I am currently in the Salt Lake airport on my 5 hour layover. I wish I was coming home on better terms, but I am grateful to have to ability to be with my family this weekend and attend my grandma's funeral. I left Torino at 4am this morning (currently 22 hours ago) to catch the bus to the airport. Flew from Torino to Paris (I always wanted to go to Paris... hopefully next time I'll leave the airport) and then from Paris to Salt Lake on a 11.5 hour flight. Unfortunately, it was my daytime, so i wasn't able to sleep much and the movie system was not working (thank goodness for ipods!). I'll finally arrive in Spokane at 8:30pm Mountain time (5:30 am Torino time...) What a long day! It is weird to be able to understand what everyone is saying around me. And not be nervous about asking questions of workers for fear that they won't be able to understand! I've met some really nice people on flights today and experienced customs for the first time.
I've also come to realize how lucky I am to have such great roommates. At 4am this morning, Youn got up to walk with me to the bus stop (20 min walk) because she didn't want me going alone and wanted to see me off with a hug! She even made me vegetable soup this morning, because "that's what we have in Korea in the morning". Kate left me a bag with a pastry, chocolate, strawberries, orange juice, and yogurt for my travels and a nice card reminding me to come back to Italy :) People like this make me realize I need to remember to show compassion everyday; it's easy to forget how much the little things mean to someone having a hard time.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Rome... the hard way
O boy… yet another travel story of missed transportation and hectic planning. Our flight for Rome was leaving at 7:30am from Milan which means we needed to catch the 3 am shuttle bus from Tornio to the Milan airport (2 hours away). Now people that know me would predict that my morning was flawed by oversleeping, as that usually is to blame for me missing morning activities. This was not the case… the 6 of us left my apartment at 2am to walk to the bus stop. Drew specifically called to determine exactly where the bus pick-up was located and was told by an English speaking employer the location. We arrived with plenty of time to spare! After waiting for 20 minutes with 3 am too close for comfort and no site of a bus, we called the company again. This time we got a different operator; different location. After a panicked 5 minutes of sprinting SEVERAL blocks down the street and another phone call, we accepted the fact that we had just missed the bus (which we already paid 18 Euro for by the way). With no more buses, no trains, and a plane that was located 2 hours away, we were in a pickle! We called a taxi and were told it would cost 190 Euros to reach Milan… When the taxi showed up, they could only seat 5 people and we were told our only option was TWO 190 Euro taxis. After pleading with the man in Italian, we gave up and decided we’d be skipping Rome this weekend. FORTUNATELY, the man took pity on our sad little predicament and finally agreed to squeeze and extra passenger into the vehicle (illegal by the way). Two hours and 40 Euros each later, we were at the airport!
I am happy to report that the weekend takes a lovely upturn at this point (we decided that fate was trying to pay us back). It was supposed to rain ALL weekend; I never once opened my umbrella. I had the chance to go to the Borghese Gallery and see Bernini’s sculptures (David, Daphne and Apollo) and a few works by Caravaggio (they are my two current favorites). And I even returned back to my friends safely after walking through the park for 30 minutes, after sunset, in Rome, by myself (sorry Mom and Dad… there was no avoiding it. But there were still people around jogging and stuff so it didn’t freak me out too badly. I was ready for a fight if I had to!). I saw the Coliseum from the outside (I’m saving it to see with Amanda and Jena over spring break!), the Pantheon (it was very impressive), the San Carlo Quattro Fontane church (that I’ve studied in art history classes), the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, and more churches, piazzas, café’s, gelaterias, etc. I also was really lucky when it came to the Vatican. In the morning, the line was an hour wait (at least!) to see St. Peter’s Basilica. However, thanks to Rick’s advice (aka my Rick Steve’s book), a friend and I came back in the afternoon and got in within 15 minutes! I was really excited about that. The Basilica was MASSIVE. The vaulting is huge and spans such a wide space that I wish I understood the engineering of it all. Of course it is filled with amazing sculptures and elaborate decoration, but the sheer space of it all is what impacted me the most.
After two full days of walking and site-seeing, we headed to the airport at 10pm at night (we decided to stay at the airport because our flight took off at 7am which is before we could get any trains to take us from the city center to the airport). In past airports I’ve seen, I feel like I could have reasonably slept for the night. However, Rome has its own “sleeping at the airport” culture which they apparently try to fight against by making the chairs impossible to lay on (curved bottoms, armrests, no cushion). Oh and they save on their heating bill at night too! After a night of little sleep but many laughs (it’s always nice to travel with friends that can make light of a bad situation). At the Milan airport, I split from the group and headed into the city center to catch my reservation for The Last Supper”. It was such I beautiful day out that I also climbed the stairs to the top of the Duomo (which we didn’t get a chance to do last time we were in Milan but I had wanted to). I was tired after a long weekend of little sleep and headed home on the train from Milan to Torino. I had used an old ticket Kate gave me because it was never punched so she thought it would still be good… wrong. After everyone on the train stared at me while the ticket checker man tried to explain to me in broken English that it was no good (and I tried to play the innocent “I didn’t know because I’m a tourist who doesn’t speak Italian and is such a sweet nice girl” game), I bought a ticket and paid an extra penalty fee. I’m beginning to think I need to start a “Megan learns all her lessons in Italy the hard way” fund! (By the way, I also never admitted that I got a bus ticket too… I HAVE a monthly bus pass, but of course the one day I forget my wallet I get checked by the bus authorities! I was terribly upset after being handed a 60 Euro ticket, but the USAC office said that since I really do have a monthly bus pass, I can bring that in when I go to pay for my ticket and the charge will be reduced to 11).
I am happy to report that the weekend takes a lovely upturn at this point (we decided that fate was trying to pay us back). It was supposed to rain ALL weekend; I never once opened my umbrella. I had the chance to go to the Borghese Gallery and see Bernini’s sculptures (David, Daphne and Apollo) and a few works by Caravaggio (they are my two current favorites). And I even returned back to my friends safely after walking through the park for 30 minutes, after sunset, in Rome, by myself (sorry Mom and Dad… there was no avoiding it. But there were still people around jogging and stuff so it didn’t freak me out too badly. I was ready for a fight if I had to!). I saw the Coliseum from the outside (I’m saving it to see with Amanda and Jena over spring break!), the Pantheon (it was very impressive), the San Carlo Quattro Fontane church (that I’ve studied in art history classes), the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, and more churches, piazzas, café’s, gelaterias, etc. I also was really lucky when it came to the Vatican. In the morning, the line was an hour wait (at least!) to see St. Peter’s Basilica. However, thanks to Rick’s advice (aka my Rick Steve’s book), a friend and I came back in the afternoon and got in within 15 minutes! I was really excited about that. The Basilica was MASSIVE. The vaulting is huge and spans such a wide space that I wish I understood the engineering of it all. Of course it is filled with amazing sculptures and elaborate decoration, but the sheer space of it all is what impacted me the most.
After two full days of walking and site-seeing, we headed to the airport at 10pm at night (we decided to stay at the airport because our flight took off at 7am which is before we could get any trains to take us from the city center to the airport). In past airports I’ve seen, I feel like I could have reasonably slept for the night. However, Rome has its own “sleeping at the airport” culture which they apparently try to fight against by making the chairs impossible to lay on (curved bottoms, armrests, no cushion). Oh and they save on their heating bill at night too! After a night of little sleep but many laughs (it’s always nice to travel with friends that can make light of a bad situation). At the Milan airport, I split from the group and headed into the city center to catch my reservation for The Last Supper”. It was such I beautiful day out that I also climbed the stairs to the top of the Duomo (which we didn’t get a chance to do last time we were in Milan but I had wanted to). I was tired after a long weekend of little sleep and headed home on the train from Milan to Torino. I had used an old ticket Kate gave me because it was never punched so she thought it would still be good… wrong. After everyone on the train stared at me while the ticket checker man tried to explain to me in broken English that it was no good (and I tried to play the innocent “I didn’t know because I’m a tourist who doesn’t speak Italian and is such a sweet nice girl” game), I bought a ticket and paid an extra penalty fee. I’m beginning to think I need to start a “Megan learns all her lessons in Italy the hard way” fund! (By the way, I also never admitted that I got a bus ticket too… I HAVE a monthly bus pass, but of course the one day I forget my wallet I get checked by the bus authorities! I was terribly upset after being handed a 60 Euro ticket, but the USAC office said that since I really do have a monthly bus pass, I can bring that in when I go to pay for my ticket and the charge will be reduced to 11).
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tour of Italy
A week traveling through Italy; I have so much to tell - Bare with me! We left Wednesday morning on the 11 o’clock train to…
PISA
We stopped here for a few hours (really just to take pictures of the tower and run). Unfortunately, the church was already closed so we didn’t get to go inside, but we did have a fun photo shoot! Also had some of the best gelato I’ve tasted so far, and trust me, I’ve tasted my fair share! Then we grabbed another train to…
FLORENCE
We arrived with enough time to have free dinner at our hostel! It was a great place to stay (see previous post). There is SO much to see and do in Florence. The first morning we took the free 2 hour historical center tour (with the hostel) and saw a lot of the main sites. The Duomo had a beautiful exterior of green, white, and rose marble. The interior was really simple because of the time period it was completed, so the inside wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the ornate façade. The dome is naturally a historic feat of design (the building was constructed before the technology to top it with a dome that could span the large distance needed was developed yet… Brunelleschi came along and saved the day). It was exciting to walk through the city and recognize buildings I had learned about in Architecture History class. I never really expected to see so many firsthand! We also explored the open market where I got a really original, thick leather belt (Tuscany has great leather products). After the next morning’s second free tour, we spent the entire afternoon in art galleries (Academia and Uffizi). Seeing the famous pieces in person was much more moving than studying them from a book! Little things change the experience so much, such as being able to see the light glinting off the gold flecks in the paint and taking in the massive size of the paintings. The Uffizi museum houses works by many of the “greats”: Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli (“Birth of Venus”), Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titan, Caravaggio, Rembrandt… (and the list goes on). The QUANTITY of art in the museum is overwhelming! We spend over 4 hours walking through the halls (and that was with a little hurrying at the end because our eyes were starting to lose focus!). I loved seeing everything in person (you can imagine the artist right there painting each form), but it was definitely a very exhausting afternoon. Then we went to the Academia, which displays a much smaller collection, most noteworthy being Michelangelo’s David. It was really spectacular to see the detail and size of the statue. Even pulsing veins can be seen carved into the strong arms of David; it really is an exceptional piece. Kate and I were both more impressed with The David than we had expected to be. While taking in all the art, I think one of the major realizations that hit me was the emotional power of the works. Seeing such intricate, lively, and decorative pieces of Jesus, Mary, etc really made me FEEL the pain, suffering, and exaltation of each scene depicted; for me, it was so different than studying them in class that it somehow hit me as unexpected. I understand why the Church commissioned such masterpieces – it literally moves the viewer to a sense of spirituality.
WE of course enjoyed some excellent gelato in Florence (the town claims to be the original home of gelato). One of our afternoons in Florence, we took a day trip by bus to…
SAN GIMIGNANO
An old medieval town, it is surrounded by a large wall and allows only limited vehicular traffic. Since it’s the off season for tourism, the town was quiet and sleepy, but still fun to explore. Kate and I window shopped, enjoyed a nice lunch and local wine, and explored the weaving streets. On the outskirts of town we found a wooded area that was covered in deep shades of green and slightly blurred by a romantic white mist clinging to the air. Here we discovered what appeared to be old baths carved out of the stone hillside and fed by a warm natural spring. If only we had our suits! Haha
Friday morning we headed on a…
BIKE RIDE to SIENA
Kate and I biked through the Tuscan countryside! We had a personal guide/biking expert, Marco. He use to be a professional cyclist and then started his own bike touring business which has expanded to several locations including destinations in California (where he spends several months out of the year). He is from Florence so it was fun to chat with him about the area. We were his first clients for the season (he admired our dedication for biking in the winter!). It was still beautiful although I could only imagine how spectacular it would be in the spring. We were so lucky to have a window of sunshine and blue sky (literally, it rained the day before and started raining right when we finished). At times there was a light dusting of snow on the hills, but the temperature was never too bad thanks to our moving legs and the sunshine! Originally, the route is a 21 mile bike ride… I say “originally” because we had to start a few miles down the road (to avoid a shaded downhill area that was a little icy). After all our joking in the car about not being good bike riders, Marco seemed a little worried/nervous. After the first little jaunt, when we passed him he was all smiles saying “you guys are doing so great! Much better than I expected!” We didn’t even know what to think of that! Was he expecting us to fall down and crash?! Guess it was better to prepare him for the worst and surprise him with our hidden biking skills! However, I will admit that on the HUGE hill (not insanely steep, just very long), we were going so slowly I was afraid I would start rolling backwards! Stubborn, we kept pushing on until Marco informed us that we weren’t even half done with it yet. At that point we were thankful for the “van support”! The level and downhill stretches were so much more fun ;) We stopped twice on the ride: once in a little town (wander around, have a break, visit the market, etc) and once for wine tasting. The place we were supposed to go for wine tasting was closed (hours are always limited and changing in the off season) so we went to a little osteria (an osteria is a small café, usually family owned, that specializes in local cuisine). It was completely empty except for the two young men working there, who were more than happy to give us our own little wine tasting complete with homemade bread baked that afternoon. It was fun to get to know them and to enjoy little bits of different kinds of wines (I’m still not any good at telling a difference tho!). I think they enjoyed themselves too because they kept pouring new samples… “this one is my favorite” “you have to try this one” “this one is from the area” “this is a really nice wine!”. The second half of the bike ride was full of Kate and I singing songs ;) We loved the whole experience (even the hills!) and don’t regret splurging for the tour. It was a good opportunity to see something different and to DO something rather than walk from tourist stop to tourist stop.
SIENA
We only spent one night in Siena, but I thought it was a great city. The Cathedral is absolutely breath-taking. The interior leaves you so amazed, you just have to sit down and look for an hour to take it all in! And of course we visited the famous Piazza Del Campo. It is an unusual fan shape and quite large! I didn’t think it was as memorable as people seem to claim it is however. Kate and I enjoyed a lovely dinner of local cuisine: I had ricotta cheese and spinach dumplings over Tuscan meat sauce and then a serving of wild boar. The whole thing was delicious! We also purchase authentic Italian made leather boots; they were 60% off! Couldn’t help ourselves… A bus ride early the next morning brought us to Rome, (where we missed our first train... schedules are tight!) and from there a train to…
SORRENTO
Our time in the Amalfi Coast was short but sweet. The night we arrived, Sorrento was having a huge carnival downtown to celebrate their patron saint, and boy do they go all out: candy markets, dried fruit, toys, lights, music, fireworks, and general market booths. My sweet tooth ended up costing me 4 euro in gummies and candied pistachios! Then day one was consumed by Pompeii… We spent 5 hours amongst the ruins and were still running (literally) to see things at the end before it closed. Pompeii brought out my inner child: I just wanted to explore every turn, imagine colorful daily lives going on around me, and play house in the basic rock-walled structures. When asked about the trip I usually refer to Pompeii as my favorite, although it’s hard to decide amongst all the amazing sites we visited. Originally we had wanted to hike Vesuvius, but we ran out of time and the weather didn’t cooperate. Our last day, we walked around the city, focusing our time on the bay and the coastal views. Then we headed in for a quick pizza in Naples (Pizza is original to Naples you know…) and caught a flight to Milan. (only one little backpack allowed as my carry on... let's just say that I'm thankful my bag has straps for strapping extras to the outside, and for my mother for passing on her tight packing skills)
I wish this is where the story ended, but there is yet another tragic tale to tell! From the Milan airport, it is necessary to catch a shuttle bus to the train station. From there, we purchased the last ticket for the night to Torino Porta Nuova (station close to our apartment) and sat down to wait the 45 mins for the train. We waited and waited for the board to post what platform our train would be arriving at…. But it never came. Finally, 4 mins after the train was set to depart, platform 4 finally flashed up on the screen. We hurried in that direction (we were standing by platform 17… really not that far of a walk) and even jogged half of it joking around that it would suck to miss a train (we all know I’ve done that before). Literally 30 seconds after the number popped up on the screen, we reached the train to see its doors close RIGHT in front of us! A train worker even was standing right inside the door and did nothing for us… You can bet how mad we were! This train would have gotten us home at midnight just in time to catch the last bus home for the night. Instead, we were told to “just wait for the next train” (like that wasn’t a big deal for two tired, fuming mad travelers). The next train wasn’t for another two hours, took us to the furthest station in Torino, and forced us to pay for a cab ride home to the apartment. Finally got home at 3 am and was up at 7:30 for class! This traveling thing is exhausting! (For the record, we weren’t the only passengers that got left by the tricky Torino train).
It was a memorable week, made me love Italy even more, and even led me to appreciate dear old Idaho more (the hilly fields of Tuscany kept reminding me of the Palouse hills, and the Amalfi Coast reminded me of Oregon). Sometimes it’s easy to take advantage of the nature that surrounds us locally thinking we need to travel the world to find beauty, when in reality it’s right in our hands everyday if we have the state of mind to explore it with fresh eyes.
And all that for only missing two classes!
PISA
We stopped here for a few hours (really just to take pictures of the tower and run). Unfortunately, the church was already closed so we didn’t get to go inside, but we did have a fun photo shoot! Also had some of the best gelato I’ve tasted so far, and trust me, I’ve tasted my fair share! Then we grabbed another train to…
FLORENCE
We arrived with enough time to have free dinner at our hostel! It was a great place to stay (see previous post). There is SO much to see and do in Florence. The first morning we took the free 2 hour historical center tour (with the hostel) and saw a lot of the main sites. The Duomo had a beautiful exterior of green, white, and rose marble. The interior was really simple because of the time period it was completed, so the inside wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the ornate façade. The dome is naturally a historic feat of design (the building was constructed before the technology to top it with a dome that could span the large distance needed was developed yet… Brunelleschi came along and saved the day). It was exciting to walk through the city and recognize buildings I had learned about in Architecture History class. I never really expected to see so many firsthand! We also explored the open market where I got a really original, thick leather belt (Tuscany has great leather products). After the next morning’s second free tour, we spent the entire afternoon in art galleries (Academia and Uffizi). Seeing the famous pieces in person was much more moving than studying them from a book! Little things change the experience so much, such as being able to see the light glinting off the gold flecks in the paint and taking in the massive size of the paintings. The Uffizi museum houses works by many of the “greats”: Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli (“Birth of Venus”), Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titan, Caravaggio, Rembrandt… (and the list goes on). The QUANTITY of art in the museum is overwhelming! We spend over 4 hours walking through the halls (and that was with a little hurrying at the end because our eyes were starting to lose focus!). I loved seeing everything in person (you can imagine the artist right there painting each form), but it was definitely a very exhausting afternoon. Then we went to the Academia, which displays a much smaller collection, most noteworthy being Michelangelo’s David. It was really spectacular to see the detail and size of the statue. Even pulsing veins can be seen carved into the strong arms of David; it really is an exceptional piece. Kate and I were both more impressed with The David than we had expected to be. While taking in all the art, I think one of the major realizations that hit me was the emotional power of the works. Seeing such intricate, lively, and decorative pieces of Jesus, Mary, etc really made me FEEL the pain, suffering, and exaltation of each scene depicted; for me, it was so different than studying them in class that it somehow hit me as unexpected. I understand why the Church commissioned such masterpieces – it literally moves the viewer to a sense of spirituality.
WE of course enjoyed some excellent gelato in Florence (the town claims to be the original home of gelato). One of our afternoons in Florence, we took a day trip by bus to…
SAN GIMIGNANO
An old medieval town, it is surrounded by a large wall and allows only limited vehicular traffic. Since it’s the off season for tourism, the town was quiet and sleepy, but still fun to explore. Kate and I window shopped, enjoyed a nice lunch and local wine, and explored the weaving streets. On the outskirts of town we found a wooded area that was covered in deep shades of green and slightly blurred by a romantic white mist clinging to the air. Here we discovered what appeared to be old baths carved out of the stone hillside and fed by a warm natural spring. If only we had our suits! Haha
Friday morning we headed on a…
BIKE RIDE to SIENA
Kate and I biked through the Tuscan countryside! We had a personal guide/biking expert, Marco. He use to be a professional cyclist and then started his own bike touring business which has expanded to several locations including destinations in California (where he spends several months out of the year). He is from Florence so it was fun to chat with him about the area. We were his first clients for the season (he admired our dedication for biking in the winter!). It was still beautiful although I could only imagine how spectacular it would be in the spring. We were so lucky to have a window of sunshine and blue sky (literally, it rained the day before and started raining right when we finished). At times there was a light dusting of snow on the hills, but the temperature was never too bad thanks to our moving legs and the sunshine! Originally, the route is a 21 mile bike ride… I say “originally” because we had to start a few miles down the road (to avoid a shaded downhill area that was a little icy). After all our joking in the car about not being good bike riders, Marco seemed a little worried/nervous. After the first little jaunt, when we passed him he was all smiles saying “you guys are doing so great! Much better than I expected!” We didn’t even know what to think of that! Was he expecting us to fall down and crash?! Guess it was better to prepare him for the worst and surprise him with our hidden biking skills! However, I will admit that on the HUGE hill (not insanely steep, just very long), we were going so slowly I was afraid I would start rolling backwards! Stubborn, we kept pushing on until Marco informed us that we weren’t even half done with it yet. At that point we were thankful for the “van support”! The level and downhill stretches were so much more fun ;) We stopped twice on the ride: once in a little town (wander around, have a break, visit the market, etc) and once for wine tasting. The place we were supposed to go for wine tasting was closed (hours are always limited and changing in the off season) so we went to a little osteria (an osteria is a small café, usually family owned, that specializes in local cuisine). It was completely empty except for the two young men working there, who were more than happy to give us our own little wine tasting complete with homemade bread baked that afternoon. It was fun to get to know them and to enjoy little bits of different kinds of wines (I’m still not any good at telling a difference tho!). I think they enjoyed themselves too because they kept pouring new samples… “this one is my favorite” “you have to try this one” “this one is from the area” “this is a really nice wine!”. The second half of the bike ride was full of Kate and I singing songs ;) We loved the whole experience (even the hills!) and don’t regret splurging for the tour. It was a good opportunity to see something different and to DO something rather than walk from tourist stop to tourist stop.
SIENA
We only spent one night in Siena, but I thought it was a great city. The Cathedral is absolutely breath-taking. The interior leaves you so amazed, you just have to sit down and look for an hour to take it all in! And of course we visited the famous Piazza Del Campo. It is an unusual fan shape and quite large! I didn’t think it was as memorable as people seem to claim it is however. Kate and I enjoyed a lovely dinner of local cuisine: I had ricotta cheese and spinach dumplings over Tuscan meat sauce and then a serving of wild boar. The whole thing was delicious! We also purchase authentic Italian made leather boots; they were 60% off! Couldn’t help ourselves… A bus ride early the next morning brought us to Rome, (where we missed our first train... schedules are tight!) and from there a train to…
SORRENTO
Our time in the Amalfi Coast was short but sweet. The night we arrived, Sorrento was having a huge carnival downtown to celebrate their patron saint, and boy do they go all out: candy markets, dried fruit, toys, lights, music, fireworks, and general market booths. My sweet tooth ended up costing me 4 euro in gummies and candied pistachios! Then day one was consumed by Pompeii… We spent 5 hours amongst the ruins and were still running (literally) to see things at the end before it closed. Pompeii brought out my inner child: I just wanted to explore every turn, imagine colorful daily lives going on around me, and play house in the basic rock-walled structures. When asked about the trip I usually refer to Pompeii as my favorite, although it’s hard to decide amongst all the amazing sites we visited. Originally we had wanted to hike Vesuvius, but we ran out of time and the weather didn’t cooperate. Our last day, we walked around the city, focusing our time on the bay and the coastal views. Then we headed in for a quick pizza in Naples (Pizza is original to Naples you know…) and caught a flight to Milan. (only one little backpack allowed as my carry on... let's just say that I'm thankful my bag has straps for strapping extras to the outside, and for my mother for passing on her tight packing skills)
I wish this is where the story ended, but there is yet another tragic tale to tell! From the Milan airport, it is necessary to catch a shuttle bus to the train station. From there, we purchased the last ticket for the night to Torino Porta Nuova (station close to our apartment) and sat down to wait the 45 mins for the train. We waited and waited for the board to post what platform our train would be arriving at…. But it never came. Finally, 4 mins after the train was set to depart, platform 4 finally flashed up on the screen. We hurried in that direction (we were standing by platform 17… really not that far of a walk) and even jogged half of it joking around that it would suck to miss a train (we all know I’ve done that before). Literally 30 seconds after the number popped up on the screen, we reached the train to see its doors close RIGHT in front of us! A train worker even was standing right inside the door and did nothing for us… You can bet how mad we were! This train would have gotten us home at midnight just in time to catch the last bus home for the night. Instead, we were told to “just wait for the next train” (like that wasn’t a big deal for two tired, fuming mad travelers). The next train wasn’t for another two hours, took us to the furthest station in Torino, and forced us to pay for a cab ride home to the apartment. Finally got home at 3 am and was up at 7:30 for class! This traveling thing is exhausting! (For the record, we weren’t the only passengers that got left by the tricky Torino train).
It was a memorable week, made me love Italy even more, and even led me to appreciate dear old Idaho more (the hilly fields of Tuscany kept reminding me of the Palouse hills, and the Amalfi Coast reminded me of Oregon). Sometimes it’s easy to take advantage of the nature that surrounds us locally thinking we need to travel the world to find beauty, when in reality it’s right in our hands everyday if we have the state of mind to explore it with fresh eyes.
And all that for only missing two classes!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Florence is starting off on a good foot...
So turns out our hostel is freaking amazing... for the price of the room (19 euro) we get free dinner, free breakfast, free 2 hour walking tour of Florence (2 different ones) free wifi, and free computer in each room.(haha that sounds like a better deal than my apartment!) Along with a TV room with satellite and a computer hall where each computer has a webcam. Pretty stinking good huh? Kate and I split a pizza and salad tonight; it was pretty good. They even have omelettes for breakfast (usually it's just toast, croissant, etc). We are going to take the first walking tour tomorrow and then go to one of the little towns near by (San Gimignano) in the afternoon. Friday is our all Florence day (with two art museums scheduled) and then saturday is the infamous bike ride... looked up the weather... Saturday is the only day that's sunny!! Hopefully it works out as predicted and we have nice weather. anyways, i'm gonna go... don't want to hog the computer(we are in a room with 9 people total. Bunkbeds and then a private bathroom. Really nice for a hostel).
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Venice: the Enchanting City
Venice… Where do I even start?! It is just as beautiful as I had imagined from all the pictures. It has its own enchanting personality, different from any place I’ve visited. It is literally a maze of little alley ways and bridges; it’s fascinating. I loved seeing little canals run between buildings with family boats “parked” all along the edges. There were entrances to buildings right off the water (some areas just had canals and no sidewalks), which is something I hadn’t seen before. A little trivia for you: the city of Venice is made up of 95% water and 5% land (hence its development as a fishing village), it is a collection of over 100 islands (each time you cross a bridge, you are coming onto a new island), and the original people to settle the islands did so seeking defense from their enemies (who were not seafaring people).
We arrived Saturday afternoon (5.5 hour bus ride). After checking into the hotel (comfortable bed, shared a room with 3 other girls) we headed to the main city square, Palazzo St. Marco. We met with a tour guide who gave us a 2 hour walking tour of the city and shared a lot of the history with us (let’s just say sometimes I got distracted by taking pictures… glad there wasn’t a quiz!). By the end of all of this, it was dinner time. A group of us girls had a nice sit down dinner at a little restaurant. We then went out to explore the night life of the city, but Venice gets pretty quiet at night. The great thing is that the city feels very safe. At one point, we got lost trying to find our way back to the hotel (don’t go anywhere without a map!!!). A couple in their 50’s noticed we had walked by twice and asked us if we needed help (many people speak English in Venice). We showed them the hotel marked on the map, but after trying to describe directions they just decided to walk us home. It felt like such a supportive community and was a good opportunity to talk with locals (the husband told us to talk with his wife because she “needed to practice her English”).
Sunday was beautiful and sunny with a clear, blue sky - such a welcomed change from Torino weather and from the forecast (we were expecting rain all weekend). In the morning, we went to a PACKED St. Marco’s square; It was the day for Carnival celebration’s opening ceremonies. Carnival is a very famous time to Venice and they take it very seriously. We watched parades of costumes (locals go ALL out dressing up is elaborate outfits… check out pictures on facebook) before the angel “flew” through the courtyard. There is a long cable attached to the top of a high tower on one end of the square. The other end attaches to the opposite side of the square down on the stage area. Every year a woman dressed in an elaborate white dress is lowered along the cable, out over the courtyard full of people. The celebrations continued on all day with bands of costumed people marching through the streets and constantly posing for pictures. It was fun to see the city so lively and festive – an exciting time to be in Venice.
Saturday afternoon we saw the main Cathedral. It is incredible impressive. The exterior is completely covered in marble slabs (“won” from other countries during war times) while practically every wall and ceiling surface on the interior is covered in tiled frescos. The tiles are unique to Venice (made from a thin sheet of gold melted onto the back of colored glass). The gold makes the tiles sparkle in the light. The range of colors is unending; slightly varying shades were used to show gradual shading on each mosaic, demonstrating the intricacy of the work (with tiles smaller than half the size of a penny). I can’t even fathom how the all the tall domes of the church were mosaic-ed with such detail! The church also housed the famous 4 life-size golden horses that originally stood outside on the church’s balcony (which have obviously been moved out of the weather and replaced with replicas while the real statues remain inside). They are believed to be Greek sculptures from around 400 BC that were taken from Greece after winning a battle. To top off the grand church visit, guests walk out onto the balcony (several stories above the ground). It offers a close up view of the façade architectural details and the most incredible view of the entire square (which looks out over the port). The square also houses the Doge’s Palace and was used as the welcoming entrance to the city when guests came to visit the Royal family. We were so lucky to be able to see it all on such a sunny day.
After all this excitement, we wandered through the markets and stores looking at all the local glasswork and the colorful Venetian carnival masks. Around sunset, Drew and I took a ferry boat down the Grand Canal (the town’s public transportation system). It was good to see the buildings and port from the water (after all, it is one of the most unique aspects of Venice). We naturally ended with a late night of Super Bowl watching at a small pub. I left in the third quarter when I started falling asleep at the table (3:30 am)! On our bus ride home today, we stopped for 2 hours in Verona where we saw some Roman ruins, Juliet’s balcony, and a little bit of the town. At 8pm we finally returned to our apartment, all worn out! I have one day of school tomorrow before heading out on my week trip down through Italy. I better start heading to bed!
Ciao!
We arrived Saturday afternoon (5.5 hour bus ride). After checking into the hotel (comfortable bed, shared a room with 3 other girls) we headed to the main city square, Palazzo St. Marco. We met with a tour guide who gave us a 2 hour walking tour of the city and shared a lot of the history with us (let’s just say sometimes I got distracted by taking pictures… glad there wasn’t a quiz!). By the end of all of this, it was dinner time. A group of us girls had a nice sit down dinner at a little restaurant. We then went out to explore the night life of the city, but Venice gets pretty quiet at night. The great thing is that the city feels very safe. At one point, we got lost trying to find our way back to the hotel (don’t go anywhere without a map!!!). A couple in their 50’s noticed we had walked by twice and asked us if we needed help (many people speak English in Venice). We showed them the hotel marked on the map, but after trying to describe directions they just decided to walk us home. It felt like such a supportive community and was a good opportunity to talk with locals (the husband told us to talk with his wife because she “needed to practice her English”).
Sunday was beautiful and sunny with a clear, blue sky - such a welcomed change from Torino weather and from the forecast (we were expecting rain all weekend). In the morning, we went to a PACKED St. Marco’s square; It was the day for Carnival celebration’s opening ceremonies. Carnival is a very famous time to Venice and they take it very seriously. We watched parades of costumes (locals go ALL out dressing up is elaborate outfits… check out pictures on facebook) before the angel “flew” through the courtyard. There is a long cable attached to the top of a high tower on one end of the square. The other end attaches to the opposite side of the square down on the stage area. Every year a woman dressed in an elaborate white dress is lowered along the cable, out over the courtyard full of people. The celebrations continued on all day with bands of costumed people marching through the streets and constantly posing for pictures. It was fun to see the city so lively and festive – an exciting time to be in Venice.
Saturday afternoon we saw the main Cathedral. It is incredible impressive. The exterior is completely covered in marble slabs (“won” from other countries during war times) while practically every wall and ceiling surface on the interior is covered in tiled frescos. The tiles are unique to Venice (made from a thin sheet of gold melted onto the back of colored glass). The gold makes the tiles sparkle in the light. The range of colors is unending; slightly varying shades were used to show gradual shading on each mosaic, demonstrating the intricacy of the work (with tiles smaller than half the size of a penny). I can’t even fathom how the all the tall domes of the church were mosaic-ed with such detail! The church also housed the famous 4 life-size golden horses that originally stood outside on the church’s balcony (which have obviously been moved out of the weather and replaced with replicas while the real statues remain inside). They are believed to be Greek sculptures from around 400 BC that were taken from Greece after winning a battle. To top off the grand church visit, guests walk out onto the balcony (several stories above the ground). It offers a close up view of the façade architectural details and the most incredible view of the entire square (which looks out over the port). The square also houses the Doge’s Palace and was used as the welcoming entrance to the city when guests came to visit the Royal family. We were so lucky to be able to see it all on such a sunny day.
After all this excitement, we wandered through the markets and stores looking at all the local glasswork and the colorful Venetian carnival masks. Around sunset, Drew and I took a ferry boat down the Grand Canal (the town’s public transportation system). It was good to see the buildings and port from the water (after all, it is one of the most unique aspects of Venice). We naturally ended with a late night of Super Bowl watching at a small pub. I left in the third quarter when I started falling asleep at the table (3:30 am)! On our bus ride home today, we stopped for 2 hours in Verona where we saw some Roman ruins, Juliet’s balcony, and a little bit of the town. At 8pm we finally returned to our apartment, all worn out! I have one day of school tomorrow before heading out on my week trip down through Italy. I better start heading to bed!
Ciao!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Plans for Italy travel... and random updates!
Written the night of Wednesday, Feb. 3rd:
Tomorrow is a busy day! We have to meet at the police station early in the morning to finalize everything for our “permit of stay” (fingerprints), then we are analyzing our ‘site’ downtown for architecture studio and heading back to school for a few hours of Italian class. All followed by a night a studying for my second Italian exam (lots of verb conjugations to memorize). It was beautiful sunny today in Torino; It was so cheerful! I can also check figuring out another ‘everyday activity’ of my list: pharmacy. I bought cough syrup and nose spray (for congestion). Luckily, the woman who helped me spoke English pretty well (otherwise I think I would have been playing charades in the pharmacy). I have a cold that seems to be clinging on, but it’s not slowing me down too much.
I’m excited for my upcoming travels. On Saturday, we leave for Venice/Verona on a private bus and even get the luxury of a real hotel and not a hostel (it’s a USAC organized trip). I come back to Torino for one day of class (Tuesday) before leaving again to travel down thru Italy with Kate. We will be gone from Wednesday until the next Tuesday night (and only missing 2 classes total, don’t fret parents). We’re calling it our “Tour of Italy”. The plan is to take a train to Pisa (to stop for a few hours and see the tower) and then spend the next 3 nights in Florence. One day we will use to visit small towns in the region (REAL Tuscany), one day for seeing sights in Florence (already reserved two museums… and of course the Duomo), and the last day we are taking a private bike ride tour through the Tuscan country side to Siena with a stop for wine tasting. (Yes, I know what you’re thinking: very expensive… I am splurging. It’ll be so memorable to DO something in the Tuscan region rather than spending everyday looking at art). It is a total of 20 miles (but van supported… meaning when you get tired on the hills you can take the easy way out!). Hopefully my young body doesn’t let me down! From there we stay in Siena and then head down south to see the Amalfi Coast and Naples for 3 days. Hopefully we’ll have some sunny weather… it is supposed to be in the mid-fifties in the south (Fahrenheit not Celsius haha… you have to watch out for all those unit changes!), so a nice break from the cold.
I’m enjoying my classes, but I’ll be relieved when Italian is over. It meets 4 days a week for 2 hours each morning, which means we are covering a lot of material that is all memorization. Let’s just say pronunciation isn’t my forte. I just finished a power point on the Cinque Terre region (and now I can’t wait to go hike there in March when it is warmer) for Italian Culture. Tomorrow we see our site for the semester for studio; that’s where it all begins! And Art History holds my interest… I think I’m enjoying it the most right now. Just the four classes (yay!).
In other EXCELLENT news (I feel like I am an anchor on the 10 o’clock news that is transitioning between updates), we WILL be getting internet at our apartment sometime next week; our landlady signed the contract today! That will be helpful for planning trips, doing homework, and of course keeping in contact. Another random positive: I got stopped on the street last week by two people that looked my age asking for directions… I am excited by the thought that I looked like I belonged, knew what I was doing, and was Italian! Too bad I couldn’t actually help them ;)
I find it really interesting that some moments I’ll be walking down the street and completely forget that i haven’t always been here, that I’m not from the area. I always thought things would be so completely different on the other side of the world, but I keep finding more and more things that seem just like home (passing fields on the train last weekend that were dusted with snow… it’s a scene I could have seen ANYwhere in Idaho). It’s still hard to comprehend that I’m actually in Italy! I’m enjoying city life a lot too… I love being about to walk to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the pizzeria. And I love the effectiveness of the bus system (now that I know where my stop is! Haha). At night when I open the first door into my building and it shuts behind me, it’s always so comforting to be “home”. The apartment is a quiet little retreat from the city (and filled with English speaking women my age!). Not to mention it’s much more relaxing to not be constantly aware of my surroundings (watching my belongings, taking in the sites, making sure I know where I am, observing the people around me… you get the idea).
My meds are kicking in and I’m fading fast! Off to bed… Buonanotte!
Tomorrow is a busy day! We have to meet at the police station early in the morning to finalize everything for our “permit of stay” (fingerprints), then we are analyzing our ‘site’ downtown for architecture studio and heading back to school for a few hours of Italian class. All followed by a night a studying for my second Italian exam (lots of verb conjugations to memorize). It was beautiful sunny today in Torino; It was so cheerful! I can also check figuring out another ‘everyday activity’ of my list: pharmacy. I bought cough syrup and nose spray (for congestion). Luckily, the woman who helped me spoke English pretty well (otherwise I think I would have been playing charades in the pharmacy). I have a cold that seems to be clinging on, but it’s not slowing me down too much.
I’m excited for my upcoming travels. On Saturday, we leave for Venice/Verona on a private bus and even get the luxury of a real hotel and not a hostel (it’s a USAC organized trip). I come back to Torino for one day of class (Tuesday) before leaving again to travel down thru Italy with Kate. We will be gone from Wednesday until the next Tuesday night (and only missing 2 classes total, don’t fret parents). We’re calling it our “Tour of Italy”. The plan is to take a train to Pisa (to stop for a few hours and see the tower) and then spend the next 3 nights in Florence. One day we will use to visit small towns in the region (REAL Tuscany), one day for seeing sights in Florence (already reserved two museums… and of course the Duomo), and the last day we are taking a private bike ride tour through the Tuscan country side to Siena with a stop for wine tasting. (Yes, I know what you’re thinking: very expensive… I am splurging. It’ll be so memorable to DO something in the Tuscan region rather than spending everyday looking at art). It is a total of 20 miles (but van supported… meaning when you get tired on the hills you can take the easy way out!). Hopefully my young body doesn’t let me down! From there we stay in Siena and then head down south to see the Amalfi Coast and Naples for 3 days. Hopefully we’ll have some sunny weather… it is supposed to be in the mid-fifties in the south (Fahrenheit not Celsius haha… you have to watch out for all those unit changes!), so a nice break from the cold.
I’m enjoying my classes, but I’ll be relieved when Italian is over. It meets 4 days a week for 2 hours each morning, which means we are covering a lot of material that is all memorization. Let’s just say pronunciation isn’t my forte. I just finished a power point on the Cinque Terre region (and now I can’t wait to go hike there in March when it is warmer) for Italian Culture. Tomorrow we see our site for the semester for studio; that’s where it all begins! And Art History holds my interest… I think I’m enjoying it the most right now. Just the four classes (yay!).
In other EXCELLENT news (I feel like I am an anchor on the 10 o’clock news that is transitioning between updates), we WILL be getting internet at our apartment sometime next week; our landlady signed the contract today! That will be helpful for planning trips, doing homework, and of course keeping in contact. Another random positive: I got stopped on the street last week by two people that looked my age asking for directions… I am excited by the thought that I looked like I belonged, knew what I was doing, and was Italian! Too bad I couldn’t actually help them ;)
I find it really interesting that some moments I’ll be walking down the street and completely forget that i haven’t always been here, that I’m not from the area. I always thought things would be so completely different on the other side of the world, but I keep finding more and more things that seem just like home (passing fields on the train last weekend that were dusted with snow… it’s a scene I could have seen ANYwhere in Idaho). It’s still hard to comprehend that I’m actually in Italy! I’m enjoying city life a lot too… I love being about to walk to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the pizzeria. And I love the effectiveness of the bus system (now that I know where my stop is! Haha). At night when I open the first door into my building and it shuts behind me, it’s always so comforting to be “home”. The apartment is a quiet little retreat from the city (and filled with English speaking women my age!). Not to mention it’s much more relaxing to not be constantly aware of my surroundings (watching my belongings, taking in the sites, making sure I know where I am, observing the people around me… you get the idea).
My meds are kicking in and I’m fading fast! Off to bed… Buonanotte!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Lost Weekend
This weekend was a “day trip” weekend, which I actually really enjoyed. Five of us went to Saluzzo, a little town about an hour train ride away. It was classic Italian (see facebook for pictures!). It was nice to be able to explore the town and get lost in the maze of streets and old buildings and not have to figure out “okay, what do we need to make sure we see next?” It was really sunny that day so just a good experience overall.
EXCEPT there’s a funny little side story: I was meeting everyone else at the train station downtown. I took the wrong bus (even after being here for 3 weeks… you know I got plenty of teasing about that one) and ended up in a different part of town. I had to work my way back thru the buses to the train station. Of course when I finally arrived and went to buy a ticket, the lines were really long and slow! So Drew waited with me while the other girls boarded the train. I finally was able to get my ticket and we ran (quite literally) to the train. We were about to hop on, but Drew freaked out saying “this train looks way to nice to be going to Saluzzo! This can’t be the train!”. So while he ran to check the train schedule, the doors closed and we lost our chance (it was the right train btw). The two of us were able to catch a train 45 mins later and met up with the girls at the station where we had to switch trains. It all worked out in the end and like Drew said: “No one ever says ‘remember that one time when the day went perfectly as planned?’… No, we’ll always tell the story of ‘remember that one time we missed the train because we thought it looked too nice?’”
On Sunday, Drew, Kelsey, and I went to a castle on the very edge of town (45 min bus ride). We of course got lost again! (This was the weekend for being lost… good thing we know how to say “where…?” in Italian). It was expensive to get in so I went in by myself while the other two looked around the town and headed home. It was cool to see, but I wish that they had information in English as well. There was a very through explanation about the history of the castle and the area and I was bummed that I didn’t get to hear any of that.
That’s all for now… I still can’t believe I am in Italy :)
EXCEPT there’s a funny little side story: I was meeting everyone else at the train station downtown. I took the wrong bus (even after being here for 3 weeks… you know I got plenty of teasing about that one) and ended up in a different part of town. I had to work my way back thru the buses to the train station. Of course when I finally arrived and went to buy a ticket, the lines were really long and slow! So Drew waited with me while the other girls boarded the train. I finally was able to get my ticket and we ran (quite literally) to the train. We were about to hop on, but Drew freaked out saying “this train looks way to nice to be going to Saluzzo! This can’t be the train!”. So while he ran to check the train schedule, the doors closed and we lost our chance (it was the right train btw). The two of us were able to catch a train 45 mins later and met up with the girls at the station where we had to switch trains. It all worked out in the end and like Drew said: “No one ever says ‘remember that one time when the day went perfectly as planned?’… No, we’ll always tell the story of ‘remember that one time we missed the train because we thought it looked too nice?’”
On Sunday, Drew, Kelsey, and I went to a castle on the very edge of town (45 min bus ride). We of course got lost again! (This was the weekend for being lost… good thing we know how to say “where…?” in Italian). It was expensive to get in so I went in by myself while the other two looked around the town and headed home. It was cool to see, but I wish that they had information in English as well. There was a very through explanation about the history of the castle and the area and I was bummed that I didn’t get to hear any of that.
That’s all for now… I still can’t believe I am in Italy :)
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