Italia

As I type this I am once again in an airport. This time I'm in Milan eagerly awaiting my flight to Budapest! We didn't end up on park benches last night, thankfully, although we were pretty damn close. At the last minute a friend of a friend (whose also a friar) let us crash at his place. Not only did he let us stay, but set up an extra bed, gave us great directions, and was just the absolute nicest guy ever. I will buy him beers for the rest of our PC lives.

I'm sad to be leaving Italy. It has been such an amazing experience, I'm afraid one blog post will never do it justice. I could write a novel just on two days in Rome, and I could have taken a picture of every step I took.

Rome was amazing. There is so much to see it makes me dizzy. We "romed" around (ha!) from sun up to sun down and ran into piazzas, churches, and obelisks with every turn. We saw San Maggiore Basilica, the Colleseum, the Parthenon, Piazza de Vienza, Piazza de Popolo, Trevi Fountain, and so many more beautiful buildings and statues I can't keep them all straight. I barely know if I'm getting the names of these right. And everything was SO beautiful. The marbles, the gold, the sculptures, the molding, the architecture, the colors, the enormity of it all. My jaw is sore from being dragged on the ground. I'm still processing all of it. To our immense dismay the Sistine Chapel was closed. We drowned our sorrows in a huge tub of gelato (as if we needed an excuse). But on the plus side, it was "culture week" in Italy so we got into a lot of the major landmarks for free!!

I do have to dedicate a separate paragraph to St. Peter's Basilica. Words cannot describe a place so beautiful. I've never been in a church so reverent, so solemn, and so breath-takingly beautiful. It's impossible not to be humbled by the immensity of it's structure and it's reverence. Even as I think back on it now, I feel incredibly humbled. Mass was starting as we were leaving and I regret not taking a quick video for those of you who would be especially interested. I guess you'll just have to go see it for yourselves! It's so worth it.

We got to Florence Sunday night and it was great to see my friends! They showed us all around Florence and it was so crazy to be hanging out in Italy with my PC ladies. We spent a lot of time aimlessly wandering the streets and it was a great way to relax after the insanity that was Rome. We climbed the Duomo and got an amazing view of Florence. I've never in my life seen a building like the Duomo. They white, green, and red marble makes for an in incredibly unique and impressive church. You can't help but wonder how in the world someone designed such a facade. It was awesome. We also went to see the David. He sends his regards to everyone! A quiet one though, that David. We spent a solid 45 minutes just staring at him in all his awesomeness. Not only is he enormous, but so detailed, so fluid, and SO good looking. I wish they made then like that in real life!

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't dedicate a substantial portion of this post to the amazing and other worldly experience that is Italian food. My mouth is watering just thinking about all the brick oven baked pizza, the paninis with fresh sliced meat, the pasta with tomato sauce that god himself made, and the unbearably delicious gelato. So. Much. Gelato. We had it after almost every meal. Including breakfast. Which was sometimes pizza. I came to Italy with the intention of spending most of my money on food and I definitely succeeded. I'm not leaving Rome with any souvenirs except for these extra pounds I picked up. I now have so suck in my stomach just to zip my jacket. I'm not even going to talk about my pants. Or the new notches on my belt I'm now using.  But when else am I going to eat real Italian food IN ITALY? I think I might grab one last slice of pizza just for the hell of it. It my be airport pizza, but it's Italian airport pizza!

Although they're going to have to drag me onto the plane, I'm really excited for Budapest! Each of the cities we've been to so far have been so different and unique, and I know Budapest will be no exception. Like Prague, I really don't know what's there other than traditional bath houses and let me tell you I could certainly use one. The one thing I really hope to do in Budapest is laundry. Two weeks of wearing the same clothes feels less than sanitary. I think I've worn each pair of socks at least twice. Yeah. I know. But smelly or not, I've been having the trip of a lifetime! I can't wait to find out what Budapest has to offer. I'm sure that whatever it is, it's incredible!  My next post will probably be from the Budapest airport and I'll be crying about this trip being over.

Ciao!