Engulfed in sweaty crowds in mid-summer Florence more than 30 years ago, one has never gone back, but has always felt cheated.
So, since there's no winter in Switzerland anymore anyway, we'll try a February visit.
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Mantua and Milan on the way home, February 2011
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Kristin sneaking into the Palazzo Te. It's a very nice, big getaway for the Gonzagas set up for them by Giulio Romano in the 1530s in what would then have been the rustic countryside outside the city.
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Satyrs' parties always look like more fun than ours.
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Gardens out the back of the Palazzo Te, through the Loggia Grande. The palace itself is filled with great stuff, like the Satyrs' Party above, but . . . no photos allowed.
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A fish-stocked moat (the "Peschiere") in the surrounds of the palace, the "Excedra" at the far end, with a very loud children's fun fair in the hippodrome on the other side of it.
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Kristin discussing things with all the fish (one of them is albino)
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The Loggia Grande, also called the Loggia di Davide
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The view through the courtyard to the outside world
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A fine walk back, past Mantegna's house, Giuliano Romano's house, and, above, the pescherie along the Rio, built in 1536 by Giulio Romano.
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The San Lorenzo rotonde at night, with the Basilica Sant'Andrea behind
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The dome of the Sant'Andrea
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Via Broletto in the off hours, with the Palace of the Podestà
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Mantua night scenes
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The Rio Sottoriva, or just 'the Rio', which bisects the city's little peninsula
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Giulio Romano's fish market, or pescherie, from 1536
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The view of the Rio from Giulio Romano's bridge over it, with the Saturday markets all along the way
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The church of S. Barnaba (can't get in, but Giulio Romano's house is just across the street)
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The Rio
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The dome of Sant'Andrea
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In the Piazza Matilda di Canossa, people selling vegetables just as they probably did when Matilda di Canossa put Mantua on the map in the late 11th century.
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Kristin lost somewhere northwest of the Big Dome
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The belltower of Sant'Andrea from the Piazza Leon Battista Alberti just out the back door of it.
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The Clock Tower and San Lorenzo Rotonda
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On the Via Broletto, looking through the arch to the Piazza Sordello
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And now we're back to the Piazza Sordello for another fine lunch (pizza slices)
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The front of the Ducal Palace again
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The belltower of the Basilica of Sant'Andrea
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The Piazza Erbe
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A last stop-in at the Rotonda di San Lorenzo before we have to leave
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A satisfying sense of antiquity
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Our last day in Mantua, already nostalgic
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Peruvian buskers
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Another demonstration -- perhaps about Berlusconi again, but most of the marchers were carrying guitars, so maybe a more specialized complaint.
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Guitars and amplified exhortations . . .
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. . . and a discrete police presence.
Goodbye, Mantua -- tomorrow we're starting for home. Via Milan.
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Lovely Italian doubledecker trains (on the main lines, anyway)
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We're in Milan now, from Stazione Centrale by the metro to the Cadorna stop and a short walk to the King Mokinba Hotel (just over the House of Curiosities).
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Nicely appointed, not expensive (in the off season, anyway), and very central (but no nearby restaurants)
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We've built a day into our homeward journey for looking in at the Brera, but so far all we've got is a daylong downpour and 200,000 people marching against Berlusconi.
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It's billed as Women Against Berlusconi, but actually Everybody has come out for this.
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Inside the Brera Museum, one of our favorites
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Unfortunately, the Brera is famous and prosperous enough that it can afford several anti-photo guards in every room, so that's it photo-wise for today. [Not many years later, the Brera, like most Italian galleries, had evolved to a No-Flash policy.]
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Two hundred thousand Antiberlusconistas still out marching around in the rain
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Dripping demonstrators, with the Sforza Castle looming
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We're packing up and heading home now.
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The train station well covered by police and military, but no jihadis yet.
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Resign, Berlusconi!
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Milan Centrale. Now we're headed over the Simplon Pass and down the Rhône to home.