Venice

Back on the road... we left Firenze and headed northeast to the sleepy village of Noale,

about 30 miles west of Venice, where we would spend our next 5 nights.

I chose Noale for several reasons:

Having heard about the crowds in Venice in the summer, I was looking for someplace

quieter, plus I wanted a smaller town to unwind after the schedule of big

cities and lots of running to and fro up to here.

The quiet town, and grassy parks would also be a nice change of pace for the doodles.

Below is a map of our route from Florence to Noale, then our two side trips by train from

there, plus our last drive from there to our current home in Bellagio on Lake Como.

We arrived in Noale on a sleepy Sunday afternoon.

It was quiet enough to hear the roosters crow.

Noale Town Square

Our host met us at the house, just a block off the town square.

She gave us a quick orientation of the town, places to eat, things to see, and

soon we were left to our own devices.

Nearby was a supermarket so first we headed out to get some provisions for

the next 5 days, then we set out about exploring the nearby attractions.

About 5 min walk away was a great park with lots of trees and grass, and the ruins of

an old fort and its surrounding moat.

Old Fort in Noale Italy

Looking thru the city gate to the old town square.

Our place was about 1/2 way up and to the left. 

Our first order of business on Monday was seeing the Vet that our host had graciously

set up an appointment for me and Gracie.

Long story short - the topical cream (antibiotic/steroid) seems to have amazing

done the trick almost overnight!

Gracies swolled lymph nodes have shrunk and are pretty much gone.

I think we've finally put that scare behind us!

One of the reasons that I chose this specific houses was that it was about

200 meters from the train station.

A 5 minute walk and we were on the train headed to Venice which was a short

25 minute ride away.   The trains ran every 1/2 hour so it was easy as pie.

I put the Trenitalia app on my phone and was able to research and book our trains,

download the tickets to my iPhone and keep them in the phone wallet for inspection

by the conductors as they came thru the cars.

We hopped on the 901 am departure and by 934 we were in Venice.

Arriving at Santa Lucia - the end of the line - we exited the train and headed for the

Vaporetto (water bus) stop, where we purchased a 24 hr ticket good for unlimited rides.

Boarding the Vaporetto for Piazza San Marco (St Marks Plaza) we took

a nice ride down the Grand Canal of Venice.

Grand Canal approaching the Rialto Bridge

Of the 170 canals in Venice... the Grand Canal is the Main St of the city.

As there are no vehicles in Venice..  everything moves by boat.

The fireboats and ambulances included.

Below - we pass by a Vaporetto headed in the opposite direction.

Arriving at St Marks - the scene upon the water seems like bedlam!

One of the busiest places in the city - the gondola's are arriving and departing like ants.

Gondolas near Piazza San Marco Venice

Venice View

When we arrived on the island we headed directly to St Marks to try and beat the crowds.

We were modestly successful to that end as the crowds were not yet unbearable.

When we returned later that day - it was next to impossible to move about.

St. Marks Square Venice

They were setting up for a concert, so a large part of the square was blocked, and it

made it impossible to get the real good photo of the square.

Leaving St Marks, we walked our way back across to the Rialto Bridge, another

world famous landmark of the city.

Before it got too crowded we stopped and had lunch at a place overlooking

the canal.   We then hopped a Vaporetto back to St Marks in search of Rice Balls that

we had seen earlier on our walk.

Rialto Bridge Venice

The picture of the bridge above was taken later in the afternoon when the crowds had grown

to pretty much saturation levels.

We had planned to walk back to the train station from here but the bridge was too packed

to try and cross, so we took the Vaporetto instead.

Some typical scenes from Venice

Even the houses are sheets of canvas waiting for the artists expression.

St Marks plaza is surrounded by shops and places to eat.

There was even a 3 place band playing some great tunes.

While taking the Vaporetto back to the station, I purchased tickets for the 2pm train back

to Noale using the Trentalia app.   How convenient is that!

Back at the station, we had time for a Gellato prior to our flight.

Train travel in Europe is quite different than in the states.

In the Venice station we saw trains arriving and departing from all over the continent.

Back home by 3pm - I was just in time for my east coast NY work day to begin.

Soon it was dinner time and we enjoyed the Rice Balls we purchased in Venice.

I washed mine down with a Guinness Draught.

I'm sure that would make some true Italians gasp in horror!

On another of our days we took the train in the opposite direction from venice to

the end of this line in the west.

Our destination was the town of Bassano del Grappa.

Noale Scorza Train Station

It was market day in Bassano del Grappa when we arrived.

One of the draws here is the old wooden bridge from the 1300's

It seemed to be in the beginning stages of some much needed restoration.

Bassano del Grappa lies right at the edge of the foothills of the Alps.

Earnest Hemingway spent time here as an ambulance driver in WW1 and part of his

book "A Farewell to Arms" was set here and in the area. 

Soon it was time to head back to the station and catch the eastbound train back to Noale.

By 3pm we were back home just in time for the NY phones to start ringing...

Another work day had begun.

Boarding the train in Bassano del Grappa

On Friday - our 5 days having passed quickly - it was time to hit the road to our next

stop - a lovely place on the side of the mountain overlooking Lake Como

in Bellagio, Italy.   About 12 miles from the Swiss border.

An apartment with a view.

We will stay here for 10 nights.

We'd been here 10 years ago and always promised that we'd be back for longer.

And here we are.

The view from our house.

Sunset view from the house

Next post will be more about our stay here in Bellagio.

See you then.

Florence

Leaving Trecase...  we put the wheels back in motion and made the turn north.

Our next destination lay about 4 hours north...  Firenze or Florence.

This was to be a quick 3 night stop.

Our home base for the 3 nights was a beautiful apartment in a 1,000 year old building in

the heart of the Santa Croce district.

The apartment was a tasteful blend of modern conveniences while preserving much

of the ancient.   Our floors for example were original 1000 year old stonework.

Courtesy Air BnB

One of the centerpieces of the city is the Cathedral Complex.

The Cathedral itself is massive.   The third largest in the world after

St Peters at the Vatican and St Paul's in London.

Constructed between 1296 and 1436  (with more construction later) it

took about 140 years just to build the main structure.

It was completed and in service before Columbus even left for the new world.

Faced with Polychromatic Green, Pink and White marble it is as beautiful as it is impressive.

It is so large, that I found it near impossible to get the whole front of it in one frame.

Below you see the front of the Basilica and Giotto's Campanile,

(the belltower) to the right.

Many of the Italian Churches of the period had separate free standing bell towers.

The leaning Tower of Pisa being a prime example of one.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

The photo below from the web shows the Cathedral with the dome at right, and the

free standing bell tower at left.

I attempt to show the scale from ground level with a panorama photo. 

Also separate from the Cathedral is the baptistry'

One of the oldest buildings in Florence - it was constructed between

1059 and 1128

Looking at the Cathedral from the rear - behind the dome.

A visit to Florence is all about the art.

You couldn't trip on any street corner without bumping into something beautiful.

Heading further into the city we enter the Palazzo Vecchio.   At one end of the Plaza

is the Loggia dei Lanzi, an open air art gallery filled with original and reproductions

of famous works of art.

Below, one example of the many, The Rape of Polyxena.

It tells the story of how Polyxena betrayed Achilles by telling of his one weakness - (his heel).

Later in the temple of Apollo  Polyxena's brothers, ambushed Achilles and shot him in the heel with a poison arrow that was guided by the hand of Apollo himself.

Achilles' ghost had come back to the Greeks to demand the human sacrifice of Polyxena 

so as to appease the wind needed for them to set sail back to Hellas. 

She was to be killed at the foot of Achilles' grave. 

It shows her mother kneeling, about to be struck down, as she begs the soldier taking her

daughter away to her fate.

The Rape of Polyxena

The entire sculpture was carved out of a single block of stone.

Also in this location is a replica of Michelangelo's masterpiece "David"

The original stood in this exact spot for over 350 years until it was moved into the nearby

Academia Gallery in 1873

David Replica at Loggia dei Lanzi

The lines to see the original were several blocks long and would have taken 

3 -4 hours to get in to see it.

I like art but....

Next time I will plan ahead and come to Florence when things are a bit quieter.

Moving onward we headed to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

A bridge has been here since Roman Times and swept away by floods several times.

This current bridge- the "new" bridge - has been here since 1345

Like many of the time - it has shops built right on the bridge.

Ponte Vecchio Bridge

Crossing the bridge, we began our climb up to the high ground overlooking the city.

On the way you get a view of the ancient wall that used to protect the city.

Reaching the top we arrive at Piazzale Michelangelo.

Where... there is a bronze replica of David.

The view from up here is the best in the city.

In the distance you can see the dark tower (left center) that overlooks Palazzo Vecchio,

then in the center you can see the Cathedral Complex.

The view from Piazzale Michelangelo

Another close-up view of the Cathedral as we descended from Piazzale Michelangelo.

Heading back down the hill it was late afternoon so we headed back to our apartment.

On the way we took a detour to cool off with a gelato from our favorite place

(yes we had found a favorite gelato place) right around the corner..

On Saturday we headed out early to see if we could get into the Cathedral - no luck -
the lines were already blocks long and it was just opening time.

Kate was disappointed so I had to come up with a solution quick...

Since there is no shortage of fine Basilicas in Florence we headed to
Santa Maria Novella about 1/3 mile away right next to the train station.

Built upon the original church from the 9th century, it is the first great basilica in Florence.

Construction began about 1246 and was completed in 1360.

It is Florence's primary Catholic Dominican Order Church.

The vast interior is based on a basilica plan, and designed as a Latin cross like so many.

Basilica Santa Maria Novella Firenze

I've included a plan of a typical Cathedral that lists the major
features for those of you who might be interested

You can refer to above when I mention some of the features.

The large nave is 100 meters long and provides a feeling of austerity.

The interesting column placement provides an effect towards the apse
where the nave seems longer than it actually is.  (and it is quite long)

This is accomplished by placing the slender compound columns between the nave
 and the aisles progressively closer the further the observer moves into the nave,
creating the illusion of greater length.

Basilica Santa Maria Novella Nave

Below: The view across the Nave from the right, to the left transept.
Like all the churches here... the artwork is inspiring.

An interesting side note to this Cathedral was the part that it played in the

establishment of the Gregorian Calendar... the one that we use today.

If you look at the photo below you will see a few blue arrows pointing to a dark line

that runs the length of the Nave.

It is a meridian line.

The Basilica is oriented exactly North South and the brasz meridian line inlaid into the floor

has numerous markings including the solstices, the zodiacs etc.

Precisely placed holes in the church allow the sun to shine on an exact spot on the meridian

at precise moments.

By observing the amount of days it took from the sun to return to the exact same spot

a year later - it was possible to determine the exact number of days in the year.

Last on our list was right down the street from our flat...
The Basilica di Santa Croce.

It is the Florences' primary Franciscan Catholic Order church.

The largest Franciscan Church in the world, it is also the burial place of several
noted Italians including such as Michelangelo, Galileo,  and Machiavelli.

It is also here where Kate... following the instructions of the Vatican priests,
she attended mass at the Basilica on Saturday evening and
performed her final obligation which gained me a "get out of jail free card".

Now I'm not quite how all of this works but....
As I understand it - she gave up her seat on the bus for me.

So now she has to work off my demerits to get back into good graces
and regain HER seat on the bus.

Courtesy Florence Tourism

I think she's gonna be a busy girl!

She does has some help from her Posse in Rome however!

Some notes on Florence:

Its very busy this time of year and Florence is a compact city.

If you want to see the sights you need to plan ahead and get tickets with

 stated reservation times.   They sell out well in advance.

If you dont have them... like we didn't - then you have to wait on line.

In the Summer the lines are long long long.

To long for this boy.

There is still plenty to do and see, but if you have your heart set on the

most well known of the attractions... then you better plan ahead.

Next...  we head to the country.

A small village about 30 miles or so west of Venice.

Should be nice and quiet.

Late edit:

While at our next stop we saw a vet who prescribed a combo antibiotic/steroid

 topical cream for Gracie and ended the oral antibiotic that she was taking.

Overnight we have seen very good results and the swelling has reduced dramatically!

Maybe (hopefully) we are getting to the end of this chapter!