London with Cliff

A completely random note: Last night I had a dream that I was in Wegmans. It looks like Tesco's inferiority has finally gotten to me! It's not like Wegmans is the number1 supermarket in the United States or anything like that!

Anyways, I had a great time with Cliff when he came to visit a few weeks ago! Seeing his reaction to London made me laugh, but it also reminded me of my first time seeing the city. This time around I was like, "Big Ben? Whatever..." but re-reading my first blog entry on London I can see that I was as excited as he was! And there's so much to do that I still saw so many things that I hadn't before. Also, after having navigated the city on my own (sometimes with unintentionally amusing results, as Cliff wrote about in his blog), I now feel much more confident that I actually know the city. Not to mention that the weather was much better! The long, wet, and gray English winter turned into a gorgeous, green English spring. Our hostel was right next to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, so we in the right place for springtime flowers. Of course, I think Cliff was more interested in the posh cars... ;) Our hostel was really nice as well, the Astor chain does a good job.



Our first day was spent sightseeing. The highlight for me was the Palm Sunday service in Westminster Abbey. Not only was it an impressive church (we saw several tombs of famous kings) but the High Church Anglican service was extraordinary. They even had soloists and a full choir sing the Gospel reading!



The next day we got out of the city and went to see Windsor Castle, the oldest occupied castle in the world. Sadly the Queen was not there (or maybe happily, since had she been there we wouldn't have been allowed in) but we did see magnificent state rooms that rivaled Versailles in opulence. They also had Queen Mary's doll house, which is far from a child's toy. It was huge, and even had working electricity and running water! The town of Windsor itself is lovely and quaint, right next to the Thames. Eton College is also right down the road from the castle.



We also saw lots of London's museums. Even though I'd already been there a couple of times by that point, you can't miss the British museum so I took Cliff there and even saw a couple of new things myself! We also caught the Natural History Museum, which was cool--dinosaur bones and giant whales hanging from the ceiling and all that. A creepy little museum Cliff wanted to see was the Hunterian Museum, which was really cool. Hunter was an eighteenth century surgeon who liked to collect specimens and preserve them in jars. Some of them looked like aliens! Cool!

Finally, the last day we saw Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which looked much nicer this time with all the flowers blooming then the desolate place it was in the winter. Some of the gems we found were the Peter Pan statue and Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain. Her monument wasn't what I expected; it was modern and simple, but still really nice.





I can't wait to go and return the favor by visiting Cliff in Sweden in a few weeks! Watch out, Scandinavia... ;)

Naples, Sorrento, and Pompeii

Our last stop in Italy was the Amalfi Coast. It was so much warmer here compared to Venice, and much crazier. I'm glad we started the trip in peaceful Venice and ended in "real Italy" Naples.

Oh, Naples. I've been SO looking forward to this post. What can I say about Naples, truly the nuttiest city I've ever been to in my life?? Don't get me wrong, I loved it--and feared for my life. I didn't think a city that did not have any traffic laws could function in the world. I was wrong. We took a taxi ride to the airport---the Superman ride at Six Flags is a little less frightening. Our driver was either terrible at driving or extremely good. He zipped in and out of rows of cars (I won't call them lanes, since Naples doesn't use them). But we made it there alive! It's just as scary to be a pedestrian. There are no such things as "crosswalks" or "lights." To cross the street you book it and hope the cars stop. Seriously, there is no other way of getting past the endless stream of cars. And it wasn't just cars! My first view of Naples from the subway was a moped driving on the sidewalk!! They were everywhere, and people would stop in front of fruit and vegetable stands on their mopeds as if it was a drive-through! A side note: The funniest thing I saw in Naples was a cashier at a store smoking right in front of a "No Smoking" sign. Oh, Naples. On the upside, it had great pizza. ;)

View from our hostel (which was one of the best hostels I've been in, we met tons of cool people):


As exhilarating as Naples was, it was nice to get out and see Pompeii. I didn't know exactly how to approach Pompeii. The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was a horrific tragedy that killed thousands of people. And yet today it's treated as a macabre tourist attraction. My guidebook even implies that it was a good thing, because it perfectly preserved a city and allowed us insights into life in ancient Rome! I'm not so sure, though. When I visited the Archaeological Museum in Naples, and learned more about the victims (and saw their bodies) it made me see the human element behind it.



Still, the city was fascinating. It struck me how similar people back then were to us today. They scribbled graffiti (some of it hilarious) on the walls, they had a nice and a seedy part of town (with brothels, as well), and had shops and bakeries, a bath house, and stadiums (all right, so we don't force gladiators to fight animals to the death). Apart from the mansions, the bath house was my favorite place. It was so well preserved, it was impossible to tell whether we were looking at in in 79 or 2009 AD. I was also surprised by how big Pompeii was--certainly larger than some modern day small towns. Seeing Mt. Vesuvius in the distance was eerie.






From there, we went on to Sorrento, a nice vacation town on the coast. I tried some of their famous limoncello (which was disgusting), we browsed the shops, and sat and looked out at the Bay of Naples.



A great way to end the trip.

When in Rome...

...be absolutely amazed!? I remember staring at the remains of an ancient Roman wall and saying, without even thinking, "This is an OLD city." I mean, it wasn't my proudest moment. Lana cracked up hysterically at the time, and still teases me about it. But Rome has that kind of effect on people. It just has so much history.

Ok, so most of the city is busy and loud and modern and metropolitan. And we did stay in what was essentially some guy's apartment that he turned into a "hostel." But around every corner in Rome would be a fountain, or a monument, or obelisk, or ruin, that would just remind me how much culture this city has. And how much excitement! It was a real city, bustling all the time (I remember getting accosted by some Australian guy on the street trying to persuade us to go on a bar crawl)!

Day 1: The Vatican

Well, given that I don't personally know the Pope, we didn't really get to go inside Vatican City. But we did see the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica. The museum was one of the best museums I've been in, rivaling the Louvre. They had so many ancient treasures that they put some of them in the basement, on the way to the bathrooms!! It was definitely worth the 2 hour wait outside.

The main attraction was of course the Sistine Chapel, and the entire museum led up to it. It was quite crowded, so we had to walk through the rooms in a line. They had beautiful statues, frescoes, paintings, tapestries, a whole room filled with maps...and some things I had never seen before, like early Christian art on tombstones. We all had a good laugh about how leaves were retroactively added on some of the naked statues to make them more "decent." We also saw the private chambers of the Renaissance popes, with Raphael's huge masterpiece "School of Athens" covering the walls. But after a few hours I could tell people were beginning to get antsy. By the time we got to the modern art, all we could think was, "Let's see the Sistine Chapel already!" And it was amazing when we did, although I got a serious neck ache from craning to see it all. It was darker than I expected inside, probably to preserve it. And despite the curator's pleas for silence, it was filled with people and so there was lots of talking. But I barely heard them. There was just so much more up on that ceiling than my eye could ever take in!

Afterwards, we hurried over to St. Peter's Square to try to beat the rain. The line for the basilica was much shorter, and we got in quickly, right while Mass was going on. At first I didn't realize that, though, since it was so big I couldn't see the altar or congregation! All I heard was the choir singing, and as I gazed up at the dome, and saw the rays of sunlight shining through the windows, I really, deeply felt the presence of God. And--I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it--I started crying. It's so hard to try to describe in words what came over me. As a Catholic, I think part of the reason I was so deeply affected was knowing that this church has been a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years. I wasn't only there as a tourist, but as a pilgrim. I was standing in the largest church in the world, so large in fact that I got lost in it and had to work to find my friends! But I was glad for the time alone with God in that holy place.



Day 2: Even more ancient things

More queuing for the Colosseum--and in the freezing cold! Once we got in, I was a bit surprised how overgrown it was. I mean, I knew it was in ruins, but according to Brendan the upkeep hasn't been too good over the years. Still, I could imagine what it looked like in its heyday (thanks to the magic of Hollywood).



From there, we saw the Palatine Hill, which was lovely. The sun came out, and we explored the ruins of the emperor Augustus's palace and frolicked through the gardens and green grass. According to legend, this is also where Romulus founded the city.



Then we climbed down and saw the Roman Forum, which was cool even if I didn't know what everything was! One of the most striking ruins was the Temple of Saturn. Seeing the remains of what was once the greatest civilization on Earth...well, shows the limits of worldly power...



Day 3: More sightseeing, which I won't talk about since this post is already too long, and the Villa Borghese, which was a beautiful park and a nice get-away from the city, with a great view to boot.

Finally, before I left, I threw a coin over my shoulder into the Trevi Fountain...to ensure my return to Rome.

Italy, Part III: San Marino

I had never even heard of it, but Brendan really wanted to go to San Marino, so we went...and I'm so glad we did! Even though it was a pain to get there (two trains and a bus). But there's a reason for its remoteness; San Marino is a beautifully preserved medieval country situated on top of a mountain! Along with being the world's oldest republic (founded by Christian refugees escaping Roman persecution in 301) it's also the third smallest state in Europe (after Morocco and Vatican City). It's roughly the size of a small town, although we only explored the capital, also called San Marino (like NY, NY?)



Along with preserving their ancient traditions (we caught a military parade and band as it went by) and their love of liberty, the Sammarinese just seem like a really nice people. Again, the kind of people you might find in a small town. Everyone was so nice to us, smiling and saying "Ciao!" And it seemed like all of the shopkeepers knew each other and were good friends---I suppose because they're all neighbors. San Marino is also probably the only country in the world with a virtually non-existent crime rate. In other words, it was a wonderful, fairy tale land.



And the scenery was spectacular. We climbed up the towers of medieval castles that were built to defend the country from attack, and through the mist saw the Italian countryside stretching for miles. The air was so clean up there, and we wandered through the forest that connected each of the three towers together.





If only the requirements for citizenship weren't so difficult...you either have to be born there to parents who are already citizens (clearly too late for that now), or women can marry Sammarinese men. Of course, because it's so awesome lots of people want to live there, and in 1999 a law was passed that requires female servants to be under age 50---so that young women don't marry their much older employers for their money! But maybe if I go back there and meet a Sammarinese guy...I can dream! ;)

Italy, Part II: Florence

Our next stop was Florence, which was my favorite city in the entire trip...though it's like picking a favorite out of chocolate, gelato, and crepes! But Florence was perfect in every way: It was small, still walkable (if a bit busier than Venice), with exquisite architecture and artwork, and surrounded by the most gorgeous Tuscan landscape you could ever imagine.



Our first night there we climbed up a hill on the outskirts of town to see a view of the city at sunset. It had been the warmest and sunniest day I've experienced since coming to Europe, with temperatures in the high 70's/low 80's. It felt sweltering because I had become used to the wet and cold English winter. The plants and trees were just beginning to flower, and as dusk set in we saw both the lights of the city and the stars. It was magic.

The next day we went to the Basilica di San Lorenzo (the Medici family church) and saw the tomb of Lorenzo de Medici, which was inspiring for me since I'm a fan of Lorenzo's. As an added bonus the chapel had sculptures by Michelangelo. The Medici family, especially Lorenzo the Magnificent, were the de facto rulers of Florence for much of the late Middle Ages, and it shows. Or as I triumphantly said as I saw the beautiful churches and Renaissance art that they commissioned, "The Medici's owned this town!" Of course, it could be argued that the Medici supremacy messed up Florence's "democracy," but if Lorenzo was a dictator, he was a benevolent one.

His statue:


From there we saw the magnificent Duomo, which I believe is second only to St. Peter's in size. My favorite thing about this cathedral was its dome, painted by Brunelleschi. It truly is a work of genius; the figures all look distorted if you get close to the ceiling, but are perfectly proportional when viewed from the ground. It was cold inside, the tiled floors acting as natural air conditioning, and was a welcome respite from the sun outside.





From there we saw more evidence of Medici hegemony, the Palazzo Vecchio (a government building). In the square was the Loggia, which had reproductions of famous statutes. Diep really liked this area, as an artist and art history major! I liked the statues of famous Italians lining the road along the Uffizi Gallery, including Lorenzo, Bruni, Dante, Boccaccio, and Machiavelli.

We saw two art galleries while in Florence. We went first to the Galleria dell'Accademia with only one goal in mind: to see David. I didn't like paying a full price ticket to essentially see only one sculpture, but if anything's worth it, David is. It's so much bigger and lifelike in person; pictures don't quite do it justice. The Uffizi Gallery had some nice artwork as well, including famous Botticelli paintings, favorites of mine. Still, though, it wasn't as impressive as the Vatican Musuems. We did get to skip the ridiculously long queue with a "fast past" ticket, though! ;)

Finally, the view from the Ponte Vecchio...

After much delay...Italy! Part I: Venice

Well, I'm done! My essays--such as they are--are finished, and I finally have time to update this blog. Italy has long been overdue, so I'll start with that.

Venice:

Venice was everything I'd thought it would be, from the gorgeous architecture of St. Mark's Basilica and the Palazzo Ducale, to the Bridge of Sighs, the narrow, winding streets, the canals, the gondalas, the masks, the gelato (goes without saying). And yet for me the most thrilling experience was riding the vaporetti (water bus) from the Lido to the mainland. Our hotel, which was very nice, was on Lido, a thin island that guards Venice from the Adriatic. Strangely enough, the island itself reminded me a lot of Long Island. Ok, they're both islands, so maybe not so strange! Although a bit chilly, since it was still March, it was wonderful to be out on the water again. It was just like being out on Keuka Lake back home: there were motorboats out, and sailboats, and people fishing. The sun sparkling off the water, the wind in my hair---perfection.



Venice is in many ways a fantasy city. I remember loving Disney's World Showcase pavilions at Epcot when I was a kid. It seems fitting that their representation of Italy was basically a reproduction of the Palazzo Ducale (the palace of the Venetian Doge). In many ways, the real thing is still a fairy tale world...for adults. Venice's beauty is almost unmatched; and yet, it exists almost exclusively for tourism. In that sense, I never got the sense that I was seeing the "real" Italy while I was there.



The other downside to Venice is of course the high prices. It's common knowledge that Venice is the most expensive city in Italy (even worse than Rome)! Unlike Dublin, which is apparently the most expensive city in Europe for no explicable reason, Venice is worth it. Yet it was still a bit disheartening to drop 10 Euros on a mediocre buffet dinner because it was the cheapest thing we could find. On the flip side, the gelato was the best and cheapest in Italy (only 1.50 for a huge cone)!

I also loved how Venice was such a peaceful, walkable city. There were no cars anywhere. All of the "traffic" was made up of boats and gondalas on the canals. People's houses were built right up against the canals, so that you could simply open your front door from your boat and step in! I really liked that.



Of course, at the same time there wasn't much nature anywhere...no parks, for instance. The aerial view of Venice is very brown, particularly because the streets are so narrow that they all blend together from above. And woe betide you if you're trying to find a particular place using traditional street directions. There's no such thing as getting lost in Venice, because that implies that you have the ability to navigate your way around. Which you don't. The best tactic is to just wander until you find a sign pointing back to St. Mark's Square, which is the only open space anywhere in Venice. Just watch out so that you're not attacked by the pigeons...they're everywhere!



But it is all of these things that makes Venice so special and unique. I'm so glad I had the chance to visit before it sinks into the sea. If it ever does, the world will be a lesser place as a result.

Procrastination is so much fun...

Well, three down, one to go! Yes, I am one essay away from being DONE! And somehow I can't seem to start working on it...go figure.

So instead I want to share a hilarious Daily Show clip with Jon Stewart and John Oliver debating the US vs. the UK. I think we know who wins!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Battle of the Banned
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