Lost in France-lation

More photos from Amsterdam.

A few weekends ago I met up with Lauren, Sam, and a whole of other Champlain students in Amsterdam. It was really nice to hang out with my friends!

Amsterdam is a super cool city. It’s so cute, lots of interesting things to see, including the Red Light District, where prostitutes are literally in windows all day and night! We got enjoyment walking down there at different times of the day to see the progression of how good looking they get as it gets later.

We tasted cheeses, saw the flower market, managed to catch this huge political protest, and Lauren and I went to Anne Frank’s house. It was incredible… I couldn’t take pictures, unfortunately. But it’s where she hid with her family. We went into her actual room with the pictures she glued to her walls still there… Her father, Otto, the only survivor, created the museum, and in the end they show a video of him saying he hopes it prevents prejudice based on religion, race, etc. He replied to every letter people wrote him about the museum. He seemed like a very sweet person. They had Anne’s diaries too, I wish I could have read them, but they aren’t in English! She kept a bunch of diaries, and a one for quotes and another for her short stories. One day, on the radio, she heard that everyone should keep their writings during the war because they could be published someday, so Anne, wanting to be a writer when she got older, began re-writing all her diary entries to make them perfect. She was found before she could finish. It was really sad to go through, but also not, because she was just so remarkable and hopeful. Very inspiring.

So we hiked up to a park to catch this BEAUTIFUL view of the whole city. We watched the sunset here, and it was breathtaking!

That night, Lauren, Krista, and I went to dinner at a restaurant near their apartment, and a family from Oklahoma, I believe, two couples, sat next to us. We talked for a while, and told them about us studying abroad, and they asked us questions about us. Then, they got up to leave, and one of the guys says to us, “Good luck, and remember… when you’re old like us, pick up the tab for some nice students.” And walked away! It was so nice. I will have to pay it forward someday :)

And voila! My trip to Italy! Overall, lovely. Rome was my favorite city, followed by Venice. Such beautiful cities and ones I wouldn’t mind going back to :)

We spent the rest of the day wandering, looking at markets, seeing more ruins, and a bunch of other buildings! Everything is historical and important to Rome, it’s hard to keep track of it all.

Then we relaxed on the Spanish Steps, and bathed in the sun. It was a nice way to end a few hours of walking.

The next day we went to the Colosseum. It was so awesome! One of my favorite parts of Rome. It is just so unbelievable how much is left and how ancient this humongous building is. The Colosseum is the largest building built in the Roman Empire and was built in 70-80 A.D. It was used for gladiator contests and other stuff like executions, re-enactments of battles, and dramas based on Roman mythology.

Nearby are some of the Roman ruins, also very cool. It’s just crazy to see these things from such a long time ago, still in tact, and still where they stood. Just image Ancient Romans walking around this!

We visited Castel Sant’Angelo. Lauren told me there’s a secret passage way from the castle to the Vatican, so when they were under siege, they would safely transport the Pope from the Vatican to the castle.

We saw the Pantheon, a temple made for the Roman gods, with the opening in the center to make worshiping the gods even easier ;) It rained through the hole, but they mark off the floor so no one slips and falls. Unfortunately the front is under construction, but it was still so cool!

Then we saw the famous Trevi Fountain and threw coins in, which, according to tradition, is supposed to guarantee us a trip back to Rome :)

Then I had gnocchi for dinner, so yummy! And Lauren and her roommate, Krista, took me to another appertivo, Rome-style. Theirs was a lot better than the Milan one, it had some of the best couscous ever!

Then it was onto Roma! In Rome I stayed with Lauren, so it was nice to hang out with her and her roommates and also be around someone who knows Rome well.

On the first day, we went to the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel, and guess who we saw in St. Peter’s? None other than the Pope himself!! He delivered mass and it was so crazy! What are the odds? At first we were shocked and unsure if it was really him, but took a ton of pictures anyways, but then many people were kissing his hands and cheering, and we walked outside to see so many television crews. It was him! Lucky us, our first day in Rome and we see the Pope!

The Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums were cool… but warning, the Vatican Museums are HUGE, there’s like 20 museums in one building. It took us hours to walk through the whole building, and the very last room is the Sistine Chapel. By the time we got there, we were exhausted and went to a nearby cafe, where I found out the hard way that sitting down and drinking a diet coke in Italy is 4 euros more expensive than taking it to go… Oy vey!

Next stop: Napoli / Naples.

Naples was ok, currently or at least, they were, having a huge garbage issue. They had no where to put their trash and no one wants to allow a dump to be built near them, so there was trash everywhere! That plus the rain made for a very gloomy two days in Naples!

We went to the coast and saw the ocean, which was cool. You could see the coastal towns and they were pretty and what you expect when you think of the Italian coast.

We also ate pizza at Di Michele, the best pizza place in Italy, and probably the world. It’s the place where Julia Roberts ate pizza in Eat, Pray, Love. They had photos of the staff with her and her eating the pizza on the walls. The pizza was supposedly “one serving,” and it was HUGE! But for four euros, it was an amazing deal. It was sooo delicious, I was the only one to finish it all! Oh, I could go for some right now… mmmm!!

We also saw the Duomo and the street that splits the town right down the middle. We also had sfogliatelle, supposedly the must-have pastry in Naples. It’s flaky on the outside, with powdered sugar, and inside is sweetened ricotta cheese, it was uhhhh-mazing! Absolutely delicious! We also tried the babas, which is a pastry that is soaked in rum. I liked it, but no one else did.

P.S. We stayed at 6 Small Rooms, a hostel owned by a group of Australians, they were super nice and helpful and it’s a great place to stay! Plus they have a cat, and you know I was happy about that :)

Fun with the Leaning Tower of Pisa! :)

just a few more Florence pics

Next stop—Florence. I’ve heard mixed reviews about Florence, some say it’s beautiful but others say it’s just full of tourists. We arrived in the early evening, and since it was a weekend night, we thought we should see how the nightlife is in Italy. So we got dressed and went out… the nightlife seemed nonexistent.

So we gave up and went to a pizza place across from our hostel. A pizza was four euros! Yum! And while we were waiting, the guy was really nice and gave us a glass of wine and then tiramisu on the house!

We saw the Piazza della Signoria, the Palazzo Vecchio. Il Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore), Ponte Vecchio, Galleria dell’Accademia, and Pitti Palace.

The Duomo was amazing, it just was like nothing I have ever seen. It seemed that it didn’t match anything else in the area; it was huge, and made out of white, green, and pink marble… One of my favorite things I saw in Florence, definitely.

I also liked Ponte Vecchio, this bridge going across the river there, it looked like little houses, but it was stores making up the bridge. It looked very “Tuscan.”

Also, in the Galleria, I got to see Michelangelo’s “David.” It was huge! Way bigger than I imagined, I was in awe. I’m glad I got to see it. If you go to Florence, or anywhere in Italy, make sure you reserve your tickets for museums! I wanted to go to the Uffizi, where Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus,” is, but the only day they had tickets available was the following Tuesday! Those things sell out fast.

It was very rainy in Florence, so it made everything seem dreary, and it made it hard to walk around comfortably. I even considered buying rain boots; I was so soaked!

So ending thoughts on Florence: It was cool and definitely a city I would have always wanted to see, but I don’t think I would go back! I would rather go to other small Tuscan towns, and during sunny days :)

And even more photos of Venice! And I’m only showing you the good ones! I took so many :)

More photos of Venice… beautiful, eh?