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Siena Campo at night
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Tempietto
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Swordfish
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Last night I saw "Quantum of Solace" (in English). If anyone reading this has seen it, at the beginning during the horse race in Siena was the Campo. It is a famous Plaza because it is tilted. I got to go there and eat lunch around the outside of it. The plaza is really fun to sit around or play soccer in, because it isn't very crowded (I wasn't there during the horse race).
Today I went to a famous circular building called the Tempietto. Also I ran around the Circus Maximus three times. The Circus Maximus is one mile around.
We are also having swordfish for dinner, which a local vendor cut right off a whole 5-foot long swordfish.
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Hadrian's Mausoleum (Castel St. Angelo)
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Hadrian's Mausoleum
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Angel on Hadrian's Mausoleum
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Tiber River from Hadrian's Mausoleum
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The Pope at St. Peter's
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The Pope and the Swiss Guard
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The Pope on video in St. Peter's square
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Today I went to see Hadrian's Mausoleum. The mausoleum is almost like a giant brick castle, and it has lots of interesting statues. I saw Hadrian's tomb, and looked out over the Tiber River -- a great view. After that, my family and I walked over to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, where the Pope was giving a speech. It was very crowded, and unless you had arranged two months in advance to sit down relatively close to him, you had to stand 200 yards away, which is where we stood. It was still very cool to see the Pope.
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Florence, Palazzo Vecchio
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Florence, Baptistery Doors
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Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore
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Santa Maria del Fiore, details
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Santa Maria del Fiore, interior
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Santa Maria del Fiore inside of the dome
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Santa Maria del Fiore, devils on the inside of the dome
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View of Florence from the top of the dome
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Today I am in Florence, Italy and am seeing lots of cool things. This morning I visited the Duomo, or Santa Maria del Fiore. This church is very elaborate and giant, so it took us a long time to walk to the top, where you can see the whole city. We also went to a church called San Lorenzo, which has a giant library designed by Michelangelo, and to a famous museum of statues and paintings called the Uffizi.
Venice
Fish markets:
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Angler fish
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Various sea food
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Crabs
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Eels
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Cuttlefish
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The fish markets of Venice are imense and have a lot more variety than the Roman ones. This is because Venice is an island (there are actually no cars) right on the Mediterranean sea. There are anglerfish, sharks, king crab, three kinds of lobsters, salmon, tuna, swordfish, flounders, octopus, cuttlefish, squid, and even live eels. The vendor selling eels grabbed one, and the bucket of about ten eels started wriggling like crazy. The markets are extremely interesting, so I included a lot of pictures.
St. Mark's Cathedral and Square:
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Venice, Grand Canal
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Venice, tower from St. Georgio Maggiore
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Venice, St. Mark's Square
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St. Mark's Cathedral
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Pala d'Oro (from another website)
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Pigeon and tower
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Feeding pigeons in St. Mark's Square
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Pigeon attack!
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St. Mark's Cathedral is so far my favorite Italian church. The walls are covered with mosaics made of gold, and there is barely anything carved out of stone. The cathedral is very big, but not huge, and the floor is covered with cool geometric patterns. At the back of the cathedral, there is a golden altar screen called the Palla d'Oro. It is made out of gold and thousands of precious gems, and it shows pictures of saints and religious figures. It is about five feet tall by10 feet wide and very cool looking. We were not allowed to take pictures in the church, so you have to imagine it. Outside the curch there is a giant plaza at one foot above sea level, which is famous for its size and the pigeons there. When I fed the pigeons, they would jump onto my hand, and I had about 40 or so of them swarming me at one time. I also actually caught one with my hands, which was very fun.
Facts of Venice:
- Buildings are close together.
- The only way to get to it is by train (which we did) or by boat.
- No cars because the streets are water
- You get around by foot or by boat.
- It is pretty cold now (around 35 degrees)
- 23 million tourists come each year; 64,000 people live there.
- Lots of seafood. I had cuttlefish cooked in its ink one night for dinner (not as good as it sounds).
Gondola Ride!
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Venice, gondolas
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Gondola ride
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This is what Venice is famous for, and it is very fun. We went on Sunday morning, so it was quiet out. It was very sunny too, which made it even more fun. There are lots of "water alleys" and bridges in Venice, and we mostly went through or under those. The ride was kind of short, but definitely worth it.