Italian Trails

It took me some time to get adjusted to Trenitalia & Grazie but eventually got there. And thus begins my tryst with the Italian trails.

What is it that comes to your mind when you hear Italy? If you are from my generation then definitely the adventures of Robert Langdon in the many Dan Brown books & of course the Pizza.

With so much art and architecture around , practically the streets look like art museums.

We were in Italy for 3 days , 3 days of jam packed itinerary with a hope to absorb as much culture as possible.

Day 1 was a short trip to the one place that is famous for its imperfection - the leaning tower of Pisa! The tower in itself is not so special and would not have been so famous if not for the sinking ground underneath. A regular bell tower accompanying the church has some fancy modern day technology to reduce the incline by 0.5 degrees.
The other thing that attracts you is

the fallen angel installation in the courtyard.
Well, that's about it from Pisa!

Next day was a place totally different from anything I had seen till now. Probably unknown to most people. Cinque Terra is what storybooks are made of. Perfect rolling mountains into the Mediterranean Sea. The colourful houses in hills are a perfect backdrop to the docked boats and turquoise waters. This tiny region is a Collection of 5 beautiful villages, few by the coast and few above in the hills. It is almost surreal to see the play of colors in each of these villages. Cave like archways leading to beautiful beaches, restaurants perched on the edge of a cliff, sloping roads lined with shops, village hopping on a rather bumpy ferry ride is what characterizes Riomarggiore, Manarola & Verzana for me. Will I come back to this place some day? Absolutely! these 5 villages definitely deserve more exploration!

Florence...The city of the Lily, as pretty as the Lily. The city made famous by the Medicci family, patrons of the most exquisite art and architecture. The city famous for Dante's Inferno and also Dan Brown's.

And why should it not be famous? The Piazza del Duomo is the home of the Il Duomo ( the dome), the battistero (Baptistery) & the Giotto's Campanile ( Bell tower). The facade outside is a lovely marble architecture, complete with pink , white & green Italian marble.
The marble work is so beautiful that its almost daunting to stand and stare at it.
Something that is so pretty on the outside is bound to be beautiful on the inside . These building don't fail to impress after you walk in.
The dome or the Duomo is a fresco painted by Michaelangelo and the detailing

is just awe inspiring. The only regret i have is that I don't know these biblical stories to appreciate the art more. It was beautiful nonetheless.
The golden paintings inside the Baptistery ceiling with the segregation of Heaven and hell along with the carving on the doors leading to these places specifically.
Te view from the top is of the tall bell tower rising above the red terracotta roofs. Picture perfect views. Postcard opportunities.
Being in Italy and not seeing the paintings of the crazily famous artists is almost a sin and that's why I headed towards the ufizzi gallery passing through the Ponte Vecchio or the old bridge & did not mind the greater than 1 hour wait time to get the tickets to enter.
The Gallery is huge, as expected. The paintings are timeless!
The excitement of finding the handful famous artists i knew thanks to Dan Brown 's books & Neal Caffery was amazing.
Seeing the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Rafael and others was an experience to say the least.
The play of Light and Shadow is what sets these artists apart.
And then when you are walking back , how cool is it to lose your way and end up in front of the palace which houses the loveliest of statues and fountains in its courtyard.

The statues here are significant because the architect of the city , Brunelleschi, has made a statue of the King overlooking the city but has also got a self statue done overlooking his creations. #SelfieTrend??
Accidental sighting was also the Galileo's museum with a wierd enough looking sun dial. Although did not have enough time to see all of the museums and buildings in detail, the glimpse was good enough.
The cherry on the icing was the panoramic view point Michaelangelo Piazza which proudly hosts "David" . A twilight rendezvous with Firenze where the setting sun highlighted the terracotta tiles, reflected off of the river and made the Duomo look Mystical! Magical!