Roman Holiday
I just returned ( and by just I mean 6 days ago) from the most amazing trip of my life. A ten day "Roman Holiday" if you will, though it included a bit more than Rome. I've spent the past six days in a kind of daze, avoiding writing this journal because that means I'm back. Instead, I've been in a state best described as limbo. But tomorrow it's back to work, back to reality... back to the real world. Though for 10 days I was the happiest I have been since I can remember. Italy was technicolor, and Baton Rouge is tones of gray. But that's life, so come on a little trip down memory lane, to a lovely place where you have red wine with every meal and exist in a perpetual state of bliss. A little place the locals call Italia.
Ok, this looks really long, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly pictures!
Wow, where to start? I guess I'll just do a photo tour. Let's see, I took about 350 pictures, but I'll narrow it down to a few highlights! So, we, a group of 14, started out in Florence. Well, actually, we flew into Rome, but took a coach to Florence to begin our trip. We stayed at the Hotel San Giorgio, which I would recommend to anyone going to Florence. It's small and quaint, and by the end of our 4 days there, the desk clerks knew us. Florence, by the way, is the love of my life. As I just told a friend, if I found the personification of Florence, I would marry him. I LOVED Florence. It's an odd mixture of cosmopolitan and old world, and it's just the right size to where you feel like you're in the middle of the world, but not swallowed up by it.
The first day we went on a tour of Florence with the wonderful Antonio (a man full of pride of the city of Florence, a wealth of knowledge, and a fabulous tourguide). We just walked around the city and saw Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce, Dante's birthplace, where Dante was married, Leonardo DaVinci's residence, and the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli. As well as Florence's pride, the force which started the Renaissance, The Duomo at Santa Maria Del Fiore--The Duomo.
So, since I have not already mentioned, this was a trip with my Architectural History professor, so we, as he students, were all there to see and appreciate that which we had learned about in class. This Duomo is architecturally one of the most important buildings in history, and needless to say it is BEAUTIFUL! So it gets two pictures!
We also went to the Palazzo Vecchio where Michelangelo's "David" stood until his hand fell off and ended up killing someone... it's also where Musolini and Hitler addressed Italians (from the balcony). Pretty crazy. But there's also a pretty fountain there, prime photo op!
Later that day, we crossed the Arno River
to climb a hill to the Piazzo Michelangelo, which offers the most beautiful view of Florence. (and also makes up the new background of my journal)
Now, this photo is exactly as I took it. I didn't bring it into photoshop or color adjust it in any way. That is the sky. I've never in all of my life seen such a beautiful sky. I'm starting to think that Baton Rouge is on a completely different planet, because we don't get anything at all like that. Our sunset is all orange and warm colors, and Italy has those beautiful pinks and purples. *sigh*
So after climbing up the hill to see an old Romanesque church, San Miniato (beautiful), we proceeded back down the hill. Along the way we passed a little restaurant, and being exhausted from our climb, and a bit cold, we stopped in. Not being a coffee drinker, I opted for hot chocolate, and oh my god, Italian Hot Chocolate = Heaven in a little cup.
Can you see how thick and lovely it is? Mmm. Quite delicious. Plus it was served with little cookies which were wondeful to dunk in the hot chocolate.
The rest of our time in Florence was spent visiting key places like the Palazzo Medici, Palazzo Rucellai, climb the Duomo, San Lorenzo, the Uffizi Gallery, the Academia, and of course, shopping. Florence has a great leather market, and we also enjoyed the Italian nightlife. We also took a day trip out to Siena, about an hour train ride, and it was lovely. Such a beautiful town mostly of locals, and not many tourists. It was there that we saw Lorenzetti's "Good Government" and a beautiful Gothic Church "Santa Maria del Scala." Our last night if Florence was bittersweet. We all knew we were going to Rome, one of the most famous capitals of the world, but we had fallen so in love with Florence that we never wanted to leave. So, much like Rome's Trevi fountain (in which you throw a coin to insure return), Florence has a bronze boar. If you rub the boar's nose, you will return to Florence. So...
I figured kissing the boar would make my chances better. (Don't worry, my mouth was actually about 6 inches away from the boar... illusion my friends, illusion!)
On to Rome! When in Rome, do as the Romans do!
In front of the Coliseum with a Roman. I think I'm supposed to be a Trojan or something... not entirely sure. But whatever, I got a pretty gold crown. The Coliseum was, as one would expect, awesome, and this same day we went to the Forum.
Later that evening, after dinner, we went to Michelangelo's Campidoglio
and the Trevi Fountain
(sorry guys, just figured out how to resize my pictures)
The next day we visited St. Peters (completely awesome), went to the Vatican giftshop, the Pantheon, and then went shopping in the district by the Spanish Steps. Far too expensive for my taste (Dior, Burberry, Prada, Gucci... you get the jist).
Then we went on a day trip to Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, and that was absolutely amazing. And I was a complete rebel and took a piece of the floor. Don't worry, it wasn't like I took it from a floor that was intact, I just picked up a rock and it turned out to be a piece of floor tile. So I have a piece of Hadrian's floor!
Ruins of Hadrian's Villa
We returned to Rome that night and the next day we toured the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. Now, you weren't supposed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel, but once again, the rebel in me came out, and I turned off my flash and took some. My icon, of Creation, is an editied photo that I took, and the photo below is kind of an overall shot of the ceiling.
After this, we had the option to do whatever it was we hadn't gotten to do yet. It was our last day, and there was still so much to do, so we revisited the forum
Took some silly pictures with Julius Caesar:
San Andrea del Quirinali and San Carlino (My FAVORITE, see below)
and the Villa Barberini, revisited the Pantheon, and went to our last dinner. Then, at dinner, I realized I had never found the Mouth of Truth. Now, if you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of the movie "Roman Holiday," so I really wanted to find the Mouth of Truth, so we asked our waiter and he told us where it was. It was closed, but I took a picture with it anyway!
And so... it was our last day and I begrudgingly got on the plane. As we flew over the Alps and I looked out the window at the gorgeous snow capped mountains, I was miserable! I had had the absolute best time of my life and I didn't want to return back to the reality of life. But all good things come to an end, and I'm starting to get back into my normal routine. To quote Roman Holiday once again "Were I not entirely aware of my duty to my family and to my country, I would not have come back tonight... or indeed ever again!" I really did want to stay, but oh well, that's how vacations go, right? Now i'm back and the memories are enough to bring a smile to my face. And hey, I rubbed a boar's nose and threw .10 Euro into the Trevi fountain... that should be enough to get me back, right?