an excellent way to win a girls heart. I mean all a guy has to do is sing to me and I turn into mush soooo to be immortalized in art would be the biggest compliment ever….ahemmmm….husband???? To bad he doesn’t read CC

There is also a lot of symbolism in art. I knew this but Im not usually the smartest card in the art deck so having it pointed out to me was fun. We also saw the door to the Medici corridor and it was open. Boy I really wanted to go in there. Brenda and I got talking about the Dan Brown book Inferno. I had started it right before we left. I have yet to finish it but maybe it will still be fun to read knowing that I have been to those cities

Moms old camera,( like I think it still had the roll of film in it went kaput on her. She was sooo upset, Oh I was gonna have to send all my pictures to her, She cant believe she wouldn’t be able to take anymore, oh noooo………Um mom, why don’t you just use your phone? Yay, best daughter ever goes to ME!!!! She was soooo relieved and it was so much easier and the pictures were much better. See sometimes , the daughter might be right, hhe.

Ok enuf picture of art. I dont want to ruin it all. If you guys really want I can make a link to my Snapfish account review pictures. I had picked way more than I can use here. I mean we'd never get done with this review! hha

This always make me giggle.

Off with her head! Medusas that is. Actually Ive always liked Medusa but I can be dark like that.

Ok on to the David tour. Again we had Brenda from Art Viva. She really loves this statue, she jokes about not understanding how he can be a 15 yo boy. Um yeah, I agree and shame on me for now having a crush on a 15 yo boy! Lol. I get it. He is handsome and strong and detailed in all the right places. He looks the confident hero at one angle and an unsure boy from another. Even in different light he takes on another look. All from an awkward piece of marble. Michelangelo, I stand in awe of you and your David.

Where David was originally supposed to go, but he was soooo amazing they put him in front of the Plazza Vecchio so all could admire him like he deserves.

A beautiful space built just for the David.

Looking no so sure of him self from this angle

Every tendon, muscle, ripple, perfectly defined. Michealangelo studdied cadavers to learn about the human body and it really shows in this sculpture.

 

[jamona2311]

 

 

 

 

Ugh now from all that walking and touring and learning, mom and I are famished again. Time to finally head back to the hotel and try to find dinner on the way.

San Lorenzo café looks good! Ok. Caprese salad, tortellini penna with prosciutto and some chianti sound good. All served up by a very handsome Italian boy who is adorable when he tries to speak English hha. Ooohh they have gelato too, we notice on the way out. Finally I get to try Chocolate and Nutella. Mmmmmmm.

The pasta was so good I ate it up before I could take a picture!

Its after dark when we finally check in to our hotel room. Talk about basically using a room to sleep! Hha. Greek boy hooked us up tho with a huge room and a balcony! Nice. Mom, in the traditional Italian woman way, did some laundry and hung it off the balcony to dry!

Our room was huge and so was the bathroom. We had a balcony and mom had a king bed and I a twin. Very nice.I told mom is probably because of her new Greek friend she made earlier..hehe Note : breakfast is not included here.

 

My mom, the typical Italian grandma

[jamona2311]

Wednesday September, 24

Good morning florence! Have our feet recovered from yesterdays walk around the city? Nope but were at it again! lol

Hotel Annabella charges for breakfast so nice Greek guy tells us about a good cafe around the block. Sounds good to us. Cappuccinos and chocolate croissants in our bellies and were off for yet another walk around the city.

This time to Rick Steves, Rennisance walk. Plus we hadent been over the the Ponte Vecchio yet. So we made our way over to the Duomo and the baptistry. I couldnt wait to get a look at those doors. Yesterday on our tour of David, we walked by this area( David was originally supposed to have been pearched way up on the roof of the Duomo) I noticed the Baptistry was coverd in scaffolding! I kinda got nervous. I knew I didnt have time to see the doors then but I did check to make sure the were still available for viewing. They were!! Yay!

Morning view from our hotel room balcony

Mom in an old elevator. I love these things! Most of our hotels actually started on the 4th floor so it was nice that they had the elevators no matter how small. hha

On our walk we saw the famous door that Michelangelo refered to as the Gates of Paradise.

Amazing. These are replicas, of course. the originals are in the Duomo museum and are made of bronze.

just wow!

[jamona2311]

How cool are they huh? And these are just replicas! We didnt have time to see the originals in the museum but still. Im glad Gibretti won!

We were able to get some better views of the Duomo this morning as it was early and not so many tourists were out yet. The colored marble is sooooo much prettier when you see it in person and the Duomo looks soooo much bigger and overwhelming. Im sad to say we didnt go in or get closer to the dome. So much adding up on my list for next time.

This place is more beautiful and more emence than I could ever capture in pictures. So much better in person.

 

 

I see you up there!!!

 

Moving on....statues in the facade of another church

Heading over to the Piazza della Signoria we again has far less crowded than the day before and were much more able to enjoy it. We even went inside of the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Fountain of Neptune

[AntjeG]

We even went inside of the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio.

 

Lovely review - thanks. Did you tour the Palazzo Vecchio? It is really worth it.

[jamona2311]

No unfortunatly we didnt have time to tour the Plazza Vecchio. Its deffinalty on my " Next Time" list now that Ive read Dan Browns "Inferno"!

[galliegirlie]

Looking forward to reading more about your trip of a lifetime.

[h20cruzer]

Would love to have the link to your snap fish account I would love to Look at all of your pictures thanks Norma

[keithm]

Ok before I even start posting my report/book, I should warn you!!! ITS LOOOOONG! Very long, possibly boring, a bit too much detail about too many things, too many pictures(?). Also, Im just a girl writing a trip report as fast as I can, so, I didn’t really watch grammar, punctuation , run on sentences, capitalization, any of that. I did use spell check when it was available to me.

 

I wrote this trip report all over the place. At work, on my kindle, when ever I had time I was working on it. I work a job and a half so free time is short. Once I was finally done it was like a puzzle putting all the documents in the right order so I could cut and paste them to CC. It’s a labor of love. One that I hope helps someone here on CC, a memoir for me and my mom, and hopefully a way to tell our story to our family and friends.

 

We were gone 18 days…theres a lot to say and I took over 3000 pictures ( not posting all 3000 silly...;) )

So if youre wondering if this review is the one youre looking for, this is where we went :

Venice- 2 nights

Florence- 1 night

Rome- 2 nights

Rome embarkation day

Messina

Day at Sea

Kusadasi

Athens

Mykonos

Rhodes

Santorini

Day at Sea

Naples

Disembark in Rome/ Fly home

 

Sounds good?? Ok come along and relive our trip of a life time with me.:D

 

PS If you could please dont "quote" a post with a bunch of pictures in it. I know its hard for others to read the review when this happens, especially if their computer is slow. Thanks and enjoy :):)

Nice to see you had a blast on your trip!

[General Max]

Jamona2311, thanks for the link. We visited Venice, Florence and Rome in October 2005 as part of an escorted Globus tour.

[jamona2311]

Hey General Max! Thanks for stopping by! I dont think we ever got a chance to meet :( I was really hoping to catch up with all the other Wisconsinites :D

[jamona2311]

Hi everyone! Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I sure did I think I was in a food coma for 4 days....maybe thats why I didnt work on my review?????

Nawww seems the only computer that will play nice is this one here at work, so, since Im back lets get back to it!! :D K????

[jamona2311]

 

You can go into the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio to a beautiful courtyard. There is no cost to do this. You only pay to tour the interior.

 

 

 

 

Comming out of the back of the "U" shaped Uffizi you come to the Arno river and get a perfect view of the Ponte Vecchio. Lets go that way, shall we?

From there we headed down the center court of the out side of the Uffizi gallery and to the Arno River, where we walked to the Ponte Vecchio. Again, as it was early alot of the jewelry shops were still closed and I swear they must just the same store front night covers that theyve had since the beginning. Made of wood and iron they are really cool looking.

We found the locks of the lovers. Apparenty its tradition to hang a padlock on the bridge and throw the key in the Arno river as a sign of eternal love but just dont let the authorities catch you.Apprently its not really allowed :/ hmmm

[jamona2311]

 

 

 

 

 

We walk back to the hotel by 10 or so. We have an 11:15 train to catch to Rome. I say thankyou to the Greek guy, he seems very excited that I decided to practice on him. Hmmmm I wonder if hes home sick.

[jamona2311]

 

The train station in Florence waiting for our train. We thought we had gotten good at figuring out the trains, maybe we thought too soon.....EEEK!

At the train station we get a snack and wait for our train.....they finally announce that it will be on track 11, so this is where we go.....unfortunatly we end up on the wrong train!!!!!

Of course I realize this when there is someone already sitting in our assigned seats! I try to get back to the end of the car. I know Im not being carefull not to smack people with my luggage. Mom was in the bathroom this whole time. I need to get to her and let her know were on the wrong train! By the time I do were pulling away! But ya know what......it was an express train to Rome, less stops. Ugh, at least well end up in the right place. I mean it could have been going to Milan or something! Yikes!!!

A little Italian countryside for ya.

We find some seats and explain to the ticket taker. Not sure how shes feeling about this, especially since were stitting in a better class. She says she'll be back but by the time we get to Rome, nothing was ever said...ok......

We decide to walk to our hotel, Nardizzi Americana. Bad idea. It wasnt that it was far it just seemed like it, since it was up hill, we got confused finding it and Im surprised we didnt loose a wheel on our luggage. It was rough! Whew! A gentleman from the hotel is waiting out side to tell people that the lift is broken and to show us to another working lift. He helps us get all of our luggage up to the fourth floor lobby of the hotel. Our room is ready and we check in.

We have a little time till our Colloseum tour so we do some laundry and get settled since we had a couple of nights here. I suggest taking a cab to the colloseum, but mom thinks you get the best of the city when you get to walk places. Ok, but I may need a cab later.....

On our walk we grab a late lunch and some.....cappuccino!!!!! Dont worry, we get plenty of water too. Since that first day at the Doges place when I forgot to bring water, Ive kept my water bottle with me.

Its a cool collapsible water bottle( think capri sun packaging) with a popup top on the end and a thingy that you can use to hang on the outside of your purse. We would just refill this at all the wonderful drinking water fountains. No not bubblers, or drinking fountains...for the most part, these were real decorative fountains that offered drinkable water spouts. So neat!

Back to the walk. I was hopping to come accross Saint Peter in Chains church but got confused and ended up in another one, Maria Maggiore, I think? well after that we were kinda running out of time and had to go right to the Collosseum.

Hello Roma!!!!! Bella Chaos right? hha

 

Our first view of the Colosseum. Not a super first impression. OMG did that change! hha

[tright]

I am loving your review. I hope there is still more to come. Hubby and I are thinking of taking the 2016 transatlantic from Rome with a pre cruise trip to Venice. The pictures are beautiful

[jamona2311]

WOW, this thing is ginormouse!!!! i knew it would be but like the David and everything else seeing it in person really takes your breath away. And its been through sooooo much!

I mean after its hey day, It was forgotten about, squatters lived there, they pillaged its marble to build other things like, St Peters. Even an earth quake toppled part of one side. Im soooo glad someone had the foresight to bring it back to life as an attraction. Its too amazing to be forgotten about. With another great guide we learned a lot about it, like that Spartacus was never there! lol Even tho in the movies it shows differently. He was dead and gone before the Colloseum was ever built and he wasnt even in Rome. He was actually closer to Naples.

I book this tour though the Colloseum tickets website. It was the Colloseum, Underground and Third ring tour. Again very reasonable with an amazing guide.

Waiting for the tour to start, I was already impressed with the magnitude of this place.

Another wow moment. Major camera clicking going on starting now! hha

 

 

 

Do you see Colloseum Kitty?? Oh yes I did take pictures of cats! My 20yo DD loves them.

[jamona2311]

The underground

 

All the way up to the third ring.

 

 

From the third ring we had some great views, especially of the Roman Forum. Wow it looked cool from way up there! Maybe we can see that next!. Its getting late and weve done a lot of walking....will we make it????? I also had the Rick Steves Heart of Rome Walk on our to do list......Well since the Heart of Rome walk started at Campo de Fiore and the Forum was in the way....lets do it!

The forum is really neat, but Im a sucker for ruins. I never get sick of them. I just really wish I had studied more about this since I really did enjoy it. The whole thing is really beautiful. Be careful tho and wear good shoes. It is really hard walking there, on very uneven stones and rocks.

Edited December 1, 2014 by jamona2311

[jamona2311]

Ooooh sorry about that last post having such small words. I forgot to make it bigger before I sent it off.:eek: