Italy 2000

March 27th, 2000 by alephnaught

Arrival in Rome

Our trip started eventfully – we called Yellow Cab to get a cab to the airport. They said it would arrive within 20 minutes. An hour later, we called back and they said it would be 10 minutes. Another 20 minutes, another phone call, this time requiring yelling at a supervisor at the cab company, […]

March 28th, 2000 by alephnaught

Our first day in Rome

We needed to replace one of our large bags, so we walked around the Spanish Steps area, near our hotel, to find a store that was recommended by the hotel. We ended up finding nice, large, rolling bag for about $45 US! While we looked, we visited the Trevi fountain designed by Bellini. We started […]

March 29th, 2000 by alephnaught

Church day

Aviva was really psyched for today. We saw the tomb of Julius II in the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter's in Chains); Michelangelo never finished it, and so Julius II is actually interred in an unmarked grave in St. Peter's Basilica (Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to do the Sistine Chapel and main […]

March 30th, 2000 by alephnaught

The Vatican City

Two Jews go to the heart of Catholicism, the wealth of the ages settled in one place. Aviva said that its much more organized than when she and her mother, Lily, visited Roma about three years ago. We walked through a number of rooms. The most interesting was probably the map room, which is a […]

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March 31st, 2000 by alephnaught

Churches, churches, churches

We saw Benini’s greatest sculptures, a church designed by Michelangelo to match the ruins of Domician’s bathes, which the church adjoins, etc., etc. For my benefit we went to the Museo Napoleon; he spent a few years fighting in northern Italia and installed his son as the King of Roma. Our feet hurt, but we […]

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April 1st, 2000 by alephnaught

Training to Florence

The train to Firenza (Florence) was uneventful and very comfortable (pay for first class, its not that expensive and the seats are nicer). We checked into the Albergo Pensione Centrale, which was not as clean as we would like and, gasp, lacked a TV in the room! The bathroom was so tiny they put the […]

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April 2nd, 2000 by alephnaught

Duomo and Santa Maria Novella

Our hotel is a very short walk from Santa Maria Novella, an old church right by the train station. There are some fine images on the walls of this church, whose square was dedicated in 1287. Below is a detail from one of the works. The Duomo is the center of Firenze and its huge. […]

April 3rd, 2000 by alephnaught

How many churches can you see?

We decided to skip a side trip of three days to Siena and stay on in Firenze. We crossed the Arno (the main river in Firenze) on the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge that once housed butchers but now house gold and silver smiths because the odor of meat upset a Medici (the Ponte Vecchio […]

April 4th, 2000 by electricbob

Art day

Today we did the Uffizi; the word uffizi means office, and it was the office of the government of the Medicis in Firenze. They have a whole room of Botticellis, who is one of my favs. The square inside the Uffizi is packed with artists selling their wares (we bought a small watercolor of the […]

April 5th, 2000 by alephnaught

San Marco and the Academia

On the way to San Marco, we saw a toy store that sells military miniatures, which are plastic or metal kits that can be assembled and painted to look like the uniforms and people that fought in wars a long time ago; I used to paint miniatures for a hobby when I was young, so […]