Off to Italy

Traveling once again after a few short days at home in Nottingham, we took the train to London and enjoyed a day at the British Library seeing a special exhibit of incunabular books owned by English monarchs, most from the Library’s own collection. The exhibit focused primarily on the illuminations -- the detailed art work hand drawn in the pages of books before the age of print.

In the evening, after standing in line for almost two hours, we were admitted to the Sir John Soane Museum for a special candlelight exhibition. Soane was an architect in the Victorian era who filled his rather odd home with an even more odd collection of artworks and architectural objects from the ancient Egyptians right on through his own time.

Dome of St. Peter's in Rome

Next morning we flew to Rome. After nearly missing a connection in Munich, and taking a wild ride by shuttle bus from the airport, we arrived at our rather nice cheap hotel (off season travel saves bunches of money). We took a long walk past the Colosseum and the Forum after dark. Nothing was open to go into, but all was beautifully lighted as we walked by.

Hallway outside the Sistine Chapel

The next morning we were nearly first in line at the Vatican Museum. We had seen the Sistine Chapel 35 years ago, but it has undergone a major restoration since then, and the colors are now much more vivid. When we got to it, we practically had the place to ourselves for the first few minutes, until the thundering hordes caught up with us!

City walls of Orvieto

We then traveled by train to Orvieto, to the north. This ancient city on a steep hill is reached bay a funicular elevator (think Dubuque, Iowa but bigger) from the rail station up to the top. The old city is mostly unchanged from at least the 17th century, with remnants of Medieval and ancient Etruscan life still to be found.

The Duomo at Orvieto

 The Duomo, or cathedral, is quite fabulous. We also toured a system of hand-dug caves under the city, some of which date from the Etruscans, which are still used today, primarily as wine cellars.

Pigeon roosts in the caves beneath Orvieto

Our train to Florence was less hectic than the previous day, and involved no running along the platform to jump aboard with seconds to spare this time. After a relaxing, scenic journey we arrived just before noon, and immediately found the tourist information office with a helpful person who answered all of our questions. We really lucked out on the hotel -- only two blocks from the train station, great view of the Duomo, free breakfast and wi-fi, all for 45 Euro a night. Let’s hear it for off-season travel!

The Duomo in Florence

Armed yet again with a museum card, we visited the 15th century mansion and opulent family chapel of the Medicci family. These people made Bill Gates and Warren Buffet look like paupers by the standards of their day, with their fingers in every business or power pie, even buying the papacy for a nephew, Leo X, who would build St. Peter’s and excommunicate Martin Luther for calling attention to Leo’s (among others) greed and corruption. We went on to visit the Museo di San Marco, the old monastery where Savanorolla lived. This monk was an earlier challenger of Medicci power who was burned at the stake for his trouble. At the Galleria dell Accademia we visited Michelangelo’s David and a number of other sculptures and paintings from the 14th century onward.

Ponte Vecchio

Finally, growing weary, we walked to the Piazza San Giovanni, immediately in front of the Duomo (cathedral) and caught a small part of the Epiphany procession. In Italy, Christmas is a strictly religious holiday. The day for giving gifts and such is the Day of the Three Kings, January 6. For that reason, many shops were closed today, and special services were being held in many churches. We didn’t really understand what was going on, but there were a lot of people in colorful costumes parading by!

Epiphany procession participants

Next day we visited the Uffizi, Vecchio, and Bargello palace museums (how many palaces did these Medici guys have?), walked over the Ponte (bridge) Vecchio, and did a little shopping in the Mercato Centale. We also saw the inside of the Duomo, and visited the museum in the old cloister of Santa Maria Novella. Since our museum cards also serve as unlimited bus passes for three days, we rode around the city to save our legs and see the city from the bus windows.

Chapter House at Santa Maria Novella cloister