It's About Time

It's been a hot minute since I've written. And because of that I need to conserve my sanity and keep everything short and sweet. To begin, I made a horrible horrible horrible mistake and pressed the wrong button on my camera. Therefore I'm sitting here at my computer, after having gone on an incredible trip for ten days, with not a photo to prove it. All 2000+ photos I took on my camera this semester are gone. sono un'po' stupida e poi i tutti di foti sono deletati. So, I'm sorry for the lack of photographic evidence of my fun. On to my blogging...

weekend of October 9-11:
This weekend was my art history class trip to Verona, Padua and Mantua. We were suppose to be gone from Friday until late Saturday night. The first stop was Verona where we went to the San Zeno Church to see the famous San Zeno Altarpiece by Mantegna. Much to my dismay, we did not stop by the infamous balcony from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Apparently there is not art-historical reasoning behind stopping there. So be it. After a lovely lunch in Verona, as we were leaving, our Professor told us some unfortuante news. He had a death in the family and he needed to get back to Florence that night. We would have time to stop in Mantua but not enough time to stop in Padua. Part of me was very happy to be able to get back to Florence since it was the weekend before mid-terms, but the other part of me was bummed to the core that we would be missing out on Padua. That was the one place my grandma told me I should go in Italy so I'd be able to see the Scrovegni Chapel by Giotto. Unfortunately, because of timing and cost, I don't think I'll be able to make it there this semester (sorry grandma).
So we went to Manuta, saw the Palazzo Ducale (Home of the Gonzaga Family), got on the bus and drove back to Florence.

Skipping ahead...past midterms because, let's face it, they were miserable and not worth talking about....
FALL BREAK! October 15-30
15:
Off we go on fall break! After rushing out of my Italian midterm, Joci, Shelly and I hope on a train to Milan! The train was nice and relaxing, but the second we got to milan we were basically running and rushing until we got to our flight. The bus leaving the train station was 15 min late leaving so we got to the airport with about 20 minutes until the gate closed. We had to get our visas checked and go through security but it was all good once we got there since our flight was ten minutes delayed and no lines! The flight to Madrid was easy and once we got to our hostel we went to sleep so we could get up early!

16:
One day in Madrid and lots to do. We started our morning stopping at a Starbucks to get breakfast and coffee. I know, I know, Starbucks in Europe!? But honestly, you can't beat the coffee there. You can't get a normal coffee in Italy, atleast not easily, it's either espresso, cappucino or a latte. Following a delicious, hot coffee, we went to the Prado. AMAZING. One of the best art museums I've been to. I loved it. Not too big but not too small. We were there for 2 hours and saw basically the whole thing: goya, valazquez, mantegna, fra angelico, and even the incredible Hieronymus Bosch (Garden of Earthly Delights). I would probably rank that museum above the Met. I loved it that much. So managable.
After the museum we went walking around to get some lunch, and then wandered to the Palace. We didn't go in but we walked around it to see it. We had a flight in the late afternoon to Portugal so we had to get back to the hostel and get our bags to get to the airport.
One time zone and a flight later and we've arrived in Porto, Portugal!!A whole new language and a whole new country! We got to our hostel and after getting settled in, we found a place for dinner. We were basically the only ones there but we had a good time. I got fish, which is something I never do in Italy on a students budget. The salmon cost about 8.50 euros where in Italy it would've cost atleast 14 euros. Unreal. Dinner was finished with a 35-year-old Portuguese man coming to sit at our table, probably under the impression that we were atleast in our late 20s. He taught Shelly to dance, bought us some Portugues desert wine and that was that. We said our goodbyes and safely returned to our hostel.
17: First day in Portugal! We started off taking a walking tour that was in one of the guide books we had. We wandered through the streets of Porto, stopping at the occasional church and sometimes going inside. It was really cool to see a Portuguese church, especially in comparison to the massive ones all over Italy. We wandered across the Duoro (the river running through the North of Portugal) and after stopping at various Porto wineries to gather information for the afternoon, we sat down for lunch overlooking the river.
After lunch we met up with the other four girls that we were 'traveling' with: Nami, Jenny, Alex and Kim. We overlapped a bunch with them but for the most part we had seperate itineraries. After meeting up we went to a Porto wine cellar tour followed by a tasting. While not a fan of Porto wine (more on the sweeet side), I will never turn down a tasting. Plus, adding to the cheapness of Portugal the whole tour plus tasting was only 4 euros. amazing. For dinner we went to this adorable traditional Portuguese place where I got cod (verrrry portugese). Delish. Our second and last night in Porto ended with a early bedtime since we had to get up for buses tomorrow.
18: While four of the girls got up at 3:45 to catch a bus down to the south of Portugal, Shelly, Joci and I got up at a reasonable time to catch the bus down to Lisbon, stopping in Coimbra to break up the 4.5 hours. Coimbra is apparently a university town but going on a sunday resulted in nothing to see and nothing being opened. We stopped and had lunch and got on a bus around 3 to go to Lisbon. Upon arrival in Lisbon we were thrilled when we, first of all found out that our hostel was right next to the metro and that our hostel was SO nice. Five-star hostel if there was such a thing. SO clean and cute. It looked like it was designed by Urban Outfitters and Ikea; a perfect combination. Happy to have such amazing accomodations, we went off in search for dinner, which we found only after being bombarded by dozens of pushy portuguese with menus on the streets. All in all a great day!
19: The next day we went to a small town about an hour west of Lisbon called Sintra. It was a cute town known for castles and palaces; as the tour book described, it is whimsical and hobbit-like. I wish I had pictures to show because it was truely a beautiful and some-what whimsical place. we did A LOT of climbing up to the top of a mountain where there was an old moorish castle. very cool. The town itself was adorable. Filled with tiny streets and beautiful views. Of course because it was such a little, touristy town, we got royally ripped off with everything we did. Conclusion: Portugal is still part of Europe and still part of the rip off euro system. Yay Europe! Back in Lisbon, we went to another castle (more stairs and climbing) and for the evening we found yet another cute restaurant for authentic portuguese cuisine...I'm pretty sure I ordered ribs there, which, for anyone who knows me, is a rarity. We ended the night with a cocktail and bedtime. Joyful.
20: Today was our only real full day in Lisbon and it was great! We got up and went to do all the sight seeing: Monestary of St. Jerome, Tower of Belem, and the Se Cathedral. Unfortunately we had a rainy forcast so we ended up going up to the big Lisbon mall by the ocean to have lunch and wandering. It was a very relaxing day. We ended it with our last portuguese meal when our four other friends met back up with us. After dinner we went out dancing. I know what you're thinking, by dancing you mean drinking. Well yes but this time we actually danced...salsa! We found this one place where there were actual dance instructors who would lead us in salsa dancing! SO much fun. Later on we befriended a group of Portugese military guys. They were very nice and fun to hang out with in Lisbon!
21: Today we left the Portuguese lifestyle behind for Barcelona! We got in around early evening so it was already dark but we ended up walking around the Boardwalk area and finding a seafood place for dinner (Barcelona is known for seafood).
22: One day in Barcelona to see everything. And low and behold it poured ALL day. Not just poured but basically torrential downpour. I felt like I was in Singapore only it was about 55 degrees not 85. I couldn't believe how much rain there was. We were able to see the Sagrada Famiglia, The Cathedral, The Picasso Museum and then we had to go back to our hostel because it was raining way too hard to do anything. The Sagrada Famiglia was a very intersting place. I'm still not sure what exactly to think about it. I was impressed at the sheer size and unique characteristics of the structure but I was so dissapointed in how incomplete it was! It was begun in 1882 and to this day is still not finished. It's not suppose to be done until 2030! that's 150 years of costruction and it's the 21st century! As an art history major who is obsessed with churches (paritcuarly the Duomo in Florence) I can't believe how long it's taking them to finish the Sagrada Famiglia, especially considering the amount of modern technology available. It was cool to see a 'work-in progress' and all the artists and architects busy working away, but I'm definitely going to need to come back and see the final product to get a real impression (Barcelona 2030?).
I LOVED the Picasso Museum. Most of his really famous stuff are in other museums but it was SO cool to see his earlier works and his progression from where he began to how he is remembered today. Definitely a highlight of my trip.
After warming up and drying off at the hostel we decided that even though it was raining we would try and do something. So what's the perfect rainy day activity?? A movie! We all went to go see, "I Love New York" in a random Spanish movie theater. Loved it. Afterwards we ate dinner together and I went back to the hostel to get some sleep for the next day!
23: What a day. Around 1am the previous morning I got an email from the airline saying there was a strike in Italy and the flight I'm on the next day may be rescheduled. I tried to call every number I could to find out more information but my phone was out of money! When I woke up the morning of my flight, at 7:00, I checked my email right before leaving only to find out that my flight to Rome, to meet my mom, was cancelled! I quickly jumped in a cab and went to the airport. To make a long story short, after frantically calling people on a pay phone (courtesy of 20 euros worth of coins), I was able to get on a flight leaving at 3:00pm. I was really lucky to get out of there. I ended up going back into Barcelona to spend some more time with my friends. We went to La Pedrera, Gaudi's house, which was very cool. All in all I'm somewhat happy that my flight was cancelled because I got to see more of Barcelona, and under better weather conditions.
I finally got to Rome and my mom at around 7:30pm. I was so happy to finally see her! We went out to a cute dinner near the hotel where my mother had her first glass of Italian wine...and so the love began.
24:Our first day in Rome was BUSY. We woke up and saw Ancient Rome: The Pantheon, the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Column of Trajan and the Arch of Constantine. Leaving Ancient Rome, we jumped into a cab and made our way over to the Vatican! I was SO excited for this, being the good Jewish girl that I am. For some reason I'm fascinated with all of it. I was bummed he wasn't hanging around when we went there. We were so lucky beause there were almost no lines getting in. It was great. We went through the entire Vatican Museum, quite quickly, stopping at the various famous masterpieces such as the School of Athens. Of course we (or atleast I) spent a significant amount of time in the Sistine Chapel, which was truely incredible. Words can't describe, but I'm sure I don't have to say that because everyone knows that the Sistine chapel is incredible. We left the Sistine Chapel, and walked over to St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica. The Basilica was AMAZING. Huge, immense, elaborate, just incredible. I feel like I need to use a thesaurus with this blog because I keep calling things incredible and amazing. But they were. Of course I wish I had photos to show, but I guess you can just Google it.
After the Vatican we wandered back towards our hotel and had a bit of a rest before dinner time. We had done a lot of walking and wandering. Our last dinner in Rome was incredible. We were literally the only English-speaking people there (which is always a good sign). We got artichokes roasted between bricks, which was one of the best things I've ever tasted. SO simple but SO delicious. I honestly don't even remember what we ate for our main...I think we shared two pastas or something. The artichokes were that good. Didn't even have desert. We waddled home and passed out before 11. Plus we got an extra hour of sleep, yay European daylight savings.
25: For our last day in Rome we did a lot more wandering than site seeing. We went to the Campo and Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. All very cool but of course all very touristy. We had a lovely leisurely lunch in the piazza Navona, complete with wine and obnoxious street preformers.
In a sense we ran out of stuff to do in Rome so we went back to the hotel and tried to get an earlier train to Florence. We hopped in a taxi and I told him "Termini". About 20 mins later, which was far to long to get to the train station, I asked him where he was going and he said Ciampino, the Rome airport! So we missed the train we wanted to take and ended up just taking the orignal train leaving at 4 30.
Finally we made it back to Florence! At 6:09! I took my mom to her hotel and waited around while she got ready for dinner and then we walked over to my apartment! After the meeting of the roommates and the short tour of my tiny apartment we went to dinner across the street at a place called La Giostra. It was incredible. One of the best meals I've had in Florence. Upon arrival, we were welcomed with a complimentary glass of prosseco (italian champagne). We ordered an appitizer, giant asparagus with parmesean, but literally two minutes later they brough us a complimentary tasting of about 6 different things, bruschetta, salumi, tomato mozerella, peppers etc. Delicious. We were already full after that but ordered our mains: split a risotto funghi and osso bucco. The asparagus came and it was SO good. It came with parmesean melted on top and then with bread crumbs and melted butter poured over. Again, one of the best things I've ever tried. Even more full, our mains arrived and we painfully tried them both. The Osso Bucco was out of this world. Best osso bucco I've ever had. I'm sure many people will hate me for this comment, but I have no issue with eating baby cow. Especially when it's that good. No offense to baby cows. Obviously we were stuffed to the core and there was no space for desert so, once again, we waddled back to the hotel room (which I decided I was going to camp out in for the week) and passed out.
26-30: Not to jump through the whole time I spent with my mom, but I'm getting a tad tired of writing on this blog. We basically saw the entire city. Went to basically every museum and every church. I blabbled my mouth of spilling random tidbits about the art and architecture (I had a lot of random tidbits to spill and I'm pretty sure my mom got tired of it). We went to the Academia and saw the David, the Uffizi where I showed off my Renaissance Art knowledge, Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, Medici Tombs, climbed to the top of the Duomo (amazing), and went to Piazzele Michelangelo to watch the sunset. We did some shopping in the market, bought presents, bought semi-matching leather jackets, wandered through the streets. She took my friends out for dinner which was a lot of fun, and of course we drank a significant amount of wine. I'm so excited to share a bottle with her when we get home. I had an amazing time with my mom and I was very very sad when she left, although I was far to tired to truely emote since I had to take her to the train station at 6:15 in the morning. Dreadful. But I miss her, and her paying for everything. Back to being broke...
30: After dropping my mom off at the train station and saying my goodbyes, I went home and passed out until around 8. Shelly and I decided to go to Cortona and Arezzo for the day. We had no concrete plans, just to jump on the train and wander. It was a great day. We had such a relaxing time. We had a fabulous and indulgent lunch in Cortona, pecorino cheese fondu and truffles (splurge of the weekend) and then went to Arezzo and wandered. Arezzo had the cutest antique and vintage stores that were so much fun to look through. Since we were both museumed and churched out, we avoided all sight seeing. We headed back to Florence around 5 and stayed in, going to sleep pretty early.
31: Today we went to San Gimigniano! Me, Shelly, Jenny and Michael all decided to go over there for the day and I'm so glad we did. It was the cutest medieval town. Filled with towers over looking Tuscany, one of which we climed. The weather was perfect and the view was breathtaking. We spent about 3 hours there and as we were waiting for the bus, I made the biggest mistake of 'formatting' my photos. and now they're gone. It's a sore subject and I'd rather not talk about it. Being Halloween, I cured my depression by dressing up as a witch, watching Mamma Mia, eating candy corn and getting a bloody mary...I would deal with it all on sunday.
November 1: Finally! The end of my blog! This day was pretty miserable. I just spent the whole day trying to figure out my camera (which was a failure). This week is Joci's 21st birthday, so much to celebrate! and Venice this weekend! until next time...