Tour of Italy

A week long spring break in Italy… How can you go wrong? It’s not possible. After our class field trip to Vienna and Venice, we got to enjoy a week off for spring break. Cassie, Emily, Preston, and I did a tour of Italy.

            Our first night of spring break we spent in Venice at a camp site where we got upgraded from our tent to a bungalow, which is just a cabin. After checking into our bungalow and getting everything settled we headed back into town. This is when we got to enjoy a 30 minute gondola ride. This is something I was looking forward to and it was definitely worth the time and money. After that we headed back to our hostel and went to sleep because we had an early train the next morning to Rome.

            Rome, what can I say? I was very underwhelmed by this city. When I think of Rome I think of a spectacular city, full of wonder. What I got from Rome, a little bit of wonder and a whole lot of dirty. My first impression of this city was trash everywhere. It honestly looked as if no one cared what their city looked like. When we finally got to our hostel which again was a camp site where we stayed in tents, which by the way was the best experience ever, we were amazed. We went from the dirty streets of Rome to an immaculate site. It was one of the best places I have stayed in my whole trip. Granted we did stay in tents but there was a restaurant on site and wonderful staff, who were very helpful and fun to be around.

            Our first day in Rome we toured the Vatican. This of course was everything I expected. Ornate and immaculate are words I would definitely use to describe this place. We got the joy of going through the museum with a wonderful guide who was very knowledgeable about all things Vatican. I definitely enjoyed our time there, however what I enjoyed most was the Sistine Chapel as well as St. Peter’s Basilica. Seeing the wonderful works of Michelangelo was truly a life changing experience. I never in my whole life thought I would be so lucky. St. Peter’s Basilica was a marvel. It was so ornate with tons going on in all directions. What I found cool about this church is that they offered confession for all languages. I do not participate in the act of confessing my sins to a priest but found the accessibility wonderful. The best site of the whole thing however, was the canopy over the altar. An all bronze wonder really, stands 95 feet tall, and is constructed in a very beautiful way. I am extremely glad that I got to experience the Vatican.

            The next day we got up semi-early to go the Colosseum. We ate at a restaurant right down the street and then walked the Colosseum. It is a unique structure with a weird but interesting history. It was of course used for gladiator games, which were just a cruel invention where men and animals would fight to the death, and people would come and watch. What I found weird was the cross that stood in the Colosseum, for such a violent place I was not expecting this. It turns out that back when the Colosseum was utilized they would hold church services in this facility. Another interesting fact I learned about the Colosseum is the fact that materials from the Colosseum were stolen to help build St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. This first of all caught me off guard because the materials were STOLEN to build a church, and second because the place the materials came from was not exactly a happy place in our perspective nowadays.

            The next day we headed off to Florence, when we got there it was already pretty late in the day. So we checked in to our hostel, had supper, and then returned and went to bed because we had a long day ahead of us. The next morning we got up and did tons of site seeing. We started off our day walking around town and eventually got to the look out over the city this view was unbelievable. After that we continued our walk through town and did a little shopping. Finally, we ended up at the museum which houses the Statue of David which is a real work of art. However, when it comes to a statue of that type a bunch of college students can’t resist from making some sort of inappropriate remark. This is how we made friends with a family from Colorado that were on a family vacation. The grandma of the family heard our remark and came right back with one of her own which just made us laugh. When we finally got in to see the statue it truly was amazing and not just because of the inappropriateness of it but because it was so well done by one of the world’s most famous artist. However, in the end we got in trouble with museum staff because we were having a little too much fun with the grandma we had met in line.

            The last destination on our Tour of Italy was Milan, the fashion capital of the world. Let me tell you it did not live up to my expectations of what it would be. I definitely thought I would feel out of place in my sports pants and sweatshirt but in Milan I felt more in place than when I am in Olomouc. During our time there we did not do much site seeing but we of course shopped because who can resist when you are in the fashion capital. We went into an outlet store if you will filled with designer labels. This place was beyond crowded and made me sick to my stomach. Who spends 1200 euros ($1383.42) on one item, such as a shirt or shoes? The cheapest thing we saw in the whole store was a scarf for 98 euros ($112.98). We got so overwhelmed we didn’t even make it through the whole mall. However, what we ended up finding was even better. We found stores that are perfect for a college student on a budget. Alcott, was by far my favorite and is very comparable to H&M but at a much better price. We ended up going to Hard Rock Café that night, the nicest one I have EVER been into, and had a wonderful dinner. It was the perfect way to wrap up my spring break.

            The next day we headed back to the Czech Republic and although I was sad to leave Italy, I was happy to get back to something familiar, something that has begun to feel like home.