St. Mark´s Basilica in Venice
Venice from the Clock Tower in St. Mark´s Square
El que espera, desespera. I had been waiting patiently to be rewarded with Spring Break, but more so than just a break, to see one of my very best friends from home that I had not seen since her wedding in June! Therefore, it seemed as though the weeks leading up to Italy slowly dragged by, just because I was excited for them to begin! After a 6 hour overnight bus ride to Madrid, followed by an excursion through the Madrid Metro system, a RyanAir flight to Rome, a 40 minute bus ride to my stop for the night, followed by a 3 hour train ride the next morning, I was finally to Florence. And then, I waited another 2 hours, as Karen and Cindy wound their way around Florence, dragging their suitcases, and worrying that I would be kept waiting as they could not figure out where they were on the map because they´d gotten off at the wrong train station. The joys of traveling.
We spent two nights at the Hotel Ocagna in Florence, the first of them attending Italian mass in the Duomo church, which as is written in the random event pages of Karen´s life, she was asked to partcipate in the collection of the money. The next two days were filled with tasty Italian food, searching for the ¨perfect¨¨cute¨¨tasty¨Italian restaurant, and dodging the tourists much like ourselves who wanted to see all of the important sights in just a few days. Although we never made it to the Uffizi Museum, we certainly made up for it by Cindy´s keen eye for churches. I think we saw more artwork in the 4 days together than combined portraits and statues in the Uffizi. We got a great view of Florence after a hike up to Piazza Michaelangelo on a spectacular sunny day, where for some strange reason, there were about 70 ladies dressed up as brides we think, along with their grooms and bridal parties.....we are still confused.....maybe a photo shoot?, and then the opposite view after a bus ride up to the small town of Fiesole, which also overlooks Florence. We also treated ourselves to much needed Cappucinos as frequently as possible, and always followed dinner or coffee up with Tiramisu, just to compare the different varieties that make this a popular Italian dessert. To top if off, we had a great last meal in Florence at the ¨cute¨¨traditional¨restaurant we found in Rick Steve´s Italy 2006.....which every other person in the restaurant surely had used to find it as well...none of them being locals, but winning top prize in my book for the best food and most fun atmosphere!
Karen and I spent the train ride to Venice catching up on our lives over the past 9 months, still feeling astonished at the fact that we would reunite in Italy of all places, but feeling so thankful that we were able to do so. Stepping out of the train station in Venice, we immediately felt the maze that the city is comprised of, simply trying to find out hotel. Once finding Hotel Doge, we got a good laugh out of the fact that we would get ¨breakfast in bed¨...because there was no place else to eat it at the hotel. The energetic, not so fluent English speaking worker, was overly enthusiatic to inform us that she would be bringing us breakfast at 8:30am. Wow, we couldn´t wait to be woken up at that time!!!!! The entire situation reminds me of a play I just read in one of my classes mocking the bourgeoise society-Tres Sombreros de Copa, by Miguel Mihura. If you´ve read it, you can place how we were feeling just like Dionisio in the story :). Visits to St. Mark´s square and church, the clock tower that overlooks Venice, calling every bridge the Rialto bridge, and feeling like we were in the middle of Disneyland because of all of the tourists were some of the highlights of the beautiful city of Venice. We chose not to ¨Disneyland it up¨by doing a gondola ride, but instead, we fell into the trap again of finding the perfect café to indulge in a cappuccino. At the foot of the real Rialto Bridge, the epi center of tourism, in a café that turned out to be German of all things, overpriced, and for the stipulation that it needed to be warm, guess what we didn´t notice? It was an open air café. We got a good laugh out of our desperateness for a cup of coffee. I definitely should have used my veto power there huh Karen? :)
That night after a fine dinner at Osteria Alberto, another Rick Steve´s reccomendation, we decided to go for a stroll...um...not so easy in the labryinth. We got a little turned around, but eventually made our way back to Hotel Doge and settled in to await our wake up call. 8:30 rolled around pretty early, and the knock on the door led to us being served breakfast in bed. We must admit that we all felt pretty akward in our pijamas...being served by the hotel worker, but it turned out to be a nice little breakfast despite the comic relief it provided us all first thing in the morning. Day 2 in Venice treated us to a trip to Murano island, famous for Murano glass, our first Italian Gelatto, another trip to St. Mark´s Plaza, and of course several other churches. We ended the night with a farewell meal just 2 doors down from our hotel room.
Karen and Cindy´s departure opened the door for my solo stint of the trip, to Cinque Terre, or the ¨5 lands¨that had been raved about by everyone I knew who had been there. I arrived after a full day´s travel on train, getting off at the first La Spezia train station instead of the second, and a hike up the one hill that exists in the first town of Riomaggiore, to my hotel room at L´Arcobaleno. I hadn´t exactly worked out in a few days, but that trip up the hill with my little roller suitcase was as bit treacherous. I was then a little worried about the hikes that lied ahead of me in the next few days :). My first full day in Cinque Terre consisted of a hike from Riomaggiore (20 min) to Manarola, to Corniglia (40 min), to Vernazza (1 hr. 30 min). I decided to save the last leg of the trip for the next day, so I would enjoy it more being that it was the hardest leg of the trip. Some of the views of the towns, of the ocean, and of terraces carved in the hillsides used for agriculture were some of the most beautiful I´d ever seen in my life. It was also a really great few days for reflection and realizing the beauty of this opportunity in my life. During my time spent in Riomaggiore, I treated myself to a big lunch each day, one was a pizza mmmmm, and the other was Spaghetti Carbonara that was fabulous. I was also witness to two incredible sunsets, an interesting Good Friday mass at the local parish, and the locals who strolled the ¨street¨of Riomaggoire by night to check out the activities. All in all, Cinque Terre was one of the highlights of my trip for many reasons. One main thing was on my mind though.....when was the Fortier baby going to be born?????? (Another best friend from college was due...and I didn´t have Internet access in Riomaggiore :)....so I waited patiently...!
The rest and relaxation was necessary to tackle Rome, which is where I ventured next to stay with my friend David. Also turns out that another friend that I had grown up with, who is now living in Amsterdam, was going to be in Rome at the same time. Two girls from Corning, California in Rome, Italy??? Pretty fun! Katie Coke, her boyfriend, David, myself, and Lauren indulged in a ¨Welcome to Rome¨dinner in which I once again ate Spaghetti Carbonara, while others had mussel soup, fried codfish, pizza, bruschetta, etc, in an atmosphere that was clearly Italian with white and red checkered tablecloths, and garlic hanging from the ceiling! After dinner, we even got to watch a little bit of the men´s Final Four Basketball games as we continued to visit!! On Easter Sunday, I awoke early and headed to St. Peter´s to check out the atmosphere. I really didn´t have to know how to get there; I just followed the thousands of people! I didn´t have a ticket to the mass, but it was outside on the steps of St. Peters, so everything that we couldn´t see in detail, was projected onto the big screen. This was one of the ¨once in a lifetime¨experiences I´m glad that I had the chance to be a part of. Although I didn´t make it through the whole mass, the 2 hours that I was standing there, meant a lot to me. Easter Sunday ended with a great dinner with my new Rome friends, and topped off with another visit from Katie Coke!!!! I was also able to Skype my parents and brother and his family, which made for a nice dose of home.
I took the next two days in Rome to heart, and decided to do the tourist gig. Each day, I wandered the streets of Rome, hitting up all of the hotspots that I had already visited in 2004 with Lisa Mispley Fortier (she had her baby the day before Easter btw!): the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, St. Peter´s Square, the Colosseum, etc. My only dissapointment from the first time visiting was that I didn´t get to go inside of St. Peter´s Basilica. Seeing that 2010 I have proclaimed as my ¨Year of no regrets¨haha, I was bummed when I couldn´t even find the end of the line to get into St. Peter´s. I succumbed to the fact that I probably wasn´t going to get in this time either. Regardless, the awesome visit to Castel Sant´Angelo on the first day, and the Capucchin Monks Crypt (4 rooms decorated with nothing but bones of 4,000 monks because they were not allowed to be buried within the city of Rome) made the return trip to Rome worth it. The flipping of another coin over my shoulder at the Trevi Fountain 6 years ago really did work.....wish I could remember what my wish was then to see if that had come true. :) I continued the tradition again this year, and then bolted to give St. Peter´s one last try, as it closed in an hour. LUCK! I basically walked right into the Basilica, and was in awe being inside of one of the most famous, and meaningful places on Earth. Michaelangelo´s Pieta rivaled Bernini´s arches towering over St. Peter´s tomb and the main altar, as well as Bernini´s Dove Window, and the ¨kissable¨foot of St. Peter (I rubbed it instead of kissing it). The enormity of the building was an incredible sight, and upon leaving realized that I now felt not only happy with my trip to Rome, but much more fulfilled. Check that goal off the list :)
Spanish Steps in Rome
Trevi Fountain in Rome
Piazza Navona in Rome
Michaelangelo´s Pieta in St. Peter´s Basilica in Rome
St. Peters Basilica
The Colosseum
Easter Sunday mass on the steps of St. Peters Basilica
Sunset in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre
Manarola, Cinque Terre
Hike from Vernazza to Monterosso; a view of Monterosso
Vernazza, Cinque Terre
En route to Monterosso
Another sunset in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre
Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre
