Breaking Spring in Italy

So a couple weeks ago I had a ton of fun as my mom visited me in Italy during my spring break! It was so lovely to see her after being here for almost 2 months now (also how has 2 months passed already? Crazy!).

I decided to go to Ikea before picking Mom up from the airport because they're pretty close to each other. But it turns out that the space between the airport and Ikea is completely not for pedestrians, and so I was darting across roads with a giant heavy Ikea bag. 

I did make it safely to the airport but then I realized that I really didn't plan how to get back into the city from the airport. Frantically I googled every single way to get into the center of Florence, and thankfully I had everything figured out by the time Mom arrived. 

After resting very well that night in our hotel right next to Santa Maria Novella, Mom and I decided on Sunday that we wanted to go to Lucca! Well, I decided I wanted to go to Lucca again because I loved it so much the first time. Mom was very willing to try this new place that she had never heard of before. 

On this day, there was a very large market going on. It was so many vendors and so many different things to look at! There were cameras, art, fabric, clothes, cds, vinyl, furniture, and a lot more. The stands of stuff kept going on street after street. The two of us spent quite a bit of time browsing, but we definitely didn't see everything! It was so cool to see.

We climbed to the top of a campanile and got to see a splendid view of Lucca. Mom and I both knew that if Dad was with us, he definitely wouldn't have gone up with us. The stairs were a little sketchy, but we made it up to the top and down again!

We ended our night by going to the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, which is a cute little enclosed circle of buildings. We quick ate a delicious chocolate crepe and a lemon gelato. Amazing!

Monday:

On Monday morning, Mom and I woke up nice and early to catch our train at 6:50. You can tell that a lot of people want to travel between Rome and Florence because the train was high speed and lasted less than 2 hours.

Though we do love walking, the two of us decided the best course of action to conquer Rome (in the tourist sense) would be to go on one of those city sightseeing buses. Specifically we went on the City Sightseeing Bus. I always love getting to hear little tidbits about different roads and buildings while also not killing my feet walking everywhere.

I knew that I would enjoy Rome, but I really really loved being in Rome. There's a certain vibe and feel to the city that felt comfortable and nice. 

The first stop that Mom and I went to was the Colosseum. But that isn't the most technical name for this structure because I got points taken off my midterm for referring to it as such. It is technically called the Flavian Amphitheater. The more you know.

The Colosseum was so surreal. Just like the Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower and the David, the Colosseum is something that I grew up learning about, but then to actually see it in real life was crazy. It was so colossal, some may say. It was huge!

We stood in line for a little bit and got to see the inside, which blew us away. The outside is cool, but the inside is even cooler. It's so hard to imagine the sheer amount of people that would have been there at one time.

While taking this picture, Mom told me to "Get more of the Colesseum!" Who needs a nice picture of the two of us when you can get the Colesseum :D

Afterwards the two of us went into this little cafe right by the River Tiber that was a Disney-themed cafe, and I had a really great lasagna. It's good to know that no matter where you go, even if it's a cafe, you can spaghetti anywhere.

Next Mom and I wanted to see the Vatican, but we figured we wouldn't go inside because we had more things that we wanted to see. While we were walking down the road, a couple people tried to talk to us. A couple. Just a few.

"Hey do you want to skip the line?"

"Do you want to skip the lines?"

"Wanna skip the lines?"

"Skip the lines?"

"Would you like to skip the lines?"

We had to keep assuring each and every person that we passed that no, we were not going to be going in or wanting to skip any line. I think I told a couple of them that we were leaving Rome right then, so we couldn't go inside. Despite all of this, the outside was very pretty to see.

After that we hopped back onto the bus and to the Trevi Fountain, aka the place that all millennials know of because of the Lizzie McGuire Movie. It was so big and pretty! The water was such a pretty blue color, and even though it was crowded, I loved sitting and enjoying the atmosphere.

Tuesday:

The next day was Florence day! We had only had a little bit of time the other day, so this was one of our main days to explore Florence together.

The two of us went inside the iconic Duomo: Santa Maria del Fiore. Afterwards we got tickets to go inside the Duomo museum and the Baptistry. The museum had a beautiful view of the Duomo, and it was fascinating to learn more history about the Duomo and how it was built.

Then we went into the Baptistry of St. John, which was astonishing! I had heard that it was beautiful, but it was so beautiful. We didn't look up at the ceiling right away, but then we finally did look up, we were shocked. Golden stories from the Bible lined the entire domed ceiling.

We had hoped to go to Uffizi earlier in the morning, but it was utterly packed. So when we checked back at 1 or so, it was a lot less busy so we got into the Uffizi with ease. I had been to this art museum before, but I adored going through it with Mom and telling her the little facts that I've learned in class. Though I should say that most of my facts were followed by "Maybe. I don't exactly know for sure though."

I felt really happy that Mom was willing to go to an art museum with me because I love art so so much and also I loved making Mom pose with the art.

After a nice museum visit, we got some gelato like the true Italians that we are.

That night we ate at this restaurant that Mom had found online called La Fettunta. I ordered pork ribs, which just instantly reminded me of home and I loved every second of that meal. And like most Italian food, it wasn't drenched in sauce, but they were still very savory and tasty.

Wednesday:

Since I had not been to Pisa yet since arriving in Italy, Mom and I decided that we have to go to Pisa and be utter tourists by the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We decided that we could afford sleeping in a little bit later than Rome, and so that was lovely.

We arrived in Pisa after a nice train ride, and since it was almost noon, we were famished. Well, I know that I was really hungry. And since the main Pisa attractions were far away from the train station, we knew we needed some nourishment. I got an Oreo milkshake, and Mom and I shared the most chocolate-y chocolate crepe I think ever existed. There is no way we could measure the amount of sugar that we consumed in that one sitting.

And then we saw the Leaning Tower! It was leaning! It actually exists! I have to say that it was a very pretty tower, and it was quite fun to take selfies and pictures by it.

Mom and I went inside the Pisa Cathedral, which was immense and gorgeous. No matter how many churches I go in, I'm still so impressed every single time by the beauty.

We always went inside the Baptistry (which was honestly not as cool as the Florence baptistry) but I still enjoyed myself immensely. While we were climbing up the stairs, Mom and I imagined that we were climbing the Tower because we knew that we wouldn't have been able to climb up all the stairs for the Tower. There was one guy who I think worked there that was singing and showing off the acoustics of the baptistry, and that was so beautiful.

A train ride back home, and for that night, Mom and I ate at Gusta Pizza. Mom felt a little out of place at Gusta Pizza because it is predominately an American study abroad place to get their quick and delicious pizza. Guy Fieri once visited this restaurant for Diners, Drive-ins, and Drives, so that's how you know it's a good place. We got our pizzas and stuffed ourselves with the traditional Italian pizza goodness.

Thursday:

Another Florence day! We figured that since we're in Florence, we have to see the David at least once. We had to! So we woke and got to the Galeria de l'Academia by 9:30, and we were able to just walk into the building with absolutely no lines. I cannot say that that is an experience most people have.

So we did see the David. It was an absolutely giant statue. I will say that I enjoyed the rest of the Accademia almost more than the David because I got to learn cool art facts about the pieces of work and how they restored certain paintings and sculptures. Fascinating!

I just wanted to include this picture of me and Machiavelli. I made a video about his book 'The Prince' more than a year ago. What a weird dude. He really liked Florence though, and he basically wrote 'The Prince' so that he could go back to Florence, so that I can respect that.

Next Mom and I went to Santa Croce because I kept telling Mom over and over and over how much I loved Santa Croce and that we 'really really needed to go to Santa Croce.' I think I'm biased because I walk by it everyday to get to class, but Santa Croce is really cool! I also wanted us to visit Caffe Mario as well because its the caffe that I love going to because it's right by Santa Croce.

We went through the Church and the museum that had a lot of information about the flood that deeply affected the Church. It was astonishing to see the damage that the floods did, but it was also interesting to see the kindness of people help clean and restore the Church and its artwork.

After stopping by the marketplace, Mom and I took a little bus ride to Fiesole, a small former Etruscan town on the mountain overlooking Florence. We went to the Archeological Museum and its nature site, and wow it was a site to see! Beautiful views of the Italian countryside was wonderful and gave us a moment to relax from the busy city.

Taking the bus back down the mountain to Florence, we grabbed our dinner at a restaurant by our hotel. Mom had delicious pasta, and I had an amazing lasagna. But for desert, we shared a phenomenal tiramisu, which was the perfect way to end out the trip.

Mom left early Friday morning. I groggily said goodbye to her and hugged her, and I had the rest of the weekend before classes started up again. 

It was so wonderful having Mom come visit me. It doesn't feel like it's been that long since I last saw her, but then I realized I had quite a bit of Florentine advice and facts to throw at her while we were walking around. I'm so happy that we got to all the things that we wanted to, but I'm just glad that we had fun doing anything because it's about the people you're with, not what you're doing.

Awwwwwww

Also I made a little vlog when Mom and I were in Rome, so if you want to see moving pictures of the things that we saw, this is perfect for you!