My Excursion through Italy!

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to so many parts of one country at once! I have decided if I ever want to learn a new language it is going to be Italian. It is very similar to Spanish and it is just beautiful. Follow along to see what I did and saw during my 11 days of traveling Italy.

Day 1 and 2: Tuesday December 29 and Wednesday December 30
I arrived to Milan late on Tuesday night. I spent Tuesday night in a hostel alone and the next day I met up with my friend, Mary, and two other American Auxilliares in Spain, Collin and Thomas. It was great to finally see Mary. We spent the afternoon walking around the center of Milan. In the center plaza (Piazza in Italian) there is a large, beautiful Cathedral, El Duomo, that we visited. Nothing like I imagined. It is the third largest church in the world! In the center of the piazza there was a very tall Christmas Tree with lights all around it with large boxes of Tiffany's Jewelry underneath it, which definitely added to the feel of the piazza. Milan is known as the Fashion District of Italy. In the same Piazza next to the Duomo is a covered double arcade consisting of all the designer shops you could ever think of called Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.
Later that evening we visited another church outside of the main piazza covered with beautiful lights. There was a light show with music playing in the background and the lights turning on and off in a certain fashions.

El Duomo


Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
The Church with the light show

The Milan Train Station

Day 3 and 4: Thursday December 31 and Friday January 1
On New Years Eve day we took a train from Milan to Bologna to celebrate the New Year. We celebrated New Years Eve. in Piazza Maggiore, the center of Bologna. In this piazza there was a large mass of people crowded around a stage with a live band performing along with many firecrackers going off to bring in the New Year. It was all very exciting until my foot got hit by a firecracker but still made up for the experience.
On New Years Day Mary and I walked around Bologna, wanting to experience everything there was to see. There are two towers in the center of the city known as Asinelli and Garisenda towers which are the land marks of the city. We went into the taller one, Asinelli, and climbed many stairs to reach the top. Climbing up we had no idea what we were in for but absolutely worth the climb with the view we saw from the top. We rewarded ourselves with a delicious Italian lunch consisting of pizza and lasagna. What more could you ask for?

San Petronio Basillica in Piazza Maggiore
The Two Towers

Climbing down AsinelliFrom the top of the tower

Day 5 and 6: Saturday January 2 and Sunday January 3
On Satuday morning we left Bologna and headed to Venice. When we arrived we had to take a ferry (Vaporetto) from the train station to the center of Venice. When we got off the Vaporetto we experienced a true flood. Torrential down pour and water covering all of the side walks forcing us to haul our luggage on top of these wooden platforms as we watched some workers trying to sweep water out of the doors of their restaurants. We were lucky enough to find a small apartment to stay for the night right in the center. I would definitely come back and stay there again!
Our first stop for the day was San Marcos Square. Absolutely beautiful. When we first arrived water covered the whole entire piazza. You could not step off the wooden platforms unless you had rain boots up to you knees. There we visited San Marco's Basillica. The architecture outside of it is incredible. Connected to the Basillica is the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale di Venezia). It was where the Duke of Venice lived. It is enormous with artwork covering the walls and ceiling. After leaving the palace all of the water covering the Piazza had receded and it was as if there never was a flood. It was so crazy. Clearly this is something that occurs on a regular basis after seeing how all the people dealt with it.
Entering San Marco's Basillica

Palazzo Ducale di Venezia


Ponte di Rialto (The main bridge used to cross the river)

Sunday morning we woke up to the sun shinning through our window in the center of Venice! It was a complete 180 reversal from the day before. We only had the morning to finish exploring Venice before heading to our next destination. So Mary and I got up early and just walked the city talking in the beauty for the next couple hours. We continuously walked over all of the little bridges, taking pictures with no direction in mind. It was nice being out early with few people on the street. It was so calm and peaceful. I don't think I have experienced anything like this. Venice was by far my favorite! By afternoon we had left Venice and headed to Florence.
Mary and I on Ponte Di Rialto
The Gondola (Boat tourist can ride in to get a scenic view of the city)

Day 7 and 8: Monday January 4 and Tuesday January 5
On Monday we visited another Cathedral called El Duomo in the center of Florence. Mary and I climbed to the top of the El Duomo. There was a stopping point that allowed for us to see all of the details of the paintings on the ceiling of the cathedral. Once we got to the top there was a beutiful view of the city even though it was raining and gloomy out.
View from the top of El Duomo with the Bell Tower in the Background

On Tuesday we went to the other side of the river that separates the city. It is known as the "Old Bridge" or Ponte Vecchio. It is quaint with lots of small yellow and orange buildings and shops.







While on this side of the city we walked to the top of a large hill in this park that overlooked the whole city.

View of El Duomo from on top of the hill


We then visited the largest and most famous art museum in Florence known as Uffizi. It consists of many different rooms filled with paintings from different time periods. There is large hallway that all of the rooms are built off of consisting of very detailed paintings on the wide ceiling. Considering Florence is known for all of its' art work, this museum was definitely worth the see.


Day 9,10 and 11: Wednesday January 7 and Friday January 8
We left early Wednesday morning for Pompei. We had plans to go to Napoles but skipped out after hearing from multiple people how dangerous the city is. Needless to say we were beyond scared walking through the train station in Napoles to switch trains to Pompei. We didn't get into Pompei until late evening so we just relaxed in the hotel for the night to scared to go out.
The next day we traveled to Mt. Vesuvio. It is a mountain outside of Pompei with a volcanoe that erupted in the 1940's. We took a van part way up and then climbed the rest. We were fortunate enough to have non-rainy weather for once after all the rain we had the past several days. However, it was still gloomy and cloudy from the top and therefore it did not give us a very good view. It was still a great experience and cool to see.

As we drove up and down the mountain we saw a beautiful view of the city of Napoli. When we arrived back to Pompei we visited a Cathedral right in the center. It was much more modernized with less intricate architectural detail from the outside than the other ones we had visited.

On top of Mt. Vesuvio
The View of Naples
The Cathedral
The Center Piazza of Pompei with the Cathedral behind it.

Before departing Pompei on Friday we visited the Roman Ruins. The site was enormous with so much to see. However as we trekked through the rain it was hard for us to identify what many of the things may have been used for. The size of the site made us feel like we were actually there.


By early afternoon we left for Rome arriving in the evening. It was so crazy to think that I had already seen this worldly culturally known city before when I was last in Europe. I still wanted to see a few things again before leaving. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain and through a coin in and then visited the Pantheon. We ended our trip through Italy with one last Italian dinner consisting of Lasagna. All in all it was an amazing trip and definitely made up for me not going home for Christmas!