And I Thought California Was Beautiful: Italy and Greece

I have been traveling now for 18 of the past 25 days, and although I am exhausted, I would never trade the things that I have gotten to see. For 12 days, I ventured to Italy and Greece with friends from the program. One of my top three places to see in Europe was Italy. While my other top places were simply cities (Paris and Berlin, to be exact), I had always wanted to see all of Italy since I imagined it to be so beautiful (and, of course, the food to be so good). Well, let me just say that I was not disappointed.

Our first stop was Venice. Honestly, it actually is as amazing as everyone says. The entire city is on water. Instead of having a metro, they have water ferries and water taxis. It seems as though everything is floating precariously on the water, and I had to keep remembering that the city had been there for hundreds of years, and it wasn't going anywhere while I was there. It is sad that people say that Venice is sinking. For that reason, I am happy that I got to see it while it still exists.

My first Italian meal was a piece of pizza. Although I have, to a large extent, been dissatisfied with the pizza in Europe (it just tastes different), the pizza in Italy was different, but wonderful. I scarfed down two pieces for a little under 2 euro each and felt very satisfied with my purchase. Since we only had one day in Venice, we took a gondola ride, went to Murano island to see the famous glassblowing, and of course ate gelato. Unfortunately, Venice is also known for its mosquitoes. Italy began three weeks of being bitten by numerous mosquitoes from different countries.

The second city that we visited was Florence. Although I had been pushing the group to spend less time in Florence and more in Rome, I cannot explain just how beautiful the city was. The entire region of Tuscany is gorgeous, actually. I would like to go back to be able to explore the whole thing. We got to see Michelangelo's David while we were in Florence. It is amazing just how large and absolutely perfect the sculpture is. It is even possible to see David's viens showing through his enormous, strong hands. We sat there in awe, just staring up at such a masterpiece. I snuck a few clandestine photos, but they can't even begin to demonstrate how amazing it was.

The David

After the David, we climbed the Duomo, Florence's famous cathedral and got breathtaking views of the city.

Duomo

View of Florence

The next day we ate a wonderful lunch (my first spaghetti bolognese of Italy) and went to the Boboli gardens. These gardens used to be a part of the royal palace in Florence. They hold some of the most beautiful views of Tuscany that I have ever seen. My friends and I sat out in the garden for quite awhile, just looking at all that was in front of us. My friend Ali said that we would never forget that moment. I agree.

Stop three on our trip was Rome. I absolutely fell in love with the city. It is romantic like Paris, but also historical in a way that only Athens can compare to. The first day we went to the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel. It was different than I imagined it to be, but still absolutely amazing. We also went to St. Peter's Basilica and saw Michelangelo's La Pieta. I got a great picture for Mom, the only thing she requested from Italy. Rome meant more good food. The first night we were there, we had a three course meal. I had Roman pasta, meatballs, and the best strawberry dessert I have ever eaten. I felt like all I did in Italy was eat, but really, no complaints here.

La Pieta

The Sistine Chapel

The next day we conquered the history of the city, visiting the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, the ancient ruins, and the Colosseum. All of the things we saw were amazing. It is hard to believe that such an ancient society could have built such long lasting things, some of which confound engineers and architects to this day.

Roman Forum

Ancient Rome

Colosseum

Finally, it was time to leave Italy and head to Greece. We stayed on Santorini island with all of the pretty white houses and blue roofs. The island was also beautiful, with clear blue beaches and perfect skies. I found that I love a Greek dish called Moussaka. It is basically vegetables and meat baked into a kind of casserole with cheese. It looks like lasagna, but tastes completely different. I ate it at least four times while in Greece.

We ended our trip in Athens, the founding city of western civilization. We climbed up to the Parthenon and gazed out at the city below. All in all, the twelve days that I spent were amazing, and among the events that I will remember for the rest of my life, just like Ali said.