Florence, Italy

Wow, summer breezed by really fast!  I've been traveling and shooting photos, but I haven't been keeping up with the travel blog.  Now that it's cold and rainy, it's time to go back to the blog.  Let me bring us back to Italy and recount our experience in Florence.

Florence (Firenze) is the capital city of the Tuscany (Toscana) region of Italy.  Florence is probably among Italy's three most visited cities (along with Rome and Venice).  It is an old city - dating back to Roman times, and full of Medieval and Renaissance-era buildings.  Central Florence is full of tourists, yet it feels cozy, vibrant, and charming.


Travel & Accommodations

We rented this beautiful loft apartment in central Florence for four nights.  The price and location were perfect.  We were just blocks from the river, the food, and the major tourist attractions.

Florence is a great city, well worth the visit by itself.  But if you have the time, you must also check out the other towns in Tuscany.  The countryside is beautiful, and the towns are interesting and unique.  Tuscany is also home of Italy's wine country - so you definitely need to sit down and enjoy food and wine.  We ended up dividing our four days: 1-2 days (part of the group split up) in Florence, and the remaining days visiting other towns. In this article, I'll only write about Florence.  The next article will feature the other towns we visited.


Il Duomo

Towering above Florence, the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore - aka Il Duomo - is perhaps Florence's most well-known building.  It's the fourth-largest church in Europe.  Like most major cathedrals in Italy, it comes in three parts: a cathedral, a campanile (clock tower), and a baptistry.

I didn't have time to go inside the cathedral.  You have to pay an admission fee, plus you have to climb a whole bunch of steps to get to the top of the dome.  Luckily some of my friends did spend the time to visit.  The photos to the right and below were taken by Lily.  The view of Florence from the top of the dome is amazing!

Uffizi Gallery

Florence is perhaps most well-known for its Renaissance art and architecture.  In fact, Florence is regarded as the home of the Renaissance.  The Uffizi Gallery is one of the most famous and significant art museums in the world. 

Getting tickets for the gallery was a bit interesting.  By now, we had learned that Italy isn't very good at communicating instructions clearly.   When we arrived, we saw a very long line for tickets - probably over an hour wait.  I noticed this the last time I was in Florence too.  But we also noticed another door for tickets, so we walked in.  We found that for just another 5 Euro or so, you could buy tickets for later in the day (1pm, 2pm, etc.) - and you didn't have to wait in line!!  Thanks for telling us, Italy....

Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take photos of the art, so you'll just have to visit it yourself.  Another major museum in Florence is the Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses the famous sculpture David.  I didn't have time to stop in.

Il Palazzo

It seems that every city in Italy needs a Palazzo, and Florence's Palazzo Vecchio ("old palace") does not disappoint.  It's located in the heart of Florence, at the Piazza della Signoria.   The Palazzo is a cool-looking brick building of Romanesque architecture.  It has a replica of the statue David at its entrance (which was enough for me - didn't need to see the real one haha). 

The Piazza della Signoria seems to be where all the action is in Florence.  Not to mention, it's where all the tourists congregate as well.  It makes sense though - the Uffizi Gallery is next door, and the Ponte Vecchio is just two blocks away.  Oh yeah, the Uffizi Gallery has a cool cafeteria that gives you a great view of the Palazzo (no, Kristine doesn't come with the view):

Basilica di Santa Croce

Italy has no shortage of churches!  The Basilica di Santa Croce doesn't look that fancy from the outside, but there's neat stuff within.  First of all, it's actually the world's largest Franciscan church.  But its claim to fame is that it is the burial site of some of the most famous Italians in history: Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante, and Rossini.

If you aren't into admiring dead dudes, you can enjoy another great feature: the beautiful frescoes on its walls:

Ponte Vecchio

My favorite attraction in Florence is the Ponte Vecchio ("old bridge").  Florence is situated on the Arno River.  The heart of the city sits on one bank, and life spreads across to the other bank. The Arno brings peace and charm to Florence.  There are a number of bridges that span the Arno, but the Ponte Vecchio stands apart, probably due to all the shops that were built on top of it.

The Ponte Vecchio is located right next to the Uffizi Gallery and Il Palazzo, which means that you can find hordes of tourists on the bridge during the day.  It was nice to check it out and see the shops, but I actually didn't enjoy walking on the bridge that much.  It was way too crowded and way too touristy.

If you walk a little further down the banks of the Arno, however, the tourists disappear very quickly.  Now you just hear the flow of the river and feel the warmth of the Tuscan Sun.  I could see myself walking along the banks of the river and gazing at the bridge every morning and every evening.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for rivers and bridges??


A Sunset in Florence

After walking around and breathing art, architecture, and history, you should definitely top if off with viewing a romantic sunset.  There's a great spot for it, at the Piazzale Michelangelo.  The piazzale is just a large parking lot near a church, but every evening, you'll see tourists flocking to it.  It's about a 20 minute walk from the Ponte Vecchio (on the "other" side of the river), with includes going up a hill.  From this perch, you can see the bridges, the Palazzo, the Duomo, and of course, the sunset.  It is breathtaking.

Related articles:

• All articles from my Italia trip
• Itala trip photo slideshow on Flickr

Rome, Part Due

Let's go back to Rome.  There's so much to see and do in Rome, and you can't easily cover it all in a single article.  In my previous Rome article, I covered the major landmarks in central Rome, located on the east bank of the Tiber River.  Now we'll talk about the west bank.  The Vatican is located here.

Tiber River & Castel Sant'Angelo

From our apartment near the Piazza Navona, it was an easy 10-minute walk west to the Tiber River.  Legend has it that Rome was founded on the banks of this river.  Walking along the tree-lined riverfront is very pleasant.  It provides a peaceful respite from all the tourist-filled landmarks and piazzas.  Rome has built some beautiful bridges than span the Tiber.  The one pictured below (as well as in the photo at the top of this article) is the Ponte Sant'Angelo. 

As you cross the Ponte Sant'Angelo, you come to the immense Castel Sant'Angelo.  This castle was actually originally built as the tomb for the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his family.  It was upgraded to a castle in the 14th Century by the Popes.  They even built a tunnel from St. Peter's Basilica to the castle, so people could seek refuge there (kinda like in the book/movie "Angels and Demons" haha). 

The Vatican

The Vatican is the main attraction on the west bank of the Tiber.  Vatican City is a city-state - a sovereign nation independent of Italy.  It's a tiny country.  Its lands are fully contained within the city walls, and under 1000 people officially live there.  The Holy See, the "government" of the Roman Catholic Church, operates from the Vatican (but it is technically independent from the Vatican City state).  The Vatican is a theocracy.  The Pope is its monarch, a head-of-state just like the American President or the British Prime Minister.  The only other people in the world who also have this dual role of religious leader and head of state are the leaders of Islamic states such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan; as well as the Dalai Lama of Tibet.

Although the Vatican is the seat of a 2000 year old religion and is filled with a wealth of relics and history, Vatican City is ironically a young nation.  It was founded only in 1929.  48 of the U.S. States (except Alaska and Hawaii) are older than Vatican City.  For many centuries, the Papal States was a much larger nation, occupying much of central Italy, from which the Holy See ruled.  Since the fall of the Roman Empire, the Italian peninsula was divided into several nations, including the Papal States (and this division was in flux all the time).  In the 1800's, Italy went through a reunification phase.  I don't know much about this history, but here's what I have read.  The various nations of the Italian peninsula (Venice, Piedmont, Lombardy, Sicily, Naples, etc.) fought outside conquerors (like the Spanish and the Austrians), as well as each other.  After a few wars, the emerging consolidated Kingdom of Italy (led by the Piedmonts) eventually declared war on the Papal States, who opposed the unification.  In 1870, the Kingdom of Italy besieged Rome for a bit, then it annexed Rome.  This ended the Papal States' millennium-long era of being a sovereign nation.  In spite of this huge loss, the Pope and his leadership remained defiant and retreated behind the walls of the Vatican.  The Italian government did not want to attack the Vatican itself and did not care to interfere with the operations of the Catholic Church.  This stalemate, known in Italian history as the Roman Question, lasted for almost 60 years.  It finally ended with a compromise in 1929 - the Lateran Treaty.  This treaty established the Vatican City as a sovereign nation for the Popes, and made Roman Catholicism the official religion of Italy.

The focal point of the Vatican is St. Peter's Square.  A large boulevard leads from the Tiber River to this square.  St. Peter's Basilica is located at the top of the square.  The Pope conducts large public masses in the square.

As I had mentioned earlier, we were in Rome on the weekend of Pope John Paul II's Beatification ceremony.  This ceremony marks step 3 of 4 in becoming a Saint of the Catholic Church - a BIG deal.  As a result, hordes of believers (especially from Poland, where that Pope came from) came to the Vatican for the ceremony.  Officials set up large screens, speakers, and crowd control measures everywhere.  We escaped from town on the main day of the ceremony (Saturday).  But even on Sunday, the Vatican was crowded, because they allowed visitors to view the Pope's casket in St. Peter's Basilica.

St. Peter's Basilica is an immense church of Renaissance architecture.  It's probably the largest all churches in the Christian kingdom, and it's one of the holiest.  Aside from being a huge space for performing religious services, St. Peter's is also well-known for its crypt.  Many Popes are buried there.  The crypt's most famous "resident" is St. Peter himself, the apostle of Jesus who became the first Pope.  Unfortunately, there was such a huge line to get in to the basilica, so we did not make it in :(  The photos above were from my previous trip to Italy.

Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Museum is a ginormous museum that houses the collection of artwork gathered by the Catholic Church over the millenia.  It is one of Rome's top tourist attractions.  It is so popular that you usually have to wait an hour or two to get in.  I highly recommend buying a tour, which allows you to get in a special tour group entrance.  When we went, however, everyone was going to St. Peter's Square to see the Pope festivities, so there was hardly any line for the museum.

The museum as a great variety of art work.  There's a lot of Roman art, especially sculpture.  There's a lot of Renaissance and Early Modern Italian art - though mostly portraits of stuffy old people or religious scenes.  What is really impressive is all the art painted directly painted on the ceilings and walls.  Since my last trip, they have also added an entire wing of modern art too.  I think we spent 4 or 5 hours at this museum.  You can probably spend even more time there!

Museums are often cool not just for their artwork, but also for their architecture.  My favorite architectural highlight from the Vatican Museum is its spiral staircase entrance.

At the end of the museum, you are led to its masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel.  We've all probably heard of the wonders of this place.  It's ironic though - when you first walk in, you just notice how small and dark it is.  And it's crowded - hundreds of tourists are always stuffed in here.  But when you look up and see every inch of wall covered by Michelangelo's handiwork, wow, it's pretty amazing.  For some silly reason, they don't let you take any pictures in here.  I'm not sure how this photo got here :)

Related links:

• All articles on my Italia 2011 trip 
• Slideshow on Flickr 

Happy Lunar New Year! Welcome to the Year of the Cat - or is it the Rabbit? Life's mysteries revealed within...

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone! May you and your family be blessed with happiness, health, luck, success, and the chance to read my blog many times this year :)

I thought I'd spend a little time researching the glorious Inter-Web to learn more about this great tradition. Even as an Asian growing up with this stuff, there are things you just observe but don't really understand the meanings or origins of. To observe the holiday properly, I should really be taking the next two weeks off work. But nooo, I'm not taking any time off. So just an hour or two of research isn't so bad :)

Don't you mean Happy Chinese New Year?

Don't let Chinese oppressors fool you - there is more to Asia than China. Just because there are 1.3 billion of them and 100 of the rest of us doesn't mean that you should only listen to them! If you are a cultured Gringo, you may have asked yourself "hmm, to which of my Asian friends should I wish a happy new year?" Obviously Chinese ones, since it's often called Chinese New Year. The Vietnamese too, since I am blogging about it. The Vietnamese new year is called Têt. Even Koreans as well. Here's how to say Happy New Year in several languages:

• Vietnamese: Chúc mừng năm mới
• Chinese Mandarin: Gōng xǐ fā cái (恭禧發財)
• Chinese Cantonese: Gong hey fat choy (恭禧發財, written the same as Mandarin)
• Korean: Sae-hae-bok ma-ni pa-dŭ-se-yo!  (새해복 많이 받으세요)

What about the other Asian countries, like Japan? I wondered this myself.

• Apparently Japan used to follow the Chinese Zodiac and observe Lunar New Year. But the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800's put the Japanese on the Gregorian (western) calendar, and the new year on January 1.
  
• Southeast Asian countries like Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand used to observe Chinese New Year, but heavy South Asian/Hindu influence and climate differences apparently moved the new year to the fifth lunar month - April.
  
• The Philippines is pretty much "Latin Asia" - Jan 1 new year and Catholic.
  
• In Malaysia, they celebrate Jan 1, Chinese New Year, and even Islamic New Year.
  

What the heck is a Lunar New Year anyways?

While the answer on the surface (duh, it's the new year of the lunar calendar) may be simple, it's really a little more complex... Let's step back a little. The sun and the moon have been used for telling time since the early days of civilization. The concept of the year is pretty obvious. It's very useful for figuring out seasons, weather, and planning agriculture. Each time the earth is at a certain spot in its orbit around the sun makes perfect sense for a new year.

The hard part about the year is that it's a really long time. Every day looks like the previous day, until you realize a big difference several months later, like when summer has turned into autumn and the leaves start to fall. Hence a more useful and shorter-term measure of time is the moon's position around the earth - the month.  The moon takes about 30 days to travel around the earth.  It's pretty easy to tell where in the month you are too - new moon, waxing crescent moon, full moon, waning gibbous moon, etc.  That's why every civilization has the concept of the month.

The Moon makes roughly twelve revolutions around the Earth in a year.  I bet this behavior of nature is why you see a base 12 system (aka duodecimal) used in many units of time: 12 months in a year, 12 hours of day and night.  Many Asian countries used the twelve lunar cycles as the main basis for determining the length of a year.

Problem is that it's not exactly twelve cycles - it's really 12 cycles + a few days.  So every once in a while, you have to add an extra "leap" month in there to make up for it.  Since this system adjusts months to fit the earth's position around the sun, it's technically called a lunisolar calendar.  Thought I'd insert that random trivia fact :)  The lunar new year usually occurs at the beginning of the second lunar cycle (new moon) after the winter solstice. 

Strange, eh?  Are these crazy Asians making life too complex?  Well there's another well-known holiday that is determined in a similar way.  Easter, as recognized by Western (non-Orthodox) Christian churches, occurs on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs after the spring equinox.

The Chinese Zodiac

Lunar New Year is strongly associated with the Chinese zodiac.  The Chinese zodiac is like the western zodiac in some ways: there's a cycle, and there are twelve phases to the cycle.  The western zodiac, which came from the Greeks, is based on the Sun's position across the sky.  The twelve signs of the western zodiac are supposed to be the twelve constellations through which the sun passes (though the signs have been abstracted for astrological purposes, so don't believe any nonsense about the earth wobbling and a 13th sign). The constellations refer to characters or events in Greek mythology.

The Chinese zodiac, however, is not based on any constellations.  Asian philosophy/religion/astrology is very closely tied to nature.  The Chinese zodiac's twelve signs are based on everyday animals and the characteristics associated with them.  There's a good Wikipedia page that describes the characteristics in detail. Another difference is that the Chinese zodiac cycle is in years rather than months, so the entire year of 2010 is Tiger, and 2011 is Rabbit/Cat.  Here's some awesome artwork by DarkuAngel that shows the cycle:

There is more complexity to the Chinese zodiac as well. There's a macro cycle involving the 5 elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water).  Not all people of the same sign are the same.  A 1975 Cat/Rabbit is a Wood Cat/Rabbit, while a 1963 Cat/Rabbit is of Water.  This makes the astrological cycle 12 x 5 = 60 years. There are other considerations for which month and even which hour you were born. The end result is several thousand possible astrological personality traits. No wonder Asians actually pay astrologers for significant readings!

2011: Year of the Cat? Or Rabbit?

I have wrestled with this mystery since my birth.  Those of you born in 1975 like me, or 1951, 1963, 1987, 1999 may have experienced similar inner turmoil as children.  Now that it's 2011, you can all join me in the controversy.  In Vietnam, 2011 marks the fourth and luckiest year of the lunar cycle: the year of the Cat.  Everywhere else, it's the year of the Rabbit.  It may be true that cats and rabbits both have whiskers and pointy ears, are good jumpers, and breed a lot. But cats and rabbits are pretty different animals, really...  Regardless, let's talk about the lastrological traits of whatever-this-small-furry-mammal-is:

• Luckiest of the signs (followed by the rat). Talented and affectionate, yet shy. You are peace seeker.
  
• Gracious, good friend, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, astute, compassionate, flexible. Can be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, stubborn.
  
• The best life partners would include the Sheep or Pig but not Rooster.
  

Let's also add a description of a cat/rabbit's astrological trine, which is kind of a harmonious grouping of a few signs.  There are four groupings of three signs.

The fourth trine consists of the Rabbit, Sheep, and Pig. The quest for these three signs is the aesthetic and beautiful in life. Their calm nature gives them great leadership abilities. They are artistic, refined, intuitive, and well-mannered. These souls love the preliminaries in love, and are fine artists in their lovemaking. The Rabbit, Sheep and Pig have been bestowed with calmer natures than the other 9 signs. These three are compassionately aware, yet detached and resigned to their condition. They seek beauty and a sensitive lover. They are caring, unique, self-sacrificing, obliging, sensible, creative, empathic, tactful, and prudent. They can also be naive, pedantic, insecure, cunning, indecisive, and pessimistic.

I'm honestly a bit of a skeptic, but I gotta admit that many of these traits are true of myself (well, the good traits hehe).  Ladies, remember: I'm seeking beauty and a sensitive lover, and I could go for some artistic lovemaking!  Haha :)  Come to think of it, I even had a great relationship with a Pig before, and a not-so-great one with a Rooster.... But I digress....

Ok, now why do we have Cats in Vietnam and Rabbits everywhere else?  The Chinese zodiac dates back a very long time - beyond 2500 BCE.  This is almost 2000 years before the Greeks (who came up with the western zodiac).  There are many legends and stories.  Culture has evolved over time too.  Unfortunately, there really is no accurate record of what happened.

The zodiac origin story that I enjoy the most is of the Great Race.  Click this link for the story.  It's a wonderful read - it's a great myth tale, and it clearly depicts the personalities of the animals.  It's even great for telling your children - check out the book on Amazon :)

While some have argued that somehow "rabbit" got turned into "cat" due to some translation error into Vietnamese, I'm not so sure.  The legends all feature the cat prominently in the story, as one of the 13 (or 12) animals.  Either the cat got screwed out of the race, or somehow it finished the race.  How do you mess up the translation of part of the story (rabbit to cat) but maintain the cat's role in the story?  Highly unlikely, I say!  Furthermore, Vietnam was occupied by China for over 1000 years.  There had to have been a tremendous amount of culture swapping - too much for a simple translation problem to get in the way.

Bottom line: no one really knows what's up with the Cat in the Vietnamese zodiac.  I think the folks selling Trix cereal would rather see the lucky rabbit as the winner.  However, Al Stewart would probably make a lot more money with royalties if 2011 were truly the year of the Cat.  As for me, all I have to say is "meow."

Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan

Now that Thanksgiving is behind me, I am ready to continue my blog thread on Japan.  Today's article is on Kyoto.  Kyoto is located in central Honshu (the big island in Japan), a three hour bullet train ride from Tokyo.  We spent four days in the Kyoto area.

Kyoto is the perfect foil to Tokyo.  Maybe that's why they share the same letters in their names? :)  While Tokyo is a ginormous, bustling metropolis of 30 million people, Kyoto is a cozy, slower-paced city of 1.5 million.  While Tokyo is modern, high-tech, and innovative, Kyoto is traditional and conventional.  Tokyo may be Japan's political/economic capital, leading the charge into the future.  Kyoto is Japan's cultural capital and the link to its past.

The first thing we noticed in Kyoto, after taking the train from Tokyo, was the absence of skyscrapers.  Tokyo is immensely dense and built up.  Although Kyoto may still be dense compared to most American cities, it is dramatically less dense than Tokyo.  Almost everything in Kyoto is low-rise.  The Kamo River runs through the middle of the city.  Quiet paths lined with sleepy willow trees follow the river.  Kyoto is the perfect place for taking a romantic stroll in the evening.  To add to the atmosphere, you may see a Geisha or two walking around.

Kyoto is kind of divided in two halves, separated by the Kamo River.  Western Kyoto is the modern city half.  Most of the businesses are located there.  Lots of shopping and restaurants are on this side, near the river.  The first photo below is of an alley full of restaurants.  Eastern Kyoto is mostly residential, with temples and shrines scattered everywhere.  The second photo below is of a street in eastern Kyoto, located in a tourist area near some temples.

Temples and Shrines

To appreciate Japanese culture, religion, and history, you have to visit the temples and shrines in Kyoto.  The remainder of this article will discuss many the sites we visited.  Kyoto has over a thousand temples and shrines.  While most of these are small, some are just magnificent.  In fact, there are 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kyoto.  That's an amazing number.  If you aren't interested in temples and shrines, you might just want to breeze through the rest of this article.  We. however, found the experience very interesting and rewarding.


Kiyomizu-dera (Pure Water Temple)

A huge and immensely popular Buddhist temple complex that sits atop a hill overlooking Kyoto. 

The temple is most well-known for its large terrace.  In addition, the Otowa Waterfall is located here.  Its "pure" waters (hence the name) are collected, and visitors may drink it for good luck.

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)

This magnificent pavilion was built in the late 1300's, as a retirement place for a Shogun.  The shogun wanted to cover it all with gold.  He didn't get too far.  What you see was re-built in the 1900's, after the original building burned down a few times.  It is covered in pretty thick gold leaf. 

Fushimi Inari Shrine

This Shinto shrine is dedicated to Inari, the godof rice, sake, and prosperity.  Located in the suburb of Fushimi (a bit south and east of town), this shrine it was built in the 8th century.  It is well-known for the thousands of torii - small Shinto gates - lined up next to each other.  For a very expensive fee, you can get your own torii and inscription!

Ryoan-ji (Peaceful Dragon Temple)

A Zen Buddhist temple. Its most well-known feature is its Zen rock garden.  The photo below doesn't really do it justice.  It's better just to go there and contemplate.

Heian Shrine

Built fairly recently - in 1895, in honor of Kyoto being Japan's capital many centuries ago. It has by far the largest Shinto torii in the city.

Tenryu-ji Temple and Arashiyama

Of the five great Zen temples in Kyoto, Tenryu-ji may be the greatest.  Located in the suburban Arashiyama district, this temple lies next to a mountain.  Apparently, this temple provides a remarkable view all year round, with each season showing off its own beauty.  We were fortunate enough to visit during fall color season.  Nearby are some beautiful Japanese gardens and paths, not to mention a bamboo forest (the one used in the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon).

Philosopher's Path

A beautiful, tree-lined path along a canal in eastern Kyoto.  There are a number of temples and shrines along the way.  In spring, cherry blossoms light up the path with white and pink.  The path gets its name from a Japanese philosopher who used to walk the path daily to contemplate.

Daitokuji

This temple complex is a major site for the Rinzai, a Buddhist sect.  The complex is very large.  Consisting of 24 temples, it's more like a village!

Chion-in Temple

Head temple for yet another Buddhist sect - the Jodo (Pure Land) sect.

Yasaka Shrine (Gion Shrine)

A Shinto shrine located in Kyoto's popular Gion district (where our hotel was).  A big festival occurs here every year.

Ryozen Kannon Temple

A WWII war memorial shrine, featuring a ginormous Buddha statue.

In conclusion, Kyoto is a charming, rich place. You definitely get a glimpse of old Japan by spending time there. Not to mention, it's a great break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo :)

Related articles:

• All articles on my Japan trip 
• Slideshow of Japan trip highlights on Flickr 
• My full blog