Italy Part 4 - Venice

The last Italy posting.  I promise to get back to Russia, per the title of my Blog.  At least for now!

Our last city & stop was Venice.  We decided to drive the 200 miles from Tuscany to Venice, and I'm so glad we did.  It was such an interesting & beautiful drive, through the Tuscan hills & countryside, then through Emilia-Romano & past the Apennines mountain range, around the city of Bologna & into the flat Po Valley, and then finally to Venice.  The terrain was constantly changing & I wish I had taken some photos.

I know everybody says this, but if you get a chance to see Venice, you have to!  Yes, there are too many tourists (up to 60% of the population is a tourist during the busy season).  Yes, the canals smell, especially in late May to October.  But it's a 1500 year old city on 118 separate islands all connected by canals & bridges.  Unlike anyplace anywhere in the world, and it's slowly disappearing. 

We spent all of our time just walking around & soaking it all in.  It was our 1st trip to Venice, and I didn't really want to spend too much time waiting in queues or inside museums.  Venetian architecture is so unique - a combination of Byzantine styles from Constantinople (Istanbul today) and Moorish influences from Spain.

Doge's Palace

I especially loved walking through the alleys in the out of the way neighborhoods.  Away from people.  Stumbling upon small squares, interesting bridges & canals



A Gondola, although most of the drivers still do wear the classic black & white striped shirt



The colors of the old palazzos & buildings are still vibrant, after so many years of wear.



me



  I love windows

Rialto Market is a "must-do", especially if you are obsessed with them like we are.  Seafood is their thing



"Don't mess with the Rialto", in response with a (failed) city council effort to move the market outside the city center.  What a stupid idea!



Finally, we took a vaporetti (sea bus) to the island of Murano, most famous for it's venetian glass.  Yes, we bought some!

A beautiful place.  Hope to get back there some day...............

Spring!

If you follow the weather outside of the US, you know that it's been terrible in Europe.  Our friends in Brussels have been dealing with rain every day & temperatures in the 50's for most of May.  France & Germany aren't any better.  And a few friends in Scotland told us that they had snow!  Not sure if I really believe that or if it was the whisky talking.

We, on the other hand, have had some amazing weather in Russia!  The warmest May we've seen since moving to St. Petersburg 3 years ago.  Last weekend, we had sunny days & temperatures in the high 70's, when typical averages are only 60F!  After such a long winter, I can't tell you how great a 70F day feels.  The nice days are over for now (Europe's weather is moving in), but I'm feeling hopeful they will be back soon.

The city looks completely different in the Spring & Summer.  No more gray.....

And the brides are back (it's a long story & a future post).  But let's just say that wedding picture taking in Russia is like something you've never experienced.

The outdoor cafes are back.  Just one of many stops for us over the weekend..........

I love these giant Atlantes statues, which are holding up the entrance of the old Hermitage Museum building.  they are 5 meters tall.

We visited the Summer Garden on Saturday.  It was built in 1704 by Peter the Great, as a place for "high ranking" people of the time to rest & relax.  It's nearby his original Summer Palace.  They claim to have imported all of the trees & marble statues from Italy.  Why the trees?  But I can say that the trees are definitely old & somehow survived the war.  The garden was closed for several years due to neglect & damage to the statues & fountains.  It finally opened late last year, after a 3 year overhall.  They really did a great job.  Unfortunately, most of our friends & family who visited us in the city haven't seen it. 

It's City Day this weekend in the city, with a free jazz concert planned outside of St. Isaac's Cathedral & a festival in Palace Square.  I hope we aren't rained out, although we're planning to check it all out either way.

Italy Part 3 - Montalcino, Siena

Our final stop (and a few more pictures) in Tuscany.  Montalcino & Siena.

Montalcino = Brunello wine.  That was our focus.  Brunello di Montalcino is one of the wines that Pat purchases in disturbing quantities from his personal Italian Wine Merchants "portfolio manager".  Whenever I hesitate to buy myself something, I remind myself of Pat's hobby & spend the money.

I learned a lot about Brunello.  The name Brunello means "little brown one", which is what the grape looks like when harvested.  And the DOCG has very strict rules around what is required to call a wine a Brunello.  It can only be made from 100% Sangiovese grapes grown in a 2000 hectare region of Montalcino.  It must be aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 2 years, and bottled for 4-6 months.  There are rules around how many grapes can be harvested per hectare, and how many years the vineyard can produce grapes.  So many rules.

But it is pretty tasty.  Garnet in color, berry & chocolate flavors, high acid & smooth tannins so it pairs really well with food.  And it can sit for a long time.  You can cellar it for 10 years and up to 30-40 years, depending on the producer & vintage. 

But enough about wine, which I could talk about for days................

Our 1st stop was Camigliano.  We found the town using our GPS, and walked around for at least 20 minutes trying to find the winery.  It was in a REALLY small village.  We later learned that only 32 people live here, and it has a church & a winery. I guess that covers the basics.....



The church



The winery



Pat negotiating a price on one of these barrels

We bought some wine & shipped it to a friend in Brussels since you can't ship anything into Russia.  Doesn't it figure that 2 wine geeks would live somewhere that it's impossible to get good wine?

Then we visited Altesino for more wine tasting.



These are traditional Brunello barrels from Slovakia, which hold 10,000 liters of wine!  I learned that Brunello is never aged in small oak barrels - it imparts too much flavor.   



These French oak barrels are used for Altesino's Super Tuscan wines.  Which were also very tasty!

Then, we spent some time walking through the hill town of Montalcino.  It's another old Etrusian city, in existence since the 8th Century. 


Sant'Agostino Church from the 13th Century



So many narrow alleys & steep hills

Montalcino's Duomo



A great park overlooking the valley

Rocca di Montalcino.  The Fortress, located on the highest point in town
& was part of the original walls around the city

Montalcino kitty

Finally, on to Siena.  I liked it.  But honestly, it was my least favorite place that we visited in Tuscany.  Maybe because it gets all of the hype & press?  And there were huge tour groups walking around like cattle, following their guide?  I did love the Siena Duomo.  But overall, I just felt like it was over-crowded with tour groups.



One of the main gates to enter the walled city



Piazza del Campo, the main square.  It's enormous! 
They hold a horse race in the square twice a year, which must be wild to see



Torre del Mangia (Mangia Tower) and Palazzo Pubblico (Town Hall).  The square is sectioned into 9 separate areas, representing the Rule of the Nine, who ruled Siena when it was a power in medieval times

As I mentioned, the Duomo was the highlight for me.  This is their "new" cathedral, built in the 13th & 14th Centuries when Siena was strong power in Europe.  


The Duomo



See the lantern at the top of the dome?  It was designed by Bernini, and the blue with gold stars was added in the late 15th Century.  So pretty......

The best part were the inlaid mosaics covering the entire cathedral floor, all in black, white, and siena brown.  56 different panels in total, done during the 14th - 16th centuries.  This one was my favorite, called "She-Wolf of Siena".  It represents each of the confederate cities of Italy at the time, with (of course) Siena at it's center. 


It's Romulus & Remus that are sucking on the She-Wolf.  In the ancient folk stories, Romulus founded Rome. 
I read that the connection to Siena is that Remus's son founded Siena. 
Anyway, there are a lot of She-Wolf references throughout Siena. 

The baptismal font in the Baptistry (Battistero di San Giovanni). The bronze panels represented the life of John the Baptist.  Just beautiful

me

I, of course, have to add a few food & market shots


And a dog shot.  I can't resist taking pictures of people's pets :)

A few parting shots of Siena.