Firenze! (Florence!)

After our adventures in Rome. We took off for Florence. We knew that with our trip to Italy we could not miss this beautiful city or the Tuscan Country side. In Florence we stayed with the Evertsen family, some members of our church ( The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). They are an American family that decided to relocate to Italy. They're an awesome family that provided great tips and even a few meals too! We took off into the town with a few musts, the first of which was the Duomo.  The Duomo is quite an impressive building. The original builder of the church knew that the technology someday would allow such a dome to top his structure. It was worth the wait. The Duomo is impressive not only from the outside, but inside as well!

OUTSIDE!

INSIDE!

Being in Florence we also had to see the Sculpture of David crafted by Michelangelo. Now if there are some art purists out there, they may recognize we are not standing in front of the original David sculpture, as this is outside. The truth is we are not die hard art enthusiasts, so paying €20 to see the original was not something we were going to do. Anyways we saw this excellent duplicate in Florence... in our book, count it.

One of our favorite tips from the Evertsen family was the way to locate proper Gelato. We were told that Gelato that looks fancy in the serving tins stacked beautifully and very ornate) is not good gelato. We were told to look for gelato that was down in the tin, as this is a sign of less preservatives, which means a more fresh Gelato! It might not always be appealing to the eye, But definitely appealing to taste. The gelato below is from Grom, which is a franchise, however our sources say that it is very good! This gelato cup contained raspberry, lemonand passion fruit! It was sooo good. Haon typically gets chooclatey gelato, but the fruit side is starting to be found more often on his cup or cone.

Our next plan was to get to an overlook called the Piazzale Michelangelo. Which would give us a fabulous view of the city of Florence. However, we first needed to cross the famous Ponte Veccio which holds the Vasari corridor, a top secret route to help nobles get out of town.

Finally the overlook! We were able to get an awesome view of the city, we enjoyed for a few hours while we ate Paninnis and listened to Harry Potter on tape. The perfect end to a perfect day!

The Rome of Dan Brown

I'm afraid I probably bore Harmon with my endless references to Dan Browns novels. Angels and Demons, set in Rome and Vatican City, is just too brilliantly suspenseful, educational, and well-written to be forgotten. I had to visit as many sites from the book as possible!!! 

I did my own "Path of Illumination" Tour!

1. The Pantheon

Apparently feeling quite in love at the Pantheon... Enjoying the oculus, the perfectly spherical dome, and of course the tomb of Raphael. 

2. Santa Maria del Popoli

 

Unfortunately we got here after closing and were unable to go inside and see "Habakkuk and the Angel" from the book. Site of the first cardinal's death in the book.

3. St. Peter's Square

Don't forget the "West Ponente" tile at the base of the obelisk. We couldn't quite  get close enough. Site of the second cardinal's death.

4. Santa Maria della Vittoria

Didn't make it here...... Site of the third cardinal's death.

5. Piazza Navona

 

The Fountain of the Four Rivers in front of Sr. Agnes in Agony. The site of the last cardinal's death. 

6. Castel Sant'Angelo

All the "angels" point here, where "Il Paseto" links this fortress with the Vatican. Final throw down between the assassin and Robert Langdon is here.

7. St Peter's Basilica

You can see the dome of the basilica. Peter's tomb is said to be underneath the basilica. 

8. Sistine Chapel

That's as close to a picture inside the Cappella Sistina as we were allowed...pretty fantastic!!!

And the rest of our Vatican adventures:

Waiting in line to get into the Vatican Museum. If you enjoy 2hrs in the hot June sun in Italy, this is the way to go. You can save money this way, and we are penny pinchers! However if you value energy later to push other tourists out of your way to see the Raphael Room, you can book in advance and bypass the line...

Practicing our lightning hurling skills with Zeus. 

Gun show with Hercules.

Talking philosophy with Plato and Aristotle. (School of Athens)

Downing DELICIOUS fruity gelato. Passion fruit + lemon + raspberry = match made in heaven.

And finally, squeezing into our wee lil elevator after a long day on our feet! What a day! 

The Eternal City

First off:

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! (Heavenly choruses not frightened screams)

We have arrived! We are staying comfortably here in Rome, no thanks to Airbnb! Each street has a new story to tell, with pillars and ancient walls around every turn, not to mention beautifully maintained buildings with fantastic architecture and unique character. We love getting lost in the streets here, stumbling upon unknown churches and gelato cafes... We are becoming real gelato snobs. 

Especially now that we have had Lindt gelato and eaten it next to the giant Lindt bunny that appears as though it might gobble me up whole. 

Our favorite church so far is the church if St. John Laterno. No pics, but we may have to go back. Absolutely fantastic interior sculptures. Harmon's new favorite apostle is Philip because he was depicted crushing the head of a giant serpent. Boys...

We also made it to church in Rome! 

Yes, this is now what I look like when I get "dressed up" for church.

We were surprised by the number of couples here from America working on the Rome temple. We were able to meet some fantastic people, including the Luschins. (Just look up Elder Uchdorf's "Lift Where You Stand" talk) The Luschins took us to the Rome temple site as well as fed us our first home cooked meal in quite some time!! 

Current state of the Rome, Italy temple as of 6/22/14.

After our wonderful Sabbath we ventured off to see more of the sites and get even more lost!

Trevi fountain...under construction of course.

Spanish steps

We have recently discovered that Rome wakes up after 8. The small shops along the Tiber River were crawling with people!!! You can see how far down the shops go.

We had a legitimately awesome Italian dinner last night on the bank of the Tiber :)

Stay tuned!

The Streets of Pompeii!

After we flew from Greece to Rome, we immediately jumped on a train headed for Pompeii. Upon arriving in Pompeii we found a campsite that was an excellent deal! Only €10 for the night and that included showers! We set up our tent and headed to the closest pizza joint for our first go at Italian pizza. The place looked promising with its real pizza oven pumping out pie after pie for the people of Pompeii. The pizza was only €7 and fed both of us easily.

We woke up the next day eager to visit Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. We were a bit surprised when the entrance fee was €24 euro for the two of us. We were able to get a student discount in Athens but not here. Pompeii was something we could not miss. The thing that surprised both of us was just how HUGE it was. I felt like I had pictured it in mind as this small place, but it most definitely was not.

 There we are standing amongst the sprawling streets of Pompeii!

You need to make sure and get a map. People with their little street stores will tell you, "You need a map you need a map. Trust us, buy one here." They are right, you NEED a map, but they are wrong in that you need to buy one. The maps are free within in the site just ask someone who works there for one.

We could easily see how a tour guide would be nice in Pompeii, but decided that we would save our euros for other things (probably chocolate).

We did get to see the people that were buried by ash. It was a bit of a let down as they were behind really thick, dirty glass. Still not bad.

We later found some that were not behind glass but behind bars along with pots and other artifacts found within the site.

Pompeii was awesome. We planned on Mt. Vesuvius as well but found out it was closed that day??? Anyways we saw it and could almost see lava flowing down the hillside with Pompeii in its sights. 

With Vesuvius being closed we decided we would travel to Rome that very same day so we could do Rome early the next day. So we once again hopped on the train and headed out. 

We stopped in Naples and decided to grab some pizza, after all we are in Naples! While waiting for our train to arrive in Naples, we walked down the street for some "take away" (to go) pizza. The pizza was fabulous and Harmon even ran back to grab a second slice of an exceptionally  tomato covered one. (Yuck,thinks Brooke)

All in all Pompeii was great! However, we look forward to the time we will spend in Rome getting to know the Colosseum and what not.

Thessaloniki and on to Italy!!

We spent the night in Meteora with our wonderful "room wrangler" Totti....

Here is Totti's shop! We stayed above and on the right...it was like staying at the Marriott. 

From Meteora we moved on to Thessaloniki, where I learned many things:

1. Sometimes people will pick you up on the side of the road and drive you the rest of the way to your campsite because they know how hot and uncomfortable you must be

2. Sometimes you have to stick out your thumb I that universal sign to get a ride to the bus stop that is 7 km from your campsite to get to the airport in time...

An old Greek man in a small Toyota pickup might just give you a lift!

3. Campsites can be like resorts...like Akti Retzika!!! (www.retzikas.gr)

 4. They have peelable banana popsicles. Need I say more??

5. I love sitting in hammocks on the shore of the Aegean, watching the sun set and thunderstorm roll in

 

6. Ryanair is the budget traveler's best friend!! But don't expect your orange juice at 10,000 feet.

And with that we are in Italy! After a looooong day trying to get TO the airport (thank you Greek man with the pickup), waiting for our flight, waiting to get to the train station in Rome, almost (but not quite) getting pickpocketed in Roma Termini, and THEN crowding on to a very, VERY full train to Naples (I can still smell the sweat and cat dander), we made it to Pompeii. It was worth it to stay for €10 that night at Camping Spartacus!! 

Traveling Wisdom

Greeks are nice, they help you get on and off the train or bus at the right time, and they even give you rides! My lifelong dream to hitchhike was a success! And yes Dad, I was the one sticking my thumb out and flagging down the old man.

Do NOT let just anyone try to help you buy tickets for the train at the automatic ticket booths, they have a friend behind you standing a little too close and slipping a had into your pocket....

Majestic Meteora

Up early--3 different alarms on 3 devices to be sure--to catch the metro for the train station where we would head from Athens to Kalambaka. Why? To see the secret wonder that is Meteora. No spoilers here though, read on for the deets.

We made it on the train and it was packed! Our first experience with the Eurail pass went well though. No reservation fee, and we got on the train in a jiffy! It was pretty comfortable too as well. Harmon made friends with a Greek girl who started teaching him English. 

She also kicked his trash in tic-tac-toe. 

When we arrived in Meteora, we weren't met by "restaurant wranglers" on the street, but rather, by "room wranglers." However we were able to get a cheap room right under the cliffs for a killer price!

METEORA: 25 million years of Mother Nature combined with the religious fervor of 14th century Eastern Orthodox monks.  Cliffs sculpted and weathered by time rise up over 1800 feet high and these monks thought, "What better place to build some monasteries??" The results are truly breathtaking, as these edifices hang on the edges of the rock faces. There are 24 monasteries in all, with 6 remaining today. 

Our experiences are as follows:

14:15 Arrive in Meteora

15:20 Discover we missed the last bus (€1.40) up to the monasteries for the day

15:30 Decide to hike up ourselves

15:45 Stop for our 87th water break

15:55 Hear a rustle in the bushes, only to spot a speedy friend

16:30 Arrive at Monastery 1 (locally known as Agia Trias)

17:00 Hike to Monastery 2 (Agios Stefanos)

17:45 Decide we might as well hike to the other monasteries 3km away. Like a boss. This time using the road. Harmon actually tried hitchhiking and was denied...

18:30 Soak in the view...

We hiked back down, passing through Kastriki before arriving once again in Kalambaka, the city under Heaven. 

20:30 Ate pork souvlaki and Greek salad, making friends with a traveling couple from Australia!

Followed up by homemade Ferrero Rocher from the corner pastry shop...Mmmmm

Traveling Wisdom: 

Don't be afraid to go with a "room wrangler" and check out his room. You can always say no.

If you aren't up for a 5+ mile hike, then take the bus or cab. If you are, you will NOT regret the spectacular views available at every turn!

Camelbacks, or similar products, are amazingly useful, especially when walking around for hours each day!! And the Greeks are amazed by it! Or humored...we've seen both reactions.