Long Overdue -- Venice, Rome, Florence, London

Venice - Italian Fantasy Land

Venice was the first stop on our Italian Adventure. We took an overnight Train from Paris which consisted of a small room with six little bunks that had giant bowling balls stuck under the mattresses. Other than that, the trip was great! What first comes to mind when I think of Venice is Gellato... mounds and mounds of delicious, colorful, sweet, ice cream.

The city itself is so surreal. Every corner I turned, there was a perfect, picturesque street of water. The churches were also very nice-- so elaborate it was hard to know what exactly to look at. The city, I feel, is turning into a sort of Disneyland or theme park where you can go see your favorite sculptures or ride a gondola. It doesnt have any source of income other than the tourists that come to see it-- everyone that actually lives there is either a hotel owner, gift shop owner, or restaurant owner. It felt as though at night, the only people inhabiting the island are the tourist... it was very strange.
Of course, though, I cannot help but fall into the beauty that is Venice....

Rome - The Eternal City

Rome is where we all met as a class for three days of intense city-trekking. One of our teachers from Paris, Anne, lived in Rome for a year so she was our guide. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the main sites such as the Colosseum or the Vatican as a group so we had to squeeze them in on our own time. I didn't to see the Vatican, though, because we ran out of time and the line to get in was quite long.
Our walks had themes each day. Day one was focused on Power, or the city fabric as a result of powerful establishments, people, and governments. We saw the Piazza del Campidoglio by Michelangelo, Hadrian's Temple, the Pantheon, St. Ivo Alla Sapienza by Borromini, and the Piazza & Cathedral St. Pietro. Its hard to put into words, the size of Cathedral St. Pietro... its the third picture down, but the photo doesn't do it justice. Many of the smaller churches we saw in the following days would easily fit into one of St. Pietro's side chapels.
Day two was about Layers, collages of time and space. Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world.... how can one decide what to keep around, what to preserve, or what to build on top of? This history is also something of a curse for Rome. There are only two underground train lines because every time they dig, a new set of ruins is found. There has only been one "new" building constructed in Rome in the last half-century, a museum by Richard Meyer, and the people don't even like it. This relentless obsession to preserve the old has produced some interesting juxtapositions, though. Seeing a Piazza by Michelangelo right across the street from the Pantheon right across the street from a Baroque church by Bernini or Boromini is quite amazing to see.
Day three we walked from the center of old Rome to a suburb. It included parts of Rome most tourists don't see as well as some of the more common sites. Once out of the city, we saw an auditorium by Renzo Pianno and a museum under construction by Zaha Hadid.
Th thing that I loved the most about Rome was its people. Everyone we met was incredibly friendly, willing to help out with something if you needed. The food cannot be overlooked either. I had probably the best pizza I have or will ever have in my life. The fifth picture down is the oven/ kitchen it was made in... I loved it so much I took a picture.

Florence - Home of the Renaissance

We only spent about eight hours in Florence, but it went by all too quickly. We saw the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio Bridge, Donatello's tomb, and of course the statue of David by Michelangelo. The statue was absolutely amazing!!! I have always looked at sculpture with no real interest or conviction, but David breathtaking. The museum hall was built around the statue and I cant think of a better place for it to be displayed. The perfect proportions, amount of detail, the look on his face--humble, yet powerful. I probably gazed at him for a good 30 minutes. I saw a postcard of the statue after leaving the museum and noticed the floor was bright red. I cant say that I even noticed the museum floor the whole time I was in the gallery.

(this picture was taken from Wikipedia)

London - Messed Up Traffic and Football

After being back in Paris for a day, I headed out on the "chunnel" for London. Adam had left the day before so we met up (eventually) later this day. After arriving at the hostel at about noon, I found that I couldn't check in until 2 pm... fortunately, there was a bar downstairs so I had a hamburger and a beer-- which, by the way, only come in pints :) I checked in and headed downtown to walk around. I didn't have a map or anything so I just hopped on the Underground and got off at a random stop. I walked out of the train station and was surprised to find Parliament right in front of me along with thousands of screaming people. It just so happened that I was right next to the finish line of the London Marathon which I had no idea about. So I began plowing my way through the reportedly three quarters of a million marathon spectators and again, by chance, ran into St. Pauls Cathedral. After a couple hours more of walking and almost being hit several times by the cars on the wrong side of the street, I met up with Adam and a couple friends he had met on his first trip to London. They said there wasn't much to do on Sundays except go to a bar... so we went to a bar. Three pints later and we were all quite hungry so we headed to their apartment for some pasta (they were actually both Italian). A bowl of pasta and another pint later, I was getting rather sleepy... so I caught a bus to the hostel and fell asleep to sweet sound of no one in the room snoring.
Monday, we spent most of the day seeing the sights, new buildings, churches, and some very cool parks. We went to Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's stadium) to make sure we wouldnt have any problems getting the tickets to the game-- we got the tickets through my coach, Lee Hitchen, who is friends with the ex-captain of Chelsea, Joe McLoughlin. Joe asked Steve Clarke, the Assistant Manager at Chelsea, for th tickets. I cant say I was completely confident that they would be there, or that they would give a couple tickets under the name Joe McLoughlin to an American named Steven Booher. Well, were were a couple hours too early to get the tickets so we went back to the hostel to grab a few more layers and another pint :) When we got back, we were directed to the 'hospitality' entrance where I mentioned the tickets and they handed them to me with no questions... so much for all the worrying! The match itself was quite boring (Chelsea 1-1 Wigan) and several usual starters, such as Drogba and Lampard, werent playing for various reasons. The atmosphere, though, was worth the whole trip. The fans were constantly singing and chanting in unison. The sound was deafening... I dont know how the players could hear each other on the field. I can see why playing away is such a disadvantage. The corner of the stadium dedicated to the away team fans was lined with police and security officers. When Wigan scored in injury time, I've never seen so many angry, sad, distraught, cursing people. That goal pretty much assured that Chelsea is not going to win the league....
All in all, London was amazing, modern, and ENGLISH SPEAKING... each is reason enough to come back.