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! :) 

Spring Break, the Italian Way

Last week was Spring Break! I'm still playing catch-up with work and sleep, but I thought I'd post something quickly because it's been a while! My friend Hallie and I have both always wanted to go to Italy, so we took break as an opportunity to give ourselves a taste! Our schedule was crazy and hectic, but we made it home alive, and it was an amazing week. Here was our itinerary:

Friday: Fly to Naples
Saturday: Naples - Vatican City - Rome
Sunday: Rome (tip: there's this thing called Easter that shuts everything down in Italy, Buona Pasqua!)
Monday: Rome - Perugia
Tuesday: Perugia - Florence
Wednesday: Florence
Thursday: Florence - Venice
Friday: Venice - Milan
Saturday: Milan
Sunday: ISTANBUL!

We flew in to Naples, then took the train between the cities, finally landing in Milan to fly home. Hallie had a friend in Rome, and we both had friends in Perugia, all of whom made great tour guides!

There's more to come, but here's a taste of the week:

We were temporarily stuck in an elevator in Naples:

We tried not to get squished by the doors on the train to Rome. (By the way, standing room only for 2.25 hours isn't as doable as it sounds)

We became incredibly familiar with the TrenItalia system, although we couldn't seem to fully master the art of remembering to validate our tickets...

I got stuck behind a guard at the Sistine Chapel. Hallie just laughed and took a photo...

The week was absolutely wonderful, I can't wait to share more... Hopefully soon, I just have to get a Turkish presentation out of the way! Hope everyone at home is having a great Spring!

"Welcome to Bodrum!"

This phrase was uttered to us at least 10 times in the two days we stayed in Bodrum. We even had people who we just passed on the street stop and say, "Welcome to Bodrum!" I'm choosing to take this reaction as a function of the kindness of the people, rather than because we are so obviously not from Bodrum... Anyway, we ended up in Bodrum because we found really cheap flights at the last minute. It's on the Aegean coast, a little south of Izmir. The city is beautiful, mostly because of its white buildings and gorgeous coastline, and is apparently a huge vacation spot for many Turks and Europeans.

We flew in Friday morning, checked into our hostel, and headed almost immediately to brunch on the beach. A lot of the restaurants have tables set up all the way to the water, since it is barely tidal. Here's me at the table! It was a bit chilly, as the sun was in hiding, so the restaurant provided us with some blankets.

Photo Credit: Amy Rasmussen 

Next we headed to explore the city a bit. It is pretty much just a vacation city, so there are a lot of nice restaurants and shopping, but not too much else. During our exploration, we stumbled upon Bodrum Castle, which proved to be one of the most beautiful sights of the weekend.

Here's the view of about half of Bodrum from the castle grounds.

The castle is a fortress on the Aegean Sea, which, as you can see below, is absolutely beautiful. I stood in this cut out for about ten minutes and just let the wind and sea air hit me. It felt really good!

This is the cat outside our hostel. She really wanted to play with us, or (more likely) steal some food, but couldn't get up on the balcony, and so she just sat there and whined. Amy and I tried to coax her up, but it was simply too high...

We went to a tapas bar for dinner the first night, after an afternoon of walking around town. It was lovely but empty, like the rest of the city. The waiter, however, was wonderful. He lived in Istanbul for a long time, so we chatted about that. The tapas were also really authentic and delicious, and not too expensive. We visited about 3-4 weeks before tourist season really begins, so there wasn't much going on while we were there. It was still a great trip, and the weather was warm enough to still enjoy the beaches and water.

Here's a dog on the beach at brunch on Saturday. Isn't he cute? I took a picture because he reminds me of my dog, Otis. I miss him!

After brunch, we headed to the ruins of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. In its glory days, the Mausoleum was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was really neat to see, but consisted mainly of scattered pillar pieces.

Here's a model of what the Mausoleum looked like before it was destroyed by a flood centuries ago...

We concluded the trip with an afternoon cruise around the area. We were trying to find a boat ride of any sort, but the only available boats are ones that you rent privately. So, we worked out an acceptable price with the captain, and got on board! They took us to an island nearby where there's a natural hot spring. It wasn't super hot, but supposedly Cleopatra swam there, so it was worth the trip! I just dipped my toes in - it was too cold to swim, even for me.

Here's a photo of the water - it was so clear and such a beautiful turquoise color. It was like nothing I've ever seen!

Here's a photo (stolen from Amy's camera) of some of us on the boat. We sat up front the whole time, even though it was windy and chilly. It was definitely worth it! We were afforded great views of the harbor and other local towns, as well as some relaxing time on the sea.

All in all it was a great weekend, and a nice quick getaway from campus. Sorry for the short post, and the inevitable spelling and grammar mistakes, I was rushing to write!

Now, I'm officially on Spring Break. A friend, Hallie, and I are headed to Italy, hoping to tackle 6 cities in 10 days! Do you think we can do it?

Visitors, Trips, and Midterms, Oh My!

Between feeling like I've had the plague, having a visitor (my Mom!), midterms, and a trip to Bursa, it's been a busy few weeks! Midterms haven't been that bad (which may be a function of my study abroad work ethic, rather than their actual difficulty...), but they have created a change of pace from the normal schedule. I have 3 behind me, and two more exams and a presentation to go... all of which will be over by Spring break, which starts on April 6. Sun has FINALLY arrived at Koç, making it more and more difficult to do work! It's been great, though, because you can finally sit comfortably outside and read, throw a frisbee, or what have you - the end of cabin fever is in sight!


As I mentioned, my wonderful Mom came to visit a little more than a week ago. It was really great to see her! We spent the week hitting up the many sights in the Old and New City, and even made a trip up to Sarıyer. We saw: the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Topkapı Palace, The Grand Bazaar, The Spice Bazaar, The Basilica Cistern, Dolmabahçe Palace, and Gülhane Park. It was the first time that I had been to any of the last four sights. The Spice Bazaar was as beautiful as everyone had said, if not more. Here are some photos of the displays: 

Notice the guy at the stand sticking his tongue out:

The streets around the Spice Bazaar are filled with local goods and treasures. I can't wait to go back - I think that's where I'll buy my juice press (I don't know if these are special presses or not, but the fresh juice here is so good, I hope to continue drinking it when I get home), and probably a bag of Turkish coffee and/or tea to bring home. 


The next place we visited was Dolmabahçe Palace. Dolmabahçe was large and extravagant. You are not allowed to take any photos inside the buildings, but below are some from the outside. We saw the great halls, one of the largest crystal chandeliers in the world, and the bed in which Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (founder of the Republic) died. 

It was beautiful, but very ironic. The palace was built by Abdülmecid II to demonstrate to the world that the Ottoman Empire was not having financial problems. The issue was, that they really were in deep financial trouble, and the building of such a large and expensive palace (obviously) didn't help... The Empire collapse following World War I, less than 100 years after the building of Dolmabahçe.


Another place that we visited was the Basilica Cistern. I had mentally written-off this sight as not high on my priority list. I don't really even know why, it just didn't sound that impressive in the guide books, especially when there are so many other sights that are better known and publicized. I was so wrong, this is something that everyone who comes to Istanbul should see. It's not that expensive to visit, and is in the center of Sultanahmet (the center of tourism). Essentially, it was a water holding well for the city during the early Byzantine time (during the 6th century). It was covered at some point, and not re-discovered until recently (early 1900s, if I remember correctly...). It was really neat - they have built a set of elevated walkways through the cistern, as there are still a few feet of water remaining. It's pretty dark (as the whole thing is underground), but every pillar is lit up, creating a really cool effect.

There are some fish that live in the water, it's really hard to see them, but here is a photo:

In one corner of the cistern, there are two pillars that have carvings of Medusa at the bottom. The museum is unable to explain why they are there, just that they are. It was kind of cool, but a little creepy too.

Speaking of creepy, there is a cistern monster sculpture that is lurking in one area of the building. It lights up, and makes an eery noise that resounds throughout the cistern. The music is creepy, but oddly calming. 


The last place that was new for me was Gülhane Park. It was a large, gorgeous, green park hidden in the streets of Sultanahmet. It was originally part of the grounds of Topkapı Palace, but was opened to the public. On the last day of my Mom's visit, we stopped there and read in the park for a good chunk of the afternoon. There were a ton of families spending the afternoon together, too - it was so nice to see kids! Obviously, there are none at school, and you don't see a lot of kids out and about in the city. One adorable little Turkish boy ran up to me an handed me a daisy (which happens to be my favorite wild flower), smiled at me and ran back to his parents. I almost died. Here's the daisy (unfortunately I didn't get a photo of him - just imagine the cutest little Turkish boy, then multiply by a sweetness factor of 3203948320498).

It was a great week - the weather was impeccable and it was so nice to see my Mom, especially because I've been missing home a bit more than usual. And (Bonus!), I picked up a set of Paşabahçe Turkish çay glasses to send home! Here they are:

I was sad to see her go, but glad to be back and school and retire my tourist hat for a bit. With the sun comes visitors, and noticeably more crowded streets. 


Last week I had two exams and a paper - so life was pretty boring. Study, eat, exam, study, sleep, exam, and so on... However, last weekend the whole CIEE group ventured to Bursa, a Turkish city on the other side of the Marmara. It was a great, albeit whirlwind, trip. We set our alarms bright and early Friday morning, so that we could be pulling out of Koç by 7:30am. We rode the bus across the Bosphorus to Asia, then boarded a ferry to cross the Sea. The ferry was great, we'd all had a little time to catch some more sleep, and were able to enjoy the sun a salt air - something that I and another student from the northeast had been craving and appreciated greatly! 

Our first stop was lunch. We tried the dish that Bursa is famous for - İskender (a type of döner). It consists of pide bread squares covered in tomato sauce and the meat of sheep that occupy the mountains near the city. It's served with yogurt, and is very delicious and filling. We all ate a ton, and paid for it during the walking tour!

Once we arrived in Bursa, after a beautiful drive through the mountains, we checked into our hotel and set out for a walking tour. One of our first stops was the Ulu Cami (Great Mosque) (pictured above). It was beautiful, and one of the first times we had seen people actually praying in a mosque. The inside was simpler than many of the mosques I'd been in, but still very beautiful. It is one of the few mosques that have a fountain inside. It was placed there to calm people while they were in the sanctuary. Here is a photo of the inside:

Next we walked through the local spice and food bazaar. Here is a photo of a beautiful fruit market:

Here are some different types of Turkish tea. I need to figure out which is used most commonly, so that I can bring it home! Turkish tea is so good because it is meticulously made. The leaves are steeped in the top pan of a double boiler until the liquid is the right color. The tea is then cut with some of the water from the lower pot and - viola! - you have Turkish tea! I don't know what about the process makes the tea so smooth and amazing, but it is. I don't know how I will live without it!

Finally, here is a spice shop. These owners were much less outgoing than those in İstanbul, which makes them much more approachable. 

We also climbed some of the city walls. Here is a view from the top:

On the grounds of one of the many complexes in Bursa, there was a sign pole (like that in Maine) that showed the distance and directions to many important places in the world. We were only 565km from Tunis!

In the late afternoon, we volunteered at an English speaking club with an organization called BurSanat. They also set up a scavenger hunt around the city for us. We were all exhausted, and finally decided to pop a squat and grab some ice cream in stead of completing all of the tasks. Even though we were tired, we had tons of fun! Here are some photos of our shenanigans.


This is Alex and Terry showing that we had found someone who was walking their dog!

We had to find someone who was over 65 years young - This is Isaac and our guy. He was also born in June, so we killed two objectives with one stone!

We asked this woman if she had a one kuruş piece, yet another task on out list. She said she didn't, but gave us a one lira piece and chatted us up for a bit. She was a sweetheart! She told us about a village nearby that we need to visit if we come back. 

That evening we had dinner in a small cafe and went back to the hotel to hang out. Amy had brought baklava from the most famous bakery in the city, and we had a few bottles of wine for the group. It was a relaxing and fun night!


This is one of the sights we saw the next morning. We were up and out early, and ready for another day of sight seeing. This is the largest tree in... somewhere. Okay, I was having a hard time paying attention... It was at least the largest in Bursa, and maybe Turkey... Anyway, it was a really big tree, and the tea garden surrounding it, and the view from the park were amazing. The weather wasn't too bad, either!

After the tree we went to a covered bazaar to see a production of Hacivat and Karagoz. These are two hand puppets that originated in Bursa. The story goes that they were real men who worked in construction and were very unproductive because they were constantly joking with each other. The puppets are all handmade from camel skin that's stretched and colored. They are them held behind a white curtain with a light shining on them. There's much more to the story, but those are the major points... Here is a clip of the show we saw. It was in turkish, so we didn't understand all of it, but the puppeteer used the names Koç University and Kathryn (the CIEE's director's name), so we thought is was funny. 

Another famous Bursa sight! This is one of four bridges like it in the world - over water with shops extending all the way across. There is another one in Florence (The Ponte Veccio) and two in Sofia, Bulgaria. Most of the shops were local artisans. Too expensive to buy, but looking is free - and there were a lot of beautiful pieces!

These were really just the highlights - it was a jam-packed weekend in a wonderful city! I hope to get back some day to explore it at a slower pace. Finally, a funny photo. One of my friend somehow locked herself in the bathroom right before we were about to head back to İstanbul. This is us trying to pick the lock from the outside... Eventually we had to get someone from the cafe to break her out by prying the door open with a screwdriver. We all laughed harder than we had in a while, especially once she was out. It's been a great few weeks with wonderful people! Here's to a few more!