Life is a combination of magic and pasta.
--Federico Fellini
In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias
they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed
but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance.
In Switzerland, they had brotherly love;
they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce?
The cuckoo clock.
– Orson Welles
If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice.
-- Madonna Ciccione
Friends, like wine, get better with age.
-- anonymous
I grew up in a really small town in South Mississippi (less than 1500 people), where I had a few excellent teachers who inspired me in ways they will never know.
One of them was my seventh grade science teacher, Mrs. Ruth Lambert. Mrs. Lambert was teaching us about gravity and worked into her lesson that Galileo had not only dropped two spheres from the top of the Tower of Pisa, but hundreds of years later, she had visited that very spot.
She then went on to talk about her other travels in Italy, including seeing people eternally petrified at the site of the Pompeii volcano.
I was fascinated. And I was hooked.
Mrs. Lambert's excitement over climbing the steps of the Tower of Pisa---the very tower where Galileo supposedly did his experiment---made history come alive for me. And she wasn't even a history teacher!
Ever since sitting in that 7th grade science class, Italy has been a goal. But when we would plan vacations in the past, it was either too expensive or logistics---travel time, language barrier---made it seem like it was out of reach.
What did happen was we moved to Spain, where we can get tickets for less than $300 round trip to many European countries. And then I had two friends from Cuba who messaged me that they would be traveling on a cruise in the Mediterranean and would be in Italy for a week, if I wanted to come visit them.
With that news, almost 40 years after Mrs. Lambert's stories of Italy, I booked flights, and for a week I found myself enjoying Italy AND the company of friends I haven't seen in two long years.
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The first time I ever flew I was 15 years old for a high school Spanish trip to Mexico for a week. My second flight was to the Bahamas; my third to Mexico, as a study-abroad college student; my fourth, to Honduras for our honeymoon.
We have moved around and lived outside of the U.S. for almost 7 years now, but with all of this travel, I still don't consider myself as any type of authority as a world traveler. I look in awe at colleagues and friends who, like me, grew up in tiny towns and still seemingly navigate the world flawlessly. To me, part of being a world traveler is this sort of experience: itineraries, solid plans, a small knowledge of language and culture, and a desire to know more. I still find myself making lots of mistakes along the way-- and kicking myself several times afterwards--but sometimes those mistakes end up being an adventure in themselves.
I flew to Venice and took a bus from Marco Polo airport to a water taxi stand, where I then took a short trip to our meeting point, a cafe next to the Rialto bridge. Never mind that I got on the wrong bus the first time. . . I finally made it, albeit an hour or so later than I wanted.
More than once I found myself second and third guessing myself, misreading bus schedules. I downloaded Google maps offline---brilliant idea, except I downloaded the driving version, not walking, which doesn't help pedestrian travelers.
I also found myself more than once without cash on hand, usually in the middle of an amazing street market where I found a good deal (and no ATM around). I'm still kicking myself over a missed opportunity to buy a painting I loved. I also am kicking myself that I didn't haggle more with vendors of items I did buy--I'm sure I got ripped off more than once.
And you should probably check to see what days museums are closed in the city you are visiting---in our case, Mondays are NOT a good day to visit Florence.
I am mostly kicking myself for not reading the travel guide that came in the mail a few weeks before the trip. I started reading and marking it and was so, well, overwhelmed, I didn't even pull it out until half way through our travels.
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I'm throwing all this out here to point out that travel is not without its pitfalls. I have learned to be more loosey-goosey with an itinerary because with less expectations come less disappointment.
And this is when travel gives me my greatest joys---those sudden, unplanned moments.
If any of you are old enough to remember Madonna's "Like a Virgin" video---my trip around Venice in a boat wasn't that exciting. However, the water taxi was a first for me---the entire time, I kept pinching myself and thinking, I am really here! I am in Venice!
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| how I visited the canals, 2019 |
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| how Madonna visited the canals, 1984 |
Venice's St. Mark's square, with its beautiful buildings (and hundreds of pigeons) was better in person than I could have imagined.
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the English teacher in me had to check out the thousands of letters to Juliet (Guilietta) |
There were little moments---like a little boy snuggling up to one of our group while waiting for a train. Never mind he didn't speak English---I guess he could sense a teacher and mom and knew he found a kind soul to quite literally lean on.
Florence by double-decker bus was even better than by taxi or public transportation--with its various views of the Duomo, the hillside overlooking the entire city, the gorgeous bridges, meandering streets full of shops, and my favorite, the street market with silk scarves, leather bags, ceramic trinkets, and other reasonably priced mementos.
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| the Duomo/Gothic cathedral completed in the early 1400s |
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| view of Florence from above the city |
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| Orpheus and Cerberus (3 headed dog) in the Medici Palace |
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| street market! |
Then there was Rome. We took the subway into the city and popped out right at the Coliseum. I know for a fact that I looked quite ridiculous, neck craned, mouth agape, taking it in.
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| outside the Coliseum |
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| inside the Pantheon--oculus is directly above |
Being an American where "old" is historic Williamsburg, the relics of the ancient Romans still blow my mind. It doesn't matter where I see them (including in southern Spain), I can't get over how old and well preserved everything is.
We saw the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain. We made a day trip to the Vatican and the Sistine chapel and I can say I've seen it (and sort of like the Louvre, been there, done that, and I don't really want to come back). I found the ostentatious show of wealth in a church coupled with the surging crowds in the unbearable heat (and the screaming of guards throughout the Chapel) to ruin what I had built up as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Vatican pics: Topography (map) room; stairwell; part of the Egyptian collection, which happens to look just like our podenco dog; Raphael's last painting, Transfiguration; Cupid & Eros
Again, going in with few expectations is sometimes better than reading up and going in with über-expectations of a glorious, life-altering experience.
What I didn't expect was to see the city again by night, which I would recommend to anyone. Touring the sites for a second time, this time around during dusk or lit up in the evening, made each location even more meaningful.
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| Coliseum, again |
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| Pantheon at dusk |
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| We came upon a bridal photo shoot at sundown |
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I should also mention that Italian and Spanish are like siblings or cousins. They look a lot alike, but sound different. Between years of studying/speaking Spanish and many years of teaching Latin roots, I found it easy to communicate. I sometimes spoke Spanish and got an Italian response, and everyone understood each other. I could figure out street signs and menus, and Italians, for the most part, are also proficient or fluent in English. Even if you don't speak Italian, don't ever let a language barrier prevent you from traveling to Italy. We got along just fine speaking a multi-language gibberish, with some pointing and gesturing thrown in for good measure.
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I left with a greatest love of the Three Ps (pizza, pasta, Prosecco) and wonderful memories of friends who make it easy to pick up where we left off, and met a new friend in the process, as well.
We could have sat in the airport terminal for a week and my heart would have been happy. These ladies were my colleagues/neighbors who became my surrogate family for five years in Cuba--a place that tends to chew up and spit teachers out in two years or less--and even though we talk online, there is nothing like a good sit-down conversation with a glass (okay, a bottle) of wine (or two).
And though I missed two other Ps (Pompeii and Pisa), I know Mrs. Lambert would be proud that she inspired me so many years ago to travel and see the world. She is sadly no longer alive for me to tell her, but I hope my stories of Italy---and the stories of my travel mates Michelle, Karin, and Karla, who are all also teachers---will somehow inspire a kid somewhere to get out of his or her comfort zone and see the world.
I'm already thinking ahead of future trips to Italy--and this time, I may actually read my guide book ahead of time.
Although I have to say---I think we had a brilliant time just hanging out, catching up, and finding our own way through the beautiful country of Italy.
Wow!
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