#springbreakadventure

Three months from now, it would be a year since I came back from my exchange student program in France. Schedule has been crazy that I am still up for four blog posts out of my planned ten. These are the links of the previous six: # 10 Life in Couffon Pavot # 9   ESSCAn for a semester # 8   The International Students Community # 7   The never-been-heard-of city west of France - Angers # 6   The Ultimate French Food Porn # 5   Of Paella & Sangria & Sagrada: Hola Barcelona!

Coming from a four day stay in Barcelona, we then flew to Milan to carry on with our Spring Break adventure. The 8:55am Easyjet flight just cost us 19.71 euros. What a steal!!! I have so much to document about our 6 days in Italy, but first, a run down of our itinerary: First stop for us in Italy was Milan. We met up with Germee as soon as we got there. She helped us with our itinerary, even to recommending which hotel we should stay at. The owner of Hotel 22 Marzo was very accommodating, he prepared for us personalized drinks. Mine said, "La Vita E Bella :)," which means LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. Indeed. :)   Our schedule in Milan was very tight. As soon as we finished checking in, we rushed to Pizzeria Napoletana La Taverna for lunch. Each of us had a whole pizza to our own because the waiters don't expect us to share. So how did an authentic Italian pizza taste like? The freshly baked crust, use of less salt, and the taste of fresh ingredients made the difference. Yummy!    After a late lunch, we headed to Duomo Di Milano. The gothic church looks like it's made of one huge solid marble. Because of its beauty, we can't get enough of selfies and groupfies. :) Situated within the Piazza Del Duomo, there's also a monument of Vittorio Emmanuel II, the first king of a united Italy.        The same king was the one the posh shopping stretch is named after - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Here, we saw displays of LV's, Prada's, and more! Leila bought a pair of sunglasses for herself, but nada for the rest of us. Hehe! In the middle of the place was a mosaic art of a bull, where we spun our heels on its balls for good luck.    After the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Ron, Mich, and I, went ahead to see the original The Last Supper fresco painting of Da Vinci. The rest of us were not able to get tickets so it was just us three. The mural painting is inside the Santa Maria delle Grazie, where we also saw the Bramante Sacristy. The sacristy housed a collection of Da Vinci sketches at that time. As for The Last Supper, we were just allowed to see it for 15 minutes, with only 25 tourists at a time. Seeing it gave this surreal feeling, as this image is so iconic! Unfortunate for my faith, it also reminded me of the Da Vinci Code book. After seeing The Last Supper, we made a quick stop at a nearby chapel I don't know how called, before we met up with the rest of the group. We had dinner at Spritz Navigli, situated beside a small river. It was not meant for dinner actually, as it was supposed to be an "aperitivo." 15 euros each got us a drink, and a buffet of relatively lighter food or pica-pica. There we met Jenny, Germee's friend. We had fun particularly with teasing Pirkko and Jenny! Hahaha! Because of an early train ride to Pisa the next day, some of us called the night earlier than others.     I will not forget how small cars are in Milan, and how they manage to park really close to another car. The tram system of transportation looks webbed and complex, yet it amazingly manages to move around the city together with Vespas and cars. There are a lot of Filipinos too. One time before riding the tram, we were offered palabok, siomai and casava in Tagalog. Hahaha! Had we not been in a hurry to catch our Last Supper sched, we could have bought Filipino food we so miss at that time!    We woke up really early the next day to catch our 6am train to Pisa. We missed our breakfast buffet so the hotel made us packed meals which we ate in the train.    We arrived in Pisa around 11am. We deposited our bags at the train station before a few kilometers walk to our chosen restaurant, Il Montino. We had to wait til it opened for lunch. Besides the foccacia pizza, they serve traditional foccacina, a hot freshly prepared foccacia sandwich. Yummeeeh!         A few more kilometers of walking and we got to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, our reason for the stopover. I would not consider myself to have been in Europe without a picture with this very popular landmark. The piazza offers more than the leaning tower. There's the beautiful Pisa Cathedral, the Camposanto (cemetery) where there are huge mural paintings and sarcophagi, and the Baptistry, a round building in front of the cathedral.            Around 4pm, we went back to the Pisa Centrale train station to catch our train to Rome. We got to Rome around 8pm, and walked straight to our planned overnight stay at Hotel Romae, which is just near the train station. The Filipina receptionist was very friendly and the white theme of our hotel rooms made it very enticing to hit the sacks immediately. We were so tired we just had dinner at a nearby restaurant.    We started the next morning with a hearty breakfast at The Yellow, in front of the hotel. We left our bags at the hotel and went to our first Rome destination, the Colosseo. It is an ancient amphitheater that housed public events during the old times. The lines were long to get in, but they were worth it. Outside the Colosseo were people dressed in gladiator costumes you could take pictures with, and sellers of rosaries and souvenirs. I was even tricked to buy some souvenirs coz the man said he sells them cheaper, and he speaks tagalog! "Mura!" Hahaha! After touring the colosseo, we took a break and had gelato from the streets. The next stop was the Monte Palatino where we saw archaeological sites of the ancient cities of Rome.                Last stop for the day was the Trevi Fountain where we all threw coins, made wishes, and took lots of pictures.     We then had dinner at a nearby pizza and pasta place, before heading to our rented apartment called St. Peter Inn. The apartment building had a small elevator that can fit two people. The unit was spacious though and had a nice kitchen.     Day 2 in Rome was kicked off by a home-cooked breakfast and a leisure walk to the Roman Forums and Altare della Patria, another monument of Vittorio Emanuele II. During the walk, we saw the non-edible orange trees and the smallest cars we ever saw. Tin was not able to join us to the Altare because she met up with Father Allan, whom we met the next day at the Vatican. Tired and hungry, we got lost on our way to the Vatican that Pirkko and I shouted at each other. Haha! I remember him walking out to fetch Tin while the rest of us had lunch at a restaurant near the Vatican walls. After lunch, we scored some souvenirs from the shops around the Vatican walls. Most salesladies are Filipinos from Batangas. Bet these are the people with huge Itialian-inspired houses I see in Bauan and nearby towns. Hehe             After lunch, we regrouped at the St. Peter Square where we fell in line to get into the St Peter Basilica. The moment I got in, I was already holding back my tears. I felt so blessed to see the majesty of the largest church in the world, the burial site of its namesake, and the rock onto He built His church. I felt God in my heart as I walked pass the basilica door. I needed to go into a chapel to cry, calm myself, and allow the surreal moment to sink in. I saw the original La Pieta of Michaelangelo and the dome with the inscription: TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM. TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. ... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven... Vulgate, Matthew 16:18–19. Underneath the Basilica, is the crypt where we saw the mosaic image of San Pedro Calungsod, St. John Paul II's tomb(?), and exhibitions of Popes and Saints. Father Allan, my fellow Sebastino, then took us to his school across the basilica where we had a good view of the whole St Peter Square, the Vatican, and some of Rome.                 After lots of pictures, it's time for the most popular gelato in town, Old Bridge! We didn't have the most apt weather for a gelato, but who cares, we had servings and servings of this authentic Italian ice cream! After ice cream, we had some crepes and sandwich at a diner beside old bridge.       For our last day in Rome, we allocated all day to seeing the Vatican Museum, coz according to Tin, half a day is not enough. The museum overflows with precious religious art. One can easily feel the fanaticism the artists have for their beliefs. Each masterpiece is an expression of passion, love, and faith. Highlight of the walking tour are the Raphael rooms where we saw the murals of the famous painter, and the Sistine Chapel where there are frescoes of Michaelangelo and Botticelli, among others.           At around 4pm, we left the Vatican museum to fetch our bags and see the Spanish steps before we leave for the Ciampino airport. Unfortunately, the fountain was under renovation, we had to do with the steps alone. A few minutes of peechur-peechur and we went ahead to spend a night at the airport.   I will definitely go back to Italy to see Florence and Venice, and bring my family to see Pisa, Milan, Rome, and The Vatican too! The Italian people are very warm and their pasta, pizza, and gelato are yummy!!! Months after seeing this country, I can still feel in my heart how I felt blessed to experience such close encounter of a country so rich of faith and artistry. <3