Spring Break in Italy!

And now we begin the Italy portion of this very large post, so rewind back over a month…

March 24- Up early. Thought I’d make the bus to the airport by walking, underestimated the weight of my new backpacking backpack, grabbed a cab, met up with friends and just made the bus. Airport: long lines, delayed flight, eventually made it to Rome. Took bus to Termini train station that’s close to our hostels. Got scolded for eating my bocadillo (sandwich) on the bus, but I had had to check it because it wouldn’t fit in my carry-on! Cute bus ticket checker: “Excuse me, do you speak English?” Yes, I smile, flutter those eyelashes. “Do you read English?” Uh, crap. Dude points to the sign that says loudly and obviously, “Please don’t eat on the bus.” Yeah, like anyone pays attention to those rules. So that was just an example of the kinds of scoldings I receive in Europe. Everywhere we go: Don’t stand on that! You can’t take of picture of that! Don’t touch! On and on- such luck I have.

Back to Rome. I’m with five other girls. They planned the trip before I knew what I wanted to do for Spring Break, so they had a five-person room at a B&B and I booked a room in a hostel a few blocks away. We split to check in. I walked in my 8-person room, made friends with some Swedish guys in there, and walked out to meet the girls again. We strolled around the city not aiming for a specific site so late in the day, met some South Africans on a bridge, and wandered into Trastevre for our first Italian meal. Mom, thank you. Such a great recommendation. We went big that night with the full five-course meal of bruscetta, salad, pasta, antipasta, and dessert. And wine. Mmmmm. Good. Idea. Then we hit the hay to prepare for Big Day of Sightseeing in Italy #1.

March 25- I didn’t meet the girls that morning. They headed off to see the Vatican, but I did that on a Europe trip two and a half years ago and wanted to explore a bit on my own. I highly recommend lone wandering every once in a while. I explored some churches, a palace, and found myself at the Trevi Fountain and then the Spanish Steps. I saw a big green space on my map and wanted to see what it was, so I ventured beyond the Spanish Steps up to what I now know as the Villa Borghese Gardens. I wandered up a path, higher and higher and found myself at a gorgeous view of all of Rome. The park stretched really far and had tons of great things to see. Lots of green in a massive city. I hung out at the park for a while, just wandering and looking at statues of heads of people like Da Vinci, Machiavelli and Botticelli. Later I met the girls at Castel Sant’Angelo and we found a place near Piazza Navona to have lunch. My first pizza in Italy- need I even say it was delicious? And I saw a friend from high school walking with his parents as we were eating! Small world.
Speaking of home friends, I got to see my lovely friend Laura, who’s studying in the Loyola of Rome program (that my mom and sister Kate have also done!). We met and she gave me a little tour of the city, stopping at the Pantheon and at a heavenly place that sells the best gelato I have EVER had. Strawberry, caramel and white chocolate. Try it. It’s unreal. We walked and talked and later met up with my friends for some more pizza and Laura’s bar recommendations. She knows her city.

March 26-
This was the big Colosseum sightseeing day. We wandered through the narrow and winding streets of Rome and eventually emerged into the sun exposing the massive and always impressive Colosseum. I hit this one up a few years ago, but I definitely wanted to see it again. We found a decent tour and passed the lines to get into the building. I learned a lot of things that I suppose I had forgotten from my previous tour. Or maybe we had a better guide. He was interesting- kept trying to get us to picture ourselves as “fine, wealthy Roman citizens,” aka the kind who would get the good seats in the Colosseum and stick up their noses as they walked past everyone in line. Kind of creepy. However, he got us to picture what the Colosseum would have looked like back then. You forget that at one time it was an ornate theater experience. Fine white marble, rich oil paintings and tapestries covering every wall and ceiling- and all that survives is some of the marble. I also didn’t know the variety of animals they would bring in to fight in the Colosseum- lions, elephants, bears! And then they would chop up the carcasses and serve a feast to the entire audience! Doesn’t sound too appetizing to me, but I guess I’ve never had fresh lion, so what do I know?
We moved on from the tour to a more contemporary Italian meal at a cute outdoor restaurant. I ordered what I thought was baked macaroni- turned out to be cannelloni. Still, not a bad surprise. Any Italian meal is pretty much fantastic in Rome. After lunch we moved on to the next part of the tour- the Roman forum. It was late afternoon so everything was beautifully sunlit, and we walked through the ancient ruins imagining what life would have been like there thousands of years ago. Favorite tour guide story: (in an Australian accent reminiscent of VH1 The Fabulous Life guy) the telling of Romulus and Remus being raised by wolves and the explanation of the famous image of Rome: the two brothers “suckling the she-wolf.” He just kept saying it and we laughed every time!
That wrapped up a long day of sightseeing, but we met up later to sit on the girls’ hotel roof with pizza and wine and invited our friends who arrived from Florence that day. We stayed out enjoying ourselves until the grumpy hotel manager came up and shooed us away.

March 27-
Morning train to Florence went pretty well (by pretty well I mean sprinting to catch our train and hopping on seconds before it left the station). We arrived in what would come to be my favorite city in Italy. LOVED FLORENCE. We walked through the streets and immediately caught sight of the massive Duomo Church. Florence is so small compared to everywhere I’ve been! I guess it’s like Sevilla in that way, but easier to navigate. We easily found our B&B, an adorable three bedroom place run by the nicest couple in the world and their friendly puppy Fiona. We dropped our stuff in our room and were then greeted with glasses of wine and onion rings! We decided to wander around the city for a while, and we met up with my friend Amanda from UW in her apartment just blocks from our B&B. The students definitely have a different experience in Florence. Amanda lived in an adorable and shockingly spacous apartment with four girls from her program. She took us out for lunch at Il Gato y Il Golpe (I remember because it was THAT good) and on a little tour of her city and taught me many things about fountains, churches and statues that I regret to say I’ve already forgotten. We then returned to our B&B for a home-cooked dinner and wine. Homemade Italian food by Italians=AMAZING. So amazing, in fact, that we lapsed into food comas and one-by-one dropped off to sleep, forgoing our Saturday night in favor of a good night’s rest.

March 28-
Big Day of Sightseeing: A short line for the museum to see Michaelangelo’s David- and boy was it impressive and enormous! Then waited in line for Uffizi art museum for two hours- was way worth it for such an incredible museum. Then we grabbed some pizza on the go and made our way across the Ponte Vecchio, through the jewelry shops and gelato coolers, and along the river. We hiked up and up and up to the most amazing view in Florence called the Piazzale Michelangelo. From there we could see all of Florence- the city and the smaller villages around it. Stunning. We returned for a nap and a delicious home-cooked meal of lasagna before heading out for the night to some of Amanda’s fun recommendations.

March 29- One of the best days of my Europe trip
The Tuscany Tour: Our group of six met up with three other friends from our program and hopped on a bus for the gorgeous Tuscany tour. We had a stunning day and every excursion and drive through the Tuscan countryside seemed straight off a postcard. Our first stop was Siena, where we climbed through the streets and made our way to a stunning church. Inside was the most ornately decorated and possibly the most beautiful church designs I’ve ever seen, even some Moorish influences like those in Andalucia! Then we returned to the main plaza, which is a massive ovular space in which they host a major horse race that is a huge social competition among nearby Italian cities every summer.
From Siena we took another scenic drive to our lunch spot at a B&B/farmhouse in the countryside with views of San Gimignano. We toured the farmhouse and saw the cows from which they make all their own cheese and then settled down to a multi-course delicious feast: pasta, salad, bruschetta, cookies- and three different types of wine. We were a large group, so the rules of number of bottles per table didn’t really apply. When we finished a bottle, we got another. And when the guides sitting next to us didn’t drink theirs, we scooted it on over to our side of the table. Admittedly, we were happily buzzed for the next part of our trip. Before leaving the farmhouse, we took gazillions of pictures of the stunning views. Then we hopped in the bus for the short ride to San Gimignano, a very small town offering two of my favorite features of Italy: great gelato and exquisite views. We had free time to wander around and had a great time playing off our wine buzz around the small town.
We then had a longer beautiful drive to Pisa. Pisa was this: boring. Sure, we had a goofy time taking all the necessary pictures saving the famed tower from crashing to the ground. Other than that, it was very touristy with little to see, but I’m glad I went to see it. Then we piled back in the bus for the final journey back to Florence, watching the sun set on Tuscany. What a fantastic day.
After the long journey, I had to head back to the B&B, pack up my large backpack, and head over to a new hostel, called PlusFlorence, because the girls were moving on to Venice the next day, and I was staying longer in Florence with other friends. The new hostel was far away, but awesome. It was massive- like a hotel. It had a restaurant, bar, club, pool, exercise room, rooftop terrace, and more than 100 rooms. And all very American-student-targeted. So we played there for a while and had a fun night out.

March 30-
I was on my own in the morning, as the girls had gone and my new crew wanted to do all the touristy things I had already done. So I set off on my own to wander Florence. After my friends were stuck in a two-hour line for the David, I remembered my friends Danielle and Stephanie from UW were in from Barcelona- perfect! I called them up and they were right near the Duomo on their way to lunch, so we met and made our way to Santa Croce. Danielle’s brother had been to Florence a few years ago and never forgot a certain restaurant called Baldovino’s- and now I never will either. We sat down in the cozy cute restaurant and ordered pizzas. I had one with pesto sauce and it was the BEST pizza I have ever had. Truth. It was also about the size of a hubcap. We were so full that we didn’t even want to think about dessert. The waiter, however, knew better than us. He came over with a serving of their Swiss double chocolate cake and said we would love it. He said if we didn’t, we wouldn’t have to pay for it. Now I know myself and chocolate cake, so I expected it would have a few bites missing at least. But. WOW. Really, WOW. If you ever go to Florence and do not get the chocolate cake at Baldovino’s, your tongue will hate you forever. I realize how lame I am for writing this much about cake, but it was the best thing I have ever had in my life- ask Danielle and Steph- it just made us so happy! But, ok, let’s get back to normalcy.
Post-cake, we toured Santa Croce Church, which houses the tombs of such Italians as Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli- very cool. Then I went with Danielle to find her a leather jacket. As tempted as I was by the beautiful craftsmanship, I just could not justify the hundreds of Euros they were asking, but the owner did give me a pretty yellow leather change purse for free! So we then wandered the less expensive shops and I bought a few gifts and a gorgeous navy leather wallet. Danielle and I planned on walking and shopping some more, but got caught in a massive downpour and waited it out before saying goodbye and heading back to our hostels.
I had plans to meet up with Amanda for a fabulous dinner at another famous Florentine restaurant that my cousin Mary raved about after she studied in Florence two years ago. What Mary told me, “Get the blueberry steak and the pasta sampler.” Blueberry steak? Is that a joke? Well I decided to trust her, so Amanda and I split a bottle of wine and the steak and pasta. Seriously, who woulda thunk? It was phenomenal. Again, if anyone is going to Florence anytime soon, go to Aqua del Due and get the blueberry steak. YUM. After that I said goodbye to Amanda and returned to my hostel for my last night in Florence.

March 31-
In the morning I met up with my friends Maya, Brian and Andres and we toured through Florence and wound our way back up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which they hadn’t yet seen. Another big hike and unbelievable view. We then hurried back towards our hostel to get our stuff and head to the train station. We stopped at a little restaurant and ordered pasta to go. They gave us free champagne! We made it to the train station, but then had to wait in line to get tickets for Venice. We just made it on the train before it started moving (is this a trend?). There were no seats. None. We settled ourselves in the pull-out shelf seats in the aisle. Oh boy, what a ride. There was no room in the compartments for luggage so we sat among piles of bags and rolling suitcases flew down the aisles when the train made quick movements. We had a box of wine so we shared that among the four of us to make the ride a bit more enjoyable. Eventually, though, a few compartments emptied out as people got off, so we got to sit in comfort! We pulled into a grey Venice late in the afternoon.
You hear all about how Venice is a city built on water, and that water is the only way to get around. It’s really hard to believe until you see it. What a fascinating place.
We mazed our way over bridges to our hostel. This was one for the hostel style record books: lavender walls, bright pink bedspreads, giant stickers of flowers all over the walls with 3D butterflies stuck to them, and posters: Playboy, Marilyn Monroe, and, my favorite: a giant poster of babies. WHAT?! Oh, and one functioning lightbulb in the entire room despite a chandelier and bedside table lamps. It was funky, very funky.

April 1- We went out to check out Venice- took pictures of the canals, the stalls full of Venetian masks, the giant tubs of Nutella- all the touristy things. And since it was a lovely morning and we were a group of six, we decided we could afford a gondola ride! Our driver wasn’t as Venetian-Gondola-driver as I wanted him to be. I had heard of some drivers who would even sing to their passengers! Ours told us his name was Elvis, took off his cool gondola hat, and didn’t talk to us for the rest of the ride. But oh well. It was still really cool to see Venice from the water. Then we strolled around the town (as best we could over bridges and through narrow streets that weren’t labeled on the map) and made our way to Piazza San Marco to see the beautiful buildings and the “coast” of the city. But after that, we really didn’t have much more sightseeing to do! We wanted to see glass-blowing, but didn’t have time. So instead, we ate pizza- pear and gorgonzola for me- a great combo!

April 2-
Time to head back to Sevilla. I LOVED Italy. I think everyone who goes there does. Still, I was so glad to get back to Sevilla- it’s my European home! Alrighty, sorry for the super-long post. Will get to more recent events like my 21st birthday, Feria and my parents coming for a trip to Portugal soon! Love to all back home!