For the love of all things purses

Friday, May 19, 2006

Today was wonderful! We started the morning with a walking tour of Florence. It was so interesting. Normally I don't like guided tours, but our guide, Frea, was very cool and she had so much interesting information to share. We learned all about Medieval and Renaissance architecture. The best part was learning where the phrases "Saved by the bell", "Hole in the wall", "Dead Ringer", and "Stinking Rich" came from. I can't tell you how beautiful and rich in history this city is. I could stay here for a long time. The thought of abandoning American life for a few years to be a tour guide or even just a waitress in random countries sounds more appealing everyday.

We were tuckered out from our "arduous" walking tour, so collapsed on the doorstep (well we made it to the table) of Gigi's. Up to this point, it was the most pleasant meal we have partaken of. I enjoyed a delicious potato pasta soup and swordfish and Jill actually got pasta with a kick. We left happy.

After admiring the city for hours, Jill and I rolled up our sleeves and got down to business. Florence is the city of shopping, is it not? We came out victorious from our shopping adventures with a combined 10 purses, 9 ties, 2 belts, and 1 shirt. Not all of it is for us, but most of it certainly is. When we got back to the hotel, we laid all our new purchases out on the bed so that we could simply sit and admire them.

We finished the evening with some fantastic pizza topped off with...you guessed it...gelato. It has been a good day. Off to Venice bright and early tomorrow.

What I learned in day 5:

1. When an Italian says "It will be two minutes", they don't really mean it. We are convinced it's the only time related phrase they were taught in English class.
2. It is not safe to assume that a pizza comes with both sauce and cheese. Generally it is one or the other.
3. Women's intuition does not apply when wandering the streets of Italy. Our instincts are consistently and terribly wrong in regards to direction. We are not ashamed.
4. Italian pastries are really not as good as they look.

If I could eat gelato everyday...

Oh wait...I do. (Please see disclaimer from previous post)

Wow! So much to say, but I dont know if I can get it all in or if anyone will even be interested, but I also blog as a journal so feel free to read intently, skim, or just skip it altogether. I guess the best way to do this is in chronological order.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

After hosting the greatest graduation party ever on Saturday night, I started packing at about 2:30 am. Needless to say, I didnt go to sleep at all before leaving for the airport at 4:45 am (thank you Kari).

Monday, May 15, 2006

The flight was uneventful, but we got to Rome at about 8 am on Monday. I slept a little on the plane, but not nearly enough to sustain me through the whole day ahead of me. Our hotel was supposed to be 200 meters from the train station, but suspiciously it took about 2 hours for Jill and I to find it. We walked and walked and walked asking multiple Romans for directions. Each of them pointed a different direction. We figured we logged in 5 to 6 miles before some angelic Italian man took pity on us and asked if he could help. He looked at the map the hotel had provided and told us it was wrong and said he knew where it was based on the address. We were skeptical, but frankly out of options. It was about noon and hotter than...well you get the idea. We both had blisters and were still carting our luggage. Before anyone freaks out about some man trying to take advantage of us, let me describe him to you: pipsqueak. Either Jill or I could have taken him down blindfolded. I would guess he was somewhere between 20 and 25 years old. Okay, so getting to the point...he actually bought our subway tickets, rode with us to the stop, got out and walked us to the door of our hotel. Ive never wanted to kiss someone so much in my whole life (maybe Im exagerating). He wanted nothing in return, wished us a pleasant stay in Rome and continue with the rest of the day.

Well, we dropped off our luggage and headed out. First stop...Colloseum. Wow! It was so surreal just standing there looking at it. It was amazing. You walk out of the subway station and it just there! It was so hard to believe that all the gladiator, etc. stuff actually happened there. After the Colloseum, we wandered up through the Roman Forums. All I have to say (actually, not all) is that everything in Rome is so enormous! I am in incredible awe that they could build all the stuff we say.

After the Roman Forums, we made a quick stop by the Mouth of Truth. Ive always had this intense fear of putting my hand in and a fierce monster ripping my arm off, but I couldnt let the picture opportunity pass me by so I did it. I still have my arm. Whew!!

The day wouldnt have been complete without a trip to the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain...both beautiful. I have never been so tired in my entire life. We turned in early and were both asleep by 8:30.

What I learned in day 1:

1. Dont order a Diet Coke at lunch before you know how much it will cost or your bill will say that it cost 5 euros (about $7).
2. After 30 minutes of not finding a hotel that is 200 meters away, hail a taxi cab and have him take you there.
3. If you buy something from a street vendor for 2 euros, give the vendor 2 euros. Even if he says he will give you change, he will really just give you 2 more of what you bought and keep the difference. (That one is for Jill).

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

We woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Jill had blisters, but other than that, we totally new women. We got ready quickly and headed out for the day. First stop, Vatican City. There was a large line to get into the Sistine chapel, so we dutifully started walking to the end of the line. We were walking and walking and walking. We finally found it about a half a mile down the road! What?!?! But what were our choices. You cant go to Rome and just skip Vatican city. So we got in line. I was amazed, but it only took us about 35 minutes to get to the front. It was the fastest moving line Id ever been in. It was cool and the Sistine chapel was awe inspiring, but there were SOOOOO many people. We felt like cattle. After the Sistine Chapel, we headed over to St. Peters Basilica, which I actually enjoyed more. It was beautiful and of course...huge! One thing though...man do those people hate The DaVinci Code. Our guide strictly forbid questions about it.

After that we went to the castle of Saint Angelo. It was as cool as any castle, but the best part was the view from the top. It overlooked all of Rome and was very close to Vatican city. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Im sure theres no way my camera could possibly catch the magic of it.

After that we headed over to Piazza Navona. It was pretty, but there were too many people. Jill and I made friends with a painter there and Jill bought a beatiful painting of Venice. He kept telling us how pretty we were so we stayed and chatted for quite a bit. He also informed us that if we didnt speak, we looked Italian. I dont know why that made me happy. We ended the day with the Spanish steps. I dont get the big deal about those, but we went nonetheless.

Jills suitcase handles broke off, so at some point during the day, she bought a rolling duffle bag. We ditched her suitcase and I put a bunch of her stuff in my bag which made my suitcase about a million pounds. We gathered our stuff and headed to the train station, destination La Spezia. Now have I mentioned that Italy is the country of stairs? Well that became even more obvious to me as I was carting around this million pound suitcase. I could barely lift it. As we were getting off the train in La Spezia, I was hoisting it down and somewhere between the train door and the pavement at the bottom of the steps, the bag took on a life of its own. It fully took me out and I land square on my toosh. Jill was very concerned about me through her laughter. She really was concerned, but Im sure she wouldnt trade the mental image she now has stored. I was very grumpy that night. It was after 10 pm. I was deathly hungry and now in a great deal of pain. I think Jill knew it was best to steer clear of me (as possible as that is when we are connected at the hip through the whole trip) for the rest of the evening.

What I learned in day 2:

1. Coconut gelato tastes different at every gelateria, but its always my favorite.
2. You can get gelato everywhere and I think its important that you do.
3. Prada knock off purses are great!
4. Put the heavy stuff in Jills little duffle bag.

Wednesay, May 17, 2006

This was an amazing day. We went to a place called Le Cinque Terre. Its a cluster of five small villages on the coast of Italy that are seemingly untouched by time. You can hike between them along the edge of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Words cannot describe how beautiful this was. We took the train to the first town, Riomaggiore. From there we hike to the second village, Manarola. The views were incredible. We were hiking on a path right above the ocean. We walked around the little shops in Manarola and climbed on the rocks by the ocean for a little while before heading to the next village Corniglia. It was a nice little hour long hike until the very end when we wanted to die. We climbed at least a gazillion stairs straight up this mountain (well in switchbacks). I dont know what the big deal with the Spanish steps was...this was much more impressive. Once at the top, we stopped for a patio lunch at a little restaurant overlooking the town and ocean. Im not sure why, but I think the restaraunt owner hated us. It didnt matter though. It was too beautiful to care. To save time, we took a train to the next town, Vernazza. Again, beautiful. I just dont know what else to say. From Vernazza, we bought a boat ticket to Monterosso. Monterosso was the "big city" of the five. It had beautiful beaches and Jill and I were cursing ourselves for not toting along our swimsuits. When I saw that you could get a massage while lying on the beach, I almost cried. Its the dream!

After a long day, we took the train back to our hotel in La Spezia. We got a pizza to go and stopped by a pastry shop, buying one of almost everything and made total gluttons of ourselves. Luckily I didnt like most of the pastries. Id hate to be forced to buy them every day!

Finished the day watching 13 Going on 30 on Jills sisters portable DVD player (Thanks Laura).

I havent talked about the food yet! Its delicious, but mostly I just love gelato. I dont know how I went my whole life without it.

The other thing I have to say about this country is that everything is SOOO EXPENSIVE! Ive never spent so much money for every meal in my life. Its ridiculous. I hope my loved ones dont expect gifts because I spent all my gift money on gelato!

Things I learned in day 3:

1. Le Cinque Terre is now my favorite place on earth.
2. Making friends along the way is lots of fun.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Woke up bright and early. Had a delightful breakfast at the hotel, then caught a train to Florence. I love Florence. There are just so many people everywhere. I wish the tourists (except Jill and I) would just go home. Again, everything is immense here. We got into the city at about 10 and found our hotel rather quickly (only one wrong turn). So far our hotels have been nicer than expected. We went to the Uffizi gallery first, then to the Galleria dell Accademia (home of the David). The first museum was cool because it had a big thing about Leonardo Da Vinci. His genius astounds me. Other than that, I just dont get the whole depressing Catholic art. This is probably very ignorant of me to say and I hope I dont offend, but its seriously the most depressing stuff Ive ever seen. The second museum should really be named Museum of the David. There just wasnt that much other stuff there. But the David was very cool. I had no ide how big it was. I swear if I could stand right next to it, Id probably just come up to his knee. It was amazing.

I love the feel of Florence and not only because Ive never seen so many beautiful purses either. Its beautiful and just feels comfy. Jill and I actually had gelato twice today and ate a lot of other stuff too. Shoot. Oh well, Im not ashamed. Night life isnt hopping in this town, so I had come time to stop by the internet cafe tonight. That is the update so far. I hope I didnt leave anything out. Im sure theres much more to come.

I fear Ive been bitten again by the travel bug. For about 20 minutes I actually considered giving up the whole law thing and just moving to different countries doing whatever I could to pay the bills. I just love it. Dont worry, I decided against it (for now).

Were having the time of our lives even though we are so tired we could sleep for a week.

Things I learned in day 4:

1. Florence is pornographic. I had no idea that there were so many naked statues!
2. So many gelato flavors, so little time.
3. I know nothing about art.

I did it!

(Disclaimer: I am typing on an Italian keyboard that either has a hidden apostrophe that I am blind to or else it doesnt exist. Please bear with my lack of apostrophes.)

So its true. I finally graduated. I got every paper and test done and they let me walk. I dont actually know if I passed all my classes yet, but Id like to assume that I did.

Graduation day was wonderful. I couldnt have asked for a better one. Almost everyone I love was either at the graduation or one of the two parties that I had that weekend. I am so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life. I wont get too sentimental because I want to write about my trip and I only bought a limited amount of time at the internet cafe. :) It is sufficient to say that I am very blessed and cannot wait to see what kind of journey this next chapter of my life takes me on! Its been a wild ride so far.