Travels through Italy

From Dec 15th to Dec 21st I traveled through Italy: Rome, Florence and Venice. It was tons of fun and I definitely miss the adventure that is traveling by the seat of your pants. This is the journal that I kept of my time:

12/15: Cody and I are on our way to Rome, somehow we made it. It was a crazy day: For grammar we had a petite fete in the Foyer. Our class had bought Daniele (my grammar teacher) a book about Impressionism so we gave that to her and took a million pictures. Then we watched Les Choiristes (for the second time in a week-it's such a good movie). Lunch was fun with lots of little appetizers and dessert was an assortment of tarts.

After lunch everyone was busy doing last minute packing and getting ready to leave. Amy and I went to the beach one last time-I tried really hard to memorize everything I can about Cannes because I know that once I get home the last 4 months will seem like a dream. Cody and I ended up being really rushed (he had to finish his senior sem paper and say his goodbyes). So we were running VERY late and didn't leave the college until 6:05...our train was at 6:20.

We ran to the station and just barely missed the train because we had to print out the tickets from online and the machine wouldn't work. Luckily Cody got us cheaper seats on a later train. We had lots of time to kill and decided to stand outside to cool off. We got on the second train uneventfully.

We got off the train in Marseille and had to run in order to make sure we didn't miss the blue shuttle bus to the airport. We got there and had some dinner. Then we had to walk to terminal 2, because we were in the wrong place, of course. Terminal 2 is not as nice; it's very gray and has metal benches. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and then tried to sleep.

12/16: We were trying to sleep and at 12:30 we were told that the terminal was closing and we needed to move to terminal 1. So we walked back and found another bench. We started sleeping around 1 and I woke up around 3:45. We hadn't planned on getting up til 5 so I tried to find a more comfortable position and failed. Finally it was time to get up and we went back to Terminal 2. We quickly checked in, went through security (they took my purell and put it in a "bomb-proof" bag...a ziploc, which made us feel really safe!). After standing in a huge mob of people for awhile we managed to get on the plane; Cody quickly went to sleep and I read.

We landed in Rome, picked up our bags and got on the shuttle. We were dropped off at the Termini train station. From there we walked to the hostel. There was no sign so Cody hesitated when I just walked in to someone's driveway but after closer examination we managed to find the buzzer and get in (it was exactly where I had said it was). We had breakfast and headed out to see the Eternal City.

We saw Trajan's Column, the Markets of Trajan, the Vittorio Emanuele monument and the Roman Forum. When we were finished with our audio tours we headed to the Colosseum and had a thorough tour. We also had a tour of the Palatine Hill included in the price. I learned a lot about the history of Rome, but it was really hard to stay awake.

Being that we were incredibly exhausted we decided to go back to the hostel and sleep. We bought some delicious pizze from a stand and explored the neighborhood on our way back. We napped for 3 hours and then decided to see Rome at night. First we went to the Centro Storico district where we stumbled upon the Campo di Fiori and Palazzo Navona. They were decorated with Christmas lights and there were lots of people hanging around. At one point we stopped and bought gelato and then sat in one of the palazzos while we ate. We went back to the hostel around 11:30 and crashed.

12/17: We woke up early so that we could get to mass. We headed to St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. We got there a little bit late (it took us awhile to weave our way through security and then to find the right door into the church, and then to figure out where mass was being held). After mass we toured the church and decided to see the roof and dome. At the first level we were able to watch the cardinals file in for the next mass. Then we climbed up into the dome; it was weird because the walls tilted in...Cody got freaked out. The view from the top was so cool. It was cloudy so you couldn't see the mountains in the distance but it was cool to look for the window where the pope talks from and try to guess where he lives. We also tried to guess which smoke stack was the one that people watched when they pick a new pope.

We climbed down and took some pictures. We noticed a bunch of people hanging around and decided to try to figure out what was going on. The pope was scheduled to give an address (pray the angelus with the faithful) at 12 (in 20 minutes). So we started scouting out a good location...having no idea where the pope would be speaking from. He finally came out and gave his talk (I understood some of it, even though it was in Italian) and he greeted people in many languages.

After leaving we went to a small outdoor market and then walked over to the Piazza del Popolo-I couldn't tell you what it was, but I can say I've been there. Then we started looking for the metro and we rode it to San Giovanni Laterano (the church of St John the Lateran). This church used to be the papal palace before it moved to Avignon (we have visited the palace there...so we've seen the history of papal palaces now). We walked around the church and then headed to another one: Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major). It was not very interesting.

We finished touring and headed to the train station to get our ticket to Venice. We went back to the hostel and Cody decided that he wanted to see Florence; so he went back to the train station and changed our ticket. I was in charge of looking for a hostel in Florence. After making our changes and having a rest time we went out for dinner. It wasn't as cheap or as filling as we would have liked but it was fun to go out. We walked around Rome some more; saw the famous Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We got some more gelato and headed back to the hostel.

12/18: It was another early day for us. We went to the Vatican museum. Luckily we had done some research and knew exactly what we wanted to see. We cruised through most of the museum and spent more time in the Sistine Chapel and the painting collection. It was fun to hear other people talk about their impressions and interpretations of the work in the Chapel. I ended up sitting next to an American family that was well versed in Biblical knowledge and learned a lot by eavesdropping.

When we finished we headed to the Pantheon. It isn't the most exciting place but it was cool to see the floor being redone. Then Cody decided that we should see more fountains (there are 7 big fountains in Rome). The first one was no longer operating and it took us awhile to get to the second one. It's called Fonte Acqua Paola and it was up a HUGE hill (I was really glad we weren't doing all of this in the summer, it wouldn't have been much fun). We hung out there for awhile and headed back to the hostel.

We had a snack and did some research about what to see in Florence (I did the research...not Cody). Then we went to the train station. We are going to be very busy because we want to see everything in Florence in 24 hours!

We got to Florence around 7pm and found our "guesthouse." After quickly getting settled we went out to see the city. There were a bunch of markets that were just closing down and almost all the streets had Christmas lights hung. We spent a long time just wandering around. Cody convinced me to get a gelato which ended up being 5euro! Walking through one of the piazzas we found some street performers and ended up listening to them for more than a half hour before heading back to the hostel. I was attracted to the sounds of Canon in D and the lights of the large Christmas tree; it was so nice...and really cold.

When we got back to the hostel we tried to figure out where we were going to stay in Venice. After looking at prices of places Cody decided that we should spend another day in Florence because it was cheaper and he really liked it. After booking the Venice hostel for only one night I went to bed.

12/19: We were up early to beat the crowds of people at the Uffizi museum (there were no crowds...we were 3rd in line). We spent 2 hours walking around; the best part was the DaVinci exhibit. The worst part about the Uffizi was the lack of benches, especially considering the guidebook tells you that you're going to spend 4 hours there. The exhibit included videos about all the things that DaVinci discovered and invented.

After leaving we went to the hostel to make arrangements for our second night and Cody had to go to the train station to change our ticket...again. We spent some leisure time shopping at teh various markets. I bought postcards, necklaces and food. We also visited the Duomo. The outside of it is really decorated and the inside is really plain, a reverse from most of the churches we've seen during the semester. Cody waited while I climbed a bajillion stairs (or 414) to get a view of the city from the bell tower.

Then we went to the Christmas market where Cody bought hot wine. The sign said it was 2euro, but he had to pay 4 because the mug was included. I ended up buying it from him; it says Buon Natale, Firenze, so it's a fairly cheap souvenir of my time in Florence. We also walked around twice sampling the different olive oils, cheeses and biscotti that were offered.

We walked to Ponte Vecchio; the oldest bridge in Florence. There were a lot of really nice jewelry stores which we didn't go in. We sat on the bridge and took a picture; Cody sat in bird poo so I laughed at him for awhile. Then we went back to the hostel for rest time.

We went out for a "traditional Tuscan meal." It can't really be traditional for only 13euro but it was filling and good; we had bread, pasta, salad, meat and wine. We walked around looking for a cool place to hang out. The most promising one has Beatles night. The bar is called BeBop and it was tons of fun. Cody even splurged and bought a 3euro beer! It was fun to listen to the music and watch people...we had some really good stories about some of them: red sweater guy, the sisters and the emotional, controlling boyfriend. We ended up staying out until 1 and decided that we could sleep in.

12/20: We got up at 9 and were ready to leave at 10:30. It turns out that there were another couple of CSBSJU students staying at the same hostel...small world! We went to Palazzo Vecchio to make a reservation for the secret passageways tour. We did a personal tour after making reservations. Then, because we had hours to waste, we walked around.

Cody decided that he was getting sick and needed to eat more oranges to increase his vitamin C so we found a market that was closing. After picking out the orange the lady told us that we could just have it for free. Because of his budgeting, Cody was really happy about that and talked about it for the rest of the trip. He saw a nearby park on the map and we headed over to it...we ended up in a cemetery. He tried again and we found it. While he ate his orange I played on the swings. I tried to get Cody to join me when he finished but he's apparently not cool enough to swing.

We went in search of the best gelato in Italy, at Vivoli. Cody had coffee and I got gelato...it was amazing and the books are true it really is the best. We strolled through some more markets and then went back to the Palazzo Vecchio for our tour. It was really cool. We got to go up to see the ceiling, which isn't held together with bolts or screws but by balancing. We also saw secret rooms where treasures were stored and the office of Medici.

When the tour was finished we went back to the hostel to get ready. I bought some cheese to go with bread that Cody had bought. We went to the train station and had supper. We only made it through half the cheese before we were sick of it. Our train was late so we spent a long time sitting around. Finally we got on the train and we were on our way to Venice.

I had spent 15 or 20 minutes trying to figure out the directions to the hotel and when we got to the train station we had to start weaving through the twisted "streets." We got a little side-tracked when I didn't read all of the directions to Cody but after we righted ourselves it didn't take us long to find it. It was the most questionable hotel we'd stayed at: the guy at reception was not incredibly friendly or helpful, the rooms may or may not have been clean and they were really far away from the reception...."across the campo, the 4th door on the left, up 2 Italian flights, through the door" and worst of all you could only use the internet for 15 min a day between 3 and 10pm.

After throwing our stuff down we decided to try and find the cool place to walk around in Venice...turns out we were staying at it. Without a map Cody had to try and figure out how to get us to Piazza San Marco, the reception guy told us to follow the signs. Like normal Cody did a great job, but San Marco is not so cool at night. We took a few pictures and headed back. We crawled into our sleep sacks (to protect us from the possible fleas) and went to sleep.

12/21: We were ready to go at 8 and had breakfast at a little cafe near the hotel. Then we started walking. There wasn't a lot that we necessarily wanted to see in Venice, mostly we just wanted to experience it and we've discovered that the best way to do that is walk around and see it. We headed back to San Marco and enjoyed an orange (Cody needed his vitamin C). Cody tried to chase pigeons but they weren't really interested and he ended up just looking like a fool...but I got it on video and it was really funny to watch.

We walked around and ended up at Ponte Rialto where we took some pictures. Then we went back to see San Marco. Cody was only able to fit in a quick tour of the church before he had to leave. We stopped at the market for bread and he took off to catch his train to Milan. I didn't think I would be as sad as I was, but it was really lonely after he left.

I had to make my arrangements to get to the airport...it was quite the experience. Eventually I weaved my way to the bus station and managed to buy the right ticket for the bus. I visited the Guggenheim Museum. It's fun to recognize pieces or artists after seeing them in art history this semester. It was sad to be doing everything alone and not have anyone to talk to.

I went to the bell tower near San Marco and saw the amazing view of Venice. I didn't really like my time in Venice but it was really gorgeous to look around with the sun shining. After taking a million pictures I decided to be adventurous and go to Ponte Rialto. Luckily I had been watching the things in the windows when we walked there the first time and I found it without too many turn arounds. I bought myself a picture frame and headed back to the hotel to get my stuff.

It was cold and boring and I had seen everything I wanted to see so I decided to catch an earlier bus to the airport where it would be warm and I could sit and read. I got to the airport around 4:30 and sat around until 6:30 when it was time to check in and go through security. My flight ended up being delayed so I didn't get to Paris until 11 and the shuttle didn't get to downtown Paris until 12:30 and dad (who met me at the bus drop-off) and I had to run to catch the last metro. We got to the apartment just before 1 and after saying hi to mom and David I went to bed. What an amazing experience I had in Italy!

My Last Week in Cannes

Wow! In 2 days I leave for Italy, then Paris and back to the US. I can't believe that my time in France is through. It really amazes me that I'll be back to my "regular" life in just a couple of weeks; my life here has become so normal for me.

We've been really busy trying to fit everything in before we leave. Last Friday night we had one last crazy party at the college (there will be another one this week but half of the people are leaving before it starts). Then on Saturday we went shopping at the Christmas market. Sadly there was no Christmas music and all the snow was fake but it was still fun. Saturday night we ended up going to the opera. We saw La Boheme, it was so cool. We didn't understand any of it but we sort of knew the story (from RENT) so we were all pretty interested through the whole thing. After it was over we ended up going to the pub and sitting around talking about all the fun times we've had here.

Sunday was pretty low key. We had church and brunch, and then we did some more shopping and some studying. Most of us had finals this week; I had a French civ final on Monday and a grammar one on Tuesday. Today, Wednesday, Caitlin, Sharon and I had a picnic on the beach and then I finished up my souvenir shopping. Later tonight Caitlin and I are going to go to the Christmas market again (it's all lit up at night and hopefully there will be music this time).

Tomorrow the college is having a bunch of little parties. We have one for grammar, one for art and a reception after the play (which thank goodness I'm not in). Also we're planning on swimming just to say we did...because when else are we going to be able to go in the Mediterranean in December? Friday we only have grammar class although I'm not sure about that since grades are handed out tomorrow. Then we pack up and leave (I have to be on a train at 6:20pm). It's going to be a sad day, but I'm looking forward to seeing all the cool stuff that Italy has to offer...especially the food! Hopefully I'll get a chance to write an entry while I'm there.

My first taste of Italy!

Our days are numbered here in France and I've started to realize all the things that I'm going to miss and all the things that I'm excited to go home to. Every day that I wake up and watch the sun rise over the Mediterranean I am amazed at where I've been living and I get sad that I only have a few more days here.

Last Friday night we got free tickets to go to a world music concert in Cannes. There were 2 groups from Corsica that performed. I really liked the first group; they had faster songs and they moved around a lot. The second group, although really interesting, was very long and many of their songs had the same slow sound. The concert was nearly 3 hours long so by the time it was over we were all ready for bed.

Saturday we woke up and took a day trip to Italy. It's a lot of fun to say that I have taken a day trip to Italy and been home in time for dinner! We visited San Remo and Dolceacqua. I love the Italian accent, and we spent a lot of time speaking French with Italian accents. We wandered around the huge market for awhile and then got a pasta lunch at a cute little cafe. After lunch we decided to just wander around to take up some time. I started walking and after taking some random turns and we ended up on a hill with a beautiful view. My friends couldn't believe what we had randomly stumbled upon (they also couldn't believe that I knew where we were and how to get us down...I have the worst track record for directions!).

When we got back into the city we stopped at a gelato shop and bought some really good gelato. I had coffee, pistachio and chocolate. Some of the people I was with were more adventuresome and just pointed to random kinds. It was all good. When we were done eating we got back on the bus for the drive to Dolceacqua.

Dolceacqua is a cute little town with some old "neighborhoods" (buildings all squeezed next to each other with tunnels running in every direction). After choosing a random path and taking a bunch of random turns we ended up outside of town, on another hill. I started exploring and ended up getting close to some ruins (possibly a church). It had been locked up because of construction being done to solidify the remains. There was a gate but it wasn't too difficult to get over and I got some really cool pictures of the inside of the building. When I joined up with my friends again we continued our wandering and then just hung out until it was time to go.

We got back to the college and had dinner. Then we all gathered in the salle de video to watch a movie (Tanguy, the French version of Failure to Launch). It was a really nice night.

Sunday morning I did my laundry and then went to church. After church we went to brunch (I can't believe that I only have two brunches left). I was supposed to do a lot of homework on Sunday but I got really distracted. Caitlin had lent me the book Kite Runner and I was hooked (compared to Crime and Punishment it was a quick read). I ended up reading from about 12:30 until 4:30. I would have continued reading but I had decided to go to our director's house for another cooking class.

I really love the cooking classes because we get to eat way better food than is served in the salle a manger (cafeteria). We had crostini with eggplant and chevre, pumpkin soup, canneloni with spinach and mushrooms, green beans, chocolate chip cookies and custard. I can't wait to get the "cookbook" that Vera is making for us with all the recipes in it. It will be so much fun to eat all of this delicious food at home (and share it with all my friends and family).

Sunday night I finished Kite Runner and talked to Mom and Dad on the phone. I did manage to get some of my homework done and should be working on it instead of typing this. After Thursday most of my tests, papers, etc will all be done and I'll be able to relax and enjoy my last week.

There are times when I thought the last week would never come, and there have been times when I wished it would come faster but right now I don't want to think about it's swift arrival. I prefer to think about the moment I'm in because it's less sad than thinking of the memories I've made here and the fact that I have to leave. (Only one more blog in Cannes...and hopefully a couple from Italy and Paris!)