I am terribly behind on blogging. I am really sorry about that! In my defense, I've been busy traveling and writing papers (more on that to come later). I will start with my recap of October break in ITALY!
Friday, October 15
Today, I woke up at 4:30AM to make it to the airport in time for our flight to Milan. We flew out of Schönefeld Airport, which is on the southeast side of Berlin. Since it was so early, the trains didn't run quite as often. It took me 1.5 hours to get to the airport. And let me tell you it was FREEZING this morning! Once we got there it wasn't nearly as bad as we were expecting. Security wasn't long at all. One difference is that they scan all your bags, including your checked bags right away when you get there. Then you check your bags and have your carry-ons rescanned and the like. It was like Heathrow airport in that they don't put your gate up until about 20-30 minutes before your flight takes off. It really isn't that much of a problem though because it isn't as big as Heathrow. And we flew with Ryanair, a German discount airline. So the flight wasn't that large. Oh and another difference, seating is first come, first serve, or at least with Ryan Air. The flight itself was super cheap, about 35 Euros. But with the cheaper airlines, they charge a lot more for checked bags. For one checked bag, the smallest suitcase I brought to Germany, it was a total of 74 Euros for everything. Also, the carry-on dimensions are SUPER TINY! You basically can carry on a purse or backpack. And only 1 item.
The flight wasn't very long. I think it was about 1.5 hours long. When we got there we took the Metro to the area where our hostel was. The smell of all that pasta was causing my stomach to eat itself. For everyone who knows me, when I am hungry, I am hungry. All I could think about was eating. Fortunately for everyone else in the group, we got to our hostel soon after. True to my luck, our room wasn't ready yet - not for 2 more hours. We were able to leave our stuff there fortunately. The first thing we did was eat. We went to a nice, little Italian restaurant, what else of course! The waitress assumed we wanted spaghetti. It was rather strange; we didn't get any menus. She just asked us if we wanted tuna in our spaghetti or not. The spaghetti was great! Immediately, I decided to "have a relationship with my pasta." (That's from the movie Eat, Pray, Love.) Not only my pasta, but every dish I would have while in Italy. P.S. I love Italian food! :)
We explored the city for the rest of the day. We saw the Milan Cathedral. It is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and the 3rd largest church in all of Europe. We mostly stayed around the Duomo area. It's a popular area, and there was tons to see! We weren't able to see the Last Supper fresco. You needed to schedule admission in advance, something we seem to fail at. Nonetheless, the area was a very nice introduction to Italy. We found a cute little park to sit and people watch, my favorite activity :)
For supper, I had pizza of course. It was quite good, except I wasn't sure what I was ordering. It turned out to have slices of eggplant on it. I had previously never tried eggplant, but now I can safely say that I don't like it. Oh and our hostel was on the 5th floor of this super old building. The elevator was scary old. Only 2 people could fit. I half expected the cable to snap at any moment.
Breakfast at this hostel was quite hilarious! They brought it up on a tray. You got a croissant, a juice box, and toast. The funniest thing about the hostel: they had postcards and letters from past guests. One read, "Thank you so much for helping one of our girls when she passed out. She apologizes for forgetting her name." Priceless!
Saturday, October 16
We took a train to Venice today. The train was a pleasant surprise! It was so comfortable and nice! It even had outlets for everyone. A definite improvement over our train to Poland, sorry Deutschland. Our hostel turned out to be very far from the actual city. I would venture to say our hostel was out in the country. It was probably a 45 minute bus ride to town, and the bus came about 3 times an hour. Oh well, we had a cheap, amazingly nice hostel! It was gorgeous! And breakfast at the hostel was a buffet! Albeit we came at the end of the breakfast time, but it was still good. Oh, and the best part, I had hot chocolate!! (I don't like coffee.)
Venice was amazing! I can now say that was my favorite part of the trip! It was everything I expected it to look like from the movies! I can't adequately explain it, but it just felt comfortable and quaint. It was adorable. I'm going to stop trying to explain it and let you look at the pictures haha. BUT it rained the whole day we were there. Of course, I left my umbrella in the hostel! We still decided to sight see since it was our only day in Venice. By the end of the day, every inch of my body was soaking wet. To make it even more fantastic, we were lost in the rain. We couldn't find the main bridge to go to the bus station. It got very chilly at night. By the time we left, I couldn't feel my toes. Of course, I still wanted to stop for ice cream. Eventually we found our way back and the first thing I did was take a HOT shower. I would definitely recommend seeing Venice, but spending more than one day there. I think 2 days would have been enough though. It's really pretty at night. We saw gondolas but they were super expensive - like 80 euros for 30 minutes. Crazy! I didn't want a ride that badly. I have no idea what the names of the sites we saw are, but they were cool. You'll just have to take my word ;)
Sunday, October 17
This morning we took another train to Rome. If you're wondering, yes I was tired of traveling by this point. I was looking forward to being in Rome the rest of the trip. This train wasn't as nice, but still nice - no outlets :( We met an American on the train. It was adorable; he was so excited about traveling. He asked us everything from how/where to withdraw money (don't do currency exchange, just go to the ATM) to studying in Berlin.
We checked into our hostel to dump our bags off before setting out exploring. The man at the desk was unbelievably nice! So sweet! Again our hostel was on the 5th floor. It seems to be a trend that several hostels each buy a floor of an old apartment building. Again, the elevator was a bit scary, but at least this one was enclosed like a normal elevator. The view from our room was really nice - not overlooking any major attractions, but still nice. OH, and our room was a cracker box!! It was so tiny! 6 people sleeping in there on bunk beds. I am not even kidding when I say there wasn't even enough room for all our suitcases/bags in the room. It was TIGHT! And not in a good way. The room always smelled with so many people sleeping in there and all our dirty, wet clothes from Venice, etc. Let me just say that by the end of the week, we all couldn't wait to get back to Berlin to our own beds without having to worry about rolling over and touching someone.
We wandered around some, found another amazing restaurant. I'm beginning to think they all are amazing :) We ended up at the Colosseum. By this time it was dark. It looked so beautiful lit up at night! It was a great first half day in Rome!
Monday, October 18
Breakfast at this hostel was typical: cereal, croissant filled with some kind of fruit jelly, hard rolls, etc. Today we stumbled upon the Spanish Stairs. We didn't even know that's what they were until a couple of days later. In fairness they aren't even labeled as that on the map. That area was jammed packed with annoying vendors. Those ones who buy toys at the Dollar General, or the Italian equivalent, and try to resell them to you. They had these annoying rocks that when rubbed together they made a crazy sound. Cool the first time you hear it, but not after the 15th. Oh and they had people trying to sell roses to you. Not to be racist or anything, but most of the them were Indian. I swear they all took the same crash course of English for peddlers. "Small price" is all they knew.
On a good note, they also had artists on the stairs selling their work. There was a gorgeous oil painting on canvas that I wanted to buy, but I talked myself out of it saying it was too expensive. I instead settled on a watercolor painting of the Colosseum.
Oh and there seemed to be way more scooters in Rome than I saw in Paris, which was a lot. There were streets were all you saw were rows of scooters on each side. I think it's funny how they are "cool" in Europe, but nerdy in the US.
We went to the Vatican today. The security we had to go through to get into the Vatican square was just like airport security. It was quite intense. We went in the basilica and looked around in there for awhile. I wanted to find a gift shop where I could buy things to get blessed by the Pope, but I had no luck finding one. It was pretty cool just being in the Vatican, knowing the Pope was there.
After that we were starving. It turns out many restaurants close around 2 or so. I'm not sure what time they reopen for supper. We tried a few restaurants and each one said they weren't serving anymore. Finally, we found one. Again, great food! Oh and I definitely think Italy knows how to do their bruschetta ;) Afterwards we stumbled upon this monument where they had 2 guards guarding a tomb and a wreath. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe Palazzo delle Esposizioni according to the map. Maybe like the tomb of the unknown soldier? Don't take my word for that - I honestly have no clue.
I have had a major craving for a caesar salad since I got to Berlin, but I couldn't find one anywhere. I couldn't find one in Italy either. I am convinced that it is an American invention and not Italian at all. Alas, a bar of all places had a caesar salad. So I just couldn't resist haha.
Tuesday, October 19
I decided that if I got near the Spanish Steps again, I would buy that painting I saw from yesterday. With ambition, we set out for the day. First, we went to the Colosseum. It was AMAZING beyond words! It really is something to see! To realize what went on there - crazy! I had all these facts I learned while I was there, but since then I've filled my head with more German and my brain had to make room for that knowledge ;) I got the audio guide, but I wouldn't really say you need it. It has some cool facts, but I would guess that you can find those on wikipedia just as well. They had just opened the floor of the Colosseum that week. But I decided not to take the underground tour. Part of our group did and they said it really wasn't worth it.
Then I had my first panini ever. I don't really think it was like real paninis though. It just had a piece of ham and cheese. Nonetheless, it hit the spot. Malia and I walked around the rest of the afternoon. We stumbled upon this wall. There were 2 guards guarding part of it, but I have no idea what it was. It was a rather long stretch of wall, with little peep holes in there. On the other side of the wall was just a normal neighborhood, so I'm not really sure why they were guarding it. We also stumbled upon a pyramid and an ancient watch tower type thing. As you can see, I have no idea what these things were. We had wandered off the map.
Lastly, on our way back to the hostel, we went to the Trevi Fountain. It was pretty. I made my wish and threw my coin in :) Oh and there were all these peddlers with cameras charging to take pictures of you. Malia & I were scared to ask anyone to take a picture of us for fear that they would charge or either steal my camera. Finally we found tourists who were just as leery as we were haha.
I was a little tired of Italian food, so I searched out a Mexican restaurant. Let me tell you there aren't many in Rome, go figure :) It was a little far away, but it was definitely worth the commute!! It was the BEST Mexican food ever!! I had the most amazing burrito of my life! Only sad part: no free chips and salsa :( Boo!
Oh and a side note: one of my friends said that you have to be careful with ATMs. You should only withdraw from bank ATMs because the mafia has set up their own ATMs. Just a note for the future :)
Wednesday, October 20
We heard that the Pope was making an appearance today, so we went back to the Vatican. We got there an hour before he actually showed up. It was PACKED! So many people!! I swear the square was almost full! The Pope came in his little Pope mobile. He was met by chants and cheers. It sounded like the Super Bowl. There were monks maybe that read something that I couldn't understand. Next, they read out names of people from several different countries. Sections of people would wave flags and cheer. I'm not sure who they were, but they must have been important people too.
Then eventually the Pope read a text about Elizabeth. He read it in several different languages. He was reading for about 45 minutes. It was a once in a lifetime experience seeing the Pope! I'm not very religious, but it definitely was on my bucket list. Again I set out in search of a gift shop to have something blessed by the Pope; again, no luck. We went to the Sistine Chapel next. It's part of a gigantic set of museums. There is so much to see in there, but I really just wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. We knew when we got close. There were mobs of people lining the hall waiting to get in the door. It was quite exquisite! There were signs not to take pictures and guards by the doors screaming to be quiet and no pictures. Of course, everyone was snapping pictures like crazy. It's just too hard not to. I have to admit this time I completely broke the rules and took pictures too, but I had to do it sneakily. I didn't want to get caught - those guards were scary. On the way out of the museum, I found a gift shop where you could have things blessed by the Pope, but we were too late she said. I was saddened by this! I had tried so hard to find one earlier.
Today I had gnocchi for lunch, my first time. It was pretty good, but definitely not as good as mushroom fettuccine alfredo. I love my mushrooms :) It was fate or something like it....there were artists in this plaza selling their artwork here as well. I just had to look. There were so many that were beautiful!! Without Malia's help, I would have stood there for hours and hours trying to pick out a painting. After an hour of looking, I left there with 2 paintings. I got a good deal though. 2 oil paintings on canvas for 170 Euros. The one is huge! I'm not sure what the dimensions are, but just enormous. The other one was smaller, but still a nice painting. The smaller one is of a gorgeous rooster. I got that one as a gift for my Grandma, who collects rooster things. The other one is a scene in Venice maybe. The artist immediately wrapped them up in a tube and taped the shit out of it, so I wasn't going to open it. I was ecstatic with my purchases!! I felt like a true adult....having artwork from a real artist I met in person. Sounds lame, but I was beyond happy with my purchase!
We ended the day by going to the Pantheon. And gelato of course!! While in Italy, I had gelato at least once a day if not twice a day! I definitely miss having gelato now that I'm back in Berlin. It was amazing there! Oh and for supper we went to an American diner. We were craving meat. So we each had a cheeseburger. I devoured that thing! From not eating meat pretty much ever anymore, I got such bad heartburn. I guess my digestive system is used to the bread I have to for supper every night. But nonetheless, it was worth it! It tasted delicious!
Thursday, October 21
Today my mission was to go back to the Spanish Steps, and see if my painting that I wanted to buy earlier in the week was still there. Sadly it wasn't. But of course I was sucked into other paintings. Most of them were gorgeous! It may be that my opinion is skewed since I have no artistic ability whatsoever. While I was looking at one artist's paintings, a very rich man came over and bought 8 of them. He just told the artist to wrap them up and drop them off at the hotel. Wow! Wouldn't that be nice! I ended up bargaining with the artist and got a paining for 120 Euros. It was enormous, like the first one I bought. I usually am not one to bargain, but I thought I would try. It was thrilling actually! And I saved 50 Euros. I proudly walked away with my painting, another successful purchase. I figure it's better than some stupid souvenir that I'm going to set on a shelf.
I walked to a park type area behind the Spanish Steps. It was like a whole other world in that area! It wasn't full of tourists or peddlers. It was pleasant, with people picnicking, canoeing, playing soccer, even doing roller blade tricks. I was in heaven! It was absolutely wonderful to walk around in that area. And the best part....it gave a view of the entire city!! It was so beautiful!! I just couldn't stop taking pictures.
I met Malia on the Spanish Stairs a little later. While I was waiting, the peddlers were in full force today, bothering everyone. There was a couple sitting in front of me. The peddler came over to her, and I kid you not.....she pulled a $1 bill out of her purse and told the peddler, "I'll give this to you if you go away." I almost burst out laughing! It took everything I had to keep it in. The peddler was confused as hell. He obviously had no idea what the money was and spoke next to no English. She told him, "Here take this. It's about 70 cents for you. Take it...run along now. And don't come back." This did it for me, I bust out laughing. Americans!! LOL!!! A little bit later, all at once all the peddlers picked up their blankets with the purses, their bags of toys, their belts, etc. and bolted up the stairs out of sight. I thought their bus must have come or something. It turns out the police had come. They don't have permits to sell the stuff, so they have to get out of dodge when the cops come. It was one of the best scenes of the day haha. I ended the day by watching the sun set over Rome. It was gorgeous! Something pictures can't adequately capture.
Friday, October 22
Today was our last day in Rome. By this point, I was so sick of Rome. I had seen everything I wanted to see and more. 6 days really was too much! Today I just took it easy, walked around some, lazed around, packed, watched some Jersey Shore haha, ate some pasta, and ate some more pasta. Oh and I mailed the paintings I bought earlier. First I had to find a roll of tape to tape the tubes shut. That was actually much harder than it seems. I taped those tubes like there was no tomorrow. No way were they coming open. I would say I taped for probably 45 minutes. Malia was ready to kill me and my OCD-ness. Then we went to the post office. That was a trip in itself. The one post office closed at 2. We had to hike it to find another one. When we finally found it, it reminded me of the license branch. Take a number and sit and wait until your number is displayed. Boy, were they slow too. The Italians are slow about everything I believe. When it came to my number, I tried to explain that I wanted to mail them to the US. The attendant understood very little English. He took them in the back to scan for bombs I'm sure :P I filled out some forms and requested a tracking number for the paintings. No way was I spending that much just to lose them in the mail. It wasn't as expensive as I was expecting - only 36 Euros for both.
And lastly, went out for Mexican food at the same restaurant, had to end our time in Rome on the right note ;) It was just as amazing this time around! They had a strange karaoke Mexican singer in the corner. She was really good; it was just so strange in a restaurant.
Saturday, October 23
Did I mention I've had a huge craving for pancakes since arriving in Berlin? Well, if not, I do. So I was thrilled to think of going to the American diner for breakfast, because of course they would have pancakes! Malia & I got up early to go before we had to check out of our hostel. It turned out that their pancakes were not really pancakes, but rather crepes. I was so sad! False advertising! While we were eating, there was an American couple that came in and sat behind us. The lady was quite demanding. Her husband's food came out before hers. And she was not happy about that. I heard her bitching to her husband about how the waitress probably didn't understand that she wanted food too and he should ask her. When her food finally came, she had ordered a flat steak type thing. Apparently it wasn't cooked enough for her and she yelled at the waitress to cook it for much, much longer. I was actually embarrassed to be near them. The lady was so rude to the waitress. Obviously, this lady had never been to France.
We flew back to Berlin with Easy Jet. It's a discount airline as well. It was a little jank. We took a bus from the airport to the plane, at which point it was a mad rush of pushing and shoving to climb the aircraft stairs to secure a seat. I hate the first come, first serve seating deal! We actually ran into people from our FU-BEST program on the plane too.
When we got back to Berlin, Malia & I went out to dinner with Trevor and his Dad, who came to visit. I slept like a log that night! So glad to be back in my own bed with my own sheets again!
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