I'm back! Did ya miss me? I'll just bet you did, huh? Well to continue my story...
Dana and I landed in Pisa, took a bus for €1 to the train station and stored our luggage. I can’t recall how much the storage was, but it was cheap in comparison to the rest of the stations we did this with. This option was nice though. It gave us a chance to visit a city without the cumbersome (and heavy) luggage we had brought with us. Once our luggage was safe in storage, we headed straight for the leaning tower of Pisa! It really is so weird to see a humungous tower leaning so far without falling. Of course, at some point it will fall, sadly. As they say, what goes up must come down. On a happier note, we got some nice pictures, with the occasional photo of one or both of us trying to push the tower down or back up. There’s a church nearby as well and it was beautifully carved on the outside. I couldn’t believe there were so many souvenir stands, though. The number of stands I saw there in Pisa by the tower is higher than the number I saw in Rome in one single area. It was crazy! We took our time walking through them and looking around. I bought some lovely little things like a keychain and a magnet. I also got a really cool mug. It leans! Just like the tower! I quite enjoyed that.
But at some point, we had to leave. We were not booked to stay the night in Pisa. So we headed for Florence! Firenze! That’s the Italian word for Florence. Just like Rome is Roma and Venice is Venezia. We spent the night in Florence at a youth hostel that was sort of on the outskirts of town. Not in a bad part, necessarily, but it was quite a ways by bus, especially with a heavy suitcase. Did I mention that to get to this hostel, one has to walk down an asphalt path? Or rather up it? Yeah, that was not fun. But the hostel was quite nice. Well, minus the fact that it had a nest of gnats in the shower room (up in just one corner of the enormous place). That was gross. But it was a large villa-style building with rooms made for 4 people (it might have had bigger, though) and it served breakfast (like many, though I was not up in time for it). By the way, when hostels say they serve breakfast, it’s usually toast and/or cereal. There’s a possibility of a roll, but that’s about it. OK, so the hostel was not great, but it was beautiful all the same with a wonderful view because it was up above the city a bit.
The next morning, we once more stored our luggage at the train station, which I believe was €3 per bag. Then we walked over to the Duomo and went around the outside. There was a long line to get in so we did not do that, but we did have some gelato within view. It was so pretty with all of it’s dark green coloring and intricate detail. I highly recommend that. We had to see Michelangelo’s David, of course. The line to get into this museum (which seemed unnaturally small for having such a famous work) was only about an hour and only part of it was in the hot, Italian sun. The anatomical accuracy of the David statue is quite amazing, I have to say. It was weird to be staring up and scrutinizing a naked male statue, but everything seems so perfect on him. Even his face shows more emotion than one might usually see in a statue. I’m so glad we saw it and if you go to Florence and only have time to see one thing, the David must be it. It must.
So next we went back to the station. Here’s the deal, though, we were told we could get cheap tickets to Rome for only €16.10. Well we went and bought those. No problem, right? Wrong. We were not sure which train to get on with those tickets. Some were faster than others and therefore more expensive. So we went to information and were told the next train we could take with our tickets was to depart at 5:30. So we waited around and at about 5:10, we went back to information because we saw a train for 5:40 but wanted to be on the correct train. Apparently we were told wrong originally. The next train we could take would leave at 7:13 and would take four hours. We opted to change our tickets for the medium speed train and get there faster. We left around 5:50, I believe and got in sometime just after 9. So much better than taking the slower train at 7:13. Was that confusing? I hope you followed it. Basically, the information guy told us the wrong time so we had to switch our tickets to get to Rome before 11pm.
Oh, but the problems did not stop there. Of course not. That would be silly, right? Our hostel was literally three blocks from the station. No big deal. So we head over there, which took us a minute because I got the map a bit confused, and went upstairs and I gave the lady my name. She said she did not have a reservation, but asked me to write my name down in case she somehow had it wrong. Apparently I had booked us for the wrong days. The nights I had booked for the Mosaic Hostel in Rome were the nights we were supposed to be in Venice! But she had an opening for us for that night so we booked it and stayed anyway. I quickly had to connect to the wireless network and book another hostel for the next two nights. Luckily, I found one close by. This one was more like a hotel room than a hostel with just two beds and a private bathroom. It was a bit more expensive than we wanted, but it was nice and I wasn’t finding anything else unless we wanted to switch hostels again the next night, which would just take up more time.
Luckily, we were able to check into the new hostel, the Pink Floyd, immediately. So we set our luggage in the room and headed out for the Vatican! Now, I had already seen this with my family, but Dana had not and I figured it was so beautiful that seeing it again would certainly not be a crime. We passed quite a few people trying to sell tours. At one point a very attractive Australian man (possibly a Kiwi, but I’m not quite sure) was able to grab Dana’s attention… and mine. The tour would take us past the lines (which were already crazy long at just 10:30) and we would not have to go into the Sistine Chapel through a separate line which would take longer. So we did this. I learned quite a bit more taking this tour than I did taking the one with my family. I think it’s probably because I could understand our tour guide a bit better and she was speaking into a microphone which went directly to our headsets that we were given in the beginning of the tour. That way we could all hear her without having to stand directly next to her.
Seeing the Sistine Chapel again, I was still in awe. I think I could see it a hundred times and my jaw would still drop. When you think about the fact that it took Michelangelo just over four years, most of the time standing and staring up in poor light, it makes the sight even more amazing. And there are some funny little stories about the paintings that you get from your tour guide that you would not otherwise know. For example, twice on the ceiling Michelangelo painted a young boy giving the finger (the Italian way, though). That way every time the Pope enters, he’s getting the bird. Not very nice, but Michelangelo did not exactly have a choice in painting the chapel so he felt the need to lash out somehow. There are other things, but I would have to point them out to you in person.
St. Peter’s Basilica is up next. There was a problem though. Dana was wearing a dress with tights and the dress just happened to be too short! Neither one of us would have thought of this, but the guard at the door would not let her through. I took her camera and tried to take some nice pictures for her, but it just is not the same. I tell you this because I want to warn you. Wear pants! It’ll save you the disappointment.
We then headed over toward the Colosseum, stopping along the way to take pictures of the Forum. The ruins here are so cool! I really enjoyed seeing them again. The two of us got accosted by one of the street performers of sorts who was dressed in the outfit of a Roman warrior. He started to try to reel me in, but when I didn’t take the bait, he went for Dana. I wasn’t able to warn her that it would cost us money to take pictures, but it turned out that the pictures were kind of fun anyway. We continued on our way after that, but keep that in mind when you visit. We did not go into the Colosseum because we still wanted to get to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps before dark. Then we wanted to see the fountain at night as well. We were able to do just that.
We took some lovely pictures of the Trevi Fountain in the late afternoon sun (or the sort-of-sun since it was cloudy that day). Two men tried to take our picture for money, but we of course said no. It’s kind of funny how much they try. I mean they really don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. You have to be forceful. Remember that. Then we headed for the steps. We sort of took our time here, which is nice. There’s not a beautiful view of the rest of Rome or anything, but it was nice just to pause and take in the city. A few guys came and tried to sell us roses. They, along with the picture guys from the fountain, always seemed to approach me rather than Dana. I’m not sure why that is. Oh well.
After that, we sort of wound our way slowly back to the fountain, looking for a place to eat. It wasn’t dark enough yet to get night shots of the fountain. There was a nice little café along Via Nazareno. It was a sit-down place which was what we were looking for. I think I had the best pizza there that I’ve had in Rome. It was delicious. Cheesy, but not too much sauce. Perfecto! When we were finished, it was dark so we headed back to the fountain and took some more lovely shots. We were once more approached by the vendors, some trying to sell tripods for cameras. This time we simply sat down and stared at the fountain. It takes up an entire side of the building into which it is built! The thing is huge and so intricate. It’s a very crowded place, but this is one thing you must see in Rome.
Have I mentioned that everywhere I went with my parents (and I went to many of them with Dana too) was so much less crowded then than when I went with Dana? It’s kind of funny the difference that just two and a half weeks can make in the beginning of tourist season.
Anyway, the next day was when we went to Pompeii! I think this may have been my favorite of the whole trip in Italy. I had gotten a bit of a sunburn on my chest, arms, and forehead the first few days so I grabbed some sunscreen before leaving the train station that morning. It’s about a two-and-a-half hour train ride from Rome to Naples and then you have to take the Circumvesuviana (or something like that) into Pompeii/Scavi. That’s the name of the stop. If you take the train to Pompeii, you will just have to stop and switch. Once you get off the second train, you walk to your right and about 50 meters down the street on your left is the entrance to the excavation site. It was pretty cheap to get in; only €11, which is cheaper than some of the other things we had done so far. It took us about 4 hours to go through and we did not even make it to everything, but we were getting tired at that point and it was quite hot out. The only place we could be inside was the little cafeteria that is in the western part of the site. I got a slice of pizza there around 3 just before we left. Oh, but I recommend eating at a café that was just outside the entrance and to the left, if you’re facing that direction. Dana had a really good pizza there. Another tip… the train there and the train back, we heard, is supposed to only come every hour. We walked up right as one was leaving, but twenty minutes later, another one pulled in and it’s the only train that goes to Pompeii/Scavi, so I think you would be safe with just winging it in terms of transportation.
At this point, our plan had been to go to the museum where many of the artifacts are on display, but we were so tired that we both agreed we would not get the full effect. It would almost be a waste of money since we would not appreciate it. So instead, we hopped on a train back to Rome. It’s more expensive to get to Rome than it is to get to Naples. Be prepared for that. I really do not remember what time we got back, but we went immediately to our hostel room, which, as I mentioned before, was very close to the train station. The two of us took a break, went down the street to eat dinner, and then came back and went to bed. That day was so tiring, but it really was wonderful. Pompeii is heaven for the history buff. Oh, and while taking the train anywhere, you’re going to see random crumbling ruins and/or buildings so try not to shut your eyes or stare down at a book. You’ll miss some cool photo opps. I know I did on the way back from Naples because I was so tired.
Once more, I must pause and allow your eyes to rest. Don't worry, though. There is not much more in 'Part 3'.
Kilts checked do date... 113
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