Veni, Vidi, Vici

            Alright, folks. Thanks for waiting! Make sure you get a snack, get a drink, and clear your schedule – this is about to be a novel…and I’m not even sorry about it. We spent our fall break in Italy and it was as delicious (and I guess beautiful and exciting) as I had hoped!

            Our adventures began with an early flight on the budget airline RyanAir – it was everything I hoped a budget airline to be. They were trying to sell us stuff the whole flight (“Smokeless cigarettes?” “Perfume?” “Jewelry?”) NO, GRATHIAS. (I’m adapting the typical Spanish lisp.) It was a pleasant surprise to have Robyn, Katherine, Amanda, Megan, and Jenna on our flight. After the flight and hour long bus ride (obvi budget airlines don’t fly into convenient airports), we all split up to find our respective hostels. Erin, being the champ that she is, had found us one mere steps away the train station (Okay, granted it was a crack house that gave us all bed bugs, but the ratings were good and the location was better. I didn’t hate it, as they say. Good work.)

            We got to our hostel around 1.30 and had reservations to be at the Vatican (I know – 3 countries in one day; we were busy) at 3, so we needed to make some moves. (Power moves.) On our way to the metro (Madrid metro >>> Rome metro), we stopped and got PIZZA in a random, cheap restaurant. We had thought that it was not possible for pizza to be that delicious. We were proven wrong, time and again, since all of our meals consisted of either pizza or pasta. [Note: Upon our return we told Angeles what we had eaten and she was appalled! “Pizza and Pasta?” she said “Those aren’t real foods! If I went to Italy I would have to bring a purse filled with meat just to survive.” The woman loves her food.) 

            We arrived at the Vatican, and it was truly overwhelming. Conveniently enough, with our reservation, we got to skip the whole line. Worth the extra 5 euro? Probably. Our reservation was for the “museum” which actually turns out to be the entire city! SO COOL. We saw some paintings, some statues, some buildings – you know, the usual. 

This was one of few times where Erin and I were alone on a visit – usually we would be at least with a small other group. There was a sizable group from our program doing Italy for fall break, but most of them had left Thursday so we were going to meet up with them that night. The Vatican has millions of visitors annually, so obviously it was pretty busy. Needless to say, we turned a corner, and who do we see sitting at a fountain but DIM kids? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? THERE ARE MORE THAN 10,000 PEOPLE WHO VISIT THE VATICAN EVERY SINGLE DAY (o algo asi). There is such a slight chance that we would run into these kids, yet it somehow doesn’t surprise me at all. We joined forces to go see the Sistine Chapel together. THE SISTINE CHAPEL! You know how things are totally hyped up your whole life, and then you see them and you’re let down? This was the opposite of that. I was actually more impressed than I thought I was going to be. This thing is immense and meticulous and vibrant and truly moving. There were a ton of people there constantly shushing everyone (unclear as to exactly why), and security monitoring closely to make sure people weren’t taking any pictures (but not closely enough), and even so I was truly awed. It would most likely qualify as most-amazing-thing-I’ve-ever-seen-in-my-life. I never wanted to leave. Luckily, as alluded to, most of us were able to snag a photo or two (except for Mike who got in trouble with security which was hilarious), so we have (ironically illegal) proof so that we can convince ourselves that we were actually there. 

Yep. That's real life.

            After the Vatican, we needed a little sugar rush to keep our momentum going strong. It marked the first of many gelato trips! We went to Old Bridge, a place recommended by Erin’s friend who studied in Rome last semester – it happened to be right by the Vatican and also happened to be DELICIOUS. Truly, it was life-changing. (In a different way than the Sistine Chapel was…I guess.) Apparently no one gets only one flavor, so I went for 3. I got Caramel, Nutella, andddddddd Stracciatella – it was a great life decision. Right. So, food aside, we went for a walk afterwards to try to hit some more sights. We saw a castle, a church, a bridge, and tried to find a park? (I was realizing how long I’d been awake at this point so might have missed a few key details.) Basically, we saw lots of old and beautiful things. It was awesome. 

See how there are only people on the left? I just wrote a paper about a
painting and said that had significance. Basically, I'm artsy.

            Clearly, we were in no mood to walk all the way back to our hostel, so Erin and I hitched a ride on the free Italian transportation system! Yayyyyy! Okay – we were totally prepared to pay. Really, we were. We got on the bus and there was nowhere to do so! We were supposed to have already bought tickets, apparently. Whatever. (Europe is making me rebellious. One might even go as far as to say “fun-ish.”) I actually out-touristed myself, and took a picture of a monument through the bus window. It was just soooooooooo pretty! I’m not (too) ashamed. 

Embarrassing? Probably.

            We went to the train station to buy our tickets to Florence, and who do we run into but Julie, who’s studying in Florence but happened to be in Rome on a field trip! This world is just too small, because I am certainly not popular enough to be running into people I know in Rome. After a brief catch-up and setting up tentative plans to meet in Florence, we successfully bought some train tickets. Second class, baby….aka last. We travel in style.

            Since the gelato recommendation from Erin’s friend proved to be so good, we further followed her advice and walked to her favorite place for dinner! We took a roundabout route, which ended up working out really well since we ran into the Trevi Fountain! It was so cool to see it at night. Dinner was probably the best dinner I’ve ever had in my life. My salad and Penne a la Vodka was Out. Of. This. World. I also tried literally everyone else’s meals (gnocchi, pasta with pesto, spaghetti Bolognese, etc.) and just didn’t want it to end. We went to her favorite bar after dinner (right around the corner!) which had American college flags on the walls. We didn’t see a Duke one and were very upset. Turns out, the bar tender just hadn’t yet gotten the chance to put up his new flag which includes our most recent National Championship. (We’re kind of big deal…even in Italy.) Rome, although much more beautiful than Madrid, is also much more lame. We went home at like 1 and the place was dead. Sad, Rome. What are you doing with your Friday nights? Get on Spain’s level.

            Unfortunately, getting back early did not lead to a good night’s sleep. After dealing with the incredibly rude and ignorant receptionist at the hostel, we tried to go to bed. Right when I was about to fall asleep, our roommates for the night came back. I mean, I get that your kebabs were “dank,” ladies, but must you scream about them for hours on end? Apparently, they must. It was fine though, because who doesn’t love a little late-night entertainment?

            I decided to get up early the next morning (since I like to always be slightly sleep-deprived) and go for a run. It was probably the coolest run of my life. I gave myself a rough outline of sights I wanted to hit, and just spent my time meandering around to get there. I saw the Opera house, a famous church, a cool park with random fun-sized carnival rides, some piazzas, some fountains, some monuments, the British embassy (complete with threatening soldier holding a gun!), a friar, and of course, a ton of McDonald’s. I got back just as everyone else was in the process of waking up, which worked out pretty well. We grabbed some (delicious egg sandwich) breakfast at a nearby café, and prepared to get our Ancient Rome on.

            We walked to the Coliseum, and I at least was stunned by its size. (When we told Emilio about it when we got home, he wasn’t impressed. “The Coliseum? Isn’t it broken?”) After absorbing that for a little (and obvi getting some group pics – photo op!), we headed over to see how big the line was. It was pretty long (understandably.) We kept being heckled by people to join their tour groups and at first were adamantly against it. Reasons: I am cheap, don’t trust people, and generally dislike tours. After realizing that we could jump the line if we joined a tour, we reconsidered. After paying extra 8 euros, we went to the designated “waiting” area for the hecklers to coerce enough people to join us to make a full group. We were pretty confident that Mike could catch and subsequently tackle the woman who sold us tickets if she tried to pull anything, so personally, I wasn’t too worried. After making friends with the elderly British couple next to us, we found ourselves being herded towards a man holding up a book about Rome. Great, I thought. 8 Euro for story time from a book for tourists. How wrong I was! Our tour guide was both hilarious and knowledgeable!

Highlights:

“A soda company was willing to pay for all of the renovations for the Coliseum if the government would let them put up a huge (youuuuge) sign up while they were done. They didn’t approve it because they didn’t want it to become the Coca-Colaseum.”

SPEAKING OF HUGE, he says it like meeeee! Maybe it’s the Italian in me? Or maybe I just sound like English is my second language? (In Kindergarten, my mom was asked if this was the case. Forealsies.)

“The doors were smaller because the Italians were smaller…just in the legs, though. Just. In. The. Legs.”

We got to take pictures with the “roman soldiers” fo’ free! Eric nearly lost his head over it! 

I feel like he should be a little more worried, don't you?
Also: Perry and Mike match. 

Conclusion: Learning is fun! If you’re ever in Rome, FIND THIS GUY! (Stefano, I think?) I have his info but don’t feel like looking for it, so you’ll have to take the initiative and ask me. Do it, though. So worth it. 

Interactive learning is the best type of learning.

Rather than continuing the tour of the Roman Forum, we decided to go get lunch (and gelato, obvi) and do it ourselves after. We got pizza and it was delicious. So, so, so delicious. The gelato wasn’t as good as Old Bridge, but I would definitely have more of it every day of my life.

The Roman Forum was great, especially since we ran into Katherine and Robyn, the keeper of great wisdom. She was our official tour guide, teaching us all sorts of things we would have never known that I’ve mostly forgotten. There were some really expensive poles? Consult Robyn for further information.

Buy me these

            After the forum, we wanted to sit. We found the most beautiful fruit stand ever, and sat on the curb next to it. We then walked over to what’s apparently nicknamed the “Wedding Cake.” I guess I could see why. Anywhoo, after running into the other team (I guess Rome’s not that big of a city and there are only so many sites to hit), we caught another “free” bus back to our side of town! Erin and I checked out Perry and Mike’s hostel (it was > our hostel, but more more $, so whate’er), and then met up with everyone for dinner. I got something delicious – gnocchi, I believe, and enjoyed every last bite of it…and then we went to go get gelato? Don’t you judge me. Cheap and delicious – and I’d even ran that morning. Perfect. So we walked back to get a good night’s sleep – we needed to be up early to catch our train to Florence the next morning!

            We got up right on time (the girls with whom we shared our room were still not back from the night before…perhaps they were camping out in front of a kebab place so they’d be able to get the first ‘dank’ sandwiches of the day?) and headed to the station. We got deeeeeelicious pastries for breakfast from the train station and found our way to our train and subsequently our seats.

            Turns out, we were ridin’ Harry Potter style! For those of you who are not aware of what the trains to Hogwarts look like (aka no one), they have compartment cars! Of course, our immediate instinct was to worry that something like this was going to happen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_KACgT-ZD0. (I hope you’ve all seen Eurotrip.) We did have some sing-a-longs (Sara’s got some hip tunes on her ipod), and when we came out of a dark tunnel Perry was standing in the middle of the compartment, but luckily, things never got to the level of that clip. We took up the whole car so we were able to be as loud and obnoxious as we pleased! We even played some games. Things we learned: Big-booty is a lot harder (and less inappropriate) than one would think, Sara is incapable of playing zoo, and yet very good with movie titles? Syd, Sara, Mike, Perry, Erin, and I arrived in Florence by noon!

            We found our way to our hostel (via “free” bus obvi) and were so, so, so excited when we got there! It was basically the size of a small apartment. There were two rooms and we were the only ones there. Jonathon, the owner, gave us wine and a map of Florence on which he highlighted all of the must-see sights! It was really well-kept and such a pleasant surprise. It’s called the Dany House and it’s amazing. 

Obvi, we needed a picture with Jonathon, the owner.

It was particularly exciting to be in Florence because we know people studying there! Nichols is doing Duke in Florence, and Julie is doing NYU in Florence. Lindsay (from home!!!) is doing …Wesleyan in Bologna? The name is unclear, but pretty irrelevant. The point is that she took a train up to Florence to see me!! Yay! Her train got in slightly after mine so we met her for lunch in the central market area! It was an incredible collision of college and high school and Europe and pasta. Such a good combination. I got a spinach and cheese filled ravioli that is literally making my mouth water just thinking about it. SO delicious. After lunch, we met up with Nichols in front of the Duomo! So many reunions!

Reunited, and it feels so good.

Obviously, our next move was to get gelato. Luckily, Anne is my official life planner; this means I had a copy of all of the recommendations her sister made for places to go in Florence, including the best gelato EVER. Now, there is a general consensus that the best gelato in the world is in Italy. Apparently, within Italy there’s a consensus that the best gelato is in Florence. Within Florence, there’s a consensus that the best gelato is at Vivoli. By the transitive property (ah! My favorite property!) we had the best gelato in the world. IT WAS AMAZING! I cannot even express to you how happy I was in that moment when I took my first bite. (I’m so glad I’m not studying in Italy. I would actually be obese.)

            Anyway, after enjoying my gelato, we headed back to the Duomo because we had a date to meet Anne, Margo, and Aubrey, who were leaving Florence that night! We were hoping to climb the Duomo together but unfortunately it was closed. We still got to catch up (not seeing each other for 48 hours or so is way too long), which was good. They dropped us of at the Academia and headed to Milan! Why at the Academia? To see the David, of course! Personally, I wasn’t expecting too much, but you know, I figured it was something I should do. Once inside though, I was actually blown away. The immensity of this thing is unbelievable. The attention to detail is unbelievable. Clearly, if I were to pick a word to describe the David…? Unbelievable. I feel like the craftsmanship is most obvious in the hands – they’re so detailed you could see the veins! My favorite part of the David was the abdominal region because that man has a beautiful stomach. Nice arms, too. I guess it makes sense that the man who beat Goliath would be someone who worked out a lot…I obviously took an illegal picture to cherish forever.

Do you work out?

            After the David, we had even more reuniting to do! We met Julie on Ponte Vecchio, the famous and beautiful bridge overlooking a river. Her apartment is pretty close by. After our hugs, we split up for a bit and planned to meet back up later. We Madrid kids (+ our Bologna friend!) wanted to climb to the Piazza Michelangelo which promised breathtaking views of the city. Well, we got our breath taken away pretty early on during our trek to the top. We lost track of Perry, Mike, and Erin nearly at the bottom of the long stairway because they’re all big falkers (fast walkers, duh. Why? What’d you think I meant?) Eventually, us slowpokes made it to the top and rejoined them. We took in the views and took some photos. While Sydney and I were taking some shots on the lower piazza, an old man came up to us and gestured that he wanted us to take a picture for him. Obviously we agreed being the polite girls we are. TURNS OUT, he actually wanted a picture with us? We think it was because Sydney was Asian since he asked a random Korean man to join us when I asked the person taking the picture to take one with my camera too (I’m all about making new friends.)

I thought I had a pic with our new friend, but I don't...you'll have to settle
for this terrible view instead. Deal with it.

            After the piazza, we met up with Julie and Nichols again for dinner. We went to a place called Dante, which is popular with the NYU kids in Florence, possibly because they offer free wine to said students. I was a fan. Free things are my favorite type of things. Margo had recommended we try the “Wild Boar Sauce.” I was at a loss for what I wanted, and since I aspire to be wild(ish), I went for it. Mike and I actually split that and some ravioli. Do I even need to say it was delicious? I don’t, right? Do I even need to say that we went to go get gelato after? No? Great. Glad we’ve all got the routine down by now. Unfortunately, Lindsay had to head back to Bologna, but it was SO exciting to see her! (Check out her account of our reunion on her blog, http://lindsayinitalia.blogspot.com – she’s unsurprisingly a lot less verbose than I am and can give you a true Italian perspective on our adventures!)

            We returned to our beautiful hostel for a little R&R. Sara, Syd, Mike, and Perry had to leave early the next morning, leaving Erin and me to explore the city ourselves! We took full advantage of the day and got a pretty early start. After eating more Nutella than one person should reasonably be able to consume (as provided by our hostel), we headed out. Our first mission was to climb the Duomo! On our way, we hopped into a random little church, mostly because we could. It’s incredible that every building we stepped into on this trip was beautiful to the point of disbelief. I didn’t think that I could be awed by a random church on the side of the road but I was clearly wrong. A beautiful church is yet to not give me chills.

            We arrived at our destination and finagled our way in, making sure we were ahead of an annoying tour group. One could really feel the immensity of the building once inside. I know I’m short, but I think anyone who steps into this building and looks up would be a little taken aback. There’s a creepy mural on the top of the Final Judgment that I really liked. We figured out where to go to climb and jumped on line (or “in line” as you non-LIers like to point out.) The wait wasn’t too bad and 100% worth it. The stairs were innumerable (or at least >450), and at the end nearly insurmountable (had to have been an 89 degree angle), but the view was incredible, and that’s an understatement. We were high up. At this point I could safely say I’ve seen Florence from nearly every angle. 

            The climb down was much less fun, but the payoff was still pretty exciting – we figured we had earned our lunch. We found a great special (who doesn’t love a good deal?) and for just 9 euro we got wine, salad, and a main dish! I got lasagna because I hadn’t had it yet. Was it delicious? Of course. Was I tired of pasta yet? Of course not. We were rejuvenated and ready to see more sights! We tried to go to the Uffizi (a famous art museum) but it was closed. A pity, but I guess it leaves me something to do next time, right? We then found ourselves meandering and in search of cool things. We found some – CANOLIS! Although they’re a Sicilian specialty, I’d say the Florentines had them down pretty well. I love a good canoli and Erin had never had one! Glad she’s been initiated.

            The weather was starting to get iffy (don’t worry – Jonathon gave us umbrellas!) so we headed to the Santa Maria Novella Church to sit inside for awhile. After getting in and taking an illegal picture we just enjoyed the beauty around us and reflected on our trip. 

After fully exploring the church, we headed to the train station. Nichols is doing Duke In Florence – the program all lives together in a 15^th century castle-type thing in Sesto, just outside of the city. We actually bought a ticket this time (although I lost mine and didn’t end up needing it), and met her there. It was so fun and so beautiful!!! It was a neat set up since they all live together. They also have a chef who personally cooks them delicious Italian meals. Now, I know Angeles and Emilio are conspiring to get me and Erin fat, but if they were offering me Italian food every night, they would probably be more successful. 

What's cuter? The garden or these two!

We hung out there for a bit, and then headed back into Florence to meet Julie for dinner! Unfortunately the place she wanted to take us was closed, but luckily, a place right nearby was open and delicious! I’m pretty sure I just went for spaghetti and marinara because I hadn’t had that yet, but weirdly enough, I’m not 100% sure. It was delicious and wonderful to catch up with Julie! (She and Nichols are actually in Madrid right now for the weekend so we’ll get to see them again! Exciting!) We headed back to the hostel to find ourselves being offered free wine (I seriously love this hostel). We also bonded with the other people staying there. (We were all obviously at Oktoberfest.) We went to bed early because we are perpetually sleep deprived in Europe, and we had to get up early to head back to Rome and catch our flight. EXCEPT. Our train to Rome was super late, so we could’ve slept later. It wouldn’t have been so sad except that: 1. it was really cold, and 2. I had to blow my nose really badly which, as I hope you haven’t had to find out, is a terrible, terrible feeling.

Once we finally arrived, we obviously headed out to lunch. We wanted to go back to the place we had dinner the first night because it was beyond delicious. We trekked all the way across the city with our 15-20 pound backpacks only to find it was closed! Seriously, it was tragic. We were kind of consoled by the place next door that served a delicious pizza and some good wine (love me some lunch wine), but there’s still a pang of sadness in my heart. We got some gelato after which was almost delicious. We each picked one flavor that just wasn’t up to par. It was triste (sad) because it was our last delicious Italian experience. (Somehow, we persevered.)

Before leaving, we needed to hit all of the sights we missed, aka the Pantheon. It was pretty cool. Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain and sat for awhile (my neck and shoulders were struggling), and then headed back to the train station. 

We got on our bus which took us to the airport where we sat FOREVER because our flight was delayed. Curse you, RyanAir! To give you some perspective on our wait time: we spent our time playing this game that’s supposed to be about people. We played it for so long that it ended up being about inanimate objects. (Creativity is important in times of desperation.) We finally made it back to Madrid and were unsure as to whether or not the metro would be running long enough to make it all the way back to our beloved Puerta del Angel. Luckily, we were successful. We got home sweet home, dropped our heavy loads, and passed out. I had a Striacciatella flavored dream of everything we’d done and seen. With the help of knowledgeable friends, we had conquered Italy with the enthusiasm of the greatest of tourists – upon our return my only hope was that such knowledge would extend far enough to conquer our next greatest challenge: midterms.