You Can't Go Home Again

So this will be my last post from Europe (unless I get REALLY bored in the airport tomorrow--which is possible).

Everything is all packed, with the exception of the few things I'll be using between tonight and tomorrow when I leave. I shipped a whole bunch of stuff (spent about 350euros in shipping--you're welcome French Postal Service). Tonight I've got my last dinner with my host family and will be giving the girls the blankets I made for them. Side story--the girls saw my purple blanket that Lance had made for me a couple years ago and loved it, so I decided to make them blankets of their own.

I feel a lot like I did the night before I left to come here--like I'm not really leaving at all. Some part of me still thinks my host mom is going to get me to the train station and go "PSYCH! You're staying here with us!!" Or maybe I'll just go home for a few weeks to visit and then be back here. I don't know. I'm sure it will all feel more real tomorrow on the plane. Or maybe when I'm back in Detroit on Wednesday. Or something. I don't know.

This is probably THE most pointless blog post ever. BUT, never fear! Even though I'm leaving France, the adventures are not over! I will be in New York until Wednesday, and then I go to Georgia. I'll definitely be blogging about NYC here, and maybe about Georgia if I have anything to blog about (that is, if we do anything OTHER than cuddle and watch movies). So I guess I'll see you all in the States!!

We Open In Venice...

By Wednesday afternoon, I was more than ready to leave Florence and move on to Venice. And Venice didn't disappoint. Coming in on the train, I was greeted with a beautiful view out over the water.

Sun setting over the water

Little canals!

More sunset

BIG SHIP

When I got to Venice, I had to navigate their public transportation system--a system of boats that essentially operated like buses. According to my hostel, I had to take either the 2, 4.1, or 4.2 boat from the train station, and the ticket lady told me to take the 4.1 as it would be faster. Well, I didn't realize that multiple boats came into the same port/dock/things, so when I got to the port, a boat was already there and people were loading on. I was like, "Oh, what luck!" and hopped right on. About 3 stops in, I see a sign across the canal announcing the "Ostello de Venezia" (my hostel). I was like, "Awesome, we're here!" but then the boat kept going. And going. And going. Eventually, I got off the boat on Lido Island, and got lucky as there was a boat going back to the stop I needed in about 5 minutes. So getting to the hostel took about an hour and a half, when it should have taken maybe 40 minutes... Oops.

Wednesday night, I did my ritual trip to Hard Rock Café and met a nice couple from California who helped me get un-lost looking for San Marco's Square. I'm not even sure I can explain how beautiful Venice is. That first night, I was pretty much just bowled over. I hate to say this, but Venice is probably 10 times more beautiful than Paris.

Thursday morning, I got a little bit of a late start (I just got lazier and lazier the further I got into this trip), but I headed out to Verona anyway. Verona turned out to be even more beautiful than I thought it would be. It was an awesome city (bigger than I thought it would be), and I pretty much wandered the whole day. My main objective was to send a letter to Juliet (which apparently you can also do through the actual mail), so I headed over to Juliet's House first and got tons of pictures of the Wall of Love, Juliet's Balcony, and the statue of Juliet--whose right breast apparently brings good luck when rubbed (so yes, I fondled the statue...)

Yeah, Roman guy just sitting around texting (also, you could see his underpants)

Wall of Love

The Courtyard

Juliet's Mailbox (waiting for my letter back!)

Statue of Juliet

Fondling the statue of Juliet *classy*

After dropping my letter in Juliet's mailbox, I totally bought a padlock and was a shameless tourist in locking my padlock onto the garden gate. I decided not to go into Juliet's House since apparently the main attraction was girls standing on Juliet's Balcony while their boyfriends stood in the courtyard and took pictures. So I headed over to Juliet's tomb instead where I found you could buy a discounted ticket for both her tomb and her house, so I bought the dual ticket and did both.

Love Lock

On the garden gate <3

Statue for the Asian Romeo and Juliet

Juliet's Tomb

 

At Juliet's House I ended up getting one of the workers to get a picture of me on the balcony, so that was an epic win. Then I dragged my aching feet back to the train station and back to Venice.

On Juliet's balcony--like a boss. :)

 

Friday morning, I got a glimpse of the president of Italy in San Marco's Square as he drove in to celebrate something about the 31st anniversary of the naval academy in Venice (I think). Then I took myself on a romantic gondola ride. Not going to lie--it was pretty awesome; expensive, but awesome.  Then I wandered around, did a little shopping, and got a little lost before heading back to the hostel.

Christiano--my Gondolier! (Don't worry mom, I got plenty of video)

 

Saturday morning, I met one of my roommates who was from Canada and we decided to head over to the Gallery of Academia together. The Gallery was a little disappointing--full of creepy religious paintings. Seriously, I lost track of how many creepy baby Jesus' there were. There was also a portrait of this woman who looked scarily like Scarlett Johansson. O_o

Is Jesus fondling her halo?

*judging you*

SCARJO???

 

We also ran into some people promoting an opera for that night, so we bought tickets, and then headed over to Santa Maria della Salute (a church that my gondolier had recommended). After all the creepy religious paintings, we weren't really in a church mood, so then we headed over to San Marco's Square to get lunch and then she left to go see the Dali exhibit and I went off to wander (of course). After wandering for a while, I went back to the hostel to pack and change.

There was a couple getting married, so I thought I'd join in on the celebration and take a photo

GPOY

I'm on a boat. xD

 

The opera last night was really nice. It was a little bit hard to see, but the music was just beautiful and it was just really fun to see. Sidenote: on the boat over to the opera, we saw this lady who had like the WORST weave ever and we were just like, "OMG, what is she thinking??!" My only thought was, "Maybe she's in the opera, that would make sense". Turns out--she WAS in the opera! The second she walked on-stage, I was just like, "Holy crap! It's bad weave lady!!" So yeah, that was amusing.

Out to dinner-- the cheese hamburger (as opposed to the cheeseburger)

This daring little fellow was adorable!

Got a bird in my hand!

After the opera, taking photos

Waiting for the boat in style

Me & Firenze Aren't Friends

Okay, I wanted to like Florence, I really did. There's so much history and art there that I thought that we would get along and hang out like old friends.

This was not the case. Don't get me wrong, the architecture was beautiful, and it's definitely got a certain charm. But EVERYTHING charges you to get in (churches, gardens, you name it) and so I found myself not really wanting to pay to do things... (Don't even get me started on churches charging admission prices...)

First off, the churches that I DID fork up to go inside--they're just not actually that nice. I mean.... Rome and France have them beat--and have them beat for free. So. Yeah, the churches from the outside are beautiful, but on the inside are really disappointing, expensive, and they won't even let you take pictures (like, "We know our church is shitty, if you take pictures, people will understand and won't pay to come in"). Ugh.

The Ponto Vecchio

So really, I just wandered around from Friday night until Wednesday. I probably spent about half of my time in the hostel because 1) my feet hurt and 2) I couldn't be bothered to kill my feet to wander aimlessly for another 3 hours.

I did go to Pisa, which was awesome. I probably should have spent more time exploring that city. There were some really cool outdoor artisan markets that I could have just spent hours wandering through. I also climbed to the Piazzale Michalangelo which was pretty much the only worthwhile thing to do in Florence. The view is SPECTACULAR. It was definitely refreshing.

The leaning tower of Pisa

Other than that, Florence turned out to be a pretty good city for meeting people. And it had good (if a little expensive) food. The roommates I had for a majority of the time in Florence were a trio of students from Oregon and they were really awesome. I also met two girls from Tennessee on the way to Pisa, and a guy from Boston at dinner on Sunday night. It's funny, because one of the girls from Tennessee mentioned that she couldn't imagine that shy people would ever be able to travel alone, and the girl from Oregon called me "brave" for traveling by myself. That was kind of weird because 1) I'm extremely shy and 2) I don't really consider myself brave--I just do what I want.

Okay--I should admit, I was pretty terrified of traveling by myself. So maybe overcoming that fear and doing it anyway makes me brave, but I think it's more "stubborn" than brave. I wasn't about to let the remote threat of some Mysterious Bad Thing happening to me abroad stop me from seeing Italy, especially since it's more likely that something bad would happen to me on the 5 minute drive from my house to the supermarket that I do at least once a week when I'm home.

In any case, I'm in Venice now. So far I'm liking it a lot more than Florence, but only time will tell. I think I'm heading off to Verona tomorrow, and I'll update the blog with pictures when I've got a chance. There's a better internet connection here, but it's still a little slow to be uploading photos.

Wanders Until Lost

So Wednesday morning, I got up and went to the Colloseum and Roman Forum.  If you are ever in Rome, definitely do the Roman Forum first--the ticket for the Roman Forum is the same as the one for the Colloseum (one ticket for the forum, the colloseum, and Palatino) but you'll wait about 5-10 minutes at the forum instead of 20-30 at the Colloseum.

Honestly, I have no idea what I was looking at for the most part (same with Pompeii), but I just love ruins, so it really didn't matter. I wandered around and took bunches of pictures, read information when available.

After the forum, I headed over to the Colloseum, which was pretty spectacular. It was just something interesting to see, even if I'm not really up on all the history surrounding it.

When I finished exploring the Colloseum, I headed over toward the river and walked up the river until I found the bridge I had seen a picture of on Tumblr. Along the way I got to enjoy the scenery, the sunshine, and the architecture. Then I wandered around a little more (all the way almost back down to the Capitole) before heading in for the night.

Thursday, I pretty much did nothing. In the morning, I headed over to Trevi fountain and sat around enjoying the milling company of the crowd until it could passably be called lunchtime. For lunch, I headed over to Obika--a mozzarella bar with locations in Rome, Florence, New York, and Tokyo (among other places). Allow me to just say, YUM. I had a chilled tomato soup with homemade croutons and a hunk of creamy mozzarella cheese. I wasn't sure what to do with the cheese, so I stirred it into my soup, and it was SO GOOD.  Then I had some more creamy mozzarella cheese with cherry tomatoes and pesto. So much cheese, but so much goodness. I didn't know that mozzarella could be so creamy and delicious.

After lunch, I explored some piazzas and wandered some more (welcome to my traveling life). That night, my roommate convinced me to go see Trevi fountain and the Colloseum lit up, so I ventured forth into the night to see the fountain, the Capitole, and the Colloseum. It was pretty beautiful, and a good way to tire myself out to get a good night's sleep.

Friday morning, I headed up to the Vatican to see St. Peter's Basilica. I decided to climb the Duomo--all 551 steps of it. I'll be honest, I got to the inside of the church (inside the Duomo looking down on all the people milling about) and I thought I was done. I was like, "That was 551 steps?! Too easy, mate!" Then I saw a sign saying, "to the cupola" and I figured "Alright, what's another few steps?" HA. Yeah, I thought I was going to die. That point I thought I was done at? That was probably not even halfway up. So the further I go up, the more crowded it gets, the steeper the steps, and the hotter it gets. By the time I got to the top, I was sweating like I would have if they would have held band camp in Hong Kong. It was BAD.

After the Basilica, I headed over to see the Mouth of Truth. I didn't actually stick my arm in, but the church was pretty. Cue heading to the train station to come to Florence.

I'll update with pictures when I've got a more reliable internet connection. Hopefully this is tomorrow, but it might not be until Sunday/Monday.

Home sweet honey gelato

So, I wasn't actually going to update while I was on vacation, but I've been so busy during the day that I just want to come home and chill out for a few hours before bed and rest my feet, so I've got some time. Besides, I think I've got plenty of material for a post after just 3 days here in Italy.

First off, the train is amazing. I know it takes like 12 hours to get from Paris to Rome, but I love the train. The views were spectacular, especially through the Alps. You just don't get those views from a plane. /train rant

So when I arrived in Rome after a long day of traveling, I decided to go to the Hard Rock Café first thing so that I wouldn't forget (like I did in Edinburgh). This might not sound exciting, but when I went up to the counter to tell the guy (who worked there) what I wanted, I said "Bonjourno". Except I must have a French accent because the guy responded "Bonjour, d'où venez-vous?" (Hi, where are you from?). I explained (in French) that I was from the United States. He responded, "But you're French, right?" Highlight of my life. Mistaken for a French person. That is a pretty epic win in my book.

Sunday was Vatican day since it was 1) The Holy See (whatever that is) and 2) Free because it was the last Sunday of the month. I went to the Vatican Museums first, looking for the Sistine Chapel--ended up taking the proverbial "Scenic Route" in the museum and ended up seeing like EVERY other gallery they have. In a giant crowd. Eventually I made it to the Chapel and was just amazed. Pictures weren't allowed (you'll have to Google it if you want pictures that badly), but it was awe inspiring. I can't even believe the amount of work it must have taken. After that I headed (or tried to head) over to St. Peter's Square/Basilica. Essentially, I went the wrong direction and ended up walking around the entirety of the Vatican City (not that it's THAT big, but still). I finally found the square, took a few pictures, took ONE look at the line to get in the Basilica (that wrapped around the square at LEAST twice) and went, "Nope, not that interested in the Basilica". So I went to the Piazza della Republicca and got an iced tea and a caprese salad for lunch-ish. I people watched for a while, then headed home to rest. At dinner that night (3 euro pasta/wine provided by the hostel) I met a couple from Colorado staying in the room next to mine. We ended up deciding to go to Pompeii together on Monday.

Sculpture in the Vatican Museums courtyard

Mosaic on the floor

Giant foot = epic win

More beautiful flooring

The view of the crowds in the Vatican Museums

Finally found the exit.

Obelisk in St. Peter's Square

St. Peter's Basilica

Monday we got up bright and early to get a train down to Naples. The train ride was beautiful, and when we got to Naples, a nice older Italian man helped us get the train to Pompeii. The plan was to do Pompeii in the morning, and climb Mount Vesuvius in the afternoon. When we get to Pompeii, it was sunny and absolutely gorgeous. Melissa, Craig, and I explored for about four hours straight. I can't even really describe it in more detail than that. Pompeii is HUGE (much bigger than I was expecting), and it was just absolutely breathtaking. I can't help but think about how tragic the eruption was, yet what an awesome opportunity it's given us to learn, explore, and grow as humans and as a culture. Instead of trying to explain, have some pictures. :)

In the Necropolis

Some columns

Absolutely beautiful

The theatre!

Inside the amphitheatre/Colosseum-type thing

View up the street

Ancient hot tub?

Another street

Overlooking the ruins

More theatre

KITTY!

Some more ruins

:)

Overlooking some of the city

Gorgeous mural

Ancient basilica

I can't even get over how gorgeous this is.

Near the end of our exploration, it started to lightly rain. We figured it was no big deal, left Pompeii and decided to get food. We decided that the rain should be done by the time we were done eating so that we could continue on to Mount Vesuvius. Boy, were we ever wrong! Nope, when we started eating, it was a light drizzle; when we finished eating, it was a torrential downpour. We gave up on our Mount Vesuvius plan and returned to Rome in time to get the free pizza offered by the hostel on Monday and Thursday nights. While eating, I met a nice guy from Canada who is taking a year off to travel the world. We talked for quite some time before heading out to find gelato.

This morning, I was lazy. It was gorgeous out. All I wanted was to be outside. I ended up at the zoo. Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I'm 3 years old; I love zoos. Turns out, they had EXCELLENT monkeys. I got right up close to them (or rather, they came right up close to me), and I ended up just staring at a few of them. Literally, I had a staring contest with several monkeys. Then I spent about an hour watching a different species of monkey playing around in their huge enclosure. It was amazing. So interesting to watch their interactions. After that, I headed off to see the rest of the animals. Near the end, I stumbled upon some orangutans who I sat with for about 10 minutes, just staring at them and talking to them.

This is not even zoomed in at all; that's how close I was to this monkey.

MELON TIME

Oh peacock! These things were roaming everywhere.

Nap time for kitty!

Lynx waking up from nap time

D'aw, elephant fountain.

Wallaby (or something)

Capibara

D'aw, sleepy kitty has HUGE paws

Orangutan

Those EYES

Other orangutan

Oh hi there!

:) Staring contest with an orangutan

After the zoo, I got massively lost. Now, first off, I feel like getting lost is my traveling rite of passage. Every city I go to, I have to get lost. In any case, the zoo was in this big park with a couple villas. Well, I figured the park was big, but it ended up being about 30 times bigger than I had originally planned. In any case, I almost did a full circle over the course of 1-1.5 hours and ended up NEARLY right back where I started (at the zoo). I eventually figured it out and headed off to find a couple stores I was interested in shopping at. Along the way, I stumbled across the People's Square, the Spanish Square (and the Spanish Steps), the Parliament building, the Pantheon, Elefantino, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and the Capitole.

Living statue in the Piazza del Popolo

More Piazza del Popolo

Spanish Steps

I think this is the Piazza di Spagna

More Piazza di Spagna

Parliament building

Building across from Parliament

The Panthéon

Obelisk in front of the Panthéon

Panthéon

Inside the Panthéon

Elefantino

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

The Capitole

This lady took like 8 thousand pictures of me, convinced my camera wasn't working.

While at the Capitole, I saw a guy painting watercolor pictures, so I stopped and talked to him for a while. I ended up buying one of his paintings, and then he asked me if I wanted to stop by tomorrow and get coffee. Maybe this is an Italian custom?? After that, I stumbled across another street artist who was making these really unique paintings, and I just couldn't help myself, I got one of his paintings, too.

Finally, I wandered up to Trevi fountain to throw in my coin to ensure my return to Rome. I tried to get a lady to take my picture while throwing in the coin, and she kept thinking she didn't get it, so I ended up throwing in 3 coins. Hopefully this means I'll get to come back to Rome 3 times!

Trevi Fountain

GPOY

Oh, somewhere in between all that, I wanted gelato (go figure). I found this little place that had a WHOLE bunch of flavors. I ended up trying honey flavored gelato with a chocolate meringue (which ended up being like a vanilla gelato with chocolate chips). Honey gelato is probably the best thing I've ever tasted in my life, and someone in the States should get on mass marketing this so that it's available when I come home.

That's pretty much all for now! Maybe I'll try to update the blog on my train trip to Florence on Friday. We shall see!