Desiderio di Viaggiare

The Italian phrase “desiderio di viaggiare” is roughly translated into the English language as the romantic word wanderlust. Wanderlust, which is the strong desire or impulse to travel and explore the world, has always been something that I associated with myself. As I’ve mentioned in my Wanderlist post, I will always always have the itch to go about and see new places. This summer, I’ve been blessed a hundredfold as I was able to go on a Europe tour with my mother. The tour may not have taken me to see the entirety of the continent (that would be impossible, I assume), but it did allow me to see some of the landmarks and cities that I thought I would never see in the flesh. As you may have gathered from the title, this post will be about our tour’s first stop – the enchantingly historical country of Italy.

Out of the eight countries that the tour allowed me to visit, Italy is definitely on my top three list. What a wonderful experience it was to have visited the Vatican City in Rome; to have been able to see the famous Trevi Fountain and toss (three) coins in it; to have seen the Colloseum and revel in the fact that there were actual gladiators who fought in that very structure; to have seen the architectural wonder that is the Leaning Tower of Pisa; to have walked along the breathtaking streets of the floating city, Venice.

St. Peter's Basilica

Tuscan colonnades bordering the St. Peter's Square

Interiors of St. Peter's Basilica

I took the photos above in Vatican City, or as the locals call the Stato della Città del Vaticano. The interiors are of the St. Peter's Basilica which has been deemed as the largest church in the world. Michelangelo was one of the key designers of this church, which probably helps to explain why everything about it was simply astonishing. Displayed in St. Peter's Basilica is one of Michelangelo's most famous sculptures, the Pietà. Unfortunately, the only picture that I could take of the sculpture was quite blurry, as it was encased in glass, and many people were pushing their way to get a glimpse of it.

When we visited Vatican City, it was a Sunday, which is Pope Francis' schedule for showing up on one of the windows over St. Peter's Square to recite the Angelus prayer. Fortunately, we were standing in the square at noon time, and we were able to see the current pope himself and attend his prayer. Never in my eighteen years of existence would I have expected to have such a blessed experience, and honestly, even though I am not as what you would call pious, the said event made me even more thankful at just how privileged I am and has driven me to have more faith.

(Please forgive my haggard tourist face)

Our next stop in Rome, Italy, was the Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheater (Anfiteatro Flavio). Being a self-proclaimed mythology junkie, I was quite excited to see this historical landmark that had been used to stage dramas about classical mythology. It gave me chills, however, to think that the Colosseum had previously hosted gladiatorial shows. How could the people before find it entertaining to watch men kill each other? But I should probably save my angst-filled questions for my 2am musings.

The Trevi Fountain

"This is what dreams are made of" - Lizzie McGuire

Authentic Italian gelato!!!

Italian pizza... in Italy. Dreams do come true.

After seeing the Colosseum, we went to see the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi). My mythology geek self squealed upon seeing the fountain whose design is centered around Oceanus and his sea mythological creatures. If you've seen the Lizzie McGuire movie, this is the very same fountain upon which Lizzie tossed a coin in. Of course I had to throw in coins and make wishes, as well! (One item on my Wanderlist, check!) Interestingly, the locals said that your wish would only come true if you threw the coin in a certain way: right hand over your left shoulder. That feat is easy enough to oblige for something(s) you desperately want. (Bonus feel-good fact: The coins that people toss into the fountain is collected by the charity Caritas, who runs food & social programs for the needy. Not a bad way to "throw away" your money!)

It was there in the Trevi district that I had my first lunch in Europe. Call me cliché, but I just had to have two of the most famous Italian food inventions - pizza and gelato! In all honesty, however, the pizza isn't as good as the pizza here in the Philippines. Apparently, this is due to the fact that Europeans prefer their food to be bland, as opposed to the Filipino taste which undoubtedly prefers more flavor. The gelato, on the other hand, is as good as it gets. I've tasted the gelato in Manila, and although it is good, the authentic Italian gelato is in my opinion, definitely par excellence.

Piazza del Duomo

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa Baptistry

The second day of our Europe tour was for Pisa, Tuscany, Italy. We visited the Piazza del Duomo, which houses the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistry, the Camposanto Monumentale, and the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. If you didn't know, the tower is actually the bell tower of the cathedral, and it was not intended for the tower to be slanted. This was another one of the places we've visited in the tour that I was really excited about, mostly because of its monumental contribution to physics (my favorite science subject). It is at the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa that Galileo Galilei tried to prove that the time it takes for an object to fall is independent of its mass - an assumption we now know to be false.

Hi, pigeons

Please don't notice how weird my facial expression is... this is my only photo with the pretty gondolas.

Even the ceilings are beautiful.

(That forehead though.) 

(Those foreheads though.)

Typical Venetian canals.

Our last stop for Italy was the city of Venice - also known as the City of Masks, City of Bridges, and the Floating City. It was, perhaps, the most romantic city I've ever set foot on. The architecture was beautiful; everything was lovely... except for the smell of the water. Unfortunately, the water has a certain pungent smell to it, but even that couldn't hinder the way I immediately fell in love with the city. It was too bad that I didn't get to ride a gondola, though. Aside from the gondola rides costing way too much, we were also short on time. I guess that's one disadvantage of traveling on tours - the lack of control over time. There are schedules that need to be followed, lest you want to be left behind, and that means not being able to spend as much time as you want in a certain place, hence, not being able to see and experience everything you want to from that place.

Setting aside my disappointment over the amount of time I get to spend in each city (very short and insufficient), my three days in Italy were undoubtedly well-spent. I am immensely thankful over the fact that I have been able to dwell in some of the most beautiful cities in the world. But of course, not only were those cities so obviously resplendent, they were also those kinds of places that you could almost feel the history that has crafted them just by simply standing there.

Beyond any doubt, I will jump at the chance to visit or (crossed fingers) live in Italy. Here's to hoping that my first time there won't be my last time. Let me now grab this moment to profess my undying admiration to this country - ti amo, Italia!