Travel Tips | The Travel Lady In Her Shoes

Traipsing Through Tuscany- Florence and San Gimignano

Palazzo Vecchio

Rooftop Sculpture in Florenc

The Window of the World

Thinking about our visit to Florence I can’t get over all the beautiful art we have seen in the Uffizi Gallery, the Pitti Palace, the Duomo Museum and the Accademia. I was especially excited over the artwork of Artemisia Gentileschi, (1593-1653) that SB pointed out to me in the Uffizi Gallery ( Judith Beheading Holofernes) and the Pitti Palace (The Conversion of Magdalena, Judith and Her Maidservant and David and Bathsheba). I first read about Artemisia Gentileschi in a book called, The Passion of Artemisia: a Novel, by Susan Vreeland. Delving into the themes of art, history and the lives of women, this is is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Gentileschi painted many pictures of strong and suffering women from myth and the Bible. Her works include victims, suicides, warriors and especially, the Judith story. When you read the book and then see her paintings, her real life and her paintings intertwine and give you perspective of the times and how this woman lived and painted, and why she did so. Even her style of painting called chiaroscuro, which represents a strong contrast between light and dark, gives us a glimpse of her life.

One of Gentileschi’s works, David and Bathsheba, completed in 1635, had been found after centuries of deterioration, in a storage deposit area of the Pitti Palace, revealing decay, color flaking, due to improper storage conditions, and humidity damage. The re-evaluation of the Gentileschi’s courageous life and works were brought into focus with the attention of the Florence Committee of National Museum of Women in the Arts, who decided to fund the restoration of David and Bathsheba. Today, Gentileschi is regarded as the most progressive and expressionist painters of her generation.

Thinking of that book, brought to mind another book, called The Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant. This historical novel of Florence is a story of love, art, religion and power as told by Allessandra Cecchi when her father brings a young painter to paint the chapel walls of the family’s pallazzo. This story is told while Florence is caught in a state of turmoil imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control and the Medici State, with it’s love of luxury, learning and art. On our walking tours of Florence we learned a great deal about the Medici family and Savonarola. Recalling that book, brought to mind The Lord’s Supper, painted on the wall of the Santa Maria della Grazie Church in Milan, which I have been lucky enough to see.

I was curious to learn how all this beautiful artwork was saved during WWII. Now, I am currently reading, Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures from the Nazis, by Robert Edsel. In particular I am interested in, General Karl Wolff, a German officer, who risked his life to save the collections of the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace. Robert Edsel also wrote, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, now made into a motion picture of the name, The Monuments Men.

Skyline of the Hill Town

The Walled San Gimignano and Porta San Giovani

The Towers of San Gimignano

The Wall Fortifications of San Gimignano

Skyline of San Gimignano

San Gimignano

Defense at the Rocca

The Olive Garden

Layers of Different Bricks

Wall Flowers

The old Buildings

The Loggia

San Gimignano

The Duomo

The Buildings of San Gimignano

Tower in San Gimignano

The Walk Through the Town

One of the Towers

Tower in San Gimignano

The Streets of San Gimignano

San Gimignano

The Fountain

The Old Fountain Outside San Gimignano

San Gimignano, twenty-five miles south of Florence, will be our first stop on our way to Montepulciano, where we will be making our home base for our Tuscany visit.

The parking lot outside the main gate, Porta San Giovanni, was very busy as we approached. The village itself is pedestrian only. Getting in the car parking queue we had to wait for a car to come out before we could go in and take the spot. One in, one out. San Gimignano gives you a glimpse of a real Italian countryside experience, but with just enough shops and restaurants added to make it interesting for tourists. The towers are restored replicas of the original, but they look authentic.

San Gimignano is a small, walled, medieval hill town with fourteen towers of various heights, replicated of the original seventy-two. Before the walls were developed around the town, these towers were a refuge, when ruffians and rival city states were sacking the town. If under attack, the tower owners would set fire to the external wooden staircase, leaving the sole entrance to the house and it’s strongholds, unreachable. Today you can see all these tiny slit entrances way up on the second story of the towers, minus stairs to get to them. Also, notice that the buildings are made of different colored stones and brick. Heavy stones were used for the bottom floors and lighter cheaper bricks for the upper floors. In the year 1300, about 13,000 people lived within the walls. In 1348, a six-month plague left the town with 4,000 survivors. Crushed and demoralized, the town came under Florence’s rule and was forced to tear down it’s towers, and the trade route was re-directed away from San Gimignano. The town never recovered and poverty drove the well-preserved city to be as it is today.

Our walk takes us through the Porta San Giovanni up to the Piazza del Duomo, and the church itself, which features Sienese Gothic art_ Old Testament to the left___New Testament to the right. Further up the hill is the is Sant’Agostino Church, built by the Augustinians, who arrived in 1260. Here there are English speaking friars, who are happy to tell you about the church and their way of life. We stop and have lunch at the Locanda di Sant’Agostino, right next door to the church on a beautiful small piazza. The restaurant serves typical Tuscan home cooked meals, which would be paninos, pizza, pasta and insalatas, served with a local fruity white wine. Walking back down the hill, along the ramparts, there are superb views of the Tuscan countryside. Soon we are inside the Rocca, originally another walled defense area, now a small walled garden of olive trees, where a group of men are singing and playing instruments. I loved our time in San Gimignano, but it is time to move on to Montepulciano. For more interesting history and scenes of Sam Gimignano, view the movie, Tea With Mussolini, a 1999 drama of the plight of American and English expatriate women during WWII. Most of the scenes are of Florence and San Gimignano, where the movie was filmed. In particular it reveals the artworks inside the Duomo of San Gimignano and how the women came to be there and tried to save the art. For more readings about the war and art see my blog postings on Milan, https://cadyluckleedy.com/2014/02/14/one-day-in-milan/ and the War in Val D’ Orcia, https://cadyluckleedy.com/2013/04/11/war-in-val-d-orcia near Montepulciano. See you next in Montepulciano!

TTT, Traipsing Through Tuscany

Today starts a new Series in Italy, called TTT, Traipsing Through Tuscany. Traipsing through the hill towns to be exact. Getting off the beaten track has been some of our best excursions! A bit of advice, we flew into Florence where we took a cab into the city. So we will begin in Florence. After spending a week here we went back to the airport and got a rental car to drive on through Tuscany and the hill towns. We spent a week in Montepulciano. As a home base it was perfect. We explored surrounding hill towns, always coming back to Montepulciano in the evenings, and then we drove on to Rome. We dropped the car off at the Rome Airport and took a cab into Rome, where we stayed another week. Much easier! You could not pay me enough to drive in the bigger cities and spend a great deal of time just looking for a place to park. There aren’t any parking spaces to be found! Save yourself the headache!

Florence, by far is my favorite biggish city in Italy. It is easily walkable, with museums, restaurants and shopping galore. If museums are not your thing, there is plenty of beautiful outdoor art such as sculptures, icons, buildings, bridges and churches to keep you interested. One of the rituals, near our hotel, was a woman artist who sketched daily with colored chalk on the pedestrian-only street. This was truly a street scene because her sketching would cover a large section of ground. She would work on it all day. It was beautiful! Very early the next morning between 4am and 5am the street cleaners would come through with their brushing machines and brooms and wash it all away. Around ten in the morning she would start again with a new scene. Unbelievable!

To see the highlights of Florence we took walking tours that also included the museums. We tried for months to get tickets for the major museums and there were none to be had online. They were available through tour groups. In the end it worked out well because we never had to stand in line to get in the museums, and there were long, long lines. The downside is WE could have spent more time IN the museums, hours and hours. The tour group went to the major and most appealing exhibits, and that would be fine for most. The four tours we took were offered by Art Viva. They were the Original Florence Walk, the Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Tour, and the Original David Tour. These walks are long, at least three hours each with additional time added for the museums! Wear comfortable shoes! The English speaking walk leaders are very knowledgable, and we stopped occasionally for a cuppa, (wine, coffee, tea) always at good locations for people watching! We took three tours in one day and I was pooped, but from then on we knew where everything was and went back to the areas we wanted to spend more time in on other days. On another evening we took the Original Evening Walk in Oltrarno, which included a wine and olive oil tasting! We had a wonderful time on these walks and there are many to choose from!

On this visit we stayed at the Hotel Davanzati, a small boutique hotel located near the Uffitzi Gallery and right across the street from where the Original Florence Walk started each morning. This was good because we didn’t have to walk a great deal before we started the walk. Entering a doorway in the historical area there are a number of stairs to climb to reach a tiny elevator that takes you to the reception area and then to the upper room floors of the Davanzati Hotel. The owner and his son were there everyday to recommend restaurants and sights to see, provide maps and answer any questions we had. The breakfasts and late afternoon wine/happy hour gatherings were a big hit. The rooms were tastefully decorated and immaculate. After a lovely week in Florence we were in a rental car and on our way to Montepulciano, to get a taste of the countryside, the hill towns, and the slower pace of Italian life. See you in San Gimignano!

The Skyline of Florence

Florence

The Parking Situation

Streets of Florence

Michelangelo-Pieta

The Streets of Florence

Entrance to Hotel Davanzati

Streets of Florence

The Duomo

Streets of Florence

Outdoor Dining

Our Room Entrance

The Steps to Hotel Davanzati

Entrance to the Room Floors

The Duomo

Ponte Vecchio

Locks of the Heart

The Rape of the Sabine Women

The Food

The Duomo

Inside the Duomo

Medici Doors

For more information about Hotel Davanzati see: http://www.hoteldavanzati.it

For more information about the Art Viva walking Tours see: http://www.italy.artviva.com

Ring Around the Kerry

This is my last posting of 4, of the Going Green to Ireland Series.

St Finian’s Beach

We are on a long circular stretch of road called the Ring of Kerry from Killorglin to Kenmare. We are adding in the Skellig Ring, a twenty mile, bus free ring road, traveling out to Portmagee. Here we reach St Finian’s Bay, where we will staying at the Beach Cove B&B, owned by Bridie O’Connor.

The Beach Cove B&B

She offers four comfortable rooms on Coomanaspic Ridge, overlooking the beach at St Finian’s Bay. We are welcomed by bright sunshine, but cool temperatures, and as we sit on her lawn bundled up in our jackets and wool caps to watch the world go by, there are people in the bay swimming. I guess if the sun is shining make hay or swim! Later we travel around the entire Skellig Ring, and I like the antics of the puffins as well as the views of the Skelligs, two huge slate and sandstone rocks, seven miles from the shore.

The Skelligs

Skellig Michael, the larger of the two, has a tiny cluster of abandoned bee hive huts clinging near the summit. The island was originally inhabited by ultra-pious, sixth-century Christian monks seeking isolation to get nearer to God. The smaller island, Little Skellig, is home to a colony of gannets (a large sea gull) protected by law from visitors stepping foot on shore.

The Beach Cove B&B is perfectly situated on the bay and is just down the road from the Skelligs Chocolate Factory. Yes, a chocolate factory on the tiny road around the bay! Inviting visitors in for a sample they proclaim their chocolates are “ never boring, always gorgeous, and sometimes a little different…..just like the Irish!” Where else can you find dark chocolate, lime zest and pepper chocolates, I think? I buy several different varieties for our road trip. Fabulous! Spending only one night here we move on the next day following the ring along the shore and then back to the bigger Ring of Kerry to Kenmare, a lovely little town where we stop for a look see and lunch.

Muckross House

Our last stop is the Muckross House, located on the small Muckross Penisula, located between Muckross Lake and Lough Leanne. Muckross House is a mansion built in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, watercolorist Mary Balfour Herbert. With sixty-five rooms, expansive improvements were made in the late 1850’s in preparation of the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861. It is said that these improvements for the queen’s visit resulted in financial difficulties for the Herberts’ resulting in the sale of the estate in 1899 to Arthur Guinness, who wanted to preserve the dramatic landscape. In 1911, the estate was sold to William Bowers Bourn, an American mining magnate. In 1932, Muckross House and the 11,000 acre estate was presented to the Irish nation, and became the first National Park in the Republic of Ireland and formed the basis for the present day Kilarney National Park. The house and grounds are beautiful! Be sure to take the cart ride out to the falls!

Killarnay National Park

The Cart Ride

Muckross Gardener’s Cottage

Kenmare

Killarney National Park

Balley Skellig

Ring of Skellig

Castle in Balley Skellig

St Finian’s Bay

Beach Cove B&B

Last, but not least, I want to mention my favorite author, Maeve Binchy. I picked up my first “Maeve” book in an English bookstore in Quebec, Canada, mostly because I thought she had the most unusual name. I went on to read every book I could find. A novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker, she is known for her humorous take on small-town life in Ireland and her descriptive characters. I am inspired by her. Her novels have been translated in 37 languages and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. She finished third in a 2000 poll for World Book Day. Binchy was raised Catholic and attended convent schools, but a trip to Israel affected her life and her career. To quote Maeve.

“In 1963, I worked in a Jewish school in Dublin, teaching French with an Irish accent to kids, primarily Lithuanians. The parents there gave me a trip to Israel as a present. I had no money, so I went and worked in a kibbutz– plucking chickens, picking oranges. My parents were very nervous; here I was going out to the Middle East by myself. I wrote to them regularly, telling them about the kibbutz. My father and mother sent my letters to a newspaper, which published them. So I thought, It’s not so hard to be a writer. Just write a letter home. After that, I started writing other travel articles.”

Maeve went on to write and write. I love all her books, but I re-read every year, The Lilac Bus and Evening Class. My inspiration, is her book, the Maeve Binchy Writer’s Club, words of encouragement in letters from Maeve. To read about the Irish culture, Maeve Binchy, is the author for you! Sadly, Maeve passed in 2012 and is missed by readers everywhere.

For more information about Beach Cove B&B see: http://www.stayatbeachcove.com

For more information about the Skellig Chocolate Factory see: http://www.skelligschocolate.com

For more information about Muchross House see:http://www.muckross-house.ie

For Information about Maeve Binchy see:http://www.maevebinchy.com

From Cong to Dingle

This is Part III in a series called Going Green to Ireland. We are driving along the western coast of Ireland.

Saying goodbye to Ashford Castle today we are driving to Kinvara, where we will be staying in the Cois Cuain B&B. Mary Walsh greets us into her three bedroom cottage with a garden overlooking the square and harbor close to the Dunguaire Castle, a 16th-century tower house on the southeastern shore of Galway Bay.

Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle is one of the most visited castles in Ireland. Tonight we will be attending a medieval feast of food, folk music and storytelling at the castle. Greeted by the butler, who gives us a brief history of the castle and a goblet of mead, we are led up the stairs to the Banquet Hall and seated on benches at long oak tables. I have learned another thing here this evening, even in the summer it is very cold in a stone castle. Bundle up! We enjoyed our evening meeting other travelers and participating in the feast.

The next day, after Mary’s terrific breakfast, we head to the Cliffs of Moher. Facing gale winds and a torrential downpour we walk to the edge of the cliffs. On the way back to the car we stop to have hot chocolate in the tiny cliff restaurant to warm up! Making our way to Dingle we enjoy the peacefulness of the drive, just looking at the scenery; the potato fields separated by stone walls and fields of cows. Going through Adare we stop and look in the old thatched cottages that are now shops.

Adare Thatched Cottages

Adare Gift Shop

Rainbow in Dingle

Dingle, is a fishing village on the mountainous finger of land that juts into the Atlantic Ocean that has supported various tribes and populations for almost 6,000 years. Because of the remote location and lack of specialized agriculture there is a large preservation of over 2,000 monuments from the Mesolithic Age onward. On our first full day in Dingle we signed up for a tour with Sciuird Archaeological Tours. (Screw-id) The tour is offered by Tim Collins (a retired Dingle police officer) and Michael, his son. A group of six ventured off in his van. We were transported down tiny farm roads, (formerly cow paths) and over hedges and ridges to view mysterious stone tombs, sweeping seasides and long forgotten castles, all while Tim offered a commentary on the history of Dingle.

Dingle Loop

Puffin

Two tours are offered: west to Gallus Oratory and east to Minard Castle. We enjoyed both tours. Returning to Dingle, after the tours, we were delighted to find that St Mary’s Church was having a folk music concert that evening. Enthusiastic guests were toe-taping to Irish jigs and teary eyed with the slow haunting melodies. Afterwards, everyone to the pub!

For more information about the Cois Cuain B&B see: Several listings are on the internet under Ireland B&B’s

For more information about the Dunguaire Castle see: Several listings are on the internet under Dunguaire Castle.

For more information on the Sciuird Archaeological Tours see: http://www.dingle-peninsula.ie/tours.html

Be sure to watch my video to explore Ireland!

The King of Cong

A Look at Ashford Castle

This is Part II in the Going Green to Ireland series. Today we have made our way to Cong!

Ashford Castle is a medieval castle built in 1228 by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family. Over the centuries the castle has been expanded and turned into a five star luxury hotel near Cong on the Mayo/Galway border in Ireland, on the shore of Lake Corrib. In 2012 the hotel was voted the best resort in Ireland and the third best in Europe by Condé Nast Traveler. We arrived at the expansive wrought gates and drove down the long driveway to the castle at early dusk. In the shadows I felt just like a maiden returning to the manor. We were shown to a beautiful corner room of the hotel with views of the garden and Lake Carrib.

King George Dining Room at Ashford Castle

The dining room was our next stop, just like something out of Downton Abbey, but on a much larger scale. It was tuxedos and white gloves for all the servers. Later, we topped off the evening in the castle pub, where the singing was about to begin. The Irish music was so captivating, and I had had just enough drink. The result: I was coerced to go onstage and sing. It was so much fun! However, there was a group in the rear of the pub who would rather talk than listen and/or sing. Before I got up for the sing-along with the entertainer, he had warned the inattentive group to keep it down. We began our song, reading the lyrics from a tele-prompter. Of course he had a beautiful voice with an Irish brogue, and I was happily trying to sing along and not make a fool of myself. During one of our subsequent songs, suddenly the entertainer stopped singing and the music stopped. He determined the guests at the rear table were not paying any attention and asked them to leave. So that was my stage debut and my last. But, it was great fun while it lasted!

Guest with Harris Hawk

The next day we toured the Falconry School training area where falconry classes are taught at Ashford Castle, the oldest established falconry school in Ireland. A young American girl led the class and I watched and some participated in a session with a falcon and an owl, known as the Hawk Walk. Falconry is an ancient art and said to be the oldest sport in the world. It was used as a way to catch food for yourself and your family. Harris Hawks, owls and falcons are brought from their cages and within minutes, with the bird sitting on your gloved hand you are ready for the walk and his performance. Our teacher explains the birds’ exceptional eyesight, speed and agility and how the bird will follow you from tree to tree and at the end return to your gloved hand. Everyone truly enjoyed the falconry class.

The Cong River

Later in the day we walked more of the grounds of Ashford Castle. I was particularly interested in seeing the cottages and land marks filmed in the 1951 movie, The Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. The grounds of Ashford Castle and nearby village of Cong, formed the backdrop for much of the action in the film. It’s March, time to watch The Quiet Man and listen to Bing!

For information about Ashford Castle see:http://www.ashford.ie/irish-castles.html

Going Green to Ireland

Thatched Roof Cottage Connemara, Ireland

Cashel House Garden

Wild Rhubarb

March is all about green so we are off to Ireland! On this adventure we want to see the Ireland we have seen in the movies.

During this excursion we are renting a car to get around. I am driving……on the left side of the road…….. shifting gears with my left hand………the driving seat on the ride side of the car. Hmmmmm……this will be interesting. During car inspection in the Shannon Airport we notice the side-view mirror of the rental car is askew. Not to worry, it just seems loose and the attendant is not concerned. The road out of Shannon is a divided two lane highway that soon narrows to a smaller road, which narrows to a smaller road, which narrows to a smaller road…… At the tight spots, we face cars head on and inch by each other, very slowly, since there are no places to pull over.

Traffic on west coast of Ireland

We are surrounded by trees or stone walls. Now I know why the side view mirrors are loose! They kiss as we pass each other! Before we know it we are on gravel roads surrounded by peat bogs or sheep grazing on the knolls. I have never seen a peat bog; a marsh without cattails, a wetland made up of dead and decaying vegetation.

Peat Bog in Connemara

Moss, mud and an earth mixture are dug up and made into little bricks. Peat bricks are piled high along the gravel road to dry out. I have to get out and look at the bog closely. Stepping on it is like stepping on a sponge. How to they get those peat bricks so uniform and perfect in size? It is getting dark with a drizzle of rain as we pull into our first stop, Cashel House in Connemara.

Bay from Cashel House

Cashel House overlooks the Cashel Bay on the west coast of Ireland. Designed by Geoffrey Emerson, the house was built in 1840 for Captain Thomas Hazell. Geoffrey Emerson is the great, great grandfather of the present owner. The country home was converted to a family run four star hotel in 1968 by the McEvilly family. Situated in the heart of Connemara and nestled in 50 acres of gardens and woodland walks, it is perfect for artists or naturalists. Each of the 30 bedrooms and suites are decorated and furnished in antique furnishings presenting a charming chintzy country house style. The turf fires give a relaxing homey atmosphere. Here are those peat bricks again! There is a sweet smoky smell wafting from the chimneys and fireplaces. I learn that a single brick-shaped piece of peat turf burns for 1 hour. Bogs are sometimes called fens, mires or quagmires. Who knew? There are hundreds of bog bricks placed next to the entry fireplace at Cashel House. The glass conservatory overlooking the gardens is now an elegant dining room. It is so romantic! Unfortunately, we only spend one night here and we are up and off early the next morning to a quick visit through Clifden, then on past the Kylemore Abbey and on into Cong, our next stop.

Clifden, Connemera

Kylemore Abbey, Connemera

Kylemore Abbey and Castle, is home to a community of Benedictine nuns who came here in 1920 after the abby in Ypres, Belgium was destroyed in World War I. (I have also been to the battlefields around Ypres, so will talk more about that in the Belgium post) At Kylemore the nuns opened a world renowned boarding school for girls and began restoring the Abbey, Gothic Church and Victorian Walled Garden. It was pouring today so we drove on to Cong.

The Irish in the Peat Bogs

My Peat Spade

PS: A few years after the first trip to Ireland SB was in an antique shop in Northern England when he came across this item. A Peat Spade!!!!! That’s how they get those bricks so perfect! What a gift for me!

For more information on Cashel House and Gardens see: http://cashel-house-hotel.com/

For more information on the Kylemore Abbey, Castle and Gardens see: http://www.kylemoreabbeytourism.com

The Wow in Wengen

Wengen

This is my final posting of my favorite small villages in Switzerland. Interlaken, between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, is touristy with lots of diverse restaurants and hotels. Mürren sits high on a ledge and overlooks the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Traffic-free, it is quaint and picturesque with shops, eateries and hotels. Gimmelwald is traffic-free, the smallest of the villages and one of a kind. There are great walks and hikes from Gimmelwald, which makes it very popular with the hiking crowd. But, my favorite of all the villages is Wengen. Wengen, population 1,300, swells to 5,000 in the summer months and 10,000 in the winter. It too is traffic-free and to get there from Interlaken you take the train to Lauterbrunnen, and switch trains to go further to Wengen. Arriving on the train we see women getting off and unloading large trolleys of groceries and staples to pull up to the chalets and hotels.

The Walk into Wengen

There is a small grocery shop in Wengen, but for supplies it must be easier to cart them from Interlaken. I took a tour of the Victoria-Lauberhorn Hotel and Spa.

The Victoria-Lauberhorn Hotel and Spa

The rooms at the Victoria-Lauberhorn are on the small side, but have a fantastic view of the mountains and the spa facilities were relaxing and calming. There is a one street shopping area, with fine specialty shops for the nicer souvenirs.

Main Shopping Area of Wengen

One shop features, crafted in Switzerland gifts only, and I bought a handmade coo-coo clock here and had it shipped home. There is also a very nice jewelry shop.

The Chess Pieces

Walking through town there are large parks and huge chess sets. Benches are placed along side the sets so you watch how the match is going. There are also tennis courts and a pool in the upper park area past St Bernards English Church. The priest is available only in the summer months, since it is a rotating ministry. He was on sabbatical from the UK, but said the church was supported by the parish and held services most of the year, but sometimes without the priest. It was the same for the local Catholic Church as well. My highlight was the conversation I carried on with a German speaking woman, who invited me into her beautiful abundant flower garden. We got along just fine, mostly pointing and smiling.

Wengen Flowers

The loop walk through Wengen is just long enough to stretch your legs, mingle with the locals and enjoy every minute of your stay. My choice for a vacation in Switzerland would be Wengen. It is perfect! Be sure to watch the video to get an idea how beautiful it truly is!

For more information on the Victoria Lauberhorn Hotel and Spa see: http://www.hotel-victoria-lauberhorn.ch

Around and Down to Gimmelwald

An Alp

I’ve decided smaller is better. The smaller a village is the better I like it. Gimmelwald, population 100, is ideal. We are walking the switchback paved path from Mürren to Gimmelwald and it is a glorious day! We part from the upper lane to the lower lane at the end of Mürren and make our way through the burbs (the last chalets before the smaller path to Gimmelwald). Looking down, down, down, Gimmelwald is just a speck at the bottom, but only a 30 minute walk, all downhill. The only people we pass are the bikers (bless their hearts) that are biking the trail up. Good for them! Meadows are filled with beautiful summer blooms and the cows are busy grazing. It takes me a few minutes to get Bluebell to look up for a picture. That grass must really be good! We hear the bells on the goats long before we see them and when we do they are in a hurry to move on. We walk a few hundred feet, turn back, walk a few hundred feet turn back. This is the way to Gimmelwald.

The Walk to Gimmelwald

Saved from developers, who wanted to turn Gimmelwald into a village of 1000, the village was determined to save itself by declaring the village was in an avalanche zone. On the hills we see the angled wooden sticks designed to help prevent the snow from barreling down the mountain.

The Avalanche Sticks

They had to do something in order to get the avalanche zone building code! The code would keep developers out. The village is a community of farmers who make hay while the sun shines and cares for their cows. In mid-summer the farmer straps elaborate ceremonial bells on the cows and takes them up to a hut at high elevations. When the cows arrive at their summer home the bells are removed and hung under the eaves of the hut, called alps.

The Cow Bells

The farmer hires a team of cheese makers, mostly students and city slickers who want to spend a summer in the mountains, to work at each alp. Now there’s a summer job for you! It’s up at 5am to milk, take the cows to pasture, make cheese, and then milk again in the evening. In the summer all milk is made into cheese and in the winter the fresh milk is sold as milk. While the cows are higher up on the mountain the farmers are busy making hay. As the cows come down the mountain in late summer they stop and eat the hay that has been stored up in small huts along the path by the farmer, who has spent the summer preparing the hay for them.

The Cheese Hut

The first lodging you come to when walking down from Mürren is the Hotel Mittaghorn, ran by Walter Mittler. The hotel features a loft of 10 beds, several sinks, one shower and a fire ladder out the back window. This location would be great for a group of hard core hikers. Dinner consists of salad, main course and dessert served at 19:30 by reservation only. If this place seems to0 frilly for you the next stop is the Schlaf im Stroh, (Sleep in Straw) an actual barn. After the cows head for higher ground in the summer the von Allman family hoses down the barn and fills it with straw. Blankets are free, but bring your own sleeping bag. They fluff up the hay each night before bed. The fee includes breakfast, a modern bathroom and showers. The kids would love it!

Schlaf im Stroh

Gimmelwald has a strict building code. All shutters must be natural, green or white. The main shopping area, one tiny room of farmers goods, operates on the honor system. An announcement board reveals the news; one side for tourists and the other for the locals.

Villagers heat their homes with wood, so every house is surrounded in cut logs, since the wood needs to be aged a couple of years to burn well. There are also covered stacks of wood all through the village.

Gimmelwald House Surrounded by Cut Wood

Next we stop at the house of the school teachers, Olle and Maria Eggimann. They rent out two rooms in their house, the most comfortable place in town. We ring a bell and Olle comes down the stairs to a small room called the Lilliput Shop, where we buy sugar coated almonds.

The Alpenrose is the old school house with the big cow bells hanging under the eaves. The new school house is a huge building. There is a computer for each of its 17 students, two teachers, and a large playground outside.

The New Schoolhouse

The Mountain Hostel is the center of activity in the village. With 50 dorm beds, a self-serve kitchen, a mini grocery, and pool table, it is lively with the college age crowd.

Mountain Hostel

The Pension Restaurant has 13 basic rooms to let and Gimmelwald’s only restaurant. With breathtaking views it is right next to the gondola station. We stop and enjoy a plentiful lunch.

Pension Gimmelwald

We end our day in Gimmelwald with a gondola ride (the only way in or out of town other than walking down from Mürren) to the valley below where we catch a train back to Interlaken. A day in Gimmelwald is a step back in time. It’s good to know there are still places to be found like this. Definitely, Gimmelwald is my kind of place! Watch my video to get an idea what it is like to walk to Gimmelwald!

For more information about the B&B ran by Olle and Maria Eggimann, email them at oeggimann@bluewin.ch

For information about the Gimmelwald Pension see: http://www.pensiongimmelwald.ch

For information about the Mountain Hostel see: http://www.mountainhostel.com

For the other lodging accommodations show up in the village and talk with them.

The Hills are Alive, but the Town is Touristville

Biking in Interlaken

We are saying goodbye to Lake Como today as we travel by car to Lugano, Switzerland to catch a train to Interlaken, Switzerland. The best part of the train ride is the home stretch on the tiny train into our destination. The train advertised a scenic zoo along the way and indeed it was. When we got to the slow mountain climbs through the forest, looking to the left and right at specific intervals, we would see a sculpture of some kind of creature. Bears, wolves, birds, anything indigenous to the area was revealed along the way. It was fun to keep our eyes peeled for the artwork placed along the rail route. A great deal of work was put into the “ZOO.”

Arriving in Interlaken there are two train stations, east and west. Getting off at the East Station you find yourself in the mist of luxury, turn of the century hotels. Walking along the Banhof Strasse there is a “high meadow” or park and here are beautiful flower gardens and the landing area for the tandem parasails. The end of the “high meadow” turns into crowded, very touristy shopping areas. I was so shocked. I thought Interlaken would be a “Heidi” kind of place. It is over-run with tourists and it seems even the tourists own the restaurants and shops. Clearly Interlaken has been sold to the highest bidder and the Swiss have moved on. I am glad we have made this a springboard stop to other alpine areas. Reaching our destination, the Lotschberg Hotel & B&B, we find it is not run by a Swiss family, but has been turned over to caretakers. Small and clean, the hotel was conveniently located in the old town area, but the only time we saw anyone here was when we would ring the bell at the check in area and eventually someone would come from one of the upper floors to see what we wanted. The other disappointment was the lower level of the hotel had been turned into a kabab restaurant! So we were up and early everyday to go up the mountain! Maybe that was a blessing after all. We added more alpine villages to our itinerary, only returning to Interlaken at the end of a long day. It turned out perfectly.

One Day in Milan

San Bartolomeo by Marco d’Agrate

We are on the early morning commuter train from Varenna to Milan. We are meeting up with a private local guide, Lorenza Scorti, who knows the city’s history well. We have marked off certain sights we would like to see. We are hoping Lorenza has been able to get us tickets to get into the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Last Supper, is housed. One of the leading families of Italy during the Renaissance, the Sforza Family of Milan, hired da Vinci to decorate the dining hall of the Dominican monastery that adjoins the church. Ultimately, the Sforza family was bribing the monks with this gift so the monks would allow their family tomb to be placed in the church.(Which never happened) The fresco began deteriorating within six years of it’s completion due to the experimental technique used by Leonardo. Bombing during WWII left only one wall standing in the church. The wall of the Last Supper. Truly a miracle! In 1999 a 21-year restoration project was completed peeling away 500 years of touch-ups, leaving the masterpiece intact.

Lorenza meets us at the central train station and after going up several escalators in the fashionable shopping area of the train station, Lorenza buys tickets for the metro and we are off! It is early morning and the streets are quiet. First stop, the Duomo, with a forest of spires on its roof, is the fourth largest church in Europe, after the Vatican’s, London’s, and Seville’s. The church was built with Pink Candoglia marble, rafted in from a quarry 60 miles away. We went past this quarry on the train when we went to Cinque Terre. Marble is still extracted from the sight. Inside the church is a beautiful marble mosaic floor and looking up we see The Quadroni, (large paintings on canvas, each about 20 by 26 feet) depicting the life of St Charles Borremeo. The paintings have been brought out and displayed for a special anniversary in the church. The 1st cycle of paintings (starting in 1602), The Facts of Life of Blessed Charles, consists of 28 paintings depicting his life, and were painted by seven different artists. The 2nd cycle, The Miracles of St Charles, consisting of 24 smaller paintings of his miraculous works and healings, were all painted between December 1609 and November 1, 1610, when Charles was canonized. These paintings were displayed for the first time together on November 4, 1610, when the paintings of his miracles could be shown after he had been declared a saint. Now they are only displayed on special days in the church and we were fortunate to be able to see them.

The Duomo

An impressive, detailed statue of San Bartolomeo Flayed (1562), by Marco d’ Agrate, is upfront and center in the church. That is his skin draped over his shoulder!

After the church, we are delighted to be shown a small museum in a private palazzo. I have wanted to see what was behind those big oak doors! Following Lorenza, we are lead through an intricate laid marble entryway and up the stairs to the private apartments. Today there are collections of clothing, shoes and those little bitty one woman carriage/carriers that were lifted on the shoulders of servants to whisk one about town and prevent your dress and shoes from being soiled. Boy were those women TINY! On the outside of the palazzo is a beautiful fresco above the rim of the windows. (See the video I made)

The Palazzo

Inside the Palazzo

Next, we walk to the La Scala Opera House and museum, the world’s most prestigious opera house! All that red velvet! Following that we head to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, a four story glass domed arcade on the main square, featuring all the Italian high end shopping stores and great for people watching as well. It was the first building in Milan to have electric lighting! Oh how Italians love fashion! Around the center dome patriotic mosaics symbolize the four major continents and the mosaic marbled floor reveals the city’s symbol, a torino. (little bull) Here locals step and twirl on the bull for good luck.

Inside the Galleria

Il Torino

We go to a local pizza restaurant and I am so glad to sit. The one person pizzas are HUGE (enough for three people) and we wash it down with good red wine.

Afterwards, we make our way to the Sforza Castle, previously the residence of the Sforza family. It is now a museum of ancient art which features the last and unfinished Pietà, by Michelangelo and the Sala della Asse, frescoed by Leonardo da Vinci, who worked for the Sforza family as a painter, sculptor, and hydrologic engineer. Seventeen layers of whitewash are slowing being removed to reveal the entire mural by da Vinci, sections having been discovered on the walls as late as 2013.

The Sforza Castle

The Last Pietà

Our last stop of the day is Santa Maria della Grazie Church and we are thrilled to find admittance tickets waiting for us! The church is now hermetically sealed, so you go through sections of air filter stations, filtering the air from the outside, until it is deemed pollutant free and we are admitted. At last, a group of twenty, is turned out into the refectory for 15 minutes at a time. In the Convent, where the work on the end wall was started in 1495, the mural, measuring 180 inches by 350 inches, represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. Completed in 1498, the mural specifically portrays the reaction given by each apostle when Jesus said one of them would betray Him. Working a new technique, dry plaster rather than wet, and choosing to seal the stone wall with a layer of pitch, gesso and mastic, da Vinci painted the sealing layer with tempera. Due to this method the piece began to deteriorate a few years after he finished it. As early as 1517, the painting was starting to flake and by 1556 it was deemed “ruined” and so deteriorated, the figures were unrecognizable. In 1652, a doorway was cut through the painting, so the monks could get to the kitchens easier. This door was later bricked up, but can still be seen as an irregular arch shaped structure near the center base of the painting. In 1768, a curtain was hung over the painting to protect it; but instead it trapped moisture on the painting’s surface and whenever the curtain was pulled back, it scratched the flaking paint. In 1821, Stefano Barezzi, an expert in removing whole frescoes from their walls intact, badly damaged the center section of the mural before realizing the work was not a fresco.(Painted on wet walls) He then attempted to reattach the damaged sections with GLUE. From 1901 to 1908, Luigi Cavenaghi completed a thorough study of the structure of the painting, then began cleaning it. On August 15, 1943, the refectory was struck by a bomb, but a protective structure of sandbags and an additional wall in front of the painting protected it from bomb splinters. Pictures of the damage to the church line the walls upon leaving. It was the only wall left standing. We leave Milan and return to Menaggio by train and then ferry, weary but so thankful we have been able to see some of the greatest art in the world.

For more information on a private tour of Milan contact Lorenza Scorti at lorenza.scorti@libero.it

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The Hills are Alive, but the Town is Touristville

One Day in Milan

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