I was supposed to meet a friend in Vienna, but he was unable to make it so I went solo. I had such a good time and am so glad I did it! I say the Hapsburg Palace a bunch of gardens, museums and churches. I found a really amazing museum there that had a huge collection of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian art from antiquity. I spent hours wandering through there and I could because there was no one with me to speed me up. I loved it. I also went to the palace museum and treasury. My favorite part about museums in Europe is that for the most part, as long as you turn your flash off you can take pictures of anything! I uploaded Vienna pictures to http://picasaweb.google.com/mollz1407 so Czech them out. It was really interesting because they had a huge collection of old dinnerware and because at on point the Czech lands were under the rule of the Austria Hungarian Empire, there were a bunch of pieces from Prague and the Czech Republic! In the Treasury they had royal robes with the two tailed Czech lion too. My favorite thing I found while wondering one night. I came across a church with evergreen window boxes and the advent countdown in the windows. It had a park in front where they were setting up a Christmas market and a giant decorated tree. I could see it from quite a distance and just gravitated towards its gorgeousness.
Last weekend I went to Rome! My friend, Emily, from Susquehanna is studying there and showed me around. I am so glad she was there and I got to go! I had a long weekend so I went from Thursday to Monday. We saw so much! Thursday night we went to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps at night. They were way less crowded then during the day and so beautiful all lit up!
Friday we went to some open air markets and saw the Pantheon and the basilica at the Vatican. That was very interesting, especially the stairs that are guarded so only the Pope can use them and the crypts where the popes are buried. While wondering
around we got caught up in a protest. Apparently in Rome the government decided to cut school funding drastically, and that is what the protest was about. What baffles me is that the police are dressed in uniforms designed by Versace and the busses are Mercedes-Bens, but I didn’t get involved in the protest because Emily said that the last one involved pepper spray and tear gas. That night we bought a bottle of a special seasonal Italian wine and went to the Pyramid and the Coliseum! It was too late to go inside, but it was lit all gold and was just so magnificent!
Saturday, Emily and I took a train to Pisa! We climbed the tower and took the silly picture holding it up and did some of the museums. It was a fun day!
Sunday we went to an open air flea market. It was huge and I bought some Christmas presents! In the afternoon we back to the Coliseum and got to check out the inside! It was giant and magnificent! Emily was telling me that when they built it they put in metal reinforcement rods, but during one of the wars there was a shortage of materials to build weapons so they drilled into the stone and took the rods. That is why there are holes in it and that is why part of it crumbled with the earthquake. We crossed the street and went to Palatine Hill which is where the Emperors built their houses. It is just a bunch of ruins now, but you can just imagine how magnificent it was then all covered in marble. After that we went to the Triton Fountain and a gallery.
Monday I headed back to Prague, but before that we went to the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel! I have read and seen pictures about these places, but to actually be there and see them in real life is phenomenal! And as always over the course of the trip I had some delicious food. We made gnocchi with pesto and sausage, spinach lasagna with the tastiest sausage! We also eat pizza, paninis, Italian cookies and gelato! I loved Rome!
This weekend I am laying low in Prague, preparing for mom and Annmarie’s arrival! The Christmas market went up at my metro/tram stop and it is beautiful! It is so lovely to come home after a long day of classes and see the tree lit up and all the little vendors. I will put up a picture next time, but I want mom and Annmarie to see it in person first!
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