Milan 10.18 and 10.19

Back in Siracusa

We got back to very warm Siracusa only 2 hours later than planned! We had a night train from Naples to Siracusa, but with one change over. That change occured at 4 am this morning and today was the first day of a train strike! Yikes! But the station set us up with a bus to a closer destination (catania) from where we caught another train to Siracusa. And believe it or not we are actually pretty well rested! And we were in good spirits the whole time. Perhaps because we knew that we would no longer be walking until our legs couldn't take it anymore! We saw alot in our 11 day tour of Italy. We will add pictures and blogs later, but here was our itinerary. Thursday we had a flight to Milan, spent the night and then the next day walking around Milan, climbed to the top of the Duomo, took an early evening train to Venice. Saw a little bit of Venice on the way to the hostel, the lots of Venice on Saturday, St. Mark's Square and Basillica, the gondolas, the Doge's Palace. Sunday we toured the Correr Museum in Venice and then went to Florence. In Florence we checked into our hotel, ate chinese, toured the city. Monday we took a day trip to Pisa, climbed the tower, toured the duomo and baptistery. Tuesday we spent looking at art! The Uffizi and Accademia in Florence, as well as the beautiful Boboli gardens. On Wednesday morning we rode the train to Rome, saw the Vatican Museum, Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum, and Spanish Steps; spread out through Thursday and Friday of course! Saturday we took a train to Naples and visited Pompeii, an awesome city, then back to Naples. On Sunday we took a ferry to Capri, rode the chairlift to the top of the island and came back to Naples in the evening. We caught the 10pm night train to Siracusa, had a slight schedule change, and now here we are in Siracusa on Monday. I cant believe just a week ago we were preparing to climb the Leaning Tower!! We promise more posts soon! Ciao!

Tour of Italy Update

Our tour is going smoothly. So far we've climbed the Duomo in Milan. Enjoyed the grand canal in Venice. Climbed the Leaning Tower in Pisa. And seen a lot of art in Florence. We are currently in the Bella Roma (beautiful Rome). This morning we toured the 4.5 mile Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was quite a painter. Photos and video are allowed everywhere in the Vatican museum, just not the Sistine chapel. I still managed to sneak some! We are back at the hostel because we are exhausted from almost a week of walking almost non stop! A little break is well deserved. We are planning to write some postcards and do some reading for school tonight. Tomorrow we are in Rome again and then we have 2 days left in Naples before we got back to school.

Hope you all are doing well. :)

midterms and trip planning

This is shaping up to be a crazy week! Already we've had one midterm, we have a paper due by Thursday, and another midterm (Gare has two) on Wednesday! In the time that we aren't studying or writing we have been planning our trip to the mainland.

Our plan is to fly to Milan, stay the night and the next day. On Friday we'll take a night train into Venice and get there just as the city starts to liven up. We have rooms there for 2 nights. Then off to Florence for 3 nights, we hope to pop over to Pisa and Lucca. Definitely Pisa, but Lucca might be promising as well. Then take the train to Rome to enjoy the "eternal city" for 3 more nights. Finally we'll train to Naples and spend the night, the next day up early for Capri and Pompeii, then an overnight train to Siracusa. If all goes as planned we'll be back Monday morning in plenty of time for class! So we have all of the room stuff situated, we just need to figure out what we want to do. Any suggestions?

Ottobrata

On Sunday night half of the MCAS students took a bus to Mt. Etna (an active volcano) for Ottobrata (Octoberfest). There were rides like any carnival might have. There were grown men standing around the machines, punching the punching bag and slamming the mallet like they were kids. People were eating and eating and eating. We had these delicious honey covered fried dough finger sized snacks. Lauren ate mushrooms and Gare had a few sugary chocolate filled donut things. Overall it was fun. Mix the carnivals at home with hundreds of crazy Italians and you get Ottobrata!

Gare enjoying the honey sticks. He said they were alot like the french toast sticks he ate as a child.

Monday 10.01: Vulcano

We only about an hour and a half in Vulcano, but we managed to make it to the radioactive mudbaths, a couple of beaches and got full-on whiffs of rotten egg smell of sulfur steaming up from vents. We strolled a few inland roads and bought matching hand towels and a fun tropic shirt. All in all, a successful stop.

Lipari

We stayed at Lipari for two nights in the Baia Unci campground. We visited the chiesas, the archaeological museum, lied on the pumice beach, and then on the beach at Canneto, but by that time we had caught on to one another and didn°t trust a word the other said for the rest of the trip.

Sunday 9.30: Lipari

Salina

The best thing about Salina was that we got to rent a scooter and visit the whole island. There were only a few cars and only a few more scooters, so the ride was nice. We saw the castle, a few churches, and the natural stone bridge. The climb was a little more than we bargained for and the view would be equally enjoyable from the water. Gary loved the climb, Lauren is really the only one who was nervous. Either way, Salina was beautiful. Being able to travel in Italy, on an island by scooter was an awesome experience.

Saturday 9.29: Salina

Stromboli

Stromboli was an adventure. Leaving the ferry the first thing we saw were tons of overgrown trees and bushes that just looked like a jungle. Everything seemed very wild and natural and it definitely is! The main reason for the trip to Stromboli was to climb the active volcano. You can only do this with a guide and we read that it is safe to do. The guide told us that it is actually safest to climb when there is activity. Possibly because they can measure and watch for what is happening. They don't think that Stromboli is going to explode for another couple thousand years, but anything is possible. We loved the climb. It was steep at times and we were going at a steady rate, but it was never too much to handle. The only time it was a little less than desirable was at the top when the temperature was about 40 degrees. We didn't have new clothes to change into and our shirts were soaked through with sweat so there was little keeping us warm. We stayed under the shelters alot to keep the wind from blowing through us. Finally the sun went down and it was dark. We walked over to the edge of the crater and waited for an explosion. It took about 10 minutes, but then we saw about 7 explosions right in a row. This excitement and splendor could best be compared to fireworks. If you are ever in Stromboli there is one thing you must do: climb the volcano!!


When Gary and I went to Oregon and Washington this summer we talked with my Aunt Bev's friends M.A. (Mary Ann) and Charlie. They have been to Stromboli and recommended a neat restaurant to visit. Well we visited it, but it was closed! It is unheard of for a restaurant in Sicily to be closed at 9:30pm, but it was. Anyway, we got a picture and we saw what it looks like. We just thought it was cool to hear about a place that's a world away and then actually be there!

Friday 9.28: Stromboli