Just got back from Italy, where I spent five days in Florence, Siena, and Pisa. It was great! Nothing but my passport, a netbook, an English-Italian Dictionary, and 6 cliff bars. Lost about 5 pounds and took 400 photos. Hopefully I'll be able to post some of those for you all later.
It was a learning experience, having not traveled alone or in hostels before. However, nothing of a horrible nature befell me (besides for a little price extortion, which I expected). I flew into Pisa late, about 21:00, and had to catch a train directly to Florence (because the hostels there were significantly cheaper). I was able to navigate the train system and roads well enough and ended up getting in at half past midnight (Thursday night).
My first day in Florence I got to see all sorts of art—some highlights included Michelangelo's David and Cellini's Perseus. I already knew I was impartial to greco-roman statues, but in reflection, I find that four of my five favorite art pieces were statues (and big ones at that—size does matter!). My absolute favorite was a cathedral dome, but I'll get to that in due time. The Uffizi and Academic museums were both phenomenal, but I quickly got burned out on Russian Madonna and Child paintings, encrusted with gold. (you must forgive me, my artistic terminology is more than lacking—ask me about philosophy, physics, or math and you'll incite a much more sophisticated discussion) The cuisine was great, and cheap. Lots of panini and pizza, and lots of gelato. But with my (self-imposed) budget, eating was more a cultural experience than a physiological one (hence the weight loss).
That night, I took the train to Siena and met a friend from UCSD who also happens to be studying abroad this semester. I had a much more relaxing time here, for the stress that came along with passports and shared rooms wasn't affecting my demeanor. Here the main attraction was the cathedral (I saw so many its hard to remember their different names); there was also a great museum where one could get onto an old walkway, from which the red rooftops of the city could be taken in. Me and Alex (my friend) got some great pictures (upon sharing these with my grandparents we discovered that they had been to the same site). Later that night I also got to go out with my friend and his roommates to experience the nightlife; pretty much what I expected, although I surely saw an Americanized version as a non-native.
My second day in Siena was even more relaxing; there weren't any more monuments to see on a budget (many required traveling miles into the countryside). It was great to sit and observe the Italian lifestyle, however, and I enjoyed the climate and people immensely. I stayed one more night with Alex (free! although technically illegal...) and took back the train into Florence Monday morning.
Having had superb weather so far, I was due for some rain. And sure enough, short downpours divided my second day in Florence into a couple of clearly defined segments, to some perhaps definable by an hour or two, to me merely comprehensible as a closed (yet incredibly complex) set of fleeting impressions, soon to become memories. I was actually quite lucky, for one of my primary goals was to climb the dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the main cathedral of Florence. I entered the cathedral in a drizzle, and somehow (463 steps later, with all 5 days worth of my luggage on my back) found myself coming out on an observation deck in in dazzling sunlight. The view wasn't my favorite part, however. The artwork on the inside dome of the cathedral was absolutely phenomenal. The path up to the platform led us along the bottom edge of the dome... and maybe it was just sheer size, or the fact that I could reach out and touch the six-foot screaming faces (it was a scene juxtaposing some sort of hellish existence with successively higher, and more pleasant, levels which culminated at the top, near the heavens), but it was by far my favorite part of my whole visit. I stood and stared for nearly 45 minutes. I was sorely disappointed that I couldn't find a poster or even large picture of it online, but my hopes were never high due to the complications involved in projecting a positively curved figure on a euclidean surface.
That night I also went out and observed the much more vacant streets, scattered with musicians and artists (I saw an amazing double-bass solo...). Many of my favorite statures were outside in one of the central piazzas in town, so I enjoyed observing the interplay of the artificial light on the complex musculature and veins of each. In my mind, the experience was much preferable to the hot daytime bustle.
My last day I got up to get a not-so-early train back to Pisa, where I spent the day before flying back at 21:25. Pisa was also rather relaxing, because all the main monuments are within throwing distance of each other—the leaning tower of course, and the cathedral and baptistry it was constructed to accompany. You can even buy one ticket to get into everything (6 attractions in all). The truly great part about this area, however, was that all the money taken in by tourism was spent on conservation and the surrounding area—and it showed. The buildings were interspersed with wide swaths of grass, quite an ideal location for one who finds himself with all his possessions on his back to rest. And as with all other locations I find myself in for more than 10 minutes, it quickly became my intellectual retreat from the world; my Nietzsche volume (who in their right mind carries a volume consisting of not one, but five books around Europe?) finally got some extended use. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that the man was a great philologist before ever turning to Philosophy; I'm already inspired to buy Euripides (although those who know me know how little motivation it takes for me to buy a book).
Back to the monuments. The leaning tower of Pisa does, in fact, lean. Less, however, than it did at one point (perhaps even than when my dad went up it, forever ago). Still, it hangs out over the ground 4 meters. I did climb the tower, and it had a great view; however, I feel I got much more out of obsering at it than anything else. The other monuments were all great too—a fun day, overall.
Despite the excitement of seeing Italy and learning to speak select few phrases in Italian (all of which I butchered), it was good to get back the English speaking world last night. I have orientation in two days, and all of tomorrow to enjoy with my youngest cousins in the meantime.
