We were pretty jet lagged the day we got there, but managed to check out a few churches near our hotel. We also took a walk through Rome, recommended in our guidebook, to the Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Piazza Colonna, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.
On July 24th, we went to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and Capital Hill. It was pretty interesting to see all of the ancient ruins. We skipped the line (thanks to our Rick Steve's Guidebook) by going to the line at Palatine Hill instead of the Colosseum. It was extremely hot, but we were happy that there were lots of water fountains to fill up our water bottles.
On the 25th, we woke up early and went to Vatican City. The line to get in stretched around the block, but moved pretty quickly. But after, when we came out, we saw there was no line, so I guess we shouldn't have waited. We were impressed by the museum's big art collection and lots of painted, gaudy ceilings, but a little disappointed with the Sistine Chapel. It was not what I thought it would be at all. We seemed to stumble on it like any other hallway in the Vatican, when I thought it would be some grand cathedral. It was really hard to see the famous painted ceiling, because it was painted in lots of really small panels. Then, we went to St. Peter's Cathedral, which was as exciting as we thought it would be. In the afternoon, we went to the National Museum of Rome and saw famous statues, like the Discus Thrower, but many of them were copies, so I was confused whether what we were looking at was the real thing or not.
Our last day in Rome, we went to the Villa Borghese. The gallery there was gorgeous and we felt the ceilings were what the Sistine Chapel should have been. They were colorful, dramatic, and large! There were also some fantastic sculptures there with lots of emotion. There were no photos allowed and they were very strict about it. They wouldn't even let you in with a camera! Maybe this is why the art was kept in such pristine condition? We spent the rest of the day in the Villa Borghese, which is a big park (like Central Park in NYC), except with statues and roman columns scattered around. We rented a boat and rowed on a small lake there. Then walked back to our hotel.
On Friday, the 27th, we took a day trip to Pompei. We had to take a subway from Naples, which was very sketchy, and dirty. They kept announcing to beware of pickpockets, so we kept a close eye on our bags. The weather was predicted to be 95 degrees (and feel like 101!), so we prepared for the worst. But it wasn't as bad as we thought, except for the subway, which was extremely humid and made poor Chris sweat profusely. In Pompei, I was expecting just to see lots of plastered people, but there were only a couple. The more fascinating thing was to see how an ancient city was designed/run. We were shocked how large it was, it would be so easy to get lost!
On the 28th, we took an express train to Florence. When we got there, we ate lunch atop a department store in Piazza Republica (recommended by a friend), and went inside the Duomo. In the afternoon, we walked around the San Lorenzo Market and bought some leather souveniers. The next day, we went to the Uffizi Gallery (again skipped the line, by making reservations - Thanks, Rick Steves) and saw many famous Medieval and Renaissance paintings, and read through the tour in our guidebook to learn how art developed through the years. It saved us quite a bit of money not having to do the audioguides at every museum. We walked across the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and went to the Boboli Gardens in the afternoon.
On Monday July 30th, we went to the Bargello Museum. It was kind of a bust because many of the more famous statues were under restoration. We walked to the Santa Croce Church and saw quite a number of famous people's tombs, like Galileo, Michaelangelo, Dante, etc. From there we went to the Science Museum which had lots of mathematical tools and some of the first clocks. It also had the middle finger of Galileo. There aren't too many pictures of Florence, because most of the museums did not allow cameras!
On the 31st, we went to the Accademia in the morning, to see the famous David statue by Michaelangelo. We paid 13 Euros for that museum and the only thing there was the statue of David! What a rip off! The statue was HUGE, but a pretty good piece of art. They said no pictures, but everyone was taking them of the statue. Chris and I didn't break the rules, so we don't have any photos of it. After that, we decided to take a day trip to Pisa, which wasn't in our original plans. We went up the Leaning Tower, which until 2001 had been under renovation to partially correct the lean. They brought it back about 6 degrees, to the same place it had been 200 years ago. It still leans pretty badly, enough to give you some vertigo at the top! We had to wait a few hours because they only let a certain amount of people up at a time, so we ate a leisurely lunch and went into the Church there before getting to climb the tower. It was pretty exciting to get to the top and there were some pretty good views. Chris got a little nervous at the top (I just thought it was exciting).
On the 2nd, we left Siena and took a train to Venice. We had to change trains in Florence, it took most of the day to get to Venice. We rode the Vaperetto (Water Bus) from the train station to St. Marks Square. Then we attempted to walk to our hotel nearby. I say attempted, because we took a couple of wrong bridges! They tell you to get lost in Venice, but it wasn't so fun with our luggage! It ended up that we were on the right track and we found our hotel without getting too frustrated. After we checked in, we decided to get a good map of Venice that showed all the side streets and alleys.
On the 3rd, we headed to Saint Mark's Square, but it was drizzling a little. We were happy to see some cool rain after all the heat! Venice looked beautiful and I thought that maybe this is how Venice was meant to be seen: rising out of the fog, a gray, city from the past... Again, we got to skip the long line at the Basilica, thanks to tips from our trusty Rick Steves Guidebook! Then, we bought some birdseed and fed the pigeons. It was quite fun. and we finished, just before a big rain storm dumped on us and cleared the square. To get out of the rain, we followed everyone else into Doge's Palace. It was really neat to see the workings of Venice's (VERY) proud republic as well as the corrupt parts, like the covered Bridge of Sighs that took prisoners to their jail cells in secrecy, never to be heard from again! After Doge's palace, the skies had cleared up and we walked to the busy Rialto Bridge. For dinner, we went out to a very nice dinner (my mom's gift to us) and had some great wine.
On the 4th, our last day in Italy, we got a ride to Murano island, where they make beautiful glass art. We saw a quick and lame demonstration, then walked through the shops on the island. The glass museum was closed, so we went back to Venice and wandered around for the rest of the afternoon, getting lost (this time on purpose). But everytime we walked down some back alley, we'd end up back on some square that we recognized, so we wandered our way back to the hotel. Then we went on a gondola ride at dusk for our last views of Venice. It was definately not worth the Euros, but something that was nice and of course, mandatory for a couple's vacation in Venice.
On Sunday, the 5th, to complete our 2 weeks abroad, we left early for the airport to fly home. Overall, it was a pretty perfect trip. Good travel partners (though, we already knew we got along), and I really like the amount of time we spent in each city, as well as the order we did it in. It seemed to go from the beginning of western society to the end of the renaissance. Chris (a tomato-hater), even found a liking for Bruschetta!! Hopefully, he also discovered a passion for traveling, to keep up with me! =)
On Sunday, the 5th, to complete our 2 weeks abroad, we left early for the airport to fly home. Overall, it was a pretty perfect trip. Good travel partners (though, we already knew we got along), and I really like the amount of time we spent in each city, as well as the order we did it in. It seemed to go from the beginning of western society to the end of the renaissance. Chris (a tomato-hater), even found a liking for Bruschetta!! Hopefully, he also discovered a passion for traveling, to keep up with me! =)
