ITALY/FRANCE--Cinque Terre

Cliffs and sea and red roofs. Cinque Terre, made up of five towns along a rugged portion of the Italian riviera, is stunningly beautiful. Michael, Jenny, Jonny, and Steve, who've been there, recommended a hike to two or more towns. It got cold and rainy, so we visited only Riomaggiore, the southernmost town. Still, our few hours there were unforgettable.

The drive into Cinque Terre includes heart-stopping overlooks, with blue sea and mountains, green trees, and red roofs below.

Lemons, basil, anchovies, and even wine are products of the area, so there are terraced fields and vineyards near the town.

An old woman visited the cemetery and chapel on the hill as we drove into town.

The Riomaggiore church was bright red against a cloudy, white sky.

The buildings were crammed tightly together...

with niches for statues...

and lines for laundry.

The colorful geometry of the village had me taking shot after shot after shot.

The village life was equally compelling--a shopkeeper with his vegetables...

women chatting or thinking or browsing...

old men enjoying each other, shopping,and carrying wood.

The few other tourists were teenagers, nearly as colorful as the Cinque Terre natives.

Dave and I walked to the harbor, enjoying the bright-colored boats and houses...

which I could arrange into still lifes.

And always the sea.

We wandered the ridge road, catching glimpses of other treasures of Cinque Terre.

ITALY/FRANCE--More Flor

Our first stop, second day in Florence, was the Accademia, where the real statue of Michelangelo's David is displayed (as opposed to the copy in the town square). Seeing that huge statue, dominating the hall, was David's favorite experience in Florence. We also loved the sculptures by Michelangelo entitled "Prisoners". They were only half carved from the stone, as if they were trying to physically burst free.

We then spent several hours in the Uffizi, with the best collection of Renaissance paintings in the world. We especially enjoyed the whole room full of Botticelli paintings, with their maidens in filmy robes, and the round tondo by Michelangelo, portraying the Holy Family.

The views out the Uffizi windows were almost as breathtaking as the Uffizi paintings.

We wandered through the Museum of San Marco, which has the best collection of paintings by Fra Angelico anywhere.

Fra Angelico was head monk of this monastery during the early 1400s. Some of his large paintings are hung in a gallery, and he also decorated the monks' cells with scenes from the Bible. One of the monks who lived here was the austere Savonarola, who took over Florence for a brief period at the end of the 1400s, encouraged the rich people to make a "bonfire of vanities," and then, as the political tide turned, was burned at the stake himself. The Medici were chased out of town and when they returned, never fully recovered their power. I visited Savonarola's cell, with its scourge and black bead rosary.

We visited the Church of San Lorenzo...

with its Medici Chapel, with sculptures by Michelangelo decorating the tombs of the aristocratic Medicis, who had adopted him almost as a son. These sculptures are of "Day" and "Night." The mood of all the sculptures was very melancholy.

We took breaks to eat gelato...

and check out the street life.

And we paused at the Pitti Palace, the last Medici mansion, inhabited through the 1800s. It was filled with fine art and surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Note: The Uffizi, Accademie, Medici Chapel, and Pitti Palace forbade photography, so a few of the shots in this blog are internet products, rather than Gretta originals. The lovely shots out the Uffizi windows, though taken with stealth, are my very own.