Italy bound in a day!!!!

[scottieking]

Despite the fact that we will have 42 teenagers in our charge when we go, I'm off to Italy for 8 days in one dayan I am stoked! Any skanks got the hot tips on Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii?

Edited March 7, 2006 by Guest

[mattm]

If you really explore venice and go down a bunch of back alleys you'll be quite surprised to see a rather crude but really big canadian flag on a door. I don't have a clue where it is but my buddy and I found it while exploring. It's the entire top half of a rather wide, old door so if you do pass it, you can't miss it. Also, make sure to get up fairly early in the morning. If you're lucky the water will be above street level and you get to walk on the sidewalk scafolding (well, kids usually get a pretty big kick out of it). The giant hand (can't miss it) is a great spot to stop and play guitar. Something really funny you can do is go to Piazza San Marco (the main square) and get some pigeon food (there are kabillions of pigeons in the square at the right times). Now put the food in someone with a hoody's hood and watch how many pigeons will land on him/her. I had one sit on my shoulder for over 30 minutes one time as we walked around venice. While there make sure to check out the Basilica San Marco (look at the floor, it's a wicked mosaic). There's also a jail there that teenagers might get a kick out of. It's completely closed in except for one bridge. Once in a blue moon the prisoners would be allowed onto the bridge and it was the only time they saw sunlight. One of the best ways to see the city is to just hop on the bus (boat bus) and take it all the way around. It's way cheaper than a tour. Then again, if you're not pinched for money you might as well just take a tour.

In Rome, make sure to climb to the top of St. Peters for the wicked view of the city. There's also the sistine Chapel which is free if you're there on a sunday (it's part of the whole tour of St Peters and is actually really small). Just outside St. Peter's (straight out the main entrance and past all the pillars), there is a REALLY good gelato store on the right. Another thing about St Peters is that if you stand on the dots (just look around out front and you'll see dots on the ground like a foot or so across) and look at the pillars, it looks like just one pillar but if you step off the dot you can see that there are several pillars behind it. That might sound vague, just step on the dots and you'll see. You can also check out the coliseum. It's really old but one thing I found the coolest is that you can buy beer at the sovenir vending guys/hot dog stands while waiting to get in (yeah, mixed priorities here).

In florence there's the gallery of Academia (with the statue of David) which is pretty cool.

I could go on and on. Italy is one of my favorite places in the world. The wine is cheaper than water in some spots and the selection of cheese and bread from the markets is amazing.

If you can, get over to Verona. It's a beautiful little city where Romeo and Juliet took place. On one side is a really big hill at the top of which you can see some sort of basilica looking thing. If you're curious and make your way up there you'll find (if the smog isn't too bad) that you have one of the most breathtaking views you'll ever see (not to mention the basilica thing, which could be a moestary, is very peaceful). There's also a statue of Juliet amongst a bunch of love grafiti which is pretty cool:

After a minute of studying the Juliet statue, I couldn't help but notice that her right arm and breast were much shinier than the rest of her. I didn't have to ponder this mystery for long. An English Rube Tour came through and the guide explained that Juliet's right arm was shiny because that's what kids hung onto when they climbed up to pose with her for pictures. Upon hearing this, I immediately knew what was coming next. The guide confirmed my suspicions as he went on to describe how it's considered good luck to make a romantic wish while rubbing Juliet's right breast and then he demonstrated the ritual to the squeals of his geriatric Rube Tour group, who followed suit, taking turns feeling up Juliet. Isn't it funny how in Italy fondling a 14 year old girl's boobs brings good luck and doing the same in the States brings jail time? I love those wacky cultural differences!

Edit: Writing all that shit sitting here at work in Ottawa is really depressing. I'm starting to get the travel bug again (have been for a while) and know there's not a damn thing I can do about it. Have fun and remember: Try your best to make Canadians look good. Recetly when I've traveled I've found a very steadily rising dislike for Canadians that wasn't there when I traveled in the 90's. I've gotten lots of comments like "wimpy americans" which hurts as we were once very well liked all over the place so try to say Gracié not Grasius as I've seen way to many americans do (in other words, they speak Italian not spanish). Little things like that count for a lot.

Edited March 7, 2006 by Guest

[FairySari]

Bring lots of water to Pompeii. There's no shade, and nowhere to buy it except the gift shop/snack bar after you leave, as far as i remember. But it's been a long time - I was on a class trip there in high school.

Best part of the trip (for a 14 year old): when we sat down to dinner the first night, after being told how we weren't aloowed to smoke or drink, etc, there were huge jugs of wine on our tables. So I guess my other piece of advice is to let the kids drink, but make them feel like they're getting away with something.

[Sunshine]

Have a great time Scottie! Feel free to get me a birthday present there. haha!

I really hope your kids don't cause you too much hassle. hmmmmmm....remember how we use to act on school trips?

I expect to see lots of photos at Easter.

Safe Travels.

[NewRider]

my tip is not to eat shrooms at any of the art gallerey's. you could potentially crap your pants!

have fun, safe travels.

[Kelly-Anne]

I would suggest visting the Vatican. It's a very religious place for Roman Catholics. The Pope lives there and he's God's voice on the planet. I've heard that if you pay 25 Euro you get to ask him 3 questions.

If you're lucky you can see Heather Mills Harrision whose married to George saving some nuns from certain death for their pelts. I've learned from Heather that nun pelts are in high demand by the fashion industry and that Cindy Crawford has a nun pelt jumpsuit. I've joined Heather's boycott of Cindy.

It's so inhummaine that I cry thinking about those poor innocent nuns praying with their big nun eyes, getting clubbed from behind before they can even swim or make love.

Also try some Italian food. They're famous for it, but stay away from their wine as it may lead to a weakening of your morality and to a night of being sodomize in an alley by some dwarfs.

Don't laugh it happened to Heather. It's in her book "How I lost a limb, married a beatle and survived being sodomized by Italian dwarfs"