Venezia

Venice..



Venice was by far the best!! It was so full of color and life the way it should be, it would not be hard for me at all to pack up and live here! I love the water that runs through the entire city with the little boats, straight out a movie! I love the smells. I love the familiarity in an unknown place, maybe the reason was because more people spoke English =]!
We arrived on Sunday Feb 15th for the kick of Carnevale di Venezia- Sensation. Everyone wore masks, costumes, and full on freedom of expression. We got lost in the city, wandering through the maze like streets and shops. The shops were packed with people and beautiful jewelry. It was incredible! No specific Destination or sites to check off the list but just an appreciation of the city.

St. Peters Basilica

St. Peters:

The Coliseum:

The Pantheon:

Firenze

Valentines in Florence was a dream...
Florence was originally established by Julius Caesar in 59 BC as a settlement for his veteran soldiers. It was named Florentia (Flourishing) and built in the style of an army camp. It is a centre of medieval European trade and finance, the city is often considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance; in fact, it has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.
First Stop Santa Maria Novella - it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. On a commission from Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, a local textile merchant, Leone Battista Alberti designed the upper part of the inlaid black and white marble facade of the church.


Next Santa Maria del Fiore- Dome done by Filippo Brunelleschi. Though Brunelleschi drew his inspiration from the great dome of the Pantheon in Rome, the formula for concrete had long since been forgotten. He would have to build the dome out of bricks. Brunelleschi's solutions were ingenious and unprecedented. I paid 6 euros to climb 463 to what I thought was just the top of the interior of the dome but ended up being the top of the exterior of the dome, so amazing, Best 6 euros of my life! The cityscape of Florence was breathtaking!


We couldn’t go all the way to Florence with out seeing the emfamous pair of David’s nuts now could we!!?? So we visited the Firenze MVSEI museum and marveled at the 17 ft wonder!! I personally think the man needs a pedicure. Unlike previous depictions of David which portray the hero after his victory over Goliath, Michealangelo chose to represent David before the fight contemplating the battle yet to come.
It was phenomenal, so much precision and detail in one huge sculpture depicting so much meaning!

Expensive Dinner at Gobbi 13 with yummy wine and Tortellini then we called it a night at around 230 am. Ready for Venice at 8!

ROME

"Rome is burning..."
Feb 12th I rushed home from school, quickly gathered my belongings to take with me, checked my email one last since I was waiting on news of my laptop delivery. Discovered I needed to send a copy of my passport to customs so i took a picture of a picture attached it and sent. After completion I ran out the door to catch the bus to catch the plane.
Waiting in the line to board the flight I snapped a picture of the screen that displayed Roma, only to realize that I left my camera's memory card at home…..I was seconds away from tears when I realized that this whole trip/process/abroad decision was testing me, testing my will to be patient, testing my will to stay strong, testing my will to bounce back from whatever shit was thrown at me. So you better believe that was the first thing I purchased after our short plane ride.

Romulus and Remus are the traditional founders of Rome, appearing in Roman mythology as the twin sons of the priestess Rhea Silvia, fathered by the god of war, Mars. Romulus slew Remus over a dispute about which one of the two brothers had the support of the local deities to rule the new city and give it his name. The name they gave the city was Rome.
We arrived to Roma, Italy around 8pm to my very first hostel experience, much to my surprise it resembled what my idea of a dorm would be like. I roomed with Sara from our group, two girls, and two guys from Germany (who slept in their tighty whities with green stars on them which I thought was just too cute).

Hopped over to the neighboring restaurant Taverna Pretorian and ate Gnocchi-Alla Crema Dinoci (Pasta in Walnut Cream), quite tasty! Gnocchi is the Italian name for a variety of thick, soft noodle or dumpling. It has been a traditional Italian pasta type since Roman times.
After dinner we walked, learning that it is quite cold at night in the streets of Rome, to Fontana di Trevi, largest Baroque fountain in the city. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. It was very beautiful at night.

First stop was the Vatican City- 9:27 am.
The Vatican City is a city-state that came into existence in 1929 and is thus clearly distinct from the central authority of the Roman Catholic Church, known as the Holy See, which existed long before 1929. Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical states ruled by the Bishop of Rome- the pope.
I was completely in awe when we arrived to the Basilica of St. Peters. I learned about the Basilica at the beginning of my studies for interior design and I was just overwhelmed at the fact that I was standing right in front of it, on it, in it!!!!!

We then found our way to the Musei Vaticani to see the Sistine Chapel famous for the scene of the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. Its funny the idea of something is before its actually seen. I expected the chapel to have a round dome not a linear vault! I had one image in my mind, like most others, when I thought of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, but in reality that particular scene is lost in a whole series of images on the ceiling!
Highlight of my trip to Rome was the Coliseum (Colosseo). It was magnificent! Unfortunately closed on the interior for whatever strike. I walked around the massive building and imagined what it would be like to be during that time and see a show there. =] It seated 80,000 people viewing either gladiatorial contests and games as well as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games, how sad is that!???


Temple of the gods- The Pantheon is the oldest standing domed structure in Rome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 142 ft. It was truly bewildering to stand inside this amazing piece of architecture!!

Rome was amazing. I believe it to be a real tourist based city but it was everything I imagined and more. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to be face to face with every beautiful piece of architecture and art I have studied. I will return!