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!!!!!!!