Travels through Italy and southern France

Last week we returned from 12 fun days in Italy and France. We drove the entire trip in our car, like typical Americans. Europeans would never drive so far.

Our first stop was Venice, a beautiful (but decaying) city that contains more canals than streets. All supplies have to be brought in by boat, trash is taken out of the city on special trash-boats, and ferry boats called vaporettos move people around like city buses. Plus, there were hundreds of gondolas.

The center of action in Venice is St. Mark’s Basilica. The architecture of this building is an unusual blend of several styles, and each column is made of a different color of marble.

A large Doge’s Palace is adjacent to the basilica, and looks like a pink birthday cake.

We only spent a couple days in Venice before heading to Rome. Rome has more sights and excitement than we could possibly see, but we stuffed as much of it as we could into three days of sightseeing. Our favorite sights included the huge Roman Colliseum, where gladiator games were held.

The Pantheon was originally a temple dedicated to all gods. Its balanced architecture, especially the round dome, has inspired many modern buildings, such as the US capitol.

Vatican City is the home of the Pope and St. Peter’s Cathedral, the epicenter of the Catholic church. St. Peter’s Cathedral is the largest church in the world. This view from the top of its dome shows the curving front terrace, which is designed to show how the church welcomes and embraces Christians and non-Christians alike.

St. Peter’s contains a beautiful Pieta by Michelangelo. I remember studying about this sculpture in high school and college humanities classes.

We also got to see the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s grandest masterpiece. It has been recently restored and is the most beautiful piece of artwork we have ever seen. Unfortunately, photos were not permitted.

After three days in Rome we headed to Florence. Florence is where the Renaissance began, and it contains some of the best Renaissance art. We gorged ourselves on art, including a statue of Mary Magdalene by Donatello:

And another masterpiece Pieta by Michelangelo:

Perhaps the most enjoyable art in Florence (and throughout Italy) was the gelato (Italian ice cream). I think my life would be significantly improved if I could eat a gelato cone every afternoon.

By this time in our trip we were fairly well museumed-out, so we drove to the Cinque Terre, five small towns on the Italian Riviera. We spent a day hiking on trails that connect the towns, and the scenery was beautiful.

Next we left Italy and headed to the French Riviera. On the way, we stopped in Monaco, a tiny micronation known for its tax haven status and its huge casino. This is the casino, Monte Carlo.

Monaco has the highest per capita income of any country, and everywhere we looked there were flashy, expensive cars. We spent quite a while standing on the porch of the casino watching the BMWs, Rolls Royces, and Lamborghinis driving by. I’m not much of a car person, but even I can appreciate the beauty (lust?) of a bright red Ferrari. I’ll take the one on the right, please.

Next we travelled through several towns in the Provence region of France. There were some well-preserved Roman ruins, including an amphitheater in Arles

and an aqueduct at Pont du Gard.

A fun feature was the markets in the small towns, where we could find all sorts of fruits, meats, and huge merengues to eat.

The scenery included vineyards, olive groves, hills, and beautiful views.

One morning we drove through Carmague Park, a wetland area that has a large population of wild flamingos. Watching flamingos flying overhead like fighter jets coming in to land was a highlight of our trip.

We feel blessed to be able to travel so much while we are here in Europe. We are grateful that God has given us this unique, once-in-a-lifetime gift.