Italy

In the Colosseum!
Group at the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
In the Roman Forum in front of Caesar August's temple. 
At the Republica in Rome.
The statue of Marcus Aurelius.
In San Pietro, Vatican, at a tomb of a pope.
In the Vatican.
Statue in the Vatican.
In the square at the Vatican washing my hands.
At the Vatican!
In Florence at some archway.
Drinking a beer after climbing what seemed like 5,000 stairs.
On the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.
The Ponte Vecchio at night, Florence. 
At a sidewalk cafe in Venice.
Venice.
On a Gondola ride in Venice.
In Venice in an ally way. 
In front of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice.
Venezia.

Hey all, I made it back from Italy in one piece! It was a trip of a lifetime and I can't believe it was something I was able to experience at such a young age. I might be a bit delayed getting some pics on here, unfortunately my camera has been acting funky on me, so I wasn't able to bring it with me, but I got plenty of pics on the other peoples cameras who I was traveling with (Almost 2,000!). 

Eric and I left for Italy last Friday. We flew into Venice and got to take a river bus to our hotel location. It was really cool to see the city at night from the water. Our hotel was literally right in the middle of Venice, we literally couldn't have found a better location. He and I found  a small restaurant where we tried some pretty good Italian sandwiches (prosciutto and the whole 9). Afterwards we just walked around the city at night until the three girls who were meeting up with us arrived. They didn't get in until almost 1 so we went straight back to rest up before the craziness of the week ahead. 

That Saturday (28th) we woke up early to get our "sight-seeing" on. I went and found a place to get coffee and walked through the Piezetta to see all the merchants and vendors setting up shop. Fog covers the city until 8 or 8:30 every morning. Venice is such a tiny city made up of tons of islands. But in this small city there are 4,000 foot bridges and over 120 churches. The architecture is amazing and you can literally just walk around in awe of the fact that this city was built on water. The first church we made our way to was San Giovanni Christomo. We then walked to a market called Campo San Bartolomia. This market was something else; there was produce, meat, bread, and fish that never seemed to end. I got some of the best grapes and strawberries that I've ever eaten. We then went and saw a site called the Rialto bridge which is a pretty beautiful and large foot bridge that crosses the Grand Canal. We walked around the city and saw lots of other sites for the rest of the morning/afternoon. After lunch we made our way back the Piazetta as a group. We went to the Basilica di San Marco. San Marco is one of the most extraordinary churches in the world (as I continue to blog I'll be talking about several other churches that are world famous). There is an incredible bell tower called the Camponile out in front of it. The church is right next to a building called the Palazzo Ducale. The Palazzo is a world famous palace-states building. It dates back 1,000 years and has an incredible history. Before we went out for dinner we decided to take a gondola ride. The gondola ride was one of my highlights of the trip. We had a great "driver?" who sang and spoke in Italian as we weaved through the "streets-waterways" of Venice. We saw Cassanova's house, Marco Polo's house, as well as the house of Antonio Vivaldi (the composer). For dinner we went out to have our first Italian pizza's. I ate so much pizza over the week but of course the first one I had to try was Anchiove. To be honest, it was a lot better than I expected but was VERY salty. I also had some Italian wine which is dirt cheap in Italy (a bottle of wine is comparable to the price of bottled water). 

On Sunday we started the morning by getting some Italian pastries for breakfast. We then took a river boat to the island of Murano. Murano is an island known for glass blowing. We watched a glass blower make a vase ->something definitely worth seeing in a lifetime. We then walked the islands streets and visited the shops with all of the glass creations. After Murano we went to an art museum called the Galleria dell' Accademia. The museum was loaded with works by some of the most famous artists of all time. After the museum I had my first sidewalk cafe coffee. It was nice sitting outside and doing the "Italian thing". However, Venice as a city isn't that well known for its sidewalk cafes. Again, we went out for dinner for pizza's on Sunday night. This time I got a proscuitto pizza (Italian ham). 

On Monday morning we pretty much headed right for the train station. We got on our train to Florence which was about a 3 hour journey, but the trains in Italy are extremely nice and relaxing. In Florence, we had an extremely centrally located hotel once again. For lunch we went and found some sandwiches ->lucked out with a spicy salami and egg plant sandwich. Again we continued our church seeing tour. We made our way to the Duomo which was an incredible church to see. The size of this church was almost incomprehensible. The church was nearly 1,000 years old. We then made our way to a statue museum called the Bargello which featured a fake of Michaelangelo's 'David' (the one that took down Goliath). We were going to see the real deal, but it was pretty expensive and we planned on paying to go to another museum the next morning. We walked to an area called Sante Croce and then along the Arno River. It was pretty cool because you got all of the Italian architecture, hillside villages, and then mountains in the background. On our river walk we saw the Ponte Vecchio, which is literally the most beautiful bridge in the world. After seeing the bridge we went and found Michaelangelo's house. That night we went out for dinner and I got bruschetta and pesto pasta which was top notch. 

That Tuesday (3rd) after we got breakfast we made our way to the Uffizi. Our art history made us promise her that we would go to the Uffizi and I am very glad we did. I got to see works by Rembrandt, Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Holbein, Memling, Belini, etc. We went to two churches after the museum. The first was called the Orsanmichele which was built in 750! They really haven't done anything to the church since then so it was really cool (literally too, the church was freezing). Before making our way to the next church the San Spirito (which is dubbed as the most beautiful church in the world -> but I would have to disagree after going to the Vatican) we went to Mercato Centrale. This market is known for its food market and for leather market. Bags, wallets, purses, belts, gloves, shoes, anything and everything in leather they had. They had cheap stuff and crazy expensive stuff. The nice thing about Florence is that they really come down on fakes. Before I had even left for Florence I had decided that I wanted to get a nice Italian bag in Florence. Let me tell you, I found it, did some crazy bartering and have no buyer's remorse. After getting the bag we went to the food market, I got some dried fruit which was delicious. Afterwards we went and got a sandwich from a place that didn't speak any English. Greg and Eric got great beef sandwiches, mine was still good but we are pretty sure it was the intestines of a lamb/sheep. Oh well! Back to our next church, the San Spirito, the church was beautiful and crazy stainglass and murals on the wall. After seeing the church we decided to go to the highest point in Florence (which was awesome because we got some of the best views I've ever seen in my life. Rachel, one of the girls on the trip with me, had a sore foot so I piggy backed her up what seemed like 1,000's of stairs. No joke, Eric said his legs were sore and he didn't have someone on his back. As SOON as we got up the hill we found a gelato shop (BTW, gelato is delicious in Italy). We took some pics but as we were up there we could see a rain storm coming in from the mountains. We hurried back but were caught by the rain on the way back. Another Italian meal followed that night, I can't remember and forgot to write down what I got, but I'm pretty sure it was a pasta dish of some sort. 

On Wednesday morning we got up and walked to a few other markets and then got some waffles that street vendors sell for breakfast. We then made our way to the train station where we caught our train to Rome for the final leg of the journey. We were all pretty tired on Wednesday and we knew we had some intense days of sight seeing coming up. We went out for pizza but made it back to our hotel pretty early. 

On Thursday we got our coffee and then headed to the Vatican. As soon as we got to the Vatican I was in shock. The Piazza San Pietro is amazing. In front of the church are fountains that are within two half circle rows of roman columns. We first went to the museum of the vatican where we saw some more Michaelangelo sculpture's. We then went to the Sistine Chapel which is everything it is cracked up to be. The painting of the final judgement by Michaelangelo covers all four walls as well as the ceiling. It took years to for him to do and within the painting are images that would be recognizable to everyone. I got a rosary for my beautiful Goddaughter from the Sistine Chapel. After the Sistine chapel we went to San Pietro. San Pietro is the church of the Vatican. After visiting San Pietro, I will probably be let down by every church I enter, at least aesthetically. The Pieta was enclosed in the church (The sculpture of Jesus laying in Mary's arms). Many popes lay entombed but visible to the spectator within the church. The church as a whole was something that is hard to explain but the beauty was unmatched by anything I've ever seen. After the Vatican we made our way to several other sites and eventually to Piazza Nuvano which was very beautiful. We then walked to the Fontana di Trevi (which is probably the most beautiful fountain in the world). We also saw the Pantheon (a temple for the Greek gods). We went out for dinner at a sidewalk restaurant where I think I consumed the best food that I've ever eaten, at least Italian food. I started with lasagna (I don't even like lasagna that much) which was delicious. My second course was sea bass covered in a tomato basil sauce (this is what made me love the food so much). Again we had the house wine which is cheap and really good. 

Friday (6th) was probably my favorite day of the trip. We started by heading to the Teatro Marcello which is basically a big states building but has some crazy sculptures in front of it. We also saw the statue of Marcus Aurelius (from Gladiator) which was sweet. We then went to the Colosseum where we got a private tour that include the Palatino and Roman Forum. The Colosseum was one of the coolest sites I've ever seen. After seeing movies like Gladiator and all of the history of the Roman empire that we don't even realize we are exposed to, seeing the actual Colosseum was pretty sweet. After that we headed to the Palatino which was the famous Roman palace. It's mostly in ruins which is kind of sad but it was great having the tour guide to give us some history. We were then able to walk through the Roman forum which was the ruins of the major city center of ancient Rome. Some temples were still intact (including a temple with the same doors, locking mechanism, and keys from its original construction 15 centuries ago) and others were in ruins. I saw the temple of Caesar Augustus and several other names that aren't jumping out at me right now. That night we went out for pizza and pasta once again and then Eric, Greg, and I went out to an Italian bar (which kind of sucked). 

On Saturday morning we packed up all of our stuff and then left our bags at the hotel because our flight didn't leave until later that night. We walked to the Spanish Steps which was a beautiful part of Rome. We then went and had our last Italian meal which was again delicious. I had some stuffed tortellini and Eric had some canelloni (which I was jealous of because it was so good). I then realized that I hadn't gotten Tiramasu yet so I had to order it (when in Rome). When we left and were walking back to get our bags Greg and I realized that we hadn't even tried a canoli yet (a round cream filled pastry which Italy is known for), being that they were cheap we got some and I went into a dazed sugar coma. We trained to the airport and then caught our flights back. 

It was a crazy, fun, expensive, once in a lifetime experience that I was glad to have. Again I miss everyone back in the States and can't wait for May to see everyone again. Love you all and keep in touch.