I don’t even want to look at my last posted date. And it’s not like I’ve even been that disconnected, or that busy, really. Tuscany was entirely cut off, but it’s been well over a week since we left there, and still no update. This failure is made even more abject by my inbox cheerfully presenting me with posts from my sister, who has managed to move halfway across* a foreign country and find two jobs and settle into an apartment and also managed to keep up a steady stream of blog posts. And here I am, wandering lazily about and not managing to produce anything. So here’s some excuses, and also a summary.
First, turns out I had bronchitis for a few weeks, which saps a bit of energy. Finally managed a doctor in Florence, and the delicious medicines appear to have done the trick. Speaking of Florence, it was the first stop on our post-Tuscany mini-Italy tour, and it was fantastic. The central cathedral is one of the few magnificent buildings that I’ve seen that I’m confident I will never forget. It’s grand and beautiful, and you only realize how huge it is when you see it looming at you in the spaces between the buildings on every narrow street. Or when you climb up it. Beyond that, Florence is lovely, ringed by greenery and filled with wonderful old buildings and bridges.
From there it was off to Rome, which was right about what I expected. Normally I don’t have much of a preconceived notion of a place, even a famous place, but this felt impossible with Rome. Stuffed in equal parts with tourists and ancient things, it was an exhausting pleasure to wander around. Besides the obvious big monuments, I think we most enjoyed the neighborhood across the Tiber, home to eccentric buskers and lovely small squares, and late night ice cream at the busiest shop in town.
From there it was off to the sea side to rest and recuperate, which meant a lovely three days in the still-quiet Rimini, apparently one of Italy’s premier beach/club destinations. At this time of year it was still very quiet, so we enjoyed having plenty of space on the beach, zipping around the almost entirely flat old town on borrowed bikes, and a day trip to the third-smallest country in Europe (and we already did the Vatican, which leaves only Monaco), San Marino. The clouds stayed away for this trip, fortunately; though the city is an interestingly and well-preserved fortress, the real pleasure of the trip was the view. San Marino is basically a country that is also a large hill, surrounded by plains leading to the sea on one side, and craggy foothills on the other. The old walls are climbable, and the view over the new city and off into the various distances was fantastic.
And then a long and complex train ride to Trieste, Italy’s eastern outpost, nearly surrounded by Slovenia and ruled for much of its existence by the Austro-Hungarian empire, it definitely feels different. They still love their gelato, but food tends more towards ham and horseradish than pasta, and the buildings and city have a decidedly Germanic feel. The town is lovely though, all the old Viennese style apartment buildings painted in pastels with white trim, and the sea never far away. We’re staying with an old friend of mine, who’s natural hospitality is enhanced by the loveliness of her apartment, a fantastic and fantastically well-maintained antique with huge and detailed ceilings and a complicated 12-foot door leading to a wonderful balcony. And this is just her room. Anyway, it’s been a lovely stay filled with good people and good conversations, but as time winds down, we feel the need to press on. Tomorrow will see us picking up a car in Croatia for ten days that will hopefully be filled with wild camping and windy roads, including a dip into Montenegro for some real hikes.
That will have to do for a quick summary. Hopefully my memory holds long enough to flesh out some details.
*I’m aware that there’s a bunch of Australia to the west, and moving vertically along the east coast couldn’t technically count as halfway across, but I assume Australia’s west is akin to Canada’s north, in that 4/5ths of the country doesn’t count.
