La famiglia

Ciao ragazzi! It just now hit me that I haven't written on here for a while, but pretty much the time that's passed can be summed up in one simple sentence, MY FAMILY CAME TO VISIT! It was the first time in 9 months that I had seen them, and needless to say I was pretty emotional. So let's start from the beginning.

At 3:30 am May 18th I got on a bus to the Bari airport flew to Rome for a layover, then flew to Venice by myself. About every 30 minutes I would be choking back tears from the anxiety of traveling alone and the thought of being reunited with my family in mere hours. At noon I landed in Venice. When I was exiting the gate the first thing I saw was a man in a purple shirt standing in the middle of the crowd waiting for someone. That man was my dad. I broke out into tears when I saw him and quickly ran so he wouldn't see me. Trying to compose myself I snuck up behind him and surprised him. We then walked over to where my mom and sister were sitting and I cried some more. Yes I know that I'm very dramatic and emotional, but I'd like to see you do it. It's something very few people understand.

From the airport we got on a water taxi that took us to our hotel which was situated right on the grand canal, only two bridges away from Piazza di San Marco. That day we explored the city by ourselves. We walked around for at least two hours and didn't even see half of the city. I'm pretty sure we were just going in circles. We went back to the hotel fairly early to rest because we were all exhausted. The second day in Venice was when we had all of our organized tours. Our first tour started at 9 and consisted of us walking through Piazza di San Marco, Doge's Palace, the prison, and Saint Mark's Basilica. I had already seen the square, but this was the first time I could go into the buildings. The palace and Basilica were breathtaking, all elaborately decorated in gold. From Doge's Palace we walked across the famous Bridge of Sighs and entered the prison. When the tour was finished we went to our hotel to rest before catching a bout ride over to the island of Murano. Anyone who has been following my blog posts knows that Murano is near and dear to my heart. We watched the glass blowers make a flower vase and a horse in a matter of minutes. It's amazing how amazing their artwork is. We then walked through their gift shop. Everything was so beautiful, but the prices made me cringe. "Oh you like these two birds? That'll be €200" we quickly got out of the shop to find a cheaper one where we bought bracelets and a vase. Upon returning we ate and started walking around for the last time. I had this need to buy a venetian carnivale mask and searched for two hours before finding one that was well made but still reasonably priced. It's gold, white, and purple and is the face of a cat. The following morning we said goodbye to Venice and boarded a train to Florence.

Upon arriving in Florence some person tried to help us with our bags. Rule #1 of traveling in Italy: trust no one! These people are here to steal your bags. Thankfully my dad never let go of the bag or we would have been in a lot of trouble. Every big city in Italy is full of robbers and pick pockets. NEVER let go of your bag/purse and never keep anything in your pockets. On our trip we met a couple from New Jersey who had their passports and wallets stolen and just yesterday someone stole my host mother's purse. From the train station we took a short car ride over to our hotel. Our hotel room was two floors, and the hotel itself was 3 blocks from Ponte Vecchio and 5 blocks from the Duomo. We walked around the entire part of the antique city that day and saw most of the most famous parts of the city. The next day, like in Venice, we had our tours. We started our tour in the morning with a bus ride to the top of a hill to get a scenic view of the city. We then returned to the city to tour the Duomo and went over to the Galleria della Accademia to see the most famous sculpture in the world, Michelangelo's David. No pictures were allowed but obviously I had to sneak a few. After lunch we took another tour to the town of Fiesole where Leonardo da Vinci tested out his famous set of wings. We then came back to the city to tour some famous squares before entering the Galleria degli Uffizi, which was named the most beautiful museum in the world. I had many geek out moments when I saw the famous paintings such as La Primavera, The Birth of Venus, and countless others. Unfortunately they were very strict about photos and I didn't manage to take a single one. If you love art you absolutely have to go to this museum. After the tour we went out to eat. I can honestly say that the best food I've ever had in Italy was in Florence. One day I had some delicious gnocchi and our last night in Florence we went to a mozzarella bar where I ate the best pizza I've ever  had. It was a magical experience. The following day we got on a train to Naples to pick up a rental car to take us to Nova Siri.

Naples was an... Unforgettable experience. Mostly because the car rental place gave us a car that barely ran. It was a certain type of hell driving in Naples. Something I wish to never repeat. We arrived in Nova Siri with no major incidences and I introduced my family to my host family. We ate dinner together that night. The next day I took my dad and sister to my school and to the beach while my mom hung out at the hotel. We ate lunch at my host family's house and then went to see the sassi of Matera. We got lost on the way back of course and almost ended up driving off a cliff but we got back safe. The next morning we got up bright and early to drive to Rome for the last leg of our journey.

Remember how I said we had a less than perfect car? Well when we were about an hour away from Rome it broke down. Of course all of the messages were in Italian and I don't know much about cars so all I could understand was "stopped" and "engine." After letting the engine cool down a bit we started to drive again. We just barely made it to our hotel. The car fiasco had taken up a good deal of time. We had just arrived at the hotel when a car came to pick us up for our tour of the Vatican. God bless the Vatican, it was one of the few places in Italy where we were allowed to take pictures. The Vatican museums were breathtaking, and of course I left our tour group for a bit to go see the Egyptian section. In the museums everyone is directed in a line towards one place, the Sistine Chapel. Was gorgeous, however no pictures were allowed. You couldn't talk either, which was kind of ironic because there were guards with loud speakers yelling "No pictures! Be quiet!" After the chapel we went into the Basilica and to the square. It's impossible to describe. After the Vatican we returned to the hotel then went out to eat dinner. The next day was very jam packed. In the morning we visited the pantheon and the Trevi fountain. We then went on a tour of Palatine Hill, the forum, and the Colosseum, and later went to the Spanish Stairs. Each was beautiful in it's own way. That was the last night of the trip. The following morning I took a taxi to the bus station to go back to Nova Siri. It was probably the hardest thing I had to do all year. All I wanted to do was stay with my family. Now that almost a week has passed since they left in starting to feel less sad, but it still feels like something is missing. But as of today I have just a little over one month left, so at least I'll see them soon!

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Alla prossima!