Venezia- what a place. Sure, tourism is at the heart of this city, but somehow, that is what adds to its charm. At the main promenade at the water, as well as near the Rialto bridge, stand after stand tries to sell visitors traditional-style masks, Murano glass of every shape and size, and cheesy Venice apparel. My recommendation is to veer off into the many, similar-looking alleys of the city and get lost for a few hours. Everything here is picture-worthy, from the multitude of church bell towers to every door and window of every building on every street. I couldn't have chosen a better location for the hotel. Just off the beaten path, it is on a street with bars and stores that local Venetians shop at, yet is only a 2 minute walk to the water, where all the tourists flock to from their overpriced hotels or cruise ships.
St. Mark's Square is definitely a sight to behold, though I found the interior of the church to be a little underwhelming. I was a little disappointed that they charged to visit the different parts of the basilica- the treasury and the golden altar, for example, each had separate admissions.
I was able to steal some wifi at the piazza near my hotel. For lunch, I grabbed some mediocre Sicilian pizza, and picked up a 1 liter box of wine for 1.20 Euro, both of which were from the local establishments on my street, and enjoyed them in the piazza. That is a lot of wine for one person, so the rest of the evening was a blur.
I returned to the hotel at 1am, to a snoring brother who kept me up all night.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 - Roma, Italia
Today was a full day of sightseeing that was actually productive instead of wasting hours looking for pizza and good gelato. In the morning I had to make a pit stop at Piazza di Spagna to (FINALLY) exchange my dollars to Euro and Swiss Francs. While there I was able to get some very very amazing marguerita pizza rustica... it was still 10am, ha. From there I hopped back on the metro and headed toward the Vatican. As always, I was blown away by the sheer size and decadence of the basilica. As a Catholic, this is essentially my Mecca and I find it necesssary to return here every few years to feel at peace. It sounds strange, I know. That's just how I feel. My visit was brief and was spent mostly trying to find the rest of my family, who I was meeting there.
Later in the day I visited Piazza Venezia, which is an oversized, out of character, white monument to Italy's last king Vittorio Emmanuele. I can't stress enough how massive the monument is, and how noticeable it is from afar, perhaps because its white facade constrasts with the brownish tinge of old Rome. Just behind it is Il Campodoglio, Rome's capitol building, designed magnificently by Michaelangelo. Broad, slanted steps take you up to the star-patterned circle on top, best seen from the air to truly appreciate the design (try Google Earth), surrounded by large statues of great Romans on horses.
Dinner was held back at Zia Pina's, with Buccatini al' Amatriciana as the main course, and plenty of wine to go around. It is very easy to be a drunk in Rome, as many bottles of wine can be bought for 1-3 Euro. Bedtime came early because I had to be up by 3 to catch a taxi to the station to catch a bus to Ciampino airport to catch a plane to Venice. Got all that?
Later in the day I visited Piazza Venezia, which is an oversized, out of character, white monument to Italy's last king Vittorio Emmanuele. I can't stress enough how massive the monument is, and how noticeable it is from afar, perhaps because its white facade constrasts with the brownish tinge of old Rome. Just behind it is Il Campodoglio, Rome's capitol building, designed magnificently by Michaelangelo. Broad, slanted steps take you up to the star-patterned circle on top, best seen from the air to truly appreciate the design (try Google Earth), surrounded by large statues of great Romans on horses.
Dinner was held back at Zia Pina's, with Buccatini al' Amatriciana as the main course, and plenty of wine to go around. It is very easy to be a drunk in Rome, as many bottles of wine can be bought for 1-3 Euro. Bedtime came early because I had to be up by 3 to catch a taxi to the station to catch a bus to Ciampino airport to catch a plane to Venice. Got all that?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Sun, Oct 4, 2009 - Roma, Italia
The Italian treatment of the Church is the ultimate irony. This is the world's center for the Catholicism. There are churches on every corner. Yet, the majority of the population doesn't attend mass, and when they do, it's under their own terms- they kneel only when they feel like it; they show up as early or late as they feel. This was very evident when I attended mass this morning, but it was a mass nonetheless. The rest of the day was spent around the historical and "touristy" sites of the city- the Coloseum, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi, etc. I could lie and say that the pizza I had was better than anything available in the US, but the truth is that it was just okay. I blame this on eating in tourist area. The gelato, however, blew my mind. Half nutella flavor and half chocolate with hot peppers. Simply amazing. The endcap was dinner back at Zia Pina's place. I'm pooped, and it's only 11:30. I have very limited internet access at the moment, so the longer posts will have to wait for now. Tomorrow will be spent at The Vatican. Goodnight.
Sat, Oct 3, 2009 - Roma, Italia
(NOTE: ALL PICTURES WILL BE UPLOADED ON MON, OCTOBER 5TH.)
We arrived in Fiumicino a few minutes ahead of schedule despite leaving a little late. A half-hour shuttle ride later we were at Zia Pina's home, the place I'll be staying during my time in Rome. We didn't have too much downtime. I decided I wanted to go to American Express (near Piazza di Spagna) to exchange money. So we went. And were there 15 minutes late. Closing time is early on Saturdays. So, 4 hours later we were back home, and I was still without any Euro. I got about 10 minutes of naptime in before the rest of mia famiglia began showing up. I got a ride with my cousin Maurizio to Massimo's casa for a dinner party. Food and drink was aplenty. Rabbit stuffed with pork, chicken con mozzarella, it was all great. And the desserts, yikes. Homemade merengue topped with hot chocolate syrup, chocolate, mousse, gelato... it went on and on. The night ended with philosophical and economic talk over Cubans and Guatemalan rum.
We arrived in Fiumicino a few minutes ahead of schedule despite leaving a little late. A half-hour shuttle ride later we were at Zia Pina's home, the place I'll be staying during my time in Rome. We didn't have too much downtime. I decided I wanted to go to American Express (near Piazza di Spagna) to exchange money. So we went. And were there 15 minutes late. Closing time is early on Saturdays. So, 4 hours later we were back home, and I was still without any Euro. I got about 10 minutes of naptime in before the rest of mia famiglia began showing up. I got a ride with my cousin Maurizio to Massimo's casa for a dinner party. Food and drink was aplenty. Rabbit stuffed with pork, chicken con mozzarella, it was all great. And the desserts, yikes. Homemade merengue topped with hot chocolate syrup, chocolate, mousse, gelato... it went on and on. The night ended with philosophical and economic talk over Cubans and Guatemalan rum.
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 - New York, NY
(NOTE: ALL PICTURES WILL BE UPLOADED ON MON, OCTOBER 5TH.)
My brother Michael, my sister-in-law Kara, my niece Lexi, my nephew Kaiden, and my grandmother are accompanying me to Roma. The limo ride to JFK was surprisingly fast. We ran into almost no traffic and managed to get there at a record pace. The airport experience itself was also surprisingly not bad at all.
I just woke up from small slumber. I'm sitting between my sleeping niece and a sleeping Italian and I'm quite parched, but I can't awaken the neighbors by getting up for a drink. I want to thank Keenan Korab for her generosity in letting me use her netbook while on my trip. It's loaded with some good tunes as well, despite the fact that itunes is such a dog on an Intel Atom-powered computer. At this moment, "Zak And Sara" by Ben Folds is playing and it brings me back to the last time I was in Italy a few years ago. I listened to this album daily during that visit. It's around midnight eastern time, which means we'll be landing in an hour. By my estimates, we'll be reaching the French Alps at any moment. The flight was a great disappointment. I'm used to having monitors for each passenger with access to a multitude of movies, shows, and videogames on demand. Instead we got the old-fashioned, "hear are your terrible free headphones so that you can listen to the movie that we choose to show you on the tv's in the aisle." The headphones didn't work. Not that I was in the mood for an Eddie Murphy movie anyway. Nuff said. It seems like I will be in for a full day of family things, which is always nice, but I fear that by the afternoon, I'll be ready to crash, and I'll be struggling to stay awake when I have dinner at my cousin Massimo's house. Speaking of food, I just saw them walk by pushing a cart of ham and cheese sandwiches!! Yummy. That's my cue to peace.
My brother Michael, my sister-in-law Kara, my niece Lexi, my nephew Kaiden, and my grandmother are accompanying me to Roma. The limo ride to JFK was surprisingly fast. We ran into almost no traffic and managed to get there at a record pace. The airport experience itself was also surprisingly not bad at all.
I just woke up from small slumber. I'm sitting between my sleeping niece and a sleeping Italian and I'm quite parched, but I can't awaken the neighbors by getting up for a drink. I want to thank Keenan Korab for her generosity in letting me use her netbook while on my trip. It's loaded with some good tunes as well, despite the fact that itunes is such a dog on an Intel Atom-powered computer. At this moment, "Zak And Sara" by Ben Folds is playing and it brings me back to the last time I was in Italy a few years ago. I listened to this album daily during that visit. It's around midnight eastern time, which means we'll be landing in an hour. By my estimates, we'll be reaching the French Alps at any moment. The flight was a great disappointment. I'm used to having monitors for each passenger with access to a multitude of movies, shows, and videogames on demand. Instead we got the old-fashioned, "hear are your terrible free headphones so that you can listen to the movie that we choose to show you on the tv's in the aisle." The headphones didn't work. Not that I was in the mood for an Eddie Murphy movie anyway. Nuff said. It seems like I will be in for a full day of family things, which is always nice, but I fear that by the afternoon, I'll be ready to crash, and I'll be struggling to stay awake when I have dinner at my cousin Massimo's house. Speaking of food, I just saw them walk by pushing a cart of ham and cheese sandwiches!! Yummy. That's my cue to peace.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thurs, Oct 1, 2009 - Nazareth, PA
The mind is a cluttered mess. We have enough trouble remembering a person's name that we met just yesterday, let alone remembering details of a trip that we took years ago. It is for this reason that I am making this blog. Thanks to the wonders of the interweb, I can easily document, in detail, my trip to Europe and be able to go back to this blog time and time again to refresh my memory of hopefully a wonderful trip. I'm doing this for me just as much as I am for you, but I invite you to come along for the ride.
Above each entry there will be a link to view photos. Those photos will be an album pertaining specifically to that particular entry.
The camera that I'll be using on the trip is an Olympus Evolt E-500 Digital SLR with both the standard 14-45mm lens, as well as the larger 40-150mm lens. This will be my first attempt at experimenting with HDRI photography. I think the scenery will lend itself well to the surrealistic and colorful output that is produced by HDR images. Note: I will not post any of the HDR images until after I return home and can use Photoshop or a similar program to create the images. I'll eventually create a separate album just for them.
I hope you enjoy the blog and the pictures. Feel free to leave comments. Cheers.
Above each entry there will be a link to view photos. Those photos will be an album pertaining specifically to that particular entry.
The camera that I'll be using on the trip is an Olympus Evolt E-500 Digital SLR with both the standard 14-45mm lens, as well as the larger 40-150mm lens. This will be my first attempt at experimenting with HDRI photography. I think the scenery will lend itself well to the surrealistic and colorful output that is produced by HDR images. Note: I will not post any of the HDR images until after I return home and can use Photoshop or a similar program to create the images. I'll eventually create a separate album just for them.
I hope you enjoy the blog and the pictures. Feel free to leave comments. Cheers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
