VIVA ITALIA

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4:30 AM March 9, 2014

We woke up early to catch our TGV train from Paris to Milan. It was scheduled to leave at 6:41 AM but we still had a few metro stops to get through before arriving at the station. The train proved difficult to find, thanks to the fact that they only put the departing platform up ten minutes before it leaves. But we soon learned this was standard for train stations in Europe.

As soon as we made it out of the city the train sped up, true to its bullet train nature but by the time we made it to the first station we knew something was wrong. We ended up stuck in the station for over an hour, traveling slowly and stopping the rest of the way, while they tried to fix the train and arrived in Milan two and a half hours late, missing our connection to Rome, but at least we got some nice views of the Alps along the way.

We were able to secure tickets (at no extra charge) for the next departing train to Rome but had no assigned seats. The train was packed, probably because the train delay, but David and I were lucky and found a nearly empty luggage compartment to bunker down in. The three hour ride to Rome wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.

ROMA

We stayed at the Alessondro Hostel (the Downtown one not the Bar one) which was thankfully near the train station. The area was kind of sketchy at night but we were too excited to be off the trains to care. The hostel was really nice though! For 11 euros a night we expected a lot worse but the rooms were large and very clean and the bathroom was really clean too. We were in a dorm style room and had four other roommates, two of them were from San Diego!

Day One: Vatican City and Lost in Rome

Our first stop on the trip was touring the Vatican City. We took the bus there, 1,50 euros each but no one checks tickets so you can easily ride for free. The line outside was crazy long and unfortunately the Pope was a little busy for us, I think he was making sure everything was up to par for our visit to the museum, which was great. It was filled with artifacts from the Greco-Roman-Egyptian periods and all the Hellenistic effects Greece and Rome had on the world. The museum had a path of its own that led to the Sistine Chapel, which was tiny and badly lit by the way, and god forbid you take a photo of one of the most famous paintings of all time. Luckily we exited the back way and skipped the line for the Basilica.

The Cupola (aka the crazy staircase to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica) was my favorite part of Rome. For as much as I loved it (not the walking part obviously) David HATED the stairs. In his own words:

“5 euros to get a great view, sure no problem”.
“Oh there are 500 something steps, doesn’t seem that bad.”
“Didn’t count but man this room is amazing all the mosaics are alternating and identical! Is that it, where is the exit?”
“Oh we only went halfway up? Ah, here are the stairs.”
“Oh fresh air, but this isn’t up… there..we have to go up there!!!?!?!?!”
“More steps, it’s so small. Wait… I felt the building move. Are you sure this is safe? I have to walk bent sideways. The steps aren’t even worn out at all on the left side, you cant even put your foot there without breaking your leg. OMG my feet are WAY bigger than these steps. Thank god for this rope, I hope I can hold my self up.”
“WE MADE IT!!!!!!!”
“Oh god, this platform is sloped, I feel like I’m falling off. oh ya that’s a cool view, oh nice river, yeah that’s the square thing. Okay looks cool…taking some pictures…now she wants a video…we’re walking around the whole thing?!”
“Okay good, good, good, we’re leaving? LETS GO!”
“It’s even harder going down. I cant hold my self up if im going down. slanted walls again…”
“FRESH AIR!!! We’re free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

It was a great journey, and on the way down you can stop at the souvenir store and it’s run by nuns. We sent post cards to our families since Vatican City has it’s own postal stamp and system separate from Italy and that is apparently a tourist thing to do. There is an elevator that takes you down to the inside of the Basilica, which is gorgeous, and then outside to the main entrance.

I wanted to buy souvenirs, but cheaper, so we walked away from the Vatican towards the river in the hopes of finding our bus stop to take us back. We ended up walking the entire way back, definitely over 5 miles, and stopping at the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain. We both made wishes and took a ton of pictures, stopped for lunch and then moved on to the Spanish Steps. David thought he knew the way, and technically I guess he did, but he led us to the TOP of the Spanish Steps which necessitated walking around and up THE ENTIRE HILL OF THE SPANISH STEPS. Luckily we made it just in time to see the sun set over the Basilica and it was truly an amazing view.

It was starting to get dark and we were too exhausted to even think so we made our way back to the hostel. We couldn’t find the right bus and decided to walk the twenty minutes back. Unfortunately we had climbed over 500 stairs that day, and walked all over the city, and it was all uphill, but hey we saved 3 euros so that’s something right?

Back at our hostel they were serving up some free sangria and we got to hang out with our roommates and some new people. We didn’t end up getting dinner until 11 PM but the pizza was great and the sleep was even better!

Day Two: Colosseum and even more Walking

We took the metro to get to the Coliseum, which was much faster. One of the random Roman soldiers standing outside in costume to take pictures with tourists started speaking to us in Hebrew, shocking both of us.

We started with the Roman Forum, next to the Colosseum, which was interesting to walk around in but had way too many dead ends. We snuck into a tour group, the guide really new her stuff, but she noticed we didn’t have the green stickers like everyone else and gave us a look that clearly said “you do not belong” so we had to leave before getting in imaginary trouble. The best part of the Roman Forum, you know besides the thousands of year old ruins and marble from all over the world, was that if you do it first you get to skip the line to the Colosseum. So yeah, it was worth it.

Unfortunately this ancient football stadium is as exclusive as any in America and you need to be on a guided tour (for like 50 euros) to get access to the third floor were all the “box seats” are. You can go to the second floor for free though. We took the elevator up with a group of Israelis, because who else is going to take the elevator designated specifically for pregnant woman, old people, and people with disabilities? The top was fun, we took a lot of pictures and they had exhibitions of how the mechanics of the Colosseum worked, like how they filled it with water or raised platforms, and even showed ancient graffiti on the seats. Their graffiti is literally carved in stone!

After the Colosseum we walked to the Jewish Quarter, which we thought was much closer than it actually was (something we continue to make on this trip). The Museum was really interesting and for 4 euros, student price, they give you an audio guide and a guided tour of two of the five synagogues they house in the same building.The Roman Jews were there before the second temple destruction and had their own minhag’s separate from both Ashkenazi and Sephardic. Their synagogue was magnificent. It looked like one of those beautiful Roman cathedrals, minus Jesus and all the crosses, with marble and gold and artwork.  You can’t take any photos inside so I took full advantage once we were outside the gate.

The Jewish Quarter was small, about the same size of the one in Paris, but they had more variety of food. We found a great restaurant, very cheap, with free wifi and they serve their pita sandwiches on Italian bread, or at least they give you the option.

Day Three: Wandering Rome

Delicious Dark Chocolate GelatoI was itching for some souvenir shopping so after checking out of the hostel and storing our luggage we took Rome by storm! I bought some post cards and gifts for friends, and a charm for my bracelet I am making of the trip (though the latter was impossibly hard to find). We walked up and down the streets of Rome, just wandering and looking at all of the fantastic architecture. Rome is really beautiful in a way that I can’t explain, it just has a magical feel to the city. We walked to the Plaza Veniche and  Piazza Navona since we had yet to visit them and they were on the post cards we bought.

We got some delicious gelato, I think the best in Italy since it was dark chocolate and so cheap and walked around the piazza seeing the artists and the sunglasses/purse sellers. It’s illegal to buy knock off goods in Italy so we stayed well away from them. David bought me a necklace with my name on it, the kind that they make for you right there. After sitting down and relaxing for a but we had to say goodbye to Rome and head on to the next city.

FIRENZE

No problem getting to Florence but we got lost on the way to the hostel, luckily a nice Italian guy gave us directions. This hostel was not nearly as nice as the first one, and didn’t have lockers which is a major negative since we had to lock down our bags all the time. We met some nice Canadians in the kitchen though and had dinner with them both nights, cooking for ourselves.

Florence in a Day

davidWe only had the one full day in Florence so we had to make it count. We started off at Galleria Academia which houses Michelangelo’s David. It was an interesting art museum but they had a temporary Medici exhibit that talked about how they invested and invented in Italian music. The Medici family was basically awesome by the way. You obviously couldn’t take photos of the statue since it is marble and will fade if exposed to so many camera sounds (not) so I had to be really secretive to get my photos.

We walked to the Basilica square and bought the pricey tickets for the Duomo which included going up the Duomo, going up the bell-tower, going into the baptistery, the Basilica and the museum. We decided to go up the bell-tower, which was much easier than the Cupola but just as exhausting. We skipped going up the Duomo out of exhaustion but we did go in to the baptistery and the Basilica so 3/5 isn’t too bad. We grabbed lunch nearby, pizza and pasta for a great price, and then continued on.

We walked to the Piazzo Signoria and looked at the open air statue gallery outside. They have the replica David out there and it is fun to get all the touristy photos. We couldn’t eat by the statues though, since it’s a gallery I guess, and we moved on pretty quickly.

We crossed the river at Ponte Vecchio to get to the Palazzo Pitti. The bridge was beautiful and lined with jewelry stores and the palace was huge, but we decided not to go inside since it was too much and we only wanted to see the gardens anyway. We walked around, got gelato again, and took a break in front of the palace to eat and relax.

Ultimately we made our way to Piazzale Michelangelo, which was an uphill staircase but had the best view of the entire city including the mountains, the river and all of the buildings. We took a ton of photos and walked around all the souvenir stands, they even have another statue of David up there (this city is obsessed with that guy). We sat and watched a musician playing for a while and watched the sun set over the city before heading to the hostel for the night.

VENEZIA

Day One: Arrival in Venice

Venice was the place I was most excited to see and rightly so. The minute you step out of the train station it is like you are in another world. No cars, ancient buildings, canals instead of streets. It was the most beautiful sight. We checked into our hotel, which was the same price as a hostel but gave us a private room. It overlooked the main street and after four days of dorm rooms it was nice to be alone. After relaxing and showering we made our way to the Jewish Quarter, we were one bridge away, and found the Rabbi. They had signs posted for the Friday services that afternoon as well as services on Saturday. We talked for a while before heading back to get a quick bite to eat.

Before Shabbat we bought our Venetian masks for Purim. David was hard to fit because of his glasses but we eventually found one that was big enough! Shabbat services were in a completely different tune than I’ve ever heard, even for Chabad, but the yeshiva boys that studied there seemed to be having a blast. Afterwards we had dinner in the Gam Gam (their kosher restaurant) and met a lot of people, including the Rabbi’s two children and all of the New York and Israeli tourists.

Day Two: Shabbat Explorations and Purim Celebrations

Saturday we woke up late but still made it to services in time for the sermon and musaf. Shabbat lunch was as good as dinner the night before had been, probably because it was the same food. After lunch David and I made our way around Venice by foot. It is all bridges and alleyways which are fun to walk but you continuously feel like you’re lost. We crossed the Rialto bridge and looked at all the souvenir stands along the way. A few wrong turns later we finally made it to San Marco’s square, which was huge and supremely decorated. We looked at prices for the tours and gondola rides for Sunday. The Gondeliers kept trying to drop the price for us as we walked away but we had no intention of going on Shabbat.

We spent Saturday night at the shul again, this time with masks since it was finally Purim! They danced and ate and heard the megilah, I’m pretty sure everyone was already drunk by the time we got there.

Day Three: Tourists to the Extreme

We woke up and made our way back to the San Marco Port for a three island tour of Murano Burano and Torcello. It was sold out but they were waiting for people with vouchers who luckily didn’t show up so we got to go! 20 euros each but it was a four hour guided tour with stops on all three Islands.

On Murano they have their famed Murano glass, a secret to only the fathers and sons in the glass industry on the island. We got to see a glass blowing demonstration and the guy also crafted a horse out of glass. He did it so fast it was like magic! We walked around the island for a bit before coming back to the boat, if you weren’t on time it would leave without you.

Burano was apparently famous for lace making, though very few people do it now. We got to see a short demonstration and the lady explained how each woman was a specialist in a specific stitch and they all worked together on the pieces. David and I were more excited to try to special cookies they have and found some free samples before deciding to buy giant chocolate covered ones.

Torcello was basically a giant park of an island. Very few people live there but it was relaxing to walk around and stop for our picnic lunch.

We made it back to the main island at around two in the afternoon and after some souvenir shopping, and some mishloch manoat between the two of us, found our way back to the Jewish Ghetto. Purim was already in full swing by the time we arrived. We noshed a bit, socialized some and had some great alcoholic smoothies while we listened to the megilah in the square. It was very fun to hear the reading while tourists walked by looking at us like we were crazy. They kept trying to ask what we were doing but none of us could really answer since we were supposed to be listening.

It felt very important to listen to the megilah reading, a story about the almost destruction of my people, while standing in the Jewish Ghetto, the first of it’s kind with the old ghetto wall complete with barbed wire behind me. In a place so filled with Jewish history it made me proud to be a Jew and keep the same mitzvahs of my forefathers and mothers.

We finished our time in Venice with a romantic gondola ride at sunset, he didn’t sing but he did give a good tour of the city. The small canals were my favorite to ride on and cuddling with David was a great bonus.

THE JOURNEY HOME

We took a night train to get back to Paris. It was ten hours and had a 7 am exchange in Munich. Our six seat compartment was tiny and impossible to sleep in thanks to the fact that it was full, the only compartment on the train that had more than two people in it, just our luck. We arrived in Munich exhausted and vowing never to take a night train without beds again.

Munich Explorations

In Munich I took a nap in Burger King to  catch up on some sleep while David played on my phone and connected to the wifi. He woke me at around 10 am to ask if I was rested enough. I wasn’t but he wanted to be out and about in Munich so we left the train station, luggage in hand.

We stopped at a great park with really soft grass and laid out our towels for a nap. David didn’t really sleep but found his next destination, a baroque church. It is the number one tourist site in Munich which leads me to believe that there aren’t many tourist attractions in Munich. It was an interesting church basically covered in gold and marble statues but I think I was too tired to appreciate it, but David loved it.

We made it back to the train station in time to catch the train to Stuttgart, the next connection. We only had an hour stay in that train station so we waited in the food court for the departure. A short three hour train ride later we were back in Paris. It was 10:30 PM but we still had a couple of metros to take before we got back home, exhausted but happy at the outcome of the trip.

 

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