Bon Voyage

Friday, 19 April 2013

Rome, Italy

Our first day in Rome was a bit hectic. We got to our wonderful hostel, which was more like a hotel, and settled into our 5 person bedroom, yet again, good luck on the accommodation.

Our destination after Rome was supposed to be Naples, a port that heads to the island of Capri. However, we had heard from many people (local Italians included) that it is super sketchy and we were even given a map from our hostel owner of place we shouldn't even walk in because of how unsafe it was. SO, being the smart study abroaders that we are, we panicked and decided to not stay in Naples for 2 nights, but rather stay in Rome an extra night (making that a 3 night stay) and Capri an extra night (another 3 night stay) So with the help of my wonderful dad, we got accommodation at a nearby Marriott for our extra night in Rome, and luckily, our villa in Capri was available an extra night, saving us the hassle/danger of staying in Naples! Still making sense?

So after that madness was taken care of, we headed to lunch (pizza, surprise surprise) and then to the Colosseum! It was within walking distance of our hostel, so it was a perfect afternoon walk with some gelato and the wonderful sun shining on us. The Colosseum was not as exciting as I was anticipating. It was large and amazing, but after about 2 minutes, I was over it and wanted to see something else! So, we did what any Roman would do and took a nap, and then went and got more food (and gelato)

The second day we were hating ourselves for wasting the afternoon napping, so we hit it into high gear. We took the Roman version of the tube to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Altare della Patria (tomb of the unknown soldier) and the Spanish stairs. All in all, about all of Central Rome. My personal favorites were the Trevi Fountain and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The fountain lived up to every expectation I had from pictures, and was packed! We had to fight for spaces near the water for pictures and making wishes (of course, I had to make a wish and toss a coin), but it was absolutely breathtaking! The tomb of the unknown soldier was huge, and really beautiful. There is an eternal flame that burns there with guards constantly surrounding it, so they are really strict about the monument being sacred and keep tourists in line with loud whistles.

The next day, we checked out of our hostel and headed across the bridge to the other side of Rome and our hotel for the night. After a terrifying taxi ride (Italians drive like mad men) we made it to the Marriott, which conveniently had a shuttle to Vatican City, our last stop on our Rome to-do-list! We had a quick lunch and then got in line with the million other people there to get inside St. Peter's Basilica. Since its a place of worship, we had to cover our legs and shoulders (in the million degree weather) and were finally in the church. Being a Catholic, this was the ultimate experience, and getting to pray and take communion inside St. Peter's was definitely one of the most memorable things I did in Rome. After a long tour of the Cathedral, we walked through St. Peter's Square and went to the Vatican Museum. The only reason we went here is to get to the Sistine Chapel. We had to walk through tons of Catholic artifacts, paintings, and random things in order to get there, but when we did, it was breathtaking. The room was crowded and everyone was being hushed by security guards, but the painting of The Last Judgement was absolutely amazing and made me appreciate the talent of Michelangelo even more (pretty cool that I got to see 2 of his works within a week) After hours of walking, we opted for dinner in the lobby of our fancy-schmancy hotel and an early night in.

Of course, it was all over the news about the Boston Bombings, so we all watched in shock as we saw fellow Americans grieving. So, so sad.

The next morning we checked out and headed to our next destination! The history of Rome makes the city that much more amazing and enlightening. Although parts were very touristy, the beautiful monuments we saw made up for the big price tags :)

Next stop: CAPRI!

Colosseum

At a piazza (they are all starting to sound the same)

Piazza par deux

Pantheon

Open ceiling inside the Pantheon

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Closeup of the guards

TREVI FOUNTAIN!

just making some wishes in Rome

Trevi

Spanish Steps
[you literally can't see the steps for all the people sitting down]

St. Peter's Square in Vatican City

overlooking Vatican City from the Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter's

People were drinking straight from this fountain outside of Vatican City

here is my attempt at a secret picture of Sistine Chapel ceiling..
[I got yelled at for taking this picture]

Florence, Italy

I am finally back in London after 10 days of Italian adventures, and this is my attempt to remember every incredible memory over the past week!

On Wednesday (April 10) a group of 5 girls, including myself, flew from London and headed to Florence, Italy for 3 nights. I had been given a run-down of what to do and see there from my dear friend, Sam, who studied there before. We stayed at a precious hostel right in the center of Florence, where we all shared a room and bathroom (usually you get some sketchy random people staying in your hostel room) so we were super excited about our wonderful accommodation. We ventured out into the city the first day and started our eating spree. I cannot tell you how many gelato cones, pizzas, pasta dishes, wines, bruschettas (you get the picture) I ate this past week, and I enjoyed every single moment of it!

Our second day in Florence, we headed into the Tuscan countryside for a Chianti wine tasting! It was so awesome to get to see the wonderful countryside I had heard/seen so much about, and the wine tasting was amazing. We were given a tour of the vineyard (grapes aren't in season yet) and then led to the wine tasting with... Italian snacks! It was a beautiful day, and did I mention it was about 75 degrees? Wonderful change from cold, foggy London.

The next day we knew we wanted to see Michelangelo's David statue, so we waited in a two hour line to get into the museum, and it was definitely worth the wait! The statue was much larger than I thought and incredibly crafted. You could see such amazing small detail, even the cracks that have formed in recent years.

From there, we headed to the Duomo, the tallest peak in Florence. It is a Cathedral that is absolutely stunning on the outside and inside, and allows visitors to climb all 700 stairs to see the skyline view of Florence (for a small fee of 8 euros and the most insane workout of your life, of course) I started to panic as we were walking up because of the small stairs, heat, and insanely tight spaces you had to maneuver in, but was blown away when we reached the top. It was SO worth the slight panic attack and really was the best view of the beautiful city.

After these fun adventures, we toured around some more, saw the leather markets, ate, got some paintings, did more eating (you get the picture) it was time to pack up and say goodbye to our first Italian city. I cannot wait until I get to visit Florence again, for the amazing views, people, and food!

Next city- ROME!

beautiful streets of Florence

First lunch photo op

and that would be my first meal.. lasagna that was to die for

peek-a-boo

streets of Florence

Santa Maria del Fiore- the Duomo is attached to the back of
this beautiful entrance

..THE DUOMO! I climbed to the top of that point up there :)

View on the way to the Chianti wine tasting in Tuscan countryside

Tuscan countryside

where our wine tasting was

vino!

in the wine cellar of the vineyard

wine tasting time!

beautiful Florence waterfront

Michelangelo's David! (this is totally illegal)

starting the hike up the Duomo

up close and personal with the ceiling

almost there...

made it to the top of the Duomo!

wadup Florence skyline

Monday, 8 April 2013

Back to Londontown

We finally made it back to London Wednesday night! I told mom and dad that I LOVED having them on the flight with me, because I could lay my head on them. Its really going to suck flying with someone I don't know beside me next time.. Anyways, our driver met us at the airport and we headed to The Langham hotel, right near Oxford and Piccadilly! Since it was so late, we had a bite to eat downstairs with some of the other people on the trip!

Side note-- this was a business trip for Dad & Mom that just so happened to be in London this year, thats why there are other couples involved in most of the stuff we did :)

The next day, we headed to Roehampton!! I was so excited for mom and dad to see where I lived and how I got to and from everywhere (yay for public transportation). However, our day was dampened a little by the mass amounts of SNOW that was falling. Literally, biggest flakes I've ever seen in my life, and didn't stop all day. But, we all took public transport here and they saw my little dorm room and a bit of campus, and I got some clothes and headed back to central to stay with them for the week! We hung around the hotel for the rest of the night and I settled into my cot bed in their room :)

Friday, we had a tour set up with the rest of the people in the group, so we did the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral and other London tourist attractions. Luckily, I had not paid admission to either of these places when I visited before, so I was glad I got the chance to get a tour of both! The crown jewels at the Tower of London was the highlight of the day. They were absolutely beautiful and we were given a very well explained history of the royals and the beautiful crowns and jewels they each owned. That night we went to the play Let It Be. It was basically a progression of concerts The Beatles had and went through the decades of their music. It was so good! I don't know as many Beatles songs as I should, but the ones I did know were performed very well. For my first show in London, I was very pleased :)

The next day, we did a tour of Westminster Abbey and went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I have visited Westminster before, but the tour we had was much better this time and more detailed. The weather was absolutely perfect for my first changing of the guards! Our tour guide led us to where the band started and walked us up to the front of Buckingham where we could see the new guards coming in. It was such a great experience! Mom and I then did a bit of shopping that afternoon and got ready for a pub night with the whole group. The company we were with rented out a pub for everyone to enjoy and they had an artist who did caricatures of everyone! Mom looked just like her drawing, but dad and I were definitely a bit off!

On Sunday, we went to Hillsong, and I think my parents really enjoyed it! Its such a moving service, that its really hard not to get into the songs and message each Sunday. We decided that we wanted to do another show, so we went searching for Jersey Boys tickets, and on the way, found a CHIPOTLE! I was ecstatic to get some mexican food! We got tickets for a 5 o'clock show, and since I haven't seen the play since my freshman year of high school, I was very excited to get to see it again and remember how wonderful the music and acting was. It was so beautiful outside, so we decided to go to Churchills Bunker. Basically, it was the secret offices/ war rooms from World War 2, and the entire inside was preserved from the time they shut the doors when the war ended. The history was so rich that you couldn't help but feel like you were right there during the time of the war. From the bunker, we walked to Big Ben, 10 Downing St., and Trafalgar Square, then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the play. It was definitely as great as I remembered, and since I'm a few more years wiser now, I picked up on more things this time around! Definitely a perfect London day/night with my favorite people.

Today, we got up and switched some suitcases around (sent home a large suitcase with mom and dad) and headed to Roehampton. I had to show them what Wagamamas was all about, so we headed to Putney for lunch, and then said our goodbyes back at campus. They fly out tomorrow morning, and I leave for Italy wednesday morning, so today was the easiest day to leave each other.

I am so, so sad their trip went by so fast, but am reminded how blessed I am to have a family that would fly across the pond to come spend time with me here in London (Ireland and Scotland, too). I can't wait to see them again in 6 short weeks!

After a bit of post-departure crying, I got settled into my room again and am preparing for my 10-day trip to Italy!! xoxo