Italia! Naples and Rome

Hallie and I began our trip to Italy the Friday before Spring Break. We flew into Naples for just one night, intending only to walk around, eat pizza, and drink some Italian wine. We did just that! After dropping out luggage at the hostel, we headed out to explore the city. Everyone we'd spoken to assured us we wouldn't like Naples, that it was the armpit of Italy - dirty, ugly, etc... We found it quite the contrary! Whether it is truly a great place or we were just on an "oh man, we're in Italy" high (we kept looking at each other and saying that), I don't know. Although you probably wouldn't want to spend much more than a weekend there, we had a very pleasant afternoon. Our first stop was a pizzeria. We were so bent on getting pizza here because it originated in Naples (Napoli). Here's a photo of Hallie with our first pizza - it was delicious!

We took the rest of the afternoon (it was about 5pm when we left the restaurant) to walk around the city. We found a bench where we just relaxed and people-watched for a bit. The America's Cup was also happening (some sort of sail races) and the American and Chinese teams were out practicing. It was really fun to watch! Here is me on the coast! In the back is Egg Castle, we didn't get there, but it looked neat!

After relaxing for a bit, we walked around and through a street market. I bought a little ring - it was cheap and cute! It was getting a bit late, and we were tired and a little jet lagged (it's only an hour but after traveling that becomes a bigger deal...), so we headed home, stopping for some Italian coffee on the way home. It's awesome, because it's just like Turkish coffee without the grounds! 

In my last post, I mentioned that we were briefly stuck in an elevator... It was on our first night, and our hostel was on the 7th floor of the building. We were confronted with the machine below, and no idea how to use it. No directions, either. We stood there for a while, until a man came in, looked at our suitcases, threw a coin into the machine, pressed the number seven, closed the door and left without saying a word. Before we knew what was happening the elevator started moving. Normally this would have been completely terrifying, something out of a horror movie, but we were just really happy at the prospect of not carrying our suitcases up 7 flights of stairs. Luckily, we weren't being kidnapped or murdered, just helped out by a kind stranger.

The next day we were on the way to Rome. We woke up rather early and had breakfast in the hostel. We met a man who was traveling through Europe, eventually hitting Istanbul. We gave him some tips, before heading to the train station. Because so many people were going to Rome for Easter (Pasqua), there was standing room only on the train. Not as fun as it sounds on a two and a half hour ride to Rome. Here's a photo of me, in the part of the train that connects one car to another, sitting on my suitcase. 

We were informed that, because it was Easter Weekend, the only way we would be able to get into the Vatican was to book a tour. WHAT a good idea that was! The tour picked us up out our hostel (BEST one of the week) and brought us to the Vatican City walls, where we were able to skip the line (literally almost a half of a mile long - I'm honestly not exaggerating) and see the museums. Here is the entrance - not as extravagant as you thought, eh?

It was great to have a guide, too, because there was so much to see that we surely would have missed some of it. I was unaware, but most of the Vatican City is a museum of art, historical items and buildings of importance. Here I am with my headset, super excited (somewhat sarcastically...)

The most exciting piece in the museum, for me, was Raphael's "School of Athens." It was on the cover of a really good history of philosophy book, called "Aristotle's Children," that I loved, and I just love the piece. Because of the large number of people, and the small room the piece is in, this is the best photo I could get...

Our last stop was Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. It was beautiful, but literally jam packed. In my previous post I mentioned getting stuck behind a guard, because they were only letting a certain number of people pass through at a time... It was so crowded that we couldn't take photos of each other more than about 8 inches from our faces... Anyway, here is a photo of the ceiling, and of the famous creation painting. The chapel itself was beautiful, but much smaller and darker than I thought it would be. 

 The one place in the Vatican that we did not get to see was St. Peter's Basilica. The line was way too long, and it was closing about 20 minutes after we got there. They were also preparing for the Easter Mass that would be held the next morning, which made visiting the Basilica that much more difficult. Here is a photo of me in front of it, though, with the line behind me.

After the Vatican tour we were wiped and it was about 7pm (remember we started the day in Naples...) So we headed back to the hostel to take a shower and freshen up. One of Hallie's best friends is studying abroad in Rome and was nice enough to meet us and take us out for dinner. Our hostel was very close to the Trevi Fountain, so we decided to meet Ben there at 8:30. Here's a photo of me in front of the fountain. It was crowded, but absolutely beautiful at night. 

After meeting Ben, we walked to the restaurant, getting lost several times on the way. This wasn't a problem, though, because it was really neat to explore the city at night. Here are the Spanish Steps:

And the Pantheon:

Ben took us to this adorable wine bar where we had our first Italian pasta! Hallie and I both had this tomato-based sauce with pancetta - SO delicious. After we finally ate, it was about midnight, so we headed to the hostel, calling it a night. 

The next morning we woke up and headed out to see the Colosseum. On our way, we stopped at the Il Vittoriano, where the Italian tomb of the unknown soldier is, and where you can take an outdoor elevator to the roof and see all of Rome. Here's a photo that a Canadian family took of Hallie and I. For some reason, they kept thinking I was from New Hampshire! 

Anyway, we made our way to the Colosseum and managed to make it through the line-less mob that was the ticket booth. It took about 2 hours, but we eventually made it in! It really is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. It was indescribably huge and perfectly constructed. Here are just a few photos: 

I took a panoramic photo with the 360 degree app on my phone, but I can't seem to get it to upload... Hopefully I can post it soon! Afterward, we met up with Ben for lunch. He is a classics major, and so was able to point out some other important sights in the ancient city area. We saw parts of the Forum, where Caesar was stabbed, and some other neat sights. Then we set out into the more modern part of Rome to find a gelateria that Monica, the hostel owner and sweetest woman EVER, told us sold the best gelato in Rome. It was called Giolitti's, and it was the best gelato I've ever had (sorry, Gelato Fiasco). I had Hazlenut, Tiramisu and Nutella flavors with home made whipped cream. Amazing.

Full from gelato and a day of sightseeing, we shopped our way back to our hostel, via the Spanish Steps in the daylight, to freshen up. That evening Ben had invited us to his house to make dinner, a traditional Italian dish called a "California Burrito." (joking) He and Hallie have both been missing their favorite food, so when he found some good avocados, he grabbed them and saved them for our visit. I love (and have missed) avocado, too, so it was great! It was nice to cook and just hang out for a bit, especially after 3 full days. Here's Hallie ecstatically making her precious guac for the burritos.

The next day we woke up and headed out for a morning of shopping. We were painfully underdressed for many of the stores we entered - Gucci, Prada, etc... but it was fun to gawk. We then had lunch and headed to the train station for our next city - Perugia. With three and a half days and three cities (counting the Vatican) under our belt, we were looking forward to the next four cities with weary excitement. Can't wait to share! Coming soon! :)