Time to use your Imagination

"Palatine Hill and Roman Forum"
After our stay in Tuscany we returned to Rome. This time while in Rome we would finally get to see what I had been desperately wanting to see...The Colosseum, Roman Forum and the Pantheon.

We started off the morning by walking through Palatine Hill and wandered around in the rubble, which was once the home of Rome's Caesars. After Palatine Hill, we walked through the Roman Forum, which was even more incredible! I absolutely loved recreating what Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum might have looked like in my mind as I wandered down the cobble paths passing freestanding columns or outlines of a foundation where large buildings used to stand.

An old arena in Palatine Hill

A tree that I found fasinating on Palatine Hill

Me infront of the arena in Palatine Hill

More of the Palatine Hill

The Roman Forum...part of it is still being discovered/uncovered.

The Roman Forum from above

The Roman Forum...again...

I really thought it was incredible to imagine what the place would have been like those many years ago. I definitely loved letting my imagination run wild!

"The Colosseum"
I had been looking forward to the Colosseum for so long! It was one of the main reasons why I so badly wanted to visit Rome on this tour through Europe. And I will definitely have to say that it was difficult to put off the visit for so long while we were traveling around Italy. But finally the time came when we visited the Colosseum...

Me infront of the Colosseum from within the Palatine Hill.

Me inside the Colosseum

A view of the structure that was beneath the Colosseum's floor

Just a cool picture at the Colosseum

The Colosseum...I still think it is incredible that it used to be 3 times as big as it is now.

I thought the Colosseum was absolutely incredible, I believe I was in awe the entire time I was standing inside the incredible structure! Once again I couldn't help but imagine to myself what it would have looked like in all its glory. Not only would it have been three times larger than it stands today, but I'm sure the walls and columns would have been covered and finished with white stone facade with beautiful carvings. It truly would have been an amazing site!

"The Pantheon"
After leaving the Colosseum, Lauren and I once again walked to view the Pantheon. Throughout our many visits to Rome over the month, the Pantheon became to be one of my favorite parts. I loved the fact that you could be aimlessly wandering the streets of Rome and then just run into the Pantheon as you turn one corner. It was one of the main reasons why I fell in love with Rome--because its history so present everywhere throughout the city.

We might have seen the Pantheon many times before, but we hadn't ever entered in. Unfortunately we had the bad luck that it was currently under restoration, so we couldn't get the full effect of the incredible dome. But it was still a beautiful building and I loved how the dome looked so elegant and peaceful with its center opening to the sky above.

Inside the Pantheon

Outside the Pantheon, the facade no longer displays all the glamour and beauty it must have held. But to me it still makes a significant impact because to me the weather worn exterior does not display a building slowly crumbling, but instead displaying its strength and perseverance over the test of time.

To me, Rome IS these fantastic buildings and ruins. It shows how glorious the city once was during its full height of power, but also displays its survival of time.

The Most Insane Sporting Event Ever!

Lauren and I went to Siena for the main purpose of attending "The Palio." "The Palio" is one of two horse races that take place during the year in Siena and is a huge part of Siena's culture. Siena is broken into contratas (who knows if I spelled that right) and 10 of the 17 contratas have a horse that races. Whoever wins basically has bragging rights for the whole year--it is a BIG DEAL! However, instead for me, "the Palio" was just the most insane sporting event I have ever witnessed!
All the people corralled into the center of the square. Once in there...we were stuck until the races ended.

The Palio takes place in Siena's main square, Il Campo, where they create a race track and the cheap/free seats are in the center. In order to get a good view of the race (to be near the start and the rail) we started our camp out at about 1pm that afternoon--the horse races did not start until after 7pm. So we showed up prepared with lots of water, lunch, and bread for dinner. But we definitely were not prepared for what was instore for us! Luckily we found my friend Robbie and his friends in the crowd, so we passed the time playing cards and talking.

Lauren and me at the Palio

Robbie and Me

About 4 hours before the race was to start the fun began...the rest of the evening would turn into a struggle to keep the standing locations we had been waiting for all day. The first contenders were a group of 4 or 5 italian girls who for at least 2-3 hours were constantly pushing us to get our spots. It was insane because they wanted to take a 2ft x 1ft square area of standing place in front of us and didn't even give up even when we didn't budge. There were even some times where I didn't have to really stand because I could just lean back against them (since they were pushing on me so hard) and stay standing! Finally they gave up and moved down the line, but honestly I do not know why they wanted that spot so much...I mean it wasn't a very big spot to begin with!

Finally the parade began. The parade consisted of the contratas walking around the race track in their original regalia, some of their outfits were very intersting! If I remember correctly, some of the armer had fish, swords or even a hand sticking out of it....very interesting. There were also flag throwers, although we couldn't see them preforming their routine (the curse of being short). The parade also showed off their races horses.

The Parade

One of the Race horses

After the parade, it was finally time for the races to begin. But by this time we were totally smashed against eveyone near us, about 3 fights broke out, and girls were dropping like flies (due to the heat and, I imagine, lack of water) and had to be carried away on stretchers. And right before the race a group of VERY INTENSE italians came barging through our area desperately trying to steal the spots infront of us at the rain (we easily let them through, since we didn't want to start a fight ourselves).

So finally the races were starting, or trying to start because it really didn't start for about an hour later or so. We can only guess about what was actually taking place during this time, because we could not see or understand a thing. But supposedly some of the horses were very restless and it was difficult to get them all to line up in a line (they don't use starting gates or anything). During this time the VERY INTENSE italians were yelling and screaming and who knows what.

However, after 2 false starts, the race started. We were only able to see the horses pass by the three times they circled the track, because we couldn't see anything else. At one point in the race, the very intense italians faces went into shock and the girls were crying hysterically and others were slapping them trying to knock some sense into them! It was so crazy because we had no clue what was taking place.

Finally, the race ended. The contrata I was cheering for, well maybe not chearing...but I was wearing their flag, won and we were let out of our corral full of intense italians and scared tourists (Lauren and I). Once we were out, we went in search for the least croweded area we could find. We ended up taking refuge under Siena's Duomo and sat there thanking God that we were still alive.

When we went back to our hotel for the night, we were actually able to see the race for the first time. In the end, 4 out of the 10 riders got de-horsed, one of them (the one the intense italians next to us were cheering for) got trampled by one, maybe two horses! It was so crazy, but we think that he is alright (at least he is alive).

So yes, that was our experience with "The Palio." For me, this was definitely a once in a life time experience. I am glad to have survived.

A Beautiful Bike Ride

Ever since watching (and reading) "Under the Tuscan Sun" I have been in love with Tuscany! And since watching the movie with the "Cake Night" crew...I have been dreaming of visiting and eventually purchasing a villa out here (someday). So since being in Italy, I knew I had to experience Tuscany more than just the train and bus rides through it.

So I decided to take a bike ride. The nice young lady who ran the hotel was sweet enough to allow me to borrow their bike and gave me directions to the hills. So early on our first morning in Siena, I went off on my bike ride. At first I was a little dissapointed because I could not find a quick way to the Tuscan hillsides, but after riding along the highway with Italians speeding by in their tiny cars and exploring a few driveways (that still offered beautiful views) I found the road I was looking for. I love this picture. I think it is great to see the bridge spanning a river of sunflowers!

The road took me up into the Tuscan countryside, road me past the golden wheat fields, charming villas and through small towns (if you can call three houses grouped together a town). But I had such an amazing time! Tuscany is so beautiful and peaceful! I had such a great time riding past Italians taking their early morning walks and greating them with a friendly "Buonogiorno." I even recieved a friendly honk of a tractor horn as he passed me along one of the smaller roads. It was just absolutly a wonderful bike ride and was exactly what I have been wanting to do for so long!

As I neared the end of my little bike journey (about 1 1/2 hrs into it) I discovered what I thought would be a very quick way back to our hotel. I mean I could see the hotel from the hills above and a road that would take me directly there. So with my time running short, since I was supposed to meet Lauren at 11:00 to head to Siena, I was excited that the way back seemed to be so easy. But as I have learned with most everything over here...it is never as easy as you first believe. Instead of an easy way back I was again confronted with the same construction I had encountered earlier. With a fence blocking my path I decided to avoid obtaining a big fine for entering a construction zone and decided to look for another route back. I mean, you would think there would be a detour somewhere new, but I just could not find it.

Still on the pursuit of a detour I rode up some hills past a few more houses, but I felt as if I was going in the total wrong direction, so I made the decision to just go back the way I had come. It might be a long ride back to the hotel...but I figured at least I knew it would be me back, even if I was an hour late. So as I was starting to head back (walking my bike up the hill), an Italian man drove by. So I waved him down and asked him for a ride to the town. He did not speak much english, but he did understand that I wanted a ride to town and eventually I was able to explain to him what hotel I was wanting to go to. But he was so sweet and put my bike in the back of his truck and drove me to the hotel!

I think I scared the hotel lady when I showed up back at the hotel in a pick-up, since it was her who sent me out alone on a ride. But I quickly explained to her that I was alright, and not lost...I was just running out of time and wanted a quick ride home.

But I had the most fantastic time on the bike ride through Tuscany, I was definitely able to experience it's beauty. And now I even have a funny story to tell about how I had to hitch a ride home...all I can say is only me. It always seems like things like this happen to only me! =)

Happy Birthday to...ME!!!

Yes, I celebrated my birthday in Italy this year (July 1st)...and I'm now 23 (so I can now feel REALLY old when talking to all the recent high school graduates on their graduation trips..oh well). But it was amazing to spend my birthday in Italy.

The first part of my birthday was spent traveling from Florence to Siena. But I didn't care because I found the Tuscan countryside just so beautiful to watch as we passed by! I absolutely loved the Tuscan Hills as they changed from being covered in trees to golden wheat fields. But each of them offered charming villas resting on the hillsides and in the valleys. It was just so beautiful!
The sunflowers were amazing! We found these on our walk from our Hotel to the small town.

Once in Siena, we had an adventure trying to find our hotel. Due to "The Palio" being the following day, there were no hostels or hotels available within the city of Siena, so we settled for a nice hotel in a nearby village. With some luck and good directions from people we got on the correct bus to the small town. However, once in that town...we had no clue where to go. Once again, we were lucky and found some nice people in the ice cream shop who pointed us down the correct road and told us to walk about a mile or so. So we were sent off out of town walking along a two-lane highway (with hardly any shoulder) carrying our packs. But we did make it and found a great hotel with an incredibly nice family who ran it.

Siena's main square, Il Campo. We had no clue what was instore for us there the following day...

I now can really appreciate a hotel after spending the past two weeks in Hostels with no air conditioners and sharing a room and shower with 4 or more people. So once we were settled and cooled off in our air conditioned room we headed back to Siena to explore. Once in Siena we walked to the Il Campo (town's main square, where the Palio would be held the following day) and to Siena's Duomo. Unfortunatly the Duomo was under restoration, so the front was covered with scafolding. But the inside was extravogant. It was a very beautiful Cathedral with sculptures and beautiful paintings. It was what I expected Florence's Duomo to look like in the inside. It was absolutly beautiful.

The Siena Duomo...unfortunatly it was under reconstruction.

Inside of Siena's Duomo. I loved the colored tiles. It was gorgeous!

After hitting those main spots, we began to wander the streets in search of a telephone to contact my friend Robbie Mitchel (a fellow engineer from OSU who I randomly ran into in the Cinque Terre and is staying in Siena). But of course when you want to find a telephone (at least a working one) you can never! So instead we ended up finding his hostel and stopped by. It was really nice to see Robbie again and catch up. He only had about an hour to spare, so we ended up walking around Siena a bit and got some gelato.

My friend Robbie Mitchell. I still can't believe we ran into him...such a small world.

Once we dropped Robbie off at his hostel again, we found a lovely shaded location under one of the churches. We spend this time relaxing...catching up on postcards and just people watching. After resting our legs we began wandering again and found some nice gardens and a fountain. In this garden was the smallest (and shortest) mazes I have seen. So of course I had to walk through the maze...with all the little kids (the only difference was that I could see over the bushes and they couldn't :) I would definitely have to say that seeing over the bushes definitely takes the fun out of walking through the maze.

For dinner we went to this lovely restaurant that Robbie suggested. He described it as the Restaurant with the view and what a view it did have! We had an amazing view of Siena's Duomo...it was absolutly perfect for my birthday dinner! (Here is the food info specifically for you Aeyoung) And the dinner was the best I had have so far. I have Gnocchi with Truffels which was so delicious and some great white wine! And of course we had to finish the dinner off with dessert (I mean, it was my Birthday!) so we had tiramisu, which was very delicious as well.

Me and Lauren at my birthday dinner!

The view during our dinner...not too bad, eh?

Overall, it was a lovely birthday!

The Renaissance City

After leaving the Cinque Terre, our next destination was Florence (the renaissance city). However, before Florence we had to stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower. We didn't stay long in Pisa, only long enough to take the corney touristy pictures of us holding the tower up. Yes, even I could not stop myself from taking one of those unoriginal pictures. It was quite funny though because everyone was doing it and it was entertaining to watch the picture taker line up the person with the tower.

Yes...Here is the corney touristy picture at Pisa (I couldn't help myself)

Before leaving Pisa we had one last meal with our new friends, Nora and Rachel (sisters from New Mexico who were our roommates in the Cinque Terre). Nora and Rachel were so much fun! And I'm very excited to say that both of them will be moving to NY this fall. So I hope I will be able to hang out with them before I take off to Stanford.

Lauren, Nora, Rachel and I at Pisa before we went our seperate ways.

Once in Florence, our first stop was the Duomo, Florence's Catherdral. I loved the Catherdral and thought the front was very beautiful. It was covered in white tiles and beautiful sculputures and paintings in the front. I think I found it most interesting mainly because it was so different than all the Cathedrals I have seen in the past. The Duomo is also home to the first dome ever constructed. Lauren and I walked the 473 steps to the top and got a beautiful view of Florence. I still think it is amazing how they constructed such structures back then. The inside of the Cathedral was very simple. It did not have the usual ordaments, sculptures, or paintings covering the walls or ceilings (other than the painting of "the last judgement" underneath the dome. But it was still beautiful with it's simplicity.

The Florence Duomo and the Giotto Tower

The Duomo again

Inside Florence's Duomo...so different than most of the Cathedrals I have seen.

The beautiful painting of the dome

We spent a total of three days in Florence, most of them during the lovely heat wave. So we spent the days wandering the streets and markets (eating gelato), finding cool plazzas to rest in and read books in quiet and great plazzas or cities with beautiful views of the city. While in Florence we visiting the Duomo museum which houses a lot of the original art and facade from the Cathedral and the Accademia and Uffizi museums. The Accademia which housed Michelangelo's "The David" sculpture which was purely fanstatic. You don't recognize it's size until you are right beneath it. And the elegance and power the sculpture displaces is amazing. I also really enjoyed the other unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo. I thought it was very interesting to see his work in progress and be able to really see how he created those amazing sculptures. The Uffizi gallery had a lot of famous paintings (although I can't name half of them or their artist's name). But it was interesting because they had the paintings in cronological order, so you can see how the paintings developed over the years. In the museum was the original work of "The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli and another beautiful painting by the same artist. There were also a few others by michelangelo which were so beautiful. Basically by the end of our tour of Florence we had seen all of the turtles (Michelangelo, Rafael, Leonardo, and Donatello).

The Ponte Vecchio Bridge at night

A few of my other favorite places in Florence was the Ponte Vecchio bridge. I thought it was so cool, because it was a purely pedestrian bridge with jewlery shops lining its side walks. And at night it turned into a great hang out where people could come and sit and enjoy the beautiful river and local muscians playing. We were lucky to walk there one night and be able to sit and enjoy a local musician! One night we also saw a mime act in the street! Now that is what Florence is supposed to be all about...the music and artists!

The view of the Duomo from Michelangelo's Landing

Another picture from Michelangelo's Landing of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge

On our last afternoon in Florence, when we were getting tired of the heat...we took refuge in the nearby city of Fiesole. It was a beautiful and simple town on one of the surrouding hills and a great retreat to relax, read and catch up on my journaling. It not only had amazing views of the city...but a lovely breeze to cool us down!

Overall, I thought Florence was great...for it's museums and art gallerys. But for me it was too hot and had way too many bugs! Lauren and I got eaten alive (mainly Lauren though...poor thing has the worst luck!). But we were happy to leave but glad we were able to see some of the world's greatest art.

Me rubbing the Boar's nose...supposedly if you did that you're destined to return to Florence.