6.14.2008

Buon Giorno from Florence, Italy!



Hello! We are here in Florence now. Rome was beautiful! Well, actually, I'm talking about the sights and museums, not the street sights. For the ugly part, there were parts of Rome that we saw graffiti everywhere. It was during the ride from the airport to the hotel. The good part is that the historic sites and museums did not disappoint! I have to warn you though, I used a lot of adjectives in this post: amazing, beautiful, etc. LOL There are just no words to describe the beauty of what we saw. :)

We saw the Pope in his Wednesday Papal Audience. There were a lot of people from different parts of the world. I saw the pope's cap, buti na lang may big screen kaya nakita ko rin kung ano itsura nya. We got there at around 9:30AM and the Pope came in his PopeMobile around 10:00AM. You will know it since people started making noise and standing up on chairs. The whole thing lasted 2 hours since they acknowledged all the pilgrims from different parts of the world. Then at the end was the Papal Blessing. I had with me some Rosaries I bought from the day before in the Vatican Museum so that was blessed by the Pope.

St. Peter's Basilica was amazing, it is so HUGE and all the artworks and sculptures, left me speechless. The Pieta was breathtaking, too bad it was behind a glass so it is about 10-15 feet away. After seeing St. Peter's, all the other churches we saw just couldn't compare. That's how beautiful it is. I also noticed that in the more popular churches amongst the tourists like St. Peter's and the Duomo in Florence, they took out almost all of the pews. I was a little disappointed but I guess with the number of tourists that visit each day, it's a wise move.


We also went to the Vatican museum. The art collection of the Popes and also the designs of their private quarters are very lavish! That's one of the reasons why Martin Luther converted, after seeing it, I don't blame him, I might convert too! LOL We saw the Emperor Nero's bath tub, as you can see in the photo, it is HUGE! You can easily fit more than ten people in there. My favorite room is the Map Room, the ceiling is amazing!

My other favorite place was the Trevi Fountain. We went there at night and while walking closer I can hear the water flowing, we turned a corner and there it is. Beautiful! Amazing is all I can say. We stayed there for an hour just admiring the sculptures made by Salvi. I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you, if you're still reading this. :)

Anyway, we are spending three days here in Florence and will head off to Venice next. We will be seeing Michaelangelo's David and the painting 'Birth of Venus' by Boticelli. I'm excited to see it because I studied it in college. I'm overloaded with history and art that every artwork starts looking the same to me. LOL

Food is great too, I've never eaten so much pasta in my entire life. Good thing that we burn it off with all the walking we've done. Actually yesterday for lunch we had Chinese food just to break the monotony. :)

I could go on and on about everything I've seen but I don't want to bore you with details. I am enjoying this trip, can't you tell? LOL

Well, that's it for now. I don't know when I will be able to update again. I'm having problems with my laptop's charger or battery. The nice thing about this hotel in Florence we're staying at is they have a laptop and free internet access in every room. I will have to write about the hotels we've stayed in. If ever you will be visiting these cities, I highly recommend them.

I hope everyone is in great health. :)

9 comments:

  1. Mareng barb, mabuti kapa nakita mo na in person ang Pope. Di ba masyadong maulan diyan sa Italy ngayon? dito sa France sobrang ulan talaga..

    ang laki na ni amber mareng barb:)

    Enjoy your Europe tour!!

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  2. wow- while reading i picture myself na andyan din ako. sigh***

    Ganda talaga ah...kelan pa kaya ako maka punta dyan?

    Have fun the rest of your vacation Barb.

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  3. Wow good thing I scrolled down on my RSS bookmark, didn't realize there's an update here ;-) It's good to know you had such a good time in Rome, seeing the Pope will be on top of my agenda if ever we go there too. Hopefully hindi lang cap nya ang makita ko personally, LOL. We have storm watch here now, its actually roaring thunder and raining outside. Take care and enjoy!
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  4. It's wonderful you are having such a nice time. On my first trip to Europe, at the age of 16, I developed a headache with so much exposure to Art, particularly sculpture. Unbelievable!
    But after having been deprived for so long in Manila I may have experienced things too intensely. On subsequent visits, I paced myself, with a variety of different experiences for each day, and have enjoyed travelling ever since. Perhaps you should do something similar and not try to see everything for the time you are there.

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  5. Wow ang ganda ng mga pics Barb!!and you were so lucky na nakita mo ang Pope.

    Hope,maganda ang weather dyan sa Italy and the rest of the countries na bibisitahin nyo.More countries to go!!!!have a nice and safe vacation.

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  6. Wow, thats my ultimate dream, to visit Italy. My husband's family is from Italy so me and my sister in law might visit one day. Ganda ng mga pics mo. Enjoy your vacation.

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  7. mareng barb, I am now excited more to visit rome someday and will have to save money for this. Can we use northwest mileages to use for flying..

    enjoy your vacation in Europe.

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  8. wow thats my dreams pero hanggang dream lang cguro hehehe but thru ur post parang nakapunta narin me jan thans...happy vacation

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  9. Thanks for sharing this,,,looking forward for more...

    Take care,
    Lou

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Thank you for taking the time to comment. :o)