Italia!

Well, spring break has arrived (and almost gone)! I leave London for Scotland tomorrow morning, but here is the first of what will probably be four blog posts covering my various April adventures. I shall jump right in! We begin when Mom arrived in Heathrow at 9:30 Friday morning, and was through the gate to meet me only a half hour after landing!

We took the tube back to Old Street, where we dropped off her (rather hefty) bag at the Holiday Inn Express, and I showed her my flat. From there, we went to Westminster, spending some time looking at Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, and then going to see Westminster Abbey (which was unfortunately closed, it being Good Friday and all).

We then walked down Whitehall to Trafalgar, and down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, where we experienced some mishaps with my ever-temperamental camera, but we were able to work it out well enough to get some semi-awkward shots of us standing in front of the Queen’s residence.

We headed from Buckingham Palace over to the Tower of London, where we enjoyed part of a Yeoman tour and explored a bit ourselves. Unfortunately the line for the Crown Jewels was exhaustingly long, so Mom opted to leave and try something else instead. A shame – the next time she’s back here it’ll have to be a must-see!

Then I got pooped on by a stupid pigeon, forcing us back to Old Street so I could change. From there we went to Leicester Square to enjoy some of that sangria I’d been telling her about for months (she approved!) and some fantastically delicious Spanish tapas. I then tried to take her to the British Museum, which – it turned out – was also closed. A bummer. But from Holborn it was an easy ride to Oxford Circus, where we looked at the Regent Street campus and wandered around a bit before heading to Piccadilly Circus and admiring the lights of London’s own mini Times Square. Then, as it had been a long day for Mom indeed, we headed back to the hotel for a relatively early bedtime.

The following day we were up and at ‘em early, hoping to get into Westminster Abbey. But again, the line was flabbergastingly long, so instead we walked along the south bank of the Thames for a bit, and crossed at Vauxhall to go to see the Picasso exhibit at the Tate Britain! It was really very well done, but some of our critical comments of Picasso’s works were picked up by a man who was ever so amused – he always overheard at the worst times! (“It’s kind of like…he just got to the hands and went –“ “Ah, screw it, they’re good enough! Oh, hello sir, excuse me.” We’re very embarrassing.)

After the Tate, we wandered our way back to Westminster and went to Angel for a very delicious Indian lunch (only £5, too – someplace to visit again, no?) and to Camden. I don’t think I prepped Mom enough for what was to come; Camden on any day is a treat (and something of a spectacle) but especially so on a Saturday. Well, I think she enjoyed it nonetheless!

From Camden we stopped back at Old Street to grab the bags, and then went straight to Victoria Station to catch the Gatwick Express. Gatwick was actually a lovely little airport, and we perused in the shops a bit before heading to our gate. An easy flight later, we were in Venice!

Now, it’s 10:45 at night, and we haven’t a Euro to our name, and we need to get ourselves from the airport to the island of Lido – waterbus it is! Unfortunately, after a bit of confusion about getting ourselves some Euros (and eventually finding a ticket office to take a credit card) we went down to the dock. Unfortunately we had missed the 11:15 bus by about ten minutes, and so had to wait for the 12:15. Oh, and we had no idea how to get to our hotel once we got off the bus.

So the bus gets there and we get on, and about an hour later we get to Lido. The directions the men gave us went something like “get off the boat, and go right. Go right!” So we find ourselves lugging suitcases down a street in Venice at 1 AM, hoping beyond hope that the hotel will just appear in front of us. Well, it didn’t, but the road it was on did. A few minutes later and we were there. The man at the front desk greeted us earnestly, and said he was worried we weren’t coming. He was a truly lovely man.

Well we got into our rather quaint yet luxurious room with little problems, and went to sleep very soon after that.

The following morning was Easter, so we got up and asked about masses on the island. We wound up at a little church called the Santa Maria Elisabetta, and were surprised to find how informally everyone was dressed – a lot of people in jeans and t-shirts or sweatshirts! But one way or another, we were able to follow along with the mass relatively well, as they had little booklets for us to tread with. It sort of worked? Things went all right until the Eucharist, when we may or may not have gone up at the wrong time. But it was all okay – I’m sure God will forgive us.

Lido

After church we went back to the hotel briefly to change, and went to purchase a two day waterbus pass down at the Lido port. We then took a waterbus out to Burano Island. In spite of some occasional rain showers, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The island was beautiful; most well known for its intricate lace-making (and the brilliantly colored houses), we spent some time in a high-end lace store, learning how seven women would labor for hours over one little placemat. Each woman would specialize in a certain stitch, and it all wound up in a placemat costing over €200! (No, Dad, that wasn’t the one we got.)

Burano!

We shopped around a while more, getting some souvenirs and taking pictures, before getting on another waterbus to Torchello, an all but uninhabited island with beautiful trails and some old churches. Also, a lot of cats wandering around. Then it was back to Burano to catch the waterbus back to the main island.

When we got to the main island, we had to make ourselves to the Piazza San Marco (Or, St. Mark’s Square) to find the restaurant Dad’s friend recommended, the Ristorante ai due Vescovi. Armed only with a letter addressed to Nino, the owner, an address, and an ill-labeled map, we started following the signs reading “Per San Marco” (that then pointed in both directions). We got pretty lost. But that was one of the things our guideline article said to do! And it was worth it – Venice is absolutely gorgeous. Incredibly picturesque. We found ourselves at Rialto, on a huge bridge that traverses the Grand Canal, looking down the canal onto the most iconic image of the city!

We found ourselves at a large, and beautiful church we later found was called San Zulian, with a plaque outside telling us we were about to enter the Piazza. Confused, we thought perhaps we were there, and went into the certainly grand basilica-like church. Feeling impressed by slightly underwhelmed, we kept wandering. Then, through an alley, we finally saw it – columns! Columns are a good sign!

So to the columns we went, and there it was – an absolutely massive basilica, stretching high above us, looming over an enormous square. Forget about that other church, this was mind-boggling. We snapped a whole bunch of obligatory pictures but, armed with the knowledge that we’d be back, we headed off to the restaurant.

Predictably we got lost again. But then with a little help (Italians, it seem, enjoy giving extremely vague directions) we were there. Upon entering and handing Nino his letter, we were greeted warmly and given a free pre-dinner drink. Delicious! We were recommended a lobster meal over pasta with raisins and olives – a combination you’d never think would turn out as incredibly scrumptious as it was. (Of course, when they brought out the shell crackers for us to use, we knew we were in for some trouble.)

After dinner, Nino brought out his incredibly sweet daughter Antoinetta (though I doubt I’m spelling that right) to meet us, and told us about how they knew Dad’s work friend Enzo. I then (of course) ordered a cannoli, which was huge, but most definitely the best cannoli I’ve ever had. We then took a quick picture with Nino and Antoinetta to send to Enzo (which they ushered us into as well) and departed, back to Lido and the hotel. There, we skyped the whole Pantalena clan at their Easter festivities; it was very fun, but I do miss them all terribly. Well, I’ll be home soon enough!

 

The following day we got up early and headed back to San Marco, getting ourselves tickets to the Doge’s Palace and into St. Mark’s Basilica. The Basilica is incredible – no pictures allowed, unfortunately, but I snuck one. Shh! Anyway, all of the art on the wall is mosaics, which means that instead of being painted it’s actually comprised of thousands upon thousands of tiny little tiles. So impressive.

We learned that Saint Mark was the patron saint of Venice, because the Venetian’s original saint (Saint Theodore, the one with the dragon) was too tied to Rome. Saint Mark was visited by an angel who told him “Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus,” or Peace to you, Mark my Evangelist” (thanks Google!). He’s the one represented by the winged lion holding a book with a portion of that phrase printed on it.

We then paid a little extra to go up to the museum, and look at the original four horsemen of the basilica, and looked out onto the square from above. From there, we went into the Doge’s Palace, which was really very cool. Best of all, they had informational plaques everywhere – we knew exactly what we were looking at, at all times! I got into trouble at one point for taking pictures (those signs were very inconsistent and unclear) but oh well. The Palazzo included the Doge’s quarters, the old state and judicial rooms, and then across the famed Bridge of Sighs, the old armory and jail. All very, very interesting.

Apparently the Doge (not the same as a Duke) was the ultimate power in Venice back in the day, but he actually seemed to have very little power at all. He was the most senior official, elected by one of the council-type bodies, and was mainly, it seems, a figurehead. He wasn’t even allowed to leave Venice on his own will! But he and his personal council were important figures in matters of state.

Doge's Palace courtyard!

From the Doge’s palace we decided to go to the Salute, another very large and imposing church we’d passed by the day before on the way back to Lido. It was made during the time of the plague as a way to, it seems, pray for the victims of the plague (and also to pray for its quick ending). It was huge, and littered with all these statues on the outside of it, making it seem even more impressive.

Salute

After the Salute we decided it was time for lunch, and wandered in a direction until we found something. There, famished, we got a salad (and for the first time enjoyed what seems to be the traditional Italian dressing – a bottle of olive oil, a bottle of balsamic, and some salt and pepper. If anyone knows my mom, they’ll know she loved it) and some gnocchis. Not quite the lead pellets I’ve been told Noni makes, they were more like melt-in-your-mouth amazing. Very good choice, I’d say!

After that, we headed back to the area around Saint Mark’s (figuring we knew that area a little better) and kept wandering the streets! We found this brilliant mask shop – there were masks everywhere, on every available space; on the wall, stacked on tables, hanging from the ceilings – it was crazy. We spent a good amount of time in there goofing off (trying on hats and masks) and got a few presents for people. Then we kept wandering, and tried to get me some allergy medicine. We were successful, but unfortunately they were so terrible that we decided to head back to the hotel for a quick rest. After that, we went on a walk around Lido, got lost (again) but found the beach! It was full of all these little huts you could rent out and use. It was very neat!

Afterwards I had to get back to the hotel to register for classes (woo hooo) which was successful but vaguely terrifying – I have classes for my junior year. When did I get this old?

The following morning we were up early again to catch the waterbus to the train station, and then the train from Venice to Rome. We rode first class (ooh la la!) and our seatmates were very pleasant. The first pair were a duo from D.C. heading to Florence, and seemed to be seasoned travelers (despite only being in – at the oldest – their 30s). They were really nice. Mom and I fell asleep but woke up to bid them goodbye in Florence. They were replace by a strange travelling pair, who spoke English, some other language, and sign language. But they were pleasant enough – they gave me cookies!

We arrived in Rome in the afternoon, and after lunch began exploring immediately! Our hotel, the Victoria, was located right alongside the original Roman wall encircling the city, which was pretty neat (though not something we learned about until our final day…). After staring at that for a few minutes and, as per usual, heading off in the wrong direction, we were ready to go!

On our way down to see a few sights, we passed by what seemed to be the American Embassy. Excited, I whipped out my camera to take a picture of it (AMURRICA) but was immediately yelled at by a guy with a big machine gun coming towards me to stop. Somewhat startled, I did. This would not be the last experience we had with guns this trip…foreshadowing, yes!

From there we found ourselves in the Piazza Barberini, looking at the Fontana del Tritone. We then trekked up what was assumedly one of the seven hills of Rome to the San Carlo Quattro Fontane (a church that had – you guessed it – four fountains arranged around the square). In the distance down the road, we saw a large white building that, upon consulting the map, we decided must be the Reppublica, and figured we could go see that on our way back.

Contains a piece of the Nativity!

Our ultimate destination was chosen for us by Mrs. Sheehan, who told us to check out the Santa Maria Maggiore, the Maggiore (or largest) church dedicated to Maria (Mary). We arrived, and were duly impressed. The church is one of the four major basilicas in Rome, alongside the famed Saint Peter’s. While technically not within the Vatican city walls, it is the property of the Vatican, and is thus serviced by their policemen. Mom was especially impressed by their offering of confession in countless languages at different times of the day, which I have to say, was not a service we saw in most (if not all) of the other churches we visited. Well done, indeed. Also very interesting about the church, is that in the small altar-type thing below the larger altar there is a piece of wood that is thought to be from the original Nativity. Incredible!

Reppublica?

From there we headed back in the direction we came, hoping to make it to the Reppublica.  We began heading down the Via Nazionale and admired some high end shopping stores. Coming around a corner (and down some steps) we were greeted by the incredible sight of a huge white marble building, clearly a dominating figure of Rome’s skyline. We flipped frantically through our little guidebook and scanned our map, looking for any indication of what the heck this building was. Across the street were some ruins, some churches, and that was all the indication we had for a clearly prominent landmark that was nowhere to be found on the map, and looked nothing like the representation of the Reppublica we had. Well, then we crossed the street.

And saw the Colosseum.

And thought, who the heck moved the Colosseum all the way over here??

Then, This map must be wrong.

More like, we went the complete opposite direction, wound up on the other side of town, and were now gazing down the street at the Colosseum. The structure in front of us was the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, the man who united Italy into one country back in the late 1800s. Looking at the map again, it was pretty clear. Oops?

98% sure there's a body in that trunk...

After taking some pictures (and I enjoyed a gelato) we decided to keep trekking. We wound our way through the streets, stopping at the Quirinale, a building that we only knew to stop at because it was on the map. (Because this strategy had gone so well for us before.) We had no idea what it was, but there were more soldiers standing outside of it. Then, to our surprise, up pulls a motorcade of policemen leading a blacked-out sedan. Curious and excited, we watched from above as they went below the Piazza and to another entrance to the Quirinale. And out from one of the cars step these huge men in suits and dark sunglasses, carrying the biggest oozie machine guns I have ever seen. It made what that other guy had look like a peashooter. They get out, usher a man inside the building, and park their cars. Awed (and more than a little scared), we passed by them, vowing to look up what the heck we’d just seen. Well, turns out that the Quirinale is the President of Italy’s official residence, and the man we saw was probably him. Who’d a thunk? (Someone who did more research, probably…)

After this somewhat distressing incident, we kept following the map to the Fontana de Trevi! Having received a tip to see it at night, we took some quick pictures during the day and sat to have a Caffe Latte (Mom’s new favorite drink) and wait for the sun to go down. A few more pictures later, and we were back to the hotel, navigating the streets of Rome rather impressively, if I do say so myself. We quickly found a little café type thing to get breakfast at the following morning (owned by the most adorable little woman, who – when we told her we’d return the following morning – almost fell over with gratitude). Then, to bed!

Knowing that the next day was supposed to be an absolute rain washout, we decided to sleep in a bit, and try to do a little shopping. We got breakfast at the little café and took the metro out to an area that was supposedly going to have some cheap and “trendy” (was the word that every single website used) shopping at the Piazza Marconi. So, Dad, here you go – we walked and walked and walked, all in order to get a bargain. It took us about forty five minutes to get where the actual shopping was from the metro stop, and we don’t even know if we really found it! But I got a skirt and Mom got a scarf, and now we’re extremely stylish.

Colosseum!

Armed with a list of museums for us to go to just in case it started pouring, we figured we’d go pick up our tickets to the Colosseum for the following day. So we hopped on the metro and got off to the impressive and iconic sight of the Colosseum stretching into the sky. Well, after picking up the tickets, we figured it wasn’t raining yet, so we may as well go in! Of course, we’re barely through the door when the skies open up and dump a shower on us. Luckily it was quick, and we were able to tour the Colosseum with no problem. We then got some lunch and thought, hey, may as well do the Roman Forum and the Palatine while we’re here – it isn’t raining again, and that last rain shower wasn’t bad. So in we went!

Roman Forum

So you pretty much know what happened – ten minutes later we were huddled under a tree in the middle of some ruins, getting thoroughly drenched by a pretty severe rain shower. Luckily this one didn’t last long either, and it ushered in a bright blue sky! So we finished exploring the Forum and trekked up the hill to the Palatine, the most central (and most important) hill in Rome. The Palatine was where it is told that Romulus and Remus were first taken in by the wolf who protected them until they were rescued by some farmers. They then grew up, and (after a small altercation during which Romulus killed his twin brother) Romulus went on to found the city of Rome!

Spanish Steps

In terms of actual history and not just myth, it is definitely true that some of the oldest settlements of Rome were on the Palatine. And a few emperors also built their palaces on the hill when they were in power. It was really very cool.

We then made our way back down the hill and out of the Forum (getting, you guessed it, turned around a few times), with the intent of going to a museum next to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuale. We couldn’t exactly find it, so instead we got some food and went back to the hotel for a little bit to rest.

After our rest, we walked down to the Spanish Steps, not too far from our hotel. We looked around at the really high-end shops in the area, and got a quick pseudo-dinner before walking back up the steps (there were a lot of them!) and back to the hotel.

Pantheon

Piazza Navona

The next day was our tour of the Vatican at 2:30, so we did some other sightseeing sorts of things in the morning. We took the bus (money-savers that we are) to the Madoma (the current seat of the Senate), the Piazza Navona (a very cool Piazza comparable to Montmartre, in that all the artists were there, with a fountain in the middle representing four rivers – the Danube, the Nile, the Ganges, and the Plate; one for Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, respectively. Mom got a lovely little painting that I’m sure will be framed at home by the time I get back!

From there we went to the Pantheon, a monument originally erected to honor the entire pantheon of Roman gods, but converted (as was practice) into a Christian church. The largest dome in Rome, it is an impressively well-preserved Roman building, owing much to the transformation from pagan temple to Christian church. In the Pantheon was the grave of Vittorio Emanuale himself, and also the grave of the famous painter Raphael!

Chiesa a Gesu

We then went (on another great recommendation from Mrs. Sheehan) to the Chiesa a Gesu, or the church of the Jesuits, which had the most incredible ceiling. It was somehow 3d, which may not be conveyed well with the pictures here, so Google it. But it was incredibly detailed, and so breathtaking. Probably the most impressively decorated church I’ve seen so far.

Cheesin' it at the Vatican

From there we grabbed lunch and got on a bus to the Vatican, where we met up with our lovely tour guide, Michela. She was Italian, and young-ish, but incredibly informed about everything Vatican-y. So we went in, looked at all of the various artwork accumulated by the church/the popes over the years (we mainly saw Roman statues, etc, but there is definitely more that we didn’t have time to see!). We went through the rooms of the Borgias, which was cool because they have a tv show or something. Lots of incest, I hear.

School of Athens

We also got to tour the apartments commissioned by Pope Julius II, painted exclusively by Raphael and his pupils, which was very, very cool. We had seen Rapheal’s grave in the Santa Maria Maggiore, so it was nice to be able to connect it all! I didn’t know this, but on the wall of one of the rooms is that famous painting of Socrates and Aristotle, The School of Athens. Very, very impressive.

From there, we moved into the Sistine Chapel, which was packed full of people and frustrated guards shushing everyone whenever they got too loud (which was often). We stared at the paintings for a while – the most famous of which were done by Michelangelo, though he initially said he wouldn’t be able to because he was a sculptor, not a painter. Clearly, that worked out well for him. He completed the ceiling when he was in his thirties, which includes that panel that everyone’s familiar with, the creation of Adam, with God and the angels in the shape of the brain bestowing life into Adam. It also depicts various other scenes from Genesis, including the creation of Eve, the fall from the garden, and parts of Noah’s life.

In St. Peter's

Then, Michelangelo painted the Last Judgment, the fresco behind the altar, when he was in his 60s. It shows Protestants going to hell and Catholics going to heaven. Whichever Pope commissioned it clearly had mastered the art of discretion.

The rest of the Chapel shows paralleling scenes from the life of Moses and the life of Jesus, meant to represent the fallibility of man in comparison to the sinless grace of Jesus. All in all, it was incredible. Though I will admit, as impressive as it was, I still like the Church of the Jesuits better!

Outside of St. Peter's

Pieta

Then from the Sistine Chapel we went into Saint Peter’s Basilica, which was impressive due mainly to its sheer size. It’s the biggest church in the world, and it is massive. The scale of it is simply mind-boggling. It also holds the Pieta, which was cool to see in person. We wandered around there for a while, but were unfortunately not able to go into the crypt as there was something going on. A shame. But we did see the grave of Pope John Paul II!

Vatican Courtyard

The tour concluded, and we bid our lovely guide goodbye (but not before getting a restaurant recommendation, of course!) We then headed down to the restaurant, successfully navigating the streets of Rome with very little problems (impressing me yet again). We shopped around for a bit while waiting for the restaurant to open at 7, and when we did eat, we ate well. A scrumptious goat cheese appetizer and various pasta dishes made us feel very Italian, indeed!

And alas, the next day it was up early to catch a cab to the train station and a train to the airport, where I bid Mom goodbye and we caught our respective flights back to London and New York! Luckily for me, though, my adventures were nowhere near over – a busy evening led me to a flight to Barcelona and Doug the next morning!

And that’s all for now – I’m to Scotland tomorrow, but I promise more posts next week! Cheers! <3