Florence is a walkable city and even that the museums and some churches are very expensive there are many smaller churches and many parks, plazas and neighborhoods that you can visit during your walks.  As there are many markets selling leather products and clothes and souvenirs, as well as fruit and vegetable markets.

Florence has an impressive past, a strong past.

                The Medici's were a powerful family that made Florence a center of culture and through their patronage of the arts it brought to the city painters, sculptors and architects like Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael becoming a beautiful city and the cultural center of Europe and the cradle of New Humanism. Besides it was one of the most important cities politically, economically, and culturally in the world from the 14th century to the 16th century. It is also attribute as being the birth place of the Renaissance.

Cosimo was the first Medici in power, he was succeeded by his son Piero, who was succeeded by his son Lorenzo who was a tyrant. During their reign there were many murders and intrigues.  Most of the Medici’s after Lorenzo rued from behind the scenes making them even more powerful.

Of course I went to see the Medici’s palace, which is very nice, no as grand as the French palaces but still nice. The rooms are adorned by frescos and by many of the tapestries used during this era.

The most famous painting is located in the chapel and depicts the Medici’s with the three wise men. It is a beautiful fresco however you are not allowed to take pictures of it.

All the rooms are very ornate and they are decorated with crystal chandeliers and tapestries.

Now a day the building is use as a municipality where town meetings are conducted.

Genoa is better known as the birthplace of Christopher Columbus and also as a city where Rubens, Caravaggio and Van Dyck did most of their work. You can see their work in the churches and palazzos all in the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo style.

Chiesa del Gesu = Church of Jesus is a Jesuit church and  from the outside it does not say much but inside it is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. It was done by Rubbens. The riches of the Altar, the columns, the floors and all the frescos adorning the walls and ceilings are magnificent. It is done in the Baroco style so it is very busy, nevertheless, it is a work of art.

 

In the church there are many chapels in honor of different personalities and families of the era. All of them are adorned with frescos and marble and gold. I like the one for the Borgia’s because I am watching the series on T.V and I found their story very interesting, besides I like history and when it is presented in an entertaining way it’s even nicer.

Anyway, if you are ever in Italy make sure you go to Genoa and see this magnificent church, the art and the architecture are worth the trip.

The Genoa Cathedral it’s very nice on the outside however the inside did not do if for me. It was empty, not seats, no pews and it just looked like any other church.

After the Church of the Jesuits it will be very hard to find something I like.

Italy is a very religious country and they still observe the church attire with consist of cover shoulders, no short shorts or short skirts. Needless to say they have cover ups for the tourist otherwise they cannot enter the church. They have somebody at the entrance of every church making sure that the tourists are dress appropriately.

Genoa has some medieval gates still standing but not much of the wall remains.

Seaside Heights

Every time I remember the summer weekends when my children were little I have to smile.

Every Saturday and Sunday where the same, I would open the front door to find 5 or 6 children sitting on my porch with their beach towel under their arms looking at me with puppy eyes and asking me if I was going to the beach.

Of course the answer was always yes and they knew it. My husband and I would pack the station wagon with our two children and all the kids in the block and we went for the 2 hr. ride to Seaside Heights.

My children were the youngest ones at 3 and 4 when we started; the neighborhood kids were between 6 and 10. They all behaved beautifully because they knew that if they did not behave we would not bring them any longer. One of my nieces use to came with us sometimes as did some of the kids friends.

Back then we did not have seat belts or booster seats so we were able to pack many children in the station wagon, which was nice, now a day we would be able to only bring my two and one more, that’s it. Anyway that has nothing to do with what I am writing, that it’s for another day.

It was so much fun to play in the white sands and bathe in the salty clear waters.

We would go to the boardwalk for a walk and eat a big delicious pizza for lunch, one of the best pizzas you will ever have are in New Jersey.
Sometimes they would go in some of the rides and my husband loved to play the boardwalk games and win stuffed animals for the kids.

We did that for many years and we loved every minute of it as did the kids.

You see, that it what most everybody did on the weekends, we went to the beach, well actually we were the only ones in my neighborhood that did that every weekend, we did it Saturday and Sunday, anyway, many people did go to the beach.

We got to meet some families that were there every weekend, families like us that enjoyed the beauty of the Jersey beaches.

It was devastating to see pictures of the Seaside’s roller coaster in the water, to see the boardwalk gone, to see the beach town in ruins. Such a beautiful place it was…

I don’t live in the states any longer but for the period that I lived in New Jersey, Seaside Heights was a big part of my life, one that I always will remember.
Let me clarify that this was before those guidos from New York ruin the reputation of Seaside and when it was called the beach instead of the shore.

Cannes

I was very disappointed. OK there is sand on the beaches but it is brown and the water was brown. I thought because there are many yachts and boats but Monaco was not dirty, so I don’t know why.

The place was not bad but it was nothing spectacular either. I guess after Monaco everything will be a letdown, but no, Nice is nice.

Anyway, the beaches are mostly private with lounges and umbrellas and restaurants and bars on it. There is a small space at the end of each beach for the general public. These restaurants look very nice but I am not paying 50€ for lunch, I went to the local supermarket and had a sandwich.

I walked the promenade along the beaches and I went up to the castle, then some walk through the centre and that was it.

I guess that one hears so much about Cannes that I expected to be something more.

Oh well....

Monte Carlo

What a beautiful place, very chick, and clean and a lot of money there. You should see the cars and the yachts, too much money. I would like to have a little more money but I don’t want that much.

I walked the country which is not big. I visited the Prince Rainier palace, well, Albert’s now; actually it is call “Palais Princier” and the old town surrounding it. At 11:55 everyday day they have the changing of the guards, they are so cute in their white uniforms.

 I walk the entire boardwalk around the Port de Fonteville, Port Hercule, Monte Carlo and the beaches of Larvotto. A very nice walk that only took about 2 slow hours.

I also visited the Jardin Exotique and I will recommend you take a bus going there, they are far and uphill and they are not easy to find, the signage are very confusing.

There are many museums and exhibitions many of them about Princes Grace, I did not go into any of them, and they also have a big aquarium where you can visit their nursery.

                I went to the casino which is beautiful, I took pictures of the outside only because you are not allowed cameras inside of it which is a shame because it’s beautiful, really nice and classy, the atrium has spectacular marble floors and onyx columns and the ceilings are decorated with frescos. They have an American lounge = slot machines, and then the regular roulette and black jack, however you can only go to this one lounge all the other ones are private. I did not gamble as I can’t afford to lose.

Everything is beautiful and very rich but of course it’s the playground of the rich and famous, however, Punta del Este has nothing to envy of Monte Carlo, the beaches are beautiful with white sand, the casino it’s great, well it’s the playground of the rich and famous.

 Actually all the beaches in Uruguay have white fine sand, in Montevideo the water it’s a little murky sometimes because it’s the river, but on the Atlantic Ocean beaches the water is green and clean and not stones, just miles and miles of sand and dunes.

I am not saying this because I am from Uruguay, I am saying it because I been to many beaches in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe, and we do have better or as good beaches than most place

Of course I walked the street with all the expensive shops and window shop and then I walk the street with the regular shops.

I had a great day, it was very hot but I did not care because the place was gorgeous.