The Duomo in Firenze

The cathedral is impressive for it's sheer size and distinctive exterior. So many smaller churches have more (and in my estimation better) artwork, although the Dome is beautifully painted. The Baptistry is a different story. Stunningly ornate. The museum (across the street) has all sorts of treasures, such as the various doors that have been on the exterior from time to time, as well as statues and artifacts.

Here are some of the photos we took that day.

Michelangelo and David

Florence is all about Michelangelo - and one of his best known (if not THE best known) works is the statue of David. So this is what I learned about it: The original marble statue is in the Accademia Gallery. The detail is exquisite. It was originally designed to be placed on top of a building, which accounts for the hands being a bit over-sized.

There is a copy in the Piazza Signori, which is something of an outdoor gallery.

And while the copy of Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna is in the Accademia Gallery, the original is in the Piazza Signori.

Note the detail on the original - just like someone is pressing into flesh, rather than marble.

Anyway, back to Michelangelo and David. Within the Accademia Gallery there are some unfinished pieces by Michelangelo. Another Pieta - the more famous completed one Michelangelo did is in the Vatican.

And then there is a bronze version of David in Piazzale Michelangelo.

Piazzale Michelangelo is also where you get the best panoramic views of the city.

Where's Mussolini When You Need Him?

They say that Mussolini made the Italian trains run on time. All I can say is that our train left Turano for Milan right on time. 11:08 am. Due to arrive in Milano at 1:45. Then we'd have a 45 minute wait for the train to Florence. Perfect.
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All was well until about 1:44. The train stopped and I thought we were in Milan, because that's where we were supposed to be. I'm not sure where we were, but it wasn't Milan. Still, the train stopped and everyone was told to get off. All explanations were in Italian, so I'm still not sure why we stopped. But we were all told to find other trains to Milan.

The new train was standing room only. We were hanging kind of close to a Canadian couple, primarily because they seemed to know what they were doing and we sure didn't. It seemed we had two options - get off at Monza and take a train to Milan Garibaldi and then transfer to Milan Centrale or wait a few more minutes and take one direct to Milan Centrale.

Given that my heart rate topped 160 carrying bags up stairs (they don't believe in ramps much in Europe) we opted for the direct train to Milano Centrale. We lost our Canadians, but met up with some Americans, in fact they are neighbors - from Garland, Texas and made the trip with them. But first, there was the hassle with customer service. The train to Florence was not listed on the board. We didn't know if it had been canceled or if we'd missed it. We stood in what we thought was the customer service line for 10 minutes, only to be redirected to a different line - we stood there for over 30 minutes. And after 30 minutes of waiting, we were dismissed. The agent wasn't going to deal with anyone who couldn't speak Italian. Now, I'm not naive enough to believe that everyone in the world should speak English, but in a major tourist area, you would think that at least one customer service agent could handle the English speakers. But no. I went looking for another customer service agent and found one that spoke English out in the corridor. She advised me to talk to the customer service agent. When I explained to her what had happened with him, she came into the office and actually argued with the man. (You go girl!) In the end we got on the next train to Florence - although we had considered getting a car in Milan and driving to Florence but getting on the Internet was problematic. (The top-ups you buy in England, don't necessarily work in Switzerland or Italy. - They tell you they do so you'll buy them, but it's not really as advertised.)

Our new found friends had first class seats. We had second class seats. But that was on the other train. On this new train, none of us had any seats. After being booted out of our seats two times, Mark and I went to the club car and found a couple of stools by the window, ordered some food and something to drink. We were near to wear the baggage was stowed, so not a bad arrangement. The trip to Florence wasn't that long. After the stop in Bologna, our new friends came and told us about their experience. Seems their train from Turano left at 9:08, two hours ahead of ours. So how did they end up on the same train as us? Seems that their train from Turano was cancelled and they were put on a bus. A very slow bus that managed to catch up with our train somewhere near Lake Como. (So they had several hours of bus that we managed to avoid. Yikes!) And we were all scheduled on the same train from Milan to Florence.

We were only about an hour late. No problem for us because all we needed was a cab. Our new friends were missing a dinner party with friends.

We had originally planned to take a train from Florence to Spoleto but we changed our plans to rent a car and drive. Who could blame us?

The Bernina Express

What a fabulous trip! Not really "express" - four hours from Chur, Switzerland to Turano, Italy. Over the Alps. Spotlessly clean trains, big windows and fantastic views. Plus the company of friends. What could be better?

Take a look at the scenery.

What I Dislike About British Airways

Let's go back - waaaaaaay back. Back to when Mark and I were business partners and not life partners. Back to when he flew British Airways to Lagos, Nigeria to conduct a training class and then both the British and American governments advised citizens NOT to go to Nigeria. I wanted to get him out. Could I? No. I couldn't.

"We have rules. The flight can not be changed."

"I am willing to pay to change it." (Flights on most other airlines can be changed for a change fee.) But apparently not British Airways. Mark had to tough it out in Nigeria, which mind you, had been declared unsafe by the British government, because British Airways has rules. So there.

Then there's the issue of "the captain has turned on the seat belt light, please return to your seat and fasten your seatbelt". And if you don't, the flight attendent will pound on the restroom door and tell you to return to your seat. Seriously? Do you think I'm in the restroom for fun? There was a reason I went in there and I'm staying in until there is no longer a reason to be there. Beating on the door and shouting at me does not help. At all.

And now we have another thing to add to the list. We arrived at Heathrow early. We got up early (5 am) and left Manchester at 6 am. We got to Heathrow around 10:30 am for a 2:30 pm flight. Plenty of time. The problem was, we couldn't check our bags. We tried but every time we scanned a ticket it told us the bag was over the baggage limit before we even put a bag on the conveyor. Then someone pointed out to us that we couldn't check in for another hour. The British Airways limit is 3 hours before a flight. If you arrive before that, you just need to sit around with your bags somewhere - no food, no drink - just sit down somewhere and mind your bags. British Airways cannot be bothered to take them until three hours before your flight.

And then, when the three hours are up you can check your bags. I scanned my ticket and once again before I put the bag on the conveyor, I was told that it was over the limit. I did say somewhat loudly that "it's doing it again and I haven't even put the bag on". At that point, one of the BA agents came down on me like a ton of bricks. Mind you, I was speaking to an inanimate machine. She was speaking to me - demanding to know why I was so rude. (I know how to be rude - she didn't see it.) I decided to let it go because I just wanted to get my bags checked after having been at the airport for over an hour. And we hadn't had breakfast, etc. I should have demanded to know why she was so rude.

We were sent to another area where they could check our tickets only to find out that we had inadvertently purchased tickets that had zero baggage allowance - hand baggage only. Bottom line? We had to pay the cost of the flight again just to take our bags. And the young lady said, "This happens all the time!" Does it, indeed? If this happens all the time, it's because your website is designed to trick people into buying what they think is a bargain ticket only to extort money from them when they are at the gate with their luggage and nothing they can do but pay. I've worked for companies that designed their statements so that customers often overpaid. Don't play dumb with me. You're doing this on purpose because it's a really easy revenue opportunity. Just a bit shady, as far as I'm concerned.

So, I think we can sum this up as 1. crap customer service 2. extortion and 3. surly employees and 4. really crap customer service.

The Imperial War Museum North

Although I've never been to the Imperial War Museum in London, I understand that it is much larger tan the one in Manchester. But the one in Manchester was fine for me. The intent was to show how people's lives are impacted by war. Primary focus areas (and those that were most interesting to me from an historical perspective) were WWI and WWII. Also covered were Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and the Gulf Wars.

One of the unique features of this museum is that the movies were displayed throughout the venue, ot just in a theater. Everyone could see from their own vantage point. Interesting and effective presentation.

An interesting way to spend a rainy afternoon.