Italy: Parts 1,2 and 3 in Photos

Venice: Part 1

















Florence: Part 2













Rome: Part 3

Italy: Or Pasta, Pizza and Pope...

What everyone said about being able to spend a month or a year in each of Italy’s great cities and still not having seen it all, it’s true. I’m now in a position to reconfirm that unjust cliché. The weather wasn’t so kind to us in Florence or Rome but excellent company made it pretty difficult to complain as well as the best food anywhere, or should I say on par with Mexican. So here’s the blow-by-blow:

Day 1:
Leave early Tuesday morning after having handed in all papers and leaving all presentations to the last day. As usual I cut it close and the airport bus was packed but nothing was keeping me from getting to Milan. I flew Ryanair to Milan and made my way via train to Venice. It wasn’t necessarily as easily done as I’ve just claim and I have virtually no Italian speaking capabilities, but around sundown I rolled into Venice. Though they share the same time zone, Italy gets much darker much faster than Spain and I panicked and walked past the hostel three or four times until I had the brainwave to check the number above the door with its own personal bridge over the canal. Sure enough, one lone bridge to one lone door labelled with a very small brass plaque “The Venice Fish” materialized just before I gave up on my search. It was a very nice place, right on one of the many canals and walking distance to the train. People were friendly and after calling home and being overwhelmed and calmed down by Jamie, I had a lovely night.

Day 2:
I got up early and made my way out to hit the streets of Venice. I bought an afternoon ticket for a boat tour to the islands surrounding Venice to see the glass factories and to see where they make lace, so I needed to make the most of my free morning. I made my way to the Royal Bridge where after taking some cheesy photos, I grabbed my first of many expensive meals. I continued on, bought myself my first pair of genuine leather, cashmere lined gloves. I then trekked over to St. Mark’s Square and watched a few idiots cover themselves in pigeons, which carry disease I might add. I went into the Basilica which was over the top, as I am growing to know. In the afternoon I did the tour, it was getting very dark and very chilly but I did get to see the guy blow a vase and a crystal horse in under two minutes. During the entirety of this voyage I ate and ate and ate. That night I went back to the Hostel, whose price included dinner, and had dinner and a movie with the gang of about 6.

Day 3:
I cleaned myself up and headed for the train which was coming around 11:30 to take me to Florence, where I would meet Elena, Clay and Dave. I waived sadly goodbye to Venice, the city on water that truly blew my mind and headed to yet another magical haunt. Elena and Co. met me at the station and we made our way to the hostel. There was lots of intentional graffiti and famous painting reproductions lining the walls there but we had a four person room which is a nice change from the group sleeps I’m used to. We ate, drank some wine, wandered through endless markets and ate some more.

Day 4:
Up early for a free tour of the city provided by the hostel. It was raining and we were chilly but the sights each were breathtaking. The tour was sort of the lesser known sights of Florence, as opposed to the super tacky ones. We went across the river to the Grand Palace, rubbed a lucky bronze pig for good luck and admired the jewels on the stores on the bridge. In the afternoon we tackled the Duomo in the rain. I thought I was going to have a stroke walking up the 490 odd steps but the paintings on the Cupula were worth it, not to mention the view from above where we could see for miles around. I even bought a yellow beret. We had donair kebobs for dinner and more pizza and slept like babies.

Day 5:
We caught the slow train to Rome which though half the price, cut into our precious and very pocos hours of daylight and once we got to Rome we ended up only seeing the Coliseum in the darkness, tremendous though it was. We ate, again, and got a decent sleep for the huge day we planned for. Our hostel was cheery, lots of nice people, no major complaints.

Day 6:
We got up early only to realize that it being Sunday meant that the Vatican museums would be closed, which were our first plan of attack for the day. Instead we went to the Vatican and toured the St. Peter’s Basilica, the Treasury and the Tombs while waiting for the man in the white hat, the Pope, to give his blessing at high noon. The Vatican is sort of unreal. I can’t really explain it, the faith and the excess juxtaposed at once is almost too much. When we got there the square was empty, when we left we were like bees swarming and coming down off of Pope high. The Pope’s blessing was in seven languages and the sheer volume of people present was out of this world. After we got some gelato, it’s as good as they say it is, and headed for the Pantheon. The Pantheon is one of the city’s oldest structures and once was believed to be the place where the Greek Gods were worshipped (my history might be a bit iffy here, but you get it). It was ominous looking but free so we wandered it. After that we headed, in the extremely heavy pouring rain, to Trevi Fountain and took the trademark tourist photos. Finally we hit the Coliseum, which was the marvel they say it is. We walked around the grounds until we could not take the wet any more and headed back to the Hostel. That night the Hostel provided dinner and we stuck it out to dry out.

Day 7:
Elena and Clay had to leave as their flight back was earlier than Dave and I’s, so Dave and I went back to the Vatican to see the Museums. The lines wrapped around several city blocks but moved quickly. Once we got in, we were crammed in lines like soldiers marched off to the paintings that would change our lives forever. Never in my life have I seen a place like that. The Sistine Chapel is pretty much icing on the cake but the paintings and sculptures of the endless corridors of the Museum are like the art equivalent of the witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel. After the Vatican, we saw the Spanish steps which I’m sure are much nicer in the summer when the flowers are out. We then made it back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and made the hour long train ride to the airport. Our plane didn’t leave until 8 but we got there early to get out of the rain. After more food and good conversation, we dragged our exhausted bodies to Seville and to our beds. One final day of classes awaited me and then three days and five final exams, two of which I am avoiding studying for to write this. Needless to say, I will be back in Italy in this lifetime, without a doubt.

I had been on the fence about this trip because of money and exams and weather but in the end this was one of my favourite trips if not just for Italy but for the people I traveled with. Elena is a friend I hope to stay in touch with in the future, she is a fellow Rotary Argentina Alumni and we get on like a house on fire. Clay is from New Mexico and is very sweet and southern gentlemanly but wouldn’t let Dave push him around. He’s here all year so we will probably go somewhere else or at least have some classes together next semester. Dave is from Chicago and he is definitely the craziest and funniest of the crew. He had me in stitches, me for a change instead of the other way around, the entire trip and I’m sure we’ll stay in touch. You can’t put a price on good company and I don’t know if I would have had as great of a time if I had been alone or with someone else, so good one Lauren!

Now I can almost officially (this time tomorrow when the exams are done) get excited for my parents arrival which is in one week. Not that I’m counting the days or anything. It’s going to be a packed few weeks but I can’t wait. Aren’t you all jealous? I know. Someone’s got to do it.

Re: Barcelona

Please forgive me if this post is a little nondescript, it isn't meant to be so but I've written and done so much school work this week (I know you don't believe it, do you?) that I'm finding it difficult to write when I'm not obliged to. However, Barcelona deserves a small write-up, infact it deserves a big write-up but let's not get too over-zealous. Here is a breakdown of my voyage:
Thursday night: Left Sevilla, via Vueling Air which is my new favourite airline, for Barcelona. Upon arrival, I caught a bus that comes every six minutes and took me within minutes to a five minute walk to my hostel. I was shocked at the efficiency of this operation. Got to the Hostel, which other than the 11 people I was sharing a room with, was pretty decent.

Day 1: I met some American gents that morning for breakfast who were planning on seeing the same sights as I was, so we decided to go together. We went to the Sagrada Familia Temple, whose photos don't even begin to do it justice. It is Gaudi's living, unfinished masterpiece. It's history is too intense to go into here, let's just leave it at the fact that he got hit by a tram and killed in 1926 and construction began in 1888 and in 2007 it is only half finished. Then we went to Park Guell, which was another Gaudi built masterpiece. We finished the evening in the blistering cold discussing whether or not China is going to invade the US. No one could believe that I was not worried about this. I was the only one there who didn't own a gun. Interesting.

Day 2: I decided to go it alone that day and left my American companions to themselves. I went to see Casa Batllo, which coincidentally ended up being on the same block as my hostel. This was my favourite Gaudi work that I saw and it is a house that he redid for a wealthy landowner in the 1920s. It is absolutely bizarre/wonderful/organic and I bought several coffee table books, which is truly how we must judge a good tourist trap. I thought of Jamie the entire time, with the wild wood work and lack of straight lines. The ceiling is the piece de resistance, with it's dragon-like roof line and mosiacs imitating scales. I spent the rest of the day walking around Barcelona, though it was bit chilly, I walked through downtown and to the World Trade Centre building at the harbour. Barcelona, like many cities in Spain, is a city of contrasts. The striking modernist architecture coupled with some of the oldest traditional buildings along the Mediterranean makes for an interesting skyline. This city fascinates me, also with the Catalan language and mild separatists sentiments, it was almost like being in another country.

Day 3: I made the trek to Montserrat. I left pretty early in the morning to take the Metro, then the train, then the cable car up the mountain to Montserrat and let me tell you it was a VERY CHILLY 10 degrees up there. I hiked by myself up into the rocky caves where the monks used to trek around. The Basilica was incredible and has one very famous Virgin Mary statue, famous because she is black in skin colour and we went like masses of herded cattle to the second floor of the Basilica to rub/kiss her appendages. Me, not so into that. It just doesn't seem sanitary to me but to each his own. By the end of the day I was frozen solid and I made my way back to Barcelona.

Day 4: I made my way back, early to Seville and just about missed my plane. Apparently going back, not so simple. Apparently early Monday morning everyone and their dog is going to the airport and though I was there an hour early I just made it to the airport in time and because so many of us were late, they made an exception and took us after the gates had already been closed. Needless to say, the plane was late and I didn't make it to class. Instead, I spent the afternoon talking jive with my roommates (which are another blog entry in and of themselves) on our new couch that our landlord bought us so that we don't have to sit around a dinner table and hold high court every time we're all in the kitchen. This makes us all very happy. The roommate's dog however, doesn't make me so happy at all. I'll get into that one next time.

So, that is all for Barcelona. Next bat channel: Tuesday I leave for Italy. I must remember to email the rents all the information re: hostels and contacting me. The Jude, she worries, don't cha know? I can already see Jamie shaking his head.

Until next time, hasta la proxima!