Karen McCullough – Page 34 – Magic, Mystery, and More

Day 10 – Varenna Day 1 – Florence to Varenna

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Karen McCulloughSeptember 2, 2015

Our hotel in Varenna, the Albergo Eremo Gaudio. The upper part is near the top of the picture, the lower part at the bottom.

We reluctantly bid goodbye to Florence, walked to the train station, and got the train to Milan. There we transferred to the train to Varenna, a small, charming town that sits on the eastern side of Lake Como, right at the place where the inverted Y shape of the lake splits into two legs. The trip was easy, other than a bit of rush to get from one train to the other in the huge and crowded station. I love the European high speed trains!

As everywhere we went in Italy, Varenna was full of tourists. However, the town is so small the tourists don’t overwhelm the place as in Florence and Rome. Our hotel, Albergo Eremo Gaudio, was a remarkable place. It is a former hermitage on the side of a steep hill. We were on the lowest level, which makes sense with the baby, but we did later take the two funiculars and the lift to the upper level rooftop terrace, which was way above our rooms!

Even the lower part of the hotel required a steep climb.

Walked into the town and a pretty serious thunderstorm, which we took as a sign that we were supposed to duck into a covered outdoor bar and snack place. We had drinks and snacks while waiting for the storm to pass, and happened into a tiny (6 tables), but spectacularly good little place called Borgovino. Had some of the best food I’ve ever tasted. We decided we’d have to go back there at least once before we left, so we made reservations there for our last day in Varenna.

The view from our hotel room across Lake Como

Florence Day 3 – The Galleria Academia

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 31, 2015

We had reservations for the Galleria Academia in the morning. It’s another art gallery, not as large or extensive as the Uffizi, but it contains what is arguably (but not very arguably) the most famous statue in the world, Michelangelo’s David. It’s worth the trip to Florence just to see it. It’s just an astonishing piece. I actually know very little about sculpture, but it’s almost impossible to look at this piece and not marvel. And there’s no way to describe it that does it justice. You just have to see it. Artist Giorgio Vasari has said about the piece: “Anyone who has seen Michelangelo’s David has no need to see anything else by another sculptor, living or dead.” It’s hard to argue with.

We proceeded to look at others anyway. The same room that houses the David also has an interesting set of other statues by Michelangelo, his unfinished pieces, The Prisoners and The Slaves. These are partially carved statues showing human figures that appear to be struggling to pull themselves out of the rock itself. Scholars believe they were intentionally left unfinished. Not only to they convey their own message about freedom and dignity, they do a great job of showing some of Michelangelo’s technique and the difficulty of carving human figures out of rock.

In the afternoon, we found a travel agent to get our tickets for the next day’s trip to Varenna, then stopped for a leisurely lunch before heading back to the hotel for a rest. Later we did some shopping and made a gelato stop.

Pigeons find a nice cool, shady spot for an afternoon rest on the side of the cathedral.

In the evening we walked through the lower level of the Palazzo Vecchio, which is open to the public. There’s another art museum on the upper floors, but we were just too saturated with amazing art already. The lower level features the mostly unrestored reception areas and courtyard of the palace with columns and more statuary.

Florence Day 2 – The Uffizi Gallery and the Duomo

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 31, 2015

We had reservations for the Uffizi Gallery the next day at eight fifteen and we spent an entire morning there. I only wish it could have been longer. There’s so much more magnificent art than I could manage to take in. We certainly didn’t see all we wanted to see, though we did get a glance at the major works, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and his The Spring, Leonardo’s Annunciation, Michelangelo’s only easel painting, as well as others too numerous to name.

The Madonna and Child above and this painting, Spring, are both by Botticelli.

I’ve loved painting ever since I took a required Art History class in college. Fortunately my husband shares that interest, and we take every opportunity we can get to see as much as we can.

There’s more than just Italian art in the Uffizi. This is an El Greco.

I hate, hate, hate that after four hours my feet and my brain had had all they could handle because there were still many rooms of paintings left to go. There was so much more to see. It half killed me that as we were heading for the exit I barely glanced at a wonderful collection of Titians. I walked right by a group of Caravaggios. I couldn’t take in paintings that I would otherwise drive miles just to have the opportunity to see one of them.

After a rest and lunch, our next jaunt was to view the interior of the cathedral. The line was fairly long, though not as long as most of the lines in Rome, but it moved quickly. The inside was a bit of a surprise. All the extravagant decoration is on the outside. Aside from the inside of the dome, which is beautifully painted, the rest of cathedral is rather plain, other than a few paintings and frescoes. Which doesn’t mean it was unattractive. In fact being less ornate made its graceful lines and proportions more obvious and pleasing.

It did have a couple of interesting features beside the dome, though. Over the entrance to the church, there is an unusual twenty-four hour clock, which, sadly, didn’t seem to be running. It also has the prettiest votive candle holders I’ve ever seen.

We went back to hotel again afterward. Joe wasn’t feeling great and the baby needed an earlier night so Jim and I ventured out on our own. We passed the Palazzo Vecchio and walked across the Ponte Vecchio, which is lined on either side with really expensive jewelry shops, up to the Pitti Palace, then around and back across the river by a different route.

The Ponte Vecchio as seen from the Uffizi.

Following that we had a nice, leisurely dinner in the Piazza della Signoria, next to the Palazzo Vecchio. It was one of the touristy, open-air restaurants on the plaza itself, but the food and wine were good and there was something amazing about just sitting and soaking in the ambience of a small city which had been at the center of the Italian Renaissance and home to many of the most important artists and writers of the period.

Florence Day 1

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 31, 2015

We got the high speed train from Rome in the morning and an hour and a half later we were in Florence. Our hotel there was just a few blocks from the train station, so we walked to it. Hotel Perseo occupies the third and fourth floors of a former convent a short way from the famous cathedral. A tiny lift in the center of the building took us up to the third floor registration area. We had nice rooms on the fourth floor of an old building extensively refurbished.

Once we’d dumped our bags and freshened up, we set out for a walk around the city. The hotel was just yards from the cathedral, so that was the first stop. It’s an astonishing building, so we spent some time walking around it and, frankly, gawking.

From there we proceeded to investigate other places in the area, finding our way through very narrow streets lined with stores selling expensive brand name goods – Gucci, Fendi, Armani, and Balenciaga, among others. We passed the Plaza de la Republica with its broad piazza and carousel and arrived at the Palazzo Vecchio.

The Palazzo is a huge building that was once the palace of the Medicis, but became the town hall of Florence when they moved out to Palazzo Pitti, across the river. It looms over the Piazza della Signoria with its loggia full of statuary, some original and some copies. The originals include the Rape of the Sabine Women and Perseus with the head of Medusa.

Most impressive, though, are the huge Neptune statue and fountain and the replica of Michelangelo’s David. The original David stood there until the middle of the 19th century, when it was moved to the Accademia Gallery to preserve it from exposure to the elements.

Just beyond the Palazzo Vecchio is the Uffizi Gallery. More about the museums in the next post.

Narrow Florentine street near the cathedral.

That’s a chocolate waterfall behind the counter at this gelateria.

Rome Day 6 – The Vatican Museums

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 31, 2015

The Vatican Museums as seen from our hotel room.

Wow, was it a day!

We started the morning with tickets to the Vatican Museums. If you’re planning to go, be sure to pre-book your tickets online. The line for pre-booked tickets moves much, much faster! We got in within ten minutes. On the advice of others we went directly to the thing we (and pretty much everyone else) most wanted to see: the Sistine Chapel. Good advice! The room was crowded but not packed so tightly we couldn’t breathe. (And by the way, it’s a LONG walk from the entrance to the Chapel. It took us almost 25 minutes, just to get there – Following huge mobs of tour groups.)

The line to get into the Vatican Museums.

The chapel itself was more than worth the effort. Michelangelo’s ceiling is just as awesome as reported…maybe even more so, since the pictures rarely show the full scope of it. Although not as enormous as the cathedrals, it’s a fairly large chapel and he painted every bit of the ceiling as well as one entire wall and a few other frescos in the room. Other side frescoes were done by Botticelli, Pinturino and Ghirlandaio, among other well-known painters. Those Renaissance popes had so much wealth and power, they had the very best Italian artists of the day at their beck and call. They didn’t allow photography in the chapel so I don’t have any pictures from it, though they did allow it in other areas.

Other notable places and pieces… There were rooms full of frescoes done by Raphael; some amazing tapestries, the statue of Laocoon, and other assorted pictures, and objects, too many to describe. The museum is a huge collection of rooms. Laid end to end we were told they’d be seven kilometers long. We believed it. We passed through a number of very long corridors. One of the more impressive features is that in most of those corridors, every surface is covered with paintings, carvings, mosaics, or some other artistic expression. The impression is of richness that sometimes spills over into gaudy.

One of the better-known statues in the Vatican.

Four hours of the museum pretty much cooked us, and we’d seen the things we most wanted to see, so after a late lunch and a rest we went for a final walk in Rome. Our hotel was right across the street from the Vatican (quite literally) so we walked in that area. Our main object was to try to find a travel agent to buy train tickets, since the very helpful young woman at the hotel had suggested it would be easier for us to get them that way than to buy them at the station, but it would cost the same. She told us where to find two travel agents, but both were closed. We walked some more and stopped at a gelateria for an ice cream break. As we started back, Steph noticed a travel agency right next to the gelateria, which was open with one bored-looking young woman at the desk. She made the train reservations for us.

We walked again and found a nice little playground area in the shadow of Castel Sant’Angelo where Freya had a great time on the slides and swings. It also had some nice shady benches for us. After a while we got rolling again and started back toward our hotel.

One of the routes back took us through St. Peter’s Square, so we thought to say good-bye to it. As we approached, we noticed things were different. There was no line to get into the Basilica and much of the square had been cordoned off with barriers. We could see something was happening on the steps. The police manning the gates into the square let us through with no trouble and as we got closer it became obvious something big and formal was happening since there were a couple of rows of dignitaries on the platform right in front of the basilica. Several huge screens were set up to show closer images of the event. Right in the middle of the group on the platform sat Pope Francis himself. Most of the ceremony was in German, though there were songs in English (a youth choir performed a nice rendition of ‘Here I Am, Lord’) and other languages. The Pope himself spoke in Italian. We later learned that the ceremony was for the National Pilgrimage of German Altar Servers.

The Pope is sitting between the two columns in front of the center door.

He was easier to see on the big screen.

Seeing the pope in person like that, even though he was little more than a white speck in the distance, (but they did project him onto a number of huge screens around the square) felt like the cherry on the ice cream sundae that has been our trip to Rome. We had dinner at a place recommended by the woman at the hotel, a slightly nicer restaurant with good food. As if to remind us that nothing is perfect, Jim spilt red wine on his trousers, pretty much ruining them, and Joe lost his travel bag there. Fortunately nothing of critical importance was in the bag, but it was a favorite.

The next day we would say Arrivederci, Roma, and head to Florence.

Rome Day 5 – St. Peter’s Basilica

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 30, 2015

Laundry in the morning. It’s been really hot here in Rome, and we’ve gone through clothes much faster than Rome5_1 expected, so we needed to do wash some things. Fortunately, there’s a small launderette just a block down from the hotel. Following that we got in the line for St. Peter’s. It was a long line, snaking more than halfway around St. Peter’s square, which actually isn’t anywhere near as long as we’ve seen it at times. The line is just to go through the security checkpoint and it actually moved pretty fast.

What to say about St. Peter’s? It’s huge and grand and in almost every way larger than life. All the statues, and there are many, range from large to gigantic. Every surface is elaborately decorated, and some of the paintings are amazing. Ceilings and everything in the building, soar upward. The high altar is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a church.

Oddly, the very first thing you see as you enter the church is the Pieta, and in many ways it’s the most human thing there. The fact that it’s at a distance, behind bullet-proof glass, makes it seem smaller than it is. But you don’t have to be close to it to see that it’s exquisite. Mary’s quiet heartbreak as she holds her dead son’s body is evident in every detail. Because it was behind glass my pictures of it didn’t come out very well but there are plenty of them available.

In fact, for some reasons most of the pictures I took inside St. Peter’s Basilica didn’t come out well or at all, but I have a few that gives the general idea.

What redeems St. Peter’s from mere pomposity is the light and the way it streams into the building from a variety of openings and angles. It picks out details here and there, and lends everything a rich warmth. We had a long, leisurely, early dinner after.

More pictures here.

Rome Day 4 National Museum

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 25, 2015

On Sunday morning, I was not at my best after not sleeping much the previous night. We had a pipe dream about going to Mass at St. Peter’s but our dream crashed into the Roman reality of huge crowds and incredible heat. The line to get in was ridiculously long, and at mid-morning the temperature was soaring to well above 90. We decided that God had declared we needed a break this morning and went back to the hotel for private prayer, meditation and reading.

In the afternoon, we met Steph, Joe and Freya at the National Museum of Rome. The building we were at was one of five that made up the museum. This one had magnificent displays of domestic frescos, including one entire room transported from the home of the early Roman, Livia, wife of Emperor Augustus, to the museum in large slabs. They didn’t want to have to remove them, but the site was subject to flooding and the frescoes in danger of being ruined. These were far too wonderful. They had to be preserved.

Also featured were some amazing mosaics, including some that covered an entire floor at one time. First and ground floors of the museum were mostly statuary. In fact there was a lot of statuary in all the museums we visited and I’m sure that most of it was wonderful. Unfortunately I don’t know near as much about it as I do painting, so it was hard to appreciate it in any real sense other than it’s astonishing age, with most of it dating back to more than a thousand and sometimes two thousand years.

We experienced a different side of Rome on the Metro train back to the hotel in late afternoon. Jim and I stood almost between cars in the Metro. Unlike the cars on other subways, the cars connect with open passages rather than doors between them. We got on at the Termini station, which is the central point for the Metro as well as being Rome’s main train station.

One stop later, as the train halted and doors opened, the usual crowds gathered at each exit pressing to get off. Two young men who’d been part of the crowd at the door on our right, suddenly turned and dashed past us toward the door on the left. Moments later a woman screamed. I looked over and saw something dark on the floor. One of the men kicked it off the train. The first of the two jumped off the train and the screaming woman jumped off right after him. The first one got back on the train at the door where he’d stood originally but the woman stood in the doorway and refused to budge until a security officer came up.

That’s all I saw. What we were later told by people who were closer was that guy number 1 had grabbed the woman’s purse and dropped it when she screamed. (Clearly he’d chosen the wrong woman to try to rob!) He then kicked the purse off the train, whether deliberately or accidentally wasn’t clear, but it fell between the train and the platform onto the tracks.

There were a number of security people who came running and they grabbed guy number 1 off the train and onto the platform. From there it was a bit muddled. The train waited at the station for a bit and it was clear guy number 1 was protesting vigorously. Several people on the train tried to tell the police where the purse was and that another man had been involved. The doors on the train kept opening and closing and it was clear the driver wanted to get going to stay on his schedule. Guy number 2 stood not far from us, muttering under his breath. I clutched my bag tightly.

Finally the doors shut and the train took off again. People on the train muttered to themselves and each other as well. The main upshot of the conversation seemed to be that the police never listened to anyone and they didn’t do anything about the rampant criminal activity on the trains. Man number two got off himself at the next station and people sighed in relief.

We got back to the hotel, ready for a rest and then food. We had a good dinner at a wonderful little place, Insalata Ricca, recommended by Arianna, who works at the desk of the Hearth Hotel, where we’re staying. They specialized in salads served in puffed up pizza dough baskets. The place had local (their football, our soccer) games showing on the televisions and several groups of what appeared to be local people eating there.

We had excellent food, good wine, lots of good conversation. It was well after dark by the time we left and headed back to the hotel.

More pictures here on my Shutterfly page.

Rome Day 3 The Colosseum +

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 25, 2015

Up and out early this morning to get to the Coliseum at 8:15. We actually got there at 8:30, but since that’s when it opened, it didn’t matter. Very, very impressive! The weight of history and sense of the long ago past is heavy here, yet as my husband observed, the basic design of stadiums and colosseums hasn’t changed all that much. We spent several hours going around the place.

Some of the ruined temples and buildings on the Palatine Hill

We then spent some time wandering the Palatine Hill, the oldest part of Rome, despite serious heat – upper 90’s—and incipient blisters. I would’ve loved to spend more time exploring this oldest part of Rome. It was obvious that with every step you were walking on ancient building or streets. Partial excavations were everywhere. Ancient temples, ranges of columns, ruined walls, and assorted stacks of stone covered the area. Sadly it was just too hot and we were too wiped out to give it as much time as it deserved.

Heading back to the Metro station, we stopped for lunch at a pizza place recommended in Joe’s guidebook. The place is hidden back in a corner but is beloved by the locals. Very good pizza, Italian coffee and Tiramisu.

On the way to the Metro station, we passed by the huge church of Santa Maria Maggiore and stopped in. We hadn’t yet seen the interior of St. Peter’s, but even after that experience, this church remainsi right up there with the most impressive churches I’ve ever seen. Amazing mosaics, gorgeous side chapels with sarcophagi of popes, and the little chapel below the high altar with a statue of a pope kneeling before a casket that is reputed to contain relics of the Nativity crib.

At that point we were cooked and headed back to the hotel for some play time for Freya and a simple supper.

The Arch of Constantine as seen from level two of the Colosseum

Map of the Palatine Hill area

Even more pictures here at my Shutterfly album

Rome – Day 2 – Exploring the City

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 18, 2015

Fountain Statues in Piazza Navona

On Day 2 of our stay, we started off by taking a tourist bus tour to see the major sites of Rome , which made sure we didn’t miss anything important. We drove past the Spanish steps, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus, Piazza Venezia and a few others.

We got off at the last stop right before the Vatican and set off through the old town ourselves. We headed toward Piazza Navona and spent some time poking around it. We found a little shop selling beautiful leather, paper and glass products and bought a few things. Stopped at a small gelateria on a corner of the piazza and had gelato.

Side view of the Pantheon

From there we walked to the Pantheon, which was originally a temple to all the gods, and has since been converted to a church. Very interesting interior. We then went around behind it and found ourselves in the only Gothic church in Rome, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, so named because it was supposed to have been built on the ruins of a temple to Minerva. It doesn’t look gothic from the outside. In fact it

barely looks like a church from the outside, but the interior is amazing. It includes a wonderful collection of Italian art, and contains the casket of Saint Catherine of Siena. It’s most impressive piece is a statue of the Risen Christ, which was begun by Michelangelo. We spent quite a while in the place.

Exterior of the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Interior of Santa Maria Sopra Minverva showing the casket of St. Catherine of Sienna

Statue of Christ Triumphant, begun by Michelangelo.

Came out and from there headed to the Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately for us, it’s being repaired, so there was no water and half of it was covered in scaffolding. We could see enough to get the idea of what a gorgeous monument it is, though I’m sure the water makes it amazing. Oh well.

It was hot (really, really hot) and getting on to midafternoon by then, so we started heading back to the hotel, but stopped at a small Osteria for snacks and drinks. We knew it was the right choice when we discovered a large display of watermelon. We bought a good-sized chunk along with a banana, a couple of espressos and several cold drinks. The owner of the place led us back to a private parlor in the back, which had an air conditioner, more comfortable chairs and a rest room. Perfect!

Energized by the break, we continued on our way back to hotel. Since we were walking right by it, we stopped at Castel Sant’Angelo and went in. Lots of steps up and up, going past a few displays of medieval and renaissance weapons, and a serious travelling art exhibition, and finally made it to the uppermost level, the angel courtyard, which sits just below the angel on the top of the castle.

The place was fascinating, but we were starting to flag. Headed back toward the hotel, but stopped at a little bar/restaurant which had a nice buffet. The waiter was a character. He adored Freya and brought her a few extras. He told us he was a “historical waiter.” He’s been in the job for 25 years, following an 18-year military career. We ate a lot, had drinks, got ripped off a bit on both food and wine, but the waiter was so entertaining, we didn’t mind.

Rome – Day 1 Seeing Rome for the First Time

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Karen McCulloughAugust 15, 2015

We arrived in Rome at just after mid-day. Our son Joe, daughter-in-law, Steph, and 14-month-old grand-daughter Freya had arrived an hour or so before we did. They found the driver of the car I’d hired to take us to the hotel and were waiting for us once we collected our baggage. We checked into the hotel, got settled a bit and then set off to take a walk around the area.

The gang in St. Peter’s Square

Our hotel was located right across the street from the Vatican museums. We could see the tops of the buildings from our windows and we could look down on the lines each day to get into the museums. We had tickets for the museum later on in the visit.

But right then we just wanted to explore, so we walked along the Vatican wall until we got to St. Peter’s Square. Stopped to gawk at it for a bit. The curving rows of columns topped by statues that sat in front of the colossal church of St. Peter’s is well worth more than one gawk.

Castel Sant’Angelo

After a bit we went on, walking down toward the river. We passed Castel Sant’Angelo, an enormous fortress that sits next to the river, crossed the Tiber and went on into the old part of Rome. We mosied through a number of narrow back streets lined with small shops and restaurants, enjoying it all immensely until a shower blew up. We got pretty wet, but since the temperature was quite hot before it, the drenching wasn’t as unwelcome as it could’ve been.

Still, it was time for supper and we ducked into a small restaurant serving pizza, salads and sandwiches. Had our first pizzas and glasses of wine in Italy, though neither were particularly distinguished. After that we headed back to the hotel for showers and sleep. All in all, it was a good introduction to the city and set the stage for much of the trip in a couple of ways.

It would stay very hot for our entire trip. Rome (and in fact most of Europe) has been suffering through a heat wave. Every day saw highs soar into the upper 90’s and it hit the 100 mark a couple of times. And we walked and walked, taking care to drink plenty of water and make lots of stops to cool off.