We left Athens, and flew straight to Rome. After settling into the hostel, I went to pick Joe up from a different airport. I couldn’t have been happier to run into his outstretched arms after two months apart. He looked the same as usual, just ten+ pounds lighter. I cried with joy to be together again!
Our first day in Rome was spent on foot, exploring the city and seeing the sites. Firstly we visited the Coliseum, which was magnificent. So massive, and in rather good shape, considering. We began to understand the history behind the gladiators and their tragic ending. Suffice it to say, it was a pretty gruesome life. The barbaric nature of how people met their death and the spectators who watched it is just bizarro. Sometimes I wonder if society has really become more civilized. We saw the Unknown Soldier monument which is a very sacred place. If you tried to sit down on the steps the guards would whistle at you to get up. That was kind of funny to watch!
Next we went to the Trevi fountain, whereas most of you know by now, Joe got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Quite the romantic spot! We celebrated the upcoming marriage with gigantic cones of gelato! Which we did that evening and many other evenings during the following week! It is hard to describe the full flavored fruit or chocolate richness melting in your mouth: Goodbye Dairy Queen! I have never had anything like it. Next we strolled down the Spanish steps, where the local men go to pick up the ladies!! Then we walked down one of the most expensive streets in the world with the usual Gucci, Prada & Louis Vuitton. The Italians do make some fine merchandise although it isn’t really in our price range!
The second day started with St. Peter's Basilica, yet another wonder on our list. We climbed the tower of the duomo, where we had a stunning view of the city. Inside the duomo, were beautiful mosaics and a bird's eye view of the church below. It wasn't difficult to find the Vatican, as there were many nuns milling about. Inside the museum, we came upon one incredible room after another. The final room, the Sistine Chapel, was absolutely breathtaking. There are no pictures permitted in the room (so as to preserve the art), and silence is requested. Of course a few people tried to get their snaps in, and were yelled at. We sat on the seats around the room for about 15 minutes just trying to take in the great masterpiece created by Michelangelo and a few others between 1508 and 1512. It was not nearly enough time, but we had to go and catch our train for Venice.
We arrived on the ‘Island’ of Venice pretty late without a hostel booked, so we set out to find a place for the night. We soon discovered that it was extremely expensive, so we opted to get a hotel room and split it three ways, rather than trudging out to a hostel for nearly the same price. We were pleased to get a decent breakfast though finally, after the last place we were in. To me, a breakfast should consist of something other than white bread! So the scrambled eggs in Venice were a real treat. They were made for us by the hotel night man and Steve’s (Ora’s fiance’s) lookalike. I swear not only was he tall, had a goatee, but also talked our ear off in the most charming way. We just loved him! The city, although it was raining off and on for the next couple of days, was gorgeous. Once we got a hang of the map, it was easy to navigate ourselves around the canals. Well not exactly easy, but an adventure. The whole city was just adorable and very picturesque. I would say Venice and Prague have been the most unique European cities that we've seen. We visited St. Mark's Basilica, which was very nice. The floors were particularly interesting, as they were full of patterns and designs. Very colorful exterior. Instead of paying 120 Euros for a 45 minute gondola ride, we took the 45 second ride for 50 cents! It was just enough time to get on, take our picture, and say that we had made the trip across. Since we refused to pay the 8-14 euro for an hour of internet and we were starting to get withdrawals, we decided it was time to move on to Florence.
Another train later, and we had arrived. We started talking with a couple of locals who were trying to help us find a hostel for that night. One of the guys lived only a block away, so he offered to show us the way. The hostel was closed for renovations, so we accepted the Florentine’s offer for tea, and regrouped at his shoebox apartment. He was very sweet and offered to let us stay there for the night, but it was so grubby that we decided to look online for another hostel. We felt kind of bad for him because we could tell he was lonely and wanted to hang out. He even came across the street where we were checking the internet, and then walked us to the hostel. Our next hostel was a breath of fresh air with a big open room, satellite ENGLISH television and a decent kitchen to cook our meals. The hostel was situated not even a minute from the famous Old Florence bridge, Ponte Vecchio. It is the oldest of the six bridges, the only one to have survived WW II (because of its likeability), and is completely lined with shops selling mostly gold jewelry. It was originally lined with fruit and vegetables stands, but a snobby ruler of some sort opted to change it to jewelry. On a whim, Joe romantically bought me a beautiful bracelet from one of the shops for my 24th birthday!
The bridge was a convenient location because it was so close to the Uffizi gallery, one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. We saw Botticelli's "Birth of Venice" and "Primavera" paintings, as well as works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. A small museum that holds so much beauty and history. Next we visited the Academia gallery, where we marveled Michelangelo's 14 foot sculpture of David, sculpted from 1501-1504. One of his best works and it is not hard to see why. The details in the statue were incredible. Each muscle and vein was carved to perfection. We saw many other sculptures, but none even compared to the great masterpiece. The museum was actually built to house this beauty.
We made our way to Pisa, as a day trip to see the tower. After stepping off the train, we saw a sign stating that it was a criminal offence to purchase fake merchandise. We soon discovered why this sign was necessary, as there were rows and rows of what we presumed to be illegal immigrants from Africa selling knock-off Prada and Gucci purses. We even saw a few of them gather their loot in a haste to escape a fine from the police. As for the tower, basically we took our cheesy tourist photos, and went back to Florence. We passed on paying the ripoff 15 euros to climb to the top. Although it was a cute enough city, there really wasn't much else to see. Our last day in Florence, and my birthday, we took a day trip to Sienna. A really beautiful city and we lucked out with the weather as the sun was shining. The majority of our day was spent wandering around enjoying the shops with beautiful scarves, and of course checking out yet another church. To celebrate my special day, we bought the biggest gelato we've ever had! The presentation was really beautiful, with fresh pieces of fruits and nuts stuck into the heavenly ice cream. I wonder why my pants are getting tighter! The city was very beautiful and a lovely day trip from the hustle and bustle of the bigger city. After a great day, it was time to head back to the hostel and travel on to Rome, where we would finish our last days in Italy.
The hostel that we stayed at was not particularly special, but it was cheap and close to the sights so we could not complain too much. Nina roomed with an American fellow from Idaho, and we decided to invite him to my birthday dinner, as he was traveling alone. We ate at a cute Italian restaurant, where we had some not too great pasta and pizza. We are really surprised at the lack of good food that we've been finding. Perhaps it's because we're somewhat cheap, due to our shrinking budget. . . Still we are spending more than we usually would at home. It’s as though we have found the Ricky’s of Italian food.
Regardless of the food, we still had a nice time. Joe and Nin had bought some birthday candles earlier, which we arranged to have mounted on top of some chocolate cake. We sang happy birthday, and the large group of senior citizens beside us joined in the festivities. There were many cheers of salutations (all in Italian of course) and probably the cutest group of old ladies we have ever seen. Only moments after, a man playing an accordion came and sang to me! To top off the evening, we indulged in some more gelato. This seems to becoming a pattern! The following day, we took another day trip, this time to Pompeii. We got up so early to catch the train that we all took a 2 hour nap on the way there. We only awoke to some really loud Italians banging on our door to get up. The people here are so aggressive and loud. Always seem to be shouting about something. The men were definitely checking Nina out making comments, not shy I tell you!
Pompeii is the city that was covered in hot ash after the volcano behind it erupted in 79 AD. It is the only standing roman city, practically intact. We found a brothel with beds and pictures of sexual positions advertising each room, and a gigantic amphitheater for games of all kinds. They also had many bodies that were still frozen in horror, sandals intact and mouths open from fear; totally creepy. The city was so interesting with many beautiful mosaics and different houses and shops. It was so big; you can almost imagine it coming to life. We understood instantly why it was a wonder on our list.
After a lovely schwarma dinner we returned to the train station to catch our train home. Our newfound American friends (after they saw Joe’s Napa hat and knew we spoke English) informed us that the trains were on strike and it could take hours before they would run again. We passed the hour of confusion by getting to know Chip; Chandler and John from Mississippi. Chandler’s family are Bush supporters and we all had a laugh at his expense since he was the sweetest but also the most naïve of the bunch. They are all studying to be architects (on a school trip) and were very knowledgeable on the buildings as well as the art of Rome. They had done an overnight trip to Naples for the night and found the ongoing garbage strike there to be alarming. Apparently someone had lit a heap of garbage on fire!! Our long train ride back was spent getting to know them and our exchanging of traveler tips. We were surprised to hear that Chandler was coming to Vancouver soon for his honeymoon! Who would’ve thought?
Our last day in Rome would not have been complete without seeing the Pope before we left. Our American friends tipped us off to the political rally going on at the Vatican involving a local University snubbing the Pope. He was totally adorable addressing everyone in English, French and Italian. Everyone seemed to love and cheer for him. We were so pleased to be involved in the scene!
We spent the rest of the day perusing the Sunday flea market with more junk than anyone could want. We bought a few things, of course! Our last moments were spent enjoying gelato and culture at the Trevi fountain. I cooked us my own version of chicken risotto for our last night in Italy and we all slept till the early morning in anticipation of our early flight.
We left Rome Ciampino on our cheap flight to Madrid, hoping all would go well. We were not pleased to discover my sleeping bag had fallen off my pack and was MIA. The baggage people were rude and unhelpful, giving unwanted info instead of calling the other airport. I guess that´s what happens for paying $40 for your flight! Needless to say, it has not been returned :( Thankfully it had been used 25+ times on the journey already! We had a five hour layover in Madrid, before flying on so we took the metro into town and dined on paella, a cheeseburger and pizza. There was a sign in the restaurant warning that professional pick pockets worked there!! More than once, we've been told of the number of thieves in this city. Beautiful city though, which we hope to see more of in a few days!
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