Gastronomical Tour of Italy

Florence, Tuscany, Lucca, Cinque Terra (October 14 to ???, 2007)

Travel in Italy is implicitly a lesson in gastronomy. The Italians understand how to prepare food and create a social atmosphere, both drastically different than the Italian served in North America. Because the stomach rules divine in Italy, all other issues are considered insignificant, often at the expense of efficiency, common sense, and business practices. Eight in the morning typically means sometime closer to eleven, or whenever they aren't having lunch or dinner. Road signs are often completely obscured by other road signs placed in front of them. Customer service is virtually non-existent.

In attempt to escape the smell of urine, tourist crowds, overrated museums, and leather merchandise booths in Florence, two Aussie girls and I rented a car to explore the countryside of Tuscany. The steep rolling farmlands were covered in vineyards, olive groves, and were serviced by tractors that required tracks... why is it that tractors without tracks are still called tractors?? We visited many historic towns, enjoyed an Italian cooking course, stayed in aged buildings including a castle-side stone farmhouse and the quarters of some ancient monks. The chianti wine, olive oil, garlic and spices, Tuscan bread, good home-cooking, and a roaring fireplace in the evenings made for a welcome escape from the chaos of the cities!

Cinque Terra is a group of 5 small villages on the coast just north of Pisa, where multi-coloured buildings cascade from the hills into the sea. A picturesque hiking route through the vineyards and hillsides connects the villages to each other, and the relaxing atmosphere of the towns gave us plenty to explore. We gathered on our hilltop patio for happy hour in the evenings as we watched the vibrant sunset cast an orange glow over the sea and the small town of Riomaggiore.

Tuscany, Italy. This is a relatively well-organized example of the placement of street signs in Italy. This particular intersection allows the driver approximately 1.5 seconds to find the sign, read the sign, and determine the appropriate direction.

Florence, Italy. The market stalls that crowded nearly every historic square in the city.

Florence, Italy. The bridges, with the pedestrian Ponte Vecchio in the front where the butchers used to prepare and sell their meats... and spill the blood and bad meat into the river which flows down towards Pisa. Finally Florence decided that the river stunk too much, so they banned the butchers and moved jewellers onto the bridge. Then the river flooded, and washed many of the jewels downstream!

Tuscany Countryside, Italy. The rolling hills with winding roads. Tractors in this area all use tracks instead of wheels to be able to navigate the hills.

Tuscany, Italy. Somewhere randomly along the road, I spotted a lonely farmhouse against a clouded sky. Setting up the tripod and pretending to be a real photographer nearly caused a few accidents as tourists slammed on their brakes to see what I was looking at through the lens!

Siena, Italy. Old town in the middle of the rolling hills of vineyards and olive trees.

Siena, Italy. Grocery store displaying their goods.

Tuscany, Italy. Old farmhouse outside of a castle in the middle of the vineyards. Two Australians and I hung out by the roaring fireplace and enjoyed wine, cheese, olive oil, and bread.

Tuscany, Italy. Wine tasting at one of the cellars!

Tuscany, Italy. Sitting on the stairs waiting for the girls to finish pottery shopping, I noticed my own reflection in a small window.



Riomaggiore, Cinque Terra, Italy. This is the small village we stayed in while hiking and exploring Cinque Terra.


Cinque Terra, Italy. The start of the hike with the Australian girls, overlooking the first village of Montorosso.


Cinque Terra, Italy. Overlooking another village Vernazza from the hiking trails above.


Manarola, Cinque Terra, Italy. These colourful houses seem to almost spill into the rolling ocean.


Manarola, Cinque Terra, Italy. Manarola at night, but unfortunately the moon wouldnt cooperate with my camera!

Venice Is Sinking, but Slowly

Venice, October 10 - 13th, 2007

Venice is a dizzying maze of 118 islands joined by about 400 bridges, where your sense of direction is guided more by quantum theory principles than standard compass-logic. While it is usually possible to find your end destination, the journey from point A to point B refuses to allow you to navigate the same way twice... even following supposedly the exact same directional signs. This makes it particularly difficult, if not impossible, as a wanna-be-photographer to later return to an obscure place of interest found along the way.

As luck would have it, the Biennale di Venezia, a famous arts festival, was showing the works from questionably talented artists from many countries. The Yeti-/crystal-/taxidermy-obsessed LSD-inspired Canadian artist failed miserably to make me a proud Canadian. The Russian exhibition was particularly intelligent, with the highlight being the media shower, where live television literally cascaded down and around the viewer and showered them with media overload. By turning the shower knob, the viewer could immerse themselves in different themes ranging from news, sports, nature, soaps, and pornography. Also of obsessive interest, a French exhibit by Sophie portrayed video and/or critique from 107 ladies on the email breakup letter offered by her last (ever?) boyfriend. Critiques were offered by psychologists, actresses, linguists, a parrot, comedians, and other media names such as Feist and Miss Kitten. This exhibit was really bizarre and obsessive and left me laughing, crying, and running for cover all at the same time. I will add the name 'Sophie' to the list of girls never to date...

For the record - Venice is in fact sinking, and the merchants of Venice have been replaced by illegal immigrant hawkers selling fake purses...


Venice, Italy. The Grand Canal, the main highway.


Venice, Italy. A minor canal full of tourist gondolas.


Venice, Italy. A quiet and lonely gondola in the supposed off-season.


Venice, Italy. Night shot along a casually curving canal.


Venice, Italy. Under the bridge(s).


Venice, Italy. Biennale Art Festival. A Russian exhibit, a literal construction of being showered by media, as 400 live-feed channels cascade down and around. Turn the shower knob, and the channels change by categories including news, sports, nature, soaps, and pornography.


Venice, Italy. Biennale Art Festival. A French exhibit by Sophie, with videos of 107 ladies commenting and/or critiquing the email break up letter offered by her last (ever??) boyfriend. Critiques were offered by psychologists, actresses, linguists, a parrot, comedians, and other media names such as Feist and Miss Kitten.