The Italian Vacation (Part 1)

While my last post was a bit of a filler, I am now ready to recount the entirety of 'The Italian Vacation,' which takes us from the small town of Aix-en-Provence to the ancient grandiose city of Rome, and then to the industrial Naples with its surrounding gems of history, ruins, and beauty.

Unfortunately, our first bus to Rome was canceled due to hazardous and snowy conditions in the Alps. Dommage. Instead, the Italian vacation began a day later. The bus to Rome was relatively uneventful, but felt like a lifetime. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I sat in front of a tall man who would not let me put my seat back. It was awful. We got to Rome around 1pm, and somehow managed to find our way to our Hostel. Apparently my semester of Italian was a bust, because the only useful words and phrases I knew were: bon giorno, ciao, grazie, prego, buena sera, si, non, quando costa, etc, and being able to count to 100. Not helpful when attempting to navigate Rome. The hostel we stayed at was very quaint, and we had hot water and two beds. We also had a TV, but never actually used it. Breakfast was 2 euros, and was fantastic: Carbs, carbs, and more carbs! My favorite. Our first day in Rome we attempted to enter the Colosseum, but it closed at 3:30, and we got there at 3:45. Tant pis. Instead, we had lunch with the Colosseum in the background, and walked to the Corso, the main shopping district in downtown Rome. It was absolutely fantastic. Shops everywhere. There were also street performers, and street vendors. My favorite were the artists who spray-painted scenes. It is amazing what you can do with spray paint! I had no idea. On the Corso, Eszter and I also made important purchases: black velvet leggings. [note: see previous post] We also visited Trevi Fountain, and really just walked all around Rome.

THE leggings

Valentines Day in Rome, we finally made it to the Colosseum. The line was wicked long, but my Routard told me to get tickets at the Palatino first, which we did, and we even bargained our way into cheaper, EU-student tickets! The ticket man was not happy, because we tried explaining that we were Hungarian citizens, speaking French, and were students living in America. For Eszter, at least this was all true. I just crossed my fingers and was able to save 2.5 euros. Sweet deal. The Palatino, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum were such great sights to see! It is absolutely amazing what the Romans built, and I'm in shock that much of the ruins remain to this day. I especially loved the frescoes inside Casa di Livia and the different temples. [We also met an American traveling abroad named Ryan who took our pictures. This will be important again later.] After the Colosseum et al., we went to Piazza Nuovo, the center of Carnivale, and also the center of some more great shops, food, and boat sculpture. We also saw the Pantheon, which was beautiful and breath-taking. Tried getting pictures, but nothing turned out well because we could not use flash. Then we decided to go to a giant Castle across the river. On the way to the castle, we passed by this adorable little wood shop, which sold wooden puppets [think: Pinocchio] and other hand-made wooden objects. Perfect for little kids! Afterward we went to the Castle, explored the building, admired the paintings and sculptures, etc. The best part was that we went at night, and there was an overlook on the top of the castle where we saw the entire city, and had a great view of St. Peter's Basilica of Vatican City. Again, pictures could not compare to the actual sight. To top off a great day, we enjoyed a nice Valentines Day dinner at a Restaurant called 'Mario.' Had some great pasta, wine, limoncello, some strange 2nd-plate meat dish, and of course, tiramisu. Note to fellow travelers: If you only want one glass of wine, make sure you say so, or else they will give you an entire bottle. Also, don't order the 2nd-plate meat dish. For 13 euros, we could have ordered 2 more plates of pasta, and they would have tasted much, much better.

Palatino

Colosseum

Pantheon

The third day in Rome was my favorite. We went on a guided tour of the Vatican. Words cannot even describe how amazing the Vatican museum was, and the entirety of Vatican City. My favorite room in the museum was the Map Room. The Sistine Chapel was also beautiful, and so was the fresco of 'The School of Athens.' The only thing I did not like about the Vatican was the swarms of people EVERYWHERE. There was no end to it! After the museum, I paid my respects to my late cousin, Pope John-Paul II, and also went inside St. Peter's Basilica. Again, pictures could not capture the beauty. I touched St. Peter's foot for good luck, watched a mass procession, admired the sculptures, and fell in love with the mosaics. Everything that looked like a painting was in fact a mosaic! Unreal. There was also a pope who had been covered in wax for preservation. It was extremely cool, but also unbelievably creepy. After the Vatican, we said adieu to Rome, and barely caught our train to Naples.

Vatican City at night

Vatican Museum--Map room ceiling :)

School of Athens

All-Mighty Vatican City

Arrived in Naples around 8pm, and somehow made it to our hostel alive. Not because we were in a dangerous area, but because in Naples, there are no crosswalks. Crosswalks might exist, BUT cars/motorcycles/mopeds don't actually follow the rules. Just because it is green for you does not mean you are safe. A red light in Naples is more like a suggestion. Anyways, we got to our hostel, and entered into a very strange courtyard with a giant statue of someone who had died [i'm assuming]. We took the tiny elevator up to the 5th floor (more like 10th floor), and settled in for the night. Very nice hostel, but it was strange, because there were families staying there with parents and kids who ranged from around 8-15. Weird. Don't think I would ever stay in a hostel as a family, but to each his own. Checked our e-mail, called the parentals to let them know I was alive and well in Naples, and passed out. Woke up early, ready for a day at Herculaneum and Pompeii.

[To be continued]