With so many glowing reviews of my previous blog post, I've caved to public and financial pressure and rushed out a poorly-formed, badly acted sequel, with none of the characters you liked from the original. Take solace in the knowledge that you're not paying anything for this - except your precious time and your internet fee!
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Sunday 17th April
After grumbling internally for three weeks about how the others wanted to sleep in every morning, I was left to my own devices; I finally managed to leave the hostel at 10. Well done, me. My plan was to explore all the nearby Asian knock-off clothes stores... which were all closed because it was Sunday. Clearly I was ready for nine days of solo travel.
My other plan for my last morning in Rome was to revisit Ostia Antica, somewhere I'd been 13 years previously. As a five-year-old, all I recalled of the place was brick walls and the occasional fantastic mosaic.
After grumbling internally for three weeks about how the others wanted to sleep in every morning, I was left to my own devices; I finally managed to leave the hostel at 10. Well done, me. My plan was to explore all the nearby Asian knock-off clothes stores... which were all closed because it was Sunday. Clearly I was ready for nine days of solo travel.
My other plan for my last morning in Rome was to revisit Ostia Antica, somewhere I'd been 13 years previously. As a five-year-old, all I recalled of the place was brick walls and the occasional fantastic mosaic.
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| Okay, so maybe my memory is better than anyone expected. |
My other memory of Ostia Antica was throwing a coin in a wishing well. I'm sure when it was a modern installation it was just a normal well; I wonder how old a well has to be before it goes through well puberty and grows wish-granting abilities?
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| It seemed smaller than my last visit. |
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| The world's oldest Whack-a-Mole game, known at the time as Whack-a-Slave. |
My trawl through the very old ex-city finished, I returned to Rome just in time to sit on a train for several hours. I would apologise to everyone whose postcards I wrote on the train, except most of you didn't receive them because I am as inconsiderate as I am lazy and didn't send them. Anyone want postcards written in April? Let me know.
Arriving at Dany House I met Jonathan, Ella and their amusingly snooty sausage dog Morgan - the loveliest people ever, if you ever go to Florence, DEFINITELY stay there (book early!) - Ella gave me a map and showed me the location of every single thing in the city. With all my tourist research given to me, I was free to completely ignore Florence for the rest of the day and work out a vague itinerary for the week.
Monday 18th April
My first full day in Florence. The whole city is centred around the church, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, which is decidedly larger than one would expect for a medium-sized town.
Evidently the builders/architects/designers/clergy/townspeople were a bit sick of decorating after the exterior had been completed, because the interior looked more like this:
With no definite plan, I simply spent the day wandering around looking at all the market stalls and dodgy knock-off stores around the place. Florence is known (by people other than me) for its leather, so there was no shortage of jackets, belts, wallets or keychains shaped like watermelons. (No, I don't know either.)
Tuesday 19th April
I managed to spend the entire day at one place, the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. When exploring somewhere built as a residence for Florence's richest family, you might imagine something a bit like this:
Whereas in fact they actually look like this:
The most interesting item on display there was an original book with some of Fibonacci's work on it. Pay attention, maths students: this is why it's important to show your working. If you are to be recorded in history, they will need something to show your genius to future generations. ...Or you could become famous and sell 'em on eBay to actually make some money. It's up to you, really.
The rest of my day was taken up with much more important concerns:
Wednesday, 20th April
I had breakfast in the hostel this morning and heard from Jonathan that there was going to be a concert in the city that night - the Italian MTV Awards. Marking that down, I spent the morning in the Galleria Accademia, a fairly small art gallery - which houses Michelangelo's David. The statue itself is vey tall - at least ten feet (the internet tells me it's 13). The next stop after that was the museum Palazzo Vecchio.
Remember how I underestimated the previous Medici building? Here's the main hall of Palazzo Vecchio:
By coincidence, it so happened that while I was there, Palazzo Vecchio was housing a rather unique temporary exhibit: Damien Hirst's For The Love Of God, aka The Diamond Skull. This was the first museum exhibit where I was let into a darkened room for ten seconds by an armed guard, supervised by two more armed guards, then kicked out. It was intense.
Jump forward to 11pm and there's a temporary stage, soundsystem and rumours of a secret Lady Gaga appearance. The largest teleprompter I had ever seen had Italian all over it, and all the Americans standing behind me were ready to have a good time.
Thursday 21st April
Having returned to Dany House after midnight, I wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere that morning. Just before noon I made it to the train station and bought myself a ticket to Pisa.
There wasn't a lot else to do in Pisa except look at all the tourist stalls selling leaning shotglasses and marvelling at the gelati which only cost €2 instead of 3 (or 4, or 5).
Friday 22nd April
The majority of museums and galleries are closed for the Easter weekend, but Florence's biggest gallery, the Uffizi, stays open as it's the main attraction for tourists in the city. I joined the queue at 8:30 and made it in by 10 - this is considered to be a 'fast' run. With nothing else in town, I spent the entire day there. The work that most people would know there would be The Birth Of Venus, commissioned by the Medici family in 1486. There were also two paintings liberated from the Nazis, intended as presents for Hitler. The more you know, I guess.
In the afternoon I had a look at Ponte Vecchio, one of only three bridges in the world with shops built in to both sides. All of them are gold jewellery stores without prices on anything in the windows. The gelati is also twice as expensive in that area despite the whole city being 2km across.
Saturday 23rd April
A little bit of internet research the evening before had uncovered the information that there was a market every Saturday morning in San Silvi, a suburb just out of the main city area. I bought a pair of pants, partially because I liked them but mainly because they were €2. Turns out they don't fit me. Ah well.
With most things still closed, I took the opportunity to stay outside and walked to the top of a mountain hill overlooking the city.
Returning to Dany House, I finally noticed that there was a keyboard in the corner of the common room, so I played some music on that to amuse myself and the attractive Uruguayan guy who was staying there.
Sunday 24th April
Easter! ...Otherwise known as the day before Anzac Day. While the others were preparing to freeze themselves in order to honour the bravest people of the past and present, I went to the city centre to watch Florence's Easter celebrations: costumes, drummers, flowers, holy water, eggs, flag throwers and an exploding cart. Yes, that's right.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Auskickers of flag-throwing.
A highlights package for y'all, because the full thing goes for thirteen minutes.
People began to move away after the fireworks had finished. An American family arrived, mentioned that they'd read that the show began at "noontime", watched all the performers disappear and the oxen take the cart away, then used this evidence to deduce that "they were taking it away so they could start again". Uh, yeah - in twelve months, maybe.
Luckily for me trains were still running today, so I took a train to Siena, a nearby walled town. The main attraction there is the large church, with its distinctive black-and-white marble interior.
Monday, 25th April
With my last full day, I walked across the city and reached Palazzo Pittibecause Mr Uruguay said he enjoyed it there. A large museum with several different displays and a large garden behind it, it was a lovely place for couples and families to spend an afternoon, so of course I was there alone.
Tuesday 26th April
My final day in Italy, which I would mostly spend travelling - first from Florence to Milan, then from Milan to Stansted Airport, then all the way back to High Wycombe. In the morning I finally visited the Santa Maria del Croce, the church where both Galileo and Macchiavelli are buried.
And with that, my Italian trip was over. I flew Ryanair back to London Stansted, which is about as far away from High Wycombe as one can possibly be... well done, me, yet again. Still, I returned to England in time for the Royal Wedding - this shows just how overdue this post is, huh? Oh well. On to bigger and better things: exeats, half terms... and summer!*
*note: may or may not be posted by next summer
Arriving at Dany House I met Jonathan, Ella and their amusingly snooty sausage dog Morgan - the loveliest people ever, if you ever go to Florence, DEFINITELY stay there (book early!) - Ella gave me a map and showed me the location of every single thing in the city. With all my tourist research given to me, I was free to completely ignore Florence for the rest of the day and work out a vague itinerary for the week.
Monday 18th April
My first full day in Florence. The whole city is centred around the church, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, which is decidedly larger than one would expect for a medium-sized town.
Evidently the builders/architects/designers/clergy/townspeople were a bit sick of decorating after the exterior had been completed, because the interior looked more like this:
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| Definitely minimalism and not a consequence of being burnt down all the time. |
Tuesday 19th April
I managed to spend the entire day at one place, the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. When exploring somewhere built as a residence for Florence's richest family, you might imagine something a bit like this:
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| This is actually our room in Venice. |
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| Because gold on every surface never goes out of style. |
The rest of my day was taken up with much more important concerns:
 |
| Gotta make my mind up: which sweet can I take? |
I had breakfast in the hostel this morning and heard from Jonathan that there was going to be a concert in the city that night - the Italian MTV Awards. Marking that down, I spent the morning in the Galleria Accademia, a fairly small art gallery - which houses Michelangelo's David. The statue itself is vey tall - at least ten feet (the internet tells me it's 13). The next stop after that was the museum Palazzo Vecchio.
Remember how I underestimated the previous Medici building? Here's the main hall of Palazzo Vecchio:
 |
| There are people in the bottom left, if that helps. |
Jump forward to 11pm and there's a temporary stage, soundsystem and rumours of a secret Lady Gaga appearance. The largest teleprompter I had ever seen had Italian all over it, and all the Americans standing behind me were ready to have a good time.
 |
| And with this photo, you can see just as well as I did all night. |
Having returned to Dany House after midnight, I wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere that morning. Just before noon I made it to the train station and bought myself a ticket to Pisa.
 |
| The Tower is actually standing straight up - it's the rest of the world which is leaning. That's what it tells itself, anyway. |
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| Did you know there was a big ol' church next to the Leaning Tower? Neither did I. |
Friday 22nd April
The majority of museums and galleries are closed for the Easter weekend, but Florence's biggest gallery, the Uffizi, stays open as it's the main attraction for tourists in the city. I joined the queue at 8:30 and made it in by 10 - this is considered to be a 'fast' run. With nothing else in town, I spent the entire day there. The work that most people would know there would be The Birth Of Venus, commissioned by the Medici family in 1486. There were also two paintings liberated from the Nazis, intended as presents for Hitler. The more you know, I guess.
In the afternoon I had a look at Ponte Vecchio, one of only three bridges in the world with shops built in to both sides. All of them are gold jewellery stores without prices on anything in the windows. The gelati is also twice as expensive in that area despite the whole city being 2km across.
Saturday 23rd April
A little bit of internet research the evening before had uncovered the information that there was a market every Saturday morning in San Silvi, a suburb just out of the main city area. I bought a pair of pants, partially because I liked them but mainly because they were €2. Turns out they don't fit me. Ah well.
With most things still closed, I took the opportunity to stay outside and walked to the top of a mountain hill overlooking the city.
 |
| Palazzo Vecchio on the left and the Duomo to the right, definitely not compensating for anything. |
 |
| Oh my God! Someone break the keyboard open and save them! |
Easter! ...Otherwise known as the day before Anzac Day. While the others were preparing to freeze themselves in order to honour the bravest people of the past and present, I went to the city centre to watch Florence's Easter celebrations: costumes, drummers, flowers, holy water, eggs, flag throwers and an exploding cart. Yes, that's right.
 |
| It's all fun and games until a giant wooden cart with fireworks on it is pulled into the square by two pure-white oxen. |
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Auskickers of flag-throwing.
A highlights package for y'all, because the full thing goes for thirteen minutes.
People began to move away after the fireworks had finished. An American family arrived, mentioned that they'd read that the show began at "noontime", watched all the performers disappear and the oxen take the cart away, then used this evidence to deduce that "they were taking it away so they could start again". Uh, yeah - in twelve months, maybe.
Luckily for me trains were still running today, so I took a train to Siena, a nearby walled town. The main attraction there is the large church, with its distinctive black-and-white marble interior.
 |
| I'd like to make a hilariously witty remark here, probably about race relations, but I think it'd detract from how pretty the place is. |
With my last full day, I walked across the city and reached Palazzo Pitti
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| I don't think Pegasus is very happy about the tree stump in his guts. |
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| It's Bacchus, guys. So it's classy. |
Tuesday 26th April
My final day in Italy, which I would mostly spend travelling - first from Florence to Milan, then from Milan to Stansted Airport, then all the way back to High Wycombe. In the morning I finally visited the Santa Maria del Croce, the church where both Galileo and Macchiavelli are buried.
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| Housing the remains of one of the finest scientific minds to have ever lived, and a man who suggested that it was more important that officials seem virtuous, rather than actually being virtuous. |
*note: may or may not be posted by next summer
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