Italy

Well hey there everyone. You all probably thought I had disappeared somewhere in Europe. Well, close. I have been traveling quite a bit the last couple of days. In 7 days I was in 7 cities in four different countries. I went to:

Budapest, Hungary
Vienna, Austria
Rome, Italy
The Vatican City (It's own country)
Florence, Italy
Pompeii, Italy
Siena, Italy
Pisa, Italy

And I switched trains in Venice, Italy. So I have been roaming around the world for the past week.

Let's see. I think we should start with last Friday (the 3rd). Thursday night, a group of us decided we were going to take a short trip to Budapest, Hungary. We were leaving for Italy late Saturday night, so we had time to take and overnight trip somewhere. We hopped onto the train after class Friday. We literally had to run to make it to the train. It felt like a scene out of a movie. After a short train ride (3ish hours) we arrived in Budapest. We checked into our hostel (which was awesome) and got ready to explore. In case you don't know, Budapest is actually two separate areas in Hungary. The river separates Buda and Pest. We stayed in Pest, but did something’s in Buda as well. We wandered over to Buda and saw the castle there, and then wandered back to Pest for dinner. The currency in Hungary is really confusing, so we only took out 1000 little Hungarian things. Turns out that is like $4. So all we could afford for dinner was Burger King. After dinner, we headed back to the hostel and got ready for bed. The next morning we woke up really early and walked over to the baths. Hungary is famous for it's public baths, and we thought it would be fun to try one out. Unfortunately for us, it was raining on our walk to the baths. On the way we saw the zoo and Heroes Square. After arriving at the baths and changing, we made our way outside to see the actual pools. There were three different areas. One pool was a lap pool, one was a pool that had a lazy river/current thing in the middle, and the last pool had a huge fountain and the water temperature was that of a hot tub. Well, considering it was raining, we opted for the hot tub pool. It felt amazing. After floating around for about an hour and getting our fill of middle aged, Speedo clad men, we decided to head back and catch a train to Wien.

After getting back to Wien, we had about 4 hours until our train to Rome left. We had to pack up all our stuff and get ready to head out. We took at night train to Rome, which basically means we slept on bed/couch like things for the night. It was surprisingly comfortable. Amy, Allison, Val and I all shared a room. When we woke up, we were in Italy! It was so cool! We hoped on our bus and started our Roman holiday.

Our first stop was the Roman Coliseum and Triumphal Arch. They were magnificent. On our way there, we also passed by the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla. These structures have been around for so long, but I can't even explain how astonishing it is to finally see them in person. We took a guided tour of the Coliseum, and even got to sit on an actual fallen pillar. We walked one of the top levels and took about a million pictures. After seeing it, we headed outside and walked to the ruins of the Roman Forum. There you could see the ancient marketplace and daily life of the Romans. We also saw the place were Caesar was cremated and the stone where Marc Antony gave his eulogy to Caesar. After seeing the second Triumphal Arch, we went to the Pantheon, which is one of the coolest buildings in Rome. The thing about Rome is, you are just walking along the narrow streets there, and all the sudden there is a huge 2000-year-old building just chilling in a tiny little square. The Pantheon square was kind of our stomping ground in Roma. We got our lunch there (Pizza, yum) and explored a bit more until it was time to head to our hotel.

Our hotel is not actually a hotel, but rather...a Cloister. Yes, we stayed in a nunnery. We all got ready and headed out to dinner at an authentic little Italian place. It was really good food, but we surprisingly weren't served any pasta...hmmm... After dinner, the girls decided to explore the city a bit more. We headed over to the Trevi Fountain. It was amazing. It was all lit up and beautiful. We all threw our coins in and made our wishes. I can't tell you what mine is though, or else it won't come true! We decided to take a taxi back up to our "hotel" because it was about 20 minutes away outside the city. Our driver was really funny though. He put on U2 and rolled the windows down as we drove.

The next day we went to the Vatican City. It was also spectacular. And no, for all those who were wondering, I did not get to see the Pope. At the Vatican, we toured the Vatican Museum and the grounds there. We also got to go into the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was absolutely amazing. The frescoes on the walls and ceilings are incredible. You must see them at some point. After getting some lunch, we wandered around the square until it was time to go. We then went down to the Catacombs outside the city where the ancient Christians would bury their dead. It was not for the faint of heart, let's just put it that way. Itty, bitty living space for sure.

Tuesday was a leisurely day. We went to the Borghese Museum, which houses several hundred famous statues like a David, and Persephone. After a little sightseeing in the morning, we had the afternoon free to roam the city. So a group of us went to the Circus Maximus and the Mouth of Truth. After putting my hand in the mouth and pulling it out and still having a hand, I was feeling pretty good, so we decided to go shopping for souvenirs and presents. I got a beautiful dress and some sunglasses. I am still on the search for boots though...

Wednesday a group of us decided to go to Pompeii for the day. To get to Pompeii it is about an hour or so train ride to Naples (which is the number one city in terms of Mafia activity in Italy...fun) and then a 45 minute train to the actual site of Pompeii. Matt, Claire, Michael, Allison, and I decided not to get a tour guide because it was going to be a lot of money, so we wandered through the city on our own. Claire and I ended up wandering together, and it was a lot of fun. Granted it was super hot in the Italian sun, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. We saw all kinds of stuff like the vineyards, houses, old temples, the excavated pottery, and the petrified people. After Pompeii, we headed back to Roma and met everyone for our last dinner. We ate near the Pantheon and called it a night.

Thursday we woke up bright and early again to catch our train to Florence. Cayce and I sat next to the most awesome couple from San Francisco. They were in their late 20's and the girl loved us. She gave us her "US Weekly" and offered us her zone bars and what not. After getting our fill of Celebrity gossip, we got to Florence. We unloaded our stuff into our very nice hotel and headed out into the city. However at this point, we were all so exhausted that is was hard to pay attention to our tour guide. But when it came time to see Michelangelo’s "David" we alllll perked up. It was amazing. He is beautiful. The only imperfection I could see in the statue are his hands being too large, but even that mistake is on purpose. It was the highlight of my day. After our tour we went shopping again! Florence's outdoor street market is incredible and so much fun. You can find pretty much anything you want in it. I got lots of presents for people back home and a few small things for me. Also, this was when I first experienced the most beautiful desert ever thought of.

Belgium Waffle + Nutella slathered on top + Whipped Cream + Strawberries

I know. It sounds just as incredible as it tastes. Haha. After our mid-day snack we sauntered on back to our hotel and popped in the shower before dinner. It was Allison's birthday, so she got a little birthday cake. However, this was the pasta night. Oh my. I had spiral noodles with Pesto on them. There were four girls, and we cleaned a huge platter of it. It was amazing. After dinner, Matt and I saw a protest on the bridge and decided to stay. It was kids around our age protesting energy usage and teacher's jobs. It was really cool to see...even though we couldn't understand a word.

Friday was museum day. Hardcore museum day. We went to 4 different museums in 5 hours. The last one is the most notable though. We headed to the Uffizi museum. It is one of the top three art museums in the world. Home to "The Birth of Venus", one of Da Vinci’s paintings, countless Caravaggio's and many, many other works. It was set up by my new fascination = The D'Medici family. I think they are so interesting. After becoming one of the most wealthy and influential families in Italy, they were appointed rulers of Italy. They have collected countless works of art and books and other influential things and preserved them so well that we have them today. After our museums we had the rest of the day to ourselves, so we decided to go to Pisa for dinner. After a short train ride, we got into Pisa. And there it was! The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is, in fact, still leaning. It was really really cool to see. We all took our pictures and then headed to dinner and gelato. Yum.

Saturday was our day in Siena. Siena is the most beautiful little picturesque, Italian town you could possible imagine. The square there is so fun. It is shaped like a scalloped seashell. People just sit there and enjoy the sun, so we did too. We sat out there for about 2 hours and enjoyed it. We headed back to Florence and enjoyed our last day there with a great dinner and gelato.

Then on Sunday we hopped on the train and headed back here to Vienna. It was a really really long train ride though. About 10 hours. But I am home and in one piece. I also have most of my stuff back with me too! Now I have to move back into my room and recuperate. Tonight is movie night with D. Schwerdt. Monty Python and the Holy Grail...trying to tie Western Civ and movie night together...haha.

Love from the World Traveler.