World Wanderings

•Quick note: I've uploaded two new entries at the same time, so there is this one and the one below it.

Last night I went to a concert outdoors in one of the main squares. It was a full symphony orchestra with chior. Quite the sight to behold. It was very well produced, with a red carpet, hostess, cameras on booms, giant LED displays, and some excellent lighting. They even displayed credits before and after the concert. It look like a lot of work and money went into this event. The backdrop was a well lit church, and the houses of Napoli. I kind of felt a little sorry for all of the residence that had bright lights shining on thier apartments all night. It was nice to see and hear a live orchestra, it has been too long. It topped off a good day.

I saw some funny things on my way back. First there was the he/she streetwalker who beeped thier horn at me and said chao. Yep, I just kept walking. Then I saw a couple on thier motocycle in front of a store doing a little window shopping. I'm sure the girl had seen it out of the corner of her eye and just needed to take a closer look. And why get off the motorcycle when you can easily drive down the sidewalk window shopping. I also was following a paranoid man, who kept looking behind him every minute or so. Then to top it off, I saw a dog walker following three dogs with thier leashes tied together. A lazy, but obviously effective, approach to dog walking.

I got the dorm room to myself last night as no one else had checked into the room, and seeing how it's in a 3 star hotel, it was the cheapest 3 star hotel room ever. Not too bad at all. Although I have to say it was a bit wierd sleeping in a room alone, I've gotten so used to other people being there.

Well today I went to Pompeii, wondered through the ruins, constantly tried to avoid the dusty winds, and enjoyed myself walking on and amongst the ordered chaos. It's a huge site to walk through. I wasn't expecting it to be as large as it was, and spent about 5 hours wondering throughout as much of it as I could see.

Yet again I ran into what seems to be a general lack of organized upkeep with the museums and sites in the area. Half of the streets where blocked off, and half of the main houses/structures were also gated off. Some of these had signs saying they were being restored, but most had no explaination. Oh well, there was still plenty to see regardless, and with a backdrop of a volcano and other mountians, it was a georgious place to wonder about. Luckily there was always a strong breeze, which helped to offset the heat and lack of any real source of shade.

If I came away with any revelations from Pompeii, they would be (a) don't built a village in the shadow of a volcano and (b) build your tables out of marble as they last through the ages beautifully. I think every marble table I saw was perfectly preserved and looked ready to use, I know what I want my kitchen table made of. Probably the oddest thing to see, though, where the preserved bodies with a plaster of paris shell. You could almost see the expression on thier face, it was pretty cool to see.

Well one more night of pizza in Napoli, then it's off to Venice.

I'm in Napoli now, but I figures I would recap the last few days of Rome.

The last two days of Rome involved a few museums, lots of church viewing and a search for more Caravaggio's (sorry again if I've butchered his name). It was a giant game of where's waldo, but this time it was set across all of Rome. There are many pieces of his work in the city, but they are spread throughout. In picking up a book at one museum we learned of several more paintings in various locations. This became our goal.

I'd say we were auccesful, for in the end we found 3 of the 4 locations with paintings that we had not already seen. It was a fun venture, and filled the time nicely in Rome. Also covered was a trip to the top of St. Peters, with a spectacular view of the Vatican and city below.

All in all Rome was very memorable, it was great having my mom along for the week. I have to say she kept up just fine with me, even outpacing me at times. Luckily her flights got off on time, unlike on her journey here with her multiple delays.

Now I'm in Napoli. I have to say it's an interesting city. It's filled with both a sense of decay and grim yet so full of culture. It has a very scenic waterfront, and some georgious buildings as well though. Overall it feels very unkempt. The paint is peeling of most buildings, exposing plaster, wood and the brick structure beneath. Grass grows on the roofs and the ground floor is filled with grafitti. There are so many layers of posters and flyers that time itself has slowly peeled them away a few at a time. The texture of city is amazing. Again, there is something about decay that can be so beautiful.

The cities streets are dangeous, even the sidewalks are not safe, because motocycles and mopeds run by thier own law. They will drive multiple blocks on the sidewalk (I've been followed by many myself), go the wrong way down a one way street, run traffic lights, and generally go anywhere that thier bike can fit through. I even saw a couple drive thier motocyke onto the sidewalk up to a mailbox, and mail a letter without ever getting off. Kind of rediculous. And while cars will slow or stop for you in crosswalks, motorcycles will not do anything of the sort. It's just pure madness.

Ah, but you can't beat the home of pizza. Where else does pizza cost 1 euro for what is the size of a small pizza in the states, and taste delicious (using real motzerella to boot). At the most, a cheese (margarita) pizza will cost 4 euro. Not bad at all.

I do have to admit that the city is a bit warm for my liking. While the temperature may not be as high as it was in Seville, it feels almost as hot. Water is a must for wondering the streets, many of which are small cobblestone alleys (at least near my hostel) which adds to the whole almost being run over by a car or cycle feeling.

The people feel more Italian here than elsewhere. I've seen lots of loud discussions, more elderly just sitting out in public squares or taking on the street corner, than anywhere else in Italy so far. I've also seen more police than anywhere else before. They are everywhere, which makes me feel both safe and unsafe at the same time. My camera stays in my bag unless I'm taking a photo.

As for what I've seen so far, I would say a few run down museums that are in need of an update and overhaul, two castles and the city itself. One museum I went to still charged full price sill despite only half of it being open at the moment (the rest was being updated). The best part was the museum guards, who all left thier posts, sat together near one window and would smoke and talk the day away. Definately a more relaxed approach to museum workers. The second museum I went to was in a castle itself, and felt very mcuh like no one had updated anything in years. Again the staff just generally hung around together shooting the breeze. At least it came with some good views.

Now I'm off to an outdoor concert in one of the main squares. It's a full orchestra and choir, so I'm super excited. More on Napoli to come.

Today I'm in Orvieto, but first I'll start by recapping yesterday.

Yesterday was a pretty laid back day. Slept in and slowly meandered over to the Spanish steps. Along the way we check service times for various churches and cathedrals, hoping to catch a evensong or other music at one of them, and ran into an English service at a Scottish Presbyterian church (in the middle of Rome of course). It took the usual few minutes to become aquanted with the accent, almost pure jarble up to that point. It was a funny feeling being in the middle of Rome, in the middle of a group of english speaking people, listening to a Scottish pastor. Afterwards we made a small detour into the cathedral at the top of the Spanish steps, where thier service was just finishing up, but we managed to catch a bit of the chior and the thunderous sound of thier organ. I really enjoy music with spaces like that.

The rest of the day was spent wondering to and fro, cheecking out various plazas and sites. Another good day in Rome. We ended it with antipasta, wine,and olives for dinner, and chocolate, wine and lemoncelo for dessert. Another good day in Rome.

Today was spent in Orvieto, a small hilltop town about an hour and a half north of Rome, filled with spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. The whole city is a viewpoint, with great views of the surrounding vineyards, towns, monestaries, and rolling hills from the entire rim of the town. I'm not a small town type of guy, but I think I could live here. Of course inside the village, it's filled with winding, mazelike, small alleyways (and way too much traffic for it's size).

The day has been spent wondering these alleyways at a laid back pace, stopping into the occasional church, cathedral, or duomo. Along the way there was pizza, café, gelato and a bit of shopping. What I appreciated most about some of the stores here, was the fact that you could see the artistan working thier trade in the back of the store that you were buying from. So, at least we knew it wasn't some cheap knockoff that every corner store and turist shop sells.

It's been a good day, and I have to say there really isn't much more to say about it. Which is good sometimes. I need days that sent packed to the brim with actiity and excitment. I still need to last another month and a half.

Oh, and for those who know of whom I'm talking about, I had an Anthony Bordain (sp?) moment the other night as I walked around Rome in my linen pants, buttoned up shirt, shades, and a feeling that this was living. I just needed the home chef cooking me up a delicious local recipe, a camera, a travel network show, and I would have been all set.

Rome. What more do I need to say?

Well, I've been here four whole days now, and have barely scratched the surface of the city. There is just so much to see and do. I arrived the day before my mom was to join me and just took it easy. I was warmly greeted at my hostel by a door being slammed in my face.

Of, course it was just the receptionists way of having a little fun, and I took it all in good humor (as I'm sure they expected) as I was warmly welcomed in the second time the door opened. I knew this hostel was going to be fun, and it was a very warm and welcoming place. I felt right at home. Unfortunately not all hotels feel this way, but become such institutionalized places that the human-ness of the place is lost.

Dinner was a fresh, homemade sandwhich of cheese, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious. By the way, I had 45 year old balsamic vinegar at the vineyard in Tuscany, and it was absolutely nothing like the stuff we use in the states. You could literally drink it straight, it was sweet, slightly thickened, and absolutely delicious.

Of course I finished the night off with a bottle of wine and dark chocolate, what is becoming a favorite past time of mine. There will be plenty of this when I get back to the states.

I awoke the next day excited to see my mom, as she was to arrive late that day, and unfortunately learned that plans had changed, since he flight was delayed by 8 hours. This eventually turned into a her arriving the next day, after the long delay and missed connection. So, knowing that I wanted to see everything with my mom while she was here, I spent the day walking around, just getting the atmosphere of Rome, but not going into any of the places. It was a relaxing day, which I can use those on occasion, as I wear myself down running from one thing to the next.

It was nice to have a hotel room to myself that night. Of curse I found it wierd and amazing. As I had not slept in a room by myself for over a month and a half. There were always at least 2-8 other people in the room with me at any one point in time. I just lay there, had the tv on, the (very weak) air conditioning on, and just soaked up the fact that there was going to be no one else in the room. This would be the first in a while, and probably the last time until I get back to the states.

Well, we connected. In all the chaos of the airport, halfway across the world, with no cell phone (on my side), I managed to be in the right place to meet me mom at the airport. It was good to see family.

The day was spent around the colosseum. What a sight. Of course a road runs around half of it, and it makes me wonder just how many people actually think about the fact that they are driving by THE colosseum every day. It's not just any piece of architecture, it has stood in that place for thousands of years. And it's massive. The Romans really knew how to build on a large scale (and to build objects that last). The line getting in wasn't bad, despite all of the tour guides nearby warning of lengthy wait times (of course a ploy to get you to pay extra for a guided tour which would allow you to skip the line). As I've found with the major sights in Rome, it was filled with guided tours. Too many of them. It's almost an obstical course getting around them at times.

It was walking through the nearby Roman forum, that I really become overwhelmed by the huge amount of history that was present in this city. Just the acres and acres of ruins where quite a sight to see. They were in all stages of decay and destruction, bricks ad columns strewn about the ground. But those structures that still had standing sections where indicative of the massive scale that the Romans built on.

We finished the day with pizza and gelato. How else would a day in Italy be finshed off?

The next day was devoted to the Vatican and St Peters. Surely enough to fill a day full. We decided to start with the Vatican, and despite arriving around 10:30am, well after opening and not exactly early in the morning, we had out to tickets in hand and where inside in 20 min. I'm guess we managed to miss those legendary long lines that the Vatican supposedly has. We were on a mission to the Sistine chapel first, which of course we had to wad through the entire museum to reach it. And wad we did, as we were literally faced with a sea of people. Most of this was caused by the ever present tour groups of at least 20 people, who took up the entire width of the halls. If they stopped, a huge traffic jam was caused. This was human claustrophobia at it's best. I wish I could just hover about 6' above the ground and avoid it all.

After what seemed an enternity of crowd swimming, we found the chapel, and what a sight it was. I have to say it actually was a bit smaller than I expected, but none the less impressive. What a few to accomplish. I sat and had to wonder how an artists would plan to fill up a whole chapel with paintings, making sure all the right people were in the right place. I was surrounded by Michelangelo, and what a sight it was.

After a good viewing, we looped a back around to actually view the rest of the Vatican. Again having to wad through the sea of people, although this time there seemed twice as many as before. Which was just humanly impossible, but evident none the less.

After the Vatican we moved onto St Peters. But something was wrong, the square was empty. There were but a few people left in it being kicked out by the police. Little did I know that the leaders at the G8 were making a visit to he Vatican and St. Peters that very afternoon. It was very odd to see the square completely empty. But there it was, the motorcade, making it's way down the street soon after we arrived. I of course got caught up in the excitment of it all and had to see if I could see Obama. Well see one I did, actually three in fact, Michele and the kids. Good enough for me.

Being completely distracted up to that point I could now turn my attention to St. Peters, one of the largest, if not the largest cathedrals I've yet seen. But it was not just the size of the catherdral that was astounding, but the pure decidence of it all. Filled with frescos, mosaics, sculptures, gilt bronze, and high Renaissance at it's best, it was truely visual overload. I would have to say luckily the dome was closed due to the G8 stuff, so we will have to return, and I can get another look at it all.

Today was spent hopping from catherdral to cathedral, as well as seeing other sights along the way. We stayed in the area of the Pantheon, which was surrounded by many, many churches. Each was different in it's own right, and some housed amazing pieces of art. Luckily, unlike many other cities, entrance to all of them were free. This is amazing considering that we saw a Michelangelo statute in one, and some amazing paintings by Carravagio. The later of which were so amazing to see. I'm fast becoming a big fan of his work. Just the way that way he is able to sculpt scenes with light is astounding. There is just such a huge gap between the work that he did and those of his contemporaries (and the other artwork in many of today cathedrals).

Well I think that about does it for this entry. There is lots to talk about, as there is just so much to see, but that will have to come another day.

Sorry it's been such a long while. My photos go all the way back in Sevilla. Also, having some server issues, so I had to upload them differently, thus no thumbnails (ok, I gave you one thumbnail, but just as a teaser).

Also, two new posts for Cinque Terre and Florence, check them out if you want. And I got around to tagging the last set of photos, so you know what you're looking at.

Building in Seville(featured in Star Wars Ep2)

Seville Palace, Underground Garden
Parc Guell
Parc Guell
Cathedral in Barcelona
Human Tower in Barcelona
La Casa Mila
La Sagrada Familia
La Sagrada Familia Interior
La Sagrada Familia Interior
La Sagrada Familia Facade
La Casa Mila Rooftop
Barcelona
Nice square
Nice from above
Nice Sunset
View of Menton from my hostel

I'm on a regional train heading to Siena at the moment, and just passed some amazingly beautiful ruins of old brick buildings. Just thought I would mention that. I've always had an affintiy towards ruins, there is is just something the comes through in the destruction and deterioration of old buildings. It's a good thing that Europe is filled to the brim with such structures. Again, as I've said a few times before, Europe has the wonderful broken in feel. The only city that I've been to that gives a similar feeling is Boston.

Well I'm finally out of Florence, I ended up staying a few more nights thanni originally intended. One was because I couldn't find a hostel in Siena and the other night was because the hostel I was staying at was offering a wine tasting tour in the Chianti region. It was a good place to spend a few extra nights at, as the hostel offered not only two full bars (one on the roof terrace with a great view of the city and sunsets), but also a restaurant, a pool, and sauna. The latter two of which I took advantage of the past four nights. It was a good way to end a day of touring about, with a swim and some time in the sauna. This hostel was more like a hotel than a hostel.

Anyways, I obviously spent lots of time in Florence, let me recap some of it. The first three days were spent seeing the sights with the groups of friends I had met in Cinque Terre. Together we saw the large cathedral, Duomo, which had the largest dome at the time of it's building. In fact they built the church with a large hole, not sure how they were going to make a dome that large work, held a contest to see if anyone would engineer it. The final dome is quite an amazng sight to see, and constantly looms in the distance, from wherever you are in the city. It was even more amazing to climb on up and get close to the dome, which while it looks big from the main floor, it's all that much larger from right before it starts. What was an even cooler realization was that the ceiling fresco which looked incredible detailed down below was really made up of huge, broad strokes of the brush. It makes sense that the 'resoluion' of the panting doesn't need to be very detailed from close up, because it will almost always be viewed from a hundred or so feet away. The views of Florence were spectacular from on top of the dome as well. I spent a good hour ontop, people watching, viewing the surrounding landscape and writing in my journal.

Also as a group we visited the Acadamia, a Renaissance art museum which housed The famous statute of David. It was one of those pieces of artwork that kind of just blows everything else away. While there were lots of other statues in the museum, nothing could compare in the same way. And since we weren't allowed to take pictures, I decided to sketch David in my journal (but also snuck a quick photo in). It was quite funny to watch the poor photo-nazi run around yelling 'no photo' every two or three seconds to someone or another. I don't think I would want that position.

There was much to see and do in Florence, and by end I had seen several more museums. Waited 1.5 hours in line to get into the Ufuzzi museum, which had yet another huge renaissance art collection. It was here that I saw the 'Birth of Venus' painting. I do have to saw that it's been really near to see these masterpieces in real life, after only seeing images of them in booksy entire life. I feel as though I could go through most artbooks and be able to point out a lot of images that I've now seen in person. I've seen lot of art. In doing so I really have come to see what makes some of these lives of art so recognizable and famous. Going through the Pitti Palace the other day, with rooms just jam packed with artwork, it was amazing to just see the difference between what most artists were doing and what some of the greats had done. In particular one room housed Carvaggio's (forgive me for butchering names) "Sleeping Cupid", and the difference between that piece and all the rest in the room was like night and day.

Well Florence was filled with lots of good times. By day 5 I was getting a little stir crazy and needed to leave the city. Luckily there was a wine tour to the Chianti region hosted by my hostel. Since I'm a big fan of wine, how could I have not gone.

It was a fun day filled with Tuscan hillsides, wine, and a small 13th century town (turned into one big tourist attraction it seemed). Needless I was able to enjoy chianti, a super tuscan, and othet wine fresh from the winemakers themselves, as we visited two wineries. The second included a lunch, on the hillside overlooking the tuscan landscape, filled with bruschetta, deli meats, cheese, anipasta and lots of wine. One of the touists in my group happened to buy a 30 euro bottle of wine from the previous winery, and cracked it open to share for lunch. It was quite the amazing wine, most expensive (and for good reason this time) I've had in a long while. After all of this, I had lemoncello, rosemary blackberry, and black forest gelato from a world champion gelato shop. It was a good day of wine, food, gelato, and great countryside views.

Well I think that about wraps up this entry. Up next, a halfway there look back and thoughts (I think).

Well, I seem to be getting a bit behind, but it's for good reason. I've been traveling with people for the past 5 days. So all my train and bus rides are filled with food fun, instead of me sitting there updating this thing. But let me recap, as I think I left everyone on the cliffhanger of a post, where I was out in search of a hostel. So to pick back up. . .

The Cinque Terre is made up of 5 small villages, so I went over to the one that supposedly had the most options for sleeping. And after checking around, and bargining a single down to 50 euros from 65, I found out that there was no more hostels available in the 5 villages. Luckily, the attendant at one of the info centers was kind enough to check with a hostel in another small town 5 minutes away. Sure enough there was space, and I was good to go.

So the three days that I spent at the Cinque Terre I had to travel in and out at the begining and end of each day, but it wasn't any more hassel than taking a metro.

Anyways the villages were georgious little one main street villages, filled with small alleys that took you up to brightly colored houses that crammed into the hillsides. It was gorgious. I need to post photos as my words will jsut not do it justice. But each of these towns were perched right on the waterside, which was the clearest water you've ever seen. The water took on a flourscent blue hue when the sun was shining bright. So it was quite spectacular.

My first full day was spent taking the roughly 7 mile hike through the hillsides between the villages with my new friend. When not in a village, we were surrounded by olive, peach, lemon trees and vineyards. All tucked into neat steps that ran up and down the rough hillside terrain. It was a georgious walk, and while it would have been prettier with the sun out, I was glad that the day was cloudy until after the hike. The day of hiking was finished off with a swim in the gorgious (and rather warm) water, pesto, pasta, octopus, swordfish, and wine. Not a bad day at all.

Day two was filled with a small amount of hiking to get I a nice uncrowded beach. Because despite the towns being quite small, they are packed with tourists during the day. Not quite the peaceful picture that I had in mind when reading about it. But we found the "beach", which was more or less a stretch of rocks, there was swiming, reading, and a bit of joirnaling. After which we met up with more new friends. I found out that everyone was heading to Pisa and Florence the next day. So I made a few change of plans and ended up staying one day less in Cinque Terre, so I could go along with everyone. Luckily for me, everything worked out, and after a bit of running around I was able to meet back up with everyone for a night swim in one of the towns. It was a fitting way to end my stay there.

The next day was filled with traveling. And since there was a train accident outside of Pisa, we had to take a 3 hour bus ride to get there as the rail lines were out. Pisa was a quick visit, we got there, saw the tower, took the obligitory holding up the leaning tower photo, and were on out way to Florence. It was quite fun to watch everyone as they pose for photos (I made sure to take a few reverse shots). Also, the towernis a lot shorter than I expected, and a lot closer to re other buildings that were in the area. I always pictures the tower out in the middle of a giant grassy field (filled with tourists). It was short, but a good time none the less.

After the Pisa adventure, it was off to Flourence. And while I had 'reserved' a different hostel than everyone else (due to the booking site saying it was full online), I happened to run into thiers along the way, and thought I would give it a try, see if there were any open spots. Sure enough they had one. I was good. Almost everyone was at the same hostel, so the good times in Flourence could begin. Luckily my other hostel 'reservation' was just a quick email with no other info than my name. So there was no way to get charges for the first night (which usually happens if you don't show).

So I've been in Flourence a few days now, I will have to dedicate another blog to the city. As for now, I'm off to meet up with people.