Spring Break Recap Part 1

Fiesole Roman Baths

Fiesole Ampitheater

Another view of the baths ITALY PRIDE..lolzzz

Milano: Duomo

Galleria in Milano

Castello in Milano

Park behind the castle

Me in the Arc of Peace :)

Bergamo! Church in the lovely upper town

Walls of the upper town

Tram to the Top

Walking back down

BACK from SPRING BREAK! It was amazing.

Last Friday we did a day trip to Fiesole (20 minutes by city bus from Florence), then a train to Milan on Saturday, train to Bergamo Monday, flight to Barcelona on Tuesday, and back to Florence on Friday. It was a jam packed week! My feet are dead and my pockets empty, but it was quite the week. This weekend I’ve been dead from lack of sleep and a minor cold, but I’m resting up, taking lots of vitamin C, and hoping to be better in no time. Writing about the trip seems a bit daunting at the moment, so I’ll go by day and try to list the highlights.

Friday Fiesole sits on a hill overlooking Florence. The views from up there are great. The main “attraction” in Fiesole is the Area Archeologica. There is an ancient Roman amphitheater, Roman baths, and other ruins. There is also a museum with artifacts that have been found in the area. The site was really nifty(why don’t we all use “nifty” more?). It was sunny and warm, and we were happy to be outside and in the sun for most of the afternoon in Fiesole. We also went into a church that was attached to a museum. There was no information in English, but they had artifacts from all over the world, including Japanese dolls and a mummified woman and cat. Interesting… That was Fiesole. Nice day trip!

Saturday We got up early and left for Milan. Once we arrived, we wandered a bit, then found the Duomo. The Milan Duomo is a very Gothic structure with an intricate façade. We also went in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele which is right next to the Duomo. The Galleria a glass-topped tunnel which is basically one of the world’s earliest and most selective shopping malls. We found a large park, Giardini Publblica, and relaxed there for a while. It was so nice out, so we just read for a while and enjoyed the day. Then we met my friend Vivianna and her friends at the train station. Vivianna lives in Turino, and one of her other friends goes to a military school in Milan, so they came to visit for the weekend. Vivianna was a foreign exchange student at Cibola, and it was really nice to see her again. She is such an funny, eccentric, nice, outgoing girl. We hung out with the girls that night in their hostel, as it was POURING rain. We ordered pizza, too. I got the same as Vivianna, pizza con patatine fritte (pizza with fries on top)! Haha it was good, but weird. That night we left to meet the host we were staying with through CouchSurfing. He was quiet and it was a bit awkward because he seemed uncomfortable with his English, but he was nice. We went out for a bit, then we played card games with him when we got back. We learned an Italian card game, scopa, and taught him Egyptian rat-screw and bull shit. It was fun and broke the ice.

Sunday The next day in Milan we met the Italian girls and hung out with them before they went back to Turin. Then we went to the Palazzo Reale. There were TONS of people dressed up in 18th century costumes EVRYWHERE. It was the 150th anniversary of Italy, so they were doing something to commemorate it, but we never did quite find out exactly what they were doing. We also saw a man who dyed his beard red, green, and white to celebrate Italy! Dedication. Then we went to the Castello Sforzesco. It’s a huge castle that was constructed in 1450. Since it was the reunification celebration, there was a fake battle in front and they were firing canons and the whole she-bang. It was amusing. Behind the Castello was a carnival and Parco Semprione. The park was really nice, and it was a beautiful day so there were lots of people out enjoying the day. At the back of the park is the Arch of Peace built for Napoleon (similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris). That night our host, Alessandro, took us on a walk to other parts of Milan. We saw the church Santa Maria delle Grazie and the canals in Milan, the Navigli. He took us to a gelato place that has all sorts of different flavors depending on the day (including Parmesan and mojito). It got banana and cinnamon! Then home, more card games, and sleep.

Monday Monday morning we went in a church, Santa Maria presso San Satiro, that is painted using illusion. It looks bigger than it is because of the way the alter is painted with “fake” columns. Then we took a train to a town about 45 minutes away, Bergamo. Bergamo is where the airport is, and since our flight was early in the morning we decided to stay there for a night. Bergamo is a cute little town divided into an upper and lower town. We walked around the lower part, then took a tram to the upper town. In the upper town, we went into the church, wandered the square, and had lunch in a café on the main square. We also tried the famous dessert from there, polento e osei. It is a yellow polenta cake that was reallly good and reaaaalllly sweet. We wandered back down to the lower town through little streets that are along the Venetian walls of the upper city. The views were nice from up there, and it was good to walk down for a change of scenery after taking the tram up. We wandered the shops of the lower town before going to our hotel for the night. I took a bath, which was great because I love baths and we don’t have a tub in Florence. That was about it for Milan and Bergamo! I still have to write about Barcelona, and I will! I need a break, for now, but I will post more ASAP!

Love :)