Our second day in Rome started out rainy, so we slept in for a few hours until it stopped. We knew our Roma pass was our ticket into the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill, which meant we wouldn't have to wait in the long ticket lines. We took the metro to the Colosseum and walked right in. It was a Saturday and the place was buzzing with tourists. The wind picked up at some point and started blowing dust, small rocks, and dirt from the surrounding ruins, which was annoying and a little painful. The wind would last all day because another storm was blowing in. The Collosseum was great, it was surreal standing where so much history had occurred.
We grabbed a panini and walked right by the ticket lines into the Forum and Palatine Hill entrance. The Roma Pass proved to be a really great investment and time saver. On top of the hill, I walked through the ruins of Augustus' house, looked into the heart of Circus Maximus, and down through other various ruins. We moved on to the Forum, and kept getting bombarded with wind-filled dirt. I can't believe the little bit that is left of the ruins are still standing. I was really excited to be there and can't imagine what a big history buff would feel like.
We exited the Forum and were right by the Victor Emmanuel Monument, so we sat on the steps and took pictures. The monument is unnecessarily huge, but still beautiful. We made our way back to the metro and went to our bus stop for the afternoon excursion to Villa d'Este. We arrived at the Villa and it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. There were fountains everywhere... I can't emphasize how many fountains there were. We walked around for a few hours, saw the water-powered organ foundtain play it's tune at 4:30, and then had wine and a panini on top of the palace. Again I felt bad for spending the money, but it was GREAT wine, and this time Danielle said, "We're drinking wine on top of a palace near Rome." We had the option to stay at the Villa or go on to Hadrian's ruins, but we decided the place was to beautiful to leave and we had already seen enough ruins for the day. Good choice.
We made it back to our hostel and got ready to go out for the night. I laid down for about an hour to recoop while the other girls went and got dinner. We had called and reserved spots on the Colloseum Pub Crawl. A pub crawl is when you pay an amount of money, get a free shirt, and visit different pubs all over the city, eventually ending up at a dance club. It was fun and we got a lot to drink for the amount of money we paid (18 euro... we might have been able to get 3 drinks each for that anywhere else). There were too many Americans though, so Maria and I walked the streets for awhile and eventually went home.
The next morning was hectic, the other girls were really hung over and we had to catch our 8 hour bus back to Paderno at noon. We went and chilled at the Spanish Steps again and made our way back to the pick-up spot for the bus.
Overall Rome was my least favorite visit. I appreciate all of the history the city has, but I would not go back on my own dime. At least I can say I have been there. I did enjoy myself, it was just too touristy and the big city made me forget I was in Italy. It felt more like NYC or a big city in the U.S. I would have rather gone to Munich, Paris, Barcelona, or back to Florence... but I couldn't have come to Italy and not gone to Rome!!
Pictures will be up as soon as I have time. I can't believe it's my last week here!!! It is so sad, we are all depressed about leaving this beautiful country and the new friends we have made.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
When in Rome...
My weekend in Rome was nice. There was a lot of walking but that was expected. We bought a Roma Pass, which includes 3 days of transportation (metro, buses, trolleys) and free entrance into the first two sites that you go to. After the first two sites, you get discounts on the rest you go to. It was 23 euro, which was a steal.
Our hostel was cramped with 5 girls and we had to deal with the noisy traffic down below, but it was right by the Termini train station (easy access to the metro) so that was a plus. The first day we started early and headed straight to the Vatican Museum. They had a really cool Egyptian display out that I enjoyed. We saw many statues and paintings that were beautiful. The room I most loved was painted with the story of Constantine the Great, who is considered the first Christian Roman emperor and is responsible for the rise and legality of Christianity. The walls showed his vision of a cross, the battle scenes that he was victorious in, and his making Christianity legal in Rome. The Sistine Chapel was last in the museum and just wonderful. I would’ve liked for it to have been better lit. My neck got sore from staring at the ceiling so long, but I just couldn’t take my eyes off of the art. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but I was sneaky and got a few without flash (bad quality).
We exited the museum and ate lunch outside the old city walls at a cute little pizzeria. There “promotion” or special of the day was a drink and pizza for 6 euro. Great deal! They were so kind and instead of giving us just one piece, let us sample about 5 different kinds of pizza. We had four cheese, pesto, mushroom, margherita (Italy’s version of our basic cheese pizza), and (drum roll please) salmon and zucchini. The salmon/zucchini one was surprisingly sooo good and my favorite thus far. I wish I could get it in the states.
We then worked our way to St. Peter’s piazza and basilica.Saying it is the greatest church in the world is an understatement. We were allowed to take pictures, but of course the quality of lighting and my camera don’t portray the intensity of it all. The Chapel of the Holy Sacrament is curtained off and strictly reserved for prayer, so I went in to say a few. Kneeling in that chapel had the ability to remove all doubt, sadness, and pain. I have never been more humbled by the presence of God than while in that chapel. It was a very moving and emotional experience for me. St. Peter’s tomb is directly underneath the main altar, and it was beautifully decorated. There are at least a dozen altars in the church, and each one had enormous paintings above it. It wasn’t until about halfway through the church that I realized these “enormous paintings” were actually mosaics!! Only by looking very closely can you see the outlines of the thousands of tiles (smaller than a computer key) that made up the huge works of art. After I realized this, I had to backtrack and look at all of them again because they had a whole new beauty about them. Also located in the church is Michelangelo’s Pietà, which he finished at the age of 24. The Pieta is beautiful and looks so real that I forgot it was made of stone. Jesus really appears to be dead and Mary’s features are so torn between her agony and her destiny that I wanted to reach out and comfort her.
After a long morning at Vatican City we made our way towards the Castel of Sant’Angelo and the Mausoleum of Hadrian. The castle was awesome and the view from the top was great. We ended up going to the bar on top of the castle and splurging on wine and desserts. I felt bad spending the extra money, but as Danielle put it, “We’re drinking wine on top of a castle in Rome” so of course it was a once in a lifetime ordeal. We each got a different dessert so we could all try some. I had my first cannoli, some apple pie, and some cherry cheesecake. They were all delicious and the vino bianco (white wine) was perfectly paired. Our view overlooked St. Peter’s and the snack was a nice break.
We went back to our hostel to rest and grab dinner nearby (we had doner kebabs, which are a mix between a chicken burrito and Greek gyro… quite interesting) then made our way to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain (yay!!) by night. The steps were great, covered in people drinking (everyone had their own personal bottle of preference) and it was a great people-watching experience under a full moon. I snagged a video of some Americans playing the guitar and everyone singing along, which I’ll post later. We saw the Spanish Embassy and some monuments as we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Most people don’t know what the Trevi is, but I have been interested and highly anticipating my visit to it. I’ve heard it is best to go at night because its beauty is even more profound. The fountain of course was even bigger than I had anticipated and SO beautiful; it was probably my favorite site of the entire weekend. Definitely a great place for romance and gelato!
We made our way back to the hostel and prepared for our trip to Ancient Rome in the morning.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Update & Mount Grappa Trip
Hello everyone! I just took my third law test and thought I would write a short post before my weekend trip to Rome. We have Friday classes off again so we can travel for a longer length of time. I am taking Alberto's bus to Rome (about an 8 hour trip) because it is about half the price of flying or taking trains. Danielle and Maria are my "travel buddies" but we are also splitting a hostel with the two girls from Purdue that I am writing my law paper with.
Because of time and funding, we are not going to the all-day Pompeii trip, but rather doing a 4 hour trip to Hadrian's Villa, which has some ruins and beautiful gardens. The rest of my time in Rome will be spent exploring the ancient ruins and Vatican City.
Yesterday afternoon there was a bus provided that took us to the top of Mount Grappa, the large mountain that can be seen out my window and the namesake for many of the nearby small towns. It took us an hour to get to the top and I don't know how we made it up the winding, skinny, steep "roads". Many of the people on the bus were experiencing motion sickness. Once we got there, the view was amazing but also not too extravagent because we were basically in the clouds... it was cold and breezy with patches of snow on the ground. It was also a war memorial for many WWII soldiers. There was a temple and I lit a candle. We talked with some Italian soldiers and took a picture with them. It was a nice afternoon.
My mom tells me many of you that read can't seem to figure out how to leave a comment. I'll try again to explain, but if you can't figure it out just keep talking to my mom because she forwards all the messages to me. At the bottom of this post, click on "comments" next to the time I posted. From there a new window will pop up where you will elave your comment. Next to where it says "name" type your name. Leave the next line "URL" blank. Then write your comment in the larger box. In the box to the right of "Comment as:" select "Name/URL". Then hit the button that says "Post comment". Hopefully this will work. If not, like I said, keep talking with my mom because she let's me know.
Marostica & Florence pictures are finally up! I hope you enjoy them.
Have a good weekend!
Because of time and funding, we are not going to the all-day Pompeii trip, but rather doing a 4 hour trip to Hadrian's Villa, which has some ruins and beautiful gardens. The rest of my time in Rome will be spent exploring the ancient ruins and Vatican City.
Yesterday afternoon there was a bus provided that took us to the top of Mount Grappa, the large mountain that can be seen out my window and the namesake for many of the nearby small towns. It took us an hour to get to the top and I don't know how we made it up the winding, skinny, steep "roads". Many of the people on the bus were experiencing motion sickness. Once we got there, the view was amazing but also not too extravagent because we were basically in the clouds... it was cold and breezy with patches of snow on the ground. It was also a war memorial for many WWII soldiers. There was a temple and I lit a candle. We talked with some Italian soldiers and took a picture with them. It was a nice afternoon.
My mom tells me many of you that read can't seem to figure out how to leave a comment. I'll try again to explain, but if you can't figure it out just keep talking to my mom because she forwards all the messages to me. At the bottom of this post, click on "comments" next to the time I posted. From there a new window will pop up where you will elave your comment. Next to where it says "name" type your name. Leave the next line "URL" blank. Then write your comment in the larger box. In the box to the right of "Comment as:" select "Name/URL". Then hit the button that says "Post comment". Hopefully this will work. If not, like I said, keep talking with my mom because she let's me know.
Marostica & Florence pictures are finally up! I hope you enjoy them.
Have a good weekend!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Florence, Day 2
After a busy day at the museums, the four of us were exhausted. We had planned to wake up early Saturday in order to catch a bus to Siena, but decided to sleep in because the amount of time we would have been able to stay in Siena was not worth the amount of travel and rushing we would have to do. So we went back to sleep, got up and ate lunch at Amor di Vino. The little restaurant was perfect, located in the piazza in front of the central market. We sat outside (the weather was perfect all weekend except for Sunday) and two men came and played the accordion and guitar for us.
We had a wine tour scheduled to leave at 2pm, so we finished lunch and walked through the central market on our way to the train station. I found a ring and bargained with a woman so I could pay 2.50 euro for it instead of 5. We made it to the bus for the wine tour in time and settled into our seats. We drove out of Florence, up into the hills towards a small town (I can't remember the name) and stopped there for some views of the vineyards and olive trees. Then we continued on until we came to the Trebbio Castle (click to read more), where our wine tour was held. This castle was built by the Pazzis, a rich family living in Florence during the time of the great Medici family. The Pazzi and Medici were rivals, and after a failed assassination attempt of the Medici by the Pazzis, the Medici had all of the Pazzi wiped out. The word "pazzi" is now used by Italians to mean "crazy". The castle was beautiful, and we got a tour of a few of the private rooms inside. The owners have been there for two generations now, and have started a wine and olive oil business. We got a tour of the wine cellar, which was huge and beautiful. The castle has no central heating, so in the basement especially, it was pretty cold despite the heat outside.
We then got to taste a white wine and two Chianti (red) wines, one more aged than the other. They were all delicious. We had Italian cookies, cheeses, salami, bruschetta, and bread with the owner's extra virgin olive oil on it. It all tasted great! I can't how skinny Italians are because of the amounts of starch they eat all the time. So lucky. After the castle tour was over, we went to the wine shop and I bought a bottle of Chianti and a birthday gift for my mom :) While in line I realized there was a girl with her parents that looked about my age. I learned she was studying art in Florence for the summer, but goes to school at Baylor (a little bit south of Dallas) and is originally from Amarillo (2 hours north of Lubbock, where Tech is located). We laughed and talked for awhile. Such a small world!
Saturday night we wanted to eat a more fancy dinner and try Florence's famous Florentine steaks. The steaks are a big specialty and are priced high, but we remembered seeing a pretty cheap price at Friday's lunch spot. So we made our way back and split a 20 euro steak, as well as tripe (cow stomach) and a cream pizza with ham and mushrooms (basically an alfredo sauce, the BEST pizza I have ever had hands down!!) It was a lot of food, but by splitting it amongst ourselves we got pretty full and only had to pay about 10 euro. Not bad! We were eating at the restaurant pretty late, and so as we were leaving they were shutting down. The owner insisted on giving us free glasses of limoncello because Katie was wearing a Florentine purple dress, the city's color. He was very nice and we got a picture with him.
Drinks are pretty expensive everywhere, so we decided to stop and buy a cheap bottle of wine for 5 euro. The lady gave us four cups so we could go drinking and walking at the same time. The whole time we felt like we were doing something wrong. Maria is over 21, but the rest of us are still 20 and are not used to buying alcohol, let alone just walking the streets with it. There were many people out (a lot more guys, especially), and as we passed the duomo we practically got begged to go to a bar down the street, so we did. It was fun, the downstairs was a dance club so we made our way there.
Enter Leo : ) :sigh:
He couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Italian but it all worked out. He lives in Florence and studies architecture. He said I was beautiful (all Italian men say that, though) and insisted that Texas must be beautiful if I was from there. He saw I was wearing rings, thought I had a boyfriend and became pretty distressed, which was funny. Anyway, we spent a few hours together and he gave me his phone number. I think he was more enamored than I was, but it was sweet and I'm glad to say I experienced some romance in Florence!
Exit Leo.
The four of us made our way to Twice, and ran into the guys from Naples that we had spent so much time with Friday night. It was hilarious. Maria and I got tired so we went back to the hostel, and Danielle and Katie stayed out and had some funny stories to tell us in the morning. Sunday morning we woke up and it was raining, but we decided to make our way by bus to Piazza Michelangelo for the view. It was great despite the gray clouds. We could see all of Florence, including the Arno River (which we hadn't seen much of because we stayed north of it for the entire weekend) and the famous Ponte Vecchio and Ponte Santa Trinita bridges. We grabbed a panini from a stand and waited for the bus back to the train station. On the bus we met a guy from California who was traveling all over the country. He said he hadn't paid for a bus or train ticket in a month because nobody checks, but I would rather pay one euro for a ticket and validate it than chance an officer giving me a huge fine on the spot. We made it back in time to catch a train back to Prato Centrale, where Alberto's bus would pick us up at 3pm. We made it back to Paderno around 8 and went to the hotel bar to grab a panini before heading to our rooms and passing out from the amazing but exhausting weekend.
The schoolwork here is starting to catch up with me. I still have 8am classes, plus the 4hour blocks in the afternoons. It's all very tiring but I can't believe it's almost over!!! This weekend I am going to Rome and it is harder to stick to my budget because that is the most expensive city. Danielle found a day trip to Naples and Pompeii for 117 euros, and I want to go SO BAD but it's a lot of money and I don't know if I will be able to see all of Rome on Friday alone...
Pictures are coming soon. I have meetings, group projects, studying, and afternoon classes to take care of first. Can't wait for the 12th to see my parents and start our cruise to Venice, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey!!!
We had a wine tour scheduled to leave at 2pm, so we finished lunch and walked through the central market on our way to the train station. I found a ring and bargained with a woman so I could pay 2.50 euro for it instead of 5. We made it to the bus for the wine tour in time and settled into our seats. We drove out of Florence, up into the hills towards a small town (I can't remember the name) and stopped there for some views of the vineyards and olive trees. Then we continued on until we came to the Trebbio Castle (click to read more), where our wine tour was held. This castle was built by the Pazzis, a rich family living in Florence during the time of the great Medici family. The Pazzi and Medici were rivals, and after a failed assassination attempt of the Medici by the Pazzis, the Medici had all of the Pazzi wiped out. The word "pazzi" is now used by Italians to mean "crazy". The castle was beautiful, and we got a tour of a few of the private rooms inside. The owners have been there for two generations now, and have started a wine and olive oil business. We got a tour of the wine cellar, which was huge and beautiful. The castle has no central heating, so in the basement especially, it was pretty cold despite the heat outside.
We then got to taste a white wine and two Chianti (red) wines, one more aged than the other. They were all delicious. We had Italian cookies, cheeses, salami, bruschetta, and bread with the owner's extra virgin olive oil on it. It all tasted great! I can't how skinny Italians are because of the amounts of starch they eat all the time. So lucky. After the castle tour was over, we went to the wine shop and I bought a bottle of Chianti and a birthday gift for my mom :) While in line I realized there was a girl with her parents that looked about my age. I learned she was studying art in Florence for the summer, but goes to school at Baylor (a little bit south of Dallas) and is originally from Amarillo (2 hours north of Lubbock, where Tech is located). We laughed and talked for awhile. Such a small world!
Saturday night we wanted to eat a more fancy dinner and try Florence's famous Florentine steaks. The steaks are a big specialty and are priced high, but we remembered seeing a pretty cheap price at Friday's lunch spot. So we made our way back and split a 20 euro steak, as well as tripe (cow stomach) and a cream pizza with ham and mushrooms (basically an alfredo sauce, the BEST pizza I have ever had hands down!!) It was a lot of food, but by splitting it amongst ourselves we got pretty full and only had to pay about 10 euro. Not bad! We were eating at the restaurant pretty late, and so as we were leaving they were shutting down. The owner insisted on giving us free glasses of limoncello because Katie was wearing a Florentine purple dress, the city's color. He was very nice and we got a picture with him.
Drinks are pretty expensive everywhere, so we decided to stop and buy a cheap bottle of wine for 5 euro. The lady gave us four cups so we could go drinking and walking at the same time. The whole time we felt like we were doing something wrong. Maria is over 21, but the rest of us are still 20 and are not used to buying alcohol, let alone just walking the streets with it. There were many people out (a lot more guys, especially), and as we passed the duomo we practically got begged to go to a bar down the street, so we did. It was fun, the downstairs was a dance club so we made our way there.
Enter Leo : ) :sigh:
He couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Italian but it all worked out. He lives in Florence and studies architecture. He said I was beautiful (all Italian men say that, though) and insisted that Texas must be beautiful if I was from there. He saw I was wearing rings, thought I had a boyfriend and became pretty distressed, which was funny. Anyway, we spent a few hours together and he gave me his phone number. I think he was more enamored than I was, but it was sweet and I'm glad to say I experienced some romance in Florence!
Exit Leo.
The four of us made our way to Twice, and ran into the guys from Naples that we had spent so much time with Friday night. It was hilarious. Maria and I got tired so we went back to the hostel, and Danielle and Katie stayed out and had some funny stories to tell us in the morning. Sunday morning we woke up and it was raining, but we decided to make our way by bus to Piazza Michelangelo for the view. It was great despite the gray clouds. We could see all of Florence, including the Arno River (which we hadn't seen much of because we stayed north of it for the entire weekend) and the famous Ponte Vecchio and Ponte Santa Trinita bridges. We grabbed a panini from a stand and waited for the bus back to the train station. On the bus we met a guy from California who was traveling all over the country. He said he hadn't paid for a bus or train ticket in a month because nobody checks, but I would rather pay one euro for a ticket and validate it than chance an officer giving me a huge fine on the spot. We made it back in time to catch a train back to Prato Centrale, where Alberto's bus would pick us up at 3pm. We made it back to Paderno around 8 and went to the hotel bar to grab a panini before heading to our rooms and passing out from the amazing but exhausting weekend.
The schoolwork here is starting to catch up with me. I still have 8am classes, plus the 4hour blocks in the afternoons. It's all very tiring but I can't believe it's almost over!!! This weekend I am going to Rome and it is harder to stick to my budget because that is the most expensive city. Danielle found a day trip to Naples and Pompeii for 117 euros, and I want to go SO BAD but it's a lot of money and I don't know if I will be able to see all of Rome on Friday alone...
Pictures are coming soon. I have meetings, group projects, studying, and afternoon classes to take care of first. Can't wait for the 12th to see my parents and start our cruise to Venice, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey!!!
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