I'm finally writing about my vacation! I'm going to start with the second week (Italy) and then obviously the first week (the next blog post).
Italy
Prossima Fermata - Colosseo
During my first few days in Italy, I stayed in Rome (Saturday morning to Tuesday morning). It was really really awesome. No matter where you are in Rome, there will always be something to do somewhere close to you. I went to a few museums, the Coliseum, the Palantine and the Roman Forums. During all that time, I wasn't more than 2km away from the Coliseum (to my surprise).
My hotel was awesome. Nonetheless, I accidentally put Google Maps on "by car" and not "by foot" when I checked the directions so I saw "20 minutes" and thought no problem. Turns out it's 20 minutes...by car. So it took me an hour and half to get to Rome center from my hotel because the Italian buses (at least in Rome) have no set schedule whatsoever and I had to wait a long time. Oops!
The first day
The first day, I had just got off the overnight train in which I slept (13 hour trip). I was quite exhausted, so I explored the city a bit, then I went to the hotel to relax and rest. It wasn't a very interesting day...sorry everyone!
The second day
I spent the whole day very close to the Coliseum. First off, I visited the Coliseum, which is only about 5 mins by metro from the main train station. It is absolutely fantastic! It's an extraordinary building, and there is nothing quite like it (...that I know of). Around the Coliseum, there are people dressed up as Roman warriors - or maybe real Roman warriors, you never know. I wanted to take a photo with them but it was expensive, so I just took a few secret photos of them instead.
Later on, I visited the Roman Forums and the Palantine (literally across the street from the Coliseum). The whole place is full of ruins, destroyed monuments and destroyed buildings. It's awesome! I saw the house of an ancient prince of Rome, but it was boring. There were six frescos inside, all of which were only about 10% in tact, and that's it. Also, like the Eiffel Tower, there are tons of vendors all around these areas selling souvenirs (t-shirts, shot glasses, figurines, etc.) All the architecture there is incredibly interesting and very impressive. It's really a beautiful place.
The third day
On the third day, I tried to find some catacombs because I wanted to see some old prisons, skeletons, and such things. I unfortunately did not succeed at finding any catacombs; they are numerous but they were quite far from me, which I did not know. I had a great time anyway. I went to two museums, and I walked around everywhere. The museums were great (the second being better, but more expensive than the first). The first was free. The second was well worth the price. I love old Greek and Roman architecture, so the museums really pleased me. At the second museum, I spent around three hours just looking at everything. There are sculptures, statues, porcelain dishes, jewelry, everything you can thing of. I found three sculptures that I liked the most out of all of them (some photos below).
Also, I went into at least 5 churches - they were all absolutely beautiful inside!
The fourth day
At 8 in the morning, I took a train to Bari, on the east coast of Italy, near the start of the "heel" of the "boot" of Italy. Wow is it beautiful! We were always very close to the water, sometimes almost on the shore. I stayed with two friends of my parents (and of me) - Pino and Laura - until Thursday afternoon. My stay was excellent. It was fantastic in fact. After arriving, we drove (of course) through the beautiful Italian countryside to Mola di Bari, where they live (35 mins from the center of town). I relaxed for an hour, and then we ate a great lunch. They made pasta, and had some fresh mozzarella, tomatoes stuffed with spicy tuna, foccacia bread, and lots of other stuff (and of course some homemade wine from their friend).
Afterwards, we talked for awhile - it's been 12 years since I last saw them! A bit later, they brought me to this extraordinary town (that I forgot the name of). In the area, it's mostly for tourists with the tons of shops (that used to be houses) - it was still very cool though. After our adventure there, we went to a fresh fish market. The fish was really fresh...it was the catch that was brought in less than an hour before we arrived. They had manta rays there! Crazy! For dinner, we had fried fish with a bottle of Muscadet that I brought from the Loire Valley. Amazing dinner!
The fifth day
For my second day in Bari, we went to a very very old town where some of the "Passion of the Christ" was filmed. I forgot the name of the town of course, but I will find it later and write it here. I've never seen anything like it. It is extremely old, but the structures are still in fairly good shape after possibly a thousand years. It's absolutely marvelous. Opposite this old village, there is a big valley full of large caves in which people used to live in until not too long ago (or maybe still to this day). I have some photos...don't worry! We found a restaurant nearby and I finally had some real Italian pizza.a It was a pizza capricciosa - ham, olives, anchovies, artichokes, et much more - sooooo delicious!
For dinner...I forgot. My memory is terrible. When I remember, I'll write it here.
The sixth (and final) day
Nothing special happened. I woke up, had an espresso (as usual) and I hung out with them for a few hours. For lunch, we had tagliatelles (a type/shape of pasta) with tuna and white beans in a light tomato sauce. It was good, so so good. Finally, they brought me to the train station, and I left for Rome around 14:00. After getting back to Rome, I hung out for an hour and then took another overnight train back to France.
I miss you Italy!
- Matt Lipinski
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