Archive for the ‘Italy’ Category

Nationalism

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

There have been a few interesting philosophical thoughts passing through my mind lately concerning the whole idea of cultural differences among people. I am not very good at philosophical issues, so I was unable to form a coherent picture of these short thoughts in my mind 🙂 . For this reason I decided to write them down… and yes, my blog seemed to be the perfect target for it.

Initially there was one question bugging me: is it a good thing or bad, that we are so different? Is keeping our national identity a good or a bad thing? Well, there are good and bad sides of it I think: the mere fact that there are different nations and cultures, makes our life so ‘colorful’. On the other hand it also fuels ages of hatred amongst nations (well among some individuals surely).

Nationalism is the main source of all the great things that a nation achieves: buildings, monuments our individual histories are a tribute to a nation’s greatness and represent the main elements that color our world. At least that is what keeps attracting me to see/visit more and more places, and I am always stunned of what I see 😀 . All nations nurture their history and know that it is the source of inspiration for their future, it represents the solid foundation upon which their future can be built upon.
Nationalism, however, can be very dangerous in some cases. Most of our wars were and are based on nationalist views. And yes, I think today also, no matter if the real cause is economical or religious: one side considers the other one someone else, it is only the aftermath and casualties that show that both sides are actually human…

It is very hard to accept another culture or civilization. In my case, all the things that seemed inexplicably stupid for me in the U.S. for example, was actually something natural to them… who am I to judge? They live like that, period.
My newest ‘encounter’ with another nation is Italy. In some cases I get really angry because of their behavior. They can seem to be very annoying and unrealistic sometimes. But this is how they are. This is the same nation that built so many great things and let’s face it, they might be far away from Germany’s precision engineers (who Italians seem to detest, among with most of their neighbors 😛 ) but they sure are a cheerful and happy bunch of people who really know how to live 🙂 .
After all this experience makes me, the Hungarian, born and raised in Romania, really-really open to learn about other nations. All the things that I saw/see living abroad makes me understand how little they know about us, but also how little we know about other cultures. Getting to know a culture and really start to appreciate it takes a lot. Even living amongst one another for ages seems to be a short time period for some.

A great Hungarian king said once to his son: “Appreciate the immigrants as they are the ones that make your country more powerful”… And there is no better example to this than the one single super-power still in existence: the U.S…

Having strong national beliefs in the end I think is a good thing, as long as it is used for good reasons. As soon as that belief crosses the line and becomes abusive to other cultures can become a bad thing. Failure to recognize another culture or nation is in my opinion not only an indication of stupidity but can also block another culture from developing. We know so much about our own culture, but so little about others. This applies for both cultures that rarely get in contact and also to neighboring ones that have lived together for centuries. I think it should be about time to start learning more about each other and start building our future on common cultural heritages rather than trying to step on the other.

Lamborghini Museum

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

After the Galleria Ferrari visit we went along to visit another great Italian car manufacturer, which has its headquarters nearby: Lamborghini. After visiting the official site we already knew that we had to book a visit 30 days prior to the visit, if we would like to do a factory visit, too. Because of this I have had a couple of e-mails with a Lamborghini official to make the booking to the factory visit also.
Lamborghini Museum
When we arrived to the Lamborghini factory, however, they were expecting us with an unpleasant surprise: the factory was closed that week, so we could only visit the museum. They told us that they have sent me an e-mail about this, but I know I did not receive anything… so much for Audi’s professionalism… I knew from another blog review that there is a small window from where you can see inside the factory, but that has been gone too 🙁 .

After this unhappy moment, we went on to at least visit the two floor Lamborghini museum. Most of our sadness has gone when we saw the cars. The old cars on the ground floor were nice (ex. the first 1963 350 GT of Feruccio Lamborghini and the #0001 Countach), but for me, as a car enthusiast, the real surprise was upstairs. As I climbed up, I saw a real, functioning Reventon 😀 , a 1 million euro super-jewel of the current model-range. The other cars were nice, too. There were some concept cars and some tuned-up Diablos. The Diablo stuck on the wall, that I read about in the above mentioned blog, was replaced by a Murcielago of the same color.

We took some pictures, admired the cars, and went to see what is in the gift-shop (They have very kindly notified us, that there is one and they gave us indications where it is… ). Among the pricey clothes and leather accessories present at the gift-shop there were some coffee-mugs that seemed interesting, but at the 24 euro price the did not look so nice as the 18 euro coffee mugs at Ferrari’s gift-shop.

Not taking into consideration, that the main attraction of the day, an actual visit inside the factory was so simply blown away, it was a nice experience. I have uploaded some photos to my Picasa web account.

Galleria Ferrari

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Yesterday we did a trip to Galleria Ferrari in Maranello, a museum and showcase of Ferrari’s history and current models.
Galleria Ferrari
The gallery was not so hard to find, provided, that one has a GPS on board. Otherwise, in my opinion, it can be a bit tricky. For people who are used to drive on Italian roads, it might be easier though. Immediately after entering Maranello, we spotted a camouflage Ferrari, a Ferrari California style car with its front bumper camouflaged, probably a new model or face-lift. Now we were sure we were at the right spot 🙂 . We drove along on the narrow streets of Maranello, and arrived in front of the big parking-place in front of Galleria Ferrari. Finding a parking-spot was not easy. The place was overcrowded, there have even been 3-4 buses also, and lots of tourists at the entrance.

In front of the gallery, there was an offer of experiencing a Ferrari on the passenger seat for 15 minutes. They said it would have cost 100 euros. Well, considering the fact that, in our opinion, sitting in the passenger seat for 15 minutes while some driver goes around in the narrow, crowded streets of Maranello is not really the Ferrari experience that one would hope for, we skipped this ‘great’ offer. (It was an old 360 Modena anyway 😉 )

After the parking lot experience and the turn down of the ‘offer of our lifetime’, we went in the Gallery. Surprise, surprise, the whole visit started with the Gift Shop. Nice place, with lots of interesting stuff, but unfortunately we have not been allowed to take photos. We bought the tickets for 13 euros each and started the tour of the gallery.
The exposition is arranged in two floors with 5-6 rooms in total. The ground floor is dedicated to Ferrari’s Racing history and present. Many historic race cars are present from the old original race cars to the 2006 F1 racing car.
The first part of the second floor had exhibits of early and current models of Ferraris including the 612 Scaglietti, GT race cars (575 GT, 360GT etc.), the F50, California, F40, GTO, Dino, Testarossa, Enzo etc.

All in all it is a great experience for car fans. The models exposed are great, some of the models being really rare jewels of car history. I liked the fact that the race cars are, I think, originals (used tires and steering wheels). It was also a good thing that visitors can take photos inside the gallery. One could get really close (but not touch) the cars and just feel the Ferrari experience 😉 .

I have uploaded photos to my Picasa web account.

The Jewel of Toscana: Firenze

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

I do not think I am exaggerating with this title: Firenze really is a nice place to visit and a gem of Toscana. For this reason we decided to dedicate a full weekend to this place (with a little stop in Pisa).
Firenze
It took quite a while to plan this trip, because there are tons of things to visit in Firenze and so little time. In the end we chose two primary targets for the two days: The Gallery of the Art Academy and The Uffizi Gallery. I have booked a reservation for both museums on this website.
Also we have chosen a hostel to stay at, which I would recommend to anyone who goes to Firenze: the Plus Florence hostel was a very nice experience.

Getting to Firenze from Genova could be done very easily using only Regionale trains (cheaper, but stops at every station). After the Pisa trip we have arrived to Firenze at around 14:30, which gave us plenty of time to explore the city before the booked visit at 16:30 to the Gallery of the Art Academy. Everything is really close in the city-center. We went to visit the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral first. Entrance into the cathedral itself is free, but if someone wants to enter the Dome (the eastern part of the building) to admire the frescoes, it costs €8, which together with the huge line was unacceptable for us. We took some photos around the church, went in for some refreshments into a nearby bar and went straight to find the Art Academy.

The Gallery of the Art Academy is a pretty simple building from the outside. The entry fee without booking is €6.5. Our additional €4 for the booking proved to be useless, because there was no line at all at that time. We went in to admire a beautiful collection of musical instruments, paintings and sculptures, among which the famous Statue of David (original) by Michelangelo. The whole visit took about an hour and I think we have spent quite some time examining most of the exhibits. One important thing: taking photos is strictly forbidden, and there is a tight security with metal detectors at the entrance, so try not to have too many metallic things with you 🙂 .

We have found our hostel really easily and checked in. We were happy to find out that there was a swimming pool, sauna and some fitness machines included into the price. The hostel itself was really tidy and nice, with a bunch of young tourist. The nightlife was also full, having it’s own party-room in the basement.

After checking in, we went out to find a nice restaurant where we can eat dinner. Around the San Lorenzo Church (Medici Chapel) there is a market, which is pretty crowded in the daytime. In the evening, however, the marketeers take off their tents, and a lot of restaurants get to be visible behind them. Most of them have a waiter standing in the door inviting visitors in. Almost all of them were pretty pushy which was getting to be pretty annoying as we tried to find a restaurant which suited us (price and offer). In the end we have chosen the restaurant whose waitress was the least pushy, she was actually more inviting and kind by doing so. Our meal was great and the pricing was acceptable. Unfortunately I can not remember the name of the restaurant, but I know it is somewhere in the northern corner of the market.

The next day we went out at around 11:00, after an “all you can eat” English-breakfast at the hostel buffet (for €5). We had some time until the scheduled visit into the Uffizi, so we decided to visit the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral again. This time there were no lines, so we said we will try to go up into the tower of the dome-complex, Giotto’s Bell Tower (Campanile di Giotto). The entry fee was €6, but again, as with all towers, it was worth it. On the last floor, one could admire a beautiful view of Firenze in every direction. The only bad thing was, that when we realized, that we are starting to be late for our next scheduled visit, and tried to rush down… the bells started to bang. And it was loud. We thought initially that the bells are out of order… well they were not… they were alive and loud 🙂 .

We arrived at the Uffizi Gallery just in time. In front of the museum there was a huge crowd, waiting to get inside. Lucky for us, we already booked in advance, so we just walked in front of everyone (to entrance No 1) and got in (the power of the internet 😀 ). The entry fee is also €6.5 plus the usual €4 for the booking. Again taking photos is forbidden, and the security with metal detectors at the entrance is present here also. All bags had to be left in a locker before entering the museum.
I thought we will be able to finish with the museum in about an hour and a half (maximum 2)… well I was wrong. The museum is HUGE and filled with LOTS of exhibits. It took us around three and a half hours to take the tour. It was well worth it, there are paintings from many famous artists (Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo etc. ) as well as lots of ancient statues on the corridor. Most of the pieces are original, but there are also a lot of copies.

After the visit we only had time to visit the Ponte Vecchio, which is an interesting bridge with jewelry shops on it and a famous landmark of Firenze. From the bridge we went to see the Palazzo Pitti, but we did not have time to enter. The Palazzo Pitti actually contains a number of museums, and entry prices vary according to which group the tourist wants to visit.

In the end we decided to go and have lunch at the same bar near the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral where we took the refreshments the day before. For €13.5 we could buy a pretty neat lunch with soda.

With this lunch our short visit to Firenze was concluded, it was already time to go to the train station and get back home. Anyway, now I know, that Firenze needs more than just a short weekend. I would recommend 4-5 days to have time to visit more stuff. It is a place I would recommend to anyone and a place I will definitely will return to for a longer visit.

I have uploaded some pictures on my Picasa account.

The 8th Wonder of the World

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Curious title, isn’t it? Well that is what the small descriptive movie about the Leaning Tower said in Pisa. It is interesting, indeed, but I do not know if I would categorize it as a “Wonder of the World” 🙂 . Anyway, it is a MUST when visiting Italy, being a representative building all over the world.
Pisa
On route to Firenze from Genova, one must switch trains in Pisa and usually there is at least a 30 minute waiting time, to the next train. We decided, to extend that period to a few hours, and visit the famous building.

Getting from the Pisa Centrale train station to the Piazza del Duomo is really easy: just take a bus from the red bus line. There is a bus stop just across the road from the train station. One can purchase a ticket on the bus also (€1.5).

Tourists can visit any of the museums on the piazza for a small fee (from €3 to €6 and there is no entry fee for the dome). Going up to the tower is a bit pricier: €15 just to climb up. After some thinking, I said, why not… it might be a missed opportunity, if I do not to go up, so I paid the ticket.
It was actually quite an experience to go up on the spiraling staircase to the top: the fact that the tower is leaning, can be felt really intensely. On the top there is a unique view awaiting the curious tourists: looking down on the side which leans towards the ground can be a pretty dazzling experience 😀 .

There are some photos uploaded to my Picasa account.