A grand adventure: from Bordeaux to Florence

So here is the “monster” post I promised, chronicling my travels from leaving Paris until my current location in Firenze (Florence). I've transcribed these posts from my actual journal, so please excuse the structure – it's not the same when I'm typing out something and giving it a great deal of thought. These are mostly my personal reflections and accounts of my days. Also, please excuse the liberty I've taken with some jumps in time and lax descriptions, such as my visits to Monte Carlo, Cannes, and Antibes. To make up for this, I'll edit some photos in a little later.

Otherwise, read on, if you have the time and mental energy – and above all, enjoy.

Ryan

Je chante

So I left and caught the TGV to Bordeaux without a hitch. When I got there though I found a place to check me email, and my host had skipped town. So I called Richard Moot – who wasn't expecting to host me until a few days past my arrival. He cordially invited me to his flat though, so I hoofed the 3 kilometers to his apartment with my sack, which seems to be growing increasingly heavier.

Richard ended up being a really great host. I stayed there on his IKEA futon for two nghts. The first day I explored Bordeaux and the second day, not feeling well, and with laundry still wet, I hung out and watched a couple movies. Richard had a ton of DVDs and lots of books that I enjoy. He has Paris, Je T'aime, though it wasn't subtitled and it stopped working after about thirty minutes. I'll have to wait a bit longer to see i then. I watched Eyes Wide Shut and finally saw Casablanca. I know Paddy will be thrilled.

Richard also had some short graphic novels (comics?) by Clive Barker which he urged me to read. They were pretty good. After I left he sent me a link to this science fiction story he told me about as well about a man who discovers a video rental shop from another reality where things in Hollywood are based on completely different standards.

Bordeaux, I should note, has a new tram system, which make getting around a bit easier, though I'll have some gripes about it later. I paid 10 euros for a 7-day pass and got my money back from it within two or three days.

Richard also gave me a copy of Thomas Harris' Hannibal, which I've been reading. I had another book by James Patterson, The Beach House, which I thought I would like seeing as I enjoyed the films based on his Alex Cross detective series, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. It wasn't that great so I left it at Richard's flat for him to “gift” to someone else.

On Wednesday I departed in the evening for a new couch, and was welcomed by James and Steph, a man from the UK and a French woman. James teaches English to business people, and Steph is completing her training as an architect's assistant. Her background was in graphic design, but there don't seem to be many jobs in the area. The two of them offered me a great bed in a guest room – slas – office, good wine, and yummy cheese. Best of all, one of their friends, and expat America named Marilyn, has a pass to the 2007 VinExpo in Bordeaux. I was told about it before arriving but it isn't open to the general public. Marilyn is an export manager for several vineyards in the area, but wasn't able to attend the last day of the five day Expo. Therefore I got to go in her place!


So that's what I did all day Thursday – it was a blast. I used my bus/tram pass to get to the exposition center. There were thousands of vendors in three huge halls. Mostly wine, but also spirits and industry publications as well. I was completely flustered and had no clue what to do at first.

Finally after wandering around for an hour or so, I just went up to a producer from South Africa, looked interested, and she offered me samples. From there I was golden, and freely requested tastings from across the globe. I actually didn't try a singly French wine. I spent my afternoon instead focusing on producers from other parts of the world, some of which I didn't even know existed.

I had wines from: South Africa, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, South Korea, Argentina, Canada, and Portugal. All of them were excellent save the South Korean and Slovenian ones, and my favorite was the red wine from Germany. First time ever trying a German red. Also had Rieslings of a wide variety and ice wine. There was some nice apple ice wine from Quebec as well.

So I left the Expo sometime after 3 or 4pm, merrily sloshing back to James & Steph's via the bus. That night I got to meet Marilyn, who I think was a little surprised that upon introduction I gave her a huge hug, and I made dinner for everyone – pasta with zucchini, mushrooms, onions, red peppers, tomato, and avocado.

The next two days I spent my time being a tourist, and taking pictures of the sights. The touristy destinations can certainly be covered in two days in Bordeaux. The second night with James, Steph, and Marilyn again, she made dinner for us. Aunt Betty's Cornflake baked chicken.

The last day with James & Steph, I did the tourist thing again, and got to meet their next two couch surfers. I left with an hour to spare to get to the train station, but because of various delays with the tram (here is my griping) I got there two minutes after my train had left! I could have walked faster. Luckily there was another night train leaving at 1:01am, so I just hung out in a bar across the street where they had free WiFi.

The train ride to Nice was mostly uneventful. I did manage to sleep for a few hours on and off. Once the sun came up I was awake and read most of the way. I was the only one in my cabin for the last two hours of the ride. I was irritated though because other than checking my reservation and giving me a new bed the controller didn't ever ask for my Eurail Pass. I could have had an extra day! So from now on I'm not filling in the date until I see them come around. The 20 Euros I paid for the bed would have been really worth it then. Oh well. Live and learn I suppose.

Arriving in nice I noticed quickly that I'm going to be sweating quite a lot for the rest of this trip. It is freaking hot there! I made the twenty minute walk from the station to my new couch with Arno, but when I arrived there was no answer. So I hauled my stuff to a nearby McDonald's and made the mistake of ordering food. A little more than seven Euros for the WORST meal I've ever had in my life. Never again.

Then I wandered around town looking for WiFi, but all the hot spots I'd jotted down before leaving Bordeaux were closed. After an hour or so I was worried I might have to stay in a youth hostel, I tried my host's bell again, and this time he answered, thankfully!

So Arno is a mild mannered 20-something French guy with dreads. He lives alone and works in IT. He wants to move to Budapest, and says I'm the only surfer he's had who actually speaks French!

He gave me some pointers and after a much needed shower – the tap at J&S's flat had broken – I took off to tour the old city of Nicec. Wow, what an incredible little town. Dozens of small pedestrian only alleyways packed with shos and bars and restaurants. All the buildings are multicolored, pinks, greens, yellows, blue... It's much like what I expect Cinque Terre to be like. It's beautiful.

I came back after my adventure, and Arno headed to the beach for a couple hours. Left alone, I read and took a short nap. Being Sunday when I went out again to find groceries to make dinner, everything was closed. I rummaged enough together from the fridge and pantry though to make mushrooms and chicken, Basmati rice, and an impromptu Greek salad. It turned out alright.

After dinner I headed up to the chateaux with Arno where there was a festival going on. Lots of people. Live music, and drinking. People juggling fire. Earlier I'd been to the same area and visited two incredible cemeteries, the Catholic one and the separate Jewish one. There were some really great photos to be taken in each.

So to be cliché, it's true that nice is nice. Even with the heat and overly ubiquitous construction.

The Wonderful Wizard of Eze

So it only took a bit over thirty minutes to get here, and I managed to see everything in less than two hours. Now I'm relaxing in the shade of a large maple and enjoying the afterglow of the Medieval village of Eze.

Eze, while surrounded by a touristy suburban populace, the old village is mostly preserved, it's hotels and subtle boutiques tucked into quiet sloping streets, carved into a sea-side mountain. From points in town you can see out over the Mediterranean, and down below what I overhead was Nice or Cannes.

A large dusty salmon colored church sits up on top of the village, and just a bit higher is the Exotic Garden – five euros I chose not to spend – which goes through the chateau's ruins. The town itself is built right into the protective barriers that once guarded the castle.

I found a quiet little bench, shaded by creeping flowers and a cactus or two, and had my simple turkey and Camembert sandwich for lunch. The whole town takes maybe thirty minutes to navigate, but you continuously find yourself circled around to a place you've already seen, only to take another tiny pathway, eventually ending right back where you started again.

Leaving the tiny village I walked past a man selling herbs, spices, and other fragrant dried goods in bulk. The aromas wafting up from the sun warmed curries and peppers and rosemary, thyme, sage...wow it was really fantastic. I complimented the wonderful fragrance of his wares. He smiled as warmly in reply.

Another olfactory tickler, Fragonard, a boutique specializing in fragrances. They had some absolutely mouth watering candles too.

So now I've got 45 minutes until the bus comes to take me to Monte Carlo. What a pleasant little place this was to visit.

Breath in Venice

So I arrived last night in Padua and found the bus to tiny Stra where my host Davide lives. Today I got the bus to Venice, abou 45 minutes away. If Venice is hot and smelly and dirty and crowded, like people have told me, then I don't want to go anywhere else. It's none of those things, and at the very least I think it may be one of the most charming and intoxicating cities I've ever been to. I'd almost say this beats Paris, - though I think I'd be lying just a little. It's close though. Perhaps you can't get closer.

The churches here are all Santa Maria This and Santa Maria That. Right now I'm just finishing my lunch outside Santa Maria de Salute. I've been wandering around town for about an hour or so, and haven't made it to the Piazza San Marco yet. According to my map though I'm just across the Grand Canal from the San Marco area, and I can see where the Piazza is from here. I think I might have one more piece of bread with cream cheese – yea, that's right, Philly Light! - before I find my way across the choppy green water.

Once I get to the Piazza I've got four guided audio tours to take me around town, all beginning from San Marco. I'll probably do two of them today and the other two tomorrow or Saturday.

In short, my stay in Nice had me in Monte Carlo, out to Cannes and Antibes the next day, dinner with a couple of Arno's friends from the concert we went to, and then catching the train from Mice to Milano to Padua. Met some good people on the train and really enjoyed the rest of my travels along the Cote d'Azur.

Later in the day...

Sitting outside the School of San Rocco, not far from the train and bus stations. I've just completed two of the audio tour walks through Venice and doing so it seems I've seen a majority of the city's major sights as well as dozens of things that were virtually devoid of crowds, devoid of even people at all sometimes! I really like these tours.

I really love Venice much more than I'd expected. I'm still going to head for Florence on Saturday – especially because I have a ride from my host – but between tomorrow and Saturday morning I think I can finish touring around the city of islands.

The one thing that aggravates me about the city is that you can walk in one direction and very often end up at a dead end as opposed to your desired destination – which is more than likely on the opposite side of the building you're facing. However, I suppose this is also one of the most endearing parts about the town. Prior to finding the Piazza San Marco I'd gotten lost a couple times before a couple of English-speaking, knock-off purse hording girls pointed me in the right direction. San Marco... basically more pigeons than I've ever seen in my life. Climbing all over people.

I had coffee and pistachio gelato, which I think probably beats the stuff I had in Paris, and especially the gelato back home in Cleveland heights. I'd assume it would be the best though, being an Italian specialty and all. I find it amusing that they simply know gelato as ice cream – it's so commonplace here. Delicious though. I've also been tempted by the dozens of stalls and street-side restaurants and cafes selling huge cheap slices of pizza. I'll wait until I get to Rome though, as I've been told it's even better there.

So I'm tempted to stay in Venice for a few more hours inorder to see the sunset. I'm going back to San Marco and will walk the fourth tour – the third was mainly in museums and the basilica – and then wait for the sunset.

Olives so good you can't help but grin

So yesterday evening I had a wonderful adventure to the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, and back to San Marco by way of a Vapparetto or water taxi. It cost a ridiculous 6 euros but I took it again and fare jumped because I thought it was such a scam.

I ended up missing the sunset from San Marc, and so got off then back on th water taxi. I did however accidentally find Harry's Bar. Kudos for that.

So I got back to the bus terminal at about 10:35 and there was a bus headed to Padua/Stra at 11. There was some confusion and I ended up stranded at the station. So i went to the nearby strain station, and got an 11:30 train to Padua, with no idea how to get back to Stra. My options were to sleep in the train station – no – or walk back to Stra, since when I arrived in Padua the buses were done running. 25 euros for a taxi was out of the question.

So, I'm wandering about Padua trying to find a sign to point me toward Stra, and I happen upon a small cluster of middle aged Italians, just having finished dinner. I decided to chance it and ask for directions and after much incomprehensible chatter – at one point I was almost certain the eight of them would chip in for a taxi – I ended up getting a ride to Stra from a more than friendly, and entirely charming man named Francesco.

Not speaking much Italian, and he not speaking much English, our conversation for the 20 minute drive was brief, being supplemented by my newly acquired Italian/English dictionary, though surprisingly thorough at an introductory level.

He got me – mille grazi, over and over – to Stra, where I had a short walk to Davide's flat. The next morning I got to meet his understandably shy daughter. He took her off to school and went to a dentist appointment himself. Shortly after he came home I was ready to go. I felt bad because our time together seemed a bit brief, and I wish I'd been able to spend more time there.

I spent the better part of the afternoon in tiny but entertaining Padua. Saw a few basilicas. I sat in San Antonio – the patron saint of the city... they have his tongue and jaw bone in the church – and had a “spiritual” moment. After leaving I found the first beggar I could, a man I'd passed earlier, asked him if he was hungry – thanks again dictionary – and gave him a sizable hunk of bread and a dozen or so grape tomatoes I had left from my lunch. Good dead done for the day. Check.

So then I got the train – illegally – to Mestre where I was to find the central shopping mall to meet my host for the evening, Fabio. I'm not sure what prompted him to ask me to meet him 25 minutes from the train station at the very top level of the huge commercial center – seemed kind of like a drug deal haha – but being punctual he took me away to meet his “wife” Laura and begin a wonderful evening.

Oh what an evening it was. After picking up Laura from work they took me to a hidden bar in Mestre where I had my first glass of Italian red, a Merlot, as well as a fantastic Italian equivalent to tapas, cicchetti. I had a moderately sized pastry puff filled with some type of meat – probably pork – and Gorgonzola cheese. Yum.

Next they brought me to their home town, Spinea. They live together a floor below Fabio's sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, a baby just a month older than Joey, and less than 30 seconds – slash – ten minutes from Fabio and Laura's parents respectively.

Before returning to their flat though they took me to another local secret where I had a second amazing red wine along with some more cicchetti of hams and bread – all ham in Italy is referred to as prosciutto – and followed the wine with Spritz, a drink special to Venezia consisting of white wine and some other ingredients. The drink has an olive on a skewer in it, which we all ate just after our chins and santes. Good lord. I've never had an olive that actually induced grinning. And I don't think it was the drink making me so happy.

Back to their amazing flat where I have a whole bedroom to myself. They have a gorgeous home that is stunningly decorated and luxurious. Fabio works for an auction firm and seems to receive lots of gifts from his obviously well of clientèle. He has a degree in music ans is a budding art collector. He also loves Chuck Palahniuk, Salinger, Bjork, Jack Johnson, and Giacometti.

Laura works for a bank where she does loan management and has lived all over Italy and had a plethora of jobs from server to tour guide. She's equally charming and the two of them together are just perfect. They are the kind of people I think many others only wish they could be. They are truly wonderful.

After a nice shower with the largest bath towel I've ever seen, I was served a classically Italian meal of pasta with sausage and radicchio along with a salad, ham and cheese with marmalades (Clementine, fig, and red onion). The red wine they served was one of the best I've ever had and is made by a close friend of theirs.

After dinner, but before dessert, we had peaches that are cross bred with walnuts. Smooth and hard they have all the flavor of a ripe peach. Then on to grappa and uber-chocolate cake. We're talking cake that dfoesn't have anything but chocolate in it. Cocoa butter, dark chocolate powder. No butter, eggs, or flour. Great. The grappa was strong and warmed by tummy and made me ready for bed.

Fabio broke his wine glass accidentally while we talked about Salinger, and then knocked over the bottle of grappa while trying to close it. Nice to not be the clumsy one for once!

I got to wash AND dry my laundry and had a med made up especially for me. I feel so spoiled but these two are honestly the best hosts ever. I'm their first surfer too. Rock on. I'm definitely coming back here for a few days after Rome. I've already promised I would.

Memory is what I have instead of a view

So today is my third day in Florence – I arrived on Saturday afternoon, getting a ride from my new host, Paolo. The drive from Veneto to Tuscany was beautiful, crossing the Po River – the longest in Italy – and going through some nice mountains. We arrived just before 6pm and I met Paolo's mother – who definitely does NOT look like she's in her 60s – and shortly after Canan, another guest and second-time couch surfer from Istanbul, Turkey. She's here on fashion business.

Before meeting Paolo at the train station in Mestre – otherwise known as mainland Venice – I had a beautiful morning in the city with Laura, who showed me even more still that I had missed on my tours. We entered the Basilica of San Marco, which is one of the most beautiful and impressive works of art I've ever seen. I also got to see the inside of the Zaccaria church which was closed the first time I came by. One of Bellini's paintings of the Madonna is here, and is the one that inspired the creation of the tasty beverage bearing his name.

So once in Firenze I showered and Paolo got ready for a concert he was playing in. he is a drummer in two groups, the one playing that evening a jazz ensemble. The concert was at a small local fair, and we were invited to dine with the band, and presented with a magnificent feast. We started with a few different types of ham and salamis, followed by two types of pasta. One with a light meat sauce and the other with a spicy tomato sauce. I had assumed the meal wa over after the first pasta, but then suddenly there was more. After this we were given heaping platters of two different types of grilled beef, one richer and cooked through, the other juicy and rare. Then the cook asked “Who wants to try the sheep?” and with many hands shooting up, he replied, “You're all wolves!” with a deep laugh.

So then comes the sheep, which Paolo told us was a specialty of the area. It is tougher and richer in fat than lamb, but still very very good. I ate very well, and it was commented that I was a typical American eater! Ha ha. That can be true, but I'm still losing weight!– and after the meal it was time for music.

Paolo, Canan and I sampled grappa from one of the concession tents. The local band played some music and then Paolo's group performed lively jazz for a couple hours. We were very tired at the end , and ready to sleep when we got back.

So then yesterday, Sunday, was the first day I spent in Firenze proper. I have the same audio tours for the town that I had in Venezia, so I decided to follow the first two. Before heading into the city, I walked up to the Belvedere fort to view Firenze. This is a wonderful place to see the city, and most notable in my mind as the place that Hannibal Lecter describes sketching the town with the Duomo from to Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.

Descending, walking in the general direction of the Duomo, I found the first starting point between the famous basilica and the Roman baptistery. The exterior of the Fiore, the actual name of the basilica, is done in a number of types of marble, and to some might seem quite horrific. I liked it very much though, and took some good photos.

The rest of the first tour and the second one took me through most of the major sights and many other smaller unknown ones throughout Firenze. It was really fantastic and so interesting to learn the history of the places I was visiting.

After finishing not far from where Paolo lives, I grabbed a Diet Coke and strolled back to his flat. Canan arrived shortly after, and cooked dinner while I watched a beautiful sunset from the terrace, from which is visible the Duomo, and a couple other notable Firenze landmarks. A view that even the best placed hotel room would be envious of.

Diner was a wonderful Turkish meal of spicy cooked vegetables – similar to Ratatouille – with rice. Paolo also had homemade ham and sausage that he brought back from Croatia, a gift from his girlfriend's father who runs a restaurant there. More olives, black this time, and I couldn't stop smiling.

Italy has really become my favorite place in the world. I could never say that I dislike Paris or France, but this country has everything and more. Art. Food. People. History. Landscapes. Wine... It's simply beyond perfect here. Paris and France are among the best places in the world for me. Italy is THE best though, as far as I'm concerned at this point in my life.

In other news, Anne-Sophie, a dear friend from Joachim du Bellay, the hihg school I attended in Angers back in 2000, contacted me today. I was delighted to head from her, and so glad we were able to reconnect. She was one of the only people I really regretted not keeping in touch with. Hopefully we will eventually meet again. She is going to Africa to teach in the coming year, so perhaps then.

This morning I had some great – and very thick – Turkish coffee which Canan brought to share, and writing this am sitting out on the terrace smelling the roasting coffee from the shop next door, and looking out over Firenze, ready to spend another wonderful day here.

Ciao!