Eating Our Way through Italy

Sevilla has a festival called Feria. I don't know exactly what the significance is, but it's a week of drinking, partying, and dancing, none of which I particularly enjoy. So for me, it translated into 12 days off of school, which obviously meant 12 days of travel.  Destination Italy. Venice, Florence, Rome, Pisa, and Milan to be more exact.

I went with 3 other girls from the program, but they only stayed until Rome. My friend Alex came to meet me in Rome at the end of the week, the day the others had left.

We started our tour of Italy in Venice. Our flight left at 6:30 am, so it was quite the early morning. By the time we got to Venice, our bodies were convinced it was about 3 in the afternoon, but it was actually only noon! We couldn't even check into the hotel yet. We sat at a cafe until check-in time and made a plan. Pizza, bakery, walk around, shop, and early to bed. Everything was great until the shopping part. We soon found out that Venice is famous for masquerade masks. Apparently, back in the day, people would wear masks on a daily basis, and later they morphed into more of a costume thing. The bright colors, the glitter and the feathers immediately caught our attention. So we spent the next two hours trying on masks. And we were serious the whole time. We weren't trying on for fun, we were trying on for fit, comfort, style and colors to complement the eyes. We went to multiple stores, and all four of us found the masks that were perfect for our faces. Since it began to rain, we went back to the hostel, and the most logical thing to do next was try on the masks and take pictures in different poses with different faces. Thus commenced the two hour photo shoot. We did self timer, we built a sturdy tripod for the right angle, we switched off photographers, we changed our lineup, and we adjusted each other's masks. These masks were no joke. When we travelled, the first thing we did when we got to our next hotel was a mask check to make sure it was still in tact. We even have outfits planned around our masks to wear to the masquerade party we have tentatively planned for next semester.

The other major souvenir/gift item Venice is famous for is it's blown glass. The island of Murano is full of art shops and glass factories, so of course we made a stop. We bought earrings, rings, necklaces in almost every shop we went into. I even bought blown glass cuff links for my brother! In order to get to the island, we had to take a water taxi. We bought our (unnecessary) ticket and boarded the boat. We got on the correct boat, but for some reason it skipped the Murano stop the first time around, so instead of being the next stop, we made our way around the entire city of Venice, then over to Murano. We justified the hour and a half long ride as our tour of the city by boat, instead of paying for an 80 euro gondola ride!

Venice was really interesting just to walk around. We visited St. Marks Basilica, we went into the Doge's Palace, and we went to see the famous bridge. Venice was at the top of my list of places to visit while in Europe, and it has been one of my favorite cities so far (Paris is hard to beat!). A city of canals, bridges, and boats...unique and incredible.

Our next stop was Florence, the renaissance capital of the world. It literally was like stepping back in time. The buildings kept their renaissance character, which gave the small city a quaint feel. It was unique.

Duomo

Vecchio Bridge

After dropping our stuff off, we crossed the famous Vecchio Bridge,  and then  walked around the main square by the duomo (main cathedral), until we got hungry and found a little pizza restaurant. Our next order of business was gelato (obvi) and as we were sitting at dinner Anna said "hey guys we should go that way after dinner to get gelato because I see people coming from there with amazing looking gelato".  So that way we went.  As we rounded the corner, what did we see? The 4 magic letters GROM! So we grommed it for the second time that day! But Florence introduced us to the "three flavor medium cone". Venice had withheld the information! So we took advantage of the extra scoop.

Yes, we were this close to the dome.

The next day was Monday, so all the museums were closed, so we went to the Duomo. The inside wasn't nearly as pretty as the outside. Kind of a let down if you ask me. But not only could you go in, but you could go up too! I am not one for heights, so the prospect of climbing a 1,000 ft dome was not my idea of a fun time. I knew I would regret it if I didn't go up, so up I went. It was quite scary, not because of the height (the stairs were all enclosed) but the majority of the way was the small/narrow circular staircases, and for a portion of it, the way up and down were the same. So there were two lines of people going up and down the circular staircases at the same time. Then, the stairs literally changed to a 90 angle climb. I wish I had taken a picture, but I was too focused on not dying. The view from the top was beautiful and well worth the climb. From the rolling hills of the Tuscan country side to the narrow streets of Florence, it was all visible.

View from the top of the Duomo

Once back on the earth, we walked to the leather market. Florence is known for its street market, so why not take advantage of it?! While we were shopping, we stumbled upon the Florence food market too! We were shopping around the market for pasta, pasta sauce, when we stumbled upon the dried fruit lady! All four of us filled a bag with dried fruit for an on-the-go snack, but some got more carried than others (cough, cough, Anna). She ended up paying 15 euros for dried fruit (that's about $22). So from then on, a bag of dried fruit became the unit of measurement when it came to paying. A 30 euro shirt? Why not? It's only two bags of dried fruit!

The leather market was such a success for all of us that we decided to come back for round two the next day. And by successful, I mean we all found something(s) we wanted but had to sleep it. Of course the next day we came back and bought all of that and then some!

After the leather market was the meal that we met Pino. Beth had a friend studying in Florence so she took us to lunch at a local panini shop. Pino's panini shop! I don't really know why it was so good, but it was like a normal deli, but a normal Italian deli is a gourmet deli in US standards! But his panini and drink were 4 euros and were better than any 12 euro pizza I had! We might have gone to Pino's three times in the span of 36 hours. We also might have gone two of those times in the span of 4 hours. No big deal.

We spent the afternoon climbing hills. We wanted to go to Michelangelo's look out to see the city from a mountain across the river. So we do. But only after taking a random staircase that we thought was a shortcut. Nope. It was a steep climb up to...nothing. So only after we went down the steep hill an up another one did we arrive at the look out.

View of Florence

The next morning, it was pouring rain. At least it was museum and leather market day. We went to go see the  David. Museums aren't my thing, so I was ok with just seeing the David and leaving, which was pretty much exactly what we did. But keep in mind that it's pouring rain, and David is quite famous. There was a line that spanned the block of the museum that we stood in for an hour in the rain. After about 45 minutes Anna and I decided we were done and the decision was on Beth. She said we should wait for 20 more minutes and leave if we weren't inside the museum. So we did, and in 20 minutes we were the next people to enter. Thank goodness one of us had the patience to wait because the David has to be the most impressive art pieces I have ever seen. Well done, Michelangelo!

Then it was back to the leather market and back to Pino! David, purses, Pino, and Grom make for the best day we could have possibly had!

After two and a half days in Florence, it was time to move on to Rome. By the end of the third day, we were struggling to find things to do, so Rome came at a good time. We got in at about 11 and after finding our rather sketchy hostel, we went exploring. First stop, Colosseum!

The girls convinced me to do a tour that would take us down to the bottom section and up to the third level, and it was well worth it. The Roman Forum and ruins were the next stop. We did take a lunch break in between the ancient roman sights, because there's only so much you can take in 3 hours!

We then walked to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and back to the hostel. We were all dragging by the time we got back, so we did a pizza take out and went to bed early!

The next morning we went to the Vatican. Since I had already been in once, I decided to not do the museums with the group. I waited in line to get into Saint Peter's Basilica  and went to Mass that I happened to walk in on. After that, I met back up with the group and we walked back across the river to Piazza Nuovo and made a beeline for the Grom (that we may or may not have looked up the night before). We walked back to the Pantheon to go inside, and then back to Piazza Navona to hang out and people watch before we went to dinner.

I provided a running commentary on the unfortunate European PDA that I saw, while Kate offered to take people's pictures after they failed to take selfies. The best moment of sitting in the plaza was when an Eastern European couple asked me to take their picture by the fountain as they did their special pose. I didn't take a good enough picture the first time, and they gave me specific instructions for the second round. Apparently they were pleased with my photography skills, and an hour later they came back to the bench where we were sitting and asked me to take another picture for them! This time they were doing some kind of acrobatic pose and I was supposed to capture it on film. After drawing a crowd, they mastered the pose and I caught it on camera, so my photography skills were no longer needed.

My three travel partners left Friday, but my friend Alex was coming to meet me, and we were staying until Tuesday. That night we went to get pizza and see the Trevi Fountain, and headed back to the hostel to plan the next day. It was her only day in Rome so we had to figure out how to fit everything into one day!

We left bright and early for the Vatican and didn't have to wait at all. We literally walked right in. Then we walked across the river to Piazza Navona to get Grom that I had been talking up the whole time. Since it was only 9:30 am, it wasn't open, so instead we improvised and switched around our plans. We went to the Pantheon, then to Campo dei Fiori to see the market, and bought paninis for lunch. Then we went back to Grom! It still wasn't open, but it would in about 5 minutes. So we waited and were the first grommers of the day! Such dedication and so worth it.

The Colosseum was next, but I waited outside while she went through that and the Roman Ruins. Two times is enough for me, there was no way I was going in for a third time! Ruins only change so much, and the change really only happens in my mental image, not the actual ruins!

So it was 3 pm and we had seen Rome. What to do?! We went back to the Trevi Fountain to see it during the day and went back to the hostel to recover from our early morning and walking filled day. Then we went to dinner at a really cute Italian bakery slash cafe.

Sunday was the day we left for Pisa early in the morning. After a four hour train ride, we made our way tithe leaning tower of Pisa!! I have always wanted to see it and it was worth the stop. I budgeted 6 hours when 3 would have been adequate, but it was still a good day! And fun fact: not only is the tower leaning, but so are the other main buildings. But of course the tower's lean is much more noticeable.

After the stop in Pisa, we took another 4 hour train ride to Milan, the last stop of my Italian adventure. Since we got in at 10:30 pm, we went straight to the hotel and went to bed. But the room was so terrible and the bed was so uncomfortable that it was hard to sleep. We had already made the decision to cancel the second night at the hotel and sleep in the airport, and good thing we did because the airport was just about as comfortable.

Anyway, the first thing we saw was the Duomo in the city center. The inside was not as disappointing as the Duomo in Florence. But the most unique part was the gothic style architecture on the outside. It is the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world, and Sevilla's Cathedral is second! So cross those two off my list of places to see.

Even though it started raining, I still wanted to go up to the roof. But after the Florence Duomo climbing incident, I jumped at the chance to take the lift, even if it cost 5 euros more. I walked around the top, and the view was worth it, no so much for the city but for the roof of the cathedral itself.  Alex met me at the bottom, and since it was pouring rain we decided to take cover in the mall that was right there. We walked around a little bit, then got lunch in the mall. We were running out of things to do since it was raining, so we spent a couple hours at the restaurant. The slow service helped, too, I guess. We then went to the Opera House which was one of my favorite things to see. Alex and I pretended we were dressed up in long ball gowns, waiting for the show to start so we could watch it from our box. Unfortunately, it never did.

Then we went shopping. And by shopping, I mean window shopping. We tried some things on, but there were no purchases. Since Milan is considered the fashion capital of the world, the stores range from H&M to Chanel!

We had plans with my dad's friends who had last seen me in England (when I was 3!). We met at a traditional Milanese restaurant since they were so excited to show us the real Milanese cuisine. I had a beef dish with saffron risotto and it was fantastic! I was even talked into eating raw cow tendon...I manage to swallow it, but there was a point when I didn't think that it was going to make it to my stomach. Great food and great company was the best way to end my 12 days in Italy!

From the restaurant, they took us to the train station and dropped us off by our 11 pm bus to the airport, that was about an hour outside of town. Since our flight was the first flight of the day, there were no buses from Milan to Bergamo that would get is there at 4:30. So we set up camp in the airport with about 100 other people. We claimed a corner and laid our clothes down as a mini mattress. We pulled our hoods over our faces and tried to sleep, as uncomfortable as it was. People were snoring in a deep sleep, and one guy even had a mini blow up mattress!!

Anyway, we made it back to Seville by 9 am, and by 11 I was prepared for the week!

So that was Italy. I miss the salami, the paninis, the pizza, the pesto, and of course GROM! But not to worry, there is one at 77th ad Broadway in New York, so when I visit Michael this summer...Grom will be the first stop!