Is it just me or does Europe have a perpetual lingering smell of cigarette smoke?

[caithream]

So. I went to Europe. Again.





Barcelona cathedral





The amazing amazing Sagrada Familia. Very upset we didn't have time to go inside.

I was very pleased at how well I could communicate in Barcelona, even with the strange Catalan spelling/words. I almost want to say that Barcelona was my favorite place we visited, if only for the fact of how easy it felt to fit in there; like, I could move there next month and feel good about it.

The next morning we ventured to our ship, where, after finally getting to our state room, there was a bottle of champagne waiting for us.





"And so I said, I wouldn't bet my third yacht on it! Ha ha!"







The next morning: Cannes, France.





Well. Technically our port was in Cannes, but we went straight to the train station and went to Nice instead. We decided to take it easy on this day, mostly because we knew there would be a lot of activity on the other two days.

So after asking the French for directions (who are seriously unhelpful; I think we met ONE nice French person the entire time there, even after bridging the gap by speaking a little French. EVEN THE TRAIN STATION ATTENDANTS. Those guys were just straight up a-holes), we found the promenade on the beach and an amaaaaazing little outdoor restaurant where we sat for some coffee. On the beach.









We climbed a Chateau that had an amazing view.





And strolled through a little French flea market.



Finally we all met up back in Cannes to get back on the ship, but not before seeing all the craziness for the preparation for the Cannes Film Festival, which happened THREE DAYS after we left.

The next day we got up suuuuper early, as our port, Livorno, was an hour and a half train ride away from Florence, Italy. It was kind of messy at times, but finally finally we got there.



Italian countryside on the train to Florence.



Wish I would have had a guidebook or something with me. So many things and places we saw and we passed by with not an inkling of the history or even what it was called. This is at the Piazza della Signoria I believe, but what copy of a statue this is, I have no idea.





The Ponte Vecchio.



The amazing amazing amazing omg beautiful Duomo.











Inside, the dome.





Giotto's Campanile, or bell tower, right next to the Duomo. 6 euro to go up, and we figured, what the hell. Seven stories and tight, hot, steep, winding staircases later, the best freaking view of the city aaaahhh so gorgeous.

















The Gates of Paradise



Afterward we had lunch at a pretty (unfortunately) touristy place with this as our backdrop, but at least the gnocchi was good.



And thennnn it was off to see David.



Of course, picture taking is strictly prohibited, but, c'mon.







Derpy pictures aside, the detail is absolutely extraordinary. You can see the veins in his arm and hand, ab muscles, the furrow of brows. Amazing.



So, most statues used to be painted back in their heyday, right? Not sure if this is supposed to be a rendering or what, but yikes.

After that it was back to the ship to get ready for the next day: ROME.

Interlude: our stateroom.



Yeahhh... Rome. Started off kind of bumpy. After being confused about what shuttle from the ship took us where, we get to a block or so away from the train station. Of course, as you're exiting the shuttle, there's tons of peddling taxi drivers trying to talk you into paying 50+ euros or whatever just to go into the city, and then try to talk you into another stupid amount for being your tour guide for the day. I immediately start walking in the other direction because, no, I don't do that. My friends, of course, starting asking questions about rates, which, no no no noooo, in the end they're always going to charge a ridiculous amount. They get upset at me for walking away (and refuse to listen to my explaination) because, when we do reach the train station, there are no taxis in sight, and the next train is in 40 minutes. We're all debating what to do, and one of my friends goes to ask a local for his opinion. Turns out, he was a local and a tour guide and basically told us we were dumb if we wanted to take a taxi, seeing as how morning traffic would make the trip longer than if we waited for the train. (I did an internal smug dance.) And we signed up for his tour.

First stop when we reached the city: the Colosseum.







Amazing. And huge.



When your Clergymen just HAVE to be fashionable.



The Pantheon







That dome in the previous picture? Completely open. So when it rains, it falls in one perfect little circle and lands in this drain here.



The gorgeous Trevi fountain.





The Spanish Steps



By this time I was completely and utterly exhausted, pretty dehydrated, and very tired of dealing with the crowds. That's the thing about Rome, apparently. It would have been my favorite had it not have been for the crazy ridiculous hordes of people EVERYWHERE. We covered a LOT of ground with the tour guide though.



The gates to the Vatican city.



Creepy statue with paint still on their eyes inside the Vatican city museum.



We trudged along in tight corridors through tighter doorways to finally see...



Anything look familiar? (Besides my boob.) :D

Again, pictures were strictly prohibited in the Sistine Chapel but we managed to snag a few.



I'm seriously going to have to read up on everything that Michelangelo did in the Sistine Chapel. Like, for real it only took him four years to paint the whole damn thing? I cannot eeeeeven.



Inside St. Peter's Basilica.





The amazing amazing Pieta omg aaaahhh.





Exiting the St. Peter's to catch a train back to our port, siiiigh.



In Civitavecchia, before boarding our ship.

SIIIIGH I JUST WANT TO GO BAAAACK. Europe you do me well. ♥

Comments

[caithream.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's honestly staggering, looking at a piece of art or a building that's 500-1000 years old. BRAIN DOES NOT COMPUTE.