Firenze, Pisa, and Lucca

Firenze exceeds its reputation.  Not because the city is very unique - it is quite like so many other Italian cities.  The plaza outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the Ponte Vecchio, and the cathedral are all very nice, but it is the museums that make it so special.

We actually visited Firenze twice.  Once in the winter when we were driving south through Italy, and a second time in the spring when we were driving north out of Italy.  It was well worth the two trips.

The real statue of David is in a museum in town.  It was removed from the plaza outside the palace and replaced with a replica for its own protection.

Ponte Vecchio

 


Pisa is famous worldwide.  There is no reason for me to explain why.  It is often the case that such well known and highly esteemed places are a bit of a let down when you actually see them.  I did not find this the case when we visited the leaning tower.  The plaza where the cathedral and its leaning bell tower were erected is quite impressive.  The white stone of the church shines in the sun, and is really a lovely site to behold.

Lucca is near Pisa and Firenze.  It is well known for its spectacular Piazza Anfiteatro - a circular plaza built on the ruins of a roman theater.

Verona

We spent a few beautifully sunny days in and around Verona.  Our hosts were a charming family who lived outside the city.  Their sweet children gave up their room for us, and we spent all our evenings talking at the kitchen table. 

Verona is a small, but lovely city.  Anyone familiar with the writings of Shakespeare will recognize the city from "Romeo and Juliet."

A balcony which is advertised as the inspiration for the balcony in "Romeo and Juliet"

Near Verona is a lake called Lago di Garda.  This lake is wonderful to drive around.  There are many charming villages on its shores.

 

Bolzano and the Dolomiti

The Dolomiti are glorious limestone peaks in the Italian Alps.  This portion of Italy was formerly controlled by Austria.  This portion of Austria - called South Tyrol - was promised to Italy by the Allies during World War I in exchange for Italy's cooperation.  Because of this, the region is of mostly Germanic heritage.  The family names are Germanic, people speak German, and the place names are in German.  There was an effort after World War I to inundate the area with native Italians, but the Germanic culture remains.

The area is breathtaking.  We spent a few days exploring the area, and around every corner was another spectacular crag.

Escape to Italy!

The winter of 2012 - especially February - was particularly harsh in eastern Europe.  As the winter progressed, an enormous storm from Siberia came down into the European continent.  This storm was a major factor in our route around Europe that winter - it chased us all the way to central Italy.

For over a month we had been lucky to avoid excessive snowfall.  In the northern Czech Republic we dealt with a light dusting of snow.  In Poland we basically made it through our entire route without snow until we were leaving into Slovakia.  In Slovakia we started to get into snow that was much heavier. 

The truth is we were actually driving around most of these countries with illegal tires.  During winter months in central Europe they enforce changing over to winter tires.  We were traveling, so we obviously did not do this. (You can judge us however you like.) 

When we were in Slovakia the snow began to be a bit too much for our tires.  Since I am from Montana it wasn't a problem for me; I know how to drive in the snow.  But it did become apparent that we needed to buy some new front tires and head south.

We crossed Slovakia - at times going over passes that we maybe should not have crossed.  Once, we started going up a pass and there were police officers randomly stopping people to check that they were following the law in regards to their tires.  They did not stop us, but after we passed them they noticed our Spanish license plates.  I could see by the looks on their faces in my rear-view mirror that they knew they had missed an opportunity.

The pass was fine, and we made it safely to the other side.  We continued to Bratislava where the snow had not yet arrived.  Before we left Bratislava the snow caught up with us.  When we arrived in Vienna we were out of the snow again.  It was a game of cat and mouse.

We knew the storm was marching south from eastern Europe.  Headlines in the news featured the storm heavily, and it was clear we needed to get south as fast as possible.  We crossed the Austrian border - dealing with some of the worst snow we had seen along the way - and thought we would be safe.  The Dolomites were snowy, but the skies were clear and the roads were dry.

We continued with sunny skies to Verona, Pisa, and Lucca. But when we arrived in Siena, the snow had caught us again.  Italians are pretty funny when it snows.  They all immediately run to make snowmen and sled the hills with garbage sacks.  They become like children.

We kept moving south, all the time thinking that we would never see snow again.  Ultimately, the snow followed us all the way to Rome.  There is nothing so out of place as Romans in the snow.

Pakistanis in Graz

After Vienna we headed south to Graz.  We were accepted by a group of Pakistani graduate students, and we went to the student housing where they lived..  We were welcomed warmly: they gave us our own room and fed us some very spicy Pakistani food. (This was very humorous, because we are such wimps with spice)  They were all very religious, so at times there was a bit of tension for me.  Even with such generosity, there was an unspoken knowledge that the presence of a woman in the house caused unease for some of the roommates.  Some of them would not even shake my hand; physical contact of any kind was out of the question.  I do not begrudge them for this, because they never treated us with anything but kindness.  I did my best to be respectful; I always made sure to keep my body covered.  Nonetheless, it was a little uncomfortable.

Graz is a very pretty little city.  The streets are lined with buildings in a spectrum of colors.  The trams that run through many streets are charming. There is also a hill that rises up abruptly which you can climb to view the city from above.  We had a wonderful time.
 

Vienna: How to get your car towed

Ah Vienna!  I absolutely love Vienna.  Not because it is any more spectacular than so many other European cities.  Not because our time there was so perfectly memorable.  There is really no good reason for my captivation, and I know it.

The only thing I can think of is the film Before Sunrise.  Months before visiting Vienna, when we were still in Spain, we stayed with a couch host who watched this movie with us.  As we walked around the city all I could think of were the sites I had seen in the film.  I think it is this association that created my infatuation with Vienna.  It just goes to show how subjective our opinions of places can be.

If I had not seen this film, I would probably not have very fond memories of Vienna.  On the first night we arrived, we were greeted by the nice young man who had accepted our couch request.  We had a lovely evening chatting at his dining room table.

The next morning things were not so bright.  We left the house to find our car had been towed.  We have handicapped parking from Spain, because of Javier's disability.  Because we were coming to a big city, we asked our host in advance about handicapped parking around his area.  He was very helpful and even asked his father - who worked for the police department - about how the spaces worked.  It seemed we would have no problem parking right outside his house.

This was wrong, Wrong, WRONG!  His father had told him quite incorrectly that the numbers on the handicapped parking sign were just i.d. numbers for the spot.  Wrong.  They were actually indicating that the spot was specifically designated for someone. 

It became a huge fiasco for us to get our car back.  We had to go to the far outskirts of the city to get it, and despite our pleas of mercy about the fines we still had to pay quite a lot.  Fortunately we did not have to pay the fine for parking in a handicapped spot - we generally had the right to - but we did have to pay the towing fees.  To make this even more ridiculous, the time of towing was only 10 or 15 minutes before we had stepped out of the apartment and saw the car was missing.

If only we had been a little quicker in leaving.

The rest of our time in Vienna was rather uneventful.  We enjoyed walking around the city.  It really is an elegant place.

Bratislava

Bratislava is a beautiful city.  It is like many other European cities, so I won't say much about it.  We stayed with a really cool guy.  He is a serious outdoor enthusiast.  For both work and fun he spends his time doing extreme sports.  We still keep in touch with him online.

This is the UFO bridge.  There is a restaurant in the top.