Italy part 3, Croatia, etc.

Okay, time to wrap this puppy up!

We left Rome Sunday morning.  This was a good call because there was NO traffic because everyone is in church.  Otherwise driving in Rome would be scary!  We drove south towards Naples (passing but not stopping at Monte Cassino of WWII fame) and then driving east toward Bari.  Just before Bari was a town called Andria, which is home to a UNESCO site.  So off we went to Castel del Monte, this neat octagonal castle that was the hunting lodge of Frederick II.  It wasn't a long visit, but it's a pretty area, a neat castle, not expensive, and a great place to visit on this route.  It's not worth a separate visit to Italy or a 4 hour drive from Rome, but it IS worth it if you are in the area.  We enjoyed it more than we thought we would.  The pictures don't do it justice.

Then it was on to Bari to catch the ferry to Dubrovnik.  We had read horror stories online about getting squared away for the ferry, so we allowed lots of time.  However, it was easy in a car--not so much if you arrive in Bari by train.  We had no problems and enjoyed hanging around the ferry terminal.  Cars and people from all over the world waiting to take ferries to other places in Italy as well as Croatia, Albania, and Montenegro were shopping, eating, and just hanging out.  Cool atmosphere.  Bari itself is a rough and ready port town.  Hard-scrabble for sure!  We did go to a grocery store to get some food but otherwise didn't see much of Bari.  I don't feel we missed too much.

We boarded the ferry, where we had a room, and enjoyed a snack before setting sail at 10 pm.  We looked at the night skyline of Bari (there were even some fireworks for something or other in town), did some stargazing, then hit the sack.  At 6 we got up, had a quick breakfast, then watched the coastline of Croatia approach.  After docking (7 am) we headed to our hotel.  As it was too early to check in we just left the car and headed into old town Dubrovnik.  Walking along the old city wall is a must, and we did that first before it got (too) hot.  Then we wandered through the town, looked at the plazas and churches, and had lunch.  The old town isn't that big, but it is beautiful.  We sprung for a boat ride (at 11 Euros each could we go wrong?) on a glass bottom boat that took us around the old city a bit, then went over to the base of the city walls and went for a quick swim.  There is nothing like swimming in the warm, clear (VERY CLEAR) Adriatic Sea just below the stone walls of an old city.  They even had a fresh water shower built into the walls of the city so you could rinse off.  After soaking in some rays we caught a bus back to our hotel (which was basically a nice room, bathroom, and balcony in someone's home--they all seem to be that way), checked in, and showered.  Then we walked back down to the old city for dinner.  We got back up to our hotel in time to catch the last rays from our balcony.

 Waiting area for the ferry--buy a bunch of junk, check in, or eat greasy food.  Those were the options.  We found the back way to the water and looked at boats.  It involved going through the truck parking lot, which to our mind was far more interesting than the car lot.  Below are the cars beginning to line up by destination.

  Bari by night--on board the ferry!

 Walking the walls of old city Dubrovnik.

 From the walls of the old city.  

 See the umbrellas?  We stopped for cold juice at this cafe on the cliffside just outside the old city walls.

This guy had parrots and for a fee you could have them join you for a photo.  The red one got a bit fresh and climbed up on my head, which he wasn't supposed to do.  Fun--I had a parrot on my head in Dubrovnik!

The old city.  On the far right is the area where we went swimming, but people were swimming around most of the city.

Entrance to the harbor.  See the walkway on the left side?  That led to where people were swimming.

Notice the glassy stones?  They have been worn super smooth by years of feet and are tremendously reflective and shiny.  Very cool!  This is the main drag through old town Dubrovnik.  Oh, and there are no cars, scooters, etc. in the old city.  We liked that!

Our hotel was up the hill a bit, but an easy walk down and an easy bus ride up from the old city.  This was the view from our balcony.

The next morning we headed out to drive up the Dalmatian coast.  The section of Croatia in which Dubrovnik lies is actually cut off from Croatia proper by a tiny strip of Bosnia Herzegovina.  We drove through this little section (maybe 20 km?), stopping briefly for a photo of the amazing coastline (actually for a READ poster for my classroom).  The border was funny--there was a stern looking lady and they seemed to be checking papers, so I pulled out the passports.  Gus held them out to her, and she just smiled, waved, and said "okay."  Never even took them in hand.  Guess it's not all that hard to enter Bosnia!  The plan was to drive to Split, which is supposed to be an awesome town on the coast.  However, as the drive was slower than we had originally thought and we had heard great things about House Izvor in Plitvicka, we decided to skip it.  So after several hours in the car--first along the beautiful coastline, then moving ever further inland into the mountains--we wound up at our overnight lodging, a lovely house and cabin set well back from the main road.

We arrived early, settled in, and because we were early, got the cabin.  Awesome!  We just laid around in the sunshine and read.  For the first time the whole trip it wasn't hot--I even got out long pants!  We met the owner, Tomaslav, who showed us the trail to the spring in the woods where he kept his sodas and such cool and his trout alive until dinner time.  He cooked up a great steak for us on the grill that night, complete with a potato-and-spinach side dish that we loved, stuffed mushrooms, and funny commentary.  In fact, the place was lovely, but the best part of House Izbor is its owner, who speaks multiple languages, is always on the go, and built the whole thing (house, cabin, benches, table, outdoor grill) himself.  For dessert he brought out a pastry, and when we asked what it was, we were told that he didn't know.  He said he was up at 3 in the morning, so he just baked this thing.  Well, it was delicious!  What a way to spend an evening.  We can't recommend this place highly enough.  There were others there--a French family and couples from Italy, France, and one other place (didn't catch where).  Tomaslav had bikes available, but we ended up not using them as we just enjoyed sitting and reading.

Neum, Bosnia Herzegovina

Croatian countryside 

 Choosing something to drink from the spring with the trout swimming around.

House and cabin from the spring

Yes, this house, cabin, outdoor cooking area, etc. were all built by hand by Tomaslav. 

 Tomaslav cooks fresh-caught trout.

We hit the sack early in the cute cabin, then enjoyed a nice breakfast on its porch before checking out and heading just a bit further north to the actual Plitvice Lakes, another UNESCO site.  This series of lakes is created by some neat geological activity, and the lakes cascade into one another with lovely waterfalls.  The famous Karl May movie Schatz am Silbersee (a German western with the famous Winnetou) was filmed there.  We rode in a unimog (Gus liked that) up to the top, walked down the boardwalks looking at waterfalls, dragonflies, fish, and even caves.  If you ever get a chance, go to this place.  We even took a boat across one of the lakes, and it was great, easy hiking.

These steps were so weird--steep, but offset in this weird way.  The ones below were more normal.

The unimog

After leaving the park and grabbing a bite, we drove back to Zolling.  This involved driving the remaining country highway to the town of Karlovac, then a winding road across the border to Novo Mesto, Slovenia, and then onto the highway.  Five minutes into Slovenia we were pulled over by this lovely young police woman.  Turns out you are required to drive with your lights on in Slovenia, so she kindly informed us and sent us on our way.  Now, I do have to say this.  Croatia was amazing.  Beautiful, clean, friendly . . . we highly recommend it.  Slovenia, however, is Europe's big secret.  It had the stunning mountain scenery, the laid back attitude, and many of the same stores as Austria.  It was as clean as Germany.  But it still has wild places and is not heavily populated.  Go to Croatia, but for sure go to Slovenia!  Then it was on to Villach, Austria, up to Salzburg, and then home to Zolling.  We got in around 10pm.

Overall a great vacation!

 Entering Slovenia

This was the view from the highway near Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

Next up--getting you caught up on the process of moving out of an apartment in Germany (and it IS a process) as well as our visit in Glückstadt and our trip back to the US.

Italy part 2

We left San Marino Monday morning for Florence.  The road we were taking turned out to be closed, so we had a bit of a frustrating but ultimately pretty drive.  Our hotel was next door to the US consulate and right on the Arno river just up from the Ponte Vecchio.  Awesome.  We had lunch--Peruvian, actually, but it smelled good, was close, and open.  Then we headed over to the Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore, the major church in Florence.  We marveled at the facade (which we later learned was added later), then waited in line to get in.  The church was amazing inside and out, and the paintings inside the dome were impressive.  We also went into the crypt and saw where some of the Medicis were buried.  Then we headed over to the Baptistry and its Golden Door.  The tickets were valid for 24 hours, and as the line for the top of the dome was long, it was getting late, and we were hot and tired, we opted for dinner instead.  We did walk over to the Ponte Vecchio and gawk at the gold shops there first, though.

Facade of the Duomo

This dome is an architectural marvel.

Golden door of the Baptistry

The facade and dome

The Ponte Vecchio

Gold shops.  It used to be butchers that worked here, but the Medicis didn't like the stink, so they made a law that only gold and jewelry could be sold here.

The next morning we headed over to the church and climbed the over 400 steps into the Dome.  This dome is rather unique.  It is one of the largest in Italy, and it is octagonal rather than round.  It was built entirely without wooden supports or frames and is considered a work of architectural genius.  Anyway, you climb up to the base of the dome, go around it once on the inside (looking down on the church, then begin the ascent between the two shells of the dome.  Then you come out on the cupola.  Well, this was all well and good--and a lot of climbing.  Did I mention that we haven't needed a hotel gym with all the stairs we have climbed this trip?  However, on the way down you once again go into the interior and circle the dome (higher this time).  This is where my fear of heights got the best of me.  I was able to pull it together enough to get down somehow!  I would recommend going up to anybody physically able--after all, my fear of missing out is greater than my fear of heights, and I don't know when I will get back to Florence.

The inside of the dome.  Notice the two walkways (once just below the windows and once just below the paintings)?  Those are where we walked.

You can see the angle of the dome coming in on the stairs (taken going back down--I have no memory of taking this photo).

Once I had recovered a bit, we hopped in our car and left Florence for a few hours.  We drove through the Tuscan countryside to Pisa, where we had a picnic lunch in the shadow of the baptistry.  The leaning tower itself is neat, but we felt it wouldn't warrant the trip without the church and baptistry.  The latter was cool because you could see how the styles had changed from the time it was started (the bottom) to the time it was finished (the top).  The other fun thing in Pisa is looking at all the people posing for pictures.  They are all holding their hands up to "catch" or "tip" the tower, but it means they are all standing there with their hands in the air all weird.  We did it, too, but it does look funny.  On the way back to Florence we stopped by one of the Medici villas.  This took us more into the countryside.  Unfortunately the interior was being renovated, but the grounds were lovely, as was the drive, so it wasn't a wasted trip.

Pisa--baptistry, cathedral, and bell tower that leans.

Just some of the many people pretending to hold up the tower.

One of the Medici villas and gardens

The next day we took a bicycle tour around the city, stopping at all the palaces and major churches we hadn't already seen.  This included Santa Croce, the church where Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Dante, and Galileo (among others) are buried.  It also included a stop for gelato (Italian ice cream) and tons of fascinating history about the Medicis, the Ponte Vecchio, and other stuff.  History is so fun--you can't make this stuff up!  The Medicis had their own "secret" passageway, the Vasari Corridor.  Look it up!  We spent the afternoon further exploring some of these sites.  We saw the replica (where the original once stood) of Michelangelo's "David" and the original Donatello's "David" (the original Michelangelo required a LONG wait in line and an exorbitant museum entrance fee) as well as some other art.  Cool!

This is the Varasi Corridor as it crosses the Ponte Vecchio.  This bridge was the only one not blown up during WWII, which worked out well since most of Florence's art treasures were hidden in the Verasi.  The Medicis used this to both spy on their people and to avoid going through the streets from one palace to another.

David (top: replica of Michelangelo's David / bottom: original Donatello's David

We left early the next morning for Rome, where we checked into our hotel--which was actually a room in a converted apartment building.  Weird.  Anyway, as it was near the Vatican we headed over there and wandered around St. Peter's Square.  The line for the basilica wrapped all the way around the square, so we decided to try our luck with the Museum instead.  For those who don't know, the entrance is clear on the far side of the country--i.e. a 10 minute walk around the city walls to the side entrance.  This museum is the only way to get into the Sistine Chapel as well.  However, it is well worth a visit on its own.  It houses everything from an Egypt collection (mummies, canopic jars, etc.) to Assyrian writings to the map room (our favorite) to cabinetry to frescoes by Rafael to modern art, including Dali.  We loved it, and we aren't really museum people.  We also of course saw the Sistine Chapel, which is just impressive--and would be simply as a painting.  It's even more impressive when you remember that Michelangelo painted the thing on his back and without the benefit of stepping back for perspective that easily.  No photos allowed in the chapel, but I got other pics and you can certainly look up the Sistine Chapel online for better pics than what I could take.

 Cabinets

 Mummy

 Tapestry (these were stunning!)

Ceiling art throughout! 

Basilica from window in museum

Double Helix staircase

Swiss guards, the official guards of the Vatican

The next day we did the hop on hop off Rome tour and hopped off at the Colosseum.  After a wait in line and a look around this impressive ruin, we headed up into the ancient city and the Forum.  We went up Palantine hill, looked over Circus Maximus, and tried to spot the famous cats that I had seen so often during my first trip to Rome 21 years ago.  They are supposedly the descendants of cats gifted to Julius Caesar by Cleopatra.  According to legend he was allergic and turned the cats loose in the forum area, where they are thriving today.  Oddly enough, we had no luck in spotting them.  We carried on in the bus tour, taking in some sites from the bus because of time and heat and exhaustion.  We did go to Trevi fountain, though, and we thoroughly enjoyed that.

Inside the Colosseum (part of the wood floor in foreground so you can see what they actually fought on/what it looked like--the rest is the underground structure where the animals and such were housed).

Palantine Hill

The Forum area

Trevi fountain

Saturday we began by going to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.  We got there early and explored the cathedral, including the tombs of the old popes, before heading up to the dome.  We took the elevator to the roof, then did a similar climb to the Duomo in Florence--around the inside of the dome, through the layers between the dome, and then up into the cupola.  This last spiral staircase was incredibly narrow and instead of your standard pillar in the middle it had a rope!  The whole stairway up was an experience, and the view was great.  Highly recommend this to everyone as well if only to feel the curve of the dome forcing you to bend sideways as you climb and to  feel the steep, narrow staircase and its absolute coolness.  If big chicken ol' me can do it, anyone can!

After the basilica we headed outside of town to beat the heat by going into the catacombs!  This is highly recommended because there is something really special about seeing where Christians (in this case) buried their dead from the 2nd to 4th centuries.  There is artwork in there that is original--not restored because it doesn't need it--from that time.  It is absolutely beautiful.  No photos allowed, though.  We enjoyed dinner for the second time at the little seafood place by our hotel, then hit the sack.  The heat sure takes it out of you!

Inside St. Peter's in the Vatican

One of the more recently deceased popes.  Others are in the grotto underneath, but no photography there!

St. Peter's Square from the top of the cupola.  You can see the rooftop walkways where the statues are.

Asuper narrow staircase (no hand rails) that curved down the outside of the dome.  This one also had stairs similar to the ones in the Duomo where the roof angles in on you and you have to tilt your head.

On the roof--a monk from somewhere (making his pilgrimage to the Vatican or just a tourist?) stops and takes a picture of his buddy with his iPad.

Next post: Rome-Bari-Dubrovnik-Plitvice-home