Well, I’m back in the States! The past two weeks seem so surreal…it’s hard to believe that I was actually in Italy! The trip taught me so much (not only about another culture, but about myself) and Italy was beautiful, but I cannot tell you how glad I was to see my parents and boyfriend at the airport. Still, I hope to return to Italy one day. Maybe next time I’ll learn some Italian before I go…
Well, it has been an interesting two days. Yesterday, we went to see the Colosseum, which was one of the reasons I came on this trip. We walked an hour to get there, and when I saw it through the trees in the distance, I couldn’t help but skip a little with excitement, despite my tired legs.
Our tour of the Colosseum was not as pleasant as it could have been, considering that it was cold and rainy that day, but we had a wonderful, engaging tour guide, who just happened to be American and who cracked lots of jokes.
Unfortunately, my body was exhausted from many busy days of traveling, walking, and rushing to get from one place to another on time without getting lost, and I wasn’t able to finishe the tour fo the Colosseum. While the rest of the group went on to tour the forums, Rebekah and Daniel took me to the subway station and accompanied me back to the hotel (which is a good thing, because I never could have made it back on my own, directionally challenged as I am).
While riding the subway, trying to remain standing and not get squashed by the crush of people, pass out, or all of the above, I heard a voice, clear and hypnotic, singing a beautiful Italian melody.
“Who is that singing?” I asked Rebekah.
“It’s that gypsy over there,” she said. “And she’s not singing; she’s just begging for money.”
I searched for her, and finally find her. She was short, wore her dark hair gathered in a mass at the back of her head and secured with a clip, and had a baby strapped to her chest. As I stared, her eyes met mine. They were some of the most beautiful, piercing green eyes I had ever seen. I had to break her gaze, fearing I’d fall under some spell, but continued to watch as she began to make her way up the train, saying, “Scusate, scusate.” I didn’t want to believe that she might be stealing money from the train passengers she passed by, but that’s what gypsies are known for.
The last I saw of her was the back of her head, right as I was getting off the train, but I’ll never forget the green-eyed gypsy and her siren song…
Today was not quite as eventful for me. While the rest of my group headed out at 8 A.M. to begin a day of tours, I stayed in bed to try and catch up on some rest. I met the group at 1, and toured the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. I must be on sensory overload right now, because even though everything was grand, beautiful and majestic, I can’t think of anything to say other than that. So, I will leave you with a few pictures.
At last! I got a full night’s rest last night! It’s a good thing, too, because we spent the entire morning and afternoon walking! This morning, we visited the Academie, where we saw the David, went inside the Duomo, had a walking tour of Florence, and then went our separate ways to go shop. Though I’ve enjoyed Florence, I must say that I much prefer Venice. I think I’ll be ready to move on to Rome tomorrow.
Emily
During the past three days, I have used nearly every form of transportation imaginable: plane, train, boat, bus, and foot. Those first two days, I traveled on almost no sleep, catching only a few minutes of sleep on the plane. When we finally got to Venice on Saturday, our tour guide took us on a four-hour trek through the streets of Venice, and I was about to fall over with exhaustion!
I was relieved to make it back to our hotel room, but even that was an adventure all in itself. As soon as I and my two roommates, Ashley and Rebecca, walked into the room, a peculiar smell, which Ashley identified as dead rat, greeted our nostrils. Once we got past, the smell, the room was actually rather lovely; it had a homey feel to it, but was really dark! After fiddling around with the light switches, we figured out that you had to leave the room key in a slot in the wall to keep the lights on. That worked out well until Ashley blew a fuse in the room trying to dry her hair. All was well, though–maintenance came and fixed it and fobade her to use her hair dryer again. Well, I should say all was well until the toilet refused to flush…
When we finally laid down to rest, after making sure the window was open (it is against the law to use the air conditioning until May), we were awakened by the lovely sound of tires screeching and tires blaring from the street below. After about an hour of the noise, I finally jumped out of bed and closed the window, leaving us all to sweat in our beds. No worries, though–we made up for it by freezing our rear ends off the next day.
On Sunday, we woke up at 6 so that we could be ready to leave the hotel by 7:30. Dragging our sleep-deprived bodies out of bed was incredibly difficult, but we somehow managed. That whole day, I realized just how much my two days of traveling had thrown off my equilibrium; often, while standing still or sitting down, I would feel as though I were standing in a room suspended in midair or sitting in a swaying boat. Thankfully, I was able to maintain my balance enough to travel to explore Venice, touring Doge’s Palace, meandering through the shops, and riding in a gondola down the Venetian canals.
Today, we traveled to Florence. It was a four-hour bus ride, and we traveled through what looked like farmland. When we got here, we were greeted with a hotel room that has a slight odor of raw sewage about it. Even better, we have a street-side room!
Me, Charissa, Ashley, and Rebecca in the gondola
All right, Mom, here’s a picture of me! I’m looking at the Basilica di San Marco
Our tour guide, Isabella, in San Marco Square
I’ve never seen laundry look so beautiful!
I love Venetian doors!
A Ventian canal as seen through the overarching wrought-iron bridge
Rebekah and me trying to catch some Zs on the way to Rome
Two weeks! It’s hard to believe that that’s all the time left on the Italy countdown. While I still have plenty to do before I’m ready to leave, I’ve already bought a new pair of comfy walking shoes, acquired a new (pink!) camera and started learning some Italian words (buongiorno! Come si chiama? Piacere!). I’ve also started compiling a list of all the advice people have given me, since I’ve never been out of the country before. So far, this is what I have:
If anyone has any other advice to add to my list as I prepare for my Italian adventure, please let me know!
Arrivederci!
Emily
A little while ago I made a list of all the things I want to do before I die. Some of the things (like trying sushi) were more feasible than others (like taking a literature class at an Ivy League university). Of course, my practical side often overpowers my dream-chasing, risk-taking side, making it that much harder to check of some of the things on my list. That’s exactly why, a couple years ago, I decided not to go on a school trip to Italy and Greece because of what it would cost, even though traveling to Europe was something I’d wanted to do since I was a child.
When I read the blogs written by the travelers and saw the beautiful pictures taken by some of my friends who had gone, I felt a sense of remorse and decided that if the opportunity to go on a trip to Europe ever arose again, I would take it.
Sure enough, this year I received the opportunity to go on a 10-day trip to Italy. Despite my previous resolution, I went through much internal debate. I’m graduating in May! my practical side said. You need to save as much money as possible. You can always go to Italy when you’re older and have more money.
But you won’t ever get an opportunity quite like this again! said my dream-chasing side. What if you never get an opportunity to go to Italy EVER?
So, I made a few pros and cons lists, decided not to go, doubted my decision not to go, reaffirmed my decision not to go, and then threw practicality to the wind and turned in my deposit a few days shy of the deadline.
Oh, well… said my practical side. Maybe this trip isn’t so impractical. It is part of my education, after all.
…Besides, who doesn’t want to go to Italy?!
