| And now, Firenze! |
| 06/25/01: Hey, I am in Florence. Crazy quick. Got the Eurostar and arrived in 1.5 hours. Only L7000 more for a better faster train, yay. So I got here and found the nearby hostel I wanted to stay at, and it was full, of course. Since I was short on patience and all sweaty and hot, I decided to spring for a hotel room. It's small, but it has a great view, surprisingly! It will be nice to have a room to myself and a decent bed, not to mention a real shower. The hostel in Rome was fine, but subpar to my 'standards of excellence,' ha ha. Tomorrow in the Early Morning Hours I shall try to find a cheaper place, be it hostel or hotel. I figure, why not treat myself? But I do want to meet new people. Speaking of meeting new people, oh my god Kristin, I have to talk to you! Oh boy. For some reason I have the fabulous luck to be in European cities when the local teams win football champions. Last Sunday, meaning EIGHT DAYS AGO, the Roma team won the championship (I think of Italy but I'm not sure). This Sunday, meaning yesterday, a full SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE EVENT, not only had there been continual chaos and general running-amok, not to mention lots of car-horn-honking this whole week, there was a huge gathering in the Circo Massimo, presumably to cap off the excitement. Thousands and thousands of people were there, to celebrate and yell, sing, cheer and otherwise make general noise for the players. It was MADNESS, I tell you. Remind me to never be a football fan, because then I will never be crazed like these Europeans. Oh, so yesterday I was still in Rome, obviously, and looking forward to being in a new place. However, I realized that I was used to being there, that even though I was bored I had gotten to know my way around, not to mention see all the sights. Well, most of them. Did I tell y'all about my piazza tour? Did y'all know that there are a GOOD LOT of piazzas in Rome? Like, almost every other corner has a fountain or a big statue or obelisk of some sort? It's crazy. Very enjoyable and pretty, but nearly overkill. I joined a walking tour of the Jewish ghetto and the Trastevere area yesterday afternoon. It was interesting and certainly educational; I am not very familiar with the history of Rome or any part of Italy, other than the obvious things like the Roman Empire and stuff. Duh. We went over the oldest bridge in Rome, which leads to Tiber Island. It was built in 63 BC and has not had to be rebuilt. A two thousand year old bridge! Imagine! In the square where the French Embassy is now (in a former Renaissance palazzo), there are giant bathtubs disguised as fountains. The rich family that lived there took the tubs from the nearby Baths of Caracalla, and had seats installed, and then mounted in the square so that the family people could sit there and be important and see all the goings-on. In a BATHTUB. Does this not strike you as terribly silly? So yeah, I've got however long to be here in Florence, and so that I don't get bored, I decided to relax and spread things out. I haven't decided if I shall do something this afternoon and evening. I'd like to just sit around, but that gets boring pretty quick. Plus, the other day I got these nasty blisters on my toes that obviously make walking rather unpleasant. But maybe I'll go see the Ponte Vecchio, that's old, famous, and free. Oh, I need food. I think I'm getting malnourished or something. I haven't had much more than pears, yogurt, crackers and the occasional ice cream for the past five days and I think that's why I'm headachy and lethargic. I am drinking lots of water, though, which is nice. |
| 06/27/01: Still in Florence and holy crap is it hot here. Did I mention that yet? Someone today said they heard that yesterday it got up to 41! That's celsius, obviously, and it's around 100 F. See what I mean? Pleh. So today I joined the tourist pilgrimage around Florence (everyone I see is a tourist/backpacker), starting at the Uffizi, and ending at McDonald's. The Ponte Vecchio seems a little overrated to me, especially since all the shops lining it are jeweller's and thus nothing I can look at or afford. Went to the Duomo too, which is lovely on the outside, but rather bare on the inside, and not as light as some of the other churches. But nice anyhow. I went to some gardens, but I didn't stay long because I was tired and hot. I successfully got a hostel bed for the next two nights, getting here at 6.45 am. Yuck. I think I'm gonna do not much of anything the rest of the evening so as to recuperate. I have to go, there's a line for the free internet. Woohoo, free! |
| 06/29/01: Join me in welcoming...myself...to Venice. It's kinda neat here, with the water. I came out of the train station, expecting a big busy street like usual, but instead, the Grand Canal! That was kinda cool. In Florence, I walked around a bit. A lot, actually. It was tough. According to the internet, yesterday it was 33C. Ick. In the morning I went to the Accademia and saw the David and the Slaves by Michelangelo. David is so huge! I knew it was 12 or 14 or whatever feet tall, but wow, it's impressive. I liked it a lot. What else did I do? I swear I did a couple other things....I went to the Museo Nazionale at the Bargello, which had a lot of sculpture in it, like Donatello's David (with the dumb hat), and a couple more Michelangelo pieces. That guy really got around! I got back in after the lockout, and just sat around the entire rest of the day. How fabulous is that? There's a terrace in the back of the hostel with a fountain featuring slightly smelly but oh so refreshing water to dip one's feet in. Sat around and talked with people from England and California and a fellow Seattleite. Later we all ended up at the Fiddler's Elbow, an Irish bar in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. It was fun. Oh, except for the Canadian who was literally no fun. But it was a good time, and we got back late, and I had an early train today, so I didn't get much sleep. It's rainy and drizzly here but still warm. Had to go four or five places until I found a room in a small hotel. Haven't really explored or anything yet, I figured I would walk around and see what I saw. Obviously. But you know what I mean. Tomorrow morning I'm going to St Mark's, I'm looking forward to that. I enjoy these big cathedrals. Not much else to say, I suppose. Heard an interesting non-joke yesterday that, since most of y'all never laugh at my jokes anyway, may want to hear. Anyway. |