Two Weeks in Italy - Part Two

The same warning applies... long, lots of food talk... so fortify yourself as necessary.

Day #5

We spent the full day in Florence. We went to the Accademia, which is another art museum. It is well known because it houses the original sculpture "David" by Michelangelo. This is one of the rare times in which I was actually impressed with something being bigger than I thought it would be. I've seen "David" in pictures, books, and even on TV... and I thought I had an idea of what it would look like. However, it is much larger in person than it appears in pictures. Again, I don't make any claims of being an art person or anything close to an art expert, but it was amazing. Hence why it is considered a masterpiece. After our time at the Accademia we walked across town to Pitti Palace. The palace is made up of multiple different museums. We saw the museum of modern art, and then toured the royal apartments. The royal apartments were neat in that they housed a large collection of paintings, and the majority of the ceilings were frescoes. There were also a lot of heavy tapestries and heavy wall hangings, which in the context of a royal apartment were grand.

That evening we decided to do like the locals and enjoy some pre-dinner cocktails. Well, wine, not cocktails. There were a lot of wine bars around Florence, and they were always quite busy starting around 5 pm. We figured the Italians must enjoy wine first before dinner, which is why they eat later. I wasn't opposed to the idea of having some delicious wine to start our evening. We went to a wine bar near our hotel and sampled some local Tuscan red wines, which were amazing. Afterwards we went for a late (for us) dinner. I enjoyed some gnocchi (pronounced no-key) in a cheese sauce. Gnocchi is a small, soft potato dumpling which (when made right) practically melts in your mouth. It is delicious. We enjoyed a local white wine with our dinner (you can't discriminate and only drink red) and had homemade almond biscotti for dessert compliments of the restaurant. I have never had much biscotti before, but it was delicious, melt-in-your-mouth. A fantastic end to the day.

Day #6

My birthday!!! We woke up and had breakfast (full of LOTS of Italian coffee) to kick off my day of turning 27. After checking out of our hotel we went to the train station to go to Siena. Rick Steves suggests taking the bus from Florence to Siena as it is faster, however we picked the train because it was cheaper. I'm glad we took the train, because we saw some beautiful landscapes - rolling hills and vineyards. Again, I couldn't help but imagine how it would look in the summer when everything is in full bloom and green. We arrived in Siena and tried to find our way around the town. Siena is a small, so it didn't take too long to orient ourselves.

As you can see above, Siena has a large cathedral. I have seen quite a few cathedrals in my time in Europe, and I have to say this cathedral is one of my favorites. It is similar to the cathedral in Florence in some ways, but at the same time it's like nothing I have ever seen. The cathedral is made of white, pink, and dark green marble. The inside is striped with green marble, and the dome is dark blue with gold stars. It was a touch shocking, as most cathedrals only have color in the stained glass and the paintings. I loved it.

The outside of the cathedral was extremely photogenic as well. After I got home I realized the majority of the photos I took were of the Siena Cathedral.

That evening we decided to try out the restaurant in our hotel for my birthday dinner. I had saffron risotto with shrimp - which was a bit of a change from the pasta and pizza I had been eating prior to this. Josh ordered pasta with meat sauce, which was the first "traditional" pasta either one of us had ordered. Hands down one of the best meals I've had in a very long time. For dessert we ordered tiramisu to share. I love tiramisu, and it seemed a fitting Italian dessert. It wasn't the best tiramisu I've ever had, but it was still pretty fantastic.

Day #7

We spent the day further exploring Siena. We bought a special pass to go inside of the cathedral museum. The museum was full of old artwork and church artifacts, which weren't too exciting... but you are able to access a rooftop portion of the museum. When the cathedral was build it was originally suppose to be much larger, but during the construction the plaque hit and Siena lost a lot of workers and money, so the cathedral was made smaller. However, where the cathedral museum is located is right next to the cathedral and has some of the original walls for the cathedral. When you walk onto the rooftop of the museum you are almost level with the rooftop of the cathedral. It offers wide views of all of Siena. We got a lot of great photos, and we were up there when the cathedral's bells rang at noon. That experience made the cost of the museum worth it.

Siena is in the "heart" of Tuscany and during the non-winter months (read: when it's not freezing cold, snowy, and when the Italians aren't in a panic over the snow) there are lots of vineyard and wine tasting excursions to take. I would love to go back another time to head outside of Siena to do just that. Siena was actually suggested to me by a co-worker, and I'm glad I took her advice! Siena is magic. We spent our last evening enjoying more mouth-watering gnocchi topped off with local wine.

Day #8

We woke up in the morning and went to catch a bus to Rome. Buses seem to be the transportation in and around Siena. Buses are more convient, run more frequently, and are cheaper than the train. A lot of trains in and out of Rome had been cancelled in the past few days, and I was worried about getting there. Our bus ride was actually pleasant. We were one of only a few people, so we had plenty of space to stretch out. The ride was quiet, and we were there in about three hours. After finding our hotel and checking in, we took off to start sightseeing.

We took the metro down to see the Colosseum. I was told the Rome metro system was easy to understand, and the person who told me that was right. There are only two lines which go in opposite directions. Almost idiot proof. When we arrived in Rome most of the snow had melted, and in fact the sun was shining and it was the warmest it had been in a long time. Despite this, the Colosseum was closed. We were still able to walk all around it, but we couldn't go inside (which honestly, was fine by me. I think Josh was okay with by-passing it as well). After the Colosseum we walked around the perimeter of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (old Roman ruins) to Circus Maximus (old chariot racing area which is now open field). I would have to say by walking around the outskirts of the Roman Forum we saw a great majority of the sites. I simply used my Rick Steves book to orient ourselves and figure out what we were seeing.

From this area we wandered over to see the Victor Emmanual Monument - which houses Italy's tomb of the unknown soldier. Then we hopped back on the metro to head to another area of town to see the Trevi Fountain. We made our way to the fountain and found many people sitting on the benches in front of the fountain eating gelato. Conveniently there are multiple gelato shops right next to the fountain. Who am I to resist what is in front me me? We got some gelato (coconut for me, and let me just say... it was fantastic. Almost as good as Big Dipper. Almost) and settled in withe other folks to look at the fountain, eat gelato, and people watch.

From the Trevi Fountain we walked to the Spanish Steps. It was a bit of a walk, but not as long/big as I thought it was going to be when I looked at the map. As it was, it turned out to be a beautiful way to see more of Rome.

It was around the Spanish Steps that I first became annoyed with Rome. I should explain. As you can see from my photo, there were plenty of people in this area, and a lot of them were tourists. In this same area there were a lot of people trying to sell things. Not just your typical street vendors, but people selling all sorts of things like purses, toys, cheap souvenirs, flowers, ect. In a one block stretch there had to have been at least thirty people out there selling things, and they were quite pushy and in your face about it. In fact as I was attempting to take the above picture, a flower vendor walked over to try and sell me flowers. I told him "no thank you" (in Italian) many times... followed by "NO" multiple times. He finally just laid flowers out on my arm (which was in busy holding/aiming my camera) and demanded money. Seriously dude? Really? At this point I graciously told him to fuck off. Not my shining moment, and yes I realize this makes me a bad ambassador for the US. But ya know... if there are five different people selling flowers and you've seen me tell each one of them no... why on earth would I want to buy one from you? And if I wanted a wilted, half dead flower... don't you think I'd own one by now? Good grief. On that note, we called it a night and went back to our hotel.

Day # 9

It was recommended to us to devote an entire day at the Vatican. So we did. I'm glad we did. After our breakfast we went to take the metro to the Vatican (it was suppose to be a quick, easy ride there). It was 9:30 in the morning, and we figured most of the morning rush was already at work. I guess we were wrong. The subway was overflowing with people. We were at the back of the crowd waiting for the train to arrive. When it did arrive it was already quite full, but more people pushed in it. We were able to make our way from the back to the front. We figured when the next train arrived we would get on. Wrong. When the next train arrived it was stuff full as well, and only a few aggressive people attempted to shove themselves onto the train. We waited a few more minutes for another train to arrive, and when it did it was also quite full. By this time most of the crowd was pushing forward (and had been pushing forward) so the people on the train who wanted to get off had nowhere to go. We were getting pushed, but had nowhere to go. Many shoving matches broke out, and a few people started yelling/arguing... and the train took off stuffed to the brim. I looked at Josh and said "hop on hop off bus?" He nodded, and we left the chaos of the metro to take a hop on hop off bus through Rome. We knew the bus would take us to the Vatican, and it would be an easy way to "see" around Rome. It was still quite cold, but it was sunny day. We got to see a lot of the "sights" before we got to the Vatican.

Although it was cold outside and Rome had unexpected snow, there was a huge advantage to being in Rome in February. We got to the Vatican and had absolutely no lines to wait in. There were still plenty of people there... but obviously it wasn't too many because we had no problems getting around, which I know isn't the case in the summer months.

St. Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world. I don't even know if you could begin to call it a church... obviously it is a church... but the sheer size and grandeur of it... "church" just doesn't seem to fit. It goes without saying (and it seems a little "DUH" to say) that it is, far and away, one of the most grand places on earth. It is full of not only history, but some famous and beautiful artwork. I could have easily spent hours upon hours simply standing with my head up looking at the ceiling. I thought I had an idea of what it would look like based upon the Angels and Demons movie. The movie is accurate, however I don't think there is any way you could capture the beauty of it on film. There really aren't even words to try and describe it to you... so I won't, I'll just try and show you with my pathetic pictures.

After making our way through the Basilica, we went back out to St. Peter's Square. It is hard to comprehend how much history is in that square (hell, in all of Rome outside of the Vatican for that matter!). I am struggling to find words to even try to describe how things looked or how I felt and feel I am failing. The only word which consistently pops into my head is "beautiful," and I would like to be a bit more eloquent than that. I guess I feel the only thing I can really say is anyone, despite your religious preference, can find beauty and admiration of this place.

We left St. Peter's Square and made our way down the block to the Vatican Museum. This museum houses a LOT of different artwork - but the thing I wanted to see most (as to the majority of people I would assume) was the Sistine Chapel. I was told the Chapel is at the very end of the museum... and it is. You have to wander through everything else to get there. However, the museum does have one section of rooms which is full of Raphael frescoes. We are talking floor to ceiling, wall to wall frescoes. Impressive. Not what I was expecting. After wandering through the museum for a few hours we finally made it to the Sistine Chapel. I wish I had photos to show you of it, but unfortunately I don't because they don't allow you to take photos (and in this case, I followed the rules). The ceiling is exactly as you think it will be... it is amazing. There is so much going on that it is hard to take your time and focus on one painting before jumping to the next one. There are benches which line the walls, and most people were sitting down to give themselves a chance to sit and stare. We joined them. It could be easy to "get lost" so to speak and spend quite a bit of time in the Chapel. As it is there are a LOT of people who wander in and out (even in February, so I can only imagine in the summer) so it does make it hard to stay for too long. I will say that I expected the Chapel to be bigger. However, it didn't take away from the experience of it.

When we left the Vatican we walked up to the Castle Sant Angelo - which was originally built to be a last defense and a hiding place for the pope. Over time it also served as a prison. I remember it for its role in Angels and Demons (yes, that reference again. Sorry, I liked the book. There will be another reference to it again in a few minutes). All around the Castle were some great views of the Vatican. Across the bridge we got slices of pizza for lunch - and it was a unique pizza. It was a thick crust (almost like bread) which had no sauce, but was covered in spicy sausage, french fries, and cheese. It was served cold. Judge me if you want, because I know that it is one of the most unhealthy things I could ever eat. It was also delicious. It could satisfy every craving (salty, starchy, greasy) you could ever have.

That evening we had the best meal of our trip, hands down. We found a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant which was clearly an old family run place. All of the waiters wore matching white suits, and they were all old - and I'm not just saying "old." I'm pretty sure they were close to my Granpa's age. Our waiter was a cute little old man who we thought spoke English, but as the evening went on we realized he must only know a few key phrases, which made him even more endearing. We ordered a bottle of red (what else?) house wine (which, I have discovered house wine at most Italian restaurants is fantastic. In fact most restaurants take great pride in our their house wine). It was, hands down, the best wine of the trip. Fantastic. We debated ordering more wine simply because it was so good, but decided we didn't really need more wine... and we didn't want to look like a bunch of lushes. We split a caprese salad to start with, and it was the freshest mozzarella cheese I have ever had - which is saying a lot because I had been in Italy for a solid week prior to eating this. I had gnocchi with a mushroom champagne sauce. It was to die for. Soooo unbelievably good that it warrants having extra "O"s on the end of so. Josh ordered something which turned out to be intestine with a tomato sauce. He swears he knew that's what it was going to be, and he ate all of it and proclaimed it to be good. I was content to not try any of his and stuck with my own. We agreed to order dessert, and our waiter brought over menus for us. I decided to order "dolce della casa" which literally means "cake of the house." I have heard this is similar to house wine in that most of the time it is pretty good. It was. It was an extremely flaky pie crust filled with a cream filling that had a crunchy cinnamon topping. Not what I was expecting, but still good. Josh couldn't make his mind up about what to order, and our waiter pointed something out to him and said it was very good. He then said "potatoes... it's very good." Josh decided to go ahead and order it and give it a try. We were trying to figure out what kind of a dessert, exactly, would have potatoes in it... and would it be any good? Imagine our surprise when the waiter brought out Josh's dish and it had lamb shank with potatoes. Hmm. Well, that explains part of it. I then realized we had only ordered pasta and the waiter simply assumed we were ready/wanting to order another course, which is why he recommended the lamb to Josh. Josh LOVED the lamb (I'm not much of a sheep person). I sampled some of the potatoes, and they were very good. After his second course Josh said he was stuffed and he would just skip dessert for the night. However, it was an amazing meal in a wonderful atmosphere. I have to give it to the Italians - not only did we have some amazing food, but at meal times we just spent time together. Yes, what people say about European or Italian meals is true, they do "take" longer or last longer than an American meal. However, I liked it. It was relaxing to have an opportunity to enjoy some wine and talk with Josh not just about what we had seen and what we were going to see, but to reconnect after some crazy busy months. So hats off to the Italians, they know how to savor not only a meal, but the company at a meal.

Day # 10

For our last day in Rome we mainly wanted to try and see everything that we hadn't gotten to yet. We wanted to go see some of the major plazas and churches that we hadn't gotten to yet. We were feeling ambitious and decided to do all of it on foot. In our ambition of walking we wanted to try and see some of the sites from Angels and Demons. I am pleased to say that not only did we accomplish our goal, but we were able to find everything on foot without getting lost. My only disappointment was the Pantheon was closed while we were there (of course it opened up the day after we left Rome). However, we did cover a lot of ground and saw more beautiful, breathtaking sculptures, fountains, and churches. Partway through our walk it began to rain, and the rain turned into a thick, wet snow. Being Montanans this did little to slow us down. At least at first. We continued with our walk, and the snow started coming down harder accompanied with wind. We took a break and had lunch at a wine bar. When we got back outside the weather had gotten worse. We had talked of going to the crypt for the afternoon, but like many things it was closed due to the weather. As we walked along we were bombarded, again, by people selling things. This time they had switched from flowers and trinkets to umbrellas. Again, within a short block we had been asked if we wanted an umbrella at least ten times. We decided to head back to our hotel to take a nap and warm up before dinner.

We went to a local pizza restaurant that evening (are you sensing a trend?). The pizza wasn't anything too special, but I had the best dessert of our whole trip. It was a coco Nutella torte, which is a fancy way of saying heaven. It was a torte which had a chocolate crust which was covered in a layer of Nutella, a creamy yet fluffy coconut filling, another layer of Nutella, and then whipped cream on top. It was amazing. I had never thought of pairing Nutella and coconut before... and I must say I think they belong together.

Day #11

Our plan was to take a fast train from Rome to Verona (our next destination). When we woke up in the morning there was about two inches of snow on the ground, and I was instantly worried about our train. We got to the station and learned that our train had been cancelled. Instead of taking  a fast train all the way to Verona, we had to take one to Bologna and then switch to a slower train for the rest of the trip. This made our trip to Verona closer to 4.5 hours instead of 3, but I was just grateful to still be able to get out of Rome. It was my first time on a fast train. All the trains we had taken up until now were regional ones, which go plenty fast, but they make frequent stops. And the fast train definitely lived up to it's name.

We arrived in Verona to discover we were, apparently, there at the right time as the city was having a festival of love (as Verona is the city of love, and Valentine's Day is the day of love... or something like that). Verona is also where Romeo and Juliet took place. It was kind of cute, in a way. There were lots of vendors booths selling wine and chocolate, and there was romantic love songs playing. We didn't necessarily think much of the Verona in Love festival, but I did like Verona. Like many Italian towns it has narrow, winding streets which are crowded with buildings. However, there is something romantic about it. Maybe it is simply because we had just left the hustle of Rome and arrived in a place that was calmer, slower, and there wasn't anyone in my face trying to sell me something. A lot of the buildings have balconies, which does make me think of Romeo and Juliet. Verona has a fictitious "Juliet's House" which has a balcony you can go out on. I just liked the feeling of Verona. They also have colosseum there, which looks very similar to the one of Rome, which is the venue for the Verona opera during the summer.

Day #12

We woke up in the morning and hoped on a train for Venice. One of the reasons we chose Italy when picking our vacation destination was that we would be in Italy during Carnival. Carnival is basically the same thing as Carnival in Brazil or Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It's a giant party to celebrate prior to lent. Venice is known for masks, which was worn during Carnival. I had researched this a bit before our trip, but I truely had no clue what to expect. I also wasn't sure what to expect of Venice as I had heard a wide range of things about it. I really enjoyed Venice. Even when we first left the train station and started to walk through the town, I was overwhelmed by the sights. It is hard not to be overwhelmed.

All that I knew for sure was that Carnival was taking place mainly in St. Mark's Square. There were signs which pointed us in the direction of St. Mark's. I was surprised to find Venice's streets are extremely narrow, and quite windy. I don't know if windy could really describe them properly... but there are plenty of streets (it's not even a street, more like a pathway) which will suddenly make a full 90 degree turn. A little surprising. But I suppose it is part of Venice's charm.

We found our way through Venice to St. Mark's by following people who were in costumes. Some people wore Halloween type costumes (we saw a group of people dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland), but others dress up in more traditional costumes.

We followed people and finally came through a narrow alleyway to find ourselves in the middle of St. Mark's Square. What a site it was! St. Mark's Basilica is enough to be overwhelming on it's own, but to have the church be the backdrop for such a huge party... there aren't words. We wandered around taking it all in. There was a stage area where there were many performances of people dancing, playing drums, acting, ect. It was lots of fun to watch, and the people watching opportunities were endless. After taking in a few hours of the Carnival activities, we wandered around Venice some more. People told me they didn't like Venice because it was dirty (yes, it is), because it smelled (yes, it does), and because it is a tourist trap (yes, but how could it not be?). Despite all this, I found it hard not to like Venice. It is like nothing I have ever seen before - from the canals, to the narrow streets, gondolas, and bright buildings. The Carnival atmosphere was a great way to experience it.

To answer a question a lot of people had... no, we did not take a gondola ride. It was a very cold day with cold winds blowing across the water. I can only think how cold that ride would be. And a gondola ride costs around 100 euros... which... I'd rather spend that money on other things. A gondola ride doesn't mean that much to me.

One of the only things I bought for myself on my trip was a Venician mask. I had seen many masks which were shapped like a cat, so I went on the hunt for one which looked like my cat Vega. I was happy to find one.

After a long day of walking around, we took a train back to Verona. When I was looking for hotels for our trip, because of Carnival there weren't many hotels available in Venice. The ones which were available were very expensive. So we decided to stay outside of Venice... and I'm glad that we did. It was nice to get away from the craziness at the end of the day.

Day #13

Our last day in Italy. We woke up, did one last walk around Verona to soak up as much "romance" as we could, then headed to the train station. We were headed back to Bergoma where the airport is. The train ride was uneventful, however it was a bit nerve-wracking for me. The train we were on was spray painted with graffiti, and every train station we passed looked more and more run down. Most of the train stations had boarded up windows and the walls of the stations were covered in graffiti as well. As I noticed that... I also noticed we were the only white people on the train, and we were obviously white Americans. It was... just something we hadn't experienced in our trip, and something I haven't experienced in a long time. However, we made it safe without problems.

We found our hotel, and then spent a lazy afternoon and evening at the hotel. We were completely exhausted after all of the non-stop go-go-go touring we'd been doing. It was a nice evening spent together just relaxing and talking about our trip together.

Day #14 

We had an early morning flight... we woke up at 4 am (which is better than 2 am) to get ready. We were at the train station by 5 am to catch a bus to the airport. In a half hour we went from the bus station, to the airport, through security, and were drinking coffee inside the airport. It was good flight home, and we were back at our house safe and sound by noon.

Thoughts on Italy
I really enjoyed our trip. There are many things I am happy I can now check off my bucket list. I found the Italian people to be friendly and inviting. We had great food, great wine, and great sightseeing. I know we only scratched the surface of Italy, there are so many other places I want to see. I would definitely go back to Cinque Terre, in fact I hope we go back soon. I would like to go back to Siena and venture out into some of the towns in the surrounding area.

It was a special and fun way to celebrate my birthday, valentine's day, and our first year of marriage together.