Rome & Vatican City

I left for Rome Friday morning, May 21st, intending to stay there for two nights. We bought a Roma pass, which gave us free public transportation, free entry to our first 2 museums/sites, and discounted entry prices from then on. Before I explain our first stop, I should probably catch you up on what happened with our return from Germany. Long story short, I was walking barefoot on the overnight train home, and stubbed my toe extremely hard. Later I went to the hospital finding out that I fractured it. Now we continue where I left off, ready to walk Rome with 9 toes... We started off with the Colosseum. It completely captured my imagination. I began thinking of the history behind it, seeing flashes of the film Gladiator, and hearing some familiar music play through repeatedly in my head. I even recorded a video of what I was hearing...



Next we walked through the Roman Forum and the Palantine Hill. This required a bit more imagination because much of the buildings no longer stand. Although, simply walking through the centralized area of ancient Rome was remarkable. It was hard on my foot/toe, but I enjoyed it greatly. Then we went by the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.
At the Trevi:


After all of that time on our feet, we went to the Villa Borghese gardens to unwind, laying on the grass for a nap. After some dinner, our group split up when the girls and I decided to enjoy the Trevi Fountain at night along with some wine. I opened the bottle with the same swiss army knife my Dad used when he traveled Europe when he was young. My first hostel experience was at a camping village that was only €10 per person. The next morning we woke up early to avoid the lines at the Vatican Museum. We were able to see a lot of paintings and sculptures that we had been talking about in class. The Sistine Chapel lived up to the hype, as it made me want to look at it for 2 hours. When we went inside St. Peter's Basilica, the sheer size of it overwhelmed me. After being inside, we knew we had to climb the dome.
Here is a picture of the view:



After the dome, I went to the Colosseum with some friends who had not yet gone. Then we went to the church of bones that our teacher told us about. It was a crypt filled with the remains of thousands of Capuchin friars. I snuck a picture:


I decided to take a train home Saturday night, because I needed to stay off my feet the rest of the weekend.
Here is an album with more pictures:
Rome & Vatican City

Pictures!

I finally figured out the best way to share all of my photos with you. Below are the links to my Facebook albums of each of our trips as well as our time around Florence. The link will take you right to the album. Also, all of my pictures that I have posted on the blog can be enlarged by simply clicking on them.

All things Florence

Pisa/Lucca/Florence

Germany

Munich and Heidelberg

Our train left for Munich at 10 pm Thursday night. We celebrated Dave's birthday for the first hour in our 6-bed couchette with a bottle of wine that our bartender friend Thomas gave us for free. After all of the planning and trouble we had getting the train reservations, I was so excited to spend the weekend in Germany for my birthday. We woke up at 6:30 am in Munich, grabbed some food, and then headed to Dachau, the Nazi's first concentration camp in Germany. We got there 45 minutes before it opened, but were still able to walk around, reading the signs that were scattered all over the camp. Walking the same roads and hallways the prisoners and germans walked impacted me the most. After we quickly went through the museum, we left for Munich, just as hundreds of people began to show up.

The gate entrance to the camp: "Work Brings Freedom."


From there we went back to Munich, where we planned to go on Mike's Bike Tour. My brother Craig took the same tour when he was in Munich almost 4 years ago, and he advised me to do the same (he also told me about Dachau, what a guy!). Kristina, Kim, and I went on the tour, while Krista, Dave, Parker, and Karissa bailed (big mistake). I absolutely loved the tour. We rode around all of the inner city, then out to the English Gardens (30% bigger than Central Park in NY), randomly stopping for a 5 minute lecture at historic sites. Connecting the past with where you are standing is my favorite thing about being in Europe.

We stopped by Munich's only surf spot.. I got an awesome video of a guy jumping and landing on his board into the wave..


The Hitler and WWII stories intrigued me the most.
Which brings us to our next stop: our birthday celebration at the Hofbrauhaus. (mmm.. Royalty.) Bike tour facts: Hitler used to give speeches here, the 2nd floor was blown off during WWII, and the American troops used it as a mess hall. The whole group met here to have some beers, bratwursts, and pretzels. We spent a few hours here, waiting for our departure for Heidelberg. It was a relaxing time and we had a lot of fun.

Since only the top floor was destroyed, the ceiling of the 1st still remained. Here are the Bavarian flag colors, covering up the swastikas above the lights:


No, the kid with the glasses is not in our Pepp group.. And yes, he is 16...


We arrived to the Pepperdine Moore Haus in Heidelberg late Friday night. It is the oldest overseas program in our school and the house itself is over 100 years old. All of the students that are in the program were traveling, so we had the house to ourselves, accompanied only by our host, the daughter of a professor. After a long day Friday, we slept in Saturday morning and started the day off by visiting the Heidelberg Castle. From there we walked down some famous stairs to the Old Town, where we explored the streets the rest of the day until we left for the overnight train back to Florence.

The Moore Haus on a hill:


Parker and I with the view of the castle from the Old Bridge:


The view from the Heidelberg Castle:


The Pepperdine crest in the house:

Germany, here we come...

I am very excited for this weekend. It is our first major trip by ourselves, and we are taking the overnight train to Munich, Germany. We will be in Munich all day Friday till about 7pm, then we head to the Pepperdine house located in Heidelberg. Our group is David, Parker, Krista, Kristina, Kim, and Karissa. David's birthday is on Friday, the 14th, while mine is on Saturday. I cannot believe we'll be celebrating at the Hofbräuhaus!! Gotta run!

Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Lucca, Soccer!

Our whole group left the villa Friday at 9 am for a full day trip to Siena and San Gimignano. I was excited to visit Siena because my brother, Craig, told me of their famous horse race they have twice a year in the main square. It will be held July 2nd, the last day of our Pepperdine program, so I plan to attend the race by myself!! It is called the Palio di Siena, and it is held in the Piazza del Campo. After viewing a few spectacular churches, walking around the city, and having pizza & wine for lunch, I knew I had to come back for the race. Then we visited San Gimignano, a small walled medieval town known for its many towers. We hiked up to a look out point to take pictures and view the surrounding landscape. For the rest of the time, we walked all over the city and sat down for some cappuccino.

At the Piazza del Campo with Krista, Kim, and Kristina:


The next day we had no mandatory trips with the group and could travel anywhere we wanted. Without having our eurail passes yet, we decided to make a cheap train ride to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was very boring, we only stayed for an hour to take some pictures. Then we took the train to Lucca, another very small city with Renaissance-era city walls. We had lunch in a secluded peaceful alley and rented bikes to circle the outer edges of the entire city. We rode on a path that sat on top of the walls so that we could look outside the city and within the city.

Our best Pisa shot:


Green everywhere you looked:


Then on Sunday, we went to the local soccer game, Fiorentina vs. Siena. Fiorentina controlled the whole game having many shots on goal, which made it a very exciting game to watch. The crowd chanted and yelled throughout almost the whole game, which made it more suspenseful at the end when it was tied 1 to 1. Although, the home team couldn't capitalize on opportunities late, so it ended in a tie. After the game, we had dinner at our director's house. She has been director at this program for 14 years, as well as attending this same program when she went to Pepperdine. Her house is away from the city and is simply beautiful. The Pepperdine basketball team joined us for dinner because they had a game the day before in Florence. After dinner, Parker, Matt, and I played an intense game of bocce ball on her bocce court.

Game time:


With Parker, Matt and Dave, who was not happy about the tie:

Behind

I am really behind in my blog! We have been doing so many activities everyday, I haven't had the time to post!
We are going to a soccer game today! I will post after that...

Arrival And Adaptation

The adventure begins... (yes, my first post title is lame.. it's MY BLOG!)

I flew out of LAX at 7pm. The flight: 12 hours. My expectation: torture. The result: nirvana. With the combination of no leg room and my horrible knees, I knew I would regret this whole Europe thing. Instead, I popped some Tylenol PM and slept for 10 hours straight! (Astor pride)

I arrived in Florence to an empty house. My fellow Pepperdine students were out touring the city. Once they got back, they gave me a tour of the villa and we headed out for some drinks and conversation. The next day was filled with orientation and more touring the city. The group headed out for some gelato at night, at a place right next to the famous towering Duomo of Florence.

The next day the whole group took a trip to Piazzale Michelangelo and Fiesole. The Piazzale Michelangelo is a square famous for it's panoramic view of Florence. I'll post some photos of that. We then traveled up higher for a better view of Florence to the small town of Fiesole. My buddies David, Parker, Matt, and I walked around the town taking pictures and enjoying the view. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city and getting to know it as my new home for the next 2 months.

At Piazzale Michelangelo:


A view from Fiesole: