Day 3 - Pisa and Lucco

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its Leaning Tower (the bell tower of the city's cathedral), the city of over 88,332 residents (around 200,000 with the metropolitan area) contains more than 20 other historic churches, several palaces and various bridges across the River Arno.

This ecclesiastical city began its life as a seaside settlement around 3,000 years ago and was first laid out in the mid-eleventh century.

Today, Pisa is crammed full of wonderful, historical monuments and buildings dating back many hundreds of years, and much of the city has managed to retain its medieval appearance. Pisa is also known for its excellent university, which was established in 1343 and has become one of Italy's top schools.

In the north-west of Pisa there is an immense green lawn on which four impressive buildings stand, in gleaming white marble. These imposing structures are the enormous, breathtaking Duomo (cathedral) - built almost 1,000 years ago, the cathedral's bell tower - better known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the circular Battistero (Baptistery) - the largest of its kind in the whole of Italy, and the Camposanto - also known as the Holy Field, without doubt one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. This area is referred to as the Campo dei Miracoli or the Piazza dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) and these remarkable Tuscan buildings combine Moorish, Gothic and Romanesque architectural features.

Your Home for the Next Four Nights - Montecatini Terme

Montecatini Terme is an Italian district of 21,095 inhabitants within the province of Pistoia in Tuscany.

The largest and most famous of Tuscany’s spa towns, Montecatini Terme has been revered for its curative waters since at least the 16th century, when the first baths were built here. Two centuries later, neighborhood royalty began to take note after the opening of the town’s first grand spas, putting Montecatini Terme firmly on the aristocracy's radar. Beyond the array of fine spas featuring treatments old and new, today’s visitors come for the shopping, dining and sporting offerings, as well.

The most famous spa in town is the Tettuccio Terme located on the main street of Montecatini Terme - Viale Verdi, next to the park.

The Tettuccio Terme was built in the late 18th century by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold of Habsburg - Lorraine, the son of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. The first three spas that were built were the Tettuccio, the Regina and Leopoldine. These three spas made Montecatini Terme famous all over Europe, and a favorite place for the rich and the royalty.

Famous visitors to Montecatini Terme include, but are not limited to - Puccini who composed parts of La Boheme here, and Verdi.

Venice: Skip the Guide Books and Immerse Yourself Instead

It has always been my choice to read historical fiction and other place centered fiction rather than travel guides. It is so easy to get overwhelmed with facts and dry historical data when touring. But reading some really good atmospheric novels before and while at a location really allows one to more fully experience a place.

Here are some good choices for Venetian fiction:

The City Of Falling Angels
by John Berendt
Traces the aftermath of the 1996 Venice opera house fire, an event that devastated Venetian society and was investigated by the author, who through interviews with such locals as a suicidal poet, a surrealist painter, and a master glassblower learned about the region's rich cultural history. By the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

In the Company of the Courtesan
by Sarah Dunant
A second historical novel by the author of the mesmerizing The Birth of Venus. Dunant paints a vivid, earthy portrait of Renaissance Venice in this absorbing tale of intrigue, ambition and love. It's narrated by the wily dwarf Bucino Teodoldo, loyal companion of the courtesan of the title, Fiammetta Bianchini. Escaping the 1527 sacking of Rome, they connive and claw and cheat to resume a position of their former glory in Venice. 


Death at La Fenice
by Donna Leon
The first of what is now a series of fourteen crime novels set in Venice and featuring the immensely likable detective commissario Guido Brunetti. One of the many virtues of the books in this series is that Donna Leon gets Venice right.
 more Brunetti books 

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
This is the modern classic and deservedly so. Mann's Venice is seductive and duplicitous--"half fairy tale, half snare."

A Venetian Affair by Andrea di Robilant
A Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century: A packet of letters, found by the author's father in the attic of a palace on the Grand Canal, reveals a passionate, illicit 18th-century love affair. Through the letters, the era of Casanova comes vividly to life--masked balls, elegant salons, louche casinos, and social, political, and romantic intrigue.

The Thief Lord
by Cornelia Funke
The hidden canals and crumbling rooftops of Venice shelter runaways and children with incredible secrets in this captivating novel for ages 9 to 12.(**Still worth a read, even though it is for children)

Italian Hours
by Henry James
A classic series of travel essays written between 1872 and 1909 on the art, religion and people of Italy. James is an observant guide to Rome, Naples, Florence and other great destinations in the 19th century. 

Day 2: Venice - The Basics

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region.

There are around 60,000 people who live in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico), but over 1,600,00 live in the mainland metropolitan area.The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century B.C.The city historically was the capital of the Venetian Republic. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante","Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals".

The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers.

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a
wealthy city throughout most of its history.

It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

Piazza San Marco (often known in English as St Mark's Square), is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza". The Piazza is dominated at its eastern end by
the great church of St Mark. The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (officially known in Italian as the Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco and commonly known as Saint Mark's Basilica) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the
city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture.

It lies adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally it was the chapel of the Doge, and has only been the city's cathedral since 1807, when it became the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, formerly at San Pietro di Castello. For its opulent design, gilded Byzantine mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century on the building has been known by the nickname Chiesa d'Oro (Church of gold) .The Basilica of San Marco was built over several centuries, frequently transformed and enriched with precious treasures, often from the Far East. The architecture is a mix of Byzantine, Roman and Venetian.

more on St. Mark's here

Day 1 - Murano

Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about 1 mile north of Venice and measures about 1 mile across with a population of just over 5,000. It was first settled by the Romans and through the centuries it prospered as a fishing port and through production of salt.

Murano’s reputation as a center for glassmaking was born when the Venetian Republic, fearing fire and the destruction of the city’s mostly wooden buildings, ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano in 1291. .

Murano's glassmakers were soon numbered among the island’s most prominent citizens. By the 14th century, glassmakers were allowed to wear swords, enjoyed immunity from prosecution by the Venetian state, and found their daughters married into Venice’s most affluent families. While benefiting from certain statutory privileges, glassmakers were forbidden to leave the Republic. In the following century, exports began, and the island became famous, initially for glass beads and mirrors.

Murano’s glassmakers held a monopoly on high-quality glassmaking for centuries, developing or refining many technologies including crystalline glass, enameled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (aventurine), multicolored glass (millefiori), milk glass (lattimo), and imitation gemstones made of glass. Today, the artisans of Murano still employ these centuries-old techniques, crafting everything from contemporary art glass and glass jewelry to Murano glass chandeliers and wine stoppers.

Shopping Tip: 
Not all "Murano glass" is from Murano. Some dealers--especially souvenir shops--try to pass off cheap Chinese counterfeits as the real thing. Look for the "Vetro Murano Artistico" trademark decal in the windows of shops and showrooms that sell authentic Murano glass.

You can purchase glass beads in bulk, use them to make your own jewelry or to give as gifts to family and friends. (hint hint)

If purchasing an expensive piece of glass, you can choose to have it shipped home. But be sure to put this purchase on your credit card, in case it arrives broken.

Money:
Murano has several bank branches and cash machines where you can obtain euros with your ATM card.