Learning to Love Life

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On the way we stopped at Piazza Navona. It had this amazing fountain with a statue of a man vanquishing an octopus monster. I love octopi so it was a hit with me. We bought gelato and just sat on a bench for a while. After resting we walked over to the pantheon. I was baffled when Clara explained that the Pantheon dome was just water and dirt mixed together and it is just the perfect shape to the dome which keeps it from collapsing on us. I also can't believe there is just this hole in the top of it! I know there are grates for rain water but it just doesn't seem smart architecturally to have this hole in the middle of the roof. After seeing the pantheon we walked over to the Trevi fountain. We were sad when we discovered it was under construction and waterless. After defeat at the Trevi Fountain we took the metro back to the house.

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After snacking we walked to the Vatican Museum. The line outside was INSANE!! There were maybe 1000 people in line. Thanks to our overpriced tickets we were able to skip the multi hour long line. The museum itself was PACKED with people. I have never been in a museum with so many people- and I have been in a lot of museums. It felt like I was back in Sala Apollo with how many people were constantly surrounding me. I loved all the statues. We found this one painting of the garden of Eden that I completely remember looking at and having Mom explain the story of Adam and Eve to me when I was in Rome many years ago. We managed to find the one museum in the big museum (I know confusing) that was empty- the estrucen section. The estrucans were ancient ancestors of the people of Rome and their items were from around 600 BC. The Sistine Chapel was just as breath taking as I remembered. It’s a toss up whether I love the ceiling or the first wall the most. I LOVE how Michelangelo painted himself as just his skin in the hand of another man, but I am always a sucker for Adam and Eve scenes. It was probably my favorite thing in the museum. We were packed like sardines and every 2 minutes a voice came over this speaker system and said : Silence! No photos! In a few different languages. Of course the dim would quiet and the flashes would stop for a minute but the cacophonous noise rose and “subtle” photo taking started up again. After taking soaking in the greatness of the chapel for an hour we decided to go find food. We discovered a pizza place in the museum and ate there. We had seen most of the museum and were tired of the crowds so decided to walk over to the pantheon.

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Woke up at 6 am today! Felt like I should be packing my backpack to go to school. We walked over to the Vatican City which was pretty empty when we arrived at 7:45. St. Peter's church was out of this world. Bernini’s many sculptures were breathtaking. I was pretty disappointed that I had to stand 50 ft away from Michelangelo’s La Pieta which was also covered in bullet proof glass, so I couldn't see any of the detail. The amount of lavish design in St Peters is unbelievable. Just the amount of wealth and art that surrounded me was astonishing. Sagrada Familia is still my favorite church ever, but this might be my new second favorite. After taking in the marvels of the church- particularly all of the amazing Bernini’s- we went to climb the dome. We decided to spend the extra euro to pay for the elevator ride part of the way to the top. We still had a good 400 stairs to climb. I had hoped that knowing in advance that we would be climbing a ton of stairs would help and it would be easier than the duomo in Florence, but I was wrong. The endless stairs were horrible but we made it to the top. The view was amazing! Once again the huge climb was worth it. Afterwards we bought these tickets for the Vatican museum that were ridiculously over priced but would let us skip the line. They were timed tickets and we still had an hour until we could go in so we found a café and I got some coffee and fruit.

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Travel day today! We made it the train station on this little electric bus. The train ride was pretty short and we arrived in Rome at around 12. We stored our bags in the train station because we couldn't go to our Airbnb until 3. We decided to walk around the station and just wander like we have done in every other city, but we ended up in not the nicest part of town. We went to a park to get our bearings and ended up having a very uncomfortable situation. A man came up to us and decided to give us “advice” about Rome. I put it in quotes because he was very crude and did not appreciate my rather curt responses. He definitely did not like Americans, but left after a while of his own accord. It was definitely a stressful experience and made a clear distinction between life in Florence and life in Rome. We decided to back to the train station because we didn't feel super safe in the park anymore. We wandered around this market to kill some time and then got lunch. We decided to do some grocery shopping and then picked up our bags and metroed to the Airbnb. The metro is crazy here. There are only two lines and a million people take it. I still can't believe we made it on with our bags. Luckily the Airbnb is right by the metro station so we didn't have much walking to do. We were there pretty early and sat waiting for our host to let us in. The place is small but nice. We settled in and not wanting to waste time in Rome, we went to a nearby castle. It was very large and interesting but not amazing. We ate dinner on the way home then crashed.

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Goodbye Florence

I am going to miss Florence so much! I have loved everything about it. From visiting museums to just wandering around it has been an amazing experience. Florence is definitely the type of city I could see myself living in. It is making me want to take Italian in college so I can do a study abroad program here. The only downside to Florence was that we let ourselves get lost in the insanity of trying to see everything. Having the Firenze cards for only three days meant we were pressured to see everything in this finite amount of time. I worry this mentality will continue in Rome and we will push ourselves to hard. Overall I definitely want to come back to Florence again!

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Slept in today because we didn't go to sleep until around 4:30 am. We decided to walk across the river to see this wonderful church with these unbelievable frescos- thank you Dad for the recommendation. I loved the Adam and Eve frescos. We walked back and got lunch on the way. Back at the house I decided to do my laundry and as I wanted to wash everything, I had to put on my pajamas! It took a while to clean everything up and pack and since all my clothes were drying, we decided to eat the rest of the random food in the house- prosciutto, fruit, cheese, bread- the dinner of champions. We had an early night and went to sleep.

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We decided to have a slower day today after the insanity of going to both the academia and the uffitzi in one day. We slept in and then headed out to go shopping! Clara found a couple places she liked and bought some clothes. We were getting hungry so decided to stop at this little café for some coffee and possiblely lunch. It turns out that they only had desserts, so we got dessert for lunch… We kept on walking around and found one store that was all my little pony themed- but with designer clothing. Eventually we found this store called TwinSet and we each bought a pair of completely impractical, and yet beautiful, shoes. We went to Rialto bridge where Clara bought a gorgeous pair of earrings. I didn't see anything I loved so we went back to the Airbnb. After resting for a bit we walked- more like hiked- to Palazzo Michelangelo. There was a small but beautiful church there and the Palazzo has an amazing view of the city. The reason it was such a hike to get to the church was that it was on top of this hill, so we could see all of Florence. We went back down and went out for dinner. I had some of the best pasta I have had in Italy yet. After dinner we went back to the Airbnb to get ready for a night out in Florence! We picked two places to check out and decided since we felt safe in Florence that we would walk. The first place we arrived at is called The Blob. It was dead quiet and completely empty. We pushed the button but nobody came and it just looked super sketch so we left. We walked all the way along the river to Space. Space was fun, but not as fun as Sala Apollo in Barcelona. At around 3 am we decided to leave. We were going to take a cab back because it was a LONG walk home, but there were already 20 people waiting for cabs at the club so we decided it was not worth it to wait. It was wonderful to see the duomo and the river at night but the walk turned out to be more like an hour walk home because our feet hurt so much. Cobble stones + already hurting feet + sandals + walking = SO MUCH PAIN. Overall a fun night but should have stolen someone’s cab…

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We woke up too late to go to the academia in the morning so we decided to go to this little sculpture museum. It had some amazing statues. Afterwards we went to get lunch but I ended up getting sick from the water I drank from the duomo drinking fountain the other day. Therefore we went back to the house and I collapsed on the couch. Clara went out to get lunch and do things while I slept the rest of the day. I woke up and watched a classic- Hercules, but even the muses couldn't make me feel better. Overall, not the best day. I hope I feel better and will be able to see the academia and uffitzi tomorrow.

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We didn't have enough time to go to the Academia so we decided to cook! We figured when in Italy make Italian food! We went shopping and bought everything we would need to cook and then just went for it. We made chicken Alfredo- thank you Pinterest- and the same cauliflower dish from La Ciotat but with broccoli. There were both amazing and I am so stuffed and ready to collapse.

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We awoke to find a fb message from Clio saying that she could meet up! We decided to go to the duomo together. We were a little late leaving so Clio and Zara were already in the church when we arrived. Clara and I had bought Firenze cards- which essentially help you skip lines and get into things for free, but we had to go to the ticket office to get the ticket that could go into the machine to let us inside the duomo. Ready with our tickets we saw a big red Firenze Card sign and thought it was the entrance to the main church. We skipped the 300 person line and ended up in the church. However there was a wooden barrier separating us from the church, we could only go into this small stone hallway. We started to climb stair after stair. Suddenly we realized we had made a huge mistake. Instead of skipping the line for the church we had skipped the line for climbing to the top of the dome! We had nowhere to go but up so we started to climb the endless stairs. It was about 150 stairs to cupola- this platform inside the dome where we could see the beautiful fresco painted on the dome. It was unbelievably detailed. I could have stared at it for hours but there were people behind us anxiously waiting to climb to the very top so we continues our journey. Another 150 stairs later we ran into a predicament. Up to that point the extremely narrow pathway was only one way, but we had come to a section that was two way. After some pushing, squeezing and climbing up the last 50 stairs, we were at the top. Although I was exhausted from climbing all the steps, the view was completely worth it. The climb down reminded me of climbing down Yosemite Falls on the backpacking trip. Everyone so excited to be going down that they were moving very quickly. After a 20 minute jam of trying to fit two lines of people into a half a person sized hallway and a million stairs we were back at the bottom. We had texted Clio and Zara about our predicament and they met us at the bottom. It was really nice to catch up and get lunch and gelato. After lunch we went into the Duomo and enjoyed its beauty. The picture of me pointing depicts where we climbed to on our journey of endless stairs. After the duomo we headed over to the baptistery which had this amazing stained glass window of Mary. We decided to head home after because we worn out from the stairs.

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As most things are closed on Mondays we decided to take a day trip to Siena. There are now two things I miss from Barcelona- the big sidewalks and the metro. The bus system was a mess to figure out. First of all the stop by our flat was closed and so was the stop after and the stop after that. Eventually we found a stop but could not figure out how to pay for the bus! There was no place by the stop and we couldn't pay on the bus. We made it to the train station where the bus to Siena was and we could not find it. Luckily there was the most organized TI near by and they pointed us in the right direction. We found the bus, bought our tickets and discovered it was leaving in 5 minutes- how classic us to always make it just when the bus/train was leaving. The ride was pretty though I admit that I fell asleep for part- ok most of it. I don't know why any sort of moving vehicle just puts me straight to sleep. We arrived in Siena and decided to get lunch. We stood around awkwardly for about 10 minutes until the place opened. We ate a delicious meal and drank so much water! After lunch we went to the Piazza del Campo. The piazza was beautiful and unique because it was in the shape of a clam shell! We went into the Piazza Pubblico which was covered with these amazing frescos. One of my favorites is called Allegories of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. It is a political piece which portrays a good government and a bad one. It is fascinating because it gives a little insight into the values of life in Siena at this point in time. Afterwards we ventured over to the city’s duomo. The floors were unbelievable! There were full scenes made out of the marble on the floor. The ceiling was filled with stars which usually symbolizes the connection between the people and the heavens. It is interesting to compare with the many churches that we have seen which has images of royalty on the ceiling for the people- so the people know who are the manifestations of God in their lives. After the duomo we went to the baptistery. We were pretty worn out so just sat and let it all sink in. We went back to the bus stop and were delighted to discover that one was leaving in 15 minutes. It was a miracle! We actually had more than 5 minutes to get to our bus. It was perfect because we bought gelato, ate it and then boarded the bus to go home to Florence. I tried to stay awake and saw some of the country side, then promptly fell asleep. Ah me and buses…

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The day began with a slow start. We have been trying to give ourselves a little time to rest in the morning at new cities. We went to lunch at this amazing place recommended to us by our Airbnb host- Acquacotta. Oh my Gaudi it was delicious. I had this cheese plate to start then these pheasant ravioli with truffle sauce. Oh how I love Italian food. I have decided that if I had to eat just one food for the rest of my life it would be pasta. We decided to see the Palazzo Vecchio after lunch. It was beautiful. It was definitely a climb to the top of the tower but we were able to all of Florence. The palace had some of the most amazing ceilings. The frescos and gold gilding were fabulous. My favorite room was the one dedicated to the four elements- air, fire, water and earth. We then explored the statue garden outside of the palazzo. As the walking tired us out we called it a day and went back to the apartment.

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Not a super interesting day to report on. As I had predicted lugging our bags up the huge hill was horrific. We had to take a lot of breaks and almost missed our train but we made it. We seem to always be running for our trains, buses, really anything. We made it safely to Florence and was greeted by our Airbnb host’s friend. The apartment is amazing! It has two floors- the main floor with the living room, kitchen, and bathroom and a loft with the bedroom and another bathroom. There is art covering every inch of free space on the walls and the host even left us some food in the fridge. An overall good day.

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Goodbye Switzerland!

I definitely came to Switzerland with low expectations. I didn't know much about it other than it was pretty and had good cheese. As we explored more and more, I began to become attached to Switzerland. Although the two hour meals will always drive me crazy, I loved the serene countryside and beautiful views. I actually wish we could have had more time to explore the other cities we missed. I definitely want to come back to Switzerland again.

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The day began with the trip to the train station. From there we took the train to Lusaunne. Rick Steve’s guide to Switzerland describes the old town perfectly. He writes that it's like a huge game of shoots and ladders. To get anywhere you have to go up a hill and then down some stairs and then up some stairs and down a hill. We saw Lausanne’s cathedral and a pretty park. We even found a little spiritual fairy shop. Kristen would have loved it! There were fairy statutes, incense, tarot cards, jewelry and healing stones. Didn't buy anything but I was tempted. Back on the train we took a relaxing ride to Montreux and then a bus to the Château de Chillon. The castle was HUGE! There were 46 rooms to see on the map and we of course saw all of them (Dad you have trained me too well). It wasn't in the best of conditions but was still interesting to see. The view out of the windows was fantastic so we decided to go hang out at a nearby rocky beach. Jealously sitting and watching people swim in the crystal waters of Lake Geneva, I was so sad I hadn't brought my swim suit. We took the train back to Montreux, then took the Golden Pass train to Montabon and finally to Gruyeres. Gruyeres is the town where all Gruyere cheese comes from. We decided to go to one of the cheese factories to learn how they make Gruyere- and mostly to eat a lot of gruyere. It had the most hilarious audio guide. The guide was this cow named Cherry – apparently she is named Cherry because she was born during the cherry season. This cow describes the “magic” of the cheese process from her prospective as a cow. Clara and I were laughing so hard at her corny jokes. Afterwards we bought some cheese and then got dinner at the restaurant. Deliciousness ensured as we devoured quiche (with Gruyere), fondue and ice cream. We finally took three trains back to Bern to conclude our day.