A slightly stressful departure today.

Evidently Air France and Delta are partners but not always on speaking terms; but we're on our way...

See ya PDX!

Our home away from home in Piazza Navona, Rome.

Coffee shop below, a pop-up in the evening (Mimi and Coco's). Thanks to Michaelo, a fellow Molisan for the free Pinot Gris, biscotti, limoncello, and watching out for the kids! Amazing. Nap time.

Day 1: Roma

After the long flight we arrived at our apartment and settled in. Day 1 was a mostly about getting our bearings. A little shopping for staples (water, soap, coffee, prosciutto, provolone, bread) and lots walking about: Piazza Navona, Campo Dei Fiore, Pantheon, Trevi (under restoration unfortunately). The neighborhood was jumping well into the AM but the apartment was quiet and cool.

View from atop the Vittoriano and inside the Colosseum

More views of the Colosseum and another from the Vittoriano

The end of day 2. An evening walk in Trastavere, along the Tiber riverbank, and by the Castle St. Angelo.

"Disdegna la Vita Comoda!" Eschew the comfortable life! (by riding a Ducati evidently)

(Nerd alert: I love the Nikon 50mm f1.4 I brought with me. Nighttime in the city, no tripod, low ISO, no problem!)

Ferragosto - the holiday of the Assumption.

We were led to believe that this was a 'shutdown' holiday and the city would not be busy. Not so in the historic center and ancient city.

We covered a lot of ground today - Vittoriano, Colosseum, Forum, Circus Maximus, and a HOHO (Hop On Hop Off) bus ride around St Peter's, Piazza del Popolo, Via Veneto, Borghese gardens, and a few others. We'll spend more time on foot in all of these places.

So far the HO HO pass and the Rome Pass (skipped the massive line at Colosseum, free museum entry, and free bus/metro access) have been worth it. The HOHO is a nice break when we're tired.

We did so much today that Cami woke from her nap, thought it was the next morning, and jumped in the shower!

The Forum on Palatine Hill offers a really great perspective of the Colosseum from Baberini's vineyard. And some views of Augustus' stadium and palace.

In the Galleria Borghese.

The sculptures really overshadow the paintings, IMO. Esp. the Bernini's with their fine hair and flowing fabrics. Although the ceilings are amazing. Again the Roma Pass paid off as the next available tickets were for Tuesday but they let us right in. Much to the dismay of the gentleman in line next to us who proceeded to lose his you-know-what...

Piazza de Popolo.

The Caravaggio's in Santa Maria de Popolo are amazing: The Conversion of Saul on the Road to Damascus and the Crucifixion of St. Peter.

What a long day 3! (20,500 steps according to Nike)

It started at the Roman Forum again, with Cami's great suggestion to head to Palatine hill and see some of the unusual views and ruins. From the Forum we headed to Villa Borghese and toured the Gallery's amazing Bernini sculptures. With stops at the Spanish Steps and Piazza de Popolo we finally made it home for some downtime before heading back to Castle St Angelo for a nighttime behind the scenes tour and concert. Dinner at 11PM and back to the apartment!

The Spanish Steps

(In what turned out to be the summer of fountain restoration in Rome...)

Cappuccino and Capuchens

Walking around Piazza Barberini and Via Veneto and we stopped in at the museum and crypt of the Capuchen monks. Never seen anything like it. No cameras allowed unfortunately.

Chiesa Nuova

Stopped in on mass at this church right in our neighborhood. Walked passed it 25 times before I decided to stick my head in. Amazing. Another Caravaggio: The Entombment of Christ.

Strolling past St. Peter's square to see the lines we would get to skip the next day!

Day 4 was a bit slower paced...

Some morning cappuccinos, a walk around St. Peter's Square, and a bus ride over to Piazza Barberini and Via Veneto. Visiting the museum of the Capuchen monks was very interesting. A visit to our favorite gelateria, the Frigidarium, was followed by a little lounging. We stumbled upon a good restaurant nearby (il Corallo) and headed back to pack for Bologna tomorrow after our Vatican visit. It has been fun to make friends with some of the locals in just a few short days. We will miss chatting with Michaelo across the street and Rogi down at the cafe. And don't forget Ettore the puppy...

Navona at Dusk... we loved staying nearby

A view of the Basilica from the Vatican Gardens and a shot of the Gardens themselves.

The Papal apartment (pre-Francis) is the tall structure on the right. Pope Francis lives down the hill in something more humble. A view of one of the ceilings in the apartments.

Among all the pagan sculpture in the Vatican, this one struck me in particular. Laocoon was a priest of Apollo who foresaw the Trojan trickery at Troy and warned Aeneas. Poseidon and Athena, partial to the Greeks, sent two sea serpents to kill Laocoon and his two sons. Aeneas heeded Laocoon's warning, fled Troy, and eventually founded Rome.

Michelangelo's Pieta

The baptism of Constantine, by Raphael.

Raphael painted Michelangelo into this fresco as the 'melancholy who slept with his boots on'...

Bernini's alter of St. Peter

Day 5: Vatican and Bologna

Today was all about the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. We spend 4 hours with a tour guide and visited many aspects of the Vatican compound, the museum, Sistine Chapel, and Basilica. Amazing. I think the kids enjoyed it as much as we did. A little lunch, packing, and off to Roma Termini for our Frecciarossa high speed train to Bologna. Great transportation. I was the only one to venture out this evening. Bologna is definitely different from Rome - younger, edgier, and not as frenetic. Can't wait to explore more of the city.

24 miles of porticos in Bologna!

We had a nice breakfast but were delayed by a shower drain that didn't. Missed our train to Modena. The next 'ordinary' train would arrive after our scheduled shuttle bus to Maranello and Ferrari. We had to pay up for the extra-ordinary train and made it with seconds to spare.

Damon reaches Mecca

Damon taking the pit crew challenge and the only proof that we got to see the Ferrari factory and Fiorano test track as no pictures were allowed once on the bus. We did see a camouflaged prototype and some WIP cars.

Some of the sights of Bologna.

The architecture is fantastic. Who knew there were canals in Bologna? Nicholas Ark's Lamentation Over the Dead Christ (1463), found in the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita is unbelievable. There are indeed two leaning towers in Bologna. It is believed there were over 180 towers in the city at the turn of the 12th-13th century. Piazza Maggiore is bursting with students, locals, and performers. A very different vibe from Rome. We even found 3 book stores and 2 vinyl record stores today.

Our awesome dinner at Biassanot.

Antipasti verdure, antipasti della casa, tortellini in brodo, tortellini in red sauce, tagliatelle ragu, fillet, and a great house Sangiovese. Cristina saw us drinking the tortellini broth from the bowl and gave us the youtube link to her recipe - but no broth! MAGNÈR A BULÅGGNA (Còt e magnè) - Terza Puntata: i Tortellini

The Bologna museum of archeology.

Great collection. Kids found it very interesting. Sad that the Italian govt. can only afford to open the museums for half days. Some open 9-1 and others open 2-7.

Day 6 reflections: Bologna

Today was about old and new. New Ferraris and old towers. New books and old records. New shops under old porticoes. New students and old neighborhoods. Bologna is really interesting. Refreshing in the slower pace and lack of overt tourism as compared to Rome. A little harder to explore and appreciate after how Rome’s treasures are just laid out in front of you. Looking forward to more exploring tomorrow along with a little of the Emilia Romagna countryside and (hopefully) a laundromat.

Day 7: Modena

Since we figured out the train system through our misadventures yesterday, we decided to rent a car today. Lesson 1: rental cars in Italy don’t always include air in the tires. Or spares. Luckily we caught it before leaving the lot but it made us a little late to Lamborghini. Lesson 2: once you leave the rail corridor and big cities few people speak English and many things are closed in August. Luckily everyone is helpful and nice and smiles patiently.

Lamborghini

Lamborghini was phenomenal. Like a family business compared to Ferrari yesterday. This factory tour actually took us onto the factory floor where the new Huracan is entering production and the Aventador is in production. We walked the floor, watched some testing, visited the interior shop, and had access to pretty much everything. Which is probably why they locked up our bags and cameras and phones before we entered. Dad spent more than D in the gift shop. We know where our first spare $200,000 is going...

Villa Donnino

They have been producing traditional balsamic vinegar outside Modena for more than 100 years. Seems like a simple process with some tweaks to the recipe from each of the consortium producers in the region. Can only use lambrusco or trebbiano grapes. Can only use 4 or 5 species of wood barrels. The grape juice is cooked for 24 hours then stored until fall/winter when it is put in a set of open barrels for aging. Every year each barrel is topped off from the next bigger barrel with new juice added to the biggest barrel. Product is aged 12 or 25 years. San Donnino has a barrel set that was started 100 years ago...all very tasty.

A view of the Mercato at night.

Great to just snack on the vendors' offerings. Damon made a new friend at one stand. And there's an unbelievable amount of proscuitto hanging around the city.

Day 7 reflections: Bologna

While it seems like we have been gone longer than 7 days, we're just getting ready to move on from Bologna to Venice. We all agree we could use more time here. And I think visiting Bologna other than in August is a must to get the full experience. We hope to have a few hours of sightseeing in the morning before heading off to the train station for Venice. Today's highlights were definitely Lamborghini, Villa San Donnino, and laundry!

Welcome to Venice!

What a cool city. Sure we’ve seen it 100 times on TV but it’s still so unique when you see it in person. Just a short 1.5 hour train ride from Bologna. Lots of exploring to do! Very crowded by St. Mark's. Better space and less crazy across the canal in the Dorsoduro section of the city.

Day 8: Bologna to Venice

It is beautiful here. And different. That said, what we have seen so far is very touristy and crowded. Our first expensive but so-so dinner since landing in Italy. Jim’s hotel recommendation, Hotel Flora, turned out great. We hit the basilica and doge’s palace in the morning. One example of the crows...€80 for a 30 minute ride before 6pm. €100 after. And so many boats it looks like the small world ride at Disney.Good night!

Some more shots of Venice from our wanderings.

It has been a lot more fun wandering the back streets and canals than it has been fighting the crowds close to St. Marco’s and the grand canal. The cichetti - Venitian street food or tapas is also pretty darn good. Lunch was several plates full of various samples and a few glasses of Prosecco (for the grown ups).

In front of and behind the scenes at Palazzo Ducate, the Doge's palace.

The chamber of the council of 10; one of the torture rooms; a view looking out from the bridge of sighs, and the view out of Giacomo Casanova's cell at the palace. Didn't know he did time...

A few shots of St. Mark’s basilica.

While an amazingly beautiful structure, it was a little discouraging after the ‘all access pass’ one gets to the chiese in Rome and Bologna to have to pay 3 Euros for this chapel and 5 Euros for that chapel and 5 Euros for the terrace, etc.

Free limoncello with dessert should be a universal right...

Day 9: Venice

A full day today. We started at St. Mark's, toured the Doge's palace, visited the naval history museum. Walked the waterfront, explored some shops, and had a great dinner by the Academia bridge and Campo Santo Stefano. Venice definitely shines in the alleys and back streets. The grand canal and main sites just make you grumpy.

The day started out wet but we made the best of it with a tour of the Peggy Guggenheim collection and some people watching from the relative dryness of a cafe. Pollock, Warhol, Kandinsky, Ernst, Picasso. Impressive, even if none of us quite ‘get it’.

We crashed at the hotel for a bit before catching our train to MIlan, arriving around 9PM. Just one day in Milan before catching the TGV to Paris on Monday.

Ciao Venezia!

Right up there with touring factories is train travel, IMO...

Touring the Duomo.

Much more Gothic in style although given the time to construct it (600 years) it is actually a mix of styles.

The marble used is particularly soft and has darkened over the years. They have just figured out how to clean it in the last few years. Very different in that respect from St. Peter's or St. Mark's. The Duomo is owned by a private company and is declared to be a 'local landmark' so no federal funds are spent on the site. The red light high in the cathedral marks a vault said to contain one of the spikes used to crucify Jesus.

Statue of St. Bartholomew in the Duomo. He was skinned alive and is depicted by Michelangelo in the Last Judgement as well. He is draped in his skin.

Walking the Brera district and the Vittorio Emanuele shops connecting the Duomo to La Scala.

"Milan's Living Room."

Very high end shopping. Also one of the first uses of steel in architecture (pre-Eiffel tower).

Public reaction was decidedly negative and the architect committed suicide by falling to his death in the days before the grand opening.

The Milanese people believed that they could turn this misfortune into good luck by putting their heel on the spot where the architect supposedly landed and spinning in a circle one time for one year of good luck.

Castle Sforza

The site of Leonardo's Last Supper in the refractory of Santa Maria Della Grazie.

Commissioned by Ludovica Sforza. No pictures are allowed so the shot above is of the copy in the lobby. I think we were all moved by the contrast of such a wonderful work of art in fairly humble and plain surroundings. Very impressive and a highlight of our trip so far.

Day 11: Ciao Italia

Today was our last day in Italy. We leave for Paris is the morning. It was a full day of touring (and walking). Castle Sforza, Navigli, Duomo, Brera, the Last Supper, Milan is pretty accessible for a city of 1.3M people. That said, much of the history, art, and architecture is hidden in cloisters and courtyards around the city rather than out on public display. It was also severely damaged in WWII and rebuilt, losing much of it's original style. Still, we enjoyed our 24 hours in Milan. Next stop Paris!