This weekend was my first weekend in Granada (without plans or guests) since the weekend before Morocco, which was the 9-11 of March. Despite the fact that I was travel weary and never wanted to see a plane or bus again, I really did want to visit Christina in Italy, so I did. First off, let me say that my new favorite "budget" airline is Vueling. Yeah, they aren't as cheap as RyanAir, but they let you choose your seat (hello emergency exit/abundant leg space) and they are overall more pleasant. They also fly to decent airports, including the little teeny one in Granada.
Before I get to what we actually did, I would like to begin with a story. You may remember that last year on spring break, the girls and I went (among other places) to Rome, and wanted to see the Sistine chapel, but ended up walking the perimeter of an entire country before realizing that the ticket office (and hence entry) had already closed. The next day was Ash Wednesday, so the only way into the museum involved waiting for roughly four or so hours in line. Already planning to be back this spring, Christina and I promised each other that we would return and see the Sistine Chapel.
Fast forward to February. Christina and I figured out a weekend we were both free, and I booked my ticket to fly into Rome and out of Pisa (she's studying in Siena, which is roughly between the two). I made sure to get an early flight, because we had to make it to the museum. A month later, I received an email from Vueling, saying something my flight had changed:
Basically, this meant that instead of getting to the Vatican by around noon, I would only just be taking off from Barcelona. Fail. Things got even more tense when I got to Barcelona and saw that my flight was delayed by an hour. I called Christina, knowing she would worry whether I told her or not, and she said that we'd make it. I would just have to take a taxi from Fumicino airport (the closest one to the city center, thank God) to the Vatican. My flight landed just before 3, and I made it to the taxi about 10 minutes later. Once in the car, I asked the driver how long it took to get to St. Peter's Square (the closest he could get me) and he said 40 minutes, but changed his answer to 30 when he saw the look on my face.
And here is where I once again give props to European drivers. Last year in London, homeboy got us to Heathrow in record time (though he probably broke every speed limit doing it), and this guy got me to the Vatican in 25 minutes. Well done, sir. He even asked me if I knew the area and offered directions. I declined, because I knew where I was going and just didn't have time for that.
So I ran across St. Peter's square, freaking out some Asian tourists and I'm sure making a fool of myself. Finally, I made it to the corner where Christina and I had agreed to meet, and we made it to the museum with less than 10 minutes to spare. We got our tickets, got into the museum, and saw the Sistine Chapel. It was absolutely gorgeous and amazing and so so so worth all the stress it took to get there.
At this point, I was going to embed a video from facebook. Blogger, however, has gone through some 'upgrades' and doesn't like that so much, so I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to upload it to youtube and then to here, with the pictures (I hope).
Anyways, after all that excitement we needed a snack, and got some Nutella crepes (both with roughly half a jar of the spread) to eat on our way to the Metro, to get to the bus that would take us to Siena. That was all normal, until I saw a guy wearing an IC tshirt on the bus. I didn't recognize him from anything, and I didn't talk to him, but it was still funny to see.
We got to Christina's host mom's (Paola) house around 9:30 and she had a delicious dinner waiting for us. I think it involved some salad, some pasta, bread, and meat or something. Really I was exhausted and forgot to journal about the entire trip (fail.) so I don't remember all that well.
The next day we had a delicious breakfast of fried eggs (over easy, not deep fried in olive oil like Spain's), cereal, and tea and headed out into the rain so I could see Siena. Despite the rain, I really liked it. Siena is a medieval city, because at one point (when other cities like Florence were become Renaissance cities) there was a huge outbreak of the plague and almost everyone died, so they didn't have the manpower (or money, I assume) to update the city. That's fine with me, because it's gorgeous.
We saw many things, including Piazza del campo, il Duomo, a panoramic view from tower, and the torture museum. Christina also showed me a view of the city's 'contrada' fountains. Each contrada is an area of the city, represented by an animal. There are: la torre (represented by an elephant), eagle, dolphin (or fish?), unicorn, and a lot more I can't remember. I think there are 17 in all. Each year in the summer, there is a horse race where all of the contradas compete. The winner gets all the glory, and according to Christina's host mom, the contrada's fountain will run with wine instead of water. I'm not entirely sure about that last part, because I have to focus so hard to understand Italian that I sort of miss out on important things, like sarcasm.
We met up with one of Christina's friends (Emily) to go to the torture museum, which had some of the most morbidly creative things I've ever seen in my entire life. I literally never would have thought of half of the things in there, much less have put them to use! Let's just say I'm glad that I live in the 21st century. Since that really worked up our appetites ok, not so much, but it was lunchtime) we went out for kebabs then bought some wine, cheese, and bread at the supermarket and headed to Emily's apartment to eat. I also met some of her other friends, including one who goes to Ithaca. They were all super nice, and I had lots of fun hanging out with them.
Sunday morning we got up early, and Christina took the train with me halfway to Pisa, to help me find the train I would have to switch to. I was really sad to leave, but I had an amazing time in Italy, and hope I can get back to Siena sometime soon.
Also, I will post photos of this trip later. I went to put up a link, and realized that I hadn't actually uploaded them to facebook yet. My internet is being painfully slow, so it may not be until tomorrow or the next day. Ciao!
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