A Week in Italy

Florence and Rome

With stops for charges, meals, etc., the drive from Paris to Florence would take about 16 hours, and we split it up over two days. The drive through southern France, especially the Mont Blanc massif and surrounding range, and through Chamonix, was breathtaking; the dramatic mountains, covered in glaciers and with waterfalls literally shooting out of the rock faces made it hard to keep my eyes on the road. Mont Blanc itself is the highest mountain in Europe and the seven mile long Mont Blanc tunnel cuts through this massive icon of rock; it is a feat of engineering in and of itself. Many times while driving through the tunnel, one of us would remark, "I can't believe it's still going!" We emerged from the other side in Italy and stayed in some random hotel a little further down the road. 

As we got closer to Florence on the second day, we realized that Pisa was only maybe 20 minutes out of the way, and estimated that a quick stop would only add maybe an hour to our journey. The town of Pisa doesn't have a whole lot of other things pulling people to it, especially on a weekday, so it was relatively easy to find on-street parking close by, and seeing the famed Leaning Tower was totally worth the detour. It's really hard to depict in pictures how much it's leaning (actually less than it used to be), but the one of Carter feigning to hold it up is my favorite and I think most clearly shows the tilt. We hopped back in the car and within another hour and a half had arrived at our stay in Florence in the late afternoon.

We didn't have much planned the morning of our first day in Florence, which was great because we all needed to have a momentary break from the go-go-go of Paris. We let the kids sleep in, did some laundry & grocery shopping, and had a nice relaxing morning and early afternoon before heading out on a spectacular "Free Walking Tour" of Florence. Our stay was only about 10 minutes from the outskirts of the historic old town with its narrow cobblestone streets and colorful buildings (some will disagree, but after all of our travels, one thing that we all noticed in Paris was how monotone and rather uninspiring most of the city's architecture was). On our tour, we visited the Duomo de Firenze (Florence Cathedral), which is an impressive structure made up nearly entirely of white, green, and pink marble from nearby quarries. Started in 1296 and completed in 1436, it remains one of the largest churches in the world and still boasts the largest masonry dome ever constructed - and it really is impressive. Just a few blocks away was Piazza della Signoria with the Palazzo Vecchio ("Old Palace"), the fortified 13th century palace in front of which stands Michelangelo's David (currently a replica - we would see the original the next day in the Accademia). Flanking and adjacent to the palace is a massive collection of sculptures from Michelangelo, Donatello, Cellini and many more - most of them originals from the 14th-16th centuries, making this an incredible outdoor museum. Just off of the plaza is where our tour ended, in the courtyard of the Ufizzi museum (which we would be visiting the next day), where there were even more sculptures of historically significant Italians (mostly from Tuscany) such as da Vinci, Machievelli and Gallileo, as well as the artists mentioned above and many more. After the tour, we grabbed some incredible gelato on our way over the Arno River on the medieval Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge"), the oldest bridge in Florence, and the only bridge to survive the bombardments of WWII. This area is called "Oltrarno," literally "the other side of the Arno," and is super quaint and beautiful. We strolled around a bit and then settled into our first true Italian dinner of fresh-made pastas and pizza and every bite was simply fantastic. It's one of the first and only times I've watched my kids put their forks down between each bite to enjoy the gastronomical pleasure occurring in their mouths. After dinner, we headed back home to our apartment, stopping on the bridge to watch the beautiful sunset while a busker played beautiful guitar to complement the stunning scene and cap off the already perfect day. 

On our second full day in Florence, we went back to the Uffizi museum, but this time, we went inside! The Uffizi boasts one of the largest collections of Renaissance art in the world, including works by da Vinci, Botticelli, Rafael, Michelangelo, and countless others. The halls are lined with seemingly endless sculptures from antiquity, and the rooms interconnect throughout with art from the various artists. It was frankly a bit overwhelming and difficult to take all of the work in, but some highlights include Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Caravaggio's Head of Medusa, painted on a shield to depict the mythical events of Perseus slaying the Gorgon and presenting it to Athena, who strapped it to her shield. After leaving the Uffizi and grabbing a quick bite, we headed over to the Accademia, another museum that was part of the Uffizi entrance ticket. Though the museum boasts its own impressive collection, the real attraction here was Michelangelo's David. At 17 feet tall, it's really hard to describe how impressive this massive piece of art is, especially knowing that Michelangelo did not sketch or model or carve "drafts" of his works; he let the stone reveal the work to him. Again, it's one of those pieces that was more impressive in person than I expected it would be, and I could've stared at it for hours.

Overall, we really enjoyed Florence. Not only for the art and history and culture, but it had a quaint appeal to it and wasn't so busy or too overcrowded. The streets were easy to navigate, and we found it very walkable. Unfortunately, we only had those two full days to explore there and headed out to Rome early the next morning. Rome was very different from Florence. It's a big city with all of the big city vibes- traffic, congestion, pollution, and lots of people in a hurry, honking and arguing in the streets, complete with the well stereotyped Italian hand gestures and the whole bit. Still, we were there for the sites, and they did not disappoint. On our first day, we had a tour of the the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, finishing with the Colosseum. Walking among the ruins of the Roman Forum was mesmerizing. We marveled at the in-tact and restored buildings and structures of this once thriving and dominant ancient civilization, and all around were fragments of columns and sculptures and other reminders of what once was. It was easy to imagine Romans walking on the same stone road we were walking on, enduring the heat from the same sun. Palatine Hill, between the Forum and the Colosseum, is considered the birthplace of Rome and the Roman Empire, with inhabitants dating back to 1,000 B.C. As Rome was established and the empire grew, the hill became the residential area for aristocrats and politicians alike (has there ever really been a difference?). On the short walk from Palatine Hill towards the Colosseum, we passed the Arch of Titus, built in 81 A.D. to commemorate the Roman victory over the Jews in the Great Jewish Revolt, the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire in an attempt to reclaim their independence; it resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the second Jewish Temple (the first was destroyed by the Babylonians in 6th century B.C.). The arch is one of the most well preserved monuments from the time, and on inside you could see the (time-and-weather worn) relief of Roman soldiers carrying a menorah home as a symbol of their victory over the Jews.

Next up on the tour was the punto alto: The Colosseum. While the sheer inhumanity and cruelty of what happened in this stadium is appalling and reflects some of the darkest traces of what has passed as "entertainment" in human history, it is also a marvel of engineering, ambition, industriousness, labor (largely by slaves), and is a testament to the sheer power, attraction, and size of this once thriving metropolis. It is the largest ampitheater ever built and still stands, two thousand years later, as the largest ampitheater in the world. In use for over 400 years, it could hold up to 80,000 people. For my Denver-based friends and family, Empower Field at Mile High (if that's still what it's called- it's hard to keep track) holds 76,000 spectators. Underneath the floor of the arena is a complex labyrinth of corridors, rooms, and passageways where gladiators and the animals they would fight were held, to be delivered to the arena floor via "elevators" and trap doors. It was pretty cool. None of us had seen the movie "Gladiator," but we watched it the next afternoon when we had some down time. Despite being a fictionalized tale, having been at the Colosseum earlier that day made both experiences "come to life" all that much more.

We left the Colosseum and met up with Bonna. If you've been following along, Bonna is Nicole's friend from college who is the CEO of Lightyear, the solar car company that loaned us the Tesla to drive around so they could collect real-life mobile solar data. Bonna's husband, Jean Luca, is Italian, from Latina, a smaller city about an hour and a half from Rome. Bonna had flown in to Rome on her way to Latina to meet up with her family and stopped to hang with us for the day. She knows Rome well, speaks Italian, and we had a great time walking around, grabbing a bite to eat and enjoying some gelato while seeing the Trevi Fountain, Castel Sant'Angelo on the Tiber River, and many more cool parts of town. Bonna soon caught the train and headed to Latina where we would join her and her family in a couple of days, and we went back to our apartment for a short rest before our next big adventure that evening: an Italian cooking class!

We have now done three different cooking classes while traveling: one in Granada (when we visited in 2021), one earlier this trip in Lago Atitlan, Guatemala, and now this one in Rome, and every time it has been a five-star experience. We arrived at the restaurant at 7pm, met some of our fellow classmates, and quickly jumped into the fun. As seems to be the norm, we started off by making dessert (since it needed to chill while we made our meal), and our treat today was the Italian classic of tiramisu. After whipping the egg whites, sugar, and then adding back the beaten yokes, we added coffee-dipped cookies, and sprinkled some cocoa powder on top, sending them away to the fridge while we prepared for the main event: Homemade pasta. Guided by our instructor, each of us made our own pasta dough, kneeding it into a perfect little ball, then flattening it, folding it, flattening it, folding it, again and again until it was ready to go through the roller, and then, ultimately, the cutter. It was incredibly gratifying to receive the fresh-cut linguini noodles as we turned the crank on the pasta makers, and every single one of us was giggling with excitement and satisfaction. We had also saved some of our dough to cut into small round circles and used a pre-mixed filling of spinach and cheese to make raviolis. After washing up, we returned to our tables to socialize for a few minutes while our delectable creations were cooked in boiling water, strained, and adorned with delicious sauces. While hanging out, we learned that one table of our fellow chef apprentices were eight recent graduates from the North Carolina State women's swimming team (ranked 7th in the NCAA), and at our table was a mother with two daughters, one of whom had recently won an Emmy for her Public Affairs Series, "Traffic Thursdays," and the other who was a published poet and actress on shows like the Star Wars spinoff, "The Acolyte." They were incredibly humble, sweet, and really lovely to talk to and cook with. After just a short bit, our pasta dishes arrived, perfectly cooked and prepared, followed by the delicious tiramisu to cap it off. We savored every bite and Carter is now hell-bent on getting a pasta maker when we get home :).

On our next day in Rome, we visited the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum was insane. The collection of sculptures, statues, paintings and other art was vast and endless, but we saw only a fraction of it (which was honestly okay with us), as our main focus was getting into the Sistine Chapel. On the way through the museum, though, some of the most stunning artwork was built into the building itself, particularly the colorful frescoed ceilings, and the ornate buttresses and archways throughought. The ceiling in the Gallery of the Tapestries was one that really stood out for me. While the massive tapestries hanging from the walls are each a wonder of craftsmanship and art themselves, the ceiling absolutely captivated my attention. The entire arched surface looks as though it was carved and sculpted in relief, with distinct shadows on and around the figures depicted there, but it is indeed a two dimensional painting. Even knowing it was a painting, it was almost impossible to get my eyes to see it as anything other than a three dimensional relief. I thought this was incredibly cool. Another eye-catcher was the ceiling in the gallery of maps, the long hallway between the Papal Palace and the Sistine Chapel. Again, the maps of Italy are super interesting and impressive, but the fresco paintings depicting various scenes from The Bible were impressive- especially that they were painted way up high on this vaulted ceiling. As I've shared before, I'm not the hugest fan of Renaissance paintings, as I tire of the constant repetition of subject matter, but what really astounded me was the incredibly elaborate and interconnecting network of stuccoed "frames" for each piece. Imagining the artists constructing those frames and then adding the paintings inside was fascinating to me.

Lastly, and the highlight of the tour, was the Sistine Chapel. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the chapel, but all I can say is, "WOW!" Again, I often tire of Renaissance paintings and the repeated depictions of the Virgin Mary, Adam & Eve, and all of the other biblical stories represented therein, but this was something wholly unique and magnificent to take in. The work by Michelangelo is just breathtaking. There's not a single square inch that isn't a wonder of talent and artistry. We stood there as long as we could, staring up at the grandeur of it all and trying to absorb every little bit until our necks started to cramp. Words simply don't do it justice. If you get the opportunity to go, even if you're not a huge fan of Renaissance art, it is completely worth it.

On our last day in Rome, we slept in a little, then headed to meet Bonna and family in Latina, just about an hour and a half away. We met them for a lovely picnic in a park above the hillside village of Norma, then headed down into Latina and to the Fiume Cavata canal where we rented kayaks and a canoe for a beautiful afternoon of paddling around. It was a great way to escape the hustle & bustle of Rome and spend some relaxed time in the Italian countryside with good people. 

When we left Bonna and family in Latina, we also said goodbye to the Tesla, which had served us well for our adventures these past couple of months. In all, we put about 8,400 kilometers, or just over 5,000 miles on the car as we drove it through nine of the 14 countries we have visited so far since January. Again, I'm not a fan of Elon's politics, but this car was a joy to drive and made so many of our experiences possible. We owe a huge thank you to Bonna and her team for loaning it to us, and we're happy the data proved beneficial for their needs.

The next morning, we checked out of our apartment and headed to the airport for our second-to-last stop on this wild ride: Greece!