Denmark; Spring Semester 2013: roman holiday/under the tuscan sun

And now for playtime in Italia! Flew into the Rome airport on Friday and watched 8 episodes of How I Met Your Mother while I waited for my friend Caroline to get in. I was originally supposed to stay with another friend who's studying there, but it ended up not working out. Unfortunately my flight was already booked, but I found out a few days before that Caroline was going also. Booked the last bed available in the hostel she was staying at and we took the most beautiful bus ride into the city. Having basically never been anywhere, my face was plastered to the window, taking it all in. Caroline's friends from home were there waiting and after we chilled out for a minute, we walked across the city for dinner. Of course that meant dessert too.. gelato at an adorable little shop around the corner from the Spanish Steps. Ate on the steps, walked to the Trevi Fountain, tossed a coin, made a wish, realized that I was actually in Rome.. the usual. The next day, Caroline, Cassie (her friend) and I bought fresh fruit and nuts from a farmer's market and then spent the day in the Borghese Gardens eating the juiciest fruit and sunning ourselves. Needed a good thawing after the never-ending winterland that is Denmark. Beautiful day. Went to dinner at a local Italian restaurant run by two eccentric, old Italian men and then got more gelato (this naturally turned into an everyday thing.. when in Rome, right? Wrong.. gym for dayzzzz. Yikes.) Anyway, the next day we walked over to the Colosseum and while Caroline toured and Cassie wrote a paper, I read in a park across the street. Another beautiful day. Plus, Mom was only a couple hours away, so that made it even better. As it started to get cloudy, the girls and I walked to the Hotel Adriano where Mom and I were staying. I went out and explored the area a bit.. we were literally in the middle of EVERYTHING. I found a cafe around the corner, bought some cannolis and wine, and prepared for Mom's arrival. FINALLY.

we're here!

daisy chains

super tourists

gelato for dayzzz

making a wish

st. peter's from the spanish steps

CHEERS!

That night, Mom and I walked the cobble stone streets, stopping at the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona, and then grabbed a (not so great) dinner and more gelato at the famous Giolitti. We went back to the hotel late and hoped to wake up early for a full day of touring, but 7 am turned into 11 am, so... yeah, not so much. A bit of a late start, but we managed to make it to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Vittorio Emanuele Monument before it started to rain a bit. We went back to the hotel to lie down and get ready for the evening's festivities; dinner at Vecchia Locanda (the best yet), more gelato, and a night walk to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Quirinale. Best night with my best friend:) The next morning (Tuesday) we actually got up early and went straight to the Vatican City. We went through the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel (where I snuck a very illegal picture.. shh!), and St. Peter's Basilica, all before heading to the station to catch the train to Pisa.

pantheon

piazza navona

classic.. new bff

Arch of Titus

colosseum

Vittorio Emanuale

Quirnale

Trevi

Spanish Steps

Vatican Wall

silliness

la pieta

St. Peter's

Vatican Square

Sistine ceiling

All in all, I absolutely loved Rome.. such a beautiful, old, historic city, but to be honest, I would probably not go back. I'm SO happy I went and saw everything with Mom, and I loved every second of it, but it was, of course, very touristy. Tuscany on the other hand..... well, we're buying a villa tomorrow. I could spend the rest of my life there, living out my dream of being Diane Lane.
We arrived in Pisa around 7 pm and cousin Roy Germano picked us up to bring us back to his fairy tale home where we spent the next 5 days under the Tuscan sun.. anddd the Tuscan clouds.. not the best weather, but everything is beautiful in Tuscany. The first night (Tuesday), we went to dinner with Roy, his wife, Debbie, and their friends Kathy, Jansen, and son Keaton. The Dieners were also staying at Roy and Debbie's that week and we had the most wonderful time with them.. really great people, it was sad to say goodbye to them on Sunday. Everyday was perfect and Roy and Debbie were so sweet and welcoming; it was the best week, especially getting to finally meet my cousins and making new friends along the way.. I literally never wanted to leave. On Wednesday, Kathy, Jan, Keaton, Mom and I took the train to Florence, and after a couple of minor complications (delays, platform fires.. the usual), we made it just in time for the Ufizzi Gallery. After the gallery, we walked around the city for a couple of hours, admiring the art, walking through the cathedral, and shopping at the street markets. BEST PART: REAL ITALIAN LEATHER JACKETS!! Roy has connections.. everywhere.. so he gave us a card for his "leather guy", Massimo. We walked in planning only to meet him, but after 5 minutes, we were both falling in love with the jackets he picked out for us. I wasn't taking mine off. He was the sweetest! So adorable.. we couldn't resist. And because we were Roy's cuginas, he gave us a HUGE discount.. essentially, we got two jackets for less than the price of one. Love this man. That night, Roy and Debbie picked us up from the station and we went to Walter's, their favorite pizza place. Hands down, best pizza I've ever eaten. Real Pisa pizza. The next day was pretty rainy and we were so tired from the day before, so we just lounged around the house, went for a walk up the mountain in their backyard, etc. Mom cooked dinner that night too (spaghetti and meatballs). Next day (Friday), we drove to a little Tuscan town a couple hours away called Montepulciano, where we spent the day walking around the adorable, winding streets, going in shops, and meeting the town's world famous copper smith, Rinomata Rameria Mazzetti. He was probably about 80 years old, only spoke Italian, and literally could not have been any cuter... seriously, straight out of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He made a little copper plate for each of our families with hearts, flowers, initials, anniversary dates, etc. Then he brought us over to his museum and showed us all of his work since he was like 13 years old. Again, the whole day was like a fairy tale. Until the end of the night when Roy accidentally locked the keys in the car and we were ALMOST completely screwed. He must have a connection to everyone in the entire country, because within 10 minutes, he had a police officer breaking into the car to get them out. Crisis averted. Next day, we took a drive to the beach and into Pisa to take classic tourist pictures of ourselves holding up the leaning tower. Some confusion there from Mom and Roy (see pictures below), but after a little lesson on illusions/focal point, they caught on. Mom cooked again that night (eggplant parm, spaghetti, and pole beans in tomato sauce), and Roy's sister and her friend had just flown in that morning, so it was a big, Italian affair to commemorate the week. The next morning (Easter Sunday) just before brunch, we realized that when booking our flight back to Copenhagen, Mom and Roy got a little confused and had us flying into Billund. Geography lesson: Denmark is comprised of one large peninsula (Jutland) and several islands.. namely, Zealand (where Copenhagen is), Funen, and Bornholm. Billund is in fact, not the name of an airport, but rather a small city in Jutland where LEGOs were invented. Had we intended on visiting Legoland, this would have been ideal. Unfortunately, it was going to be about 10 pm before we got in to Billund airport... 3 hours away from Niva. Oops. Luckily have the greatest host family on the planet and Michael drove across the country to get us (sounds worse than it is.. remember, Denmark is the only about the width of Florida). We made great time and listened to Mads Langer the whole way home, so all was well. Got home around 1 am and went to bed to prepare for a week with Mom in wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen (part 3 of 3 coming soon.. apologies.. I'm a busy chick.)