Florence, Italy, April 14-21, 2007
Sponsored by the Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas
Trip Coordinated by American Council for International Studies (ACIS)
A favorite travel site headlines the their window boxes with geraniums and
five reasons to visit Europe in the petunias and the bustling outdoor market
spring. The fields of France are ablaze vendors spread their wares in the sun
with daisies and poppies. Holland is a riot again.
of tulips and crocuses. Italy’s hillsides are Perhaps the best reason to visit Europe
covered with pastel blossoms of pears, in the spring is, well, Europeans. The
cherries and oranges. The weather shifts French enjoy their neighborhood bistros.
from blustery to balmy. Housewives fill The British pack traditional pubs for lunch. The Italians gesture over tiny
espressos. Destination: Florence, Italy Settled by the Etruscans, Florence
sprang to life as a Roman colony in 59 B.C. Wool, textiles and a powerful banking
sector was the basic economy making it a wealthy city. With the wealth came the
artists who were commissioned to decorate
and create fabulous works of art and
architecture. The Dallas, Houston, Midland and
Austin groups converged in Chicago and
23 passengers boarded Alitalia Airlines
bound for Florence, Italy. The stories
were true! Alitalia begins serving wine
with the first meal served shortly after we
were airborne and then it was open bar
the rest of the trip to Italy! We flew
approximately 7,000 miles at speeds averaging
940 mph. As the sun came up, we
were directly over the Alps—the most
amazing sight anyone could ever see—so
much white, glistening snow!! We arrived early in Milan and while
waiting for our flight to Florence we made
new friends and renewed old friendships.
We arrived in Florence at 11:15 a.m. where
a coach was waiting to take us to our
Hotel Donatello. After depositing our luggage
(one bag per person—we intended to
travel light), we scattered to explore and
enjoy lunch at the various corner cafes.
While eating our sandwiches, we watched
a crowd of people in heated argument.
They were Gypsies. Our waitress told us
to “be careful.” We would later see them
everywhere in the city begging and asking
for handouts. Of course, the shopping
began immediately because there was an
outdoor antiques market in the plaza
across the street from our hotel. After
lunch, our dedicated tour guide Chris
Renton took us on a quick walking tour of
the city to get us oriented. We walked
through the Central Market. Lots of wares
for sale at a “good price” each vendor
would say. After more orientation by
Chris, we headed out for dinner at Giannino’s
in San Lorenzo where we dined on
authentic Italian cuisine. We walked back
to our hotel and crashed. By then most of
us had been awake about 36 hours! We enjoyed a continental breakfast at
the hotel at 7:30 a.m. Eager to get going,
we did a three hour walking tour with a
guide named Simona using headphones to
keep us all together and explain the sights.
(I later learned these devices are called
“Whispers.”) We visited San Lorenzo
church where tombs of the Medici family
and those of famous people are contained. Gallileo, who invented the telescope, is
there. There is a tomb for Michelangelo,
but he is actually buried elsewhere. We
went to Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge
over the Arno River where many upscale
jewelry shops line the bridge. Simona
pointed out many palaces along the way
that had belonged to the Medici family,
bearing the family crest. The Medici family
was a hugely wealthy pharmaceutical
and banking family who had ruled for
almost three centuries. By 1737, the family
had died out leaving the city under Austrian,
and briefly Napoleonic, control until
the Itialian Unification in 1860. Simona
took us to the Mercato del Porcellino, the
“Pig Market” where we all rubbed the
nose of a very large bronze pig. The legend
says if you do so, you will return to
Florence one day. We went to the Piazza della Signoria
where there stands a copy of the David,
along with numerous marble statues
carved by many famous artists and sculptors.
This plaza was the heart of political
life for centuries. Lunch was on our own—we chose a
quaint little café on the piazza. We had a
cute waiter named Claudio who gave us a
few small lessons on the lingo. Then
shopping!! Chris arranged for a tour of a
leather factory named Misuri which
included a presentation on the various
leathers and gold for which Italy is famous
and taught us how to judge the quality
thereof. I think we all did some shopping
at Misuri or at least in the square outside.
(Good marketing technique!) At 5:30 p.m.
we met Chris and toured Ognissanti, a
very old church with frescoes—still in
use—Americus Vespuci Church—Church
of All Saints. Then we strolled back to our
hotel past designer shops like Versace and
Ferragamo. We met at the hotel’s courtyard
for wine and cheese to make our
plans for the next adventure and to see
what bargains everyone had found. We
had already hit the markets for snacks and,
did I mention, wine. The next day with Simona again as our
guide, we toured Accademia and Santa
Maria Novella, a Gothic Middle Ages style
church. Outside there were two obelisks
where they had had horse races long ago.
The Gothic arches in the church meant that you were brought closer to God. The
Renaissance brought many changes, one of
which was perspective in art. In this
church, we saw the first of that movement. Lunch at a sidewalk café—cost us 2
Euros each to sit down (we had been
warned by Chris). We ordered a good
lasagne, bland bread (needed the dipping
olive oil!). Upstairs adventure—a unisex
bathroom—no locks. Ever tried holding
the door shut with your right foot, balancing
on the left foot and hoping your purse
that was dangling from a hook outside the
window would stay put? And trying to
remember how to say “occupied” in Italian?
That afternoon we toured the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. Everything in Italy we discovered involved a climb. The
palace was filled with art treasures— Raphael, Van Dyke, Reuben, Titian—so awesome to be so close to the real
paintings I had studied Art History in college
(I’d intended to be an art teacher—
never to work in the legal field). Inside
the palace was the apartment Napoleon
had used. The immense bathroom contained
an elaborate bathtub! Outside, the
Boboli Gardens are an excellent example
of Renaissance gardening which was
opened to the public in 1766. The gardens
were laid out by the Medici family after
they had purchased the palace from the
bankrupt Pitti family in 1549. The difficult
climb was worth it—at the top was a
building containing the china and serving
pieces used in the palace throughout the
centuries and a view of the city that was
breathtaking! We left the palace and
began our walk back to the hotel by way of
the designer district again—Murano glass,
Prada, etc. We had gelato for dinner!
That had become a favorite. By now we
began to search for a taxi, but none were
to be found, so we walked, and we walked,
and we walked—by now we had been
walking about 12 hours. When we got to the hotel, we fashioned
a delightful foot soak!! Wednesday—Train to Rome While half of us went to Venice, the
rest went to Rome for the day. The rest
left early from our hotel—walked to the
train station and boarded a fast, electric
train for Rome. Arriving in Rome, we
took the Metro to the Vatican—toured the
Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and
shared the spaces with thousands of people—
tourists and pilgrims from all of the
world!! A vast area!! We ate pizza (again)
lunch at the Vatican Museum and then
went to St. Peter’s Basilica—the largest
church in the world. We saw the Hall of
Maps—tapestries depicting early areas
controlled by the Church and two halls of
huge tapestries depicting Bible stories.
These were delightful surprises! We saw
where St. Peter is buried, thus the center of
the Christian world. The massive church
contains markers of other cathedrals
around the world comparing St. Peter’s to
Notre Dame, and others—they can fit
inside St. Peter’s! One of the main attractions
inside the basilica is Michelangelo’s
Pietà which was created in 1499 when
Michelangelo was only 25. We then took a city bus to ancient
Rome. At the “wedding cake building” we
walked up lots of steps—at top we looked
down on the ruins of ancient Rome!
Across the street was the building that had
been Musselini’s headquarters during the
war. We walked down into the Roman
forum and through the ruins. We saw the
senate building where Julius Caesar was
killed. There were layers of ruins currently
in excavation. There were houses lining
the hill which once had housed the rich
noblemen of Rome. We saw the Colosseum
Cats—there is a society to collect
money to feed these cats—they had a table
set up for contributions. Then there was
the Colosseum! Massive!! Held 70,000
people—each level had its own entry so
the rich did not have to mix with the more
common people. We then took a city bus
to the train station—much to Chris’s chagrin
we did not have time to do the Trevi
Fountain or the Spanish Steps, but we
assured him we had had a marvelous day and not to worry!! We wanted to be at the
train station on time! At the train station
we grabbed a sandwich and ate on the
train back to Florence. Thursday—off to Tuscany! A tour bus picked us up and off we
went—into the most beautiful countryside
you can ever imagine! It looked just like
the movies. Our destination was San
Gimignano. The village is ancient, dating
back to year 1000—The Collegiate Church
of San Gimignano was built 1000-1056 and
consecrated in 1148 by the Pope. Although
more primitive, the frescoes were outstanding!
Every book of the Bible was
illustrated around the walls and ceiling of
the church. Some of us had a delightful
lunch at the sidewalk cafes. Others of us
shopped and shopped. We departed mid
afternoon for wine tasting and olive oil
tasting. We drove through Tuscany into Chianti listening to Italian opera and looking
at the wonderful countryside villas. (We
learned we could rent a villa that would
house 8 people for about $2,500 Euros a
week—not a bad deal!) We ended the day
at a delightful family owned vineyard and
winery called Volpaio. There we were
treated to a tour of the winery and a tour
of the making of olive oil. The wine is
aged 4 years, but can be sold for 20 years.
In 1960 the owner had been given a 2/3
ownership in the winery as a wedding
present. It has a population of 50 consisting
of family and close friends and 5000
olive trees. They get approximately one
liter from one tree (equal to 3 cans of
Coke.) In November, olives are picked by
hand, always green, washed and put in a
machine to dry. Once granite stone was
used to crush—now electric centrifuge is
used leaving pits inside, then pulp goes to
a machine where oil is extracted from
pulp. There is no pressing—very gentle—
7,000 small blades into pulp pick up small
amounts of oil on blade, centrifuge spins
to extract rest of oil. They use virgin wood
to filter oil and a stainless steel container
to hold the oil. After frost in 1985 there
were only 70 trees left. They had to
replant trees and it takes 5–6 years to produce
from trees—very little is exported. Wine lesson: It gets color and softness
from skin—first fermentation goes from
sugar to alcohol—2nd fermentation—10
days—acids turned into wooden barrels—
large and small depending upon type of
wine. Oak barrels from France or Slavonia
are used. Volpaio made its first wine in
1969. Barrels must be shaved inside every
8 barrels. Barrels can be used for 40 years.
Volpaio produces 250,000 bottles per year.
It is a moderate size producer. The size of
vineyards equals 60 soccer fields. People
come annually to test the wine. If wine is
good enough, it gets a pink label on the
neck of the bottle. Six hundred bottles are
produced of Chianti Classico. You often
see wild boar on menus, there are many
wild boars in the forests. Vineyards must
have electric fences around the vineyards
to keep the boars away. They also plant
roses between vines to attract insects away
from grapes. It takes 5–10 years to establish
vines. Last day! We visited San Marco
Church, a Dominican church and convent.
Fr. Angelico and Renaissance artist
Versachio had decorated the cloisters and
convent. “The Annunciation” is the most
famous work in this church. Shopping again at the pig market!! We
had to hurry! We toured the Ufizzi Gallery at 4:00—
Botticelli’s “Venus” is among the other
masterpieces inside. It is the second
largest art gallery in the world, the Louvre
in Paris is the largest. Even though we had
reservations, it was very crowded! We
departed and took a City Bus to Michelangelo
Park above the city with a fantastic
view of the city and a view of the mountain
where Leonardi’s friend tried to fly
with wooden wings and a view of the
tower where Gallileo tried out his telescope.
We had a farewell party complete
with all the good wines, cheese, bread and
olive oil made famous by this fabulous
country!
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