Backpacking Through Italy

My last post left off with me in my favorite place of Venice, Italy.  Sarah, Ali, Jenna and I headed to the Venice train station.  Our train left exactly twelve minutes after the train strike ended.  One would assume that's pretty good luck to have at the beginning of my first European travel by myself.  That's why we don't assume.  We got on the right train and the minute we saw the sign for Verona we hopped off the train.. then we realized we got off a stop too soon.  We left the station immediately in search of a taxi.  Luckily, we found a SOS box that called a taxi for us. No worry, that was just a minor hiccup, we all got on our night train to Rome. 

 

 

 

We arrived in Rome at 6am.  With lack of sleep, we headed to the nearest McDonalds for some coffee and breakfast.  Only, we got there before it opened so we planned our route for the day.  Our first stop was the Trevi Fountain.  When we found our way there, this is what we saw:

 

It looks like they are cleaning the fountain.  They're not, but I'll get to that later.

 

We left the fountain in search of the Spanish Stairs.  Jenna has been to Italy once before and said that they were beautiful. However, on our way we ran into the Pantheon.  We decided to wander in because why not?  The architecture is so impressive and it was just a small glimpse of what Rome has to offer.

The oculus is the only source of light in this building.

 

 Also, the renaissance painter Raphael is buried here.

 

After this we sent out on our second attempt to find the Spanish Stairs.  Then we ran into this column.  There are about 6 other columns that look exactly like this one. 

 

After we saw the ever so interesting column, we headed back to the Trevi Fountain.  When we got there it all made sense as to what they were doing.  They were cleaning out everyone's wishes.  We now think that it gave us some bad luck.  After the second unsuccessful trip to the Trevi Fountain we made our way to the Coliseum. 

 

On the way to the Coliseum we walked passed the Imperial Forums.   Construction of these forums took place between  46 BC and 113 AD.  These ruins used to be the center of the Roman Empire and was used as a market place. 

 

Then on the other side of the street are the Roman Forums.  This forum was much larger and used to be the center for much of the Romans public life.  Seeing all of this it was really hard to grasp the fact that all of this was as old as it is and it's still around. 

Arch of Septimius Severus, and was built in 203 AD

When we were done looking at all of the ruins we went to see the Coliseum.  I remember learning about this in school growing up and could not wait to get inside.  When I walked up to it though I thought it was going to be a lot bigger or have more wow factor. 

However, after waiting in an hour long line when I saw the view on the inside it hit me that I was actually in Rome.  I have always seen pictures from the inside and outside of the Coliseum but actually seeing it from the inside made a huge difference to me.  Even though seeing this attraction doesn't take long, it was my favorite part of Rome. 

The day of sightseeing around Rome ended here.  We basically had a sleepless night and it was one in the afternoon, meaning lunch, check in to hostel, and nap time.  If only it were that easy.  When we left after our lunch we asked for directions, took a metro, got off at the right stop and asked again for directions just to be sure. So, again we did what the person told us and we couldn't seem to find where we were going.  This went on for 3 hours.  I kid you not.  Thankfully, a man at some store we were at could sense that we were on the verge of tears and printed off step by step directions for us.  And in about ten more minutes, we found it.  I would say this is good, but the hostel was in a very sketchy part of town.  I normally don't feel uncomfortable in my surroundings and this place made me feel like I was walking into North Omaha.  When we reached the hostel we got checked in and connected to Wi-Fi for the first time in about 24 hours.  From the fatigue, stress, and text messages from my parents I had my first cry abroad.  I thank God that even an ocean away my mom is always there to hear me sob.  It was all okay in the end; we found a nice mom and pop restaurant close (very close) by and went to bed early. 

With that day behind us, our only thought was that everything will be better from here.  We left the sketchy place bright and early and headed towards the Vatican.  We arrived through the side entrance, and had no problems finding it!

 

Saint Peters Square

Jenna, Sarah, Ali and I

Saint Peters Basilica

Michelangelo's Pietà

After the Vatican we went to the Trevi Fountain for the third time.  Good news, it was up and running!

I threw in one coin which means I am supposed to come back again some day.  However, my overall thoughts on Rome is that I wouldn't really need to come back ever again.  Rome is kind of a dirty city in many different aspects.  Also, when one sees the sights once, there is no real need to see them again.  Although, if coming back to Rome means also going to Venice, I would visit the sights again!

 

 

This was our view from the train on our way from Rome to La Spezia.  It was beautiful train ride with the sea out one window and mountains out the other.  We arrived at our hotel and it felt like a taste of America.  We were not only in a hotel, not a hostel which actually makes quite the difference.  But the next morning we had a free continental breakfast.  Yes, a FREE CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST.  It was so good and free and I still can't get over how great it was.  That day we took a short bus ride to a little town close by called Lerici.  We walked around for a while.  Everyone kept giving us disapproving looks for walking around in shorts and T-Shirts, while they were in coats and scarfs.  It was basically 70 degrees, not cold at all.  After we had enough of the looks, we headed to the beach to be with our kind of people.  The view was amazing.

 

The day was filled with finding perfect little seashells, reading, eating by the sea, and naps on the beach.  By the evening we were getting a little red and decided to pack up and return to the hotel.  This day was just what we needed after our long days of sightseeing around Austria and Italy. 

The next day we again were able to enjoy a free continental breakfast.  It was again, so good.  After that we packed our stuff and headed for our next hostel in a place closer to the 5 Cinque Terre villages.  The hotel we stayed at was so friendly that they provided a free ride to our next hostel.  It was by far the best place we stayed at.  This day was spent wandering through some of the villages of Cinque Terre, ferry rides, and another nap on the beach.  We wanted to walk part of the trail connecting the villages but we accidentally napped a little too long.  By the time we got to the trail it was closed.  So we hopped on another ferry and got back to the first village.

 

First village of Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore.

Enjoying the ferry ride to Monterosso!

Enjoying the sunset after a dinner by the sea!

The next day we set off for our last stop on our spring break trip.  We had an early train ride into Pisa, Italy.  After we were all checked into our hostel, we headed into the city to find the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  As soon as we approached the area of the Leaning Tower it was funny to see that most everyone was posing to take a funny picture.  After we all took our pictures we toured the Cathedral.  The rain came shortly after and we went back to the hostel to repack and relax. 

 

We stayed one day in Prague and finally headed back to our temporary home of Olomouc.  When we heard the voice on the tram say, "Příští zastávka, Neředín – crematorium," we knew we were finally home.  Spring break had some rough patches but overall it was blast.  It was my first time truly traveling alone without a European leader.  It's amazing how much everyone in my group grew by being able to accomplish traveling alone. 

 

 In my last four weeks here I will be traveling to Krakow, Poland where I will be going to tour Auschwitz.  Then I will be going to Budapest, Hungary, the Bohemia area of the Czech Republic, and finally to Barcelona, Spain before spending my last few nights in Prague.  I'm sure these weeks will fly by.  Thanks for reading, miss you all!