• David Du Buron
  • EDuBu

Europe 2022 - 2023

Et 432-dagers eventyr av David & EDuBu Les mer
  • Accadrmia Gallery Florence

    12. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We visited the Academy museum in Florence (called Forienze by the locals). This was a very small museum but has one key statue we wanted to see which is David. It was a beautiful work of art from Miccelangelo. We also saw the "prisoners" or unfinished statues still in marble as well as some paintings and 17th century instruments.Les mer

  • Scenes of Florence

    13. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Home of the Renaissance, Florence did not disappoint. So far it has to be Emily and David's favorite major city we've visited. A Piazza around every corner, and a matching Church along with it.

    If you ever get to go, the Piazzale Michelangelo is a must see. It did show up on our research, but we only went because we stumbled upon it by accident while doing a river walk. It's across the Arno River and offers a stunning skyline view of Florence for free. You can drive or get there by foot from the main Cathedral in maybe 40 minutes (only because its up hill).

    It's a gorgeous city.
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  • Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

    13. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The Cathedral of Florence is a gothic style cathedral whose construction began in 1296 and was completed in 1436.

    From the outside, it was easily the most beautiful cathedral we've seen to date. From the inside, it was a bit more plain. Many of the artifacts were moved into the Duomo museum. We'll post that later.Les mer

  • Giotto's Bell Tower

    13. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    The Bell tour for the Cathedral of Florence is actually a self standing structure. It is not connected to the Cathedral in any way. It's base is just 47.41 ft in both width and depth and stands 277.9 ft tall. Emily and David purchased tickets to climb to the top via 414 narrow stairs of 2 way traffic.

    The views were amazing!

    The views were amazing. There was also an option to climb the Cathedral of Florence' s dome, but opted to see the Dome from afar instead. You should be able to see people at the top in our final two pictures.
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  • Scenes from Pisa

    14. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Pisa was an interesting town. We've all heard about it since grade school, but being there was a bit surreal. It had a lot of shopping pizzas, good food and good scenes. Cut in half by the Arno River (the same river that runs through Florence) provided some very pretty scenes and a surprise later...Les mer

  • The Leaning Tower of Pisa et al.

    14. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    The leaning tower of Pisa, is Pisa's famous bell tower. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. The tower is one of three structures in the Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo), which includes the cathedral and Pisa Baptistry.

    In 1993, a repair effort occurred as reports were that the tower was in danger of breaking. In 2018, after self correcting for more than a decade the tower had finally stopped and gained 4 cm back in the "straight" direction.

    You can read more about that here.
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lean…
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  • Cinque Terre: the 5 villages

    15. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    The Cinque Terre represent one of the most beautiful, unique and incredible areas of the whole Mediterranean. This stretch of coast of Liguria, about 10 km long between Genoa and La Spezia, is so called because here there are five wonderful seaside villages immersed in unspoiled nature.

    The five villages, in order from West to East, are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. They are well known all over the world and it is not possible to think of one without thinking of all the others. But each of these villages has its own history, its peculiarities and its secrets. Together they represent one of the most popular Italian tourist resorts. For us Monterosso was the winner, namely due to the beach. We enjoyed a sun filled day of swimming and lounging as well as town hoping by train to check out all that Cinque Terre has to offer.

    In fact, in 1997 they were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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  • Lucca, Tuscany has it all!

    16. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Luscany's most beloved artistic cities, an unskippable part of any tour of the region. Nicknamed the town of a hundred churches on account of its incredible number of places of worship, it is unique among city-states for having maintained its independence up until 1847.

    Historical circumstances demanded that Lucca fortify itself, and so its immense artistic and architectural heritage is ringed by a massive circuit of defensive walls.

    Lucca sits in the centre of the Lucca plain, a breathtaking landscape that was sculpted by the river Serchio and is dotted with medieval towns.

    So far it is my (Emily) favorite city. It has a small town charm throughout a medium sized city. It was incredibly beautiful and picturesque, benefiting from the Renaissance as well as an extremely clean city. It was packed with restaurants and shops as well as church's, bell towers and nature. We had a wonderful day exploring the history and beauty as well as walking on top of its famous fortified walls and taking in the nature, and mountains that surrounded it. The best part is this town want heavily touristed compared to many other cities we visited. It was a true hidden jem
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  • Leaving Pisa with a BANG

    16. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Everyone was so happy we showed up in Pisa they decided to throw us a firework display on our last night there. ... kidding. We were lucky enough to show up on a major holy holiday in Pisa on the 17th, Saint Raineri’s Luminara. It was a light festival along with an regatta race down the river called The San Ranieri Regatta, a feast called, "Saint Rainerius’s Feast" (you see the theme) and fireworks at night. It was a blast! Beautiful watching the fireworks go off from the bridge over the river. It was unique because the same fireworks display about 10 different places along the river. Some of the videos and pictures george this. The buildings along the Arno River also had candle displays on the side. You can make it out in the videos (the buildings just seem a little too bright).

    Saint Raineri is the patron saint of Pisa. His name can be spelled multiple ways, apparently.

    You can read more about him here:
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainerius
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  • Leaving Tuscany headed to Emilia-Romagna

    17. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    From Pisa we departed in the early AM and left the region of tuscany on our way to the great little city of Parma. On our way we stopped for breakfast in a sleepy little Italian town called Pontremoli before catching a bus to Parma. The morning was enjoyable watching locals pass their time as well as gorgeous views of the Parco Nazionale dell'Appennino Tosco-Emiliano which we saw to our east.Les mer

  • Parma Reggiano in Parma Italy

    18. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We just arrived in Parma yesterday and did a fun tour today of Caseificii Ugolotti a Parmigiano Reggiano cheese producer a little ways outside of town. It was great, we learned a thing or two about the production process and what makes this cheese so special. This facility is smaller, and these men and women work tirelessly 365 days a year to produce two wheels of cheese per day. A few facts; Parmigiano Reggiano must be from the 5 provinces of Emilia-Romagna and it must be aged a minimum of 12 months. After a year an inspector comes and taps the wheel of cheese and gives it a grade; one two or three. Grades one and two can be stamped Parmesian Reggiano on the sides. Grade 3 cannot get this stamp and instead is served as italian table cheese or grated. Grade 1 wheel sells for 1000 euro, Grade 2 for 500 euro a wheel. There are many other factors and more info here; https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&…Les mer

  • Parma, Emilia-Romagna

    18. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Parma is one of the larger cities in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and is particularly famous for its Prosciutto ham aka Parma Ham and Parmigiano Reggiano. With a population of roughly 190,000 the city has seen some form of inhabitation since the Bronze Age and throughout the ages has played an important role in the development of Italy.

    During the Middle Ages, Parma was ruled by the Franks and was part of the Holy Roman Empire, but during the 1200’s it became engulfed in the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. During the 1800’s, the city was annexed by France under the rule of Napoleon, and then finally became a part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Overall Parma was a very picturesque city, aka cute for a metropolitan vibe it gave off. It also had a number of shops and restaurants. It was somewhat busy given its also a university city. We spent a few days here enjoying the parks and main piazzas as well as most notable the parma ham and cheese.
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  • Modena; Emilia-Romagna

    19. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Modena is world renowned for two things. First, as it is more commonly used, Balsamic Vinegar (any fancy vinegar you have at home may even say "Balsamic Vinegar Di Modena"). Secondly, it is known as the upper class sports car capital of the world. Sports car manufacturers: Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati were all based here at one point or another.

    Modena was much less touristy than its neighbor Parma and had less of a metropolitan vibe. Restaurants were busy yet it didn't feel crowded. The piazzas and cute city center was littered with colorful buildings and there was a surprise church that awaited us every few blocks that was always prettier than anticipated. We were pleasantly surprised with this smaller city.

    While scholars do not know the exact founding of the city, one important note about Modena's history is that Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, laid siege to Modena with his elephants, on his way to conquer Rome.
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  • Italian Hospitality & Proscutto -Bologna

    20. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    We had an amazing tour of a local prosciutto factory: Prosciuttificio Montevecchio S.r.l. in Bologna. We learned about the process of making high quality Procutto. They start in January provide two seven day salt cures and massages followed by a 70 day pre dry room and a 9 month aging process thereafter. To be considered a DOP prosciutto it must be aged for 14 months rhen inspected. Ricardo our tour guide had an amazing story he was the victim of a car accident and was in a coma for 20 days and pulled out of it. Now he gives tours as well as works in Agriculture nearby.

    Allessandro our host was certainly an entertainer and he and his girlfriend were fun getting to know. He spoiled us with extras like homemade mozzarella and tomatoes, strawberries with a 25 year old balsamic (consistency of syrup) poured on top, as well as pasta, sauce, and wine to take home. It was Italian hospitality at its finest. The prosciutto we sampled was some of the best we ever had. When we were done for the day Ricardo gave us a ride back to the train station. What a great find (Dave)!
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  • Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio

    21. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Emily as Dave didn't quite know what we were walking into with this landmark. A library and a courtyard said to once be one of the most important buildings of Bologna. It was also the main building of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in continuous operation in the world.

    Inside the library, the walls and ceilings are lined with small family crests of students who attended the University (as well as other art). Also on display were old books from the 15th and 16th century. Trying to understand what we were looking at was a little overwhelming, because there was SO MUCH history on the walls and ceiling. Many of the plaques were in Latin or Italian.

    From wikipedia:
    The library was founded in 1801 at the convent of San Domenico to collect the book heritage of the religious orders suppressed by Napoleon.
    [...]
    The library has about 850,000 volumes and pamphlets, about 2,500 incunabula , about 15,000 sixteenth -century books and about 120,000 old books (up to 1830). The periodicals section includes 7,500 publications, of which over 1,300 are in progress.
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  • The Porticoes of San Luca

    21. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    The Porticoes of Bologna are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among them, the Porticoes of San Luca are the longest uninterrupted series of Porticoes in the world. These Porticoes start near Porta Saragozza (an arch way) and continues for almost 4 km to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca.

    I (Dave) have to confess I didn't research this landmark very well, but Emily really wanted to walk the Porticoes. We waited to the start of the landmark on foot from the center of town. The walk starts off benign enough. It's very level and repetitive with shops besides you. Once you hit Arco Del Meloncello, everything changes. The rest of the walk is straight up. San Luca is on top of a very large hill, and we had no idea.

    Along the walk are 15 "chapels" retelling serves from the life of Jesus and Mary. Good places to catch your breath. The view from San Luca was beautiful and with the walk. I don't recommend doing it on a 95° day like we did. 😆

    Between the trip up, and down and walking assertions bologna that day, we must have walked 18 km total that day.
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  • Foodie heaven; The city of Bologna

    22. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Bologna’s Italian nickname “La Dotta, la Grassa e la Rossa” ("The Educated, the Fat, and the Red") may seem odd but it sums up the very best of what this central Italian city has to offer. The educated as it has the oldest continuously operated university in the world. The fat not because of the people but the city itself is known as the foodie capital of italy. And the red because of the terracotta red roofs that adorn the homes and buildings. Known as an underated city in Italy it was easy to tell why. It for me (Emily) is almost my favorite large city. The metropolitan was clean, lined with restaurants and shops and the city itself had many historical attractions. There also were very few tourists which made Bologna a true winner. This city is truly foodie heaven, we got to sample a few local dishes like lasagna, mortadella sandwhiches, and we had our best gellato of the trip a melon (Cantaloupe) gellato scenza latte (without milk). We even watched part of the "Warriors" movie in the main piazza at night. This city does not disappoint.Les mer

  • Venice and the Grand Canal

    23. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Founded in the 5th century and composed of over 118 small islands, Venice became a major maritime power in the 10th century. The whole city is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece. It is also known as the birthplace of composers Tomaso Albinoni and Antonio Vivaldi. Venice and its lagoon are a UNESCO World Heritage site. It used to be an independent republic, and remains one of Italy's most important cities, with a quarter million inhabitants. Dave and I took a ride through the Grand Canal as well as a trip over to Lido an island not far from Venice known for its beach. After we came back to Venice and explored Saint Marcos Cathedral and piazza. Venice has decayed since its heyday and suffers from overtourism, but the romantic charm remains.Les mer

  • Verona Italy

    24. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    On our way up to Bolzano we stopped off at Verona for lunch and a walk around old town. It was a beautiful city with tons of charm. There was a band playing in the piazza as we walked through. From there we walked along the water that runs around downtown.

    Verona was the setting of two of Shakespeare's plays, Romeo and Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Verona is also famous for it's Roman amphitheater, built in 30 AD. It is still in use today and is known for the large-scale opera performances that is hosts. That theater will also be used for the closing ceremony for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
    Les mer

  • Dolomites Hike - the Italian Alps

    26. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Wow, what an amazing hike. With our homebase in Bolzano/Bozen, Dave and I went up to Ortisei today and took the cable car up to Secada mountain and proceeded to hike from there to Santa Christina. We combined a couple routes to make a day of it and we were so glad we did. The dolomites were one of the to-dos we were most excited for in Italy. This tormented landscape did not disappoint.

    Our hike started with a cable car ride up to Seceda Mountain. From there, it was mostly a downward walk back to town. The trail was dotted with the occasional hut where we stopped for some local beer (carb loading?) and to rest briefly. Every single view was amazing, and it was so hard to narrow it down to only a few photos.
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  • Bolzano? Bozen? And South Tyrol

    27. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Bolzano is considered a bridge between Northern Europe and Southern Europe due to the three spoken languages in South Tyrol (Italian, German, and Ladin) and the confluence of Italian and German-Austrian culture. When we first arrived we were expecting a small mountain city, and in that regard Bolzano/Bozen did not disappoint. We were surprised that the city was split with half speaking German the other italian and some English as well.

    We first noticed this when exiting the train station. We had gotten comfortable following signs showing us the exit ("uscita") in Italian. However we noticed these signs were now accompanied by "Usicta / Ausgang." The city was formerly part of Austria until Mouselini took it over. Today the architecture looks mostly Austrian and Dave and I definitely had our first "we aren't in Kansas" anymore moments. The area of South Tyrol is breathtaking full of small mountain towns and quaint villages. Outside of local busses the most common form of public transportation is cable cars and gondalas between mountain towns.
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  • Lake Como

    30. juni 2022, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Lake Como in Italys northern lake region is of glacial origin, dating back to the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago. It’s famous ‘Y’ shape was formed from the movement of an enormous glacier, which also displaced the huge mounds which now form the promontory, known as Bellagio which divides the two ‘legs’ of the lake. It is Europe’s deepest lake (410 metres at its deepest) and the third largest on the continent, with a perimeter of 170km. It is fed by the icy waters of the Adda River. We stayed in Lecco, one of the quieter larger towns at the base of the right leg. We enjoyed a scenic boat cruise yesterday, and did some town hopping between the villages of Bellagio and Como as well.Les mer

  • The Last Supper

    2. juli 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    One of the most anticipated events of our tour of Italy happened today. Prior to researching every corner of Europe we had no idea that Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper was even a work of art that was open to the public. It's housed in its original location (since it is a fresco and they're kinda hard to move) in a relatively modest church in Milan.

    It's home is the Santa Maria delle Grazie. This church was the private family church of the Sforza family. They invited Da Vinci, from Florence, to paint the Last Supper in the church's refectory (it's not in the church itself).

    We couldn't get tickets, because it seems that tour guides buy up all the tickets, so we did have to book a tour. The tour guide was actually petty insightful. Why is this painting so famous? Apparently it was petty scandalous back in the day. Take a look at the link below. It's probably a better write up than I will, but it shows The Last Supper painted by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Our tour guide had a photo of the same painting. It was apparently pretty standard for the day. The Apostles showed no animation whatsoever. Also the order of the Apostles depicted was always kept consistent in paintings, showing Judas directly across from Jesus.

    http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.com/2011/09/l…

    Da Vinci's painting broke one of those barriers, giving the Apostles life and animation and depth. Jesus' mouth is depicted slightly open as he is supposed to be captured in the exact moment he is stating that one of the Apostles will betray him. One of the more interesting parts of the painting are the three Apostles to the left of Jesus. Judas is seen with his elbow on the table. He is being pushed to the side by Peter. Peter was considered a protector. He is whispering to John, the youngest Apostle, who is closer to Jesus, to ask Jesus who is the betrayer. As he whispers, you can see he's clutching a knife with the hand behind his back. In doing so, he is exposing Judas to us by pushing him into the foreground.

    Also of note, both Judas and Jesus' hands are out-stretched towards pieces of bread on the table. It is meant to show that they shared the Eucharist as friends that night before the betrayal.

    Opposite, the Last Supper there is a painting of the crucifixion of Jesus. It's funny, no one seems to care about that painting.

    Lastly, the Church and its refectory were bombed in WWII thankfully, preparations were made just in case, as shown in one of the pictures of this post. They supported the wall of both the Last Supper and the Crucifixion with scaffolding and sandbags and that fits the trick. Most of the two structures were reconstructed after the war.
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  • Milan Cathedral and Museum

    2. juli 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) is one of the most beautiful we've seen here in Italy from the outside. Second to Florence or Venice, but that is a tough call.

    The Cathedral began construction in 1386 and was actually only considered completed in 1965. Our tour guide said it was a bit of a local joke. You can call someone slow by saying the Duomo di Milano construction is faster than you (or something like that).

    Some things of note:
    * The front door is gorgeous (see picture 4). I think it beats the Florence Bapistry Doors of Paradise, and the Crypt doors of San Francisco di Assisi.
    * In picture 5, there is a sculpture of a lady on a balcony. That sculpture was done by a French artist and was a prototype for the Statue of Liberty.
    * This place is COVERED with statues. Both on the outside (zoom in) and on the pillars on the inside. If you zoom in looking at the inside roof, every pillar has probably 8 detailed statues art the top. It was very impressive. No wonder it took so long to complete.
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  • Milan

    3. juli 2022, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region of Italy. It is Italy's 2nd most populous city after Rome and its full metropolitan area is the 4th biggest in Europe. It is also Europe's 3rd largest economy after Paris and Madrid. It is known for fashion, housing the Italian stock exchange, and of course the Last Supper.

    A few interesting notes from our walking tour:
    * Our tour guide took us to the galleria near the Cathedral and we witnessed a strange tradition. On the floor there is a mosaic of the cost of arms of the 4 great cities of Italy. Rome, Milan, Venice, and Turin. Turin' s coat of arms is blue with a picture of a bull. Apparently Milano's believe that if you spin on the testicles of the bill with your heel you get 1 year good luck. Could NOT stop laughing at this! Here is a video of people spinning from YouTube. Apparently the have to do restoration on the bulls testicles ever year.

    https://youtu.be/b_-aBa5xIq8

    * The 2nd to last picture is of some street art outside a major subway station. Our tour guide explained it's depicting a needle pulling thread. The 4 colors are the colors of the 4 subway lines. You can see the knot of the thread on the opposite side of the street. It symbolizes how the subway ties the city together and makes busy streets more accessible to pedestrians.
    Les mer