That evening we checked into our hotel, which had an extremely scenic overview of Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius from across the bay. I went to get some food with some of the kids, and ended up having the best pizza I’ve had since coming to Italy, probably the best of my life.

On Saturday, we took a bus to Naples and then a hydrofoil ferry to the Isle de Capri. What heaven this island is! Given two bus tickets by AIFS for the day, we took a bus up to the city of Capri, enjoyed the view from there (higher than the port we docked at), and then took another bus up to Anacapri, a smaller town at a higher elevation and on the other side of the island.

Later, we slowly made our way down the island, and enjoyed finding the various stairs that provided shortcuts both through the woods and through the suburbs of Capri. Even the hydrofoil back was exhilarating as we literally caught air at one point during the return journey.

Sunday was another early morning, with us checking out of the hotel and heading to Naples to see a museum of artifacts, statues and paintings, some removed from Pompeii, some brought from Rome as part of the Farneze collection. Oddly enough, the Farneze’s were once a powerful ruling family of Italy, whose Rome palace has now become shops and apartments, one of which is mine.

Afterwards, we ate lunch and boarded the buses to drive back to Pompeii to climb Mt. Vesuvius. The view from the top was worth the cold hike and a splendid cap to a surreal weekend.

The next week of school consisted of midterms, which only meant that spring break had finally sprung. That Thursday I busted out of Rome, ready to city hop the rest of Italy. Early in the morning, I packed and caught a taxi to the airport for my flight to my first destination: Sicily. I had booked a hotel in Cinici, a town near the airport and close to my primary interest on the island, Terrasini. My great-grandparents had both been born there and my grandma had never gotten a chance to see the town. So I hiked there, since it was too early in the morning to check in.

Terrasini is nothing but a small coastal fishing town, but it was quiet, slow and very relaxing. I climbed around on the rocks and cliffs on the shore before finding a secluded ledge where I put my head on my backpack and took a long overdue nap by the ocean. My second day in Sicily I stayed fairly lazy. I wandered around Cinici part of the day and even ended up back in Terrasini for a few last looks. I flew back to Rome that evening and reached my apartment very late at night.

A few hours of sleep later, I was up and getting ready for my next early morning flight, this time to Milan. Stepping off the bus from the airport to the central station, I was amazed at the modernity of the city. It stood in stark contrast to the classical architecture of Italy’s other major cities. My father later informed me that this was due to the fact that Milan was bombed heavily during World War II.

I was able to check into my hotel when I arrived, so I dropped off my bag and headed toward the city center. I walked through the Galleria, a mall of designer fashions, Prada, LV, D&G, etc. However, in the center was a McDonalds.

On the other side was the impressive and magnificent Duomo of Milan. Its neo-gothic design set it apart from the mostly baroque cathedrals that dotted Italy’s towns. The interior was no less impressive, with giant columns that stretched toward Heaven itself. Later that day, I wandered over to the old fort, now an array of museums, with an expansive park behind it. My feet (and the rest of me) were tired by the evening, so I called it a night.

Today, I overslept the early train to Venice because I completely forgot about Daylight Savings Time beginning over here. I boarded a later train and found that this was truly the way to travel.

Once in Venice, I found my way the section of the island I had memorized the weekend we came here two months ago. To my surprise, the hotel I had booked was literally right next to the one we stayed at in January. I walked around the city, revisiting San Marco square and several other places I’d already seen. The weather was beautiful, but the city was crowded.

The next morning, I took the train back to Milan and wandered around there a while before my flight. I used some maps that my father had given me to find his old school buildings and apartment. I even had coffee at a coffee shop that he frequented across the street from his school.

____________________________________________________________________________

 

–Yes, this is late and very overdue. This blog update begins on Sunday, February 7th, my first full day in Rome, and concludes with this past weekend. Va bene, enjoy. –

Ah, Rome at last. Early our first morning there, the entire group met down at a ristrotheatre near our school for yet another orientation meeting. Sitting in the theater section was very cool, but everything we went over was purely bureaucratic and academic.

Afterwards, that afternoon, I turned to the map of Rome we’d been given the day before to see what was in walking distance. To my great pleasure, I found that to be just about everything. So I hit the streets in search of the Circus Maximus and the Coliseum. The former was not all that, just a long grassy field where joggers, soccer players, lovers and poets all shared space.

The Coliseum, however, was all that. As so with so many other things I’ve seen thus far, words cannot do this feat of empirical engineering justice. It looks just as picturesque as a postcard yet so striking against the modern backdrop that you might think it’s leftover from the set of Gladiator.

However, turning northwest up a main street brings you to walk straight through the ruins of the Roman Forum. I made my way through this and on to the Pantheon, which is very close to our school. What a feat of architecture! A perfectly round dome inside of which a 43 foot diameter ball could rest. I will definitely be visiting this site often. Perhaps the most amazing part is that this ancient pagan temple is now, oddly enough, a Catholic church.

My first day of “real” classes: the school weeks will all fly by quickly on the wings of boredom, as I could see on this day. I had a Big Mac for lunch, which was very tasty and reminded me greatly of home. After class, I went home and fixed dinner and then went out to hang at the Coliseum with my friends Maria and Tamara. It was so much fun just enjoying the fact that this behemoth was our backyard for the next three months.

We also visited the Spanish Steps and the Trebi Fountain. Maria and I tossed our respective coins into the fountain, ensuring our return to the Eternal City. Overheard by the fountain… Me: “I can die now.” Maria: “Me too.” Tamara: “Wait, what?!”

My first full weekend in Rome was somewhat uneventful. On Friday, I went to get dinner at a small mom-and-pop restaurant with some friends. Afterwards we walked to the church of the souls in purgatory, and saw their fascinating display of items held to be evidence of deceased souls leaving marks to prove their residence in purgatory. Most were books, aprons, and pictures with burned on handprints from where an apparition had touched an item as seen by a living person. On our way to this church, we stopped and rode a carousel. I don’t think the operator was amused as he should have been at four college students riding a kid’s ride, but he didn’t refuse our money either.

Sunday the 14th, I made my way down the magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica for Mass that afternoon. The beauty of St. Peter’s was absolutely breathtaking. From the towering columns and the ornate golden ceiling, to the multitude of statues and frescos, the entire nave was a microcosm of Christendom. The main altar was equally impressive, dominating the center of the church with its four high pillars supporting the canopy. I walked around the basilica four times before I sat down at the side altar of St. Joseph.

Vespers began at 5, and to my great pleasure, they were all chanted in Latin. Mass was celebrated by a number of deacons, priests, and bishops, with a cardinal presiding. While I could follow the Mass propers easily enough, I could only grasp singular words here and there of the Italian homily. An all-boys school choir was singing at this Mass as guests, and since they were American, all the hymns sung were familiar English ones.

The week went by quickly with classes the way it always does. On Friday, I spent the morning researching flights for spring break, putting together an itinerary. Saturday, I walked around Rome a lot and enjoyed the sights, the crowds, and lovely weather.

The next school week flew by, and Friday was upon me. I booked my flights for Palermo and Milan in the morning and bought my school books that afternoon. The rain kept me indoors for the rest of the day, but Saturday was extremely beautiful and my wanderings led me up to Villa Borghese for the afternoon. A huge, sprawling park in the north section of Rome, Villa Borghese lays host to picnickers, joggers, and poets alike. I came back home and enjoyed the company of some of my flatmates over dinner and drinks. Sunday was my usual lazy day, heading over to St. Peter’s mid-afternoon to take pictures and attend at Mass.

The following week saw too many quizzes in my classes, but, as usual, raced by due to my high anticipation of my trip to Interlaken, Switzerland, on the coming weekend.

Thursday night finally arrived and I boarded a bus for the night. We caught as much sleep as the ride allowed, but morning still came before we wanted it to. Our hostel was extremely chill, but the accommodations were cramped, as six of us were fit into a room barely made for two.

Friday was a beautiful day for hitting the slopes and the backdrop of the Alps had me stopping just to take a picture. In my wanderings over the mountain, I found a trail that let me ski right into and through a small Swiss town, right up to the train station.

After I returned to the hostel, I met up with a girl from Florence who came up on our bus with two of my roommates and we built a snowman in the courtyard, occasionally broken up by a snowball fight. After dinner, we headed back down to the Metro, where we stayed up until nearly 3 a.m.

Sunday morning saw us slowly shuffling to life at various hours of the morning. I played pool and table tennis, while some of my friends went to play curling at a nearby rink. We headed home that afternoon, enjoying the sights of Switzerland and northern Italy from the road.