Italy: Land of Pizza, Pasta, and Panini

We arrived in Rome at 1130 PM Saturday night.  The airport we flew into was a big out of the way so we had to take a cab to our hostel.  Turns out Lady Gaga was having a concert a few blocks from our hostel in support of Gay Pride.  So after checking into the hostel we went out for some pizza, and though the pizza was delicious, the people we saw in the restaurant and walking around outside were a bit extraneous.

            The next morning we got up early and headed to the Vatican.  We were able to hear the Sunday mass on the big screens outside in St. Peter’s Square.  Also in the square was a huge display of Ferraris.  There were probably 30-40 Ferraris of all different colors, models, and ages; it was incredible.  After checking the Ferraris out and taking pictures we got in line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica.  We ended up waiting for about 2 hours while Italians kept cutting the line.  Some Americans behind us got really angry and started blocking off the entrance and calling out anybody that tried to cut.  Once we got through security we headed right to the Cupola, which is the top of the basilica.  We a 360 degrees view of Rome and also great views of St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican Museum, and the gardens.  The kicker was that it was 540 steps to the top and needless to say we were sweating by the time we got up there.  After the Cupola we went into the main basilica.  The church is huge! The ceiling must have been 70 ft high and there were great pieces of artwork and sculptures all over the place.  We were also able to go under the main floor and see some of the shrines of where previous popes were buried, including St. Peter. 

            After the whole Vatican tour we made our way to the Pantheon.  We made a quick stop at Piazza Navona to check out the fountain and some of the artwork.  The Pantheon was a bit more hyped up than it should be.  Granted it is a architectural feat but the inside is very empty.  We were lucky enough to have a children’s band playing some good classical music.

            After the Pantheon we headed towards the Coliseum.  It was getting late so we just wanted to check it out from the outside but we were very surprised to find this really cool building called Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II.  It was a big, bright white building with some cool bronze sculptures.  We also got some great deals on some fake Ray bans.  The Coliseum was cool but we stayed outside and saved the inside for the next day.

            We had some crackers and cheese for dinner and then headed over to Trevi Fountain.  It is both a tourist and local hotspot so we relaxed there with a couple beers.

            The next day was the Coliseum and all the old Roman ruins.  We did a lot of reading while in the Coliseum just so we could understand some of the history behind its construction.  It turns out there is a lot more history to the Coliseum than just the building itself.  It was really cool to understand all the politics that went into building something like the Coliseum during that time.

            The Coliseum brought us close to some good restaurants so after a great meal of a typical contemporary Roman spaghetti and sauce we headed out to see more of the sights.  I’m not completely sure of the name of the place where we went to see the old Roman ruins, but its something along the lines of the Forum and the Palatino.  We were able to see many of the things we read about in the Coliseum and also learn about some of the pre-Roman empire history.

            After staying in the south of Rome all day we took the metro up to the Spanish Steps.  This is another tourist trap but it was pretty cool to see everyone lounging around.

            The next morning we were up and checked out early in order to catch a bus back to the airport to pick up our rental car.  We finally got on the road by 12:30 and were instantly turned around.  Italian highways do not have very good signage, but finally we were headed in the right direction.  We decided to make a quick stop in Pisa.  What we expected to be a quick in and out turned into an extra hour and a half to our travel time.  But the visit of the Leaning Tower was just a quick 15 minute ordeal and then we were back on the road.

            Our destination was an area of Italy called Cinque Terre.  It’s a set of 5 small towns right on the coast.  After an hour of driving along the windy roads of the mountains we arrived in Monterosso al mare, the largest of the five towns.  We parked the car and headed out to explore the town and check out the views of the Mediterranean.  We picked up some limoncello and wine from a local business who gave us a great recommendation for dinner that night.  I was able to enjoy this delicious seafood spaghetti -- everything was fresh.  After dinner we headed to the beach and relaxed there for the night.  Finally it was time to hit the sack and since we hadn’t booked any place to stay we crashed in the car. 

            Our breakfast was a quick stop at a local bakery then we were on the road by 8 am .  On our way up the mountains we had to stop and take pictures because we were getting some great views of the coast.

            After a long drive we finally made it to Venice.  The thing about Venice is the only way to get around in downtown Venice is walking or boats.  So we actually dropped off the car in a town called Mestre, which is on the main land of Italy, while Venice is on its own island.  Our hostel was in Mestre and was a 10 minute walk from the car drop-off.  Check in wasn’t until 2 PM and all we wanted to do was shower and nap.  So to pass the time we went to eat, obviously.  We got a great recommendation for a local pizzeria, and I had an excellent pizza with fresh tomatoes and basil.

            After lunch we checked in and napped for a couple hours.  We were up by 4 PM and headed to Venice.  Our two options were train or bus, we chose train, expecting it to be easier.  When we finally boarded the train(with our tickets) the conductor came to us and we handed him our tickets.  He then starts to go on about how you have to validate your ticket and blah blah blah.  Then he says we have to buy new tickets and he's going to charge us 6 euros.  We said there is no way we are buying new tickets, no one told us about validating.  Eventually he gave up and gave us back our tickets.  Turns out there are little yellow boxes with no indication where you are supposed to swipe your ticket.  We didn’t make the same mistake for the return trip.

            Well we had made it to Venice so we started cruising through the streets checking out the canals and gondolas.  Gondolas are insanely expensive like 70-120 euros for 30 minutes; so better keep some spare change in that wallet if you ever go to Venice.  We had a couple things to see like the Ponte Di Rialto, the famous Venetian bridge, and St. Marc’s Square.  We ate our dinner (pizza again) on some steps right on the edge of a canal.  We spent the night walking around Venice usually lost because the streets are so small and you never really know where you are or where you are heading.  Turns out there was a lunar eclipse that night so we were able to see that without any overcast skies.  My pictures weren’t too good so I haven’t posted them.  We finally found a good spot on pier to enjoy the rest of our limoncello and some cigars.  It was definitely a great way to end our Italy trip.

            The next day we packed up, checked out, grabbed a quick lunch from a grocery store, and got to the airport to head back to Valencia.  Overall one of the best trips I have ever been on.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will return to Italy, at the very minimum just to eat.

St. Peter's Basilica

My next car

The Pope giving his blessing

View of St. Peter's Square from the Cupola

The Pantheon

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

Coliseum

Trevi Fountain

Inside the Coliseum

Coliseum

Roman spaghetti

Arch of Constantino

The crew outside the Coliseum

Spanish Stairs

Quick stop at Pisa

Italian countryside

Monterosso al mare

More monterosso

Seafood spaghetti

Full moon, calm water... what a great night

sleeping quaters, i had the back row

morning views of Cinque Terre

Venice

Canals and gondolas

PIZZA!

Cigars and Limoncello in Venice

Ghost Ridin in Granada

  Over the past month I have spent the majority of my time outside of Valencia traveling around Europe.  Now that school is ending and finals are coming up I will be spending the rest of my time here in Valencia.  But before I could finish my travels of Europe I had to visit my fraternity brother, Esteban, in Granada.  Following his example we rented a car to travel the 600 km from Valencia to Granada.  It was a 6 hour drive with a 15 euro toll each way.  We were all really taken back when the toll lady asked for 14.80 euros instead of a couple cents.  I never knew tolls could be so expensive.
  We arrived in Granada thursday night and checked into our surprisingly nice hostel.  It has been the cheapest hostel we have stayed at but one of the nicest.  We had our own room with huge lockers.  The kitchen was really nice and allowed us to cook a good dinner the first night.
  After dinner we met up with Esteban and headed to a big beer festival that had been going on all week.  It was located in Granada's plaza de toros.  But instead of getting into the beer festival we ended up in a club located in the plaza de toros.  After realizing this is the place we didn't want to be, we decided to save the beer festival for the next night and enjoy our time at the club.
  The next morning we met up with our free tour guide, Esteban, who led us around Granada and took us to all the important sites.  We also were able to experience our first tapas bar.  Granada has the best tapas bars in the world...fact.  It costs 2 euros to get a beer and a large tapa.  There is nothing like that here in Valencia, so we took advantage of this and had tapas for dinner the next two nights.
  But before we were able to enjoy our first dinner of tapas the four of us took the car up the Sierra Nevadas.  It was one of the coolest things I have done in Spain.  We were able to reach one of the ski resorts at the top and enjoy some PB&J looking out over the mountain range.  After lunch we headed down the mountain and got blessed a rainbow.
  So if this day trip wasn't good enough we spotted one of the large black bulls that is one of Spain's most popular images.  We couldn't let this opportunity pass so we took a side road to the bull and took some pics.  Off in the distance was also a huge lake in the middle of the mountain range with the most blue water I have ever seen in a lake.
  Returning back from the mountain, our first mission was to park the car.  When we finally found a spot we were yelling our excitement about finding a spot which attracted a bit of attention from people on the side walks.
  Dinner was tapas from the best tapas bar in Granada, Bar Establo.  After dinner we botelloned in one of the plazas and some monkey business ensued including climbing light polls.  I made 10 euros that night from bets.
  The next day, Saturday, was our best day in Granada.  We barely made it to our 2 PM tour of La Alhambra because we were a bit hungover.  An old Moorish fortress taken over by the Catholic Monarchs, La Alhambra is the main attraction of Granada.  It is definitely worth seeing this sight because it is tied directly to the history of the city of Granada.  As if seeing La Alhambra wasn't good enough, I met my freshman year high school english teacher, Mr. Nicholas, on the top of the Alcazaba(the citadel of La Alhambra).  After reminding Mr. Nicholas who I was we made some small talk and parted ways.  Still amazes me that I met him there...wow.  We continued to see all the really cool gardens of La Alhambra that had a lot small pools and fountains.  And that would end our tour of La Alhambra.
  After a siesta it was time for another dinner of 2 euro tapas.  But we had to rush because we were meeting up with a tour guide to go to hot springs.  Our crew from Valencia with Esteban and two girls he studies got into a van with a crazy hippy lady and headed to the hot springs.  But before we could get to the hot springs we had to transfer cars into an old safari vehicle.  I swear that thing was from the 70s, she could barley get it started.  When we finally arrived at the hot spring we were surprised to notice that no one was wearing a swim suit, so rather than stand out we joined them and did some skinny dipping in the hot springs.
  We had to get up early the next morning to get back to Valencia so after the hot spring we said our goodbyes and headed back to the hostel.  The next morning we had an early start and hit the road.  The return trip was smooth and now I am back to stay in Valencia (except for an Italy trip in June).  As I won't be traveling too much my blog posts may be less frequent but I will doing more stuff around Valencia so check in every now and then to see what I'm up too.

Esteban, my two Wisconsin friends, and I with La Alhambra in the  background

Our first tapas bar...delicious

Ski town in the Sierra Nevadas...still a little snow left

Lunch looking over the mountain range

In the Sierra Nevadas with the blue lake

On the edge of a cliff with a small town in the background

Riding the bull

La Alhambra

Pic of the Sierra Nevadas from La Alhambra

Gardens of La Alhambra

After the hot springs we climbed on top of the jeep to take pics

Our trusty Skoda Fabia

One of the Best Cities in the World: Paris

  This past weekend I spent 3 days in Paris and it was probably one of the coolest cities I have ever seen.  Our hostel was a piece of crap but it was clean.  We rarely spent any time there other than to sleep.  So basically we would spend 15 hours a day traveling around Paris.
  Our first day was the longest because we had to be up around 4 AM in Valencia to catch our flight to Paris.  As is common with Ryan Air, the airport we flew into was an hour drive from downtown Paris, so that was a pain in the butt.  But once we arrived we grabbed a quick snack of bread and cheese and headed to the Eiffel Tower.  Like many other things I have seen in movies, actually seeing it in person is a whole new thing.  It was incredible!  The lines to the top were too long for us so we decided to relax in the park next to the tower.  It was a beautiful day so we sat for a while and basked in the glory of the Eiffel Tower.  After an hour or two we headed away and grabbed some pictures of us with the tower in the background.  We wandered around for a bit eventually coming to the Cavalry Museum that had some nice gardens.  Our next stop was the Museum of D'Orsay.  This was a free art museum with some pretty cool paintings but nothing compared to what we would be seeing tomorrow.  We finished our day with a bottle of wine relaxing in the Louvre Gardens.
  Sunday was the big tourist day.  Our first stop, Musee du Louvre.  We were able to skip the lines and get in for free by passing as EU students, so it all worked out really well.  The art and sculptures in the Louvre are incredible and there is no way for me to write about all the stuff I saw.  You are just going to have to go for yourself one day.
  Our day continued with some crepes and gyros. Yum!  We then went to the Catacombs of Paris where 6-8 million bodies are buried.  The history is that in the 1800s Parisians were getting sick becuase the cemeteries weren't built properly so they built these huge underground catatcombs where all the bodies were moved.  Basically we walked through half a mile of 10 ft. of bones lining both walls.  It was a different side of Paris that I think most people don't see.
  On a brighter note, we then went to see Notre Dame.  It is a really cool place and we were able to go inside and check it our.  We arrived just before a service was about to start so I stayed for a bit to hear some of the music.  It was awesome to hear the bells and organ of Notre Dame.  We had a nice dinner that night of onion soup, steak with pepper sauce, and ice cream.
  Our third day, my favorite day, was very busy but everything we did was awesome.  First stop was to see the Arc of Triumph and the Champs Elysees.  It was a cloudy so not as magnificent as in the movies but cool to see.  Next stop was back at Notre Dame where we paid a little to go to the top to look at the bell towers and see all over Paris.
  But my favorite by far were the Gardens of Versailles.  It was a 30 minute train ride to Versaille and a quick walk to the Summer Palace and Gardens from the train station.  It was free to get in but I would easily have paid good money to get in.  When we first got there it was a cloudy, cool day but after a bit of walking around the sun broke through and it was like we were in a whole new place.  We had brought along a couple bottles of wine and snacks, so we had a little picnic right on the edge of the pond.  We spent a couple hours there relaxing in the sun.  We had an early flight the next morning so we headed back to the hostel and went to sleep.  After waiting for our delayed flight the next morning we were back in Valencia.
  Like I've said before Paris is one of the best cities of the world.  For anybody who hasn't visited it yet I highly suggest you go.  And I would be more than happy to accompany you and be the tour guide.

Eiffel Tower

Louvre Gardens

Inside the Louvre

Mona Lisa

Cool painting

Creepy statue

Me and Julius Caesar

Outside the Louvre

The Catacombs

Notre Dame

Arc de Triomphe (Arc of Triumph)

View of Paris from the top of Notre Dame

Gardens of Versaille

Eiffel Tower at night