Jeff Stuart - Memoirs of a CPUNERD

So many places, so many things to see, not enough time to appreciate most of it. Of course, this would be my lot through the entire trip. I was lucky to have Chiara with me for an entire week. Together, we saw much of Roma, Pisa, Firenze, Mantova, Padova, and Venezia. I could go on and on about all the things I saw, but instead I’ll just show you pictures.

The Trifecta        I can say this , I fell in love in Italy, three times. The first day for lunch we had real Napolese pizza. It was so cheap, simple, and incredibly delicious. I’ll still always have a place in my heart (and stomach) for good ol’ greasy, American pizza. But Italian was just too good not to love. Of course, as with most, having real gelato, from the country of origin, was another experience. I must’ve had at least seven or eight of them. The fact that they’re made with milk instead of cream and practically half the sugar of ice cream, it just makes them an awesome taste without the sour after taste. And yes, who couldn’t love the Italian people. Well, the Roman people anyways. They were so friendly. Basically anywhere we went, the locals were always chatting with us (both in English and Italian). The servers at restaurants and workers in other places were all extremely friendly. It was something unexpected after hearing about how rude “Europeans” were supposed to be. I’m glad I went to Roma first (I don’t count London, I didn’t talk to anyone I didn’t know there).

Agree or disagree: The subway in Roma was superb        Agree! Elegance in simplicity. Only two lines, they intersect in the middle, and they drop you exactly where you want to go. Want to go to the Vatican? Two blocks from the stop. The Coloseo? Bam! Right there. I’d argue to the bitter end with someone if they said the Roma metro wasn’t well planned for tourists.

Why don’t they teach us that in school?        How many of you out there knew that there was a fantastic cathedral right next to the tower at Pisa? I sure as hell didn’t. Yes, it’s nice that we learn about all these cool things that Europeans made, but why is it that we don’t learn any more than just the surface? I was almost as impressed with the cathedral as I was with the tower.

One if by land        That’s how many heart beats I skipped when I saw the Firenze Duomo by night. Walking through the cobblestone streets on a cool, crisp night, in an historic Italian city was magnificent enough. But coming up to one of the largest cathedralsin the world, seeing it illuminated in a soft, glowing yellow. Call me a sucker, call me naive, call me untraveled. I won’t argue. But don’t tell me that the sight was humbling.

A quant village        Chiara and I stayed with her family for two days in Castle D’Ario. It’s funny because the place reminds me so much of the small Nevada towns, but at the same it was vastly different. We went in to the nearby city, Mantova. It was still filled with old buildings, but it did have its share of non-renaissance architecture.

This would never happen in America        I loved how with Chiara’s family, lunch and dinner were a group affair. The parents would always come home from school, and all the children (Chiara, Laura, Fra, and Lorenzo) would make it if they could. It didn’t help that Chiara’s mom was an excellent cook and made all the meals fresh.

She f*&^ing hates me!        Not just her, but everyone. Venetians are quite the opposite of Romans. I have never seen such a complete distaste for other human beings. I can understand, don’t get me wrong. Any group of people that causes pidgeons to flock to every other person in sight and practically maul them deserves a hard stance. But I was just shocked at how rude, short, and disrepectful most of the Venetian workers and citizens were. However! There was redemption in my eyes. As we were leaving, I wanted to get some gelato (go figure). I went up to a woman behind the counter, probably in her mid thirties, and ordered three scoops in Italian. I guess she figured that I wasn’t a tourist, but she gave me the biggest gelato I had ever seen (it was, quite literally, half the size of my head), and she only charged me two euro!

These are a few of my favorite things        The people (the Romans especially), the women (almost as hot as the weather), the gelato (American ice cream will always be sub-par)! The Cathedrals (so beautiful, but couldn’t the money have gone to something better?).

Places of interest:

• Roma: Vatican, Catedral di San Pietro (the Pieta is there), Capela Sistena, Fontana di Trevi, Coloseo, Ciampi di Fiori, Piazza Navona, Il Panteon, Triniti del Monti, Castel di Sant’Angelo
• Pisa: Tower, Duomo
• Firenze: Uffize, Piazzale di Michelangiolo, Santa Croce, Medici Towers, Ponte Vecchio
• Mantova: City Square, Rotunda, Duomo
• Padova: City Square (largest square in Europe)
• Venezia: Piazza di San Marco, lots of canals and side streets

Nope, I’m not referring to Amsterdam, and not Paris either. I’m talking about jolly old London. Virgin had the windows of the airplane closed until we were hovering over Heathrow, eating our “breakfast.” I put that in quotes because at this point, it is 0230 in the morning my time, and I have yet to sleep. Premium economy helped me rest, but I guess I just need a bed to actually sleep.

Upon arrival and a very nice, quick, and efficient stint in customs, I had my first passport stamp and a comforting sight. Martyn (lover boy) was there to greet me with a wonderful sign.  Others shoul’ve been there, but they were late. As we were heading to the tube, Ken and Alex showed up to meet me. With everyone together, we headed for a forty-five minute, standing-up tube ride. Huzzah!

I must admit that I was immediately enchanted with the capital of England. Everything from the architecture, to the “Give Way” signs, to the crazy, impossible to navigate streets. I saw many sights that day. One of the coolest things was that I happened to be in Trafalgar Square and St. James Park during the Olympic Handoff. Funny that the one famous athlete I saw was Michael Phelps. I guess he just happened to be in London at the time. We also were privileged enough to see the English equivalent of the Blue Angels make an appearance directly overhead.

Funny Story: By the time I boarded the train to the bed and breakfast, it was already 1130 in Davis, which means I had been up for twenty nine hours. I had to actually stand up on the train because I was starting to nod off, and I was nervous about missing my station. Before I stood up, I was shaking back and forth, doing the “Can’t sleep, clowns will eat me. Can’t sleep, clowns will… eat… …. … Ah!” bit. I stood up after five minutes of that.

Places of interest:

• Trafalgar Square
• Leicester Square
• St. James Park
• Big Ben
• House of Parliament
• SoHo
• Chinatown
• Oxford Street
• Liverpool Station

Do you ever have a weird feeling before you fly? I don’t mean the feeling people get when they’re afraid of flying and they’re about to board an airplane. I mean that feeling of “oh my god, I can’t believe I’m actually doing this!” Funny enough, I wasn’t really feeling it. Then, as I was sitting in the SFO terminal, waiting to board the plane, it hit. I blame it primarily on the English family sitting next to me. There was a teenage girl, a preteen boy, and a small little girl that couldn’t've been more than eight. Listening to the Mom and Dad talk to them, and hearing the English accent made me realize that I would seen be in a completely new world for more than a month.It was a weird feeling. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t necessarily good. I blame it mostly on my complete lack of traveling, especially alone. It got better as I thought about all the sites, sights, and people. I knew I wouldn’t  be alone, at least not for most of it, and that helped calm me down and relax.