Find all the crosses...

in the Vatican. Just kidding, as that would take forever. Today, we had our Vatican City museum tour. This place is so big that you can't see everything. It's probably the largest art museum in all of Europe. Pretty impressive stuff in the halls, some dating BC. (seeing so much BC stuff is weird because you'll then find a piece from the 15th century and think 'meh, it's not THAT old'.) Once again, we had a Viatour which was great because our tour guide had the quietest voices, plus some of the Vatican is considered a holy place and you aren't supposed to talk.The most interesting part for me of course was the Sistine Chapel. Growing up, you always assume that the ceiling is only God touching Adam. That's where we're wrong. That fresco is one of 9 other frescoes, as well as two long borders containing more pictures. The thing is huge. To top it all off, you can paintings on the walls as well as The Last Judgement, everything all by Michaelangelo. He was SO talented and what's more amazing is that he wasn't even a painter. He didn't even want to paint it, but the Pope told him he had to. Glad he was forced to, although I expected something brighter, or a cathedral with stained glass, more like the Sainte Chappelle in Paris. Aaron envisioned a much larger cathedral.

We also saw the Raphael rooms, but sadly, I think both Aaron and myself were underwhelmed with it all. It could've been that it's the end of the trip, that we've seen a billion paintings already, or that there were a billion people in the museum today....I'm not really sure. It's definitely something you should NOT miss though, as you can see his self portrait and it's in the room of the Pope.

He wanted larger, and we got it. St. Peter's Basillica is the largest church in Europe. It's a Baroque church filled with marbles and gold, crosses, and since it's in the Vatican, everything 'Pope'. Our favorite part of this church was a plaque that listed every pope and their death year followed by the next Pope. I think the Pope that reigned the longest was leader for 38 years.

We also went into the grotto where most of the Popes of the past are buried. Since the most recent Pope died in 2005 and he's about to be beautified, there was a crowd around his grave. We tried finding Alexander Borgias' grave, but I don't think he was down there due to the fact that he was a corrupt pope. Anyway, the past Pope is going to be truly 'blessed' come May 1st of this year.

After the Vatican, I made sure to send a couple postcards out since it's a different country than Rome. I sent a postcard to Trixie. I hope she gets it.

Our next stop was Castel Saint Angelo, the old castle for burying the first kings, as burying anyone inside the walls of Rome was forbidden. It was all right. After seeing all of the Vatican, I think it's hard to see ANYTHING else. It did have a nice view of Rome and almost everything inside was from the 1-5 centuries.

We went back to the Collusseum to take a picture in front of it because we were dumb asses yesterday and didn't get a shot in front of it. Once we finished this task, we walked to the Circus Maximus....and I cried when I found out it wasn't a circus. Just kidding, I knew. It was the old stadium for chariot races. It's not even excavated and the reason is because the city of Rome uses the field for concerts. If they excavate it, where will they have the concerts...so for now, chariot pieces and marble seats are under ground....We tried to see the Roman baths but we had trouble with the map and by then it was almost 5:30.

Gelato time

We heard from tons of people locally that the best gelato in Rome was Delle Palma, so of course, I have to try it. Not only was it NOT the best, the panna was SO disappointing. I feel like both Palma and Crispino should just add some sugar to their panna and they'll be golden. Also, their cones were not good. As our last gelateria, we decided to go out with a bang, so we went back to Giolitti's. The panna and the cones are perfect there....do yourself a favor and go there.

Stina- champagne and watermelon (the champagne tasted like champagne exactly. However, I didn't think this through....you like the drink champagne slowly and eat gelato fast. those two actions contradict each other and so does this flavor) The watermelon was AWESOME! I recommend getting watermelon gelato if you can't decide on a flavor. At Giolitti's, I got blueberry, strawberry, and sour cherry. The combo was ok. I think I needed a break from a berry.

Aaron- he opted for mousse today, getting perifertaroles and strawberry. He enjoyed both so much that he scraped his cup clean. At Giolitti's he got blueberry and pear. The pear was the best pear we've tasted, like real pureed fruit. It had bits of pear in it too. You know that feeling when you eat a pear and you get that 'chalky' feeling in your teeth? You get the same sensation when you eat this gelato. Aaron was trying to convince himself that his gelato counted as his fruit servings for the day.....no way, dude!

Arena, Ruins, and Bones, oh my!

Today was probably the most hiking we've done on the least amount of food. We did the Collusseum tour today with a wonderful tour guide through Viatour. I recommend this company as they give you a headset so you can hear your guide explaining the sights. There's nothing more frustrating on a tour than when you can't hear what is being said or you get lost. But no worries...

The Colusseum is MASSIVE! We got to go inside and walk up the stairs to the actual spots where the Vestal Virgins and the Emporer would have sat, the Galdiators' entrance, and we could also peer down into the ground area where the animals were kept. Our tour guide was very descriptive about ancient Rome, even telling us how they went to the bathroom, what they ate, and about the hand signals that the Emporer did and didn't do. There are some marble benches there that have the names of old Senators on them that also have named scratched out for when a Senator died and was replaced by another....kind of funny as they don't have marble eraser.

The forum was so ancient. Some of the things we were looking at her from BC. My favorite was the House of the Vestal Virgins, probably just because they were women. Our guide said that if a virgin was found to have slept with someone, she was buried alive, but not the way we think. They would put the girl in a room with a cup of water and a loaf of bread, THEN bury the room. This way, they couldn't be accused of killing a priestess. Seems like a loophole to me. Aaron really liked the gigantic bassilica.

After the Forum, we hit up the Capital museum. There were MANY famous busts and sculptures, including the Shewolf with Romulus and Remus. The courtyard to the museum was designed by Michelangelo. Man, he got around.

We then went cross town to the Cappuchin Crypt, the catacombs. They're actually only 2 blocks from our hotel. Yeah for convenience! This place was super eerie. Way more so than the Catacombs in Paris. It was filled with the bones of over 4000 friars. The creepiest part was that these bodies had been taken apart and made into shapes such as hourglasses, flowers, ovals, etc. There were even chandeliers made entirely of bones. They were hung by rope, but the rope was covered by femur to give the allusion of being made entirely of bone.

Aaron looked up "best gelateria in Rome" and 3 different websites claimed that 'San Crispino' was the best. So good, that they wouldn't even serve it in a cone because the cone would only distract you from the excellent flavors of their creations....I'm game. We got there and immediately asked if they had panna. They do. Ok, good start. (I also had an afternoon cone at some other place that was NOT good.)

Flavors

Stina- "San Crispino" honey and strawberry. Strawberry was amazing and the honey was refreshing but the panna was awful. It tasted like my parents' diet whipped cream that they made without sugar. Earlier in the day, I had kiwi and lemon. Meh about both. So 'meh' that I wasn't sad when my gelato fell out of my cone onto the street.

Aaron- He only ate gelato once today, but it was a double flavor day....honey and Chocolate merengue with panna. Chocolate merengue sounds awesome, no? Well, it was no biggie. Chocolate chips with pieces of a merengue in it. I think whoever suggests this place as the BEST gelateria in town hasn't tried Giolitti's or thinks they're 'too cool for school.'

When in Roma...

do as the Romans do.

Our hotel in Rome is pretty close to the Spanish steps, so that is precisely where we went this morning. Since it's spring, they're covered in Azaleas! Oh, and it's Easter Sunday, so everyone and their mom was outside today. Luckily, it was gorgeous weather.

We had breakfast (real breakfast) at Babbington's Tea House, which has been around since 1896. Really amazing tea and some of the BEST toast I've ever had. Who knew that plain ole bread could be so good?! Actually, I have been having pretty BAD bread on this trip, so maybe that's why it tasted so especially delicious!

Then, us being the crazy tourist loons that we are, we went to Vatican City to see the Pope talk. We were really worried that there'd be lots of thieves and no breathing room, but to our surprise, it was quite nice. We were able to get into St. Peter's square and see a little dot that was the Pope.....or at least something with a pointy hat on it. Actually, we were about 100 feet back from the Obelisk in the middle of the square. We saw him on his balcony and then left since we know no Italian and are not Catholic. It was pretty cool to see though. I recommend it to anyone that's Catholic or just wants to see something once in a lifetime.

After leaving the "We love Jesus" crowd, we headed for the Pantheon, where we saw Raphael's tomb. Not much to say about here except that it's super old and there are no working lights in there.

We checked out pretty much every piazza in the neighborhood, including Navona. Pretty fountains everywhere....but not as pretty as....

The TREVI FOUNTAIN. I've been looking at photos of the Trevi since I was super young. It is amazing to see in person. I think it's my favorite fountain to this day. We're going back late tonight to get a more romantic view of it, plus less tourists.

The last thing we did today was visit the Vittorino, a monument for the first king of Italy. My favorite part about this was the view of the Colluseum. We didn't get to do the Colusseum today because we have a tour tomorrow, but it makes me anxious for it.

Oh, and gelato? After hearing the pope talk, I found some random shop (which I will not be doing anymore, since the best gelato comes from actual gelaterias and it was not recommended) We went to Giolitti's, the most famous gelateria in Rome. The line and the crowd inside was insane. You'd have thought that ice cream was going out of style, that it couldn't be made anymore, or that there was an "EVERYTHING MUST GO" sale there or something. They also had panna (whipped cream) and I'm kind of pissed that no other gelateria has offered such a treat before.

Stina's flavors- Cassata (or sicilian cake) from the random place. It was ok, except that it tasted like it had dried fruit bits in it, so maybe it was a fruit cake flavor. At Giolitti's I had melon with blueberry and cranberry! With panna of course...

Aaron's flavors- blackberry and Opera Italiano???? Aaron said both of these flavors were a miss and that he wanted a cone with just panna. So predictable.

Does it really lean?

Today we were day trippers. We woke up and took the train to Pisa. I feel sorry for Pisans, honestly. They are known for one tower, a tower that is only famous for a mistake. This is their only claim to fame.

We got off the train and hurried to the tower. Yep, it leans. A whole lot actually. Also, there were about half a million tourists being "cleaver" and posing like they were pushing it back up or holding it from falling.....yep, tourists rock.

We got to go up inside and on top of the tower (which was a bell tower) and even the insides are tilted. The stairs have been worn down by millions of tourists walking up and down. You can actually see where you are in the lean depending on the dent in the stairs. It was actually quite an experience, feeling all out of balance, kind of like a walking Tilt-o-Whirl. When we got back down, my legs were somewhat shaky from the balancing I now needed to have and it felt like when you start walking on the ground after having been on a tread mill.

We then did what most tourists DON'T do in Pisa; we checked out the Duomo (Cathedral) and the cemetery there. The Duomo was actually very pretty and made over a thousand years ago, while the cemetery was special because the people buried there were buried with holy dirt, soil from Jeruselem.

We then hopped back on the train for Florence. Yep, back to Florence. We walked around some more, checking out the Medici Palace with all its relics (old dead peoples' bones and body parts) and trying to get into the Uffuzi. No such luck! Oh well, guess we weren't meant to see the Venus on this trip.

And of course, gelato. We tried two new places although we could've gone back to Gelateria Neri and been super happy. We went with more book suggestions and tried Vestri, which upon arrival, found it was actually a chocolate shop that served gelato....not exactly what I wanted, but I was willing to test it out. (Aaron was annoyed that this chocolate shop didn't have chocolate gelato) After Vestri, walking, an Inoteca with some awesome salami plate, we found Grom, the high end gelateria. Nice, but I think we have a a thing for Neri.

Stina's flavors- hazelnut, and then at Grom they served you two flavors for one price....so I got Dark chocolate and pear. Aaron liked the pear a lot. I'm so full of gelato that I've started throwing away half of it so that I can enjoy the cone.

Aaron's flavor- None! That's right....the man has caved and cannot have anymore gelato. He only had pistachio at Vestri.

Florence, Firenze...

I got up super early today....6:30 Italian time. I don't even get up that early in America....this better be for a good reason. Oh, we're going to Florence? OK!

We took the train from Venice to Florence, arrived around 10:30 AM, and then decided to sight see right away since we leave tomorrow evening. Our hotel is literally 2 blocks from the Duomo, the large church with the huge ass dome on top of it. It took them 150 years to make and it's over 800 years old right now. Unfortunately, since it's Easter weekend, most attractions in this church were closed. We couldn't see the cool Satanic fresco under the dome because it was roped off for Catholics that wanted to confess. Aaron joked about pretending to be Catholic so we could sneak in but I thought that we might get hit with a lightening bolt for that....plus, his Jewish Grandmother would be rolling in her grave if she knew about that one.

So no Duomo....

We looked in the tour book for something else to do....scan scan scan...and BAM, there it was.

Taxidermy museum! BINGO! Actually it was a museum of zoology, but the book said that it was one of the largest taxidermist collections out there, plus there were models of dead human bodies as well. Aaron went BUCKWILD with his 3D camera there. For real, I think he took a shot of every animal, especially if they were pointing towards his lens. We also checked out an amazing geode exhibit that they had there. I liked that exhibit much more....much less sad furry dead creatures in that one.

We then went to the Palazzo di Pitti, but skipped the art museums and instead only went into the gardens, the Guardino de Boboni and the Guardino de Bardini. Both were gorgeous and smelled so good with all the blooming wisteria. We had some AWESOME views of Florence up there and immediately, our sadness at not being able to climb the Duomo was gone. These gardens were not as nice as Versailles in France, but whatever, we can't all be French.

After leaving the gardens, we headed for the Accedemia Museum, the house of Michellangelo's David sculpture. It is way bigger in person, a whole 17 feet tall. I always envisioned it short, average human height. Sadly, I couldn't take pictures in this museum but there was a replica outside so we got some snapshots with the imposter. It was great to walk BEHIND the David. You never get to see the back. I got to see his perfect sculpted butt and his sling. I never knew he was holding a sling....

After leaving there, we walked into the Palazzo di Vecchio, but didn't pay to see the art exhibit upstairs....too much art in Florence. We're not even going to the Uffizi museum which is actually the #1 museum to visit while here. They house the Venus, but we couldn't get tickets as they were sold out. Guess Florence is going to be on our list of revisits.

We had a true Tuscan dinner, chianina steak. Chianina just means the type of cow, and that it's expensive. It was a delicious prime rib and rib eye, followed by some gelato....

Gelato today was awesome. We only took the Lonely Planet book's suggestions for places to eat and it did not steer us wrong. Well, it DID say that at Gelateria Carabe down the street from the hotel had a specific almond slushie was the most refreshing thing to taste in your life, Aaron got it, and immediately said that it wasn't that refreshing, but to each his own. The gelato place we found after dinner had mini cones so we were able to eat multiple flavors for cheap and without filling up on them. Seriously, these cones were 50 cents a piece and the flavors were special. It was called Gelateria Neri and what was nice about this place was that it felt like the locals came there. The tv was on and it was a channel with "Whose Line is it Anyways" in Italian and the guy behind the counter really loved his job, making sure each tiny cone was beautiful before it reached your hand.

Gelato Flavors of Florence

Stina- Almond, Apple (holy shit, it tasted like a jolly rancher), banana (tasted like pureed banana on a cone) and caramel(which after the two previous flavors, was equally exciting).

Aaron- Almond slushie (not so refreshing), chocolate and hot peppers (Aaron liked it but said that it would "mess me up"), ricotta and figs (tasted like straight-up cheese), and pink grapefruit (tasted like candy).

I think we're going back to this gelateria tomorrow before we leave for Rome.

Not getting lost anymore...

Ah, Venice! How I love you. You are so much better in person than in pictures, I swear. I promise to visit you again one day because you are THAT cool! Today we woke up early and checked out the Rialto Market, the large farmer's and fish market in town. The fish DIDN'T smell like stinky ocean ass either. Yeah, win! We bought a package of strawberries and ate them for breakfast while standing on the Rialto bridge. It was a great setting, and the berries were delicious! Also, we were out so early that the day trippers hadn't even arrived yet, so the bridge wasn't overcrowded with tourists! Double yeah!

Today was our big attraction day. We first saw the Doge's Palace, which had been around for forever. We did the "Secret Itineraries" tour. I honestly didn't care which tour we did, as long as we got to go across the "Bridge of Sighs" or "Whispers" as the tour guide often said. We got to see the upper class prisons as well as the torture chamber.....oooh, and we also got to stand inside Casanova's cell. Pretty cool, eh?

This place is massive....the Palace, not the cell. We got to learn all about the Doge (kind of like a Pope or mayor of Venice), the Chancellor, the Inquisitors 3, the Great Council, and the Council of 10. These Italians were crazy about keeping secrets. They had scribes making copies of all documents but the scribes were illiterate. We finally got to the Bridge of Sighs, and sorry to say, I sighed to myself because the thing was pretty much covered by a huge Toyota scaffolding. It was SO sad. WHY?! I guess they're doing renovations and Toyota is paying for them, but damn, it was disappointing. The prisons for the common folk were your basic cells; small, dirty, and depending on the season, unbearably cold or hot.

We then went right next door to the Basilica. Gorgeous mosaics. We were smart and ordered a pass for 1 euro each to skip waiting in the mile long line. The mosaics are along the entire ceiling and walls and contain 24 karat gold and gem stones so it glistens. However, I couldn't take pictures....didn't stop any of the other tourists, but I figured I'd be a good shiksa and not piss off anyone in a Catholic church. I'm not a huge church person, so we did the walk through.

After St. Mark's Square, we high tailed it to the Guggenheim. We got to take a Traghetto, or a poor man's gondola. You share it with whoever else wants to take it and it's super short, probably a minute total. You only need to take it across the grand canal. It cost 50 cents! What a bargain. The Venetians stand when you go on these, but no one on my boat was standing....sad face. I should've just been a brave soul and done it by myself. Oh well. The Guggenheim was meh. It had an outdoor sculpture garden and a nice view of the canal, but I'm not a fan of art....er, I'm a fan of art when I haven't seen a million other pieces in the same day. I mean, I live in NYC, the city with the Met, the Guggenheim, the Whitney, etc. I can see art whenever I want. I guess the best part of the museum was that Peggy G. was buried there.

We got some delicious seafood noodles for dinner (because Venice is famous for its seafood) and afterwards, set out to find a gondola. Yes, I got Aaron to agree to it. We couldn't find ANY at 10 PM at night. I was really bummed out. No gondola trip in Venice?! we walked towards St. Mark's Square as one last attempt to find a gondolier, an idea that Aaron didn't like because it's the tourist area and the gondoliers can up the price due to lack of product, but lucky for us, we found a nice guy with a gondola who spoke excellent English and took us through the canals late at night. If you ever go to Venice, please do this at night. Also, do it at the end of your trip. I really felt like it was best way to cap off our Venice experience, getting lost on the bridges, and then getting to look under them at the end. Going during the day, you are on parade like an animal at the zoo. For real, I took tons of pictures of random people in gondolas and there was NO romance for these people. It was very expensive, but worth it, even to Aaron. He and I both recommend a gondola ride if you can afford to do it.

For a nightcap, we went to Harry's bar which is only one block form our hotel. Why this bar? Because it is the birthplace of the bellini! Delicious prosecco and peach juice married together to make one of my favorite drinks! It was small and the prices were steep, but I live to do things that can only be done in one particular place in the world. This was a damn special drink and the atmosphere reminded us of Peter Luger's steak house in NY.

Tomorrow we leave for Florence....

Oh and gelato flavors today?

Stina- We tried to go to the "best gelateria" in Venice which was a pain in the ass to get to, completely on the opposite side of the city, only to get there and it was closed....so I was mad! We found a nearby place and I got peach which was excellent and later that night I got vanilla from Gran Caffe Lavena in St. Mark's Square. The vanilla was so creamy.

Aaron- chocolate chip and tiramisu

The city of Canals

We arrived in Venice today and it is beautiful. Better than pictures actually. But before I talk about the canals, the gondalas, the seafood, let me tell you....

We were upgraded to first class on our flight here! Hell yes, friends! We did the red eye, so it made our lives that much better and the people in coach that much suckier. Free champagne, a 3 course meal, free movies (on delta) and a bed! Sure, it wasn't as comfy as our bed at home with a goose down pillow and blanket that I didn't have to pay for. It sure beat sleeping while sitting up and having to share armrest with greedy mcgreederson and doing that awkward butt in your neighbor's face while you get up to go to the bathroom while they're still sleeping move. I don't think we'll get upgraded on the way home....sad panda.

We took the vaporetti(water bus) from the airport to San Marco's Square. We stayed at the Casanova Hotel. Sounds sexy right? It was a good hotel. The rooms were fine and we had a room with two singles....YES!!! I got my own bed. I don't like being crowded so I found this a real treat while Aaron was lonely. The hotel is literally a couple blocks from San Marco's Square and the Basillica. Aaron says that he would suggest to his friends to stay in the Rialto region though, as it's more central to the sights in Venice.

The moment we got here, we did exactly what the tour books said; get lost! It really wasn't hard though. There's so many corridors and canals, half of which aren't even labeled or on maps that it's hard to actually know exactly where you are. Aaron, the master of maps was even getting lost.

There are gondaliers EVERYWHERE here. Aaron said it's cheesy to ride in a gondola, but to me, it's iconic to Venice, the same way that the Great Wall of China is iconic to all of China. You have to do it....did we do it? No....but here's hoping that tomorrow I get to do it.

We climbed over the Rialto bridge, one of only 4 bridges that crosses over the Grand Canal. All the architecture here is SUPER old. Older than Paris. The Rialto bridge had TONS of tourists on it, taking pictures, watching the boats go by, and just getting in my way.

The other suggestion that travel books and websites said alike, was to eat 2 cups of gelato a day so that is precisely what I am going to do on this trip. I hope I don't get sick.

Gelato of Venice

Stina- Raspberry which tasted more like sherbert and chocomente which wasn't the best.

Aaron- Pistachio, and later in the evening, he had a double scooper of nutella and chocolate. How brave of him!