GEA Part 4: Florence

Ah, my dear reader, it seems we've come to the last leg of my Grand European Adventure. Part 4 has arrived, and our journey from Rome took us to Florence next. But let's not jump right away into that lovely city because I have one heck of a crazy story before that.

I've been telling you all about these exciting places I've visited, but haven't focused much on how I got from one to the other. Mostly I skipped that stuff because it's boring. This, however, is a bit more amusing.

We arrived at the massive train station in Rome. We went to a teller, but the machine told us we didn't need tickets, that our confirmation number was enough. Then we found our train on a board and sat down to wait. That's when when I randomly bumped into a guy I knew from St. John's. He then informed us that the board we were looking at was the Arrivals board. Sometimes I, too, wonder how I got into Cambridge. We then found the Departures board and waited for our platform number to show up. Now, this train station is huge. And we had no idea if our train was directly in front of us, or two miles on the opposite side of the station. Thankfully our train was close-by and we got to our platform. Unfortunately, a snotty little Italian boy was also close-by. I had been warned about kids like him who want to do you favors and then demand money. So when he offered to carry my bag onto the train, I refused and brushed past him. C and A didn't manage to save their bags from his grasp. Despite their loud protests, he snatched the bags from them and hauled them onboard. And then he had the audacity to rub his fingers together, asking for cash. Ha! I think not! I told him we had no cash on us (actually the truth) and when he didn't buy it I politely told him we hadn't asked for his services anyway and if he was smart he'd kindly leave. I'm not a mean person at all, but situations like this drive me up the wall. 

We settled into our trip in a lovely private carriage complete with air conditioning. THAT didn't last long. Shortly into our journey the lights flickered on and off and the air conditioning went kaput. We also realized we were making quite a few stops. The ride was supposed to be a little over an hour long, and didn't take us much longer than that to realize something wasn't quite right. One hour passed. Two hours. No maps. No conductors came by. Three hours. No air conditioning. No windows that would open. Finally a conductor came by asking for tickets. Of course, as the teller told us, we only had our number. The man did not seem pleased about this and started jabbering at us in Italian. When we told him we don't speak Italian, he just huffed and left us. Okay... Then the lights went off in the whole carriage. And then we went into a tunnel. That lasted a good five minutes. That might not seem a long time to you, but think about it. A tunnel. For FIVE MINUTES. In complete, utter darkness. I just thought to myself, we HAVE GOT to be in the Twilight Zone or something. Where on earth are we going? We didn't even know if we were heading the right direction! 

Somehow, SOMEHOW, four hours later we arrived in Florence, pissed off, hot, freaked out. And we found out that we had taken a local train that made stops in about 30 different small towns. This local train left about 4 minutes before the train we were SUPPOSED to get on that would have gotten us to Florence in less than 2 hours. We were so fed up with transportation that we got a cab instead of walking and went on the most terrifying cab ride of our lives. Our cab driver seemed to like going 70mph down really narrow, windy Italian streets. Oh dear. We survived, though, and managed to get to our hotel, despite the fact that we had to go up one incredibly small elevator and through three sets of locked doors to get into our room. We were greeted by two small beds and quite a few paintings of naked women. Oh, whatever. We immediately destroyed the room by throwing our stuff everywhere, and collapsed on the bed, exhausted.

We decided that despite how much our bones ached and our brains hurt, we were only in Florence a short time and needed to get out and about. We left our hotel and wandered the nearby streets. We were in a super cute district, right on the river. The bridge was full of fancy jewelry shops, and the streets were packed with tourist shops, little stalls selling trinkets, and the like. Of course, we had to welcome ourselves into the city with some gelato. After that we went to a small market and did a bit of shopping amongst the stands selling leather purses, masks, bracelets, and scarves. We also ran into a random boar statue. "Let's touch it!" A said. "It's lucky!" Not quite sure about that, but it was becoming A's catchphrase for the trip ("Look at this door, it's famous!" was probably the culminating quote of our whole adventure). 

Since we got to Florence later than expected, it wasn't long before we were starving. We decided to have dinner at Quattro Leoni, a restaurant highly recommended by two friends. We were not disappointed. We ordered a delicious bottle of white wine that was served to us in massive wine glasses. I felt very fancy and bit crazy. We had lovely, simple food that really tasted homemade. It hit the spot. After the stress of the day, the heat of Rome, and the general exhaustion from our travels, it was really nice just sitting outside of a little restaurant in Florence, eating good food with good friends.

Post-dinner we wandered back up the bridge and tried taking some nice group shots by the sunset. However, it was incredibly windy and the sunlight made terrible streaks on our faces. Thanks, nature, ruining another picture. But we made up for it by buying our first authentic Italian cannoli. I don't want to brag or anything, but I definitely think the ones my family makes are better. Just sayin'. The sugar rush kind of woke us up, though, and I convinced A to climb on top of the wardrobe (this is not unlike the time in Edinburgh I fed A a lot of gummy candy and convinced her to climb out of the skylight...I see a trend here...). Then I had to help her down. We're easily amused.

Then, because we were really on a roll of acting like weirdos, we wandered around our hotel taking fabulous photos of ourselves being fabulous.

Being so utterly fabulous really exhausted us, so we went to bed. The next morning we enjoyed a hearty continental breakfast before going out to explore the city. The first major sight we saw was the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo. It's located in the middle of a huge piazza, and it's absolutely stunning. The colors, coral and mint green, really emphasized Florence's sun and water motif. The statues were exquisite; it really blows my mind that someone could carve something so detailed and perfect, and on such a huge scale. It was here we saw A's "famous" door. How exciting! We also got to see the statue of Dante Alighieri located in the Piazza di Santa Croce. I think he and I could have been amazing friends since we both like to pose epically with eagles.

Our main objective for the day was going to see Michelangelo's David in the Accademia Gallery. Originally the statue was located outside the Palazzo della Signoria, but now a replica is there. We waited in what seemed to be a short line for a million years in the sweltering sun. Turns out they only let a certain amount of people in the gallery at a time to keep it from getting congested. Good idea, I suppose, but not fun when you have to wait outside. Still, it was worth it. David is quite an impressive statue, situated in the middle of the main room with a huge domed ceiling looming over him. You wander through some smaller galleries first, then BAM!, you walk into a huge, open room and there he is. Not a bad entrance, Davey. Unfortunately photography isn't allowed, and after being chastised in the Sistene Chapel, I didn't sneak a photo. Instead I got a picture of the fake, colorful David.

I probably don't need to tell you, but Florence is an incredibly gorgeous city. It's clean, it's cozy, it's calm. The hectic pace and grunginess Rome exuded was absent here. We wandered down lovely side streets and admired the stone buildings. We explored huge plazas and the extraordinary amount of statues they had on display (I even got a photo of the replica of the Rape of the Sabine Women). And though it was warm outside, like in Rome, it wasn't humid, and the sunshine felt marvelous.

For our last night in Italy, we wanted something really delicious for dinner. We considered going to the Quattro Leoni again, but felt we should try something different. Thanks to Google Search, we brought up a list of the best pizza places in Florence, and we chose one: Gusto Pizza. The shop was small and packed; that seemed to be a good sign. We each ordered our own pizza and went to sit outside of the Pitti Palace to eat. Oh. My. Goodness. Yes. Google does not lie. That pizza was incredible. Fresh. Warm. Gooey. Simply divine. I scarfed down the entire thing, and so did C and A. 

We were so thrilled with our find that we celebrated the rest of the night with a bottle of delicious champagne and a few rounds of Scopa. The champagne was fun even before we drank any of it. I volunteered to be the one to open it since I had opened bottles before, and knew it took a bit of wiggling and working to get the cork out. We joked about not aiming at people or breakables, but when I just barely touched the cork, POP!, it came flying out and went straight for the mirror. We all screamed bloody murder. I think I may have stumbled backwards into the bed. That is, before I booked it to the bathroom because champagne was spilling everywhere. Can't you tell I'm an expert at these things?

The next morning was the day we were set to leave Italy and head back to jolly ol' England. We didn't have anything much planned, so we wandered the city one last time and took in the sights. We certainly did not have enough time in Florence. It was so peaceful and beautiful, I know none of us wanted to leave. 

And then, as soon as we arrived, we left. Another (thankfully shorter) train, a plane ride, and back to England. Though we were sad to go, it had been a grand adventure, all right. Florence was the icing on the cake.

GEA Part 3: Rome

Ciao, my dear readers! Major apologies for dropping off the face of the earth, but I actually was still on the planet, just off in Ireland with pretty much no internet access. THAT, however, is another story for a later blog post. I must first finish chronicling my Grand European Adventure (GEA) since I left you high and dry halfway through (how cruel of me, I know!). So, let us continue. When I last left off we were gallavanting around the UK. And then we crossed the great divide and ended up on...THE CONTINENT! I know, that's a bit vague. I mean, there are quite a few continents, aren't there? But we're using British speak and we're talking about THE CONTINENT. It's different from all other continents because it has THE in front of it and is in all caps. Anyway, THE CONTINENT is good ol' Europe, more specifically: Italy. 

Our landing in Rome was less than optimal. We spent the first two hours after getting off our train walking through a Roman ghetto, convinced that any minute some Don Juan was going to accost us, and not in a good way. There was a bit of bickering, much looking at maps, an incredible amount of huffing, puffing, and sweating, and general misery. Not a good start. And then we got to our apartment only to realize our "landlady" had already left. With no key and no contact number for her, we were literally stranded. Needless to say, it got sorted out. We won't go into details. Let's skip on to the nice bits, like celebrating our salvation with a little bit of vino and some pizza. We got to eat outside at this cute, little restaurant and it was very Italian, though probably quite touristy. We ended the long day with a walk along the river and our first "authentic" gelato!

The next morning we rose bright and early to do our touristy thing. The sights of Rome were absolutely stunning. There are statues everywhere and the architecture is really outstanding. It's strange to see such classic and magnificent pieces stuck right in the middle of a busy intersection. Though I've seen depictions of Rome "back in the day", it would be really incredible to see what the city was like without stop lights and roundabouts and coffee shops everywhere.

The day didn't start out so great, though. First of all, it was almost unbearably hot in Rome. Think 35 C or 105 F. And HUMID. Oh my goodness, humid. That was probably what made it so terrible. Then we started out at St. Peter's Basilica but had to leave because we weren't appropriately dressed (more on that later). After that we wandered around for ages trying to find a.) not incredibly expensive sunblock and b.) not incredibly expensive lunch. We failed on both accounts. I ended up with some pricey sunblock and very pretty but very flavorless mozzarella and tomatoes. Alas.

Thankfully the day picked up because we went to the Colosseum. It was one of those monuments I knew was in Rome, but didn't give much thought to until I was actually inside of it. And how incredibly amazing it was! Words cannot describe. There are all of these huge, tourist stops all over the world that I always dismissed as being super cliche. But then I see them in real life and they blow me way. YES. This is why everyone is talking about this place. Not because it's "cool". But because it's actually, truly breathtaking! I had the same experience with the Eiffel Tower. And later (as I'll mention), even stronger with the Sistene Chapel. But to continue...the Colosseum. As soon as I walked inside I yelled (well, a bit more quietly to myself) "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!" and was greatly entertained by my own hilarity and nerdiness. But exploring the Colosseum and reading about its history was really educational. It's almost hard to believe a place like this actually existed, that gladiator events and the like actually took place right where I was walking. What a completely different world.

Obviously the Colosseum is a ruin, but you can still picture what it must have looked like when it was complete. If you look at the picture I took from above, you can see the huge oval floor. This was originally covered by wood and that's where the gladiators fought. Now you can see the network of passageways and rooms beneath where they kept the gladiators and animals used for the fights. Sometimes that big oval was flooded and they did naval battles on it! 

Right outside of the Colosseum is an area known as the Roman Ruins. This was part of the old city and where many of the wealthy Romans used to live. We explored this area and found a neat old church right atop of the hill. Then we made a quick pitstop at the gorgeous capitol building. It really stood out with it's blazing black and white, the huge statues, and the waving Italian flags.

By complete chance a Cambridge friend of mine (funny enough, from the Midwest) was also in Rome, so we met up with him. We went to a hilarious hole in the wall restaurant called bir + fud. When C tried ordering wine there, the bartender told us they had bir and they had fud. That was it. Too funny! So we had some delicious bir, then picked up a bottle of wine and stood out on the bridge, looking at the city lights and laughing it up with the Romans.

Day 3: We were utterly determined to go to St. Peter's and the Sistene Chapel this time around. We finally dressed appropriately for the tour. By appropriately, I mean our knees and shoulders had to be covered. The shoulders were easy: we just threw scarves over ourselves. The knees issue was a bit more difficult. Considering it was over 100 F and incredibly humid, we didn't really want to wear trousers or tights under our dresses. But none of us had brought skirts or dresses long enough. So we brought tights along and decided we would quickly pull them on while we were in line. I don't know if you've ever tried putting on tights when you're incredibly sweaty AND you're walking AND in front of about a thousand people. Let's just say this would have topped my Awkward and Awesome Thursday list. After falling over twice and flashing half of the city, I managed to get dressed and we went into St. Peter's. I'm just going to head this section by saying that no photo can capture the beauty of these buildings I'm about to describe. It's astounding to see the outcome of such love for and dedication to art. I can hardly believe human hands created these pieces, but I'm sure thankful that they did.

After walking through St. Peter's (and really, I could have spent all day in there, to say nothing of the Sistene Chapel), we headed over to the Vatican Museums, a HUGE series of rooms that lead you to the place everyone really wants to see: the Sistene Chapel. I really don't know why, but I wasn't dying to visit the Vatican or the Sistene Chapel when I arrived in Rome. I know what you're thinking: why WOULDN'T you want to see it? It wasn't that I DIDN'T want to see it; I just thought that if I missed it, it wouldn't be a big deal. Oh, how I was wrong. Now that I've been, I would tell anyone: seeing the Sistene Chapel is a MUST. It's a life experience. The whole series of museums are just stunning beyond stunning. Long hallways of tapestries and busts. A room devoted to statues of animals. Massive windows with views out onto the city. Courtyards with fountains and human-sized dog statues. And every inch of ceiling painted with such detail it makes your head hurt. There are so many beautiful ceilings to examine, statues to admire, views to gush over, that you cannot take it all in. And since you're so excited to see the Sistene Chapel (and, I'm not going to lie, dying of heatstroke inside), you rush more than you should. It would take a whole year to go through that place and TRULY admire and appreciate what's in front of you. But I still think I had my breath taken away for about two hours straight.

Finally, after approximately two hours or more, we ended up in the Sistene Chapel. And you'd think that at this point it wouldn't be worth it, but my God, it was. The room is huge and the ceiling is huge and my eyes didn't know where to look, but somehow they went THERE, to that tiny image of God reaching out to Adam. And I smiled. The whole room had a kind of silence that physically presses in on you, a silence that's silent like wind blowing, like someone shushing you. It's the sound of centuries of humans drawing in their breath when they step inside. 

Also, let's admire my one sneaky photo of the ceiling before I got yelled at by a guard. Sheesh.

Leaving the Chapel gave me a rush, a feeling of overwhelming sadness. Once I walked out those doors, I couldn't come back in, and I knew I may never see this again. I kept peeking my head back in as I lingered in the doorway. A once in a lifetime experience, they say. This was it, perhaps. This was it.

And I walked out.

The experience left me a bit lightheaded, though I can't speak for C and A. We emerged from a random entrance in St. Peter's and stepped out into the bright, muggy, Roman air. Immediately I stripped off my tights and chugged a bunch of water, and we agreed we needed to move around outside. Our next stop brought us to the gorgeous Trevi Fountain. Considering how boiling hot I was, it took all of my strength not to jump into those clear waters. Instead, we threw in pennies for good luck, inhaled some gelato, and sat on the edge of the fountain, lusting after the cool water.

Our day ended in one of those hilarious ways that's only hilarious after the fact. The last big monument we wanted to see before we left Rome was the Spanish Steps. We had a kind of confusing map and bus route, so we got off where we thought the Steps were, and wandered down itty-bitty side streets until we found them. We thought.

Gucki, my traveling gnome, thought they were epic, but he's also three inches tall. C, A, and I were a bit perplexed. The Spanish Steps? But there are only about ten steps here. The Cambridge University Library has more steps than this. Turns out we had discovered the really exciting Spanish Embassy. Woo hoo. Not. Frustrated, we back-tracked and ended up almost at the beginning of our trip to the real Spanish Steps. In the end we were so exhausted we didn't even bother walking all the way up.

Yup. Quite a few more steps here. The night ended on a good note. We got a nice dinner and then went to explore the sprawling market below the bridge by our apartment (remember that photo from above). The market had a few restaurants and bars, but also had a wide variety of other attractions: hookah bars, carnival games, shops selling jewelry and Italian leather, and, our favorite, a massive stand of candy. I think we ate our weight in gummy goodness.

That, my dears, was Rome. The food was a bit questionable at times, but the views have been seared onto my brain. My photos cannot capture the talent, the beauty of it all. Do yourselves a favor and visit. 

Next up: the second half our of Italian trip!