What a busy past two weeks it has been! From having completed a midterm one day to departing on a 10 day adventure across Italy the next, I have to say it has been a bit go-go-go for me lately. I am definitely ready for some time to myself this week. Last week, it was our pause pédagogique (reading week), so seeing as our school week ends on Thursday afternoons, we were off to Rome as of Thursday evening for a 10 day in Italy! We had a slight flight delay due to the "winter weather" Nice has been experiencing lately... as a Canadian, I'm not sure it really classified as winter, but Nice definitely experienced some wet, cold snow at the end of February. Rome, Italie - le 1 mars au 3 mars 2018 We arrived at our hostel late Thursday night, so we settled in with some beer and pizza at a local pizzeria. After that, we had two full days to explore Rome, which was enough to touch the surface but hardly enough to see everything the city had to offer. Our first full day, Saturday, was a day full of walking and exploring the city on our way to Vatican City. We quickly became friends with a couple of guys in our hostel who had the same itinerary as us, and we also met up with a friend I made in Genoa the previous weekend. One of the perks of traveling! We stopped to see Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, and the Tiber River. Apparently the night before, there was a proposal at Trevi Fountain - and she said yes! I'm guessing that would have been pretty awkward if she had said no... Vatican City was more than I could have every imagined. We were hustled on our way in to buy tour passes to enter in the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica, but luckily we stuck to our guns and bought our tickets online to see the Museums - a much cheaper, student friendly option. There were also hardly any lines and wait times, which was a great plus. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to see the Sistine Chapel in my lifetime. Seeing the work of Michelangelo in person was unlike anything else I have experienced. I knew he was talented, but seeing his biblical depictions covering this church from floor to ceiling was unbelievable. There are truly no words. I had also studied Raphael's School of Athens painting in my first year philosophy class, so I was excited to see that in person as well. Both such incredible High Renaissance artists. We finished off the evening at the Spanish Steps and Villa Borghese Gardens to watch the sunset. The best view in Rome by far! The next day, we made breakfast at our hostel and headed out, umbrellas in hand, to go inside St. Peter's Basilica. The wait time in line was an hour long, but it was completely worth it! I have never seen a church as exquisite, detailed, and innate as this one... and I'm sure you know by now how I feel about churches. Breathtaking! Michelangelo's sculpture of Mary and Jesus (The Pieta) is located inside. Fun fact, he sculpted it out of Carrara marble it at the mere age of 25! There was also an entire tomb dedicated to the first pope of Rome, Saint Peter, who the basilica was named after. Peter was one lucky guy! His tomb was decorated in gold from head to toe. Although, I suppose it didn't really matter to him, as he was dead nonetheless... Later on, we grabbed lunch and were off to see the Roman Forum, Colosseum, and the Altare della Patria also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II or Il Vittoriano, which was built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. We didn't have the chance to walk in the Forum as it closed by the time we got there, but we still had the chance to watch the sun set at the Colosseum. It was very interesting to see the various layers of the Colosseum, from what it originally looked like to the remodeled version. After seeing the Altare, we headed back to the hostel to pack for our bus ride to Pisa the next morning! Pise, Italie - le 4 mars au 5 mars 2018 We spent one evening and one day at Pisa before we headed to Florence that evening, and I am so glad we did. I have been eager to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa since I was a little girl! The Piazza dei Miracoli features the Duomo of Pisa (the bell tower, baptistery, and cathedral), and that is where our time in Pisa started. We spent the majority of the evening getting some classic tourist pics before the sun went down... and so did everyone else. There was an entire line up of tourists posing in front of the tower. That was entertainment within itself lol! The next morning, we walked around Pisa for the day. We walked along the river, saw a few churches (including the ever so tiny Santa Maria della Spina right along the water), the Citadel, aqua-ducts, and several other small Piazzas (plazas). A day was more than enough time to hit the highlights of Pisa. Then, later in the afternoon on the 5th, it was off to Florence! Florence, italie - le 6 mars au 7 mars 2018 Arrived in Florence in the evening, and the receptionist pointed out a local library cafe that we later learned was a very up and coming hipster place to be. Lots of writers, painters and musicians were there, and they even had some live music - such a calming atmosphere to be in. We also had two full days in Florence, and on the first day we covered a bunch of ground. We were able to see Florence all by foot, and we started off by going to see the statue of the potbelly pig, Porcellino - I rubbed his nose for good luck! Then we headed over to the Piazza della Signoria where the Accademia is. Outside is where the replica statue of David is, so instead of paying to go inside the museum, we opted for the cheaper option and took some pictures outside with our pal David. Close by was the Piazza Santa Croce - the burial place of many illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo and Galileo. We stopped for crêpes at a little cafe on our way over to the Synagogue and then made our way back to Vecchio Bridge. The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge over the Arno River, which features shops built along it. The shops were beautiful! (And expensive!) After a short break, we walked by Pitti Palace where the Italian Boboli Gardens are located. We decided to walk over to the Fortress on our way to the Piazzale Michelangelo instead of heading into the gardens. It was a bit of a let down when we realized our half hour uphill climb was for nothing... the museums were closed, entrance to the fortress gardens wasn't free, and there was no view of the city from up there. The views from the Piazzale Michelangelo made up for it though! It was stunning to see the sun setting over the city. We concluded the evening at the Piazza Santa Spirito with steak Florentine and red wine! Clearly my priority of the day was saving up my money for some delicious Florentine cuisine ;) Day two mostly consisted of visiting the Piazza del Duomo. I bought my ticket online and got to see all 5 of the attractions: the baptistery, the bell tower, the dome, the Cathedral and the crypt below it. It was money well spent, even though I climbed over 2000 steps that morning. The view from the top of the dome was the height of my day - pun intended! Later that afternoon we went to see the Piazza di San Lorenzo and the market area close by, as well as the Piazza Republica. I think I'm almost Piazza'd out... Venise, Italie - le 8 mars au 10 mars 2018 Last on the journey was Venice! We arrived in the afternoon at our airbnb outside of Venice in a small neighbourhood called Preganziol. We were greeted with flowers from our hosts in honour of International Women's Day - how lovely! Apparently that's the tradition in Italy each year on March 8th. That afternoon and evening we trained across the water to Venice, and spent our time walking around and getting to know the area more. We had hand made pasta at a restaurant that just recently opened up a branch in Toronto! I will definitely be making a stop there once I'm back in Canada. We also got to meet up with some friends for the last time in Venice, so we all grabbed a drink together to say our final goodbyes. Fun fact: Bellinis originate from Venice, so of course we had to order a round of those ;) Most of our evenings were spent in Venice trying not to get too lost, but wandering around with no real agenda. At night and in the early mornings, the town is filled with a heavy fog. Simply beautiful to watch as the sun was going down and rising each day. Burano - le 9 mars 2018 On Friday, we decided to take our friends up on their suggestion and went to see the island Burano, situated north of Venice. It was about a 45 minute ferry ride to reach Burano - the boat ride on the way back was so soothing that it put me to sleep! Burano was a beautiful little town filled with exuberance! All of the buildings were painted bright, vibrant colours which reflected along the rivers that flowed through the town, much like they do in Venice. It made for a lovely afternoon of strolling and taking it all in... and of course snapping a few pictures! Murano - le 10 mars 2018 Murano was a little less colourful than Burano but equally enjoyable. We took a much shorter ferry ride over on Saturday, but this time we were caught in some on and off rain. We had been told before heading to Murano that their specialty was glass, and once we arrived we soon saw that every store was filled with glass creations: plates, cups, decor, jewelry, you name it! We also soon learned that Murano is where Pandora's Murano glass charms come from. We found lots of shops with similar glass charms, but for a much more reasonable price. So of course I had to buy one... or three... To finish off my time in Venice, I decided to go to a music performance at the Sculoa Grande dei Carmini Saturday night. I found tickets to an Opera Balletto which featured dance and opera music, such as Rossini's Barber of Seville and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. It was such a unique performance, as the artists all wore Venetian masks as they played/sung. There was even a ballerina who performed during the dance pieces. Overall, it was a lovely hour of classical music and dance in the heart of Venice. After a long but exciting 10 days, we made our way home Sunday morning by bus from Venice. Surprisingly the 8 hours went by fairly quickly, and I didn't get motion sickness once. I would definitely call that a success!
Now to find the motivation to get back into school mode!
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