Spring Break Italia: Florence and Pisa

1 April 2010: Day 6

Today was our lets sit back and relax day.

We started our morning with a 5-hour train ride from Naples to Florence. The ride was enjoyable; I caught up on some reading and enjoyed the view of the gorgeous Italian countryside as it passed by. Finally after the long trip we arrived in Florence, or so we thought. Somehow I managed to get us tickets to a stop in Florence, but not the correct Florence stop. Staying calm we figured out that the stop we wanted was just the next stop along the line, so we quickly purchased a ticket and were there in no time.

Once we got to Florence, for real, we checked into our amazing hostel, Plus Florence. I wouldn’t even call it a hostel, because it was huge and had amenities like a restaurant, bar, indoor pool and sauna. It was insane! The only thing that resembled a hostel was that we stayed in a room with 6 other people.

To keep with a day of rest we put off sightseeing and just browsed a great Italian leather market. (I was good and didn’t spend any money on myself.) That and dinner completed our day.

2 April 2010: Day 7

Day 7 of our trip and the exhaustion from our travels really started to set in. Plus it didn’t really help that one of the boys in our hostel snored like a wild boar. So we took it easy like the day before.

We began our morning by visiting Duomo Santa Maria Fiore. This one was different than many cathedrals we’ve seen because the outside instead of being a white/grey stone wash, it was decorative and green. In contrast the inside was very simple, but still very beautiful. It had a wonderful long nave, one of the 3 largest in the world.

After visiting the Duomo we went to see the baptistery right across from it. It was in this baptistery that Dante was baptized in. Unlike the church the inside was very decorative and had an amazing gold ceiling. On the outside one could find Ghiberti’s Gate’s of Paradise, which inspired Dante’s Inferno. Next we explored the Piazza a little, walking the outside of the Duomo and seeing Giotto’s bell tower.

Gates of Paradise

2 April 2010: Day 7

Day 7 of our trip and the exhaustion from our travels really started to set in. Plus it didn’t really help that one of the boys in our hostel snored like a wild boar. So we took it easy like the day before.

We began our morning by visiting Duomo Santa Maria Fiore. This one was different than many cathedrals we’ve seen because the outside instead of being a white/grey stone wash, it was decorative and green. In contrast the inside was very simple, but still very beautiful. It had a wonderful long nave, one of the 3 largest in the world.

After visiting the Duomo we went to see the baptistery right across from it. It was in this baptistery that Dante was baptized in. Unlike the church the inside was very decorative and had an amazing gold ceiling. On the outside one could find Ghiberti’s Gate’s of Paradise, which inspired Dante’s Inferno. Next we explored the Piazza a little, walking the outside of the Duomo and seeing Giotto’s bell tower.

Taking our time we made our way to the Church of Santa Croce. In this church many famous luminaries are buried including: Galileo Michelangelo, and Machiavelli...etc. The church was very quaint and had this pretty ceiling made of these wonderful wooden beams. We spent our visit in the church seeking out the final resting places of the people we knew of.

Following our morning activities we had a quaint Italian lunch and then visited some old friends...Ben and Jerry. Full of comfort food we enjoyed a restful afternoon nap and awaited our evening activities.

That evening we went to Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. The bridge was lined with little specialty shops...all too expensive for my budget but fun to window shop. Our next move was to go to Piazzale Michelangelo, an open area on top of a hill where one can get the best view of the city. As suggested by our guidebook we went up to watch the sunset. Many others had the same idea, so we all waited patiently in the brisk spring night for sunset. The sunset was lovely and concluded a very nice day in Florence.

View from Piazzale Michelangelo

3 April 2010: Day 8

If we were exhausted the day before, there are no words to describe what we were feeling on Saturday.

Once again being smart travelers we made reservations for the two museums we were to see on Saturday, so as to avoid the lines. This was great planning on our part but also meant we would have to be at the Uffizi Gallery, our first museum, at 8:15AM. So at 7AM when our alarm went off we rolled out of bed in complete agony to start our day. I don’t know how people backpack for weeks around Europe, because I was feeling wiped out from traveling and site seeing after 8 days.

At the Uffizi Gallery we would see well-known works of art such as: Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, Raphael’s “Madonna and child and young St. John” and Titian’s “Venus of Urbino”. It was a highlight for me to see Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” because this particular nude served as an inspiration for Manet’s “Olympia” and Mragritte’s “Olympia”, two paintings I chose to do a project on for my art history class. By seeing it in person I hope I gained a little inspiration myself for my project.

Since our trip consisted largely of visiting churches we decided to mix it up a little, so after the Uffizi we sought out a gorgeous synagogue. Unlike many of the synagogues in Italy, this one was a stand-alone structure. Unfortunately we could not explore the inside, but nonetheless it added some diversity to our trip.

Synagogue

At the Uffizi Gallery we would see well-known works of art such as: Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, Raphael’s “Madonna and child and young St. John” and Titian’s “Venus of Urbino”. It was a highlight for me to see Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” because this particular nude served as an inspiration for Manet’s “Olympia” and Mragritte’s “Olympia”, two paintings I chose to do a project on for my art history class. By seeing it in person I hope I gained a little inspiration myself for my project.

Since our trip consisted largely of visiting churches we decided to mix it up a little, so after the Uffizi we sought out a gorgeous synagogue. Unlike many of the synagogues in Italy, this one was a stand-alone structure. Unfortunately we could not explore the inside, but nonetheless it added some diversity to our trip.

Speaking of diversity the previous night tired of heavy Italian dishes (though I love them) we found a great sushi place for dinner. This gave us inspiration to seek out other cultural cuisines, so for lunch that day we would have Chinese food and then Mexican for Dinner.

After lunch we had a reservation to visit the Accademia Gallery. Here one can find the real Michelangelo’s “David” (there are a few fakes around Florence). I know I usually say a certain work was smaller than I expected, but the statute of David was a lot bigger than I expected and all carved from a single block of marble. It was a true work of genius!

Given it took all the energy we had to visit the museums, after the Accademia we called it quits on Florence.

David

4 April 2010: Day 9

Happy Easter!

We made sure we found some Easter candy to snack on as we made our way to Pisa and then back to Cannes.

Knowing we needed our rest for the long day of traveling ahead of us, we slept in giving ourselves enough time to check out and catch our train to Pisa. Our trek to Pisa was probably the least planned out of all our stops, having no map and no idea which of the two Pisa stops we needed to get off at to see the tower. All we knew was later that evening we were catching a train from Pisa Central back to the French/Italian boarder so we had 7hours to figure it out.

Combining our ease dropping skills along with our natural instincts we found the tower with mild confusion. The tower was exactly how I expected it...leaning, and we spent our time taking the typical silly Leaning Tower of Pisa pictures. With silly pictures completed, I would call the day a success.

Pisa

The rest of the day would be spent either waiting for or on trains making our way back to Cannes. (We did have a little obstacle when our one train was late and we at first got off at the wrong stop, but all was solved and we made it back to Cannes in one piece)

By the end of our trip, Stephanie and I were ready to go back to Cannes and get back into our routine. We missed the life we had made for ourselves at the college, our friends, speaking French and being in a country where we speak the language, even though it is our second language. In Italy I had no problems communicating because I learned and picked up on a few words and phrases to get by, plus many people spoke English, and I understood a lot just out of context and by using comprehension skills I gained from being a French language student. What was hard about not knowing the language was this constant feeling of being rude and out of place. In France at least I know enough to try and communicate and I like to think that many of the locals appreciate my efforts, but in Italy I didn’t know enough even to create an effort and for that I feel like I was being disrespectful. But I put in what efforts I could scrape together and I will continue to try in any other countries I travel to in the future.

Putting the language barrier aside, my spring break in Italy was the best vacation I have ever taken. I saw and experienced more history and culture in one week than I probably ever have in my life thus far. The money, exhaustion and any stress that I may have undergone was completely worth what I gained from this trip. I feel like a more complete person as a result of it.

Ciao Italy,

Thank you for the memories!

Spring Break Italia: Naples and Pompeii

31 March 2010: Day 5

Today we fulfilled our main purpose for visiting Naples and that was to visit Pompeii.

The hot ash from Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD suffocated the Roman city of Pompeii, leaving it in a hardened cast of ash. This made Pompeii interesting because unlike the other ruins we had seen there was an entire city of them and the ruins along with the people were fairly well preserved. I had expected to see more casts of the inhabitants, that Pompeii is known for, but the only few they had were in glass cases.

Pompeii

Cast of a Roman

Something I didn’t expect was there to be all these dogs that live in the ruins. They were all over the place and surprisingly calm and friendly. Later I saw a sign that one could adopt a dog if they wanted. I also learned that the Romans who lived in Pompeii would have been familiar with dogs. One of the first “beware of dog” (Cave Canem) signs can be found in a mosaic on the floor of the entrance to the House of the Tragic Poet.

Steph making friends as always

After Pompeii we returned to Naples and went to the National Archeological Museum. This museum was fascinating because it contained many of the artifacts from Pompeii so it continued the theme of the day.

The most interesting part of the museum was the paintings found at Pompeii. I think this was the first time I had seen a collection of Ancient Roman paintings. When I typically think of Roman art I think of sculptures. They were more colorful and carried more emotion than I had expected, considering Roman sculpture is usually so stagnate. Interesting enough too they were all painted on stone, which is probably why they are more rare because they are less transportable.

To conclude our time in Naples we went and had dinner at this pizzeria called Sorbillo’s (we couldn’t leave Naples without having pizza). According to the staff at our hostel Sorbillo’s was the best in Naples and the most famous. According to the sign at the restaurant it is the birthplace of pizza. The pizza I had was huge, to begin with, and delicious, probably the best I have ever had in Italy. After I had my pizza I was ready to leave Naples. My first impressions of the city unfortunately hadn’t changed. So having completed our list it was time to move onto Florence.

Great Pizza

Spring Break Italia: Rome

27 March 2010: Day 1

I have reached the halfway point in my European adventure and to celebrate not being TAKEN thus far, how about a 9 day vacation in...Italy!!

Spring break was finally upon us and while other students were going to Greece, Amsterdam and Barcelona, my roommate Steph and I were destined for Italy! Following our mini-excursion to Milan we knew this was where we wanted to spend spring break. So with the itinerary set for: Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Florence and Pisa we woke up early Saturday morning and headed for Roma (the Italian name).

In Rome we stayed in a 6-person suite at The Yellow. This was my first real Hostel experience and it turned out to be an amazing time. Staying in hostels was a great way to travel on budget and meet some really cool people at the same time (sometimes you get bad roommates but overall I had a good experience).

After getting checked in Steph and I wasted no time and hit the streets of Rome in search of monuments. Our first stop was the four fountains, which was followed by the magnificent Trevi Foutain. Legend has it if you toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain you will be ensured a speedy return to Rome. Then if you toss 2 coins in you will fall in love there. I fell in love with Rome by just looking at the fountain and I didn’t even have a chance to throw a coin in.

Trevi Fountain

Next stop, the architectural wonder the Pantheon. Like everything I want to see it was having restoration work done, so I had to live with seeing half of the temple covered in scaffolding. Looking past the scaffolding I was still amazed by the 2000-year-old building.

Following the Pantheon we went to the Piazza Navona, which once was a stadium for wrestling matches, track and field and even mock navel battles where they would flood the stadium and filled it with fleets. Today it serves as an open-air market where artists were exhibiting and selling their work.

The last stop we had planned was Trajan’s column, which is one of the greatest examples of Roman relief sculpture. After checking out the column we couldn’t help but notice how close we were to the Colosseum. Though Day 2 was set aside to explore ancient Rome, we couldn’t help but give ourselves a sneak peak. This also gave us an opportunity to get our photo-op done so we could focus on exploring the next day.

Colosseum

That night we hung out at the hostel bar. There we met some American architecture students who are studying in Berlin. We instantly bonded over this shared experience and would go on adventure together our last day in Rome.

Overall our first afternoon was a great success and set an outstanding tone for the rest of the trip.

28 March 2010: Day 2

Day 2 in Rome started early......earlier than planned because I accidently set my clock ahead 2 hours versus 1 for Europe’s day light savings.

That morning began with the Colosseum. We saw it from the outside the day before but today we were to explore the interior. Craftily we skipped the queue by getting an audio tour, versus a regular ticket (realistically not super crafty). Once inside we were guided back in time, with the help of our audio tour and learned of the Colosseum’s violent history. Without the help of the audio guide to aid us in creating a picture I don’t think the Colosseum would have been as exciting. The structure from the exterior is impressive but the ruins on the interior hold no meaning without explanation.

Inside of the Colosseum

Following the Colosseum we walked the ruins of Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum where one could get an idea of how the early Romans lived. Legend has it that Palatine Hill is where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive.

From all these locations Constantine Arch is visible. The Constantine Arch is the largest arch in Rome and except for a section is made of the ruins of Trajan’s monuments (thank you audio guide).

From here our next step was San Giovanni Laterano, which was built in 314AD by Constantine. It is Rome’s oldest basilica and was the seat of the Papacy until the 14^th century. I think this was my favorite religious building to date. The inside was ornate but not overwhelming; and admitted this feeling of peace and calm.

San Giovanni Laterano

Near this basilica are supposed to be the 28 steps of Christ that Jesus climbed to go to trial before Pontius Pilot. They were apparently brought to Rome by St. Helena, mother of Constantine. We searched for them, and we found a lot of steps but none that we were certain could be them. After awhile we gave up, decided to do a little more research and would return at a later time.

Being efficient travelers, Steph and I finished our itinerary ahead of schedule, so we headed in the opposite direction for the Spanish steps. The Spanish steps were designed by the Italians, paid for by the French, named for the Spanish, occupied by the British and now there is a McDonald’s (American representation at its finest). This representation of nations could be further seen in person, as people of varying nationalities sitting together in harmony occupied the steps. According to a fellow traveler from North Dakota, the McDonald’s by the steps is the largest in the world. Though it was big, it did not seem like it could be the largest in the world.

Spanish Steps

Speaking of fellow travelers that night we met 2 of our new bunkmates. They were 2 really nice guys from Northern England. They were a perfect example of great people we met while staying in the hostels. We hung out with them that night playing a little foosball, Team USA vs. Team UK. This time around the UK was victorious.

29 March 2010: Day 3

Today was Vatican day.

Being the smart travelers that we are before leaving for Rome we made reservations to go to the Vatican Museums, so that the day of all we had to do was show up at our reservation time and skip the line that wrapped around the building. (By the time we came out of the museum at noon the line had to be a 2 hours wait.)

In the museum the highlights for me were Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and Raphael School of Athens. The Sistine Chapel was a little different than I expected. I expected the scene with Adam’s and God’s extended hands to be much larger and evident, when in fact when standing in the great room it took me sometime to focus on it. But nonetheless it was extremely impressive. Steph and I were so interested by the room that we later bought a book to read up on it more.

Raphael’s School of Athens was interesting because (according to my art history professor) it was cutting edge for its time because the subject featured Philosophers versus the popular subjects of religion and mythology.

After the Vatican Museums we went to St. Peter’s Basilica that rests on the alleged site of St. Peter’s tomb. The basilica was very pretty but tough to manage through all the crowds.

St. Peter's Basilica

Following our morning at the Vatican we stopped by Piazza de Popolo, where we saw the 3200-year-old obelisk of Pharaoh Ramses II. When we were there we noticed this great outlook, so we decided to climb the hill to get to it. From the top we had an impressive view of the city and of the Vatican.

View from the outlook

Our detour up the hill was followed by a trip to Cappucini Church. In this church there is a section decorated completely in human skeletons. It was extremely fascinating but eerie at the same time.

Our final stop of the day were the 28 steps of Christ that we could not find the day before. After our failure the previous day we did a little research and got a better idea of where to look. When we did find them you could not even see them because followers trying to walk the path of Jesus covered them.

This completed our day and we headed back to the hostel where we met up with our 4 American friends that we made the first night. It was at that time they presented to us the most exciting plans for day 4.

30 March 2010: Day 4

When in Rome, do as the Romans do........and drive mopeds!

The previous night our new friends extended us an invitation to go see the modern church on the outskirts of Rome.......via mopeds. Trying not to miss out on any exciting opportunity, we were in. So first thing in the morning they went and rented 2 more helmets (safety first) and we hit the road.

Riding on the back of the moped was extremely terrifying at first but was quickly masked by how exhilarating it was. It also put me at ease that in Rome, and in many European cities, motorcycles and mopeds make up a large part of the roads so other vehicles know how to drive safely with them.

Ready to ride

The church we went to was called the Jubilee Church and was built in 2000 at the request of Pope John Paul II to celebrate Jubilee 2000. The reason our friends wanted to see it was because they are architecture students and the church is considered a masterpiece in engineering and architecture. Well I don’t know anything about engineering or architecture but I could easily see the appeal.

Jubilee Church

After checking out the church we had extra time before we had to return the mopeds, so what better way to spend it then by cruising by the Colosseum. It was incredible driving around this 2000 year old monument and made me believe that the best way to see Rome is on the back of a moped.

Unfortunately after our little adventure it was time for Steph and I to leave Rome and head to Naples. I was so sad to leave Rome, but I knew that more adventures were to be had in Naples and Florence. Without a doubt I will be returning to Rome!

Naples (Napoli)

My first thoughts on Naples were that it is really dirty and not exactly safe (it is known for its pickpockets).

At first I was nervous about our new hostel because the exterior was not very well kept, but it turned out to be nice on the inside. While our hostel in Rome was set up like a dorm this one, Hostel of the Sun, resembled a house. It had a living room, dining area and kitchen, and staff was really friendly. This time around we were in a 7-person suite and our bunkmates were these Australian girls that were doing some traveling before university.