Roma, Italia

After we arrived in Rome from Sorrento very late at night, we checked in at our hotel and ate dinner at a restaurant in the same plaza. Also in the same plaza was the Pantheon. This was our view from dinner that night...

View of the Pantheon from dinner (it's way bigger than it looks) - our hotel is the far left building

Rome is a beautiful city with so much history. Here's what we did each day in Rome:

Day 1 // West of the River Tevere & Vatican

On our first morning in Rome, we slept in. We were exhausted from the past week and the sleep was just what we needed (however, we found out later that by sleeping in, we missed the Pope that morning in St. Peter's Square...oops...my mom was not very happy about that).

Palazzo di Giustizia

We traveled west of the River Tevere to the Vatican. On our way there, we saw Piazza Navona, Castel Sant' Angelo, and Palazzo di Giustizia (the Palace of Justice - Supreme Court). We had been told that in Rome ruins, castles, and churches pop up out of nowhere. They literally do...they are everywhere! And they are gorgeous.

We had an appointment with a private Vatican tour guide at 1:00pm. He was recommended by my mom's friend from high school who grew up in the Naples area as the "best tour guide in Rome." He certainly lived up to the hype!

For one, it was wonderful to be able to skip the lines and not travel in a giant group. But more than that, he was so informative and knew just what to show us. We began at the Vatican Museum and worked our way through Vatican City to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.

One of the 50+ galleries in the Vatican museum. My mom
thinks that my photography skills are lacking.
Opinions? :) I'll admit, this one could have been better...

Neither my mom nor I realized how much was in the Vatican Museum before we began (quite frankly, I didn't even know it existed). It was just packed full of sculptures, paintings, and other artifacts from Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. And the museum was practically an ancient artifact itself, as it was built in the 16th century. I'm not sure what was more amazing: the ceilings, floors, and walls of the museum or what the museum contained! The walls and ceilings were adorned with velvet, paintings, and gold, and the floors were first or second century A.D. mosaics.

Probably my favorite artifacts in the museum were those from Egypt. Our tour guide, Giovanni, told us that red marble (kind of looks like maroon) was originally from Egypt. When the Romans found out how rare and valuable that particular marble was, they took it all, and it was used only for royal purposes. A few of the sculptures in the museum were from this red marble. It was so wonderful having Giovanni explain all of this to us in an entertaining and concise way. He even let my mom sit on an original, 2000+ year old Egyptian Sphinx (even though she wasn't supposed to). I learned more history from Giovanni than I had in any of my history classes.

Sneaking a picture of my mom on the
ancient Egyptian Sphinx

After making our way through the museum, we arrived at the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was an absolute genius. Giovanni was telling us about how he did his work and how creative/talented he was. Although the chapel was beautiful, it wasn't that much better than the walls and ceilings of the museum...everything was so amazing. I think my mom and I had our mouths hanging open the entire three hour tour.

From the Sistine Chapel we entered St. Peter's Basilica which was breathtaking (well, everything was breathtaking, but the Basilica even more so). It is huge, and every inch is covered in gold, garnishments, sculptures, etc.

However, I felt uncomfortable in the Basilica for two reasons. The first is because it felt like it was almost entirely dedicated to the papacy. There are a few crucifixes and paintings of Jesus here and there, but past popes were obviously the center of attention. I'm glad that Pope Francis is much more humble than his predecessors.

The second reason the Basilica made me uncomfortable is because of just how grandiose it was. The museum was as well, but I looked at the museum through more of a historical lens, of how things used to be. I should have expected the same from the Basilica, knowing the time period that it was built in, and the corruption in the papacy at that time - but it was still shocking to me how much the Basilica demonstrated the church's focus on money, material, and power when it was built.

One of the sculpture halls in the Vatican museum -
the walls were lined with busts and full body sculptures:
Roman on the left, Greek on the right!

In the Sistine Chapel, half of one of the sections of Michelangelo's work is dedicated to the old testament and the other to the new testament. Giovanni was pointing out how they wanted to show the difference between the time before Christ and after Christ. Michelangelo did this by depicting old testament religious leaders with lots of material possessions, and Christ shunning material possessions. Ironically, I think that the papacy missed the key message there when they re-constructed the Basilica...if Jesus were alive today, I don't think he would approve of it one bit (nor the focus on the papacy).

Regardless, the Basilica was beautiful and the history was fascinating. It was very interesting to see how they chose to build the Basilica and what they highlighted in that time (1500-1600's), from a historical perspective. I chose to view it more historically than religiously, because to view it as the utmost sacred place of worship didn't feel right to me given my reasons above.

Day 2 // East of the River Tevere & Colosseum

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

On our second day in Rome, we walked 21,256 steps, according to our step-counter. This is mainly because we could not for the longest time, no matter what we did, find the Spanish steps. My mom really wanted to see the Spanish steps, so we marked it on day one in Rome on our map from the hotel. We probably spent about an hour looking for them - wandering aimlessly, asking Italians that didn't know what we were talking about.

Finally, someone was able to direct us. The whole time, we had been going to the eastern side of the city, to Palazzo dell Esposizioni. In my haste marking the map, I thought that was the Spanish steps (the picture looked like it). The Spanish steps are actually at the Trinitá dei Monti, in the northern area of the city - marked Piazza di Spagna. A silly mistake by me - at least we got in a lot of walking! Unfortunately, the Spanish steps were not very impressive.

The Colosseum

We also saw the Quirinale, the residence of the president, while we were searching for the Spanish steps. We found this out after we got WiFi and were able to use Google to search what we had just seen. However, I should have gathered what it was earlier, after I asked one of the Italian guards what "that" building was and he responded "Quirinale" in a, "are you seriously asking me this question" tone. Probably similar to pointing at the White House and asking an American, "what's that?" We also saw the Monumento a Vittorio Emauele II. Unfortunately, Trevi Fountain was under repair with no water :(

Arc of Constantine

Our last landmark of the day was the Colosseum. It was amazing to see inside of it and know how old it is. However, I wasn't incredibly fond of it just because of what happened inside - the fact that Romans watched people die for their own entertainment. I just don't get it. The ruins around the Colosseum were really cool, though - especially the Arc of Constantine.



--------------------------------

The next morning, before we left for Florence, we ate at the BEST restaurant thus far. It was called, "il Barroccio." We found it totally randomly on a street behind our hotel. When we sat down, we were their only patrons. But the restaurant across the street was full! The entire time we were there, we watched the hostess try and get people to come to the restaurant. And no one came for at least twenty minutes. I felt so bad, and was so confused because the food was amazing. Then I looked down the street and all restaurants on our side of the street had no patrons - and every restaurant on the other side of the street was packed. The strangest thing. I made sure to leave a 5-star Yelp review after we left :)

We took a train to Florence, which was quite the experience at first. When we walked into the train station, I was approached by someone who I thought worked for the station. All she said was "can I help you?" and I asked where our platform was. She then showed us the whole way there and helped us with our bags (even when we didn't ask her to). Well, she then came onto the train with us and demanded 20 Euro for her service. It was incredibly uncomfortable and we ended up only giving her 5. Apparently, you're supposed to bargain with people that do that, but still, I did not like the experience. I thought it was so shady that she didn't tell us she would charge us, or even what she was doing. Oh well, I learned.

Beautiful sunset over the Panthon from the rooftop bar of our hotel - Arrevederci, Roma!

Rome was so wonderful, and I hope that I get to go back someday - because really you need more like a week or two to really get to know the city. So, we said "arrivederci Roma" as we drove away in the taxi at the prompting of the driver, instead of "ciao," because arrivederci means "until we meet again."

Sorrento, Italia

Our second stop in Italy was Sorrento, near the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento is a beautiful resort town situated on a cliff above the sea. It is home to gorgeous hotels, shopping, nightlife, and of course unlimited restaurants. Here's what we did during our stay:

Day 1 // Sorrento

Once we were settled in our hotel after Chiara and Giuseppe left (and only after we were able to stop crying), we went down to the beach. In order to get there, you have to take a lift through the cliffs in a tiny little elevator. Not good for claustrophobia...

"Leonelli's" beach below our hotel on the cliff

At the beach, we ordered some seafood and swam in the Mediterranean (specifically Sorrento is on the Tyrrhenian Sea part of the Mediterranean). It feels like bath water - much nicer than Hawaii. The water is a perfect shade of aqua and you can see the bottom practically all the time. It's also incredibly salty - I could swim with my eyes open, and my contacts were just fine because the water was like my saline solution! 

After spending the day at the beach, we got ready for the evening and ate dinner/shopped around Sorrento. We had a great time, but were still incredibly sad about having left our family...

Day 2 // Capri

City of Capri

On day two in Sorrento, we explored Capri. Capri is a small island off the Amalfi Coast - and also is where many celebrities go to vacation. When we got there, it was clear why... it's gorgeous and full of high-end shopping for fashion and jewelry.

View of Capri from the hydrofoil

We rode the hydrofoil which is similar to a ferry, but a little smaller. It took us along the beautiful Amalfi Coast. As we approached the island, we saw the stunning sea town of Capri built into one of the mountains on the island.

Inside the Blue Grotto

We first took a tour to the Blue Grotto which is a little cave on the east side of the island. The rocks in this cave are in such a position that the sunlight bends in the water to create the bluest blue you could ever imagine...

However, in order to get into the Grotto, you have to take a little tiny row-boat and lay down because the entrance is about 5 feet wide by 3 feet tall. Once inside, each rowboat captain sings Italian songs and rows you around the Grotto. It was a wonderful experience, but I probably wouldn't do it a second time just because of how long it takes to actually get into the Grotto since there are so many people.

View overlooking Capri

When we arrived back in the main town of Capri, we ate lunch and started up to the top of the mountain via tram. That's where all of the high-end shops are and all of the residences. From the top, we had an absolutely gorgeous outlook of the island and the water.

We had a bit of trouble finding our return hydrofoil, but once we did, we got back to the hotel and repeated what we did the previous evening in Sorrento - just with different stores and different restaurants :)

Day 3 // Pompeii

Pompeii was the destination for our third day. We took the train from the Sorrento station (about 30 minutes). Pompeii attracts many tourists - the ruins are so crowded that sometimes it is difficult to walk (especially when you get stuck behind a large group tour).

Ruins in Pompeii

The ancient city was fascinating. Unfortunately, the entire time we were in Pompeii, it was dark and rainy. We got caught in a thunderstorm, pouring down rain, and took refuge under the old, ruin arches.

Ristorante 'O Parrucchiano

We received a map of Pompeii at the ticket booth, but quickly found that it did not correspond one bit with the signs on the ruins. We would walk around in circles trying to make the numbers line up and then realize we weren't even within a mile of where we should be. After a couple hours, we concluded we'd seen enough ruins in the rain.

The restaurant that we went to on our last night in Sorrento was the most beautiful restaurant I have ever seen/will ever see. We were walking down the main street of Sorrento looking for a place to eat, and we saw a restaurant that looked like any other. We were pretty hungry so we thought we'd try it. Well - walk up about three flights of stairs and the entire restaurant is an atrium with multiple gardens and strung white-lights overhead. The food was amazing too :)

Day 4 // Positano

We had originally planned to visit Positano after we saw Pompeii because we were to take a somewhat early train to Rome in the morning of Day 4. Well, the only available trains to Rome were at 6am and 5pm. So we chose 5pm.

Beach of Positano

This actually worked out perfectly because then we had the whole day to explore Positano. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a bus to Positano (only about 30 minutes away) because it was full. So we took a taxi. The taxi driver was very entertaining and had a lot to say about life and about the world. He told us about the differences between North and South Italy, how much influence the Mafia has, and what it was like to grow up in Naples, and then Los Angeles. My favorite quote: "I haven't traveled the world, but the world has traveled to my cab."

Once in Positano, we immediately bought a bus ticket for our return trip to Sorrento. We didn't want them to be sold out again...

Positano stairs - on the
way back up...

Positano is another little sea town built into the cliff, similar to Capri - and it is famous for its stairs that wind their way down from the top to the shore of the beach. My mom wanted to take the stairs all the way down, so we did. We ate lunch, we had gelato, took pictures on the shore. When it came time to get back for our bus, we took the stairs up. Little did we know that no one takes the stairs on the way up - they take the shuttle - and we found out why. They're absolutely brutal! It wasn't that there were too many of them (300), but that they were very tall steps.

Well, we missed our bus because it came early, so we had to take yet another taxi on our way home in order to make the 5pm bus to Rome (these taxi bills really start to add up, especially after you do the Euro-U.S. dollar conversion).

We arrived back in Sorrento, took the bus to Rome, and arrived at our hotel around 9:30pm - which is right next to the Pantheon!

-------------------------------------

High of Sorrento: discovering the beauty that is the Cappuccino

Low of Sorrento: (1) the realization that it takes a very expensive machine to make a good one & (2) I'll never have Cappuccinos in the U.S. that are as delicious as those in Italy

See the next post for our adventures in Roma... :) Ciao!

Pago Veiano, Italia

My journey through vacationing in Italy to studying in London began with visiting family in Pago Veiano, Italy. My mom's grandfather and grandmother were born in Pago Veiano and left for America, where all of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have stayed for good. My mom's aunt was the first to make the connection back to family in Pago Veiano when she visited over forty years ago. We are the first to journey to Pago since her, and our experience was amazing.

We were instantly welcomed into the lives and the homes of our family. It felt as though we had known them forever. Here's what we did each day:

Day 1 // Family

View from the front porch

We were greeted at the airport in Napoli by Giuseppe (father) and Chiara (daughter) Gagliarde. Giuseppe is my mom's second cousin, and Chiara is twelve years old. They only speak Italian, so at first my mom and I weren't quite sure how to communicate. Only one person in the whole extended family in Pago of at least 30 people spoke any English. What's amazing is that language never felt like a barrier because they immediately welcomed us and made us feel at home, just with their actions.

First, Giuseppe drove us to a fish restaurant in Pago. This was our first experience with the usual Italian meal: we had about 8 or 9 different plates of fish, one after the other. In Italy (or at least in Pago / Campania region), meals can last up to about 3 hours because there are so many courses, and people stay around and talk and hang out in between. The fish was amazing - I've never had anything like it. Giuseppe also drove us to his store in Pietrelcina (a neighboring small town).

Some family visiting us at the house

Next, we went to their house and met the rest of their immediate family, Giuseppina (mother), and Nicolangelo (son). They have a gorgeous pool that overlooks the Pago Veiano countryside, full of agriculture. They put us up in a little bed and breakfast close by, and we were able to take a nap to sleep off some of the jet lag...

Espresso at Midnight: Chiara, Giuseppina,
Giuseppe Gagliarde, Giuseppe de Girolamo
(another cousin), and mom.

When we returned to their house around 8:30pm, the entire extended family had come to greet us. Each person welcomed us and treated us like long-lost friends. There were probably about 30 people that came. We ate amazing food, learned some Italian, and laughed a lot. 

Perhaps the most moving experience for me was when Zia Grazia arrived. She is the same generation as my mom's parents at 85 years old. When she came, both her and my mom embraced and immediately started crying. Both were so happy to see each other, even though they've never met.

After meeting lots of family and having a great time, we went out for espresso. Let's just say I kind of like espresso a lot now...

Day 2 // Pago Veiano & Pietrelcina

On the morning of our second day, we were picked up by Francesca de Girolamo (cousin about my age) and Chiara. They toured us through Pago Veiano and Pietrelcina. First, we went to see one of the many places dedicated to Padre Pio, a saint that used to live in Pietrelcina. A chapel sat on the top of a hill overlooking much of Pietrelcina.

Padre Pio's Chapel overlooking Pago

We saw "the eye of Pago Veiano" - some ruins that used to be a palace. It had amazing carvings in the rock/marble walls and ceilings. For lunch, Francesca took us to her family's house in Pago. Her father, Luigi, and her mother, Anna Maria, prepared wonderful food for us (everyone throughout the whole trip was incredibly accommodating for me as a vegetarian).

The Eye of Pago Veiano:
Francesca (our cousin & tour
guide for the day), me, and Chiara

Later, we went back to Giuseppe and Giuseppina's house to go swimming, and to eat another delicious (and three hour long) dinner they had prepared. My mom and I now have a new way of making pasta sauce - we're ditching tomato paste/marinara that you buy in the store for just sautéed tomatoes with mozzarella and basil. So much better, and probably healthier for you. And of course with every meal, there was never-ending vino (the white wine in Pago Veiano is wonderful) and Strega (an Italian liquor made in Benevento).

At one point during the day, they also took us to tour Giuseppina's family's biscotti factory and store. They make tons of Italian cookies at her factory in Pago and export their product internationally - to even Australia! We sat out on the porch with Giuseppina's sister and parents, where her father serenaded my mom with Italian songs.

That night, they took me on both a four-wheeler and a vespa through the rugged, dark, one-lane streets of Pago. With no helmet. Probably one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but fun :)

Day 3 // Benevento

Benevento: Martina, me, Graziana

On our third day, my mom and I toured around Benevento and a little bit more of Pietrelcina with Chiara, Graziana (cousin), Martina (cousin ...and possibly my twin), and Donata (aunt).

Side note: In Italy, anyone that is a cousin in your generation is called a cousin, and anyone that is a cousin in the generations above you is called an aunt/uncle.

Pietrelcina: me, Martina, mom

Benevento is a very cool city. We saw churches, schools, shops, and of course had gelato. After we finished with Benevento, we drove to Zia Grazia's house for lunch where I had probably the most food I've ever had in one sitting - and it was DELICIOUS!

Benevento: me, mom, Martina,
Chiara, Zia Donata

At Zia Grazia's, Martina and Rita (Martina's friend) taught me conjugations for Italian regular verbs. Neither of them speak English, but they know a few words, and I learned the value of hand and body signals for communication. Zia Grazia also gave me a huge Italian-English dictionary because she said she wants to be able to communicate with me. It was a very sweet and thoughtful gesture - and for the rest of the trip, my nose was glued to that dictionary.

Giuseppe de Girolamo's house: where
my great-grandfather was born

For dinner, we went to Giuseppe de Girolamo's home in Pago Veiano, which is the house in which my mom's grandfather was born and grew up.

For dinner, lots of family came over. The young adults my age were very patient and taught me lots of Italian that night. By this point, we were exhausted, but so excited to share all of our experiences with our family (who were 9 hours behind us in the states), so we stayed up until about 3am.

Day 4 // Avellino

View from the top of Avellino

For our last full day in Pago Veiano, Giuseppe took my mom and I to see Avellino. By itself, Avellino is a beautiful town. But we also went and toured the Torrone factory. Torrone is a nougat that is sold under a few different brand names. Guiseppe owns a store in Pietrelcina, and he buys Torrone in bulk to sell.

Monastery in Avellino

At the top of Avellino was a monastery that overlooked Avellino and surrounding towns. Giuseppe kept teasing me that he was going to leave me to be a nun at the monastery. Later on, we went to his store in Pietrelcina to unload the goods from Torrone, and there happened to be Dominicans going into a Padre Pio gift shop next door. Of course, Giuseppe stopped them and made them take a picture with me, calling me "suora (nun) Marilena."

Final dinner with the Gagliardes: Nicolangelo, mom
Chiara, Giuseppe, me, Giuseppina

For dinner, we went to a pizzeria with Giuseppe, Giuseppina, Chiara, and Nicolangelo. After, we went to Zia Grazia and Zia Donata's house and then Giuseppe's to say goodbye to members of the family. It was incredibly difficult. Zia Grazia reminded us not to forget her in her slow, deliberate Italian, through tears running down her face.

The following morning, Giuseppe and Chiara drove us all the way to our hotel in Sorrento, but they had to get going since it was a busy weekend at their store. It was so hard to say goodbye...I have a feeling I will be back in Pago Veiano soon...hopefully while I'm studying in London I can take a trip there on a weekend.

---------------------------------------------

I learned a lot from our Pago Veiano trip. It was my first experience in another country (besides Canada), so there's a lot of new feelings/thoughts that come from that alone.

Specifically, one of my observations pertains to public health. People in Italy don't wear seat belts very often. Chiara told me it's not a law to wear a seat belt in the backseat of a car. Every time we got in their car, they would discourage me to wear my seat belt - and in fact they didn't even have a buckle for it! On top of that, Italians drive very fast, and lane lines are just guidelines, not fixed lanes. Throughout the whole trip, I was thinking to myself, "wow, they must have a lot of road injuries/fatalities." So I looked this up with the IHME Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 visualization, comparing Italy to the U.S. I found that across the board, Italians have fewer road injuries/fatalities per 100,000 than the U.S... this confuses me so much.

The main thing I took away from my trip is the importance of family and language. I learned that family is family no matter the distance, and those instant connections that we made are so valuable and must be preserved. I also found that I am fascinated by language. I was interested in Spanish early on and took it for about eight years. It helped me quite a bit in understanding Italian, but now I really want to learn Italian. I'm hoping that I can learn a lot more before I return to Pago Veiano :)

Ciao for now!