That's Amore: Winter Break, part 2

I was alone. Chris had left me, and for the first time in three weeks, I was completely alone.

I stared at the clock and read intermittently. I bought a sandwich. More than anything, I wanted access to internet... I wanted to either talk to someone or recharge my phone so I could text some people Happy New Years... but of course, there was no internet in the tiny Granada airport.

Perhaps it was for the best.

I continued reading and waiting for my flight. I actually finished The Glass Castle just before boarding, much to my dismay, since I had a 2.5 hour flight to Bologna and, now, nothing to read.

I was exhausted. I slept on the flight. Whenever I woke up, I was delighted by the view of the clouds over the mountains and sea. It was beautiful.


I got to Bologna about 4 hours before Kirstin would. Which, of course, meant more waiting once I got there. I walked laps around the airport and figured out how to get to the train station. Although we were flying to Bologna (thanks to Ryanair not offering flights to our ideal destinations...), our first nights were to be spent in Venice.

Kirstin arrived and it was nice to see a friendly face. A day alone after three weeks of constant companionship was heart wrenching. I gave her a big bear hug and we immediately started chatting about our trips.

We got to the train station and boarded our train to Venice.

We got to Venice just after the bus we needed had stopped running. It was only two bus stops away, so we opted to take a cab... shouldn't be too far, right?

20€ later... grr... we were at where we should have spent our first night. Little did we know that check in ended at 11 pm. We were there at 11:20 or so. The window was dark and the gate was locked.

Let me give a bit of background on this place. Staying in Venice in a hotel or a hostel would have cost us about 30€ a night each, maybe a little less. Camping in Venice would cost us 9€ each. Despite the -1 degrees (celcius, don't worry) outside, we decided that we were just hardcore enough to camp.

...Not the first night, however. We had gotten there just after check in. We were stranded with nowhere to go and no idea how far away the airport or anything like that would be where we could sleep.

We started walking. We had no idea where we were, and we had no map. We saw a guy pick up a prostitute. We NEEDED to get off the street.

We passed jankier and jankier hotels, one after another, but eventually, we found one that looked fairly decent. We walked in, and between us speaking Spanglish and one person's ability to understand basic English vocabulary, we managed to book a night. 25€ each. Really, it wasn't that bad. And it included a really good breakfast (which no other place we stayed at in Italy did). The shower was hot and clean, and the check out was fairly late in the day.

The next morning, we moved into our campsite. They usually book out tents, but due to the cold (and lack of business, I'm sure, since most of the world is not as crazy as Kirstin and I), they gave us a bungalo at no extra charge.


The problem with the bungalo was that it was designed for summer. It had small windows that received little to no direct sunlight, and high ceilings so our body heat did little to heat the room. It felt colder inside than outside, by just a smidge, but the wind didn't move inside so we kept everything locked up.

I have never gone a night without feeling my feet all night before. It was very, very cold, despite sleeping in about 6 sweaters and shirts and jeans and pajama pants and taking the blankets off of the extra beds in the bungalo...

... but if given the option, for 9€ a night, I would do two nights there all over again, even during the first days of January. It was fun, even though we hate to admit it.

Venice itself was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. The canals and gondolas are everything they are hyped up to be in the movies. Something about its beauty made it feel almost surreal.




All the streets were extremely narrow, and almost every corner turned into a bridge over some random canal. It was amazing, although also amazingly easy to get lost. There were main streets, but it was nearly impossible to discern them from the sidestreets. The main difference was the number of people on them, and the occasional Gucci or D&G. Yes, we did actually navigate our way to where we were going once by following the Guccis.

Perhaps the most striking things, however, were the artisan shops with handmade art and Venician masks and quills and puppets... You really feel the essence of the Venician culture looking into the little windows and seeing people at work, handmaking beautiful things.


Venice was an amazing city, and I would go back in a heartbeat.

After another frozen night in the cabin (although I could feel my feet all night thanks to some wooly socks I bought for 5€ off of a street vendor. BEST PURCHASE OF MY LIFE) and a breakfast of sandwiches and grapes, we headed off to the train station. We were headed to Florence.

I have been watching history videos about Florence, Italy since 10th grade European History class. I knew it wouldn't be a huge city, but it was a place I have always wanted to go. I was so happy to be there once I got off the train, and the city did not disappoint.

This is what you think of when you think of authentic Italy.

First of all, there were Vespas EVERYWHERE.


The streets were narrow and the buildings were old.

The river was wide and fairly calm.



The city was beautiful.


The highlight of the city, of course, was the Duomo. It's a Renaissance-time cathedral with (at the time) a dome that was so big that it took years for the construction to complete simply because they didn't yet have the technology for it. At least from what I remember from the documentaries I watched about it.





It was beautiful. It was huge and colorful and beautiful. And the view from the top of the dome was the best view of the city... except for that you couldn't see the Duomo because you were on top of it!


Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance, was all about the art. The David was there (although we only saw the recreation, since the real one is locked away in a museum that had a HUGE line), along with many other statues.


We also climbed up a mountain to get to a fort. It was green and beautiful and we hiked up this windy road and met a traveler from New Zealand heading in the same general direction, which was not easy to find right off. We helped each other out, mostly let him read our map because his was puny, and walked together. After climbing back down the mountain, though, we said our goodbyes.

I had my first bite of real Italian lasagne there. And a waffle/gelato sandwich. It was the best thing ever. Even if a bit over priced.

We also tried to take a picture of the US Embassy, but apparently that's illegal in Italy. Some army men with big guns ran after us and told us to delete our pictures. We promise, we just wanted a picture of the GIANT American flag in Italy!

And after a short time in Florence, it was time to move on.

Rome was unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. It has all the hype and excitement of a big city, all the quaint narrow streets and art and fountains you can expect of Italy, and all the ruins of an ancient empire.

Rome was amazing, in a word, amazing.

We spent an entire day walking through the ruins, seeing the old Roman temples and forums, around and inside the Colusseum... It's so easy to feel completely insignificant when sitting among ruins that used to be a great city that people like Ceasar Augustus and Marc Antony (before he was running off wooing Cleopatra) once walked upon.






We sat upon fallen Roman pillars and contemplated life. We looked at the Temple of Saturn and the Colusseum and were just in awe. At least I was. You just feel so... small.

The Trevi Fountain was beautiful. It definitely lives up to what you see in the movies. I was blown away.


The city itself is quite big. There aren't any towering skyscrapers or anything like that, but there were a lot of really tall buildings that after being in Amsterdam, Spain, Venice, and Florence seemed huge.

Then, we went to Vatican City. Which is another thing that will make you feel so small. It was a giant church being visited by people from all sorts of different backgrounds. You go underneath the Basilica, however, and you see the tombs of Popes from as far back as the 1400s. At least from what I remember seeing. There might even be older Popes down there.


People were lined up to mourn John Paul. Even after about six years, people were still bringing him flowers and mourning him. I was a little surprised.

We ate a daily gelato in Rome. And we had some pretty delicious pizza and pasta along the way.

I fell in love with Rome. After 5 too-short days, I was fell in love with a city.

I hope to go back someday.

We spent our last Italian night over a lasagne dinner, then went and got one last gelato to eat by the Trevi Fountain.

The next morning, we got our last slice of pizza (Bruscetta pizza. It was amazing.) and departed back for Spain.

I was glad to be back in Granada... but it's so hard knowing that all you have to look forward to is finals.

There are three weeks of school and a month of finals in Granada. My first finals are on the 31st of January. Then one on the 3rd of February. Then one on the 15th.

Italy was a great trip, and I'm so glad I had an awesome friend like Kirstin to share such an amazing place with. And now, it's back to the old grind.

This experience is quickly drawing to a close, and it's drawing a huge mix of emotions out of me. But I can save that until next time.