(These are the popes shrubs above! Hooray for shrubberies!)
To finish off Rome… We finally got in to the Vatican Museum on Tuesday (after waiting in line for about 2 hours) and saw the Sistine Chapel and lots of other art- maps, Raphael’s walls, sculpture up the wazoo, mummies, artifacts, modern religious art, etc. Supposedly there are four miles of art to wander around at the Vatican, and I think we definitely saw it all before ending up at the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was impressive and beautiful, and it was crazy to see these iconic paintings in person.
Rome itself was a surreal experience. There’s something bizarre and really cool about taking a taxi home at night and passing through the ancient walls of Rome and over the Tiber River, and seeing the Forum and the Coliseum and the Vatican and St. Peter’s all lit up.
On our last night there we experienced Rome at its best- at dusk and as the moon rose. It had cooled down, and the moonlight softened the ugly parts and made the whole city more beautiful. We retraced some of our tour from Monday- we climbed the Spanish steps, chucked our coins in the Trevi Fountain as it was all lit up (to ensure that we come back to Rome), watched the moon rise over the Pantheon while enjoying some of the best gelato in Rome, and watched the artists at work on the Piazza Nouvona. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Rome.
On Wednesday we went to Pisa for the day on our way to Florence. The train ride from Rome to Pisa was gorgeous- we were riding along the Mediterranean coastline, and the sea had about a million distinct shades of blue and green. The train station at Pisa was not so beautiful- we saw someone fall underneath a train as it was entering the station, which was horrifying. The screams and the chaos that ensued were crazy, and it made me incredibly thankful for the safe travels that we have had. We later found out that she had died...
After getting out of the station as the ambulance arrived, we wandered the streets of Pisa and climbed the leaning tower. It was difficult to stay balanced while climbing and descending slippery marble stairs that tilt, but really exciting to think that I was where Galileo had been and had done some of his research. From there, we headed off to Florence and wandered the streets around the Duomo and historic Florence in the evening.
On Thursday we toured Florence, visiting the David and Ponte Vecchio. Ponte Vecchio is a bridge lined with shops that sell silver and gold, with great views of Florence on the river. Local men take padlocks and attach them to the bridge and throw the key into the river to symbolize their undying love for their significant other; hence, there were lots of padlocks on the bridge. We also toured the gardens on the grounds of the Pitti Palace. The gardens had lovely views of Florence, a plethora of statues, and some beautiful fountains, which I very much enjoyed. We also escaped the tour groups, which was very exciting.
We spent the afternoon and evening in Siena, which is a smaller, out-of-the-way town in Tuscany. The ride there was gorgeous, with villas and vineyards and sunflower fields and olive trees and rolling hills- just like the pictures of Tuscany. We rambled around the city, climbed the bell tower for lovely views of the city and countryside, picnicked on Il Campo (the main square of Siena where everyone hangs out), and generally experienced life in a small Italian town with fewer tourists. The square was all set up for the Palio, which is a horse race that is held once a year in Siena, where all of the neighborhoods compete against each other in a race around the square. The square had a ring of dirt around it, mattresses padding the corners, and bleachers set up all around for viewing. We missed the actual race by a few days, but it was cool to see everything all set up. We saw some photos from the race in previous years, and it looks like it would be crazy. There really are no rules, so jockeys will hit each other and rider-less horses can win. Looks like fun!
We enjoyed our ride back to Florence, as it was at sunset and just generally beautiful. We had a little bit of excitement, since our bus driver was texting throughout the trip, but we made it safely back.
On our last day in Florence we spent the morning bartering and generally making out like bandits at the central market in Florence, which had anything and everything you could ever want. We hopped on our train to Venice, and then had a beautiful ride through some mountains to Venice.
Venice is lovely and watery and old. We cruised the Grand Canal on our way to the hotel and saw gondolas and old palaces and caught a glimpse of St. Mark’s and enjoyed the Venice ambience with about a million other people. It still was charming, despite the teeming hordes. In the evening, we explored the side streets of Venice- the rambling canals and cute bridges. We managed to find a relatively quiet neighborhood and had a peaceful supper in a garden. Hooray for gardens! We bus-boated back to our hotel, enjoying the lit up canal at night.
The bus system is really a bunch of mondo boats that cruise back and forth on the canal with river-side “stations.” It is quite slow, but a good way to see Venice, and really the only way to get where you want to go. It’s really amusing to see DHL boats and food boats and to see teenagers out cruising with loud music at night in their power boats.
On our full day in Venice, we did a grand tour, boating around the islands some more, seeing the glass blowing that Venice is so famous for, visiting some of the famous bridges: the Rialto and the Bridge of Sighs, seeing San Marcos Square, and wandering around the streets and canals and parks that are so pretty. We even managed to find a residential neighborhood where we could rub elbows with locals and almost no tourists.
I also managed to have a hugely Venetian experience… We had lunch on a little square, and the pigeons started attacking in swarms. (You don’t need to go to San Marcos to see pigeons- they’re everywhere!) They were even pecking my feet, so I started shooing them away with my feet- and ended up punting one quite soundly! It was quite satisfying. Score: Sarah 1, Pigeons 0. Of course, then I started laughing so hard that a) everyone looked and b) the pigeons were all scared away for real. But it truly is a strange sensation to kick a pigeon…
Yesterday we spent most of the day (my birthday!) traveling from Venice to Lezzano on Lake Como. It involved boats and trains and buses, and was quite an experience. Lake Como is one of the most beautiful places on earth- a gorgeous lake surrounded by huge, steep mountains that are dotted with villas and otherwise covered with trees. Because the mountains are so steep and the roads have to be carved out of the rock, the roads are incredibly narrow and windy- often they are only wide enough to allow for one car. As a result, the bus ride was quite an experience. The driver would honk on the curves where it is impossible to see if anyone was coming to say that he was coming and that he was going to go where only one car could go. A lot of times the cars and motorcycles didn’t believe him, so we would pretty much be stuck until the smaller cars moved on. And then we’d go careening on down the windy road.
We had supper on the water last night, just enjoying the gorgeous scenery. We also watched a thunderstorm roll in over a 20 minute period- the lightning was amazing on the lake. I also love thunderstorms, so it was the perfect way to end my birthday.
And thus ends the saga for now… We’re going to enjoy relaxing at Lake Como for a little bit, since we’ve pretty much been going straight through for a while. Hope you’re all doing well!
