After a fantastic trip to Rome, we were ready for our last city in Italy – Venice. We left Rome in the morning, and just before arriving in Venice, we made a quick stop in Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet. We got the chance to walk around a bit, see some shops, and stop at the main tourist site – the fictional Juliet’s balcony.
We didn’t visit the islands of Venice until the following day, but we did have a delicious group dinner on the mainland. The restaurant was in a residential district, so it was actually kind of cool to see a residential part of Italy, and the pasta we had was delicious!
The next day was so exciting. I had heard that Venice was known to disappoint, that it was an over-hyped, hot and humid swamp. My experience was quite the opposite. I had a wonderful time and thought the city was incredibly unique (it seemed like the entire city was a tourist attraction). For us, the weather was just fine (although it was January – I can imagine it being quite hot in the summer).
Once on the islands, we did a quick walking tour before getting some time to stroll around ourselves. It wasn’t too hard to navigate. We saw the Piazza San Marco, along with St. Mark’s Basilica and the Campanile. We also saw the Bridge of Sighs. Our tour guide even pointed out the Church where they filmed the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In addition, we also got our included gondola ride, which was a lot of fun.
The Grand CanalAnother view of the Grand CanalSt. Mark’s Campanile
Finally, all roads lead to Rome! This was the point of the trip I was waiting for. To see ancient Rome and the Vatican.
We arrived at Rome in the later afternoon. We were staying in a very nice hotel on the west end of the city. That evening, we walked around the city to explore some of the major, yet quick sites, like the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain (it was sadly undergoing renovations at the time). I still remember the sense of awe when we suddenly walked out into the open and the Pantheon was right in front of us. We topped off the evening with a nice dinner, followed by a walk to the Colosseum.
The PantheonThe Colosseum at Night
The next day, we started off with a guided tour of the Vatican Museums. The collection was incredibly vast, and the tour guide was excellent and extremely knowledgeable. I still remember gazing up at the Sistene Chapel and finishing up the tour in St. Peter’s Basilica. It was an describable experience being in such a holy place.
View of St. Peter’s Basilica (from the Roman Forum)
After finishing up in the Vatican, the group and I got some quick lunch and then went off to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We decided to go in without a guide, but it was still fairly easy to navigate. We started off in the Colosseum and then walked all around the forum. I’ve been at old sites before, but none this old. Being at a place that was active some two thousand years ago is something I cannot easily describe in words. All I can say is that it was difficult to comprehend sometimes that I was standing in a spot where the Roman emperors used to walk.
The ColosseumInside the ColosseumArch of Constantine
As the sun began to set, I headed back to the hotel in preparation for another big destination – Venice.
Out of the Alps, we were on our way to Italy. One of the exciting parts about this trip was that each time we visited a new country, it was my first time in that country. Every few days, I would get to cross a new country off of the list, and of all the countries on the trip, Italy was the one I was most excited about.
Our first city to visit was Milan. We arrived in the late afternoon, and after check-in, we got a walking tour of the city. We started off at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping center and as we exited, the Cathedral was right there in front of us. It was a gorgeous site. Unfortunately, there were a lot of scammers in the square in front of it, so that was a little annoying. We then went over and caught a glimpse of the Sforza Castle. We topped off the evening with some excellent Italian food (pizza, of course).
Milan Cathedral
The next day, we were on our own to explore the city. I went out with a group to the Cathedral. They were going to walk all the way up to the roof, but I wasn’t in the mood to climb all those stairs, so I went out on my own. I took the subway to see the Castle Sforza in the daylight. It was a nice little walk. I then grabbed some lunch before meeting back with the team. That afternoon, we were on our way to Florence, but first, we had a quick stop in Pisa.
Pisa, although quick, was awesome. We arrived near sunset and got a great view of the leaning tower. I didn’t realize it beforehand, but there’s also a Cathedral at the site, and it was simply beautiful (at least on the outside – I didn’t get the chance to go in).
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Now to Florence, my favorite city in the whole trip. One of the unique things that surprised me was the lack of cars in the city center. They do a good job at not allowing them in. We actually had to walk a bit to get to our hotel from the bus.
In the morning, we got a formal walking tour of the city, including a demonstration at a leather shop. Our guide was excellent! The only downside is that we were in town on a Monday, so all of the major museums were closed (Thus, we didn’t get to see the real David statue, just the fake one outside the museum).
Afterwards, I went with a bunch of the crowd to have pizza (yes, more pizza) at one of the local restaurants where apparently one of the cast members from Jersey Shore worked for a bit. With my belly full, it was time to explore the city. One of the other travelers and I went into one of the smaller museums. It was ok, although it was pretty cool to see Galileo’s telescopes.
Next, on the recommendation from our driver, we hiked up to the viewpoint at Piazzale Michaelangelo. It was just fantastic – one of the best views on the whole trip! Next, we hiked down to two final stops: the Basilica of Santa Croce, where many famous people (Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante, and Michaelangelo) are buried, and the Florence Duomo. That night, we had a group dinner at one of the new food courts in the city.
View of Florence
In all, this was definitely one of the most interesting segments of the trip, as it had my least favorite stop (Milan) and most favorite (Florence) right next to each other.
Platinum Bryan 