Day 7: Ciao Friends

Our final day in Italy. We boarded the train to Pisa with our luggage in tow. I think everybody was feeling a little bittersweet because we made such great friends and we were in such an amazing place, but we missed our home. Before getting on the plane to eventually go home, we went to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We weren’t there for very long but it was long enough to finish last second souvenir shopping and take a few pictures. We saw a couple getting married in the church next to the tower which was cute. After our pictures were taken, we got on the shuttle bus to bring us back to the airport. We flew into London Heathrow and grabbed some lunch and then boarded our flight to Newark. I never thought I would be as happy to see Newark as I was that day. Don’t get me wrong, Italy was amazing and I am definitely going back at some point in my life, but I could not wait to go home and sleep in my bed and see my family. I have been fortunate enough to have done some pretty amazing things in my life but this was by far my favorite thing I have ever done. I want to thank the teachers and ISA for putting this trip together. I also want to thank my classmates because I was nervous to go on a trip with no friends. That is not the case anymore, I love you guys and I am really happy to be able to call all of you my friends.

I wonder if they ever found that guy we lost in Siena.

Day 6: Florence Part 3

My day had a less than stellar start today. My roommate left early this morning (shortly after I got in from the club) and thankfully left the door to the room unlocked. After missing numerous phone calls and knocks (or pounds) on the door, Shereise walks in and wakes me up to tell me that it is 10am and the group is getting ready to leave on the final tour of Florence. Getting ready in 30 minutes is hard for me to do, but somehow I managed to get ready in 3 minutes and run downstairs before the group left me. I am really happy I made it. We ended up going to Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. It is a huge cathedral with a bell tower next to it. After walking inside and being told about the history and the art inside, we walked back outside and saw the gold doors. Each set told a story from the bible. We then decided to be brave souls and climb to the top of the dome of the church. 486 steps (and bouts of claustrophobia and acrophobia) later we reached the top. The view of Florence was amazing and the day was so clear (finally) that I’m pretty sure I saw my house (kidding). We stayed up there for a while but then eventually we started out descend back to the street. We went back to the hotel and started packing for our trip home we would be making the next day.

Day 5: Wait...Rome Wasn't Built in a Day??

It was so early when we woke up that we were waiting for breakfast to be served. Once it was finally served, we all grabbed some yogurt or bread with nutella and ventured to the train station; we were off to Rome. Our original plan was to go to Venice, but after realizing that it has done nothing but rain since our arrival and we may be up to our necks in water, we opted for Rome. All the train tickets for Venice were sold out as well which was another good reason to go to Rome. Anyway, we get to the train station in Rome and after some debate the group splits. My group buys all-day tickets for the metro (subway for the American folks). We get off at the stop for the Colosseum. We walk up the stairs from the metro and the Colosseum is right in front of you. It is absolutely breathtaking. I liked everything about the Colosseum…for the exception of the gladiators. They come up to you and say they will take pictures with your own camera. They pose with you and the other gladiator takes pictures. But once the pictures are taken they want 5 euros (which was completely unknown to us prior to taking the pictures). Their loss…we got pictures with them but they didn’t get 5 euros from us. Our next destination was the Ruins. It was cool to see the remains of buildings that were destroyed hundreds of years ago. The materials that the Romans used to build their buildings were so strong that even after people tried destroying them completely, much of the columns and bases were still standing. My group then made its way to where Mussolini used to live. This place is massive. There are sculptures everywhere around this building. It is so beautiful and breathtaking that you can’t fit it into a picture without being a few blocks away. We continued walking and saw the dome of the Pantheon and got a great history lesson from Larry (“That’s the top of the Pantheon. It’s important.”) Great. Anyway, our next stop was at the Trevi Fountain. I was excited about this stop because I have been learning about it since high school. It was really gorgeous but we couldn’t soak it all in because we were soaking in all the rain. Everybody threw in coins (right hand over the left shoulder) and made wishes and then we were off to our next stop. We ended up at the Spanish Steps. Everyone was hesitant to walk to the top because we have already been walking for what seemed like days. After convincing ourselves it would be worth it, we climbed the stairs. We got to the top just in time for the sun to peek out and light a really beautiful scene. From the top we could see the top of the Pantheon…again. We walked to the metro and took that to the Vatican. Once we got to the Vatican we were all really sore and tired from walking all day, but we all managed to walk around and take pictures. The Vatican is the type of place that makes me feel like an ant. Now I am no giant by any means, but the Vatican is so massive that you can’t help but stand in the middle and have your breath taken away by how big and beautiful the area is. It was coming down to the time we said we were going to meet at the train station so we headed back. Once we got back into Florence most of us got ready and went out for another great night. How we partied until 4am when we were up by 7am that morning is still a question that boggles my mind.

Day 4: Florence Part Deux

We ate breakfast as a group and went to meet with our ISA guide and our tour guide for our second walking tour around Florence. Our tour took us to Pointe Vecchio, outside the Uffizi Gallery, and the Medici Palace, among others. Pointe Vecchio means “old bridge”. Our guide told us about how it was destroyed and then rebuilt a little differently than the original. Along Pointe Vecchio there were a series of chain-linked barriers with hundreds of locks on every one. Our guide told us the meaning of this, which was that couples would write their names on a lock and lock it along the chain-linked barriers. This symbolized the bond of love. She joked about how the Italian men must have loved that because Italian men are known to romance many women. This led us to the outside of the Uffizi Gallery (which we would visit on Friday). There were human sculptures, which are people in various costumes (Cupid, Sphinx, etc.) outside the gallery that would stand still unless paid (usually 1 euro). Once they heard the coin go in the can, they would start moving and posing for pictures. The tour then took us to the Medici Palace. It was really amazing seeing the architecture and artwork in this place. Every room we entered had a different story. My favorite part about the Medici Palace was the garden. It was very simple but it had statues and a fountain. It would be the place I would be most often if I lived in the Palace.

Day 3: Optional Bus Trip

Our first optional trip was a bus trip to San Gimignano, Siena, and Cianti. It is hard to say what my favorite place out of these three was. Each town was beautiful in its own way. San Gimignano has breathtaking views (which probably would have been better if the weather were better) of open fields. Just standing on a hill looking out makes you feel like you are on top of the world. Siena has history pouring out around every corner, from the churches to the Piazza Del Campo. Cianti had a feeling much like San Gimignano (with hills and beautiful landscape) but it was much quieter because of its remote location.

Anyway, back to the beginning. San Gimignano was our first stop and we had about an hour and a half to walk around. The rain was on and off for the most part, when it did rain it was mostly misting or a light rain at most. There were shops and places to grab a coffee or something to eat if you wanted. Our big group split into several smaller groups. The group I was with started walking around (aimlessly I may add) and taking pictures. As we were walking we were swarmed with killer bees (not actual killer bees but children in hideous yellow hats). These kids were everywhere in San Gimignano. My group continued walking and took some more pictures with the scenery behind us. When we finished with pictures we started walking back to the bus to load up and head for our next destination.

We arrive in Siena and we were offered a sit-down lunch. After lunch we started our walking tour of Siena. Our tour led us to many different areas. We got to see the oldest bank in the world, as well as learn about the “rivalry” between all the cities in Italy. Our tour ultimately led us to Piazza Del Campo which is where a horse race is held twice a year. Each city in Italy is represented by a horse in this race (10 horses race in the first race and the final 7 horses plus three horses from the first race make up the second race). The horse and jockey wear the symbols/flags that correspond with the city they are representing. The race was not being held during our trip, but it was pretty interesting learning about it. Finally, after walking around looking for a lost member of our tour for about an hour, we boarded the bus and headed to Cianti.

Cianti was amazing with its narrow, winding roads (although not ideal for coach buses) and beautiful landscape. It was raining pretty hard at this point so we filed inside fairly quickly. Once we were inside we learned about the different barrels used to ferment wine and the temperatures used to store wine. After learning a bit about how to make wine we walked upstairs to our wine tasting. Each person sampled about 5 or 6 red wines (if you tried them all). Each wine had a distinct taste and overall I thought each one was delicious. When the tasting ended some people went to the gift shop while others walked to the bus. Once we all boarded the bus, we started our almost 2 hour journey back to the hotel.

Most of us got ready and went out to a club. In my opinion, this was one of the best nights of my life. Everyone that went was dancing and drinking well into the night. At around 4am, when the club closed, we headed back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before starting the next day.

Day 2: The Lay of the Land

Continental breakfast in Italy is nothing like continental breakfast in America. I thought there was going to be eggs and French toast and fruit salad and everything like that. I was sorely mistaken when I went to breakfast at 8am and saw rolls, cereal, and yogurt. The hotel breakfast area did have a coffee machine, which at 8am, I was all about having a cup of coffee. After we finished breakfast we met with our ISA guides and our tour guide. Our first stop was the bank and the pharmacy. This tour essentially gave us an idea of where we are in Florence. We found the banks/ATM machines, the pharmacy, the market, etc. Along the way we also saw some statues and sculptures. It is pretty amazing how one can walk to wherever their destination may be and on the way see beautiful architecture and sculptures from hundreds of years ago; the history is everywhere in Italy.

Our tour ended and most of the group wanted to go to the market and do some shopping. As we walked around our stomachs started grumbling so we wanted to go somewhere for lunch. After walking a few blocks from the market we found a cute restaurant where we could sit outside and enjoy a nice meal; and that is exactly what we did. When we finished eating we headed back to the hotel to take naps and relax in preparation for the night. And what a night it was.

Just about everybody went to dinner at night. We sat at a long table (long enough to fit 10 of us) in a tented outside area of a restaurant. This is where we really got to know each other. The group enjoyed dinner and drinks as the rain started to pour down in Florence. Not wanting to get soaked on our walk back to the hotel, we decided to stay and talk for a few hours. Around 1 or 2am the restaurant owner comes up to us and invites us to his pub which is only a few blocks away. The rain slowed down so we went to the pub. The place was fairly empty but that didn’t matter to us because the group of 10 from Jersey brought the party wherever we went. The server came up to us with a tray of 9 shots. Since Kat caught the eye of the restaurant/pub owner at dinner, she had to go to the bar to take a shot with him (thanks again Kat lol). We danced for a bit before deciding to head back to the hotel.

Day 1: My Adventure to Italy

My Saturday started with my grandparents coming to my house with donuts and coffee. They wanted to hang out with me before I left for my trip. So my family and I were eating breakfast and watching movies until about 11am when I realized that I had nothing packed for my trip. It did not shock me at all that I was still not packed for a trip I was going on in a few hours. After rummaging through my room to find what I wanted to wear in Italy, I got my suitcase out (which is about ¾ as tall as I am) and started packing. I got ready and within a few hours I was on my way to the airport. My parents and I arrived a little early so we grabbed lunch before my flight. After lunch my parents and I walked over to airport security. This is where we said goodbye. I was starting to feel excited, not that I haven’t been excited since I found out about the trip, but I was feeling more excited because I knew it was actually happening. The group all got through security and met at the gate. A few people, myself included, decided to grab a drink at the bar before getting on the plane. We finished our drinks and boarded the plane for a 7 hour flight to London Heathrow.

After arriving at London Heathrow, we all wanted to get something to eat or coffee. This is where everybody got to meet up and get to know each other a little better. We finished breakfast and headed off to the next gate to board the plane for Pisa. The second flight was only about 2 hours and just about everyone in our group was asleep for the whole flight. We arrive in Pisa and get our luggage and make our way to the train station. This is the first time we met our ISA guides. After about a two hour train ride we arrive in Florence and are carted from the train station to our hotel. We are told that we have about 2 hours to get ready and then we have to go to the orientation dinner.

At dinner we ate homemade pizza and drank champagne. This is where the fun really started. There was a kids table (where the students sat) and an adults table (where the teachers and ISA guides sat). The students got to know each other pretty well over dinner, but the bond between us definitely grew as the trip went on. After dinner some people went out but the majority of us just went back to our rooms and went to sleep. We all had extremely long days.