Do Hummingbirds Hum?

Back in California, and I'm not sure I can handle the culture shock. In case you didn't know, bacon is really crispy in the US and they drive on the right hand side of the road. And they all have these funny accents. At least I brought some McVities back with me (aka chocolate digestives), so I can get those out when I start to feel homesick for England. Everything is so different now.

Anyway, might as well talk about the rest of my Roman holiday (haha...). And share some pictures.

St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. One of the better sights and it's free. Cheryl and I did our "No Admissions!" dance. Except that it was only me.

Pretty terrible picture of a really awesome hallway in the Vatican Museum which led (eventually) to the Sistine Chapel. The walls were covered with old looking maps of different parts of Italy. And I'm a sucker for old looking maps.

As for the Sistine Chapel itself, it was on the border between...cool and unimpressive. Maybe unimpressive isn't the word. Of course it's impressive. But it's just a lot smaller than you expect and much less spectacular. And there's no picture because if you take one then the security guys kill you and once you're dead, God's probably pretty angry at you too. Decided not to risk it.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica. I think it's the biggest church in the world or something. Or at least towards the top of that list. I'm pretty sure that the main altar (the brown structure in the middle) is over Peter's tomb.

Me and St. Peter. I think you're supposed to kiss his foot, but everyone just seemed to be rubbing it, so I did as the Romans do.

Michelangelo's Pieta.

We ate lunch with a view of the Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Roman forum. So I guess that was pretty cool.

They took out the floor of the Coliseum so you can see the system of tunnels underneath, like where the tigers that jumped out at Russell Crowe came from.

Here's a better picture.

Anyway, I think we both agreed that the Coliseum was our favorite sight in Rome. Otherwise, Rome really didn't do much for us.

The Arch of Constantine, which I know absolutely nothing about. It's between the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.

A few blocks away at the church of St. Peter's in Chains (San Pietro Vincoli or something like that in Italian, I'm way too lazy to check right now). In other words, those are (allegedly) the chains that bound Peter when he was imprisoned in Rome.

Statue of Moses in the same church, with horns (misinterpretation of "rays") coming out of his head.

Awesome Roman sky.

Possibly my favorite pizza box ever.

We're at the Roman forum!

Another shot of the Forum. Another free sight and pretty cool. We like old stuff. Cheryl's a history major and I almost was, so we're walking around like, "This is so cool! We are so dorky!"

The pillar that Peter was chained to in the Mamertine Prison. There's also a spot on the wall (not in the photo) where you can supposedly see his face, where it was imprinted when a guard pushed him into the wall. It's pretty awesome, it actually looked like a face.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for pictures.

Flying home wasn't too bad. Well, actually it was. I had three flights (Rome to Paris, Paris to Houston, and Houston to SF). Had to wake up at 3:15am for the first one, the second one was delayed 90 minutes, which meant I missed the third one and had to take a later one, but I sure had to run through the Houston airport to get to it and I was still the last person to board.

And here's the real tragedy: I was looking forward all day to the point where I could say, "I have nothing to declare but my genius," but it turns out they don't really have you do that in Houston. At least the Customs Guy was impressed that I was traveling alone internationally and all that.

"Are you by yourself?" (Really dumbfounded.)

"Yeah. I know. I'm that cool." (Okay, I only said "Yeah.")

Anyway, so now I am home again, wearing clothes I forgot I had. I tried to play the piano yesterday and it was pretty mediocre. I guess I'll have six weeks to practice. I'm going to start pulling out my hair if I don't find something to do. At least it's almost Thanksgiving and people will be home this weekend.

Went to a Cal basketball game the other night. We had to leave early, but if Cal won (which I think they did) it was the 500th win for their coach in his college coaching career. So that was pretty cool.

Random facts: I have the worst sore throat within memory and I no longer possess the ability to sleep in. I hope this is temporary. I have woken up consistently between 6:45am-7:30am over the last few days, and it's depressing me.

Anyway, hope you all have the best Thanksgiving ever and if you like me you should call me or come over to visit because I'm cool or something. Alrighty, bye.

When In Rome...

We arrived in Rome at about 1pm this afternoon and checked into our hotel. Then we relaxed for a while and headed out to see the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. While we were walking down the street, we looked down to see a face staring back up at us. There was randomly a pig's head resting on the sidewalk. I think we were both speechless for about the next block.

Trevi Fountain is the large 18th century fountain of Neptune (remember the part in Roman Holiday where Gregory Peck is trying to borrow the girl's camera?). It's tradition for tourists to throw a coin into over their shoulder to make a wish and to ensure that they will return to Rome. Actually, I just read an article yesterday about some street cleaners who were arrested for stealing money out of the fountain (usually, it goes to charity). So we threw in our coins and took some pictures, and avoided the guys who kept trying to hand us the flowers they were selling. ("If one more rose is thrust in my face...").

Then we walked over a few blocks to the Pantheon (not to be confused with Athen's Parthenon). It's basically a round basilica under a huge dome - it looked like a beehive crawling with tourists to me.

Ate dinner (lasagna = mmm...) in the square outside, then walked back to our hotel as the sky darkened. Kind of a leisurely afternoon.

Oh, and there's a weak wireless connection in our hotel room. What was wrong with England? The rest of Europe wants me to get online. Anyway, that's it for today.

Firenze

Yesterday we slept in until lunch (that felt good) and went for a walk on the south side of the Arno River (most of the major sights and museums for Florence are to the north, where we stayed, but the south side is more scenic, I think - more trees, and a great view of the city once you get up the hill).
The old gates to the city, now just a random tower close to the river. There's a nice path starting at about this point that takes you up a tree covered hill to a piazza overlooking Florence.
This was a random little grotto/spring/wishing well (at least, I contributed one euro to make a wish...I'm weirdly superstitious like that) towards the base of the hill, across from the tower.

The first thing that hit us when we walked into this church was the scent of candles. It was absolutely silent, and dim and cool.

Unlike most of the cities we've visited, where they expand around the old walls so you find them randomly in commercial areas and whatnot, the city walls of Florence are still very scenic.

Florence has some gorgeous buildings, but Cheryl and I were glad to see some trees.

We were debating over whether it would be rude to take a picture of the painter, but then a group of excited Italian children in matching blue jumpsuits and red hats rushed over to him and crowded around, talking loudly and looking at his work. We decided we weren't that bad.

We eventually reached Piazza Michelangelo, which has a replica of our favorite statue - David. And when I say we, I mean me.

I'm kind of a dork (if you hadn't noticed), because I found a copy of Puccini's "La Boheme" that Baz Luhrmann directed in Australia (I saw his production in SF...what can I say, I love Baz. He made Moulin Rouge) on DVD, and I pretty much had to buy it. I'm not a big opera person, but there you go. Anyway, so we went back and watched that. Then I stayed up until midnight to register for classes. Then I stayed up until 2am, because I do that.

This morning was fun. I woke up with about 150+ bites from some nasty bedbug or something (note: the hotel is clean, but it wasn't the brightest idea to take the spare blanket out of the closet and sleep with it, no matter how cold it was). They're mostly on my neck and arms, but there are some like on my forehead and ears. It's pretty pathetic. The ones on my wrists look especially depressing - really pink spots on my poor white skin. I look diseased. Anyway, sorry if this was the "too much information" post, but my life is pretty itchy right now. Hopefully they'll disappear soon. Like tomorrow.

Anyway, we went to the Accademia and Uffizi today. The highlight of the Accademia is Michelangelo's "David." Pretty much the only reason for going, but it's worth it. Pretty sure that my sister and I both have crushes on him. Cheryl wasn't too smitten, but I think she was glad we went. And the Uffizi is full of great stuff - Leonardo's "Annunciation," Botticelli's "Primavera" and "The Birth of Venus," etc. So, all in all, a good day.

We went back to the restaurant where we ate on the first night. Cheryl said something like, "It's our last night in Florence!" and I replied "This is where I ate last time it was my last night in Florence!" Basically, this is the restaurant I eat at in Florence.

Anyway, we're headed for Rome tomorrow morning, and I don't know if I'll luck out with wireless internet again, so the next time I update I may be back in the States. We'll see. Until then, I hope you're having a great life.

PS: Best soda ever!

Ci sono pescecani?

Hotel in Florence has free wireless, too. I'm starting to really love my life.

Before I start talking about Italy, let me put up some of the Paris pictures now that I think the internet will be going a little faster.

This is the door to the bell tower on Notre Dame. Last time we went, I think we skipped it, so I didn't know we could actually go in and see a bell. So I was very excited to learn that.

A dusty old bell. I was ecstatic.

We went to a memorial for the French Jews who died in Nazi concentration camps. This was one of many quotes on the walls. It means, "I dreamed so strongly about you - I walked so much, talked so much, loved your shadow so much, that there is nothing left of you. The only thing left is the shadow between shadows, the one that will come back to mind."

Can you please admire this shot of the Eiffel Tower? Later I saw a postcard with the same angle. Whatever.

The view if you stand right under the Eiffel Tower and look up. In case you ever wondered.

The Opera Garnier. Paris Opera House. I don't really know what it's called, but I know that you can't get very far in without paying and the Phantom of the Opera didn't abduct me. Apparently Erik doesn't love me as much as I love him.

Arc de Triomphe. Every time I spell that, I feel like something is wrong, and it makes me uneasy. Well, in English, it's the Arch of Triumph.

The glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre. Slash, the busiest entrance to said museum.

Blurry Cheryl in the really cool Medieval Louvre thing we found under the building. I'll add a few more pictures of it.

Venus de Milo.

Cupid and Psyche.

So, you know Rick Steves? Bespectacled travel writer with terrible music in his TV show? Care to hear the sexual innuendo he included in his guidebook for France? About the Eiffel Tower, he writes: "However impressive it may be by day, it's an awesome thing to see at twilight, when the tower becomes engorged with light and virile Paris lies back and lets night be on top." I was shocked when I read that. I had to reread it to make sure it wasn't just my dirty mind distorting things. Anyway, I guess you can say that about the Eiffel Tower, since it is the king of phallic symbols.

The little door that seems like you wouldn't even see it if you passed it on the street was the entrance to our second Paris hotel. We didn't see it when we passed it on the street.

Okay, now for Italy. We woke up at 4am, took a taxi at 4:45am, took a 5:30am shuttle to the airport for our 8:30am flight to Milan, took a bus from the Milan airport to the central train station, and took a 12pm train to Florence, arriving a little before 3pm. Long day.

Found our hotel (not too difficult to find, because I've stayed at the same one before), and pretty much relaxed the rest of the day. Went out to find food, and ended up eating at the exact same restaurant where I ate my last dinner in Italy three years ago (or however long ago that was). Really cool piazza with lots of statues. There was a group of people with candles who kept shouting because they were protesting something. Maybe if I spoke Italian, I would know what.

Speaking about speaking Italian ("speaking about speaking??"), I had my first extended Italian conversation today with a guy who spoke no English and really wanted to ask me out. It was actually probably one of the highlights of the day. Kind of a funny story too, so here it goes.

Okay, so this is the third time a random guy off the street has tried to ask me out. I think I mentioned the first one in an earlier post. Random British guy on the Tower Bridge who accepted the "Oh, I have a boyfriend" routine. Which was not true. The second one was a random British guy riding a bike around Piccadilly Circus, who was easier to get rid of. He took the "Oh, sorry but I have other plans tonight." Which was true.

At least the first two spoke English. I was actually really surprised that he didn't know any, because most of the people I've talked with in Italy speak English well. This guy was also on a bike (note to BISPers: I would be asked out be a guy on a bike!/note to non-BISPers: Basically, I was the pedestrian in a pedestrian-bike-near-collision and now I have a strange phobia about bikes and I tense up when I hear them coming. But I'm getting better). Anyway, I'm getting to the story, I promise.

So, we had just sat down on a bench in a park, and this was our view. I took this picture and a few others when a guy on a bike rides straight at us and asks what time it was (in Italian, and by signalling to his wrist). So I showed him my watch. He asked if we spoke Italian (he asked in Italian, and I'm going to stop adding that detail. Just remember that every time he spoke, it was in Italian, so be proud of my amazing skills at interpreting what he said because I sure don't speak Italian). So I laughed and said (I had my handy dandy phrasebook with me), "No, io non parlo italiano."

He asked how long we were staying in Italy, so I said one more week, here in Florence (Firenze in Italian, which is a much better name) and in Rome. He said something that included "beautiful," so I was confused and was like, "Io?" Turns out he was asking if I thought Italy was beautiful. So I said yeah. Then he said I was beautiful, too. Grazie...

After that, he was like, "So, stasera (this evening), will you go dancing with me? At a discotheque?" And I was like, so that's where this is going...time for the fake boyfriend routine. Turns out the phrasebook was really unhelpful for turning down dates. I couldn't think of the word for boy in Italian, so I was like, "Umm, in America, ho hombre, umm, homme..." and he looked confused. I was like, "Boyfriend?" Nope. "Okay, in America, ho amico que mi amor. Molto molto amor."

Well, Italian guys don't fall for the fake boyfriend routine. Landi (I think that was his name) was like, "Well, you have a boyfriend in America, but in Italy, you are free." So I was like, "No, in America ho regazzo [I finally found the word for "sweetheart" - stupid phrasebook was really not helpful] and in Italia, ho regazzo!" But he didn't take that.

"Stasera...discotheque?" "No, io non vorrei!" "Perchè?" "Mio regazzo! Molto molto amor!" "In Italia, no regazzo."

Multiply that by like 10.

Eventually, I got really bored with that cycle, so I asked, "Ci sono pescecani?" In other words, "Are there sharks?" So Landi reassured me that there were no sharks at the discotheque but there were in the ocean. Such a helpful guy.

Then he tried to ask what hotel I was staying at. I said, "Non importa" and he feigned being crushed. Or maybe I really crushed his spirit. I can be coldhearted like that.

Eventually, I was like, This is never going to end, so I smiled and said, "È stato un piacere conoscerti. Adesso devo andarmene a casa. (Nice to have met you. I must go home now)." So we said ciao and Cheryl and I got out of there. I looked at my watch and 23 minutes had passed since he asked what time it was. We couldn't stop laughing.

Anyway, third random guy to ask me out. Second time that Cheryl had to sit/stand there and watch. Probably pretty entertaining for her, though.

Quote of the day: "Oh, there's a golden cow. Let's worship it." - Me (Cheryl wasn't too keen on the idea).

Funny random and short story: We were sitting on these steps around the square with the golden cow when a random old lady started singing opera in Italian. Not terribly well, either. Nessun Dorma very painfully off-key.

More chess sets in one spot than I've ever seen in my life. I asked the guy in the store if I could take a picture, and he was like, "Of me or the chess?"

Otter swimming in the Arno River. Who knew there were Italian otters? I'm really glad I looked over the bridge right then.

Anyway, that's all I got. Probably the longest post I've ever written. (Taylor: "Probably.")