Spontaneous "last family vacation" (part 1)

After that long hiatus, it's high time I put up a new post.  Towards the end of June my parents felt that we needed a much deserved "last family vacation". (We've used this phrase quite loosely as everyone seems to make time for another family vacation after the "last" one.) And so began the "spontaneous Italy trip" - as it was booked literally days before we flew out. My sister and I have never been fond of the "massive tour around the country" as we're never able to do what we want, when we want - or even go everywhere we want; and considering my sister had already been to some places in Italy with friends, we figured we could figure it all out ourselves. Lonely Planet: Italy quickly became our new "religious book" (for those of you who find it not PC to use "bible"). So here's a quick summary of this "last family vacation"; and albeit impossible to portray each city with one picture, I shall try:

Airport

I put this to allow some sort of comparison of our complexions throughout the trip; not the most flattering picture, I know.

I'd like to think of us all starting off as closely-related shades of a perfectly toasted piece of bread. You'll see how that changes real soon.

The ultimate maze... with bridges:  Venezia (Venice)
No map will ever help you here (not that I know how to read one), so thank goodness they almost always had signs for two sites: the Rialto and San Marco (maybe more.. who knows, I was always lost).  I'm also pretty sure I crossed more bridges in one hour of walking around than in my entire life. Nonetheless - this was my father's favorite city, and with good reason - its gorgeous.

Yea - that's me in the pink and blue polka-dotted dress, scared of the pigeons as I thought they were flying over me... clearly they are not. In the Palazzo Ducale, Dodges Palace to my left, and Basilica di San Marco behind me.

My fear of the pigeons flying into me were validated as one scraped past my arm... don't laugh - it's all funny until it happens to you.

"Madonna and Child":  Firenze (Florence)
Okay - so I'll take full blame for this one (shocking - I know). I wanted to see both the Academia and the Uffizi - unfortunately I convinced the family it would be great to do them both in the same day; you know, knock it out as a "museum day". NEVER do this; everyone wanted to kill me afterwards. We barely had to wait in line at the Uffizi, and we took a guided tour of the Academia - so no wait there -- but considering none of the four of us are necessarily art enthusiasts, all the "Madonna and Child"'s started to look the same after awhile (no offense intended). My mother was also very vocal in her interpretations of each piece, and goodness gracious did she have a lot to say about the Statue of David. Florence was my sister's favorite - but because of her past trip to Italy, where "no one made her go to art museums". It was definitely a great city, and in my opinion one of the most beautiful - but I think everyone needed a couple days to recover after my "museum fiasco". In my defense, we didn't JUST do the museums - we did everything else touristy as well. My father, mother and I climbed up the Cupola until I remembered I was highly claustrophobic about halfway up (who forgets that?)- so my mother and I came back down.We walked down the Ponte Vecchio, which was the only bridge not ruined during WWII. And of course we went into the Duomo.

Florence, from the Piazzale Michelangelo

While most people will find a slew of other amazing pictures of this city, this is one that is very indicative of my family's trip to Florence:

Krupa: Hey Mom, stand in front of one of the fake Statue of David and imitate him like those other people.
Mom: Okay - I can try but I'll never be anatomically correct.

"Someone has the leaning tower up his ass":  Pisa
This picture really doesn't do the tower justice as to how much it actually leans. It's quite intense. Apparently you aren't supposed to be on the grass... but everyone was - how do you take pictures otherwise? So we all got yelled at by some security guard, to which my sister said under her breath, "someone has the tower up his ass". The phrase seems to have caught on amongst the family.

The usual "I'm holding up the leaning tower!!" picture. 

"Wine.":  Chianti
From Florence we went to a vineyeard and wine-tasting in Chianti and drank... wine. I asked the guide why Chianti wines have more tyramine than other wines; I don't think he understood me, because he printed me off a list of all the tannins in the wine. I guess I should google it. There always seems to be a day on our family trips where everyone drinks a bit more than.. necessary (if you will), this was definitely the night.

About 3 glasses in?

"I have a G on my ass":  Roma (Rome)

Rome was my favorite city - no pictures or words can fully explain this city, although Elizabeth Gilbert comes close. The Colosseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Vittoriano, Piazzale Navona, and Roman Forum amongst others are an enthusiast's (of ancient history) heaven. Living steps away from the Trevi Fountain was definitely an added bonus. They were still cleaning the fountain and collecting money from the previous day (they say around 300 euros/day!!), so I ended up being the first coin-toss of the day! It is said that tossing a coin in the fountain foretells a return to Rome - I don't mind, I'm definitely a fan.

The Pantheon has a hole at the top of the dome (oculus) where rain can enter, so they created holes in the marble floor to allow for drainage. I spent a good amount of time looking for the holes then made the family pose for a picture like this. The parents must have thought this was some tradition or something because every time we found a new hole, they posed.

The first day we were in Rome and walking around I sat down by the fountain in front of the Pantheon (I feel as if for every bridge there is in Venice, there's a fountain in Rome). Unfortunately I must have sat on some writing or something, because the entire day I walked around with a "G" on my shorts.

In case you can't tell what that is...

weird.

Okay I'm tired. To be continued...


shark FIN.