La Bella Vita

I’ve stayed in some pretty luxurious hotels but the St Regis in Florence is something else again. The room is beautiful, overlooking the Arno, with a bed fit for royalty, but it’s the service that is the next level experience. I have a butler, who will pack, unpack, iron each day and brings a drink of choice every morning when I send a message - coffee in bed on a silver tray with a little cake and a flower. So fun. The bar sabers a bottle of champagne each night and a drink and snacks are part of the deal, all in a beautiful room with a piano player. The head server sings along with the piano from time to time, and wanders the room chatting to the guests. He’s a born and bred Florentine, really interesting to talk to. I feel pampered and spoilt and had ball the first evening without even leaving the hotel. 

Breakfast was a beautifully laid out buffet. I tried a few of fancy juices (the spinach and mint one was challenging but I got it down) but stuck to fruit and yogurt for food choices, saving myself for pasta later in the day. There are staff everywhere ready to help - three guys at the entrance to push the revolving door for you (it’s not that heavy...). 

I spent the morning wandering the city looking at beautiful things - a decorated pot for my front garden made by a four generation family business, a little diamond pendant from a jeweller on the Ponte Vecchio, a wooden inlay box, perfume from the oldest pharmacy in Italy (1612). I bought nothing, but loved revelling in the possibility of purchase. Lunch was at a little trattoria- pasta with a white wine sauce, caramelised onion and bacon. Delicious, and well worth the restraint at breakfast. Perhaps it was the wine at lunchtime, perhaps just jet lag, I couldn’t stop yawning and so indulged myself with a little afternoon nap that lasted till dinner time. Opting for fresh air, I sat at an outdoor cafe in the piazza, still dozy, people watching and reflecting on my experience so far. Such a lovely day, ticking all the boxes for contentment- life’s pleasures in moderation, new experiences and a little bit of self care. I’ve included a photo of the view from my room, the walls in perfume shop - a Dominican monastery and the library in my hotel 

Roman Holiday

 My hotel room was freezing cold. Apparently there is a rule for hotels in Rome that they can’t put on heat till the middle of November. I applaud their eco goals, but extra blankets wouldn’t have gone astray. I gave up the fight to get warm at about six, deciding to walk through the Borghese park across the road. It was still dark but the park is well lit and outside was warmer than inside so I walked for almost an hour. I’ve included a photo of the Aurelian wall that you walk through to get to the park. 

To my absolute delight, I ran into Philomena, an Italian lady that my mother met when walking on our July trip. We had a little chat - she has no English and I have no Italian, but waving hands and smiles and basic vocabulary got us somewhere and it was very fun to run into her. 

Breakfast was on the seventh floor, and as the hotel is high up on a hill,  the beautiful warm morning light illuminated Rome spread out in front of me -  a maze of streets and terracotta roofs with church domes rising out of the chaos here and there. 

I had booked a morning golf cart tour - the three hour itinerary took me everywhere I wanted to go and ended nearish to the hotel. I had figured it was cheaper and easier than a lot of taxis, and would add some interesting history and information. I was early (I know no one is surprised) and had time for a coffee at a little coffee shop across from the colosseum- here’s the view from the window. 

I was the only person on the tour, so quickly negotiated with the guide for some itinerary changes. The good luck ended there. Firstly, my tour guide Santos was from El Salvador and knew a lot about El Salvador but not much about Rome, despite living here for forty years. Further, there was a marathon on in Rome this morning, so streets everywhere were blocked off and there was no way to get to any of the places we were supposed to go. The golf cart tour morphed into a walking tour, that, due to the distances didn’t cover much. I’m pleased to say that I FINALLY managed to get to the Mouth of Truth (only my fourth time in Rome). The church there had a cool catacomb and I lit a candle for Jason for his birthday. 

I returned to a little restaurant from our first night in Rome on the July trip for a delicious pizza and a glass of red. At the table next to me there was a dapper little old man, dressed to the nines in a three piece suit, fedora and fancy shoes. Either a regular or a relative of the proprietor, he said nothing but proceeded to set his own table and then sat down for a delicious looking veal with a pile of potatoes and fried artichokes. The plate across from him had the same food but no one sat down. I shamelessly people watched, trying to figure out the story but it didn’t play out before I had to leave for the train station. 

The train promised a comfortable ride through the gorgeous Italian countryside but I was sooo tired and kept nodding off and jerking awake. I may have drooled. I’m very satisfied with my day in Rome. I love the layers of old, built on with new, the people, the food, and the environment. Also , I need to learn Italian. 

Florence arrival was smooth and I’m going to save the hotel arrival story till the next instalment. 

O solo mio

Although it seems like barely a minute has passed since our wonderful family trip, I’m now off again on a two week overseas jaunt. Week two is the main event - a residential leadership course at Oxford, but given the distance and the travel time, it seemed foolish not to add a week of personal leisure to the schedule. I’ve chosen to go back to Florence, via Rome, to spend some time exploring in a more leisurely fashion than was possible in our wonderful but chaotic group of nine in July. 

Flynn dropped me at the train station early in the morning. I was near to tears as he drove off, already mourning the loss of the laughter, camaraderie and shared experiences of our last trip. Still- I’m looking forward to choosing my own activities and the opportunity for quiet wandering as the mood takes me. 

Even for an early riser, getting to the airport by 4am for a 6am flight is challenging. I managed to put my shirt on inside out and then back to front (third time’s the charm), but both road and human traffic is low at that time of day so I soon was ensconced in the Emirates Lounge. After two undrinkable attempts at coffee from a nasty automated machine, I decided to abandon caffeination, which proved to be helpful in promoting a number of naps during the 24 hour transit. A series of schmaltzy Hallmark Christmas movies may have helped the dozy vibe. 

Good food, great service, a delicious burger at the Emirates first lounge, and in no time at all I was in Rome at my hotel. I’m staying at a lovely Sofitel up on the hill near the Park Borghese. They’ve kindly given me a suite, complete with a balcony that opens onto a narrow cobblestone street. I have full intentions of drinking my coffee out there tomorrow morning. It was already 8.30 at night after I was showered and feeling human again, so I opted for dinner in the hotel restaurant. Bread, olive oil and a glass of Rosé were a good start but I took one bite of my pasta and KNEW I was in Italy. It was a zucchini flower pasta, topped with the standard little fried zucchini flower, but after that, anything standard stopped. Fresh spaghetti, toasted almond slivers, tiny crispy paper thin slices of Zucchini (air fried perhaps?) and a very mild creamy red pesto. Next level amazing. 

I agonised over the title for this post. The correct spelling was “sole”, translated as my own sunshine. It works- I will be finding my own sunshine, but I just couldn’t resist the “solo” bit. Apologies to any opera purists. 

Volare oh oh

 On our last day, we were a little slow to get moving due to the previous late night and the need to pack.

We managed to have breakfast together, all a little subdued- the holiday was over and it was a long way home. Still… we had a number of hours to kill before leaving for the airport. Embracing the opportunity, our group set out to utilise the resort options. Before long there were simultaneous archery, cycling and soccer games going on - lots of laugher and a bit of chaos. 

We sat in the lobby and ate the $120 Rome minibar nuts before being picked up in the dock inside the hotel lobby (very flash) for a boat trip to the airport.

The flights home were uneventful but good, and I spent some time reflecting on the trip. This has been such a wonderful family time for our group. I’m so proud of everyone for their good spirits, their energy and their willingness to go along with the flow. The events of the last few years, plus the natural transition to independence as the younger crew grow up has led to more fragile and fragmented connections. On this trip we created a space for new experiences together, for rich conversations, for shared laughter. Having fun, with people you love - who could ask for more. 

Venice Vidi Vici (well not quite)

We were eager to explore Venice, starting the day with a tour of the Doge’s place, St Mark’s Church and the square. We’ve seen many fancy buildings over  the past week and it was interesting to see the stylistic differences in decoration here. Gold and gilt everywhere and beautiful mosaics on floors and ceilings. 

I’ve included a photo of a “mailbox” in the wall of the palace - Even in the 1300’s, people tried to avoid taxes and this box is where you write to dob in someone who is doing something wrong financially. The mail slot is the mouth.The palace included courtrooms and council chambers as well as the covered walkway through to the prison (the Bridge of Sighs). I wish now that I had asked why they put a prison in the prime centre of the city. It seems really odd.

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Following the tour, we embraced our tourist status and hopped into two gondolas. You sit really low on the water and it was pretty choppy in the open lagoon where we boarded, but once in the canals it was smoother. The gondolier was very good about answering all our questions, although he was a bit surprised and I suspect normally people don’t talk to them. He said that there are about 400 owners (it costs approx 30,000 Euro for a boat) and another 200 or so “drivers”. They work about twelve hours a day in the busy season. It was peaceful and quiet and very beautiful. One of my favourite experiences on the trip. 

 We had an unplanned afternoon following the gondola ride. Mum and Bene headed off to the Biennale, Eve returned to the hotel for some down time and the rest of us attended a short but enjoyable glass blowing demo. As expected, a sales pitch followed - $1200 for a decanter and wineglass set anyone? Escaping the gallery, we looked for a lunch option. It’s tricky with a big group and an unknown city but Flynn’s strategy (the first place we see after we go over the bridge) actually worked and we had a decent lunch next to the grand canal. We split up further after lunch to wander. Venice was teaming with tourists and because of the narrow streets it felt more congested than anywhere else we’ve been. It was also very very humid. By 3.30 most of us were hot, sweaty and exhausted - despite being in a number of separate small groups we all ended up on two consecutive boats back to our island hotel. This is the second time I’ve been in Venice, and again I feel like I haven’t quite managed to find what I’m looking for. You get funnelled in to the main tourist streets, with shop after shop of dodgy glass animals, and  when you go off track you end up at a dead end against a canal. I know somewhere that there is quiet charm and interesting art and fabulous food, but Venice has beaten me twice now. 

Bridge over troubled water

Today was a transit day from Florence to Venice. Interestingly, there was NO Nutella on the breakfast buffet. Our crew liberated some green pistachio spread called Pistachiella instead. It was a bit of a tricky morning with too much time to sit about but not enough time to do anything good. We took a short excursion to try and find the Florence McDonalds, but the weather app indicated that there was a storm coming so we pulled the pin on that and walked back to the hotel.

The very fast train was delayed and not so fast, so by the time we arrived in Venice it was 1.30. We boarded a little boat at the train station to take us to lunch in Venice prior to travelling via boat across to the hotel. Our hotel is on a private island, and “resort style”. It’s a JW Marriott and very nice, but somewhat of a disappointment after the charm of the previous accommodations. That being said, we had a lovely time in the pool and I believe a number of our  crew took advance of the guest bicycles for some 10pm exploring in search of the badminton court. I suspect there were some shenanigans that I didn’t hear full details about but it sounds like they had a hilarious time and I’m trusting that there was nothing too nefarious. I was reflecting during the train ride what a wonderful group we are travelling with. I’ve been so many places with the boys and know they are great travellers, but the addition of Eve, Bene, my mother and Amanda & Richard has been wonderful. Everyone has enjoyed interacting with everyone else and it’s been a very special family time after a tough few years. 

Our dinner was a slightly lame but well executed pirate cruise. Team Starrett entered into the spirit of the thing and the food was surprisingly decent. We had a great view of the different islands around the lagoon. Our hotel is on the site of an old sanatorium for people with lung diseases. The next one over was a women’s mental hospital. We also saw the big outdoor sculpture for the Venice Biennale and the soccer field for the Venetian team. 

Paint Misbehavin’

Mum was up early this morning and wandered down to the lobby in search of a coffee. I messaged her to suggest asking the concierge, however she advised that he was asleep on the lounge (!) Our breakfast experience involved the great Nutella heist, an operation to secure enough small jars of nutella for Josh to top his pizza at tonight’s cooking activity. Following our criminal op, we headed off with our guide Valerie for a walking tour of Florence and the Uffizi gallery.  Both were wonderful. The history of the powerful families, their machinations and their impact on the city was really interesting. Valerie talked about power and prestige making empty spaces, and showed us the development of the architecture through that lens. The Uffizi is in the Medici palace and is filled with treasures- Botticelli, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, almost too much art. Our guide had decided that Cam looked like Cosimo de Medici, sharing this with a number of  others who agreed. When we reached his portrait, we tried to get Cam to match the pose and were shushed by the security guard, who was then was part of a conversation with the guide about the resemblance. We are not so sure, however I’ve included a photo for you to decide. 

We split up after lunch for some free time. I walked along the Ponti Vechio to the Piti Palace, in search of some gorgeous mosaics advertised in our hotel. It was within their opening hours, but they were closed. There was a sign that said if they were closed, ring the bell and they would open, but no joy there either. Very Italian. On the way back to the hotel I did find a beautiful wooden box, painted in the pattern of the San Miniato church floor and lashed out on that as a memento of our family trip.

We regrouped in the afternoon for a trip to see the David. It’s beautifully positioned in a niche with natural light, but it was so crowded and we’ve seen so many copies by now that the impact was diminished. More interesting were the six half finished Michelangelo sculptures in various stages of completion. You could see the pieces emerging from the marble. There was also quite a bit of shushing by the guards. Apparently you have to be quiet to appreciate art. The art experiences have been incredible but we need a small breather from the overload. 

Dinner tonight involved our younger travellers making pizza at a little restaurant nearby.  Josh’s Nutella stash came in handy and his “dessert pizza” was a hotly contested item, handed out only to gain strategic alliances. 

After an excellent gelato (hazelnut and amareno cherry for me) we walked back to the hotel along the side of the Arno with the sun setting over the river. It’s a very beautiful city. The colour palette used in the city seems to be limited to those quintessential “Tuscan” yellows with terracotta and sage. We’ve enjoyed the transition from the hectic chaos of Rome to the quieter pace of Florence.