Who knew that one could see so much history in one week? My family flies home from Rome this morning, but I am back in Firenze after a wonderful 10 days of fall break in Italy with them. We began on Friday morning in Florence, when their flight was delayed from Frankfurt because of fog, leaving me with several hours to myself at the Florence airport. Peanut M-n-M's and a Coca-Cola Light later, Mom, Dad, and Ross made it to Florence. We did, however, make it out of the terminal before Mom could stop the tears and catch her breath to say anything. 8 weeks is the longest I've probably ever been away from home, and certainly the farthest. Indeed, the invention of Skype has allowed me to stay in better touch with everyone, but it's certainly not the same.
In Florence, we visited the heavy hitters: the Uffizzi, the Accademia, and the Duomo as well as indulging in some of the best Tuscan cuisine. We ate well in Florence. I wanted to give my parents and brother a true taste of what/how I've been enjoying Tuscan cuisine for the semester. With all the walking, I can't say that I've sent them back with any lighter, but maybe on a diet instead. Something I will never be in my next life: a tourguide. After a night's sleep on a trans-Atlantic flight, I had my poor family walking all of Florence in my eagerness to show them the city that I've fallen in love with. Needless to say, they needed a nap after some pizza from my favorite spot. The beauty of Florence is, though, that you can walk everywhere. The birth of the renaissance is within one-square block. And the circumference of the ancient city walls, one can stumble upon all the treasures and masterpieces that Italy has to offer.
Siena is much of the same, only smaller and less famous. On our way to Siena, we stopped at two famous Tuscan towns: San Gimignano and Monteriggioni. Spending only a few hours in each spot, you can get the feel of each medieval town. I had visited both of these spots before, so my parents enjoyed the luxury (or curse) of once again having me as their tourguide. We then spent one day walking around the city and the campo of Siena before heading out on a tour with Gianni of the Chianti region of Tuscany. We visited several tiny towns (one with only 23 inhabitants!), a Baron's Castle, and a winery, before heading to the capital of the Roman empire for a few days. Mom decided that rather than having a driver, they needed to experience the European train system (something totally foreign to North Carolinians). So, by train, we made our way from Siena to Rome. This is the point in the trip in which I stop being familiar with the area and the cities. I consider myself pretty well-traveled in Italy by now, but I haven't made my way south enough to get to Rome or Sorrento, so my days as a tour guide ended. They did not, however, end as translator to taxi drivers, map dissector, or metro navigator. We arrived to our hotel in Rome (where the famous Rick Steve's son was also staying) mid-week with a precarious weather forecast. We visited the two sights that Mom had not scheduled in our tours: the Spanish steps and the Trevi Foutain. Both beautiful, and both extremely crowded. Mom had beautifully planned everyday of this vacation with a guided tour or a pre-planned means of transportation, so torrential downpours could have put this planning to waste. It did rain the morning of our scheduled Classics Tour of Rome, but our guide luckily switched our tickets and we headed to the massiveness of the Vatican. On Wednesday mornings, however, the Pope gives an audience to pilgrims and because of the weather, this was held in Saint Peter's Cathedral -- as the largetst church in the world, its one of the highlights of the Vatican, if not THE highlight behind the Michelangelo's Sistine chapel. Luckily, our tour of the museum and the chapel lasted long enough that the cathedral re-opened. I was not prepared for the extravagence of the Vatican. I had no idea of the amount of the Vatican's collection: priceless Renaissance masterpieces, ancient Roman statues, or Egyptian artifacts. Each corridor rivals any noteworthy museum. The day turned out to only be drizzly, so we walked around Rome, grabbed some pizza, indulged in a siesta, and shopped in the best shops that Italy has to offer. I may or may not be returning with a new Gucci purse. Splurg! We woke up with clear skies on Thursday morning to juxtapose the famed beauty of modern Rome with that of the Ancient Empire: We had guided tours of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Pantheon. Everything is as impressive as one would imagine. The major walk-away message I took from the Ancient Roman Empire: Some of beautiful, detailed, elaborate, and massive structures were built before the birth of Christ. And not just a handful of buildings. Countries and countries worth. That's hard for me to fathom.
We left Rome on Friday morning in need of a little R&R after the touring and chaos of Rome. We headed south to the beautiful Sorrento to stay in a hotel with a terrace that opens out to the "puerta grande" and looks directly at the active volcano of Mt. Vesuvius. If I were to live anywhere in Italy, it would be on the Amalfi Coast or around Cinque Terre. The taste of the Italian cuisine (with plenty of Mediterranean frutti de mare), the pace of Italian life, and the natural beauty of the cliffs plummeting into the crystal clear blue waters creates an atmosphere in these two regions that is unparalleled in any vacation spot I've ever been in. We ate, we drank, and we relaxed. On Saturday, we had a tour of the Amalfi coast, stopping in Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. The coast is another UNESCO World Heratige site for the same reasons I loved Cinque Terre. We had a delicious meal in Ravello on a terrace that overlooked the coastline from 365 meters high (that's nearly 2000 feet of a straight dropo to sealevel) before heading back to our quiet Sorrento. Unknowingly, my family booked our trip to visit during my fall break, but most of the coast towns' businesses, restaurants, and tours close shop on November 1st. So, we had nearly 80 degree weather, sunny skies, and no crowds during the last days of the tourist season. Because this is my Dad's first trip to Italy, the country of 3/4 of his heritage, and with uncertainty of when he'll be back, he plunged into what he called warm waters of the Mediterranean. Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to Sorrento, our vacation, and my family, but not before visiting Pompeii and the crater of Mt. Vesuvius on our way back to Rome. Pompeii was a slight disappointment, but I was surprised by the vastness of the town that exists. I expected our driver to stop, say "Here is Pompeii, an ancient Roman city that was covered in 50 feet of ash when Mt. Vesuvius last errupted seriously in 79 AD" and for us to hop back in the Mercedes and head on our way. Instead, we had a 2 hour audio tour of the grounds. After about the first hour, I had grasped the feel of the place and felt ready to go. Luckily, my family had the same feeling. So, instead, we spent our last hour freely walking around and marveling at what still existed from 2000 years ago. Then, we headed to Mt. Vesuvius, one of the highlights of the trip for me. How often in one's life can he say "Hey, I'm standing in the crater of an active volcano." You can drive the majority of the way up the mountain, but the final stretch (about a 30 min steep-incline hike) can only be done by foot. I nearly jumped out of the car in excitement, but Dad and Ross did not match my enthusiasm. Ross can attest that I practically ran up the side of the mountain, leaving them both in the dust. We took some great shots from the smoking crater. From the 1,281 meter height, we had an amazing view of all of Naples and the port beside it. From the volcano, we headed back to Rome where we said our goodbyes and I hopped on a train to Florence.
With only 6 short weeks left in Italy, I feel like I need to enjoy every single day left. I have a busy November... leaving for Paris on Wednesday with James, Barcelona with him the weekend after, and then some special Davidson visitors for Thanksgiving weekend (and my 21st Birthday weekend, naturally). Having some quality family time was just what I needed to miss home, but be homesick. Still no bouts of that illness yet. I was also thrilled to share some of the experiences of my semester abroad with them. Neither of my parents had the opportunity to basically quit their lives for a few months and live in Europe, and who knows where or what Ross will end up doing in the next few years. I took a hiatus as photographer and handed the responsibility to my Mom, who will certainly post the 1000+ photos she took in our 10 days together as soon as possible. I'm a lucky lucky girl to have the life I do and the best part of experiencing it is sharing it with the people you love.
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