Christmas in Italy

As I sit here in the French alps, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rents (mere hours now!!) I'm still trying to process my amazing six day trip to Italy for Christmas. It really was a trip that I will never forget. We did and saw so much in just a few days, it felt like I blinked and it was over. We flew from Toulouse to Venice, then took the train to Milan, took a day trip to Lake Maggiore, explored Milan, then took the train to Rome for actual Christmas, and flew back to Toulouse from there. I'm not going to lie, it was definitely difficult to be away from home for Christmas, but I just felt like when else am I going to have this time to really see Europe, ya know? So even though the pictures of the family gathered in the den in St. James and the delicious photos and videos from the cookie competition made me miss home so soo much, I really am glad that I took the time to visit new places and return to a city that I grew to love four years ago.

Venice looks exactly like it does in the photos. It literally feels like you stepped back in time when you're there. Time moves slowly as you try to find (and fail to find) your way around the winding streets and ever present canals. Gah the canals. So beautiful. While they have now become a bit of a tourist trap (80 euros for a gondola ride? No thanks.), they're nonetheless gorgeous and give the city this somewhat-mystical vibe. The color of the venetian lagoon is this soft teal-blue that was like nothing I had ever seen before. Everything in Venice just seemed fake, and yet it's steeped with so much history which makes the city ever so real. (I'm aware of how lame this sounds)

Bellinis at Harry's Bar where the drink was invented!

St. Mark's Basilica

Doge's Palace

Rialto Bridge

Meri, Ayse, et moi

Vaporetto!

We went over to the island of Murano to see (and buy) the famous glass!

Murano

Rialto at night

Our next stop was Lake Maggiore, located just south of the alps. Needless to say it is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. Our day trip to Stresa, a city on the lake, really felt like vacation because we weren't rushing from museum to museum or monument to monument. We took time to explore the lakefront, really soaking in the insane views of the alps and the crystal clear water. A vacation in Italy wouldn't be complete without cappuccinos and tiramisu and sure enough we had just that while we relaxed and tried to take in all that Italy had to offer us. Originally I wanted to go to Lake Como (you know that place in Italy where George Clooney lives) but the train wasn't ideal and I am so happy that we ended up at Lake Maggiore because it is a sight that I will never forget seeing.

Milan was such a change from our first two stops. Unlike most cities in Italy, Milan really feels like a modern city. Other than visiting the Milan Cathedral, the focal point of the city, we spent our time window shopping in all of the craaaazy expensive stores. We also found this really fun wine bar/restaurant called Signorvino which serves wine from every region of Italy. It was not only delicious but informative! (Insert comment about me being lame here)

Milan Cathedral

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral

Castello Sforzesco

The best pizza I have ever eaten

Signorvino

Last stop was Rome. Oh Rome. I learned so much about the city last time I visited in 2009 (abbey road!) and then last semester I learned even more in my Ancient Art class so I was really excited to be back. I dragged Meri and Ayse to all of the museums and the monuments and the sites and went on rants about bricks and columns but luckily they didn't kill me by the end. I'm sure they wanted to. It was incredible to see all of these monuments that I studied at length last semester in person. Seeing an image on a screen in a classroom just does not compare to seeing it in person. Somehow, things always get lost in translation. It was really interesting for me to see that there is so much conservation and restoration going on in Rome right now. At the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, in the Forum, at the Vatican Museums, and at a bunch of other places, works and even parts of the buildings were covered in scaffolding undergoing some form of protection. Rome is really interesting because while it is a modern-day city, there's something ancient around every corner and under basically every structure. Due to that fact, a lot of the important evidence from one of the world's first civilizations is constantly under the threat of crumbling because of the pollution produced by a modern-day city. It's a constant battle, but one that I found really intriguing to see first-hand.

Colosseum

Arch of Constantine

Colosseum

Colosseum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum 

Constantine

Capitoline Venus

Laocoön

School of Athens

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

St. Peter's

Castel Sant'Angelo

Chigi Chapel (Anyone read Angels and Demons?!)

Piazza Navona

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Roman sunset

On the Spanish Steps!

Trevi Fountain

Altar of the Fatherland

Column of Marcus Aurelius

Trevi Fountain

Column/Forum of Trajan

Temple of Portunus

The Tiber at night

St. Peter's

St. Peter's

Michelangelo's Pieta

Trevi Fountain at night

Pantheon

Pantheon

Pantheon

Pantheon

Pantheon

Pantheon

Richard Meier designed building for the Ara Pacis

Mausoleum of Augustus

Ara Pacis

Ara Pacis

GELATO

So good.

I haven't even mentioned the food yet, but I think it goes without saying that we ate damn well during our time in Italy. Pasta, pizza, and gelato became food groups and we were all the better for it. Cheers to Italy, an amazing place to spend Christmas away from home.

As usual all 600+ photos from my trip are on Facebook!