Day Trips & Climbing Cliffs

With just under a week to go here in Florence, we packed as much as possible into our last free weekend. It's hard to believe how quickly these five weeks have gone by but thankfully we prioritized, saving the best for last. The first of our "final countdown" days came with a familiar mantra: pizza, gelato, Duomo. Thanks to some reputable guide books and the recommendation of our program directors, we ventured across the Ponte Vecchio to the best pizza place in Florence, Gusta Pizza. Getting there twenty minutes before opening time (7pm) and standing at the correct entrance guarantees you first place in line (nearly 30 deep by 7:00!) and a seat inside this small hole in the wall establishment. Their 5 euro Margherita pizza is simply amazing, with the fresh mozzarella melted atop perfectly seasoned sauce. I hate to go against my Dover roots on this one, but I think this may be the best pizza I've ever had! 

No Italian dinner is complete without gelato, so we stopped on our way back at another great find, a sure frontrunner in my unofficial Florence gelato contest. The combined nutritional value of the pizza and gelato served as great fuel for our next stop, the Duomo. Construction of this gothic style cathedral began in 1296 and was completed in 1436, though it still maintains beautiful color and clarity. Some of the best views of Florence come from atop the Duomo, so we couldn't wait to climb the 450 steps and explore the city we've called home from a new vantage point. At this point we were accustomed to the spiral, Alice in Wonderland-like staircases and shifted stones, so in no time we reached the top! The sun was starting its descent which made for some beautiful pictures:

Unfortunately we couldn't stay up there too long, but it was great to check that off our Florence bucket list! Since we've been living here for weeks now it often takes things like the birds eye view of the city to remind us just how beautiful it is. Or, like in this picture from another night last week, when you stumble upon the sun setting over the river. Doesn't get much better!

Let's Go to the Beach

Though we've transitioned quite nicely into urban life here, since it turned consistently 80+ degrees outside we've been anxious to get our first real taste of summer from the Italian coast. Friday we made it happen, boarding our first solo train to the costal town of Viareggio. We hopped off the train and trusted the Italian youth for the first and probably last time, following those in bathing suits just about a half a mile to the beach! The weather was perfect, the beach was fairly empty, and we only saw a couple middle-aged men in Speedos. Not a bad day!

We had such a wonderful time at the beach, as it was our first real relaxing excursion. I also loved it because the sand reminded me of one of my second homes, the Jersey Shore, which has my name on it come August!

Bolognese in Bologna

Saturday I was back at the train station again, this time heading to meet my friend Andrea in Bologna! The convenient meeting place was a city we had heard much about, particularly with respect to food. But first, since we kind of have a thing for old universities, we ventured on over to the campus of the world's oldest, the University of Bologna. Founded in 1088, it marks the origin of the word "university" and is still in operation today. The campus was quiet yet charming, filled with porticos and other medieval looking plazas. The much-anticipated lunch came from a small restaurant chosen somewhat at random on one of the busier streets in the city. Without hesitation we both ordered tagliatelle con ragú alla bolognese, as Bologna is the birthplace of the meat sauce "bolognese." As expected it was delicious, catapulting itself to one of the best Italian meals I've had thus far!

Feeling the effect of our mid-day carboload, we began our venture to the Basilica Madonna di San Luca, home to a prized icon of the Virgin Mary, allegedly painted by Saint Luke the apostle himself. Thanks to Andrea's Italian proficiency, we asked for directions to the bus stop and found our way outside the city center to the basilica's base. Per usual, access to this basilica and the best view of Bologna doesn't come easy. The basilica demands a roughly two mile hike uphill through the world's longest portico of 666 arches. Thankfully the arches gave us some shade, but we sure felt the burn by the time we reached the summit! The view was once again spectacular, making all that effort so worth it!

We returned to the city center without issue and after a celebratory gelato run headed to our respective train tracks. It was great to see a friend from home for the first time since I've been here. We had a blast and were so glad we got to see each other and a new city in Italy!

Cinque Terre Trekking

Bright and early Sunday morning we met with a travel company here in Florence for my last day trip of the weekend, this time to the beautiful coastal paradise of Cinque Terre. Translating to "five lands", Cinque Terre is composed of five villages each with distinct character: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. The natural scenery and hillside houses pinned between the sea and mountains offer some of the most spectacular sights in all of Italy. Due to their location, however, these houses are at the mercy of natural disasters such as land slides and flooding, evidence of which exists in spots across the region. In addition to the beachfront, Cinque Terre is known for its hiking trails connecting the small cities. Our knowledgeable tour guides took us from town to town to maximize our time there, leaving the most time in Manarola, Vernazza and Monterosso. The first stop in Manarola gave us our first look at the incredible cliffs and accompanying houses. We got to climb out on rocks for some more photo ops!

Vernazza came next, bringing with it more views of coastal beauty. They are famous for their focaccia bread, so we couldn't pass up a stop at the local baker! We ate fast since we only had about a half an hour here before the highlight of the trip, the hike from Vernazza to Monterosso. This is the most challenging of all the hiking trails at a length of just over 2 miles and about 800 vertical feet with an average completion time of about 90 minutes (which we obviously took as a personal challenge to beat). The first part was the most challenging, but as soon as we got our first view of Vernazza we knew this would be well worth it. With each bend and set of stairs we were greeted with an even more impressive seascape and couldn't help taking lots of pictures! By now the temperature had warmed up and the added weights of our backpacks made for a pretty hot trek, but overall I'll never forget what an amazing experience it was!

At the highest point on the hike we could begin to see our destination, Monterosso, giving us even more motivation to get there and get into our bathing suits! After stopping for a celebratory picture of the hike's completion, we hustled down to the beach to cool off in the crystal blue waters. Even the crowds of tourists and streams of vendors couldn't take away from our beach experience! Like always, we could have spent hours there but sadly had to grab some lunch and head back to the buses.

After a busy weekend it felt great to return to Florence at the end of the day. With only four days left here before I move to Tuscania I'm trying to soak in every last bit of culture and a little bit more of my favorite gelato. More to come soon on my last week in Florence, including a rainy St. John's Day and our final feasts!

Arrivederci!

Megan

When in Roma

This past week marked the halfway point of our classes, and only one midterm project stood between us and our weekend in Rome! As part of our midterm we had to present a collection of "Landscape Photography" along with 10 photos capturing Cascine Park, the location of our first field trip. I really enjoyed this class outside because we got to walk around as we pleased while taking pictures of the weekly street market. It was also the first time I had seen a substantial amount of greenery in quite some time! Here are my favorites, both from the Cascine Park assignment and project:

The biology nerd in me loves this picture, mostly because when I took it, it was too bright for me to see on the screen and I thought I missed it; but when I loaded it I couldn't believe how clearly you could see the bee and the pollen on it!

After Thursday's class we were all so excited for the last of our Florence program excursions: ROME!

One Wish, Two Wish, Red Wish, Blue Wish

After a rather eventful 4 hour bus ride south, we arrived in Rome and met our guide for a walking tour of the city. In keeping with the unpredictable and unusual weather patterns we've seen thus far, our weekend in Rome was met with the first blast of heat of the summer. The 90+ degree temperatures made our series of walking tours rather unpleasant, but in true gladiator fashion we put that behind us and packed as much as possible into the little time that we had! One of the first stops on the tour was the famous Trevi Fountain where we all made our wishes and tossed in coins. Legend has it that throwing one coin will bring you a return to the Eternal City, two coins will lead you to your lover in Rome and three coins will bring about your wedding. Don't worry Dad, no Paolos have come my way just yet - I'll keep you posted. We loved Trevi Fountain so much that we came back later that evening to see it all lit up. We sat by the fountain for an hour or so just people-watching and hanging out; it was such a pretty and peaceful sight!

The remainder of the tour oriented us to the city through the locations of different piazze. We stopped at the Pantheon, the first of many "I can't believe someone actually built this" moments. A steady stream of people was ushered inside where we walked around and observed the details of the rotunda and columns. Given that it was rebuilt around 126 AD, the preservation of this building is incredible!

After two hours walking around in the heat we were all looking forward to hotel check-in. We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the sights of Rome and resting up for our busy next day!

Tourist Time at the Vatican

Day two featured another walking tour, beginning with the Castel Sant'Angelo. In addition to offering us some reprieve from the heat in its network of tunnels, this former Pope castle was filled with ancient artifacts and history. Our guide was with us for the entire weekend, and he knew all kinds of little facts about this place. The stairs, for example, were built to optimize the climb for horses, not for man, so they were very deep with only a small incline. He also pointed out these water fountains, located all throughout Rome, from which people can drink and fill up their water bottles. Rome has some of the cleanest drinking water in all of Italy!

The next stop was just a city-state away in Vatican City. The steady stream of tourists marked the entrance path to one of the world's most famous sites: St. Peter's Basilica. Hundreds of chairs were aligned for the weekly Pope appearances or in the case of this weekend, the thousands of Harley Davidson lovers he was blessing. After a quick pass through security and the dress code police we entered this amazing product of Renaissance architecture. The lighting made it difficult to get too many good pictures but nevertheless it was stunning. The ceiling stretched infinitely high and the floors glistened as if they were polished that morning. Pretty impressive given how many people visit daily. 

Immediately following our guided tour of the Basilica we wrapped around to the side to climb the "cupola," or the dome of the church. The 550 stairs were not extremely difficult, though I can't say I've ever walked up a staircase whose shape fits that of a dome! This climb is definitely not for the claustrophobic as there was barely enough room for one to fit up most of the stairwells. Our first peek at daylight came when we emerged at the level of the dome ceiling. Despite the caging, we got our first of many incredible views on this climb:

Another 200ish steps and at last we had reached the top! It was a tight squeeze up there and a good portion of our time was spent dodging other Canons and Snapchat selfies. Nonetheless we were able to take some amazing aerial shots of Rome and St. Peter's Square! I'm really liking the trend of climbing to the top of every city we visit!

Unfortunately we only had about twenty minutes before we had to meet for our reservation time at the Vatican Museum. The climb down was substantially easier and after circumventing the wall of Vatican City, we made it inside without issue. The main current of people proceed straight to the Sistine Chapel, but thanks to our newly acquired art proficiency, we took our time and checked out all the cool statues along the way. I especially liked this moment where I caught this museum hall completely empty! 

At last we arrived at arguably Michelangelo's greatest achievement in painting, the Sistine Chapel. Understandably so there is no photography allowed inside but you don't exactly need a photo to remember how amazing this was. A sea of tourists with eyes glued to the ceiling filled the room. The guards urged everyone to keep moving but few obeyed, staying an extra few minutes to take in the beauty and detail of the Chapel. The automated voice played on repeat, "Silence, please. Silencio, por favor. Silenzio, per favore." Thankfully the reminders were not necessary, as this sight left most people speechless. 

Finally we made our way out of the Chapel and after a long, hot day headed back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation! That night we went out in Rome for dinner (and gelato, of course) and spent some more time in the different piazze. 

Salve from the Circus Maximus

We had free time Sunday morning so a couple of my roommates and I got up early and walked over to my favorite part of Rome, The Ancient City, to see the Roman Forum. I was so excited to visit this along with the Colosseum, mostly because I remember studying them in great detail in high school Latin class. I spent most of the time wishing I could remember what the inscriptions meant! If only my grandpa was with me to help decipher it; I'm sure he could have spent all day there!

The Roman Forum is a really neat place featuring ancient ruins of former governmental buildings and various monuments. As the former site of gladiatorial battles, criminal trials, public speeches, and other triumphant processions, the Roman Forum is regarded as one of the most celebrated meeting places in history. It's home to many famous royal residences such as the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestal Virgins. I was excited to see the Arch of Titus, as I still remember reading the chapter on it from my Ecce Romani textbook and crafting a model from modeling clay. Those were the days. According to my tour guide, the stadium pictured below was likely used as private entertainment for the emperor or as a walking trail for after meals. The stadium was situated next to the plot of land formally known as the Circus Maximus, the site for Roman chariot races. It used to hold about 150,000 people and is located just next to the Colosseum in the valley of the Palatine and Aventine Hills. Though it is now a grassy public park, the 1/3 mile track is still marked, solidifying its place among all the artifacts of the Ancient City.

Last but not least, we met up with our guide for our final stop in Rome: the Colosseum. I could not wait to see this! The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater in the world and ushers in 5.4 million visitors every year! It's structure is incredible, further showcasing the architectural prowess of the ancient Romans. As an arena hosting gladiatorial battles, you can still see the remnants of the hypogeum, an underground network through which gladiators passed or animals were held before contests.

Like many of the previous places I've mentioned, it is difficult to put into words how amazing these cities are. Rome, a city with over 2,000 years of history, still caters to a modern urban life contrasted with an array of ancient ruins. As I see other couples visiting these sights for the first time with the same feeling of complete awe, I can't help but feel so lucky for being able to experience this all at such a young age. Despite the challenges of living abroad I am so grateful for my family and friends that supported me on this trip! I've got just over a week left in Florence now and then I'll be moving to my next and final destination, Tuscania, a small village of 8,000 in the province of Lazio. More on that later, though. For now, we're focused on getting our last big Florence fix in, including climbing to the top of the Duomo, eating a large gelato with every flavor we've ever contemplated getting, and on Monday, joining in the celebration of the Saint Patron of Florence, San Giovanni.

Until then, arrivederci tutti!

Megan