Reflections on Florence

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Tuesday, 4 October 2005 17:45 Train Florence to Rome

The Duomo

While traveling from Paris to Rome, my traveling companion made the comment that Italian food was not as sophisticated as French cuisine. I think his use of the terms food and cuisine sum it up. At the time I did not understand what he meant. I do now, and I want to extend the comment to the whole country. Italy is basic and earthy. France is more complex and aerial. In Italy the forms are square and flat, while in France they are rounded and multi dimensional.

I took a tour in Florence that drove me around the city and even into the local countryside.Florence is like a maize with its endless alley ways. I could not use my map to find my way; a compass would have been more useful.

With all the alleys Florence reminded me of India with its limitless gullies. In general the building facades are flat and angular being built of brick in numerous earthy tones. The tour guide described the many villas and palaces as gorgeous, but having come from Paris, I did not think so. They looked plain to me.

Villas in the hills

Of course, Florence is the land of the Tucani artists, so you see that style everywhere. I prefer France, but in its own way Florence is a beautiful city. There are two churches that I saw, which are flat and square, but certainly not basic, the Duomo and Santa Croce. These places are absolutely incredible. Their facade are covered with unbelievable detail that reminded me of a south Indian temple. Surprisingly their insides are plain and unadorned.

The villas and homes around Florence are built on hillsides that remind me of Malibu. We drove to a wealthy area outside of Florence called Fiesole that was most beautiful. The whole area has a strong southern California feel.

 

Santa Croce

Compared to Rome, Florence is a tiny place, but it is just crawling with tourists. It seems that there are more tourists than local residents. You feel more safe here. Rome, of course, has many more tourists but they are easily swallowed up by the sheer size of the place. I am frustrated that I can not get my photos to show more color, but I think this is just the way it is both here and in France. The colors are dominated by grays and whites, plus the weather is rainy and gray.

Two Ways to Touch your Nose

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Monday, October 3, 2005

There are two ways to touch your nose. One is to just touch it directly from the front and the other is from behind your head and around. Some countries follow the direct way, others follows the indirect way.

In America, for example, if you want to buy something, you just buy it. In general, whatever it says on the price tag is the price you pay. Done. In India, on the other hand, you must haggle for almost everything, including taxis, shoes, clothes, cell phones, and even tooth brushes. In India nothing is easy. Just to take a taxi is so much work because you must first negotiate a price, then make sure the driver does not cheat by taking a longer route. Then when you arrive he will want to renegotiate the price, so you must fight it out over that. In America everything generally works. The water always comes out of the tap. The electricity is always on. The subways always operate and if you take a taxi the driver will never have to stop for gas or to fix a flat. In India things generally never work properly. Water only comes at certain times of the day. The electricity always fails. Buses are regularly on strike. There is always some public emergency and your taxi will always need gas and it will have a flat. France follows the “american” way and Italy follows the “indian” way.

This morning when I went to take the subway to the Vatican, the subways and buses were not working because of some public emergency. At first I was ready to pull out my hair when one Italian gentleman said, “Whata is the biga deeal, just takeka the back way by the treni.” Oh, that made sense. It took three times as long, but I arrived at the Vatican. Happy.

 I hear the whole country is going on strike this Friday. The Italians say it is no big deal, it happens all the time. Just stay home and sleep. This sounds so much like India! There is always a strike, or some revolution going on. This is what I mean by the indirect method. On the train I was telling another Italian man about the subway and bus shut down and about the up coming strike. He looked at me and said out loud, “Yes, we Italianos are a very specialo people. We a like it this a wayo.” The whole train car burst out laughing. They all knew it was true. Italy does not work that well, but no one cares. They are happy, easy going and flexible. This is India as well. So while in Rome, do as the Romans. I am starting to relax and have fun in Italy.

Smart Phone Traveler

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As I have mentioned, a wireless (smart phone) is an essential tool for a traveler. Just today I used my GPS to find my way out of the barrio, and to make my way back to the train station. I also used it to know which bus to take and to know which stop to get down from the bus to reach the station. I used my internet connection to decide if the place I had discovered was worth spending the time and paying the entrance fee to visit. In this case it definitely was. It was the Real Alcaza which looked barely worth it on the outside, but which would have been a terrible loss had I not made the visit. My google wikipedia search saved the day. I have also used my cellular internet connection to research a painting that I was standing before in a museum in live-time. How valuable is that? I have also used it to check restaurant, bank, embassy, airport, and hotel locations on a trip. This is not to mention airline and train schedules, and to confirm and download boarding passes and to cancel or make last minute reservations. The built in camera including video is also indispensable. I have used the camera to photograph and translate important documents and signs while enroute. All this is in addition to the ability to send and receive email and texts and the least used of all facilities, using it as a telephone with video to stay in touch with loved ones at home. Conclusion? Don’t leave home without it! A lot of people tell me to leave it at home just to save money and buy a cheap local phone. For me I will never do this. I need a full wireless device with a good size data plan. It is well worth the expense. At least it is for someone like me who is never able to plan ahead. My wireless is my greatest friend and travel companion on a trip.

Madrid, Final Day

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March 9, 2010

I spent my final day packing, arranging my boarding pass, taxi, and everything else necessary to leave Spain the next day. It was not raining on this last day, in fact it was even sunny, so I wanted to spend my time seeing Madrid the way I had hoped on the first day, by tour bus. The weather made that impossible, so now was the time to take the tours and arrange to buy gifts at the same time. After talking to the concierge about where to go I decided to walk into old town Madrid to buy gifts first. Afterwards I would take the bus tours.

 Walking to old Madrid makes me wonder why they call it old town. Nothing looks that old. The streets are not tiny. Everything is clean and orderly. People even obey the the street signs and lights. I’ve said it before, Madrid is more like a North American city than a European city. I am surprised by this. Even the emergency vehicles do not have that typical European siren sound. Instead the sound is like a North American emergency vehicle.

I walked through the Plaza Mayor in old town Madrid. It is a large square plaza with shops on the ground floor and apartments all around. Lots of them! You can see the photos. I bought my gifts here, mostly flamenco fans and castanets, and the most amazing thing of all is that they are not made in China! Even the Hindu gods we get in the temple in America come from China these days. After this square I walked to the botanical gardens near the Prado Museum. There are a lot of police in the streets of Madrid and even a good bit of military around the government buildings. The soldiers have machine guns. The gardens are fantastic and they must be incredible in the spring and summer. They are large and well organized, but nothing is in bloom at this time of year. After that I took a bus tour and near froze to death. But still even though it was cold on the upper deck of the bus I managed to get a good tour of Madrid. Everything is beautiful, just not old. Even the oldest buildings are relatively new, only going back to the 17th century. After the tour I stopped for a late lunch and returned to the hotel by 6 PM. It was a good way to end the day. I will have to get up at 3:30AM for a 7:10 flight to London.

I had a wonderful time in Spain.

Trip to Seville

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March 8, 2010

One of the problems with Spain is that it just looks and feels too much like home. Madrid is a beautiful city, but it just looks too new and modern. There is a dearth of old-world feel. In fact Madrid feels like a North American city, a particularly nice one, but a North American city just the same. In fact it is better than any city in North America because it has a fantastic transportation system. Don’t miss understand, Madrid is about museums and for this reason alone it is worth coming. Barcelona also reminds me of a medium sized California city like Santa Barbara. Its a wonderful tourist city by the sea and certainly a place worth visiting since I am here in Spain. But my trip down into the south of Spain is a search for the Europe that has been missing, that something “other.” And I am not to be disappointed! In Seville I finally met the Spain I wanted to see.

On the way to south I notice a lot of wind turbines and solar arrays in the Spanish countryside. Outside of Madrid the countryside is green and highly agricultural and it appears prosperous, even more so than east towards Barcelona. In both cases the land is generally flat within 100 miles of Madrid. About an hour outside of Madrid the land become hilly and the towns begin to look more Spanish. Two and a half hours out I begin to see palm trees. I am coming close to Seville and the towns and homes look decidedly Spanish. Madrid looks European, Seville looks Spanish. Seville definitely has that that southern European look and feel. Everything is less urban. Probably the most noticeable thing is that the weather is much warmer. As I step out of the Seville train station I am greeted by a woman dressed in what appears to be a sari like outfit. I am in the Andalusia region of Spain. I have finally gone somewhere.

Barcelona

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March 6, 2010

I spent the day in Barcelona; I am tired, but happy. Barcelona is very different from Madrid mainly because of its climate and proximity to the sea. My first impression stepping out of the train station was that it was dirty and rundown. The thought of a Mexican city flashed through my mind, but having toured the city and walked the streets, Barcelona is nothing like anywhere in Mexico that I have seen. Barcelona is clean and modern, only the train station area is a little ragged. Instead Barcelona reminds me of Nice, France or Santa Barbara in California. I took a bus tour around the city and made a number of stops including a small Picasso museum, the old citydistrict, the Gaudi Cathedral, a restaurant and the metro. Barcelona, of course, deserves a lot more time; it is a huge place, but this was a day trip and my time was limited. For shopping I walked through the old city area. This district, like in Nice, has been cleaned and modernized and made into a first rate tourist area. It even includes the old port and lots of walking paths along the sea. This reminded my of New Port Beach in California. As part of the bus tour we drove up Barcelona’s Montjuic hill that overlooks the city. This is the home of the Museu d’Art de Catalunya (Catalonian Art Museum), Unfortunately, I did not have the time to tour this museum. Probably a big mistake. I did however, get a few photograph that show the

An apartment complex designed by Gaudi

skyline of Barcelona. Apart from the Gaudi Cathedral I did not see a lot of things of interest to me. Near the cathedral I did see some political activity. There was a large banner reminding tourists that Catalonia is not part of Spain. I try to stay away from this kind of activity while traveling, but I did snap a photo of the banner. It was good to walk through the old parts of the city, but again, it is too much of a tourist area and reminded me of where I live in California. Overall my trip to Barcelona was enjoyable, but apart from Gaudi’s cathedral, not particularly interesting to me. It was good to see the Spanish countryside traveling from Madrid, but the trip left me feeling that I had not gone anywhere. It was too much like where I already live. One last comment, the population of Barcelona appeared similar to Madrid, white, European, and Spanish.