Isn’t it Nice…

Ciao everyone!

Zevi will love the title of this entry, I’m sure. I’ve been throwing out the Nice puns left and right ever since we got here yesterday, and he has been less than impressed, although secretly I think he’s just jealous he didn’t think of them first!

As usual, there is so much to blog and so little time, so I’ll try to go through some of our recent highlights without missing anything important. We’ve done everything from attempt to climb an active volcano, to become immersed in over 2000 years of visible history, to eat the best pizza on the planet, to ride in a water bus, to visit the smallest country in the world, and much more since I last wrote an entry, so I’d better stop dawdling and get started!

After our two day sojurn in Siena, which was the site of my last post, we made our way to Rome. Once there, we met up with Alanna, who was visiting from her temporary home in Lyon, and began our exploration of one of the most amazing cities I have ever visited. Rome is one of those cities where, even though it is completely full to the brim with tourists, you can just wander around for hours in complete awe of what you see. It has enough sights to make all of the other cities we have visited, except Paris, perhaps, bury their heads in shame, and each is more awe-inspiring than the next. The first night we arrived there, we wandered around for a couple of hours and marvelled at everything that Rome has to offer, including the towering Spanish Steps, the impressively lifelike Trevi Fountain, and the amazingly well preserved Pantheon. To add to the drama of the evening, while we were standing at the Trevi Fountain a bride in a huge white dress and her new husband appeared to have their photographs taken among the throngs. The wonders of Rome never cease!

The next day was spent exploring the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. We decided to shell out the big bucks for a guided tour of both areas, and the wealth of information provided by our interesting and knowledgeable guides made it well worth the hefty price tag. This was especially true on Palatine hill, as our guide was able to transform what looked at first like just a jumble of ruins into a a picture of ancient Roman life. The Colosseum itself rises above the ruins like a giant among men. It is amazing to think that at one time it was much bigger than it is today. On our final day in Rome, as Zevi and I were making one final round of the city, our eyes were constantly drawn towards the ancient stadium, and we spent quite a long time simply admiring its grandeur.

On our second full day in Rome, Alanna, Zevi and I visited the smallest country in the world – Vatican City. We marveled at the gigantic collection of art housed in the Vatican museums, from tapestries, to intricate mosaics, to countless statues missing various appendages… but all very impressive nonetheless! I must admit that the Sistine Chapel was a bit of a letdown for me, and whether that was from an overdose of hype about it beforehand, the huge crowd of onlookers filling the room, or the fact that I had seen enough art to satisfy me for a few weeks to come I’m not completely sure. There’s no denying the mastery of Michaelangelo, though, and I managed to snap an illegal photo of “the painting where those two people are reaching towards eachother” (insert the actual name here – shows what I’ve learned about art in Europe!) before being pushed out of the exits by more tourists trying to catch a glimpse of the famous ceiling. After mailing some postcards to our family via the Vatican postal system, and visiting St. Peters Basilica along with the huge groups of Canadian children we saw over and over again in Rome, we said goodbye to Alanna and, soon after, bid farewell to Rome. It was great to see Alanna for those few days, and we’re really excited to see her again tomorrow in Lyon!

Against the advice and warnings of many, we decided that our next stop would be Naples, the birthplace of pizza. We were a little nervous coming into the city, as we had been told to watch our belongings closely for fear of mugging and to look into nearby windows lest there be a member of the mafia lurking with a gun (I kid, but, seriously, there are over 100 mob-related murders a year in Naples), but we soon found southern Italy to be a place of warm friendliness, and great pizza, where our only real fear was of being hit by a rogue scooter while crossing a busy
street. As Canadians, we’re pretty used to just moseying across the road without a care in the world, but we soon learned that in Naples most of our street crossings (and sometimes even walking on the sidewalk – there was at least one specific instance where we were forced to dive out of the way as a girl on a scooter plowed her way down a crowded sidewalk) would leave us feeling like we were putting our lives on the line. Happily, we made it out alive and with all of our limbs intact.

After spending a day wandering around the city, our first day trip was to Mount Vesuvius. We did some internet research, and it sounded like this active volcano would be no big deal to climb, and we figured that we could use some serious exercise, even though we both only have what can only be termed as city shoes. So, at about 11:30, clad in our jeans, sneakers and with one measly bottle of water, we began our trek from Herculaneum, feeling confident that we’d easily be able to reach the top of the mountain and make it down before sundown. Let me just sum things up by saying that if we were keeping score, it would be Italian Volcanoes 1, Heather and Zevi 0. At 2:15, exhausted, thirsty, sore, and disgruntled, we were about to turn back unsuccessful, when a bus driver with a completely empty bus drove by and decided to stop and save us from ourselves. This man was the best example of the kindness we encountered in the south of Italy. He drove us up as high as vehicles are permitted to go, giving us a guided tour in slow Italian all the way up. When we got to the top we found that they were closing the walkable part of the crater so we were unable to actually reach the top, but our bus driver, aka the Neopolitain Knight in Shining Armour, tried to argue with the staff so that they would let us go up. When that didn’t work, he took our picture in front of various other volcano-like areas, and, finally, drove us all the way back to Naples even though his bus was only supposed to go about half of that distance. When we told Claudio and his girlfriend this story, she said “this is why Italy doesn’t work, people are always breaking the rules to do things for other people when it doesn’t make sense”. Needless to say, we were very appreciative of this nonsensical behaviour. I can’t speak for Zevi, but after that experience, I don’t think I’ll be climbing another volcano any timne soon.

The rest of our time in the south of Italy was spent marveling at the ruins at Pompei, a city that was hit by a huge eruption from Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and was very well preserved under volcanic ash, visiting the cute tourist town of Sorrento, wondering why our beautiful, big hostel was so empty, and eating pizza. Now this wasn’t any old pizza that we were eating. This was Neopolitain pizza, which is about 50 levels above any other pizza I have ever tasted. The best of the best, which we sampled on three different occasions, has an incredibly thin crust, amazingly fresh-tasting tomatoes, and delicious mozzarella cheese, all blending together to create a flavour that can only be described as a little slice (or, in this case, an entire pizza) of heaven. Naples has ruined pizza for me, just like pasteis de nata ruined my love for other pastries. I guess these are the perils of eating wonderful food!

This entry has gotten impossibly long, and you still have Zevi’s to read, so I’d better end it here. Italy was absolutely jam packed, and Nice hasn’t been any more relaxing, and that, combined with many nights of less than stellar sleeps, has left us feeling pretty weary. We’re trying to enjoy Europe to the fullest right now, though, because we’ll be back on Canadian soil before we know it!

With much love,

Heather