Everything Italian...

Between pizza and pasta, coffee, gelato, and ancient ruins, the Italians really know what they are doing. Thursday the 15th, I took the early morning bus from Seville to Madrid, where I then flew to Italy for a week. I started my adventures in Rome. Arriving late on Thursday night, I didn’t have time to start wandering through the city until Friday morning. Friday, I awoke early, anxious to see all that I could see in a day’s time. I started by taking the city bus to Vatican City. I’m definitely improving on how to use public transportation, but I don’t like buses so much because you never know where you should stop until you’ve already passed it…and such was the case then. It’s okay though, because me and a couple of other tourists were all going there, so we just hopped back on the bus. I finally got to Vatican City, but I didn’t really know where everything was and the signage wasn’t clear, so I just sort of followed the crowd. I eventually wound up in the line to tour the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica, which turned out to be a beautiful view of the city (from the outside) and of the church (from the inside). But the worthwhile view was only the reward from climbing up 500 stairs; some of which were quite narrow, windy, and steep. Upon finding myself on solid ground again, I spent some time gazing in awe and wonder at the inside of the Basilica. From there, I was on a mission to find the Sistine Chapel. Well, let’s just say that I had NO clue where it was, and my maps weren’t very helpful, so I wandered around for about an hour and a half before I FINALLY saw signs for it. What I soon found out, was that you have to tour (aka, pay for) entrance to the Vatican Museum in order to see it. So I pay, expecting to cut right to the chapel…WRONG! They make you go through pretty much the whole museum (which is rather large), before you can see the Sistine Chapel. Once I saw it, I would say that it was worth the wait. The very large and detailed painting is incredible. It is really hard to believe that someone actually hand-painted the whole masterpiece. After, I just took out my map and started walking to some of the many random plazas and churches on it. I like not having a strict agenda, because it allows me to see more of the actual city, not just the tourist attractions :-) Sometime during the tour, I was getting a little tired, so I FORCED myself to eat some gelato for an energy boost...jk! Hahaha! I’m pretty sure that gelato could be my new favorite food. I must admit that I think I ate gelato every day that I was in Italy :-) When I was finally exhausted from walking, I retired to the hostel for dinner (it offered a free pasta dinner) and called it a night.

Saturday, day #2 in Rome. What should I do today? Well, I was showered, ready, packed, and out the door by 10. I was meeting Aunt Kimmy, Uncle Curtis, Grandma, and Grandpa, who were in town to embark on a European cruise) at our hotel at 11. When I got there, I waited for about an hour, but there was no sign of them. I was getting a little nervous because I didn’t know if their flights had been affected by the volcano erupting and I don’t really have a solid way of communicating with them. After an hour, I decided that I didn’t want to sit around, so I headed to the Colliseum. Wow. That’s basically all I have to say about it, but that doesn’t even begin to describe it. Looking at it from the outside, it is just so impressive to look at; standing there all massive and ancient-looking. The inside is equally amazing. It just blows my mind that something so ancient is still standing and in relatively decent shape. After a lot of gazing in awe at the structure, I left to venture to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, other ancient Roman ruins nearby. But on the way, I got a call from Aunt Kimmy saying they were here in Rome and were waiting for me at the hotel!!!! Clearly, I was excited to see them, I mean, it has been over 3 months since I’ve seen anyone from home (minus through Skype). So I returned to the hotel, and after hugging all of them, we went out for a nice lunch. That was a treat for me, because I always try to eat whatever I can, for as cheap as I can. Which means that I eat sandwiches from the grocery store, or whatever else I can find for cheap. We wandered around and saw the Trevi Fountain, ate more gelato (big surprise, I know :-) ), and saw some other major plazas. I just think the city is just so cool because it’s so old. We don’t have anything that old in the States. Okay, this is getting long already, so I’m going to have to condense this a bit, so as to not bore you with details. The next morning, we went to the Vatican just so the fam could look at the outside of the Basilica. Then we ate lunch and headed for the Coliseum. We thoroughly toured it (It was my second time, but I didn’t care…it’s just so awesome!). After, just Uncle Curtis, their friend Roy, and I ventured through the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. I don’t really have the space to write everything the sites were used for, but I’m sure you can find a sufficient description on Google or Wikipedia if you really want to know :-) It was a lot of walking, but it was well worth it because it was so cool! I know that I have learned all about that stuff in history classes my whole life, but it was always so BORING before!! Actually seeing it is way, way, WAY better. Short break at the hotel, late dinner, and then we saw the Trevi fountain all lit up at night. Very pretty.

On Monday, I had to say goodbye to the fam, which was incredibly sad for me. I was doing so well until I started hugging them all and yes…I started to cry. I just couldn’t help myself! I didn’t think I was homesick until I saw them, and then I didn’t want them to leave. Anyway, they had to leave to catch their train, and I was waiting to take the train to Siena for a day. Once I figured out how all of the trains operated (it is actually kind of confusing...to the point where I had to ask 2 very nice security people at the station AND the train conductor to make sure I was on the right train). Whatever, I got there, and that’s all that matters. Once I got to Siena, I had to find my hostel. Well, let’s just say that I was a little deceived when I was booking because it made it sound like I was close to the city. It turned out to be a solid 45-minute walk from the city center. Luckily, it was pretty nice, so it sort of redeemed itself. The next morning, I checked out of the hostel and wandered through the city for a while. The city is absolutely precious. And I mean adorable; it kind of looks like something out of a fairy tale because everything is old and worn-looking, but not in a gross sort of way, more like it gives the city a certain charm. I used the map as a guide, but otherwise I just wandered around, following the city-posted signs for monuments and churches and stuff. Then back to the train station to go to Venice!!

Another train ride down and I arrived in Venice. It was basically as perfect and beautiful as I imagined it to be. You walk out of the train station and are immediately looking at the winding canal and city charm. Love it! Dumped my stuff at the hostel and was in search of a restaurant that the guidebook recommended. The city streets are so windy, they are a little difficult to navigate, but I found it fine. Ate a delicious pizza for dinner. The next morning I hit the ground running for a long day of sightseeing. The dude working at the hostel gave me a map with a suggested route to hit most of the historic sites, so I followed that. Basically, all my pictures are of beautiful buildings and landscapes, because I just couldn’t get enough of it! I was like, “That’s so pretty!” “And that!” And that too!” Hahaha! I saw the Ponte Rialto, which is a famous bridge, St. Mark’s Basilica, toured the Dodge’s Palace, avoided getting lost, and of course, ate gelato :-) Overall, it was a great day. I’m just enamored by the city of Venice. I’m thinking that I’m definitely going back some day. Back to the train station, but this time for an overnight train from Venice back to Rome. That was a long night. The whole set-up is kind of weird because you are in this small car thing with 5 other people, and you all are crammed in there trying to sleep (I didn’t buy a ticket for a bed because that was more expensive). I’m not sure if I will be doing that again. There was some confusion with the seating, and of course, I had NO clue what was going on because I don’t speak any Italian whatsoever. It was fine though and we got it all worked out :-) Then, my flight from Rome to Madrid was over 2 hours late leaving, which made me miss my 1 am bus from Madrid to Sevilla. Therefore, I had to sleep in the airport :-( I had to buy another bus ticket to Sevilla, but I finally got back home, exhausted and in desperate need of a shower, around 5 pm on Friday.

What a long trip! Italy is seriously gorgeous, but I was happy to be back at home. Traveling is kind of exhausting because you are constantly on the go, figuring out where you are and where you want to go, walking all over the place, etc. But I think that Venice has been my favorite place to visit so far :-)

Lesson: Most of Europe's public restrooms are hard to find, sketch, and expensive! While I was in Venice, I could NOT find a bathroom. And then when I did, it cost me .80!

Lesson: That traffic circles are used EXTENSIVELY in most of the European countries that I've visited. We have some at home, but they are pretty small, and usually used to slow people down in subdivisions. Here, the traffic circles are everywhere! And they are absolutely massive. I don't know if they help circulate traffic better, but they always make me nervous because there are all of these cars who are supposed to yield to others, but everyone kind of just goes. I'm not sure how these don't cause more accidents.

Lesson: I was shocked to find out that English is more widely understood in Italty than Spanish. I was feeling a little nervous to go to Italy because I don't speak any Italian, but my Senora was like, "It's fine! People can understand Spanish." So I was thinking that I could speak Spanish to communicate with the people there. But I found that when I spoke Spanish, people were like, "Huh?" and didn't understand me, but if I spoke English, they could. Weird, right? Spanish and Italian are a LOT more similar than English and Italian. Also, when I went to the Dodge's Palace, most of the signs were in Italian and English. Some were in 4 languages (Italian, English, German, and French), but Spanish wasn't one of them. So I guess if you speak Spanish you are out of luck!!! ( or maybe they just couldn't understand my Spanish with an American accent :-) )