The Road Less Traveled: March 2011

Barcelona. Rome. Florence. Bologna. Milan. Four girls. Five cities. One amazing Spring Break. Barcelona was our first destination on our non-stop adventure that was our Spring Break. Sangrada Familia has to be one of the most beautiful and intricate buildings on the face of this Earth. Sangrada Familia is a cathedral built by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi’s work (which attracts tourists from all parts of the world) can be seen on display throughout Barcelona. My pictures of Sangrada Familia do not do the cathedral justice. It was also impossible to fit the whole thing into my picture. They are also not as good as they could be because it is currently under renovation to preserve the very detailed outside. Therefore, I encourage you to Google some images so you can see the full amazing work that is Sangrada Familia. The English translation of Sangrada Familia is the Church of the Holy Family. Barcelona really is a beautiful city and there are many gardens tucked away in various locations. One of the gardens we visited had a maze to explore before viewing the rest of the gardens. We also enjoyed walking near the water and the beach. There were groups of people working on building amazing sandcastles- one even had a fire burning inside. From Barcelona, we headed to Rome! We saw so many amazing things in Rome. The Trevi Fountain (where I made my wish!), the Roman Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Roman Pantheon, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican City Museums. St. Peter’s Basilica was amazing and sadly, many of my pictures are too dark to be able to see the magnificence. However, I absolutely recommend that everyone spend at least one day of his or her life in Vatican City. There is so much to see and take in. I never realized that in order to reach the Sistine Chapel, you have to walk through a series of Museums full of uniquely painted ceilings and walls. The Roman Pantheon was also very interesting for me to see especially because I had just studied it in my art history class. The Italian gelato and blood red orange juice should also not be forgotten! We lost count on how many times we stopped for both of these items! J Rome really is a History major’s dream…everywhere you turn, every street you walk down…you cannot help but “ooh and ahhh” and take 1000 pictures! One neat thing occurred right after our visit to the Trevi fountain- directly opposite the fountain is a church. We decided to enter the church just to check it out; on our way in, I thought I saw the word Bulgaria in Cyrillic. But, my friends convinced me I was crazy…However, we discovered that it was the National Bulgarian Church!! Right there in Rome...it was as if Bulgaria found us – Again! From Rome, we flew to Florence and fell in love! By this time, I was asking myself if it was possible to love one city more than the last. We took a tour of Florence and saw many of the sites. Along the way, we saw the city bazaar and stopped for a tradition- you rub the boar and you will come back to Florence the Italians say! (Well, I rubbed it..and will be returning in May!) The church in Florence is green and white marble on the outside and has a double dome. The dome construction is still a mystery to modern architects and really is a remarkable sight. Throughout Florence, there are visible landmarks that alert visitors to the powerful influence of the Medici Family. The Medici Family was a powerful family from Florence and their crest may be spotted on buildings throughout the city. On our way to Bologna, our flight was redirected to Pisa because of bad weather (unfortunately, it was too dark to see the leaning tower). Once we reached Bologna, we were out sightseeing again! We walked through the city and saw one of the oldest Universities in the world. We walked up Bologna’s leaning tower and viewed the whole city from around five stories up. We then were ready to sample what Bologna is really well known for- FOOD! I had the best meal of my life. Freshly made spinach tortellini stuffed with cheeses and tomatoes…fresh baked bread…and the best tiramisu of my life…All of our meals in Bologna were heavenly! It is worth a trip solely for the food!! Our last stop, Milan was short, but sweet. We cooked our own fresh pasta for dinner and enjoyed meeting new people. We were able to walk around the city some, but our time here was very limited. I hope that this blog entry was not too hard to follow. Ten days of sightseeing is hard to summarize. Especially since there are so many things worth mentioning. I can only encourage everyone to visit these cities on his or her own. My words and pictures cannot do them justice.
Gaudi's work..also the cover of my art history book