Some Final Thoughts

I wanted to share a few final thoughts on my trip to Europe that, perhaps, might be informative.

Overall:

I really enjoyed Europe.  It really is quite different from the United States, sometimes in small ways that may surprise you.  For instance, when I returned and unlocked the door to my apartment, I thought something was wrong because it only took a half turn to unlock and same to lock.  I had been used to European doors where you have to turn the key 360 degrees to lock or unlock.

The hardest aspect for me was the time difference.  Seven hours really is a long time.  This was difficult for conversations with the family, keeping up with the goings-on in the States, and sports.  Yes, I could catch early games, but for the most part I could not view the MLB playoffs unless I woke up really early.  In the unlikely event I would be offered a job in Europe, the biggest hurdles for me would be the distance from family and the time difference.

I really like driving.  I like to be in control (yes, I have issues with control: when I was working at the Tram tours at Space Center Houston I preferred to drive because I did not like relying on someone else to drive).  That being said, I loved the trains in Europe.  I realize why they do not work in the United States, but may times while I was on the trains I thought about how great it would have been to travel across the States in a train in the 19^th century (completely romanticized, of course).

Aside from one tourist restaurant in Venice, the food in Europe in amazing.  Florence was especially good, but really the others were for the most part better than in the States.  It seemed more fresh, less processed.

Speaking of food, while in Italy I never saw Italian Ice, nor did I see Italian dressing (they use balsamic vinegar and olive oil).  Also, I remember making fun of someone ordering gelato at Olive Garden saying it’s just glorified ice cream.  It is not.  Authentic gelato (I have not had Olive Garden’s but I doubt it is real) is much better, and healthier, than ice cream.  I may miss gelato the most.

Other than pickpockets, for the most part I felt much safer walking around in Europe, even at night, than I would even in Auburn.  And while I’m thinking of security, I honestly think we should allow police to carry submachine guns in major tourist areas/potential terrorist attack sights like they do all over Europe.  At first it made me on edge, but I got used to it and felt more comfortable because of it.

If you go to Europe, I would advice no more than 3 weeks, and no more than 2 cities.  And, for your own sake, if you visit Florence (which you absolutely should), make it your last stop because anywhere you go after will be a disappointment.

Paris:

People who know me know that I was not too thrilled about going to Paris, especially compared to most people.  I had said before that the only reason I would ever go to France would be to visit Normandy.  Not only was I pleasantly surprised by Paris, I was flat-out wrong.  I really liked Paris.  My apartment could not have been in a better location.  The food, especially Rue Cler, was great (though I am still a little surprised by their love of French fries).  Only the Musee d’Orsay disappointed me, all the other sights were as good if not better than I expected.  I could have spent a day, or more, in the Louvre, and almost did.  Notre Dame was perhaps a little too commercial, but still great.  I was able to walk near and see the Eiffel Tower every day I went to the archives.  Outside of the Metro ride in to town, and the occasional urine smell in the streets, it was remarkably clean.  I really miss the bakeries everywhere, and people walking around eating fresh baguettes and that not being weird.

Favorite: Louvre; Disappointing: Musee d’Orsay; Could Get Lost In: Louvre; Wow Moment: Ste. Chappelle 

Darmstadt:

There’s not much to say.  It is definitely not a tourist town, so really unless you have business at ESOC there is no reason to even think about stopping here.  It is an industrial town, with all that infers.  I had to hunt a little, but was pleased to find that the best food I could find was near the rail station, and hence my hotel.  German food consists mostly of meat, especially sausages, and beer.  Nothing wrong with that, it just pales in comparison with Paris and Italy.

Florence:

I am not exaggerating with my praise.  The churches are magnificent.  The people are extremely nice.  The food is amazing.  I had six days of legitimate sightseeing and could have spent six more.  If I ever return to Europe, I will go out of my way to see Florence again.  While in these European towns I tried to imagine myself there in their heydays.  Ancient Rome would have been something, but Renaissance Florence would have been a spectacle.  Sure it is slightly touristy, but it does not pander to you like some of Rome, nor does it lose its local flavor.  If you are lucky enough to go, make sure to head south of the Arno for at least one dinner at a local restaurant.  I could write for pages gushing about Florence, but I will stop for now.

Favorite: Santa Maria Novella; Disappointing: Science Museum; Could Get Lost In: Pitti Palace and Gardens, Wow Moment: Michelangelo’s David in Accademia

Venice:

A real disappointment, only made tolerable because of my company.  The entire town is a tourist trap.  At the very least, Gregorian Chant Mass on All Saints Day in St. Mark’s Basilica, followed by a tour of the Doge Palace, was a great few hours.  But I still cannot get over the fact that a town that survives on tourism now shuts down at 21:00!  That would be like Miami or Orlando closing up at dark.  That cannot happen!  For as few streets as there are, it is remarkably easy to get lost in that town.  And, really, I do not want to get into the food again.  At least I got to see the shooting location for the library in Venice in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, though I have to apologize to Sarah once again for that adventure.

Favorite: Doge Palace; Disappointing: Nighttime; Could Get Lost In: St. Mark’s Basilica; Wow Moment: Mass in St. Mark’s

Rome:

The Vatican was amazing.  Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum were great for reflecting on the past dominance of the empire.  The churches were great.  The food was ok.  Other than that, Rome was somewhat disappointing.  The Colosseum was somewhat lacking.  The Pantheon is vastly overrated.  The city is too large and busy.  It was my own fault that I decided to do my Pilgrims Tour on Sunday and therefore could not spend more time viewing the churches because I kept running into Masses.  Really, I think there is a lot of potential to Rome, and it was probably better than I am letting on, but I think by these last few days I was burnt out and did not appreciate what I was seeing as much as I should have.

Favorite: St. Peter’s Basilica; Disappointing: Mamertine Prison light show; Could Get Lost In: Palatine Hill; Wow Moment: St. Peter’s Basilica

Another Quick Update

So it's been awhile since my last post, and this one will have to be quick because I have to wake up for my flight back to the US in about 4 hours.

The monastery I stayed in just outside the Vatican had no internet, so I took a self-imposed internet fast for my days in Rome.  When I arrived there on Friday, I had enough time to do some sightseeing so I began with the Vatican Museum.  It is full of amazing art and beautiful rooms, and of course most impressively ends with in the Sistine Chapel.  After this tour, I walked around the walls to enter St. Peter's Square properly.  I began by walking down to the crypt, since I was not sure if I would have time to visit it after the basilica itself.  Seeing all the tombs of popes was humbling, but of course the most emotional was the very simple tomb for John Paul II (The Great).  I then walked up to the Basilica, and was blown away.  They did an amazing job of hiding the true size of the church by scaling everything up.  Some of the statues, that look about human size, are really 15 feet tall.  Most astonishingly, the canopy over the main altar, which looks large but not dominating from the back of the nave, is seven stories tall!  I was lucky enough to make it to Mass that night.

The next day I met with an ESA archivist at ESRIN, in a small town just outside of Rome.  Outside of some photos, it was more or less a waste of half a day for me, especially since I had to waste almost two hours waiting for a train back to Rome.  When I return, I made some quick tours of sights around the train station, including the National Museum (statues and mosaics), the Baths of Diocletian (now a church and impressively massive), and three churches including Santa Susanna, the American church in Rome where I was able to attend Mass in English (a welcome sound).

On Saturday I made my Ancient Rome tour.  I began with St. Peters in Chains Church, which includes Michelangelo's Moses and the chains of Peter while he was in prison.  Next I went to the Colloseum, which, while packed with historical aura, was slightly disappointing for me (I was hoping for some exhibits).  I took a detour and walked over to the church that houses the Mouth of Truth, made famous by Roman Holiday (on the way I passed by the Circus Maximus where some kind of military show was going on).  I then back-tracked to Palatine Hill, the location of the Roman Palace.  This was my favorite stop of the day because it was less packed with tourists and allowed me to envision Imperial Rome the best.  Next was the Roman Forum, which was great but I think I would have appreciated it more had there been fewer people.  Just outside was the church/prison where Peter and Paul had been imprisoned and baptised fellow prisoners and guards alike.  Unfortunately it has been transformed into a 30 minute light show, during which you only really see their cell for about 2 minutes, which I thought was a travesty and perhaps slightly blasphemous.  But I pushed on to the Capitoline Museums with more art including the original Roman Wolf with Romulus and Remus.  I finished the day with a series of churches, my favorite of which was Gesu Church, the heart of the Jesuit order and location of the body of Ignatius of Loyola (his study was next door) and the hand of Francis Xavier (the rest of his body, I heard a priest explain, is still intact in India).  I was somewhat underwhelmed by the Pantheon, especially after I had heard it was the heart of Rome.  Thanks to Rick Steves I did find a nice international student restaurant nearby with cheap but very good food, and I got a free glass of their homemade Fragelino (strawberry wine) because of my book.  It was funny to see the owner's son excited to point out his name in the book!  I then walked back to my monastery by crossing the Tiber and passing through the Vatican.

On Sunday I decided to begin the day by attending Mass at St. Peter's again.  Afterall, when will I get the chance to do so again?  I just wanted to point out that St. Peter's, especially Sunday morning, could make for one heck of a Catholic dating service.  I wanted to make Sunday a Pilgrims Tour by visiting some of the great churches, including St. John Latern, St. Mary Major, etc., but even after I tried stalling by going to lunch and walking around, every church I visited was having Mass so I could not really visit (I guess I should not complain about that).  So I decided to take a side trip to the Appian Way, the original highway.  It was fun to walk down such a historical road, despite the painful blisters forming on my feet.  I stopped at the San Callisto Catecombs for a tour, and ran into a couple recently graduated from Auburn and now living in Rome.  I have my international War Eagle moment!  After a long wait for a bus back to town, I made my way down to St. Paul's Outside the Walls, another immense, beautiful basilica (this time in between Masses).  I could barely walk by this time thanks to the blisters, and I originally thought about just getting some pizza somewhere since it was still early for dinner, but knowing it was my last real European dinner, I decided to return to the restaurant from Saturday night.  There is no easy way to get there from the Metro, so two desperate stops asking for directions later I was where I needed to be.  I took my time with dinner, enough to rest my feet just enough to make the walk back again.

Today was mostly a day of wasting time and traveling, since I had to make my way to a hotel near the airport.  I got here early in the afternoon, but the remote location and status of my feet has lead me to an afternoon of catching up with sports and other things online, two talks with my parents (and Joey) on Skype, and preparations for my flight tomorrow.

Well, now I really should get some sleep before a very long day returning to the US.  I will try to make a few more posts with more details of my last week or so of travels and some overall impressions of my first (and hopefully not last) European trek.  See you in the States!

Ciao Italia!

Last Night in Florence

I never thought I would get emotionally attached to a city, but I truly will miss Florence.  I had a pretty good and full last full day.

I started by heading back down to the Central Market looking for an Italian silk tie, but mostly just checking prices.  It seems all the little shops have virtually the same things for the same prices.

I moved on to the Medici Chapels.  The major room is top by a dome that is a mini copy of the Duomo.  Inside is dark and garish.  A second chapel was designed by Michelangelo, and much better.  It holds the tombs of four of the "great" Medicis, including Lorenzo.  The tombs are adorned with sculptures referencing day and night, the beginning and ending of our time on Earth.  Behind the altar they have displayed some sketches from Michelangelo and his people, some of them quite cartoonish, like they were doodling on their breaks.  Overall it is much more simple, and better, chapel.

Next was the Science Museum, now called the Galileo Museum since renovations earlier this year (it has been completely changed, so unfortunately my Rick Steves tour was little to no help).  It is interesting because it holds numerous old scientific measuring devices from all branches of science.  It is called the Galileo Museum because they have on display some of the only serving tools once used by him, as well as reliquaries made by his disciples, one with the middle finger of his right hand, one with the index and thumb of his left hand as well as a tooth.  So even science has its saints.

Before lunch, I quickly walked throught the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio, which is free to the public and includes a few pieces of art.  After lunch I made my way over to Dante's House and Dante's Chapel.  The house is mostly about the incredibly complex politics in Florence of his day that lead to his exile.  The chapel is probably where he attended Mass, as well as the resting place of Beatrice, his first love and muse who married another man and died young.

I also took some time to see the Michelangelo house, which probably was not his house though he did own it.  Outside of a few small pieces and some sketches, it mostly holds some art by his followers and paintings of Michelangelo.  It is a decent little museum, emphasis on little (ditto for Dante's House).  I did take the quick detour to see the door a few houses down that actually did lead to Michelangelo's house, which now is the door to an apartment.

Since I was in the area, I finally made my way down to Santa Croce Church.  The outside is impressive, with shades of Santa Maria Novella and the Duomo.  Inside they are doing extensive work on the altar and one of the main side altars, so qutie a bit was covered up.  The church is most notable for the almost 300 tombs, and the main ones could still be seen.  The three biggest names there are probably Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli.  I also found it interesting to see Enrico Fermi and Guglielmo Marconi, two big names in the history of science and technology.  It also includes a memorial for Dante who is buried elsewhere due to his exile.  Interestingly a leather school is attached since the monks had started a boys town of sorts with the leather school to teach them a trade.  I wanted to purchase something, perhaps a journal or new wallet, but the prices were a bit high for me.

I then decided to walk around and try to find a souvenir finally.  I was hoping to find a pencil sketch of the skyline of Florenice, since I had seen many of Venice while there.  Outside of one by one of the street artists, I came up short.  I did not even ask him the price for fear of the answer, plus I did not want to risk damaging it in the next week or so that I am in Rome and on the plane.  I made it to the silk market, and purchased a nice solid yellow tie made of Italian silk for only 6 Euro.  I looked around for a green tie, especially one with the Florence symbol, but no luck.  I also ducked into a basement football shop and purchased an official scarf of Fiorentina from Serie A Fiorentina, which is purple and white stripped.  I decided that, as a lasting memory of Florence, they will be my football club.

For dinner I thought about returning to the best restaurant I had been to before, a local joint south of the Arno we had dined at Saturday night.  Instead I decided to try one more new place.  Unfortunately the restaurant I wanted to eat at, which is supposed to be run by an exceptionally good chef but still low priced, was closed tonight.  I walked around the area, near the Central Market, and more or less got tired of looking and stopped at one that had pretty good prices.  The one thing I had been wanting to try since I got here was the local specialty, Bissteca Fiorentina (essentially a huge T-bone).  Most places serve it as a huge serving, a kilo, meant for many multiple people and with a price to prove it.  This restaurant, however, had a smaller sized portion for a single person.  Well, of course I had to try it!  I also ordered sauteed spinach in garlic and oil, which sounded interesting.  The steak was quite good, worth the price and the wait.  The spinach was remarkably lacking in taste until I finally tried some balsmic vinaigrette on it about halfway through to help me force it down.  Since it was my last dinner in Florence, I decided to spoil myself just a little and had some tiramisu to end the meal.  It was a little thick with the coffee powder, but overall very good.  It was not my best meal in Florence, but still very good.

After dinner I had to take one more stroll down to the Duomo.  As I said goodbye to Florence, I unexpectantly became slightly choked up.  Again, I never thought I would get emotionally attached to a city I did not live in, but Florence I think has that effect on people.  I could not help but smile when I overheard an American couple, obviously taking in their first night in Florence and talking about everything they want to do in see.  Again this may sound weird, but it made me feel a little better to know that every day someone is experiencing Florence for the first time and has the potential to enjoy it as I did.  I now know why my contact in Paris told me she was jealous of me, being able to experience Florence for the first time as she had years ago.

Tomorrow I head to Rome, the city that I thought at the beginning of this trip would be my highlight (it still may be, but it will have to pack a mighty wallop for that).  If Rome is just half of Florence, I think it will be a very good next 5 or so days.

Quick Update

I am back in Florence after a few days in Venice.  Venice, overall, was a disappointment.  The food was overpriced and very inferior to any of the other places I had been.  It is overwhelmingly touristy, yet it closes down at 9:00 so tourists like us just meander the streets unsuccessfully trying to find something to do.  It is amazingly easy to get lost, since streets are haphazard and street names mean nothing.  And to top it off, it was raining and flooding the whole time.

There were some good things.  We got to attend All Saints' Day Mass (Gregorian Chant) at St. Mark's Basilica, which is beautiful.  The Doge's Palace and adjoining prison was interesting, including the largest oil painting in the world.  And I was able to (eventually) track down the church that was the facade for the library in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Most importantly, I had some good friends to share the ups and downs.

I will try to update more tomorrow, but for right now I need to get some sleep before my last full day in Florence.  I have about 3 days left of things I want to see in that one day, so it will be interesting what I am able to pack in.  Ciao!