The majority of my time in Florence (or Firenze to the locals) was spent waiting in one line or another. The guide books don't lie when they say people wait for hours - I certainly did. Line one was for the Uffizi Gallery, which houses most of the de Medici's collection. The major problem with lines in Florence is that they are deceptively short; the way this line worked (which I found out 45 minutes into my wait) is that they let about 35 people in every 20-35 minutes. This means you move forward a significant amount and then come to a dead stop for upwards of half-an-hour. So frustrating! I ended up waiting right around 90 minutes to get into the gallery. It was well worth it once I was inside, however; the Uffizi has both of Boticelli's major works, "Annunciation of Spring" and "Birth of Venus." They also have several other works I recognized.
After the Uffizi, I went to the Duomo. Luckily, the line to get inside the church itself was quite short, but I waited about another 30 minutes to climb 463 steps inside the Dome. The views at the top were spectacular (and I certainly got plenty of exercise) though, so at least it was worth it. My final stop of the day was a church with the monuments to many famous people, including Machiavelli, Galileo, and Michelangelo. From there, I walked up a 35 degree hill to my camping hostel (for which I was prepared with bug repellant). The views from there were equally spectacular, though I think I was actually higher in the dome.
The one thing I saved for the next day (which was also the day I had to head to Pisa) was seeing Michelangelo's "David." There are two copies of it in the city: one marble at Plaza Vecchio and one bronze on Piazza Michelangelo, which was quite near my campsite. I had to complete the trifecta. Once again, there was a quite deceiving line; I ended up waiting for 2 hours and 45 minutes - yes, you read that right - and almost missing the train I had planned to take to Pisa. I made some line friends - 2 Americans and 2 Australians from Brisbane - so it didn't seem to take so long. When we finally got in, I basically went and stared at "David" for 10 minutes, looked at several other pieces of art, and dashed out.
My trip to Florence ended with my trip to Pisa to take pictures of the Leaning Tower, laugh at all of the interactions going on around me ("move left, no too far, right a little, good! Now turn your hands..."), and hop on a train to the airport for my flight to Barcelona. Were I ever to do Florence again, I would definitely pay the extra 4€ to get advance tickets for the museums - even those lines were sometimes quite long.
I'm in the home stretch now...
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Roma and mosquito bites
My poor feet are going to be destroyed at the end of this trip. As I think I mentioned before, European cities are quite walkable, but Rome was the biggest by far. While it wasn't bad doing all the walking that I did, it was hot (and rainy on day 2). Nonetheless, I hit up all the major sites in 2 days, and have a million bug bites from the campsite to prove it.
Day one was all about ancient Rome; Colloseum, Palantine Hill, and the Forum. After that I visited the square Michelangelo designed for the famous statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse. That real statue is now housed in the museum that surrounds the square, which of course was closed on Mondays (but I made sure to come back the next day to see it, as well as the statue of Romulus, Remus, and the she-wolf and a statue of Medusa's head). From there, I saw the memorial for all soldiers and lucked into seeing the changing of the guard over the eternal flame. Finally, I went to the Pantheon (not the Parthenon, which I keep saying and is incredibly wrong), which has the largest freestanding concrete dome in the world - and it was built by the Romans.
The next day was pouring rain, which I got stuck in while trying to find my way to the Vatican Museums. I eventually worked it out, though I was thoroughly soaked mostly thanks to a floaty skirt I wore that covered my knees (*grumble* Vatican dress code *grumble*). The Sistine Chapel is quite amazing in person, but it is difficult to really appreciate it when you're crammed into it with about 200 other people who are slowly moving toward one little door in a room divider and then out a door. I'm glad I can say I saw it though. From the museums, I picked the right exit because I was funnelled to the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica so I could skip the line for that. It is huge! I was quite surprised. After that, I did all the sites I had missed the day before.
As for the bites, I was staying at a true campsite, and should´ve bought bug spray but didn´t. Instead I have about 30 bug bites on one leg and 20 on the other. The fact that I was staying in a tent and it poured the one day probably didn´t help either. Oops! I immediately bought anti-mosquito cloths (with citronella) in Florence because I was staying in another tent. I don´t think I´ve collected any more, but the original ones were quite itchy for a few days.
An update on Florence will be upcoming, but first I need to get some sleep in Barcelona.
Day one was all about ancient Rome; Colloseum, Palantine Hill, and the Forum. After that I visited the square Michelangelo designed for the famous statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse. That real statue is now housed in the museum that surrounds the square, which of course was closed on Mondays (but I made sure to come back the next day to see it, as well as the statue of Romulus, Remus, and the she-wolf and a statue of Medusa's head). From there, I saw the memorial for all soldiers and lucked into seeing the changing of the guard over the eternal flame. Finally, I went to the Pantheon (not the Parthenon, which I keep saying and is incredibly wrong), which has the largest freestanding concrete dome in the world - and it was built by the Romans.
The next day was pouring rain, which I got stuck in while trying to find my way to the Vatican Museums. I eventually worked it out, though I was thoroughly soaked mostly thanks to a floaty skirt I wore that covered my knees (*grumble* Vatican dress code *grumble*). The Sistine Chapel is quite amazing in person, but it is difficult to really appreciate it when you're crammed into it with about 200 other people who are slowly moving toward one little door in a room divider and then out a door. I'm glad I can say I saw it though. From the museums, I picked the right exit because I was funnelled to the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica so I could skip the line for that. It is huge! I was quite surprised. After that, I did all the sites I had missed the day before.
As for the bites, I was staying at a true campsite, and should´ve bought bug spray but didn´t. Instead I have about 30 bug bites on one leg and 20 on the other. The fact that I was staying in a tent and it poured the one day probably didn´t help either. Oops! I immediately bought anti-mosquito cloths (with citronella) in Florence because I was staying in another tent. I don´t think I´ve collected any more, but the original ones were quite itchy for a few days.
An update on Florence will be upcoming, but first I need to get some sleep in Barcelona.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Prague and Vienna and Venice, oh my!
I have finally completed the craziest 4 days of my tour. To give you an idea, today is Sunday, and I just arrived in Rome (or Roma to the locals) this evening. On Wednesday I was on BusAbout (my major method of transport) from Berlin to Prague; it's a relatively short trip and we arrived early in Prague at about 2pm. Wednesday was the only day I had in Prague, so I caught the bus from Prague to Vienna on Thursday morning at 8am. I spent the day Friday touring Vienna and hopped on an overnight train to Venice (Venezia) at 9pm. I arrived in Venice at 8:30 the next morning - Saturday, for those of you keeping track - and took the bus from Venice to Rome today (Sunday). In case you weren't counting, that's 3 cities in 4 days.
Prague is a very walkable city, and not very huge, so I got to most of the major sites in about 6 hours. The hostel in which I was staying was in the equivalent of the outskirts of Prague or perhaps the "suburbs." I took the tram into the city and went to the Prague Castle. I only got there about 2 hours before it closed, so I only had time for the short tour, which nonetheless let me visit all the most sought after places. From there, I walked down the hill to the Charles Bridge (a solely pedestrian and highly touristy bridge) that crosses into Old Town Prague. One of the main attractions there is the Astronomical clock; on the hour, Apostles parade through windows and several figures become animated (including a skeleton that rings a bell). As predicted by my Lonely Planet, the guy behind me said "That's all?" when it was finished.
Vienna is also known for it's palaces. The Schonbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs and is still maintained and furnished in the way that it was when they lived there. The architecture of the winter palace is still around, but it now houses several different things including the Spanish Riding School and museums. The best way to see the center of the city - and thus what I did - is to take a tram and/or walk around the Ring road to see all of the typical Viennese architecture, including the Hapsburg's winter palace. I also swung by the Sigmund Freud museum - I had to...I am studying Psychology after all - which is housed in his former apartment and offices.
Finally, I spent yesterday wandering and getting lost in Venice. Maps are not very useful in Venice; they help you identify where you are and where you have been, but aren't good at figuring out where you're going. I followed the, generally, quite good signage to Piazza San Marco (that square with all the pidgeons I'm sure you've seen in pictures). Occasionally the signs would disappear, and you'd have to head off in approximately the right direction and hope you picked right. After walking the city and taking lots of pictures that look like postcards, I headed back to my hostel and happily passed out after four days of non-stop travel.
Fun, yes...exhausting, absolutely. I'm looking forward to having a few days "settled" in Rome, but more on that in a few days.
Prague is a very walkable city, and not very huge, so I got to most of the major sites in about 6 hours. The hostel in which I was staying was in the equivalent of the outskirts of Prague or perhaps the "suburbs." I took the tram into the city and went to the Prague Castle. I only got there about 2 hours before it closed, so I only had time for the short tour, which nonetheless let me visit all the most sought after places. From there, I walked down the hill to the Charles Bridge (a solely pedestrian and highly touristy bridge) that crosses into Old Town Prague. One of the main attractions there is the Astronomical clock; on the hour, Apostles parade through windows and several figures become animated (including a skeleton that rings a bell). As predicted by my Lonely Planet, the guy behind me said "That's all?" when it was finished.
Vienna is also known for it's palaces. The Schonbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs and is still maintained and furnished in the way that it was when they lived there. The architecture of the winter palace is still around, but it now houses several different things including the Spanish Riding School and museums. The best way to see the center of the city - and thus what I did - is to take a tram and/or walk around the Ring road to see all of the typical Viennese architecture, including the Hapsburg's winter palace. I also swung by the Sigmund Freud museum - I had to...I am studying Psychology after all - which is housed in his former apartment and offices.
Finally, I spent yesterday wandering and getting lost in Venice. Maps are not very useful in Venice; they help you identify where you are and where you have been, but aren't good at figuring out where you're going. I followed the, generally, quite good signage to Piazza San Marco (that square with all the pidgeons I'm sure you've seen in pictures). Occasionally the signs would disappear, and you'd have to head off in approximately the right direction and hope you picked right. After walking the city and taking lots of pictures that look like postcards, I headed back to my hostel and happily passed out after four days of non-stop travel.
Fun, yes...exhausting, absolutely. I'm looking forward to having a few days "settled" in Rome, but more on that in a few days.
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