On to the next one: Firenze

Wednesday, July 27 2011

Before heading to the Roma Termini, we had one last sight to see (that rhymes). It was what I referred to earlier as a bunch of skeletons: Cappuchin Crypt. It is basically like a cemetery for about 4000 priests, but it is not your typical cemetery; when you walk in there are small rooms with designs and intricate patterns all over the walls and ceilings, made of bones from all parts of their bodies. It was creepy and fascinating at the same time. In the last room , there was a quote wrriten in the ground - "What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be..."

The train station was con.fus.ing. We knew we had to get our Eurail passes validated, but we didn't know where. We went to the information desk and explained where we were traveling and that we had Eurail passes to be validated, and the old man behind the counter kept repeating two words: "Platform 5". His response to everything we said...Platform 5. We finally found someone that could help us and got on the train to Florence. Turns out, the train to Florence was on Platform 2. It was really easy to find our hostel, Academy hostel, and we were quite glad that we had a day of straightforward walking routes...spoke too soon. At night we wanted to go to Santa Croce, a lively area of bars and pubs. We brought along one of our roommates, Alex from Brazil, who was not impressed by my phenomenal navigation skills. Either way, about an hour later, we found Santa Croce, which was literally 5 bars in one block. Seriously?! We chose a bar called Red Garter, where Sana and I rocked it out on karaoke to "Only Girl" by Rihanna. Sorry people, there is no videotaped evidence. So sorry.

Thursday, July 28 2011

Today we headed to the Uffizi gallery, the world's oldest gallery. The wait in the ticket line was two hours! It was brutal. However, we did meet a sweet Nepalese family and chatted with them for most of the wait. The little girl, Maya, befriended me and gave me a silly band - how cute! Once in the gallery, Sana and I were greeted with an overwhelming amount of male genitalia...on the sculptures obviously. We tried counting but lost track after 37. Once we had had enough of the sculptures we looked at the paintings, many of which were of baby Jesus and Madonna (I found out Madonna meant the Virgin Mary). I had trouble keeping focus when looking at all the Madonna and Jesus paintings, but the gallery visit showed its worth when we got to the Leonardo Da Vinci paintings. I was most impressed by one called "Adoration of the Magi". We walked home to the beautiful sound of a lady singing opera outside the Duomo.

After a bit of a rest, we started to walk to the Piazzele Michaelangelo, which has a spectacular view of the entire city. On the way, however, we of course got distracted by a gelato shop. We ended up spending more on gelato than on dinner. Go figure. I decided to get a cone with nutella and banana gelato, and Sana got a waffle with tiramisu gelato on it, which every passerby was eyeing.  We had to sit down and eat because Sana's waffle was so darn big! Speaking of eyeing, while enjoying our delicious dessert, (Sana had more gelato on her face than in her mouth), some Italian guys stopped to make conversation with us. I must mention that about a minute earlier, the same guys had walked by us, and it was obvious that they had come back. Needless to say, we were sketched out. As a safeguard, Sana started frantically eating her humongous waffle. In the process, her fork flung out of her hand onto the ground. At that point, we decided to scurry off and find her a new fork, which turned out to be quite the task because every competing gelato place denied her.

After this fiasco, we found the Piazzele and took in the amazing view of the city. As I enjoyed the view of Florence, I thought about how different Florence is from many of the other cities I've been to. This is because Florence seems calm from a distance, as well as when you are wandering its streets. On the walk back to the hostel, we spent some time on the Ponte Vecchio and witnessed some live music. I am pretty happy to be sitting down right now because my feet are in desperate need of a break. This need for a break is unfortunate as tomorrow morning we head to Pisa and then Cinque Terre, where we plan to do an 18 km hike. Pray for me?  

Rome Uscita

Uscita means exit, a new Italian word I learned yesterday during our metro shenanigans. Last night, after our long journey back to Papa, a journey for which I was very proud of us because we were able to find the right bus to get on, I decided what my favourite packed item is: ear plugs. I didn't hear a sound all night, including my alarm in the morning. Sana heard it though, so now we are checking out of Papa Germano, going to see a bunch of skeletons (I will elaborate later), and heading to Roma Termini, where we will catch our first train to our next destination: Firenze. Sidenote: if I make any errors during this post, it is because I'm distracted by Papa at the front desk, randomly singing in Italian. Love it.

Anyway, yesterday evening we headed to the Spanish steps, sat there and enjoyed the atmosphere for a bit, then headed to the top where there was a church. We decided to go inside and witness a mass and the sermon was in French. It was pleasant to watch. After the Spanish steps we walked through Via Condotti, the location of all the Italian designer stores. Fancy stuff. As the sun began to set, we headed up a steep hill near the Piazza di Spagna to catch a view of the entire city, which was breathtaking (both because we had just climbed a really big hill and because it was a pretty view). As night set in, we made our way to the Colesseum and struggled a bit to take pictures because of this derranged man who kept throwing lit up toys into the air, trying to convince people to buy them, but doing the complete opposite. One almost hit me; landed about 30cm in front of me as I posed for a picture. Not amused. We then had some delicious risotto and  called it a night.

First stop: ROMA

Bonjourno to all! I decided to attempt at keeping a blog during our month-long backpacking trip to Europe. I will try and blog as often as possible, and Sana will possibly contribute some entries and add some insights to mine. We will be traveling to cities within Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Netherlands. Hope you enjoy reading about our adventures!

Fauz (and Sana...sometimes)

Monday July 25th, 2011

Alright. Sana and I arrived alive in the capital of Italy after a red eye flight, which involved minimal sleep. Bright-eyed and bushy tailed, we got through customs and to the baggage claim. A great spot too, right by the start of the conveyor belt. After about 15 minutes of watching bags come down and people struggle to pick them up, we realized we were standing at the wrong baggage claim. Standard rookie mistake, no big deal. After finally getting our backpacks, (mine looks more like a huge-ass suitcase strapped to my back), we found a shuttle bus that would take us right to our hostel! Perfecto! En route to Papa Germano, as our driver skillfully and frightfully wove through the Rome traffic mess, he told us, mostly in his sweet papa bear Italian way of speaking, about the sights we were passing. I was already having so much fun! Once we made it to our hostel, we set our stuff down and took a lovely and much-needed nap. We woke up to our new roommates coming into the room: two awesome fellow Canadian girls! After chatting with them, we decided to meander the city streets and perhaps see a couple of pretty sights. But first, we had to have some Italian espresso. It was bitter and kind of gross, but I know I will be having a lot more of it in the next few days! With a map in hand, we made our way to S.Maria Maggiore, followed by a bit of a sketchy detour through the hilly cobblestoned streets of Rome, which looked gorgeous in the night and also posed as tripping hazards. We found the Trevi fountain, got turned down by a security guard when we asked him to take our photo, and then sat at a restaurant patio. Since we sat and therefore had to pay the sitting fee, we decided to eat there as well (lol). After a great pasta meal, we expertly navigated our way back to the hostel, getting lost only...twice?

Tuesday July 26th, 2011

We woke up early today to make it to Vatican city. En route to the Republica metro station, we came across a round-about, with cars zooming around during what seemed like Rome rush hour. It looked very challenging to cross, so we seeked help from a local kid, who seemed like an expert crosser. Once we all started crossing, we realized that the kid had abandoned us in this time of great despair. In the middle of the round-about, we heard an ambulance and froze...the cars didn't freeze though. It was traumatic. Sana took control and halted an oncoming car, and then we successfully made it across.

After a few subway stops, we made it to Vatican city- the smallest country in the world. Personally, seeing the museum and all that never really appealed to me, but since I'm here, I figured I should see what the hype is all about. And my oh my, is there hype. Thousands of people standing in a two hour line...not my cup of tea. We chose to take a tour instead, paying about 8 euros to skip the line and have a tour guide explain all the history behind the artwork and statues. I must say, the musem and basilica are gorgeous and I am glad I got to see them. My only tip for anyone that plans on visiting, is to put on your patience cap (like a thinking cap but for patience) and be hydrated. Once we had taken in enough of the architecture, we had our first gelatos and some signature pizza, and made our way back to the hostel. Time for break. Stay tuned!