Ciao, Bella!

Hi all!

So Rome Day 2 was also wonderful, although it was substantially more wet!  I got up very early and headed to the Coliseum.  From there I went to the Palatine Hill, but it started torrential raining.  Mind you, this was in the place where everything is ruins (so no roofs) and its on top of a hill (so you get the full brunt of the storm).  Basically everyone ran into little bushes and took cover while it poured for a good five minutes.  Five minutes doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re crouching in a bush it’s pretty substantial.  Needless to say, I was very happy I didn’t waste the time straightening my hair this morning. 

Interesting that they had a Christian cross in the Coliseum where so much death occurred for entertainment

The Roman Forum

the Roman Forum at night from the Capitoline Museums

            Eventually this little man came walking around with ponchos and umbrellas for sale (of course I had an umbrella-- but it was located in the bottom of my suitcase).  So I bought one of them for five Euros and made a plan of action to just walk quickly and come back to the Roman Forum when it stopped raining, although that never actually happened. 

            I made a quick run to the Vatican at noon and got to see the Pope/receive his blessing.  This was the most overwhelming experience ever: you’re in Saint Peter’s Square with thousands of other Catholics from all over the world, all there to just catch a glimpse of the closest person to God that you can get.  He came out onto his balcony and everyone just started cheering and singing and chanting and waving flags.   It was amazing having people from literally all over the world being united in this one experience.  He spoke to us in Latin (surprisingly enough I actually understood a good amount) and then addressed each language group and blessed us. Absolutely amazing experience. 

THE POPE!!!

I basically spent the rest of the day at Il Vittorino (the Italian equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) and the Capitoline Museums.  I have never spent so much time in my life looking at artwork, but it was absolutely amazing to me, because I was literally seeing the real life statues and paintings of things I had only seen pictures of in my Latin class. 

The statue of the story of Romulus and Remus being raised by the she-wolf, classic artwork in the Capitoline museums.  Notice the mosaic floor with the 3D labyrinth.  

My Dessert of tiramisu- actually like Mommom's better!

I’ve determined the Italian men’s favorite saying to be Ciao Bella! Or basically hello/goodbye beautiful!  It’s the funniest thing for me, because I’m used to the guys in Denmark being so shy and reserved until you finally meet them, while in Italy all the men immediately try to start conversation.  They’re always so interested in American culture, just like the friends I made in Naples.  It’s funny how you see random people wearing things with American flags on them, but so much of their fascination comes from the Jersey Shore!

            And now two days in Venice!

My train got in at 6:30 in the morning, and the city was definitely still sleeping.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out that there are absolutely no cars on the Venetian islands, and transportation is restricted to walking and taking a boat/gondola.  I eventually made it to my hotel and left my luggage, but check in wasn’t until 12:30, so I decided to find a place to grab some breakfast and plan out my day.  It was in this cute little café right next to one of the three main waterbus stops.  After a little while, I was exposed to some crazy Venetian culture:  Here I am, sitting at my little table in the corner drinking my tea, and suddenly all these people get off the taxi and pour into the café, standing at the counter, and every single one of them ordered an espresso.  Not only did not a single person sit down, but they also drank the espresso like a shot and continued on .  I experienced this over and over and was absolutely amazed that their coffee is for the sole purpose of waking them up, while my coffee is such a relaxed start to the day. 

Our version of the mailtruck

            Anyway, once I finally planned out my day, I left behind these caffeine-crazed people and went to explore.  Let me lay it out for you: Venice is comprised of hundreds of tiny islands, connected by all these little bridges (and some big ones that span the Grand Canal).  Some streets are just wide enough for one person to fit through, and they have no pattern or order to how they are laid out.  Obviously, this is a recipe for me to get lost.  I didn’t do too badly, however, and was able to make it through most of my day on track. 

It's a little flooded...

Raised Pathways for the tourists without rain boots

The Bridge of Sighs

In the afternoon it started to rain, (ironic because I already had rain boots to combat the flooded streets) so I decided I would go to the Venetianisland of Murano, a quick waterbus ride away.  I wanted to go to this island because it hand-makes Venetian glass of all shapes, sizes, and colors.  My first experience was watching glass sculpting and glass blowing, after which I went to the Venice glass museum.  On my way off the island, I found this cute little glass shop, and after going inside and making friends with the man who was sculpting glass right at a desk for visitors to see, he agreed to sculpt what I wanted for me, in front of me!  So obviously I had to get some things as souvenirs for people, and convenient Christmas presents!  I went back into the city and had some wonderful gnocchis and then went to sleep early because I was so tired from my overnight train trip. 

Glass Sculpting

Tuesday consisted of me deciding to not plan out my route too carefully and just wander, exploring as I went along.  This was actually such a great idea, because it allowed me to not stress about getting from one place to the other, but actually just appreciate what was around me, and find some neat shops and food places.  

A Venetian sunset

My area of town by night

And by day...

Saint Mark's Basilica by night

A Venetian market!

Random canal down a random side street.. pretty common!

Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, I took a (Very long) bus ride from Venice to Prague where I finally checked in and met my friends so don’t worry guys, no longer traveling alone! 

Interesting/weird facts about Venice and Italy in general:  they don’t like toilet seats – I have yet to go into a bathroom (both public and in hotels/hostels) where there were actual toilet seats to sit down on.  Venice is actually going to be the next Atlantis: this city is going under, fast.  When I went to the peninsula of the main island, I literally had to buy a pair of rainboots that were barely high enough.  The Venetians adapt by assembling and disassembling raised (at least two feet) sidewalks as the tide comes in and out.  There’s basically a huge cathedral in every square you go, and always one concentrated part of town that you can find a Jewish ghetto.  Asians are EVERYWHERE, but they’re very friendly and offer to take pictures for you when they see you traveling alone.  If you’re wandering the streets of any Italian city between 3-5 in the afternoon, don’t expect to go into any stores- they all shut down for a late lunch/coffee break/nap.  Seriously, ALL of them! 

As an afterthought and word to the wise, Venice is by far the absolute MOST EXPENSIVE city I have ever traveled in: a small glass of white wine is thirteen euro, bottled water (they don’t do tap water) is four euro, a simple pasta dish is at least fifteen euro, and pizza is another ten euro, unless you take it from some random shop to go, then it can be about four euro.  Additionally, if you want to sit down at a restaurant or café to eat, they all have a cover charge, and already include in a service charge ranging from twelve to twenty percent.  Basically, you end up having to choose between starving and going broke.  Fun choice.