Prossima Fermata: Italia

I remember how I got so excited planning my itinerary in Italy to the extent that I forgot about my research papers. (You know how it works, you open one tab, then another, until you have 50 tabs open and your computer crashes and all the promising leads for your research paper just went poof, and then they're all gone).

But, when I landed in Milan, my excitement was dwindling. Exhaustion took over. The night before I slept in Porto's airport. And sleeping in airports is never fun, especially when you're alone. And the sad thing is, I didn't actually have to. I was being careless and I misread my boarding pass such that I arrived (1 a.m.) way too early for my flight to Milan (9 a.m.) - yes, 8 hours early and I could not go back to my hostel anymore. To make things worse, my flight was delayed for another 2.5 hours. I just really wanted to punch myself in the face then. As a first-time solo backpacker, I made so many blunders and bloopers in every country that I visited. I'm sorry I just had to whine about it. I feel much better now, thank you.

Anyway, Italy was all worth it. I wish I could've spent more than four days there. There was so much more that I wanted to visit in Italy but given scarce resources, I only got to visit Milano, Firenze, Napoli, and Roma.

 

My friends had told me that there was nothing to see or do in Milan. I planned on following their advice but since I missed the earliest train to Firenze, I had 2 hours to walk around and see the Duomo di Milano. Unsurprisingly, as I was exploring the area, there was always a fellow Filipino within a 50-meter radius.

In Milan, even the malls and not just the churches exhibit grand architecture.

 

I was waiting for my platform number to appear on the screen. It usually turns up 15-30 mins before departure but less than 5 mins was left and I still could not see it. I almost missed my train because it turns out I was looking at the wrong column. What happened next was the sprint of a lifetime.

I arrived at my hostel in Firenze at about half past 10 p.m. I was starving and tired. They say Firenze is really awesome at night but I did not bother wandering anymore. Good thing a nearby restaurant was still open. That night, I devoured a huge plate of pasta and drank red wine.

This is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.

 

These are the bronze doors of the Battistero (baptistry) of San Giovanni. I was wondering why people were so crowded at this area. Apparently, the Baptistry is famous for its doors with its sculptures. Michelangelo called these doors the "the Gates of Paradise".

At the Piazza del Duomo, I envied how kids just... go for it, you know, without hesitation.

 

By the River Arno, I sat down and.. almost had a heatstroke.

 

Buongiorno, signore! I'm sorry for sneaking behind you just like that. Nice bridge, by the way.

 

I've never seen anything like this before. At first I thought it was a cycling competition for physically handicapped people. But apparently they weren't and this is what they call "low rider recumbent cycling."

Okay, let's talk museums. I was walking around what is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance famous for its painters and inventors like who else but Leonardo Da Vinci. I couldn't go to all of them so I decided to choose one. And I chose this because Galileo is my favorite scientist.

Galileo was excommunicated and died as an outcast because he was able to prove that the earth moves within a heliocentric system which was contrary to the Church's teachings. It took a hundred years or more before the Church finally believed his discovery. God bless the outcasts. (Anyway, that huge model of the universe is actually the Ptolemaic geocentric system that Galileo rejected.)

Maybe with the help of youtube, I can build my own telescope.

Apart from the telescopes and globes, there were other collections of medical tools and apparatuses. I snapped a photo of this one just because I found it amusing.

It's a weighing scale.

Then, I had to say goodbye to Firenze and move on to Napoli.

To be honest, I really didn't know what to do in Napoli. I chose to book a hostel in Napoli for the silly reason that I might as well have a glimpse of the Mediterranean sea while I was in Italy. Anyway, when I arrived, the hostel gave me a brochure of what to do in Naples and I could not believe it when I read that I was just 30 mins away from the Pompeii site.

 

What's really amazing with the Pompeii site is that it's like a humongous open-air museum and tourists can touch these relics at the Necropoli which survived the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius's eruption about 2000 years ago.

Speaking of the devil, hello Mt. Vesuvius! (at the Tempio di Giove)

Walking for 6 hours around the site under the glaring sun without sunblock is the perfect recipe for skin cancer (knock on wood). So I was so happy to see trees in this part of the site as I was searching for the Anfiteatro.

I like to keep my distance. And since Pompeii is a huge site, there were ways to avoid other tourists. I would be walking aimlessly and my innate ADHD tendencies would lead the way (at Via del Vesuvio).

At the Quadriportico dei Teatri.

I was wondering why there were tiny vineyards within the walls of Pompeii. Perhaps to supplement government income from tourism revenues? I don't know. Look at those earthen jars. What would a person with OCD do?

 

I was really enjoying my solitary walk around the Necropoli. An hour would pass and I would not see another tourist. Felt like Pompeii was my secret garden.

That's Porta Nocera, by the way.

 

At the Teatro Grande of Pompeii. Obviously, it has been reconstructed.

At the Temple of Apollo.

 

More earthenware and an unfinished scuplture of a man locked away from tourists.

The Basilica at Pompeii.

Goodbye, Pompeii. Thank you, not for the sunburn, but for the moments of solitude and a glimpse of what was once a magnificent and wealthy city 

during the ancient Roman civilization.

Rome was just an hour and half away from Naples via TrenItalia's high speed trains which were running at 300kph. When I arrived at the Vatican, I realized that it was Pentecost Sunday, which explained the seats outside St. Peter's Basilica and that platform where the Pope was seated.

 

Seeing this statue reminded me of several jokes that Filipinos make involving St. Peter. I especially like the Bisaya versions, of course.

 

At St. Peter's Square, I began counting how many statues were perched on the Apostolic Palace, when my ADHD kicked in.

 

The Arch of Constantine near the Palatine Hill.

The Colosseum at night.

 

The Pantheon was originally built for the purpose of worshipping the ancient Roman gods.

 

But now, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church.

This is the site of the famous Trevi Fountain. No, I did not make a wish. That's probably why it did not stop raining until after five hours.

 

I decided to go to the Vatican Museum and endure the incredibly big crowd. Later on, I was twisting my neck to see Michaelangelo's paintings at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. No cameras were allowed inside that part of the museum.

 

I kept seeing this image of a staircase inside the Vatican Museum while researching about attractions in Rome. I couldn't actually find it so I had to ask one of the personnel. He didn't understand me until I said, "You have a beautiful spiral staircase somewhere, right?"

 

Ciao, Vatican Museum!

 

Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II. At this point, I was debating with myself whether I should go to the Villa Borghese or not. My heart said yes, but my feet said no.

 

Ruins of the House of Augustus at the Palatine Hill. Okay, I have to admit that on my last day in Italy, I think I have had enough of ruins. I think the lesson learned there is to not visit ruins sites for three consecutive days.

NEXT STOP: Belgium