This is a photo-intensive post.  I was planning on cramming all my remaining photos into this post but I just had too many I liked >_<  So there will be one final post sometime later. ^^;

In this post, I will cover a brief trip to the mountains, Pisa, and day 1 of Florence.

To start things off, we head to the Italian alps for some sightseeing and lunch at a nice restaurant.

I can’t remember the name of this lake but it sits in a valley between two peaks.

Pumpkin gnocchi.  Was amazingly delicious ^^

Also got some garlic roasted potatoes and polenta.  Love Italian food :D

The Thinker ^^;

A better view of the lake.  Was a nice view :D

The stream that feeds the lake.  You can see some kayak’ers in the corner.  I want to try that someday!

Driving in Italy is insane.  These motorcyclists were flying around these winding mountains roads at 60, 70mph >_<

Heading back down to mountains.  We will return later and travel much farther up ;)

Back in Maniago’s open air market.  Yummy fruits and vegetables.

This style of shoes was quite popular.  Not sure what they’re called >_>

People

Woke up quite early to catch a train to Pisa.  You guys know what’s there, right? ^^

I thought there would be some nice places in Pisa but only found this old tower that was about to fall over…

Trying to hold up the tower was the cool thing to do here ;)

This is the main church in Pisa’s Cathedral Square.

And the baptistery  nearby.

So, everyone thinks of the leaning tower when you mention Pisa, right?  Well, I did too but the church was actually quite impressive.  A huge building with 3 large entryways.  Was built like 900 years ago >_<

Inside the church was also pretty cool.

Big paintings on all the walls.

The pulpit was intricately detailed with various statues acting as support pillars.  ~700 years old.

Back outside, we head towards the baptistery, another very interesting building.

Hey, since it’s a baptistery, it makes sense to have a stature of John the Baptist =P

View from the second floor.  The baptistery has a unique round design which boosts the natural acoustics of the building.  From the center of the building, anyone speaking will have their voice amplified by the sound echoing off the circular walls.

Going down to the dungeons.  Or just out the building ^^;

And the tower itself.   Construction took over 170 years and was completed in 3 stages due to obvious complications from a poor foundation.  It was first halted at the third floor.  A second architect then took over and tried to compensate for the lean by tilting the higher levels in the opposite direction. You can kind of see the change of angle after the third floor.  Then after construction was halted again, a third architect built the bell tower at the top and tilted it even more in the opposite direction so that it appears to be straight xD

Enough of Pisa.  The next day we arrive in Florence ^^

Florence!  Hot, crowded, expensive!  The big building in the background is the Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore).  Main attraction of the city.

Had to a pay a small fee to enter the church to climb up the dome but was well worth it ^^.   This is what the dome looks from the inside.

The dome has a unique construction in that it is partially hallow (dome within a dome) allowing you to literally climb up through it.  I wish I had gotten pics of the climb >_<  I have a few from the climb down though (a few pages down).  Was 463 steps to the top, a bit tiring…

Once you reach the top of the dome, you can climb out onto a small deck near the very top.  Gives an excellent view of the downtown city!

This is pretty much the highest point in the city.  You can see the church’s bell tower on the left.

Another cathedral in the distance.  Were quite a few churches in Florence.

Another church.

And another ^^;

Some dude in the bell tower taking a picture of me taking a picture of him xD

A jet getting attacked by giant birds.

The bell tower @ 70mm.

The bell tower @ 200mm.  Lurve telephoto lenses ;)

Kagami enjoying the view :D  Should’ve used a narrower aperture though.  orz

Heading back down.  This is what it looked like climbing through the hallow interior of the dome.  Signs said, “Do not write on the walls” so of course, everyone wrote on them xD

Felt a bit like a dungeon >_<;  You can see the curvature from the dome.

Another 463 steps down and we finally make it out alive.  That little structure at the top of the dome is where we just came from ^^

Walking through a downtown market.  Lots of dead animals.

!! Balsamic vinegar.  Tons of it!  Tsukasa would’ve died and gone to heaven if she were here! ^^;

This is how Italians get around.  Nope, no Ferraris or Lamborghinis.  This thing xD

Went to the Academia to see Michelangelo’s David.  They wouldn’t allow photographs so I had to sneak this one in.  Cost like 15 euros and all I got to see was some naked dude :-/

Another church.  Don’t remember the name :(  They didn’t allow photos here either so I had to be sneaky.

It had an awesome stained glass window though.

Was a long, hot (37C!) day so we head back to hotel.  Watched Star Trek dubbed in Italian.  Was awesome ;)
More Florence (and more) photos in next post!

Related posts:

1. Yui’s Day Out

I present part 1 of 2 or 3 total parts, I haven’t decided how many more to do ^^;

We started our trip off in Indianapolis, departing from the new Indianapolis International Airport that opened last winter.  Definitely the coolest airport I’ve visited.

After a stop at Philadelphia, we hopped on our flight to Venice.  A mere 8 uncomfortable hours later… we touched down at Marko Polo International.  This is not quite the part of Venice you picture with the gondolas, more outside of the old city.

The relatives we stayed with live a couple hour’s drive north of Venice near the Italian Alps.  The corn was an all too familiar reminder of Indiana but the mountains were something we definitely don’t have ^^;

Out on my first walk around the town.  For some reason unknown to me, there are huge, massive slugs all over the place near the mountains.  And I seriously mean everywhere.  You had to watch where you stepped or you’d have slug guts on your shoes in no time >_<

The cozy little white stucco house at which we stayed.  This is typical construction style for Italian houses.  Light-colored stucco exteriors, red clay roofs.  The white stucco and clay roofs are to keep the buildings cool as many houses, like this one, don’t have central air conditioning.  Despite having no AC, the house remained cool most of the time.

A quick trip to a neighboring town.

To pick up some gelato, of course!  I don’t think a single day that went by when we didn’t get gelato ;)

The number and variety of flavors was mind boggling.  I liked Bacio a lot ^^

Took a trip to a nearby mall the next day.  Found an article on Google Chrome in the local paper, couldn’t help but snap a picture.

Er, just testing out the lens ^^;

The scenery just driving to and fro was spectacular when you’re right next to the mountains.

Got up at 6am the next morning to take the train to Venice.  Train was 45 minutes late if I recall.  Not so fond of Italian trains.  More on that later.

Once the train finally arrived, it was only about a 1 hour ride to get to the old part of Venice.

And, at last, the Venice everyone recognizes!

The old city of Venice is not large, but large enough that you spend a whole day walking through it.  Here is a market on one of the busier streets.

The place was already pretty busy with tourists and vendors when we arrived in the morning.  It only got worse as the day wore on.

A small alley.  Only the alleys here weren’t paved, they were canals ^^.

Just in case you feel too out of place among the ancient buildings and massive churches, you can always go to the Venice McDonald’s for some familiar greasy hamburgers…

We arrive at the Grand Canal, the largest waterway in the main part of the old city.  The waterway was pretty busy as you can see.  A lot of the goods, food, etc is brought here, at least partially, by boat.

Lunch time!  A nice little place we had pizza.  We arrived right after they opened for lunch so we got the whole place to ourselves for most of our meal.

Back to the streets.  One of the quieter streets, a nice break from the surging crowds on the main roads.

We stripped down to our undies and had a nice swim here.

Piazza San Marco, St. Mark’s Plaza.  Huge, famous square with pigeons everywhere.  Might be familiar sight to Aria fans.  I’ve only seen the first few eps of Aria but I remember this square was in it.

The bell tower of St. Mark’s Bascilica.  Not the original as it collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt in 1912.  Still an impressive structure.

Oh, what’s this?

I could be wrong but it looks like the cafe that the Aria scene was based on.  No, I don’t know if they move the chairs as the sun moves but from the look of it, I would say no =P

One of the most impressive structures in Venice: St. Mark’s Basilica, the most famous church in Venice.  Really quite amazing when you realize this building is nearly 1,000 years old.  As you can see, the crowds were really getting dense by this time.

Mosaics under the arches.

After a short wait, we were able to enter the church.  The interior was as impressive as the exterior.  The ceiling is formed by domes adorned with mosaics.

The ceiling mosaics were incredible.  Thousands of tiny, individual stones were placed together to form the whole image.  Of course, these have undergone countless restorations throughout the centuries.

Near the front of the church…

Marble floors that had some crazy patterns on them.

Huge window at the front of the church that lets in loads of light.

Now leaving the main island and heading to San Giorgio Maggiore island to see the church there.

Not quire as impressive as St Mark’s Basilica but massive nonetheless.  All the old churches are huge, imposing structures that makes you feel tiny when you walk into them.

Although many of the most famous paintings are now kept in museums, many churches still retain their original masterpieces, some dating back 500+ years.  If you want to see art in Italy, you don’t really need to visit museums, just visit churches ;)

The choir room at the back of the church.

Going up the bell tower at the side.  Had to go up with this rickety elevator that didn’t seem entirely safe but we made it through alive ^^;

Full view of Venice ^^

The St. Mark bell tower.  Gives nice perspective when you look at the hordes of tourists at the plaza below.

Don’t know what this is, but I thought it was a cool shot ^^;

So while we were up in the bell tower this enormously massive cruise ship floated into the lagoon.  It was unbelievably huge to be sailing in between these islands in the middle of Venice.

It was taller than all the buildings in the city (except for the bell tower).  Seemed really odd <_<

After another ferry trip across the lagoon, we were back in the main city but on the other side of the Grand Canal.  Our final stop was Santa Maria della Salute, an large octagonal church.

A very cool interior where  the octagonal design becomes apparent with the vast center room.  My photo doesn’t do it justice.

By this time we were getting pretty tired from walking the city most of the day and decided to head back to the train station.  We took a ferry back through the Grand Canal which gives us a chance to look at some of the waterside structures.

These buildings just abruptly end right at the water, it’s a pretty unique sight.

The Grand Canal was still pretty busy as the afternoon wound down.

Last pic in Venice as we’re finally back at the train station to head home.  Almost forgot to get a pick of Kagami enjoying the sights of Venice.  Turned out to be a bad photo…  Should have used a narrower aperture.

The next day we head out to a open air market in a nearby town.  These are pretty common in Italy.  About once a week, the city closes off a few streets for the event and merchants transport and unpack their wares for display.  They’re also an important event for the local community as most people in the town use it as an opportunity to catch up with friends.

A candy vendor.  Bought some gummies and yummy dried fruit here.

Mountains of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Can’t forget the cheese!  Huge wheels of cheese.  Italians like their cheeses ^^;

Back home to eat the lunch we purchased at the market.

Out on a walk after lunch, thought this was an interesting shot ^^;

Some guy paragliding from the nearby hills.  Apparently, a lot of Germans and Austrians visit the area for this sport.  Something I should try someday ^^  Gotta love telephoto lens.

After a day lazing around, recovering from the day of walking Venice, we went out for some pizza.  Pizza in Italy is not all that different than pizza in America.  Not as greasy, but otherwise constructed fairly similarly.  Oh, they don’t cut the pizza for you, that is different.  You get to cut and eat it however you like.

They do carry-out boxes the same though ^^

And to wrap part 1 up, we enjoy a relaxing philharmonic concert by a community orchestra that happened to be starting right as we passed by.

That concludes part 1 of my Italy travelogue.  Putting this post together too much longer than it should have.  I think I posted too many images ^^;  I was planning for 3 parts but I may cut down the number of photos next time and just do two parts.  Hope you didn’t fall asleep from all the photos! ;)

Related posts:

1. Italy Travelogue, Part 2

Just an image I liked ^^; Pic from http://e-shuushuu.net/image/109257/

I’m back in the States after a nice two and a half week vacation in Italy.  After about 12 hours of flying, 3 sitting in airports, and 2 more sitting in a plane on the tarmac, we touched down in Indianapolis around 10pm.  Finally got home after being awake for about 26 hours (yay, jet lag) and took a nice long nap ^^;  I wasn’t planning on blogging much about my trip but I think I took enough interesting pictures to make a few posts out of it ;)

But first I need to wade the massive backlog of email (both work and home) and all the other things that have piled up in my absence. I will be posting some pics in a day or so.  I just need to sort through them all :)

No related posts.

I’ve taken nearly 1,000 photos already >_<  The above pic is Kagami visiting Venice.  She decided to tag along on the trip for some reason ^^;  The Internet connection here is too slow to upload more and editing RAW images on a Mini 9 is not fun XD.  I will definitely need to post some of the better ones when I get back to the States :)

Related posts:

1. Italy Travelogue, Part 2
2. Some slow shutter fun

Click for source on e-shuushuu

Will be leaving for a trip to Italy in about 12 hours.  I’m going to be in Europe for 2 and a half weeks, mostly visiting family there but also getting in some good sightseeing!  Bringing my camera and nice lens as I expect to be taking lots of pictures ^^.  I don’t think I’ll have Internet access most of the time so it’s very unlikely I will be posting before I return.  Let’s see how long I can go without net access ^^;

So, until then, signing off!

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