I have returned. After 31 days of backpacking across Europe. Ive learned a lot in my travelling. One of the top things I learned was: Always carry a spoon. You laugh but they are useful utensils. You can spread, cut, and scoop.
I planned to visit 8 countries during my month long travels, but actually went to 9 (more on that later).
Internet was hard to come by and usually very expensive so I did not get to use it very often (especially during my week in Greece).
This is going to be a long one ladies and gents. And there will probably be more than one. And the beginning is much more detailed, because lets face it. . after backpacking for so long, your brain shuts down and you cant remember exactly what you saw and you stop writing things down.
So to begin where I left off.
Saturday March 23rd- Day 2- Rome, Italy
After touring the Vatican we headed towards St. Peter’s Basilica. But unfortunately, because it was the day before Easter it was closed to visitors. I really wanted to go in, and have been told several times that I should have found a way (whatever that means), but alas. . .it becomes a reason to go back to Rome.
That night we had a lovely meal of pizza and salad with the questionable bread basket. . .which led us to a bit of trouble and joy later on in the trip. But we were careful as usual and just assumed it was not free. Dinner was amazing anyway. We even got a bit of gelato at the end. Oh Gelato how I love thee. . .I could see myself working at the gelato place on Berkeley’s campus. . .but that might be a bad idea.
We decided to do some night sight seeing so we headed to the Trevi Fountain. We got some gelato on our way there. . .yum. . .but actually headed in the wrong direction so we finished our gelato by the time we got there. Oh well . . . We threw in our coins and took lots of pictures and just admired it. I highly recommend it at night. Gorgeous.
We took the bus back, since the metro closed, and went to bed since we planed on getting up early to go to the Vatican like the rest of Italy.
Sunday March 24th- Day 3 (Easter)
We woke up super early to head to the Vatican. Confused at what attire was appropriate, but lacking nice clothes we went in our jeans, which felt a bit weird to me, but it turns out a lot of Italians do it. . We got there before it started so we went back to our hostel and grabbed our bags and checked in at our new one, where our friend Adrienne, could finally join us. That was one crazy metro journey. Luggage, crowded, crazy, yelling Italians=lots of pushing when there is nowhere to go.
We then headed back to the Vatican but the intense rain, umbrellas, etc prevented us from seeing much so we left and headed to the Colosseum where the rain was even more intense and the metro was even crazier with the pushing. We got DRENCHED! There were puddles everywhere and all in all it was a very uncomfortable experience. You know it was raining hard when it turns up looking like snow in your pictures. We decided to just head back to the hostel and call it a short day. . .but of course after lunch the rain let up a bit. I got in touch with my friend Nicole from Berkeley who was with her group of Californians studying in Brighton and we planned on meeting for Easter dinner. Then we ventured out for further exploration. But not before putting to use another valuable lesson: Always bring at least 2 extra groceries bags. Why you ask? For your feet. Because lets face it tennis shoes don’t dry quickly and nothing is more uncomfortable than wet feet. Luckily I had a pair of dry thick wool socks so I did not need to use this tactic, but for others, it proved quite useful and quite entertaining for all.
1st stop- Republica where we used expired coupons provided by the hostel to share some Big Macs and of course use their free toilets. . .which leads me to lesson 3: McDonalds and Starbucks are the only places who do not (usually) charge to use their toilets therefore always be aware of where one is located.
2nd stop-Spanish Steps where we climbed to the top to get a beautiful view of the city. Of course the area around them was occupied by high end stores like Dior, so we left and headed to our
3rd stop- Piazza del Popolo where we saw the Santa Maria del Popolo (the church) and wandered about the square for a bit, window shopping at shops we could never afford and eventually being led back to the Spanish steps, where we were to meet with the other California girls later in the night.
When we met the girls, we had no idea of where to eat, but had seen a place where the prices weren’t too bad in the area so we headed there. We managed to get a table together thanks to some kind American tourists who moved for us and we all had a great meal.
Then after heading our separate ways, my group headed back to the Colosseum to give it a second chance. But of course we had to have gelato. I mean it was Easter after all. The Colosseum was much kinder to us that night, perhaps it took pity on us.
Monday March 24th-Day 4
Colosseum take 3. We got up and headed to the Colosseum where we stood in line for entry and were amused by the gladiators with cell phones and cigarettes. . yes you are back in ancient times my friend. .
But we got in and it was sunny unlike the day before (seems the Colosseum had warmed up to us over time). I really enjoyed walking around it. It was pretty much what I expected. . . I was glad not to be let down. And amazingly I got the EU citizen entry price by just flashing my visa, although that didn’t work for all of us. . .
We left and I bought a memory card for my camera, since 1 G was definitely not going to last me. After seeing other prices around Europe I actually don’t feel ripped off, believe it or not. So we went to the Roman Forum and walked through a gorgeous garden among the ruins. And just like a lot of places we went, there were great views.
We left and walked toward the Pantheon which I was excited for because I had studied it in art history. We stopped to take a few photos at the Piazza Venezia which had amazing sculptures out front. And finally arrived at the Pantheon, which had closed early because it was Easter Monday. Although they left the door open a bit so of course there was a queue (a line. . .I don’t know I get weird looks from people when I say queue) to peek inside. So we stood in it and took a peak and then headed for the Piazza Navano where we relaxed a bit with a late lunch.
Then we went on a search for cannolis and found the perfect miniature ones. I swear cannolis are now one of my favourite desserts. But sadly we found none that compared to the first ever again.
We continued our wandering and ended up in front of the Castel S. Angelo. And frankly, sick of castles, we kept walking and stumbled upon a building that from afar looked strangely like St. Peters Basilica. But no, how could we have walked THAT far? But we did. We were once again heading towards the Vatican for Vatican take 4. Which leads to the next lesson: Always walk a distance in a city before deciding that the city is too large to walk.
We went back to the hostel, by metro, because that really was too far to walk and relaxed before heading back to the area by the castle for dinner. By the time we were done with dinner we were all craving gelato and decided we needed to see a sight by night yet again. So we headed back to the metro and went to the central bus station and began to wander around in search of gelato. And BAM we stumbled upon the Republica yet again and as we walked we realized we were about to reach the Colosseum. So we got our gelato and hopped on a bus that would take us to our hostel and away from central Rome AKA the twilight zone.
Tuesday March 25th-Day 5 Florence, Italy
We said our goodbyes to Rome and boarded a train to hell. . .well not really but it was the train from hell. We stood the entire way because the train was way too crowded and pretty much everyone had large bags. We got to our B&B and were told we had been placed in an apartment because they didn’t have the room we had requested. We got excited because that meant our own kitchen and everything. But wait. . .we get there and the place is really dirty, smells of smoke, and trust me no one would want to do any cooking there. With 2 beds, Sarah and I shared for the next two nights.
We left the flat and headed out. Florence was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a rushed feeling in the air. It was paradise to us at that point. We walked along the river and just enjoyed the weather before we had to be at the Uffizi which we had booked tickets for. We got to see the Birth of Venus, among other Botticelli and DaVinci, etc. works. Then we walked and window shopped picking up souvenirs and looking at handbags along the way. We arrived at the Duomo, a cathedral, which we would later run into by accident (pretty much the theme of our travels). Since it was late we could not go inside, but just the outside was great. It had such an ornate pattern.
After we continues walking and found a merry go round and a Italian band serenading a large group. We sat in the area for a bit and just enjoyed. Then we grabbed a quick dinner of kebabs the food of champions backpackers. After we headed to the grocery store to save a bit of money and ended up buying the dessert of the region: almond biscuits with a dessert wine. We had a bit of trouble getting the bottle open as the corkscrew we had was not very good. But overall, the dessert was good. The almond biscuits were the best part, could have just had those and been completely happy.
We then went to purchase our train tickets for the next few days so our adventures could continue.
Wednesday March 26th-Day 6- Florence/Pisa
We woke up bright and early to make our reservation at the Galleria dell’ Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David. Okay that was amazing to me. So much larger and so much more detailed than I ever expected. It was a small gallery so there was not a ton else to see. But going just for that was worth it.
We then headed to the train station to get our train to Pisa. Once we got to the Leaning Tower of Pisa we took some of the usual photos with it (holding it up and all) and wandered the area for a bit before heading back to Florence where we met Jen’s Italian friends and bargained for a backpack for me since my duffel was already failing me. (Turns out that it probably would have been fine because Jen used it the rest of the trip to store everything she bought) But the backpack was worth it. It was so much easier to lug around.
We just looked wandered around the outdoor market before grabbing some quick food , heading in and playing cards. Another lesson: Always have a deck of cards. There are some nights when you are too tired to do anything else and they prove quite valuable when you are on a train or in need of a way to waste time in an airport.
Thursday March 27th- Day 7- Venice
After catching our train from Florence to Venice, we arrived in a cold, wet Venice. Next lesson: Always have a map, especially a good one of Venice and if you get lost don’t be afraid to ask for help, but beware the nice tourist who thinks he is being helpful but in all actuality knows less than you.
After wandering around Venice, we finally found our B&B and grabbed some lunch. A calzone. . yum. Then I retraced our steps and got us back to the train station where we met some of Sarah’s friends from home, one of whom would be joining us for our Greece cruise. We went shopping for masks, went to Doge’s Palace, something I was excited for thanks to art history, and had some coffee/tea and a pastry before walking them back to the train station.
We then went in search of dinner and decided to go for a place with a set menu, which was actually very worthwhile. The owner seemed very nice and we asked him at the end where we could store our bags in the city and if he knew how much it would cost to do so at the train station for a few hours. He looked at us and told us he would store them in his back room for us for free and we could just drop them off in the morning. Umm . . sure?! Basically we took a poll and decided Venice was one of the friendliest cities.
Friday March 28th- Day 8- Venice
We woke up and checked out of our hostel and dropped our bags off at the restaurant and spent the day wandering, picking up souvenirs, masks, postcards, and calling home. We had pizza at the same restaurant as a way to thank the owner and headed toward the train station to catch our over night train. Sadly the man had given us the wrong tickets, perhaps without knowing and instead of the couchettes we had requested, we were stuck in regular seats in a cabin for our long ride to Vienna. It was a long night, with very little sleep on my behalf.
Okay I’ve made it through the first week or so. . . Will continue with more shortly. Still ahead: Austria, Cezech Republic, more Italy, Greece, Germany, mystery country, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
P.S If you made it through this, you've read about half of the amount I had to write for my paper. . .which I should work on some more . . .