Day Two 2014- Recovery Mode

Was rousted from a deep dream state this morning to find that Marianne (the Miraculous) (aka the wife) had overcome her usual lack of inner map to make it all the way from the Rome airport to the door of the apartment here. This was a good thing, since she also had no other real way of contacting me or our friends. She had not run into any of the blocks that I did, and made it straight through LA-DC-Rome.

It's Artichoke season!!

 Took a few cups of coffee to get my motor to idle correctly, then we took the little puppy (Bella, a Yorkie) out for an excursion to the market at Campo di Fiori, which is literally about 10 steps away from the front door. OMG! I love farmers markets, and especially somewhere foreign, where there's always something different to explore. Right now is artichoke season, so we picked up a couple of fresh looking ones. They also have (real) new potatoes, which are about the size of a malted milk ball, and several great looking mushrooms.

Fresh fruits and vegetables at the Campo di Fiori

Darius and Erica's flat is very nice; not huge, but carved out of an old palazzo with exposed wooden ceilings and curious little brick niches that look like ancient ossuaries in the bathroom- perfect for storing toiletries! They actually got chosen to do one of those HGTV shows on apartment hunting a few years ago, so we had already seen it before we got here. Darius is also on TV fairly often in his professional capacity as an archeologist. They took off for an all expenses paid ski junket thanks to Erica's gig as an online reviewer for a variety of magazines, so we have the place to ourselves for a few days- whee!

little brick niches in the bathroom- perfect for shampoo and towels!

After coming back with the dog, we went down and had delicious pizza- vegan for Marianne and Gluten free for me! Been so long since I've had a nice pizza, and to have it be wheat free was fabulous! Then we moseyed on up to the Piazza Navona, poking our heads into any church door that was open. The sky was marbled with clouds that looked like rain, but it didn't, and the temperature is actually quite mild now, having risen a bit in the last week. Made the requisite stop in the Pantheon to pay our respects to all the gods (and artists and architects) of our ancestors, then had our first gelati (I got Limone and Nocciola- Hazlenut.)

Marianne sees the light in front of the Pantheon

I like this attitude! "Well, we know the pillars will have pigeons on them, so let's beat them to the punch!" On Sant'Agnese in Agone on the Piazza Navona

After a bit more wandering, taking in the Caravaggios in the Contarelli Chapel, we found ourselves once again at the Trevi fountain, which is remarkably crowded considering we're just in to March and it's still cool here. I guess there's already a pretty heavy dose of spring breakers on the loose, as we've seen the marauding bands of teens all over. We threw in our coins for returning next time, then went home as the sun faded, stopping to pick up a phone card so that I can use text and google maps here. Flat rate of $35 to put a different card in my phone and have enough phone, text, and data to easily get me  through 3 weeks. Easy Peasy! 

Saint Hilarius, patron of comedians, died in a tickle fight with the Devil.

Back to the flat to walk the dog and whip up a fab dinner of salad with some weird octopus-like green i've never seen before, leftover pizza from lunch, and our two magnificent artichokes. topped it all off with some amazing real amaretti, which are nothing like what you get in a bag in the states, and some herbal tea. Then it's now! Time to post!

These weren't ours tonight, but they may be soon! Nipples of Venus!!

Day 14! 

Florence gave us a big day today! Started with a walk in near Santa Maria Novella where we immediately ran into a pretty nice Stile Liberty building, followed by a church and an unexpected cloister with a very old fresco by Ghirlandaio that had been damaged by the floods of 1966. What was cool about it was that in the process of restoring it from the flood, they were able to separate the top layer and preserve it where it had been originally, while they removed and displayed the underdrawing (called the "sinopia") on the adjacent wall. So you could compare the drawing with the finished mural and see what the artist had changed in the process. Very interesting!

"Do these pantaloons make my butt look big?"

We then threaded through the chaotic street markets down to the Medici chapel, which was actually a mausoleum, though in reality it's a gigantic jewel box. It is finished entirely in exotic marbles, with a side chapel that was designed by Michelangelo which has several of his sculptures in it. I love marble, so it was very hard not to photograph there, but I held back. Now I wish I hadn't. At least a few.

"Are you talking to me?"

After that we went to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, where they allow you to photo (thank God!) After that to the Central Market, where you can pick up just about any cut (or species) of meat you might like, but in our case, we just bought some killer mushrooms, bread, and bits for a picnic lunch, which we ate in the Botanical Garden nearby.

Who knew Nick Nolte was Italian? From the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.

We then stopped by the incredible Four Seasons Hotel, which is built around the  restored Palazzo Gherardesca, where you can sit and sip tea (free!) on green velvet sofas in the courtyard, surrounded by 16th-century frescos by Flemish mannerist Jan van der Straet, also known as Giovanni Stradano. Really cool spot, and it had no attitude problem at all.

Walked back over to the center of town and looked at the Duomo interior (yawn!) and the Baptistery interior (OMG!) and then ran into a parade for the town's patron John the Baptist, complete with Renaissance costumes, marching bands and flag twirlers, all men. I'll post some video in a bit. 

After that we went into one of the newer museums in town, the Palazzo Strozzi, which had a very cool show placing classical art (ie- Roman era and earlier) next to the Renaissance art it had inspired. Lots of Donatello, Brunelleschi, and other superstars of the Renaissance art world with the pieces they might have seen at the time. While we were there, a thunderstorm started outside and by the time we emerged, it was coming down! Fortunately, there was someone selling cheap umbrellas in the courtyard, so we ran back up to our spot and cooked up a yummy dinner with the big yellow mushrooms we bought at the market earlier. 

Our market selections today. Those orange mushrooms were soooo good!

Thinking we were done for the day, we settled in to internetting and sorting photos, only to discover that fireworks were on the way to celebrate the patron's day. So we went out and grabbed a gelato to wait on the bridge with a whole bunch of locals and tourists and watched a pretty great show of fireworks. Now back home again catching up before starting out again tomorrow. 

Fireworks over the Arno

How's that for an itinerary? Oh yeah, we also booked our rooms for Orvieto and Rome after we came back.