Odyssey to Europe

Essay 11:
Once again, when morning came, my dad gently shook me awake, and waited as I slowly rolled off my bed like a slug, and slowly plodded towards the bathroom, to freshen up. When I was all washed up, I ate a small tart, filled with egg pudding, and washed it down with some milk. Once I had eaten, we set on the task of packing our things and getting ready so we could depart the hotel. We furiously rushed around the small hotel room, snatching belongings and shoving them in our bags, while painstakingly wrapping more precious things, like my contacts, and the baby angel for my mother, in napkins and bags, so they will not shatter. Finally, the bulky and heavy laptops went in the bags, weighing the backpacks down. After cramming every belonging in our backpacks and luggage bag, we were all set, and left the hotel. After taking the elevator down to the ground floor, we returned the keys, and walked out of the Attilo Regolo guest house, heading towards the metro, where we boarded the subway, clumsily, because of our bulky bags, and rode the subway to the train station, where we then bought several ham sandwiches, for our upcoming trip to Florence. After that, we stopped by a small caf, and ordered a soda, and some coffee. We stayed in the caf, for about 30 to 40 minutes, until it was about 11:35. At that time, we went back up to the top of the station, where the trains are, as our train was at 12:15, and we still needed to know what station it was at. So, we just lingered at the top, patiently waiting for the station number to appear. Finally it did, so we grabbed our bags, and walked towards the compartment where our seats were. Once we were on the train, we lounged back, on the luxurious and spacious chairs, and enjoyed the ride. Sadly, it only lasted for about one and a half hours, so the train ride was over in a blink of the eye. My dad roused me from my semi comatose trance, and we both got our bags and left the train, into Florence. After buying several bus tickets, we waited outside of the train station for bus number four. Despite waiting a long time, it was nowhere near as long as the wait for 118 in the day before. The Florence buses are also much smoother, and more spacious than their roman counterparts. So far, our impressions of Florence were quite fair. Plus, Florence was much cooler than Rome, so it was much more comfortable outside. After taking the bus for about a dozen stops, we finally arrived at our destination. Unlike the rest of Europe, we had planned to stay in luxury in Florence, so my dad rented a villa/hotel that had extremely large and luxurious rooms, and a very nice garden.

However, we did not order the entire villa; we kind of order a part of it, like one would order a room in a hotel. The villa turned out to be just as luxurious and spacious as the description states it. A massive garden is in the back, packed with green grass and vibrant plants. At the back, a small fountain/bath/Jacuzzi is set, with relatively cool water flowing from a pipe. Inside, we have an entire living room to ourselves, with squashy, chintz armchairs, and several tables. The actual room is extremely big, with a king sized bed, and a smaller one set against the wall. A massive TV is set in the wall, although I doubt if well use it. The windows let in a beautiful view, of pure grennery, while the walls are covered with paintings, depicting beautiful landscapes. The living room, is the only room that we share with other families, although I dont know if the rooms are occupied. If they are not, then we get to have the bookshelf, the tables, and the armchairs all to ourselves. Downstairs, there is a buffet for breakfast, and a vending machine selling snacks and drinks. Back to our rooms decorations. The bathroom is also quite big, boasting a clean tiled floor, and a relatively big bathtub.

Our luxurious villa.

We just decided to relax for a while, washing our dirty clothes, and chilling out on the massive beds. We just did that for about 2 hours, doing absolutely nothing, until my dad told me that we were going to the Acadamie Galleria, where the famed statue of David was displayed. The museum had an impressive variety of sculptures, paintings, and other works of art, from a variety of masters, including the renaissance virtuoso Michelangelo. While the paintings are very impressive, the statue of David is the most memorable. He has the typical body of the renaissance sculpture; muscular physic, with massive pectorals, abs, and biceps. He has the sling slung over his shoulder, while his face displays a look of intense determination, and confidence. He knows that to defeat goliath, he has to be utterly focused, and to have god on his side.

The statue, and a parody of it. After admiring the statue for several minutes, we went on to look at the other works of art that the museum had. These were more typical among museums, depicting either Jesus and Christian scenes, or landscapes. There were also several unfinished sculptures, not yet carved completely out of the marble blocks. The faces are also not polished and as detailed, resembling a rough sketch of the finished work. However, it was still very interesting to look at. After seeing most of the museums collection of paintings and sculptures, we left to go find a restaurant, as we were thoroughly starving. We bought two cups of ice cream from a small shop, and browsed the streets, looking for suitable places to eat. Finally, we found a small little restaurant, so we quickly sat down, ordered two bowls of spaghetti and a pizza, and gorged ourselves until our stomachs were sated. After dinner, we visited the Duomo, or the symbol of Florence. The Duomo is a massive cathedral, with a massive dome located on the top. Several towers also are located on the roof, looming over everything, and casting a dark shadow.

However, we only looked at the Duomo very briefly, as we both wanted to go back. So, we took the bus back to the villa, with all its ancient, oriental style furnishings, and luxurious rooms. After taking a brief dip in the Jacuzzi, we rushed back, trying to avoid the mosquitoes, and went back in our room, where we relaxed, and settled down. Florence is going to be the more relaxed part of our vacation, the Aauru of our trip through the Duat, so to speak. Therefore, we wont be going to a lot of places tomorrow. With that in mind, I stayed up slightly later than usual, but still ended up falling asleep quickly. Day 2 Our second day started off on a good note, as both my dad and I slept in a little, until 9:00. The bed was so comfortable, and so soft, that I didnt want to leave it. However, as the villas breakfast buffet was only from 8-10. After freshening up, taking out my retainers, brushing my teeth, and soaking my contacts, we hurried downstairs, where the smell of good food and clinking of utensils wafted from. After hurrying inside the breakfast room, we were greeted by a veritable feast of food. Loaves of bread sat next to pots of peach and blackberry marmalade, even as cakes and sweets crowded the table next to it. Jugs of milk and coffee sat on a glass plate, next to a bowl of eggs, complete with egg cooker. On a separate table, toast, nutella, and cheese sat on the table, just begging to be eaten. Cereal and yogurt, with a jug of orange juice and hot chocolate occupied the next table. I could go on and on, but that would be fairly redundant, so Ill continue. Immediately after we entered the breakfast room, we split and headed towards the stacks of food. I had several slices of bread with marmalade, washing in down with several cups of milk and orange juice. After that, I decided to have some cereal, with hot chocolate, and also ate some yogurt. Even the seats are impressive. There were several plush, squishy couches that my dad and I immediately took, while the rest were several squashy armchairs, and seats. After we had eaten until our stomachs were filled to bursting, we went outside into the garden, and rested under the sun, with me on a hammock, while my dad just sat down of the chair. The garden was extremely peaceful, with crickets chirping, the lush, green plants, and the warm sun on your face. I couldve fallen asleep there, but we had to return to our rooms, and get started on our day, so I got off and we both stood up. However, we couldnt resist dipping our legs into the cool water at the pool, as the water was extremely nice, and the felt wonderful on my hot, mosquito bitten legs.

Me relaxing on the hammock

The Jacuzzi, although the water is naturally heated up, instead of artificial means. As we were climbing the stairs, I noticed that the door to the first floor was open, so I opened it. Inside, the living room was even more luxurious than ours, with several teapots and teabags in the corner, while more plush armchairs took up the majority of the space. Paintings decorated the walls, while some doors were set in at the back wall, leading to some more luxurious rooms. However, my dad said that the suite costs about 139 euros per night, so Im slightly glad that we didnt rent one. We still have our own, comfortable living room. Back at our room, we were packing up and getting ready to go, but the beds were too comfortable, and we ended up falling asleep for one hour. When we woke up, it was out 11:00, so we quickly rushed down to the bus stop, and took the bus back to the train station. After we got off, we walked the short distance to the Duomo, as we did not see the interior at all. The Duomos exterior is probably the most impressive of all the cathedrals Ive been to. Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur might have better designs and architecture, but none of them are as decorative as the Duomo. Intricate paintings adorn the outside, while sheafs of gold plate the majority of the space available that is not taken up by the paintings. A unique shade of green coats the columns, a shade that Ive never seen used by a church, besides this one. The

Duomo, is definitely the most beautiful of the churches in the outside, but the inside is extremely plain.

The interior of the Duomo. There are only several stained glass windows, and several paintings on the wall. Everything else, is just plain and barren stone, so I guess that while the designers focused a lot on the exterior, they somewhat neglected the interior. However, it is still quite impressive, just not as flashy as the other churches. It is the exact opposite of the roman churches, whose outside is very plain, while the inside is extremely decorative. After sitting inside for several minutes, we decided that we had seen pretty much everything, and left the church. After that, we headed towards the Museo de Leonardo da Vinci, the museum of the painter of Mona Lisa. However, that museum simply displays about 30 of his models turned into real machines. The museum cost about 12 dollars for the two of us, so it was quite a hefty price, but all the models made it worth the money. From an armored tank to an Archimedes screw, all of the models were extremely interesting. An added plus, is the fact that most of the models are in working condition, while you are allowed to touch, crank and play with these models, exploring how they worked and why they did.

One of Leonardos sketches: a room of mirrors.

However, there are only about thirty exhibits, so I quickly went through the museum, and finished all the exhibits in a blink of the eye. So, we left the museum, and searched around for someplace to eat, as I was very hungry. We quickly found a small restaurant on the side of the street, and ate some spaghetti with tomato sauce. Once we had eaten our fill, the two of us headed towards the river, where we would see the Ponte Recchio, a famous bridge crossing the river. However, along the way, we stopped by the Uffizi gallery. We didnt actually enter the museum, but we stopped by a massive room, filled with statues of all kinds, from bronze to marble, girls to boys, gods, to humans. There were only about a dozen statues there, but they represent an extremely diverse selection. We sat down at the edges of the room, and listened to a street performer playing guitar for everyone to hear. After sitting there for quite some time, we shook ourselves out of the stupor we were in, and headed towards the bridge.

The gallery of statues, next to the Uffizi gallery. After walking some distance, we reached the river, sparkling green, and housing massive amounts of algae. The bridge was right in front of us, crossing the river, to the other side. What was different about this bridge was the fact that it actually had buildings on it, with shops, houses and different buildings for tourist to shop at. However, most of the shops were jewlry and extremely expensive shops, so there wasnt much to look at in terms of buying.

The Ponte Vecchio. We were already getting tired, so we hurried back to the bus stop at the train station, took the number 4 bus home, and relaxed back at the villa. After sleeping for an hour of two, we went back to the Jacuzzi, and thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing water, and high powered jet streams. For dinner, we walked down to the city, and found a neat place that served relatively good food. I ate two bowls of spaghetti by myself, so I was extremely stuffed, and glad for the long walk, as it helped me digest. After dinner, we just sat down on the bed, and enjoyed our luxurious stay at the villa, for one more night, before we left for Venice.