My Big Italian Adventure, T-Minus 20 days
So, I’ve essentially made it to the halfway mark, give or take a day. This five week program has been flying by! I suppose five weeks isn’t that long in the first place, but 19 days ago, when I landed and didn’t know a soul, speak the language, or know my way to anywhere or from anywhere, it felt like it was going to drag. And now? I speak a very little italian, but enough to ask directions or to be courteous, at least. I can find my school, supermarkets, monuments, and have become shockingly good at maps. Seriously. Anyone that knows me at home knows I’m terrible with directions and finding places. But here, when we go out, I’m usually the person mapping the route and leading the way. Weird, huh?
Anyways, when we last left off it was the Wednesday before my first Italian exam. Which went okay. The class is taught by an Italian at an Italian school, so the testing mechanism used is a little different from what I’m used to, and therefore, pretty confusing. Also, I’m dyslexic, so the way I hear vowels and how they’re actually used or sound is different. In American foreign language classes, this just typically hinders the listening portion of the exam or at times, the oral section because I can’t always understand what’s being said. In this particular Italian class, we have an entire section on the exam where she says a word in Italian, and you have to figure out how it’s spelled based on how it sounds. Essentially, this is difficult for any person ad nearly impossible when you’re dyslexic and the sound is different to you. But, I’m taking it pass/fail and I’ll manage. For the good of the country, I shall soldier on.
After classes on Thursday (including when I was informed that I’d be giving an oral report on Tuesday complete with an outline and handout for my Ancient Monuments class–thanks for the notice), two friends and I headed to Roma Termini, the train station, to get tickets to Florence for Saturday. We mostly stayed in Thursday night because on Friday, we got up and did homework all day. The highlight of Friday was eating at an American Steakhouse for lunch–finally french fries!!
Saturday morning came early and we left for Florence, Italy at 7:30 am. We took a taxi to the station, who tried to charge us 15 euro for a typically 8 euro cab ride. After some negotiation in Italian, we got the fare down to 10 euro, an early victory for young travelers. We caught our train, which was fairly uneventful and nice. The trains in Italy are a little finicky, so we’re lucky they weren’t on strike or running late–unlike last weekend when some of our co-students got caught in other countries when Rail Italia decided they weren’t going to operate.
Once in Florence, we had made zero plans. I’d been there once before, when I was 16, so a lot of the responsibility on what to see was on me. Which was slightly tragic because I’m not exactly a Florence pro (I was there four years ago for only a week). However, I had made reservations at the Academia to see the David for 12:45. If you ever go to Florence, totally do this ahead of time. I actually requested the tickets the day before at 3:30 pm and was granted them at 6 pm. When we got to the museum (our first stop), there was a line all the way around the corner. We simply were let in the “reservations” entrance. Go us :)
The David was very cool and totally worth seeing again. It wasn’t as busy as I remember it, so I literally stared at it for a while. It really is awe-inspiring to see this huge statue, so realistic that Michaelangelo has carved veins into his arms. It also makes you feel a little horrible when you, like me, realize you can’t even sketch a person realistically, yet this artist is CARVING them.
After lunch at a side shop and seeing the David, we went to the Duoma of Florence and climbed all 463 steps to the top. This was worthwhile because we got some exercise, a fabulous view of the town, and also managed to see the interior of the church from climbing the stairs–which saved us the time of actually going into the church and the line that was queued up for that adventure.
Duoma aside, we briefly stopped at the Golden doors, and then headed towards the Uffizi and Florence’s famous bridge. Picture taking and Gelato stopped us briefly, but we then arrived at the Pitti Palace. It was very cool–even cooler than I remembered from high school, to walk around. They try and sell you two tickets–one to the palace and one to the grounds. We bought the one to the palace and then at some point, just found an open door and went outside. Considering I’d been taking pictures of statues and paintings illegally all day, being a fugitive on palace lands did not seem that outrageous.
By this time, it was nearly 6 pm and we’d seen a lot in the 8 hours we’d been in Florence. We headed back to the train station, only to stop for dinner at a very mediocre stop. Any good tourist knows –and Rick Steves confirms–that eating around tourist areas is expensive and will not be tasty. As usual, Rick was right. But, we were hungry and food sounded good, even if it did require a sandwich upon arrival back in Rome.
Here are some pictures, if you’d like to check them out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016100&id=1251960019&l=813fdb3b74
It’s only 9:38 am here, but I’ve already been to the grocery store, a major feat considering that nothing here is open on Sunday because it’s a catholic country. However, I did manage to find groceries to at least get me through today (I’ll be up and at the store again early in the morning for food for the rest of the week). In about an hour, I’m leaving for the Roman Flea markets. Then, I plan to come home, lay out, take a nap, and work on that oral presentation/study Italian.
Three weeks from now, I’ll be home and eating some of my mom’s fabulous chocolate chip cookies and perhaps some of that Spanish rice/chicken dish? Just a little something to keep in mind :)