Now that I am no longer in Italy, I am very sad. It's hard to wake up and feel like 24 hours, 48 hours ago I was in freaking Italy. It sucks to go back to reality. It really does, I loved seeing my family, but I wish that trip never ended. the flight from Florence to Paris was alright, it was sad saying Arrivederci to Italy though. Then from Paris to LA, it was sad saying goodbye to Europe. Although going through customs was easy as hell, because they don't really care what you have on you. Now onto my reflections...
Studying abroad was the experience of a lifetime. I have never lived by myself away from home, so that was different. From buying my own groceries, hang drying laundry, cooking for my roommates, cleaning the toilets, it was all new to me. I realized with the great roommates I had, that living away from home isn't too bad at all. We all had a shared responsibility, we all got along excellent with each other. It was a sad morning saying goodbye to Chris and Mike who had their own travel plans after the trip. Buying groceries in Italy was a weird experience having to pack your own stuff, having to buy groceries that look vaguely familiar. I'll never eat that much excellent fresh fruit like I did in Italy. The fruit there was amazing from the grocery stores to the Central market. I'll miss the Gelato for sure. They have a decent gelato place in Fullerton but it doesn't come close to Italy. The peach flavor gelato was so amazing. I'll miss being able to drink legally in Europe. From ordering a Moretti my first day there, to drinking a Moretti my last night. I'll miss being able to walk around and drinking. From drinking hard alcohol to wine to sangria to Moscata, I'll just miss being able to be legal and drink. I'll miss going to bars and pubs and chatting with fellow Americans. I can't do this for a whole another year :( I could careless about the club scene really, but it was a great place to meet other American students. I'll miss the proscruitto crudo and the excellent various types of pasta they had. I learned how to eat things like Caprese, Gnocchi, etc. I probably won't eat pasta for a while, but I'll learn to appreciate how much I miss it.
I'll miss being able to walk out of my apartment and see buildings built in the 16th century. From the Santa Croce church to the Piazza Della Signoria. I'll miss walking by those buildings every day. I miss just walking around the cities in general and there being historical sights everywhere. I'll miss all the Michelangelos, Donatellos, Rafael's that were just right there all around the city. I'll never see all that art again probably. I learned how to appreciate art a lot more in person, than from seeing it in a slideshow in an art history class. I'm going to miss walking off my dinner, eating small portions, and losing weight.
My Italian trip was a history, art, and religious trip for me. I'm not religious but I saw so many Christian things a pilgrim dreams of seeing. From the mosaics in Ravenna, a piece of the Holy Shroud, all the various relics from a piece of the true cross to a piece of the crown of thorns. All the entombed bodies on display, the famous religious art from the last supper to the Sistine Chapel. All the Italian churches I saw from St. Peter's Church to the Florence Duomo. All the famous sculptures and artworks I saw from the David to the Birth of Venus to the Venus di Milo at the Louvre. All the famous roman stuff from the coliseum, to the equestrian statue of Marcus AUrelius, Pompeii, to the area where the circus maximus once stood. I'm glad I saw all the tombs I saw from Galileo to Michelangelo to the Medici's family tomb.
I traveled Italy as much as I could since there is so much history there, I feel like I sort of touched the surface. I had a great time on all my trips from Paris to Naples. I loved the modern cities of Torino and Milan, yet they had so much history there. I loved the harbor feeling in Naples and Genoa. I loved the great views of the Alps in Torino. I loved all the Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna. I loved being able to go to another country in San Marino. I'll miss being able to take a train and go to another city. The train system there and in Europe is something that I wish California had. Being able to go to Rome, 1 hour and 45 minutes away was just so awesome. The Eurail train pass was the greatest thing ever. I pay 228 euros for 10 days, and I probably used like 600 euros or more worth of train tickets.
I'm not going to miss the immigrants in Italy though. The berbers selling stupid goods like pieces of art that have nothing to do with the city they're in. Trying to sell you bird seeds for pidgeons. The stupid Romanian gypsies rubbing their stomachs begging for money. The Senegalese trying to sell you fake bags, glasses, etc. I could not care for kebabs, especially since I don't like that stuff, I hated falafel in NYC, etc. The Indians selling the dumbest toys ever late at night. I seriously wish Italy did deport these idiots who add nothing to the country except selling goods that nobody wants.
I'm thankful that in America we get more than one ice cube in our drinks. I'm thankful in America we have free refills, more soda flavors than coke, sprite, or fanta. I'm thankful for fast food. Thankful for being able to customize an order at Mcdonalds. Not that I plan on eating there for the rest of summer.
This trip was an eye opener to me. I learned how to meet new people, how to buy groceries for myself, how to live with other people, how to catch a train somewhere, how to walk around a city armed with only a map. I'm going to miss so much on this vacation. From historical sights to art to being able to drink legally, it hasn't hit me yet how much I miss Florence, Italy, and Europe.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Forza Partenopei/Azzuri
Naples! It's interesting how many people told me this place smells terrible, is an awful place to stay, and isn't worth visiting. I could careless about the beach resorts along the Amalfi, and was more excited to see Roman ruins. That was my reason for going to Naples. The train to Naples isn't bad, it's only like an hour longer then going to Rome. Once I got to the station I went to a tourist office to get a Naples museum pass thing. When I found out the trains would be on strike the next day, except for the fast trains. It was was too late to do Pompeii and Herculaneum, so I had to settle for only Pompeii. A lot of people on the Circumvesuvania were either going to Pompeii or to Sorrento. It kind of sucked that the train was delayed by like 20 minutes. once I got to Pompeii it looked pretty awesome just seeing ruins from the exterior. 
They don't really give maps out so I had a basic map of Pompeii in my Italy book, so that kind of sucked. I walked pretty much all the areas you could walk too from seeing the Forum, Theaters, Broth
el, Amphitheater, and the Villa of the Mysteries. I didn't see the garden wi
th all the plastered people, but I did see a decent amount of plastered people so that was cool enough. What sucks is a lot of the exca
vated artifacts aren't actually in their original places. It wa
s also random to see stray dogs all over the site. The brothel was interesting since those looked like the most uncomfortable beds ever. I loved just walking 
around and seeing well preserved homes though. And the Villa of the Mysteries was kind of a disappointment, except for the one room with all the original artwork in it. 
After getting back to Naples, finding my hotel was a bitch without access to a map. They luckily had huge city map things on the street, but I got lost trying to find my hotel since google maps gave me very shitty walking directions to my hotel. It was actually really really easy to get too. Then I had some authentic Napolitan style pizza at a nearby restaurant and I wasn't disappointed. I also only spoke very basic Italian words to the guy, who thought I spoke Italiano. That was interesting, but I survived the ordeal.
The next day I had an excellent breakfast at the hotel, and got to eat some Naples pastries. I then took the metro to the Archaeological Museum. The Farnese collection of Roman statues here was amazing.
Their collection of excavated Pompeii artifacts from bronzes, to floor pieces, to mosaics, to paintings was also amazing. 
They also had the famous Alexander the Great mosaic that has graced my history book cover before.
This is any ancient Rome's fan dream museum visit. They also had a room dedicated to erotic Roman art that was opened, and I gotta say, those Romans were weird. 
Especially Pan rapin
g the goat or whatever that was. After this museum I cruised 
down the main drag Via Toledo to the harbor.
It was neat seeing all the main streets, the insane traffic, and all the different cops patrolling. I loved the Palazzo Real at the end, and the San Franciscan church across from it. 
I didn't care to see the Palace though because it was French Bourbon. I then walked by the Castel Nuovo, since this was King Alfonse of Spain's residence.
This castle was pretty immense to look 
at, they had a great view of the harbor! It was interesting seeing a European Union and a Spain flag over the castle. Then I just took a long way down Corso Umberto back to the train station, ate some more Naples pizza and got to the insanely packed train station. Because of all the strikes, all the trains were docked in Naples. I think only my train was running to Rome/Florence/Milan. But I was thankful to make it back to Florence.
Naples was an alright city, it's worth a visit. It wasn't that hot, and if you get hot, go walk by the harbor. The trash problem is there, but they at least have trash piles, that you can avoid walking by. It doesn't smell that bad, only when by trash piles. But I did see immigrants trying to sell either stolen goods, or broken shoes straight from the trash. That was interesting to see. I could really do without the immigrants trying to sell that crap. I enjoyed Naples, the people were very friendly and the food was excellent. Just the traffic is insane, but I got good at jaywalking the streets 30 minutes into it.
They don't really give maps out so I had a basic map of Pompeii in my Italy book, so that kind of sucked. I walked pretty much all the areas you could walk too from seeing the Forum, Theaters, Broth
el, Amphitheater, and the Villa of the Mysteries. I didn't see the garden wi
th all the plastered people, but I did see a decent amount of plastered people so that was cool enough. What sucks is a lot of the exca
vated artifacts aren't actually in their original places. It wa
s also random to see stray dogs all over the site. The brothel was interesting since those looked like the most uncomfortable beds ever. I loved just walking 
around and seeing well preserved homes though. And the Villa of the Mysteries was kind of a disappointment, except for the one room with all the original artwork in it. 
After getting back to Naples, finding my hotel was a bitch without access to a map. They luckily had huge city map things on the street, but I got lost trying to find my hotel since google maps gave me very shitty walking directions to my hotel. It was actually really really easy to get too. Then I had some authentic Napolitan style pizza at a nearby restaurant and I wasn't disappointed. I also only spoke very basic Italian words to the guy, who thought I spoke Italiano. That was interesting, but I survived the ordeal.The next day I had an excellent breakfast at the hotel, and got to eat some Naples pastries. I then took the metro to the Archaeological Museum. The Farnese collection of Roman statues here was amazing.
Their collection of excavated Pompeii artifacts from bronzes, to floor pieces, to mosaics, to paintings was also amazing. 
They also had the famous Alexander the Great mosaic that has graced my history book cover before.
This is any ancient Rome's fan dream museum visit. They also had a room dedicated to erotic Roman art that was opened, and I gotta say, those Romans were weird. 
Especially Pan rapin
g the goat or whatever that was. After this museum I cruised 
down the main drag Via Toledo to the harbor.
It was neat seeing all the main streets, the insane traffic, and all the different cops patrolling. I loved the Palazzo Real at the end, and the San Franciscan church across from it. 
I didn't care to see the Palace though because it was French Bourbon. I then walked by the Castel Nuovo, since this was King Alfonse of Spain's residence.
This castle was pretty immense to look 
at, they had a great view of the harbor! It was interesting seeing a European Union and a Spain flag over the castle. Then I just took a long way down Corso Umberto back to the train station, ate some more Naples pizza and got to the insanely packed train station. Because of all the strikes, all the trains were docked in Naples. I think only my train was running to Rome/Florence/Milan. But I was thankful to make it back to Florence.Naples was an alright city, it's worth a visit. It wasn't that hot, and if you get hot, go walk by the harbor. The trash problem is there, but they at least have trash piles, that you can avoid walking by. It doesn't smell that bad, only when by trash piles. But I did see immigrants trying to sell either stolen goods, or broken shoes straight from the trash. That was interesting to see. I could really do without the immigrants trying to sell that crap. I enjoyed Naples, the people were very friendly and the food was excellent. Just the traffic is insane, but I got good at jaywalking the streets 30 minutes into it.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Forza i Blucerchiat, Forza Rossoblu.
I like both soccer teams, Genoa CFC and U.C. Sampdoria
Woke up late Saturday, so I missed breakfast again. Checked out and walked to the train station to border my train. Shared a six person cart with an elder couple and a younger couple. The
train to Genoa wasn’t bad, it thankfully didn’t make too many stops. Once you get into the Genoa area it was amazing to see all the homes in the hills and stuff. Than once you get to the Station it was pretty hectic. Google maps pointed out a very confusing route for me and the main street it led me on had to have been the immigrant hub of Genoa, filled with Berbers, Indians, Chinese, and African people alike. Thankfully a lot of tourists were on the streets, albeit they were Italian. 
After ending up at San Lorenzo Church, and sort of near the Piazza I had no idea where I was and my Italy book gave me a very vague map of Genoa that didn’t really help. I then walked down this major street thinking it was heading the right direction, but nope, I just needed to go down a street to the left of it and I would’ve been at my hotel, except I took this major street way down to the eastern part of the city. 
After back tracking, I finally found the right street and my hotel was right there. I was kind of pissed off after that. Checking in was no problem, the best western has all the amenities of an American version hotel. After this I went to you guessed it for lunch. Being in the region where Pesto Sauce was invented, where sea food is prevalent, I ended up at you guessed it. Mcdonalds. The lady didn’t understand what it meant when I said I wanted a #4, the chicken nuggets meal and started giving me 4 of everything, so that was kind of annoying to fix that. After this I headed down that main street I got lost on, since that’s the way to the soccer stadium. Once I eventually got there which wasn’t hard to find, it was closed, and the team stores were closed but I did find a little store that sold some swag. After this I decided I would walk back and head to the Naval Museum of Geno
a. Since Genoa has had a famous port since the Roman times, the museum is also brand new. The first floor had some cool Christopher Columbus artifacts since he was born there, from letters to objects from his voyages. 
They had displays of Genoese cannons and a display of a Galley. The other floors were dedicated to the port’s history and how ships had evolved, how cannons got bigger, etc. It was alright seeing the other stuff, mainly the models of ships and the old drawn maps were the coolest things. Then at the top floor they have an exhibition on the Italian experience at Ellis Island which was interesting seeing the boat point of view there. I’ve been to Ellis Island before in 2008 where you got to see how it was liked when you got there, so I guess I have seen both parts of the story now. It was interesting reading about the Italian voyage from Genoa to New York City. After this, I decided to go to what Genoa is famous for, in its Aquarium. It’s kind of expensive, but I realize that most of the cost is going to conservation, and not to profits so it’s alright in my eyes. Plus seeing live animals after looking at lifeless objects and paintings is a sight for sore eyes. They had some West Indian Manatees, some Sandtiger sharks, some seals, etc. The dolphins weren’t visible since they were in another tank. 
The fish tanks were the same as other aquarium’s except they did have special exhibits on Finding Nemo, Madagascar, the Red Sea, and Mediterranean tanks. They had this gigantic sea turtle too in one of the tanks, probably the biggest I’ve seen since we saw them in Kailua. 
They also had a ray pond where you could feel them. The museum wasn’t that impressive, it’s deceptively long because it makes you follow a certain path. Sea World and the Monterey Bay aquarium are obviously miles above it, but they had unique exhibits that neither of those aquariums had. Then you are let out into the harbor on this pier, and you walk down and get a scope of the harbor which is gigantic. You get an awesome panoramic view of Genoa. What’s awesome about Genoa is rather than 
expand outward, they just u
sed the natural terrain and expanded upward. So its homes above homes above homes, etc. I can’t stress how awesome the view of the city it is from the docks. The weather is also perfect because it’s nice and cool by the sea. Then I had trouble finding a restaurant for dinner, I was going to eat something with pesto sauce, but the place I ended up stopped serving them like 30 minutes prior. So I ended up with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, which is funny, because when other people in another house cooked for us they made this and I didn’t like it really cause I don’t like tomatoes. And this is what I was forced to have for dinner, at least they gave me a lot of bread which was delicious. I got surprisingly full from the meal, and it’s probably one of the healthiest I’ve eaten here, but I’m disappointed I never had seafood since I was actually looking forward to it. Genoa is awesome, so glad I came here. Day 4-Genoa. Missed my morning alarm clock from my cell phone thinking I could fake up at 8:15. Luckily whoever stayed there the morning before had set the alarm for 8:30. The breakfast wasn’t bad, a typical Italian breakfast, but I live for fruit at breakfast anyways. After this, I headed out down my hotel down Via Garibaldi since it’s a tourist street and UNESCO heritage sight. After this, I bought a museum ticket that gets you into the 3 Palazzo’s on the street. The first Palazzo’s art was mainly dedicated to Baroque Genovese artists that I knew jack shit about so it was whatever. They had some former royal apartments in their too. Then a security guard person showed me the roof which gives you a good view of Genoa. 
She also pointed out interesting things in Genoa from the Cathedral to the tower to the lighthouse. Genoa is built so high up on hills that we weren’t even close to the top of the city.. After this the next museum had more baroque art, but it at least had a Caravaggio. After this, you got to a third Palazzo, which houses things from costumes to coins to ceramics to Niccolò Paganini. 
The coins here were really interesting since they were from Roman times to to the Doge’s rule over the city. I was impressed by the coin collection. I don’t know much about the musician, so seeing his violin was whatever to me, but apparently annually in some contest, the winner gets to play one of the artist’s song on his violin. After this I decided to go get a Genovese lunch. It took a while to find, but I found a place that served Gnocchi al Pesto. This was delicious, and I have a new respect for pesto sauce, however mom, I don’t want to sample your dish next time we go to BJ’s brewery. Then I cruised around the harbor again, just to stroll since it was very nice over there and I’ll miss the nice cool harbor weather. I walked to where the cruise ships dock, so that was interesting, a lot of day trippers hit Genoa up from the cruises. Also, the aquarium line was packed, so I’m glad I went the night before. Then I rushed back to the hotel to pick up my bags to only realize, my train didn’t leave for another two hours. So I walked back on the harbor to get to the lighthouse 3 km away. The walk was nice, a little breeze here and
there, and I got to pass all the cruises. The lantern is the symbol of Genoa 
apparently, and it’s been there
since medieval times. Y
ou get an amazing view of Genoa, the port, etc. This view shows you how beautiful Genoa really is, and was probably a better panoramic view than the Basilica of Superga in Turin. After this, I walked back to the hotel to get my bags and get to the train. The train is basically all along the coast so you get some awesome views of the Mediterranean, it’s like driving the 101 near Santa Barbara. Except you see the awesome Italian homes in the hills and the beautiful coastline. Going to Genoa is perfect for people who can walk up hills, so that excludes you mom, you’d hate this place, or you'd only stay near the port. It really reminds me of a San Francisco type place, without the fruitcake stuff and my hero Buster Posey! But this train ride is for anyone who likes awesome views of the sea.
Woke up late Saturday, so I missed breakfast again. Checked out and walked to the train station to border my train. Shared a six person cart with an elder couple and a younger couple. The
train to Genoa wasn’t bad, it thankfully didn’t make too many stops. Once you get into the Genoa area it was amazing to see all the homes in the hills and stuff. Than once you get to the Station it was pretty hectic. Google maps pointed out a very confusing route for me and the main street it led me on had to have been the immigrant hub of Genoa, filled with Berbers, Indians, Chinese, and African people alike. Thankfully a lot of tourists were on the streets, albeit they were Italian. 
After ending up at San Lorenzo Church, and sort of near the Piazza I had no idea where I was and my Italy book gave me a very vague map of Genoa that didn’t really help. I then walked down this major street thinking it was heading the right direction, but nope, I just needed to go down a street to the left of it and I would’ve been at my hotel, except I took this major street way down to the eastern part of the city. 
After back tracking, I finally found the right street and my hotel was right there. I was kind of pissed off after that. Checking in was no problem, the best western has all the amenities of an American version hotel. After this I went to you guessed it for lunch. Being in the region where Pesto Sauce was invented, where sea food is prevalent, I ended up at you guessed it. Mcdonalds. The lady didn’t understand what it meant when I said I wanted a #4, the chicken nuggets meal and started giving me 4 of everything, so that was kind of annoying to fix that. After this I headed down that main street I got lost on, since that’s the way to the soccer stadium. Once I eventually got there which wasn’t hard to find, it was closed, and the team stores were closed but I did find a little store that sold some swag. After this I decided I would walk back and head to the Naval Museum of Geno
a. Since Genoa has had a famous port since the Roman times, the museum is also brand new. The first floor had some cool Christopher Columbus artifacts since he was born there, from letters to objects from his voyages. 
They had displays of Genoese cannons and a display of a Galley. The other floors were dedicated to the port’s history and how ships had evolved, how cannons got bigger, etc. It was alright seeing the other stuff, mainly the models of ships and the old drawn maps were the coolest things. Then at the top floor they have an exhibition on the Italian experience at Ellis Island which was interesting seeing the boat point of view there. I’ve been to Ellis Island before in 2008 where you got to see how it was liked when you got there, so I guess I have seen both parts of the story now. It was interesting reading about the Italian voyage from Genoa to New York City. After this, I decided to go to what Genoa is famous for, in its Aquarium. It’s kind of expensive, but I realize that most of the cost is going to conservation, and not to profits so it’s alright in my eyes. Plus seeing live animals after looking at lifeless objects and paintings is a sight for sore eyes. They had some West Indian Manatees, some Sandtiger sharks, some seals, etc. The dolphins weren’t visible since they were in another tank. 
The fish tanks were the same as other aquarium’s except they did have special exhibits on Finding Nemo, Madagascar, the Red Sea, and Mediterranean tanks. They had this gigantic sea turtle too in one of the tanks, probably the biggest I’ve seen since we saw them in Kailua. 
They also had a ray pond where you could feel them. The museum wasn’t that impressive, it’s deceptively long because it makes you follow a certain path. Sea World and the Monterey Bay aquarium are obviously miles above it, but they had unique exhibits that neither of those aquariums had. Then you are let out into the harbor on this pier, and you walk down and get a scope of the harbor which is gigantic. You get an awesome panoramic view of Genoa. What’s awesome about Genoa is rather than 
expand outward, they just u
sed the natural terrain and expanded upward. So its homes above homes above homes, etc. I can’t stress how awesome the view of the city it is from the docks. The weather is also perfect because it’s nice and cool by the sea. Then I had trouble finding a restaurant for dinner, I was going to eat something with pesto sauce, but the place I ended up stopped serving them like 30 minutes prior. So I ended up with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, which is funny, because when other people in another house cooked for us they made this and I didn’t like it really cause I don’t like tomatoes. And this is what I was forced to have for dinner, at least they gave me a lot of bread which was delicious. I got surprisingly full from the meal, and it’s probably one of the healthiest I’ve eaten here, but I’m disappointed I never had seafood since I was actually looking forward to it. Genoa is awesome, so glad I came here. Day 4-Genoa. Missed my morning alarm clock from my cell phone thinking I could fake up at 8:15. Luckily whoever stayed there the morning before had set the alarm for 8:30. The breakfast wasn’t bad, a typical Italian breakfast, but I live for fruit at breakfast anyways. After this, I headed out down my hotel down Via Garibaldi since it’s a tourist street and UNESCO heritage sight. After this, I bought a museum ticket that gets you into the 3 Palazzo’s on the street. The first Palazzo’s art was mainly dedicated to Baroque Genovese artists that I knew jack shit about so it was whatever. They had some former royal apartments in their too. Then a security guard person showed me the roof which gives you a good view of Genoa. 
She also pointed out interesting things in Genoa from the Cathedral to the tower to the lighthouse. Genoa is built so high up on hills that we weren’t even close to the top of the city.. After this the next museum had more baroque art, but it at least had a Caravaggio. After this, you got to a third Palazzo, which houses things from costumes to coins to ceramics to Niccolò Paganini. 
The coins here were really interesting since they were from Roman times to to the Doge’s rule over the city. I was impressed by the coin collection. I don’t know much about the musician, so seeing his violin was whatever to me, but apparently annually in some contest, the winner gets to play one of the artist’s song on his violin. After this I decided to go get a Genovese lunch. It took a while to find, but I found a place that served Gnocchi al Pesto. This was delicious, and I have a new respect for pesto sauce, however mom, I don’t want to sample your dish next time we go to BJ’s brewery. Then I cruised around the harbor again, just to stroll since it was very nice over there and I’ll miss the nice cool harbor weather. I walked to where the cruise ships dock, so that was interesting, a lot of day trippers hit Genoa up from the cruises. Also, the aquarium line was packed, so I’m glad I went the night before. Then I rushed back to the hotel to pick up my bags to only realize, my train didn’t leave for another two hours. So I walked back on the harbor to get to the lighthouse 3 km away. The walk was nice, a little breeze here and
there, and I got to pass all the cruises. The lantern is the symbol of Genoa 
apparently, and it’s been there
since medieval times. Y
ou get an amazing view of Genoa, the port, etc. This view shows you how beautiful Genoa really is, and was probably a better panoramic view than the Basilica of Superga in Turin. After this, I walked back to the hotel to get my bags and get to the train. The train is basically all along the coast so you get some awesome views of the Mediterranean, it’s like driving the 101 near Santa Barbara. Except you see the awesome Italian homes in the hills and the beautiful coastline. Going to Genoa is perfect for people who can walk up hills, so that excludes you mom, you’d hate this place, or you'd only stay near the port. It really reminds me of a San Francisco type place, without the fruitcake stuff and my hero Buster Posey! But this train ride is for anyone who likes awesome views of the sea.
Eff the Bianconeri (White and Blacks)
I hate Juventus, the Turin team, who are also rivals with Fiorentina. So no, forza for them.
The train to Torino wasn’t bad, it was just under 3 hours. What I liked the most when I first got here, was that isn’t hot or humid like it was in Florence. My hotel was one street away from the train station; you just have to walk down a couple hundred meters. I parked my bags and immediately walked up the center to try and find things to do and get lunch.
It’s like a 20 minute walk to the Piazza Reale so it wasn’t too bad at all. I found the McDonalds, and got my usual, since I refuse to eat Mcdonalds in Florence. After McDonalds I wanted to go to the Turin Cathedral. The cathedral itself isn’t very impressive, however this chapel does carry the Shroud of Turin. Although it wasn’t on display, they have a copy of Jesus’s face in a shrine where the Savoy’s used to sit above that you can look it. 
It was pretty neat looking at the copy of a fake or real shroud of Jesus. After cruising around here, I stopped by the tourist office to pick up a Torino/Piedmonte 2 day card for 22 euros. It gets you into all the museums, and free public transport. With this I headed straight over to the National Museum of the Italian reunification. 
Torino was the first capital of the Italian republic, so it lays claim to being the site of unification of Italy.
It’s 
basically a museum of Italian history from Napoleon-on of the Piedmonte region. Some of the things on Napoleon’s rule of Italy, the European revolutions of 1848, and stuff. Then they have a lot of paintings, drawings, pamphlets dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, who is like the George Washington of Italy. What is interesting was how the French and Napoleon III were the protectors of Rome against Garibaldi. They had some cool flags, and some cool newspaper/magazine clippings of the unification of Italy. After this museum visit, I decided to check out the Mole Antonelliana and the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. 
The Mole is interesting because it’s a huge tower a little taller than the Eiffel tower at Las Vegas. You ca
n get an excellent view of Turin, and you can see the mountains, and the former royal palaces on the surrounding hills. The cinema museum was alright, nothing special. They had some cool Italian movie posters of American movies, some picture stills from famous movies, rooms designed from old movie sets, and screenplays from Citizen Kane to the Godfather Part 2. I then walked around trying to find a place for dinner and settled for a self-service place called Brek. The food here was actually quite excellent, they have a lot of selection, and its cafeteria style. Lots of locals were eating here from university to old people. I had a penne pasta and proscruitto cotto di Parma, which was excellent., and a pepsi all for 11.70.
Day 2: I started off my morning a little late due to the comfort of AC and a nice bed, and a comfy pillow. I then went to the Egyptian Museum. This is supposedly one of the largest Egyptian collections in the world so I was interested. You first walk into a bunch of sarcophagus and scrolls from the book of the dead. Then you are led through other Egyptian art like scarab jewelry, steles, mini statues, etc. They had a mummified crocodile among other mummified animals which was neat.
Then your done with this floor, and think to yourself that’s it, but you go downstairs to see the big exhibits. The hall with all the statues from Egypt, especially the Ramses II statue. 
Then they have a Temple of Ellesiya from King Thutmose III which was neat. They also have the tomb of Kha which shows everything they excavated from his tomb which was previously unplundered. Kha was apparently an architect for three royal kings in the New Kingdom. After this, I headed up the street to the Palazzo Madama to the The Civic Museum of Ancient Art. This was four floors of art from the Medieval period to the Gothic/Renaissance to the Baroque, to former Roman watchtower at the top. I breezed through the Renaissance arts since I don’t know any Piedmonte renaissance artists. The medieval floor was kind of cool, they had some neat stonework and roman treasure there. The Roman watchtower gave you a good view of the courtyard, since this is like the main Palazzo in Turin. The Baroque period had some former royal rooms decorate with art, but the main thing was probably the reconstruction of the Senate chambers. This was a cool little exhibit, you could sit in the chambers, listen to famous speeches given, and they even had the seat of the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. After this I walked around to the new Oriental Art Museum. This museum reminded me of the Norton Simon museum, since they had similar collections. The Indian art was ok, lots of Buddha’s and art dedicated to their deities. Then when I get to the second floor, its Chinese and Japanese, so I tried going to the Japanese art, but the security person made me go through the Chinese art first. I breezed through it, since I don’t really care for Chinese art at all. After this, I went to the Japanese art. 
They had this scroll or something showing Samurais and stuff. Then they had some crazy looking Buddha’s and the Kongo Rikishi. They had some of those weird Japanese hanging clothes on the next floor along with some Samurai armor. The Himalayan art had some crazy gold/bronze Buddha’s from Thailand to Nepal. You can only see so many Buddha’s before you get bored. And the Islam art is very boring, because it’s all fancy drawn Arabic on pots, fabric, etc . I found a cheap pizza place, don’t know what I ordered, but it was 1.50 euro for a slice. I then went to the real Museum of Ancient Art, the Museum of Antiquities next to an archaeological dig site and the former Roman theatre. 
This thing had tons of excavated Roman stuff from coins, weapon shards, jewelry, pots, etc. That’s just the dig site room. The other large hall contained statues of former Roman emperors, pots from the Etruscans to the Romans, and other stuff. I enjoyed this Antiquity museum much more than the Ancient Art Museum. I then walked by the Palatine towers, which were part of the Roman gates during the time of Augustus Caesar when the town was called Augusta Taurinorum. After this, I went to the Basilica of Superga. It’s located on a hill overlooking Turin, and you take the bus to the train-funicular that takes you up the hill. You get an awesome view of the Piedmonte region. 
You get an especially beautiful view of Turin, the Alps, etc. It really made that tower thing in Turin, look like a small normal building from up here. Going up the Cupola in the Church gave you an even better view. It was kind of cloudy so I couldn’t see the Matterhorn, but I could see pretty much all the Alps viewable from Italy. 
The Basilica is nothing special, but it’s important to Italians because Victor Amadeus II of Savoy prayed here before leading his troops to a surprise victory against the French and gaining the title the King of Sardinia. I then took the tour of the Royal tombs of the House of Savoy. It was conducted in Italian, but I bought a little book in the church for a euro that gives details of the whole Basilica, and we were given a large book thing that detailed the crypt in English. So me, and this French couple with their French note thing version, were pretty much on the tour, but not paying attention. The tour was boring at first, since I had zero idea what the guy was talking about, and I could only read what was in my little book. But going to the royal crypt was pretty awesome. I saw the tombs of Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I in the Pantheon in Rome, so seeing the rest of the House of Savoy’s tombs was pretty cool. Umberto the 1st, and Carlo Alberto probably had the most elaborate tombs in the crypt. A
fter this, they had a little hike through the park you could take to the train station so I did that to kill time, since the train only comes every hour. Some interesting stuff I saw on the bus back to the center, Castello, was a kid playing soccer with his grandma, and a Bocce court. I thought this was just a mythical game included in the PS3 Move, Sports Champions game, but I actually saw an older couple playing this game in a little Bocce court. This game is pretty much curling without sweeping and bowling and underarm tossing instead. For dinner, I started off at an apertivo place right by the university, and just had their bread/pasta stuff. I was looking for a glass of Moscate, but they didn’t have any, so I settled with a sparkling white wine which was actually alright. After this, I headed back to my favorite spot, Brek. This time I got a Roast Beef+fries and Pepsi for the same price as last night. It was delicious, and I saw three people that were their last night, so I guess some Italians who can’t cook go here for dinner. Then I went to Grom for desert. There is like five groms in Turin, because Grom originated from here. The peach gelato was excellent and one of the best I ever had. Guess I have to compare it to Grom in Florence.
The train to Torino wasn’t bad, it was just under 3 hours. What I liked the most when I first got here, was that isn’t hot or humid like it was in Florence. My hotel was one street away from the train station; you just have to walk down a couple hundred meters. I parked my bags and immediately walked up the center to try and find things to do and get lunch.
It’s like a 20 minute walk to the Piazza Reale so it wasn’t too bad at all. I found the McDonalds, and got my usual, since I refuse to eat Mcdonalds in Florence. After McDonalds I wanted to go to the Turin Cathedral. The cathedral itself isn’t very impressive, however this chapel does carry the Shroud of Turin. Although it wasn’t on display, they have a copy of Jesus’s face in a shrine where the Savoy’s used to sit above that you can look it. 
It was pretty neat looking at the copy of a fake or real shroud of Jesus. After cruising around here, I stopped by the tourist office to pick up a Torino/Piedmonte 2 day card for 22 euros. It gets you into all the museums, and free public transport. With this I headed straight over to the National Museum of the Italian reunification. 
Torino was the first capital of the Italian republic, so it lays claim to being the site of unification of Italy.
It’s 
basically a museum of Italian history from Napoleon-on of the Piedmonte region. Some of the things on Napoleon’s rule of Italy, the European revolutions of 1848, and stuff. Then they have a lot of paintings, drawings, pamphlets dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, who is like the George Washington of Italy. What is interesting was how the French and Napoleon III were the protectors of Rome against Garibaldi. They had some cool flags, and some cool newspaper/magazine clippings of the unification of Italy. After this museum visit, I decided to check out the Mole Antonelliana and the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. 
The Mole is interesting because it’s a huge tower a little taller than the Eiffel tower at Las Vegas. You ca
n get an excellent view of Turin, and you can see the mountains, and the former royal palaces on the surrounding hills. The cinema museum was alright, nothing special. They had some cool Italian movie posters of American movies, some picture stills from famous movies, rooms designed from old movie sets, and screenplays from Citizen Kane to the Godfather Part 2. I then walked around trying to find a place for dinner and settled for a self-service place called Brek. The food here was actually quite excellent, they have a lot of selection, and its cafeteria style. Lots of locals were eating here from university to old people. I had a penne pasta and proscruitto cotto di Parma, which was excellent., and a pepsi all for 11.70.Day 2: I started off my morning a little late due to the comfort of AC and a nice bed, and a comfy pillow. I then went to the Egyptian Museum. This is supposedly one of the largest Egyptian collections in the world so I was interested. You first walk into a bunch of sarcophagus and scrolls from the book of the dead. Then you are led through other Egyptian art like scarab jewelry, steles, mini statues, etc. They had a mummified crocodile among other mummified animals which was neat.
Then your done with this floor, and think to yourself that’s it, but you go downstairs to see the big exhibits. The hall with all the statues from Egypt, especially the Ramses II statue. 
Then they have a Temple of Ellesiya from King Thutmose III which was neat. They also have the tomb of Kha which shows everything they excavated from his tomb which was previously unplundered. Kha was apparently an architect for three royal kings in the New Kingdom. After this, I headed up the street to the Palazzo Madama to the The Civic Museum of Ancient Art. This was four floors of art from the Medieval period to the Gothic/Renaissance to the Baroque, to former Roman watchtower at the top. I breezed through the Renaissance arts since I don’t know any Piedmonte renaissance artists. The medieval floor was kind of cool, they had some neat stonework and roman treasure there. The Roman watchtower gave you a good view of the courtyard, since this is like the main Palazzo in Turin. The Baroque period had some former royal rooms decorate with art, but the main thing was probably the reconstruction of the Senate chambers. This was a cool little exhibit, you could sit in the chambers, listen to famous speeches given, and they even had the seat of the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. After this I walked around to the new Oriental Art Museum. This museum reminded me of the Norton Simon museum, since they had similar collections. The Indian art was ok, lots of Buddha’s and art dedicated to their deities. Then when I get to the second floor, its Chinese and Japanese, so I tried going to the Japanese art, but the security person made me go through the Chinese art first. I breezed through it, since I don’t really care for Chinese art at all. After this, I went to the Japanese art. 
They had this scroll or something showing Samurais and stuff. Then they had some crazy looking Buddha’s and the Kongo Rikishi. They had some of those weird Japanese hanging clothes on the next floor along with some Samurai armor. The Himalayan art had some crazy gold/bronze Buddha’s from Thailand to Nepal. You can only see so many Buddha’s before you get bored. And the Islam art is very boring, because it’s all fancy drawn Arabic on pots, fabric, etc . I found a cheap pizza place, don’t know what I ordered, but it was 1.50 euro for a slice. I then went to the real Museum of Ancient Art, the Museum of Antiquities next to an archaeological dig site and the former Roman theatre. 
This thing had tons of excavated Roman stuff from coins, weapon shards, jewelry, pots, etc. That’s just the dig site room. The other large hall contained statues of former Roman emperors, pots from the Etruscans to the Romans, and other stuff. I enjoyed this Antiquity museum much more than the Ancient Art Museum. I then walked by the Palatine towers, which were part of the Roman gates during the time of Augustus Caesar when the town was called Augusta Taurinorum. After this, I went to the Basilica of Superga. It’s located on a hill overlooking Turin, and you take the bus to the train-funicular that takes you up the hill. You get an awesome view of the Piedmonte region. 
You get an especially beautiful view of Turin, the Alps, etc. It really made that tower thing in Turin, look like a small normal building from up here. Going up the Cupola in the Church gave you an even better view. It was kind of cloudy so I couldn’t see the Matterhorn, but I could see pretty much all the Alps viewable from Italy. 
The Basilica is nothing special, but it’s important to Italians because Victor Amadeus II of Savoy prayed here before leading his troops to a surprise victory against the French and gaining the title the King of Sardinia. I then took the tour of the Royal tombs of the House of Savoy. It was conducted in Italian, but I bought a little book in the church for a euro that gives details of the whole Basilica, and we were given a large book thing that detailed the crypt in English. So me, and this French couple with their French note thing version, were pretty much on the tour, but not paying attention. The tour was boring at first, since I had zero idea what the guy was talking about, and I could only read what was in my little book. But going to the royal crypt was pretty awesome. I saw the tombs of Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I in the Pantheon in Rome, so seeing the rest of the House of Savoy’s tombs was pretty cool. Umberto the 1st, and Carlo Alberto probably had the most elaborate tombs in the crypt. A
fter this, they had a little hike through the park you could take to the train station so I did that to kill time, since the train only comes every hour. Some interesting stuff I saw on the bus back to the center, Castello, was a kid playing soccer with his grandma, and a Bocce court. I thought this was just a mythical game included in the PS3 Move, Sports Champions game, but I actually saw an older couple playing this game in a little Bocce court. This game is pretty much curling without sweeping and bowling and underarm tossing instead. For dinner, I started off at an apertivo place right by the university, and just had their bread/pasta stuff. I was looking for a glass of Moscate, but they didn’t have any, so I settled with a sparkling white wine which was actually alright. After this, I headed back to my favorite spot, Brek. This time I got a Roast Beef+fries and Pepsi for the same price as last night. It was delicious, and I saw three people that were their last night, so I guess some Italians who can’t cook go here for dinner. Then I went to Grom for desert. There is like five groms in Turin, because Grom originated from here. The peach gelato was excellent and one of the best I ever had. Guess I have to compare it to Grom in Florence.
Long blogs coming up, this week in class
We learned about sexual crimes in the USA and Italy in this week’s lecture. In the original definition of rape, a man could only rape a woman who wasn’t his wife. While the California rape law fixed the law to make sure it included any sexual intercourse thing done against the will of the victim. And the California sexual assault law made it any unwanted sexual action against the victim. What’s interesting here, is a guy can’t get raped by a female according to these words. Even if it’s the ugliest bitch in the world forcing her will literally on some dude, it wouldn’t be called rape. It’s sad that more than 70% of the rapes happen by people who know their attacker. It shows that there is some messed up people around the nation, and clearly the victim is too scared to report it. We then talked a bit about Megan’s law and how they sex offenders have to register their names. It was funny that the teacher brought up how many sex offenders live in south Placentia by school. And all these students don’t realize what a shitty area that is. Problems us proud North Placentians don’t have to deal with, Smiley face. Then we talked about how these people who need to rehabbed into society aren’t welcomed by communities so it’s kind of a whole double standard of their rehabilitation process. Sex offenders don’t deserve second chances but murderers and alcoholics deserve all the second chances they can get. It’s interesting how sex offenders have to live 2,000 feet away from a park or school, which is almost impossible in Orange County, so these people have to move way out of the city into ex-urbs or either further. Italy apparently has the lowest per capita rate of rape in the EU, but it reality it feels as if Italian men are aggressive as hell, unless they’re just trying to pick up yank tourists. The whole issue of rape in Italy is awkward. They really don’t want you to go forward with the case, they make you take your time, and the trial is apparently humiliating for the victim. It’s interesting that Mussolini’s granddaughter is a big proponent for rape victims. The whole joke of a code, the querela system, said that a dishonest seducing women would go to court to report a rape charge, while the honorable women who was raped would keep quiet and hold her shame in private. Thankfully the more reform rape laws aren’t so harsh on women, and it penalizes men a lot stiffer than before for violating the morals of society, rather than for a crime in society. The funniest thing was this girl wearing jeans was raped by her driving instructor and didn’t report it until she got home. What’s funny is the judges ruled that because she was wearing jeans, it takes more than one person to take off the jeans so that was a form of consent. The Italian justice system makes a mockery of justice. I have no idea if the girl driving was raped or not, but their answer to not convict the instructor was utterly ridiculous. I’m not some women’s right activist crusader or anything, but rape is a crime punishable by the
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)