bonny bonny scotland
I apologize once again for the absolute blogging fail on my part. As you might guess, life has been a bit of a whirlwind.
But if you’ll rewind with me all the way back to Thursday, July 7 (!!!), adventures in Scotland await…
PKP (Pembroke-King’s Programme, aka my summer gig, if I haven’t mentioned that already) took all 340 (ish?) students to Edinburgh (pronounced ed-in-burr-oh as in burrow, not ed-in-burg as in burger), Scotland for our first weekend. Of course, with that many people, we were divided into several different coaches. We also had a short sightseeing stop along the way – it was arranged so that half of the group would stop at one location and the other half at another. Then, on the way home, the groups would switch, thus allowing everyone to see both locations.
On the way up my coach stopped at Fountains Abbey, a ruined Cistercian monastery in Yorkshire. The Abbey was founded in 1132 and lies adjacent to the beautiful Studley Royal Water Garden.
This will sound really strange/random, but I think I might have visited this place with my host family when I was in England with an exchange program in 2006. Those arches just seemed really familiar. I need to check my photo albums from that program and see if it’s the same place or not…
…Anyway. It was a nice break from the confines of the coach, and a lovely place to visit in any case.
Not too long afterward, we crossed over into Scottish territory:
Scotland and England. We heart both places mucho.
Later, we finally arrived in Edinburgh. We stayed in the dorms of a university (which makes sense – where else would they have fit all of us?). We scrambled to the cafeteria to eat dinner. Being Americans, we were quite excited for the all-you-can-eat buffet – we had to buy food a la carte at Cambridge.
The evening was ours, so a big group of us, lured by the beautiful green hills looming literally in the backyard, decided to hike up Arthur’s Seat at sunset. Best. Decision. Ever.
From left to right: climbing up; at the tippy top; enjoying the view!
We wandered across the hills, sat and soaked in the scenery, and even recited some poetry. Basically, we never wanted to leave. But then it got dark. And cold. So we made our way down and back to the university and called it a night. Needless to say, we were already in love with Scotland.
blogging fail
So…yeah. The blog has been slightly totally neglected for the past…while. Oops.
Okay, but really. Even though the content will be going back to happenings from up to two months ago (!!!), I will slowly but surely try to get some posts up, for anyone out there who might care to read about my time in the UK. Sorry I’m such a fail at blogging!
On another note, I’m back stateside now and have started my senior year at Hope…which is crazy. I still don’t quite feel like I’m in the swing of things, but it’ll get there.
Look for a post on Scotland soon!
helloooo, cambridge!
Now that it’s August (!!) I guess I can finally get around to what I’ve been up to for the past four weeks in Cambridge…
On Sunday, July 3, Emily and I headed out from London to catch our train to Cambridge!
…Unfortunately, some of the train lines were down, which meant that we had to take a train from King’s Cross to another station (some random little place in the middle of nowhere), take a bus to yet another train station, and then take another train to get to Cambridge. Yep.
Plenty of people on the train were in the exact same boat, so we all just kind of followed each other and hoped we were going the right way. In fact, as we were boarding the bus, we ran into another student from BYU (where Emily goes to college) named Sean. Totally random/chance encounter, but we’ve been hanging out ever since.
We all took a taxi together from the train station to King’s College, where we were greeted by our wonderful PAs (Programme Assistants – they’re kind of like RAs). Not gonna lie – as we walked through King’s, I was so excited that I could hardly stop myself from jumping up and down/skipping/squealing/generally making a fool out of myself. We checked in at registration and eagerly opened our welcome packets, which included our room assignments. Sean and I would be living on the same street; Emily would be one street over.
After a few minutes’ debate, we decided to forgo waiting for a bus coach to take us to our accommodations, even though it would mean a 15-20 minute walk with all of our clunky luggage. As we went to grab our bags, we ran into Brendan, a Harvard student. He decided to join us in finding our rooms, since his building was on the way to ours. Another chance encounter. Another great friend ever since.
So about our rooms. I’ll admit – I was a little apprehensive. I chose the least expensive option, which means it’s the furthest away from everything. I was picturing a tiny bland box with just enough space to turn around, maybe a dresser or a small desk if I was lucky.
But my apprehension slowly turned to elation as I turned onto Panton Street, the location of my building. Panton Street is a quiet little side street lined by old, charming houses. I arrived at my building and couldn’t help but smile at the little wooden gate out front that opened to this:
Isn't it cute?
But even better was my room inside. I held my breath as I turned the key in my door…and almost jumped up and down at the room inside.
Comfy bed. Handy sink. Three chairs. A bookcase. A great desk with drawers. A dresser and a wardrobe (not in the picture). Even a little coffee table and a faux fireplace! Not to mention the room is probably as big, if not bigger than, a typical two-person dorm room at Hope. And I have this room to myself!
There were quick tours of Cambridge (mostly just the places we would need to go for class, not much of the town) and a big welcome dinner that night. Everything passed in a happy blur of meeting loads of new people and trying to get it through my head that I was in Cambridge.
Classes started the next day, and we also got to attend our first Formal Hall. We get to go to several of these throughout the program. This one was at Queen’s College. Socializing with students and professors + really delicious food? Win-win.
we clean up nice, eh?
After just a few days of class, we had hardly caught our breath when our whole program set off for a long weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland! (To be continued!)
london times
On Friday, July 1, Emily and I packed our bags and hauled our luggage through our little Parisian neighborhood one last time. On the way out, we stopped at our favorite bakery and spent the last of our euros on pastries and bread to take on the train. Emily stayed outside with our bags while I went in to get the food.
The same lady – probably the owner – was there as usual. As I pondered over which treats to buy, she noticed Emily outside with our luggage. “Les vacances sont finis?” (Is your vacation over?) she asked. “Ouiii,” I said with a sad smile. She asked me where we were from, how long we had been there, where we were going next. I answered to the best of my (limited) ability, but we understood each other without having to ask for repetition. I gushed about how much we had loved Paris and told her that this was our favorite bakery ever, both of which pleased her very much. And then she said the magic words:
“Vous comprenez bien le francais!” (You understand French well!) She turned to her co-worker, who emerged from behind the scenes. “Elle parle bien le francais!” (She speaks French well!) the owner said to her, gesturing toward me.
With several bags of fresh pastries and another successful French conversation under my belt, I was quite heureuse (happy) – as happy as I could be when leaving Paris, anyway.
A few hours later, we arrived at our hostel in Camden, which is in the northern part of London. Camden has a certain je ne sais quoi…it’s an artsy place, home to an outdoor market and funky second-hand shops aplenty. Our hostel was located right above a lively pub – thankfully, we were so tired every night that we could sleep despite floor-shakingly loud music.
We spent the afternoon shopping in Camden, then returned to our hostel to prepare for an evening we had been waiting for: we were going to see Les Miserables in London!
The internet in our hostel didn’t work very well, so we panicked slightly when we couldn’t check what time we had to get to the theatre (we had booked our tickets online but needed to pick them up at the box office before the show). After dashing to McDonald’s to leech their wi-fi, we hurriedly got gussied up and headed to the Queen’s Theatre.
The show was, of course, stunning. Emily and I had both seen the Spanish production as well, and we couldn’t help making comparisons between the two shows. But mostly we just soaked up the show, thoroughly enjoying every second. Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean and Matt Lucas as Thénardier definitely stole the show – they were beyond phenomenal. I could ramble about Les Mis all day long, but my straggling blog is urging me to press on…
On Saturday, July 2, Emily’s brother Jon met up with us to see the sights of London. We didn’t do any tours – St. Paul’s Cathedral was closed for services, and many of the other attractions such as Westminster Abbey are quite expensive. Anyway, it was fun to roam around the city and take in the sights. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
St. Paul's Cathedral
Millenium Bridge
Big Ben
Parliament
Westminster Abbey
Tower Bridge
Yes, ’twas a busy day…and to top it off, we had this:
Thai food!!! It was amazing.
With that, our vacation was officially over. Next stop: Cambridge!
paris – un jour plus
On our last full day in France, we started out by venturing outside of Paris to visit Versailles, home to the spectacular Château de Versailles built by King Louis XIV. After our usual bakery breakfast and a short train ride, we arrived at the sprawling palace grounds.
We headed inside to tour the palace. I’ll admit that I don’t know much about the history of it…so I can’t say much other than that it contained room after room of the most splendid finery imaginable.
After herding through the palace with the slew of other tourists, we only had time to explore some of the gardens. We didn’t get to check out Marie Antoinette’s estate or any of the other palaces. But we were content to wander through the beautiful grounds surrounding the main palace until it was time to head out.
We were definitely glad that we got to the palace shortly after it opened. There were mobs of tourists while we were there, but by the time we left, there was a seemingly never-ending line to get in. We grabbed a quick lunch before boarding the train for Paris.
We spent the rest of the afternoon re-visiting the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower to get some good pictures. We hadn’t seen the Arc de Triomphe in daylight yet, and our Eiffel Tower photo shoot had been interrupted by rain, so we took advantage of the beautiful weather and bright sunshine to get some good pictures.
For dinner we headed back to the Place St-Michel, where we decided to splurge a little (emphasis on the “little” – we’re poor college students, y’know) on a good dinner. Sure, our chosen restaurant was undoubtedly aimed at tourists and probably not anywhere the epitome of “real” French cuisine…but it was pretty tasty, especially the French onion soup. The friendly staff (who spoke decent English but also put up with my clumsy attempts at French) and a British father-daughter pair at our table were extra bonuses.
French onion soup; Emily had pork and I had beef for the main course; chocolate mousse for dessert.
To cap off our time in Paris, we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower at night to see it sparkle – the perfect end to our Parisian adventures.
Paris…je t’aime beaucoup. Un jour, we shall see each other again…
plus de paris
Wednesday, June 29 was our third day in Paris. Naturellement we started our day with a trip to L’ange gourmand, our favorite bakery.
Almond croissant and apple pastry...aka pure deliciousness.
The carbs were much needed, as we would spend our morning powering through one of the greatest museums in the world: the Louvre.
Admittedly, we probably should have made a better game plan before we ventured in there. The Louvre is enormous and it’s easy to get lost in its vast and wonderful galleries. But we armed ourselves with a map and made our way through the museum to see as many of the famous masterpieces on display as possible. Here are a few favorites:
Chevaux de Marly by Coustou; Mercure monté sur Pégase by Coysevox.
St. Mary Magdalene by Erhart; The Rebel Slave by Michelangelo; Psyche and Cupid by Canova.
We had to see the Mona Lisa, bien sûr…but we had to fight through a huge mob of people first.
It's hard to tell from the picture, but the people are really jammed close together, pushing, shoving, etc; as you can see, we were rather perplexed.
So much fuss for such a small painting.
The Winged Victory of Samothrace...sans tête (headless), alas! This sculputre dates back to the second century.
We felt like there was so much that we hadn’t seen…but before we knew it, we had spent three hours in the museum. Malheureusement, it was time to move on.
After leaving the Louvre, we went walking along the Seine, passing by many a bridge (and a few obnoxious petitioners). One of the bridges was the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris (1578).
The Pont Neuf
Eventually we came to the Place St-Michel, a bustling area full of shops and restaurants.
The fountain at the Place St-Michel.
Can't say no to a fresh Nutella crepe...
We crossed back over the Seine to reach yet another Parisian icon: the lovely Notre Dame.
Pictures can’t even begin to do this cathedral justice, but here are a few shots from the inside:
The Notre Dame was definitely one of my favorite cathedrals ever. Even the mobs of tourists couldn’t taint that peaceful serenity that one only finds in a church. I lit a candle and wrote a note in a book in the middle of the cathedral. The book contained the prayers and praises to God of people from all over the world. I have to wonder if, somewhere, there is a huge archive containing thousands of these books that have been filled over the years. If prayer could be materialized, maybe it would look something like that.
After marveling at the cathedral’s interior, we headed outside to join the line queue to climb up to the top. It was quite a long wait, but we were not without entertainment: a street performer wearing a ghoulish mask was sneaking up on people and scaring them. For example, if a tourist stopped to take a picture of the cathedral, the guy would quietly sneak around and stand right in front of them so that when the tourist lowered his or her camera, the guy with the scary mask would be right in their face. (This may or may not have happened to me.) Or the guy might sneak up to a couple and nonchalantly grab the woman’s (or sometimes the man’s) hand. It’s a little hard to describe, but trust me – it was quite funny.
As good as the street performer was, we had better things waiting for us at the top of the Notre Dame: fiendish-looking gargoyles, the great Emmanuel bell, and a beautiful view of Paris.
I spy a certain tower in the distance...
Clockwise from top left: The Emmanuel bell, aka Quasimoto's bell; Emily and I with the Emmanuel bell; us at the top of the cathedral; the tiny door that leads to the bell tower.
View from the top. Another subpar stitch job - just ignore the bits that are slightly off...
We weren’t finished with churches yet. After we made our descent from the Notre Dame, we headed a few blocks over to Saint-Chapelle, which is known for its brilliant stained glass windows…and for good reason.
So many Bible stories were crafted into the beautiful glass. It was a little overwhelming to attempt to examine the panels in detail. Emily and I followed our usual procedure for cathedrals: Stand still, throw your head back, and simply stare in awe at the beauty on all sides.
After feasting our eyes all day, we were due for a treat of the edible variety.
We got some Berthillon ice cream and sat by the river. Berthillon is a famous ice cream company in Paris. We didn’t get to visit the main store, but lots of shops sell Berthillon ice cream. It wasn’t quite the same as Italian gelato…but as far as taste goes, it came pretty dang close.
We spent the rest of the evening wandering around the city. We looked around the Place St-Michel a bit more, checked out the Place de la Concorde (home to a 13th-century obelisk), and walked down the famed Champs-Elysées to see the Arc de Triomphe (though the view’s not great at night – the arch isn’t illuminated like the Eiffel Tower).
Watching the sunset/contemplating life at Place de la Concorde. The obelisk is on the right-hand side.
We tried to get to the Eiffel Tower to see its sparkly nighttime self, but couldn’t make it before the metro closed (more on that here ). So we called it a night, went back to our hotel, and promptly collapsed. But we collapsed happily 
One more day in Paris, our short visit to London, and a summary of my weekend in Scotland with my summer program coming soon! Once all the travel stuff is wrapped up, I’ll be writing more about life in Cambridge and some more intellectual stuff (I hope – if I can squeeze out some more brain juice after doing all my schoolwork!)…until then!
paris, je t’adore
We took an overnight train from Rome to Paris, which means we spent our night stuffed into a tiny couchette with four other people and a large amount of luggage. …Okay, it really wasn’t that bad. The family with whom we shared the couchette were very nice, so it was a relief to not have to worry too much about our stuff being stolen or anything like that. It was just really, really small. And cold, surprisingly enough. We didn’t get any blankets – just a sheet – and the AC was blasting, so it got pretty chilly.
In the couchette, rubbing ointment on my bug bites...
After the slightly uncomfortable night, we arrived in Paris on Monday, June 27 at about 9:30am. Our hotel wasn’t in the city center, so we bought our metro passes and clambered onto the metro with our bags in tow. It was a bit of a trek out to the neighborhood where our hotel was located, and we had some trouble finding the hotel once we got there. But once we finally found the hotel and settled in, we started to realize just how good we had it.
First of all, we definitely appreciated having a room to ourselves. While planning the trip, I had found that hostels in Paris were quite expensive, as most of them are located right in the middle of the touristy areas. So staying in a hostel wouldn’t have been any cheaper than splitting a hotel room. Our hostels were all pretty nice – we didn’t have any negative experiences (well, except the bed bugs) – but our tidy little hotel room, with its large window and private bathroom, seemed quite luxurious in comparison to the bland dorm rooms of the hostels.
But the biggest perk was the location. Sure, it was about a fifteen-or-so-minute metro trip away from the tourist attractions. But that also meant that it was a fifteen-or-so-minute metro trip away from the tourists. We were in a quiet yet bustling neighborhood full of local Parisians, small family-owned shops, and morning markets. After touristy overload in Italy (where there is really no escape from hokey souvenir shops and overpriced tourist-trap restaurants), this “real” French neighborhood was a welcome change of pace.
We decided to spare our weary selves the trek into the city center that night. Instead, we explored the neighborhood and took it easy. A laundromat was conveniently located just a few doors down from the hotel, as was a Chinese restaurant, so we got take-out food and did some laundry (more on that here).
It was a low-key evening, but I could already tell that I was going to love Paris.
DAY 2: Tuesday, June 28
We started our second day in Paris with a trip to a small boulangerie (bakery) that was located a block or two down from the hotel and right on the way to the metro. My Nutella radar drew me to this:
I present to you le beignet Nutella.
A beignet is similar to a doughnut, though the pastry/bread is not quite the same…I can’t really explain it. All that really matters is that the thing was oozing with Nutella aplenty. Anyway, after tasting the gloriousness of the beignets, we were completely hooked – we got our petit-dejeuner (breakfast) from that bakery every single morning.
With happy stomachs, we hopped on the metro and made our way to the Ile St-Louis, where we walked along the Seine, strolled through a maze of little streets, and just generally marveled at the beauty of Paris.
Next we visited Le Mémorial de la Shoah, a Holocaust museum. It was a grave but powerful experience. The small museum was full of historical pieces – letters, photos, propaganda – that told the stories of Holocaust victims. Outside the museum was a Wall of Names containing the names and birth dates of 76,000 Jews who were deported from France, most of whom died at Auschwitz. Another exhibit inside the museum showcased the photographs of thousands of children who were taken by the Nazis and never seen again.
The room with the children's photographs. Picture taken from Google; no photography was allowed in the museum.
Our next stop was Paris’s most iconic location: the Eiffel Tower.
Thankfully we had made reservations to go up the tower – the place was a zoo of tourists and school groups. (Sidebar: I would never be able to handle weaving a group of like 50 kids through a place as packed with tourists as the Eiffel Tower.) But fighting the crowds was well worth the spectacular view:
The black skyscraper is the Tour Montparnasse, a subject of much controversy. It was voted the second-ugliest building in the world in 2008. People joke that the view from the top of the tower is the most beautiful view of Paris, because you can't see the tower from there.
Left: the view from the 2nd floor (the top was all fenced in, which kind of spoils pictures). Right: the tower from across the Seine.
A few minutes after the last picture (on the right) was taken…it started to rain. A lot. We took cover at a bus stop and waited out the downpour before heading to the metro to get to our next destination: the Sacré-Cœur.
Picture from Google...I don't really have any good shots of the outside 
It's really massive and thus difficult to get into a picture...and I think we just came up from the wrong side of it for pictures.
The Sacré-Cœur sits atop the summit of Montmartre, at the highest point in Paris. On the way up the hill we passed through the Place du Tertre, where artists gather to sketch and paint. Emily and I are suckers for these artists. Good thing the hefty price tags on their work kept us from buying anything…
Place du Tertre
We went inside and marveled at yet another breathtakingly beautiful basilica. Unfortunately, photography was prohibited – and the guards were definitely enforcing it (we saw many a tourist approached by a beefy officer and forced to delete their photos and stow their cameras).
That evening we went to Montparnasse for dinner. Starving artists of all trades – painters, writers, composers – ranging from Picasso to Hemingway used to flock here for the cheap rent and creative atmosphere. Unfortunately, that just means that restaurants can now hike up their prices because so-and-so once ate there. We opted for a cheap sandwich shop instead, with a Nutella crepe for dessert. With thunder rumbling in the distance and that feeling in the air that it might rain any second, we beat it for home.
Obviously I missed my weekend deadline for finishing up the two weeks of travel…but I’m getting there. Stay tuned!
roma, II
DAY 3: Saturday, June 25
Emily and I had barely caught our breath from the previous day when it was time to set out for more Roman adventures. We had our usual breakfast of oatmeal with apples, raisins, and cinnamon (our hostel was all about organic/healthy/eco-friendly/etc-ness) before heading out to yet another of Rome’s famous areas: the Vatican.
Piazza San Pietro
We had been advised to arrive at the Vatican as soon as it opened, but…we just couldn’t drag ourselves out of bed early enough. Consequently, we had to wait in line for quite a while to enter St. Peter’s Basilica. But the wait was more than worthwhile…
Inside the basilica
The Pietà - yet another one of Michelangelo's masterpieces
Reluctantly, we left the basilica and headed to the Vatican Museum. We were a little short on time, so we couldn’t pause for long to browse through the museum’s many galleries. That’s not to say that we didn’t see a lot of art, beautiful rooms, historical pieces, etc…
Top left: I overheard a tour guide saying that this purple rock is "extinct" - it's no longer found in the natural world. One square inch is worth $100,000. Top center: "The Thinker" by Rodin. There are many castings of this sculpture throughout the world.
But the best part of the Vatican was waiting for us at the end of all those galleries: the Sistine Chapel. Emily and I forgot about the heat and the long lines and our tired feet. We just stood there, looked up, and gaped.
Technically, no photos are allowed there. Being the good citizens that we are, Emily and I kept our cameras stowed – it’s not like you have any chance of getting the whole chapel in one frame, anyway. Besides, what picture could do that place justice? But plenty of tourists were happily snapping away, many of them using flashes. They ignored all the signs and the guards bellowing “NO FOTO!!!” Sigh. Tourists these days.
Anyway, the chapel was breathtaking. It was hard to believe that we were staring at masterpieces such as the iconic Creation of Adam and The Last Judgment (all by Michelangelo, of course) in person.
We could have stayed in there for hours, but time was pressing on, so we took our leave and headed back toward the center of Rome.
We decided that a little rest at the hostel was very much needed, but on the way home we made a quick stop at the Piazza del Popolo, home of an impressive obelisk that dates back to the 13th century.
It was neat, but the sun was showing us no mercy. We beat a hasty retreat to the hostel, where we waited out the rest of the afternoon until the sun was less intense. Sun: 1. Emily and Katelyn: 0.
When dinner time rolled around, we headed out to Trastevere, which is fairly far off from all the main attractions. Trastevere is supposed to be an “authentic,” non-touristy area where one can find a “real” Italian restaurant and mingle with the locals. So, of course, all the tourists go there.
Haha, don’t get me wrong. Trastevere was really nice. We found a little restaurant and had some pretty epic pizza…
The pizzas were GIGANTIC. Mine had ham, mushrooms, and artichokes.
As the sun went down, we hoofed it back to the city center to top off our dinner with more gelato from Giolitti (of course). We also made our nighttime visit to the Trevi Fountain, where we both tossed in a coin to ensure a return trip to Rome.
DAY 4: Sunday, June 26
Our final day in Rome was much more relaxed. We slept in and packed our luggage before heading out to see the Catacombe di San Domitilla. It was quite a hike – a long metro ride, plus quite a bit of walking – but it was nice to be away from the bustling tourist center. We actually walked down empty sidewalks – I don’t think those exist in the city center.
Unfortunately, we arrived at the catacombs just as they were closing for the lunch hour. So we found a shady spot in the grass and waited. After our hectic first few days, we weren’t opposed to sitting and chilling out for a while.
[Sidebar: you've probably read about my bedbug incident and the fact that the bites didn't show up for several days. While we were waiting for the catacombs to open, I started counting the welts on my left arm, just for something to do. ...I stopped after reaching 100. (Yes, as in 100 bites just on my left arm.) ]
Finally the catacombs re-opened, and we made our way underground for a tour. The tour started and ended in the remains of a 4th-century church. The in-between consisted of wandering through the dark, narrow passageways of the catacombs – with the tour guide, of course (no one is allowed to go through them alone – you’d be pretty much guaranteed to get lost). All the bones had been removed – apparently, people were nicking bones to take home as souvenirs (those pesky tourists!). Only a few tombs were left sealed. No pictures were allowed, but it was blessedly cool underground. (I know I keep complaining about how hot it was, but seriously – Roman summers are brutal!)
We made our way back to the city center for a few last stops before we left Rome. First we went to the Mouth of Truth at the Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The Mouth of Truth dates back to the 1st century. If you tell a lie while your hand is inside the mouth, your hand will be bitten off.
I must not tell lies...
Finally, we couldn’t resist just one more trip to Giolitti…
After savoring our last cone of Italian gelato (sob!), we went back to our hostel, collected our luggage, and trudged to the station to catch our train to Paris. And so our Roman adventures came to a close…
I hope to finish up writing about our vacation travels by the end of this week, so I can finally start blogging about what’s going on here in Cambridge!
when in rome
In an attempt to accomplish some major catching-up on the blog front, I’m going to cover the four days we spent in Rome in two (very long) blog posts. Brace yourselves, folks.
DAY 1: Thursday, June 23
Emily and I arrived in Rome around noon. We took some time to settle into our hostel, plan our itinerary, and grab some pizza for lunch. In Italy, when you buy pizza by the slice, the pizza is sold by weight. You point to the kind you want and the server will cut you a piece; you can let them know if you want more or less. We had white pizza (no tomato sauce) with what we’re pretty sure were scalloped potatoes on top. Sounds weird, but it tasted pretty good.
We then set out to explore the area near our hostel. The first thing we came upon was a basilica – the Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.
It doesn’t look like much from the outside, right? But the inside did not disappoint…
It’s no wonder that the place was gorgeous – Michelangelo helped design it. Construction of the basilica began in the late 16th century. Sometimes you just have to stop and appreciate just how old things are, whether it’s a church, a painting, or even a chunk of rock.
After we managed to drag ourselves away from the beautiful basilica, we walked further into the city and ended up at the Via delle Quattro Fontane, a street with an intersection containing four fountains.
The four fountains. Photocred to Emily - I nicked this collage off her blog, because she's been a much better blogger than I am and isn't almost a month behind. Cheers, Em!
We also walked by the Tritone Fountain and the famous Trevi Fountain, though we resolved to return another night to see it lit up.
The Trevi Fountain
Tritone Fountain
Knowing that we had a couple of very busy days ahead of us, we headed back to our hostel, had pasta for dinner at a nearby restaurant, and called it a night.
DAY 2: Friday, June 24
With our jam-packed itinerary in hand, we set out early to see the sights of Rome. First up: the ruins of ancient Rome.
-Arch of Constantine
Built in 312 A.D in honor of Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, the arch towers over Via Triumphalis, where victorious emperors entered the city.
-The Colosseum
please ignore the shoddy stitch job (this is 3 photos merged together).
Originally known as the Flavian Ampitheatre, the Colosseum was completed in 80 A.D. and could seat over 50,000 people. Another tourist told me (in broken English) that the Colosseum still hosts water events in which the bottom area is filled with water to accommodate games with boats and such. I kinda doubt that…but it sounds fun, doesn’t it?
-Palatine Hill
The centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome was home to the upper crust of Roman society. Emperors such as Augustus, Tiberius, and Domitian lived there. Excavations show that people lived there since roughly 1000 B.C. As we wandered through the vast ruins, it was overwhelming to imagine the empire that once stood there.
-The Roman Forum
The Roman Forum was the main hub of public life, hosting everything from political happenings to criminal trials to gladiator matches. It’s the oldest part of ancient Rome.
-The Imperial Forums
Not to be confused with the Roman Forum (which is separate from the Imperial Forum), these plazas served the same public/commercial purpose. Several of them line the Via dei Fori Imperiali. You can’t walk around these – you just go by them on the street.
-Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
This monument honors Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy (he’s featured on the equestrian statue seen in the first picture). The white marble is beautiful, almost blinding under the hot Roman sun. There’s also a museum inside.
-Piazza del Campidoglio
That Michelangelo. You can always tell when he’s had a hand in things. He designed this beautiful plaza in the mid-16th century. We didn’t linger for long, though – by now it was nearing the middle of the afternoon, and we were in desperate need of some lunch and water. The weather in Rome was brutal – the temperature hit the mid-90s or so every day, and the sun was quite intense. Hello, tan lines!
-The Pantheon
After our lunch break, we visited the Pantheon. Somehow this thing is still in excellent condition despite the fact that it’s been around since about 126 A.D. Many important Italians rest here, including a few kings and the great painter Raphael.
-Giolitti
I had read that there was a great gelateria somewhere near the Pantheon. We circled around the Pantheon a little bit, but we didn’t find it. As we continued down Via del Corso (one of the main streets), there just happened to be a sign that advertised a place called Giolitti, a gelato shop that has been open since 1900. “Hey, I think that’s it!” I exclaimed. So we followed the sign (and our gelato-loving instincts) and boy, did we hit the jackpot…
Not only has this place been running for over 100 years, it was featured in the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn, and Pope John Paul II used to have Giolitti’s gelato delivered to him regularly. In other words, this place is legit. My first Giolitti cone consisted of frutti de bosco (mixed berry) and white chocolate. The respective flavors contained pieces of berries and chunks of white chocolate. It was de-li-cious. Better yet – it wasn’t any more expensive than your average gelateria, and the portions were quite generous. Basically, if Emily and I could choose one thing from Europe to bring home, it would be Giolitti.
-The Spanish Steps
Yet another feature of the film Roman Holiday, the famous Piazza di Spagna and its wide staircase (allegedly the widest in Europe) was fun to see. Emily and I enjoyed taking pictures and lounging on the steps. Unfortunately, the Spanish Steps are the epitome of a tourist trap – there was a TON of people around. The mobs of tourists and the merciless afternoon sun finally sent us packing. We headed back to the hostel to rest for a little while and escape the heat.
Our day wasn’t over yet, though. We headed to a restaurant called Da Alfredo & Ada for dinner. It was a tiny, cozy place where the waiters hardly spoke English, there was no menu, and you sat with other patrons. The restaurant was a family-run place; apparently, the restaurant’s namesake Ada used to putter around to hand out cookies and pinch your cheek (when she wasn’t in the back cooking, obviously).
Emily and I finally got to try some real pasta carbonara, a traditional Italian dish. Correct me if I’m wrong, but when I think of the Americanized carbonara, I think of a white alfredo-like sauce with peas and mushrooms and ham or bacon in it. That is not like Italian carbonara. Italian carbonara is spicy and egg-based, though it does contain bacon. Anyway, it was absolutely delicious.
Spaghetti alla carbonara
But the atmosphere was the best thing about the restaurant. We shared a table with an old man named Peter. He was Danish by birth, but lived in Luxembourg. He traveled often for his job (I think he worked for the embassy) and thus had many stories to share. Plus, he was good friends with the restaurant owners; he chatted with the waiter and owner in Italian, and they wouldn’t even take tips from him.
An old street performer strumming a guitar wandered into the restaurant maybe halfway through dinner. He warbled a song or two and came around to collect coins. But then, somehow, a young guy from a large, boisterous group sitting at the front of the restaurant got the guitar passed to him. Before we knew it, the guy was playing and singing a popular song, and the whole restaurant was clapping and singing along. The guy and the street performer bantered back and forth and passed the guitar around, and everyone in the restaurant was having a blast. Emily and I couldn’t stop smiling.
Peter could tell that we loved the restaurant’s vibe, so he offered to take us to a nearby bar with a similar atmosphere. He was also friends with the owners of the bar. I know – it sounds weird that an old guy wanted to take us to a bar. But, just like my amigo Eubenio in Spain, he was clearly harmless and just being friendly. So we went along to the bar, where Peter bought us fruity mojitos (sans alcohol), introduced us to all the people he knew there (the owner even set up an extra table for us, because all the tables were full – if you could see how hard up restaurants are for space in Europe, you’d understand that this is kind of a big deal), and talked about cultures and travel and life.
After lingering at the bar for a while, Emily and I bid farewell to Peter and went to one last place – the Piazza Navona. Like all Roman plazas, the Piazza Navona features a lovely fountain and a large courtyard surrounded by shops and restaurants. (I don’t have any good pictures because it was dark…so you’ll have to Google it to see what it looks like )
There were also a ton of street artists hanging out there. We came across one woman who was a brilliant painter. She used small foam rollers to swipe paint onto the surface, then scraped away layers of paint with tools that looked sort of like exacto knives.
The picture on the left shows what eventually became a painting that I bought.
Emily and I couldn’t tear ourselves away from the beautiful paintings, which portrayed everything from beaches to Roman sights (the Colosseum, etc) to fields of flowers. After much deliberation, we each went home with two paintings. Mine were both painted right in front of me – the woman and her husband (who was also an artist of the same technique) were more than willing to paint just about anything you wanted. If nothing in the vast piles of paintings suited you, they would paint a new piece for you.
With our stomachs full of good food, our hands full of original artwork, and our minds full of the day’s events, we headed back to our hostel and crashed for the night.
[Part Two soon to follow - the rest of our time wasn't quite as jam-packed, so the next post will be a bit less intense. Bear with me, y'all!]
florence, fine (the end)
On Wednesday, June 22, we started our day by taking the train to Pisa to see – you guessed it – the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Just as we were boarding the train, a group of four Asian people ran up and asked what they had to do with your tickets (you have to insert them into a little machine to get them stamped) and which train was going to Pisa. I pointed them to the nearest ticket validation box before Emily and I boarded the train. A few minutes later, the family got on the train and sat across the aisle from us. Their group consisted of a girl named Quinn (she’s the only one whose name I remember…ulp), her brother and his wife, and one more guy (I can’t remember if it was another brother, or a friend of the brother…gack). They were all very friendly and quite funny. Somehow they had arrived in Italy a day or two ahead of their tour group, so they were pretty much just wandering around with no idea of where they were or what they were doing. Bummer, right? Anyway, we offered to let them tag along with us.
The walk from the train station to the tower was a fair hike – maybe twenty minutes or so – but we turned a corner and suddenly, there it was!
Obligatory tourist picture
The tower is pretty much all there is to see. You can climb it, but we didn’t really have time, and we wanted to get back to the market for lunch before it closed. So, bidding our new friends farewell, we headed back to Florence.
We went back to Nerbone, but this time we got pasta, taking the recommendation from a girl we met the previous day at the market. It was quite tasty and, of course, quite cheap. I scarfed mine down rather quickly because I was so hungry, but regretted it afterward – it was very filling!
don't worry - i only ate one of these
Next up was a visit to the Uffizi Museum, one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world. The Uffizi is home to works by artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli…the list goes on. I don’t have any pictures, since photography was prohibited, but the museum was amazing.
Apparently, there is something called Stendhal syndrome, which is dizziness due to being overwhelmed by all the masterpieces of artwork in Florence. Emily and I may or may not have suffered from this – we were whooped by the time we staggered out of the museum a few hours later – but it was completely worth it. Besides, a cone of gelato makes a perfect pick-me-up…
We wandered around the market and found the wild boar fountain. Dropping a coin in the fountain is supposed to ensure a return trip to Florence, and rubbing the boar’s snout is good luck.
To top off our evening, Emily and I shared a pizza at a small restaurant. We’re a fan of such cheap, tasty meals.
pizza with grilled vegetables and artichokes - yum!
With an early train to catch, we called it a night and headed back to our hostel. And so ended our adventures in Florence!
