I took a tour of Italy organized by the Rotary, and with about 76 other exchange students I got to visit all the grand city's and ancient sites I had always heard about.
Day 1: The start of the journey, an extremely long bus ride made only fun by the enjoyable company. On a side note: Switzerland is absolutely gorgeous! I had always been interested in going to the country, so when we drove through it I was excited! At first it did not seem that special of a landscape, but as soon as the Alps appeared...
Day 2 Rome and the Vatican
Vatican: A small country all of it's own, an escape into sanctuary. Though personally, the pomp of the buildings is sometimes necessary.
Day 3: Rome
The Coliseum: I don't know how to say this quite right, the building was amazing but honestly a bit underwhelming. It was interesting to stand in that great hall of battle, but it seemed smaller than I had anticipated.
Still magnificent!
Ancient Rome: There are so many ruins in Rome, they are literally scattered about the town. We were given a guided tour of one of the largest and most interesting ruins Rome had to offer. These were the buildings where ages ago Julius Ceaser lived and died.
The Trevi Fountain: World famous wish-making fountrain. Yes, I did make a wish, and it will remain my secret!
Day 4: Ostie and the Abbey Montecassino
Ostie: When we first heard this place none of us were too excited at the news. We had just visited world famous sites, compared to them this was one that none of us had before heard of. When we arrived, we soon found that this ruined ancient Roman village was one of the neatest places we would visit. This extensive city network was quite well preserved and access to explore the entire city was freely accessible to visitors. We walked down the streets, through the houses, in the stadium, anywhere we pleased.
Montecassino: This was the first abbey I have ever visited, so I found it quite intersting. The abbey was built atop a high hill, providing a beautiful view of the surrounding country side that streatched out around the white wall of the buildings.
Day 5: Amalfi Coast
Amalfi: For this day the Rotary took us on a road trip. On the bus we traveled the famous road that twists back and forth as it follows the very edge of the southernmost Italian coast. The sharp cliff sides fell down below us, and the beautiful blue ocean stretched out endlessly. We stopped periodically at small Italian villages to take in a bit more of the culture.
Day 6: Capri
Capri: We took a day trip to this beautiful island off the coast, taking a boat tour around the jagged white cliffs. After we returned out feet to land, we traveled upward to see a view from above.
Day 7: Pompeii
Pompeii: I was surprise by this city. This tragically famous place was not what I expected. In my mind, I had always expected to find a charred landscape with a few columns still in place before that terrifying volcano. Instead, I found an extremely large and intricate city system splayed out before me. It was amazing to see some extremely well preserved homes and then the 'bodys' left from the catastrophe. My only complaint was the what I considered unnecessary reconstruction projects that were in my opinion ruining a bit the authenticity of the site.
A haunting stop.
Day 8: Florence and Pisa
Florence: A beautiful city with a laid back, warm charm. I enjoyed my lazy trip here that included much random walking about as I just took in the buildings and people. With the Rotary we took a little tour, a tour that often highlighted the work and life of Dante. I had heard of the man and of his one book, Dante's Inferno, from my sister who had read it, so I understood a bit as the Rotary members pointed out the special buildings and places and explained the people that had influenced his life.
Pisa: This building impressed me the most. I knew it would be leaning, I did not know just how much it would actually be leaning! Nor did I realize how beautiful the building actually was, with an intricate design and beautifully white.
Day 9: Burano and Murano
Burano: A subdivision of Venice, this island is renowned for its glass work. There we were taken to watch glass be made and then were let free to explore a bit more this water based city.
Murano: Another subdivision of Venice, this island is known for its colors. From the first moment I stepped off the boat, I was almost overwhelmed by all the colors. Each building it painted a different color in a rainbow array that fills the whole town.
Day 10: Venice
Venice: This water based city has always been one of my dream city's to visit. The city certainly did not disappoint. It was magical, and amazing. The waterways stretched out in an intricate network just as equally elaborate as the walkways. It was amazing to see cars replaced by boats, taxi boats, bus boats, even construction boats. I had a wonderful time exploring the city and getting lost within the labyrinth of the city. When it time to come back my little group ended up throwing aside the map and just following graffiti signs pointing to our target square back and forth through the little streets. We made it back!
Being in Venice would not be complete without a gondola ride. Together with five others were all stepped onto the rocking boat. From the first moment I stepped on I was certain we would end up in the greenish waters of the canal. It felt so unstable, and as the gondolier pushed off the wobbliness only seemed to grow. But our gondolier knew what he was doing, and we were soon gliding through the back canals. It was absolutely magical.
And that was the end of the journey. As the boat took us away from the city of Venice, all of the exchange students could not but feel a bit sad that this journey had come to an end. We had spent 10 days in amazing places surrounded by laughter and fun. This voyage will always be a close memory to me.
(I should have eaten more gelato though)
