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

OOMPA!

We arrived in Athens on time with no problems or anything. From there a driver picked us up to take us to the temple of Poseidon. We drove along the coast of Greece. It was absolutely breath-taking. There are thousands of small islands along the coast of Greece that pop up all over, making the coastline view amazing. We then got to the Temple of Poseidon. It was remarkable how high up it was and how intact it was. With the coast in the background and the ruins in the foreground, it was absolutely breathtaking. It baffled me first of all how they got the stones up this giant hill, in addition to how people travelled such a long distance just to pay homage to the god of the sea. After we were done marveling at ancient ruins, we headed back down the coast towards Athens.

We then stopped to have one of the best meals of my life. I know I talk about food, but seriously, this was the most amazing thing I have eaten. The meal began with a salad. I ordered a tomato salad that had olive oil and seasoning on it. The tomatoes legitimately tasted like candy, they were that delicious. Next we received fresh fried calamari. Because Greece does not require seafood to be flash frozen like they do in the states, the fish tasted fresher than any fish I’ve ever had. After our meal, we returned to the coast road. My face was glued to the window, the view was the amazing. We then drove to Greece's only fresh water hot spring. It sit next to a big pool, so people are swimming there at all times of the year. We then arrived in Athens, attempted to go into the middle of city, but then seriously failed, so just walked back to our hotel and went to bed so we could get up early and refreshed for the next day.

We started the next day off with, what else, the Acropolis. We stepped out of the Metro station and BAM, there it was. We started off walking through the ruins of the Theatre of Dionysus. It was pretty crazy to see. They have done a good job at restoring all of the ruins so you really get a wonderful idea of what it would have looked like. We then stumbled across another massive theatre that they actually still use to this day. After that, it was up to the Parthenon. It was remarkable. As you walk up these massive steps, you see the Temple of Athena to your right, the city sprawling across the hills behind you. You walk through the entrance and boom, there it is. Even with the scaffolding and cranes surrounding the structure, its still remarkable. The Parthenon stands on top of a massive rock formation that I can hardly consider a hill, so you can look out over the entire city. Its quite remarkable with the ancient ruins standing above a modern city. After I got my fill of the beautiful Parthenon, we moved over to another temple that is right next to it. Parts of it were completely intact still. It gave a good idea as to what the structure must have looked like back in the day.

After the Acropolis, it was down the hill to visit a Greek equivalent of the Roman Forum. There we saw an old market building which housed a museum with tons of old statues, pots, and other knick knacks they have found. There were ruins from different buildings that used to be in the area, including multiple temples, courthouses, and a few homes. On the top of the hill was an almost completely standing temple. Even the friezes along the top walls were still attached.

The pass for the Acropolis lets you into multiple ruins around the city, most of which we just stumbled across. None of them were quite as extravagant as the Acropolis, but they were pretty cool. During our wondering, though, we found ourselves in the flea market, where I bought some Grecian sandals, and we ate some delicious kebab pita.

Afterwards we headed over to the Parliament building to watch the changing of the guards. The guards there (who were all massively tall) have to wear these crazy outfits with pom-poms on their shoes and lift their feet, arms and guns in an overly dramatic way. It was a completely different experience than that in London at Buckingham Palace.

We then headed to the Olympic Stadium from one of the Olympics in the 1900s, which stands on the spot of the first Olympic stadium and was designed after it. We took a minor detour through the gardens next to the Parliament Garden, where we saw a goose attack a rooster, and saw the President's palace. We then went to our final ruin, but were too late to enter. It was an extraordinarily large temple, but we could see it pretty clearly from the surrounding area. Next to the temple was Hadrian's arch, which was pretty massive. We then headed back to the hotel for a little rest before going back out that night.

We took a look at the Acropolis at night, then ventured to find somewhere to eat. As we were aimlessly roaming around, a nice, old Greek man approached us and offered to show us a great place to eat. It was great. We split a delicious salad and some sardines, then I got my pasticcio, which is basically like an amazing form of macaroni and cheese.

The next day, we had the morning before our flight left. We were going to go to the Archaeology Museum, but found out it was closed. So instead, we headed to the new Acropolis museum. As you walk towards the door, you look below you to see an ancient town. Currently, they are still excavating it, but in the future, you'll be able to walk through parts of it. Inside the museum (you aren't allowed to take pictures), there are ruins from the Acropolis area. In the top portion they have all of the friezes and other statues that used to cover the top of the Parthenon. They had it laid out so it was in the same order and depth as when it was on the building. It was pretty cool to see. We then went to a restaurant our driver had recommended where we enjoyed some traditional Greek food. We then hopped on plane back to Milan.

In short, I'm in love with Greece. Everyone was remarkably nice, the food was outstanding, and the sites were fantastic.

Obsessed with Greece,
Jessica

P.S. I'd like to send a HUGE shout out to my wonderful grandma who made me some delicious lemon bars for my parents to bring over (along with the surprise of those yummy peanut butter chocolate bars).