Italy 2009 Venice Florence

Italy In Depth

June 8-17, 2009

Marilyn and Robert Ivey, Janice and Wayne LeCroy, Janice and Dennis Sloan, Kathy Lanford, Betty Odom, Shelby Wallace, and Me-Annetta Kilgore


Venice
City of Many Bridges

A group of ten of us traveled to Italy in June of 2009. We joined a group of 18 adults and students from a Catholic school in Louisiana when we arrived in Venice. We visited Venice, Florence, Orvieto, Sorrento, Isle of Capri, Pompeii, and Rome. We had a wonderful time and a great trip. At the airport we were a little concerned when we found out that we were flying on an airbus. A week before, one had crashed into the ocean. But, we knew that God was going to take care of us, so we did not worry. We flew to Frankfurt, Germany on Lufthsana Airlines. From there we flew on to Venice where we took a water taxi over to the island of Lido. We stayed on Lido and traveled back and forth to Venice on a water taxi.

The picture below is the Campanile (Bell Tower) at San Marco.

After a good night's rest, we headed out the next morning to Venice. Our first stop was St. Mark's Square where we visited St. Mark's Church, the Doge's Palace, and saw a glass blowing demonstration. After that we had free time. I had been here 6 years ago, so I remembered my way around. My sister in law Kathy, friends Betty and Shelby and I took out on our own and explored and shopped the islands. We bought an oil painting and lots of jewelry. At dinner that night we celebrated Betty's 61st birthday. Our last event of the day was a gondola ride which we took that night. We then headed back to Lido for a good night's rest.
This is a picture of the Rialto Bridge in Venice. It is the most popular bridge and legend has it that if two kiss while traveling under the bridge they will stay in love forever.

This is the Bridge of Sighs. If you look behind us you will see some windows. As prisoners walked throught this bridgeway they looked out at the bridge and sighed because it was their last glimpse of Venice before they were taken to be killed. That is why it is called the Bridge of Sighs. It is one of hundreds of bridges in Venice.This is a scene along the Grand Canal at the Rialto Bridge. Restaurants line the streets and gondolas line the canal.Another image of the Grand Canal. We took a water bus up the canal and then we walked back to the Rialto Bridge where we boarded another one back to San Marco.

This is a vegetable stand in Venice. The fruits and vegetables were beautiful. We bought some fresh cherries and they were delicious!We took a gondola ride after dinner. Dennis took the picture.

The next day, which was Thursday, June 11, we boarded a ferry and left island of Lido. Our bus was in the bottom of the ferry and we went up to the top. Kathy is pictured here with a picture of San Marco in Venice in the background. After we reached land, we again boarded the bus and traveled through the beautiful countryside to Florence. One thing that I love about Italy and traveling through the countryside is passing hills and being able to see a whole city built at the top of the hill. The bell tower always stands out in each little city. It is a beautiful sight!

Florence

Birthplace of the Renaissance

As we arrived in Florence, we were taken to the top of a hill to view the city. This is one of my favorite pictures. It is an extraordinary view of The Cathedral and the Duomo. The architecture of this cathedral is incredible. It took 140 years to build it. It was completed in 1436. The Campanile (bell tower) was begun in 1334. After being under construction by three men, it was finally completed in 1359. There are 3 different styles in the campanile. Each one was the works of each overseerer.

The facade of the Duomo. Arnolfo di Cambio's unfinished facade of the Duomo was torn down in 1587. From then on, for almost three centuries, there was a continuous flow of projects and competitions for the new facade of the Cathedral until finally in 1871 the design presented by the artichitect Emilio de Fabris was approved (work ended in 1887).

These are the Gates of Paradise doors on the Baptistry. They depict episodes from the Old Testament from the Creation to Solomon receiving the Queen of Sheba.
There are other doors such as the South Doors with the Stories of the Baptist. Words cannot describe the beauty of these doors. In order to enter the cathedral, one had to be baptized in the Baptistry.

We attended a cooking school the first night in Florence at the Apicius Culinary Institute. We cooked our own meal which consisted of pasta (which we made from scratch), meatloaf, and a Mardi Gras cake. The sauce we cooked for the pasta and meatloaf was awesome. We all agreed that this was the best meal we had on the trip.

We enjoyed a guided tour of Florence. We visited the Piazza Della Signoria which was one of the most scenographic squares in Florence. One other stop was Plazzo Vecchio. The statue above of Hercules and Cacus is found there. There is also a repilca of The David. On the tour, we went to the Accademia where we saw Micelangelo's The David, but we were not allowed to take pictures. I do, however, have pictures of it from when I was here 10 years ago.

This is the equestrian statue in Palazzo Vecchio of Cosimo I dei Medici. The Medici family once ruled Florence.

We went down to the Arno River to catch a glimpse of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. It is the oldest bridge in the city. It now houses shops which we were warned as being very pricey.

After the guided tour we were given time to explore and shop. We visited several market areas, bought lots of leather goods, and other souveniers. We had some wonderful gelato after eating lunch in a little sandwich shop. The vegetarian panini we had was so good. We enjoyed a Coke with lunch today. We were all so tired from shopping. After returning to the Hotel Mediterranea we had a great dinner buffet at the hotel. I ate two BIG helping of salad. It was so good and I was craving something green instead of pasta or pizza. We all retired to our rooms, repacked and prepared for tomorrow's journed to Sorrento.