Roma and Venezia

So this is going to be a super-long entry because it will cover my trips to Rome AND Venice.  I meant to update sometime during this last week about Rome, and I wish I could use schoolwork as my excuse, but I can't!  I've just been constantly on the go doing one thing or another, especially because it was two of my good friends in the program's birthday on Thursday.

Rome was the first big trip that  I took- we left last Thursday afternoon and came back Sunday evening.  I had already been, back when I went to Europe with my family in 8th grade, but I wanted to experience it again with a better background in history and more of my Italian bearings about me.  I'm glad I did it, but it was extremely overwhelming and I was so happy to get back to precious Florence.   But as for what I actually did...

Thursday night we went out to a great dinner, where I had Amatriciana, a pasta dish that Rome is famous for.  It was the best Roman meal I have ever had, including during my 8th grade trip.  Afterwards, we walked around in a huge CIRCLE for an hour, no thanks to my map reading skills (which I redeemed the next day!), and so most people ended up going to sleep after that, but Marielle, Stacey and I went out for a little while across the Tiber and sang some karaoke!  The next morning we split up, which I ended up regretting somewhat because it sounds like Formia, where some of my friends went, was really beautiful, but I got to see the Catacombs, which I have been waiting for pretty much since the last time I went to Rome.  They were amazing, and I got goosebumps thinking about the very earliest Christians in Europe- just such a cool concept!   Especially because the Catacombs are on the Appian Way, which is just about the oldest/coolest thing ever.  The picture of the cross  above is on the Via Appia right across from the San Sebastian Catacombs.  Anyway, before the Catacombs we walked around the Spanish steps and the Trevi fountain, which each seemed so much less huge and mysterious than they did when I was 13-  which made me feel like maybe I am developing some European traveling skills!  And also made me feel like I am pretty old.  Then that night we went out to dinner at a restaurant that apparently American study abroad students frequent, because there were big posters all over the walls with lists of colleges.  And we got free "sexy wine", whatever that means (literally, it was sparkling red wine... but the menu referred to it as sexy wine).  Then we walked around near the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona, which has Bernigni's Four Rivers fountains, before calling it an early night for our big day the next day.

The next day five of us did a guided tour of the Vatican museums, which was so worth it because I probably would have done my usual museum routine of speeding through without paying any attention.  I still vividly remember sitting in the Louvre with Emma and Jacob begging to leave/coming up with the name for our dog (Which I  naturally railroaded them into choosing and then promptly gave up any claim of actually owning her!  Sorry guys!)   The Sistine Chapel was amazing, but sort of frustrating because the guards completely lost control of the crowd and EVERYONE was taking flash photography.  I'm not a huge art preservationist or anything, and I understood why people wanted to take pictures, but it certainly ruined the serenity of the chapel to have a flashbulb in my face every five minutes.   And I really enjoyed the Basilica, which I'm not even sure I went to the last time I was there.   I loved this one statue that showed someone stepping on England because of the way that country had abandoned the Vatican/papacy (pictured below)... I like to be reminded that Episcopalianism exists in this extremely Catholic country.  However, I was really glad that three of my friends are Catholic, because we went into a quiet prayer chapel in the Basilica at their request and it was probably one of the best parts of my trip.   Later that day we tried to go to the Colloseum, but it was closed, which was actually quite a blessing in disguise because when we went Sunday it was beautiful.   So instead, Stacey and I went to the Pantheon, which was perfect for the amount of time we had.  And on the way we saw a left wing Italian political protest, which you know I was super excited about.   That night we tried to go out to this bar that's copmletely made of ice, but it didn't really work out...

Sunday was a beautiful day, perfect for the outdoor stuff we had left to do!  We had a guide for the Coliseum and the Palatine Hill, and I was suuuuper excited about the Palatine hill and the Forum obviously, because I am a history nerd like that.  It's just so cool that there are remnants of such an ancient city RIGHT THERE.  Anyway, after that we took the train back and I was so glad to see Florence again!

This weekend, I stayed in Florence for Thursday and Friday to celebrate Stacey and Samantha's birthdays, and then got up at FOUR IN THE MORNING to go on a school trip to Venice.   We stopped first on Burano, a cute little island with really pretty colored houses that reminded me of the French Quarter, and then we went to Murano, the glass-blowing island, where we saw a great glassblowing demonstration (a picture of the factory where we went is below).  And I got souvenirs for Mom, Dad and Nannie!  Finally it was on to Venice, where it was the opening weekend of Carnivale, which was nuts, and totally reminded me of home- there were Mardi Gras masks everywhere and people in costumes who looked like they belonged on floats.   I was definitely feeling some homesickness this weekend because I'm sick, which always makes me miss my parents, and because I felt like if I closed my eyes in Venice I could have basically been at a parade- at one point a band even played that sounded like any high school marching band.  But anyway, Venice and the other islands are just so neat- even though I knew that the only transportation was  by foot or by boat, to see it was just surreal.  

 

 After a day of walking around in the hectic Carnivale crowds, we were treated to a five course meal which was in some random suburb of Venice (thirty minutes away from our hotel which was definitely a... special hotel... it had all of these crazy Valentine's Day decorations and there were hourly room rates.  Thank you LDM.)- not the best meal I have had in Italy, and I was extremely exhausted.   But it was a neat experience nonetheless.  Thankfully, I have great friends with the same traveling mindset as me, because as we got back on the bus I heard my friend Patee talking about taking an early train back on Sunday rather than the bus at 5 pm.  I practically screamed with agreement, since my 

 was really taking a toll on me by that point, and so we took the early boat to Venice with the program the next morning but wandered off by ourselves and had a great morning looking around the island before the crowds swarmed in!  I bought some more souvenirs and we rode a gondola for only 20 Euros each... which is a great deal, from everything I've heard.  I also bought some more souvenirs... something for Emma, JulieAnn, Sydney and Becky!   As well as some things for me... :).  As we got to the train station, we saw HERDS of people getting off to celebrate the opening day of Carnivale.  We took the Eurostar back to Florence (my first fast train experience here!  And it was well worth it!  Probably some of the best "emergency" money I have spent since I've been here) and I have been trying to recover from my sickness ever since.  Venice was so beautiful, but I definitely wish I would have been less under the weather while I was there.

These past two weekends have made me really appreciate Florence.  I'm excited to show my family around here and also excited for the two weekends after this one, because I will be in Florence for both of them except for one Saturday/Sunday when I have a school trip to Milan (but since weekends are so long here, that's only really 1/2 of my weekend!).  And despite my homesickness for Mardi Gras, I actually miss home far less right now than I often do when I'm at school- probably because I'm having such amazing adventures, but also because it is really nice to live in a bustling city again.   The size and atmosphere of this place definitely remind me of New Orleans a LOT.

Next weekend I am off to Paris to visit Olivia.   I cannot wait!  I'm so lucky that I get to see one of my best friends while I'm here, and in Paris to boot!  Then the day I get back Mom, Dad and Emma arrive in Florence and I am going to be their personal Tuscan tour guide all week.  I can't wait for that either!  It will be nice to be around so many people from home around this time of year, for various reasons, but particularly because I will be so envious of everyone enjoying the best free show on Earth at home!  Time is absolutely flying by, I have been here for a month now!   I am just still in awe that I get to experience all of this.  However, I do miss all of y'all a great deal!  I think of something that I want to share with someone from home at least once a day.  Probably you should all just drop everything and come stay with me!   I will probably not update again until after my family leaves, so until MARCH, ciao ciao!