Arrivederci Italia

We got into Florence around 10 at night and went to check into our hostel. It was an interesting hostel, to say the least. We then went to walk around the city a bit before hitting the sack. I got a pastry (what’s new), and we passed by the Duomo, along with a few other sites. It was then time for bed.

That morning we woke up and headed to check out the sites. We started off by going to look at a church (at this point we weren’t completely sick of them yet), but the fee to get in made us change our mind. So we ventured off to the massive Duomo, which is free. The outside is quite insane. There are all sorts of tiny pieces of marble pieced together along the entire exterior. However, Quinn’s guide book did let us in a few secrets. Apparently the original exterior of the church was never completed and during the 19^th century it was torn down and replaced with the exterior that you see now. The other secret: its not actually covered in marble, but another material. Those two facts make the structure a little less impressive, but it still is beautiful. We then stepped inside, which cannot compare to the inside in any way. The marble floor is beautiful, but the walls were bar and one solid color. Yea, I’m starting to sound like a church snob, but I’ve seen enough at this point, I have developed certain standards for churches of this size. The church does have an interesting 24 hour clock in which the 1 is on the bottom and the rest of the numbers follow in a counter-clockwise rotation. At the front of the Duomo, there is the large dome that is masterly painted. That was gorgeous.

We then went to wonder around a bit, heading in the direction of the famous Florence bridge that has shops and houses practically falling off it. On the way, we ran into the old Florence town hall, now museum. Unfortunately, the tower was closed, so we couldn’t go up, but the outside looked pretty cool. Outside is a plaster mold of the David by Michelangelo which stands in the statue’s original place. There was also a little plaza next to It with some molds and originals of various statues from different times.

 At this point, my camera died, which was sad because some of the things we saw during the rest of the day were pretty cool, but what can you do? We finally made our way to the bridge, which was beautiful. The only odd thing is that all the shops only sell jewelry, which I found quite unusual. We then made a spur of the decision to go to the museum which houses the David, along with other pieces of art and statues. We sat through the two hour line and got into the museum with an hour to explore. You  begin by looking at a few other pieces of art and statues, some of which were unfinished pieces by Michelangelo. These unfinished pieces really help you see just how difficult it must be to chisel away at a giant piece of stone until you get a work that looks like what you had envisioned. You then approach the David, which is massive and insane. We stood there, observing it and discussing it (along with snagging a few illegal pictures) for a good twenty or so minutes. It was interesting to me how some people waited in that line for two or more hours, breezed right past all the first pieces of art, looked at the David for about two minutes, and left. It was so inspiring and…well, perfect, honestly, that we could not just take a short glance at it. It deserved a lot more than that. After that, there were a few more paintings that led into a room full of plaster copies of hundreds of statues and busts. These were all done by students when the building used to be an institute. There were nails in many of them that were used as reference points. Even though these were plaster, I still could not imagine carving them out with so much precision and detail as these students did. With only a few minutes until the museum closed, we ran through the art exhibit on the second floor, and headed out.

We grabbed some sandwiches, a bottle of wine, and headed to the Piazza di Michelangelo, which is basically on top of a giant hill. There was a hill, that led to steps, that led to more steps. When we were on the top, it made it so worth it. From there, we could see the entire city. It was one of the best views I have ever seen. As the sun set over the city, we enjoyed a nice glass of wine and remarked about how our last night in Italy could truly not get any better than this. It was a moment I know I will never forget. Truly amazing. I, unfortunately, had to head back too early to see the lights go on in the city to get back to the hostel in time for an interview. At the hostel we talked with some new people from Canada and Iran, then headed to bed to wake up early.

First thing in the morning we went to ensure we knew all we needed to about our bus and the time it left, grabbed some breakfast, and went to stand in the epically long line for the Uffizi Art Museum. A little under two hours later we were inside. Although I had been in the Uffizi before as a kid, I didn’t remember quite so much Medieval and Renaissance paintings. There were so many portraits of Jesus, Mary and other saints that it honestly got kind of old. Every once in a while there was a painting that caught my attention. There was a room full of statues that was not only architecturally beautiful, but caught my attention. The statues were all in distress as they were about to be killed because of something (which has slipped my mind) there mother did. Their mother was also there, looking guilty and attempting to save them. What intrigued me the most was, first of all, that the sculptor was able to capture the despair and distraught in the expression and eyes of the individuals without really bein g able to put expression into the eyes like a painter can. Secondly, I found it intriguing that all of the “children” looked to be adults and the only thing distinguishing them from their mother in age was their size, as they were smaller than her. After the Uffizi, we stopped a place that had 2 courses and a coffee for 10 euro. I got some good pasta and salad. It was then off to the bus station to hop onto our bus to Nice, France. Suprisingly, the 8-turned-10 hour bus ride was quite pleasant, as I was rather excited to be exploring somewhere new.

Your New Michelangelo Expert,

Jessica

Making a Pit-stop

It was then off to Siena. We missed our first train (it was my fault), so got off two hours later than what we had planned, but it all worked out ok (this is a lesson I have learned far too much during this trip). We made it to Siena, found a place to leave our bags for the day, and went first to find the main plaza. We grabbed some food (I had some proscuitto pizza) and sat and stared at the plaza. Its pretty cool. There were people of all ages sitting there, talking, eating, doing all sorts of stuff. There is a large building at the front, that I'm sure used to be used as a town hall of some sort, with a giant tower. After eating, we went inside to see what it was all about. Most of it cost, so we didn't venture to those parts, but there was one exhibit that was free. It was the weirdest art exhibits where it seemed like a guy just took pictures of bird poop and called it art. Not sure what to make of it, but we didn't stay long so it wasn't too big of a deal.

We roamed around the city some, going into the small, free portions of various museums or exhibits. We then made our way to the city's duomo where we forked over 3.50 euro to see the inside. I'm glad we did, though. The outside was marvelous, with all sorts of little bits of marble and detail painting covering the exterior. The inside was just the same. There was so much detail. It was beautiful. There was also a room that not only had a marvelously painted ceiling, but also housed tons of old books, mostly containing songs, that were all ornately decorated. There were also a few paintings by famous artists around the church. It was pretty amazing.

It was then time to wonder some more. We found ourselves in the middle of a tour group, so we went with them a while to see if we could find some more awesome sites. We eventually wound up at a different church, which we didn't go into. We made our way to a park that is housed inside an old fort building. It was pretty cool. From there we could see a lot of the city. Afterwards, we picked up our bags and went to sit in the plaza for a while until it was time for our train. It was definitely a relaxing, beautiful little town. We then were off to Florence.

Plaza-sitting Siennan,
Jessica

The Roman Forum, I got a real good shot of that

On Saturday I finally got into Rome around 4ish. I met up with my friends Quinn and Santiago and, after dropping off my stuff at the hostel and grabbed some pizza, we wondered around a bit. First, we walked by the Colosseum. We walked down the road, passed Julius Caesar, where a took a shot with my bff, and strolled around the city, looking at all the ruins that are literally everywhere you look. We thought we found the Spanish Steps (we totally didn't). Finally we found our way to the Trevi Fountain. I threw my coin into fountain, just as you're supposed to.

We then roamed around a bit more, wound up a bit lost, but eventually found our way back, and sat at the hostel and had a few glasses of wine. There we met one of the most...interesting people I have come across. He was a mid-twenty-something from Chicago who was backpacking across Europe in the most literal sense of the word. By the end of our conversation with him we had some of the best quotes. He chose sleeping in a train bathroom over a hostel room. My favorite quote:
Quinn: I think we're going to try and go to the Roman forum tomorrow.
Guy: The Roman Forum? What's that?
Quinn: All of these Roman ruins.
Guy: Oh yea, The Roman Forum. I got a real good shot of that today.
It was kind of ridiculous.
The next morning it was off to do just about everything there is to do in Rome in one day. It was INTENSE. We started the day off at the Roman Forum. Lucky for us, it was Italian Culture week, so literally everything was free. It was awesome. The Roman Forum was crazy cool. We only had half of an idea of what exactly we were looking at, but it was awesome to try and imagine what it would have been like to be there at the time that the structures were all completely standing. It was also incredibly interesting to see the different pieces from various times throughout the empire's rein. Its interesting how one can tell so much about a culture's history through their buildings. Since I had been to the forum before, I also found it interesting to reflect on how I had seen it when I was 10 or so. I feel as though, even though I appreciated it at that age, I had an even better understanding of it now.

After that we found some food and then made our way to the Colosseum. You walk through the outside for a bit, then finally enter the magnificent structure. It was truly insane looking at this massive stadium that is so old and now having the understanding of structures and forces that I do. The stadium is enormous, bigger than some modern stadiums. And yet, it is still standing after all this time. I can only imagine just how crazy it would have been to walk into that stadium for the first time during its prime in complete awe.

After the Colosseum we found our way to the Pantheon, an old Roman temple turned church. The marveling thing about this structure, aside from its age, is the massive dome in the center. I still am baffled as to how it was constructed and was able to stand for so long without caving in. I will say this, the Roman sure knew how to build massive, strong structures that could withstand just about anything. Inside the Pantheon also lies Raphael's tomb, which was interesting to see as well.

We then hightailed it to the Vatican to see if we could get in before it closed. As we approached it, there was absolutely no line. We ran through, walked past the Vatican museum, into St. Peter's Basilica. That was a mistake. Because we chose to roam through the Basilica first, the museum, which houses the Sistene Chapel, was closed. However, the actual Basilica was amazing. It was insane how detailed the entire thing was. The little side chapels, as I think they call them, all have beautifully painted ceilings. The main hallway is coated in gold and other beautiful colors. You walk in and feel almost inadequate to be in the presence of such beauty. The Basilica also houses Leonardi DaVinci's statue of Mary and Jesus. It was insane.

We then strolled over to Rome's castle to see if it was open. Unfortunately, we missed the last entrance by about 10 minutes. However, we did get to watch a beautiful sunset over the Vatican while sitting by the river that runs through Rome.

We then strolled back to the hostel, stopping at our favorite pizza place where I ordered the most amazing pizza I've ever had (sundried tomatoes and rocket...yum!). We then went to an Irish bar to meet one of Quinn's friends who was studying in Rome. The Irish bar in Rome, Italy was full of Americans. It was kind of an unusual experience, but what can you do? It was then off to bed to get up in the morning for the train to Sienna.

Practically an Ancient Roman,
Jessica

Italia di Familia: Part 1

Friday I woke up at 8:35, jumped out of my bed, and immediately called a cab. I had exactly 20 minutes to get ready and get to the train station before my train left. Right as I finished, the cab pulled up, and I jumped in. I ran into the train station, but I as I ran to the stairs that lead to my platform, I watched my train pull away. So I had to buy another train ticket and wait another half hour and hope that didn't make me too late to my flight. Luckily for my, my flight was running about a half an hour late, so I even had time to grab some lunch (though expensive) in the airport. I found my seat, put on my eye mask, and went to sleep for I had not gotten much sleep the night before between nerves and yells in my accommodation. A few hour later, my plane landed and I was in Milan, Italy. Finally, the month adventure across Europe was about to begin. My parents had a few hours left in their tour, so I took a bus into the city and went first to the Duomo Milano. It was a rather beautiful church, though kind of dark. I walked around a bit more, finally giving in to the temptation of delicious gelato. I got rasberry (I think) and chocolate.

I then met up with the parents at McDonalds (classy meeting spot, I know) and we headed to the train to catch a ride to Bologna. We walked to our hotel and pretty much passed out from our day of traveling. The next morning, we began walking around, starting in the Piazza Maggiore. We first went into the church in the Piazza, which, unfortunately, has restoration work on the entire exterior currently. We then walked around, exploring the city and the very tiny streets throughout. We ran into another church (its not very difficult, they are everywhere), that was smaller, but still gorgeous. Eventually we wound up in the market, where there were tons of fresh veggies, fruits, meats, cheeses, flowers, and fish. They all looked amazing. We then ran into a little restaurant where we shared some bruschetta and then I got some tortelloni with butter and ragu sauce with a nice glass of white wine.

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We then went up the Due Torri, which is a large tower where we could see all of the city. There were so many steps and my parents definitely got a bit tired. The view from the top was quite spectacular. Afterwards we shared some pastries we had gotten before, which had lemon and chocolate fillings. So yummy. Afterwards, we headed off to another church.

The church we ran into was called St. Stephen's and the oldest part of it was from the 300s A.D., making it an extraordinary old church. It was rather large, housing multiple parts, all built in different time periods. Each time period had its own style. In the oldest part, there were some clear structural problems, and I started using my new statics skills to understand the forces causing those problems. After the church, we went shopping (more like window shopping because Italy is expensive). For dinner, we went to a nearby restaurant where I had some gnocchi (a pasta made of potato that is kind of like a dumpling) in pesto sauce. So far, that's the best thing I've had the joy of eating.

The next day was museum day. We began at an old museum that had some old artifacts, fossils, species, books, and medical and science tools. It was an odd, but rather interesting assortment. The museum was also housed in an old palace, so all the ceilings had some beautiful friezes. We then headed to the art museum, where we saw a large variety of medieval architecture.

 It was then time for some lunch. We hit up a place that has seating along one of Bologna's only remaining exposed canals for some delicious sandwiches. After walking around a bit more, we headed towards a patissiere, where we each got something delectable. That night, we went out for a nice meal where I enjoyed a delicious pizza with mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes. Gelato came after, though I honestly couldn't tell you what type I got.

Unfortunately, Blogger is being silly and won't let me upload any pictures, so Venice, where we went today, will just have to wait until a later time.

Arrivederci,
Jessica

P.S. All the Italian I've been practicing has come into no use. Someone starts talking to me and I freak out and freeze up. Not helpful.