Parthemores in Poland

Poland has many beautiful Easter traditions.  But since the entire country pretty much shuts down, we took advantage of a long weekend and cheap airfares and took off for Italy.

Speaking of cheap airfares, WizzAir (the Hungarian, fuschia-clad, bastard step-brother of RyanAir) claims that they fly into Milan.  Actually, it’s really the next town over, Bergamo.  So we spent the night there and had just enough time to explore the neat “upper city” that perches on the cliffs above the rest of the city. 

We enjoyed staying at a cute B&B, but the stopover was pretty uneventful. 

The next day we hopped on the regional train to go check out Milan.  Conveniently, the WizzAir inflight magazine (the only thing they don’t charge you for) had a picture of the main cathedral on the cover.  This inspired us to stop and explore.  As you can see, the Duomo di Milano is unbelievably beautiful. 

The best part?  We got to walk around on the roof! 

With some time to kill before our train to Florence, we checked out the Museum of Science.  One section featured the works of Leonardo da Vinci, to include models of the crazy stuff he designed.  My personal favorite?  The scorpion boat.

This museum was quite the catch-all, with exhibits including communication, trains, submarines, boats, and genetics. 

The train system in Italy is great.  After one taxi ride (the road network is sheer insanity), we were convinced that train travel is the optimal way to get anywhere.

We arrived in Florence around dinner time.  In Italy, that’s 8 pm, at the earliest.  The next morning, we set off exploring the city.  First stop:  the Duomo, which features the largest brick dome ever constructed. 

Completed in 1436 by Brunelleschi, it is a true architectural masterpiece and an absolute must-see in Florence.  When we read on the Internet that it is possible to climb up to the top of the dome, we knew that was something we wanted to do.  Unfortunately for us, the cupola was closed for Easter weekend.  So we did the next best thing:  walk up the 400+ stairs to the top of the campanile that was right beside the Duomo.  The climb was a little tiring and slightly claustrophobic, but totally worth it!

Here we are at the top of the campanile.  The Duomo is in the background.

On Easter Sunday there was a big celebration in front of the Duomo to mark the end of the Easter Mass.  I don’t really know how to describe it.  There were a few hundred people dressed up in colorful, crazy outfits.

There was also a gigantic cart with thousands of fireworks that was set off when Mass was complete.  This cart was pulled by four of the biggest cows I have ever seen, who were also festively decorated.

Unfortunately for us, our view of the “show” was blocked by a building.  But thanks to the miracle of YouTube, we were able to see what we missed.

Another highlight of our Florence visit was the wine tasting at a nearby villa.  This was originally supposed to start with a bike trip through the Tuscan countryside out to the villa, but because the tour guide was sick we just took a taxi.  It was amazing that in only 20 minutes we were out of the city and in the beautiful hills that look liked something straight out of an Olive Garden commercial.

The current owners renovated the villa into a bed and breakfast and produce their own wines as well.  Part of our tour included their wine cellar.

Both the villa and the gardens were just gorgeous. 

This weekend marked the beginning of Italy’s very busy tourist season.  While wandering the alleyways in one of the quieter parts of town, we found this painted on the wall.

Seeing all the tourists in Italy made me realize how non-touristy Poznań is.  We heard a lot of American accents in Florence.  Many of the Americans we talked to all had the same reason for being there:  their son or daughter was studying something like art history or fashion in Italy.  Based on all the museums, designer stores, and beautiful architecture, spending a semester in Italy would be an awesome opportunity.

For our last stop of the trip, we headed to Rome.  When we watched some travel videos about Rome, most of them suggested at least a week to explore the city.  We had a day and a half.

We had two main objectives in Rome:  the Vatican and the Coliseum.  Along with those, we would just kind of walk around and see what we see.  I like to think that I am reasonably competent with navigating, but Rome was so crazily laid out that it took some serious effort to figure out where we were and which direction we were heading. 

I was hoping that the Vatican wouldn’t be crowded, since it was the day after Easter.  I was wrong.  The line that we saw was so long, we couldn’t even figure out what it was for.  The Basilica?  The Sistine Chapel?  Gelato?  So we just kind of looked around and headed on our way.

There are lots of interesting buildings in Rome.  One of our favorites was the National Museum.

It seemed like there were ruins everywhere.  Even our hotel had ruins underneath it.  Like other buildings, they had cleverly built around them.

Another thing that was everywhere?  Tourists!  Here’s the crowd at the Trevi Fountain:

Just to get a decent photo, you had to jockey for position.

The next day we explored the Roman Forum and Coliseum.  I really wish I remembered more from my high school Latin class.  The weather was beautiful and this was a great way to cap off the trip.

View of the Forum from Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill

The Coliseum, from the outside and the inside.

This whirlwind trip was a lot of fun, but kind of exhausting.  I can sympathize with these folks: