Italy – Habitual Travelers

Rome, Italy September 14-15, 2016

September 21, 2016November 5, 2016Posted in Europe, Italy3 Comments

Rome

Twenty-seven years ago we drove our rental car into Rome with the kids hanging out of the windows. We had maps that were worthless. To find our way to the Vatican we would ask the drivers stuck in traffic with us: Vaticano???? And we would point in all directions. They would respond by pointing and we would follow. After multiple repeats of that technique we eventually drove down the Via that ran directly into the Piazza San Pietro the Basilica di San Pietro and the Cappella Sistina.

This time we took a 20-minute taxi ride from our hotel.

Our Hotel: The Gran Melia Hotel, which is on the Vatican side of the Tiber River.

The history and treasures contained in and around the Vatican are amazing. We hired a guide (Alessio), for 3 hours.

For 14 years the Cappella Sistina had scaffolding inside while they cleaned and repaired the frescos of Michelangelo. All renovation is complete and the colors and contrasts are bright. They no longer allow photos to be taken inside the chapel, so no photos to show.

Michelangelo was first and foremost a sculptor. His renderings of the human body wonderfully display his three dimensional understanding of the human form.

The nude paintings offended many of his time and generations since. During the 1800s the Pope had drapes covering the nudity. All drapes were removed during the recent renovations.

At the time Michelangelo was painting the final judgement in the Sistine Chapel, an official of the Vatican complained loudly to the Pope about the nudity depicted. It aggravated Michelangelo and as a result he got even with the official by painting the his face into the painting with him shown in hell with donkey ears. The offended official complained to the Pope but the Pope reportedly replied that he had no authority to interfere in Hell and allowed the painting to remain as painted.

Photos in and around the Vatican City. There seems to be a fountain in front of every important building and square.

The Map room.

Inside St. Peters Basilica.

In the Museum.

In the evening we hired another guide, (Riccardo) to take us around the main attractions by night. We went to a hilltop for a full view of Rome and then to the Pantheon, Forum, Coliseum, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and by the Villa Borghesa.

Drinking from fresh water fountains from the aquaducts.

The Coliseum.

View of Rome.

Of course we stopped for Gelato.

Italy and the Dolomites August 27-29, 2012

September 13, 2012November 5, 2016Posted in Europe, Italy2 Comments

Dubrovnik to Milan was a two hour flight. (EasyJet). We rented a car in Milan and started our journey to the Dolomites. We stopped near Verona to stay for a night.

Palazzo Arzaga is one of our favorite places to stay. Scott took the boys there on a BMW driving and golfing trip in 1999 when they first opened it to the public. Scott and I went back in 2002. It was an old private residence (palace) built in the 1600’s and turned into a golf/spa/hotel in 1999. There are amazing frescos on the walls and the architecture on the interior has thick walls with marble carvings. We played 9 holes of golf the day we got there, then had a couple of great massages.

Beautiful Frescos on the walls and in some of the rooms

Lounging by the beautiful pool

Golfing on the Jack Nicklaus course

When we left home, at the last minute we switched luggage from wheeled duffles to just duffles because a lot of the small planes we will be on in Africa and Australia will only take duffles. After only 10 days out, we decided that was a mistake! It is too heavy to carry a large duffle and a backpack.!! We decided to send some clothes home to make our bags lighter. Hopefully they will get there. After arranging all of the FedX logistics, we drove north to our destination of
Cortina d’ Ampezzo. It is a ski town that held the Olympics in 1956. The further north we drove, the homes became less Italian Stucco and more Tyrolian. The border of Austria is very close, and there is a lot of Swiss, German, and Austrian influence.

The Mountains are amazing. They are very jagged and shoot up into the sky. It was a very pretty drive for a couple of hours.

On our drive in to Cortina d’ Ampezzo

Staying the first night at Sporting Hotel Villa Blu was convenient for hiking out the back door up onto the ski runs.

Sporting Hotel Villa Blu

Afternoon and evening hike up the ski run area

A private cabin on the way up the mountain

Looking down on the town of Cortina d’ Ampezzo

Our hike was beautiful and it felt good to walk and get the old heart rate going again. Exploring the mountain and around town, we decided to try the Cristallo Hotel on the other side of the mountain. Sporting Hotel Villa Blu was very quaint but the Cristallo is more updated and has a spa and we got a beautiful suite with a nice view.

Our room inside the Cristallo

The view from our room at Cristallo

The 1956 Olympics were held in Cortina d’ Ampezzo. Riding 3 different funiculars to the very top of the ski area, the terrain became very moonscape. We climbed to the top of a ridge and lay down on a rock and pretended to be rock lizards soaking up the sun.

Moonscape on top of the mountain

Having a snack

A rock lizard lying in the sun

An Iphone self portrait

The Dolomites

The trail from the top of the Funiculars

View from the top

The hike on the other side

Restaurant Chalet on our route

The Amalfi Coast, Italy August 21-22, 2012

August 24, 2012November 5, 2016Posted in Europe, Italy2 Comments

We took a direct flight from SLC to Paris, then caught a flight (that was delayed of course) to Rome, rented a car and drove 2 1/2 hours to Salerno on the Amalfi Coast. It is beautiful with homes built into the hillside alongside old castle ruins. There are no sandy beaches, just steep cliffs with some lounge chairs at the bottom of the cliffs.

Along the coast

A beach of lounge chairs

We stayed at the Raito Hotel. It is up on the cliff. We had a nice room with a view.
We decided to hire a private boat with a skipper. He took us all along the coast, past Amalfi and Positano over to the island of Capri. We took the funicular up to the town on top. There were lots of tourists. We stopped on the way back to Salerno at beautiful grottos and caves. The water was a beautiful blue color. Scott went swimming.

Swimming in a grotto

Caves and arch formations along the coast

We got back to the hotel at 4:00 and then drove up the coast 1/2 hour to the Pompeii ruins. It is a huge archeological site. We spent 2 hours wandering around. The ruins date back to 79 AD. After Mount Vesuvius erupted it buried the town in 3 meters of ash within about 10 minutes. The site was discovered in the 1700’s. A Roman poet that witnessed the account wrote vivid letters that have been preserved. The eruption lasted for 24 hours and the people thought to take cover. Then the avalanche of hot ash and volcanic gas came and the people died first from the intense heat and suffocation. There are bodies that were preserved, through the formations of the hot magma, plaster casts were made. (much like a bronze cast is made).