eurotripping: rome, pisa, florence, toulon.

ROME/VATICAN CITY

Buckets of rain were getting dumped on us during our visit to Rome and of course, we weren’t prepared once again. So, we bought a cheap and tiny umbrella for my mom and me, and my dad got himself a rain poncho. Because of the rain, I ended up looking at the ground more than at my surroundings, and I may have been complaining a ton. Had the weather been better, I think I would have enjoyed Rome a lot more.

However, I finally got to see the Trevi fountain and I threw a coin in (it took me two tries). We walked through the Roman Forum in the rain and frankly, I wasn’t not paying any attention. Our visit to the Colosseum was neat and because we were part of an excursion, we got to skip the super long lineup to get in. I was really surprised to see Michelangelo Pistoletto’s “Venus of the Rags” work, which I had seen before at the Tate Modern, on display in a nearby building.

Our final stop of the day was at Vatican City, where we visited St. Peter’s Square and one of the world’s largest churches, St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s extremely ornate and beautiful inside, but the weirdest thing is that they have embalmed popes on display inside. Like you can actually see these dead popes. Ick.

PISA/FLORENCE

Well, I can finally say that I’ve seen the Leaning Tower in person and I don’t mean from a plane. And yes, I totally got a cheesy shot of me looking as if I’m supporting the tower. After that, my parents and I took the train to Florence to do some more exploring. Because I was in Florence last summer, it was still very fresh in my mind so I could remember which way to go and to show my parents around.

TOULON

Finally, a city where I can speak and understand the language! Toulon is quite small so we basically walked everywhere in the city centre. There really wasn’t anything to see here but it was still a nice city.

Next up: Barcelona!