We left for my parents house on Sunday May 5th. On Monday May 6th we started our travels to Italy. We took a 2-hour flight to NC with a short layover before boarding a 9-hour flight from NC â Rome. (I was terrified and cried up until takeoff because flying is 100% not my thing.) (I did not cry on the way back, but still terrified, yes.) Anyway, we landed at 10 am on Tuesday May 7th in Rome and set out on our adventure!
Tuesday 5/7-Thursday 5/9 we started the first leg of our trip on one side of Fume Tevere, The Tiber River, the 3rd longest river in Italy. We stayed in town called Trastevere, which wound up being our favorite spot of the trip! It was, of course, a cobblestone town with the most perfect graffiti and street art flooding the walls in between tons of little restaurants and shops amongst obviously stunning architecture. The first few days I found myself nervous and exhausted with no appetite but still exploring. I guess I know now that traveling like this will take a lot out of me, but that I can still keep up, but that I do need to be careful not to push myself more than I can. So, this town was fun and perfect and we walked and we saw and then we moved on.
During our stay here we were able to see one unexpected attraction, Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, a cat shelter situated in the ancient ruins of Largo di Torre Argentina. Spanning an entire city block, the cats roam the ruins. We stumbled upon a shelter down below, housing the wounded or sick cats which are unable to be outside.
We also took our tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. Took our photos even when we âwerenât allowedâ and pretty much just stood in awe of what we were seeing. Ceilings are everything in Rome. From the Vatican to the random churches along the streets. The most impressive however being Saint Peters Basilica. The scale and detail and colors and everything was just insane. I went to a place where I took pictures that could not do justice to what I saw.
On Friday 5/10 we set out to Naples Mergellina. Naples made NYC look like a million bucks but we at least found our 2nd stay to be situated in a room of a tucked away art gallery right up the street from the Gulf of Naples. We used this as a place to sleep and eat while getting to and from two of our other spots.
First, we set out on our short journey to Pompeii. Spending most of the time rundown from traveling, we got lost on our train trek travels in a sketchy area called Cercola. Once in the right direction we made it to the gates of Pompeii within 10 minutes of closing. We had 1 hour and 15 minutes to explore. It was a huge city of ruins and we saw what we needed to see.
Second, we overslept and then caught a later ferry to Isola Di Procida, a small island on the Amalfi Coast. Procida is a commune of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the region of Campania. I got sunburnt here as we walked through the most colorful streets from one side of the island to the other, looking for the view we came out to see. We made it and then had hours to kill while we waited for our ferry back. I spent a lot of my time physically and mentally exhausted all while felling energized and happy. I stopped only when I knew I needed to. But I know I have to work on my attitude towards others. I get mean sometimes in my efforts to keep going. I push myself, but if Iâm going to push myself, I need to learn how to do it better.
On 5/12 we set back out towards Rome for our stay on the other side of Fiume Tevere. This time in a town called Celio which from our front door, we could see the Colosseum right up the street! We explored the streets here, up and down the roman forum, exploring the Colosseum and walking to the Trevi Fountain. The fountain, one of the most packed yet peaceful and wonderful parts of our walk-through Rome. We saw the fountain in the day and lit up at night. We ate dinner overlooking the Colosseum under the moon. We walked back to Trastevere multiple times from our final location, a 40 minute walk each way. We ended by getting tattooed at psycho tattoo in Rome.
Traveling was exhausting and exciting. Italy brought some major color back into my life. Iâm sure Iâll travel again, but if for any reason I donât, this trip was enough of an amazing experience for my lifetime. I want to see more places, but I would go back to Italy in an instant for sure.
We mostly walked everywhere we went. We covered miles and miles of the places we stayed. We saw everything we set out to see plus more. I walked around with my jaw dropped. I walked through streets that were works of art in themselves. I went to Italy and I saw it and I felt it and I want more of it.
Some funny things, if you can call most of this that⌠No one fixes their dogs apparently. So, I guess it goes hand in hand to let your dog shit anywhere and then not pick it up in Italy. Toilets flush from the wall and the tanks are not attached. Bidets are interesting. I guess people have really clean buttholes in Italy but at the same time..if you use this feature..your butt is now wet and you have to dry it..This seems like a lot of extra steps to use the bathroom. Showers SUCK in Europe. We have it made here for showering in comfort. Money is prettier and Italy is somehow prettier while still being just as dirty if not dirtier than America. JFK airport is a complete joke and if their security checkpoint is supposed to actually be a secure spot in which people are checked then we are doomed. Completely unorganized with 3 ladies who donât speak English or know whatâs going on plus one overweight Asian cop who cares more if you put your passport in your mouth than what you brought back in from a different country. Overall, the food and coffee is better and fresher. People actually take pride in what they are serving you. The food was simple but tasted amazing and didnât make me feel like shit. Coffee will never be the same for me and I hate us for our lack of ability to reproduce the perfect cup.
I read an entire book on the flight, âLooking for Alaskaâ, and Iâm proud of myself for that.
âThere were so many of us who would have to live with things done and things left undone that day. Things that did not go right, things that seemed ok at the time because we could not see the future. If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our small actions. But we canât know until knowing better is useless.â
Eric pretty much took my on this vacation except for the $700 I managed to contribute. We laughed, we cried, we fought, we loved, we grew. We did it together. There are some things we both really need to get better at. Our bads are both really bad and our goods are both really good. I just hope we can find ways to balance it out together while always loving each other. I hope to see so much more with this amazing human.
I really missed Vic but my parents did such a great job taking care of him and I know he loves it there. My Gram was so excited to talk to me and it made me so happy!
Iâll end with a quote from my Dad, âAlright Leeski, I canât believe it, youâre a freeking world travelerâ.
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