Pasqua, Films, Towers and Learning Italian
Friday, 10 April
Heading off to Italy, I got to the airport with no incidents, and consumed Digestives for dinner. After the flight, I got into Venice quite easily and was met by Andrew a few minutes after I got to Palazzo Roma. He helped me carry my stuff to Campo Margherita where I met some of his friends, and then, since I was ill and tired, we caught a vaporetto to the island they live on. It was very pretty, and the room was very much a hotel. It worked out pretty well that none of his roommates came back that night, so we both had beds to sleep in before an early morning!
Saturday, 11 April
We got up wicked early to catch the vaporetto and get to the train station, with enough time for a bit of breakfast and fix one of my tickets. I mostly slept on the train ride, and moved seats to sit near Keener a couple times, since we were in different carriages.
When we arrived in Torino, we took the hour walk to our hostel since it was decently nice out, albeit a bit drizzly. The hostel owner was jolly and very friendly, though he struggled through English with me a bit at check in until Keens let him know that he could speak Italian. He had a lot of good opinions on things to do- I was trying to listen in on their conversation, and heard a lot about “chocolate omnomnom!” Apparently, Torino is decently famous for chocolate. He also said something about how we should take the bus, not walk.
Following his advice, we took the bus into the city and found the Egyptian Museum, which was a lot like the British Museum. There was a huge chunk of the original city wall in the basement, which was really cool, and there was also a mummy whose face you could still see. The statue room had very dramatic lighting and mirrors, which was nifty.
We passed the royal palace and a war monument whilst wandering around looking for a place to eat dinner, which I was able to wait for as I had eaten a delicious puffy pastry. After dinner, we then got gelato at a place that had a wonderful sign, “If you desire to eat gelato, you must sound the bell.” Only in Italian, obviously.
Sunday, 12 April
Buona Pasqua!
We got up early in the rain and went to mass at the Duomo, which decided to start a half hour late and lasted for an hour and twenty minutes. It was pretty cool though, as a Cardinal gave the mass, and the music was gorgeous- especially the trumpet break. There was also the Shroud of Torino in one of the front chapels, although it was in a box with an image of the shroud hanging above it. Some bits of the homily that Keens was able to remember and translate for me were, “It might be raining outside but it is sunny in our hearts,” and “feel bad for non-believers, they’re sad and have no hope, but I have lots of friends who are non-believers.”
After mass, we had a quick yummy buffet lunch, and then found the film museum. The building used to be a synagogue, but was done over as they decided a museum would be more profitable. The main room in itself was really cool, with lots of reclined chairs so you could watch movies on the big screens, or watch the glass elevator grow smaller and smaller as it went to the spire for a panoramic view. There were also small side rooms all around, with various themes- such as a mirrored room that showed clips in which mirrors were important, and a room where you sit on toilets and there were comedy clips, and one with a Dracula’s coffin used on stage and in a film version with horror films. There was also a cool fifties-style house, where you could watch original footage and then a movie version of it, like JFK and a movie about D-Day. My favorite room was the “love room,” which had a lush red round bed that you had to lay back on and watch the movie projected on the canopy. As we wound up the spiral walkway around the perimeter, we found Star Wars storyboards, places where you could ride a bike in front of a green screen and pretend you were in ET, and a huge display to an Italian actor named Alfonso Rodolpho. I also accidentally ended up on a big screen acting like a tool, as there was a side room where you could be in a scene from Mr and Mrs Smith, I think, so I did that, and then we walked further up and my goofing off was projected on the large screen. It was very fun, and we easily could have stayed there all day.
After we left the museum, it was lovely and bright out, so we walked down to Fiume Po (the Po River), wandered alongside a garden and turned down to walk through an old tower from the original city wall, and passed a couple of churches before getting Biccharine at a little shop tucked away in a corner that the friendly people at the information booth had recommended. Biccharine is a sort of chocolatey, coffee-y, alcohol-y drink that is traditional in Torino.
We wandered along a bit more, passing some police officers who had capes and swords, and ultimately ended up taking a bus to the Stadio Olimpico. The hockey arena there was HUGE. After a pit stop at our hostel, we went back to the city centre and got some little chocolate eggs for Easter at a place recommended by information and then dinner at a Pizza Beer place (sorry, kids, not a Pizza Kebab, which are slightly more prevalent and remind me of Halal Bite and Perfect Fried Chicken).
Monday, 13 April
We had another relatively early morning to catch the train, with Keener’s hostel roomie, who also ended up in the same hostel as we did in Genoa. The train ride itself was pretty; we kept popping in and out of mountains. Genoa was very hot, I think around 80 Fahrenheit most of the time we were there. Since we got in at eleven in the morning and weren’t allowed to check in to our hostel until 2:30 in the afternoon, we lugged our baggage around a bit until we found lunch and hydration in the form of Coke and paninis on foccacia bread. We got a feel for the city, it was more graffitied and cluttered than Torino, and interesting in that it stretched immediately from ocean to mountains.
Happening upon Strada Nouva, we decided to check and see if any of the Palazzos were open, and managed to check our bags for free and gain entry to Palazzo Rosso, Bianco and Tursi for 6 Euro, as well as a panoramic view from the top of Rosso, which was pretty spectacular, and we could even see the lanterna (lighthouse). The art in Rosso was very pretty, though my favorite were the rooms where the frescoes were dedicated to the four seasons- sadly, winter and fall were closed for restoration. We also got to see where the Directrice lived for a while. The black and white floors of the art museum Bianco were pretty, and the art was pretty interesting, though I got a bit tired of it. The garden was really cute, above street level, and had a fountain of Mary and Jesus, though since she was holding a shell we weren’t sure if it was Mary or Venus until we asked. Tursi had a bunch of lilac trees, so it smelled gorgeous. The courtyard there was gorgeous, with a huge staircase and a clock and more lilac trees. I also really enjoyed the sculpture of Mary M, and we saw Pagini’s violins, which were pretty cool. The Cannone gets taken out once a year on October 12 to be played by the winner of a competition.
We wandered past a huge fountain outside the Opera, by the Palazzo Ducale, the Basilica, and down to the waterfront. We checked out what a giant globe was- a tropical greenhouse that was very expensive to get into- and then decided to grab our stuff and check in to the hostel. After winding up the mountain on the bus, we got to our hostel, which had a gorgeous view.
I had pasta with pesto for dinner, as Genoa is supposedly known for its pesto, and then got the Italian version of crème brulée for dessert. I also had coffee! Which is impressive since I do not do coffee. We wandered the streets a bit at night; there was one bit of the Porto Antico that seemed as if Disney’s Boardwalk was based off of it, and Via Girabaldi (with the palaces) was very cutely lit up.
When trying to fall asleep, one of the girls in my room (from China) was having a conversation with an Italian girl, so I listened in and surprisingly understood almost everything they were talking about, which was pretty cool.
Tuesday, 14 April
After a cheap breakfast at the hostel, we checked out, left our bags at the train station, and went to Christofo Colombo’s house; there was a bell from the Santa Maria there, and you could see their “sanitary facilities.” There was also a cute little religious thing (Keens couldn’t translate it very well, but it was sort of a small church or convent) which had been destroyed so a bank could be built on the site, and then they decided to tear down the bank and take the pieces of the old thing and rebuild it. It was like a small temple with some pretty columns, and was dedicated to St Andrew.
We went to the Basilica after; it had a lot of black and white marble, which was very strange but interesting looking. There were also a bunch of cool chapels, such as the one dedicated to the resurrection. The one that was for “prayer only” was gorgeous and had a very interesting organ with painted folding doors to cover it. We didn’t get to see the alleged Holy Grail, which was unfortunate.
After lunch and while eating gelato, we watched some pigeons attempting to mate and going for a mangy black one when they got frustrated, and were relieved when it was time to get on our next train to Pisa. We found a map there, then hopped on the LAM (like a green energy bus) and got off at the stop for the Tower of Pisa, and hiked a little bit to the “camping” location that would be our hostel. We could see the Tower from it, which was pretty cool.
We went and did the tourist thang at the tower- pretending to hold it up or push it down and whatnot- and then sat on the grass in the sun for a long time, admiring the tower with the duomo and the baptistery, and watching the crowd doing similar things. At dinner, I was confused when I ordered food with potatoes which ended up being French Fries. After eating well, we decided to call it an early night since Keener was getting pretty sick and I still wasn’t over my cold.
Heading off to Italy, I got to the airport with no incidents, and consumed Digestives for dinner. After the flight, I got into Venice quite easily and was met by Andrew a few minutes after I got to Palazzo Roma. He helped me carry my stuff to Campo Margherita where I met some of his friends, and then, since I was ill and tired, we caught a vaporetto to the island they live on. It was very pretty, and the room was very much a hotel. It worked out pretty well that none of his roommates came back that night, so we both had beds to sleep in before an early morning!
Saturday, 11 April
We got up wicked early to catch the vaporetto and get to the train station, with enough time for a bit of breakfast and fix one of my tickets. I mostly slept on the train ride, and moved seats to sit near Keener a couple times, since we were in different carriages.
When we arrived in Torino, we took the hour walk to our hostel since it was decently nice out, albeit a bit drizzly. The hostel owner was jolly and very friendly, though he struggled through English with me a bit at check in until Keens let him know that he could speak Italian. He had a lot of good opinions on things to do- I was trying to listen in on their conversation, and heard a lot about “chocolate omnomnom!” Apparently, Torino is decently famous for chocolate. He also said something about how we should take the bus, not walk.
Following his advice, we took the bus into the city and found the Egyptian Museum, which was a lot like the British Museum. There was a huge chunk of the original city wall in the basement, which was really cool, and there was also a mummy whose face you could still see. The statue room had very dramatic lighting and mirrors, which was nifty.
We passed the royal palace and a war monument whilst wandering around looking for a place to eat dinner, which I was able to wait for as I had eaten a delicious puffy pastry. After dinner, we then got gelato at a place that had a wonderful sign, “If you desire to eat gelato, you must sound the bell.” Only in Italian, obviously.
Sunday, 12 April
Buona Pasqua!
We got up early in the rain and went to mass at the Duomo, which decided to start a half hour late and lasted for an hour and twenty minutes. It was pretty cool though, as a Cardinal gave the mass, and the music was gorgeous- especially the trumpet break. There was also the Shroud of Torino in one of the front chapels, although it was in a box with an image of the shroud hanging above it. Some bits of the homily that Keens was able to remember and translate for me were, “It might be raining outside but it is sunny in our hearts,” and “feel bad for non-believers, they’re sad and have no hope, but I have lots of friends who are non-believers.”
After mass, we had a quick yummy buffet lunch, and then found the film museum. The building used to be a synagogue, but was done over as they decided a museum would be more profitable. The main room in itself was really cool, with lots of reclined chairs so you could watch movies on the big screens, or watch the glass elevator grow smaller and smaller as it went to the spire for a panoramic view. There were also small side rooms all around, with various themes- such as a mirrored room that showed clips in which mirrors were important, and a room where you sit on toilets and there were comedy clips, and one with a Dracula’s coffin used on stage and in a film version with horror films. There was also a cool fifties-style house, where you could watch original footage and then a movie version of it, like JFK and a movie about D-Day. My favorite room was the “love room,” which had a lush red round bed that you had to lay back on and watch the movie projected on the canopy. As we wound up the spiral walkway around the perimeter, we found Star Wars storyboards, places where you could ride a bike in front of a green screen and pretend you were in ET, and a huge display to an Italian actor named Alfonso Rodolpho. I also accidentally ended up on a big screen acting like a tool, as there was a side room where you could be in a scene from Mr and Mrs Smith, I think, so I did that, and then we walked further up and my goofing off was projected on the large screen. It was very fun, and we easily could have stayed there all day.
After we left the museum, it was lovely and bright out, so we walked down to Fiume Po (the Po River), wandered alongside a garden and turned down to walk through an old tower from the original city wall, and passed a couple of churches before getting Biccharine at a little shop tucked away in a corner that the friendly people at the information booth had recommended. Biccharine is a sort of chocolatey, coffee-y, alcohol-y drink that is traditional in Torino.
We wandered along a bit more, passing some police officers who had capes and swords, and ultimately ended up taking a bus to the Stadio Olimpico. The hockey arena there was HUGE. After a pit stop at our hostel, we went back to the city centre and got some little chocolate eggs for Easter at a place recommended by information and then dinner at a Pizza Beer place (sorry, kids, not a Pizza Kebab, which are slightly more prevalent and remind me of Halal Bite and Perfect Fried Chicken).
Monday, 13 April
We had another relatively early morning to catch the train, with Keener’s hostel roomie, who also ended up in the same hostel as we did in Genoa. The train ride itself was pretty; we kept popping in and out of mountains. Genoa was very hot, I think around 80 Fahrenheit most of the time we were there. Since we got in at eleven in the morning and weren’t allowed to check in to our hostel until 2:30 in the afternoon, we lugged our baggage around a bit until we found lunch and hydration in the form of Coke and paninis on foccacia bread. We got a feel for the city, it was more graffitied and cluttered than Torino, and interesting in that it stretched immediately from ocean to mountains.
Happening upon Strada Nouva, we decided to check and see if any of the Palazzos were open, and managed to check our bags for free and gain entry to Palazzo Rosso, Bianco and Tursi for 6 Euro, as well as a panoramic view from the top of Rosso, which was pretty spectacular, and we could even see the lanterna (lighthouse). The art in Rosso was very pretty, though my favorite were the rooms where the frescoes were dedicated to the four seasons- sadly, winter and fall were closed for restoration. We also got to see where the Directrice lived for a while. The black and white floors of the art museum Bianco were pretty, and the art was pretty interesting, though I got a bit tired of it. The garden was really cute, above street level, and had a fountain of Mary and Jesus, though since she was holding a shell we weren’t sure if it was Mary or Venus until we asked. Tursi had a bunch of lilac trees, so it smelled gorgeous. The courtyard there was gorgeous, with a huge staircase and a clock and more lilac trees. I also really enjoyed the sculpture of Mary M, and we saw Pagini’s violins, which were pretty cool. The Cannone gets taken out once a year on October 12 to be played by the winner of a competition.
We wandered past a huge fountain outside the Opera, by the Palazzo Ducale, the Basilica, and down to the waterfront. We checked out what a giant globe was- a tropical greenhouse that was very expensive to get into- and then decided to grab our stuff and check in to the hostel. After winding up the mountain on the bus, we got to our hostel, which had a gorgeous view.
I had pasta with pesto for dinner, as Genoa is supposedly known for its pesto, and then got the Italian version of crème brulée for dessert. I also had coffee! Which is impressive since I do not do coffee. We wandered the streets a bit at night; there was one bit of the Porto Antico that seemed as if Disney’s Boardwalk was based off of it, and Via Girabaldi (with the palaces) was very cutely lit up.
When trying to fall asleep, one of the girls in my room (from China) was having a conversation with an Italian girl, so I listened in and surprisingly understood almost everything they were talking about, which was pretty cool.
Tuesday, 14 April
After a cheap breakfast at the hostel, we checked out, left our bags at the train station, and went to Christofo Colombo’s house; there was a bell from the Santa Maria there, and you could see their “sanitary facilities.” There was also a cute little religious thing (Keens couldn’t translate it very well, but it was sort of a small church or convent) which had been destroyed so a bank could be built on the site, and then they decided to tear down the bank and take the pieces of the old thing and rebuild it. It was like a small temple with some pretty columns, and was dedicated to St Andrew.
We went to the Basilica after; it had a lot of black and white marble, which was very strange but interesting looking. There were also a bunch of cool chapels, such as the one dedicated to the resurrection. The one that was for “prayer only” was gorgeous and had a very interesting organ with painted folding doors to cover it. We didn’t get to see the alleged Holy Grail, which was unfortunate.
After lunch and while eating gelato, we watched some pigeons attempting to mate and going for a mangy black one when they got frustrated, and were relieved when it was time to get on our next train to Pisa. We found a map there, then hopped on the LAM (like a green energy bus) and got off at the stop for the Tower of Pisa, and hiked a little bit to the “camping” location that would be our hostel. We could see the Tower from it, which was pretty cool.
We went and did the tourist thang at the tower- pretending to hold it up or push it down and whatnot- and then sat on the grass in the sun for a long time, admiring the tower with the duomo and the baptistery, and watching the crowd doing similar things. At dinner, I was confused when I ordered food with potatoes which ended up being French Fries. After eating well, we decided to call it an early night since Keener was getting pretty sick and I still wasn’t over my cold.