Italy

Just a recap of life in Sevilla before I get to Italy. Last Sunday we got to attend our Mama's choir concert at her church. It was the first time I have gone to a church service here in Seville and it was different. Like 90% of the churches here it was catholic so attending a catholic service is a first as well. After we all went to lunch at a restaurant 20 minutes away by car. First time I have been in a car (that wasn't a taxi since arriving in Seville. We (Mama', Carmen, the brother, Sarah and I) enjoyed a lovely lunch and afternoon. Then it was back to the same routine Monday except we only had class through Wednesday, which allowed us a 5 day weekend.

Italy

Wednesday- Rome
Wednesday afternoon we had our flight to Rome, Italy on Ryanair which had 6 other students from our program on it. All of us were going to the same cities and just spreading out our time differently. We arrived at about 7pm and took a bus to the metro stop and then the metro to the street with our hostel. Walking down the street we immediately noticed all the street venders with the fake designer purses. As we were walking one was on the phone and immediately started shouting out to us as we walked by. He was saying "two for half priace I make you good deal". Now I was not in the mood for looking a purses but Sarah had noticed one that she liked. So after some bartering, which I get from my mother, Sarah bought a bag and we continued on our merry way.  Our hostel was located about 2 blocks (if even that) from the Vatican and a great location in general. After settling in the hostel we decided to get some pizza I mean we are in Italy and we had noticed a couple just around the corner from our hostel. I need to mention that I know next to nothing when in comes to Italian and I was pretty quickly starting to miss spanish. Our waiter actually ended up being from Nicaragua and spoke Italian and Spanish so very quickly I spoke more spanish in one night in Rome than a whole weekend in Barcelona. Strange I think so, anyway after the most amazing pizza I have ever had, we also HAD to get gelato which was also to die for! When then made our way back to the hostel for the night. We luckily ended up with our own room.

Thursday
We got up early and headed to the Vatican because we knew that it would be crowded and we opted to not by our tickets in advance. The line wasn't too bad we got there considering that it wasn't even open, and once it did open it didn't take very long at all to get inside. While we were waiting though there was this one guy who wanted us to do a tour of the Vatican and would guarantee we would see everything in 2 hours. He gave us his pitch and we said no but was persistent in coming back the whole time we were waiting. He told us that there was 7 km worth of museums before you even got to the Sistine Chapel, which was really the only part we wanted to see. We made our way through just glancing at the museums around us. Upon arriving to the Sistine Chapel we were not allowed to take pictures or talk. It the rumbling whisper ever got to a certain volume we were literally "Shhh-ed" by the guards who were also perusing the area for cameras. Anyway all that aside it was absolutely beautiful and honestly a picture wouldn't do it justice. After that we excited and headed to the Plaza of Saint Pietro which is the spacious plaza outside of St. Peter's Basilica, which was also beautiful and huge! We were also able to go underneath where all the tombs are of the past popes. After that we decided to walk through the city of Rome and see the sites, a couple were added based on some postcards we found that looked really pretty. The two places above are the only ones we really went into in Rome. Our first sight on our journey was the Castle St. Angelo, then we crossed the river and headed to the Plaza Navano (added visit from a postcard), continuing on to a monument in Plaza Venezia and then to the Colosseum. We didn't feel the need to go in considering the price and how many roman ruins we have seen so far. After that we break-ed for lunch and had pizza again (which I am just going to mention now that we had pizza for almost every meal while in Italy). After lunch we headed towards Trevi Fountain, which the story goes that if you drink the water and toss in a coin you will return to Rome. I did neither because I was either going to do the whole thing or nothing at all and I was not willing to drink the water, with how many people were there and people sticking there heads and what not, can you imagine how many germs! ew! So that was a no go plus I wasn't too crazy about Rome it was really crowded and I felt kind of lost in the crowd everywhere I went. After that we headed toward to Pantheon and then toward Plaza de Espana (which was another postcard must) but turns out it isn't as pretty as the postcard made it out to be. On our walk between the two we were stopped by a man who was giving a sales pitch for nightlife in Rome. Turns out he is from Toronto, Canada and has been doing this for 12 years. Seriously the guys spoke so fast and clearly I could believe the 12 years. In foreign cities I am not much of a nightlife person in fear of not being able to find my way home so we declined but he was really nice about it. After the Plaza de Espana we made our way home on the metro and went to the hostel to take about an hour and a half break before going to dinner. I still haven't decided the eating schedule of Italians because whenever we went to eat no matter the time nothing every really seemed busy. We went to dinner and I got gnocchis with a cream sauce which was delicious. We skipped on gelato because we were both so stuffed. We returned to the hostel for a shower and to check the train schedules. We had a bit of a scare when one of the guys running the hostel told us that Rome transportation was having a strike the next day and that we weren't going to be able to get out of the city. I started to panic so we went to the computers and checked the train schedule and you could still buy tickets we googled it and turns out that it was mostly just the buses and metro and that they were running for the morning and evening rush hours only. So we just knew that we would have to get up early and head to the train station to make sure we wouldn't have to walk. We felt we had accomplished a lot in Rome and we saw the top 10 sites while there.

Friday- Rome to Florence
So we woke up early friday to take the metro to the train station and then bought our tickets to the train. The cheapest was a four hour train ride but there was a 30 euro difference in price to take that one so we did. We left at about 8:45 and got there around 12:45 or 1. Before we got off though literally as we are pulling into the station the guy on the train comes to check tickets which wasn't a problem til he looked at them and told us they needed to be validated. We had no idea what he was talking about but he explained that we needed to have them stamped by a machine before getting on the train. No where did it say that and he said there are penalties well if is 40 euros a person but he told us that he would give us a break and only write down that one person didn't have a ticket validated so we paid 20 euros. Well out of the 3 groups of students traveling between the same cities we were the only ones that had to pay anything everyone else only got a warning so that was extremely frustrating. When we arrived in Florence we went through our usual deal of buying a map and figuring out where the hostel is and going from there. We arrived at our hostel, which was extremely cute and homey. After dropping off our stuff we went to lunch where guess what we had pizza. While we were sitting there looking at the map not sure exactly what to do in Florence we talked about possibly doing a bus tour that was hop on and hop off to see everything and decide what we actually wanted to do. There were only 3 other people eating at the restaurant and they spoke english and were talking about Italy and everything they had seen, so we asked if they had any recommendations for us while we were there. One of the women just starts listing off all these things and where they are and goes on and on. Least to say we didn't catch any of it. So I asked if she would be willing to mark it all over our map she said "sure" and asked how much time we have here and told us what we should do with it. So we sit through and listen intently as she is marking and talking. After I ask if she lives here and she said no but that she brings tours here all the time! So what luck! So that afternoon we went to see the Accademia, which is where Michelangelo's David is. It is absolutely breath taking we must have stood there for at least 30 mins just in aw of it. After that we just walked to a plaza she had circled where we just found tons and tons of street shops with everything you could possibly think of that is touristy. Next we headed to the Duomo, which is the cathedral there and it was free so we went in. The lady had also old us that we needed to go to the Piazzale Michelangiolo that night because it gives you an amazing view of the city and a city bus can take you up there so we did that. The view was amazing and they had concession stands so I got some wine and peanuts and we sat there just relaxing and enjoying the view. Then we headed to the hostel for the night.


Saturday- Florence


We woke up early again to get to the Uffizi museum. On our way we passed several markets again and shops.  I wasn't really a fan of the museum because it was a lot of Renaissance art and I am just not very interested in that and all the sculptures I liked were copies so kind of disappointing. We also waited in line for about 2 hours before we even got inside and spent probably about 2 hours in there. After the museum we got lunch and it was pizza. We then decided to go to the train station and look into tickets to got to Venice. On our way we ran into our friend Hillary who was walking around by herself apparently she had gotten separated from her group in the tower so we texted a friend in the group and waited with her until she met up with them again. They had also told us that is was 15 euros for a train to Venice at 4:30 in the morning and after that it jumped for 43 euros for the rest of the day. So we continued to the train station and bought out tickets and then headed to our wine tasting that was at 5. Well it wasn't as far as we had anticipated so we showed up about 50 mins early so we walked around the area and sat  in the plaza across the street. At about 15 til we went and checked in and they said that we were waiting on two more people. So once they arrived 7 of us went downstairs where there was a table and place settings. It was Sarah and I, a couple for Scottland, and 3 German girls celebrating one of their birthdays. It turned out to be a fun group and the wine was AMAZING. Afterwards Sarah and I had decided to get a bottle and head up to the park we had gone the night before so we bought a bottle of wine and some bread and headed up and enjoyed the view once more. We then took the bus home and stopped for gelato. Soon after that we went to bed considering we were waking up at 3:15 the next morning to catch the train to Venice.

Sunday- Venice
3:15 came really early and we pretty much slept in our clothes so that we wouldn't have to pack in the morning. We got on the train and we all met up again. There was 9 of us on the train. It left at 4:30 and arrived at about 9 something. At one point we did have to change trains but it wasn't too terrible and we slept most of it anyway. When we got to Venice we all had to go to the bathroom. Well I discovered something about Italy, they like to nickel and dime their tourists. There is a tourist tax for hostels and hotels, I think they purposely don't have any signs about the validation and they put it in a little caption on the back of your ticket and you have to pay to use the bathroom at the train station and I bet they wouldn't have to charge for that if they didn't have someone hired solely to make sure people pay to go to the bathroom like really? So anyway not a fan in that sense of the country. So after the bathroom we found breakfast and then decided to go our separate ways after walking around together for a bit. We headed to check into our hostel which was on one of the only two islands not connected to the main group. Just to mention this because I didn't know but Venice is just a bunch of islands connected by 354 bridges. Anyway on the e mail confirmation the directions to the hostel said to take one of the 3 boat buses listed. So we took the one that we were next to after buying our 24 hr pass. Well an hour and 45 mins later we arrive at the stop. We clearly took the wrong one of the 3 and I think that the one we took shouldn't even be listed. After we settled in and talked to the people at the hostel they told us which boats to take where so it was a lot better. We didn't to go ahead and ride in a gondola first it was expensive but worth it I think. I don't believe you can go to Venice and not ride in a gondola. It was peaceful and very beautiful. After we decided to go to the shopping area that the hostel had told us about and the San Marco plaza. So we made our way through the city taking our time. Venice is also known for glass making so I was on the hunt for a glass cuff bracelet. I must have walked into at least 30 glass shops and only 2 had them. I found one that I loved but it was too big and with something like that it has to fit or it will fall off and shatter. So unfortunately I didn't buy one or anything else for that matter. We stopped in the Plaza and sat down and relaxed for a while and just watched people pass by. Then we walked to some of the tourist booths. After that we decided to take a boat bus to the other island that we had spent an hour going around earlier in the day. It was a very cute and quiet town with colorful houses, it was a Sunday evening so everything was closed and it seemed pretty ghostly to be honest. We then got back on the boat to head back to the hostel for dinner and sleep considering it was going to be another early morning since our flight was at 9:20 and we had to take an hour bus to the airport and we had to take the boat to the bus stop. So our last night we couldn't decide between pizza and pasta so we each got a dish of tortellini and split a pizza, had a glass of wine and sat outside next to the water and enjoyed our last night in Italy.

Monday- Back to Seville
So we caught the first morning boat bus back to the main islands and got off at the bus station. One of the buses said airport so we hopped on. I was kind of nervous thinking it was too easy but we thought there was only one airport in Venice. So after going all the way to the airport to go inside and not see ryanair as an airline we hopped right back on the bus and back to the bus station. Once there we asked the information where to buy tickets for the Treviso airport and the point to his right so we crossed the street and bought a ticket for a more charter bus like bus and headed to the airport. On the bus was the group of 4 that had been traveling. We got to the airport super early and got breakfast and sat around waiting for our gate to be assigned. Once it was we headed that direction and sat on the floor and played cards. Our flight back to Seville was about 2 hrs. and 15mins pretty much the same as it was to get to Rome. And we all pretty much slept considering how much we had all done in such a short period of time.

Tuesday
It was back to school, luckily we were just watching a movie in Spanish so the class wasn't too strenous and then we got out a little early as well today was a lazy day and a day I planned out my classes for my last year of undergraduate scary and kind of surreal. I can't believe how fast 3 months here has gone and almost 3 years. On April 10th I will only have 1 month left in Spain. I am really looking forward to come home, but I know after about a week I will want to come back.

I love and miss you all.

con todo mi amor,

Katie