North v. South 01/05/20 Day 12

Not only were yesterday's questions about Firenze answered during our three-hour walking tour, our guide also gave us a perspective of Naples we desperately needed.

1. Why does Florence feel so completely different than the other Italian cities we have been to already?

According to our tour guide, the South of Italy never fully unified in 1861 when Italy became a country. Before this time even their dialects were so different that Northerners could not always understand Southerners. Angry, were the Southerners, about the unification, that many fled to the United States through Ellis Island. 

Today, our guide says, the South is so corrupt that even when the government sends them money to clean up their cities (like Naples), the money simply disappears. Our guide, born and raised in Florence, has a surprisingly harsh opinion of the South. She says they are founded on crime families and they will never be one with the goals of Italy. She went further to say that when New York Italians visit Florence and go on her tour they try to speak Italian to her, "because they maybe learned from their grandmothers, you see, but it is not Italian that they are speaking. It is a very harsh language that I cannot understand, so I say, please, only speak in English. So sorry, but true."

2. What makes Florence a great place for artists and designers of high end fashion?

Upon arriving in Florence it is hard to recall that Florence and Tuscany bore some of the greatest artists and scientists of all time: Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Brunelleschi, Botticelli...for example. Mostly because those names, at first glance, are overshadowed by relatively newer names: Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vouitton, Prada, Balenciaga, and on and on. It is a fashion mecca no less competitive than the Renaissance era. Florence has a capitalist feel...inspirational, inventive, competitive.

Travel Tip: You cannot just waltz into a high fashion store in Florence. A doorman will assess the number of people in the store before letting another group in. Be prepared to be told to wait outside. Expect that they may take your bags before letting you walk around, as with the very first Gucci store (say your name...Maddy; listen for them to repeat it...Grazie, Mary...because you will need to recall the name they gave you to retrieve your bag before leaving).

3. Is this shopping district essential to Florence?

The short answer is yes. From the shops on the Ponte Vecchio, to the high fashion brands along the streets, Florence welcomes and celebrates artists of all calibers and if you bring enough monies then Florence has what you are looking for.

Fischer in the Supreme store: "Can I have this red sweatshirt? Please?"

James, looking at the tag: "For 380 Euro, I don't think so."

Fischer, negotiating: "This t-shirt?"

James, looking at the tag: "I am not spending 180 Euro on a t-shirt."

Fischer and Nolan settle on stickers instead.

Surprisingly, in all of Italy so far, there are not many street musicians even though they proudly display three of Stradivarius's violins and cellos in the same museum as where Michelangelo's David can be seen.

Almost more impressive about the statue of David by Michaelangelo is the unfinished works leading up to David. The way Michaelangelo seemed to be setting these figures free of their marble is truly staggering. 

Strictly an Observation: Immigrants Seem to Irritate Mediterraneans

All throughout our travels, the natives freely discuss their position on the effects of immigration in their countries.

Caption: Real Estate adverts for whom? Possible ex-pats? 

For instance, in Greece, James commented on their population being 20 million. The taxi driver promptly said, "We are eleven million, no more. Those others that call themselves Greek but live somewhere else are not Greek to us, they are wherever they immigrated to."

Also in Greece, I asked where the refugees from Syria moved to within Greece and what type of work they do now. The taxi driver said, "No, they are not invited here. They are stealing from us. They are not welcome. When they got into those rafts and set sail with so many of them they would wait to see a coast guard and then slash their rafts so that they would have to be rescued. We are part of EU. Many countries are supposed to take refugees, but did they help us? No. So of course we let them in and nobody helps."

Caption: Subtle, not so subtle, graffiti.  

In Florence, our tour guide told the group that there are so many immigrants there illegally pretending to have permission to sell on the streets but they are not welcome. She warned, "They put their pictures on the floor and narrow the walkways then when tourists accidentally step on them, they say they must now buy them. And the mimes, with the white faces, who take pictures are same time picking pockets. What can we do? I took the police with me and pointed each one out and they got arrested, then next day back on the street. Nothing can be done about the immigrants."

Caption: Quotes from Dante's Inferno are posted on the walls in one section of Florence. 

On every occasion, in each country there is a sense of national pride that supersedes the global handshake that is the socialism they lean on. They seem okay with the part of socialism where idea/invention is shared like community property (although they are behind in technology. For instance, in Greece the commercials advertise i7 processor...James and I both have i8 and the Intel 10th Gen is being advertised in America). They definitely find value in American music and tv/film. Wherever you go in either country there is American music playing. The TVs have several channels with American films dubbed with their language as in the case of Italy, or captioned, as in the case of Greece. And most definitely, all eyes are on American news. But then again, their problems are not with American immigrants. 

Caption: Subtle, not so subtle, graffiti.  

The reason this aversion to immigrants stands out to us so much is because:

1. Greece is the birthplace of democracy.

2. Rome is founded on ancient Greek settlers. Italy has great pride in the architectural influences of Greece, which tour guides never mention, but that we know now that we started at the beginning of time in Athens. 

3. Florence prides itself on being the mother of Renaissance who bore so many great inventors, scientists, painters, sculptors, designers, etc. that the world benefits from.

But we fully understand this irritation the Greeks have about the immigrants to their country. They are struggling to feed and employ their own citizens. They just buckle under the weight of immigrants.  

And, Italy is still relatively new as a country and unification has not come easy, so holding onto their identities is understandably very important. 

As we continue our travels, it is interesting to compare:

1. ancient societies and architecture to the evolution of these country's modern day societies and architecture, and

2. attitudes between now and three years ago when we took the kids to Europe

Teens are very different types of travellers than little kids. They are regarded as adults who are meant to understand the histories being told on the tours. There is no tiptoeing around them. The guides even talk more to them at times than the adults as in explaining the significance of the statue titled The Rape of the Sabine Women. Our teens are engaged to the full potential of their ages and this has created an environment for conversations that were not shared with us the first time we traveled with them making this trip more meaningful than the first trip. 

Firenze Bound 01/04/20 Day 11

By this time extreme fatigue had set in and we acknowledged that we must face reality; we will not see every picturesque aspect of every city.

There are no rules about how many experiences travelers must encounter to deem their trip successful. In fact, just getting on a plane and leaving our cities to gain global perspective is plenty noble. Everything after landing successfully is a bonus.

As a group we decided to skip another day of walking Rome and headed to the train station hours ahead of our scheduled train.

Travel Tip: Some train stations are bleak and solely utilitarian, as the ones we used in Greece, or the commuter train to Pompeii.

Other trains leaving from Metropolitan areas are similar to high end malls or International airport terminals.

 

You will either be thanking a bread maker for his donut-like pastries and eating on the train, or you will be eating like a king and adding to your shopping while waiting for your train.

We spent two hours in the train station enjoying being together on our way to yet another Italian destination.

The train seemed fairly empty until we stopped down track and picked up an entire Rugby team that took up the rest of our car and another. It seemed fitting to be among these giants, having come from Rome where all the structures are massive.

An hour and a half later we arrived in Florence/Firenze. We have now railed through two-thirds of Italy, reminding us of how small this country is compared to the United States.

Being that our hotel, Hotel Berchielli, is close to the Ponte Vecchio, our taxi driver seemed like a hero navigating through the throngs of tourists. He was also notably the first honest Italian taxi driver we have encountered since arriving in this country.

In many of the other countries the taxi drivers also serve as additional tour guides and they enjoy conversation. This is not the case in Italy. Expect the ride to be quiet. James has pulled very little conversation out of our drivers. Most do not seem to speak English.

Once checked in, our self-guided exploring began. Always alone and then with a guide. When you wander cities without context you begin raising questions that leads to hearing the guide better the next day. We asked ourselves,"Why does Florence feel so completely different than the other Italian cities we have been to already? What makes Florence a great place for artists and designers of high end fashion? Is this shopping district essential to Florence?"

We pondered our questions throughout dinner. In Italy the wine drinking age is 16. When Madeline traveled to Europe with The Ambassadors of Music Southern California, she was allowed to have a glass of wine with each meal, and in Germany, a glass of beer. Although we do not drink much alcohol or keep much in the house, it has been a pleasure to share wine with her in Italy.

All along the trip we have tried explaining to our kids that a meal in many countries is a social experience rather than a means for satiating our appetites. In Kalabaka (city around Meteora) in Greece, our taxi driver explained the Greek way of eating out as follows: A group of four go out to coffee and argue over where to eat for dinner, maybe narrowing it down to four places, none of which they end up at. They get a table for six and order for eight and stay for three hours.

Until Florence, this concept was beyond the kids mostly because by the time we get to dinner we are tired and hungry.

By the time our first meal was over we had outlasted the tourists and walked back to our hotel in the fog laughing about our dinner antics and reliving inside jokes from our trip so far.

Boys: "That was fun!"

Madeline: ""That's because it was about socializing."

Me: "See it's not just about the food."

Madeline: "Yeah, of course, this food was terrible but we still had a great time."

The rest of us laughed that she admitted something about dinner nobody else seemed willing to share. True enough, not every meal will be worth writing home about.

Rome, Military Presence, and US Conflict 01/03/20 Day 10

Day 10 was all about relying upon tour guides to give us a point of reference on the history of Rome.

First we ate our Italian continental breakfast at the Hotel Ponte Sisto and then racked up 61% of our daily recommended steps just walking to our Gladiator tour at The Colosseum in Rome. All toll by the day's end, we took 15,055 steps, approximately 6.28 miles worth of steps.  

Travel Note: Most Americans seem to reserve world travels for retirement. Even if retirees in good shape bypass the heavy walking by using only the taxi system, the tours are not ADA compliant. There are many stairs, steep ramps, and uneven cobblestone roads. We are fairly young, and our children are fit and nimble and still, we find ourselves exhausted at the end of a two or three hour tour. Consider this as you plan your travels abroad.

We were fortunate enough to be able to skip the one hour line for tickets + one additional hour for entrance into the iconic Colosseum by booking a tour in advance. Our guide, Paolo, has additional clearance to bring groups through the limited access entrance where the deceased Gladiators were removed after a fight. Unfortunately, and oddly, the fairly new portion of the arena floor was closed off due to "ice," and could only be viewed from above (remember this later into this post).

We were surprised to learn that The Colosseum had been abandoned from 523AD until 1994. Paolo recalled going to The Colosseum as a child to find a stray cat to make a pet out of, as feral cats made their home there. Funny enough, we have not seen one cat in the city so far, unlike the many we found roaming Greece.

Travel Tip: Paulo was gracious enough to let our tour group in on the ways of the Italian taxi system. Only white taxis are official. If the taxi driver fails to turn the meter on, passenger has a right to exit the taxi. The fee is based on the meter only, plus 1 euro for each bag. The fee is not per passenger, as many taxi drivers will tell you, it is for everyone in the car and the distance of travel based on the meter plus the luggage. We wish we had known this in Naples and from the train station to the hotel in Rome.

From The Colosseum to Palotine Hill, we were glad to have been to Greece first to fully understand that it was the ancient Greeks who first settled Rome. Italy would not even become a unified country until 1861. Greece's architectural influences are apparent in every column (even in ancient Pompeii). 

The Roman archways seem to be the secret to their lasting architecture. Every structure is massive and seemingly made either by giants or for giants. We felt minuscule traipsing through Rome.

Did the kids appreciate the history lesson? Not to the same degree as adults are capable of, but they each took away the parts that make sense to them based on each of their ages. Ultimately, Madeline gains the most and Fischer the least. By far, they were not the youngest in the group. There were 8 or 9 kids ranging from maybe 4 to 17. In fact, throughout our entire trip we have encountered more family groups and young adults than retirees. The Mediterranean is very youthful.

At lunch, my sister, back in Texas, text about the US conflict in Iran and asked if we are safe. I have been following the news daily, but had not yet heard about the latest developments. I had recalled seeing military presence along the streets in front of monuments in full garb, on duty with military weapons, but Paolo explained that we had nothing to worry about. He said that Rome has never been attacked. Upon returning to the hotel, we found several channels portraying American news. You could watch Trump speak with Italian interpretation overlays or in English. That's when we started thinking about how parts of our day unfolded.

1. On the way to The Colosseum we passed more than one group of military soldiers standing by small tanks inside of barriers in front of monuments (Relevance: Trump authorized and succeeded in killing the Iranian military leader that same day).

2. At the start of the tour, we were told that for the last week, the lines have been longer and the wait for bag checks had been very slow making wait times unusually long. (Relevance: The Colosseum receives approximately 7 million visitors annually. Why would the increased wait time be noticeably longer than any other time? Possibly because the US conflict in Iran had been escalating since December 27th.)

3. Paolo makes a point to note military presence is common since the US 9/11 to make tourists feel safe. He makes a point to add that Rome has never been attacked even in recent times and we should all feel safe. (Relevance: Nobody asked.)

4. Once inside The Colosseum (which was some waiting and bag checking) as Paolo was giving his history, he was interrupted by a guard. They spoke in Italian for a few minutes and then Paolo said the Arena floor is not going to be accessible today because of ice on the floor. Note: It was such an unusually warm day that even Paolo had to remove his jacket at one point. which we had to do even before the tour started. (Relevance: If there was actually an ice problem or the arena was naturally deemed unsafe, the guards would have informed our tour at any point in line for bag check, ticket check, waiting for permission to continue into the structure...not after we entered and were waiting for passage to the floor.)

We now must consider that security has increased due to the U.S. conflict with Iran.

Are we concerned? No. We have no reason to believe there is a potential for danger to Americans in Italy.

Our main concern/focus: We are fatigued and hopeful we will all stay healthy as we trudge along through the rest of our trip abroad.