I am back in London! I have spent the past 11 days in Italy! Here was my itinerary:3 days in Venezia (Venice)
3 days in Firenze (Florence) / half-day tour through Chianti Region of Tuscany
1 day in Pisa
1 day in Monterosso, Cinque Terre
3 days in Roma (Rome)
It was such an amazing trip. The seven of us were so lucky to be able to explore Italy. I feel as if I've learned so much about my own culture from having visited Italy. Rome was the most impressive knowledge-wise, because the city dates back to 775BC. (Venice, in my opinion, was the most beautiful and romantic. Closely followed by Cinque Terre.) Seeing buildings such as the Collesium, which was built by slaves between the years 76-92 AD, I realized just how young the United States is. Seeing such substantial and well-preserved re
mains of buildings from so long ago made me realize just how far back humanity goes. I've never really thought past Shakespeare or Beowulf, as those are as far back as my literature classes go. But really it is amazing the types of things that people were able to do and create without the aid of modern technology.
Venice:
We arrived Thursday night in Venice and struggled to find the
water taxi. Once on it, I sat in the back with Jason, Jackie, Liz and Sheila and we floated down the Grand Canal at 11 pm (Venice Time, that's 10 England, and 5 pm USA) just relaxing and taking in the view. The canal is so gorgeous and pretty, even at night. On our tour the second day we learned that Venice only has a population of around 60,000 because the city is so impractical to live in. It is literally built on water (which i learned by climbing the bell tower and seeing the water surround it completely.) Also, the roads are c
obblestone, and people walk everywhere. Because there aren't any cars, daily chores like grocery shopping become much more complicated for residents. Also, dealing with the flooding which happens especially in winter, makes it a challenging place to live. No one lives on the bottom floor, so lugging groceries up flights of stairs does not stay fun for long! (Or so they say...)
Perhaps because few people actually live there, (many work in Venice during the day, then leave at night), there isn't much of a nightlife. There are 2 squares which stay busy: San Marco (the main one with St. Peter's Basilica and great restaurants and shopping) and San Margarita which has bars and is more of a hang-out spot for young people. At San Margarita, Sheila Liz and I met 2 Italian marines, Paolo and Francesco!
We also took a gondola ride through the canal which was am
azing! I don't want to spoil my Venice post, so that's enough info for now!
The Grand Canal on a nice Sunny day!
Me on top of the bell tower
In Venice, along the grand canal with market shops on the streets. Near Doge's
The Grand Canal
Firenze:
Florence was not exactly what I expected. The city itself was crowded and dirty feeling for me. And the basilica also looked dirty to me. However, Florence has a very impressive leather market and the David. I also had a delicious dinner at the plaza with the replica David in it. Florence was also nice because it had delicious food and more of a night life. Also, we crossed the river, over famous Ponte Vecchio bridge, and saw some very impressive views! We climbed a TON of stairs up towards the Plazza di Michaelangelo, and stumbled upon a church and the most gorgeous views of the city imaginable.
Also, while staying in Florence, we took a wine and cheese tasting tour of the Chianti Region of Tuscany. It was one of the most pleasurable parts of the trip for me. The vineyards and olive trees were just beautiful. I had no idea that olive trees are almost blue-ish in color and are small! We got to tour a wine factory which used to be a castle, and see barrels of wine which are kept in the cellar where prisoners used to be kept! We also got to sample 5 different types of wine and 1 type of olive oil -- all which are made there! The Chianti Reserva was my favorite :)
view looking down on Florence from near Michaelangelo Plazza
Wines we sampled on the wine and cheese tour in Tuscany!
Wines we sampled on the wine and cheese tour in Tuscany!
Chianti Vineyards in Tuscany!
Wine-tasting!
Basilica
Pisa:
Pisa is a fairly small city, and is pretty much only known for its famous leaning tower. The leaning tower is not quite as tall as I expected, but it is as tilted as I thought! It is so funny because there is basically just one street next to the tower. People just line the street with their hands up in the air pretending to hold the tower up! Asians, Germans, etc, people from all over the world come to hold their hands up on the side of a road! haha I did it as well... just wait for the pictures!
Our hostel in Pisa was VERY conveniently located. It was right down a side street off of the one which has the tower. It was super close to everything (there isn't much there). There were lots of street venders and small shops. I didn't do much shopping in Pisa, but we did go exploring one night and found a river and the BEST deal on a fresh margarita pizza in all of Italy! 4 euros for a FULL PIZZA! Yay for pizza in Pisa!
Monterosso, Cinque Terre:
While staying in Pisa, we realized that 2 days was not necessary, so we caught a train to Monterosso. The train ride is only an hour long and only cost 10 euros, so we thought that it would be worth it. It definitely was! Cinque Terre is the Italian cost, and it was absolutely beautiful. It is made up of 5 villages, and we chose to go to Monterosso. We climbed rock paths up and down the cliffs which make up the cost. There is also a small beach which we ate pizza on and relaxed for 20 minutes. We climbed so high that we discovered a monestary which had amazing views. There were no roads in Monterosso, just winding, hilly paths which lead to beautiful waterfalls and pretty views! It was one of the most beautiful places that I've ever seen in my entire life.
Me in Monterosso
Loving life in Monterosso!
Sunset in Cinque Terre
getting a gelatto in Cinque Terre
artistic view
All of us on the beach. L to R: Jenna, Sheila, Liz, Becky and I
Roma:
Rome is an absolutely amazing city. It is everything you dream it will be, and more. It is clean, modern, old, ancient, hip, young and historic all at once. Rome isn't as big as I thought it would be. We managed to walked almost everywhere we needed to. (Although they were longish walks, still quite manageable.) Rome has a great night life with fabulous restaurants and bars, but it also has good shopping and obviously many ancient touristy attractions to see during the day. It also has the best and most famous gelatto place in the entire world: Giolitti. Yummm. My favorite part about Rome was easily just seeing the Coliseum. I could not believe that I was finally seeing such an old and amazing structure. We took a tour of the Colosseo and the ancient ruins, which are literally right across the street (Via di S. Gregorio), and I absolutely loved every second of it. The ancient ruins are breath-taking because so much history has been preserved so well. But the Coliseum was easily my favorite simply because it was so famous, and nothing else screams Rome the way it does. Workers have been excavating the Coliseum recently and uncovering ground levels where animals and gladiators were locked away. Seeing the tiny rooms and hallways was so eery but interesting!
Me on the Spanish Steps
The Coliseum!!!
Dome in the Pantheon
The Pantheon, under reconstruction
nice post sweetie, I love the pictures and am very happy you are back in dull London :)
ReplyDeleteLove you, Mom
dull London?? I love London!
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