Jeffrey and Margreta had promised Silvia they would visit her someday. After having made the promise over a year ago, it was finally time to fulfill it. With work for the federal government generally slow in October, they made their plans. After September 11, they briefly considered not going, but decided being away from Washington DC for a period of time would be a good thing.
Through an independent package offered by Alitalia, Jeffrey and Margreta saw Rome, Florence and Venice. All of these cities are great to view by walking around. With maps in hand, Margreta and Jeffrey saw a number of sites.
Margreta and Jeffrey had half day tours
of each of the three cities. The tour of Rome was largely done by walking
through the older parts of the city. They saw the
Fontana di Trevi, a famous fountain where people throw coins to wish
for their return to Rome.
They also saw the Piazza Navona (photo), the Spanish steps and the Pantheon.
By bus, they went to St. Peter's square and saw the Pope performing a service of beatification.
After the tour, they visited the Vatican. Always on the look out for inspiration, Margreta found plenty of inspiration in the Vatican museum. The mosaics were inspiring. There were mosaics in tables and mosaics on walls and mosaics in the floors of the chapels.
Friends joke about how they could imagine Margreta admiring the floor of the Sistine chapel while everyone else was looking up. Margreta did look up too.
The Vatican museum had a number of statues and other art objects worth seeing.
On their own, they wandered through other parts of Rome, Margreta wanted to see the Mouth of Truth, outside of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church. They also wandered through the Jewish district of the city.
Margreta and Jeffrey both agreed that seeing the Colloseo would be part of the time in Rome.
They also wandered through parts of the Roman Forum. Coming from a country where things over 100 years old are ancient and often torn down to make way for the new, they were both impressed with the way the Roman ruins were over 2000 years old and preserved.
Jeffrey and Margreta also went out on the Appian way to visit the catacombs.
While not as filled with sights as Rome, this city was Margreta's favorite. Part of Florence's charm was the natural beauty of the country. She enjoyed the river running through the city. She enjoyed the view of the hills around Florence and the nearness of the olive groves.
Jeffrey and Margreta stayed at the Hotel Monna Lisa in
Florence. A quiet hotel with some old villa charm in the middle of the
city. The hotel had an inner garden area. Margreta enjoyed seeing how
buildings often had little hidden inner gardens, a place of greenery in the
middle of brick and stone.
In Florence, Margreta and Jeffrey visited the Fiesole, a small town outside of Florence, with a distant view of the city. They also visited St. Croce church where Galileo and Machieville and others are buried. They visited the Academy Gallery and saw Michelangelo's David and other statutes. While David is impressive, Margreta enjoyed the prisoner and Atlas more.
Margreta wanted to visit the Museo dell'Opificio (mosaic museum) in Florence. It was another source of inspiration for her. She admired the mosaic work done in tables and wall mounted pieces. The second floor of the museum included a display of the equipment and raw materials used to make the mosaics. She admired the hard work of artisans creating beauty out of the raw materials of stone.
Probably the most striking building in Florence is the
Duomo.
Margreta was not interested in climbing the 467 steps to go up the dome
of the Duomo. But Jeffrey and Margreta went up part of the Campanile, the
bell tower. From the bell tower, they could see details of the Duomo. 
They could also admire parts of the city. There was a blue roofed building, the Mercato Centrale, a two story market with meats on the first floor and fruits and vegetables on the second floor. There were a few eateries inside the building and they had lunch there one day.
One afternoon, Jeffrey and Margreta spent some relaxing time in the Boboli garden, part of the Pitti Palace.
Venice, with its unique location surrounded by canals and partly built on the water, offers its own charm. Margreta and Jeffrey either walked around the city or took the vaporetto, the water boat-bus, to various points in the city.
Jeffrey and Margreta visited some of the usual places: St. Mark's Basilica and square, the Doge's palace and the Bridge of Sighs. They were in square as the tide came up through the street. Jeffrey jokes that it is the only time he's seen Italians queue up.
They took a boat to the island of Murano and watched a master glass maker create a 3-foot tall clown. The master craftsman worked with five other men to create the piece. Different men would bring different colored glass so that he could create the buttons on the suspenders. Another craftsman had assembled the head and they put that on. Periodically, one man would take the glass piece and fire it. It was clear that a 3-foot glass object is not light and yet he managed to carry it and put in the fire without hitting anything. One craftsman brought the hands to be added to the body. Another person measured from the hand to the base the clown was standing on. They then created a cane for the clown. But somehow, the measurements weren't quite right. While they tried to work with what they had, stretching the cane, etc.; it didn't work. At that point, the tour ended so that the craftsmen could think through their problem without being watched.
Back in Venice, another area Margreta enjoyed was the gondola workshop area. In part she enjoyed it because the building was wood. Nestled in the middle of stone and brick, the building itself was a welcome contrast. It was yet another place where you could watch master craftspeople at work, creating a functional and beautiful item.
Of course, there are places in Italy we didn't see. We didn't get to sample everything on the menu. But, it always better to leave a country wishing you could have seen more.
