Spring Break II: Rome

Here is part II of my spring break presented in words and pictures. From Venice, we ventured to Rome. We arrived around noon after catching an early train and spent three days exploring this ancient city.


The Story of a Hostel. Before we get into the nitty gritty let's talk about our accommodations. After reading some of the reviews of our hostel in Rome, I had a feeling we were in for an interesting stay. Sunshine was clearly a budget hostel for those willing to take a little bit of a risk. Run by a brother and sister out of a small wing of rooms in a much larger building, the decor struck me as what I might find at my eccentric great-aunt's house, if I had an eccentric great-aunt. It was sort of a hodge-podge of styles (including but not limited to: Indian, floral, modern, Victorian, outdoor furniture, nautical, and whatever style the creepy-clown shower curtain that now haunts Julie's dreams was). As it turned out, Florinda and Dany were very nice hosts, though it seemed like they were both past the glory days of owning a hostel. Florinda could have been on Jersey Shore with her extensive make-up and nail work, and she gave Julie and I the supreme sense that she should not be angered. We had no trouble though, and she gave us a map and some advice on what to see and where to eat around the hostel. Perhaps the most interesting part of our stay at Sunshine was that they didn't provide any towels for their guests. Julie and I were not expecting this. It made showering quite an interesting experience. I was eventually able to dry after each shower, but perhaps I should spare the details for a less public forum. All in all, though, we were very happy with our hostel despite a few quirks here and there.

Popefully Yours. Yes, this is the title I've chosen. My second favorite part of our tour of Rome was the Vatican and especially getting to witness Pope Francis ride his little white pope-mobile around St. Peter's Square while waving and kissing the babes of an enormous crowd. In fact, he totally waved in my general direction and I'm pretty sure he looked right at me... I think. I never really had much interest in the doings of Pope Benedict, the primary Pope of my life until now, but Pope Francis has gotten my attention. I'm really in favor of everything that he is encouraging in the Catholic church as well as the world, and I am quite popeful for his future Popeliness. While the Vatican Museums were a bit overwhelming, I was really excited to see the Raphael rooms (not the ninja turtle) and they did not disappoint. The painter and sculptor, Raphael, was commissioned to fill them with frescoes and they are home to one of his most famous paintings, The School of Athens, an homage to ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers. However, since there was little knowledge of what many of the Greek philosophers looked like, he painted likenesses of his Renaissance artist friends instead. Most notably are Leonardo daVinci as Aristotle, Michelangelo as Heraclitus, and Raphael himself as Apelles.

Colosseo. Leading up to my arrival in Rome, the one thing I was most excited to see was the Colosseum. I can honestly say that I've never had my expectations so completely blown away than when I stepped inside and looked out at the massive arena. Along with Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum this was definitely my favorite part of Rome. The fact that the Colosseum is so well preserved is astounding, especially after you see how ripped apart the Forum is from two thousand years of battles and conquerings, and it really makes it possible to imagine the huge audience, and the gladiators, animal hunts, or battle re-enactments going on below (the mock naval battles are still really hard to imagine though).  I think I could have spent at least an entire day at these places if not several days, but it was the perfect way to end our trip in Rome.

A Trooper. My final thoughts on Rome concern my wonderful traveling/life partner, Julie. On our last day in Venice she began to develop a scratchy throat, which quickly turned into a cold that reached it's peak while in Rome. She didn't let it stop her, though, and she trekked on with me through hot and cold, rain and shine. We just had to go a little slower than my preferred pace, and fend off some desires for a nap back at the hostel every now and then. Sure, at times it may have felt a little like I was traveling with an extra rolling suitcase ;), but she never quit on me. We managed to do and see everything we wanted to and have a fantastic time. I couldn't have asked for a better travel buddy.

Thanks for reading! Now you deserve some photos!

Trevi Fountain

Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland)

Column of Trajan and surrounding Forum of Trajan.

Inside the Pantheon. 

Market of Trajan (yeah, he was a big deal)

Pope Francis, the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church

St. Peter's Square

Inside the Vatican Museums

The School of Athens in the Raphael rooms. The main figure under the arches in the red toga is Leonardo as the Greek philosopher Aristotle and below him, the dark-haired figure sitting and pouting, is Michelangelo as the philosopher Heraclitus.

On the right side of the Fresco is Raphael as the ancient Greek painter, Apelles, but he is a little harder to spot. You can spot him very near the edge in a black cap looking out towards the viewers, inviting us into his masterpiece.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

The Colosseum

I allowed myself one selfie, because it's the Colosseum

Palatine Hill

A view of the eastern end of the Roman Forum

Spring Break: Vienna & Venice

Dobry den, all! I have re-train myself to say my Czech phrases again after speaking Italian for so long. Yes, Italy. That is why I have been absent from the blogosphere for so long. I decided to pack light for the trip, sans computer, to make traveling a little easier. So, that means I have about two weeks worth of adventures to cover! I've decided to break it all up over a few posts to make it a little easier on myself, so we'll start with Vienna, Austria and Venice, Italy. I also didn't bring my camera along for the ride (packing light, remember) so I don't have any pictures to show... just kidding! My iPhone proved to be a more than adequate substitute for my camera. I'll post all my photos from each place at the end, so you have to read in order to get your reward. Okay, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's go!


Vienna

Vienna was wonderful, overall. A pleasant city with lots of culture and great food – you really can't go wrong there. Some highlights for me were:

The Art. If you're not a fan of some Austrian artists, then you probably don't realize they're Austrian. Austria, and Vienna especially, have produced some great artists and I was able to see work of the two of the best while in Vienna. The Leopold Museum is a wonderful gallery that I found to be just my size when it comes to museums – small enough to be able to appreciate everything without rushing through, and large enough to see a great selection of work and feel satisfied. Julie, Kait, Steph and I were able to see first-hand the beauty of Gustav Klimt's work, who Julie and Kait especially liked. I was very impressed with the work of Egon Schiele, an artist I recognized in name but knew little about. There are a lot of other fantastic museums in Vienna, so if that's your bag I would advise a visit. We didn't even make it to the art gallery that holds Klimt's most famous works because it was on the other side of the city, and I was disappointed that I didn't have time to see the natural history museum that is home to the Venus of Willendorf among other things.

The Blue Chairs. These are possibly the most ingenious invention ever developed by man. In fact, they're so clever I'm not convinced that they weren't planted here by aliens as some sort of trick to completely demobilize the human race.

 I'm talking about those blue things there. Here is a closer look to give you a better idea. Photos courtesy of Anne Langford.

Okay, that was probably a lot of unnecessary build-up, but sitting on these things was definitely the most relaxed I've ever been while sprawled across a piece of plastic furniture (don't quote me on that, though). After visiting the museum was the perfect time to take a nap on these babies and the 4 of us all partook... on the same one. It was cozy.

Mountains! On our way out of Austria to Venice we passed through the Alps of southern Austria and Northern Italy. I haven't been fortunate enough to see a lot of mountains in my lifetime so it was pretty breathtaking. We stopped at a little gas station/restaurant and some the group walked down to the river that ran right beneath the mountain. It was gorgeous and it felt really freeing to be there even though we were only a short walk from some civilization. I finally get what Maria was singing about. You can check out the pictures below.


Venice

It's a floating city... what's so great about that? Well, a lot actually. Sure, upon our arrival I might have been a little less than impressed with Venice. I was tired from the drive. It was crowded with obnoxious tourists. But after some sleep, and with a little better weather, I was able to see Venice in all its glory. It's really a beautiful place, but it's obviously not the shining pearl of Italy that it was very long ago. It's definitely aged and gotten a bit drabby, but it still maintains a sort of magical quality and what I could only describe as "moldy elegance."

An Unexpected Ride. On our arrival in Venice, Julie said the only way she would ride a gondola was if the driver's name was Fabio. We really weren't expecting to take a gondola ride during our stay. We were in the camp that it was too expensive (80€ during the day and 100€ after dark)  and probably overrated. Well, often we are proven wrong. Walking through the city, we were stopped by a strapping older man standing near a bridge: "A ride for 10€ a piece?" he proposed. There were 5 of us, and we all stopped in our tracks. I had heard that you can oftentimes barter with gondoliers, but I was a little dumbfounded. There was very little debate among us. "We'll take it!" And we hopped on into his gondola. As we began to take off down the canal I asked him his name, "My name is Fabio," he said, and then he began to whistle a tune. I guess some things are just meant to be.

Reunion. My fellow traveler and friend, Steph, decided to take an Italian adventure for spring break with Weekend Student Adventures. Students within Europe can sign-up and go on a guided trip with the company founder, Andy Steves, the son of the Rick Steves (yes, that one). Well it just so happened that my good friend, Brandon Drozd, currently studying in Ireland, signed up for the same trip! He was in Venice to meet up with the WSA group, so we had a little haphazard reunion in Venice (coordinating meetings using only the unreliable wifi I can find is rather difficult) but we were able to meet and catch up for a little bit before parting ways in Italy.


Well that's all for now, but there will be more from my spring break trip soon! Enjoy the photos!