The Rest of Rome, Bologna, and Lucca

After my epic morning spent in the Russian consulate, I thought that I would take the afternoon to de-compress in Rome. I had a pleasantly full-coloured free map from my hostel and nothing but time left. So, I walked. And walked, and walked, and walked. Rome covers... much more surface area than Florence. And that's your warning. Granted, I was coming from the periferia (the suburbs, the 'burbs), but the size and scale of Rome is far vaster than Florence. Or, now I could kind of understand why most Italians regard Florence as kind of a backwater compared to Roma or Milano. In one afternoon, I walked (yes, I calculated it on Google Maps) 4.6 kilometers from the Russian consulate to the Piazza Navona, and probably more because I didn't take the direct route. Then I walked all the way back to Roma Stazione Termini, another three or so kilometers. On the way there and back, I stopped by the Triton fountain, designed by Bernini in the 16th Century; the Trevi fountain, a mess; and walked up the steps to one of the many papal palaces, whose name is escaping me, but one that I really enjoyed? I stopped for a snack of pinenut meringue-cookie things that were predictably delicious, as has been basically everything I've eaten since arriving in Italy. There are pictures of all of these things coming, I promise.

Speaking of the Trevi Fountain, avoid it if you can. I know it has a ton of history and even more appearances in pop culture magic, but all of that mystique is stripped away when you are actually there. The piazza is literally packed to the gills with tourists wandering aimlessly about, living statues, and street vendors who only seem to sell strange 'souvenirs,' all of which are required to make obnoxious noises. It's very hard to get a good picture of the fountain, and you are (or, at least I was) ready to scream from the sheer number of bodies packed into one small space after two minutes.

The obnoxiously huge crowd in front of the Trevi Fountain:



This was still Friday afternoon, and after arriving at the train station, I decided that I wasn't quite ready to return to Florence yet. So I went to Bologna instead. My friend Rachel, whom I went to high school with, is studying there for the year, at the Universitá di Bologna, and had an apartment with a spare bed. I ended up only staying for a night and a morning, but I hope to go back before I leave here. In Bologna, we met up with some of Rachel's friends from her program and grabbed dinner at a little osteria, Osteria dall'Ursa (restaurant of the female bear). I had a pasta there whose shape was called 'gramigna,' and I'd be lying if I said I didn't order it solely because I was interested in what shape it was. Kind of hilariously, the pasta bore more than a striking resemblance to worms. After dinner the six of us went to an amazing gelateria simply name 'Il Gelatauro.' If you are ever in Bologna, go to 98 via San Vitale and have gelato there. I got cioccalatto e arancia again, mixed with the verde con marron glacés (green tea with candied chesnuts), which was a very... interesting combination. I really want to try zenzero next time, which is ginger-flavored gelato. We simply went home to bed after that, because Rachel had to be up early for a trip to Urbino the next morning, and I was dead tired from my probably-at-least-eight-kilometers of walking.

Saturday morning I woke up fairly early, around eight. I was going to Lucca, a little Tuscan town, maybe an hour and a half from Florence, two and a half from Bologna. The story behind why I wanted to go to Lucca goes something like this: for my internship/position at The Florentine, my first story was to be about the Tuscan locations that Spike Lee had shot around for his new movie, Miracolo a Sant'Anna. One of the towns, Barga, was pretty easily accessible from Lucca, and I wanted to go on Sunday. But first, Lucca.

Lucca was awesome. I loved it. It's probably my favorite place in Italy, right now. More than Florence, more than Assisi. It's a medieval city whose massive walls are still completely intact. Therefore, all Luccans/the Lucchese (and all the visitors) can walk/bike/jog on top of 'la mura di cittá' and take in the views of the Tuscan hills in the distance. When the carabinieri aren't looking, you can even walk on the parapet of the wall itself, until they see you and shoo you off...

Here's a photo of the view from la mura di cittá:


Another of aspect of Lucca that I loved was the size - it was perfect for a day trip or an afternoon/evening/morning excursion. And it's only a five euro train ride away! I'm utterly in love. Anyways, I walked around most of the city that afternoon, went into the Duomo and the other chiese (churches), and generally had a really good time. Oh, a note about the architecture, Lucca is only twenty minutes from Pisa, and most of the religious architecture is in the style of the Pisa Romanesque, which as I discovered, is really kind of heinous. Like, just plain ugly.

Per esempio:


But I digress, and I'll have photographic proof, too. I also ate incredibly well that night, at a little trattoria close to my hostel. I had the full Italian dinner - primi, secondi, plus wine and coffee. I started with a 'piatto tipico di Lucchese,' (typical Lucchese dish) zuppa di farine, basically a barley soup. Then I had trippa alla toscana, tripe cooked fork-tender in a tomato, celery, and carrot sauce. For dessert I ordered crostata con fichi fresce e noci, fresh fig tart with walnuts, and a macchiato. Molta, molta buona. And for the seventh time, pictures to come, soon!

Pictures of my courses:

Zuppa di farine:Trippa alla toscana:


Crostata con fichi fresce e noci:


Sunday morning dawned bright and early, again, and at least I thought that I was going to be in Barga shortly. But once I arrived at the bus station, I was kindly informed by the ticket agent that the only bus to Barga left at 10:25 and returned at 1:00, leaving me a little less than two hours in the town proper, therefore kind of not worth it at all. Oh well. I left, walked around (on top!) of the walls until I got back to the train station, and hopped on the train back to Florence instead. It being the last Sunday of the month, I knew that the flea market at the Piazza di Ciompi was going on, and therefore I obviously had to stop by. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this on the blog yet, but for about a week, I was obsessed with buying this vintage accordion that I found in the smaller, daily incarnation of the flea market there. Anyways, I didn't buy it (probably thankfully) but I knew I wanted to check out the bigger version of the market. And now, instead of wanting to buy an instrument of dubious quality that I can't play, I want to buy cameras of equally dubious quality that I don't have the foggiest idea how to use. Ah, c'est la... But, E.B., I've found both Fed and Zenit cameras at these markets, and obviously I think of your on-a-blanket-in-the-mud purchases.

Then-I-went-home-then-I-changed-and-went-back-to-school-to-do-homework. Lame! But that's what Sunday was like. Whew.


EDIT: 18:04, 02/10/08: With promised photographic proof!