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Big Break Part 2: Italy

November 12, 2014 / / 0 Comments

The second part and majority of our ten day break was spent in various towns in Italy. From Barcelona, we flew into Milan where we spent a day. We walked around and saw the Duomo (which is just a really big cathedral), and walked around the city. We didn’t get to do a whole lot else, because our train to Venice was that night, but that was perfectly fine with me.

Venice was by far my favorite city in Italy. When we were planning our trip, I was pretty indifferent about everything we planned to do in Italy. However, I am so glad that I went along because Venice was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It was a gorgeous day outside, and we spent an afternoon eating gelato and taking a gondola ride down the canals of Venice. Venetian glass is one of the biggest , and there were at least three shops down every little street. It was a wonderful day of relaxing and browsing the stores.

From Venice, we visited Florence. We went into the museum that houses Michelangelo’s statue of David, and saw the Duomo in Florence. My favorite part of our day in Florence was when a few of us climbed up to Michelangelo’s plaza, which was on top of a hill that overlooked the entire city of Florence. It was a long walk, but worth the trip, because we got to see the city at sunset and watched all of the city lights come out.

Florence

Florence

After a quick stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower, we made our way to Rome. There are a thousand and one things to do in Rome. Everywhere you turn there is some ruin, cathedral, or plaza that houses something of interest. We were quite disappointed, because both the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain were under construction and we couldn’t live out our childhood Lizzie McGuire dreams of throwing a penny into the fountain and then riding on the back of some Italian guys motorcycle to go off and become a pop star. Oh well, you can’t win them all :).

We still got to see a lot of things, like the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Hadrian’s Temple, and Trajan’s Market, just to name a few. The coolest thing to see was the ruins of the Roman forum. We had a really good tour guide through the area, and that made it all that more interesting. These ruins are surrounded by modern city buildings, and if they weren’t there, it would have been impossible to know that the Romans had once conducted business there. It was one of those moments where I felt like I was going back in time and stepping into a historical moment.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum

The Roman Forum

The Roman Forum

We also spent a day in Vatican City. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, but the best part was seeing St. Peter’s Basilica. First of all, this church is massive. I have never seen a church so big in my entire life, and I have seen quite a few cathedrals. Second, it was absolutely stunning. The painted ceilings were so intricate and well kept, and the statue of Mary holding the dying Jesus is also there.

Our trip was definitely worth the time and effort we put in to planning it. Coming soon is our weekend trip to Scotland, to Edinburgh and Inverness!

Spring Break Part 2: La Dolce Vita

May 6, 2014 / / 0 Comments

After the first week of break, the first three cities, I already felt like I had seen a lot, done, a lot, and walked a lot.  But the Odyssey continued. After one of the longest train rides I have ever been on, we arrived in Venice to start our full week of exploring Italy. Now, Italy was one of the specific places we were “strongly advised”not to go, mainly because of pickpocketing and other issues that past groups have dealt with there. But I’ve always wanted to go to Italy. I know at least a dozen people who have spent extended time there and have never had a problem. And the truth is, there are a lot of more dangerous places to go in the world, places that I actually do want to see someday. So I respectfully ignored the warnings, and guess what! I had a great time with no problems at all, and never once felt unsafe. So my advice is to go to Italy. Be a nerdy tourist and strap your valuables to your body, research good places to stay, don’t talk to strangers, and just go! During the week, we went to Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre, and Florence. Once again, I’ll try my best to sum up all the fun.

Venice:
     I loved Venice. In fact, it’s one of my favorite cities. However, this place gets a lot of mixed reviews.  People either love it or hate it. I love it because it is exactly as beautiful as I pictured it. It’s just a beautiful city that looks like it hasn’t changed much in centuries. The main thing to do there is just to walk around and get lost in the narrow streets. And you will get lost. There’s really not much point in looking at maps, and it will take you about four times longer to find things than you would expect. Some people don’t have the patience for this, but I found it fun. Instead of rushing around to a million tourist attractions, you can just wander, take your time, and enjoy the views. The public transport system here is the water bus, which is especially fun to ride at night, to see the city light up. One thing I regret missing out on was a gondola ride. People seem to think they are a tourist trap, but in reality, they actually aren’t that expensive. If you get a full group of 6 people, the cost would divide to 13 euros per person. If I had realized this sooner, I would have done it, so I’ll have to come back someday.

 

Rome:
     I wanted to love it, I really did. I liked it, but in the end, I think it fell a little short of my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of things in Rome that everyone should see in their lifetime, but now that I have seen them, I feel like I can just check this place off the list. Experienced travelers recommend that if Rome is “too much for you” you shouldn’t go further south, implying that it is one of the more intense tourist destinations. While I do think that it was a little much for me, this wasn’t because it was somehow too intensely Italian. It was because of the hoards of crazed tourists. There were just too many people in town. I’m sure it had a lot to do with the fact that we were there right after Easter, but still, I’ve never had a stronger urge to shove people in my life. It’s a shame because the museums, the ruins, and the Vatican are beautiful. I probably would have loved it if it were February. Go to Rome, but book museum tickets in advance, and remember to bring extra patience.

Cinque Terre:
     This area is a slice of heaven. Formerly known as “Italy’s Hidden Riviera,” it has now been discovered and become a top destination (Thanks, Rick Steves.) It’s five tiny, quaint towns along Italy’s western coast, linked together by hiking trails and trains. Unfortunately, the trials were closed when we were there, and the train system could use a lot of help. But if someday, they can fix it, so that it doesn’t take 2 hours to go 5 minutes up the road, this place would be absolutely perfect. I may seriously consider learning Italian, moving here, and opening up a bed and breakfast. It would be a good life.

 


Florence:
     I really enjoyed Florence, the birthplace of the renaissance. Some people I know may take offense to this, but I thought of it as a more manageable, mini version of Rome. There are plenty of museums and attractions to see, but it maintains a somewhat relaxed atmosphere. And it’s walkable, which is always a plus. Aside from admiring all the renaissance art, my favorite part of the day here was walking up to Piazza Michelangelo, where I took this photo:

noname-97

 

   So that’s Italy. I loved it, and am so glad I decided to go after all. I’m proud of myself for getting through over two weeks of intense travel. Each of these places challenged me. I clearly wasn’t in Germany anymore, but I learned a lot. I learned how to read a map and not get lost, how to get lost and be okay with it, how to get by in places where I didn’t speak the languages, and how to get up every day and look for adventure. But as much as I loved all the places we went over break, the most important thing I learned is that Germany is my home, and I can’t ever take it for granted. I now have a greater appreciation for the fact that I know how things work here, that I can speak German, and that this is also a very unique and beautiful country. It’s good to be home!

 

View from Rialto Bridge

Spring Break Part I: Venice

March 21, 2012 / / 0 Comments

 

Venetian Sunset

First stop of my spring break:  Venice, Italy.  This beautiful city was the perfect place for the group of us traveling together to start our trip to mainland Europe.  Being a very popular city for tourism, the language barrier is pretty minimal compared to a lot of other places.  Also, the city is on an island, meaning that it is impossible to get too lost while wandering around.  Everything in Venice is within easy walking distance, meaning we never had to deal with potentially confusing public transportation.

Gondola Ride

The Grand Canal winds through the main part of Venice with many other canals interlacing throughout the city.  The local Venetians use boats like most American use cars.  In fact, most houses in Venice have two doors, one with an entrance onto the street and another door opening to a canal.  Due to the water bound nature of the city “the thing” do to while in Venice is go on a gondola ride.  In order to keep the cost of our ride down we didn’t go on a very long one, but we spent over half an hour gliding along the back canals of Venice (which included going by Marco Polo’s house).  The countless bridges throughout the city are very scenic, but few have ramps, making transport difficult for those with strollers or wheelchairs.

Venice has several notable sights that tourists from all over the world come to visit like Rialto Bridge and St. Mark’s Square.  Rialto Bridge was very crowded, but the views of the Grand Canal from the top were amazing.  St. Mark’s Square was great to see both at night and during the day.

View from Rialto Bridge

I enjoyed going to both locations, especially St. Mark’s, but my favorite place in Venice was the walkway along the waterside.  Of course, there are hordes of street vendors attempting to sell just about everything a tourist could be tempted to buy in every popular location.  But because I was traveling during the offseason, most of the others along the waterside were just other tourists like myself looking for a scenic escape from the main part of the city.

 

Besides its canals, Venice is also captivating for others reasons such as its famous glassware, carnival masks, and real Italian food.  I loved the pizza and pasta, but the real treasure of Venice:  gelato!

Ponte della Costituzione

Missed a blog or want to see what else is going on in Cambridge?  Check out: http://blogs.valpo.edu/studyabroad/category/cambridge-england/

Look at more photos on Picasa at:  https://plus.google.com/photos/112463823006344854498/albums?banner=pwa

Follow me on Twitter at:  https://twitter.com/#!/CambridgeUKJohn

 

When In Rome!

March 15, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Leaving England for Ten Days!

From the ground it already appeared to be night time, but as our plane rose steadily above the clouds the sun was just dipping below the curve of the earth and out of our view. The city lights below sparkled amidst the land below, black like spilled ink, and above us the deep blue of twilight was lit by one single star. In between the two, the sun gave its last appeal for daytime and bathed the horizon line in light the color of nectarines still dangling from their branches. And there, on our cheap RyanAir flight, began ten of some of the most beautiful days I have ever experienced.

The Spanish Steps

Our flight got in pretty late so we went straight to our hostel. We had some trouble with the workers not having correct change, but after getting that straightened out and a free drink at the hostel bar we crashed. The next five days were a whirl-wind of Italian craziness! Both days in Rome we walked at least twenty miles to try to get in as many of the sights as we could. Rome is much more spread out than a lot of the towns I’ve visited in the UK and, unlike the London Tube, Rome’s Metro was very limited. We started by seeing the ruins at Palatine Hill which got us a ticket into the Coliseum as well. After that, just as night was falling we visited the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. It was so pretty because the rain finally let up but the wet streets were reflecting back all of the cities colorful lights. The next day we did the Vatican and walked through a park to an overlook of Rome. What struck me about Rome, and Pompeii the next day, was how old it was. England feels significantly older than America, but Rome is just so much older.

The Ruins at Palatine Hill

The Coliseum

Trevi Fountain

Rome at Night! That lit up building is the Vatican!

Some of the MANY ruins at Pompeii

The Leaning Tower of Pisa!

After Pompeii the next day, we took a train to Florence where we stayed in the most adorable hostel ever. If you could even call it a hostel, it reminded me much more of staying the night at my grandparents’ house. And Marta, the owner, reminded me of someone’s adorable and eccentric grandmother. After sweet dreams of my own grandparents, I woke up and went along with my traveling group to Pisa mostly just to take the cliché, but oh-so iconic, leaning tower pictures. Pisa turned out to be an adorable and picturesque Italian town and I loved it! After returning from Pisa, we walked around Florence and saw many churches and even hiked to a stunning scenic overlook. The hills and overlooks of Europe were a wonderful change from the basic flatness of England.

A Canal of Venice!


Our last day in Italy was quite the experience! After a two hour train from Florence to Venice we realized instantly the sheer number of people there and most of them in costume! Ashamedly, it took us a walk all the way across the city and through the famous square before we started to realize there was no way this was a normal day in Venice during off-season. After a while of contemplating it occurred to me that we were traveling on Ash Wednesday, making that day Mardi Gras! And we were in Venice! I don’t think we could have planned it that well if we had tried! We quickly bought some masks and walked around the city fitting right in. Venice is like a whole different world from England, with no motor cars, only tiny winding streets for walking and grand canals with stately gondolas. After our lovely day enjoying the sun and gelato in Venice we got on a very nice train which took us all the way to Lucerne, Switzerland, kicking off a whole new chapter of our travels with an entirely different kind of beauty. Check back and I will be posting blogs about Switzerland and Germany! And check out all of my pictures here!

Overlook of Florence

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