Waddling through Italy

It’s been quite a whirlwind two weeks but I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder to call Istanbul home.

Melanie and Ian came to visit for a week so I got to act as their tour (food) guide in the city. Hopefully I was successful in conveying my absolute love for Istanbul and baklava. It was good to see them again and show off the city.



This past week was our spring break at school and my two good Kansas State-ians Beth and Shannon and I went adventuring in Italy (insert thousands of exclamation points here).

If you know me at all, you know that I love food and Italy was just the apex of everything delicious that I love (gelato, pasta, tiramisu, gnocchi, etc).

Before leaving, we decided to get out and go see the wonderful tulips of Istanbul in bloom. The tulip festival is going on right now and there are thousands upon thousands of all different types/colors/shapes of tulips throughout Istanbul. The tulip is actually native to the Ottoman Empire and was popularized after northern Europeans brought them back and began to grow them. A lot of Ottoman symbolism and sultan’s patterns incorporate tulips as it was indicative of royalty.

The park we went to (Emirgan) was just a short walk and bus ride away from our neighborhood. It is also one of the most well-known locations in Istanbul for tulip-appreciation. I can only really say that it definitely lived up to that stereotype and was absolutely gorgeous. I was just overwhelmed with all the tulips and was impressed with the red and blue tulips planted in the shape of Turkey with the Turkish symbol inside. Clever.

After the park, we made sure we were all packed and headed to Italy(!)

We arrived fairly late Saturday night and received a lame, faint passport stamp (I was not satisfied with my life) before heading to our hostel. We had booked 3 beds in a 6 bed room but when we showed up, there were only 2 empty beds (keep in mind that it was about 1 am). The hostel staff had to wake up the people in the room and kick a girl out. Her friend was in the room and they just decided to move her from another room. Talk about seriously awkward.

We woke up Sunday (Easter) and attempted to head towards the Colosseum, only to find that the line to get in for tickets was about two hours long. We decided to put that off for the following weekend and headed instead for a walk around town. We stopped in the Piazza Navona and had some pizza before heading on a walk to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, St. Peter’s Square (we were curious about Easter crowds…and wanted to see the Pope), Piazza del Popolo, and Pantheon. Lots of walking was involved but absolutely worth it. Seeing the things you see only in pictures in movies and don’t think you’ll get to see until you’re old and on a tour bus was really incredible. I can only really say that the pictures don’t do any of them justice…my pictures especially. We stopped for dinner near the Pantheon where I had a typical spaghetti dish (but with bacon…I’ve missed pork. Sue me) and some really great bruschetta with amazingly fresh tomatoes. After dinner, we hobbled/waddled (only the beginning of a wonderful food journey) over to Giolitti-the gelato chain that fell from heaven. There’s actually a branch in Istanbul but of course it does not measure up to the glory that is Giolitti in Rome. We made a pact to eat gelato at least once a day. My first Giolitti creation consisted of Gnutella (t was like cold, creamier Nutella. Love.), white chocolate, and dark chocolate. If I was waddling after dinner, trust me, I was waddling around after gelato…but it was all worth it. The waddling quickly turned into a face-paced walk as we headed to our hostel to collect our bags, check out, and head to the train station for our over night train to Venice. We got a sleeper car because it was the only option but it was actually a good night’s sleep before arriving in Venice at…

5:30am. Sounds awful, yes, I know. However, we got to walk around in Venice when it was empty as we headed to check in. It was kind of refreshing and a really nice perspective on the city to see the Venetians going to work and going about their daily lives outside of all the tourists that visit. After leaving our bags at the hotel, we went off to explore Venice. We went to the Rialto bridge and Saint Mark’s square, where we saw the processional for what appeared to be a celebration for St. Mark’s day (coincidence). We went up the tower and got a really amazing view of Venice and were also up there when the bells went off which was fun. We decided to get sandwiches at a place called “Sandwich Row” which were delicious and cheap, always a good combination. After lunch, we went to mass inside the church which was interesting to say the least. Hearing everything read/said/sung in Italian was kind of hard to follow but was totally made up for by the extreme ornate-ness of the church (imagine gold tile EVERYWHERE). We then got the necessary gelato (dark chocolate and strawberry) before taking a water taxi to the island of Murano. The island is famous for its glass-blowing factories. We didn’t get to see any glass-blowing but lots of amazing shops with really cool (but expensive) jewelry and other things.

After heading back to Venice from Murano, we were hungry and searching for some good, non-touristy food places. We ended up stumbling down a side-alley to a place with a different menu everyday that was handwritten on a piece of paper. Really good sign. We entered and decided to just go all (okay kind of) out and order several courses. I ordered the beef carpaccio as my first dish and the gnocchi as my second dish. Both were amazing and delicious beyond words. The three of us decided to split a tiramisu for dessert. Shannon had never had tiramisu before and I think her bar was probably extremely high after this. After dinner, we waddled (again) back to the hotel, which was situated on a nice, quiet side street with a really pretty garden in the background. Possibly one of the soundest nights of sleep I’ve ever gotten.

The next morning we woke up to a buffet breakfast in the garden at the hotel before going to buy train tickets for Florence in the afternoon. We bought tickets on a 4pm train and had plenty of time to just get lost in Venice. We wandered down random side streets and alleys, taking artsy photos along the way (or I tried to, at least. Beth and Shannon are much better than I am). I bought two small paintings from a local artist after deciding that small paintings would be my souvenirs from each city. We had sandwiches again for lunch (fresh mozzarella and salami) and more wonderful gelato (dark chocolate and a stracciatella mixture with tiramisu) in a cup made out of cone-like material. Nifty! After wandering around, we headed to our train and made the journey to Florence, passing through some pretty scenery on the way into Tuscany.

After arriving in Florence, we met up with Shannon and Beth’s friend who is studying abroad there. She ended up showing us around for the next 3 days and was very nice and helpful. I’m excited to return the favor when she’s in Istanbul. We dropped our bags off at our hostel and set off to have a picnic at the Piazza di Michelangelo overlook, where we got to see all the lights in Florence light up the night sky. Cliché, but very pretty.

We woke up the next morning and booked tickets to see the Statue of David. Beforehand, we headed to the famous duomo in Florence, which was a lot less ornate than the church in Venice, but a very welcome change. We grabbed lunch at another place with a handwritten daily menu, where I got pasta al pomodoro, which was actually really mushy bread that kind of looks like smushed cous cous with onions and tomatoes. We also all split a caprese salad that had amazingly fresh mozzarella. So much food love. I enjoyed a lemon-chocolate pastry after lunch and then headed to go see the David. No pictures were allowed inside but it was incredibly realistic. I thought he was going to just get off the pedestal and go Hulk on the annoyingly loud tour groups that came through, but alas, he did not spare us of that misery. We headed to meet Beth and Shannon’s friend afterwards for gelato and crossing the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge riddled with jewelry shops that were once leather shops. My daily gelato consisted of dark chocolate (of course) and a sweet cherry and plain gelato mixture that became my favorite fruity gelato. We sat on the riverbank and just had some quiet time in the city, which was much appreciated. After sitting and people watching for a while, we headed to dinner at a famous local pizza place. I got their special pizza: arugula, fresh cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Mouth watering. We headed back to our hostel after the really long day in preparation for the next day.

The next morning we woke up and met our “tour guide” across the bridge at a BAGEL PLACE. Seriously. I have not had a bagel in four months and if you know me and my food, this was just an amazing surprise. I got an everything bagel with plain cream cheese and fresh strawberries. Heavenly. Beth and I then wandered around the local market (crafts and food) before heading to look for paintings. We ended up talking with this Italian woman who lives outside of Florence and has lived there her entire life. The painting I bought is a Tuscan scene that’s literally just outside her back door. She was so passionate about her art and told us all about the different techniques she used. It was one of the coolest experiences of the trip. Afterwards, we met up with everyone and had lunch inside the fresh food market at a famous cafeteria-style place. I got their freshly-made pasta which was mouth-wateringly delicious. We then took a bus up to the town of Fiesole, a nearby town up in the hills of Tuscany with a gorgeous overlook of Florence. It was very peaceful and kind of easy to get lost in your own head looking out at the countryside. When I imagined Italy, I imagined the amazing countryside, and I definitely was lucky enough to see it. After heading back into Florence, we headed to dinner where we had “aperitivo.” The system works where if you pay for a drink, they allow you a plate and you get as much as you can eat appetizer-like food included. Lots of little finger foods that ended up being very satisfying.

The next morning, we caught the train back to Rome, passing through some really pretty small Italian towns. We left our bags at the train in Rome and went to go explore the Vatican, stopping to get another delicious salami and fresh mozzarella sandwich on the way. We got to the Vatican Museum to find no lines whatsoever to get in (and got student discounts…wooo!). It was honestly one of the most ornate things I have ever seen in my entire life. I am still kind of in brain shock over the Sistine Chapel because I can’t seem to convince myself that it was real. You see pictures of it growing up but I never thought I’d see it and so I can’t quite grasp the fact that I was indeed there. After the museum, we headed to St. Peter’s, entering the Basilica with perfect timing as the sun was shining through the windows. It was massive and ornate (duh) but also kind of creepy. There were two bodies that had gone through the beatification process into sainthood that were just on display in little wings of the Basilica. I was kind of creeped out. However, this was redeemed as I got to see the College of Cardinals file out after the mass that was going on while we were inside. Afterwards, we headed to dinner at a place that didn’t even have a menu. You sat down and they served you 5 courses of whatever they wanted to. We got bread, lentils, olives, and fresh-sliced salami and prosciutto as the first course. I was fairly full afterwards and was getting worried that my third stomach would not expand in time for the next four courses. The next course consisted of freshly made pasta of both the red and white-sauced varieties. Delicious. Course number three was pork (yum!), fresh mozzarella, and a squash dish that was amazing. Course number four was dessert: a cake that literally just tasted like peach cobbler. Finally, course number five was mandarin orange juice. Sounds weird but was amazingly delicious. We then headed for our gelato of the day necessity at where else? Giolitti, of course. I attempted to mix it up a bit and got regular chocolate and a sour cherry mixture. More wobbling ensued. We had some trouble finding our hotel since it was a bit out of the city but it’s done and over with so not much else to say about that.

The next morning we woke up and headed into the city. Beth and I got pastries and café con panna (coffee with whipped cream) before eating some cannoli in front of the Trevi Fountain. We also got small paintings in the Piazza Navona before splitting mushroom risotto and gnocchi with clams and mushrooms for lunch. We met Shannon and wandered in and out of shops to avoid the rain. We also had a final stop at Giolitti where I concluded my gelato-a-day lifestyle with a stracciatella and nocciola mixture-going real Italian. After walking around some more we then headed for dinner (our last meal!) which consisted of bruschetta and gnocchi in a white sauce for me. We decided we wanted to see Rome at night before we left, so we went to St. Peter’s as the sun set. The beatification of Pope John Paul II was the next day and crowds had already begun to camp out for the night. There were so many different nationalities and languages around us. It was a fairly powerful thing to see all of these people coming together for one thing, despite all of their differences. After leaving St. Peter’s (not before grabbing the free beatification program and newspaper among other things), we headed to the Piazza del Popolo, where we saw a man playing the sax and just listened to him for a bit. Next on our list were the Spanish Steps, ending by the Trevi Fountain (complete with a tiramisu dessert). We headed back to our hotel before having to wake up early to catch our flight.

I have to say that I was very impressed with Italy. It was cleaner, more welcoming, and an overall better experience all around than I had expected. As well, it just made me appreciate the fact that I’m studying abroad in Istanbul more. Our friend studying in Florence had many negative things to say about it: natives hating Americans, tourist haven, etc. I’m so grateful that things are the way they are here in Istanbul and that I was given the opportunity to study here.

This weekend, Emily and I are heading to Budapest. My parents will be here in about two weeks as well! Getting very excited.
For Italy pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1421036371188.2036438.1391040260&l=07c335019c
For tulip pictures (same album I posted before, just updated): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1408739663778.2035682.1391040260&l=5594f32fa6

Sorry for the LONG post!