Rome

When going to Italy, I did not have the feeling that I was travelling as Italy is very close to France. However, I was very happy to go there. I heard so much about it that I was to go there one day...

Rome fully deserves its beauty reputation. It is wonderful with its alleys and cafes, its squares and well-known fountains, its antique temples, its medieval fortresses, its churches and museums.

Like every tourist, we begin our tour by… the Coliseum (Colosseo)!

Its huge arena is impressive and shows the greatness of Rome at the time of gladiators. We automatically think about Ridley Scott's movie "Gladiators". In 80 AD for the opening ceremony of this millenial symbol which could contain 55000 people, games were organised during 100 days and during which 9000 wild animals and 2000 gladiators died.

Do you know that the word "arena" comes from the Latin "harena" or sand that was poured on the ground to absorb blood!

By taking Via dei Fori Imperiali, we arrive at Piazza Venezia where stands the ugliest monument we have ever seen; a huge building made up of white marble erected in memory of Vittorio Emanuele II who was one of the founder fathers of the Italian realm (1861).

Parkings of scooters are impressive.

The nice alleys of this district lead us westward to Campo dei Fiori, a charming lively square which was the scene of numerous executions in the past.

We also walked to the Navone Square (Piazza Navona), an ancient Roman stadium.

The Pantheon, which is near Piazza Navona, is one of the few ancient monuments well preserved; its dome, a perfect hemisphere, without any arch, vault and rib.

Not far from there, the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi), which is one of Rome emblems, immortalized by Anita Ekberg's midnight bath with Marcello Mastroianni in Fellini's "Dolce Vita", attracts a lot of people hoping that their whishes come true.

We walk towards Piazza di Spagna, opposite the Trinità dei Monti stairs, with, here again, a lot of people sitting on the stairs of this church located at the top.

Walking along Villa Borghese - whose park gathers three of the most wonderful art museums in Rome: Borghese Museum, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Etruscan National Museum - we go on to Piazza del Popolo with on its center the obelisk of Pharaoh Ramses II, which is 3200 years old! This square, which was in the past the popes' favorite place for public executions, is today one of the most lively places in Rome.

Rome is a kind of museum city with a lot of ruins scattered everywhere in the city.

There, we take the bus to get back to the hotel and rest a bit after having walked so many kilometers. A few hours later, after resting and taking a shower, we go to the Opera Theatre (Teatro dell'Opera) and to Piazza Barberini (where you can surf on the Net in a cyber café) to have diner.

We were on September 12, 2001. That morning, we woke up learning the terrible tragedy that happened to the World Trade Center. One year before, we were in New York (see my New York trip story). As we do not speak Italian, we did not notice anything the previous day. However, during that day of September 12, I had difficulty thinking that such an horror could be possible, that the Twins had disappeared. We visit the Vatican following numerous tourists in the beautiful Saint Peter basilica and in the endless corridors of the Vatican Museums leading to the Sixtine chapel of Michel Angelo. Michel Angelo's frescoes are really beautiful. They are worth being seen, all the more as at that time of the year there are not too many tourists.

Relics of an ancient temple near the Coliseum.

We take the metro southward (easy in Rome: there are only two lines) to Porta San Paolo to go to the nice Trastevere district, "the other side of the Tiber" where I eventually find a French newspaper. We then walk back to Campo Dei Fiori to quietly taste an ice cream in the sun… and rest our feet.

	Tuscany

We are now driving along the West coast to Tuscany. After a problem with our rented car (broken engine after ten kilometers only and car replacement in four hours) and an unplanned night spent in Santa Marinella, we arrive in San Vincenzo in a lashing rain. San Vincenzo is a seaside resort with a view on the isle of Elba. Do you know that Italy is the European country where it rains most? Yes, it is !!! Fortunately, the sun is shining in the afternoon and as our hotel room overlooks the sea, we have the opportunity to see a wonderful sunset (we were cheering up…). Sightseeing enables us to see the beauty of Tuscany. Unfortunately, the big fields of sunflowers are not flowered anymore in September.

If you ever plan to visit Tuscany, go there during spring; your pictures will undoubtedly look like postcards.

When we were there, the weather was not so bad since we went to the beach and visited the charming village of Castiglione di Pescaia in a shiny day.

We then go northward, bordering the coast to Forte dei Marmi. It is a seaside resort as well but much more "posh"; so "posh" that almost every haute couture house has a boutique there. Strangely, it is in this little town that we found by chance the best hotel of our stay, the cheapest, the nicest and all this for a only two star hotel (Hotel Miramare - Tel: 0584 787277) !!! This town is made up in majority of villas, and not cheap ones, believe me! Most of them have a big garden, wonderful grass and a swimming pool. However, given the number of villas to rent and the beach expanse here, around thirty kilometers, it is better to avoid coming here during the summer, there must be such a crowd…

A few kilometers northward on the coast is Cinque Terre. It is a beautiful place !

It corresponds to five fisherman villages perched in sheer cliffs illuminated by the blue of the sea, overhung by pretty hills in terrace and accessible by a narrow winding road. You have to park your car and go on foot to each village. Once there, you have wonderful views on the sea and the other four villages which seem at the same time so close and so far from one another. The very old houses with pastel walls have been built in the heights and the fields of vines are in terrace all around the villages which look like a mountain hamlet. These villages are like linked by the magic of colors and the supernatural light which wraps them all.

Palazzo Guinigi (Lucca) with its garden in the heights of its tower.

From the top of Palazzo Guinigi, we could see a view of this peacefull town.

Forte dei Marmi is close to Lucca, a peaceful town surrounded by ramparts which make it a fortress, and to Pisa.

Except Piazzale del Duomo, also called Campo dei Miracoli ("field of miracles"), where are gathered the cathedral, the baptistry, the cemetery, and the campanile, its famous "tilted tower", there is not much to see in Pisa.

Of course, lovers of churches, chapels and cathedrals will love this city, as every city in Italy…

However, the Pisa tower is worth being seen. Although it has been recently straightened by 1.5°, it remains impressive and stunning.

There was some reinforcement works preventing us from visiting the tower. What a pity!

We do not border the coast anymore but rather go inland towards Siena. Siena is a charming little town whose center is a kind of fortress with a wall all around. Vehicles are not welcomed in the town. There are only paved alleys and downtown is a pedestrian area. We have the feeling to be in the Middle Ages. On Piazza del Duomo, there is a superb cathedral, one of the most beautiful in Italy, and at around one hundred meters from there is the famous Il Campo square which has the shape of a shell, paved with briks. Piazza del Campo is the heart of the town. It is the place where the main Siena event takes place twice a year: the Palio horse races which enable the different Siena neighborhood to confront. It is said that the city is in an uproar at that time. Sixty kilometers northward is Florence (Firenze).

Florence has an exceptional art patrimony. Lovers of art will be delighted and discover magnificent works of art in the numerous museums, palaces, churches and cathedrals of the city.

The Duomo of Florence is the biggest dome ever built (45 meters of diameter, 110 meters high) since the pantheon of Rome (43 meters of diameter and 43 meters high).

The Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) exists since Roman empire and was the unique bridge in Florence until 1218.

Some famous monuments are scattered in the city and the Piazzale Michelangelo esplanade, on the heights of the city southward, offers one of the most beautiful view of Florence. The view is simply magnificent.

	... East coast, Venice

To reach Rimini on the East Coast, we have to leave Tuscany. The landscape then changes completely: it is not so beautiful. Except the old part of the town where reigns a nice atmosphere in 2 or 3 streets, Rimini is a true seaside resort; endless beaches and, despite the low season, tourists… There is nothing interesting there. We take this opportunity to go to San Marino which is very touristy as well, as you might have guessed. The weather was not great and this part of the coast was very ugly. We leave for Venice.

Is there anyone who has never heard of Venice or of Giacomo Casanova's affairs?

What is striking is the absence of humming even though we hear the vaporetti engines. To speak frankly, I did not find that Venice was a beautiful city.

I would rather say that Venice is "curious", "strange". But I do not regret to be there at all; I even encourage you to go there.

With its numerous canals (Venice is built on 118 small islands), we feel strange. We have the feeling that the island is going to sink.

Around the very famous and mythical Piazza San Marco known throughout the world, tourists flock since dawn and invade squares (campi), museums, shops and the small damp streets.

The San Marco basilica is really beautiful; inside, it is surprising to see the damage caused to the marble on the floor by the instability of the subsoil.

When we leave this area, we discover the real Venice; it is much calmer and as charming (I preferred that area of the city).

While you are there, go to Murano island to observe the glass-blowers working.

Merchant of fruits and vegetables on Murano island.