Day 20, 21, & 22: Pisa and The French Riviera

After a week long stint in Italy we were on our way back into France and not being sure that what you are trying to order is actually what you are going to get when your food comes out. An hour outside of Florence we stopped in Pisa which is of course famous for only one thing, displaying how poorly Italian engineering is. After a walk through the largest baptistry in Europe and the nearby Duomo (cathedral) where Galileo used to perform his experiments on gravity, we made our way to the best vantage point for our cheesy, tourist photos of holding up the leaning tower.

We then hopped back on the bus for the rest of our trek to the southern coast of France. Home to summer houses of the rich and famous for hundreds of years it is easy to see why Europeans have been flocking here for so long. With rolling hills and cliffs butting up to the Mediterranean sea, every curve on the bus was another breathtaking view. For a brief 5 minutes we were even inside the tiny nation of Monaco, overlooking the world famous Monte Carlo Casino and multimillion dollar yachts lined up one after another in the harbor.

We continued onward to another small town where we toured a perfume factory and learned about the processes required just to make a small amount of the world renowned French aromas. Finally after another 45 minute drive from there we had passed through Nice and were staying in a small beach town just west of Cannes, where the famous film festival was just wrapping up. After a delicious Sunday dinner of McDonald's (don't judge, it was the only thing open), we walked 20 minutes to one of the nearby beaches located next to a chateau with the appearance of a castle at night to scope out the scenery.

The next morning we visited the grocery store in anticipation of an all day siting in the sun, not walking anywhere, day. After picking up a bottle or two of dirt cheap champagne, we hopped on the bus to take us to some of the more popular beaches. Little did we know that after 3 or 4 tries to get there on roads that our bus couldnt fit on that it probably would have been faster to walk. No worries though because it was definitely worth the wait. With white sand, sapphire blue water, and a ridge jutting out into the ocean in view the day couldn't get any better. After a dip in the refreshingly cold water, we proceeded to sit and do nothing for several hours, perhaps for too many hours because after the walk back to the hotel it was apparent that this was one of those sunburns that you tend to remember. Most of the group was headed to Monaco for a dinner and casino night, but the price was pretty steep for the rest of us, so instead we aloed up with some lotion that supposedly had aloe in it and passed out for the rest of the evening. This was until one of the Texas crew, Zach, had to leave to catch a plane back to the States for his brother's wedding. The trip won't be the same without him.

After two days outside of Nice, we were now headed farther west and inland to the city of Nimes, where the original cotton cloth for jeans came from (de Nimes = denim). However, along the way we stopped in Avignon where the Papal seat was located for most of the 14th century when there were hard times for the Church in Rome. After a tour of the Pope's palace and chapel and we had a look at part of another old bridge built in the 1300s.

We were back on the bus for another few hours before another stop just outside of Nimes at the Pont du Gard. It is a very significant spot, at least according to engineers like me because it was part of a 30 mile long aqueduct built by the Romans almost 2000 years ago to carry water to Nimes from a reservoir. Along this 30 mile stretch there is only a 50 foot drop in elevation, which equates to about a 0.03% slope along the whole length, mind blowing even by today's standards (contractors can barely handle 1% slopes without screwing up back home).  Anyways even without all of that technical stuff, the aqueduct at this point has to cross a deep river valley and the 3 sets of arches on top of one another rise 160 feet in the air. It is the 2nd tallest thing the Romans built and another thing that today we couldn't accomplish without computers and heavy machinery.

We finally made it to our Best Western hotel with huge rooms on the outskirts of Nimes and most of us stayed behind to rest and chill by the pool while a small group went into town to visit the Roman ampitheater that resembles the Colosseum on a smaller scale and another Roman temple (picture swapping will definitely be happening at the end of the trip). We ended the night early in preparation for a long drive to Spain and a 3 day stay in Barcelona where supposedly the city never stops partying.

Adios! (so ready to use my high school level Spanish),

Josh

 Day 20: Visit to Pisa

 Inside the Cathedral (Duomo)

 a pretty original shot I would say

 wish we would have gotten to go to the top, but we didn't have time

 driving high above Monte-Carlo, Monaco

 a castle above the perfume factory we visited near Eze, France

 driving down the beach in Nice

 Day 21: Relaxing day at the beach

 such a beautiful place

 this is what 3 weeks of walking miles every day sightseeing will do to you

 and beer from a beach vendor, sweet

 Day 22: Avignon, visiting the Papal palace

 view out over the town of Avignon

 the Pont du Gard outside Nimes

 had to get in the water

last view of the engineering feat

Day 19: Florence - View From the Top, Part 2

Our first full day in Florence started off with a less than stellar breakfast. With stomachs full of crusty rolls and stale cereal, we boarded the bus to take a guided walking tour through the city. We met our guide outside of the Duomo, and began by walking through the cathedral. It was beautiful on the inside and out, and the guide knew a lot of insightful information about it's history (she also fit the stereotype of hairy European armpits....wow). We saw some more of the city square, rubbed a big pig for good luck, walked through the Medici palace and split up to check out the rest of Florence for ourselves.

Following Mike's recommendation, we trekked from the main square to the top of Piazza Michelangelo. Seated on the edge of the city, this hill offered some of the best views of Florence with the observation deck almost even with the Duomo. We took plenty of incredible pictures and savored the cool breeze before heading back into Florence to see Michelangelo's David.

The sculpture is housed in the Academia, and I think someone must have told the other tourists who were in the city today. The line stretched around the block and after an hour we were finally at the door. **side note: while we waited about 10 feet from the entrance, I was struck on the shoulder by a sizable amount of pigeon poop. They tell me it's "good luck" to get pooped on, but I think they just say that to make you feel better**

Without a doubt, the sculpture was worth the wait. From a single piece of marble, Michelangelo carved a perfect 17ft figure depicting the moments before David defeated Goliath. It was nothing short of incredible, and has been one of my favorite pieces of art on the trip.

Tired and sweaty, we retreated to the hotel to shower and prepare for a Florentine steak dinner. We left in plenty of time to make our reservation, but no one had informed us of the marathon taking place downtown that night. But after a few loops on public transit and an apologetic phone call, we had our reservation moved and enjoyed a delicious blueberry steak. Sounds weird, and looks very strange, but it was great.

We finished the night with a trip to a disco tech call Space in hopes of seeing the Jersey Shore cast (they are filming new season here and some friends got pictures with them earlier in the day). Alas, we didn't see Snookie, but still enjoyed a good night out dancing and laughing at the locals. Early morning tomorrow to drive to the French Riviera. Tough life, but I think I can handle it.

Cheers,

Russell

 Visiting the inside of the Duomo

Porcellino the famous lucky pig statue

 from atop the Ponte Vecchio with the Arno River behind

 the famous bridge was rebuilt in 1345 and has jewelry shops across it

 a view of Ponte Vecchio

 Two famous original statues in the main square outside the Town Hall

 walking up hundreds of steps to the Piazzale Michelangelo for the best view of Florence

 

 the walk was definitely worth it

 another Texas group photo

 the Duomo

 The original David Statue, the size was overwhelming in person

 one of the many rows of markets that sold everything you could think of

Day 18: Assisi and Florence - View From the Top

After a relaxing night in Rome, we loaded onto our bus for another long day of driving. Our final destination was Florence, but the tour called for a long stop in Assisi. The small city is known as a religious center in Italy, most notably because of Francesco di Assisi who founded a monastery there. In fact, a few minutes after exiting the bus we began to see monks walking around the city. We had a few hours to explore, so we loaded up with cheap pizza and started walking.

At the top of Assisi is a castle the city rulers built to protect themselves from attacks. When they say the top of the city, they weren't kidding. The trip up included hundreds of steps, steep hills and winding paths until we arrived at the base of the castle. After wandering around some back rooms and old quarters, we trekked up a spiral staircase to the top of the main tower and the view was breathtaking. On the back side were rolling mountains and on the front was hundreds of miles of Italian towns and countryside. We snapped tons of photos before descending back to the bus to continue on to Florence.

As is usual, our hotel in Florence was a bit out of the way from the city center. Nonetheless we grabbed a quick shower and headed into town for a walking tour. We looked around the open market, particularly among the leather vendors (Florence is famous for it's leather). We also got to see some impressive statues and sculptures, since florence is the birthplace of Leonardo di Vinci, Michelangelo and the famous Medici family. Our group and the folks from Connecticut grabbed a nice meal and wandered back through the main square to find an orchestra performing a free concert. We danced around like loud American tourists for a bit before catching the bus back home. Tomorrow, we will see the Duomo and hopefully Michelangelo's David. But for now, it is time for sleep.

Ciao,

Russell

 First view of the valley below the town of Assisi

 the Rocca Maggiore di Assisi overlooking the town

 one of the many great vistas

 probably one of my favorites of the town below

 view from the far guardtower

 the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

 First moments in Florence and view of the Duomo

 listening to an orchestra outside the town hall after dinner

Day 17: Rome - A Country in A Country

The bar crawl was successful to say the least. After pulling ourselves downstairs for breakfast, we gathered on the bus to leave Italy for a bit and step into the Vatican, a walled, completely separate country of less than 1/4 square miles. It was outside one of these walls that we met another local tour guide that would lead us on the journey through the holy city.

Starting just outside one of these walls we began by entering the Vatican Museum which held numerous paintings, frescos, and tapestries commissioned by the Church during the early Renaissance. After a single hallway with these works that was easily 2 football field lengths long, we were escorted to our next stop, the Sistine Chapel. Stepping into the huge room, I never realized how many paintings would be covering the walls and ceiling inside. Seeing the famous Creation of Adam and  The Last Judgment painted on the ceiling by Michelangelo was another jaw dropping experience.

After leaving the chapel we made our way to St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world. Walking inside is like stepping into another world. The entire church from floors to walls to ceiling is covered with marble, and since the dome reaches a height of over 450 feet it is easy to see how it took 120 years for the structure to finally be completed. I wasn't expecting to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II, but just 2 minutes after entering we walked a few feet away from the resting place of the Pope that I grew up with. In fact around 120 of all of the Popes were entombed underneath the church floors, and in the center of the huge cavernous basilica was the tomb of Saint Peter, one of the 12 apostles and the first Pope of the Catholic Church, mind blowing.

Once again it was another surreal experience, but I was kinda bummed that the pope-mobile wasn't on display for the public to see and that I didn't get to give the Pope a giant Catholic hug. However, after the tour we went to a Church gift shop that sold everything from rosaries to crosses and most in the group bought a rosary or two for their grandmas (me included since I didn't want an angry Nana when I got back), that were blessed in the Basilica later that day.

After our visit to the Vatican we were in dire need of a power nap, so we headed back to the hotel for a quick refresher, and then we were back out the door to visit the inside of the Pantheon. Built around the same time as the Colosseum, the Pantheon was one of the first uses of concrete by the Romans back in the 2nd century AD and is much better shape than it's grandieur cousin the Colosseum. After learning so much about the famous structure in our Art History course a few years ago it was pretty sweet to see it all in person.

After a final pasta dinner in the Italian capital, we walked to the Colosseum with a bottle of wine to watch the moon rise since it was supposedly even more grandiose at night. Once again, Mike's advice didn't disappoint and after an hour of enjoying one last glimpse of a testament to the world's greatest empire we headed back to the hotel to get some much need rest for tomorrow's long journey to Florence in the heart of Tuscany.

Ready for a swim in the ocean to get away from the heat,

Josh

 a large hallway longer than a football field before entering the Sistine Chapel, where no photos were allowed

 view out onto St. Peter's Square

 a view into St. Peter's Basilica

 sweet view of one of the domes inside the church

 a view from under St. Peter's altar in the center of the church

 St. Peter's is the largest Christian church in the world

 one last view from the Square towards St. Peter's

 visiting the Trevi Fountain again during the day

 visited the Pantheon again to go inside

 inside the Pantheon

 One final view of The Colosseum after dinner with some wine before departing Rome for Florence in the morning

Day 16: Rome and Jaeger

For our first full day in Roma we started at the macdaddy of them all, the Colosseum. After watching the Gladiator on the bus into town the day before it was easy to imagine how the impressive ruins would have looked 2000 years ago filled with 55,000 spectators. After some photo opportunities on the outside we headed inside for another local guided tour. Standing inside the arena looking down on the stage where so many people battled and died was another surreal experience. To think that the Romans could build something so impressive so long ago is really hard to fathom.

After leaving the gates as the Roman citizens would have, we then headed to the nearby Roman Forum. This is the location of many ruins and buildings that the Romans used to help govern their vast Mediterranean empire. After saying goodbye to our guide we were free to visit the city as we pleased. In Rome there is entirely too much to see so we chose a few things to visit on a walking tour of our own. We started at the Monument to Victory that also contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and headed up the very busy Via del Corso towards the Piazza del Popolo, which contains one of the 7 Egyptian obelisks located throughout the city.

After a quick pizza lunch, we walked toward the Spanish Steps and after racing to the top we returned to the bottom to sit next to one of the many fountains. This one was a little more interesting than the rest since many people had their feet in the water to try and get some kind of relief from the draining heat, and others were filling up water bottle from the same water. Not the most sanitary sight, but you know "when in Rome.."

Next we headed to the Tritone fountain to visit the nearby Capuchin Crypts. It is the final resting place for over 400 monks and since their order doesn't allow them to be buried underground, they have been collecting bodies for the past 500 years. Easily one of the creepiest things I have ever seen since bones were used to create designs and decorate the walls of the crypt. Oh and some of the skeletons were fully intact in sitting or standing positions with some still showing remnants of skin on their faces. I would not recommend it for small children, which oddly enough there were plenty of visiting the site.

We returned to the hotel for some extremely cheap, but delicious, pizza by the kilogram and bought a cheap bottle of wine to begin the evening. Tonight we were headed to another bar crawl, this one beginning at the Spanish steps and involving lots of Jaeger bombs and whiskey. Needless to say it was a good night for most of us, but some of the group didn't quite make it to the last club. A good way to end our first day in Roma, but maybe not the best choice since tomorrow we are headed to the holy seat of Catholicism.

Enjoying Italy a little too much,

Josh

 The Arco di Constantino

 The Colosseum of course

 the passageways underneath the arena floor where the gladiators waited to fight

 the Roman Forum, where the government buildings that ran the empire were

 another view of the Forum

 The Altar of the Motherland and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 view down Via del Corso from the Piazza del Popolo, with two churches on the corners

 view from the top of the Spanish Steps to the Piazza di Spagna below

 view of the Spanish Steps from below