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!