Firenze 2006-2007: Break Part 2

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Break Part 2

So, after the 16+ hours on the train, I made it into Milan. I had enough time to check the incoming train times from Zurich before getting some lunch and meeting the next one- which Mammy and Pappy were actually on. After meeting them, we stored our luggage in the station and headed to the metro station and the center of town. I left them at Piazza Duomo and headed to make my appointment for the Last Supper in a chapel a little ways away. I got there and paid my ticket, and then went through what seemed like very elaborate security to see a fresco before getting to go inside the chapel. Only 25 people are allowed in the chapel at a time, so the chapel that was about 100 yards long and 10 wide seemed very empty. This was partly due to the fact that the Last Supper is one of only two works in the chapel, the rest is just white washed walls. The Last Supper itself was much bigger than I’d pictured it. It was about 30 feet wide and about 15 feet tall. Even though it had just been restored several years ago, it did not seem to be in that great a shape. The work was amazing, but the color fading and parts wanted to fall off and seemed to be just hanging on. The sense that this work was not long for this world was heightened by the fact that there was some sort of machine in the corner that regulated the temperature and humidity in the room. All in all, it was great to finally see and wonder about all the characters and see what the Da Vinci Code was talking about. After my fifteen minutes of time in the chapel was up, I headed back to meet Mammy and Pappy at the duomo. From there, we went back to the piazza stazione and had some dinner before getting on a bus up to Malpensa to meet dad and Stephen. We made it up there in plenty of time to meet their flight, but it was late getting in, so we had to wait a bit for them to finally get through security and customs, etc. We then had to wait a while for our hotel bus to pick us up, which it finally did and we were on our way to the hotel. It was off to bed pretty much immediately after that, as we were trying to head out fairly early the next day.
The next morning, we got breakfast at the hotel and then headed back to the airport to pick up our “azzurro settimo cielo” (Seventh heaven blue) Fiat Multipla. We piled in and headed in the direction of Torino- East South East from Milan. We got there in good time and drove through a bit of the city, not really wanting to get into the heart of the city and all the traffic there. We then headed to Cueneo, South from there. From there, it was onto the coast of Liguria near the French border. We stayed in a small town between Ventimiglia and San Remo that night on the beach. We had a pizza dinner at a little restaurant and then walked along the beach a bit before heading to bed.
Next morning, same story- breakfast at the hotel and then in the car. We crossed the border into France, drove along the coast through Menton, Nice, and then stopped in Monte Carlo, Monaco. We walked through a Christmas Market near the port and had lunch there before getting back in the car and heading to Avignon. We got to Avignon in the late afternoon and headed to the old city and the former Papal residence to look around a bit before it got dark. We saw the enormous castle that was elaborately decorated and designed where 9 Popes lived. From there, we headed down the street to the Christmas market there that we walked around for a while before getting back in the car and heading to find a hotel. We went a little ways out of the center of the city and found the hotel Ibis and checked in there for the night. Then, it was off to find dinner- we ended up at a cafeteria in the mall which wasn’t that bad. After the simple dinner, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next morning, we went back to the Papal castle and went inside. We looked through the numerous chapels, halls, and rooms- not to mention courtyards and gardens that they showed on the tour. After several hours, we headed back down to the Christmas market and then back out of town. We left Avignon and headed along some small roads and stopped at the Pont du Gard, a UNESCO World Heritage sight, we’d end up seeing quite a few of them. We walked around the Roman aqueduct and up the river a bit before continuing in the car. The destination for tonight was Andorra, and it looked like it would be fairly easy to get to. Well, the map didn’t really show mountains, or fog, or snow. We drove through the Pyrenees which took quite a while. We stopped in a small town near the France-Andorra border for dinner before heading onto Andorra. We stopped for the night at one of the first hotels we saw after the border and spent the night there.
We drove through the entire country of Andorra in about 20 minutes the next morning, with a stop in Andorra le Ville, the capital. We looked around at the various landmark looking buildings there and walked down a fairly nice shopping street before heading on our way. Next stop was Montserrat and Spain. We hit the Spanish border almost immediately after leaving Andorra le Ville and were then on our way to Montserrat, North West of Barcelona. We stopped off in Cardona to see about staying in the Parador there, but it was full so we headed onto Montserrat and got there in the late afternoon. We took the train from the base of the mountain up to the monastery and looked around there- at the church that houses a statue of the Madonna and Child that was supposedly made by Luke. After looking around the church and enjoying the view from the top of the mountain, we headed back to the car and on our way- to Zaragosa. We stopped off in Lledira for dinner, or we tried to. Basically, it was an hour or so of us driving around the city looking either for parking or for a restaurant. We didn’t find anything, so we headed out in the direction of Zaragosa, but got lost coming out of the city, so that took a while longer. Finally, we were back on the highway to Zaragosa and on our way, but hungry. We got to Zaragosa and found another hotel Ibis. We stopped there for the night and got a pizza from their restaurant before going to bed after a really long day.
Next day, we saw the Cathedral in Zaragosa, as well as the Moorish palace there that is now a regional government building. Before heading back out of the town and North. From Zaragosa it was onto Bilbao on the Northern coast of Spain. We drove most of the day and got to Bilbao fairly late and after eating dinner at the Carrefour near the hotel we headed to find the Guggenheim. We got there parked and walked around the building and across the river to get a look at the pretty outrageous looking museum. We noticed a playground, so Stephen and I went there and climbed around all the ropes and military style nets that they had before heading back to the hotel to go to bed.
We actually went inside the Guggenheim the next morning, and wow. I wish I had those several hours of my life back. There is something about modern art that I either don’t get or that just doesn’t agree with me cause I didn’t find anything in there all that impressive. There was some kinda interesting stuff from African artists I’d never heard of, but for the most part, the building was much cooler than the museum itself. When we finally we able to leave that place, we ate lunch at the restaurant attached to the museum which was not bad. I got lamb and some fishy sushi like dish. Then, it was back into the car and on our way West. We drove most of the afternoon and ended up in Cudillero at a hotel off the highway.
Next day, we drove most of the morning, stopping off at a beach town near Santiago de Compostela before actually heading into the city. After that short stop we went into the city and headed for the cathedral there, a traditional place for pilgrimages for European Catholics. St. James is supposedly buried in the cathedral which is pretty neat and well decorated. After looking at the church for a bit we walked around the rest of the old town before heading back to the car and going on our way South down the Western Coast of Spain. We stopped for the night in Marin, a town near the beach once again.
We stopped off at another beach on our way to Portugal- this one seemed to be like rocky rolling planes that just kinda ended in the ocean. It was kinda weird scenery, but nice and a fun place to get out and hike around for a while. After that, it was on into Portugal. We drove South and after eating lunch, we were in Porto about mid-afternoon. We checked into the hotel Ibis and looked around there for a bit before heading into the city on the tram. We saw the cathedral and the main town squares there, as well as some nice view points that looked across the hilly city before heading back in the direction of the hotel and dinner at the mall attached to it.
We looked around Porto a bit that next morning- this time down near the waterfront and some more of the old city before getting back in the car and heading south to the capital city of Portugal. We got into Lisbon about midday on the 23rd. We found our hotel without too much trouble considering the size of Lisbon. We checked in and went out in search of the center of the city. We walked through some huge and traffic congested piazzas and down a large tree lined street before getting to the center of Lisbon. We walked through the main piazzas there and looked up at the castle sitting atop a hill overlooking the city before heading down to the water. We saw the large square there and watched the sunset at over the water there before heading back in the direction of the hotel. Stephen and I walked and looked through several shops while Dad, Mammy, and Pappy took the metro back. We ended up beating them back because of crowded trains etc. We all rested at the hotel a bit before heading down the street for dinner. We went to a restaurant that served Frango, like the Chicken Place in Arnhem. It was pretty much the same food, and just as good. Fries, Chicken and other side dishes. I was great, and after eating our late dinner, we headed back to the hotel to watch some CNN before going to bed. We woke up late on the 24th and after a relaxed breakfast in the hotel, we headed to the center of the city once again. This time, we went up to a view point, looked around there, and then walked around an old neighborhood atop a hill over looking Lisbon across the city from the castle. We found a Subway up there so decided to eat lunch before heading out along the water to neighborhood along the port. We saw a monument along the water dedicated to explorers, saw another UNESCO World Heritage sight and a memorial to Portugese soldiers before heading back to the hotel as it was getting fairly late and it was Christmas eve. We tried to find a place to eat dinner, but even the Mc Donalds and Pizza Hut were closed, so we stopped in a grocery store and got some sandwich stuff which we ate back in the room while watching EuroSport and CNN. We went to bed early that night and got up early on Christmas day with a long couple days of driving in front of us.
On Christmas day, we drove from Lisbon across Portugal and half of Spain to Madrid. The next morning we took Mammy and Pappy to the airport and then headed on our way back to Florence. We drove from Madrid back up through Zaragosa and north of Barcelona before getting to the French border. We then headed back across Southern France, stopping in Aix de Provence for the night. The next morning, we got up early again and headed to Florence through the rest of France and down along the Italian coast through Genova, Lucca, and then finally Florence. That ends the second part of my break. I’ve got two parts left, but each are shorter than the two I’ve already written about. The break is more than half over now and I’m back in Florence to regroup.