No parlo italiano

All of these adventures make for one exhausted gringa. After 4 days of travel in Italy I arrived back in Madrid tired and dirty. But I can't complain because I was also full of gelato and pasta and carrying a few items made of genuine Italian leather.

We jetted off early Friday morning to Rome and spent a whirlwind two days seeing the sights (Colosseum, Pantheon, Palatine, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Vatican, and Villa Borghese), catching up with my friend Lena from SLU, eating as much gelato, pasta, and pizza as we could find, and pretending we were in the Lizzie McGuire Movie. Then we hopped on a train to Florence for two days where I was able to see my best friend Anna!

In the Colosseum

Villa Borghese

Making a wish at the Trevi Fountain!

My favorite sight in Rome was the Colosseum. We took a tour from a Roman woman with bright teal eye liner who preferred McDonald's ice cream to gelato...go figure. She had so many interesting stories about the Colosseum. I started to realize that the whole idea of the Colosseum is pretty morbid. It was used as an entertainment venue but the entertainment was watching men die in various disturbing ways. For example, they would bring in crocodiles and lions and the people would fill the stadium to watch the animals face the humans. The first time they brought in crocodiles they realized it was too many because the water stopped moving in a matter of minutes and the men were nowhere to be seen...but soon they realized the perfect number of crocodiles was 3 because the fight lasted longer. It seems so strange to me that people enjoyed seeing these things. I guess it could be compared to a bull fight in Spain, those who are not accustomed to the tradition find it cruel and difficult to watch.

Piazza de Michelangelo

Florence was much less touristy than Rome which I liked. It was easier to get around and more manageable. We spent the first day catching up and eating giant pizzas inside because it was raining. But the second day was beautiful and we were able to climb to Piazza Michalangelo and see panoramic views of the city. Then we saw the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo church. We tried to go to the Academia museum to see Michalangelo's the David but it was closed! It was a bummer but we spent our sorrows away at the San Lorenzo market which sells all sorts of Italian leather goodies and other cool items. We spent the day bartering and I bought a real Italian leather bag after arguing about the price for a pretty long time...my mom would have been proud of my bartering skills. We spent the rest of the afternoon having tea and pastries and then it was time to say goodbye to Anna and head back to Rome.

Il Duomo

 On to the food: I ate 4-cheese and walnut cream gnocchi, penne alla siciliana, spaghetti nonna rosa, mushroom pizza, margherita pizza, prosciutto pizza, a turkey pesto panini, a a prosciutto panini, a nutella croissant, oreo gelato, tiramisu gelato, chocolate gelato and peanut butter gelato. Add lots of bread, some great balsamic vinaigrette, various pastries and wine and you could say my stomach left Italy feeling VERY satsified.

My trip to Italy was wonderful and I could not have asked for a better weekend with my old and new friends. (Although it wasn't quite like Lizzie McGuire's trip to Rome) so here is a clip for you to enjoy!

I will upload pictures to my Flickr by this weekend, be sure to check 'em out!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Estoy aprendiendo sobre el imperio romano en mi clase de español. Hemos hablado sobre la arquitectura y el gobierno durante esa época. Podía ver evidencia del imperio, por ejemplo los sillares en las estructuras en muchos lugares de la ciudad. Los sillares son los ladrillos grandes apilados para formar paredes enormes y son comunes en las ruinas de Roma. Una guía nos mostró algunos sitios incluyendo Colosseum, Panteón y Foro Romano. Aprendí sobre los emperadores en Roma y muchos de ellos eran horribles y mataron a muchas personas para razones insignificantes.

Piazza de Spagne

También fue a Piazza de Spagne o “The Spanish Steps.” Es un lugar bonito y los pasos son cubiertos con gente hablando y disfrutando el día. Los pasos fueron un regalo para unir la familia Bourbon con la iglesia católica en Roma. Durante mi tiempo en Roma, me sentía el gran poder de Roma durante la Edad Antigua en España y entiendo mejor la magnitud de su influencia. Para España, y mucho de Europa, hubiera sido imposible escapar el reinado de Roma.