Long time no writing everyone! Life has been a bit crazy the last few months for me and Kara. This spring marked the last semester of my undergraduate degree at Weber State and, in classic Chris fashion, I had registered for an online Immunology class that I had no intention of keeping up with. The last few weeks of the semester were, due to no one's fault but my own, very stressful as I tried to scrape together the 13 tests that were supposed to be taken throughout the semester into just a couple short weeks. Kara was also busy trying to put together training and information at work to pass onto the new admin. assistant when she quit working in the end of April. She was anxiously looking forward to a much deserved break after putting me through my last 3 years of school. Since quitting she has filled her time with family and friends, but mostly Olivia.
It was February when we found out that we would be starting medical school in the fall at Penn State. We
were excited to tell the family the good news and have been grateful for everyone's help and advice as we prepare to embark on this new journey and move out to the east coast. We decided that we should celebrate this accomplishment with a kickoff vacation to see Kara's parents over in Italy. We figured it would be our last large vacation for the next four years and with her parents there we would have good company and a roof over our heads we didn't have to pay for, making the trip much more affordable.
Planning the trip was difficult since we both wanted to get back to the Czech Republic to visit our mission, and at least one-hundred other things in Europe. We quickly started whittling down the itinerary until we had two trips: both started in Italy but one included the Czech Republic and the other included France. We decided to save the Czech Republic for another trip since we wanted more time there than we had, and also because we knew we could get ourselves to go back in the future if we saved that for later. This trip would also allow both of us something we hadn't seen before. I would be able to see Italy (Kara had already been) and she got to see France (something I had also already done).
We decided to leave Liv home with family to make traveling easier and allow us more flexibility in our scheduling. This was hard since Kara's parents haven't seen her in a while, and because we knew we would miss her; but we knew we were leaving her in good hands, and little did we know she would enjoy it so much. What can we say, the little girl loves cousins.
We arrived in Rome early that first morning and dropped our luggage off at the hotel. Kara had booked most of our hotels; all of which were amazing (except the one I booked in Paris). The hotel in Rome was right on the Trevi Fountain, and for breakfast in the mornings we ate on the roof which overlooked the fountain. It was amazing. After we dropped off our luggage we jumped right into sightseeing. We caught the metro to the Colosseum excited to see this historic site and make our way through the old Roman Forum. When we arrived at the Colosseum it was packed, as one would expect, but we realized that everyone was outside the Colosseum. As we made our way towards the entrance we found a giant metal gate blocking our way, on the gate hung a sign alerting us that it was Labor Day in Italy, and all the sites were closed. Kara lamented that we had booked the absolute worst time for a vacation, while I laughed off the bad luck.
The Colosseum was still amazing, whether or not I saw the inside. The Roman Forum was also incredible, although also closed. We took pictures and admired what we could see and just enjoyed the fact that we were there to see what we had. The entire time in Rome as we saw the sites and enjoyed the city we kept returning to the fact that it is incredible that we were seeing things that were built thousands of years ago. So much of the architecture and monuments were built back
around the time Christ walked the Earth, and some even before then. I couldn't believe that these things were still standing, and that I was seeing them. Rome is truly an ancient and amazing city. Needless to say our two days there did the city no justice, but I did get to see a lot.
After the Roman Forum we made our way to the Piazza Navona. This was Kara's favorite place in Rome the first time she visited and it did not disappoint the second time around. It was just a town square with some fountains and street vendors, but compared to the rest of Rome it was pretty quite and peaceful. We spent some time relaxing here before heading off to the Pantheon. Because the Pantheon is not a paid attraction it was open to the public and we walked right in. The inside was beautiful. The concrete dome was mesmerizing and it was incredible to see the perfection of the architecture in a building built in 100 A.D. The Pantheon has a chequered history and has been used as a temple for centuries albeit for a few different religions. Inside is still a small catholic alter and pews set up on one side. By this time of the day our adventures were catching up to us and we were getting pretty worn out. We sat down on one of the pews to take in the Pantheon and were overcome with the beauty of o
ur surroundings. :) When we came to about 25 minutes later we felt refreshed and decided to continue our journeys. We walked up to the Piazza di Popolo and again found a place to sit. It had been an exhausting day and jet lag was catching up to us. I fell asleep right there on the steps of the Piazza for another 30 minutes. When I woke up Kara suggested we go back to the hotel and rest a bit. After a quick nap we made our way out the front door to the Trevi Fountain and then to the Spanish steps in the evening. It had been a full day, and we were ready to sleep by the time it was over. Because the Colosseum and Roman Forum were closed we were able to see a lot more than we had anticipated, which was good because that meant the next day we could just take things easy.
The next day we paid for a tour of the Vatican which was incredibly enjoyable. It was so extravagant and beautiful. The art and decorations inside were amazing. It is something difficult to describe, you just need to see it. This is a sentiment I would repeat multiple times throughout Italy. It is unlike any other country I have been in. The beauty is vast and overwhelming. For the first few days I tried to photograph the beauty that we were seeing, but after a while I just gave up trying because after every photo I would just lament over the horrible injustice my camera was doing as compared to my eyes. Vatican City is amazing, but it was sad to learn of the history behind how the catholic church gained all of the fine art decorations it has. It seemed that everything was either taken, or the sculptures and artists were blackmailed. It was incredible to see everything, but it made me sad to think about the lives that were taken or ruined to obtain them. In the end the Vatican was probably the highlight for me in Rome. The tour was well worth the money just to avoid the huge lines, but also because we actually learned a lot about the sites we were seeing. We had brought some tour books with us, but I prefer the guides. After the Vatican we revisited some of the sites from the first day, bought a lot of gelato, and made our way to the train station.
We had a scare on the way to the train station because the metro line to take us to the station closed unexpectedly. Luckily our hotel wasn't too far away and we left early enough that we just hoofed it with our luggage to the station, which was on top of the only hill in Rome, of course.
The next few days we spent with the Lees, who were kind enough to take a few days reprieve from the mission and show us around Tuscany. We saw half a dozen little hill towns around Sienna over the next three days, and they were all incredibly gorgeous, just as you would expect. They were surrounded with towering walls and vast seas of vineyards and olive groves. The air in the country actually smelled like olive oil. The towns were all steep cobblestone streets and had a central cathedral. Each was beautiful in its own way. It was everything that I had thought it would be, kids playing ball in the streets, narrow alleyways, clotheslines strung between buildings flying the personal undergarment flags of the household.
After spending some relaxing days exploring the countryside and catching up on some sleep in the back of the car we ventured up to Florence. Florence was beautiful! The city is very classically italian. We saw the Duomo in town, and walked through the Pitti Palace. We walked across Ponte Vecchio, this is a famous bridge that they built little shops along the side of. It looks so unnatural because the shops just float in the air on the side of the bridge, but it was really pretty. The bridge is famous for selling high class goods and almost every shop sells really expensive jewelry so we didn't buy anything. This is the area of the mission that Darryl served in and so he was pulling up old pictures of himself on the mission. It was interesting to see how historical landmarks had changed. Everything in Italy now a days is considered antique and is guarded well. Everything is roped off, or in cryogenically sealed containers and whatnot. But Darryl has pictures of him swinging on the bells on top of the Tower of Pisa, and touching the Gates to Paradise. It was fun to see him revisit these sites.
After a day in Florence we made our way out to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa is home of the famous leaning tower, and nothing else really. The leaning tower was cool, but Kara got sick because it was so tilted. Lucca is just a town about the size of Pisa and about a half hour away. It is the only town in Italy that still has its outer wall completely in contact. We ate a picnic outside the city walls on the grass for lunch. Afterwards we went into the city (all cars still must enter through the main entrance which still houses the drawbridge equipment) and walked through the city a little bit. One of the most memorable things we did was rent some bikes and rode along the path which runs along the top of the city wall. Riding around the entire city wall took us about 25 minutes, but it was incredibly beautiful.
That night we drove up to a little apartment that Darryl and Bonnie had rented for us in Cinque Terre. We stayed in the middle city, Corniglia, which is the only city not on the water, but it was the most beautiful of the five we thought, and so picturesque as it hung off the cliff. These little cities are incredibly small, we usually could see the entire town in about 10 or 15 minutes and although picturesque, they are still dominated by locals. It was fun to be immersed in Italian culture and to get the feel of living in a little town like this. It reminded us of the town from the movie Mamma Mia. The apartment we had rented was down some steep stairs on a cliff, so our view was spectacula
r. We hiked between a few of the towns, played on the beaches, and got some beautiful pictures.
At this point we had spent 7 days with the Lees and they were anxious to get rid of us and get back to their mission work. They dropped us off in Genoa where we caught a train to Venice. Venice was my favorite part of our trip. We got in late at night but caught a water bus down to the main town square. Venice at night was gorgeous. All the city was lit up with lamps that reflected off of the water. We stopped by a cafe on the main square and listened to one of the MANY quintets they had playing. We ordered a couple of hot chocolates and enjoyed the music for half an hour before trying to make our way back accross town. One suggestion, if you ever find yourself in Venice don't opt to walk the town at night. Ride to the town square, and ride back. Walking around empty, dark, wet back alleys was a little scary, and something we regretted when we finally found our hotel again. All-in-all Venice was amazing, beautiful, and charming. I had high expectations coming into Venice, and found them completely fulfilled.
We spent most of the next day exploring the city by daylight, and taking pictures. That night we had a new adventure for the both of us. We caught a night train to Paris. We were in a compartment with two other men who were both very nice. They let us switch beds around so we could sleep across from one another, and even let me sleep on the larger bottom bed. I slept like a rock, Kara woke up a few times,
but overall we both slept much better than either of us thought we would.
When we got into Paris the next morning we dropped our bags off at the hotel and started exploring the city. We started at the Rodin Museum. This was Kara's favorite part of the day. The morning streets were nearly empty and it seemed we had Paris to ourselves. Rodin's art is placed inside an old hotel and the surrounding gardens. It was beautiful to see great works of art surrounded by nature's beauty. Next, we went straight to the Orsay Museum which is known for it's broad collection of impressionist art. We finished the day by exploring the Notre Dame and St. Chappelle cathedrals and sauntered up the Siene.
Up to this point on our vacation we had only had the best weather. However, Paris was another story. It drizzled on and off that first day, but we managed to stay mostly dry by ducking into museums and cathedrals. The second day, we didn't have as much luck. We spent the morning of the second day in a small shop called Deyrolle. This satisfied the zoologist in me, as it has a large collections of bugs and taxidermied animals. We even picked out a few butterflies of our own to take home. Next, we went to the Louvre, to satisfy the art historian in Kara. So much art, so overwhelming, but so wonderful.
Our plan after the Louvre was to wander through the Tuileries Garden. However, when we came out of the Louvre we were met by a downpour. Seeing as this was our last day in Paris, and our only time to walk through the gardens, we decided to brave it together under our one small umbrella. Despite getting drenched we really enjoyed ourselves and even enjoyed a gelato and crepe, in the pouring rain. We made it up the Champs Elysees when the rain finally stopped and had a good reprieve from the weather to view the Arc de Triomphe. Afterwards we meandered to the Eiffel Tower and sat in its shadow to our hearts content. We ended the day with dinner at an amazing restaurant without getting rained on again.
The next morning we made our way to the airport and were happy for our great foresight in buying a direct flight from Paris to SLC. We made it home safely, and with Kara only getting plane sick the last 20 minutes of our flight (she hates flying). We were hoping that the sickness wouldn't last long...
...then again, it might be around for another 9 months!
