I decided to travel to Italy during my time off with a group of three other people in my program who teach in the small town of Zafara: Kristen Rooney, Katharine Foote and McCallum Foote (siblings). Our itinerary (yes we literally had one thanks to Katharine) included Rome and Florence and just about every monument, statue or piece of art you could see in either place. It was an enlightening and exhausting trip to say the least.
Although transportation is always an issue out of Extremadura, we were lucky to have chosen a flight that flew out of Lisbon, Portugal rather than somewhere in Spain. The Spanish air traffic controllers went on strike the day we were scheduled to leave. My teachers say this is ''una verguenza'' - an embarassment.
Upon our arrival in Florence we headed to the most famous Cathedral in the city: The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. Begun in 1296 in the Gothic style, the Basilica was completed structurally in 1436. The materials used and design of the Cathedral Complex are nothing short of impressive.
View from the highest point (indoors) in the dome:
Part of the painting on the dome ceiling:
And the gorgeous view of Florence from the top
Speaking of great views, my friend Maggie who studied abroad in Florence a few years ago recommended that we go to Piazza Michelangelo. It was another long haul but well worth it as it gave us an entirely different perspective than the one on top of the dome. Additionaly, the piazza is home to a bronze replica of the statue of David (the original is in a museum within the city).
After seeing the piazza we made a visit to the famous Ponte Vecchio - Bridge of Gold. As you can see, the bridge is not made of gold. Instead, the shops on the bridge are made up of goldsmiths. It´s the place to go to find jewlery and if you´re lucky, you may witness a proposal.
Kristen and I, sitting on the bridge:
Aside from hitting up the main tourist destinations, we walked around the city and its many piazzas, bartered at the local markets and checked out the leather industry.
A few more pictures around Florence:
Our next destination: Rome. And if it seems like we saw a lot in Florence, it´s nothing compared to everything we saw in Roma. I´ll try to just mention the main things.
First, the colosseum in Rome. The largest ever built in the Roman Empire, it´s considered one of the greatest works of Roman architechture and Roman engineering. If you do go to see it, I´d recommend paying a little extra for a tour guide as we did. Not only do you get to find out exactaly what you´re looking at, you also get to skip the gigantic line to get in.
Our tour included the Roman Forum, which is directly west of the coliseum and extends from the foot of the Capitoline Hill to that of the Velian Hill. Our tour guide told us to imagine walking on the same ground that Julius Caesar did years and years ago. Besides the fact that all of these things made me want to go home and watch Gladiator again, it is really amazing that some of it is still standing.
Looking down at the Roman Forum:
What´s left of Julius Caesar´s grave:
Another sight to see in Rome is the Spanish Steps. The monumental stairway of 138 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, today still located in Palazzo Monaldeschi. It is the longest and widest staircase in Europe.
Found this photo online, you can actually see what the steps look like since there aren´t a million people on them here:
A picture from the top, overlooking the constant crowd of people. Down that street is naturally where I do my shopping: Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Channel, you know - the usual.
After hanging out on the Spanish Steps we went to what was probably my favorite thing in Rome - The Trevi Fountain. The Trevi fountain is at the ending part of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct constructed in 19 BC. It brings water all the way from the Salone Springs (approx 20km from Rome) and supplies the fountains in the historic center of Rome with water. My picture doesn´t do it justice.
In addition to the steps we also go to see the Pantheon. The word pantheon comes from a Greek adjective meaning "to every god". It is a building commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD.
The building is circular with a portico of three ranks of huge granite Corinthian columns under a pediment opening into the rotunda, under a covered, concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.
Last but not least, we toured Vatican City and the Vatican Museum. I saw countless paintings and sculptures, some of which were vaguely familiar to me as I grew up seeing them in history books. Noteably, the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo´s famous fresco painting, The Last Judgement on the ceiling and St. Peter´s Basilica.
Inside the museum:
In Vatican City, you can see the dome of St. Peter´s Basilica in the first one:
Aside from the drama of getting back home to Spain, that about concludes my Italy trip. I´m sure whoever stuck through this entire blog entry is sick of reading it by now. I´ll keep everyone updated on my next adventure!!!
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