Italia: Florence & Rome

The best word I can use to describe my visit to Italy: SURREAL. After looking at all my pictures from the trip I am finally realizing how much I saw & experienced these past 6 days. Because of this, my post will be mostly photos with descriptions!

My first stop: Florence! I stayed at my friend Veronica's apartment & did some sightseeing in the city.

The church in Florence is gorgeous. Not as big as the Sevilla Catedral, but amazingly beautiful on the outside.

I definitely got my fill of gelato! For 3 euros I got a massive amount of coffee & chocolate flavored gelato, yummmm!

I saw the real life version of the David, a piece by Michelangelo, in Florence! The picture below is an imitation of the actual statue. The real statue is HUGE. The proportions are completely off as well; his torso is smaller than the 1/2 the length of his leg & his hands are ginormous!

See all the locks below? This is right by the river in Florence. Couples write their names on the lock and throw the key into the river, symbolizing their never-ending love for one another. Sevilla has a few locks along the Guadalquivir river, but nothing like Florence!

Carousel ride in Florence! It was short but very fun :)

I had the best tiramisu in Florence. I can actually only compare it to that at Olive Garden, haha, but still it was so great. Italian food is mi favorito!

Veronica & I climbed all the way to the top of el Duomo in Florence, which contained many treacherous, almost vertical staircases. Despite the scary & painful journey up the Cathedral (we had to stop 2 times to catch our breath), the view was amazing. I have way too many pictures from up top, it was breathtaking.

Our first stop in Rome: The Coliseum! It's so ironic to see such an old huge building with cars parked around it.

I ran into my neighbor Erin from Southlake at the Coliseum! Turns out she is studying abroad in Rome...can you say SMALL WORLD?

After running into Erin, Veronica & I ran into Jake & David! They are both studying abroad in Sevilla with me, but I didn't know they'd be in Rome too! I guess the Coliseum just brings people together??

Me in front of the Coliseum. Look at how photogenic it is!!!!

One of my favorite parts of the trip: the Trevi Fountain! The recommended way to throw a coin into the fountain is over the shoulder with your back facing the water. Legend has it that if you toss a coin into the fountain you will return to Rome...so Rome, see you in another time?

Veronica & I in front of the fountain. It's so beautiful.

The best 5 euros spent. & yes, I did eat all of that cheese & onion pizza, it was delicious!

Spain has steps in Rome! These Spanish steps are a popular hang out spot, I'm not really sure why. Did you know that Spagna is Italian for Spanish?

I got the greatest crepe in Rome, filled with Nutella & powdered sugar. I could barely eat half of it, but it was so delicious. For some reason the people at this restaurant thought I was from Whales (British), but as soon as I spoke they quickly took that back. They were big fans of the Dallas Stars hockey team, randoooo

THE VATICAN. HIGHLIGHT OF MY ROMAN EXCURSION. SO AMAZING.

The Vatican has a post office, so of course it was necessary to send my postcards from the city! Parents & Guillermo, enjoy your holy mail.

The Vatican is surrounded by Swiss guards, who wear kinda silly uniforms but are no laughing matter. Don't know who the swiss guards are? Yeah, I didn't either until Veronica informed me! Some requirements to apply: be a Swiss citizen, Roman Catholic, 174 cm tall, & not married! We weren't allowed to take pictures with them, so this is me awkwardly standing in front of the guards.

Veronica & I rented these cart thingies in the Borghese Gardens...SO MUCH FUN. See video below.

Many many monks & nuns all over Rome! I'm sad that this is the best picture I got of them, but they were everywhere. Their outfits are so flowy!

Entrance into the Vatican Museum, which leads to the Sistine Chapel! We went on Sunday, & the museum ended up being free that day. The line to enter wrapped around the walls of the Vatican City, but the wait was well worth it.

The grand finale: WE SAW THE POPE! This is the crowd of people waiting to hear the pope.

THE POPE!!! He stood by the window & said a prayer in about 7 different languages. He was hooked up to a speaker, so everything he said was very clear. He then said a Hail Mary in Latin. SURREAL.

Veronica & I with the Pope in the background! We officially have 2 pictures with the Pope, so cool.

Here's a video of the crowd when the Pope spoke. You can hear him in the background. Rome could not have ended on a higher note!

After seeing the Pope Veronica & I parted ways at the Metro. I had to take the Metro & then another bus to get to the airport, but since I don't know any Italian I was really confused/stressed because I didn't know where to go. This lady named Constanica read my face & literally held my hand to the bus station. When we saw the bus wasn't coming for another 40 minutes, she got a taxi & rode halfway to the airport with me. We exchanged phone numbers, kisses & then I'm pretty sure she told the taxi driver to watch after me. I guess I'm the epitome of a sad confused American tourist when it comes to traveling, as I got so much help to & from Italy from the natives. EMBARRASSING. Much thanks to God for surrounding me with such kind people & letting me have an amazing experience in both Florence & Rome.

I cannot believe Italy was my 5th weekend trip in a row (Itálica, Córdoba, Granada, Madrid, & Italy). Needless to say I am exhausted & will be spending my next 2 weeks in Sevilla :) Time to get caught up on studying, essays, my internship & the city itself!!!

There's a place in Rome called Gipsy Travel, like my blog. What are the odds. hahaha Italy, you were very good to me.

Journey to Firenze

I saluti da Italia! (I'm hoping that says greetings from Italy)

I am finally in Florence, Italy, reunited with my friend Veronica. My journey here was absolutely ridiculous & deserves an individual blog post, so here it is! Let me just start off my saying that it is never smart to make your first trip in a foreign country to a place where you don't know the language...ie Italy.

My flight to Pisa, Italy departed at 4:55PM and class always ends at 1:20PM...but did I mention that the distance from school to home is about 30 minutes, on a good day?? So right after class ended I sprinted to the Metro, rode the Metro for 20 minutes, & arrived home at 1:50PM. I quickly exchanged my book bag for my travel backpack, grabbed my bocadillo, said my goodbye to Mamá Inés, & ran out the door.

I decided to take the bus to the airport because it only cost 2.40€, which is much better than the 28€ taxi ride I had when I arrived! The bus comes every 30 minutes, so the next pick up time was at 2:15PM. I made it to the stop with 5 minutes to spare! I allotted 40 minutes for the ride in my time crunch, but we made it to the airport in 30! Things were going too well...

I got to the airport & checked in at the VISA station at the front. I purchased my tickets with a company called Ryanair, known for being slightly sketch but very cheap. They have a strict bag carry-on policy; if your carry-on is not the right size they have the right to not even let you take it on the plane! After security I went to search for the gate for my flight to Pisa...it was not posted until 10 minutes before boarding time. RIDICULOUS. But I got to the right gate asap. I noticed my backpack was waaaay too fat, for Ryanair standards, but was somehow able to run past the bag-checking people & hopped on the plane.

During my rocky 2.5 hour flight I realized that I left my Spanish cell phone in Sevilla. Normally this wouldn't be a big problem, but I was supposed to call Veronica as soon as I got to Florence so that she could come find me. With no phone, & her number in one of my Facebook messages, I realized I would be alone in Italy for a while.

My plane landed & I went off to search for the train that goes from Pisa to Florence. I think I had a bigger culture shock landing in Italy than I did when I landed in Spain! All the signs were in Italian, of course, but for some reason I was just not expecting to be so clueless. I felt like the true American tourist when I had to ask people at the small shops if they spoke English & also ask where I could catch the train. I figured out that I needed to buy my a ticket from this machine outside, but had no idea what train to board. Once again, I had to ask for help. These two girls in their 20s told me to follow them, & one of them, Constancia, was even going to Florence! Constancia was from Sevilla & she spoke Spanish & Italian. When talking to her she would accidentally switch from Spanish to Italian without noticing, ahhh!

I had to take 2 separate trains to get to Florence, & it took about 1.5 hours total. But I still had a dilemma: how the heck was I going to tell Veronica that I had arrived in Florence?! My new friend Constancia & I arrived in Fienze SMN, where her boyfriend Matteo came to pick her up. She felt bad that I was stranded in Florence, so she convinced Matteo to take us to an internet café so that I could look up Veronica's phone number.

With the number I needed, our next stop was to a pay phone! I called Veronica to let her know that I was in Florence & we agreed to meet in the big plaza with benches in front of the church...turns out there are a lot of those in Florence. After waiting at the wrong plaza, I called Veronica again & we finally met up! Constancia & Matteo stayed with me this WHOLE time & were such great help. If it were not for them, I have no clue where I'd be right now. They were definitely my angels of the trip, not even joking.

So here I am, in Firenze (Florence), & I am sooo excited to start venturing around. Until my next update, ciao!!!!!!!

Madrid/Segovia

My weekend in Madrid has been the craziest one yet! Not only did I fit most of the major sightseeing in a weekend, I also took a small day-trip to Segovia, a tiny city 30 minutes north of Madrid. Here's a lowdown of my weekend:

• My roommate Katie & I took a bus to Madrid—it was only 35€ roundtrip, so much cheaper than flying! The 6+ ride was not so fun but, once again, the gorgeous Spanish countryside made up for the uncomfortable ride.
• We were lucky enough to have our friend Ardena help us out ALL weekend in Madrid, from housing to public transportation to sightseeing. Because she's grown up in the area, she helped us do everything as efficient as possible; there would have been NO way to finish it all without her help!
• Our first visit in Madrid was to El Palacio Real, the official residence of King Juan Carlos I & family. Although they don't really live there, the palace is used for important meetings & ceremonies. The architecture & design inside the building were breathtaking, but pictures were not allowed.
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• There were soldiers dressed in camouflage & holding huge guns outside of various buildings in Madrid. I thought this was so odd so I took a picture of them (see below) & then proceeded to get yelled at by the men. Let me tell you something, there is nothing scarier than getting yelled at in Spanish by a guy holding a ridiculously huge gun!
• We visited El Parque de Retiro, a beautiful park in Madrid comparable to Central Park in NYC. After our picnic in the park we decided to rent out a small boat to row & turned out to be one of my favorite activities in Madrid :) I cannot wait for Sevilla to warm up a bit so I can kayak down the Guadalquivir river!
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• At 6PM we started our museum visits since free admission was during the end of the day. First stop: Museo del Prado! This museum was very old-school, with lots of religious artwork & portraits of old people...still impressive! We then visited La Reina Sofia, which holds the famous Guernica by Picasso. This modern art museum was realllly cool—the pieces make you think. I LOVED seeing the early advertisements used during the Spanish Civil war. It's so interesting to see the evolution of art & advertising.
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• On Saturday Katie & I took the Renfe train to Segovia, a city known for a giant Roman Aqueduct. By some miracle the Romans built the whole aqueduct solely with stones—no cement or adhesive in between the stones!
• We toured the Castle of Segovia (Alcazar) & it has been my favorite castle yet. Most of the items inside have been preserved, even the royal bedchamber! The view from the top of the tower was so beautiful. The castle was home of Queen Isabel before she married Ferdinand.
• I finally got my fix of chocolate & churros, for the high price of 3.50€...definitely worth every euro :)
• Katie & I decided to cheap out on lunch by buying our own bread, meat, & cheese from a grocery store in Segovia. After finishing our food, I still had an obscene amount of cheese leftover! I decided to give it to someone in need of food instead of just throwing it away...see video below for full story (the audio is slightly off, but you will get the picture). Weirdest thing EVER. hahaha
• I got the sweetest fanny pack (riñonera) during my visit to the Madrid market, El Rastro, Sunday morning. El rastro is basically a giant flee market on the streets of Madrid, with everything from clothes to electronics. The side streets hold vintage & antique items, like purses & home furniture, and made me excited to put my knowledge from HGTV to use when I finally have a place of my own. The shops definitely validated the phrase "one person's junk is another person's treasure."

I am home for the day & then off to Italy tomorrow! The agenda for today: finish my tarea, run some last minute errands, & pack before my flight. Until next time, hasta la próxima, alla prossima!!!

Granada

Hola hola amigos! Here's my weekend update:

• I went to Granada for the weekend! For those who don't know, Granada is a 3 hour bus ride outside of Sevilla & known for La Alhambra, a giant castle/fortess/garden/palace that sits on top of a mountain. Before its capture in 1492 by Catholic King Ferdinand & Queen Isabel, La Alambra was home to the Muslim Nazarí dynasty. This building is ginormous (see the background building of the photo below)!!!!
• I experienced my 1st hostel, ever...& let me just say that they are not my cup of tea! It was decently clean but smelled like cigarette smoke & was absolutely freezing at night.
• I have never walked more in my life than I did these past 2 days. Day 1--we got somewhat lost on top of a mountain and walked for about 6 hours straight. Day 2--another 6 hours of walking while exploring the city. My legs are not so grateful right now.
• I have also never seen more hippies in my life than I saw in Granada. I'm talking dreadlocks everywhere! They were about the equivalent like modern day gypsies, spending the day hanging out on top of the mountain, occasionally trying to sell jewelry to the visiting tourists.
• I had to watch out for cars, motorcycles, & bikes 24/7 because in Granada they do not stop for people, reallll funny.
• I witnessed my first strike/protest! I'm not sure what it was for, but here's a video
• I visited La Alambra and spent almost 5 hours exploring the gimormous place. It was BEAUTIFUL. It's hard to believe that the whole place was created thousands of years ago and is so much more appreciated after a brief history lesson. The fortress part was my fav.
• The view from the top of the mountains in Granada was stunning. I'm sure I took at least 50 pictures of just the view. It made me wish Sevilla was on top of a giant mountain.
• My travel buddies--Sarah & Kaitlyn-- & I stumbled across the bus used by team Spain for the World Cup. Coolest thing ever. There was a fee to enter the bus, so we figured a picture on the outside would be sufficient.
• We met a family from Dallas, TX in Granada! The couple graduated of SMU and moved to Spain for Campus Crusade for Life. It's amazing to see how God placed these people in my life while traveling to Granada, He sure does work in mysterious ways :)
• We took a local bus in order to get to the main bus station (that goes Granada-Sevilla), but accidentally got off the bus a few stops too early. With only 30 minutes until our big bus left for Sevilla, & no idea where to go, we power-walked through the streets until somehow stumbling upon a helpful sign. We arrived at the big bus station with 20 minutes to spare & super exhausted. Had we not made our bus, we would have been stuck in Granada for another night...thank goodness we are smarties! haha

All in all, Granada was a success. Next week I go to Madrid with my roommate Katie & we get to see our friend Ardena! Then Pisa, Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Cádiz, & Morocco--rough life, I know! Just kidding. I am very blessed.

Dinner tonight...

was something else. Not in a good way! My roommate Katie blogged about it on her latest Tumblr entry, mostly in paragraphs 2 & 4...go check it out!

I have leg muscles!

Much has happened since last week, and I'm sure I'm forgetting many events to document, but here it is!

• Since my internet at home is super not dependable, I have been going to cafés to mooch off of the free internet, although I do have to buy something from the place in order to stayawhile. Coffee ranges from 1-2€, which doesn't sound too bad until you convert it to U.S. dollars--$1.40-2.80. This tiny price is slowly adding up!
• I got into my History of Spanish Art class! The class had 25 spots, and there were 26 people trying to enter...luckily 1 person finally dropped so everyone else was automatically accepted.
• My adviser in Spain, Mary Alice Soriero, told me that it would be difficult/dangerous to try to uncover information about gypsies for my honors project...so that means I must once again figure out another topic for my research paper! Right now I'm leaning towards researching how gypsies have affected the development of Flamenco...why not combine my 2 most favorite topics?!
• I have an internship with DiscoverSevilla, a local travel company! They have programs in Granada & Barcelona, but they are now expanding to other parts of Europe--London, Prague, Milan, etc. I will be creating a flyer for the company that can be used throughout Europe, how cool!
• Mamá Inés told us that other students will be moving intothe house for 1 weeks stay, randomly throughout the semester. We were told our first new roommate addition would be 3 Norwegian girls...and then 3 Norwegian boys arrived. What a surprise! The guys, Preben, Sindre, & Mats, came for an intensive Spanish class with their high school for the week and were so awesome! I learned a little bit about their culture & some Norwegian wordstoo. They left today & will be missed!
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• I went to Córdoba, España yesterday and had such a great time, although I dealt with my first travel mishap. My bus ticket was for 7:30AM and said that I departed from station 1...so I arrived station 1 at 7:20AM. It was 25 minutes later, when a bus had neither arrived nor departed, did I realize something was wrong! Turns out ALL bus tickets say they depart from station 1, but you have to ask the morning of travel where the bus actually departs. 1 hour 3€ later I jumped on the 9AM bus to Córdoba and made my way to La Mezquita, a giant mosque with a church built inside. I have never seen anything more beautiful or magical, and my pictures definitely do not do place justice!
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• I never realized how much I love/miss Texas until the 2 hour rides to/from Córdoba. Driving through the Spanish countryside was so comforting and I felt like I was at home for a little while. Strange, I know!
• I also visited the Roman ruins of Italica with my university here...which are only 15 minutes away from where I live! Lots of stones everywhere...
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• Travel update, cities I am for sure visiting: Granada, Madrid, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Ronda, & Morocco. I cannot wait!
• & last but not least....I have leg muscles!!! I have never walked more in my life than I have in Spain. I think that on a normal day I would walk about 1 mile, but I have been exploring on my days off as well--up to 3 hours worth of walking.