A trip to Western Europe: Rome, part1

We've all heard the phrase "all roads lead to Rome" at one time or the other. Now this actually leads us there.

We woke up early in the morning for breakfast, and set out to go before the traffic getting heavy, but barely fifteen minutes after we left, our bus driver informed us that we should take a last look of Florence, and he meant it literally. Boy, we could never thank him enough.

Looking down from the top of the hill on our way to Rome outside of Florence, gave us an unprecedented, panoramic view of this magnificent city. We could actually view the whole city Florence and its surrounding areas. It was 100 times better than viewing it with google map's satellite. The only way to describe it, is being there.

Right in the center of this turn about is a huge sculpture of David. The view of the Duomo Plaza is best from here. We snapped a few pictures the hurried back on our way to Rome. We couldn't wait any longer.

It took us about 3 hours to get to Rome with a few stops here and there in between. We checked in to our hotel right after lunch. The hotel is right in the middle of the busy district on Via Cavour, half a block from train underground station, and half a mile from the beautiful but look abandoned church, the Santa Maria Maggiore. It took us no time before we were heading out for our little adventure before dinner. I had to memorized this place because after the tour, we would be on our own mini tour to Venice, Naples, Capri, Sorrento, and Amalfi Coast.

We walked to Santa Maria Maggiore church in the late afternoon, but the air was still pretty warm. It must have been in the high 80s. The church wasn't huge in any standard but not too small either. There was a 6 foot construction fence surrounding it. It looked abandoned and deserted for a while at least. We got confused to be certain which way was the front which was the back of the church because there were statues on both ends. Both sides of the church were adjacent to the streets, but both ends of the church had huge clearing areas with multiple steps to the entrance. The fence was locked so we could not get in.

We tried to see if there were anything ups and downs the streets closer to our hotel, but none was visible. We headed back and got ready for dinner.

After dinner, the sky was already dark. We decided to take a couple taxi cabs to Piazza Navona. It's a fifteen minute drive, and it costs between 10 to 15 Euro depending the size of the cabs. Trinh, and Uyên with Khiêm and Tan, my wife and I got there in a large van like taxi cab for 15 Euro. Navona Piazza is a large plaza full of sightseers, vendors, artists, and street performers that attracts a touristy, all ages crowd – but it’s always worth a stroll through to check out the performances and browse the makeshift galleries set up by local artists. We met another couples in our group there as well. We were fascinated with some kind of toys for boys in some forms of laser lights, and after some hard bargains, everyone spent some money to support these street hawkers.

In the middle of the square there were more amateur painting artists selling their artworks. Every now and then someone yelled "polizia" and the some of these hustlers scattered all over the place. But within minutes, they were all back in wave. There were so much fun just to walk around. After an hour or so, we all settled on a sidewalk cafe for a late night drink. It's more fun to sit on a sidewalk with drinking and watching people at the time. They are pretty expensive to any standard, 7 Euro for a 12 oz bottle, and 10 Euro for a glass of mixed liquor.

We got back to our hotel a little after midnight. Gotta be ready for tomorrow, our Rome tour. There would be tons of things to see and to do here.

A trip to Western Europe: Florence, Italy part2

Next stop on our tour was the Piazza della Repubblica. Its rectangular shape formed something totally different with the historical look of the city. There is not much here beside a statue standing on top of a tall pole. It's very hard to see unless you till your head upward to heaven.

The Arch of Triumph gave a similar look to the one in Paris but on a much smaller and simpler scale. There was a carousel settled very much in the center of this square. It looks like a sore thumb, out of place.
The square is ringed with cafes with outside tables with high service charges used mainly by tourists. A cup of coffee costs 4 Euro, and the seats cost between 6 to 8 Euro. Very much if you drink your coffee standing, you are good. For American tourists, this really is unappealing.

We then took a stroll through the city visiting many famous streets once housed the greatest painters, artists of all time, Michael Angelo, Sandro Botticelli, Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi ...
These building have been around for hundreds of years.

The neighborhood in Florence, Michael Angelo once lived and worked.







On the way to Piazza Della Signoria, we stopped for a brief moment at an old fortress, and a few churches I did not remember their names. They were lost in such a high collection of these magnificent cathedrals, museums, and famous buildings.

We came to The Church of Santa Maria Novella a bit later only to find out that there was some kind of event going to happen that weekend, therefore the place was blocked and off limit to visitors. I took a quick shot of this church from far away with  a bit disappointed.

Piazza della Signoria is on top of our list of places we wanted to see in Florence. And it really lives up to its reputation. My son had text-messaged me the previous night to make sure I took some pictures of the famous sculpture David. And here it was, larger than life. It's beyond word. The only thing we heard all around us were the sound of camera clicking.

Piazza della Signoria is an open square, and all the statues under the loggia are also in the open. It is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

We found them all in here, and under the arches of an open-air sculpture gallery called Loggia dei Lanzi: The statues of Cosimo I de' Medici, Hercules and Cacus, Perseus With the Head of Medusa (snakes as hair), Judith and Holofernes, The Rape of the Sabine Women, Medici Lions, and the most famous of them all, the sculpture of David (even though later I found out this was actually a reproduction one). To top that off, right in the center of the square is the Fountain Of Neptune.

We were milling around for less than 30 minutes and all of the sudden, the rain started pouring down hard. Fortunately, there was plenty of room under the Loggia dei Lanzi's canopy. The rain went as quick as it came, so barely 15 minutes later, it all stopped.










I took probably more than a hundred photos of this place, but I did not feel that's enough. There was so much to learn and to enjoy here. Half of a day spending here is not enough. We barely touched the top of the surface. But we had to follow the tour's schedule.

To complete the tour of Florence, we still had one stop left, the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the Arno River, which we visited unofficially the previous night all in the dark with our newly acquainted friends, Uyen, Tan, Trinh and Khiem.

The Ponte Vecchio bridge crosses the Arno River near the Uffizi Gallery. It is lined with gold jewelry and souvenir shops. In the center of the bridge is a bust of artist and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini and is a good place for a photograph and on a clear sunny day you can see the reflections of the buildings in the river.

As we crossed the bridge, I saw the Vasari Corridor along the tops of the shops on the left side. The tour guide explained that this corridor was built as a private walkway for the governor Medici and his entourage to get from the Palazzo Vecchio and Uffiz.

The bridge got rather very crowded so the tour leaders once again reminding us to watch out for our belongings and be aware of pickpockets. We gathered tightly around the tour guide in the center of the bridge to listen to its history and people because there wasn't enough room for thousands of tourists. All this time, my wife was muttering out loud if the bridge would be strong enough to endure this weigh before collapsing.






We got back to our hotel a little bit after 6:00 in the evening, ready for our dinner in one of a well known restaurant for the rich and famous artist and movie stars of Europe a walking distance from our hotel.

Tomorrow promises a lot more, because the road is going to lead us to the tour's final destination - Rome - Here we come.

A trip to Western Europe: Florence, Italy part1

The city of Florence is a whole lot bigger than Pisa for sure. We arrived there around 5 in the afternoon, and the traffic seemed to be pretty busy. The streets were old but nice under the shade of rows and rows of tall trees.

There were a few small stands selling coffee and pastries under large trees on streets. Italian drink a whole lot more coffee than anybody else in the world. Everyone praises the strong taste of Italian espresso, but I could care less, because I don't drink coffee, period.








Our hotel situated on a small street a few hundred feet from the Arno river. After dinner, My wife and I and our newly formed group of friends decided to go for a stroll on the sidewalk along the river toward the city old town. It snakes thorough the city quietly.

During this time of the year, the water level was very low. I saw barely a few feet of water flowing lazily under the The Ponte Vecchio bridge. It's hard to imagine that there were times the river flooded the bridge about a good 20 to 30 feet above the water level.

We headed toward the old town roughly about 5 km from our hotel. We had no idea what the name of the plaza, in which there was a large and beautiful statue of a man vs a lion. There were a few bars, coffee shops, and restaurants with a rowdy crowd. We did not stay for long. We just wanted to explore the surrounding area, but it was dark with not enough street lights to make out of directions. We finally walked back to our hotel using the river sidewalk. Tomorrow would be a very exciting day for us.

We could see the magnificent dome of Basilica of St. Mary of the Flower from far away. People still call it The Duomo. The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo includes the Baptistery and the free standing Giotto's Tower. These buildings dominated the center of the city.

I had never seen a basilica dome that large in my life. I think it the largest in the world even in today standard. Beside, it's a beautiful artistic man made dome that words would not do it justice. The dome looks a thousand years old at least. But later on, we were informed that it was actually completed in 1436 after more than 15 years of tremendous hard works.

The basilica itself is enormous. The distance between the entrance to the other end of the dome stretched for more than five hundred feet. Its 3 humongous bronze doors stood more than 30 feet high. Above them, the half moon shape windows adorned with mosaic decorations. I could only recognize the middle one as the statues of Christ enthroned with Mary and John the Baptist. On top of the facade is a series of niches with the twelve Apostles with, in the middle, the Mary and Child.

Surprisingly, the interior is vast but empty with many statues depicted saints and some of the public figures of the old time. I counted 44 stained glass windows cover all around the building. The windows in the aisles and in the transept depicted saints from the Old and the New Testament, while the circular windows in the drum of the dome or above the entrance depicted Christ and Mary.





Soon I walked past the main entrance, I saw people looking backward behind me. I turned around to my surprise, there was a giant clock sitting on top of the door. Its circulation was divided into 24 equal parts with Gothic, Roman numbers laid differently with what we have on our clock nowadays. I couldn't find the explanation from anyone, and soon I forgot about it.

At the high altar, right in the middle, and directly under the dome is the twenty foot tall monumental crucifix. Right behind it is a huge picture of The Last Super, but I am not sure this is from the hands of Leonardo da Vinci. Again, no chance to ask, I'd let it slide.

There were many statues of figures whom I could not identify. There were at least a couple of tombs in the building. There were many more paintings along the walls and on the ceiling.

The only painting that stuck in my mind was the Last Judgement right underneath the dome. The word beautiful is no where near to describe it. 

On the other side is the octagonal Baptistery building. It stands across from the cathedral and the tower. It seems to be older than the other two. The Baptistry has eight equal sides with a rectangular addition on the west side. The sides are clad in geometrically patterned colored marble, white and green marble inlay. The pilasters on each corner are decorated with white and dark green marble in a zebra-like pattern.

The exterior is also ornamented with a number of artistically significant statues right above the Gates of Paradise artwork. There are 2 doors consist of 28 decorative panels, with the twenty top panels depicting scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist. The eight lower panels depict the eight virtues of hope, faith, charity, humility, fortitude, temperance, justice and prudence. I did took note after listening to our tour guide who spoke very good English. There is a Latin inscription on top of the door, but I forgot the meaning of it.

There were a group of bronze statues above the gate depict the beheading of St John the Baptist. It is a super artwork in most of the tourists' eyes.
There was some restoration works going on, so the interior of this building was off limit.

Standing adjacent the Cathedral and the Baptistery, the tower is one of the showpieces with its rich sculptural decorations. This slender structure stands on a square plan with a height of more than a couple of hundred feet. I counted at least five levels to made up the height of the tower. There are more statues than I could count on each level of the structure.

All in all, I love this city for its rich history, energy, and importance.

A trip to Western Europe: Pisa, Italy

Before heading to Pisa, Italy, we stopped by Cannes, a city located in the French Riviera. There's not much to see or visit here, so after 30 minutes, we left for Pisa. We arrived at Pisa around noon the same day.

We were very excited on the way there, knowing that we were about to see one of the world's most famous spectacular structures built almost 10 centuries ago, the Leaning Tower of Pisa.


One has to see it in person to appreciate its amazing, strange, and freakishly beautiful building, a sight whose impact no amount of prior knowledge can blunt. Yet it is just a single component of Pisa's breathtaking Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles), where the Duomo (Cathedral), Baptistry and Camposanto complete a dazzling architectural ensemble.

We were warned repeatedly about Italian pick-pockets in the area, but now I think it is a little exaggerated. We had no trouble the whole time we were there. Along the Field of Miracles we encountered a veritable gauntlet of vendors, most legal some not so much. There were a handful of street hawkers to sell  Luis Vuitton, Channel, and Dolce and Gabbana knockoffs. On the outside of the wall, there were ton of stands selling cheap sunglasses, key chains and souvenirs.

It startled me when someone yelled "Polizia" and all of the sudden these people scattered and disappeared so quick.

Four buildings were very close together inside a high wall. Summer time is a high peak of tourist season, so the place was packed.

The tower was a lot taller than I imagined, and it seemed ready to be keeled over toward the earth at any moment. It left a strong impact in my mind. It makes one wonder how could it stay that way for so long. And how long more would it remain there like that?

The cathedral is small to compare with many other cathedrals in Europe, but it looks like it was built around the previous millennium. The cathedral walls were put together by large slaps of marble. Its architectural design was a mix of Roman and Islamic cultures.






All of the 4 buildings were built in the plaza in a vast different time frame, that's why each carries its own unique design.

Less than an hour of traveling on our bus tour, we arrived at the beautiful city name Florence. Italian call it Firenze. We stayed in a nice hotel no more than a couple hundred feet from the pretty river called the Arno river.

A trip to Western Europe: Nice, Monaco and Monte Carlo

It took almost a day to get to Nice from Geneva. We got there by 3:00pm. After a quick tour around the city and the beach, we checked in our hotel. It was only a few steps away from a small beautiful church I did not catch its name. It was Saturday night, but there were only a handful of worshipers showed up. Catholic churches in France particularly, and all the churches in Europe in general were no longer a place of worship, but more than a historical buildings, or sentimental monuments at best.

After a quick refreshment, we were heading to the city and the beach. Our new friends and their families were with us walking along the city's busiest shopping street. People here were more "French" than any where else in France. There were a lot more young French, both men and women in their early 20s milling about.

The sea water here had a deep blue color like nowhere else. The boardwalk was filled with street performers, and tourists. The only drawback was its short and narrow shoreline with no sand at all, but crushed sea shelves, and large pebbles. I can only imagine how much it hurts your bare feet walking along the beach. Therefore, we found nothing attracted us beyond the boardwalk adjacent to the busiest boulevard.

Soon after the sunset, things started to heat up hundred fold. Music was everywhere. Throngs of people gathered on the beach to see bands of music performers, one per every couple of hundred feet or so. People danced on the street with their drinks. Families strolled with their kids in tow. It reminded me of Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade in California.

On the other side of the boulevard, there are rows and rows of big and fancy hotels, which probably would cost a few hundred Euro a night easily. Restaurants, and coffee shops line up the streets as well. As of any tourist coast towns, I found a huge number of brand name shops gathered here. This is another shopping heaven for women with money to spend.

Right on the beach front, we found many sea food restaurants bustling with customers even though the menu price were pretty expensive. It's quite hard to find an empty table outside. People love dining outdoor with city view in front of their eyes. We found mussels, and clams on almost all of the dishes here for some reasons.

We got back real late in the evening with not a whole lot to show for beside a full belly. The food is good and plentiful. Nice is just another coastal tourist town you'd find on both of the US coasts, nothing special. We got to get ready for a long and adventurous day tomorrow.

The tour bus took us on the coastline heading to Monaco was like traveling on a calm sea by a luxury yacht. It zig-zaged back and forth hugging the flat calm Mediterranean Sea on its right side. Around each bend we found another quaint harbor and seaside town. Everywhere there were palatial villas, hotels, casinos and beach resorts. The sea was bright blue, and the cliffs rose up, studded with lush green vegetation. It seemed the sun would shine down eternally on this beautiful paradise on earth.

As the bus sped toward Monaco, I knew that this country is pretty closed to the Italian border, the blending of cultures is obvious. No wonder, you'd see the difference in the look of people here from their French counterpart. Their skins are darker, and most have huge nose, some even have their noses with hook shape of the Middle Easterners.

From the top of the mountain looking down, Monaco is more like a large rock sticking out to the ocean coastline. Monaco is completed surrounded by cliffs, the foothills of the French Alps. The city is a small, extravagant enclave; these cliffs serve as a geographic separation from the rest of France. Aside from its isolation, the city below was so different from any place that I had ever seen. It is a fairytale kingdom of mansions, houses, ramps, tunnels and bridges built right into the hills.

In the distance, hundred of million dollar yachts spread out in the electric blue Mediterranean. No where on earth that I would find the concentration of expensive luxury boats as it is here in Monaco. Even though I had lived for more than 25 years on California coastal cities from San Francisco to San Diego, I had never seen such an ostentatious display of wealth anywhere than the behemoths that sheltered in Port Hercules. There were wood blanked sailboats hundred feet long with full cabins below deck. There were enormous yachts with multiple stories of tinted windows, satellite dishes, deep sea fishing chairs and radar equipment. None of these would be sold for less than a million.

The main portion of the city is centered around Port Hercules. The harbor is surrounded by shops, restaurants and municipal buildings, a commercial district called Monaco Ville. We found a small food court like situated here for our quick lunch with bunch of quick service shops. One thing I need to mention here is the food. From then on, on our remaining trip, we had to face with this dilemma, Italian food. Italian food contains way too much carb compare to our food in the US. Bread is their main table fare. Meat is very scarce. To our surprise, we had a very hard time to get the amount of meat or fish we were so accustomed to in the US. Their vegetables are non-existence. We could only find a handful of leaves on their salad bowls, and there is no dressing but olive oil and balsamic. I'll get back to this later.

On the left side of this food court, we found a bunch of high rise apartment buildings, one of which advertised a 1 bedroom flat for rent. To our horror, we found out that the rent for it was a mere 5 thousand Euro a month (equal to 6 thousand US dollars). Wow! How can people afford to live here!
These apartments were not as fancy as the ones in the picture below. Living here will set you back 10 thousands of US dollars a month in rent. The cost to own these are well above a million US dollars.

We followed the pedestrian pathway that winds around the cliffs toward Monte Carlo. The path leads through a tunnel past a vast convention hall named after the late Prince Rainier. On the other side of the tunnel the pathway follows the edge of the sea. Below the water is green, blue and turquoise.

Monte Carlo is studded with high rises. Many millionaires live in Monaco for its lavish lifestyle and lack of income tax. Many of whom come from those oil rich countries in the Middle East. They come here to spend their hard-earned money.

As I made my way down the streets, a parade of Ferraris, Bentleys, Mercedes, Porsches and Lamborghinis rode past, gleaming extravagantly in the sun. We arrived to where we set out to see, the casinos of Monte Carlo. After 30 minutes of milling around, we were so very disappointed. It is no way to be in the same sentence of places like Atlantic City Casino in the East Coast, or even to compare with Lake Tahoe Casino in Nevada, let alone to be compared with Las Vegas. The casinos here have very few slot machines, a few Black Jack tables, and even fewer Poker tables. They do have some of the very luxury rooms for the high rollers, in which are not being displaced to the public eyes.

To sum it up, I would say Monaco and Monte Carlo are just an over-hyped destinations with not much of value. It's a rich man playground with not much to show for. There are plenty of places with more beautiful landscape and buildings than Monaco.

Monte Carlo with its mountain in the background

Our tour guide was a Monaco citizen, who were born and raised there. She said it better than any thing I could put together here.

"I've been living here all my life. Today I am 30 years old with decent jobs. My dream of owning a place to call home here is nowhere closer to it was 30 years ago. Will I ever own a home here in Monaco? It definitely will never happen in my lifetime or in my children's lifetimes. I'd rather be trading mine for a US citizenship. Making 70 thousand US dollars with which I could afford to buy a home is better than making more than 100 thousands Euros here in Monaco and still asking for government's aid to rent a room."

Sometimes the grass is truly greener on the other side of the fence.