Wien! Italien!

I am so far behind in this blogging endeavor that I cannot catch up. All of my important pictures from the trip so far are on Facebook, though. For you old folks who don’t have an account, I will show you how to access the pictures.

But this blog will be about ITALY.

I just got back from a week in Italy. Between Florence and Venice, I have to say it might have been one of the best weeks of my life. Except of course for the fact that I had the song, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s amore…” stuck in my head the entire time.

The trip started with a 13-hour over-night train ride from Vienna to Florence. For some reason the compartment I would be sleeping in became the party compartment, and 13+ people managed to cram themselves into our little six-person car; packed like sardines in a tin box. It was…festive.



At 7:00 a.m. we arrived in Florence and then walked lost and aimlessly around the city looking for our hotel. Once we found the hotel we discovered the owner had not prepared her establishment properly for our decent and so she pawned us off on some youth hostel down the street. I wasn’t upset though. The hotel looked like it might have been infested with some sort of rodent and the hostel was clean and orderly. Not to mention I got a room in a loft with a window that looked over the rooftops of Florence.


Of course we had a tour of the city, most of which I didn’t hear, but it was nice to get some kind of idea of the layout of the city before they set us loose to get lost for hours.
`My first day in Florence consisted of walking around a lot, eating extremely over-priced Gelato, and eating some of the best pizza and Gnocchi I have ever eaten in my entire life. But when night fell the Italian magic truly began.





At about 8:00 a group of us hit the dark streets of Florence. It didn’t take us long to discover my favorite thing: a big, lit-up carousel calling to me. We rode that thing into the ground.





Afterwards we walked over to an outdoor “museum” of replicas of famous statues and had a bit of fun trying to replicate the poses ourselves. It was probably more than a little obnoxious, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Then we stopped for a while and listened to a man perform classic American music by artists such as Carol King, Paul Simon and Eric Clapton, He was talented, but not awesome, so we walked over to one of the bridges and talked there for a while before heading back to the hostel. It was wonderful.

My second day in Florence included more delicious pastries, pizza and pasta, of course. But the best part of today was going to the Academy Museum to see Michelangelo’s “David.” I didn’t really know what to expect; I certainly wasn’t prepared for the immensity of the piece. When you walk into the museum you are met with some normal-sized statues including The Rape of the Sabine Woman, which is a very impressive piece as well, but then you exit that room and turn into the next room, and the first thing you see in the distance in this giant, amazing statue. I won’t lie, it took my breath away to see the David. I never thought it would be something I’d see except for in photographs, and I was ready to accept that, but after having seen it, I am so glad I waited the hour in line and paid the 10 euros to go inside. I would pay 30 euros and wait all day to see it again. Oh, and I would pay 30 euros to understand what they were really trying to say with this sign...


An explanation for the next picture: Our tour guide told us that when you come to Florence, you touch the nose of the pig statue to give you good luck and to bring you back to Venice. I misheard her, and thought she said you had to touch your nose to the pig...



Train to Venice. Arrived in Venice. Found our hotel with the slogan “Second alley to the left after the train station!” And then we ventured out to find dinner, which ended up being mediocre and overpriced. But the Gelato was much more reasonable. It was so cheap in fact, that my friends and I had two cones before the night was over.

VENICE PICS





Day two in Venice was the paramount Italian experience, I think. I stopped by St. Marcus’s and appreciated the immaculately decorated Gothic architecture, explored a giant ship, did some shopping, walked along the smelly canals all over the city and avoided the shameless staring of Italian men. Which reminds me, I really enjoy the word “bella,” and I might move to Italy just to hear waiters and street merchants address me as such every day.
Anyway, by the end of the night I had seen a seagull kill and eat a pigeon, and I had taken a Gondola ride through the canals as the sun set . As my friend Joseph would say, “We took a Gondola ride under the Venetian star!” The night skies aren’t very ideal for star gazing. Later that night after a healthy dose of triple scoop Gelato, I watched The Sting, realized once more that it bores me to tears, and fell asleep at midnight.

SHIP, GONDOLA




I woke up at 5:45 the next morning and met some friends to sit on the dock at the gates of Venice to watch the sunrise. By 7:30 the sun had come up over the ocean and lit up the skyline. It was absolutely beautiful and something that I would like to experience again before I die. The rest of the day my friends and I spent “island hopping.” We took the waterbus to Moreno to see a glass-blowing demonstration and buy some authentic Moreno mementos. Then we took the waterbus to another island to climb a bell tower that provides and overview of Venice. It was really beautiful, and the weather was amazing. We wore t-shirts for the whole trip.




Right before the train left, I bought myself a Cannoli. I don’t think I could’ve lived with myself if I would’ve left Italy without eating an authentic Cannoli. At least, I couldn’t have ever looked Michelle in the face again.

So. Here I am back in Vienna. Blogs will be much less intense and much more frequent from now on, I promise.