Tag Archives: Italy

Two pygmies without a bed

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Hostels are full, couchsurfing doesn’t work, no money and it was cold. We decided to fight it and go for sleeping on the street – or at least that was the idea. Nothing of that happened; come on, we are not that young or wild after all.

Anyhow, let me go back for the last week. The beautiful Tuscany region has been taking lots of our time and money and imagination. We arrived to Florence last week where we got a couchsurfing reply from a lady who owns a villa in Tuscany hills and she said she will host us. It was an awesome place and there were her 2 lovely kids, and her mother, an amazing Italian nonna truly. Well we had to babysit and take care of her kids since she decided to go and party in Rome. It was nice and worth it, except that we were amazed by her reference about us, since we do not deserve this mean reference only because we left without saying goodbye – she wasn’t even home and knew we were leaving. But then, I guess misunderstanding happens.

Italy has been amazing nature and cultural tour but it is so noisy for my ears. The peaceful life of Northern Europe does not exist here for sure. Socializing is something like bread and butter here. And nothing can be noisier than a group of Italian teenagers!

Then came Pistoia, Lucca, Pisa, and now Siena (and they were all awesome). We stayed in Pistoia in a real castle; let’s say with a king and his court. The best hospitality you can get in Italy came from Massimo, a great gentleman and in my opinion a true wolf.

Lucca was a very pretty city, Pisa was a bit dull except the fucked up tower. The most awesome place we have been to so far, however, was today’s visit to tower of Siena, Torre del Maglio.

The trip seems to go better and better, we adapt to the lifestyle of nomads, except there are moments of loneliness and moments of tiredness and fear of not being able to continue. But the beauty and the freedom our trip offers goes above all, we even do wild things now. Yes, we did give each other a new hair style!

We fell in love with Italy and now we are thinking a lot about our next step. We wish we will be luckier to find hosts over couchsurfing in Rome and Naples because our budget keeps getting lower day by day. Money cannot replace the beauty of what we see, though. We have done things that I would have never done by myself. Even trying to sleep on the street was one of my lifetime experiences.

Ciao from Siena, and soon the door of Rome will open for us!

Sasi

Kissed by a statue

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Every backpacker knows these days: hungry, dead tired, feet hurting, raining, freezing cold, bags too heavy, too much sightseeing… Even my favourite jeans (the second only ones with me) got broken.

It was cold and rainy in Venice and we had been a bit too much in churches and museums so it started to feel like brains overloading. Sasi said he couldn’t believe there would be so many churches in Italy – and we have only been just a few cities! Almost 2 weeks without break going from place to place and walking several kilometres per day just started to be enough – especially after still recovering from the flu. We needed to stop for a bit.

When coming to Bologna we were exhausted. So it felt really nice to be welcomed by an easygoing bunch of people. Mind you, all our hosts have been amazing so far and it has been really a pleasure to meet these new friends.

Now we have been mostly chilling out for two days. Slept 12 hours last night and did some light walking/sightseeing today. Bologna is truly a cool city with loads of students and lively culture scene. We both like it in here a lot, not only just because our wonderful hosts in this shared bohemian, should i say hippie, flat. People keep coming and going, everyone is invited for the dinner around a big table, and there is someone’s dog on the floor…

Upfreshing has also been a small flirt. Exchanging the looks is guaranteed, but that waking the statues to live… In the centre on Piazza Maggiore, there was these mimic artists performing statues, all dressed in white and face painted. I gave some coins to one of them and he waved me closer. Before I realized what was happening, he was kissing me. On the mouth. And he kissed me again, and again. Sasi was like oo-okay, and hundreds of people on the piazza were cheering and applauding. It was good thing that my face was completely smudged by his white paint since people didn’t see me blushing. What else i could do but bow and fade away. The statue left miming heart-broken.

Maiku

Tranquility

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There is always moments that are worth of sore feet and aching legs. To summarize a few on our trip so far:

1. The roof of Duomo in Milano. Milano’s cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and it is massive indeed. From inside, it is just another Gothic church – just with a bit bigger columns. But when you get to the roof of it, that is heaven. Am not talking about any religious experience of mine, but I just cant help myself of thinking about all the craftsmen who dedicated their lives – sometimes literally – to build these massive and beautiful monuments. On the roof, you can easily see all the lace of marble carvings and statues, all the delicate details and skill of the craftsmanship and sculpting. In 14th century, those were not meant to be shown to mortal eyes. That was their best gift to give on a hope of afterlife.

2. Castello Sforzesco in Milano. Paintings and other stuff is naturally interesting, but somehow the biggest experience was the museum of musical instruments. We were lucky to be present just when an expert was testing the claviercembalos. (Oh, it seems to be harpsichord in English – i learned a new word…) Baroque music somehow brought the castle alive and it felt like there would have been shadowy figures dancing in the corners of eyes. Maybe there were.

3. Verona. Shakespeare obviously never went to Verona but he managed to got at least something right: there is lots of larks singing. Juliet’s “tomb” is situated in the old Capuchin convent outside the town walls. The empty and open sarcophagus itself is quite unimpressive. The garden outside, on the other hand, has some sort of authentic feeling of lost love and sorrow with its mossed statues and cypresses. Larks singing, and the misty mountain tops in horizon.

Says Romeo:

“It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east:
Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
I must be gone and live, or stay and die.”

-Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (act 3 scene 5)

4. Scrovegni Chapel in Padova. Giotto, my Giotto. Giotto’s paintings on the chapel inside walls was one of my absolute favourites in art history classes. Getting in the chapel was an hard task – seems to be protected as well as crown jewels. No wonder, the simple chapel is like a box of jewels from inside. It is unbelievable to imagine how people had felt in 1305 to see these paintings – they had used to see static Byzantine and Gothic paintings of humans, not this flesh and blood with gestures and feelings on their face. The tears rolling down of the mothers’ face, the gossiping people around Josef and Mary on their way, astonishment of the shepherds… And everything absolutely 3-dimensional, especially the clothes which you could almost touch. From where he got the idea of paint like this? No one did that before and not even after him for almost 200 years. Beats me. Amazing guy.

But enough art, am gonna go to drink some wine. Hippies have stolen my husband to the kitchen, God knows what bacchanals they are having there… with Will Smith movie.

Maiku

Seems like Dreamland…

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To be honest, I never thought Italy could have so many churches and we are just in the beginning of our journey.

It is impressive how much history this country hides. I thought would be in countryside tasting wine all the time but, since it wasn’t the season and since we spend half of our days travelling by train from here to there, I end up being Maiku’s art history student which is not bad!

I can’t tell you how interesting and amazing to see paintings and churches that have been painted centuries ago. We went to see Giotto fresco 2 days ago in Padova and – God, that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Italy is so like home. The resemblance is amazing between Italy and Lebanon: the culture, the people, their looks, faces, habits, hand signs, all are so similar.

Still for me maybe after living in Finland for this while it feels to me a bit too wild. Yes, stylish, elegant, looks, brands, and obviously money are important things here.

Now about Venezia, that is definitely a magical place to visit. What could I say: alien city, surreal, all this will fit to the description. There, you would ask yourself how could they have done it, how do they run this city, how do people live on an island where you need a boat instead of a car to move around. Yup, but that is not what really makes it special. Venice is simply another planet, full of romance, squares, history, museums, arts and people. Oh not to mention the thousands of tourists there… euhhh!!! And the face masques and Murano glass shops!

This Trip is worth it until now! I cannot lie saying that I don’t miss Helsinki and my ex-life there, but what is offered to me now, to see all this history, share all these lovely experiences with Maiku is worth it all. I am glad to be here.

Ciao,

Sasi

Backpacking in Prada

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Milano, oh dear. Sizzling and buzzing. Stylish and glamorous people with their designer clothes. Labels, labels, labels where ever you rest your eyes. And then there is us with our old jeans and t-shirts.

We had serious window shopping in the Quadrilatero D’Oro (Golden Quad) – the Fashion Mecca around Via Monte Napoleone, that is. Moschino, Dolce&Gabbana, Victor&Rolf, Gucci… you name it. Sometimes we sneaked in like small gray mice and tried to camouflage – but how the hell you can do that with top models (seriously!) and all the rest of the shoppers in that area?

Not all the shops were scary, though. In Armani a nice lady gave us chocolate samples: only 22 euros per 4 pieces. Were good, but not mindblowing. Prada though… I have always had a deep deep love for designer shoes and handbags. My heart was crying bloody tears for Prada bag, even a small small one. That would have been worth the rest of the trip.

Of course, African origin boys were selling fake Prada items on the streets. But I kept myself strict: if I cant afford the real thing, I wont buy anything. Maybe people wouldnt have noticed, but I would have always known the truth and felt cheap.

One day, I will have my Prada. In a while, I will sneak perfumeries and spray Prada perfume on me. At least I can smell nice!

Is this the future prize of water?

On that price, this water must be from the fountain of youth. This is Milano.

Maiku