Boo! I'm back!
You leave for ten days and you see a new UI, Gay Marriage leagalized, and Confederate flag all but banned. Maybe I should leave the counntry more...it seems like more happens. so a little update on me!
I leave for Paris later today and will begin my Western Europe leg of our trip. The past ten days in Italy have been amazing!
On June 19th I landed in Rome, the Rome airport is probably the worst I have ever seen, very dirty and unorganized. After landing we got on the shuttles with our group and headed into the city. The first site I visited were the Steps De Spagna. It was all very beautiful and much fun to walk down the street...until after no where it started storming. My family and I rushed under a store front to stay warm. After the rain had cleared out we walked to the Pantheon and Pizza Navona. All of it was really cool and amazing. The next day after chior rehearsal we performed in the Pantheon and went on a walking tour of Ancient Rome. We visited the forum and amazing Colluseum. The next day was Vatican day...which was interesting to say the least and I'll go into more in the next podcast I'm in. On the last full day of Rome we performed in St. Peters Basilica for mass and the Sistine Chapel which was to say the least...amazing. The day we left Rome we went to the Papal Audience and I was close enough to touch Pope Francis. We then left for Asisi which was great and ended our day in Florence. Florence was really great, but the school had lined up tours and our tour guide was like an energetic fool that knew somethings but got everything wrong...DisneyPrincess will feel my pain. I would recomend watching and reading up on the history of different places you go and memorizing/laying out some walks in these cities before you go and skip the tour guides.
After Florence we went to Vinice. Coming from New Orleans I can say that Vinece from what I experienced is a nicer and more crowded version of the city. If I ever go to Italy again I will NOT go to Vinece. We ended the Italy leg of our trip in Milan. Milan was very nice, but we didn't get to do much which made me a little sad. If I ever go I will spend maybe three days in Rome, one in Asisi, three in Florence, and three in Milan. For those of you going for your first time I would recomend doing the cities that have always interested you and plan like you will return.
In general Italy was a beautiful country. Unfortunately it will be another ten days until I can compare it with other European countries, but overall it was very nice. In many ways I found it was a comfortable transition into the differences between Europe and the US which are much more dramatic than say car size and electrical outlets. When you go out to eat you always get one large glass of water at your table and its about four to eight dollars for soda. You need to watch out for 'fizzy' water too. The water bottles are really cool too, and to turn on power in your room you need to put your room key in a slot which is something I never experienced in the states. It is a way to save power.
In Europe I found there are many more beggars and street vendors than here in the states. Now for me I can respect street vendors that are selling products that range from art to hell even books, but most of the vendors I saw were selling stupid and cheap products that I would never buy. Not to mention the tons of fake leather shops that try to sell you a $250 fake leather bag. So if you go be careful of that. Bathrooms also cost money, Vinece was the worst with this. There were some cool things too like smaller more efficient cars, adequate public transportation, and walking space.
I will check in more frequently now that I have wifi and will give further updates and a more detailed trip report soon. So how are things here?
