skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Venezia blew away my (semi-low) expectations like the confetti that clogged the pavements. I have no idea what I was thinking but for some reason, I thought the canals would be flooded and everything would be falling down and still over-priced. I was right about the latter but the buildings were in a beautiful state of decay. The city really is trying to renovate and keep things the way they are, this is the place that explodes in color and costumes during Carnevale and is mentioned in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice." I rode a water bus for the first time (twice for free, shhh) - took over 300 photos like the one to the left making me feel quite artsy, at least for the weekend. The costumes were magnificent and insanely creative from ones that you might see on Halloween to towering courtesans with feathers, sparkles and more. I swear every costumed person was 7 feet tall or maybe I just felt like an ant in comparison to their bright, shiny greatness. haha. Murano glass is everywhere but the prices vary widly from place to place, artisans can shape a perfect fiery red glass horse in five minutes flat. As for the night life? It was basically a gigantic street party with people stuffed on the Rialto Bridge, streaming out of piazzas and identities masked and hidden everywhere. A sampling of what I saw: a crowd of crayons, Groucho Marx, vampires, pirates, stormtroopers, cross-dressers and cupids. I never wanted to leave, I was part of the congestion making it difficult to maneuver around but I didn't get to see half the things I wanted to see! In the end, the glittery black and gold mask I purchased will hang on the wall along with all my memories ~
Gah, I told you I was horrible at blog writing! Once a week is unacceptable but you should see my journal (on second thought ... don't) - there are entries weeks apart. *shamed face*
I went on a volunteer program called the "Weed & Read," yesterday at the Protestant Cemetery. And yes, there's only one of those, basically where most non-Catholics who die in Rome are buried. Don't think they're banished or anything though, the grounds are lush with trees and flowers and very well kept. Some of us students just came armed with brooms, rakes and gloves to put some sweat back into the Earth and help maintain graves where family members may no longer be around to upkeep them. Photo on the right are wilting pink flowers at the foot of the famous author, Percy Shelley's grave but the title of this blog is from a poem by John Keats, also buried in this cemetery.
Plus, just came back from Tivoli, this sprawling landscape of a town that would be any gardener's dream. A cardinal built his summer house there but "house" doesn't cut it - there are over 200 fountains in the backyard alone! And one even has an organ installed, it's beautiful and serene enough to want to throw an extravagant wedding in the height of springtime. Fountains gushing, birds chirping and the rustling of wind, pretty romantic I must say. But now it is time for a nap and then on to making some sort of dessert for my program's Valentine's Day "Festa d'Amore."I'll probably be in a chocolate coma soon.
A quartet of us girls decided to take it upon ourselves to troop to these hot springs we've heard of. 2 hours on the train, trudging in the downpour and a bus later ... we saw the vapors rising from lonely green pastures. Viterbo delivered.4 tranquil blue pools lie in the middle of nowhere in the Italian countryside with fragments of ancient ruins nearby. A muddy area functions as a makeshift parking lot for the locals who drive by and languidly spend their entire days here. I decided to forgo the Terme de Papi nearby (Terme = "thermal baths" in Italian) since it cost 18 euros to get in but they do have a 2,000 square meter pool - so epic! And I'm too lazy to convert those meters to feet. The outdoor pools we found were free, free, free and being fed by a natural source trickling right into the shallows of water.Most of the bathers were older folk and yes, speedos are apparently still in fashion, not that I wanted to know. The sky was gray and stormy with a few streams of sunlight, the water sulphorous but deliciously soothing and the girls and I practically had an entire pool to ourselves. The day ended once our fingers resembled raisins and we shot out of the pools rounding the corner of a limestone wall to change back into civilian clothing. I don't think I've had a photo of me only in a bathing suit since I was 15 (for good reason). But what the hey! We even had to bust out umbrellas at one point as the skies opened up and let loose a smattering of droplets, it was simply glorious.
I know next to nothing about sports but futbol a.k.a. soccer? You get the ball into one goal or another and the players aren't too bad to look at if I do say so myself. The entire world over sans the U.S. breathes and sweats futbol, 24/7 from one season to the next.
With a group of 5 other hearty girls, we trudged for 3 hours to multiple stores to try and get our hands on some prized tickets to the Lazio vs. AC Milan game on Feb 1st. After waiting in a giant, swelling crowd (in the rain!), I managed to wiggle through to the front and score 6 of them for row 18 - not bad at all! And being short obviously has its advantages. I don't know how sports fans do it, everything takes so much energy and I applaud you for it.
Sue me for sporting a Beckham jersey but he's pretty much the only player I knew. He's on loan to AC Milan till the end of March and if you ignore his terribly high-pitched voice that completely clashes with his toned physique -- he's a decent player and not just a pretty face. Albeit, I did sit on the Lazio side of the stadium prompting several avid fans to shoot me evil eyes at my red/black stripes. But too bad! We won 3:0 and I got great action shots all the way through! The Manchester United game is the next big 'un and the cheapest seats are 100 euros O_o. I like how I did this instead of going to go see the Superbowl at the Hard Rock Cafe, haha.
