June 24, 2013: Florence
We got to Florence in the afternoon, and first went to our hostel where we got a map of the city and started planning how we were going to spend our time there. Then we left to explore the city. We saw street artists, performers but immediately after we ate dinner it started to rain so we stepped into an Irish pub. We ended up having a great time because we met some Italian locals who were playing Beatles music on the guitar and listened to them play with people from Australia, Britain, and France. It still amazes me how many people we have been meeting who are from all over the world!
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| Street art, that was soon washed away by the rain... |
June 25, 2013: Sight seeing in Florence
First on our list was to see the Statue of David by Michelangelo. In line we met people from Bilbao, Spain! (Sometimes it is such a small world) 4 hours and 30 euro later we were inside! (not an exaggeration...we waited for 3 hours, gave up and booked a tour and then waited another hour to enter with the group!)
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Secret pic of the Statue of David...it was breathtaking in person!
"Vale la pena" as they say in spanish..."worth the pain" |
Next we went to the Dumo and took a free tour inside! The art work on the dome was incredible!
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| The Dumo |
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| The Dumo |
At the end of the day we went to Michalengelo Plaza, which overlooks Florence, to watch the sunset.
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| On our way to Michelangelo's Plaza. |
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| Looking over Florence from Michelangelo's Plaza! |
June 26, 2013: Wine tasting and Birthday Celebration!
In the morning we went to the Uffizi Museum, and in the afternoon wine tasting in the Chianti region of Tuscany!
The wine tasting was one of my favorite things that Katie and I did in all of Italy. It was so relaxing to get away from the busy city and see a different side of the country. We went to Castello del Trebbio, a castle that was built 900 years ago, for the tasting because it is located on the vineyards. This castle dates back to the times when the Medici family were still in control of Florence, and actually has a family that lives there permanently today. It was interesting to see the the dungeon where they used to keep the prisoners...today they use it to store the wine!
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| Inside the dungeon of a castle...where they keep their wine! |
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| Castello del Trebbio |
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| Wine tasting in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy |
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| Can't take everything serious! :) |
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| Chianti |
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| Wine tasting with Katie! Love the countryside in Italy! |
After our wine tasting we headed back to Florence and got ready for the night. We began celebrating my birthday at dinner in one of the many plazas in Florence. At the restaurant there was live music, and and around midnight went to Club 21! I have my first "legal age" drinks at a club that was named just for me! We ran into a lot of American's so they all took part in celebrating my birthday with me!
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| Birthday Dinner! |
W shared the best pizza in all of Italy and some ravioli! Yum!
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| I'm 21!! |
Katie and I both agree that Florence was hands down our favorite city in Italy! Everything was close together and within walking distance, and as soon as you get outside of town everything is very green and pretty! The people were nice, and the food was cheap and delicious!
June 27, 2013: My Birthday! Off to Rome we go!
I had celebrated my birthday the day before because we spent most of the day traveling to Rome. Once in Rome we treated ourselves to a 3 course meal, that included cake! :) (No candles on top though!)
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| Street performers...I know there is a trick to this but it still looks co cool! |
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Birthday Cake and pretty flowers on the table!
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June 28, 2013: Vatican City
Katie and I decided to go to Vatican City our first full day in Rome because the Sistine Chapel was closing early Friday and Vatican City would be closed to the public through the weekend for a celebration! We took a tour to see the Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Basilica, and St. Peters Square in Vatican City and it was not like anything I had expected. I knew it would be crowded, but I wasn't exactly prepared for the amount of people that were there! I was also not aware that they keep embalmed Pope's on display inside of St. Peters Basilica...that was something that really took me by surprise. Inside the Sistine Chapel itself was absolutely beautiful. Katie and I sat on a bench, and were able to just look at it for about 30 min. Overall, it was a very unique experience and I am glad that I had the opportunity to go, although we couldn't take very many pictures!
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| St. Peter's Square- Vatican City |
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| One of the many maps of Italy, inside the Vatican Museum. |
After a long morning waiting in lines at Vatican City, we headed back to our hostel for a nap and a change of clothes. After that we went out to do some sightseeing!
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| At the Trevi Fountain in Rome...made my wish with a penny :) |
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At the Spanish steps...
People were everywhere below, just sitting on the steps eating food and talking! |
We made our way to a plaza where a music festival was taking place, and we waited to listen to the music (not knowing what to expect)...When it started it was all in Italian! (I mean we were in Italy...but it was called "The Summer Music Festival" in english) It wasn't horrible but after a few songs we left, it was kind of hard to listen to music we didn't understand and the band wasn't really that great at singing.
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| Music Summer Festival- a little bit of a let down. |
June 30, 2013: Bike tour in Rome! Some history included!
On Saturday Katie and I took a bike tour of Rome, and it was my second favorite thing that we did in Italy! (Second to the Wine Tour) It was nice because they took us out of the historic city center and we were able to see so much more! I also really appreciated the size of the tour, as there were only 4 of us!
Before the colosseum, there was a man made lake, that was built for an emperor that was hated by his people. The next emperor that came to rule emptied the lake, and decided to build the colosseum for the people in the giant hole that had been created!
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| Quick stop at the Colosseum on the bike tour...learned a lot about the history! |
The next stop on our way out of town was to see the bath house that was used by over 1700 people at one time! They used 3 pools of water for bathing which flowed from on to the next
HOT--->WARM--->COLD. A person would start in the cold and make there way to the Hot bath because the hot water was the cleanest. The bath house was not just for bathing, they had books for reading (away from the water), as well as brothels, etc. Today the bathhouse is still used, but for Opera performances only!
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| Ancient bath house- used to house 1700+ people at one time! |
We also visited the San Sebastian Church. The story of San sebastian is now one of my favorites so I have it included below if you are interested:
Sebastian was a christian in the time when it was illegal, but he was a very likable person so no one knew his secret, so he made his way up the ranks and eventually was one of the men who guarded the emperor. Well one day 2 men were arrested and sentenced to death for being christian, but they were given the chance of freedom if they renounced their christianity. Their wives, parents, and children all came to them and pleaded for them to renounce their faith...That is when Sebastian had had enough. He went to them and told them to never renounce their faith. He told them it was better to die a Christian than to live a Pagan.
The emperor found out and sentenced Sebastian to be killed, so they tied him up and all of the guards shot arrows at him, they left him when they thought he had died. But a christian woman came to him and was going to burry him when she realized that he was still alive! She nursed him back to health and when he was better, rather than running off to live far away, he went straight to the emperor, pleading with him to stop his ways...and do you think the emperor stopped?...no! He again sentenced Sebastian to death and this time threw his body where no one could find it (in the sewer). That's when the ghost of Sebastian went to the lady who had helped him and told him where his body was. She went to him, recovered his body, cleaned him, and he is now buried at the church that is named after him, San Sebastian. Fun fact: San Sebastian is also the patron saint of Athletics.
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| A statue of San Sebastian at the church named after him. |
June 30, 2013: Back to Spain we go!
Sunday we left early in the morning for Spain, and spent the entire day traveling! Once back in Spain, it was a huge relief to finally be able to communicate with people. I no longer felt like a tourist, and back in Bilbao I felt at home. I was back in my own bed, and I slept very well! I really enjoyed all of my time in Italy, but all things must come to an end. It actually feels very surreal, as if it didn't happen at all. I only know that it did because of the pictures I have to remind me and the memories I will cherish forever!
Back to school on Monday, and it will be Katie's first day! I'm ready to meet new people and make new friends!
