So I promised a more detailed report of my last days of class and my trip to Venice and Verona, so here it is!
Wednesday was an intense day of writing my paper for my class-- I had to translate 11 pages of notes into 8-12 pages of essay... That was intense. I wrote on the San Brizio Chapel of our Duomo here in Orvieto. It was begun in 1447 by the most famous painter of the time, Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar, and then completed between 1499 and 1504 by Luca Signorelli. The Chapel's theme is the Last Judgment and the End Times, and it's really a beautiful work of Italian frescoed art. And after all that I had to study for the identification test! Over the month, we studied 7 fresco cycles, and for our test we had to identify from photos the fresco cycle, the specific panel title within the fresco, the painter, the location of the fresco cycle, and the date in which it was painted. Add to that a long list of things we had to memorize (the 7 deadly sins, the 7 cardinal and theological virtues, the 15 mysteries of Mary's life, etc.) that all had to do with Catholic tradition and were things that all Church-going people of the time would have known. So it was quite an intense 48 hours...
After we finished the test that morning, and after a delicious lunch, we packed up our things and headed down to the funicular so we could catch our train. We didn't expect that the only ticket lady, in the middle of giving us all tickets to the funicular, would get on the bus and head off into the sunset... So we had a few minutes of panic during which it was suggested that we just jump the turnstile (we didn't). The lady returned a few minutes later from her mysterious journey, we got tickets, and made our way down to the train.
It was a very long train ride to the mainland of Venice--5 hours, to be exact! Venice, interestingly enough, is comprised of a large number of islands that are usually so close together they are connected by bridges. However, there are three big islands (Murano, Burano, and the big island of Venice), but then there's the mainland towns that are still in the municipality of Venice... Which is kinda weird, but cool. So we stayed in a hotel/hostel combo on the mainland in a town called Mestre. Once we managed to get to the hostel (via a shuttle they courteously, and for a fee, provided), we planned out our day in Venice and went to sleep!
We woke up on the earlier side Friday morning, got breakfast, and then headed to Venice!!! We basically just walked around most of the day. There really is no way not to get lost in Venice. It's going to happen, and maps are not particularly helpful. So you just follow the signs. In following them (kind of... They're not everywhere, so several times we just had to make an educated guess or two) we managed to find the Rialto Bridge (after stopping a ton for pictures and shopping) by noon-ish. We managed to walk a little ways further, and were waylaid by a couple of gondoliers who wanted to know if we wanted a ride! We had been warned (by the girl with the Rick Steves guidebook that we now swear by) that you can get a better deal on a gondola ride if you negotiate, but you have to be savvy and negotiate time and locations as well as price. We ended up getting a pretty good deal! For 15 euro each (there were 8 of us), we got to go on a gondola ride!!! And it was beautiful! Our gondoliers were Lorenzo and Tomasso. Lorenzo (my gondolier) spoke English pretty well, and when we told him that we spoke a little Italian, he was thrilled! So we spent the 30-45 min. tour speaking a mix of English and Italian.
Eventually we made our way to the Piazza di San Marco (St. Mark's Square, for all you English-speakers)! It was beautiful! We ended up just walking around the square and down the shoreline just past it for several hours! I took tons of pictures, and we all had lots of fun. Even if we were a bit tired from walking all day.
We walked around a fair amount more until 9pm, when we were back at the "bus stop"(there is only one spot in Venice where cars and buses can get to, the Piazzale Roma. Everywhere else is strictly pedestrian). Once we'd made our way back to the hostel, we sat down and watched the Italian Job! It was really fun to say as we watched, "Hey! We were just there!"
The next day had a refreshingly slower start. We didn't have to catch our train to Verona until just after noon, so we took our time packing up and eating a huge breakfast. We checked out and headed to the bus stop. Once there, we saw the bus sitting there waiting for more passengers! We were excited, and asked the driver if they sold tickets on the bus. The disappointing answer was, yes, but we're out. So we made our way to the local Tobacchi (Tobacco store) to buy tickets. Once there, we were informed that the machine was broken and they, too, were out of tickets. So we headed back to our hostel, hoping that maybe they'd be gracious and let us take the shuttle... Of course they would! ...For a fee... Sighing, we accepted and got to the train in plenty of time. Of course, that's when I realized I'd left my sunglasses behind..... So hopefully some Venetian is now enjoying my awesome sunglasses... :S
Once on the train, it was only a couple hours to Verona. Most of us napped or did something pretty low-key, since we were recovering from the hectic past few days. But then, the train had stopped and we were in Verona!
We walked down the street for about 10-15 mins. and got to the Piazzale Brà, the main piazza in Verona. It's really pretty with a fountain in the center with gardens around it and a large Roman amphitheater right next to it! We commenced the Rick Steves tour of Verona then, and it was pretty great! First up were the Roman gates into the city. In one of the bars (cafés), there's a glass piece of the floor that shows the old Roman road underneath the current one! Then it was on to a local wine shop that Rick Steves says to visit. ...And he's right. :)
It was really impressive. There were bottles of alcohol from floor to ceiling that took up two rooms! There was even a 500 euro bottle that we were hesitant to even look at! But the Italian man who owned the place was really sweet, showed us his picture of himself with Rick Steves, gave us some of the best white wine I've ever tasted (Dad--I'm trying to remember what kind, but I have to check with the girls I went with...), and shared with us the "Legend of the Lover's Well." It was pretty cute. Apparently, in a Romeo and Juliet-type story, two lovers ended up throwing themselves into a well, killing themselves. And where they killed themselves, flowers grew up and were picked by monks, who made it into an elixir. According to legend, anyone who drinks the elixir is said to renew their love. Oreste, the owner, insisted that we have some (on the house!). And let me just say, love is very alcoholic! There was just enough for one sip for each of us, and it was very strong. Oreste showed us the "Lover's Well," and then, with a promise to return later to meet his wife, we left and headed to the Piazzale Erbe, the other of the two main piazzas in Verona.
We hung out there for a while (it's really pretty) before heading to... You guessed it! Juliet's balcony! :) It was actually pretty busy, and kind of interesting. Apparently, getting your picture taken with your hand on Juliet's breast is not perverse, it's good luck! So a couple of us did that while the rest walked around in appreciation of the beauty and in shock, as well. For those of you who have seen the movie Letters to Juliet, I am sorry to report that you have been misinformed. No one leaves letters at Juliet's wall, but they do write their names on the wall to ensure that their love will last forever (or so the story goes).
From there we headed to see the rest of the city, including a really interesting piazza with a statue of Dante smack in the middle, ornate outdoor tomb/mini-palaces of one of the local families, and the river (at sunset!!!). It was a truly beautiful city with one of the best gelaterias I've been to yet! And it was cheap! ;D
We made our way back to Oreste's wine shop and met his wife, a fantastic and amusing black lady from Atlanta! She gave us her own "tour"(including pointing out her neighbor, the "Wicked Witch of the West"), and then suggested a dinner place! So we headed toward the food, and had a delicious dinner! All you who know me well, be shocked: I voluntarily ordered soup! :D I actually have gotten to love the soup here! It tastes fantastic--everything is really fresh!
So after stuffing ourselves, we headed back to the Piazzale Erbe and did a passagiata (the pre- and post-dinner walk that all Italians seem to do; it's a chance to see and be seen and catch up with people you know). After that, we still had time to kill before we needed to get back to the train station and catch our train, so we walked around for a while and ended up back in the Piazzale Brà.
We finally headed back to the train, got our backpacks, and waited for the train. It came on time (11:30pm!!!), and we clambered aboard only to discover that our seats had been taken by two women and a small child asleep by the window! We didn't want to kick them out, so we split up a bit... Even though our train was an express, we weren't supposed to get into Orvieto until just after 5am... So after very little sleep, we ended up waking up only to wait for another 30-45 mins to actually reach Orvieto!
We arrived back in Orvieto around 5:45 in the morning in the pitch black only to discover that neither the funicular or the buses worked that early. So we walked up the cliff to Orvieto... Longest. Walk. Of. My. Life.
Once we made it up, we were all so sweaty and grimy from travel that a few of us (who were too awake to go to bed) took showers... I was one of these insane few, so I ended up not going to sleep until sometime after 7am Sunday morning when the sun had just risen over the mountains......
So! It was a crazy trip, but so worth it!!! I had a blast, and I'm sure I won't ever have another experience quite like that one! :D
Ciao tutti! E buona sera!
