I'm back! 5 weeks really flew by, but I am very glad to be back in the US of A. I missed my connecting flight in London to Atlanta, and the only flight they had back to the States yesterday was to JFK, so my loving parents had to drive 3 and some hours from HBG to get me at JFK. I'm still super sick (it's been about a week), so having to wait another day to get home woulda been awful. The airport workers in London were really nice though (minus the security people who had to thoroughly search and x-ray my bag just in case my under 100 mL estee lauder facial lotion was a security threat, and therefore caused me to miss my flight) and gave me a ticket for some free food and even blocked out the seat next to me on the plane so I could have my own row. I also got to have my first Starbucks chai tea latte w/ soy milk in over a month at Heathrow Airport, and it was AWESOME.
Italy was amazing and I'm very grateful for the opportunity. However, being back in the USA is a really great feeling too. I will definitely miss Europe and I'm sure I'll be back one day soon. Up next: last rotation in Pittsburgh, and then...GRADUATION BABY!!!!!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Postcards
OH so apologies to everyone who I promised postcards to. You'll get them, but instead they're going to be mailed from the States when I get back. In my defense, I tried 3 times to mail them. Twice they didn't have the right size stamp (they were too big, AND I waited in line for about 30 minutes each time)...and then when I tried to go to the main post office the line was outrageous. The lines are always insane, actually, at any time at any post office. The workers take their time and I have no idea how anyone gets anything mailed out in Italy. Although, I did read that Italy is known for its incredibly slow mail service. So apologies again, but at least I did write them while in Italy! It just won't have an Italian stamp on it...mi dispiace!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Venezia: The Floating City
Our last big trip before heading back to the States was Venice this past weekend. Fun facts: Venice used to be very famous for its navy. It was a huge center for artistic movements during the Renaissance. AND it's the birthplace of Vivaldi! So anyway, we had perfect weather, which was great because I was told it was rainy and windy in Palermo all weekend. We took a bus from the airport to Venice, and then had to take a water bus to our hotel from the bus station. Venice is completely built on water, so to get anywhere you either take the water bus/water taxi or you just walk. It is impossible to get off of Venice by foot. Taking the water bus was a really cool experience, but it does take a while because of all the stops.
I had read that it's pretty much a guarantee that you will get lost in Venice. HOWEVER, we totally managed to get to our hotel without getting lost!! But that was the only time we didn't get lost...we made up for it multiple times throughout the weekend. There are so many streets and alleys in Venice that all of them are not even marked on maps. There are many dead end streets as well, but the good thing is that Venice is a pretty safe city. It's mostly all tourist-inhabited, so walking around at night we only encountered other tourists or restaurant workers. It's a very strange feeling, because I kept expecting something out of the ordinary to happen at night, but it really is like a ghost town at night. Even if you get lost in Venice, if you keep walking eventually you will hit a landmark/piazza, and you can locate that on a map. You really can't go to Venezia without trying to find your way through its labyrinth!
On Saturday we explored the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square), which is just a huge plaza with many shops and restaurants, and of course Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica), Torre dell'Orologico (the Clock Tower), and Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) among others. This is all located right along the water, so it's absolutely beautiful. Across the water you can see other islands with churches and museums, and you can literally arrive at the doorstep of a building right after getting off of a water bus. You're not allowed to take photos in most of the museums and churches, but I managed to sneak a few non-flash pictures. Basilica di San Marco was nice, but I think I got spoiled after seeing Basilica di San Pietro in Roma. We didn't get in the line for the Clock Tower because it was quite long, but we did go in Palazzo Ducale and I got an audio guide.
Palazzo Ducale was pretty impressive. It was huge, with many rooms and secret passageways. Many of the rooms didn't even have a specific purpose because the palace is so big. Oh and what's a doge? He was the highest authoritative figure in the Republic of Venice, but he actually didn't have that much power. The power actually belonged to the Council and Senate. When Napoleon conquered Venice, the position of the doge ceased to exist and Venice lost its independence.
The Palazzo Ducale is filled with Gothic artwork and sculptures. There is also a lot of stucco walls and the stairwell visitors use is the Scala d'Oro (Golden Staircase), due to its gold paintings and stucco design in the ceilings above the staircase. The most impressive room was the Chamber of the Great Council. It reminded me a lot of the Sistine Chapel, but it's much bigger. There are paintings that cover the entire room. The walls are paintings of Venice's history, while the ceiling has paintings of examples of Venetian heroism. The Palazzo Ducale also has many paintings that show the importance of the sea to Venice. Many paintings show Venice as a woman hidden in shadows and emphasize the sea surrounding the people in the paintings. We also got to check out the prisons which were built in the attics and ground floors of the Palazzo. Pretty creepy...apparently at one point they tried to build better prisons (because the previous conditions in which prisoners lived was considered pretty inhumane) but it didn't turn out as hoped.
So Venice is HUGE on art. So many art galleries filled with artwork of really famous artists. We visited The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is a collection of all kinds of artwork by Peggy Guggenheim (who was actually married to Max Ernst!). There were original paintings by Jackson Pollock, Max Ernst, Wassily Kandinsky, Picasso, Man Ray, Dali, and Marc Chagall, among many others. It was incredible how much art she was able to collect from such amazing artists. Again, no photos were permitted but I sneaked a few...I just had to!
Outside in the garden, the ashes of Peggy Guggenheim are memorialized near an olive tree that was donated by Yoko Ono. You are supposed to write a wish on a piece of paper and attach it to the tree, which I did! I wished the same thing at the Trevi Fountain, so it'd better come true! (Are you allowed to wish the same thing twice?)
Saturday night we ate at the Hard Rock Café...I know, I should be ashamed. BUT I didn't want to eat more pasta, and it's really hard to come by a good salad in Italy so it worked out well. I did order a Spritz though, so I did get to experience something very Venetian after all. A Spritz is made with Prosecco wine and a bit of Aperol topped off with sparkling mineral water and an orange wedge. Pretty good! After dinner I wanted to stop by Harry's Bar, which is famous for creating the Bellini and for being the place where Ernest Hemingway used to sit and write. It's a very small little place and they seem to serve some very classy dinners. We just stopped by so I could try a Bellini. So the Bellini's I've had in the states are nothing compared to Harry's Bellini's. A real Bellini consists of fresh peach purée and Prosecco wine...it's not very big but tastes amazing! The bartenders and waiters wear white suit jackets with white shirts and black dress pants...the bartender was really good at pouring the Bellini's (there's a certain way you do it, you don't just pour half peach purée and half Prosecco and mix), so I asked him if he ever spills when making the Bellini's and he just laughed. So I'm assuming that's a no.
Our last big stop before leaving Venice was of course the Rialto bridge. There are many bridges in Venice, but this is the major one. The bridge is actually very wide and the view is awesome.
Also, of course there are a lot of gondoliers everywhere. We didn't take a gondola ride because they're not cheap, and it wouldn't be very romantic with 2 girls anyway!
Lots of good shopping in Venice...lots of shops claiming to sell real Murano glass (there are even signs that say 'not made in China'), but you can kind of distinguish what's real Venetian glass and what's not according to price. 3£ for a 'real Murano glass' bracelet? Probably not real. There's also a lot of Italian leather shops with gorgeous leather gloves and bags, as well as the famous brand stores like Chanel, Ferragamo, LV, Prada, etc etc.
Venice was beautiful, and it's apparently the #1 place to propose! Return trip in the not-so-near future? I hope so!!
I had read that it's pretty much a guarantee that you will get lost in Venice. HOWEVER, we totally managed to get to our hotel without getting lost!! But that was the only time we didn't get lost...we made up for it multiple times throughout the weekend. There are so many streets and alleys in Venice that all of them are not even marked on maps. There are many dead end streets as well, but the good thing is that Venice is a pretty safe city. It's mostly all tourist-inhabited, so walking around at night we only encountered other tourists or restaurant workers. It's a very strange feeling, because I kept expecting something out of the ordinary to happen at night, but it really is like a ghost town at night. Even if you get lost in Venice, if you keep walking eventually you will hit a landmark/piazza, and you can locate that on a map. You really can't go to Venezia without trying to find your way through its labyrinth!
On Saturday we explored the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square), which is just a huge plaza with many shops and restaurants, and of course Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica), Torre dell'Orologico (the Clock Tower), and Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) among others. This is all located right along the water, so it's absolutely beautiful. Across the water you can see other islands with churches and museums, and you can literally arrive at the doorstep of a building right after getting off of a water bus. You're not allowed to take photos in most of the museums and churches, but I managed to sneak a few non-flash pictures. Basilica di San Marco was nice, but I think I got spoiled after seeing Basilica di San Pietro in Roma. We didn't get in the line for the Clock Tower because it was quite long, but we did go in Palazzo Ducale and I got an audio guide.
Basilica di San Marco
Piazza San Marco & Clock Tower
Palazzo Ducale was pretty impressive. It was huge, with many rooms and secret passageways. Many of the rooms didn't even have a specific purpose because the palace is so big. Oh and what's a doge? He was the highest authoritative figure in the Republic of Venice, but he actually didn't have that much power. The power actually belonged to the Council and Senate. When Napoleon conquered Venice, the position of the doge ceased to exist and Venice lost its independence.
The Palazzo Ducale is filled with Gothic artwork and sculptures. There is also a lot of stucco walls and the stairwell visitors use is the Scala d'Oro (Golden Staircase), due to its gold paintings and stucco design in the ceilings above the staircase. The most impressive room was the Chamber of the Great Council. It reminded me a lot of the Sistine Chapel, but it's much bigger. There are paintings that cover the entire room. The walls are paintings of Venice's history, while the ceiling has paintings of examples of Venetian heroism. The Palazzo Ducale also has many paintings that show the importance of the sea to Venice. Many paintings show Venice as a woman hidden in shadows and emphasize the sea surrounding the people in the paintings. We also got to check out the prisons which were built in the attics and ground floors of the Palazzo. Pretty creepy...apparently at one point they tried to build better prisons (because the previous conditions in which prisoners lived was considered pretty inhumane) but it didn't turn out as hoped.
Palazzo Ducale
Shot of the incredible ceiling
Ceiling above the Golden Staircase
Chamber of the Great Council
Neptune and Mars at the top of the staircase in the courtyard
An original Jackson Pollock
An original Picasso
Outside in the garden, the ashes of Peggy Guggenheim are memorialized near an olive tree that was donated by Yoko Ono. You are supposed to write a wish on a piece of paper and attach it to the tree, which I did! I wished the same thing at the Trevi Fountain, so it'd better come true! (Are you allowed to wish the same thing twice?)
Saturday night we ate at the Hard Rock Café...I know, I should be ashamed. BUT I didn't want to eat more pasta, and it's really hard to come by a good salad in Italy so it worked out well. I did order a Spritz though, so I did get to experience something very Venetian after all. A Spritz is made with Prosecco wine and a bit of Aperol topped off with sparkling mineral water and an orange wedge. Pretty good! After dinner I wanted to stop by Harry's Bar, which is famous for creating the Bellini and for being the place where Ernest Hemingway used to sit and write. It's a very small little place and they seem to serve some very classy dinners. We just stopped by so I could try a Bellini. So the Bellini's I've had in the states are nothing compared to Harry's Bellini's. A real Bellini consists of fresh peach purée and Prosecco wine...it's not very big but tastes amazing! The bartenders and waiters wear white suit jackets with white shirts and black dress pants...the bartender was really good at pouring the Bellini's (there's a certain way you do it, you don't just pour half peach purée and half Prosecco and mix), so I asked him if he ever spills when making the Bellini's and he just laughed. So I'm assuming that's a no.
Our last big stop before leaving Venice was of course the Rialto bridge. There are many bridges in Venice, but this is the major one. The bridge is actually very wide and the view is awesome.
Rialto Bridge
Also, of course there are a lot of gondoliers everywhere. We didn't take a gondola ride because they're not cheap, and it wouldn't be very romantic with 2 girls anyway!
Lots of good shopping in Venice...lots of shops claiming to sell real Murano glass (there are even signs that say 'not made in China'), but you can kind of distinguish what's real Venetian glass and what's not according to price. 3£ for a 'real Murano glass' bracelet? Probably not real. There's also a lot of Italian leather shops with gorgeous leather gloves and bags, as well as the famous brand stores like Chanel, Ferragamo, LV, Prada, etc etc.
Venice was beautiful, and it's apparently the #1 place to propose! Return trip in the not-so-near future? I hope so!!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
A chill weekend in Sicily
This weekend we decided to stay around Palermo. Saturday we took a 2 hour train ride to Agrigento (southern Sicily), which is famous for its Valley of the Temples. The city is built on a plateau and was one of the most richest and major cities of ancient Greece. The Carthaginians eventually sacked the city, and fought with Rome over ownership. I thought it was really neat that there are still remnants of Greek influences here in Sicily. So once we got off the train in Agrigento, we realized we weren't really sure how to get to the Valley. I actually have to say that I'm really proud of myself b/c I managed to ask for directions on how to get there (we were supposed to take a bus) AND I managed to get us 2 way bus tickets all in Italian! Maybe we're not such "dumb Americans" after all.
ANYWAY, The Valle dei Templi spans a lot of land, and there are so many remnants of various Greek temples. They were all built in the Doric style, and there were a few that were insanely well preserved. The main temples were Temple of Hera/Juno, Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hercules, Temple of Concordia, and the Temple of Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux). The Temple of Concordia was the best preserved one, due to it being turned into a Christian church at one time. Each temple also had its own designated olive tree, since olive trees were very important to the Greeks. Along the walls there were also these kind of pits built into the walls, and archaeologists think they were tombs that the Romans built, but the weird thing is that they've never been able to find any bones or any sort of body remnants. Archaeologists also were able to put together a telamon (a sort of sculpture that acted as a sort of pillar for support in a temple), and it's currently in the Archaeological Museum of Agrigento (picture below). It's really huge! Before grabbing the train back to Palermo, we found a place to eat that was off the main road. The big disadvantage of Agrigento is how the streets are built. Everything is uphill, and the side streets are very narrow and uphill. I decided to forgo the typical pasta dish and try some beef...I don't advise trying beef in Sicily. My jaw was so tired of chewing after a while!
ANYWAY, The Valle dei Templi spans a lot of land, and there are so many remnants of various Greek temples. They were all built in the Doric style, and there were a few that were insanely well preserved. The main temples were Temple of Hera/Juno, Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hercules, Temple of Concordia, and the Temple of Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux). The Temple of Concordia was the best preserved one, due to it being turned into a Christian church at one time. Each temple also had its own designated olive tree, since olive trees were very important to the Greeks. Along the walls there were also these kind of pits built into the walls, and archaeologists think they were tombs that the Romans built, but the weird thing is that they've never been able to find any bones or any sort of body remnants. Archaeologists also were able to put together a telamon (a sort of sculpture that acted as a sort of pillar for support in a temple), and it's currently in the Archaeological Museum of Agrigento (picture below). It's really huge! Before grabbing the train back to Palermo, we found a place to eat that was off the main road. The big disadvantage of Agrigento is how the streets are built. Everything is uphill, and the side streets are very narrow and uphill. I decided to forgo the typical pasta dish and try some beef...I don't advise trying beef in Sicily. My jaw was so tired of chewing after a while!
Temple of Concordia
Temple of Juno/Hera
Temple of Hercules
Telamon
Originally, we were going to go to Cefalu on Sunday (today), but the
weather turned out to be less than ideal so we stuck around our hotel.
Turned out to still be a fun Sunday though, because on Sunday mornings
they close down part of the main street in Palermo (Via Roma) and there
are little market stands set up along the street with meats, cheeses,
olives, spreads, jewelry, and pastries. Everyone shouts "prego" at you,
and wants you to try everything.
So two weeks left of this rotation. I guess I should mention my actual rotation, since that's why I'm here in the first place. We actually don't get to do a whole lot at rotation, since pharmacists here don't get to go on rounds anymore due to the way the scheduling works. I was told that they used to be able to do rounds every day. Most days we just work on a project at the computer, so it gets a little monotonous. We have gotten to see some neat things though, such as lung and liver surgeries, how pain management works here, how infectious diseases is controlled, and have gotten to go on a few rounds with the physicians. The people at the hospital are very nice, and I was also told that there used to be American doctors working at ISMETT (since it's partnered with UPMC), but mostly all are gone now so it's all Italian doctors. Someone described ISMETT as a sort of 'oasis' in Sicily, since other hospitals are no where near as developed and well functioning as ISMETT. I think it's pretty great that UPMC was able to start such a great institution for very sick patients in Europe.
Up next: Venice on Friday!!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
All roads lead to Roma
So we got in Friday night to a youth hostel (my first hostel experience). We were super anxious about staying at a hostel, but it turned out to be great. The staff was really nice and we met some cool people from Spain and France. Rome has a much different feel than Sicily...for one thing, since it's so touristy, everyone speaks English! And I know it sounds really spoiled and maybe arrogant to say, but it was definitely a relief after being in non-English speaking Palermo. Rome also just has so much incredible history and culture...really anywhere you walk you'll run into something historic and significant.
Saturday morning we started off walking to the Colosseo...and ran into la Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (Basilica of St. John Lateran)! (told you you'll just run into cool things!) Just a beautiful church.
Next up was the Colosseo...it is HUGE. Absolutely will take your breath away. It actually originally was 4 floors, but the top floor no longer exists. (We ended doing a guided tour of the Colosseum and then Palatine Hill.) So I was informed that the Colosseum floor was originally covered with sand in order to better hide and soak up blood during the fights. The Latin word for sand is "arena", and that's how we got the word arena! The walls of the Colosseum are also covered with these holes (they actually really creeped me out), which are due to the Romans putting in these bronze bars in the walls in order to support the structure. Later on, the bars were removed in order to use the material to make weapons. There is now a cross that was put in the Colosseum some time ago by a Pope (it's the first thing you see when you enter) that honors all of the Christian martyrs killed in the arena. After the Colosseo, we walked over and up Palatine Hill. Palatine Hill is also incredibly enormous. Palatine Hill consists of the ruins of Domitian's palace, the House of Livia, and the fire which the Vestal Virgins would have taken care of. There was also the remains of a chariot track near where Domitian's palace was (the palace was insanely big).
Sunday we did a tour of Vatican City...it really is incredible that the Vatican is its own country. They have their own newspaper, radio station, and is apparently one of the safest places to be in the world (it has its own city walls). On the last Sunday of every month people are allowed to go into the Vatican for free, so it was really crowded. The Pope was also due to appear to the public and give a greeting of some sort, but we didn't get to see that. The Vatican was beautiful, and there seems to be no expense spared (maybe ironic?). Currently, the Vatican is under the protection of the Swiss Guard. All recruits have to be Catholic and unmarried, and it is a HUGE honor to be recruited. (All workers for the Vatican also get huge discount on Apple products too! AND all your family members get to be baptized in the Sistine Chapel!!)
We first toured the Vatican Museum, which houses so many paintings, tapestries, and sculptures. Every inch of every room is decorated in some way, and there is usually art on the ceilings in most rooms. The first picture below is one of the ceiling, and the painting looks as if it's 3D b/c of the shadows right? It actually is completely flat! What an awesome illusion. After the museum, there was my favorite: La Cappella Sistina. Every inch of the Chapel is covered in art. You're not allowed to take photos (there are guards who will straight up yell at you or you may get kicked out), but I did manage to sneak one w/ no flash. So Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to paint the Sistine Chapel, even though he was previously only a sculptor and did not paint. It took about 4 years to complete his paintings, and he actually slowly went blind in one eye throughout the process, which he symbolized in his painting of 'The Last Judgement'. This painting is the main focus of the walls of the Sistine Chapel, and there is so much to see just within one painting. His other famous painting 'The Creation of Adam' is on the ceiling, and actually is smaller than you'd expect. It is no bigger than many of the other paintings surrounding it, but one fun fact for you: in the painting, God is sitting on what appears to be a red cloud. At the time, Michelangelo and da Vinci were friends and were studying human anatomy together. So what appears to be a red cloud is actually a red brain! Kinda neat. And the hands of Adam and God touching are in the shape of a spinal cord.
After the Sistine Chapel, we entered La Basilica di San Pietro (St.
Peter's Basilica). Again, SO INCREDIBLY ornate and surreal. I
accidentally went down these stairs that led me to the crypts underneath
of the basilica...now THAT was interesting. All I can say is there was
a lot of white marble. There are also not just popes buried down
there, but also a queen and a countess! The dome of the basilica is the
highest point in Rome, and it is illegal to build anything higher than
it. There was a line to climb to the top, but it was really long so we
didn't go (I believe it's about 300 steps).
Of course, we saw the Spanish Steps (which were not as impressive as
everything else...it was mostly just a lot of people sitting around on
the steps so it's not like I could get a picture of just the steps). I
got to see the Trevi during the day AND at night too (I had to go back
at night b/c the fountain really is just gorgeous). The Trevi is also
very crowded all day long, but I got to make my way to the front and
make a wish! The Pantheon was also really awesome...The big hole in the
dome is there because it symbolizes an opening to the heavens, built as a
temple to all of the Roman gods. I was wondering what happens when it
rains since the hole doesn't get covered or anything, but there are
actually little gutter holes in the ground directly beneath the
"oculus".
One of the last things I saw was La Scala Santa (the Sacred Steps). My dad wanted me to see this, so this part is especially for him. It actually is located next to la Basilica di San Giovanni (the first place we got to see), but I had to come back later b/c it was closed when we went to the basilica. It's a very small chapel. The Sacred Steps are said to be the steps leading to Pontious Pilate that Jesus stood on during his trial. The main steps are all white marble, with other steps on both sides of it. Martin Luther apparently once climbed these steps as well. The catch though? You have to climb the steps with your knees. Since I am not Catholic, I didn't want to disrespect anybody so I didn't want to climb the steps w/ my knees. There were many people who did though, and it was incredible to see how devoted people are to their faith. I did talk to a priest though, and I wanted to see if it was ok to climb the steps on either side of it by walking up. He told me I could, if I could recite the rosary to him. I thought he was being serious, and I was like oh I'm so sorry, I'm not Catholic, and I thought I just disrespected him big time. However, he then kind of smiled and said I didn't actually have to do that to walk up the stairs...so that's good to know that priests can have a sense of humor.
Overall, Roma was just incredible...the richness of its history amazes me and I also am amazed at how much religion is such an influence even today. You have pagan, Roman, and Christian/Catholic traditions and history all combined in one city, and it's pretty awesome. It was a pretty fabulous Roman Holiday! =) More pics on fbook!
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