Bits and Pisas.

Breakfast in the hotel was a nice chance for us to revisit the funny conversations from the night before. The gang have been exploring the hotel a bit - to get to the gym you have to go down some stairs and then up some stairs and then down some stairs. Someone said “we thought the gym was the stairs” and we were all giggling again - a good start to the day.

We headed off to Pisa for the obligatory tower visit. The climb was fun although it feels very odd due to the lean and the view from the top is nice, but I’m mildly underwhelmed by the Pisa experience. 

Back in Florence, we ventured out to explore. Cam had done some homework on vintage shops and led the group to a few options. We ran out of time, needing to get back to the hotel by six. The daylight is deceiving as it doesn’t get dark till almost nine o’clock. We caught two taxis up to San Miniato, up on the hill with an amazing view of Florence. Our cab driver had the Tour de France playing on his screen while he drove and reminded me that it started in Florence this year, on the Ponte Vecchio. 

 

Each night at San Miniato there is Gregorian chanting. It’s real, not a show for tourists and goes for about half an hour. It was conducted by eight monks, in Latin and was very ritualistic. Eve sent very useful Italian in our group chat : “ci piacciono i tuoi canti gregoriani” (we like your Gregorian chants) but they filed away into the darkness after their session and we didn’t get to use it. The view from the church is amazing and although we were a little nervous about the ability to find a taxi and get back down the hill, it all worked out. 

Dinner was pizza at a very busy restaurant that had been highly recommended to us. The line to eat in was long so we ordered takeaway.  Eventually our order arrived and we sat on some nearby church steps to eat. The pizza was just ok and it was still about 30 degrees outside, so not the most pleasant experience. It was nice to back to the hotel and the air conditioning. Fun fact - the hot and cold taps are labeled (as one would expect) in Italian so hot is “C”.

Room with a view

We said farewell to Rome this morning after a quick breakfast, and yet another cake selection for my mother. The waiter came over and told her that it didn’t escape him that she ate two pieces this morning. 

We stopped at Orvieto mid morning. The town is very high on the hill  and the views from here are stunning - quintessential Italian countryside. The town is equally beautiful, with little winding streets and passageways. We walked with a guide through the man-made caves beneath the village, originally Etruscan but then used and expanded by subsequent residents. They were dug out to create extra space, mostly for business, sometimes for storage. I’ve included photos of the pigeon “pantry”.

Back up in the town, we split up after lunch (and a gelato)  for an hour or so, as it’s easier to wander in small groups. The gelato was delicious but all the names were in Italian, so many of us picked randomly and then google translated the selection once we were outside. I had Mandarin ricotta, and Rose. Josh scored two, as my mother didn’t want one and they were already paid for. Mum and I spent time in a linen shop where a  lady helped mum work on her Italian. 

The temperature was in the forties when we stopped just outside of Florence, for what proved to be a peak experience on the trip so far. We were picked up by members of the Fiat 500 car club, two to a car, to drive into Florence. The cars were tiny and I wedged into the back seat with Cam in the front. Many of the drivers spoke only Italian, but our driver Nicolo had a reasonable level of English. He has two cars, the Fiat and a Tesla, and uses the money from these driving jobs to pay for the car upkeep. Our little convoy drove around the hills on little winding roads, past all the lookout spots. It was green and lush and breathtakingly beautiful. Nicolo was a hand gesturer when he talked , so between the sharp turns, the double clutch manoeuvres to change gears and the pointing out of the various sites, it was a kind of wild ride. 

Our hotel is lovely -it’s a Westin so pretty luxe. I was desperately hoping for a window looking out on Florence so as to have an appropriate photo for the blog post but Flynn and Eve are the only ones on our group who jagged one. I have water pipes and an air conditioner. 

Dinner was at the hotel and the food was delicious. It was also my favourite group meal so far, with our little group in fits of laughter while we talked over the trip. There was some confusion about whether the jars of nuts in the Rome hotel room were free. Flynn and Eve ate some and apparently since they were replaced and no one asked for money, the consensus was yes. Accordingly, Josh took all six jars with him when they checked out. A $120 bill will be eventuating, although we were laughing so much as the story came  out that it’s almost worth it. I asked for blog title suggestions but by then we were in full chaotic mode so the wasn’t anything useable. Bene did suggest “The last supper” for the Vatican post and we can’t wait to see how the frowning photo turns out. It’s on a film camera. I’m a little unsure why they are popular again but most of our gang bought them at the airport and in a month or so we will have a whole new set of photos to remember the trip. Speaking of memories, as we started dinner, the piano player at the restaurant commenced his set with the song Jason and I used as our wedding dance (after the Hokie Polkie of course). A quiet little poignant moment for me.

 

Roman Around

I joined mum and Bene for a morning walk in Park Borghese so was there to take a photo when we ran into mum’s new friend Philomena. It’s cool in the morning and the park is full of interesting things- birds, fruit trees, statues, a water clock, what we think is a mausoleum and some gorgeous buildings. Nothing is labeled, so we have no idea what we are looking at, but it’s all very old and makes for a great walk. 

Breakfast at the hotel is a buffet, and each day there are different cakes. Mum took a piece of the chocolate walnut one, and told the waitress how good it was, so she packed her up a couple of pieces in a foil box for a snack later. We had to hustle this morning as we were being picked up at 7.30 for our tour of St Peter’s, followed by the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. 

We did a short gelato making class, with lunch provided while we waited for it to chill. None of us are quite sure if the gelato they served us was the gelato we made, or if it was a “here’s something we prepared earlier” affair. We had planned to split up and do our own thing for a while, but it was hot and we were tired and most of us ended up back at the hotel fairly quickly, giving us the opportunity to visit what turned out to be the highlight of the day - the Gallerie Borghese. It’s a beautiful building in the park next to our hotel with the most spectacular Bernini statues. We had a fabulous guide who loved the museum and the contents. He waxed lyrical about the marble of the floor, showed us his favourite pieces and laughed with us about the original mosaics with dodgy repairs and the statues with the wrong heads and hands. The Bernini statues were special. I’ve included a photo of one but it doesn’t do it justice. 

The final activity for the day was an after hours trip to the Vatican Museum. After closing, they let in three small groups for private tours (about 70 people in total). Our group was the nine of us plus three others. We had half an hour sitting quietly in the Sistine Chapel with our guide- a far cry from shuffling through with the thirty thousand people that visit daily. 

The tour was followed by dinner in the Vatican gardens. The food was so bad it was funny. Bene took a staged photo of everyone looking angry, which was hard because we had the giggles. A  custard tart with a big orange cube in it in it was determined to be the worst item, generating much discussion till a couple of brave souls determined it was rockmelon. I believe Josh and Flynn took a further nighttime excursion to MCDonalds, but I was exhausted (about 21,000 steps today) and went to bed. 

Rome wasn’t built in a day

Our hotel  is on a hill and the breakfast room overlooks Rome - the perfect setting for planning our day. Our booked tour of the city wasn’t till the afternoon, so we wanted to fit in a few morning activities. We had all slept well but woken fairly early. Mum and Bene went for a morning walk through the Borghese Park, which is next to our hotel. They ended up asking directions from a lady, giving mum a chance to test out her Italian. She ended up walking with them to the corner above our hotel, with the two of them talking in Italian all the way.  Philomena is either 60 or 70 next birthday (February) and she has been walking in the park for 23 years. She lives around the corner and her son Antonio works at our hotel. Mum said they talked food, family and health and had hugs all around at the end of the walk.

After breakfast, we walked down the hill, avoiding cars, scooters and holes in the pavement. The streets are mostly black volcanic rock cobblestones- very old, quite uneven. The cars are parked so tightly together that sometimes it’s hard to find a way between them to cross the road. Our first stop was the Capuchin Crypt- think dim lights, tiny rooms and bones and skeletons (some dressed in Franciscan robes) arranged in fancy patterns. It was a good start for our group, interesting, a bit macabre and fairly close to our hotel. We had been here back in 2011 but since that time a museum has been added as well as an audio guide and more signage. 

We continued on our walk to look at the “monster house” up near the Spanish steps and then stopped for an early lunch. It’s surprising much I remember, just from our few days here back in 2011. Streets and sights look a bit familiar, but also new - we have approached them from a different direction, or there’s been a minor addition or change. For example, we walked by the Spanish steps to get to the monster house, but stood at the top, rather then saw them from the bottom. The bits of memory coming back have added a richness to the experience.

The afternoon tour was part bus, part on foot, with two guides. It’s difficult to describe how breathtaking it is to turn a corner and see the colosseum in front of you. It’s hard to believe that it was allowed to fall into disrepair. Some of us were keen to visit inside at another time but it’s been hard to fit in and it’s soooo hot that we need to take breaks. Our guided tour of the Capitaline museum gave us a chance to see the originals of the well known sculptures - Romulus &Remus with the wolf, the Constantine Colossus, and my favourite, Medusa. 

Everywhere we can see buildings that have been added to in layers, with the ancient parts repurposed, reused and adapted. Years of history put together like lasagne. The best example we saw today was the ruins of a coliseum-like theatre that has a residence added on top- I’ve included a photo below. I feel like it mirrors the travel experiences on this second visit to Rome. Fragments of the old add on to the new to give a blended perspective. 

Dinner was at the hotel, too much food, so-so quality, not a patch on our lovely dinner at the local restaurant last night, but very convenient for falling into bed for a much needed sleep. 

Three Coins in a Fountain

This is a short post, as by the time we reached our hotel it was five pm. The hotel is a boutique place with overblown european decor (think gilt and dark wood), dodgy lifts and a lot of marble. We have five rooms on various floors. Its’s very hot here and the air-conditioned room, a shower and a change did wonders for our morale. The views from the rooftop bar are incredible, but so are the cocktail prices, so after we ate the free snacks we walked up the street for our first Italian meal  - pizza and pasta of course at a little local restaurant. The road crossing is challenging and we were ignorant of the crossing protocols. Do the pedestrian stripes gave us right of way? Do we just wade into the traffic boldly? With impressive stamina, Flynn and Eve headed off to a concert after dinner . The rest of us navigated our way down the hill to a Uniqlo to buy long pants for the short wearing Starrett boys. We’ve discovered that adults need to wear long pants in the evening at a few venues. Whilst Josh may be able to pass as a 15 year old, it would be a stretch for Cam. Of course, in Rome a 10 minute walk to anywhere takes you past amazing sights, so we checked out the column of Marcus Aurelius, and the Trevi Fountain (referred to as the “Trevor Fountain” by team Starrett when we were in Rome the first time). My mother had come prepared with an envelope of various global coins from her travels and handed them out to all our freeloader group except for Amanda, who had impressively come prepared with coins too.   It was absolutely packed with people but we wriggled in and threw our coins. It was very hot and we were pretty tired, so bed beckoned and we said Buena Notte. 

Cloud Nine

Broadmeadow station provided entertainment while we waited for the train, with three police officers arresting a drug dealer who had booked an XPT seat using his real name. We know this detail due to a stealthy but casual saunter to the action end of the platform by one Josh Starrett. The train leg went smoothly other than a potential station mishap where the group exited the train at Asquith and quickly piled back on again till we reached Hornsby. To Josh’s great disappointment, we did not have 9 separate limousines to pick us up, and arrived at the airport courtesy of a couple of lowly Mercedes/Audi mini vans and two shiny black sedans. The Emirates Lounge  provided a good selection of dinner food and the open bar was a hit with our group but it was late and some of us (mainly me) were sleepy. 

It was really fun getting on the plane and watching everyone discover the business class setup. Moet, pyjamas (“we’ve joined a cult”) and his&hers amenities bags (“Mecca party bags”) were all a hit. Campbell also discovered that we can telephone each other from the in-seat phones. Our party of nine took up about half of the section, and I suspect we MAY have been a bit noisy, as some poor guy sandwiched between our rows asked for earplugs. I took advantage of my favourite part of luxury travel, the lay-flat bed, and went to sleep as soon as we took off. We all managed some sleep, and had various catch-ups and chats in the onboard bar area over the  next 14 hours.

After breakfast, the flight crew gathered our group behind the bar for a photo (sans Flynn who was asleep and Eve who was locked in by her breakfast tray). We assumed it was a nice gesture to celebrate our group holiday but in a strange lost in translation moment they then gave me a decorated dessert plate with “happy anniversary” written on it, a signed card from all the flight crew and two glasses of champagne. We had the giggles but ran with it. 

Once in Dubai we embarked on a grand tour of the A, the B and the C Emirates lounges, due to both our deficiency in navigation and to a delayed connection in Dubai. The Rome flight has a lot of nuns on it - sandals with socks abound. When we finally boarded it was a treat to swan past the crowds to the good seats upstairs- lucky they were comfortable as we then sat on the tarmac for an hour. Delays aside, the flight crew was delightful, the service good and we had some hilarious group games of trivia on the entertainment system. Shout out to Cam with two wins, Bene with the highest score win and me for winning one despite the name shenanigans (see how many Annas with various spellings are on the scoreboard…) We landed in Rome completely exhausted but upbeat. Our little group has bonded nicely over the past 24 hours and we are ready to explore Italy together.

Memories are made of this

We head off today to Italy. This is a trip of many parts. It’s an adventure - a wonderful time exploring and discovering. It’s family time - extended family. There are a LOT of us on this excursion, but more about that later. It’s normality- back (after a Covid hiatus) to the annual overseas trip we’ve done every year since that very first one back in 2011. That leads me the final part of this trip- it’s a pilgrimage. Italy was our first overseas holiday as a family back in 2011 when the boys were 7, 9 and 11. The thought of going back again without Jase has made me pretty fragile this week and I’m sure there will be a few emotional moments and memories on the journey. 

We’ve been talking about a family holiday for about a year but it was difficult to pin down team Starrett due to Uni and social schedules. Once we had decided on Italy, things seemed to fall into place and the guest list started to expand. I’m bemused but delighted to be team leading a group of nine. As well as myself and the boys, we have Flynn’s girlfriend Eve, my mother, my niece Benedicte (my sister Kate’s daughter), and my sister-in-law Amanda (Jason’s sister) with her husband Richard. 

Team Starrett is now adult and managed their own packing. Well…perhaps. They still sought some parental input to help with questions like: 

“What do I need to bring that I wouldn’t have thought of” (my suggestion of swimmers was well received)

“What food can I bring on the plane”

“How many days till we do laundry”

Two of our party, who will remain nameless actually thought we were leaving yesterday, with one of them packed waiting for a car pick up. I had a text check in this morning from one relaxed traveller - did I have his passport. I’m not sure what would have happened if I said no.  Anyway the extended team Starrett is on our way to Bella Italia. More soon.