Hi, all! I’m back! I’ve managed to stay away from all the many European kidnappers and am doing well. My trip around Europe is now over and I am in Valencia with my parents for the next month. Backpacking through Europe leaves very little time to blog, but I should be a little less busy now that I’m in one place. Okay, where were we? Right. Italy.

My week in Italy was characterized by heat and crowds, as expected, but it was absolutely wonderful nonetheless. We left off the night before our flight to Rome. Let’s dive in.

Hot Damn

Monday, July 8th, we woke up at 3:40am to catch our taxi to the airport. We caught up on sleep on the two-hour flight and then on the following train from the airport into Rome proper. Right out of the train station, we could tell that Rome was going to be incredible. We were greeted by the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, built in 298 AD. Landmarks like this pop up all over Rome. It seems like there’s a beautiful Medieval cathedral, Renaissance sculpture, or Ancient column on every corner.

St. Ignatius Church

Naturally, the first thing we did in Italy was get some gelato. I got a pistachio, almond, orange flavor which seems to be a quite popular combo there. I’m glad I tried it, but I wouldn’t put it in my top 10 ice cream flavors. Because we couldn’t check into our hostel until 3pm, we had to carry our heavy bags around for the beginning of our Roman adventure. We each brought only one 20lb backpack, so it wasn’t too bad, but backpacks in 90+ degree weather is never pleasant.

Guy: 0, Backpack: 1

We were quite busy that morning, walking into every old church we walked past, which was quite a few. Each church was elaborately decorated both on the inside and outside. In addition to their beauty, they are also usually a good place to escape the crowds of the streets of Rome. As we wandered from church to church, we headed towards the biggest church in the world, St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican, the theocracy led by the Pope, is tucked away inside the city of Rome. With a population of 800 and an area of 110 acres, it is the smallest country both by population and size. After crossing the border into the Vatican, we decided it was too crowded there and went back into Rome to find a calmer place to eat some food.

Vatican City

To find a good place to eat, we enlisted the help of two locals. We wandered into a hardware store and asked the owner where she liked to eat. Unfortunately, that place was closed, so we had to keep looking. Down the street, we passed a small art gallery run by a nice woman named Maria. We talked to her for a while and then ended up going to the pizzeria across the street on her recommendation. I think everyone else there was Italian. We paid for the pizza by weight. It was delicious.

Someone took a bite

After lunch, we checked into our hostel. It had a nice patio, a restaurant, and was clean and air conditioned. My only complaint is that my bed was very creaky, which is not fun when you’re sharing a room with seven other people.

We spent our evening doing what Rick Steves, the world-renowned travel guide, calls the “Caesar Shuffle,” going to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. This is the oldest part of Rome. The Colosseum was built in 80 AD, and the Forum and Palatine Hill are much older, dating back to the 8th century BCE. It was very cool. We went inside the Colosseum, but honestly, I think it is more impressive from the outside. It’s just such a huge and old building. I preferred wandering around the Roman Forum to the confines of the Colosseum. There are so many different old buildings in the Forum and I liked reading about them. We also went to the Pantheon, the best preserved ancient building in Rome, completed in 126 AD. It’s a massive dome with a hole in the ceiling. If you ever go, pay with cash. There were so many people in line to pay with card on a machine, but there’s a little ticket booth that accepts cash to the left of the entrance. No line.

Pantheon from outside

Pantheon from inside

Colosseum from inside

Roman Forum from Palatine Hill

I’m no Latin scholar, but some of my friends have educated me on the different types of columns that you can see in Rome. Although I don’t really know what it means, it’s exciting to identify the different columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. I saw two columns that were made out of a stone that is only found in one specific mountain in Egypt. Pretty neat!

Column Chart

Imperial Porphyry Columns

Seeing Double

With the sun going down, our stomachs started rumbling. We made our way to the highest rated restaurant near us, as did everyone else in the area. It was packed to the brim. I put my name down for a reservation for two and then we waited outside for a bit. We met three guys our age waiting for their reservation and the five of us decided to try our luck somewhere else. We ended up spending the rest of the night with them, Tony and Logan from Scotland and Chris from Australia. They were really chill. We all ordered carbonara for dinner and then went back to their hostel bar to hang out. There, we met two Brits, Seb and Rory. Something that’s really special about traveling, especially in hostels, is that you get to meet a bunch of people from all over, and then you can just spend the weekend with them. When we were walking to their hostel, we all got ID’d by the Italian police. They were either doing random checks or we looked suspicious for some reason. Luckily, they let us go.

Carbonara

The next morning, July 9th, we slept through breakfast and went straight to lunch. We went to a place called the Forno Cerulli. Originally, we were looking at the menu at the restaurant across the street, but then we saw a bunch of Italians in dress shirts and suits piling into the Forno. The staff didn’t speak English, so we asked the people in front of us for help. It was almost a cafeteria style restaurant, but it was really good. We got two full plates of pasta and a tuna and lamb plate all for 23 euros. I love Italy.

After lunch, we tried to get into the Galleria Borghese, which is apparently a famous museum in Rome. It’s booked solid for the next few weeks, so we did not make it in. Instead, we went to the Galleria Nazionale D’Arte Moderna. It was a nice museum. Definitely a great way to escape the heat.

Water Lilies by Claude Monet

Next, we ran to the Jewish quarter to do a free walking tour. I always love these tours. Walking around a city with a guide is a great way to see some things and learn about them. One thing our guide pointed out to us is the Stolperstein (Stumbling Stones) on the street. These brass cobblestones are engraved with the names of Holocaust victims along with their date of birth, deportation, for few date of escape, for most date of death. We saw Stumbling Stones in pretty much every city on our trip, commemorating the victims of Nazi extermination.

Stolperstein

Private apartments on top of second largest ancient amphitheater in Rome

After the walking tour, we went to a bar in Trastevere, the Bohemian neighborhood of Rome, to watch the Spain vs France Euro semifinal. On our way, however, we were distracted by a young street performer sawing on his violin in front of the Roman forum. In addition to being a talented violinist, this kid knew how to perform. He was very dramatic and fun to watch.

Background against which violinist played

We eventually made our way to a bar in Trastevere, where we met up with Tony, Logan, Chris, Seb, and Rory. We had a jolly old time watching the soccer game, mhm sorry, the football match before we left to go find another hopping place in the area. We ran into a group of young people who were in Rome with an Italian language learning program who were heading to a club. I ended up spending most of the rest of the night with some Spaniards, practicing my Spanish. The club wasn’t exactly my vibe. It was loud and crowded and I didn’t know any of the Italian party anthems, so I left a little earlier in the night. I walked the hour back to the hostel with Rory which was actually very fun. Rome at 2am is much less crowded than it is during the day, so we got to explore the old squares and even got pictures in front of the Trevi fountain without having to wait in line for forever.

Justin and Trevi Fountain

Rory and Trevi Fountain

The next morning, we went back to the Vatican because we’d heard that going in and up the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica was worth the wait in line. The Basilica is very cool, but it didn’t have the same wow factor as the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It’s basically just a massive church. It’s more beautiful than most churches, but I felt like the 40-minute wait to get in and the big crowds inside made it a less enjoyable visit compared to some of the other churches in Rome that are almost as beautiful and are practically empty. We decided to go up the 551 steps to the dome, even though it put us at risk of missing our train to Florence. It was worth it; the view was absolutely stunning. We did have to run the two and a half miles back to our hostel in the 98 degree heat to get our bags, but we ended up making our train. We unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see the Sistine Chapel due to a lack of tickets, so I still don’t know “what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel” (Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting).

Doric columns and tourists

Marble sculpture in St. Peter’s Basilica

View from Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica

We spent the evening in Florence in the rooftop pool at our hostel, YellowSquare. It was the most expensive (about $60/night each,) but by far the nicest hostel we stayed at on our trip. In addition to the pool, they had two bars, a zen garden, a club, and a bunch of events going on every night. We also did our laundry there. Much needed. We met some boys from LA at the pool and ended up going to see the England vs Netherlands semifinal game at an Irish pub. It was packed with Brits, so naturally we cheered for the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the Dutch were not able to pull through. After the pub, we just wandered around downtown Florence, got ice cream, and eventually made it back to the hostel.

England: 2, Netherlands: 1

The next day was July 11th. Shoutout to the best brother ever, the one and only Ryan Dunn (Sorry, Jared.) After wishing Ryan a happy birthday, Guy and I began our adventure of the day. The past few days had been both very touristy and late nights and I woke up feeling spent. I wanted a calmer day to relax and write a little. I decided to go to Arezzo to visit my friend, Bianca, who is doing an opera program there. Guy and the boys from LA went to the Vernazza, one of the five fishing villages in Cinque Terre. It’s a beautiful and well preserved coastal area, but unfortunately, a lot of other tourists had the same idea to spend a beach day there. They had a great time despite the crowds.

With my Eurail pass, I could hop on any regional train to and from Arezzo for free. If you’re doing a Europe trip, the Eurail pass can be a good option, but you should do some price calculations first, because sometimes it’s better to buy individual tickets. It worked quite well for us and took some of the stress out of the travel. The app and the website suck though. So it also added some stress to the trip. I’m glad we got it though.

Eurail Itinerary

Bianca had class in the morning, so I wandered around Arezzo. Arezzo is what Rick Steves describes as a “third-rate city.” It’s not a “must-visit” destination like Rome or Venice, nor is it a popular day-trip or “second-rate city” like Pompeii or Pisa. It is a city that is just off of everyone’s radar and that makes it a thousand times better. I felt like I was the only tourist in Arezzo, but that it should have been packed. Arezzo is a small city with a compact city center surrounding a beautiful main plaza. The main cathedral was stunning as was the view it had of the surrounding Tuscan countryside.

Tuscany

I had an amazing time seeing Bianca. Guy and I got along great the entire trip, but it was nice to spend some time with another friend. I explored the town in the morning, getting gelato and visiting a shoemaker and a goldsmith before getting lunch with Bianca. She had another class after lunch during which I worked on my previous blog in a cafe. Bianca and I then got gelato together before I caught my train back to Florence.

Bianca!!

I arrived before Guy and just in time to get in line for the Galleria dell’Accademia, the museum where Michelangelo’s David stands. I was planning on getting tickets for the following morning, so that Guy and I could go together, but they were all sold out. Instead, I waited in line for last-minute tickets along with some retired people from North Carolina. I got in about 30 minutes before closing time and boy, was it worth it. David is a 17-foot-tall marble statue, carved with incredible detail. I was very impressed. The rest of the museum was also pretty nice, but I didn’t get much time to see it.

David

After David, I hung out in downtown Florence for a while, just looking at the Duomo and the surrounding buildings. This cathedral’s dome dominates the skyline of the city and is the largest masonry dome ever built. Around 9:45, I had the thought that the cathedral would look beautiful from the rooftop pool back at the hostel. The pool area closed at 10pm, so I ran the whole way back. Unfortunately, the hostel was a bit far away from the Duomo and the view wasn’t as great as I’d hoped. I did get to meet some fun people who were hanging out in the pool though! I finished the night off by calling my brother and then publishing my blog.

Duomo di Firenze

Our last day in Florence was a short one as we had a train to Venice at 2:20. We got breakfast and walked some friends we’d met to the train station, got lunch and then hit the road. It would’ve been nice to spend more time in Florence, especially with us spending our only full day as a day trip, but that just means I’ll have to come back.

When we arrived in Venice, we checked into our 16-bed hostel room. It was not anywhere close to as nice as the one in Florence, but it was also only $24 for the night, so I can’t complain. We ate dinner right next door at a pizzeria on the waterfront. Our hostel was on the island of Giudecca, not the main island of Venice, so we needed to take a boat to get to most of the famous landmarks. I liked being on Giudecca though. It was calmer and more residential. 

View from our hostel

After dinner, we made our way to the most crowded spot in Venice, St. Mark’s Square. To be honest, I don’t know much about the square’s importance, but it was very pretty. It’s sandwiched between a luxury hotel, a bunch of restaurants, and St. Mark’s Cathedral. When we arrived, we were shocked to see a full orchestra set up in front of thousands of empty seats. We walked in on the final dress rehearsal of La Fenice Orchestra & Choir for their performance the following night. It was incredible. As the orchestra finished, we wandered around the streets of Venice for about an hour before heading back to our hostel. In my opinion, Venice at night is much better than Venice during the day. There are fewer crowds and it’s prettier.

St. Mark’s Cathedral

We started our last day in Italy the way every day ought to start: with a good breakfast. Then, we missed two boats to the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, finally catching the third. Fondaco dei Tedeschi is a luxury shopping center that offers a panoramic view of the rooftops of Venice, with a free reservation. I love Mediterranean roofing. The tiling is just so beautiful. We grabbed some pasta-to-go and some cherries at a market and then made our way to the train station.

Crab invincible with shell

What??

Seagull enjoying breakfast

Venice rooftops

Our final destination for the night was Bern, but to get there we had to take a train to Milan, a bus to Domodossola, and then a final train to Bern. We had a 30 minute layover in Milan and no way of reserving our bus ticket until we got there, so that was quite stressful. Even more stressful was when we got to Milan, the ticket machines said that the bus was fully booked. Not knowing what else to do, we went to the bus and asked the driver if we could get on. I don’t know how it worked out, but he told us to put our bags in the bottom of the bus and to get on. The bus ride and the following train took us into the absolutely stunning alps. These mountains are bigger than any I’ve ever seen before. I was excited to spend the next few days surrounded by them. Side note for Swifties: Taylor Swift was performing in Milan that night. Tickets were $150, but we missed it.