Yesterday afternoon I got back from spending 10 days traveling throughout Italy. It was overall a really great trip...minus all the rain that poured down on us on almost everyday :(. The trip started off in Venice. Since there really isn't much to do in Venice, we walked around a lot and simply sat by the water enjoying the view. The one big attraction of Venice is St. Marks Basilica, which we were actually able to get seats for Easter morning mass. It was conducted in Italian so I really had no idea what was being said, but it was an experience I won't ever forget. Sorry St. John Newman, Venice beats you on that one!
Next stop was Florence, which I think was my favorite city that we visited. It was simply a very charming town, and the bridges were too much to handle - so cute! Here we got rained on every single day. I'd be lying if I said walking around wasn't a little bit miserable, constantly having to hold my umbrella and praying my camera won't get water damage kind of sucks. The Uffizi Museum is world-known for their renaissance paintings. I must admit that I freaked out a little when I saw Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. I can't even begin to explain how crazy it is to see some of these paintings in person after learning about them for 3 years in my Classical Greece classes. The feeling you get when finally seeing one of these paintings is really amazing. After spending about 3 hours in this museum we decided to go climb to the top of the Duomo. After climbing roughly 500 feet we arrived to the top and were greeted with rain. The view was still beautiful and we stayed up there for about a half hour admiring the view. The next day we decided to wait in the extremely long line to see THE David by Michelangelo. It was literally the only thing in the museum worth seeing, but it was still super cool. I would have loved to have stayed an extra day in Florence, but I guess that means I'll just have to return again someday!
Our last major stop was Rome. We of course did all of the very touristy stuff. My favorite part of the trip was the tour we got of the Vatican. We saw the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The tour guide was really good and it was a great tour. Of course it was raining in Rome as well except for part of the last day that we were there. While I was most excited to visit Rome, it was the city that I was less impressed by. Besides all of the beyond amazing structures and architectural sites, I was not blown away by Rome. I still had Florence on my mind!
We had half a day in Milan before we had to leave to return home to Athens. Milan impressed me more than I thought it would. We visited the Duomo there and that was really all we had time to do. The city overall was very clean, polite and of course quite posh. After all, it is the birthplace of Prada!
By the end of the trip I could not believe how much I missed Athens. I was itching to get back to my roommates (last night we had a big family dinner sharing stories of our spring break experiences). I truly feel at home here and absolutely am in love with Athens. It will especially be nice not to eat pizza or pasta again for a while. I had both dishes everyday for 10 days straight, and while it was so so yummy I did get a little sick of it!
Venice
Florence! View from Michelangelo's Piazza
On top of the Duomo
Celebrating the hour that we got of no rain
A surprisingly sunny day in Rome. In front of the Altare della Patria, also known as the Wedding Cake building
The Pantheon! My favorite building in Rome
Trevi Fountain
The Colosseum!
The Sistine Chapel...and a very very illegal photo
Outside St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican
The Colosseum at sunset
The Duomo in Milan
Canolli in Milan! SO GOOD
My dad gets into Athens tomorrow and Thursday we are off to Cyprus for the weekend. I'm excited to have more visitors and show him the city and where I have been living for the past 3 months! Except photo's of Cyprus sometime next weekend!
