London-Warner Brothers Studios and Harry Potter

Between summer school sessions, I had two weeks off to travel, so I went to two places that I have wanted to go to for my whole life: London and Paris!  Following this post will be my thoughts on Paris, but for now I want to talk about lovely London.

I flew into London from Rome's Ciampino Airport using RyanAir (not recommended) and touched down in Stansted Airport, which was easily navigable, and took a bus ride for just over an hour into London, with a short walk to my hostel.  My hostel was located just a short walk from the Willesden Green stop on the Jubilee Line of the Tube, London's famous train system that I soon became obsessed with due to its punctuality and relative ease of use.  At any convenience shop, one can purchase an "Oyster card," which saves a lot of money spent on travel.  I paid thirty-five pounds for a week-long pass, and with that was able to travel on the Tube, as well as the buses--double decker!--with unlimited access.  I highly recommend doing this.

The first night, a friend and I travelled just outside of London (using the Tube of course!) and went to Warner Brother Studios London, and saw the sets from Harry Potter.  Everything from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor common room and Snape's potion room were still set up, as well as a wide variety of props and a well-explained engineering room showing how the magical creatures were portrayed in the movies.  Particularly exciting was how intricate Buckbeak the hippogriff was built.  Outside, I bought a Butterbeer and strolled past number four Privet Drive, Godric's Hollow, the Night Bus, and the life-size chess set from the first movie.  I had a lot of fun at the studios, and it was completely worth the trip out there.  In addition, a complimentary bus picks studio-goers up from the train station and drives them to the studio, then brings them back when they are finished.

The Great Hall

Potions Room

Number four Privet Drive

Diagon Alley

Post-finals Feast

After taking my finals for my classes, I enjoyed a beautiful dinner in Piazza Navona with my classmates and friends, indulging in the smells and sights of one of my favorite areas in Rome.  With Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers just around the corner, surrounded by some of the best neighborhood artists, the atmosphere feels both historic and alive at the same time.  This notion of living in history is a prevalent aspect of Roman life; the layers of thousands of years pile atop one another, and one gets the privilege of having access to the multitude of these layers and all that they offer.

For dinner, I ate one of my favorite foods that I've had in Rome: pear and ricotta pasta with a savory blend of cheese and carrot sauces.  Alone, the elements of the dish sound strange, but together blend nicely into a mixture of sweet and savory.  I know that I've talked about this pasta in the past; I'm talking about it again because it's that good.

Pear and ricotta pasta

Enjoying a lovely meal with friends

Getting to wind down after a week of caffeine-induced study sessions was a welcome change.  The weather was gorgeous, and we all really enjoyed ourselves. 

Vatican Museum

On 6/18, I finally went to a place that I had been reading about since middle school: the Vatican Museum.  I had been reading and rereading my guidebooks, learning about the history, architecture, and artistry of the place for years.  When I booked my ticket online (only two euro more, saving hours of lines along the imposing Leonine wall, built in 846 A.D.), I was giddy with excitement for what was to come.  The giant archway titled "Musei Vaticani" towered above my head in all its glory as I skipped the lines with my "fast pass" of sorts (really just a bit more planning).  Once I got inside, I ascended the steps to the museum, in order to eventually achieve my goal of seeing the famed Sistine Chapel.  Here is the link to the museum map in order to get a better understanding of just how massive this museum truly is:

http://mv.vatican.va/1_CommonFiles/pdf/mappa_musei_vaticani.pdf

As I made my way through the various galleries and hallways, I was reminded of how surreal my experience in Italy has been thus far, and how incredibly lucky I am.  The amount of art and culture that surrounds you in the museum is a surviving reminder of Baroque elegance and skill.  Some of my favorite parts of the day were when I visited the Stanze di Raffaello, or Rafael's Rooms, which are all part of the public area of the papal apartments.  Famous frescoes such as The School of Athens, as well as The Expulsion of Heliodorus From the Temple and other grandiose examples of the high Renaissance abound in these rooms.

The School of Athens

Ceiling detail

Disputation of the Holy Sacrament

Another area that I particularly enjoyed, partially due to the fact that it was so unexpected amidst the sea of Baroque masterpieces, was the Collection of Contemporary Art.  Giant paper pieces fitted together to resemble stained-glass windows, called "gouache cutouts," were created by Matisse and donated to the museum in 1980.  This display was shown right before the Sistine Chapel, which made the experience that much more memorable, as the excitement for Michelangelo's masterpiece was almost tangible among the crowd.  

Upon entering the Sistine Chapel, the excitement that everyone felt while climbing the stairs to reach it turned to utter reverence and awe.  The amount of people in the room didn't matter, because it was still very quiet (thanks to guards admonishing potential photographers of the ceiling and intermittently hushing the crowd).  I looked toward the ceiling and soaked up the expansive beauty of Michelangelo's most famous work, the Creation of Adam, while simultaneously scoping out a spot on the wall to better sit and admire the work.  A couple eventually sat up and left, and my friends and I rushed to the spot, to our avail.  We were then able to experience the masterpieces surrounding us, while giant tour groups were rushed through.  Five minutes is not enough time to view Michelangelo's most famous work; I stayed for an hour, and still feel as if that wasn't enough.  The artist's work in the apse of the chapel, The Last Judgment, was also breathtaking.  Seeing St. Bartholomew holding the flayed skin of his martyrdom was a poignant reminder of the lives of the saints, as well as the rest of the heavily-muscled figures being judged by Christ.  

After leaving (regrettably) the Sistine Chapel, I descended down to the steps, and enjoyed several more galleries before exiting.  The sheer amount of art inside the Vatican Museum is unfathomable, and it would take several more visits, I believe, to fully appreciate its magnitude.  

Here is a link to take virtual visits of any of the galleries in the Vatican Museum, including the Sistine Chapel:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Visite.html

Matisse's version of Mary and Jesus

From outside the Sistine Chapel

Beautiful table in one of the galleries outside the Sistine Chapel

I am so grateful that I got the chance of a lifetime to visit the Vatican Museum.  It is an experience that I won't soon forget, and plan to revisit later on during my time here to more fully appreciate what I saw the first time, as well as catch details that I did not see.

Siena

After spending a couple of days in Lucca, I took a train to Siena.  I spent two days and one night there, staying at the Terzi di Siena, a boutique hotel with the best views in town for hostel prices.  Here's the link for the hotel:
http://www.terzidisiena.com/index.jsp?lingua=EN

It's located just a street over from the Piazza del Campo, one of medieval Europe's most famous.  It's in the shape of a shell with nine sections, each symbolizing one of the most powerful families at the time of its construction in the late 1200's to early 1300's.  I walked over to this piazza and took a seat on the gently sloping brick, surrounded by fellow tourists gawking at the enormity of it all.  In front of the piazza sits the famous Torre del Mangia, the second-tallest bell tower in Europe.

Torre del Mangia

Piazza del Campo

Fun fact: the color "Burnt Siena" in a Crayola crayon box is named for the color of the bricks in the Piazza del Campo!

That night I went to the Duomo di Siena, a fabulous, black and white candy-striped cathedral at the top of the town.  The faces at the top of the church are those of all the popes, which looked down with consternation at passersby, but upon further inspection, the faces are a repetition of the same four! In one chapel are several Bernini sculptures, as well as a painting of Mary that is prayed to prior to the Palio, Siena's famous biannual horse race.  

That night, I gave in and tried the gelato chain Grom, which was surprisingly great! Definitely not the idea of a chain restaurant that one thinks of in the States.  After this treat, I headed back to my hotel, because it gets dark pretty quickly in the alleyways of a medieval town.

The next morning, I enjoyed the world-class views from the kitchen of my hotel while sipping a hot tea.  I ventured out to the famous Nannini coffee house for a cappuccino and cornetto, then strolled along the Piazza del Campo to buy panforte, a famous condensed fruit cake only sold in Siena.  I succeeded in finding a panforte store, and bought enough for the ride home to Rome.  I had a quick lunch of biscotti and more coffee (no regrets on that high sugar intake) and went back to Rome satisfied with my Tuscan weekend.

View from my hotel balcony

Lucca

The weekend of June 14-16, I decided to take a solo trip to Tuscany, an area that I've wanted to visit for quite some time.  After deliberating on which towns I would travel to, I chose Lucca, as well as Siena, which I will write about in a later post.   Nestled in northern Tuscany, Lucca was a gem of a town.  After leaving the train station, I was able to walk to my hotel, Alla Dolce Vita, which ended up being a beautiful, private double bed with my own bathroom and shower.  This was a perfect respite after a day of traveling from Rome.  I would highly recommend this place to anyone staying in Lucca.
That night, I went for aperitivos at a local bar, which included a tall Peroni and some lovely bruschetta and assorted meats and cheeses.  The people-watching was fabulous, as well!

The next morning, I awoke for one of my most anticipated activities in Italy: cooking school! I found Chef Paolo Monti's cooking school online, and I am so glad that I did.  Here is the link to his website:

http://www.cucina-italiana.com/

I signed up for a class on fresh pastas, sauces, and raviolis.  We made a lovely assortment of foods based on what was in season, including the best cherry tomatoes I have ever eaten, as well as squid ink ravioli with salmon filling, and gorgeous rainbow-colored fettuccine.  Chef Paolo taught simple techniques that made cooking easier, and I enjoyed his hilarious one-liners.  He owns the restaurant that the cooking school is located in, just a five-minute ride from Lucca.

Cooking the sauces

The beautiful raviolis

With the chef

All in a day's work

Following cooking school, I was eager to try another activity that Lucca is famous for: biking atop the medieval walls that surround the town, which have a perfectly flat top.  On the north end of the town, I rented a bike for two hours with a meager five-euro rental fee, and coasted around the periphery of the town several times (the town itself is small).  While riding, I was able to see old men enjoying a leisurely game of chess, younger generations enjoying the afternoon with older relatives, as well as a small group on a religious pilgrimage, complete with a donkey.

After working up an appetite, I returned the bike, and headed into town to see what other culinary treasures the town had to offer (having fairly high expectations following a day of cooking school, haha).  I stumbled upon a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and ordered stewed fennel, as well as a tasty chicken cooked in caramelized onions.

Chicken with caramelized onions

Stewed fennel

View from my bike ride

All in all, Lucca has been my favorite place that I have traveled to so far.  The friendly people, great food, ample activities, and cooking school served as a perfect Tuscan weekend.  

 

Roman Forum

After enjoying the beauty and splendor of the Colosseum, I recharged for the Roman Forum with some lunch at an authentic little restaurant, which took a good deal of wandering away from the "American tourist" menus.  I had spaghetti al cacio e pepe, which is spaghetti with salt and pepper, a very rich dish that had a sort of peppery, creamy sauce, washed down with a refreshing mineral water.  I don't know what I'm going to do without my constant supply of carbonated water here; it's the best way to cool down here, since ice isn't served in most beverages.

Once lunch was finished, my friend and I headed to the Roman Forum from the southernmost entrance, which was very empty and uncrowded for a Saturday afternoon.  We wandered through ancient ruins, one of my favorites being the Palatine "stadium," which was a hippodrome, originally an area for exercising horses in the Flavian Palace.  This area eventually became a giant flower garden where citizens could stroll on foot or in a carriage.

The hippodrome

After the hippodrome, I walked to the Ancient Gardens of the Domus Tiberiana, which included the Farnese Nursery, where rare plants from the New World were grown.  Plants from all over the world are still grown here, and I had a lovely time strolling the gardens, looking at tropical plants and narrowly avoiding wild skinks which made their homes in the vine-covered trellises.  

View from the Farnese nursery

Ancient gardens

Wild lupines at the southern entrance to the Forum

Piece of a column decorated as a lion.  Part of the beauty of the Forum was the artwork I would find like this, among the most functional of objects and structural components.

After viewing the gardens, I continued down to the actual Forum, which was absolutely fantastic.  I thought about all the history that has occurred within the boundaries of the columns around me.  It was very relaxing to tread among the ruins, since it was late afternoon and relatively tourist-free!

The Colosseum

On 6/8, I got up early and headed over to the Colosseum with a friend.  The night before, we bought our tickets online for two euros extra, which was definitely worth it when we got to skip the throngs of people crowded around the entrance to the ticket office.  The massive columns walking in were a preview to the entrance, which was absolutely breathtaking.  Looking into the pit of alleyways and and ancient archways where the gladiators stayed before their battles was unreal.  I walked around both levels of the building, which could be reached via ancient steps.  These same steps were the ones walked by ticket-holders for gladiator fights, which I tried to picture as I looked around at this Wonder of the World.  This structure was one of my favorite sites so far in Italy, even if it did get very crowded towards mid-afternoon.  I suggest going in the morning with online tickets for a relatively uncrowded, pleasant experience.

This panoramic shot was taken from the top floor of the Colosseum.  

Looking in to the ancient archways and alleys

Enjoying this still-standing Wonder of the World