10 days. in italia. it’s enough to make a head spin. ready for the recount? i promise to keep it in fragments.
rooooma (rome). fast, busy, dirty. the definition of city. first taste of gelato which would soon become meal of choice for 10 ten days. stracciatella is my favorite flavour. white chocolate with chocolate chips. saw the trevi fountain the night we arrived, perfect way to start italy. made wishes, drank far too much wine, kissed each other, and stumbled home. spent one whole day in the vatican. no pope but lots of gilded walls/ceilings. and the most beautiful soprano singing the panis angelicus. sistine chapel? yeah, it’s all it’s cracked up to be. i snuck photos and was shamed by an old italian nanna. “americano, no good.” next day, the parthenon. woah, massive. and a hole at the top. just like i was told. a little colloseum here, a little ruins there, and we were ready to leave (just like we were told).
venezia (venice). all on my own. (::singing:: aaaall byyy myseeeeelf) everyone was ok with skipping it, i was not. and as a result, it was the most expensive trip EVER. expensive train ride. (by the way, love trains). my hostel didn’t answer the door so i had to book a hotel. it overlooked the grand canal but it cleaned out my bank account. it rained all day and the whole piazza was flooded. streets became canals and canal streets became deep canal streets. it was CRAZY. the church was flooded, the stores were flooded. water everywhere. it really is sinking. more so when i came. what can i say? i ate a lot in roma. (bad joke) i ate dinner by myself and some americans next to me asked me to help them finish two bottles of wine… (that’s my favorite job) they were really nice and from colorado. but they also told me most actors are poor. i blame the alcohol.
firenze (florence). met back up with my friends. this week got progressively better in an interesting way. florence is great. lots of history. we went to an insane amount of museums. highlights? michelangelo’s david and his tondo of the holy family, donatello’s davide (my favorite!), boticelli’s birth of venus and primavera, davinci’s annunciation, unfinished madonna and child, and st. jerome (another favorite), and MANY many others. met many great florentine people. they were really nice. ate the best panini of my life (antico noé) and drank at an irish pub that overlooked il duomo (florence cathedral). which by the way, is the most beautiful building on the outside and a REAL letdown on the outside. sushana bought enough fake chanel, louis vuitton, and prada to become a street thief herself. florence is nice. very nice. but we hadn’t had a real kicker of time until….
positano (positano). god’s heavenly playground. it was a mission to get there (train to napoli (naples, where a homeless italian verbally assaulted shana in the mcdonald’s line) then intercity train to sorrento, then bus to positano) but to say it was well-worth sounds silly. i could have spent all 10 days here. instead we sucked the marrow out of 2 1/2. our hostel was this amazing little commune that overlooked the entire city, cliffs, beach, and ocean of the amalfi coast. every morning i had a balcony seat, a freshly baked chocolate croissant, and an espresso doppio. the air was crisp and the view was amazing. (see pictures to the left. that was a command). we had a great view, yes, but the stairs to and from the beach were the best/worst workout i’ve had in years. (896 steep stone stairs each way) black pebble beaches. the most amazing, personable people in all of italia. on the beach, a large italian family called us over and gave us free fish that they caught and cooked an hour ago with white wine and bruschetta. then they invited us to their ristorante (saraceno d’oro) which also ironically was the place natalie suggested before i left for italy. it also happens to be the best italian seafood in the world and the best non-panini/pizza of the trip. jennifer got a GREAT reflexology massage from our south african hostel owner. i drank mojito’s, capirossa’s, and bellini’s on the beach. sushana sat under an umbrella (black people don’t like tans). we were sad to leave. positano just might be paradise. the end of the world is a beautiful place. once again, follow the aforesaid command. pictures. they explain more than i could in thousands of words.
italia… t’amo piu di oni altra cosas! i’m in roma again, getting ready to fly back to london. it’s 1:00 here and we are leaving for the airport in two hours. miss you all. i wish you were here with me, taking it all in. i promise to bring this all back to you.
—m
