Messina 3/22

Sunday morning we hopped on a bus from Palermo’s central station and headed to Messina.  We have been finding that the chartered busses are cheaper and more reliable than the trains.  The drive was about 2 hours and it was beautiful because it was mostly along the coast the entire time.  When we arrived we headed to our 4 star hotel that was right by the station.  We were excited to be in an actual hotel and maybe get internet, but when we walked into our room, we found that our interpretation of a 4 star hotel is much different than in Italy.  The room looked like it was last remodeled in the 1970s.  It was nice to have our own room and be right in the city so that we could come and go as we pleased.  We decided to have lunch in the city, and went out to explore.  As we walked outside, we found that Messina looked like a ghost town.  We knew that most of the cities in the south are supported by tourists, but everything was closed and we didn’t see very many cars on the road.  After walking around for a little while, we realized that it was Sunday and everything was closed because of that.  In the southern part of Italy, things are run very differently than in the north.  We also were walking around during lunch time and things close then also.  Messina was very pretty but it is a port town.  We couldn’t find any beaches and most of the harbor was taken up by large ships.  The weird part about Messina was that none of the Churches were open to look inside and it was Sunday.  Their cathedral had a clock attached to it that is known in Italy because at 12:30pm it plays music and different objects pop out.  It is one of the largest and most complex mechanical clocks in the world.  The strange thing about it though was that on the side of it was a clock with the signs of the zodiac representing the numbers.  Something interesting about Messina is that in 1908 it was struck by a large earthquake and tidal wave that killed 80,000 out of the 120,000 that lived there.  A ton was destroyed and this affected how the city is right now.  We walked around for a couple of hours taking pictures and then headed to the hotel before dinner.  That night for dinner was interesting because we had to walk around for a long time to find something open.  We finally found a small restaurant that only had the owner working on paperwork in it.  He made us a good pasta and a meat dish that were traditional for Sicily on Sundays.  The boat to Reggio Calabria left at 8am the next morning so we headed in for an early night.

Palermo 3/20

Palermo- start of Spring Break

 

Amanda and I have been planning spring break for a while now.  We found flights to Trapani, Sicily for 4 euro but with taxes it came out to around 20 euro.  This is still really good though.  The only catch was that my flight left the Ciampino airport at 7:15am.  This meant that I needed to leave my house by around 4:15 am to get there!  My neighbor Sally, was worried about getting to the central train station by herself so she came along with me.  There is a bus that takes you from the central station to the airport since the airports are all outside the city.  They start running at 3:30 am and usually come every half hour.  Sally ended up sleeping a little too long and we didn’t leave my house until 4:30.  I knew we had to wait for a night bus because we were leaving so early so I was a little concerned about getting to the station on time, but a night bus came right away.  We got to the station around ten till 5.  I walked over to the ticket area and asked for the next bus.  The woman said that the bus left 5 minutes ago and that the next one wasn’t until 6:30!  Well that wasn’t going to work because my flight left soon after and it took 40 minutes to get to the airport.  Sally was going to stay and wait for her friend that she was traveling with so I said my goodbyes to her and went to find a cab.  The cab ride cost me a flat rate of 30 euros!  So much for my cheap flight!  The flight itself went great.  It was a sunrise flight and it landed early!  I got into Trapani at 8:15 and only had to wait 5 min for my luggage.  Amanda and I had booked a bed and breakfast in Palermo so we needed to take a bus into the city which was about 2 hours away.  The night before we left, we realized that our flights were way apart from one another.  I got in at 8:15 and she didn’t get in until 3:30pm.  When I got to the airport and realized there was nothing to do around there, and not to mention that I was really tired from getting up so early, I decided to take the bus right away.  In Italy, if you take a bus from town to town, it is a big chartered bus.  There was one leaving at 9 so it couldn’t have worked out better.  It turns out I was the only one on the bus so the driver and I had some great conversations with my little Italian and his little English.  I arrived in Palermo around 11 at a stop that was in the middle of the city but not at the central station like I had thought.  I called the bed and breakfast and they told me to take a bus to the main station and then take the Metro to the Tomasso Natale stop.  Well it turns out I was in the middle of the city so I figured I could just find a metro stop around there and take it to Tomasso Natale.  It looked like rain but it was pretty warm out so I figured I would just walk around and find one.  I couldn’t find one around there after about 10 minutes of searching so I decided to ask someone.  I went up to a little old couple and asked in Italian where the nearest Metro stop was.  They looked at me SO confused and asked if I was speaking Italian.  I replied yes and tried to explain in a different way.  They told me something that I didn’t understand at all so naturally I thanked them and walked away.  I had forgotten that in Sicily the dialect is so strong that most Italians can’t understand the Sicilians and vice versa.  So my Italian wasn’t going to do much good.  I saw a ticket booth and decided to ask there.  I got a little further in that they told me to got to the central station and take the metro from there.  They told me which bus and pointed to the stop.  I made it to the central station and got off to start my search for the Metro stop.  I searched all along the outside of the building and saw nothing.  I went inside to but a ticket and ask for directions.  The man at the booth pointed me inside the building.  I thought, that seems odd for the subway stop to be inside the station, but I went in and searched all around.  15-20 minutes later I was convinced that there wasn’t a metro stop so I went outside to the busses and asked for directions to the metro and to Tomasso Natale.  Mind you, NO ONE speaks English in Sicily.  They are very far away from the business of Italy and other English speaking countries so they just stick to Sicilian.  I finally to one bus driver to tell me that I could get on his bus and that he would tell me where to get off.  The stereotypical personalities and behaviors of Italians definitely hold try in Sicily.  Everyone was screaming at each other and flailing their hands at the bus driver, each other, and cars outside the bus.  I stayed on the bus until the last stop and the driver told me to get off but he didn’t know which other bus took me to Tomasso Natale.  I figured it out on the signs and went from there.  I got off at the Tomasso Natale stop and called the owners of the bed and breakfast to come pick me up.  It took me 3 hours to get here from where the chartered bus dropped me off!   It turns out that Tomasso Natale was a train stop!  There is a train that goes from the central station to the Palermo airport and they call it the Metro!  It all made sense now why everyone was confused and why they were all pointing me inside to the trains.  Marizio was the father of the girl I had been speaking with and he picked me up.  It was about 5 min to the B&B, except we were going up one of the Mountains! The B&B was outside the city and the only way for me to get into the city was to repeat my path and have Marizio drive me down the hill!  I walked in and two women were sitting in a common room.  They showed me to my room and bathroom, which was down the hall.  I thought that there would be other guests there and that it would be bigger.  I set my stuff down and the two women came into my room asking what I needed.  I said that I would just get settled in and then maybe take a hot shower since it had been raining the second half of my trip.  Ten minutes later the older women comes into my room unannounced and said that she made pasta for me and that I had to come eat.  I was a little confused but knew that if I didn’t eat it was going to be disrespectful.  I ate the AMAZING pasta and then asked them if they lived near there.  The mother said “Of course, this is our house and we rent out this ONE room to people”  So it was a bed and breakfast that consisted of ONE room.  The father, daughter and mother spoke NO English so I was getting a lot of practice in.  The room was very small and had only one double bed for Amanda and I to share.  I had a lot of time until Amanda got there and I wanted to go into town to explore but I knew Marizio had to drive me down and I didn’t want to make him after he had just picked me up.  The mother (Elena) and daughter (Manuela) motioned me to come sit in between them on the couch even though there was an open couch.  We watched some Italian TV and I told them a little about myself.  After about an hour of TV, I decided to shower and as I was getting out I heard children.  Manuela, had two daughters of her own, and her husband (Fabrizio) brought them over.  I was a little intimidated because I felt like an unknown guest and not a customer.  I really wanted to got into town but because I wasn’t going to, I took a nap.  Amanda had called me many times on the way in and I explained to her how to get to Tomasso Natale.  Unfortunately for her, she speaks NO Italian so it was difficult for her as well but it only took her 1 hour because I had already made all the mistakes.  We picked her up from Tomasso and got her settled in.  We sat with the family for a little while and then they dropped us off at the bottom of the hill at a pizzeria for dinner.  We had great pizza and  thought that we would go into the city for a drink, but knew that they had to come pick us up still and we didn’t want to be out too late for them so we just went back.  I’m not sure if I have ever gone to bed as early as 10pm in Italy yet.  We got up early the next morning and Elena had gotten many pastries and coffee for breakfast.  They were going into the city themselves that morning so they took us most of the way in by car.  It was pouring rain when we got into the city.  We walked around and saw many sights but Amanda was already sick, and my 12 euro flats weren’t holding up in the rain.  We saw many things like the Teatro Massimo, which is the largest theatre in Italy.  We did a tour and they were performing the next night so we were able to listen to them practice.  We saw their cathedral which was very cool because it had Arab influences unlike most cathedrals I have seen in Italy.  Also we went to a could of their markets which were very very big.  Mind you, this whole time it was down pouring and cold.  There weren’t many people outside at all because Palermo usually has really good weather.  My friend Elena from the US had been in a city just outside Palermo with her family because her brother was doing some performances as a singer in Sicily and because that is were her family is from.  She didn’t have a phone so I had been communicating through email.  Amanda and I went to a café to get internet and try and meet up with her.  She was coming into Palermo for the day to do some shopping and then her brother was performing at a club that night.  She told us the name of the club so that we could meet up later.  Amanda and I tried looking up the club online and could not find anything.  I asked a couple young girls at one of the stores and they had told me that the club was outside the city but it was only about 15-20 min by cab.  I was excited  that we were going to be able to meet up! Around 6pm Amanda and I were very cold and wet so we decided to go back to the B&B.  Amanda took a nap while Elena, Marizio and I tried searching for the address of the club.  We could not find it anywhere, and the operator didn’t think the club existed.  Elena thought that since we didn’t know where it was that we shouldn’t go because the south was different than the north and it is more dangerous.  I woke Amanda up so that we could go to dinner and maybe ask around some more about the club.  As we were getting ready for dinner, Elena came in and said that her daughter had found the club but it was outside the city in the opposite direction and that it would take an hour to get there.  We decided that it would be too far and just went to dinner.  I knew Sicily was known for their seafood so I asked Marizio to drop us at a good seafood place.  He pointed to two or three in one area and said something along the lines of “you don’t order, let them do it for you” I had heard of this before because the waiters will normally bring you the specialty of the restaurant.  Amanda said “This one looks cute” and we walked in.  We sat down and the server brought us each two classes for wine.  I thought oh great, we will choose our dinner and then choose red or white wine.  The next thing he brought was a bottle of water and a bottle of white wine that was open.  We were a little confused, and got even more confused when they started bringing dishes to the table.  We thought “ what have we gotten ourselves into, and more importantly, how much is this going to cost?”  Our waiter came over and saw that we were confused and that we spoke English so he explained to us in English that we get a bottle of wine, water, 8 seafood appetizers, 3 seafood pastas, lobster, and whitefish for our dinner.  He said that this is how they serve everyone here.  We were both really scared because it sounded extremely expensive. Finally he told us that it was 25 euro a person.  Whew, even though we weren’t planning on spending that much, it was much less than we thought it would be and we got SOOO much fresh seafood.  The night wasn’t a total bummer!  We went to bed around 11 because we had figured out that we needed to take the “metro” from Tomasso to the central station at 7:52 am so that we could catch a 9 am bus to Messina, Sicily, our next destination.  Of course, it was sunny and blue skies when we got up.  We got to the station with 10 min to spare and the controller came out to ask us where we wanted to go.  We said to the central station and he said the next one was at 9:10am.  I asked why not at the time that it says on the board and he said because.  Apparently, the trains can just come whenever they want on Sundays.  We made our way to the bus stop and took the long route to the central station.  We made it on time, thank goodness, to the chartered bus stop and we are now on our way to Messina.  We hope the rain doesn’t follow us.

 

Prague 3/12

Prague with Sam and Meaghan!

 

After many months of planning, it was finally time for me to go visit my friend from home, Sam, in Prague.  Sam and I went to high school together, college together, and he worked up north like me this summer, trying to make as much money for this trip.  His girlfriend and my best friend, Meaghan, was also coming that weekend to visit.  It was very hard for me to find a flight to Prague that wasn’t too expensive and had the times that were good for me.  Flying somewhere is always a long trip because you have to leave 3 hours before the flight to make sure that you get there in time and that they have the right bus/train times for us.  I decided to take Thursday off of school so that I could get a flight that got to Prague earlier Thursday and returned late on Sunday.  My flight connected in Zurich and then I headed to Prague where Sam picked me up from the airport.  Unfortunately it was dark by that time but we took the scenic route home anyways so that I could see some things at night.  Meaghan wasn’t coming in until Friday afternoon so Sam and I got up early to explore a little before we went to pick her up at the airport.  I was a little disappointed because it was finally 60 and sunny in Rome, but it was 40 and rainy in Prague.  I told Sam that he had better show me a good time to make up for the weather.  We went and saw Sam’s school which is in the heart of Prague.  He brought me to a place to have an American breakfast!!!  You don’t understand how great this is.  Italy doesn’t do breakfast like we do.  I of course got my favorite breakfast food…French toast and a cappuccino. We then walked over the Charles Bridge, which is the most famous thing in Prague.  There is construction going on on the bridge and Sam says its been a year or so in the making.  I asked what was taking so long and he said “I don’t know.  All I know is that an Italian construction company won the bid.”  I laughed and said…well, that explains it all.  As we walked by, there was a man tightening a bolt while looking at the people walking past, and another man watching him tighten the bolt.  They didn’t seem to be getting much done.  We had a good laugh watching them. 

 

It’s a good thing that there were 2 of us going to pick up Meg because when she came out of the gates, she had more luggage for one week than I did for 4 months lol.  I was so glad to see her and Sam.  I haven’t been homesick yet but it was really nice to share stories with them and see what they have been up to. We again took the scenic route home and Meg was exhausted so we all took a nap lol.  We woke up hungry from our nap and asked Sam where a good place to eat Czech food was.  He named a bunch of places but then we realized it was Friday and we couldn’t have meat.  This wouldn’t be a problem in Italy because most dishes can be made without meat, but in Prague they would ask us to leave if we asked for a vegetarian dish.  Their food is really really heavy, and it is best with a really heavy beer.  So we opted out of Czech food, and went to a Thai restaurant.  Sam and I weren’t home for Meg’s birthday so we decided this would be her birthday dinner from the both of us.  I had never had Thai food before so I was interested to see how it turned out.  Meg and I were happy with the place we chose because we could get girly drinks without glares from both Sam and the waiter.  The food was really spicy, but really good. 

 

Saturday we got up early again to get some sightseeing in.  We went up to the Prague Castle, which is the biggest castle in Europe, and did some exploring.   Meg and I shot cross-bows from the old times, and we saw the church which is what the castle is centered around.  We also walked up to the top of a HUGE hill/park to see the Little Eiffel Tower.  People normally take a tram up but the line was really long and we knew we didn’t have much time at each place so we opted to walk.  We laughed so hard the whole way up because we couldn’t talk from being out of breath.  Sam was nice enough to let us stop and take “Picture” breaks on the way up.  We climbed the tower and took a bunch of pictures.  After the tower and castle, we went back down to Charles bridge to show Meg.  Something I didn’t know about Prague was that it is known for its crystal and glass.  Bohemia is the region in Czech where Prague is located and Bohemian crystal is very popular.  All the souvenir shops sold crystal like they were postcards.  We did some looking around and Sam took us down some side streets that weren’t as touristy so that we could find something crystal.  Another great thing about Prague is that our money is worth much more than theirs.   I have been so used to the Euro and my money not being worth anything.  I decided to buy a crystal vase.  It was 2300 cr, which is like 70 US dollars. 

 

All that shopping and exploring got us hungry for some Czech food.  We went to one of Sam’s favorite restaurants.  Meg and I got different kinds of goulash with a beer of course, and Sam got pork with potatoes.  What I consider goulash is definitely different that what they consider it.  I think the translation has something to do with just throwing things together into a stew.  It was lots of vegetables and pork in a really heavy brown sauce, and you got potato dumplings on the side.

 

Sunday we went back up to the Castle to do a few more museums and then we went and had lunch at another Czech restaurant.  This time we got switzkova, which is totally not how you spell it but I have no clue.  This was another pork dish with bread dumplings and a heavy sauce.  I really liked the food but I definitely couldn’t eat it every day because it is too heavy.  We then went to the John Lennon wall which is a tribute to John Lennon and his views on world peace and the fall of communism.  As many of you know, the Czech has been taken over many times and was previously a communist country.  They are democratic now but the culture hasn’t completely switched over.  Anyways, the John Lennon wall is just a random wall in Prague that someone painted sayings by John Lennon, and parts of his songs.  The government painted over it time and time again but it kept getting written on.  They finally have given up and now people have written all over it in all different languages.  Some things are very inspirational but others are things like “Hi Mom”.  I unfortunately had to go home soon after this so we headed back and got my things to leave. 

 

I didn’t like saying goodbye to them.  Sam is coming to Rome in a few weeks to see me, but I miss seeing and talking to Meg.  I am so happy that it worked out where I could go see them.  Meg is staying a week longer and she is a little nervous about getting around but Sam and I kept telling her that once you get thrown into it, you will do just fine.  I can’t wait to see them again soon!

FLORENCE 2/30

Hello all!  I know…..I know….  It’s been forever since I’ve posted.  I have been very busy traveling, exploring, and o ya…midterms L.  Rough life I know.  I visited my friend Amanda in Florence Feb 27-30.  I took the train for the first time and Amanda picked me up at the central station.  The train was very peaceful but unfortunately it was dark when I was traveling.  Thursday night we planned out our spring break trip, which is where I am going right now, and Amanda put to use her newly acquired cooking skills and cooked me an amazing Italian meal.  We headed to bed early Thursday so that we could do some sightseeing on Friday morning. 

 

I guess I didn’t realize how small Florence is.  All of the main attractions are very close together.  I am used to Rome where you spend 45 min on a bus going from place to place.  Amanda and I walked around in the morning.  She showed me her school, some different piazzas, and a couple markets.  She attends a culinary school in Florence and it is very well known.  I got to see the kitchens that they cook in and their tiny classrooms since food is a priority there.  We walked to an indoor market that Amanda loves.  It is 3 floors of fish, vegetables, meat, fruit, and pasta.  It smelled a little funky because the meat and fish were the first floor, but it was a cool sight to see.  This market was a lot less intimidating than the one in Barcelona.  There were a lot less people and a lot more room in between the  stands.  I took this opportunity to try something different, and I got a bag full of different dried fruits.  I have discovered that banana chips are my favorite. 

 

After the fresh market, we ventured over to the leather markets.  This was another thing that I wasn’t aware of about Florence, it is known for its good, but cheap, leather.  In Rome there is a huge market but only early on Sunday mornings, so we don’t go very often lol.  We walked around for a while just gazing at possible items to purchase, and I bought a few cashmere scarves that are made in Italy.  We made our way over to the Museo D’Academia which is where Michelangelo’s famous statue “The David” is housed.  The museum is really tiny, and really the only thing to see is the David.  It is 17 feet tall, and is famous because it was the first statue of the Biblical David, to portray him as a strong man instead of a scrawny boy.  The statue was originally supposed to be placed on top of a building and that is why it is so large.  It was placed outside for a few years and then was seen as too beautiful to be outdoors and was moved inside.  Leonardo DaVinci said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  Of course, like many beautiful things in Italy, we weren’t allowed to take pictures.  There were guards everywhere telling children to be quiet and confiscating camera cards. 

 

Florence is like what I initially pictured Italy to be like.  The streets were very small, with few cars, and the lifestyle is even slower. ( Yes, I know….hard to believe)  We went up to Michelangelo’s piazza to watch the sunset.  It is a LONG hike up to the top of the hill.  The piazza overlooks the entire city on one side, and the other side shows the hills of Tuscany.  We saw a beautiful sunset with a couple of Amanda’s new friends, and headed home to cook some dinner. 

 

Saturday morning Amanda’s friend Katherine was coming in from the States to visit.  She went to pick her up at the airport, and I got up to explore.  I made my way over to Ponte Vecchio, which means “old bridge”.  It is a very famous bridge because it was constructed by the Medici family who was in rule for a long time.  The Medici family was so powerful during its time that the Popes would avoid Tuscany all together when they were traveling north.  The family was nervous of attack and sabotage that it created an above ground tunnel from their palace to other parts of town.  The bridge has a tunnel overtop and cars are not allowed on the bridge.  Jewelry stores now line the bridge along with a few gelato shops.  I then went two streets over to the Duomo, which is their famous church.  I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when I walked in.  I have been spoiled by seeing the Vatican before other churches.  I then slapped myself and said, Hello this church is better than any church in the States.  I have to often remind myself where I am and how lucky I am to see sights like these.  I opted out of climbing to the top because I wanted to save some things for when Sarah and Jaimie get here. 

 

Afterwards, I walked back through the leather markets and narrowed my selection of purses down so that I could make a purchase later.  I loved walking around Florence by myself.  It was very relaxing and I was not rushed to do anything.  I made my way back to the river, and sat for awhile.  Amanda and Katherine had arrived, and they met up with me to show Katherine around.  We looked at some shops, and made Katherine taste her first gelato.  We showed her the streets and markets.  I finally made a purchase, well two purchases.  I bought a large black leather purse, and a white leather purse for the summer.  I also bought a few more scarves because they are just so pretty, and they will be great gifts ;-)

 

We had to have pizza for dinner to have Katherine try it, and then went back to Amanda’s place.  Katherine was exhausted so we took a nap before heading out for the night.  Sunday morning I left early because midterms were the next week and I decided to finally look at my material.

 

Some of the things I didn’t like about Florence however, were all the Americans there, how small the actual city was, and the fact that Lent started that week and I gave up gelato!!  I felt like I heard a ton more English in Florence and when I tried to speak Italian, they would respond in English.  I didn’t like this very much. But overall it was a great weekend and I can’t wait to go back with Sarah and Jaimie.