Paradise, formally known as Lisbon

Until I went to Lisbon, I had spent about twelve weeks in Europe. One week in London in high school, one week in Paris in college, and of course ten weeks in Spain and Italy this year. Those trips were wonderful experiences- I can't express how great my appreciation is that God has seen fit to bless my life with the experience of travel. Twelve weeks! Somehow, I've managed to become one of the most well-traveled people I know. How did that happen to a homebody like me?!?!

One of the main walking streets in Lisbon- covered in trees and gardens. Just gorgeous.

My only comment on all of that time, (it's not even a full-fledged complaint), is that, well, I still after twelve weeks hadn't seen the sun. More or less, I had spent twelve weeks in European rain and chill. And let me tell you- Europe is cold and wet in the winter!!!

So, let's summarize to say that when I walked off the plane in Lisbon and was met by the warmest weather and brightest sun I have seen anywhere other than Florida, I was enthralled.

Thrilled.

Ecstatic.

Elated!

And there you more or less have the summary of my weekend in Lisbon!

Looking out over the water

My travel buddy was the lovely Heather once again, and both of us being rather exhausted from Holy Week travels, we spent the weekend walking at a leisurely pace beside the river, and wandering the streets of old Lisbon. It was magical. No museums, no lines, no artwork. Just the sun, a good friend, and a slight breeze blowing off the Atlantic.

God is good. :)

Basking in the sun.

We spent some time in the ruins of an old castle. Wouldn't I make a good cannon girl?

Fantastic views over the terra cotta roofs of the city, baking in the sun.

Just your average European fountain. :)

I'm sorry, San Fran, but you have NOTHING on Lisbon... good grief those hills are STEEP!

The main plaza looking out to the river.

This, my friends, is what Europeans do on a weekend. They pick a park, pick up a bottle of wine, and go sit in the park hanging out with their friends and listening to some live music. Why don't we do that here?!?!

A peaceful sunset over the water. A calming end to a wonderful day!

La Vita e Bella- Venice for Easter

Once again, what is there to say? Venice is well... Venice. A city afloat. A place of magic. Very, very expensive.


The streets, having been built both when people were about 2 feet tall (no, not really JMB) and when there weren't any cars (not that cars are allowed in Venice today either), are very very small. Trash-compactor-closing-in-scene-from-Star-Wars-small. So... photo! :)

The gondola drivers do literally sing Italian songs and dress in striped shirts. Even though I know it's all an act, I'm OK with it. It's awesome. Word on the street is that if you flirt a little bit you can get the gondola driver to cut his price in half... but flirting on Easter Sunday just felt wrong somehow.


The classic sitting-on-a-bridge-in-Venice photo. No Italy collection is complete without one!


The equally obligatory falling-in-the-water shot. Is it just me, or is that water not quite a normal color?


Fantabulous. On the waterfront near the Doge's palace and St. Mark's.


St. Mark's was absolutely breathtaking. Being a Medieval church, it was a nice break from the other cathedrals we've seen, which were mostly enormous and white stone with stained glass. In contrast, the entire interior of St. Mark's is covered in mosaics. As I tried but epically failed to capture below, if you look in from the choir loft (aka up high), the entire basilica literally glows in the candlelight. Not even to mention the tessalations and 3D tilework on the floor, the icons, the sculptures... it really was fantastic. And if you're ever there, pay the extra 4 euro to see the balcony. It's pretty sweet.


I'm sure some of you will be scandalized by the following sacrilege, but c'mon... God has a sense of humor... ;)


Well, that's all for our Italian dream vacation. What can I say- great food, great sights, great travel buddy! We did everything from go to Confession in St. Peter's to try on masks in Venice, and ate lots of pizza in between. It was a wonderful experience, and not even the (mostly crummy) weather could dampen our mood! So, I guess there's only one thing left to say...

La Vita e Bella- Florence Duo

Ok, so let's review. Our hostel was literally a converted villa, and since Florence is in Tuscany, it was positively gorgeous. Early spring in Italy. There are no words!


This museum is... the inside of our hostel. I'm not kidding. It was a villa!


We did the "essential Florence" since we really only had one day. We started at the Duomo... (dome in the background)... of which I did not take any interior photos because I am a jaded tourist who has "enough photos already" of European cathedrals... but I stand by my decision. If you want to see it, go Wikipedia it!

For some unknown reason, we then thought it was a good idea to climb the bell tower. You can clearly see how this was converted into a tourist attraction:

Fr. Mario: Gee, Fr. Luigi. We don't actually ring a bell anymore, what are we going to do with this old bell tower?
Fr. Luigi: I know! We'll tell tourists that it's fun to climb to the top!
Fr. Mario: Even tourists aren't that silly. There are so many stairs! And no railings! And no way for more than one person to pass at a time!
Fr. Luigi: That's ok... we'll just convince the American tourists, and the rest will follow...


I will admit the views are wonderful. Even on an obnoxiously cloudy day!


Baptistry doors. Check!


I believe this was the Medici household, but I'm not sure. At any rate, it gives you an idea of the beautiful artwork all around!


In all, Florence was lovely. I would spend another week there and in the Tuscan country side in a heartbeat! My one regret was that we missed the memo that you need reservations for the Ufizzi, the world's largest collection of Renaissance art, so after spending 2 hours in line we only had about 45 minutes to see all of these amazing things! We only made it 1/3 of the way through. *Sigh* (Don't let this happen to you! If you go to Florence, reserve tickets!!!)

But I guess if that's my biggest regret over Spring Break, I'm doing OK. :)

La Vita e Bella- Florence!

Ahh, Florence. My favorite of the three cities we visited. Let's start with...

This is where we lived:
(There was a villa involved)


And this is what we ate:

This, too:
Need I say more??? :)

Our first evening we wandered around, getting our orientation of the sights. Florence's important historical things are all in the same general area, leaving the harried traveler feeling quite at home rather quickly. I'm a fan. One of my favorites was the Italian hall of fame at the Uffizi, featuring every famous Renaissance person ever plus some extras: Raphael, DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Dante. History classes have it all wrong: don't study the Renaissance! Just come to Florence! It's so much better!

We wandered down to the Ponte Vecchio and lingered among the men selling illegal fake Prada bags, people playing guitar for the honeymooners, and couples PDAing by the river. (Yay, Europe!) It really is a magical site.


That's all for now... the rest of Florence tomorrow!

La Vita e Bella- Ciao, Roma!

Our last day in Rome wasn't even technically in Rome, but actually in Vatican City. You know, we wanted to catch up with the Pope. It's been awhile since he came to chill at our campus in 08. :) For those of you who saw my Facebook comments, yes, I did find a Swiss guard. Guaranteed: Catholic, single, over 5'6", and under the age of 30. Sweet!

The main attraction: the Pope! He's that little white dot under the white canopy. We felt quite language-savvy as we understood about 4 of the languages spoken: Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Italian! :)


St. Peter's Square! Waiting in line for the Basilica... obviously a photo opp. :) (Yes, the line was this long!)


The inside of the Basilica. Fun fact for the day (not official... feel free to research): I've heard rumors that the occasional basilicas which are actually bigger than St. Peter's are christened as two basilicas, or half is not christened, so that St. Peter's keeps the record. Oh, Catholics...


The Pieta! It really does live in here!


In the gardens of the Vatican Museums. In case you're like us, and lost, just follow the signs that say "Sistine Chapel this way." Hysterically, you actually pass through the entirety of the Vatican exhibition under the premise that you're "on the way" to the Sistine Chapel! Ha. Tourists. They know us so well.

After about 90 minutes of "Sistine Chapel this way", Lucy managed to be paying enough attention to spot a Dali painting in the middle of new age artistic paganism. Yay, Luce!


Also, FYI, Rome-hopefuls: the spiral staircase is at the end of the exhibit. We got to the bookstore, realized we had missed it, decided we didn't care because we were so tired, and then found it on the way out! Don't lose hope! :)


What do you do if you're exhausted from trouncing around on foot all day? Find the cheapest, biggest dinner you can, of course! Mmm... :)


And thus end our travels in Rome... stay tuned for more Italian fun and food coming your way soon! :)

La Vita e Bella- Ancient Rome

Our first full day in Rome was spent exploring Ancient Rome. It was definitely pretty sweet!

Here is the Colosseum, the first stop on our journey. Somehow, the anti-bouncers* managed to know that we were American, and bugged us until we went on a tour group into the ruins. It was a pretty good deal, all in all. :)

(*Note: "anti-bouncer" is a term for people whose jobs it is to get tourists, usually Americans, to use their tour/bus/restaurant, etc. They can spot Americans from a mile away, and will incessantly try to convince you to buy their services. This term will be copyrighted soon.)


The inside. Random fact of the day: at some point in history (the Middle Ages?) the Colosseum was used as a village, and several hundred people had their houses and shops in it. Pretty sweet, huh?


Obviously, if they left all these giant rocks laying around, they intended for people to climb on them!


Some big, giant, important old building. Don't ask me. The tour guide had left us by this point. :)


Some more ruins... I know this was important... I just can't remember why...


Hmm... what to eat for lunch? Pizza, por supuesto! Of 14 meals in Italy, probably about 8 featured pizza for at least one of us. Mmmm.... :)


After lunch we went to a museum of art and sculpture. As you can see below, we took all of this history very, very seriously.


Practicing my teacher's-disapproving-look. >: |


The best part! This was the hall of philosopher busts. So obviously I just had to jump in line... :)