Our alarms went off at 6:30am on Thurs 14th April to prepare us for our 6:56am arrival at Roma Tiburtina. We actually got there after 7:45am though so we spent that time watching the stations closely and wondering why the countryside was still countryside. The light was was really nice as we came in. Once we arrived, we bought 3-day travel tickets and got the train to Termini station, and failed to find tourist info. We followed directions to our hostel - luckily a short, easy walk. We checked in about 9am, left our luggage and we able to take advantage of free breakfast there: cold drinking chocolate, the same weird cereal as in Milan, not great bread but nice jam, and juice. We got a couple of maps from reception and were told where the tourist place at the station was. We went there on the way to Barbarini (?) station and got some brochures.
From the station, we found our way to Trevi Fountain - you know, the one from The Lizzie Maguire Movie! We experienced how busy Rome was from the moment we came up from the underground - especially after Venice and its no cars! You never know when you can cross the road safely... if you walk out onto a zebra crossing, cars generally stop but it was scary! We were back to more normal, less pretty buildings too.
In front of the fountain we sang 'This is what dreams are made of' from the movie, very excitedly until my sunnies ended up in the fountain (all caught on video) but luckily I grabbed them before they totally sank. We all threw in a cent and I wished for an adventure just like Lizzie!
We walked to the Spanish Steps (via a FREE toilet - never thought we'd see that again); gorgeous to look up at and then, from the top, to look down over Rome. There were lots of stalls set up of paintings of Rome/caricatures of people. We went into the church at the top, gorgeous just like every other. We sat in the church and then halfway down the steps for a while, just too tired. There were horse carriages at the bottom of the steps and guys trying to give roses to everyone (and then demand money) very insistingly.
We walked past lots of pizza shops with deals on the way to the Pantheon, a huge temple. It was really pretty inside but very noisy - everything echoed despite signs everywhere about it's a sacred place be quiet yada yada. We got lunch at a place that offered pasta and a drink for €7 and no service charge. The waiter kept telling us 'you get a good plate of pasta' but really it wasn't very big. I had penne with tomato and basil sauce, and was so upset their cannelloni had meat in it! WTF! I reeeally wanted to get proper Italian cannelloni before we left but sadly, it didn't happen :(
We went back to the station, took the train then a bus to the Catacombs (burial sites), although I'm not sure we actually found them. We did come across a mausoleum or something, also free because of Cultural Week (we definitely chose to come at the right time!). A cute resident cat acted as tour guide and followed us around. The surrounding area was gorgeous, so different from the centre of Rome - tree-lined streets, lots of green and not many people. Although once we walked a bit down a quiet road we got to a fairly busy part. We took the bus and train back, on the bus with a bunch of lovely 60 year old German women who celebrate their milestone birthdays every decade by travelling somewhere as a group - one even had a cute story about meeting an Italian boy when she was young and staying in Italy for 3 years with him, and even catching up with him while they were there this time!
We went back to the hostel, went to our room, chose beds (top bunk this time for me), had a much-needed shower and had a quick nap before our free pasta dinner at 7pm. At dinner we chatted to a couple of American girls studying in Copenhagen. I hate to say I had 2 servings of pasta even though it wasn't that good - just penne with tomato sauce (and hardly any at that) but with chickpeas! We headed out around our area to find gelati for Janet (I was too full from din dins and wanted to have a day off after all the sweets from the last 2 days!). Back to the hostel, the others started using their free internet vouchers and I managed to nudge a precarious Twix out of the vending machine, yes I am a legend. Went to bed about 10pm.
Friday 15th April - got up and had breakfast about 9:15am, found out where the local supermarkets were, turned the wrong way a couple of times then thought one was closed before we found another entrance. We ended up just buying apples and a couple of other random things then went back to the station, via the hostel to use the toilet. At Termini, the train which would take us to Vatican City wasn't running so we caught a bus - after waiting for a few ridiculously crowded buses we actually got seats! We had no idea where to get off so we waited till we saw lots of people and big buildings. As usual we started wandering in the wrong direction but eventually found our way to St. Peter's Basilica and lined up for over an hour - the queue was huuuge, but we had eye candy ahead in the line to keep us entertained ;) Once we got inside, we didn't see the Pope's tombs or Cuppola (dome on the top of the church) but we went through the church. At this stage I was really getting over churches, even though it was amazing inside.
We headed towards restaurants, via souvenir shops where Caitlin & I bought Martin a sparkly I♥Roma keyring (which she proceeded to lose). We got €5 pizza (shared marinara (tomato & oregano) and margarita with Greer), the tomato sauce was really tasty. It was 3:30pm by the time we ate and I was starving, tired and with sore shoulders from a heavy bag and sore hip from who-knows-what. The Vatican museum closed at 4pm so we decided to go there the next day.
We walked back to the buses, had a very crowded ride back to Termini then took the train to the Colosseo station - walked outside and there was the Colosseum!!! Took some quick photos outside but then we rushed in just in case it closed anytime soon, since it was about 5:15pm by this time. We got in free - Cultural Week rocks! - and wandered around the edge a bit, went in and up even though the stairs said no climbing - uh, what? We were all pretty excited and took lots of photos. We saw lots of random cats walking around in the middle.
We headed back to the station and got back to the hostel about 6:45pm, ready for dinner at 7pm. It was the same as the night before plus spinach, chili and beans instead of chickpeas. Only had one serving this time. After dinner we asked at reception about any local gelati places they could recommend and followed an Aussie's directions only a few blocks away to Fassi's, the oldest gelati in Rome or something. It was much cheaper than any other place we'd seen (3 flavours in a cup or cone for €1,60). I got a cup with cherry (bits of skin made it beautiful), stracciatella (finally!) and creme caramel (just sweet). Janet finally got her tiramisu she'd been craving. The place was so big and bright and not too crowded and we just loved it.
We went back to the hostel, showered and got ready for bed. This new guy in our room got out a table, put out all his jewellery and tools and started making things, burning ends of threads and all, and apparently worked with the light on till midnight (glad I got to sleep)! He said he had to make 500 bracelets before Queen's Day in Amsterdam on April 30. Probably slept about 10:30pm.
On our last day in Italy (sad face!), Saturday 16th April, we got up at 7:30am, had breakfast (discovered drinking chocolate improves the weird cornflake-y cereal) and left about 8:50am. We went to the supermarket for rolls, salad and apples, then caught the train to Vatican City. We headed towards the museum, but came to the end of its queue about halfway around the second corner. We lined up about an hour in total, finally got inside but then had to line up for security checks (it is another country after all) and tickets. We went to the 'pinacoteca' first as it was right where we came in - gorgeous intricate eggs and jewels and frames. Then an Egyptian exhibition, with gorgeous ceilings and floors in all its rooms. We walked through a courtyard/Octagon, rooms of statues of Gods, painted ceilings, tapestries and finally to the Capella Sistina (Sistine Chapel) - we weren't allowed to take photos but almost everyone was. I decided to be respectful... We saw the famous fingers painting on the ceiling, and lots of others on the ceilings and walls, painted drapes and stained glass windows. It was very noisy though.
We were hungry and exhausted so we found our way outside, sat on the ground in the sun and ate lunch - big olive roll with salad for me, quite hard and not olive-y enough though. The sun got really hot after a while, I ended up lying down with a map covering my face. Another cat was nearby, what a surprise.
We went back inside, found an Aboriginal exhibition with some gorgeous photos, spears, headdresses, etc. We went to find the Rafaello exhibition near the Sistine Chapel but had to go all the way through the Chapel to get out which was hell. Eventually we made our way out of the chapel, Janet posted a postcard from the Vatican Post Office, and we walked down a spiral ramp/staircase to get out.
We trained to Termini then back to Colosseo station to find the Roman Forums. We found a nice big white building, took photos even though we weren't sure exactly what it was. The forums were next to it but we were so tired we just looked from above and didn't bother to walk through.
Back at the hostel, we asked reception about the bus to the airport tomorrow and whether they recommended any place for dinner. We headed to a nearby restaurant we were told would give us at least 10% off (ended up being less) and they didn't have cannelloni! So I got spinach and cheese tortellini with tomato sauce which was the closest thing but it wasn't big, warm or saucy enough!
We headed back to the gelati place from the night before and decided we could treat ourselves majorly since it was our last night - I got chocolate, blood orange and rice (like rice pudding texture) flavours, then a tartufo which was like a frozen mousse, delicious!
We checked out the bus stop for the morning, got toilet paper from the supermarket for Turkey, went back, used the computers, packed and got to bed at 11:30pm.
I just loved Italy, I think Venice was my favourite though - just so different from anywhere else!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Venice
Got up at 4:30am on Monday 11th April to get our bus at 5:30am. We checked out of the hostel and got to the bus stop with plenty of time. We followed a load of people from the bus to the station. We were there before 6am so we waited for the shops to open then went and got breakfast - I wanted a berry muffin but ended up with an apple one, clearly my Italian wasn't up to scratch (I thought pointing would be okay). It was fine but then I was a bit annoyed because the others found cheaper muffins.
Eventually we could board the train and discovered that luckily our seats - 61, 62, 63 and 68 - were all together. Slept a bit on and off but even with my inflatable (and constantly deflating) neck pillow it was pretty uncomfortable. It was pretty cool when we drove over all the water separating Venice from the mainland, it seemed to go on forever. At the station we used the toilets (had to pay - should have gone on the train!) then bought 72 hour vaporetto (water bus) tickets and got some info from the tourist office. We found the vaporetti, caught one to San Toma' with our mouths pretty much open the whole time at how beautiful everything was and found our hostel with directions from the website. After ringing the doorbell a voice came from above and welcomed us, and the front door clicked open. We came into a sort of inside courtyard that led to a set of stairs which we followed. We paid and left our bags since we were before check-in time again. Oh and the hostel door opened right onto a little canal!
We had a bit of a walk around, took photos with little bridges which are everywhere just like the canals (there are more than 500 in the whole of Venice!). We found a supermarket and bought another healthy lunch to share - salad, cheese, rolls and apples - and ate at the top of a couple of steps which led right into one of the canals. Lots of gondolas went past, some of the gondoliers singing (apparently costs more) and a cute dog who was lying in the street came to say hello when we sat down (another earlier jumped up and licked my fingers, so sweet!). There were so many glass/bead/Carnevale mask shops/street stalls everywhere. The masks were amazing, I seriously wanted one but had no idea how I would get it through the rest of Italy, Turkey and back to High Wycombe. It was so easy to get lost because there are just narrow lanes, footbridges, canals and old, coloured buildings everywhere. We were trying to find our way to Piazza San Marco but failed majorly; we couldn't even find any nearby streets on the map! We found a fruit market and a long strip along the Grand Canal with lots of market stalls. We caught the vaporetto - sat out on the back deck with a really good view - to San Marco instead (first the wrong way, it's a bit hard when the start and end points of the route are both the same). We saw the Basilica and Doge's Palace (but Janet & I weren't appropriately dressed to go inside either of them) and some tall building which you can take a lift up and see over Venice. It was so much more crowded there than where the hostel is. We sat down at one end of the Piazza (square) near these stupid French kids who were throwing their bags at massive groups of pigeons before luring them back with bread and sending them flying again.
We headed back to the hostel to put our bags in our room, then got back on the vaporetto just to relax for while. We were trying to read about buildings as we went past but got on the wrong way again so that was confusing. We saw the open water which we'd come over on the train, the southern island with totally different buildings and a MASSIVE ship. We arrived back at San Marco then walked back to the hostel via raspberry gelati (cheaper than Milan). We got back about 7pm and dinner, which we'd paid for, wasn't till 8:30pm so we chatted with some of the girls in our room, mainly Americans. We also found out we were 2 beds short so one girl moved into another room and the guy working there just pulled out another bed from the cupboard and eventually got us linen. We were then told that dinner was going to be half an hour late but we didn't get our gorgonzola risotto until 9:15pm! It was reeeally good though. Then we got warm, crispy roll with bruschetta, and blueberry strudel thing for dessert. It was all very tasty and the atmosphere was really nice, chatting to all the Americans and another Aussie along a long table. Unfortunately we were too tired after dinner to explore the nightlife; we went to bed about midnight.
We left just after 9am on our second day in Venice, Tuesday 12th April. We got brekky from a bakery where we'd bought olive bread the day before, this morning a very nice chocolate croissant. We took the vaporetto to San Marco, saw just about the only park area with benches on the whole of the island, then bought joint entry tickets for the Doge's Palace, Museo Correr, Archaeological Museum & some library archive. We spent 3 hours at the Doge's Palace: first in the Museo d'ell Opera with its big columns and statues; then in the Doge's apartment with lots of rooms and chambers where the senate and other councils held meetings; also the 'Bridge of Sighs' which led prisoners to their cells. The rooms were all incredible - carved wooden ceilings, tiled floors, tapestried walls, portraits, chandeliers and cabinets - but unfortunately photography wasn't allowed inside. We completed the circuit set out by the palace, waited ages behind a school group to use the toilet then headed next door to the basilica, this time dressed appropriately. This was stunning too but, again, no photos. The floors were especially gorgeous, and some of the patterns of the marble tiles almost seemed modern. We all bought some postcards and, although we were getting really hungry, we checked out the prices for the Campanile (clock tower). We didn't end up doing it but I was kind of regretting it. I think Venice would have been amazing to see from above.
We took the vaporetto to Rialto which was near where the Post Office was meant to be, since Dad demanded I send a postcard home from there. We found where the map said it was but it was totally shut up so we got lunch - a €3,50 cheese, lettuce & tomato roll for me, the others got €4 slices of pizza but then we found bigger pieces for €2,50! We sat on the edge of the Grand Canal and wrote our postcards. We saw an ambulance boat whizz past, siren and all, and that was only the second time it hit me that there were no cars in Venice! Which I thought was actually really great.
Janet and I bought expensive but amazingly delicious nougat and then headed to the Galleria Academia which some of the girls from the night before had told us was free because of Cultural Week (which you would have thought the tourist office might have mentioned). There were lots of rooms of paintings, some sculptures, lots of students sketching. It was nice, but tiring. The rooms had lovely ceilings and floors too, and there were even similar ceilings featured in some of the paintings.
We took the vaporetto back to San Marco to see if the other places our ticket got us entry to were open. The Museo Correr was and it turned out the archaeological museum and the library were adjoining. The rooms were breathtaking and again, photos weren't allowed. We saw paintings, maps, coins, busts and some great old photos of the canalside buildings.
We caught the vaporetto back to the hostel, found out dinner was going to be good so booked in for that again. The wifi kept going on and off which was a bit annoying. Dinner was almost as late as the night before but reeeeally good again - I ate way too much pesto pasta, arancini rice balls (same mix as the risotto) and fresh warm chocolate torte. I sat opposite a nice old Dutch guy and a young Russian girl (not together, don't worry). Again, we wanted to go out but we were too tired. Got to bed about midnight again.
We had an awesome last day - Wednesday 13th April - in Venice. We got up again at 8:30am and left about 9:15am, leaving our backpacks at the hostel. We tried to find the supermarket to get a healthier breakfast than the day before but we realised we'd kind of just come across it on Monday. I remembered a special pasty mentioned in one of my print-outs, so we found on the map that it wasn't too far from us and headed there. Contrary to what the article said, it wasn't crowded at all, so we all bought krapfen, cream filled donuts, for €1 - absolutely delicious!
We headed to San Marco on a vaporetto with a group of good-looking Italian guys and went to the open Post Office there to send our postcards. We then found the vaporetto which would take us to Murano, the glass-blowing island of Venice. It took a bit over half an hour, we saw a big park at the end of the main island and also went past the cemetery island. Once at Murano, we were directed to a free glass-blowing demonstration but it was almost finished when we got inside so it wasn't particularly exciting. We continued over to where they were selling things, from earrings to huge sculptures, cups, bowls and chandeliers. We all wanted everything. We kept walking around the island, along a canal, and saw so many more stalls and shops, a lot with similar stuff and often quite different prices - we discovered the first place was much more expensive than the rest. It was a bit cold and windy but still beautiful; the blue sky with its clouds looked as if it were painted. We got spinach and ricotta pastries for lunch then kept walking a bit more. Spent some money in a shop with lots of pendants. Crossed a little bridge across the canal, looked at some big blue glass star sculpture then walked back the way we came, on the opposite side of the canal. We checked if there was another glass-blowing demonstration as we had time till the vaporetto took us back but unfortunately we'd just missed the last one.
We sat on the edge of the island and tried to locate on the map the 'best Venetian gelati'. We were going to go straight to the Rialto station to find it, but we'd gotten quite cold by that stage so we went back to the hostel to get jackets and change into jeans. We found the supermarket somehow, stocked up on salad, rolls, cheeses and fruit for dinner, before going back to that morning's pastry shop for more. There was a lot less choice by this time but I got an apricot jam thing which was okay.
We took the vaporetto to the gelati place and I got nutella flavour - she first gave me coffee (I think because 'cup' sounds a bit like 'caffe') and then gave me 2 scoops when I only wanted one. Oh well, it was amazing of course.
We decided to chill in the Accademia gallery since it was free, they had free toilets (not like the public ones) and we could rest our feet and stay warm (we couldn't really stay at the hostel since we'd already checked out). We sat in a few different spots in front of paintings until about 7pm when they were closing. Then we got on a vaporetto to Lido (another island) after deciding to find the only stretch of 'free beach' in Venice. The trip was very fun, we sat out the front and had gorgeous views, watched most of the sunset, hair blowing everywhere, cold but not feeling it. Everything, again, looked like a painting!
When we arrived at the island, we saw buses, cars, roads! It was weird! We walked down probably the main street until we hit the beach, past lots of gelati shops but we'd already had today's. Trees too - there were hardly any on the main island! We were so excited to be on a beach for the first time since November... we took photos, touched the water, got cold so sat behind a platform a bit off the sand and ate our salad roll dinner (amazing smokey mozzarella-type cheese) and strawberries. It got dark eventually to we walked back to the vaparetto stop and caught one pretty quickly. We sat out the back and watched all the lights.
We went back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and smelt the yummy dinner they were having, and went back to the vaparetto to get to the station. We were there from about 10pm, got a bit worried because we couldn't see 'Roma' anywhere on the departures lists but that was only because it wasn't the train's last stop. I got an instant hot chocolate from a machine on the platform and we eventually boarded our train at 11:30pm. 'Couchettes for 4' are great, 6 seats are turned into 4 bunks and we actually all slept pretty well, although it was only for about 6 hours. The train actually stopped for ages only a little way into the journey; we assumed it was so the trip actually took 7 hours but we ended up arriving an hour late. There was a button for the tap in the bathroom which I couldn't work out for a good while. Some American guys studying in London - seriously, everyone seems to do that! - a couple of 'rooms' down were doing shots. We eventually got given blankets and slept about 12:30am.
Rome is coming soooon!
Eventually we could board the train and discovered that luckily our seats - 61, 62, 63 and 68 - were all together. Slept a bit on and off but even with my inflatable (and constantly deflating) neck pillow it was pretty uncomfortable. It was pretty cool when we drove over all the water separating Venice from the mainland, it seemed to go on forever. At the station we used the toilets (had to pay - should have gone on the train!) then bought 72 hour vaporetto (water bus) tickets and got some info from the tourist office. We found the vaporetti, caught one to San Toma' with our mouths pretty much open the whole time at how beautiful everything was and found our hostel with directions from the website. After ringing the doorbell a voice came from above and welcomed us, and the front door clicked open. We came into a sort of inside courtyard that led to a set of stairs which we followed. We paid and left our bags since we were before check-in time again. Oh and the hostel door opened right onto a little canal!
We had a bit of a walk around, took photos with little bridges which are everywhere just like the canals (there are more than 500 in the whole of Venice!). We found a supermarket and bought another healthy lunch to share - salad, cheese, rolls and apples - and ate at the top of a couple of steps which led right into one of the canals. Lots of gondolas went past, some of the gondoliers singing (apparently costs more) and a cute dog who was lying in the street came to say hello when we sat down (another earlier jumped up and licked my fingers, so sweet!). There were so many glass/bead/Carnevale mask shops/street stalls everywhere. The masks were amazing, I seriously wanted one but had no idea how I would get it through the rest of Italy, Turkey and back to High Wycombe. It was so easy to get lost because there are just narrow lanes, footbridges, canals and old, coloured buildings everywhere. We were trying to find our way to Piazza San Marco but failed majorly; we couldn't even find any nearby streets on the map! We found a fruit market and a long strip along the Grand Canal with lots of market stalls. We caught the vaporetto - sat out on the back deck with a really good view - to San Marco instead (first the wrong way, it's a bit hard when the start and end points of the route are both the same). We saw the Basilica and Doge's Palace (but Janet & I weren't appropriately dressed to go inside either of them) and some tall building which you can take a lift up and see over Venice. It was so much more crowded there than where the hostel is. We sat down at one end of the Piazza (square) near these stupid French kids who were throwing their bags at massive groups of pigeons before luring them back with bread and sending them flying again.
We headed back to the hostel to put our bags in our room, then got back on the vaporetto just to relax for while. We were trying to read about buildings as we went past but got on the wrong way again so that was confusing. We saw the open water which we'd come over on the train, the southern island with totally different buildings and a MASSIVE ship. We arrived back at San Marco then walked back to the hostel via raspberry gelati (cheaper than Milan). We got back about 7pm and dinner, which we'd paid for, wasn't till 8:30pm so we chatted with some of the girls in our room, mainly Americans. We also found out we were 2 beds short so one girl moved into another room and the guy working there just pulled out another bed from the cupboard and eventually got us linen. We were then told that dinner was going to be half an hour late but we didn't get our gorgonzola risotto until 9:15pm! It was reeeally good though. Then we got warm, crispy roll with bruschetta, and blueberry strudel thing for dessert. It was all very tasty and the atmosphere was really nice, chatting to all the Americans and another Aussie along a long table. Unfortunately we were too tired after dinner to explore the nightlife; we went to bed about midnight.
We left just after 9am on our second day in Venice, Tuesday 12th April. We got brekky from a bakery where we'd bought olive bread the day before, this morning a very nice chocolate croissant. We took the vaporetto to San Marco, saw just about the only park area with benches on the whole of the island, then bought joint entry tickets for the Doge's Palace, Museo Correr, Archaeological Museum & some library archive. We spent 3 hours at the Doge's Palace: first in the Museo d'ell Opera with its big columns and statues; then in the Doge's apartment with lots of rooms and chambers where the senate and other councils held meetings; also the 'Bridge of Sighs' which led prisoners to their cells. The rooms were all incredible - carved wooden ceilings, tiled floors, tapestried walls, portraits, chandeliers and cabinets - but unfortunately photography wasn't allowed inside. We completed the circuit set out by the palace, waited ages behind a school group to use the toilet then headed next door to the basilica, this time dressed appropriately. This was stunning too but, again, no photos. The floors were especially gorgeous, and some of the patterns of the marble tiles almost seemed modern. We all bought some postcards and, although we were getting really hungry, we checked out the prices for the Campanile (clock tower). We didn't end up doing it but I was kind of regretting it. I think Venice would have been amazing to see from above.
We took the vaporetto to Rialto which was near where the Post Office was meant to be, since Dad demanded I send a postcard home from there. We found where the map said it was but it was totally shut up so we got lunch - a €3,50 cheese, lettuce & tomato roll for me, the others got €4 slices of pizza but then we found bigger pieces for €2,50! We sat on the edge of the Grand Canal and wrote our postcards. We saw an ambulance boat whizz past, siren and all, and that was only the second time it hit me that there were no cars in Venice! Which I thought was actually really great.
Janet and I bought expensive but amazingly delicious nougat and then headed to the Galleria Academia which some of the girls from the night before had told us was free because of Cultural Week (which you would have thought the tourist office might have mentioned). There were lots of rooms of paintings, some sculptures, lots of students sketching. It was nice, but tiring. The rooms had lovely ceilings and floors too, and there were even similar ceilings featured in some of the paintings.
We took the vaporetto back to San Marco to see if the other places our ticket got us entry to were open. The Museo Correr was and it turned out the archaeological museum and the library were adjoining. The rooms were breathtaking and again, photos weren't allowed. We saw paintings, maps, coins, busts and some great old photos of the canalside buildings.
We caught the vaporetto back to the hostel, found out dinner was going to be good so booked in for that again. The wifi kept going on and off which was a bit annoying. Dinner was almost as late as the night before but reeeeally good again - I ate way too much pesto pasta, arancini rice balls (same mix as the risotto) and fresh warm chocolate torte. I sat opposite a nice old Dutch guy and a young Russian girl (not together, don't worry). Again, we wanted to go out but we were too tired. Got to bed about midnight again.
We had an awesome last day - Wednesday 13th April - in Venice. We got up again at 8:30am and left about 9:15am, leaving our backpacks at the hostel. We tried to find the supermarket to get a healthier breakfast than the day before but we realised we'd kind of just come across it on Monday. I remembered a special pasty mentioned in one of my print-outs, so we found on the map that it wasn't too far from us and headed there. Contrary to what the article said, it wasn't crowded at all, so we all bought krapfen, cream filled donuts, for €1 - absolutely delicious!
We headed to San Marco on a vaporetto with a group of good-looking Italian guys and went to the open Post Office there to send our postcards. We then found the vaporetto which would take us to Murano, the glass-blowing island of Venice. It took a bit over half an hour, we saw a big park at the end of the main island and also went past the cemetery island. Once at Murano, we were directed to a free glass-blowing demonstration but it was almost finished when we got inside so it wasn't particularly exciting. We continued over to where they were selling things, from earrings to huge sculptures, cups, bowls and chandeliers. We all wanted everything. We kept walking around the island, along a canal, and saw so many more stalls and shops, a lot with similar stuff and often quite different prices - we discovered the first place was much more expensive than the rest. It was a bit cold and windy but still beautiful; the blue sky with its clouds looked as if it were painted. We got spinach and ricotta pastries for lunch then kept walking a bit more. Spent some money in a shop with lots of pendants. Crossed a little bridge across the canal, looked at some big blue glass star sculpture then walked back the way we came, on the opposite side of the canal. We checked if there was another glass-blowing demonstration as we had time till the vaporetto took us back but unfortunately we'd just missed the last one.
We sat on the edge of the island and tried to locate on the map the 'best Venetian gelati'. We were going to go straight to the Rialto station to find it, but we'd gotten quite cold by that stage so we went back to the hostel to get jackets and change into jeans. We found the supermarket somehow, stocked up on salad, rolls, cheeses and fruit for dinner, before going back to that morning's pastry shop for more. There was a lot less choice by this time but I got an apricot jam thing which was okay.
We took the vaporetto to the gelati place and I got nutella flavour - she first gave me coffee (I think because 'cup' sounds a bit like 'caffe') and then gave me 2 scoops when I only wanted one. Oh well, it was amazing of course.
We decided to chill in the Accademia gallery since it was free, they had free toilets (not like the public ones) and we could rest our feet and stay warm (we couldn't really stay at the hostel since we'd already checked out). We sat in a few different spots in front of paintings until about 7pm when they were closing. Then we got on a vaporetto to Lido (another island) after deciding to find the only stretch of 'free beach' in Venice. The trip was very fun, we sat out the front and had gorgeous views, watched most of the sunset, hair blowing everywhere, cold but not feeling it. Everything, again, looked like a painting!
When we arrived at the island, we saw buses, cars, roads! It was weird! We walked down probably the main street until we hit the beach, past lots of gelati shops but we'd already had today's. Trees too - there were hardly any on the main island! We were so excited to be on a beach for the first time since November... we took photos, touched the water, got cold so sat behind a platform a bit off the sand and ate our salad roll dinner (amazing smokey mozzarella-type cheese) and strawberries. It got dark eventually to we walked back to the vaparetto stop and caught one pretty quickly. We sat out the back and watched all the lights.
We went back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and smelt the yummy dinner they were having, and went back to the vaparetto to get to the station. We were there from about 10pm, got a bit worried because we couldn't see 'Roma' anywhere on the departures lists but that was only because it wasn't the train's last stop. I got an instant hot chocolate from a machine on the platform and we eventually boarded our train at 11:30pm. 'Couchettes for 4' are great, 6 seats are turned into 4 bunks and we actually all slept pretty well, although it was only for about 6 hours. The train actually stopped for ages only a little way into the journey; we assumed it was so the trip actually took 7 hours but we ended up arriving an hour late. There was a button for the tap in the bathroom which I couldn't work out for a good while. Some American guys studying in London - seriously, everyone seems to do that! - a couple of 'rooms' down were doing shots. We eventually got given blankets and slept about 12:30am.
Rome is coming soooon!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Milan
On Friday 8th April, Janet, Caitlin, Greer & I headed to Milan to start off our 3 week Easter holiday! The night before I slept from about 9:20pm-12:10am then got up, had a shower and got everything ready for the final time. We all met at Highlands just after 1am (Rose even came to say bye, aww) and headed down to the bus stop to catch a 2am bus. It was so early, the bus station wasn't even open so we waited outside till the bus came 15 minutes late - it was alright though, because we had an hour and a half to spare (this was the last bus to get us to the airport in time). I felt really thirsty and faint on the bus, don't know why, but once we arrived I was okay. We couldn't check in till 4am and it was only 2:50am by this time so we sat down, bought hot drinks, listened to Italian phrases, read an Italian phrasebook, etc. Once we checked in, we waited until 5:45am in the 'lounge', I got a yummy yoghurt/berry/granola thing to keep me going. We lined up for aaaages, then still had to catch a bus to the plane.
The flight was 1 hour 45 minutes and I slept a little bit on and off. I woke up at one stage to an amazing mountainous landscape - obviously we were nearly there! The mountains changed to flat gridded areas with houses spaced far apart. Once landed, we caught a bus to another terminal (had to strip down to t-shirts!), then a train to Cadorna station, then the underground to QT8 (don't worry, this was the only station with a name like that - but we found out it had a story, can't remember it though). A man working at the station gave us directions to the hostel. It was a short, nice walk although we were already dying from the heat (found out later it was only about 25 degrees). We couldn't check in yet but we paid and left our bags in the luggage room and I changed from my jeans into a skirt. We walked to the supermarket and bought salad, donut-shaped bread, olives and cheese for lunch (and raspberries for me), and tried to find sunscreen but they didn't have any! So we bought super expensive stuff from a pharmacy then sat in a little park in the shade and ate our yummy lunch.
We talked about what we'd do for the rest of the day/weekend and decided we'd go to see the Milan Cathedral/Duomo which is the world's largest Gothic and 4th largest cathedral in general. We went back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and took our sheets up to our dorm, which we'd forgotten was a 4-bed and was a nice surprise since the rest we'd booked were 8-bed dorms. Janet & I had single beds and the others were in a bunk. We headed back to the station via a nice quiet pedestrian road at the back of the hostel and bought 2-day tickets. We got off at the station which, according to our hostel, was where the tourist info place would be, but we couldn't find that, so we followed 'Stazione Duomo' signs around for a bit on a wild goose chase. The buildings were all amazing though, and we definitely saw a lot of them. We got back on the train since we thought it would be easier to find the station that way. The station steps led straight up onto the Duomo and seriously, it is so intricate and HUGE. We took photos out the front, of course, and experienced the people I'd read about who give you birdseed and bracelets 'free' and then try to make you pay, so we stayed away from them. Janet pretended she was German and we got a little worried when one responded 'German? Guten Tag!' but luckily that was the extent of his German.
Anyway, the cathedral is on one side of an amazing square with empty space in the middle and other gorgeous buildings taking up the other edges, including a big arched building which we later realised was actually on lots of the tourist-y lists I'd printed out. We went inside the cathedral; there were 'no photos' signs but everyone was. It was gorgeous and again, massive inside. I don't really understand any of the religious stuff but what I saw were beautiful ceilings, stained glass windows, huge painted banners, prayer candles, statues, thrones. You could tell how important religion is for some people - lots of bowing of heads, muttering of prayers, hands drawing the cross.
We got our first Italian gelati in a little van outside, very exciting. I got ciocollato (chocolate) & frutti di bosco, which I couldn't quite work out but which was still yummy. We sat down to eat them outside the Duomo and read through the print-outs again, figuring out that the glass-covered arched arcade was the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II with lots of designer brands - Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci - all in gorgeous buildings, and a Maccas in the same style of building which amused us a little. There were also little horse and rider figurines 'riding' around by themselves, sometimes getting in the way, sometimes falling over of their own accord. Also people splatting these toy things, which we saw all over Italy (photos needed to explain properly). Once through the other end, we sat down near some grass and a Leonardo statue and decided to find the Opera House which was apparently nearby, before realising it was across the road. Which kind of wrecked our plan to take up some more time. We walked a bit more through the streets, then trained back to the hostel to ask where we should go for dinner - they recommended a pizzeria so we went and found that. I got penne with tomato/spinach/butter sauce which was nice and the others enjoyed theirs too. We sat outside the restaurant in a little tent thing and it had cooled down a bit by that stage so it was quite pleasant.
We went back to the supermarket to buy fruit for dessert - I got a yummy container of pineapple, strawberries, blueberries and grapes. Back to the hostel, Janet & I had showers in adjacent cubicles so had a good chat. We managed to lock ourselves into our room and the receptionist had to come up and told us not to lock our door from the inside, which meant it had to stay open during the night, sooo safe.
A couple of random notes I wrote down from this day: the toilets at the hostel were really low; the lights in the bathroom turn off after 5 minutes which is very inconvenient if you're in the shower but yes, good for the planet; and there are shops in the underground - typical Italy!
The next day, Saturday 9th April, we went down to breakfast about 8:30am. We had weird but okay cereal, rolls, creamy cheese, jam, THE best hot chocolate you have ever tasted and bad orange juice. Then we headed off to a 'canalside' market - first we walked through fruit and veg stalls and a jewellery shop where we all got special matching rings and I got a couple of others (literally the only ones which weren't massive/ugly) for €1 each; the market came to a T and we headed off to the left, with lots of clothes and accessories stalls, many with the same things. Janet and I got backpacks for €5. It got really hot and crowded so we were relieved to eventually come out at the end. We found the canal on the map and walked to find it, crossed a bridge and walked back to the station past some more stalls on the street, fruit and veg shops, and what looked like a big Italian family having a nice bbq. We trained back to the Duomo and sat at the same spot as we had the day before, already feeling exhausted from the heat. We'd decided to walk to the top today so when the queue shortened a bit, we got in line and walked the 165 steps, with a little kid in front of us counting each one in another language (I forget). As you walk up the spiral staircases you can't see anything so coming out at (nearly) the top it was surprising how high we'd gotten. Seeing all the intricacies up close was fascinating. After walking through some beautiful sections, we went even higher. We sat up there for a while in the shade and just relaxed a bit. Caitlin got a call asking her to be a God mother and was very excited.
After a bit, we headed back down and got a late lunch at a pizza place nearby, right opposite a popular and delicious-looking chocolate and gelati place. We had a really nice waiter and got 2 pizzas between us (plenty) - both with tomato and mozzarella, one with ricotta and spinach, the other with rocket, some other tasty cheese and fresh tomatoes. We first became acquainted with service fees here. After lunch, we looked in the chocolate place but decided it was too crowded today. Then we were going to get McFlurries (cherry or chocolate cornetto, smarties or 'brownies') but the line was too long and then shut down. We saw the bull image on the ground with its testicles worn away from all the people spinning on it for luck - too many people seemingly waiting to do it. We ended up getting gelati from the same place as yesterday - this time just got cocco (coconut), nom nom.
I bought a Universita' Milan t-shirt so, feeling like it justified the purchase, we went to find the Uni. It wasn't a standout but it was still pretty. We sat in a small shady park near the uni for a while, then decided to head to the Golden Quad - four streets of designer shops. 5 minutes into walking I realised I didn't have my special ring but luckily it was right where I'd been sitting at the park. We eventually found the Quad - gorgeous buildings as usual - only walked 2 or 3 streets of it before seeing a big M sign for a station so trained back to the hostel. It was 6:30pm by this time but we were still full from lunch. We all collapsed on our beds for a while, J gave me a good massage then we went to the supermarket for fruit. Crunchy apples at last (the school ones suck)! We also got some peas to share, just to continue our healthiness. Slept about 10:30pm.
On our third and final day in Milan, Sunday 10th April, we had our last breakfast at the hostel (since we had to leave reeeally early the next morning) and then headed off to a castle. We saw a few marathon runners on our train and once we got off we saw so many more - we'd managed to be in Milan for the Milan marathon, but not only that - the finish line was right outside the castle so it was very crowded. We managed to get across the running track to the castle, marvelled at every brick and bought tickets for all the museums which are located at various areas in the castle, €3 for 'students'. First we went through the Museum of Musical Instruments; we had fun taking photos of each other 'playing' the instruments. This continued on to the Museum of Decorative Arts, which included gorgeous cutlery, vases, door knockers, plates, porcelain things plus more; following was a small oriental section. We saw the Museum of Furniture, then the picture gallery which was way too big - room after room - for our increasingly-hungry stomachs.
We left the castle (much more crowded by this time) and walked down one of the main streets we'd explored on Friday, past so many pizza shops pretty much on the road and chose the cheapest one. We sat inside and it was actually a really nice restaurant - antipasto platters, fish in a tank, lots of shelves full of wine, flowers everywhere. We got 2 pizzas between us again, they were that big. This time we had tomato/mozzarella/capers/artichokes/mushrooms/olives (delish) and mozzarella/carrot/cherry tomatoes/celery/spinach.
We walked back to the castle, this time it taking us longer to find a way in through the crowd. We tried to find the Egyptian Museum but with no luck thanks to the map. We did (we think) find the Ancient Museum and a Michelangelo section, full of sketches and other things. We were all getting a bit tired, Janet went outside to find a spot in the park behind the castle and we went on a search to find the photo archives, but they were closed. So we also went to the park, called J away from her perfect spot surrounded by Italian guys to come and meet us and found another shady/sunny place to sit and relax. It was a really nice atmosphere, lots of people just relaxing, some stripped down to their underwear to sunbake.
After a while, we headed back to the station, getting gelati from a little van on the way - I got fragola (strawb) and biscotti (like cookies & cream), so so good. We ended up buying daily train tickets as our 2-day ones had just run out, but then we realised that the trains didn't run early enough to get us to the Central station to catch our train to Venice in the morning. The guy at reception did tell us there was a bus we could catch though, and we could use our train tickets, so that all worked out. We went and checked out the bus times, then Maccas which was close and finally tried McFlurry Brownies! It was pretty damn good, a bit like Milo mixed with soft serve and crunchy choc bits. We sat in a nearby park in the fading light surrounded by daisies, ate our McFlurries and leftover olives and peas. Back at the hostel, we got codes for the wifi and sat in the dining room being antisocial for a bit. Headed to bed about 10pm, up early the next morning (see next blog post!)...
The flight was 1 hour 45 minutes and I slept a little bit on and off. I woke up at one stage to an amazing mountainous landscape - obviously we were nearly there! The mountains changed to flat gridded areas with houses spaced far apart. Once landed, we caught a bus to another terminal (had to strip down to t-shirts!), then a train to Cadorna station, then the underground to QT8 (don't worry, this was the only station with a name like that - but we found out it had a story, can't remember it though). A man working at the station gave us directions to the hostel. It was a short, nice walk although we were already dying from the heat (found out later it was only about 25 degrees). We couldn't check in yet but we paid and left our bags in the luggage room and I changed from my jeans into a skirt. We walked to the supermarket and bought salad, donut-shaped bread, olives and cheese for lunch (and raspberries for me), and tried to find sunscreen but they didn't have any! So we bought super expensive stuff from a pharmacy then sat in a little park in the shade and ate our yummy lunch.
We talked about what we'd do for the rest of the day/weekend and decided we'd go to see the Milan Cathedral/Duomo which is the world's largest Gothic and 4th largest cathedral in general. We went back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and took our sheets up to our dorm, which we'd forgotten was a 4-bed and was a nice surprise since the rest we'd booked were 8-bed dorms. Janet & I had single beds and the others were in a bunk. We headed back to the station via a nice quiet pedestrian road at the back of the hostel and bought 2-day tickets. We got off at the station which, according to our hostel, was where the tourist info place would be, but we couldn't find that, so we followed 'Stazione Duomo' signs around for a bit on a wild goose chase. The buildings were all amazing though, and we definitely saw a lot of them. We got back on the train since we thought it would be easier to find the station that way. The station steps led straight up onto the Duomo and seriously, it is so intricate and HUGE. We took photos out the front, of course, and experienced the people I'd read about who give you birdseed and bracelets 'free' and then try to make you pay, so we stayed away from them. Janet pretended she was German and we got a little worried when one responded 'German? Guten Tag!' but luckily that was the extent of his German.
Anyway, the cathedral is on one side of an amazing square with empty space in the middle and other gorgeous buildings taking up the other edges, including a big arched building which we later realised was actually on lots of the tourist-y lists I'd printed out. We went inside the cathedral; there were 'no photos' signs but everyone was. It was gorgeous and again, massive inside. I don't really understand any of the religious stuff but what I saw were beautiful ceilings, stained glass windows, huge painted banners, prayer candles, statues, thrones. You could tell how important religion is for some people - lots of bowing of heads, muttering of prayers, hands drawing the cross.
We got our first Italian gelati in a little van outside, very exciting. I got ciocollato (chocolate) & frutti di bosco, which I couldn't quite work out but which was still yummy. We sat down to eat them outside the Duomo and read through the print-outs again, figuring out that the glass-covered arched arcade was the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II with lots of designer brands - Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci - all in gorgeous buildings, and a Maccas in the same style of building which amused us a little. There were also little horse and rider figurines 'riding' around by themselves, sometimes getting in the way, sometimes falling over of their own accord. Also people splatting these toy things, which we saw all over Italy (photos needed to explain properly). Once through the other end, we sat down near some grass and a Leonardo statue and decided to find the Opera House which was apparently nearby, before realising it was across the road. Which kind of wrecked our plan to take up some more time. We walked a bit more through the streets, then trained back to the hostel to ask where we should go for dinner - they recommended a pizzeria so we went and found that. I got penne with tomato/spinach/butter sauce which was nice and the others enjoyed theirs too. We sat outside the restaurant in a little tent thing and it had cooled down a bit by that stage so it was quite pleasant.
We went back to the supermarket to buy fruit for dessert - I got a yummy container of pineapple, strawberries, blueberries and grapes. Back to the hostel, Janet & I had showers in adjacent cubicles so had a good chat. We managed to lock ourselves into our room and the receptionist had to come up and told us not to lock our door from the inside, which meant it had to stay open during the night, sooo safe.
A couple of random notes I wrote down from this day: the toilets at the hostel were really low; the lights in the bathroom turn off after 5 minutes which is very inconvenient if you're in the shower but yes, good for the planet; and there are shops in the underground - typical Italy!
The next day, Saturday 9th April, we went down to breakfast about 8:30am. We had weird but okay cereal, rolls, creamy cheese, jam, THE best hot chocolate you have ever tasted and bad orange juice. Then we headed off to a 'canalside' market - first we walked through fruit and veg stalls and a jewellery shop where we all got special matching rings and I got a couple of others (literally the only ones which weren't massive/ugly) for €1 each; the market came to a T and we headed off to the left, with lots of clothes and accessories stalls, many with the same things. Janet and I got backpacks for €5. It got really hot and crowded so we were relieved to eventually come out at the end. We found the canal on the map and walked to find it, crossed a bridge and walked back to the station past some more stalls on the street, fruit and veg shops, and what looked like a big Italian family having a nice bbq. We trained back to the Duomo and sat at the same spot as we had the day before, already feeling exhausted from the heat. We'd decided to walk to the top today so when the queue shortened a bit, we got in line and walked the 165 steps, with a little kid in front of us counting each one in another language (I forget). As you walk up the spiral staircases you can't see anything so coming out at (nearly) the top it was surprising how high we'd gotten. Seeing all the intricacies up close was fascinating. After walking through some beautiful sections, we went even higher. We sat up there for a while in the shade and just relaxed a bit. Caitlin got a call asking her to be a God mother and was very excited.
After a bit, we headed back down and got a late lunch at a pizza place nearby, right opposite a popular and delicious-looking chocolate and gelati place. We had a really nice waiter and got 2 pizzas between us (plenty) - both with tomato and mozzarella, one with ricotta and spinach, the other with rocket, some other tasty cheese and fresh tomatoes. We first became acquainted with service fees here. After lunch, we looked in the chocolate place but decided it was too crowded today. Then we were going to get McFlurries (cherry or chocolate cornetto, smarties or 'brownies') but the line was too long and then shut down. We saw the bull image on the ground with its testicles worn away from all the people spinning on it for luck - too many people seemingly waiting to do it. We ended up getting gelati from the same place as yesterday - this time just got cocco (coconut), nom nom.
I bought a Universita' Milan t-shirt so, feeling like it justified the purchase, we went to find the Uni. It wasn't a standout but it was still pretty. We sat in a small shady park near the uni for a while, then decided to head to the Golden Quad - four streets of designer shops. 5 minutes into walking I realised I didn't have my special ring but luckily it was right where I'd been sitting at the park. We eventually found the Quad - gorgeous buildings as usual - only walked 2 or 3 streets of it before seeing a big M sign for a station so trained back to the hostel. It was 6:30pm by this time but we were still full from lunch. We all collapsed on our beds for a while, J gave me a good massage then we went to the supermarket for fruit. Crunchy apples at last (the school ones suck)! We also got some peas to share, just to continue our healthiness. Slept about 10:30pm.
On our third and final day in Milan, Sunday 10th April, we had our last breakfast at the hostel (since we had to leave reeeally early the next morning) and then headed off to a castle. We saw a few marathon runners on our train and once we got off we saw so many more - we'd managed to be in Milan for the Milan marathon, but not only that - the finish line was right outside the castle so it was very crowded. We managed to get across the running track to the castle, marvelled at every brick and bought tickets for all the museums which are located at various areas in the castle, €3 for 'students'. First we went through the Museum of Musical Instruments; we had fun taking photos of each other 'playing' the instruments. This continued on to the Museum of Decorative Arts, which included gorgeous cutlery, vases, door knockers, plates, porcelain things plus more; following was a small oriental section. We saw the Museum of Furniture, then the picture gallery which was way too big - room after room - for our increasingly-hungry stomachs.
We left the castle (much more crowded by this time) and walked down one of the main streets we'd explored on Friday, past so many pizza shops pretty much on the road and chose the cheapest one. We sat inside and it was actually a really nice restaurant - antipasto platters, fish in a tank, lots of shelves full of wine, flowers everywhere. We got 2 pizzas between us again, they were that big. This time we had tomato/mozzarella/capers/artichokes/mushrooms/olives (delish) and mozzarella/carrot/cherry tomatoes/celery/spinach.
We walked back to the castle, this time it taking us longer to find a way in through the crowd. We tried to find the Egyptian Museum but with no luck thanks to the map. We did (we think) find the Ancient Museum and a Michelangelo section, full of sketches and other things. We were all getting a bit tired, Janet went outside to find a spot in the park behind the castle and we went on a search to find the photo archives, but they were closed. So we also went to the park, called J away from her perfect spot surrounded by Italian guys to come and meet us and found another shady/sunny place to sit and relax. It was a really nice atmosphere, lots of people just relaxing, some stripped down to their underwear to sunbake.
After a while, we headed back to the station, getting gelati from a little van on the way - I got fragola (strawb) and biscotti (like cookies & cream), so so good. We ended up buying daily train tickets as our 2-day ones had just run out, but then we realised that the trains didn't run early enough to get us to the Central station to catch our train to Venice in the morning. The guy at reception did tell us there was a bus we could catch though, and we could use our train tickets, so that all worked out. We went and checked out the bus times, then Maccas which was close and finally tried McFlurry Brownies! It was pretty damn good, a bit like Milo mixed with soft serve and crunchy choc bits. We sat in a nearby park in the fading light surrounded by daisies, ate our McFlurries and leftover olives and peas. Back at the hostel, we got codes for the wifi and sat in the dining room being antisocial for a bit. Headed to bed about 10pm, up early the next morning (see next blog post!)...
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