Last Day in Italy
It seems as if we just arrived. We left Lake Como this afternoon, and drove to the airport outside of Milan. We're staying at an airport hotel this evening. The car has been returned to the rental agency.

We visited some wonderful places over the past three weeks that a few million other people were also visiting at the same time. I was surprised…no stunned at the sheer numbers of tour groups that are being herded through Florence and Venice on a daily basis. I understand the attraction to people throughout the world. The visual presence of a history of civilization expressed in the beautiful forms of painting, sculpture and architecture can only be truly experienced in person. Books and photos can not convey the emotion of standing before the real thing. The sheer scale of many of the buildings and sculptures leaves one in awe of the artisans and architects who created them.

What an amazing experience this has been. I must come back soon, and maybe stay. Italy is an extraordinary country.

I am leaving this adventure with a few photos that I did not previously post. So sad to go.

A street car in Milan

An Italian pay phone

Hotel garden in Florence

Drinks at our hotel in Florence

Neighborhood market in Florence

Music while we painted in San Gimignano

Piazza San Marco, Venice

Piazza San Marco, Venice

Shops along the Piazza San Marco

Gondolas

One of the villages along the banks of Lake Como

Farewell Italy. We love you.

Lake Como

It rained all night last night. We left our balcony door open, and the air was divine. I awoke about 2 a.m. I just sat by a window and listened to the breeze through the pines and rain hitting the lake.  I looked across the lake at the lights from one of the many villages that populate the shores cast a golden reflection on the rippling water. 

Venice to Lake Como
We reluctantly said good by to Venice as we stepped off our water taxi and walked to the parking garage. What a wonderful and interesting place it is. As it is Saturday, the traffic was heavy. People were coming into the Venice area for the weekend. We cautiously edged our way out of the busy area where all of the parking garages are located. You need to make a reservation for a parking spot, or you may have sit and wait for who knows how long. Cars were lined up outside of the garages in queue.

It took three plus hours to arrive in the Lake Como area. We drove through 26 miles of tunnels separated by short bridges. The highway literally goes under all of the little towns along the shoreline. Two of the tunnels are almost a mile long.

Our boutique hotel sits on the shore of the lake, or a finger of the lake. The little villages on the other side look like pictures in a children's book. A bottle of cold champagne was waiting in the room, compliments of the hotel. We sat on our balcony over looking the lake and sighed as the evening crept in.

Each place we visit seems to be better than the last. This a quiet meditative location. We're just going to chill here for a couple of days.

Venice - A walk and lunch

We went for a walk to see the cathedral Campo della Salute. On the way we stopped for lunch at a cafe with a dining area that had a a panoramic view across Canale della Giudecca to the island of Giudecca and Isola di Saint Georgio Maggiore.

The view toward Isola di Saint Georgio Maggiore from our table.

The waiter brought a tray displaying the daily selection of fish. He explained how each could be prepared or stated that we could make a personal request for a style of preparation.

The daily catch.

We started with oysters. Ohhh!…were they good. 

They could be the best that I have ever had.

For the main course, Debra had saffron pasta with blue lobster.

I had Venus rice with shrimp and mussels. A couple of glasses of

soave wine went well with the fish.

After a leisurely lunch we continued our walk to the original destination of Campo della Salute. The walk took us around the tip of the island, Punta della Doggana. This point seemed to be a gathering spot for people to sit and sun themselves. It is at the convergence of the Grand Canal and the Canale della Giudecca.

Campo della Salute

The interior

Looking back at Campo della Salute on our way back to the hotel.

Venice - the transportation system

It occurred to me the second day in Venice that there is a certain calm in the air. I came to the conclusion that the lack of traffic and automobiles created a feeling of tranquility. The pace of things is slower, the noise level is low, and the anxiety that traffic creates is nonexistent. There are no parking hassles. Love it! 

If you need to get about, you walk or you take a water taxi. Even the boats go slow. This is a lovely place to be.

So you have your main thoroughfare.

You have your secondary thoroughfare.

You have your back alleys.

They are all wonderful to look down.

Venice
We made the three and a half hour drive from Florence to Venice in the afternoon. The highways are really nice here. Some traffic but not too much. Thanks to our handy navigation system on the iPad, we arrived without getting lost. The hotel had made reservations for us at a parking garage just a block from the water taxi stand. We wrangled our one suitcase and two carry bags out of the garage and across to the taxi pier. Debra called the hotel and they sent a boat for us. The boatman soon cruised up and deftly put his boat against the pilings. He helped us aboard and off we went.

The water taxi pier. 

Ponte Vecchio and the Arno River
For centuries the only bridge on which one could cross the Arno River in Florence was the Ponte Vecchio. It also provided a safe and private access for the de' Medici's to travel between the Palazzio Vecchio to their palace on the other side of the Arno. An elevated corridor was built between the two buildings incorporating the upper level of the Ponte Vecchio.

Today in a walk across the street level portion of the bridge, you are flanked by venders stalls selling gold jewelry. It's a shoulder to shoulder stroll through a mass of humanity that has come to see the wonders of Florence.

The Ponte Vecchio photographed from an upper level window in The Uffizi. 

On the right of the photo you can see a length of the upper corridor that connects to the Ponte Vecchio. This corridor was used by the de' Medici family to safely cross the Arno.

The bridge from the opposite side

Local Shops
The little shops along the narrow picturesque streets are a treat, particularly those that cater to the locals in the area. They are visual delights.

The sign says it all, cured meats.

Great little corner market. Produce, cheese, bread, and wine. 

Zecchi, a very specialized art store. Because there are many ateliers teaching classical painting as well as significant painting conservation programs in Florence, they sell powdered pigments, specialty oils, specialized tools, etc. They provide what an artist needs to do it from scratch. It is a fascinating place.

And then there is the ubiquitous espresso shop. There is no leisurely sitting about sipping your java. People run in order their brew, down it, and they are off. Now me, not being in a hurry, I had a pastry and latte—leisurely.

Design and Style —
Two words that have significant meaning for Italy. How's this for a tea bag. Earl Grey by the way.

Firenze Florence
The city the de' Medici's built—a city bisected by narrow alley like streets lined with multistory buildings that create a canyon like environment is also home to some grandiose architecture. Because the city is so tightly constructed, one cannot get far enough back to capture the magnitude of buildings such as Santa Maria del Fiore. The cathedral is so tightly surrounded that it is all but impossible to survey its exterior from any single point. It does however emphasize its enormity in comparison to the surrounding buildings. Of course the mass of humanity from other continents swarming about the base increases the difficulty in making a photograph.

Santa Maria del Fiore (on a Sunday)

PASSIONE!
I do love Italians. They converse passionately, the feel passionate about their food and drink, and they drive with passion. Posted highway speeds are minimums not maximums. Gotta love it.

Fattoria Bacío
We left Milan in our little Fiat 500 on Saturday (May 17), and drove to our next destination in the Chianti hills. Fattoria Bacío is a working farm of vineyards and olive orchards 22 miles from Florence. We stayed in a restored 19th century villa surrounded by breath taking views of the surrounding country side.

Villa

View from Villa

Tuscana is a story book landscape of vineyards, orchards, and farms in rolling sunlit hills capped by grand villas. The Tuscan sun provides an illumination that heightens the contrast of the landscape enhancing the textural richness of the countryside. Hill top villas of stone, plaster, and red clay tile roofs glow as if there was an individual spot light shinning on each one. Tuscana is glorious.

During the week at Villa Fattoria Bacío we traveled to Certaldo alto, San Gimignano to paint, and the Uffizzi in Florence to learn.

San Gimignano top and the painting group bottom

First morning in Milan. My internal clock is not synchronized with central European time yet so I was up and about very early this morning. As the sky began to brighten about 6 a.m., I took a walk. I strolled through the neoclassical Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II completed in 1877. It has a spectacular soaring glass and steel cover over the central promenade. The structure was designed by Giuseppe Mengoni, who tragically fell from a scaffolding and died just months before the 14-year long construction was completed. The galleria now houses shops such as Gucci, Gorgio Armani, the original Prada store, Rizzoli books, restaurants, etc. It links the Piazza di Duomo to La Scala opera house.

above: The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Duomo is Milan's cathedral begun by Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1387. Its design was originally thought to be unfeasible. Canals had to be dug to transport marble to the site. New technologies had to be invented to construct a building of this never before attempted scale. As the building was being constructed, the Gothic style was going out of fashion and the cathedral took on several styles over the decades of construction. There are 135 spires and 3200 statues on and in the cathedral.

Early morning view of Duomo

Our Lufthansa plane arrives in San Francisco. It's a very big plane. We'll be boarding in an hour.

Off to Italy tomorrow. We'll miss our traveling buddies this year. The first week I have a painting workshop in Certaldo. After that we are going to tour the northern part of the country for a couple of weeks. Watch this space.