European vacations

I was visiting my friend who lived in Tbilisi, Georgia and stayed there for a week. Georgia is a very ancient country and relatively well-preserved. While there are a few Western chain restaurants in Tbilisi, majority of the restaurants serve Georgian food, which in my opinion, is one of the best there are - not too heavy, not too spicy, not overcooked. Grilled meat, many vegetable dishes and great local red and white wine make every meal a special occasion. I haven’t been to a restaurant there that I din’t like. In Tbilisi there are several orthodox churches dating from 5-6th century and a large fortress on top of the hill. Old town still has traditional buildings with terraces and narrow streets. I went to sulfur baths that are built on natural springs - they have sauna and turkish baths across the street. Mother Georgia monument holding a sword and glass(?) of wine looks over the city - according to the locals, it welcomes friends with wine, but meets enemies with a sword.

Georgian people are very hospitable - even if they know you as a friend of a friend they feel that they have to make you feel at home in Georgia, throw a dinner in your honor and try to entertain you as much as they can. Police is rather corrupt - I heard numerous stories of policemen stopping cars for no reason. Of course, there are hardly any traffic signs at all in Tbilisi, so a reason can always be made up. I didn’t see that much police on the streets. Tbilisi seemed to be safe, although some streets are so bad that I would not risk walking at night and falling into a hole.

Weather is much warmer than in Russia, not too hot though. It makes walks around the city and hiking very pleasant. Some of the scenery reminds of Tuscany, very picturesque and so few tourists. Which is a plus, if you ask me.

Most of people speak Russian, very few speak English. Georgian alphabet is unique, neither latin nor cyrillic. Many people at that time (summer of 1999) were unemployed, but I saw no street people. Georgians are a proud nation. Georgia has a few nice museums - I went to fine arts museum, crafts museum on a hill and ethnography museum - which was a collection of traditional Georgian houses from different parts of the country. Despite its small size, Georgia has quite a few distinct nations/cultures.

Tbilisi’s market is amazing… lots of spices and fresh fruit. Occasionally they have problems with decease outbreaks - I would definitely wash everything and check whether there are any alerts. Overall, it’s a great country to visit. A lot to discover and to remember… very different and surprising, in a good sense.

Tuscany, one of the most favorite destinations for travelers around the world and especially Germany. With the season starting in July, I managed to get there just before — avoiding Italians becoming a minority just a few days after my departure. Well it’s not that bad, but I found it very pleasant to travel Tuscany for 2 weeks in July.

If you want to know details about all the specific sights and attractions … get a book. (just kidding) But in all honesty, I don’t want to bore you with details that you probably read way too often already. So this was supposed to be a budget trip and camping worked very well the year before in France, and was the ‘accommodation of choice’ again.

My wife and I were in Italy two summers ago. We stayed in Rome for a week before renting a car and traveling through Tuscany for a few days. We then stayed in Florence and then continued to Venice. There is so much to tell about this trip. I will start with one of Italy’s most famous sites of ancient history, the Colosseum.

GETTING AROUND

Firenze, as Florence is called over there, is a city of not quite half a million people. It is industrial, producing many things out of high quality leather, and it’s agricultural in its production of wine and olive oil. Then there’s the tourism business.

Florence was the cradle of the Renaissance, which was the cultural and artistic movement in the 14 and 1500’s. It was later experienced in Europe when Catherine d’Medici brought it there. It was a nice change after the death and doom attitude of the Middle Ages. It was also a rediscovering of the Greek classical idea that you could enjoy life while here on earth. People had money, and commissioned artists who produced such great works as the Birth of Venus, Allegory of Spring, the Goddess of Love, Three Graces, and Hermes. It was the highest concentration of geniuses ever in history!

When boarding our bus today for more "whirlwind" touring, it was still raining! So when we arrived at LUCCA, we took all of our rain gear with us..guess we were just getting used to it! We stuck with our guide for awhile and walked the walls of this fortified city, when lo and behold the sun came out and the weather turned beautiful! It was like LUCCA was saying "Welcome and Enjoy Me!".

by Dick Adler

Tuscany is the tableful of middle-aged, middleclass Brit bikers at a little trattoria in Radda, chortling loudly over their designer pizzas. Umbria is the slightly weird restaurant on the road from Izzalini to Todi, where the neighbors gather to fuss over increasingly rare bambini and the Addams Family-style servers casually plop down plates of homemade ravioli stuffed with local truffles.

Tuscany is the land of the ecstatic dawns with the endless vineyards on one side and Florence on the other. It is the place where you would like to spend your live, not just rush on vacation for three days through its streets. Too bad that one needs to work to earn some money and travel to Florence, but here I give you some tips of how to make the most of your visit to the Tuscany and live like a “Toscano”.

Make sure you set aside time to climb the Campanile next to the Duomo between Piazza San Giovanni and Piazza del Duomo. Not only is it a remarkable structure in its own right, but the view from atop the tower is truly heavenly. The tower was designed by Giotto, but he didn”t live to see the completion of the 82 meter high structure. Other artists, including Pisano, Talenti, and della Robia, are responsible for completing his designs and creating the pieces that ornament the exterior. Statues near the base of the structures are copies of Donatello”s Prophets.

Toscana?

Had you asked me about the spellbinding charm of my mother’s homeland, until recently I would have blown it off as overrated and instead would have recommended the much more affordable pleasure paradise of the Adriatic Riviera. I still love party-town Rimini for the cheap local seafood and never ending hedonism, but after visiting the area in ernest, now I know what mom was talking about when she waxed poetic about her childhood in Toscana.

I lived in Florence for three months this summer studying Italian. The school I signed up with, Leonardo da Vinci, put me in an apartment less than 20 feet from Piazza del Duomo, on Via San Lorenzo. This is arguably the best location in the city, as it’s near the main shopping areas, museums, and local markets.

I could see the bell tower on the piazza from my window, and walked by the area every day. The sheer size of the cathedral and its monumental facade impresses everyone that walks by. If you are only passing by Florence, you have to visit the Piazza del Duomo!